Tesco The strategic planning of an organization

Tesco The strategic planning of an organization This study is focusing on a Strategic planning of chosen organization. And it is the main function that a company is having in the early of their business years. Every organization has its own strategic plan which is unique to the business they are connecting with. We are taking the Tesco PLC as the chosen organization for this study. So we can find out the plans that are set in the Tesco at the initiative stage. And here also it is important to know the Tescos Board of Directors set their strategic plan to accomplish the best organization and the best performing firm in the industry as well. Tesco Private Limited Company Tesco is the British largest wholesaler retailer by global sales and also in UK domestic market. And also it is considers as the worlds third giant. Tesco firstly established in 1919 by Mr. Jack Cohen. But it is firstly appeared as Tesco brand in 1924. Tescos first supermarket was opened in 1956 and it was the first price reduction super market for Tesco. Then the diversify strategies implemented by the Tesco started. And that was the success for Tesco in their business world. The main outcomes expecting of Tesco corporate strategy are as follows, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢To be the best retailer in the Domestic market. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Take necessary action to uplift the UK market. And use the UK market as the model for international business. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢To be the best in both foods and non food market in all over the world. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢To be the strongest in other alternative businesses as well such as Tesco Personal Finance, Telecoms and Tesco.com à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢To be the excellent corporate social responsible firm Understand the External environment affecting the Tesco Importance of the External Factors/ major changes in the Tesco and how those affect to the strategic Direction of the Tesco. Any business or organization does not run in an empty environment. Industries when it comes in a competitive market structure. So the organization or the business must act and react according to the environment inside and outside. So this is what we call the analysis of the environment. We have to understand the possible environment changes happening in the external world. It is depend on the degree of the competition. We have to understand the strength of the competitive alternative in the industry to find out the important of the external factors. Any way we have six main environmental factors happening in the external environment. And those factors are very important to examine and analysis when we try to understand the importance of the external factors. Social, major changes in Social factors can be the attitude changes due to alternative products. This will never happens so easily. Economic, this can be changes due to economic rescission or any other immediate down ward of economic factors. The taxation can be also affected the changes in business structure. Legal, if there is any policy changes happen in the structure of the Tesco it will affect the organizational structure as well. Political, the major changes can be happen in the Tesco political scenario. Any way this is very important to handle because the political authority is very important when it comes to the decision making in business. Ethical, this is important when it comes to the changes in moral and the motivation because the human rights or any other case. Technological, changes in technology will lead to the end of any company. Stakeholders of the Tesco PLC The importance of the business is stakeholders. They are the major partners in running the organization. And also they can be very crucial to make the profit of the organization. They will get the profit or loss both have to take in to consideration by the stakeholders. There are few stakeholders we can identify in the business as follows. Customer This is the most considerable stakeholder for any organization in the world. And without these customers there is no organization who can survive with. The customers are directly contributing to the profit and the turnover of the organization. Tesco has a unique blend of customers who can be different from any other people buying ordinary goods. Tesco is the lowest price holder in any part of the UK. So the customer base also is solid for the Tesco. Employees This stakeholder category is the back born of any organization in the world. Without employee satisfaction the organization is useless of making profit. And also we have to make the strategies to uplift the employees quality of life. And there they have to set the directions by consideration the employees as well. Tesco is dealing with the retail market and the services also related with people. So the employees are the most important factor on this regard. Tesco is having 586 retail shops all around in Great Britain. So the Employees factor is the most valuable factor for the Tesco PLC. Shareholders Tesco is there because of the Shareholders. The top they have achieve in the sector of their industry just because of the shareholders. This is the most important stakeholder group in financial purpose. They have the profit share and also the loss share as well. Competitors Food and no food retail industry is one of the biggest industries having in now days. So the complexity of the industry makes more competitors. We can have few competitors in domestic market like ASDA, Sainsbury, and Waitrose. And also the biggest international competitor for the Tesco is the Wall-Mart. So Tesco has more competitive advantages by the others. The UK Government In every successful and giant organization have some political influence. They sometimes have many policies over the firms. So this will make the loss in the organizations especially the organizations have more international relations as well as domestic powerful penetration. Review the Existing Business plans and Strategies of Tesco PLC 2.1 Current Position/ Strengths and Weaknesses The Tesco has many up and down times in their history. We can identify some important factors that will reflect the Tescos historical pathway to the success. And these are the main information that will indicate the todays position of Tescos. Very low population capacity of the Organization The inflation of the food price is so much low Well established and newly opened and fully structured supermarkets all over the country. It is so much hard to get the planning permissions for large Greenfields Three main well strong and powerful Competitors operating in the domestic market There are new store places for all the other well established organizations in the industry So the existing position is as above in the beginning. But the new situation or the position is the other side of the above facts and information. Soothe main strengths now is as follows, High capacity of customer base and the employee base with comparing the others The inflation has grown up the food price and the Tesco gets the advantage of that to grow themselves Fully structured and well established 586 retail stores under the capacity of Tesco They have so many Greenfields other than any other competitor. The Tesco is the No. 1 brand in the UK domestic market. And other competitors may have nothing to say on Tesco and they are sometimes unable to compete with Tesco. The Tesco has a large capacity and the power to handle the market structure some times. Tesco has the large number of stores and the well planned spaces in the food and non food industry in UK We can identify some of the weaknesses in the Tesco as follows, Lack of internal communication Present state is not communicated to the others. Promotion Process incomplete tension may create for the uniform and non uniform workers. Lack of physical fitness for the employees Public education is well needed and the attitudinal change is required. Need diversity training on sensitivity and all must have leadership development and the accountability 2.2 Current business Plans The business plan for the Tesco is very simple and the plan is given by the outcome oriented. So the business plan we can identify the strategic areas. The directional plans subcategories can be taken in to the business plan. The main focus or the objective is to maximise the sales of the Tesco. So to analyse the situation on this regard we have chosen the three main category that the Tesco is used to have in the pats. We can say the three areas that Tesco has followed is given below, Spend more to time and more money to the existing customers and the existing stores. Identify new customers in new channels Newly introduced geographies development But the growth strategies we explain in the above are having some problems and the profitable matters are not supported by the strategies used in the above tactics. So we have to switch the new strategic business plan to penetrate the market deeper. So they have thought the existing customers more and make some strategic business plan according to that. Now they have only focuses on the existing customers, like this, Existing Customers Product Service For the product they have made it two different parts that are segmented private labels and the expanded no-foods, and the services they have switch financial and telecommunication. These are the newly introduced services that Tesco Currently engaged in. Develop Options for Strategic Planning for Tesco PLC 3.1 Strategic Options for Tesco As we all know the Tesco is the worlds 3rd largest retail business organization. So the organization has many strategic options that they have to take in to consideration. Especially the financial side of the company they have to think many strategic options that will suite for the organization. We can identify there are some of the strategic options that Tesco may have and the important thing is that Tesco might have options that they can do anything they want just because they have the reputation and he monetary power. The high capacity of customer base is the biggest advantage they have right at the movement. Any way they may have following options if they want to switch in to any of the following options. Flexibility option we can magnitude the production or the manufacturing in to flexible operations. We can use the existing production and the other stuff in to flexible service and production. This will enhance the net present value of the organization. This can be done by the happening of massive fluctuations in the environmental changes. Growth Option we need to have a self evaluation and monitoring part if we want to find out there are any possibility that we can switch in to the growth option. Tesco need experience some of the stores in the UK although they have more than 1000 stores in the domestic market and the share of 33% of the total market they might need some of their businesses growth. Timing Option although the Tesco has giant improvements in their business they have some implementations to be commence in the time of the growth. So they may use the tactics that they will suddenly go in to some kind of projects that they will get more benefits. So they may use the option of going immediate projects by time to time. 3.2 Future strategic options and the suitable structure for all the stakeholders We can identify these two topics in one angle. The stakeholders are the most important of any business as we mention in the above. So we can use the most suitable structures that we can make the strategic options correctly. We can use the values that will give us the strategic option for all the stakeholders including. Market development this is the main strategic option they have on their hands. And this can be very crucial for all the stakeholders as well. The strategy Tesco use for market development is the joint development and the strategic alliance. Tesco is used t make alliances with the Asian international businesses. This will enhance the business strength of Tesco and it will make more profit share for the stakeholders as well. The other market development option they have is to switch in to the Latin American retail market, hey have already somewhat expanded this in to there. Product development this is the most important title to be discussed with the case of Tesco. They have the option of Diversification strategy. They have to use this strategy that they will get the best sales forever. And all the stakeholders will get the benefits and the employees will also have the chance to be innovative and more productive. Develop a Strategic Plan for the Organization Before developing the strategic plan for the organization of Tesco we have to consider the future goals that Tesco has. Any way the Tesco has the vision of be the global best retailer, it is easier for us to get an idea of how they need to be strategize. So there for we can have the following strategic planning steps that will suite for the organization. Review and develop the vision and the mission of the Tesco, We need to rethink the mission of the organization that how we can offer the best service and grab the higher part of the market share. This will indicate that we need to rethink the missions and the values and make the strategies according to those. Business and the environmental analysis We did this part in the above. We need to finds out the newly emerging trends that will affect for our business. And for that we need to create the strategies for overcome those threats. We can have a SWOT analysis of the Tesco and find out the threats and weaknesses that will affect the organizational future and overcome those. Establish strategic Objectives This step will show us the overall picture of the organization heading at. And we can do necessary actions to make the strategies that will suite for the direction of the Tesco. Resource allocation And we can allocate the resources we have according to the set objective strategies. And the allocation will take part of the newly introduced resources as well. We can find the wants and the needs of the stores and the employees to allocate the resources. Execution review This will be doing by the top level and the middle level management. And the monitoring part will need to maximize the production and the Discussion This study is mainly focused on the strategic planning of an organization. We have found and select the organization of Tesco PLC. Tesco is the worlds third biggest retailer in all the time on now days. Firstly we have analysed the organizational external environment and the facts that will affect the organizational changes. We have identified the existing business plans that they have to be the best organization in the world. So according to those plans thy have changed their organization by reviewing the past experiences and the success of the organization can be found in overcoming those obstacles. Then we have to consider the options that will affect to the organization we have found that the options we have is the values that we need to develop. And then we have to study the strategies that Tesco set for developing the marketing and the products. They have to be diversifying their products that they have to be the best of grabbing the market share. And finally we have come to the stage of making a strategic plan that will implement for the Tescos future development. Here we have considered the steps that we need to take according to develop a strategic plan.

Responsible for Macbeth’s actions Essay

Macbeth by William Shakespeare is a play that portrays Macbeth, who is an ambitious character, being manipulated and motivated by female powers. Macbeth is initially depicted as a brave and capable warrior but his physical courage is joined by a consuming ambition- to become King of Scotland. It was his encounter with the witches, or otherwise referred to as the â€Å"weird sisters†, that motivated and inspired Macbeth to murder Duncan and therefore become the King of Scotland. However, it was mainly Lady Macbeth’s persuasion that had influenced Macbeth to perform his actions which had lead onto other regretful actions including the murder of Banquo and MacDuff’s family. It was the witches who were accountable for Macbeth’s tragic downfall as their apparitions did not only confuse Macbeth but had caused him to misinterpret his future as predicted by the witches. Lady Macbeth and the witches were responsible, to a great extent, for Macbeth’s actions. During the first Act of the play, Macbeth and Banquo, who were returning victorious from battle, encounter three witches who greeted Macbeth as the â€Å"Thane of Glamis†, â€Å"Thane of Cawdor† and â€Å"Macbeth, that shalt be King hereafter† (Act I Scene III line 49). It is evident that Macbeth had thought of becoming King prior to meeting the witches, but it was their greetings that had reinforced his thoughts and ambition. Banquo was quick to reassure Macbeth that â€Å"The instruments of Darkness tell us truths; win us with honest trifles, to betray’s in deepest consequence† but Macbeth was able to learn some truth from the prophecies as he was later greeted by Ross and Angus claiming that he had become the Thane of Cawdor- just like the witches had prophesised. It was at this point where Macbeth felt excited and the truthful prophecies had bought him joy yet inner turmoil. The terrible weather when he meets the witches reflects corruption in moral and political order and is a sign of foreshadowing used to indicate that Macbeth’s knowledge about his future could possibly cause his downfall. Therefore, it was the witches’ prophecies that had motivated Macbeth and had got him thinking about becoming King which involved the murder of Duncan. Lady Macbeth without doubt was the most powerful influence on Macbeth not only because she’s his husband but also because her ambition for power is  greater than Macbeth’s desires to become King. This is shown by introducing Lady Macbeth immediately planning Duncan’s death in her soliloquy by preparing to give Macbeth all her persuasive support. â€Å"All that impedes thee from the golden round, which fate and metaphysical aid doth seem to have thee crowned withal† (Act I Scene V lines 27-30). When Duncan had arrived Macbeth felt apprehensive and reluctant to kill Duncan as he feels that he had a moral obligation to serve to Duncan and that he had been a good friend to him. At this point, Lady Macbeth was able to persuade Macbeth by questioning his manhood and also implying that Macbeth was a coward for planning to withdraw from the murder. â€Å"And live a coward in thine own esteem, letting ‘I dare not’ wait upon ‘I would’, like the poor cat i’the adage?† (Act I Scene VII lines 43-45). Here Lady Macbeth is referring to a proverb in which a cat wanted to catch fish but didn’t want to get its feet wet. It is effective and persuasive because Lady Macbeth is suggesting that Macbeth won’t be able to have self-respect if he doesn’t commit the murder. Lady Macbeth makes a bizarre appeal to the spirits to make her less effeminate and more masculine and courageous. She demands for supernatural help, which links her to the witches at the beginning of the play, by demanding to vindicate her conscience of any evils that she may commit. An example of this is in her appeal to the spirits: â€Å"Come, you spirits that tend on moral thoughts, unsex me here, and fill me from the crown to the toe top-full of direst cruelty. Make thick my blood.† (Act I Scene V lines 38-41) It was Lady Macbeth’s persuasion that influenced Macbeth into murdering Duncan and this implies that women can be as cruel and ambitious as men but social constraints and natural order deny them of carrying out their own ambitions. During the course of the play, Macbeth became acquainted to the witches as he demanded that they tell his future. The apparitions shown to Macbeth caused great confusion as he had misinterpreted them by taking its meaning literally. The first apparition which had warned Macbeth of MacDuff was contradicted by the second apparition which told Macbeth to â€Å"Be bloody, bold, and resolute; laugh to scorn, the power of man; for none of woman born shall harm Macbeth† (Act IV Scene I lines 78-80). Macbeth had immediately  thought himself as being invincible since everyman was woman born. However, little did he know that MacDuff was born from the Caesarian section which eventually proved to be a fatal mistake. The witches and Lady Macbeth played a major role in the play by influencing and motivating Macbeth into initially murdering Duncan, and then believing that he was invincible from anyone. The witches’ prophecies had given inspiration and had exercised Macbeth’s thoughts of becoming King whilst Lady Macbeth’s evil nature had persuaded Macbeth by playing on his emotions and questioning his man hood. Therefore, it was to a great extent that Macbeth’s actions were caused by the manipulation of female powers.

Ideas, Formulas and Shortcuts for Undergraduate Essay Exam Samples

Ideas, Formulas and Shortcuts for Undergraduate Essay Exam Samples For that reason, it might not always be possible to get precisely what matches your undertaking. The samples will provide you with ideas on the way you answer the questions provided to you. You may also be penalized for presenting the info from samples as your own. All the reference items begin with the title of the information supply. A Secret Weapon for Undergraduate Essay Exam Samples The readers wish to read an essay that's absolutely free from any mistakes so it will be simple to comprehend. The simplest approach to specify the sort of an essay is to realize the writer's point of view. When you are requested to compose an essay, attempt to discover some samples (models) of similar writing and learn how to observe the craft of the writer. If you are in possession of a very clear essay, readers will understand easily what you wish to tell. Within this section you'll find samples of essays belonging to different essay types and manners of formatting. These seven sample essays respond to a wide variety of thought-provoking questions. You'll observe a similar structure in a lot of the essays. To structure an essay, you must simply follow the above mentioned format. Essay writing can be rather a challenge. Subsequently, it has been defined in a variety of ways. Creative essays should have a topic. Writing an MBA essay is a difficult task because you have to cover many things and you will need to make sure that you compose the very best. The Do's and Don'ts of Undergraduate Essay Exam Samples What an ideal scenario would look like is capturing the men and women in their very own space. The very first room, through the door, is the major portion of the restaurant. 1 photo essay idea I have always wished to try is to photograph one landmark from a number of different vantage points. Consult your parents to spell out the rear row to you. What Does Undergraduate Essay Exam Samples Mean? It leaves a great deal of big questions to reply. There are a number of homeless folks in Berkeley. It is crucial to mention that the idea doesn't need to be a good one. Have a good idea of what you need to accomplish, and create it as though you were teac hing another person. After you have gathered ideas on the subject, you have to properly place your thoughts into words. Narration is telling a story from a particular viewpoint, and there is normally a reason behind the telling. The author starts with a rather in depth story of an event or description of an individual or place. If he is a person, then their first name is used first. This statement is too general and would be practically impossible that you defend. It includes some thought-provoking claims. An excellent thesis statement will accomplish the exact same thing. Above all, it makes a statement. As can be understood by the state of current events in the world these days, the usage of force, and the threat of the usage of force remains prevalent. Unique things to various individuals, since the situation demanded. Government surveillance programs do more damage than good since they invade civil liberties, lead innocent folks to suffer unfair punishments, and ultimately fail to safeguard the citizens they are made to safeguard. The issue with the use of autonomous weapons in relation to the necessity argument does therefore seem to be reducible to the more general issues connected with the operation of the defence, in place of presenting any new challenges. An essay has to be composed of an introduction, a body, and a conclusion. It will test t he student knowledge and ability in answering the questions as well as analyzing the issue. In conclusion, it looks like assignment essays continue to get a prominent part in tertiary education as an assessment tool. Writing an essay is a vital role in academe life. You will need to understand how to compose an effective essay as it is a typical foundation for a student's grade. Curriculum proposal topics is a means to try. Students are requested to explain, comment on, or assess a subject of study in the shape of an essay. By abiding By the guiding principle supplied in the samples, you're guaranteed to be successful in writing your college essays. Research on the topic matter if you discover that it's necessary. Try out another topic and do the identical 5-minute writing test till you locate a topic you know it is simple to write on. When you finish your research notes you can begin writing with confidence that you have all of the pieces you have to create a fantastic essay.

Information Technology TAM - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 19 Words: 5738 Downloads: 2 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category IT Essay Type Research paper Did you like this example? Factors Influencing Technology Adoption: A Review Abstract The growth of e-commerce has provided an opportunity to understand why people participate in e-commerce activities and adopt information technology. Researchers from various disciplines have analyzed the reasons from different perspectives supported by theories such as; diffusion of innovation, theory of reasoned action, and theory of planned behavior. Various models have been designed and validated to explain the factors responsible for technology adoption of e-commerce. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Information Technology TAM" essay for you Create order The purpose of this study is to review the literature on technology adoption and to critique a number of key models that are frequently applied by researchers in their efforts to examine the factors that predict the adoption of technologies. This paper shows the importance of social factors and characteristics of adopters that affect their behavior to adopt technology. This paper explores research possibilities beyond the central theme of technology adoption literature that focuses on attributes of innovation. 1. Introduction: Computers and information technologies have widespread presence in todays organizations and have considerably expanded in scope and application. Since the 1980s about 50 percent of all new capital investment in organizations has been in information technology (Westland and Clark, 2000). In order for that investment to improve productivity these technologies must be accepted and used by employees in organizations. As a result, understanding the factors th at influence or inhibit technology adoption has received considerable attention from researcherstransforming it into one of the mature research areas of contemporary information systems (IS) literature (Hu et al. 1999) and resulting in the development of a number of theoretical models with roots in sociology, psychology, and information systems (e.g. Davis et al. 1989; Taylor and Todd 1995; Venkatesh and Davis 2000). The purpose of this paper is to provide a brief review of the literature in this area and to outline a number of key factors that emerge as important considerations for technology adoption researchers interested in examining the construct. 2. Technology adoption: A review of the literature 2. a. Diffusion of Innovation To understand the factors responsible for technology adoption, it is important to examine the factors that influence adoption of an innovation. Rogers (1995) explains that adoption of innovation is a time consuming process and the rate at which d iffusion of innovation takes place becomes significant for individuals or organizations that are concerned with adoption of innovation. Rogers defines diffusion as â€Å"the process by which an innovation is communicated through certain channels over time among the members of a society† (Rogers 1995, p.5). He defines innovation as an idea, practice, or object that is perceived as new by an individual or other unit of adoption (Rogers, 1995, p.11). It has been suggested (Prescott 1995) that diffusion of innovation theory (DOI) provides a â€Å"rewarding base for expanding our understanding of IT adoption, implementation, and infusion† (p.19). His diffusion of innovation theory focuses on the adoption of innovation from a sociological perspective and has been successfully applied in the Information Systems (IS) context to explain the adoption of innovations (Moore and Benbasat, 1991; Tornatzky and Klein, 1982). In this theory the factors that affect the rate of adoption of innovation are relative advantage, compatibility, complexity, trialability and observability; explained as follows: Relative advantage: â€Å"the degree to which an innovation is perceived as better than the idea it supercedes† (Rogers 1995, p.15). Rogers (1995) suggests that greater the perceived relative advantage of an innovation, the more rapid its rate of adoption. Compatibility: â€Å"the degree to which an innovation is perceived as being consistent with the existing values, past experiences, and needs of potential adopters† (Rogers 1995, p.15). Tornatzky and Klein (1982) found that innovation was more likely to be adopted when it was found to be compatible with potential adopters job responsibilities and the value system (Ndubinsi and Sinti, 2006). Complexity: â€Å"the degree to which an innovation is perceived as difficult to understand and use† (Rogers 1995, p.16). He suggests that new ideas that are simpler to understand are adopted rapidly than the ones that require the adopter to develop new skills and understanding. Cheung et al. (2000) found that complexity could negatively influence the adoption of Internet. Lederer et al. (2000) considered complexity, as a construct, exactly opposite to the ease of use construct, which has been found to directly impact the adoption of Internet. Trialability: â€Å"the degree to which an innovation may be experimented with on a limited basis† (Rogers 1995, p.16). It measures the extent to which potential adopters perceive an opportunity to experiment with the innovation prior to committing to its usage (Agarwal and Prasad, 1998). Tan and Teo (2000) suggested that trialability helps minimizing unknown fears and customers (in banking context) realize that the mistakes could be rectified. Observability: â€Å"the degree to which the results of an innovation are visible to the others† (Rogers 1995, p.16). According to Agarwal and Prasad (1998), the characteristics of observability, identified by Rogers was segregated by Moore and Benbasat (1991) as: result demonstrability- the tangibility of the results of using an innovation (p.203) and visibility- the extent to which innovation is visible to the potential adopter, in the context of adoption of innovation. Tornatzky and Klein (1982) assert that relative advantage, compatibility and complexity are the three most relevant constructs for the adoption of innovation. Other researchers such asMoore and Benbasat (1991) have successfully extended the model and added image, result demonstrability, visibility and ease of use. The five elements of Rogers DOI theory have considerable domination in the innovation diffusion studies and have been successfully adapted to study the diffusion of technological innovation (Tung and Reick 2005). 2. b. Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) To understand the factors influencing adoption and acceptance of technology, information systems research has taken a wider perspective to study the factors affecting adopters behavior to adopt the technology. Fishbein and Ajzenss (1975) theory of reasoned action (TRA) provides a firm theoretical foundation for the stream of information systems research with an objective to predict behavior of individuals to adopt a par ticular technology. TRA is concerned with determinants of consciously intended behaviors (Malhotra and Galletta (1999) and has influenced conceptualization of models predicting IT acceptance (e.g. Technology Acceptance Model -TAM). Drawn from social psychology, TRA states that beliefs influence attitude, which lead to intentions, and finally to behaviors. TRA introduced two core independent construct: attitude toward behavior and subjective norm, which are tied to behavioral and normative beliefs. Attitude toward a behavior is defined as an individuals positive and negative feelings (evaluative affect) about performing the target behavior (Fishbein and Ajzen, 1975, p. 216). Subjective Norm is defined as the persons perception that most people who are important to him think he should or should not perform the behavior in question (Fishbein and Ajzen, 1975, p.302). According to TRA, individuals attitude toward behavior is determined by their most important beliefs and consequences of performing specific behavior. Fishbein and Ajzen (1975) demonstrated through their theory that behavior is best predicted by intentions, and intentions are jointly determined by the persons attitude and subjective norm concerning the behavior (p.216). TRA has been successfully modeled for empirical support in predicting behavior and tested in various disciplines such as marketing and sociology (Agarwal and Prasad 1998). A meta-analysis of 87 empirical studies strongly supports the predictive power of this model (Sheppard, Hartwick and Warshaw, 1988). Expanding on the research in domains of marketing and sociology, TRA has been empirically tested and supported, in context of acceptance of information technology (Taylor and Todd, 1995a; Davis, Bagozzi and Warshaw 1989). Agarwal and Prasad (1999) observed that TRA makes an implicit and assumption that the intended behavior is under volitional control of individuals. According to Ajzen and Fishbein (1980), volitional control is achi eved when a person is able to express his/her will, measured in the form of intention to perform the given action. In the context of IT adoption, TRA fails to predict the behavior of individuals with low volitional control in mandatory and non-mandatory situation. An example of behavior related to mandatory IT usage may imply behavior concerning use of new e-mail software mandated by the management of an organization. TRA provides an opportunity of expansion of its theoretical structure to incorporate beliefs affecting varying degree of volitional control of an individual. 2. c. Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) To address the shortcomings of the TRA model, Ajzen (1985) expanded on the theoretical framework of TRA and proposed the theory of planned behavior (TPB).TPB modifies TRA by including the construct perceived behavioral control (PBC) to address situations in which individuals lack substantive control over a specific behavior (Ajzen 1991). As the TPB is a modification of TRA, the determinants attitude and subjective norm are defined in TPB, just the way they were defined in TRA. The TPB suggests that behavior can be explained by behavioral intention, which is influenced by attitude, subjective norms and perceived behavioral control. Perceived Behavioral Control (cf. Venkatesh et al. 2003) is â€Å"the perceived ease or difficulty of performing the behavior† (Ajzen 1991, p.188) and in context of IS research, â€Å"perceptions of internal and external constraints on behavior† (Taylor and Todd 1995b, p.149). The extent to which an individual perceives to have necessary resources to perform the behavior is measured by perceived importance of that resource to successful performance of the behavior (Agarwal and Prasad 1999). An example in the usage of an IT such as Internet might be beliefs related to the extent to which an individual perceives to have access to high speed Internet connection measured by beliefs related to perceived importan ce of high speed connection to use Internet (Agarwal and Prasad 1998). Rawstorne et al. (1998) mentions the need to include PBC in models that try to identify the determinants of mandated usage of Information Systems and implied that the mandated usage is a type of non-volitional behavior. However, it is a different type of non-volitional control as discussed by Ajzen, (1985: 1991), when he described the influence of internal and external factors on volitional control. Rawstorne et al. (1998) note that the major difference between the Ajzens (1985) volitional control and the volitional control associated with mandatory behavior is that, the absence of volitional control, in the former category, hinders a persons will to perform the behavior; whereas, in the latter category, mandatory use of technology hinders a persons will not to perform the behavior. Their study also highlighted the subtle but remarkable distinction that becomes important because, Ajzen (1991) added the variabl e PBC to TRA, to take into account the non-volitional behavior, which measures the extent to which an individual feels control over performing the behavior, rather than not performing the behavior. Despite the distinction that has raised doubts over the usefulness of TPB for explaining and predicting mandated IS usage, there is lack of empirical support in favor of the argument presented in their study. In an attempt to generalize the impact of belief structures on behavior, in a variety of research settings, Taylor and Todd (1995) proposed decomposed theory of planned behavior (DTPB) that provides a greater insight into the factors influencing IT usage by decomposing the attitudinal, normative and control beliefs that are generalizable across situations and not specialized to each context (Fu, Farn, and Chao 2005) Owing to its ability to predict behavior in context specific situation, the theory of planned behavior has received broad support in empirical studies of social psycho logy (Ajzen 1991; Ajzen and Madden 1986; Taylor and Todd 1995), marketing (Chiou 1998), and information technology (Fusilier and Durlabhji 2005; Pavlou and Fygenson 2006). 2. d. Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) To study the factors affecting the acceptance of information technology in organizations and the usage behavior of individuals adopting the information technology, Davis (1989) proposed Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). In the field of information systems, this model has been used to predict and explain user acceptance of various information technologies. According to Davis, Bagozzi, and Warshaw (1989), the goal of TAM is to provide an explanation of the determinants of computer acceptance that in general is capable of explaining user behavior across broad range of end-user computing technologies and user populations, while at the same time being both parsimonious and theoretically justified (p.985). TAM is an adaptation Figure1. Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) ( source Davis 1996, p.20) of the Theory of Reasoned Action and was designed to â€Å"understand the causal chain linking external variables to its user acceptance and actual use in a work place. External variables such as objective system characteristics, training, computer self-efficacy, user involvement in design, and the nature of implementation process are theorized to influence behavioral intention to use, and ultimately usage, indirectly via their influence on perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use† (Davis 1996, p. 20). In an attempt to answer the question as to why perceived ease of use operates through perceived usefulness (Figure 1), Davis (1993) suggested that perceived usefulness construct may reflect considerations of â€Å"benefits† and the â€Å"costs† of using the target system. Although the subjective norm construct should take into account social influence, the authors of TAM observed that conceptualization of social norm based on T RA has theoretical and psychometric problems (Malhotra and Galletta, 1999). The final TAM model excluded the social norm construct, as Davis et al. (1989) observed the difficulty in distinguishing the cause of usage behavior: whether by influence of referents on an individuals intent or by individuals own attitude (Malhotra and Galletta, 1999). However, in an attempt to predict the usage behavior, in case of mandatory settings, TAM was extended to include the subjective norm as an additional predictor of intention to use (Venkatesh and Davis 2000; Venkatesh et al. 2003). According to Robey (1996), TAMs theoretical contribution has helped researchers understand information systems usage and acceptance behaviors. As noted by Malhotra and Galletta (1999) the TAM model has emerged as one of the most influential models in the stream of research in IS acceptance and usage. Table 1 in Appendix provides a list of numerous TAM studies that have been undertaken since 1989. Davis (1989) on examination of the email system and a file editor application, found that PEOU and PU were significantly correlated to self-reported use of both the systems. However, in a follow-up study of 40 MBA students, the results showed that only PU determined their intention to use the system (Gefen and Straub 2000). TAM has been since applied widely across various contexts and cultures [for a detailed list of forty five TAM studies from 1989-2000, see Gefen and Straub (2000)]. In a majority of studies examining the nature and relationship of PU and PEOU to behavioral intention, PU has been found consistently to have a direct impact on the behavioral intention to use (Mathieson 1991; Adams et al. 1992; Hendrickson et al. 1993; Straub et al. 1995; Gefen and Straub 1997; Karahanna and Straub 1999; Gefen 2000). In contrast, few studies have found that PEOU directly affected the behavioral intention to use along with PU (Moore and Benbasat 1991; Thompson et al. 1991; Venkatesh and Davis 1994; C hin and Gopal 1995; Venkatesh 1999). Gefen and Straub (2000) pointed out the inconsistency of PEOU in relation to its correlation with usage behavior. The explanation for the inconsistency was related to the intrinsic and extrinsic aspect of tasks related with Information Technology (IT). The findings of this study suggest that it is the type of task that seems to determine whether PEOU directly affects use-intention. Expanding on the original TAM studies, Davis et al. (1992) suggested that user intention to adopt a new IT is affected by extrinsic and intrinsic motivations. According to the motivation theory of McGuire (1974) consumers are motivated by extrinsic and intrinsic motivations. Extrinsic motivations refers to the drive to perform a behavior to achieve specific goals or rewards, while intrinsic motivations refer to the perceptions of pleasure and satisfaction derived from performing the behavior itself (Deci and Ryan 1985; Vallerand 1997). The characterization of utili tarian (extrinsic) and hedonic (intrinsic) motivations, is well supported in previous retail literature (Childers et al. 2001). Consumers are motivated by utilitarian aspects of shopping, achieving their shopping tasks with a minimum of efforts (Babin et al. 1994). They are also motivated by hedonic aspects of shopping that relates to fun and playfulness rather than task completion (Hirschman and Holbrook 1982). According to Davis et al. (1992) extrinsic motivation refers to the performance of an activity because it is perceived to be instrumental in achieving valued outcomes that are distinct from the activity itself (p.1112). Also in this study, intrinsic motivation refers to the performance of an activity for no apparent reinforcement other than the process of performing the activity per se (p.1112). This study suggests that PEOU would affect IT adoption indirectly through its effect on PU, as the easier the system is to use, the more useful it can be (Venkatesh and Davis 200 0). The impact of other external variables employed to study their influence on behavioral intention is fully mediated by these beliefs of PU and PEOU (Davis et al. 1989). In TAM, extrinsic motivation is clearly captured by the PU construct (Davis et al. 1989:1992; Venkatesh and Davis, (2000) as it refers to time saving and shopping effectiveness (Childers et al. 2001). However, most TAM researchers have argued that PEOU, which refers to the process of leading to an outcome (Childers et al. 2001) does not fully capture the intrinsic motivations (Davis et al. 1992; Monsuwe et al. 2004; Pavlou 2003). Further research in TAM studies have included the perceived enjoyment construct to capture the pleasure and satisfaction derived by performing a behavior and its effect on use-intention. The popularity of TAM is attributed to the most important belief constructs PU and PEOU, making it parsimonious in comparison to other models that have been tested and examined in other domains of IT r esearch. Another advantage of this model is the flexibility with which it has been adapted to examine the social, psychological and cultural factors that influence the usage behavior of information technologies. From the list of TAM related studies in Table 1 in Appendix, it is evident in numerous replications, adaptations, and extensions of TAM model; PU and PEOU are central to the research purpose of these studies. However, in a comparative study of TAM with TPB, Mathieson (1991) observed that TAM is easy to use but TPB provides a richer understanding of factors influencing individuals behavior towards IT. In another comparative study of TAM, TPB and DTPB, Taylor and Todd (1995) observed that DTPB provided increased explanatory power for intentions as compared to TAM and TPB. Despite TAMs prediction abilities in comparison to other models, researchers in IT have taken the advantage of its parsimonious nature and successfully adapted it to achieve empirical results. 2 .d. (i). A pplication of TAM Several researchers have used TAM to examine the factors influencing web technology adoption by consumers (Chen et al. 2003; Childers et al. 2001; Gefen, Karahanna and Straub 2003; Gefen and Straub 2000; Lederer et al. 2000). Childers et al. (2001) investigated the effects of PEOU, PU and enjoyment in utilitarian (grocery shopping) and hedonic (gift giving) context and found that PEOU and PU as the utilitarian aspect of online shopping, were equally important as enjoyment, a hedonic aspect of online shopping. Lederer et al. (2000) found that PU and PEOU predicted web use for work related tasks. Teo et al. (1999) also found that perceived enjoyment was an important antecedent. Lee et al. (2000) applied TAM for the study of consumer web adoption and included perceived risk to predict individual purchasing behavior on line. They showed that perceived transaction risk negatively affects PU and purchase behavior and perceived product performance risk only negatively impacts purchase behavior. However, they acknowledged the limitation of their model as lacking important factors like demographic and type of product measures. Research studies that examine additional belief constructs such as perceived risks, perceived enjoyment, perceived access barriers, perceived behavioral control, perceived innovativeness (see Table 1 in Appendix) along with the generic belief constructs of PU and PEOU; enhances our understanding of their relative importance in influencing the IT acceptance behavior. Among the models that have been extended, TAM is the most influential model that has wider acceptability because of empirical support it has received from research pertaining IT adoption literature. 2. d. (ii). Extension of TAM Most TAM related studies focus on the psychological, social and technological factors that influence the individual usage behavior. Very few studies have attempted to broaden the scope of inquiry beyond these factors and explore t he influence of demographics on IT usage behavior. Porter and Donthu (2006) have attempted to explain the role of demographics in acceptance of Internet, in American context. In their study, they considered an extended TAM model, with an additional construct of perceived access barriers, along with the fundamental constructs: PU and PEOU, mediating the influence of external demographic variables on attitude towards Internet use, finally influencing the actual Internet usage. The rate of growth in acceptance of Internet use was found to be conveniently increasing, among the individuals who are older, less educated, belonging to minority and with low income. Contrastingly, the Internet usage rate of these demographic groups was lower than that of general population (Lenhart et al. 2003). In this study they tried to explain the differential rates of Internet usage based on external demographic variables of age, education, income and race. Taking into account that cost to access Interne t could explain the demographic based differences (Hoffman et al. 2000), they tried to analyze the argument that cost might not be the only causal factor (Lenhart et al. 2003). In the previous research, access barrier, such as cost was considered as an external variable, influencing the use of personal technology (Hoffman et al. 2000; Venkatesh and Brown 2001). In this study, perceived access barrier has been included in the model as a belief variable, influencing attitude towards Internet use. Perceived access barriers, in the context of Internet usage was conceptualized as a belief that Internet is expensive to use and difficult to access. Their findings suggested that perceived access barriers had significantly negative effect on attitude. In context of Internet usage, this belief can significantly influence consumer attitudes, thereby affecting consumers representing diverse segments of the population. Though, the Internet usage has been operationalized in this study as †Å"personal use†, the type of personal use, such as: communication, entertainment, information seeking, socializing, purchasing needs to be investigated to understand the influence of demographic group on Internet usage behavior. Several online shopping studies have investigated the importance of utilitarian and hedonic shopping orientation of consumers by including perceived enjoyment in the TAM model (e.g. Childers et al. 2001; Teo et al. 1999). Lee, Fiore and Kim (2005) have broadened their research to investigate the impact of Image Interactivity Technology (IIT) of a web site on the attitude towards using the technology, based on the extension of TAM model with perceived enjoyment as a significant construct along with PU and PEOU. â€Å"Image Interactivity has been described as interactivity from the web site features that enable creation and manipulation of product or environment images to simulate (or surpass) actual experience with the product or environment† (cf. Lee, Fiore and Kim 2005, pp.622; Fiore and Jin, 2003). This study has attempted to identify factors influencing consumers attitude using the TAM model. The basic conceptualization of this research emerges from Li, Daugherty and Bioccas (2002) suggestion to investigate the impact of utilitarian and hedonic shopping orientations on information processing styles during IIT usage. Web site interactivity has been recognized as significant in luring the consumer to visit the site, purchase, be satisfied and revisit the site (Gehrke and Turban, 1999; Li et al. 2002; Mathwick 2002). In the context of examining, web site interactivity for simple technologies, empirical research has shown to have positive effects on consumers attitudes (Klein 2003; Schlosser 2003). According to Li et al. (2002) IITs are the most visited features of some online stores and suggested that IIT enhances enjoyment from interacting with the virtual products. This study attempts to measure the impact of IIT b y extending the basic TAM model by including the belief construct perceived enjoyment. Davis et al. 1992, proposed the concept of perceived enjoyment, along with PU and PEOU, as a significant determinant of attitude toward adoption of a technology. Perceived enjoyment is defined as â€Å"the extent to which the activity of using the computer is perceived to be enjoyable in its own right, apart from any performance consequences that may be anticipated† (Davis et al. 1992, pp. 1113). Enjoyment has been studied extensively, and it has positive effects on consumer attitude toward buying intentions (Jarvenpaa and Todd 1997; Mathwick 2002). Heijden and Verhagen (2004) found that enjoyment and trustworthiness significantly affect attitude towards an online store. Koufaris (2002) found that enjoyment influences intentions to return. Moon and Kim (2001) found that perceived playfulness affected attitude and behavior towards use of worldwide web. In this study: PU, PEOU and perceived e njoyment are modeled to moderate the influence of shopping orientation, utilitarian and hedonic, along with level of IIT, on the attitude towards online retailer and positively affecting behavioral intention toward the online retailer. The results of this study show that utilitarian shopping orientations have a significant effect on PU and PEOU, whereas hedonic shopping orientation had a significant effect on perceived enjoyment related to IIT. Besides, the web site with higher level of IIT was perceived as more useful, easy to use and enjoyable than the website with the lower level of IIT. Few TAM related studies have considered social influence on individuals IT usage behavior (Hassanein and Head 2004; Malhotra and Galletta 1999; Segrest et al. 1998). In an innovative approach to examine the social influence in an organizational setting, Schepers, Wetzels and Du Ruyter (2005) applied TAM model to analyze the influence of leadership styles on acceptance of technology. Their stud y has considered extending the TAM model to include two distinctive styles of leadership: transformational and transactional. These leadership styles were conceptualized by Burns (1978) and extended the notion of these styles in an organizational setting (Bass 1985). Transformational style of leadership is characterized by charisma, individual consideration, intellectual stimulation, and inspirational motivation. According to Judge and Piccolo (2004), charisma is defined as a degree to which the leader admirable behavior allow followers to identify with the leader or the amount of faith, respect , and inspiration, a leader instills in followers (Bass, 1985). Individual consideration refers to the ability to consider subordinates individually, delegating projects to stimulate people, create learning experiences, and paying attention to personal needs of these followers. Intellectual stimulation refers to the act of encouraging ways of thinking, reasoning before acting, and enabling s ubordinates to analyze problems from different perspectives (Avolio and Bass, 1988). Inspirational motivation refers to empowering and inspiring followers to pursue challenging goals and a mission (Bass, 1985). Transactional leadership is characterized by contingent reward and management-by-exception. Contingent reward refers to leaders ability to reward his subordinates when they act in accordance to contracts, rules, objectives, or expend necessary efforts on certain tasks (Howell and Avolio, 1993). According to Venkatesh (1999), training, education and technical support can affect an individuals ability to accept the use of a technology. Based on this premise and the empirical results produced by the studies of (Frambach and Scillewaert 2002), this study also attempts to study the influence of ‘organizational facilitators on the actual technology usage. Organizational facilitators refer to the concrete actions implemented by the leader in an organization corresponding to the conditions and events that create a positive environment for technology adoption. Training, education and technical support can be regarded as the organizational facilitator elements (Frambach and Scillewaert 2002). Consistent with previous research (Venkatesh et al. 2002), the organizational facilitator elements displayed a strong influence on individuals perceived ease of use of technology. This study suggests training and general end-user support is of importance in enhancing technology acceptance. Besides, this study highlights that relationship between transformational leadership and perceived usefulness is significant as 34 percent of variance in perceived usefulness is explained. The influence of transactional style of leadership was found to be non-significant for acceptance of technology. 2 .d. (iii). Criticism of TAM Gefen and Straub (2000) noticed that most TAM studies, including the study by Davis, have not found a direct influence of PEOU on IT adoption. Davi s (1989) suggested that ease of use operates through usefulness (p. 332), asserted by various research (Adams et al.1992; Chau 1996; Gefen and Straub 1997; Karahanna and Straub 1999; Keil et al. 1995). Based on their findings, Keil et al. (1995) has questioned the overall importance of PEOU in IT adoption. However, according to Gefen and Straub (2000) the role of PEOU in TAM remains controversial as some studies show that PEOU does affect IT use (Moore and Benbasat 1991; Thompson et al. 1991; Venkatesh and Davis 1994). Broekhuizen (2006) has pointed out a few shortcomings of TAM in his research aimed at examining the determinants of online purchasing. Some of the arguments presented in his study are mentioned as follows: TAM is designed to explain the use of technology. It does not relate the technology in question to the competing alternatives which consumers choose. TAM deals with Internet in isolation of the off-line channel. Though PU refers to relative advantage of using Internet, TAM fails to explain the trade-offs consumers have to make for time savings and shopping effectiveness. TAM implicitly assumes that e-tailers do not differ in their performance as focus is on perceptions of using the technology itself. Perceived usefulness does not distinguish between improving outcome quality and/or saving time and effort. Though TAMs key variables in the online context have been extensively studied, little is relatively known about what constitutes PU, PEOU and enjoyment. Baron, Patterson and Harris (2006) state that key TAM construct definitions are inadequate for technology based services, where consumers have co-created the value of the service. Their findings are based on the research that contributes to the understanding of consumer technology-based service (text messaging using mobile phones) usage. Their study suggests (p.112) inadequacy of acceptance of technology where technology is embedded in consumer community practice inadequacies in measurement of PU and PEOU, where consumers devise coping strategy to deal with technology paradoxes evidence of subtle differences of social influence and perceived behavioral control Several researchers have highlighted the shortcomings of TAM model. As TAM studies are evolving, there are enormous opportunities to adapt TAM with the unexplored factors (independent variables) that influence the adoption intention/usage of technology. 2. e. Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) model Researchers in Information Systems (IS) are confronted with choice of different models that explain user acceptance of new technology, which is described as the one of the most mature areas of research in the IS literature (Hu et al. 1999). In an attempt to progress toward a unified view of user acceptance, Venkatesh et al (2003) conducted a study to review eight theoretical models and synthesize their findings to propose a Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) model. Venkatesh et al. (2003) empirically compared the eight ‘individual acceptance models, namely: 1) Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA); 2) Technology Acceptance model (TA M); 3) Motivational model (MM); 4) Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB); 5) Combined TAM and TPB (C-TAM-TPB); 6) Model of PC Utilization (MPCU); 7) Model based on Innovation Diffusion Theory (IDT); 8) Model based on Social Cognitive Theory (SCT). In an attempt to predict the usage behavior as a dependent variable, the comprehensive analysis of all the eight models resulted in four constructs that appeared to have a significant role as direct determinants of user acceptance and usage behavior, namely: performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, and facilitating conditions In this study, data from four organizations was used over a six-month period with three points of measurement. The eight models explained a variance between 17 percent and 53 percent. The UTAUT model when tested against the original data, explained a variance of 69 percent and significantly excelled in its performance over the eight individual models. The UTAUT model also explains the moderat ing effect of demographics on the intention to use the technology. Though it has provided encouraging results in different organizational settings, it has not been tried for organizations that provide e-services to consumers. As the objective, scope and functioning of e-service providers varies with different organizations, researching the usefulness of the UTAUT model could provide a greater understanding of adoption of e-services by consumers. A relatively new field of research is emerging to study adoption of e-government services provided by the government to its citizen (G2C). Most studies examining the adoption of e-government services have used extension of TAM model to study barriers of adoption (Gilbert and Balestrini 2004), apathy to adoption (Schaupp and Carter 2005), citizen trust and adoption (Carter and Belanger 2004; Horst, Kuttschreuter and Gutteling 2007; Warkentine, Gefen, Pavlou and Rose 2002). These studies have been country specific and the UTAUT model has not b een tested so far for the study of e-government services adoption. The constructs of synthesized UTAUT model can provide insight into the factors that influence the intention to use e-government services. As the G2C e-government has a large consumer base for its services, the moderating role of demographics in the UTAUT model can provide a better understanding of the perceptions important to demographic groups that may influence their adoption behavior. 3. Conclusion The core beliefs of TAM model are perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use that influence the intention toward using IT that affects usage behavior. However, lack of clarity exists in defining the nature of relationship that exists between these beliefs in relation to one another and the way they influence the intention to use the technology. Most studies conclude that PEOU operates through PU and has no direct influence on IT adoption. Though Gefen and Straub (2000) maintain that nature of task (intrinsic o r extrinsic) explains the varying effects of PEOU on technology adoption, there is lack of empirical research that investigates the significance of PEOUs influence on intention to use, in context of technologies that serve the information-seeking tasks and behavior. The results could be encouraging in explaining the adoption of technologies, with varying tasks related to information utility across different cultures. One of the major constructs of TRA and TPB models, subjective norm, was initially dropped from the TAM model following problems related to psychometric properties. It has been included in TAM 2 and various extension models to capture the social influence on the intention to adopt IT. The social factors responsible for adoption of technology has been successfully accounted in various models (TRA, TAM, TPB, DOI and PC utilization) representing different theoretical background. However, their significance has been reiterated by inclusion of a construct, social influence in the UTAUT model. There is enormous potential to research the impact of social influence on adoption of technology, in a cultural context, where usage is relatively new behavior of adoption. The overall contribution of this paper is to analyze the theories that provide groundwork for research in technology acceptance. It also analyzes the models that have been successfully developed to test the acceptance of technology by individuals. It analyzes the arguments presented in the technology adoption literature to provide a better understanding of the evolving nature of the various models that examine factors of adoption. This study concludes by addressing the necessity of UTAUT model for (G2C) e-government adoption by citizens and stresses that the merits of the result can be analyzed for future research in e-government adoption, across different nations and cultures.