Games

The field of sports has definitely gained an unquestionable significance and obvious implications among people and within societies. Such relevant characteristics concerning the sports discipline have resulted in making it as an important topic to be presented in a literary work. This is because facts and stories about sports are essential to be discussed in order for its underlying principles and messages to be learned and ultimately realized by the public.

Sports field in today’s contemporary setting has achieved an apparent prominence. The said fame is attributed to the success of the quintessential sports event – the Olympics.

The advent and emergence of the Olympics have paved the way for recognition of various kinds of sports, their respective players or athletes and most importantly, the acknowledgement of the host countries where the said sports occasion is held every four years. The purpose, essence and valuable effects of Olympics to its host nation were what Susan Brownell (2008) effectively and successfully exemplified in her book “Beijing Games: What the Olympics Mean to China. ” The Brownell material provided the public with clear insight about the meaning and effects of the 2008 summer Olympics to China.

In the book, the author attained her goals and the narrative’s worth when they efficiently imparted to the readers the importance of hosting the Olympic Games to the country of China. In doing so, the “Beijing Games” book revealed that the meaning of Olympics to China lies on the reality that Olympics as Western civilization component can, in fact, possibly occur and affect the Far East culture. The attempt of Brownell and her book to emphasize the triumphant connection that transpired between Olympics and China led to the recognition of the beneficial impact of Olympic Games to China as well as the nation’s worldwide influence.

The book therefore served as a very inspiring and awakening literary work where the effect and how Olympics change its host country as well as how China impacted and altered the Olympic were eventually realized. Written by Brownell months before the 2008 summer Olympic Games in Beijing, the book “Beijing Games” is evidently topical to China in showing the nation as one of the powerful and influential countries in Asia or the Far East part of the world.

In general, the work acted as defender of the history and sports background of China as well as its political structure. This was carried out by the book with its specific criticism against the Western culture’s manner of interpreting and performing the Olympics (Brownell, 2008). “Beijing Games’ was not purely sports-oriented as several historical, political and social facts and events relating to China were discussed such as the 1989 Tiananmen Square tragic incident.

Hence, in organizing the book, the author made seven chapters that talked about a number of issues. These include the disparities between the respective historical encounters with Olympic sports or the physical endeavors of China and the rest of Western countries (Brownell, 2008). The book also presented how Chinese regarded their affiliation with the International Olympic Committee or IOC, the coverage made by Western media concerning China as a nation and its sports.

Foremost these topics, the Brownell book is to be significantly noted by its intriguing yet powerful presentation on whether Beijing is destined to change the Olympic’s history and nature or vice versa (Brownell, 2008). In order to understand and appreciate better the Beijing Games book, it is empirically essential to analyze how the material appeared and considered by the readers. Additionally, it is valuable to react to the book by discussing both its main and weak points. In responding to the book, the general concepts which pertain to China and the Olympics are first to be evaluated.

On the whole, the book is to be commended for its efforts at disclosing the ability of the Far East civilization to hold a global sports event such as the Olympics thereby making people realize that the quintessential sports activity should not be made exclusive to Western countries. Since China embarked on what seemed like a remarkable sports undertaking, the book asserted that it is but just practical to praise and commend the country for its firm principle and practice of bringing Olympics to the other side of the world.

Due to its emphasis on the capability of China, the book is to be equally acclaimed because the author has successfully disputed a misleading and incorrect notion about the sports history and background in China. The book then did well in making the world recognize that Beijing aspiration to host the 2008 summer Olympics is attributed to an enormous desire to overcome a lasting wrong impression about China’s inability towards sports or little or none at all connection with the said field.

In asserting China’s power and influence in sports, the book’s notable criticism against the Western control of what is projected to be a global sports activity has worked to the advantage of China and the field of sports in general. This is because through the book, the international public was provided with the fact that the country has, in fact, rich and original sports background or nature.

Based from the efforts of the author or the book, various political and social concerns that prevented sports from flourishing in China were presented, all aimed at ending the many forms of discriminations and misrepresentation on the function of Olympics sports in China and the apparent neglect done by Western cultures. Personally, I considered the book to be generally acceptable and commendable. While its organizational presentation appeared to be loosening, its principles and objectives made “Beijing Games” as one literary material worth reading and referred to other sectors of the public aside from sports.

This is because the book is supposed to impart important messages or lessons to anyone. That is, the field of sports is a universal discipline which needs to be equally adhered to and uphold by worldwide audience. The realization of the meaning of Olympics to China showed how the book ultimately achieved its very essence and goals. Reference Brownell, S (2008). Beijing Games: What the Olympics Mean to China. New York: Rowman & Littlefield

At first glance, the dim forecasts which surrounded the merger of adidas and Reebok seem to have come true. For three successive years after the merger, adidas AG has yet to fully benefit from the expected synergies of the two companies, with Reebok steadily posting a negative growth in net sales and profits.

In 2007, for instance, the company posted a measly 2. 1 percent sales growth, obviously dragged by reebok’s low performance. (Adidas AG[a], 2007) As predicted, the main problem facing adidas is adeptly managing a brand portfolio especially with two highly similar brands and product offerings.

On the other hand, Adidas is currently launching a new promotional campaign based on the 2008 Olympics which has the potential to increase Reebok’s presence in the Asian market and revive its faltering sales performance. Clearly, Adidas’ Olympics themed promotional campaign is bound to have a positive impact in raising the company’s brand equity especially in the Asian market. Undoubtedly, the Adidas Olympics campaign is a significant part of adidas’ global strategy of penetrating and dominating the Asian market.

This strategy is primarily targeted at capturing a significant market share by ensuring adidas’ presence and leadership in China, which is Asia’s biggest market. As the official sponsor of the Olympics in China, adidas is able to communicate to the Asian market the company’s corporate values of “a and a sporting lifestyle. ” (Adidas AG[a], 2007) According to the company, the Olympic Games campaign with the rallying cry “Together in 2008, Impossible is Nothing” is “about rallying the nation and showing how the entire Chinese nation is supporting their athletes and the Games themselves.

” (Adidas AG[b], 2007) Likewise, the Olympic campaign builds on Adidas’ earlier brand motto, “United by Sport” which reflects the company’s sporting culture. In this aspect, Adidas has an advantage over its rivals, particularly Nike, as adidas’ sponsorship of the Beijing Olympics not only associates the company with the symbolic meanings of sports and the Olympic Games but also complements Adidas’ forward integration strategy through the presence of 4000 adidas retail stores in China.

(The China Business Network, 2008) Hatch & Schultz (2001) note, for instance, that brand success is determined by the strategic alignment between company image, vision, and culture. (p. 5) Adidas’ participation in the Beijing Olympics guarantee a higher level of exposure and promotion of adidas retail outlets, while at the same time reinforcing adidas’ favorable image for Chinese and other Asian consumers. Meanwhile the primary threats to the success of adidas’ Olympics campaign are guerilla marketing tactics of rival companies and the controversies that prominent brands often attract from their participation in highly publicized events.

Svetlicic & Vial (2008) observe, for instance, that “although Adidas is the official TOP sponsor for the 2008 Olympic Games, 22 of China’s 28 teams will be wearing Nike during their athletic performances. ” (p. 19) Hence, adidas’ most stringent rival may be employing a more cost-effective way of branding the Olympics through direct athlete sponsorships. Likewise, Wagner (2008) warns that “the sponsors of the Beijing Olympics are pursuing a risky, double-pronged strategy” by highlighting their presence in the games with Chinese consumers while downplaying this in the West.

However, adidas’ Olympics sponsorships may be able to hurdle these challenges. For instance, Nike’s guerilla marketing tactics may backfire among Asian consumers who might interpret Nike’s branding efforts vis-a-vis its refusal to sponsor the Olympics as insincere and cheap. In contrast, sponsoring the Olympics differentiates Adidas culture and image from its rival Nike, as it could be seen as a sign of the company’s commitment to sports. Likewise, adidas does not have the same baggage that Nike has in terms of being embarassingly associated with sweatshop labor, which could insulate it from controversies.

Thus, it is clear that Adidas’ Olympic Games Campaign will succeed in establishing the company as the sporting goods leader not only in China but in the Asian market. Works Cited: Adidas AG[a] (2007). Annual Report 2007. Retrieved Aug. 13, 2008 from http://www. adidas-group. com/en/News/archive/2008/05_06_2008. asp Adidas AG[b] (2007). adidas China launches its olympic games campaign – “Together in 2008, Impossible is Nothing. ” Retrieved Aug. 13, 2008 from http://www. press. adidas. com/DesktopDefault. aspx/tabid-11/16_read-8434/ Hatch, M. J. & M. Schultz (Feb.

2001). Are the strategic stars aligned for your corporate brand? Harvard Business Review. Svetlicic, Z. & F. H. Vial (2008). The four fronts of the upcoming olympic battle. The Hub, 25:18-21. Wagner, W. (2008). Sponsors Find Olympic Connection a Double-Edged Sword. Retrieved Aug. 13, 2008 from http://www. spiegel. de/international/business/0,1518,552074,00. html The China Business Network (2008). Adidas and the Beijing 2008 Olympics. Retrieved Aug. 13, 2008 from http://thechinabusinessnetwork. com/Advertising-and-PR/adidas-and-The-Beijing-2008-Olympics. html

Advertising or advertising is a form of communication for marketing and used to encourage, persuade, or manipulate an audience (viewers, readers or listeners; sometimes a specific group) to continue or take some new action. Most commonly, the desired result is to drive consumer behavior with respect to a commercial offering, although political and ideological advertising is also common. This type of work belongs to a category called affective labor (Wayne et al. , 2008). Long before America was colonized, commerce flourished in the Old World where various methods were used to promote trade.

Notice boards placed outside houses indicated what could be had within. Wine cellars gave free samples in the streets. And actors paraded in the streets attempting to entice onlookers into theatres. The idea of commerce is very old indeed, and the means of inducing others into exchange relationships was not far behind in its development. (Advertising and Society Review) As we have seen, an advertisement can be very simple, and simple advertising, eg for events, has been around for as long as people have been trying to make money out of attracting a wider public.

Posters announcing an event were probably the first form of advertising, and these date back to gladiatorial contests in Ancient Rome. The first advertisements, however, which fit our full definition of advertising (ie paid for, occupying space in a media form) appear in newspapers in the seventeenth century. These tended to be straightforward statements of fact, without any fancy typesetting or illustrations, and were often indistinguishable from the news stories around them.

As the eighteenth century wore on, the Industrial Revolution gathered pace, and consumer goods became more sophisticated, manufacturers began to recognize that they needed to create a need for their products. Many items were new to consumers, or were new variations. Josiah Wedgewood, who manufactured pottery in England in the second half of the seventeenth century, was particularly good at creating new markets for his wares through advertising.

He brought cups and plates into the budget and households of middle class families – a much larger market than the wealthy aristocratic households who had previously been the only purchasers of dinner sets. The nineteenth century saw the skills of the advertiser come to the forefront, as ads began to mix images and words, and adopt the techniques of language and layout that we are familiar with today. With the proliferation of goods and services in this century, it became recognised that advertising was an important part of business, and should be dealt with by experts in the field.

Most of the advertising agencies that dominate the global markets today were founded in the latter part of the nineteenth century. During the early part of the twentieth century, governments began to recognise the power of advertising to get their message across to their ‘consumers’ (ie their citizens). This was particularly apparent during the First World War, when advertising was used to enlist soldiers and enforce government policies. (http://www. mediaknowall. com/gcse/advertising/advertising.

Advertising in Nigeria Advertising in Nigeria could be said to have started officially with Rev. Henry Townsend’s Newspaper called Iwe Iroyin in 1859. This particular newspaper carried advertisements on births and other social events. However, professional advertising is often said to have started in 1928 with the birth of West African Publicity Limited. Derived from UAC, it was established to cater for the needs of the colonial masters in Nigeria and West Africa.

This company later became an advertising agency in 1929 named Lintas with two other subsidiaries namely Afromedia, the outdoor medium and Pearl/Dean, the cinema arm. In the 1950’s new advertising agencies emerged. The medium of advertising was in its infancy in those days Federal Government owned National Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) where he only television stations that operated in the four regions of East, West, North and later Midwest. With the increase in practitioners, an agency regulatory body had to be formed to standardize their practices.

A meeting of the agencies held at Ebute Metta, Lagos in 1971 was to metamorphose into Association of Advertising Practitioners of Nigeria (AAPN) with the objective of protecting practitioners against unfavorable business. The association was later renamed Association of Advertising Agencies of Nigeria (AAAN) . The need to establish an institution Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON) by Decree 55 of 1988, later renamed Act 55 of 1988 by the civilian administration on November 1989, the first meeting of the association held somewhere in Ebute-meta, Lagos finally culminated to the birth of APCON.

In the 1990’s the sector came alive, it began to expand beyond advertising as full services public relation firms such as the Quadrant JSP and Quest were established. Also the era witnessed the mad rush of foreign affiliations. While some agencies sought this affiliation to help boost their human capital, others just joined the bandwagon just to feel among. Media Independent Practitioners Association of Nigeria (ADVAN), outdoor Advertising Association of Nigeria (OAAN) later emerged in 1928.

Today, Nigerian advertising industry, is making efforts to ensure that they measured up to global industry practice. Affiliations also avails them of technical knowhow in the areas of creativity and training. The industry has grown to shooting their adverts locally and injecting a lot of local content in their campaigns the regulatory body of advertising, APCON, is living up to expectations by the measures put in place to sanitize the industry. Of note is professionalizing the practice to ensure that quacks are reduced if not flushed out completely.

Again measures are adopted to ensure practitioners operate within set advertising standards. Sectional associations include Broadcasting Organisation of Nigeria (BON), Media Independent Practitioners Association of Nigeria (MIPAN), Advertisers Association of Nigeria (ADVAN), Newspapers proprietors Association of Nigeria (NPAN) and Outdoor Advertising Association of Nigeria (OAAN).

OUTDOOR ADVERTISING IN NIGERIA

Outdoor advertising in Nigeria has its humble beginning rooted in colonial history. Advertising development in Nigeria could be traced to about 1928 with the birth of West African Publicity Limited; a subsidiary of the United African Company (UAC). The company was set up to cater for the marketing activities of UAC in both Nigeria and other West African countries as at that time. The company was later to transform to a full-fledged advertising firm in 1929 and was named Lintas with two other subsidiaries, Afromedia, the outdoor medium and Pearl/Dean, the cinema arm.

Then headed by expatriates, the companies were to enjoy a monopoly for a long time. It was not until 1950s when other advertising agencies started to emerge on the scene. Ogilvy, Benson and Martha (OBM) and Grant were later to join the fray to form the big three in the industry (Saleem et al. , 2010). In the 50s, other sizes of structures like 8 sheets, 1b sheet and few bulletin boards at Iddo were erected for such clients as Nigeria Tobacco company, Nigeria breweries and Langucy stores. The history of outdoor is the history of advertising in Nigeria.

What has evolved into advertising practice today started formerly around 1928 with the establishment of a UAC subsidiary known as the West African Publicity, whose major activity was producing outdoor advertising for UK companies based in Nigeria. The business has since grown over the years to become a multibillion naira outfit (Tirmizi et al. , 2009). In 1957 all billboards on railway property was landed to MRS Freemont. Railways having set up an outdoor advertising department in 1956. In July 1958, Messrs J. W Mills, Chairman and Managing Director of Mills and Rockleys, a U. K based outdoor advertising company and Mr. G.

C Campbell of Franco Signs Limited visited Ibadan, Kaduna and Enugu with the writer for on-the-spot assessment of the of the country’s potentials. A year later Afromedia Nigeria limited was registered precisely on the 28th October, 1959. West Africa publicity which was the first outdoor changed its name to Lintas Nigeria limited with the new management staff in Afromedia limited Mr. D. M. Casey. Outdoor started in earnest and then the first 40 sheet was erected at the junction of Apapa road and denfor street with number LA 1 and a 16 sheet board was erected on the wall of 4 custom sheet corner of phoenix lane numbered LA2.

The Manager called M. D. Redman brought in Afromedia in about 1961. Proper documentation of all billboards giving such details as date of erection, landlord’s name, address of billboards, annual payable to landlord or local government council and campaign in 1963. Mr. Kelly of Afromedia commission media research, which result gave credence to the posters medium in Nigeria in terms of coverage during the same period.

Mr. Kelly spear-headed the development of outdoor industry by bringing clients that patronized outdoor intensively together to form an associate with the outdoors companies Afromedia and Railways with name as Outdoors Advertising Contractors of Nigeria (OACAN). However, during this period, there were other outdoors companies, like Railway Advertisement Service, Nigeria Advertising Service (NAS), Wilmer Publicity Gilbertson Advertising Limited, Nigeria Commercial and Industries Enterprise Publicity Associates of Nigeria limited. The first posters printing in Nigeria was done in 1962, by Afromedia.

The company was late sold to the Nigeria Management Staff in March, 1974 (BECAME INDIGENISED). During the period, new outdoors advertisement structures were introduced. Sheet unit in 1979, Jewel machine 1989, Timed in 1990, Rooftop in 1990, Directional Street Signs in 1990. UAC West Africa publicity limited set up in 1928, around 1959 it was splinted into two – Afromedia and Lintas. Outdoor Advertisement Contractor of Nigeria came into being in 1954 and the name was changed to Outdoor Adversting Association of Nigeria (OAAN) in 1986 to reflect both in outlook and practice.

Outdoors is the oldest advertising medium in Nigeria, though the print media was few years ahead of outdoors. Outdoor advertising however has witnessed its challenges over the years and in what looked like the major steps to address the problem facing the outdoor sub-sector of the advertising industry, stakeholders in the industry, including government, practitioners and advertisers have identify areas of conflict between practitioners and regulatory agencies.

Among other things, there is a reviewed that outdoor advertising practice and regulatory environment in the country and charted the way forward for a thriving and mutually rewarding outdoor advertising industry. Despite the challenges faced by the sector, there are over 165 outdoor firms still existing in the market, managing over 21,000 boards, pan-Nigeria (Latif and Abideen, 2011). The first act of billboard demolition took place during the Raji Rasaki military regime. This action marked the beginning of billboard extermination in the country. In 2006, there was massive demolition of billboards in Abuja.

The exercise was aimed at sanitising the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), but the resultant effect was the agony it caused some outdoor agencies, some even filed for bankruptcy. In 2007, Lagos State Signage and Advertising Agency (LASAA) went on a crusade against billboards in the state (Saleem et al. , 2010). Today, out of home (outdoor) advertising has gone beyond rusty poles signage in Nigeria. The major turnaround featured segmented scrolling billboards, unipoles, ultra waves, crossway billboards (gantries) backlit, Hexa signs and the latest of them is the light emitting diodes LED screen billboards.

These evolutionary billboards designs are meant to make the outdoor advertising functions more effective, less stressful yet delivering value for money (Latif and Abideen, 2011). These latest electronically controlled billboards could be managed from the agencies office without any stress. Another advantage and a delight to clients is that it could also be monitored by the clients from their offices removing the hassle of going to spy on a billboards post for monitoring. Just like other digital innovations, this one also comes with accuracy, ease, speed and trend.

This new technology provides aerial beautification (Saleem et al. , 2010). Outdoor advertising has its challenges. Among these challenges are conflicting regulations and multiple taxation, huge debts and demolition of their billboards. In the face of all these, the practitioners are undaunted because outdoor advertising business is still booming in Nigeria. Issues in Outdoor Advertising in Nigeria Clients Indebtedness Regulatory Issues Technological Issue Clients Indebtedness.

Clients’ indebtedness remains one of the issues that has plagued the outdoor advertising industry in Nigeria, according to a report by Bernard Okhakume in the business column of the Nations newspaper on the 10th of February, 2013, “Consequent upon their (Outdoor Advertising Agents) debt burden, some of these service providers have closed shop. Over 70% of them today are so heavily indebted they cannot run their offices. At the close of business year 2012, some of them simply disengaged their staff and opted for one-man show pending when situation improves.

The situation tends to be as a result of the fact that clients can simply take their wares to other practitioners after being indebted to one agency. However a strong association between practitioners can help to reduce this, In India, the Indian Outdoor Advertising Association is so strong; it clearly states its membership is well over 78% of outdoor corporate service providers in the country. For a country almost the size of a continent, such achievement is highly commendable. Its size enables the association so much power to establish and enforce practice rules, code and ethics.

The members are sure to be protected against system abuse. It is not unlikely that clients do owe outdoor agencies in India, but for a scenario such as prevalent in our local market to play out there, is certainly not permissible (http://thenationonlineng. net/new/againoutdoor-advertising-clients-indebtedness/). Regulatory Issues Outdoor advertising regulation has a long-standing tradition of controversy (Charles R. Taylor and John c. Taylor, Journal of public policy& marketing (http://www. jstor. org/stable/30000175). The need to curb haphazard and chaotic outdoors practice in the country led to the emergence of Regulatory bodies.

However Practitioners have continued to complain over this “Strangulation” as some referred to it. APCON chairman, Mr. Lolu Akinwumi, at the 2012 edition of the annual advertising forum organised by the Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON) under the theme, ‘Outdoor Advertising Regulation and Control in Nigeria’. said the out-of-home is a major component of advertising practice, which in recent years had suffered some decline, especially as a result of different regulatory regimes, resulting in high costs of operations for practitioners.

However, observers have noted that the regulation of outdoor agencies by the government is not a one sided coin, “The effort to check the indiscriminate deployment of outdoor posters, banners, signs and billboards across the state is finally paying off, for example a drive through Lagos state will see an array of safely and beautifully positioned Boards, it’s almost as if you are in a Western Country”, said Omoba Segun Adewale of Proview Advertising agency.

In Nigeria, following the establishment of The Lagos State Signage and Advertisement Agency as established by the Lagos State Structures for Signage and Advertisement Agency Law, 2006 and the Amendment thereto a body that is responsible for regulating and controlling outdoor advertising and signage displays in Lagos State (http://www. lasaa. com/who-we-are/#sthash. bTsdXaKf. dpuf). Several states are beginning to establish state regulatory agencies to help manage an industry that either to as been a “free for all affair”.

Technological Issue Practitioners in developed economies such as South Africa, United Kingdom and the United States of America (to mention a few), the challenging issues are not indebtedness and member business shut down due to clients’ indebtedness. Practitioners in those economies are now focused on innovative creativity. They are rather challenged by issues such as technological advancement in outdoor advertising practice, research and strategic planning and global innovativeness (not begging to be paid for job done three years back).

In Nigeria, aside from Lagos state that is always on its toes to keep up with modern technology in the field of outdoor advertising, practitioners are still battling with technology in Nigeria, some have attributed this to the cost of having technology especially when clients are not willing to pay the appropriate fee. Despite all the issues raised however, it is interesting to note that over 165 outdoor firms still existed in the market, managing over 21,000 boards, pan-Nigeria ( http://www. thisdaylive. com/articles/charting-the-future-of-outdoor-advertising/120264/).

HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE OF OUTDOOR ADVERTISING

Humans have been creating wall art since the time we lived in caves. What the wall art was used for, and at what point it crossed from artistic display to marketing for a business is an interesting question. During the time of the ancient Egyptians the government was using images carved into stones to post the laws and regulations of the land. This carving into stones may, in a way, have been the oldest form of outdoor advertising (Mick, 1986). The modern-day billboard advertising approach can trace its roots to lithography, which was an invention of the late 1790s.

The genius of this invention is that it made it possible to mass produce as many posters and announcements as a business needed. There was one major limitation to the outdoor billboards being produced at the time, and that was the quality of the posters; they did not stand up when exposed to the elements for prolonged periods of time. The circuses were one of the first businesses to profit from this new form of mass marketing, and so outdoor advertising underwent a major innovation which brought us the modern billboard advertising that we know today.

The earliest use of the billboard by the circuses dates back to 1835. Prior to the invention of lithography, billboard copy could only be produced on a very small scale which made it significantly less effective as a marketing tool than it is today (Koc, 2002). The true test of a new product is how well it holds up after being introduced to the market for the first time. Several prominent forms of advertising have come into the advertising world and created whole new marketplaces without rendering the traditional outdoor billboard obsolete.

It’s a true sign that traditional outdoor billboards are here to stay. Despite the rise of radio, television and internet advertising, the outdoor advertising industry remains stronger than ever. The modern-day billboard, like the outdoor advertising industry as a whole, are a testament to how simple, sturdy, and flexible marketing solutions can endure despite rapid innovation in marketing campaign strategies and emerging technologies (Bittlingmayer, 2008).

REGULATION OF OUTDOOR ADVERTISING IN NIGERIA

Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON), established by Act No. 93 of 1992 is the regulatory body of all advertising practitioners. However, Outdoor Advertising Agency Association of Nigeria (OAAN) was the regulatory body responsible for regulating outdoor advertising in Nigeria before the various State government took over with Lagos state pioneering this move with the establishment of LASAA. The pre-LASAA era saw Outdoor Advertising Association of Nigeria, OAAN, performing the dual roles of a regulator and a trade association.

The OAAN era attracted more criticisms than accolades because of the unstructured environment and the manner in which operators went about business. It was an era when every tom, dick and harry could set up an outdoor advertising agency without due registration and process. In 2006 Lagos state set the pace with LASAA and other States followed in this line of action and introduced their state agencies to regulate and control the business.

The states include Kano State, the state recruited the services of Chris Park Marketing Services (CPMS), Oyo State has the Oyo State Signage and Advertisement Agency (OYSAA), in Ogun State, the Ogun State Signage and Advertising Agency (OGSAA) is doing the job while in Ekiti State, the Ekiti State Signage and Advertisement Agency (EKSAA) is responsible for the job in Rivers State its Rivers State Signage Agency while The Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, gave the responsibility to Afromedia, others are Cross river state sign board and signage agency (CRISSA), Kwara State Signage and Advertisement Agency (KWASAA), Anambra State Signage and Advertisement Agency (ANSAA), Bauchi State Signage and Advertisement Management Agency (BASSAMA), Kano State Signage and Advertisement Agency (KASAA), Ondo State Signage and Advertisement Agency (OSSAA) and Rivers State Signage Agency amongst others. While States like Anambra and Akwa Ibom states are on the verge of setting up and/or leasing the business to consultants.

Ogun State attempted to adopt LASAA’s style but could not due to political reasons. Ekiti State, the EKSAA never found its footing due to lack of political will.

The state government’s collaborative effort with LASAA collapsed because some stakeholders in Ekiti felt it was an imported idea. Oyo State is currently enjoying smooth services as OYSAA sanitisation exercise got little or no resistance. However, the Director General of OYSAA, Yinka Adepoju, has lamented operators and brand owners cooperation on the area of levy and dues remittance, which, he claimed, is not encouraging. Kano State took an extreme measure in its effort to enforce the new rules when CPMS in conjunction with the state’s Urban Planning & Development Authority pulled down over N300 million worth of billboards and hoardings. The regulation and control activities in the state became the most draconian.

The pricing of billboards in the state by CPMS is said to be outrageous despite the fact that Kano is not a commercially viable city for advertisers compared to the situation in Lagos State. While stakeholders have applaud the state government’s initiative to beautify and modernize the city, they have also decried the excessive rate and undue grandstanding of the concessionaire. Investigations showed that members of Outdoor Advertising Association of Nigeria (OAAN) are groaning over their inability to pay the new rate while advertisers are reluctant to accommodate new prices as budgets had already been planned before the new price regime in the state.

The FCT, Abuja, is the new entrant into the outdoor advertising business and the intent of the FCT Administration is clear. For it, it is all about revenue and it has concluded plans to raise the sum of N3 billion from outdoor advertisements annually to augment its Internally Generated Revenue (IGR). The FCT Minister, Senator Bala Abdulkadir Muhammed, made this disclosure in Abuja during an interactive session with outdoor advertisement stakeholders, where it announced Afromedia as the concessionaire to the project. The Minister restated that the FCT Administration is working towards avoiding visual assault and pollution caused by random advertisements and signages on the streets and neighbourhood of the 8000 square kilometers of the Federal Capital Territory.

The state regulatory agencies often been referred as interventionist-agencies have the statutory obligations of regulating the practice of outdoor advertising in the country and are expected to enhance the beauty of the environment, which will serve as a big plus to aesthetics. The agencies have ensured that the stakes are higher now, promoting healthy competition and has tremendously repositioned the outdoor advertising industry. The stakes are higher now, unlike in the past, what we have now as billboards can compete favorably with others anywhere in the world. Besides, the environment is saner and cleaner, which serves as a major attraction to investors.

As good as it all seems to have been since 2006 for the state government regulators some new challenge continue to emerge and pose itself as a problem, it’s the issue of the Police, Military and other FG establishments in the state practicing outdoor by default by putting up illegal outdoor signage’s. The question out there is are there unwritten laws that permits these set of institutions to regulate and control the signage industry or is there a bill underway that will enable them to FASCINATING FACTS FROM THE EVOLUTION OF ADVERTISING INFORMATION ABOUT BILLBOARDS IN NIGERIA:

1. Outdoor advertising is the oldest and most basic type of advertising.
2. More people can view one particular billboard than AIT Television Station. The fact remains that the billboard must be located in a high traffic area.
3. Billboards are viewed nearly 24 hours a day, 7 days a week by billions of different people.
4. OAAA did a study in 1999 that says people glance at 70% of the billboards they pass. Of these billboards, 63% are actually read. Most other types of media cannot compare to this and that is the fact. Reach Billboards in Lagos reaches 80% of all Lagos population.
5. Television commercials (which ranks #1) reaches 85% of all Lagos population. Other type of Media.
6. The average person must see a television commercial at least seven times before they actually remember viewing the commercial.
7. Outdoor Advertising costs 80% less than television advertising, 60% less than newspaper ads, and 50% less than radio advertisements.
8. Repetition is extremely helpful when you are trying to increase your product awareness, or when you simply want to get your message across to millions of people. This task can easily be accomplished with billboard campaigns.
9. Outdoor advertising makes it extremely easy to target, or not to target, a specific market.
10. Billboards are usually the final message we see right before we purchase an item. So why not direct everyone to your product? Driving Trends.
11. People are spending more time in their vehicle than they do to read the paper and watch the news! For example, the traffic in Lagos, Nigeria makes it possible for you to spend about six (6) hours on the road to work and back.
12. OAAA did a study in 1999 that says people glance at 70% of the billboards they pass. Of these billboards, 63% are actually read. · How do billboard rates compare to other types of advertising?
13. Outdoor advertising has a lower cost per thousand (CPM) than any other type of advertising. Outdoor ads cost 80% less than television commercials, 60% less than newspaper ads, and 50% less than radio ads.
14. Billboards have been rated higher than any other type of advertising for their ability to communicate ideas at the lowest possible prices.
15. Outdoor advertising has a larger audience than any other type of advertising. Outdoor advertising is the only type of media that has constant exposure.No other type of advertising allows your message to be displayed 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
16. Ads on billboards are free to consumers; you do not have to buy a magazine, cable television, or a newspaper to see your advertisement (http://victorariyibi. blogspot. com/2007_08_01_archive. html).

Other facts about advertising:

• Advertising has existed as far back as 3000 BC!
• 63% of consumers need to hear company claims 3-5 times before they actually believe it.
• You’re more likely to survive a plane crash than click a banner ad.
• The first newspaper ad was in 1650 to offer a reward for 12 stolen horses.
• The first professional advertising agency was launched in 1841 in Philly.
• Advertising first became an academic discipline in 1900 at Northwestern.
• Unilever & JWT first partnered in 1902, creating the longest relationship in advertising history.
• A baby formula brand was the first to sponsor a blimp (in 1902).
• The first ad agency to launch a product was JWT on behalf of P&G in 1911, for their product Crisco.
•  The first radio ad spot was offered in 1922: $100 for ten minutes
•  In 1929, Lucky Strike spent $12.3M on ads, the most in history to that point to promote just one product.
•  The first TV ad was for Bulova Clocks & reached 4000 TVs (http://blog. hubspot. com/the-history-of-advertising-war-for-consumer-attention-slideshare ).

Team sports have been associated with the development of not only children but even adults. Still, some critics consider team sports as not always beneficial to children especially when “winning” is emphasized more than having fun (Hedstrom and Gould, 2004). Nevertheless, the in adolescent development is usually centered on the adaptive skills associated with adolescent team sport athletes.

Team sport refers to games or sports played by groups of different teams, involving specific rules, to achieve a specific goal through interaction and collective effort among members of the same team.

Although it also involves rules and the achievement of specific objectives, team sport is highly distinguishable from individual sports in terms of the collective effort required from its members. Unlike individual sports, team sports do not emphasize individual excellence. Examples of team sports include: soccer, basketball, football, baseball, hockey and volleyball. Individual sports include: tennis, swimming, boxing and martial arts (Team sport, 2006).

It is important to note that different team sports are different from each other in terms of rules, which also makes each one different from another in terms of the activities involved and how winners are determined. In darts for example, the players and opponents do not necessarily have to play at the same time and at the same board (Team sport, 2006).

In this game, players are not required to play simultaneously but as with all games, the score is what matters and winners are determined by the summation of scores of players of the same team. Any sport as long as it involves collective effort among team members is considered a team sport. This exact nature of team sports is believed to help in the development of its players.

This paper aims to give an overview of how team sports contribute to the development of the middle school adolescent. In so doing, principles on middle school psychology are integrated to better understand the relationship of team sports and development.

The human environment, like the wild, involves so much conflict, chaos and problems which may arise by interrelationships between different factors that may or usually may not be controlled by man. But unlike the wild, whose inhabitants; main goal is basic survival, humans are equipped with reason which afforded them freedom.

And with this freedom lies the responsibility and the requirement for the people to think creatively and more competitively, making survival more complex for humans. This can be seen in many different settings in man’s social environment such as the home, school and the workplace. In other words, the human environment is filled with stress and it is important for everyone to be able to handle it effectively (Sports and Teenagers: Can Parents Handle it Effectively? 2006).

It is impossible for any one person not to experience stress in his entire life. Stress is natural and ubiquitous. A person, no matter how sheltered and protected he may be will experience being stressed at some point in his life.

Informer an advertisement for Old Spice caught my eye.

The reason for this was because it was large scale, in your face, and took up two pages. The way that this ad established and reinforced the brand name was very clever. The ad used very neutral, warm welcoming colors such as dark orange, and blue with bold white text. This seems to be a typical old spice ad in my eyes. I say this because the way old spice portrays its self is humorous but at the same time, without a doubt seriously manly.This is an obvious point, because in the add the man is covered in the old spice foaming body wash while riding a giant crow away from the sunset while being struck by lighting. This makes a very bold point that it is the manly of manliest body washes.

This is apparent because not any average man could tackle riding a giant crow as well as a substantial lightning strike all while covered in a foamy blanket of body wash. When it comes to the question of what I think they are trying to create, I believe they are trying to portray this superior man of men image.I am able to link this ad with others that I have seen for old spice in the same manner. Such as a commercial I remember about “the man that your man could smell like” the slogan of the ad is that “We’re not saying this body wash will make your man into a romantic millionaire jet fighter pilot, but we are insinuating it. ” This reinforces my point that the company Old Spice is trying to create a superior image that their body wash represents. Back to the magazine ad, I feel that creating this superior image targets young as well as older men.They appear cool to a younger age group while also targeting a more middle age group that represents everything they could have been in their lives, but can be by using their body wash so as insinuated in the commercial I talked about previously.

The placement of this ad in the magazine is more towards the end. The ad itself is outlined by a white border, which complements the bold large white text. The man riding the massive bird takes up one page while a close up of the mans face takes up the other half.This is important because I believe that they are trying to show what the man is capable of by showing him riding the bird while holding the body wash, while on the other half of the ad they show a close up of his face, which displays confidence. You can tell this by his facial expression. He seems sympathetic but also sincere at the same time. While on the other hand he is riding the bird with a yelling face, such as athletes do when they are getting “pumped” up.

This is relevant because this is an NFL endorsed ad.I believe that this can also portray two sides to the body wash, such as confident and outgoing but also compassionate. This may also have to do with the scent “showtime” that they are advertising. Which probably has to do with meaning business. This ad influences me, and attracts me to their product because I feel that this scent will make me feel as if I am more confident and ready for business, or “showtime. ” This is something that is important to many people as well as me.If I am feeling good about myself and how I smell, I may be more apt to be more outgoing and in a better mood throughout my day or night.

I feel like people are looking for products that give them more drive. I say this because that is something that I look for, such as more appeal and confidence. Overall, I believe that this ad is trying to impose the “coolness” that everyone wants. They are able to do this by showing two different sides of a person through this two page-pning ad designed around the scent “showtime. This is represented through the warm subtle colors surrounding the ad, with the popping lightning bolt striking the man and the body wash bottle in the background. Which is displaying the more confident outgoing side of the scent. These are important characteristics, because when it comes to smelling right it is very important.

People do not want over dominating scents, they want scents that attract others, and give them a new sense of achievement and accomplishment like old spice portrays this scent to be.

In the present age, sports are more and more popular over the world because it is not only a good way to leisure but also can help people to keep fit. So, the most famous sports party the Olympic games become more important in people’s lives.

The Olympic games will be held evey four years and people all over the world will enjoy the glamor of sports during that time. Then, who will host the next Olympic games becomes very important and many countires want to host the Olympic games. London will host the 2012 Olympic games.The issue of which it is good or bad to be the national host becomes a hot issue. Some people assert that there are more advantasges than disadvantages to be the host. At the same tme, many people argue that it is bad for national host. In this essay, I will discuss the benefits and drawbacks for host nations in the last 20 years.

Main body Some people support that there are more advantages than disadvantages give their reasons as follows. At first, it can improve the facilities of the host country.For example, the 2008 Beijing Olympic games, the main cities of Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjing, Hongkong, Qingdao, Shenyang have got a lot of benefits. These cities have built many sports centers and changed many old things to new. At second, it improve the financial income of the host country. During the Olympic period, people all over the world go to see Olympic games, it makes a sharp increase of the need of common day life commodities and services. The huge numbers of tourists increase the tourism of the country.

At the same time, there will be many opportunities for investors to invest because the Olympic games. These are all increase the financial income of host country. At third, it also has positive effect on the economy of host country. As the statistics collected by Chinese government, from 2001 that has confirmed China would host the 2008 Olympic games to 2008, the direct effect on economy caused by Olympic games lead the GDP of China increased about 0. 3% to 0. 4% every year. The Olympic games is the most big world sports party until now, it needs best equipments and products to ensure success of Olympic games.

So, the technology and products of host country will be better, it leads the operate structure and techlogy more efficiency. After that, the Olympic games can create more opportunities to find a job. As the Olympic games, the city will add more modern things to made the city more beautiful, so there will need a lot of people in different jobs, not only quantity but also quality. Moreover, it can improve people’s knowledges and people will be enthusiatic on sports. More and more people will be interested in sports, it is very good for people’s health.During Olympic, people must learn English to communicate with foreigners, it is very good. At last, it can show this country to the world and improve the status of the host country.

During the Olympic games, people all over the world see games by TV, the world focus on the host country and city, people will know the country and it is intangible assets. Money cannot buy. The other side of coin argue that there are more drawbacks to host Olympic games. At first, the host country must bulid many sports centre and it will cost a lot of money.And these money can be used for other things. For example, the government spend 280 billions on 2008 Beijing Olympic games. If China had not host the Olmpic games, these money can be invested to West of China to make the people live more comfortable.

After that, there are too many people in the host country during that period and it may harm the environment. Because there are so many people, there will be more rubbish than before, just like daily life commodities, the need of plastic bags and so on. People who smoking can harm the environment direcly.There are also many people travell around the host country, we cannot guarantee that everyone do not throw rubbish on floor. Moreover, after the Olympic games, the utilization of these sports centre and facilities that built for Olympic games will decrease. Some facilities are creat only for Olympic games will be waste and a research by China government has showed that the utilization has decreased more than a half after the 2008 Beijing Olympic games. As the experience of the last 20 years, it will cause inflation because of the increase of so many sports centre.

Another reason can be that Olympic games will leads more pressure and stress on traffic. Because there are so many people, so there may be always traffic jam. At last, it will have a strength stress on employment after Olympic games. After Olympic games, some people will stay on their original job. However, most of them will find new job. Many people will be unemployment. Conclusion In a word, we can see there are both many benefits and drawbacks for host nations.

In my opinion, I strongly commit to the notion that there are more benefits than drawbacks.To be a host, it must renew the host city and makes the city more beautiful and modern. They cycle of host country’s economy will be better and financial income will increase. It makes the GDP grow fast. The unemplyment rate decrease and more people have jobs. More people interested in sports because the impact of Olympic games. Olympic games can also increase the status of the host country.

As the reasons, I think there are more advantages than disadvantages for host nations in the last 20 years.

Introduction

The Game Group plc is a UK based Investment Company. It is specialised in the retail of video games and personal computers through retail outlets and eCommerce sites (Google Finance, 2013). On the 21st of March 2012, the company officially filed for administration as it became evident that it could no longer continue as a going concern (Robinson, 2012; BBC, 2012). Past experience suggests that accounting has contributed to many cases of corporate failure. This was the case with the failures of Enron, WorldCom and many other companies. The objective of this paper is to discuss how accounting contributed to the failure of The Game Group plc. The paper begins by presenting theoretical and empirical evidence on how accounting can contribute to corporate collapse in section 2; section 3 discusses how accounting contributed to the collapse of the Game Group by making reference to the evidence presented in section 2; section 4 provides a summary and conclusion of the paper.

Accounting and Corporate Collapse

Creative accounting has been cited as one of the principal causes of corporate collapse. Companies like Enron, WorldCom and Tyco International filed for Bankruptcy under Chapter 7 as a result of poor accounting. The managers of these companies were involved in lies, deceit, cover-up and above all shoddy accounting, which could not be sustained for long. As a result, the share prices of the companies were bound to fall and thus the companies themselves were bound to file for bankruptcy under chapter 7 of the US Bankruptcy Code.

Creative accounting involves the use of accounting techniques that may or may not be in compliance with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAPs) but that certainly deviate significantly ethical standards (Ghosh, 2010). When involved in creative accounting, managers often make use of novel approaches to reporting income so as to influence the outcome of contractual agreements that are determined by financial reports (Ghosh, 2010). Creative accounting involves systematically misrepresenting the true earnings and asset values of companies. Creative accounting has been responsible for a number of high profile cases of corporate failures such as Enron, WorldCom, Adelphia and Tyco International.

One of the most commonly used forms of creative accounting is earnings management. Earnings management occurs when management employ judgment in financial reporting and transaction structuring with the intent of altering financial information either to influence the outcome of contractual agreements that depend on financial reports or to mislead interested parties about the performance, changes in financial position and financial position of the company (Healy and Wahlen, 1999). Earnings management represents “a purposeful intervention in the external financial reporting process, with the intent of obtaining some private gain” (Schipper, 1989). Most of the figures in the balance sheet and income statement are based on accrual accounting which arises because not all transactions are settled in cash at the time they are entered into. Therefore, accrual accounting must be used to record assets and liabilities that arise as a result of the time difference between the inception of the transaction and the time the transaction is settled. This has resulted in the use of discretionary accounting. Managers employ discretionary accrual accounting to satisfy their selfish desires (Heemskerk and Va der Tas, 2006). The use of discretionary accruals is considered earnings management when managers employ it to influence the share price of their company or to obtain some other benefit that is of a personal nature.

Earnings management has been an important subject of debate in the accounting literature with most studies focusing on understanding the factors that motivate managements to manae earnings. A bonus-maximisation theory has thus been suggested which states that managers manager earnings to maximise bonuses. For example, evidence suggests discretionary accruals are employed by managers to maximise short-term bonuses (Healy, 1985). Similar evidence is suggested in Gaver et al. (1995) and Hotlthausen et al. (1995) who observe that managers make use of accrual accounting to reduce earnings when earnings are above their maximum bonus level. However, such accruals are not employed when the minimum bonus level has not been attained (Holthausen et al., 1995; Gaver et al. (1995).

An income smoothing theory has also been suggested which argues that managers like to observe a smooth pattern in earnings. Consequently a number of accounting techniques are employed to ensure that earnings are smooth over time. Gaver et al. (1995) provide evidence that is consistent with the smoothing theory. In addition, Guidry et al. (1999) and Tao (2007) observe that earnings management is carried out because managers do not want significant differences to occur between actual and predicted earnings.

It has also been argued that managers hate reporting a decline in earnings. Consequently, accounting techniques are employed to ensure that the change in earnings over time is positive. Burgstahler and Dichev (1997) provide evidence that is consistent with this incentive by observing that managers tend to emphasise an increase in earnings in the Annual Report Section titled: “Management Discussion”. In Tenneco’s 1994 Annual Report for example, the CEO Dana Mead stated as follows: “I must emphasise that all our strategic actions are guided and measured against this goal of delivering consistently high increases in earnings over the long term” (Burgstahler and Dichev, 1997: 99). In addition Eli Lilly laid so much emphasis which lasted for a period of 33 years before being broken. Some firms emphasise the importance of increasing earnings during press releases or the announcement of earnings. The CEO of Bank of America for example, Richard Rosenberg in 1994 stressed the importance of increasing earnings in a press release by stating that “Increasing earnings per share was our most important objective for the year” (Burgstahler and Dichev, 1997: 100).

The foregoing indicates that managers are more inclined to reporting an increase in earnings rather than a decrease. Barth et al. (1995) for example suggests that firms tend to maintain an upward trend in earnings so as to improve valuation ratios such as the price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio, the price-to-book (P/B) ratio, etc. P/E and P/B ratios are important in determining how the market will value the price of the equity of a firm (Penman, 2007). Therefore, managers will be motivated to maintain high P/E and P/B ratios through earnings management so as to benefit from a high market valuation of their firms’ equity. Similar evidence is provided in DeAngelo et al. (1996) who observe that a distortion in a firm’s upward trend in earnings results in significant declines in the stock price.

Accounting and the Collapse of the Game Group

Section 2 above focused on understanding how accounting can lead to corporate collapse. The evidence shows that managers tend to make use of creative accounting techniques which results in an inflation of earnings and thus the share price. Given that the share price does not reflect its intrinsic value, the long-run effect is a significant decline in the share price with the ultimate effect being the collapse of the company. This section is concerned with whether there was any use of creative accounting in the Game group which led to its collapse. So far, the evidence shows that accounting had nothing to do with the collapse of the group. Rather, the company’s collapse can be attributed to a variety of other factors including poor strategic planning, declining video game industry, and the cyclical nature of the video games industry .

3.1 Poor Strategic Planning

It was rather, poor strategic planning on the part of the company that resulted in its collapse. The company failed to anticipate and plan for changes in its external environment. The company continued using strategies that were no longer relevant in the context of its external environment. In addition, the Game group had a poor pricing strategy. Prices of Game Group’s games were too high compared to prices of competitors such as Amazon and Play. Many customers are migrating from store shopping to online shopping. According to Administrators at Price Water House Coopers, Game Group’s collapse can be attributed to its ambitious overseas expansion and the closure of proximity stores. Game Group’s strategy was characterised by two fundamental problems. Firstly, the company expanded massively into different countries (Yin-Poole, 2012). This means that the company had significantly high levels of fixed costs which could not be sustained. When fixed costs are significantly high, the business risk of the firm increases significantly. Secondly, Game and Gamestation stores were in close proximity. This resulted in the cannibalisation of sales of one store by other stores (Yin-Poole, 2012). Therefore, many stores were simply incurring fixed costs which could not be covered by sales revenue.

3.2 Declining Video Games Industry

The company suffered significantly because of poor developments in its external environment. Wallop (2012) observes comments by the CEO of the company Mr Shepherd who claims that in 2012, the size of the video game market had declined by 40% from its 2012 figure. This contributed negatively to the performance of the company. The company’s share fell by 2.44 to 4.31p and resulting in a decline to less than ?15million. Customers made significant changes in their consumption of video games. Most customers were interested in buying only new releases such as Fifa 2012 and Modern Warfare. Lesser known titles could not perform well because of declining demand Wallop (2012). The Game Group could not survive because it had a lot of games in stock that did not meet the current tastes and preferences of consumers of video games.

3.2 Cyclical nature of the Video Games Industry

Despite making a profit of ?90million in 2009, the Game Group recorded a loss of ?15million in 2011 (Wallop, 2011). The main reason for this loss was the intense cyclical nature of the video games industry (Wallop, 2011). The market lacks exciting new hardware. In addition, the industry has been suffering from piracy. Lack of new hardware and an increase piracy has resulted in declining demands which has eroded industry profits. As a result the Game Group could no longer survive in the industry.

The Game Group was also affected by the introduction of digital games, which can be regarded as a perfect substitute for video games. For example, in 2010, sales of digital games totalled ?411m representing an increase by 23 percent from the 2009 figure. On the contrary, the video game industry witnessed a decline in sales by 17 percent to ?1.53billion between 2009 and 2010 (Wallop, 2011).

In addition, the development of smart phones and the IPAD has affected the video games industry. These devices come with free digital games. This resulted in the decline in video games sales and thus contributed to the collapse of the Game Group (Wallop, 2011).

Summary and Conclusions

The objective of this paper was to analyse the impact of accounting on the failure of Game Group. The above analyses show that Game Group’s collapse was in no way related to accounting failure. There was no evidence to suggest that managers at Game Group were involved in creative accounting. Unlike the case of Enron, and other major corporate failures, the Game Group had no special purpose entities which enabled it to high liabilities off the books. Game group’s failure can be attributed to poor strategic planning rather than to accounting failure.

Based on the analysis, there is no evidence suggesting that Game Group was involved in inappropriate accounting. Rather, the evidence shows that Game Group simply did not plan properly. Game Group did not put in place strategies that would enable it respond adequately to changes in its external environment. The company failed to analyse the threat of substitute products, new entrants, bargaining power of suppliers and customers as well as industry rivalry.

References

Healy, P.M., Wahlen, J.M., 1999. A review of the earnings management literature and its implications for standard setters. Accounting Horizons, 13, pp. 365-383.

Hayn, C., 1995. The Information Content of Losses, Journal of Accounting and Economics, 20, pp. 125-153

Heemskerk, M., and L. van der Tas. 2006. Veranderingen in resultaatsturing als gevolg van de invoering van IFRS. Maandblad voor Accountancy en Bedrijfseconomie: 571-579.

Holthausen, R. W., Larcker, D. F., Sloan, R., 1995. Annual Bonus Schemes and the Manipulation of Earnings, Journal of Accounting and Economics, 19 (1) pp. 85-100

Epstein, B. J., Jermakowicz, E. K., 2007. Interpretation and Application of International Financial Reporting Standards, Wiley and Sons Inc.

Penman, S. H. (2007) Financial Statement Analysis and Security Valuation, 3rd ed. Irwin: McGraw-Hill.

Schipper, K. 1989. Earnings Management. Accounting Horizons, pp. 91-102

Robinson, A. (2012) GAME officially files for administration Retailer fails to find “a realistic prospect for a solvent solution for the business”, available online at: http://www.computerandvideogames.com/340810/game-officially-files-for-administration/ [accessed: 29th March 2013].

BBC (2012) Game Group to file for administration, available online at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-17455742 [accessed: 29th March 2013].

Wallop, H. (2012) Game shares slump on profits warning, loan breach fears, available online at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/retailandconsumer/9004248/Game-shares-slump-on-profits-warning-loan-breach-fears.html [accessed: 29th March 2013].

Wallop, H. (2011) Can Game Group survive?, available online at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/retailandconsumer/8895015/Can-Game-Group-survive.html [accessed: 29th March 2013].

Yin-Poole, W. (2012) Why Game Collapsed: PwC cites “unfortunate” proximity of stores and “ambitious” overseas expansion, available online at: http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012-03-26-why-game-collapsed [accessed: 29th March 2013].