Roles of Entrepreneurship in Business Expansion and Market Entry

This investigation has been a challenging experience in my life. Through this research I have gained understanding regarding entrepreneurship and its role in business expansion and market entry. I was able to identify a new aspect of myself as a student which is going to assist me in my professional life. Throughout this research work, there were people who always guided and inspired me to complete the overall task competently. First of all, I would like to acknowledge my supervisor whoprovided me with guidelines to undertake a efficacious research study. I would also thank my parents and family who has been my boundless support and motivation during the research and in every phase of life.

Thanking You

Abstract

Huawei is among the well-known business enterprises of telecommunication segment of China. The company is offering superior items and services such as mobile handset, routers and switches and is doing well in terms of business accomplishments internationally. However, in order to attain higher profitability and sustainability in the prolonged years, it is essential for the firm to expand its business in untapped regions that are offering superior opportunities for development. Considering this, I selected the topic for this research wherein I have highlighted that expanding its services in UAE extensively will be profitable for Huawei. It was identified that business expansion and market entry can be exposed to varied challenges due to indifferent external environment of varied regions which can be managed through superior entrepreneurial decision-making. Based on this, the aim for this research was selected that was to inspect the function of entrepreneurship in organisational expansion and market entry.The literature review reflected company related information such as its current operations, life-cycle, resources and timing of entry in UAE. Apart from these, varied models and theories linked with entrepreneurship and businesses such as factors affecting them, challenges faced by firms during business expansion and market entry along with models that can be utilised for business expansion has been discussed.

The research methodology of the research mainly focussed on conducting a survey through questionnaire among employees working at Huawei and undertaking interview with businessperson regarding entrepreneurship and business. The quantitative data analysis has been done through statistical tool SPSS and qualitative data has been analysed through interpretivism. Findings indicates significant role of entrepreneurship on business expansion and market entry. Reliability test conducted through SPSS indicates that the questions were significant and valid while descriptive statistics depicted the mean and standard deviation of nearly all the variables close to 5 and 1 respectively. Qualitative data reveals similar findings acquired through survey wherein most of the businessperson has identified factors such as risk-taking (personal), social and political environment influencing business activities. Major challenges identified through both survey and interview were inability to understand external environment, adapt to cultural background of distinct regions and select appropriate entry mode. On the basis of gathered through this investigationI have suggested firms opting for business expansion and market entry to analyse own capabilities and competitors’ weakness along with undertaking extensive research activities for superior decision-making.

Executive Summary

Entrepreneurship is a one of the most debated topics among scholars and business experts in the contemporary scenario. The notion of entrepreneurship has always been in the limelight for development of economic and social structures of the world. This research focuses on the role of entrepreneurship from business perspective, specifically in the areas of business expansion and market entry strategy. I took up Chinese Multinational Huwaei for performing the research. The primary aim of the research is to find out the role of entrepreneurs in business and marketing strategy formulation. Apart from this, I also intended to evaluate the factors that influence the role of entrepreneurs in business activities and operations. The literature review segment highlighted the marketing and business expansion process of Huwaei, their resource base and entrepreneurial planning process. The literature review also reflected the historical development of entrepreneurship as a concept and the challenges faced in performing the roles effectively.

I selected a mixed method process inclusive of both quantitative and qualitative research for performing the study. The mixed method was supported with positivism and interpretivism philosophies and deductive approach. SPSS software was used for analysing the data collected via Likert Scale survey. On the other hand, qualitative analysis was performed on the interview responses collected from different business executives regarding entrepreneurship. It was observed that Huwaei as a company focuses on market adjustment and expansion as an integral part of their strategy formulation. The current activities of the company are directed towards expansion in the Middle East region with new products suited to the concerned market place and target consumers. Based on the findings of the research, it has been recommended for Huwaei to consider the local production and market factors before expanding and designing their marketing strategy.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Introduction. 10

1.0 Introduction. 10

1.1 Background of Research. 11

1.2 Research Aim and Objectives. 16

1.4 Research Questions: 17

1.5 Rationale of Research. 17

1.6 Problem statement 18

1.7 Structure of Research. 18

Chapter 2: Literature Review.. 21

2.0 Introduction. 21

2.1 Huawei’s Operations, Market, Resources and Entry Timing in UAE.. 22

2.1.1 Huawei’s Operations. 22

2.1.2 Market and Industry Life-Cycle. 23

2.1.3 Company Resources: Tangible and Intangible. 23

2.1.4 Huawei’s Timing of Market Entry in UAE.. 25

2.2 Concept of Entrepreneurship. 27

2.3 Factors Influencing Entrepreneurship and its Functions. 30

2.4 Relationship between Environmental Factors and Entrepreneurial Decision Making Process 33

2.5 Challenges Faced in Business Expansion and New Market Entry. 35

2.6 Models for Business Expansion and New Market Entry. 38

2.6.1 Ansoff Matrix. 38

2.7 Influence of Entrepreneurial Decisions on Business Expansion and Business Performance 41

2.8 Summary. 42

Chapter 3- Research Methodology. 44

3.0 Introduction. 44

3.1 Research Philosophy. 44

3.2 Research Approach. 45

3.3 Research Design. 46

3.4 Research Strategy. 47

3.5 Research Method. 48

3.6 Data Collection and Analysis. 49

3.7 Research Ethics. 50

3.8 Summary. 50

Chapter 4- Data Findings. 52

4.0 Introduction. 52

4.1 Quantitative Analysis. 52

4.1.1 Demographic. 52

4.1.2 Reliability through Cronbach’s Alpha. 54

4.1.3 Factor Analysis. 55

4.1.4 Descriptive Statistics. 58

4.1.5 Correlation Analysis. 62

4.1.6 Regression Analysis. 64

4.2 Qualitative Analysis. 66

4.3 Summary. 69

Chapter 5- Discussions and Interpretations. 71

5.0 Introduction. 71

5.1 Primary Variables of the Research. 71

5.1.1 Factors influencing entrepreneurship and business. 71

5.1.2 Challenges experienced during business expansion and market entry. 74

5.1.3 Role of entrepreneurship in business expansion and market entry. 77

5.4 Summary. 80

Chapter 6- Conclusion and Recommendations. 81

6.0 Conclusion. 81

6.1 Objective Linking. 81

6.2 Recommendations. 83

6.3 Research Limitations. 85

6.4 Future Study. 85

Reference list 86

Appendix. 95

List of Tables

Table 1: Population Size of the UAE by Sex, 1980-2050. 12

Table 2: Reliability Test through Cronbach’s Alpha. 55

Table 3: KMO and Bartlett's Test for Q1-6. 55

Table 4: Total Variance for Q1-6. 56

Table 5: KMO and Bartlett's Test for Q7-12. 57

Table 6: Total Variance Explained for Q7-12. 57

Table 7: KMO and Bartlett's Test for Q13-17. 57

Table 8: Total Variance Explained for Q13-17. 58

Table 9: Descriptive Statistics for Q1-6. 59

Table 10: Descriptive Statistics for Q7-12. 59

Table 11: Descriptive Statistics for Q13-17. 60

Table 12: Correlation Analysis. 63

Table 13: Model Summary for Objective 1. 64

Table 14: ANOVA test for Objective 1. 65

Table 15: Model Summary for Objective 2. 65

Table 16: ANOVA for Objective 2. 65

Table 17: Model Summary for Objective 3. 66

Table 18: ANOVA for objective 3. 66

List of Figures

Figure 1: Pie-chart depicting trends and growth in UAE telecommunications in 2010. 13

Figure 2: Pie-chart depicting trends and growth in UAE telecommunications in 2013. 13

Figure 3: Global Operating Structure of Huawei 22

Figure 4: Life-Cycle of Telecommunication Industry. 23

Figure 5: European Smartphone shipment’s from 2015-2018 (1st quarter) 27

Figure 6: Timmon’s Entrepreneurship Process. 29

Figure 7: Factors affecting entrepreneurship as per its stages. 31

Figure 8: Ansoff Matrix. 39

Figure 9: Barlett and Ghoshal Matrix. 40

Figure 10: Pie Chart depicting gender 52

Figure 11: Chart depicting age of the respondents. 53

Figure 12: Chart depicting department of employment 53

Figure 13: Pie-Chart depicting tenure of employment at Huawei 54

Chapter 1: Introduction

1.0 Introduction

Bunyasrie (2010) noted that in common terms entrepreneurship is often considered as the ownership of a business institution, however the variables of entrepreneurship includes much more than just having possession of an organisation. Further elaborating this, Stevenson and Jarillo (2007) mentioned that entrepreneurship includes the ability to initiate and formulate a vision and to lead the associated members or stakeholders in successfully achieving that vision.In the contemporary scenario, many new organisations sprang up and many more go down every day due to lack of entrepreneurship skills or resources. According to Kazanjian, Drazin and Glynn (2017), entrepreneurs are not only essential for their own business development but also contribute significantly towards the development of an economy as a whole. They create jobs and opportunities for a nation to progress and utilise resources in order to enhance productivity and standard of living of the population. However, Sharma and Chrisman (2007) pointed out that many internal and external factors influence the decisions taken by entrepreneurs such as financial stability of the organisation or the customer brand awareness of the firm in the market. Carrying forward these notions, I will try to analyse the roles played by an entrepreneur in business expansion and market entry strategies of a firm. I have selectedChinese tech giant Huawei for performing the study. Companies performing in information and communication field have been found to be more exposed to the external environment challenges such as changing consumer requirements and shifting trends (due to new inventions). Owing to this, entrepreneurs of technology firms are required to come up with not only pioneering products to survive in the altering environment but also with supportive approach to inspire its employees to implement these changes. Therefore, choosing Huawei for this research will permit me to attain a fair understanding regarding the manner in which entrepreneur influence its business growth and sustainability.

1.1 Background of Research

About Company:Huawei, Chinese global entity, specializes in offering innovative services in telecom segment across 140 nations (Huawei Technologies Co, 2018a). Huawei’s innovative services such as Smart City Solutions have enabled the firm to create digital transformation in approximately 100 cities throughout 40 countries (Huawei Technologies Co, 2018a). The enterprise is earning well throughout varied regions of the globe wherein it acquired revenue of nearly 521,574 CNY million in 2016 (Huawei Technologies Co, 2018a).

Huawei Current Business Performance: Huawei currently is serving greater than one third of worldwide population and has been identified as the third largest global producer of telecommunications equipment such as routers and switches after companies Alcatel-Lucent and Cisco (Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd, 2018a). Huawei’s core activities can be dissected under three business groups; carrier network, enterprise and consumer business. Carrier network offers services related with wireless networks, carrier software, core network and network energy solutions. The compound yearly progress rate of Huawei during 2005-2017for the managed services exceeded 70% annually, resulting in making the company the fastest-growing managed services supplier across the globe (Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd., 2018a). The second group, Enterprise Business Group, offers ICT solutions through video codec processes, cloud storage and computing to consumers in distinct segments. Huawei’s video surveillance and safe city solutions are presently being offered in more than 30 nations globally. The third group, Consumer Business Group, is specialised in offering personal handset and smartphones to consumer. Notably, in 2017 Huawei’s personal handset business was identified at the third largest smartphone producer through market share with 10% of the entire global market (Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd., 2018a).

Future Plans of Huawei: As observed in the earlier segment, the company is performing very well in the telecommunications segment with strong presence globally. As per me, the company’s future plan can be to penetrate and expand its business and operations in untapped regions which comprises of high prospects for growth and profitability. Significantly, regions such as UAE are providing superiorgrowth opportunities for entrepreneurs like Dubai with open marketplace and enhanced tax incentives (Cherrayil, 2017). The Middle East mobile segment provides increased growth opportunities because of its large populace and enhancing progressive outlook (Wansink, 2018).

Table 1: Population Size of the UAE by Sex, 1980-2050

Year

Population Size (thousands)

Males

Females

Total

1980

707

308

1,015

1985

874

473

1,347

1990

1,185

622

1,806

1995

1,561

786

2,346

2000

2,042

984

3,026

2005

2,822

1,327

4,149

2010

5,960

2,482

8,442

2015*

6,659

2,918

9,577

2020*

7,299

3,303

10,602

2025*

7,851

3,628

11,479

2030*

8,385

3,946

12,330

2035*

8,918

4,283

13,201

2040*

9,433

4,631

14,064

2045*

9,885

4,957

14,842

2050*

10,239

5,240

15,479

(Source: Future Directions, 2014)

Table 1 depicts the population size of UAE wherein there has been significant increase in populace from 1.0 million to 8.4 million since 1980 to 2010. Further, it is being estimated that population is going to be nearly 15.5 million till 2050.Telecommunication products presently have become normal good that is being utilised by people on large scale for communication purposes or browsing(internet). Higher population illustrates that Huawei can be able to offer its items and services to greater number of people. Subsequently, higher adoption rates and utilisation of gadgets is going to provide higher profitability to Huawei. However, it was essential for me to understand the growth of telecommunication segment in UAE in order to understand the growth prospects of Huawei. As per research, the particular segment has been experiencing rising demand from consumers which indicates better growth opportunities for Huawei for business expansion and new market entry. Figure 1 depicts the telecommunication segment in UAE with 0.79 million (6%)asbroadband users, 1.48 million (11%) as fixed-line telephony and 10.93 million (83%) as mobile phone in 2010. In 2013, these figure were as 0.97 million (6%) for broadband,1.75 million (12%) for fixed-line telephony and 12.39 million (82%) for mobile phone.

Figure 1: Pie-chart depicting trends and growth in UAE telecommunications in 2010

(Source: Kwon, 2013)

Figure 2: Pie-chart depicting trends and growth in UAE telecommunications in 2013

(Source: Kwon, 2013)

Problem Faced in Past and Issues that can be further faced while business expansion and market entry in UAE: Research reveals that regardless of growth and enhancing profits of the firm, the company is facing varied challenges such as low recognition outside China which can restrict favourable performance of the entity in coming years (Richards, 2016). For instance, recently the company experienced issue in successful expansion of its business expansions in U.S. A report circulated in October 2012 revealed that Washington considers Huawei and other Chinese telecom entities such as ZTE involves security concerns (Rushton, 2013). Another report insisted U.S. entities to refrain from conducting business activities with Chinese firms that reveals growing risk for Huawei in business expanding at global context (Rushton, 2013).

Though Huawei has managed to enter UAE (Dubai) competently in 2017 by entering into strategic alliance with Axiom Telecom yet challenges such as low brand recognition can still restrict company’s growth expansion (Cherrayil, 2017). Further, there are immense dissimilarities among varied regions of UAE wherein some regions (Dubai) have experienced significant mobile penetration while others (such as Iran) have been facing challenging problems such as infrastructure demolition and civil tension inhibiting existing growth (Wansink, 2018). Variations in local environments of distinct regions in UAE can create problems for Huawei for superior business expansion and market entry. In simple terms, it is essential for the company to attain higher understanding regarding its target regions and consumers in order to attract them towards its offerings. As identified, Huawei lacks high recognition and business performance compared to other smartphones entities for instance, Apple and Samsung (Cherrayil, 2017). The company while expanding its business activities in UAE must be competent in handling external issues such as increased rivalry, diverse work culture, government restrictions and economic instability (Petch, 2017). Therefore, it is significant to examine different factors that can affect business expansion and market entry at global context.

Change and improvements in future to achieve their goal: It is significant to note that despite of challenges faced in U.S., Huawei managed to apprehend 11% of its overall revenue in 2013 (Huawei, 2013). Notably, in 2012 Huawei managed to generate 66.7% of its overall sales from international regions which highlights company’s efficiency in dealing with global challenges (Huawei, 2013). However, it is essential for the company to create strong brand recognition in UAE before serving the distinct requirements of consumers there.The objective of the company is to expand and enhance its business operations on large-scale for greater profitability and sustainability. This cannot be achieved without strategic planning and superior decision-making before entering the specific region. The major change that the company shouldimplement is to understand the local requirements and environment of the target region. Huawei should implement intensive market research to understand consumers’ requirements and perceptions for Chinese brands along with political and economic factors that can impact its market entry or business operations. Significantly, authors such as Bunyasrie (2010) have mentioned competent entrepreneurship vital for company growth and expansion wherein entrepreneur risk-taking ability, ability to innovate and strategic decision-making can assist companies in business expansion and market entry. Market expansions and business entry can be stated as an effective way to attain higher profits and sustainability. However, as noticed business growth and new market entry of companies is highly influenced by the regional factors such as county’s customs, government policies and economic conditions. Though Huawei is a well-known company in China yet it lacks high recognition in other parts of the globe. Huawei’s low brand recognition and value outside China can restrict company’s plans to grow its business in distinct nations and lead to adverse business performance such as low profits or business failures. As per my research, I have found that Huawei have competently entered Dubai through strategic alliance with Axiom Telecom and is further planning to expand its businesses in other parts of U.A.E that are providing high business growth opportunities. Nevertheless, it cannot be ignored thatthe company can face strong rivalry from well-recognized brands such as Apple and Samsung.Considerably, the success of Huawei’s business growth is highly dependent on its entrepreneurship wherein the ability to initiate and formulate a proficient vision and to lead the associated members in successfully achieving that vision can lead to business accomplishments. Based on this, I aim to investigate the role that entrepreneurs plays in business expansions and market entry. Conducting research on understanding the role of entrepreneurs in Huawei will allow me to apprehend my knowledge regarding how the company is utilising its resources and capabilities to administer low recognition outside China and outdo in the competitive business environment.

1.2 Research Aim and Objectives

The research mainly focuses on the role of entrepreneurship in business expansion and market entry. A digital company, Huawei, with target market as UAE has been selected in regard to penetrate the market with a fresh digital product.

Objectives:

To identify the varied factors affecting entrepreneurship and businesses and manner in which they can be managed.

To highlight and discuss the challenges faced by entrepreneurs in business expansion and market entry.

To determine the role of entrepreneurs in business expansion and market entry.

1.4 Research Questions:

What are the factors affecting entrepreneurship and how to manage them to enhance business expansion?

What kind of challenges an entrepreneur faces while enhancing its business operations and market penetration?

What roles do entrepreneurs play in business expansion and market entry?

1.5 Rationale of Research

Entrepreneurship is an essential designation for an organisation and is also full of complicacies and hardships. Not only an entrepreneurship is directly responsible for the performance of the firm, they also have to ensure a sustainable long-term strategic growth for all its stakeholders. Scholars such as Kazanjian, Drazin and Glynn (2017) and Brenkert (2017) have mentioned that entrepreneurial activities are widespread in terms of their functions and outcome for the firm and the society it operates in. Relating this with business expansion and market entry, history suggests that many such endeavours have resulted in failure and caused harm to the company as a whole and its stakeholders. Apart from this, with rapid growth in competition in the international market place, entrepreneurs are under intense pressure to ensure not only survival of their firm but development in terms of financial and market growth. Organisations such as Huawei are operating in a highly dynamic market segment wherein new products are being launched rapidly that allows little leisure to the entrepreneurs for managing their organisational activities and performance.Stevenson and Jarillo (2007) pointed out that among many challenges faced by the entrepreneurs while business expansion or new market entry, internal change management, market analysis and adaptation are the crucial ones. These factors determine the possible future outcome of the business expansion process undertaken by a firm. As can be noted, this research will focus on the potential market entry strategy of Huawei in the middle-east market of UAE with a new technological product. I have undertaken this topic in order to evaluate the factors influencing entrepreneurial roles during market entry and business expansion.

1.6 Problem statement

Conducting business activities in contemporary business environment has become difficult with frequent changes in external environment such as economic instability, altering consumers’ requirements and technological up-gradation (Marko, 2010). Companies currently require strategic management, planning and foresightedness in administering identified challenges in order to attain superior performance and profitability (Marko, 2010). Choosing appropriate market entry is essential for successful business expansion however, entities to a great extent fails to do so which results in business disappointments and losses (Petch, 2017). Entering markets through subsidiaries restricts foreign entities to understand the local requirements of consumers and employees hence, frequently results in business failures. Hence, it is essential for the companies to identify the factors affecting business expansion and entry mode before entering new regions in order to survive in the target region competently. Several researchers have identified and discussed the role of entrepreneurship in business expansion and market entry along with factors affecting the same. However, limited investigations have been undertaken by researchers in context of UAE and Huawei. As this research is going to highlight the challenges faced by Huawei in business expansion in UAE, it will provide significant insights and findings to other business persons to analyse challenges related with market growth and entry in the specific region.

1.7 Structure of Research

Introduction: The introductory chapter of the study helps in directing the researcher and finding the fundamentals of research. I shall frame the questions and objectives of the research and highlight the rationale behind selection of the concerned topic. I shall also present the problem statement for further justification and design the structure of the research.

Literature Review: The literature review chapter is devoted for studying the secondary data already available on the subject matter and gain knowledge and understanding of the historical development of research topic. The literature review chapter will primarily focus on the research gaps mentioned in the problem statement of the research.

Research Methodology: Methodology section of the research is dedicated towards designing and selecting the appropriate tools for performing the study in accordance to the requirements of research aim and objectives. I will select the tools and techniques that will help the research move towards a progressive direction and accomplish the aim of the research.

Findings and Analysis: The fourth chapter of the research deals with the primary data analysis wherein the researcher will use various statistical and elaborative methods to evaluate the data collected from the respondents of the research as well as the secondary data collected from various other sources.

Discussion and Interpretation: The fifth chapter of the research is an extension of its preceding chapter wherein the researcher will compare and contrast the outcome of primary data analysis with the findings of the literature review and relate it with aims and objectives of the study. The researcher will also analyse the primary variables of the research in relation to the findings and analysis chapter.

Conclusions and Recommendations: The final chapter of the research helps in understanding all the actions taken throughout the study and their implications on the final outcome. The chapter consists of objective linking wherein the effectiveness of research method can be highlighted and based on that I can develop some recommendations for the concerned scenario. I will also state the limitations of the research along with the future scope of enhancing this field of study.

Chapter 2: Literature Review

2.0 Introduction

Ridley (2012) explains literature review as critical evaluation of published sources on specific topic while Booth, Sutton and Papaioannou, (2016) states it as an assessment of the prevailing theories and concepts linked with the subject matter. Literature review permits researchers to classify, contrast and evaluate the existing concepts and identify the gaps in the literature (Booth, Sutton and Papaioannou, 2016). Therefore, literature review is helpful in directing and carrying out one’s own study competently. This study is being undertaken to analyse the role of entrepreneurship in market entry and business expansion. Hence, under this section varied theories related with the subject matter such as factors influencing entrepreneurship and interconnection existing between environmental factors and entrepreneurial decision making will be discussed. The major focus of this project is to understand the entrepreneurship role in business expansion of Huawei in UAE. It has been observed that Huawei recently faced challenge in market expansion in U.S. due to security issues. Further, the company lacks high brand awareness outside China which can restrict Huawei’s successful expansion in other nations. Lately, Huawei has entered Dubai and is planning to expand its business in other parts of UAE. Going through prevailing matters and concepts related with the topic will be helpful in assessing the validity of the same in the contemporary scenario. Specifically, information obtained through literature review can be easily compared and discussed against findings gathered through mixed research approach in this project.

2.1 Huawei’s Operations, Market, Resources and Entry Timing in UAE

2.1.1 Huawei’s Operations

Huawei mainly involves in internationalization process by operating universally from its headquarters in Shenzhen (Micheli and Carrillo, 2016). The company attends varied digital economy areas covering from providing infrastructure for carriers, terminal tools, and development of solutions for businesses to research and development activities (that assists firms to come up with innovation). The operation process of the enterprise combine creation of hardware and software on international scale therefore, requires attending to the requirements of varied regions at the utmost speed possible in to manage competition. The global operating structure of Huawei is illustrated in the figure 3 wherein the business group are assigned with the responsibility to manufacture the items they sell while the functional group offers services such as finance and logistics that support production of these items. The base of the company is positioned at China whereas functional groups are dispersed globally in order to serve the final consumer through centrally organized supply-chain. However, the company also operates its activities on decentralised basis by region wherein the field officers are allocated with responsibility to recognize the local requirements and manage the company’s commerce.

Figure 3: Global Operating Structure of Huawei

(Source: Micheli and Carrillo, 2016, p.38)

2.1.2 Market and Industry Life-Cycle

The product life cycle in telecom segment comprises of extremely short product life cycle with innovation being the most influential factor. Companies operating in the specific segment require creating unique technologies in order to survive in the competitive environment. The industry life-cycle of the segment has been depicted in the figure below with Huawei identified in the growth stage.

Figure 4: Life-Cycle of Telecommunication Industry

On the basis of information gathered in section 1.1, Huawei can be positioned under growth stage as the company is well-established in China and is also operating globally with 10% of global market share in telecom. The company has scope to expand its business and market share further through high internationalization in regions with low penetration of its services. However, it is essential for the firm to manage prevailing competition and fight for shares through undifferentiated items or services.

2.1.3 Company Resources: