Learning Theories Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Learning Theories - Research Paper Example Because of that, different types of learning methods are prevailing among people. Different scholars and psychologists have formulated different learning theories after comprehensive researches and studies. â€Å"Although there is no acceptable definition of learning, a generally accepted definition of learning is any relatively permanent change in behavior that occurs as a result of experience† (Chowdhury, 2006, p.1). Learning is a process and a product at the same time. Many of the psychologists defined learning as a change in behavior. It is a fact that all the people behave in a particular way based on their knowledge level. For example, a person who has completed college education may behave more diplomatically than a person who has not completed college education. In other words, learning makes lot of behavioral changes in a person’s life. ... Customization of these learning theories is necessary for a student to learn the topics properly. In other words, every student should have a customized learning strategy or theory in order to learn the topics properly. This paper describes my ideas of â€Å"the best learning environment† and supports it using the theoretical perspectives of what defines the "best of" in education. Learning Theory and its importance â€Å"Learning is a personal act. We each place our own personal stamp on how we learn, what we learn and when we learn. How we learn is a question that begs the answer--based on learning theory† (Chowdhury, 2006, p.2). As mentioned earlier, no two individuals are alike in their learning methods. Different people use different methods for learning a particular topic. The awareness about different learning theories will definitely help the educators in providing customized learning environments for each student. For example, brighter students may require more complex assignments whereas average or below average students may require simple assignments in order to help them in their learning process. â€Å"Learning theories are the basic raw materials, which are applied in training activities. It is, therefore, essential that the trainer understand the learning theories so that he or she can design the effective training program† (Chowdhury, 2006, p.6). It is important for the educator to know how a particular subject can be taught well in a class. For that purpose different learning theories may help. For example, many learning theories suggest that motivation is required for the students to learn a particular topic well. In order

Star System Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Star System - Essay Example Studios would then, select promising young actors and would create personas for them, often by inventing new names and even new backgrounds. Some of the stars that went through the star system include Cary Grant (born Archie Leach), and Joan Crawford (born Lucille Fay LeSueur), and Rock Hudson (born Roy Harold Scherer Jr.) The evolution of the motion picture industry can be divided into roughly four phases. The technological phase, in which key film making technologies were introduced, began around 1891 and ended at 1903 with the first narrative film, The Great Train Robbery. The pre-studio era, characterized by standardization of film content into specified length and set of conventions lasted from about 1903 to 1915 with the first feature film, Birth of a Nation (McGowan, 1965). During this era the director-unit system, came to dominate. The studio era of vertically integrated firms commenced around 1915 and entered decline in 1948 with the United States Supreme Court decision that forced the Hollywood studios to exit the exhibition business. It was here that the central producer system evolved and became dominant. And finally, the post studio era began in the mid 1950s and is still with us today. The industry structure and business strategies that dominate each of these phases were crafted and negotiated during the transition periods from one phase to the next. The studio system emerged as a result of distinct strategic developments that coalesced into a strong configuration. The first development was the emergence of vertical integration, Gomery, (1986). Most of studios (though not all) saw the joint ownership of production, distribution, and exhibition as creating synergies that are essential for competitive advantage. Control of exhibition allowed the studios to offset the risks of production, and control over distribution permitted coordinated release that is essential for national marketing. Second, after a period of resistance, primarily due to fear of excessive salary demands, all the studios acquiesced to the human resource strategy star based system. Working of the System structure The central producer system, with a managerial hierarchy in the form of the top producer team, deviated from the common practices of management in the conventional film industry. First, the top producer team was often deeply involved in the conceptualisation and detail of the project. Second, and more importantly, resolving of tension between functional specialisation and project leaders was not biased in favoring of one or the other. Rather, the perennial struggle between functional departments and project managers was resolved by bringing top management downward into the process. What made the central producer system so effective was the way in which process and content were balanced and closely integrated. The producer team exerted its influence in critical transitions in the development of movie projects worked in specially designated departments. Scripts that were seen as promising were selected for further development by the team. This development consisted of intense analysis and discussion of every aspect of the script. The team brought to bear its collective experience. The script was examined from the perspective of narrative logic, motivation, and appeal to audience. At the end of the

Learning Theories Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Learning Theories - Research Paper Example Because of that, different types of learning methods are prevailing among people. Different scholars and psychologists have formulated different learning theories after comprehensive researches and studies. â€Å"Although there is no acceptable definition of learning, a generally accepted definition of learning is any relatively permanent change in behavior that occurs as a result of experience† (Chowdhury, 2006, p.1). Learning is a process and a product at the same time. Many of the psychologists defined learning as a change in behavior. It is a fact that all the people behave in a particular way based on their knowledge level. For example, a person who has completed college education may behave more diplomatically than a person who has not completed college education. In other words, learning makes lot of behavioral changes in a person’s life. ... Customization of these learning theories is necessary for a student to learn the topics properly. In other words, every student should have a customized learning strategy or theory in order to learn the topics properly. This paper describes my ideas of â€Å"the best learning environment† and supports it using the theoretical perspectives of what defines the "best of" in education. Learning Theory and its importance â€Å"Learning is a personal act. We each place our own personal stamp on how we learn, what we learn and when we learn. How we learn is a question that begs the answer--based on learning theory† (Chowdhury, 2006, p.2). As mentioned earlier, no two individuals are alike in their learning methods. Different people use different methods for learning a particular topic. The awareness about different learning theories will definitely help the educators in providing customized learning environments for each student. For example, brighter students may require more complex assignments whereas average or below average students may require simple assignments in order to help them in their learning process. â€Å"Learning theories are the basic raw materials, which are applied in training activities. It is, therefore, essential that the trainer understand the learning theories so that he or she can design the effective training program† (Chowdhury, 2006, p.6). It is important for the educator to know how a particular subject can be taught well in a class. For that purpose different learning theories may help. For example, many learning theories suggest that motivation is required for the students to learn a particular topic well. In order

Globalization Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Globalization - Assignment Example In this paper, I will provide the ten most expensive items I own, their place of manufacture and also write a brief review of my findings and the impact globalization has had on my life and purchasing habits. Of the 10 items on the list, only 1 (Seiko watch) is produced in its manufacturer’s country of origin. 4 items are produced in China, while 2 are manufactured in Germany. This shows that a majority of multinational corporations favor producing goods in other countries where it is cheaper to do so. By doing this, they avoid paying high or extra taxes levied upon them and hence make the final products cheaper. They are also able to incur minimal expenses in terms of production labor, since human resources are very expensive in their countries of origin. Globalization has had a massive impact on consumers all over the world. Actually, it does not matter how much one earns; it is now possible to purchase items that were previously deemed too expensive by some consumers. Personally, globalization has affected me in a number of ways, both positively and negatively. The positive effects include the fact that I am now able to afford certain products that I could not fathom buying because they were costly for me. I can say that my purchasing power has increased significantly over the last two years, hence allowing me to enjoy the benefits of owning some products. Despite this, my financial capability has not improved much, so I am convinced that products have become cheaper. There has also been an increase in the availability of foreign products. I now have a wider variety of brands to choose from when buying items, and this is because the goods are produced cheaply and therefore can be made available to just about everybody. Negative impacts include an increase in the number of counterfeits being produced. I have been a victim of counterfeiting before, so I know the pain and disappointment of buying something only to discover (later)

How advertising affect children obesity Essay Example for Free

How advertising affect children obesity Essay The impact of food advertisement on children’s health and eating behavior is a crucial interest, because of the rapid increase of obesity in children noticed in England, United States and many countries around the world (Reilly J et al, 1999). In addition to that, according to the international obesity task force report that nearly 20% of children (school-age) in Europe are suffering from obesity, Obesity overweight are defined as having an extensive fat accumulation and according to the world health organization obesity is defined also as body mass index greater than or equal to 25 and 30 kgm, in other words overweight and obese happen when calories intake is greater than the number of calories burned during activity and basic metabolic processes. This essay will examine the association between advertising and children obesity with highlighting the effect of the epidemic in the following way the first part will examine the influence of advertising on children in different aspects, and setting out recent data on the association between advertising and children obesity, the second part covers the risk of obesity in term of physical and mental health than the third part examine the different environment where the children’s are targeted and the last part include a recommendation and strategies for an effective prevention and management for the epidemic. A wide range of researches show that food advertising directed for children affect their food choice (Robinson, 2007) and children’s exposure to advertising has increased dramatically over the past years (Ekstrom, 2007). While marketing activities are more used to target tweens and teens, a considerable amount is spent every year by companies to advertise their unhealthy food, the major part was on TV advertisement, for example UK has spent 743 million on food and drinks advertising in 2003 and some data show that this number is increasing (ofcom, 2004). Television is still the most used for children’s aged between 2-13 years old and the advertisements display are still powerfully influencing (Story , 2004) in the way that 2 to 11 years old TV viewers are exposed to about 5500 food publicity yearly in the United States, in other words, 11. 5 minutes per day (Desrochers, 2008), a fact that challenge parents’ roles. According to the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services, it has been argued that advertising for really healthy foods like vegetables and fruits, known as â€Å"Go† products in the USA, are absolutely invisible. As expected most of foods advertised are considerably unhealthy which is high in sugar, salt and fat and low in essential mineral and vitamins. Although an empirical study shows that food advertised on TV conduct to a bad food choices (Taveras et al, 2006) and that proven overweight and obese children have a high recalling rates of the food advertised than children with normal weight (Halford, 2008). Many of advertisers claim that in order to improve the effect of advertising appeals for children like the case of celebrities and cartoons characters are substantial to get children’s view of products advertised. An analysis presenting a virtually version of advertising which one with and one without a celebrity character, demonstrates that products presented with popular character attract more children’s (Atkin Block, 1983; Ross et al, 1984). In addition, a study analysing parents and children in supermarket shows that children were influenced by premium offers (Atkin, 1978), an effective way of business marketing. Furthermore many substantial research demonstrates a relation between the duration of TV viewing and classes of obesity and overweight for children and adolescents (Anderson, Crespo, Bartlett, Cheskin, Pratt, 1998). However, a divided studies ignore any association between viewing TV to obesity (Kaur, Choi, Mayo, and Harris, 2003) leaded to prospective studies which was resulting after three year following that children’s or adolescent who watched TV more than two hours a day were twice probably occur overweight during the process of the study (Francis, Lee, Birch, 2003; Proctor et al. , 2003). These evidences confirm that excessive TV viewing leads to gain weight also it can affect on food choice and eating behavior. Overall, obesity rate in the U.S and many other European countries has risen to a worrying rate, many questions persist about the nature and the consequences of this epidemic. Children obesity may not result in known clinical indication until later in life, the physical and emotional effect coordinate often in children lives. A wide body of research showed that obese children and youth are stigmatized producing an opposite emotional consequences, for example low self-esteem, negative body image and depressive feelings (Schwartz and Puhl, 2003; Strauss and Pollack, 2003). However, the results of the studies on the emotional side of obese children are complex to summarize due to the variation of the study subjects including the differences between studies for example (age, gender, status, and obesity level) in spit of, many general statements can be made (Strauss and Pollack, 2003). In term of health Obesity is related with many chronic diseases and it increase risk of diabetes, cancer, cardio vascular problems and a lower life expectancy (James W, Jackson-Leach R, Mhurchu C, 2004). It has been found that obesity could be defined as disorders that affect multiple organ system. These disorders contain hypertension, dyslipidemia, glucose intolerance, impaired balance and orthopedic problems and some of this symptoms cause clinical condition in obese children and some do not (Dietz et al, 2003), a statistic in 2000 shows that 400,000 deaths were ascribe to unhealthy diet and physical inactivity in United States (Mokdad et al, 2004), whereas in 1990 it was estimated by 300,000 due to the same reasons it has been seen an increase of one-third (Mcginnis, 1993). In other words these factors represent the second major cause of death in America and its predicted to surpass tobacco as the first cause of deaths in the future (Mokdad et al, 2004). In addition, it has been argued that obesity involves immediate and long-term consequences (Finkelstein et al. , 2004). The United States spent about 98 to 129 billion on medical expenditures yearly financed by Medicaid and Medicare. Thus, this statement introduces obesity in view of a major aspect of health-care costs (Mokdad et al, 2004). In other hand, research psychologists have made a comprehensive limitation of youth children’s comprehension of advertised messages where there is many areas to investigate in, most researches on advertising to children include studies of television, however, in the interactive media field, advertising and entertainment have made a new unique way, for example advertising on children’s websites where it include games, cartoons, puzzles and activities that promote for the product related called â€Å"branded environments†; a key point of marketing in the new media environment that explain advertising strategies have become more obtrusive. Children are not targeted only in the home, as advertisers and sellers have found a new area in way all children can be reached which is the school classroom, a unique environment and due to the serious economic challenges that schools face, advertiser are progressively offering resources and founds in order to access to school children as audience for their products and commercials messages (of com, 2004) The issue of commercialization in school environment has already attracted some public attention and many citizen have already formed groups in different location. Therefore, effectively, they have declined the forms of commercialization in the educational environment with showing so far the impact of these practices on children’s. (of com, 2004) A variety of studies in the last decade have investigated the several effects of advertising, physical and mentally and increasing attention of the implication on children’s health, it is time now to think about how to reduce children obesity. As It have been mentioned early that there is a strong relation between TV viewing and child obesity, in a linked study, more than 60% of obese children could be related to excess TV viewing time (Gortmaker et al, 1990), The total pressure of ads on children’s diet is probably to be growing. In 2000 more than 75% of the commercialization budget for food and drink in Europe were used on TV advertising; it seems to be an effective measure to limit the exposure of children to ads (Lobstein, 2005). Therefore, a recent research demonstrated that a ban of fast food advertising on TV would decline the rate of overweight children aged 3 to 11 year in USA by 18% (Chou et al, 2008). Then, reducing ads of energy-dense foods on TV seems to have an even greater effect, whereas a recent study claims that if food commercial on TV were banned it will result on significant reductions of children obesity (Saffer H, Chaloupka F, 2000). It might be true that marketing budgets could be reduced but instead of that advertisers and promoters used to transfer the same message by different media, for example, the internet which is the new media environment â€Å"advergaming† (Powell L, Szczypka G, Chaloupka F, 2007). For example, in the UK, 13% of total amount spent on food, drinks and fast food advertising was by Internet (European heart network, 2005). Overall, limiting or banding the advertising of high-calories foods are urgently needed and it appears to be an important element that lead to make healthier diets for children’s. Comprehensive studies should be provided in order to combat children obesity addressing to all the causes of obesity, including strategies to motivate children to be more physically active. In some countries such as the UK, Germany and Spain are trying to restrict the activities of advertising industry, for example, a responsible self-regulation and by demanding them to present social marketing technique to advertise healthier food. Other countries’ governments are focusing on limiting food ads in schools like the case of Finland, where some countries have already banned food ads to children on TV (European heart network, 2005). While there are many challenges for the national policies in obesity prevention and the key player are governments, international organizations, private and non-governmental organizations, each country need to drive policy changes by their governments and its important to know that while health services takes usually a large part of national budget (European heart network, 2005). A change at many levels and in different environments are significantly required, for example in the home environment as improving the nutrition quality of family dinners with encouraging children to be more active in term physically as well as increasing the time that they spent outside playing can make a change. (Jeffrey et al, 2005) also the school environment is really important and the role of school in introducing an active lifestyle module in which children learns about the benefits of the healthier life style and physical activity for life. In the national level such as organizations and policy changes, a comprehensive modification is needed in the way to progress towards reducing of obesity through policy and system changes, for example encouraging children to go school by walking or by bike, increase the number of industry who product and advertise a healthy balanced product, improve the access of fruits and vegetables for a low-income population (obesity is related also with poverty) and increase the ability to afford healthy food at schools, supermarkets and farmers markets. The efforts have already begun around the world and the unique and ultimate solutions are still far, (Jeffrey P. et al, 2005). the aim of obesity prevention programmes is to limit or stop the increase of obesity and reduce the new cases of this epidemic in a population, from a scientific viewpoint the most effective way to use in evaluating obesity prevention programmes are the change in the average of the body mass index or succession in obesity rate. However in practical terms the incidence is rarely happened the rates of the prevalence of obesity is hard to decline in the short term cause firstly  losing weight is not that easy and it cant be expected that large number of obese peoples sick to lose weight just to cease to not be classified as obese, secondly the social environment and social behavioural are reflected on the population weight , at present many countries have strategies an policy to deal with the problem of obesity and some countries still need to tackle obesity effectively such as Australia, Canada and United Kingdom. However Singapore is one of the country that has achieved a degree of success through a coordinated system of healthy life covering all the different groups in the population for example preschool children, schoolchildren, young and adult peoples and recent result of the fit programmes are promising and declining rates of obesity has been noticed among primary and secondary school. In conclusion there is an important growth of children obesity in European countries and many countries around the world and after the examination of the different aspects of obesity and the association between food advertising and obesity levels some research has been demonstrating that the exposure to TV ads or network games could increase the chances of obesity and it might result in many consequence in term of physical and mental health, physical activity and healthy diet seems to be important to prevent the epidemic but a necessary significant study must set in place to fight the increase and seriously measures should be taken as a matter of urgency.

Operations and strategies of Bell Canada Enterprises

Operations and strategies of Bell Canada Enterprises BCE Inc. is Canadas largest telecommunications company for almost 25 years. It is established by Charles Fleefore Sise in 1880. This company provides wireline voice, wireless communications services, Internet access, data services and video services to residential and business customers. It headquartered in Quebec, Canada and employed 50,102 people. The subsidiaries included Bell Aliant, Northwestel, Telebec, and Northern Tel. (Company Profile, 2009) BCE Inc. operates in three segments: Bell Wireline, Bell Wireless and Bell Aliant. Bell Wireline provides telephone services mainly in Ontario and Quebec. They are included local telephone, long distance, internet access and information and communications technology (ICT) solutions and other communications services. Bell Wireless provides wireless voice and data communications products and services across Canada. Bell Aliant provides local telephone, long distance, Internet, data, video, wireless and other ICT services for customers in Canadas Atlantic Provinces, and in rural areas of Ontario and Quebec. BCE also provide telephone service to the customers in Alberta and British Columbia throung its Bell West unit and northern territories through Northwestel (Company, 2009). BCE provides high-speed Internet services to more than two million customers in Canada under the Bell Internet brand through digital subscriber line (DSL) technology. The company set a clear goal for themselves- for Bell to be recognized by customers as Canadas leading communications company and instituted a strategy to deliver a dramatically better customer experience, while attaining a competitive and cost -efficient operation structure. (Annual Report, 2009) Current Business Current Products, Services and Operations Bell Canada Enterprises (BCE, Bell) is the largest communications company in Canada providing a number of different services to people all across the country. BCE has three main segments in operation Bell Wireline, Bell Wireless, and Bell Aliant providing different services to people to make their life easier and more efficient. Bell provides wireline voice and wireless communications services, internet access, data services and video services to residential, business and wholesale customers (Reuters, n.d). The company has a number of other interests which include CTVglobalmedia incorporated, Skyterra Communications inc. and entities that operate the Montreal Canadians and the Bell Centre in Montreal. The company recently acquired The Source Electronics and the remaining part of Virgin Mobile Canada (Reuters, n.d). Bell continues to be an ever growing company that continues to lead the way in the field of communications in Canada by continuing to expand its products and services. Bell Wireline provides telephone, data and other communication services to residential and business customers in Ontario and Quebec but also offers services to businesses in Alberta and British Columbia. With the sale of local telephone, and long distance services under the Bell Home phone brand with internet service under the Ball Internet brand. The company also provides home television service to its customers under the Bell TV brand. Bell provides all necessary wireline services for any business or resident that decides to go with the company (Reuters, n.d). Bell Wireless provides wireless voice and mobile communication products to residents and businesses across Canada. With the sales of cell phone services being the biggest part of this segment of the company through the operations of Bell Mobility and Virgin Mobile Canada, along with wireless product sales from The Source (Reuters, n.d). BCE currently owns approximately 44.1% of Bell Aliant a segment of the company that provides local telephone, long distance, Internet, data, video, wireless, information technology (IT) services and products and other ICT services to residential and business customers in Canadas Atlantic provinces (Reuters, n.d). The company competes with a number of other providers to deliver services to Eastern Canada as it continues to grow the brand throughout Canada. Current Sales and Marketing Strategies Marketing, is a branch of the business where the company generates interest within the general public of their product. This area of business hooks, and latches on to the customers with the purpose of making the consumer a customer for life. Marketing is a vital component of the company and it is one of the main reasons companies can grow and expand. Bell Canada Enterprises owning one of Canadas largest telecommunications provider; competing with Rogers needs to have great marketing ploys to attract and keep customers. With the introduction of the internet companies are able to target a broad number of people with cost effective methods. A few examples of ways consumers are targeted over the internet are E-mail marketing, search engine marketing, online campaigns, online media planning placement and social media optimization. To keep customers another cost effective technique is mobile marketing. Everyone uses e-mail communication which is slowly edging out the pre-historic snail-mail (reference of using postal service). The e-mail is a great tool because it requires no cost to send; the message is sent instantaneously; and users can always keep their sent mail to refer back to. This provides company with a great way of communicating with current and potential customers. Bell Canada uses this to sell its product by e-mailing current customers on new products being offered, and emailing consumers on new products and promotions. It allows Bell to reach a mass amount of people without exercising major costs. Search engine marketing is another way a lot of companies advertise. Everyone who owns or has access to a computer uses a search engine at least once a day. This makes placing ads on these search engines a great opportunity to generate public interest and attract consumers. Placing ads on search engines can be expensive but the exposure the ads gain provides a good cost to benefit ratio. Bell also contacts consumers via telephone (home-phone). They use call-centers to call house-holds and market their products. Telemarketing however annoying it may seem when getting a call during dinner time is proven effective. With the recent boost in cellular usage a less annoying but as effective way to reach customers is via SMS messaging. SMS messaging is cheaper, because it cuts the costs of employing call centers . However the SMS can only be delivered to already existing customers. Which does not get the company new customers but it does help them promote packages and products. Social media presents a huge marketing opportunity for firms. Bell Canada uses this as aan opportunity to garner public attention of their products by having their own Facebook page. Also they run ads on facebook to broadcast themselves to the young and old who use facebook. Social media is not just limited to Faceook and MySpace it also includes Youtube. Youtube allows Bell to run ads for free; it is the single most cost effective way for Bell to gain consumer exposure of its products. It is limited to whoever searches for Bell on Youtube but the fact that its free to upload videos makes the cost to benefit ratio very appealing. Bell just doesnt post commercials on Youtube it also advertises on Youtube as-well. Marketing has evolved over the years. In the past it was just running ads on t.v, telemarketing, banners and flyers that got the job done. Today the internet has put those archaic methods to a limited use. Bell has changed its marketing techniques with the time and uses the internet to its full marketing potential. Current Finance and Accounting Strategies The management of BCE Inc. established a system of internal controls to assure the accuracy and completion in all material respects of the financial statements and the assets are properly accounted for and safeguarded. This is supported by an internal audit group that reports to the Audit Committee, and includes communication with employees about policies for ethical business conduct (Annual Report, 2009). The process of reporting financial statements is under the supervision of the President and Chief Executive Officer and the Executive Vice-President and Chief Financial Officer of BCE to provide assurance regarding the reliability and the accordance with generally accepted accounting principles for internal and external purposes. External auditing companies such as Deloitte Touche LLP, Independent Registered Chartered Accountants, have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets, and the related consolidated statements of operations, comprehensive income, deficit and cash flows. They also conducted their audits in accordance with Canadian generally accepted auditing standards and the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board. The audits include examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements, assessing the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall financial statement presentation (Annual Report, 2009). Overall, BCE has effective internal control over financial reporting. Current Technological Strategy BCE is the largest communications entity in Canada, providing nationwide, reliable networking services to businesses and residents. To achieve this status, BCE has continued to push forward with leading edge technological advancements and strategies, covering a whole spectrum of services available, such as high speed and wireless internet communication, satellite television and local and long distance calling. A fundamental business step in attaining a successful company is first having a solid information and communications technology (ICT) strategy (BCE, 2010). Bell Canada Enterprise base their ICT strategies on being able to support government and enterprise establishments. They develop their products on connecting businesses to other businesses as well as customers. BCE also continues to upgrade internally, by investing 10% of their revenue into resources and development, to further their own effectiveness as well as recruit top talent to the company. They invest another roughly 3 billion dollars annually into their network, operating and business support systems. Another area incorporated in the technological strategy is Bell Canada Enterprise regularly works together with other leading technological companies to co-construct more innovative technologies which strengthen services the company provides, as well as increase productivity within. All enterprises today must be environmentally aware and continue to implement green issues in their technological strategy. Bell Canada Enterprise now bill customers through the internet, and by doing so they have eliminated 16.6 million pieces of paper and 468 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions, values that continue to grow. BCE also donates one dollar to the Nature Conservancy of Canada for every new client registration (BCE, 2006). Bell Canada Enterprise continues to grow, helping businesses nation wide, and by upgrading their own resources, they are further capable of providing the services they offer. The next direction the company is beginning to take is investing and developing VoIP (voice over internet protocol), which is far from the final frontier of communication that BCE will develop and provide to the ever-growing business world. Bell Canada Enterprises Five Year Projections Heading into the future Bell Canada Enterprises wants to continue to be the largest communications provider in Canada. In order to accomplish this, a five part imperative strategy has been put into place that will help maximize subscribers and revenue while improving on the reliable, consistent services that are already being offered to its customers. The five parts of this strategy include: Improving customer service, Accelerate wireless, leverage wireline momentum, invest in broadband networks and services, and achieve a competitive cost structure. Improving customer service is BCEs top priority as in order for the company to remain competitive, delivering excellent reliable customer service is must. That is why the company is executing programs such as Same Day Next Day service which enables the company to try and fix any problems with its wireless or wired service from its office first. If that fails they will send someone to the location within 24 hours to solve the problem. The better training of call centre, field service and channel teams enables them to be more efficient when dealing with customers and help provide the customer with the answer they are looking for. Accelerating wireless is another top priority as there is expected to be a continued grow in data usage. That is why the company is investing heavily into state-of-the-art broadband networks, devices and services that can provide the fastest service offered on the market. This provides the leverage the company needs to attract businesses and residents to its services allowing the company to expand. However, speed and reliability dont provide all the necessary leverage as to achieve maximize subscribers and revenue the company must offer competitive prices. This is done by building the most cost-effective company possible and maximizing efficiency and productivity of everything that is done within the company. Corporate Strategies Globalization and Adaptation In todays business market, globalization is essential for an enterprise. For a company to turn maximum profit, it must be able to reach and appeal to a number of different clientele, as well as exchange resources and technology. As the top communications provider across Canada, there are few areas nationally that are not covered by BCE thus, BCE has currently begun to touch other areas of the world. Bell Canada Enterprise has grown to become the monopolistic communications provider throughout Canada by continuing to buy resource technology from smaller companies such as Northern Telecom, and joint-fund more research together (Canadian Journal of Communication, 1993). Through this purchasing of technology from other companies, or of the companies themselves as a whole (the purchasing of Virgin Mobile), then applying these resources and ideas within their own networks, BCE has been able to adapt to changes in technologies as they are discovered. As smart technology has been released by companies such as Apple and R.I.M, Bell has been able to make these phones compatible on their wireless and mobile networks. They have also continued to keep up with the television business, making their Bell Direct TV satellite frequency serviceable to advancements in high definition televisions. Building off the their ability to reach most of the nation through television, Bell Canada turned their eyes off of Canada, and to the entire world during the recent 2010 Winter Olympics and Paralympic Games. Bell retained the exclusive rights to be the partner of the Vancouver Olympics, built the network which broadcast every telecast of the games, making Bell the sole providers of every Olympic image seen on televisions throughout the world (Bell Canada Enterprise, 2010). Having completed projects and adapting to these changes, Bell can only continue to prepare to make new technologies compatible on their networks, and build off their success in delivering television signals to the entire world. With the demand for entertainment and convenience constantly growing in the economy, Bell will continue to globalize, in order to stay ahead of the game. Corporate Responsibility Adaptation and Projection Corporate responsibility have been a central element of Bells operation since the companys founding 130 years ago, and it remains a primary commitment of every member of the Bell Canada Enterprise team today (Corporate, 2009). Bell uses a diversity strategy to maintain a high standard of corporate responsibility. They comply with the employment equity requirements to aim for the four federally designated groups in recruiting, retaining and promoting (See Fig 1- Senior Management Positions BCE). The four federally designed group included women, visible minorities, aboriginals and people with disabilities. For the seventh consecutive year, BCE received a perfect 10/10 rating from Governance Metrics International in its 2009 global corporate governance study (Corporate, 2009) All employees must review the BCE Code of Business Conduct regularly and complete an online training course to ensure that they understand the contents. Moreover, BCE require all directors, officers and vice-presidents to declare annually that they obey principle and rules of the conduct code and support the standards (Corporate, 2009). Their objective for 2010 is to remain a leader in corporate governance and ethical business conduct by maintain best practices, transparency and accountability to their stake holders (Corporate, 2009) BCE is a very responsible and active company by making a significant investment in the local communities. Through the annual program of Walk for Kids Help Phone, they have raised more than $18 million in eight years. This funding are used for providing service, information and counseling to young people. In addition, employees and retirees collect school supplies for kids in need through the program of Backpacks for Kids. Since 2004, this program has contributed more than 17,000 backpacks to schools and community. In 2009, Bell Canada and Bell Aliant together contributed more $13 million in charitable donations. Employees and pensioners committed more than $2.1 million in charitable gifts and logged nearly 43,000 hours of volunteer time (Corporate, 2009). Their 2010 objective is to contribute to the well-being of society through their community investment programs. Business Strategies Technological Projection and Adaptation As technology continues to advance, BCE must continue to keep up with these developments to entice customers to their market. With demand for specific products changing day to day, Bell strives to stay the principal communications enterprise in Canada. Bell has recently released that they will be changing their internet service to the new Fiber to the Node-based (FTTN) broadband internet service, to provide a next generation internet experience. The fiber is driven to a node roughly 3,000 feet near the location, then a copper-based VDSL2 connection is used to connect the internet service to a customer. This idea will differ from the current fiber broadband service, in which the fiber is carried to the side of the customers home (Bell Sympatico, 2010). Bell currently runs on a 3G wireless network, but with the growing technology, BCE is upgrading to a HSPA (High Speed Packet Access) network, which will set the foundation for their eventual upgrade to the faster 4G LTE wireless network. The 4G network is the future of broadband mobile data speeds and multimedia for personal devices (BCE, 2010). Human Resources Projections and Adaptations Bell Canada Enterprise governs its business by putting into place strong policies and systems to guide the activities of the company in the right direction. This has been done by making sure that everyone within the company from the lowest level to the highest one maintains their ethical standards and practices while continuing to exceed the requirements and expectations of the public and the shareholders. This high standard is not limited to the employees of the company, but is also upheld for the people that do business with the company. The company seeks quality products and services from its suppliers while expecting them to act responsibly within the marketplace while also respecting the environment. The demand for high standards and the implementing of strong policies and practices has allowed the company to continue to grow through the years and will help lead the company into the future. Even with this high standard the company has maintained that a successful company is one when the employees are happy with where they work. Believing that work shouldnt just be a place to go every day but be more of a place you want to go and be actively involved in. This is done by creating a dynamic working environment by encouraging its employees to never stop learning and engaging in the decision making of the company. This creates a sense of company pride that is expected to show through in all work that is produced by the company whether it is with helping a customer to the improvement of broadband service. In doing this the company has scored a perfect 10/10 from rating agency GovernanceMetrics International in the global corporate governance study. Bell has also been a leading company in diversifying the work place with Bell Aliant leading the way in this department. With the hiring of a diverse workforce Bell Canada Enterprises has been able to connect to Canadas multi- cultural society. This has lead to Bell Aliant being recognized as one of Canadas Best Diversity Employers in 2009, as part of the Canadas Top 100 Employers project. Marketing and Advertising Projections and Adaptations As we have discussed earlier marketing is a key component of a companies growth. Bell Canada Enterprises which faces fierce competition from the likes of Rogers Communications, so it needs to keep energizing old and potential customers. In Chapter ____ we talked about current and sales marketing strategies. These strategies were mainly related to the internet and social media advertising. This trend will definitely continue in the future. The advertisement of future products and plans will greatly be induced in social media outlets. Companies are quickly realising the amount of useful information sites such as Facebook have. Facebook and Myspace as well as other social media sites contain a host of information on the users likes and dislikes; tastes in fashion, technology, and food. People on these sites often posts problems they are having with current corporations dealings. If one reads BCEs Facebook page it is full of complaints that current customers have with the companys telecommunications branch. Now this may seem like terrible a terrible publicity but one must consider that the only people who go on Bell Mobilitys Facebook page are current users. So this helps Bell realize what its doing wrong and fix it. BCE and other companies use crawlers to gather information from peoples profiles. They then use this information to send personalized ad campaigns to the consumer. SWOT Analysis Strengths One of BCEs biggest strength is the fact that it is already established itself as a major name in the telecommunications market. It is no up-start company vying for notoriety. Just about every Canadian citizen knows that Bell Canada is a telecommunications company. It is second largest in terms of subscribers for wireless operations and owns a majority of the network access lines in major residential areas. It is one of the nations leading digital television providers with 1.8 million subscribers. The number of internet subscribers are 2.1 million which is the most of any company. Bell holds a chokehold in telecommunications coverage in Toronto and Montreal which are major populous areas. BCE also owns a 44.2% stake in Bell Aliant which is the major telecommunications provider in Atlantic Canada. According to industry analysts, total wireless subscribers in Canada are supposed to increase to by 6million users by 2013. Overall the branding of BCE and its longevity thus far will keep B CE in a prominent position in the telecommunications market. Weaknesses We discussed how Bell is a major force in the Canadian telecommunications market which is also its biggest weakness. The figure of a growth of 6 million represents a total 29.5million people on cell phones by 2013. Canada only has a population of 33.3 million; this is not enough for major growth to occur within the company. Also the companys wireline segment has decreased. This accounts for about 55.8% of the companys revenue. If this segment decreases then profits will conversely decrease in the future. Opportunities BCE has invested its money in promising areas in order to capitalize on future opportunities. These future opportunities include in the broadband high-speed internet market which is rampantly growing. It is increasing rollout of its FTTN and pans to add a HPSA network alongside EVDO. The DTV market is also growing and Bell is already a strong player in this market. BCE owns a 100% stake in Virgin mobile expanding its coverage beyond Canada. It has also bought out the retailer The Source which sells electronic goods with over 750 high traffic locations across Canada. Threats BCE faces threats from all aspects of its business environment. Notable threats are from Rogers wireless and TELUS for wireless services and internet. Industry Analysis The wireless telecommunication industry is defined as an industry is including cellular (mobile) phones, pagers and any other wireless or cellular telecommunication service. Revenues are based on payments to operators of all of these services for subscriptions and usage (Industry, 2009). The Canadian telecommunication is an increasing industry with total revenue of $14.8 billion and a compound annual growth rate of 11.3% during 2005 to 2009 (See Fig 2). In addition, it generated a total economic value the total value of direct GDP contribution, output multiplier and consumer surplus of $39 billion for the Canadian economy (Industry, 2009). This is a very intensely competing industry due to the low level of service differentiation. Companies are competing each other through brand awareness, functionality and value pricing to attract more customers. Competition will increase as a result of new technologies and services in the future. Competition will also increase to the extent that n ew firms enter the market if additional radio spectrum is made available for commercial wireless services (Industry, 2009). The market will become more intense as it approaches higher saturation. Three leading companies in this industry are Rogers Communication, BCE Inc., and TELUS Corporation. Rogers accounts 37.2% and BCE Inc accounts 30.6% share of the market (Industry, 2009). Based on the financial ratios in 2009, BCE Inc. did not have great financial situation when compared to Rogers and TELUS. From the Fig 5 on Appendix A, Bell had pretty low profitability ratios, which means investors did not earn as much money in comparison with Rogers and TELUS. In addition, Bell had the lowest return of assets ratio among the two top competitors means that it earned less money per dollar of assets. Consequently, Bell did not utilize its assets to net income as effectively as its competitors. However, Bell had well control on its costs in the industry. It was able to convert its sales into actual profit effectively. Based on current ratio, Bell was unable to pay off its obligation on time. A current ratio with 0.69 means that for every dollar of current liability, Bell only had $0.69 of current assets (FP Infomart, 2009). In another word, Bell did not have the ability to turn its product into cash more easily. When compared with the industry, Bell had weak and unstable financial situation. The Price/Earnings ratio indicates that Bells shares were selling at a price that was 12.25 times its earnings per share. The P/E ratio is lower than the industry ratio, means that the investors are paying less for each unit of net income. However, Bell had a higher dividend yield than its competitors and the industry. Generally, big figures of dividend yield will attract more investors to invest in a company. Therefore, Bell has more investors than Rogers and TELUS, which means more capital, will be brought into the company and result higher revenue.

Essay on Internet Privacy :: Free Essays Online

Internet Privacy This world today seems to have no privacy on the Internet, despite the Governments effort to help the consumer regain their privacy. In 1997 the government passed the Consumer Internet Privacy Protection Act. Through this bill, the consumer has the right to all information that an Internet company has on them. The Internet Company cannot sell the information of that consumer without that consumer's written consent. The bill sounds really good doesn't it? If the bill is so great, how is it that our private information is still getting out there? Well, let's take a closer look. According to an article that I found through Yahoo!, companies are using the consumer's information as a company asset just in case the company was to go bankrupt. In the article it talks of how Amazon.com has reviewed it privacy policies and has decided to just get ready to sell anything they have on a consumer, such as; "names, shipping and billing addresses, credit card numbers, e-mail addresses, employers, gift wish lists, Social Secur i ty Numbers..." and so on and so forth. Isn't that scary, one day, a company is doing fine, getting all the information that they can on a person and saying that all information is secured, then the next day, they are going bankrupt and selling the informa t ion to whoever has the largest bid. Who would've thought that when you went to buy that thing you really wanted off the Internet, your information was being stored so it could be sold? How thoughtless of them. For me, I don't give out any information besi des my name, and who knows who has tha t. You may ask yourself, where does the Internet Privacy Act of 1997 play in this? I am wondering the same thing. Well, it obviously doesn't play a large role; Amozon.com has stopped letting their customers decline the option of letting their information be sold. Where is the government? Why aren't they stepping up? I thought that the reasoning behind this entire act was to protect consumers, I don't see any protection at all. There was a statement in the article that was previously mentioned that just took me by surprise. Patty Smith made it in regard to customer information, she said: ``We treat customer data with great care and consideration,'' she said, ``and we will continue to do so going forward.