Rationalism vs. Irrationalism Essay

Jane Evans was spending a week at the Crown Point Ward girls camp. She and her friends were laughing and enjoying the crisp night air. They giggled and talked of crushes on boys and gossiped all night about the notorious girls at school. But the fun stopped when a rat bit one of the girls. Screaming, squirming and frightened, they worried and stayed awake for the remainder of the night. Unable to sleep, they decided to go indoors, to avoid another possiable attack. A rationalist would argue that this is a ridiculous reaction to a rat bite, however as a person with an irrational perspective, I plead the contrary and throughtout this essay, will demonstrate why. Through a rationalistic perspecive we observe the mind as active, the emotions passive, and the notion that no material thing can cause an nonmaterial idea; however from the viewpoint of irrationality I will prove that: 1) Emotion is in fact not passive and 2) Intelligence can be created materially. Before going into detail on irrationalism I wish to explore the rationalistic perspective. The rationalist tends to believe in the existence of truths that could not be discovered through the senses alone, the world cannot be ascertained simply by experiencing the content of our minds. Advocates of some varieties of rationalism argued that, starting with basic principles, like the realm of geometry, one could deductively derive the rest of all possible knowledge. (Markie 1) The philosophers who held this view most clearly were Spinoza and Leibniz, whose attempts to understand the epistemological and metaphysical problems raised by Descartes led to the development of rationalism. Both Spinoza and Leibniz asserted that, ideally, all knowledge (including scientific knowledge) could be gained through the use of reason alone, though they both observed that this was not possible in practice, except in specific areas such as mathematics. Which is perhaps why they depended on geometry and logic (a linguistic geometry) so significantly. To Brentano, a rationalist, the mind is active, not passive as the British empiricists, and French sensationalists had believed. Rationalists  alleged the mind as active and the emotions as passive. The rationalist belief in a more active mind meant that the mind acts on information from the senses and gives it meaning it would otherwise not have. (225) They argued that the mind added something to sensory data rather than just passively organizing and storing it into memory. Leibniz emphasized that nothing material (such as the activation of a sense receptor) could ever cause an idea that is nonmaterial. (169) The rationalists emphasized the importance of innate structures, principals, or concepts and stated that because nothing material could come from anything nonmaterial that certain ideas must be innate. Having introduced rationalism I find it only appropriate that irrationalism should have a breif introduction of its history. Irrationalism was a philosophical movement which started as a cultural reaction against positivism in the early 20th century. The perspective of irrationalism opposed or de-emphasized the importance of the rationality of human beings. Part of the movements involved claims that science was inferior to intuition. Rationalism, I find, is void of certain accuracy. The rationalist’s first assumption that truths can only be arrived at by such processes as logical deduction, analysis, argument, and intuition, is false. I wish to emphasize the notion that logical deduction, analysis, argument, and intuition are not to be brushed off lightly and given little importance. On the contrary they are in fact valuable, however only if they are employed with an emphasis on the irrational view of emotion. The rationalists assume that emotions are not necessary and truths can be reached by reason alone. This is false. Although the girls in the beginning of the story experienced an emotional rat fright, they were able to use their logical reasoning and their emotional drive to come to a solution. Is it not through your emotions that you are moved to action? Without emotions the rationalists would not have come up with any logical theory in the first place! They would have had no drive to come up with another theory, no passion. I cannot imagine every rationalist unenthused in his work. Through personal experience I have come to understand the importance of emotion. There have been occasions in my life that I over-rationalized. Reluctantly I’ll admit that perhaps it happens on more than just occasions, it is a constant burden to me and hinders my current and future relationships. My ex-boyfriend and I would get into an argument, as couples often do, and I would analyze the situation in my mind to attempt to come to a conclusion of how we achieved this particular position. How did I approach it; how did he? Was I overly critical and picky? Why did I respond in that way? Was it a past hurt? Could it be from my childhood when my favorite Hamster Gus-Gus died, and I felt personally hurt by God? What about him, did he have the same amount of childhood damage as me; another hamster trauma perhaps? At this point I had analyzed the situation to such an extent that I couldn’t even remember what the argument was about in the first place. It was then that I realized that I needed to become an irrational being: irrational in the worlds respect anyway. I became an emotional person and therefore respectively irrational. This is often rejected in our society; emotions are largely frowned upon. A professor once mentioned the need for me to think less and feel more, and I decided that I should do just that; feel. My second criticism of the rationalists is the notion that no material thing can cause a nonmaterial idea. Leibniz invites us to imagine a machine or human being capable of thinking (of having ideas). Then he asks us to imagine increasing the size of that machine to the point where we could enter it and look around. According to Leibniz, our exploration would yield only interacting, physical parts. Nothing we would see, whether examining the machine or a human being, could possibly explain the origin of an idea. (169) Because ideas cannot be created by anything physical like the brain; they must be innate. Through study of Artificial Intelligence (AI), a branch of computer science that deals with intelligent behavior, learning and adaptation in machines, we see that innate ideas are infact nonexistent. According to Encyclopedia Britannica, research in AI is concerned with producing machines  to automate tasks requiring intelligent behavior. (Artificial Intelligence 2) Examples of such intelligent behavior include control, planning and scheduling, the ability to answer diagnostic and consumer questions, handwriting, speech, and facial recognition. The idea of producing an artificial sentient being is not new, infact it is an ancient idea and is featured in numerous myths, the Golem, the Greek promethean myth, mechanical men in Chrà ©tien de Troyes, and the creature in Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein being examples. In science fiction, artificial conscious beings often take the form of robots or artificial intelligences. Artificial consciousness is an interesting philosophical problem because, with increased understanding of genetics, neuroscience and information processing, it is possible to create a conscious entity. The myths of writers and philosophers are no longer myths. In order to avoid ambiguity and confusion I will define the term â€Å"artificial intelligence† based on the literal meanings of â€Å"artificial† and â€Å"intelligence†. According to Websters dictionary the term artificial refers to something which is not natural, often implying that it was created or manufactured by humans and intelligence is the capacitiy to reason, plan, solve problems, think abstractly, comprehend ideas and language, and learn. (Websters 3). Throughout the past decade there has been a debate between strong AI and weak AI philosophers which tackles the question, ‘can a man-made artifact be conscious?’ This question involves philosophy of mind and the mind-body problem. In the philosophy of artificial intelligence, strong AI is the supposition that some forms of artificial intelligence can truly reason and solve problems; strong AI supposes that it is possible for machines to become sapient, or self-aware. (Markie 1) The term strong AI was originally coined by John Searle, who writes: â€Å"according to strong AI, the computer is not merely a tool in the study of the mind; rather, the appropriately programmed computer really is a mind.† Artificial consciousness (AC), also known as machine consciousness (MC) or synthetic  consciousness, is a field related to artificial intelligence and cognitive robotics whose aim is to define that which would have to be synthesized were consciousness to be found in an engineered artifact. AI systems are now in routine use in economics, medicine, engineering and the military, as well as being built into many common home computer software applications, traditional strategy games like computer chess and other video games. Through the rationalistic perspecive we observed the mind as active, the emotions passive, and the notion that no material thing can cause an nonmaterial idea; however from the viewpoint of irrationality I proved that: 1) Emotion is in fact not passive and 2) Intelligence indeed can be created materially through Artificial Intelligence. Works Cited 1) Markie, Peter. Rationalism vs. Empiricism. 13 Aug. 2004. 12 Aug. 2006. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rationalism 2) â€Å"Artificial intelligence.† Encyclopedia Britannica. 2006. Encyclopedia Britannica Premium Service. 12 Aug. 2006 . 3) â€Å"Artificial.† Merriam-Webster Dictionary. 2006. 12 Aug. 2006. http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/artificial 4) Hergenhahn, B. R. An Introduction to the History to Psychology Belmont, CA: Transcendental Printing, 2005.

Overview of the Research Process for Business Students

What is Research? People undertake research in order to find things out in a systematic way, thereby increasing their knowledge (Jankowicz, 1995). â€Å"Systematic† suggests that research is based on logical relationships and not just beliefs (Ghauri and Gronhaug, 2010). To â€Å"find things out† suggests there are a multiplicity of possible purposes for your research (Becker, 1998). It is therefore an activity which has to be finished at some point to be of use.The results of research really are all around us in everyday life. Politicians often justify their policy decisions on the basis of research; Newspapers report the findings of research companies. Documentary programmes tell us about research findings and advertisers may highlight the results of research to encourage consumers to buy a particular product or brand. The most difficult hurdle to overcome in doing research is not in learning the techniques or doing the actual work or even writing the report.The bigge st obstacle, surprisingly, lies in figuring out what you want to know. Two problems are very common: choosing a topic which is too broad†¦ or â€Å"dressing up† a topic (Kane, 1987) Formulating and clarifying the research topic is the starting point of research (Ghauri and Gronhaug, 2010; Smith and Dainty 1991). Most research originates from a general problem. Usually, the problem is broad enough that it could not be addressed in a single research study.Consequently, the problem is narrowed into a more specific research question. A well-constructed research question is one described by Maylor and Blackmon (2005, p. 54) which â€Å"identifies the scope of the research and guides the plan of the project†. The research question is the central issue being addressed in the study and from this research objectives can be set. The table below sets out criteria to help devise useful research objectives. Criterion| Purpose|Transparency| The meaning of the research objective is clear and unambiguous| Specificity| The purpose of the research objective is clear and easily understood, as are the actions required to fulfil it| Relevancy| The research objective’s link to the research question and wider research project is clear| Interconnectivity| Taken together as a set, the research objectives illustrate the steps in the research process from its start to its conclusion, without leaving any gaps. In this way the research objectives form a coherent whole| Answerability| The intended outcome of the research objective is achievable.Where this relates to data, the nature of the data required will be clear or at least implied| Measurability| The intended product of the research objective will be evident when it has been achieved| Saunders (2012) Research Methods for Business Students, Table 2. 3 p. 44 Literature Review A literature review is a body of text that aims to review the critical points of current knowledge on a particular topic. Its ultimate g oal is to bring the reader up to date with current literature and forms the basis for another goal, such as justification for future research the area. Knowledge does not exist in a vacuum, and your work only has value in relation to other peoples† (Jankowicz, 2005). It seeks to describe, summarise, evaluate, and clarify/integrate the content of previous researches and assists in limiting the scope of inquiry while conveying the importance of studying a topic to readers. Literature sources available include Primary, Secondary and Tertiary. Primary data is original data that has been collected from the original source with a purpose in mind.Secondary sources are the subsequent publication of primary literature and tertiary sources (search tools) are designed to either help locate primary and secondary literature or to introduce a topic. Tertiary Indexes Databases Catalogues Encyclopaedias Dictionaries Bibliographies Citation Indexes Secondary Journals Books Newspapers Governmen t Publications Primary Reports Theses Emails Company Reports Unpublished Manuscripts Some Government Publications Increasing time to publish Increasing level of detail Saunders (2012) Research Methods for Business Students Table 3. 3, p82 Primary versus Secondary ResearchPrimary data has not been published and so is more reliable, authentic and objective. It has not been changed or altered by human beings therefore its validity is greater than secondary data however it is important to remember it can only be considered as reliable as the people who gathered it. Gathering data in this way is time consuming, and incurs a high cost. More resources tend to be required and it can result in inaccurate feedback. Secondary data is less valid but it is readily available and can be reused. It is cheaper and quicker to obtain in comparison to primary data.In some circumstances primary data does not exist and so one has to confine the research of secondary data. The Research Process Research is not neutral, but reflects a range of the researcher’s personal interests, values, abilities, assumptions aims and ambitions. â€Å"The research philosophy depends on the way you think about the development of knowledge† (Saunders et al. 2000, p. 84) Collis and Hussey (2003, p. 52) highlight two main research philosophies and detail that there can be overlap between the two and both positions may be identifiable in any research project. They are the positivistic and phenomenological.Positivistic approaches are founded on the belief that the study of human behaviour should be conducted in the same way as studies conducted in the natural sciences. Therefore seeking to identify measure and evaluate any phenomena and to provide a rational explanation for it. This approach attempts to establish casual links and relationships between the different elements (or variables) of the subject and relate them to a particular theory or practice. Phenomenological approaches however, a pproach research from the perspective of understanding behaviour from the participants’ own subjective frames of reference.Research methods are chosen, therefore, to try and describe, translate and explain and interpret events from the perspectives of the people who are the subject of the research. The following diagram describes the research process â€Å"onion† that supports the researcher to â€Å"depict the issues underlying the choice of data collection methods† (Saunders, 2012 Research Methods for Business Students, Fig 4. 1, p. 128) The layers of research represent the following aspects: * Research philosophy; * Research approach; * Research strategy/methodology; * Time horizons; and * Data collection methods Research Approach – Deductive or Inductive? It is the theory that decides what can be observed† Albert Einstein Bryan & Bell (2007) state that the researcher will either use: 1) deductive in which a theory and hypothesis is developed and a strategy is designed to test the hypothesis, or 2) inductive approach will be used in which the data is collected and as the result of data analysis theory and hypothesis are developed. However, Mason (2001, p. 181) supports the use of more than one research approach, â€Å"it is worth pointing out that most research strategies (approaches) in practice probably draw on a combination of these (inductive or deductive) approaches†.What is the difference between method and methodology? A method is a technique used for gathering evidence or the various ways in which proceeding in gathering information. Methodology is the underlying theory of how research does or should proceed, often influenced by discipline. Research Strategy The research strategy is of paramount important in setting the parameters and creating the credibility of any study. According to Collis and Hussey (2003, p. 55) research methodology refers to the overall approaches and perspectives to the research proces s as a whole and is concerned with the following main issues: Why you collected certain data; * What data you collected; * Where you collected it; * How you collected it; * How you analysed it The choice of research strategy is dependent on the research questions and objectives, the extent of existing knowledge, the amount of time and resources available and the philosophical foundations (Saunders et al. 2007). There are various research strategies proposed by different authors including experiment, survey, case study, action research, grounded theory and ethnography. Experiment is a classical form of research which allows studying the effect of change, an independent variable can bring in another dependent variable (Hakim, 2000) * Survey is a methodology which is usually associated with the deductive approach and is mostly used in the situations where there is a need to collect the data from a large population in an economical manner (Saunder et al, 2007) * Case Study is defined as a â€Å"strategy for doing research which involves an empirical investigation of a particular contemporary phenomenon within its real life context using multiple sources of evidence† (Robson, 2000: 178) * Action Research is focused on finding a way to bring about a change in a controlled environment * Grounded theory is often thought of as the best example of inductive approach as the hypothesis is developed from the data generated by a series of observations (Glaser & Strauss, 1967) * Ethnography is a research strategy which focuses on acquiring the social knowledge in order to understand the observed patterns of human activity (Hussey & Hussey, 1997) Ethical Issues Ethical concerns may emerge at all stages of research. Saunders et al. (2007, p. 31) summarise the main issues to consider, although ethical issues surrounding these items are not always clear: * The rights of privacy of individuals * Voluntary nature of participation – and the rights of individuals to wi thdraw partially or completely from the process * Consent and possible deception of participants (Appendix ? ) * Maintenance of confidentiality of data provided by individuals or identifiable participants and their anonymity * Reactions of participants to the ways which researchers seek to collect data * Effects on participants of the way data is analysed and reported * Behaviour and objectivity of the researcher Reliability and Validity

Mergers and acquisitions continue to be made when so many fail Essay

Critically evaluate why so many mergers and acquisitions continue to be made when so many fail. The phenomenon of mergers and acquisitions (M&A’s) triggers an array of opinions and viewpoints. Often it is a strategy that is seen as a perfect way of achieving growth. It is by no means an organic or natural route to success, but has tended to be a quick and easy way of increasing an organisations size and power. However although there has been ‘waves’ of popularity and success since its introduction in the 1960’s it has also suffered criticism due to the amount of failures it has accounted for. Despite the strong suggestion that this strategy has been the architect for many an organisations downfall there still remains a propensity in the current business environment for managers to adopt it. Throughout this essay I am going to examine some of the areas that explain M&A’s volatility and attempt to discover why managers are persevering with the strategy when it is seemingly flawed. Over the last few decades it has become increasing apparent that the effect of mergers and acquisitions is not as beneficial as once thought. When the growth strategy was pioneered in the middle part of the nineteen hundreds it was looked upon as a way of creating an empire across different sectors and countries. Many experienced managers were sucked into the strategy, only having eyes for the apparent synergistical and positive affects of M&A’s. Although over the following years there has been many success stories concerning M&A’s, when the big picture is examined it displays a more ugly side of the phenomenon. Hodge (1998) discovered that ‘in the go-go ’80s, 37% of mergers outperformed the average shareholder return in that period; in the first half of the ’90s, that figure rose to 54%’. Despite the encouraging increase during the early ’90s there remains a disturbing reality that ‘barely one-half of the m&a deals of recent years delivered shareholder value that outperformed even the relevant industry average, much less provided an adequate return on investment’. Added to this he also highlighted that ‘only a paltry 25% of deals valued at 30% or more of the acquirer’s annual revenues could be counted as success’. These statistics represent the flaws that exist within the strategy of M&A’s and clash with the positive theory that ‘analysts and investors expect the merged enterprises to be greater than the sum of its parts’ (Doitte and Smith 1998). Coopers and Lybrand (1993) along with many other writers have studied and expanded on some of the key factors that limit that usefulness of M&A’s. Target management attitudes and cultural differences ‘heads the list of impediments to the successful melding of two organisations’ (Davenport 1998). This is appropriate not only in the case of cross-border mergers (Daimler Benz-Chrysler) where there many obvious points of concern such as language and communication, but also within the collaboration of firms based in the same country and even industry. Management often have their own ‘way of working’ that suits both themselves and their employees, which may be generated through national or corporate culture. This is generally characterised by unique and individual working practices amongst different firms nation and worldwide. Therefore when a merger or acquisition takes place the result is the combining of two sets of cultures in an attempt to work together. In most cases the merge looks both safe and profitable in theory, however management frequently underestimate the power of culture. For example when Mellon Bank and the Boston Co merged in 1993 they failed to consider how ‘cultural conflict could drain the combined company of its most important acquired asset of the talents of Boston Co.’s money-management wizards. Offended by Mellon’s cost-conscious management style, a key executive left the organisation. Within the next three months, he had taken 30 of his co-workers with him, along with $3.5 billion assets and many of the firm’s clients’ (Davenport 1998). I think this example emphasizes the risk associated with M&A’s due to their inevitable degree of unpredictability. For this reason alone it is hard to imagine a full proof argument advocating their use in modern business. Another factor that makes M&A’s a high-risk strategy is the fact that management often have limited knowledge of the industry they are entering. This is obviously the case when two firms from unrelated backgrounds merge (conglomerate integration). In this case management are unaware of the way the industry works and are restricted to simply understanding the bare bones of the business. ‘Differences in traditions, expectations, buying and specification practices, packaging, logistics, labelling, and legal customs and issues can have a surprisingly profound impact on the post-acquisition viability of a target company’ (Price and Sloane 1998). These differences along with more obvious changes such as product, market and customers make life awkward for management. In most industries it takes time to develop and form bonds with suppliers, customers and even local communities. These types of bonds are usually a result of personal relationships and even friendships that have grown through dealings and negotiations over a long period. M&A’s break up many of these ties across the industry and leave new management with the task to start fresh alliances. In many cases the change is not well received and an organisation that essentially is unchanged in terms of its core activities can fail. The art of creating a post-acquisition integration plan is also extremely important, but is difficult to master. ‘Unfortunately, for many companies, it is this phase that the deal fails because the parties focus too much on the financial aspect of the merger or acquisition without adequately addressing the people components that must be considered to forge two organizations into one cohesive entity’ (Doitte and Smith 1998). Employees are often neglected through the process of M&A’s and even if attention is given to them there is generally a lack of meaningful consultation. Although it is an area that is very tricky to get right from a managerial perspective it is vital if the strategy is to succeed. ‘If managers of each company shut themselves off from their employees, employees will feel adrift. Employees’ resulting low morale and lack of direction will lead to high personnel turnover’ (Heitner 1998). This is simply another factor, which makes the strategy of M&A’s so difficult to implement and along with the previously mentioned problematic areas explains why their success rate is only around 50%. However despite the fact that many investment bankers and journalists believe the difference between their success and failure is ‘a coin toss at best’ (Davenport 1998) organisations continue to utilise them. A major reason behind M&A’s continued use is the amount of advantages an organisation can potentially gain by undergoing a successful merger or acquisition. Although there are many risks and pitfalls involved when the strategy is undertaken management clearly believe the prospective benefits outweigh these possible drawbacks. In modern business globalisation has in many cases become a necessity rather than a luxury. Firms are now desperate to expand into foreign countries in order for them to compete in uninhabited lucrative markets and increase their competitive advantage. If global markets are entered successfully it gives organisations the chance to exploit resources, synergies and opportunities. However there is also a sense that in the global marketplace ‘bigger is better’ (Doitte and Smith 1998) and firms have to be of a certain size to be able to compete. In order to break into global markets organisations need to grow and often quickly so ground is not lost on competitors. In this situation M&A’s are the most attractive option for managers. They represent a ‘leap’ approach whereby firms can experience this desired growth rapidly. Managers are aware that it is the growth strategy that carries the highest risk, but often feel they have little choice. The modern busin ess world demands innovation and expansion and if companies stand still they will simply get left behind. Firms often use M&A’s as a way of diversifying. A well-executed diversification strategy can widen an organisations product portfolio and therefore spread an organisations risk. This means entering different markets in order to reduce dependence upon current products and customers. Selling a range of different products to various groups of consumers will mean that if any one product fails, sales of the other products should keep the business healthy. As a result firms in this situation are less susceptible in market downturns and recessions. It is unlikely that a slump occurs in two diverse markets, but even in a case of a recession, where there are generally negative affects across the board, the organisation with added critical mass is in a better position to weather the crisis. The simplest way for management to achieve this diversification is to merge or takeover another company. It saves time and money being spent developing new products for markets in which the firm may have no expertise. Richard Branson and Virgin has been a major exponent of this over the last decade. His brand now covers air travel, music and even soft drinks! This is a perfect example how M&A’s can produce multi-million pound empires extremely quickly. However many organisations can become influenced by such stories and attempt to mirror the success without fully understanding whether it’s the right move in their own business situation. Market power is also a reason firms adopt M&A’s. This is usually generated when two competitors in the same market merge in what is called horizontal integration. The potential benefits for the purchaser are extremely attractive and hard to ignore. There is huge scope for cost cutting by eliminating duplication of sales force, distribution and marketing overheads and by improved capacity utilisation. There is also the opportunity for major economies of scale and increased prices due to the reduction in competition. Coca-Cola achieved this type of acquisition when taking over Orangina, a distinctive product with very strong distribution in France. Here Coca-Cola identified Orangina’s customer base as one that they struggled to attract and decided for them to increase their market power they needed to acquire the brand. However, this is by no means the correct move for all firms. The merge between car manufacturers Daimler Benz and Chrysler has been ridden with problems since its launch in 1998. Sometimes a merge in this way creates twice the size, but double the problems. Similar to the idea of joining forces with a competitor to gain market power, management can undertake a merger or acquisition to ‘block’ competitors in doing so. This tactic usually comes in the form of a vertical integration where one firm takes over or merges with another at a different stage in the production process, but within the same industry. An example of this is brewery Whitbread’s purchase of restaurant chain Beefeater. This type of M&A does not only guarantee outlets for your products or develop closer links with suppliers, it can also go some way to freezing out the threat of competitors. However it is not wise for management to undertake a merge with the sole intention to damage competitors. It is important, first and foremost, that the strategy has synergistical affects for them the acquirer as otherwise it may struggle. As I have highlighted there are undoubted gains offered by successful M&A’s. These attractive advantages can often persuade managers, sometimes wrongly, to implement a mergers or acquisitions of their own. The hope is that their organisation can in practice reap the rewards that the theory says is possible. The reality is that many fail because the strategy is mismatch with other objectives and inappropriate in their current position. Despite managements good intentions their judgement has been clouded by the large potential gains M&A’s can offer. However it is not always the case that management adopt the strategy strictly because of the apparent advantages it can for their firm. There is a school of thought that justifiably believes that top management frequently have ulterior motives when adopting M&A’s. The belief is that decisions made concerning them are not necessarily in the main interests of the organisation, but more centred on what is best for them as individuals. As a result managers may proceed with poor value acquisitions in order to meet personal goals or even objectives they think ‘should’ be met. The ’empire-building syndrome’ is a main contributor here. As an organisation grows it becomes a more important player in its industry. Naturally as the size and power of the firm increases as does the importance of its management and with this comes higher remuneration and social status. Also ‘executive compensation may increase as a result of an increase in firm size, even when there is no corresponding increase in shareholders’ wealth’ (Jenson 1986). It is clear that a merger or acquisition strategy can work well for top management regardless of its overall success for the firm. In the same way management can be influenced by prospective financial and prestige rewards, they may also be interested in satisfying their self-fulfilment goals. In low growth markets management can feel they are not exhausting their full energy and talents. In order for them to experience this type of self or job fulfilment they may choose to grow their firm via a merger or acquisition. This may present the perfect challenge for management, but not necessarily ideal challenge for their organisation. Finally job security is also an important managerial motive. A merger or acquisition can diverse risk and minimise the costs of financial distress and that of bankruptcy. This added stability helps prevent an organisation becoming an acquisition target themselves. Although the decision might not be in the best interests of the firm and shareholders, management solidify their own position. Along with the other negative managerial motives they represent a clear reason why M&A’s continue to be used in the light of so many failures. In conclusion I feel the topic of M&A’s and the reasons behind their sustained use in business is now much clearer. It is initially very difficult to fathom any organisation adopting a strategy that only has a success rate of around 50%. Dominant factors such culture and management inexperience seem to make any merger or acquisition an uphill struggle. However when the topic is examined closer the reasons behind these decisions are more obvious. In the modern business environment businesses are constantly looking to better themselves and stay one-step ahead of competition. It is wrong to claim that as a result organisations are forced into strategies that stimulate rapid growth, but there is a definite feeling that factors such as globalisation and increased market power are the best route to success. As these are two hallmarks of the M&A phenomenon it is no real surprise that management frequently decide that it might be their best strategy regardless of their poor success rate. It is this risk taking mentality, that has become a characteristic of 21st century management, allied with the more cynical decision making habits some managers have adopted has kept the use of M&A’s high. Added to the fact that in the right context M&A’s can be an efficient and highly profitable growth strategy it is easy to see how they have had and will continue to have a great use in business regardless of their failures. Bibliography Textbooks Glanville & Belton (1998) ‘M&A’s are transforming the World’ Ivey Business Journal, Autumn; Customer text-section 2, topic 11. Kieran et al (1994) ‘Planning the deals that generate value and gain advantage’, Mergers and Acquisitions, March-April; Custom text, topic 12. Journals Doitte S & Smith G (1998). ‘The morning after (avoiding mistakes in acquisitions and mergers)’. Winter v63 i2 p32(8). Davenport, T (1998). ‘The Integration Challenge (managing corporate mergers’ Management Review. Heitner M (1998). ‘The thorny business of merging rival firms’, Mergers and Acquisitions. Hodge, K (1998), ‘The art of the post deal (outcomes of mergers)’. Management Review. Price, A & Sloane, J (1998). ‘Global Designs: Tough Challenges for Acquirers’. Mergers and Acquisitions.. Whipple J & Frankel R (2000), ‘Strategic Alliance Success Factors’. The Journal of Supply Chain Management.

Business innovating Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Business innovating - Coursework Example ry passage point is referred to as a single locus that is able to shape and mobilize the local network and develop control over all transactions between the local and the global networks in market innovation context. Local network is the relationship between various agents in market setting in which optimization of gains is the central focus within the local market while global is the international perspective of the business innovation diffusion in regard to Actor-Network theory. Intermediaries can be defined as entities which make no difference and so can be ignored as they merely transport the force of some other entity more or less without transformation and so are fairly uninteresting. On the other hand, mediators are entities that multiply difference and so should be the object of study as their outputs cannot be predicted by their inputs. The two concepts are derived from actor-network theory. A typical example is silk and nylon and how they are defined in different societal

France Nationalism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

France Nationalism - Essay Example n the late 18th century, tracing back to events like the French revolution (Smith 3-7) Nationalism in France relates to among other things, the nation’s growth process, feeling of belonging among the citizens, political and social movements on its behalf and the general and particular doctrine of France being nation (Stovall & Van 33-191). Nationalism emerges in two categories with that of France being civic in nature besides demonstrating some unique and special features. Nationalism in the nation emerges in different phases with the present and past trends sharing some similarities while also exhibiting differences. Moreover, the negative and positive impacts of the concept which hinges extensively on the French revolution are widespread. Among the impacts institute economic changes in France. Further, there exist future prediction of the economy and other facets of French nationalism being among the frequently discussed subjects in the nation’s history. Nationalism in France is a factor that incessantly grows. The process is social and political in nature just as the chase is in other parts of the globe. This manifests in the involvement of political entities in the espousal of the standpoints of the Political Party National Front. This is in line with the party’s growing popularity. According to the article, ‘France: The Growing Popularity of Nationalism’ (n.p), this movement reflects on the ideals of the party which point to the failure of multiculturalism. Moreover, the incursion of immigrants also continues to put at risk the traditional secularism nature of the nation. According to Fraioli (pp. 55-71), French nationalism is a factor of the struggles of Joan of Arc whose reference to her supporters as Frenchmen attained a lot of popularity. Besides the period after the French revolution saw French nationalism rise as a movement. The ideals of equality, fraternity and liberty which defined the French revoluti ons became part of the phenomenon

David cole interviews dr. franciszek piper ( RESPOND ) Movie Review

David cole interviews dr. franciszek piper ( RESPOND ) - Movie Review Example The point Cole tries to make here is that most of the evidence and facts about mass homicides at Auschwitz were either incorrect or exaggerated by the Soviet Union to serve their propaganda during the time of war and how on a larger scale, facts and figures of war have been manipulated in favor of the victorious. Cole’s documentary questions various undisputed facts and points out the anomalies in what has become an irrefutable part of human history. His interview with Senior Curator and Head of Archives at Auschwitz State Museum Dr. Franciszek Piper reveals some very interesting and at the same time contradictory information about the camp and the gas chamber that was used for mass homicide. After his visit to the camp in 1992 and based on years of research, Cole observes that Piper’s version of the gas chamber operations, its reconstruction by the Soviet Union, and the use of Zyklon B are inconsistent and highly debatable. Cole says that the Soviets exaggerated facts bringing the death toll to 4 million when the reality was only 1.1 and much of the evidences put forward during the Nuremberg trial were discredited later on or found to be false. Cole opines that if Hess was hanged for running an internment camp in Auschwitz where people died of disease and malnutrition, then the thousands of Japanese who died in the United States and the Germans killed in the post war POW camp under similar conditions should also be made accountable. Finally he suggests that war crimes do not have easy and justifiable answers without raising

Economics of Sport Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Economics of Sport - Essay Example Without this sports excitement, the league and the events would be dull and would not attract fans and customers. The uniqueness of the sports world lies in the fact that they develop their business on selling competition. One of the key features of the economics of sports is that the demand for its product is related to the uncertainty of the outcome (Garland, Malcom & Rowe, 2000). The league attempts to restrict competition so that no one team is able to gain too much market power or excessive dominance. If any team of professional team sports gains monopoly, it would cause the revenue to disappear altogether (Garland, Malcom & Rowe, 2000). There are many ways to measure competitive balances, the most frequently used metrics are standard deviation and win percentages of the teams for a given year, ratio of the actual to idealized standardized standard deviation of win percentages, ratio of top to bottom win percentages, the range of win percentages, the gini coefficient of win percentages and the excess tail frequencies (Zimbalist, 2004). It is assumed that fans have a strong preference of uncertainty of outcomes for the purpose of hopes and expectations. The best measure to use would be one to which consumers show most sensitivity (Zimbalist, 2004). In his book â€Å"Handbook of sports economics† (2006) Fizel explains that there are many measures of competitive balance, but their efficacy is still argued over. However the arguments over the relative efficacy are due to the inability to understand the distinction between the three main elements of competitive balance. remain at the top and those which are not remain at the bottom for long periods of time. Although it is widely agree that competitive balance is essential for keeping fans interested, it has also been viewed that in certain cases the home team’s performance has a significant impact on the attendance. This is in contrast to the hypotheses of uncertainty of outcome. This probability

Should the government intervene in the OTC markets, pros and cons and Research Paper

Should the government intervene in the OTC markets, pros and cons and US versus Canada - Research Paper Example Securities traded in this market are not listed on the organized stock exchanges such as the Nasdaq Stock market. Some securities that are traded in the over the counter markets include common stocks, bonds, and derivatives such as forward contracts and interest rate swaps. OTC market is conducted through brokers and dealers thus is a negotiated market where trading is carried out through computer systems and telephone conversations (Poitras 61). The securities traded on OTC market are usually small since the issuers have not met the listing requirements. Though Nasdaq trades through a network of dealers, it is not an OTC market but an organized stock exchange market where trading is carried out on the floor (Poitras 73). Each year, billions of dollars are exchanged in the OTC market. OTC market mainly consists of derivative financial assets such as the forward contracts, interest rate swaps and options. The derivative market has experienced a phenomenal growth since 2000. Derivative instruments were designed for the agricultural industry to hedge the farmers against crop failure, or expected price movements. Derivative contracts have been extended to the main sectors of the economy including oil industry, gold markets and financial sector. Derivatives have the potential of hedging against unforeseen risks and price moments but are subject to abuse by greedy investors (Wood 67). The Commodity Future Trading commission has the mandate of regulating the derivatives market including derivatives traded in the stock exchanges. The derivatives traded in the exchange markets account for $ 334 trillion each year meaning the value of the underlying assets involved is also $ 334 trillion. The main derivatives in the exchange markets are options and future contracts. However, most of the derivative instruments do not trade on the exchange markets, but are transacted in the OTC market. Each year, $ 684 trillion of underlying assets are traded in the OTC market where most of the derivative assets traded include the interest rate swaps, currency swaps, credit default swaps, commodity indexes and exchange rate swaps (Madura 90). Derivative contracts have one similar feature since their value depends on the price movements of the underlying asset (Wood 87). The underlying asset may be a physical commodity or a stock market index or the rate of interest prevailing in the mar ket. Derivative instruments such as options, swaps and future or forward contracts lose or gain value as the underlying asset changes in value even though the holder of the derivative may not be the owner of the underlying asset (Madura 117). Millions of business firms use the derivative instruments to manage foreign exchange risks. Firms protect their profitability against the raw material price increase by entering in to a derivative contract that automatically increases in value when price of the raw material increase. For instance, Southwest Airlines managed to purchase jet fuel at lower prices in 2008 when the energy prices were soaring since it had entered in to a derivative position (Madura 198). Generally, there are two categories of derivative contracts. The first is the option contract that providers the option holder the choice of buying or selling the underlying asset over a certain period of time. The other is the future contract, this contract obligates the holder to b uy or sell the underlying asset on the expiry of the contract period. All other derivatives such as options and swaps have evolved from the above two derivative contrac

Discussion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 39

Discussion - Essay Example Currently, Europe hosts a number of workforce who are from various countries and various continents, and they make up 6% of the workforce population in Europe. However, with migration especially excessive migration comes several challenges, for example, one of the greatest challenge is marginalization of immigrants in cities, schools and at the workplace (Sutherland & Malmstrom para1). Unlike the United States, Europe has not come to the acknowledgement that there is land for immigrants in Europe so as to cater for the high number of people born in European land. Another challenge is finding jobs, which is highly difficult for blacks and other immigrants as priority is only granted to whites. In addition, acquiring loans for housing is difficult for an immigrant, thus, most end up not owning homes. In order to survive, most migrants enter into marriage with the citizens in order to have access to the country’s resources and attain good welfare. Finally, there is a lack of clea r guidelines and policies on migration and related issues. Russia interferes in the politics of its neighbors, which has resulted in widespread protests in countries like Ukraine. It even led to skirmishes with countries like Georgia. Is Russia correct to keep its neighborhood under its influence? Is the United States still in a position of moral superiority to condemn Russian tactics? What are your views? Russia has been on the world headlines for all the wrong reasons during the past years. Its emergence as mighty country has seen it interfere with the politics and issues of her neighbors at will. A recent one is the Ukraine crisis, in which to make matters worse, she warns the western countries against involvement in the Ukrainian crisis; thus, frustrate all chances of bring the crisis to an end. I think that the actions of Russia are uncalled for, especially interfering with its neighbors political affairs. Every country is sovereign, and Russia

Law Problem Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Law Problem - Essay Example Jean-Guy Tremblay as the respondent. The judges present at the hearing were Brian Dickson C.J. and Lamer, Wilson, Gerard La Forest, Claire, L'Heureux-Dube, Sopinka, Gonthier, Cory and McLachlin The Facts The parties in this case were in a relationship which ended after five months of cohabitation. This was because of the beating which Tremblay used to hand Daigle, despite knowing of her pregnancy. At the time of separation, the appellant was 18 weeks pregnant. She, however, decided to undertake an abortion following the separation. The respondent sought an injunction from the court seeking to prevent the mother from having the abortion. The father of the unborn child wanted the court to grant his unborn child right to life. The trial judge in this court found that a foetus is a "human being" under the Quebec Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms. He therefore concluded that the foetus should be accorded a "right to life" under s. 1 (Tremblay, para. 2). Through considering this, the ju dge ruled that the respondent had the necessary â€Å"interest† to make the request for an injunction. The Quebec charter of human rights and freedoms provides for the protection of a foetus before birth (Art. 945). In this article, mechanisms for the protection of a foetus are provided. The article does not, however, accord any additional rights and freedoms to the foetus. The Supreme Court considered these facts before rendering a decision on the appeal. The Anglo- Canadian law does recognize a foetus to be a â€Å"human being† with the aim of protecting its future. It however, goes ahead to define that the rights and freedoms enjoyed by humans can only be accorded to a foetus when it is born alive. This meant that the foetus had to be born first for it to enjoy the privileges enjoyed by other â€Å"humans†. The father at this point was seeking to protect the unborn baby. The foetus is not in a position to defend itself in a court of law. The protection of a f oetus can only be done by a third party who has an interest in the future of the baby. The lower court based its ruling on the fact that the father had interest on the baby and was acting as a third party to protect the foetus. The ruling by a lower court awarding the respondent in this Supreme Court case injunction is what led to the appeal. The court of appeal, however, dismissed the appellant’s case and upheld the injunction that had been earlier awarded. Ms. Daigle, the appellant, then went on and appealed in the Supreme Court. Before the Supreme Court made its decision, she left the province of Quebec and went to the United States of America to terminate the pregnancy. Prior proceedings In the Quebec superior court, the father was the plaintiff while the mother was defendant. The father sought injunction to bar the mother from having an abortion. The court concluded that a foetus is a â€Å"human being† under the Quebec Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms. It the refore should enjoy a â€Å"right to life† and a â€Å"right to assistance† under ss. 1 and 2 respectively. While recognizing the inconvenience that would be caused by the injunction, the court decided the foetus’ rights should prevail in the situation (Tremblay, para. 3 & 4). The defendant appealed to the Quebec court of appeal and the case was dismissed for two reasons. First,

Wonderful Adventures of Mrs. Seacole in Many Lands Assignment

Wonderful Adventures of Mrs. Seacole in Many Lands - Assignment Example It was authored by Mary Seacole, a Jamaican-born who became famous because of the work she was doing as a nurse during the Crimean (Seacole 15). The book has received universal acclaim as one of the most comprehensible and fulfilling autobiographies of the 19th Century. This is attributed to the fact that the book revolves around a culturally sanctioned and self-reliant feminine. Mrs. Seacole fashioned her own identity despite the fact that other people assigned her other identities. This paper shall seek to address how she thought of herself in relation to the world, as well as how other people viewed her. It will also examine the ways in which Mary Seacole demarcated herself in terms of her imperial and national identities. In the book, Mary Seacole has depicted herself as a self-willed woman who cannot be brought down due to her race and economic status. In as much as she was a Creole, a half-cast between a Scottish father and a Jamaican mother, she was determined to go extra mile s and help people. She has managed to construct her racial image to the readers carefully, as well as those whom she came in contact with during her journeys. She makes minimal reference to her skin color except when people around her point it out. She lives her life normally without making her skin color an issue; while those living around her have an issue with her color. This is best demonstrated when she boarded a ship from Navy Bay to Jamaica with several Americans on board (Seacole 90).

Teen Pregnancy Essay Example for Free

Teen Pregnancy Essay Teen pregnancy is a health issue in New Zealand because it is a matter which has significant public importance as a society we value a woman having children once they are educated and fanatically stable but teen pregnancy goes against the social value. New Zealand has one of the highest teen pregnancy rates in the developed world almost 4000 babies born to teen parents a year. ’’ Since 2000, births 15-19 year olds have been trending upwards again with the birth rate increasing between 2001 and 2008 from 27. 5 births per 1000 women in 2000 to 33 births per 1000 in 2008. The number of births to this age group in 2008 was 5185, compared with 3787 in 2000. ’’(1). The social factors contibute to teen pregnancy one of ‘the reasons which highlight at risk teenagers it is widely acknowledge that children who were born to teenage parents are more likely to become teenage parents themselves’(2). Since they would think that is right to get pregnant at a young age because their mother fell pregnant when she was young they would just follow what they did also they would think if their mother has done it then why can’t they do it. This is a bad influence from their mothers and that is the one of the reasons why so many teenagers are getting pregnant more and more every year and also getting younger and younger to get pregnant. In 2009, there were 4,670 births to women under 20 years in New Zealand. Approximately two thirds of these were to 18 and 19 year olds. There were an estimated 6,000 mothers aged 16-19 and most of these mothers (around 5,000) were aged 18 or 19. 3)This is basically a cycle of children who are born to teen parents are more likely to be teen parents. Peer persures is another social factors that contribute to teen pregnancy is the influence exerted by a peer group in encouraging is person to change his or attitudes, vaules, or behavior that relates to teen pregnancy. If one of your friends fell pregnant, and got popular you would automactily think that this is the right thing to do to get yourself popular, look cool and every one will talk to you. The girl may find a high school boyfriend and feel that he will be the one she will always love and he is just interested in the sex and pressures her and there is always the partying that goes on with teenagers, and the intoxication can make it easier to give into your urges. ‘A lot of teenagers indulge in early sexual behavior due to peer pressure. Teenagers growing in largely promiscuous societies tend to date far earlier than others in slightly more conventional setups. This is due to the fact that they feel the great need to be hip and accepted by their circle of friends. The only way they could probably achieve that would be by having a boyfriend or girlfriend or at least by dating and indulging in sexual acts often. This kind of rash behavior could lead to unintended pregnancies. ’(4) They are all contributing teen pregnancy and it is also cycles that if one of your friends falls pregnant and you will just follow one and other. One of the major cultural factors that are contibuting to teen pregnancy in New Zealand is whether you identify as being Pakeha or Maori or Asian you still have higher risk of teen pregnancy and parenthood but in New Zealand Maori people tend to have higher teen pregnancy rate compared to other entehics. ‘Maori and Pacific Island teenagers have a higher fertility(completed pregnancy) rate than European, and their abortion rate is higher also. (2)’ ‘In 2009, there were 4670 births to women aged under 20, 29 of these births were to women aged under 15 years old. Apporximately two thirds of teen births were to those aged 18 or 19 years old and half of the total number of teen births were to Maori women. (3)’ The Maori teen birth rate is 4 times higher than the non-Maori rate, and the Pacific teen birth rate is 1. 5 times higher than the total teen rate. (3) In developed countries and the European culture if a teenager gets pregnant it is seen as a ‘bad thing’ so is negative and frowned upon but in the Maori culture it is not a bad thing that girls get pregnant at a young age and it is normal and celebreated. In the latest censes (2006) 9. 3% of Maori teenage women were mothers compared to lower rates for Pacific (5. 4%), European (3. 2%) and Asian (1%). The reason causing Maori girls have higher teen pregnacy rate than other enthic group Tariana Turia stated in her speech at the Sexual and Health Conference, that: ‘We must celebrate that Whakapapa in every heartbeat, every birth and in the lives we lost’. The values of whakapapa and whanau are very important to Maori and tamariki are very important for the Maori culture to continue and succeed. Tariana Turia coleader of the Maori party stated that ‘When we look at the faces of our babies, we recognise the imprints of those before us (6)‘This shows that Maori culture encourage Maori women or Maori families wanting to get pregnant at a young age so that they can grow the next generation even faster and the families are encourage their daughters to get pregnant because the parents will look after and caring for he babies,supporting because the values of whakapapa nd whanau are very important to Maori and tamariki are very important for the Maori culture. The Maori culture, tradition, values and beliefs are contributing are causing high teen pregnancy rate in New Zealand. The factors of political can also influence young girls are getting pregnant more and more every year is the government laws and policies that influence young people views, attitudes and behaviours regarding alcohol but the major factor is their benefit support to the teen mothers. Benefit receipt amongst teen parents is high, with around 78 percent (mostly Mothers) receiving a benefit. At the end of December 2009 there were 4,169 teenagers (aged 16 to 19 years) receiving the Domestic Purposes Benefit (includes those receiving the Emergency Maintenance Allowance (EMA)). Of these, 52 per cent were Maori, 30 per cent were European, and 9 per cent were Pacific. ’(5). The statistics show the there are quite among of teenagers are getting benefit and more than half of them are Maori teenagers. The DPB is influencing teenagers are getting pregnant because they would think if they got pregnant they can just get benefit, live on with it and don’t need to find a job or go to school and just staying at home doing nothing wasting time. Most of the teenagers who are likely of being on benefit 10 years later by age at first birth rather than older age. In 2009, the numbers of new female entrants to the DPB-SP (Domestic Purposes Benefit-Sole Parent) or EMA (Emergency Maintenance Allowance) with a child aged less than one year were as follows: 800 aged 16-17; 1,900 aged 18-19. Most teen mothers (62 percent) first enter the DPB from another benefit (usually Sickness Benefit received in pregnancy). Their average length of time on the DPB in the ten years after entry is 7. 1 years, higher than the average of 5. 2 years for all women aged 16 64. Forty percent of entrants have an additional newborn child included in DPB in the 10 years following entry. (5) The statistics has shown there are more teenagers are getting benefit than the older age people and they’re also carrying on their benefit for over 10 years. The government is giving too much support to the teenagers which contributes high teen pregnancy rate in NZ because in their view is so easy to just get benefit and to live on with their lives with their children by not earning their own money or educating but in fact it is not. Being a teen mother can affect her personal well-beings physically, mentally and spiritually in positive and negative. In physically teen mothers will get tired,put on weight get stretch marks, be in pain during the birth, take along time to recover from the birth, have sore breasts, struggle to lose weight,be sleeo deprived etc, all those physical will affect her mentally welling as well and it is not good to their pregnancy and their phsyical body (7)and they are from many ways like when the teens get pregnant they become scared and panicked. Confused about making the right decision for herself and her child, the relationships between the child’s father and fear about giving birth may all cause her an amount of stress. She may also be frustrated that she can no longer participate in activities with her friends and frightened that she will be a bad mother or that her parents will react badly (2) that all cause she worries and stress and she will be lonely and sad since everyone of her friends are still at school studying and partying but she just left behind and all those sort of emotions are not good to her pregnancy at all and will also effect her relationships with family since she might be grumpy. In spiritually she will question her actions and behaviors and ask herself ‘’why me’’ since she got pregnant at a young age at first she could not believe herself got pregnant while other friends are still enjoying their teenage lives and why did she do it. She would believe that life is not fair for her; why she’s going through all this and her friends don’t have to but she will be encouraged by the miracle life, she would be proud that she brought the baby into this world and she will also find faith from her family but while they’re all suffer all these implications that will lead them to grow up to be an adult and mature to look after their own babies. The negative and positive implications for interpersonal are the relationships between people directly affected by teenage pregnancy. The negative implication could be the judgments from her parents or family members. Some teenage parents are lucky enough to have the support of their family, but this isn’t always the case. For some, judgment from their parents or family members means that they go through this difficult time with little, if any, support. While older parents get to celebrate their pregnancy and the birth of a child, many teenage parents miss out on the celebration because they are busy ‘dealing with it’ or making the most of their ‘mistake’ (2). And that will affect her emotions because no one likes judgments from anyone and specially families and they ould really let her down and how feels about her family and the relationships between them. In the positive way the relationships between teen mother and her child will try to build a positive relationship. She will do her best for her child and provide a good environment also install her child strong beliefs and values that could prevent her child being a teen parent just like herself and that could bring that family together. Another negative implications are her relationships between her friends and partner. She might loss of social contact with peers. Your teenage years are a time of socializing and building friendships, but the responsibility of parenting means many teenage parents lose all social contact with their peers. While friends may visit in the short term, the inability to just drop everything and go means that friendships change. Many teenage parents feel like they no longer fit in with their peers, but because of their age, they don’t fit in with other parents either. Teenage parent schools or support groups are a great resource for teenage parents to meet people in a similar situation. (2) The lack of support from their partner. ‘ Parents of all ages face the risk of an unsupportive partner, but for teenage parents the risk is even higher. Even if both the mother and father do take responsibility for the pregnancy, most of these relationships eventually end in separation. ’ The reason of their relationships will end because mostly the child’s father can not deal with all those money problems or having a child at a young age while he can still have fun so he might chose to leave the mother and the child so the it’s not good for a child growing up without his father.

Motivation Aspects to Job Selection

Motivation Aspects to Job Selection Motivation is derived from the latin word â€Å"movere† which means to move. Motivation is the process of moving from ones needs to drives and finally to incentives. Needs are identified because of a deficiency which may be physiological or psychological. Drives activate the behaviour for fulfilling the needs that were identified above. The behaviour which is performed because of drives cause results in a reward or an incentive which may be tangible or intangible. This report is about selecting a job that will motivate us and explaining the same using various motivation theories. We deliberated on the kind of jobs that would motivate us and came to the conclusion that we would wish to be management consultants in a reputed consultancy firm. After looking for vacancies in various job portals and company websites we came to the conclusion that joining Mckinsey and Company would be the best.The details of the job description and the company overview is discussed below. Job Description Junior Associate – McKinsey Company â€Å"As a consultant, you will join teams working with the top management of corporations on critical issues, identifying business opportunities, generating and evaluating solutions, and developing result-oriented change programs. You will also have the opportunity to contribute to the development of state-of-the-art management concepts and practices.† McKinsey Company is a global management consulting firm which started in the year 1926. It is one of the most trusted advisors to the worlds leading businesses, governments and institutions. One of the golden rules that Mckinsey follows is below which is beneficial to both employees as well as clients â€Å"We work with our clients as we do with our colleagues. We build their capabilities and leadership skills at every level and every opportunity. We do this to help build internal support, get to real issues, and reach practical recommendations. We bring out the capabilities of clients to fully participate in the process and lead the on-going work.† Motivation theory – Equity Model This cognitively based model is on the calculation of outputs received by an individual and the amount of input that he/she has put in to get the outputs. The inputs and outputs might be perceived differently by different individuals and hence it is measured relative between individuals. Age, sex, education, social status, organisational position, qualifications and how hard the person works are examples of perceived input variables. Outcomes consist primarily of rewards such as pay, status, promotion and intrinsic interest. Schematically this is represented in the 3 possible scenarios. If the perceived ratio is not equal to the others, he or she will strive to restore the ratio to equity. This striving to restore equity is used as the explanation of work motivation. The person may alter the inputs or outcomes, cognitively distort the inputs or outputs according to his or her scale. Maslow’s Needs Hierarchy and Theory of Motivation The Maslow’s model is one of the classic content theoretical models that explained motivational needs as a hierarchy. To simplify, he believed that once a given level of need is satisfied, it no longer serves to motivate. The next level of need has to be activated, which results in the motivation of an individual. The various levels of Maslow’s need can be understood by the below diagram with reference to a job or career. The job application that we are referring to is catering to the physiological and safety/security concerns that are required. The pay is quite high even at the entry levels with a base package of 20 lakhs p.a. with additional variable salary components that amount to 6 to 8 lakhs more. The next level i.e. the social level has been considered as an important aspect in the work culture of Mckinsey wherein they follow a collaborative approach. The associates work in small groups of 3 to 5 which consists of business analysts, associates and partners. The organisation is flat with few hierarchical levels and hence it makes easy for a person to approach others and get help in case of any issues. Our understanding of different industries and functions will grow exponentially as the teammates share their expertise. Well receive coaching and feedback throughout the engagement. In fact, consultants often find life-long mentors—and friendships—in their senior colleagues. The 3 levels of Maslow’s hierarchy are something which is readily satisfied by the job and the organisation. Hence focusing on the next level is the Esteem. Self Esteem as well as respect from others is an important aspect that needs to be addressed. Taking this job would provide us and opportunity to grow in the organisation. This is evident from the fact that Mckinsey recognises the performance of the individual and promotes them as seen in various posts from associates in forums. Formal performance reviews happen at the end of every project and associates with good analytical and people skills move up the ladder. The â€Å"Up or Out† approach makes sure that the performing people deserve to go to the top, right to the level of a CEO. Self-actualisation is indeed the most important aspect of this hierarchy where the professional tends to move towards satisfaction in life, both professional and personal. To cater to this need, Mckinsey creates a conducive environment where we will get many opportunities as described below. â€Å"Our private-sector work will put you at the center of the transformative forces sweeping business. We work in just about every industry and functional area you can imagine, with engagements that range from creating entirely new businesses, to leveraging leading-edge technologies, to reinventing manufacturing, to advising companies on the future of media and social sharing. Our public-sector and social-impact work is global in nature. We advise many of the worlds governments and NGOs on everything from re-imagining the delivery of education and the healthcare services to creating centers of local entrepreneurship.† Apart from professional aspirations, there is a scope of people for pursuing their passions such as singing, travelling and other personal wishes by opting for a programme known as the TIME-UP programme. The highlights of the programme are â€Å"Our â€Å"Take Time† program allows consultants to take time off between engagements to pursue personal interests and passions, whether that includes spending time with family or going on a dream trip. This â€Å"on and off† model allows consultants additional time to recharge without disrupting client work.† Making a difference in the world is a deep motivation. Porter Lawler Model Porter and Lawler suggested that motivation does not equal satisfaction or performance but they are all separate entities. They say that effort does not lead directly to performance but is directed by abilities, traits and by role perceptions. The rewards that follow and how they are perceived will determine satisfaction. Unlike the content theory, here performance leads to satisfaction. In lieu of the above theory, Mckinsey is cutting back their financial-incentive programs, but have used other ways of inspiring talent. The understand how to make their employees perform better and hence get satisfaction. Analogous to Porter-Lawler’s model we have:- Opportunity to perform- Mckinsey provides ample opportunities to its employees in order to enhance performance a chance to lead projects or task forces. Abilities Traits- As a company Mckinsey believes in its employees’ abilities and delegates work as per their abilities. Their belief helps the people to understand their potential and work towards better and better performance. Role Perceptions—Managers set expectations for the employees under them to perform better with specific roles. Effort Level and Direction of Effort- Praise from immediate managers for their work is found to be an effective way to boost the morale of the people. The employees are guided towards a direction so that their own effort is rightly appreciated and is fruitful for the company Self-Efficacy- Inculcating a strong sense of self-efficacy among the people helps them to develop deeper interest in the activities they perform. By Leadership attention-Managers go on one-on –one meeting with their team members to help them develop the desire to perform and produce a desired effect. Effort-Reward Probabilities- Team members are rewarded as per their performance. As budding managers this study helps us to realise that we need to inculcate the culture of performance driven satisfaction among our peers and subordinates. It is important for us, as managers, that we have belief in our team members and motivate them to perform better which will help us and them to gain satisfaction.

Unethical Marketing In The Food Industry Marketing Essay

Unethical Marketing In The Food Industry Marketing Essay 1. Introduction The increase of obesity all over the world has lead to ongoing discussions about the responsibility of the food and beverage industry. Where food used to be a pleasure, it is now beginning to get more and more evil; consumers like to blame the industry for being overweight and diet-related diseases. The marketing departments of the businesses in the food industry seem to be ideal to blame when it comes to the responsibility for the well being of the consumer. False or misleading claims on products, selling harmful products, unfair target marketing and unfair prices: all part of the unethical-marketing fad that is happening at the moment. It is time to take a closer look at these unethical practices. The main goal of this paper is to discuss the responsibility of the businesses in avoiding unethical marketing and, to a certain extent, to take care of the well being of the consumer. To come to this point of discussion, first it is necessary to develop a broad view of what unethical marketing is and responsibility really means. The paper starts with a theoretical view of the meaning of the word ethics: what does it mean if something is ethical? From there, the second chapter is about unethical marketing. The last chapter is about the responsibility: since this is such a broad term, in order to use it in the discussion, a closer look needs to be taken to the different forms of responsibility. After these three chapters, it is easier to come to a discussion about the responsibility from companies in the food industry from the consequences of their marketing. Since the subject is so controversial and there exists many different opinions about the responsibility of the business, it is almost impossible to give a conclusion at the end of the paper. The last chapter therefore contains a discussion whether or not it is possible and necessary for businesses to strengthen their position on the market and to make a better profit using marketing, without hurting the consumer. 2. Ethics Since the term ethics is a so-called normative term with many different possible definitions, it is important to start with a clear definition of the ethics talked about in this paper. Furthermore, this chapter will give insight to the way ethics can be applied in business: what are marketing ethics? 2.1 General One of the most known definitions of ethics is the one from Aristotle: Human actions from the point of view in their rightness or wrongness (Gaski, 1999, p. 316). Ethics should concern personal virtue and with every decision, one should be honest, good and caring. A definition that is so idealistic and simplistic is not helpful in finding a solid definition: right and wrong are probably just as normative as the term ethics. When we try to give a definition of the term ethics it appears from the literature that you can look at it from two different philosophical views, also know as ethical dualism. The first view is the teleological view, also known as the consequentialist view or utilarism, which is based on the results of certain actions taken. Whereas the other view, deontology, is more based on average behaviour and obligations to other people (Gaski, 1999, p. 315). Teleology is based on the ethical valuation of the consequences and deontology has to do with the ethical values of the principles (Van Luijk, 1996, p. 36). Of course there are a lot of philosophers who oppose to this relatively simple classification but since this is the most common, it is not within the reach of this paper to name them all (White, 2003, p. 92). The teleological way of judging ethics is more based on science and has less to do with general norms and values (White, 2003, p. 92): the purpose is to determine if something is good and not if something is equitable, as with deontology (Binmore, 1998, p. 353). The main thought behind teleology is that every new question should be reached and judged with an eye on the future, without looking back at the consequences of similar actions in the past (Brady, 1995, p. 571). It is important to notice that in this way, it is not about a certain action being ethical in itself but really about a judgment of the consequences of the action. These consequences can be judged on whether they are ethical or not by making a distinction between the following two categories (Sidgwick, 2000, p. 253): Ethical egoist (teleological wrong) This person or entity is only concerned with his or her own good and tends not to keep in mind the consequences from his or her action to their environment. They will do everything possible to accomplish the best consequences for them (Vittel a.o., 2003, p. 152). Local or cosmopolitan utilitarism (teleological right) Ethical in a way that behaviour is right when the biggest advantage for the biggest group of people can be reached. This biggest advantage can be seen within companies or within a certain group, local, or for society in general, cosmopolitan (Argawal and Malloy, 2000, p. 143). The other way of judging ethics is deontology, also called formalistic ethics (Van Luijk, 1996, p. 36). In this context one should not take into account the consequences, outcomes or results of a certain action but merely the moral status of the true action taken (White, 2003, p. 92). It is based on a categorical imperative, peoples decisions can be only ethical if they are based on a feeling of free will, not because somebody else forces them to do it (White, 2003, p. 91). Within these decisions people are expected to be rational and personal consequences should play no role in making an ethical decision. 2.2 Marketing ethics Ethics within businesses can be found in many fields, such as accounting, human resources, competition, business-to-business relations and marketing. For now we are only interested in marketing ethics, one of the most popular subjects these days in business studies. Ethics within marketing can be defined as the way in which the moral standards of a company are being reflected on marketing decisions, behaviour and attitudes (Gaski, 1999, p. 316). Within marketing ethics both of the views described above play a role, the idealistic view of the behaviour of a business creates a perfect balance and is known as the Janus-Headed Model (Brady, 1995, p.368). This model is named after the famous Roman god with two faces (one looking forward, and the otherone looking backward) who protected the entrance of Rome. In the model the teleological way is associated with the head that looked forward and Januss head looking backward signifies the deontological way. For the teleologists this means that they tend to look in the future for results, chances and innovations while trying to find a human solution which also covers the best results (Brady, 1995, p. 569). Deontologists do the opposite; they look in the past, or are at least interested in following traditions and written or unwritten laws and rules (Brady, 1995, p. 569). Their decisions and outcomes are based on other decisions in the past. By looking at marketing ethics, corporations engaging in unethical marketing give a slight preference to the head of Janus looking back. As long as their marketing plan complies with the law or codes of conduct of their company and other companies, they see no reason for it to be unethical. They know consumers have the right to know to a certain extent, and they provide the minimum information about the product they sell. On the other hand, they refuse to look from a teleological point of view: creating the greatest good for the greatest number of people (consumers) is often not what they reach with their marketing programs, especially not through their advertising. Unethical marketing in this paper is therefore not something that is against the law, but something that might be harmful to the consumer. It is in the marketing in which the company might be called an ethical egoist with more self-interest than common interest. They do not look at the consequences of their actions (teleological) but only at the right or wrong of their base decisions (deontology). It is not said that this is by definition wrong, and that the corporations should take responsibility for their consumers. Before discussing this, we will first look at some examples of unethical marketing. 3. Unethical marketing In this chapter we will take a broader look at the phenomenon of unethical marketing. This chapter tries to explain what we mean by unethical marketing and how it can be found in the food and beverage industry. 3.1 General To get a better understanding, the first question that pops up is What is marketing and why does it exist?. Marketing is the way in which the products are linked to the consumers: from market research to the ability of the product to penetrate the market. The most known and controversial aspect is putting the product under the attention of the consumer through advertising. The best way to look at marketing is to follow the marketing concept of Philip Kotler. From this concept the purpose of marketing is to discover what the consumers want and to respond by offering the right products, priced in a way where it delivers value to the buyer and profit to the seller. This means that marketing is a mutual concept that is very important for an ongoing economy to satisfy the demand of the consumer (Kotler, 1996, p. 35). This concept raises the question whether or not it is possible to combine social responsibility for the consumer and survival on a competitive market, something we see in the discussion later on. If you follow the concept where the main purpose is to satisfy the demand of the consumer, you can expect that it is sometimes harder for the enterprise to act in an ethical way. By this you can imagine what happens if the consumer wants something that is not good for them, or a product that has negative consequences for society or particular groups of society. Bringing these products to the attention of the consumers by advertising is mostly seen nowadays as the unethical marketing described above. You can think of many forms of unethical marketing, organised in the following way (Gaski, 1999, p. 317): 1. Selling dangerous or harmful products. This contains the marketing of products that are known to be harmful for the consumers, or products with unknown risks that are made attractive by marketing. 2. Misleading the customers. The businesses can mislead their customers with several tricks, for example: oversize packages, undelivered promises, deceptive advertising or personal selling. 3. Unfair pricing. This is the case if the businesses do not respect one or several of the following rules: the consumer should get fair value for money spent, price should be fully disclosed, price should not be artificially high; price fixing is not ethical and neither is predatory pricing. 4. Practices against the law. Businesses should not damage the environment, commit bribery, extend preferential treatment to a customer or manipulate the availability of a product. 5. Behaviour out of own good. This is where the self-interest of the company crosses the border, they should pay attention to providing accessible means for customer complaints, not over-recommend the product quality level to the customer and not humiliate the competitor. 3.2 Unethical marketing in the food and beverage industry Since the marketing in the food industry is all about selling products, the main way to market the product is advertising and labelling, bringing them to the attention of the consumer. The first two of the points described above play a big role. The first one is misleading the customer: it covers a broad range of slick tricks used by manufacturers to sell their products to the public. The second one, selling harmful products, is much worse. Hereby the businesses use the so-called meta-preferences of the consumers as described by the philosopher Kant: the consumer has preferences that are higher than their basic preferences. With food this can mean that the preference of the consumer is to eat everything that is fat and tasty, but above that, the consumer has the opportunity to push the other preference away (White, 2003, p. 97). In the marketing process of these products, the industry understands that if they put enough effort into the advertisement, the consumer will put their preferences aside and they will buy the fatty and tasty product, lead by these meta-preferences. Before we answer the question of who is responsible for undermining the temptations of the consumers, we will take a closer look at the tricks used by marketing departments, also known as the seven sins of marketing (Consumentengids, October 2005): 1. Misleading the customer: A priori doesnt contain anything bad. It often happens that manufacturers put claims on the packages of products that say that it doesnt contain a certain ingredient, even when it is completely normal for this particular product not to contain the ingredient. This way they can move the attention away from the bad ingredients: naturally contains no fat, for example, does not mean that the product contains no sugar. 2. The healthy product. By this you can think of claims that are formally true but aim to confuse the consumer. For example if they advertise that their product contains real fruit, the consumer links this with a healthy product, which is not necessarily true. 3. The demi-truth. This means that manufacturers are changing the truth to make the product more attractive. Most of the time they use the ingredients the product does not contain. A popular use of this sin is, for example, 90% fat free: this looks attractive for the consumer but might just as well contain 10% of fat. 4. Bluffing. When manufacturers do this, they are actually exaggerating their product features. You can recognise these products when they say prepared withà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦: this does not mean anything and can even point to a minimal content of this certain ingredient. This sin also contains claims on products that might be a little too difficult for the consumer to understand, like all sorts of different bacteria and complexes: the consumer does not know them, but since proved by science (?) they might be good, so the consumer buys them. 5. Illusion Manufactures are not obligated to name their product after the main ingredient: something that can be very confusing for the consumer. This is most evident in the meat industry: some frozen products like chicken fingers could just as well be made out of turkey. In marketing this is also known as the claim-belief interaction: the manufacturer using the potential misunderstandings of the product, claims to sell their products (Thompson, 2002, p. 359). Most of the time they make the essential information as small as possible on the packages of products or even omit them totally. Selling dangerous or harmful products: 6. The rose-coloured glasses. This sin looks a little like the second one but this one is even worse because it makes the consumer think they are actually eating a healthy product while the product is in fact unhealthy. Examples are the products that contain certain food additives and artificial sweeteners that can damage your health, like those found in low-fat products. The consumers think they are healthier because the fat is removed; but they forget there might be other ingredients that can be harmful. Manufacturers market their products in a way where the consumers link fat free with healthiness, something which is not always true. 7. The push to over consumption. This is mostly caused by little presents offered to the consumer when buying the product, which have little to do with the food. Hereby you can think of: competitions, high profile or cartoon endorsements, in-pack promotions, convenient packaging (e.g. the lunchboxes), discount buys (2 for 1) and multi-buy packs. The biggest problem with this push to over consumption is that certain groups of consumers are more vulnerable than other groups. The reason for this is that these groups of people have lost their critical thinking skills to evaluate media warnings. You can think of target marketing to women (indoctrinated by the ideal view of an anorexic woman), elderly (willing to do everything to lengthen their lives), ethnical minorities (discriminatory advertisement) and of course the famous marketing to children who are nowadays seen as plenary consumers (Cui Choudhurry, 2003, p 1). 4. Responsibility It is not at all easy to decide what the responsibility of an enterprise for society is. Responsibility in general means that someone is to blame, something has to be done or some kind of trustworthiness can be expected (Goodpaster and Matthews, 2000, p. 133). But to which extent can a corporation have these human characteristics? To make it easier to discuss this so-called corporate social responsibility it is necessary to divide it into four different sorts of responsibilities: economic responsibilities, legal responsibilities, ethical responsibilities and discretionary responsibilities. You can see these four categories in the form of a pyramid, as shown in the figure below. Source: Caroll (1991) (Carroll, 1991, p. 40). The only question is how far the company should go when climbing this pyramid and how steep the pyramid should be. To discuss this question in the last chapter it is necessary to take a closer look at the different levels of the pyramid. 4.1 Economic responsibilities In short, the economical responsibility for a company is to be profitable (Carroll, 1991, p. 42). Historically, the sole task of a business was to produce goods and services that consumers needed, and try and gain a profit as high as possible. This is not only important for the business but also for most of its stakeholders. A successful business is one that produces constant profits to reach a strong position in the market, and be as efficient as possible (Carroll, 1991, p. 40). This is quite controversial when it comes to social responsibility and therefore it is usually not where the pyramid ends. Although some economists, like Milton Friedman, had the opinion that this is indeed the point where the responsibilities should stop (Friedman, 1970). Friedman claimed that the only responsibility of a business was to make a good profit. He had the opinion that only people can take real responsibilities and that, since a business is an entity and not a person, the business could only have fictive responsibilities and no actual ones. These responsibilities lie in the hands of the manager of the enterprise and Friedman stated that its sole responsibility was to take responsibility for its employees and shareholders. In other words: to make profit so they can get paid. The only reason a manager could be seduced by corporate social responsibility (ethical of philanthropic forms) would be to calm its own conscience. This is not very practical in the eyes of Friedman because it would result in less profit, thereby lowering the ability of the business to take responsibility for its employees and stakeholders. Social responsibility would have more to do with political mechanisms than with market mechanisms and would therefore not be interesting for corporations (Friedman, 1970, p. 1). 4.2 Legal responsibilities Complying with the law can be seen as a social contract between businesses and society where the firms are expected to pursue their economic missions and economic responsibility within the framework of the law (Carroll, 1991, p. 42). The rules of the game are made by federal, state and local governments and should be the ground rules for how a company should act. It can also be the beginning of ethical responsibility because the law actually gives the basic ethical points. A successful company at this level of the pyramid is the one that accomplishes its economic objectives and does not break the law, including the production of products and services that satisfy legal demands (Carroll, 1991, p. 41). 4.3 Ethical responsibilities Ethical responsibilities refer to the obligation to do what is right, just and fair and to avoid harm (Carroll, 1991, p. 42). With this form of social responsibility, it is important that the way of doing business is consistent with the expectations of the social and ethical norms and values. These expectations of what is ethical and what is not have been described in the foregone chapters. In a broad sense we can say that from a deontological view this means that the company follows the general rules; from teleological view this means the company tries to reach the best outcomes for every party involved. Ethical responsibility concerns the actions that, even though not constrained by law, are expected or disapproved by society. In general, society expects the industry to do extra things not forced by Legal obligations (Carroll, 1991, p. 41). It is very difficult for corporations to assess how big this responsibility should be, because it is impossible to find clear lines about norms and values since they fluctuate and change within a society. Businesses in the food industry might have difficulties with how far they can push the boundaries: one consumer will feel mislead much quicker than the other. Ethical responsibility in the food industry is mainly centered around the question rather the businesses can be pointed as guilty for the recent trend in obesity. 4.4 Discretionary responsibilities The last form of responsibility goes strictly against the theory of Milton Friedman and claims that the company should be a good citizen by engaging in acts or programs to promote human welfare or goodwill (Carroll, 1991, p. 42). This corporate citizenship, also known as marketing citizenship, means actively participating in programs or actions like charity projects or voluntary work and in the food industry: in health campaigns. There is a social expectation that businesses donate a certain amount of their money, facilities and employees to humanitarian purposes (Carroll, 1991, p. 42). Even though it is not regarded as unethical by society if corporations do not take this sort of responsibility, it is something that is often silently expected. The problem is that it is quite easy for businesses to replace their ethical responsibility by their discretionary responsibility: donation money might be seen as a redemption sum to hush unethical business practices. It is an ideal way for bu sinesses to drag the attention away from scandals-to-be, giving the consumer the picture of being very socially responsible by just donating a great sum of money. For example, by taking responsibility for the little children in the third world countries by paying a sum of money, they can avoid losing profit by taking responsibility for their own children who are suffering from obesities because of their products (Weber, 2002, p. 553). 5. Discussion: the business, ethical egoist, local or cosmopolitan utilitarist? Now that we looked at this unethical marketing we come to the more interesting part: can we blame the businesses for the way they market their products, misleading the consumers and sometimes even hurting the health of their consumers? In other wordsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ What is their responsibility? The first form of responsibility is the economic responsibility. This is a responsibility businesses have to take and are of course very willing to take. With this it is important not to see the business as an ethical egoist but as a local utilitarist: they need to take this responsibility for their stakeholders. Funnily enough, stakeholders include employees, investors, suppliers, directors But also the consumers. In the food industry these products might sometimes be the products that are bad for the consumer, but we have to make a distinction between preferences and meta-preferences here. There is no problem listening to the preferences of the customer, but it is not ethically right to strengthen the meta-preferences, this would make the business an ethical egoist. This is where the overlap with ethical responsibility begins: businesses will claim at all times that metapreferences do not exist and if so, they have nothing to do with them. By definition, food is never bad for you and it depends on the way you use it. If the consumer is not rational enough to make their own choices the businesses dont see how they can be responsible for this. They hereby forget that it is not impossible to have both, a concern f or profits and a concern for society. When it comes to legal responsibility there is absolutely no question that companies forced by law should try to avoid products which are known to be risky for the consumer, on average: they do. Not only because it is forbidden, but the products dont sell anyway if they are known to be dangerous. But the products that are not yet proven to be possibly harmful, soà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Not harmful, are questionable. Is it the responsibility of the business to take care of this possible harmfulness? Legal responsibility is an issue of deontology ethics and mixing it with teleology is too confusing for the consumers and for the businesses. When it comes to health risks, doubts should be minimised. Of course we are not talking about over consumption but about ingredients or artificial additives that cause harm. Restraining the consumption of their own product is not very tempting for the manufacturers: why should they want to reduce their own profit? Even though most people are reluctant when it comes to the invisible hand being replaced by the government hand I think they should at least make proper laws concerning the marketing of proven harmful products and about labeling in all honesty. Ethical responsibility for the consumer is the one businesses claim not to see. How can businesses come away with their extremely misleading marketing tricks? With most forms of unethical marketing the businesses use the bounded rationality of the consumer (White, 2003, p. 100): the consumer has certain obligations to themselves but will not always have enough character to obey to these obligations. The moral dilemma for companies is to what extent they have to take responsibility for this character. This is where their self-interest has to stop and they have to become cosmopolitan utilitarists instead of local utilitarists. They have to deal with the fact that they are not alone on this planet and that it is not only their profit that counts. It is also the point where the government hand has to withdraw, for me intervening at this point is taking away the free choice of the society. The businesses do not produce these products for nothing, the consumers likes them even though they might be a risk for health. Taking the products out of the market does not only hurt the businesses but also the consumers who actually like the products. But what to do about the consumers who like the products too much? Should the businesses help them in trying to avoid overusing the products? Many people compare the food industry with the tobacco industry and claim businesses have to put warnings on their products. In my opinion this is not something you can compare because nobody needs cigarettes but everybody needs food. Thereby I dont see any business doing this out of self-regulation: since probably not every competitor does it, putting the claims on the products will make it look like they are to blame and not the product. Consumers will just buy the same unhealthy product but from a different manufacturer. But businesses could at least try to be honest to their customers, if only out of respect. The last responsibility is the discretionary responsibility. This might sound very noble, but I think this is only a way for the businesses to skip the ethical floor of the pyramid. It seems that most businesses, perceived as practising unethical behaviour, confuse these two responsibilities. Of course they dont confuse them, it is actual a very well considered decision. It is a perfect way they can hide the fact they dont want to take ethical responsibility because they are afraid of what might happen to their profits. It would be nice and easy to say that businesses and the government are the only ones who need to take responsibility, unfortunately this is untrue. There are three different parties that I think could take responsibility as well. The first party are of course the consumers. Costumers seem to ignoremarketing tricks, it doesnt matter if they know the claims might not be so true or useful after all, they like to believe in it so they buy the products. It is not only the business acting out of self-interest, the consumers know how to do this to. They want tasty food that is not only cheap but also healthy and literally wait until the businesses give this to them. This is quite difficult to produce but an invitation for businesses to promote their product as if it has all the three character treats: unethical marketing. The consumer will not be satisfied enough, since we all got a little spoiled, and instead of changing their three demands, it blames the company. If we continue blaming, we will end up convincing ourselves that we are not to blame and, like a vicious circle, we will do not hing to change our behaviour because it was meant to be and forced up on us. Why have we become so passive when it comes to eating? It is too easy to blame the change of lifestyle, forced up by the food industry. We just have to accept our lifestyles have changed and try to make the best out of it, by ourselves. The second party is the part of the food industry that distinguishes themselves as selling healthy products: where is the marketing for the apple? Even though it might sound like unnatural to the producers of natural products: why not advertise for things like fruit and vegetables? If Kelloggs can put star wars toys in their packages, why cant we put a Mickey Mouse sticker on an apple? The third party are the supermarkets and other shops were the food is sold. If consumers think they are to weak to make their own rational decisions why not put them in a rational environment when they do there daily shopping? Supermarkets should become more open, less seductive and more ordered. It is hard, and dangerous, to come to a conclusion on a subject this controversial, with this little background so I will not do that. To come with a real conclusion it would be necessary to first take a closer look at the actual consequences of unethical marketing and to take a look at market of the food industry more profoundly. For now, it appears to me that the clichà © is true and that everybody is responsible and everybody likes to blame someone else for its responsibility. Businesses should take their economical and legal responsibility, helped by the government, and up to a certain extent also their ethical responsibility. This last one doesnt necessarily mean they have to change their marketing strategies or the content of their products but they have to inform the consumer about the product as good as possible. To avoid confusion, discretionary responsibility is not very important, but might become more interesting when businesses hav