Corporation

Kohl’s Corporation has become one of the largest discounted department stores in the United States. Located in nearly 41 states, they have over 730 stores. Kohl’s generally targets middle-income families of every age. This chain is able to sell high quality products at low prices through a strict and detailed budget.

Kohl’s has limited staff and progressive management information systems. The economical application of specific purchasing is also applied in distribution and advertising. (Kohl’s Corporation – Company Profile, Information, Business Description, History, Background information, 2015). Kohl’s also runs a very successful online market at Kohl’s.com.

Kohl’s competition currently is JC Penney’s and Macys. Kohl’s net profit margin was larger than both of these retailers. Coming in at 6.10% for Kohl’s, 3.8% for Macy’s and JC Penny’s at 2.20%. Kohl’s uses Avril Levine and Lauren Conrad to wear and market their clothing. Previously Hilary Duff was also displaying their products as well. Using actresses and singers can greatly increase profit for stores. Especially when the fan margin is huge. Kohl’s has all kinds of merchandise to every style of genre (Potter, n.d.)

From my observations Kohl’s used an IMC (integrated marketing communication) approach. IMC is an approach to a desired marketing campaign by the use of reinforcing several different promotional methods. There are generally four concepts that mark an IMC. These include: coherence, consistency, continuity, and complementary (Heaton, 2014).

While observing the Kohl’s.com website I was able to locate several of these promotional methods. An example of this would be in the engagement ring section. It’s labeled “yes leads to happily ever after.” Many women in the world become engaged by a ring. This is an example of coherence. This message can be applied worldwide and understood in the same sense.

Another example of integrated marketing communication can be found within Kohl’s commercials online and television alike. Just recently they had a sale for Labor Day. The commercial indicated that those who shop online save more. They directed the viewer to their website for printable coupons for in store purchases as well. The commercials and online advertisements were consistent. Several messages were given off but none contradicted. The coupons were found online and great savings were made if a customer spent either $30 or $50 during Labor Day weekend.

Another key aspect of ICM is continuity. This basically means that communications are consistent and connected throughout a duration of time. Although Kohl’s tends to change their advertisements, the reality consists of the same information. In my opinion Kohl’s is a very value -oriented stored, convenient, and friendly. I feel these characteristics continue on throughout their entire operations.

The next quality of an IMC is complimentary. This means that the sums of the parts is greater than the whole. If these other three qualities above are displayed, the business is doing a good job with reaching out to a variety of different people. Since Kohl’s aims to provide many different products for all age groups, several advertisements must be made to reach them.

While browsing through their convenient site I noticed that Kohl’s reaches out to a wide variety of people. They had college gear, baby items, and furniture. All of their products are greatly discounted as well. People are able to get high end quality items for about half the cost. Since advertisements are very prevalent within this company, I can imagine that many people view them on a day to day basis.

I noticed this store has a very successful marketing strategy. This is basically why Kohl’s rank over other leading department stores. Over the last year the store has increased marketing by nearly 25%. The online store has been able to expand rapidly due to online marketing. Kohl’s also strives to quickly have the latest technology available in their stores. This way customers have access to the newest technological devices.

It costs quite an amount of money to market these things, but the business has learned they must spend money to make money (Potter, n.d.).
Kohl’s has been in business since 1962, so they know a thing or two about marketing. The store’s objective is to increase spending on marketing to increase profit (Potter, n.d.) . They are aware that the more they familiarize others with their products, the more likely those people are to shop there.

For example if a commercial comes on that states customers will save $10 on a certain bag they want , the customers are more inclined to go and purchase the bag. Business know this information and use it to their advantage to sell products.

Currently several sales and promotions are located on the online store. On the home page as the top it claims by getting a credit card through them the consumer can save money. Many people will choose this option if it will save them about 30% of the total purchase. This option also claims that everyone can save $10 on a $50 plus purchase. It was found within the website on the home page. Credit cards are important to several stores. It gives shoppers the advantage of making payments. The idea of receiving now and paying later is very beneficial to many people who cannot afford the full payment all at once.

Kohl’s also has a section online for deals of the day. This area has several items that are marked down each day. Usually $10 off or 20%. The promotional mix element of this is sales promotion. Within sale promotions, one of the main goals is to clear out inventory. This could help explain the reduced prices. One can easily access less expensive products from various categories of items. Clothing makes up a majority of the saving though.

I found the site to be well organized and very accessible. Things were neatly labeled, photographed, and priced. It’s easy to locate the items one is looking for and there are few interruptions created by ads. Being able to see photos of each item really helped me create the image shoppers needed to finalize a purchase.

Kohl’s has all the basic elements of success within their stores and online alike. The company strives to enhance shopper experiences while buying some of their favorite items. Customer interest seems to be a very important characteristic to Kohl’s stores. They want to make sure the customers are always satisfied with their items, that’s why they offer reliable and speedy customer support. You have the option to call, email, or mail the company about any problems you experience. This store also gives back to children. They donate money towards positive activities such as sports and educational programs.

I feel the best advertising is done in the women’s section. I feel this is strictly because women tend to shop more. Throughout the site, most of the advertisements were for women’s clothing mainly. The latest fashions are generally a priority of females.

After thorough analysis I have concluded that Kohl’s is considered an IMC and also have a large profit margin. They have not always been successful in the past but with new marketing strategies, the company has regained sales. A great business will have ups and downs, but only the strong can come back. After facing hardships in the market, this store is finally on its way to becoming even larger than before. Currently only nine states in the United States are free of Kohl’s chain stores. They will work towards expanding into each state over the next few years (Potter, n.d.).

References

• Heaton, A. (2014, June 25). Three examples of Integrated campaigns. Retrieved September 10, 2015, from http://www.smartinsights.com/traffic-building-strategy/integrated-marketing-communications/three-examples-integrated-campaigns/
• Kohl’s Corporation – Company Profile, Information, Business Description, History, Background information. (2015). Retrieved September 9, 2915, from http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/history2/15/Kohl-s-Corporation.html
• Potter, A. (n.d.). Kohl’s Portfolio. Retrieved September 9, 2015, from https://sites.google.com/a/email.vccs.edu/bus100ampotter/home/marketing-plan

The 95% confidence interval indicates that between 14% and 34% of Kayoed rental properties are rented to families Contrary to the claims made by Kayoed, less than 35% of their properties are rented to families. According to a web advertising company, the impact of pop up ads depends on age. A random sample of 60 web surfers are asked if they remember a specific internet ad. The age of each respondent is recorded as teenager’, young adult’ or ‘over 30’. What analysis would you use to test the hypothesis that teenagers are more likely to remember the pop up ad than young adults or people over 30?

Test: Chi-squared test Jane, who works for Universal Bank, wants to know which credit card to recommend to her customers. She believes that VIZIER credit card customers probably get more bonus points than customers of Extraterrestrials credit cards. She records the number of bonus points awarded to a random sample of customers of each card. What analysis would you use to test the hypothesis that VIZIER credit card customers get more bonus points than customers of Extraterrestrials credit cards? Test: Independent Samples t-test It is believed that the age at which a child first talks is related to his or her IQ at age 12.

A random sample of one hundred 12 year olds did a standardized IQ test and the age at which they first spoke is recorded. What analysis would you use to test the hypothesis that children who talk earlier tend to have higher IIS? Test: Person’s correlation coefficient and regression analysis A sociologist believes that the current economic cellmate NAS resulted In Tower people going to university tan In ten pas t. When seen attended university in the sass, 57% of school leavers continued to tertiary studies. She takes a random sample of 1000 school leavers in the last year and records whether or not they continue their education.

What analysis would you use to test the hypothesis that the proportion of school leavers who continue to tertiary studies has dropped since the sass? Test: Binomial test Australian adults watch an average of 3 hours of television everyday. A survey was conducted on a random sample of 100 Australian students and the amount of TV watched they watched each day was recorded. What analysis would you use to test the hypothesis that, on average, students watch more TV than the general population? Test: One sample t-test Fred is the barman at the Golden Arms.

He always puts free nuts on the counter to make people buy more drinks. Sally tells him that flavored peanuts make people buy more drinks than normal salted peanuts. He gets 20 of his regular customers to help him in an experiment where he gives each of them one type of nut one night and the other type of nut the next night and records how many standard drinks they buy. What analysis would you use to test the hypothesis that flavored peanuts make people buy more drinks than normal salted nuts do? Test: Paired samples t-test

Economic and Employment Opportunities of Tourism in Bangladesh

A Study on Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation 1. Prelude The New Millennium and the coming decades are very much crucial for the developing countries to achieve sustainable economic growth. Tourism is considered to be a large income generator of the world economy contributing over 10 percent to Gross Domestic Product (GDP). For at least one third of the developing countries, the tourism receipts are the main source of export revenue and the tourism industry generates sustainable economic benefits to the developing countries.

The exceptional growth of tourism over the last 50 years is going to be one of the most remarkable economic and social phenomena of the 21st century. The number of international arrivals shows an evolution from a mere 25 million arrivals in 1950 to the 763 million of 2004 representing an average annual growth rate of more than 7 percent over a period of 50 years – well above the average annual economic growth rate for the same period. Tourism has clearly outperformed all the other sectors of the economy and has grown into the most significant economic activity in the world.

The Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report 2007 of World Economic Forum (WEF), which aims to explore the factors and policies driving travel and tourism competitiveness in nations worldwide, has found Bangladesh fourth from the last among 124 countries. Endless neglect to this sector by the successive governments is to blame for the sad situation. Bangladesh has been ranked 120th. Among the neighbors, India is ranked 65th, Sri Lanka 79th, Pakistan 103rd and Nepal 106th. In 2006, the sector generated 10. 3 percent of world gross domestic product (GDP), providing 234 million jobs ; or 8. percent of total world employment. Tourism has many faces, eco-tourism is one of them. Eco-tourism is comparatively a new term in tourism literature. The term “Eco-tourism” blends “ecology” and “tourism” and covers the scope of tourism that draws upon natural, manmade and cultural environments. Eco-tourism came into prominence in the eighties as a strategy for reconciling conservation with development in ecologically rich areas. Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation (BPC), the National Tourism Organization of the country was established in 1973.

It is of earnest importance to evaluate the role played by the BPC over the last 35 years (1973-2007) for the development of tourism industry in Bangladesh and to find out what are the challenges faced by the BPC to develop the tourism industry in Bangladesh and finally to explore the possibilities of economic and employment opportunities of Bangladesh through tourism. No comprehensive study has so far been done in this regard. The proposed research will attempt to fill up this gap. 2. Statement of the Problem The term ‘Tourism’ or ‘Tourist’ was first used as official term in 1937 by the League of Nations. Tourism’ or ‘Tourist’ is a word related to the word ‘tour’ which is derived from the Latin word ‘tornus’ which means a tool for describing a circle or a turner’s wheel. It is from this word, that the notion of a ‘round tour’ or a ‘package tour’ has become popular. Many countries view tourism as part of their development strategy and as an economic alternative to traditional economic sectors such as agriculture and industry. Rapid development in the means of transport and communication has made the world into practically one single neighborhood. There are several benefits from tourism.

Tourism plays a sizeable role in national prosperity. The foreign exchange earnings earned by the industry increase foreign exchange reserves and positively affect the balance of payments. Tourism has become the third source of foreign exchange earner, after ready-made garments industry and gems and jewelries. In 2006, the Government of Bangladesh has earned 5000 million taka from this sector. Tourism generates employment opportunities in many sectors, particularly in remote and backward areas. It is highly labor intensive and it offers employment opportunities to skilled and unskilled workers alike.

Tourism has a tremendous employment potential, both direct (travel agents, transport operators, hotels, guides) and indirect (handicrafts, increased demands for foods, clothes, etc. ). According to the Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report 2007 of World Economic Forum (WEF), in Bangladesh tourism contributes 1. 5 percent to the GDP and it provides 1. 2 percent employment opportunity of the total employment. Tourism can also stimulate investments in new infrastructure, much of which helps to improve the living conditions of local citizens.

The development goals of the government is to create infrastructure facilities on par with international standards. Proceeds from tourism help to maintain and develop the already existing infrastructural facilities. Tourism offers enormous scope for properly maintaining monuments, palaces, natural attractions etc. In addition to the economic benefits, travel opportunities promote social and political understanding among nations and cultures. People belonging to different cultures and social backgrounds come together to break down prejudices and inhibitions that too often exist among ethnically and sociological diverse groups.

The benefits of tourism are especially important for a developing country like Bangladesh. Both from economic and social points of view, tourism can play an important role in Bangladesh’s development. The World Tourism Organization estimates that the total number of international tourists will reach about one billion in 2010. South Asian country currently captures only one percent of this market, but the number of international tourists is expected to grow by 7. 2 percent per annum between 2000-2010. With this perspective the necessary growth stimulus and arrangements are largely absent in Bangladesh.

Under the circumstances, what BPC and private sector can jointly perform in near future in boosting up this vital sector of our economy is a big question. This study is undertaken to have some answers to this question.

Definition of Key Terms

For this study there are three key terms such as opportunity, tourism and the BPC. The key terms are defined below: Opportunity A time or occasion that is suitable for a certain purpose; a favorable combination of circumstances. It can also be defined as a favorable or advantageous circumstance or combination of circumstances.

Tourism has two types of opportunities such as economic and employment opportunities. Tourism Tourism is a service based industry comprising a number of tangible and intangible elements. The tangible elements include transport, foods and beverages, tours, souvenirs and accommodation, while the intangible elements involve education, culture, adventure or simply escape and relaxation. It can be defined as the act of travel for the purpose of recreation, and the provision of services for this act. Tourism means the business of providing accommodation and services for people visiting a people.

BPC Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation (BPC), the National Tourism Organization of the country was established in 1973. It is an autonomous organization and has been placed under the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism. It has the dual responsibility of development of related tourist facilities and promotional activities to project the tourist products thus to create a favorable image of the country.

BPC and Its Structure

Emergence of BPC Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation (BPC), the National Tourism Organization of the country was established in 1973.

It is an autonomous organization and has been placed under the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism.

Structure of BPC

The Governing Body of BPC consists of a full-time Chairman and minimum two and maximum four Directors. At present, one Chairman and three Directors are employed in the organization. 2. 2. 3Objectives of BPC The objectives of BPC are as follows:

• To introduce Bangladesh globally as a top tourist destination and develop its tourism prospects and facilities.
• To establish tourism infrastructure in Bangladesh.
• To develop, expand and promote tourism business. To create tourism awareness among the people.
• To establish institutes for instruction and training of potential tourism personnel.
• To publish tourism publications.

National Tourism Policy

The National Tourism Policy was declared in 1992. Its main objectives are:

1. To create interest in tourism among the people
2. To preserve, protect, develop and maintain tourism resources
3. To take steps for poverty-alleviation through creating employment
4. To build a positive image of the country abroad
5. To open up a recognized sector for private capital investment
6. To arrange entertainment and recreation
7. To strengthen national solidarity and integrity.

In line with the policy, the Government provides incentives to attract private sectors partners. The incentives include tax-holiday, loans, concession rates for taxes and duties and in specific cases, allotment of land etc.

Scope of Tourism in Bangladesh

Bangladesh has many attractive spots from the viewpoint of tourism.

These spots are divided into two categories based on nature and culture. Natural Areas Under this category the first one is the unique and magnificent Sundarbans Mangrove Forest, which is the world’s largest mangrove forest and the home of the world renowned Royal Bengal Tiger, the most ferocious predatory animal on earth. As being the World Natural Heritage declared by the UNESCO, this mangrove forest now belongs not only to Bangladesh, but also to the whole world, though the responsibility to protect the forest lies with Bangladesh. Among the other spots, Chittagong hill districts are mentionable where 13 tribal groups live in an area of about 2592. 1 square kilometers.

The biodiversity and natural beauties of the hilly areas along with the different customs and traditions of the localities could be an attractive subject to the tourists. Besides the Sundarbans, numerous mighty rivers, paddy fields stretched up to the horizon, picturesque tea gardens and Chittagong Hill Tracts, St. Martin’s Island, Rangamati and Kaptai Lake are also potential tourism products on their own attraction. Cultural Areas In this category the 14th century pre-Mogul period Shat Gambuz Mosque at Bagerhat has been declared as a world heritage by UNESCO in 1985. Besides, our pre-Mogul and Mogul period mosques, Hindu temples and ancient Buddhist monasteries have great appeal to the eco-tourists, who like cultural heritage.

The 8th century Paharpur Buddhist Monastery in Naogaon, another world heritage declared by UNESCO, is the single largest Buddhist monastery in the world. Whereas Borobodhur in Indonesia which is half of the size of Paharpur Monastery earns no less than us $ 500 million per annum; in the latter case the scenario is completely opposite of Bangladesh only for well publicity. Moreover, the ancient civilizations like Mohasthangar in Bogra, ancient Buddhist Monasteries and stupas/temples in Mainamoti, pre-Mogul period Kusumba Mosque in Rajshahi, Chhoto Sona Mosque of the same period in Chapai Nababganj, Lalbagh Kella in Dhaka, Govinda Shiva and Jagannath Temples in Rajshahi can also be world heritage sites.

Above all, the multi-faceted folk heritage enriched by its ancient animist, Buddhist, Hindu and Muslim roots, weaving, pottery, and terracotta sculpture are some of the earliest forms of artistic expressions to attract the sustainable tourists.

Necessary Steps Required for the Tourist Spots

Although in Bangladesh we have some world-class tourism spots both natural and cultural, unfortunately all the spots are almost unknown to the foreign tourists and consequently are not attracted by them. In the following part the steps for developing nature-based and culture-based spots are mentioned respectively.

Nature-based Tourist Spots

Mangrove Forest of Sundarbans deserves attention from the tourists.Necessary steps should be taken so that the tourism organization worldwide may highlight the destinations like Sundarbans forest. For example, in the Sundarbans forest areas Mawalis are allowed to enter the forests in the months of April and May for collecting honey. The Forest Department only permits them with a paper slip. They enter the forest and destroy the honey combs and kill the bees drastically and brutally during of collecting honey. This happens because the collection is never scientific and systematic. If this could be managed scientifically and properly, the local Mawalis will be benefited economically, the forest areas will be rich in biodiversity.

Ultimately everything in the honey harvest will be environmentally sound. The natural honey production in the Sundarbans areas by the endemic species of bees is unique in the world. It is necessary to take serious measures in the field not only for economic benefits but also for conservation of unique natural beauties in the forests. All the steps in this forest should be taken in such manner so that every flora and fauna can be able to generate their respective species in an optimal trend; moreover, tourist spots should be placed in those points from which no threats can be created to the ecosystem of Sundar bans. Next to Sunder bans, Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) can be mentioned under nature-based tourist spots.

The tourist spot approach and practice is necessary in this area not only for local tribes and castes but also for conservation of their traditions so that this hilly region can be one of the most spectacular sustainable tourism areas.

Culture-based Tourist Spots

In Bangladesh, there are many culture based tourist spots where the local people can be involved for increasing total number of tourists in the country. There are such possibilities we have in Bangladesh, but all of them cannot be brought into practice for description, only few can be taken. In Bangladesh almost all of the ancient Temples and Monasteries are found neglected although they may be the attractive spots for tourists.

It is found that the last 12 kilometers of the road to Paharpur Monastery from Naogaon is extremely narrow and full of potholes. The construction of a new approach road to the monastery, having less than three kilometer of length, can save tourists from traversing though that horrible 12 kilometers of potholed road. For some restoration works and beautification of the monastery site, the government needs to spend some money. That investment will pay the country high return annually in foreign currency for years.

Research questions

1. What are the possibilities of economic and employment opportunities of Bangladesh through tourism?
2. What role is BPC playing in this regard?
3. What are the past growths and challenges of tourism in Bangladesh?
4. How can the challenges be overcome?
5. How can tourism be flourished as a great potential for the economic development?

A modest attempt will be made in this study to get answers of the above questions. In view of the above inquiries the following objectives are set for the study.

Objectives of the Study

The study is designed to achieve the following objectives:

• Broad Objective: The broad objective of the study is to analyze past growth trends and challenges of tourism and to explore the economic and employment opportunities of tourism and to evaluate the role of BPC in developing tourism industry of Bangladesh.
• Specific Objectives: The specific objectives of the study are as follows:

1. To analyze the growth trends of tourism and its importance in relation to economic development of Bangladesh
2. To study the growth trends, performance and role of BPC
3. To see the possible benefits of eco-tourism
4. To examine the tourism market of the country and to examine the policies and programmes to attract the tourists
5. To assess the employment opportunity created in the tourism sector
6. To identify the challenges of tourism and to project the future of tourism market in Bangladesh.

Review of Literature

It is worth noting that the review of literature provides an understanding of the issues closely related to the topic. Moreover, it is a crying need to justify the research under-study and to find out the knowledge gap in the field.

The researcher has studied a number of web-sites, books, articles, reports and manuscripts on tourism sector. It has been found that literature with specific focus on this sector is not sufficient. However, a brief review of literature is given below.

Afroze (2007)

“Eco-tourism and Green Productivity in Bangladesh” written by Afroze discusses the development of tourism market in Bangladesh. Firstly, he discusses the major tourist attractions like Cox’s Bazar, Hilly Districts, Paharpur etc. Secondly, he discusses the role of BPC and other government, semi-government and non-government agencies. Then he mentions prospects of eco-tourism in Bangladesh.

He tells that Bangladesh is endowed with the largest mangrove ecosystems in the world, the Sundarbans, the longest unspoiled natural sea-beach in the world, the largest man-made lake at Kaptai, and the Hilly Districts of Rangamati, Bandarban and Khagrachari and a vast offshore marine environment. He also discusses the role of government for the development of tourism industry in Bangladesh. He also tells that proper infrastructure is a prerequisite for the development of tourism. Lack of infrastructure has been one of the prime causes of slow tourism development in Bangladesh. He suggests that brochures and other promotional material could be distributed through all foreign missions in Bangladesh, through Bangladesh Biman, the national carrier.

This article gives the researcher a true picture of tourism market in Bangladesh. It will be very helpful to the researcher but it lacks overall discussion of growth and challenges of tourism in Bangladesh. So the scope of the present study is wider than that.

Amin (2007)

The author in his article named “The Role of Tourism in Bangladesh Economy” emphasizes the role of tourism in developing countries for their economic development. He mentions some positive benefits of tourism, i. e. , tourism offers the opportunity of providing jobs for different classes of people and thereby contributing to the alleviation of poverty in developing countries.

Tourism generates jobs directly through hotels, restaurants, taxis, souvenir sales and indirectly through the supply of goods and services needed by tourism related business. In addition, tourism can induce the local government to make infrastructural improvements and also make an important contribution to a country’s balance of payments. He also mentions that tourism development may be an important instrument for economic advancement for Bangladesh if necessary initiatives are taken. But he does not mention what initiatives are taken? He does not mention anything about the role of BPC for the development of tourism in Bangladesh. The article exists some limitations and the scope of it is narrow.So the present research is an elaborative one.

Bashar (2007)

The author in his article titled “Services of Forests: Socio-cultural Roles and Nature-based Eco-tourism” defines eco-tourism, describes the eco-tourism spots and states the benefits of eco-tourism. He tells that in Bangladesh , we have some important forest areas Chittagong (Sitakondo, Karaerhat, Chunati), Cox’s Bazar (Eidgaon, Eidgar, Fashiakhali), Sylhet ( Lawasara and Rama Kalenga), Mymensingh (Sherpur), Tangail (Modhupur), Noakhali (Nijhum Islands) and Khulna ( Sundarbans : the largest mangrove) to be considered as the eco-tourism spots. This analysis is a partial one of tourism in Bangladesh.

It is not a wide analysis. It does not cover the role of BPC, the policies and initiatives of BPC to the tourism. So, the present study is wider than that.

Firoz (2007)

“Eco-tourism in Bangladesh” by Firoz defines eco-tourism and then shows the economic objectives of tourism in Bangladesh. He states that the tourism industry in countries like Bangladesh is driven by economic objectives, seeking an increase in taxes, job opportunities and infrastructure development. Then he defines eco-tourism and shows positive and negative benefits of eco-tourism. He states that the negative environmental impact of eco-tourism development is of serious concern.

In Nepal, for example, the rapid growth of the trekking industry has increased pollution in the Himalayas as well as Kathmandu and caused dangerous crowding and destruction of trails. This article has some limitations. The scope of it is not wide. The analysis of this article is a part of the tourism industry.

Hasan (2004)

The author in his article named “Developing Eco-tourism in Bangladesh” defines eco-tourism and tells the prospects of eco-tourism market in Bangladesh. He defines eco-tourism as nature and culture-based tourism. He mentions that in Bangladesh we have some world-class tourism products, both natural and cultural. Our Sundarbans is a nature-based world heritage designated by the UNESCO. It is the largest mangrove forest in the world.

The 8th century Paharpur Buddhist Monastery in Naogaon, a world heritage, is the single largest Buddhist Monastery in the world. He suggests that to attract more and more international eco-tourists to Bangladesh, we need to get recognition, such as the world heritage, from the UNESCO, for the world-class national heritage we have in our country. This article only discusses eco-tourism and its prospects which is part of our tourism industry. It does not cover the growth and challenges of tourism. He does not analyze the role of BPC. So the present study is wider than that.

Haque (2006)

“Tourism Industry in Bangladesh” written by Haque discusses various aspects of development of tourism industry in Bangladesh.

According to the author, tourism provides not only economic prosperity but also provides people with the opportunity to enrich themselves with new experience, enjoy the rare attractive things of other countries and gather knowledge about them. The author focuses that there is a vast potentiality to develop this industry in Bangladesh. This country has long tradition to accept the people from far and near for ages with enchanting natural beauty, archaeological and historical monuments, colorful culture and friendly people. The author describes various policies and initiatives taken by the BPC for the development of tourism industry in Bangladesh. This article is very sufficient for the researcher. But he does not mention the challenges of tourism faced by the BPC. So there exists some limitations.

Huque (2004)

The author in his article titled “Eco-tourism and Some Rich Tourist Spots in Bangladesh” states that generally man wants to know what is unknown to him and to see what he has never seen. This ardent desire and inner urge has given rise the modern concept of tourism. Then he defines eco-tourism and he mentions some tourist spots which are best potential for eco-tourism. He tells that eco-tourism has originated from conscience of environment. He mentions that Bangladesh is blessed with two of the world’s splendid and enchanting eco-tourism spots the Sundarbans and the Chittagong Hill Tract. He also tells that the benefit of tourism is immense.

The scope of the article is not wide. It only analyzes eco-tourism and its prospects. It does not cover the overall discussion of tourism.

Haque (2005)

“Tourism: Our Gold Mine for Development” discusses that Bangladesh is a country blessed with marvelous stunning spectacles and potential tourist spots and unique topographical attractions which have served promising features worthy of taping for immense economic benefits and commercial tourism. He tells that tourism has earned its unique position as a wide range of business dimensions and is regarded like a goldmine for economic development and prosperity. This article will help the researcher very sufficiently.

But it does not cover all the things related to the tourism.

Kabir and Bhuiya (2004)

The authors in their article titled “Eco-tourism Development in Bangladesh: An Overview” state that in Bangladesh, eco-tourism is in its infancy. But she belongs to a high eco-tourism potentiality. Our forests, beaches, rivers, birds ethnic races would be the main attractions of eco-tourists. The paper is a modest attempt to explain the present situation of eco-tourism development in Bangladesh from development viewpoint and with a critical assessment. The paper is prepared based on published and unpublished secondary sources. The study helps the researcher very sufficiently.

It does not cover the growth and challenges of tourism in Bangladesh. So the scope of this study is limited.

Kayemuddin (2005)

The author in his article named “Golden Future of Tourism Industry in Bangladesh” states that Bangladesh is a country of full of fun and place of enjoyment. He tells that tourism is an important industry in any country. He mentions that there are some problems in the way to develop tourism in Bangladesh. The problems that identified are as follows : very limited spots are available for tourism, shortage of infrastructure, adequate attention has been focused, lack of appropriate programmes. internal air services limited etc.

He also states that the problems may be overcome through joint efforts of the Government and the Peolpe of Bangladesh. This article will help the researcher very sufficiently. But the scope of this is not wide.

Mansur (2007)

“Why is Tourism Lagging Behind in Bangladesh? ” by Mansur identifies the bottlenecks that are holding the industry back in Bangladesh and proposes reforms that could make tourism one of the biggest foreign exchange earning sectors in the country. He states that our tourism industry is full of problems and bottlenecks most of which are man-made and possible to overcome if we have sincerity in tackling them. A few challenges remain but for the moment it will be enough to work with what we can change and achieve easily.

He states that a national tourism organization that has the following qualities : it should be completely independent consisting of experienced professionals from the industry, it must be headed by an experienced professional from the industry etc. The analysis of this article is worthy for the researcher, but the scope of it is limited.

Mondal (2006)

The author in his article titled “Tourism Enriches” narrates a brief picture of tourism in Bangladesh. He says that the present tourism sector are faced some problems and constraints and these are – Bangladesh’s image problem abroad as a tourist destination, lack of knowledge among the planners and policy-makers, discontinuity in the implementation of policies and programmes for tourism promotion with the change of governments etc.

At last he comments that if Bangladesh can solve the above problems and constraints, she will shortly become an important destination for regional and international tourists. The article does not cover all the things related to tourism. So it is a limited one.

Rahman (2007)

The author in his article named “Bangladesh: A Host of Tourist Treasures” states that the tourism industry of Bangladesh has great potentials both as a foreign exchange earner and provider of job opportunities with the resultant multiplier effect on the country’s economy as a whole. He also tells that the BPC is primarily a tourism service provider and promoter of tourism product. He also focuses that Bangladesh has huge prospects of tourism.

He mentions some tourist spots like Cox’s Bazar, Kuakata, Sundarbans which have huge potentials. This article does not cover all the things related to the tourism sector. The scope of this article is limited.

Salam (2007)

The author in his article named “Eco-tourism Protect the Reserve Mangrove Forest, the Sunder bans and Its Flora and Fauna” describes that nature-oriented tourism can be one means to help achieve sustainability in the reserve forest as well as protecting the important world heritage site. He also states that well-planned tourism could provide economic and political incentives for proper management and for conservation and could ring additional benefit to local communities and regional economies. This article covers only specific things to the tourism sector. It does not cover the role and performance of the BPC.

Siddiqi (2003)

The author in his article named “Bangladesh as a Tourist Destination” identifies ‘eco-tourism’ as a new concept to develop tourism without disturbing ecological balance. The author identifies some problems of tourism sector such as lack of professionalism, negative image of the country, shortage of properly qualified and efficient manpower etc. These are causing hindrance to the development of tourism. The problem is so acute that the BPC has so far not been able to develop definite tourism products.

The analysis and explanation of this article is not sufficient. It only discusses the problems, but does not show any solution.

Siddiqi (2007)

The author in his article named “Bangladesh is Gold Mine of Eco-tourism Attractions” states that Bangladesh has wealth of eco-tourism attractions. He also states that the goal of eco-tourism development in Bangladesh should be to capture a portion of the enormous global tourism market by attracting visitors to natural areas and using the revenues, to find local conservation and fuel economic development. This is a partial analysis of tourism. It is not elaborative. It does not cover the growth and challenges of tourism in Bangladesh.

Siddiqi (2007)

Public-Private Sector Partnership Essential to the Development of Tourism” states that tourism development has been an activity which depends on two main groups : the public and the private sectors. The government, in its leadership role, has always been known to spearhead and pioneer tourism development, by the infrastructural foundation, providing the legislative, physical, fiscal, social and environmental framework, within which the private sector can operate. He also tells that the private sector is considered to be the entity that sustains the tourism industry with its entrepreneurial skills in key sectors such as hotel establishments, travel agencies, tour operation and resorts. At last, he states that we strongly believe that if the government works as felicitator and provides all support o the private sector for their commercial ventures, the development of tourism in the country will get the real boost. The article does not cover all the things related to the tourism sector. It only deals with the co-operation of both public and private to the development of tourism in Bangladesh.

Siddiqua (2006)

The author in her article named “Eco-tourism: New Approach to Economic Development in Bangladesh” discusses various aspects of development of eco-tourism industry in Bangladesh. She only emphasizes on the economic sides of eco-tourism. The study is a review work based on secondary data and information. Information and data on eco-tourism for different countries are studied.

The analysis of her includes economic impacts of eco-tourism, scope of eco-tourism in Bangladesh, role of eco-tourism on Bangladesh economy. The scope of this article is not wide. She does not mention the role and performance of BPC to develop tourism in Bangladesh.

Saha and K. C. (2005)

The authors in their article named “An Assessment on the Problems and Prospects of Eco-tourism in Royal Chitwan National Park (RCNP), Nepal” state to provide insights into the demand and the relative importance of the eco-tourism by examining the characteristics and motivations of local and international tourists participating in eco-tourism ventures at Royal Chitwan National Park (RCNP), Nepal.

They also state that another prerequisite of eco-tourism is to create schemes, which allow the local communities to obtain fair share and direct benefit from eco-tourism and to bring incentives from biodiversity conservation. A tourism that combines basic needs of the local community and ensures environmental conservation issues can assure sustainable eco-tourism. Primary and secondary data are used in this study. The study indicates that eco-tourism can be the bridge between biodiversity conservation and developed in the study area. The analysis of this study is not elaborative. It is partial analysis of tourism industry. This study is confined to the specific thing. So, the present study is wider than that.

Ullah (1996)

The writer in his book titled Hridaye Parjatan expresses his view that the roblems faced by a developing country are different from those faced by a developed one of the west. He states that tourism is one of the important sectors in the world. It provides job opportunity, foreign exchange earnings. He did not mention the functions of BPC, manpower, services and financial performance. He opined that the policies of BPC are not enough to promote the development of tourism market in Bangladesh. He does not analyze the role of BPC separately. The review of literature suggests that, there exists knowledge-gap in the field of present research. No comprehensive research was conducted so far in Bangladesh in this context.

Justifications and Feasibility

Justifications

The existing knowledge-gap in the above discussion makes the main justification for undertaking the present research. Bangladesh is a developing country. Tourism is an important source of foreign exchange earnings, offering opportunities for job creation and infrastructure development, even in remote areas. The UNWTO says that 2007 is critical for tourism to become a very strong tool in the fight against poverty and a primary tool for sustainable development. The present tourism sector in Bangladesh does not present a pleasant picture. International tourist arrivals in 2001 stood at 207,199. Available sources suggest that the number stood at 207,662 in the year 2005. This means an addition of only 463 foreign tourists in four years.

The meager foreign exchange earning due to low arrival of foreign tourists, particularly western tourists, represent one percent of Bangladesh’s total export economy. Direct and indirect employment in the tourism sector is slightly over 100,000 and 200,000 respectively, and this is a discouraging figure against the country’s total labor force of 75 million or so. The proposed research is supposed to examine the problems and challenges and suggest remedial measures. The research will be very much useful to the planners and policy-makers relating to the tourism sector in Bangladesh. The research will be useful to the academicians and researchers.

The findings will open new avenues of research on the tourism sector and also be used as a secondary source of data by researchers of days to come.

Feasibility

The researcher is confident of completing the proposed research successfully by exploring the feasibilities mentioned below.

1. The researcher is a student of Economics and teaches Industrial Economics at undergraduate level. The Economics background and academic command over industrial policy will help the researcher to complete the study successfully.
2. Some studies of this kind were undertaken in some of the developed as well as developing countries, particularly in India, the outcomes of which are available in printed forms and in the internet. These studies will benefit the researcher substantially.
3. Necessary data are available from authentic sources, like BPC, Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism, Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) and other Government sources. Some research organizations like Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS), Center for Policy Dialogue (CPD) etc. provide ample data along with analysis.
4. Supervision and close monitoring of supervisor, logistic support for IBS and intellectual help from other think-tanks will make the study possible.
5. The fellowship granted by IBS to the researcher will contribute to bear some of the expenses to undertake the proposed research. Besides, the researcher is helpful to avail himself of grants and scholarship from some other sources like SSRC, UGC, etc. which will supposedly relive the researcher and help the study complete within the stipulated time.

Methodology

Definition

The word ‘method’ is derived from two Greek words viz. ‘meta’ and ‘hodos’ meaning a way, a way of doing something. A method is a planned, systematic and well articulated approach of investigation. It involves a process where the stages or steps of collecting data are explained and analytical techniques are also defined. Methodology is a set of methods which are used in a particular area of activity. It is the systematic study of the principles which guide scientific investigation.

Selection of Method

The proposed research will be an evaluative type of study.

Mainly documentary method will be applied in conducting the proposed study. Justification of adopting documentary method is that it is appropriately applicable in finding out what has happened in course of time and correlating the events. The analysis of the research will be primarily quantitative in nature, although to realize the objectives of the study, qualitative approach will be necessary. The research will exploit the data of the last 35 years (1973-2007) of the BPC. The researcher will undertake an opinion survey on purposively selected persons.

Study Area

The study area will be three categories of tourism such as nature, culture and water-based tourism.

The selected tourist spots for this study are Sundarbans, Pharpur Buddhist Monastery and Cox’s Bazar.

Sources of Data

The research will exploit the data of the last 35 years (1973-2007) of the BPC. Both primary and secondary but mostly secondary data will be used in the study.

Primary Sources

Primary sources include interviews and discussions with the purposively selected persons, unpublished documents of BPC etc.

Secondary Sources

Secondary sources include published official statistics, reports, documents, books, articles, periodicals of different domestic and international agencies, daily newspapers, theses, dissertations, statistics and publications of BPC and the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism.

Web-sites of related local and international institutions will also be used as sources of data.

Sample

Design Type of Sampling: Purposive Sampling Procedure will be followed: Respondents

• Policy makers
• Employees of BPC
• Private Tour Operators
• Tourism Consultants
• Local Tourists
• Foreign Tourists
• Tourist Guides (10)
• Sample Size: 150

Instruments for Data Collection

Data will be collected by using different types of tools like questionnaire, interviews, discussions etc.

Analysis of Data

Data and information provided by the sources will be analyzed with rationality. Collection and processing of data will be done with prudence and acknowledgements.

Analyses of data will be accomplished with the use of frequency distributions, measures of central tendency, time series and simple regression. Interpretations of facts will be done by the use of various tools, such as tables, charts, line graphs, bar-diagram, pie-chart, histogram and historigram.

Interpretation

Primary analysis will be reexamined with critical observation and logical arguments.

Scope of the Study and Limitations

Scope of the Study

The proposed research is supposed to display the economic and employment opportunities of tourism in Bangladesh. The researcher will analyze the growth trends of tourism and its importance in relation to economic development of Bangladesh. Then the researcher will study the growth trends, performance and role of BPC.

The researcher will examine the tourism market of the country and to examine the policies and programmes to attract the tourists. How the BPC is running and how it can play our economy to create employment opportunity and to earn foreign exchange and what are the challenges faced by the BPC to develop tourism industry in Bangladesh. The researcher will identify the challenges and to project the future of tourism market in Bangladesh. At the beginning, the policy and initiatives measures taken by the BPC will be evaluated. Then the way of development of tourism process will be analyzed. The core area of the study will be the explanation of the performance of BPC.

Finally, the study will offer some policy recommendations in order to help perform better by the BPC.

Limitations of the Study

• Tourism is a virgin field in Bangladesh. No comprehensive research work was done before. No text book is available. Tourism –related articles, features are only found on daily newspapers, magazines etc.
• Data of the early years of BPC are sometimes not available. iii)Time and resource constraints also exist.

Time Reference

The proposed research is designed to cover the time p of 35 years from 1973 to 2007.

Time Frame 1st phase

July 2006 – June 2007:

• Completion of one year long course work at IBS
• Preparation for undertaking the research 2nd phase: July 2007 – June 2008: Presentation of M. Phil registration seminar
• Preparation, pre-testing and finalization of questionnaire
• Completion of data collection and processing
• Presentation of conversion seminar for Ph. D. program 3rd phase:

July 2008 – June 2009:

• Completion of draft dissertation writing
• Editing and upgrading the draft
• Presentation of pre-submission seminar •Submission of the final dissertation

References

1. A. Manuscripts Chandra Praba, A. “Environmental Aspects of Tourism in Palani an Opinion Survey”. M. Phil. Dissertation. Madurai Kamarj University.
2. Madurai, 2002. George, P. O. “Management of Tourism Industry in Kerala”. Unpublished Ph. D. Thesis. Mahathma Gandhi University. Kottayam, 2003. Kalaiarasi, N. “An Economic Study of Tourism in Madurai City. ” M. Phil. Dissertation. Madurai Kamaraj University.
3. Madurai, 1991. Kamalakshy, M. V. Hotel Industry in Kerala with Reference to Tourism”. Unpublished Ph. D. Thesis. Cochin University of Science and Technology.
4. Kerala, 1996. Sudheer, S. V. “Tourism in Kerala Problems and Prospects”. Unpublished Ph. D. Thesis. University of Kerala.
5. Kerala, 1992. Rajadurai, M. “An Economic Study of Growth and Pattern of Tourist Inflows in Tamil Nadu”. Unpublished Ph. D. Thesis. Madurai Kamaraj University.
6. Madurai, 2005. B. Documents Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation (BPC). Tourism Statistics of Bangladesh. Dhaka: Planning, Training and Statistics Division, BPC, 2005. C. Books
7. Abedin, M. Zainul. A Hand Book of Research for the Fellows of M. Phil. and Ph. D. Programmes. Dhaka: Book Syndicate, 1996.
8. Batra, K. L. Problems and Prospectives of Tourism. Jaipur: Prontwell Publishers, 1990. Bezbaruah, M. P. Indian Tourism – Beyond the Millennium. New Delhi: Gyan Publishing House, 1999.
9. Bhatia, A. K. International Tourism. Delhi: Sterling Publishers Private Ltd, 1992. Bhatia, A. K. Tourism Development. New Delhi: Sterling Publishers (P) Ltd, 1983. Bhatia, A. K. Tourism Management and Marketing. New Delhi: Sterling Publishers (P) Ltd, 1997. Bijender, K Punia. Tourism Management Problems and Prospects. New Delhi: Ashish Publishing House, 1994. Dhulasi, Birundha Varadarajan. Eco Tourism – An Evolution. New Delhi: Kanisha Publishers, Distributors, 2003.
10. Krishan, K Kamara. Managing Tourist Destination. New Delhi: Kanisha Publishers, Distributors, 2001. Mathieson, A. and Wall, G. Tourism- Economic, Physical and Social Impacts. New York: Longman, 1982. Mohammed, Zulfikar. Introduction to Tourism and Hotel Industry. New Delhi: Vikas Publishing House (P) Ltd. , 1998.
11. Mowforth, M. and Munt, I. Tourism and Sustainability: Development and New Tourism in the Third World. London:
12. Routledge, 2003. Nash, D. Anthropology of Tourism. Oxford: Pergamon, 1996. Raina, A. K. and Lodha, R. C. Fundamentals of Tourism System. New Delhi: Kanisha Publishers, Distributors, 2004. Roger, Carter. Tourism- Excises and Activates. Ed.London: Jeff Carpenter Publishers, Hodder and Sloughton, 1990. Sharma, J. K. Tourism in India. Jaipur: Classic Publishing House, 1991.
13. Sharma, K. K. New Dimension in Tourism and Hotel Industry. New Delhi: Sarup & Sons, 1998.
14. Stephen, F. Witt and Luiz, Moutinhop. Tourism Marketing and Management Hand Book. London: Prentice Hall, 1995. Suhita, Chopra. Tourism & Development in India. New Delhi: Ashish Publishing House, 1991.
15. Tewari, S. P. Tourism Dimensions. New Delhi: Sterling Publishers Private Ltd, 1994. Ullah, Mohammed Ahsan. Hridaye Parjatan[Tourism in the Heart]. Dhaka: Sweety Rahman, 1996. Vivek, Sharma. Tourism in India. Jaipur: Arihant Publisher.
16. D. ArticlesmAmin, Sakib Din. “The Role of Tourism in Bangladesh Economy”. The Bangladesh Observer. May 08, 2007. Bashar, Dr. MA. “Services of Forests: Socio-cultural Roles and Nature-based Eco-tourism”. The Daily Star. 6 April, 2007.
17. Carte, R. W. Baxter, G. S. Hockings, M. “Resource Management in Tourism Research: New Direction”. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 9(4), 2001. Haque, Dr. Mahfuzul. “Tourism Industry in Bangladesh”. The Daily Star. 27 September, 2006.
18. Haque, K. M. Saiful. “Eco-tourism and Some Rich Tourist Spots in Bangladesh”. The Bangladesh Observer, Observer Magazine. February 13, 2004. Haque, K. M. Saiful. “Tourism: Our Gold Mine for Development”. The Bangladesh Observer, Observer Magazine. March 25, 2005. Hasan, Faruque. “Developing Eco-tourism in Bangladesh”. The Daily Star. 27 September 2004.
19. Hossain, Muhammad and Akter, Nasrin. “Electronic Means in Tourism: Applicability and Challenges for Bangladesh”. Journal of Institute of Bangladesh Studies. Vol. 29 (August, 2006). Kayemuddin, Prof. Dr. Md. “Golden Future of Tourism Industry in Bangladesh”. The Bangladesh Observer, Observer Magazine. 25 March 2005.
20. Mondal, M. Abdul Latif. “Tourism Enriches”. The Daily Star. 27 September 2006.
21. Mansur, Hasan. “Why is Tourism Lagging Behind in Bangladesh? ”. The New Age. 16 May 2007. Naik, G. P. and S. G.
22. Kulkarni. “Socio-Economic Benefits of Tourism”. Indian Commerce Bulletin. Vol. 2 No. 2 (August, 1998). Siddiqi, Raquib. “Bangladesh as a Tourist Destination”. The Bangladesh Observer, Observer Magazine. September 19, 2003. Siddiqua, Tasnim. “Eco-tourism: New Approach to Economic Development in Bangladesh”. Khulna University Studies. Vol. 7, No. 1 (June, 2006).
23. Saha, S. K and K. C. , Deepak. “An Assessment on the Problems and Prospects of Ecotourism in Royal Chitwan National Park (RCNP), Nepal”. Khulna University Studies. Vol. 6, No. 1&2 (June-December, 2005). Sherlock, K. “Revisiting the Concept of Hosts and Guests”. Tourism Studies 1(3), 2001.
24. The Bangladesh Monitor. (A Fortnightly Journal, Vol. XVI, Issue No. 16), 1-15, April 2007. Veerrrasikaran, R. “Significance of Tourism in India”. The Southern Economist. Vol. 32 No. 9 (September 1, 1993). Vijayakumar. “New Strategy for Indian Tourism Industry”. Southern Economist. Vol. 37, No. 10, 1998.
25. E. Websites Afroze, Ruby. “Eco-tourism and Green Productivity in Bangladesh”. Link: http://www. apo-tokyo. org/ag/e_publi/gplinkeco/07chapter5. pdf. Amin, Sakib Din. “The Role of Tourism in Bangladesh Economy”. The New Nation (Web edition). Link: http://nation. ittefaq. com/artman/exec/view. cgi/60/32702. Firoz, Remeen. “Eco-tourism in Bangladesh”. Link: http:

1. Who is on the board? Are they internal or external members?

Apple Board Members

• William V. Campbell Chairman Intuit, Inc. (external) 1983
• Tim Cook CEO Apple (internal) 2011
• Millard S. Drexler Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
• J. Crew (external) 1999 Albert Gore,
• Jr. Former Vice President of the United States (external) 2003
• Andrea Jung Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Avon Products, Inc. (external) 2008
• Arthur D. Levinson, Ph. D. Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Genentech, Inc. (external) 1980
• Ronald D. Sugar, Ph. D. Former Chairman and CEO Northrop Grumman Corporation (external) 2010 2.

2. Do they own significant shares of stock?

Members of the board do in fact own stock in Apple including Tim Cook who was given 1 million shares when he became CEO.

Apple Board of Directors

3. Is the stock privately held or publicly traded? Are there different classes of stock with different voting rights?

From research online I found that most Board members had a mix of both public and restricted stock depending on the person.

4. What do the board members contribute to the corporation in terms of knowledge, skills, background, and connections? If the corporation has international operations, do board members have international experience?

4. All of the board members are seasoned CEO’s of their own corporations, many of which have been the best of their expertise for decades and served on many other boards.

5. How long have members served on the board?

5. The year each member of the board joined is adjacent to their names.

6. What is their level of involvement in strategic management? Do they merely rubber-stamp top management’s proposals, or do they actively participate and suggest future directions?

6. Members of the board do not only “rubber stamp” management decisions but are also excited to use their talents and ideas to further better the company.

For example, in his bio on Apple. com, it is stated about that Ron Sugar that: “In addition to having been the CEO of a high-tech Fortune 100 company, Ron has a Ph. D. in engineering and has been involved in the development of some very sophisticated technology. ”

CORPORATE GOVERNANCE A. Board of Directors Questions:

1. Who is on the board? Are they internal or external members?

2. Do they own significant shares of stock?

3. Is the stock privately held or publicly traded? Are there different classes of stock with different voting rights?

4. What do the board members contribute to the corporation in terms of knowledge, skills, background, and connections? If the corporation has international operations, do board members have international experience?

5. How long have members served on the board?

6. What is their level of involvement in strategic management? Do they merely rubber-stamp top management’s proposals, or do they actively participate and suggest future directions? You have a good start here, but additional information and research would have been nice to see. Be sure to provide and cite your references. 80/100

Nowadays, it is easy for us to see brands like Sony, McDonald’s, Nike, or Calvin Klein in the nearest malls, shopping centers, or across the sidewalk in our neighborhoods. Interestingly, for most of us that have become those brands’ fans should not be worry if we have to travel abroad since the brands have evolved from local to global brands and are available anywhere in the world. In contrast, there are some brands that we used to know very well but suddenly they disappear or are eliminated in their respective markets.

Brands like Puma in sport shoes industry, Fiat in automobiles or USA. net in free email services are examples of slowing down and thus worst brands in the world. These conditions, while they are natural and common within today’s fierce competition, are the results of effectiveness of marketing plan including the incurred marketing strategy. Therefore, in business, it is common to find out companies that loose their market share and no longer have their dominance in their industry. At one occasion, these companies were predicted to last forever and help shape the future.

Then, reality became very different from general predictions. British Motorcycle Industry, for instance, was historically known to be the creator of the first’s motorcycles and pioneer in motorcycle industry. During the golden age, people think that the industry would grow forever and generate unlimited innovations for the global markets. However, in the beginning of the 20th century, the industry simply loses their existence. Concerning the rise and fall of a company, this paper will elaborate a `Strategic Audit` for the Ford Corporation.

The audit composes of eight sections such as current company performance, external and internal environment analysis, strategic alternatives and implementation.

Current Situation

Current performance

There are various factors contributors to the current downtrend of the Ford Motor Company such as the high employees’ benefits and pension costs, the increasing costs of fuels, and the decreasing business of manufacturing, and competitors’ better competitive advantages, to name a few .

However, the most recognized performance is inefficiency. It is said that Ford’s factories in North America are operating at only 86% capacity compared to 107% of their competition, Toyota Motor Corp. Management of Ford Motor Company stated that the downsizing program is crucial to address the excess capacity (Jani, 2002). In addition, Ford Motor Company also experiences declining sales in its main market, North America.

What should the controller of Lexsteel do in order to address the potential problems within the corporation? •The controller became aware of the potential problems with the accounts payable system because of the discussion made with the external auditors. •Each branch manager is given the authority to order materials and issue emergency purchase orders directly to the vendors. •Physical counts of raw materials are not performed since there is a cost-effective computerized perpetual inventory system. •COMPUTER RESOURCES:

The host computer mainframe at corporate headquarters is linked to the computers at each branch locations. Data transmission occurs between leased telephone lines between host computer and branch offices wherein it is maintained in an integrated database. The software also allows flexibility for managing user access and editing data input meaning there is no control over the software for it allows data editing without the proper authorization given. •PURCHASING PROCEDURES: The production orders and appropriate bills of materials needed are generated by the host computer at corporate headquarters.

While the purchase orders for raw materials are generated by the purchasing function and is mailed to the vendors which contain an instruction to the vendor that the materials should be directly delivered to the manufacturing plant. There is a control between the generation of production orders needed and the purchase orders issued to the vendor but it is not an exception in the occurrence of fraud. At receipt, the manufacturing plant examines and verifies the count against the packing slip and transmits the receiving data to the accounts payable at corporate headquarters.

Even though there is a proper segregation between custody and recording, still fraud may occur because of collusion. Also, each branch manager is given the authority to order materials and issue emergency purchase orders directly to the vendors. Fraud may also occur if collusion will be made by the branch manager and the vendor, with that proper control is a must. Since the company employs a cost effective computerized perpetual inventory system, physical counts of raw materials are not performed.

With that, the generation of production orders and purchase orders may be deceived because the count of raw materials that are needed are not matched with the proper physical count on its ending inventory. •ACCOUNTS PAYABLE PROCEDURES: Vendor invoices are mailed directly to the corporate headquarters and entered by the accounts payable personnel when received. This often occurs before the branch offices transmit the receiving data so the recorded vendor invoices are not properly matched with the receiving report. Uncertainties of amount may exist.

The checks and the payment listings are made by the accounts payable function and are transmitted to the treasurer’s office for signature and mailing to the payee. After validation, payment listings are returned to the accounts payable section for filing. In here, there is no proper control in the preparation and validation of checks and payment listings for the verification of it is not done which may result into collusion and creation of dummy payee made by the treasurer’s office and the accounts payable function.

Will the BSC program at First Commonwealth provide Board members with the information they need to fulfill their governance responsibilities? Does a board really need information beyond the results reported in a company’s monthly, quarterly and annual financial reports? To engage board member’s expertise much more around the strategic direction that the company is taking would require giving different types of information to board and having different discussions in board meetings, but the effort to revamp the meeting process and agenda would be well worth the trouble.

With only limited time available to review the information before the meetings and to perform their monitoring and governance functions, board members must receive the information that is most relevant to their governance responsibilities and that will enable them to more effectively participate in board meeting discussions. They should receive strategic, forward-looking information, rather than information that just summarizes the past, such as quarterly and annual financial statements. While boards still need to review past performance, that information should not take up 90 percent to 95 percent of a board meeting agenda as it so often does today. What’s more, company executives should make fewer, shorter, and more targeted presentation to board members and spend more time engaging them in interactive discussions.

For the board to monitor strategy, it first must understand and approve the proposed strategy. Subsequently, it needs information on how well the strategy is being implemented and what results the strategy is delivering. Directors cannot infer from quarterly financial statements whether the company has selected a sensible customer value proposition, is focused on the critical processes to meet customer and shareholder expectations, and is investing well in its people and information resources.

To help companies ensure that the board receives the right information about company strategy and performance, as well as feedback about the board’s own performance, we have integrated the Balanced Scorecard performance management system into corporate governance processes. The Balanced Scorecard strategy map portrays, on a single page, a company’s strategy. It includes the financial outcomes expected; performance with targeted customers and the organization’s differentiating value proposition; the critical internal processes that will create and deliver the value proposition; and whether the organization has the right people and systems in place and the right culture for its strategy to be successful.

How should the process start? Vice Chairman David S. Dahlmann, previously the president and chief executive officer at Southwest National Corp. in nearby Greensburg, Pennsylvania, which First Commonwealth had acquired in 1998, suggested that Trimarchi use something called a balanced scorecard to manage the company’s performance. Trimarchi read a couple of Harvard Business Review articles on the subject and decided that the highly focused, systematic one might even say methodical approach might be just the thing to revive First Commonwealth’s financial performance.

What are the pre-conditions for launching a Board BSC program? The retail and commercial banking units had historically operated with local “product push” strategies. Each department promoted its own product, such as a deposit account, a loan product, a credit card, a financial planning solution, or an insurance product. Each operating company scorecard was different. The different scorecards could not be aggregated together into a corporate scorecard, except for the financial measures, which tended to be common across the operating companies.

What cultural challenges arise in implementing the program with the Board? Once Trimarchi decided to adopt the scorecard approach, First Commonwealth’s executive team laid out its strategic goals. For example, it wanted to bank to consistently perform in the top quartile of its peer group. The team also proposed to turn Firs Commonwealth into a “world-class” sales organization that could grow organically. And the team wanted all of the bank’s employees to understand the strategy and be fully committed to its implementation. This approach has already provided several important benefits to First Commonwealth’s board. First, it isolates those areas where it is important for the board to perform well, including a variety of governance issues. While the company was developing its directors’ scorecard, it was also complying with both the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and a new set of listing standards from the New York Stock Exchange, which imposed significant requirements on the audit, governance, and compensation committees. Singer, who is president of the Allegheny Valley Development Corp. and, unlike Dahlmann, does not have a banking background, says scorecard has made it easier for her to understand what’s really going on inside the company.

“I get much clearer access to operational issues and strategy than I would from a packet of financials,” she says. “It enhances your ability to understand and monitor.” Indeed, the board used to monitor the company almost solely through its financial reports, which are historical in nature. Directors would rarely talk about the bank’s strategy, which is forward-looking by definition. “This has really pulled the organization together around strategy,” says Dahlmann. Since adopting the scorecard approach in 2003, the company has changed a significant aspect of its business strategy. Instead of emphasizing volume and production for its own sake, First Commonwealth wants to focus on building customer relationships that are profitable over the long term and has made changes to the enterprise scorecard to reflect this strategic shift.

How useful are the board and executive scorecards developed by FCFC? First Commonwealth has since launched a new business strategy that focuses on building profitable customer relationships rather than just pushing product, and the board is using its own scorecard to monitor the company’s progress and also to evaluate its own performance. Because it took the bold step of reengineering its governing practices in such a revolutionary way, First Commonwealth has earned Bank Director magazine’s Corporate Governance Award for 2005.  How effective was the new scorecard program in stimulating strategic discussions at the July 2003 board meeting? Do you agree with Dave Dahlmann’s comment (bottom of page 6) about a potential need for coaching on how to have productive board discussions around enterprise and board scorecards? How can enterprise, board and executive scorecards help First Commonwealth with external constituencies, such as shareholders, analysts, regulators, and potential acquisition targets?

The benefits of deploying a common value proposition and scorecard across homogeneous units are apparent. First, the process is simple. Once the corporate project team has determined the Strategy Map and associated Balanced Scorecard of measures and targets, these can quickly deployed throughout the organization. No further analysis or work at local, decentralized levels is required. Second, the company can easily communicate the common message through speeches, newsletters, Web sites, and postings on bulletin boards. Every employee in every location receives the same, consistent message.

Third, the common measures foster a spirit of internal competition. They facilitate internal benchmarking and best-practice sharing. With every unit following the same strategy and using the same metrics to measure the success of the strategy, the company can identify the leaders and the laggards in any particular measure and then share the information from the best to raise the performance of everyone else.

A board’s Balanced Scorecard program starts with approving the organization’s Strategy Map of linked strategic objectives and the associated enterprise Balanced Scorecard of performance measures, targets, and initiatives. This enterprise scorecard, of course, would have been created primarily for its traditional role of helping the CEO communicate and implement the corporate strategy throughout the organization. FCFC, which adopted the Balanced Scorecard to implement a new strategy focused on lifetime customer relationships. The Strategy Map clearly portrays the high-level financial objectives of revenue growth and productivity enhancements; the customer objectives of lifetime relationships and excellent service delivery; the critical internal processes of leveraging client information and selling bundled financial products and services tailored to individual customer need; and the learning and growth objectives of motivating and training employees in the new strategy and new way of selling. The Strategy Map has an accompanying Balanced Scorecard of measures, targets, and initiatives.

CEOs can use the enterprise scorecard for interactive discussions with their board about strategic direction and performance in strategy execution. Used in this way, the Balanced Scorecard plays a central role in governance by providing board members with essential financial and nonfinancial information to support their responsibilities for overseeing performance. Initially, the executive team brings its enterprise Strategy Map and Balanced Scorecard to the board for review and approval. Ideally, the review should done before these documents have been finalized, so that board members can contribute to discussions about strategic direction and positioning. The Strategy Map and BSC are the single most succinct and clear representations of the organization’s strategy. They enable the board to understand the strategy, and they provide the basis for the board’s evaluation of whether the strategy is capable of delivering long-term shareholder value at acceptable levels of business, financial, and technological risk. Once approved by the board, the enterprise Strategy Map and BSC, with supporting documents of the scorecards of the primary business and support units, become the primary documents distributed to the board in advance of meetings. For example, at FCFC, the first page of the board package is a color coded Strategy Map indicating those strategic objectives that are performing ahead of plan, at plan, and those are falling significantly short of plan.

These results become the agenda for board meetings, as the CEO engages directors in an interactive discussion about the company’s recent experiences in implementing the strategy. Through a process of continual reforecasting, board member are kept informed of management’s expectations for future performance of key financial measures and the company’s key value drivers. Members of the audit committee become familiar with the risk factors underlying the company’s operations and strategy, and this awareness helps to guide their decisions on financial reporting and disclosure. The second component of a board BSC program consists of executive scorecards that the full board and the compensation committee can use to select, evaluate, and reward senior executives. Executive compensation has been identified as an area where board performance has been most inadequate. Many observers of board processes now believe that board compensation committees fail to set executive compensation at levels appropriate to their responsibilities and performance. In the case of FCFC, exhibit 3 shows the highlighted Strategy Map objectives for the CEO of the bank, and shows the associated executive scorecard with representative measures and targets for the bank CEO.

Take the experience of First Commonwealth Financial, which operates in central and southwestern Pennsylvania. The map it developed for its new strategy (First Commonwealth Financial strategy map) called for the company to become more client-focused by offering its customers a tailored mix of financial solutions. While it was cascading the scorecard down to its operating units, the company also started to train its board in the Balanced Scorecard so that the strategy map and associated Balanced Scorecard of measures, targets, and initiatives could serve as the primary document for board reporting and deliberations. This enabled the board to approve the new strategy and remain continually engaged in the discussion of issues and actions required to support it. Next, First Commonwealth helped the board develop its own scorecard (First Commonwealth Financial’s board strategy map).

A board scorecard articulates clear objectives for the company’s shareholders and stakeholders; identifies the critical processes the board and its committees must perform to meet these external objectives; and highlights the board’s composition and skills, the information packages, and the meeting dynamics that enable the board to perform its critical processes effectively and efficiently. The board scorecard allows a company and its board to monitor themselves against predetermined objectives and targeted measures. Among the questions asked to measure board effectiveness: Are the meetings engaging and interactive? Rather than being passive and merely reactive, are board members actively getting involved in the discussions, challenging managers when necessary, and raising questions? Do board members have access to strategic information? Developing a reputation for an effective board, one that actively monitors and guides strategy, one that ensures that corporate financial and nonfinancial communication to investors highlights key value and risk drivers, and one that holds senior executives accountable for successful strategy formulation and implementation will give investors more confidence that the company is well positioned for future success. Such confidence in an effective governance process should enable a company to enjoy a higher valuation and earnings multiple because investors will see the future earnings stream as more sustainable and less risky.

• The Balanced Scorecard strategy map
• First Commonwealth Financial strategy map
• First Commonwealth Financial’s board strategy map