Rail Privatisation: The Economic Theory

The purpose of this paper is to examine the relevance of economic theory to the rail privatisation proposals contained in the Railways Act 1993. After a review of the latest rail privatisation literature four major themes emerged: (1) Contestability and Barriers to Entry. (2) Franchising. (3) Vertical Integration. (4) Horizontal Integration. Following a short review of the rail privatisation proposals the paper presents each theme in the context of the proposals. In conclusion, we highlight a number of future issues which will require monitoring and research in the future. In particular, we identify a number of hypotheses, put forward by both those in favour and against the Government's proposals, that should be tested

The Future of Retail Operations

Retailing consists of all the activities associated with the selling of goods to the final consumer. In this article, we review the research on retail operations published in Manufacturing & Service Operations Research (M&SOM) since 1999. We then discuss the current retail landscape and the new research directions it offers, in which M&SOM can play a prominent role

Rail Policy in the European Community.

This paper begins by considering the reasons why the rail sector has long been considered a problem in European transport policy. These concern both the degree of government intervention and subsidy, which conflicts with the aim of a free international market, and the loss of market share even in those sectors- especially international traffic - in which rail should in principle be able to compete. It explains how the economic structure of rail transport leads to a case for public monopoly provision, with regulation and subsidy, but poses the problem of reconciling this with the need for efficient operation. The history of regulation and control of the rail sector, and of past Community attempts to reform it is then briefly considered before attention is turned to latest Commission proposals on rail policy. These consist essentially of four measures. Two concern the specific need to provide a framework to encourage the development of an international network of high speed passenger and combined freight trains, and the only doubt about these rests on whether they go far enough to exploit the potential of these important and rapidly growing sectors of the rail market. A third comprises a further attempt to clarify the relationship between government and railway, with increased financial autonomy, realistic balance sheets and clearer contractual arrangements regarding subsidies and can be generally welcomed. But the greatest doubts must rest on the proposals concerning separation of the infrastructure from the operations. Whilst the rationale is superficially attractive, many reasons are cited to doubt whether it would be an efficient way of organising railway services in practice. As a way of promoting new entry in specific areas of operation, such as international freight, whilst leaving the bulk of operations in the hands of integrated companies, it has more to commend it, but even here there is reason to doubt whether the results would be better than a vigorous pursuit of joint venture operations

Overview of Infrastructure Charging, part 4, IMPROVERAIL Project Deliverable 9, “Improved Data Background to Support Current and Future Infrastructure Charging Systems”

Improverail aims are to further support the establishment of railway infrastructure management in accordance with Directive 91/440, as well as the new railway infrastructure directives, by developing the necessary tools for modelling the management of railway infrastructure; by evaluating improved methods for capacity and resources management, which allow the improvement of the Life Cycle Costs (LCC) calculating methods, including elements related to vehicle - infrastructure interaction and external costs; and by improving data background in support of charging for use of railway infrastructure. To achieve these objectives, Improverail is organised along 8 workpackages, with specific objectives, responding to the requirements of the task 2.2.1/10 of the 2nd call made in the 5th RTD Framework Programme in December 1999.This part is the task 7.1 (Review of infrastructure charging systems) to the workpackage 7 (Analysis of the relation between infrastructure cost variation and diversity of infrastructure charging systems).Before explaining the economic characteristics of railway and his basic pricing principles, authors must specify the objectives of railways infrastructure charging.principle of pricing ; rail infrastructure charging ; public service obligation ; rail charging practice ; Europe ; Improverail

Dealing with politics for money and power in infrastructure

Policy recommendations for infrastructure provision usually build on a well-established understanding of best practice for sector governance. Too rarely are they adapted to the country-specific political environment even if this is an area where policy choices are likely to be subject to private agendas in politics. The fact that such private agendas are often ignored goes a long way toward explaining why infrastructure policies fail and why best practice can be counterproductive. While non-benevolence and rent-seeking are well described in the literature and anecdotes abound, there is only limited consideration of how the different incentive problems in politics impede policy improvements in infrastructure. This paper addresses why politics in infrastructure cannot be ignored, drawing on theoretical results and a systematic review of experiences. It reviews how different private agendas in politics will have different impacts for sector-governance decisions -- and hence service delivery. The concept of best practice in policy recommendations should be reconsidered in a wide perspective and allow for tailored solutions based on an understanding of the given incentive problems. Policy recommendations should take into account how coordination trade-offs may complicate efforts to reduce the possible impact of private agendas on infrastructure policy decisions. Although more transparency linked to service delivery indicators is a"safe"recommendation, it is also clear that the demand for good governance will not be sufficient to secure political accountability in a sector with huge vested interests combined with complicated funding schemes and complex contracts.Public Sector Corruption&Anticorruption Measures,National Governance,Governance Indicators,Environmental Economics&Policies,Transport Economics Policy&Planning

Examining the implications of the anti-money laundering and countering financing of Terrorism Act 2009 on New Zealand accounting firms

Money laundering is the act of introducing illicitly gained funds into the economy to assist in concealing their origin. On October 1 2018, it became mandatory for most New Zealand accounting firms to comply with the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Act 2009. The purpose of this act is to help detect and deter money laundering within New Zealand. The AML/CFT Act creates additional requirements for accounting firms and has severe penalties for non-compliance. This led to the research question of ‘What are the implications of the AML/CFT Act 2009 on New Zealand Accounting firms?’ For this research, interviews were conducted with accounting firms to help identify the costs and implications associated with the AML/CFT requirements. The results revealed that despite the October 1 deadline, accounting firms are still implementing programs. The new requirements were unclear and underestimated by firms. Large money and time costs were reported by all the interview participants and they all feel that the new requirements are excessive. As the AML/CFT Act is still new, it would be beneficial to explore further research in the future that examines the actual impact of maintaining the AML/CFT programs

Strategic planning for a SME

The purpose of this research is to find competitive advantages for an organisation and prepare a long-term strategic planning for the SME. In a New Zealand context, small business enterprises play vital roles in business and the economic sector. However, most small business do not have specific competitive advantage and long-term strategies to compete in the market. Both qualitative and quantitative approaches have been used as mixed method research. Interviews and surveys have been done. Using those methods, researchers are intended to use the most effective implementation methodology to find out the best solution to the problem and cause of a SME. Location and customer satisfaction have been identified as the prime factors for the firm to run the business successfully. The business has been operating smoothly without using any further strategies to compete in the market. Recommendations involve pricing, advertising and stock management

Sales training

This project involves discovering how sales training works and the impacts of sales training. The goal is to show how sales training can help a business grow and to set benchmarks in the market. After the negative impact in the performance of sales representatives of a national company in the sales industry, their management made decisions about changes which need to be taken to get good results from sales training. The method which has been used to complete this study is desktop training, which includes self-experiences and secondary data. It is necessary to have appropriate and successful training which delivers the best to the company. The main aim of this research is to study and analyse the training procedure and processes in a business, since the training process involves more activities that require mental strength with the willingness to perform well with learning. The overall study of the process includes investigating lack of training, practice time and overcoming doubts raised by the customer at the time of performing the job. Hence, it is recommended that businesses should deliver new strategies and conduct more training sessions and online modules, leading to the success and growth of employees

Identify successful marketing communication strategies that apply to a small hair salon

A selected organisation provides hair dressing services and hair products to customers. The aim of this report is to analyse how the small hair salon could improve their marketing communication strategies in order to attract more customers and enhance the relationship between customers and the organisation. The approach to collecting information was to use a questionnaire with 50 participants, to gather primary information and to conduct a secondary research study. The result of this research was to decide that the role of a successful marketing communication strategy is to attract the customer to consume. In order to make the marketing communication strategy successful, it needs to choose a suitable channel that enables it to connect with the customer. New media is an effective channel that can promote the business to the customer and interact with them. New media is also suitable for a small business to use. A recommendation for the organisation is they create their own website page, Facebook page, YouTube video and WeChat group to promote themselves and interact with customers. Those channels are popular in New Zealand, with a high number of active users. Most the organisation customers like to use those channels too, so if the organisation applies those channels to their marketing communication strategy they will be able to attract customers and persuade them to consume more products