Cadbury conflict Essay

Businesses can come across many conflicts between stakeholders, which are the people that are impacted by the business. Cadbury, the chocolate producer, has started an organization, worth  £9 million pounds, to put sports equipment in school across the UK. Customers would need to save tokens from chocolate bars and give them to the schools. To get the first equipment, 750 tokens are needed. While to allow the school to obtain a variety of different equipment, it needed 2000 tokens. For schools who can’t afford these new equipment, this idea was very appealing. Cadbury’s ‘Get Active Campaign’ was sponsored with deals from Cadbury and the government by top sports stars such as boxer Audley Harrison and runner Paula Radcliffe. However the company and the government were blamed for increasing the rate and the chances of obesity in young people, because they would eat more chocolate through this scheme. Some stakeholders that are affected by this scheme would be the customers, the competition, the workers, the government, and the shareholders. The customers would be affected by this scheme because they increase the problems of obesity in young people, by eating the Cadburys chocolate in order to receive sports equipment. Cadbury would become more popular and common and after people have tried their chocolate through this scheme, it would encourage them to go buy more, which increases the profit for Cadbury. This would also lead to a stiffer competition between other chocolate and food producing companies. This scheme would be known as a fast effective way of advertising Cadburys chocolate. The workers would also be affected because they would be demotivated and therefore are unlikely to produce good quality products or deliver good customers services. Also, through the scheme, Cadbury would spend  £9 million, and therefore, during the process of trying to sell more chocolate and earn more money, their workers would earn a lower salary. The government would be affected because they would be criticized for encouraging children to eat more chocolate. The shareholders are affected because they would receive a lower profit if the profit margin is dropping. The businesses responsibility would be to provide for the population and to fulfil their wants and needs. In this case, Cadbury is providing for both its customers, and the school. It’s responsibility is to also provide jobs for the society. These people make money to support themselves and their families, pay taxes and use their wages to buy goods and services. The businesses responsibility towards competitors would be to be honest in their business practice. The businesses duty towards its workers would be creating a safe work environment, to pay workers of a business a minimum hourly wage, and to pay each worker money owed from working per paid period, including overtime, sick leave, and vacation wages. It is also the responsibility of the business to train workers in safe procedures to minimize the risk of injury. Also it is a business duty to create a working climate that fosters respect and fair treatment of every worker regardless of age, gender, race etc. The businesses responsibility towards the government is to pay taxes, follow environmental regulations (they need to limit the number of pollutants they expel), to maintain law and order etc. Finally, the businesses responsibility towards the shareholders is to build and maintain generosity in the eye of society, to provide goods and services, and to earn a profit and bring money to the company and the investors. Conflicts that might exist between stakeholders would be between society and the company and government. Even though the government supports Cadbury’s ‘’Get Active Campaign†, the general public is speaking that the only candy company is using the concept of being active to lure children to purchase more chocolates. It would also increase the number of calories the children take in (1.2 million) since to receive only one piece of sports equipment (e.g a volleyball set), children must collect $2000. Thus, leading to obesity at a young age. Another conflict that might result is between customers and the company. The customers buying the chocolate might realize that the campaign is just a scheme created to sell more chocolate, yet neglects the importance of healthy exercise. Some solutions to the conflicts that the businesses faces would be that Cadbury should cancel the concept of accumulating chocolate tokens. It is the responsibility of companies to encourage customers to live a fit  lifestyle, not a plan to sell more chocolate. In order to solve the conflict, Cadbury should cancel and donate the sports equipment to financially struggling schools as an act of charity. Public relations firms specialize in dealing with negative publicity. There are many ways to solve problems between different stakeholders. Each business stakeholders have their own business objective. They usually have different opinions and have to disagree about some decisions. Finding a solution can satisfy both the conflicting stakeholders.

Marketing and Product

1. On the Basics: a. We have asserted that marketing is really the strategic idea of ‘connectedness’ with customers. From the perspective of your final project company, identify and discuss how your company connects with its customers – select from either the marketing concept or the selling concept. Be sure to define each concept and be detailed in your response. A: Marketing concept holds that achieving organizational goals depends on knowing the needs and wants of target markets and delivering the desired satisfactions better than competitors do. customer focus and value are the path to sales and profits) The marketing concept is a customer-centered sense and responds philosophy. (The job is to find the right products for your customers. ) My project company Samsung took the marketing concept and connect with its customers. Samsung chooses to concern more about customers’ need and invent products that solve customers’ problems rather than make it and sell it. Before inventing cellphone products it will do a lot of surveys and experiment to find out what problems exist and concerned seriously in modern world.Activities like free gift and sample-with-purchase, free experiencing and considerate after-selling service are good ways of finding what customer want and asking for feedbacks. Not only can these marketing strategies collect data and examples for its study, but also can build a strong relationship with current and potential customers. Besides that Samsung also develop a system of contacting with customers, which uses cell phones and email. By emailing and texting customer what new products are and asking their ideas about them helps improve products and make products more customer-orientated. . Referring to your project company provide a well-developed characterization of your market segment and your target market. i. Identify the most urgent issue necessary for you to penetrate or protect your desired market space. Mark et Segmentation: Target Customers: Urgent issue: The most urgent issue is to differentiate this smartphone from other smartphone of other brands by marketing. There are many smartphones in the market and the most competitive one is the iphone5 from Apple.These two smartphone have similar function and both have good reputation in repairing skins. To market the serum from Lauder we have to stress its function of giving you the most attractive function such as Pop up play and Face Zoom which Apple doesn’t have. c. Lastly, concisely address each of the following central positioning questions pertaining to your project company/brand: i. What position, if any, do you already have in the prospect’s mind? Here I list some of the competitive offerings Full range of service after selling Apple 9. 0 Nokia 7. Motorola7. 5 HTC 7. 0 Sharp6. 5 ZTE6. 0 Quality of product The branches of product ii. What position do you want to own? With a strong brand advantage and the luxuriant Apple store, Apple now is still the brightness star in people’s mind. But what I am going to do is to give customers more space to experience our product when they come to Samsung store . I aim to own the first place. iii. What companies must be outgunned if you are to establish or maintain that position? From my point of view, Motorola would be the first one to be outgunned.The reason is that: 2. On the Marketing Mix: Discuss the strengths and weaknesses of your company’s marketing mix and offer strategic recommendations on how the company should handle the most burning marketing problem/opportunity impacting the strategic performance of the ‘mix’. Consider shaping your answer with the 5Cs in mind Strengths: Lauder has diversified marketing strategies from retailing stores to TV commercials to spas. It present the product in many dimensions and gives consumer a full and impressive understand of the product.Weakness: Most of Estee Lauder’s retail stores are owned by the company. Lauder doesn’t want to cooperate with other retailers in order to keep their image of high-end. However, marketing the serum means you have to highly exposed your product to the public and remind them there’s always this choice for them and they have easy access to the product. Solutions: The burning marketing problem is galaxy does not have a strong differentiated position from other brands and not impressive to cosumers. Firstly, we should think of customer solution.By launching ad campaign in which stress the function of the product and list features that other cellphones don’t have, we are actually telling consumers that the extra benefits they can get from choosing this cellphone. Besides that we can set up experience lounge in some shopping malls for people to try the product out as well as teaching them how to use it to achieve the best effect. Secondly, we focus on customer cost. To some people who have never used it before they might not want to spend that much money in trying a new product.So when we are launching this product we can offer discount or selling as a package to lower the price so that more potential customer will be willing to have a try. Fourthly, we can promote the communication. By establishing two-way communication can really strengthen the tight with consumers. Why many brands are forgettable is because they don’t have a strong connection with consumers. By contacting consumers with email and message we can always expose them in the information of the products which increase the chance of them choosing the product. 3. On Consumer Buying Behavior: a.Referring to your company, describe a scenario of your typical customer using the buyer decision process when considering purchasing your company’s product/service. Use the language from our readings. i. Consider pulling from your database research offered in our library workshop to authenticate how your customers behave in you r market environment. b. Additionally, from the criteria that influence the rate of adoption, in what area does your company/product excel and what area does your company/product require attention to strengthen the adoption process? Be detailed in your response. . First we have Need Recognition. The buyer recognizes a problem or need of the cellphone by talking to a friend of watching an ad. Second, he will do Information Search. Ads are from commercial sources-controlled by marketers. He may also find information from personal sources, public sources and experiential sources. By watching ads or listening to the advice of a close friend or trying the samples she will get the information about the cellphones. Third, we have Evaluation of Alternatives. He will evaluate alternatives with calculations and logical thinking.By taking each attribute into consideration and compare different cellphones he finds out that cellphones from Samsung will satisfied his need with the functions galax y has. Fourth, he will make the Purchase Decision. After ranking brands and forming purchase intention, he is about to buy the cellphone. Now if attitudes of others also points to buying it and there’s no unexpected situational factors like worsening economy or dropping price of competitors, he will by the rather expensive cellphone form Samsung. Last but not least there’s Postpurchase Behavior.He will feel either satisfied or unsatisfied with the galaxy,which is the gap between the expectations and the product’s perceived performance. b. EXCEL Relative advantage: 4. 8† Super Amoled HD display Pebble blue or marble white Battery: 2,100mAh (wireless charging optional extra) Camera: 8MP rear; 1. 9 MP front S-Beam High speed file transfer via NFC and WiFi Direct, between two phones touched together, operating at up to 300Mbps. Smart Stay The phone tracks your eyes, so as long as you’re looking at it, the display won’t dim or turn off.What Needs to be STRENGTHEN? the purpose of the current market situation, the major brands of mobile phone chain (such as Suning, Gome, etc. ) occupies a large market, so we are faced with considerable pressure. According to the market potential, the Guangdong market level of consumption analysis, consumer groups, after all, is limited, so we have a unique service to impress potential customers. d out the differences. 4. On Branding and the Product Lifecycle: a. Referring to your company, identify the one major strength and weakness of the brand. i.What are your recommendations to strengthen the competitiveness and equity of the brand? ii. Identify at what stage your brand falls within the product lifecycle model. What is required for you to ensure that the customer remains eternally ‘connected’ to your brand? a. Strength: Samsung has sufficient fund for inventing so it’s able to apply high-tech into their products, which makes it a sell point to the customers because nowad ays everyone likes new technology. What’s more, when inventing the product Samsung will have so many test before they finally launch the product so the product is definitely safe.Weakness:The four-nuclei graphics card needs large amount of electricity The outer skin is easily getting old because of its material i. To increase competitiveness and equity of the brand first we need to think about the brand positioning Marketers need to position the brand clearly in the target customers’ mind. I will position the brand at the highest level which is on strong beliefs and values. By launching ad campaigns we deliver the concept that the serum form Estee Lauder is more than a serum, it’s a lifestyle you choose. â€Å"To be fabulous and healthy everyday gives you the confident to face every challenge. I would also establish a mission for the brand and a vision of what the brand must be and do. Through the promise the serum deliver to buyers we can strongly impress the buyers with the features, benefits and experience. Second, I will introduce line extensions. Redesigning the form, color and size of the screen we can easily change the image of this old product in consumers mind. The Samsung cellphone old outfit is no longer suitable for modern consumers because it was designed long time ago and the main concept is to express its luxurious.Nowadays people want products which can present youth and energy. So changing the outer packing is necessary in delivering new message to the consumers. ii. The product falls on the maturity stage in which product’s sales growth slows and profits stabilized. In order to ensure the customers remain eternally ‘connected’ to the brand marketers should evolve to meet changing consumer needs. Modifying the Market- The company should try to increase consumption by finding new users and new market segment for its brands.The Vita-mineral Radiance Serum from Lauder is often adopted by women over 30 yea rs old for the special benefit in fighting wrinkles. But actually it is suitable for women over 20 years old because it can give them the healthy grow of skin and prevent early wrinkles. Modifying the product- Changing the characteristics such as features, style or funtion to attract new users and inspire more usage. The old funtions of the Samsung were designed in the 2000s’ and it’s too garish for young people. Some details are unnecessary and will mislead consumers that this is a product for mid-age people.By changing the cellphone to a more simple and portable style can really modify the image in people’s mind and attract younger consumers to buy it. Modifying the marketing mix- Improving sales by changing one or more marketing mix elements. The company can offer new or improved services to buyers. Distributing free, new samples and offering free tour to â€Å"Korea Tour† after purchasing the serum can really attract consumers to buy this old product. The company can offer a lower price after discount the product to increase the scale of sale.The company can also launch a better advertising campaign or use aggressive sales promotions. By redefining the product’s use and target customer, the company can launch ad campaign that highly stress the benefits this cellphone offer and help consumers notice their potential need. Company The analysis of the company allows for the evaluation of the company's objectives, strategy and capabilities. These areas indicate to an organization about the strength of the business model or whether there are areas for improvement, as well as how well an organization will fit with the external environment. 6] †¢ Goals & Objectives: An analysis on the mission of the business, the industry of the business and the stated goals required to achieve the mission. †¢ Position: An analysis on the Marketing strategy and the Marketing mix. †¢ Performance: An analysis on how effectively the b usiness is achieving their stated mission and goals. †¢ Product line: An analysis on the products manufactured by the business and how successful it will be in the market. [5] [edit] Competitors The competitor analysis takes into consideration the competitors position within the industry and the potential threat it may pose to other businesses.The main purpose of the competitor analysis is for businesses to analyze both the current and potential nature and capabilities of a competitor in order to be prepared against competition. The competitor analysis looks at the following criteria's: †¢ Identity competitors: Businesses must be able to identify competitors within their industry. Identification of whether competitors provide the same service/products to the same customer base will be useful is gaining knowledge on direct competitors.Both direct and indirect competitors must be identified, as well as potential competitors that may enter the market. †¢ Assessment of co mpetitors: The competitor analysis looks at competitor goals, mission, strategies and resources. This will allow for a thorough comparison on the goals and strategies of both competitors and organization. †¢ Predict future initiatives of competitors: An early insight into the potential activity of a competitor will help a company be prepared against competition. [6] [edit] Customers Customer analysis can be vast and complicated.Some of the important areas that a company analyzes includes:[5] †¢ Demographics †¢ Advertising most suitable for the demographic †¢ Market size and potential growth †¢ Customer wants and needs †¢ Motivation to buy the product †¢ Distribution channels (online, retail, wholesale, etc. ) †¢ Quantity and frequency of purchase †¢ Income level of customer [edit] Collaborators Collaborators are useful for businesses as they allow for an increase in the creation of ideas, as well as an increase in the likelihood of gainin g more business opportunities. 7] The following type of collaborators are: †¢ Agencies: Agencies are the middlemen of the business world. When businesses need a specific worker who specializes in the trade, they go to a recruitment agency. [8] †¢ Suppliers: Suppliers provide raw materials that are required to build products. There are 7 different types of Suppliers: Manufacturers, wholesalers, merchants, franchisors, importers and exporters, independent crafts people and drop shippers. Each category of suppliers can bring a different skill and experience to the company. 9] †¢ Distributors: Distributors are important as they are the ‘holding areas for inventory'. Distributors can help manage manufacturer relationships as well as handle vendor relationships. [10] †¢ Partnerships: Business partners would share assets and liabilities, allowing for a new source of capital and skills. [11] Businesses must be able to identify whether the collaborator has the capab ilities needed to help run the business as well as an analysis on the level of commitment needed for a collaborator-business relationship. [6] [edit] ClimateIn order to fully understand the business climate/environment there are usually many different factors that can affect a business, and if researched well it will contribute to a company that can respond well to change. An analysis on the climate is also known as the PEST analysis. The types of climate/environment firms have to analyse are: †¢ Political and regulatory environment: An Analysis of how active the government regulates the market with their policies and how it would affect the production, distribution and sale of the goods and services. Economic Environment: An Analysis of trends regarding macroeconomics, such as exchange rates and inflation rate, can prove to influence businesses. [5] †¢ Social/cultural environment: Interpreting the trends of society;[5] which includes the study of demographics, education, culture etc. †¢ Technological analysis: An analysis of technology will help improve on old routines and suggest for new methods in being more cost efficient. In order to stay competitive and gain an advantage over others, businesses must have sufficient knowledge on the technological advances

Assignments Maritime Law

Question AAdvise The Theatre of Wine on any claim that they might have, and what level of limitation will apply to that claim that the might have. People to note are; The Buyer/claimant: (The Theatre of Wine), in Greenwich London, UK Shipowner/defendant: (Carry Carefully), South AfricaCopy of the bill of lading My first advice is to ask The Theatre of Wine is that they need to know key important factors; The claimant need to prove when the defendant’s period of responsibility for the goods begin, and what was the condition of the goods at the time. In establishing the condition and the quantity of the goods at the start of the defendant’s period of responsibility, the claimant will be able to rely on the common law and statutory rules that governs the effect of the statements in shipping documents, such as bill of lading.As to this case there are no information about the about the period when the wine were transported, date when the contract has taken place and delivery terms, no information about how the cargo was stowed and also no information from the claimant about how the documents would be issued such as the mate receipt, final and initial draft survey report of the vessel before loading the cargo and bill of lading.Also, under every contract of carriage of goods by sea the carrier, in relation to loading, handling, stowage, carriage, custody, care and discharge of the goods shall be subject to the responsibilities and liabilities and entitle to the rights and immunities, also whether the cargo was in good condition or not, the quantity or units of the consignment was not declared by the claimant before the cargo was loaded and have not been described on the bill of lading. In that case the carrier or the ship should not become liable for any loss or damage in connection with the consignment if the amount exceeding the equivalent of 10,000 francs per package or unit 30 francs per kilo of gross weight of the goods lost or damaged, whichever i s the higher.CARRIAGE OF GOODS BY SEA ACT 1 OF 1986To amend the law with respect to the carriage of goods by sea and to provide  for matters connected therewith.Application of Hague Rules.—(1) Those Rules contained in the International Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules of Law Relating to Bills of Lading signed at Brussels on 25 August 1924, as amended by the Protocol signed at Brussels on 23 February 1968, which are set out in the Schedule (hereinafter referred to as the Rules) shall, subject to the provisions of this Act, have the force of law and apply in respect of the Republic in relation to and in connection with:(a) the carriage of goods by sea in ships where the port of shipment is a port in the Republic, whether or not the carriage is between ports in two different States within the meaning of Article X of the Rules; As in the current case between The Theatre of Wine the claimant and the shipowner Carry Carefully from South Africa to Greenwich London U K.(b) any bill of lading if the contract contained in or evidenced by it expressly provides that the Rules shall govern the contract; In this case the bill of lading has no detail as to weigh and description of the consignment that were shipped.(c)any receipt which is a non-negotiable document marked as such if the contract contained in it or evidenced by it or pursuant to which it is issued is a contract for the carriage of goods by sea which expressly provides that the Rules are to govern the contract as if the receipt were a bill of lading, but subject to any necessary modifications and in particular with the omission in Article III of the Rules of the second sentence of paragraph 4 and paragraph 7;Seaworthiness not to be implied. There shall not be implied in any contract for the carriage of goods by sea to which the Rules apply by virtue of this Act, any absolute undertaking by the carrier of the goods to provide a seaworthy ship.Jurisdiction of courts. (1) Notwithstanding any purported ouster of  jurisdiction, exclusive jurisdiction clause or agreement to refer any dispute to arbitration, and notwithstanding the provisions of the Arbitration Act, 1965 (Act No. 42 of 1965), and of section 7 (1) (b) of the Admiralty Jurisdiction Regulation Act, 1983 (Act No. 105 of 1983), any person carrying on business in the Republic and the consignee under, or holder of, any bill of lading, waybill or like document for the carriage of goods to a destination in the Republic or to any port in the Republic, whether for final discharge or for discharge or for discharge for further carriage, may bring any action relating to the carriage of the said goods or any such bill of lading, waybill or document in a competent court in the Republic.Subject to the provisions of Article VI, under every contract of carriage of goods by sea the carrier, in relation to the loading, handling, stowage, carriage, custody, care and discharge of such goods, shall be subject to the responsibili ties and liabilities and entitled to the rights and immunities hereinafter set forth.The Carrier shall be bound before and at the beginning of the voyage to exercise due diligence to:(a) make the ship seaworthy;(b) properly man, equip and supply the ship; and(c) make the holds, refrigerating and cool chambers, and all other parts of the ship in which goods are carried, fit and safe for their reception, carriage and preservation.Subject to the provisions of Article IV, the carrier shall properly and carefully load, handle, stow, carry, keep, care for and discharge the goods carried.After receiving the goods into his charge the carrier or the master or agent of the carrier shall, on demand of the shipper, issue to the shipper a bill of lading showing among other things. (a) The leading marks necessary for identification of the goods as the same are furnished in writing by the shipper before the loading of such goods starts, provided such marks are stamped or otherwise shown clearly up on the goods if uncovered, or on the cases or coverings in which such goods are contained, in such a manner as should ordinarily remain legible until the end of the voyage.(b) Either the number of packages or pieces, or the quantity, or weight, as the case may be, as furnished in writing by the shipper.(c) The apparent order and condition of the goods: The shipper shall be deemed to have guaranteed to the carrier the accuracy at the time of shipment of the marks, number, quantity and weight, as furnished by him, and the shipper shall indemnify the carrier against all loss, damages and expenses arising or resulting from inaccuracies in such particulars. The right of the carrier to such indemnity shall in no way limit his responsibility and liability under the contract of carriage to any person other than the shipper.Unless notice of loss or damage and the general nature of such loss or damage be given in writing to the carrier or his agent at the port of discharge before or at the ti me of the removal of the goods into the custody of the person entitled to delivery thereof under the contract of carriage, or, if the loss or damage be not apparent, within three days, such removal shall be prima facie evidence of the delivery by the carrier of the goods as described in the bill of lading. The notice in writing need not be given if the state of the goods has, at the time of their receipt, been the subject of joint survey or inspection. (which is not the case)After the goods are loaded the bill of lading to be issued by the carrier, master, or agent of the carrier, to the shipper shall, if the shipper so demands, be a â€Å"shipped† bill of lading, provided that if the shipper shall have previously taken up any document of title to such goods, he shall surrender the same as against the issue of the â€Å"shipped† bill of lading, but at the option of the carrier such document of title may be noted at the port of shipment by the carrier, master or agent w ith the name or names of the ship or ships upon which the goods have been shipped and the date or dates of shipment, and when so noted, if it shows the particulars  mentioned in paragraph 3 of Article III, shall for the purpose of this article be deemed to constitute a â€Å"shipped† bill of lading. (which is not the case)Any clause, covenant, or agreement in a contract of carriage relieving the carrier or the ship from liability for loss or damage to, or in connection with, goods arising from negligence, fault, or failure in the duties and obligations provided in this article or lessening such liability otherwise than as provided in these Rules, shall be null and void and of no effect. A benefit of insurance in favour of the carrier or similar clause shall be deemed to be a clause relieving the carrier from liability. (which is not he case)Neither the carrier nor the ship shall be liable for loss or damage arising or resulting from unseaworthiness unless caused by want of due diligence on the part of the carrier to make the ship seaworthy, and to secure that the ship is properly manned, equipped and supplied, and to make the holds, refrigerating and cool chambers and all other parts of the ship in which goods are carried fit and safe for their reception, carriage and preservation in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 1 of Article III. Whenever loss or damage has resulted from unseaworthiness the burden of proving the exercise of due diligence shall be on the carrier or other person claiming exemption under this article.Neither the carrier nor the ship shall be responsible for loss or damage arising or resulting from:(a) act, neglect, or default of the master, mariner, pilot, or the servants of the carrier in the navigation or in the management of the ship;(b) fire, unless caused by the actual fault or privity of the carrier;(c) perils, dangers and accidents of the sea or other navigable waters;(d) act of God;(e) act of war;(f) act of public enemies;(g) arrest or restraint of princes, rulers or people, or seizure under legal process;(h) quarantine restrictions;(i) act or omission of the shipper or owner of the goods, his agent or representative;(j) strikes or lockouts or stoppage or restraint of labour from whatever cause, whether partial or general;(k) riots and civil commotions;(l) saving or attempting to save life or property at sea;(m) wastage in bulk or weight or any other loss or damage arising from inherent defect, quality or vice of the goods;(n) insufficiency or inadequacy of marks;(o) insufficiency of packing;(p) latent defects not discoverable by due diligence; and(q) any other cause arising without the actual fault or privity of the carrier, or without the fault or neglect of the agents or servants of the carrier, but the burden of proof shall be on the person claiming the benefit of this exception to show that neither the actual fault or privity of the carrier nor the fault or neglect of the agents or serva nts of the carrier contributed to the loss or damage.The shipper shall not be responsible for loss or damage sustained by the carrier or the ship arising or resulting from any cause without the act, fault or neglect of the shipper, his agents or his servants.(a) Unless the nature and value of such goods have been declared by the shipper before shipment and inserted in the bill of lading, neither the carrier nor the ship shall in any event be or become liable for any loss or damage to or in connection with the goods in an amount exceeding the equivalent of 10 000 francs per package or unit or 30 francs per kilo of gross weight of the goods lost or damaged, whichever is the higher.(b) The total amount recoverable shall be calculated by reference to the value of such goods at the place and time at which the goods are discharged from the ship in accordance with the contract or should have been so discharged. The value of the goods shall be fixed according to the commodity exchange price , or, if there is no such price, according to the current market price, or, if there be no commodity exchange price or current market price, by reference to the normal value of goods of the same kind and quality.(c) Where a container, pallet or similar article of transport is used to consolidate goods, the number of packages or units enumerated in the bill of lading as packed in such article of transport shall be deemed the number of packages or units for the purpose of this paragraph as far as these packages or units are concerned. Except as aforesaid such article of transport shall be considered the package or unit.Based on all above documents, clause and articles from Visby Amendments (the Bruxells Protocol) and CARRIAGE OF GOODS BY SEA ACT NO. 1 OF 1986, I can strongly say the buyer â€Å"The Theatre of Wine† company has no chance to claim on the shipowner Carry Carefully, South Africa for damage the cargo.B. To What extent would you have advised parties to this type of c arriage contract to include an arbitration clause into their contract? Buyer: The Theatre of Wine, in Greenwich, London, United Kingdom Shipowners/Shippers: Carry Carefully, South Africa we can introduce the following arbitration clause: â€Å"All disputes arising in connection with the present contract to be  settled under the rules of Visby Amendments (the Bruxells Protocol), CARRIAGE OF GOODS BY SEA ACT NO. 1 OF 1986 of South Africa and London Maritime Arbitrators Association by three arbitrators appointed in accordance with the rules. Arbitration shall be held in London. General Average. General Average shall be adjusted, stated and settled in London, according to the York Antwerp Rules 1974, as amended 1994 and subsequent amendments.†For sure the party exposed is „The Theatre of Wine† from Greenwich, London, United Kingdom due to lack of covery of risk in his transportation contract

The strategic position and potential opportunities and threats of Essay

The strategic position and potential opportunities and threats of TOPSHOP in the future - Essay Example The brand has also launched its own websites through which customers in USA gets an opportunity to shop. The website is updated 5 times a week and with over 300 styles (Topshop, n.d). Environmental analysis The environmental analysis is done with the help of PEST analysis. This tool helps in detecting the trend of the environment which can become issues in the competitive environment (Henry, 2008, p.51). Political factors The countries political factor in terms of clothing has been shaped by the international trading agreement. But the rules on trade remains complicated and changes rapidly. The trade blocks and trade agreements maintains distortions to free trade, which has resulted in rise in the Chinese exports and a drop in prices for UK consumers (Allwood et.al, 2006, p.8). Economical factors Economical factors have an adverse affect over the industry. ... Social factors The social factors affecting the retail clothing industry includes the age range of buyers which helps the retailer to determine what kinds of product to offer. Topshop has targeted the students and thus they produce fashionable clothing. The disposable income creates an impact on the buying behaviour of the consumers. The buying habits of the consumers are also a matter of concern as the retail outlets needs to match up with the consumers taste and demands. Technological factors With the help of technological factors the retail industry are able to cut down cost, enhance sales and can access customer information by way of bar coding and scanning, by using LAN, utilising the point of sales terminals. The distribution of the products will be done electronically enabling reduction of price due to product supply lines (Wilson, 2001, p.7). Porter’s Five Force Model Porters five force model focuses on five forces that shape the industry. The forces includes bargainin g power of buyer, bargaining power of supplier, threat of new entrant, threat of substitute, and rivalry among the firms. (Refer Appendix A). Bargaining power of supplier The bargaining power of supplier in retail clothing industry would be high because there are many buyers but few dominant suppliers. Topshop clothing is usually designed by fashion designer thus making the bargaining power high. Bargaining power of buyers In a retail clothing industry the bargaining power of the buyers are high because they can easily switch from one brand to another as they have a wide range of options available in the market. Topshop produces fashionable clothing and accessories which are easily available as the product are standardised with other brands thus

Starbucks - Business Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Starbucks - Business - Case Study Example The strategic business environment of Starbucks has been transformed in to a more complex and diverse phenomenon with its independent approach to managing an internationally diverse strategic operational environment. As the strategic analysis shows Starbucks has been highly affected by a variety of internal and external operational environmental influences. However its strategic environment as divided in to product and marketing strategy, competition strategy, growth strategy and financial strategy indicates that the organization has been faced with many constraints. Future of the company's sales strategy depends on the current market related outcomes as well as the strategic initiates being adopted at the organizational level. Predictably the company would be able to turn around in respect of costs and efficiency under the stewardship of Shultz (CEO at Starbucks) though how soon is not clear. In the first place the current economic downturn has forced the company to diversify its average portfolio of products, e.g. the launch of VIA Ready Brew and value meals. These product innovations would have a very good impact on the sales volumes for sure but how would they impact on the relative profitability of the company isn't known yet. Organizational success is determined by the internal strengths of the organization in which controlling, rationalizing and utilizing the available resources to achieve the maximum productivity and the associated organizational goals through competitive advantage are the predominant activities. Thus Starbucks has the highly calibrated capital, trained employees and networks in the form of strategic intelligence about markets, finances, operations, techniques and HR management. Its capacity building and enhancement strategies have known to be sound and its core competencies have been built around this formulaic strength-weakness determination paradigm. Despite this position of Starbucks as a pioneer of costly-to-copy resource development processes still there is competition coming from rivals who have been able to imitate the same product by reducing its cost and using advanced technology, e.g. online ordering related techniques.While many market analysts have pointed out the existenc e of a downturn related sales curve at Starbucks in the coming months, Shultz is determined to turn around its growth trajectory to hit some predetermined sales targets (Serwer, & Bonamici, 2004). According to analysts there is a very strong suggestion for product innovation accompanied by cost cutting efforts. The former has been happening thought then latter has yet to happen. Fast food chains have not given up on their own product diversification and innovation strategy. This is cited as one of the major challenges to Starbucks. McDonald's, Burger King and KFC have reinvented their standard formulas. 2.2 MarketingDespite these constraints in its organizational environment, Starbucks has successfully initiated some far reaching policy related outcomes. For instance Starbuck's product and marketing strategy have been oriented towards achieving a series of positive M&A related synergies including growth and competitive capabilities. Starbuck's competition strategy is basically related to its product and marketing strategies. Some of the products aren't sold on a mass scale at

Religion and Healing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Religion and Healing - Essay Example Religious healing causes a healing of the person as a whole as opposed to physical healing only and some people have even abandoned the medical doctors in search for religious healers. In this paper, a critical analysis of three religions would be conducted so as to identify the practices involved in comparison to common practice and Christianity. The three religions include Buddhism, Sikhism and Bahaism. There have been major conflicts between faith healing and biomedical practice in the modern era due to diverse perspectives by the two as much as there are coinciding views. Barnes and Seres note that there were dramatic changes in the 1990s that caused religious healing to become a common feature in the American society (2004). The number of synagogues and churches conducting healing services increased and the use of alternative therapies increased. Similarly, there were amendments on immigration laws that saw America flock with various cultural communities bringing in their approaches to healing. Some of these included the Buddhist priests from Cambodia, herbalist acupuncturists from China, Hmong shamans and the santeros from Cuba. Buddhism has been described by many scholars as a religion that focuses more on philosophic principles as opposed to beliefs like Christianity (Pilgrimage India, 2009). Buddhists believe that in his early life, Buddha, also referred to as the great physi cian, learnt medicine and gained knowledge on the nature of diseases and the cure which enabled him guide the other people into healthy living. Buddhism would not delve so much into the meaning of sickness but rather on what a patient needs to do to be whole. In this religion, suffering would be a consequence of anger, greed, lust or passion of hatred. In Christianity, these would be considered as sin which eventually cause suffering according to Exodus 17 (New King James Version). Buddhism argues that physical and mental wellness would be achieved through developing a centered and unified personal approach to life. The well being of the body would come through the synthesis of the body and mind where the psychological, physical and spiritual dimensions form a continuum and an active interrelation. While the common perception has been that the body and flesh; spirit and matter; and soul and body are distinct, Buddhists see all these as a process where these features are interdepende nt and one. The mind influences how the body would be. Therefore, hospitals should provide appropriate environment for people to be trained on meditative awareness no matter the religious principles upheld in the institution. The inner resources could be optimized for healing and for personal health responsibility. Buddhism does not involve miracle cures such as those conducted by Jesus in the New Testament (Kajitani, 2005). Instead, it deals with methods that involve one’s emotional elements which accompany pain and at times intensify it. Dalai Lama observes that happiness is not a result of feeling, but rightful thinking, which involves transformation of a person’s understanding of existent nature (Bryson, 2009). All problems are a result of negative thinking. Naikan therapy helps one appreciate their independence with others resulting to a positive force that offsets personal problems which induce negativity. Morita therapy on the other hand tries to close the gap b etween the world as it is and the world as thought to be by filling it with positivity. Buddhists uphold inner healing which would then translate to the physiological healing. Therefore, it would be important to respect their religion when treating them if the physician is from a

DO GOOD ETHICS PAY FOR THEMSELVES Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

DO GOOD ETHICS PAY FOR THEMSELVES - Essay Example The objections made by Tightpenny to the idea of ethics seem to be ill-founded since it can be shown that ethics are quite relevant to business and can actually help profits. Ethical responsibility and corporate social awareness have become important for modern business enterprises but today, a company has to do a lot more than simply support social causes. It must advertise that it is supporting social causes. The ease with which information can shared amongst people in countries like the UK makes it impossible for a company to lie about something or hide it for long from the public. Dark pasts and shady dealings soon come out and hurt the company in more ways than one. Therefore, remaining ethical and advertising about being ethical is quite important. In this sense, business ethics are important aspects of running any company and the reasons for that are not limited to legal requirements or government orders (Medawar, 1976). The reason for running an ethical business can be shown to come from the highly valued theory of ethical egoism which suggests that people should what would be best for them in the long run. This approach may be connected with the ideals coming from utilitarian ethics or the approach taken by universalism but the basic reason for companies acting ethically is that ethics are good for business. The basic reason for this situation is due to the emergence of ethical consumers. These consumers like to know that their buying decisions and the support they give to companies are responsible companies. This consumer will make purchase decisions which are influenced by knowing the operations of the company from s/he is buying products. While the idea of being ethical may have as many definitions as there are consumers in the market but in a broad sense, the consumer could be very hesitant when buying goods or services from an organisation that does not have high ethics. These high ethics include stipulations such as its

ANOVA Study Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

ANOVA Study - Coursework Example Or value 0 can be assigned to the negative (frustration and depression) moods and value ‘1’ can be assigned to the positive (happiness and calmness) moods. The three levels A, B and C are the groups which consists of three groups of people watching the above said three TV shows. The independent variable in this analysis is the type of TV show and the dependent variable is moods of the people. It is assumed that moods of the people depend on the type of the TV shows they are watching. Based on this assumption, null and alternative hypothesis are formulated. H0: u1=u2=†¦.=uk and Ha: all us are not equal. The F-ratio equals the mean square between groups divided by the mean square within groups. That is, Fobt= MS bn/ MSwn . When F-ratio is found significant, Fobt should be greater than 1 (Heiman, 2003). In our analysis, the results are found to be significant. That is, null hypothesis is rejected and alternative hypothesis is accepted. Type of TV shows has significant role in influencing people’s mood. For Post –hoc comparisons, t-test is conducted. From t-test, we can find out that which type of TV show is more significant role in influencing people’ moods. Among A, B or C, which one leads to the happiness and calmness of the people. In other words, which TV show plays role in leading the people’s moods to depression or frustration. When a factor is analyzed using independent samples in all conditions, it is called between-subjects factor. Our study make use of between-subjects factor ANOVA. The selection of our three sample groups are completely independent. We are gathering information from three different group of people watching different TV shows and hence our analysis is between-subjects factor

The relationship between the nations of the global north and the Essay

The relationship between the nations of the global north and the global south, both before World War II and especially afterwards - Essay Example Even the Global North was effected with the political scenario that prevailed in the scene of pre First World War events and the post Second World War events. Japan for example was totally destroyed by the events that took place in the Second World War. Prior to the Second World War, Japanese government undertook offensive intentions that were dangerous towards the world as well as their own prosperity. The occurrence of the event of Hiroshima and Nagasaki crippled the entire structure of existence and led to destruction in totality. In the post world war second scenario, Japan had to start from scratch in order to provide the people with a means of living and also support their basic needs. In the post world war Two Scenario, the North had an edge over the South. Since the South was economically and politically weak, the North aimed at cashing in on this weakness and in turn provided them conditional assistance. This assistance came about in the form of political dictions. The events of the Cold War in the post Second World War events led to the more suited atmosphere for the North part of the world to bring about their own dictated terms upon the South. The South, badly in need of resources, funds and other basic needs to maintain their economic growth and prevent themselves from falling below the poverty line, had to embrace the tough and vested conditions and interests of the North. The events that took place in the earlier part had a greater impact for the major part of the 20th century. Its traces can be felt even in the modern times in the different parts of the world. The South American continent that comprises of the states of the likes of Bolivia, Cuba, Brazil, Chile, Argentina, and Peru are still in the throes of economic hurdles and obstacles. In the post First World One scenario, there were two distinct blocs within the Europe, United states of America and its other allies aimed at creating trust and partnership within. While the Central powers

Strategic Planning for Digital Marketing CommunicationsSummative Essay

Strategic Planning for Digital Marketing CommunicationsSummative Assessment - Essay Example The global recession has heavily impacted the economy of the United Kingdom which led to the proportionate increase in the prices of the goods and commodities. Less availability of cash to the public had extremely slowed down its business flow resulting in stagnancy. Though the food and drinks industry did not come to a static point but it received a massive blow as the food and drinking habits found cheaper avenues and the major food joints were largely affected (Pesto,2013). 1a (ii) Business Challenges – Savy Consumers With the United Kingdom (UK) grappling under recession, unemployment and other related difficulties the consumers become excessively choosy in matters of expenses. United Kingdom (UK) has been languishing under unemployment for a very long time, and as a result there has been huge amount of change in their expense habits. They have been reduced to the basic requirement items, which saw a large drop of sale in the luxury items and other high value good and serv ices. The non-promising state of the recovery of the economy, poor economic policies of the government has also failed to assure the citizens of economic security and sustainability. As a result, the consumers concentrated more on saving than on spending. The minimal expenses made by the consumers were on the essential commodities and cheaper versions of luxury items that made them satisfied of using luxury items in exchange of lesser money. In such a situation it became significantly difficult for a business house to sell their items and make a considerable profit for sustaining themselves (Pesto,2013). Industry Challenges 1a (iii) Industry Challenges – Market Competition Zouk being one of the differentiated restaurants located in a popular hub is a symbol of class and luxury. Such a differentiated brand is an added advantage for the kind of life style led by the citizens of the United Kingdom until affected by the economic downturn. Since the world recession and unemploymen t for a longer time has affected the normal functioning of the United Kingdom, the food and beverages industry has also been noticeable affected. The consumer preference has shifted from high end luxury wining and dining experiences to the less costly food stalls. The cheaper food items pose great competition and a threat to the profit margin of the Zouk’s which is specializes in quality food and food experiences. 1a (iv) Industry Challenges – Consumer Perception Zouk has been established as a high ended, luxury restaurant that offers great cuisine experiences. In the face of long term unemployment and great economic recession has left people with low disposable incomes and great uncertainty that looms over their future. In such a scenario, such branded and luxury avenues remain a distant object that hardly anyone would like to visit. The consumer preference shifts to cheaper food and food joints. The same perception that earned Zouk the present status has adversely af fected its business in the time of this economic recession and a prolonged tenure of unemployment that has engulfed entire United Kingdom. In order to attract the consumers it has to offer the less costly products but it will give rise to different speculations regarding the quality of the offered menu. The customers would doubt the quality of the food in the menu because of its availability in lower prices. It has the possibility of adversely affecting the image of the restaurant and its brand

What is a good tax Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

What is a good tax - Essay Example The people in the state do not see the need as to why the government should reduce its expenditure but expenditure should be sufficient to meet the needs of the people. Most of the former politicians in Illinois State have faced significant challenges in their effort to come up with a good tax. One of the former Governors of the state by the name Scott Walker worked hard to cut the rights of the public employees to participate in collective bargaining. Deputy Director of the local council of the American Federation State said that the governor had an obsession of destroying the unions belonging to the public employees. The same director said that Mr. Rauner was trying to stir up the bitterness of the public employees who include teachers, firefighters, and police officers. The unions in Illinois State are always against a leader who tries to change the tax system of the state. Mr. Rauner may have a good idea of increasing the tax income of the state and improve economy of the state in the end. Most unions do not understand that when the economy is stable, having low unemployment rates will increase the tax income and government expenditure too. There is need for the citizens in the state to give the politicians independence to come up with a good tax system that will benefit both the employed and unemployed. A good tax is one that will enable the unemployed to venture into small-scale businesses and earn a living out of it. Davy portrays a good tax as one that is sufficient enough to avoid cutting of the benefits of the retirees because they have saved enough to rely on and survive on during their retirement period. However, Mr. Rauner said that the only problem he had was with the union leaders in the public sector who donated to political leaders. He claims that the government union has power to influence politicians in contracts negotiations about pensions, scales of payments,

Art as Expression Essay Example for Free

Art as Expression Essay The question of what art is cannot be properly answered without asking why art is. Prior to the advent of the written language, art was used as a means of communication, and in some ways, written language is in its own regard, art. Art, then, must be an expression of meaning by the artist, or potentially by the client that artist created the artwork for, but this assumption is altogether too broad. Art is not exclusively a private expression because it is left open to interpretation by the individual who looks upon it, and as such art can then be categorized as the representation through a variety of mediums, of whatever the beholder or artist thinks it should be. Which poses a greater question is something art if the individual who designed it had no intended message? Or visa versa is something art if the consumer of the artform does not perceive any message? I was at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art about a two years ago, and they had some very abstract pieces on display, all of which brought forth in me at least some semblance of a response, except for a piece by Robert Rauschenberg, call White Painting [three panel], that began a philosophical debate between my brother and I because I refused to call the â€Å"painting† art. To me, there was no way to interpret the three panels of white, they were simply empty canvases that Rauschenberg sold for substantially more than he bought them for. No soul, or emotion went into the piece and as I understand art, that does not qualify as any more than a man playing a abstraction crazy consumer culture for the fool. To backtrack, art in my eyes is the true expression of an artist to the consumer, for the purpose of provocation; art has to make something well up in a person, even if it is not enjoyment, even if it is sorrow, or anger. Art is the way we have always talked to each other as people, and the pure aesthetic painters and songwriters of the last century do not produce art. Art is emotion and passion mixing into something for others to partake in; there is no private art, there is only art that no one else has applied their own perceptions to yet.

How Capital Structure Affects UK Cost of Capital

How Capital Structure Affects UK Cost of Capital Abstract Firms require a reasonable capital structure to meet the required target. To raise the finance, firms normally choose to review some different factors that are taken into account in considering. In this study, the author will examine the correlation between capital structure and the cost of the capital. As the cost will be a main factor for the firms to raise the finance. And different of capital structure will cause variable cost. This report will review the literature in capital structure and cost of finance. Along with the availability of source of finance, including the matching principle, a famous tools trade-off theory. As well as the argument follows, pecking order theory and agency cost theory. Drawing a conclusion based on the research survey data collection. Justify the relationship in how capital structure affects capital cost. Introduction The term capital structure refers to the mix of different types of funds which a company uses to finance its activities. Capital structure varies greatly from one company to another. For example, some companies are financed mainly by shareholders funds whereas others make much greater use of borrowings. Since the seminal publication of Modigliani and Miller (1958), corporate finance researchers have devoted considerable effort to investigating capital structure decisions (e.g. Myers, 1977 and 1984). Significant progress has been made in understanding the determinants of corporate capital structure with an increased emphasis on financial contracting theory (for example, Barclay and Smith, 1995; Mehran et al., 1999; and Graham et al., 1998 and, for an international view, Rajan and Zingales, 1995). This theory suggests that firm characteristics such as risk and investment opportunity set affect contracting costs. In turn, these costs impact on the choice between alternative forms of finance such as debt and equity, and between different classes of fixed-claim finance such as debt and leasing. The author will examine the relationship between the cost of capital and the structure of capital, and the effect of cost to raise finance in terms of making financial decision in the firms. Literature review 2.1 Theory of capital The origins of capital structure theory lie in the models of optimal capital structure that were developed in the wake of the famous Modigliani-Miller irrelevance theorem. These models later became to be known as the static trade-off theory (see e.g. Modigliani and Miller, 1958, 1963; Baxter, 1967; Gordon, 1971; Kraus and Litzenberger, 1973; Scott, 1976; Kim, 1978; Vinso, 1979). In this theory, the combination of leverage related costs (associated with e.g. bankruptcy and agency relations) and a tax advantage of debt produces an optimal capital structure at less than a 100% debt financing, as the tax advantage is traded off against the likelihood of incurring the costs. This theoretical result is now widely accepted in the profession. However, in seeking to model the wide diversity of capital structure practice, a number of additional factors have been proposed in the literature. 2.2 Factors that affect capital structure First, the use of debt finance can reduce agency costs between managers and shareholders by increasing the managers share of equity (Jensen and Meekling, 1976) and by reducing the free cash available for managers personal benefits (Jensen, 1986). Second, Myers and Majluf (1984) argue that, under asymmetric information, equity may be mispriced by the market. If firms finance new projects by issuing more equity, under pricing may cause les profit for existing shareholders in terms of the project NPV. Myers (1984) refers to this as pecking order theory of capital structure. The underinvestment can be reduced by financing the mispriced equity by the market. Internal funds involve no undervaluation and even debt that is not too risky will be preferred to equity. If external finance was required, firms tended first to issue the safest security, debt, and only issued equity as a last resort. Under this model, there is no well-define target mix of debt and equity finance. Each firms observed debt ratio reflects its cumulative requirements for external finance. Generally, profitable firms will borrow less because they can rely on internal resources and retain earnings. The preference for internal equity implies that firms will use less debt than suggested by the trade-off theory. Other factors that have been invoked to help explain the diversity of capital structures include: management behaviour (Williamson, 1988), firm-stakeholder interaction (Grinblatt and Titman, 1998), and corporate control issues (Harris and Raviv, 1988 and 1991). 2.3 How to finance The conventional discussion on a firms choice between long-term and short-term debt has generally focused on three aspects: matching debt maturity with asset life; extending the term-to-maturity of loans to stretch the firms debt capacity; and concentrating long-term debt issues in periods of relatively low interest rates. Recent development in the financial research literature has advanced several economics concepts such as transaction and agency costs, tax-timing option, and information asymmetry, to the debt maturity choice paradigm. Brick and Ravid (1985) show that taxes can also imply an optimal debt maturity structure. Depending on the term-structure of interest rates, long-term (short-term) is optimal, since it accelerates the tax benefit of debt given an increasing (decreasing) term structure. When firms cannot reveal the true quality of their cash flows, i.e. when information asymmetry exists, they can prevent or abate undervaluation by using a variety of signalling devices, such as debt (leverage), dividend payments or the maturity structure of debt. Thus, information asymmetry gives firms an incentive to signal their quality and credibility by taking on more debt and shortening their debt maturity. A higher leverage, especially more short-term debt, signals favourable inside information to the market because it offers the possibility to renegotiate terms in the future, when more information has become available. Long-term debt entails higher information costs than short-term debt, because the market expects a stronger deterioration of quality than insiders do. Firms with a low level of information asymmetry are therefore more likely to issue long-term debt (Flannery, 1986). In the study of international capital structures, Rajan and Zingales (1995) argue that it is important to test the robustness of US finds in different environments. They identify as potentially important the cross-country differences in tax and bankruptcy codes, in the market for corporate control and in the historical role played by banks and security markets. Methodology This survey focuses primarily on the determinants of the capital structure policy of firms but also includes some questions on topics that are closely related to the capital structure. For example, the questions address their approximate cost of equity to the managers, how they estimate their cost of equity (with CAPM or other methods), and whether the impact on the weighted average cost of capital is a consideration in their capital structure choice. The survey was developed after a careful review of the capital structure literature pertaining to the U.S. and European countries. For ease of comparability, the author tried to keep the format and design the survey similar to that of Graham and Harvey (2001), but modified or simplified some questions that are likely to be relevant in the UK context. For example, literature suggests that there are strong differences in corporate objectives between American and UK financial systems since the former system focuses on maximizing shareholder wealth while the later emphasizes the welfare of all stakeholder including employees, creditors and even he government. To examine this difference, the author ask the CFOs about the extent to which different stakeholders influence their firms financial decisions, the author also ask the firms the percentage of their free float share and whether they have preference or common share. 3.1 Sampling The initial samples for mailing the survey consist of a total of 57 firms from UK. The choice of initial sample was based on selecting firms that are representative of the UK firms, are widely traded, are comparable across country, and are public limited with available information. These criteria are important to justify the firms specific difference. From this sample, 9 firms were deleted because of non-availability of addresses and another 17 firms were deleted because they declined to participate in the survey, leaving a final sample of 31 firms. The survey was anonymous as this was an important criterion to obtain honest responses. In the mailing a letter was included that was addressed to the CFO or CEO explaining the objective of the study and promising to send a copy of the findings to those who wished to receive. A total of 12 responses were received by mail, which represents a response rate about 38 percent. 3.3 Summary of findings The respondent firms represent a wide variety of industries with a larger concentration in manufacturing; mining; energy and transportation sector; high technology; and financial sectors. About three forth of firms have a target debt to equity ratios, and about half of these firms maintain a target debt to equity ratios of one. Further, many respondents have a large percentage of their total debt in short term. About 80 percent of respondents report that they calculate their cost of equity, and over 77% of them employ the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) to calculate this cost. The estimated cost of equity reported by respondents ranges between 9%-15% only few firms report cost of capital greater than 15% The correlations among the demography variables of this survey are largely as predicted in the literature. These correlations will be discussed in detail in the next section. Analysis Three sets of factors in managers opinion that are likely to influence capital structure of firms are selected based on a review of literature. The first set is based on the implications of different capital structure theories such as the trade-off theory, the pecking order theory, and the agency cost theory. Generally the managers will make the financial decisions based on theories and through these decisions to affect their cost of capital. The second set relates to the managers timing of debt or equity issues since literature suggests that managers are concerned about financial flexibility. With evidence support in the findings, most of managers within all industries consider the financial flexibility as the most important issue when raise finance. Finance by short term may give the company advantage in changing their status to meet the changing world environment and provide less risks in investments. Finally, the last set of factors is based on common beliefs among managers about the impact of capital structure changes on financial statements such as the potential impact of equity issue on earnings. This factor shows the important of experience in managers mind and how it will be impact on the decisions. In summary, to analyse a companys capital structure, we assume that the company is only financed by two ways, either by shareholders equity or borrowings. It is just to consider how cost of capital affect the different proportion of debt in capital structure. Figure 8: Two advantages and two disadvantages of borrowing Advantages Disadvantages 1. Cheap direct cost because debt is less risky to the investor 1. Financial leverage causes shareholders to increase their cost of capital 2. Cheap direct cost because interest is a tax deductible expense. 2. Bankruptcy risks if borrowings are too high. The main advantage of borrowing is that the debt has a cheaper direct cost than equity. Debt is less risky to the investor than equity (low risk result a low required return) Interest payments are tax deductable whereas dividends are not. However, borrowing has two distinct disadvantages. Firstly it causes shareholders to suffer increased volatility of earnings. This is known as financial leverage. The increased volatility to shareholders returns resulting from financial leverage causes shareholders to demand a higher rate of return in compensation. The second disadvantage of borrowing is that if the company borrows too much, it increases its bankruptcy risks. At reasonable levels of gearing this affect will be imperceptible, but it becomes significant for highly geared companies and results in a range of risks and costs which have the effect of increasing the companys cost of capital. Limitation and Ethical issue The research focus on the UK market and respondents are from different areas of industry. The limitation has been carried out. First will be the time of the research. As a three months research, the data was not examined as correct enough to support the authors point. The data collection should be carrying continually in a long period of time and often reviewed at some certain time. Second, the way of collecting these data is limited by mailing. The survey may not represent the whole market as the limited number of respondents. A research should conduct all the possible methods including quantitative and qualitative. Finally, as this is not a professional research, lots of objectives in the research declined to give feedback in judging their financial structure in the case some of this could be their classified information. The ethical issue has been raised in this research; this will be honesty in the feedbacks from the respondents. As this survey is anonymous research, the managers may not give the right information in case of rising threats in competition. The importance of financial structure in firms causes the mangers to think before they actually answer the questions. The privacy issue in their mind raised that they may not want to share all the information regarding to the financial statement. Conclusion The purpose of this article is to supplement the existing literature with an analysis of the factors determining the financial structure affecting the cost of capital. The analyses give rise to the following conclusions. The study presents a dynamic model to address the possibility of adjustment costs incurred in reaching an optimal capital structure. And examine the literature in the factors in capital structure in affecting the cost of financing a firm through the facts in reality. The conclusion can be drawn as the cost of capital is a key factor that firms taken into account when raise finance along with the financial flexibility. On the other hand, the capital structure of a firm will affect the firms cost in both short term and long term. The firms raise the finance to meet the required target, there is no such a way to limit firms financial structure. They may want to choose a short term loan to meet flexibility of cash flow, in the contrast; the long term finance may require more information and satisfaction of the firms. The cost of capital depends on how firms finance their capital structure. Reference and bibliography Barclay, M.J. and C.W. Smith (1995), The Priority Structure of Corporate Liabilities, Journal of Finance, Vol. 50, No. 3 (July) Baxter, N. D. (1967) Leverage, the Risk of Ruin and the Cost of Capital, Journal of Finance, 22 Brick, I. and Ravid, A. (1985) On the relevance of debt maturity structure, Journal of Finance, 40 Flannery, M. (1986) Asymmetric information and risky debt maturity choice, Journal of Finance, 41 Gordon, M. (1971) Towards a theory of financial distress, Journal of Finance, 26 Graham, J.R., M.L. Lemmon and J.S. Schallheim (1998), Debt, Leases, Taxes and The Endogeneity of Corporate Tax Status, Journal of Finance, Vol. 53, No. 1 (February) Graham, J.R. and C.R. Harvey (2001), The Theory and Practice of Corporate Finance: Evidence from the Field, Journal of Financial Economics, Vol. 60, Nos. 2/3 (May) Grinblatt, M. and S. Titman (1998), Financial Markets and Corporate Strategy (Irwin/McGraw- Hill, USA) Harris, M. and A. Raviv (1988), Corporate Control Contests and Capital Structure, Journal of Financial Economics, Vol. 20 Harris, M. and A. Raviv (1991), The Theory of Capital Structure, Journal of Finance, Vol. 46, No. 1 (March) Jensen, M.C. (1986), Agency Costs of Free Cash Flow, Corporate Finance and Takeovers, American Economic Review, Vol. 76, No. 2, Jensen, M.C. and W. Meckling (1976), Theory of the Firm: Managerial Behaviour, Agency Costs, and Capital Structure, Journal of Financial Economics, Vol. 3, No. 4 Kim, E. (1978) A mean-variance theory of optimal capital structure and corporate debt capacity, Journal of Finance, 23 Kraus, A. and Litzenberger, R. (1973) State preference model of optimal leverage, Journal of Finance, 28 Mehran, H., R.A. Taggart and D. Yermack (1999), CEO Ownership, Leasing and Debt Financing, Financial Management, Vol. 28, No. 2 Modigliani, F.F. and M.H. Miller (1958), The Cost of Capital, Corporation Finance, and the Theory of Investment, American Economic Review, Vol. 48, No. 3 (June) Myers, S.C. (1977), Determinants of Corporate Borrowing, Journal of Financial Economics, Vol. 5, No. 2 (November) Myers, S.C. (1984), The Capital Structure Puzzle, Journal of Finance, Vol. 39, No. 3 (July) Myers, S. and Majluf, N. (1984) Corporate financing and investment decisions when firms have information that investors do not have, Journal of Financial Economics, 13, Rajan, R.G. and L. Zingales (1995), What Do We Know About Capital Structure Choice? Some Evidence from International Data, Journal of Finance, Vol. 50, No. 5 Scott, J. (1976) A theory of optimal capital structure, Bell Journal of Economics, 7 Vinso, J. (1979) A determination of the risk of ruin, Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, 14 Williamson, O.E. (1988), Corporate Finance and Corporate Governance, Journal of Finance, Vol. 43, No. 3 (July) Advantage and disadvantage of borrowing, available on website www.accaglobal.com, access on 28.04.2010 How Capital Structure Affects UK Cost of Capital How Capital Structure Affects UK Cost of Capital Abstract Firms require a reasonable capital structure to meet the required target. To raise the finance, firms normally choose to review some different factors that are taken into account in considering. In this study, the author will examine the correlation between capital structure and the cost of the capital. As the cost will be a main factor for the firms to raise the finance. And different of capital structure will cause variable cost. This report will review the literature in capital structure and cost of finance. Along with the availability of source of finance, including the matching principle, a famous tools trade-off theory. As well as the argument follows, pecking order theory and agency cost theory. Drawing a conclusion based on the research survey data collection. Justify the relationship in how capital structure affects capital cost. Introduction The term capital structure refers to the mix of different types of funds which a company uses to finance its activities. Capital structure varies greatly from one company to another. For example, some companies are financed mainly by shareholders funds whereas others make much greater use of borrowings. Since the seminal publication of Modigliani and Miller (1958), corporate finance researchers have devoted considerable effort to investigating capital structure decisions (e.g. Myers, 1977 and 1984). Significant progress has been made in understanding the determinants of corporate capital structure with an increased emphasis on financial contracting theory (for example, Barclay and Smith, 1995; Mehran et al., 1999; and Graham et al., 1998 and, for an international view, Rajan and Zingales, 1995). This theory suggests that firm characteristics such as risk and investment opportunity set affect contracting costs. In turn, these costs impact on the choice between alternative forms of finance such as debt and equity, and between different classes of fixed-claim finance such as debt and leasing. The author will examine the relationship between the cost of capital and the structure of capital, and the effect of cost to raise finance in terms of making financial decision in the firms. Literature review 2.1 Theory of capital The origins of capital structure theory lie in the models of optimal capital structure that were developed in the wake of the famous Modigliani-Miller irrelevance theorem. These models later became to be known as the static trade-off theory (see e.g. Modigliani and Miller, 1958, 1963; Baxter, 1967; Gordon, 1971; Kraus and Litzenberger, 1973; Scott, 1976; Kim, 1978; Vinso, 1979). In this theory, the combination of leverage related costs (associated with e.g. bankruptcy and agency relations) and a tax advantage of debt produces an optimal capital structure at less than a 100% debt financing, as the tax advantage is traded off against the likelihood of incurring the costs. This theoretical result is now widely accepted in the profession. However, in seeking to model the wide diversity of capital structure practice, a number of additional factors have been proposed in the literature. 2.2 Factors that affect capital structure First, the use of debt finance can reduce agency costs between managers and shareholders by increasing the managers share of equity (Jensen and Meekling, 1976) and by reducing the free cash available for managers personal benefits (Jensen, 1986). Second, Myers and Majluf (1984) argue that, under asymmetric information, equity may be mispriced by the market. If firms finance new projects by issuing more equity, under pricing may cause les profit for existing shareholders in terms of the project NPV. Myers (1984) refers to this as pecking order theory of capital structure. The underinvestment can be reduced by financing the mispriced equity by the market. Internal funds involve no undervaluation and even debt that is not too risky will be preferred to equity. If external finance was required, firms tended first to issue the safest security, debt, and only issued equity as a last resort. Under this model, there is no well-define target mix of debt and equity finance. Each firms observed debt ratio reflects its cumulative requirements for external finance. Generally, profitable firms will borrow less because they can rely on internal resources and retain earnings. The preference for internal equity implies that firms will use less debt than suggested by the trade-off theory. Other factors that have been invoked to help explain the diversity of capital structures include: management behaviour (Williamson, 1988), firm-stakeholder interaction (Grinblatt and Titman, 1998), and corporate control issues (Harris and Raviv, 1988 and 1991). 2.3 How to finance The conventional discussion on a firms choice between long-term and short-term debt has generally focused on three aspects: matching debt maturity with asset life; extending the term-to-maturity of loans to stretch the firms debt capacity; and concentrating long-term debt issues in periods of relatively low interest rates. Recent development in the financial research literature has advanced several economics concepts such as transaction and agency costs, tax-timing option, and information asymmetry, to the debt maturity choice paradigm. Brick and Ravid (1985) show that taxes can also imply an optimal debt maturity structure. Depending on the term-structure of interest rates, long-term (short-term) is optimal, since it accelerates the tax benefit of debt given an increasing (decreasing) term structure. When firms cannot reveal the true quality of their cash flows, i.e. when information asymmetry exists, they can prevent or abate undervaluation by using a variety of signalling devices, such as debt (leverage), dividend payments or the maturity structure of debt. Thus, information asymmetry gives firms an incentive to signal their quality and credibility by taking on more debt and shortening their debt maturity. A higher leverage, especially more short-term debt, signals favourable inside information to the market because it offers the possibility to renegotiate terms in the future, when more information has become available. Long-term debt entails higher information costs than short-term debt, because the market expects a stronger deterioration of quality than insiders do. Firms with a low level of information asymmetry are therefore more likely to issue long-term debt (Flannery, 1986). In the study of international capital structures, Rajan and Zingales (1995) argue that it is important to test the robustness of US finds in different environments. They identify as potentially important the cross-country differences in tax and bankruptcy codes, in the market for corporate control and in the historical role played by banks and security markets. Methodology This survey focuses primarily on the determinants of the capital structure policy of firms but also includes some questions on topics that are closely related to the capital structure. For example, the questions address their approximate cost of equity to the managers, how they estimate their cost of equity (with CAPM or other methods), and whether the impact on the weighted average cost of capital is a consideration in their capital structure choice. The survey was developed after a careful review of the capital structure literature pertaining to the U.S. and European countries. For ease of comparability, the author tried to keep the format and design the survey similar to that of Graham and Harvey (2001), but modified or simplified some questions that are likely to be relevant in the UK context. For example, literature suggests that there are strong differences in corporate objectives between American and UK financial systems since the former system focuses on maximizing shareholder wealth while the later emphasizes the welfare of all stakeholder including employees, creditors and even he government. To examine this difference, the author ask the CFOs about the extent to which different stakeholders influence their firms financial decisions, the author also ask the firms the percentage of their free float share and whether they have preference or common share. 3.1 Sampling The initial samples for mailing the survey consist of a total of 57 firms from UK. The choice of initial sample was based on selecting firms that are representative of the UK firms, are widely traded, are comparable across country, and are public limited with available information. These criteria are important to justify the firms specific difference. From this sample, 9 firms were deleted because of non-availability of addresses and another 17 firms were deleted because they declined to participate in the survey, leaving a final sample of 31 firms. The survey was anonymous as this was an important criterion to obtain honest responses. In the mailing a letter was included that was addressed to the CFO or CEO explaining the objective of the study and promising to send a copy of the findings to those who wished to receive. A total of 12 responses were received by mail, which represents a response rate about 38 percent. 3.3 Summary of findings The respondent firms represent a wide variety of industries with a larger concentration in manufacturing; mining; energy and transportation sector; high technology; and financial sectors. About three forth of firms have a target debt to equity ratios, and about half of these firms maintain a target debt to equity ratios of one. Further, many respondents have a large percentage of their total debt in short term. About 80 percent of respondents report that they calculate their cost of equity, and over 77% of them employ the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) to calculate this cost. The estimated cost of equity reported by respondents ranges between 9%-15% only few firms report cost of capital greater than 15% The correlations among the demography variables of this survey are largely as predicted in the literature. These correlations will be discussed in detail in the next section. Analysis Three sets of factors in managers opinion that are likely to influence capital structure of firms are selected based on a review of literature. The first set is based on the implications of different capital structure theories such as the trade-off theory, the pecking order theory, and the agency cost theory. Generally the managers will make the financial decisions based on theories and through these decisions to affect their cost of capital. The second set relates to the managers timing of debt or equity issues since literature suggests that managers are concerned about financial flexibility. With evidence support in the findings, most of managers within all industries consider the financial flexibility as the most important issue when raise finance. Finance by short term may give the company advantage in changing their status to meet the changing world environment and provide less risks in investments. Finally, the last set of factors is based on common beliefs among managers about the impact of capital structure changes on financial statements such as the potential impact of equity issue on earnings. This factor shows the important of experience in managers mind and how it will be impact on the decisions. In summary, to analyse a companys capital structure, we assume that the company is only financed by two ways, either by shareholders equity or borrowings. It is just to consider how cost of capital affect the different proportion of debt in capital structure. Figure 8: Two advantages and two disadvantages of borrowing Advantages Disadvantages 1. Cheap direct cost because debt is less risky to the investor 1. Financial leverage causes shareholders to increase their cost of capital 2. Cheap direct cost because interest is a tax deductible expense. 2. Bankruptcy risks if borrowings are too high. The main advantage of borrowing is that the debt has a cheaper direct cost than equity. Debt is less risky to the investor than equity (low risk result a low required return) Interest payments are tax deductable whereas dividends are not. However, borrowing has two distinct disadvantages. Firstly it causes shareholders to suffer increased volatility of earnings. This is known as financial leverage. The increased volatility to shareholders returns resulting from financial leverage causes shareholders to demand a higher rate of return in compensation. The second disadvantage of borrowing is that if the company borrows too much, it increases its bankruptcy risks. At reasonable levels of gearing this affect will be imperceptible, but it becomes significant for highly geared companies and results in a range of risks and costs which have the effect of increasing the companys cost of capital. Limitation and Ethical issue The research focus on the UK market and respondents are from different areas of industry. The limitation has been carried out. First will be the time of the research. As a three months research, the data was not examined as correct enough to support the authors point. The data collection should be carrying continually in a long period of time and often reviewed at some certain time. Second, the way of collecting these data is limited by mailing. The survey may not represent the whole market as the limited number of respondents. A research should conduct all the possible methods including quantitative and qualitative. Finally, as this is not a professional research, lots of objectives in the research declined to give feedback in judging their financial structure in the case some of this could be their classified information. The ethical issue has been raised in this research; this will be honesty in the feedbacks from the respondents. As this survey is anonymous research, the managers may not give the right information in case of rising threats in competition. The importance of financial structure in firms causes the mangers to think before they actually answer the questions. The privacy issue in their mind raised that they may not want to share all the information regarding to the financial statement. Conclusion The purpose of this article is to supplement the existing literature with an analysis of the factors determining the financial structure affecting the cost of capital. The analyses give rise to the following conclusions. The study presents a dynamic model to address the possibility of adjustment costs incurred in reaching an optimal capital structure. And examine the literature in the factors in capital structure in affecting the cost of financing a firm through the facts in reality. The conclusion can be drawn as the cost of capital is a key factor that firms taken into account when raise finance along with the financial flexibility. On the other hand, the capital structure of a firm will affect the firms cost in both short term and long term. The firms raise the finance to meet the required target, there is no such a way to limit firms financial structure. They may want to choose a short term loan to meet flexibility of cash flow, in the contrast; the long term finance may require more information and satisfaction of the firms. The cost of capital depends on how firms finance their capital structure. Reference and bibliography Barclay, M.J. and C.W. Smith (1995), The Priority Structure of Corporate Liabilities, Journal of Finance, Vol. 50, No. 3 (July) Baxter, N. D. (1967) Leverage, the Risk of Ruin and the Cost of Capital, Journal of Finance, 22 Brick, I. and Ravid, A. (1985) On the relevance of debt maturity structure, Journal of Finance, 40 Flannery, M. (1986) Asymmetric information and risky debt maturity choice, Journal of Finance, 41 Gordon, M. (1971) Towards a theory of financial distress, Journal of Finance, 26 Graham, J.R., M.L. Lemmon and J.S. Schallheim (1998), Debt, Leases, Taxes and The Endogeneity of Corporate Tax Status, Journal of Finance, Vol. 53, No. 1 (February) Graham, J.R. and C.R. Harvey (2001), The Theory and Practice of Corporate Finance: Evidence from the Field, Journal of Financial Economics, Vol. 60, Nos. 2/3 (May) Grinblatt, M. and S. Titman (1998), Financial Markets and Corporate Strategy (Irwin/McGraw- Hill, USA) Harris, M. and A. Raviv (1988), Corporate Control Contests and Capital Structure, Journal of Financial Economics, Vol. 20 Harris, M. and A. Raviv (1991), The Theory of Capital Structure, Journal of Finance, Vol. 46, No. 1 (March) Jensen, M.C. (1986), Agency Costs of Free Cash Flow, Corporate Finance and Takeovers, American Economic Review, Vol. 76, No. 2, Jensen, M.C. and W. Meckling (1976), Theory of the Firm: Managerial Behaviour, Agency Costs, and Capital Structure, Journal of Financial Economics, Vol. 3, No. 4 Kim, E. (1978) A mean-variance theory of optimal capital structure and corporate debt capacity, Journal of Finance, 23 Kraus, A. and Litzenberger, R. (1973) State preference model of optimal leverage, Journal of Finance, 28 Mehran, H., R.A. Taggart and D. Yermack (1999), CEO Ownership, Leasing and Debt Financing, Financial Management, Vol. 28, No. 2 Modigliani, F.F. and M.H. Miller (1958), The Cost of Capital, Corporation Finance, and the Theory of Investment, American Economic Review, Vol. 48, No. 3 (June) Myers, S.C. (1977), Determinants of Corporate Borrowing, Journal of Financial Economics, Vol. 5, No. 2 (November) Myers, S.C. (1984), The Capital Structure Puzzle, Journal of Finance, Vol. 39, No. 3 (July) Myers, S. and Majluf, N. (1984) Corporate financing and investment decisions when firms have information that investors do not have, Journal of Financial Economics, 13, Rajan, R.G. and L. Zingales (1995), What Do We Know About Capital Structure Choice? Some Evidence from International Data, Journal of Finance, Vol. 50, No. 5 Scott, J. (1976) A theory of optimal capital structure, Bell Journal of Economics, 7 Vinso, J. (1979) A determination of the risk of ruin, Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, 14 Williamson, O.E. (1988), Corporate Finance and Corporate Governance, Journal of Finance, Vol. 43, No. 3 (July) Advantage and disadvantage of borrowing, available on website www.accaglobal.com, access on 28.04.2010

BIM Based Life Cycle Assessment Tool

BIM Based Life Cycle Assessment Tool Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is used to evaluate a particular product, process, or activity from cradle to grave the environmental effects. LCA is methodology for measuring and evaluating some aspects of all relevant costs, revenues, environmental impacts and performance associated in all stages of an asset over its life cycle (ISO15686, 2008), it compiles and evaluates an inventory of relevant input, output, and potential environmental impacts in relation to the objective of study throughout its life cycle (ISO14040, 2006). LCA provides a complete picture of the interactions of activities with the environment and it is one of the decision supporting tools providing information on environmental effects of these activities and identifies opportunities for environmental improvement for stakeholders to make decision. The concept of LCA started from late 1960s, the earliest forerunners were the Resource and Environmental Profile Analyses (REPAs) and a research founded by Coca Cola funds study of different beverage containers and packaging system. LCA been extended used during global oil crises from 1973 emerged many countries began to explore substitute resources to produce energy. Energy analysis by comparing different substitute sources through life-cycle basis gave a true indication. The interest of LCA continued used for decision making policy through the 1980s. The REPA early studies emphasized on raw material, energy inputs and waste generation through environmental impact as LCA methodology and modern LCA methodology outlined the components of contemporary LCA from four distinct analytical steps: goal definition, inventory assessment, impact assessment, and improvement analysis in the late 1990s released ISO standards 14040 14043 by the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO). The latest series includes ISO 14040:2006 life cycle assessment principles and framework, ISO 14041:1998 standards for goal and scope definition and inventory analysis, ISO14042:2000 life cycle impact assessment and ISO 14043:2000 life cycle interpretation. There still much development tacking place till today. The stages of the LCA methodology based on international standards of series ISO 14040 consists of defining the goal and scope, creating the inventory, assessing the impact and finally interpreting. Today, the usage of LCA is extended to the construction industry; works have been undertaken on both large and small aspects from internal to external. Internally, LCA can be used in process analysis, product evaluation, material selection (cement or bricks) and product comparison (heating systems). From externally use, LCA can be used for marketing, information and education, eco-labelling. LCA is a comprehensive method to evaluate environment impact through whole life approach, LCA has 40-years history and still not been used widely due to there are limitations in using this tool. Firstly, expected life-time is various. Data collection and data reliability is always the question and difficulties to LCA tool. Further, uncertainty is everywhere and comparisons between studies are difficult. In all LCA is a decision supporting tool, no single methods can be used individually in providing a clear solution or decision. There are various LCA tools have been developed based on qualitative and quantitative methods that can assess building environmental impacts from embodied energy, operational energy, CO2 emission and other emissions from buildings. These tools have been classified and categorized into five major categories: Detailed LCA Modelling Tool; LCA design Tool; LCA CAD tool; Green Product Guides and Checklist and Building Assessment Schemes. Detailed LCA Modelling Tools: This category of LCA tools to calculate embodied energy and environmental impacts based on materials used, building components and processes of the work. The most famous used software under this category includes SimaPro, TEAM, Gabi, KCL-ECO, Boustead, GaBi, PEMS, Athena, BEES, LISA, ECO-QUANTUM, EQUER, Green Building Advisor USA, SIA D0123, Energy Life Cycle Assessment Model for Building Design (SBI) [14]. SimaPro is one of the most widely used professional LCA software under detailed LCA modelling tool category and worked based on calculating of material used by consultants, research institutes and universities. It contains several impact assessment methods can direct calculate for each element in a project; inventory databases can be edited and expanded easily; open and transparent database (Pre4 database, FRANKLIN US LCI database, IDEMAT database, BIWAL250 database, FEFCO database) which helps in fast data entry and database consistency checks. BEES (Building for Economic and Environmental Sustainability) USA be developed and to implement the most appropriate balance between environmental sustainability and economic performance. It can be used throughout all construction stages from preliminary design stages, construction or building product manufacture, maintenance of building and to building services. The data used in this software including inventory flow items of energy used and materials. It a typical detailed LCA modelling tool worked on building components. LCA Design Tools: LCA Design Tool is the yardstick for designers to measure environment performance of the building during design stage. By using this kind of LCA tools, designers can easily evaluated environment impact. Environmental information can be optimized measured. Envest is one of the widely used software under category of LCA Design tools developed by Building Research Establishment (BRE) in the U.K. Designers input the basic design information such as building element choices, building height, number of storeys, window areas and building Gross Floor Area. Calculation of building associated impacts and different options comparisons then performance. This software measures each environmental issue separately in their own units. Environmental issues data is more easily to use and gather on UK basis. Envest use weighting system based on BREs Ecopoint score. LCA CAD Tools: Similar to LCA Design Tools, some of LCA tools integrated with CAD planning tool or CAD assessment tool. Tools under this category are able to read building component information from CAD. Some tools can work with 3-D CAD to work get the material information and building components from CAD directly in order to work out environmental impact analysis. Well known software under this category include EcoScan, ECOit, LCAiTLCAid, ECOTECT, ENER-RATEE, Energy 10, EQUER, PAPOOSE, Legoe, Ecopro, OGIP, EPCMB [15]. LCAidTM is a decision-making tool developed by Australia and aimed to help building designer, LCA practitioner, LCA researcher or building rating practitioner for evaluating the different options of building or building components environmental performance and impact. It makes evaluation work easier and faster with working on 3D CAD system by importing materials quantities and assigning materials to each building elements. It is based on Green Building Challenges rating guide to weighing the elements. Life Cycle Inventories of building materials data are stored at LCAid library. Green Product Guides and Checklists: It is the most common use methods to assess environment impact currently. They are combine of global analysis and problem analysis take into consideration. Tools under this category provide qualitative guides of environmental issues to help stakeholders in decision making with consideration of environment performance at design stage when selecting alternative materials, or building components. Many countries or regions they have their own standards or guides to follow. Some guilds are famous and used worldwide like LEED from US and BREEAM from UK, International standards ISO 14040 to ISO 14043, and other famous guides include Environmental Preference Method (EPM), BEPAC, GREEN housing A-Z, ECDG, EcoSpecifier. [15]. Building Assessment Schemes: Basically, tools under this category are used to predict or assess building performance during its operational stage. They normally can be used before or after building occupancy. Examples include GBTool, BEAVER/ESOII, BUNYIP, DOE2.2, GSL-Giselle, Okoprofile, NatHERS, SEDA, ECOPROFILE, E2000 and BEE 1.0. [15]. Building information (bim) Changes in Information Communication Technologies lead to a change in the way information represented and in particular, information is being fed more easily and distributed more quickly to different stakeholders by the use of tool such as the Building Information Modelling (BIM) [15]. BIM is a digital building model which generating, managing and sharing information during its entire life cycle. [17] The development of BIM results in fundamentally changes of building design. With design information input of product materials, specification, finishes, costs, carbon content and any other special requirement transfers into virtual building model. Different stakeholders have better collaboration by using BIM. Figure 3 shows the usage of BIM and its functions. BIM has fundamentally changed how buildings are designed. There is now plenty of hard evidence that the wealth of information from virtual building models has completely transformed how the designers make their design decisions lead to a far better sustainable design buildings indeed. Typically collaboration between design disciplines is a low level information exchange, via a simple electronic or published format, however it is a existing commonly form of information collaboration in construction sector, in which there is none of added-value to the design process. The maintained situation is due to todays software tools, in particular to the BIM, have merely facilitated meaningful information collaboration across the sustainable discipline. Proportionally through adding time factor into BIM, BIM becomes a 4D modelling tool. The usage of BIM can then be expanded to planning, supply chain management, life cycle costing and assessment. The integration of LCA disciplines into BIM enables to assess both economic efficiency and sustainability of buildings. Its availability lies in a central building component repository. Further, BIM can be seen as a 5D modelling tool with element/material cost information, together with time information stored in BIM, it can work out the project estimating cost and its cash flow along the project life cycle. Comprising assessment to the environmental information into the BIM, BIM can further become a 6D modelling tool that can calculate the environmental impacts from buildings. Eventually, it can become even nD model with other special information added in [18]. Performance-based design supported by product models is becoming stage-of-the-art practice [19]. Therefore, one of the key advantages of using BIM as an analysis tool allows multi-disciplines to simulate building performance in a virtual environment. The number of performance criteria can be analyzed that are depended on several aspects includes architectural, structural, mechanical, energy. Therefore, BIM tool is a feasible approach for multidisciplinary team members to access and collaborate effectively Current existing BIM tools like Autodesk Revit, Tekla Structures, Digital Project, Bentley Syetems, ArchiCAD, AutoCAD- based Application, DProfiler and so on. Through the applications of construction practices, they have been found on their own strengths and weakness, especially in terms of technique, operational ease and the facilitation of sustainable information across. The analysis to the usedBIM tools being used shown below: Introduction Strengths Weakness Revit Introduce by Autodesk in 2002 Leader for the use in BIM gbXML interface for energy simulation and load analysis Direct interface to ROBOT and RISA structural analysis Conceptual design tool 2D section of detailing View interface: DGN, DWG, DWF, DXF, IFC, SAT, SKP, AVI, ODBC, gbXML, BMP, JPG, TGA, TIF Functionality is well-design and user-friendly Broad set of object libraries Direct link interface Bi-directional drawing Slow down on project larger than 200MB Limitation on parametric rules with angles Bentley Systems Introduce in 2004 by Bentley Architecture Integrated with others Bentley software Broad range of building tools Supports modeling with complex curved surfaces Multiple support for custom parametric objects Provide scalable support for large projects Large and non-integrated user interface Hard to learn and navigate Less extensive object libraries ArchiCAD Produce by Graphisoft in early 80s Serve MAC platform in addition to Windows Support range of direct interface Contains extensive object libraries Suite interfaces for energy and sustainability OBDC interface Intuitive interface and relatively simple to use Large object libraries Rich suite in supporting applications in construction facility management Only strong BIM product for MAC Limitation to parametric modeling Encounter scaling problem with large project Partition large project to manage them Digital Project Develop by Gehry Technologies Require a powerful workstation to run well Able to handle even the largest projects Model any type of surfaces Support elaborate custom parametric objects Complete parametric modeling capabilities for controlling surfaces and assemblies Relies on 3D parametric modeling for most detailing Steep learning curve Complex user interface High initial cost Limited object libraries (including external) Architectural drawing are not well developed Output section to drafting systems for completion AutoCAD- based Application Architectural Desktop ( ADT) Autodesk original 3D building modeling tool prior to Revit Provide a transition for 2D to BIM Relies on AutoCAD well-known capabilities for drawing production Interface: DGN, DWG, DWF, DXF, and IFC Easy to adopt for AutoCAD user Drafting functionality and interface Not parametric modeling Limited interface to other applications Scaling problem Tekla Structure Offered by Tekla Corp. Multiple divisions: building and construction, infrastructure and energy Support fabrication-level detailing of precast concrete structure and facades Structural analysis Interface: IFC, DWG, CIS/2 DTSV, SNDF, DGN, and DXF Export CNC Model structures that incorporate all kinds of structural materials Support very large model Concurrent operations on some projects Multiple simultaneous users Support complex parametric custom component libraries Too complex to learn and fully utilize Parametric component require sophisticated operators with high skill Not able to import complex multi-curved surfaces Relatively expensive Dprofiler Product of Beck Technologies in Dallas, Texas Provide feedback for construction cost and time User gain a set of drawing with financial and schedule reporting Can input own cost data or data from RS Means Support Sketchup and DWG Interface with Excel and DWG Market as a closed system for feasibility studies before actual design begins Ability to generate quick economic assessments Not a general purpose of BIM tool Purpose is economic evaluation of construction project Interface to support development in BIM Design tools is limited to 2D DWG files As presented above within the existing BIM tools, they provide less supports in sustainable information discipline across the models throughout the whole construction stages. Life cycle assessment in relation to carbon and energy emission Bim-based lca tool There is a high level of demand for sustainable construction due to the rising awareness of climate change and the most important buildings sustainable features are decided at design stage. Designers need to analyses sustainable features including building type, building forms, major materials used, context, MEP system. As mentioned in the previous section, BIM allows for multi-disciplinary information to be combined within one container and it creates a platform for multi-disciplinary to conduct sustainability analyses at construction initial stage. Adopting LCA concept integrate into BIM technology take consideration of low impact building design decision in time, embodied carbon, waste and cost (as shown in Figure 2). The principle of BIM-based holistic modelling in the building lifecycle, LCA can be available in the form of static visualization analysis at design stage whilst its dynamic simulation can be achievable through all stages of construction till demolition. During design phase, associated sustainability issues like energy consumption, carbon emission, waste generation, involved in building design and materials can be accurately quantified on the basis of a unique visualized static 3D information building model. From the phases of construction, to operation and demolition phases, LCA are a dynamic process where building sustainability are being embedded in those phases. For instance, carbon emission and waste production are likely to occur in the boundaries of manufacturing for building construction, maintaining for building operating and routine repairing, as well as recycling and disposing of building components and materials. These dynamic features are suggested to using a simulation approach for analyzing, while popular 4D/5D CAD techniques provide a viable approach to this dynamic simulation. The BIM-based LCA tool is therefore being considered as an enabler for multidisciplinary collaboration across specialty boundaries throughout the building lifecycle. The viability of model-based collaborative work has been verified by an interactive approach targeting on 4D CAD [21]. Planners with different specialties can collaboratively perform planning and 4D simulation underpinned by the 3D model. Similarly, taking the advantage of integrating LCA into BIM can realize optimal design decisions from a holistic perspective in multidisciplinary coalition. Sustainability issues and related costs in HVAC, structure, for instance, in a building can then be examined using the same BIM environment. In this kind of design decision process, the central information repository provided by the BIM model can create a collaboration context for potential stakeholders. Different specialties information in the repository can be accessed not only by information owners but other collaborators. Theref ore, sustainable design decisions on LCA can be made on the basis of informed rather than isolated approaches. The convenience of central information repository from the BIM model also brings the flexibility in applications. Given an online BIM model, distributed LCA application can be available through network support for geographically dispersed stakeholders. Conclusions This document provides authors with basic guidance on how to prepare the full papers. It is highly advised to use the Paper Template or strictly follow the instructions provided. A paper that does not meet the requirements will be returned to the author(s) for revision.