It is healthy to desire Essay

In order to get almost any earthly thing on your own, you must first deserve it before it is healthy to desire it. You deserve something – in the only sense that ultimately satisfies – only when you work for it. At that point it is healthier to desire it. Better to be unattached to the things of this world until they are manifest, lest they confuse the ultimate objective: to act and behave in such a way that we are worthy of our heartfelt desires. This quotation is particularly applicable with regard to the apparent secret to happiness: love. Most earthly love is conditional, we must deserve it in some way before receiving it. If you put yourself in a position to deserve it, you are more likely to receive it, so desiring it becomes rational, rather than wishful thinking. The most common saying is â€Å"First deserve then desire†. This is best for the people who have clear goals in life. So, they define their goals, work hard yo achieve it and finally get it. It gives real feeling of accomplishment, feeling of really owning your life i.e. you are what you wanted to be. Then there is other category of people also who are not so sure of their goals. They are bit confused, so they try to get what seems best at the present moment (do not try that hard to get it and do not know about its contribution to their final goal). Sometimes they also get the reward with their little efforts. But their isn’t any free lunch, so then they have to prove themselves to be worthy of it. It is tougher now then proving before getting reward. Since now they have to compete with the people belong to first category, who have already proven them and habitual of hard work. So there are two main hurdles – 1) Overcoming starting inertia. 2) Extra pressure due to increased expectations (including our own expectations). Sometimes these may lead to extreme depression also which is less likely in first category. But if you can prove now, you would get the feeling of being worthy, get inspiration†¦

Adaptation of Radio over Fiber Technology Essay

1.1 Introduction Electronic communication sector is one of the most changing fields in the present world. Mobile communication evaluation happens rapidly within few years. First generation (1G), second generation (2G) and third generation (3G) are developed within two decades. Fourth generation (4G) research is ongoing project. The increasing demand of capacity and coverage leads more research and development of new technologies to meet with satisfactory performances. See more: Is the Importance of being earnest a satirical play essay Radio over Fiber technology (RoF) is one of the outcomes of such research with combination of fundamental and featured equipments and communication devices. RoF system are now being used extensively for enhanced cellular coverage both indoor like shopping malls, airport terminal and outdoors. RoF is fundamentally an analog transmission system like other wireless system because it distributes the radio waveform, directly at the radio carrier frequency from a central unit to a Radio Access Point (RAP). 1.2 Objectives Objective of this research is to simulate Radio over Fiber for third generation (3G) standard WCDMA system using MATLAB Simulink for microcellular mobile communication system. To achieve this objective various simulink are developed. AWGN channel, Rayleigh channel, Rician channel, optical fiber gain, modulation techniques like BPSK, QPSK and QAM etc are represented with block sets with having its standard parameters. Other parameters like fiber installation, antenna sections, receiver performance kept steady as its normal mode for simulation based study of Radio over Fiber technology. 1.3 Background Problem Radio link of wireless communication suffers from several problems. Atmospheric absorption of radio signal causes a huge distortion in the directional point to point link. Noise and scattering signal is the main hindrance of establishing a radio link. A huge amount of power and a combination of several bulky and expensive equipment is needed to form a radio link. They are vulnerable and not immune to natural calamity. Overall performance is not satisfactory to stand against the increasing global demand of wireless communication. So, a change in network architecture is necessary to feed up with a solution for this problem.

Human Resources Essay

1. Explain how realistic job previews (RJPs) operate. Why do they appear to be an effective recruitment technique? Realistic Job Previews show potential candidates a (mostly) unbiased snapshot of a firm, including pros and cons about a job, its details and the current employee satisfaction with the job and company. It appears to be an effective recruiting technique because it lets the potential recruit know what they are getting into before going through the hiring process, therefore preventing high turn overs and increasing employee satisfaction. 2 . What are the advantages and disadvantages of filling openings from internal sources? Advantages include: A firm being able to receive a return on their investment by getting the full use out of the professional maturity of an employee from entry level to career level Having the surrounding employees feed off the growth of their peer and strive to also become a leader and advance Rewards the work ethic of employees who start from the bottom and move up Disadvantages include: The existing employees available may not have the requirements for the open position The attributes of the current staff might carry over into the new positions and there may never be any different views or personalities, as opposed to hiring someone externally, which allows for ambiguity. The firm will have used all their available employees from the entry level positions and need to hire externally for those. 3. What contributions can a career management program make to an organization that is forced to downsize its operations? A career management program can contribute to an organization that’s downsizing by using the assessment tools to pinpoint what is needed from its employees to succeed, and using the inventory and human capital, eliminating those who may not have the motivation or are high risk to the future of the company. They can also discover who will remain an asset and place them in different roles that will capitalize on their skill and potential, and eliminate unnecessary roles or job positions. 4. How are career challenges of minorities both similar to and different from those of women? The challenges of minorities are similar to the challenges of women because they’re limited to resources that help their development in similar ways; minorities are not exposed to the same educational backgrounds.

The Distinction between Pornography and Obscenity Essay

The Distinction between Pornography and Obscenity - Essay Example MacKinnon, a feminist and an attorney, believes that society in the US applied different legal rights, lesser rights, to women as compared to men. Obscene speech is not protected under the First Amendment according to the U.S. Supreme Court, but there is much debate over the distinction between pornography and obscenity. Perhaps one of the most remembered Supreme Court Justice quotes is that of Potter Stewart, who said, I shall not today attempt further to define the kinds of material I understand to be embraced within that shorthand description ["hard-core pornography"]; and perhaps I could never succeed in intelligibly doing so. But I know it when I see it, and the motion picture involved in this case is not that. (Jacobellis) Linda Susan Boreman MacKinnon rose to fame when she represented Linda Susan Boreman, the actress known as Linda Lovelace, in a lawsuit that claimed that Boreman had been forced at gunpoint to perform in pornographic films by her husband. Following her appeara nce in the film Deep Throat, Boreman gave up the adult film industry and became a spokeswoman for the antipornography movement (IMBD). Boreman also testified before the Meese Commission in New York City to the effect that while moviegoers were watching the sex scenes in Deep Throat, they were witnessing her being raped (105-113). MacKinnon’s View Certainly a dichotomy, Catharine McKinnon felt that the First Amendment should protect the First Amendment of the U. S. Constitution, but she also wanted to condemn and outlaw pornography. She actively pursued civil rights remedies for victims of pornography and advocated to treat pornography as hate speech. During a PBS interview with Ben Wattenberg, MacKinnon defined pornography as, a practice of sex inequality, and defined as the sexually explicit subordination of women through pictures and words that also includes a list of other very specific activities. In other words, it's defined in terms of what it actually does. It subordin ates women as well as being a sexually explicit medium. There are other media that subordinate women but are not sexually explicit, and therefore don't have the same effects. (PBS) The harmful effects of those who engage in viewing pornography are widely described as including the following: Harm to existing marriages, including a 25.6% greater likelihood of divorce, 3.18 times greater likelihood of having an extra marital affair, and an 8% chance of being less likely to have a happy marriage (Weiss). Higher Rates of Substance Abuse (Weiss) Higher acceptance of premarital and casual sexual behavior (Weiss) A nearly five times higher number of lifetime sexual partners than non-pornography users (Weiss). In 1985, MacKinnon wrote about the civil rights violations of pornography in the Harvard Civil rights-Civil Liberties Law Review. She asserted that the female stars in pornographic films or photographs had clearly not given consent as evidenced by the scratches, bruises, and other inj uries on their bodies. She further argued that audiences respond to pornography because it is perceived as real and as such, they act out in real life the violent acts

Project guide 4 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Project guide 4 - Essay Example In simple words it is the sum of all the expenditure that the company has to undergo in a particular financial year. Staff Costs Represents wages paid to employees and officers of the company. One effective way of controlling fluctuating staffing costs is to choose mature service providers who operate in multiple locations and have the capability of putting together an appropriate blend of experienced and entry level resources. 5 hours in the evening from 7 p.m. to 12 p.m. and 3 hours is in afternoon 12 a.m. to 3 p.m. In the evening of any weekend, the restaurant is most of the times completely packed for four hours and is occupied by around 25 people in the last hour. On an average a group spend around 1 hour on dinner. The bill generated is approx. 10$ per person at any given point in time. In the afternoon of the weekends generally 25 people can be seen in any particular hour. For the normal days the occupancy is around 25 people in the evening at any point in time and around 10 people in the afternoon. So the estimated revenue in FY08-09 is:- Each price will lead to a different level of demand and therefore have a different impact on a company’s marketing objectives. Demand and price are inversely related: higher the price, lower the demand. On an average ‘The Diners Park’ employees around 20 employees in a month and the salary cost of all employees is around 20,000$ every month. The cost of raw material is around 9000$ per month and the water and electricity bill cost around 2000$ per month. Apart from this, the miscellaneous cost is around 1000$ per month. The cost capital employed for the project is around 2000,000 USD. Taking the rate of interest to be around 6% per annum, the interest cost is around 120,000$ per annum. At Diners Park, we added more drivers to increase the speed of delivery. Even more importantly, we have introduced specially insulated, heat retaining,

Ratio Analysis Math Problem Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Ratio Analysis - Math Problem Example Ratio analysis further simplifies the information and allows for a longitudinal and cross sectional analysis of an organization’s performance. I, in this paper, perform ratio analysis of IBM financial statements for the accounting period ending in the years 2010, 2011, and 2012, and discuss the computed ratios. Accounting ratios Ratio analysis compares different income statement and balance sheet items to determine liquidity, advantage, activity, profitability, and growth potentials. The following is a summary of applied formulae for computing different ratios. ... The following table summarizes major ratios for the company over the three accounting periods based on the above formulae. Table 1: Computed ratios for IBM for the years ended 2010, 2011, and 2012 Ratio 2010 2011 2012 Current ratio 1.18623342 1.2090307 1.13313467 Quick ratio 0.52857354 1.02281414 0.98846991 Debt to total assets ratio 0.79574622 0.82620048 0.84075562 Debt to equity ratio 3.91733923 4.77688946 5.31436903 Long term debt to equity ratio 0.94793023 1.13501837 1.27720042 Times interest earned 52.5951087 50.0997567 46.7167756 Inventory turnover 21.982449 22.5220151 22.2077018 Fixed assets turnover 1.52856006 1.52461644 1.49766409 Total assets turnover 0.88028417 0.85774652 0.87664097 Gross profit margin 46.07% 46.89% 48.13% Operating profit margin 18.17% 18.97% 19.56% Net profit margin 14.85% 14.83% 15.89 Return on assets 17.06% 17.69% 17.99% Return on share holder’s equity 83.98% 102.25% 113.70% (Data source: IBM annual reports for the years 2010 and 2011) Discussio n The company enjoys high liquidity ratios and this indicates its ability to meet its short-term objectives. Its current ratios are good and indicate stability as they fluctuate above one over the three years. Even though the acid-test ratio was low in the year 2010, it improved in 2011 and the slight decrease in 2012 does not induce much threat. IBM however has significantly high ‘leverage’ ratios and this indicates its vulnerability to risks of credit capital. Even though the debt to total equity ratio is bellow 1, its increasing trend over the three years indicate that it will soon reach and even surpass one, a factors that will further expose the organization to sustainability risks. Long-term debt to equity ratio was fair in the year 2010 but also has an

Neurorehabilitation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Neurorehabilitation - Essay Example In addition, such programs call for intricate installations as well as competent personnel, reasonably dissimilar from the sports services provided by gymnasia as well as the like at the moment (Perez et al., 2007, p.143). Besides, numerous chronic MS patients find it exceptionally hard to depart from their homes as well as access places with the suitable facilities, thus hampering observance to programs (Perez et al., 2007, p. 144). Currently, there is no known treatment for the condition. However, various studies have suggested physiotherapy for primary progressive MS. In essence, my review critically evaluates a case report whose objective of was to present as well as test successful communal incorporation after physiotherapy intervention with a bias on enhancing autonomous workout routine in ameliorating of a person with MS. Moreover, RW (the patients’ name due to anonymity purposes), presented in this case study, is a fifty-year-old man diagnosed with progressive multiple sclerosis five years prior to self-referral to a pro bono physiotherapy clinic (Zalewski, 2007, p.40). During the intervention, RW (not his real initials) was a 58-year-old man diagnosed with primary progressive MS five years prior self-referral to a pro bono physical therapy clinic. RW reported that his inception of MS was unexpected as well as incapacitating; whilst at work as an electrician, RW underwent an unexpected electrocution that led to in inability to utilize his legs. He accepted as true he had been electrocuted in completing his work and was taken without delay to the hospital for assessment. Through consult as well as follow-up with a neurologist, he was notified that the symptoms experienced did not correlate to a potential electrocution, and he received his diagnosis of MS. RW stated that he never recovered entirely after that preliminary attack and

Compare and contrast the social welfare and social workfare-ism models Essay

Compare and contrast the social welfare and social workfare-ism models of citizenship and evaluate their links to political globalization - Essay Example But the policy in this world regarding this is that, if you want to attain something you’ll need to work for it. That’s the reason why there is a must to find a job for every individual, to support their living and continue surviving in this crucial world. And one of the economic problems of each country is the continuously increasing of the number of their people who are unemployed and underemployed. Government organizations worldwide are now in action to dissolve this economic problem. There came social institutions to help build up individual’s function as interdependent units, that each of them are carrying out the full range of his or her roles and responsibilities to have a functional and effective society. The social welfare is opened for everyone. They helped human kind to find their way for a more realistic living with functions in its society. The social workfare came to be presented to the people to achieve the aims and goal in which they provide their people the opportunity and success to help build up a strong community. People of the state will all take advantage of these wonderful opportunities that will help improve their living. The people behind this organized institutions formulated some programs like Non-Formal Education program. This kind of proposals and activity project on a country serves as a support for the foundation of an individual. As we all know that every individual serves as the foundation of a society, and to have a strong society we need a strong foundation also. Every citizen composed a state and should be well founded. This workfare is included under the political stands. Government sectors are responsible of taking good care of its people. Their first aim before taking their position must be for the common good of the people and not for their selves. They take the oath for the common good. Because of having the

Critique of Selected Epidemiological Research Article Paper

Critique of Selected Epidemiological Article - Research Paper Example trated by what the authors did, which was to evaluate whether there was an association between older age and going back to a clinic in the Cardiovascular Health Study. The authors also sought to find the extent to which age and other factors measured and differed by the type of visits. The study reports two hypotheses, which were stated candidly. The authors theorized that the type of visit would have an association with key demographics namely lifestyle, health and function characteristics. The second hypothesis was that the oldest participants would have the worst retention for in-person clinic visits. The design of the research study conducted by Strotmeyer et al. (2011) is a longitudinal epidemiological study. There was no intervention in the study because such investigations entail the following up of subjects over a protracted period, which is characterized by constant observation of various risk factors as well as health outcomes. Conducting a longitudinal epidemiological study is a vital step in investigating the relationships between exposure to recognized or supposed causes of disease and the ensuing morbidity or mortality. This is the most appropriate research deign for the objectives in this study because it enables the tracing of same people for a long period (Jewel & Hubbard, 2006). Consequently, the variations aspects observed in the people are less likely to have the interference of cultural disparities over different age group. Due to these reasons, longitudinal studies obtain accurate results. The power analysis procedure was neither used to estimate the sample size requirements prior to undertaking the study nor to find the likelihood of committing a Type II error. The presence of a power analysis enables the determination of the sample size required for the study based on information from previous research. It also used to verify whether the non-significant outcomes are due to the lack of association in the samples or the lack of statistical

Supply Chain Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Supply Chain - Essay Example The last part of the report analyzes how the use of e-commerce in supply chains has enhanced the value and business operations for both the companies. Dell Computers Dell was incorporated in 1994 by Michael Dell while he was a student at University of Texas, Austin. From its very first initiatives, direct selling model was adopted. In the beginning PC’s were sold over the phone and they were customized according to customers’ specifications. Dell’s strategic choices and ways of realizing those choices have played an effective role in story Dell’s success. The supply chain management of the company is the key element in its successful business model. The core element of the company’s business model is its direct sales model, referred as ‘direct mode’, with the build to order strategy. Business Model and Supply Chain The differentiated model of dell help it creates a niche in the distribution channel and eliminates the entire mid channel members to arrive at cost leadership position in the industry. The basic principle of Resource based view is that the competitive advantage for any particular organization completely depends upon the resources which are available at any company’s disposal. ... The above figure shows hot the direct model of Dell was different from the indirect distribution channel of the rest of industry. In its direct sale model, the intermediary steps that add cost and time are eliminated, and the company is directly able to link with its customers. Dell directly sells to all its customers, regardless of a home-PC to world’s largest corporations. The direct relationship with individual customer creates a great source of competitive advantage for Dell. This creates a valuable information about the end customers, and thus Dell knows who are the end users of their product, what they have purchased from the company, what are their future preferences, a fact that allows the company to stay closer to their customers by offering add-on products and services. Build in order and Integration with suppliers Thus, a computer is build after the customer places and order, then just-in-time production and lean manufacturing takes place. This means when an order i s placed, its configuration details reaches the manufacturing department and the assembly begins, and once the PC is configured it is shipped by a 3PL to the corresponding customer. The choice of JIT and build to order has several advantages for the company. Firstly, the level of inventories remains very low, leading to faster responses to demand changes and low inventory costs. For instance, if a new microprocessor comes into the market, the company can immediately place an order with its suppliers, as the company need not get rid of the excess inventory. Also, in case of Dell, customers pay in advance. That means the customer pay for the order prior to when the company pays its suppliers for the products, thus giving Dell the opportunity of operating on

Beyonce target market report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Beyonce target market report - Essay Example Doing this led to a different way to turn imperfect competition into one that was based around moving outside of the competition. The more that different individuals could become a target the more likely they would be able to respond to the products and services in a positive manner (Wedel, 2000). The concept of market segmentation is used for several reasons within the market. The foundation of this is to create a strategy within a corporation and outside of a business for the right responses. When a business has an undifferentiated market, which doesn’t focus on the characteristics of demographics and individuals, then it may not be able to reach them as well. When a market is segmented, it is able to create a different approach which targets individuals that are in need of a product or service. More importantly, the segment is able to move outside of other competitors who have similar products or services. As this is done, there is the ability to create a different approach to the business and to the needs of specific individuals (Dickson, Ginter, 1987). The concept of multidimensional segmentation can be combined with the main aims that are used within different companies. When looking at different levels of purchase behavior and the way that potential customers respond to a specific concept, there is the ability to create different products or services that relate to the individuals needs. Doing this is able to create a specific understanding of what is occurring in the market as well as what the behaviors are of those that are a part of the market (Blattberg, Sen, 1974). The target market that will be used is in relation to the singer, Beyonce. Beyonce is a renowned R&B artist from the US and has won several Grammys through her music, acting and modeling. Beyonce began her career through the R&B band, Destiny’s Child, which gained prestige throughout America. She then broke into a solo artist that was able to create a

Vulnerable Adults Essay Example for Free

Vulnerable Adults Essay Introduction Health service is defined as a top most service that is related to the diagnosis and treatment of disease, or the promotion, maintenance and restoration of health (Capezuti, Siegler and Mezey, 2007). There are personal and non personal health services. In UK, National Health Service (NHS) launched in the year 1948. Now it is the world’s largest publically funded health service. The health service in NHS is adorned with efficiency and comprehensive to provide maximum help and support for the needed people. Social care is defined as a profession where people work in partnership with those who experience marginalisation or disadvantage or who needs special care and support, vulnerable people leaving in the community and in the residential care ( Miller, Vandome and McBrewster, 2009). The policies and the legislations for support the caring and supporting the elder people are very important and it should be cared by each health professionals and by the society (http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/socialcare/index.htm). Care quality commission provides the assurance for the quality of care and support for the residence in the care homes residential homes with the support of policies and legislations in the England. The aim of this essay is to identify the law that is related to vulnerable adults is the lack of resources. Literature review In definition, a vulnerable adult is a person aged over the sixteen and not able to protect or take care of himself. There are number of reasons behind it; they are illness, physical disability, mental illness, drug or alcohol dependency and old age. The children act 1989 offer social workers and local authorities a clear legal framework to go along with their duties and obligations. This act is to provide maximum help and support for the children with its significant resources. This act got passed on the basis of simplifying the child care legislation that is exciting (Gupta, Playfer and Bhowmick, 2008). However, it is clear that for vulnerable adults it is difficult to find out a unifying statue, but instead there is some fragmented legislation that is difficult to locate and implement in an effective way. As the reason for a social worker and other care provider it is difficult to carry their skill, knowledge, experience and sensitivity for the support of the vulnerable adults. In this particular area, mental health legislation and community care lead the provision of services offering some regulations and guidance. But there are some confusion can be found out these regulations and guidance for the health providers. As the result it is a confused area to provide the needed duties and obligations from the part of the care providers. It is clear that there are some specific written policies to support the vulnerable adults, however with the involvement of different agencies in the protection of vulnerable adults it is still in confusion thinking that who is the right responsible to provide help and support. To rectify all these problems, NHS trust, social service department and all other related health services organisation should work together for a better result. But unfortunately th is is not the case. Care in the community According to the Health and Social Care Bill 2011, it gives an importance to the care , general health and other social issues. The social issues and care is very important and it should be cared by the medical professionals and other publics. The care and support for the adults in the society is very important and it should be valued for each and every persons especially by the health professionals. The Health and Social Care Bill was introduced in 19 January in 2011 in the parliament and the major part of this include with the modernisation in the medical facilities and world class health care delivering by the health professionals. The caring of the adults is very important and it also very important to give the modern and effective facilities to the adults and the other public (http://www.info4local.gov.uk/documents/related-links/1820651). The community care is aimed to offer help and support for both the vulnerable adult and their carer. The first step is to provide help for vulnerable adults is the recognition of him. Since the lacking of collaboration with multi agency and resources in majority of the local authorities and primary care trusts it would be unrecognised with the arrangements or referrals for the assessments related to needs (Baggett, 1989). This problem takes place with the lack of information and knowledge of the care providers since they are lacking of knowledge with the present legislation. It leads to more spending and needless action to provide maximum help and support for the vulnerable adults in the needed time. Most of the vulnerable adults are unaware of the help that is to be provided; there should be an immediate action to prevent this situation from worsening. Most of the adults are too proud seeking their help and needs from the care providers (Backhaus, 2011). For example, the visitors of the adults in hospital give the more support to offer help and support from the care providers. But there are some adults those who are avoided especially in majority of situation and their condition is getting worsening. Section 46 of the National Health Service and community care act 1990 defines the care plans and services to be provided for the needed people. It includes with laundry services, meals on wheels, residential care and social work. This section is a leading one to uplift the quality of care provider to maintain his service and help for the needed people. According to the local authorities the meaning of need because of financial constraints it guides to procedural bias and restriction of services. It clearly defines that the lack of resources with the law related to vulnerable adults and this area needed a special care. Old age According to the ‘Promoting Health and Well Being’ that is a standard which used by the national service frame work in Wales, they care about the older people and they gives some guidelines and the standard line for the old age lives. The major points which include with this are strategy for the nutrition and the well being of the older people, active and healthy life style of the people who lived in Wales, frame works for actions and National service frame work for diabetes, mental health and coronary heart diseases (http://cymru.gov.uk/topics/olderpeople/health/?skip=1lang=en). In old age a person comes in to the position of vulnerability with the reasons of not been provided adequate services and help or being a victim of some kind of abuse or neglect. As far as the duty of a social worker is concerned with old people, there should be some kind of a special treating on the basis of respect to provide maximum help and support for the old age people. Their voice should be valuable and heard with its prior important. On the basis of human rights 1998, a social worker should respect the human rights of adults, right to privacy, right to liberty and right to fair trial. A social worker should be friendly and can work in partnership with service user to make eligible the service users to be feeling as comfortable and supported (Duquenoy, George and Kimppa, 2008). Their needs skills and professional judgement from the part of the social worker to provide the needs of the adults and also to protect them. Since there are no laws to old people but for children, child act 1989, a social worker should be capable of with the legislation from different areas to offer the better results for the service users. In clear words, if a social worker is trained with specialist knowledge he becomes more positive to offer his better result. It is unmistakably true that the availability of the resources in the local authority plays and important impact to provide support and care for the old people and it is different in regions (Kamp and Hvid, 2012). It shows that it takes place with the lacking of proper application of the law. For example, the health services and public health act 1968, (HSPHA)’s state that the local authority may take arrangements to offer some services that is based on the well fare of older people. This wording act can’t take a major part to provide the obligations on the local authorities related to their better services, but only grants them power to do so. It is evident that if there is some problem with funding or services there may be a lot of old people can’t access the needed help and support from it. The National Health Service and community service at 1990 (NHS, CCA) S46 needs that every local authority must have a plan for their community care and they should be regular to make sure for the well fare of older people. It is the legislation that is important in some manner but it is failure in opening an account about the solid duty that is related to the local authorities to offer the help and support for the older people. The National Health Service Act, 1977 (NHSA) schedule 8, is aimed for providing services for the elder people who live in the local authority. This help is include with shopping, cooking, cleaning etc. it appears that a fame obligation on the local authority to offer the help and support. When an old person is recognised as to be given help and support from the part of the local authority, it is questionable that local authority is capable of helping and supporting of needed person. But from the part of the serviced user, in most of the cases the ultimate help from the local authority is not in a full result. And as the reason, the service from the local authority is not as much as improved than they started from. Residential accommodation The national assistance act 1948 (NAA) S.21 defines about the duties and obligations of the local authority to offer the accommodation for residence. As far as most of the laws connected to the adults is concerned, all those ones is included the right duties and obligations to provide help for the older people from the part of the local authorities. For example, the NAA 1948 (Choice of accommodation) directions 1992 were introduced to make the adults with accommodation and other needs. However the needed people are paid a specified amount. As the reason, the freedom of choice is cancelled since there are financial implications. Residential care is provided as an easily accessible one to 24 hour care home like it is the carefulness of local authority. Since there is choice, majority of the people would like to stay in the home, it is hard for a social worker to balance the value of his social work based on oppressive practice empowerment with financial implications and partnership and to be a well service provider with maximum help and support for the service user (Williams, 1992). The liberty of an adult is given with much priority. However in some cases, it is unavoidable for their own health safety and safety of others compulsory removals have been done. It means that it is the duty of a social worker to offer maximum support and help in the home environment itself (Norman and Redfern, 1997). It is significant to clarify that in residential homes there should be a high quality of caring and supporting. In some cases people in residential care has been exploited with neglect and employee abuse. The care standard act 2000 got introduced in order to make sure a regulatory system that is able to capable of delivering a high quality service with all its concerns (Burchell, 2000). In April 2002 with upgrading the services for vulnerable adults and children national care standard commission regulated the services. It includes four main components. They are monitoring, providing national bench marks, representing the consumer and encouraging the development of better services. It guarantees a new protection for vulnerable adults and it make sure to avoid the unsuitable people is not allowed to work with vulnerable adults (Williams, 1992). It established a general social care council for England and care council for Wales. It came to action with its first step as an effective act but the lacking of funding and human resources stopped its implementation with full perfection. In the care standard acts 2000, it mentions that there should be high quality social care worker provided with high standards of training. But it became questionable with the lack of funding, qualified trainers. In the article done by David Brindle, mentions that in UK the number of abuse against elderly people is alarming and it is growing as a top most problem to be rectified. Research shows that when the staffs are well trained and educated the abuse against elderly people is restricted or no longer a problem in the social care field. It means there are some staffs that are stress, over worked and feels undervalued can be the reason for abuse on adults. Studies prove that in some working area the care workers are not valued well, in some working environment they are stressed highly with their over working and hard working (Lechner and Neal, 1999). These are the problems that lead them to unleash their anger on elderly people and it comes to a result like abuse. It is estimated that there are 800,000 untrained staffs are involved in working with older people. If there is an action on elder abuse it may cost 600 pound each to make sure that they had recognised qualifications according to the charity. There are some potential employees have become part in abuse. In that case it is difficult to identify them and it should be the duty of a social care worker to guide and control himself at first. He should do his best with the support of good practice and vigilance. There should be consistency from the part of the employers, rigour, thoroughness in the implementation of needed checks and procedures that are apt in each and every time. Lacking of time, money or resources may be the problem with the employees. In other case, lacking of qualified and skilled employees with their leaving jobs is another problem. All together it is difficult to maintain an employee in an organisation providing his basic things. First of all there should be advanced type of training from the part of the organisation for the employees. It should help the employees to get matured and to know the rights and responsibilities in their duties to be done. Secondly providing value of an employee offering good salary and to give him comfortable shifting time to work is essential. It will enable him to feel comfortable in his working environment and to follow the duties and responsibility of his work. Thirdly, to stop the quitting jobs of employees an organisation should find out some strategies and techniques to retain their employees in their organisation (Roit, 2010). As far as abuse on elders is concerned from the part of the social care workers, the above said things are significant to rectify the problem to a great extent. Mental Health There are a lot of policies and legislations which related to it in the case of older people are established by the governments in the European countries especially in England. The elder people should be cared and support by the other people and society in their final stage of life and the value of humanity is considered by the each legislation and policies that established by the government. The law on mental health is very much as same as the law that is related to the groups of vulnerable adults. It is needed updating and consolidation. The department of health defines that there are some changes in mental health services with new drug treatments, different patterns of care, which is commonly seen in people treated in the community than in institutions and also wider role for other therapeutic approaches, these things have made a different landscape. As the reason modern mental health legislation is needed to reflect that landscape. Since the law has got updated approved social wo rker should be able to aware of his power and duties under the mental health act 1983. It is clear that the numbers of mentally ill patients are alarming and the treatment they get within the community is not fulfilled with its perfection. It needs support networks, more approved social workers and also better home services. But it is sad that the mentioned things are working efficiently very scarcely and the government should be able to provide extra funding to support their care in the community (Fulmer, Foreman and Walker, 2001). The national assembly for Wales started the adult mental health services strategy with four main key points. They are (1) Equity- it means, mental health service should be provided for the needed people with its perfection. (2) Empowerment- it means service users and carers should work together to find out a better strategy to help and support the mental health patients. (3) Effectiveness – there should be some effective intervention provided by mental health services that is needed for improving the quality of life. (4) Efficiency- the services of mental health should be capable of using the resources perfectly and they should care the public money is spent with accountability. In England it is questionable that mentally ill patients are treated well or not. In the past years there were good help and support for mentally ill patients from the part of the hospitals providing 63,000 beds in the year 1988. But in the year 2000, it was halved with 34, 3000 beds. Considering this number of beds and above said reasons there should be well planned strategies to provide maximum help and support for the mentally ill patient and also they should be in secure accommodation. Conclusion In conclusion, legislations, policies and guidelines for the caring and supporting for the older people are very important and effective in providing good and standard service. The government in the England and other European countries are providing a lot of rules, legislations, and policies to provide the support and good caring and support for the elder people in the society. Most of the legislations and the principles are followed by the each and every health professionals and it support to provide a standard and supporting care for the elder people. It is difficult for a social worker to provide maximum help and support for the vulnerable adults, to check it the care workers should ask questions by themselves and value the judgements by them related to the services that they provided. They should be capable of understanding where a person is in capable of taking decisions especially like a mentally ill patient. It means, the care worker should be the ultimate health provider apart from policies and procedures from the government. It means the more a social care worker is capable of handling his duty with its full perfection, the more he becomes available to the needs of service users. In the case of skilled employees in a health care organisation, there are some problems like burnout; quitting their jobs etc. these problems should be settled in with the perfect strategies from the government and health organisations as well. As far as the vulnerability of the adults is concerned there are some lack of clear legislation that hinters the correct implementation of the law and also the ambiguity of the law and all these things contribute to the lack of resources. References Backhaus, P. (2011) Communication in Elderly Care: Cross-Cultural Perspectives. Continuum International Publishing, Baggett, S. (1989) Residential Care for the Elderly: Critical Issues in Public Policy. Greenwood Publishing Group Capezuti, L., Siegler, and Mezey, M. D. (2007) Encyclopedia of Elder Care: The Comprehensive Resource on Geriatric and Social Care , Springer Publishing Company Duquenoy, P., George, C. and Kimppa, K. (2008) Ethical, Legal, And Social Issues In Medical Informatics . Idea Group Inc Fulmer, T. T., Foreman, M. D. and Walker, M. K. (2001) Critical Care Nursing of the Elderly. Springer Publishing Company Gupta, A., Playfer, J. and Bhowmick, B. (2008) Measurement Scales Used in Elderly Care. Radcliffe Publishing Kamp, A. and Hvid, H. (2012) Elderly Care in Transition: Management, Meaning and Identity at Work. A Scandinavian Perspective. Copenhagen Business School Press Lechner, V. M. and Neal, M. B. (1999) Work and Caring for the Elderly: International Perspective s. Routledge Miller, F. P., Vandome, A. F. and McBrewster , J. (2009) Elderly Care. Alphascript Publishing Norman, I. J. and Redfern, S. J. (1997) Mental Health Care for Elderly People. Elsevier Health Sciences, Roit, B. D. (2010). Strategies of Care: Changing Elderly Care in Italy and the Netherlands. Amsterdam University Press Williams, D. K. (1992) Residential Care Services for the Elderly: Business Guide for Home-Based Eldercare. Routledge

The impact of financial leverage on return and risk

The impact of financial leverage on return and risk In this paper the author explained that each has an inherent risk in its operation which is generally related to the economic conditions in which the firm is operated. Business risk and the economic is not related to the firm financial structure but it is the function of economic conditions. Financial risk is another risk which is resulted from the financial decisions with the debt and preferred stock. Stock -holders have already bearing a risk which comes from the firms operations whereas financial risk is an additional risk which cause change in earnings due to leverage induction. The decision of the firm to undertake an investment affects its economic risk whereas the decision to finance the investment with the debt creates the financial risk. The level of interest rate affects all the firms as each individual is differing from the other firms in characteristics, from which firm decide to issue equity or debt. According to Levi and Sarnat (1994) the business or economic risk is re lated to the industry to which the firm is belonging and cause by the change in economic conditions. On the other word, business risk shows the firms assets riskiness if the firm don not use the debt. The business risk can be measure through standard deviation of return on assets (ROA). The business risk not only fluctuates from industry to industry but also various among in the firms belonging to the same industry. The firms business risk is depending on various numbers of factors. According to Brigham and Gapenski in 1994, there are some important factors influences the business risk. These includes demand variability, sales price volatility, input cost variability, ability to adjust output prices for in input cost, ability to develop new products in a timely, cost effective manner and the extent to which costs are fixed(operating leverages). Making investment with the debt and preferred stock may increase the potential return against the common stockholders. Stable income of the firm shows the brighter future of the firm by increasing in the debt. Its means that there is less probability that the firms net operating income is less than the interest which the firm has to pay against the borrowing. The traditional theories on the weighted averages cost of capital shows that if a firm introduces financial leverages into its capital structure, initially it will decrease the borrowing cost of capital, it is because of deduction of interest on the debts against the higher non-tax cost of capital for the new equity. The long term financial policy of the firm may be affected because of location of earning distribution, stability of sales and earnings, risk of bankruptcy, dividend policy, control and the agency cost. The operating leverage level affects the level of the financial leverage. The firms financial leverage increases the rate of return on the common stock equity. As the greater proportion of debt, has increased the risk of the stockholder. In the good eco nomic conditions, the financial leverage impact will be positive. The higher the degree of leverage reflects the greater firms business risk. The firms have taken loan to raise cash for operations. In this paper, the authors have analyzed that there are two types of leverages which the profitability and valuing to the firm. The measurement of leverage is total liabilities to equity. Some liabilities are arises from bank loans and bonds whereas some results from the transactions with the suppliers, customers and employees who are engaging in operations. Firms are less perfect than the capital markets because their operations are involved in buy and sell in input and output markets. Their research was related whether a dollar of operating liability is priced differently from a dollar of financial liability on the balance sheet. It means that the price to book ratio depend on the configuration of book value. The expected rate of return on the book value determined this ratio. Financial statements analysis provides the information that help to differentiate the shareholders profitability, arising from the borrowing activities. Leverages equations explained about whether the type of liability is favourable or unfavourable. The results in this article also revealed that financial statement analysis is not only differentiate the operations from financing activities but also tell about the future profitability among the firms. The following equation is splinting the effects of financing liabilities and operating liabilities on shareholders equity. Return on common equity (ROCE) = Comprehensive Net Income Common Equity Where Common equity = operating assets + financial assets operating liabilities financial liabilities Or Common equity = net operating assets net financing debt the above mean that investment in the inventory will be reduced in case of making too much investments in inventories.Net financing means that a firm cannot buy the bond with the excess cash from the operations. The income statement can also provide information that comes from financial and operating activities. Comprehensive net income =operating income net financing expense Operating income is earned in operations and net  ¬Ã‚ nancial expense is incurred in the  ¬Ã‚ nancing of operations. The authors also analyzed that if the  ¬Ã‚ nancial assets are more than financial liabilities, Financial leverage is negative. It means that the financial leverage levers the return on common equity over return on assets. Financial statements provides three types of leverages equations which are based on fixed accounting relations and the firms must hold the leverages at a given point in time. Financial liabilities are contraction obligations for the repayment of loans with some financial charges. High profitable firms might be take more leverage because of unfavourable risk is lower. Operating leverage is also provided the changes in the future profitability. (Stomper Zulehner, Why Leverage Distorts Investment ,2004) Many theories of capital structure explain the firms financing choices because of trade off between costs and benefits of leverages. The studies of Jensen and Mecking in 1976 and Myers in 1977 have analyzed the conflicts of interests between the firms owners and their creditors. These types of conflicts change the investment decision as the leverages changes their objectives functions. Management chooses such investment policy which maximizes equity value rather than maximizes the firm value. The strategic effects of leverages was explained by Titman (1984), Fudenberg and Tirole (1986), Brander and Lewis (1986) and Maksi-movic (1986).their papers clarified that why the leverages affects the firms strategy. The directions of the effects depend upon on the nature of firms interaction in oligopolistic situation. The models of Brander and Lewis (1986), Showalter (1995) demonstrate that leverage can make a firm more or less aggressive competitor. Leverages effects the firms investment dec isions in two way, first leverages increase the profitability with which a firm fail to pay its debt, as a result discouraging the investments in case if future profits are discounted at high rate. Second reason is levered firms investment policy depend upon the debt maturity structures so the firms shift their profit of those period in which the earnings are too high to cover the debt charges. If firm remain solvent, the leverage changes the s the firms marginal rate of substitution between current and future profits. To attract investments firms cut their prices at the cost of decreasing their current profits. They had also pointed out anther effect which was that in non defaulted states, the leverages change the marginal rate of substitution between current and future profits which used by the firms in making investment decisions for the purpose of maximize equity value. For this purpose those firms are considerable which cuts the prices of their output to attract additional cust omers and invest in market share. The authors used Limited Liability Effect model to reveal the fact that DLL-effect changes the firms investments. This model effects the firms investments in market share to over and under investment. They concluded, leverages affects firm pricing strategies in that case their future profits are depend on their market share. Levered firms make fewer investments in market shares because they discounted the future profits at high rate. The objectives functions are not change because of their nature of investment decisions. (Aly Tuan, Association between Accounting and Market-Based Risk Measures ,2005) In this article the authors examined the systematic risk and stock prices with help of cost structure of the firm. Systematic risk arises because of the firm fixed claims but having variable revenues. The fixed claims are associated with the debt financing. Shareholder systematic risk is depending upon the ratio of fixed cost to the total cost and leverage or gearing ratio give this relationship. There are two major components, financial leverage and operating leverage. Financial leverage is based on the level of interest paid irrespective to the profitability. Operating leverage is degree of rate of change in profit before interest and dividend with respect to change in the level of sales. The operating and financial leverage both have considered in empirical studies. Earlier studies have proved that accounting beta role was considerable in developing a positive relationship between operating leverage and the systematic risk. The knowledge based labour, research cost or other capita l incentive costs and scale based production may also create fixed cost which enhances the shareholder risk. This means that operating and financial leverages are independent to each other which give total leverage. But this view was criticises in 1983 by Huffman by using an option of pricing approach, she took the assumption fixed investment depend upon the level of previous debt risk. Mandleker and Rhee in 1984, found that operating and financial leverage had impact on beta and there was a significant relationship between these two variables. In 1989, Huffman discovered a negative relationship between the operating leverage and systematic risk which was opposite to the findings of Mandelker and Rhee.Ilord in 1996 had also reported a positive correlation between DOL ,DFL ,systematic risk and unsystematic risk ,however ,financial was related to the total and unsystematic risk but not to the systematic risk. According to the studies of Armstrong in 2002 raises the notion that because of change in corporate behaviour the flexible firms and labour markets have also impact on basic cost behaviour. The financial managers have to face more operating risk so they should adopt financial plan to get appropriate level of stock risk. In 2003, Rosett found that there was weak relationship between operating leverage and market risk but labour cost variable was an important variable. From the authors studies they had concluded that there was a strong relationship between operating leverage and financial leverage but the financial leverage was not more important than the operating leverage as the operating fixed cost have the greater impact on the market risk. Theoretically and empirically, the function of operating leverage has important for risk management and asset allocation within the firm and also for pricing of risk of financial markets. (Baum, Stephan, Talavera,Macroeconomic Uncertainty and Firm Leverage,2005) In this article the author analyzed the factor which influences the leverage level. The purpose of borrowing is make capital investment are existing payment of debt. Some time some firm make changes in the amount of debt they issue just before the official announcement. In 1958, Modigliani and Miller derived from their theoretical results that financial and real variables are irrelevant for a firms capital structure under perfect capital market. Most of the studies show a positive relationship between liquid asset holdings and the firms investment decisions. And some other studies show firms specific characteristics define the firm leverage such as s cash holdings, total assets, and the investment to capital ratio. They formulate a model which predicted that an increase in the macroeconomics uncertainty cause a decrease in leverage. According to them, the companies will issue less debt in times of greater macroeconomic uncertainty. Firms make their debt on the bases of future profits and investments. They have constructed four types of alternative macroeconomic uncertainty which are the conditional variances of index of leading indicators index of industrial production, the rate of consumer price inflation and return on the SP 500 stock market index. From their results it is suggested that macroeconomic uncertainty has impact on the non- financial companies capital structure and affect their investments. In most of the countries the monetary policy has a tendency to be constant in the direction of change in monetary instruments with reversals. (Faulkender Petersen, Does the Source of Capital Affect Capital Structure?, 2005) In this article the authors said that the trade off theory, the firms determine their leverage ratio by manipulative the tax advantages, costs of financial distress, mispricing, and incentive effects of debt against equity. Firms which have greater tax advantages over the debt, they have lower financial distress. When the firms determine that the total benefit from the debt is positive then they form their capital structure by issuing more additional debt and decrease the equity. There is an assumption that leverage is the function of firms demand for the debt. By considering the tax benefit of the debt, Graham argued in 2000 that the firms loose opportunity to enhance the wealth by increasing the leverage and reducing the tax payments on the assumption that other debt cost are correctly measure. Debt ratios also depend upon the firms characteristics. The differences in the leverage may be because of the product of the firm with different characteristics. The firms always try to secu re their funding for those projects having positive net present value NPV. But if the lenders are unable to evaluate the quality of investment easily then it will be difficult for the firm to raise the desire and sufficient amount of capital for all the good projects. The financial intermediaries mostly the banks also may have an advantage over arms length lenders (bond markets) after giving the capital to the firms. The firms which are riskier, smaller and less known mostly borrow the capital from the banks whereas well known larger firms mostly borrow from the arms length capital markets. In the imperfect market the cost of capital is not only depend on the risk of their project but also on the resources which are needed to confirm the viability of their projects. The cost of the debt is paid by the borrower in the form of interest. They observed that the level of the debt is the function of supply and demand of the firm for debt. These both are depend upon the price of debt capit al and the supply and demand factors. Qdemand =ÃŽÂ ±0Price + ÃŽÂ ±1Xdemand factors + E demand Qsupply = ß 0Price +ß1Xsupply factors+E supply They are using the data of 1986-2000 and exclude the firms having assets or sales less than $1million. They had measures debt to the asset ratio; the debt includes both long and short term debt. From their results, the firms which borrow from the financial intermediaries have lower leverage becuse of cost monitoring the imperfect financial contracts. Certain parts of the capital markets also affects the firms borrowing. The vfirms can moves from the private debt markets to the public debt market because banking capital markets have more dramatical impact than the public markets. (Amjed, The impact of financial structure onprofitability: Study of Pakistans TextileSector,2007) In this article the author main point that the capital structure affects the cost of capital of a firm and as a result of this the performance of the firm also affected. The firm must use an optimal combination of debt and equity to enhance the wealth of shareholders which s the main objective of the firm. In this paper the author analyzed the relationship between the capital structure and profitability of the Pakistan textile industry. According to the studies of d Bradley, Larrel and kim (1984) and Almazan and Molina (2005), the firms related to the same industry develop the similar capital structure. Eli Schwartz (1959) reported that optimal capital structure fluctuates in different industries because of the reason that the typical asset structure and profit stability which help in determining the inherent risk are differ for different types of production and the borrowing power of the firms are also differ. According to the Modigliani and Miller (1958) studied reflected that in t he perfect market conditions the market value of any firm and the cost of capital are independent in its capital structure. According to the pecking order theorists Myers (1984), Myers and Majluf (1984), and Shyam-Sunder and Myers (1999), first the firms should have internally generate the sources of financing then from the debt and finally from external equity which is obtained by issuing the stocks. The preferences are recognized by the cost gap between the internal and external sources of funds because of asymmetric information and organization problems. There is a negative relationship between the leverage and profitability of the firm in case if the firm hold the profitability. Booth, Aivaizian, Kunt and Maksimovik,(2001) revealed that if the firm is more profitable if its debt ratio is lower. If the firm can borrow more debt at low rate, the risk associated with the debt is lower as the chances of paying back the funds are increased. Fama and French used in 1998 concluding by using US sample that the relationship between capital structure and the firm profitability is unreliable. Jensen (1986) studied that profitable firms indicates their wealth of the firm by increasing the leverages which result in a positive relation between leverage and profitability. Joshua Arbor (2005) reported that there is a significantly positive relationship between short term debt and profitability and negative association between long term debt and profitability. This indicates that by too much long term debt it will decrease the profits of the firm. He had taken a data of 100 companies from KSE for the period of 1999-2004. The variables used for analyzing are leverage ratio and the profitability. From his results, he explained that the short term debts show positive relationship with the profitability as they are less expensive. While the long term debts has show negativity which means that they are much expensive due to direct and indirect cost. (Shah Khan, Determinants of Capital Structure: Evidence from Pakistani Panel Data,2007) Capital structure is the combination of debt and the equity which is used by a company in to meet its financing needs. It is the one of the most important decisions which a management should be taken carefully. The capital structure decision includes dividend policy, project financing, issue of long term securities, financing of mergers and buyouts. The objective of the financial manager is to keep the cost of capital lower and increases the value of the firm. Optimal capital structure is the point where the cost of capital is minimum. Most of the work related to the capital structure has been done in the developed countries and a few contribution related to it is by the developing countries. In 1995, Rajan and Zingales have studied the G-7 countries while in 2001 Booth el al extended this working by studying the emerging markets. The conclusions from their studies revealed that there are some features in the capital structure of the firms in different countries are common. But still it is necessary to identify the determinants of capital structure in particle industry or institution. Pakistan is a developing country which has three stock exchanges. Karachi Stock Exchange is the largest one on which more than 700 companies are listed. In Pakistan, the area of capital structure is relatively unexplored like other developing countries. The concept given by Modigliani and Miller has proved that the value of the firm is not depending upon the capital structure decisions under certain conditions. Because of unrealistic assumption in MM, it gave birth to the other theories for research on capital structure. According to trade off theory, optimal leverage adjustment is affected by three factors which are taxes, cost of distress and agency cost. Baxter argued in 1967 that too much use of debt enhances the chance of bankruptcy because the creditors demand extra risk premium. According to him, the firm should not use more debt than the tax advantage. Kraus and Litzenberg er (1973) argued that if a firms debt liabilities are greater than its profits then the firms market value is a function of its debt obligations. DeAngelo and Masulis (1980) studied further on Millers differential tax model; they had including other non-debt shields such as depreciation charges and investment tax credits. According to their conclusions that each individual firm has an internal optimal capital structure that increases the wealth of the firm. Their studied have based on the data taken from State Bank of Pakistan publications Balance Sheet Analysis of Joint Stock Companies Listed on The Karachi Stock Exchange Volume-II 1993-1999 and Volume-II 1997-2002. This publication is useful in proving the information related to the key account of the financial statements of listed companies. They have taken the debt to total assets ratio as understudy for leverage (dependent variable) and tangibility, size, growth, profitability, earning volatility, and non-debt tax shields are t aken independent variables. Their results show that descriptive statistics is the highest leverage ratio for textile industry but the average profitability of textile industry is negative. The year to year understatement of profit by family controlled firms in the textile industry reflect that they have refuse to pay the government taxes and the shareholder dividend.th negative figure of profit show that on all the average year it decreases the figure of equity and increases the percentage of debt in the entire financing. (Akintoye, Sensitivity of Performance to Capital Structure, 2008) In this article the author Ishola Rufus Akintoye (2008) analyzed that the financial leverage measures the financial risk which indicates the companys percentage change in EPS comes from percentage change in companys EBIT. Financial leverage increases the EPS when the economic are favourable and depresses the EPS when the goings is not favourable for the firm. It was discovered that the firms financial leverage can increase the shareholders return and as well their risk. The surplus/deficit will increase/decrease the return on owners equity. Fix operating cost is consider in operating leverage. Fixed operating cost such as administrative overhead expenses, contraction employees salaries and mortgage or lease payment that tend to raise business risk. The ongoing short term financial needs may generate a need for long term financing which includes an evaluation of the appropriate mix and the use of debt and equity that form capital structure. By combining the financial leverage and oper ating leverage we can see the effect of total leverages on EPS with respect to the change in turnover/sales as a result of improving capital structure strategies. The optimal capital structure with equity can minimize the firms cost of capital and maximize its returns. The different capitals structure and business risks effects are reflected in a firms income statement. The firm must consider varies factors while formulating the capital structure policy. The firm business risk, tax position and financial flexibility must be taking into the account. These factors are important in determining the target capital structure. The target capital structure may be used as a guide in determining an ideal capital structure which helps to minimize the cost and increases the shareholders wealth. The desire equity-debt mix has effects both the returns and the risk of a firm. The methodology used by the author is the degree of leverages. He took the EBIT, EPS and DPS as the performance indicators to the sales as to measure the capital structure of selected companies. The operating leverages and financial leverages together produce wide fluctuations in EPS for the given change in turnover. A small change in sales level will cause a dramatic effect in EPS in case if a firm employs a high level of operating and financial leverages. Degree of Operating Leverage: DOL = % Change in EBIT % Change in Turnover DOL =% Ά EBIT/EBIT % Ά Turnover/ Turnover The following equation is also used for calculating Degree of Operating Leverage DOL = Q(S V) Q (S V) F Q is the unit of output, S is the selling price, V is the variable cost, and F is the total fixed costs. Degree of Financial Leverage: DFL =% Change in EPS % Change in EBIT DFL =% Ά EPS/EPS % Ά EBIT/ EBIT (Sheikh Wang, Financing Behavior of Textile Firms in Pakistan, June 2010) In this article the authors explored those factors that influence the capital structure of Pakistan textile industry. Capital structure represents the combination of various debt and equity securities hold by a firm. it is very important to choose right set of capital structure as the wrong and quick decision of the management may lead to the financial distress and the firm may bear the cost. It has been recognized that the firm specific characteristics make the combination of debt and equity. These characteristics are profitability, size of the firm, asset structure, growth opportunities and the liquidity position of the firm etc. The financial instruments which are issued by the firm do not affect the productivity and its value. This is the assumption of Modigliani and Millers which do not hold in the real world. The firm should use much debt because of tax deductible interest payment and in this case the levered firm value becomes more than the unlevered firm by the equal amount o f present value of tax savings that are arise from the use of debt. In Pakistan the commercial bank are hesitant in providing long term loans due to risk factor. The author explained the capital structure with the help of different theories. (Trade off theory, Pecking theory, Free cash flow theory).they were selected a sample of 75 companies from the Karachi Stock Exchange for data analysis purpose. They had chosen debt ratio (as measure of leverage) as dependent variable while profitability, size, tangibility, growth opportunities and liquidity are taken as independent variables. According to their results, the average debt ratio among the Pakistani companies was 64.95%. This indicates that the firms are more levered than those firms in UK, Canada and USA. These firms are less levered than those in France, Japan, Italy and Germany. Their results suggest that the leverage is negatively correlated with the profitability determinant and positively correlated with the firm size. Negati ve relationship between the leverage and tangibility determinants shows that the companies with safer and secure tangible assets tend to borrow more from the banks than the companies having risky intangible assets. The highly liquid and profitable firms are preferred to finance new investments from internally available funds. According to the trade off theory the larger firms in Pakistan should operate at high debt level due to diversification risk factor while the smaller firms operate at low leverage as they liquidated when they facing financial crisis. Mostly the firms in Pakistan are dependent on the bank debts because undeveloped and small bond market. Majority of privatize commercial bank in Pakistan have prefer to extent the short term loans as compare to long terms loans. In short the firms in Pakistan are heavily relying on short terms loans. According to Myers, there is no theory to make better combination of debt -equity and no reason to expect that it add value to the fi rm. (Wasmullah, Toor, Abbas, Can High Leverage Control the Opportunistic Behavior of Managers: Case Analysis of Textile Sector of Pakistan ,2010) This article analyzed the impact of leverage on managerial earnings practices in textile industry of Pakistan. The investors/shareholders have been concerned with the earnings/profit. They had discussed the relationship between earning management and firm leverage among leverage increasing firms and control/highly levered firms. Theoretically they had proven the both the positive and negative association between them. Positive as if a firm highly levered so the manager are engage in increasing the income accruals to meet the investors and lenders expectations. According to Jensens (1986) control hypothesis, leverage increases control the opportunistic behaviour of the managers as if highly leverage firms can use the free cash flows in services of loans and managers are left with low free cash flows. In this case managers do not invest the amount in decreasing value projects and not depend upon profit management to hide their poor performance. This represents the negative association between leverage and earning management. IN 1985 Healy used total accrual as alternative of earning management but in 1986 DeAngelo argued that it the better measurement of earnings management is change in total accrual. But after five Jones argued with the statement of DeAngelo that non discretionary components of earnings did not remain the same. she had provided a model which explained that economic conditions changes non discretionary components of accruals. Two variables such as change in sales and the level of property can controlled the economic conditions. They had taken the data of 6 years from 2001-2006 of textile industry of Pakistan. According to Jensen (1986),Maloney et al(1993) and Stulz(1990), leverage increases the limit the opportunistic behaviour of managers as require debt payments decrease the amount of cash available to managers for investing in non-value projects. They had obtained the data from the Balance Sheet analysis of Joint stock Companies which are list ed on KSE, then classified the firms into increasing leverage firms and control firms. They had taken accruals as dependent variable and debt to equity ratio as explanatory variable. According to their results, the relationship has been significantly different in leverage increasing firms and control firms. According to control hypothesis, most of the portion from the low cash flow is expense out in the form of interest in case of highly leverages and as a result the opportunistic behaviour of the manager has been controlled, because they have not enough cash to invest in non value projects and less chances to hide their poor performance. This result leads to make carefully investment in the new projects. It is very difficult to measure the opportunistic behaviour of the firm. The author results supported the control hypothesis. In 2003 DeAngelo argued that total change in receivables are not the discretionary accruals because some portion of accruals is based on previous periods ac cruals, and some portion of inventory is also depend upon change in sales. (Mseddi Abid, The Impact of Operating and Financial Leverages and Intrinsic Business Risk on Firm Value,2010) The purpose of this article is to examine the fundamental risk determinants of firm value. The goal of the firm has to increase/maximise the firm value and firms constitute their

The Advantage Of Mobile Marketing

The Advantage Of Mobile Marketing Today, marketers are finding it increasingly more difficult to attract and retain their target audience. This is due in part to the impersonal one-way nature of traditional mass-media, and in part to the fragmentation of the media environment. What is more, consumers are no longer impressed with spectacular advertising campaigns and mind boggling special effects, instead they are now thirsty for information and are even willing to pay for it (Haig, 2002). Yet the picture is not all doom and gloom. The new global market of the 21st century has provided many new opportunities and cost effective alternatives for both marketers and consumers alike. For example, the emergence of the mobile smartphone has changed every aspect of our society and has become one of the fastest adopted consumer products of all time. As Chuck Martin points out, we are in the midst of a technological revolution that has far outweighed the television or the personal computer. This third screen, is revolutionizing the marketing landscape and the entire buying process. Mobile smartphones have liberated consumers from the confines of their homes, offices and traditional media environments and empowered them with information right at their fingertips. (Martin, 2011). Mobile marketing comprises many different applications ranging from SMS, MMS, short-codes and location-based services, to apps and direct mobile payment. With more and more people carrying smartphones in their pockets, marketers have the potential to catch them anywhere and anytime. Recent studies show that today there are more mobile devices in use than there are PCs and laptops together. Moreover, according to eMarketer, the amount of time people spend on their phones surfing the internet, listening to music, using apps and playing games has more than doubled in the past two years while the time spent online on computers has grown by just a mere 3.6 percent  [1]  . Nonetheless, that is not to say that traditional media is becoming less important or obsolete. However, due to its passive nature, marketing messages cannot be personalized for different target markets and often end up reaching the wrong audience at the wrong time. With multimedia-rich smartphones and other wireless devices marketers have the ability to send their consumers more personalized and relevant marketing messages wherever and whenever. Likewise, consumers are now able to search for the information they need whenever they need it. Thus, with a well-integrated marketing campaign that includes both traditional and new media businesses and brand owners can increase the customer loyalty, acquisition and most importantly their bottom-line. 1.2 Objective The objective of this thesis is to gain an understanding in the current state of mobile marketing and to identify the advantages of using a mobile smartphone as a direct marketing tool in comparison to traditional mass-media. Moreover, this thesis will examine the potential and future trends of mobile marketing and its implications for companies. 1.3 Methodology This review is based on a number of select books, journal articles, websites and other literature in the field of mobile marketing, digital media and m-commerce. The most popular and commonly cited literature was also selected. The search for relevant literature was based on many keywords including but not limited to: mobile marketing, mobile ads, m-commerce, traditional vs. new media, digital media, and direct marketing. Mobile Marketing 2.1 Definition of Mobile Marketing Before exploring the advantage of using a mobile smartphone as a direct marketing tool we must first define mobile marketing. In short, mobile marketing is a method of connecting people with advertisers via a mobile device. However, with the rising demand for information and communication technology as well as falling prices for broadband internet  [2]  , mobile marketing has become a powerful marketing tool that is shaping the way we do business.  [3]   As Eric Pfanner of New York Times describes, the power of mobile marketing comes mainly from the ability to acquire immense volumes of user-generated data by monitoring their clicks and tracing their whereabouts. Mobile marketing also makes it easier to focus the communication towards targeted audiences giving it a huge advantage over traditional mass-media which targets the public as a whole. But what exactly constitutes mobile marketing and how is it defined? According to the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA), mobile marketing is defined as a set of practices that enables organizations to communicate and engage with their audience in an interactive and relevant manner through any mobile device or network.  [4]  This definition is composed of two important components: a set of practices and engage with audiences. The first component relates to various marketing and e-commerce activities such as advertising, promotion, e-banking, online-purchase and CRM to name a few. Hence, mobile marketing is a set of practices intended at delivering a message, creating value and/or building a relationship with the customer. According to Philip Kotler, renowned professor and marketing theorist, marketing is defined as the science and art of exploring, creating, and delivering value to satisfy the needs of a target market at a profit (Kotler, Wong, Saunders, Armstrong, 2005). One might then say that mobile marketing is the science and art of communicating, engaging, and delivering value that is relevant to the target market at a profit via wireless telecommunication media. The second and more important component in MMAs definition of mobile marketing relates to the relationship between the customer and the marketer. With mobile devices this relationship has shifted from one-way to two- and even multi-way relationships where both the organization and the customer are responding to one another and exchanging information (Shankara Balasubramanian, 2009). Consequently, the purpose is to entice the customer to respond by either push tactics, initiated by the customer in the form of a click or a response, or pull tactics initiated by the marketer  [5]  . Additionally, Rob Stokes of eMarketer explains that there are two forms of mobile engagement. One uses the mobile phones communication features as part of an engagement strategy, and the other drives traffic to an organizations mobile website or application (Stokes, 2011). Either way, marketing messages must be relevant enough that consumers no longer passively consume, but instead actively participate in campaigns, especially in real-time, influencing the scope and the direction of the promotion or marketing message. Kim Dushinski, author of Mobile Marketing Handbook, delves deeper and defines mobile marketing as how businesses communicate with consumers on their mobile devices, with their explicit permission, at the right time, at the right place while providing relevant value (Dushinski, 2009). She calls this smart mobile marketing because not only does mobile marketing rely on the use of smart devices, but it is a uniquely tailored form of communication that it personal and of value to the individual user. More importantly, consumers voluntarily consent to receive advertising or promotional offers which in turn increases the efficiency of the marketing campaign and establishes a more effective and transparent relationship with the consumer  [6]  . To sum up, mobile marketing uses wireless and mobile communication channels for conducting various marketing and e-commerce activities with the aim of establishing deeper and more transparent relationships with individuals as well as target markets. More so, mobile-data can provide marketers and business with valuable information on customers and prospects, including their location, purchasing habits, and many other useful insights which can help them deliver value in a more relevant manner. This is specifically why it is crucial for marketers to consider engaging customers on their mobile devices. 2.2 The 6 Elements of Mobile Marketing Figure : The 6 key elements of mobile marketing Together with the internet the mobile phone has truly transformed the methods by which we communicate and share information. As mobile phones continue to evolve with better and newer features they are also helping to redefine the marketing landscape. As powerful as mobile marketing may be, many businesses are still hesitant or inept at developing strategies and allocating resources to effectively engage their customers on the mobile platform. As a consequence, many opportunities are overlooked or mismanaged. One reason may be the fragmented media environment and consequently shifting consumer habits (DAlleva Colapietro, 2012). Another reason for this incompetence may be the lack of understanding what mobile marketing is and the various forms it can take or the many different kinds of applications and tools that are involved. The model in figure 1 should ideally help marketers make sense of mobile marketing and recognize the potential of engaging customers on their mobile phones. The six elements were produced out of various ideas as well as after extensive review of the literature at hand. Mobile marketing differs from traditional marketing in many ways and the purpose of this chapter will be to discuss these differences based on six distinguishing key elements. Earlier, it was explained that mobile marketing relates to marketing activities conducted via wireless mobile devices and networks and according to Andreas Kaplan to which consumers are regularly connected  [7]  . Likewise, Alex Michael and Ben Salter note that mobile marketing uses the mobile medium for spontaneous, direct, interactive and targeted communications or entertainment between a business and its customers and may occur any time or place. (Michael Salter, 2006). Therefore, the first element of mobile marketing is direct. That is, it can generate an immediate response from the consumer. Philip Kotler et al., explain that direct-marketing is a direct form of communication where individuals and target customers are carefully selected in order to obtain an immediate response (Kotler, Wong, Saunders, Armstrong, 2005). The mobile phone allows both the marketer and the user to connect directly with each other without first having to go through intermediaries such as a pos tal service or broadcasting network (Becker Arnold, 2010). Consequently, with the mobile phone there is a high degree of synchronicity meaning that the sender and the receiver can respond to the message simultaneously (Hongcharu Eiamkanchanalai, 2009). If the consumer is interested in the marketing message they can respond straightaway by either replying to the text message, answering the call or any other form of communication available on their mobile phone. With mass media such as the TV or Magazines, interactivity is near impossible and synchronicity is therefore very low. The second element of mobile marketing is universal. This is because todays smartphones are multimedia-rich devices with a wide array of tools capable of sending and receiving content as text, image, audio and video in addition to making phone calls. Since the aim of advertising is to attract the attention of the consumer by stimulating their senses, mobile marketing is particularly effective in influencing a consumers perception. Moreover, mobile marketing campaigns can incorporate all the facets of effects  [8]   emotion, persuasion, behavior, association, cognition and perception and therefore have a more profound impact on the consumers behavior. Third, mobile marketing is in-context. Due to the ubiquitous nature of mobile phones information can be delivered in real-time depending on the whereabouts and the day-to-day behavior of the user. Therefore, being able to anticipate the location of customers when they receive the marketing messages is integral for the success of any marketing campaign. The mobile phone has become a mundane, everyday item (Michael Salter, 2006). It can be used at home, at work or while being on the move. By considering the customers location, the marketing message can eventually be tweaked to better serve the customers needs (Krum, 2010), and when it comes to local searches, mobile marketing can offer effective solutions. Thus, on the one hand, mobile marketing enables businesses to implement context-aware and targeted advertising, and on the other hand, mobile marketing allows for more personalized pull-type advertisements for consumers (Li Du, 2012). Forth, mobile marketing is personalized-marketing. Communication can be uniquely customized to meet the specific needs of individual customers or target audiences. As mentioned in the beginning of the chapter, advances in information technology and telecommunication have caused a shift from mass marketing to targeted or one-on-one marketing. This has led to a dramatic impact on marketing communication as whole (Kotler, Wong, Saunders, Armstrong, 2005). The fifth element is that mobile marketing is permission-based marketing. As previously mentioned, there are many tools and features built into mobile phones which allow the consumer to opt-in or -out of promotions and updates. The mobile phones also enables both the sender and the receiver to conceal their identity when making a call and therefore providing additional anonymity. However, this calls for stricter regulations in order to protect the privacy rights of individuals and to promote ethical behavior. As Seth Godin explains, permission-marketing is a privilege so when a customer pays attention to the message, business must treat them with respect  [9]  . Last but not least, mobile marketing is interactive. Consumers can interact with the company, the media and with each other through various applications and tools readily available on most mobile smartphones. Where traditional marketing is viewed as a one-way communication process in which the message moves from sender to the receiver, mobile marketing seeks to engage the consumer through interactive dialogue. The message is sent back and forth between the sender and the receiver throughout the entire communication process (Moriarty, Mitchell, Wells, 2012). To conclude, mobile phones have undoubtedly altered the communication process between organizations and their customers. Consequently, this poses vast challenges for businesses and marketers as traditional marketing methods are becoming ineffective and unable to keep up with shifting consumer habits. The one-size-fits-all approach of mass-media no longer applies to knowledgeable and empowered consumers backed with sophisticated technology and rich with information. Consequently, customers no longer want to be talked at, instead, they want firms to listen, engage, and respond (Kietzmann, Hermkens, McCarthy, Silvestre, 2011) as well as provide useful and relevant information. 2.3 The Rise of Mobile Marketing Mobile phones are widespread and of great importance to mankind. With the power of the internet they allow people from all around the world to connect almost instantly irrespective of time and place. But smartphones are not only communication devices. Nowadays they are being used while shopping, banking and even as technical utilities such as operating pumps from remote locations  [10]  . Mobile phones are also great for staying up-to-date on the news and for receiving alerts on personal monetary transactions  [11]  . The rising popularity of mobile phones provides many new opportunities for businesses as well as individuals. According to recent studies, they are the number one preferred communications medium (Li Du, 2012), and because they are personal and accessible at all times it is no wonder that more and more marketers are adopting mobile phones in their campaigns. With the introduction of broadband internet and innovative developments in communication technologies many industries are becoming increasingly more involved with digital media. News networks such as CNN, BBC and Reuters now offer mobile apps. Likewise, food and beverage companies like Coca-Cola, Starbucks and McDonalds deliver coupons to mobile handsets. Mobile phones have created a new breed of always connected consumers. For many people around the world the mobile phone has become a personal and everyday tool used for surfing and communicating online (Michael Salter, 2006). The mobile has also paved the path for new forms commerce that can be conducted wirelessly and on-the-go (m-commerce). As explained in chapter 2.1, Mobile Marketing refers to any method of engaging and developing a relationship with the customer in order to deliver value at a profit and which is conducted via a mobile network. Thus, users no longer depend on wired networks and personal computers, instead they now use mobile communication device such as their mobile phones or tablet PCs to conduct various e-commerce activities (Ngai Gunasekaran, 2007). Number of People with Access to a Mobile Phone Furthermore, the graph in figure 3 shows the percentage of page views coming from mobile devices globally and regionally. Several studies indicate that mobile internet will soon take over desktop internet usage. Hence, we can observe that 10.1% of all the pages viewed during May last year were from a mobile device. Likewise, mobile web penetration is strongest in Asia and Africa with 18% and 12.9% page views respectively. Throughout the world people have become interlinked with each other on their mobile phones and other devices. The near ubiquity that mobile phones have to offer is generating many new economic opportunities for the whole society. The scope of mobile devices has reached unprecedented proportions. Nearly everyone on the planet can be engaged with a mobile device. In developing countries, it may be the only way to engage someone digitally (Becker Arnold, 2010). In Kenya for instance, the mobile phone has become and vital part of cash-transfer schemes  [14]  allowing the poor in rural areas to purchase goods. In Peru, mobile phones and tablet computers have become a main source of knowledge among pupils. Likewise, various social networking sites and web apps such as Twitter or Facebook have in many ways influenced the Arab spring. Social media is no longer the domain of the liberal youth, empowering different agendas across the political map.  [15]   Mobile technologies have provided many economic and political opportunities which have helped people lead better lives and make their opinions heard within their communities. This is because mobile phones have, in many countries, become much cheaper than personal computers. As such, smartphones are often considered a persons first personal phone as well as first personal computer (Krum, 2010). Global Mobile Marketing Spending In the context of mobile marketing, eMarketer predicts that global spending is expected to rise 400% in the coming four years from $8.4 billion in 2012 to nearly $37 billion in 2016. This growth is mainly due to increasing smartphone and tablet sales  [17]  . The Number of Users/Minutes Spent on Apps per Month And with regards to smartphones, it is estimated that there are 1 billion active mobile app users worldwide spending a total of 101 billion minutes a month on apps. The facts and figures presented in this chapter aim to show the importance of the mobile medium in modern day marketing. It is clear that mobile phones have become an integral part of our daily lives. Since we spend a large portion of our time logged-in to our phones, it seems self-evident that mobile phones are the most convenient and direct channel for reaching and engaging customers at every stage of the life cycle. Whether it is to sell a product or service, deliver information, or to make life easier, the mobile phenomenon has rapidly disseminated making that which is on the opposite side of the globe seem very real and local. Businesses should not hesitate to tap into the realm of the mobile medium. 2.4 Push and Pull The main difference between push and pull marketing lies in the way a consumer is approached. While push tactics are usually initiated by the brand owner without necessarily obtaining permission from the user, pull tactics attempt to draw the consumer to the brand by offering something of value  [19]  and establishing loyalty. In traditional mass-media the same messages are pushed out to everyone including people who are not within the marketers target audience. With mobile marketing customers will, on their own terms, choose when and what they see. Melissa Rucker makes the following observation in regards to pull marketing: They choose to opt-in to your message regardless of the channel in which it is delivered, which means you have to make it has[sic!] easy to opt-in as possible. This trend toward opt-in pull marketing is partially why social and mobile marketing are a critical aspect for marketing success.  [20]   2.5 Opt-in and opt-out While mobile marketing has been around since the 90s it is still quite a young discipline and deeply rooted in traditional marketing strategies. As such, the methods used to push content through mobile networks resemble interruption marketing common in traditional mass-media. Similar to how commercials interrupt a television program or pop-up windows come into view on a computer screen, push techniques via mobiles are sometimes invasive and often happen without prior approval from the end-user  [21]  . According to Kim Dushinski, sending content via mobile devices and especially text messages to people who havent explicitly requested them is unethical and in many countries even illegal  [22]  . This calls for the need for extensive revision of traditional marketing and advertising practices with new rules and methods for engaging and interacting with consumers on their mobile phones. One method briefly discussed in chapter 2.2 is permission-based communication which allows users to opt-in or -out of marketing messages by obtaining legal authorization. For instance, signing-up online, filling out a registration form or responding to an SMS are all methods by which consumers can opt-in. Such guidelines are not only significant in protecting consumers from unsolicited messages, but promote ethical behavior and are very effective too. The real trick however, is to develop a marketing campaign that generate demand and encourages people to opt-in. Users today are bombarded with infinite spam messages, promotional offers and obtrusive pop-ups. Thus, it is important to recognize the specific needs and wants of the consumers and to create more appealing and user-friendly campaigns in order to build long-lasting and profitable relationships. 2.6 The Tools of Mobile Marketing Mobile marketing is only as powerful as the hardware permits. The advances and capabilities of mobile marketing are therefore directly linked to the mobile phone and its networks. Before launching a mobile marketing campaign it is imperative to understand what type of devices exist on the market and what tools and applications are available to best meet the needs of the customers. The purpose of this chapter is to provide a primer into the different tools commonly found on the mobile medium and to explain their application within a marketing context. But before going into much detail it would be useful to provide a short comparison between basic mobile phones and smartphones. Essentially, it all boils down to two main aspects: the Operating System (OS) and the hardware specifications. With basic mobile phones the user is often tied down to a closed operating system and without the ability to extend its features. This kind of phone connects to a so called 2G wireless radio network and provides limited functionality such as voice communication, Short Message Service (SMS) and Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS). Newer mobile phones may feature a watered-down version of the Internet such as WAP which allows for text-based Web browsing, instant messaging and e-mailing. On the other hand, according to SmartphonesAppsPedia, a smartphone is defined as a mobile phone offering advanced capabilities, often with PC-like functionality or ability to download apps.  [23]  As such, a smartphone can not only connect to 2G networks, but also newer 3G as well as Wi-Fi networks. Consequently, the smartphone integrates the features of a basic mobile phone with the features of a computer to allow the user to store personal information, send and receive e-mails, surf the internet and install programs that extend the functionality of the onboard operating system. 2.6.1 Text Messaging (SMS and MMS) Text messaging is an effective and cost efficient way to market any product or service with the ability to reach out to customers via bulk SMS (or MMS). It is one of the oldest features available on almost any mobile phone. SMS are digital messages which hold up to 160 alphanumeric characters and can be sent to and from a mobile phone. Alternatively, MMS extends the capabilities of SMS and includes multimedia content such as graphic, audio and video in addition to text messages. SMS and MMS can be sent as a form of personal communication from one mobile phone directly to another and can also be sent commercially via text messages services that relay content to multiple phones simultaneously (Dushinski, 2009). It is estimated that roughly 7.8 trillion SMS messages were sent worldwide in 2011 and this number will continue to grow throughout 2013. Furthermore, it is expected that by 2013 worldwide SMS revenue will break the $150 billion mark for the first time  [25]  . The immense popularity of SMS and MMS comes from the fact that they are straightforward person-to-person messaging service that are simple to grasp and have widespread support (Michael Salter, 2006). In the context of mobile marketing, text messaging has become increasingly popular as it provides great ways for interacting with customers and provides cheap access to information. The usage of SMS and MMS among phone users is quite high and forecasts show it will remain that way for some time to come (Michael Salter, 2006). One of the main advantages of a text messaging campaign is that it is easy to implement and most affordable as it can be applied across various mobile platforms and carriers (Dushinski, 2009). SMS and MMS marketing are particularly effective in enticing customers or potential customers to participate in a marketing campaign and in stimulating consumer purchasing. For instance, reality shows such as ÃÆ'-sterreich sucht den Superstar or American Idol prompted viewers in participating in the final votes for their favorite musical act by sending special keywords to short codes (SC). Coca Cola, on the other hand, has repeatedly run a long-term sweepstake where secret numbers are hidden beneath the bottle caps and when sent via SMS to a short code, consumers could win prizes. By responding to these campaign users are opting-in or subscribing to receive marketers messages or updates as well as allowing them to expand their database. When integrated with traditional mass media, text messages can also generate large ROI. However, mobile marketing can be challenging and if done wrong may even deter customers or potential clients. Susan Gunelius of Creative Inc. recommends following five tips for better text messing campaigns  [26]  : Brief, clear and precise communication. Customers must recognize the purpose and be able to respond accordingly. Addressing the customer appropriately and avoiding the use abbreviations and slang terms (common in spam messages) otherwise they will be ignored. Text messages should ideally enhance the user experience as soon as it is read by offering important information or something else of value. For example, real-time information based on a customers geo-location. The sender and or brand should be clearly identifiable in order to be traceable, accountable and promote ethical behavior. Making the customer feel exceptional and avoiding clutter in order to entice them to opt-in or remain subscribed to the service. 2.6.2 QR Codes Originally invented in Japan for tracking products in factories  [28]  , today quick response codes (QR) have become indispensable marketing tools we can no longer do without. QR Codes like the one depicted above in figure 7 are 2D bar codes that can be captured via a mobile phones camera and converted into text, links and image or used as vouchers among other things. The rapid rise in popularity for QR codes lies in the fact that they enable traditional mass media to become interactive and measurable since each QR code is unique and traceable. In the context of mobile marketing, QR codes can be used in a variety of ways and can be integrated into any type of media including TV commercials, print advertising, digital displays or infoscreens, business cards, mailers an