Shipping Industry Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Shipping Industry - Case Study Example Once this is approved by the commission, the bookbuilding process begins, in which the company is introduced to potential investors, who then explicitly express their interest in the venture. At this point, the investment bank proposes a price to the company, and later the trading begins (Ljungqvist, 2005). This process is often very complicated and very costly. The costs are generated by auditing and underwriting, plus legal fees. Ongoing costs are also associated with public offerings, such as those connected with supplying information and dividends to investors (Ritter, 1998, p. 1). Another cost related to going public may come from underpricing, which is a risk that grants initial investors less than the market value of the securities through offering it at too low a price (Clementi, 2005; Ljungqvist 2005; Ritter, 1998). The theories that explain why a firm might do this are several. They include the desire of entrepreneurs and/or investors to lower capital cost and to broaden the firm's ownership base (Brau et al., 2005, p. 5). Other theories suggest that firms decide to go public for reasons of legitimacy and growth (Cohen, 2002). Still others posit the theory that initial public offerings usually occur as a normal stage in a firm's lifecycle (Brau et al., 2005, p. 13; Maug, 2001, p. 1; Ritter, 1998, p. 18). Small firms are usually run by a limited amount of capital. ... argue that the rationale for choosing this is strengthened by the fact that the benefits of liquidity is more desirable for entrepreneurs than compensating investors for the non-liquidity that usually exists in privately owned firms (Ritter, 1998, p. 1). This might be viewed in terms of the desire to reduce a firm's capital costs. A major part of capital costs comes from debt. This is concretised roughly by the interest rate payable on the amount of debt incurred in the financing of the firm. When liquidity is necessary, rather than incur this (or additional) debt, firms might choose to raise capital by selling is equity in the form of securities to the public (Ritter, 1998, p. 1). The same might be done to its debt via an initial public debt offering (Ritter, 1998, p. 1). The life-cycle theory has been propounded by several financial theorists. It states that the IPO occurs within the normal process of a firm's evolution and maturity (Ritter, 1998, p. 1; Brau, 2005, p. 13). The small business is usually at first financed by the owners' limited capital. When growth beyond this capacity is necessary, and all other private avenues (friends and family) have been exhausted, capital is sought from non-affiliated financial sources, such as banks and venture capitalists. However, entrepreneurs and investors will likely not agree on all decisions to be made within the firm. At this point firms consider it desirable to offer its securities to a highly diversified public (Ritter, 1998, p. 18; Boehmer & Ljungqvist, 2004, p. 28). Firms are interested obtaining financing at the cheapest cost. The cost of capital theory can be invoked here as well, since equity does generate a cost (though one much more difficult to calculate than that of debt). When a firm offers i ts shares to

Business strategy Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Business strategy - Assignment Example Continuous upgradation of its fleet is another area of its core competency. Strategic analysis using PESTEL and Five Forces analysis suggests that Etihad operates in an attractive industry but the buying power of consumers is high due to high level of competition in the industry. However, because of their core strengths, the airline would be able to achieve its goals and mission. There is ample opportunity for growth and expansion and based on its differentiation strategy, Etihad would continue to grow. Etihad has the location advantage also but customer service is not difficult to replicate and hence, Etihad needs to pursue differentiation through the economic support of the emirate. Analysis of the business strategy helps ascertain the location of the organization within the industry environment. Strategy need not be based on rational planning or even conscious making decision assumptions (Mintzberg, 1987). Strategy can be formulated at three different levels – the corporate level, the business unit level and the functional or departmental level. This paper would analyse the business level and the functional level strategy adopted by Abu Dhabi based Etihad Airlines. Sustainable competitive advantage can be created and maintained either through market position or through core competencies (Leavy, 2003). The positioning approach can be evaluated through PESTEL analysis and the generic strategies which would reveal two dimensions of positioning – the industry attractiveness and the competitive strength. The strategic choice should be on how to leverage advantage amidst the competitive environment. The strategic choice should fit with the goals and objectives to gain competitive advantage (Allen & Helms, 2006). Porter asserts that there are three basic strategies and firms perform best by adopting one of them – cost leadership, differentiation and focus (Allen & Helms, 2006). To become an industry leader, the company must be competitive. While

Motivational Methods Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Motivational Methods Paper - Essay Example Process theories are equity and objective-setting methods that provide guidance and insight on how employees make decisions to work hard or not, depending on their personal preferences. An administrator should understand that workers should feel safe in their working environments, particularly when modifications like downsizing are required (Buchbinder & Shanks, 2012). In such a situation, most workers tend to quit their jobs or put less effort when performing their duties. An administrator is obligated to remove this alleged negative imbalance. For motivational purposes, workers should be guided to have a relaxed mind and understand that the downsizing process will affect every individual. Visible rewards will be provided to boost the morale of employees. The approach will improve the quality of their work. According to expectancy theory, the drive to work is based on the association between expectation and valance. Managers should understand that employees are motivated by accomplishing set objectives and retaining visible rewards to boost their valances (Lombardi & Schermerhorn, 2007). Consequently, it is necessary to create a relationship between efforts, performance, and results that workers value. Administrators can also employ stakeholder mapping when downsizing their departments. It involves the identification of those responsible for bringing change. Every worker should be informed about the external contributors to this modification (Zelman, McCue & Glick, 2009). For instance, a registration department can have two financial analysts. One may be dealing with in-patients and the other outpatients. However, it would be appropriate for a manager reduce the number of financial analysts to one since they perform similar tasks. A severance pay and other benefits should be offered to the employee affected by downsizing. Process theories, expectancy theory and stakeholder mapping are fundamental theories that managers

London underground Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

London underground - Essay Example It is also the first railway network to operate electric trains, in 1890, which now forms part of Northern line. The purpose of this paper is to explore the history of the London underground, its map design, services, fare, and system. It will also discuss improvements that need to be made in order to improve its functionality, especially with regard to whether or not a ladies carriage should be opened. Finally, the paper will discuss the safety issues and the ridership statistics. The history of railway construction in the United Kingdom can be traced back to early 19th century in which six railway terminals were built on the outskirts of London at around 1854. This include the Euston, King’s Cross, London Bridge, Waterloo, Paddington and Bishopsgate. During this period, there was only the Fenchurch Street that was located at the central business district of London City. This saw an increase in traffic jams, partly due to the desire for rail travelers to be able to reach the city centre by road. Therefore, as a means to decongest traffic in London, a proposal that had been made in 1830s, to construct an underground railway to connect the London City with the mainline terminals was re-energized in 1850s. This was due to the public pressure exerted on the government by commuters who were concerned about the traffic congestion in the city, which led to a lot of delays to reach the London’s city centre where they worked. As a result, in 1855, an Act of Parliament was passed approving the building of an underground railway between Farringdon Street through King’s Cross and Paddington, which was to be called the Metropolitan Railway. The project received a financial backing from Great Western Railway (GWR) when it consented that a junction would be constructed to link underground railway and mainline terminus at Paddington. Moreover, the GWR also accepted to design distinctive trains to link with the new subterranean

Financial analysis Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Financial analysis - Assignment Example The steel company will have the lowest because steel production is very asset intensive, meaning the company will have to invest billions in equipment, plants, and property required for steel manufacturing. Additionally, equipment used will have a long lifetime. As a result of this high investment and its long lifetime, the sales for a steel company will be relatively low, leading to low asset turnover (Rodgers 23). While supermarkets have low sales margins, pharmaceutical companies, jewelry retailers, and software companies have high sales margins. Supermarkets have low sales margins because of the high intensity of competition in the sector. In addition, there is minimal product differentiation because they mainly carry similar brands. Consumers also have a high sensitivity to price changes and switch costs tend to be low. As a result, competition in the sector is mainly based on pricing, which results in extremely low margins (Rodgers 48). On the other hand, software companies have the highest sales margins because consumer-switching costs are high, while production costs tend to be relatively low. Finally, most costs for initial development of software are previously expensed. Thus, the sales margins are higher than for the rest. I disagree with James Broker’s assessment. While earning numbers and operating cash flow are essential in the evaluation of a company’s prospects, they will differ because of long and short-term accruals. Some current accruals like credit sales lead to higher earnings than operating cash flows. On the other hand, other current accruals like unpaid expenses result in lower earnings than operating cash-flows. Non-current accruals like deferred taxes and depreciation also result in differences between operating cash-flows and earnings. Understanding the difference between earnings and operating cash-flows, in this case, is more important than the fact that earnings are higher than

Is Rim Destined to eventually Fail Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

Is Rim Destined to eventually Fail - Essay Example The growth is witnessed in terms of output, staffing and the manufacturing infrastructure. The consistent increase in volume of the company’s products ensures its competitiveness in the marketplace by confirming that the products it supplies are market-friendly and adequate to the ever-increasing number of customers. The increase in production is fueled by the adequacy of staff. Adequate staff ensure that work is concluded on time hence meeting the company deadlines. Manufacturing infrastructure on the other hand facilitates invention and innovation resulting in originality of the company products (Palmatier & Crum, 2003). Externally, there is the ever-rising pressure from the rapidly expanding consumer base; RIM products experience a short lifecycle. Therefore, they have extended manufacturing contracts to likeminded firms to help them in production to meet the ever-rising customer demands. This has extended the decision making chain resulting in complexity when it comes to market efficiency and decision-making in terms of enhancing supply chains. The software makeup of the organization is also not up to the task prompting the implementation of a decision support system for the company to ensure it continues its operations successfully (Chopra & Meindl, 2001). In the recent past RIM has been quite successful and because of this success a crop of challenges have come up threatening the success of the corporation. The company introduced seven new models of their products within the last 18 months. The challenge with these products is their shortened lifecycle that has reduced further from 2 years to a mere 1 year. Reports show that the company’s product portfolio has become very complex ranging from 18 to 100 possible end combinations of the models with only seven lines of products. This has the challenge of easily creating what we call an

Digital Media Report on Management of Innovation Essay

Digital Media Report on Management of Innovation - Essay Example The company is co-owned by Amargi Investments and UK Safety Company with the former owning 90%, while the latter being in possession of the remaining share. The initial idea was first developed at the end of year 2002 by Leigh Dowie, while in Woodside’s LNG IV Project. Being an engineer and experiencing complications in keeping the workplace accident free, he saw it as an opportunity to improve on the existing safety systems. In 2003, research was started on the existing safety systems and the problems realized in the systems prompted the embracing of technology in new designs of the security systems. Leigh Dowie went on to design new safety systems, carrying out the planning excellently and executing IP strategy, which will be explained in details in the subsequent sections. In 2005, with the design ready, Dowie approached the authorities in order to be handed a license and did promotion on the first prototype that was released in the course of the year. Comprehensive prototy ping then followed in the year 2006 with the final design being achieved in the following year. Additionally, license negotiation was carried out in 2007. Lots of efforts were put into the design in 2008 and 2009 with Dowie achieving to establish a license, trial production being run and also validation testing being done and completed. In the year 2010 early commercials trials were done on the design and the design acquired standard certification in the same year. The systems were now ready for the market by 2011 and commenced first distributor sales with Exclusive Rights being cancelled the same year. In 2012 the company has now focused on raising the capital and initiating distributor networks and direct sales Establishing an environment for innovation IP Strategies IP is the abbreviation of Intellectual Property rights, which are the rights accorded to an inventor of a design by the government so as to avoid exploitation of the inventor and also avoid a situation in which someon e else would use the design without consent from the design owner1. There are different kinds of IP rights, which chiefly depend on the kind of property being granted the right of ownership. In cases where a new design is developed or an existing design modified a patent is given to the inventor to prevent his/her work from being used by others without the inventor benefitting2. The process of maturing and sustaining an efficient IP strategy is quite cumbersome, but is very necessary before a new product is taken to the market for sales. In order to mature an IP strategy the following steps are used as guidelines: study more on the IP strategies, find more about the freedom acquired when using IP strategies, approach relevant authorities and lastly develop an inclusive IP strategy and operation plan Leigh being so much aware of the risk his innovation faced developed a competitive IP strategy making a very smart move, which should be emulated by other innovators. He patented his des ign of the two independent spools joined by a locking mechanism hence put on clear line between his invention and those that preceded his design. New Zealand, Canada and Australia all granted him safeguard for his invention from parties, which could take advantage and use the design for personal interests. Managing organizational knowledge and innovation strategies Leign is very innovative and creative, which is evident in him coming up with a very good design of a safety system