Read: Naomi Klein, Capitalism vs. the Climate, The Nation (November 28, 2017)
here is the link for this article https://www.thenation.com/article/164497/capitalism-vs-climate#
FOCUS on the second half of the article where she offers “a quick-and-dirty look at what a serious climate agenda would mean in the following six arenas:
public infrastructure, economic planning, corporate regulation, international trade, consumption and taxation.”
Answer the following question
Naomi Klein summarizes her article, “Responding to climate change requires that we break every rule in the free-market playbook and that we do so with great urgency. We will need to re-build the public sphere, reverse privatizations, re-localize large parts of our economies, scale back over-consumption, bring back long-term planning, heavily regulate and tax corporations, maybe even nationalize some of them, cut military spending, and recognize our debts to the global South.” Elaborate and explain.
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This Trading Blocs paper should be based on
1. a brief introduction to trading blocs
2.a short over view of each trading bloc a)GCC. b)EU. c) NAFTA.
d) APEC.
3.comparison of mentioned(in second point) trading blocs
(compare, contrast and critique)
(deep explanation for these types of blocs and their roles economically, politically and their impacts on the globe)
4.a brief overview of the future of each of the trading bloc and trading blocs more generally.
Use at least three (3) quality references Note: Wikipedia and other related websites do not qualify as academic resources.
Your assignment must follow these formatting requirements:
Be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides; citations and references must follow APA or school-specific format. Check with your professor for any additional instructions.
Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student’s name, the professor’s name, the course title, and the date. The cover page and the reference page are not included in the required assignment page length.
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INGLOTs micro and macro Environmental Factors facilitating Competitive Advantage.
Order Instructions:
INGLOT, during search I found that you already have term paper on INGLOT, like below question
1. Outline firm-level (micro) and country-level (macro) factors contributing to the development of INGLOT’s competitive advantages and discuss their sustainability.
2. Develop INGLOT’s strategic plan for the next five years with a concrete outline of recommended geographical expansion, business model evolution and product diversification.
Internal and external environmental factors are very important for an organization which needs to explore new markets and facilitate growth. This project looks at the case of INGLOT, and analyses how it can enhance its growth as a result by strategically planning and looking at its environmental factors that have so far given it its current competitive advantage. In the micro environmental factors, suppliers, customers, and consumers are considered. These are the major contributors to its competitive success so far. Economically, INGLOT has also been at an advantage because it is financially stable, a factor which many companies have been longing for. There is a sample five year strategic plan for INGLOT, which will be effective in ensuring that its goals are met.
Introduction
The competitive advantage of a company is usually supported by many factors available in its internal and external environment. Some companies are blessed with some features that are not present in others. If these factors are used effectively, the company will be in a better position to be at an advantage. INGLOT, from the case study, is one company that has had the opportunity of being at an advantage better than its competitors. Unfortunately, this competition is very stiff, and to ensure that it is not overthrown from its position in the market, INGLOT will have to adopt a few changes by engaging in geographical expansion, evolving its business model, and diversifying its products. These are some of the measures, which will ensure that INGLOT’s competitive advantage is maintained or improved, but not any other way. Therefore, this paper champions the thesis that geographical expansion, business model evolution and product diversification are major players in enhancing a company’s competitive advantage.
Micro and Macro Environmental Factors facilitating Competitive Advantage
Micro Environmental factors
The micro environment of a company is represented by the suppliers, customers, employees as well as the competitors. These are the factors which can have an effect on the performance of a business. INGLOT is a company which managed to greatly benefit from such factors as their competitive advantage was increased due to their presence. The company’s cosmetic products were in high demand, as a result of this great presence of customers; the company had a better competitive advantage since it could chose to either extend its presence in one of the over 40 countries, or penetrate a new market anywhere in the globe (Fox 2010). This micro factor presents an opportunity for better competitive advantage since it provides many opportunities for the company to increase its profit margin. When there is a very high product demand, the company may decide to increase prices and act as the price setters since it is already clear that the loyalty of consumers is achieved. This advantage it has over its competitors makes it difficult for the latter to price their products higher than that of INGLOT (Ming-Jer, Kuo-hsien & Wenpin 2007, p. 104).
The company has managed to appear as one of the best in producing quality and most innovative cosmetics. This factor has resulted to a high number of suppliers who want to be associated with INGLOT. Suppliers will want to become partners with a company which is performing at its peak as this will also mean a high profit margin on their part. If a product is in high demand and is among the top in the industry, the suppliers see a great opportunity for high sales with bigger returns (Fox 2010). This high number of suppliers who wish to be partners of INGLOT has also enhanced the company’s competitive advantage since it has the chance of having more than enough suppliers, most of the other companies struggle to find suppliers who are willing to take their products to the consumers. The availability of many suppliers gives INGLOT an opportunity of choosing from the best performers, so that it can be guaranteed that the products will sell and not just be stored (Matwiejczuk 2013, p. 268). From all the applications received from suppliers who want to be franchisers for INGLOT, approximately 95% are declined. Unsuitable experience is one of the many reasons why suppliers are turned down (p.1). New stores whose owners are not experienced in the industry may not perform so well since it takes time for them to catch up with issues such as effective decision making and marketing strategies.
INGLOT requires a distributor who will also take extra steps to market the cosmetic products so that the consumers will increase. INGLOT is a global business whose products are distributed far and wide. Some new markets may not be well familiar with the products, which is why the supplier needs to have the necessary skills to facilitate effective marketing so that the sales are increased (Mizuki 2014, p. 78). Underfinanced business plan also contributes to an application of franchising being declined. It is worth ensuring that the supplier has financial security as this is what will guarantee that they can deliver as expected. It can be frustrating to realize that the supplier who a company relied on has gone out of business for financial reasons. This is a major setback as the company will have failed its consumers by not providing the products needed. Some suppliers are declined because the position of their stores is not appropriate. Products need to be within easy reach for consumers so that they can be displayed as well. INGLOT also gained its competitive advantage as a result of the media. INGLOT never paid so much attention to media advertising as this was considered expensive and ineffective. Fortunately, the products of this company still became famous and were positively discussed over many forms of media.
The competitors also contributed to its competitive advantage through various ways. In this industry, the customer segment is characterized by a desire to acquire high quality products at affordable prices. There were many innovations which were facilitated by the introduction of novel products which ensured skin comfort, unlike the previous products. Hence, product differentiation is very important for a company to get a competitive advantage over the others. A factor that puts INGLOT at an advantage is that it knows of all competitor activities. By knowing what the competitor is planning, how it plans to react to certain changes in the environment, and some of the challenges it faces, INGLOT will always be a step ahead.
Macro Environmental Factors
As an international business, INGLOT is also faced with various political macro environmental factors. Fortunately, despite all these factors, INGLOT still manages to be at the top since it has many stores all over the world. The taxes charged for the distribution of these products to other parts of the world will therefore be recovered through a sale of products at a profit (Henrekson, Johansson & Stenkula 2010, p. 278). Not all countries have similar policies, therefore, it may be expensive to distribute in one country, and very cheap in another. This is a step which INGLOT has chosen to take so as to benefit from all angles. This company has always financed its growth from internal cash flow only. Therefore, it does not depend on stakeholders to any extent. This is also a benefit which improves its competitive advantage since most of the competitors depend on stakeholders for financial support. This is a proof that this company is financially stable and can therefore deal with economical challenges effectively (Şeitan 2014, p. 77). This stability is very important for any company which wishes to grow and prosper. This is why, whenever INGLOT wants to open up a new store or simply grow its product base, nothing financial will stand in the way.
INGLOT Five Year Strategic Plan (2014-2018)
Executive Summary
INGLOT is a cosmetic company which was started in communist Poland back in the 1980s by a young chemist, Wojciech Inglot. At this time, the vision of this young chemist was to offer consumers a range of affordable cosmetics prepared from the highest quality ingredients. This factor was completely absent in Poland even after years of centralized socialist planning. Today, after many years of operations and supplying quality cosmetic products, this company still finds the need to try and make various changes here and there. There are three major factors which are required: geographical expansion, business model evolution and product diversification.
Mission Statement
To always be the leader in the production and distribution of highest quality yet affordable cosmetic product all round the globe.
Vision Statement
Within the next five years, this organization intends to become one of the most treasured innovative leaders in the industry, creating dynamic partnerships that will enhance the growth of beauty in vibrant communities.
The mission and vision statements were created along with the participation of company staff and stakeholders as well. A factor which was unexpected was how overwhelming the response was. Generally, the mission statement translates to mean that when INGLOT achieves the highest rank in the industry, the position will be maintained at all costs. The products provided must always be of high quality and still be made affordable to all different communities in the world. Not all countries are of the same social status, hence when offered the products with the same level of expense, it may not work. The vision statement, on the other hand, is a look at how INGLOT hopes its future will turn out to be. This company hopes to be the best when it comes to innovation. It hopes to be the producer of new yet comfortable products for consumers. With the help of dynamic partnerships, the company will be in a better position to offer the products directly to the consumers.
Values
These are the company principles that are meant to govern staff behavior and how business is conducted. The authority of INGLOT is expected, in the next five years, to demonstrate the following values, internally and externally in equal measure.
Customer focused: Products must always be delivered to the customers on time. Employees are required to treat each other, as well as each and every customer with respect. If a customer presents a customized idea which may seem off, the employee is expected to politely offer suggestions without ruining the company’s reputation.
Integrity: All the activities of INGLOT must be ethical, trustworthy, and honest. There must be a clear indication on each cosmetic product and the type of customer it suits. This may be in terms of skin color, skin texture, and other similar factors. The ingredients used in the production of the cosmetics must also be honestly indicated in the packaging so that the consumer will be aware of what is present in the content.
Initiative: The Company must always be willing to take risks. For example, expanding stores by entering into a new market is a good example. It may be unclear of the performance but if there is potential, then a risk needs to be taken. In every organization, problems are bound to occur. This company will always address such issues by dialogue and coming up with solutions.
Teamwork: Collaborations will have no restrictions, and can therefore be internal and external. Strategic partnerships and relationships will be encouraged as these will eventually benefit INGLOT.
SWOT Analysis
To be able to plan for the future effectively, this company must also acknowledge its strengths and weaknesses.
Strengths
The first point is how the company depends on its internal cash flow to grow and develop. Financial stability is efficient and advised for any company. The current economic conditions affect almost all companies, and the few who have the chance to become stable must treasure the factor (Şeitan 2014, p. 78). The recession has really affected many countries; hence many are still struggling with it. INGLOT, on the other hand, benefits since it can easily access adequate resources to run its business operations. For example, inventory needs to be maintained so as to ensure a timely supply of the required goods. A company which is not stable, but instead relies on stakeholder support cannot do so become it is not clear when the finance will be available. Business requires sufficient funds to make payments to their employees and managers. Without enough payments, employees will feel underappreciated and thus the company will have trouble maintaining its skilled human resource. Without employees, the performance of a company is also affected, and this may lead to great losses.
Another strength of this company is its differentiated products which are also in high demand. When a product is in high demand, it is clear that it will definitely be appealing to consumers since they are the ones who need it. A high product demand gives the company a better opportunity to charge fairly higher prices without affecting its customer base. This increases the overall profit margin which will be beneficial for the company. INGLOT has already expanded its operations to the international level. This is also another reason why it has a better opportunity than other companies. By going international, it means that the company will be dealing with more customers than in the usual country level. Hence, there will be more sales which will ensure a faster return for the products.
Weaknesses
Weakness for this company is that is that it does not pay much attention to traditional methods of advertising. Advertising is a marketing strategy which has proved effective for many companies. This is because it continues to inform the public of the product along with its benefit which is unique to what other companies have to offer. Not investing in such an option is really affecting the performance of INGLOT because the numbers of people who know about it are not as much as it should be if advertising is used.
Opportunities
This company enjoys opportunities presenting themselves daily. With the availability of a large customer base, this company enjoys an opportunity for growth in any country it prefers. Along with the presence of financial stability, this company has a better chance of actually exploring these new opportunities in the unexplored markets. Many regions around the world have not yet been exposed to these products. Since they are of high quality but are offered at cheap prices, chances are high that it will prosper. Therefore, there is a better opportunity for INGLOT to continue its growth and cover all of Europe. Africa also has a lot of growth opportunities. INGLOT is already established in countries such as South Africa and Libya.
Threats
One of the threats of this company is the presence of taxes, which may be required during the process of distributing its products to other countries. Then again, not all policies are similar in the countries. Certain types of products may be very expensive compared to others. Such a difference in product taxation can pose a great danger to the profit margin of this company especially because policies change from time to time.
Goals
The goals of this organization are numerous; however, the major ones within the next five years are three. One, INGLOT hopes to have achieved a geographical expansion by around 50% of the untouched regions. A properly managed geographical expansion ensures that a company reduces costs, gains a better access to new untapped markets, gains a better position in acquiring required talents, and fuels a company’s growth (Etgar & Rachman-Moore 2010, p. 8). This is why INGLOT will strictly follow this plan. The scenario will be assessed to ensure that all factors are clear. Not all scenes, which present an opportunity for the business, will be successful. To ensure that the project does not fail halfway, it is better to first look at various important factors, which will affect the company products. If everything seems to be under control in the chosen destination, then the project can now take place.
Second, INGLOT hopes that its current business model will have evolved into something that is more sophisticated and effective. Although the current business model is profitable, it is still important for it to evolve so that its profitability is maintained. During this evolution, a business can easily fail if it was not well prepared. There are three reasons, which may cause a business model to evolve, including technology disruptions, commoditization, and competition (Nisa & Ravichandran 2013, p. 94). Competition is the major player and contributor to the other two reasons. When competition is very stiff, a company finds an urge to evolve so that it is always at the top of its competitors. This is why INGLOT wants to evolve. Therefore, the first step for this evolution may be by enhancing product differentiation. Although this is already effective, it needs to be taken to the next level by ensuring a diversification of all available products (Hutzschenreuter & Horstkotte 2013, p. 710). Thus, consumers who have unique desires will frequently find what they need. Another way is by creating room for a start of the creation of new kinds of products which are not yet handled by the company. There is a very wide range of cosmetic products which can also sell better when associated with the other products of INGLOT (Makadok & Ross 2013, p. 510).
Conclusion
With the help of the strategic plan, INGLOT will be better prepared to act accordingly so as to ensure that the focus is not lost. A SWOT analysis is also important because it ensures that the company is aware of the factors making it be at the top, and those which are threatening that position. The operations of a business need to be in line with its mission and vision statement
References
Etgar, M, & Rachman-Moore, D 2010, ‘Geographical Expansion by International Retailers: A Study of Proximate Markets and Global Expansion Strategies’, Journal Of Global Marketing, 23, 1, pp. 5-15.
Fox, JJ 2010, How To Be A Fierce Competitor : What Winning Companies And Great Managers Do In Tough Times, San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, eBook Collection.
Henrekson, M, Johansson, D, & Stenkula, M 2010, ‘Taxation, Labor Market Policy and High-Impact Entrepreneurship’, Journal Of Industry, Competition & Trade, 10, 3/4, pp. 275-296.
Hutzschenreuter, T, & Horstkotte, J 2013, ‘Performance effects of top management team demographic faultlines in the process of product diversification’, Strategic Management Journal, 34, 6, pp. 704-726.
Makadok, R, & Ross, D 2013, ‘Taking industry structuring seriously: A strategic perspective on product differentiation Taking industry structuring seriously: A strategic perspective on product differentiation’, Strategic Management Journal, 34, 5, pp. 509-532.
Matwiejczuk, R 2013, ‘Logistics Potentials in Business Competitive Advantage Creation’, Logforum, 9, 4, pp. 265-275.
Ming-Jer, C, Kuo-hsien, S, & Wenpin, T 2007, ‘Competitive Tension: The Awareness-Motivation-Capability Perspective’, Academy Of Management Journal, 50, 1, pp. 101-118.
Mizuki, K 2014, ‘Relational View: Four Prerequisites of Competitive Advantage’, Annals Of Business Administrative Science, 13, 2, pp. 77-90.
Nisa, S, & Ravichandran, N 2013, ‘Business Model: Concept and Evolution’, Amity Global Business Review, 8, pp. 92-98.
Students may refer to the relevant rules from Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005, sections of the Civil Procedure Act 2005, and to relevant cases in their answers to the following questions. Students must specifically identify and name the relevant provision they are referring to.
FACTS UPON WHICH QUESTIONS ARE BASED
During the course of defamation proceedings between M as plaintiff and Channel X as defendant in the Supreme Court of NSW, a number of interlocutory issues arise, as set out below. A jury has already found that two programmes televised by the defendant carried certain imputations defamatory of the plaintiff, namely that he had sexual intercourse with boys who were under the age of 18 years knowing them to be so aged, or deliberately refraining from asking them how old they were. Both the Statement of Claim and the Defence have been amended, so far, three times by consent.
The Plaintiff has consistently complained to both the Defendant and the Court (on each occasion when the matter has been mentioned) that the Defendant really does not have a defence known to the Law and that it is merely defending these proceedings in the hope that the Plaintiff will exhaust his resources and, in effect, “give in”. The Plaintiff has become particularly vicious in his attacks on the Defendant in this regard since the jury found in his favour about the defamatory imputations. On the last occasion when the matter was in Court the Defendant’s Senior Counsel was overheard to say to the Plaintiff’s Senior Counsel: “Look here, old chap, either your bloke puts his money where his mouth is about striking us out, or he accepts that my client is going to pursue a public interest defence until the last breath of its Managing Director”.
The Defendant has now advised the Plaintiff that it wishes to once again amend its Defence to take into account new evidence that has come to its attention as a result of all the publicity that has been generated by this trial. The Plaintiff complains bitterly that this is unfair to him as it will cause a further adjournment of proceedings that have already been running for four years and will increase his costs as well as exacerbate the personal stress that these proceedings have caused to him. But for this proposed amendment, and the other issues referred to both above and below, this case would have been listed for hearing in three months from today.
The Defendant has issued a subpoena to produce documents to the NSW Police Service (“the Police”). The Police have been conducting a criminal investigation in relation to the Plaintiff’s activities for many years, but no charges have ever been laid. The subpoena is in the following terms:
“All records (i.e. files, documents, correspondence, memoranda, statements, statutory declarations, affidavits, records of interview, transcripts of interview, file notes, computer printouts, audio and video tapes) relating to investigations carried out during the period 1990 to date by the NSW Police Service into the following matters concerning the Plaintiff, M:
1. allegations of paedophilia against M;
2. allegations that M had engaged male prostitutes who were under the age of 18;
3. allegations that M had engaged in other criminal activities;
4. any association M had with CJF;
5. allegations that M had engaged in homosexual intercourse with 13 named persons;
6. allegations that F2 has made about M’s sexual conduct at a named Club;
7. the search of M’s home by Police in May 1994;
8. all records of investigations carried out under the supervision of three named Detective Inspectors;
9. any other relevant document wheresoever held.”
Discovery had been ordered against Mrs M, the estranged wife of the Plaintiff, and who has been joined as a party in her own right in these proceedings. The categories of documents sought include photo albums. Mrs M, who is separately represented by Counsel, has filed a number of affidavits in which she deposes that she has given a full list of documents presently in her possession, custody and power. In Schedule 2 to an affidavit of discovery she states:
“The Plaintiff M has retained a number of documents but I am unable to obtain these documents even though they are clearly mine (either solely or jointly with the Plaintiff) as they are held by the Plaintiff or his legal representatives. On or about 3 months ago the Plaintiff came to my home, took several photo albums, and said to me words to the effect: ‘I’m taking these photo albums.’ I have neither seen the Plaintiff nor these photo albums since then.”
The Defendant seeks further discovery from the Plaintiff. This time the Defendant seeks an order that the Plaintiff provide discovery of documents falling within the following categories:
• Category A: Trust account records relating to any Solicitor’s Trust Account conducted by the Plaintiff in the period 1 January 1990 to 30 December 2002.
• Category B: Diaries or calendars operated by, for or on behalf of the Plaintiff in the course of or relating to any solicitor’s legal practice conducted by the Plaintiff in the period 1 January 1990 to 30 December 2002.
On the basis of these facts answer the following questions as succinctly as practicable. Please remember, this is an examination about civil procedure and dispute resolution, not an examination about defamation law and practice.
1. Is there anything the Plaintiff can do about the Defendant’s proposed further amendment of its Defence? What is likely to happen if the Court needs to adjudicate about whether or not to allow a further amendment? (10 marks)
2. Does the Plaintiff have any options available to him arising out of his concern that the Defendant really has no defence? What can the Plaintiff do and what are his prospects of success? (15 marks)
3. Are there any concerns arising out of the subpoena to the NSW Police Service? What are they, and what would you do to raise these concerns? Ignore any issues of standing to complain. (10 marks)
4. What issues, if any, arise out of the affidavit of Mrs M in relation to the documents she has discovered? (10 marks)
5. What issues arise from the discovery of documents within Category A and B? Do these documents have to be discovered? (15 marks)
please only use Australian jurisdiction , and please answer the five questions , please use the questions and headings
SAMPLE ANSWER
Is there anything the Plaintiff can do about the Defendant’s proposed further amendment of its Defence? What is likely to happen if the Court needs to adjudicate about whether or not to allow a further amendment?
Options Available to the Plaintiff
The plaintiff has options to counter the defendant’s proposal for amending the defense. First, previous proceedings demonstrated that the defendant intends to delay the progress of the case in order to drain the plaintiff’s resources. This is a window of opportunity for the plaintiff who should provide evidence that his/her resources cannot withstand further delay (of the court proceedings). It is likely to favor the plaintiff because the court had ruled in favor of the plaintiff earlier. Furthermore, the defendant is quoted to have revealed intentions of draining the plaintiff. Thus, providing evidence in terms of resources spent in previous proceedings is a smart move to counter the defendant’s amendments. The plaintiff should also consider examining any incriminating information that is present in the documents falling under category A or B. If nothing incriminating is present in the documents, the plaintiff should cooperate with the defendant and provide the requested documents.
What would happen In case of Adjudication?
There are three main principles that govern interlocutory issues. These include the presence of a serious case, the possibility of an irreparable harm, and the balance of convenience (New South Wales, 2005). The three principles reveal that the court is likely to rule in favor of the defendant if adjudication occurs. This owes to the amount of evidence provided by the defense provides the capacity to convince the judge that it is a serious case. The second principle is qualified by the introduction of Mrs. M who has a separate legal counsel. Ultimately, the balance of convenience is qualified by the possible damage from failing to grant an injunction. In short, the adjudication is likely to adjourn the case if the defendant tables the new defense.
Does the Plaintiff have any options available to him arising out of his concern that the Defendant really has no defense? What can the Plaintiff do and what are his prospects of success?
The plaintiff stated that the defendant has no evidence and intends to drain Mr. M’s resources. It follows that the plaintiff has the following options on the aforementioned claim. First, the defendant could use history from previous hearings to illustrate that the defendant never had any evidence, but has only been delaying the final ruling. Furthermore, the statement of claim has been amended thrice, which indicates the defendant lacks a stable defense. It is notable that the defense provided possible sources of information that formed the basis for their proposal to change their defense. Considering this, the plaintiff should review the documents and prepare by looking for loopholes that can fight the defendant. Mr. M should also check for information that could incriminate him in the proposed defense.
The plaintiff is likely to turn out successful after proving that the history from the defendants is questionable. Crosschecking through the evidence will also equip the plaintiff with a motion to convince the court that adjourning the hearing is not an option. This is because the defendant’s history proved to be focused on adjournment. As mentioned before, the court had ruled in favor of the plaintiff on defamatory imputations. Thus, the plaintiff is likely to turn out successful, unless the defendant makes a moving argument.
Are there any concerns arising out of the subpoena to the NSW Police Service? What are they, and what would you do to raise these concerns? Ignore any issues of standing to complain.
The issues arising from the subpoena to the NSW police include, allegation that M had engaged with underage prostitutes, M’s sexual conduct at a named club, and allegations that M had homosexual intercourse with thirteen named inmates. There are additional issues, which are meant to taint Mr. M’s character, but may not be valid in the current case. The fact that allegations such as Mr. M’s engagement in other criminal activities emerge highlight the aforementioned notion. These issues may not be connected to the current case, but are only meant to taint Mr. M.
In order to raise these concerns, the defendant should connect the case, the plaintiff’s mannerisms, and the allegations. It is simple to connect allegations of sexual misconduct to the case. However, connecting other allegations will be difficult owing to the main dispute involving the warring parties (sexual defamation). The defendant should not only connect sexual allegations to the case, but should connect all allegations to the case. Doing this will convince the court that the plaintiff has mannerisms that forced channel X to disregard defamation as a possible complain from Mr. M.
What issues, if any, arise out of the affidavit of Mrs. M in relation to the documents she has discovered?
The affidavit of Mrs. M results in issues of trust. It is difficult for the court to trust Mr. M following the presentation of the affidavit from Mrs. M. The affidavit indicates that Mr. M has denied Mrs. M possession of items, which duly belong to her. Furthermore, the affidavit indicates that Mr. M snatched some photos from Mrs. M and denied having seen the photos. Considering the purpose of an affidavit (New South Wales, 2005), it is reasonable to assume that the allegations made by Mrs M are more likely to be true. Especially, if the affidavit was made before the plaintiff filed a case. This owes to the reality that an affidavit is at times made voluntarily. If that is the case, then Mrs. M did not intend to harm Mr. M, before the plaintiff filed for a case of defamation against the defendant. Considering all the possibilities, Mrs. M’s affidavit could land a heavy blow to the plaintiff.
What issues arise from the discovery of documents within Category A and B? Do these documents have to be discovered?
The discovery of items in Categories A and B raises a number of issues. The documents in category A results in the possibility that the plaintiff was not defamed. If the defendant proves that funds between the plaintiff and the underage boys were exchanged then the plaintiff will lose the case. The documents in category A could also be used to prove allegations that Mr. M engaged in sex with under age prostitutes. In short, documents in category A are focused on sexual issues surrounding Mr. M. Ultimately, documents in category B could help the defendant to provide evidence of the plaintiffs sexual involvement with underage boys. These documents do not have to be discovered. However, whether they are discovered or not will depend on the defendants argument in court.
You are going to write up a case study for a company that uses technology in the workforce. An internet/library search will give you a good idea about companies that have case studies on technology. In terms of the selection of the company, you could use one that is listed throughout the textbook or one from any of the articles you have read. No one is to do Apple, Iphone, Dell, Nike as everyone likes to do them, you will all be competing with each other. Try to choose a company that no one else will think to do.
When writing a case study analysis, you must first have a good understanding of the case study. Before you begin the steps below, read the case carefully, taking notes all the while. It may be necessary to read the case several times to fully grasp the issues facing the company or industry.
Once you are comfortable with the information, begin the step-by-step instructions offered below to write a case study analysis.
Here’s How:
Investigate and Analyze the Company’s History and Growth. A company’s past can greatly affect the present and future state of the organization. To begin your case study analysis, investigate the company’s founding, critical incidents, structure, and growth.
Identify Strengths and Weaknesses Within the Company. Using the information you gathered in step one, continue your case study analysis by examining and making a list of the value creation functions of the company. For example, the company may be weak in product development, but strong in marketing.
Gather Information on the External Environment. The third step in a case study analysis involves identifying opportunities and threats within the company’s external environment. Special items to note include competition within the industry, bargaining powers, and the threat of substitute products.
Analyze Your Findings. Using the information in steps two and three, you will need to create an evaluation for this portion of your case study analysis. Compare the strengths and weaknesses within the company to the external threats and opportunities. Determine if the company is in a strong competitive position and decide if it can continue at its current pace successfully.
Identify Corporate Level Strategy. To identify a company’s corporate level strategy for your case study analysis, you will need to identify and evaluate the company’s mission, goals, and corporate strategy. Analyze the company’s line of business and its subsidiaries and acquisitions. You will also want to debate the pros and cons of the company strategy.
Identify Business Level Strategy. Thus far, your case study analysis has identified the company’s corporate level strategy. To perform a complete analysis, you will need to identify the company’s business level strategy. (Note: if it is a single business, the corporate strategy and the business level strategy will be the same.) For this part of the case study analysis, you should identify and analyze each company’s competitive strategy, marketing strategy, costs, and general focus.
Analyze Implementations. This portion of the case study analysis requires that you identify and analyze the structure and control systems that the company is using to implement its business strategies. Evaluate organizational change, levels of hierarchy, employee rewards, conflicts, and other issues that are important to the company you are analyzing.
Make Recommendations. The final part of your case study analysis should include your recommendations for the company. Every recommendation you make should be based on and supported by the context of your case study analysis.
SAMPLE ANSWER
SUN Microsystems Case Study 2
Background
The company was founded following the conception of a workstation based on UNIX by Andy Batchtolsheim, a Palo Alto graduate student, which he dubbed “68000 Unix System” in a project of networking named Stanford University Network. In the month of February, 1982, his colleagues, Vinod, Bill and Scott inaugurated the SUN Microsystems company from the initials of Stanford University network. In 1992, SUN introduced the world’s leading multiprocessing desktop computer, the SPARC station 10 system, which was the first in the competition of desktop performance. That very year saw them ship the most multiprocessing UNIX any other vendor ever did in history.
The other key products of the company include Sparc microprocessors, Solaris operating system, the famous java technology as well as the Jini technology that enabled any kind of device to connect to the network in the form of plug and play. The company also enjoyed revenues going up to 1.3 billion dollars from server sales in 1996, and topped in the 1998 quarterly sales by 16 billion in the technology frenzied internet boom (Afua & Tucci, 2013).
Competitive and Industrial Analysis
In the analysis of the company, Porter’s Five Forces and SWOT analyses will be very effective to help bring out the various factors that the company is currently facing. By design, Porter’s Five Forces Analysis helps in carrying out the assessment of the external environmental effects that an industry will have on any firm towards serving of customers and profit making. On the other hand, SWOT analysis is a tool that has the potential of analysing both the internal and external forces that may affect the company, in this case, the SUN Microsystems and the computer industry. Both may be used in a combination to analyse the current state of the company as well as come up with the most appropriate move for it to achieve the competitive advantage over its respective rivals (Burrows, 2010).
SWOT Analysis of the Firm
This analysis will help in establishing the current position of the firm in the computer industry as well as the internal as well as the external forces that hits it (Sun Microsystems 2009 Annual Report, 2009).
Strengths
The firm has the most stable server platform even than that of Microsoft.
The company has been able to establish a research and development division, which helps it keep up with the constantly changing and advancing technology.
It has forged several corporate alliances with other companies such as Advanced Microsystem Devices Inc. (AMD).
Its service revenues are constantly increasing, thus, increasing its bargaining power and the ability to expand and capture new markets.
Weaknesses
The end products and services of the company tend to be comparatively expensive, hence, locking out some of the potential customers.
The company has a major weakness on their product marketing platforms as they mainly use the internet (their web site), which is quite selective as only the users of the internet may be able to access their new product adverts.
It had a period of negative revenue from the period between 2001 and 2005.
Opportunities
The company has the potential of furthering the Java open source.
It has the advantage of the new CEO, with the new management and marketing strategies.
It has the ability to outsource internationally, hence, widening its market scope.
Threats
It faces competition from Linux, which is more open.
Microsoft Windows poses a major threat to the company as it offers much more capabilities than the firm’s OS products.
The UNIX server can be made by the company’s competitors
The PC Research and Development currently being carried out by IBM poses a very great challenge to the company.
Porter’s Five Forces
This tool takes into account five different forces in the determination of the strengths and weaknesses of a firm: substitutes, rivalry, threat of new entrants, suppliers and customers. Porter shows that through the analysis of the attractiveness of the company with respect to the forces, it is possible to come up with strategies that give it competitive advantage over its rivals. For Sun Microsystems, the following analysis may be established (Afua & Tucci, 2013).
Substitutes
There is a very strong threat posed by substitutes based on the grounds that there is constant evolution in the computer industry. To help counter this challenge, the company has greatly invested in the Research and Development, which ensures constant innovation. In the year 2006, the company invested as much as $2 billion.
Rivalry
The industry in which the company is has gained very tremendous competition over the recent past with the technological advancement and the numerous firms that have risen and produce the sane products. The company is facing competition from the top companies manufacturing servers such as, IBM with about 31% of the market share, Dell with 10.5% share and HP with 29.6% share (IDC, 2009).
Threat of new entrants
The industry has a relatively good barrier advantage to the new entrants based on the grounds of the obstacles involved: the costs involved in starting a business and brand loyalty. Most clients tend to stick to particular brand names and convincing them to try out new products tend to be very futile. As such, the chances of facing threats from new emergencies are very minimal in the industry (IDC, 2009).
Suppliers
The company’s supplier base is very unbalances since the company is trying to diversify on its suppliers and the needed supplies. For instance, there is high supplier power in the computer chip market since there only two dominant manufacturers of CPU. In 2003, for instance, AMD got into an alliance with Sun Microsystems whereby it was to use Opteron of AMD in its servers (King, 2008).
Customers
The customer power of the firm is currently very weak as a result of constant cost fluctuation, complications in the switching of software and hardware platforms, software and hardware needs as well as the proliferation of networking. A real scenario case is the pressure that Microsoft has put on its clients to upgrade their software or go elsewhere, for instance, the deadline that was given to the US Army by Microsoft to upgrade their OS to Windows XP latest by 1st October, 2005. This leaves a customer at the dilemma of deciding on whether to move to a new company or stay (King, 2008).
Recommendations
The principle market objective of the company is the small business owners and large corporations. The company should take advantage of its workstation product in order to increase its profit. The company has currently started teaming up with Wal-Mart in an effort to reach out to the small businesses, however, the workstations are not being sold in the stores, but over the internet. To increase its sales of the workstations, the company should start offering them in the stores rather than purely online (Burrows, 2010).
The second move for the company is to take advantage of the open-source software sale. So far, the company has made Solaris OS available for download as well as free download of Java (King, 2008). Lastly, the company’s website is currently concentrated mainly in its performance rather than advertising of its products, making it difficult to surf the website to get to the item desired for purchase. It is, therefore, recommended that the company balances between its performance and advertising.
References
Affua A. and Tucci T. (2013). Internet business models and strategies (2nd ed.). New York: Mc Graw-Hill.
IDC (2009). World Wide Server Market Shows Growing IT Investment Across Platforms, According to IDC. Retrieved on [25th June, 2014] from http://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp.
AIDS Community-Based Outreach/Intervention Research Program, 1992-1998
AIDS Community-Based Outreach/Intervention
Cooperative Agreement for AIDS Community-Based Outreach/Intervention Research Program, 1992-1998
Order Instructions:
Select 10 research articles relevant to your intended research topic. Develop a literature matrix that summarizes the individual articles. You may create a matrix similar to the matrix posted in Doc Sharing, for Cooperative Agreement for AIDS Community-Based Outreach/Intervention Research Program, 1992-1998
SAMPLE ANSWER
Cooperative Agreement for AIDS Community-Based Outreach/Intervention Research Program, 1992-1998
Authors
Title
Journal
Publication Date
Study Design
Data Type
Subjects
Results
Comments/Outcomes/Implications/conclusions
Janet J. Myers, Lucy Bradley-Springer, Mi-Suk Kang Dufour, Kimberly A. Koester, Stephanie Beane, Nancy Warren, Jeffrey Beal, and Linda Rose Frank
Supporting the Integration of HIV Testing Into
Primary Care Settings
American Journal of Public Health
June 2012
a retrospective case study
Both quantitative and qualitative data
38 321 participants
The findings of the study showed that compared with other AETC training; HIV testing training was longer and used a broader variety of strategies to educate more providers per training.
During education, providers were able to understand their primary care responsibility to address public health concerns through HIV testing.
In conclusion AETC efforts illustrate how integration of the principles of primary care and public health can be promoted through professional training.
Christy L. Beaudin and Susan M. Chambre
HIV/AIDS as a chronic disease: Emergence from the plaque model
The American Behavioral Scientist
May 1996
a healthcare survey of AIDS cases in the US across all groups
Quantitative data
476, 899
The findings of this study show that there was an increased impact on human resource as well as public healthcare services
In conclusion, the HIV/AIDS epidemic provides challenges for public policy because of the many complex scientific, human service, and public health activities involved.
Scott C. Ratzan, J. Gregory Payne and Holly A. Masett
Effective Health Message Design: The American Responds to AIDS Campaign
The American Behavioral Scientist
November 1994
A case study of healthcare communication
Quantitative and qualitative data
Multimedia message
The results of this study show COAST model can be effectively adopted to pass health communication messages
In conclusion, there is need for combination of these strategies for continued effective AIDS campaigns
Ronald O. Valdiserri and Gary R. West
Barriers to the Assessment of Unmet Need in Planning HIV/AIDS Prevention Programs
Public Administration Review
Jan/Feb 1994
A case study of CBOs and NMOs
Quantitative and qualitative data
229
The results shows that there are various barriers to effective protection of AIDS
The study concludes that despite the intervening obstacles, comprehensive, methodologically sound needs assessments conducted collaboratively by the providers and consumers of HIV prevention services are essential to development of effective prevention programs
Donna H. McCree, Gregorio Millett, Chanza Baytop, Scott Royal, Jonathan Ellen, Perry N. Halkitis, Sandra A. Kupprat, and Sara Gillen
Lessons Learned From Use of Social Network Strategy in
HIV Testing Programs Targeting African American Men
Who Have Sex With Men
American Journal of Public Health
October 2013
A case study between April
2008 and August 2010.
Quantitative data
149
men
The results of the study show that several common lessons regarding development of the plan, staffing, training, and use of incentives were identified across the sites. Collectively, these lessons indicate use of SNS is resource-intensive, requiring a detailed plan, dedicated staff, and continual input from clients and staff for successful implementation.
In conclusion, SNS may provide a strategy for identifying and targeting clusters of high-risk Black MSM for HIV testing. Given the resources needed to implement the strategy, additional studies using an experimental design are needed to determine the cost-effectiveness of SNS compared with other testing strategies.
Marilyn M. Metzler, Donna L. Higgins, Carolyn G. Beeker, Nicholas Freudenberg, Paula M. Lantz, Kirsten D. Senturia, Alison A. Eisinger, Edna A. Viruell-Fuentes, Bookda Gheisar, Ann-Gel Palermo, and Donald Softley
Addressing Urban Health in Detroit, New York City, and Seattle Through Community-Based Participatory Research Partnerships
American Journal of Public Health
May 2003
A case study of three urban research centers
Quantitative data
Three urban centers
The results of this study indicate that activities critical in partnership development include sharing decision making, defining principles of collaboration, establishing research priorities, and securing funding. Intermediate outcomes were sustained CBPR partnership, trust within the partnership, public health research programs, and increased capacity to conduct CBPR. Challenges included the time needed for meaningful collaboration, concerns regarding sustainable funding, and issues related to institutional racism.
The study concludes that the URC experiences suggest that CBPR can be successfully implemented in diverse settings.
Hilary L. Surratt, Wendee M. Wechsberg, Linda B. Cottler, Carl G. Leukefeld, Hugh Klein, and David P. Desmond
Acceptability of the female condom among women at risk for HIV infection
The American Behavioral Scientist
May 1998
A six-site cohort standardized study design
Quantitative and qualitative data
318
The results of the study shows a significant correlation between use of female condoms as well as other community-based preventive measures and HIV/AIDS prevalence
The study concludes that sustained use of preventive measures would go a long way in reducing prevalence of HIV/AIDS
Lisa R. Metsch, Daniel J. Feaster, Lauren Gooden, Tim Matheson, Raul N. Mandler, Louise Haynes,
Susan Tross, Tiffany Kyle, Dianne Gallup, Andrzej S. Kosinski, Antoine Douaihy, Bruce R. Schackman,
Moupali Das, Robert Lindblad, Sarah Erickson, P. Todd Korthuis, Steve Martino, James L. Sorensen,
José Szapocznik, Rochelle Walensky, Bernard Branson, and Grant N. Colfax,
Implementing Rapid HIV Testing With or Without
Risk-Reduction Counseling in Drug Treatment Centers:
Results of a Randomized Trial
American Journal of Public Health
June 2012
randomized controlled
trial
Quantitative data
1281 participants
The study findings show that a combined on-site rapid testing participants received more HIV test results than off-site testing referral participants (P < .001; Mantel-Haenszel risk ratio = 4.52; 97.5% confidence interval [CI] = 3.57, 5.72). At 6 months, there
were no significant differences in unprotected intercourse episodes between the
combined on-site testing arms and the referral arm (P = .39; incidence rate ratio
[IRR] = 1.04; 97.5% CI = 0.95, 1.14) or the 2 on-site testing arms (P = .81; IRR = 1.03;
97.5% CI = 0.84, 1.26)
In conclusion, this study demonstrated on-site rapid HIV testing’s value in drug treatment centers and found no additional benefit from HIV sexual risk-reduction counseling.
Benjamin P. Bowser
The Social Dimensions of the AIDS Epidemic: A Sociology of the AIDS Epidemic
The International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy
2002
Theoretical approach
Qualitative data
Numerous theories
The results of this study show that group and community-based strategies are appropriate for addressing various sociological challenges that continued to inflict on people living with AIDS as well as the AIDS epidemic
The study concludes that there is need for continued implementation of preventive measures to address AIDS menace
Chinazo O. Cunningham, John Paul Sanchez, Daliah I. Heller, and
Nancy L. Sohler
Assessment of a Medical Outreach Program to Improve
The study design involved an examination of total a of 2666 medical appointment records with unique patient identifier from CitiWide’s and Montefiore’s databases from 2003 to 2005.
The study involved collection of quantitative data on elements such as patients’
Topic: Assessment Tools and Diagnostic Tests
When seeking to identify a patient’s health condition, advanced practice nurses can use a diverse selection of diagnostic tests and assessment tools; however, different factors affect the validity and reliability of the results produced by these tests or tools. Nurses must be aware of these factors in order to select the most appropriate test or tool and to accurately interpret the results.
In this Discussion, you will consider the validity and reliability of different assessment tools and diagnostic tests. You will explore issues such as sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values.
To prepare:
• Review this week’s Learning Resources, and consider the factors that impact the validity and reliability of various assessment tools and diagnostic tests.
• Select one of the following assessment tools or diagnostic tests to explore for the purposes of this
Discussion:
o Mammogram
o Physical tests for sore throat (inspecting the throat, palpating the head and neck lymph nodes, listening to breath sounds)
o Prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test
o Dix-Hallpike test
o Body-mass index (BMI) using waist circumference for adults
• Search from any accredited Library and credible sources for resources explaining the tool or test you selected. What is its purpose, how is it conducted, and what information does it gather?
• Examine the literature and resources you located for information about the validity and reliability of the test or tool you selected. What issues with sensitivity, specificity, and predictive values are related to the test or tool?
• Are there any controversies or issues related to any of these tests or tools?
• Consider any ethical dilemmas that could arise by using these tests or tools.
Post on or before Day 3 a description of how the assessment tool or diagnostic test you selected is used in health care. Based on your research, evaluate the test or the tool’s validity and reliability, and explain any issues with sensitivity, reliability, and predictive values. Include references in appropriate APA formatting.
Readings/Recommended References (you may choose your own textbook or articles for this paper)
• Seidel, H. M., Ball, J. W., Dains, J. E., Flynn, J. A., Solomon, B. S., & Stewart, R. W. (2011). Mosby’s guide to physical examination (7th ed.). St. Louis, MO: Elsevier Mosby.
o Chapter 2, “Cultural Awareness”
This chapter highlights the importance of cultural awareness when conducting health assessments. The authors explore the impact of culture on health beliefs and practices.
o Chapter 3, “Examination Techniques and Equipment”
This chapter explains the physical examination techniques of inspection, palpation, percussion, and auscultation. This chapter also explores special issues and equipment relevant to the physical exam process.
• Dains, J. E., Baumann, L. C., & Scheibel, P. (2012). Advanced health assessment and clinical diagnosis in primary care (4th ed.). St. Louis, MO: Mosby, Elsevier.
o Chapter 1, “Clinical Reasoning, Differential Diagnosis, Evidence-Based Practice, and Symptom Analysis”
This chapter introduces the diagnostic process, which includes performing an analysis of the symptoms and then formulating and testing a hypothesis. The authors discuss how becoming an expert clinician takes time and practice in developing clinical judgment.
• LeBlond, R. F., Brown, D. D., & DeGowin, R. L. (2009). DeGowin’s diagnostic examination (9th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw Hill Medical.
o Chapter 3, “The Physical Screening Examination”
In this chapter, the authors describe methods for physical examination and procedures for screening physical examinations. In addition, this chapter explains the necessary preparations and equipment for conducting exams.
o Chapter 17, “Principles of Diagnostic Testing”
The authors use this chapter to discuss the principles of diagnostic testing. The chapter specifies tools that may be used in the selection and interpretation of tests.
o Chapter 18, “Common Laboratory Tests”
This chapter details normal and pathologic results for common tests of the blood, urine, cerebrospinal fluid, and serous fluid. Additionally, this chapter describes reasons for ordering different types of lab tests.
• Laine, C. (2012). High-value testing begins with a few simple questions. Annals of Internal Medicine, 156(2), 162–163.
Retrieved from a Library databases.
This article supplies a list of questions physicians should ask themselves before ordering tests. The authors provide general guidelines for maximizing the value received from testing.
• Qaseem, A., Alguire, P., Dallas, P., Feinberg, L. E., Fitzgerald, F. T., Horwitch, C., & … Weinberger, S. (2012). Appropriate use of screening and diagnostic tests to foster high-value, cost-conscious care. Annals of Internal Medicine, 156(2), 147–149.
Retrieved from a Library databases.
This article highlights the increasing cost of health care and stresses the need for high-value and cost-conscious testing. The authors provide a list of 37 situations in which more testing provides no benefit or may be harmful.
• Shaw, S. J., Huebner, C., Armin, J., Orzech, K., & Vivian, J. (2009). The role of culture in health literacy and chronic disease screening and management. Journal of Immigrant & Minority Health, 11(6), 460–467.
Retrieved from a Library databases.
This article examines cultural influences on health literacy, cancer screening, and chronic disease outcomes. The authors postulate that cultural beliefs about health and illness affect a patient’s ability to comprehend and follow a health care provider’s instructions.
• Wians, F. H. (2009). Clinical laboratory tests: Which, why, and what do the results mean? LabMedicine, 40, 105–113.
Retrieved from http://labmed.ascpjournals.org/content/40/2/105.full
This article analyzes the laboratory testing cycle and its impact on diagnostic decision making. This article also examines important diagnostic performance characteristics of laboratory tests, methods of calculating performance, and tools used to assess the diagnostic accuracy of a laboratory test.
SAMPLE ANSWER
Assessment tool and diagnostic test
The Dix-Hallpike test, also known as Nylen-Barany test, is a diagnostic maneuver whose use is detecting Benigh Paraxysmal Positional Vertigo. When conducting the test, a patient is required to sit upright and have the legs extended. The patient’s head has to be rotated at around 5 degrees. Then the patient has to lie down backwards hastily with the head at 20 degrees of extension Viirre, Purcell & Baloh, 2012).The provider observes the patient’s eyes for 45 minutes as there is a characteristic five to ten seconds latency period prior to the appearance of a nystagmus. A positive test is indicated by a rotational nystagmus in the ear that is nearer to the ground. In the presence of a positive test, a rotator nystagmus phase is usually towards the affected ear. The direction of the fast phase is denoted by the eye’s top rotating clockwise or counter-clockwise (Viirre, Purcell & Baloh, 2012).
Some individuals deny taking this test based on physical limitations. Discomfort associated with the test is usually due to vertigo and nausea that is likely to result. Its sensitivity is not 100%. Some people with a history of BPPV never indicate a positive test result. The test has 79% projected sensitivity in addition to a 75% probable specificity Viirre, Purcell & Baloh, 2012). The occiput’s plane and speed of the maneuver are likely to affect the test’s results. There are high chances of patients being tensed about producing the symptoms of vertigo which influences the brisk passive movements of the test. The maneuver of this test is limited by musculoskeletal as well as obesity issues.
Some of the factors that contribute to its wide use in health are the ease of use since a single examiner can have it administered, and it is cheap. It should not be performed more than once as demonstrating observable nystagmus is challenging (Viirre, Purcell & Baloh, 2012).
Reference
Viirre, E., Purcell, I., & Baloh, R. W. (2012). The Dix‐Hallpike Test and The Canalith Repositioning Maneuver. The Laryngoscope, 115(1), 184-187.
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The Price of Doing Good: Consequences of Ethical Decision Making.
Consider the following two scenarios:
Scenario 1:
James works in the accounting department of a large firm. While going over the books for the past several months, James notices that someone has altered the figures to increase earnings by several thousands of dollars. He suspects that the errors, which are in the company’s favor, are too consistent to have been honest mistakes. He knows that he should report his findings through the company’s ethics hotline. However, he worries that doing so will jeopardize his security and reputation with the company.
Scenario 2:
Mary owns a small toy manufacturing company. One of her employees has noticed that one of the pieces on the most popular toy can detach from the toy. This could pose a potential choking hazard to young children who play with the toy. No customers have yet reported problems with the toy. Mary wonders if she should report the potential hazard before anyone gets hurt. However, the recall would cost her company money and result in loss of sales during the busy Christmas season.
As the scenarios illustrate, making ethical decisions often requires a trade-off for an organization or individual. After a scandal results from ethical wrongdoing, the proper course of action seems clear. Even so, organizations continue to struggle with making ethical decisions on a day-to-day basis as they weigh the cost of making such decisions.
To prepare:
• Choose a positive example from the past ten years of a business organization whose leaders acted ethically when they encountered an ethical dilemma. Select, analyze, and describe the ethical decision making and actions in the organization.
Write a 4-page (not including cover page or references) analysis of the ethical situation. Your analysis must include the following:
• An explanation of the ethical framework applied by the organization to make its decision, including support for your analysis from scholarly research
• An examination of both the positive and negative consequences of the decision, including the tradeoffs that the leadership of the organization made in making their decision
• A minimum of five references
Learning Resources.
Northouse, P. G. (2013). Leadership: Theory and practice (6th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Chapter 16, “Leadership Ethics” (pp. 423–451)
Abrhiem, T. H. (2012). Ethical leadership: Keeping values in business culture. Business & Management Review, 2(7), 11–19.
Cuilla, J. B. (2011). Is business ethics getting better? A historical perspective. Business Ethics Quarterly, 21(2), 335–343.
Hartog, D., & Belschak, F. (2012). Work engagement and Machiavellianism in the ethical leadership process. Journal of Business Ethics, 107(1), 35–47.
Selart, M., & Johansen, S. (2011). Ethical decision making in organizations: The role of leadership stress. Journal of Business Ethics, 99(2), 129–143.
SAMPLE ANSWER
Consequences of ethical decision-making
A major responsibility of leaders in business organizations is to act in an ethical way, promote ethics in the company, and make decisions that are ethical. Ethical decisions are essentially understood as decisions, which are in agreement with one’s individual or organizational value system (Salvador & Folger, 2009). In this essay, the purpose is to provide a description of an ethical decision making in a firm whose leaders acted in an ethical manner when they faced an ethical dilemma. The analysis includes an explanation of the ethical framework that the organization applied to make its decision, as well as an investigation of both the positive and negative consequences of the decision and the tradeoffs that the company’s leadership made. A leader should be mindful of the messages that he/she is sending when making decisions. Ethical business practices basically include observing the highest moral and legal standards in one’s relationships with the entities in the organization’s business community, most importantly the customer of the business. It is notable that short-term profit for the organization at the cost of losing clients is certainly long-term death for the company (Brenkert, 2010).
The selected company is Lundbeck Inc., which is a pharmaceutical firm based in Denmark and is the only manufacturer of pentobarbital drugs for sale in the United States. In the year 2011, the company faced an ethical dilemma regarding the usage of its medications in capital punishments. Pentobarbital medicines are progressively more being utilized in the United States in place of sodium thiopental for fatal injections (Brockway, 2012). The drug was most recently utilized in capital punishments in Mississippi, South Carolina and Texas. According to Lundbeck’s spokesman, Andrew Schroll, the corporation has prided itself in manufacturing drugs that improve the lives of people. The company is officially opposed to capital punishment and disagrees with the way the drug is being utilized.
Andrew Schroll stated that how the medication is being used constitutes wrong usage of Lundbeck’s product. He added that Lundbeck is in an ethical dilemma whereby it is opposed to the usage of its products for the death penalty whilst at the same time the organization’s leaders want to ensure that patients who benefit from Lundbeck’s medicines get access to it (Death Penalty Information Center, 2014). The company’s top management sent letters to the penitentiaries in 11 states insisting that they should discontinue utilizing pentobarbital in their lethal injection protocols. Nonetheless, none of these penitentiaries responded. In fact, even more states have shown intentions of using the medication, and this includes Virginia. Pentobarbital is also utilized in treating seizures in human beings as well as in euthanasia and anesthesia of animals. Lundbeck is the only manufacturer of this drug for purchase in the United States. Accordingly, a lot of physicians have written to Lundbeck asking the company’s leaders not to suspend distribution of the medication (Death Penalty Information Center, 2014).
The company’s top management found itself in this precarious situation primarily as a result of a deficiency of sodium thiopental, the anesthetic that for long had been used as an ingredient in lethal injections in 35 of the 36 states that still apply capital punishment. Denmark and all other members of the European Union have abolished the death penalty. In essence, Lundbeck does not want to be involved in the execution business; however, it also does not want to lose its lucrative American pentobarbital market, which is crucial to the company’s revenue and profitability (Buhmann, 2012). Lundbeck’s top management acted ethically in this ethical dilemma by attempting to take some action since it called on the prisons to stop using its product in executions given that such behavior would be against the company’s mission of providing the world with life saving technologies. Ethics in business consists of actions of people within a company, and the company’s positions and actions on ethical matters (Death Penalty Information Center, 2014).
Lundbeck’s leaders are clear that the firm’s products should be utilized for healing and not for killing. There are several positive and negative consequences of Lundbeck’s decision to prevent the use of its pentobarbital drugs in capital punishments. The positive consequence is as follows: first, the company will prevent its major investors including Denmark’s largest pension investor, ATP, from unloading shares worth millions of Euros. If the company were committed to preventing the use of its products for executions in the United States, its reputation especially as viewed by investors would improve considerably. In turn, this would result in good, positive relations with the Lundbeck’s investors. It is noteworthy that an organization’s reputation is basically one of its most important assets. Business ethics creates goodwill within the market given that an organization that is famous for its ethical practices will create goodwill for itself within the marketplace (Salvador & Folger, 2009).
The negative consequence of the decision to prevent the use of the product to carryout executions in the United States is that the move would result in reduced sales and revenue, and more importantly reduced profitability. This is as a result of the fact that the prisons in the United States are a major customer-base which is crucial to the company’s bottom line. Business or organizational ethics is vital given that it influences and contributes to an organization’s performance, revenue and profit; image and reputation; and the ability to build relationships with the company’s investors. In addition, it influences and contributes to customer satisfaction; legal problems and penalties; investor and customer loyalty and confidence; as well as employee commitment (Brenkert, 2010).
Given that Lundbeck’s leaders acted ethically, the company’s long-term profitability is assured. It is of note that businesses that follow certain organizational ethics have better probabilities of survival relative to the companies whose sole goal is profit making, though they have to compromise on many things for that (Buhmann, 2012). Business ethics is important to organizations since ethical companies have the tendency of making much more profits relative to other companies. This is owing to the fact that customers of ethical organizations are loyal and contented with the product/service offerings of such organizations (Brockway, 2012). Moreover, organizational ethics helps to ensure efficient utilization of business resources since employees will emulate the company’s ethical leaders and follow ethical business practices. As such, employees will also desist from misusing company resources or property.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the selected firm whose leaders acted in an ethical manner is Lundbeck Inc., a pharmaceutical firm based in Denmark and is the only manufacturer of pentobarbital drugs for purchase in the United States. The company faced an ethical dilemma regarding the usage of its medications in capital punishments. Lundbeck does not want to be involved in the execution business, but at the same time, it does not want to lose its profitable American pentobarbital market which is crucial to the company’s revenue and profitability. Lundbeck’s leaders acted ethically in this ethical dilemma by trying to stop the usage of its products for the death penalty; the company’s leaders maintain that Lundbeck makes drugs to heal and not to kill.
References
Brenkert, G. G. (2010). The Limits and Prospects of Business Ethics. Business Ethics Quarterly, 20(4), 703-709.
Brockway, J. (2012). Danish Drug-Maker’s Death Penalty Dilemma. Crescent City, CA: CRC Press.
Buhmann, K. (2012). Damned If You Do, Damned If You Don’t? The Lundbeck Case. National Center for Biotechnology Information.
1. By doing the optimisation using Excel Solver, you are required to construct a mean variance efficient portfolio frontier for any 10 randomly selected ordinary shares listed on a stock market. For all your calculations, you should use the 60 monthly returns, sample means, standard deviations, and covariance and correlation matrices. Plot the portfolio frontier and comment on the weights of the portfolios along the portfolio frontier including in your discussion the correlations among the 10 shares.
2. Identify a riskless asset and provide the rationale for your choice of the riskless asset.
3. By combining the riskless asset with the 10 shares, plot the straight line efficient portfolio frontier and select the tangent portfolio on the portfolio frontier.
4. Assume that the short selling is not allowed, how your efficient frontiers would differ from those with short selling allowed in questions 1 and 3 above.
5. Identify the appropriate benchmark index and justify your choice of the benchmark index.
6. Evaluate the performance of the tangent portfolio selected above using:
a) Sharpe’s Measure
b) Treynor’s Measure
c) M2 Measure
d) Jensen’s Performance Measure
e) The Appraisal Ratio.
7. Comment on the limitation of your analysis.
8. Critically evaluate the gains in the performance of the identified portfolio along with the associated risks from investing in other asset classes, for instance, investment in gilts (including index linked), corporate bonds, convertible bonds, commodities, real estate, hedge funds and exchange traded funds.
NB
This is a portfolio optimization assignment.
It has to be done with excel after the report writing on word.
SAMPLE ANSWER
Portfolio optimization
Introduction
Investing in the stock markets is highly dependent on the performance of the portfolio in which a certain investor has put his/her money. This principle of portfolio optimization was popularized by Markowitz who developed an appropriate method through which an investor could devise the most important stock portfolio for investment by avoiding risky stocks and prioritizing on investing in the stocks with the highest potential for maximum returns. Therefore, Markowitz portfolio indicates that it is necessary to increase assets and/or stocks in an investment portfolio the where the total risk of that portfolio is considered to be low or as measured by the standard deviation (or variance) of total return declines continuously, whereas the envisaged portfolio return is a weighted average of the expected returns of the individual assets. This implies that investing portfolios instead of individual assets and/or stocks, investors have a chance of significantly lowering the total risk of investing without necessarily sacrificing returns on their investments.
Therefore, the Markowitz’s mean-variance theory is usually implemented through the Excel Solver spreadsheet calculations meaning that it always optimize allocation of assets by finding the stock distribution through which there is minimization of the standard deviation or variance of the portfolio while at the same time sustaining the desired return on the stocks and/or assets. The origin of modern portfolio theory was in the 1950s with Harry Markowitz’s pioneering work in mean-variance portfolio optimization. However, prior to Markowitz’s innovation, heuristics were the ones who significantly influenced finance more than mathematical modeling. Mean-variance optimization is currently considered the core technique used by pension funds and hedge funds for portfolio diversification.
Most investors trade risk off against the envisaged return on their investments. Mean-variance optimization plays a crucial role in the identification of the investment portfolio responsible for the minimization of risk (i.e. standard deviation) for a given return. In most cases the line which is formed when the envisaged returns are plotted against the minimized standard deviation becomes the most efficient frontier for determining the most appropriate invetment portfolio.
Background of Stock Portfolio Optimization
There is a certain return for every stock in the market and it is assumed that a normal distribution is portrayed by this return. This implies that the distribution for these returns for the stock can be completely described using the mean which represents the expected return as well as variance of the returns. Moreover, between any pair of stocks covariance of the returns can be computed whereby the stocks that show positive covariances, it means that they move together while the stocks that show negative covariances move in the opposite directions. Therefore, if the envisaged returns for a certain stock return or a group of stock’s returns are known, a portfolio of these stocks can be put together because of their desired variance (risk) in the stock market as a result of their envisaged return. Thus, solver, excel is mainly used for the purpose of picking the portfolio in possession of the least variance for an envisaged return meaning that the investor is likely to gain profits from his/her investment.
However, the expected return as well as the portfolio’s variance can be calculated using the method that was developed by Harry Markowitz which is crucial in the computation of portfolio return in terms of the sum of individual stock covariances and variances between stocks’ pairs in a certain portfolio. This is definitely the right thing to do from a mathematical standpoint, even though all covariances between any portfolios pair of stocks is considered meaning there would be so many calculations that would be required to accomplish this task. Alternatively, another method was devised by William Sharpe for the determination of the envisaged return and variance for a certain portfolio. This is a simpler method compared to the previous one because it assumes that any stock’s return has two parts such as the beta part which depends on the entire market performance, and the second one which is independent of the market. These two methods have been extensively used to determine the performance of specific groups of stock portfolios in the stock markets across the world for a considerable period of time.
Discussion
In our considered example, the optimal portfolio in stock market provides a risk-return tradeoff for superior to investing in all the shares within the UK stock exchange market. For instance, through the computations of the Excel Solver it has been determined. For instance, the portfolio optimization analysis began with the analysis of descriptive aspects of the considered 10 stock returns over a period of 60 months including means, standard deviations, and median. Moreover, the correlation and covariance matrix as well as correlation coefficient all seem to indicate that there is significant relationship between the 10 stocks considered over the 60 months.
Moreover, there are also other performance ratios such as the Treynor’s measure, Sharpe ratio, Jensen’s Performance Measure, and the appraisal ratio. For instance, Treynor’s measure of 0.4 which is relatively low considering that it is below the half mark, this implies that selected portfolio is not that better since the higher the Treynor’s measure. The Sharpe ratio is almost identical to the Treynor measure, with exception of the fact that the risk measure is the standard deviation of the portfolio rather than only considering the systematic risk, as represented by beta. Therefore, the Sharpe ratio of 1.6 is indicative of a portfolio that is not performing better. This may be attributable to the selected stock with lowly performing returns, except a few which show considerable performance.
Jensen’s Performance Measure analyses the performance of an investment by not only looking at the overall return of a portfolio, but also at the risk of that portfolio. For instance, when two mutual stocks, rationally an investor would go the one that is less risky meaning that the obtained value of 0.2 is and indicative of considerable performance of the stocks. Finally, the Appraisal Ratio of 0.5 shows that it is necessary to attempt to beat the returns of a relevant benchmark or of the overall market. The appraisal ratio measures the portfolio performance by comparing the return of their stock picks to the specific risk of those selections, hence the higher the ratio, the better the performance of the portfolio in question.
This implies that two step must always be taken prior to determining where to invest in the stock market, where the first one regards the determination of the allocation of stocks/assets between the riskless portfolio and the risky assets and/or stocks. The second step is the determination of the allocation of resources between the risky and riskless portfolios. However, considering that all the portfolios of riskless and risky assets have a similar Sharpe ratio, all investors do not have one optimal portfolio, but their allocation is often determined by specific factors that are individual like the objectives of the investor or risk aversion of the investor, taking into account factors like the investor’s horizon, wealth, etc. Furthermore, the extent to which the volatility of the portfolio can be decreased is highly dependent on the correlation whereby, the lower the average correlation of the stocks within a certain portfolio, then it implies that that is the lower an investor can decrease the volatility of the portfolio. This is a clear indication that this has provided the author of this assignment with succinct knowledge of determining the optimal allocations in stock markets.
Conclusion
Through this assignment it has been shown that, it is possible to use specialized spreadsheets for the calculation of important risk and return related portfolio statistics in the stock markets as well as minimizing the overall risk or maximizing the expected return of a multi-stock portfolio. However, it is essential to know that irrespective of these calculations being useful when creating investment portfolios, they rest on the assumption that historical relationships between asset classes and individual assets will hold in the future. This means that it is always crucial for investors to choose a period that they feel is representative of a “typical” market cycle, in order to avoid a capturing a repetitive cycle that is not relevant.
Moreover, the mean-variance portfolio optimization has its limitations, despite the fact that it is very helpful in choosing appropriate portfolios. For example, using standard deviation (or variance) as a proxy for risk can only be considered valid for normally distributed returns, and not any other returns which is not always the case in the stock markets. In addition, the premise of the Markowitz theory means that investors are not likely to make any alterations to their asset allocation after it has been optimized. Finally, fund managers or investors may not necessarily be interested in the minimization of risk (i.e. standard deviation or variance), but instead they may be interested in reducing the correlation of a fund to a benchmark. These are the limitations of the used method, even it is very crucial in determining portfolio optimization.
Reference List
Arnold, G. (2008), Corporate Financial Management, Third Edition, New York, NY: Pearson Education Limited.
Craig, W. H. (2008), Excel Modelling and Estimation in Investments, Third Edition, Indiana University, Prentice Hall, Inc.
Goldfarb, D. and Iyengar, G. (2003), “Robust Portfolio Selection Problems”. Mathematics of Operations Research, Vol.28 Issue 1, pp. 1-38.
Jackson, M. and Staunton, M. (2001), Advanced Modelling in Finance using Excel and VBA. Chichester, England: John Wiley & Sons.
Markowitz, H.M. (1959), Portfolio Selection: Efficient Diversification of Investments. New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons.
Markowitz, H.M. (1952). “Portfolio selection” The Journal of Finance, Vol. 7 Issue 1, pp. 77-91.
Sharpe, W.F., (1964), “Capital asset prices: A theory of market equilibrium under conditions of risk”. Journal of Finance, Vol. 19 Issue 3, pp. 425-442.
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The Performance of employees within an Organization
The Performance of employees within an Organization; A CASE STUDY OF OIL AND GAS COMPANIES IN QATAR
Order Instructions:
The Introduction to the dissertation should set out the background to the research study and address the following areas:
The context in which the research took place
• What is the background, the context, in which the research took place?
• Why is this subject or issue important
• Who are the key participants and/or
‘actors’ in the area under investigation?
• Are there important trends or pivotal variables of which the reader needs to be made aware?
• A clear and succinct statement of the aims and objectives that the dissertation is going to address.
• Have you presented a clear and unambiguous exposition of your research aim, the objectives you will address to meet this aim and your research questions?
The reasons why this study was carried out
• Was this study undertaken for example in order to test some aspect of professional or business practice or theory or framework of analysis?
• Was the research carried out to fulfil the demands of a business organisation?
The way the Dissertation is to be organized:
You should write your dissertation with the idea in mind that the intended reader and reviewer has some shared understanding of the area being investigated, however, underpinning concepts and arguments still need to be included as otherwise the depth of research will be compromised. In this way, you will not be tempted to make too many implicit assumptions, i.e. by making the erroneous assumptions that the reader has your degree of knowledge about the matters in question or can follow, exactly, your thought processes without your spelling them out. It should be a document which is ‘self-contained’ and does not need any additional explanation, or interpretation, or reference to other documents in order that it may be fully understood.
This short final section of the Introduction should tell the reader what topics are going to be discussed in each of the chapters and how the chapters are related to each other. In this way, you are, in effect, providing the reader with a ‘road map’ of the work ahead. Thus, at a glance, they can see
(1) where they are starting from,
(2) the context in which the journey is taking place,
(3) where they are going to end up, and
(4) the route which they will take to reach their final destination. Such a ‘map’ will enable the reader to navigate their way through your work much more easily and appreciate to the maximum what you have done.
SAMPLE ANSWER
The Performance of employees within an Organization
A CASE STUDY OF OIL AND GAS COMPANIES IN QATAR
Chapter One
1.0 Aim, objectives and feasibility of the dissertation
1.1 Background Information
Qatar which is a member of United Arab Emirates (UAE), and also among the members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) is considered to have been significantly influenced negatively by the global decline of demand for petroleum products following the market glut experienced over the recent past (Qatar Oil & Gas Report, 2015). This is attributable to the fact that, there has been a decline in oil demand as well as oil prices over the recent past, which has far reaching effects on the country’s economy as well as economies of the regional nations and members of GCC. For instance, according to Milmo (2016) there was a decline of oil prices by 70% in 2015 globally, which has to a considerable extent shaken the country’s economy. As a result, this situation has caused the country to operate below its proposed budget’s threshold, which has seen the country budget run through a deficit of approximately $13 billion, a financial figure that if compared to the economy of Qatar as a whole constitutes about 0.8% of the country’s GDP (Breunig & Tse Chern, 2015; Kulkarni, 2015; Milmo, 2016).
For an economy that is developing such as that of Qatar, an overreliance on oil and gas as well as their subsequent products as the core drivers of the economy, there is a high likelihood of the prices to decline at the slightest economic shock if this practise is replicated by the neighbouring countries as well as the region (Milmo, 2016). This phenomenon would equally result to a decline in the prices of related inputs that used to produce these products, leading to far reaching effects that negatively impact the economy as well as performance of companies operating in the oil and gas sector (Milmo, 2016).
According to the United Arab Emirates Oil & Gas Report (2015), despite the vast wealth that Qatar has accumulated because of its oil abundance, the country is still considered a developing country mainly due to the fact that there has been no wide diversification of the economy as observed in developed nations. According to Byun and Hollander (2015), Qatar scores poorly in terms of the Gini Index, which range from zero (0) to one (1) whereby the former corresponds to perfect equality (where income is equal for everyone) and the latter corresponds to perfect inequality (where the entire income is held by one person while the income of the rest equates to zero). In this case Qatar scores 0.41, which is considerably high compared to developed countries that in most cases tend to have a Gini Index score of approximately 0.3 meaning that Qatar has to implement the necessary measures to make sure that income levels among its population become more equally distributed (Byun & Hollander, 2015). This scenario may has far reaching impact on the performance of employees in oil and gas companies within an organisation context, which usually includes the departmental, managerial as well as leadership levels (Aguinis, 2012; Al Muftah & Lafi, 2011; Al-Harthy, 2013; Thao & Hwang, 2015).
According to Al Muftah and Lafi (2011), in recent times a significant number of organisations have become fully aware of the imperativeness of employee performance, which has led them to embark of devising ways that are appropriate to increase employee performance. In addition, efforts of finding out and implementing the ways and/or strategies through which high performance level among the company employees can be attained has become one of the fundamental practises and decisive factors pursued by most successful organisations (Lam, Yik & Schaubroeck, 2012; Thao & Hwang, 2015). However, irrespective of the declining global oil and gas prices, the performance of employees within an organisation often stems from managerial practises adopted by a particular oil and gas company. For instance, the mission of a company management with regards to its human capital is usually, to get the employees together with a purpose of accomplishing corporate goals and objectives through efficient and effective utilisation of available resources (Mathis & Jackson, 2011; Northouse, 2013). Manpower or employees’ performance can be substantially boosted through heightened efforts towards promoting factors that are fundamental in enhancing the employees’ job satisfaction, creativity, motivational level, as well as ensuring that the workplace environment is comfortable and conducive, among other factors (Appiah, 2012; Armstrong & Murlis, 2004; Bartram & Casimir, 2007).
Narehan et al. (2014) noted that, the prevailing social demands and economic conditions have drastically changed the role of work throughout the world. This assertion is made with reference to the previous role of work, which was primarily done as a matter of survival and necessity (Das et al., 2013; Fedor & Rensvold, 2012). Throughout the evolution of human resources capital, the role of work has progressively changed consistently together with the components of the workforce (Armstrong & Murlis, 2004). For instance, in today’s workforce, work is not only considered a necessity but employees also consider it to provide them with personal satisfaction. As a result, the management of oil and gas companies should strive to ensure appropriate motivation and leadership methods are adopted to achieve optimal performance from employees (Webb, Jeffrey & Schulz, 2011).
According to Al Muftah and Lafi (2011), work-life programs and benefits is one of the fundamental ways through which professional and personal goals and objectives among oil and gas companies’ employees can be attained. Alternatively, the behaviour of individual employees with regards to attitudes and perceptions also play a significant role in influencing the performance levels, hence there is need to ensure that the right attitude is maintained through motivation and appropriate remuneration in order to maintain high efficiency and productivity (Hellriegel, Slocum & Woodman, 2011; Hu, & Kaplan, 2015). According to Hellriegel et al. (2012), various factors are attributable to the performance of employees at work place, since employees’ performance at work place is considered as the way of performing job tasks in accordance with the stipulated job description. Thus, considering that performance concerns completion of a task within prescribed boundaries, it is evidently clear that employees’ performance is affected by various factors that ought to be investigated in the context of oil and gas industry in Qatar. As a result, this research is aimed at identification and measurement of the level of factors that affect job performance effectiveness among oil and gas companies’ employees in Qatar within the context of an organization at departmental, managerial and leadership levels. The research will strive to identify the necessary variables including working environment, motivation, organizational culture, leadership and training. The study is a quantitative one and it will strive to establish the relationship that exist between the variables mentioned above and performance of employees in Qatar’s oil and gas industry.
1.2 Statement of the Problem
Human capital is among the most important assets that significantly contribute to the production levels in oil and gas companies (Narehan et al., 2014). Therefore, it is important to understand how the performance of employees or job behaviour among employees of oil and gas companies in Qatar assists departments, managements and executive leaders to influence organizational goals and objectives either positively or negatively. Considering that the performance of employees is affected by a wide range of workplace factors, this study focuses on investigating the oil and gas industry scenario in Qatar in order to determine the factors or variables that affect the performance of employees either positively or negatively. By doing so, the study will also play a critical role in highlighting how employees’ performance is affected either positively or negatively by these factors or variables together with the interactions between them. The variables or factors that have been determined to influence the performance of employees at workplace in the scenario of oil and gas industry include organization culture, leadership style, workplace environment, organization structure, financial rewards as well as job stress.
There has been description of these variables in different studies and their influence on the performance of employees at work place has been confirmed (Hellriegel, Slocum & Woodman, 2011; Hu, & Kaplan, 2015). An appropriate balance must be achieved between these variables or factors in order to ensure that oil and gas companies optimally utilise the potential of their workforce. This is important because, failure to achieve this balance the workforce may become counterproductive or underutilised leading to a decline in production levels, which subsequently results to a decline in the company revenues and profitability. Since these variables or factors can either positively or negatively influence the performance of employees across sectors, it becomes inevitable to investigate them as well as their interactions to determine the appropriate combination for optimal performance among employees to be achieved.
1.3 Aims of the Study
It is highly imperative for the determination of the fact that, employees’ performance within an organization at various levels such as department, management and leadership plays a significant role in influencing the company goals and objectives either positively or negatively. A consideration of the oil and gas company scenario, various factors in a work environment are believed to affect the performance of employees. Therefore, this study aims to focus on the internal as well as external challenges faced by employees working in oil and gas companies, especially during the surge of oil and gas prices which has negatively hit Qatar’s economy. The study will also discuss in details both the internal and external variables that affect the performance of employees in oil and gas industry in Qatar.
1.4 Research Questions:
What are the internal factors that affect the performance of employees within oil and gas companies within developing states such as Qatar in the face of oil price drops?
What are the external factors that affect the performance of employees within oil and gas companies’ undeveloped states as a result of the rise of oil price drops?
What are the approaches that can be employed in solving the internal and external factors that affect the performance of employees in these companies as a result of drops in oil prices?
1.5 Research Objectives
The primary objectives of this study include:
Establish the internal and external factors that impact employee performance in oil and gas companies in the state of Qatar following the drop in oil prices.
Establish appropriate recommendations and conclusions that identify approaches of solving the negative impacts of these factors on the performance of employees within organizations in Qatar.
1.6 Significance of the Study
The findings of this study have significances for the body of knowledge on employee performance as well as business practice. First, from an enterprise perspective it is highly imperative for oil and gas companies to identify factors that affect the performance of employees, which is essential in helping the companies in this sector to formulate appropriate workforce policies and guidelines aimed at optimal utilisation of potential, skills, knowledge and expertise of employees. Thus, through this study a methodological guidance is provided which has a practical significance towards oil and gas companies in Qatar to correctly develop human capital management and leadership practises not only at departmental level but also at executive level.
Secondly, the study may enhance employees’ performance awareness among stakeholders in oil and gas companies including managers and investors in the oil and gas industry in Qatar and across the world. For example, the research findings from this study may be of significant assistance to oil and gas industry managers in better understanding and managing of workforce and employees’ performance and investors may use employees’ performance efficiency as a benchmark of assessing the ability of a company operating in oil and gas company sector to create value. Also, the study is important in enabling oil and gas companies in Qatar to better understand the employees’ performance drivers, and have a more definite and direct understanding of the elements of employees’ performance in order to know how different elements can be combined for optimal harnessing of companies’ workforce potential.
1.7 Structure of the Dissertation
In overall, the aim of this dissertation is to investigate employees’ performance within an organization at departmental, managerial and leadership levels at oil and gas companies operating in Qatar with the aid of survey data gathered at firm level. Following the introduction as the first chapter, which provides background information about the research topic, aim, problem statement, objectives as well as significance of the study and the research questions; the reminder of the dissertation is organized in subsequent chapters as follows. The second chapter provides the literature review by discussing theoretical basis of the research topic based on previous studies and also describe the situation of oil and gas companies in Qatar. In this chapter, also the key terms are introduced in addition to reviewing existing theoretical and empirical literature on the research topic. The third chapter is the methodology and it describes the methods adopted to test the hypotheses, and also describes the target population, research sample and data as well as variables employed in the study. The fourth chapter is the data analysis and study findings and it presents the study results through analysed data and its interpretation. Finally, the fifth chapter is the discussion and conclusion and it is concerned with elucidation of the research findings with reference to findings of previous studies, making of conclusions as well as highlighting limitations of the study and giving recommendation for future research.
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