Thursday, April 9, 2020

Multinational Corporations Compliance with Host Countries Laws

Introduction The success of multinational corporations depends on their strategic plans and moral practices that they put into consideration. It is also dependent on how well they are armed to maintain appropriate social responsibility ethics in their host countries.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Multinational Corporations Compliance with Host Countries’ Laws specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Additionally, the corporations are not only founded on their home country policies, but also on those of the host countries into which they operate. It is also essential to note that, since every country around the globe usually has a set of rules that govern its people as well as its existence, these corporations must comply with these laws with no compromise. Falkenberg (23) addressed this idea in the article â€Å"When in Rome† to portray the seriousness of the matter, since it is not possible for one to go into a neighbor‘s premise and become the ruler, but has to respect him in order to promote peace. At the same time, philosophers, ideologists, and researchers have seconded the various criticisms that have been put forward about the multinational corporations. They are said to have impacted negatively on the host countries due to their lack of respect for the rights of the counties’ citizens, and that they are always out to please their stakeholders. Falkenberg suggests that appropriate business ethics and morals are a key to the success of multinational corporations in their host countries. More over, the corporations must play a role in promoting social welfare of the host countries, for their own advantage, as well as for the purpose of fostering change in the host country (Falkenberg, 22). This paper seeks to establish the fact that corporations operating in the global context have a responsibility to comply with the laws of their host countries. Additionally, it w ill also give an overview of some of these obligations that host countries have put in place that require compliance by the corporations. More over, the paper will seek to find out the social responsibilities that these corporations operating in the global context have in the host countries. Furthermore, it is essential to provide an argument comparing the distinct conceptions that different commentators have put across in the years concerning business ethics of these corporations in the host countries as they conduct their activities. Finally, the paper will briefly explain the concept of Multinational Corporations’ compliance with the host countries laws (Carroll, 37). Multinational corporations A variety of definitions have been put forward to explain the meaning of multinational corporations, but in my opinion, multinational corporations are those that have successfully expanded to provide their services to more than one country in the world.Advertising Looking for e ssay on business corporate law? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More They may also be multinational in their responsibility to run production or manufacture of certain goods in various countries. Mainly, the headquarters of such organizations are usually located in their home country, i.e., the country of inception of a corporation, plus other sub-units in several other countries, referred to as hosts. Some multinational companies have expanded to operate globally when supplying their good or services. Therefore, these large corporations often have great impacts in both their mother and the host countries. For instance, some have the ability to influence the economies of the local country, or even the economy of the whole world due to their large sizes. More over, they are well known for having a great influence on globalization and in some way enhance international relations in their countries of operation. However, as the corporation s operate across the globe, appropriate business and relationships ethics have to be applied under all circumstances to overpower the numerous criticisms that have brought down their operations in some cases. The criticisms emanate from the fact that proper business ethics have not been maintained on various occasions, human rights have been at times violated and small and medium enterprises have been observed slowly diminish on the emergence of multinational corporations. Host country’s obligations and laws Host countries in the context of the multinational corporations are those into which branches and sub-branches of the multinational corporation are located. Obligations are a requirement that have been put across by the government in order that whoever comes into that country has to observe carefully. Laws are a set of regulations that are usually documented in a country by its government, such that everyone, whether a citizen or a visitor of any kind must comply with. Th us, every country in the world has its laws that it requires complied with, regardless of a person’s status or class. In their operations, most corporations that operate globally have a tendency to neglect some of these laws as critics have suggested. A number of common laws are in operation in most of the host countries. First, as Donaldson (Para 2) points out in his context of â€Å"Rights in the global market†, multinational corporations are merely obligated to respect and take part in protecting the human rights in their areas of operation.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Multinational Corporations Compliance with Host Countries’ Laws specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More However, sometimes this has been like a nightmare, since the same corporations have been found to paralyze these fundamental human rights, which is very wrong. Additionally, Falkenberg (19) has pointed out that multinational corporations must comply with the business rules and ethics that have been documented in a country’s laws, when he uses the analogy of â€Å"When you go to Rome.† In my opinion, he was out to say that one should obey the business culture and ethics of a host country, and not trying to change them to fit their interests, since this has resulted in a total change of many countries’ direction. More over, the ethical theory of business proposed by Beauchamp and Norman (3) identifies the extent to which a corporation should relate with a host country in terms of ethics and at the same time, take care of the laws of the country. Many countries do document their laws, to an extent that any person who goes against them should be subjected to a court of law to answer the misconduct. More important, the corporations must always be keen to safeguard the corporate social responsibility in the host countries, to leave it a better place than they found it (Beauchamp and Norm an, 13). Nevertheless, other East African countries have documented strict laws that the multinational corporations cannot be able to meet. Secondly, the cultures of different countries differs distinctly, a factor that sometimes makes it hard for global relations to work properly. Therefore, it is considered essential if the host countries and the corporations should device a suitable framework that is ample to enhance social relations. Frederick Robert in his article about† finding the middle ground† argues about appropriate moral ideals, which would be acquired through building appropriate moral frameworks across the globe. More over, he suggests the construction of pluralistic relativism as an ample moral ground for enhancing good social relations. Social responsibilities of multinational corporations operating in a global context The multinational corporations are always valued as vehicles for social responsibility that is corporate in all ways. The article of Arnol d addresses on the issues of corporate responsibility and capitalism. In order for a positive move of a corporation, the idea of caring for the society in terms of its rights should be put into consideration. One, the corporations should maintain transparency as much as possible in order that the society of the host country may trust them. Many corporations as Ensign (56) suggests have all along ruined their relations with the host countries because of operating in corrupt manners just for self-gain.Advertising Looking for essay on business corporate law? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Donaldson (Para 3) in his literature expresses his feelings to those corporations that are out to involve themselves in corrupt deals in order to carry out successful business operations. A number of researchers have always considered transparency as a key to business success in all aspects. Transparency is essential for a successful business operation since it promotes the sense of accountability, not only within the organization, but also in the global context. Moreover, the multinational corporations have a social responsibility to promote global human rights. Human rights are a key concept in the globalization and international relations, thus, the multinational corporations should be in the forefront to fight against the violation of human rights. Along the business operations of the multinational corporations, the management of multinational corporations should lay down strategies that would spearhead in campaigning for respectable human rights in their host countries. However , at the same time, the host countries should also regulate their laws strategically in order that all multinational companies can be able to fulfill the required laws (Donaldson, Para 2). On the other hand, multinational corporations’ management should develop a caring heart towards other primary and small enterprises in the host countries. Many corporations have always been out for self-gain and in the willingness to suppress other small enterprises in order to build their own fame. Beauchamp’s theory of ethical global operations suggests that failure in small and medium enterprises in most countries emanates from lack of support by the multinational corporations. Thus, the corporations need to embark on promoting other small enterprises, in order to foster a spirit of unity among business organizations (Ensign, 45). A comparison of different conceptions about multinational companies’ social responsibility There have been different conceptions about the social responsibility of multinational organizations in their host countries. Arguments have been put across suggesting that the corporations have a responsibility to comply with the rules that govern a particular country. Other critics have considered it better if the corporations are obligated to promote human rights across the globe, while others still feel that the best thing for them to do is to promote other small businesses that are in the host countries. Donaldson (Para 7) strongly feels that the human rights have been solely violated in all aspects, and therefore, rules should be put in place concerning violation of human rights by the corporations as they conduct business. However, in all of the articles herein discusses by various personnel, the conception of the compliance with the laws of host countries is highly valued. Carroll (125) writes about ethical considerations in business and suggests that we should consider the present and the future challenges. The conception surp asses the other two in the fact that, if a corporation would stand the challenge of complying with the laws of a host country, it is easy for it to respect the human rights. At the same time, it is possible for multinational corporations to support small business if a law is documented for them to do so in the host countries. Thus, the corporations should be ready to comply with laws that have been set in the host country (Beauchamp, 73). Conclusion Multinational corporations have tremendously increased in numbers over the years, and have at all times been successful. However, it is needful at such a time to think critically about how well their relations have been with their host countries. The issue is not how they conduct their businesses or how much profits they make over time, but what their social impacts in both their home and host countries are. Are they just out for personal gain without considering their neighbors? Such have been the questions put by critics who have stron gly felt that the corporations have neglected the social roles that they are supposed to carry out but to no avail. In my opinion, some corporations are always out for personal gain as well as to maximize the available opportunities for maximum profits, and do not care their reputation in their host countries. This is the reason why many theorists have to tire putting forward theories that explain why multinational corporations do not comply with countries’ laws. More over, most of them have a very great influence in the government policy in many countries, a factor that contributes to them frustrating many citizens, who in the end develop a negative attitude. Donaldson on his writing is concerned about human rights, where he ends up listing them one by one. As other critics, he argues that the multinational corporations have neglected the human rights issue which should be one of their major area of concern, thus it is important that the corporations’ management retra ce their lost steps in order to comply with some facts that are more meaningful than business itself. Furthermore, the moral grounds that are considered right should be constructed to enhance good social relations. The conception of the corporations being obligated to comply with the host countries’ laws surpasses the others, since compliance to the laws will entail complying with every other item. The objective of the paper was achieved and therefore, â€Å"the multinational corporations should be urged to comply with host countries’ laws,† both for their sustainability in business and to ensure their participation in promoting social responsibility as well as pluralistic relativism. Works Cited Beauchamp, Tom and Bowie, Norman. Ethical Theory and Business. NY: Prentice Hall Humanities/Social Science publishers. 1997. Carroll, Archie. Managing ethically with global stakeholders: A present and Future challenge. Academy of Management Executive. 2004. Web. Donalds on, Thomas. Rights in the Global Market: Ethics and multinational corporations. NY: Sterling Publishing Company. 1990. Web. Ensign, Prescott. International Business Gestion International. Volume 27. Ottawa: University of Ottawa books center. 2006. Falkenberg, Andreas. â€Å"When in Rome: Moral Maturity and Ethics for International Economic Organizations.† Journal of Business Ethics, Volume 54. Kluwer academic publishers, Netherland. 2004. Web. This essay on Multinational Corporations Compliance with Host Countries’ Laws was written and submitted by user Jenn1ferSm1th to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Monday, March 9, 2020

Top 10 ACT Reading Tips Use These and Improve

Top 10 ACT Reading Tips Use These and Improve SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips If you’re taking the ACT and find the Reading section to be a challenge, you’re probably looking for some quick ways to improve your scores. Well, you’re in luck. Here are our top 10 tips for acing the ACT Reading section! Tips for Reading Passages Tip #1: Start with Your Most Comfortable Subject Matter The structure of the ACT Reading section is very consistent.There will be fourtopic areasin the same order every time: Prose Fiction/Literary Narrative, Social Science, Humanities, and Natural Science.If you know that one or two of these will be easier for you to get through based on your interest in the subject matter, you should target those ones first. If, for example, you're more of a science person and end up running out of time on the last passage, you could be missing out on some easy points.Instead, you should skip straight to the subject where you're most comfortable. That way you know you’re getting the most out of your reading section score. Tip #2: Skim the Passage First (Or Skip Straight to the Questions) It’s not necessary to read the passage in full right away, especially if youstruggle with time on the ACT Reading section. One tactic is to skim first so you get a sense of the main ideas of the passage before reading the questions.The best way to skim is by reading the introduction and conclusion along with the first and last sentences of each body paragraph.You’ll save time and be able to answer most big picture questions about the passage.You can go back and read certain parts of the passage more closely later if necessary. Another tactic is to skip the passage at first and go straight for the questions.You can answer most detail questions without reading the full passage.Later, when you move onto big picture questions, you'll already have a sense of the main ideas of the passage based on what you learned in answering other questions.You can always go back and skim the passage, paying special attention to the introduction and conclusion, if you're struggling with big picture questions. Tip #3: Get Interested in the Passage It’s easy to adopt a negative attitude about the passages and treat them as a chore you just have to get through. However, you’ll have a much better time if you persuade yourself to be interested in the material you’re reading. Some of the passages present interesting information that you wouldn’t have learned otherwise. If you think of this as a learning experience, you’re more likely to absorb the material.That means a better performance on the questions and a more pleasant testing experience overall! Wear a party hat if you think it will get you in a more festive mood. If your peers judge you, just say you're going to an awesome party after the test and THEY'RE NOT INVITED. Tips for Answering Questions Tip #4: Use Connotation and Keywords When you’re thinking about how to answer a question, look for words and phrases that will help you determine positive or negative connotation as well as keywords that provide context clues about the answer.If you can figure out whether an answer should have a positive or negative connotation, this will help eliminate at least a couple of choices. If you can find keywords that indicate a contrast or a comparison in the passage (such as "however" or "rather than"), that can also lead to logical conclusions about the type of answer you want. Here's an example where we can detect connotation and use it to eliminate answer choices: The passage indicates that at the time Frank and Sigwarth presented new evidence supporting the small-comet theory, Frank most nearly felt: A. relieved but bitter about how he had been treated.B. grateful that ridicule of his work would end.C. proud that he had been proved right.D. satisfied and filled with anticipation of glory. The passage reads that after the new evidence was presented: Rather than gloating or anticipating glory, Frank seemed relieved that part of a long ordeal was ending. "I knew we'd be in for it when we first put forth the small-comet theory," Frank conceded, "but I was naive about just how bad it would be. We were outvoted by about 10,000 to 1 by our colleagues." Here, we see the words "Rather than", which tip us off to a contrast. We know for sure that Frank was NOT "gloating or anticipating glory". This means choice D can be eliminated for sure. Choice C can also be crossed out because pride wasn't the main component of Frank's feelings (as evidenced by the fact that he wasn't gloating about his accomplishment). The words "relieved" and "ordeal" show that Frank was just happy to be less vulnerable to criticism - he didn't have the energy to throw his success in everyone's faces. For the remaining two answer choices, you can see that there is a very strong adjective in the form of the word "ridicule" in choice B. This makes choice B questionable, because it doesn't seem like Frank's colleagues actually made fun of his work. They just didn't believe his theory. Choice A fits much better, and the word "relieved" is even used in the passage to describe Frank's feelings. Based on this question, you can see that paying attention to keywords is a beneficial strategy for eliminating answer choices on the ACT. Tip #5: Predict the Correct Answer When answering a reading question, try to think of the correct answer in your own words first.This will help you to avoid pitfalls with confusing answer choices.If you already have an idea of what the answer should be, you won’t get tripped up by answer choices that seem plausible but aren’t objectively correct. If the question is confusing to you, you canrephrase it in your own words before you even look at the answers to make it a bit easier. Usually, ACT Reading questions have pretty straightforward wording, but sometimes they can be confusing. If you think you might get the question muddled, write down what it's asking in your own words before choosing an answer. Tip #6: Eliminate Incorrect Answers This is the fundamental rule of ACT Reading: There's only one absolutely correct answer, and you will be able to find concrete reasons to get rid of all the other choices. Learning to eliminate wrong answers is vital because it’s much easier to get rid of the duds than to find the correct answer right away.Instead of puzzling over a couple of answers that you think might be right, you should think about why at least one of them has to be wrong.Train your focus on finding reasons to get rid of answers - every incorrect answer has something completely wrong about it. It’s your job to find reasons to eliminate answers until you are left with only one correct choice! If it helps, you can eat a milk dud for each time you eliminate a dud answer. The horrible stomachache you get later will be a helpful reminder of just how wrong the answers were. Logistical Tips Tip #7: Skip Difficult Questions If you struggle with running out of time on ACT Reading, which is one of the major challenges of this section, this tip is super important!If you find yourself lingering on a Reading question for more than 30 seconds, skip it and move on.Sticking with one difficult question for too long can jeopardize your chances of getting to easier questions later in the section. Especially on the ACT, it’s critical to have a strong grasp on time management.Since there’s only one Reading section,you need to make sure you get to all the questions.Circle the questions you skip on the first pass so that you can come back to them once you finish going through the whole section. Also, keep in mind that the ACT has no guessing penalty! If you're still totally stumped by a question after you come back to it, pick a letter at random and bubble it in. You can miss up to ten questions on the ACT reading section and still end up with a 25, so depending on what your target score is, you can give yourself some leeway for guessing. Bonus Math Question: If the correct answer choices for all the ACT Reading questions have equal chances of being correct, and you guess the same letter for 10 questions, how many points should you get, just by guessing? (Answer: you have a 1/4 chance of choosing the right answer choice, which x 10 = at least 2 points!) Long story short: guess the same letter pair (A/F, B/G, and so on) for questions that stump you and you have no idea how to answer. Tip #8: Double Check Your Answers If you have time at the end of the section, don’t waste it!Take the opportunity to go back through your answers and make sure you’re happy with all of them.This is the best way to eliminate any silly mistakes you might have made on the test. To make sure you're doing this in the most efficient way, circle any questions you're slightly unsure about in the section as you go along (even if you end up bubbling in an answer). That way you can just double check questions that confused you instead of wasting time checking questions that were no-brainers in the first place. Tip #9: Bubble at the End You can increase your efficiency on the ACT by waiting until the end of the section to bubble in all of your answers. You'll avoid looking back and forth between the test booklet and answer sheet during the test, which saves a few seconds per question.Just circle your answer choices in the test booklet when you first go through the questions. Be careful about using this tip though! You should only do it if you already know you can get through all the questions with 3-5 minutes to spare. Tip #10: Remain Calm Since there’s only one Reading section on the ACT, it’s important to keep it together and move forward even if you come across questions that stump you.Don’t let yourself get flustered by difficult questions. If you run up against something you can’t answer, just skip it and continue with the section.You might come back to it at the end and realize it wasn’t as hard as you initially thought.Confidence is key! Stay as cool as a cucumber. Are cucumbers really any cooler than other vegetables? I mean, clearly carrots and broccoli are trying too hard. But what about cauliflower? All the flair of broccoli but with a little more subtlety. I'll have to think about this. Let’s Review! Tips for Reading Passages: Start with your most comfortable subjectSkim first (or skip the passages initially and read the questions) Get interested in the passages Tips for Answering Questions: Use connotation and keywordsPredict the answer Eliminate wrong answers Logistical Tips: Skip difficult questionsDouble check answersBubble at the end Don’t freak out Remember to focus on in-depth strategies for improvement before applying these tips. You can’t just put a bandaid on a shark bite (or whatever other mortal wound you want to envision as a proxy for ACT content weaknesses).If you can master your content weaknesses AND follow these ACT Reading tips, you’ll be on your way to a great Reading score! What's Next? Looking for more ACT Reading strategies? Take a look at our articles on how to score a 36and the best way to practice for the reading section. If you want to be super prepared for whatever the test throws at you, check out my article on the hardest questions you'll see on the ACT Reading section. Here's a link to our complete study plan for the ACT so you can get started preparing for the test! Want to improve your ACT score by 4 points? Check out our best-in-class online ACT prep program. We guarantee your money back if you don't improve your ACT score by 4 points or more. Our program is entirely online, and it customizes what you study to your strengths and weaknesses. If you liked this Reading lesson, you'll love our program.Along with more detailed lessons, you'll get thousands ofpractice problems organized by individual skills so you learn most effectively. We'll also give you a step-by-step program to follow so you'll never be confused about what to study next. Check out our 5-day free trial:

Saturday, February 22, 2020

Nonstandard Accounting common to the High-Tech Industry Essay

Nonstandard Accounting common to the High-Tech Industry - Essay Example The main idea behind the convergence concept was that, all nations would come together and form a unified set of accounting standards that would be applied in major capital markets. Additionally, the IFRS also wanted to ensure that the standards are adequately and rigorously used. More over the international standards formulated by international accounting standards took into account the financial reporting needs of the developing nations as well as small and medium-sized entities (SME’s).The IFRS is also in charge of maintaining the IASB independence and financial autonomy. By 1973 the international Accounting standards Committee was formed and it served as the first international accounting standards setting body. In 2002, it was however reorganized and became an independent accounting standard setter. Currently, more than 100 countries use the International Financial Reporting standards (that is set and issued by IASB) or a local direct of the IFRS. In the United States, the IASB have been developing Generally Accepted Accounting principles (GAAP) as well as IFRS. Additionally the Asian community (China and Japan) are also formulating their accounting standards to conform to the IFRS (Michael, 77). The IFRS dictates that financial statements must be structured in such a way that they reflect the true and fair view of the organization’s financial performance as well as the fair financial position. In this regard the financial statements must provide accurate information about the assets, equity, liabilities, incomes and expenditures of a given organization as well as the operating profits or loses. Additionally, to other relevant information include cash flow movement, contribution by/distributions to investors, notes. Such information enables a prospective investor to predict with great accuracy on when to invest profitably in the organization based on the prediction of future cash flows. IFRS dictates that financial

Wednesday, February 5, 2020

Googling Out of Control Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Googling Out of Control - Essay Example In other types of industries, the Googley way of working could potentially spell disaster for sales and overall business success. This paper will show whether the Googley way of working is actually sustainable long-term for the company and will discuss whether or not this way of working could provide higher benefits for different companies in need of change to their organisational structures or systems and processes. Historical theorists such as Frederick Taylor believed in a scientific method for business in which people should be observed over a period of time and then determining, through these observational findings, which method of training is best for performing specialised jobs in the organisation (Bloisi, Cook and Hunsaker, 2006). Combined with the scientific approach, Taylor also viewed workers through a mechanistic standpoint, believing that workers were often inherently difficult and uncooperative and often lacked the ability to absorb knowledge and information successfully. This classical view of management is still at work in many different industries today which have strong leadership hierarchies where virtually all decision-making starts at the top and trickles down the organisation. Google has managed to break away from this classical type of management model where workers are heavily controlled and observed and has given their workers considerable autonomy in most of their own d ecision-making concepts and job roles. It may only be in an environment where change is constant and there is a need for flexible and rapid decision-making where this chaotic type of leadership concept is going to be successful. For example, many of the main global automakers are experiencing sales declines in their auto sales, especially noticeable in the United States. Automakers in this category such as Ford and General

Tuesday, January 28, 2020

Long Term And Short Time Orientation English Language Essay

Long Term And Short Time Orientation English Language Essay This time, the manager from Uzbekistan is heading to Malaysia, to the beautiful country of forests and mountains, located in southeast Asia. Malaysia is a very interesting country that combines the features of the West and East cultures, it uses the development system of the Western culture, but at the same time, remains the traditions of the East. The people, who live there, Malaysians, are really proud of their country, their history and their culture. The formation of the Malay culture was influenced by many nations in the past, including local inhabitants, Malays who moved there, Chinese and Indian traders and, of course, the British colonizers. Even now the Malaysia is a multicultural country, where people of different nations live and cooperate together, especially Malays, Chinese, Indians and Eurasians. The unity is also supported in Malaysias motto, which is directly translated as Unity is Strength. The Malaysian constitution proposes the freedom of religion, nevertheless, it has clearly stated that the Islam is the main state religion and Malay is the main language. British influence can be observed in Malaysias governance as Malaysia is a constitutional monarchy with a king as a head of state, the Malay constitution is also based on English Law. Hofstedes framework Lets look at the Malaysia in the framework of the Hofstedes model, which measures such cultural dimensions as the power distance, individualism and collectivism, uncertainty avoidance, masculinity and femininity, long-term and short-term orientations. Power distance According to Hofstede G.(n.d.), power distance is the degree, by which the society tolerates the inequality of power and authority and the division on social stratas. The statistics from Hofstede G.[n.d.] show that Malaysia has a very high score of 104 in power distance index, which means that inequality of people is encouraged in this country, there is a strong hierarchy and every person has his own place. In the organizations, boss or manager is the source of power and his decisions are right like the law, so they must be performed by lower ranking employees without any challenges. Anyway, lower ranking employees always expect to be told what they should do. In addition, it means that contact with the boss can be achieved only through the command line. Referring to Ismail Z.(n.d) , survey showed that 69,4% of Malaysian managers use the sensing-judging style or tell style of communication with their subordinates, they always control and tell employees what to do. Individualism and collectivism Further dimension, individualism and collectivism, as it can be understood, refers to how people are treated in the culture as an individual person or they tend to belong to a certain groups, in other words, do people say I or we about themselves. The statistics from Hofstede G.(n.d) show 26 low score in individualism, which means that collectivism is more developed in Malaysia. People belong to a certain groups and there is a strong relationship between the group members, so that the group members take care of each other. Success is considered to be the result of the group work performance. The individual person who doesnt belong to any group isnt respected. Oluwabusuyi I.(2011) notes that there are lots of Malay proverbs promoting collectivism and here are few: A heavy load should be borne together as well as a light load ,As a bamboo conduit makes a round jet of water, so taking counsel together rounds men to one mind. Uncertainty avoidance The third dimension is uncertainty avoidance referring to White J.(2012), which shows the degree by which cultures are afraid of uncertainty and try to avoid it. Again the statistics from Hofstede G.(n.d) shows 36 index, meaning that Malay culture is more tolerate towards uncertainty. While USA tries to control the uncertainty by rules or actions to minimize it, the Malay culture dont have rules against uncertainty and they just let it be the way it is. Masculinity and femininity The next dimension is masculinity and femininity, which describes the main cultural traits of society. This time, referring to Hofstede G.(n.d) Malaysia has 50, which means that it has features of both masculine and feminine cultures. Masculinity can be seen in placing male traits such as competitiveness, power and success as the main cultural values, whereas, for feminine cultures the important values are the life quality and relationships. Most Malaysians work very hard in order to be successful, and, as a collectivistic culture, they also dont forget about importance of maintaining good relationship within the group, consequently, Malays combine both in the workplace. Long-term and short-time orientation Finally, I am pretty sure that Malays as a people, who tend to have relaxed time nature and who value the strong relationships and success, would prefer long-term orientations as only long period of time can help to achieve success and strong relationships. In addition, White J.(2012) states that Malaysians do not rely on the short term goals but rather they focus on long term goals to be achieved which make them one of the developing nations of the world. Halls model Now we will find out the communication style of Malays using the Halls framework, which proposes that there are high-context and low-context communication cultures. I would surely state that Malays are the high-context communication culture. This decision is right with accordance to Salleh L.(2005), which clarifies that high-context communication cultures build close relationships, they use indirect messages and analogous language, and they widely use non-verbal messages in the communication. Close Relationships Malays tend to build close relationships during communication. Malays are very hospitable, they always welcome their guests serving them with their traditional food and drinks. This tradition has been also used now in business meetings. The main intention here is to create a comfortable atmosphere for communication. Salleh L.(2005) notes that even during meetings, Malays firstly try to build the relationship with his partner asking him a lot of personal questions. Only after that, the partners get to the business. Indirect messages Further, Malays are comfortable to use indirect messages. They talk around things and leave the message to be understood by the interpreter. For example, instead of telling the friend directly: I need the ride to home, they say: Oh I am so tired and I need to go home on bus, expecting the message to be interpreted as a desire to get a ride. Salleh L.(2005) describes that in Malay culture, due to the mutual respect, it is impolite to tell straightly the desire as it sounds demanding, moreover, it is impolite to express negative feelings directly or to say no. Non-verbal language Thirdly, Malays use the non-verbal messages more in their communication, because their language contains less verbal information, as a result, the Malay interpreter is more sensitive to non-verbal language. For example, Sellah L.(2005) illustrates that in Malay culture, if the boy acts impolitely by interrupting elders, the long-lasting look of parents is understood by the boy as a sign that he was rude, whereas in USA culture, the boy may just think that parents are listening attentively. Analogous language According to Sellah L.(2005), Malay language is more analogous. One word in Malay language has several meanings at the same time. For example, Sellah L.(2005) indicates that the word beri that is translated as give has 12 meanings in the English language. These 4 factors surely demonstrate that Malays belong to high-context communication culture. Laurents model Laurent has conducted a global research in order to compare the managerial styles in different countries. Managers authority The first interested question was to know the spread of the managers authority outside of the organization in different countries. In my opinion, as Malaysia has a very high power distance, I am pretty sure that Malay managers are autocrats within the organization as well as in the society. Due to the collectivistic culture, either manager is an autocrat in the group of company employees or more likely he belongs to the higher ranking group of managers. Bypassing hierarchy Secondly, Laurent was interested in finding whether the employees are able to bypass the hierarchy for a benefit of effective work or not. Weir D.(n.d.) reports that one of the Asian countries, China, has 66% of disagreement in bypassing the hierarchy. Ismail Z.(n.d.) found that the Malay managers are the same as Chinese managers in their value systems. In Malaysia, the power distance is very high, so the bypassing is not appreciated, moreover, it is the sign of disrespect of authority. Manager is an expert Thirdly, Laurent wanted to know is it important for managers to know answers on all work-related questions. Weir D.(n.d.) asserts that Asian countries show the highest scores for this statement, agreeing that the manager should be an expert in the organization. I think it happens because mostly, in Asian companies, people begin their career from the very beginning, getting promotion with time and expertise. So, as a manager who has experienced everything in the organization, it is important to know answers on all work-related questions. Therefore, the employees there cant become managers until they improve their knowledge to perfect. The manager who doesnt know the answer loses his face. Kluckhohn and Strodtbeck culture Now it is time to focus on Kluckhohn and Stodtbecks cultural theories which will help us to determine the value orientations of Malays. There are six values to identify, they are the relationship with nature, time orientation, human nature, behavior, relationship with others and spatial usage. Harmony with nature According to Ismail Z.(n.d.), Malays live in harmony with nature. It means that Malays coexist with the nature in balance like it is proposed in Feng Shui. That is why there are still lots of forests in the Malaysia, indexMundi(2011) reports that 62,3 % of Malaysian area is still covered by forest. However, harmony also implies the partial usage of nature resources, otherwise, the furniture company couldnt operate without the supply of woods. Time orientation Secondly, Ismail Z.(n.d.) states that the Malay culture focuses mostly on future in time orientation. This implies focusing on long-term goals and planning strategies to accomplish the future achievements. However, Malays also believe that changes in present leads to the success in future. People nature Thirdly, Ismail Z.(n.d.) determines that Malays view their peoples nature as neutral they think there are good people as well as bad people with reference to ying-yang . Malays trust each other, but they also dont forget about being careful. For example, according to Bosrock M.(2012), for Malays, the trust in partner is more important than the written contract, that is why the Malay may ask to repeat spoken business terms, but anyway signs contract for safety. Behavior Further, Ismael Z.(n.d.) informs us that Malays behavior style is being. Being is all about our internal motives to do something that we value or enjoying our lives. Relationship with others Then, due to the combination of the high power index and collectivism, the Malays are subject to hierarchical relation to others in society. In other words, people belong to groups, but depending on his social status. For example, higher ranking executives would belong to elite group of high ranking employees. Spatial usage Finally, of course as a collectivistic culture, Malays prefer public spatial usage over private. Malays as a collective workers are used to public spaces. In my opinion, it would be the big room with the big table, where everybody could sit face-to-face in order to work together. Trompenaars model Finally, we got to the Trompenaars model of cultural analysis, where we will distinguish between universalism and particularism, neutral and affective relationships, specific and diffuse relationships, achievement and ascription, sequential and synchronous time approaches, internal and external controls. Particularism vs Universalism According to via-web.de(2012), Asian countries have particularism tendencies, therefore, the relationship is the determinant of what practices should be applied. For example, before thinking of business, Malays firstly build the relationship with their partner. Depending on level of trust and relationship gained, the terms of agreements may change several times. For Malays even the spoken contract terms are more crucial than those of written. Neutral vs Affective White J.(2012) writes that Malaysian culture is very neutral, which means that people there control their emotions. They dont show their thoughts and feelings. They try to orient more on reasons than on emotions to act upon. This happened due to the impact of the Asian culture, where respect to other people is emphasized through being neutral in feelings and calm. Diffuse vs Special Thirdly, with reference to SCIE(1999) , it is clear that most East Asian cultures tend to have diffuse relationships, where their relationship also spreads beyond the workplace. As a collectivism is developed in Malay, the new employees who enters the organization, also belongs to the company team, which means that he is interdependent on the group even beyond the office. Achievement vs Ascription The ascription is more practiced in Malaysia, because of the hierarchy and respect to elders. The statuses are given depending on the age and authority. The following words from Bosrock M.(2012) surely prove my words: Malays judge people by who they are rather than what they do. Sequential vs Synchronous Malay attitude towards time is synchronous, according to MindTools,(2012), they see past, present and future as interwoven, and therefore their view of time is flexible. For example, Salleh L.(2005) illustrates that even on Malay weddings flexible time scheduling can be observed, even if the wedding was announced to be held at afternoon, the guests were coming after twelve and even few in the evenings. Internal vs External Malays as people, who are Muslims, believe in external locus of control or or in fatalism with reference to White J.(2012). Fatalism is the strong believe that everything happening good as well as bad is happening by the will of the God, as a result, religious believers are driven by feelings combined with their religious faith. Recommendations: For Uzbek manager, high hierarchy situation would be beneficial because the employees would perform everything told without a doubt, although manager should be active and thoughtful as he is the only decision maker, excluding the boss. Also, if the manager would have a boss, he is strongly recommended not to challenge his decisions. The manager should keep in mind that, in Malaysia, where the collectivism is high, he is going to manage not individuals, but the groups. The performance of the groups is more effective than of individuals, if managed well. As the collectivism is encouraged, also it is advisable for manager to head to Malaysia in groups beforehand or to enter the company group in order to be respected. Uzbek manager should be careful with decisions, because it is risky and difficult to make right decisions in such uncertainty atmosphere as it is found in Malaysia, especially if he hadnt lived there before. The combination of masculinity and femininity allows male as well as female manager to be sent there. Also, it means that manager should not only focus on succeeding on masculine values, but also he should make relationships with other managers, as in such culture belonging to group plays an important role. Due to the long-term orientation, manager should be focused on improving performance and planning strategies in the long-run. According to Salleh L.(2005), Malays have strong feelings of hospitality, therefore they serve their guests with snacks and drinks. Moreover, this tradition is now being used in business meetings. In that case, our manager should at least try the servings to show respect against the partner. However, Its only the beginning, as this process creates an atmosphere for communication. According to Bosrock M.(2012), before getting down to business, Malays tend to involve the partner into a very long conversation with a lot of personal questions in order to build a trust and relationship, so, I would advise our manager to be patient. Bosrock M.(2012) claims that Malay businessmen may try to renegotiate even after drafted written contract is concluded, it happens because spoken contract terms are more important for Malays than written ones, therefore as a manager, be ready for it. In addition, Malay businessmen will insist on concessions, but wont give up something in exchange, therefore plan several meetings beforehand. Salleh L.(2005) states that expressing the desire and negative feelings is impolite for Malays, therefore as a high-context communication culture, they will be sending indirect messages and using non-verbal signals a lot. For our manager, it means that he should be more sensitive towards the expressed words searching for their hidden context and pay more attention to the non-verbal signals as they will help to decode the context more accurately. Dont bypass the hierarchy in Malaysia, you will lose your face. According to Weir D.(n.d.), in Asian countries, the manager should be able to answer to any work-related question of the employee. If he couldnt answer, he loses his face, therefore, I advise our manager to be experienced, knowledgeable and to research on everything about companys operations. My personal suggestion is to be ready to the change in the work atmosphere, as I am pretty sure that the group work of Malays will be conducted in one room, where it would be noisy and all people would be sitting face-to face and discussing everything together. White J.(2012) claims that Malays judge person by who he is, therefore, the manager should be chosen appropriately by age, gender, background, family, previous status and so on. I would suggest that he should be a very experienced and knowledgeable senior manager, preferably male, with a diploma from a famous university and with work experience in most powerful companies, in addition he should be from well-bred family, and also the important thing is that he should be powerful and from the high social strata. Keep in mind that Malays have flexible time nature, so dont be angry if he comes late, however, according to Wikia(2012), if you are hosting an event you should be punctual. With regard to Wikia (2012), left hands and feet is considered as dirty, therefore never use your left hand or legs to do something. However, business cards taken with both hands are the sign of respect. In addition, carefully examine the taken card as it is very respectful. Backpacking-tips-asia (2012),Malays are so polite that they cant say no , so dont be too trustful with yes answers. Avoid making meetings on Friday as it is the religious day and Muslims go to the mosque. If you want to invite to a dinner, keep in mind that they dont eat pork and dont drink alcohol; in addition they eat Halal food. If someone gives you a gift, you should give something of the same value in exchange or invite somewhere, in addition, I would advise not to open the gift in the presence of gift presenter. Remove the shoes before entering someones house Backpacking-tips-asia(2012) notes that, if someone invites you, bring a gift but avoid wrapping it in white, blue or black as they symbolize death, also yellow too as it is a royal color. If you want to visit mosque, wear long clothing and cover your head. According to Bosrock M.(2012), pointing with a finger is insult, keeping the hands in pocket is anger and hitting fist into cupped hand is obscene, in addition, it is not allowed to touch someones head as head is considered as the home of the soul, so dont do all this. Kwintessential(2012) states the the family is considered as the centre of the social structure, that is why elders should be always respected, and it is not allowed to smoke near to them. When introducing, you should first introduce senior or higher-ranking executives and women first According to Kwistessentials(2012), the concept of face is different in Malaysia as it is the indicative of good name, characters and reputation of the generations. And you can easily lose your face if you criticize, disagree or insult someone; if you earn shame to your group; if you challenge an authority; if you deny a request or dont keep your promise. It is also told that, face can be saved by keeping yourself calm. Dont smile as it has several good as well as bad meanings. There are lots of rooms for prayers in the streets, so dont mess them up with restrooms. To greet a person you should lightly touch someones both hands and then bring your right hand to your chest and say Salam. Handshake with women is not allowed, until she offers it first. Just in case, simple smile and nodding is enough as a greeting. Thorough analytical research of Malaysia has showed that Malaysia has a very unique culture. Before this research, I was thinking that all Asian cultures are similar, but now I have seen a lot cultural values and customs that differ from ours. Many traditions and customs were so entertaining and interesting to observe. Anyway, in my opinion, there are things that cannot be illustrated by any paper and one of such thing is culture, which can be observed only practically through living side-by-side with the culture representatives. I wish good luck and success to our manager in Malaysia.

Monday, January 20, 2020

How Useful Are the 4Ps to Marketing Managers Today ? Essay -- product,

Marketing managers use marketing mix as a business tool in marketing. Marketing mix synonymous with the 4Ps which were amended and listed by Eugene McCarthy as Product, Place , Price and Promotion. First of all, Product refers to the product should fit the task the target consumers want it for, it should work , and it should be what the consumers expected to get. For instance, its packaging, labeling and offering. Therefore, this always remind marketing managers need to do careful research on how long the life cycle of the product is likely to be and focus their attention on different challenges that they are facing when they are developing the product. Secondly, Place (distribution) means that the way in which the product meets customers’ needs, the product should be easy for the consumers to shop. This may be a high street shop, mail order through a catalogue or it may even be doorstep delivery. Various strategies such as intensive distribution, selective distribution, exclusive distribution and franchising can be used by the marketing managers to complement the other aspects of the 4Ps. Thirdly, Price refers to the product should always be seen as representing good value for money. However, this does not mean that it should be the cheapest available, one of the main tenets of the marketing concept is that customers are usually prepared to pay a little more for something that really works well for them. The price is very important as being determined , it may affect the demands, sales ,the company's profit and hence, survival. Adjusting the price has a profound impact on the marketing strategy. There are 3 basic pricing strategies : market skimming pricing, market penetration pricing and neutral pricing. The 'reference val... ...personnel who will be responsible for analysis, planning and implementation. "The enterprise set up marketing department or sales department to undertake the marketing functions ,sometimes it would hire some experts from outside to engage in certain activities, such as market analysts and advertising experts. As a result, people in other area in the enterprise would decoupling from the marketing area ,at the meantime, the marketing managers are not involved in product design, production, delivery, customer service,advice handling and other activities "(Christion Gronroos, 1994), thus leading to potential conflicts between each functional department. "If the company produces the appropriate products, set appropriate prices, use appropriate distribution channels, and supported by appropriate promotional activities, then the company will success "(Kotler, 2001).

Sunday, January 12, 2020

Marketing and Mini Cooper Essay

Abstract My paper will be about how the MINI cooper has been worked on to continue to be reliable to the old customers and new customers. It has been around since the 1950’s and it looks like it will continue to be around. My paper will hit up information about explicit and implicit brand of communication for the MINI cooper. Levi’s positioning 1. How has BMW achieved continuity of brand message without alienating existing customers and encouraging new Mini purchasers? The Mini cooper is a very historical car. The original mini was designed in 1959 by Sir Alec Issagonis. Two years later the Mini took on a more racing and sporty model called the Mini Cooper, named after the racing expert John Cooper. Minis are known to be a smaller, sportier car with maximum interior space for the driver and passengers. In 2001, BMW managed to bring back the retro image of the Mini, while at the same time making it modernized, affordable and safe. The Mini continues to appeal to the younger audience and also the older audience. The company tries to retain an emotional association towards the product. With German engineering and British character, there was now a more European character to the new Mini. That is how is keeping its old customers. 2. What elements of the marketing communications mix have been used to build and/or maintain the Mini brand narrative? According to the book, the marketing communications mix is a subset of the marketing mix, both being the tools which deliver respectively communications and marketing strategies. It provides a mix of communication methods that blend to achieve a message. The marketing communication mix that have been used to build and maintain the Mini brand narrative has been using publicity stunts, advertisement all over the London and also using online communication. There have been many online advertisements that are created to catch attention and encourage website visitors. Use of press and outdoor billboards and posters has installed a since of excitement about the brand. 3. List the ‘explicit’ and ‘implicit’ elements of communication illustrated by the ‘It’s a Mini Adventure’ campaign. The explicit elements of communication illustrated by the â€Å"It’s a Mini Adventure’ campaign is featuring in the product in a music video. There had been many publicity stunts demonstrating spacious feature of the MINI. The implicit elements are illustrated in a serious of MINIs packaged as if they were toys viewed in shopping malls. It ensured high impact and generating a tremendous amount of consumer interest and word of mouth amongst potential buyers. References Dahlen M, Lange F, Smith T. (2010). Marketing Communications A Brand Narrative Approach. The marketing communication mix, (275-277)