Tuesday, December 31, 2019

Qué es affidavit of support y obligaciones al firmar

En Estados Unidos, la firma del affidavit of support es uno los requisitos que se piden para que un ciudadano o un residente pueda reclamar con à ©xito la tarjeta de residencia permanente para un familiar. Este documento del affidavit of support tambià ©n se conoce entre los migrantes como declaracià ³n jurada de sostenimiento, mantenimiento o solvencia econà ³mica. Puntos clave: affidavit of support o declaracià ³n de sostenimiento econà ³mico Los ciudadanos o residentes permanentes que piden la tarjeta de residencia para un familiar deben firmar un affidavit of support o declaracià ³n de sostenimiento econà ³mico.Es un contrato que garantiza al gobierno de EE.UU. que el migrante patrocinado no se va a convertir en carga pà ºblica. Esta obligacià ³n està ¡ vigente durante aà ±os.El monto de ingresos y/o patrimonio mà ­nimo para firmar el affidavit of support depende del estado en el que reside la persona que presenta la peticià ³n, del nà ºmero de miembros de la familia y de si el solicitante es militar.Si no se tienen ingresos o patrimonio suficiente se puede solicitar la ayuda de un co-patrocinador.  ¿Quà © es el affidavit of support o declaracià ³n de solvencia econà ³mica? Es un documento que las leyes migratorias de EE.UU. exigen que firme el solicitante de una tarjeta de residencia permanente para un familiar. Si no se firma, la peticià ³n de la green card serà ¡ negada. El affidavit of support sirve para asegurar al gobierno que la persona que se reclama para emigrar  no se va a convertir en una carga pà ºblica.   En realidad, el affidavit of support es un contrato que obliga al ciudadano o al residente que lo firma o, en su caso, a los co-patrocinadores o co-firmantes, a responder econà ³micamente por la persona patrocinada. Por ello es fundamental entender bien y sin dudas quà © es lo que se firma. Ingresos mà ­nimos para firmar el affidavit of support Los ciudadanos americanos y los residentes permanentes legales que patrocinan a un familiar deben demostrar, por medio del affidavit of support, que tienen necesitan ingresos o patrimonio superiores al 125 por ciento de la là ­nea de la pobreza. Cabe destacar que la là ­nea de la pobreza, que actualiza cada aà ±o el gobierno de Estados Unidos, es superior en Hawaii y Alaska que en el resto de los 48 estados de la Unià ³n Americana o el Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico. Asimismo, el monto de la là ­nea de la pobreza cambia segà ºn el tamaà ±o de la familia. Y es que el ciudadano o residente que patrocina tiene que demostrar ingresos para mantener: a sà ­ mismoa la/s persona/s que se patrocinaa las que se ha  patrocinado, mientras el affidavit of support sigue vigentetodas las personas que dependen del solicitante,  segà ºn asà ­ conste en el  tax returns (hijos, esposa/o, etc). Sin embargo, para los militares en activo que piden a sus cà ³nyuges, hijos solteros menores de 21 aà ±os y padres es suficiente ingresos o patrimonio por el 100 por cien de la cantidad fijada por los datos del umbral de la pobreza.   Por otro lado, en los casos extraordinarios en los que el emigrante padece de una enfermedad crà ³nica seria o es una persona de edad avanzada es posible que las autoridades migratorias pidan acreditar  recursos econà ³micos superiores al 125 por ciento de la là ­nea de pobreza. Ingresos y patrimonio que se puede incluir en la declaracià ³n de solvencia econà ³mica. Cabe destacar que a la hora de calcular si se llega al mà ­nimo exigido por el gobierno para patrocinar se puede incluir ademà ¡s de los ingresos, como es por ejemplo la nà ³mina (payroll, en inglà ©s), sino tambià ©n el patrimonio, si se puede  vender fà ¡cilmente en el plazo de un aà ±o. Por ejemplo, se considera patrimonio la vivienda despuà ©s de descontar lo que se debe de la hipoteca, o el auto o inversiones en bonos del tesoro, etc. Sin embargo, del valor resultante sà ³lo se puede contabilizar un quinto de su valor de mercado para todos los patrocinios excepto cuando se trata de un ciudadano que reclama a su cà ³nyuge o hijos menores de 21 aà ±os (child), en cuyo caso se puede computar un tercio de su valor de mercado. Por ejemplo,  si se tiene  una casa cuyo valor de mercado es de $200.000 pero tiene una hipoteca de $130.000, eso quiere decir que, en realidad, el patrimonio es de $70.000. Los ciudadanos patrocinando al cà ³nyuge o hijos solteros menores de 21 aà ±os podrà ¡n calcular para el affidavit of support un tercio de esos $70,000, es decir $23.333. Por el contrario, si el ciudadano patrocina a los padres, hijos casados o mayores de 21 aà ±os o hermanos sà ³lo se computa un quinto de esos $70.000, es decir, $14.000. Lo mismo ocurre para todos los casos en los que el solicitante es un residente permanente.  ¿Quà © hacer cuando ingresos y patrimonio no llegan al mà ­nimo que se pide para el affidavit of support? Se puede buscar a un co-patrocinador, es decir, a una persona que se obligue tambià ©n  a patrocinar econà ³micamente a la persona que se quiere  reclamar. Por ley, el co-patrocinador debe cumplir todos los requisitos siguientes: Ciudadano americano o residente permanente legalVivir habitualmente en Estados Unidos o en uno de sus territorios, como por ejemplo, Puerto RicoMayor de edad Si reà ºne estos tres requisitos, pueden darse dos opciones. En primer lugar, la persona que se brinda a colaborar es un miembro de la familia del patrocinador y vive en el mismo hogar. Por ejemplo, el padre o la madre del patrocinador principal o un hijo mayor de 18 aà ±os. Ademà ¡s, en el caso de que el cà ³nyuge que se quiere reclamar vive ya en Estados Unidos y pueden ajustar su estatus, se pueden utilizar sus ingresos y unirlos a los de su patrocinador para alcanzar asà ­ la cantidad mà ­nima que se requiere para patrocinar, siempre y cuando vivan ya en el mismo hogar y la fuente de sus ingresos (trabajo) sea legal desde el punto de vista migratorio. Estos co-patrocinadores, a los que muchas veces se les llama co-firmantes, deben firmar la planilla I-864A.   En segundo lugar, el co-patrocinador puede no ser un miembro del hogar.  En otras palabras, es un familiar con su propio hogar o un amigo. En estos casos el co-patrocinador tiene que acreditar tener ingresos suficientes como si patrocinara solo y debe rellenar y firmar el affidavit of support de la planilla I-864. Si se firma un affidavit of support,  ¿cuà ¡les son las obligaciones que se contraen? La declaracià ³n jurada de sostenimiento es un contrato legal. La persona que lo firma es responsable, en primer lugar, frente al gobierno. Y, en segundo lugar, ante el propio patrocinado. Como consecuencia de ello, los nuevos inmigrantes no pueden recibir dinero de ningà ºn beneficio federal, local o estatal calificado como means-tested. Por ejemplo: TANF, Medicare, Medicaid, cupones de alimentos, etc. Si el gobierno detecta que se recibià ³ incorrectamente uno de estos beneficios, pedirà ¡ la restitucià ³n del dinero a la persona o personas que firmaron el affidavit of support. Si se tuviera que ir a Corte, se le pedirà ¡ tambià ©n el pago de los gastos. Ademà ¡s, tener conocimiento de que el migrante  patrocinado ha colectado beneficios del gobierno a los que no tenà ­a derecho es suficiente para ser multado con $5.000.   Ademà ¡s, el migrante que, sin tener derecho, solicite estos beneficios puede ser multado por un mà ¡ximo de $10.000 e incluso pena de prisià ³n. Por otro lado, la persona que firma el affidavit of support se compromete al mantenimiento del migrante pedido. Esto es asà ­ de tal modo que puede ser demandado por este à ºltimo. En el caso de los matrimonios resaltar que el divorcio no supone el fin de esta obligacià ³n. Los contratos privados firmados entre los cà ³nyuges relevà ¡ndole de esa obligacià ³n no son ejecutables en corte. Es decir, son como papel mojado.   Vigencia de la obligacià ³n por firmar el affidavit of support La obligacià ³n de ser responsable del mantenimiento del nuevo migrante se extiende desde el momento en que  ha obtenido la tarjeta de residencia hasta que ocurre cualquiera de las siguientes circunstancias: el migrante se convierte en ciudadano americano por naturalizacià ³nel migrante regresa a su paà ­s, abandonando Estados Unidos y su estatus legalel migrante falleceel migrante ha contribuido 40 crà ©ditos a la Seguridad Social, lo que aproximadamente suelen ser 10 aà ±os, habiendo variedades para el cà ³mputo. Quà © documentos hay que completar para firmar el patrocinio econà ³mico Dependiendo del caso, estos son los documentos para el affidavit of support: I-864Z, cuando no se utiliza co-patrocinador y sà ³lo se patrocina econà ³micamente a una persona.I-864, en todos los demà ¡s casos.I-864A, para el co-patrocinador  vive en el mismo hogar familiar que el ciudadano o residente permanente que reclama la tarjeta de residencia para uno o varios de sus familiares. En el caso de peticiones mediante ajuste de estatus, al aplicar por este beneficio es cuando se presenta la planilla del sostenimiento econà ³mico. Pero cuando la peticià ³n de la green card va a travà ©s del procedimiento consular, seguir las instrucciones del Centro Nacional de Visas cuando se pone en contacto para los trà ¡mites finales. La importancia de notificar los cambios de domicilio Todos los que firman un affidavit of support debe notificar al Servicio de Naturalizacià ³n y Ciudadanà ­a (USCIS, por sus siglas en inglà ©s) los cambios de domicilio en el plazo de 30 dà ­as a contar desde la mudanza. Utilizar la  la planilla I-865. El castigo por incumplimiento puede ser multa de $250 a $2,000. Ademà ¡s, si el firmante del affidavit of support es un residente permanente, debe tambià ©n notificar el cambio de direccià ³n con el formulario AR-11, que se puede completar en là ­nea en la pà ¡gina oficial del USCIS. Conclusià ³n importante sobre el affidavit of support Firmar un affidavit of support es un requisito imprescindible en la tramitacià ³n de peticiones de tarjeta de residencia por motivos familiares. No es posible no cumplir con esta obligacià ³n. Pero al hacerlo, el firmante se està ¡ comprometiendo a responder por el migrante patrocinado. Es por ello que hay que pensarlo bien, particularmente en el caso de matrimonios por conveniencia. Este es un artà ­culo informativo. No es asesorà ­a legal.

Monday, December 23, 2019

Record Keeping Thesis - 1541 Words

CHAPTER I THE PROBLEM AND ITS BACKGROUND Introduction Now a days, technology are rapidly improving, computers are commonly use specially in some business. However some users are not typically having knowledge about in computer. But now technology improve the system to make users can easily access or operate. In this study we want to develop a new system in Jumil’s Funeral Co. Record Keeping System that will help them to minimize the time in manual recording in their business and avoid the wrong information in their clients and also keep the record safe and secure for the sake of the clients or customer and this system will improve their business. History Mrs. Marites Barrion starts in 1993 on Mahabang Parang Binangonan Rizal in†¦show more content†¦Proprietor The proposed system will make it easier for the funeral service especially to the clients to give detailed information about the records of the deceased person. The proposed system will help the employees/owner to make every records can preview easier and fast. Employees The proposed system will help the employees to give correct records on clients and can easily find the persons record. Researchers The proposed system will help the researchers to develop their writing, analysis, and interpretation skills needed to make a good thesis. Future Researchers The proposed system will help the other researchers that have similar studies as they can get background information from the result of this study which will serve as their basis to finish their research. Scope and Delimitation of the Study In general, the focus of this study is directed towards the improvement and development of Jumil’s Funeral Co. Record Keeping System. The study is largely dependent on the honesty, sincerity and integrity of the respondents. In this proposed system, taking a records will be computerized and will provide copies for the customer/clients. However, the proponents give level of security of the system to the proprietor. The Proprietor has only the full access of the system and confidentialShow MoreRelatedBaby Thesis-Computerized Ssc Record Keeping4630 Words   |  19 Pagesresearch study entitled â€Å"Computerized SSC Record Keeping† was conducted at Romblon State University-Cajidiocan Campus during the 1st Semester of the Academic Year 2011-2012. This study attempts to design a computerized record keeping helping the Supreme Student Council in record keeping as well as the students as they transact business in the SSC office as they secure the SSC Secretary’s signature. The system provides a fast, accurate and easy way of record keeping and retrieval of information. The mainRead MoreThe Fall Of The Roman Empire987 Words   |  4 Pagesevidence relating to the connection between roams fall and Britain s essential reason in helping speed up the process. But for my first research paper on this topic I had problems when approaching the essential question and finding support to my thesis. At first locating information on ancient Rome that had to do with British involvement was difficult because of my lack of knowledge and also lack of primary sources on the study of Rome and the British relationship however I only went off of argumentsRead MoreThe Concept Of Reference Management As Seen The Eyes Of Author Dianne Ridley1289 Words   |  6 Pagesthree very useful record keeping systems namely; a record of keyword searches, a record of bibliographical details and a personal library. In this review, I seek to identify and discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the three above mentioned record keeping systems, to compare and contrast amongst the systems and to give an opinion based on my analysis on which of the three system will better serve me and why. Up until this moment, have I started to appreciate the record of keyword searchesRead MoreAcademic Advisors : An Essential Component Of Guiding Students Towards A Successful Collegiate Academic Destination1482 Words   |  6 Pageslaw the academic advisor serves as the fiduciary of the students that they advise. The advisors owe their students the highest promises of good faith, trust, and confidence when receiving their services. Under fiduciary law advisors must be wary of keeping a students thoughts and desires in the strictest confidence. Advisors must also manage to keep their own personal priorities out of the way and separate from the students. Ethically advisors must be honest with students about their opinions. In theRead MoreHospital Management System Chapter 11013 Words   |  5 Pagesfinal year project, a method was proposed by using visual basic to develop software for managing a hospital. The main contribution of this software is to help the hospital management keep track and maintain patient records as well as doctors and nurses (including ward persons). This thesis will be explaining in detail the step-by-step process to developing the software through each chapter. This chapter introduces the background to the study, problem statement, objectives of the project and the importanceRead MoreThesis Video Rental on-Line System: a Proposed System to A. Mabini Video City Inc.1345 Words   |  6 PagesVideo Rental On-line System: A Proposed System to A. Mabini Video City Inc. Azcarraga, Jamen E. -2008-1032-M Caadyang Ma. Rebecca E. -2008-0321-M An undergraduate thesis submitted to the Computer Studies Department in University of Caloocan City, Gen. San Miguel St. Sangandaan, Caloocan City in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the graduation with the degree of Bachelor of Science in Computer Science CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND Introduction In today’s modern ageRead MoreComparative Analysis of The Spanish Inquisition and Trent 14751550 Words   |  7 Pagescontemporary literature, Hsia illustrates how the persecution of the Jews in 1475 has impacted and still impacts attitudes toward Jewish people. The most important source, the Yeshiva manuscript was put together by people after the trial, using the trial records and interviews. It was written for the campaign to canonize Little Martyr Simon and includes only selected documents from the trial. She intricately weaves documents with the Yeshiva Manuscript to bolster his story and tell a larger story. SheRead MoreAn Explanation of the Britishs Stuggles to Finance the War with Napoleonic France in The British Balance of Payments1087 Words   |  5 Pagestheir economic policy on sustaining prolonged military action overseas during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Esteban argues the credit level achieved between India and Britain allowed for Britain to finance their global war, while also keeping the balance of payments from becoming uncontrollable. There remain little historiographical arguments claiming the British were obtaining Indian goods at fair market price for British exports and commodities as Esteban points out. This cycle of profitRead MoreThe Vs. Real Madrid Essay853 Words   |  4 PagesBarcelona and Real Madrid have traded success and feuded for a very long time. Both sets of fans have fought over which team is better – comparing players, stats, style of play, managers, stadiums, etc. B) What is your thesis? (this will be different than the Classical model thesis) Through the giant rivalry where both teams boast world-class talent, tactical managers and large finances behind them, Real Madrid and Barcelona have established themselves as two of football’s biggest clubs. C)Read MoreElectronic Medical Records ( Emr )1245 Words   |  5 Pagesmedical records (EMR) Introduction For centuries, paper-based records were the only way of communicating patient’s medical records throughout the health care system. Gradually, for the past two decades, the healthcare system has been transitioning toward computerized systems called electronic medical records better knowns as EMR. Dr. Clem McDonald from the Regenstrief Institute stated that his â€Å"goal was to solve three problems, to eliminate the logistical problems of the paper records by making

Sunday, December 15, 2019

La Dame and Cathy Ames Comparison Free Essays

In the poem â€Å"La Belle Dame Sans Merci† by John Keats and the story East Of Eden by John Steinbeck both authors similarly characterize women as merciless through the use of the literary technique of imagery. Both Steinbeck and Keats throughout their writings describe events and people in great detail. Both of the women are beautiful yet ‘wild’, put a man to sleep, and force someone to solitude. We will write a custom essay sample on La Dame and Cathy Ames Comparison or any similar topic only for you Order Now In the beginning of both the poem and story the authors give a very visual description of the women. They are both considered to appear on the outside as if they are â€Å"a faerys child† – beautiful. But when you look into their eyes a sense of being â€Å"wild† is within them. The wildness that the men see in their eyes foreshadows their merciless nature. The wildness alludes to and foreshadows the womens animalistic and heartless actions. In both storys the women seduce multiple men with their physical attractiveness in order to gain control of them and make the situation benefit them. The authors use imagery in their texts by explaining in detail the womens outstanding physical features in order to make the reader picture the women in the same way that the narrator does. Steinbeck and Keats effectivly project the images of the women into the minds of the reader. In the two pieces of literature both of the authors specify a scene using imagery in which the beautiful women make a man fall asleep in order to obtain what they want. In Steinbecks case it would be Cathy Ames overdosing Adam so she can sleep with Charles on the night of their wedding. While in Keats poem it is La Dame who slowly puts the unsuspecting knight to sleep so she can murder him. The women in these scenes commit awful acts but neither of them feel any remorse or conscience, which oes to show the women are truly merciless and have a â€Å"wild† nature. In Keats story he uses imagery in the knights vivid dream as a warning to show him all of La Dame’s past victims who had been lured in and killed before him. This shows that La Dame’s feeling of love are false and that she will continue to mercilessly hurt people. The authors uses of imagery in these scenes make the reader feel like they are in the story watching the horrible acts take place and make the reader lovingly hate the women for their cruel and clever actions. In both texts Steinbeck and Keats write a very visual scene about men leaving the eautiful women and cutting all ties to them because they realize that the women are fake, merciless and â€Å"wild†. In the poem written by Keats the knight wakes up as a lonely and â€Å"palely loitering† man because he realizes that if he continued to follow La Dame he would end up like all the other men who fell for her because she is â€Å"wild† and will never be tamed, she is merciless and all of her fealings were false. La Dame emotionally misconstrues the knight and leaves hime to live his life as a ‘dead’ person with his heart in a million pieces. In Steinbecks novel the whoremaster, Mr. Edwards, beats and then leaves Cathy to die because he feels that Cathy had constantly manipulated him and hurt him emotionally, physically and finically and he ever have to deal with her and be put through what he had been. Throughout each of the literary masterpieces both authors similarly characterize women as merciless through the use of the literary technique of imagery. Both of the women are beautiful yet ‘wild’, put a man to sleep, and force someone to solitude. Cathy Ames and La Dame were characterized as two despicipable women who inflicted pain and suffering upon others, to make up for the emotions that they cannot feel. How to cite La Dame and Cathy Ames Comparison, Papers

Saturday, December 7, 2019

Strategy Management free essay sample

Since the end of XX century a lot of IT manufacturing companies appeared in the Global market, but not all of them managed to find and even less of them to sustain its competitive advantages. HTC Corp. s one of the companies of that period who successfully transformed its business from Original Design Manufacturer (ODM) producing complete products to famous brand-name companies into Original Brand Manufacturer (OBM) making its own product under its own brand. On its way into successful OBM transformation the company faced a lot of obstacles concerning its Boards of directors’ strategy and vision of company’s future. However, despite the fact that company has become famous recognizable brand, it has been facing a lot of issues concerning stiff competition, supply chain management, product line, finance and strategic partnership. The paper aims to define and justify strategic issues HTC Corp. encountered applying relevant theories and techniques from Strategic management and to recommend solutions for those issues. 1. HTC’s strategic issues evaluation HTC Corp. was founded in 1997 by Cher Wang and HT Cho as an Original design manufacturer company. Being excellent in design and engineering under HT Cho management it was very successful in ODM market producing laptops for HP, pocket PCs for Compaq and Palm and smartphones for branded handset companies and service providers T-Mobile, British Telecom, Orange and Vodafone (Yoffie Kim, 2009). Having already earned reputation as a reliable manufacturer, in 2006 HTC made decision to promote its own brand. At that moment most people in the board were ambiguous about this decision (Yoffie Kim, 2009). However, by the end of 2009 the company eventually quitted the traditional ODM business. New OBM business required from company management extremely important decisions concerning its old ODM business partners (Yoffie Kim, 2009). Changing direction from ODM business to own brand development involved rethinking its organizational structure, financial costs and marketing strategy in order to enter the global market (Tushman Herman, 2012). This implies the following strategic issues: organizational structure, financial, marketing and globalization issues. At the moment when the company made decision to enter smartphone market, the most companies had been at a growth stage of its lifecycle. Big manufacturers as Nokia, RIM, Samsung, LG, Sony-Ericsson and Motorola had already been fighting for the market share. Furthermore, each of them had competitive advantages over HTC in terms of cost advantage due to economies of scale (Samsung) and patents (Nokia). As a result, HTC had the following strategic issues: Competition, Partnership, Globalization, Marketing strategy, Operations. Although the mobile phone market was highly competitive, emergence of smartphone devices brought the biggest changes in the competitive environment on a global scale (Euromonitor International, 2011). It gave chance to HTC to gain advantage over incumbent market leaders Motorola, Nokia and RIM. However, along with HTC other players entered the market. In 2007 Apple introduced its powerful and innovative smartphone, LG and Samsung were quick enough to innovate as well not to lose its share of the market. Each of these manufacturers has its competitive advantage. Which are: -economies of scale for Samsung -hardware and software design for Apple -business customer orientation for RIM Looking at the financial statements of the previous years can be seen that despite of increasing in total revenue from NT$152,353. 20 in 2008 to NT$465,794. 80 in 2011 the operation profit margin had decreased from 19. % in 2008 to 14. 7% in 2011. It tells about poor efficiency of company’s operations. Figure 1 HTC Total Revenues (based on Appendix A) Figure 2 HTC Operational profit margin (based on Appendix A) Moreover, today widely held smartphones of different manufacturers have similar set of functions, design, quality with few distinctive features. Consequently, smartphone market today has a tendency to perfect or monopolistic competition. Therefore, the paper will be focused on a competition issue considering it as a core issue ? 2. Models and frameworks HTC corp. gained amazing success in a very short time. However, as long as the mobile phone market grows, technology changes and product lifecycles are getting shorter, competition will be the issue the companies in the market. 2. 1SWOT analysis Strengths RD and innovations Partnership with Microsoft and Google Opportunities Emerging markets in South America and Africa 4G technology and Cloud computing Weaknesses Weak brand image Dependence on third party providersThreats Competitor’s breakthroughs Drop in smartphone prices Table 1 SWOT analysis 2. 2External analysis The global market of mobile phones increased significantly and became mature. Whereupon growth shifted to developing markets. The shift of growth to less affluent markets accelerated unit price erosion commonly associated with product diffusion. Global average unit price fell from US$170 in 2002 to US$86 in 2010 representing an almost 50% drop (Euromonitor International, 2011). Figure 3 Mobile Phones: Biggest markets by volume (sourced from Euromonitor International) The shift of sales to emerging markets drove to growth in low-cost manufacturers. This has had a positive impact primarily on Chinese manufacturers who account for a majority of private label brand manufacturing contracts. The commoditisation of mobile phones was largely responsible for driving growth of low-cost private label brands. This may cause emergence of new entrance, especially from Chinese ODM market. Last few years Asia-Pacific markets had a significant rise largely due to growth in China and India. According to Euromonitor International (2011) the growth will continue reaching 3 billion subscribers by 2015. Figure 4 Mobile phone subscribers (sourced from Euromonitor International) Porter’s five forces analysis To make a qualitative evaluation of a company’s strategic position Porter’s 5 forces framework will be applied. Figure 5 Porters 5 forces model (source: author) Detailed analysis of each of Porter’s 5 forces is shown in Appendix 4. As it can be seen from the figure summary of competitive forces is more high than moderate. Therefore industry considered to be competitive. 2. 3Internal analysis Resource-based view approach Prahalad and Hamel (1990) state that in order acquire and sustain competitive advantage the company should consider its internal factors which are resources, capabilities and competences. To understand what constitutes HTC’s core competencies and distinctive capabilities internal analysis has been conducted. According (Stonehouse, et al. , 2004) four broad areas should be considered in internal analysis. Figure 6 Internal analysis (sourced from Stonehouse) Makadok (2001) defines capability as â€Å"a special type of resource, specifically an organizationally embedded non-transferable firm-specific resource whose purpose is to improve the productivity of the other resources possessed by the firm†. Whereas Amit and Schoemaker (1993) state that â€Å"resources are stocks of available factors that are owned or controlled by the organization, and capabilities are an organization’s capacity to deploy resources†. Tangible resources FinancialCapital NT$8,520,521,700 (USD 290,234,500) (Anon. , 2012) PhysicalEquipment, building, RD centres and principal subsidiaries TechnologicalPatents for data transmission in wireless devices that allow faster download in 4G LTE networks (Decker, 2012) Human resources16,746 employees (Anon. , 2012) Intangible resources Human? Experience and capabilities of employees ?Culture – Mix of eastern hard-working, flexible, risk-taking, strategic thinking with western marketing excellence and out-of-the-box thinking ? Managerial skills Innovation and creativity? Technical and scientific skills ? RD capabilities ?HTC Sense Innovative functions (Android OS add-on) Reputation? Brand name ?Reputation with customers for quality and reliability ?Strategic partnership with Microsoft and Android Table 2 Resource-Based View approach VRIO framework According to Collins and Montgomery (2008) those resources create value which are situated in the interplay of three market forces – Demand, Scarcity and Appropriability. Figure 7 Sourced from Collins and Montgomery (2008) To determine which of resources and capabilities of the firm considered being a competitive advantage, VRIO analysis should be applied. According to VRIO framework to each of the resources four question should be asked. 1. The question of value: Does a resource enable a firm to exploit an environmental opportunity, and/or neutralize an environmental threat? 2. The Question of Rarity: Is a resource currently controlled by only a small number of competing firms? [are the resources used to make the products/services or the products/services themselves rare? ] 3. The Question of Imitability: do firms without a resource face a cost disadvantage in obtaining or developing it? [is what a firm is doing difficult to imitate? ] 4. The Question of Organization: Are a firm’s other policies and procedures organized to support the exploitation of its valuable, rare, and costly-to-imitate resources? † Total summation of HTC’s resources and capabilities gives a company competitive advantage. However, due to highly competitive environment of smartphone market most of its resources are at the same level comparing with competitors. The only resource which can benefit in HTC’s sustainable competitive advantage is its software add-on to Android OS – HTC Sense. Therefore in order to sustain its competitive advantage in the rivalry HTC should further develop this feature. A graphic presentation of VRIO is shown in Appendix E. ? 3. Conclusion and recommendations Having applied analytical tools to examine internal and external environments of the company it can be said that Competition is the critical issue in HTC Corp. Porter’s 5 forces confirmed high competitive environment in the smartphone industry. Looking at financial statements and annual reports of the company (Appendices A and B) one can see that average per unit cost declined from NT$6,300 in 2008 to NT$5,653 in 2011. Figure 8 Average per unit costs (based on Appendix B) From the Figure 8 can be concluded that company followed Cost leadership strategy in Porter’s Generic strategies. Competing with Samsung HTC introduced 14 new mobile phone models in Taiwan alone (Chiang, 2012). Using one wave of new devices after another to wage a global battle, the biggest hurdles HTC has faced are branding and gross margin. Furthermore, consumers got confused about models of HTC. Emphasis on customization generated number of new models and a wide range of design specs. At the same time, customization reduced the number of common components used among the devices, increasing the average per unit cost. Taking into consideration that producing different models is not efficient, HTC should focus on narrowing its product line and increasing quality and at the same time decreasing average per unit cost. In this way the company will achieve economies of scale. From the point of view of Porter’s Generic strategies, HTC should follow Differentiation strategy paying more attention to promoting its Brand.