In the ever evolving business world there are many choices for a consumer to choose from when it comes time to consider future plans. When it comes to life insurance a customer has an abundance of plans one can select that best suits their needs and families needs. Has one grows older the choices out there seem to diminish as does the time to for decision making. It is important to address these situation early and life and have a plan for the future, whether it before saving for retirement or taking a plan out for an untimely death, it is vital to know ones options and be as best prepared as one can be.
With the ever growing expense to bury someone nowadays it is important to be prepared to lessen the burden on family members that have to not only morn ones death, but in some cases pay and arm and a leg to get one six feet under. Selling life insurance to someone today and can be very hard to decide what type a policies can fit ones needs and wants. In making a educated decision on buying a policy it is important to consider ones status in life and obligations that one might have.
When I started to research on life insurance policies I noticed that I am at a premium for companies and they are more than willing to work with me setting up a policy. I first looked into types of insurance that I would need and noticed I had an over whelming number to choose from. I looked into three different types term, whole life, and group insurance.
I first looked at term insurance, which basically put covers one for a certain period of time. I had many choices when it came to term insurance. I could get one with a renewable that gave me an option after the term came up. I had one that could give me the same premium for a certain amount of years that appealed to me. Also, I found a policy called a conversion policies that would allow me to convert to whole life insurance with a higher premium, it would be good since I can’t afford the higher premium at this point in my life.
At looking at whole life insurance I noticed that I couldn’t really find a policy that could fit my current situation. I had many to choose from, but since I don’t really know what kind of situation I will be in 5 years it was not to my benefit to take a plan until my future was a little more stable. I did notice it is important to start early if I wanted to take out a whole life policy, since the payments would be lower and I could receive a better premium.
The third type of life insurance I looked into was group life insurance, which can be best put as an insurance that one can get through a company they work for. The problem with this insurance is sometime the one can get a better premium with an outside agency and these plans are not as flexible as other term or whole life plans. These plans are best for certain person who is limited in what they can do and or are not able to financially make a decision at the time.
Ad it came time to decide on a plan that best suited me I brought into consideration my needs. Since, I am a full time student that still lives at home, with two working parents that both have insurance policies that still cover me till I am 25. I also, have no dependents of my own, I think it was best for me to not take a plan out at this time. But upon graduation in 2 years it would be to my greatest benefit to begin my own insurance policy and at that time I would begin an adjustable whole life plan that can increase or decrease my coverage as my life and outcome changes.
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Sunday, January 25, 2009
Inflation and Unemployment
In the following paper, we are going to assess inflation and unemployment with the Internet article, People Prefer Inflation to Prospect of Job Loss. Justin Wolfers, an assistant professor of political economy at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, is the author of this article. In this analysis of the article, we are going to provide definitions of inflation and unemployment. Then, we are going to consider the economic impact of the main points in the article on the economy and society’s feelings toward unemployment.
In order to provide a clear understanding of our article, we are going to define the terms inflation and unemployment. According to David Colander, inflation is “a continual rise in the price level” (Macroeconomics, p. 148). This reflects how much the prices in an economy have risen over time. The increase of prices of goods over time is the price index; therefore, the price index is a measurement of time compared to the yearly measurement of inflation. To calculate inflation, we are using the price index for a year’s time. Currently, economists are using the year of 1984 as a base, and inflation represents this increment over a period. The next term we are defining is unemployment. According to the William King on-line dictionary, unemployment refers to the condition of being with out a job or to the proportion of people who can and will work but are unemployed (William King, 2003).
With the definitions of inflation and unemployment, we are now going to assess the economic impact of the main points in the article on the economy and society’s feelings toward unemployment. The economic impact of unemployment is the possibility of recession. According to Justin Wolfers, “Recessions really hurt, and the governments and their central banks need to be aware of the importance of avoiding them” (pg. 1, 2003). When unemployment rates are at its highest rate since August 1994, the results are alarming to the economy. In the U.S. economy, there is a total work force of 145,801,000, and there are 136,783,000 people currently employed. This means that there is an unemployment rate of 6.2% (Labor Force Data, 2003). This unemployment rate affects not only the unemployed people, but also employed people. The employed people start to feel as though they can loose their job at anytime. With this job uncertainty people feel, people would rather save money than spend money, which creates financial insecurity that has a negative effect on the economy.
Now that we have determined the effects on the economy, we need to consider the effects on people’s sense of satisfaction. Justin Wolfers has done research on how the effects of inflation and unemployment affect people’s satisfaction. Justin Wolfers gathered data on life satisfaction compared to the rates of inflation and unemployment from different European countries and the Unites States from 1973 through 1998. This research shows us that people feel more stress when they cannot find a job than when prices are rising. From the information contained in the survey, the research shows that rising joblessness is roughly five times more troubling to people than rising prices. High unemployment rate in a region, according to Wolfers, “lowers average feelings of usefulness, confidence, and happiness and raises depression and feelings of worthlessness”(pg. 1, 2003). People also feel a loss of faith in the government, corporate sectors, and banking sectors, which can lead to a recession (Wolfers, 2003).
In conclusion, we have assessed inflation and unemployment with the Internet article, People Prefer Inflation to Prospect of Job Loss by Justin Wolfers. We provided definitions of inflation and unemployment to help explain the content of the article. Inflation is a continual rise in the price level, which took the price index’s measurement of time over a year to calculate inflation. Finally, we considered the economic impact of the main points in the article on the economy and society’s feeling toward unemployment. The financial insecurity has had a negative effect on the economy because of job uncertainties. Since people were saving their money, the prices did not increase keeping inflation from increasing. The research showed that people felt more stressed when they could not find a job than when prices were rising. People felt a felt less useful, confidence, and happiness and there was a raise in depression and feelings of worthlessness.
You can order a high-quality custom essay, term paper, research paper, thesis, dissertation, speech, book report or book review from our professional custom writing service. We have employed more than 500 highly qualified Ph.D. and Master's academic writers to provide students with professional academic writing help. Feel free to contact our company right now!
In order to provide a clear understanding of our article, we are going to define the terms inflation and unemployment. According to David Colander, inflation is “a continual rise in the price level” (Macroeconomics, p. 148). This reflects how much the prices in an economy have risen over time. The increase of prices of goods over time is the price index; therefore, the price index is a measurement of time compared to the yearly measurement of inflation. To calculate inflation, we are using the price index for a year’s time. Currently, economists are using the year of 1984 as a base, and inflation represents this increment over a period. The next term we are defining is unemployment. According to the William King on-line dictionary, unemployment refers to the condition of being with out a job or to the proportion of people who can and will work but are unemployed (William King, 2003).
With the definitions of inflation and unemployment, we are now going to assess the economic impact of the main points in the article on the economy and society’s feelings toward unemployment. The economic impact of unemployment is the possibility of recession. According to Justin Wolfers, “Recessions really hurt, and the governments and their central banks need to be aware of the importance of avoiding them” (pg. 1, 2003). When unemployment rates are at its highest rate since August 1994, the results are alarming to the economy. In the U.S. economy, there is a total work force of 145,801,000, and there are 136,783,000 people currently employed. This means that there is an unemployment rate of 6.2% (Labor Force Data, 2003). This unemployment rate affects not only the unemployed people, but also employed people. The employed people start to feel as though they can loose their job at anytime. With this job uncertainty people feel, people would rather save money than spend money, which creates financial insecurity that has a negative effect on the economy.
Now that we have determined the effects on the economy, we need to consider the effects on people’s sense of satisfaction. Justin Wolfers has done research on how the effects of inflation and unemployment affect people’s satisfaction. Justin Wolfers gathered data on life satisfaction compared to the rates of inflation and unemployment from different European countries and the Unites States from 1973 through 1998. This research shows us that people feel more stress when they cannot find a job than when prices are rising. From the information contained in the survey, the research shows that rising joblessness is roughly five times more troubling to people than rising prices. High unemployment rate in a region, according to Wolfers, “lowers average feelings of usefulness, confidence, and happiness and raises depression and feelings of worthlessness”(pg. 1, 2003). People also feel a loss of faith in the government, corporate sectors, and banking sectors, which can lead to a recession (Wolfers, 2003).
In conclusion, we have assessed inflation and unemployment with the Internet article, People Prefer Inflation to Prospect of Job Loss by Justin Wolfers. We provided definitions of inflation and unemployment to help explain the content of the article. Inflation is a continual rise in the price level, which took the price index’s measurement of time over a year to calculate inflation. Finally, we considered the economic impact of the main points in the article on the economy and society’s feeling toward unemployment. The financial insecurity has had a negative effect on the economy because of job uncertainties. Since people were saving their money, the prices did not increase keeping inflation from increasing. The research showed that people felt more stressed when they could not find a job than when prices were rising. People felt a felt less useful, confidence, and happiness and there was a raise in depression and feelings of worthlessness.
You can order a high-quality custom essay, term paper, research paper, thesis, dissertation, speech, book report or book review from our professional custom writing service. We have employed more than 500 highly qualified Ph.D. and Master's academic writers to provide students with professional academic writing help. Feel free to contact our company right now!
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Importance of Employment Relations
Employment or human relations covers all types of interactions among employees such as cooperative efforts, interpersonal and group relationships. The purpose of employment relations it to deal with the people the business employs and the issues arising from their employment. Acquiring, developing, maintaining and motivating staff are all aspects that are covered by the employment relations area. Employment relations are necessary as the employee is the most important part of a business and any troubles that affect them in turn effect the business.
Realising the potential effect that employees have on the business, Companies are providing incentives and programs to keep their employees happy and productive.
‘A happy worker will work twice as hard and more efficient than an unhappy worker.’
Incentives provided for e.g. are (case study) Coca Cola providing twice the amount of shares in their company that the employee purchases, (case study) McDonalds providing employees discount purchases from companies that are connected to McDonalds.
Programs such as employee dinners, lunch, Christmas parties, weekends away are all effective in keeping the employee happy and to build relationships with fellow employees so to work better as a team.
Business managers have come to recognize that their employees are the most important part of a business and through effective management a business can gain the competitive advantage. The skills, knowledge and creativeness of employees is the main potential that a business has over it competitors and thus the realisation that the employee has the most influence over important aspects such as its profitability, competitiveness and adaptability has led to the idea that managing these human resources to develop their maximum capabilities. Human resource management or employee relations is the process of finding the people the business needs, developing their skills, knowledge, talents, careers. Motivating and maintaining their commitment to the business.
The relationship between the employee and the business will vary depending on the businesses culture (How things are done around here) and must be determined wisely as to produce maximum efficiency and effectiveness. E.g. (case study) Shelf packers at the local grocery market packing shelves in groups of two to three people. While packing shelves workers would chat and not concentrate on task at hand. By splitting workers up into each istle each worker could work more efficiently but was unhappy at not being able to talk to fellow employees which led to poor work ethic.
The way in which a business communicates this ‘culture’ to all employees is extremely important as employees must know what the business is about and where it is heading if the business it to be successful in achieving its prime goal.
After WWII and the influx of younger people to the workforce new approaches in human resources were made. The younger workers valued their jobs and were more motivated. Education of employees was considered and came to recognise that a workforce is better educated and skilled.
Completing in secondary schooling and tertiary courses increased thus showing that the workforce was looking for more challenging jobs.
Women’s role in the workforce soon grew with higher divorce rates, women’s rights and laws removing discrimination toward women. Managers soon had to give more consideration towards discrimination and child rearing.
In its simplest form employment relations is described as the effective management of the formal relationship between the employer and the employee. With management realising the potential of this many businesses have created approaches to enhance that factor. Acquisition and selection, development and training, maintenance and motivating, separation of staff. These are all approaches which can be taken.
Acquisition and selection is the gathering of information about each applicant for the position and then using that information to choose the most appropriate person for that position. The chosen applicant must be able to do the job perfectly and thus management must first identify staffing needs.
Training and development is needed for employees as to teach staff to work efficiently and effectively. Training must be continual so skills are not lost and to provide maximum efficiency.
Maintenance and motivating of staff is to keep staff within the business and to work to the best of their ability. A relaxing and friendly work environment, decent wages and benefits are all needed. Without this staff will leave the business and thus require new employees, resulting in more training, poorer efficiency and decreased workload, in result the business wastes needed resources and becomes less productive. Motivating employees is highly important as motivated employees result in increased productivity. The carrot and stick approach in which the carrot is the reward (money/pay rise) and the stick being punishment (demotion/fired) has been widely relied on as a motivator.
Money is seen to be the biggest motivator but in recent years this has been found not to always be the case. Work conditions, time of work, fellow employees all affect motivation.
Separation is the ending of an employment relationship and this comes in many ways. Dismissal is when the employee contract with the business has been suspended due to the employee not doing their job properly or behaving unacceptably.
Redundancy is when the employee is no longer needed and leaves on their own will or not. Retrenchment is when a business is unable to pay their employee and thus they must leave.
Employment relations is a key function in which business must manage to improve their employees and thus lead to improving their business. With good human resource management a business can gain the edge they need. Without good human resource management a business will probably not succeed.
You can order a high-quality custom essay, term paper, research paper, thesis, dissertation, speech, book report or book review from our professional custom writing service. We have employed more than 500 highly qualified Ph.D. and Master's academic writers to provide students with professional academic writing help. Feel free to contact our company right now!
Realising the potential effect that employees have on the business, Companies are providing incentives and programs to keep their employees happy and productive.
‘A happy worker will work twice as hard and more efficient than an unhappy worker.’
Incentives provided for e.g. are (case study) Coca Cola providing twice the amount of shares in their company that the employee purchases, (case study) McDonalds providing employees discount purchases from companies that are connected to McDonalds.
Programs such as employee dinners, lunch, Christmas parties, weekends away are all effective in keeping the employee happy and to build relationships with fellow employees so to work better as a team.
Business managers have come to recognize that their employees are the most important part of a business and through effective management a business can gain the competitive advantage. The skills, knowledge and creativeness of employees is the main potential that a business has over it competitors and thus the realisation that the employee has the most influence over important aspects such as its profitability, competitiveness and adaptability has led to the idea that managing these human resources to develop their maximum capabilities. Human resource management or employee relations is the process of finding the people the business needs, developing their skills, knowledge, talents, careers. Motivating and maintaining their commitment to the business.
The relationship between the employee and the business will vary depending on the businesses culture (How things are done around here) and must be determined wisely as to produce maximum efficiency and effectiveness. E.g. (case study) Shelf packers at the local grocery market packing shelves in groups of two to three people. While packing shelves workers would chat and not concentrate on task at hand. By splitting workers up into each istle each worker could work more efficiently but was unhappy at not being able to talk to fellow employees which led to poor work ethic.
The way in which a business communicates this ‘culture’ to all employees is extremely important as employees must know what the business is about and where it is heading if the business it to be successful in achieving its prime goal.
After WWII and the influx of younger people to the workforce new approaches in human resources were made. The younger workers valued their jobs and were more motivated. Education of employees was considered and came to recognise that a workforce is better educated and skilled.
Completing in secondary schooling and tertiary courses increased thus showing that the workforce was looking for more challenging jobs.
Women’s role in the workforce soon grew with higher divorce rates, women’s rights and laws removing discrimination toward women. Managers soon had to give more consideration towards discrimination and child rearing.
In its simplest form employment relations is described as the effective management of the formal relationship between the employer and the employee. With management realising the potential of this many businesses have created approaches to enhance that factor. Acquisition and selection, development and training, maintenance and motivating, separation of staff. These are all approaches which can be taken.
Acquisition and selection is the gathering of information about each applicant for the position and then using that information to choose the most appropriate person for that position. The chosen applicant must be able to do the job perfectly and thus management must first identify staffing needs.
Training and development is needed for employees as to teach staff to work efficiently and effectively. Training must be continual so skills are not lost and to provide maximum efficiency.
Maintenance and motivating of staff is to keep staff within the business and to work to the best of their ability. A relaxing and friendly work environment, decent wages and benefits are all needed. Without this staff will leave the business and thus require new employees, resulting in more training, poorer efficiency and decreased workload, in result the business wastes needed resources and becomes less productive. Motivating employees is highly important as motivated employees result in increased productivity. The carrot and stick approach in which the carrot is the reward (money/pay rise) and the stick being punishment (demotion/fired) has been widely relied on as a motivator.
Money is seen to be the biggest motivator but in recent years this has been found not to always be the case. Work conditions, time of work, fellow employees all affect motivation.
Separation is the ending of an employment relationship and this comes in many ways. Dismissal is when the employee contract with the business has been suspended due to the employee not doing their job properly or behaving unacceptably.
Redundancy is when the employee is no longer needed and leaves on their own will or not. Retrenchment is when a business is unable to pay their employee and thus they must leave.
Employment relations is a key function in which business must manage to improve their employees and thus lead to improving their business. With good human resource management a business can gain the edge they need. Without good human resource management a business will probably not succeed.
You can order a high-quality custom essay, term paper, research paper, thesis, dissertation, speech, book report or book review from our professional custom writing service. We have employed more than 500 highly qualified Ph.D. and Master's academic writers to provide students with professional academic writing help. Feel free to contact our company right now!
Impact of Internet on International Marketing Practices
This paper will discuss the impact of Internet on the international marketing spectrum. One way to analyse this issue is through identifying the pros and cons of using internet as a marketing tool, and finally its implication for international marketers, professionals and academics.
Information technology has been the cataclysm for the development of international businesses. One area, which has been given increased attention, is the explosion of international marketing activity on the Internet. According to the international data statistics of 2003, they predict that there will be approximately one billion of active users in the world by 2005, which means more electronic commerce (www.cyberatlas.internet.com). These figures demonstrate the attention of international marketing stakeholders.
The usage of Internet as a medium international marketing brings along many benefits to international marketers. Some major advantages are mentioned below:
Firstly, the net acts as a gateway to global opportunities. It allows companies, specially small and medium enterprises to position themselves globally at low cost. In addition, it alleviates the red tape regarding the prospect of doing business globally, consequently avoiding the regulations and restrictions in export countries, which normally companies should abide by if they physically enter the market ( Paul, 1996). Furthermore, low cost can also be associated with the elimination of intermediaries because Internet connects end-users to producers directly. Moreover, the global advertising costs which was considered as a barrier to entry, is now reduced as internet permits to attain the target audience cheaply ( Eid & Trueman, 2002).
Secondly, it provides accessibility. Companies which use internet for their international operations are able to increase their hours of business through email and customer ordering and interactive communication (Eid & Trueman, 2002). Although the different time zones which exist, they have increased their opportunities by providing 24 hours access for their branch offices and consequently this results in an increase in the number and potential international customers (Paul, 1996). In addition, the one to one interaction allows marketers to build strong and sustainable relationships with their customers, which as result enhance the brand loyalty (Arnott & Bridgewater, 2002).
Thirdly, the net contribute to an appropriate form, place and time utility which create a competitive advantage to the marketeer . Instead of exasperating the customers with the different types of marketing approaches, the choice is given to the customers to decide when, where and what they want. All the company’s products are provided on the net which increase the chances of trial, purchase and repurchase (Paul, 1996).
Fourthly, the net enhances advertising effectiveness. Through Internet advertising media, it is possible to achieve all advertising purposes across all possible market segments. All concerned parties can create, transmit and access advertisements on the net through a computer and appropriate software ( Paul, 1996). However, the effectiveness of the advertisement will depend on a well design and effective marketing of the site (Hamill, 1997). Moreover, Poon and Jevons(Eid & Trueman, 2002:57) argued that hard selling and push promotion strategies are not effective on the internet.
Lastly, the net improves market intelligence, market research and analysis. Studies show that the success to enter new market is systematically to gather, analyse accurate and timely information. The Internet provides up to date information on customer contact, potential market opportunities, technical reference materials which help managers to identify shifts in product and customer trends (Hamill, 1997). Ultimately, it enables managers to capture the right product and market opportunities, from which they can mold an appropriate marketing mix relative the customers’ needs (Paul, 1996).
As there are benefits of using Internet for international marketing purposes, so there are some disadvantages as well. The following shows two main constraints that affect international marketing.
One important issue concerning Internet marketing is security. As millions of people access the net everyday, Copyrights and proprietary information can be target of computer hackers and viruses. Moreover, there is also the risk that they can access the internal computer system and find out classified information (Paul, 1996). Another security issue is the financial transactions that occur over the network. By using unencrypted package, computer hackers can view the credit card number of the purchaser and cause terrible financial damages. Nevertheless, statistics show that the Internet crime rate is on the decreasing rate due to an increase in security features (Palumbo & Herbig, 1998).
One another major limit for the use of Internet as tools for international business is the structural constraints. In order to make proper use of Internet as tool for export, it is dependent on the absence of structural constraints. These constraints can take the form of computer literacy, culture, language; ownership of Pc’s which affect the efficacy of internet –based international business strategies. For instance, all the parties involved in this particular type of transaction should be computer literate and have access to equipments. Secondly, the Internet network should be easy and affordable to access. Thirdly, regulations that impede access to Internet should be removed. For example, in china, only those who register to the public security Bureau and employees of foreign companies can have accessed to internet ( Samjee, 1998).
The above discussion on the pros and cons of Internet on international marketing affect profoundly the major international marketing stakeholders in three aspects. Firstly, international marketers should consider Internet as cost-effective tool for export and if it use appropriately can be a competitive advantage for the company. Secondly, the internet-based businesses bring up some important issues to international marketing educators. The traditional teaching of fundamental international marketing like barriers to internalization, importance of intermediaries, country screening is no longer valid. The internet requires a different radical strategic approach to this new cyberspace environment (Hamill, 1997). Lastly, international marketing educators need to ensure that their students are familiar and understand the strategic implication of Internet in order to prepare them in this new cyber world characterized by international electronic commerce.
Hence, if a business is considering internationalizing, it should consider Internet as an option. Even than there are some risks associated with its use, the benefits may outweigh its disadvantages if it is use appropriately.
You can order a high-quality custom essay, term paper, research paper, thesis, dissertation, speech, book report or book review from our professional custom writing service. We have employed more than 500 highly qualified Ph.D. and Master's academic writers to provide students with professional academic writing help. Feel free to contact our company right now!
Information technology has been the cataclysm for the development of international businesses. One area, which has been given increased attention, is the explosion of international marketing activity on the Internet. According to the international data statistics of 2003, they predict that there will be approximately one billion of active users in the world by 2005, which means more electronic commerce (www.cyberatlas.internet.com). These figures demonstrate the attention of international marketing stakeholders.
The usage of Internet as a medium international marketing brings along many benefits to international marketers. Some major advantages are mentioned below:
Firstly, the net acts as a gateway to global opportunities. It allows companies, specially small and medium enterprises to position themselves globally at low cost. In addition, it alleviates the red tape regarding the prospect of doing business globally, consequently avoiding the regulations and restrictions in export countries, which normally companies should abide by if they physically enter the market ( Paul, 1996). Furthermore, low cost can also be associated with the elimination of intermediaries because Internet connects end-users to producers directly. Moreover, the global advertising costs which was considered as a barrier to entry, is now reduced as internet permits to attain the target audience cheaply ( Eid & Trueman, 2002).
Secondly, it provides accessibility. Companies which use internet for their international operations are able to increase their hours of business through email and customer ordering and interactive communication (Eid & Trueman, 2002). Although the different time zones which exist, they have increased their opportunities by providing 24 hours access for their branch offices and consequently this results in an increase in the number and potential international customers (Paul, 1996). In addition, the one to one interaction allows marketers to build strong and sustainable relationships with their customers, which as result enhance the brand loyalty (Arnott & Bridgewater, 2002).
Thirdly, the net contribute to an appropriate form, place and time utility which create a competitive advantage to the marketeer . Instead of exasperating the customers with the different types of marketing approaches, the choice is given to the customers to decide when, where and what they want. All the company’s products are provided on the net which increase the chances of trial, purchase and repurchase (Paul, 1996).
Fourthly, the net enhances advertising effectiveness. Through Internet advertising media, it is possible to achieve all advertising purposes across all possible market segments. All concerned parties can create, transmit and access advertisements on the net through a computer and appropriate software ( Paul, 1996). However, the effectiveness of the advertisement will depend on a well design and effective marketing of the site (Hamill, 1997). Moreover, Poon and Jevons(Eid & Trueman, 2002:57) argued that hard selling and push promotion strategies are not effective on the internet.
Lastly, the net improves market intelligence, market research and analysis. Studies show that the success to enter new market is systematically to gather, analyse accurate and timely information. The Internet provides up to date information on customer contact, potential market opportunities, technical reference materials which help managers to identify shifts in product and customer trends (Hamill, 1997). Ultimately, it enables managers to capture the right product and market opportunities, from which they can mold an appropriate marketing mix relative the customers’ needs (Paul, 1996).
As there are benefits of using Internet for international marketing purposes, so there are some disadvantages as well. The following shows two main constraints that affect international marketing.
One important issue concerning Internet marketing is security. As millions of people access the net everyday, Copyrights and proprietary information can be target of computer hackers and viruses. Moreover, there is also the risk that they can access the internal computer system and find out classified information (Paul, 1996). Another security issue is the financial transactions that occur over the network. By using unencrypted package, computer hackers can view the credit card number of the purchaser and cause terrible financial damages. Nevertheless, statistics show that the Internet crime rate is on the decreasing rate due to an increase in security features (Palumbo & Herbig, 1998).
One another major limit for the use of Internet as tools for international business is the structural constraints. In order to make proper use of Internet as tool for export, it is dependent on the absence of structural constraints. These constraints can take the form of computer literacy, culture, language; ownership of Pc’s which affect the efficacy of internet –based international business strategies. For instance, all the parties involved in this particular type of transaction should be computer literate and have access to equipments. Secondly, the Internet network should be easy and affordable to access. Thirdly, regulations that impede access to Internet should be removed. For example, in china, only those who register to the public security Bureau and employees of foreign companies can have accessed to internet ( Samjee, 1998).
The above discussion on the pros and cons of Internet on international marketing affect profoundly the major international marketing stakeholders in three aspects. Firstly, international marketers should consider Internet as cost-effective tool for export and if it use appropriately can be a competitive advantage for the company. Secondly, the internet-based businesses bring up some important issues to international marketing educators. The traditional teaching of fundamental international marketing like barriers to internalization, importance of intermediaries, country screening is no longer valid. The internet requires a different radical strategic approach to this new cyberspace environment (Hamill, 1997). Lastly, international marketing educators need to ensure that their students are familiar and understand the strategic implication of Internet in order to prepare them in this new cyber world characterized by international electronic commerce.
Hence, if a business is considering internationalizing, it should consider Internet as an option. Even than there are some risks associated with its use, the benefits may outweigh its disadvantages if it is use appropriately.
You can order a high-quality custom essay, term paper, research paper, thesis, dissertation, speech, book report or book review from our professional custom writing service. We have employed more than 500 highly qualified Ph.D. and Master's academic writers to provide students with professional academic writing help. Feel free to contact our company right now!
Friday, January 23, 2009
Global Culture Changes
Synopsis of key issues in this case
ARPCO operates in a global environment; however, ARPCO does not have a shared culture that crosses borders. The local culture has a stronger influence on the way business is conducted than the corporate culture, which is proving to be a major challenge for ARPCO management. Due to corporate culture immaturity and undefined values, ARPCO cannot support the growth of its most talented people on a global level.
If APRCO does not address the culture crisis, legal matters are bound to evolve and corporate image will be tarnished. Ultimately, this would lead to negative impacts for APRCO’s bottom line and would significantly reduce its ability to attract and retain talented people.
What is the challenge Wollen faces in making the decision to promote Lewis? What is her responsibility to Lewis?
The challenge Wollen faces in making the decision to promote Lewis is whether she can break through the culture barriers and obtain buy-in on a plan that supports Lewis in the new position. The culture barriers are strong, as can be seen with Abbott’s resistance to accept Lewis after learning of his race. If Wollen and Lewis decide to move forward with the promotion, a well thought out plan approved from the top will be required to ensure success for Lewis and for ARPCO. Without the proper support, Lewis could fail in a job that he was well prepared to do, which would be painful to Lewis and his family.
Wollen has three major responsibilities to Lewis. First, she should make him aware of the key risks and challenges associated with the new position. Second, she should describe to Lewis her commitment and ARPCO’s commitment to support him in the new position. Third, she must follow through on her commitment to support Lewis. Ultimately, the decision to accept the opportunity or not should be made by Lewis after the risks have been clarified.
Is it always wrong to consider gender, race, and ethnicity in promotion decisions, even if the “equal” opportunity might end a manager’s career?
Gender, race, and ethnicity should never be considered in promotion decisions. The decision should be based instead on an individual’s qualifications. In this case, Lewis was intelligent, hardworking, experienced, creative, and a top performer on the fast track who was the most qualified for the new position. Therefore, Lewis should be given the option to accept the position regardless of his race.
Evidence that promotion decisions should never consider gender, race, and ethnicity can be found in the Nineteenth Century Civil Rights Act. The Nineteenth Century Civil Rights Act provides protection against employment discrimination, which includes discriminatory practices such as bias in hiring, promotion, job assignment, termination, compensation, and various types of harassment. Additionally, the courts have ruled in such cases that employers need to meet a “but for” test. In other words, the employer must prove that the same employment decision would have been made for the same reasons regardless of sex or minority status (Walker, 1992, p. 10).
Since globalization is a very real environment factor in business, what are the challenges U.S. corporations face in the changing environment?
As the environment changes to increasingly conduct business in a global framework, U.S. corporations are challenged with shaping corporate culture for the new workplace. Immigration, technology, emerging markets and economies, mergers, joint ventures, strategic alliances and foreign investment have brought all the world’s citizens to one another’s doorstep. People must now learn to communicate, work and compete with others who are not like themselves.
“Companies may be putting an emphasis on creating diverse workforces, but more minorities claim they are facing barriers to promotions once on the job” (Armour, 2001, USA Today.com) According to Armour, the number of employees filing federal claims regarding discrimination in promotions based on race has nearly doubled since 1990. Further evidence includes a 1999 poll by Society for Human Resources Management, which concluded that nearly 75% of employers say that minorities face barriers to advancement.
Companies that do not provide shared cultural values will loose competitive position in the global marketplace. “A Fortune magazine survey found that CEOs cite organizational culture as their most important mechanism for attracting, motivating, and retaining talented employees, a capability they consider the single best predictor of overall organizational excellence.” (Daft, 2003, p. 94)
What are the risks associated with Lewis’ promotion?
There are a number of risks associated with Lewis’s promotions, which impact Lewis, Wollen and ARPCO. The first is that Lewis could fail in a job that he was well prepared to do, which would be painful to Lewis and his family. The second risk is that if Lewis fails then ARPCO’s corporate image could suffer. Thirdly, if Lewis fails in the new position it will be reflected in Wollen’s performance record. Finally, if his promotion is passed over, then the company is subject to a discrimination law suit and Lewis may not remain long with ARPCO.
There are many risks associated with Lewis’ promotion and each could potentially be very detrimental. The only foreseeable way for ARPCO to reduce its risk and create an environment that eliminates future risk, is to reshape the culture for conducting business in the global arena.
What are the benefits to Wollen and to the organization if Lewis is promoted?
If Lewis’ promotion is successful, then ARPCO and Wollen would realize significant benefits. For example, ARPCO would avoid legal issues and improve corporate image through increased diversity, which would enable them to attract and retain talented people. Wollen’s benefits would include recognition for developing Lewis and for moving the company’s diversity and culture a big step forward. Wollen would also gain self satisfaction with helping Lewis progress is career.
What managerial skills would you use (if you were Wollen and you did promote Lewis), to insure the optimum benefit to all the “players” in this situation?
Only one key managerial skill stands out, that would insure optimum benefit for all, and that is Human skill. The Human skill required in this case is made up of leadership, mentoring, and relationship building.
Through leadership and mentoring, both Lewis and Wollen benefit. Lewis would have the advantage of an “assistant coach” and he would have the needed level of trust and confidence to be successful. Wollen would benefit personally and professionally.
Through relationship building, both Lewis and Abbott benefit. If Wollen develops a relationship with Abbott, then she helps reduce the culture gap. A well developed relationship would also provide support for both Lewis and Abbott when issues arise.
Recommendations
The global business environment has presented major challenges for ARPCO. In order to retain competitive position, avoid discrimination law suits, create a diverse workforce, attract talented people, eliminate bottom line impact, retain key employees and fully leverage intellectual capital, ARPCO needs to create culture change. Unless the culture crisis is addressed, ARPCO will continue to have difficulty conducting business in the global arena.
It is recommended that a Culture Change Plan be developed. Upper management must approve and sponsor the plan. Human Resources will facilitate the program and leverage middle managers to execute the plan. A proposed plan has been created and should be used as a starting point. See Table 1 for the proposed plan.
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ARPCO operates in a global environment; however, ARPCO does not have a shared culture that crosses borders. The local culture has a stronger influence on the way business is conducted than the corporate culture, which is proving to be a major challenge for ARPCO management. Due to corporate culture immaturity and undefined values, ARPCO cannot support the growth of its most talented people on a global level.
If APRCO does not address the culture crisis, legal matters are bound to evolve and corporate image will be tarnished. Ultimately, this would lead to negative impacts for APRCO’s bottom line and would significantly reduce its ability to attract and retain talented people.
What is the challenge Wollen faces in making the decision to promote Lewis? What is her responsibility to Lewis?
The challenge Wollen faces in making the decision to promote Lewis is whether she can break through the culture barriers and obtain buy-in on a plan that supports Lewis in the new position. The culture barriers are strong, as can be seen with Abbott’s resistance to accept Lewis after learning of his race. If Wollen and Lewis decide to move forward with the promotion, a well thought out plan approved from the top will be required to ensure success for Lewis and for ARPCO. Without the proper support, Lewis could fail in a job that he was well prepared to do, which would be painful to Lewis and his family.
Wollen has three major responsibilities to Lewis. First, she should make him aware of the key risks and challenges associated with the new position. Second, she should describe to Lewis her commitment and ARPCO’s commitment to support him in the new position. Third, she must follow through on her commitment to support Lewis. Ultimately, the decision to accept the opportunity or not should be made by Lewis after the risks have been clarified.
Is it always wrong to consider gender, race, and ethnicity in promotion decisions, even if the “equal” opportunity might end a manager’s career?
Gender, race, and ethnicity should never be considered in promotion decisions. The decision should be based instead on an individual’s qualifications. In this case, Lewis was intelligent, hardworking, experienced, creative, and a top performer on the fast track who was the most qualified for the new position. Therefore, Lewis should be given the option to accept the position regardless of his race.
Evidence that promotion decisions should never consider gender, race, and ethnicity can be found in the Nineteenth Century Civil Rights Act. The Nineteenth Century Civil Rights Act provides protection against employment discrimination, which includes discriminatory practices such as bias in hiring, promotion, job assignment, termination, compensation, and various types of harassment. Additionally, the courts have ruled in such cases that employers need to meet a “but for” test. In other words, the employer must prove that the same employment decision would have been made for the same reasons regardless of sex or minority status (Walker, 1992, p. 10).
Since globalization is a very real environment factor in business, what are the challenges U.S. corporations face in the changing environment?
As the environment changes to increasingly conduct business in a global framework, U.S. corporations are challenged with shaping corporate culture for the new workplace. Immigration, technology, emerging markets and economies, mergers, joint ventures, strategic alliances and foreign investment have brought all the world’s citizens to one another’s doorstep. People must now learn to communicate, work and compete with others who are not like themselves.
“Companies may be putting an emphasis on creating diverse workforces, but more minorities claim they are facing barriers to promotions once on the job” (Armour, 2001, USA Today.com) According to Armour, the number of employees filing federal claims regarding discrimination in promotions based on race has nearly doubled since 1990. Further evidence includes a 1999 poll by Society for Human Resources Management, which concluded that nearly 75% of employers say that minorities face barriers to advancement.
Companies that do not provide shared cultural values will loose competitive position in the global marketplace. “A Fortune magazine survey found that CEOs cite organizational culture as their most important mechanism for attracting, motivating, and retaining talented employees, a capability they consider the single best predictor of overall organizational excellence.” (Daft, 2003, p. 94)
What are the risks associated with Lewis’ promotion?
There are a number of risks associated with Lewis’s promotions, which impact Lewis, Wollen and ARPCO. The first is that Lewis could fail in a job that he was well prepared to do, which would be painful to Lewis and his family. The second risk is that if Lewis fails then ARPCO’s corporate image could suffer. Thirdly, if Lewis fails in the new position it will be reflected in Wollen’s performance record. Finally, if his promotion is passed over, then the company is subject to a discrimination law suit and Lewis may not remain long with ARPCO.
There are many risks associated with Lewis’ promotion and each could potentially be very detrimental. The only foreseeable way for ARPCO to reduce its risk and create an environment that eliminates future risk, is to reshape the culture for conducting business in the global arena.
What are the benefits to Wollen and to the organization if Lewis is promoted?
If Lewis’ promotion is successful, then ARPCO and Wollen would realize significant benefits. For example, ARPCO would avoid legal issues and improve corporate image through increased diversity, which would enable them to attract and retain talented people. Wollen’s benefits would include recognition for developing Lewis and for moving the company’s diversity and culture a big step forward. Wollen would also gain self satisfaction with helping Lewis progress is career.
What managerial skills would you use (if you were Wollen and you did promote Lewis), to insure the optimum benefit to all the “players” in this situation?
Only one key managerial skill stands out, that would insure optimum benefit for all, and that is Human skill. The Human skill required in this case is made up of leadership, mentoring, and relationship building.
Through leadership and mentoring, both Lewis and Wollen benefit. Lewis would have the advantage of an “assistant coach” and he would have the needed level of trust and confidence to be successful. Wollen would benefit personally and professionally.
Through relationship building, both Lewis and Abbott benefit. If Wollen develops a relationship with Abbott, then she helps reduce the culture gap. A well developed relationship would also provide support for both Lewis and Abbott when issues arise.
Recommendations
The global business environment has presented major challenges for ARPCO. In order to retain competitive position, avoid discrimination law suits, create a diverse workforce, attract talented people, eliminate bottom line impact, retain key employees and fully leverage intellectual capital, ARPCO needs to create culture change. Unless the culture crisis is addressed, ARPCO will continue to have difficulty conducting business in the global arena.
It is recommended that a Culture Change Plan be developed. Upper management must approve and sponsor the plan. Human Resources will facilitate the program and leverage middle managers to execute the plan. A proposed plan has been created and should be used as a starting point. See Table 1 for the proposed plan.
You can order a high-quality custom essay, term paper, research paper, thesis, dissertation, speech, book report or book review from our professional custom writing service. We have employed more than 500 highly qualified Ph.D. and Master's academic writers to provide students with professional academic writing help. Feel free to contact our company right now!
General Dynamics Strategy
Anders’ strategy creates value. Some of the value created is obvious: Shareholders benefit from increased share price and dividends. This includes any employees who own stock or stock options. And of course, the twenty-five executives in the gain sharing program receive value from their incentive payments.
Less obvious is the value to society created by downsizing. Any excess capacity GD has, including human resources, is not creating value. (By definition, otherwise it would not be “excess.”) When GD sells assets or releases employees, other companies can put them to use in value-creating activities. If the cash that GD receives from selling assets or reducing payroll is paid to shareholders then that money is available to invest elsewhere. This is the Coase theorem in action: resources are allocated to their highest-valued use, and society benefits overall.
But not everyone benefits. Employees who are released lose value if they are not able to find another job offering the same utility. If these employees had specific knowledge that was valuable to GD, it may not be as valuable to other employers. While GD probably paid them for both their time and training, that will be small comfort to those facing lower wages.
However, the 90,000+ employees who remain with GD enjoy better long-term security because their employer is in better financial health. If GD had kept employees to do work that did not add value, many more employees would likely have lost their jobs in the long run.
GD should retain the gain sharing program, though it may opt to make cosmetic alterations to make it more palatable to employees, shareholders, the public and the government.
Gain sharing appears to be a successful incentive: the executives created value for shareholders by making difficult and unpopular decisions to downsize the company. If the gain sharing program were eliminated now, it would damage trust, and reduce incentives to make difficult value-adding decision in the future.
Critics of the program claim that the executives can manipulate the stock price by exploiting information asymmetries, or that it provides incentives to make short term gains at the expense of long term company health, or that such large payouts are unfair given that many employees are losing their jobs. Strangely, these same critics did not complain about the even larger gains executives had from appreciation of their stock and stock options. ($2.7M in appreciation for each $10 rise on Anders’ options alone, according to exhibit 7)
It seems unlikely that short-term stock price manipulation occurred. Given that the incentive program is public knowledge, the market should discount the GD stock price somewhat to account for overly positive communications from GD executives. Short-term manipulation of gain sharing would not benefit executives who had more at stake in stock or stock options. (Unless they sold out at the peak, which would certainly be a tip off to the market and might garner rather unfavorable attention from some serious-minded people at the SEC.) And future gain sharing payments depend on maintaining any gains to reach the next hurdle.
To improve appearances, GD could extend the 10-day window to make short term manipulation of the stock price less likely. They could also smooth out the bonus formula to reduce arbitrary levels and make timing less important. For example, the payments could be 10% (or 20% after the first $10) of base salary for each one dollar increase of the average closing price over each quarter. This may work out about the same for the executives, but unfortunately may be a less compelling incentive simply because it is more complicated and less immediate.
Another option is to grant new stock options that exactly duplicate the performance of the gain sharing program. (Basically, set the option price equal to the last gain sharing hurdle reached and grant a number of options equal to 1/10 of the dollar value of the executive’s salary.) The drawback to options is that executives must exercise the options (in effect, selling stock) to get cash, whereas gain sharing provides cash (or at least half of it) up front. Since the executives have no other cash bonus, this could mean that executives sell stock more often to raise cash for themselves, which might have a negative effect on stock price.
Of the two alternatives, stock options would probably be the least controversial (it gets rid of “gain sharing,” and nobody has complained much about existing options) and would be the easiest to implement. Our preference would be to keep the gain sharing program intact. But if the compensation committee believes that public and employee relations would improve enough to offset the disadvantages, then options are probably the best choice.
3) Assuming that the twenty-five executives who participated in gain sharing were the people who would face decisions about downsizing, it was appropriate to limit the incentive to these people. Twenty-five seems like a small number of executives for a company the size of GD. We would expect there to be a larger number of people who would be faced with difficult decisions about reducing employment. But without more detailed knowledge of the organizational structure, we cannot more specifically assess who should have been included.
Perhaps the GD model was that only very top executives made decisions about selling assets or reducing employment. Still, to be effective, these executive would need to rely on their subordinates to provide suggestions and information and to execute the decisions. Therefore, some kind of value-based incentive for these “rank and file” employees seems appropriate. Lower level managers did benefit from stock options, and most employees were encouraged to participate in a stock purchase program. These seem inadequate, but apparently were enough, given GD’s success.
Executives should be rewarded for selling assets and reducing employment when it adds value, as described in our response to question one. The rewards should be based on specific and measurable results that clearly demonstrate value added. Stock price, while not perfect, is the collective determination of what a company’s future cash flows are worth, and it is the best long-term measure of a value available for a public company. Measures based on sales, earnings or other accounting measures are short-term, narrow, and open to manipulation through unscrupulous accounting practices, as recent events have shown. Temporary information asymmetries (like cooking the books) may exist, but eventually the market catches up.
The extent of the reward should be enough to motivate the managers to make the necessary decisions, and no more. There is an information asymmetry problem here in that managers might be willing to do the same job for less. (For those of us who do not make millions of dollars each year, it is hard to imagine how a couple million here or there make a big difference.) Furthermore, the number of qualified executives for a given position is often small, so creating a self-selection scenario can be problematic. The best that companies can do is to be very clear on what is expected and then negotiate for the best price.
So, it is possible that GD could have paid less to their executives and gotten the same results. We have no way to tell for certain. But note that the gain sharing bonuses paid to GD executives seem relatively cheap compared to the overall value added: $17.8 million for $1.2 billion, or about 1.5 cents per dollar.
There may have been viable alternatives to the downsizing strategy pursued by Anders at GD. For example, the company might try to produce its way out of trouble, as Lincoln Electric did in the previous case. It might enter other markets and retrain its workers. The company might also pursue total liquidation or sale: if a company is more valuable to shareholders dead than alive, managers are obligated to end it.
But none of these alternatives seems likely to be more successful. Unlike Lincoln, GD faces declining demand in a very uncertain market, and is not already focused on a core competency. GD and its competitors have a history of poor performance in diversification efforts, and there is nothing to indicate that this will change. While GD could theoretically attempt to restructure itself to be more efficient in serving its current markets, what new structure would offer it the “critical mass” necessary to compete more effectively in those markets?
In short, if GD cannot find a strategy to compete in a market, it is better off exiting that market and returning any residual value to shareholders or reinvesting it where a promising strategy exists. One could argue that Anders and the executives were not good enough at developing better strategies, but given that they fared better than their competitors, it seems likely that they judged correctly.
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Less obvious is the value to society created by downsizing. Any excess capacity GD has, including human resources, is not creating value. (By definition, otherwise it would not be “excess.”) When GD sells assets or releases employees, other companies can put them to use in value-creating activities. If the cash that GD receives from selling assets or reducing payroll is paid to shareholders then that money is available to invest elsewhere. This is the Coase theorem in action: resources are allocated to their highest-valued use, and society benefits overall.
But not everyone benefits. Employees who are released lose value if they are not able to find another job offering the same utility. If these employees had specific knowledge that was valuable to GD, it may not be as valuable to other employers. While GD probably paid them for both their time and training, that will be small comfort to those facing lower wages.
However, the 90,000+ employees who remain with GD enjoy better long-term security because their employer is in better financial health. If GD had kept employees to do work that did not add value, many more employees would likely have lost their jobs in the long run.
GD should retain the gain sharing program, though it may opt to make cosmetic alterations to make it more palatable to employees, shareholders, the public and the government.
Gain sharing appears to be a successful incentive: the executives created value for shareholders by making difficult and unpopular decisions to downsize the company. If the gain sharing program were eliminated now, it would damage trust, and reduce incentives to make difficult value-adding decision in the future.
Critics of the program claim that the executives can manipulate the stock price by exploiting information asymmetries, or that it provides incentives to make short term gains at the expense of long term company health, or that such large payouts are unfair given that many employees are losing their jobs. Strangely, these same critics did not complain about the even larger gains executives had from appreciation of their stock and stock options. ($2.7M in appreciation for each $10 rise on Anders’ options alone, according to exhibit 7)
It seems unlikely that short-term stock price manipulation occurred. Given that the incentive program is public knowledge, the market should discount the GD stock price somewhat to account for overly positive communications from GD executives. Short-term manipulation of gain sharing would not benefit executives who had more at stake in stock or stock options. (Unless they sold out at the peak, which would certainly be a tip off to the market and might garner rather unfavorable attention from some serious-minded people at the SEC.) And future gain sharing payments depend on maintaining any gains to reach the next hurdle.
To improve appearances, GD could extend the 10-day window to make short term manipulation of the stock price less likely. They could also smooth out the bonus formula to reduce arbitrary levels and make timing less important. For example, the payments could be 10% (or 20% after the first $10) of base salary for each one dollar increase of the average closing price over each quarter. This may work out about the same for the executives, but unfortunately may be a less compelling incentive simply because it is more complicated and less immediate.
Another option is to grant new stock options that exactly duplicate the performance of the gain sharing program. (Basically, set the option price equal to the last gain sharing hurdle reached and grant a number of options equal to 1/10 of the dollar value of the executive’s salary.) The drawback to options is that executives must exercise the options (in effect, selling stock) to get cash, whereas gain sharing provides cash (or at least half of it) up front. Since the executives have no other cash bonus, this could mean that executives sell stock more often to raise cash for themselves, which might have a negative effect on stock price.
Of the two alternatives, stock options would probably be the least controversial (it gets rid of “gain sharing,” and nobody has complained much about existing options) and would be the easiest to implement. Our preference would be to keep the gain sharing program intact. But if the compensation committee believes that public and employee relations would improve enough to offset the disadvantages, then options are probably the best choice.
3) Assuming that the twenty-five executives who participated in gain sharing were the people who would face decisions about downsizing, it was appropriate to limit the incentive to these people. Twenty-five seems like a small number of executives for a company the size of GD. We would expect there to be a larger number of people who would be faced with difficult decisions about reducing employment. But without more detailed knowledge of the organizational structure, we cannot more specifically assess who should have been included.
Perhaps the GD model was that only very top executives made decisions about selling assets or reducing employment. Still, to be effective, these executive would need to rely on their subordinates to provide suggestions and information and to execute the decisions. Therefore, some kind of value-based incentive for these “rank and file” employees seems appropriate. Lower level managers did benefit from stock options, and most employees were encouraged to participate in a stock purchase program. These seem inadequate, but apparently were enough, given GD’s success.
Executives should be rewarded for selling assets and reducing employment when it adds value, as described in our response to question one. The rewards should be based on specific and measurable results that clearly demonstrate value added. Stock price, while not perfect, is the collective determination of what a company’s future cash flows are worth, and it is the best long-term measure of a value available for a public company. Measures based on sales, earnings or other accounting measures are short-term, narrow, and open to manipulation through unscrupulous accounting practices, as recent events have shown. Temporary information asymmetries (like cooking the books) may exist, but eventually the market catches up.
The extent of the reward should be enough to motivate the managers to make the necessary decisions, and no more. There is an information asymmetry problem here in that managers might be willing to do the same job for less. (For those of us who do not make millions of dollars each year, it is hard to imagine how a couple million here or there make a big difference.) Furthermore, the number of qualified executives for a given position is often small, so creating a self-selection scenario can be problematic. The best that companies can do is to be very clear on what is expected and then negotiate for the best price.
So, it is possible that GD could have paid less to their executives and gotten the same results. We have no way to tell for certain. But note that the gain sharing bonuses paid to GD executives seem relatively cheap compared to the overall value added: $17.8 million for $1.2 billion, or about 1.5 cents per dollar.
There may have been viable alternatives to the downsizing strategy pursued by Anders at GD. For example, the company might try to produce its way out of trouble, as Lincoln Electric did in the previous case. It might enter other markets and retrain its workers. The company might also pursue total liquidation or sale: if a company is more valuable to shareholders dead than alive, managers are obligated to end it.
But none of these alternatives seems likely to be more successful. Unlike Lincoln, GD faces declining demand in a very uncertain market, and is not already focused on a core competency. GD and its competitors have a history of poor performance in diversification efforts, and there is nothing to indicate that this will change. While GD could theoretically attempt to restructure itself to be more efficient in serving its current markets, what new structure would offer it the “critical mass” necessary to compete more effectively in those markets?
In short, if GD cannot find a strategy to compete in a market, it is better off exiting that market and returning any residual value to shareholders or reinvesting it where a promising strategy exists. One could argue that Anders and the executives were not good enough at developing better strategies, but given that they fared better than their competitors, it seems likely that they judged correctly.
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Thursday, January 22, 2009
Brave New World
The novel Brave New World by Aldous Huxley is a compelling tale of future society, which is controlled by a totalitarian government that challenges the very idea human individuality. The book takes place in the period of “AF”, After (Henry) Ford, in London, England after The Nine Years War has revolutionized the way the world is run. In this time period of science and technology, humans are no longer born, but manufactured, given lessons as children through hypnopaedic sleep teachings, categorized into five social castes, and given soma pills that take them on happy mental vacations to relieve them of the stresses of everyday life.
The first of the main characters is Bernard Marx, a lower class Alpha who fails to compare to other Alphas in physical stature. He is rumored to have had alcohol in his blood surrogate, making him physically inferior for his social caste. He does not possess typical views on life and questions traditional views on all aspects of life. While on a trip to the Savage Reservation in New Mexico, Bernard meets a primitive man named John. John is an outcast from the Indian culture he is living with. He and his mother Linda return with Bernard to London to experience this ‘brave new world’. John does not fit well in modern society, having all his worldviews derived Shakespearean plays. John soon becomes quite a spectacle because of civilized people’s curiosity towards savages. Meanwhile Linda is considered hideous because of her physical appearance and her motherhood.
At the other end of the spectrum from Bernard is Helmholtz Watson, a professor at the Emotional Engineering College. Watson is the pride of the Alpha class, having superior physical attributes. However he wishes he could make more of his writing and use his time in more worthwhile ways. He and Bernard Marx form a friendship based on their dissatisfaction with society. The last important character is Lenina Crowe, the average, typical Alpha female. Lenina’s views on sex and soma are model opinions of the World State. She is deeply attracted to John, but merely on a sexual basis, while John wishes for a deeper relationship and eventually rejects her.
The modern world portrayed in this novel really is a sad indication of what our world might become someday based on our devotion to science and technology. Even though many scenes in the book can be quite shocking, it is not that far out. The World Controllers (government body) often resemble ideas of communism, the German culture in the years of Adolph Hitler, and the feudal period of the Middle Ages. The communism is supported by such hypnopaedic lessons as “Everyone works for everyone else”. Plus it is no coincidence that Bernard Marx’s character is modeled after Karl Marx, one of the founding fathers of communism. The process by which imperfect embryos are discarded in the cause of manufacturing perfect ones is really an alternate form of Hitler’s genocide. The five social castes are similar to the Feudal Age hierarchy, except that instead of nobles, clergy, and peasants, social classes are represented by Greek letters.
The new methods that are used to control the world populations go to rather sad extremes in order to maintain control and keep everyone happy. One of the most popular techniques is hypnopaedia. Through this process people are conditioned from infancy into late teenage years to accept their social class and deal with many other aspects of life. While giving students a tour of the Hatchery and Conditioning Centre in London, the DHC (Director of Hatcheries and Conditioning) explains the brainwashing procedure he likes to call conditioning. He shows the students an occasion in which Delta infants are electrically shocked while looking at flowers and pretty picture books. The goal is to mold their instincts to associate these images with terror and pain. Other lessons in caste awareness teach the kids to identify the classes by the color they wear and their function in society.
Another tool the World Controllers use to manage the planet is the limitation of books and science. Since these things stir emotion, and emotion can lead to instability, they are withheld from the people. Instead the World Controllers institute shows called feelies to provide a source of entertainment. Similar to movies, feelies give the people a source of artificial happiness. After John and Lenina attend a feely together, Lenina emerges from the show bubbling with excitement and joy. On the other hand John is rather disappointed, describing the show as horrible and ignoble.
The people have been censored from all knowledge deemed to old or too hard for them to understand. Near the end of the book World Controller Mustafa Mond discusses with John the type of books the people are allowed to read. John is shocked that the beauty and truth of Shakespeare and Othello’s writing is forbidden to the people. Furthermore the identity of God has also been removed from the information given to the citizens. Instead of God people follow Ford. Since the book was first written in 1932, the author chooses Henry Ford to be the new world symbol for the AF years. Mustafa Mond explains how God has not changed, but the people do. This therefore requires a new supreme being for the people to follow.
Brave New World is a compelling story of what the world may someday become because of our desire for science and technology. Some consider it a warning, while to others it is only science fiction. It makes one wonder if the future of our world will ever go to such extremes to ensure happiness. Abolishing our individuality to conform to society? Ridding ourselves of all past famous literature? Taking antidepressant pills everyday to keep ourselves content? Anything is possible for the future, but only time will tell.
You can order a high-quality custom essay, term paper, research paper, thesis, dissertation, speech, book report or book review from our professional custom writing service. We have employed more than 500 highly qualified Ph.D. and Master's academic writers to provide students with professional academic writing help. Feel free to contact our company right now!
The first of the main characters is Bernard Marx, a lower class Alpha who fails to compare to other Alphas in physical stature. He is rumored to have had alcohol in his blood surrogate, making him physically inferior for his social caste. He does not possess typical views on life and questions traditional views on all aspects of life. While on a trip to the Savage Reservation in New Mexico, Bernard meets a primitive man named John. John is an outcast from the Indian culture he is living with. He and his mother Linda return with Bernard to London to experience this ‘brave new world’. John does not fit well in modern society, having all his worldviews derived Shakespearean plays. John soon becomes quite a spectacle because of civilized people’s curiosity towards savages. Meanwhile Linda is considered hideous because of her physical appearance and her motherhood.
At the other end of the spectrum from Bernard is Helmholtz Watson, a professor at the Emotional Engineering College. Watson is the pride of the Alpha class, having superior physical attributes. However he wishes he could make more of his writing and use his time in more worthwhile ways. He and Bernard Marx form a friendship based on their dissatisfaction with society. The last important character is Lenina Crowe, the average, typical Alpha female. Lenina’s views on sex and soma are model opinions of the World State. She is deeply attracted to John, but merely on a sexual basis, while John wishes for a deeper relationship and eventually rejects her.
The modern world portrayed in this novel really is a sad indication of what our world might become someday based on our devotion to science and technology. Even though many scenes in the book can be quite shocking, it is not that far out. The World Controllers (government body) often resemble ideas of communism, the German culture in the years of Adolph Hitler, and the feudal period of the Middle Ages. The communism is supported by such hypnopaedic lessons as “Everyone works for everyone else”. Plus it is no coincidence that Bernard Marx’s character is modeled after Karl Marx, one of the founding fathers of communism. The process by which imperfect embryos are discarded in the cause of manufacturing perfect ones is really an alternate form of Hitler’s genocide. The five social castes are similar to the Feudal Age hierarchy, except that instead of nobles, clergy, and peasants, social classes are represented by Greek letters.
The new methods that are used to control the world populations go to rather sad extremes in order to maintain control and keep everyone happy. One of the most popular techniques is hypnopaedia. Through this process people are conditioned from infancy into late teenage years to accept their social class and deal with many other aspects of life. While giving students a tour of the Hatchery and Conditioning Centre in London, the DHC (Director of Hatcheries and Conditioning) explains the brainwashing procedure he likes to call conditioning. He shows the students an occasion in which Delta infants are electrically shocked while looking at flowers and pretty picture books. The goal is to mold their instincts to associate these images with terror and pain. Other lessons in caste awareness teach the kids to identify the classes by the color they wear and their function in society.
Another tool the World Controllers use to manage the planet is the limitation of books and science. Since these things stir emotion, and emotion can lead to instability, they are withheld from the people. Instead the World Controllers institute shows called feelies to provide a source of entertainment. Similar to movies, feelies give the people a source of artificial happiness. After John and Lenina attend a feely together, Lenina emerges from the show bubbling with excitement and joy. On the other hand John is rather disappointed, describing the show as horrible and ignoble.
The people have been censored from all knowledge deemed to old or too hard for them to understand. Near the end of the book World Controller Mustafa Mond discusses with John the type of books the people are allowed to read. John is shocked that the beauty and truth of Shakespeare and Othello’s writing is forbidden to the people. Furthermore the identity of God has also been removed from the information given to the citizens. Instead of God people follow Ford. Since the book was first written in 1932, the author chooses Henry Ford to be the new world symbol for the AF years. Mustafa Mond explains how God has not changed, but the people do. This therefore requires a new supreme being for the people to follow.
Brave New World is a compelling story of what the world may someday become because of our desire for science and technology. Some consider it a warning, while to others it is only science fiction. It makes one wonder if the future of our world will ever go to such extremes to ensure happiness. Abolishing our individuality to conform to society? Ridding ourselves of all past famous literature? Taking antidepressant pills everyday to keep ourselves content? Anything is possible for the future, but only time will tell.
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