Saturday, January 25, 2020

Uppsala Model, Transaction Cost Theory and Network Model

Uppsala Model, Transaction Cost Theory and Network Model According to Calof and Beamish (1995), internationalization is the method of adapting organizations operations (resources, strategy, structure,) to foreign environments. This process comprises of the amount and geographic distance of the foreign market that is entered; the different amount of activities that are carried out in the different countries and the intensity of integration of these activities. Firms go into internationalization as a result of their customers migrating and their competitors globalizing while some companies go into it as a symbol of success and progress (multinationalism idea). Due to the complexity of the processes involved in the internationalization, several theories have been designed by different scholars to enable the easy accomplishment of the international emerging markets. Amongst the theories and their different features that are to be discussed are; the Uppsala Model, Transaction Cost theory and the Network Model. Uppsala Model of Internationalization is the theory that is based on the learning and the evolutionary viewpoint. This theory is derived from the behavioral theory which is explained as the nature of the firm through behavioral actions of its customers and the country of its emergence (Cyert and March, 1992). This theorys strength is based on the knowledge on how to conduct a business in a foreign market on which without the knowledge, the intended company to internationalize would be rendered handicapped (Carlson, 1966). Firms using this theory have the tendency of entering a new market successfully through the geographic and psychic distance which means the summation of factors that is hindering the flowing of information from one market to another market; these include differences in language, education, business practices, culture, and industrial development (Johanson Vahlne, 1977, Johanson Associates, 1994). Just as it was mentioned in the 3rd lecture on the 8th of February, the socio-cultural environment/ culture and cultural differences have a big role to play when a company is entering a foreign market, this is because the ways of life of the people, organizations and government will be different from that of the domestic country of the entering firm. This means that the company has to plan on different strategies to use like using two or three languages pattern as the organizational language base and strategies to suit the countrys religion and other sensitive factors in order to be able to penetrate faster than it would have taken. Thus, the model expects that the internationalization process, once it has started, will tend to proceed regardless of whether strategic decisions in that direction are made or not. (Johanson Vahlne, 1990,) There are two types of knowledge that are involved in this theory; the general or objective knowledge which can be taught and the market-specific or the experimental knowledge which can only be learnt via personal experience and is difficult to transfer nor separated from its original source (tacit knowledge) Penrose, (1959). The experimental knowledge is very important as it cannot be easily acquired like the objective knowledge. An example of this can be the carrying out of marketing researches and reports. All the information on the threats and opportunities of the international market can best be gotten from the people working in that country just as it is explained in Johanson and Vahlne, 1990; That it is the experience that generates the business opportunities and constitute the driving force in the internationalization process. This is why this theory is seen to be a slow process because it involves the learning through experience from a firms own activities. It is always the lack of experiential knowledge in the new market that pushes the firm to use the internationalization characterized gradual process which is in stages and known to the Establishment Chain (Johanson and Wiedersheim-Paul, 1975). Critiques of Uppsala Model This model is too deterministic because its principles are predicted by the evolution of time. All its advances are based and controlled by the environment of which the firm exist or planning to internalize. The model does not take into account the interdependencies between different countriess markets of which a firm operates under. This model is mostly relevant to the physical product industries but usually very slow in entering distant markets in terms of psychic distance at an early stage and its frequently not valid for the service industries as services can be dynamic and more time compressed also requires initial commitments. Subsequently, there are many models and strategies that facilitate the faster and easier avenues to extend a business abroad, therefore, it is no longer necessary to build up knowledge using the in house method due to the present technology nature that stimulates the interactivity with customers. To conclude this theory, it is quite clear that this theory has the competitive advantage opportunities base to the amount of resources and researches that are carried out in the foreign country before entering. This model only focuses on the selected firm unlike other models that extends their researches to environmental explanatory variables rather than being static. The key features of Uppsala theory are: Firms first of all achieve their knowledge from the home market before moving to the distant markets. Organizations start their overseas operations from culturally/ geographically and religiously close nations and progress slowly to culturally and geographically further far-away countries. Organizations also launch their overseas operations by making use of the traditional exports and slowly but surely moving to the using of a more intensified and demanding operational modes like sales subsidiaries at the company and target country level. It is the objectives of the firm to produce abroad I all markets. Transaction Cost Theory is a cost that is incurred in creating an economic trading (which is the cost of taking part in a market, economies of scale and transportation cost). This involves all the cost incurred from the starting of a particular transaction to the end. This is the summation of all the expenses involved in establishing a new market in a foreign country, this include both the explicit cost and the implicit cost and it affects both the both the service provider and the customer. Normally, it is advantageous to have the external transaction costs more than the internal transaction costs, this will guarantee the companys growth but, if the internal transaction costs are more than the external transaction costs this will lead the company to a downscale by outsourcing. Transaction cost economics arises when multinational companies are more efficient than their markets and contracts in organizing interdependencies between their agents that are located in different countries. It is the theory of the role and size of a firm. If a company plans to utilize a firm-specific asset in a foreign market and this utilization has to be done in that market due to their localization factors for example, trade barriers, high transportation costs and some other specific factors, the company can best do this by obtaining the required license to invest abroad on their own facilities rather than using that of the foreign countrys market. This is because; the more intangible the firm-specific assets are, the stronger its tendency of being successful would be. Transaction Cost theory is closely related to the internalization theory. With the transaction cost theory, firms always strive to minimize their cost at all point during their operations and decision making. This is why firms would need to consider to either entering a foreign market with their total assets or collaborating with their external partners as externalization (Williamson, 1975). The failure of a foreign emerging market strongly depends on this decision (Williamson, 1979). The key features of the Transaction Cost Theory are: * The transaction cost approach focuses on costs and how these costs would affect a firms choice of market and their modes of entry into a new boundary market. * This theory views organizational structure as a single important arrangement for establishing and safeguarding transactions and reducing transaction costs between participants and across organizational boundaries. * The Transaction cost covers all the costs of searching for information about a foreign market, products, buyers and sellers; negotiation costs; and monitoring which is part of the enforcement costs. * Transaction costs and transactional difficulties increases when transactions are characterized by: Asset specificity; Uncertainty (internal and external); and Frequency of transaction. * The international market decision is made in a rational manner base on the analysis of the cost of transaction. * Organizations make decisions based on the evaluations and comparing of their cost of an entry mode that is related to their objectives. Critiques of Transaction Cost theory This theory can be wrong and also dangerous for corporate managers because of its assumptions on which it is based on. Firms are not mere alternatives for the structuring of efficient transactions when markets results disappoints; they hold a strong advantages for leading and controlling certain kinds of economic actions via a strategy that is extremely unusual from that of a market both national and international. Transaction Cost theory is bad for being put into practice because it fails to recognize the just mentioned difference (Masten, 1993). Conclusively, Firms should select the organizational forms and locations for which transaction costs are minimized. (Donaldson O`Toole, 2007).A firm should expand its operations until their cost of making an extra transaction within the firm is equal to the cost of making similar or more transaction in another place (foreign market). The firm should first of all continue to grow internally until external sources have a cost advantage before externalizing (Hollensen, 2007). Network Model: In the network model theory, the market is seen as a system of social and industrial relationships among customers, suppliers, competitors, families and friends within a given boundary and beyond. This is for the purpose of creating the opportunity and motivation for internationalization. Following the network perspectives, the strategic decisions that are usually taken by organizations strongly depends on the relationships between the various parties and individual firms also depends on the resources that are controlled by other national and international firms. The structure of the Network Model can be demonstrated below: Actors Activities Resources (Johanson and Mattsson, 1988) The key features of the Network Model are as follows: * This model is based on the theories of social exchange and focuses on firm behavior in the context of inter-organizational and interpersonal relationships. * The glue that bonds the relationships together between the actors is based on technical, economic, legal and above all personal ties. * The long-term relationships between business actors and the background in which the organization operates have the illustrative significance in the description of the internationalization of firms. * A firm does not act alone in relation to other actors in a market. * A conjecture in this model is that an organization is reliant on other firms resources surrounded by the same network; an example is the customer and supplier relationships. Critiques of the Network Model The start-up problem in this model prevents even-adoption of superior products; excess sluggishness can occur as no actor is be willing to put up with the over proportional threat of being the first adopter of a standard. In many cases, the existence of network effects could lead to a weak and inferior result in markets (pareto-inferior). Also, In the case of sponsored technologies, there is a possibility to internalize the otherwise more or less lost of network gains by strategic inter-temporal pricing. Private incentives to providing networks that can overcome the inertia problems can be made possible but still the assurance of social optimality would not be certain. Conclusively, the network relationships are significant opportunities for the acquirement of resources and knowledge that are necessary for foreign development of firms. Also, the relationships of firms in a domestic network can be used as bridges to other networks in other Countries. Such direct and indirect bridges to different country networks can be important in the opening steps abroad and in the successive entry of new markets in an emerging industry. References Books Cyert, R.M., and March, J.G., (1963). A Behavioral Theory of the Firm. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall. Donaldson, B., and OToole, T., (2007). Strategic Market Relationships: From strategy to Implementation. Chichester: John Wiley Sons. Hadjiikhani, A., and Johanson, M., (2001). Expectation- The Missing Link in the Internationalization Process Model. New Plymouth: Pergamon Press. Hollensen, S. (2001). Global Marketing- A market-responsive approach. 2nd ed. Gosport: Prentice Hall. Hakansson, H., and Johanson, J., (1992). A Model of Industrial Networks. Stockholm: Almquist Wiksell International. Hollensen, S. (2007). Global Marketing A Market-Responsive Approach, London: Prentice Hall. Johanson, J. associates, (1994). Internationalization, Relationships and Networks. Stockholm: Almqvist Wiksell International. Johanson, J., and Vahlne, J-E., (1977). The Internationalization Process of the Firm- A Model of Knowledge Development and Increasing Foreign Market Commitments. Stockholm: Almquist Wiksell International. Johanson, J., and Vahlne, J-E. (1990). The Mechanism of Internationalization. Stockholm: Almquist Wiksell International. Johanson, J., and Mattson, L-G., (1988). Internationalization in Industrial Systems A network Approach in Strategies in Global Competition (ed. By Hood, N Vahlne J-E. 287-314). Oxford: Oxford University Press. Penrose, E., (1995). The Theory of the Growth of the Firm (3rd ed.). Great Britain: Oxford University Press. Williams, O., (1985). The Economic Institutions of Capitalism, New York: The Free Press JOURNALS Kotabe, M., and Helson, K., (2008). Global Marketing Management. A Journal of Global Marketing. 6th February, pp. 329-331. Whitelock, J., (2002). Theories of Internationalization and Their Impact on Market Entry. A Journal of International Marketing Review. 7th February, 342-344. Williams, O., (1979). Transaction Cost Economics: The Governance of Contractual Relations, Journal of Law and Economics. 3rd February, pp. 233-262.

Friday, January 17, 2020

Neighbours

Everyone has neighbours, that much is obvious. Whether they live down the street or if they live within throwing distance. Every person, every family, and every neighbourhood is different. Some neighbours can be very inconsiderate, and then there are some who are very considerate towards helping and respecting others. The inconsiderate neighbour is the one constantly playing loud music, and when someone complains they do not change their ways at all. The considerate neighbour may be the one who is always lending a helping hand; even before you ask for help.Then there is the silent neighbour, who may fall into either category, being considerate or inconsiderate depending how you want your neighbours to be. Whether your neighbours are the inconsiderate loud type or the considerate, over friendly and helpful type it is all about personal preference and how you want your neighbours to be and act towards you. All types of neighbours are an important part to each community, they can help u s to learn to communicate and relate to all different types of people. Whether they are noisy and inconsiderate, silent and keep to themselves, or if they are helpful and considerate, they are all our neighbours.An inconsiderate neighbour may be the worst type of neighbour to have. They can be anything from loud to Just plain out rude. An inconsiderate neighbour is usually the one who stays up late and comes home late, driving fast, squealing their tires around corners, and slamming the car doors. They play loud music with no cares as to who is sleeping. The worst part is the typical inconsiderate person has bad taste in music, so when they get home late playing loud music it is usually bad music; which makes it even worse. Playing loud music and coming home late is not the only thing that makes someone inconsiderate.And inconsiderate neighbour does not care for anyone or respect anyone, this neighbour will not change their ways due to complaints from others. Every street has its fa ir share of inconsiderate neighbours; neighbours and I all share the same feeling towards one family. They always tend to ask favours and never do anything in return. They have come to my cottage many times asking to use the phone, computer, or some type of tool. But if anyone in my family or I was to ask a favour we would get shooed away, and feel as if we are intruding or being a pain by asking a small favour.These same neighbours have sed my family dock many times and have broken parts off it at least two times. They never offer to offer to fix it or even apologize. The one time was when these specific neighbours had their boat tied to the dock and we needed to tie our boat there, but of course their boat was taking up all the room, and left us in an awkward position where we could not even park at our own dock. Of course the typical inconsiderate neighbour is stereotyped in playing loud music and most of the time it is bad music. And of course these neighbours at my cottage play their fair share of bad music; at least I think it is bad music.Many people may feel that an inconsiderate neighbour is the one who is rude, disrespectful, plays bad music loudly, and who has no care for the opinion of others. Some people may even believe that the silent neighbour who keeps to themselves is being inconsiderate. A silent neighbour may be an inconsiderate or considerate neighbour. It all depends on personal preference, about how you want your neighbours to act towards you. If you prefer to have neighbours who keep to themselves and stay silent, then these types of people you may say are very considerate neighbours.Although others may say someone who keeps to themselves, who does not attend eighbourhood activities or who does not lend a helping hand when needed, are very inconsiderate. Although everyone has their own idea of a perfect neighbour we usually are not lucky enough to live beside the perfect neighbour. A silent neighbour I think is a good neighbour; they ke ep to themselves and mind their own business. I have a few neighbours at my cottage who I would consider â€Å"silent† neighbours. There is many times where they Just mind their own business and do not attend neighbourly gatherings for no apparent reason.These neighbours specifically do not even allow their children to play with other young children in the area. A few years ago I was put in a situation where I had to ask one of my silent neighbours who was an ex- nurse for a favour. I had cut my finger badly while baking and needed to go to the hospital to get stiches, neither my brother nor l, who were the only ones home at the time, were able to drive. We went across the street and asked one of our neighbours who we barely talk to if she could look at my finger and drive me to the hospital if needed.Of course she was able to tell me I needed stitches and drive me to the hospital. Sometimes these neighbours come off as inconsiderate, but I believe they Just refer to keep to themselves and not be bothered. Of course in case of an emergency these neighbours are always there to help if asked, or if something needed to be borrowed. I believe silent neighbours are good neighbours, because most of the time they are considerate towards your being, considerate towards loud music, and will be there for a favour if you ever needed and asked.There are many neighbours who Just prefer to keep to themselves, and then there are neighbours who are always out and There are all types of considerate and inconsiderate neighbours, someone who is oud or stays out late, I would consider them inconsiderate. There are also many types of considerate neighbours, those who Just keep to themselves, then those who are extremely helpful and friendly. I believe having considerate and helpful neighbours is always a good thing. They are there to help before being asked, and they always have the tools you need to borrow.The typical helpful neighbour is always very friendly and outgoing, they are always outside or around on the street, talking to or helping other neighbours. The helpful neighbour always has the proper tools or items you would need for whatever it is you are doing. At my cottage there are many neighbours who will come and help with a project if you ask for help. But when I think of one specific neighbour who is extremely helpful and very friendly, there is one person who sticks out in my mind. We all know someone, or have someone on our street or at our cottages that is like this.My experience with this helpful neighbour is whenever we have to take the docks out it in the fall or put the docks back in, in the spring. There has been a few times my family has been taking docks out, or putting them in cold 15 degrees Celsius water and this specific eighbour came down to my cottage and Just Jumped into the water to help, even without asking if we needed help or if we even wanted help. This small gesture done by this neighbour always sticks out in my min d because he came and helped without is asking for help.My dad is the type of person who I would consider a helpful neighbour, he will always offer help to someone but will not ask for help when he needs help. The other day he was helping out a neighbour who is adding an extension on to his house. One of the roof beams had fallen and landed on my dad's forehead. He had to go to the hospital and get 24 stitches and a scan for a oncussion. When he was out of the hospital I asked him if he would go back and finish helping the neighbour, and he said of course he would.My dad is the type of person I would enjoy having as my neighbour, he is always there to lend a helping hand no matter what has occurred. Typically a helpful neighbour is very friendly and outgoing. My neighbour at the cottage and my dad are both very friendly and outgoing, at times it becomes a little bit excessive but we all enjoy having extra help, especially with Jobs we do not want to do. There are many types of neigh bours, noisy and loud, silent and private, or riendly, outgoing and helpful.Everyone has the perfect neighbour they wish they could have, but most of the time we get stuck with a few inconsiderate and a few considerate neighbours. But all these types of neighbours are what makes our communities exciting and fun. Everyone has neighbours and everyone has the perfect idea of how they want their neighbours to be and act. My perfect neighbour would be ones who have fun, and enjoy themselves but who are respective to those around them, when they come home late, by not slamming doors or squealing tires in the middle of the night.My erfect neighbour would be friendly, helpful, and outgoing to an extent. They would know how to mind their own business and not intrude, but when invited out or to a neighbourhood gathering they will attend. Writing this has me thinking about what type of neighbour I am. I believe everyone has their moments of being a perfect neighbour could be makes me thankful to the neighbours who I have at my house and my cottage. All neighbours share their own part in our community, they help us to learn to communicate, and relate to inconsiderate and considerate people. Makes you wonder, what type of neighbour are you?

Thursday, January 9, 2020

The Effectiveness of Educational Games Essay - 911 Words

Educational games for children have been widely used in supporting learning in-side and out of school and a growing interest have appeared for the potential of digital games to deliver effective and engaging learning experiences [8]. There is a variety of computer games and software that intend to assist users to achieve various educational goals. Well-known educational software is the project Scratch from MIT Media Lab [9], a programming language for learning to code. With Scratch users can program their own interactive stories, games and animations by putting together images, music and sounds with programming command blocks. It is a desktop application with an online community where children can share their creations with other people†¦show more content†¦They claimed that ludic tasks in educational games are important elements to maintain students’ interest, motivation and immersion. During the last decade, researchers have begun to explore the use of computer technologies dedicated to ASC as intervention tools for improving and eliminating different deficits. In a recent review, Wainer and Ingersoll [13] examined innovation computer programs as educational interventions for people with ASC. They focused on studies describing programs to teach language, emotions or social skills. Their analysis showed that those tools are promising strategies for delivering direct inter-vention to individuals with ASC. Bernardini et al. [14] proposed a serious game for children with ASC to practice social communication skills. They used an intelligent virtual character that acts both as a peer and as a tutor and a number of different learning activities. These activities can be selected manually by a human operator (practitioner, parent or other carer) through a graphical interface. Their experimental results showed encouraging tendencies but pertain the effectiveness of children ’s interaction with the virtual character in acting as a social partner to them. Porayska-Pomsta et al. [15] suggest an intelligent and authorable environment to assist children with ASC in gainingShow MoreRelatedChild Obesity : A Growing Concern Essay1186 Words   |  5 Pagesobesity could improve a lot of lives and save money. Child obesity is a significant concern for many epidemiologists’. The objective of the research is to identify if physical activity can decrease body mass index (BMI). Results concerning the effectiveness of in-school physical activity in reducing BMI have been mixed. 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Wednesday, January 1, 2020

The Documentary That Sugar Film By Damon Gameau Replaces...

â€Å"Big Food† intentionally overlooks sugar as the main culprit for obesity, putting the blame on calories instead. Many food and beverage labels proudly announce the low amount of calories found in any given product. This is all part of a marketing plan that involves yet another propaganda trick known as â€Å"Glittering Generalities†. Donna Woolfolk explains glittering generalities as â€Å"[trying] to get us to accept and agree without examining the evidence† (Cross 210-11). Glittering generalities is being used when we hear the slogans and phrases â€Å"You Are What You Eat,† â€Å"A Calorie is a Calorie† or â€Å"Energy Balance† (calories in must match calories out), all of which emphasize that calories count. This simply is not true. In the documentary That Sugar Film, Damon Gameau replaces his whole foods diet with foods that are marketed as healthy but contain large amounts of hidden sugar. He tested the theory of counting calories and the results showed that he was actually consuming less calories per day than when on his regular whole foods diet. Yet within six weeks, Damon had gained 15 pounds and at least eight centimeters around his waste. Obviously not all calories are the same because nutrient rich foods and vegitables contain fiber and other essential properties that allow food to be processed more efficiently within our bodies. So when Coca-Cola released an advertisement stating that â€Å"All calories count, no matter where they come from, including Coca-Cola [beverages]† they are clearly