Herbert Spencer Essay -- essays research papers

Herbert Spencer The most extreme reflection of nineteenth-century individualism is to be found in the encyclopedic system of Herbert Spencer (1820-1903). Both his paternal and maternal ancestors were of a long English and French nonconformists, dissenters and rebels, and Spencer traces in his "Autobiography" his "conspicuous disregard" of political, religious, and social authority to the tradition of independence and dissent so long cherished by his family. Spencer’s education was informal, unconventional, and highly deficient in the more traditional studies of literature and history. His father encouraged his interest in the science and tecnology, and Spencer became an engineer. However, he practiced his profession for a few years, because he became increasingly interested in political economy, sociology, biology, and philosophy. He was a subeditor of The economist from 1848 to 1853, and then ventured into a full-time career as a free-lance author. As early as 1842 Spencer contributed to the Nonconformist a series of letters called The Proper Sphere of Government, his first major publication. It contains his political philosophy of extreme individualism and Laissez Faire, which was not much modified in his writings in the following sixty years. Spencer expresses in The Proper Sphere of Government his belief that "everything in nature has its laws," organic as well as inorganic matter. Man is subject to laws bot in his physical and spiritual essence, and "as with man individually, so with man socially." Concerning the evils of society, Spencer postulates a "self-adjusting principle" under which evils rectify themselves, provided that no one interferes with the inherent law of society. In discussing the functions of the state, Spencer is concerned with what the state should not do, rather than what it should do. Maintenance of order and administration of justice are the only two proper realms of government activity, and their purpose is "simply to defend the natural rights of man to protect person and property." The state has no business to promote religion, regulate trade and commerce, encourage colonization, aid the poor, or enforce sanitary laws. Spencer went even so far as to deny the state the right to wage war; but as he says in his Autobiogra... ...yond the ethical sanction bestowed on it by the free consent of the citizens: " The function of Liberalism in the past was that of putting a limit to the powers of the king. The functions of true Liberalism in the future will be that of putting a limit to the powers of parliaments." Spencer’s political ideas hardly changed between 1842, when he published his Proper Sphere of Government, and 1903, the year of his death. The constancy of his political thought in the face of rapidly changing social and economic scene explains why the same ideas that were the last word in radical individualism in the eighteen-forties had become the orthodox conservatism by 1900. And Spencer’s appeal to the English Liberals to return to their original individualism remained unheard, but he correctly foresaw that Conservatives would become the defenders of economic individualism. Spencer failed to see that the issue of the state intervention in the economy was essentially one of means and not of objectives, and that Laissez Faire could be progressive, dynamic, and revolutionary at one time –early 19 century-, and conservative, stagnant, and sterile at another time – late 19 century-.

Research Proposal for Research Method Final

TABLE OF CONTENTS Table of Contents†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 1 1. Dissertation Title†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ †¦.. 3 2. Introduction †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 3 2. 1 Introduction to Dissertation†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 3 2. 2 Research Questions†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 4 2. 3 Research Objectives†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦4 3. Literature Review †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦5 3. 1 Online Shopping in China†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦5 3. 2 Concept of E-service Quality†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 5 3. 3 Dimensions of E-service Quality†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 4. Research Model†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã ¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 6 4. 1 Website Design†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦7 4. 2 Easy of Use†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 7 4. 3 Responsiveness†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦8 4. 4 Reliability†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 8 4. 5 Security†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚ ¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 9 4. 6 Trust†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 9 5. Research Methods†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦9 5. 1 Qualitative Research†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 9 5. 2 Quantitative Research†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 10 5. Proposed Research Method†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦10 6. Collection of Data†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 10 6. 1 Secondary Data†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 10 6. 2 Primary Data†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. †¦. 10 6. 2. 1 Sample Size of Primary Data†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦11 7. Method of Data Analysis†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦1 1 8. Presentation of Dissertation†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 11 9. Ethical Issues†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 12 10. Timetable†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 13 11. Resourses References†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 14 1. Dissertation Title:A study of factors influencing customer perceived E-service quality in online shopping 2. Introduction 2. 1 Introduction to Dissertation Nowad ays, with the rapid development of information and communication technology Internet has been played an important role in people’s life and regarded as a crucial tool to do business for them. More and more companies now are trying to make full use of it as a platform to start their businesses and develop their electronic commerce in internet (Dave Chaffey, 2004), with the purpose of gaining more competitive advantages and increasing their market share.Many of them would like to create their own company websites and publish the information about their products including the prices and the features there, which facilitate customers well informed, better known the price and other information in time when they are seeking for service and products online. According to this way, companies can interact with customers directly, which is quick different form the way of traditional transactions.However, with the increasing numbers of companies participating on the Internet market and t he growth of online shopping, the competition among online retailers has become more and more fierce. It requires online retailers to look for some strategies to better compete with their competitors and attract customers to their online shopping service, which are the main issues for them. Typically, providing competitive and low price and more products selected to customers is considered as the major way for online retailers to improve their products and service selling and therefore to enhance their competitive advantages.But now, instead, more and more businesses are realizing that there is anther factor affecting their online business performance besides the above factors mentioned, that is, their online service quality offered to customers, which is also called electronic service quality. Jun et al. (2004) has claimed that the e-service quality differentiation has become the most important factor for online retailers to attract and retain their customers in online shopping.Yan g (2001) and Zeithaml (2002) also have stated that the key determinants of the success for online retailers are not only including the website presence and the lower price offered to customers, but also including the electronic service quality. Therefore, electronic service quality has been as a crucial factor that determined a company doing a successful business in internet market. As a result, many of retailers in China now are trying to focus on their online service quality and quick motivated by it. However, only knowing e-service quality was a crucial factor for doing successful business is not enough for online retailer.The problem is before providing good e-service quality to customers and increasing the advantages, it is very important and needed for online retailers to know and understand how the customer evaluates their electronic service quality as a foundation for improving their selling, encouraging people to buy frequency and gain customer loyalty. 2. 2 Research Questi ons This research investigates what factors influencing Chinese customers perceived e-service quality in online shopping. This is helpful for online retailers better understand what kind of e-service quality their online customers want and what aspect need to improve for their service.RQ: What are the factors influence customers perceived e-service quality in online shopping? 2. 3 Research Objectives This study aims to †¢ To examine how Chinese consumer perceived e-service quality in online shopping. †¢ To identify the factors influencing customer perceive e-service quality in online shopping. 3. Literature Review 3. 1 Online Shopping in China According to the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC), China is now the world’s largest Internet population country and the internet population in 2008 has been up to 298 million which was up by 41. % as compared with year 2007. With this rapid growth of the Internet population, the developments of online retailin g has been becoming so fast. According to iResearch, there were around 120 million people registered in internet as online shoppers in 2008 and the transaction value of online shopping in this year has reached to 128. 1 billion Yuan, which was up by 128. 5% as compared with year 2007. Industry experts expect that this growth trend of internet population and customers’ transactions online would be increased and extended in the next following years. . 2 Concept of E-service Quality Berry, Parasuraman and Zeithaml (1988) stated that service quality is a result which was perceived by customers that came from a comparison between customer expectations and desires addressed to the provider of products or service and the customer’s perception of the actual service received. It also can be defined as a service conformance to customer desires and requirements, or the ability of the product and service that satisfying customer needs as they expected. According to Ziethaml (2002) and Ziethaml et al. 2002), e-service quality is defined as â€Å"the extent to which a website facilitates efficient and effective shopping, purchasing and delivery of products and services†. . 3. 3 Dimensions of E-service Quality Many researches have been done for the dimensions of determining customers evaluating e-service quality over the last two decades. Zeithaml (2002) has argued that there are eleven dimensions affecting customers evaluating the e-service quality online, which include reliability, responsiveness, access, flexibility, ease of navigation, efficiency, assurance/trust, security/privacy, site aesthetics, price knowledge and personalization.Jun, Yang and Peterson (2004) also have develop a framework consisting of 10 dimensions measuring customer service quality which include responsiveness (prompt response), reliability (accurate and efficient response), competence, access (accessibility of service and contact information), personalization, courtesy, contin uous improvement, communication, convenience, and control while Janda et al. (2002) has claimed that there are four dimensions of measuring e-service quality in his framework; they are access, security, sensation, and information/content. Besides, Parasuraman et al. 2005) has described that the efficiency, system availability, fulfillment and privacy are the core four dimensions influencing the core e-service quality. Moreover, Wolfinbarger and Gilly (2003) have discussed that the web site design is also a main dimensions affecting customers perceived e-service quality in internet market except reliability, security and customer service. What is more, Yoo and Donthu (2001) in their framework also have concluded that ease of use, aesthetic design; processing speed and security are the measures evaluating the e-service quality. 4 Research Model The research model is a formed from various past researches.E-service quality variables that consist of reliability and responsiveness are ada pted from Santos (2003) and Zeithaml (2002), Jun, Yang and Peterson (2004); Security and trust are adapted from Zeithaml (2002), Janda et al. (2002) and Yoo and Donthu (2001); Besides, Website Design is adapted from Wolfinbarger and Gilly (2001, 2002) while easy of use is adapted from Yoo and Donthu (2001). [pic] Source: Create for this research 4. 1 Website Design Parasuraman et al. (1998); Kim and Lee (2002) defined website design is customer perceptions of degree of the user friendliness in using an online store.It is usually related to the design of the web site and regarding about the aesthetic elements of the website, such as the color, graphics, etc (Wolfinbarger and Gilly 2003). It is closely relative to how is the website looks; is it looking very good and attractive to people or very bad when they visit, and is the website much more creative than others. Gronroos et al. (2000) claimed that â€Å"a well-designed website creates an interest in the firm and its offerings, an d it should also offer the users opportunities to reconstruct the website in their minds so that it matches their cognitive structures†; 4. 2 Easy of UseLoiacono et al. (2002) stated that ease of use usually is relative with ease of understanding, which involves these three parts. First of all, the web site labels should be easy to understand; Secondary, The text on the Web site should be easy to read; thirdly, the display pages within the Web site are easy to read. Perceive ease of use is usually closely bound up with messaging, browsing, and downloading activities. Appropriate graphic and structural site designed website usually help to achieve easy of use and relevant content with visual appeal and therefore reduce the customer frustration (Janda et al. 2002). 4. 3 ReliabilityReliability has been considered as one of the important factors that have the most influence affecting people on shopping online. It is the ability to perform the service consistently and accurately. S antos (2003) also has described that it is the ability of online retailers that delivering the promised service to customers accurately and consistently which is consisted of updating the web site frequency for them and replying to their enquiries promptly, etc. It is a measure of coming from customers’ perceptions that whether they should count on their merchants or not, especially when the time comes to fulfill the promise for them.It is usually associated with the risk (Vijayasarathy and Jones, 2000). Online consumers usually extremely want to receive the items that they have booked on the internet market with the right quality and the right quantity, which was promised by the retailers before, and besides customers also would like them to be billed accurately (Kim et al. 2004). 4. 4 Responsiveness Responsiveness is a willingness to help customers and provide prompt service (Chaffey, 2004). It usually measures whether a company can provide the appropriate information to it s customers or not when there are some problems happened.It is therefore a kind of abilities that dealing with complaints and promptness of the service effectively (Santos 2003), such as an arrangement for online guarantees and a mechanism for handing returns (Wang, 2003). Hence, providing correct and fast responses to customers usually can help them to resolve their problems timely. Thus, it is an important way to increase the convenience and reduce the uncertainty to customers for online retailers and showing them that they are customer-oriented (Gummerus et al. , 2004). 4. 5 Security,According to Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, Security is the â€Å"quality or state of being secure†, which includes â€Å"freedom from danger† and â€Å"freedom from fear or anxiety†. Security also means something that secures including measures taken to guard against espionage or sabotage, crime, attack, or escape. In an information technology context, security is a set of procedures, techniques, and safeguards designed to protect the hardware, software, data, and other system resources from unauthorized access, use, modification, or theft (Davis and Benamati, 2003). 4. 6 Trust Claire, 2005) has argued that trust is an important issue for online purchase and critical for their success. On the Internet market, trust is usually related to the process of buying and payment between the buyers and the sellers. Besides, trust is also shown on the reliability of the website and how the privacy and securities severed for customers. Moreover, the fulfillment of order, after sales service are also the main sources of trust. 5. Research Methods Research can be descriptive or explanatory. Description and explanation can be seen as part of a circular model of research.This process can work in two ways: inductively or deductively (Veal, 2005). Inductive research is a study in which theory is developed from the observation of empirical reality (Yin 2003) . The deductive process is used to test the hypothesis against data (Veal, 2005). 5. 1 Qualitative Research Quantitative and qualitative are two principle research methodologies (Hussey and Hussey 1997). Qualitative approaches involve gathering a great deal of information about a relatively small number of subjects rather than a limited amount of information about a large number of subjects.Qualitative approaches are used when he researcher accepts that the concepts, terms and critical issues should be defined by the subjects of the research and not by the researchers. They are often used for the study of group’s particularly where interaction between group members is of interest. They are also used when exploratory theory building, rather than theory testing, is undertaken. The methods used to gather qualitative information include observation, informal, unstructured and in-depth interviewing, and participant observation (Veal, 2005). 5. 2 Quantitative ResearchQuantitative a pproach to research involves the gathering and analysis of numerical data. It relies on numerical evidence to draw conclusions or test hypotheses. To be sure of the reliability of the result it is often necessary to study relative large numbers of people or organizations-subjects-and therefore to use computers to analyze the data. Typically, the aim is for the sample studied to be representative of some wider population, so that the results can be generalized to that wider population. The data might be derived from questionnaires-based, surveys, from observation or from secondary sources, such as sales data (Veal, 2005). . 3 Proposed Research Method Based on the research methods identified above, the next step should be focus on the choosing of research methods to apply in the research. In this study, deductive research approach and quantitative method would be selected and used to do the dissertation. 6. Collection of Data 6. 1 Secondary Data According to Boyce (2002), secondary Da ta is defined as fact and figures that already exist and that may be available to people who would like to access and use them for own purpose. Secondary data have the potential to play an important part in any research process, particular in the design of a project.It provides background information that helps the researcher to understand the task more clearly, without it, the research would be difficult to ensure the validity and reliability. It is inexpensive and available quickly compared with primary data. Thus, in this research, secondary data would be widely used and to support this study. 6. 2 Primary Data Primary data are facts and figures that are newly collected for the project (Kerin et al, 2003). Most market research sets out to obtain primary data and the main methods used to do this are survey and focus groups and depth interviews.Survey is often interviewing large numbers of people and asked themto fill in answers to questionnaires. In focus groups and depth intervie ws, small numbers of carefully selected people give their opinions in detail in an informal and unstructured setting (Boyce 2002). Primary data are usually far more costly and time consuming to collect than secondary data. 6. 2. 1 Sample Size of Primary Data It is very crucial and important to determine the sample size of project. Generally speaking, the more sample sizes collected, the more accuracy the research.In this research, the sample size of primary data will be medium scale and sent to over 200 survey respondents which are conduct to the group and individuals will select from consumer who are willing to complete the questionnaire. Around 100 survey respondents will be asked to fill in the questionnaires directly and the other 100 samples will be done online by sending emails to people. 7. Method of Data Analysis The data gathered would be statistically analyzed and to see whether the hypotheses that were generated have been supported (Bryman, and Bell, 2007).For this study, the researcher would use the SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Science) to do the data analysis after collecting back the survey questionnaires from all the respondents. 8. Presentation of Dissertation This dissertation will be presented several graphs and data figures to supported writing and facilities readers. 9. Ethical Issues Respondents’ information will be kept confidential as per university guidelines. 10. Timetable |Month |March ,2010 |April, 2010 | May, 2010 |Content |Week |1 |2 |3 |4 |5 |6 |7 |8 |9 |10 |11 |12 | |Problems Identification | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |Literature Review | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |Research Design | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |Chose of Methodology | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |Data Source | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |Data Collection | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |Data Analysis | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |Writing Up Draft | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |Editing | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |Final Document | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |Organ izing Of Document | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |Source: Create for this research ResourcesReferences Sekaran, U. (2003), Research Methods for Business: A Skill-Building Approach, 4th edition, the United States of America: John Wiley &Sons, Inc. Hussey, J. and Hussey, R. (1997), Business Research: A practical guide for undergraduate and postgraduate students, MacMillan Business, London. John Boyce, (2002), Market Research in Practice, McGraw Hill, Australia. A . J. Veal, (2005), Business Research Methods: a managerial approach, 2nd edition, Pearson Education Australia. Roger A Kerin. , Eric N Berkowitz. , Steven W. Harhey. , William Rudelius, (2003), Marketing, 7th edition, McGraw Hill/Irwin, America.William S. Davis and John Benamati, (2003), E-Commerce Basics: Technology Foundations and E-business Applications, Pearson Education Inc. Bryman, A. and Bell, E. (2007), Business research methods, 2nd edition, Oxford: Oxford University Press. Dave Chaffey, (2004). E-business and E-commerc e Management, 2nd edition, Pearson Education Limited, UK. Yin, RK (2003), Case Study Research: Design and Method, 3rd edition. London: Sage Yang, Z. , Jun, M. , and Peterson, Robin T. , (2004), â€Å"Measuing customer perceived online service quality†, International Journal of Operations and Production Management. Yang, Z. (2001), â€Å"Customer perceptions of service quality in internet-based electronic commerce†, proceeding of the 30th EMAC Conference, Bergen. Jun, M. , Yang, Z. and Kim, D. S. (2004), â€Å"Customers’ perceptions of online retailing service quality and their satisfaction†, International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management. Zeithaml,V. A. (2002), â€Å"Service excellence in electronic channels†, Journal of Managing Service Quality. Parasuraman, Arun. , Zeithaml, Valarie. , and Malhorta, Arvind. , (2002). â€Å"Service Quality Delivery Through Web Sites: A Critical Review of Extant Knowledge†, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science.Parasuraman, A. , Zeithaml, V. A. , and Berry, L. L. (1988). â€Å"SERVQUAL: A Multiple Item Scale for Measuring Consumer Perceptions of Service Quality,† Journal of Retailing. Parasuraman, A. , Zeithaml, V. A. and Malhotra, A. (2005), â€Å"E-S-Qual: a multiple-item scale for assessing electronic service quality†, Journal of Service Research. Loiacono, E. , Watson, R. T. , and Goodhue, D. L (2002). â€Å"WEBQUAL: a Measure of Website Quality†. In AMA Winter Conference, Austin, TX. Janda, S. , Trocchia, P. J. , and Gwinner, K. (2002), â€Å"Consumer perceptions of Internet Retail Service Quality,† International Journal of Service Industry Management.Wolfinbarger, M. and Gilly, M. C. (2003), â€Å"ETAILQ: dimensionalizing, measuring and predicting e-tail quality†, Journal of Retailing Wolfinbarger, M. and Gilly, M. C. (2002), â€Å"COMQ: dimensionalizing, measuring and predicting quality of the e-tailing experience†, MSI working paper series, no. 02-100, Marketing Science Institute, Boston, MA. Yoo, B. and Donthu, N. (2001), â€Å"Developing a scale to measure the perceived service quality of internet shopping sites (sitequal)†, Quarterly Journal of Electronic Commerce. Vijayasarathy, L. and Jones, J. M. 2000), â€Å"Print and Internet catalog shopping: assessing attitudes and intentions†, Internet Research: Electronic Networking Applications and Policy. Santos, F. (2003), â€Å"E-service Quality: A Model of Virtual Service Quality Dimensions,† Journal of Managing Service Quality. Gummerus,J. , Liljander,Pura, M and van R, Aiel, (2004), â€Å"Customers loyalty to content-based web site: the case of an online health-care service†, Journal of Service Marketing . Gronroos, Christian, Heinonen, Fredrik, Isoniemi, Kristina, and Lindholm, Michael (2000). The NetOffer Model: A Case Example from the Virtual Marketspace.Journal of Management Decision Wang, Y. S, (2003), â€Å"Ass essing customer perceptions of Websites service quality in digital marketing environments†, Journal of End User Computing. Zeithaml, V. A. , Parasuraman, A. , and Berry, L. L. , (1988) â€Å"SERVQUAL: A Multiple Item Scale for Measuring Consumer Perceptions of Service Quality,† Journal of Retailing. Http://www. cnnic. net. cn/en/index/ Http://www. iresearch. com. cn/html/Default. html ———————– Website Design Easy of Use Reliability Perceived E-service Quality On-line Shopping Responsiveness Security Trust

Toyotas Strategies in Economic Globalisation Report

Introduction Globalization refers to the integration of economic activities with local and foreign companies competing in the host country. It involves the liberalization of the markets so that trade can be conducted freely. It brings in technological advancement into a country and the customer benefits greatly since the transaction costs have been reduced. Globalization has led to the increase of multinational corporations in the world market due to the liberalization of trade policies and practices. The spread of globalization is based on the capitalist theory of free trade. With globalization there are winners and losers.   The bilateral and multilateral trade agreements contribute to globalization as countries in the same region open up to one another through trade agreements on import, export taxes and tariffs. The companies’ strategies have to keep on changing in adapting to the environment (Whittington, 2002). The policies of a nation are also affected as they aim to protect the companies in the country from collapse due to foreign competition. The companies’ strategies are influenced by the country’s policies. There may be inter-governmental agreements that assist the foreign countries in trade. The private companies in a country also try to influence policies so that they can survive in face of tough competition [1]. The idea of monopolies is defeated as businesses are forced to compete globally. The quality of products a company offers has to be very high. It increases specialization in the companies. Consumers do not have to buy overpriced goods from local companies. They can now buy the goods at a cheaper price from international companies that incur less manufacturing costs. The company benefits as they gain access to wider markets. Global strategy is planned at an international level since a company wants to take advantage of the global markets. Decisions have to be made on which foreign markets to invest in and what products to sell. Are there markets for the company products in the new target markets? How will the company products be promoted in the particular countries? There are many factors to be considered when getting involved in foreign markets such as the legal environment, the social and cultural environment and the competitive environment [2]. The new markets are necessary as a company finds itself in its locale with a saturated market. Another advantage of engaging in global strategy is risk diversification. A company is no longer so vulnerable to the locale low economic cyclic.   The other advantage of globalization is the exploitation of cheap markets for labor. The wage rate in different countries is different such that in some countries labor is cheaper. A strategic company needs to have forecasting and analytical skills to analyze the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of the company globally. Economic globalization can be a threat to a company or an opportunity to make great profits. The Toyota Company is a company that has used economic integration to their advantage in order to access new markets. There have been challenges but its strategic management has weathered the storms. Toyota in the European Union The Toyota Corporation was incorporated in 1937 as Toyota Motor Company in Japan.   In 1962 it started expanding to other countries by starting operations in Thailand. The Toyota sales company was established in 1950 in Japan. It merged with the Toyota Motor Company to form the Toyota Motor Corporation. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyada. He invented a passenger car in 1935 that led to the birth of the company. He had travelled to America and visited various automobile companies. When he went back to Japan he started an automobile division in his father’s business. The company has grown rapidly. By the end of 2004 it had manufacturing and assembly points in over 26 countries. In 1984 it was had manufacturing plants only in 9 countries. From the 1980’s the company has been committed to aggressive expansion and production in foreign countries. In the 1980’s the company had been mainly exporting cars to many countries but the approach changed with management decidi ng to set up manufacturing plants many countries of the world. The company is famous for its low costs, just-in-time delivery principles and high quality. There are challenges in operating globally. There are also great opportunities when management applies global strategy efficiently. The governments in Europe allowed Japanese companies to enter the market in the 1960’s and 1970’s. Initially the company was able to sell its cars in the region however the European Union started putting certain restrictions on foreign companies. This was to protect the local companies.   The company sales in form of exports were higher than sales within the country. The European Union put a limit on the number of cars that the company could export. There was also a limit on the quantity of Japanese cars that could be imported into the region. In the year 1975, Britain put a limit of 10% on Japanese exports. France, Spain and Portuguese also put restrictions on Japanese exports [3]. Due to these restrictions, Japan had to change its strategy. The company started targeting countries in Europe with no import limitations. With the spread of globalization these restrictions on foreign companies were debated by the European countries. These countries had formed the European Union which is a body for integrating trade policies in the region. Originally after the World War 2, the European Union countries consisted of Germany, France, Italy and Belgium. England joined in 1973 with Denmark and Ireland.   Greece later joined followed by Spain and Portugal in 1986. Many of the automobile companies advocated for the import restrictions to still be in force. The European Union by allowing Asian car companies to trade in the area had caused the Toyota Company market share to rise from 14% to 18%. The market share loss was greatly experienced by GM, Volkswagen, Ford and other European Manufacturers [4].   As the debates continued, Toyota decided to adopt the strategy of manufacturing in Europe to deal with the tough legal environment (Zeitlin, 2003). The company in 1989 had started doing joint production with the VW Company in Germany. This was through consignment production only. Capital participation had not yet started. There was also consignment production of trucks in Portuguese that had started in 1963. It started capital participation by setting up a production plant in Britain in 1992 known as the Toyota Motor Manufacturing (United Kingdom). At that time the company had established an assembly only in the United States of America. However the high demand in the region in spite of the import restrictions caused the company to expand the assembly plants to Europe (Kumon, 2005). There was a meeting between the EC and Japan where certain agreements were made. First of all, there would be full liberalization of the market and Japan would not disrupt the EU market with its car exports. The Japanese would help the EU manufacturers maintain a competitive edge by allowing them a transitional period to adjust to regulations. With these agreements Japanese companies would not face any restrictions in investment or movements of its products in the European Union.   The Japanese countries were to produce their products and sell them within the European Union.   It was not in Europe alone that Toyota was facing the challenges of globalization. In America, there was friction between the Japanese and American Automobile companies. In 2005, the Toyota Company announced its global vision to increase its production and sales in overseas markets such as America and Europe. The management recognized three key challenges for the company at that time and revealed them to be the launch of new products, decreasing market share and a slow growth in overseas investments. The company accelerated production and sales overseas through plant constructions. Another strategy the company used was to develop specific car models for the USA and European Regions. In Europe the company launched the Avensus and New Corolla model s. The second Toyota manufacturing plant in Europe was set up in France in 1998. The French government was also stringent on foreign companies. When the European Union expanded to Eastern Europe the area also attracted several foreign investors. Toyota Company constructed a manufacturing plant in Turkey. It also set up plants in Czech and Poland in 2002. These regions had highly skilled workers and the wage rate was not as high as UK becoming very profitable to the company.   In the United Kingdom, the wages per hour are $40 while in a country like Poland the wages per hour are only $ 8 per hour. Toyota is always strategizing and moving to countries where it can cut costs and make profits. In Eastern Europe, the Toyota Company was also innovative. Instead of producing its cars in their own fully controlled company they chose to enter into a joint venture with Peugeot. They worked together to create the Toyota Peugeot Citroen Automobile. The joint venture agreement was signed in 2002. The venture was a success as the two companies combined their skills. The Toyota staff had production knowledge and skills. They also had skills in petrol engine technology. The Peugeot Company on the other hand contributed skills in diesel engine technology and small cars. Since the Peugeot Company was from a European background while Toyota was Japanese they had to overcome cultural and language barriers to ensure efficiency. Peugeot was the biggest automobile company in the region. It had networks with the best suppliers. If Toyota had started in the region alone it would have been difficult and time –consuming. With this joint venture the Toyota Company was able to fully grasp t he mini-car market in the region. The company has also been strategic in ensuring compliance to the regulatory laws [5]. The EU has revised its laws on CO2 emission and companies were expected to comply with the standard of less than 135g per km down from 175g. The diesel engines emit less carbon dioxide. The Toyota Company was strategic as it chose to engage in a joint venture for producing small cars with diesel engines in Poland. With compliance a company can make it a strategic competitive advantage. In the manufacturing world today, companies have to be compliant to the laws of the country they wish to invest in. They may lose market share and lose millions in dollars through producing goods that are not compliant. Toyota is a company that complies with all the emission standards in the USA and Europe. Complying and using the processes of lean manufacturing have greatly given the company a competitive edge. The company uses a global strategy in operating the companies. The same strategy used in one country is used consistently for all the other countries in the world. The same brand names are used to sell the products. In the Toyota Company there are certain key elements of the production system. First of all the workers are supposed to operate using multi-functional skills. The workers perform regular tasks as well as irregular tasks. The company has the JIT system and quality assurance systems. The company has very few job grades and there is a lot of job rotation. There are also teams created in the company to assist in communication and coordination of the work. The policy in quality assurance is that quality should always be built in the manufacturing system. In all its companies the Japanese hold top management positions while the major workers are from the host country. About 3% of the employees in Toyota companies are expatriates from Japan. The employees go for training to Japan and Canada. They learn a lot which they teach the other employees when they came back through on the job training. It pays less to workers compared to other automobile companies for the same quantity of work. By employing the system of lean production the company was the leading company in the automobile industry in 2006. Their sales have been rising higher and higher. Conclusion Currently Toyota is facing five different kinds of challenges. Being a Japanese company it has to report the financial statements in Japanese Yen. This exposes it to exchange rate fluctuations and losses. There is also competitive rivalry from VW, BMW, and Fiat. The company though has a very loyal customer base assisting it to maintain its sales. There have been many new entrants in the market for the mini-car market. The customers in Europe though do not have high buyer power in switching cars. The average length of ownership for a car is also very long. The customers tend to stick to the suppliers with great reputation. This has worked to the credit of the Toyota Company. As much as there have been substitute products in the market, Toyota maintains its position at the top through its advanced hybrid technology, environmental initiatives and quality. Toyota has the ability to also provide cars at a low price compared to other automobile companies. The company constantly faces stiff competition but it overcomes the tough competition by applying its key competencies. The Toyota Motor Corporation of Japan is second in automobile manufacturing in the world and the seventh biggest company in the world. The company has consistently shown that economic globalization is a great opportunity for businesses in the world. By firms operating strategically in the dynamic environment, they ensure continuity [6] (Ansoff, 1985).   Many books have been written on the Toyota model of doing operations. Many businesses study its concepts to be ahead in their industries. Their way of invading foreign markets and changing strategies in the face of laws in foreign laws has taken to the top of the automobile industry. [1] Dieter, H (2010).Transnational Production Networks in the Automobile Industry. Notre Europe [2] Cole, G (1997). Strategic Management. London: Letts Educational. [3] Oliver, N Wilkinson, B. (1992).The Japanization of British Industry: New Developments in the 1990s. London: Blackwell [4] Wells, P Rawlinson, M. (1994). The New European Automobile Industry, New York: St. Martin’s press. [5]   Columbus, L (2006).Competing globally starts with Compliance: Leads to more competitive operations. [6]   Ansoff, 1985 Bibliography: Ansoff H. (1985). Implementing Strategic Management. New Jersey: Englewood Cliffs. Cole, G (1997). Strategic Management. London: Letts Educational. Columbus, L (2006). Competing globally starts with Compliance: Leads to more competitive operations. Available from: http://www.internetviz-newsletters.com/cincom/e_article000667816.cfm? (Online) (Accessed 12th March, 2011) Dieter, H(n,d).Transnational Production Networks in the Automobile Industry. Notre Europe. Available from: www.notre-europe.eu/fileadmin/IMG/pdf/Etud58.pdf (Online) (Accessed 12th March, 2011) Kumon, H (2005). Evolution of the Transfer Pattern of the Toyota Production System: Toyota’s European Operations. Available from: leda.univ-evry.fr/PagesHtml/laboratoires/gerpisa//13/P-S.16.Kumon.pdf (Online) (Accessed 12th March, 2011) Mote, D. (2010) Global Strategy. Encyclopedia of Business, 2nd ed(Online) Available from: http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/encyclopedia/For-Gol/Global-Strategy.html  (Accessed 12th March 2011) Oliver, N Wilkinson, B. (1992).The Japanization of British Industry: New Developments in the 1990s. London: Blackwell. Whittington, R. (2002) What is Strategy and Does it Matter? UK: Thompson Learning. Wells, P Rawlinson, M. (1994). The New European Automobile Industry, New York: St. Martin’s press. Zeitlin, J. (2003). Productive Alternative: Flexibility, Governance, and Strategic Choice in Industrial History.   Business History around the World, pp.62-80.