International Marketing Environment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

International Marketing Environment - Essay Example Thus, the understanding of the environment of international marketing is significant in order to successfully achieve business goals (â€Å"Understanding the Global Marketing Environment†, n.d., pp.4-5). The Role of Government in International Trade The government has a significant role in international businesses, where the government promotes the activities of the trades and businesses. Various financial and non financial types of assistance are provided by the government that helps the country and its businesses to attract the FDI. This, in turn, enables the countries to fight their competitive countries. Foreign businesses are more attractive with the increasing liberalization in trade across different countries, deregulations and privatizations leading to greater opportunities of international businesses. Thus, governments have the opportunities to â€Å"open up their borders to international trade and investment, standardize their systems and procedures, adopt internati onally acceptable values and attitudes, and encourage the development of democratic institutions† (Aswathappa, 2010, p.10). Economic integration is attracted to a country when the country intends to develop financially and structurally. The various stages of integrations include free trade agreements, customs union, common market, and economic union. The free trade agreements regulate the initial integrations of trade between countries. External trade policies are controlled and regulated by the customs union. The common market decides on the movement of people across countries for the purpose of trades. The economic union contains all the elements of the other stages and regulated the monetary and fiscal policies of the international trades (Landers, 2012). Thus, it can be understood that these stages of economic integrations have significant impacts on the process of international trades between different countries. Economic and Cultural Elements of International Marketing E nvironment Economic and cultural factors are essential for the understanding of international marketing since these factors largely determine the marketing environment of the businesses and trades. Economic elements are significant since they have effects on the demands of any product being marketed in foreign markets. These elements include the size and composition of the target population, size and structure of the foreign market, level of competition, the sources of competition, rates of inflation, the restrictions on imports, tax systems, and other factors. These factors determine the demands and the rising level of trades across countries, thus, making it clear that economic elements affect international marketing environments. Cultural differences are also important in this regard since much of the social and ethnic issues result from such differences affecting global trades. Understanding of these factors is essential since they not only affect businesses but also support the marketer of the businesses in successfully gaining the target group in the foreign markets. Thus, elements like behaviors, values and beliefs are needed to be considered effectively (â€Å"Impact of Economic and Cultural Elements On International Marketing†, 2012). Political and Financial Risks with International Marketing The financial risks that are mostly involved in international tra

Examining a Business Failure Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Examining a Business Failure - Essay Example In simple terms, business failure can be defined as a situation whereby a company or an organization ceases operations due to inability to make profit or because it can no longer be able to bring in sufficient revenue that can cover the expenses it incurs. Studies have shown that business failure can be caused by the following factors: increased competition; poor implementation of strategies; outdated technology; poor management; poor leadership; financial problems; and economic challenges (Hatch, 2006). In order to have a better understanding of business failure, this paper will discuss the failure of Enron Corporation. Enron Corporation was one of the leading players in the energy market; actually, in the year 2001, it was the United States ’ seventh Largest Corporation in terms of revenues (Mclean and Elkind, 2003). However, it suffered a catastrophic collapse as a result of financial scandal (famously known as Enron Scandal) which involved its accounting firm (Arthur Ander sen), Enron’s management and leadership. The scandal involved fraudulent accounting procedures and practices which occurred during the 1990s and the beginning of 21st century. These fraudulent activities included manipulation of the Enron’s stock price. This scandal eventually led the Corporation to file for bankruptcy in December 2001 (Fox, 2003). Robbins (2004) argues that whereas events leading to business failure of an organization often take different dimensions, the contribution of the organization’s management, leadership, and organizational structures towards the failure cannot be ruled out. As a matter of facts, he notes that this contribution is usually central to business failure in any given organization. So, how did Enron’s leadership, management, and organizational structures contribute to the failure of the organization? Fox (2003) observes that the trials relating to Enron scandal showed that, indeed, the Corporation’s leadership co ntributed to its failure. Enron executives were charged with criminal acts that include insider trading, money laundering, and fraud. What became clear was that the Corporation’s leadership only focused on influence, greed, power, and profits and paid little attention to the Corporation’s Code of Ethics (Mclean and Elkind, 2003). Their focus made them to make wrong and deceiving decisions, as well as conspiring with Arthur Andersen auditors to engage in illegal accounting activities and methods. Jeff Skilling, Ken Lay and Andrew Fastow are the most notable top-level leaders of Enron whose behaviours greatly contributed to the collapse of the Corporation (Fox, 2003). For example, Andrew Fastow who was the Corporation’s chief financial officer engaged in improper partnerships, fraud, and money laundering activities. Jeff Skilling engaged in conspiracy, insider trading, made false financial reports, and in fraud. Ken Lay made misleading statement and got involved i n fraudulent activities (Mclean and Elkind, 2003). As leaders of the Corporation, Fastow, Skilling, and Lay were expected to adhere to and uphold Enron Code of Ethics that called for integrity, excellence, communication, and respect. However, they engaged in activities that challenged the Corporations ethics code’s foundational values. The top leadership as well as the Corporation’s senior management contributed to the failure by attempting to create a conglomerate in the energy industry that was aimed at increasing the

Corporate Training Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Corporate Training - Essay Example This paper presents a detailed research analysis in to the training practices prevalent in the South African entities and the effect of such training on the global competitiveness of the firms form the view point of the management and also the threats and opportunities the training poses form the employees' view point. The biggest challenge for many companies is found in establishing a workforce that is enthusiastic and at the same time having a sense of belonging to the organization. Through research studies, this has been identified as a key element in ensuring the corporate success both in the short and long-term functioning of the firms. In the current business environment of increased labour attrition rates, employee retention has been the major task of the Human Resources Professional in many larger organizations. They are always on the look out for innovating techniques of increasing the job satisfaction and morale of the employees in order to keep the attrition rates low. One of the distinct ways of securing the employee retention is to impart periodic comprehensive training programmes on developing the skills of the employees so that they become more useful to the organization. ... Section 1 Introduction The biggest challenge for many companies is found in establishing a workforce that is enthusiastic and at the same time having a sense of belonging to the organization. Through research studies, this has been identified as a key element in ensuring the corporate success both in the short and long-term functioning of the firms. In the current business environment of increased labour attrition rates, employee retention has been the major task of the Human Resources Professional in many larger organizations. They are always on the look out for innovating techniques of increasing the job satisfaction and morale of the employees in order to keep the attrition rates low. One of the distinct ways of securing the employee retention is to impart periodic comprehensive training programmes on developing the skills of the employees so that they become more useful to the organization. The effects of such training on the employee motivation and improved performance has been proved many a times res ulting in higher advantages to the employer. It is important to understand though the business employs the greatest business model in the world and the best of the systems, unless the employees have the strength and ability to handle such sophisticated corporate aids, it may not really help the firm to enjoy the benefits of such investments. The employee trainings may cover a wide range of corporate functional areas including developing the communication skills of the employees, improving the technical skills, training about quality concepts and interpersonal relationships. The different aspects of training and development has varying impact on the employers and employees in that the employers look at the training

Confucious and the golden rule Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Confucious and the golden rule - Assignment Example sus’ positive assertion, considering other people and making efforts to help them would be living according to this code every day (Henderson, 2014). There are no exemptions from Jesus’s golden rule because he is the one who stated it. Jesus expects his followers to do positive things to others proactively that they themselves would like others to do to them (Henderson, 2014). However, Confucius’ golden rule can have exemptions considering it was a teaching for his students and stated by a mortal in contrast to Jesus, a deity. Jesus’ golden rule infers that God’s grace deliberates salvation to those who are good to others, but only when they have faith in him. This deliberation is a response to Christians’ repentance toward God (Reilly, 2010). The proof of this faith is visible in Christians’ God-given ability to adhere to the golden rule, which is the rule I live by. To show my faith in God, I live knowing that doing good to others is what God initially intended of

Homiletics Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Homiletics - Term Paper Example The use of ‘sea’ is highly symbolic in nature as is ‘storm’. In addition, he intends to show the movement of his mission to the Gentiles. Thus, the Gospel presents an incident that is very relevant even in the modern church. The incident provides the insight that for a believer, while crossing the sea of life, there is Jesus to still the issues that may arise on the way. The first point, according to Craddock (115), is that the Church too requires the constant protection from Jesus for its survival in the sea of modern life. Evidently, crossing the sea was a difficult task. As Rose observes, Galilean fishing boat of Jesus’ time was quite weak with oars and flimsy sails. So, one can imagine the range of fear that would arise in the mind of a sailor in front of a storm. In my opinion, the purpose of this section is to teach that the Church should be fearless in its functions as true faith knows no fears. In addition, as Craddock (115) states, the Church should seek continuous help from Jesus as it is evident that without Christ’s supports, even the Church will not be able to survive though it preaches his teachings. The first point Craddock brings in is that Jesus wanted to show his disciples the nature of his ministry. In fact, the stilling of storm was the first among the four episodes in which Jesus performs miracles. The miracles are calming a storm, healing a demoniac, healing a sick woman, and raising a dead girl. Craddock points out the fact it was immediately after this performance of wonders that Jesus appoints the twelve to preach his ministry. So, Craddock tries to draw a conclusion here that Jesus meant to show his disciples the nature of his ministry. Yet another point that Craddock brings in at this juncture is the fact that calming natural forces by rebuking is not at all different from other acts of exorcism performed by Jesus. Thus, in the words of Craddock, â€Å"rebuke† is intentionally used instea d of using touch or any other acts of exorcism to show that the purpose was not to present Jesus as one among the many exorcists who lived in that time period (Craddock, 66), but to show the power of the word of God. In fact, according to Craddock, the intention of Gospel was to show the power of the word the church was going to preach. The third point of consideration is the fact that Church too requires the constant help from Jesus to survive in the turbulence of life. Craddock (115) points out the fact that the usual posture of the church is serving others in the name of Jesus, but the Church too is receiving the benevolence of Jesus’ ministering presence; and in the long voyage across the sea of life, the Church would not be able to sustain itself without the active support from Jesus. In addition, Craddock points out the fact lack of belief and experience in Jesus, or of the Holy Spirit, would lead to the collapse of Church as it would easily go astray under the weight o f its own institutionalism or self-promoting programs. Another point of consideration is the question that Jesus asks his disciples on calming the storm. The question is â€Å"Where is your belief?† In the opinion of Craddock, the intention of Jesus was not to mention that the disciples were not believers or that they did not have belief. Nor did Jesus want to pint out that the disciples would be able to control the storm with belief. In the opinion of Cradock (115), Jesus was addressing their fear that did not mitigate even after spending so many

Traditional or Passive Education by John Dewey Essay Example for Free

Traditional or Passive Education by John Dewey Essay A Canadian politician, Harold Taylor, once said Most of the important experiences that truly educate cannot be arranged a head of time with any precision. This quote imitates the lessons explained by John Dewey in his 1938 book Experience and Education; moreover, he refers to how ineffective traditional education can be opposed to progressive education which is based off personal experience and understanding of useful interactions. Traditional education is based off the idea that a teacher lectures students about subjects that do not have any bearing towards them or understanding of the subject. Information is almost being fed to the developing minds and this information is being taught by an individual who is teaching off their own experiences as well as the written criteria. Books, especially textbooks, are the chief representatives of the lore and wisdom of the past, while teachers are the organs through which pupils are brought into effective connection with the material. Teachers are the agents through which knowledge and skills are communicated and rules of conduct enforced. (18) This quote reflects that the information in a text book can only do so much and teachers are the ones who are supposed to fill in the gaps and explain why things happen the way they did. Traditional education is seen as one sided and John Dewey did not agree with this being the best method of learning for developing minds. An example would be a teacher explaining how important it is to recycle and use less paper products to save trees, but students have no idea how many trees are being torn down or what they are doing by recycling. Recycling means nothing to the students because they have no experience with recycling. This method of teaching can be inaccurate due to the quality of the teacher or the one sidedness of the teachers experience. John Dewey believed progressive education is a better method of learning. Progressive learning is learning from ones own experiences. Students would retain information from their own experiences and then thirst for knowledge about those experiences they have encountered. As an individual passes from one situation to another, his world, his environment, expands or contracts. He does not find himself living in another world but in a different part or aspect of one and the same world. What he has learned in the way of  knowledge and skill in one situation becomes an instrument of understanding and dealing effectively with the situations which follow. (44) This type of learning helps students relate past experiences to their education. Once again going back to recycling, if you show a student and explain how many North American forests are being cut down for lumber and paper products and show the complete process they will be aware of how important our earth is to our survival; therefore, the students will now want to recycle actively. Progressive learning is based off students first hand experiences and if they can experience or witness the act or process they have a much better chance of retaining the information. In summary traditional learning is seen as the biggest form of education and can be inaccurate do to the level of instructor; however, John Deweys progressive model of learning is valuable to all types of education because an instructor does not even have to be present for a student to learn because they have past encounters to refer to and make decisions based off those. Experience and Education made good observations; consequently, experiences in life are the best forms of education. Work Cited Dewey, John (1938). Experience and Education. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company

Theories of psychological research

Theories of psychological research Humans are expected to deal with an immense amount of information whilst dealing with everyday complex tasks such as driving at high speeds in variable weather conditions and road conditions. Yet, research has shown that there is a limit to what humans can handle. It is well documented that human error on the road causes minor injury to fatal accidents and even damage. Treat et al (1977) calculated that human error is a major contributing factor in 90% of accidents and was also the only factor in 57% of accidents. This essay will consider two theories of psychological research on human memory. Attention and perception that can be used to assist understanding of the cause of human error on the roads. It will provide an overview of these two theories and the limitations in human information processing that contributes to accidents. It will also consider human error and how the research mentioned can be applied to minimise driver errors on the roads. It will conclude with a number of possibilities considered to reduce human error. Several studies noted that capacity of humans to process information is limited in capacity. Green(1991)research confirms that the flow of information whilst undertaking everyday tasks as driving is complex with the driver handling various information at the same time such as auditory and visual input vehicles, pedestrians, road signs, weather conditions. There is a continuous demand on the drivers memory who is also handling other auditory information such as talking to other passengers, listening to music, and recalling or recognising directions. Information processing theory is used to explain the importance of attention. Several studies show that accidents occur when the driver was focussed on something else. Several studies reveal that the driver can carry put all of the above tasks if visual and auditory input is low. However, if there is an increase in demand for attention when there is poor visibility or the driver is driving very fast, or driver is affected by fatigue or alcohol then attentional capacity is reduced. This limitation in capacity relates to bottleneck theories which suggests information enters the awareness one at a time whilst the information capacity theories propose information is processed through various channels, but each channel has a limited capacity. The driver does not have the capacity for inputs; they can only pay attention to certain number of information. Broadbent(1958),Treisman(1960) and Deutsch Deutsch(1963) put forward the theories of selective attention that remains influential, despite current theories focus on capacity theory, and the decay of information explained by Baddeley Hitch(1974). Broadbent Filter Model theory is based on Atkinson and Shiffrin multi-store memory model (1968) that explains memory processes and sequences stages; sensory, short-term and long term memory. The research confirms that the driver processes two types of stimulus. According to Broadbent the input comes through the filter and the other stimuli are held in a bottleneck for processing later. Baddeley Hitch (1974) working memory not only has limited capacity but also information decays, this gives limitation in regards to new information being held. There is some difficulty with Filter model Theory of attention. Cherry (1953) cocktail party effect experiment confirms the subject focuses attention on interesting stimuli whilst ignoring other stimulus. Again, Treisman (1960) proposed that if stimulus has meaning it can be processed, whilst Deutsch and Deutsch (1963) proposed that if stimulus needs to be responded to it can be selected later. The conclusion to be drawn from this, is that driver capacity to interact safely on the road is reduced and the possibility of human error increases because of the demands placed on attention. With such complex tasks as driving, information would not be retained or recalled, and as the capacity for inputs are limited the driver can only pay attention to certain pieces of information, so information which could be important could slip from memory. The issue remains of how to get drivers to focus their attention fully on the road. Human perception is another research area that can be applied to human error on the roads. Human perception is based on context and expectations the bottom up and top down approach. Several studies reveal that perceptual error jeopardise road safety. For example drivers often admit to not seeing visible information such as pedestrians crossing the road. In addition drivers misinterpret information such as speed or closeness to other vehicles. or drivers misread the speed or the closeness of other vehicles. Mack Rock (1992) researched visual perception of unexpected shapes whilst looking at it directly. This phenomenon is called inattentional blindness or perceptual blindness. This phenomenon occurs when subjects do not see visible objects in front of them. This can be for reasons such as overload of information or their attention is focussed on something else that has meaning, or no internal reference to the visible object. Simons, Chabris (2004) experiment on perception resulted in showing how subjects did not see an incident happening in front of them. This experiment involved participants playing basketball game and missing an unexpected appearance of someone dressed up in a white gorilla suit walk onto the ball court during the game. Subjects did not recall seeing the white gorilla. Scholl et al (2003) research also suggests that auditory input such as talking on mobile telephone can increase the opportunity of a subject failing to notice the unexpected and leading to increased human errors. This research on perception has implications for road safety, as drivers often report they did not see the pedestrian or car in front. The driver focus on what they expect to see top down processing rather than on the unexpected objects. This results in the likelihood of important and unexpected objects being missed. Neisser (1976) suggests that is not either or for humans. Perception involves both top down and bottom up processing becoming a perceptual cycle. Reason (1991) extensive research on human error defines error as circumstances in which planned action fail to achieve the desired outcome. Examples of this are stepping on the brakes too late and failing to stop at red traffic lights. Norman Shallice(1986) and Reason(1991)theory could be used to explain human error in driving tasks and knowledge. Norman and Shallice propose two types of control controlled control and automatic control. Controlled control being within awareness, but conscious and limited and automatic control out of awareness, creates automacity in tasks already rehearsed over a long period of time. This become out of awareness and is performed without effort like driving. Reason (1991) also suggests that there are 3 types of cognitive processes that cause errors. Skills based error or slips these consist of automatic action that was unconscious Rules based mistakes these consist of non-appliance of a heuristic to undertake a task Knowledge based conscious thought to solve a problem Finally Reason (2000) Swiss Cheese Model of human error can assist in understanding how road accident occurs. All slices of the cheese model have gaps which have to be aligned for an accident to occur. Thus a combination of factors can cause human error. To reduce the chance of accident road experts could use Reason model to identify the factors that contribute reducing unsafe acts such as talking on mobiles whilst driving, visible multiple cues, signals, colour coding, speed limits and road examinations are some of the examples observed to reduce road fatalities. Conclusion This essay has attempted to briefly explain the psychological research on memory that could be applied to the road. It concludes that this research on attention and perception can help to understand the cause of human errors on the road. However, memory research is still laboratory based, and opens to criticism regarding ecological validity. In deed human error is inevitable and getting humans to adapt their behaviour may prove challenging. References Treat,J,R, Tumbus,N,S,McDonald,S,T,Shinar,D,Hume,R,D,Mayer,R,E,Stanisfer,R,L and Castellan,N,J(1977) Tri-level study of the cause of traffic accidents report No.DOT-HS-034-3-535-7777(TAC) Green, M (1991) Visual Search, Visual streams and Visual architectures. Perception and Psychophysics, 50,388-403 Cherry, C (1958) some experiments in the recognition of speech with one and two ears, Journal of acoustical society of America, 25,975-979 Broadbent, D (1958) Perception and Communication London/New York, Pergamon Press Atkinson,R and Shiffrin,R(1968) Human memory: A proposed system and its control processes, In K,W Spence and J,T Spence(Eds) The psychology of learning motivation (vol2) London Academic press Baddeley,A Hitch,G (1974)Working memory in G Bower(Ed) The psychology of learning motivation(vol 8)pp.47-90 San Diego, Academic Press Treisman, A (1960) Contextual cues in selective listening. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 12,242-248 Mack, A Rock, I (199 ) Inattentional Blindness Cambridge,MA,MIT Press Scholl,B Noles,N,Pashera,V,Sussman,R(2003) Talking on cellular phone dramatically increases sustained Inattentional blindness[abstract]Journal of vision,3(9):156,156a Simons,D Chabris,C(1999) Gorillas in our Midst: Sustained Inattentional blindness for dynamic events.Perception,28,1059-1071 Reason,J(2000) Human Error, Models and management, British Medical Journal,320 768-770 Norman,D,A,Shallice,T(1986) Attention to Action: Willed and automatic control of behaviour in R.J. Davidson,G.E Schwartz and D.Shapiro(Ed)The design of everyday living, New York, Doubleday Neisser(1976)Cognition and Reality San Francisco,CA,W.H Freeman