Forensic Accounting in Practice Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Forensic Accounting in Practice - Research Paper Example Few are discussed below (Davis, 2010). Analytical This refers to the ability of an individual to analyze and interpret current situation with respect to future strategies. This is related with other skills such as detail orientation, responsiveness etc. Analytical skills are applied to different business operations, for instance, forensic accountants are needed to analyze legal documents where analytical skills help them in identifying the fraudulent activities. Intuition Intuition is required to give value added services. This skill is mostly acquired by knowledge, learning and experiences while developing the required capabilities. However, few researchers believe that intuition stems from natural habits and personality of an individual. Intuition is needed by the forensic accountants to improve logical analysis and programmed functioning of mind. For instance, forensic accountants use intuition to make opinions regarding financial reports and also to make linkage between different activities which might give a clue to the final fraud. Team Player This relates to the ability of a professional forensic accountant to work in cooperation with others. Team players are also required to perform the managerial activities such as leading, organizing, motivating etc. The investigations against frauds going in an organization cannot be conducted without an efficient and effective team. For instance, if a team is analyzing the financial statements, trends and ratios of a firm than all the working individuals are required to have clear opinion and consensus about the conclusions. Therefore people who are not good team players cannot coordinate well in such business operations and investigations. Auditing Auditing refers to the official inspection of financial reports and statements. The auditing skill is actually acquired by learning and qualifying the necessary courses for becoming a forensic accountant. However, experience plays a vital role in the overall development of this skill. Huge corporations especially those which are on large scale revenues are needed to conduct financial survey to identify the fraudulent activities. They hire auditors for this purpose and also to ensure the transparency of finances. Research It plays an important role in almost all the business operations but for the forensic accountants it is even more crucial. This is primarily because of the extensive research and investigations required to indentify a financial culprit. Forensic accountants have to be efficient in both primary and secondary research skills to effectively utilize them in different business operations. For instance, when a fraud is identified in an organization then the past activities and financial transactions of the culprit are extensively scrutinized which require the forensic accountant to be exceptionally good at research. 2. Describe the role of a forensic accountant within a courtroom environment. Forensic accounting is getting popularity due to recent cases of fraud such as the one of Enron. The role of a forensic accountant is changing dramatically with respect to the courtroom environment. Since major part of the fraud investigations depends upon accounts therefore accountants must be able to present their view point supported with evidence in courts. These evidences are then evaluated by the lawyers, juries, attorney and judges (Stuart, 2006). Following is a brief description of forensic accountan

FMRI Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

FMRI - Coursework Example (BME, 2007). The third category of products offered by financial institutions is investment funds. These accumulate assets from investors and invest the assets in a diversified pool of assets. According to BME consulting report of 2007, investment funds can be classified as equity fund, bond funds, balanced funds, money market funds, real estate funds and other funds such as hedge funds. (BME, 2007). The other product is the life insurance. This product is among the largest net asset pools of consumers in the European market. UK is the largest market in Europe in relation to total life insurance provisions. (BME, 2007). Derivatives are the other category of investments issued by financial institutions. â€Å"Derivatives are special non-standardized instruments tailored to meet the different investment strategies and needs of consumers.† (BME, 2007) There are mainly two types of derivatives. They are warrants and certificates. Lastly, there is a private equity. Consumers consider this class of assets better than public equity since the liquidity and transparency level is lower, and is a more established class of assets. (BME, 2007). From a report by the Bank of England, with an increase in interest rate, consumers will shift their investments to suit their risk attitudes. If the rise in interest rate reduces their level of earnings, investors will opt to sell their assets and invest in a different category that will maximize their earnings. For example, a rise in interest rate of bonds will lead to a fall in its price. With this, investors will tend to sell their bonds before maturity and reinvest in securities with a lower prevailing interest rate. On the same report, savings have a direct relationship with changes in interest, whereas investments have an indirect or negative relationship. The increase in interest will make savings more attractive and reduce greatly on borrowings. This is because the rate of borrowing will increase and the income from

The Use Of Market Research Marketing Essay

The Use Of Market Research Marketing Essay Introduction The use of market research is essential to marketers as it is a descriptive and diagnostic tool that allows marketers to understand the complexities of the market. It forms a very important component of market strategy and solving specific market problems. The use of both quantitative and qualitative research methods results in decisions that can take the form of marketing plans and strategies. These results ultimately influence the outcomes of strategic marketing decisions and outcomes that match the marketing goals. The application of these two research methods have different uses as quantitative research methods focuses on statistical data and in which surveys and questionnaires are commonly used. Qualitative research methods focus on the reasons behind behaviours such as why and look to target the attitudes and emotions behind the behaviours that quantitative research often shows ,with focus groups and interviews often being used. The results from these methods are often linked t o the practical use of research methods as results can vary depending on the size, quality, type of method and the skill of the practitioner. The roles of these two research methods and their practical application in finding valid results in market research will be supported below through journal articles and references, which will further show the importance that the effective use of market research methods in various situations is essential in finding valid results that are fundamentally important to marketers today. Overview of research methods and their uses Traditional methods of market research often focused on quantitative results and practices, which although were adequate in finding valid research results, could not adapt well to the changing market and business environments during the 1950s and 60s and in turbulent market situations at the time. It was clear that research methods needed to be improved and as noted in Wilson (1952), The application of qualitative methods would allow a more informed opinion to be gathered on the market, which would be well suited to the changing market situations at the time. Despite the value that qualitative research can bring, there is still a general trend in the dominance of Quantitative methods used by marketers and even in academia where qualitative methods are seen by some with ambivalence and a field with which successful people do not want to be associated with. Ruyter Scholl (1998). Due to this prevailing dominance among marketers, most market research carried out by contemporary organisa tions usually is a triangulation or combination of primarily quantitative techniques with some secondary qualitative methods to complement the research results. Ruyter Scholl (1998). Qualitative methods are best used when conducting exploratory research, when businesses need to understand the behaviour of consumers and formulate ideas and theories as to why consumers think in particular ways. To substantiate qualitative results, Quantitative techniques are used to provide hard evidence behind these ideas and theories and to represent numerically and statistically the resulting research outcomes. Not all marketers however triangulate these techniques and most will only use a methodology which is most appropriate in solving the research problem. Effectiveness in finding valid research results While both these methods have uses in finding valid research results, the variation in defining the research problems throughout various organisations means that the most appropriate methodology and research design should be used to ensure valid results , rather than results that would lack meaning through a bias in using a particular research method. As pointed out in Seymour (1989) , research techniques and their thoughtful application can be the vehicle by which we progress to wisdom. That is, the real worth of a technique is embedded in its ability to produce useful information (i.e., wisdom) in response to a specific problem. Seymour (1989). To ensure that results from market research is valid , a triangulation of methods and techniques should be considered and applied to the research of relevant markets and situations which would ensure results that are both valid, and paint a clear picture of the market environment. This triangulation of methods successful use in finding valid results is seen in Kitchell (1995) where the study conducted attempted to find the links between the importance of a strong corporate culture and the adoption of new technology in conjunction with the issues faced with maintaining a competitive position. This was undertaken with both quantitative and qualitative research techniques. Both methods results were broadly consistent with each other in finding that fostering a stronger corporate culture allowed a more stable innovation and technology adoption which led to long term survival and adaption in market environments. This study has shown insights into how both qualitative and quantitative data can mutually enrich each other in market research as this triangulation of methods allowed valid research outcomes that would not have been seen if only one research method was primarily utilized. The results seen in this study correlate with those undertaken by Deshpande (1983) which explains that more valid results can be seen in market research with a combination of aspects between quantitative and qualitative methodologies. While using a triangulation of methods, the weaknesses and strengths of each technique would be compensated by the strengths of the other method. Deshpande (1983). Although using a triangulation of methods can typically produce valid and meaningful research results, extensive use of these techniques can be limited to firms with considerable budgets than most. To ensure effective results, defining the research problem and identifying the circumstances to which further research is needed is just as important as choosing the most effective methods suited towards the market environment. Outlined in Goodman (1995), the use of Qualitative techniques can be well suited to theory construction and exploratory market research, which can be seen in his subsequent study of small businesses in a changing market environment. In a study of three small businesses facing changing market conditions and extreme price erosion, qualitative research techniques were largely employed to determine achievable market strategies. It found that the exploratory nature of their research conducted through focus groups and depth interviews, allowed them to anticipate changes in customer-value perceptions and benchmark themselves against competitors. This successful use of qualitative techniques in this study shows that this methodological approach was particularly well suited towards finding and generating theories in a changing market environment, which was noted above in early qualitative research literature in Wilson (1952). In finding valid results through various methods, it is clear that marketers must not confine themselves through techniques that are only partially appropriate in solving the research problem. The studies noted above successfully found valid results as a result of their methodologies being used effectively due to the nature of the research problem and their applicability in these situations. However as noted in Cahill (1996) , both qualitative and quantitative methods do not have universal applicability and as such, either method might not be suitable for a variety of situations. This means that marketers who entirely use methods of theory verification (quantitative methods) almost exclusively in situations where theory discovery (qualitative methods) was more appropriate, Deshpande(1983), are limiting the validity and reliability of their results by not applying the most appropriate method in solving the research problem .An effective use of market research techniques would be by triangulating aspects of research methodologies and also the choice of a specific technique on whether a quantitative or qualitative method should be decided by the nature of the management and research problems. Seymour (1989).This would eventuate in valid and meaningful results that serve to help the marketer understand the needs of the consumer and market. Limitations of Research methods While both quantitative and qualitative methods have their established uses among marketers, the limitations of each method in finding valid results can be reflected in the essence of these methods. As the quantitative paradigm is firmly placed within the scientific model, the resulting research outcomes are limited to numerical data that can be quantified and summarized into objective hard data. Results gathered by this particular method emphasise reliability and validity, which makes this a dominant method that marketers commonly use throughout the research process. Because of these factors that make up the essence of quantitative research, the use of this method in finding valid research results is limited to validating established theories and the relationships between variables, but also can substantiate qualitative results through a triangulated methodology. Results accumulated from quantitative research are not suited towards theory generation and gaining insight and as such, marketers solely employing this method will miss out on the value that qualitative methods can bring. However, when involved in research that does not need as much insights or deeper data into defining the research problem, quantitative methods can be effective in analysing large amounts of data as outlined in Montgomery (2001). A successful application of quantitative methods was seen when solving internet marketing problems outlined in this study; however the skill of the practitioner in conducting the research was commonly cited as the factor that allowed valid research outcomes. While this study demonstrated a successful primary use of quantitative methods, the limitations of using qualitative methods in defining the same research problem would not be practical as analysing large swathes of data is not an effective use of qualitative methods. This contrast between both quantitative and qualitative methods, reflect the limitations of solely using one of these methods as the natur e of the results produced from each will be fundamentally different. As discussed in Johansson Nonaka(1987), many Japanese market researchers during the 1980s much preferred research that was hands-on and interactive with consumers , and favoured qualitative data which allowed them to gain a distinctive feel for the market. While these qualitative methods lacked the scientific precision of quantitative methods, Japanese firms still had an unequivocal advantage over western based firms as their exclusively qualitative and hands-on methods allowed them to understand consumer behaviour to the point where they were outstripping rival western based firms. However like most western firms looking to increasingly adopt qualitative methods into their research, the Japanese firms are realising that in order to diversify their product ranges in the market they will need to use quantitative methods to ensure entries into newer markets. Johansson Nonaka (1987). This focus on one methodological approach by the Japanese firms, coupled with their extreme focus on their existing products, can represent limitations into finding valid results as their narrow approach would disallow much confirming or validation of theories attained from their qualitative research, especially when entering new markets. Despite these limitations, it can be argued that the Japanese approach to market research allowed them to understand consumer behaviour in such a way that they were able to achieve valid research results even more reliable than western based quantitative methodologies. The limitations of both methods in finding valid results for marketers, has clearly shown that to overcome the relative weaknesses inherent in each method, an effective use of triangulated research methodologies is essential to finding valid research results. Conclusions As evidenced above, valid results in marketing are commonly seen with a triangulation of methodologies and techniques which pertain to the nature of the research problem. The limitations of both quantitative and qualitative methodologies can be compensated by using a triangulated research process, in which the weakness that is evident in each method will be overcome by the strengths of a triangulated methodology. However, marketers dominant use of quantitative methods in their research to which can be only partially appropriate in solving a research problem, serve to limit the reliability for research results that could otherwise be improved through a triangulated methodology. Likewise, it can be said that the dominant use of qualitative methods by Japanese firms could be further enhanced by the integration of quantitative methods into their research which serves to ease the entry into newer markets. The market environment and the nature of the research problem can also affect resear ch outcomes as the method employed can only be somewhat applicable to the nature of the research problem, in which inadequate results may be seen. Furthermore, it is evident that to ensure valid results in market research, it is recommended that a triangulation of methods be used in the most applicable nature of the research problem and environment.

Family Resource Centers Essay -- Social Work Children Papers

Family Resource Centers Half the children in this country live in homes in which one or both parents work. Twelve million children in this country do not have health insurance, and over 4.5% of all children are victims of suspected child abuse or neglect (Doktor and Poertner). Believe it or not, these are all indicators of the demand for Family Resource Centers within our school systems. Many question whether Family Resource Centers are worth the money the state pours into them. However, in serving students, parents and teachers, there should be no question of their significance. Due to The Kentucky Education Reform Act in the early 1990's we have seen the development of Family Resource Centers in Kentucky, and they are fulfilling expectations and serve a valuable purpose in spite of some skepticism. Being a social work major and growing up in a school system under KERA, I know that family resource centers are important and that all parents, students and teachers need to be informed of all the good they do for a community. To address these points we will discuss the purpose of family resource centers the controversy that surround them and their effectiveness. Background of Family Resource Centers Before we can look at the purpose and the controversy around Family Resource Centers, we must first consider their background and what Family Resource Centers are. According to an Orientation Guide for Newly Employed FR/YSC Coordinators published by Morehead State University's College of Education, Family Resource Centers originated in the Kentucky Education Reform Act of 1990. Section 18 of the historical document called for the establishment of a system of statewide coordination of child service agencies though a school base... ... Blocks for Success: States of States Kentucky." Education Week 21.17 (10 Jan 2002):119 Fact Search. Camden Carroll Lib. Morehead State University. 27 Oct 2013. Jones, Doug. Personal Interview. 2.Dec.2013. Messer, David. Personal Interview. 3 Nov. 2013. Rose, Harold. "Preface. "Orientation Guide for Newly Employed FR/YSC Coordinators." Morehead State University College of Education and Behavioral Sciences, May 1991: 1 "Student and Family Support." Kentucky Department of Education: (9 Sept 2003). 3 Nov. 2013 http://www.kentuckyschools.net. Wojciechowski, A. "Assuring the Effective Advanced Degree Nurse as Clinical Education Program Manager." Internet Journal of Advanced Nursing Practice: 5.2 (Jun 2002):43 Academic Search Premier. EBSCO Host. Camden Carroll Lib. Morehead State University. 27 Oct 2013.

Evaluation Essay

Elan Brannan Evaluation Essay October 26, 2012 Toyota Camry vs. Honda Accord All across America millions of people search for a vehicle to keep them safe while driving. But that isn’t all car consumers look for, car buyers want style, comfort, and most importantly a smooth calming ride. For many years consumers have been comparing two top rated cars, the Toyota Camry and the Honda Accord. Both cars excellent in ratings all across the board however, the Toyota Camry is the number one best safety pick in its class.Looking at both cars history one might decide to choose the Camry because of its long list of positives, but the Honda Accord in the recent year has stepped up the quality. The Honda Accord has improved seats, now with better back support along with more space and better views from the windows. All qualities consumers have come to love. The Honda Accord is the best overall sedan when compared to the Toyota Camry. At first look the design of a car can be intriguing and exciting. The Honda Accord does just that by offering sleeker and bolder abilities with the outstanding new technology. Both models offer Bluetooth, hands free calling and audio streaming but Honda has gone well beyond that, also offering SMS text capability, Pandora audio streaming, dual-zone climate control and an eight inch i-MID display†(Halverson). Honda also took the time to redesign the back seats. The seats are now higher so the passenger can have an easier time looking out the window. The 2012 Camry was redesigned to compete with the Honda. Camry’s have always looked boring compared to the bold design of an Accord. According to Halvorson, although the changes were so subtle and evolutionary they might not have even been noticed.The new 2013 design of the Accord does look a slightly more exciting and better proportioned on the outside, with more of a premium look inside. The design of the Camry has put itself back in the race with the Accord. With a better look maybe more customers are stopping to look at the Camry instead. The design of the Honda Accord speaks for itself but there are more advantages car buyers want to take a look at. Fuel economy is another big factor when buying a car. The Toyota Camry beats Honda in fuel economy, a whopping 43 mpg city and 39 highway however, the Accord offers a lot under the hood. The Accord earns an excellent 27/36 mpg with its new direct-injection four-cylinder and continuously variable automatic transmission (CVT), while the four-cylinder Camry gets 25/35 at best. V-6 Accords are especially smart and efficient, with ratings of 21/34, while Camry V-6 models stand at 21/30†(Halverson). For someone who likes a little bit more edge when driving, the Honda is a better choice. When looking at the hybrid models Honda does not yet have anything planned to release to the market until 2014 but they are expected to do well.Camry is not the leader in hybrid cars but they are doing very well right now. Ne vertheless comfort is always must! A comfortable ride can be a deal breaker. Whether it is commuting or taking the kids to a soccer game the new back support technology and more space for your legs is making this car seem perfect. Also, the Honda Accord offers noise control to keep all of those outside noises out for an even more comfortable drive. â€Å"So they’re among the better choices for carrying adults in the back seat.With its rather low beltline and a little more slide glass, the Accord offers a slightly better view outward for those in back-possibly eliminating the need for Dramamine†(Halverson). As for the Toyota Camry, it was proven to be the overall best drive, when it comes to bumps and being on the freeway. The Camry does not have noise control but it does have insulation proven to make the car ride less noisy and the car ride feel more peaceful. Both cars come so close in quality but what about quantity. Which one costs more? Every car can have all the bells and whistles but what is that going to cost?The Honda Accord wins here too, but not by much. The price for a 2012 Honda Accord is $21,680 and the Toyota Camry is $22,055. Looking at both cars they compare quite nicely. Although there are many similarities, the differences are what set these two cars apart. The Toyota Camry is a smoother ride, safer and its fuel economy is amazing. The Honda Accord offers more technology, comfort and better driving capability. Both cars have been recently redesigned and have added upgrades. The Accord is a better car because of its less expensive price and complete package of a car.There is nothing this car doesn’t offer. Yes, the Camry does go beyond safe and reliable but the Accord is not far behind. For the price of a Camry you’re getting safety, but for the price of an Accord you’re getting safety and style (Halverson). Overall the Honda is a better car; the company offers more amenities as well as a more modern feel. B y offering more space and different technology the Honda wins best overall car when compared to Toyota Camry. Works Cited Halverson, Bengt. â€Å"Toyota Camry vs. Honda Accord Compare Cars†. The Car Connection. N. d. September 11, 2012. October 24, 2012.

Cortes Discussion Essay

1. Why is Cortes’ letter a primary source?  2. Is there any information in his letter that he did not actually observe? How do you reconcile this fact with the idea that this is a primary source? Can a document be partially primary and partially secondary? (i.e., written by someone who did not witness the events or experience the emotion?) 3. What can you infer about Cortes’ motives in writing about â€Å"the wonders of Tenochtitlan† and the Aztecs? Why did he choose to write about the topics he addressed in this letter? Who is is intended audience, and how might that have influenced the letter? 4. Using Cortes’ comments in the first two paragraphs, what assumptions can you make about the wealth of the Aztec state? 5. List three characteristics of the Aztec religion. What religious practice did Cortes attempt to do away with? Do you think that he could have been successful? Cortes’ letter is a primary source because he witnessed the events he wrote about first hand. From what I gathered through his writing Cortes did not appear to leave any vital information out as he reported every aspect of the noble city. The way he was able to give his reader, or readers, vivid descriptions of Temixtitlan from the outside in, gives us reassurance that his letter is indeed a primary source. Unfortunately a document cannot be comprised partially primary and partially secondary. Primary accounts are characterized as the direct proof of a period, with material being delivered by eyewitnesses and in this case, Cortes’ time in Temixtitlan. Cortes chose to comprehend the significance of knowing the geology of the domain he wanted to conquer. Clearly, for early explorers knowing the terrain and being able to locate natural resources is the difference between life and death. He also chose certain topics because he is attempting to make his description audience-relatable, and more importantly, he is trying describe the degree of sophistication of this great city. According to the beginning paragraphs you immediately know that Temixtitlan is an exceptional city as Cortes stated the city had many rare and wonderful objects and that he would try to describe the wealth of what he had seen to the best of his ability. The Aztec religion was sacrificial, barbaric, and full of idol worshipping.

Efficacy of the Duty Drawback Scheme Essays

Efficacy of the Duty Drawback Scheme Essays Efficacy of the Duty Drawback Scheme Essay Efficacy of the Duty Drawback Scheme Essay Table of Contents Contents Table of Contents1 Introduction2 Part I The Duty Drawback Scheme3 The Customs Act 19623 Part II Pros and Cons of the Scheme7 Pros7 Cons8 Part III Case Law8 Conclusion10 Bibliography12 Introduction With the primary objective of incentivizing exports, various schemes like Export Oriented Units (EOUs), Special Economic Zones (SEZs), Duty Exemption Entitlement Schemes (DEECs), Manufacture under Bond etc. have been made available by the government to obtain inputs without the payment of customs duty/excise duty or to obtain refund of duty paid on inputs. In case of central excise, manufacturers can avail Cenvat Credit of duty paid on inputs and utilize the same for payment of duty on other goods sold in India, or they can obtain refund. Schemes like manufacture under bond are also available for customs. On similar lines, manufacturers or processors can also avail of Duty Drawback Schemes. Here, the excise duty and customs duty paid on inputs is refunded to the exporter of finished product by way of ‘Duty Drawback’. Section 75 of Customs Act provides for drawback on materials used in manufacture or processing of export product. Under Duty Drawback Schemes, relief of customs and central excise duties suffered on the inputs used in the manufacture of export product is allowed to exporters. The admissible duty drawback amount is paid to exporters by depositing it into their nominated bank account. It may be noted that duty drawback under section 75 is granted when imported materials are used in the manufacture of goods which are then exported, while duty drawback under section 74 is applicable when imported goods are re-exported as it is and the article is easily identifiable. Section 37 of Central Excise Act allows he Central Government to frame rules for purpose of the Act. In exercise of these powers, The Customs and Central Excise Duties Drawback Rules, 1995 have been framed outlining the procedure to be followed for the purpose of grant of duty drawback by the Customs Authorities processing export documentation. In order to fulfill the objectives of this paper, the paper has been structures as follows. Fi rst, I have analysed the rationale behind a duty drawback scheme. Second, I have delved into the statutory provisions dealing with duty drawback schemes and relevant rules. Third, I have made a comparison of the pros and the cons of a duty drawback scheme and finally, I have observed certain principles that have been laid down through case law before making my concluding remarks. Part I The Duty Drawback Scheme Duty drawback schemes, which typically involve a combination of duty rebates and exemptions, are a feature of many countries’ trade regimes. They are used in highly protected, developing economies as means of providing exporters with imported inputs at world prices, and thus increasing their competitiveness, while maintaining the protection on the rest of the economy. An important principle in the levy of customs duty is that the goods should be consumed within the country of importation. If the goods are not so consumed, but are exported out of the country, the cost of export goods gets unduly escalated an account of incidence of customs duty. Therefore to avoid this escalation of price duty drawback schemes seek to remove the impact of customs duty on imported goods which are eventually exported. Eventual exportation may happen due to: A. Goods are sent back to a foreign country Due to non conformity with required specifications * Trade-restrictions in the country of import * Primary purpose of import was temporary retention B. Goods are used in the manufacture of other products meant for export The latest cause for relief of import duty paid is when the goods are ultimately exported. This factor gained greater importance with the establishment of 100% Export Oriented Units where goods manufactured are mainly exported to earn foreign exchange. T he Customs Act 1962 Chapter X of the Customs Act, 1962 deals with various aspects of the duty drawback scheme in India. Section 74 deals with goods which fall under Category A as described above and Section 75 deals with Category B. In case of goods which were earlier imported on payment of duty and are later sought to be re-exported within a specified period, customs duty paid at the time of import of the goods with certain cut can be claimed as duty drawback by the exporter at the time of export of such goods. Such duty drawback is granted in terms of Section 74 of the Customs Act, 1962 read with Re-export of Imported Goods (Drawback of Customs Duty) Rules, 1995. For this purpose, at the time of import, the identity particulars of the goods are recorded at the time of examination of import goods; at the time of export, cross verification of the goods under export is done with the help of related import documents to ascertain whether the goods under export are the very ones which were imported earlier. Where the goods are not put into use after import, 98% of duty drawback is admissible at the maximum under Section 74 of the Customs Act, 1962. In cases where the goods are put into use in India after import but prior to its export, duty drawback is granted on a sliding scale basis depending upon the extent of use of the goods. No duty drawback is available if the goods are put into use for a period exceeding 36 months after import. Application for duty drawback is required to be made within 3 months from the date of export of goods. If the primary elements of Section 74 as highlighted in the relevant footnote are satisfied, then the export goods are entitled to a payment of drawback of an amount equal to 98%. However, there are certain external factors which can affect the relevant conditions. As a corollary to this proposition, it would follow that the rate fixed by the Government would be applicable for a prescribed period only. If there is a) any variation in the rate of duty paid on the input whether customs or excise duty b) variation in the composition of the final product and c) change in the process of manufacture the rate of duty already fixed by the Government would not be applicable. It would require to be revised. The fixation of a rate of drawback is, therefore a continuous process and the industry availing of such facility of drawback is required to furnish continuously its costing and production data to the organization entrusted with the responsibility of fixation of rates of drawback. It will be noticed that in the case of drawback under section 74 the amount of drawback was related to the actual duty paid on the goods. It did not have any correlation to either the valuation of the goods at the time of exportation or the prevailing rates of duty on the goods at the time of export. However, in the case of section 75 drawbacks, since the identity of the inputs which have suffered customs or excise duty as the case may be, is extinguished in the final product, there has been a necessity to correlate the grant of drawback with the value of the goods exported. It has therefore been prescribed under proviso to section 75(1) of the Customs Act that no drawback of duty shall be allowed under this section if: * the export value of the finished goods or the class of goods is less than the value of the imported material used in the manufacture or processing of such goods or carrying out any operation on such goods or class of goods: or * the export value is not more than such percentage of the value of the imported materials used in 1he manufacture or processing of such goods or carrying out any operation on such goods or class of goods as may be notified by the Central Government; or * any drawback has been allowed on any goods and the sale proceeds in respect of such goods are not received by or on behalf of the exporter in India within the time allowed under the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 (FEMA). In such a case, the drawback shall be deemed never to have been allowed and the Central Government may, by rules made under sub-section ( 2) specify the procedure for the recovery or adjustment of the amount of such drawback. Under Duty Drawback Scheme, an exporter can opt for either a) All Industry Rate (AIR) of Duty Drawback Scheme or b) Brand Rate of Duty Drawback Scheme Major portion of Duty Drawback is paid through AIR Duty Drawback Scheme which essentially attempts to compensate exporters of various export commodities for average incidence of Customs and Central Excise duties suffered on the inputs used in their manufacture. Brand rate of duty drawback is granted in terms of the Customs and Central Excise Duties Drawback Rules, 1995 in cases where the export product does not have any AIR or duty drawback rate, or where the AIR duty drawback rate notified is considered by the exporter insufficient to compensate for the Customs/Central Excise duties suffered on inputs used in the manufacture of export products. For goods having an AIR the brand rate facility to particular exporters is available only if it is established that the compensation by AIR is less than 80% of the actual duties suffered in the manufacture of the export goods. Part II Pros and Cons of the Scheme Pros The principal method of encouraging the export of goods has been the drawback of customs and the central excise duties on goods manufactured out of customs duty paid and/or central excise duty paid on inputs or raw materials. The Duty drawback schemes are used in highly protected economies as means to provide exporters of manufactured goods with imported inputs at world prices and thus increasing their profitability, while maintaining the protection for domestic industries that compete with imports. The choice of export drawbacks is reinforced by international regulations, namely that GATT rules out the use of direct export subsidies, but allows the use of drawbacks. If export was not there, there would be no manufacture of the goods now being manufactured. So there would be no duty collected also. Duty exemptions increase the competitiveness and efficiency of the economy. In the absence of duty drawbacks the protection of import competing firms is in general positive, while that of export competing firms is negative. This is because export competing firms face world prices while domestic competing firms are protected by tariffs on final goods. Duty drawbacks reduce the Effective Rates of Protection (ERPs) for export competing firms to 0 which allows export producers to operate at world prices, and halve the standard deviation in ERPs, which in turn increases the efficiency of the economy. Cons * A duty drawback scheme is an obvious and direct loss of government revenue * Creates opportunity for cheating and abuse * Absorbs administrative resources for its implementation * Drawbacks do not offset non-tariff barriers against imported inputs The implementation of Duty Drawback Programs in developing countries has not fared very well for various reasons such as * administrative weaknesses in customs administration, * poor statistical infrastructure, failure of the government to reimburse pre-paid duties because of financial difficulties Part III Case Law It is important to bear in mind the distinction between Section 74 and Section 75. Section 74 of the Customs Act comes into operation when articles are imported and there upon exported, such articles being easily identifiable. Section 75 on the other hand comes into operation when imported materials are used in the manufacture of goods which are exported. The Government of Andhra Pradesh floated an international tender for the transportation of a monolithic Buddha statue. The statue was required to be transported from Raigir, Nalgonda District, to the foreshore of Hussain Sagar Lake, Hyderabad, where it was to be installed. The transportation of this monolithic statue was a highly technical work and a special equipment for transportation as well as special lifting and erection equipment called Hydra-jack was required. This Hydra-jack was imported from a firm in Holland on hire. The equipment was imported on a customs clearance permit on an undertaking to export the equipment within a specified period. However, the job of installation of statue in the rock at the centre of the lake could not be completed as during transportation of the statue from the shore to the central rock, the statue sank in the lake. The Hydra-jack was therefore shipped back to the suppliers from whom it was hired. A claim for drawback under section 74 of Customs Act was made claiming drawback of 98% of the total duty paid in respect of the goods. The Assistant Commissioner however allowed drawback only at the rate of 85% of the total import duty paid. The question that needed to be determined is whether the drawback is to be granted at 98% or 85% as has been allowed by the department. The Delhi High Court held that the reduction in the rate of drawback was applicable in case where the goods had been used after importation and this reduction was sanctified in accordance with a notification issued under section 74 prescribing the rates of drawback admissible in case of goods used in India before their re- export. In deciding the matter, the court took a clear view that whether the jack in question was used or not is a question of fact. Since the statue did not reach the central rock where the statue had to be hoisted for installation, it is clear that the Hydra-jack could not be used in India. The Court held that in these circumstances, the drawback was admissible under section 74. In another famous case Commissioner of Customs Vs. India Steel Industries, it was held that rules of interpretation in tariff need not be extended to interpretation of classification under the Drawback Rules. In this case the contention was regarding schedule II to Customs and Central Excise Drawback Rules. Two entries which were under the scanner were entry 3606 and entry 3803 The issue was whether the words â€Å"all types† occurring in the entry against 3606 referred to â€Å"steel bars† alone or qualified the next nomenclature of â€Å"shaftings†. In the Customs Tariff, a clear distinction is made between bars and shaftings. The department argued that in the commercial parlance, bars were not known to be made up of stainless steel and shaftings did not come under the same category as bars. It was therefore, argued by the department that shafting would appropriately fall under the description of articles made of stainless steel including stainless steel castings. The Government of India held that the words â€Å"all types† did not refer to dimensional distinction alone but referred to the nature of the material used such as mild steel, carbon austenitic steel etc. It was further held that the rules of the interpretation of a tariff would not apply to rules of interpretation of the entries to the Schedule II to drawback rules, but they would have persuasive value. It was further held when two different descriptions or words are used, it would be necessary to give them the natural and separate meaning to make them meaningful. In LVT Products v. CC, it was held that there is no provision for refund of import duty, if imported goods are re-exported. The assessee can only claim duty drawback u/s 74. Conclusion While in many countries duty drawbacks have not been implemented successfully, largely due to administrative weaknesses, in others these schemes have been very effective in opening up export-oriented sectors by overriding existing protection. In China, duty exemptions at the point of entry have been an essential part of the country’s export processing system and trade reform process. As far as India is concerned, on a theoretical analysis as shown above it is evident that duty drawback schemes are an effective mechanism to encourage exporters to exports goods to foreign countries. Moreover, it also acts as an effective safeguard in cases where the exporter has to send back goods due to extraneous circumstances. From the standpoint of the State-Exporter relationship it is like a reward that that state is giving to the exporter for his contribution towards the increase in export. As pointed out earlier, if imported goods are not consumed, but are exported out of the country, the cost of export goods gets unduly escalated an account of incidence of customs duty. Therefore to avoid this escalation of price duty drawback schemes seek to remove the impact of customs duty on imported goods which are eventually exported. To conclude it can be said that keeping aside the administrative hiccups in making the implementation of duty drawback schemes effective, it would not be wrong to say that these schemes can and have shown tremendous potential to enhance exports. Bibliography BOOKS 1. B. Seyoum, Export-Import Theory, Practice, and Procedures (2nd Edn. , London: Routledge, 2009) 2. B. N. Gururaj, Guide to Customs Act (1st edn. , Nagpur: Wadhwa Publications, 2003) 3. R. K. Jain, Central Customs Law Manual (43rd edn. , New Delhi: Centax Publications, 2011) 4. R. K. Jain, Central Excise Law Manual (53rd edn. , New Delhi: Centax Publications, 2011) ARTICLES 1. A. Panagariya, â€Å"Input tariffs, duty drawbacks, and tariff reforms†, 32(1-2) Journal of International Economics, 131-147 (1992). 2. E. Ianchovichina, â€Å"Trade policy analysis in the presence of duty drawbacks†, 26(3) Journal of Policy Modelling, 353-371 (2004). 3. R. Wade, â€Å"How to Protect Exports from Protection: Taiwans Duty Drawback Scheme†, 14(3) The World Economy, 299-309 (1991). 4. T. P. Harrison, â€Å"Principles for the Strategic Design of Supply Chains†, 62(1) International Series in Operations Research ; Management Science, 3-12 (2004). 5. H. C. Oh and I. A. Karimi, â€Å"Global multiproduct production– Distribution planning with duty drawbacks†, 52(2) American Institute of Chemical Engineers Journal, 595-610 (2006). 6. M. Olarreaga, O. Cadot et al. , â€Å"Can Duty Drawbacks Have a Protectionist Bias? † World Bank Policy Research Working Paper No. 2523 (2001). WEBSITES 1. www. indlaw. com 2. www. jstor. com 3. www. manupatra. com 4. www. taxindiaonline. com 5. www. web. worldbank. org [ 2 ]. The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, Duty Drawbacks sourced from http://220. 227. 161. 86/18917sm_finalnew_idtl_customs_cp11. pdf (December 5, 2011). [ 3 ]. DRAWBACK scheme [ 4 ]. The rules govern the drawback in cases of export of imported goods as it is and also in cases where the goods imported are used as inputs for producing a final product which is ultimately exported. [ 5 ]. Sourced from, taxindiaonline. com/RC2/pdfdocs/cm/cm22a. pdf (December 5, 2011). [ 6 ]. E. Ianchovichina, â€Å"Trade policy analysis in the presence of duty drawbacks†, 26(3) Journal of Policy Modelling, 353-371 (2004) at 355. [ 7 ]. SECTION 74: Drawback allowable on re-export of duty-paid goods. 1) When any goods capable of being easily identified which have been imported into India and upon which [any duty has been paid on importation, i. are entered for export and the proper officer makes an order permitting clearance and loading of the goods for exportation under section 51; or ii. are to be exported as baggage and the owner of such baggage, for the purpose of clearing it, makes a declaration of its contents to the proper officer under section 77 (which declaration shall be deemed to be an entry for export for the purposes of this section) and such officer makes an order permitting clearance of the goods for exportation; or iii. re entered for export by post under section 82 and the proper officer makes an order permitting clearance of the goods for exportation, ninety-eight per cent of such duty shall, except as otherwise hereinafter provided, be re-paid as drawback, if -] a. the goods are identified to the satisfaction of the [Assistant Commissioner of Customs or Deputy Commissioner of Customs] as the goods which were imported; and b. the goods are entered for export within two years from the date of payment of duty on the importation thereof : Provided that in any particular case the aforesaid period of two years may, on sufficient cause being shown, be ex tended by the Board by such further period as it may deem fit. 2) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (1), the rate of drawback in the case of goods which have been used after the importation thereof shall be such as the Central Government, having regard to the duration of use, depreciation in value and other relevant circumstances, may, by notification in the Official Gazette, fix. [(3) The Central Government may make rules for the purpose of carrying out the provisions of this section and, in particular, such rules may - a. provide for the manner in which the identity of goods imported in different consignments which are ordinarily stored together in bulk, may be established; b. specify the goods which shall be deemed to be not capable of being easily identified; and c. provide for the manner and the time within which a claim for payment of drawback is to be filed. ] (4) For the purposes of this section a. oods shall be deemed to have been entered for export on the date with reference to which the rate of duty is calculated under section 16; b. in the case of goods assessed to duty provisionally under section 18, the date of payment of the provisional duty shall be deemed to be the date of payment of duty. [ 8 ]. SECTION 75: Drawback on imported materials used in the manufacture of goods which are exported (1) Where it appears to the Central Government that in respect of goods of any class or description [manufactured, processed or on which any operation has been carried out in India] [, being goods which have been entered for export and in respect of which an order permitting the clearance and loading hereof for exportation has been made under section 51 by the proper officer,] [or being goods entered for export by post under section 82 and in respect of which an order permitting clearance for exportation has been made by the proper officer], a drawback should be allowed of duties of customs chargeable under this Act on any imported material s of a class or description used in the [manufacture or processing of such goods or carrying out any operation on such goods], the Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, direct that drawback shall be allowed in respect of such goods in accordance with, and subject to, the rules made under sub-section (2). Provided that no drawback shall be allowed under this sub-section in respect of any of the aforesaid goods which the Central Government may, by rules made under sub-section (2), specify, if the export value of such goods or class of goods is less than the value of the imported materials used in the [manufacture or processing of such goods or carrying out any operation on such goods] or class of goods, or is not more than such percentage of the value of the imported materials used in the [manufacture or processing of such goods or carrying out any operation on such goods] or class of goods as the Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazet te, specify in this behalf : Provided further that where any drawback has been allowed on any goods under this sub-section and the sale proceeds in respect of such goods are not received by or on behalf of the exporter in India within the time allowed under the [Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 (42 of 1999)], such drawback shall be deemed never to have been allowed and the Central Government may, by rules made under sub-section (2), specify the procedure for the recovery or adjustment of the amount of such drawback. ] (1A) Where it appears to the Central Government that the quantity of a particular material imported into India is more than the total quantity of like material that has been used in the goods [manufactured, processed or on which any operation has been carried out in India] and exported outside India, then, the Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, declare that so much of the material as is contained in the goods exported shall, for the p urpose of sub-section (1), be deemed to be imported material. ] (2) The Central Government may make rules for the purpose of carrying out the provisions of sub-section (1) and, in particular, such rules may provide – a. for the payment of drawback equal to the amount of duty actually paid on the imported materials used in the manufacture or processing of the goods or carrying out any operation on the goods or as is specified in the rules as the average amount of duty paid on the materials of that class or description used in the manufacture or processing of export goods or carrying out any operation on export goods of that class or description either by manufacturers generally or by persons processing or carrying on any operation generally or by any particular manufacturer or particular person carrying on any process or other operation, and interest if any payable thereon;] aa. for specifying the goods in respect of which no drawback shall be allowed; ab. for specifying the p rocedure for recovery or adjustment of the amount of any drawback which had been allowed under sub-section (1) [or interest chargeable thereon]; b. for the production of such certificates, documents and other evidence in support of each claim of drawback as may be necessary; c. or requiring the [manufacturer or the person carrying on any process or other operation] to give access to every part of his manufactory to any officer of customs specially authorised in this behalf by the [Assistant Commissioner of Customs or Deputy Commissioner of Customs] to enable such authorised officer to inspect the processes of [manufacture, process or any other operation carried out] and to verify by actual check or otherwise the statements made in support of the claim for drawback. d. for the manner and the time within which the claim for payment of drawback may be filed;] [(3) The power to make rules conferred by sub-section (2) shall include the power to give drawback with retrospective effect fro m a date not earlier than the date of changes in the rates of duty on inputs used in the export goods. ] [ 9 ]. A. Panagariya, â€Å"Input tariffs, duty drawbacks, and tariff reforms†, 32(1) Journal of International Economics, 131-147 (1992) at 137. [ 10 ]. See Generally, Supra, note 8. [ 11 ]. Supra note1. [ 12 ]. Supra note 4. [ 13 ]. Rules 6 7, The Customs and Central Excise Duties Drawback Rules, 1995. [ 14 ]. Supra note 4. [ 15 ]. Sourced from, http://web. worldbank. org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/TOPICS/TRADE/0,,contentMDK:20540524~pagePK:148956~piPK:216618~theSitePK:239071,00. html (December 12, 2011). [ 16 ]. Supra note 5, at 357. [ 17 ]. ABC India Ltd. v. UOI 1992(61) ELT 205 (Del HC). [ 18 ]. Supra note 1. [ 19 ]. All type of bright steel bars and shaftings Rs. 395/- PMT [ 20 ]. Articles made of stainless steel including stainless Rs . 890/- PMT steel castings, not otherwise specified, made of austenitic variety of stainless steel [ 21 ]. 1998(103) ELT 663 (CEGAT).

10 Interesting Sulfur Facts

10 Interesting Sulfur Facts Sulfur is element number 16 on the periodic table, with element symbol S and an atomic weight of 32.066. This common nonmetal occurs in food, many household products, and even your own body. Here are 10 interesting facts about sulfur. Sulfur is an essential element for life. Its found in amino acids (cysteine and methionine) and proteins. Sulfur compounds are why onions make you cry, why asparagus gives urine a weird odor, why garlic has a distinctive aroma, and why rotten eggs smell so horrible.Although many sulfur compounds have a strong smell, the pure element is actually odorless. Sulfur compounds also affect your sense of smell. For example, hydrogen sulfide (H2S, the culprit behind the rotten egg odor) actually deadens the sense of smell, so the odor is very strong at first and then vanishes. This is unfortunate, because hydrogen sulfide is a toxic and potentially deadly gas! Elemental sulfur is considered non-toxic.Mankind has known about sulfur since ancient times. The element, also known as brimstone, primarily comes from volcanoes. While most chemical elements only occur in compounds, sulfur is one of relatively few elements that occurs in pure form.At room temperature and pressure, sulfur is a yellow so lid. Its usually seen as a powder, but it forms crystals, too. One interesting feature of the crystals is that they spontaneously change shape according to temperature. All you need to do to observe the transition is melt sulfur, allow it to cool until it crystallizes, and observe the crystal shape over time. Were you surprised you could crystallize sulfur simply by cooling the melted powder? This is a common method of growing metal crystals. While sulfur is a nonmetal, like metals, it wont readily dissolve in water or other solvents (although it will dissolve in carbon disulfide). If you tried the crystal project, another surprise might have been the color of sulfur liquid when you heated the powder. Liquid sulfur can appear blood-red. Volcanoes that spew molten sulfur display another interesting feature of the element. It burns with a blue flame from the sulfur dioxide that is produced. Volcanoes with sulfur appear to run with blue lava.How you spell the name of element number 16 likely depends where and when you grew up. The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) adopted the sulfur spelling in 1990, as did the Royal Society of Chemistry in 1992. Up to this point, the spelling was sulphur in Britain and in countries using the Roman languages. The original spelling was actually the Latin word sulfur, which was Hellenized to sulphur. Sulfur has many uses. Its a component of gunpowder and believed to have been used in the ancient flamethrower weapon called Greek Fire. Its a key component of sulfuric acid, which is used in labs and to make other chemicals. Its found in the antibiotic penicillin and is used for fumigation against diseases and pests. Sulfur is a component of fertilizers and also pharmaceuticals.Sulfur is created as part of the alpha process in massive stars. It is the 10th most abundant element in the universe. Its found in meteorites and on Earth mainly near volcanoes and hot springs. The abundance of the element is higher in the core than in the Earths crust. Its estimated there is enough sulfur on Earth to make two bodies the size of the Moon. Common minerals that contain sulfur include pyrite or fools gold (iron sulfide), cinnabar (mercury sulfide), galena (lead sulfide), and gypsum (calcium sulfate).Some organisms are able to use sulfur compounds as an energy source. An example are cave bacteria , which produce special stalactites called snottites that drip sulfuric acid. The acid is sufficiently concentrated that it can burn skin and eat holes through clothes if you stand beneath the minerals. Natural dissolution of minerals by the acid carves out new caves. Although people always knew about sulfur, it wasnt recognized as an element (except by alchemists, who also considered fire and earth elements). It was 1777 when Antoine Lavoisier provided convincing evidence the substance was indeed its own unique element, worthy of a place on the periodic table. The element has oxidation states ranging from -2 to 6, allowing it to form compounds with all of the other elements except the noble gases.

A Personal Quest to Become a Dentist in the United States

A Personal Quest to Become a Dentist in the United States Since I started primary school, I have always had a deep passion for biology and art. I started making sculptures out of clay when I was in the secondary school, I accompanied my cousin to a dental office once at that time and I can vividly remember paying full attention to the dentists hands: all that instruments and materials and the way he used them, art and science in one place. My cousin was all smiles when he looked at the mirror and there it was, my future job, Dentistry. Giving smiles to people with your hands and knowledge is a great feeling. When I started dental school I found that I was raised to become a dentist. Im so meticulous and very good in practical works,I always try to do the perfect job. Being a dentist in the USA was always my dream as the level of education and clinical expertise is of highest rank in the world. When I was in the second semester of my dental school, my mom was diagnosed with stomach cancer. Although I was going through a very difficult time, I did not even think about giving up on dentistry for a moment. My mom passed away in the third year of my dental school. I still managed to surpass all that troubles and continued my studies, despite getting average marks, I did not fail any of the subjects even at the semester that I lost my mom. I learned to handle my job and control unexpected events even in the hardest part of my life. I am that kind of person who will persist until succeed. I moved to Iran after graduation and I got accepted to an advanced standing program for foreign trained dentists in the Islamic Azad University of Tehran. I finished that program successfully in one year and I started working in Tehran. I enjoyed working 8 hours a day in an impoverished region in south of tehran ( capital of iran ) more than anything else in the world. I also have a great passion for translating academic texts from english to Persian. As there is lack of good books and know ledge of english in Iran, It will help advancing dentistry there. I translated Therapeutic Guidelines oral and dental which is a reference from australian dental council to farsi for Tehran university press.I moved to USA in September 2013 and I started working as a volunteer dental assistant in a dental office. I also did research in the Oklahoma University dental school. Soon after I started there I realized that I made a good choice: The world of dentistry in United States is highly advanced and of best quality. I have an inquisitive mind and enjoy learning new materials in my field and I believe here is the right place for me. Aside from my academic career, I have also enjoyed playing sports, dancing and watercolor painting. I was in my citys swimming team when I was in high school. I also like learning different languages and I have started French recently. Although I know the road to become a registered dentist in USA is a demanding and highly competitive one, I am the person with great passion and determination and I will follow my dreams with all my heart and energy. Dentistry is my passion, hobby and dream job and I know Im going to be a great dentist in USA and I can overcome all the obstacles throughout this course and beyond.

Little T.K. and Michele Confidential Informants Assignment

Little T.K. and Michele Confidential Informants - Assignment Example Michele on the other hand is a professional dealer as well, however she looks like a sophisticated white woman and she suits the part because no one would suspect her while she tries to siphon information. Both these selected informants have past experience in being street smart and are fully aware of the danger associated with the drug world. Also, they have had bad experiences and know how to get out of tough and sticky situations. They seem to be flexible with respect to their past and form no attachment with the people they work with. These are excellent qualities to possess as a confidential informant. They would not be suspected with ease by those that are a part of the operation and are a better option than Raul and Shasha because those two have a history of being violent in the past. They might just leash out onto the investigation and give the game away and thus Little T.K and Michele seem to be more responsible and calm with respect to handling such a tough drug operation. Both of them seem the kind that would help the police rather than make their lives more difficult with respect to gaining access to information. Since they have worked in the Hood, they are fully aware of the kind of people that they will be dealing with as well as how to lead those concerned with the operation to trust them with ease. They have dealt with drugs and have also dealt with removing themselves out of situations of trouble without having to pay for consequences. They will thus be an asset to the authorities by acting as confidential informants. The department should have a strict policy concerning these informants – they need to carefully choose people who have information regarding the investigation at hand or at least have had something to do with a similar crime in their past. They should not be people who fear their lives because of the operation that they are getting themselves into and should be strong and smart about it. The department should first sign a c ontract with them regarding the confidentiality and they should not hire someone who might give the entire game away. Also, the informants must not turn up with information that cannot be verified because the operations that need to be carried out are on a very high level dealing with high crimes and potential criminals, so it must be carried out smoothly, without anyone understanding the set up. The department needs to thus sign a contract swearing in their secrecy and also turning them in to the authorities in case they spill confidential information regarding the investigation into the wrong hands or engage in some illegal activities during the course of the operation under the name of the federal police. If the informant is paid then the police should be sure to get a receipt for the transaction for obvious reasons. The work of the informant as well as all of his details should be properly documented with the police. All the paper work should be kept in a proper place for any cr oss checking. A background check needs to be done to understand the past history of the informant and all the crimes he has ever committed, the felons that he has been charged for, as well as his nature in order to understand his behavior during the course of the operation. A written approval regarding the informant’s selection must be taken from a supervisor as he must be prodded for all the information he will provide; negotiations regarding payment as well as any other incentives such as lowering a previous charge on him for

Compare and contrast how foreign antigens are recognised by the innate Essay

Compare and contrast how foreign antigens are recognised by the innate and the adaptive immunity - Essay Example The innate immunity system is composed of four main components each of which contains a large number of different types of cells. These four main components are: Phagocytes, Interferon, Compliment system and Natural Killer cells. The innate immunity is non-specific and targets every foreign antigen that it is exposed to. Also the response to these foreign antigens is very rapid. Mast cells of the innate immunity system release histamine which causes inflammation and dilation of the capillaries to allow the needed action. Adaptive immunity also aims to protect the body against infectious particles however the mode of action and the components involved are quite different from that of innate immunity. The adaptive immunity is very specific recognizing and acting against a specific antigen. The response against the antigen is quite slow when compared with the innate immunity and there is a time delay between the onset of antigens and the action taken by the adaptive immunity. The action however is targeted and once it is taken, it leads to rapid removal of antigens from the body. In both the innate and the adaptive immunity, the response to the foreign antigens takes place in two phases: the activation phase and the effector phase. The activation phase is very similar in both of these systems. During the activation phase, antigens are presented by the Major histocompatibility complexes to the T-cells. In the innate immunity the antigen is presented to the cytotoxic T cell which after recognizing the signal proliferates and produces perforin in order to lyse the infected cell. On the other hand, in the adaptive immunity, the antigens are presented to T-helper cells. The helper cells release cytokines which allow it to proliferate into clones. These clones then act on individual B-cells which cause them to proliferate and differentiate into either plasma cells or memory cells. Like the innate immunity, the adaptive

Investment and Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Investment and Analysis - Essay Example I would like to point out that the conventional wisdom of wisdom may not necessarily break down in situations of extreme market volatility. This is because making investments is all about diversifying in the right manner using the relevant tools. In 2008 and 2009, there was the occurrence of a serious stock-market cataclysm that led to massive loss of wealth in the US. Market reports estimated that investors lost approximately $6 trillion worth of wealth. The stock-market cataclysm not only led to massive loss of wealth but also eroded investor’s faith in the conventional wisdom of diversification. However, the failure of the diversification does not arise from the concept of diversification itself. This is because diversifying investments does work especially when done with the appropriate tools. In the newspaper excerpt, the writer noted that there is a tendency of assets correlating hence limiting the opportunity for investors to diversify. Investors who record losses durin g periods of high market volatility are the ones who do not manage to establish a well rounded portfolio. A well rounded portfolio consists of assets that do not have the tendency of swinging up and down in correlation with each other. This means that investors need to diversify their assets to include those that have very the least correlations.In recent times, starting from the year 2000, investors who have diversified their investments among companies that have different sizes have managed to record positive gains. This can be supported by the 2002-2003 performance of the bear market (Satchwell, 2004, p. 24). During this period, the S&P recorded a loss of 47.4 percent but small and undervalued companies produced a gain of 1.6 percent. Real investment trusts also managed to record a gain of 36.6 percent. The market has also in recent times recorded losses as a result of diversification. The latest occurrence of a bear market resulted in small, undervalued companies losing 59.6 percent and REITs losing 68.5 percent. This clearly indicates that what many investors seem to count as diversification does not count any further. This is attributed to the prevailing market dynamics that have changed the correlation between different assets in the market. Despite the mixed results, there is one better approach of utilizing the conventional wisdom of diversification (Jones, 2009, 200). This approach involves paying attention to the correlations of the different assets within a portfolio. Investors should consider diversifying their investments in assets that do not move in sync with each other in terms of market volatility. This can be demonstrated by an example that relates to the stock and bond markets. Given two assets that include Stock S and Bond A, the investor has to first to determine the correlation between the two. Let us assume that the two assets have a perfect negative correlation and are in a similar

Health Informatics in the Clinical, Administrative and Research Case Study

Health Informatics in the Clinical, Administrative and Research Settings - Case Study Example Even looking considering the estimate of 44,000,it clearly brings the impression that medical mistakes lead to higher death toll compared to 43,458 from motor vehicle accidents and breast cancer 42,297. Management of care.Continuity of care has been shown to suffer when several healthcare expertsmonitor the same patient, since all involved practitioners may have incomplete complete information about the medicines prescribed. Health IT and Quality improvement Lawwas introduced purposely to establish health IT fund program for hospital, domestic health agencies and skilled nurses (Bates et al 37). It requires human and health services to implement and establish a methodology under the care of Medicareprogram. They are basically for providing the hospitals with compensation of costs met by the hospitals as a result of implementing IT systems. Many errors may be detected and rectified through human inspection and knowledge; thisis an indication of weak fault reduction strategies.In 1995, it was demonstrated that about half of errors in medication, were associated with inadequate information regarding patient and drug. It has been found in a monitored trial that computerized general practitioner order, systems amounted to 55% reduction in critical medication errors. In another study of time series, the group found that 83% reduction in the entiremedication error was observed and 64% reduction done using a simple system. Another different category of medical decisional support is alerting systems which are computerized, they can notify physicians about occurring asynchronously. A developing body of evidence proposes that such system may reduce error rates while improving therapy and therefore improving outcome, the duration a patients spends in a dangerous state, survival, the length of staying in the hospital, costs. The research show that introduction of IT in hospital is very vital. It is associated with many factors. The

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The Arkansas State Lottery - Essay Example Based on a US 2003 Report, Arkansas ranked only 43rd in academic achievement among the 48 contiguous states in U.S. The National Education Association in 2002, meanwhile, rated Arkansan teachers' salaries at 41st place, pegged at no more than $36,962 per year. Additionally, the American Legislature Council bemoans that spending per pupil in the state is $5,764, roughly 25 percent lower than the national average of $7,557 per student (Muck). Local supporters of the lottery, hence, claim that returns drawn from the lottery would, by way of improving cash flows, facilities, technologies, and the overall serviceability of the institution, uplift the lagging educational system in the Arkansan state. Lottery money can also plug income and funding gaps critical to the overall maintenance and expansion of institutional development programs3. One such lottery supporter, Sandy Garrett, Oklahoma's state superintendent of public education, recounted that the expansion of the local scholarship program in Georgia was augured by its vigorous state lottery, and captured more fluently by its HOPE Program4. These scholarships had enabled several average or "B" students in high school land into top state-universities sans any significant financial burden (Muck). On a more On a more practical light, Rep. Shirley Walters-Greenwood of Arkansas explained that in-situ lotteries can generate savings. She mentioned that scores of people from Arkansas travel interstate to play lottery in presumably more palatable and less notorious gaming venues such as billiards halls, bingo sprees and casinos. Likewise, crossing states impose additional costs for gas and travel, and compel Arkansan

Compensation and Benefits Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Compensation and Benefits - Essay Example It wanted to be recognized as one of the finest places to work. To actualize that vision and mission, Nike implemented an incentive program in correlation with the mission. In any organizations including Nike, the workers do their duties for personal motivations like money (salary), but their motivation will get a great boost if they receive additional financial rewards, promotions and recognitions. When the reward component is analyzed from the perspective of organization's mission, it does somewhat supports Nike's mission. That is, Nike's mission is "To bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete in the world" (Nike Business, n.d.). Even though, this mission is customer centric, to achieve that mission the employees have to work effectively. To make the employee at Nike work effectively, the incentive program plays an important role. The incentive program implemented inside Nike perfectly fits with its resources. That is why, Nike has introduced an incentive program called Performance Sharing Plan, which correlates with the company's performance. "Performance Sharing Plan (PSP) - Nike has an annual bonus plan that rewards employees based on Nik e's performance (to reward team success) and individual performance (to reward your contributions to that success)." (The New York Job Source, 2008). As the program rewards the workers who perform up to the expected level, it meets the expectations of the employees. Importantly, this incentive program is fully attracting and retaining the employees. That is, Nike by rewarding and giving incentives to the deserving and 'success achieved' employees through this program and other programs is making them stick to the organization. This system is very flexible because it changes according to the performance of Nike. That is, if the employees perform optimally and raise organizational productivity and profits, they will be rewarded optimally. As this program is applicable to all types of employees, it cannot be tailor made for specific workers. On the whole, this incentive program functions as one of the main motivating factors for the employees, making them stick to the organization and thereby helped Nike reach the status of the world's number one maker of athletic shoes, equipment and apparel. When organizations fail to reward the employees appropriately, it could wean way the workers from the group decision making process and the resultant work teams. That is, some times or even frequently, the management overriding tried and trusted individuals could give important posts and responsibilities to individuals with negative attributes. If this practice is followed in the organisation, it will create disenchantment among the workers and will destroy team work. This ritual of awarding plum posts, rewards, incentives, etc, to the inappropriate members by the leader or the management team is not a norm in Nike. Nike rewards the employees in an unbiased manner. As mentioned above even this main incentive program of Performance Sharing Plan is applicable to all performing employees. Because of this strategy, workers in Nike are not banding together in a kind of mutual pr otection society with a culture of its own, but unite as work teams and are working in unison for the organizations. Unison of workers into teams with an urge to usher an organization into a successful endeavor will actualize, if the

The Arkansas State Lottery Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

The Arkansas State Lottery - Essay Example Based on a US 2003 Report, Arkansas ranked only 43rd in academic achievement among the 48 contiguous states in U.S. The National Education Association in 2002, meanwhile, rated Arkansan teachers' salaries at 41st place, pegged at no more than $36,962 per year. Additionally, the American Legislature Council bemoans that spending per pupil in the state is $5,764, roughly 25 percent lower than the national average of $7,557 per student (Muck). Local supporters of the lottery, hence, claim that returns drawn from the lottery would, by way of improving cash flows, facilities, technologies, and the overall serviceability of the institution, uplift the lagging educational system in the Arkansan state. Lottery money can also plug income and funding gaps critical to the overall maintenance and expansion of institutional development programs3. One such lottery supporter, Sandy Garrett, Oklahoma's state superintendent of public education, recounted that the expansion of the local scholarship program in Georgia was augured by its vigorous state lottery, and captured more fluently by its HOPE Program4. These scholarships had enabled several average or "B" students in high school land into top state-universities sans any significant financial burden (Muck). On a more On a more practical light, Rep. Shirley Walters-Greenwood of Arkansas explained that in-situ lotteries can generate savings. She mentioned that scores of people from Arkansas travel interstate to play lottery in presumably more palatable and less notorious gaming venues such as billiards halls, bingo sprees and casinos. Likewise, crossing states impose additional costs for gas and travel, and compel Arkansan

Luxury Brand Economy Effect Essay Example for Free

Luxury Brand Economy Effect Essay Monaco is a small country, but well known all over the world. All over the world it is known as a place of luxury. Every year a lot of tourists visit Monaco to have a good vacation visiting casinos, luxury restaurants and off course to do a shopping in a most known, luxury brands. In Monaco you can find a lot of different luxury boutiques for every taste; you can find everything from luxury cars to a luxury clothes and accessories. During the course of Luxury audit services we study a lot about the services in luxury stores. So our goal was to divide into groups and to do an audit of few stores. Our group was a big enough for such a mission, so we were thinking how to do it in a better way. And once we got a good idea. According to the information we received during the seminar with Guillaume Rose, in Monaco there are a lot of Russian millionaires, and they are always â€Å"invited guests† in different places. So we decided to split our group on two smaller groups and to compare the experience received in Gucci store and in Celine which are situated in the heart of Monaco, near the Casino and Hotel de Paris. I will share with you the Russian experience. I asked my friend, she is from Russia, for some help in this mission. Our story was that we family couple came from Russia for my friend’s wedding and as we already bought a new skirt for my wife we need to buy a new bag, which must be one of the last collections. And the second part of our group was native French with two different scenarios in two stores. As we will see next we received a little bit different experiences. Gucci store audit Firstly we decided to audit one of the most famous brands in the world, Gucci. At 12. 00 we entered the store. Before entering the store, we noticed that the showcase was clean, with good lighting, but there were no goods exposed. Entering the store, I noticed that the main glass door was all in hand prints and it was just 12. 00. Going to the store and pretending a married couple, we were arguing about the fact that my wife has already a bunch of bags and for what reason she is looking for one new. Staff in the store noticed us at once and ran to the side waving their heads as a greeting. Only the guard who was near the enter greeted us in a very polite form. We were walking through the shop for 3 minutes and a half and it gives us a good opportunity to study the store. We noticed that the reception area was clean as it is required, but there were not enough light, it gives to the store a much groomed look. And also no music and even no fresh flowers in the store. After 3 minutes and a half we meat a sales person who greeted us and introduced himself as a David. He asked us a few open questions in order to know what we are looking for. After he listened our story he was interesting in our previous experience with Gucci brand. We pretend that we don’t know anything about Gucci. He told us some information about the brand about its uniqueness and heritage. After that David proposed a few bags, he explained the value of that model and brought all the colors for that model. Also he guaranteed that the model will be in a trend for the next few years. What was not really very good it’s a careless handling of the bag and he put them on one big heap. And what impressed me very much is that he even don’t show the inner part of the bag, on my opinion it is very important to know how it is inside the bah which you are going to buy for a big amount of money. As I was pretending a husband who is not really happy to buy a new bag, I asked about the discount, and I get an answer in very polite form that there is no discount at all in Gucci store in Monaco. My pretending wife was asking me to buy the bag she liked and I was strong on my opinion. So a after that dialogue with my wife he proposed to book the bag till the evening for the case if I will change my mind. This was very polite from his side. But he doesn’t accompany us to the door and didn’t offer to giva us a business card and to right down us into the customers database. Totally we spend in the store 26 minutes. So in conclusion I can say that the experience I have received together with my pretending wife was far different from the French experience of my group mates. Celine store audit. The second we decided to audit was the Celine also situated in the heart of Monaco. Our story was the same, we were looking for a bag which will be good to my â€Å"wife’s† new skirt which we have bought for a wedding we are invited here in Monaco. The showcase was very clean with good exposition of some goods. When we entered the store we noticed staff talking together near the cash machine, although all of them greeted us in their store. The area of the class was very clean , there were enough light, giving a good look to the goods represented in the store. After a minute and 20-30 seconds of waiting we meat a vendor, she was Russian so we were able to speak on our native language. It impressed me very much, so I was ready to buy everything in that store. She was asking a lot of open questions, to get more information about our needs and it was great, because after that she proposed a few models which were facing all our needs. She was very listening, so it helps her to understand our needs. She explained everything about the product, how to clean it and how to use it to leave it in a new condition. Of course she valued the model and showed a few others and different colors. She knows the material and the price for that bag without looking anywhere. But what upset me she didn’t spoke about the brand, because we don’t know anything about that brand, except that it is a luxury and expensive brand. As the bag we liked the most she proposed to book it till the next day midday, so that we can think about purchasing it. She remains courtesy even in the case of not buying that bag. She put our names in database and proposed her help for any other matters. She accompanies us to the door and wish a good day for us. We spend in that store 23 minutes and the felling was like we spend there almost an hour, the experience we received in the Celine store was great dispute of some moments. Conclusion As our group was divided for two smaller groups in order to compare different experiences. As Russian group visiting the Gucci store we received almost a great experience. Points to improve, I would recommend to put some products on a showcases, it is needed to clean the entry glass door and if there is such a need to clean it every hour. They need to put more lights in the store, because it was too dark. Some fresh flowers will do only a good role and some soft music will be very great. And of course some training course for the staff. Celine experience was really great and there is nothing to speak about. I wish them to continue in that way. The experience we received during these audits was one of the greatest. We were participating in the process not just as a customer’s but almost as professionals who can notice almost everything in the store. Thanks to Ozzy Monaco for a great course.

Tui The Worlds Leading Travel Group Tourism Essay

Tui The Worlds Leading Travel Group Tourism Essay TUI is one of the leading tourism industry across the Europe started since 1997. TUI is the worlds leading travel group which operates in approximately 180 countries worldwide and provide more than 30 million consumers in over 27 base markets. The employees in the TUI travel group are approximately 65,000 and operate a pan-European airline consisting of 146 aircraft.   The company mainly serves the leisure travel customer and is organised and managed through four business sectors which are Mainstream, Specialist Emerging Markets, Activity and Accommodation Destinations.   In the financial year ended 30 September 2009 TUI Travel had revenues of  £13.9bn and an underlying profit before tax of  £366m. They are providing their services of travel and entertainment to millions of customers in different regions and as well as in different well reputed hotels worldwide. It owns travel agencies, hotels, airlines, cruise ships, retail stores, and container ships. TUI is offering their services in different and easy way through range of high street outlets and online services and as well as different travel agencies for the convenience of their customers. Therefore TUI has become one of the European well known and reputed tourism industries. Environmental analysis: TUI environmental analysis can be possible by using different analytical tools such as PESTEL, SWOT and Porters five forces. TUI environmental changes can be analysed in both external and internal to investigate how TUI achieved and maintained their leadership in the European tourism industry. However ANSOFF matrix can be useful for the TUI future implication. Furthermore, to talk about the limitations of the analytical tools is part of the report as well. P.E.S.T.E.L analysis: TUI external environmental analysis is done by the PEST one of the analytical tools. The PEST is used to analyse Political, Environmental, Social and technological factors of the TUI industry. Political Analysis: It includes range of political issues in which terrorist attacks are the major issues which enables government to put restriction on in some regions and also some insurance denied to cover their insurance if travel to these regions. These attacks also results in tight security and immigrations laws which also highly affect the tourism industry. In addition political instability not only affect the tourism industry of particular country but also many other countries nearby. Economical Analysis: It analyzes different and wide range of economical issues such as exchange rate, globalisation, oil prices and recession which highly affect the tourism industries. According to Galleggo et al 2007 that exchange rate plays a key role in international business and this highly impact on tourism industries for instance the difference between Pound sterling and Euro exchange rates can affect the tourism from UK into different other European Union countries. The globalisation gives many chances and very useful for international business and particularly for tourism industries to enhance them through many travel agencies and hotels worldwide. (Munoz 2005). As discussed by Wahab and Cooper 2001 that companies have low barrier for entry to market and take over other companies so then the threat to tourism from globalisation is the tough competition and maintain the quality of the services which they provide to the customers. Porter 1980 stated that when the barrier to entry is low the competition will tough for the company in new market. Aviation and oil prices also impact on the tourism industries. The recent economic disaster is one of the causes of falling down the tourism industry but on the other hand it is a chance for other well stabled companies in market to attract customers. Although, the last economic crises report could be expected and take into account that tourism contributes 10.6% of world GDP (refer case study). Social analysis: This factor totally belongs to the life style and behaviour of the customers towards buying a product. Therefore tourism agencies offer a modified holiday packages and online booking services for the convenience of the customers. In additions, consumers are very responsive to environment and are more attracted to those companies who are offering better environmental policies. Another social factor is the brand awareness among the customers and majority of the customer trust in the companys brand name hence brand loyalty can be the result of past services provided by the company to consumers. Technological analysis: Technology and tourism are two of the most dynamic motivators of the emerging global economy. It quite clear from the Office for National statistics 2009 that majority of even household people relying on the internet and have got the access to it. That is the reason that online sales are growing day by day. As described by Porter 2001 that internet has a low barrier of entry and online sales make it easier for customers and companies to cut down their costs by reducing staff and other intermediaries but on other hand it has a threat for the companies because newcomer can easily come into the competition. Another major threat for the tourism industry is televisions which enable people to watch different tourist places live and avoid them from travelling. Environmental analysis: An increased emission of carbon CO2 is a big threat and aviations and tourism industries are one of the major contributors of these emissions. The UK government is using new methods to reduce the emission to help the environment. It is a corporate social responsibility of the tourism and aviations industries to maintain their environmental responsibilities. However UK government is arguing for greener holiday locations around because these emissions can cause of many health problems for which tourism industries should be concerned. Legal: Companies should be responsible of the legal issues and rules and regulations of other countries if they are going to join them because international trade laws play a vital role in the todays business world. However, government suggested aviation safety and regulations which cover up different legal issues such as environmental, health, aviations permits and customers issues. Local Resources: Tourism industry also affects the local resources like food, water minerals and energy which can be already in shortage. Water resources: Tourism industry overuses the water resources which could cause water shortage and degradation of water supplies. Pollution: The pollution which can take place because of tourism industry are air emission, noise, solid waste and littering. Porters five forces analysis: Porters five forces industry analysis helps to measure and manage the long-term survival. Michael Porter (1979) provided a framework that shapes the industry as being prejudiced by five forces. The aims of Porters Five Forces framework are To understand the drivers of competitive behavior in the sector and To evaluate the long-run profit potential of the sector To highlight strategies to alter industry structure (Lynch 2000) Potential entrants: According to Porter (1987) there is a low threat of entrant to newcomers into market. However, companies already having high shares of the market make high barrier of entrant for the newcomers because more than 70 % of the market shares are taken by the existing leaders in the market. But still the chance for the newcomers is the brand recognition which can help them as a barrier of entrant into the market. Substitutes: The substitutes for the tourism industry are the television program and some sort of games which can affect the business of tourism industries but on the other hand the low differentiation of products reduces the risk of substitutes because there is still lack of entertainment as compared with travelling physically. Competitive rivalry: Due to the tough competition in the tourism industry the companies with the fixed cost are beneficial in the current circumstances because there is a clear difference in market shares between different companies for example the TUI with 21% and Thomas Cook with 13 % of shares in the market in present which alternatively reduces competition in the tourism industry. Bargaining power of suppliers: Companies with low shares have low power against suppliers. But where the companies have more than 50 % of the market shares have high power of negotiation with suppliers which will be power balance in a reasonable bargaining power for the suppliers. Bargaining power of buyers: The low differentiation of products and less number of substitutes in the market also reduce the bargaining power of buyer it is because of the changes in online cost sales and the use of internet. Leadership maintenance in the European tourism industry: Porter (2006) argued that an Organisation can only sustain their leadership if they set up some differences and keep its business attractive is the way to maintain their leadership. TUI is one of the tourism industry leading companies with the current 21 % shares of the market and offers their services almost 180 regions internationally. The internal analysis is carried out through SWOT analysis. It is used for review the general position of the business. Strength and Weakness are the internal factors, Opportunities and Threats are external factors. The strength of TUI helped them to maintain their leadership in the tourism industry. The value chain of TUI helped them to offer cheap prices to the consumer as compared to their competitors. The direct distribution channel plays a major role to boost up the revenue and helped them to cut down expenses of TUI travel group. TUI friendly shareholders and proper management and effective customer service helped them to retain their customers and attract new customers from the market. TUI travel group believed in their differentiated product and brand name attained the competitive advantage for the organisations. TUI always considered their shareholders and employees as the assets of the organisation. According to Grant 1991 resources and capabilities are fundamentals of strategy direction and profitability. They maintained their capacity management resources to response to the changes happening in the business environment accordingly which helped them to achieve the competitive advantage over the competitors and boosted up the economical level. This high economical scale helped them to beat the rivals in the market. The acquisitions of companies, product differentiation and cost leadership strategies helped to gain a competitive edge. In the market TUI is the one to implement these strategies all together and gained the competitive edge from their rivals in the market. Future implications of TUI: The usage of analytical tools such as PESTEL, Porters five force, SWOT analysis, Ansoff matrix the macro and micro environmental analysis has been discussed in the previous sections of the report for the TUI travel organization. TUI implemented Ansoff matrix to lead the organisation on the progressive path although TUI is one of the leading tourism industry world wide and already counted in the top leader of the European market. As explained in the previous parts of the report depending on the key finding the future implications of TUI are as published in the Mintel report (2009) that the air flight was increased by short journeys just before the economic crises which benefited the low cost airlines but not for long because the recession has changed the whole scenario. Recessions has turned the consumers to low cost and cheaper alternative such as busses and rails even though these alternatives were more time consuming but because of the recession consumers preferred to have differen t experience of travelling however, these preference of consumers could be a chance for TUI to enhance their differentiation of products in the form of land transportations for short journeys rather than air flight to cope with the circumstances. Internet gives an opportunity of low barrier entrant to the newcomers. Hence, potential entry barrier requires a high investment to enter into the tourism industry. In this situations TUI need to focus on the online services to attract the low spending consumers. International trade can be highly affected by the fuel price instability and particularly the tourism industry therefore TUI need to deal with the oil companies to overcome this issue for specific period of time but have to take into account that this could be threat until the oil companies stabilize the fuel price fluctuation. In addition TUI needs to focus on the environmental such as the carbon emission factors which could highly impact upon the tourism industry. However, it is clear from previous part of the report that consumers prefer the companies who are aware to the environmental changes therefore TUI need to focus on the environmental changes to overcome this issue. In the planning for the future implication, TUI should focus on enhancement of their market in the Asia but need to maintain their European market as they already one of the leading tourism industry across European market. Limitations of the analytical tools used: The analytical tools I have used in my report to carry out analysis of TUI and its limitations are discussed below: PESTEL analytical tool is used to analysis both macro and micro environmental changes of the industry and recognize the main issues which can affect the strategy and analyse the threats to the tourism industry, on the other hand there are few limitations of tools used to identify the weakness of tourism industry and shape them for a solution as a result. The aims of the Porters five forces are to measure and manage the long-term survival and to understand the key drivers of competitive behavior in the sector and to evaluate the long run profit potential of the sector to highlight strategies to alter industry structure (Lynch 2000). Hence the limitations are that it does not think about the other products and also ignore most important aspects such as human resource, culture and management skills. The use of Ansoff matrix is to analyze the corporate strategic growth of the organization and assesses the best position for the organizations but on contrary it only focus on the market shares and growth and does not consider the other significant factors. The last analytical tool used in my report is the SWOT analysis which reviews the general position of the business. Strength and Weakness are the internal factors, Opportunities and Threats are external factors. It tells about the factor to be focused and helps in the better decision making circumstances. Although, it tells about the strengths of the organisations but no effective suggestions about how to use and be benefited the organisations from them. Conclusion: The report examines both macro and micro environment of TUI tourism industry by the help of some useful analytical tools to find out the key factors and as well as explore that how TUI gained the competitive advantage and maintained their leadership in the European tourism industry by identifying their strength and as well as illustrate the future direction to TUI for its growth and success. However, the recession effect the TUI in both ways when we go for disposable income, it is very true that it had affected all the industry, but the other way round although the group profit of TUI for the financial year ending 2005 has decreased compare to 2004 but in comparison of over all tourism industry TUI did well as of its competitive prices and direct selling channel i.e. internet selling which obviously reduce the operating cost by less staff working. As disposable income have badly effected the TUI but still they need to reshape their marketing structure to attract the new customers. The management of TUI need to take decision to move the company as a profit making with customers satisfaction. Refrences: Annual Report. (2008).  TUI Annual Report.   http://www.dft.gov.uk/. eTourism: information technology for strategic tourism management by Dimitrios Buhalis Pearson Education, 2003 Business Economics 376 pages Gallego et al. (2007). On the impact of exchange rate regimes on tourism.As ociacià ³n Espaà ±ola de Economà ­a y Finanzas Internacionales  , 1-16 Grant, R. (1991). The Resource-Based Theory of Competitive Advantage: Implications for Strategy Formation.  California Management Review, 114-135 http://www.gdrc.org/uem/eco-tour/envi/one.html Johnson et al. (2005).  Exploring Corporate Strategy  (7th Ed.). Essex: Pearson Education Limited. Mintel Reports. (2009, July). Retrieved November 7, 2009, from MINTEL OXYGEN: http://academic.mintel.com/sinatra/oxygen_academic//display/id=39545 Munoz, J. (2005). Executive Insights on Globalization.  International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management , 17  (4), 365-371 Porter, M. (1985). Competitive Advantage: Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance. Free Press , 33-61 Porter, M. E. (1980). How Competitive Forces Shape Strategy. The McKinsey Quarterly , 34-50. Porter, M. E. (2001). Strategy and the Internet. Harvard Business Review , 63-79. Porter, M. (1987). From Competitive Advantage to Corporate Strategy. Harvard Business Review , 43-59 http://www.statistics.gov.uk/CCI/nscl.asp?ID http://www.statistics.gov.uk/cci/nugget TUI case study http://www.tui-group.com/en/company http://www.tuitravelplc.com/tui/pages/aboutus/corporateprofile Wahab, S., Cooper, C. (2001). Tourism in the Age of Globalisation. London: Routledge