Information Systems supporting the Department of Human Services Assignment

Information Systems supporting the Department of Human Services - Assignment Example Basically, organizations are segmented into different departments. Further, these departments are specified according to their roles and functions as well as these functions on a broader dimension are further supported by other business processes that shape overall structure of an organization. Now, it is very important for us to understand the role of Information System as a basic component in an organization as it enhances the abilities and adds value not only to an organization but also to its customers. The use of Information System mainly depends on the nature and the needs that are required to be addressed in meeting the objectives within an organization. It is worth mentioning that an organization is comprised of different systems which are inter-related with each other as well as the role of effective information and its usage among these systems is directly associated with the process of quick decision making. It is highly imperative for the organizations around the world to establish an effective and more comprehensive Information System that would help them in achieving their goals with increased work efficiency. TABLE OF CONTENTS Contents: Introduction: 3 Business Process of the Functional Area: 4 Creating Financial Statements: 5 Financial Operations: 6 Financial operations work on the basis of these statements as these statements show the performance and the financial needs of the organization. This also helps the organization to evaluate the potential of their operations and their financial capability that would further assist them in generating more funds and fulfilling its needs and other requirements. Financial operations estimate the potential or other possible resources through which they can generate funds. -Investing cash: 6 INFORMATION SYSTEMS: 6 Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Systems: 7 Management Information Systems: 9 List of References: 11 4-Samuel, M. (2010), â€Å"The Direct Link between Business Results and Organizational Cultu re†, viewed on 17 July 2011, 11 6-Kehinde, T. (2010), â€Å"Effective Information System† viewed on 17 July 2011, 12 8-Business Local Listing, (2009), â€Å"Advantages of Business Process Outsourcing† viewed on 17 July 2011, 12 APPENDICES 12 Introduction: To understand the importance and functioning of an Information System, it is very important for one to understand the structure of an organization. An organization consists of different groups and departments working together for achieving an organization’s goals and objectives. Organizations can be classified on the basis of their goals and structure. However, we cannot deny the fact that a balanced synchronization within the different departments and systems leads to smoother operations which results in overall success of the organization in the long-run. Functional Area: Basically, organizations are consisted of the functional areas which are inter-lined with each other as well as they are also respo nsible for achieving the goals of an organization (Jiang 2009, p.156). In large organizations, it is easy to differentiate between functional areas as they operate in

Partition of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth Essay Example for Free

Partition of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth Essay The modern republics of Poland and Lithuania had been once been a single, strong nation known as the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. This commonwealth was established in 1569. Although there were other states in the commonwealth, none of them was as powerful as Poland. The nation was on the brink of success when the rest of Europe was ravaging in the famous thirty years war between 1618 and 1648. The Commonwealth noblemen had no desire to get involved in these wars and they were able defend the country against external attacks from the Germans, Russians and the Ottoman Turks (TLK). However, the commonwealth’s supremacy and stability did not last for long and there already were clear signs of decline by the mid 17th century. The main cause of the decline was wars that were fought within and outside the commonwealth. Thus, the weakened state could not hold itself together after these wars which ultimately led to its partition. The decline of Poland was basically evincible in the legislative body Sejm. The divergent systems of the parliament grew ineffective and inefficient at a time when the deputies went verbal asserting â€Å"Liberum Veto† which gave them excessive power over national resolutions. The country’s population had decreased by big proportions as a result of wars. This made it practically impossible for the nation to succeed in its wars against other nations, though they were able to defeat the Ottomans at Vienna. This was the last success realized by the commonwealth military (Davies 24). The Szlachta (noblemen) also diminished in their ability to influence others and consequentially depreciated in military vigor. In a myriad of situations they became impotent and viewed â€Å"veto† as the only remaining legislative symbol within the commonwealth (25). The Decline of the Commonwealth In 1648, the warlike Cossacks, with the support of Russia, upstaged a rebellion against Poland. Thus the Russians began to influence the affairs of the country. Later in 1655, the Commonwealth was involved in another war with Sweden, provoked by the policies of Commonwealth kings from the Swedish royal House of Vasa. The Swedes installed Stanislaw Leszczynski as king. However, they were defeated by the Russians in 1709 and this resulted in the reinstatement of Augustus on the throne (TLK). Augustus was at conflict with parliament and this lead to a civil war in 1717. The Russians responded by reducing the powers of the Sejm, who by now were at the centre of running Poland, came to the rescue of Augustus. This resulted in Poland being forced to cut down the size of her standing army. When Augustus died in 1733, Leszyski returned to the throne. This move was met with resistance from the Russians who forced him out and made Fredrick Augustus, a son to Augustus, king instead. Another blow to the commonwealth was the Saxon rule that lasted for sixty years. It drove the nation to the edges of lawlessness, devastating it even more. A powerful alliance between Russia, Prussia and Australia ensured that Poland’s legal system and maintain ace of order was paralyzed. The three nations formed the â€Å"Alliance of the Three Black Eagles† owing to the fact that all the three had eagles, black in color, on their coat-of-arms (Kjaergard 121). The Partitioning of the Commonwealth By the 18th century, the Commonwealth could not handle the many internal problems that were plaguing it and this made the fragile nation more vulnerable to external influences. The political system was in shambles and this soon culminated to the schism of the commonwealth. The country was partitioned in three stages by the neighboring Russian, Prussian, and Austrian powers (TLK) . The first partition was in 1772, when the Commonwealth lost 733, 000 square kilometers of land together with about four million people. Russia took most of the land while a majority of the population went to Austria. The Sejm ratified the partition agreement despite much resistance from the state’s deputies. After the first partition, there was a period of relative stability that saw to the development of a better education sector in the country. There was a rise in the number of professionals in various fields. The king initialized a healing programme, which was executed by the â€Å"Great Sejm†. The Four Year or Great Sejm came up with a new constitution (Domar 56). â€Å"Liberum Veto† was abolished under the newly formed constitution, changing how the country was governed. people were guaranteed personal freedom and more liberty was enhanced. England, France and the United States hailed the newly formed constitution. On the other hand, this step was viewed as a threat by the rulers of Austria and Russia. This led to a wide instigation of large numbers of magnate under the leadership of Branicki Ksawery, Potocki Szczesny and Rzewuski Seweryn. This was a betrayal of the commonwealth hence leading to the formation of the Targowica Confedaration in disrespect to the declarations of the newly formed constitution (Kjaergard 122) The second partition was as a result of Russian invation. The troops from Russia decided to cross the borders and immediately war broke out. Joseph Poniatowski who was the King’s nephew together with Kosciuszko Tadeusz, a supporter of the American Independence War, erected a vehement resistance although all confidence was crushed after the Prussians joined the fighting. Many people, who would otherwise have been citizens, ran away to other countries. In 1793, Prussia and Russia were obliged to sign the Second Partition Treaty. This led to about About This led to holding in of more than half of the entire nation with a population of about four million people. Later, there was a meeting at Grodno composed mainly of the Sejm which deliberated on the legal processd to make legal the process of partitioning of the country. After the partitioning, there was widespread discontent within the general population (Kostrowicka 34). The final partition in 1795 was the most devastating. A lot of Poles were evicted from their country. The King was seized and taken to prison in St. Petersburg. Other people were sent to the harsh cold deserts of Siberia and thousands more fled to other lands. Conclusion Although Poland’s history is one full of turmoil, a lot can be learnt from it. It is clear that good governance policies should be in place for a country to run smoothly. The heads of state should at the fore front providing the much needed leadership to citizens of their countries. If the Polish constitution had had good policies, and if the leaders were competent enough, then maybe the history of the Poles would be much different and better than it is.

Entering the Fast Food Industry

Entering the Fast Food Industry Introduction Pull open the glass door, feel the rush of cool air, walk in, get on line, study the backlit color photographs above the counter, place your order, hand over a few dollars, watch teenagers in uniforms pushing various buttons, and moments later take hold of a plastic tray full of food wrapped in colored paper and cardboard. The whole experience of buying fast food has become so routine, so thoroughly unexceptional and mundane, that it is now taken for granted, like brushing your teeth or stopping for a red light. Eric Schlosser from the book Fast Food Nation The food that people always eat or dont it was always determined by some economical and environmental forces. And the big growth of the Egyptian fast food market occurred according to some main changes in the Egyptian society. One of the main changes was the huge entering the women the workforce, which increased the request on some service which women usually do like cooking, cleaning, and child care. And now you can see the double income of the household which make an increase of the requested fast food. Socially, these fast food chains created many changes within the Egyptian behavioral patterns as well. Cleanliness and quality allowed families to feel safe and comfortable, permitting their children to go out on their own. A cheerful atmosphere and fun promotional items and gifts available at these chains attracted children and the younger generation began to frequent them more often, meeting friends and planning parties. It gave the Egyptian youth a safe acceptable place to go to. From here was born the concept of home delivery, a hugely profitable business today. Now, one can order virtually any consumer product by telephone for delivery and thousands of young people are employed in this sector. As consumers became frequent customers, the database developed into a very important asset. Promoting sales and keeping information classified was a must, not to mention boosting an already-escalating competitive environment. Entering the fast food market can be done in several ways that each one of them differs from the other. There are two main choices; first is acquiring a franchise license from an international-branded fast food chain, the second is to create a new brand that is developed locally and independently. Each one of them has their own advantages and disadvantages, and choosing an entry strategy heavily depends on several factors which will be analyzed in this paper. Before choosing an entry strategy the market has to be assessed extensively and to do so Porters Five Forces and the PEST (Political, Economical, Social Technological) analysis models represent the perfect harmony in analyzing the heavily saturated and very competitive Egyptian fast food market. Office of government commerce, (2006) Definition of alternatives Before proceeding with the market analysis we have to understand clearly what is meant by each one of the entry strategies to avoid any misunderstandings; According to (Treas, 1973) franchising can be defined simply as a business relationship between two entities; the seller (franchisor) and the license buyer (franchisee). The franchisee buys a royalty license from the franchisor to have the permission of doing business and opening fast food chains under the brand name of the franchisor. However, the franchisees are still independent and the chains are under full supervision and management by them but they have to abide to certain quality standards and regulations set by the franchisor to help them maintain and save the brand image of their trade mark. (Treas.1973) (Kaufmann Dant, 2001) On the other hand, opening an independent (locally branded) fast food chain is the total opposite of franchising. Instead of buying a franchise license from a well known established brand, the founder decides to create a new novel brand enduring all of the associated costs and taking the risk of creating a new brand image that requires time to gain the desired reputation. Some of the successful franchises in Egypt could be: McDonalds, Pizza Hut, KFC, Burger King, and Sbarro. While Successful examples of independent in Egypt could be: Cook Door, Smileys, Momen, Amo Hosny, Bon Appetite, and Prego. Porters five forces analysis Michael Porter in this analysis suggested a frame that industry influenced by five forces. These forces can determine the competitive intensity and therefore the attractiveness of a market and attractiveness means the overall industry profitability. These forces represent the micro-environment side which is more specific than the more general macro-environment one; they consist of those forces close to a market that affect its shape and stability. (Figure 1: Porters Five forces Model) (Michael E. Porter 1980: 31) Rivalry among existing competitors The first component of the five forces analysis focuses on the competitive rivalry. Competitive rivalry is one of the key areas for an industry, because in many cases it may determine the marketing strategies that will be developed and implemented. The purchasing power of the Egyptian consumers is quite strong and naturally those consumers have high expectations. That is the reason why fast food chains constantly compete for better products and more attractive promotions. For instance, McDonalds was the first fast food chain in Egypt that offers toys and games with meals to trigger childrens interest and this was hugely successful where most of the children buy McDonalds happy meal in order to get the offered toy. Rivalry can be found in many familiar forms such as advertising campaigns, price discounting, new product introduction and service improvement. The more the degree of rivalry the more it becomes an obstacle for profitability, and the degree of rivalry is determined through the intensity of the competition and on how they compete. The intensity of rivalry is influenced by the following characteristics: Large number of competitors: The huge existing numbers of food chains makes the competition more intensified where they have to compete for the same customers and resources in order to gain more market share. The market includes two main categories of chains; local branded fast-food chains which include (Momen, Smileys Grill, Cook Door and El-Shabrawy), and international branded fast-food chains such as (KFC, McDonalds, Pizza Hut, Burger King, and many more) Slow market growth: If the market growth is slow the fast-food chains will fight more for the existing market share. On the other hand, if the market growth is fast, the fast-food chains will be able to improve revenues simply because of the expanding market. Egypt is considered the largest in both Africa and the Middle East in the fast-food service industry where it represents US $7 billion and is expected to reach US $10 billion over the next five years (Schaefer 2008: 1) and due to this the fast-food market in Egypt is very fast growing. Highly perishable products: Food products is considered highly perishable where it urges the seller to sometimes lower the prices and sell the product while it is still consumable, thus it intensifies the rivalry. Low switching costs: When a consumer can freely switch and choose from one product to another there is a greater struggle to capture consumers and since most of the fast-food chains meals prices are nearly similar the threat for competitors is high where consumers can switch to another competitor at any time and this creates a pressure on the fast-food chains to create a competitive edge. Low levels of product differentiation: The low levels of product differentiation tends to increase the levels of rivalry thats why fast-food chains tends to increase their brand identification to maintain their market share since they are all serving relatively the same target customers with relatively similar products. Industry shakeout: The growing market of the fast-food industry and the potential for high profits encourages new competitors to enter the market and the existing competitors to increase their size. A point is reached where the industry becomes crowded with competitors and demand cannot support the new entrants and the resulting increased supply creating a situation of excess capacity with too many goods chasing too few buyers. Exit barriers included the issue of asset specialization which can determine how easy a fast food chain can exit the market without having difficulties in liquidating its assets. Due to the fact that most of the fast food chains require some tailor-made equipments that serve their specific needs and helps in maintaining their brand image throughout their products, the degree of asset specialization is quite high in the fast food market which subsequently creates many exit barriers. (Edward 2010) (Yacoub 2010) (Hamza 2010) When a rival acts in a way that draws out a counter-response by other competitors, the rivalry intensifies. The intensity of rivalry is commonly based on the chains aggressiveness in attempting to gain an advantage. In pursuing an advantage over its rivals, a fast-food chain can choose from several competitive moves: Changing prices: Raising or lowering prices to gain a temporary advantage, and many chains try to offer money saving combo meals that sounds more economically to the consumer. Improving product differentiation: Providing innovative and new products and improving the production process itself. For example, Pizza Hut has recently introduced interesting new types of pizzas that helps them to build a strong product differentiation. Using new channels of distribution: McDonalds was the first fast-food chain to introduce the drive-thru chains that conveniently have suited many consumers helping them to co-op with the fast paced lifestyle. Threat of substitute products or services Porter describes substitute product as it is another product that can be chosen as a substitution of the required product. The elasticity of demand could be affected by more than one variable like the price, quality, availabilityà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ The consumer buying decision can be changed to substitute products according to the change of the price, this change increase the demand on the substitute products. Also the consumer behavior now increased to healthy food which will affect the fast food market negatively. The threat of substitutes is increased if: The substitute product offers more convenient price or performance rather than the fast-food industry because consumers always choose the alternative that offers him greater value. For example, many consumers could choose eat-in restaurants because it can provide them with more food quality rather than the fast-food chains but eating in a restaurant can be more expensive. The switching cost is low and minimal, the threat of substitution becomes higher and the consumer has the ability to switch between alternatives easily with no extra charge and this is the case in the fast-food market Bargaining power of buyers There are several types of buyer power. The first is related to the customers price sensitivity. If each brand of the fast-food chains is similar to all the others, then the consumer will base the purchase decision mainly on price which will increase the competitive rivalry, resulting in lower prices and lower profitability. For example, some consumers would choose McDonalds rather than Burger King for being cheaper. Also the more number of substitutes is available for the buyer, the more powerful he becomes. The other type of buyer power which is not strongly relevant to our market analysis is the negotiating power where larger buyers tend to have more leverage to negotiate prices. Bargaining power of suppliers The fourth part of the five forces analysis focuses on the power of the suppliers and how is it easy for them to drive up prices. This is driven by the number of suppliers available for each key input. The uniqueness of their product or service and the cost of switching from one to another determine how powerful they are. Powerful suppliers can squeeze profitability out of an industry that is unable to pass on cost increases in its own prices. The supply power in our case is represented through the people who provide materials used for the fast-food production such as bakery, poultry, vegetables and packaging. To determine how much the suppliers are powerful we have to asses several aspects; The supplier will become less powerful if he depends heavily on a certain buyer for revenues. For example, Farm Frites-Egypt supply McDonalds for their French Fries, and McDonalds represent a major revenue resource for them where they cannot afford to lose such a strong customer, and this is the case for most of the fast-food chains in Egypt where the suppliers for the materials depend heavily on fast-food chains willing to offer convenient prices for them to become his exclusive supplier for a certain material. (Aly 2010) (Eslam 2010) Changing suppliers for fast-food chains have relatively high switching costs because choosing a supplier comes after several quality tests and approvals by the fast-food chain. Also most of the fast-food chains require exclusive materials and products to be made especially for them like for instance the packaging. (Edward 2010) The supplier will become more powerful if there are no substitutes for him, but in the fast food market in Egypt each key entry has several substitutes that a fast-food chain can choose from. As mentioned before, McDonalds depends on Farm Frites-Egypt to supply them with French Fries, but at the same time McDonalds has the option to choose another supplier with the same standards of Farm Frites such as UniFood. (Aly 2010) Barriers to entry/ Threat of entry It is not only the existing rivals that represent a threat for competitors in the fast-food industry; the possibility that new firms may enter the industry also affects competition. In theory, any competitor should be able to enter and exit a market. In reality, however, there are several aspects that can represent an obstacle for entry and these are called entry barriers. Entry barriers are unique industry characteristics that define the industry; it can reduce the rate of entry new rivals, thus maintaining a level of profits for those already in the industry. These barriers arise from several sources: Government creates barriers Present days, the procedures a fast food chain under-go to open a new outlet is very excruciating, time wasting and requires lots of paper work. This includes; safety regulations, health inspections and taxation procedures. And due to the high levels of bureaucracy in Egypt, the task is never easy. (Aly 2010) (Edward 2010) (Eslam 2010) In the past, the regulatory authority of the government in restricting competition is evident in Egypt during the era of Gamal Abdel Nasser in the sixties, most of the consumer products where locally produced by governmental companies. For example, consumer durables where locally produced by the Ideal national company. Anwar El-Sadats shift of alliance from the Soviet Union to the western world in the early seventies was followed by the Open door policy, or privatization at the expense of the public sector state monopolized large scale industries. The shift from Nassers State capitalist era to full integration into the world capitalist system went hand in hand with encouraging consumerism and franchising activities in Egypt.(Oweiss1988:73-76) b. Patent rights Ideas and knowledge that provide competitive advantages are treated as private property when patented, preventing others from using the knowledge and thus creating a barrier to entry. KFC has their own patent rights for the chicken recipe which positions them aside from other competitors as the leading fast-food chain serving chicken making it hard for competitors to compete in the same market. (Hamza 2010) c. Customer switching costs It becomes harder for new entrants to enter the market if the switching costs are high because it makes it harder for the consumer to switch their decision, and since switching costs between different brands of fast-food chains is low, then it is easy for consumers to switch their decision, thus, making it easy for new entrants to enter the market and gain market share. d. Capital requirement. Since entering the market requires huge financial capital requirement therefore the new entrants will decrease. Capital may be necessary not only for fixed facilities but also to extend customer credit, build inventories and fund start-up losses. There can be two types of start-up costs in our case; the first one is the cost of starting a locally branded fast-food chain, the other one is the cost of franchising an existing internationally branded fast-food chain which sounds easier than starting a locally branded one but can be more costly. Further details will be discussed when comparing between the two market entries alternatives. PEST Analysis. While starting the franchising or broadly speaking starting an international business the new market that the company wants to start business in should be analyzed to make sure that the company operations would work effectively in this market. One of the important tools that companies uses in the analysis process is the PEST analysis which analyze the market considering four factors Political, Economical, Social and Technological factors. In the coming words the four factors will be discussed. Office of government commerce, (2006) (Figure 2: PEST Analysis Model) The Times100 (2008) PEST Analysis of Egypt. 3.1. Political factors Examining the political factors is a very important task any company should do before entering a new market while focusing on the Egyptian case we can find that Egypt is politically stable compared to many countries, however sometimes companies faces some political issues there are many incidents that we can find people trying boycotting specific company because of the home country of the brand as for example USA, In many times there are people boycotting American restaurants therefore we can find many companies as for example McDonalds building on the local identity of the brand by producing a product locally as for example McArabia, McFalafel, etc and that helps in building the feeling that it is a local brand. Waguih (2002) 3.2. Economical factors As mentioned previously the change in the economy in the period of Sadat to his open door policy and globalization helps franchisors to work in Egypt because it is a healthy economy. While starting the business franchisors were used to import every ingredient, but after several years of success, they began in building food factories licensed by the international brands. Consequently, factories became so efficient in the production of quality goods that after fulfilling the local demand, they began exporting their products to countries throughout the Middle East and Europe. Aboul Fath, (2008) In the past few years there were a growth in the Egyptian economy the figure 3 below shows the increase in the GDP per capita which shows that economically the market is attractive for investments. Ministry of Finance Macro Fiscal Policy Unit (2008) (Figure 3: Annual Percent Change %) Ministry of Finance Macro Fiscal Policy Unit (2008) The Egyptian government has identified foreign investments as a critical component to sustained economic growth. As a result, investors are given special exemptions and incentives. However, several barriers to investment remain including a high level of bureaucracy, complex tax systems and customs procedures. To overcome these obstacles, the Egyptian government is currently directing its effort to increase privatization and fiscal transparency, and to improve tax regulations thus encouraging foreign investments and easing the path for franchising. Aboul Fath, (2008) 3.3. Social factors Demographics The group of consumers in Egypt consist of low income families, middle and high income this may secure the success in Egyptian fast food market. In addition to that there is about 50% of Egyptian population young consumer which presented in figure 4. That may make an opportunity for the fast food chains as their young group becomes more targets to the American and European chains. There is also the percentage of the working age where they representing the purchasing power are nearly 62% showed in figure 4 below. The middle aged is seeking fast food as a solution for a ready meal. Awad, Zohry (2005) Shaefer(2008) (figure.4: Egyptian Population by Broad Age groups 1950-2010) Awad and Zohry (2005) Fast food expenditure and consumption patterns: In a study conducted by Fabiosa and Soliman (2008) they focused on explaining the impact of income changes on the expenditure behavior for the households, . Another study by Fabiosa (2008) shows the household food-away-from-home (FAFH) expenditure pattern in Egypt. When reviewing the life style of Egyptians, we can find that Egyptians eats three main meals, traditional Egyptians meals is made of rice or pasta and vegetables. Meat is also included depending on whether they can afford its cost or not. However in the past decade there were rapid increases in the interest of the Egyptians in the fast food especially in the American and European food. However, high class families usually are aware about healthy food and may choose products with lower fat and cholesterol. Fabiosa and Soliman, (2008), Fabiosa (2008) Average income families usually can afford to eat once a month outside, although dining outside of home is increasing in popularity among many consumers. More well-off households and single people may eat out more than once a week. The young consumer segment, especially wealthier segment, typically eats out more than it cooks at home and the consumption can reach as much as four or five times a week. Fabiosa, (2008) 3.4. Technological factors The several advancements in technology have allowed the food production to grow massively and at much lower costs than it used to be. Now, there are several ways a person can order his food; through telephone, internet, and drive-through fast-food chains. All of these ways are of course available beside the traditional way of ordering fast-food which is take-away. Due to technological advancements, buying fast-food is one of the easiest tasks a person can do nowadays. Technological advancement also reached the food itself, now with the increased health awareness, fast-food chains try to focus on producing healthy food and reducing all the harmful ingredients. For instance, KFC announces that they are using Trans-Fat free ingredients which raised many health concerns among consumers. Also technology offers wide array of flavors that can be added to make food more appealing to consumers. A.Hamza, (Branch Manager Hardees Restaurants. Personal Interview. 1st of Feb, 2010). 4. The Egyptian fast food sector Entering the fast food market in Egypt can be successfully done in two main ways according to the successful stories in Egypt which will be explain later; first is acquiring a franchise license from an international-branded fast food chain, The second is to create a new brand that is developed locally and independently. Opening an independent (locally branded) fast food chain is the total opposite of franchising. Instead of buying a franchise license from a well known established brand, the founder decides to create a new brand enduring all of the associated costs and taking the risk of creating a new brand image that requires time to gain the desired reputation. Aboul Fath ,(2008) 5. Franchising as an international business tool Internationalization became one important way of doing business allover the world.1980s shows the increasing in distribution number of international retailers. The retailers were acquired and forced to move and enter international markets as the domestic market gave them a limited option to distribute their products or services. By this increasing numbers of distributing in international markets which continued in 1990s the retailers considered developing themselves to enter new markets outside, Quinn Alexander, (2002). To enter a new market there are three main ways which are first is independent as to invest in the new market and work directly from there. On the other hand there is two ways which are distributorship and formal relationship and these two ways are to work throw another party which could be in many ways, figure 1 briefly explain this ways. Entry modes Independent Distributorship Formal relationship Joint venture Acquisition Franchising Licensing (Figure 5: Modes of entry) Distributorship theory which is having a relation with the supplier, the distributor buys in bulk quantities and sell in smaller quantities, this independent distributor can work with many suppliers and he may not receive training or support from the supplier and the relation simply is to buy the product from the supplier no more. Formal relationship: Elaborating more on the facts showed in the chart, there are other options in this case is to join another party as acquisitions, joint venture, licensing and franchising. 5.1. Franchising Concept Many people think that fast food restaurants like KFC, Pizza Hut, MacDonalds or Burger King are the only examples of franchising but already there are many types of franchising and as Mr. Sidney J. Feltenstein the chairman of international franchising association says one out of every three dollars spent by Americans for goods and services is spent in a franchised business. Homes we buy can be throw franchised business, cars we buy clean or cared also can be through franchised business. We can travel from country to another through franchised business transportation firms so there are many types of franchising. (Beshel, 2000). Beshel, (2000) defined franchising as an agreement between two parties or two independent persons which give that: one from this two parties (franchisee) get the right to trade or to work by the trade mark of the second party (franchisor) Franchisee gets the right to use the operating system of franchisor and his obligation to pay fees to the franchisor. Franchisors obligation to provide rights to support franchisee. So franchise is a continuing relation between the franchisor and the franchisee. This relation depends on the franchisors experience, history, image and success. Also franchisor technique in doing business is important point to be consider when use franchising. The agreement of franchise can be made using several arrangements. It can be by fixed fees, percentage of sum of sales or the franchisee purchasing the product from the franchisor. Rothenberg, (1976). Independent vs. Franchised Comparing between the two routes for analyzing the effectiveness of franchising on food market in Egypt, some points considered to show that. To gather such in-depth information, interviews were conducted with several fast food chains managers and supervisors (franchised and local) to help us compare and choose the most appealing strategy for market entry. 6.1. Start-up Capital To acquire a franchise license is a very difficult task, the reason is that the franchisor expects from his franchisee to be withholding a respectable amount of monetary resources that can enable the franchisee to be up to the franchisors expectations and standards. For instance, the franchisee can be subject to some strict conditions set by the franchisor asking him to open a minimum number of chains with certain quality standards or else the franchise contract will be voided. Kaufmann Dant, (2001) (Calhoun 1975) A.Aly. (CEO of Target Franchises. Personal Interview. 11th of Feb, 2010) On the other hand, starting up an independent local fast food chain can be much easier and much less in terms of cash resources required. You can start small and then expand and grow gradually without having the limitations and strict conditions of a franchise contract that can be in terms of: Huge initial franchise fees Previous experience Quality standards Size vs. time frame available for growth Thus, keeping up with the franchisors conditions and standards require huge capital investments at the beginning which can be a drawback for choosing the franchise route as an entry strategy for the fast food market. But in some cases, financing a franchise can be easier because are sometimes more likely to offer loans to buy a franchise with a good reputation. O.Eslam, (General Manager of Target Franchises. Personal Interview. 11th of Feb, 2010).H.Anis( Founder of Harris Cafà ©. Personal Interview. 28th of Feb,2010). 6.2. Established Name A franchise opportunity provides its franchisee a well established and internationally recognized brand name and image that can acquire customers. In other words, buying a franchise can be like buying a business with built-in customers. Franchising a brand also doesnt carry the same risk as building a new one because when considering the option of entering the fast food market with an independent brand chains, founder will be struggling at first to achieve a good reputation and strong brand image that can earn the trust of consumers without having any doubts related to health or quality issues because one of the most difficult things to do when starting a business is to develop a recognizable presence with customers. This usually only happens over time and franchises eliminate this obstacle which saves both money and time. Also the franchisees will capture the benefits of the parent companys national marketing campaigns and advertising. A.Aly. (CEO of Target Franchises. Personal Interview. 11th of Feb, 2010) S.Edward, (CEO of Future Franchises. Personal Interview. 13th of Feb., 2010). O.Eslam, (General Manager of Target Franchises. Personal Interview. 11th of Feb., 2010). M.Yacoub,.( Branch Manager of Cook Door. Personal Interview. 25th of Feb., 2010). (Peterson Dant, 1990) 6.3 Access to Technology and Training When buying a franchise, the franchisor gives you support usually including training and orientation to help setting up the business and they provide you with manuals telling you how to run the business and ongoing advice. Also, most of the times the franchisor provide you with all the equipment, supplies and materials needed to conduct the business so you dont have to worry about acquiring assets that include state of the art machines and equipments like you do when opening an independent new chain. (Peterson Dant, 1990) M.Telleb,. (Branch Manager Starbucks Cafe. Personal Interview. 28th of feb, 2010). 6.4 Operating cost The franchisee will be able to acquire all necessary supplies at much lower costs because the prices are negotiated by the company with the suppliers in behalf of all the franchise units. Because of the size and regular occurrence of orders, the franchisor is able to get huge discounts on supplies. This gives an advantage compared to the route of entering the market with a new local independent brand. M.Yacoub,.( Branch Manager of Coo

Customer Empowerment Essay -- Economics

Customer Empowerment The Choice is Yours The Internet has permanently changed the relationship between consumers and the retail industry. Electronic commerce has provided consumers with more options, more alternatives and more opportunities than ever before. Consumers are no longer limited to physically visiting "main street" or "big-box" retailers. Instead, they are able to choose from products and services from companies large and small, located all over the world, without leaving their homes. Tangible points of comparison between retailers, which now can be automatically aggregated by software buying agents in seconds, include more than selection and price. Shipping costs, return policies, privacy practices and personalization of products are examples of tangible points of comparison. Equally as important are intangible points of comparison, specifically the customer experience. Everything from the look and feel of the home page to the shopping and buying process defines this experience. It encompasses everything the customer sees, clicks, reads, or otherwise interacts with. The customer experience is the key to dotcom survival. Consider the options available at the Land's End Web site. Consumers can browse the catalog online or shop with a friend, speak with a customer representative on the phone or online, create a model to try on clothes virtually, ask questions about specific products, place an order and track past orders. Concern over the customer experience has clearly driven the design of the Land's End business model, creating numerous options unavailable in the physical world. Of course, this overlooks the most powerful and fundamental option to consumers on the Internet: the ability to leave one store and enter another within seconds. And if a satisfactory purchase cannot be made, online auctions provide alternative shopping venues that directly compete with many traditional retailers. Central to the creation of a positive, unique and personalized shopping experience are technologies employed to remember customer preferences. Tracked preferences help expedite, and sometimes fully automate, the shopping process while offering targeted marketing and discounts. Online chat, bulletin boards, user reviews, auction sites, consumer feedback, online help and other customer-oriented features are als... ...e the price was just too high (because of the pricing error). I asked him if he could change it and he said no. He also knew that they would be throwing out the oranges soon if they didn’t sell. His frustration in not being able to correct such an obvious problem in his own department was evident. The Lesson. I tell these two contrasting stories because they relate directly to customer satisfaction and profitability as a function of employee empowerment. Two good grocery chains with two very different approaches to management. At Fresh Fields, every employee is aware of his or her impact on profit and is empowered to take independent action to maximize it. The decision to give two expensive cookies to a customer is not an insignificant decision. It is a business decision that may influence the relationship between a store and its customer. Unfortunately, it is a decision that most employees in traditionally managed organizations have no authority to make. My hope is that these two examples will clearly show how customers and profits can be won or lost when employees are enabled to take ownership of day-to-day problems. Once again, it just makes sense.

Idioms: Meaning of Life and Wild Goose Chase

An idiom is an expression whose meaning is different from the meaning of its constituent words. Below is a list of some idioms with their meaning and usage.IDIOM| MEANING| TURN OVER A NEW LEAF| Changing for the better| After Atif was released from prison, he decided to turn over a new leaf and become an honest man.IDIOM| MEANING| HIT BELOW THE BELT| To act in an unfair matter| The candidate of the opposition party spread false rumours about the Minister. People felt that he was hitting below the belt.IDIOM| MEANING| GIFT OF THE GAB| The ability to speak well| He was able to keep the audiences amused with his stories. She surely has the gift of the gab.IDIOM| MEANING| WILD GOOSE CHASE| Futile search| Searching for hidden gold in the village field is nothing but a wild goose chase.IDIOM| MEANING| FACE THE MUSIC| To face the consequences of one’s action| I lost my father’s pen. I will have to face the music when I reach home.IDIOM| MEANING| MAKE A MOUNTAIN OUT OF A MOLEHIL L| To give great importance to minor things| Ibtisam stopped talking to Ruman because he did not lend him his notebook. I think he is making a mountain out of a moleh IDIOM| MEANING|THROW IN THE TOWEL| To accept defeat| I am unable to solve this question. I am ready to throw in the towel.IDIOM| MEANING| NO STONE UNTURNED| Make all possible efforts| My friend has joined two coaching classes. He is leaving no stone unturned in his efforts to get into an engineering college.IDIOM| MEANING| BORN WITH A SILVER SPOON IN ONE’S MOUTH| To be born in a very rich family| Abrar was born with a silver spoon in his mouth. isr father gave him an expensive car on his eighteenth birthday.IDIOM| MEANING| KEEP ONE’S FINGERS CROSSED| Hope for a positive outcome| My results come out day after tomorrow. I am keeping my fingers crossed.

Factors of Bullying

Bullying: The identify technique and its major risk factors Dr. Kasetchai Laeheem1, Dr. Metta Kuning2, Dr. Nittaya McNeil2 1. Department of Educational Foundation, Faculty of Liberal Arts, Prince of Songkla University 2. Department of Mathematics and Computer Sciences, Faculty of Science and Technology, Prince of Songkla University. Abstract The purpose of this study was to study the technique for identifying bullying outcomes, and to investigate the risk factors associated with bullying behaviour at Pattani primary schools, southern Thailand. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 1,440 students.Descriptive statistics, Pearson’s chi-squared test, and logistic regression were used for data analysis. In this study, factor analysis and standardized score techniques were used to identify bullying outcome. It was found that 301 (20. 9%) students could be identified as a bully. Witnessing parental physical abuse and preference for action cartoons were major risk factor for bu llying others. Students having parental physical abuse experiences were more likely to bully others than were those who had never witnessed parental physical abuse (odds ratio 7. 11, 95% confidence intervals 5. 6-9. 60). Students who preferred action cartoons tended to bully more than did students who preferred comedy cartoons (odds ratio 2. 96, 95% confidence intervals 1. 99-4. 43). Key words: bullying, cartoon, factor analysis, parental physical abuse, risk factors The 2nd International Conference on Humanities and Social Sciences April 10th, 2010 Faculty of Liberal Arts, Prince of Songkla University Beliefs – Literature – Lifestyle_002 1 1. Background and significance of problem Bullying behaviour in primary schools is well-known to students, parents, teachers and educational personnel.School bullying is a serious problem which affects students’ quality of life, inflicting psychological, emotional, and physical damage and occurs throughout the world. School b ullying can be defined as any negative actions repeatedly inflicted by a stronger student or student gang toward another student (Olweus, 1999). This negative action must be deliberate and carried out with the intent of causing harm to the victim (Farrington, 1993). Bullying might be classified in a variety of ways including physical assaults and psychological or emotional or verbal harassment.Beale (2001) explained that physical bullying is action oriented and intended to intimidate or physically hurt the victim through pinching, pushing, kicking, and hitting, while verbal bullying is using words to humiliate or hurt someone’s feelings through teasing, insulting, or threatening behaviour. The major reasons that children bully others are to enjoy exercising power and status over their victims, boredom, jealousy, attention seeking, showing off, anger, revenge, and selfprotection (Besag, 2006). In this way, bullying eases the way for children to be drawn into a path of delinque ncy, vandalism and criminality (Junger, 1996).The targets or victims of school bullying are at risk of a variety of negative outcomes. They are more likely than nonvictimized children to become anxious, insecure, lonely, depressed, to be rejected by their peers, drop out of school, feud, or decide to protect themselves by carrying guns/weapons to school (Craig, 1998). There are many causes of bullying, such as domestic violence (Baldry, 2003), preferring cartoon violence (Blumberg, et al, 2008), older students (Wolke et al, 2001), and boys (Mouttapa et al, 2004).Studies have indicated that 38% of students in Netherlands (Veenstra, 2005), 30% in Nigeria (Egbochuku, 2007), 22% in Italy (Gini, 2008), 21% in Canada (Hawkins et al, 2001), 20% in Malaysia (Wan Salwina et al, 2009) and 42% in Thailand (Tapanya 2006). This study aims to study the technique for identifying bullying outcomes, to investigate the prevalence of bullying and the risk factors associated with bullying in Pattani pr imary schools, southern Thailand.By identifying students who are likely to bully others, educational authorities can introduce better strategies for reducing and preventing this problem. 2. Objectives 2. 1 To study the technique for identifying bullying outcomes 2. 2 To estimate the prevalence of bullies at primary schools in Pattani, southern Thailand 2. 3 To analyze the risk factors associated with bullying, in Pattani primary schools 3. Technical terms The 2nd International Conference on Humanities and Social Sciences April 10th, 2010 Faculty of Liberal Arts, Prince of Songkla University Beliefs – Literature – Lifestyle_002 â€Å"Bullying† has traditionally referred to a person’s actions to cause physical or psychological harm to another person. Physical bullying is the most visible and easily identifiable form of bullying. It might take the form of a kick, hit, bite, push, throw of something at someone, bite, or pinch. Psychological bullying includes name-calling, insulting the victim’s name, appearance, economic status, academic achievement, or parent’s occupation, or making negative statements about a victim’s physical disability. 4.Framework of the study Determinants School factors School type School location Demographic factors Gender Age group Environment factors Parental physical abuse Preference of cartoon type Number of close friends Outcome Bullying behaviour 5. Research methodology 5. 1 Study design and sampling technique This study used a cross-sectional study design involving interviews and surveys of primary school students attending school between November 1, 2005 and March 31, 2006. The participants were selected by using a multi-stage sampling method.The first stage involved selecting school location by using purposive sampling, with the criterion being a cluster of four types of school (public school of Basic Education Office (B. E. O. ), public school of municipalities, Islamic private scho ol, and Chinese private school). Pattani City was selected as the urban location and Saiburi district as the rural one, because these were the only two districts that met the school-type cluster criterion. In the second stage, public schools were selected by simple random sampling and private schools were selected by purposive ampling (there was only one of each such school in each district). Finally, participants in each school grade were selected by using a systematic sampling technique which was done proportionate to population size across each class; choosing every 4th seat number where there was a single class in a grade and every 6th seat number where there was more than one class in a grade. Sample size calculations followed an Italian study of bullying (Baldry, 2003) and were based on the main outcome and exposure to parental violence and non-exposure to parental violence.The prevalence of bullying by the Italian primary school students in the ‘nonThe 2nd International Conference on Humanities and Social Sciences April 10th, 2010 Faculty of Liberal Arts, Prince of Songkla University Beliefs – Literature – Lifestyle_002 3 exposure to parental violence’ group was 45. 7%. This information was then used to calculate the required sample size for this study, obtaining an estimate by substituting ? = 0. 05, 1-? = 0. 2, OR = 1. 344 so Z? /2 and Z? are 1. 96 and 0. 84 respectively, r = 1 (ratio of non bully to bully subjects), p2 = 0. 6 (prevalence of bullying in non exposure to parental violence group), p = 0. 50, p1 = 0. 53, into a formula for sample size given by the following (McNeil, 1996), namely ? ? Z? / 2 ? ? 1 ? 1? + Z? ?1 + ? ? r ? p (1 ? p ) ? 1 1 ? + p1 (1 ? p1 ) rp 2 (1 ? p 2 ) ? ? 2 n1 = (InOR) 2 Where p1 = p2 p + rp2 , and p = 1 p2 + (1 ? p2 ) / OR 1+ r This gives n1 = n2 = 719. It was thereby concluded that a minimum sample size of 1,438 was required for this study. 5. 2 Data collection Verbal consent to participate in the study was obtained from students after assurance of confidentiality was given to individuals and group administered.The collection assistants were teachers in target schools, who volunteered to participate and were studying for a Graduate Diploma in Professional Teaching at Yala Islamic University. These teachers were trained in the interviewing techniques and the details of the questionnaire. They were asked to take care not to rush through the questionnaire and also to record responses accurately. The teachers interviewed students in the classroom after permission was granted by the school principal. Each individual was interviewed with grades 1 to 3 students. Interviewed lasted approximately 20 to 30 minutes.Group administered (narrated) surveys of grades 4 to 6 students took approximately 40 to 60 minutes. With older students, the interviewer read the instructions to them and then allowed the student to write their own responses. Most of these responses were uncomplicated a nd involved just ticking a box. 5. 3 Data management and statistical analysis The data were analyzed using Webstat (a set of programs for graphical and statistical analysis of data stored in an SQL database, written in HTML and VBScript), and R program Factor analysis was first conducted to identify possible factors for future analysis.Descriptive statistics were calculated as measures of the prevalence of bulling. Pearson’s chi-squared test was used to assess the associations between the outcome and the various categorical determinants. Logistic regression was used to estimate the relative odds of having bullied others, for risk factors. 6. Conclusions The 2nd International Conference on Humanities and Social Sciences April 10th, 2010 Faculty of Liberal Arts, Prince of Songkla University Beliefs – Literature – Lifestyle_002 4 6. Identifying bullying outcome The technique for identifying bullying outcome in this study is using statistical method; factor analysis and standardized score as follows. The first method involved an exploratory factor analyses using maximum likelihood method with varimax rotation, eigenvalue greater than one, and item loadings greater than 0. 30. Factor analysis resulted in the identification of four types of bullying: a serious physical bullying factor comprising ‘kick’, ‘hit’, and ‘bite’, a minor hysical bullying factor comprising ‘push’, ‘throw something at’, ‘beat’, ‘pinch’ and ‘scold’, a psychological bullying by maligning a parent factor comprising ‘insult parent’s occupation’, and ‘insult parent’s name’, and a psychological bullying by maligning the student factor comprising ‘insult students appearance’ and ‘insult students economic status’, as listed in Table 1. In the second method, the new scores for four types of bullying were calculate d by using discrete scores to compare with the criteria that were adapted from a Likert rating scale: loadings 0. 00-0. 25 scored as 0, 0. 26-0. 50 scored as 1, 0. 51-0. 5 scored as 2, and 0. 76-1. 00 scored as 3. The resulting new scores were thus as follows: kick, hit, and bite: 3, 3 and 1, respectively; push, throw something at, beat, pinch and scold: 3, 2, 2, 1 and 1, respectively; insult parent’s occupation: 3 and insult parent’s name: 1; and insulting students appearance is 3 and insulting students economic status: 1. The resulting new scores are listed in Table 1. Factor loading Psychological Bullying behaviour categories Serious Minor bullying (Maligning physical Physical parent) bullying bullying Kick 0. 822 (3) Hit 0. 825 (3) Bite 0. 380 (1) Pinch 0. 783 (3) Beat 0. 587 (2) Throw something at 0. 07 (2) Push 0. 458 (1) Scold/ name-calling 0. 366 (1) Insult parent’s occupation 0. 878 (3) Insult parent’s name 0. 399 (1) Insult economic status Insul t appearance Eigenvalue 1. 85 1. 77 1. 21 Variance explained 15. 4% 14. 7% 10. 1% Note: Number in the ( ) is resulting new scores for each type of bullying Psychological bullying (Maligning student) 0. 765 (1) 0. 448 (1) 1. 01 8. 4% Table 1: Factor loading scores and resulting new scores for each type of bullying The 2nd International Conference on Humanities and Social Sciences April 10th, 2010 Faculty of Liberal Arts, Prince of Songkla University Beliefs – Literature – Lifestyle_002 In the third method, the total scores for each type of bullying were calculated by using new scores for four types of bullying. The resulting total scores are thus as follows: serious physical bullying (scores 0-7): (3*hit) + (3*kick) + bite; minor physical bullying (scores 0-9): (3*pinch) + (2*beat) + (2*throw something at) + push + scold; psychological bullying by maligning a parent (scores 0-4): (3*insult parent’s occupations) + insult parent’s names; and psychological bu llying by maligning the student (scores 0-4): (3*insult students economic status) + insult students appearance.In the fourth method, the bullying scores were analyzed by combining the total scores for each type of bullying: serious physical bullying (scores 0-7) + minor physical bullying (scores 0-9) + psychological bullying by maligning a parent (scores 0-4) + psychological bullying by maligning the student. The fifth method, transform the bullying scores into Z-scores (standardized to a mean of 0 and a standard deviation of 1). Finally, the students were identified into two categories for bullying, ‘bullied’ or ‘not bullied’. The students who had a standardized score greater than 1 were identified as a bully. 6. Descriptive statistics of bullying and risk factors The distributions of seven determinants in this study involved half of students being from an urban school, 72. 2% were from public school, and 55. 4% were female. Slightly more than one third (3 4. 5%) were 8 years or less of age, 34. 0% were aged 9-10 years, and 31. 5% were 11 years old or more. Most of students (79. 7%) reported that they had not witnessed physical abuse between their parents. Nearly half (48. 2%) of the students preferred ‘mystery’ cartoons type, 26. 0% preferred ‘action’ and 25. 8% ‘comedy’. Regarding number of close friends, 41. % had 3-5 close friends, 32. 2% had two close friends or fewer and 26. 4% had six close friends or more. In this study, bullying outcome was identified as a dichotomous variables; ‘not bullied others’ (1,139 students) and ‘bullied others’ (301 students). The percentage of students reporting that they had bullied others in school was 20. 9%. 6. 3 Associations between bullying and risk factors The associations between the outcome and the seven study determinants are shown in Table 2. Bullied behaviour Determinants School type Private Public School location Urban Rur al Not bullied (1,139) 78. 2 80. 0 82. 5 77. Had bullied (301) 21. 8 20. 0 17. 5 22. 2 Total (1,440) 50. 0 50. 0 0. 7 27. 8 72. 2 0. 399 Chisquared 3. 9 p-value 0. 049* The 2nd International Conference on Humanities and Social Sciences April 10th, 2010 Faculty of Liberal Arts, Prince of Songkla University Beliefs – Literature – Lifestyle_002 6 Gender Female Male Age group 8 yrs or less 9-10 yrs 11 yrs or more Parental physical abuse Not witnessed Witnessed Cartoon type preference Comedy Action Mystery Number of close friends 2 persons or less 3-5 persons 6 persons or more 31. 1 84. 5 72. 4 82. 9 79. 6 74. 4 87. 0 48. 1 86. 5 64. 5 83. 0 80. 6 80. 7 74. 7 15. 5 27. 17. 1 20. 4 25. 6 13. 0 51. 9 13. 5 35. 5 17. 0 19. 4 19. 3 25. 3 55. 4 44. 6 10. 3 34. 5 34. 0 31. 5 213. 5 79. 7 20. 3 66. 9 25. 8 26. 0 48. 2 5. 9 32. 2 41. 4 26. 4 0. 000** 0. 006** 0. 000** 0. 000** 0. 051 * p-value < 0. 05 ** p-value < 0. 01 Table 2: Associations between bullying and study determinants Table 2 shows that school type, gender, age group, parental physical abuse, and cartoon type were strongly associated with bullying. Odds ratio plots of bullying categorized by five different risk factors are shown in Figures 1. Bullying behaviour (Bullying/Not bullying) (Public/ Private) (Male/ Female) School type Witness/ Not witness) Gender Parental physical abuse Years Favorites cartoon type Age (group) Cartoon type Figure 1: Odds ratio plots of bullying categorized by four different risk factors The 2nd International Conference on Humanities and Social Sciences April 10th, 2010 Faculty of Liberal Arts, Prince of Songkla University Beliefs – Literature – Lifestyle_002 7 Figures 1 shows that the students from public schools reported bullying others significantly more often than did students from private schools (OR 1. 35, 95% CI 1. 01-1. 82). More males than females reported that they bullying others (OR 2. 07, 95% CI 1. 59-2. 69).The students who had witnessed phys ical abuse between their parents were more likely to be a bully than did those who had never witnessed physical abuse between their parents (OR 7. 22, 95% CI 5. 39-9. 67). The students aged 11 years or more were more likely to bully others than students aged 9-10 years and 8 years or less, (OR 1. 49, 95% CI 1. 13-1. 95). The students who preferred action cartoons tended to bully more than students who preferred mystery or comedy cartoons (OR 2. 93, 95% CI 5. 39-9. 67). 6. 4 Logistic regression analysis of bullying Logistic regression was used to examine the association between bullying and risk factors.The results are shown in Table 3 and Figure 2. Table 3 shows the results of the logistic regression analysis after omitting determinants with p-values more than 0. 05 using backward elimination. In this reduced model the four factors least significantly associated with the bullying are omitted. The smallest p-values indicate the factors most strongly associated with the bullying were gender, age group, parental physical abuse and cartoon type. Determinant Gender Female Male Age group 8 yrs or less 9-10 yrs 11 yrs or more Parental physical abuse Not witnessed Witnessed Cartoon type preference Comedy Action MysteryOR 0 1. 87 0 1. 29 1. 89 0 7. 11 0 2. 96 1. 33 (95% CI) p-value 0. 000 (1. 40,2. 50) 0. 000 0. 001 0. 160 0. 000 0. 000 0. 000 0. 000 0. 000 0. 147 (0. 90,1. 85) (1. 33,2. 69) (5. 26,9. 60) (1. 99,4. 43) (0. 90,1. 96) Table 3: Reduced model of association between bullying and risk factors Figure 2 shows the odds ratio plot of the results from fitting the final logistic regression model. It was found that witnessing parental physical abuse was clearly the most strongly associated determinant for bullying others.Students having witnessed parental physical abuse were more likely 7. 11 times to bully others than were those who had never witnessed parental physical The 2nd International Conference on Humanities and Social Sciences April 10th, 2010 Faculty of Liberal Arts, Prince of Songkla University Beliefs – Literature – Lifestyle_002 8 abuse (95% CI 5. 26-9. 60). Preference for action cartoons was also a major risk factor for bullying others; students who preferred action cartoons tended to bully more than did students who preferred comedy cartoons (OR 2. 6, 95% CI 1. 99-4. 43). Among the age groups studied, older students (11+ years) were more likely to be a bully than did younger students (8 years or less); 1. 89 times (95% CI 1. 33-2. 69). Males were 1. 87 times (95% CI 1. 40-2. 50) more likely to have reported having bullied others than were females. Bullying others mystery Cartoon type action comedy Parental physical abuse yes no 11+ Age group 9-10 -8 boy Gender girl 1/8 1/4 1 2 4 8 Odds Ratio Figure 2: Risk factors of bullying in logistic regression; final model 7.Discussion In this study, factor analysis and standardized score techniques were used to identify bullying outcome; a student with a standardized score more than 1 was identified as a bully. Using an exploratory factor analysis for divided type of bullying is in accordance with a study by Parada et al (2005) in which six factors were found of 36 items. Beran (2005) found four factors of 21 items. Carlyle and Steinman (2007) found two factors. Using a standardized score for identifying bullying in which a student with a standardized score more than 1 was identified as a bully (Scholte et al, 2007; Gini, 2008).In this study, the identifying techniques led to findings that witnessing parental physical abuse and cartoon type were major risk factors for bullying. Witnessing parental physical abuse was clearly the most strongly associated determinant linked to bullying than those who had never witnessed parental physical abuse (7. 11 times more likely). Exposure to parental family violence has been found to be related to negative behaviours of students; the students who had witnessed parental physical abuse were more likely to bully othe rs, when compared to those who had not itnessed parental physical abuse. This is in accordance with the studies of Herrera et al (2001) and Baldry (2003) who all reported that parental modeling of aggression The 2nd International Conference on Humanities and Social Sciences April 10th, 2010 Faculty of Liberal Arts, Prince of Songkla University Beliefs – Literature – Lifestyle_002 9 and violence promotes the development of a child’s negative behaviour; the child might copy the parent’s physical actions and might then become a bully to gain success in their own social interactions.Preference for action cartoons was also highly associated with bullying (2. 96 times more likely). This finding shows that the children who watch action cartoons or cartoon with superhero images were more likely to display aggressive or bullying behaviour. This was consistent with the studies of Kirsch (2006) and Blumberg et al (2008), who argued that cartoon violence may also inf luence young viewers to transfer violent acts from programs to realworld situations and has a significant additional effect in predicting bullying others.Students often copy the physical actions of parents or of action cartoon characters and so through their life experiences learn to be aggressive. By personally observing others acting aggressively to achieve some goal the children might learn to act aggressively. With this modeling, the child might then become a bully to gain success in his or her own social interactions. This explanation is in line with finding by Larson (2003) and Williams (2007) who found that children use the same aggressive tactics that they observe; they learn to act aggressively when they model the behaviour of violent acts.The children are more likely to copy someone they are looking at, and children have a greater tendency to imitate the modeling of those with whom they have the most contact (Cooke, 1993; Kirsch, 2006). 8. Recommendations 8. 1 Implications of the study This study showed that bullying is a serious problem in Pattani primary schools. Witnessing parental physical abuse and preferring action cartoons were the highest risk factors associated with bullying. Parents are the most important persons in providing leadership and direction for the successful prevention and intervention of bullying.They should provide close attention and talk regularly with their children about their feelings and relationships with friends at school. They should work in partnership with the school to encourage positive behaviour. Moreover, they must have patience, try to avoid using violence, and closely advise and control the cartoon program viewing of their children. Findings from this study should help in the development of prevention and intervention policies in the primary schools and assist educational authorities to introduce better strategies for reducing the problem.School administrators and teachers are the next most important persons fo r preventing the prevalence of bullying in schools. The school environment should be safe, orderly, and bullyfree. Teachers have to provide positive and mature role-modeling in techniques to students and teach them how to interact with one another. They should develop a program that teaches The 2nd International Conference on Humanities and Social Sciences April 10th, 2010 Faculty of Liberal Arts, Prince of Songkla University Beliefs – Literature – Lifestyle_002 0 students about the dangers of bullying, develop school personnel in teaching bully-free practices and teach students about all forms of bullying: verbal, emotional, psychological, and physical, as well as teach students about disadvantages of cartoon violence viewing and physical abuse between parents. 8. 2 Recommendations for future studies Results of our study reveal the extent of bullying in primary schools within Pattani province to be a serious problem.Future research could focus on comparing prevalence rates among different types of schools or in one specific type of school across districts within Pattani province or nearby provinces, such as Yala, Naratiwat, and Songkhla provinces. Results may give the necessary information to teachers and administrators responsible for improving existing awareness programs, as well as continuing to educate our children in the safest and best learning environment possible.In order for bullying to be prevented or decreased in our schools, school personnel need to commit to the ideal that bullying is unacceptable, is serious, and should not be tolerated. Bullying is not a rite of passage that students must work out for themselves. When one incident of bullying occurs it is serious. Silence from students does not imply acceptance. Teachers need training that will help them to identify students who suffer in silence. The training needs to include strategies for victims as well as bullies. School personnel need to intervene appropriately in order to g ain the confidence of the students.To gain that confidence, teachers need to be aware that victims of bullying who remain silent will rarely take the initiative to tell teachers they are being bullied and would benefit from having someone pro-active and notice their circumstance and offer them help. There is also a large, silent majority of bystanders in our schools. These students are usually well-developed socially but they do not know how to reclaim the power from the bullies. Some of these students may be afraid to confront the issue and thus ignore or avoid bullying situations.If we can tap into this silent majority and teach these students the skills they need, we can create a positive school climate with this silent majority holding the power and helping to make the school safe and secure for all. Further research should examine specific teacher referrals after bullying incidents and whether there is a consistent method of reporting these incidents throughout the grade levels and among all teachers. The administration of disciplinary actions, when dealing with the types of bullying incidents should consistent throughout the school.An increase in student learning is an overall goal of this study. If students feel safe at school, if they are not worried about the atmosphere in which they learn, then greater student achievements will be likely to The 2nd International Conference on Humanities and Social Sciences April 10th, 2010 Faculty of Liberal Arts, Prince of Songkla University Beliefs – Literature – Lifestyle_002 11 exist. In order to create and maintain a safe and orderly school environment, all stakeholders must take an active role in combating the bullying problem in Pattani primary schools today. . References Baldry, A. C. 2003. Bullying in schools and exposure to domestic violence. Child Abuse & Neglect, 27, 713–732. Beale, A. 2001. â€Å"Bully busters†: Using drama to empower students to take a stand against bullying behaviour. Professional School Counseling, 4, 300-306. Beran, T. 2005. A new perspective on managing school bullying: Pre-service teachers’ attitudes. Journal of Social Science, 8: 43-49. Besag, V. E. 2006. Understanding girls’ friendships, fights and feuds: A practical approach to girls’ bullying. Milton Keynes: Open University Press.Blumberg, F. C. , Bierwirth, K. P. 2008. Schwartz AJ. Does Cartoon Violence Beget Aggressive Behavior in Real Life? An Opposing View. Early Childhood Educ J. 2008; 36:101–104. Carlyle, K. E. , and Steinman, K. J. 2007. Demographic differences in the prevalence, cooccurrence, and correlates of adolescent bullying at school. Journal of School Health, 77: 623-629. Cooke, P. 1993. TV causes violence? Says Who?. The New York Times. Craig, W. 1998. The relationship among bullying, victimization, depression, anxiety and aggression in elementary children.Personality and Individual Differences, 24, 123-130. Egbochuku, E. O. 2007. Bul lying in Nigerian schools: Prevalence study and implications for counselling, J. Soc. Sci. , 14(1): 65-71. Farrington, D. P. 1993. Understanding and preventing bullying. In M. Tonry & N. Morris (Eds. ), Crime and Justice (Vol. 17). Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Gini, G. 2008. Associations between bullying behaviour, psychosomatic complaints, emotional and behavioural problems. Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health. 44: 492– 497. Hawkins, D. L. , Pepler D. J. , and Craig, W. M. 001. Naturalistic observations of peer interventions in bullying. Social Development, 10 (4): 512-527. Herrera, V. M. , and McCloskey, L. A. 2001. Gender differences in the risk for delinquency among youth exposed to family violence. Child Abuse & Neglect, 25: 1037–1051. Junger, T. J. 1996. Youth and violence in Europe. Studies on Crime and Crime Prevention, 5(1): 31-58. The 2nd International Conference on Humanities and Social Sciences April 10th, 2010 Faculty of Liberal Arts, Prince o f Songkla University Beliefs – Literature – Lifestyle_002 12 Kirsch, S. 2006.Cartoon violence and aggression in youth. Aggression and Violent Behavior. 11: 547–557. Larson, M. S. 2003. Gender, Race, and Aggression in Television Commercials That Feature Children. Sex Roles. 48: 67-75. McNeil, D. 1996. Epidemiological research methods. New York: John Wiley & Sons. Mouttapa, M. , Valente, T. , Gallaher, P. , Rohrbach, L. A. , and Unger, J. B. 2004. Social network predictors of bullying and victimization. Adolescence, 39: 315-336. Olweus, D. 1999. The nature of school bullying: A cross-national perspective. London: Routledge. Parada, R. H. , Marsh, H. W. and Craven, R. G. 2005. There and back again from bully to victim and victim to bully: A reciprocal effects model of bullying behaviours in schools. Sydney, Australia: SELF Research Centre, University of Western Sydney. Scholte, R. J. , Engels, R. E. , Overbeek, G. , Kemp, R. T. , and Haselager, G. T. 2007. Stabilit y in Bullying and Victimization and its Association. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 35: 217-228. Tapanya, S. 2006. A survey of bullying problem of students in Thailand. Chiang-Mai: Faculty of Medicine, Chiang-Mai University. Veenstra, R. , Lindenberg, S. Oldehinkel, A. J. , De Winter, A. F. , Verhulst, F. C. , and Ormel, J. 2005. Bullying and victimization in elementary schools: A comparison of bullies, victims, bully/victims, and uninvolved preadolescents. Developmental Psychology, 41: 672-682. Wan Salwina, W. I. , Susan, M. K. , Nik Ruzyanei, N. J. , Tuti Iryani, M. D. , Syamsul, S. , Aniza, A. , and Zasmani, S. 2009. School bullying amongst standard students attending primary national schools in the federal territory of Kuala Lumpur: The prevalence and associated socio demographic factors, Malaysian Journal of Psychiatry, 18(1): 5-12.Williams, G. 2007. Gabriel Tarde and the Imitation of Deviance. Available at: http://www. criminology. fsu. edu/crimtheory/ tarde. htm. [Acce ssed date: September 21, 2007]. Wolke, D. , Woods, S. , Stanford, K. , and Schulz, H. 2001. Bullying and victimization of primary school children in England and Germany: Prevalence and school factors. British Journal of Psychology. 92: 673–696. The 2nd International Conference on Humanities and Social Sciences April 10th, 2010 Faculty of Liberal Arts, Prince of Songkla University Beliefs – Literature – Lifestyle_002 13