Thursday, October 31, 2019

Risk in the business world Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Risk in the business world - Essay Example There are four basic ways in which a CFO can handle risk; avoid, reduce, assume, or transfer the risk (Silverman, n.d.). A CFO’s attempts should be directed at managing risk in the very order as mentioned here. Personally, a CFO handles risks by collaborating with and influencing the CEO, and also by maintaining independence (Egon Zehnder International, 2008). The challenge for a CFO is to focus on controls, and at the same time, on business partnering. Being able to balance the two conflicting claims enables a CFO to deliver business results. Professionally, a CFO handles risk by trying to assess it in advance and informing the concerned authorities so that it can be managed in time and effectively, if encountered. The best source of risk assessment is historical records and past experiences coupled with expert opinion. In addition, various software like Primavera Risk Analysis can be used to assess and manage risks involved in a

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

Role of Entrepreneurship and Innovation Essay Example for Free

Role of Entrepreneurship and Innovation Essay They have employed existing means of production differently, more appropriately, more adventurously. They have â€Å"carried out new combinations†. They are entrepreneurs† – Joseph Schumpeter (Lumsdaine and Binks, 2007). Entrepreneurship is a procedure through which individuals identify opportunities (problems that need to be solved or unmet needs) in the market place, allocate resources, initiate change by being innovative and creative and create value through solutions. One of the Factors of Production to produce goods or services is Enterprise with Land, Labour and Capital; an entrepreneur combines all other factors of production by enterprise, which is actually problem solving, risk taking and creativity, to come up with innovative products or services. â€Å"Innovation is the ability to see change as an opportunity not a threat†. (Steve Jobs,2010). It is not necessary that Innovation is something completely new which is stated as ‘Discrete Change’ by Joseph Schumpeter, it can also be a ‘Gradual Change’, that is a product or service which is better than what was there before (Lumsdaine and Binks, 2007). It can be called a process by which an Idea or invention is translated into a product or service for which people will pay and perceive it as being new. Entrepreneurship is incomplete without Innovation as Steve Jobs said, â€Å"Innovation is the specific instrument of entrepreneurship. The act that endows resources with a new capacity to create wealth. †. (Steve Jobs,2010). Economic Development can be defined as the development of economic wealth for the well being of a country’s inhabitants. It implies progressive changes in the socio-economic structure of an economy, change in the distribution pattern of income, adoption of new technologies, creation of jobs, transition from agro-based to industry-based economy and general improvements in living standards. According to Lumsdaine and Binks,â€Å"In the context of entrepreneurship, it is creativity that leads to Innovation, that is development of new products and processes which when innovated replace the traditional and previous versions. Creativity leads to a greater fulfillment on an individual basis as we use our imagination to create our new horizons for what we do in our lives. By imagining what we could be and achieve, we move beyond the boundaries we have previously set for ourselves. Innovation can be seen as practical application of creativity in an organization. † (Lumsdaine and Binks, 2007) So Innovation is actually the product of Creativity and Problem Solving with the help of Entrepreneurship. â€Å"Entrepreneurs are the catalysts that spur the economy with their innovations and technological change† – Joseph Schumpeter (Lumsdaine and Binks, 2007). Entrepreneurship leads to Economic Change and economic development through creative destruction. When the Entrepreneurs sell their Idea, the Idea is a solution to a problem and is a need that has not been met before which means there was a gap in the market for that product or service which he innovated, consumers buy it because there is a demand for it which the entrepreneur realized and innovated it and as more and more consumers buy it, more will be the improvement in Living Standards of the inhabitants of the Economy; in conclusion, entrepreneurs showing their creativity solve a problem and innovate a product or service which benefits the economic development of an economy directly and indirectly. Wal-Mart Stores is a relevant example for understanding the relationship between Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Economic Development, the company which is ranked no. 18 in the Forbes List of â€Å"Global 2000 Leading Companies 2011†. Samuel Moore Walton is one of the most successful entrepreneurs who made it possible in less than half a century. He founded the Company in 1962 when he opened the company’s first discount store in Rogers, Arkansas, USA after watching a market gap of Discount stores in his State of Arkansas. He just figured out a problem that people in the urban areas have to pay higher prices at stores in the city center since the country side is far away for the consumers to go there and the stores used to take an advantage of that and charge higher prices. Sam Walton imagined using his creativity, what if there is a discount store in the city which buys everything in bulk from the country side and uses its own transport for delivery of good to the store, would the consumers buy from there at lower prices rather than going to other stores in the city with higher prices. He just used his creativity to solve the problem and Innovated world’s first and most successful Discount Store, Wal-Mart. Sam Walton, in his autobiography, said, â€Å"If you think about it from the point of view of the customer, you want everything: a wide assortment of quality merchandise; the lowest possible prices; guaranteed satisfaction; friendly, knowledgeable service; convenient hours; and a pleasant shopping experience. You love it when a store exceeds your expectations, and you hate it when a store inconveniences you, gives you a hard time, or pretends you’re invisible. (2011). When he opened his first Wal-Mart store, no one imagined he was introducing a retailing formula that within a generation would impact the lives of millions of people. Wal-Mart Stores grew gradually but at a good pace and then reached to the position it has achieved today. In 1975, it employed only 7500 employees, 125 stores with Sales of $340 billion. In 1983, The Forbes Magazine ranked it no. 1 General retailer for the eighth year straight. In 1991, Wal-mart became an international supermarket chain with more than 1200 stores and more than 200,000 employees. Wal-Mart launched Sam’s clubs which was also a success and reached 1995 stores, 239 supercentres, 433 Sam’s Clubs and 276 international stores with 675,000 employees by the end of 1995. By 1997, Wal-Mart Stores had entered into another part of the world, which is China and was taking Environmental friendly measures and also became the largest private employer in the US with 680,000 employees and additional 115,000 international employees serving 90 million customers per week worldwide. By the end of the 1990s, Wal-Mart had opened stores in Korea and Germany and had become the largest private employer of the World with total of 1,140,000 employees. By 2004, Wal-Mart had been declared as the third most admirable company in the US by Fortune Magazine, ranked among the companies with â€Å"Top 25 Diversity Recruitment Programs† and was awarded the â€Å"Corporate Patriotism Award†. In 2005, The Wal-Mart Foundation started working much actively and donated $18 million for US hurricane relief efforts and the Company employed more than 1. million employees and owned 3800 Stores in the US and 3800 International Stores with Annual Sales of $312. 4 billion and existed in 16 countries. Today, Wal-Mart Stores owns 9826 stores in 28 countries with 2. 1 million employees and serves more than 176 million customers annually. Walmart Foundation now is too active and donates largely in relief efforts and for causes; it has separate programs for different fields like Health, Disable people and Education (Wal-mart Stores, 2011). Sam Walton said it best, â€Å"If we work together, we’ll lower the cost of living for everyone†¦we’ll give the world an opportunity to see what it’s like to save and have a better life. † (2011). This was the innovation mainly in his Idea of Discount Stores to save people’s money, to help them live better was the goal that Sam Walton envisioned when he opened the doors to the first Walmart (2011). If his vision was to help people live better which means improving their living standards, then there is no doubt that how much Wal-Mart would have contributed towards positive economic development just because of Sam Walton’s entrepreneurship and Innovation. A company that employs 2. 1 million people cannot be questioned for its contribution towards economic development. Since it generated a lot of employment opportunities the economy was benefited in the form of expenditure on goods and services by the employees; moreover, all the employees working there earn a salary from Wal-Mart and then spend it on goods and services in their own economies. Expenditures like education and health increase the demand of goods and services in the economy leading to economic growth. This has lead to increase in the economy’s PPF outwards as A. D of the economy has increased. On the basis of the figures provided in the 2010’s Annual Report of Wal-Mart Stores and the World Bank’s statistics of the US’s GDP of the year 2010, Wal-Mart Stores had contributed approximately 2. 8 percent to the Annual GDP of the US in 2010. (Yahoo Finance and World Bank, 2011). This Calculation can be supported by the Statistics provided by the website of Wall-Mart Stores, that in 2010, Wal-Mart’s sales were $307. billion in U. S. retail sales as the  next five largest U. S. retailers combined  sales of $324. 5 billion: Kroger ($78. 3 billion), Target ($65. 8 billion), Walgreen ($61. 2 billion), Home Depot ($60. 1 billion) and Costco ($58. 9 billion). In 2005, almost half (46%) of Americans lived within 5 miles of a Walmart or Sams Club, and 88% lived within 15 miles of a Walmart of Sams Club which also shows the contribution of Wal-Mart towards U. S. ’s economy and in 2011, every $45 dollars spent in the U. S. economy, almost $1 was spent on a purchase at a Walmart. (Wal-mart Stores, 2011). Therefore, the presence of Wal-mart in the US economy generated income not only for the employees but for the economy as a whole. Among all of the great scholars of entrepreneurship, Joseph Schumpeter is the only one who has explained properly the relationship between Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Economic Development. According to Lumsdaine and Binks (2007), â€Å"The crucial contribution made by Joseph Schumpeter in The theory of Economic Development (ref. 2. 1) was to highlight the entrepreneur’s role as the catalyst for economic development. This contribution connects entrepreneurship, creativity and economic development. To understand the actual and potential impact of entrepreneurship, it is important to consider his analysis. Schumpeter portrayed any economy as a collection of enterprises and business where each represented a particular combination of production factors in the form of machines, people, land, premises, finance, and so on, in some sense every business relied for its market upon the successful activities of all others. This interdependence through customer demand meant that changes in the nature or level of economic activity would be caused only when a new combination of factors of production was introduced. The diverse operations of Walmart did not only benefit the US but has also contributed to economic development of under-developed and developed countries of Africa. According to Brown and Sander (2007), large multinational supermarket chains are rapidly expanding in developed and developing economies. These supermarket chains tend to import agriculture products from developing and under-developed economies; this is due to the advantage developing and under developed countries offer them in quality and prices. Which in a way is good for the development of the under developed and developing countries. According to Brown and Sander (2007), â€Å"In the continent of Africa, where small farmers account for both 90 per cent of agricultural production and 73 per cent of Africa’s rural poor, access to valuable international markets could play a crucial role in wider poverty reduction†, most Multinational Supermarket chains buy Fruits and Vegetables from small holder farmers of Sub-Saharan Africa which also increases exports of these poor countries resulting in higher economic development of their country by improvement in their living standards. According to Stokk (2007), â€Å"Supply chain development initiated by supermarkets can help farmers escape the low productivity trap. Supermarkets face a short run cost, but gradually benefit from the agricultural skill upgrading in terms of increased market share. Our result suggests that when farmers do not meet the required standards, supermarkets have an incentive to invest in farm assistance programs that improve the productivity of local suppliers. Supermarket expansion not only affects farmers in the supply chain, but also has consequences for the rest of the food retail sector. Traditional retailers face increased competition and potential loss of market share, but may benefit from foreign supermarkets through spillover effects of the latest retail techniques. † (2009). Higher productivity and latest retail techniques do affect the economic development to a great extent. In the same article Stokk said, â€Å"The value of local purchases made to operate the Wal-Mart stores and facilities such as tilities and business services. The value of goods sold by local manufacturers to Wal-Mart, The types of Wal-Mart facilities present within the MSA (Metropolitan Statistical Area), while the price effects from retail stores can be significant, other facilities such as distribution centers can also have positive economic impacts. † In conclusion, this essay has clearly analysed the relationship between entrepreneurship, innovation and economic development and has also briefly explain the role Creativity and Problem Solving play in this relationship. In this relationship between entrepreneurship, innovation and economic development, Innovation is the base, since economic development is influenced by entrepreneurship through Innovation. However, it is not necessary that all entrepreneurs benefit the economic development; it can only have a positive implication on economic development if there is innovation. And for innovation to effect the economic development positively with entrepreneurship, the entrepreneur should be creative in problem solving. Creativity is a foundation of this relationship and problem solving is an essential tool for this relationship to come over difficulties and carry on with the flow from entrepreneurship to positive economic development through innovation. However, long term economic development cannot lack of innovation and entrepreneurship, simultaneously, as tools of innovation, creativity and problem solving play a vital role in the whole process. Word Count: 1651 words without referencing.

Saturday, October 26, 2019

The factors that affect venture creation

The factors that affect venture creation ABSTRACT This research was conducted to examine the factors that positively or negatively affecting venture creation. Previous of researches concentrate on discussing the variable affecting the formation of new business; while this research intends to examine a new set of barrier and motivation variables influenced entrepreneurship. Random sample of entrepreneurs who were formed a small business, another group of respondents who intended to create new business, but they were found barriers to create the business. 73 participants take part in this research to identify the motivation barrier factors in the process of new venture creation. Factor analysis was performed to examine the aspects that motivate or barrier the creation of new business in Egypt. Correlation matrix analysis was performed to examine the motive and barrier causes to determine its importance. Variable should be over 0.50 Factor loading to be included in the factor. The relative importance of the result motives and barriers factors were determined by undertaking a descriptive analysis. Finally, testing if there is or not any difference in terms of the result factors. Significant difference between education level and both (Independence and Lack of Skills), result show that respondent with high education level are independent and have skills more than respondent with low education level. Age group is significantly affecting the independence factor. Moreover affect the complaint cost, implies that older respondent are more independent and have a capital more than younger respondents. Marital status found insignificant on motivate or barrier to create a new venture. Years of Experience found significant in terms of intrinsic rewards, lack of capital and compliant cost. Type of business found significant in terms of Extrinsic Rewards, Lack of Capital and Lack of Skills. Keywords: Entrepreneur, Entrepreneurship, New Venture, Small Business INTRODUCTION Entrepreneur creates value by carrying out new combinations causing discontinuity (Schumpeter 1936). According to (UNCTAD, 2007), business size defined based on the number of employees within the company, 0-9 (micro-businesses), 10-49 (small businesses), 50-249 (medium-sized businesses), 250 or more (large businesses). Numerous of Egyptian governmental authorities hardly work to foster the activities in different industries; The Industrial Modernization Program (IMP) is one of many initiatives of the Government of Egypt (GOE) supported by the European Commission (EC). Objective of this initiative is to help small business to develop global competitiveness in the industrial sector, to be able to benefit from the new opportunities that will follow the introduction of free trade and exposure to international markets. The Industrial Modernization Centre (IMC) is the implementation arm of the Program. Under IMP, Integrated Technical Assistance to Egyptian industrial companies will be delivered using business upgrading, training and export promotion services. This will address both companies determined to meet the competitive needs of the domestic market place, as well as those targeting export markets. Social Fund for Development (SFD), one of the most important mechanisms of society to change for the better as a safety net, reduce unemployment, create job opportunities and financing of small and micro business. Many aspects control the ability of create new ventures. Legal, political, and cultural environment directly impacts entrepreneurial activities and the ability to contribute to the economic development. International organizations, i.e., World economic forum (WEF), OECD and EUROSTATE designed indicators to measure the entrepreneurship and innovation worldwide and publish the indicators result in international publication in different languages and distributed worldwide. Networked readiness index (NRI) and Global competitiveness report (GCR), Global information technology report (GITR), is the most important report that produced by WEF. However, these publications determine the rank of each country. Investors depend on these reports to recognize investment opportunities. Several of barriers halt the creation of new venture; regulatory barriers come in the first important reasons affecting business formation. Regulations described as the policies that venture face during the formation phase, i.e. tax, labor market, fund, governmental regulations. Cultural and social barriers influence the creation of new venture. Lack of information and logistics about the market hold the business and exposed to risk. The promotion of entrepreneurial culture must be fostered in order to improve the motivation of persons for entrepreneurial activities. Economic and financial barriers strongly affect entrepreneurship, the risk of loss and fail is always dominant to stop the business. The tendency of self-employment is an important indicator of the success in creating a market economy. According to Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (2010 Q2), 14.5 % of the national workforce were self-employment managing employees, 12.1 % of the national workforce were self-employment and doesnt have employees to manage. According to (The Global Information Technology Report 2009-2010), Egypt ranked 41 for Venture capital availability, 63 for Business sophistication. 34 for Number of procedures required to start a business. 21 for Time required to start a new business, over 133 economy economies from the developing and developed world. That imply that governmental policies and procedures taken to foster the creation of new business and encourage SMEs to growth. Egyptian government gives especial interest to small business to enhance their capabilities to growth and face the local and international market. Egyptian government gives a different type of incentives for small business in different industries; information technology, agricultural and manufactures activities in the front of government interest to foster the economic and social development. Government gives donations and rebate for exporting goods outside Egypt reach to 10% of the total export sales amount. Therefore, the company can compete, take more international market share and enlarge business. To foster entrepreneurship, we need to recognize the barriers that affect entrepreneurship to overwhelm the barriers and create new policies, procedures to create a new venture. Many studies concentrate on the opportunities and challenge the entrepreneurs face in starting up new business. However, (Shaver Scott, 1991) have argued that traits approach would be a productive perspective in studying entrepreneurship. (Finnerty Krzystofik, Jul 1985) found insignificant influence among five demographic groups, gender, age, education level, salary and years of experience. Research raised some interesting result guide to some sort of deeply research, why gender position and number of dependents related to male or female affect the formation of new business, result also found that three important factors most influence creation of new business: 1) Market potential, 2) ability to secure finance, 3) return of investment and satisfaction of creation the business. This implies that family commitment enforces ones and becomes under stress to fulfill family needs. Ones will do anything possible to save reasonable life for his/her dependents. (Gendron, Feb 2000) Innovation involves a lot of trial and error. Entrepreneur tries on a small scale, and if he/she success, enlarge the scale of experiment, and if not, tries another. Big companies not built as big, i.e. Hotmail. It was a small entrepreneurial idea then developed and become the very large project. (Bhide, 2000) The characteristics of promising new venture and their founders are carefully defined and contrasted with those of more established firms, and we must examine the issue of the entrepreneurial personality. (JoAnn C Carland, Oct 2000) Although the concept of entrepreneurship still new, there is a big deal of researches in that area and more is being planned as entrepreneurship has finally come into fashion as a popular concept today. Recognize the phenomenon of entrepreneurship is unlikely given that we seem to jump into the middle of the process, business performance and growth, while neglecting its backgrounds. They explain the evidence that venture initiation acts of human choice, and to recognize why a person and not another chooses to create a venture. Over the past two decades, huge corporate reducing has led governments around the world to increasingly acknowledge entrepreneurs as key contributors to new job creation and economic growth. Egypt has joined the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) research project in 2008. Place Egypt on the global map of entrepreneurship and benchmarks its entrepreneurial performance against that in 42 developed and developing economies. According to (World Bank, 2011) Egypt has risen to 94th out of 183 economies in the 2011 Doing Business report, issued jointly by the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF), after coming in 99th in the last years report. That implies the significant progress in the process of improvement undertaken by the Egyptian government to fostering the creation of new business. Why new venture is important? The new business role in enhancing community and developing economies was studied widely in prior researches, since new ventures to contribute significantly in economics development. Small Business is a job generator, and it has a great part in solving the unemployment problems. So, the Egyptian government has strongly emphasized on developing and encouraging entrepreneur to start and gives them many incentives. We cannot business startup a business without motivation (Robertson, et al. 2003). The common possible factors that affect entrepreneurial performance are the individual, social and environmental (Kavitha, et al., 2008). According to (Gibb, 1993) social factors may involve individual knowledge, family background, and stage of career, life experiences and growth environment. Small businesses form the largest business sector in every world economy (Culkin Smith, 2000). Research shows that small firms play a vital role in the flourishing economy. Since it shares in the real gross domestic product, employ a huge number of workforce. Moreover, self-employment serves as an opportunity for many of the people to better themselves by taking their fate (and risks) into their own hands and generating new businesses. In countries such as Malaysia, Brazil, Philippines, and India, small businesses can comprise as much as 60% of all companies. Even in Africa, businesses create more employment and generate more output than large businesses. However, In spite of small business dominance and its role both in terms of absolute numbers and its contributions in economic activity), small businesses are known by high failure rates and poor performance levels (Jocumsen, 2004). Previous studies outline some challenges and some opportunities facing entrepreneurs. People vary in their willingness and ability to engage in the entrepreneurial Process because of how they perceive the surrounding environment -challenges and. motivations- and translate their perceptions of risk and opportunity according to their norms and preferences. This variation influences the entrepreneurial decisions. Challenges facing the small ventures like, Taxes and Regulation. Small business owners frequently cite tax and regulatory policies as a concern, global competition (Chad Moutray, October 2008). In another survey which focused on the challenges and growth strategies of small businesses conducted by accounting group. The main findings were reported from 6000 independent small and medium businesses across 19 countries find that the competitive environment, the availability of a skilled workforce, financial problem, bureaucracy, lack of knowledge about markets, and political and social instability were the main challenges face small business. Global competition, lack of human resource/ development skills and access to adequate finance are the main challenges face all business in Africa (Brinders et al., 2003). The challenges differ from country to another but in all countries these challenges affect negatively on the success and survival of the enterprises. Motivations It is often said that a person cannot win a game that they do not play. In the context of entrepreneurship, this statement suggests that success depends on peoples willingness to become entrepreneurs. A business will neither start up nor succeed without motivation (Robertson et al, 2003). Motivation is reported as an individuals positive inner desire to start a business like, owners need to take control and change his/her work status as an employee, being ones own boss, wealth creation, lifestyle change and the desire to use or apply personal experiences and knowledge (Burke, et al., 2002); (Birley Westhead 1994); (Mason Pinch 1991); (Singh DeNoble 2003). The positive inner called pull forces. Furthermore, there are some negative motivations affect this decision. It is called negative drivers or negative motivation such as job frustration, lack of advancement opportunities, avoidance of low-paid occupations, escape from supervision and unemployment and retrenchment (Mo ore Buttner, 1997). These negative inner called push forces. Typically, small business ownership occurs from the combination of both pull and push forces. Combination of pull and push motivations that drive small venture is determined by the expectations of a positive change in personal circumstance, being ones own boss, personal freedom, personal satisfaction, a less rigid, more flexible lifestyle and more job satisfaction. (Al-Zubeidi, 2005) Then educational level combined with age, gender, ethnicity, and industry, to determine the relationships between founders educational background, and business success. (Harada, Nov 2004) examine whether the total factor productivity is affected by the human capital and gender of entrepreneurs, Empirical results also show that age has a significantly negative effect on productivity, and the negative effect increases after 60 years of age. The results specify the importance of starting up while young. Feasibility study, assessment of entrepreneur characteristics for some extent determines the approval of the project and the amount of governmental funds. (Liang, et al., 2007) in their study to examine the triggering factors to create the new venture found that the popular reason to start the new business was saw an opportunity 80.5%. A large proportion of the respondents indicated want to reach my full potential. (Shaw, et al., 2009) discuss the interaction between gender, entrepreneurial capital and firm performance; they examine how gender forms the possession of entrepreneurial capital and discusses the effects of capital variance for business performance. They found that male owners were more than double as likely to hire staff. In total, 33 % of male owners, but only 17 % of female owners hire additional staff, another finding that significant gender differences in two out of seven personal goals, with female business owner rating, personal achievement, challenging yourself and personal vision more highly than their male counterparts. (Krasniqi, 2009) The males, those who live in urban areas in a larger family, have a higher chance to involve in entrepreneurial activities, while a feeble positive effect of age and insignificant effect of marital status are found. (Orser Dyke, 2009) for some extent the importance of success criteria differed by gender, but not all success criteria: male and female managers and entrepreneurs did not differ with respect to the importance related to work-life balance. For female, an increase in the importance related to professional autonomy was associated with decreased chance of being employed in a management role. For male, an increase in importance related to financial issues was reflected in an increase chance of being employed in a management role. (Korunka, et al., 2010) build a model based on literature and case research. Family inactivity is considered to be a barrier factor to prevent the creation of forceful capabilities. They also found that family inactivity depends on characteristics of the family business culture, where entrepreneurial orientation influence family inactivity positively and negatively, respectively. The objective of this research is to identify the aspects triggers of barriers the creation of new venture. Study of these aspects helps government authorities to set policies and procedures to facilitate the growth of small business that leads to more contributions in domestic growth product (GDP). The previous literature forms the body of analysis and tries to answer the questions. 1) Does the demographic variable have a significant influence on motivation to create the new venture? 2) Does the demographic variable have a significant influence on the barrier to create the new venture? This paper will study external motivation/challenges and also the internal traits which affect the entrepreneurs decision to start up or stop venture in the rural area in Egypt. The study will concentrate on Giza, Cairo and Helwan governorates While, it does not discuss the policy solutions. Two hypotheses emerged. They are: H1: Demographic variable has a significant influence on motivation creating the new venture. H1a: Extrinsic Rewards H1b: Independence H1c: Personal Rewards H1d: Intrinsic Rewards H2: Demographic variable has a significant influence to the barrier creating the new venture. H2a: Lack of Capital H2b: Lack of Skills H2c: Compliant Costs MATERIALS AND METHODS The data from entrepreneurs was collected in several areas, including the entrepreneurs business motivations information, problems and barriers they faced. Setting: The research was conducted two questionnaires, one to measure the motivations and the second questionnaire to measure the obstacles and barriers the entrepreneurs found in starting up new ventures. The frequency analysis was used to describe the many types of variables, which were related to the entrepreneurs. Participants: A total number of 73 participants took part in the research article. From the sample, respondent sample stated below in Table 1. The data used for this research was collected from Giza, Cairo and Helwan governorates in the period November and December 2010; methodology of collecting data was a face to face interview. Reliability: Test Reliability test was concerned with the degree to which a measurement was free of error, and we can depend on it to measure. The result revealed a value of 0.73 for motivation factors and 0.81 for barrier factors, which suggest a fair level of internal consistency within the data collected, since the acceptable value is 0.70 or higher (McKinniRE:s et al. 2001). RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS Table 1 show demographic variables into two groups that create a new venture and those didnt. There were no significant differences between the groups in five areas: marital status, education level, age group and years of experience. Significant difference is found in two areas: gender and type of business by 90% confidence interval. Table 1: Demographic Profile of Start-Up vs. Non-Start-Up New Venture Item Create New Venture Percentage Responding in Each Category à Ã¢â‚¬ ¡2 Sig. Gender Male Female 3.25a 0.07 Yes 26 (76.5%) 8 (23.5%) No 22 (56.4%) 17 (43.6%) Marital Status Single Married W Children Married WO Children 0.34b 0.84 Yes 27(79.4%) 3 (8.82%) No 5 (74.4%) 29(12.82%) Education Level Lower Tertiary Tertiary Master Doctorate 0.89c 0.64 Yes 24(70.6%) 10(29.41%) No 1 (2.6%) 27 (69.2%) 11(28.2%) Age Group 30-40 41-50 51-60 5.03d 0.17 Yes 4 (11.8%) 26 (76.5%) 3 (8.8%) 1 (2.9%) No 6 (15.4%) 23 (59.0%) 10 (25.6%) Years of Experience 5-10 11-15 15-20 > 20 years 2.25e 0.69 Yes 5 (14.7%) 11 (32.4%) 8 (23.5%) 9 (26.5%) 1(2.9%) No 3 (7.7%) 13 (33.3%) 9(23.1%) 10(25.6%) 4(10.3%) Type of Business Product Service Both 5.15f 0.08 Yes 9 (26.5%) 19 (55.9%) 6 (17.6%) No 3 (7.7%) 30 (76.9%) 6 (15.4%) Table 2: Correlation and Importance of Motivation Variables to Create New Venture Motivation Factors Mean Std. Dev. 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 1. To challenge myself 4.12 1.01 -0.02 0.15 0.13 .34** 0.00 0.17 .33** 0.17 0.17 -.10 .24* .27* -0.07 -.080 0.20 .28* 2. To realize my dream 4.23 0.91 0.16 0.19 0.22 .60** 0.13 0.18 .37** .29* 0.09 -.18 -.41** .24* 0.08 -0.09 -.33** 3. To earn more money 4.12 1.13 0.04 .26* .37** 0.22 .37** 0.04 -.18 .40** 0.19 0.00 -.29* 4. To provide a comfortable retirement 3.96 1.21 .31** -0.08 .49** 0.19 -.34** -.29* 5. To keep a large proportion of the proceeds 3.90 1.12 .33** -0.05 0.09 0.19 0.00 0.03 0.09 -0.06 6. To work at a location of my choice 3.78 1.12 .44** 0.18 .25* 0.16 0.09 7. To be my own boss 3.67 1.24 0.09 0.22 .36** 0.10 0.16 0.04 -.14 0.17 0.09 0.09 0.20 .59** .39** 8. To have an interesting 3.60 1.16 .40** .25* 0.12 .40** 0.12 0.13 0.10 0.08 0.15 0.14 0.03 0.15 9. To take advantage of a market opportunity 3.58 1.31 .46** .59** 0.02 0.02 .26* 0.10 0.13 0.09 0.09 10. To make my own hours 3.30 1.42 .40** .41** .46** -.30** 0.03 .43** -0.09 0.10 .36** .39** 11. To invest my personal savings 3.30 1.28 .43** -0.20 0.08 12. The need for a job 3.27 1.40 -0.09 0.13 .34** .37** 13. To increase my status/prestige 3.26 1.43 -0.01 0.10 14. To take advantage of my creative talents 3.25 1.46 0.13 0.16 0.15 .41** .360** 0.13 .56** -.26* -.15 .24* -0.04 0.16 0.14 .32** 15. To receive a salary based on merit 3.03 1.42 -.05 -0.14 .33** -0.01 0.12 0.10 0.04 16. To follow the example of a person I admire 2.73 1.44 .50** 17. To maintain a family tradition 2.30 1.21 **. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed). *. Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed) The respondents were motivated by a plenty of factors for starting new business. The motivating variables and its correlation with other factors exposed in Table 2. To challenge myself was ranked as the most important variable followed closely by to realize my dream and To earn more money. These findings are consistent with (Choo Wong, 2006). Entrepreneurs were found also motivated by a set of variables that relate to the issue of extrinsic rewards that include, To take advantage of a market opportunity, To receive a salary based on merit, To take advantage of my creative talents, The need for a job, To make my own hours, To keep a large proportion of the proceeds and To provide a comfortable retirement. Another set of variables in terms of independence. To be my own boss is consistent with (Choo Wong, 2006). Second motivation factors are related to independence that included: To be my own boss, To realize my dream and To have interesting. Third motivation factors in terms of personal reward include: To challenge myself, To Work at a location of my choice and To earn more money; this result is consistent with (Mazzaro, et al., 1999) Fourth set of motivation factors include: To invest my personal savings, To increase my status/prestige and To maintain a family tradition. important factor that conceded to create new business. The fourth set includes called intrinsic rewards; include investing my personal savings, to increase my status/prestige and To maintain a family tradition. Table 3: Rotated Component Matrixa for Motivation to Create New Venture Factors Rotated Component Matrix(a) Extrinsic Rewards Independence Personal Rewards Intrinsic Rewards Q8. To take advantage of a market opportunity 0.91 Q10. To receive a salary based on merit 0.88 Q3. To take advantage of my creative talents 0.86 Q13. The need for a job 0.84 Q7. To make my own hours 0.73 Q9. To keep a large proportion of the proceeds 0.66 Q11. To provide a comfortable retirement -.65 Q4. To be my own boss 0.78 Q2. To realize my dream 0.72 Q5. To have an interesting -.60 Q1. To challenge myself 0.74 Q12. To work at a location of my choice 0.74 Q6. To earn more money -.70 Q14. To invest my personal savings 0.78 Q15. To increase my status/prestige 0.66 Q17. To maintain a family tradition 0.58 Eigenvalues 4.82 2.44 2.02 1.82 Percentage of Variance Explained 28.34 14.33 11.90 10.72 Scale Reliability 0.83 0.59 0.58 0.51 Extraction Method: Principal Component Analysis. Rotation Method: Varimax with Kaiser Normalization. a. Rotation converged in 7 iterations. The respondents were faced plenty of barriers for starting new business. The barrier variables and its correlation with other factors exposed in Table 4. The barriers and their descriptive statistics are shown in Table 3. Bad economic indicators in general were ranked as the most constraining start-up barrier to create new business that is consistent with (Choo Wong, 2006) who found these variables, which are general business environment in nature, were perceived as a major barrier among non-starters. Lack of info about biz start-up and High taxes and fee are closely the following the important factors. Three sets of barriers factors are extracted, the first is related directly to a lack of capital that include: Risk greater than initially expected, Lack of marketing skills, Lack of savings or assets, Lack of managerial/financial expertise, Difficulty in obtaining finance, Fear of failure and Finding the right partner, This was consistent with (Robertson et al, 2003) reported that lack of resources, in terms of financing was the major factor to forming a business. The second set is lack of skills that includes: Lack of support from family/friends, No one to turn to help me, the uncertainty of the future, convincing others it is a good idea and Lack of info about biz start-up. The third set of factors is complaint cost. That includes: Compliance with government regulations, finding suitable labor, Lack of suitable premises and High taxes and fee. A factor analysis was conducted to formulate the structure of motivation among studied variables. Factors were extracted from Extraction Method: Principal Component Analysis, Rotation Method: Varimax with Kaiser Normalization. Variable should be over 0.50 Factor loading to be included in the factor. In terms of the motivation factors, the resulting factors were interpreted as Extrinsic Rewards (seven items), Independence (three items), Personal (three items) and Intrinsic Rewards (three items). Only one item, which is To follow the example of a person I admire, failed to load onto any factor. Previous researches resulting three factors (Kurakto et al, 1997; Volery et al, 1997; Yusuf and Schindehutte, 2000; Choo Wong, 2006). Moreover, we have extract personal rewards as the forth factors affect creation of new business. The item loadings of the four resulting factors, collected with their respective eigenvalues and percentage of variance as shown in Table 3. This resulting factor solution accounted for 65.29 % of the variance. The resulting coefficient Cronbachs

Friday, October 25, 2019

Pro-Life: The Opposite of Pro-Death Essay -- Anti-Abortion Pro Life

Pro-Life: The Opposite of Pro-Death Careful attention to the truth has never been standard operating procedure for pro-abortion advocates. Therefore, it should not be any suprise that half-truths, and misrepresentations, and many outright lies have permeated the pro-abortion propaganda campaign. Pro-choice is just a phrase used by people who know the absurdity of legal abortions and infanticide. Pro-life advocates have a more simple and straight forward approach: Pro-life is not the opposite of pro-choice, but the opposite of pro-death. Pro-choice is an escape from the harsh reality that abortion is the murder of millions of innocent lives. Activists also believe that killing infants because they are severely handicapped is morally acceptable. They are of the opinion that a life can be terminated by the hands of a physician; in my opinion, only by God. That is how pro-choice activists represent themselves. As a junior in high school, I am considering medicine as a possible career choice. Through my research in this field, I discovered the Hippocratic Oath. The Hippocratic Oath is the most famous of the Hippocratic documents; it has served as an ideal for the professional attitude and ethics of physicians to the present; the historical origin of the oath is so obscure that even the date of its composition is placed from the 6th to the 1st century B.C. The Hippocratic Oath generally stated by Hippocrates says, â€Å"I will follow that system of regimen which, according to my ability and judgment, I will consider for the benefit of my patients, and abstain from whatever is deleterious and mischievous. I will give no deadly medicine to any one if asked; I will not suggest any such counsel, and ... ...and wiggle in an ultrasound. I felt her turn, kick, and I also experienced her hiccups. I could feel the life inside of my and no pro-choice argument can convince me the Alexandria Nicole was not alive inside of me. I realize that pregnancy can often seem like a burden: however, if you create a life you should be responsible for that life. If you choose to be responsible only for the nine months during your pregnancy, adoption is a loving and mature option. There are countless families that would love to adopt a baby. The choice of adoption gives your baby a chance to live. There can be no justification or reason given for being pro-choice - pro-death. Every child is created with a purpose from God. â€Å"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; Before you were born I sanctified you; And I ordained you a prophet to the nations.† (Jeremiah 1:5)

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

The Hunters: Moonsong Chapter Eleven

â€Å"Coffee, my dear?† Professor Campbel – James, Elena reminded herself – asked. At her nod, he bounced to his feet and bustled over to the tiny coffeemaker perched on top of a teetering stack of papers. He brought her a cup of coffee, creamed and sugared, and settled down happily in his chair, gazing across his crowded desk at her with an expression of innocent enjoyment. â€Å"I think I have some cookies,† he offered. â€Å"Not homemade, but they're reasonably tasty. No?† Elena shook her head politely and sipped her coffee. â€Å"It's very good,† she said, and smiled at him. It had been a few days since she had told Stefan and Damon she needed to take a break from them. After a much-needed sob session with Bonnie and Meredith, she had done her best to be normal – going to class, having lunch with her friends, keeping up a brave mask. Part of this attempt at normality was coming to James's office hours, so that she could hear more about her parents. Even though they couldn't be there to comfort her, talking about them offered some solace. â€Å"My God!† James cried out. â€Å"You have Elizabeth's face, and then, when you smile, Thomas's dimple comes right out. Just the same as his – on only one side. It gave him a certain raffish charm.† Elena wondered if she should thank James. He was complimenting her, in a way, but the compliments were real y directed toward her parents, and it felt a little presumptuous to be grateful for them. She settled for saying, â€Å"I'm glad you think I look like my parents. I remember thinking when I was little that they were very elegant.† She shrugged. â€Å"I guess al little kids think their parents are beautiful.† â€Å"Well, your mother certainly was,† James said. â€Å"But it's not just your looks. Your voice sounds like hers, and the comments you made in class this week reminded me of things your father would have said. He was very observant.† He delved into his desk drawers and, after a bit of rummaging, pul ed out a tin of butter cookies. â€Å"Sure you won't have one? Ah, Well.† He chose one for himself and took a bite. â€Å"Yes, as I was saying, Elizabeth was extremely lovely. I wouldn't have cal ed Thomas lovely, but he had charm. Maybe that's how he managed to win Elizabeth's heart in the end.† â€Å"Oh.† Elena stirred her coffee absently. â€Å"She dated other guys, then?† It was ridiculous, but she had kind of imagined her parents as always being together. James chuckled. â€Å"She was quite the heartbreaker. I imagine you are, too, dear.† Elena thought unhappily of Stefan's soft, dismayed green eyes. She had never wanted to hurt him. And Matt, who she had dated in high school and who had quietly gone on loving her. He hadn't fal en in love, or even been real y interested in, anyone else since then. Heartbreaker, yeah. James was watching her with bright, inquisitive eyes. â€Å"Not a happy heartbreaker, then?† he said softly. Elena glanced at him in surprise, and he set his coffee cup down with a little clink. He straightened up. â€Å"Elizabeth Morrow,† he said in a brisk businesslike voice, â€Å"was a freshman when I met her. She was always making things, particularly amazing sets and costumes she designed for the theater department. Your father and I were both sophomores at the time – we were in the same fraternity, and close friends – and he couldn't stop talking about this amazing girl. Once I got to know her, I was sucked into her orbit, too.† He smiled. â€Å"Thomas and I each had something special about us: I was academical y gifted, and Thomas could talk anyone into anything. But we were both cultural barbarians. Elizabeth taught us about art, about theater, about the world beyond the smal Southern towns where we'd grown up.† James ate another cookie, absentmindedly licking sugar off his fingers, then sighed deeply. â€Å"I thought we'd be friends forever,† he said. â€Å"But we went in different directions in the end.† â€Å"Why?† Elena asked. â€Å"Did something happen?† His bright eyes shifted away from hers. â€Å"Of course not,† he said dismissively. â€Å"Just life, I suppose. But whenever I walk down the third-floor corridor, I can't help stopping to look at the photograph of us.† He gave a self-conscious laugh, patting his stomach. â€Å"Mostly vanity, I suppose. I recognize my young self more easily than I do the fat old man I see in the mirror now.† â€Å"What are you talking about?† Elena asked, confused. â€Å"The third-floor corridor?† James's mouth made a round O of surprise. â€Å"Of course, you don't know al the col ege traditions yet. The long corridor on the third floor of this building has pictures from al the different periods of Dalcrest's history. Including a nice photo of your parents and yours truly.† â€Å"I'l have to check it out,† Elena said, feeling a little excited. She hadn't seen many pictures of her parents from before they were married. There was a tap on the door, and a smal girl with glasses peeked in. â€Å"Oh, I'm sorry,† she said, and started to withdraw. â€Å"No, no, my dear,† James said jovial y, getting to his feet. â€Å"Elena and I were just chatting about old friends. You and I need to have a serious talk about your senior thesis as soon as possible. Come in, come in.† He gave Elena an absurd little half bow. â€Å"Elena, we'l have to continue this conversation later.† â€Å"Of course,† Elena said, and rose, shaking James's offered hand. â€Å"Speaking of old friends,† he said casual y as she turned to go, â€Å"I met a friend of yours, Dr. Celia Connor, just before the semester started. She mentioned that you were coming here.† Elena whipped back around, staring at him. He had met Celia? Images fil ed Elena's mind: Celia held in Stefan's arms as he traveled faster than any human, desperate to save her life; Celia fending off the phantom in a room ful of flames. How much did James know? What had Celia told him? James smiled blandly back at her. â€Å"But we'l talk later,† he said. After a moment, Elena nodded and stumbled out of his office, her mind racing. The girl who was waiting held the door open for her. In the hal outside, Elena leaned against the wal and took stock for a moment. Would Celia have told James about Stefan and Damon being vampires, or anything about Elena herself? Probably not. Celia had become a friend by the end of their battle with the phantom. She would have kept their secrets. Plus, Celia was a very savvy academic. She wouldn't have told her col eagues anything that might make them think she was crazy, including that she had met actual vampires. Elena shook off the unease she felt from the end of her conversation with James and thought instead of the picture he'd told her about. She climbed the stairs to the third floor to see if she could find it now. It turned out that the â€Å"third-floor corridor† was no problem to find. While the second floor was a maze of turning passageways and faculty offices subdivided from one another, when she stepped out of the stairWellon the third floor she discovered it was a long hal that ran from one end of the building to the other. In contrast to the chatter of people at work on the second floor, the third floor seemed abandoned, silent and dim. Closed doors sat at regular intervals along the hal . Elena peered through the glass on one door, only to see an empty room. Al down the hal , between the doors, hung large photographs. Near the stairWell, where she began looking, they seemed like they were from maybe the turn of the century: young men in side-combed hair and suits, smiling stiffly; girls in high-necked white blouses and long skirts with their hair pul ed up on top of their heads. In one, a row of girls carried garlands of flowers for some forgotten campus occasion. There were photos of boat races and picnics, couples dressed up for dances, team pictures. In one photo, the cast of some student play – maybe from the 1920s or '30s, the girls with shingled flapper cuts, the guys with funny covers over their shoes – laughed hilariously on stage, their mouths frozen open, their hands in the air. A little farther on, a group of young men in army uniforms gazed back at her seriously, jaws firmly set, eyes determined. As she moved on down the hal , the photos changed from black-and-white to color; the clothes got less formal; the hairstyles grew longer, then shorter; messier, then sleeker. Even though most of the people in the photographs looked happy, something about them made Elena feel sad. Maybe it was how fast time seemed to pass in them: al these people had been Elena's age, students like her, with their own fears and joys and heartbreaks, and now they were gone, grown older or even dead. She thought briefly of a bottle tucked deep in her closet at home, containing the water of eternal life she'd accidental y stolen from the Guardians. Was that the answer? She pushed the thought away. It wasn't the answer yet – she knew that – and she'd made the very clear choice not to think about that bottle, not to decide anything, not now. She had time, she had more life to live natural y before she'd want to ask herself that question. The picture James talked about was close to the far end of the hal . In it, her father, her mother, and James were sitting on the grass under a tree in the quad. Her parents were leaning forward in eager conversation, and James – a much thinner version, his face almost unrecognizable beneath a straggly beard – was sitting back and watching them, his expression sharp and amused. Her mother looked amazingly young, her face soft, her eyes wide, her smile big and bright, but she was also somehow exactly the mother Elena remembered. Elena's heart gave a painful but happy throb at the sight of her. Her father was gawkier than the distinguished dad Elena had known – and his pastel-patterned shirt was a fashion disaster of epic proportions – but there was an essential dadness to him that made Elena smile. She noticed the pin on his horrific pastel shirt first. She thought it was a smudge, but then, leaning forward, she made out the shape of a smal , dark blue V. Looking at the other figures, she realized her mother and James were wearing the same pins, her mother's half-obscured by a long golden curl fal ing across it. Weird. She tapped her finger slowly against the glass over the photograph, touching one V and then the others. She would ask James about the pins. Hadn't he mentioned that he and her dad had been in a fraternity? Maybe it had something to do with that. Didn't frat boys â€Å"pin† their girlfriends? Something nudged at the edges of her mind. She'd seen one of these pins somewhere. But she couldn't remember where, so she shrugged it off. Whatever it stood for, it was something she didn't know about her parents, another facet of their lives to be discovered here. She couldn't wait to learn more.

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

pearlharbor essays

pearlharbor essays Reasons that Japan Involved the U.S. in War For more than fifty years, historians and social scientists have been questioning whether or not the United States was already at war prior to the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor. Because of the conflict that already existed regarding Japans expansionist practices, the United States may or may have not needed to have its hand forced in the official designation of war in the Pacific. As the Japanese Empire had grown, so had its control over its territories. For example, in the early 1930s, Japan invaded Manchuria, a clear sign that the Japanese did not intend to lessen their efforts to gain control throughout Asia. The Japanese, who had blocked a number of Russian incursions into Manchuria, were moving in to gain control of the region's plentiful coal and iron, which Japan sorely lacked. In 1937, Japanese and Chinese forces fought near Beijing resulting in Japans occupation of northern China. The United States ostensibly disapproved of such actions but refused to take any direc t action in stopping it. Whether or not these conflicts began inadvertently or whether they were planned is unknown. Nevertheless, they led to a full-scale war known as the second Sino-Japanese War. Questions as to why Japan wanted the U.S. involved in war bring to bear the numerous issues involved in any discussion of pre-World War II Japanese-American relations, as well as those revolving around the war itself. It seems obvious that if there had been some level of agreement between the nations regarding the larger expansionist practices of Japan, the need for such a dramatically destructive move as the bombing of Pearl Harbor might have been avoided. Japans sense of achievement, as well as its sense of resentment, its attempt to learn from the West and its resistance to Western influence, warred with each other throughout the 1920s and early 1930s (Fallows 33)....