Influence of Non-economic Environments on Management Effectiveness Essay

Influence of Non-economic Environments on Management Effectiveness - Essay Example This paper offers a comprehensive analysis of the non-economic factors of business environment and describes the effects that this factors could have on an overall economic performance of any organization. One of the most important issues when designing a business strategy is the location and the evaluation of the factors that could influence the operation and the performance of the business. The nature of the factors that can ‘interact’ with a firm’s management can vary in accordance with the following variables: the type of business activities, the country where the firm operates, the political and natural environment and the culture/ knowledge/ ethnicity of the employees but also of the employer. Moreover, these factors can be related to financial data or to other elements of non-economic character, like the physical environment, the human resources and the market (referring to the people and not to financial activities). In order to achieve an integrated presentation of the non-economic business environment that has an influence to the structure, the decisions and the performance of its management, we should refer to its separate elements (in both external and internal area) as they can be observed from their interaction to the firm’s activities. The role of the non-economic factors to the business management can be characterized as critical regarding the consequences that they may have on the performance and for the individuals that participate to the firm’s operation. Behavior of the business as an entity is also important as it can provide the measures for the limitation or even the elimination of the negative consequences that can follow the interaction of the non-economic factors with the corporate activity.

How to Set a Workplace Vacation Policy Essay Example for Free

How to Set a Workplace Vacation Policy Essay A guide to structuring a vacation policy that sets the tone for your benefits package and keeps employees happy and motivated not to mention gives your company a competitive edge. Deciding what sort of vacation policy you want your company to have is an important step for any business owner in creating a comprehensive employee benefits package. Whether you want to create a system of rewards, or you are just trying to create a set of guidelines for time off, there are several ways that establishing a vacation policy can help contribute to your business functioning smoothly. The following guide will highlight the various options available for creating or improving a vacation policy. How to Set a Workplace Vacation Policy: Consider Legal Requirements Although vacation time seems like a standard occurrence in the American workforce, employers actually have no legal obligation to offer their employees any vacation time at all. However, the majority of business owners understand the health benefits of offering their employees vacation time, and they aim to set policies that fit their businesss operations. While time off for vacation is not federally enforced, employers are legally obligated to provide certain employees with up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave each year under the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA), a labor law which was passed in 1993. Employees that would qualify for this type of leave include persons that are caring for a sick family member, persons who must leave due to a serious health condition that prevents them from working, or persons that have to care for a new child, by birth, adoption or foster care. Dig Deeper: Regulation: Your Own FMLA Policy How to Set a Workplace Vacation Policy: What Are Your Priorities? According to Steve Kane, a human resources expert based out of Hillsborough, California, with more than 25 years of experience working with enterprise companies and start-up businesses, vacation time is simply one form of paid time off (PTO), and before you choose your vacation guidelines, you must begin with deciding what you want to accomplish. You have to put your [benefits] strategy into perspective, he says. Are you setting a vacation policy to create a rewards structure, to minimize costs, [or] to be competitive? Those are all worthy things, but they may lead to different conclusions. Traditional vacation policies, Kane says, have stemmed from policies established by labor union contracts, which will grant employees a certain amount of time off depending upon the length of time they have worked for the company. And, in addition to the yearly allotment of vacation time a company decides to grant employees, many businesses offer additional time off for personal days, sick days, and national or religious holidays, like New Years Day, Independence Day, and Christmas Day. An employer has the option of giving employees two weeks off for the first year, three weeks off after five years, and four weeks off for 10 or 15 years, Kane says. But, those are just some common schedules; some employees say two weeks for everyone. Accrued time off – additional sick days, PTO or vacation time that employees accumulate based on the length of time they have worked at a company – is also more prevalent now than it used to be. Rollover vacation days – unused vacation time from one calendar year that gets added onto next years allotment – may count as part of accrued time off, but it depends on the employer, Kane says: Some employers say you have to use your rollover days by March 30, or some date in the next year. Or, they will say you can accrue unused vacation time only up to so many hours, or for so many hours. One more factor to take into consideration when creating a vacation policy is to determine whether you feel that your business has key employees. If that is the case, you may want to construct separate policies to keep those employees satisfied for the good of the enterprise, Kane says. For instance, since many businesses have sales people who consistently bring money in, you may consider offering a vacation policy with a higher incentive to that group of people who are driving your business. However, if singling out groups of people within the company leaves other employees unsatisfied, you may be better off sticking to a universal policy. Dig Deeper: Benefits: Time Off You Can Bank On How to Set a Workplace Vacation Policy: Enforcing a Vacation Policy While time off from work is often viewed as an earned employee benefit, a whopping 66 percent of employees were found to have neglected to use all of their vacation time in 2009, according to a study released by Philadelphia-based career management consulting firm Right Management. So, what does an employer do when an employee neglects to take their days off? Kane says that many companies have a use it or lose it policy, which means that if an employee fails to use the vacation time they are entitled to in a given year, it becomes forfeited. Theoretically, doctors will tell you its good to take time off to regenerate, but that only way you can actually make [employees] take a vacation is just to tell them not to come into work, he says. Most vacation systems try to make that a part of the policy, but its enforced by the payroll department, rather than individual supervisors. An employer must also decide whether they want to include part-time employees in a vacation policy, or limit that option to full-time workers only. For some stores, their bread and butter are part-time employees, Kane says. I think its a general rule that employers whose workforce is part-time often [tell employees they] wont accrue vacation for working 20 hours a week or less. If an employee decides to abuse his or her vacation policy, however, the consequences can be dire, and may even result in termination. Typically, a companys human resources or payroll department will keep track of employee sick days and vacation days, and it will be up to them to report abuse to their manager or employer. Dig Deeper: Are Your Employees Scared to Take a Vacation? How to Set a Workplace Vacation Policy: Get Employee Input Vacation time is one aspect of the benefits package that will be difficult to alter once it has been established, so its best to ask your employees what they hope to gain from the policy before its set in stone. A big mistake that employers make in creating a policy, Kane says, is setting guidelines based on what they heard worked for another company, rather than focusing on the needs of their own business and employees. One thing to remember is that if you decide to ask your employees what they want, you have to provide them with the proper education about potential plans so they can make a well-informed decision. If you are putting a new plan to a vote, Kane recommends asking how many people want option A, how many want option B, and how many dont care either way: If you provide the middle option of, Im indifferent, then you can potentially increase the percentage of employees who are happy with the result. Dig Deeper: Giving Employees a Say How to Set a Workplace Vacation Policy: Scrapping Your Policy Altogether If you are contemplating the terms of a workplace vacation policy, a critical step is to determine whether or not it benefits your business to have one at all. Some workplaces have decided to scrap their policies altogether, and allow employees to take off as much time as they want. The theory behind this option is that it de-bureaucratizes the workplace, and, rather than making employees feel like they will be compensated for productivity, they will maintain increased productivity by not having to stress out about proving their self-worth within the company. This concept of workplace democracy, and doing away with employer-sanctioned occupational limitations, has become one of the most important movements in the business world, says Brian Carney, London-based member of the editorial board of theWall Street Journal, editorial page director of the Wall Street Journal Europe, and co-author of the business book, Freedom, Inc.: Free Your Employees and Let Them Lead Your Business to Higher Productivity, Profits, and Growth. One of the things that we discovered [in doing research for this book] is that to really liberate employees, you have to get them out of the mindset of trading material goods in one form or another for performance, he says. According to Carney, a lot of employers are hesitant to consider getting rid of a vacation policy because employees see it as something they are entitled to and something they take comfort in – a dynamic which can be destructive to a company. You have to break that dynamic of, give me something, and Ill give you something, says Carney. You dont establish a vacation policy to encourage people to bankroll [time off], you establish a vacation policy to let people see that its healthy to take time off work.

Alcohol :: essays research papers

A class is chemical compounds, all if which consists of chemically bonded atoms of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen all alcohol molecules contain at least one hydroxyl group. When people say alcohol they usually think of beer, wine, or liquor, but there are several types of alcohol. An alcoholic beverage is a drink that contains ethyl alcohol. They are mostly made of grains or from grapes or other fruits. There are two main groups fermented and distilled drinks. Fermented drinks contain from five percent to twenty percent ethyl alcohol. Distilled contains twelve percent to fifty-five percent or more ethyl alcohol. The consumption of beverages containing alcohol has been practiced in all parts of the world for thousands of years. The first alcoholic beverages were fermented. Scenes showing fermentation appear on pottery made in Mesopotamia as early as 4200 B.C. Mankind early discovered that drinking the fermented juices of certain fruits, berries, and grain produced an extremely pleasant effect. Among primitive peoples, alcoholic drinks increased the excitement of tribal festivals. In more civilized nations, beers and wines in the daily diet were believed beneficial to health. During the 1800’s, a movement began in the United States to prohibit the manufacture and sale of alcoholic beverages. A constitutional amendment banning the beverages went into effect in 1920, but thousands of Americans defied the prohibition law. In 1930, the federal government estimated that about 800 million gallons of alcoholic beverages were being produced in the country annually. The prohibition amendment was repealed in 1933. When alcohol is taken into the stomach and intestines, it is absorbed and distributed rapidly throughout the entire body fluids and tissues. The body disposes of alcohol through oxidation. This process lasts as long as the alcohol remains in the system, it may require several hours after the last drink is taken. Small amounts of alcohol may relieve tension or fatigue and increase appetite. Large amounts inhibit or depress the higher mental processes, causing a rise in self-confidence and a reduction of feelings of anxiety and guilt.

Taliban/Osama Movie

J. Galloway, T. Lockett, M. Franklin Dr. Newson-Horst Humanities 301 March 7, 2013 Taliban/Osama The Taliban are a large Sunni Islamist group of men who rule in Afghanistan. The Taliban presence in Afghanistan was densest in 1996 on through 2001. The Taliban presence/force declined in 2001 with the invasion of the U. S. military in The Middle East after the September 11 attacks. The Taliban began as a distinct group who fought alongside other mujahedeen groups during the Cold War against the Soviet Union.In the early to late 1980's the Cold War allowed the Taliban to rise to power. The Taliban group was set apart from other mujahedeen groups because of their focus on the learning and teaching of the Islamic faith alongside actual fighting. The film Osama written by Siddiq Barmak, provides an accurate depiction of the Taliban in Afghanistan by its in depth portrayal of the Taliban’s religious values, control, and acts of violence. The religious values of the Taliban are what fo rm them as a group.Anyone who wished to fight on the Taliban front would have to comply with their strict routine of prayer and study which filled their lives when they were not fighting. In the film viewers may perhaps gain this interpretation as they watched the young boys hauled off to a Taliban ran school where they prayed and studied the Qur’an in several scenes. The Taliban follow the Islamic faith very strictly sticking to traditional views and values especially towards women. The women under Taliban control cannot work, wear what they please, or come and go as they please.The religious values learned and taught by the Taliban takes a huge toll on the everyday lives of the people who are succumbed to that way of life. The Taliban has a substantial amount of control in Afghanistan with fifty-four percent of the control being permanent. Taliban ruled areas are doomed with laws and constant terror. The women are harassed and forced to wear burkas at all times. In the film a member of the Taliban warns a husband to make his wife cover her feet in fear of other men being aroused by her feet.The Taliban in Afghanistan gain finances through drug trafficking, kidnapping, and foreign donations. Private citizens from Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Iran, and some Persian Gulf nations are the largest contributors to the donations of the Taliban group in Afghanistan. The group was trademarked by controlling women to wear burkas, banning television, and jailing men whose beards were deemed too short. These controlling antics are depicted throughout the film. The violent nature of the Taliban is heavily present in the film Osama.In one scene women were protesting for the right to work to provide for their families. The Taliban blasted these women and their children with water and sprayed bullets into the crowd. Several protesting women were jailed for their participation. The Taliban also participates in kidnapping as a means of financial gain. They commit high profil e kidnappings for ransom to fund their terror. Finally, the Taliban has its own judicial system where many people have their lives taking away for random acts of resistance against Taliban law.In the film one can see an American reporter sentenced to death for recording the Taliban. The Taliban conduct live stoning to death with its members and crowd. In conclusion, the Taliban's large presence in Afghanistan has been in place for a very long time. The lifestyle of Middle Eastern women, men, and children are shaped around the ruling of the Taliban. The Taliban parade the streets and cause terror in the lives of its people. The film Osama aided with the understanding of the Taliban rule.Viewers gain a first-hand interpretation of the hardships faced under Taliban rule and how tough it is to uphold as a family. Citations Ansari, Fahad. â€Å"Understanding the Taliban Movement. † Harakah Daily/en H 1434 (2013): n. pag. 06 Mar. 2013. Web. Bajoria, Jayshree. â€Å"Council on Fore ign Relations. † Backgrounder (n. d. ): n. pag. Council on Foreign Relations. 06 Oct. 2011. Web. 05 Mar. 2013. Fremson, Ruth. Taliban (n. d. ): n. pag. Nytimes. com. The New York Times, 10 Oct. 2012. Web. 05 Mar. 2013. .

IB Economics Commentary †Australia MPs Pass Carbon Tax Essay

The Australian government will bring in one of the world’s biggest carbon emissions trading schemes after MPs passed two bills by senators that are expected to vote into law in November. A carbon tax is an environmental tax levied on the carbon content of fuels. A negative externality of production occurs when the production of a good or service creates external costs that are damaging to third parties. This is mainly related to the environmental problems. Figure 1. Negative Externality of Production for Carbon Emission Figure 1 shows if the government is not intervening and the market is determined by only supply and demand, known as free market, the marginal private costs of the firm are below the marginal social cost because there is an extra cost to society caused by pollution. Pollution includes increase in fossil fuel burning, which would release CO2 into the atmosphere and the loss of carbon sinks. Also, it is said that CO2 emissions harm ocean’s ability to absorb carbon. The firm will only be concerned with its private costs and will produce at Q1. It is not producing at the socially efficient output, where the marginal social cost is equal to the marginal social benefit. This means that at a price of p* from figure 1 would create Q*. The community surplus is not maximized due to the effects of pollution, since it is causing a negative consequence. One way government policies may counter the problem is to tax the firm in order to increase the firm’s private costs. The carbon tax aims to cut Australia’s emissions by 5% from year 2000 levels by the year 2020, and bring emissions down 80% by 2050. The tax requires the country’s 500 biggest polluters to pay A$23 per tonne for their carbon emissions. Figure 2: Taxing a Negative Externality of Production for Carbon Emission Figure 2 shows when the government decided to tax that will help the economy, there is still a welfare lose, but it is less than under the free market with no government intervention. The pink color shading shows the welfare loss before the tax and the red color shading shows the welfare loss after taxing, which clearly shows it would reduce the deadweight burden, but not eliminate it completely. It is suggested that government should counter the externality to increase welfare. In this case, stakeholders include firms, labors, and households. Firms are the increase cost, labors refer to the consideration of losing job and households refer to the price level that is rising. If government chose not to tax, the economy would most likely to run in a short term, since there is too much welfare loss. However, government chose to tax the negative externality of production, which the economy could run in long-term. The higher the government tax, the less welfare loss will result. Also, households will be compensated for rising prices due to the carbon tax. The government concluded with the plan to turn the economy into a tradable emission permits schemes. However, this is certainly not the best choice since it doesn’t lead to the reduction of pollution once allowable limit has been set and government might not have the data of the total level of pollution and it is very difficult to measure a firm’s pollution output. To conclude my evaluation, apply taxation added to the economy is the most suitable choice government should make. It is suggested in the article, however, not their final decision. Firms are the increase cost, labors refer to the consideration of losing job and households might consider rearranging the price level and firms should consider about increasing cost, which not a lot of people could afford. The other choices take time to plan and have to consider a lot of consequences. However, taxing is not easy as well. It could be difficult to measure accurately the pollution created, but it does help reduce the welfare loss, which already is improving. Peter Hoeller and Markku Walli, Autumn 1991, Energy Prices, Taxes and Carbon Dioxide Emissions [online] OECD Economic Studies No. 17. Available at: Tom Marshall, February 3 2009, CO2 Emissions harm Ocean’s ability to absorb carbon [online] Natural Environment Research Council. Available at:

Starting a Business After Graduation †Marketing Research Essay

Starting a Business After Graduation – Marketing Research Essay Free Online Research Papers Starting a Business After Graduation Marketing Research Essay Making a good career decision involves both self-assessment and market research. Begin the self-assessment process by examining your skills and identifying what kinds of products or services you can offer. What skills do you most enjoy using? If you are artistic, merchandising a store and designing advertising may appeal to you. Or you may be mechanically inclined, enjoy solving puzzles or helping people. All businesses require dedication, determination, passion, flexibility and urgency. Consumers today have a wonderful sense of well-being and wealth, but you should be prepared for a sharp or extended decline. There are all sorts of things that can turn people away from shopping, so plan for good times as well as rocky ones. If you want to get into a retail business because times are good, you may want to think again. If your passion for going out on your own and dealing directly with the public is not extinguished by the prospect of difficult times. I planned to retail a fashion store with a specialty retailer. Which is a power retailers like target tend to sell needs, specialty retailers tend to sell wants. They focus more on neighbourhood convenience, the richness of the shopping experience, and inventory that meets the needs of their target customer on a personalized basis. Small stores show surprising strength and flexibility in the face of competition from large-scale retailers and e-commerce outlets. They offer the consumer a warmer atmosphere, and perhaps a broader and deeper selection of goods. Many stores can be owned and operated by one person with minimal assistance. Compared to manufacturing operations, specialty retail outfits are relatively easy to start both financially and operationally. However, a number of failures are due to undercapitalization, poor location and insufficient market analysis. Most successful small businesses provide something attractive or advantageous by taking whats already there and developing some innovative features. I will develop a special community consciousness which is to full fill my customer’s need. Example, if they have any special banquet, they could me order or propose what kind of material for their unique dressing and their design as well. Although a great location may not guarantee success, a bad location will almost always guarantee failure. A new retail business needs to be where the customers are. I need to find a location with a reasonable degree of security, access to public transportation for your customers and employees, adequate parking for commercial as well as personal vehicles, room for an office, and that all-important sales space. Where you locate will settle on the hours you keep, who your clients is, and what types of promotions you do. Also, where you set up shop will impact how long it will take you to grow. Luckily, I have lots of options. The best retail location combines visibility, affordability and lease terms that I can live with. Retailers need to be where the action is, so deciding where to put my business is every bit as important as the business that I decide to go into. Take the time to analyze the areas that appeal to me. There are three phases of choosing a location for your retail business: selection of a city, choice of an area or type of location within a city, and identification of a specific site. The place I choose for my fashion store which is a new shop house beside the road. Because it is a new shop lot so I think every passenger pass by will be have a look on that. There will no traffic flow, corresponding nature of next-door stores, capability of packing problem. There will be no zoning changes that will be advantageous for competitor or even allow new competitors to enter your trade area. I will take my positioning statement from my business plan and present it in the 3-D world of location, architecture and interior design. Use scale, colours, textures, materials, amenities and layout to express my stores philosophy. I will use a neon, elegant columns and casual corners, subdued hues and marble floors to set the stage for my customers. My store has planned two key elements: store design and store layout. Store design is concerned with atmosphere, image, interior design and exterior design factors. Store layout involves the internal arrangements of each department, selling and sales support allocation, and the evaluation of space productivity. To set up my store, consider consulting with architects, interior designers and lighting engineers. Working with skilful designers gives me an invaluable resource: Not only will they know the best location for air conditioners and elevators, but they can help build flexibility into lighting systems that will keep me from incur costs when floor layouts are altered. Designers keep abreast of the hottest colour schemes, materials, sources and trends to a degree that would be impossible for someone outside the trades to do. For my own opinion, to make my own business success, there is a lot of market segmentation I need to know which is:- ? Sensitive to prices changes If we are not sensitive with this, our customer might be get a more special offer from my competitor In making your pricing decisions, you need to answer these questions: ? What prices are shoppers willing to pay for the merchandise? ? Where do you want to be in comparison with your competitors pricing: equal, above or below? ? What is the suggested real price proposed by the supplier? ? What are the qualities or characteristics of the merchandise that influence a shoppers perception of quality and value-style, perish ability, scarcity, richness, commodity or other? ? Packaging and pop display This is the most important passion to my customers. Through the packaging we can know that what the quality of material in the shop is and so on. ? What are the consumer psychological characteristics? What is my customers’ feeling, sentiments, buying motives and behavioural patterns and designs? ? Product-variety marketing Produces how to move products that have different quality features, styles, size and so on. ? Target marketing Select one or more of them, develops products and marketing mixes tailored to each. This is making few same design or same colour dressing from them to attend those unique banquets. Other that that, the promotional mix also I need to be more aware. Advertising and personal selling such as point of purchase display, exhibition, usually non-recurring in nature. ? Introduction Heavy advertising and public relations to build awareness. ? Growth Heavy advertising and public relations to build brand loyalty. Decreasing use of sales promotion. Personal selling to maintain distribution. ? Product research Which is concern with the analysis of the strengths and weakness of the existing products, development of new products, product diversification and all kinds of product line decision? ? Media research Broucher, flyer, banner and streamer ? Consumer research This is concerned with the discovery and analysis of the consumer. ? Sales research This relates to the problem of regional variations in sales, fixing sales territories, measurement of effectiveness of sales force, evaluation of sales method. 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Japanese unique ways of thinking essays

Japanese unique ways of thinking essays Lying in the Far East of Asia, surrounded by the oceans, Japan is very understandable to be isolated from the rest of the continent. Through Kokoro, the heart within and the feature films about Japan, we can see that this country has a long and unique history. According to Japan tradition, the year 660 B.C. is the date of founding of Japan as a nation under the mythological Emperor Jimmu. At that time, Japans Shinto religion was established leading people to the beliefs of reverence for nature and ancestor worship. Since Shinto reflects Japans history and traditions, it has become known as Japans national religion and it plays a key role throughout the history of the country. In Kokoro, the heart within, the producer starts out by depicting the importance of looking at Japanese people to find the heart within Japan. The simple life of the men living by the sea illustrates a part of Japan: the plain and peaceful but hard working life in the middle of the ocean. Another unique picture of Japan is the scene of the woman going to the temple everyday washes her hands and mouth with the pure water and praying for happiness. This image is a great example to demonstrate the value of Japanese people cherishing the purity of nature versus the impurity of evil which they need to wash off. Yet, the most significant part of the unique of Japan is the belief in Shinto which contributes to every aspects of life in Japan, even daily activities. Shinto emphasizes both Japanese deities and the forces of nature. Nature plays a central role in the religious worship. They believe that all natural objects including trees, mountains, rivers, the sun or the moon are imbued with living spirit and that God is within that everything so people can seek for when they need. This belief also leads to the unique way of thinking in Japans building structure. All the temples and houses are constructed in harmony to natu...