Industries

Abstract

This research paper will cover the different aspects of project management in video game development. Focus will also be on discussing and overviewing the project lifecycles as it pertains to game development. There is also interest in seeing within the realm of video game development how the application of knowledge, various skills, tools, and the techniques are used. The will also be focus on examining pre-production, production and post production in the gaming industry. Topics will explore issues pertaining to, but not limited to, stakeholder expectations, timeliness of implementation, and optimization of resources. Additionally, information will be given covering the concepts of meeting the needs of business’s vision and mission regarding development and exploring how the identification of and addressing any issues that may arise in game project development.?

Introduction

The video game industry has been steadily growing for over almost four decades. From Nintendo to Sony, there have been a myriad of games that have been made for the platform over the course of the video game industry. The initial commercial history of video games and the birth of this industry inevitably begins with the US military’s computer hardware and networks. At the time, infrastructure was beginning to shift towards facilitating both game development and market consumption. Over the course of almost four decades, many games have been made, but the question is, exactly how are these spectacular pieces of art being made. When people buy video games, their focus is not on the people who actually make the product, or even on the process it takes to create the game that they own. Consumers only see the end product that is distributed and hit store shelves. For most, their energies and focus are on purchasing the product and investing in actual game play. However, the process and man power it takes to create a game is an intricate undertaking. It is stated that the intricacy of modern video games requires workers with varied skill sets such as computer engineers and programmers, visual artists, audio engineers, animators, game designers, writers, and quality assurance testers (Weststar, 2015). For starters the biggest component to game development are video game developers (VGDs) (Weststar, 2015).

Additionally, these projects can consist of a producer and studios have a range of upper managers and administrative personnel. Weststar stated that with project-based model the outputs of each new game are unique. In turn the environment is complex and uncertain. Coordination among project members is rooted in diffuse and informal power relationships in relation to their roles as it pertains to those that direct the work and those who perform it (Weststar, 2015). Thusly, with the consumer, the process of making video games is a non-factor, largely an unknown, and rarely registers in the thoughts in most people’s minds. Many again just see the end product, of which is what is their main motivating factor of going to a retail store and purchasing it. However, there is a select pocket of individuals who are more cognizant of the game development process and they are more greatly invested. For this segment, they faithfully follow their favorite game, or for some developer, and will be aware the specifics from the announcement of the game and will stay engaged until the game goes gold. This is, going gold, that the game is finished and ready to be put on a disc and distributed.

The creation of each video game is a project with a well-defined production cycle of pre-production, production, and post-production phases of which reach require different and various resources (Weststar, 2015). HistoryBefore one can actually delve it the game development process, it is important to have some background understanding on the development of the gaming industry. Nolan Bushnell is credited as the pioneer of the worldwide commercial video game industry. Bushnell was the founder of Atari and is responsible for generations of home and arcade gaming hardware and software including the truly influential game, Pong (Grantham ; Readman, 2006). Arcades games were very popular and peaked in the early 1980s. As time progressed and newer technologies burst onto the market most titles were converted to play on the evolving home technology – home computers and consoles (Grantham ; Readman, 2006). It was also during this time of change and development, many independent developers and publishers started to emerge. One of the most noted and widely known, Activision for example, was founded by former Atari developers seeking greater ownership and control over their developments (Grantham ; Readman, 2006).

Over time people have come to recognize software games as new and very popular mode of entertainment and an important application of technology. This outlook has become increasingly accepted and by people of all ages. In today’s culture, technology is easily accessible and has become more convenient. In turn more and more people like to play games and are also becoming motivated to design their own games. Also, software games are gaining importance because they are not only used for entertainment, but also for serious purposes that can be applicable to different domains such as education, business, and health care (Aleem, Fernando- Capretz, & Ahmed, 2016).

Game Development

ProcessPre-productionAs with any industry as it relates to project development, within the gaming industry, pre-production is the beginning phase of the life of a game, the project. It is during this phase that developers/project managers determine how long will it take to game to make, the personnel needed, and the budget needed to make the proposed project. During pre-production it is paramount that very specific goals are fleshed out of which will be essential to a successful project. Walfiz, Zackariasson and Wilson pointed out that certain elements are fundamental to projects: commitment to timing, staying within a budget, and producing an output (Zackariasson, Walfisz, & Wilson, 2006). Also, it is important to note that, these fundamentals are developed before the project starts, and thus commit both parties to specific activities/objectives.

Drew Liming and Dennis Vilorio states that in the pre-production phase, the lead designers outline a game concept with the help of lead artists and programmers (Liming & Vilorio, 2011). Additionally, it is at this time that the lead designers might select special feature(s), such as an innovative gameplay element, or powerful graphics, that will make the game unique (Liming & Vilorio, 2011). It was also pointed out that when the game finally receives the funding needed, programmers begin building its technological framework (Liming & Vilorio, 2011).

Pre-production considerations tends to produce a hierarchy of plans that guide the project and the pre-production phase is instrumental in producing the basis on which to build the game (Zackariasson, Walfisz, & Wilson, 2006). The over-ridding goal of pre-production is essentially to create a game plan that will be the road map in which the player(s) will finish the game. The game plan must include information of the game concept, the unique feature(s), the constraints that affect this concept, and analyzing risk assessment.Risk management is a necessary aspect of game project development.

Alem, Carpatz and Ahmed states that the importance of risk management is essential for the efficiency of game development. Thusly this is often the focus for project management (Aleem, Fernando- Capretz, & Ahmed, 2016). Alem, Carpatz and Ahmed also state, that it is with the upmost importance to identify risk factors early in the game development process (Aleem, Fernando- Capretz, & Ahmed, 2016). During game development, the project manager is the game’s producer and must bring together management, the technical components, and the appealing aspects to create a successful video game.

They also identified two risk factors that must be addressed during this development process: failure of development strategy and absence of the fun factor (Aleem, Fernando- Capretz, ; Ahmed, 2016). Additionally, it is important to realize that in game development, other important risk factors can have an impact such as the development strategy, the fun factor or extent of originality, scheduling, and budgeting. With these, there will always be some level of “the unknown” when addressing risk factors. Taking time early on to identify risks is paramount as there will always be unforeseen issues in a project. Working to minimize as many issues initially will decrease unadvantageous developments later in the project development/production cycle. Thus, efficient work done during pre-production will work to minimize or even eliminate unforeseen issues.

Production

Now that the risks, personnel, and assets are identified, for the project, it can now to enter the production phase. Thusly, the completion of the prototype signals the start of the production phase of development (Liming ; Vilorio, 2011). During the production phase the project team can now move forth with focusing on the cusp of the project work. Energies can now finally be channeled towards actual development of the game. It is importance to note that certain aspects of the work can be initiated during pre-production. Thus, there can be at times, some objectives running concurrent and simultaneously with those that are just commencing. Even though the project team is in full stride during this phase, and most of the ideas are being carried out, some new plans can happen that may have an impact and thus alter work. For starters, assets can be added or even removed at this point.

Accordingly, with these alterations, it is important that changes are accurately noted and are effectively communicated to the project team, the developer, studio upper management, and the publisher. Making such changes are crucial and essential and must be relayed in a timely manner. It is imperative that during development, the project document continues to remain as a point of reference for the entire project team. As pointed out by Liming and Vilorio, during the production phase, teams of designers, artists, and programmers use the project document as a guide to ensure efficient game creation (Liming ; Vilorio, 2011).

When the plan is communicated to the project team, it is the role of the project manager to remain vigilant on keeping the plan up to date. Ensuring that there is sound communication and a streamlined vision/design, will allow the project teams to collaborate to make the most of each other’s expertise (Liming & Vilorio, 2011). There is feedback during production that helps the project team revise the document as needed. For instance, feedback might encompass how to improve a game’s mechanics, or more so, remove an unfeasible feature (Liming ; Vilorio, 2011).

Throughout production, developers continually build improved versions of the game. This allows for the creation of more content that is better looking, more streamlined within a design, and thus is more refined (Liming ; Vilorio, 2011). Liming and Viliorio also went on further to state that the conclusion of the production phase is that the fully playable game includes art, music, and sound effects. This milestone is referred to as “content complete.” (Liming ; Vilorio, 2011).Post production Production ends when the developer and publisher agree that no more features are needed; thus, no features are added during post-production. Instead, the main goal of this phase is to finalize software quality. The post-production phase starts at least three months before the end-of-project deadline. During post-production the focus is on playing the game to test for errors, called bugs, and on tweaking it to eliminate unwanted elements (Liming ; Vilorio, 2011).

Post-production is key for the game develop process as quality assurance and process validation are critical components. The quality assurance staff tests the game by playing it and attempting to do things the development staff never considered (Liming ; Vilorio, 2011). It is during this time that such things as bugs and compatibility issues are fixed. Additionally, work will be done to ensure that all coding is optimized. Process validation plays an important role in assessing game quality. Also, during this phase, the development process as a whole is analyzed. Collection and evaluation of process data from the pre-production phase through to the post-production phase can provide evidence that the overall development process produces a good-quality game. Congruously, analysis can depict either product errors, in-complement coding, or that the final product does not measure up to expectations. It is known, as the game testers find bugs, they document the errors and assign them to a programmer, designer, or artist to be addressed and fixed (Liming ; Vilorio, 2011).

Efficiently identifying and correcting issues is essential for the game roll-out deadline. Additionally, the developer may sometime want the game put into consumer hands before official release. Such instances could be in the form of advance releases, or advance copies for select consumer testing and gameplay which is a marketing strategy in gaming. Developers also use beta testing. Beta testing in games is used to gage overall game functionality using external testers or a select segment of identified consumers (Aleem, Fernando- Capretz, ; Ahmed, 2016). Beta testing is a kind of first public release for testing purposes by users. Game publishers often find it effective because bugs are identified by users that were missed during the in-house testing process (Aleem, Fernando- Capretz, ; Ahmed, 2016). Dealing with bugs and tweaks can make postproduction time-consuming. Thus, the process may take as long as production, especially for more complex games that have bigger budgets (Liming ; Vilorio, 2011).

Conclusion

The video game industry has grown tremendously over the last four decades. From Nintendo to Sony, a plethora of games have been made over the course of the video game industry. Games, the end-products, are the results of the efforts of many. The process of video game development is an intricate undertaking. The production cycle encompasses a myriad of derivatives which adhere to pre-production, production, and post-prediction phases. During the entire production cycle of a game key players such as computer engineers and programmers, visual artists, audio engineers, animators, game designers, writers, and quality assurance testers are involved.

The pre-production phase helps lay out the groundwork and plan that will be followed as the game develops. During pre-production specific goals are fleshed out and key fundamental elements to the project are identified. It also during this phase that focus is on working to minimize as many issues initially. This works to decrease unneeded or potentially negatively impacting developments later in the project development/production cycle. During the production phase the project team’s main focus is on the actual creation of the game. It is during the production phase that new plans can happen which can have impact and alter work. A project document is used to ensure efficient game development and thus the project manager must ensure that the plan is up to date. Additionally, the project manager will work to ensure that there is sound communication for the entire team.

When the game has entered post-production, the focus is on playing the game to test for errors and other unwanted elements. There is a lot of focus on quality assurance. Within the gaming industry, testing can be done both in-house and the use of a select segment of consumer beta testers. Though most consumers only see the end product that is distributed and hit store shelves, there is a lot that has happened to ensure that the they will have a quality game playing experiences. Additionally, there is a select pocket of consumers who are more engaged development process and have a greater apperception for the game development process. Overall there is a great deal that transpires in the development of a game. From stakeholder expectations to timeliness of implementation, a lot of resources have been invested to create that end-product game. Understanding the life of a game through the lens of game development production cycle helps to foster a heightened appreciation for the final product.

Develop new products while maintaining the high quality of existing products The top auto rental companies were successful in expanding their business globally. In 2005, the total global market of the industry is approximately $30 billion. The United States had 50. 20%, Europe 31. 30% and Asia-Pacific 8. 30% of the total global market. Sell each unit at a profit and continue to reduce overhead costs. These key success factors were truly observed by the industry. In 1970, during the fuel crisis, the trend of the auto rental companies is to change their car mix to more fuel efficient vehicles.

The demand for more fuel efficient cars and the decrease on the fleet discounts offered by car manufacturers with the rising auto prices have pushed them to change their business models and selling their used cars directly to the public. In 2007, total revenue of auto rental industry has a significant source from sales of used vehicles. Selling directly to the public their used cars have been considered as the most profitable way of managing fleet sizes and flexibility. Enterprise Rent-a-Car Enterprise Rent-a-Car was established by Jack Taylor in 1957 as the Executive Leasing Company in St. Louis.

He founded the company based on a very simple concept: “Take care of your customers and employees first, and growth and profits will follow. ” “Treat customers the way you would want to be treated as a customer. ” “Repeat customers are the quickest way to build a solid base of business. ” Never promise what you can’t deliver; deliver more than you promise. ” After dealing with us, we want customers to say, “This is the best place I’ve ever done business. ” Enterprise had remained true to these basic principles. These principles were reflected in its mission statement and in a tool titled the Enterprise Cultural Compass.

The Enterprise Cultural Compass was used to guide its service-oriented employees in conducting business and in interactions with each customer, each other, and their local communities. The compass was planned to assist employees in focusing on key areas throughout the organization. The Enterprise also developed an award named the Jack Taylor Founding Values Award to help promote the values described in the compass. The award provided winners with a grant from the Enterprise Rent-a-Car Foundation that would be used for qualified nonprofit causes in the winners’ local communities.

Employees were expected to adhere to these principles in all of their business dealings. Failure to do so could result in disciplinary actions or dismissal. These are the strengths of the Enterprise: its goal to fully satisfy its customers and employees, and proper guidance to employees with appropriate rewards and disciplinary actions. These strengths have brought the Enterprise to its unexpected great success. Other strengths of the Enterprise are its method of hiring and store operations with sufficient and appropriate trainings provided, compensations and incentives, and information technology.

Its advance technology provided ample support to its vast operations. Enterprise had successfully converted its possible weakness to be its strength. Its limited capacity to manage and control big number of employees with several locations and large inventory of cars and fleet was totally addressed by Enterprise. It was successful in giving maximum autonomy to its managers turning its employees to be entrepreneur-oriented and making every branch its profit center. Thus their costs on management and control were greatly minimized, with every employee conscious of its productivity and the branch profitability.

Enterprise has identified their opportunities in the business through their customers. Their customers have expressly informed them of their additional needed services. To which Enterprise readily responded to give their customers full satisfaction and ensure their loyalty to the company. The threats to the company were the merging of some its competitors and lessened customers satisfaction brought about by its large and wide growth. Enterprise has proactively done some measures to scientifically measure customers’ satisfaction by conducting a series of survey.

US in Healthcare Industry 2015-2019 Location-based Services (LBS) are used to track the location of users within a wireless network territory with the help of location-enabled mobile devices. LBS use GIS technology and the internet to track the location of users. User-initiated LBS require an internet connection to determine a user’s location and provide search results. LBS work on Wi-If and ARTS technology to track indoor locations and are used in hospitals for Indoor navigation, LBS., asset management, staff tracking, and location analytics.

Hospitals are using LBS to enhance employee productivity and work efficiency, thus reducing cost. Covered In this Report This report covers the present scenario and the growth prospects of the LBS market in the US in the Healthcare industry for the period 2015-2019. To calculate the market size, the report considers revenue generated from the following: Annual sales of devices such as smartness, Ponds, and In-dash location devices used by healthcare professionals and patients for healthcare applications Annual sales of LBS devices,

LBS applications and software, and digital maps used in the Healthcare industry View our full TCO here Key Regions united States Key Vendors Aerospace Inc. (Stanley Healthcare Solutions) Reappoint Corp.. Kuaka Inc. GE Healthcare Hewlett-Packard Enterprise services LLC (HP) Zebra Technologies Corp.. Other Prominent Vendors Areole Networks Cisco Networks Alps (Visions Technologies) IBM Inform Intelligent lintiest Invasion PLUS Location Systems Etageres Telegraphing Technologies Tremble Navigation Key Market Driver Use of ARTS Solutions in Hospitals For a full, detailed list, view our report.

Market Demand and Market Potential in Packaged Water Industry in India Packaged water or Bottled water industry, colloquially called, the mineral water industry, is a symbol of new life style emerging in India. Use of mineral water has gradually increased in India due so widespread shortage of pure hygienic potable water. While a large segment of the population is struggling to get access to potable water supply, a new generation – especially in the urban areas – is getting accustomed to bottled water.

Drinking water supplies in many parts of India are intermittent. Transmission and distribution networks for water are generally old and badly maintained, and as a result, are deteriorating. India is one of the biggest and most attractive water markets in the world. It is considered the 10th largest packaged water consumer country in the world. The boom time for Indian bottled water industry is to continue- more so because the economics are sound, the bottom line is fat and the Indian government hardly cares for what happens to the nation’s water resources.

Corporate control over water and water distribution in India is growing rapidly from being confined to the uppermost echelons of society, packaged water has now become a commonplace commodity and almost a necessity in metros. After witnessing historic growth in recent years, it has become a Rs 3,000-Crore industry, one that is slated to only post healthy growth rates to become a Rs 10,000-crore business in a short p of time. The market in India has grown tremendously over past decade and is said to have a humongous growth rate of 38% per annum as against an international growth rate of 7. %. Market experts observe that there are more than 1800 water brands in India, of which are most are local or regional brands which are often classified as unorganized sector. The key brands in the organised sector include Bisleri (Parle), Kinley (Coca-Cola), Oxyrich (Manikchand), Aquafina (Pepsi Foods), etc. In this industry it is popularly said DEMAND OF WATER WOULD NEVER GO DOWN… & WATER WOULD NEVER BE OUT OF BUSINESS While the single largest share in the mineral water market might still belong to an Indian brand — Parle’s $52 million (Rs. . 5 billion) Bisleri brand has a 40 percent share — multi-national corporations are not far behind. It has been a pioneer in launching the concept of packaged drinking water in India. It has been so popular with the masses that even today most of the people refer to mineral or packaged water as ‘Bisleri’. Nestle and Danone are vying to purchase Bisleri, and Pepsi’s Aquafina and Coke’s Kinley brands have been extremely successful in edging out many of the small and medium players to buy-outs and exclusive licensing deals.

In less than two years since its launch, Aquafina has cornered 11 percent of the market and Kinley has almost a third of the market. News reports indicate that other MNCs like Unilever are also eying the market. Today packaged water is the fastest growing industry in the beverage sector. Western region of India – the largest market The western region, that is Maharashtra, Gujarat and Goa, accounts for a large chunk of around 35-40% of the overall domestic market.

Key players in the western region such as the Manikchand Group, Coca-Cola India, Amul India, are keenly contemplating organic and inorganic growth strategies, launch of new brands, venturing into newer segments and so on. Companies in the region are using a combination of various strategies to tap business opportunities such as tie-ups with cinema halls, retail outlets, hotels, hospitals, super markets, institutions and other distribution channels, which abound in the western region of the country.

Managing logistics is at the core for the success of bottled water manufacturers. Indeed, groups like Amul India are deliberating using its existing retail network to market and distribute its bottled water. This region is also poised to make a notable contribution to the great Indian bottled water growth story in terms of taking lead in launching water variants and newer sub-segments like mineral water, spring water, flavored water and so on. Here also Biseri has emerged as a market leader. Further Scope of Growth in the Industry

As the purchasing power and health and hygiene consciousness of Indian consumers improves, the consumption per person is likely to grow exponentially. Not surprisingly, the market is estimated to reach the Rs 5,000 crore mark by 2010. Going a step further, more optimistic market experts anticipate a 20 fold leap from the current market size within the next 10-12 years. Apart from increasing affluence among domestic consumers, exports would provide a further trigger to the industry. Exports of natural water, particularly to US and Europe, would drive growth for domestic players.

As per industry forecasts, the demand for potable water is expected to exceed supply by 2020. Not surprisingly, given the lucrative western market and robust growth prospects, many large Indian corporate houses and multinational companies are interested in acquiring strong Indian brands. The acquisition of Mount Everest Mineral Water by the Tata group is testimony to this trend under which Tata Tea plans to leverage its existing overseas network to distribute natural water, the world over.

Also with the increasing international tourism demand for hygienically packaged water is expected to grow manifolds especially with the Commonwealth Games in October 2010. Thus despite recording exceptional growth rate in past, packaged water industry has a huge growth potential in terms of market size. There are still rural and semi rural areas to capture. With 19% share of the unorganized sector low priced segments are still left un captured.

Chinese powerhouse Didi Chuxing’s acquisition of Uber Technologies Inc.’s China operations marked the biggest move yet toward consolidation in an industry that many investors and Silicon Valley pundits view as a winner-take-all game.

On the day the Didi deal was announced earlier this month, Uber board member Bill Gurley said Uber’s rivals in other markets had a slim chance of splitting the market with the dominant player, just as Uber struggled to erode Didi’s share in China.

After China, the industry will consolidate in other markets, said Hans Tung, an Asia-focused investor and managing partner at GGV Capital, which backed Didi and Grab, a Singapore-based ride service.

“There will be a dominant number one,” he said that same day.

The consensus of 11 economists interviewed by Reuters, however, suggests an entirely different scenario, one of perpetual competition in a business with relatively few barriers to entry.

“That one firm wins is a narrow and not accurate way to think about these firms,” said David Evans, chairman of the Global Economics Group and co-author of a recent book that included Uber, Matchmakers: The New Economics of Multisided Platforms.

Ten other economists who have studied ride-hailing agreed that the growing industry, which UBS estimates to be a $40 billion market, has room for at least two successful players, and perhaps a few smaller ones.

The industry, they said, has none of the elements that traditionally have enabled single companies to control a sector. If it is the first of its kind, a company can dominate markets that have huge infrastructure costs, such as putting up cell towers or laying pipes; a large workforce of employees with specialized skills; and customers who get locked into a service and have difficulty leaving for competitors.

Ride-services, by contrast, are relatively cheap to start, depend on contract labor with no inherent loyalty or specialized skills and have free apps that can be downloaded in seconds.

“You may not want to try a new social networking site if your friends aren’t on it,” Evans said. “But you don’t care what app your friends use for ride-hailing.”

The question of whether on-demand ride services will remain open to new players has vexed startups and investors since Uber started the industry seven years ago.

Companies taking on Uber include Lyft in the United States, Grab in Southeast Asia, Ola in India and newer startups like New York City’s Juno. In the United States, in particular, part of Uber’s attraction to investors is the chance at grabbing the entire industry.

In a statement, Uber said: “The ridesharing industry around the world is highly competitive and innovative. That’s good for riders.”

Uber investor and board member Gurley argued that any competitor would need to pursue a different strategy — perhaps offering more luxury and high-end services — to successfully battle Uber in its strongest markets.

Didi, Ola and Grab did not respond to requests for comment.

When business magnate Carl Icahn invested $100 million into Lyft in early 2015, he told media outlets he saw “room for two.” Chris Sacca, a prominent venture capitalist who invested in Uber, responded “This is a winner-take-all game,” on Bloomberg television.

Lyft has hired an M&A firm and recently explored the possibility of acquisitions by several companies, a source familiar with the discussions said, and reports of a possible sale stimulated talk of whether it could compete with Uber.

Lyft says it can. In the United States, it says it more than tripled its drivers to about 315,000 in the last year. Between October and May it nearly doubled its annual gross revenue to $1.9 billion — although that figure does not reflect the many rider discounts and promotions Lyft offers.

Uber has 1.5 million drivers and projected $26 billion in gross revenue globally this year, based on a 2015 presentation for investors.

Last year, Lyft hit another benchmark: the wait time for a ride is three minutes, on par with Uber, said president and co-founder John Zimmer. At three minutes or less, a passenger will almost always complete the ride.

“You need a certain level of scale to get to three minutes,” Zimmer said, referring to the number of drivers and passengers. “Once you reach that, if someone else has more scale, it doesn’t matter.”

New York-based Juno has brought on 12,000 drivers since launching earlier this year and already has hit the three-minute wait time in Manhattan, said Co-founder and CEO Talmon Marco.

“This is a fairly local industry,” Marco said. ” in New York and you can be zero in California, and it’s OK.”

In India, Uber and Ola are neck and neck around 45 percent of the market each after Uber’s market share fell and Ola’s rose in 2015, according to market research firm 7Park Data.

The challenge for new startups, however, is that leading companies subsidize their drivers and passengers as they prioritize gaining market share over profit. Both Uber and Lyft have spent heavily on driver bonuses and rider discounts and promotional credits.

“Everything that has happened in this space is completely artificial and funded by a glut of VC money,” said Daniel Ramot, CEO and co-founder of startup Via, which completes about 200,000 rides each week in New York.

Economists argue that Lyft can be a profitable company with roughly 20 percent of a market, which would allow it to reduce expenses through economies of scale. Lyft and Uber only release market share statistics selectively, but Lyft maintains it has more than a 20 percent share in the majority of its top 20 regions.

An electric company, by comparison, would need massive scale to achieve enough efficiency to allow for profits, said Stephen Margolis, an economist and anti-trust expert at North Carolina State University.

Max Wolff, an economist at Manhattan Venture Partners, believes competition will thrive mainly because ride-hailing technologies are not overly complicated and drivers aren’t earning enough money to be loyal to a single company.

There is room for other players even if Uber is dominant, he said. “They’re not as big, but they’re there, too. They’re not some wheezing, dying remnant.”

(Reporting by Heather Somerville; Editing by Peter Henderson and Brian Thevenot)

Industry analysis is a market strategy tool used by businesses to determine if they want to enter a product or service market. Company management must carefully analyze several aspects of the industry to determine if they can make a profit selling goods and services in the market. Analyzing economic factors, supply and demand, competitors, future conditions and government regulations will help management decide whether to enter an industry or invest money elsewhere. In the banking segment , immediately after the independence of the country in 1971, the then government nationalized the commercial banks(except a few foreign banks) and organized them into six distinct banks by the Bangladesh Bank(the central bank of the country) nationalized order 1972.the central bank known as the Bangladesh bank (BB) is the central body to oversee the banking sector of the country and that time BB directly controlled the interest rates (both lending and deposit rates) by fiat (Nguyen et al.2010-b) During this time, bank branches have expanded rapidly, particularly in rural areas.

On the positive side, the expansion of bank branches reduces transaction costs associated with the mobilization and transfer of funds and to thereby to increase savings and investment, and deposit creation. But due to corruption, mismanagement, and government interference, many branches of the commercial banks cannot work properly and some branches incurred heavy losses, and some of these branches were subsequently closed down. The central bank has finally approved nine more banks in addition to existing 47 commercial banks in Bangladesh. Three new NRB commercial banks, sponsored by non-resident Bangladeshis (NRBs), and six private commercial banks (PCBs), have been approved aiming to help boost the inflow of foreign exchange and strengthen the ongoing financial inclusion programmes through bringing unbanked people under the banking network respectively. The letters of intent (LoIs) `have already been issued to the sponsors of such approved banks. There have been many significant developments in the economy of Bangladesh since 2000-2001, the central bank stated, explaining the economic context and rationale behind issuing licenses in favor of new banks. The economy has grown and the banking system has become more competitive but there are still a large number of under-banked people in Bangladesh.

Banking industry analysis If there is one industry that has the stigma of being old and boring, it would have to be banking; however, a global trend of deregulation has opened up many new businesses to the banks. Coupling that with technological developments like internet banking and ATMs, the banking industry is obviously trying its hardest to shed its lackluster-image. There is no question that bank stocks are among the hardest to analyze. Many banks hold billions of dollars in assets and have several subsidiaries in different industries. A perfect example of what makes analyzing a bank stock so difficult is the length of their financials – they are typically well over 100 pages. While it would take an entire textbook to explain all the ins and outs of the banking industry, here we’ll shed some light on the more important areas to look at when analyzing a bank as an investment.

We could not imagine a world without banks. Banks (and financial institutions) have become cornerstones of our economy for several reasons. They transfer risk, provide liquidity, facilitate both major and minor transactions and provide financial information for both individuals and businesses. Running a bank is just as difficult as analyzing it for investment purposes. A bank’s management must look at the following criteria before it decides how many loans to extend, to whom the loans can be given, what rates to set, and so on:

• Capital Adequacy and the Role of Capital
• Asset and Liability Management – There is a happy medium between banks overextending themselves (lending too much) and lending enough to make a profit.
• Interest Rate Risk – This indicates how changes in interest rates affect profitability.
• Liquidity – This is formulated as the proportion of outstanding loans to total assets. If more than 60-70% of total assets are loaned out, the bank is considered to be highly illiquid.
• Profitability- This refers the earnings & revenue growth that is relevant to bank industry.
• Key-ratios/Terms Interest Rates: In the U.S., the Federal Reserve decides the interest rates.

Because interest rates directly affect the credit market (loans), banks constantly try to predict the next interest rate moves, so they can adjust their own rates. Bad predictions on the movement of interest rates can cost million.

• Gap: This refers to the difference, over time, between the assets and liabilities of a financial institution. A “negative gap” occurs when liabilities are higher than assets. Conversely, when there are more assets than liabilities, there is a positive gap. When interest rates are going up, banks with a positive gap will profit. The opposite is true when interest rates are falling.
• Capital Adequacy: A bank’s capital, or equity, is the margin by which creditors are covered if the bank has to liquidate assets. A good measure of a bank’s health is its capital/asset ratio, which, by law, is required to be above a prescribed minimum.

 Interest rate fluctuations play a huge role in the profitability of a bank. Banks are, therefore, trying to get away from this dependency by generating more revenue on fee-based services. Many bank financial statements will break up the revenue figures into fee-based (or non interest) and non-fee (interest) generated revenue. Make sure to take a close look at the fee-based revenue: firms with higher fee-based revenue will typically earn a higher return on assets than competitors.

Evaluating management can be difficult because so many aspects of the job are intangible. One key figure for evaluating management is the net interest margin (NIM) (defined above). Look at the past NIM across several years to determine its trends. Ideally, one wants to see an even or upward trend. Most banks will have NIMs in the 2-5% range; this might appear low, but a .01% change from the previous year means big changes in profits. Another good metric for evaluating management performance is a bank’s return on assets (ROA). When calculating ROA, one should remember that banks are highly leveraged, so a 1% ROA indicates huge profits.

This is one area that catches a lot of investors: technology companies might have an ROA of 5% or more, but these figures cannot be directly compared to banks. As with other industries, one wants to know that a bank has costs under control, and that things are being run efficiently. Operating expenses should be analyzes closely. Ideally, one want to see operating expenses remain the same as previous years or to decrease. This isn’t to say that an increase in operating expenses is a bad thing, as long as revenues are also increasing.

A measure of a bank’s financial health is its capital adequacy. If a bank is having difficulty meeting the capital ratio requirements, it can use a number of ways to increase the ratio. If it is publicly traded, it can issue new stock or sell more subordinated debt. That, however, may be costly if the bank is in a weak financial position. Small banks, most of which are not publicly traded, generally do not have the option of selling new stock. If the bank cannot increase its equity, it can reduce its assets to improve the capital ratio. Shrinking the balance sheet, however, is not attractive because it hurts profitability. The last option is to seek a merger with a stronger bank.

Over the last decade the way we bank has dramatically changed as banks move from a “bricks and mortar” operation to a “virtual online operation”. Whilst most banks will probably never get rid of all their “brick and mortar” operations, there are some that have successfully started up with no shop fronts and yet they are successful. Banking is big business, everywhere in the world they are big and powerful, but as Keen observes “bank offers basically the same product to the same customer base”. So what makes a consumer choose one bank over another? Not all banks make huge profits but banks position themselves to attract customers through product differentiation, pricing, marketing and promotion and this makes the difference and thus will be examined using of competition.

Letter of Acknowledgement Ms. Saadiyeh Saad Course Convener Methods of Business Research CBM – Karachi. Dear Madam, As per instructions, we are submittings this case-study like research report on Lawn Industry of Pakistan discussing the factors impacting the intensification of lawn fabrics in Pakistan. We would like to thank you for being so helpful and supportive in the teaching us this subject in such a manner that after its completion, our concepts are literally clear regarding various methodologies involved in researches.

Beyond any doubt, it is just an outcome of your comprehensive and procedural approach of teaching that we have made this report without scantiness of any kind. We are really obliged for your support, Madam. Regards, Nasir R. Zaidi Pakistan Business Research (PBR) is a nation wide advisory services agency and market research firm. Primarily, it focuses on assisting retail industry executives and vendors serving retailers to achieve competitive differentiation and market success through business-driven short term investments.

PBR provides facts based research and customer centric strategies to enable better offerings from vendors and more effective business investments by retailers. PBR helps clients gain clarity, obtain precise perspective and formulate course of action on critical business issues. Founded in 2009 by a group of IoBM Grads, PBR provides custom marketing research, syndicated research and evidence-based consulting to leading organizations in the financial services, life sciences and consumer goods industries.

Through quality research, advanced analytics and deep industry knowledge, PBR delivers data-driven solutions and strategies that enable clients to better understand customers, define products, and shape market opportunities in order to increase revenues and grow the value of their products and brands. PBR’s Key Services:

Since its inception in 2009, PBR has providing services of a full-fledge research firm that specializes in helping companies understand current customers, lost customers, potential customers and employees (internal customers) and track the factors that affect customer satisfaction, loyalty, awareness, and purchasing behaviors. Undergoing rapid developments since its establishment in 2009, PBR is a market research company with already many standing client relationships in place and a strategic plan for strong and consistent growth.

Core Values: Invest in continuous learning to improve the quality of work and the development of our employees Exhibit an ethical “can-do” attitude and practice what we preach. Form lasting partnerships with our customers and suppliers; Foster a rewarding and fun environment for employees; Further our commitment to the community. Provide products and services that exceed our clients’ expectations in terms of accuracy, quality and timeliness. Brand Research & Consulting:

Brands play a critical role in purchase decision making. They are the customer-facing expression of your business strategy. So why do so many companies know so little about their brands? Whether you are just starting to define your brand or you have an established brand that you are managing – accurate and timely information is available only through adequate brand research. PBR’s branding research concentrates on six key areas to give the critical information you need to manage your brand; 1.

Creating a new brand strategy 2. Understanding how far your brand can stretch 3. Brand architecture 4. Brand management 5. Revitalizing brands 6. Brand positioning New Products / Services Research: The failure rate of new product launches is very high. Some estimates are that less than 20% of new products succeed! In order to increase your chances of new product success, turn to Pakistan Business Research (PBR). Our experience in marketing research for identifying, developing and launching new products is second to none.

Using both qualitative and quantitative research, we can help you identify customer dissatisfaction and unmet needs, generate and screen new product concepts, evaluate market feasibility (demand and value), identify compelling marketing benefits and messages and track introduction, awareness and trial. Introducing new products without marketing research is like driving blind – much too risky! In short, just let PBR help you navigate your way to successful product introduction. Additional Areas of Expertise Advanced Statistical Analyses:

PBR has an on-site online module to conduct advanced statistical functions such as multiple regression (driver analysis), cluster analysis, factor analysis, perceptual mapping (multidimensional scaling), structural equation modeling and data mining. Marketing Surveys: In addition to our market research specialties, PBR is well experienced in conducting different types of marketing research including all types of Business-to-Business and Business-to-Consumer research studies, advertising effectiveness, attitude testing, marketing effectiveness, market segmentation, positioning and a lot more.

Pragmatic Execution: Our business research can help you not only design but also execute the best possible marketing surveys taking into consideration which aspects of your marketing efforts are being measured, available contact information, market segment, market size and structure, available budget etc. PBR’s Marketing Research Process: Our marketing research process includes the systematic identification, collection, analysis and distribution of information for the purpose of knowledge development and decision making.

The reasons and times at which your company or organization might consider performing marketing research varies, but the general purpose of gaining intelligence for decision making remains constant throughout. Customers occupy the central role in the marketing research process. As a company or organization, the overwhelming majority of research you are currently considering likely revolves around your customers:

• Current customers
• Prospective customers
• Lost customers
• Members
• Community
• Employees (internal customers)
• Shareholders (internal customers)

Whether you are creating a new marketing research program or perhaps revising an existing marketing research program, what are the steps you should take? While there are dozens of little steps along the way, each of these steps fits into one of the 6 major steps of the marketing research process. They are; Step 1: Identifying and define the problem Step 2: Develop the approach Step 3: Establish research design and strategy Step 4: Collect the data Step 4: Perform data analysis Step 5: Report and present

Problem Definition – The Case : PBR’s two month old client, KOHINOOR TEXTILES wanted to invest some money into opening a seasonal lawn boutique brand. KOHINOOR TEXTILES was aware that rigorous market research and analysis would be required in order to determine potential for such a venture as related to price, quality, sales, marketing, culture and lifestyle and trends of already existing lawn brands. The client, already possessing a favourable market share in fashion industry, had noticed that the demand of lawn products was on the increase during

Spring and Summer seasons and a larger number of brands were on a sharp growth pattern when other smaller competitors sprung up and began taking some of the market share. Yet this client also noted that out of 10 or 15 such lawn manufacturing companies, only about 3 or 4 were highly successful. So we were brought in and asked, what factors make lawn exhibitions so successful? – Is the demand ever increasing? – Is the supply meeting the demand? – Is this only seasonal or is it a year round trend? And lastly, would a lump-some investment towards manufacturing and selling high quality lawn be fruitful for a firm?

Developing the Approach: With these queries and predicaments in mind, PBR called upon some its most outstanding and proactive researchers to help KOHINOOR TEXTILES embark on a journey to launch their lawn prints. The team consisted of: Mr. Nasir ZaidiDirector – Research Affairs (PBR) Mr. Salman AnisManaging Director – Analysis (PBR) Mr. Ahsan Rasheed Head – Research Coordinator (PBR) Mr. Hassan GhoriResearch Method Analyst (PBR) Establishing Research Objective & Design: The research objective was to find what factors were making lawn exhibitions so successful?

After lengthy discussions, it was decided that it would be best to get into the customers’ mind directly (primary research) about what makes lawn exhibitions so successful. The team sat together to construct a way of finding out facts on the growing trends of lawn and the entire fashion industry at the same time. After a lot of deliberations and keeping in view the dynamic state of affairs in lawn industry, it was decided that the target market was ALL WOMEN FALLING IN 18+ AGE RANGE. With further more analysis and options, the following questionnaire was constructed for a survey of a sample of a 100 (hundred) women.

Data Collection:

With the questionnaire complete, it was time for collecting data from a total sample population of 100 (hundred) women. The objective was to collect data from school and college going girls as well as go a to a lawn exhibition itself to gather data through a survey! The response was overwhelming as it took just an hour to get 50 forms filled in the College of Business Management (CBM) alone although, the remaining were filled at Vaneeza’s V9 Lawn Prints Exhibition which was quite trivial yet fascinating! For the results of the research carried out, lets go to Data Analysis which is self-explanatory.

In the recent past, how many Lawn Exhibitions have you attended? [pic] Do you prefer Lawn over other fabrics? Which one of the following factors according to YOU makes Lawn Exhibitions so successful? What is the Maximum Price you are willing to pay for a Lawn suit? Lawn is best for… How many hours would you say you watch Fashion TV or Style 360 in any given week? Which factor has affected / influenced your Lawn buying behavior the most, if at all? Does television have a direct affect on your buying behavior? What’s your opinion towards Bollywood Stars endorsing products of a Pakistani Lawn manufacturer?

What’s the number one source to hearing about so many exhibitions? Which Lawn manufacturer according to you is the best? What are the two main reasons (in your viewpoint) that have caused a significant increase in the number of high quality lawn manufacturers and the growth of lawn exhibitions in the Pakistani market? Quality of V9 prints in view of women: Price of V9 prints in view of women: Price of Mausummery prints in view of women: Quality of Mausummery prints in view of women: Price of Gul Ahmed prints in view of women:  Quality of Gul Ahmed prints in view of women:

Price of Junaid Jamshed prints in view of women:  Quality of Junaid Jamshed prints in view of women:  Price of Jofa (HSY) prints in view of women: Quality of Jofa (HSY) prints in view of women:  Price of Sana Safinaz prints in view of women: [pic] Quality of Sana Safinaz prints in view of women: Hypothesis Testing H0: People attending exhibition in 2010 has increased than in 2009 HA: People attending exhibition in 2010 has not increased than in 2009 H0: Attending Exhibitions and watching television are dependent HA: Attending Exhibitions and watching television are independent

After conducting the research, we found that; – More and more women are attending lawn exhibitions are every year, the figure of exhibitors is increasing. – Lawn is becoming formal way of dressing. – Women keep the factors of price and quality when they go to purchase lawn suits. – The best price range in which maximum number of prospective buyers come is from Rs. 1,000 to Rs. 2,000. – For promotion of lawn prints, Fashion TV and Style 360 can be used for advertisement as most of the target population watches it. – Famous media persons (singers, models and actresses) should be hired to promote lawn. – Television and Billboards play a pivotal role in reaching target audience. According to most of the women, there are still numerous predicaments in quality of lawn which is being offered in Pakistan, therefore, KOHINOOR TEXTILES can come with better quality lawn and fulfill the demand! The aforementioned conclusions are drawn after they were statistically proven and consequently, we recommend KOHINOOR TEXTILES to keep in view the findings of research with respect to women preferences, price sensitivity and quality consciousness and come up with new lawn prints so that their probability of success is increased upto a large extent.