Argumentative Essay Essay

For many years, the importance of English has increased because it has became a very common language all over the world. Owing to this situation, there are lots of argumentative topics which are about the power of English. One of them is about the medium of instruction at Turkish universities whether it should be English or not. First of all, the definition of the English as a medium of instruction can be made. Haagen – Schà ¼tzenhà ¶fer & Mathelitsch (n.d.) explain that, â€Å"English as a Medium of Instruction is a †¦ bilingual teaching – method. The main idea of EMI is to combine the conventional instruction of content – area subjects with †¦ a foreign language is used as a ‘tool’ for communication in different subjects† (p.1). In addition to this explanation, this type of education at Turkish universities can be very beneficial for students. Therefore, the medium of instruction should be English at universities in Turkey. Opponents of this argument claim that the English as a medium of education is not beneficial for students in some cases. They argue that this type of education causes two main problems which are misunderstanding problems and economical problems. Firstly, in Turkey, there is a common belief that if the educational language is English at universities, it can lead to not understanding of the courses very well due to the departmental technical jargons. For example, in engineering department, because of the English educational language, student may have some difficulties in their technical courses. However, this view is highly debatable. In the beginning of the university education, there is an English proficiency exam which tests the students’ level of English for being appropriate to the departmental technical courses. After this exam, for students who fail this exam, there is a preparatory year and the aim of this year is to prepare students their courses and to increase their level of English. Secondly, the opponents claim that, in English medium of universities, the fee of instruction can be a problem for poor students because it is higher than the other universities’. However this idea is open to debate. For poor students, there are lots of scholarship opportunities. Governments, universities and some big companies are ready to give some scholarship to poor students for rescuing them from their economical problems. Therefore, the high fee of  instruction is not a problem for poor students. English medium universities provide some advantages to students in some areas. Firstly, they are very useful for students in the most important field which is education. When the medium of education is English at universities, students have an ability to search in foreign sources. Therefore, their search area will expand and they can use the foreign sources in their researches. According to Economy Department of Istanbul University (n.d.), the English medium of instruction has lots of benefits for students. For example, in the English medium of instruction students get the chance to access and use the worldwide resources. Furthermore, this educational style makes it possible to enhance reading and comprehension skills and writing in English (p.1). Moreover, this educational style gives to students a chance to be educated in other countries. For example, many universities have Erasmus program which is the student exchange program between different countries’ universities. To ap ply this program the most important thing is knowing English. Due to the English medium universities, students already know English. Hence they have an opportunity to apply this program and to be educated in different countries. Secondly, English medium of instruction also provides some economical advantages to students. Thanks to the English medium of education, students do not have to spend any money to learn English. For instance, according to TOMER (n.d.) which is a famous and qualified foreign language course, the cost of the specific purpose foreign language courses is 576.00 TL. In addition to this, in this language course, there are speaking classes and their cost is also 350.00 TL (p.1). If the medium of instruction is English, students do not have to pay these high costs for learning English. Therefore, it gives an economical advantage to them. Furthermore, this educational style is useful for students when they find and apply a job. In Turkey, knowing English is very important quality for applying any job. Most companies want from their applicants to know English very well. If the medium of education is English, this increases the chance of finding a good job. Not only in educational and economical field, but also in social and business life, the English medium of education at universities is useful for  students. Firstly, in social life, it gives to students some advantages. For instance, students may gain a chance to live abroad because when they graduate from English medium of universities, their level of English will become high. Therefore, they will not any language problems when they live abroad. Furthermore, it is also beneficial in social relationships. If students know English, they have an opportunity to communicate and have friendship relation with foreign people or students. Hence, their social environment can expand. For example, at METU there are many foreign students and Turkish METU students have a chance to have foreign friends and communicate with foreign people. Secondly, this educational style has some advantages in business life. For instance, to work for international companies, English is very important because it is the common language in the world. If the graduates know their subjects in English very well, they automatically have a chance to work in these companies. Therefore, being a graduate from English medium of universities is a very significant advantage for students. Moreover, it gives to students an opportunity to have business life in foreign countries. For instance, lots of METU graduates maintain their business life in foreign countries. Being a graduate from METU whose educational language is English gives them to this chance. All in all, in Turkey, if the educational language is English at universities, students gain lots of benefits from it. These are about their education, economy, social, and business life. When these benefits are thought and examined carefully, the importance of English for students can be obviously seen. Because English is the today’s global language and it gives lots of advantages to students, the medium of instruction should be English at universities. REFERENCES Bà ¶là ¼mler: Ä °ngilizce Ä °ktisat: TanÄ ±tÄ ±m. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.istanbul.edu.tr/iktisat/bolumler.php Course fees. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.tomer.ankara.edu.tr/english/index.html# Haagen-Schà ¼tzenhà ¶fer, C. & Mathelitsch, L. (n.d.). English as a medium of instruction in science-teaching. Retrieved from http://www.fisica.uniud.it/girepseminar2001/CS06/HAAGEN_03_FINAL.pdf

Personal life Essay

Living a â€Å"Good Life. † This is something most people strive for, but what we all question is, what is it that leads to a â€Å"good life,† or what does it really mean to have a â€Å"good life. † Most people would agree that whatever makes a person happy will lead to a good life, but happiness with each individual differs. Whether it be pleasure, wealth, or health many can disregard the virtue of true happiness, and their material desires leads to ignorance. Aristotle’s answer to this is that we must enjoy the proper things in life in order to be happy; and it is through proper activities that we are able to live the Good Life. I would have to agree with Aristotle’s beliefs, because of my upbringing, simple material things will not make me fully happy; one must live a just life filled with happiness. There is this woman named Janice, she s a manager for a major corporate office. Janice believes her happiness and the happiness of her children relies on her success in her career, and how much money she makes. She will do whatever it takes in order to rise up in the company to get any extra bonus or raise—even if it means stepping on other people to get there. Aristotle would say Janice is not living the Good Life by concentrating on the wealth and mistreating others for her own personal gain, because what she is doing is not a proper activity. I believe Aristotle may believe that the way Janice is living is irrational, and not the â€Å"good life,† because her happiness relies on her material wealth. According to J.L Ackrill from the Princeton university press Aristotle’s argument is as follows: 1) proper activities are those activities that best represent or fulfill the unique nature or purpose of humankind; 2) the unique nature or purpose of humankind is found in that particular quality which separates us from other species of beings; 3) that particular quality which separates us from other species of beings is reason; thus, 4) those activities that best express our reasoning abilities are those activities that will allow us to lead the Good Life; therefore, 5) some activities, like Janice’s activities, are not able to lead us to live the Good Life because again it is not a proper activity. Happiness isn’t simple, and living a good life isn’t easy. We can’t all just focus on the material; we have to focus on reason, on the virtue of our decisions. I was raise in a Christian home, so by default I was taught about being a servant to others, spreading the word of Jesus Christ, living a good life—according to what God has declared for me. But I believe that Aristotle’s belief of a good life coincides with some of what God has planned for me, by doing what is proper, and in my interpretation what is proper for me is following my path that God has laid out for me. We all have a purpose to life, everyone and everything. We are pieces to an order, a design t our universe, everything somehow fits together, we see the good and the truth through living justly with values and virtuous lifestyles, doing what makes us happy but only things that are â€Å"proper. † Aristotle believes that happiness is God given, and we need to live right by God.

Factor Affecting People Investing in Mutual Fund

Factors affecting people investing in Mutual Fund in Malaysia: An application of the Theory of Planned Behavior Kuah Kean Lam Research report in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MBA 2008 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank my supervisor, Dr. Nabsiah Abd. Wahid and my co-supervisor, Dr. Datin Joriah for their invaluable guidance in helping me with this research. Special thanks also go to Associate Professor T. Ramayah for his kind assistance and consultants in my statistical analysis. My sincere thanks to all the lecturers in the MBA programs.I also want to thank my family for their patience, support and encouragement during the period of my study. I am also grateful to my friends for their help and encouragement. Lastly, I wish to accord my appreciation to all the respondents who had so kind to respond my questionnaire in time. i TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGEMENT i TABLE OF CONTENTS ii LIST OF TABLES vii LIST OF FIGURES viii LIST OF APPENDICES ix ABST RAK xi ABSTRACT xii Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION 1 1. 1 Introduction 1 1. 2 Background 1 1. 2. 1 Benefits of Unit Trust Scheme 2 1. 2. 2 Disadvantages of Unit Trust Scheme 1. 2. 3 Types of Unit Trust Funds 4 1. 2. 4 Growth of Mutual Fund in Malaysia 6 1. 3 Problem Statement 8 1. 4 Research Objectives 10 1. 5 Research Question 10 1. 6 Definition of Key Terms 11 ii 1. 6. 1 Mutual Fund / Unit Trust Fund 1. 6. 2 11 Federation of Malaysia Unit Trust Managers (FMUTM) 12 1. 6. 3 Net Asset Value (NAV) 12 1. 6. 4 Islamic Mutual Fund 12 1. 6. 5 Attitude 13 1. 6. 6 Subjective Norms 13 1. 6. 7 Perceived Behavioral Control 14 1. 6. 8 Behavioral Intention 14 1. 7 14 1. 8 Chapter 2 Significance of Study Organization of Remaining Chapter 15 LITERATURE REVIEW 16 2. Introduction 16 2. 2 Literature Review 16 2. 2. 1 Emerging Market Research 17 2. 2. 2 International Research 20 2. 3 Model Explanation (TRA, TAM, TPB, and DTPB) 22 2. 3. 1 Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) 23 2. 3. 2 Technology Acceptance Model ( TAM) 25 2. 3. 3 Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) 26 2. 3. 4 Decomposed Theory of Planned Behavior (DTPB) 28 2. 3. 5 Inclusion of other variables in the TPB iii 31 2. 4 33 2. 5 Theoretical Framework 33 2. 6 Chapter 3 Gaps in Literature Hypothesis Development 35 METHODOLOGY 41 3. 1 Introduction 41 3. 2 Research Design 41 3. 2. 1 Type of Study 1 3. 2. 2 Data Collection Method 42 3. 2. 3 Population and Sample 42 3. 2. 4 Data Collection 43 3. 3 Data Analysis 43 3. 3. 1 Descriptive Analysis 45 3. 3. 2 Factor Analysis 45 3. 3. 3 Reliability Test 45 3. 3. 4 Correlation Analysis 46 3. 3. 5 Multiple Regression Analysis 46 3. 4 48 3. 5 Chapter 4 Summary Expected Outcome 48 RESULTS 50 4. 1 Introduction 50 4. 2 Profile of Respondents 50 4. 3 Goodness of Measures 52 iv 4. 3. 1 Factor Analysis 52 4. 3. 1. 1 Factor Analysis for Relative Advantage, Compatibility and Ease of Invest 53 4. 3. 1. 2 Factor Analysis for Efficacy andFacilitating Condition 54 4. 3. 1. 3 Factor Analysis for Past Behavior, At titude, SN and PBC 4. 3. 2 4. 4 Reliability Test 57 Descriptive Analysis 4. 4. 1 55 58 Analysis of Independent Variable Explanatory Role 58 4. 5 Correlation Analysis 60 4. 6 Hypotheses Testing 62 4. 6. 1 Multiple Regression Analysis (Stage 1a) 62 4. 6. 2 Multiple Regression Analysis (Stage 1b) 64 4. 6. 3 Multiple Regression Analysis (Stage 1c) 66 4. 6. 4 Multiple Regression Analysis (Stage 2) 68 4. 6. 5 Multiple Regression Analysis (Stage 3) 70 4. 7 Chapter 5 Summary of Results 73 DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION 76 . 1 Introduction 76 5. 2 Recapitulation of the Study Findings 76 5. 3 Discussion of Major Findings 77 v 5. 3. 1 Attitude towards the Behavioral 78 5. 3. 2 Past Behavior 79 5. 3. 3 Subjective Norms 80 5. 3. 4 Perceived Behavioral Control 80 5. 3. 5 Behavioral Intention 81 5. 3. 6 Actual Investment 82 5. 3. 7 Relative Advantage, Compatibility and Ease of Invest 5. 3. 8 Efficacy and Facilitating Condition 83 5. 3. 9 5. 4 82 Normative Influence 84 Implications 84 5. 4. 1 Theoretica l Implication 84 5. 4. 2 Practical Implication 85 5. 4. 2. 1 Marketing Strategy for Mutual Fund 85 5. 5Answering the Research Questions 87 5. 6 Limitations 89 5. 7 Future Research 90 5. 8 Conclusion 90 REFERENCES 91 APPENDICES 97 vi LIST OF TABLES Page Table 4. 1 Respondents Demographic Profile Table 4. 2 Rotated Component Matrix for relative advantage, Compatibility and ease of invest Table 4. 3 54 Rotated Component Matrix for efficacy and facilitating Condition Table 4. 4 51 55 Rotated Component Matrix for Attitude, SN, PBC and Past Behavior 56 Table 4. 5 Reliability Coefficients of Variables 57 Table 4. 6 Descriptive Statistics 59 Table 4. 7 Pearson’s Correlation Analysis of Variable 1 Table 4. 8 Result of Multiple Regression of H8, H9 and H10 63 Table 4. 9 Result of Multiple Regression of H13 65 Table 4. 10 Result of Multiple Regression of H11 and H12 67 Table 4. 11 Result of Multiple Regression of H1, H2, H3 and H5 69 Table 4. 12 Result of Multiple Regression of H4, H6 a nd H7 72 Table 4. 13 Summary of Hypotheses Testing Results 73 vii LIST OF FIGURES Page Figure 1. 1 Total NAV vs Bursa Malaysia Market Capitalization as at 31st Dec 2006 6 Figure 2. 1 Theory of Reasoned Action 24 Figure 2. 2 Technology Acceptance Model 25 Figure 2. 3 Theory of Planned Behavior 26Figure 2. 4 TPB with belief de-composition 29 Figure 2. 5 Theoretical Framework 35 Figure 4. 1 Stage 1a Multiple Regression 62 Figure 4. 2 Stage 1b Multiple Regression 64 Figure 4. 3 Stage 1c Multiple Regression 66 Figure 4. 4 Stage 2 Multiple Regression 68 Figure 4. 5 Stage 3 Multiple Regression 71 Figure 4. 6 Model Summaries with Significant Relationship and Beta Value 75 viii LIST OF APPENDICES Page Appendix A Questionnaire 97 Appendix B Coding of Variables 103 Appendix C Respondent Frequency Results 104 Appendix D Factor Analysis – Relative Advantage, Compatibility and Ease of Invest 08 Appendix D1 Factor Analysis – Relative Advantage, Compatibility and Ease of Invest. (Afte r removal of RA_2) Appendix E 111 Factor Analysis – Efficacy and Facilitating Condition 114 Appendix E1 Factor Analysis – Efficacy and Facilitating Condition (After removal of FC_2) 117 Appendix E2 Factor Analysis – Efficacy and Facilitating Condition (After removal of FC_2 and EF_2) Appendix F 120 Factor Analysis – Past Behavior, Attitude, Subjective Norm And PBC 123 Appendix F1 Factor Analysis – Past Behavior, Attitude, Subjective Norm And PBC (After removal of Att_3) 128 Appendix GReliability Analysis – Behavioral Intention 133 Appendix H Reliability Analysis – Actual Investment 134 Appendix I Reliability Analysis – Attitude 135 Appendix J Reliability Analysis – Subjective Norm 136 Appendix K Reliability Analysis – PBC 137 Appendix L Reliability Analysis – Relative Advantage 138 ix Appendix M Reliability Analysis – Ease of Invest 139 Appendix N Reliability Analysis – Normative Influence 140 Appendix O Reliability Analysis – Efficacy 141 Appendix P Reliability Analysis – Facilitating Condition 142 Appendix Q Descriptive Analysis Results 143 Appendix R Correlation Analysis Results 44 Appendix S Stage 1a Multiple Regression Analysis 145 Appendix T Stage 1b Multiple Regression Analysis 148 Appendix U Stage 1c Multiple Regression Analysis 151 Appendix V Stage 2 Multiple Regression Analysis 154 Appendix W Stage 3 Multiple Regression Analysis 157 x ABSTRAK (MALAY) Faktor-faktor yang mempengaruhi pelaburan dalam dana bersama di Malaysia: Applikasi dengan Teori Perlakuan Terancang. Dana Bersama (Mutual Fund) di Malaysia mengalami perkembangan pesat dalam beberapa tahun yang lepas. Perkembangan pesat ini menandakan kesesuaian pelaburan secara berkumpul di Malaysia.Hari ini, dana bersama telah menjadi satu bahagian penting dalam bidang ekonomi Malaysia. Perkembangan sihat dalam bidang tersebut telah memberi manfaat kepada ekonomi negara dan para pelabur. Tujuan kaj ian ini adalah untuk menentukan faktorfaktor yang mempengaruhi orang ramai untuk melabur dalam dana bersama di Malaysia dengan menggunakan Teori Perlakuan Terancang (TPB) yang diubahsuai. Sebanyak 400 soal selidik telah diedarkan kepada orang dewasa di negeri Pulau Pinang dan 211 soal selidik yang boleh diguna telah dikutip balik. Berdasarkan analisis, didapati model yang diguna dapat menerangkan 47. % varian dalam Keinginan (Intention). Sikap (Attitude), Perlakuan Lepas (Past Behavior) and Norma Subjektif (Subjective Norms) mempunyai hubungan positif yang ketara dengan keinginan untuk melabur dalam dana bersama. Analisis seterusnya mendapati kedua-dua kelakuan lepas dan keinginan mempunyai hubungan kesan positif yang ketara dengan pelaburan sebenar. Sungguhpun model ini dapat menerangkan varian agak tinggi dalam keinginan, tetapi didapati Tanggapan Kawalan Perlakuan (Perceived Behavioral Control) tidak mempunyai hubungan kesan positif yang ketara dengan keinginan dan pelaburan sebe nar.Keputusan ini mencadangkan model teoretikal lain tanpa pembolehubah (variable) ini mungkin akan lebih sesuai untuk mengkaji sikap pelaburan dana bersama. xi ABSTRACT Mutual Funds in Malaysia have experienced phenomenal growth in the past few years. This growth reflects the suitability of collective investments in Malaysia. Mutual fund forms an important part of the Malaysian economy today. The healthy growth of the industry seems to benefit the country’s economy and the investors.The aim of this study is to determine the factors affecting people investing in Mutual Fund in Malaysia using the modified decomposed Theory of Planned Behavior. Structured questionnaire was used in this study. Four hundred questionnaires were distributed to the adults in Penang state and two hundred eleven useable questionnaires have been collected back. Based on the analysis, it was found that the model has explained 47. 4% of the variance in Behavioral Intention. Attitude towards behavior, Pas t Behavior and Subjective Norm have positive significant influence on investors’ Intention to invest in mutual fund.Further analysis on the Actual Investment, it was found that the both Past Behavior and Intention have positive significant influence on investors’ actual investment behavior. Even though the model has explained considerable high percentage of variances in Behavioral Intention, however, the findings that Perceived Behavioral Control is not a significant contributor to both Behavioral Intention and Actual Investment suggests that other theoretical model without this variable might be more suitable to study mutual fund investment behavior. ii Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION 1. 1 Introduction This chapter introduces the research outline of the study. The chapter begins with an overview of the Mutual Fund industry in Malaysia, followed by brief discussion of the benefits and disadvantages of the Unit Trust Scheme, their growth and different types of Mutual Funds. Besi des that, this chapter also includes the problem statement, research objectives and research questions. The key terms and significance of the study will also be highlighted. 1. 2 BackgroundA Unit Trust Scheme (UTS) or Mutual Fund (MF) is a form of collective investment that allow investors with similar investment objectives to pool their savings, which are then invested in a portfolio of securities or other assets managed by investment professionals. Investors in Unit Trust Scheme or Mutual Fund do not purchase the securities in the portfolio directly. Securities or stocks are purchased by the Unit Trust Management Company (UTMC) following the authorized investments guidelines by a group of professional fund managers.Ownership of the portfolio is divided into units of entitlement and each investor is known as a ‘unit holder’. In this case, unit holders in Unit Trust Scheme (UTS) are not shareholders in the company but are rather beneficiaries under a trust set up by the company. Under the Unit Trust Scheme constitution or ‘deed’, there must be a trustee looking after the interest of the investors. The trustee is the legal owner of all the assets of UTS on behalf of the unit holders, and must act for the benefit of the unit holders. Unit holders in UTS have a eneficial interest in all the assets of those UTS, but are not entitle to direct UTMC on how to invest the portfolio of investments (Dealing in Unit Trust, FMUTM 2005). The return on investment for unit holders in UTS is usually a combination of a regular income payment (a ‘distribution’) and capital appreciation derived from the pool of investments held within those UTS. Each unit represents an entitlement to an equal amount of income and capital appreciation or depreciation that is normally reflected in the unit price of those UTS (Dealing in Unit Trust, FMUTM 2005). 1. 2. Benefits of Unit Trust Scheme For investor who is unable or unwilling to research and analyze investment markets by their own effort, Unit Trust Scheme is an ideal way of investing. To maintain a portfolio of directly held investments, an individual needs to keep up-to-date with market information and sentiment. This means keeping track of a wide range of information from many sources. For many individual investors, this is difficult, time consuming and expensive. Investing in UTS transfers most of the stress of investing to those best equipped to handle it – professional fund managers.Other significant benefits of investing in UTS are listed as below: (i) Diversification A larger pool of funds from many small investors allows the fund manager to purchase a wide range of investments. (ii) Liquidity of funds Most investors require that their investment be liquid. The investor can redeem their unit trust fund and receive their money in the specified time frame. In the case of Malaysia, the guideline is within 10 days. 2 (iii) Professional Management Investment decisions are made by professional fund managers.The investment process adopted is structured and follows basic investment principles outlined in the prospectus and deed. (iv) Investment Exposure For small investor (with RM1000), it is sometimes difficult to invest in particular asset class or certain securities, for example real estate or corporate bonds. UTS make this possible with pool investments from many small investors. (v) Investment Cost When making direct investments, the smaller investors will pay higher transaction cost if compare to large institutional investors due to prenegotiated fees on large purchase. 1. 2. Disadvantages of Unit Trust Scheme Some of the disadvantages of Unit Trust Scheme are list as follows: (i) Risk Any investment involves risk. Investment in UTS also has its risk of losing all of the money invested. (ii) Loss of Control Investors in UTS lose their right to direct how their savings are invested. If the fund manager invests the portfolio in accordance with the prospectus and deed, there is little that the unit holders can do if they disagree with the investment decisions made by the fund manager. 3 (iii) Fees and Charges The services provided by the UTMC are not without cost.Hence there are fees and charges payable by investors in UTS. (iv) Opportunity cost As with any decision, an investor who invests in UTS may have produced better returns by investing directly in the markets. This excess represents the ‘opportunity cost’ of investing in UTS. 1. 2. 3 Types of Unit Trust Funds Mutual funds are referred to as open-end funds for two main reasons: (i) they are required to redeem (or buy back) outstanding shares at any time upon a shareholder’s request, at a price based on the current value of the fund’s net assets; and (ii) irtually all mutual funds continuously offer new fund shares to the public. A closed-end fund is an investment company that issues a fixed number of shares that trade on a stock exchange or in the over-the-counter market. Assets of a closed-end fund are professionally managed in accordance with the fund’s investment objectives and policies, and may be invested in stocks, bonds, or a combination of both. Like other publicly traded securities, the market price of closed-end fund shares fluctuates and is determined by supply and demand in the marketplace. 4Based on Lipper’s fund investment objectives, Unit Trust Funds in Malaysia have been grouped into the following seven types (FMUTM Annual Report, 2006): (a) Exchange Traded Funds-Bond General funds. (b) Guaranteed/ Protected funds : Comprises Capital Guaranteed funds and Capital Protected funds. (c) Money Market funds : Include all Money Market funds. (d) Mixed Asset funds : Include Mixed Asset Asia, Mixed Asset Emerging Markets Asia, Mixed Asset Global, Mixed Asset Growth funds and Mixed Asset Income funds. (e) Islamic funds : Bond Islamic/Syariah funds, Equity Islamic/Syariah funds and Mixed Asset Islam ic/Syariah Balanced funds. f) Bond funds : Include all General Bond funds. (g) Equity funds : Include Equity ASEAN fund, Equity Asia Pacific Ex-Japan funds, Equity, Equity Europe, Global funds, Equity Growth funds, Equity Income funds, Equity Index Tracking funds, Equity Info & Technology funds, Equity Sector Real Estate Asia funds, Equity Sector Real Estate Global funds and Equity Small Companies funds. 1. 2. 4 Growth of Mutual Fund in Malaysia In Malaysia and throughout the world, Mutual Trust funds have experienced phenomenal growth in the past few years.This growth reflects the suitability of collective investments in Malaysia, as a means for the smaller investor to accumulate capital over the longer term. 5 Figure 1. 1 shows the growth trend of mutual fund and total NAV versus Bursa Malaysia Market capitalization. Figure 1. 1. Total NAV vs Bursa Malaysia Market Capitalization as at 31st Dec 2006 Source: Securities Commission (2007) Although the mutual fund industry in Malaysia started as far back as 1959 with the establishment of the Malayan Unit Trust Ltd, the development of the industry did not take-off until 1980s with the launching of the Amanah Saham Nasional (ASN). The major growth of the industry can only be seen in the 1990s when Malaysia, together with other Asian Tigers, saw a high and consistent growth in their economies. For Malaysia, the growth in the mid-1990s was very much due to the boost given by the government in the area of tax relief and allowing withdrawal on Employee Provident Fund (EPF) to invest in the mutual fund. With these incentives the mutual fund industry increased in size from RM15. 7 billion in 1992 to RM60 billion in 1996. The Asian crisis of 1997 had brought a sudden halt to this and we have seen even negative growth. However, the signs of recovery after that are becoming evident.Growth of the unit trust industry in Malaysia continued at a rapid pace in 2006. Total Net Asset Value (NAV) of the industry gained 23. 6 per ce nt, the net asset value of the managed funds increased to RM121. 8 billion. This amounts made-up of only 14. 35 per cent of the total market capitalization of the Bursa Malaysia, which stood at RM848. 7 billion. (FMUTM Annual Report, 2006) Different from the developed countries, an important characteristic of the Malaysian mutual fund industry is the dominant role of the government. As of 2006, more than 58% of these funds are affiliated with the government, i. . either owned by state governments or quasi-government agencies. Nevertheless, the number of private sector funds is increasing, in particular bank-owned funds. The NAV of the private unit trust funds (excluding federal and some state funds) in year 2006 stood at RM50. 7 billion, an increase of RM 6. 6 billion over previous year. (FMUTM Annual Report, 2006) The double digit growth was observed. The type of funds included Equity Funds, Bond Funds, Islamic Funds, Mixed Asset Funds, Money Market Funds, Guaranteed Funds and Exch ange Traded Funds. All these funds are the â€Å"open-end† Mutual Funds. 7Unit Trust industries are well established in developed financial markets like United States and European Union. The extent to which research, both at the theoretical and technical level, has been conducted in developed markets indicates the stage of maturity of mutual funds in these markets. In emerging markets, however, mutual funds are a recent phenomenon. Nevertheless, growth has been robust. Emerging Asian economies like China, Indonesia, the Philippines, India and Malaysia are expected to grow by double digits annually and projected to reach US$ 12 trillion by the year 2030 (PR Newswire, 2000).The phenomenon growth in the mutual fund industry in these emerging markets has resulted in an increase in the number of investment companies offering a wide range of different mutual funds (Ramasamy & Yueng, 2003). Faced with a wide range of mutual funds, how does one made choices and what are the factors a ffecting the intention of an investor investing in Mutual Funds? 1. 3 Problem Statement Growth, both in terms of size and number of funds categories, in the mutual fund industry among emerging markets has been impressive.Most researches, be it domestic or international, were on the mutual funds performance compared to the market (Don, Galagedera & Silvapulle, 2002), comparison of funds performance in different regions (Otten 2002), Islamic Funds performance (Abdullah, Hassan & Mohamad, 2007), aggregate funds performance (Taib & Isa, 2007), qualification, experience and investment style of fund manager, asset size and transaction cost (Ramasamy & Yeung, 2003), price linkage with index in emerging market (Low & Ghazali, 2007) and performance of funds during different economic cycles (Low, 2007).All the researches are conducted on the nature and 8 characteristics of the mutual funds it selves and not for one of the most important components of the mutual funds, the â€Å"investorsâ₠¬  or â€Å"mutual fund purchasers†. Thus, in this research, we will study the individual investors’ intention and factors affecting investment decision in the emerging market like Malaysia. This paper intends to fill this gap. Mutual fund forms an important part of the Malaysian economy today. As of 31st December 2006, the total registered mutual trust agent was 31060 people (FMUTM annual report, 2006).Many peoples’ livelihoods are depending on this industry, directly or indirectly. Besides the mutual trust agents, the mutual trust management companies, and regulatory bodies in Mutual Fund industry, investors play the utmost important role in the growth of the industry as they are the one who provides the required capital in the industries. Investors have numerous choices to invest their savings; there are many benefits and disadvantages to invest in the mutual trust funds. Investors have to weight the benefits and disadvantages, and to consider their investme nt objectives before deciding to invest in the Mutual Funds.In many developed countries, Mutual Funds investment has become the preferred vehicle for savings and retirement. The healthy growth of the industry seems to benefits the country’s economy and the investors. For the continuous growth of the industries in Malaysia, it is utmost important to study the behaviors of the investors, their intention, and the other factors motivating investors investing in Mutual Fund. Many theories have been developed and evolved through time for the research of behaviors and intentions in many domains. Among the few popular theories re Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA), Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) and Technology Acceptance 9 Model (TAM). The theoretical models and their comparison will be discussed in detail in section 2. 3. 1. 4 Research Objectives We have seen that NAV of Mutual Funds invested in Malaysia on 2006 was at RM 121. 8 billion. This has formed an important part of the Malay sian economy. This study is to investigate factors influencing Malaysian consumers’ intentional behavior to invest in Mutual Funds using modified Decomposed Theory of Planned Behavior (DTPB).In line with this, four specific objectives have been developed. The four main objectives of this study are therefore to: (1) determine significant contributing factors to Attitude, Subjective Norm and Perceived Behavioral Control, (2) determine the most significant factors among Attitude, Subjective Norm and Perceived Behavioral Control that lead to Behavioral Intention to invest in Mutual Fund, (3) identify the relationship of Intention and Actual Investment (Behavior). (4) In line with the 3 objective above, an additional objective will be drawing the implications for the marketing of Mutual Fund products. . 5 Research Question This research attempts to answer the following research question: (1) What are the factors that significantly affect Attitude, Subjective Norm and Perceived Beh avioral Control? 10 (2) Attitude, Subjective Norm, Perceived Behavioral Control and Past Behavior – which of these factors significantly contribute to Intention to invest in Mutual Funds? (3) Will Intention turn into actual Investment in Mutual Funds? (4) What are the conclusions and implications of the study for the marketing of Mutual Fund products? 1. 6 Definition of Key TermsIn order to share common understanding of the concepts and for better understanding of further discussion, the following key terms’ definition were referred specifically. 1. 6. 1 Mutual Fund / Unit Trust Fund Mutual Fund is a form of collective investment that allow investors with similar investment objectives to pool their savings, which are then invested in a portfolio of securities or other assets managed by investment professionals. Investors in Unit Trust Scheme or Mutual Fund do not purchase the securities in the portfolio directly.Ownership of the portfolio is divided into units of entit lement and each investor is known as a ‘unit holder’ (Dealing in Unit Trust, FMUTM, 2005) 11 1. 6. 2 Federation of Malaysian Unit Trust Managers (FMUTM) Federation of Malaysian Unit Trust Managers – an organization with the vision to develop unit trust as the preferred vehicle for saving and retirement. The objectives of the organization are (Dealing in Unit Trust, FMUTM, 2005): ? To improve the regulatory, fiscal and legal environment of unit trust; ?To formulate sound and ethical business practices, to promote the interest of the unit trust industry and provide investor protection; ? To provide information, assistance and other services to its Member; and; ? To promote public awareness of the benefit and risk of investing in unit trust. 1. 6. 3 Net Asset Value (NAV) The net value of the assets invested in the portfolio of the mutual fund. It’s a way to assess the net worth of the mutual fund. The value is computed every day after the closing of the share market. The NAV will be used to determine the price of buying and redemption of units trust. Dealing in Unit Trust, FMUTM, 2005) 1. 6. 4 Islamic Mutual Fund Islamic investing can be defined as investment in financial services and other investment products, which adhere to the principles established by the Shari’ah. These principles require that (Dealing in Unit Trust, FMUTM, 2005): (a) Investment must be made in ethical sectors. In other words, profits cannot be generated from prohibited activities such as alcohol production, gambling, 12 pornography etc. In addition, investing in interest (riba)-based financial institutions are not allowed. b) All wealth creation should result from a partnership between an investor and the user of capital in which rewards and risks are shared. Returns in invested capital should be earned rather than be pre-determined. 1. 6. 5 Attitude The extent to which one views a behavior as favorable or unfavorable, if a person perceives that there are positive outcomes resulting from an activity, then his or her attitude towards performing that behavior is likely to be positive (Ajzen, 1991). Attitude can be measure either through direct or belief-based measure.Belief-based measure of attitude is the weighted average of the strengths and outcomes evaluation of person’s behavioral beliefs (Ajzen, 2002b). 1. 6. 6 Subjective Norms An individual’s perception of social normative pressures, or relevant others’ beliefs, that he or she should or should not perform such behavior. It can be measured either through direct or belief-based measure. Belief –based measure of subjective norms is the weighted average of the normative expectations of others such as from family, friends or doctors and motivation to comply with their expectations (Ajzen, 1991 & 2002b). 3 1. 6. 7 Perceived Behavioral Control An individual's perceived ease or difficulty of performing the particular behavior (Ajzen, 1985). It is assumed that perceived behavioral control is determined by the total set of accessible control beliefs. It can be measured either through direct or belief-based measure. Belief –based measure of subjective norms is the weighted average of the strength of control beliefs and facilitation power of these beliefs (Ajzen, 1991, 2002b). 1. 6. 8 Behavioral Intention An indication of an individual's readiness to perform a given behavior.It is assumed to be immediate antecedent of behavior (Ajzen, 2002b). It is based on attitude toward the behavior, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control, with each predictor weighted for its importance in relation to the behavior and population of interest (Ajzen, 1991). 1. 7 Significance of the study Mutual fund has become one of the important investment vehicles for the world’s economy. The launching of the Amanah Saham Nasional (ASN) in 1980 in Malaysia is part of the government efforts to increase the stakes holding of native Malays’ in Malaysian economy.The Unit Trust industry is an important component of the Malaysian economy. The industry serves to mobilize the saving of the average, small investors by funneling these savings into areas where capital is required. Investors want good returns on their savings, Mutual Fund provides an ideal way for them to gain exposure to investment that in the long run can produce returns superior to those from traditional savings accounts and fixed deposits. Study on the factors influencing the intention to invest and investment decisions will help the 4 industry formulate marketing strategies to further stimulate growth of this industry and eventually help in the healthy growth of the country’s economy. 1. 8 Organization of Remaining Chapter This research is presented in five chapters including this introduction chapter. The next chapter (Chapter Two) is the review of literature that outlined previous studies, from the review of literature; gaps are identified and new research framework is formulated for study in Malaysia context.Chapter Three will illustrate the research design, methodology used for data collections, and data analysis techniques to be used to analyzed and test the variables. Chapter Four will present the analyses done for the study and also the findings of the study. Chapter Five will discuss the interpretation and recapitulation of the study, implications of the findings, limitations of the study and suggestion for future research. It then concludes the whole research. 15 Chapter 2 LITERATURE REVIEW 2. 1 IntroductionFor better understanding of the present study, a comprehensive search of previous literature has been undertaken. As such, this chapter was organized in the manner to give an overview of literature, identify gaps, formulated theoretical framework and the hypotheses development. 2. 2 Literature Overview Mutual funds offer investors the advantages of portfolio diversification and professional management at low cost. These advantages are particularly important in the case of equity funds where both diversification and professional management have the potential to add value.For bond and money market mutual funds, the main advantage is transactional efficiency through professional management. There are many literature about the mutual funds in the developed countries. Literature are limited in the emerging market but are gaining popularity recently due to the tremendous growth in this industry. We will examine some literature in the emerging market, especially Malaysia as well as the international market. 16 2. 2. 1 Emerging Market research Investors made investment in the mutual funds with various investment objectives.Selecting mutual funds that will offer high returns with acceptable risk is a complex task. Literature shows that there are multiple factors that determine the performance of a mutual fund. Study by Ramasamy and Yeung (2003) on mutual fund purchaser in emerging country, Malaysia, s hows that among the factors dominating the selection of mutual funds are consistent past performance, size of funds and cost of transactions. Qualification and investment style of fund manager seems to be relatively less important. This means that in emerging market, the final performance of the funds is what matters.A study by Taib and Isa (2007) on Unit Trust Funds performance of Malaysian market from period 1991-2001 showed that unit trusts have not performed well over the share market index on the period of study. In most of the instances, unit trust trail behind the performance of the market portfolio except during the crisis period when the unit trust market adjusted returns yields positive results. Of the various types of unit trust under investigation, they found the bond funds showed very superior performance over and above the market and equity unit trusts.The high interest rate kept throughout majority of the period particularly during the crisis period in year 1997 has t remendously benefited the bond funds. The study also found no meaningful inter-temporal correlation between current performance and past performance. Low (2007) had studied on the Malaysia’s unit trust performance during the up and down market conditions has shown that the Malaysia mutual fund performance from 1996 to 2000 reported that the manager’s poor timing ability contributes significantly to the fund’s 7 negative overall performance. Such results suggest no economic benefit accrues to the average fund manager involving in market timing activities. The other study by Low and Ghazali (2007) examines the price linkages between unit trust funds and the stock market index during the period of 1996-2000. He finds in the short run, the prices of unit trust funds are related to the stock market index, but finds the nonexistence of long run relationship between the unit trust funds and the stock market index.This could possibly due to fund managers that are oblige d to adhere to their investment policies with the aim of maintaining a long term allocation strategy. One recent study by Lau (2007) on the investment style of fund managers of emerging market, Malaysia, indicates that most of the funds do not outperform the passive style benchmarks. Fund managers invest in large-cap stocks with cash enhances the performance of funds. Besides having a relatively high degree of style, funds that hold large-cap stocks together with a relatively high portion of liquid asset class tend to have higher alpha, translating into higher information ratio.It could be implied that liquid asset class enables fund managers to invest in stocks that improve their values in economic cycles. It is obvious that most of the funds concentrated on large-cap stocks, followed by medium-capital and government bonds. The Islamic Mutual Fund is gaining popularity in the emerging market like Malaysia and China. In the study by Abdullah, Hassan and Mohamad (2007) on the perform ance of Islamic mutual fund over three different economic periods namely pre, during and post economic crisis in year 1997 compared to the conventional mutual funds has shown that 18Islamic funds performed better than the conventional funds during bearish economic trends while, conventional funds showed better performance than Islamic funds during bullish economic conditions. In addition to that finding, both conventional and Islamic funds were unable to achieve at least 50 per cent market diversification levels, though conventional funds are found to have a marginally better diversification level than the Islamic funds. The results also suggest that fund managers are unable to correctly identify good bargain stocks and to forecast the price movements of the general market.In the past decades, there were wide variety of studies in consumer behaviors indicated a considerably consistent successful findings using the application of TPB model (Ajzen & Madden, 1986). The model was wide u sed in the emerging market to study the consumer behaviors. Study by Mohamed (2004) on consuming herbal supplement in Malaysia has indicated the suitability of the model. In his study, Attitude was found to be the strongest predictor of behavioral intention. Study by Chai (2006) on consumer behavioral intention to choose functional foods in Malaysia was also based on TPB model.The results showed that intention was strongly predicted by subjective norms followed by perceived susceptibility to illness, health value, attitude towards behavior and finally perceived behavioral control. Interesting finding in this study was perceived importance of taste did not have significant impact on intention. The other study by Muniandy (2006) using the integrated Decomposed Theory of Planned Behavior on internet stock trading showed that attitude, subjective norm, perceived behavioral control, descriptive norm and perceived usefulness have a direct significant 9 positive relationship towards behavi oral intention. In his study, the model was also compared to other intention based model like TAM, TPB and DTPB and found that IDTPB has better explanatory power. 2. 2. 2 International Research. In the research on the global growth of mutual funds by Fernando, Klapper, Sulla and Vittas (2003) indicate that the growth of mutual funds was likely to be determined by a number of factors. First and foremost is the level of income and wealth of the residents of a country.Conceptually, investing in mutual funds, like purchasing life insurance and saving for retirement, should be seen as a luxury good with a positive income elasticity of demand. In practice, however, the relationship between per capita income (used as an indicator of economic development and wealth) and holdings of mutual fund assets (expressed as a percentage of national income) is not always positive. In the same research on the global growth of mutual funds also indicated that the availability or not of substitutes as we ll as complements also greatly affects the growth of mutual fund assets.For example, houses are distant substitutes of mutual fund shares in household wealth but most other instruments are either close substitutes or close complements, in some cases both at the same time. Bank deposits, both the traditional form of checking accounts and savings deposits and the more modern money market deposit accounts, are close substitutes of money market mutual funds. The interest rate spread between bank deposits and money market funds would be expected to play an important part in determining the demand for money market mutual funds (Fernando et al. , 2003). 20The study by Otten (2002) to analyze the development and performance of the European mutual fund industry and compared it with the industry in the United States, found that Europe was lagging the American mutual fund industry when it comes to total asset size, average fund size, and market importance. Furthermore, it appears that a few la rge domestic fund groups dominate the mutual fund markets in the individual European countries. The study also showed that the performance of US equity funds was relatively poor compared to the European funds, and the outperformance of small cap mutual funds.In one of the extensive research by Fortin (2005) on international mutual fund management, he examined the international mutual fund returns for each category and overall returns for the 25-year period (1976-2000). The result of the study showed that there is no relationship between total return and expense ratio, but there is a significant positive relationship between total return and turnover, and a significant positive relationship between total return and fund size.Study by Huhmann and Bhattacharyya (2005) on Mutual Fund advertisement in Canada and United States has found that Mutual fund advertisements are not providing the information necessary for optimal investment decisions. In another word, mutual fund advertisements do not contain all the requisite information on the risk-return trade-off, principal-agent conflict, and transaction costs that consumers need to optimize their investment decisions. Mutual funds used techniques known to increase the likelihood that their advertisements are noticed, but they also use techniques known to decrease the readership of their advertisements.Also, they rarely included convenience information. 21 Philpot and Peterson (2006) study on the Real Estate Mutual Fund (REMF) found that team-managed funds have lower risk-adjusted returns than solo-managed funds. Managers with longer tenure on job tend to pursue higher market risk levels, and there was no relation between manager characteristics and management fees. Researchers have begun to recognize the importance of understanding consumers’ or investors’ intention and behavior and consequently, there has een an increase in the number of studies in this area. Many theories have been developed and evolv ed through time and situational change. Each has its strengths and weaknesses. Among the few popular theories are Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA), Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), DecomposedTPB and Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). There are many more theories in the literature, however this research will concentrate only on the theories as listed above as they are related and well within the scope of study. . 3 Models Explanation (TRA, TAM, TPB and DTPB) The objective of the study is to determine the factors affecting the purchasing behavior of the investors in the Mutual Trust funds. Four alternative models – the Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA), Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) and the Decomposed Theory of Planned Behavior (DTPB), primarily adapted from Taylor and Todd (1995) – are here examined and compared. 22 2. 3. 1 Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA)The Theory of Reasoned Action was developed by Fishbein and Ajzen in 1975. TRA su ggests that a person's behavioral intention depends on the person's attitude about the behavior and subjective norms. If a person intends to do a behavior then it is likely that the person will do it. Furthermore a person's intentions are themselves guided by two things: the person's attitude towards the behavior and the subjective norm. Behavioral intention measures a person's relative strength of intention to perform a behavior.Attitude consists of beliefs about the consequences of performing the behavior multiplied by his or her valuation of these consequences. Subjective norm is seen as a combination of perceived expectations from relevant individuals or groups along with intentions to comply with these expectations. In other words, â€Å"the person's perception that most people who are important to him or her think he should or should not perform the behavior in question† (Azjen & Fishbein, 1980). The TRA is popular in applied to explain use or adoption behavior.Research by Buttle and Bok (1996) on hotel marketing strategy reveals the two predictor constructs contained in the theory, attitude-towards-the act and subjective norm, jointly explain about 65 per cent of the variance in the criterion variable intention to stay in the hotel on the next business trip. Other example of research is consumption of alcohol free beer (Thomson & Thomson, 1996). In his research, it was found that the main determinant of behavior was Attitude followed by the subjective norm. Control factors failed to improve the basic model. The basic framework of TRA is shown in Figure 2. . 23 Figure 2. 1. Theory of Reasoned Action One shortcoming of the theory of reasoned action is the consideration of behaviors over which people do not have complete control. Therein lies the notion of perceived behavioral control, or â€Å"the perceived ease or difficulty of performing the behavior† (Ajzen, 1991). As Hagger et al. (2001) note, this concept â€Å"reflects the person†™s assessment of the capacities (e. g. , skills and abilities) and the limiting or facilitating factors (e. g. , barriers and access to facilities) regarding behavioral engagement†.Theory would predict that perceived behavioral control influences both intentions (Ajzen, 1991) and actual behavior (Ajzen & Madden, 1986). Another limitation of the theory is that the theory stems from the assumption that behavior is under volitional control. It means that this theory could only be applied if the person can decide at will to perform or not to perform a certain behavior (Ajzen, 1991). The limitations of TRA lead to the development of Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB). TPB is an extension of TRA to include the dealings of behaviors when people do not 24

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Yet he may be feared without being hated if he refrains from touching their property and their woman kind of his subjects, and if he avoid bloodshed excepting when there is good cause and manifest justification for it is in as much as men more easily forget the loss of their father than of their property.† With it he tends to say that man so much is in love with his priorities that he can go to any extreme and even turn evil to protect it from dange r, Machiavelli here also mentions that apart from property men is also insecure of his women and that if anyone is eyeing their women they tend to be aggressive and then it comes up to their ego, this idea or thought of Machiavelli can be seen even today. Machiavelli’s vie and point of human nature was very materialistic, he had rejected and turned down the ideologies of the Greek philosophers Aristotle and Plato who said that the state aims to make the people virtuous and good, he also dismisses the idea that existed in the medieval ages that the end of the state is to smooth the way of a man to eternal salvation. Machiavelli as always was highly criticized for this but according to him, â€Å"The end of the state is material prosperity.† CRITICISM OF MACHIAVELLI’S IDEA OF HUMAN NATURE Machiavelli’s concept of human nature is highly criticized by many till today, by various people and on various grounds. Some of them being: Man by nature has some virtues and is not purely selfish. His concept of human nature does not take into consideration the universal society. His views and ideas regarding human nature are the pure result of the observations he made and the conditions that prevailed at that particular time in Italy. According to the quote given by Sabine, â€Å"Machiavelli is not so much concerned with badness or egoism as a general human motive and with its prevalence in Italy as a symptom of social descendance. To him, Italy stands as an example of corrupt society.† So here the criticism is that Machiavelli has give the concept of human nature as at his time Italy’s political position was unbalanced and he had observed and wrote according to that and that his concept might be limited and not universal. According to Machiavelli’s concept of human nature man is an animal who is bad and depraved and that he cannot be reformed by any method. But he is here criticized with accordance to Plato and Aristotle who have said that throughout with the means of proper education man can be reformed. Machiavelli’s saying that men is ready to sacrifice their kin or relations for the sake and security of his priorities, but Machiavelli here also says that the top three priorities of man are life, family and then property, so how can he give up one priority to meet the other. No doubt that people love their property but they love and have equally deep regard and affection for their family, kin’s and other relations of blood. According to all this and keeping in mind the critics it can be said that on the basis of the above give criticism and discussion Machiavelli cannot be said as completely right, to some he might me, he and his ideas might be excellent to some but others may oppose it and it might not be according to their liking and ideology. But Machiavelli does not create an illusion he speaks and thinks practical and rational and reflects reality and most of his views are prevalent and can be seen in the present or current day scenario, as in today’s life we too observed and think that people have become selfish and that they think mostly about themselves, a lot of examples can be given from our own personal life and what we observe of that of others. MACHIAVELLI’S VIEW ON RELIGION Before Machiavelli, almost all thinkers and political personalities believed and propagated and promoted religion as the basis of the state. Plato considered state as the sole priority and religion to be a moral and an integrated part of the state. Aristotle too believed that religion was a factor and the basis for the proper administration of a good and excellent working state, but Machiavelli as being different did too believed in religion but his idea and the use of religion was totally and intelligently different, he made religion as the way as a basis for the advancement and the betterment of the state. Throughout the middle ages it was the church was the dominant and the supreme and the major part of the state and the church had political power and ruled the state and the pope of the church had supreme authority even in the sway of politics, as god was feared and the church was the creation of the god so the popes or the father were given and was considered as a dominant authority over the state of affairs to that of the state as that the soul has the supreme authority over the body, it was during that time that it was assumes that the church has a superior authority and position as compare, but Machiavelli was opposed to this idea as he thought of it differently and with this and his intellectual thoughts he believed and promoted religion but with his own twist of idea. It was Machiavelli and his idea that there should be a separation of religion from politics; it was Machiavelli who divorced religion from politics and segregated them completely from one another like his separatio n of ethics and moral from politics. He believed that politics attached to something is not real politics and that it should be played or governed on one on one basis. Machiavelli, he gave less importance to religion as compared to the state. The state according to Machiavelli has no important relation to the church but it also has no relation to God or any other super natural power for the matter of fact, he says that the state needs religion only as an instrumental object for furthering its own object. According to Allen, â€Å"In Machiavelli’s views the state can be understood only in terms of human lusts and appetites and that the successful ruler must learn to control these forms.† As he gave less importance to religion, he at the very same time stated and accepted that morality has a limited place in the society and that they should and must be both exploited and preserved. He thus was unmoral and not immoral. Machiavelli thought that religious factor in the society is a driving force which a clever and intellectual ruler can use to turn the table in the game of politics and use religion for their own advantage and growth of the state. For him the ruler should be an intelligent to use religion in such a way that the masses are happy and so that it is for the better administration of the state. For this he promoted religion but keeping his own interest and thought in mind. He was even considered as a person who is against religion and one who does not believes and because of this he was disliked and opposed many a times. But he always made his thinking and perception of religion clear, According to Machiavelli religion is a guiding principle which prevents you from doing or committing anything wrong, religion makes a person righteous makes them fearful and more law abiding, it is usually seen that a religious person is a god fearing person and because of this fear he is more into religion, the more he is into religion the more he will go according to the religious teachings and as all the religion teaches good to a person and that they should be just and moral so the more he is morally developed and the more he is morally developed he will think before doing anything wrong and it will lead to less wrong doings which also mean less crimes and law breaking, the lesser the crime the administration would work smoothly and which in turn hails and makes the state more powerful, so Machiavelli did believe I religion but with a but he added his own sense of twist there for the betterment of the state. He on one hand encouraged people to be more and more religious and on the other hand he also set certain strategies for the ruler to assume and pretend to be merciful, god fearing, righteous, religious and powerful but when it comes to the state the ruler can and should go to any extremes for the sake and the security of the state even if he has to be or is considered to be immo ral. Thus the ruler in order to rule should be highly pretentious and if he pretends to the masses then they would be easy to rule conditioned that the ruler should protect their initial priorities regarding safety and security of them their family and their property. Machiavelli’s separation of religion is an outstanding idea and the way he uses religion for the advancement of the society and the betterment of the administration is absolutely commendable. His idea of the ruler as a pretender is so relevant event in today’s time, as politicians and other influential personalities even though highly corrupted and evil from within tend and try to make a clear and a white impression to and in front of the masses and hoax them in order to increase their vote banks or to gain their benefit and profit. So what Machiavelli had thought and perceived about this centuries ago is still very much there and prevails in the present context. Thus Machiavelli thought about religion as a powerful instrument so far that it is in the hands of the wise ruler to sustain and uphold the national morale of the state.

Intels International Strategic Management

Intels International Strategic Management Intel has reported a 12% boost in net profits to $2.01bn for the third quarter, contrasted with an income of $1.79bn in the year-ago quarter, on profits up 1% at $10.21bn. Operating profits rise 12% annual to $3.09bn, whereas weak EPS rise 17% to $0.35. (Des Laffey 2009, p14-18) The corporation also repurchased 93 million shares of common stock for $2.1bn throughout the period. It said mobility income rise 18% annual to $4.68bn, whereas digital venture profits fell 3% to $5.31bn, and profits from others chop down 64% to $218m. (Edward 2009, p352-60) Organically, Asia Pacific profits rise 3% to $5.38bn, whereas US profits cut down 9% to $1.88bn. Europe income increases 3% to $1.88bn, whereas Japan profits grown up 7% to $1.05bn. The sales incorporate an after-tax mutilation incriminate of $162m linked with its speculation in Numonyx, a flash-memory cooperative project with STMicroelectronics. (Sandeep and Arvind 2009, p404-14) Product selection, well-built cash flow, promise to positioning innovative technology and market impetus will allocate Intel to outpace peer corporations at a time when trade levels are hard to forecast. (Robert 2009, p134-43) Intels international business Strategy Intel Corporation (Intel) is a semiconductor chipmaker, offering sophisticated technology answers for the technology and communications corporations. (Daft 2003, p27-29) Intels products comprise of microprocessors, chipsets, motherboards, flash memory, and communications infrastructure parts (together with network and entrenched processors), wired and wireless connectivity goods, goods for networked storage space, appliance processors, and cellular baseband chipsets. (Lewandowski and Hà ¶chstà ¶tter 2008, p309-40) Intels consumers comprise original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and original design manufacturers (ODMs), personal computer (PC) and network communications goods consumers, and further manufacturers. (Sandeep and Arvind 2009, p404-14) Its platforms comprise of principles and programs for example wireless fidelity (WiFi) and Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX), hardware and software that might comprise technologies for example Hyper-Threading Technology (HT Technology), Intel Virtualisation Technology and Intel Active Management Technology (Intel AMT), and other offering services. The corporation functions through three operating parts: digital enterprise, mobility and all other. (Robert 2009, p134-43) In the first segment of 2008, the corporation accomplished the divestiture of its flash memory assets to Numonyx. The Digital Enterprise Group (DEG) offers computing and communications stands for production and service providers. (Robert 2009, p134-43) The goods of this section are integrated into desktop personal computers, the infrastructure for the World Wide Web and project computing servers. DEGs goods comprise microprocessors, and associated chipsets and motherboards premeditated for the desktop (with customer desktop), in addition to enterprise computing market parts and communications systems parts, for example network processors and embedded microprocessors. (Lewandowski and Hà ¶chstà ¶tter 2008, p309-40) The corporation produces platform answers grounded on its microprocessors, chipsets and motherboard goods, which are designed for use in the desktop marketplace section. The other section comprises the digital home cluster, the digital health cluster and the control platforms cluster. (Sandeep and Arvind 2009, p404-14) The digital home cluster performs computing and communications platforms for customers at residence, including amusement applications and customer electronics appliances. Its products comprise microprocessors and chipsets for in house activity PCs, and entrenched consumer electronics designs, for example digital televisions, video recorders and set-top boxes. (Lewandowski and Hà ¶chstà ¶tter 2008, p309-40) The digital health cluster aims international trade prospects in healthcare study, diagnostics and output, and individual healthcare. It concentrates on healthcare information innovative and sophisticated technologies, private health products and bio-medical goods. The channel platforms cluster builds the corporations global existence in international industry. (Jarzabkowski 2004, p529-60) Additionally, it produces platform solutions intended to meet up home industry needs in certain geographies. The corporations business enterprise capital association, Intel Capital, makes equity reserves in technology start-ups and corporations globally. Intel Capital spends in a variety of corporations offering hardware, software and other product services, targeting venture, home, mobility, health, customer Internet and semiconductor production. (Dave 2007, p381-82) Basis of competitive advantages Intel is the global leading semiconductor chip producer, innovating incorporated digital technology platforms for the computing and communications market. (Vaara, Kleymann, and Seristo 2004, p1-36) The corporation has a strong industry place in all of the three sub sections of the microprocessor industry: desktop, mobile, and server. Important product names for Intel consist of: Core 2 Duo, Pentium D and Pentium 4 in desktops; Core 2 Duo, Core Duo and Pentium M in notebooks; and Xeon and Itanium in servers. In 2008, Intel had an industry share of 13.3% in the semiconductor industry, whereas Samsung Electors, the second leading seller, had an industry allocate of 8.7%. (Johnson, Scholes and Whittington 2008, p28-33) Intel has a leading product figure, which it has effectively recognised in spite of operating in a market where products are progressively more becoming commoditised. More prominently, the corporation has managed to magnetise the interest of customers through its Intel Inside product promotion. (Sutherland and Canwell 2004, p10) Business Weeks Interbrand Best Global Brands 2007 has positioned company at the seventh position, with a product worth of $30,954 million. Company has a strong industry position and product image, which augments its bargaining control and enhances shareholder buoyancy. (Johnson, Scholes and Whittington 2008, p28-33) Basis of competitive advantages in international market Traditionally, company has been a principal in introducing innovative technologies, in addition to revolutionary innovative manufacturing processes. Having the mainly superior manufacturing equipment offers noticeable benefits, with lesser cost and the aptitude to manufacture higher performance goods. (Lynch 2005, p18) Company plans to initiate an innovative microarchitecture roughly every two years and incline the next invention of silicon development technology in the superseding years, giving Intel a roadmap for incessant development in its key product lines. (Stacey 2007, p91) In 2008, company started manufacturing microprocessors supported on its 45nm Hi-k metal gate silicon expertise, and is predictable to initiate an innovative micro architecture on 45nm development machinery in 2008. (Edward 2009, p352-60) The corporation is also operational on the 32nm process technology, with strategy to manufacture the innovative technology in 2010. Well-built technological potentials have helped company hasten product growth. The corporations innovative product launches in 2007 incorporated Intel Core 2 Quad, Intel Core 2 Duo processors, Quad-core and dual-core Intel Xeon processors, and Intel Core 2 Duo mobile processors manufactured using 45nm technology. Intel also initiated storage server SSR212MC2 for SMEs operations, and company Ultra Mobile Platform 2007 for Mobile Internet Devices (MIDs) and ultra-mobile PCs, amongst others. (Edward 2009, p352-60) Intel system of manufacturing amenities, and congregation and experiment facilities, offers it a viable advantage over fables semiconductor corporations, for example Broadcom Corporation, NVIDIA, QUALCOMM, and VIA Technologies. This leading scientific competence enhances the corporations product portfolio. (Johnson, Scholes and Whittington 2008, p28-33) Value chain analysis With the beginning of the E-commerce inducement in 1998 company has came out as the industry giant in the design and production of semiconductors and microprocessors, earlier to execution of E-commerce orders were filled through phones, faxes and overnight parcel carriers. Nowadays this structure produces almost $1 billion sales per month (Des Laffey 2009, p14-18). In terms of value chain notion the company has had extraordinary benefits with the help of E-commerce. Let us examine companys e-commence approach in terms of Value Chain conception. Examining the Value Chain on Intel business both the support activities and the principal actions are conceded out with the help of E-commerce. According to Intels technology journal it shows that Intels E-commerce environment is flattering progressively more multifaceted. (Waters 2005, p15) This development is exponential is the pace of new application being set up and stirring application being upgraded (Des Laffey 2009, p14-18). E-commerce is a very vital and helpful business approach in todays world where workstation and internet are indispensable needs of existence. Intels main achievement or market control apart from the reality that it is the biggest microprocessor in the world is also due to the completion of E-commerce solutions. (Vaughan and Zhang 2007, p1c) Strategic Environment of Intel Corporation Every corporation around the world has to take strategic judgment to maintain in the industry as a business body in the long run. The company is also implementing the common strategic introduced by Porter in creating and supporting a superior performance in the industry. (Tanriverdi and Venkatraman 2005, p97-119) The company is using the Generic approaches to achieve competitive advantage over its opponents and in becoming the industry leader. (Steeve and Joanne 2009, p8-12) Cost Leadership The company is cutting expenditure in its supply chain. Building the correct manufactured goods in the right quantity is an exhausting task. Whats distorted is the companys capability to handle this intricacy. (Sandeep and Arvind 2009, p404-14) The company has re-engineered its supply chain from back-to-back- and when it comes to cutback cost on its supply chain, the companys numbers are uniformly inspiring. In 2004, Intel saved $1 billion of its costs by re-engineering its internal processes. It accumulates another $1 billion in 2005, and it is aiming $500 million more in 2006. (Des Laffey 2009, p14-18) Focus According to Porter the focus approach has two deviations. In the cost focus an organisation seeks a cost benefit in its objective section, while in differentiation focus an organisation seeks differentiation in its target segment (Des Laffey 2009, p14-18). The company seems to employ the differentiation focus variants of the focus approach. The company is still also paying attention on its core product the microprocessors. Without hesitation the company is implementing the Generic approach in its market, by cutting the cost in its supply chain to acquire cost control, by diversifying into diverse products for example health care, customer electronics etcà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ and however focusing on its principal production of microprocessors. In terms of strategic management these are the strategies Intel should take to generate and maintain better performance in the industry in addition to in the market. (Des Laffey 2009, p14-18) Intels Five Rival Forces Strategy There is little opportunity that a new competitor would enter the microprocessors industry and pretence an intimidation to Intel Corporation. A new competitor would require to develop an appropriate microprocessor product, requiring considerable resources expenditures and many years of engineering effort, the expansion of high performance microprocessor equivalent to Intel would possible need no less than fours year (Dodge and Kitchin 2007, p431-45) There are no substitutes for microprocessor but customers have a choice of diverse brands processors. The company has its own suppliers which provide raw materials and the company produces the processors and other devices. In business the major strategy is to convince the buyer and Intel has up to now done a lot to convince its buyers get providing pioneering processors and other devices and however Intels competitors are doing the same. (Page 2007, p28-30) The five competitor forces are present for every corporation but the altitude of impact it has varies from corporation to corporation. The intensity of impact it has on company is quite low comparing to parallel corporations in the same industry. (Robert 2009, p134-43) SWOT analysis Every corporation has internal and external surrounding factors; these factors do affects the performance of a corporation. (Robert 2009, p134-43) Firms have to obtain major strategic decisions to trounce such aspects. To examine the internal environmental aspects affecting companys we us SWOT analysis. Strengths Intels famous Brand name Introduction of innovative products Strong Advertising campaigns Weaknesses Intels world ranking of most powerful brand has dropped 10 places in 2007 Decline of Share price. Opportunity Diversifying into Different products Threats Strong competitors such as AMD, IBM. Intels well-known Brand name is its core force, and there are several other strengths that it has which is technique Intel lead the global industry of microprocessors. Intels world ranking plunged in first quarter of 2007 by 10 places primarily due to strong rivalry by Intels archrival AMD. Intels has assorted opportunities, for instance the diversification into different products. (Robert 2009, p134-43) Corporation has strong threats from its opponent AMD, in order to reduce the intimidation Intel constantly has to be one step ahead of its opponent, and to do so this requires most important premeditated decisions to be made and managed. (Des Laffey 2009, p14-18) PEST analysis To investigate the External environmental aspects affecting Intel Corporation we us PEST analysis Political Lawsuits by the competitors Antitrust law in America Economical Intel sold its XScale processors business to Marvell Technologies Social Intels sponsorship of the science talent search. Technological RD for better performance microprocessors Intel Corporation was criticised by its rivals consequently; it had to face political dilemmas over a period of time. The company sold its XScale processors, on June 2006 the company agreed to put up for sale its communications and application processor units to Marvell Technology, a storage, communications and chip manufacturer, for $600 million (Dorothea 2009, p171-83). The shift was a strategic judgment intended to allow Intel to spotlight its recourses on its core processors and server market. The company also participates in social ascription of the society in 1998 Intel became the representative support of the Science Talent Search held every year in United States. (Sandeep and Arvind 2009, p404-14) This is to glance for new talents for the prospect of the corporation. Intel maintain to research and develop inventive products, RD is decidedly essential for Intel to endure in todays competitive industry, and foremost strategic judgment are concerned on how, when and what to innovate. (Sandeep and Arvind 2009, p404-14) Globalisation drivers in competitive industry Company has entered into various tactical alliances in latest years. In January 2007, Sun Microsystems and Intel formed a tactical coalition cantered on the Intel-authorised Solaris operating system. Sun faithful to bring a complete product of venture and telecommunications servers, and workstations, supported on Intel Xeon processors. (Robert 2009, p134-43) The range of this accord spans Solaris, Java and NetBeans software, and Intel Xeon microprocessors, in addition to added Intel and Sun enterprise-group products. STMicroelectronics, Intel and Francisco Partners signed an ultimate accord in May 2007 to generate an innovative self-sufficient semiconductor corporation from the important assets of their trade, which in 2006 produced roughly $3.6 billion in collective annual profits. (Sandeep and Arvind 2009, p404-14) Intel and Asustek Computer, the worlds leading manufacturer of PC motherboards, announced strategy in June 2007 to build a notebook computer that would cost as little as $200. In December 2007, Intel collaborated with Comstar to build up mobile WiMAX in Russia. (Lewandowski and Hà ¶chstà ¶tter 2008, p309-40) In May 2008, as well as its tactical venture in Clearwire, the new wireless corporation created through the blend of wireless broadband trade of Sprint Nextel and Clearwire Corp, the corporation also penetrated into a tactical accord with the corporation. According to the accord, Intel would employ with manufacturers to implant WiMAX chips into Intel Centrino 2 processor technology-based laptops and other Intel-based mobile internet products. These affiliations and agreements with other market competitors in linked industries facilitate the corporation to develop its products competence, and also develop its visibility and convenience. (Hopfer and MacEachren 2007, p921-34) Organisational structure capabilities for implementing recommended strategy The international semiconductors industry has shown encouraging and healthy escalation rates in current years, and this performance is set to persist. The international semiconductors industry made overall revenues of $243.3 billion in 2007, in lieu of a CAGR of 7.9% for the five-year phase spanning 2003-2007. (Sandeep and Arvind 2009, p404-14) The European and Asia Pacific industries grew with relevant CAGRs of 9.6% and 11.2% throughout the similar era, to attain values of $39.3 billion and $147.2 billion, correspondingly, in 2007. (Mark and Timber 2009, p240-48) The industry is estimate to develop at a CAGR of 9% for the five-year phase 2006-2011, which is predictable to constrain the industry to a worth of $370.5 billion by the end of 2012. The European and Asia Pacific industries will develop with relevant CAGRs of 5.6% and 10.9%, to attain respective values of $51.7 billion and $239.5 billion in 2011. (Edward 2009, p352-60) Making approximately 50% of its profits from Asia Pacific, Intel is well-positioned to faucet the predicted double digit increase rates in the area. As the number one company in the semiconductor market, the corporation is well placed to take advantage of this prospect. (Global Reach 2004, p1) Expanding PC market The international computer industry, including both laptop and desktop machines, is quickly growing. The industrys volume is predictable to increase to 260.8 million units by the end of 2011, instead of a CAGR of 7.2% for the phase 2006-2011. (Sandeep and Arvind 2009, p404-14) The performance of the industry is estimate to step up, with a predictable CAGR of 6.1% for the 2006-2011 phases, which is anticipated to constrain the industry to an assessment of $220.1 billion by the end of 2011. (Dorothea 2009, p171-83) The European and Asia Pacific industries are projected to grow up at a CAGR of 6.1% and 5.4%, correspondingly, over the similar stage, to reach relevant values of $83.5 billion and $53.5 billion in 2011. This increasing PC industry offers a prospect for Intel to expand its returns base. Future strategies The firm produced its Intel Atom processor in March 2008. Intel Atom is the latest product of low-power processors intended particularly for Mobile Internet Devices (MIDs) and a group of simple internet-centric computers. Atom is completely depending on an innovative microarchitecture produced to suit diminutive and mobile devices, where the foremost focal point is on low power spending. (Nicolas 2009, p819-25) The innovative processor is the Intels smallest processor, produced with the worlds smallest transistors. Additionally, company launched the Intel Centrino Atom processor in April 2008. These innovative processors facilitate the corporation to enter the mobile internet devices industry. Though, the firms Atom processor, with a power utilisation range of 0.6-2.5 watts, requires additional optimisation to shelter an important existence in the industry. (Sandeep and Arvind 2009, p404-14) By difference, ARM, a key player in the MID and embedded chipset industry, provides a superior optimised system, and chips in the power utilisation vary of 300mW for MID applications. Sustained optimisation of the Atom processors competence would facilitate the corporation to protect its viable advantage and place in the innovative markets. (Murphy 2005, p19) Conclusion Intel faces solid rivalry across a variety of semiconductor product markets in which it functions. Semiconductor manufactures struggle on the foundation of factors for example price, quality, product features, equipment and improvement, and extra features, for example energy competence. (OLeary, Sally and Perry 2004, p338-54) Intels desktop processors participate with products accessible by AMD, IBM and VIA. Intels architecture business competes with AMD. Its server processors battle with those of AMD, IBM, and Sun Microsystems, based on competitor architectures. The companys innovative MID device micro architecture rivals with that of the ARM structural design. (Sandeep and Arvind 2009, p404-14) The companys chipsets rival in a variety of market segments with ATI Technologies, Broadcom, NVIDIA and Silicon Integrated Systems Corporation (SIS). Intel also faces rivalry from firms offering competitor microprocessor structures, for example IBM, which supplies microprocessors to Apple. IBM is as well equally developing a competitor structural design with Sony and Toshiba. Strong rivalry in all its industry segments might corrode Intels industry share and shrink its profitability.