References to the Moon in Paul Austers Moon Palace

References to the moon in Paul Austers Moon Palace * Frequently dealing with the moon * Already at the beginning the moon is mentioned with the first Landing on the moon * page 7 line 1: * â€Å"It was the summer that men first walked on the moon. â€Å" Introduction of the leitmotif; outlines the time in which the story approximately takes place * page 18/ 19: * â€Å"Moonlight Moodsâ€Å";. â€Å"Moon Menâ€Å" * page 38 line 21- 25: * â€Å"†¦ Radiant Diana, I thought†¦ â€Å" Diana is the Roman god of the moon. The male counterpart is Sol(? -omon) who is the god of the sun. * page 39 line 51- 52: â€Å"Perhaps the word moon had changed for me after I saw men wandering about its surface. â€Å" Marco learns that the moon is reachable and so is also his aim (to find his identity). * page 77 line 50 – 53: * â€Å"†¦ they (Kitty`s visits) were natural events, and they carried the same force and inevitability as the weather, the motions of the planets, or the light that came filtering through the window at three o`clock every afternoon †¦ † This means that Kitty`s visits are regularly because the circulation of the planets always happens in the same succession. page 85 line 48 – 50: * † †¦ the point was to accept things as they were, to drift along with the flow of the universe †¦ † This passage is linked to Marco`s life in the parc when he didn`t make any effort to reach something. He only wanted to keep on living just as the planets are rotating without being influenced by any other subject than nature. * page 86 line 29 – 31: * † †¦ within the next ten days or so, I believe I put on eighteen or twenty pounds, and by the end of the month I was beginning to resemble the person I had once been †¦ Marco`s siuation is compared with the moon: After a certain time of change the moon turns into his initial condition. * page 100 line 32- 33: * â€Å"The sun is the past, th e earth is the present, the moon is the future. â€Å" This is a link to Marco`s future. After 9 months when he reads Nicola Tesla`s autobiography he finds the same sentence. * page 139 line 50- 54: * Marco is looking at a picture showing the moon but he isn`t able to recognize the real meaning of the painting immediately. Marco`s life is compared with this. * page 155 line 58- 60: The moon is a sign giving orientation towards Marco`s life. * page 252 line 30- 32: * Sol puts the origins of the Indians having saved John Kepler from death to the moon. * page 255 line 56- 57: * The moon is a symbol of darkness and lunacy but it also reflects a new beginning. The earth around Utah resembles the surface of the moon. * page 302 line 11- 14: * Marco`s real life starts when he is looking at the moon. Now, he has succeeded his quest for identity so he can re- enact how important it is to have a point of orientation in your life. Once Thomas Effing has tried to teach Marco this. Moon Palace: * He lives as homeless person in the central park his rescue through meeting Kitty Wu Moon as a symbol for hope and change * Restaurant Moon Palace a Chinese restaurant; Moon palace as the embodiment of the misconception that Columbus thought America was China * There are three stories in the book and each one is finally the same each generation repeats the same mistakes of the previous generation * Moon Landing at the very beginning: * Marco doesn’t share the enthusiasm of the most American people including the president p5/1 * Apollo project.Marco is critical of the M. L. because it stands for man’s Hybris to break into Gods Sphere * Marco talks about Moon Landings in Literature when he first meets Kitty p50/16 * Moon: * Goddess of love and lunacy p43/5 * Dark image * But also: a kind of new frontier (Columbus-the West-the moon) * Landscape of the moon is similar to the one of the American West p45/1 * moon is a lifeless stone * loneliness just like in the west * Mo on Palace * Esp. The neon sign of a Chinese Restaurant Marco sees from his apartment (once really existed) p. 5/11 * A painting called â€Å"Moonlight† by Ralph Blakelock p162/20 * The moon is above a peaceful scene (Indians/Nature/Frontier) * Associated with harmony between man and nature * Moon stands for constant change which determines Marcos life and future * (see the end of the novel, when Marco stares at the moon * compare Effings view (p182) the moon offers you a direction in Life/Orientation * Solomon Barber & the moon: * In Kepler’s Blood: the people there were born on the moon * Barbers bald head/his face reminds at the moon

Labor and Employment Law

It is the law, which provide legal right, restrictions and control on the workers working at the working place in the organization. The employment law was designed to protect the interest of the workers.Almost all the countries and International Labor Organization prepared it to keep the labors in equal position with the society. It is prepared on the different aspects of labors such as their working place, minimum wage, working time, health and safety, workplace environment etc.Labor and Employment Law, 12th Edition was wrote by the famous labor arbitrator containing chapters on pay equity and age discrimination, disability discrimination ad worker’s compensation laws ad employee privacy.The National Labor Relation Board is designed to provide right to the private sector employees to form their labor union and bargain collectively over wages, hours and working conditions.The NRLB also provide right to an employer to voluntarily recognize a union when card is presented with th e sign of majority of the employees. The employer is authorized to enter into card check agreement with union before collection of signatures. It is mandatory required on the part of employer to assemble signatures from more than majority of bargaining unit employees.The third party may check the authorization cards to judge the limits of the members as provided I the NRLA act. The Board may order to an employer to bargain with union, even when the  Ã‚   union lost secret ballot election.Therefore, from the above points it is clear that card check agreement is replacing the ballot election because it is more economical, more transparent etc. because conduction of secret ballot election is more private affair and confidential and   create more pressure o the employees. I the nutshell, card check recognition may reduce earning inequality, whereas mandatory secret ballot elections may increase it.Reference:Referred to sites:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labour_and_employment_law/ Em ployment law http://www.workinglife.org/filebin/fol/CRS_may_2005_reportcardcheck.pdf/ Labor union recognition procedures: use of secret ballots and cards checks.

Shakespeare Research Paper

William Shakespeare is arguably one of the greatest playwrights and poets of all time. This is due to his intelligent sonnets and plays that are divided into the genres of comedy, tragedy and history. Many great poets have acknowledged him as a pure genius in the way he presents his work. English novelist D. H. Lawrence stated â€Å"When I read Shakespeare I am struck with wonder that such trivial people should muse and thunder in such lovely language†. Alchin, online) English poet Robert Graves once described this poetic genius, claiming that â€Å"The remarkable thing about Shakespeare is that he is really very good – in spite of all the people who say he is very good. † (Alchin, online) Shakespeare’s work has the reputation of being the one of the greatest in English language and Western literature. It has been translated into every major language and is still being preformed all around the world today. Many of Shakespeare’s plays and sonnets hav e similar characteristics relating to themes, motifs, and symbols. These recurring images and ideas not only portray how he really feels, but they also have a personal connection with Shakespeare as they have had some significance in his life. The theme of death and reappearing ghosts appear in many of Shakespeare’s works, especially in Hamlet and Macbeth, and are used to connect with the reader and present an important aspect that helps develop his works as a whole. In the time of William Shakespeare there was a strong belief in the existence of the paranormal activity and. Thus, the theme of the supernatural is a recurring aspect in many of Shakespeare?s plays. In both Hamlet and Macbeth, the supernatural is vital to the development and structure of the plot. It provides a deeper understanding of each character, and increases the impact of important events. The supernatural appears to the audience in many varied forms. In Hamlet there is a ghost, the most common supernatural form. However, in Macbeth, not only does a ghost appear but a floating dagger, witches, and prophetic apparitions make appearances. A ghost, appearing in the form of Hamlet’s father, makes several appearances in the play. It first appears to Marcellus and Bernardo, along with Horatio. The ghost says nothing to them and is perceived with fear and apprehension. However, the ghost gives the reader important information that helps them understand the development of the plot. The conversation between the ghost and Hamlet serves as a reason for Hamlet’s later actions and provides insight into his character. However, Hamlet is not quick to believe the ghost. â€Å"T' assume a pleasing shape; yea, and perhaps, Out of my weakness and my melancholy, As he is very potent with such spirits, Abuses me to damn me. (Shakespeare, Act 2, Scene 2). This reveals another aspect of his character and helps the reader understand Hamlet. This ghost is portrayed as a subconscious, and he uses it as a guide when he takes the ghost’s advice to seek revenge for the King’s death. The supernatural occurs four times during the course of Macbeth. It occurs in the forms of the witches, in the appearance of Banquo’s ghost, in the apparitions, and in the â€Å"air-drawn† dagger that guides Macbeth towards his victim. The witches are the most important supernatural aspect in Macbeth. They represent Macbeth’s evil ambitions and are the reason for his evil aspirations. Macbeth believes the witches and wishes to know more about the future so after the banquet he seeks them out at their cave. He wants to know the answers to his questions even though the consequences are violent and destructive to nature. In Hamlet and Macbeth the supernatural is a vital part of the structure of the plot. It provides a catalyst for action by the characters and supplies insight into the major players. The supernatural appeals to the audience’s curiosity of the mysterious and thus strengthens their interest. Shakespeare had his experiences with death throughout his whole life. During the 16th century, waves of plague swept across England. John and Mary Shakespeare had eight children, including William. Joan, the first born sibling, died at the age of two months old due to the Bubonic Plague. Margret was the second born child and only lived for one also due to the plague. Anne Shakespeare was the sixth child born. She died at the age of eight. William was very fortunate to live a full life as three out of seven of his siblings died at an extremely young age. He also had to witness much of his family suffer with illness from the plague that swept Stratford uring the hot summer months. The plague was not the only tragic aspect of Shakespeare’s time. Smallpox, Syphilis, Typhus and Malaria mainly from infected rats all drastically affected Shakespeare’s life and caused copious amounts of death. These type of aspects and experiences all have influenced his writing (Amanda Mabillard, online). It is also a key motif and vital theme in Macbeth and Ham let, as well as many other plays. Each major character in both plays has a famous soliloquy that discusses the topic of death and leads the character with a lingering feeling of despair. They both wonder if embracing death would be better than living in a world full of corruption. â€Å"Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow creeps in this petty pace from day to day to the last syllable of recorded time; and all our yesterdays have lighted fools the way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle! †¦ Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing. † (Shakespeare, Act 5, Scene 5). Macbeth, feeling guilty after committing killing the king and sad after the death of his wife, sees life as meaningless and insignificant. He wonders if life is truly worth living anymore. Hamlet’s famous soliloquy displays a similar tone as he also ponders between life and death. â€Å"To be, or not to be: that is the question: Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, Or to take arms against a sea of troubles, And by opposing end them? †¦ With this regard their currents turn awry, And lose the name of action. –Soft you now! The fair Ophelia! Nymph, in thy orisons Be all my sins remember'd. † (Shakespeare, Act 3, Scene 1). His despair, sorrow, anger, and inner peace are all justifiable emotions for this troubled character. Hamlet's feeling of despair towards his life and to the world develops as the play moves on. With the burden of avenging his father's death, Hamlet thinks that perhaps it is better commit suicide, except that there is no knowledge of what comes next. Therefore, although he thinks death should to be embraced, it cannot be pursued. (Schoenbaum, 49) Shakespeare’s life and thoughts are portrayed, reflected, and interpreted throughout his plays. Hamlet and Macbeth’s speeches both suggest that Shakespeare himself dealt with the question of life over death and possibly had thoughts of suicide. He uses these characters to reflect his feelings and thoughts and develop the plot of the story. Shakespeare’s plays have influenced many people around the world. He is one of the most known playwrights. His style is so unique and distinctive and excels beyond the expectations of great writing. Although his plays may seem as just a great story merely for entertainment, each and every single aspect of his writing has an incredibly deep meaning that adds style and feeling to the plot. The supernatural in many of Shakespeare’s works and have contributed to plot development by foreshadowing events later in the novel and shaping the characters attitude throughout the play. Death has been a lingering aspect through most of Shakespeare’s plays and is usually the fate of the major character. It helps develop the plot and places emphasis on the fatal flaw of the major character or theme of the play. They both have played an important part in Shakespeare’s life and have been essential to the success of his work as they help the genius express his feelings and shape the scheme of his writing.

Advertising psychology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Advertising psychology - Essay Example In fact, medium through which ideas are expressed is not relevant, what matters is the nature of messages communicated to customers by these companies. Self-determination of this company is manifested through their effort and culture expressed in each of their offices. This company altered its brand from Wieden & Kennedy, Inc in May 2003, which was established during its founding in 1982, in Portland, Oregon (Businessweek, 2013, 1). Nevertheless, this agency has managed to offer their marketing services through offices located in countries such as Netherlands, Britain, America, Japan, China, Brazil and India. This agency has been managed by different managing directors since its founding; for instance, Luhr was one of the managing directors who headed this agency since in 1992 after working for a period of six years and later he became a partner (Businessweek, 2013, 1). On the other hand, Wieden+Kennedy has been involved in promotions of big companies such as Nike.Therefore, this pap er analyses â€Å"Jordan BE Lifestyle Campaign† in order to discuss the topic of advertising psychology. Jordan BE Lifestyle Campaign was aimed at creating a genuine reason for Jordan Lifestyle Apparel Collection, whereby it is focused on establishing a contemporary and culturally relevant gyrate on the legacy and life of Michael Jordan (Effie Awards, 2007, 2).... yle attire category; in fact, this campaign focuses on generation of additional media impression and talk value among the principal consumers in the fashion industry (Effie Awards, 2007, 2). The campaign was also focused on generating thirty percent sale of Jordan Brand Collection attire through a credible establishment of a brand as lifestyle alternatives for customers. 2. Psychological Theory Various distinctive theories of advertising have been discerned by numerous scholars since 1900s (Loken, 2006, 454). In fact, researchers had a conviction that understanding of psychological theories in marketing would derive a significant way of conducting a systematic analysis of trade instead of relying on chances or instinct. Especially, in the America, advertising has become a serious industry; for instance, in 2007, there was one hundred and forty nine billion spent on advertisements by different companies (Effie Awards, 2007, 1). Nevertheless, study in the field of advertising theories commenced in 1903, whereby a research was conducted in psychological laboratory of Northwestern University (Loken, 2006, 460). Nevertheless, some of psychological approaches that could be applied in advertising are indentified and they have increasingly developed significantly (Lau-Gesk, 2003, 301). Therefore, this section will seek to analyze some of the psychological theories applied in â€Å"Jordan BE Lifestyle Campaign† by Wieden+Kennedy, Inc. In fact, these theories are focused on applying elements such as strategic communication and psychological alternation in potential of various customers (Cox & Cox, 2001, 103). 3. Cognitive psychology theories Cognitive psychology theories applicable to this advertisement focused on the form of self-referencing that could be utilized by the

Wales (stateless nation) Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Wales (stateless nation) - Research Paper Example Wales was earlier inhabited by the Celtic Britons and it was only after the Romans withdrew from the regions of Britain sometime during the 5th century that it was freed, and thus, in today’s modern period, Wales is one of the places which is acknowledged as having a Celtic background or influence. (Bodlore-Penlaez, Mikael) The first King of Wales, Gruffyd ap Llwelyn was crowned in 1507 and Edward I of England took over at the time of his death. There are a number of castles and forts which were built around Wales during the period of monarch, which have now been protected as UNESCO World Heritage sites. After heavy research it was found out that the region of Wales has had human inhabitation since the last 29,000 years dating back to even the ice age. After that, the Neolithic period also witnessed a large number of people settling around the area, which then gave way to the Bronze Age and the Iron Age with respect to Celtic cultures. A large amount of human activity has been taking place since these periods around the region of Wales with respect to maritime trade, land trade, as well as creation of machinery, tools and other such equipment. (Who Were the Celts?) The Romans invaded Wales for a period of three centuries and during the time that they were there; they set up a very good military base of their own. They founded the town of Caerwent in Wales and since Wales has very good mineral resources, they exploited these resources and gave birth to technology with the help of gold, silver, copper, bronze as well as zinc. The only language spoken at the time was Latin in Wales. The Romans tried their best to spread their culture as well as set up industrialization as far as they could, and even religion and socio-economic culture in present day Wales is seen as a reflection of whatever was set up during the Roman Empire. A large number of Roman dynasties also came into view during this time, set up mostly in

Pressure on students Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Pressure on students - Research Paper Example The students may end up in unfair practices because of the pressure that is being imposed upon them. In several instances it is seen that the students have cheated for their exams so that they can achieve better grades. In other words pressure is causing the students to go through ethical dilemmas which they otherwise may not go through. Similarly it is also found that the students undergo anxiety because of the pressure that they feel. Moreover in exams the students may not be able to perform well because of this very pressure. It has been argued by many that this pressure can create many difficulties for the students and this aspect would be further analyzed in this essay (Welch et al 2007). Students are pressurized by parents mostly to perform better so that they can achieve good grades. But this pressure has been directly linked to the anxiety found in the students. This anxiety can further affect the results of the students in a special environment. It has been found that studen ts who are anxious when giving a test tend to perform lower than the ones who have not been informed. In other words the students who tend to be pressurized about a test perform lower than the ones who are not pressurized about it. Another process of ‘catastrophizing’ may occur when the students fear the consequences of the test before even attempting it. This again is a process through which the students are pressurized and this affects the grades of the students. In other words high pressure can affect the grades of the students negatively rather than positively (Welch et al 2007). During the student life it is seen that the students have to undergo a lot of pressure from parents and peers. A study conducted showed that students of both genders were under pressure from their peers during their school life. It is because of this that the students have to undergo a great deal of pressure and this affects their grading. Students who undergo pressure cannot withstand it a t times and they undergo other social problems while trying to achieve better grades (Gewertz 2005). Pressure on students is enforced by the parents and peers so that they can achieve good grades. Professor Eric Roberts has blamed the norm of getting higher grades a primary problem which increases plagiarism and cheating in academic institutions. It has been found that the pressure inflicted upon the students by parents and peers leads to a greater level of stress amongst the students. The problem has become so bad that the stress levels have also been indicated to be a health epidemic. It has also been found that because of the stress levels the students tend to forget the ethical values that are involved in education. A lecturer Clark Pope stated that â€Å"The students "know [cheating] is wrong; they tell me they wish they didn't do it†¦."But they feel like the most important thing they do is get the grades, by hook or by crook." This clearly shows that to achieve higher gr ades the students forget their ethical limits and get involved in the practice of cheating. Achieving higher grades has become a norm for every student and this should be somehow removed from the minds of the students. The students on one hand are able to achieve higher grades but on the other hand the ethical problems are on the rise and this can be accounted to the pressures that these students are facing (Palmer 2005). The problem of peer and parent pressure in students has increased so much that Stanford

Research Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 3

Research Paper - Essay Example I was interested in knowing the progress China is making that could see it become a super power nation and the reasons that were behind its progress. It was due to this reason that I carried out the internet research to get more detailed information on China’s economy and its rise that could see it become one of the super power nations. I carried out some research on the internet using Google as my search engine. I also followed the United States news about the implication of the coming power shifts and how they could have impacts on the U.S policy. During my extensive reading through the various articles and web pages, I found some names and phone numbers and so I contacted those leads in order to gather more information on the topic. The National Intelligence Council argues that by 2030 the global balance of power will shift significantly. China will likely become the largest economy in the world. In terms of military spending, Gross Domestic Product, population size and tec hnological investment, Asia will surpass Europe and North America. The United States is expected to become first among equals rather than a superpower nation due to the coming diffusion of powers. ... The initiation of this economic reform has made china become one of the world’s fastest growing economies. The rise of China economies has surprised many people and its progress seems even more praiseworthy. The article by Professor James states that the rise of modern China to become the second largest economy in the world has become possible due to the success of the Chinese communist revolution during the mid-20th century. The invading Japanese imperial army was defeated by the People’s Liberation Army. They also defeated the US imperialist-back comprador led Kuomintang â€Å"Nationalist† army. The reunification of China as an independent sovereign state was made possible as a result. The extraterritorial privileges of the Western imperialist were abolished by the Communist government. This resulted in territorial freedoms of the regional warlords and the gangsters driving away women and drug traffickers as well those who were providing services to Euro-Americ an Empire. Economic reform on a large scale in a country as large as china was seen to be impossible. However, China has been incrementally transformed into a market economy from a control. This has been made possible due to Deng and his reform coalition. Due to the continued rise of economic aspects of China it is soon becoming a superpower nation. Due to various measures taken by the government of China, its economy has greatly risen. Colin Carter explains that today China produces 18% of the world cereal grains, fifty percent of the world’s vegetables and twenty nine percent of the world’s meat. This has made China one of the world’s largest agricultural economy and it has been ranked as the largest producer of wheat, cotton, rice, tea and

Parkinsonism and other Extrapyramidal Diseases Essay

Parkinsonism and other Extrapyramidal Diseases - Essay Example In essence, I did the best I could with what I was provided. The normal functions of the human basal ganglia have largely been deduced from the study of functional problems associated with destructive or irritative lesions. To a large degree, the deficits are in motor function and, therefore, the extrapyramidal system and basal ganglia have been associated with movement disorders. Important interconnections of the basal ganglia are the nigrostriatal pathway, and the ansa and fasciculus lenticularis, and the fasciculus thalamicus, which interconnect the globus pallidus and the ventral lateral and ventral anterior (VL-VA) nuclei of the thalamusand the VL-VA thalamocortical fibers, the subthalamopallidal pathway, striatopallidal fibers, and cerebellothalamic interconnections Parkinson's disease, first described by James Parkinson in 1817, is one of the most important disabling illnesses of later life. It is estimated to affect 1% of 70-year-olds, but is also seen in younger people, with 10% of cases occurring before the age of 50. Parkinson's disease is one of the most common neurodegenerative diseases, but estimating its incidence and prevalence is problematic, since there is no 'in-life' marker for idiopathic Parkinson's disease; estimates of the annual incidence of Parkinson's disease are in the range of 4 to 20 per 100000 individuals. A widely accepted figure for the prevalence of Parkinson's disease is approximately 200 per 100,000 populations. In the UK, there are approximately 120,000 to 130,000 diagnosed cases, but there may be many more that remain undiagnosed. In the USA, it is estimated that between 750,000 and 1.5 million people have the disease. ( Ref) Age, Sex, and Ethnicity Both the incidence and prevalence of Parkinson's disease increase with age, and the prevalence may be as high as 1 in 50 for patients over the age of 80 years. Men are 1.5 times more likely than women to develop the condition are. Hospital-based studies have suggested that Parkinson's disease is less common in the black population. Pathology The main pathological feature of Parkinson's disease is the degeneration of neuromelanin-containing neurons in the pars compacta of the substantia nigra. Examination with the naked eye reveals pallor of this area, which is confirmed microscopically by a marked decrease in the number of neuromelanin-containing cells and the presence of Lewy bodies in the remaining nigral neurons. Degeneration of pigmented neurons in the brainstem is not limited to the nigra but extends to the locus ceruleus and the dorsal motor nucleus of the vagus. Neuronal Degeneration The cause of neuronal degeneration in Parkinson's disease is unknown. The susceptible neurons are located in astroglial-poor regions such as the ventral tier. Glia may offer neuroprotection by providing neurotrophic factors that prevent cell death. Several hypotheses for neuronal degeneration have been proposed, including: oxidative stress, induced by dopamine metabolism or other factors defective mitochondrial energy metabolism excitotoxin- and xenobiotic-related cell death programmed cell death (apoptosis) to the medial

Agricultural Tourism in Cameroon Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Agricultural Tourism in Cameroon - Assignment Example It has beautiful rain forests in the south eastern part of the country and desert at the northern end in addition to this it has regular rainfalls which makes travelling through the country even more attractive for tourists (West). However despite of all the beautiful location and tropical crops available throughout the country tourism is comparatively very low. People are usually unfamiliar with the hidden beauty of the place or they do not have sufficient guidance to travel there. This project on Agricultural Tourism in Cameroon is based on the objective of increasing tourism in the country by a significant percentage which will ultimately result in increased economic growth. Initially the hidden adventure of visiting Cameroon shall be unveiled in order to attract tourist (Fund). For this purpose the project will limit its scope only at the Tropical Crops and Landscapes of the country as these are the major components which influence tourism. Cameroon is blessed with immense natura l resources in addition to cultural heritage and inhabitants of majestic characteristics. It has the unique ecotourism sites of the world with Kapsiki summits in the North and in Kibri located in the Atlantic Ocean which directly falls in to the sea portraying a beautiful scene for the tourists. Building Agricultural Tourism Project in Cameroon is a challenging task because there is no cultural of tourism in the country, people do not like many foreigners roaming around them neither they encourage to build tourism supportive organization either on public or private level. Additionally it is very difficult for tourists to reach there and find accommodation for them since Africans of Cameroon do not provide accommodation services to the tourists coming to their land. Animals found in the forest are extremely dangerous and tourists cannot risk traveling without a proper tourist guide (West). The most important landscape open for tourism in Cameroon are (West): Mountains: They are usual ly found on the western part of the country. They provide extensive activities and sports to tourist such as mountain hiking, etc. Deserts: The famous Sahara desert is present in the north of the country. Forests: Rainforests are present in the southern and eastern parts which are primarily responsible for the overall climate of the country. National Parks: Various national parks are located at different places with in the country some of them are centuries old and attract great many tourists from all around the world. Following are most attractive tropical crops for tourist visiting Cameroon (Atangana) : Banana: Cameroon produces more than 400,000 tons of bananas which are far more than the actual needs of the population. The bananas of Cameroon are famous because of their distinctive characteristics including their smell and size which is very attractive to the tourists visiting the country. Coffee: It is produced from the Western highlands of the country. The sweet aroma of coffe e, its flavor and the real qualities of Boyo Arabica coffee makes it a part of the tourist packages which is highly attractive for all the coffee lovers. Sugar: Cameroon is active in trade of sugar. There are several mills within the country which produce and exports sugar to other parts of the world. Tourists who also travel for the purpose of identifying business opportunities then Cameroon is the most suitable place for them. Time Period The Project will start by the mid of 2013 and will be completed within one year i.e. by the mid of 2014. It is a team based work consisting of five core team members and a group of 10 members acting as supporters to the project. Plan The project will perform its

The moral diversity argument for nonobjectivism Essay

The moral diversity argument for nonobjectivism - Essay Example Different cultures and religions look at moral principles differently, based on their culture’s understanding of them. With this, it can be assumed that moral diversity is the differences in interpretation of morality. It does not mean though that these diverse principles would always be in contrast with each other. Some may actually be in support with each other. A particular moral diversity argument is the argument for non-objectivism, wherein non-objectivists claim that moral claims are relative and dependent on the beliefs of an individual or group. This is in contrast to a moral objectivist’s point of view wherein the truth and morality is independent of anyone’s judgment. Non-objectivism emphasizes the diversity between the belief systems of different cultures. Non-objectivism views moral diversity as real and possible since individuals and groups view moral principles and objectives differently. One truth can be the others false, depending on what culture is talking about it. Non-objectivism is concerned about particular views and dispositions of individuals rather than an absolute truth. It sees truth and morals as relative and subjective. Thus, moral diversity is in sync with the principles of non-objectivism. In contrast, objectivism views truth as absolute. There is only one truth, much like one teaching, similar as how Christianity’s Jesus teaches, that there is only One God. Moral objectivists see moral principles as independent of an individual or group’s interpretation of it. The truth and moral principles are right or wrong regardless of the belief of the person.

Adolescene Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Adolescene - Essay Example And the particular situation they are in and how they react to it helps them mature morally. Roger was in a hurry to get a pair of shoes. For him end was more important than the means. But the lady he was trying to rob very sternly and warmly handled his situation and he did learn that means of achieving the end goal matter too. Kostya is not afraid to take up any kind of work. Young people dare to face any situation and they dare to dream. Kostya too, with her ‘What a one man can do, another man can do’ attitude was ready to face life without scared of consequences. And TJ was internalizing all conflicts within and trying to cope up with a shroud of sense of maturity and responsibility. Young people are smart warrior and they carry on even if caught on a wrong foot like Roger. The dilemma of adolescents is different. Their budding personalities, both intellectually and physically maturing and this makes their case very interesting. They seek importance like of an adult but they are financially dependent trying to be independent. They need extra food and sleep. They are often self conscious of their physical changes. Young people tend to spend more time in front of the mirror. A little care needs to be taken in handling their emotions. Young people need correction but not punishment to know what is wrong and what is right. Their paths have many crossroads and they are forever confused about which path to take. A little guidance and support will make them matured adults. Negative vibes will force them to make impulsive decisions and they tend to have a reactionary attitude in life. Roger, Kostya and TJ signify varies aspects of young people; their urgency to become financially independent, their attitude to take every adversity in stride and their silent maturity which come as a surprise. Young people tend form ambition, friends and their general philosophy of life

Various Culture And Their Distictive Ways Essay Example for Free

Various Culture And Their Distictive Ways Essay Culture is a distinctive way of life of people or groups . Culture is manifested in all aspects of life which include norms and values such as age, language, gender and social values such as religion, marriage and rite of passage. Different cultural groups norms and values compare and contrast from one cultural group to another as shown in the table with a case study of western,African,Islamic,Hinduism and Chinese culture culture. Age influences learning as young people are more able to study, understand and conceptualize than the older people. Also due to age barrier the young may be unable to learn certain issues such as leadership. Where there is gender discrimination for instance, a girl child is discriminated and are not accessed to education . Where there is gender equality there is tendency of competition thus improving learning process. Learning will be slow where there is language barrier or if language needs to be translated from one to the other, this hampers understanding and communication. Social values influence learning for instance in Africa, after initiation girls went for marriage while boys became warriors. This curtails continuity with education. References: Marjorie Ebort,Margaret Gisler. (1999). career for culture lovers and other artsy types,McGraw-hill professional

Management and leadership styles

Management and leadership styles Introduction Nike has been finding it difficult to find a replacement for Philip Knight, the founder and long time CEO of the organization. The purpose of this report is to explore possible management and leadership styles in relation to William Perezs role as the new CEO of Nike. This report identifies the processes related to change management and guides Perez through organizational transformation processes in order for him to be able to fulfil his role as CEO of Nike. This report stresses the importance of organizational development and transformation. Issues addressed in this report include the culture of the organization, different leadership styles, the structure of the organization, the processes of organizational development and future recommendations. Organizational Transformations primary goal is to help an organisation become more healthy and effective, especially during change. The key custodians of organisation health are not the internal or external HR or OD specialist; they are the organisations leaders and managers. Holbeche, L (08-09). Organizational Development Organizational development is a planned approach to organizational change designed to enable an organization to respond and adapt to changing market conditions and to set a new agenda. Organizational development is frequently linked to organization structure, which can act either as an enabling or restrictive mechanism for change. For organizational development to succeed, any policies or strategies introduced must fit with the corporate culture. In practice, Organizational Development can take on many forms, and typical OD activities can include some of the following: Team-building Organizational assessments Career development Training e-Learning Coaching Innovation Leadership development Talent management Change management Organizational Culture Culture is comprised of the assumptions, values, norms of organization members and their behaviours. Members of an organization soon come to sense the particular culture of an organization. Edgar H. Schein stresses that, When one brings culture to the level of the organization and even down to groups within the organization, one can see clearly how culture is created, embedded, evolved, and ultimately manipulated, at the same time, how culture constrains, stabilizes, and provides structure and meaning to the group members. These dynamic processes of culture creation and management are the essence of leadership and make one realize that leadership and culture are two sides of the same coin. Organizational change has a low success rate and it is critically important to get it right, this is support by Cameron who states that, The failure rate of most planned organizational change initiatives is dramatic. It is well known, for example, that as many as three-quarters of reengineering, total quality management, strategic planning and downsizing efforts have failed entirely or have created problems serious enough that the survival of the organization was threatened. According to Edgard Schein, Organizational learning, development and planned change cannot be understood without considering culture as the primary source of resistance to change. Culture can be broken down in to three levels, artifacts, espoused values and basic assumptions and values. Artifacts are the surface, the aspects which can be easily identified but hard to understand. Artifacts include the manners of address, the type of language used, the dress code. It is vital not to judge solely by the Artifacts, one may see Google staff as laid back, enjoying their time at work, having fun and jump to the conclusion that they are inefficient, this being far from the truth. Artifacts also include buildings, furnishings, settings, PR, rituals, Mission, stated values and technology. Beneath artifacts are the Espoused Values, these are the conscious strategies, goals and philosophies and ideology of the organization. The essence of culture is represented by the basic underlying assumptions and values which are difficult to discern because they are largely at an unconscious level. This is also known as the hidden beliefs and assumptions or shared tacit assumptions. Nike has had an evolutionary culture as opposed to a revolutionary culture. It has developed over many years without great intervention or change. Most of the key employees have been with Nike for many years and outsides sense they have their way of doing things. Nike is based on authenticity. Perez must ensure Nike is prepared for organizational change and that this is correctly implemented. As Drucker argues, a good organization structure might not always bring about a good performance, but a bad organization structure makes a good performance impossible no matter how good the workforce is. Perez must understand Nikes core values and maintain them, things like the association of Nike with key sportsmen from around the world and targeting the athletics segment of the clothing industry. Leadership Styles Leadership plays an important role in any organizations development. The personality of the leader and his style of leadership can determine the extent to which the organization will develop. Perez needs to be visionary and have the ability to influence others in order to bring about the required change to Nike. The leader can either reduce resistance to change, or increase the pressures for change, or be a pressure for change. Knight would have helped shape the organizational culture; he has his own effect on Nikes culture based on experiences and personality. In order for employees to be more efficient Perez must provide staff with a spirit of involvement, motivate them through co-operation and be willing to learn from the organization. Analysing different styles of leadership will help improve understanding and recommend which style Perez must adopt. Different leadership styles include: Authoritarian, Participative, Laissez fair also known as Delegative or Genuine. Authoritarian This style is where leaders tell their employees what to do and how to do it without consulting or negotiating with employees. This is often found within the army on the battlefield or by a chef in a kitchen. It is not to be confused with bossing people around, the leaders that adopt this style often need to and it can be the best style in particular situations. If the leader has time and wants to increase moral, motivate the employees and gain more commitment then they should use the participative style. Participative The participative leadership style, also known as democratic, involves the leader including one or more employees in the decision making process. Despite the fact that the leader consults with employees or managers to determine what to do and how to do it the leader maintains the final decision making authority. Leaders that adopt this style gain the respect of their employees. Laissez-fair Laissez fair or the management style of delegation style is often seen as giving a free reign to employees. The leader allows the employees to make decisions. However, the leader is still responsible for the decisions made. Employees are able to analyse the situation they are confronted with and decide what needs to be done and how to accomplish it. The leader cannot do everything therefore delegates tasks and prioritization responsibilities. This style is frequently used where the leader knows and trusts his managers. A good leader uses all three styles, dependent upon the situations requirements. For example Perez could adopt the authoritarian style of leadership with new employees, in order to form them to fit their job role and develop/settle in more rapidly. He may use the participative style with a team of workers, though he knows the problem he may not have all the information, the employees have faced this situation before and can be left to handle it. Perez can adopt the delegative approach when confronted with a situation where the employees know more than him. For example with a team of workers that have a highly specialized tasks, such as those in the RD department. They know their job and are best left to do it, provided they have proved their efficiency together and have previously made correct decisions, acting responsibly. The leadership style adopted by Philip Knight was mostly the genuine/laissez-fair style of leadership. Many of the employees had matured by his side through the years, he had given his managers the freedom to make their own decisions and this had been proved efficient for Nike. The structure of the Organization The organizational structure is the formal system of task and reporting relationships that controls, coordinates and motivates employees so that they can cooperate to achieve the organizations goals. Structure enables the organization to apply the process of management and creates a hierarchy of command which makes it clear for employees to identify their roles and tasks they are responsible for within each department. In small organizations there is less complexity than in larger ones, therefore the need for a structure increases with the size of the organization. Drucker argues that good organizational structures do not always lead to good performance but a bad organizational structure makes good performance an impossibility, regardless of how good the employees are. The managers obligation is to create an organizational structure and culture that motivates employees to work hard and develop themselves and allows groups to cooperate effectively. Large organizations are increasingly marginalizing the role of their founders. The founders of both Yahoo Dell have been replaced by professional managers at the shareholders demand. An organization can be split into several divisions such as production, marketing, finance, RD etc. According to Wall (2004) there are five organizational structures, these include: international division structure, international geographic/regional structure, international product structure, international functional structure, matrix or mixed structure. Philip Knight used the Matrix structure. This brings together the functional, geographical and product structures and combines them in an attempt to meet the needs of a specific activity or project. Once that activity or project is completed, the team is often disbanded and return to their original position within the divisional or other structures of the organization. Employees report to different bosses in different departments to accomplish the different tasks. Change Management Management of change theories have been conceptualized to answer how successful change can happen within an organization. It refers to changes in the work environment that necessitates the workforce to make certain adaptations to way they are used to working. The ability of an organization to adapt to change is crucial for successful organizations such as Nike, if not properly implemented the company could face huge difficulties. In order to implement change effectively, barriers such as resistance to change must be successfully removed. The need for organizations to adapt has become vital to their survival, however individuals or groups in different departments have different opinions of how tasks should be carried out therefore a common vision must be shared by all in order for the change to be successful, this can be very time consuming. Organisational Change Management issues are often under-estimated or ignored entirely. In fact, people issues collectively account for the majority of project failures. This survey by KPMG looked at disastrous projects. One of the questions asked for the prime cause of the failure of change implementation. Although the result did not state people as the cause, it is interesting to note that many of the causes were to do with the behaviour and skills of the participants. Arguably all but the technical issues were related to the capabilities, attitudes and behaviour of people. Lewins Three Step Model Lewin (1951) introduced the three step model for successful change management. The first step in the process is called unfreezing the situation. Unfreezing Unfreezing is necessary to overcome individual resistance and group conformity. This can be achieved in three ways. Firstly by increasing the driving forces that direct behaviour away from the situation. Secondly, by decreasing the restraining forces that negatively affect the change. Lastly by finding a combination of the first two methods. These steps can include activities such as motivating the employees by preparing them for the change, encouraging and reassuring them of the need for change and make the employees contribute to the change process by helping identify problems and brainstorming solutions. Movement The second step of Lewins model for change is movement. This transformational process is made up of convincing the employees to agree that the current situation is not beneficial to them and encourage them to look at the problem from another perspective. The employees should know what the change is actually for, most resist because they are not aware why the change is taking place or needed. Refreezing The third step is refreezing, this must take place after the change has been implemented in order for it to be sustainable, otherwise employees can revert back to their old behaviours. This step stabilizes both the driving and the restraining forces. This can be accomplished through the introduction of procedures for the employees. This would also help new employees will find it easier to fit in with the organization. Lippitts Phases of Change Theory Lippitt, Watson and Westley (1958) extended Lewins three step model to include seven steps. This focused more on the role and responsibility of the change agent than on the evolution of the change itself. Lippitts seven steps Diagnosis of the problem Assessing the motivation and capacity for change Assessing the resources and motivation of the change agent. This includes the change agents commitment to change, power and stamina. Choosing progressive change objects. Action plans and developed and strategies established. The roles of the change agents should be chosen and clearly understood by all employees so that the outcomes and expectations are clear. Maintaining the change. Communication, feedback and group coordination are necessary elements. Gradually terminate from the helping relationship. The change agent should gradually withdraw from their role over time. This will happen when the change becomes part of the organizational culture (Lippitt, Watson and Westley 1958-1959). Lewins model is rational and goal oriented. It is however limited because it does not take into account personal factors such as human feelings that can affect the change process. Lippitts Phases of Change is an extension of Lewins Three-Step Theory. The focus is on the change agent rather than the change itself. Lewin analyses the forces that impacts change. Activities Contributing to Effective Change Management. Cummings and Worley (2008) have identified the following activities contributing to effective change management. Motivating change is the phase in the successful implementation of change. Motivation is vital because changing from the norm is regarded as a daunting experience. Employees feel their future in the organization is uncertain. They must feel that the change is necessary, this way they will understand they are part of the change process and help this occur. Creating a vision is the second phase. This is done by the leader and provides a common goal for all employees, allowing them to understand what the change is for and how it will benefit the entire organization. Develop political support. Organizations are made up of powerful individuals and groups that can either block or promote change. Individuals within the organization have different interests, opinions and concerns about how the change may affect their positions and levels of authority within their groups. Leaders and change agents need to gain their support to implement changes. The fourth phase is managing the transition, this is moving from the current state to the future state. This is not an instant process, it needs the organization to discover how to proceed with the implementation of change in to reach the goal. This is done through the planning of special management structures for operating the organization during the transition. Sustaining the momentum is the final stage. When the changes are implemented there must be a continued focus in maintaining them. This phase is the equivalent of Lewins refreezing. The employees might return to their previous behaviours if the changes are not sustained. Resistance to Change Resistance to change is what individuals or groups do when they perceive that a change that might occur is a threat. The risk of change is seen as greater than the risk of standing still. Employees resist change because they have to learn something new. In many case there is not a disagreement with the benefits of the new process, but rather a fear of the unknown future and about their ability to adapt to it. People are reluctant to leave the familiar behind. We are all suspicious about the unfamiliar, we are naturally concerned about how we will get from the old to the new, especially if it involves learning something new and risking failure. Resistance to change is defined as the fear that one will not be able to develop new skills and behaviours that are required in the new working environment. According to Kotter Schlesinger (1979), if an employee has a low tolerance for change, the increased uncertainty that arises as a result of having to perform their job differently would likely cause a resistance to the new way of doing things. An employee may understand that a change is needed, but may be emotionally unable to make the transition and resist for reasons they may not consciously understand. Resistance can be positive in certain situations. Managers see resistance as negative and the employees who resist are regarded as disobedient and obstacles the organization must overcome in order to implement the changes. However, employee resistance can play a positive role in organizational change. Constructive criticism and debate can produce better understanding as well as additional options and solutions. de Jager (2001) claims, the idea that anyone who questions the need for change has an attitude problem is simply wrong, not only because it discounts past achievements, but also because it makes us vulnerable to indiscriminate and ill-advised change. Overcoming Resistance to Change Kotter and Schlesinger (1979) set out six approaches to deal with resistance to change. Education and Communication are essential. One of the best ways to overcome resistance to change is to educate people about the change effort beforehand. Up-front, honest communication and education helps employees see the logic in the change effort, this reduces unfounded and incorrect assumptions and rumours concerning the effects of change in the organization. Participation and Involvement of employees. Where the initiators do not have all the information they need to design the change and where others have considerable power to resist. When employees are involved in the change effort they are more likely to approve change than resist it. Facilitation and Support is important as employees may have adjustment problems, by the managers being supportive at difficult times they can avoid potential resistance. Managerial support helps employees deal with fear and anxiety during a transition period. Special training or counselling can help ensure the staff do not perceive the change as detrimental. Negotiation and Agreements help managers combat resistance through incentives to employees not to resist change. This can be done by allowing change resistors to veto elements of change that are threatening, or change resistors can be offered incentives to leave the company through early buyouts or retirements in order to avoid having to experience the change effort. This approach is appropriate if all else fails and those resisting change are in a position of power. Manipulation and Co-option can be used when other strategies do not work or are too expensive. Kotter and Schlesinger $date$page number- suggest that: an effective manipulation technique is to co-opt with resisters. Co-option involves the patronizing gesture in bringing a person into a change management planning group for appearances rather than their actual contribution. This often involves selecting leaders of the resisters to participate in the change effort. These leaders can be given a symbolic role in decision making without threatening the change effort. Still, if these leaders feel they are being tricked they are likely to push resistance even further than if they were never included in the change effort leadership. Lastly Jotter and Schlesinger argue Explicit and Implicit Coercion can be used. Where circumstances arise that speed is absolutely essential and to be used only as last resort. Managers can explicitly or implicitly force employees into accepting change by making clear that resisting change can lead to losing jobs, firing, transferring or not promoting employees. Conclusion In todays fast paced world the ability to change and innovate is key to survival, the strategic recommendations have been made after thoroughly analysing Nike together with different approaches and strategies from several reputable academics. Change is unavoidable and it is human to resist unknown, however this research shows that with the right preparation and strategic systems in place it is possible to overcome and successfully implement changes which will lead to the organization developing in line with its vision and mission. The recommendations below will support the conclusions drawn from the above analysis and research. Recommendations: On the basis of the above analysis I recommend Perez proceeds with the transformational strategy, while monitoring and revising it periodically. The change must start at the top. Philip Knight had his methods of running the business which have proved successful as received the backing of the employees. Though Perez is experienced he has a very different way of functioning, he cannot expect the employees to follow his lead from day one, he must also adapt to fit into the organization and gain the acceptance of the employees. Perez should familiarize himself with the organization; he must understand the current culture in order to devise a plan to change this. If he tries to bring about change too quickly this will most probably fail as Nike is an organization with a well founded pop culture which developed over decades under Knight. An operations team should be formed and meetings organized in which the requirements should be set-out to enable the employees to be involved, this increasing motivation and provide all stake holders with a sense of ownership of the transformational process. A feedback system needs to be created to help the employees feel more comfortable and know their views are taken into consideration. The transformation process must be transparent with the employees understanding and being involved in the transformation strategy. Adapting the culture successfully will be difficult as many of the employees have spent most of their careers working within Nike, it has become part of who they are, but getting all the employees on board will lessen the resistance to change. The feedback must be monitored, staff confidence levels should be monitored. When they show the first signs of losing faith their problems must rapidly be addressed. Training employees is essential; to encourage motivation, increase self awareness and productivity surrounding their new roles and responsibilities. This will also help sustain the transformation. Perez must agree with Knight exactly what his role in the organization is. This will avoid any problems in the future running of the organization. The responsibilities of both, and the levels of authority must be clear and not overlapping. Founders are often difficult to replace, they see the organization as something they can intervene in whenever they want. This however has proven to be bad for business and has caused some catastrophic events. This has been done to many founders of huge organizations such as Michael Dell within the Dell organization. The founders of Yahoo, Jerry Yang and David Filo are no longer directly involved in the management of the organization. Jerry Yany the ex-CEO has now been given the title of Chief Yahoo and sits on the board. They were replaced by professional managers that the investors saw as more appropriate for the evolution of their organization. Removing Knight from the organization completely may be a difficult task however a clear agreement und erstood by both parties must be reached in order for Perez to be able to successfully take lead of Nike. References Linda Holbeche, CIPD, Director of research and policy http://www.cipd.co.uk/NR/rdonlyres/35F49ABC-0436-40D3-B02B-5B6838CCEEF2/0/Impact_28_org_develop_qanda.pdf [Accessed 08/09]. Wall, S. 2004. International Business. p283. Lipptitt, R, Watson, J and Westley. 1958. The Dynamics of Planned Change. Kotter, J. P., Schlesinger, L.A. 1979. Choosing strategies for change. Harvard Business Review de Jager, P. 2001. Resistance to change: a new view of an old problem. The Futurist, Bloisi, W., 2003. Management and organisational Behaviour. McGraw-Hill. Cummings. G, Worley.G,. 1996. Organisation development change. 6th edition, south western college publishing, Cincinnati. Mcshane Von Glinov., 2003. Organisational behaviour. McGraw-Hill Morgan, G., 1997. Images of organisation. Sage. Mullins, L.J., 2007. Management and organisational behaviour. 8th ed. Prentice hall/ Financial times. Rollinson, D. Broadfield, A., 2002. Organisational behaviour and analysis. 2nd ed. Financial times/Prentice hall. Wilson Rosenfield., (1999. Managing organisations. McGraw-Hill. Mullins, L. J., (2007. Management and Organisational Behaviour. 8th ed. Harlow: Financial Times Prentice Hall. Martin, J., 2005. Organisational Behaviour and Management. 3rd ed. London: Thomson. Cummings, T. G. Worley, C.G., 2005. Organization Development and Change. 8th ed. London: Thomson. Schein, E.H., 2004. Organizational culture and Leadership. 3rd ed. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass

Albanian Mobile Communications (AMC) Analysis

Albanian Mobile Communications (AMC) Analysis Albanian Mobile Communications Market segments characteristics. (Demands type) Business and Residential are the main customer segments for Data and Internet services. According to ERG Report on regulation of access products necessary to deliver the business connectivity, business customers distributed with remote branches/offices nationally, tend to order wholesale services ordered by the headquarter rather than ordered as separate packages by the remote branches and while this is typical for big and organized business, smaller one sometimes find themselves convenient to buy and use the retail offered services (ERG, 2009). Regarding the demand from business customers different needs are found and a clear line between the high-end and low-end business customers can not be set but what separates them is often the quality of services demanded and the way of ordering the services as a complete network solution from one provider only or having different providers and the company itself does the role of the integrator (ERG, 2009). Another common behavior of businesses is the demand for a full solution for communication services covering the range of fixed and mobile services while it is noted that big business and in addition while the standard users are more sensitive for the price, the business big ones stick to well known brands, quality and reliability of services and after sales support provided (ERG, 2009). Big Business Multi-site customers seem to have different needs when compared to residential users or to small business users: Different services such as mobile, fix, data networking, convergent products and value added services; high quality communication services; quick response and good support; dedicated personnel as account manager (ERG, 2009) 5. AMC Company Profile Albanian Mobile Communications (AMC) is the biggest Mobile Network operator in Albania and is part of the Cosmote Mobile Telecommunications, the mobile part of OTE SA Greece. Part of Cosmote Group which is operating in 4 countries Greece, Albania, Bulgaria and Romania, AMC is operating in Albanian market since 1996 and has constantly dominated the market by means of customer base and revenue. AMC is founded as a state owned company by early 1996 and launched the standard GSM services on May 1996. It was privatized in 2000 when Cosmote Telenor Consortium became the controlling shareholder privatizing 85% of the shares while around 2% were provided to the employees and the rest of 13% remained to the state. Now 97% of the shares it is owned by Cosmote and 3% by the employees. At the time of privatization AMC was offering the services only to about 30,000 postpaid customers and only at xxx% of the territory and xx% of the population. (ASK ILIR) After the privatization, due to the low level of development of fixed telephony, lack of real completion and the investments made by the Greek company Cosmote, the company developed very fast by expanding the network to all the territory of Albania, offering the services to prepaid customers segment and adding a broad range of mobile services such as SMS, MMS, VMS and Internet access. After Vodafone entrance in the Albanian market in 2001, the competition in the market forced the constant decrease of prices, increase of number of services and their quality. The third operator, Eagle Mobile, entered in the market in 2008 and further busted the competition among the three operators. Positioning itself as a low cost services operator, Eagle mobile initiated a price war in the market forcing further decreases of services prices. Today AMC is the biggest Mobile operator in Albania, dominating the market by having around 1.9 million of customers with 43.3% market penetration. AMC is covering 99.8% of the population and 90% of the territory in Albania. Roaming agreements are established with more than 300 GSM operators worldwide. Major mobile product and services offered to individuals are: voice, SMS, MMS, voice mail, internet access, WAP portals and push email for residential. Corporate push email, data internetworking, ISP and VPN services are provided to corporate customers. EDGE technology is implemented covering 86% of the population and 63% of territory offering the possibility to the customers to access the internet through the mobile at acceptable rates. 3G technology is not yet licensed in Albania but the licensing process is expected to start during this year. AMC has around 530 employees highly qualified and trained. Around xx% of employees have a university degree and xx% of them are under the age of xxx. Personnel is organized in three main division, Commercial, Technical, Finance and Operations Administrative. The revenues for 2008 were at 191,272 millions, the OIBDA margin was at 64.7% and the net profit margin was at xxx%. During 2009, due to several factors present in the market such as the third entrant competition, world financial crises and intervention of regulatory body in decreasing the retail and interconnection termination tariffs AMC has faced some challenges on realizing the revenue objectives although the figures were still very good: revenue at 145,744mil, OIBDA at 57% and net profit at xxx%. For the future, considering the expected fierce competition due to also to the entrance of the fourth operator in the market and present financial crisis as well, AMC is looking to realize the targets through orienting the business towards the customer, finding other revenue streams, offering a wide range of products and services, the best technology in the market and best network quality. Offering of 3G services within 2010 and enrichment of products portfolio with services that this technology makes possible are considered as good opportunity for AMC in the near future for increasing the revenue. 6. Current Situation Analysis 6.1 General environment factors Political Albania is a small country located in southeastern Europe bordered by Adriatic Sea, Greece, Montenegro and Kosovo. Territory is 28,748 sq km and population at 3,639,453. After the Second World War, Albania established a communist regime which has ruled the country for 46 years until 1991 when it collapsed and a new democratic system was established. Albania has gone through a difficult process of transforming society to a democratic one and of developing the market economy. The process has proven to be very challenging and although a lot of progress has been done, the country is facing a lot of problems and deficiencies related to corruption, week infrastructure, unemployment, organized crime and sometimes lack of political stability. Since starting the transition process in 1991, the progress of Albania has been impressive although the transition period has taken longer than enough. Albania has established the institutions of democracy, has developed the capacities of public institutions, and has established the foundations of market economy (World Bank, 2010). Albania has joined NATO in 2009, has signed in 2006 the agreement for Stabilization and Association with EU and is one of the potential candidates for joining the EU. As part of EU association agreement, Albania since ten years has transformed and adopted the legislation based on EU recommendations and framework. The legislation improvement has been a continuing process and is performed under the tough monitoring and supervision of EU. In this regard, currently we may say that Albania has a very good legislation frame although there are evident gaps between the legislation and practical implementation of the laws in the country. The country has joined the WTO in 2000 and since then has adopted its international trading policies in accordance with the agreement with this organization. Government policies and strategies on Electronic communications are focused on liberalization, development of market and competition, attraction of foreign direct investments, protection of consumer and are developed in compliance with the National Strategy for Development (covering years 2007-2013) and the EU integration directives. Economy Albania is a country with low to middle income with a gross domestic income per capita of $3740 in 2008. The Economy of the country has been totally transformed during the transition period from a communist economy towards a market-based economy. Albania has achieved a sustainable economic growth, while containing inflation almost constant every year. During the transition period, the structure of economy has been transformed from an agriculture and industry to services and construction. Large scale migration has fueled high workers remittances, which make up around 8-13 percent of GDP (World Bank Web Page, 2010, Albania in Brief). During that period the GDP growth rates of around 5-6 percent per year have been achieved while the poverty level has been reduced constantly. The absolute poverty rate was 25.4 % in 2002 but dropped to 18.5 percent in 2005 and to 12.4 percent in 2008. The extreme poverty rate decreased from about 5 to 3.5 percent but inequality has increased significantly (World Bank Web Page, 2010, Albania in Brief). According to World Bank data, the Albania GNIP (Gross National Income per Capita) in 2008 was at 3840$ ranking at 113th position while PPP (Purchasing power Parity) was at 7950$ during 2008 ranking at 108th position worldwide (World Bank, 2008). The GDP composition by sectors the year 2009 was as following: agriculture 20.06%, industry 18.8% and services 60.6% (CIA Fact book, 2010). In 2009 unemployment rate was at 12%, population under the poverty line 25%, Inflation rate 2.1% and has been kept within the range of 2-4% since 2002 (CIA Fact book, 2010). Major agriculture products are wheat, corn, vegetables, potatoes, fruits, sugar, grapes and meat while the industrial ones are food processing, textiles and clothing, oil, hydropower, cement, chemicals, mining and basic metals. In 2009 the exports were at 1994 billion while the imports were at 3602 billion (CIA Fact book, 2010). Strong growth has been seen during the years 2002 -2008 at the rate of 14-15% in the construction industry which has been considered as very successful one in the country. Evidences of global crises effects have been shown during 2009 when the GDP growth was 4% less than 2008. The remittances and bank deposits have declined much during 2008 and 2009 causing the slowdown of consumption while imports went down from 4,898 in 2008 to 3.602 Billion in 2009 (INSTAT, 2010). The deposit rates during 2007 were at the average of 6.3% while the bank interest rates were at 13.6% (INSTAT, 2010). Following are shown the main competitiveness indexes for Albania provided by the Harvard University, M. Porter in The Global Competitiveness Report. Source: M. Porter, The Global Competitiveness Report, 2008-2009 Based on this report, Albania is categorized in the group of countries being at the stage of efficiency driven economy, has many deficiencies in infrastructure, technology and innovation and market efficiency while fits with the standards of this category for macroeconomic stability, health and primary education, labor market efficiency and institutions, Source: M. Porter, The Global Competitiveness Report, 2008-2009 From the above report we can see that corruption, inadequate infrastructure, governing efficiency and bureaucracy and Tax regulations are the main problematic factors for doing business in Albania. Source: World Bank, Doing Business 2010 Albania According to World Bank, Albania is currently well positioned to continue with its strong economic growth and is able to make significant movements towards the integration with the European Union but the government must strongly address the governance problems, maintain a stable macroeconomics framework, improve the business environment and attract investments, upgrade public infrastructure, develop its human capital and make sure that the development benefits are fairly distributed to different categories of society with a special attention to supporting the poor ones (World Bank 2010). Although it has sustained high growth rate by keeping the microeconomic stability during the last decade, Albania remains still one of the poorest countries in Europe showing a large scale of informality in economy, a week and inadequate energetic and transportation infrastructure. Shortages in Energy caused from the dependency from hydropower plants and inadequate distribution infrastructure contribute much in a poor business environment and is a factor for not being successful in the process of attracting the foreign investors. According the European Commission 2009 report , Albania has kept and maintained the macro-economic while the worldwide crises had only a limited impact on the country, inflation was low, exchange rate has been stable, liquidity of banks have been ensured (EU Commission, 2009) Social According to INSTAT, 46 % of the population is between the age of 15-44 years and average age is 32.1 years therefore we may say that Albania has a young population however the population has started aging for the reason of decreased rate of births and longer life rate (INSTAT,2010). The number of people living in urban areas has increased from 35.8% in 1989 to 45% in 2004. Consumer telecom utilization and spending is high and at around 6 % of the total household expenditures. New generation like the new technology of mobiles and are followers of offers. Some future social trends are mentioned below: Urbanization will continue therefore increasing the chances for the fast rollout of broadband technologies Economic inequality will increase, therefore the customer segmentations should be considered and product and services should be customized to each segment needs Family size will decrease People joining the social networks will increase Regulatory The country has adopted the national legislation in accordance with the EU 2003 regulatory recommendations and framework. The Law No. 9918 (May 19, 2008) is the main legal instrument for the electronic communications industry regulation. It defines the responsibilities of government and regulatory institutions for this regulation. Based on this law, the Minister of State for Reforms and Parliamentary relations is the administration body for the electronic communications services and it is responsible for drafting the related legislation and for preparing the plan for radio frequencies. Based on the proposals submitted by the regulatory, the Ministry has the authority to approve the tenders for limited spectrum assignment and universal service providers. In 2009, the Council of Ministers has approved the National Frequency Plan while there is under the approval process the policy for the sector development for the period 2009-2014 which is oriented on liberalization, European integration and convergence. The regulatory authority (AKEP) is an independent, self-financed entity which covers the regulatory tasks for the electronic communications. Under its authority belong also some tasks related to adoption, administration and implementation of legislation. For the industry of Electronic Communications, the regulatory body should safeguard the competition, guaranty the quality of services offered and delivery of them, protect the consumer, license and develop the market through promoting the investment and latest technology implementation. AKEP can impose prices control, set administration fees and define methodologies for regulation of tariffs and defines its own structure and salaries without any intervention from the Ministry. The financing is taken from fees applied to operators and service providers. It reports to the parliamentary assembly. The privatization of Albtelecom and Eagle Mobile, in 2007, increased the level autonomy and independence for the AKEP and the Ministry although the state still owns 25% of the shares. Lately the government has announced these shares will be sold. Another institution was established by the government in April 2007, National Agency on Information Society (NAIS) which role is to coordinate the government activities for the information society and communications. It prepares and proposes the national strategies, draft ICT legislations and coordinate the projects of government in ICT. With regards to market access and authorizations, Albania has moved forward with the gradual process of liberalization. In 1998 the liberalization started with the rural local networks, then in 2003 was liberalized the operations for the domestic long-distances networks and in 2005 for international ones. In 2006 the market was liberalized for urban operation of local alternative providers. The law of 2008, established the concept of â€Å"General authorization† based on which the networks and services which do not require the usage of limited resources could start operating without getting a license but just by sending a notification for their start to the regulatory authority within 15 days of operations. Based on this, the need for getting the license remained only for the frequencies and numbers. Based on the law, AKEP can use the SMP (Significant Market Power) designation mechanism in order to regulate the competition in the market. The decision for designation should be based on a Market Analysis procedure results. In 2007 AKEP has designated AMC and Vodafone as SMP in the market of retail mobile services and for the wholesale voice termination. Based on that, AKEP imposed to these two operators obligations related to non-discrimination, transparency in RIO (Reference Interconnection Offer), imposed the prices of interconnect termination by cutting them by 31.2%% and applied a reduction in retailed prices of 30% for on-net and 40%for the off-net calls for a period of two years. In 2007, AKEP has designated Albtelecom as SMP in six markets related to fixed voice services offered to customers and for voice transit services. Obligations were set to Albtelecom including the imposed reduction of retail and transit tariffs. Following a review of the markets in wholesale and retail tariffs done in 2009, the competitive safeguards LLU and CS/CPS were imposed to Albtelecom which are not yet implemented. AKEP has already launched several markets analysis procedures on most of the wholesale and retail markets such as: Mobile wholesale market for call termination, access and call origination; fixed retail access and call services for wholesale interconnection. In December 2009, AKEP introduced to operators a reference document with the model of BULRAIC cost calculations for mobile services MTR based on which the data have been provided to AKEP by the operators. As the result of these analyses, it is expected that AKEP imposes the Mobile Terminated Rates for national calls while the rates for the international calls will be reviewed. During 2009 AKEP has launched the market analysis and public consultation process for wholesale and retail leased lines markets and finalization of it is expected by mid 2010. As result of public consultation process, is expected to be defined the services, demands, providers, supply structure and markets and then based on these is expected that regulatory designates the SMP operators for which the tariffs for their services will be regulated. During Q1 2010, AKEP has launched a public consultation process on â€Å"The rule for the indexes of service quality† which is expected to be finalized during Q1 2010. The above mentioned actions which regard regulation of competitions can be considered as steps to develop the competitive safeguards environment, however we can mention other steps not yet realized by the regulatory although the process has already started. Such missing measurements are: number portability, carrier selection and pre-selection (CS, CSP) not in practice yet, local loop un-bundling (LLU) not in practice yet, national roaming, MVNO and whole sale line rental. Number portability public consultation is in progress and based on AKEP plans, the service will be available in the market by end 2010 while the process for licensing for wireless broadband spectrum (WiMAX and mobile 3G) are expected to start with public consultations opening by March 2010 and be finalized by mid 2010. According to latest European Commission assessment, there were noted some progress including the alignment of primary legislation, while still some secondary lines laws have to be adopted yet, market liberalization and competition still are at early stage and administrative capacities of the ministry and regulator was not sufficient (Cullen, 2008). Technological In the area of mobile communication technology, GSM 2.75 technology (EDGE) is implemented since 2006 and now three operators offer it to the customers, AMC, Vodafone and Eagle. Regulatory has not yet provided the licensing for the Mobile 3G CDMA and broadband technologies HSPA and HSPA+. There is a delay in this aspect and the licensing for 3G technologies may be provided only now, at the end of lifecycle for 3G technology and at the time that other markets have started trialing and adopting the 4G network technologies (LTE). Video Digital Broadcasting (DVB-H) services are offered by three operators (DIGITALB, TRING and TV SHIJAKU) already to the market through terrestrial or satellite broadcasting. Number of PCs and PC utilization at home is low and estimated to xxx% of the houses while the utilization in companies and government is high. Internet services are provided in the country by more than 36 ISPs and technology for access is mainly fixed broadband xDSL, hybrid fiber coax and dial-up. Wireless broadband spectrum available for WiMAX is not licensed yet by the regulatory while the WiFi networks are frequently used for the Internet access in cafes. Points to multipoint systems such as LMDS are not present in the country. Fiber networks are present only in the main cities such as Tirana and Durres and implemented by some ISP-s for the purposes of internet access or triple play services provided to the end user. Fiber backbone is missing and the mobile operators backbone is mainly build of microwave transmission links based on SDH or PDH technology. Two of mobile operators have taken already some steps on offering the mobile fix substitution services to the customers but not providing the convergence of the mobile and fix telephone number. Content development is weak and mainly is based on external international resources. The main technology factors that will shape the next decade of electronic communications development are the following: Convergence of networks Fixed and mobile network differences will vanish and a common network providing integrated services will serve the customers. Mobile to fix substitution and integration has already started Convergence of network technologies to an all IP networks Traditional telecom networks and internet (ISP) will merge together to a next generation carrier network which is based on all IP technology. Services will clearly separate from transport networks and competition will be focused and oriented on services Convergence of services Convergence of networks and network technology will make possible to design, combine and deliver to the customer services which traditionally have been provided before by different technology, networks and vendors such as triple play services, (video, voice and internet) provided all at one network access point, accessed through same application environment which run in many different types of devices. Unified services access and unified messaging Customers can access through same software environment and through same or different devices and from everywhere (office, home, when traveling) same set of applications and services. Reduction of cost for hardware and increase of software role and power Software will run on standard hardware. Big software players will play a big role while the network HW vendors will become more software oriented. Growth of video content and internet utilization while the voice remains strong Demands for capacities will be huge while the needs for integrating all sets of services at one management and control will increase. Increase of connected number and types of devices Web connected devices will increase. PCs, mobiles, TVs, game devices, etc. There will be a need to standardize the applications to all these set of devices. 6.2 Electronic communications industry analysis We will use the M. Porters â€Å"Five forces model† for analyzing the industry. We selected this model as being already one of the most worldwide known, widely recognized and used model for industry analysis. The analysis done based on that model will be used for business strategy development recommendations. Market overview General data The following graphs show the sector revenue growth and market in 2008 compared to the other countries in the region. Source: (Cullen Report, 2010) Source: (Cullen Report, 2010) Mobile telephony In May 1996, AMC a state owned company by this time launched for the first time in Albania the GSM services becoming one of the first countries in the region to offer such services. Currently there are three companies operating in the mobile services market AMC, Vodafone and Eagle Mobile. The fourth operator is licensed and is expected to launch the services on July 2010. On July 2009, the mobile customers were at 3.52 millions, mobile service penetration was at 110% of the population, and more than 99% of population and 90% of territory is covered by GSM signal. Around 93.8% of customers are prepaid and 6.2% are postpaid. AMC has 43.30% of customer base, Vodafone AL 43.00% and Eagle 13.7 % (Cullen, 2010). Technology used is 2G EDGE while 3G spectrum is expected to be licensed by mid 2010. Main services offered in the market are voice, SMS, MMS, WAP, internet access and GPRS intranets. 43.3% of market share is owed by AMC, 43% by Vodafone and 13.4% by Eagle Mobile. Fixed telephony Albtelecom is the incumbent fixed operator in the market while more than 70 alternative operators operate mainly in the rural zones. Number of fixed telephony users by July 2009 end was 360,000 which represents 11.3% penetration while alternative operators customers are at 49, 690 representing 14% of this number(Cullen, 2010). 99.92 % of the fixed telephony is digitized. In July 2009 the numbers of PSTN lines were at 359,100, ISDN lines at 929, lines given to residential customers were at 338,300 and to business customers at 21,700 (Cullen, 2010). Leased lines and Data services Albtelecom and the three mobile operators are the providers of leased lines services at national and international access. Albtelecom has had the monopoly of such services until few years ago and kept it for international access until 2006. Albtelecom has implemented a few fiber lines connecting some main cities while internationally have access of fiber backbones to Italy and to Greece and other Adriatic see countries through the Adria fiber backbone. The mobile operators have not build yet a backbone to be used for leasing yet but are offering for the moment free capacities of their backbone build for their core business, mobile services. Besides AMC, there are not any clear evidences and data on the leased lines or data services provided by the other two mobile operators (Vodafone and Eagle Mobile). Albtelecom and mobile operators are moving forward their plans for implementation of a national Fiber backbone which will serve future needs for capacities nationally or for international access. AMC has provided data internetworking services to banks and other business or government institutions. More than 200 local networks of xxx customers are internetworked nationally and xxxx connections to international networks are established. COMPLETE STATISTICS Use Cullen report data on lease lines (pages 53-67, here are prices only) Broadband and Internet Services These services are offered for the moment by fixed operators while the mobile broadband services are not yet licensed by regulatory authority. Broadband penetration rate was at 2.51 % on January 2010 and was the lowest one in the region while EU penetration was at 23.9% (Cullen, 2010). About 36 ISPs are operating in Albania mainly providing the services in Tirana area and few in the other western cities. According to Cullen report, by January 2010, the number of broadband connections was 80,000, narrowband connections were at 28,512 and 30% of people are regularly using the Internet (Cullen, 2010). Number of internet users in 2008, including the mobile internet access users, was at 580,000. Main operators are Albtelecom, Abisnet, ABCOM, Alfa cable and ASC (AKEP, 2010). 65% of broadband market is owned by Albtelecom and 35% by the alternative operators. Broadband technology used is ADSL and HFC. The following table shows the internet penetration progress over the years. Source: (Internet world statistics, 2010) Albtelecom offers upstream capacities of internet access to retail customers from 512Kbps to 4Mbps while Abisnet from 1 to 3 Mbps. Albtelecom is the main operator offering to other ISP-s high capacity access to internet international gateway through fiber. Other alternative operators access the international gateways through Albtelecom use other alternative microwave links. The internet backbone access capacity in October 2009 was 5.5GB and was one of the lowest in the region. The threat for substitute product and services AMC offers Data Internetworking and Internet services through ISP in addition to its core business mobile services. International IP transit services are provided through the partnership established with OTEGlobe which is an international data services provider. The type of service is IP transit, (Layer3 Networking) where turnkey IP network is provided through delivering the end routers, installation and configurations of them and IP packet encryption as well. IP capacities provided are dedicated. Availability of services is above 99.9% and quality of network is very good. For such type of data services, substitute services in the market are considered the MPLS VPN-s, satellite data links, internet VPN services, GPRS Intranets and data dial-up. MPLS VPNs are becoming standard services worldwide but not yet present in the local market. This comes mainly due to the reasons of lack of a dedicated data backbone in the country, the lack of development of IP backbones technologies by the operators for the moment and the lack of fiber backbones. Since the data IP backbone is missing for the moment and establishing it will need time and big investments, MPLS VPNs may present a substitution threat after some years. There are not operators offering such products for the moment. Satellite data links are established through satellite terminals installed at the local remote offices locations. Links are aggregated to the satellite nub and then connected to the headquarter network. These links have the advantage of installing anywhere in the country and this represent an advantage considering the terrain but are more convenient to be used as point to point links rather than in a distributed multipoint top Albanian Mobile Communications (AMC) Analysis Albanian Mobile Communications (AMC) Analysis Albanian Mobile Communications Market segments characteristics. (Demands type) Business and Residential are the main customer segments for Data and Internet services. According to ERG Report on regulation of access products necessary to deliver the business connectivity, business customers distributed with remote branches/offices nationally, tend to order wholesale services ordered by the headquarter rather than ordered as separate packages by the remote branches and while this is typical for big and organized business, smaller one sometimes find themselves convenient to buy and use the retail offered services (ERG, 2009). Regarding the demand from business customers different needs are found and a clear line between the high-end and low-end business customers can not be set but what separates them is often the quality of services demanded and the way of ordering the services as a complete network solution from one provider only or having different providers and the company itself does the role of the integrator (ERG, 2009). Another common behavior of businesses is the demand for a full solution for communication services covering the range of fixed and mobile services while it is noted that big business and in addition while the standard users are more sensitive for the price, the business big ones stick to well known brands, quality and reliability of services and after sales support provided (ERG, 2009). Big Business Multi-site customers seem to have different needs when compared to residential users or to small business users: Different services such as mobile, fix, data networking, convergent products and value added services; high quality communication services; quick response and good support; dedicated personnel as account manager (ERG, 2009) 5. AMC Company Profile Albanian Mobile Communications (AMC) is the biggest Mobile Network operator in Albania and is part of the Cosmote Mobile Telecommunications, the mobile part of OTE SA Greece. Part of Cosmote Group which is operating in 4 countries Greece, Albania, Bulgaria and Romania, AMC is operating in Albanian market since 1996 and has constantly dominated the market by means of customer base and revenue. AMC is founded as a state owned company by early 1996 and launched the standard GSM services on May 1996. It was privatized in 2000 when Cosmote Telenor Consortium became the controlling shareholder privatizing 85% of the shares while around 2% were provided to the employees and the rest of 13% remained to the state. Now 97% of the shares it is owned by Cosmote and 3% by the employees. At the time of privatization AMC was offering the services only to about 30,000 postpaid customers and only at xxx% of the territory and xx% of the population. (ASK ILIR) After the privatization, due to the low level of development of fixed telephony, lack of real completion and the investments made by the Greek company Cosmote, the company developed very fast by expanding the network to all the territory of Albania, offering the services to prepaid customers segment and adding a broad range of mobile services such as SMS, MMS, VMS and Internet access. After Vodafone entrance in the Albanian market in 2001, the competition in the market forced the constant decrease of prices, increase of number of services and their quality. The third operator, Eagle Mobile, entered in the market in 2008 and further busted the competition among the three operators. Positioning itself as a low cost services operator, Eagle mobile initiated a price war in the market forcing further decreases of services prices. Today AMC is the biggest Mobile operator in Albania, dominating the market by having around 1.9 million of customers with 43.3% market penetration. AMC is covering 99.8% of the population and 90% of the territory in Albania. Roaming agreements are established with more than 300 GSM operators worldwide. Major mobile product and services offered to individuals are: voice, SMS, MMS, voice mail, internet access, WAP portals and push email for residential. Corporate push email, data internetworking, ISP and VPN services are provided to corporate customers. EDGE technology is implemented covering 86% of the population and 63% of territory offering the possibility to the customers to access the internet through the mobile at acceptable rates. 3G technology is not yet licensed in Albania but the licensing process is expected to start during this year. AMC has around 530 employees highly qualified and trained. Around xx% of employees have a university degree and xx% of them are under the age of xxx. Personnel is organized in three main division, Commercial, Technical, Finance and Operations Administrative. The revenues for 2008 were at 191,272 millions, the OIBDA margin was at 64.7% and the net profit margin was at xxx%. During 2009, due to several factors present in the market such as the third entrant competition, world financial crises and intervention of regulatory body in decreasing the retail and interconnection termination tariffs AMC has faced some challenges on realizing the revenue objectives although the figures were still very good: revenue at 145,744mil, OIBDA at 57% and net profit at xxx%. For the future, considering the expected fierce competition due to also to the entrance of the fourth operator in the market and present financial crisis as well, AMC is looking to realize the targets through orienting the business towards the customer, finding other revenue streams, offering a wide range of products and services, the best technology in the market and best network quality. Offering of 3G services within 2010 and enrichment of products portfolio with services that this technology makes possible are considered as good opportunity for AMC in the near future for increasing the revenue. 6. Current Situation Analysis 6.1 General environment factors Political Albania is a small country located in southeastern Europe bordered by Adriatic Sea, Greece, Montenegro and Kosovo. Territory is 28,748 sq km and population at 3,639,453. After the Second World War, Albania established a communist regime which has ruled the country for 46 years until 1991 when it collapsed and a new democratic system was established. Albania has gone through a difficult process of transforming society to a democratic one and of developing the market economy. The process has proven to be very challenging and although a lot of progress has been done, the country is facing a lot of problems and deficiencies related to corruption, week infrastructure, unemployment, organized crime and sometimes lack of political stability. Since starting the transition process in 1991, the progress of Albania has been impressive although the transition period has taken longer than enough. Albania has established the institutions of democracy, has developed the capacities of public institutions, and has established the foundations of market economy (World Bank, 2010). Albania has joined NATO in 2009, has signed in 2006 the agreement for Stabilization and Association with EU and is one of the potential candidates for joining the EU. As part of EU association agreement, Albania since ten years has transformed and adopted the legislation based on EU recommendations and framework. The legislation improvement has been a continuing process and is performed under the tough monitoring and supervision of EU. In this regard, currently we may say that Albania has a very good legislation frame although there are evident gaps between the legislation and practical implementation of the laws in the country. The country has joined the WTO in 2000 and since then has adopted its international trading policies in accordance with the agreement with this organization. Government policies and strategies on Electronic communications are focused on liberalization, development of market and competition, attraction of foreign direct investments, protection of consumer and are developed in compliance with the National Strategy for Development (covering years 2007-2013) and the EU integration directives. Economy Albania is a country with low to middle income with a gross domestic income per capita of $3740 in 2008. The Economy of the country has been totally transformed during the transition period from a communist economy towards a market-based economy. Albania has achieved a sustainable economic growth, while containing inflation almost constant every year. During the transition period, the structure of economy has been transformed from an agriculture and industry to services and construction. Large scale migration has fueled high workers remittances, which make up around 8-13 percent of GDP (World Bank Web Page, 2010, Albania in Brief). During that period the GDP growth rates of around 5-6 percent per year have been achieved while the poverty level has been reduced constantly. The absolute poverty rate was 25.4 % in 2002 but dropped to 18.5 percent in 2005 and to 12.4 percent in 2008. The extreme poverty rate decreased from about 5 to 3.5 percent but inequality has increased significantly (World Bank Web Page, 2010, Albania in Brief). According to World Bank data, the Albania GNIP (Gross National Income per Capita) in 2008 was at 3840$ ranking at 113th position while PPP (Purchasing power Parity) was at 7950$ during 2008 ranking at 108th position worldwide (World Bank, 2008). The GDP composition by sectors the year 2009 was as following: agriculture 20.06%, industry 18.8% and services 60.6% (CIA Fact book, 2010). In 2009 unemployment rate was at 12%, population under the poverty line 25%, Inflation rate 2.1% and has been kept within the range of 2-4% since 2002 (CIA Fact book, 2010). Major agriculture products are wheat, corn, vegetables, potatoes, fruits, sugar, grapes and meat while the industrial ones are food processing, textiles and clothing, oil, hydropower, cement, chemicals, mining and basic metals. In 2009 the exports were at 1994 billion while the imports were at 3602 billion (CIA Fact book, 2010). Strong growth has been seen during the years 2002 -2008 at the rate of 14-15% in the construction industry which has been considered as very successful one in the country. Evidences of global crises effects have been shown during 2009 when the GDP growth was 4% less than 2008. The remittances and bank deposits have declined much during 2008 and 2009 causing the slowdown of consumption while imports went down from 4,898 in 2008 to 3.602 Billion in 2009 (INSTAT, 2010). The deposit rates during 2007 were at the average of 6.3% while the bank interest rates were at 13.6% (INSTAT, 2010). Following are shown the main competitiveness indexes for Albania provided by the Harvard University, M. Porter in The Global Competitiveness Report. Source: M. Porter, The Global Competitiveness Report, 2008-2009 Based on this report, Albania is categorized in the group of countries being at the stage of efficiency driven economy, has many deficiencies in infrastructure, technology and innovation and market efficiency while fits with the standards of this category for macroeconomic stability, health and primary education, labor market efficiency and institutions, Source: M. Porter, The Global Competitiveness Report, 2008-2009 From the above report we can see that corruption, inadequate infrastructure, governing efficiency and bureaucracy and Tax regulations are the main problematic factors for doing business in Albania. Source: World Bank, Doing Business 2010 Albania According to World Bank, Albania is currently well positioned to continue with its strong economic growth and is able to make significant movements towards the integration with the European Union but the government must strongly address the governance problems, maintain a stable macroeconomics framework, improve the business environment and attract investments, upgrade public infrastructure, develop its human capital and make sure that the development benefits are fairly distributed to different categories of society with a special attention to supporting the poor ones (World Bank 2010). Although it has sustained high growth rate by keeping the microeconomic stability during the last decade, Albania remains still one of the poorest countries in Europe showing a large scale of informality in economy, a week and inadequate energetic and transportation infrastructure. Shortages in Energy caused from the dependency from hydropower plants and inadequate distribution infrastructure contribute much in a poor business environment and is a factor for not being successful in the process of attracting the foreign investors. According the European Commission 2009 report , Albania has kept and maintained the macro-economic while the worldwide crises had only a limited impact on the country, inflation was low, exchange rate has been stable, liquidity of banks have been ensured (EU Commission, 2009) Social According to INSTAT, 46 % of the population is between the age of 15-44 years and average age is 32.1 years therefore we may say that Albania has a young population however the population has started aging for the reason of decreased rate of births and longer life rate (INSTAT,2010). The number of people living in urban areas has increased from 35.8% in 1989 to 45% in 2004. Consumer telecom utilization and spending is high and at around 6 % of the total household expenditures. New generation like the new technology of mobiles and are followers of offers. Some future social trends are mentioned below: Urbanization will continue therefore increasing the chances for the fast rollout of broadband technologies Economic inequality will increase, therefore the customer segmentations should be considered and product and services should be customized to each segment needs Family size will decrease People joining the social networks will increase Regulatory The country has adopted the national legislation in accordance with the EU 2003 regulatory recommendations and framework. The Law No. 9918 (May 19, 2008) is the main legal instrument for the electronic communications industry regulation. It defines the responsibilities of government and regulatory institutions for this regulation. Based on this law, the Minister of State for Reforms and Parliamentary relations is the administration body for the electronic communications services and it is responsible for drafting the related legislation and for preparing the plan for radio frequencies. Based on the proposals submitted by the regulatory, the Ministry has the authority to approve the tenders for limited spectrum assignment and universal service providers. In 2009, the Council of Ministers has approved the National Frequency Plan while there is under the approval process the policy for the sector development for the period 2009-2014 which is oriented on liberalization, European integration and convergence. The regulatory authority (AKEP) is an independent, self-financed entity which covers the regulatory tasks for the electronic communications. Under its authority belong also some tasks related to adoption, administration and implementation of legislation. For the industry of Electronic Communications, the regulatory body should safeguard the competition, guaranty the quality of services offered and delivery of them, protect the consumer, license and develop the market through promoting the investment and latest technology implementation. AKEP can impose prices control, set administration fees and define methodologies for regulation of tariffs and defines its own structure and salaries without any intervention from the Ministry. The financing is taken from fees applied to operators and service providers. It reports to the parliamentary assembly. The privatization of Albtelecom and Eagle Mobile, in 2007, increased the level autonomy and independence for the AKEP and the Ministry although the state still owns 25% of the shares. Lately the government has announced these shares will be sold. Another institution was established by the government in April 2007, National Agency on Information Society (NAIS) which role is to coordinate the government activities for the information society and communications. It prepares and proposes the national strategies, draft ICT legislations and coordinate the projects of government in ICT. With regards to market access and authorizations, Albania has moved forward with the gradual process of liberalization. In 1998 the liberalization started with the rural local networks, then in 2003 was liberalized the operations for the domestic long-distances networks and in 2005 for international ones. In 2006 the market was liberalized for urban operation of local alternative providers. The law of 2008, established the concept of â€Å"General authorization† based on which the networks and services which do not require the usage of limited resources could start operating without getting a license but just by sending a notification for their start to the regulatory authority within 15 days of operations. Based on this, the need for getting the license remained only for the frequencies and numbers. Based on the law, AKEP can use the SMP (Significant Market Power) designation mechanism in order to regulate the competition in the market. The decision for designation should be based on a Market Analysis procedure results. In 2007 AKEP has designated AMC and Vodafone as SMP in the market of retail mobile services and for the wholesale voice termination. Based on that, AKEP imposed to these two operators obligations related to non-discrimination, transparency in RIO (Reference Interconnection Offer), imposed the prices of interconnect termination by cutting them by 31.2%% and applied a reduction in retailed prices of 30% for on-net and 40%for the off-net calls for a period of two years. In 2007, AKEP has designated Albtelecom as SMP in six markets related to fixed voice services offered to customers and for voice transit services. Obligations were set to Albtelecom including the imposed reduction of retail and transit tariffs. Following a review of the markets in wholesale and retail tariffs done in 2009, the competitive safeguards LLU and CS/CPS were imposed to Albtelecom which are not yet implemented. AKEP has already launched several markets analysis procedures on most of the wholesale and retail markets such as: Mobile wholesale market for call termination, access and call origination; fixed retail access and call services for wholesale interconnection. In December 2009, AKEP introduced to operators a reference document with the model of BULRAIC cost calculations for mobile services MTR based on which the data have been provided to AKEP by the operators. As the result of these analyses, it is expected that AKEP imposes the Mobile Terminated Rates for national calls while the rates for the international calls will be reviewed. During 2009 AKEP has launched the market analysis and public consultation process for wholesale and retail leased lines markets and finalization of it is expected by mid 2010. As result of public consultation process, is expected to be defined the services, demands, providers, supply structure and markets and then based on these is expected that regulatory designates the SMP operators for which the tariffs for their services will be regulated. During Q1 2010, AKEP has launched a public consultation process on â€Å"The rule for the indexes of service quality† which is expected to be finalized during Q1 2010. The above mentioned actions which regard regulation of competitions can be considered as steps to develop the competitive safeguards environment, however we can mention other steps not yet realized by the regulatory although the process has already started. Such missing measurements are: number portability, carrier selection and pre-selection (CS, CSP) not in practice yet, local loop un-bundling (LLU) not in practice yet, national roaming, MVNO and whole sale line rental. Number portability public consultation is in progress and based on AKEP plans, the service will be available in the market by end 2010 while the process for licensing for wireless broadband spectrum (WiMAX and mobile 3G) are expected to start with public consultations opening by March 2010 and be finalized by mid 2010. According to latest European Commission assessment, there were noted some progress including the alignment of primary legislation, while still some secondary lines laws have to be adopted yet, market liberalization and competition still are at early stage and administrative capacities of the ministry and regulator was not sufficient (Cullen, 2008). Technological In the area of mobile communication technology, GSM 2.75 technology (EDGE) is implemented since 2006 and now three operators offer it to the customers, AMC, Vodafone and Eagle. Regulatory has not yet provided the licensing for the Mobile 3G CDMA and broadband technologies HSPA and HSPA+. There is a delay in this aspect and the licensing for 3G technologies may be provided only now, at the end of lifecycle for 3G technology and at the time that other markets have started trialing and adopting the 4G network technologies (LTE). Video Digital Broadcasting (DVB-H) services are offered by three operators (DIGITALB, TRING and TV SHIJAKU) already to the market through terrestrial or satellite broadcasting. Number of PCs and PC utilization at home is low and estimated to xxx% of the houses while the utilization in companies and government is high. Internet services are provided in the country by more than 36 ISPs and technology for access is mainly fixed broadband xDSL, hybrid fiber coax and dial-up. Wireless broadband spectrum available for WiMAX is not licensed yet by the regulatory while the WiFi networks are frequently used for the Internet access in cafes. Points to multipoint systems such as LMDS are not present in the country. Fiber networks are present only in the main cities such as Tirana and Durres and implemented by some ISP-s for the purposes of internet access or triple play services provided to the end user. Fiber backbone is missing and the mobile operators backbone is mainly build of microwave transmission links based on SDH or PDH technology. Two of mobile operators have taken already some steps on offering the mobile fix substitution services to the customers but not providing the convergence of the mobile and fix telephone number. Content development is weak and mainly is based on external international resources. The main technology factors that will shape the next decade of electronic communications development are the following: Convergence of networks Fixed and mobile network differences will vanish and a common network providing integrated services will serve the customers. Mobile to fix substitution and integration has already started Convergence of network technologies to an all IP networks Traditional telecom networks and internet (ISP) will merge together to a next generation carrier network which is based on all IP technology. Services will clearly separate from transport networks and competition will be focused and oriented on services Convergence of services Convergence of networks and network technology will make possible to design, combine and deliver to the customer services which traditionally have been provided before by different technology, networks and vendors such as triple play services, (video, voice and internet) provided all at one network access point, accessed through same application environment which run in many different types of devices. Unified services access and unified messaging Customers can access through same software environment and through same or different devices and from everywhere (office, home, when traveling) same set of applications and services. Reduction of cost for hardware and increase of software role and power Software will run on standard hardware. Big software players will play a big role while the network HW vendors will become more software oriented. Growth of video content and internet utilization while the voice remains strong Demands for capacities will be huge while the needs for integrating all sets of services at one management and control will increase. Increase of connected number and types of devices Web connected devices will increase. PCs, mobiles, TVs, game devices, etc. There will be a need to standardize the applications to all these set of devices. 6.2 Electronic communications industry analysis We will use the M. Porters â€Å"Five forces model† for analyzing the industry. We selected this model as being already one of the most worldwide known, widely recognized and used model for industry analysis. The analysis done based on that model will be used for business strategy development recommendations. Market overview General data The following graphs show the sector revenue growth and market in 2008 compared to the other countries in the region. Source: (Cullen Report, 2010) Source: (Cullen Report, 2010) Mobile telephony In May 1996, AMC a state owned company by this time launched for the first time in Albania the GSM services becoming one of the first countries in the region to offer such services. Currently there are three companies operating in the mobile services market AMC, Vodafone and Eagle Mobile. The fourth operator is licensed and is expected to launch the services on July 2010. On July 2009, the mobile customers were at 3.52 millions, mobile service penetration was at 110% of the population, and more than 99% of population and 90% of territory is covered by GSM signal. Around 93.8% of customers are prepaid and 6.2% are postpaid. AMC has 43.30% of customer base, Vodafone AL 43.00% and Eagle 13.7 % (Cullen, 2010). Technology used is 2G EDGE while 3G spectrum is expected to be licensed by mid 2010. Main services offered in the market are voice, SMS, MMS, WAP, internet access and GPRS intranets. 43.3% of market share is owed by AMC, 43% by Vodafone and 13.4% by Eagle Mobile. Fixed telephony Albtelecom is the incumbent fixed operator in the market while more than 70 alternative operators operate mainly in the rural zones. Number of fixed telephony users by July 2009 end was 360,000 which represents 11.3% penetration while alternative operators customers are at 49, 690 representing 14% of this number(Cullen, 2010). 99.92 % of the fixed telephony is digitized. In July 2009 the numbers of PSTN lines were at 359,100, ISDN lines at 929, lines given to residential customers were at 338,300 and to business customers at 21,700 (Cullen, 2010). Leased lines and Data services Albtelecom and the three mobile operators are the providers of leased lines services at national and international access. Albtelecom has had the monopoly of such services until few years ago and kept it for international access until 2006. Albtelecom has implemented a few fiber lines connecting some main cities while internationally have access of fiber backbones to Italy and to Greece and other Adriatic see countries through the Adria fiber backbone. The mobile operators have not build yet a backbone to be used for leasing yet but are offering for the moment free capacities of their backbone build for their core business, mobile services. Besides AMC, there are not any clear evidences and data on the leased lines or data services provided by the other two mobile operators (Vodafone and Eagle Mobile). Albtelecom and mobile operators are moving forward their plans for implementation of a national Fiber backbone which will serve future needs for capacities nationally or for international access. AMC has provided data internetworking services to banks and other business or government institutions. More than 200 local networks of xxx customers are internetworked nationally and xxxx connections to international networks are established. COMPLETE STATISTICS Use Cullen report data on lease lines (pages 53-67, here are prices only) Broadband and Internet Services These services are offered for the moment by fixed operators while the mobile broadband services are not yet licensed by regulatory authority. Broadband penetration rate was at 2.51 % on January 2010 and was the lowest one in the region while EU penetration was at 23.9% (Cullen, 2010). About 36 ISPs are operating in Albania mainly providing the services in Tirana area and few in the other western cities. According to Cullen report, by January 2010, the number of broadband connections was 80,000, narrowband connections were at 28,512 and 30% of people are regularly using the Internet (Cullen, 2010). Number of internet users in 2008, including the mobile internet access users, was at 580,000. Main operators are Albtelecom, Abisnet, ABCOM, Alfa cable and ASC (AKEP, 2010). 65% of broadband market is owned by Albtelecom and 35% by the alternative operators. Broadband technology used is ADSL and HFC. The following table shows the internet penetration progress over the years. Source: (Internet world statistics, 2010) Albtelecom offers upstream capacities of internet access to retail customers from 512Kbps to 4Mbps while Abisnet from 1 to 3 Mbps. Albtelecom is the main operator offering to other ISP-s high capacity access to internet international gateway through fiber. Other alternative operators access the international gateways through Albtelecom use other alternative microwave links. The internet backbone access capacity in October 2009 was 5.5GB and was one of the lowest in the region. The threat for substitute product and services AMC offers Data Internetworking and Internet services through ISP in addition to its core business mobile services. International IP transit services are provided through the partnership established with OTEGlobe which is an international data services provider. The type of service is IP transit, (Layer3 Networking) where turnkey IP network is provided through delivering the end routers, installation and configurations of them and IP packet encryption as well. IP capacities provided are dedicated. Availability of services is above 99.9% and quality of network is very good. For such type of data services, substitute services in the market are considered the MPLS VPN-s, satellite data links, internet VPN services, GPRS Intranets and data dial-up. MPLS VPNs are becoming standard services worldwide but not yet present in the local market. This comes mainly due to the reasons of lack of a dedicated data backbone in the country, the lack of development of IP backbones technologies by the operators for the moment and the lack of fiber backbones. Since the data IP backbone is missing for the moment and establishing it will need time and big investments, MPLS VPNs may present a substitution threat after some years. There are not operators offering such products for the moment. Satellite data links are established through satellite terminals installed at the local remote offices locations. Links are aggregated to the satellite nub and then connected to the headquarter network. These links have the advantage of installing anywhere in the country and this represent an advantage considering the terrain but are more convenient to be used as point to point links rather than in a distributed multipoint top