Burts Bees Essay Example for Free

Burts Bees Essay A while back in 2007, Burts Bee’s was bought out by Clorox for $913 million. In buying Burts Bee’s Clorox is promising to go green. This was Clorox’s start in buying out other green companies to help them achieve their goal in going completely green. Mr. Shavitz and Ms. Quimby the original owners of Burt’s Bees had a huge fall out that began in the late 1990’s which has been going on ever since. (1) The reason that Clorox was willing to pay almost $1 Billion for Burts Bee’s because they see a big opportunity in the market to make their products green. The Burt’s Bess is really into the whole giving back to the community, and always helping. A few events they have done for the community is Urban Gardening when they teamed up with NEEM, to help make Durham, North Carolina greener, and help them plant more community gardens. Another event that they have done is help create green homes in North Carolina. As I was looking on the Burt’s Bees website on their most frequently asked questions someone asked how they can receive donations, and the answer the company gave threw me aback. â€Å"At this time, Burts Bees is not currently providing product or financial donations. We remain committed to supporting local community organizations committed to The Greater Good† (2) Personally in reading this I feel like if they want to help create that customer satisfaction, they should be willing to help everyone go green and not just the community. Since the buyout according to Clorox, their natural care products already account for over $6 billion in sales and is growing at a fast rate. The sales are climbing to a yearly rate of around 9%. As for the stalk holder Clorox states, they rose from $1. 69, 2. 8%. to $62. 69. This was a huge boost for the stockholders, and for people who wanted to buy into the stalk. As of 25th 2013, the stalks are at $83. 25. (3) This was also helping Clorox’s public relations by helping them get well known. Clorox does a whole bunch of press releases to help show that they have turned green. They also do press releases when they win an award or do contests for people to enter. When you go on the Clorox website they give you three options to choose from, Press Releases, Media Resources, and Press contacts. Since working together with Burt’s Bee’s, Clorox is also trying to get more involved in the community which they never used to do. On their website they state, â€Å"Clorox knows that it cant do it alone and actively seeks partners and other affiliations to help us become a more sustainable company. Clorox also cares. In addition to our work to make Clorox a more sustainable company, we strive to make a positive eco impact beyond Clorox. † (4) Clorox donates nearly $1 million dollars to environmental causes. Some of things they do to help the community is they donate products to the Save the Frogs, and Save the California Oaks. They also have their own foundations to help Keep America Beautiful.

Urbanization in Pakistan

Urbanization in Pakistan ABSTRACT The research reported in this thesis was on Urbanization and Determinants of Urbanization in Pakistan The main purpose of the research was to study the factors and determinants of urbanization causing the problem of urbanization in Pakistan. The secondary data was collected by referring to the literature available in the libraries and the internet. Primary data was collected by floating a questionnaire among the general public asking questions regarding the problem of Urbanization in Pakistan. Moreover, interviews were taken to get a better understanding of the research subject. SPSS software was applied to analyze the data collected from the questionnaire for frequencies and cross tabulations were run to interpret the data by using the principles of Statistics. The findings suggested that migration, net-reclassification and net natural increase were the major factors causing urbanization in Pakistan. Trend of Urbanization in Pakistan have been increasing over the past years due to a n increase in the migration rate, mergers of small towns into big cities and an excess of birth rates of death rates which causes population increase and an increase in the living population of the big cities. It was suggested that government should make proper plans and policies to avoid this problem of Urbanization as for a developing nation Urbanization can become a serious problem. CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Overview of the Topic Urbanization is the expansion of cities by the rise in total number of population. Urbanization is caused by the social, economic demographic aspects, which include internal migration, mergers of adjoining areas in the city and by the excess of birth rates over death rates. Internal migration is caused due to the attractive opportunities city life has to offer to the rural people along with better living standards and better wages. Migration cannot be controlled as by the law every citizen of the country is free to move and live where ever he wants. Second important factor causing urbanization is net reclassification that is, mergers of adjoining towns and villages into big cities. Cities of Pakistan have expanded in terms of their size and population over the past 50 years. This merger allows small towns and villages to excel and enjoy the facilities of city life but in return it brings a negative impact on the quality of essential public services such as law and order, health, edu cation, water energy supplies etc. as they earlier had been designed according to the population living within the city boundaries. This factor leads to un-regulated expansion of urban areas which cause social, economic and administrative problems. Third major factor causing urbanization is the net natural increase, increase in birth rates over death rates. Advancement in medicine and health technology leads to an increase in the life span of an average person and reduces the infant mortality rate, which brings a rise in the population if the country. According to the 1998 census, in Pakistan level of urbanization has grown from 17.5% in 1951 to 32.5% in 1998. The trend of urbanization is increasing over the past years in Pakistan. Now in Pakistan rural population is moving towards big cities due to the decreasing dependency rate on the agricultural sector. Females from the rural areas also are moving towards the big cities to get work in the informal sector. Lack of basic necessiti es such as, food, energy, education and health in the rural areas of Pakistan force people to shift to big cities bringing an effect on the economy in a negative way. Lack of improper city boundaries also allow adjoining slums and small towns to merge in with the big cities causing Urbanization in Pakistan. Small and medium sized cities of Pakistan are growing at a higher rate and are serving as hubs of business and trade. Growth in commerce and industry and better cultivation methods also lead people to shift to urban centers. Urbanization is a serious problem which needs to be controlled especially in a developing country like Pakistan where inflation rates are high, people live below poverty line, wages are less and political instability exists. It can cause infrastructure deficit, increase urban poverty unemployment, lead to scarce resources and cause further political imbalance. 1.2 Background of the Topic Pakistan was formed as a result of religious and cultural differences present in the sub-continent. These differences led to the migration among the two nations causing an uneven distribution of people as well as resources. In the initial years after independence government faced a lot of trouble in allocating resources among the cities and villages according to the total population living. A large number of refugees settled in the big cities because they had no shelter and food to migrate in the rural areas. From 1951-1962 urbanization in the East and West Pakistan experienced the same urban growth rate. Later West Pakistan saw an increase in the urban growth rate as people migrated to the two big cities of the West Karachi and Lahore in search of better job opportunities and adjoining towns merged with the big cities in order to avail the facilities cities had to offer such as electricity, gas energy. These two were the biggest cities where all the political, economic and social ac tivities used to take place. Industrialization in the latter years attracted people from the rural centers to obtain a better lifestyle. Only a small number of refugees made their way to the rural areas where no special development had taken place. In 1981-1998 urban growth declined due to the deteriorating law and order situation. Political instability, partition of East Pakistan was the main reasons for this decline. Urbanization in Pakistan has been taking place since independence. Refugees caused urban growth in the early years, in later years search for better job opportunities and independence from landlords made people migrate to big cities. Lack of governments policies in developing the rural areas of Pakistan also lead to this shift and lack of proper family planning lead to population increase and improper city boundaries extend the size of the big cities which cause urbanization. Decrease in the agricultural sector over the years have also led to an increase in the urban growth as now people seek jobs in the industrial sector rather than the agricultural side. 1.3 Importance of the Study With Respect To the World Urbanization is an emerging economic problem as the increase in large cities is not equal to the facilities available for the citizens. Overcrowding in large cities is causing different problems which are difficult to handle by the political parties. Especially for a developing nation expansion of big cities related to the facilities available is a serious problem which needs attention. Urbanization is increasing at an alarming rate in the developing nations these days. Urban population increase in developing countries is double that experienced in the West years ago. Developing nations are less industrialized as compared to the Developed countries; therefore people from rural areas migrate to the urban cities in search for better wage rates. The extent of poverty in the rural areas of the developing nations is negative, which is another factor causing migration. Existence of primate cities in developing nations brings an increase in the population of these cities. In developing and under developed nations urban growth rate is relatively high than developed nations as rural poverty and its causes such as no stable earning patterns, drought low human capital make people to migrate to big cities in search of better quality of life. Urbanization has been increasing in the world due to the large difference in income and lifestyle between rural and urban cities.. Greater emphasis laid down on the industrial sector by the government is also a big reason why inhabitants or rural areas leave their jobs in the agricultural sector and shift to the industrial sector. Some economists believe that city growth is a symbol of development of any nation as it leads to technological and industrial advancement. But most researchers believe that urbanization is a serious problem which needs to be taken into account immediately. Urbanization needs to be controlled as it can become a serious threat to the economy of any nation especially the developing ones as, they are indulged in other problems at the same time. It can also cause a problem to the people already living in the urban areas along with the people migrating to these areas. The Government has to take steps and regulate urban-rural migration to control the problem of urbanization 1.4 Importance of Study With Respect To Pakistan Urbanization is a serious problem faced by Pakistan these days. Urbanization in the early years was caused due to the problem of refugees after independence. Industrialization later made people shift to cities in search for better jobs and wage rates. Due to the existence of new technology and better health facilities the rate of births over deaths is high in Pakistan. The poor standard of living in the rural areas make people migrate to big cities to get the basic necessities of life. Mergers of adjoining towns into big cities formally transform the rural areas into urban centers. Over the years there has been an increase in the size of Pakistans top ten big cities, areas which were considered small now have been included in the premises of the big cities. Trend of urbanization in Pakistan is going up on an increasing rate. The rural population is expected to be equal to the urban population by the year 2030. Now female labor force participation is also causing urbanization as women from the rural areas are stepping ahead to work in the cities in the informal sector. In Pakistan the main factors causing rural out migration are unequal distribution of resources, lack of basic necessities and poverty. Government over the years has not been successful in implementing positive policies to stop rural out migration by developing the rural areas. The wide gap between the income distribution patterns in the rural urban areas lead to class conflicts which results in migrations causing violent activities. Moreover the mergers of small towns and slum into big cities also give rise to such problems like income disparities and class conflicts. Rapid increase in the size of the city leads to a deterioration in the quality of essential public services, such as, law and order/police, health, education, road works, water supplies, energy supplies etc., this expansions leads to economic, social and administrative problems. The population growth is unevenly distributed in the fo ur provinces and the population of the 10 big cities is increasing over the years which need to be controlled as it is the root cause for the process of urbanization. Pakistani government should take into account some policies to control the problem of urbanization which is a hurdle in the process of development. If this problem is now controlled immediately Pakistan can face numerous challenges in the near future which will be difficult to control then. 1.5 Research Question Urbanization Determinants of Urbanization in Pakistan The scope of the study is why urbanization takes place, what are the various components which give rise to the problem of urbanization. CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW Arif and Hamid (2009) examined the trends in urbanization, city growth and womens share in rural to urban migration. This study was a joint project of UNFPA and PIDE; financed by UNFPA. Growth of cities is a common practice in the developing nations, including Pakistan. The basic objective of their research was to examine the level of urbanization and urban growth of Pakistan, to analyze the role of migration in the expansion of cities and to over view the quality of life of female immigrants who have moved to big cities in search of better job opportunities for their families. This paper has used both qualitative and quantitative approaches to work on the said objectives. They have used data from previous censuses and information from existing literature. This study has further used both the 2001 Pakistan Socio-Economic Survey (PSES) and Pakistan Rural Household Survey (PRHS) done by the Pakistan Institute of Development Economics to study the share of female in rural-urban migratio n. The quality of life is examined by talking a sample of 50 women and interviewing them about their decisions which led them to the migration. According to the 1998 census, level of urbanization has grown from 17.5% in 1951 to 32.5% in 1998. The nature of urbanization is different in the four provinces. More than 60% of the population of Sindh lives in Karachi, 22% of the total population of Punjab lives in Lahore and other 5 big cities of Punjab, capital of NWFP, Peshawar constitutes of 33% of urban provincial population and the share of Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan is 37%. Arif and Hamid say that there are 3 major components of urban population growth, which include Net-natural increase (increase in the birth rates over death rates due to the growth and improvement in the medical sector). Second component is the rural-urban migration, which is caused due to the attraction and opportunities the big cities have to offer to the rural population, the migration in urban growth w as 20.1% in 1972-81 and 1981-98. The migration across provinces is also found in Pakistan. Third component is the Net-Reclassification (the mergers of adjoin areas into big cities). Medium and small cities of Pakistan have outgrown in terms of development over the past 50 years which have led to the increase in size by area of the big cities. Women comprise of a significant figure in the rural urban migration. Permanent migrant women move to urban centers in search for a better quality life for themselves and their children. The second type of migrant women includes those who shift to the city for a temporary time, to obtain full high quality education. Research says that permanent women migrate due to the economic crisis, lack of job opportunities and due to the domestic violence by husband and his family. The main findings of the qualitative research done by interviews of women who have shifted to the big cities reveal that low quality of life, in security in terms of their childr ens future, low mentality of their husbands and the feeling of being independent motivated them to migrate. Further the findings of this overall study reveal that due to a fall in the agricultural sector, the rural population is shifting to the big cities, leading to urban growth. Pakistans projected urban population is said to be equal to its rural population by 2030, when one out of every two person will be a resident of the big city. Farooq and Mateen (2005) conducted a study whose main objective was to study and explore the correlation about the socio-economic status and the determinants of internal migration by probit estimation technique. Their research was conducted in Faisalabad city and four tehsils of Faisalabad. Probit model was used to test the hypothesis of their study, the first one being that the poorer economic conditions of the rural areas lead to more rural out migration. This test showed that 35-50% of the respondents migrated to big cities due to low levels of income, poor economic opportunities and poor quality of life. Land holding is considered as an important economic opportunity in the rural sector of Pakistan. The aspect of the rural economic opportunity hypothesis states that land holdings is an important determinant in the rural urban migration. The negative land holdings show that migration is most possible when people have small land holdings as compared to people who own land more than 13 acres, who do not think of shifting to other big cities. Another hypothesis tested by Farooq and Mateen was that the higher the rate of poverty reduction among the migrants families in the rural sector the greater will be individual migration. The result shown against this hypothesis was that people from rural areas migrate mostly because they get attracted to the economic opportunities cities have to offer. Individual migrants who had left their rural areas leaving their families behind have improved their household income by sending remittances which in return reduces their poverty level. Probit model shows that rural out shift is directly linked with the objective of poverty reduction in the urban as well as rural communities. The findings say that unequal distribution of resources, usually land, and poverty leads to rural out migration. Dao (2002) conducted a study to explain the differences in the urbanization growth rates of the developing nations. He argues that the difference in the actual levels of income between rural urban areas is responsible for the process of migration. He chose to use the ratio of agricultural value added per worker to GDP per capita as a proxy variable for rural wages and assumed that urban wages do not vary due to the influence of politically motivated factors such as minimum wage legislation, labor unions etc. He also hypothesize that a countrys development factors, rate of population growth, poverty, agricultural density all such factors affect the urbanization growth. Empirical tests applied on 3 developing countries showed that agricultural value added per worker relative to per capita GDP is moderately significant in explaining the changes in urbanization growth rates which means that higher agricultural values given per worker does keep rural workers away from the thought of migra ting. Development factors such as long constructed roads divided by land area have a positive impact on the urbanization growth rate; increase in population also has a direct effect on the urban growth rate. Impact of population density in agricultural areas does not explain the urbanization growth rates and the effect of the extent of poverty in rural centers on urbanization growth is negative. Satterwaite (2010) studied the reasons behind the lack and incomplete data available on the urban populations for many under-developed and developing nations and how this incomplete data effects future policies and makes international comparisons difficult. The study says that every nation has its own definition of urbanization and its own ways of conducting a population census. Official definitions say that a city comprising of 20,000 or more inhabitants is an urban city. But if this definition is applied to the developing nations the worlds level of urbanization may change by several points. As a large proportion of such cities live in the rural, underdeveloped areas. Moreover the study tells us that city boundaries are not set according to the universally agreed criteria but are set by the local and national bodies and change over time. Statistics used to judge the environmental performance of the large cities are greatly influenced by the adjoining areas which affects the city bo undaries. In many nations census is done after ten years and in most nations census are not done in the past 15 years as, censuses are seen as expensive. Satterwaite says that difference in data regarding the urbanization rates of many countries makes the task of making urbanization control policies a difficult task. Kasarda and Crenshaw (1991) studied the third world urbanization and its determinants and dimensions. They say that third world countries are facing an urban explosion which is somewhat like that faced by the West a century ago, the urban growth faced by the third world nations is double the growth faced by the West. Urbanization problem acts as a barrier in the development phase of the third world countries. Developing nations face a problem of over urbanization which is the increase in the countrys population as compared to the economic activities. Developing nations also face the problem of Urban Primacy which is all political, social, economic activities take place in one big city of the nation which in return attracts people from the rural sector. The existence of improper city boundaries also makes third world countries more underdeveloped and acts as a constraint to future development. Migration in these countries takes place at an increasing rate due to the attractions the bi g cities have to offer. Moreover the increase in the birth rates over death rates due to the advancement in the medical sector has increased the population which affects the rate of Urbanization. The wage difference and job opportunities also affect the decision of rural urban migration, as the wage rates in the rural sector are much low as compared to the urban sector. The housing facilities provided in the big cities of the third world nations are much better than those in the rural areas. The housing facilities provided in the rural areas of the third world countries are far less below than the criteria stated by the UNO. Jan, Iqbal and Ifthikharuddin (2008) conducted a study in ten most populous cities of Pakistan to study the trend and growth of urbanization in these big cities and their provinces. They say that province wise distribution of the rural urban population and its projections are important to make forecasts about the future. They have used the weighted matrix approach to make population projections. Sindh province currently has the highest proportion of urban population which is expected to increase by 12% by 2030; Punjab whose current population urbanized is 31.267% is expected to be 50.07% by 2030. The projected urbanization rate of NWFP is 41.36% by 2030 with an increase of approx. 24%. The projected urban percentage of Baluchistan is 45.56% by 2030 showing a rise of 22%. The findings say that the urban population is unevenly distributed in the four provinces. The population growth of the ten big cities is increasing over the past decade which is the gem cause of the problem of urbani zation and it should be quickly handled. CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY Research Type My research type is quantitative research as a questionnaire was used to collect the data and then it was coded and was formed into a more statistical version Data Type and Research Period Research is based on primary data as a questionnaire was floated to collect data. This is because there is no prior data available on the subject matter; hence the questionnaire provided with sufficient material to conduct the research. Sources of Data A questionnaire was floated asking general questions regarding the relationship of the dependent variable with the independent ones Theoretical Framework Related Definitions Variables Urbanization A process in which an increasing proportion of an entire population lives in cities or suburbs of cities, areas of population dense enough that residents cannot grow their own food (www.pbs.org/wgbh/rxforsurvival/glossary.html) Over Urbanization Excessive growth of a countrys urban population relative to economic growth Urban Growth Refers to the rise in the increasing population living in urban areas (Jones 1991) Migration Shifting of people from small villages to big cities in search of better life style and job opportunity Urban Built-up and populated area that includes a municipality and, generally, has a population of 5000 or more (http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/urban.html) Rural Rural population includes persons living in the open country or in towns of less than 2,500 people. It is subdivided in the rural farm population which comprises all rural residents living on farms, and the rural non-farm population which includes the remaining rural population (www.mnforsustain.org/rockefeller_1972_glossary.htm) Push factors Factors responsible for shifting people from rural to urban cities Pull factors Factors responsible for attracting rural population to the urban centers Net-Reclassification Merger of adjoining areas into big cities due to lack of proper city boundaries and the development of these adjoining areas Net-Natural Increase The increase in birth rates over death rates due to better health facilities and rise in population Population, Working Population and Planned Sample My sample included the population of Lahore, with a sample size of 50 people. It included people from all spheres of life who had recently migrated to big cities and the people living in adjoining areas of Lahore. People above the age of 25 were capable of filling out my questionnaire Research Hypothesis Ho: Migration is an important factor in the process of urbanization and it has an effect on the countrys economy H1: Migration is not an important factor in the process of urbanization and it does not affect the countrys economy Ho: Lack of city boundaries lead to the annexure of adjoining small towns into big cities which in return increase the living urban population giving rise to urbanization H1: Lack of city boundaries do not lead to the annexure of adjoining small towns into big cities which in return increase the living urban population giving rise to urbanization Ho: Availability of better health facilities in urban cities brings excess of birth rates over death rates H1: Availability of better health facilities in urban cities do not bring any change in the birth and death rates Ho: High rates of poverty poor economic conditions in the rural areas lead to rural out migration H1: High rates of poverty poor economic conditions in the rural areas does not lead to rural out migration Ho: Uncheck urbanization leads to economic, social and administrative problems H1: Uncheck urbanization leads to economic, social and administrative problems Ho: Lack of government policies and plans have led to an increase in urbanization H1: Lack of government policies and plans have led to a decrease in urbanization Techniques After the questionnaire was filled and coding was done, cross tabulations were run to analyze the relationship of the independent variables with the dependent one. Data Analysis The statistical software which was used was SPSS. Cross tabulations to interpret the results gathered by the questionnaire. It provided me with frequency tables to get a better understanding of the collected data. Data interpretation Based on the current analysis the main aim was to understand which variable was the major factor causing urbanization. CHAPTER 4 RESULTS AND ANALYSIS 4.1 Results Analysis Migration Do you think migration is a serious factor in the process of urbanization? Do you think Migration has a serious effect on the economy of Pakistan in a negative way? Ho: Migration is an important factor in the process of urbanization and it has an effect on the countrys economy H1: Migration is not an important factor in the process of urbanization and it does not affect the countrys economy This cross tabulation talks about migration being an important factor in the process of urbanization and affecting a states economy in a negative way. 20 people agree to the fact that migration causes an urbanization which affects the economy of the country. 29 people agreed and said that migration is a major cause in the urbanization problem. 12 people disagree and believe that migration do not have an effect on the countrys economy in a negative way. Total 7 people stay neutral and are of the view that migration is not a key factor in the process of urbanization. Therefore, we accept our null hypothesis as a majority agrees to the fact that urbanization is caused by migration which has a negative impact on the economy. Net Reclassification Do you think lack of city boundaries is a major cause for urbanization? Do you think that there should be a limit on the size of a city? Ho: Lack of city boundaries lead to the annexure of adjoining small towns into big cities which in return increase the living urban population giving rise to urbanization H1: Lack of city boundaries do not lead to the annexure of adjoining small towns into big cities which in return increase the living urban population giving rise to urbanization This cross tabulation talks about lack of city boundaries, and their role in the process of urbanization. 16 people stayed neutral when asked if they considered mergers of small towns and villages a factor in the process of urbanization. 15 people believed that the problem of urbanization was caused due to the annexure of small villages and towns into big cites. However, 14 people disagreed and said that they did not consider this merger to be a factor in the problem of urbanization rather this merger gave the opportunity to the people living in such poor areas to excel, bringing a positive effect on the economy. 16 people agreed that a limit should be set by the government or local authorities to the city boundaries. Whereas, 11 people disagreed in setting up a city boundary. Thus, we accept our hypotheses as more people agree to the fact that mergers of adjoining towns and slums do cause urbanization and a limit should be set in the city size. Net Natural Increase Do you consider the increase in birth rates over death rates a cause for the problem of urbanization? Do you believe that an increase in the population size of Pakistan is a source of the countrys problems? Ho: Availability of better health facilities in urban cities brings excess of birth rates over death rates H1: Availability of better health facilities in urban cities do not bring any change in the birth and death rates This cross tabulation discusses whether increase in population is a source of countrys problems and this increase is due to the excess of birth rates over death rates. 22 people strongly agreed that the population increase in Pakistan is a big source of the countrys problems. 8 people disagreed on the fact that population increase had to do anything with the countrys problems. 20 people said that an excess of birth rates over death rates was a factor in the process of urbanization, as urbanization means expansion of cities, which in this situation is done by an increase in birth rates. 14 people stayed neutral and said they somehow agreed and disagreed to the fact that the excess of births over deaths is a factor of urbanization. So, we accept our null hypothesis as more people believe population to be a source of a countrys problems and think that the excess of birth rates over death rates allow the cities to expand causing the problem of urbanization. 4.2 Frequency Tables Q3) Does Poverty act as a major tool in the process of migration? 30 respondents agreed to the fact that poverty is a major factor which causes rural out migration which leads to urbanization. Q4) Better Lifestyles, health and education facilities, life security, independence attract the rural population towards the urban centers, do you agree? 20 respondents agreed and 19 strongly agreed that better standard of living in the urban centers attracts the rural population which makes them migrate. Q5) Do you think people in u

Case Study of Best Buys Inc Expansion

Case Study of Best Buys Inc Expansion Best Buys, Inc has emerged as a special electronic retailer in US and other areas operating from Richfield, Minnesota. The main strategy for international expansion used by BBI is MA with dual branding by creation of competition between acquired stores and Best Buys. The case study shows that the strategy has been successful and workable in western world. Within reduction of trade barriers by China and allowing 100% FDI in retail segment, BBI is trying to follow same strategy in China. But Chinese market being totally different from the Western context, BBI has faced challenge to cut across the dual branding strategy. The report highlights the main strategic issues raised followed by recommendations. PESTEL Framework The PESTEL framework is devised to understand the strategic issues underpinning the business from external sources (Johnson, Scholes Whittington, 2008) Figure A-1: PESTEL Analysis PEST Factor Key Points Implications for BBI POLITICAL (Opportunity for BBI to expand in different Chinese market.) Liberalization in Chinese retail market from 2004 Reduction in entry barriers like compulsion of domestic partners. Big market for imported product. (www.Businessinasia.com) Increase in competition from stronger global players of retail business. Growing knowledgeable domestic retail players. ECONOMICAL (Constrains from free directive growth in China) Shift to market oriented economy. Relatively high domestic savings rate. Uneven economic development among different states of nation. Growth in manufacturing sector. (CIA, 2010) MOST IMPORTANT Need for appropriate market segmentation to target specific people and Chinese province. Require to restructure its cost base to suit by sourcing its materials from China to satisfy the cost conscious needs of small towns and cities. SOCIAL (Opportunity for BBI for establishing its brand in strong position on customer mind.) Increase in middle class people. Rising income of newly educated class. Focused on functional aspects of products. (CIA, 2010) Potential opportunity of making profits by targeting young educated individuals in metro cities. TECHNOLOGICAL (Threat for BBI due to unprotected IPR.) No laws on Intellectual property rights (IPR). Improved technological due to spillover effect from other MNCs. ENVIRONMENTAL LEGAL (Opportunity for BBI to keep away potential entrants.) High legalities for land acquisition. Procedural delays to grant permission. Being first international company in retail segment gives advantage to earn profits and create efficiency (Kotler, 1997). 3.0 PORTER FIVE FORCES: By analyzing the competitive nature of Chinese retail market, market position of BBI can be assessed to formulate strategy to neutralize these forces (Porter, 1985; Lynch, 2007). Force Strength and Implication for BBI Competitive Rivalry BBI caters only to CE retailing. Consolidation of retail segment has increased challenge. Emerging established domestic players. HIGH Innovative marketing is the key strength for BBI. Well known for its customer centricity. Powers of Suppliers Increasing domestic electronics suppliers. Global suppliers with high bargaining power. LOW BBI presence established with sourcing office developed good relationship with local suppliers. Power of Buyers Low brand recognition while buying product. Consumers preference for national brands. Products bought on basis of price and functionality. MEDIUM Although the power of buyers is medium BBI should make sure that it should reach its distributed customer through its distribution channel due to presence of vast regional difference. Threats for New Entrants Highly fragmented Chinese retail market. Entry of global retail players. Newly emerging domestic players. HIGH Concentrate to differentiation from others. Focus on targeting both segments of customers. 4.0 SWOT analysis: Factors Implication for BBI Strength Presence in China for sourcing electronic products since 2003. Innovative marketing skills. Established brand in US and surrounding regions. Developing and maintain relationship with established suppliers. Personal relationship is basis of business in China. Weakness Being a foreign MNC. Lack of knowledge for operating in Chinese customer segments. Lack of quality human resources. Acquisition of Five Star has reduced the foreign liability and increased local knowledge. Retail training of International Standards for employees. Opportunity Highly fragmented market. Increased demand for branded products in Tier 1 cities. Income growth in Tier 2 cities. Establish retail chain to create brand awareness. Need for creation of robust distribution network. Threats Rampant price wars. Entering global players. High domestic savings rate. Consumers differing away to purchase on credit terms. Cost focused strategy for price sensitive segment and focused differentiation branded products in Tier 1 segments (Johnson et. al., 2007) 5.0 Key Strategic Issues: Analyzing internal and external factors various key findings have been listed below with their strategic implication on BBI. Key strategic findings Analysis tool Key findings Strategic Implications on BBI PESTEL Analysis Huge differences in living standards. Increase in disposal income. High savings rate among middle income group. Establish stores to cater both segments to maintain both requirements: Functionality for cost focused and Differentiation for Tier 1 segment. PORTER FIVE FORCES Strong domestic competitors. Global competitors entering the market. Leveraging on first mover advantage, establish relationship with suppliers and buyers. SWOT Lack of local knowledge of different Chinese regions. Domestic retailers driving on price wars. Consumers buying less on credits. MA can fulfill local knowledge and developing relationship with established with local suppliers can cut cost low. 6.0 Strategy Formulation: TOWS Matrix: Different strategic options are formulated using TOWS matrix to address the strategic issues highlighted in analysis. INTERNAL FACTORS IN CHINA Strengths Weakness Established brand name Best Buys. Relationship with Chinese suppliers. International player. Well versed with new innovative technology. Acquisition of Five Star (75% Share). Experience in retail segment. Small number of BBI stores. Lack of retail skilled employees. Lack of local knowledge. Foreign liability. EXTERNAL FACTORS Opportunities Competitors lack of International retail standards and technology. Emerging markets Increasing young educated preferring branded goods. SO Strategic options Dual brand strategy Five star for cost focused and Best Buys for focused differentiation. Influencing young customer segment in Tier 1 market. WO Strategic options Increase on developing retail skilled employees. Increasing promotional packages. Reducing cost using technology. Threats Global economic crises. Legal regulations. Lower cost competition. High savings rate. Low credit purchase. ST Strategic options Developing brand recognition. MA with domestic retailers. Leveraging on suppliers potential. WT Strategic options Good product offerings Zero percent interest rate on EMI credit purchase. (Source: Johnson et al., 2008, p367) 7.0 Recommendation: A detail explanation and classification of strategies on basis of Ansoffs Matrix is detailed in appendix A. A primary analysis has been carried out using number of performance indicators to eliminate options which may not be suitable for BBI, leaving the 3 most appropriated strategies which can be followed. A combined approach of incremental market development and penetration followed simultaneously. First Stage: Create brand awareness and recognition among Chinese customers. Influence young educated customer segment. Second Stage: Use of dual branding strategy for two different segments Cost focused for customers believing in functionality and cost; Focused differentiation for brand conscious customers.

Educationally Driven Assimilation Essay -- Education, Politics

The United States educational system has existed nearly unchanged for hundreds of years. As the system itself remains the same, the content in courses has not. The discussion of what courses should and should not be required or even offered has shifted into a question of politics. As the movement towards becoming more politically correct has expanded, so has its influence upon the educational system. Education on racial issues, which was once deemed as necessary, are now being removed out. A university that feeds on fear-driven proposals offered by the politically correct movement ultimately decides to remove courses that may be falsely perceived as discriminatory. There is a single question that must be asked due to this new trend. Is political correctness being used to target and remove racial issues from the classroom in an attempt to assimilate all cultures? Using three arguments, this paper will seek to support the idea that forcing political correctness into a classroom removes racial issues, and attempts to assimilate minorities. First, political correctness demands modification of both the educational structure, and of the student. Second, political correctness assimilates both the language and actions of individuals. Third, a discussion of white dominance is required to stop a forced assimilation and create a mutual respect of differences instead. Although being politically correct appears to be good on face, the concept can be weaponized in an attempt to halt unwanted discussion. A highly regarded professor from Harvard was ultimately forced to stop offering his class â€Å"Peopling of America† due to its focus on racial issues. (Taylor, 198). Although the Harvard professor was teaching the same course that ... ...the ideals of political correctness target and assimilate cultural differences. The ideals of being PC require followers to think alike, act alike, discuss things alike, and avoid all of the same questions. Uniformity is not the answer to solving cultural differences. When uniformity is preferred it creates a binary that allows individuals to be considered part of the group or different. It is this categorization of individuals that allows the elite to manipulate and oppress against individuals in the United States. The elites can target a group and the majority will find it justified as that group is not part of the unified. The alternative, however, is to allow discussions of difference to occur. If our society can grow to respect differences instead of try to assimilate them, then we will ultimately have a whole group that can include any form of minority.

Canterbury Tales: The Knight :: Geoffrey Chaucer Canterbury Tales Essays

Canterbury Tales: The Knight In his prologue, Geoffrey Chaucer introduces all of the characters who are involved in this fictional journey and who will tell the tales. One of the more interesting of the characters included in this introductory section is the Knight. Chaucer initially refers to the Knight as "a most distinguished man" and, indeed, his sketch of the Knight is highly complimentary. In this essay, I will contrast Chaucer's ideal Knight with its modern equivalent. The Knight, Chaucer tells us, possessed good horses, "but he was not gaily dressed". Indeed, the Knight is dressed in a common shirt "much stained" by where his armor had left its mark. In other words, Chaucer is telling us that the Knight has just arrived home from service and is in such a hurry to go on his pilgrimage that he has not even paused before embarking on it to change his clothes. Additionally, the Knight has led a very busy life as his fighting career has taken him to a great many places. He has seen military service in Egypt, Lithuania, Prussia, Russia, Spain, North Africa, and Asia Minor where he always "won the highest honor". Amazingly, even though he has had a very successful and busy career, he remains an extremely humble man: indeed, Chaucer maintains that he is meek "as a maiden". Moreover, Chaucer claims the Knight has never said a rude remark to anyone in his entire life. Clearly, the Knight possesses an outstanding character, and Chaucer gives to the Knight perhaps one of the most flattering descriptions in the General Prologue than any other character. His Knight can do no wrong: he is an outstanding warrior who has fought for the 'true faith' (according to Chaucer) on three continents. In the midst of all this, however, Chaucer's Knight remains modest and polite. Thus we see him as the embodiment of the traditional chivalric code: bold and fearless on the battlefield, devout and courteous off it. Apart from the moral message contained in the story, perhaps this tale of Chaucer's is of even further interest to modern-day readers. In our twentieth-century America, we would like to think that we simply don't have enough people in our society who we can liken to Chaucer's Knight. Perhaps we are under the impression that our modern society does not breed such virtuous people as existed in Chaucer's time. We remember that Chaucer's work represented one of the few sources of literature available to the people of England in the latter half of the fourteenth century; The Canturbury Tales was indeed a precursory form of mass Canterbury Tales: The Knight :: Geoffrey Chaucer Canterbury Tales Essays Canterbury Tales: The Knight In his prologue, Geoffrey Chaucer introduces all of the characters who are involved in this fictional journey and who will tell the tales. One of the more interesting of the characters included in this introductory section is the Knight. Chaucer initially refers to the Knight as "a most distinguished man" and, indeed, his sketch of the Knight is highly complimentary. In this essay, I will contrast Chaucer's ideal Knight with its modern equivalent. The Knight, Chaucer tells us, possessed good horses, "but he was not gaily dressed". Indeed, the Knight is dressed in a common shirt "much stained" by where his armor had left its mark. In other words, Chaucer is telling us that the Knight has just arrived home from service and is in such a hurry to go on his pilgrimage that he has not even paused before embarking on it to change his clothes. Additionally, the Knight has led a very busy life as his fighting career has taken him to a great many places. He has seen military service in Egypt, Lithuania, Prussia, Russia, Spain, North Africa, and Asia Minor where he always "won the highest honor". Amazingly, even though he has had a very successful and busy career, he remains an extremely humble man: indeed, Chaucer maintains that he is meek "as a maiden". Moreover, Chaucer claims the Knight has never said a rude remark to anyone in his entire life. Clearly, the Knight possesses an outstanding character, and Chaucer gives to the Knight perhaps one of the most flattering descriptions in the General Prologue than any other character. His Knight can do no wrong: he is an outstanding warrior who has fought for the 'true faith' (according to Chaucer) on three continents. In the midst of all this, however, Chaucer's Knight remains modest and polite. Thus we see him as the embodiment of the traditional chivalric code: bold and fearless on the battlefield, devout and courteous off it. Apart from the moral message contained in the story, perhaps this tale of Chaucer's is of even further interest to modern-day readers. In our twentieth-century America, we would like to think that we simply don't have enough people in our society who we can liken to Chaucer's Knight. Perhaps we are under the impression that our modern society does not breed such virtuous people as existed in Chaucer's time. We remember that Chaucer's work represented one of the few sources of literature available to the people of England in the latter half of the fourteenth century; The Canturbury Tales was indeed a precursory form of mass

Is technology a boon or a bane Essay

Technology offers us an escape to inconvenience and makes work lighter and provocative. Personally, technology gives me a lot of benefits. Tasks get lighter, distance gets shorter, communication gets faster, to reiterate some. In my field of work, I use MP3 attached to a speaker to play the songs I want to teach the kids; having said that, I always make sure that I know the song really well that in case of some technical difficulties like interruption of electric power supply or empty batteries, I can still teach the song without using my MP3. Same case when I’m using PowerPoint Presentation. I always have backups. Though technology makes our lives easier, as a teacher we are still reminded that technology will not reach the inner soul of the children. We need to look them in the eye while presenting the lesson through the projector. We need to hold them when we present the sense of touch. We need to utter the words to them when we want them to understand and truly learn the lesson.

Customer’s Adoption of Mobile-Commerce a Study on Emerging Economy

International Journal of e-Education, e-Business, e-Management and e-Learning, Vol. 1, No. 3, August 2011 Customer’s Adoption of Mobile-Commerce A Study on Emerging Economy Rahmath Safeena, Nisar Hundewale, and Abdullah Kamani Abstract—Today, mobile communication technologies provide immense additional scope for consumers’ banking transactions due to their always-on functionality and the option to access bank’s facilities anytime and anywhere. Mobile banking is a subset of electronic banking which underlies not only the determinants of the banking business but also the special conditions of mobile commerce.It is the latest and most innovative service offered by the banks. But not enough study has been done to known regarding how customers perceive and evaluate electronically delivered mobile banking services. The study considers five factors perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, subjective norm, consumer awareness about mobile banking and perceived risks associated with mobile banking. This study also points out that these factors have a strong and positive effect on customers to accept mobile banking system. Index Terms—m-commerce, mobile banking; perceived usefulness, ease of use, risk, awareness, subjective norm.I. INTRODUCTION The proliferation of, and rapid advances in, technology-based systems, especially those related to the internet, are leading to fundamental changes in how companies interact with customers [1-3]. Mobile phone usage has spread in a very broad manner both in developing and developed countries. With mobile communications already as a prime case for leapfrogging traditional infrastructure, mobile banking (M-Banking) has great potential for extending the provision of financial services to unbanked people through a technology that is both familiar and widespread.One of the first commercial applications of the mobile commerce was mobile banking (m-banking) [4], [5]. The rapid growth of mobile applica tions has given rise to a new term: m-commerce. M-commerce is defined as the application of wireless communications networks and devices to the execution of transactions with monetary value – either direct or indirect [6]. As the number of mobile phone users is growing, purchasing products and services using mobile phones and other mobile devices are also increasing; also the use of Mobile Banking is still in initial stages and more research in this field is needed [7].Internet banking and mobile banking (m-banking) has become the self-service delivery channel that allows banks to provide information and offer services to their customers with more convenience via the web services technology. A key component of many initiatives is the implementation of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software [8]. Many companies in the financial services sector have been quick to implement Internet capabilities, and electronic service is becoming a viable option for interaction between financial service providers and their customers [9].Customer satisfaction and customer retention are increasingly developing into key success factors in e-banking [2]. Technology, in particular, has been increasingly employed in service organizations to enhance customer service quality and delivery, reduce costs, and standardize core service offerings [1], [9-11]. Mobile banking service allows customers to manage their accounts with ease. Mols et al. , [12] stated that the diffusion of electronic banking is more determined by customer acceptance than by seller offerings.Not enough is known regarding how customers perceive and evaluate electronically delivered services. Lee and Lin [10] have also recently highlighted the need for further research to measure the influence of e-service on customer-perceived service quality and satisfaction [1]. This study considers the five factors perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, subjective norm, consumer awareness about mobile banking and perceived risks associated with mobile banking. Half of the people that have tried mobile banking services will not become active users.Highly publicized cases involving major security failures might have contributed to the public’s concern and lack of acceptance of mobile banking. The present study aims at examining the impact of perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, subjective norm, and consumer awareness on mobile banking and perceived risk on the acceptance of mobile banking by the consumers. II. MOBILE BANKING With mobile commerce or m-commerce technology, consumers can use mobile phones, Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) and laptop computers to access the internet, send and receive messages and make transactions at ny time from any places without having tied to a particular location [13]. Mobile banking is a subset of electronic banking which underlies not only the determinants of the banking business but also the special conditions of mobile commerce. Mobile Ban king has been gaining increasing popularity amongst various sections of the society for past few years, having recovered from the shock of the dot-com burst [14]. Mobile Banking refers to provision and availment of banking- and financial services with the help of mobile telecommunication devices.The scope of offered services may include facilities 228 Manuscript received July 12; revised July 25, 2011. Rahmath Safeena, Nisar Hundewale, Abdullah Kamani, are College of Computers and Information Technology, Taif University, Taif, Saudi Arabia (e-mail:safi. [email  protected] com,e-mail:n. [email  protected] edu. sa,e-mail:abd ullah. [email  protected] edu. sa) International Journal of e-Education, e-Business, e-Management and e-Learning, Vol. 1, No. 3, August 2011 to conduct bank and stock market transactions, to administer accounts and to access customized information [15].With mobile technology, banks can offer services to their customers such as doing funds transfer while trav elling, receiving online updates of stock price or even performing stock trading while being stuck in traffic. Smart phones and 3G connectivity provide some capabilities that older text message-only phones do not. The convergence of mobile communications and distributed networked computing has provided the foundation for the development of a new channel of electronic business, mobile business [15].Mobile business (m-business) is defined as the use of the mobile information technologies, including the wireless Internet, for organizational communication and coordination, and the management of the firm [16]. M-Banking is a term used for performing balance checks, account transactions, payments, credit applications etc. via a mobile device such as a mobile phone or Personal Digital Assistant (PDA). It is the convenient, simple, secure, anytime and anywhere banking. Many new e-commerce applications will be possible and significantly benefit from emerging ireless and mobile networks. Thes e applications can collectively be termed wireless e-commerce or mobile commerce [17]. The earliest mobile banking services were offered via SMS. With the introduction of the first primitive smart phones with WAP (wireless application protocol) support enabling the use of the mobile web in 1999, the first European banks started to offer mobile banking on this platform to their customers [15]. SMS Banking is a Mobile technology that allows you to request and receive banking information from your bank on your mobile phone via SMS [18].WAP banking is another form of the E-banking that enables the user to communicate interactively with the bank, for which client uses only GSM mobile phone with WAP service. With its options and the method of controlling WAP banking reminds an easy form of Internet banking. WAP is a universal standard for bringing Internet-based content and advanced value-added services to wireless devices such as phones and PDAs [19]. III. CONSUMER ATTITUDE TOWARDS M-BAN KING Technological innovations are having significant importance in human general and professional life. This era can safely be attributed as technology revolution.The quick expansion of information technology has imbibed into the lives of millions of people. Rapid technology advancements have introduced major changes in the worldwide economic and business atmosphere [20]. Research on consumer attitude and adoption of mobile banking showed there are several factors predetermining the consumer’s attitude towards online banking such as person’s demography, motivation and behavior towards different banking technologies and individual acceptance of new technology. It has been found that consumer’s attitudes toward online banking are influenced by the prior experience of computer and new technology [21].The adoption of electronic banking forces consumers to consider concerns about password integrity, privacy, data encryption, hacking, and the protection of personal i nformation [22]. Electronic banking requires perhaps the most consumer involvement, as it requires the 229 consumer to maintain and regularly interact with additional technology (a computer and an Internet connection) [23]. Consumers who use e-banking use it on an ongoing basis and need to acquire a certain comfort level with the technology to keep using it [24]. Customer adoption is a recognized dilemma for the strategic plans of financial institutions.Several studies have investigated why individuals choose a specific bank. Important consumer selection factors include convenience, service facilities, reputation and interest rates [25], [26]. According to Delvin [27], customers have less time to spend on activities such as visiting a bank and therefore want a higher degree of convenience and accessibility. The service-quality attributes that the Internet banks must offer to induce consumers to switch to online transactions and keep using them are perceived usefulness, ease of use, reliability, responsiveness, security, and continuous improvement [28].In another study by [29], they found that individual expectations regarding accuracy, security, network speed, user-friendliness, and user involvement and convenience were the most important quality attributes in the perceived usefulness of Internet-based e-retail banking. The crucial factors that affect an individual’s decision to use or not to use online services the age, the difficulties of using the Internet, fear of changes in banking sector due to technological development and lack of information concerning products and services provided to customers through electronic delivery channels.Factors such as speed of transactions or the cost of using the Internet have little impact on an individual’s final decision [30]. In the study by [1], revealed six composite dimensions of electronic service quality, including the provision of convenient/accurate electronic banking operations; the accessibility and reliability of service provision; good queue management; service personalization; the provision of friendly and responsive customer service; and the provision of targeted customer service. Perceived usefulness, security and privacy are the main perusing factors to accept online banking system [20].According to a study WAP, GPRS and 3G features from mobile devices are of no significance or influence in the adoption of e-banking services [31]. IV. RESEARCH MODEL AND HYPOTHESES Perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use are the two components of Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). According to [32],†perceived usefulness is the extent to which a person believes that using a particular system will enhance his or her performance, while perceived ease of use is the extent to which a person believes that using a particular system will be free of effort†.TAM has been widely used by information system researcher; there is a common agreement among them that the model is val id in predicting the individual’s acceptance of new technologies [33-36]. Perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use is significant factors affecting acceptance of an information system or new technologies. Prior research has empirically found positive relationship between perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness as critical factors on the use of e- banking [31], [37-39]. Hence an application perceived to be useful International Journal of e-Education, e-Business, e-Management and e-Learning, Vol. , No. 3, August 2011 perceived to be easier to use than another is more likely to be accepted by users. By applying these into online banking context we hypothesize: H1: Perceived usefulness has a positive effect on intention to adopt and use MB. H2: Perceived ease of use has a positive effect on intention to adopt and use MB Adoption is the acceptance and continued use of a product, service or idea. According to [40], [41], consumers go through â€Å"a process of knowled ge, persuasion, decision and confirmation† before they are ready to adopt a product or service.The adoption or rejection of an innovation begins when â€Å"the consumer becomes aware of the product†. Consumers will seek out services which offer the best value for money. Hence, for adoption of mobile banking, it is necessary that the banks offering this service make the consumers aware about the availability of such a product and explain how it adds value relative to other products of its own or that of the competitors. An important characteristic for any adoption of innovative service or product is creating awareness among the consumers about the service/product [40].The amount of information consumers have about online banking has been identified as a major factor impacting the adoption. According to [40], while the use of online banking services is fairly new experience to many people, low awareness of online banking is a major factor in causing people not to adopt on line banking. In an empirical study of Australian consumers found that consumers were unaware about the possibilities, advantages/disadvantages involved with online banking. Hence, we posit that:H3: Awareness about MB has a positive effect on intention to adopt and use MB Perceptions of risk are a powerful explanatory factor in consumer behavior as individuals appear to be more motivated to avoid mistakes than to maximize purchasing benefits [42]. The construct Perceived Risk reflects an individual’s subjective belief about the possible negative consequences of some type of planned action or behavior, due to inherent uncertainty. Pavlou [43] refers to perceived system risk as the overall amount of uncertainty perceived by an organization in a particular purchase situation.The Perceived Risk associated with online transactions may reduce perceptions of behavioral and environmental control, and this lack of control is likely to negatively influence e-commerce usage intentions [ 44]. Similar is with m-commerce applications. Diffusion of innovation literature is often silent on perceived risk as a factor influencing the diffusion of an innovation, despite adoption behavior often being a process of dealing with the uncertainty about incorporating an innovation into ongoing practice [45].Services are inherently more risky than products and that the major reason for this is the higher levels of uncertainty which are associated with services [42], [46], [47]. Polatoglu and Ekin [48] also found that perceived risk was one of the major factors affecting consumer adoption, as well as customer satisfaction of mobile banking services. Perceived risk usually arises from uncertainty. Hence we hypothesize: H4: Perceived risks have a negative impact on intention to adopt and use MB. Subjective norm is the perceived social pressure to engage 230 or not to engage in a behavior.Subjective norm is determined by the total set of accessible normative beliefs concerning the exp ectations of important referents [49]. It is the person’s perception that most people who are important to him think he should or should not perform the behavior in question [50]. individual often respond to social normative influences to establish a favorable image within a reference group. Moore and Benbasant define image as the degree to which use of an innovation is perceived to enhance one’s status in social system [51]. H5: Subjective norm has a positive effect on intention to adopt and use MB.RESEARCH METHODOLOGY Perceived usefulness Perceived ease of use Awareness Perceived risk Subjective Norm Fig. 1. RESEARCH MODEL Mobile Banking Adoption The key intention of this paper is to evaluate those factors that manipulate the nature of customers towards mobile banking and their growing tendency towards the online financial institutions. A survey instrument in the form of questionnaire was developed through data collected from previous studies on acceptance of mobile banking. We constructed several questions in the questionnaire based on the objectives of the research.SPSS 12 package was used for analysis. Likert scale is used in order to identify the respondents’ perceptions towards mobile banking adoption. During the interviews we sought general information from the managers about mobile banking and asked them to discuss the reasons for undertaking mobile banking and to highlight mobile banking development challenges. We also asked them to discuss the issues relevant to the future of the initiative. The questionnaires were based on customers’ intention to adopt mobile banking. Sample Convenience sampling method was used.It is a type of non-probability sampling which involves the sample being drawn from that part of the population which is close to hand, i. e, sample population selected because it is readily available and convenient. The reasons of using this sampling type are twofold. First, it offers an easy way to obtain the ra w data for the further analysis. Second, it saves times and costs since the respondents can be randomly selected. Choosing this campus is because of two reasons. First, those business and economics student are revealed with the knowledge of applied business and economics.At the same time, they are equipped with the knowledge of computer science, where the concept of mobile banking is not an alien for these students. Second, it was found that there is no study ever conducted in International Journal of e-Education, e-Business, e-Management and e-Learning, Vol. 1, No. 3, August 2011 the campus, it leaves a motivation to the research to perform a study in order to investigate the students’ adoption for mobile banking in the near future. Table 1 shows the profile of the respondents. The sample shows that the number of male (78. 84%) respondents is higher than the number of female (21. 15%) respondents.The sample shows that the largest age group that responded was from 20 to 30 ye ars of age (82. 7%), followed by age 31 to 40 (11. 5%), then 41 to 50 (03. 8%) and >50 (1. 9%). In the education background more than 55% of the respondents were postgraduate students and more than 28% were graduate students and 11. 5% were PhD students. TABLE I: PROFILE OF THE RESPONDENTS Items No. of Respondent 42 Male 11 Female 20-30 43 31-40 6 41-50 2 >50 1 Graduate 15 Postgraduate 29 PhD 6 Other 2 Factor loading values were obtained using varimax rotation. According to the above table, most of the factor loading for each instrument exceeded 0. , meeting the essentially significant level of convergent validity. Extraction Method: Principal Component Analysis. Rotation Method: Varimax with Kaiser Normalization. Rotation converged in 6 iterations. Using eigenvalue greater than 1 as a selection criterion. Each has cumulative frequency of 21. 11, 43. 16, 52. 85, 58. 55 and 69. 94 percent respectively. These factors accounted for 69% of the variance and the factor loading were greate r than 0. 6. Hence the results show that H1, H2, H3, H4 and H5 are confirmed. The results are consistent and are supported by previous studies.TABLE II: RELIABILITY TEST Determinants No. of items PU 7 PEU 5 AW 7 PR 6 SN 2 Reliability 0. 834 0. 760 0. 836 0. 600 0. 778 Demographics Gender Age group Education Percent 78. 84 21. 15 82. 7 11. 5 3. 8 1. 9 28. 8 55. 8 11. 5 3. 8 V. DISCUSSION AND FINDINGS Although mobile banking provides flexibility in performing financial transaction, fast and easy, however individuals are still reluctant to adopt the system because of several reasons. First, the security and privacy are two elements in the perceived risk. Without a proper knowledge of the system, individuals are not interested to test the system.Perceived usefulness, ease of use and consumer awareness has positive impact on the intention to adopt mobile banking while perceived risk has negative impact on it. When online banking is perceived as useful, customer’s intention to adop t it would be greater. Likewise bank customers are likely to adopt mobile banking when it is easy to use. Social influence has positive effect on the use of mobile technology as the individuals think that using the advanced technology will improve his image and status in the society and also it improves his performance.This shows that bank customers anchor their online banking adoption intention to the beneficial outcomes and ease of use process of the system. This finding is particularly important for managers as they decide how to allocate resources to retain and expand their current customer base. However, building a risk-free online transaction environment is much more difficult than providing benefits to customers. Further, the research instrument was tested for reliability using Cronbach’s coefficient alpha estimate. The Cronbach’s alpha values for all dimensions range from 0. 60 to 0. 93, exceeding the minimum alpha of 0. [52], thus the constructs measures are d eemed reliable. Principal component factor analysis with a varimax rotation was conducted. The aim of factors analysis is to confirm the construct validity of the scales could be performed adequately by using principle component analysis. In order to reach this, the minimum factor loading of 0. 6 on its hypothesized constructs is proposed by Nunnally [53]. A number of analyses were conducted for factors analysis. 231 PU PU1-0. 680 PU2-0. 681 PU3-0. 761 PU4-0. 827 PU5-0. 664 PU6-0. 735 PU7-0. 647 TABLE III: FACTOR LOADING SN PEU AW PR PEU1-0. 558 AW1-0. 50 PR1-0. 833 SN1-0. 901 PEU2-0. 577 AW2-0. 711 PR2-0. 658 SN2-0. 886 PEU3-0. 537 AW3-0. 658 PR3-0. 759 PEU4-0. 569 AW4-0. 600 PR4-0. 650 PEU5-0. 824 AW5-0. 662 PR5-0. 679 AW6-0. 662 PR6-0. 741 AW7-0. 658 Code PU1 PU2 PU3 PU4 PU5 PU6 PU7 PEU1 PEU2 PEU3 PEU4 PEU5 AW1 AW2 AW3 AW4 AW5 AW6 AW7 PR1 PR2 PR3 PR4 PR5 PR6 SN1 SN2 TABLE IV: FACTOR EXPLANATIONS. Statements MB gives flexibility to conduct banking business 24 hours/day MB transact ions save more time. MB makes it easier for me to do my banking. MB helps me to know the state of my account faster. MB provides me prompt and efficient services.MB provides systems to give appropriate feedback. MB gives the joy of controlling my financial transactions. Learning to use MB was easy for me. Instructions in the MB system are clear and understandable. I find MB system easy to use. MB has more flexible ways to search for information. I feel that user-friendliness of the MB website is important. I think that I am aware about the benefits of MB I think that I have received enough information about MB. I will frequently use MB in the future. I will strongly recommend others to use MB. I think that using the new MB service is beneficial for me.I have positive perception about using the MB service. MB is compatible to my banking needs. MB will allow unauthorized person to access personal information. MB provides accurate, relevant and up to date information. MB has the chance of data loss and fraud. MB needs expertise and training. MB has inadequate information on the website and less operational reliability. I trust the ability of MB to protect my privacy. People who are important to me think that I should use MB facilities People who influence my behavior think I should use the MB. International Journal of e-Education, e-Business, e-Management and e-Learning, Vol. , No. 3, August 2011 VI. CONCLUSION The result of this study shows that perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, subjective norm, consumer awareness and perceived risk are the important determinants of mobile banking adoption. This study meets the desired objective; but it suffers from one setback. Study concludes that majority of customers are accepting online banking because of many favorable factors. Analysis concluded that usefulness, ease of use, subjective norm, awareness and risks related to it are the main perusing factors to accept online banking system.These factors have a stro ng and positive effect on customers to accept mobile banking system. The relatively small size of the sample limits generalization of the outcome of the study. The study is concentrated on a particular location and hence the result may vary with location and the demography of the people. Similar study can be conducted in other colleges and universities and results can be compared. REFERENCES [1] E. E. Ibrahim, M. Joseph, and K. I. N. Ibeh, â€Å"Customers’ Perception of Electronic Service Delivery in the Uk Retail Banking Sector,† International Journal of Bank Marketing, vol. 4, no. 7, pp. 475-493, 2006. H. H. Bauer, M. Hammerschmidt, and T. Falk, â€Å"Measuring the Quality of E-Banking Portals,† International Journal of Bank Marketing, vol. 23, no. 2, pp. 153-175, 2005. A. Parasuraman and G. M. 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