Multinational companies in Jamaica Essay Example

Multinational companies in Jamaica Paper Multinational companies in Jamaica Name: Course: Institution: We will write a custom essay sample on Multinational companies in Jamaica specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Multinational companies in Jamaica specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Multinational companies in Jamaica specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Instructor: Date: Multinational companies in Jamaica Multinational companies have been highly significant to the growth of the Jamaican economy. The exponential growth of these companies has been felt not only in Jamaica and the Caribbean but also in continents such as Europe and North America where they have solid footholds in the respective countries consumer markets. Grace Kennedy and Lasco Jamaica are among the most successful companies in the Caribbean and more so in Jamaica. Multinational companies have a wide range of products that help diversify their portfolios. Grace Kennedy Company was founded in 1922 as a partnership between Dr. John J. Grace and Fred Kennedy. The Company started out as a small trading company and soon grew to have a wharfing facility to enable smooth flow of the company’s imports (Grace Kennedy, 4). The company in the Caribbean operates in Jamaica, Trinidad Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean respectively. Currently the company has sixty subsidiaries and affiliated companies across several continents around the world. The company has grown significantly since its inception form a privately owned company to a public company with a market capitalization of J$21 billion as of the year 2006. The company has a blueprint of catapulting its growth to become a leading global company with branches all over the world. The company has its activities in financial services, remittances services, insurance, manufacturing and retail and distribution. Employment-The Company has been particularly significant in the provision of employment to the Jamaican population. Since it began its operations, it has seen growth in its levels of operating activities and has diversified into different products and activities for the maximization of profits. The growth of the company means that the company has seen an increase in its revenues, which means that there have been more employments to facilitate the higher levels of activities. Employment for any population and country in general has many benefits. In addition, more employment means that the new employees are able to meet their basic needs such as costs for food. Adequate food for a family means the members are able to concentrate on crucial issues such as education. This also alleviates diseases, which are brought about by malnutrition that is because of poor diet or inadequate food. Employment means that people who are unemployed and venture into the new employment bracket are able to cater for their own needs such as education for their children and other basic needs. Revenue for the government-Moreover, new employees also translate to more revenue in the form of taxes for the government. More taxes enable the government to be able to fund more developmental projects such as the provision of basic needs such as water and sewerage systems. New employment helps in the reduction of crime as people who do not have any employment are able to find alternative and better sources of income. Public Ownership-The Company, after its evolution into a public entity, enabled Jamaican citizens to get a chance to own a part of the largest corporations in the country. The new public company after its listing as a public company was able to get more revenue to improve and increase its operations. This also meant that the company would employ more people to facilitate more production and maintain its growth. After the formation of the company in 1922, the company was particularly vital in the provision of basic services to the Jamaican public. This was extremely difficult to find if not impossible, in a period marked by racial oppression such as financial services and insurance services. This enabled the Jamaican entity to be represented in the corporate world by a multinational company, which has several operations in different countries and continents. Grace Kennedy Company has also enabled the Jamaican population to have more products available to them at relatively fair prices. The provision of basic commodities such as packed foods enabled people all financial backgrounds at relatively average prices. This has opened up the market to innovation and competition posed by the different players in the market. Negative impacts Focus on imports-Grace Kennedy has been solely involved in the import of products instead of diversification into the manufacture of products (Grace Kennedy, 11). Manufacture of products in Jamaica would be particularly relevant to the economy by the provision of new jobs and would prove to be cost friendly to the cost reduction of the company. The company should focus on the provision of products that are solely made in Jamaica or the Caribbean. Provision of unhealthy foods-this has contributed to the now persistent health issues affecting obese people due to high intake of fatty foods. Grace Kennedy has aided the distribution of foods that are considered unhealthy. Decline in currency value-Imports drain the country’s foreign reserves, which are used to purchase the imports. This makes it hard for the country to be able to maintain a strong currency. Lasco Jamaica has also been another company that has been in operation in the Jamaican economy since 1988 (Lasco Jamaica, 3). It has been involved in the provision of food, financial, personal care, household and pharmaceutical services and products. Positive impact Access to quality goods-Lasco Jamaica has been facilitating distribution of foreign products by employing aggressive marketing strategies. This has enabled the Jamaican public to be able to access high quality imports at relatively average prices Opening up of the market to healthy competition-Lasco Jamaica has also contributed to the opening up of the Jamaican market to competition posed by foreign products and enabled the local market to conform to high standards in the production of any goods (Lasco Jamaica, 15). This is evident by the presence of locally manufactured goods that are of high standards and are appealing to the consumer. Source of revenue for the government – the imports are usually taxed heavily on entry into any country. This ahs been a significant source of revenue for the government enabling it to fund projects Negative impact Focus on imports-The Company was involved in the importation of foreign products. This has had a negative impact on the Jamaican economy. Importation means that the company was denying local companies the much-needed revenues. Lack of employment due to imports– Lack of adequate revenues means that the local companies cannot employ more employees or even increase production Preference of foreign goods over local goods-The Company has not been a favorable force to the market due to its preference for imports such that it opposed the revival of Jamaican owned entity that would see the Jamaican government operate a dairy company. This would be favorable for the economy, as a whole. It would translate to more jobs in the economy and a reduction in the unemployment rates. This would also mean that the government would collect more revenue in the form of taxes and licenses from new products. In addition, the Lasco Jamaica Company has been providing the Jamaican population with fatty foods, which are considered unhealthy due to the presence of hydrated fats. The presence of such fats translates to people becoming unhealthy due to increase in weight. This leads to medical conditions such as obesity, bloods pressure and other heart related problems brought about by high cholesterol foods. Foreign affiliate-The Company seems to act as an affiliate of larger companies (Lasco Jamaica, 13). This denies the Jamaican populace the chance to work at companies, and denies the populace the chance to buy products that are made by Jamaican companies. The company should authorize the issue of shares and enable people to purchase their shares. This would enable the Jamaican population to have more ownership in entities that have been in existence for a long time and at the same time get money to invest in the farming activities. Grace Kennedy Company should have more responsibilities in the social scene because it has more market capitalization and resources at its disposal. This would be sufficient because the company owes its current existence to the Jamaican society. As a multinational company with the most number of subsidiaries and affiliate companies, they would be able to support such a perspective at the same time the company would be able to use the funds obtained in the acquisition of more equipment and invest in the local production of identical goods to ward off competition from the international products. The company should be the largest due to the high consumption rates of their products, which means that they earn more from the public thus they should give back to the public. Part of the revenue should go back to the society as it is because mast of it was derived from Jamaica. References Grace Kennedy. (2012). About us, 7.Retrieved from http://www.gracekennedy.com/home Lasco Jamaica. (2012). Home, 16. Retrieved from http://www.lascodistributors.com/Home.asp

Total Quality Management †William Edwards Deming

Total Quality Management – William Edwards Deming Free Online Research Papers In this paper I will talk about the management and leadership roles and tasks in relation to Total Quality Management. Total quality management represents, within the past two decades, one of the most reflective changes in the mode companies are now being managed. According to Biech (1994), â€Å"Quality improvement (TQM) are a customer-focused, quality-centered, fact-based, team driven, senior management-led process to achieve an organizations strategic imperative through continuous process improvement† (pp. 1-2). The benefits associated with TQM include higher quality, lower cost products and services that align with customer demands (Zbaracki, 1998). The capability of a company to answer to the needs of its customers measures the overall success of that company. Many organizations may ask the question, what is quality? As Hick (1998) explains, â€Å"quality is meeting or exceeding the needs and expectations of the customer† (p.1). What exactly are the expectations of the customers? It is now the responsibility of the organization to define those needs. Perhaps Biech (1994) provides a simpler picture, â€Å"Quality is the measure of satisfaction that occurs between a customer and supplier that only they can defi ne. In other words, quality is what the customer says it is† (p.25). Yet according to Perigord (1987), â€Å"Total quality means that all participants in a company are involved regardless of their position in the hierarchy† (p.7). Basically making it seem impossible for quality to be successful if all members are not sharing in the same vision and/or goals. Edwards Deming is well known for the introduction of the concept involving quality management. After World War II, Deming gained exclusive recognition throughout Japan, which later flourished to his homeland. During the early 50’s, Deming was invited to Japan to helper in he recovery of Japan’s economy. Going through a period of economic hardship and declines, the Japanese Union of Scientists and Engineers (JUSE) called on Deming’s expertise. In 1980, Deming introduced 14 key factors behind this idea of quality management. Gitlow (1994) notes the following as 14 points discussed in Deming’s work, â€Å"Out of the Crisis†. After Deming’s success with his Japanese counter partners, many North American manufacturers began to focus in on the Japanese strategies. The Japanese not only adopted Deming’s ideas for manufacturing, but also expanded them to include administrative and service industries. The implementation of quality concepts began to increase along with the techniques that focused in on employee motivation, measurement, and rewards (Hick, 1998). During the eighties, quality improvement had yet again changed names and was referred to as Total Quality Management (TQM). Hick (1998) also explains that the continuous improvement process should â€Å"be driven from the top, but implemented from the bottom† (p.2). Next customer focus, which involves the identification of who the customers are. When companies consider process improvements, they must know the people who will be using their products or services. Hick (1998) explains, â€Å"the starting point for quality improvement is to determine the customer needs† (p.3). As Allen (2001) also notes, â€Å"customer satisfaction is the hallmark of an effective TQM program† (p.5). It is wise for managers to encourage employee-customer exposure to effectively gain understanding of customer needs (Allen, 2001). Walter Shewhart developed the PDCA (Plan-Do-Check-Act) cycle, which provides a methodology for process improvements. Many organizations may use this cycle upon the realization of the need for process improvements. The PDCA cycle is also known as Deming’s cycle because Deming used this methodology to explain the concepts of continuous process improvements. This cycle consists of four important steps The first one is to plan, which is used to determine the processes needing improvement, setting a target, and making all the key players in the effort; the second one is to do what involves the implementation; the third one is to check, which included comparing the pre and post improvement data. This step is also used to determine if the post improvement efforts have corrected the original problem; and the last one is to act, which involves continuous monitoring of that particular process and moving on in areas that need further improvements (Biech, 1994). Including flow charts, or ganizations can also use cause and effect diagrams, run charts, and control charts as basic measuring tools. The main concept behind Deming’s quality theory was the creation of techniques and procedures for process control (Hick, 1998). The theory was expressed as the responsibility of the organization as a whole. In implementing such a major change, leaders must acknowledge their employees fear of the unknown. As Biech (1994) notes, â€Å"Everyone will need to be coached, encouraged, prodded, and protected as they try on new skills and behaviors† (p.138). Biech (1994) also notes several points important for leaders to acknowledge: customer-designed approach for the organization, strong, visible, leadership and commitment from all levels of management, clear vision consistently being communicated at all levels, active participation of the best people regardless of position and experience, willingness to grow as the need arises, and discipline to give the TQM implementation effort time to succeed. There are common reasons why some companies fail at implementing TQM. There are also common ways companies can prepare for the TQM tackle. Companies can start by focusing in on the previous listed points. Throughout many notes from TQM researchers, TQM can be successful if given direct and undivided attention. As Perigord (1994) notes, â€Å"Doing it right the first time means meeting the commitment that has been made†(p.107). It’s the overall desire of the company that drives TQM home. If TQM is enviable, it’s potential, it’s achievable, it becomes everybody’s job, and it becomes victorious. References Allen, R. (2001, May). Aligning Reward Practices in Support of Total Quality Management. Business Horizons. Retrieved Aug 13, 2007 from the World Wide Web: findarticles.com/cf_0/m1038/3_44/75645904/print.jhtml Biech, E. (1994). TQM For Training. New York: McGraw-Hill. Gitlow, H. S., Gitlow, S. J. (1994). Total Quality Management In Action. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall. Hick, M. (1998). Quality Management. Mike Hicks Eagle. Retrieved Aug 13, 2007 from the World Wide Web: eagle.ca/~mikehick/quality.html Perigord, M. (1987). Achieving Total Quality Management: A Program For Action. Maryland: Productivity Press. Zbarack, M. J. (1998). The Rhetoric and Reality of Total Quality Management. Administrative Science Quarterly. Retrieved Sep 13, 2007 from the World Wide Web: findarticles.com/cf_0/m4035/3_43/53392848/print.jhtml Research Papers on Total Quality Management - William Edwards DemingThe Project Managment Office SystemBionic Assembly System: A New Concept of SelfAnalysis of Ebay Expanding into AsiaDefinition of Export QuotasMarketing of Lifeboy Soap A Unilever ProductOpen Architechture a white paperPETSTEL analysis of IndiaInfluences of Socio-Economic Status of Married MalesIncorporating Risk and Uncertainty Factor in CapitalResearch Process Part One

Baseline Exercise Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Baseline Exercise - Essay Example Horton Sports. For Haredi College, the video introduces an institution dedicated towards provision of academic studies for students hailing from Haredi community (The Jerusalem Foundation). The college has incorporated a curriculum with subjects that build their students towards a professional career. Apart from graduate degrees, the school also offers MBA degrees for their students. Both groups’ videos introduce the college as specifically meant for provision of education on religious grounds. This means that while studying in this college, the major norms originate from the respective religious beliefs. Further, both have a mission of streamlining their students for future professional careers as evident in the curriculum activities they offer. Even though the two have the same goal, in terms of religious beliefs, the kind of nurturing differs exceptionally. Pensacola College nurtures their students in line with the modern culture while Haredi College, acting as un-orthodox institution, prohibits following the modern secular culture. The issue about dressing code is worth a claim for both institutions. They believe that women and men should have strict dressing the code, especially for the former who are supposed to follow the rules of modest dress. In conclusion, an individual attending these colleges should be ready for strict regulations far from the normal. The Jerusalem Foundation.   Ã¢â‚¬Å"Haredi College –  From Education  toWork.†Ã‚  YouTube video,   5:42.  October 14,   2012.   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qEW8vDO7Tfo   (accessed

Homework Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 46

Homework - Assignment Example The evidence tallied to the same observation. The world had enough reason to believe the earth was round (Magan pp. 8). Since then, the shape of the earth was under constant investigation with many scholars drawing endless observation that showed the earth was round indeed. Some of the evidences include; when two sailors are on the ocean, one in front and another one right behind. The observer standing at the beach starts to see the smoke of the ship of the first sailor and then the other one emerges. If the earth was flat, then the two sailors would have been seen at the same time in their relative position. If a traveler would be heading southern part of the earth, the group of stars appears to rise higher above the horizon. This could only mean the earth is round. Similar observation was made in that; some stars could be seen when one is at a particular location but disappear when one move to another

Drug Courts and Recidivism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 14250 words

Drug Courts and Recidivism - Essay Example The Drug Court had been born. Since the early 1990's when drug courts became the preferred methodology of treating the offender while reducing the incidence of drug related crimes, much of the research has stated the benefits of drug courts in reducing recidivism. Many individual courts have published results of reduced recidivism since its implementation. Determining the extent of the recidivism reduction because of participation in drug court is the focus of this research paper. Examining the recidivism rate nationally and comparing these figures to the recidivism rate nationally for drug court participants will show a significant reduction due to drug court participation. This research will discover any regional variation and offer direction for future research while benchmarking current success. During the 1970's and 1980's the Criminal Justice System had moved from a more rehabilitative model to a punitive philosophy. "Between 1980 and 1993, American prison and jail populations tripled, much of the increase due to the increased number of drug convictions and longer sentences for drug offenses" (Armstrong 2003, p. 138). In 1994 alone drug trafficking and conviction accounted for 31.4% of felony convictions nationwide (12.5% for possession and 19% for trafficking). Further, between 1980 and 1989 arrest for drug offenses rose 134% (Armstrong 2003,

The Concept Of Csr Business Essay

The Concept Of Csr Business Essay 2.2 The History of CSR through the Centuries. The Business Relations, Accountability, Sustainability and Society Centre, known as BRASS, in its report History of Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability (2007), states that The history of social and environmental concern about business is as old as trade and business itself. Commercial logging operations for example, together with laws to protect forests, can both be traced back almost 5,000 years. In Ancient Mesopotamia around 1700 BC, King Hammurabi introduced a code in which builders, innkeepers or farmers were put to death if their negligence caused the deaths of others, or major inconvenience to local citizens. In Ancient Rome senators grumbled about the failure of businesses to contribute sufficient taxes to fund their military campaigns, while in 1622 disgruntled shareholders in the Dutch East India Company started issuing pamphlets complaining about management secrecy and self-enrichment . Moving further, Eberstadt (1977) claims in his study that phenomena of social responsibility were already presented in the ancient Greece, while todays corporate responsibility movement is an attempt to restore a 2,000-year-old tradition of businesses being connected to the community (cited in Panwar, Rinne, Hansen Juslin, 2006). In the 18th century the businesses started to anticipate that having an efficient labour force was essential for the successful delivery of their activities. During that period Adam Smith, the great moral philosopher and pioneer in economics, present for the first time the traditional or classical economic model. The model suggested that the needs and the interests of the public would best be met if the individuals act in self-interest manner. Driven by their own self-interests, the individuals would produce and deliver goods and services which would earn them profit, but also meet the needs of the others (Fernando, 2009). According to Brown (2005), the companies in order to keep their employees satisfied, because of the negative effects that the lack of food, housing and healthcare had in the labour force efficiency, they started to invest in housing, healthcare and nourishment. Thus, the worker villages of the industrial revolution, company medical facilities and the subsidized wor ks canteen appeared. That action of social philanthropy by the companies can be considered as the forerunner of the modern day CSR. Sims (2003) claims that the contemporary CSR originated back to the beginning of the 20th century and is based upon two principles. The first, the principle of charity, is based on religious tradition and suggests that those who are well financially should give to those with difficulties. The second one, the principle of stewardship, says that the organisations have an obligation to serve the society and satisfy the publics needs since their wealth and the power that they have springs through their activities within the society. This second principle had an impact on affected how companies were faced by governments, press and other groups and led to the conduction of new more socially responsible laws. The turn of the businesses to the society and the development of a more societal thinking led the organisations to increase their responsibility and consideration for both social and environmental well-being. This response to environmental and social matters by the corporations is what it is known today as Corporate Social Responsibility (Panwar et al., 2006). 2.3 Definitions of Corporate Social Responsibility The rise of the concept of Corporate Social Responsibility during the past decades resulted to the continuous debate about the exact meaning of the term. The only generally accepted view about the term CSR is that is a concept which covers several aspects. Frankental (2001), comments that CSR is a vague and intangible term which can mean anything to anybody, and therefore is effectively without meaning. Castka, Bamber, Bamber and Sharp (2004) argue that there is no single authoritative definition of CSR. The CSR concept seems to be a loosely defined umbrella embracing a vast number of concepts traditionally framed as environmental concerns, sustainable development public relations, corporate philanthropy, human resource management and community relations. During the examination of various literatures it can be seen that there is not a single generally accepted definition, although many authors and worldwide institutions defined the term CSR in similar ways. The first academically accepted definition of CSR can be found in the book Social Responsibilities of the Businessman, written by Howard Bowen in 1953. Bowen defines CSR as an obligation to pursue those policies, to make those decisions, or to follow those lines of action that are desirable in terms of the objectives and values of our society (cited in Panwar et al., 2006). Carroll (2004) argues that the social responsibility of businesses encompasses the economic, legal, ethical, and discretionary (philanthropic) expectations that society has of organizations at a given point in time, while Buhmann (2006) simply defines CSR as doing more than what is required by law. Johnson, Scholes and Whittington (2005), define CSR as the ways in which an organisation exceeds its minimum obligations to stakeholders specified through regulation. The World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) defines CSR as the continuing commitment by business to behave ethically and contribute to economic development while improving the quality of life of the workforce and their families as well as the local community and society at large (cited in Castka et al., 2004). Finally, the internationally known law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer in the report The Development and Impact of CSR on the Construction Industry (2006), defines CSR as the voluntary integration of environmental, social and human rights considerations into business operations, over and above legal requirements and contractual obligations. To conclude, it can be clearly seen that the base line of the above definitions is the volunteering obligation that the organisations must have over their employees and their families, the environment and the general public which sometimes may go further their legal requirements. 2.4 Layers of Corporate Social Responsibility According to Sachs, Ruhli, and Mittnacht (2005) the probably best known economic paradigm that prepare the ground for further research on the concept of CSR is the Carroll Pyramid (Figure 1). FIGURE 1 Carroll (1991) suggests that there are four kind of social responsibilities that an organisation should take into account while conducting its activities and those responsibilities constitute total CSR. Those four social responsibilities of an organisation were presented into a four-layered pyramid model, called The Pyramid of Responsibilities. The four layers of responsibilities are economical, legal, ethical and philanthropic. The bottom layer and the foundation of the pyramid is the Economic Responsibilities. The business must be profitable in order to keep its shareholders satisfied, produce goods and services necessary to the consumers and be able to create new jobs and promote innovation. The second layer of responsibilities is the legal and is all about following the law. The businesses should not only be profit driven but at the same time they must respect the laws and regulations produced by government and it is expected that the businesses would keep their economic activities inside the framework of the law and pay by the rules of the game. The ethical responsibilities are related to fairness and morality. The peoples rights and beliefs must be respected, any kind of harm, physical or social, must be avoided and any harm caused by others must be prevented. The last layer is the philanthropic responsibilities which urge the businesses to be good corporate citizens. The businesses through their activities must contribute resources to the community and most importantly must be able to help to improvement of the quality of life. Carroll placed the four layers of responsibility in a pyramid in order to show the strong connection between the four kinds of responsibilities. If a kind of responsibility in the pyramid model is absent then the ones above cannot be achieved. Lantos (2001) characterises the Carrolls pyramid model of CSR as altruistic or humanitarian and argued that the firm will be good to use it as marketing too in order to promote its image. Following this view Lantos (2001) proposes a new model of responsibilities by reclassifying Carrolls pyramid from four to three layers. The first layer of Lantos model is the Ethical CSR and includes economic, legal and ethical responsibilities as one group. The second layer is the Altruistic CSR which is equal to Carrolls philanthropic layer and suggests that businesses must contribute to the community even if a part of the profits must be sacrificed. The last layer of Lantos model is the Strategic CSR where businesses are fulfilling their philanthropic responsibilities not only because of generosity but also because they expect financial returns from the positive publicity. 2.5 Business Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility Business Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility are two close related concepts but they are not identical. As it can be seen Business Ethics play a very important role in Carrolls Pyramid of responsibilities as Ethics Responsibilities are placed in the second highest layer. Both concepts refer to values, goals and decision making based on something more than just making a profit (Mullerat, 2010). In general terms the bottom line of ethics is individually doing the right thing while avoid evil and harmful actions for you and the others in your activities. On the other hand CSR is more about the obligations that an organisation must have over its stakeholders than just its shareholders. A socially responsible organisation must act ethically (Mullerat, 2010). Phatak, Bhagat and Kashlak (2005) define Business Ethics as the moral thinking and analysis by corporate decision-makers and other members regarding the motives and consequences of their decisions and actions. Furthermore, Ferrell and Fraedrich (1998) add that business ethics compromises moral principles and standards that guide behaviour in the world of business. The concept of Business Ethics is vital for every self-respected organisation and this is why many companies today develop codes of ethics and make commitments about their ethical behaviour to the public (Fisher, 2003). According to Seitel (2001), the organisations develop ethics codes in order to: Increase public confidence: Due to various scandals, mainly concerning corruption and briberies inside organisations, the publics trust for businesses has been declined. Thus, companies have decided to adopt the ethics code in order to improve their image. Stem the tight of regulation: Due to the declining trust and confidence of the public for businesses, the governments increased their legislations and regulations in order to reverse the situation. The companies adopted the ethics codes in order to show that they have ethical behaviour and can be trusted. Improve internal regulations: Due to the increase of the size of organisations and the development of multinational operations it is essential that some codes of conduct must be created in order to have the same behaviour standards among the employees. Business ethics depend on two main factors, culture and time (Svensson and Wood, 2003). The business environment culture is influenced by traditions, religion, ethical values and individuals and can be defined as what is accepted and what is unaccepted. The companys success can be affected if different opinions, that is to say different cultures, cannot be adopted satisfactory by the organisation. Additionally, what is accepted and what is unaccepted can be affected by the business time element. The business world is a fast changing environment and what is considered ethical today it can turn out to be unethical tomorrow. As it can be seen the success or the failure of a business is closely connected with ethics and that is why Business Ethics must be used as a corporate philosophy rather than a corporate code in every organisation. To conclude, Johnson et al. (2005) argue that the societys expectations, which have major influence on companies and organisations, are based on three levels of Business Ethics. The macro level is the first one and is related to the ethical posture of the company. Simply, the macro level is related to the extent in which the organisations are willing to do more than their legal requirements in order to satisfy their stakeholders. The second one is a part of the macro level and is the Corporate Social Responsibility level. This level is concerned the ability of organisations to surpass the minimum requirements needed in order to maintain the organisations ethical stance. The individual or managerial level is the last level of Business Ethics. This is a very important level since is connected with the behaviour and actions of individuals inside the organisation. 2.6 Drivers of Corporate Social Responsibility The current momentum behind Corporate Social Responsibility is being built based on a variety of very important factors. Ernst and Young (2002) mention that there are five key drivers which encourage the increasing business focus on CSR. These are: (1) greater stakeholder awareness of corporate ethical, social and environmental behaviour, (2) direct stakeholder pressures, (3) investor pressure, (4) peer pressure and (5) an increased sense of social responsibility (cited in Jones, Comfort and Hillier, 2006). Panwar et al. (2006), argue that there are diverse motivations that lead to the adoption of CSR by the organisations. For example a business is adopting CSR in order to meet mandatory legal requirements aimed at controlling destructive business practices while another business is using CSR in order to increase its productivity and improve its financial performance. It is also suggested that a company by using CSR in its practises can improve functional areas such as market positioning and risk management. According to Wood (1991), the concept of CSR is being driven by three major principles. Firstly, businesses are obliged to use their power responsibly since they are above all social institutions. Secondly, the responsibility for the outcomes of the involvement with the public is upon businesses. Lastly, discretion must be exercised in decision making processes by the individual managers who are also moral agents. Andriof and McIntosh (2001) believe that the driving force behind the concept of CSR is the consumers and employees. These two categories are holding the power in the market system nowadays. Consumers and employees are now well informed about the several challenges the world has to face and they do not really believe that the governments can change things. They accept that corporations are the most powerful social institutions of the present era and most importantly they are willing to reward those corporations who are responsive to their concerns. Finally, Girod and Bryane (2003) use a strategic marketing view arguing that CSR is a key tool to create, develop and sustain differentiated brand names. Furthermore, the Commission of the European Communities (2002) argues that the organisations in order to better respond to the fundamental changes in the overall business environment they adopted CSR and used it as an important element in new and emerging forms of governance. These changes include globalisation and the responsibilities companies feel the need to address, as they increasingly source products and services in developing countries; the issues of image and reputation, which have become increasingly important elements in corporate success; and the need for companies to recruit and retain highly skilled personnel (cited in Jones, et al., 2006). 2.7 Benefits of Corporate Social Responsibility Many organisations are using nowadays CSR as a marketing tool due to the fact that the implementation of CSR practices can bring to the organisation a wide range of potential benefits, both direct and indirect. The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has said that implementing a CSR policy, can bring real business benefits by reducing risk, by enhancing brand value, by opening doors and creating good will, and by improving staff efficiency and morale. It can also attract stable and ethical investment and add competitive edge (Chartered Institute of Building, Report) According to Mackey, Mackey Barney (2005) in the case that a company surpasses the minimum CSR requirements then the potential benefits can lead to a positive effect to the companys performance and value. Gildea (1994) and Zaman et al. (1991), stress out that research has shown that companies that care for the environment and exhibit good CSR practices experience increased consumer purchase preference in addition to increased investment appeal (cited in Panwar et al., 2006). Many consumers prefer to buy for ethical business. A survey conducted by Cone Inc. (2004) showed that 91% of the consumers have a more positive image of a product or a company when it supports a cause. The 90% of the consumers would consider switching to another companys product or services if they found out about a companys any unlawful or unethical practises. In addition, Muckiewicz (1993) supports that the reputation of an organisation plays a vital role as research studies show that 9 out of 10 consumers use it in order to decide which product or service they will buy from those that are similar in price and quality. According to Bernstein (2004), CSR benefits both the company and the community. Due to use of CSR the corporate culture and corporate name of the company can be improved significantly thus the best employees can be attracted and the motivation of the workforce will remain in high levels. The society benefits from CSR practices as well through a variety of services and action, though the company has to create some sort of societal benefit in order to be called socially responsible. Some of the potential benefits that a business can have from the use of CSR practices can include improved financial performance and profitability; reduced operating costs; long-term sustainability for companies and their employees; increased staff commitment and involvement; enhanced capacity to innovate; good relations with government and communities; better risk and crisis management; enhanced reputation and brand value; and the development of closer links with customers and greater awareness of their needs (cited in Jones et al., 2006) . Table 1 presents a summary of business benefits of CSR. TABLE 1 Concluding, it must be noted that the benefits from the adoption of CSR practises can never be predicted or be constant since each company operates in a different and always changing environment. Barnett (2007) adds that this unpredictability could lead to limited support for CSR initiatives from the board, in times of financial instability. Thus, the business case supporting CSR has to be specific for every company and based on Rowley and Berman (2000) CSR achievements of an organisation cannot be collated against some standards, since those does not exist. Furthermore, McWilliams and Siegel (2001) point out that the potential existence of those standards would allow CSR to be considered as part of the investment decisions, as the company would be able to make judgements for its business case in a more formal way. 2.8 Criticism against Corporate Social Responsibility The concept of CSR, as it can be seen from the various definitions presented on previous paragraphs, is based upon the principle that businesses do have another responsibility than just making profits. Every organisation has a responsibility towards the society, its people and the environment as well. At the same time, many are those who are opposed the idea of integrating CSR practices into their corporations and they believe that shareholders interest can be conflicted by operating a good business. Dr Milton Friedmann (1970), a renowned economist, in his article The Social Responsibility of Business is to Increase its Profits affirms that there is one and only one social responsibility of business is to use its resources and engage in activities designed to increase its profits so long as it stays within the rules of the game, which is to say engages in open and free competition without deception or fraud. According to his economic model the organisation is an economic institution which should only focus in the economic scope. Organisations are seen purely as legal entities incapable of value decisions. A manager who uses a firms resources for non-profit social purposes is thought to be diverting economic efficiency and levying an illegal tax on the organisation (Balabanis, Phillips and Lyall, 1998). Following this view Dr Robert Barrington (2008) states that the managers are concentrated on soft issues rather than hard issues of the bottom line and this is something that is costing money to the shareholders. Moving further Frankental (2001), conclude that CSR is simply a public relations invention and it will remain like this. He believes that CSR can only have real substance if it embraces all the stakeholders of a company, if it is reinforced by changes in company law relating to governance, if it is rewarded by financial markets, if its definition relates to the goals of social and ecological sustainability, if its implementation is benchmarked and audited, if it is open to public scrutiny, if the compliance mechanisms are in place, and if it is embedded across the organisation horizontally and vertically. Henderson (2001) after the examination of various issues related to the concept of CSR comments that à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦the current widely-held doctrine of CSR is deeply flawed. It rests on a mistaken view of issues and events, and its general adoption by businesses would reduce welfare and undermine the market economy. In the same motion Moir (2001) suggests that those who adopt the neoclassical model of business would follow the view that the only social responsibilities that a corporation can have are to provide employment, pay taxes and mainly to maximise its profits; therefore, maximise its shareholders value. On the other extreme of the arguments above, Dave Packard, the co-founder of Hewlett Packard Company once said I think many people assume, wrongly, that a company exists simply to make money. While this is an important result of a companys existence, we have to go deeper and find the real reasons for our beingà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. We inevitably come to the conclusion that a group of people get together and exist as an institution that we call a company so that they are able to accomplish something collectively that they could not accomplish separately they make a contribution to society (cited in Handy, 2002). Concluding, Freeman (1984) argues that a corporation is wrong to be seen just as a private economic institution, as it was suggested by Friedman (1970), but it has to be also seen as a social institution. This way, corporations would be responsible for any of their actions against the people, the community and the environment. Based on his Stakeholder Theory, companies operations should not be based on the interests of their shareholders but they have to be based on the interested of their stakeholders. 2.9 Corporate Social Responsibility and Stakeholders The definition given about the concept of CSR from Johnson et al. (2005) includes the words obligations to stakeholders, which indicates that stakeholders have an important role to play in this extent. Freeman (1984), the father of the Stakeholder Theory of the firm, defines stakeholders as any group or individual who can affect or is affected by the achievement of the organizations objectives. The Stakeholder Theory of the firm is used as a basis to analyse those groups to whom the firm should be responsible (Moir, 2001). The identification of the different stakeholder groups of the organisation is extremely important during the implementation of CSR practices. Usually the stakeholder groups are separated into primary and secondary stakeholders. According to Clarkson (1995) a primary stakeholder group is one without whose continuing participation the corporation cannot survive as a going concern, while a secondary stakeholder group is those who influence or affect, or are influenced or affected by the corporation, but they are not engaged in transactions with the corporation and are not essential for its survival. Based on those definitions a primary stakeholder group contains shareholders and investors, employees, customers, suppliers, governments and communities. The secondary stakeholder group includes the media and a wide range of special interest groups (Clarkson, 1995). According to Freemans (1984) definition of stakeholders the relation between the company and its stakeholders can be described as two-way. Castka et al. (2006) support the view that the implementation of CSR is all about the right choices and strategic decisions and comment that the dilemmas that an organisations stakeholders can have are which choices and decision must choose in order to satisfy. Berman, Wicks, Kotha and Jones (1999), in order to find a solution for those dilemmas, derived two distinct stakeholder management approaches; the instrumental and the normative approach. The first, instrumental approach, suggests that concern for stakeholders is motivated by the perception that financial performance can be improved. The second, intrinsic stakeholder commitment approach, assumes that organisations have a normative (moral) commitment to advance stakeholders interests (Castka et al. 2006). The instrumental approach was the one empirically supported in Berman et al. (1999) res earch while Harrison and Freeman (1999) mention that the conduction of more research is essential in order to clarify the model of the normative approach. Although further research is required it can be clearly anticipated, through the examination of various literature, that the instrumental approach is the most desirable among researchers. McWilliams and Siegel (2001) suggest that corporations need to carefully consider in which aspects of the CSR to invest in and they comment that by using cost-benefit analysis the managers can ideally determine the level of CSR. Additionally, Agle, Mitchell and Sonnenfeld (1999) argue that the decision to make a CSR investment is driven by the needs of the most powerful stakeholders within the organisation, such as top management staff and is usually connected with their desire to gain more profits and increase the shareholders value. Finally Castka et al (2004) believe that the purpose of CSR is an investment and it must be considered and treated like one. Moving further they suggest that the balance between the need for maximizing profit from CSR and the demand for CSR from multiple stakeholders is the key to a core return on investment in CSR (Figure 2). In order to achieve this balance stakeholders expectations should be assessed and examined through dialogues and must be translated and included into the companys strategy plan. FIGURE 2 2.10 Areas of Corporate Social Responsibility Andriof and McIntosh (2001) write that CSR is not chequebook philanthropy, nor a study based on business ethics. They argue that the concept of CSR can be described as a vision that corporate leaders have for their business which is beyond of just making profits. CSR has an impact on every activity of the company and can affect areas either inside or outside the company. According to Andriof and McIntosh (2001) the four distinct areas that CSR encompasses are: The Community The Environment The Marketplace The Workplace By operating within these four areas companies can conduct specific programmes and make the difference and can actively monitor, evaluate and change their effects of their activities. The implementation of CSR and the thinking behind becoming involved in these areas represents the new way of doing business. 2.11 Activities of Corporate Social Responsibility The concept of CSR can be divided into many and diverse domains. Sen and Bhattacharya (2001) provide six broad domains of CSR activities, based on a comprehensive summarisation of CSR domains contained in Socrates: The Corporate Social Ratings Monitor (Kinder, Lydenberg, Domini Co. Inc. 1999), a database that describes and rates more than 600 companies in terms of their CSR records. These domains of CSR activities are: Community Support: The company provides support to the community with the use of health and educational and housing programs for financially disadvantaged. The generous and innovative giving is promoted Diversity: The company provides initiatives for sex, race, family, sexual orientation and disability diversity Employee Support: The company promotes health and safety, ensures job security and profit sharing, develops relations with the labour unions and allows employees involvement. Environment: The company avoids the use of hazardous waste management techniques, uses and produces environmental friendly products, develops pollution control and recycling techniques. Non-domestic Operations: The company prevents operations in countries where human right violations occur or unhealthy labour practices take place. Product: The company produces safe product and promotes research and development and innovation. Following the same line Johnson et al (2005) present a checklist of the organisations responsibilities. Those responsibilities are divided into two categories, the internal and the external aspects of CSR, based on the areas that the organisations activities can affect. Internal aspects of the companys activities can include employee welfare, working conditions, job design and intellectual property. External aspects of activities can include environmental issues, products, markets and marketing, suppliers, employment, community activity and human rights. 2.12 Factors influencing Corporate Social Responsibility

Web Architecture In Website Commun

Web Architecture in Website Communications Search Engines Web Spiders Before search engines tell you where a file of document is, it has to be found. To find information on hundreds of millions of Web pages, a search engine used special software robots called spiders to build lists of the words found on websites. When the list is being built by spiders, it's called Web crawling. To build and maintain a useful list of words, a search engine's spiders have to go through a lot of sites.The process is quite simple. When a sequence of words is typed into a search engine such as ‘Suffolk One', the spider looks at a HTML page and takes note of two things; The words within the page, and where the words are found. Words in the title, subtitle, meta tags and other positions are noted for special consideration during a search by a user. Most spiders are built to ignore significant words on pages such as ‘a'. ‘an' and the'. When the spider has built up an index of different pag es, it builds a list of words and notes where they were found.It then builds an index of these websites by creating a system of weighting. The more times a series of words is mentioned on the website, such as ‘BBC', the website will be higher. If a website is linked from the BBC, which will also feature higher in the search than if it was linked to a less known website. After the spider has created an index it encodes the data to a save space and stores data for users to access. Metadata A metadata is a special HTML tag which provides information about a Weeping.Metadata don't affect how the page looks, unlike normal HTML tags. Instead, they provide information such as who created the page, how often it's updated, what the age is about, and which keywords represent the page's content. Boolean Boolean is a data type which has two values, usually true and false. With search engines, Boolean is used to get better search results. If ‘AND' is in the search, it will find all t he words either side of the and, for example ‘suit and ties', and give results of both if both terms are on the site..If ‘OR' is in the search it will search for one of the other, for example ‘suit or ties'. There will be results for both, but they will give sites which has one or the other words on there. If ‘NOT is in the search, it will search for one term, and make sure the other word isn't in the page. For example ‘Suits not men's'. This will show suits for women, and any sites with men's suits on will not show. E-commerce Buying, Selling and Marketing Customers can use e-commerce (online shopping) to buy and sell products online.The most used e-commerce site for buying is Amazon. Amazon attracts customers by having TV adverts. Most of their adverts are for their Kindle e-reader. They also attract customers by having low costs on high street products such as CDC, DVD's, and games. Amazon use email to attract customers. They send emails to customers showing what's new, and what's been a weekly best seller. They also use this email to give customers special recommendations based on what they have bought or looked at on the site. Other e-commerce sites such as eBay and play. Mom also attract customers in similar ways; by having adverts, emails, and recommendations on their site. 24/7/365 E-commerce sites run 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. They never go offline. This is good for e-commerce sites because people can order whenever, and wherever they like. This also meaner people who work hours during the day so cannot get into their local store before it closes will also be able to buy from that store Electronic Payments Customers can pay for their products online through the Internet with no hassle.Most websites also remember credit card information, so the next time a customer shops using that site they won't have to type their details in again. Fewer Overheads/ Costs E-commerce sites have cheaper costs than norm al high street shops because they don't have to pay for as much rent for shops, and staffing costs will be low. They also don't have to pay for delivery to the shops around the country/world. Customer Benefits Customers get a lot of benefits from shopping online. Most of the products are cheaper to buy which will save customers money.They also get delivery straight to their door, which is good for people who live in remote areas, who are elderly, or people who are disabled. Killing off High Street Shops E-commerce sites are killing off high street shops. Stores like HEM and Jeepers have closed because it's easier and cheaper for people to buy online. Customers want to mind the best price, and if they can find it cheaper online, which is also convenient because they can order it from home, they will order it online.Privacy Issues Some customers want to know how their information is being used, and what data e- commerce sites have on them. E-commerce sites may know more about them tha n the customer knows, like what size underwear they have ordered, or what types of films they like. Customer Service When customers buy online, they won't get the customer service they get if they went to a high street store. Some customers like the service they get because they can ask questions about a certain product, or get product recommendations.Security Customers may be afraid to shop online because of security issues. They may not want to type in their credit card details because of hackers, or pushing on the site. To reassure customers, HTTPS will need to be used which will encrypt the data sent and prevent unwanted guests seeing the information. E-commerce at Work Information goes from the client PC through the ISP to the merchant's web server. It then goes to the merchant's database server to see if it is in stock. If the item isn't in tock is shows similar items, and other items customers bought.If it is in stock, it goes to the payment gateway where money is taken from the client's bank to the merchant's bank. Once the payment process is complete, the order goes to the warehouse, to the delivery service, and finally delivered to the client's house. Web 2. 0 CHIC – User Generated Content User generated content meaner no HTML needs to be typed in. The coding is set for the site, and when a user changes something like a picture or updated their status, the code changes without the user seeing it.The user is in control, and needs no HTML expertise because the creator of the site has already done important coding to get the site up and working for users to change different settings. Social Networking Social networking sites such as Twitter and Faceable use Web 2. 0. On Faceable, Web 2. 0 allows users to change their status, change their profile picture, and change their cover photo. Twitter also allows users to send tweets, change their profile picture, change their header, and update their bio. Users can also change their background on their pr ofile, as shown in the picture below. Blobbing Anyone can become a flogger and create a blob, which is usually public but can be private. There are tools are provided for readers to comment and contribute. Blob entries have the same format throughout, and usually have somewhere for users to comment. HTML code has already put in for this to automatically show on each blob entry. Wise (Wisped) Wise is a place where all users can contribute to information. The biggest example is Wisped which is an encyclopedia website where anyone can contribute to an article, or create a new one.On Wisped, the same layout follows throughout, and o all users need to do is type the information in normal text, and the website will add it in the format of all the other pages. Online Applications (Cloud Computing) Instead of buying applications and installing it onto a computer, online applications allow users to use programs on the internet. This meaner they're accessible from any computer with an Interne t connection. The online applications have the same layout as any software on a computer, but because it's online it's run using HTML. Users do not need to understand HTML to use the website because it used Web 2. 0.