The Swot of Emirate Group

Introduction: The Emirates Group is a highly profitable business with a turnover of approximately US$ 12 billion and over 40,000 employees. The Group comprises of Dnata, the successful Airport Ground Services and Travel Industry division, and Emirates, the Group's rapidly expanding and award winning international airline. Emirates global network now sees it flying to over 100 destinations across 6 continents, operating a modern fleet of over 130 wide-bodied aircraft.Today the Airline has orders worth over US$ 58 billion for 170 more of the latest aircraft, with plans to operate to many more destinations in the months and years ahead. Essential to our continued business success as we expand will be the ongoing employment of high quality people to join our multi-cultural team of over 150 nationalities. In addition to lifestyle and tax free salary benefits, the Emirates Group also offers professional development opportunities to help employees develop new skills and grow their careers s uccessfully. Swot AnalysisStrengths: As a competitive and globally recognized airline industry, Emirates Airline has been able to have strategic position in the global market. In fact, when Emirates Airline streamlined their business, it already had the advantage of size. With several consecutive years of multibillion profits, the company has outshined its major rival companies to become a model firm. Also, Emirates Airline’s decision to focus on diversified market and by considering and entering the cargo shipping and their customer service was a courageous one, but it has led to its current position as one of the top global brands.The firm has likewise been characterized by many analysts to have an ability to adapt to changing market conditions in order to maximize profit. Listening to and identifying with consumers has allowed Emirates Airline to construct a corporate culture that bears little resemblance to the Emirates Airline of the past. The ability to continuously ren ew and improve their service in the airline and aviation while effectively managing the needs of their target audience is the key to maintaining Emirates Airline’s leader status and the key for succeeding in having strategic position.Weaknesses: Not all of diversification and approach have been successful and this can be considered as one of the flaws or weaknesses of the company. Analysts have accused the company of focusing too much on their high-end acquisitions and diversification in spite of the risky effects of such decisions. it does not cater for a lot of places in the USA, middle class and budget travelers Opportunities: The basis for long-term competitiveness is the ability to develop continuously new generations of more advanced airline and aviation services.Therefore one of the company’s opportunities is to tap into more markets as a result of the innovations being introduced in the aviation. Localized capabilities enabling or even enhancing such co-operati on will always make a difference when it comes to first-mover advantages. The opportunity to penetrate new growth markets where internet adoption still has room to go, Leveraging Emirates Airline’s infrastructure business to get first choice and stronger position against rivals is also an opportunity.They also have the opportunity to get ahead of their rival companies, and this should be the case, since the said market is a potential sizeable source of income. The trend of considering the internet market also shows cases new opportunities for the company. Threats: Rival companies are major threats to the business. Emirates Airline, in contrast, started out in other lines of business and entered and airline capabilities of the company.The firm’s inability to keep up with innovations, or recognize its demand, creates a threat for them, a risk that they could be displaced by other industry leaders. The legal and political environment in the countries where they operate in could potentially affect the business negatively. Their apparent complacence could be used by their rival companies to their advantage, and take Emirates Airline by surprise, with the latter realizing too late that they are not the industry leader anymore

Overseas Education: Opportunities, Experience and Quality

Vol. 6, No. 2. ISSN: 1473-8376 www. heacademy. ac. uk/hlst/resources/johlste ACADEMIC PAPER Service Quality in Higher Education: The Experience of Overseas Students Maria Pereda (deceased) David Airey (d. [email  protected] ac. uk) and Marion Bennett (m. [email  protected] ac. uk) Faculty of Management and Law, University of Surrey, Guildford GU2 7XH  ©Journal of Hospitality, Leisure, Sport and Tourism Education Abstract The higher education of students has become increasingly internationalised, with an evergrowing proportion of students originating from overseas.However, research to date suggests that overseas students are often less satisfied with their courses than other students. Consequently, there is a burgeoning need for universities to understand what students value in their university experience. This paper reports on a study that establishes and tests dimensions for measuring service quality in higher education, focusing on full-feepaying postgraduate students from no n-EU countries at one institution in the UK. The institution concerned has a particular reputation in tourism and hospitality and a significant proportion of the respondents were studying these subjects.Adopting Lehtinen and Lehtinen’s 1991 framework, a Q-sort was undertaken followed by factor analysis. The results of the research highlighted four factors of service quality: recognition; quality of instruction and interaction with faculty; sufficiency of resources; and aspects of physical quality. Arguably, the most significant finding here is the importance that these students attach to their institution’s reputation. Keywords: Service quality; Higher education; International students Maria Pereda died in May 2006 shortly after completing her PhD thesis. The degree was awarded posthumously.A native of Venezuela, Maria graduated from Venezuela Central University and held an appointment at Simon Bolivar University in Caracas. She completed her MSc at the University of S urrey in 2000, focusing on tourism and hospitality education. This paper is based on her PhD research. David Airey is Professor of Tourism Management and Pro-Vice-Chancellor at the University of Surrey. He has spent 30 years involved in tourism education in various capacities: with government, with the European Commission and with universities. He is co-editor, with John Tribe, of the recently published International Handbook of Tourism Education.Marion Bennett is Associate Lecturer in Tourism and Marketing at the University of Surrey. She has held lecturer positions since 1991 with the Universities of Strathclyde and Surrey, where her interests have focused on information technology and marketing in relation to tourism distribution, heritage and air transport. Pereda, Airey and Bennett (2007) Service Quality in Overseas Education: The Experience of Overseas Students Introduction The education of full-fee-paying international students has become of major importance for universities in Western nations, particularly in major English speaking destination countries.Barron (2005: 353) has suggested that â€Å"international education is one of Australia’s largest industries† and that the fees generated by international students are important to the budgetary health of institutions. In the UK, according to HESA (2006) and UKCOSA (2004), about 320,000 or 13 per cent of students in 2004-2005 came from overseas, with about 10 per cent from outside the European Union (EU). This figure more than doubled from about 160,000 in 1994-1995. For some institutions, international students currently represent more than 25 per cent of their student population (UKCOSA, 2006).The main countries of domicile of international students in the UK are China (32,000 or 12 per cent) and Greece (9 per cent), with at least a further 20 countries each providing more than 2,500 students. As far as tourism is concerned, equivalent total figures (UCAS, 2006) suggest that overseas stu dents represent about 16 per cent of acceptances onto programmes, rising from 11 per cent in 1996. Clearly this level of enrolment has represented a major opportunity for institutions, particularly at a time when public funding for higher education has been constrained; but it has also presented challenges.Barron (2005: 355) has pointed to the extent to which most universities have designated international departments responsible for marketing and recruitment, but goes on to highlight the need to ensure that such students are properly supported after arrival, providing evidence to suggest that this does not always happen, leading to frustration and disappointment. A recent report by the Higher Education Policy Institute (Bekhradnia et al. , 2006) confirms this, suggesting that non-EU overseas respondents were considerably less satisfied than others with the value for money received on their course.Against this background, it is clearly important for universities to understand what s tudents value in their university experience, including those from overseas. It has been common practice for many years for higher education institutions to provide opportunities for students to evaluate their learning and teaching experience, typically in the form of end-of-semester or end-of-course evaluations. Many institutions also gain feedback from students about services such as the library or computing.A recent addition to these information sources in the UK has been the National Student Survey (NSS), which focuses on learning and teaching experiences. However, surveys of the overall experience or overall quality have been more rare (Aldridge and Rowley, 1998). This paper reports on a study (Pereda, 2006) that was designed to establish and test dimensions for measuring service quality in higher education, with specific reference to students following postgraduate taught programmes for master degrees, over one year, from countries outside the EU.Many of these were following p rogrammes in tourism and hospitality. Specifically, the study aimed to identify from the literature three dimensions of service quality (physical, interactive and corporative), which were then validated with a Qsort. This provided the basis for a survey of 330 students at one institution in the UK, designed to measure their views of the quality of service received. This provides insights into the items that students value in their educational experience at this institution.It also provides a basis for redefining the dimensions of service quality. Service quality for international students The migration of international students is by no means a new phenomenon. Schachner (1962: 25), for example, refers to the students in medieval times who â€Å"poured in an increasing flood to the centres where they could literally sit at the feet of the great teachers and absorb wisdom†. To some extent, the search for knowledge remains an important driver for international ovement in educati on today, but, in other ways, motives, influences and indeed origin and destination countries have changed radically. During the most recent and biggest expansion of international education, the USA, UK and Australia have become the main destination countries and the countries of South East Asia have joined those of Europe as large providers of students. The search for knowledge has been joined by a range of other Journal of Hospitality, Leisure, Sport and Tourism Education 6(2), 55 – 67 56Pereda, Airey and Bennett (2007) Service Quality in Overseas Education: The Experience of Overseas Students factors in driving this growth. These include: the marketing campaigns of receiver universities; the perceived value of a foreign degree in terms of employment enhancement or ‘snob value’; the absence of sufficient university places at home; government policy in relation to student fees; and more extraneous factors such as opportunities for emigration (Pereda, 2006).As fa r as individual institutions are concerned, Allen and Higgins (1994), from a study of 82 institutions in the UK, report that the most important factors for international students when selecting a university were academic reputation, course content and entry requirements. But perhaps the biggest change, driven in part by the need for Western universities to maintain numbers of international students, particularly where these pay full tuition fees, has been the recognition of such students as an important ‘market’ that needs to be satisfied in an increasingly competitive world.Wright and O’Neill (2002), for example, point to the extent to which an assessment of students’ perspectives has become a crucial requirement if universities are to remain competitive. More than 20 years ago, Glisan (1984) highlighted the special interest in overseas students, while Mortimer (1997) emphasised the need to examine and understand the decision-making process undertaken by these students and for institutions to respond to their needs.To this extent, universities have become increasingly involved in defining service quality and measuring customer satisfaction in ways that are familiar to service marketing specialists (Gronroos, 1984; Kotler, 1985), who themselves were developing measures of service quality from the 1980s. As noted by Patterson et al. (1998) and Conant et al. (1985), the most important customers, namely students and their parents, and the university providers have progressively changed towards a customer service orientation.Against this background, there has been a rapid expansion in the literature about this aspect of service quality. However, the way in which it has typically developed – by identifying the attributes from consultation with the students and then evaluating these (Bourke, 1997; Gatfield et al. , 1999; Joseph, 1998; Thompson and Thompson, 1996) – has meant that there has been a great diversity and lack of c onsistency in methodological strategies and in the variables employed to assess the service quality (Leonard et al. , 2003).Some researchers in education have used SERVQUAL, which is the most popular model to measure service quality, sometimes specifically adapted for the education sector (Wright and O'Neill, 2002; Gatfield, 2000). Orr (2000) identified five groups of organisational determinants of success in the provision of fee-paying graduate courses. Pate (1993) split the literature on student satisfaction into three perspectives: psychological-wellness-type satisfaction (related to personal characteristics); job-type satisfaction (related to future aspirations); and consumertype satisfaction (related to daily experience).However, the general picture is of a profusion and indeed a confusion of measured variables, some replicated across different studies, others unique to a particular study. In an initial attempt to understand the underlying patterns of service quality variables from these previous studies in higher education, a framework proposed by Lehtinen and Lehtinen (1991) was used. The framework was considered to offer a useful preliminary way to structure information relating to education as a service.Lehtinen and Lehtinen separately identified three dimensions of service quality: the physical quality (both products and support); the interactive quality (interaction between consumer and service provider); and the corporative quality (the image). Using these three dimensions, some 24 studies specifically related to quality in higher education were reviewed to establish whether these dimensions could be identified from the variables considered in earlier studies of higher education. For a dimension to exist it had to be included in more than three studies (Ekinci and Riley, 2001).The results and the studies are given in Table 1. From this it is clear that the physical quality dimension (general services, teaching and learning facilities, accommodation ) and the interactive quality dimension (academic instruction, guidance, interaction with staff and students) are well included in the existing studies. The corporative quality dimension (recognition, reputation, value for money) is also present, but is less fully covered and mainly appears in papers concerned with marketing orientation (Bourke, 1995; Wilkinson, 1993). Journal of Hospitality, Leisure, Sport and Tourism Education 6(2), 55 – 67 7 Pereda, Airey and Bennett (2007) Service Quality in Overseas Education: The Experience of Overseas Students Study (author year) Mavondo et al. , 2004 Wiers-Jenssen, 2003 Wright and O'Neill, 2002 Elliot and Shin, 2002 Wiers-Jenssen et al. , 2002 Clemes et al. , 2001 Gatfield, 2000 Oldfield and Baron, 2000 Gatfield et al. , 1999 Ford et al. , 1999 Patterson et al. , 1998 Joseph, 1998 Aldridge and Rowley, 1998 Athiyaman, 1997 Bourke, 1997 Tomkovick et al. , 1996 Soutar and McNeil, 1996 Rogers and Smith, 1993 Hampton, 1993 Lapidus and Brow n, 1993 Stewart, 1991 Ortinau et al. 1989 Polcyn, 1986 X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X Physical quality X Interactive quality X X X X X X X X X X X X X Corporative quality 22 22 8 Table 1: Higher Education Evaluation Matrix Physical quality – general services, teaching and learning facilities, accommodation Interactive quality – academic instruction, guidance, interaction with staff and students Corporative quality – recognition, reputation, value for money This study focused specifically on students from non-EU countries following postgraduate taught programmes.The fact that they are both international and postgraduate identifies them as a particular segment of the student market, and, as noted, it is one that has been showing significant growth and fee-earning potential. In many ways, their needs and responses are similar to those of other students but in significant ways they are also different. For example, as inte rnational students, the 2004 study by UKCOSA (2004) indicated that both postgraduates and undergraduates showed high levels of satisfaction with their academic experience (87 per cent), lthough, at 91 per cent, the undergraduates were rather more positive than their postgraduate counterparts at 85 per cent. This broad similarity is reflected in the other items included in the UKCOSA survey, with a notable exception that, at 85 per cent, undergraduates were more likely than postgraduates (65 per cent) to be offered university housing at the beginning of their stay. Other differences identified in the literature (Pereda, 2006) are that postgraduates are likely already to have been exposed to academic life, are older, with more work experience and experience of living independently.International students have similar issues to their domestic counterparts but additionally they face some specific issues, the most commonly cited being knowledge of English, inadequate financial resources, social adjustment, problems of daily living, loneliness and homesickness (Kennedy, 1995; Wilkinson, 1993; Burns, 1991; Samuelowicz, 1987). These, combined with the fact that they, or their families, are normally paying full fees, may partly explain the extent to which they are more critical of their experience and more demanding (Pereda, 2006). The study by the Higher Education Policy Institute (Bekhradnia et al. 2006) relating to English Journal of Hospitality, Leisure, Sport and Tourism Education 6(2), 55 – 67 58 Pereda, Airey and Bennett (2007) Service Quality in Overseas Education: The Experience of Overseas Students universities showed that nearly 30 per cent of such students found their courses represented poor value for money compared with 15 per cent of home and EU students. The fact that this study relates to this particular segment provides information about an important group, but the extent to which the results can be related to all international students or to st udents in general needs to be tempered by these differences.Methodology Having reached a point of identifying from the literature the ingredients of and preliminary structure for service quality in higher education, the research strategy was developed to identify statements and dimensions that would capture the students’ experiences of service quality and to measure these at a particular institution with a large cohort of international students. The students included in the survey were all from non-EU countries taking taught master degree courses, typically over one year, in different aspects of management.Admittedly, this approach contains limitations, being confined to particular students studying a particular group of courses at one institution. The advantage of this approach was partly one of convenience and logistics, but also that it permitted the identification of a sufficiently large and coherent group of students with roughly similar experiences, hence avoiding diffe rences between institutions, subjects, ages and experience. The institution concerned is based in the South of England and achieved university status in the 1960s. It has a strong research reputation as well as strong links with the world of work.Specifically for this study it has a long-standing and strong international reputation for hospitality and tourism education. It regularly ranks as one of the leading centres both for teaching and research in these areas, and is one of only two institutions in the UK accredited by the UN World Tourism Organisation. It has a developing reputation for other management programmes, with recent accreditations by the American body, the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) and the Association of MBAs (AMBA), placing it among leading business schools.For more than 20 years it has attracted a large number of international students, and currently more than 90 per cent of its postgraduate students in management are from outsid e the UK. A dedicated international office provides specific support for these international students. The fieldwork was organised into two main parts. First, a Q-sort was used to establish the validity of the three dimensions and to establish statements related to the dimensions.A selection of these statements was then used both to explore the response of international students to their experience and to conduct an exploratory factor analysis, which ultimately identified four factors of service quality. Q-technique has its origins in the work of Stephenson (1935; 1953) and provides researchers with a systematic and orderly means for identifying the dimensions of subjective phenomena from the viewpoints and experiences of individuals. In brief, it attempts to convert subjective responses into measurable dimensions, which can then be formally evaluated by statistical applications.To this extent it is a preliminary method. It makes the study of human subjectivity amenable to ‘ob jective analysis’, hence combining the strengths of both quantitative and qualitative research (Sexton et al. , 1998). This versatile procedure is well suited to cases where the existence of concepts has not been established (Ekinci and Riley, 2001). The evaluation of students’ experiences comes into this category and was used here as a first step. Stergiou (2004) had earlier, and for similar reasons, followed this approach in relation to students’ views about teaching.The Q-sort was carried out in two phases. In the first phase, a bank of statements was created to represent the dimensions suggested by Lehtinen and Lehtinen (1991). The initial set of statements was generated from previous questionnaires in the area of higher education, including unpublished dissertations (Leonard et al. , 2003), as well as from discussions with researchers in related areas. An initial pilot test was conducted with five subjects in order to check the instructions and any wording problems with the statements that Journal of Hospitality, Leisure, Sport and Tourism Education 6(2), 55 – 67 9 Pereda, Airey and Bennett (2007) Service Quality in Overseas Education: The Experience of Overseas Students were generated. For the first Q-sort, a total of 104 statements were used, related to physical quality (34 statements), interactive quality (38 statements) and corporative quality (32 statements). Respondents for the study were confined to students enrolled in a postgraduate programme at the researchers’ university for at least one semester. The experience in the university is a basic requirement to evaluate the service.The Q-sort was completed by a total of 30 students from 28 different countries, including two from the UK, six from other EU countries and 22 from other parts of the world. These students were asked to sort the statements, which had been printed onto separate cards, into the three dimensions and then, for each group of statements, to clas sify them into: ‘most important’ (the kind of service you would expect to have); ‘least important’; and ‘not relevant’. In order to qualify, a statement needed to be allocated to the same heading by at least 60 per cent of the sample (Ekinci and Riley, 2001; Hinkin and Schriesheim, 1989) and a minimum f four qualified statements was required to validate the existence of a dimension. The result of this Q-sort was a set of 85 validated statements distributed as follows: physical quality 38; interactive quality 29; corporative quality 18. For the second Q-sort, in order to have a better balanced representation among the three dimensions, the best 20 statements that obtained a degree of consensus of 70 per cent or more were used for the first two dimensions, physical quality and interactive quality.However, further adjustments were also made both to avoid omitting likely determinants of student satisfaction – for example, library services â €“ and to remove statements that essentially had the same meaning. For corporative quality, which only achieved 18 validated statements, three of which did not reach the cut-off of 70 per cent, five new statements were added. Hence, the second Q-sort took place with 60 statements, 20 related to each dimension.The respondents for this second round were 30 non-British full-fee-paying students enrolled on PhD (12) and master (18) degree programmes in different departments of the university. They were asked to sort the cards in the same way as in the first Q-sort. The output from this round was a set of 59 validated statements. One item was rejected from corporative quality. The second stage of the study involved further exploration of the statements to establish how they impacted on student views of the quality of service provided and how well they confirmed the existence of the three dimensions.For this, a research instrument was implemented with students taking taught postgraduat e master level programmes at the institution. The final response was from 330 students taking a range of programmes in management and related areas. Eighty-four of these were on programmes related to hospitality and tourism, although it should be noted that this underestimates such students because a number of them identified themselves as studying ‘management’, omitting to mention their particular specialism. All were overseas students paying full fees.The research instrument was distributed personally in spring 2005, in most cases at the end of classes, and self-completed in the researcher’s presence. Forty statements in total were used from the second Q-sort to measure student views of the quality of service. Fifteen of these related to physical quality, 11 to interactive quality and 14 to corporative quality. The statements are given in Table 2. Physical quality The gardens and open areas on the campus are kept clean Students’ rooms are provided ith ad equate internet connections The classrooms have up-to-date teaching support equipment The university has modern computers with the latest programmes Student accommodation is safe The university has sufficient residential accommodation The library has a wide range of book and periodicals in my area of studies The rooms in the student residential accommodation are comfortable Mean 5. 22 5. 14 5. 10 5. 06 4. 66 4. 66 4. 57 4. 55 SD 1. 17 1. 90 1. 05 1. 30 1. 31 1. 41 1. 51 1. 28 Journal of Hospitality, Leisure, Sport and Tourism Education 6(2), 55 – 67 60Pereda, Airey and Bennett (2007) Service Quality in Overseas Education: The Experience of Overseas Students Adequate printer facilities are available The campus computers are sufficient for the student population The communal areas in each student residence are adequate for the number of students The university has plenty of sports facilities The sport centre offers modern equipment The university offers modern accommodation at affordable prices The university provides adequate parking areas for students Interactive quality My course is intellectually challenging Staff react politely to students’ queries It is easy to make friends on campus The administrative staff are helpful Lecturers stimulate critical analysis There are clear and reasonable requirements for each module Lecturers can be easily contacted individually It is easy to get involved in campus social organisations Lecturers have adequate time for consultation Feedback from coursework is adequate It is easy to interact with local students Corporative quality The university takes the lead in research A degree from this university improves my employment prospects The university maintains links with international education networks A degree from this university is well recognised internationally The university is well recognised for the academic programmes The university offers a high quality of teaching performance The ranking of my school is high Graduates from this university achieve considerable success in finding excellent employment A degree from this university has an excellent reputation in my home country The university maintains excellent links with local industry The university has contacts ith international employers The university has been extensively recommended by my friends in my home country Lecturers in my home country recommended this university to me There are excellent links between my home country and this university Table 2: Students’ views of the quality of service provided 7= strongly agree; 1= strongly disagree 4. 85 4. 85 4. 70 4. 69 4. 66 4. 57 4. 57 4. 45 4. 32 4. 23 4. 18 3. 92 3. 84 3. 45 1. 04 1. 02 1. 16 1. 14 1. 20 1. 17 1. 32 1. 20 1. 38 1. 33 1. 29 1. 37 1. 48 1. 30 5. 02 4. 71 4. 70 4. 60 4. 56 4. 55 4. 48 4. 35 4. 28 4. 23 3. 62 1. 04 1. 19 1. 23 1. 32 1. 19 1. 10 1. 19 1. 28 1. 22 1. 12 1. 50 4. 43 4. 31 4. 29 4. 20 4. 17 3. 94 3. 70 1. 38 1. 41 1. 45 1. 36 1. 32 1. 33 1. 4 8A seven-point Likert scale was used for this purpose, and respondents were asked to indicate the extent to which they agreed or disagreed with the statements relating to their experience. The instrument also collected data on satisfaction, value for money and demographics. These are not reported here. The analysis included the preparation of descriptive statistics, cross-tabulations against various independent variables, and exploratory factor analysis with Varimax rotation. An Journal of Hospitality, Leisure, Sport and Tourism Education 6(2), 55 – 67 61 Pereda, Airey and Bennett (2007) Service Quality in Overseas Education: The Experience of Overseas Students overall Cronbach alpha coefficient of . 875, results from more than 300 respondents, a Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin measure of sampling adequacy of more than . 0 and the Bartlett’s test results all gave support that the set of data was adequate for factor analysis, with a factor loading of . 35. Results and discussion The students’ views on the quality of service provided under the three dimensions are given in Table 2. These, together with the reasons for enrolling in the particular programme presented in Table 3, provide an indication of the elements of service quality that are of importance to these international students. The reputation and content, including the English language provision, of the programme are clearly important to the students in making their decisions about where to study. Reason Degree accepted internationally English language spoken Content of the courseReputation of this university back home Facilities Entry requirement Getting an offer of a place Influence of friends/family Know someone studying there Degree not available at home Scholarship award Sponsor’s decision Level of fees Difficulty of getting into university at home Table 3: Reasons for enrolling No (n=308) 184 152 142 103 91 63 62 54 52 52 42 19 13 11 The most important finding of the research to be reported here was that the factor analysis did not entirely support the structure proposed by Lehtinen and Lehtinen. Indeed, as set out in Table 4, four dimensions are identified, and of these, Factor 1 is by far the most important, accounting for the largest proportion of the variance (34 per cent), with eigenvalues greater than 3. 00 (6. 156).This factor includes a group of statements related to research, rigour and reputation, and is labelled here ‘recognition’. Factors 1 Factor 1: recognition The ranking of my school is high (corporative quality) A degree from this university is well recognised internationally (corporative quality) The university takes the lead in research (corporative quality) A degree from this university has an excellent reputation in my home country (corporative quality) My course is intellectually challenging (interactive quality) Factor 2: quality of instruction and interaction with faculty Lecturers have adequate time for consultation (inter active quality) . 765 . 772 . 702 . 659 . 652 . 609 2 3 4 Journal of Hospitality, Leisure, Sport and Tourism Education 6(2), 55 – 67 62Pereda, Airey and Bennett (2007) Service Quality in Overseas Education: The Experience of Overseas Students Lecturers can be easily contacted individually (interactive quality) There are clear and reasonable requirements for each module (interactive quality) Lecturers stimulate critical analysis (interactive quality) Feedback from coursework is adequate (interactive quality) Factor 3: sufficiency of resources The campus computers are sufficient for the student population (physical quality) Adequate printer facilities are available (physical quality) The communal areas in each student residence are adequate for the number of students (physical quality) The university has sufficient residential accommodation (physical quality) Factor 4: quality of facilities The university has plenty of sport facilities (physical quality) The sports centre has m odern equipment (physical quality) The classrooms have up-to-date teaching support equipment (physical quality) The gardens and open areas on campus are kept clean (physical quality) . 863 . 802 . 526 . 483 . 724 . 689 . 657 . 642 . 758 . 663 . 611 . 454 Eigenvalue 6. 156 1. 527 1. 375 1. 72 Explained variance by factor (%) 34. 199 8. 481 7. 640 7. 069 Table 4: Service quality scale: factor loading structure Extraction method: principle component analysis. Rotation method: Varimax with Kaiser Normalisation. Rotation converged in five iterations To some extent this reflects how the university positions itself as a demanding and competitive body. The other three factors did not reach eigenvalues of 3. 00, and the percentage variance together only accounts for 23 per cent of the total. The second factor roughly relates to Lehtinen and Lehtinen’s ‘interactive quality’ and here is labelled ‘quality of instruction and interaction with faculty’.The items he re emphasise the importance of the lecturer in his or her intrinsic role as a teacher, willing to guide, teach and motivate students. The variables included in this factor also provide evidence of the responsibilities of the lecturer towards the students in terms of providing clear instructions, accurate and punctual feedback and private consultation. Factor 3 includes four items from ‘physical quality’, and although they only explain 7. 64 per cent of the common variance, all the items have high loadings, ranging from . 642 to . 724. Interestingly, they all relate to the adequate provision of services by the university and hence are labelled here ‘sufficiency of resources’.The last factor, although composed of four items from ‘physical quality’, does not show a clear pattern – two of the items refer to sport facilities (both of which have high loadings), the modernity of classroom facilities and cleanliness of the campus. This recasting of the dimensions provides an interesting step in translating service quality thinking into the arena of higher education. In particular, it emphasises the point that the provision of services is not only about the actual facilities (classrooms, computers, etc) and the ways in which they are delivered (by the teachers), both of which find correspondence in any service; it also highlights the fact that there is another, in this case overriding, dimension for students in the ways in which they judge their institution.This is the standing or recognition of the university, which in itself is a combination of achievements often over many years in the wide range of activities covered by universities – teaching, research, invention and knowledge creation. In the case of this particular study, this may be partly explained by the fact that the institution concerned has an outstanding and long-established reputation for Journal of Hospitality, Leisure, Sport and Tourism Education 6(2) , 55 – 67 63 Pereda, Airey and Bennett (2007) Service Quality in Overseas Education: The Experience of Overseas Students tourism and hospitality studies, and a significant proportion of the respondents were taking these programmes. In the same way, ancient universities, some with histories over many centuries, offer ‘reputation’ as a key element in attracting students.This ‘recognition’ dimension, of course, also finds expression in other services and goods, but arguably its explanatory strength for universities in distinguishing between institutions, particularly for overseas students, is more powerful than in other areas. It is difficult to generalise from this to all universities. Given the rapid expansion of the sector in recent years, there has been little time for many institutions to have developed their reputations. This may explain why in earlier studies (Gatfield et al. , 1999; Tomkovick et al. , 1996) which have included ‘reputationà ¢â‚¬â„¢ it has not consistently appeared as the most important factor. Indeed, ‘academic instruction’ has more typically explained most of the variance (Gatfield, 2000; Elliot and Shin, 2002; Patterson et al. , 1998).However, what it does point to potentially is the sheer importance of reputation once it has been achieved and, as a corollary, the imperative to maintain reputation. Against this background, league tables and world rankings take on a crucial role and hence become a vital part of the development and survival strategy for institutions in an increasingly competitive world. As international recruitment and international competition in higher education increases, this is likely to figure increasingly prominently in the strategies of universities. Conclusion Three important issues come out of this work in relation to the things that students value in their university experience.First, in line with previous studies, the evaluation of higher education includes a c omplex and diverse range of variables, from classroom experience to library and computing provision, from social and sporting activities to international recognition. Second, the work in measuring service quality provides a good starting point for understanding the basic structure of the variables that students take into account in evaluating their experience. And third, there is, at least for some universities, including the one where the study took place, a fourth dimension related to reputation; in this case, a reputation in hospitality and tourism may have influenced the results. This then points to a key feature of higher education provision, which is that universities are not a uniform range of institutions.They vary enormously by, for example, age, size, structure, specialism and orientation, and any form of evaluation will be likely to reflect these differences. In this case, it is reputation and recognition that has come through. In other universities and with other student groups there may well be other dimensions in the variables. This study was based on one institution and sought the views of the international, postgraduate, full-fee-paying students who had already taken a decision about where to study, and the configuration of the variables reflects this. Primarily, it has brought the reputation of the institution into prominence; but it has also provided a further basis for understanding the issues that international students value.Given the likely continued growth in international student movements, there are key lessons here for institutions, not least in the importance of developing and maintaining reputation. As already noted, in an environment of globalisation, international competition and league tables, reputation is likely to increase in importance. Of course, given the sample of a particular group of students studying particular subjects at one institution, there are some important limitations in the extent to which it is possible to gen eralise the results. However, notwithstanding this weakness, both the approach and the findings in terms of the key variables and dimensions provide pointers o approaches to understanding the views of students and the ways in which this important group of students view their experience. There are clearly many further avenues for research in this area. A wider range of institutions with different priorities, a wider range of subject areas and coverage of undergraduate and domestic students would all provide further insights to the views of students about their Journal of Hospitality, Leisure, Sport and Tourism Education 6(2), 55 – 67 64 Pereda, Airey and Bennett (2007) Service Quality in Overseas Education: The Experience of Overseas Students experiences and about the dimensions that they value. But perhaps most important for tourism and hospitality specialists would be a specific focus on students studying these subjects.While they are a significant cohort among the students included in the survey, and this study can provide pointers, their number was not sufficient to draw final conclusions about their particular characteristics, if any. This work remains to be done. References Aldridge, S. and Rowley, J. (1998) Measuring Customers' Satisfaction in Higher Education. Quality Assurance in Education, 6, 197-204. Allen, A. and Higgins, T. (1994) Higher Education: The International Student Experience. Leeds: HEIST. Athiyaman, A. (1997) Linking Student Satisfaction and Service Quality Perceptions: the case of university education. European Journal of Marketing, 31, 528-540. Barron, P. (2005) Cultural Issues in Learning. In: D. Airey and J. Tribe (eds. ) An International Handbook of Tourism Education. Oxford: Elsevier, 353-366. Bekhradnia, B. , Whitnall, C. and Sastry, T. 2006) The Academic Experience of Students in English Universities. London: Higher Education Policy Institute. Bourke, A. (1995) A Model of the Determinants of International Trade in Higher E ducation. Service Industries Journal, 20. Bourke, A. (1997) The Internationalisation of Higher Education. Higher Education Quarterly, 51, 325-346. Burns, R. (1991) Study and Stress among First Year Overseas Students in an Australian University. Higher Education Research and Development, 10, 61-77. Clemes, M. , Ozanne, L. and Tram, L. (2001) An Examination of Students' Perceptions of Service Quality in Higher Education. Journal of Marketing for Higher Education, 10, 1-19. Conant, J. , Brown, J. and Mokwa, M. 1985) Students are Important Consumers: assessing satisfaction in a higher education context. Journal of Marketing Education, 7(2) 13-20. Ekinci, Y. and Riley, M. (2001) Validating Quality Dimensions. Annals of Tourism Research, 28, 201-223. Elliot, K. and Shin, D. (2002) Student Satisfaction: an alternative approach to assessing this important concept. Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management, 24, 197-209. Ford, J. , Joseph, M. and Joseph, B. (1999) Importance-Performan ce Analysis as a Strategic Tool for Service Marketers: the case of service quality perceptions of business students in New Zealand. The Journal of Services Marketing, 13, 171-186. Gatfield, T. 2000) A Scale for Measuring Student Perception of Quality: an Australian Asian perspective. Journal of Marketing for Higher Education, 10, 27-41. Gatfield, T. , Bakker, M. and Graham, P. (1999) Measuring Student Quality Variables and the Implications for Management Practices in Higher Education Institutions: an Australian and international perspective. Journal of Higher Education and Management, 21, 239-252. Glisan, G. (1984) A Marketing Approach to Student Evaluation of a Department of Marketing. Journal of Higher Education, 54, 159-163. Gronroos, C. (1984) A Service Quality Model and its Marketing Implications. European Journal of Marketing, 18, 139-150. Hampton, G. 1993) College Students' Satisfaction: marketing's approach for evaluating higher education. Journal of Professional Services Ma rketing, 9, 115-128. HESA (2006) Higher Education Statistics for the United Kingdom 2004-05. Cheltenham: Higher Education Statistics Agency. Hinkin, T. and Schriesheim, C. (1989) Development and Application of New Scales to Measure the French and Raven Bases of Social Power. Journal of Applied Psychology, 74, 561-567. Joseph, M. (1998) Determinants of Service Quality in Education: a New Zealand perspective. Journal of Professional Services Marketing, 16, 43-71. Kennedy, K. (1995) Developing a Curriculum Guarantee for Overseas Students.Higher Education Research and Development, 14, 35-46. Kotler, P. (1985) Strategic Marketing for Educational Institutions. London: Prentice-Hall. Journal of Hospitality, Leisure, Sport and Tourism Education 6(2), 55 – 67 65 Pereda, Airey and Bennett (2007) Service Quality in Overseas Education: The Experience of Overseas Students Lapidus, R. and Brown, J. (1993) Assessing Satisfaction with the University Experience: an international perspective. Journal of Consumer Satisfaction, Dissatisfaction and Complaining Behaviour, 6, 187-192. Lehtinen, U. and Lehtinen, J. (1991) Two Approaches to Service Quality Dimensions. The Service Industries Journal, 11, 287-303. Leonard, D. , Pelletier, C. nd Morley, L. (2003) The Experiences of International Students in UK Higher Education: A Review of Unpublished Research. London: UKCOSA. Mavondo, F. , Tsarenki, Y. and Gale, T. (2004) International and Local Student Satisfaction: resources and capabilities perspective. Journal of Marketing for Higher Education, 14, 4160. Mortimer, K. (1997) Recruiting Overseas Undergraduate Students: are their information requirements being satisfied? Higher Education Quarterly, 51, 225-238. Oldfield, B. and Baron, S. (2000) Student Perceptions of Service Quality in a UK University Business and Management Faculty. Quality Assurance in Education, 8, 85-95. Orr, S. 2000) The Organisational Determinants of Success for Delivering Fee-Paying Graduate Courses. The International Journal of Educational Management, 14, 54-61. Ortinau, D. , Bush, A. J. , Bush, R. P. and Twible, J. (1989) The Use of Importance Performance Analysis for Improving the Quality of Marketing Education: interpreting faculty-course evaluation. Journal of Marketing Education, 11(2), 78-86. Pate, W. (1993) Consumer Satisfaction, Determinants and Post-Purchase Actions in Higher Education. College and University Journal, 68, 100-107. Patterson, P. , Romm, T. and Hill, C. (1998) Consumer Satisfaction as a Process: a qualitative, retrospective longitudinal study of overseas students in Australia.Journal of Professional Services Marketing, 16, 135-157. Pereda, M. (2006) An Examination of the Impact of Service Quality Dimensions on Students' Satisfaction in Higher Education in the UK. Thesis, (PhD). University of Surrey. Polcyn, L. (1986) A Two-Instrument Approach to Student Satisfaction. College and University Journal, 62, 18-24. Rogers, A. and Smith, P. (1993) Identifying the N eeds of Overseas Students: a monitoring exercise at the University of Southampton. Journal of International Education, 3, 7-24. Samuelowicz, K. (1987) Learning Problems of Overseas Students: the two sides of a story. Higher Education Research and Development, 6, 121-133. Schachner, N. 1962) The Medieval Universities. New York: A. S. Barness and Co. Sexton, D. , Snyder, P. , Wadsworth, D. , Jardine, A. and Ernest, J. (1998) Applying Q Methodology to Investigations of Subjective Judgements of Early Intervention Effectiveness. Topics in Early Childhood Special Education, 18, 95-107. Soutar, G. and McNeil, M. (1996) Measuring Service Quality in a Tertiary Institution. Journal of Educational Administration, 34, 72-82. Stephenson, W. (1935) Correlating Persons instead of Tests. Character and Personality, 4, 17-24. Stephenson, W. (1953) The Study of Behaviour: Q-technique and its Methodology. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Stergiou, D. (2004) Knowledge and Teaching: an investigation on what makes good teaching in tourism higher education. Thesis, (PhD). University of Surrey. Stewart, K. (1991) Applying and Marketing Orientation to a Higher Education Setting. 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Journal of Hospitality, Leisure, Sport and Tourism Education 6( 2), 55 – 67 67

Asp Organizations That Offer Emr Essay

ASP is becoming the mainstream technology for providing EMR services to private clinics and hospitals. As describe by bradley (2013) â€Å"An Application Service Provider (ASP) is a business that offers software services to customers, using computer networks and the Internet as the mechanism to deliver and manage the service. † he further explained that the goal of ASP technology is to reduce cost to the businesses in term of acquisition and maintenance. ASP organizations that offer EMR: Almost all the EMR vendors provide EMR as a product and as an ASP. Following are a short list of organizations which provide EMR via ASP 1. Organization: HealthFusion EMR System:ASP: MediTouch EHR ® WebSite: http://www. healthfusion. com/ehr-platform. asp 2. Organization:waiting room solutions EMR System: waiting room solutions WebSite: http://www. waitingroomsolutions. com/ 3. Organization: ios Health Systems EMR System:Medios EHR: Electronic Health Records WebSite: http://www. ioshealthsystems. com/electronic-health-records/ 4. Organization: VItera HealthCare solution EMR System:VItera Intergy WebSite: www. viterahealthcare. com/solutions/intergy 5. Organization:Benchmark Systems EMR System:Benchmark Systems EHR WebSite: http://www. benchmark-systems. com/ 6. Organization:eClinicalWorks EMR System:eClinicalWorks WebSite:http://www. eclinicalworks. com/ 7. Organization:Bizmatics EMR System:PrognoCIS WebSite: http://www. bizmaticsinc. com/ 8. Organization:Allscripts EMR System:Allscripts EHR WebSite: http://www. allscripts. com/en/solutions/ambulatory-solutions/ehr. html 9. Organization: WebPT EMR System:WebPT EMR WebSite: http://www. webpt. com/ 10. Organization:ReLiMed Solutions EMR System:ReLiMed EMR WebSite:http://relimedsolutions. om/ 11. Organization:Office Practicum EMR System:OP Cloud WebSite:http://www. officepracticum. com/cloud. php Three EMR 1: eClinicalWorks EClinical: eClinicalWorks Web-based technology promise to provide fast and secure access from anywhere. It is widely used throughout the world and US by more than 70,000 physicians. eClinical use secure XML and HTTPs-based communication. eClincal Provide EMR, Prac tice management, Patient Portal, Interoperability between systems in the community or across the country. EClincal provide pricing information on their web site ranging from 449 to 99 per month. eClincal is CCHIT certified and qualify for meaningful use. 2: Allscripts. Allscripts Provide Allscripts EHR. Allscripts EHR is hosted in the cloud as a web-based service. Allscripts provide services in Ambulatory Care, Acute Care, Post-Acute Care. Allscript is CCHIT certified and qualify for meaningful use. 3: HealthFusion Provide MediTouch EHR is a web-based EHR. Its offer a touchscreen user interface. The company claim that it is the first all-in-one, Web-based, touch screen Electronic Health Record, and their touch screen interface make it very easy-to-use. The EHR offers functionality for charting, problem lists, medication management, electronic prescribing, allergy checks, order management, lab tests and document management. Meditouch is CCHIT certified and qualify for meaningful use. Criteria to compare: Before to developed criteria to compare the EMRs, It is advisable to define the objectives and goals for the EMR. As detailed by wager (2010) the EMR systems should enable use evidence-based standards to provide care to patient, monitoring the quality and costs, enable to clinicians to access to patient information in a timely and efficient manner, and improve efficiency and effectiveness. Wager). Once the a specific EMR qualify for the above goals following criteria can used to decide about the acquisition of system. 1: Cost of acquisition: To implement the complete EMR system is an expensive proposition for any private clinic or hospitals. Besides the actual product, the EMR needs a multitude of hardware to properly use all the fu nctionality of EMR. Which include server, workstation and back up system. Generally the ASP models have low initial cost and the vendor take the responsibility for hosting the server and maintain a backup system. : Reviews from other users: The acquisition of EMR is a lengthy process. It is very critical to evaluate the candidate EMR extensively. Review from the actual user will provide more accurate informations about the usability of the product. 3: Functionalities. Vaccine Tracking, Tracking and managment of Chronic Disease, Scanning, Labs connection to LabCorp, QuestLab) 4: Technical support 5: Remote Access 6: HIPPA compliant 7: CCHIT Certified 8: E-prescribing Differ in terms of service, Support, Financing. Reference Mitchell, Bradley. â€Å"ASP – Application Service Provider. † Networking – Computer and Wireless Networking Basics – Home Networks Tutorials. N. p. , n. d. Web. 8 Feb. 2013. <http://compnetworking. about. com/od/internetaccessproviders/g/providers_asp. htm>. â€Å"Web-Based Electronic Medical Records (EMR) Software | Reviews of the Best Systems. † Software Advice: The Authority on Software Selection. N. p. , n. d. Web. 8 Feb. 2013. <http://www. softwareadvice. com/medical/web-based-emr-software-comparison/>.

Crminal Justice System of Singapore Research Paper

Crminal Justice System of Singapore - Research Paper Example Other relevant offences get created by statutes like the Abduction Act, Arms Crime Act, Vandalism Act as well as Abuse of Drugs Act. In Singapore, many activities considered relatively mild in other countries such as jaywalking, sale of chewing gum, littering, failing to flush toilets after use, possession of obscene material and sexual activities like oral and anal sex between men considered illegal thus perceived as a highly regulated society (Haas, 201). This burdensome act has led to Singapore having rare cases of the low occurrences of awful crimes in the universe. Singapore carries out both corporal punishments that are by caning offenders and capital punishment by hanging serious offenders. These punishments are necessary for certain offences. According to statistics, the country has one of the highest homicide rates in the sphere in relation to its population outstanding Saudi Arabia, for example, between the years 1991 and 2004, more than 400 people ended up executed most of them being drug peddlers. William Gibson a Science Fiction writer termed Singapore as Disneyland with the death penalty. In the 19th century, the criminal law received a discharge in the three Straits, Settlement of Singapore. At the period, there was slight suspicion that English general law offenses were accepted in these territories. Straits Settlement Penal Code was approved and came into operation in 16th September 1872 after problems like use of certain Indian Acts arose in 1871. The code is virtually a re- enactment of the Indian Penal Code. The main act in Singapore is the Penal Code. It relates to criminal law and has more than 500 units divided into 24 chapters. The Penal Code terms the fundamentals of every offence and recommends the maximum and sometimes the minimum penalties for the offence. The basic form of an offence has the lowest penalties, while other literary forms of the crime are defined as

The History of Kuwait Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The History of Kuwait - Assignment Example The country is a constitutional monarchy but has a parliamentary system of governance. The constitutional emirate is a hereditary position and the emir is the chief of state while the head of government is the Prime Minister and deputy prime ministers who both are appointed by the emir. The legislature consists of 66 seats with 50 states elected by popular vote while appointed cabinet ministers occupy the rest. The judiciary is based on Sharia law and is impendent from government influence (Casey 19). Most of the Kuwaitis are Arabs and Islam is the dominant religion in the country with the majority being Sunni Muslims. Foreign groups include Iranians, South Asians, and expatriates and the official language is Arabic, but English is also spoken (O’Shea and Spilling 45). The religious minorities include Parsi, Hindu, and Christians and Native Kuwaitis do not pay any taxes. Kuwait’s foreign-policy making is based on quiet diplomacy, clarity, and straightforwardness and aim s at strengthening cooperation with other countries on the basis of non-intervention in the internal country affairs and mutual trust. Kuwait’s foreign policy is based on the ideals of sovereignty and freedom of political decision (O’Shea and Spilling 17). The Emir, Crown Prince, Prime Minister and government ministers occupy the executive branch and are key decision-makers. The chief of State is Emir Sabah al-Ahmad al-Jabir al-Sabah (since 2006) and Crown Prince is Nawafal – Ahmad. The decrees and pardons are executed by the Emir and have a lot of influence on the foreign policy decisions. The Emir is hereditary and is tasked with appointing the Prime Minister, and deputy prime ministers and approves the council of government ministers that is appointed by the Prime Minister (Casey 61). The parliament is a key decision-maker in foreign policy since it has the power to initiate legislation, remove the Emir and question actions of government ministers.

Korean Art Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Korean Art - Essay Example One of the leaders in the Monochrome Art Movement, Ha Chong-Hyun (1935) used landscaping techniques in his works so to express the way he saw man as not being separable to nature (Art World of Ha Chong-Hyun). Kwon Young woo (1926) on the other hand, used simple composition out of paper by tearing, sticking, perforating, and coloring paper to create abstract modern paintings. His purpose was to break down the gap between Korean painting and the Western painting - This was obviously what the Minjung Art Movement was against (The 11 Great Korean Artists). Minjung artists, on the other hand, used a more revolutionized technique in painting. This is one of the biggest differences between the two movements. They used different vivid colors and facial expressions in their works to show their feelings toward capitalists and imperialists. Their techniques though were adopted from Buddhist paintings and narrative art. In this image ECRITURE NO. 000105, Park Seo-bo used one color pattern only although it dramatically shows the lights and shades, as well as for image 2 - Ecriture 000105 2000. ... Both paintings resemble nature. They show movement and harmony. Although the works of Minjung Art painters were quite different from those of Monochrome Art Movement because of their use of colors, they are similar in the use of patterns. Both painting techniques use patterns in design and color as well. In the next images, you can see vibrant colors in the Minjung Art paintings, but still, they follow a certain pattern as to the color of the clothes used, accessories, and background. The next images represent the Minjung Art Movement: (SoRi-MoRi Philadelphia Korean Cultural Troupe www.sorimori.org/eng/aboutus/mission.php) ("The Kabo Peasants' War" koreaweb.ws/minjungart) Both paintings used different colors and detailed faces. It is also similar in some way to the Monochromatic Art technique because it also follows a certain pattern in direction. Both have symmetry and balance. Works Cited Jung, Jun-mo. The 11 Great Korean Artists. Kim, Yong-na. 20th Century Korean Art. NJ: Laurence King Publishing, 2005 Seo-bo, Park. "Ecriture 000105" Online image. "Ecriture 000105 2000" Online image. Park Ryu Sook Gallery. Path: Galleries; Asian Artists Smith, Edward Lucie. Art World of Ha Chong-Hyun. 2007/08/02Path: Criticism; Art World of Ha Chong-Hyun-Edward Lucie-Smith l Art Critic "SoRi-MoRi Philadelphia Korean Cultural Troupe" Online image. Yon'guso, Kyore Misul. "The Kabo Peasants' War" Online image. Our People's Art

Markiting Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

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Management Decision Support System (DSS) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4250 words

Management Decision Support System (DSS) - Essay Example s this system uses internal sources of information but it also use external sources of information that are vital to the organization for instance reports regarding current stock prices and reports which give competitors information. The fundamental difference between Decision Support System and other information systems is that Decision Support System has more analytical capabilities. It has multiple models to analyze and synchronize large amounts of data. This action of Decision Support System allows decision makers to view the data in a form which allows data to be easily analyzed. This has far reaching consequences because the decision that comes out is more justified and rigorously tested (Sauter, 159). Decision Support System employs interactive and user-friendly software. This software allows the user the luxury to ask multiple questions, modify key assumptions and add new data set into the scenario. Some Decision Support Systems are heavily model drive whereas other Decision Support Systems are model-driven and are focused more on extracting vital information from heaps of data to enable mangers to take effective decisions. It is this very reason why Decision Support Systems are also known as business intelligence systems because these systems focus on helping users to make better business decisions (Laudon and Laudon, 490-505). Since high quality decision making has become imperative for the survival of an organization therefore organizations these days are investing heavily on Decision support systems, more renowned as business intelligence systems. These systems consist of technologies and applications which enable better decision making. Business intelligence systems provide firms with the capabilities to collect large amount of information and using this generated information to develop new knowledge about operations and bring changes in the decision making behavior of people so that they achieve success in achieving profitability target and

Teen (brain) Development Report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Teen (brain) Development Report - Essay Example The issue of this generation gap has been the source of a lot of discussion and more so when the current teenagers quite often look for quick fixes and instant gratification in life, with the virtue of patience appearing to loose relevance. Does this arise from just the differing generations or are there more basic issues including the manner of brain development in teenagers. Insight into the structure and the way the brain develops and functions have come about as a result of deep study on the matter. (Benson, D. Grey matter gallery. 2002). The insight is not without its controversies, as is usually seen in research fields and more so here as there is likely to be difference of opinion from the philosophic point of view as the matter under consideration is the functioning of the brain. (Sheppard, R. How We THINK? 2000). The development of the brain starts from the time of conception and continues into adolescence and teenage. This maturing of the brain is a result of chemical and hormonal development and occurs in stages. An example of this can be seen in that the period between the ages six and fifteen is considered to be the peak language development period as the left hemisphere fills out and after which acquiring new language skills becomes more difficult. The brains of the teenager are still in the developing stage and there are functional areas that are different from that of an adult brain. The frontal cortex area, which is the seat of cool decision making, is still in the developing stage in a teenager, whereas it has full developed in the case of an adult. This would definitely provide different ways in which decision are made and there is quite likely to be differences of opinion on the decisions that have been taken. (Bergman, B. A five-tonne tool for BRAIN SURGERY. 2000). The difference of views that occur among teenagers and adult parents come about

Did the government bail outs actually work Term Paper

Did the government bail outs actually work - Term Paper Example Though counter to his conservative ideology, Bush relented and worked with Congress to pass TARP, the Troubled Asset Relief Program, a move applauded by then presidential candidate Barack Obama. TARP and the auto bailout were and remain controversial topics. These were big gambles that, with all the associated drawbacks, paid big dividends. The bailouts saved a major American industry, the world from the Great Depression, the sequel and millions of people from living in â€Å"Bushvilles.† TARP, otherwise known as the â€Å"bank bailout,† was hurriedly implemented in 2008 as the world appeared on the threshold of a catastrophic financial meltdown. To stabilize financial markets, Congress authorized the Treasury Department to spend $700 billion, a move that caused widespread public outcry against the program. Most economists, however, understood that the move played a central role in rescuing the global economy. The Treasury didn’t use the entire amount though. It spent $470 billion on hundreds of banks, the auto industry and trying to help prevent home foreclosures. Treasury calculated that the total lifetime cost for taxpayers to be $17 billion in losses from the investments in the auto industry and auto finance companies plus a $46 billion loss from mortgage modification programs. â€Å"By any measure, TARP’s final tally will be far less than expected amid the crisis. But the program remains a big loser politically.† (â€Å"Credit,† 2010). According to a Treasury Department official Timothy Massad, Read Mthe federal government successfully stopped the 2008 financial crisis by â€Å"acting with overwhelming force and speed.† â€Å"The actions we took to stabilize the crisis worked. We really did arrest the panic,† said Massad. In addition, the financial regulatory reforms implemented the past three years have afforded economic policymakers enhanced tools to scrutinize systemic risk and better manage future crises. The U.S. government’s rapid and robust actions are in contrast with how European Union countries handled their banking crisis. â€Å"We’ve seen Europe struggle with its problems for two years. They haven’t been able to act as forcefully with their problems.† (Mowbray, 2011) To gain a little perspective, TARP and other government actions taken due to the financial crisis will cost taxpayers less than the savings and loan debacle during the 1980s, as a percentage of GDP (gross domestic product). Following the initial payout, President Obama continued the attempt to revive the financial system by implementing a scheme to help banks raise private money so that they can pay the government back. The Obama administration forced the 19 biggest banks to submit to a â€Å"stress test† to give potential investors confidence that those banks were solvent and reporting accurate financial records. Consequently, â€Å"banks have been able to raise enoug h private capital that today banks totaling only about 8 percent of bank holding companies by assets still have TARP money, down from 75 percent at the dawn of the crisis.† (Mowbray, 2011) Another element of the Obama administration’s reaction to the financial

Organizational Learning and Development - Research report on Essay

Organizational Learning and Development - Research report on CREATIVITY and INNOVATION in an organization - Essay Example A team headed by an HR executive hired for the purpose made a survey on the input and output rendered in the system. To the surprise of all, the team arrived at a finding that the level of creativity before computerisation was relatively high. The fall in creativity lead to nil innovation albeit scores of channels were available to finish the job in no time. The team sample picked a section comprising about thirty employees who gave relatively greater output during the regime of their manual working pattern. The team found that the employees who were new to the use of computers in their work field were over loaded with technical bottle-necks, which they were forced to get redressed with the help of computer engineer on visit to the firm only on call. The types of fall in creativity and the cause were analysed and arrived at a point that the administration in its stubborn ambition of modernisation by computerisation paid very little heed to the human resource and related innovative possibilities. Compulsion to give their output only through computers – hitherto unacquainted -- had formed a sort of psychic inhibition in the minds of the employees, a chunk of who were even mentally forced to quit the job. The team empirically permitted a couple of the employees who were giving much yield in their pre-computer era to have a manual back up and condoned the delay for such additional load of work. In addition they were afforded incentives even for paltry improvements in their technical operations. Over a spell of 90 days the two employees began to excel in computer operations and were willing to work only with computers bidding a bye to traditional type of manual work. Thus freedom in their realm of activities and rewards made employees to come up with a flood of new ideas. Imparting training in the field clubbed with freedom certainly improved the level of creativity and innovation. Creativity although is universally accepted as a needful and useful

International Trade Theories Essay Example for Free

International Trade Theories Essay 1. Theory of Mercantilism Introduction: Mercantilism is a trade theory holing that a country’s wealth is measured by its holdings of â€Å"treasure† which usually means its gold. The mercantilists proposed theory of mercantilism. They were a group of economists who preceded Adam Smith. The foundations of economic thought between 1500 and 1800 were based on mercantilism. Mercantilists believed that the world had a finite store of wealth; therefore, when one country got more, other countries had less. Mercantilists restricted imports and encouraged or subsidized exports as a conscious policy to make their citizens better off. Mercantilists judged the success of trade by the size of the trade balance. Mercantilism was a sixteenth-century economic philosophy that maintained that a country’s wealth was measured by its holdings of gold and silver. This required that the countries to maximize exports and minimize imports. The logic was transparent to sixteenth-century policy makers that if foreigners bought more goods from us than we bought from them, then the foreigners had to pay us the difference in gold and silver, enabling us to amass more treasure. With that treasure we could expand the nation’s global influence. Mercantilists pressed for favorable balance of trade (BOT) or balance of payments (BOP) as against the unfavorable one. In a way it is good because your currency appreciates with mounting surplus on the Fore front, and the country can attract more foreign capital infusion further strengthening the country’s economy, infrastructure, etc. Now China and Japan with enormous favorable BOT and BOP get all the benefits envisaged by mercantilists. According To Adam Smith- -Mercantilism is an economic theory popular in the 1500s and was the biggest reason for Europe’s desire to colonize new lands the theory states that there is a certain amount of wealth in the world and it is in a nations best interest to accumulate it through wealth, a nation can achieve power a country achieves wealth through producing and exporting more good then they import this theory was invented to serve the interest of the empire, not the colony Evaluation of Mercantilism Theory: Mercantilist writers have been lauded and criticized in the literature on foreign trade at least since Hume’s Political Discourses in 1752. Mercantilists have been criticized for everything from their views regarding the gains from trade to their self-promotion of the merchant’s role in society as being important. Mercantilist writers assumed that the economy will generally operate at a pace that leaves resources –land and labor – idle, but in reality the economy naturally tends to full employment. This is a â€Å"flaw† in the logical foundation of mercantilist thought. The regime of WTO has moved the world away from mercantilism by pressing for free trade with reduced protectionism. Theory of Neo-Mercantilism: Mercantilism is still in vogue. Mercantilist policies are politically attractive to some firms and their workers, as mercantilism benefits certain members of society. Modern supporters of these policies are known as neo-mercantilists, or protectionists. The neo-mercantilists want higher production through full employment and that every industry produces an exportable surplus leading to favorable BOT. Consciously or otherwise, every country is concerned about increasing export earnings. The merits of surging Fore surplus built through exports speaks well of a country’s capability to cater to world’s needs qualitatively, quantitatively and in varied product/service ranges. Every country does what is possible to meet this end. But the modern trade emphasis is ‘Export more and Import more’. Finally: The main economic system used during the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries. The main goal was to increase a nations wealth by imposing government regulation concerning all of the nations commercial interests. It was believed that national strength could be maximized by limiting imports via tariffs and maximizing exports. This approach assumes the wealth of a nation depends primarily on the possession of precious metals such as gold and silver. This type of system cannot be maintained forever, because the global economy would become stagnant if every country wanted to export and no one wanted to import. After a period of time, many people began to revolt against the idea of mercantilism and stressed the need for free trade. Mercantilism is a theory developed by the merchants; hence the name. It rests on the role of a strong state in supporting (state-granted) monopolies and protecting shipping and trading lanes. Mercantilism encourages exports and discourages imports. Gold and silver are used to keep score of the game played between nation-states, and represent the wealth of the nation. _______________________________________________________________ 2. Absolute Advantage theory Introduction: Adam Smith, in The Wealth of Nations, postulated that under free trade, each nation should specialize in producing those goods that it could produce most efficiently. Some of these would be exported to pay for the imports of goods that could be produced more efficiently elsewhere. Smith ridiculed the fear of trade comparing nations to households. Since every household finds it worthwhile to produce only some of its needs and to buy others with products it can seal, the same should apply to nations: It is the maxim of every prudent master of a family, never to attempt to make at home what it will cost him more to make than to buy. The Taylor does not attempt to make his own shoes, but buys them from shoemaker What is prudence in the conduct of every private family, can scarce be folly in that of a great kingdom. If a foreign country can supply us with some part of the product of our own industry, employed in a way in which we have some advantage. The theory of absolute advantage is based on the assumption that the nation is absolutely better (i.e., more efficient) at production of certain goods than are its trading partners. Smith showed by his example of absolute advantage that both nations would gain from trade. ADAM SMITHS TRADE THEORY OF ABSOLUTE ADVANTAGE: The first classical theory of international trade was propounded by Adam Smith, the founder of classical economics. His theory is known as the Theory of Absolute Advantage. It may be possible for all the countries to produce all the commodities they need, in spite of resource constraint. But, the cost of production of goods for which a country is deficient in its resources would be exorbitantly high. It is better to import such goods rather than produce them. Most Countries therefore tend to specialize in producing commodities in which they have absolute advantage in cost of production. Therefore, most countries export goods which they can produce at a lower cost and import what they can produce at a higher cost. This common sense logic of international division of labor suggested by Adam Smith marks the beginning of modern theories of foreign trade. The theory of absolute advantage states that the basis of trade between the nations is the absolute advantage a country has in producing a commodity over the other countries. In simple words, two countries are able to trade between them because each one of them is able to produce at least one commodity at a comparatively lower cost. Assumptions: The theory of absolute advantage was advanced to buttress Smiths argument that if there was no government involvement in trade, and if each individual was left to do what in his or her own best interest, then there would be more goods and services available, prices would be reduced, and the wealth of each nation, measured as the welfare of the citizens, would increase. Smiths theory was offered to replace mercantilism. The Theory of Absolute Advantage and the Theory of Comparative Advantage rest on very strong assumptions, as follows: Two countries, two commodities assumed in both theories. The theories are obvious for this case. The three-by-three case (and those beyond) cannot be established analytically, and it is not even clear how the principle should be formalized. (See p. 3 of Ronald Jones, The Positive Theory of International Trade, Handbook of International Economics, R. Jones and P. Kenen (eds.), 1984.) Efficiency objective The Absolute and Comparative Advantage theories assume that total world production, and therefore efficiency, is the objective. Efficiency is not always a country goal. Zero Transportation Costs both theories presume that transportation costs between and within countries are zero. Factor Mobility/Immobility both theories presume that resources are absolutely mobile within a country and absolutely immobile between countries. Full employment Both theories assume full employment in each country. Comparative Advantage versus Absolute Advantage: As we can see from the example above, a country can have a comparative advantage in producing a good even if it is absolutely less efficient at producing that good. To understand this more clearly, think of an example of a doctor in private practice: A young doctor opens her own practice, working by herself, and within a few months has developed a substantial clientele. At first, she was performing all her clerical work—filing, typing and answering the phone—by herself. With an ever-busier schedule, however, she realizes that she could spend more time seeing patients, and thus see a greater number of patients, if she hired an assistant. As it turns out, the young professional is not only a brilliant doctor, but is also lightning-fast at typing and filing. She is, in fact, better at doing both jobs than the clerical assistant she hires. In other words, she has an absolute advantage at both tasks: medical diagnosis and clerical work. Does it make sense then for the doctor and her assistant to share both tasks, each spending part of the day diagnosing patients and doing clerical work? The answer is no. By having the assistant perform all the clerical work, the doctor is able to maximize her specialization and see more patients. The patients are undoubtedly better off too. In other words, even though the assistant is worse at performing both tasks, an economist would say that he nonetheless has a comparative advantage at clerical work. As you can see, by working together – trading their services – the doctor and the assistant are able to maximize their skills, making both better off. As these examples show, trade allows countries to specialize in the production of what they do best and make the most efficient use of their resources, thereby decreasing the price of both goods. No matter how inefficiently a country produces every kind of good, it can always be said to have a comparative advantage in at least one of those goods. That is the theory of comparative and absolute advantage. It helps explain what happens in the real world of international trade, and it offers broad guidance to countries as they decide which goods and services to produce and subsequently export, and which, in turn, to import. Trade in Theory and Practice: In reality, of course, trade specialization does not work precisely the way the theory of comparative advantage might suggest, for a number of reasons: No country specializes exclusively in the production and export of a single product or service. All countries produce at least some goods and services that other countries can produce more efficiently. A lower income country might, in theory, be able to produce a particular product more efficiently than the United States can but still not be able to identify American buyers or transport the item cheaply to the United States. As a result, U.S. firms continue to manufacture the product. Finally: The Scottish economist Adam Smith developed the trade theory of absolute advantage in 1776. A country that has an absolute advantage produces greater output of a good or service than other countries using the same amount of resources. Smith stated that tariffs and quotas should not restrict international trade; it should be allowed to flow according to market forces. Contrary to mercantilism Smith argued that a country should concentrate on production of goods in which it holds an absolute advantage. No country would then need to produce all the goods it consumed. The theory of absolute advantage destroys the mercantilist idea that international trade is a zero-sum game. 3. Comparative Advantage theory Introduction: David Ricardo, in 1817, enunciated his refinement of Smiths concept by postulating the principle of comparative advantage (as opposed to Smiths concept of absolute advantage). The theory of comparative advantage states that even if a country is able to produce all its good at lower costs than another country can, trade still benefits both countries, based on comparative costs. His writings demonstrated what has become known as: the principle of comparative advantage: a nation, like a person, gains from the trade by exporting the goods or services in which it has its greatest comparative advantage in productivity and importing those in which it has the least comparative advantage. The key word is comparative, meaning relative and not necessarily absolute. There are gains from trade whenever the relative price ratios of two goods differ under international exchange for what would be under conditions of no trade. In addition, the theory of comparative advantage demonstrates that countries jointly benefit from trade (under the assumption of both goods). With the theory of absolute advantage, Ricardos theory of comparative advantage does not answer why production cost differ within each country and also no consideration is given to the possibility of producing the same goods with different combinations of factors. Assumption: A situation in which a country, individual, company or region can produce a good at a lower opportunity cost than a competitor. This theory that global efficiency gains may still result from trade if a country specializes in those products it can produce more efficiently than other products-regardless of whether other countries can produce those same products even more efficiently. It denotes gains from trade will occur even in a country that has absolute advantage in all products because the country must give up less efficient output to produce more efficient output. Assumptions underlying the concept of comparative advantage Perfect occupational mobility of factors of production resources used in one industry can be switched into another without any loss of efficiency Constant returns to scale (i.e. doubling the inputs in each country leads to a doubling of total output) No externalities arising from production and/or consumption Transportation costs are ignored comparative advantage and international trade: Comparative advantage exists when a country has a margin of superiority in the production of a good or service i.e. where the opportunity cost of production is lower. The basic theory of comparative advantage was developed by David Ricardo Ricardo’s theory of comparative advantage was further developed by Heckscher, Ohlin and Samuelson who argued that countries have different factor endowments of labor, land and capital inputs. Countries will specialize in and export those products which use intensively the factors of production which they are most endowed. If each country specializes in those goods and services where they have an advantage, then total output and economic welfare can be increased (under certain assumptions). This is true even if one nation has an absolute advantage over another country. Worked example of comparative advantage consider the data in the following table: | Pre-Specialization | CD Players | Personal Computers | | UK | 2,000 | 500 | | Japan | 4,000 | 2,000 | | Total Output | 6,000 | 2,500 | After trade has taken place, total output of goods available to consumers in both countries has grown. UKs consumption of CD players has increased by 200 and they have an extra 100 PCs. For Japan, they have an extra 200 CD players and 200 PCs. If businesses exploit increasing returns to scale (i.e. economies of scale) when they specialize, the potential gains from trade are much greater. The idea that specialization should lead to increasing returns is associated with economists such as Paul Romer and Paul Ormerod Determinants regarding comparative advantage: Comparative advantage is a dynamic concept. It can and does change over time. Some businesses find they have enjoyed a comparative advantage in one product for several years only to face increasing competition as rival producers from other countries enter their markets. For a country, the following factors are important in determining the relative costs of production: The quantity and quality of factors of production available (e.g. the size and efficiency of the available labor force and the productivity of the existing stock of capital inputs). If an economy can improve the quality of its labor force and increase the stock of capital available it can expand the productive potential in industries in which it has an advantage. Investment in research development (important in industries where patents give some firms significant market advantage) for more information on this have a look at this page Movements in the exchange rate. An appreciation of the exchange rate can cause exports from a country to increase in price. This makes them less competitive in international markets. Long-term rates of inflation compared to other countries. For example if average inflation in Country X is 4% whilst in Country B it is 8% over a number of years, the goods and services produced by Country X will become relatively more expensive over time. This worsens their competitiveness and causes a switch in comparative advantage. Import controls such as tariffs and quotas that can be used to create an artificial comparative advantage for a countrys domestic producers- although most countries agree to abide by international trade agreements. Non-price competitiveness of producers (e.g. product design, reliability, quality of after-sales support) Criticisms: However, the principle of comparative advantage can be criticized in a several ways: †¢ It may overstate the benefits of specialization by ignoring a number of costs. These costs include transport costs and any external costs associated with trade, such as air and sea pollution. †¢ The theory also assumes perfect mobility of factors without any diminishing returns. The reality may be very different. Output from factor inputs is likely to be subject to diminishing returns. This will make the PPF for each country non-linear and bowed outwards. †¢ Complete specialization might create structural unemployment as some workers cannot transfer from one sector to another. †¢ Relative prices and exchange rates are not taken into account in the simple theory of comparative advantage. For example if the price of X rises relative to Y, the benefit of increasing output of X increases. †¢ Comparative advantage is not a static concept it may change over time. For example, nonrenewable resources can slowly run out, increasing the costs of production, and reducing the gains from trade. †¢ Many countries strive for food security, meaning that even if they should specialise in non-food products, they still prefer to keep a minimum level of food production. †¢ Finally, the principle of comparative advantage is derived from a simple two good/two country model. The real world is far more complex, with countries exporting and importing many different goods and services. Finally: It seems obvious that if one country is better at producing one good and another country is better at producing a different good (assuming both countries demand both goods) that they should trade. What happens if one country is better at producing both goods? Should the two countries still trade? This question brings into play the theory of comparative advantage and opportunity costs. The everyday choices that we make are, without exception, made at the expense of pursuing one or several other choices. When you decide what to wear, what to eat for dinner, or what to do on Saturday night, you are making a choice that denies you the opportunity to explore other options. ______________________________________________________________ 4. Heckscher-Ohlin theory Introduction: the Heckscher–Ohlin theorem is one of the four critical theorems of the Heckscher–Ohlin model. It states that a country will export goods that use its abundant factors intensively, and import goods that use its scarce factors intensively. In the two-factor case, it states: A capital-abundant country will export the capital-intensive good, while the labor-abundant country will export the labor-intensive good. Definition: This theory said that differences in countries’ endowment of labor compared to their endowment of land or capital explain differences in the cost of production factors. Assumption: The critical assumption of the Heckscher–Ohlin model is that the two countries are identical, except for the difference in resource endowments. This also implies that the aggregate preferences are the same. The relative abundance in capital will cause the capital-abundant country to produce the capital-intensive good cheaper than the labor-abundant country and vice versa. Initially, when the countries are not trading: the price of capital-intensive good in capital-abundant country will be bid down relative to the price of the good in the other country, the price of labor-intensive good in labor-abundant country will be bid down relative to the price of the good in the other country.Once trade is allowed, profit-seeking firms will move their products to the markets that have (temporary) higher price. As a result: the capital-abundant country will export the capital-intensive good, the labor-abundant country will export the labor-intensive good. Features of the model: †¢ Relative endowments of the factors of production (land, labor, and capital) determine a countrys comparative advantage. Countries have comparative advantages in those goods for which the required factors of production are relatively abundant locally. This is because the profitability of goods is determined by input costs. Goods that require inputs that are locally abundant will be cheaper to produce than those goods that require inputs that are locally scarce. †¢ For example, a country where capital and land are abundant but labor is scarce will have comparative advantage in goods that require lots of capital and land, but little labor — grains. If capital and land are abundant, their prices will be low. As they are the main factors used in the production of grain, the price of grain will also be low—and thus attractive for both local consumption and export. Labor intensive goods on the other hand will be very expensive to produce since labor is scarce and its price is high. Therefore, the country is better off importing those goods. Factor Proportions Theory: Trade theory, like all of economic theory, changed drastically in the first half of the twentieth century. The factor proportions theory developed by the Swedish economist Eli Heckscher and later expanded by his former graduate student Bertil Ohlin formed the major theory of international trade that is widely is still widely accepted today. Whereas Smith and Ricardo emphasized a labor theory of value the factor proportions theory was based on a more modern concept of production that raised capital to the same level of importance as labor. Factor Intensity in Production: The factor intensity in production theory considered two factor of production, labor and capital. Technology determines the way they combine to form a product. Different products required different proportions of the two factors of production. It is easy to see how the factor proportions of how a product is produced differs substantially among groups of products. For the manufacturing of leather footwear is still a relatively labor intensive process even with the most sophisticated leather treatment and patterning machinery. Other products such as computer memory chips, however although requiring some highly skilled labor require massive quantities of capital for production and development and the manufacturing facilities needed for clean production to ensure the extremely high quality demanded in the industry. The concept of factor proportions is very useful in the comparison of the production processes of goods. According to factor proportions theory, factor intensities depend on the state of technology and the current method of manufacturing a product. The theory assumed that the same technology of production would be used for the same goods in all countries. It is not therefore differences in the efficiency of production that will determine trade between countries at it did in classical theory. Classical theory implicitly assumed that technology or the productivity of labor is different across countries. Otherwise there would be no logical explanation as to why one country requires more units of labor to produce a unit of output than another country. Factor proportions theory assumed no such productivity differences. Factor Endowments, Factor Prices, And Comparative Advantage: If there is no difference in technology or productivity of factors across countries, what then determines comparative advantage in production and export? The answer is that factor prices determine cost differences. And these prices are determined by the endowments of labor and capital the country possesses. The theory assumes that labor and capital are immobile, meaning they cannot move across country borders. Therefore the countrys endowment determines the relative costs of labor and capital as compared to other countries. Each country is defined or measured by the amount of labor and capital that it possesses. If a country has when compared with other countries more labor and less capital it would be characterized as relatively labor abundant. That which is more plentiful is cheaper; so a labor abundant country would therefore have relatively cheap labor. For a country such as China possesses a relatively large endowment of labor and a relatively smaller endowment of capital. At the same time Japan is a relatively capital abundant country with a relatively smaller endowment of labor. China possesses relatively cheaper labor and should therefore specialize in the production and export of labor intensive products. Japan possesses relatively cheap capital and should specialize in the production and export of capital intensive products. Comparative advantage is derived not from the productivity of a country, but from the relative abundance of its factors of production. Using these assumptions, factor proportions theory stated that a country should specialize in the production and export of those product that use intensively its relatively abundant factor. (i) A country that is relatively labor abundant should specialize in the production of relatively labor intensive goods. It should then export these labor intensive goods in exchange for capital intensive goods. (ii) A country that is relatively capital abundant should specialized in the production of relatively capital intensive goods. It should then export these capital intensive goods in exchange for labor intensive goods. Finally: The Heckscher-Ohlin theory states that international and interregional differences in production costs occur because of differences in the supply of production factors: Commodities requiring for their production much of [abundant factors of production] and little of [scarce factors] are exported in exchange for goods that call for factors in the opposite proportions. Thus indirectly, factors in abundant supply are exported and factors in scanty supply are imported (Ohlin, 1933).These simple statements lead to an important conclusion: under free trade, countries export the products that use their scarce factors intensively and imports the products using their scarce factors intensively.