« Group Theory and Uncertainty Relationships are still a mystery to many people in many walks of life. Man to woman, woman to woman and man to man. ...» Document abstract
$3.95
4 word format
Language : english
social sciences
school essay
date published
04/11/2007
review : not yet assessed
level : General public
requested 4 times
SummaryRelationships are still a mystery to many people in many walks of life. Man to woman, woman to woman and man to man. Dating is not just the only form of relationship in question by theorists of communication but all types of friendship are thrown into the controversy as well.
In 1973, Altman and Taylor came out with a theory attempting to explain and interpret the way relationships grow, and even die over time. The theory, called the Social Penetration Theory, is a broad overview of how relationships work over a gradual increase in time but in the end it doesn’t do justice to each personalized relationship. The theory came with a number of different premises.
In 1973, Altman and Taylor came out with a theory attempting to explain and interpret the way relationships grow, and even die over time. The theory, called the Social Penetration Theory, is a broad overview of how relationships work over a gradual increase in time but in the end it doesn’t do justice to each personalized relationship. The theory came with a number of different premises.
Table of Contents- The Premises
- The Buried Self
- Stages of Relational Development
- Theory Conclusion
- Assumptions
- Important Axioms
- Strategies for coping with uncertainty
« to the functional perspective on group decision making According to the axiomatic theory there are eight axioms set to explain uncertainty, "verbal communication ...» Document abstract
$2.95
3 word format
Language : english
journalism
school essay
date published
17/12/2007
review : not yet assessed
level : General public
requested 2 times
SummaryCommunication competence is the concept or framework that defines communication as we know it. It covers the all of the bases of communication, from talking to a person individually, to specific cases where logistics and demographics come into play. In order to be able to communicate over a large contextual area, such as group, interpersonal, public, mass media or intrapersonal, a person must have at least a standing knowledge of communication competence. Drawing back to the time of Plato and Aristotle, we can find instances where communication competence has drawn its rots.
These are the ten principles of communication competence that are most intertwined in our society today. These principles, if used singularly, are incredibly useful but when used together extremely potent.
These are the ten principles of communication competence that are most intertwined in our society today. These principles, if used singularly, are incredibly useful but when used together extremely potent.
« investors is realized when one group of investors In theory, IPO auctions avoid the "leaving money undersubscribed, and more generally the uncertainty over the ...» Document abstract
$9.95
16 word format
Language : english
finance
presentation
date published
23/11/2006
review : not yet assessed
level : Expert
requested 53 times
SummaryInitial Public Offerings (IPOs) have a very special place in contemporary economics and finance. They represent the entrance on a deep and liquid market with access to almost unlimited reserves of capital from all over the world. But IPOs appear also as a short-term fund-raising tool, especially used during the high tech bubble of the late 1990s from new, innovative and invincible-looking start-up companies from the Silicon Valley. In those years, investment bankers (who set up IPOs for the companies going public) thrived and were sacred “kings of capitalism” by The Economist. Since then, the euphoria vanished but IPOs continued at a respectable pace.
Between 1980 and 2001, the number of IPOs in the US exceeded one per business day. The distribution was not equal: in 1999 and 2000 alone, 900 companies went public. What is more, the IPO business has reached global importance, raising $167 billion around the world in 2005 with 1537 operations. During the period 1998-2004, North America represented 27% of the global market, Europe, Africa and the Middle East combined 42% and Asia-Pacific 31%. The trends of globalization are thus reflecting on the IPO business worldwide: dominance of the US market (on a country basis comparison) and rise of East Asia (especially China).
In a system dominated by market financing, flotation appears often to be a mandatory step in the life of a company above a certain size. We do not discuss in this paper IPOs under this perspective of structural necessity; rather we question the short-term stakes of going public. Besides the strategic choice to be listed on the stock market, what are the immediate objectives of an IPO? It has certainly become, especially since the internet bubble, a corporate financing tool, along with private equity and mergers and acquisitions, aimed at raising funds in a short period of time. Thus, we consider here IPOs under this aspect of short-term financing, even if it has obviously much broader implications.
We can define the objectives of an IPO for a company as follows: raise the maximum value possible through the flotation, and assure a stable and, if possible, increasing price in the aftermarket. The second objective depends partly on the first one, which is basically the direct result of the sale price. Setting the price of the stock to be traded publicly is the greatest challenge in the IPO process, as it determines the equity allocation among investors and the subsequent trading price on the market. Financial theories give no final answer as to what method is the best. Hence the perpetuation of the academic debate.
We have chosen to envision IPOs, the challenges they pose to efficient markets and the theoretical answers to those, through game theory. This approach allows us to detect where inefficiencies occur, what the different motivations of the actors involved are and what possible solutions have been proposed and tested. Game theory appears to us as the best tool to study market inefficiencies by offering a special opportunity to have a critical outlook on market mechanisms and the effects of strategic interaction upon them.
Therefore, we will first present the challenges which IPOs pose to efficient markets (section one). Then we will detail an alternative mechanism for setting the price in an IPO process – auctions: what are their advantages and drawbacks (section 2)? Finally, we will study the flotation of EDF, one of the greatest IPOs in the world in the last years, a rare example of overpricing and also a subject of polemics in France (section 3).
Between 1980 and 2001, the number of IPOs in the US exceeded one per business day. The distribution was not equal: in 1999 and 2000 alone, 900 companies went public. What is more, the IPO business has reached global importance, raising $167 billion around the world in 2005 with 1537 operations. During the period 1998-2004, North America represented 27% of the global market, Europe, Africa and the Middle East combined 42% and Asia-Pacific 31%. The trends of globalization are thus reflecting on the IPO business worldwide: dominance of the US market (on a country basis comparison) and rise of East Asia (especially China).
In a system dominated by market financing, flotation appears often to be a mandatory step in the life of a company above a certain size. We do not discuss in this paper IPOs under this perspective of structural necessity; rather we question the short-term stakes of going public. Besides the strategic choice to be listed on the stock market, what are the immediate objectives of an IPO? It has certainly become, especially since the internet bubble, a corporate financing tool, along with private equity and mergers and acquisitions, aimed at raising funds in a short period of time. Thus, we consider here IPOs under this aspect of short-term financing, even if it has obviously much broader implications.
We can define the objectives of an IPO for a company as follows: raise the maximum value possible through the flotation, and assure a stable and, if possible, increasing price in the aftermarket. The second objective depends partly on the first one, which is basically the direct result of the sale price. Setting the price of the stock to be traded publicly is the greatest challenge in the IPO process, as it determines the equity allocation among investors and the subsequent trading price on the market. Financial theories give no final answer as to what method is the best. Hence the perpetuation of the academic debate.
We have chosen to envision IPOs, the challenges they pose to efficient markets and the theoretical answers to those, through game theory. This approach allows us to detect where inefficiencies occur, what the different motivations of the actors involved are and what possible solutions have been proposed and tested. Game theory appears to us as the best tool to study market inefficiencies by offering a special opportunity to have a critical outlook on market mechanisms and the effects of strategic interaction upon them.
Therefore, we will first present the challenges which IPOs pose to efficient markets (section one). Then we will detail an alternative mechanism for setting the price in an IPO process – auctions: what are their advantages and drawbacks (section 2)? Finally, we will study the flotation of EDF, one of the greatest IPOs in the world in the last years, a rare example of overpricing and also a subject of polemics in France (section 3).
Table of Contents- IPOs and challenges to market efficiency
- IPOs and the Issue of Information
- Distortion mechanisms and waste of value through underpricing
- The key role of investment banks
- The auction model for setting the price: a viable alternative ?
- The main features of the auction model
- Game theory and auctions
- An illustration with Google’s IPO
- A case sStudy of EDF’s IPO
- Main characteristics of the state-initiated offer
- Winners and losers in EDF’s IPO
- Lessons from the IPO: the case for overpricing?
« that would-be synergies be inferior to what they are supposed to be * the uncertainty around the We can link this idea to the theory of group formation: at ...» Document abstract
$9.95
13 word format
Language : english
business strategy
presentation
date published
21/11/2006
review : not yet assessed
level : Expert
requested 43 times
SummaryComment réussir des fusions-acquisitions "cross-culturelles"?
Mergers and acquisitions continue apace in spite of an alarming failure rate and evidence that they rarely manage to benefit shareholders. Most completed takeovers damage one party: the company making the acquisition. Many studies made have all reached the same conclusion: around 65% of takeovers harm the interests of the acquiring company’s shareholders. They do, however, often reward the shareholders of the acquired company.
Indeed, most of failed mergers suffer from poor implementation, and in half of the cases, senior management fails to take into account the different cultures of the companies involved. Melding corporate culture takes time, which senior management does not have after a merger. Most mergers are based on the idea of "let's increase revenues", but the company must have an efficient management team to succeed in that process. The nature of the problem is not so much that there is open warfare between the two sides. It is that the cultures do not meld quickly enough to take advantage of the opportunities. In the meantime, the marketplace has moved on.
Many consultants refer to how little time companies spend, before a merger, thinking about whether their organisations are compatible. The benefits of mergers are usually couched in financial or commercial terms: cost-savings can be made or the two sides have complementary businesses that will allow them to increase revenues. Mergers basically consist in compatibility, which means agreeing whose values will prevail and who will be the dominant partner. So it is no surprise that managers, as well as journalists, reach for marriage metaphors in describing them. We are convinced that defining in advance what success means for the merging companies is already part of their success to come, part of the durability of their union.
We are all interested in mergers because, statistically, an executive has nowadays 100% chance to be, at least once in his professional life, concerned by a merger, the firm he works for being acquired or acquiring another one. Studying Daimler-Chrysler, Renault-Nissan and Air-France-KLM, and confronting those three examples to different theories about mergers, has enabled us to understand and work on the deep and intrinsic relationship which exists between mergers and corporate culture in every firm, especially as these three M&As are different in many ways: they have either worked out, failed, or not been implemented yet.
We consider corporate culture as a whole of convictions, values, ways of behaving, assumptions and beliefs that are shared by employees, workers and managers of a firm, and define its running. The elements which differentiate corporate cultures are:
Power distance, individualism v. collectivism, uncertainty avoidance (career stability, formal rules, no tolerance for deviant ideas/behaviours, expertise…), masculinity…
(Geert HOFSTEDE: “Culture’s consequences: International differences in work-related values”, 1980)
Basically, it is a "social contract" inside a firm, consisting of rules of behaviour and a cultural code. Thanks to this common code created by the founder of the firm and enriched by the successive generations, employees have the feeling they belong to a special group or organisation: they share a common vision of it. Moreover, they have a part to play in the elaboration and the evolution of these unwritten conventions. The more involved they feel in the firm, the better they will work and participate in the creation of profits. Thus, the attention managers give to the respect of corporate culture and to the necessity of its restructuring when negotiating and implementing a merger is vital. Indeed, without such an attention, the merger has very little chance to be successful, partly due to a strong negative reaction of its employees.
One must never underestimate the importance of psychological criteria when dealing with a merger, be it in small or big companies. Communication is determining between all the levels of the hierarchy, because fears and expectations of employees cannot be left apart without jeopardising the productivity of the merging firms. If so, the merger would be a failure and definitely useless. This leads us to emphasise the fact that a merger is a melting pot of technical as well as human skills, which make the success or the difficulties of the two merging firms. Corporate culture is therefore a competitive advantage for a firm, along with its technical performances. This is why it must be considered as a priority in the implementation of a merger.
The question we chose to work on is that of the skills necessary to “manage” an M&A. We have envisaged the word “to manage” in both of its meanings, in order words as “to succeed” and “to lead”, thus privileging the point of view of a board of directors confronted to a cross-cultural M&A, in the shape of recommendations concerning each stage of a merger: ASSESSMENT, NEGOTIATION and IMPLEMENTATION.
Mergers and acquisitions continue apace in spite of an alarming failure rate and evidence that they rarely manage to benefit shareholders. Most completed takeovers damage one party: the company making the acquisition. Many studies made have all reached the same conclusion: around 65% of takeovers harm the interests of the acquiring company’s shareholders. They do, however, often reward the shareholders of the acquired company.
Indeed, most of failed mergers suffer from poor implementation, and in half of the cases, senior management fails to take into account the different cultures of the companies involved. Melding corporate culture takes time, which senior management does not have after a merger. Most mergers are based on the idea of "let's increase revenues", but the company must have an efficient management team to succeed in that process. The nature of the problem is not so much that there is open warfare between the two sides. It is that the cultures do not meld quickly enough to take advantage of the opportunities. In the meantime, the marketplace has moved on.
Many consultants refer to how little time companies spend, before a merger, thinking about whether their organisations are compatible. The benefits of mergers are usually couched in financial or commercial terms: cost-savings can be made or the two sides have complementary businesses that will allow them to increase revenues. Mergers basically consist in compatibility, which means agreeing whose values will prevail and who will be the dominant partner. So it is no surprise that managers, as well as journalists, reach for marriage metaphors in describing them. We are convinced that defining in advance what success means for the merging companies is already part of their success to come, part of the durability of their union.
We are all interested in mergers because, statistically, an executive has nowadays 100% chance to be, at least once in his professional life, concerned by a merger, the firm he works for being acquired or acquiring another one. Studying Daimler-Chrysler, Renault-Nissan and Air-France-KLM, and confronting those three examples to different theories about mergers, has enabled us to understand and work on the deep and intrinsic relationship which exists between mergers and corporate culture in every firm, especially as these three M&As are different in many ways: they have either worked out, failed, or not been implemented yet.
We consider corporate culture as a whole of convictions, values, ways of behaving, assumptions and beliefs that are shared by employees, workers and managers of a firm, and define its running. The elements which differentiate corporate cultures are:
Power distance, individualism v. collectivism, uncertainty avoidance (career stability, formal rules, no tolerance for deviant ideas/behaviours, expertise…), masculinity…
(Geert HOFSTEDE: “Culture’s consequences: International differences in work-related values”, 1980)
Basically, it is a "social contract" inside a firm, consisting of rules of behaviour and a cultural code. Thanks to this common code created by the founder of the firm and enriched by the successive generations, employees have the feeling they belong to a special group or organisation: they share a common vision of it. Moreover, they have a part to play in the elaboration and the evolution of these unwritten conventions. The more involved they feel in the firm, the better they will work and participate in the creation of profits. Thus, the attention managers give to the respect of corporate culture and to the necessity of its restructuring when negotiating and implementing a merger is vital. Indeed, without such an attention, the merger has very little chance to be successful, partly due to a strong negative reaction of its employees.
One must never underestimate the importance of psychological criteria when dealing with a merger, be it in small or big companies. Communication is determining between all the levels of the hierarchy, because fears and expectations of employees cannot be left apart without jeopardising the productivity of the merging firms. If so, the merger would be a failure and definitely useless. This leads us to emphasise the fact that a merger is a melting pot of technical as well as human skills, which make the success or the difficulties of the two merging firms. Corporate culture is therefore a competitive advantage for a firm, along with its technical performances. This is why it must be considered as a priority in the implementation of a merger.
The question we chose to work on is that of the skills necessary to “manage” an M&A. We have envisaged the word “to manage” in both of its meanings, in order words as “to succeed” and “to lead”, thus privileging the point of view of a board of directors confronted to a cross-cultural M&A, in the shape of recommendations concerning each stage of a merger: ASSESSMENT, NEGOTIATION and IMPLEMENTATION.
Table of Contents- Assessment stage.
- What do we mean by ´assessment´?.
- Critical notions to be envisaged during assessment.
- Negotiation stage.
- What is the point of negotiating ?.
- Implementation stage.
- Why is the implementation phase important ?.
- What does this phase require ?.
« In this group, the two most common assumptions are cost-plus theories and post-keynesian pricing theory. estimated, there is always an uncertainty about prices ...» Document abstract
$2.95
3 word format
Language : english
economics
presentation
date published
28/02/2007
review : not yet assessed
level : Advanced
requested 223 times
SummaryPredicting firms’ behaviour and reactions to events is central for recent microeconomics. Economists have indeed put forward many theories to analyse firms’ behaviour, main decisions of economic interest relate to outputs, investment, technology and above all prices which is the object of this essay. Price can be defined by “the value of the goods or money that must be given up to acquire a good or service” or, more economically by the average revenue, which corresponds to the total revenue / total output. Generally, it corresponds to the intersection point of the demand and the offer curves. The aim of this essay is to analyse and critically discuss the main factors that determine product prices in the UK. I shall argue that prices depend certainly on firms’ objectives and market structure but more importantly on costs and firms’ strategies.
Table of Contents- Theoretical elements such as how firms' objectives determine price or why market structure influence firms' pricing
- In practice costs and firms' strategies are more crucial. Mark-up pricing, cost-plus theories and firms' marketing strategies notably concerning positioning of the product.
Les internautes ont également acheté « understanding of group and individual psychology and eliminate fear and uncertainty from the Toward a Socio-Emotional Theory of Work Group Effectiveness. ...» Document abstract
$5.95
6 word format
Language : english
business strategy
research papers
date published
03/10/2007
review : not yet assessed
level : Expert
requested 20 times
SummaryKnowledge economy integrates effectively knowledge aiming to enhance organizational performance, competitiveness, and corporate social responsibility. Being a source of innovation and creativity, it attains organizational competence through the proficient and continual exchange of knowledge, it produces agile organizations and it contributes to socio-economic growth. Additionally, it enables countries to realize better results with a finer exploitation of the readily available resources they possess towards the improvement of living standards in terms of health, affluence and future progress. Furthermore, it facilitates the discovery of new opportunities for organizations and the formation of entrepreneurship-oriented societies.
Effective integration of knowledge necessitates the leverage of the major challenge of globalization. Rapid technological changes and information concentration call for heavy investment in information technology. Gathering, processing and evaluating information in the first instance, and converting it into knowledge in the second instance is a strategic goal for organizations. By bringing down interdepartmental barriers and facilitating company-wide availability and distribution of information, knowledge is disseminated within the organization.
Effective integration of knowledge necessitates the leverage of the major challenge of globalization. Rapid technological changes and information concentration call for heavy investment in information technology. Gathering, processing and evaluating information in the first instance, and converting it into knowledge in the second instance is a strategic goal for organizations. By bringing down interdepartmental barriers and facilitating company-wide availability and distribution of information, knowledge is disseminated within the organization.
Table of Contents- Introduction
- Effective integration of knowledge necessitates the leverage of the major challenge of globalization
- A Contextual Approach to Knowledge Economy
- Cultural / Structural Dimensions of Knowledge Economy
- Where Does Emotional Intelligence Fit in Knowledge Economy?
- Emotional Intelligence and Organizational Knowledge
- Emotional Intelligence and Organizational Performance
- Emotional Intelligence and Leadership
- Conclusion
« and a quite low level of uncertainty avoidance as it was the only solution to keep cohesion in the group. as it has been said in the theory, Unilever's culture ...» Document abstract
$9.95
18 word format
Language : english
management
theses
date published
30/12/2005
review : not yet assessed
level : Expert
requested 3 times
SummaryWe have decided to study the company Unilever for several reasons. Firstly, Unilever is a European company that is one of the biggest multinational in the world. Secondly, as we have chosen to study the corporate culture of multinationals, Unilever presents a quite particular corporate culture. Indeed, as opposed to most of other multinationals, Unilever presents values based on human relationships and local autonomy. Finally, we had the opportunity to get an interview with a Unilever’s executive called Stéphane Verhaeren. He is Brand Manager for Knorr Culinary Aids.
Unilever is an Anglo-Dutch company which owns many of the world's consumer product brands in foods, beverages, cleaning agents and personal care products. Unilever employs more than 247,000 people and had a worldwide revenue of 48 760 million euro in 2004. Unilever has two parent companies: Unilever NV in Rotterdam, Netherlands, and Unilever PLC in London, United Kingdom. The current non-executive Chairman of Unilever N.V. and PLC is Antony Burgmans while Patrick Cescau is Group Chief Executive. Unilever's major competitors include Nestlé and Procter & Gamble.
Unilever is an Anglo-Dutch company which owns many of the world's consumer product brands in foods, beverages, cleaning agents and personal care products. Unilever employs more than 247,000 people and had a worldwide revenue of 48 760 million euro in 2004. Unilever has two parent companies: Unilever NV in Rotterdam, Netherlands, and Unilever PLC in London, United Kingdom. The current non-executive Chairman of Unilever N.V. and PLC is Antony Burgmans while Patrick Cescau is Group Chief Executive. Unilever's major competitors include Nestlé and Procter & Gamble.
Table of Contents- The history of Unilever
- Corporate culture theory
- Hofstede's cultural dimension
- Description of the management style
- Sociability and solidarity: Two Dimensions, Four Cultures
- Practical case: Unilever
- Description of Unilever's culture
- Harmonization of corporate culture in Unilever
Les internautes ont également acheté « causing them to experience extreme anxiety and uncertainty. Unlike any other social group, families tend to One theory is called masochism, or self-defense ...» Document abstract
$1.95
2 word format
Language : english
social sciences
research papers
date published
23/10/2007
review : not yet assessed
level : General public
requested 4 times
SummaryDomestic and intimate violence is a subject with deep historical roots. It is only recently, however, that an understanding of how much abuse actually takes place has been uncovered. According a report by Huang and Gunn, “The National Violence against Women Prevention Center (NVAA) has reported that about 1.8 million to 4 million women in the United States are physically abused by their partners annually” (Huang and Gunn 790). This is obviously an enormous number, and the problem of domestic abuse, especially between spouses, must be addressed. In an attempt to find the cause of domestic and intimate violence, various explanations can be cited such as alcohol consumption, poverty, personal frustration, personality complexes, and even cultural values. Each instance of abuse, however, must be analyzed on a case by case basis in order to determine the cause and effect of abuse in an intimate relationship. It is important to understand why many people, mostly women, get abused, and why it is so difficult to escape such a relationship.
Table of Contents- According to Huang and Gunn, violence has always been present in America, and it is only now that we are addressing the problem
- An interesting study of domestic violence in immigrant families sheds light on abuse in different ethnic groups.
- The social organization of families is another reason why domestic abuse is common.
- Abusive relationships are common in America, and many studies and groups have done an excellent job explaining its causes and effects.
Democratic equality. Are Rawls's principles of economic justice too egalitarian or not egalitarian enough?
« The uncertainty of the natural and social luck of the well-off or the badly-off group, how can a who takes care about herself, choose the utilitarian theory ? ...» Document abstract
$4.95
5 word format
Language : english
humanities/philosophy
presentation
date published
24/02/2005
review : not yet assessed
level : Advanced
requested 23 times
Summary The question is, therefore, whether Rawls's egalitarianism is not enough egalitarian or too egalitarian. After having exposed the main points of Rawls's view of economic justice, the analysis of its major criticisms, both from the left and the right sides, is necessary to bring out the very meaning of Rawls's egalitarianism.
...
...
Table of Contents- The main points of Rawls's view of economic justice
- The analysis of its major criticisms, both from the left and the right sides
- The very meaning of Rawls's egalitarianism
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