The History Of Strategic Marketing Management Marketing Essay

The History Of Strategic Marketing Management Marketing Essay In order to pursue an effective strategic marketing management in organisation, it is necessary to grasp all of the internal and external areas and domains that may lead to successful implementation of the marketing initiatives. Realising the fact that strategic marketing management is quite a broader field, todays marketing professionals have to consider a number of those critical factors and aspects that turn the organisation into huge success, or an absolute failure. The word strategic is, itself, suggests scrupulous planning and policymaking, because these are the overall effects of strategic marketing management that play a major role in long-term growth of an organisation. Section 1 Strategic marketing plays a fundamental role in any organisation. Strategic marketing mainly helps in devising positioning strategies in relation to the market being targeted, but beyond all that, strategic marketing, primarily, helps in analysing the targeted market segments in view of the market competition with all well-established, mature and even immature products and services. After segmenting the market, a strategic marketer meticulously devises relationship strategies with those of the consumers or customers being aimed at. Strategic marketing, then, creates effective and the most relevant distribution and pricing strategies, followed by formation of exclusive strategies for advertising and promotional plans and strategies. Moreover, a strategic marketer, also, formulates business development and research strategies in a way that, ultimately, fosters long-term organisational growth and business sustainability. This is, again, the role of strategic marketing to pursue a set of strategies for marketing research too. Cosse and Swan (1983) found one major problem in marketing planning was that US product managers lacked the strategic orientation required by strategic planning. (Piercy, Morgan, 1990, 128) Usually there are three fundamental processes involved in strategic marketing, wherein planning is the leading and most significant process, followed by the implementation and control accordingly. Each of these elements is important not only for desired success of entire marketing strategies, but for an all-inclusive organisational growth. Exclusively for the planning process, organisation needs to perform a SWOT analysis first keeping view both internal and external factors. A marketing audit can help identify target markets for your firm. A marketing audit evaluates various internal and external components. (Caragher, 2008, 59) Objective and goal setting is also its main part, as it helps determine the market and consumer segmentation, as well as the role of strategic marketing management. Implementation is the process that brings the planning into action, and the control phase helps organisations in evaluating the planning process. As per their functions, strategic marketing and corporate strategies are interlinked with each other, and organisation can never achieve their role by dealing with these elements separately. According to Tom Connora (2007), a corporate strategy is more than marketing alone. (Connora, 2007, 369) A marketing strategy needs to be aligned with the corporate strategy of the organisations, while corporate strategies remain ineffective if its managers take the process of strategic marketing for granted. Corporate strategies mainly determine the direction of the organisations, where marketing is supposed to follow the same direction. Although marketing must be the principal channel of market knowledge this must be combined with and balanced by knowledge provided by the other business functions of the organisation. Thus a transcendent organisational view emerges which, it is suggested, is the true basis for corporate strategy. (Connora, 2007, 369) This is necessary to craft a comprehensive corporate strategy for the organisational success, but this cannot be completed without creating a strategic marketing plan. Knowing the fact that marketing has a lions share in entire business development of an organisation, effective corporate strategy entails a flexible structure enabling marketing strategies to freely perform in the market. The same goes for the marketing gurus in any organisation, as they can never achieve their goals and objectives if their strategies are not aligned with those of the features clarified in their main corporate strategies. Both of these factors go alongside each other. Section 2 Utilised in strategic marketing planning, various models offer numerous benefits and advantages to organisations. The first benefit of using models is that it enables strategic marketers to find out substitutes and alternatives, during strategic marketing planning. Consequently, utilisation of these models enhances the decision making capabilities for strategic marketers, helping in making due decisions without unnecessary delays. Through these models, organisations get timely information as well, thus making them capable to perform market forecasting more accurately. This well-timed information appears to be an asset in strategic marketing planning, as this information is, always, accessible and far-reaching. By using these models, organisations derive benefit from flexibility in framing the control reports as well. There is a strong link between employing strategic marketing and strategic positioning. Theoretically, strategic positioning helps in product placement in a way that makes the product easily available in the target market. In a word, strategic positioning stands for the strategic convenience in strategic marketing management, because strategic marketing revolves around positioning. Marketing strategies should respond to the distinctive characteristics and desires of its target market. Strategic positioning differentiates a business from its competitors by uniquely serving its target market. A strategic marketing plan should position a business so that its target market perceives that the business serves them and them alone. (Kruger, 2011) This is also the strategic positioning which helps in formulation of segmentation targeting. Strategic positioning also helps in multiplying the returns on existing marketing plans and strategies. Entire marketing strategies will bring no positive results if the crucial aspect of strategic positioning remains avoided. This is because strategic positioning plays a significant role in promoting the ratio of customer loyalty and profitability as well. Merits of strategic positioning with respect to strategic marketing development are includable. First and foremost, it helps determine the target audiences according to the demographics of the target market. It helps in determining the way an organisation wants to place its products or services in the market after meticulous categorisation and classifications. The employment of positioning strategies that leads to creating a position in the marketplace is undertaken over time through deployment of marketing practices including advertising, public relations, promotion, sales inducing efforts, publicity, etc., brand management, firm image and reputation, product development, and cost controls.(Blankson et. al., 2008, 2) Accurate projection of the sales can never be achieved by skipping the inevitable element of strategic positioning. As organisations are never supposed to please all and sundry under the sun, there must be a smart positioning that may your products to customers found in a predefined market. Product positioning has emerged as a separate field in the world of strategic marketing management. Despite offering a highly enriched product to consumers, this is the meticulous positioning of the product which will decide its acceptability and penetration into the market. There are various examples corroborating the significance of strategic positioning of any brand or service e.g. Coca Cola, Nestle, Wal-Mart, McDonalds, and FedEx, and GE (General Electric), and many more. Strategic positioning, also, depicts the in-depth market knowledge of organisation, as positioning is, usually, done with the help of market research, market intelligence and data gathering. Section 3 To ascertain growth opportunities in a market to the maximum, I would utilise a set of appropriate marketing techniques that includes branding, offerings, packaging and labelling, value additions, and environmental scanning. In details, I would, first, utilise the branding technique in order to differentiate the product than those of the products being offered by the competitors in the same market. Then here comes the phase of packaging and labelling that focuses on attractive presentation of the products through catchy designs and colour schemes etc., which is, further, supplemented by the labelling tool. Successful marketing strategies have always been based on unique insights into consumer behaviour, generalizations of successful tactics, brilliant advertising ideas, and technical innovations as well as market segmentation research. (Gibson, 2001, 1) The tool of offering will be, also, utilised to find out the best solution addressing the customers problems and concerns in comparison with other products available. Being a strategic marketing manager, I will, also, concentrate on value addition so as to multiply the demand and recall of the product in the real market by the targeted consumers and customers. Additionally, I will perform an essential environmental scanning by collecting the data in way that brings us exceptional growth via strategic marketing. In any market, an effective utilisation of market strategy options is taken as the fundamental and crucial phase in entire strategic marketing management. As the battle for the wallet of the emerging-market consumer shifts into higher gear, companies that think about growth opportunities at a more granular level have a better chance of winning. (Atsmon, Kertesz Vittal, 2011, 60) Being a strategic manager, I will use the same in accordance with the four Ps model which entails 1-Product, 2-Price, 3-Placement, ad 4-Promotion. This will be, accordingly, done in consideration of organisational strategies and its accessible resources so that it helps in maintaining the ratio of profitability. The same, also, fortifies the products being sold in the market, thus facilitating standardisation to a large scale. Most of the time, companies and organisation find it difficult to standardise their own marketing and positioning standards and values. Particularly on the consumer side, this standardisation is necessary, as this builds up the confidence of the target customers, and increases the customer loyal to a large extent. Standardisation is an on-going journey, where organisations need to perform the similar way to retain their existing customer base. The most important factors is that this is, also, inevitable to standardise their marketing and positioning efforts, as not all companies can maintain their level of standardisation being offered to their customers. For a defined market, creation of appropriate strategic marketing objectives is considered as a daunting task for the marketers. In fact, strategic marketing objectives are formed in a way that creates a constant need of the particular product in the market, and this objective can never be achieved with flawless standardisation. Section 4 A marketing strategy is always dependent upon various environmental factors. Starting from the political situation of the country to its sluggish economic trends, these environmental factors help in devising a win-win marketing strategy that may successfully address all of these external environmental factors all at once. The function of marketing strategy deals with determining the nature, strength, direction, and interaction between marketing mix elements and the environmental factors in a particular situation. (Akinyele, Samuel Taiwo 2010, 24) Other than law and order situations, absence of competitor in the market affects the sales of a particular product, as well as existing purchasing power of the customer, also, determines the products penetration in the concerned market. Organisations also need to keep up with those of the technology changes and up-gradations occurring in the outside word. I, being a marketing manager, will conduct an internal analysis in order to identify current strengths and weaknesses in a marketing strategy, and this will be done by evaluating the strengths and weakness of the market strategy. Strength of a market strategy is determined by evaluating the effectiveness of the promotional mix. This is, further, followed by knowing the current positing of product placement in the market, mostly relying upon quality of the products, effective branding, packaging and labelling, as well as variety of offerings made for the target consumers and customers. The most important components related to niche marketing include: Firm profile (Organisation charts, billing rates, financial statements); Partner profile (partners personal and professional objectives, firms specialties, age and tenure with the firm); and SWOT analysis (Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats). (Caragher, 2008, 59) This is, also, fundamental to knowing the weakness of the marketing strategies being implemented, and this is done by analysing various factors critically and neutrally. This may pertain to the lack of innovation, ineffective or irregular communication, and wrong selection of marketing and advertising channels, along with imperfect or untimely distribution of the products etc. The penetration and popularity of the digital media is one of the emerging themes in the world of marketing. As per my response to this rapidly emerging marketing theme, I propose the strategic and well-planned utilisation of the social and digital media after thorough research and investigation. This response will be tinged with usage of latest technological tools and methods, as innovative marketing enables companies to churn out maximum results in form of overall business development and profitability.

Essay on Sacrifices in Susan Glaspells Trifles -- Trifles Essays

Sacrifices in Trifles When a woman marries she is expected to give up her family, her last name, and her virginity. In other words she is expected to give up the life she knew. Susan Glaspell’s play Trifles tells the story of a woman that gave up her all to please society and her husband. The story examines a woman who sacrificed her tranquility, her talents, and her individuality. In the end, the woman even gave up her freedom. A person’s home should be more than a place to shelter them from the elements. It should be a place where one could express him/her self freely and not have to worry about any harm coming to them. In the play Trifles Mrs. Wright lived in a house that was anything but calm. In block eleven, first line of the play one of Mrs. Wright’s friends Mrs. Hale states: â€Å"It never seemed a very cheerful place†. This being a very odd remark the county sheriff asked her to elaborate. â€Å"No, I don't mean anything, but I don't think a place'd be any cheerfuller for John Wright's being in it.† (Glaspell B: 11, L: 5). On this statement alone one can take from this that Mr. Wright wasn’t a very pleasant man to be around, let alone be married to. She goes on to tell a little more about Mr. Wright’s character â€Å"†¦ he didn't drink, and kep... ... women. So that men won’t follow the path of Mr. Wright and women wont fall into a trap like Mrs. Wright did. Bourn agrees by adding: â€Å"Trifles is not just a reflection, however. It is also a call for women to use their perceived powerless as a tool to manipulate the system, and a warning to men that a system where one segment of the population dominates and oppresses another cannot and will not be tolerated forever†(Bourn 2). Works Cited Bourn, Bryan D. www.hongik.edu/~yhyo/glaspel.html A feminist Criticism of Susan Glaspell’s Trifles. 04-19-2001 Glaspell, Susan. Trifles. Etext.Lib.virginia.edu/ebooks/Glist.html

Special Education Needs Policy Essay -- Education, inclusion

Introduction Early years providers regardless of type, size or funding must comply with the legal requirements set out within the Early Years Foundation Stage ( EYFS) so as to meet the needs of all children within the setting (DCSF 2008a, p11). The objective of this report is to critically evaluate the Special Educational Needs Policy used in a setting which support anti discriminatory practice and promote inclusion (appendix 2). Within the context of a faith based early years setting in Dewsbury. The Warnock Report (Special Educational Needs1978) introduced the concept of ‘inclusion’ in the form of ‘integration’ with regard to children with special educational needs, suggesting that mainstream settings would be preferable to ‘Special Schools’. Gates and Edwards (2007) outline, prior to this report, the terms â€Å"Handicapped† or â€Å"Educationally subnormal† were acceptable terms, based on an apparent culture of a medical model, where the disabled person is the problem, governed by their disability. An example might be a child labelled with Down ’s syndrome as their identifying features, instead of their name (Courtman 2010). As legislation has continued to develop, so have attitudes towards disability. The Disability Discrimination Act 2005, set out duties for employers and many public services. Further changes arose from the Educational Needs and Disability Act 2001. It became unlawful to discriminate against disabled children, and by 2004, â€Å"...reasonable adjustments...† were expected to improve access within the physical environment, for disabled people. The introduction of the Children Act 2004 saw the introduction of the Every Child Matters (ECM) (DCFS 2008d). In addition the publication Removing Barriers to Achievement ... ... re-evaluate and challenge anti discriminatory practice at a cultural level however the changing of others attitudes can be difficult but not impossible. Article 23 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) (UNICEF 2007, online) recognise the disability of a child should not reduce the child’s right to education and children with any kind of disability has the right to special care and support. â€Å"Equality of opportunity means that each individual in society experiences opportunities to achieve and flourish which are as good as the opportunities experienced by others† (Griffin 2008, p.12). TTRB (2009) Models of Disability and Special Educational Needs. [Online]. Available: http://sen.ttrb.ac.uk/ViewArticle2.aspx?Keyword=Special+Educational+Needs&SearchOption=Phrase&SearchType=Keyword&RefineExpand=1&ContentId=15708 [27/12/2010]

The Theme of Death in William Shakespeares Hamlet Essay -- GCSE Englis

The Theme of Death in William Shakespeare's Hamlet In the play Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, the protagonist, Hamlet is obsessed with the idea of death, and during the course of the play he contemplates death from numerous perspectives. He ponders the physical aspects of death, as seen with Yoricks's skull, his father's ghost, as well as the dead bodies in the cemetery. Hamlet also contemplates the spiritual aspects of the afterlife with his various soliloquies. Emotionally Hamlet is attached to death with the passing of his father and his lover Ophelia. Death surrounds Hamlet, and forces him to consider death from various points of view. In the first scene of Act 5, Hamlet discovers Yorick's skull in the graveyard. While Hamlet is speaking to Yorick, his father's jester's skull, as well as about him, Hamlet focuses in on the physical deterioration of the human body. He also touches on the inevitability of death as everyone's fate. He orders the skull to "get to my lady's chamber, and tell her, let her paint an inch thick, to this favor she must come"(5.1. 178-179), which means no one can avoid death. Hamlet also imagines the jester's features still existing on the skull, consequently showing his enthrallment with the physical outcome of death on the body. This concept is a very prominent motif throughout the play. Hamlet repeatedly makes observations alluding to every man's physical decomposition. "A man may fish with the worm that have eat of the king, and eat of the fish that hath fed of the worm," a symbol in which he states, " how a king may go a progress through the guts of a beggar" (4.3. 26-31). The ghost of the elder Hamlet is described as a very genuine looking ghost. The spectators ... ...s that he has slain Polonius the father of his "love" Ophelia. He comments, saying "I'll lug the guts into the neighbor room. / Mother, good night indeed. This counselor/ Is now most still, most secret, and most grave, / Who was in life a foolish prating knave. -/ Come, sir, to draw toward an end with you." (3.4. 235-9). Death is approached through many facets in the play Hamlet. Shakespeare has used a great deal of imagery and symbols in order to portray death as a major theme in this play. The play is seeped with literal death as well as figurative death. By Hamlet approaching death in physical, spiritual, and emotional terms forces death to become a major theme in the play. Sources Consulted Fagan, Garrett G. Death in Hamlet. 24 July 1998. Shakespeare, William. Hamlet. Four Great Tragedies. Sylvan Barnett, ed. New York: Signet 1998.

My intercultural communication at school Essay

My ESL classes at Heald College took six months and these were necessary requirements so that I could pursue major courses in Architecture. There were other students like me from other countries and it felt good to belong to a group that was being taught the American way of life and culture. It felt good because it gave me the feeling that I was not alone in my hardships. It did not feel so bad and odd being with a group struggling with nuances of the English language and pronunciation and the idiosyncrasies of American culture. While I considered myself an out-group when I was with natural-born Americans, I felt like a member of an in-group when I was with the foreign students. Probably, this feeling springs from the fact that one naturally feels out of place when all others behave and talk in a different way. There is some comfort gained from knowing that one is just like the others. My struggle to fit in was at times frustrating, as I could not be properly understood by the teacher on account of misplaced accents or outright mispronunciations. At first I really felt stupid when the teacher would rephrase my statement and ask if it was what I meant. When I would say it was not what I meant, another classmate would butt in with a genuine intention to help me out but I would end up all the more confused and misunderstood. Realizing the setbacks of my lack of facility with the language, I resolved more than ever to master the English language. My Intercultural Communication at Work Working as a busboy and later, as a waiter in a restaurant gave me the chance to encounter more people and gain more facility with the English language. Finding work was quite an exhilarating experience for me. I felt that I could already communicate my ideas clearly and so I gained more confidence. Of course, there were still some instances when some patrons would fail to understand how I pronounce my words but whenever such a thing happened, I would remember the word and practice saying it correctly when I got home. I had discarded my Dari-English dictionary and I could already carry on a conversation with a native speaker of American English without fumbling for the right word or halting. I once attempted to be friendly with other waiters hoping to generate deeper camaraderie while we were up and about with our tasks. To my horror, I found that Americans seem to be single-minded and so focused when they go about their work that banter is misconstrued as not being serious about work. From then on, I learned to be very business-like while doing my work, bearing in mind that I was not working in an Afghan setting Conclusion This profound reflection on my sojourn in America has made me realize a lot of things that I once took for granted. First, I realized that I possess the resilience and tenacity that is a hallmark of a true Afghan. I used to take for granted the lore and history that due to the Afghan experience of a succession of foreign invasions, Afghans are by nature strong in spirit and character. Indeed, it is no easy task for an 18-year-old boy to force himself to become an adult almost overnight due to peculiar personal circumstances. I realized too that exposure to another culture widens ones horizons and makes one more tolerant of other people. Assimilation into another culture truly begins and is facilitated by an earnest desire to learn the language to a level that one speaks it like one born into the language itself. Together with this is a keen sense of awareness of the seemingly insignificant cultural differences between one’s culture of origin and the host culture. Cultural sensitivity, if I may use the term, enables one to steer clear of problematic situations. Indeed, it is not always wise to act and behave according to one’s cultural orientation when one is in another cultural setting. My intercultural communication with the Peterson family was at first regulated by cues from the reactions of Mr. Peterson. I came to know what he disliked by observing how he reacted. Yet, the sincere sharing of cultural traditions was the factor that truly made our relationship rise up to a higher level. Mutual respect and understanding resulted from the open sharing and this could not have happened by merely observing each other’s reactions. Truly, if one wants to have a meaningful intercultural communication, it must begin with an honest sharing of culture and traditions. It makes it possible to view the other person from their own cultural perspective. The moment I stopped my automatic comparison of Afghan and American values whenever I encountered an unfamiliar cultural practice, I became more accepting of American culture. As Holliday, Hyde and Kullman advise, â€Å"Put aside simplistic notions about what is real and unreal in your perception of another culture, and appreciate that every society is as complex and culturally varied as your own†. (10) The moment I began to have this attitude in my attempt to fully integrate myself into American society, I may have taken the first step towards â€Å"intercultural competence†. Alred and Byram (2002) define intercultural competence as â€Å"the ability to behave appropriately in intercultural situations†¦. the ability to stabilize one’s self-identity while mediating between cultures† (340). I may have taken the first step but I still have a long way to go. All people regardless of culture have the innate need to feel a sense of belongingness. I am sure this is the reason why I felt at ease with my fellow Afghans as I did with other foreign students who were struggling to deal with language difficulties. Yet, once a genuine intercultural communication is initiated, it leads one to learn and marvel at the diversity and richness of all cultures around the world. Works Cited Alred, Geof and Mike Byram. â€Å"Becoming an Intercultural Mediator: A Longitudinal Study of Residence Abroad. † Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development 23. 5 (2002). Retrieved from http://www. multilingual-matters. net/jmmd/023/jmmd0230339.htm on April 25, 2007. Holliday, Adrian, Martin Hyde, and John Kullman. Intercultural Communication: An Advanced Resource Book. New York: Routledge, 2004. Questia. 25 Apr. 2007 . Robson, Barbara, Juliene Lipson with Farid Younos and Mariam Mehdi. â€Å"Afghans Their History and Culture, Cross-Cultural and Adjustment Challenges, published by the Center of Applied Linguistics, The Cultural Orientation Resource Center last updated 6/30/02. Retrieved from http://www. cal. org/co/afghan/acult. html on April 25, 2007.

Tet in Vietnam

New Year is the most important and popular holiday and festival in Vietnam. It is the Vietnamese New Year base on the Luna calender. Vietnamese New Year commonly known by formal name Tet Nguyen Dan. The name Tet Nguyen Dan is Sino-Vietnamese for the Feast of the First Morning, derived from the Han nom characters. Many Vietnamese prepare for Tet by cooking special holiday foods and cleaning the house. There are a lot of customs practiced during Tet, like ancestral worshipping, wishing New Year’s greetings, giving lucky money to children and elderly people,etc. Tet in the three Vietnamese regions can be divided into three period, known as Before New Year’s Eve, New Year’s Eve and the New Year, representing the preparation before Tet, the eve Tet, and the days of and following Tet, respectively. All of these customs are to celebrate Tet in Vietnam. Vietnamese people avoid doing bad things and try to do good things during T?t holiday. * DOS – One should sprinkle lime powder around the house to expel evil. – One should return all things borrowed, and pay debts before Tet. * DON’TS One should not say or do bad things during Tet. – One should not hurt or kill animals or plants but should set them free. The reason for this originates from Buddhism’s causality. – One should not sweep the house or empty out the rubbish to avoid luck and benefits going with it, especially on the first day of the new year. – One should not have duck meat because it brings unluckiness. – One should not have shrimp in case on would move backwards like shrimp, in other words, one would not succeed. – One should not refuse anything other give or wish you during Tet. New Year, my favorite holiday, is one of the most celebrated days in the world. The day is shaped by different customs and traditions. Each culture celebrates this holiday in its own unique way. We live in a rapidly changing world both culturally and linguistically, so culture is very important thing. People who know about other cultures are more able and adept at working in today’s world. They can communicate effectively, solve problems creatively, and keep an open mind when others shut down. Happy New Year!

International Classification of Accounting Systems

Classification of Accounting Systems Critically evaluate to what extent past research into classification of accounting systems has become irrelevant because of international harmonization efforts. Let us remind that IASC was replaced in 2001 by IASB (International Accounting Standards Board). We are going to start this paper with the different classification researches, taking for example Hofstede and Gray’s studies. Then we will draw the main differences between GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles) and IFRS (International Financial Reporting Standards). We will also speak about the Americanocentrism problem. To finally dealing with the differences and harmonization. *Two Main Example*s* of Past Studies*: *Hofstede’s* societal dimensions and Gray’s accounting values Different Classification Researches The first one is the deductive or judgmental method. Environmental factors are identified and they are linked to national accounting practices. Then, international groupings and development patterns are proposed. The second one is the inductive or empirical approach where individual practices are analyzed; the grouping or development patterns are identified, and where the explanations are based on economic, social, political and cultural factors proposed. In the deductive approach, Mueller developed four approaches to accounting development. Macroeconomic pattern: where business accounting is tied to national economic policies (Sweden, France, Germany) Microeconomic pattern: where accounting is a branch of business economics (Holand) Independent discipline pattern: where accounting is a service function derived from business practices (US, UK) and where accounting is considered to be capable of developing its own conceptual framework from business practice. Uniform Accounting pattern: where accounting is an efficient mean of control and administration. It takes into account that culture and historical roots are very important. Hofstede define four societal dimensions: individualism versus collectivism, large versus small power distance, uncertainty avoidance: degree to which a firm is ok with ambiguity, masculinity: preference for achievement, assertiveness, material success. Now let us focus on Gray who has developed the following pairs of contrasting accounting values: Professionalism VS Statutory Control: there is a preference for individual judgment, self regulation. Uniformity VS flexibility: there is a preference for enforcement of uniform practices. Conservatism VS Optimism: there is a preference for cautious approach. Secrecy VS Transparency: there is a preference for confidentiality. There are a lot of international pressures like the growing international interdependencies and the harmonization of the regulatory framework. But also the new opportunities, joint ventures and alliances. *GAAP/*IFRS Let us start by an analysis of the GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles). Financial accounting relies on certain standards of the GAAP. Principles of GAAP derive from tradition. There are seven main principles: regularity or consistency, sincerity, permanence of methods, non compensation, prudence, continuity, and periodicity. In any report of financial statements (audit, compilation, or review), the auditor must indicate to the reader whether or not the information contained within the statements complies with GAAP. The convergence of accounting standards, that the majority of the industrialized countries support is advantageous for the companies in the Stock Exchange: they should not have to produce several financial statements and thus save important sums of money. The financial risk is reduced. The investors, for their part, can better compare and examine the financial data of companies wherever they are established. Their decision making is thus improved. This international harmonization is a process making it possible to arrive to a basic bringing together various accounting standards One big advantage can be seen when we face a merger or an acquisition. Decisions are much easier to take. However, the experience of convergence IASB/FASB shows that many years are necessary to ensure the convergence of two reference frames however based on the same Anglo-Saxon culture of the businesses. This is due primarily to an existence of an opposition between an approach by the rules in the case of FASB and an approach by the principles which follows IASB. IASB is at the center of the convergence movement. The IFRS are described like founded on principles, which means that they leave a big freedom of action to the companies about the evaluation of the accounting data. The US GAAP are described like founded on rules and they aim to regulate all the possible aspects of the presentation of the accounts. These standards thus require very detailed information on behalf of the companies. In the case of convergence between IASB and FASB, the harmonization of the IFRS and US GAAP is currently working and common solutions have already been found. That do not prevent from the divergence of several points of view, among the principal aspects to be solved one we think about the financial instruments and the presentation of the performances. Some of the differences between US GAAP and IFRS are embodied in the standards themselves. They are intentional deviations from US requirements. Americanocentrism Some countries adopted some international standards coming to replace their national standards or to supplement them. Some stock exchange places, first of all the London one, admitted companies of which accountancy is in conformity with standards IAS and more than 200 great groups (majority domiciled in Canada, in France and Switzerland) produced a second set of accounts established according to these standards. SEC even conceded at certain foreign companies the right to observe certain rules IAS as the standard relating to the table of financing (IAS 7), to currencies (IAS 21), companies (IAS 22) and inflation effects (IAS 29). Within the European Union, some harmonization efforts about accounting methods were undertaken. Those however knew the same fate than others and must still produce tangible effects. Moreover, European countries have adopted the principle of mutual recognition of the standards. In spite of the creation of an ad hoc work group in 1990, the accounting harmonization is not a priority anymore, no proposal nor declaration has been made since. It is use consider American standards as the reference. That does not imply their superiority that just reflects economic and political reality. Unless standards IAS are not accepted by the SEC, the companies which follow them do not meet the conditions to be allowed on the American stock exchange places. To be allowed, a German group like Daimler-Benz must satisfy the regulations and specifications of the Stock Exchange where its shares will be exchanged and to match the regulations imposed by the SEC, slightly amended for the foreign transmitters. SEC requires in particular that foreign companies present either their accounts in conformity with the US GAAP or a table showing together the US GAAP rules and the accounts drawn according to the accounts chart of their own country (Germany in the case of Daimler-Benz). Few companies choose the first method; nevertheless, even the second method is expensive. If the American Stock Exchange remains one of the more world significant markets, standards IAS non in conformity with the American rules will become obsolete. But if the SEC persists in its exclusive attitude, the domination of the American Stock Exchanges could be compromised. Can we solve the problem? Is harmonization the answer? Then harmonization in accounting standards shall serve many of the following benefits: Decrease in the costs of data collection Increase in the comparison of the information, Development in the capital markets, Facilitation in the fund movements Provision of competition advantage in favor of the firms Decrease in the audit costs and increase in the efficiency of the audit For multinationals, the advantages of harmonization are much more important. The impacts are cultural and social, on the employment and consumption pattern for example which are significantly influenced. The SEC made understand that any international reference moving away from philosophy and specificity of the American standards would not be acceptable. It profits from the support of Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB), insofar as generalized acceptance of standards IAS could compromise the credibility of standards FASB. *Why do the differences persist? And w*hat is *mainly *stopping* the harmonization*? Let us take another example. In Japan, Keiretsu is a group of companies undertaken with cross participations which maintain very close relations of customer-suppliers type. Similar systems exist in Korea. The relations between these companies are not comparable with those which bind a holding and its subsidiary companies; this system is running in United Kingdom and the United States. Moreover, no economic argument could be brought to justify the regulation of the accounting standards. Why the practices differ o clearly from one country to another? We can for sure think about culture, tradition and history. Then, external environment, legal systems (Common law & Codified Roman law), taxation, the level of inflation, accidents and external influences (such as the framing of law in response to economic or politic events for example) are the main causes of international differences. Also, liabilities, consolidation, segment reporting and foreign currency translation can be big issues in international accounting. However, the economists privilege the explanations relating to factors such as the legal system and the legislation on the property rights, even if, in the final analysis, these factors themselves form part of each culture intrinsically. Conclusion While convergence and harmonization are admirable goals with a lot of benefits, that may not easily or quickly achieved. The success will not depend only on the ability of the FASB and IASB to work together, but also on the willingness of national regulators to cooperate and to avoid issuing local interpretation of IFRS. In April 2005, SEC published the road map. This is an article by then Chief Accountant discussed the possible elimination of the US GAAP reconciliation for foreign private issuers that use IFRS. This Road map laid out a series of milestones which if achieved would result in the elimination of the US GAAP reconciliation by 2009, so quite soon. It is often noted that the process of IASC standards are influenced by Anglo-American approach, which partly explains the reserve of certain countries to adopt the international accounting standards. The difference between Anglo-American philosophies and European ones can be explained by the importance attached to two essential characteristics of accountancy: reliability and relevance. To conclude, despite the existence of many convergence points, this research show several major differences between two countries supposed to follow relatively similar rules. This thus tends to catch our attention on the difficulty of international harmonization. This study seems to illustrate perfectly (unfortunately? difficulties of the international accounting harmonization. It could be interesting to carry out a reflection on other ways of making accountancies comparable in order to avoid a fundamental opposition. However, new laws gave (or will give) to companies of several countries, including France and Germany; the possibility of presenting their group accounts according to the international standards, in particular those of the IASC and USGAAP, rather than the national rules. Almost all th e companies having a world activity do it already, or will probably do it soon. 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