This is author biographical info, that can be used to tell more about you, your iterests, background and experience. You can change it on Admin > Users > Your Profile > Biographical Info page."
Want help to write your Essay or Assignments? Click here
Soybean International Trade
Soybean and soyfoods are widely marketed in the United Kingdom. The United Kingdom is ranked as the leading exporter of soy food and product (Kwon, 2007, p. 71). The country has maintained the products’ economic and market value, thus increasing consumer interest and market value each year. This has influenced the level of consumption and production of the product all over the United Kingdom. To identify the stability of the soy market in the UK, it can be analyzed through the folloing marketing mix elements
Pricing
The pricing value of a product is an essential element of the marketing mix. This significanly affected the availability of the product in the market. Soybean is highly dependent on the market pricing value in the United Kingdom. The pricing for soya beans has been different in the UK depending on the quality and the maturity of the soybean. The quality of soy also influences its market value.
Tesco Soya beans for example have a high pricing value to indicate their quality in the market. The pricing of soy is strategic at influencing its worth in the UK market. During peak harvest, the pricing is set to drop and shoot during low harvest in the market (Hospes, 2014, 425).
Want help to write your Essay or Assignments? Click here
Place
The location or place also influences the market allocation of soya bean in the United Kingdom. Most soy product in the UK is exported to the United States and Canada as the primary target location. The location is influential in determining the target consumer and the region of sale. The UK has specific market locations for their for soy products. Statistically, UK has increased their soy export position to countries like Chile, developing new market ground for their product and increasing the sale and marketing of soybeans and products (Tomei et al., 2010, p. 301).
Soy products are also marketed in locations where consumers are keen on maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Such avenues offers a ready market for the soy products in the United Kingdom. This is strategic at increasing the market value of the soy product and different strategic locations in the UK.
Kwon, N. 2007, “Super Soy!”, Canadian Grocer, vol. 121, no. 6, pp. 71-71,73,75. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/business/docview/222850267/742DDE9E412947B7PQ/7?accountid=45049 Tomei, J., Semino, S., Paul, H., Joensen, L., Monti, M. & Jelsøe, E. 2010, “Soy production and certification: the case of Argentinean soy-based biodiesel”, Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, vol. 15, no. 4, pp. 371-394.
Want help to write your Essay or Assignments? Click here
The success of a business is influenced by the level of employee motivation. Productivity and profitability are the results of happy and hardworking workers. Motivation is dependent on individual employee since some may be motivated by money, others promotion and others are motivated by having equity in the business. The only way to motivate employees is finding out what each wants and making it available or assisting them to earn it. If all employees are motivated, the result will be high productivity and profitability.
The author carried out the research to identify the existing motivational strategies in National Alcohol and Liquor Factory and assess their impacts on productivity. The quality of the motivating system, type of motivation, and roles played by the motivated employees are some of the items analyzed to address the issue of employee productivity. By carrying out the research, the company was able to identify gaps in its motivational system and focus on motivation since it affects the productivity of the organization.
Construction industry lagged behind in productivity compared to other industries. Attitude, employee-employer relationship, and lack of communication are some of the main issues affecting motivation in the workplace. Work climate, employee development, perceived equity, work objectivity, and organizational climate should be addressed with relation to employee motivation.
Want help to write your Essay or Assignments? Click here
An environment that fosters motivation makes employees feel that there is constant communication, have control over their work and are respected. According to the research, firms that had motivated employees had a subsequent increase in their stock prices resulting in high dividends for shareholders. Being less strict on internet use, measuring performance with set goals, and consistent measurement of performance are some of the ways the author indicates crucial in improving productivity.
The study was carried out in the United States telecommunication industries due to the increased downsizing of workers. Systems theory was used to assess the available strategies for managers to increase the motivation of the retained workers. Communication is the most crucial element in motivating the workers.
High performers are the most productive compared to average workers according to the research. High performers are few in the workplace yet they the most satisfied with their jobs. The best strategy should be to increase retention rates for the high performers. The study was conducted in 27 countries to determine the future expectations of the workforce. Base pay and bonuses are what satisfies most employees.
Want help to write your Essay or Assignments? Click here
Culture is critical in an organization as it drives performance and affects business processes. A good culture encourages play, potential, and purpose while at the same time reducing economic and emotional pressure. The research was carried in 50 companies around the world.
According to the author, morale can be defined as an individual’s state of mind resulting from emotions and feelings. It is an elusive quality that determines the attitude towards other team members, workplace environment, and the overall organization. Job insecurity, excess outsourcing, perceived unfairness, and poor compensation lead to poor morale. Thus, employees focus on how to improve their careers instead of being productive. Managers are encouraged to build an organization culture that meets the needs of each employee to increase their motivation and productivity.
Want help to write your Essay or Assignments? Click here
Organizations are focusing on having an equitable balance between employee contribution to the firm and the firm’s contribution to the workers. Recognition, benefits and compensation are some of the rewards associated with the balance between the firm and the employees in the bank. Balance leads to motivation hence increase in productivity.
The author applied Maslow hierarchy of needs to analyze motivation in relation to productivity. Strategies must be put in place to address the misunderstandings that happen when there are changes in organizations. Attitude, beliefs, and background can result in destructive or constructive acts that affect workplace performance.
Want help to write your Essay or Assignments? Click here
Want help to write your Essay or Assignments? Click here
Business Ethics, Sustainability & CSR
Introduction
Intense competition has forced most companies to change their operations tremendously. Specifically, the retailer supplier relationships have been forced to change in the face of system level competition (Carne & Matten, 2010). The emergence of new forms of retailing such as the internet retailers has even put more pressure on the traditional retailers. In spite of the pressure. the expectations are still high from the stakeholders who expects the retailers to provide excellence services to their customers.
The customers are increasingly becoming concerned of what their retailers sell, in addition to the prices that they sell them. Of the concern to some people is that some merchandise sold by the retailers comes from sweatshops (Smestad, 2010). Many activists are concerned with the social contract that exists between such organizations and the society. Such groups argue that retailers must assume the greater responsibility for human welfare throughout their supply chain. At one time, it emerged that some cloth line being sold at Wal-Mart stores have come from intolerable working conditions in Honduras. This paper uses ethical theory and analyzes an ethical issue in Wal-Mart.
The Unites States have created a keen interest to monitor the supply chains with the sole aim of protecting the human rights and the environment. In this regard, companies have been forced to update their supply chains to ensure that all their suppliers meet the minimum required levels of the law. In this regard, the companies are required to verify, audit, certify that their suppliers comply with the law of slavery and human trafficking (Pickles & Zhu, 2013). In addition, the companies are required to maintain internal accountability standards and conduct proper training for their employees to reduce the risks associated with human trafficking and slavery.
Concept of Business Ethics and CSR
Globalization has facilitated more trade across the border, leading to lack of universal standards and regulation to protect such trade. In addition, the multinational corporations have become more powerful than the individual governments, thus limiting the ability of such governments to regulate them (Adams, 2002). However, the advancements in communications technology and the changes in consumer behavior have exerted pressure on organizations to become more accountable in terms of ethics and social responsibility.
The concept of CSR promotes the ethical behavior toward s the society, leading to increased consideration of stakeholders and the promotion of the social good beyond the legal requirements. Apart from making profits, it has become the responsibility of the firm to take care of the interests of its stakeholders and the environment. The diagram below shows the dimension of CSR.
Want help to write your Essay or Assignments? Click here
Ethical Theories
Ethical theories include systematizing, defending, and recommending on issues of moral values or right conduct. In arriving at a business decision, ethical theories are foundations of ethical analysis, as they are viewpoints on where the management obtains guidance. Wal-Mart applies the theory to a set of common goals for it to be beneficial for their organization. Ethical principles such as least harm and respect for human rights are some of the cornerstones of Wal-Mart CSR (Worthington, Ram, & Jones, 2006). Virtual ethics theory and utilitarian ethical theory are some of the theories that can be used to describe the Wal-Mart Practices.
Utilitarian ethical theory forecasts the impacts of any action taken. In this theory, Wal-Mart is able to compare similar predicted solution and choose the best course of action that is more beneficial to more people and the society. Therefore, the company settles on the choice that results to the greatest benefit to the most people (Vyakarnam, 1997). For example, Wal-Mart chooses to deal with supplies that have proven track record of human rights and environmental protection.
Categorization of utilitarian emanates into two groups namely; act and rule utilitarian. The company takes the action that favors the larger number of people regardless of personal feeling or societal rules such as law and constitution. In this theory, an individual right might be violated in order to attain a benefit to majority people. On the other hand, this law does not put into consideration justice, autonomy, and beneficence.
Want help to write your Essay or Assignments? Click here
It has the element that creates a typology of stakeholders’ cultures consisting of beliefs, values, practices that take a great role in problem solving and maintaining the stakeholders’ relationship (Smestad, 2010). For instance, by selling their products at profit, the company is able to finance initiatives that create benefits for its stakeholders. The customers may be paying more for the products. However, such extra profits are used by the company to support environmental protection initiatives and green economy.
The driving force behind the ethical behavior of Wal-Mart is based on their decision to act as a moral agent, rather than the outcome. The company applies the principles of kindness, humility, and charity to ensure that their stakeholders are safe (Herningway & Maclagan, 2004). These values are based on the religious beliefs that encourage their members to act with honesty and kindness while dealing with other entities.
In their business dealings, Wal-Mart protects their reputation through their honesty and fairness in their business dealings. In this regard, Wal-Mart partners with companies with world class eco-manufacturing facilities and good record of social compliance. In the United States which is the home town of Wal-Mart, majorities are Christians and thus tend to support the Christian beliefs in their business operations.
The ethical principles of Walmart employees is mainly based on the good conduct and fairness and portrayed in the Christian beliefs. Therefore, it is the principle of the company not to exploit people around them and shun any of their partners who exploits their stakeholders. The company does this at will without being forced by any other law or entity.
Want help to write your Essay or Assignments? Click here
Virtue theory holds is necessary to incorporate moral theory in management and the activities of the organization as it directs and motivate behaviors towards the success of the business (Crane & Matten, 2010). It provides for foundation of business ethics with the connection of ethics to business positivity. It also provides an environment in which managers’ advances on tactics, strategies, plans, policies, and procedures to attain a clear business mission and in achieving economic success.
Virtuous behavior is required at all the levels in a business from staffs who understands that an organization is a natural and moral ways of achieving actualization. Virtuous staffs set value producing goals and work towards their achievement as they are energetic who stress on reality, think positively, ask and listen carefully, manage time effectively and are organize their work efficiently.
Conclusion
Intense competition has forced most companies to change their operations tremendously. Due to this, some companies have gone to the extent of benefiting from sweatshops to increase their sales. However, people are increasingly becoming more aware and companies are forced to adhere to the requirements of ethics and CSR. Wal-Mart is one of the retailers that adhere to business ethics and CSR to help their stakeholder. On the other hand, they also benefit from the CSR initiatives.
Bibliography
Crane and Matten (2010) Business Ethics, OUP, Oxford, Chapters 1 & 3
Perry and Ahmad (2015, forthcoming) ‘Islamic and Buddhist perspectives of Corporate Social Responsibility’ in Örtenblad, A. (Ed.) Handbook of Research on Corporate Social Responsibility, Edward Elgar, UK
Adams (2002) ‘Retail profitability and sweatshops: a global dilemma’, Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 9 (3), pp.147-153
Pickles, J & Zhu, S. (2013). The California Transparency in Supply Chains Act. Working Paper 15. University of North Carolina.
Smestad (2010) ‘The sweatshop, child labour, and exploitation issues in the garment industry’, Fashion Practice, 1 (2), pp.147-162
Hemingway & Maclagan (2004) ‘Managers’ personal values as drivers of corporate social responsibility’, Journal of Business Ethics, 50 (1), pp.33-44
Worthington, Ram and Jones (2006) ‘Giving something back: a study of corporate social responsibility in UK South Asian small enterprises’, Business Ethics: A European Review, 15 (1), pp.95-108
Vyakarnam et al (1997) ‘Towards an understanding of ethical behaviour in small firms’, Journal of Business Ethics, 16 (15), pp.1625-1636
Want help to write your Essay or Assignments? Click here
Want help to write your Essay or Assignments? Click here
Venture Capital and Private Equity
Background
One major question that clicks into the mind is how the private equity and venture capital is different. Mere because both are used to refer firms that sell their investment in equity financing after they have invested in an organization. For the matter of facts, there exists a significant difference between these two; first, it is the way the firm performs their duties when involved in the two types of investment.
Secondly, the funds are used to purchase a different sizes and types of companies, and thus, claim a different percentage of equity in their invested companies, Cumming, (2013). In a technical way, Metrick, (2011), defines the term private equity as the money or cash invested in a company that becomes a private company through the investment. At the same time, these scholars state that sometimes, this term is used to refer companies that other firms through leveraged buyouts (LBOs). On the other hand, VC is an investment in business in the concept, start-up or during the early years of their establishment.
The paper will look into the Skylock Enterprise, which is a company that deals with clothing products. Frankly, speaking this is a fascinating company to be part of since established two years ago. Each and every day there a new opportunity present itself to build the great legacy we dream of. This company has grown into an integrated manufacturer of the highest quality clothes. This company operates one big plant located in the United States, seven outlets that provide retail services to our business.
In total, there are 543 employees for this company and walk home with over $100 million annual revenue, plus other health benefits (notably, the paper will work with US dollar unless otherwise stated). This company has a stellar reputation since its establishment in those two operational years. Its strongest suites being cotton clothes, women’s wear, men’s wear, as well as the children’s clothes.
Despite its good starting, this company is faced with a lot of challenges in the future. Skylock, manager Stanley White sees impending danger as there is a great competition from the large multi-national companies like Nike, Ralph Lauren among others. Great scholars like Ahlers, (2013), competition in most cases theoretically results in lowering the prices of the commodities, hence if this happens it can narrow the marginal revenue of the company.
Thus, this may limit the development and expansion of this great visional company. This makes the manager question whether this company will remain as innovative as it is, or does it need to adopt some changes. Thus, the major question remains, where Skylock Enterprise will focus its effort.
Due to the market condition in the United States, our company is a price taker, and we need to work on the set market price. In particular, we operate in a free market where no firm or entity has the ability to influence the prices in the market, Dix‐Carneiro, (2013). To succeed, we have to work with the price constraint and at the same time deliver the best quality goods. In fact, quality products always win the customer’s heart. This is in accordance with the factors that affect the demand for a commodity one being the quality (which affect the taste), the price among others Mankiw, (2014).
The Skylock company has excellent structure and one general manager who overlooks all the activities of the enterprise. Figure 1 is a management structure which portrays the general overview of the management team.
The primary focus of the firm in two years has been in the sales department since it plays an import role in advertising the company’s product. The core aim of this department is to increase the sale by two digit percent. Critical to note, in the two years of operation, the company revenue has risen by 5% and 8.6% consecutively. Thus, we are aiming at increasing this percentage to about 13%, this seems impossible, but through the proper financing of our sales, for appealing the commercial market is more oriented to the direct marketing than mass advertisement Danaher, (2011).
The statistics indicate that the firm used almost the same amount in direct marketing and advertisement. Hence, it will be ideal to adopt the direct marketing. Furthermore, the database used to target our marketing indicates that there has been an increase from 500 to 2500. This database includes suppliers and persons targeted specifically.
Skylock Enterprise also is also planning to produce newsletters and brochures that feature new designs and clothes in the market. This will be supplied free to opened outlets and any other targeted market, newsletters will also if there is, recent studies carried out by the firm. This will ensure that the customers are in the know what is going on with the company. Involving the company to the progress of an organization creates trustworthy and thus the customers feel more welcomed Mankiw, (2014).
Nevertheless, as compared to the main competitors to our company, we advertise less often. Taking into consideration that most of these firms have been in business for a long time. Thus, we need to advertise more often so that people can know about our existence. The aim is to raise the expenditure by 20% and target some of the new television series, which will quite improve company’s sales. The advertisement will majorly focus on all the brands in our store.
One of the greatest challenges that faces Skylock Enterprise is that it does not have many retail outlets as compared to its competitors. The location of the seven stores is in the main cities in the US. It is vital to operating our own retail shops since most of the larger firms (our competitors) control retailers. This has limited our sales as we solely depend on that seven retail for the entire revenue generation. The risk that the company faces the reputation risk, if it were to be damaged, the customers will become wary of doing business with us.
This will have not only an effect on the losing the customers, but also the revenue, and worst the sponsors and advertisers may turn their back on us. That is the reason we have a technical director that work with research and design team (R&D team) and the quality control department to ensure that all is well. The R&D department, more importantly, needs to be trained well, so as to keep the company with the trending fashions and also the market structure.
A second risk that this company may face is the financial risk. In particular, the cash that is flowing in and out of the organization, and the possibility of sudden financial loss. Our firm extends credit to some of the largest clients, hence, if they fail to pay on time or fails totally, then we are prone to incur a significant financial risk. To reduce the risk, the firm intends to operate at minimum credit services, and if it happens, it will be extended only to the few trustworthy customers, and it will only be a short-term credit. This is as suggested by the great economics scholars like Horcher, (2011).
Value Enhancement
As stated earlier, there are some of the strategies that the company is planning to undertake so as to improve the business performance, especially increasing sales volume. The firm first has prioritized the strategies and noted the objectives of each plan. First is the direct marketing strategy, which aims at increasing the sales, exploring the market and at the same time take the commodities to customers at their convenience places. Danaher, (2011) stipulates that direct marketing is convenient and also increases sales, especially when the products are unique and of high quality.
In fact, this is as a result of the impromptu purchase of the customers. The key measure that will be used to evaluate the success of this strategy is the use of consumption metrics. This is one of the many methods used to measure the content market success Parmenter, (2015). Importantly, they help in understanding the consumption behavior of customers to a particular piece of content. Thus, this will help Skylock to understand which design has high demand. The set strategy primary mandate is to increase sales by 10 percent.
The second strategy that Skylock will take to improve returns is increasing the number of retail outlets in different parts of US cities. This will be a way of ensuring that we expand the channels through which we reach our esteem customers. Furthermore, it is a method of increasing our market (through geographical coverage). This will increase the sales by about 50-77 percent.
The key performance indicator that will be employed to evaluate the success of this strategy is through data collection and analysis. As stipulated, the core purpose of data analysis is to understand their meaning, so as the firm can understand where the improvement opportunity lies Parmenter, (2015). Analysis will encompass all the sales made through all the Skylock’s retail outlets so as to determine whether the objectives have been fully met.
It is vital to note, before adopting any strategy, the firm will evaluate and decide the frequency at which they will collect relevant data on the achievement of the plan. At the start, the first step will be to assess the market effectiveness, which will be done weekly, and then can go to monthly to reduce the evaluation cost and so on. This is important since it also ensures that the marketing goals are set, KPIs are defined, and people to collect and analyze data are determined.
Want help to write your Essay or Assignments? Click here
Management Structure and Incentive Scheme
The incentive scheme in the firm will be (a must) transparent, for all the staff members understand all the mechanism involved in the calculation. Simply because, a well-designed scheme has a powerful and positive effect, increasing the productivity, quality, and importantly efficacy of an institution Brealey, (2012). Conversely, a poorly designed staff incentive scheme will have a detrimental effect on the overall company performance.
Thus, the main objectives of this scheme will be achieved, which is increasing performance level, change the attitude and/or change the behavior of the staffs. Key to note, the introduction of incentive program results in an increase in revenue as well as boost the company’s reputation (which is one of our risks).
Staff incentive is paramount for the development of an institution and at the same time exciting. Some of the most benefiting parties of this strategy are the shareholders (owners), clients, employees as well as the creditors Brealey, (2012). To start with the owners, this includes even the Venture Capital and Private Equity investors, since the firm’s performance increases drastically through these measures. This aligns with the objectives of the owner, that is, to improve the achievement to a certain degree, and also reducing the standard financial performance. In other words, reducing the financial risks.
In addition, incentives should be directed to the management team of the institution. This is because the success of this organization and its reputation entirely depend on the managers. In other words, they have been delegated the duties of ensuring the firm’s objectives are met. Sometimes, this separation of management and ownership can be problematic as owners may lack means to make the managers perform their best to achieve the firm’s goals.
Further, the managers give the employees some duties, and they are supposed to make a decision and take actions. Thus, it is vital to ensure that incentives are designed in a way that even employees execute their duties are the top management will want.
The incentive scheme will motivate the whole team to work on achieving the organization’s goal. This will, on the other hand, increase the revenue return which in turn increases the cash the stakeholders receive for their capital contribution. To sum all up, the best strategic plans that Skylock Enterprise can adopt for their success have been well illustrated. This will make them more competitive, build a high reputation, and more importantly, increase their revenue, of which it is the core principle of establishing a business.
References
Ahlers, R., Schwartz, K. and Guida, V.P., 2013. The myth of ‘healthy’competition in the water sector: the case of small scale water providers. Habitat international, 38, pp.175-182.
Brealey, R.A., Myers, S.C., Allen, F. and Mohanty, P., 2012. Principles of corporate finance. Tata McGraw-Hill Education.
Cumming, D.J. and Johan, S.A., 2013. Venture capital and private equity contracting: An international perspective. Academic Press.
Danaher, P.J. and Rossiter, J.R., 2011. Comparing perceptions of marketing communication channels. European Journal of Marketing, 45(1/2), pp.6-42.
Dix‐Carneiro, R., 2014. Trade liberalization and labor market dynamics. Econometrica, 82(3), pp.825-885.
Horcher, K.A., 2011. Essentials of financial risk management (Vol. 32). John Wiley & Sons.
Want help to write your Essay or Assignments? Click here
Low-calorie Microwavable Food: Long term investment Decision
From the previous assignments, it was determined that the demand for low-calorie microwavable food is inelastic. The market for the product is also competitive meaning that the price of the commodity fluctuates from time to time. Therefore, the price of the low-calorie microwavable food can be made less responsive to market fluctuations or less price elastic in two ways. First of all is by making the product become more of a mass product that niche.
Secondly is to make its market rigid so that the clients for the product will have no alternative. This is because the customers will find no substitutes for the commodity and thus stick to it regardless of fluctuations (Brigham & Ehrhardt, 2013). The low-calorie microwavable food is healthy and convenient. To emphasize on these two main aspects, it is imperative to market and advertise the product with no close substitute by the two key attributes.
Government policies have both positive and negative impact on production and employment in the market. Governments always put in place rules and regulations that guide the way business is done in the market (Mason & Brown, 2013). These policies have an influence on profitability and competitiveness of business enterprises. Government policies act as market catalysts by changing the social behavior in the business environment.
By exempting some companies or particular sector in the economy from tax and duty, the government will be able to trigger investment and generate growth. On the same note, government policy helps to create political stability and hence promote local businesses as well as attract foreign investors.
Want help to write your Essay or Assignments? Click here
Government spending also has an effect on businesses, increased spending result in increased taxes that might discourage investment. Similarly, the government can influence the interest rates. An augment in interest rates add to the cost of borrowing. Therefore, it will discourage business because the entrepreneurs and business enterprises will not be in a position to obtain enough capital at a low price (Tricker, 2015). Low-interest rates, on the other hand, encourage investment.
Trade regulations also have an impact on business activities. Regulations such as the requirement for permits, federal minimum wage among others affect business practices. However, fair and effective regulation tends to promote business growth.
In our case, the government policies help to ensure that there is fairness in the microwavable food industry. Government involvement in the low-calorie, frozen microwavable food industry has led to fairness in the following ways.
Fair Competition: Government involvement in the industry has let to fair competition among the key players in the industries. Some firms often use unfair competitive strategies that may be of harm to other key players in the industry. For instance, use in predatory pricing strategies where firms set low prices to attract more customers and drive out other competitors who do not enjoy the economies of scale.
Large companies with high economies of scale can maintain low prices while small and medium-sized firms may not be in a position to maintain such low prices without incurring losses. Therefore, such small companies may end up quitting the market making the remaining large corporations enjoy monopoly power. As such, these strategies are unfair to small companies and thus the government comes in to regulate prices and protect small infant firms.
Want help to write your Essay or Assignments? Click here
Minimization of corruption through regulations: Government regulations often prohibit firms from taking advantage of their positions to ask for special treatment that can lead to their success in certain commerce or market economy. For example, some firms may bribe auditors to avoid scrutiny. Such practices are often illegal and unethical and result in unequal distribution of resources.
Undue advantage by some firms in the industry: Firms that are large and powerful often manipulate individual to gain favors at the expense of other firms. It is the requirement of the government to come up with regulations and rules that will ensure that there is an equal distribution of resources in the industry. The government should intervene and prosecute firms that take advantage of their position to make companies avoid such behavior. Therefore, it will enable companies in the low-calorie, frozen microwavable food to embrace legal and fair strategies that may not end up being unfair.
Therefore, government regulations have enabled the low-calorie, frozen microwavable food firm to enjoy fairness. Government regulations have enabled the company to have an equal opportunity of achieving tremendous success as long as it is in a position to develop legal and effective business strategies.
Similarly, government involvement in the industry helps to shield consumers from exploitation. It is the responsibility of the customer to ensure that products and services available to consumers are safe for consumption. In the same way, government develops rules that help ensure market efficiency and govern international trade.
Some of the major complexities that would arise under expansion via capital projects include:
Uncertainty: The process of capital budgeting is primarily based on future cash flow estimates. However, in the real situation, there are some uncertainties that can make a project fail. Capital budgeting analysis also utilizes multi-period model which lay down costs and benefits of more than one year. During this period, the cost or benefits factor may drastically change. Therefore, use of estimates and uncertainty, realities may result in complexities in capital budgeting (Kardes et al., 2013).
Discount factor: The process of capital budgeting is time-weighted. The future cash flow is often discounted using the present time discount rate. It is also difficult to choose a discount rate. Each project assumes a unique risk associated with itself making it difficult to approximate a discount rate for a project
Indivisibility: It is hard to divide a project. Therefore, a project must be taken up either in entirely or not at all.
Want help to write your Essay or Assignments? Click here
Evaluation is also a big challenge: There are different techniques that are used such as discounted techniques and non-discounted technique, when evaluation techniques conflict, business acumen, and manager’s prudence takes over the capital budgeting decision (Healy & Palepu, 2012).
In the case of low-calorie, frozen microwavable food company the big issue is the agency problem. This problem is because of the conflict of interest between the managers and the stockholders. Therefore, the microwavable food company can take the following steps to help bring convergence between the firm’s managers and stockholders.
First of all, the firm should align some part of the compensation package to the sales and profitability growth of the firm. Similarly, the firm should plan for stock options with the requisite T & C and provide it to the management to make them feel that they are part of the company (Grant, 2015). This way, the managers will be able to think for the betterment of the firm. Finally, the firm should develop a profit sharing plan that is linked to the performance of the managers.
By employing the above strategies, the firm will be able to motivate managers to work towards achieving the organization goals (Tricker, 2015). This is because the managers will begin perceiving their owned align with organization goals. Due to their hard work the firm will achieve growth in profitability, sales and profitability of the company. Increased sales will result in an increase in the compensation of managers. On the same note, it will increase the share price of the low-calorie, frozen microwavable food company. Therefore, both the managers and stockholders will mutually benefit.
Want help to write your Essay or Assignments? Click here
The name of the firm should not be used as an initiative of converging manager’s interest with those of the stockholders. The reason is that such strategy may result in copyright related issues. Be as it may, an organization with good HR practices can align the interest of managers, employees, and the stockholders. Performance management linked and motivation strategies such as bonus payment will also helps to converge the manager’s interest with those of the stockholders.
In conclusion, the low-calorie microwavable food can make its commodity less price elastic by making the product more of a mass product and making its market rigid. The government, on the other hand, helps in the regulation of the industry to ensure fairness in the low-calorie, frozen microwavable food industry (Mason & Brown, 2013). When it comes to capital expansion, firms face complexities because of uncertainty, discount factor, abandonment options, indivisibility and conflict between evaluation techniques.
Finally, the low-calorie, the microwavable food company can converge the company managers and stockholders interest by making the managers feel like they are part of the company and linking compensation schemes with the performance of the managers.
References
Mason, C., & Brown, R. (2013). Creating good public policy to support high-growth firms. Small Business Economics, 40(2), 211-225.
Want help to write your Essay or Assignments? Click here
Corporate Culture and Strategy
An organization’s mission strategy is a précis of the way in which the firm perceives its role and the beliefs the company employs in attaining its objectives. The culture of an organization signifies the professional values an organization espouses which dictate how the company interacts with its customers, partners, vendors and workers. Since the culture of the organization is a driving force in how the business organization carries out its business, it has a significant impact on developing business strategy (Hofstede, 2014).
This paper delves into the topic of culture and strategy. In this investigation of the topic, the subject of culture and strategy is analyzed exhaustively and critically. In particular, this paper provides an in-depth discussion of the relationship between company culture and strategy, importance of alignment between culture and strategy, and how national culture really influences an organization’s strategy.
Correlation between corporate culture and strategy
There is a strong relationship between corporate culture and strategy. In general, strategy is considered as a product of culture while culture, on the other hand, is considered as a product of strategy (Browaeys & Price, 2009). In spite of how good the company’s strategy is, when it really comes down to it, Schneider (2011) noted that it is the people who usually make the difference. At its core, strategy is logical and rational, simple and clear.
Strategy has to be easy to talk about and to understand. A business organization is lost if it lacks a clear strategy. In essence, strategy is the pattern of activities that a company follows as it pursues its long-term purpose. Put simply, it refers to where the company is at the moment, where the company wants to go, and how the company intends to get there (Akbar et al., 2012).
Strategy comprises a number of factors which include the following: objectives and goals of the company; mission statement and vision; and critical success factors, or the things which the company has to get right for it to succeed in its mission. It also includes core values; reputation/brand, which entails developing and communicating meaningful and powerful differences between the company’s offerings and the offerings of the company’s competitors; and positioning, whereby a company builds a preferred and valued position within the minds of its target audience (Cristian-Liviu, 2013).
Want help to write your Essay or Assignments? Click here
Conversely, culture is understood as the set of beliefs which drive the behaviours of workers. These could be things that everyone within the organization knows and shares, in addition to implicit rules. It is worth mentioning that the range of acceptable behaviours of workers in the company is rooted in these underlying beliefs (Weick, 2014). On the whole, organization culture consists of the shared values, norms as well as ideals in a business organization and it actually sets the basis and groundwork for strategy.
An important starting point of understanding the culture of a company is to understand its founding principles: that is, its legacy, heritage, the clients and markets which it serves, and its points of differentiation. Anderson, Anderson and Lee (2015) pointed out that culture of a company is an aggregation of the beliefs and mindset of the company’s workers. It is the manifestation of the mission, vision and principles which bind employees in the organization together.
In the current business world in which sell-offs, diversifications, acquisitions, expansions and mergers are becoming increasingly common, it is becoming very important to understand corporate culture in strategic decision-making. The consolidation of AOL with Time Warner did not succeed because of culture clash as did the DaimlerChrysler merger. Organization culture is a very powerful factor in an organization’s lasting success.
Want help to write your Essay or Assignments? Click here
For a strategy in a company to develop and be successfully executed, that strategy has to align fully with the corporate culture. As such, goals and initiatives need to be established within the company in order to support and establish a corporate culture which embraces the strategy of the company over time (Su, Yang & Yang, 2012). Corporate culture has a significant impact on strategy execution within the organization.
Characteristics of stability: an organization culture that is stable, a culture that would systematically support implementation of strategy, is one which promotes a culture of cooperation, unity, partnership and teamwork amongst staff members. This kind of organization culture would certainly enhance commitment amongst workers and focus on productivity in the company instead of resistance to regulations and rules or external factors which prohibit success.
Want help to write your Essay or Assignments? Click here
Flexibility and adaptability: according to Fombrun (2012), companies which remain flexible tend to embrace change and establish an environment that is open to both communication and production. This creates a model which welcomes cultural diversity and helps in clarifying implementation of the strategy. In any company, corporate culture could serve a number of different purposes such as unifying employees in the company and helping to establish a set of common rules or norms within the company that members abide by.
Goal unification: corporate cultures that are unified, strong and flexible would approach strategy execution and affect execution positively through aligning goals. In essence, goals could come into alignment when the culture of the business organization is working to focus on productivity and getting the mission of the company achieved. This might include shipping out more product items compared to the company’s main competitors, getting products delivered to the company’s clients on time, or similar objectives.
This would create a domino effect within the company which would ensure that all work carried out by every work group and employee within the organization is really focused on performance and on the company’s strategic importance (Dutch, 2013). This would allow corporate culture of the company to be in alignment with strategy execution at the most basic level. Hanson and Melnyk (2014) noted that for this unification level to work, it is important that goal setting aligns with and is supported by processes, procedures, policies and systems within the company, which would help to attain strategy execution and continuing the organization’s cultural integrity.
Want help to write your Essay or Assignments? Click here
Process implementation: part of strategy implementation and cultural alignment entails process implementation. It is noteworthy that processes include the use of technology in facilitating goal achievement as well as the results which an organization is looking for when it works with clients to satisfy their needs. Although the hard problems and needs of a company are attained most of the time, the corporate culture becomes overlooked during the process. This is where processes actually come into place and execution of the strategy slowly comes into existence to maintain and sustain corporate culture and strategies (Dutch, 2013).
Cultural alignment: when corporate culture is in alignment with implementation of the strategy, a company can operate more efficiently within the international marketplace. Corporate culture allows the senior managers of a company to work both as teams and individually in developing strategic initiatives in the company. These might include re-establishing old partnerships and creating new partnerships to continue to deliver the best services and products to an international marketplace (Slater, Olson & Finnegan, 2011).
Want help to write your Essay or Assignments? Click here
Organizational strategic alignment, in its simplest form, is lining up the strategy of the company with its organization culture. For an organization to experience organizational strategic alignment, then its goals, processes and management should align. In order to create a supportive culture, an organization should clearly define the competence of its resources by assessing whether its processes, employees and equipment could actually handle new changes. If staff members do not have the competence for handling a new strategy, then the organization should offer training to improve the skills of its workers and managers.
If there is no sufficient support and training, the relationships between managers and staff members within the organization would suffer and the company would lack flexibility. To establish a culture of support, the top managers need to be involved in organizational strategic alignment from the beginning and provide the right resources to help in ensuring success of the workers and the organization (Yarbrough, Morgan & Vorhies, 2011). Workers should commit to supporting an organization’s strategic alignment and senior managers could help ensure this success by defining the goals of the organization in a clear manner and giving incentives to help workers accept new strategies.
Want help to write your Essay or Assignments? Click here
When strategy and organization culture are misaligned, the misalignment would short-circuit performance and increase the probability that the company will not attain its goals. An organization culture which all employees within the company subscribes to will help in creating focus amongst the workers.
When workers comply with the values and beliefs of the organization, it will give a unified impression to partners, customers and vendors (Bushardt, Glascoff & Doty, 2011). The organization could then formulate a strategy knowing that every member would uniformly apply the guidelines and improve the likelihood that a strategy would succeed.
In aligning corporate culture with strategy, the following steps are important: first, the senior managers should define their company’s long-term set of guiding principles – the philosophy and purpose –, which are essentially the organization’s identity. A strategic plan would not succeed if the strategic plan is really not supported by these key principles of the company’s core culture.
Secondly, the senior management should evaluate the weaknesses and strengths of the company as well as the external factors which could impact success (Simoneaux & Stroud, 2014). Thirdly, the executives should create the company’s vision and then set strategic goals that are measurable and specific. Fourthly, the senior management should decide the strategic priorities which are in alignment with those strategic goals. It is worth mentioning that strategic priorities are a part of the organization’s core culture.
They are basically the values and principles which could alter given that their function is to align the corporate culture with the organization’s strategy. A company’s core corporate culture has to drive the company’s strategy and align with it (Mintzberg, 2011). Fifthly, with a clear understanding of the organization’s core corporate culture, strategic goals and vision, the top managers should create an action plan with measures for guiding performance. Finally, the senior executives should turn the strategic goals into measurable outcomes. Processes and employees should be aligned with the company’s core corporate culture and strategy (Simoneaux & Stroud, 2014).
Want help to write your Essay or Assignments? Click here
National culture and strategy
A country’s national culture greatly influences the strategy adopted by a company. National culture has an impact on organizational strategy and implementation of the strategy, and can ultimately result in business failure or success. In essence, all national cultures have an impact on companies in both negative and positive ways, depending on the particular business, the business cycle, as well as the specific strategies being pursued (Hammerich & Lewis, 2013).
Cultural dynamics could either derail or enable performance depending on these different factors. It is important that a company’s senior management recognize the cultural factors which have a negative impact on performance and the ones which could be harnessed to foster superior performance (Hammerich & Lewis, 2013). To formulate strategy, a company needs to identify and interpret strategic issues.
In this process, the company scans, selects, interprets and validates information and establishes priorities amongst issues. The national culture of any country could actually influence this process given that it affects the nature of the relationship of a company with its environment and the nature of the relationships amongst employees in a company (Schneider, 2011).
Whether it is big company pursuing international growth strategies or a small start-up firm in its initial phases of the growth curve, culture plays a vital role in making sure that the company does not swerve off the path and that it remains on course. Usually, driving and executing effective strategic change is a medium-term to long-term priority for a company’s management.
Likewise, the corporate culture of a company also develops with time, with a combination of active support by the company’s top leaders and voluntary cohesion and dissemination as the company’s purposes and beliefs pervade through the hierarchy. Owing to the intrinsic patience which the company’s top management requires to drive a strategic change and establish a focused culture, it is really sensible that both of them – strategic change and purposeful culture – work alongside each other and not against (Schein, 2012).
Want help to write your Essay or Assignments? Click here
Companies which are highly successful in driving strategic change and implementing it share 3 fundamental principles by which they embrace corporate culture and utilize it in the process as an enabler. Firstly, such companies are aware of differences in global cultures – this factor might be more pertinent and applicable to multinational corporations although it is equally applicable to small start-up firms that have ambitious aspirations for growth.
For instance, knowing the way that a worker in Malaysia would react to a new strategic initiative in comparison to how a worker in the Netherlands would react is of great importance in executing strategic change at the ground level (Schwartz & Davis, 2011). In essence, it implies that the overarching aspects of the strategy should be modified to fit the with local market-level ways of operation.
The second underlying principle is recognizing what culture means to different peoples – Cristian-Liviu (2013) reported that this second principle is more of a challenge for big companies with scale than to new, start-up firms. Within an organization, culture implies different things for different individuals.
In a brand consultancy company for example, the design/creative department might think that their department is really the best place to work in the organization, but the sales and marketing department whose role is to sell the design solutions, might think that the design/creative group’s capabilities are dull and outmoded. Broader changes within the company would impact employee groups in different ways and the cultural aspect of the change should be carefully measured (Schwartz & Davis, 2011).
The third underlying principle entails aligning strategic change initiatives with corporate culture – the Time Warner-AOL and DaimlerChrysler mergers were both in the same industry but still they did not succeed, they both failed. This evidently illustrates the dangers of overlooking culture as a factor when planning and executing a company’s strategic initiatives (Mühlbacher, Vyslozil & Ritter, 2014).
Although both Chrysler and Daimler produced vehicles, the styles of management and the collaboration processes in each firm were driven very much by their nation of origin; that is, the German and American cultural ethos. These 2 cultural ethoses were never reconciled and adapted in the merged organization and they clashed all the time. In essence, every form of strategic planning should take in corporate culture as a factor that impacts success, as well as manpower, finance and capabilities (Weick, 2014).
Want help to write your Essay or Assignments? Click here
Conclusion
To sum up, there is a really strong correlation between corporate culture and strategy. Strategy is considered as a product of culture while culture, on the other hand, is considered as a product of strategy. For a strategy in a company to be formulated and executed successfully, this strategy has to align completely with the culture of the organization. Thus, goals and aims need to be established within the firm so as to support and establish a corporate culture which embraces the strategy over time.
When organization culture is in alignment with execution of the strategy, a firm can operate more efficiently within the international market. When strategy and organization culture are not aligned, then this misalignment would short-circuit performance and increase the likelihood that the firm would not accomplish its goals. National culture has a significant impact on organizational strategy and implementation of that strategy, and could eventually result in business failure or success.
References
Akbar A. S. A., Salamzadeh, Y., Daraei, M., & Akbari, J. (2012). Relationship between Organizational Culture and Strategy Implementation: Typologies and Dimensions. Global Business & Management Research, 4(3/4), 286-299.
Anderson, G. M., Anderson, M. J., & Lee, J. B. (2015). Defining Corporate Culture. NACD Directorship, 41(2), 36-37.
Browaeys, M. J., & Price, R. (2009). Understanding cross-cultural management (1st ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education Limited
Cristian-Liviu, V. (2013). Organizational culture and strategy. how does it work? An empirical research. Annals Of The University Of Oradea, Economic Science Series, 22(1), 1690-1696.
Dutch, M. A. (2013). A Symbiotic Framework of Human Resources, Organizational Strategy and Culture. Amity Global Business Review, 89-14.
Hammerich, K., & Lewis, R. D. (2013). Fish can’t see water: How national culture can make or break your corporate strategy. New York City, NY: Wiley
Hanson, J. D., & Melnyk, S. A. (2014). Culture Eats Strategy … and how to deal with it. Supply Chain Management Review, 18(4), 20-26.
Hofstede, G. (2014). Cultural dimensions in management and planning. Asia Pacific Journal of Management, 12(9):81-99.
Mintzberg, H. (2011). Patterns in strategy formation. Management Science, 24 (9): 1-18.
Mühlbacher, H., Vyslozil, W., & Ritter, A. (2014). Successful Implementation of New Market Strategies–A Corporate Culture Perspective. Journal Of Marketing Management, 3(2), 205-217.
Schneider, S. C. (2011). Strategy formulation: The impact of national culture. Fontainebleau, France: ISEAD.
Schein, E.H. (2012). Organizational culture and leadership. San Francisco: Jossey Bass, Inc.
Schwartz, H. & Davis, S.M. (2011). Matching corporate culture and business strategy. Organizational Dynamics,11(9): 30-48.
Simoneaux, S. L., & Stroud, C. L. (2014). A Strong Corporate Culture Is Key to Success. Journal Of Pension Benefits: Issues In Administration, 22(1), 51-53.
Slater, S., Olson, E., & Finnegan, C. (2011). Business strategy, marketing organization culture, and performance. Marketing Letters, 22(3), 227-242. doi:10.1007/s11002-010-9122-1
Su, Z., Yang, D., & Yang, J. (2012). The match between efficiency/flexibility strategy and organisational culture. International Journal Of Production Research, 50(19), 5317-5329. doi:10.1080/00207543.2011.618149
Weick, K.E. (2014). The significance of corporate culture. In Frost, P.J. et al. (Eds.) Organizational Culture. Beverly Hills, California: Sage Publication, 381-390.
Yarbrough, L., Morgan, N., & Vorhies, D. (2011). The impact of product market strategy-organizational culture fit on business performance. Journal Of The Academy Of Marketing Science, 39(4), 555-573. doi:10.1007/s11747-010-0238-x
Want help to write your Essay or Assignments? Click here
Want help to write your Essay or Assignments? Click here
Water Conservation and Prevention of Pollution
Water is a very essential commodity in life. It supports the life of human beings, plants and animals. Additionally, water is used in various processes in the world. All production processes are supported by water. As a result of the great importance of water in life, it is important to ensure water conservation all the time. It is important to conserve water to ensure that it is always available and in a safe state.
For water conservation, everybody should play a part through planting of trees. According to Ehlers, and Krafft (2011), planting as many trees as possible plays a major role in water conservation. This is through preventing direct heat from the sun. Plantations are known to prevent water sources from being interfered with. Additionally, trees are known to play a major role in the formation of rain. Additionally, everybody should be able to try as much as possible to create water reservoirs within their environment.
Want help to write your Essay or Assignments? Click here
Prevention of water pollution should be made the responsibility of every individual in the world (Unesco, 2006). So that water may be kept free from pollution, there are actions that should be taken by all means. Ensuring that sewerage systems are well managed is one of the things that are likely to avoid water pollution. With proper sewerage systems, all waste will be driven to the desired disposal areas and not the water points.
Secondly, proper garbage disposal is also necessary in the prevention of water pollution. Additionally, everyone should ensure that chemical substances are not poured or drained into water points. Chemical substances should be disposed off as per the requirements of the control boards. This will ensure that no water is polluted by anyone using chemicals in one way or another. Furthermore, everyone should try as much as possible to come up with proper sanitation systems. This is a good way of ensuring that all refuse is managed properly thus avoiding water pollution.
Want help to write your Essay or Assignments? Click here
Principles of Financial Accounting
Major accounting concepts and conventions used in accountancy form the major guidelines and rules of the accountant’s life. Historical cost accounting convention is a technique in accounts that ensures valuation of an existing benefit for the balance sheet at the cost of the asset at its purchase.
Assets, revenue, and expenditures are recorded at the money’s worth that was historically paid to complete the transaction (Deegan 2013). All the items in the financial statements are recorded at what cost the company for an item and not the fair market value and not what the company could currently sell the item.
The major criticism of historical cost is that it considers the cost of acquisition despite this cost of an asset not recognizing the current market value. It only interests itself in the cost allocated and not in an asset’s value. It tells the acquisition value and decrease in succeeding years but ignores the likelihood of the present market worth of the asset being elevated or lower than its suggestion (Miles 2015).
Historical costs also exhibit an obvious fault during times of inflation. Its validity rests on an assumption that currencies for recording the transactions remain stable or stagnation of the purchasing power. During inflation, the price of an asset rises, however, the corporate finance model’s objective centers on creating value for shareholders.
Want help to write your Essay or Assignments? Click here
The main advantage of historical cost is that the accounts are straightforward in producing them. The original value of the asset is known and recorded thus based on an actual value and not an estimation of value. Historical costs do not also record gains to the company until full realization is realized thus, presenting the actual performance of a company. Historical cost accounts further are still utilized under many accounting systems such as the GAAP that requires the value of an asset recorded at its historical costs with an exception of marketable securities (DRURY 2013).
The alternative methods or bases introduced by IASB is the Capital Maintenance in Units of Constant Purchasing Power, that allows for the quantification of financial assets maintenance in ostensible monetary units or in units of purchasing control that can be constant regardless of deflation or inflation levels (Kaplan et al., 2015). The major advantage of this technique is that it allows the management to make a judgment when applying or developing an accounting policy when there is an absence of interpretation applying to a transaction.
The major disadvantage of this system is that it provides no applicable international standard for financial reporting with regards to the assessment of invariable but real value items that are non-monetary. These may include share capital that has been issued and capital reserved. It is also not chosen by accountants in non-hyperinflationary economies despite its automatic maintenance of the actual worth of non-monetary items with steady genuine value (Van Dooren et al., 2015).
Want help to write your Essay or Assignments? Click here
An analysis of the qualitative analysis indicates that historical cost accounts are easily understood because it is based on original costs. The values are relevant because it is a true representation. The values can however not be reliable on the verge of hard economic times.
However, comparability is possible depending on the underlying assumptions and the judgment of the management. Alternative bases by IASB are relevant because they represent the current economic conditions (DeVellis 2012). They are easy to understand and compare the figures hence, reliable as a tool for financial reporting.
Historical cost is the most appropriate basis for measurement in financial reporting. The underlying factor here is that it is free of any bias information and is follows the GAAP procedures. It is also simple and a more conventional method and helps in leading to absolute certainty by fitting perfectly with the statement of cash flow.
Kaplan, R. S., & Atkinson, A. A. (2015). Advanced management accounting. PHI Learning.
Van Dooren, W., Bouckaert, G., & Halligan, J. (2015). Performance management in the public sector. Routledge. DeVellis, R. F. (2012). Scale development: Theory and applications (Vol. 26). Sage publications
Want help to write your Essay or Assignments? Click here
Want help to write your Essay or Assignments? Click here
Self Harm: Safe Guarding in Health and Social Care
Self harm is a complex issue not only in its definition but also in relation to the insufficiency of data available with regards to the patterns and frequency of this subject across the globe. It is important to not that there is no “universal definition” of self harm. Moreover, diverse views have been raised concerning the causes and risk factors among individuals that harm themselves or others. Generally, self harm which is also referred to as self injury is best understood to entail an individual causing intentional physical pain as a way of solving difficult or painful emotions.
According to the study conducted by Hawton et al,it was determined that some people may harm themselves or others as a means of communicating their distress to the general public (Hawton et al, 2012). This disorder can also be an act of rebellion and the attempt to individualize oneself, a manner of relieving intense anxiety temporarily, a way to regulate pain, an effort to manage emotional numbness, or more still an effort to manipulate other people.
Individuals who harm themselves or/and others may develop an immediate sense of relief by partaking in it. However, it is worth noting that this feeling is a temporary solution the feelings that were distressing them initially will end up recurring once more. Additionally, chronic self harm can result in the development of irreversible damage to the body and/or permanent scarring. This paper seeks to find out why some individuals are more vulnerable to abuse and harm self and others as well as the associated risk factors to this type of behavior.
Want help to write your Essay or Assignments? Click here
Causes of vulnerability to abuse and harm
Just like all other mental disorders, there is no single factor that predisposes a person to engage in self harm. In general, self harm results due to inability of a person to properly manage psychological pain in a manner that is healthy. Often, individuals who engage in this form of unhealthy conduct find it difficult to regulate, express, or understand their emotions. The factors that make individuals to be prone to abuse and harm self or others can be classified as follows;
Want help to write your Essay or Assignments? Click here
Social factors
These are ranked asthe commonest cause of abuse and harm due to the emotional distress that they arouse in people. Social factors that have been pointed predispose individuals to harm include;
Having difficult relationships especially with friends and partners
Having difficulties at school. This is seen commonly among the youth who work hard to obtain good grades but then they end up not getting the results they expected.
Difficulties at work such as demotions, unfair treatment by senior workers and layoffs can also make people to be prone to harm and abuse.
Bullying: This can be at home by older siblings, relatives, or neighbors. It can also be exercised in school or at work. An example of harm to others that was due to bullying is the recent case that was all over the news whereby an American student went to school with a gun and started shooting fellow students randomly (Fisher et al, 2012).
Poverty, whereby a person has several responsibilities such as paying house rent, paying for children school fees, and providing the basic needs for his/her family. This is common among adults who end up being depressed and may subject their depression on their children by beating them up over petty reasons or even without any reason at all.
Want help to write your Essay or Assignments? Click here
Drug and substance abuse: Individuals prone to alcohol and substance abuse disorders tend to be aggressive and are more likely to make claims of having suicidal thoughts or even previous suicidal attempts. In a recent study by Daine et al (2013) of about 6500 adults who enrolled in addiction treatments it was proven that individuals who had engaged in serious acts of violence such as murder, rape, and assault leading to serious injury were more than twice likely to report several suicidal attempts.
Sexuality- Persons who come to terms with their sexual orientation such as being bisexual or gay may be a danger to themselves.
Cultural expectations can promote vulnerability of harm to self. A good example is that of arranged marriages whereby ladies are often forced into marriages against their will or worse even at a tender age.
Trauma can also enhance vulnerability of this disorder. Some causes of trauma include; physical or emotional, sexual abuse such as rape or domestic abuse. The death of a close family member or a close friend and having a miscarriage are also common predisposing factors.
Emotional Distress
Emotions have also been linked abuse and harm vulnerability. An unhappy situation or the distress from a traumatic experience can result in feelings of self hatred or low self esteem. These emotions gradually build up and it becomes difficult for people to seek help. Therefore, self harm or harming others may be a means of releasing these pent-up feelings.
They also indulge in this behavior as a way of coping with their problems. Usually, this is not a sign of seeking attention, but an indicator of emotional distress. Some of these emotions include; guilt, anger, anxiety, grief, numbness or emptiness, loneliness, silenced as a result of abuse, and a feeling of being disconnected from the world.
People that are more prone to harm themselves and others may be having difficulties in regulating or managing their emotions (Figley et al, 2013). Therefore, they use self harm as a means of managing the anger and tension. Further research also reported that such individuals are poorer in solving problems.
Want help to write your Essay or Assignments? Click here
Psychological Causes
These also increase the tendency of people to take part in abuse and harm. For example;
People may be having repeated thoughts about harming themselves and they feel like doing it,
Self harm can also be linked to borderline personality disorder- a disorder that causes instability in a manner that one thinks, behaves, or feels,
Dissociation or loss of touch with oneself- self harm occurs without realizing it,
Organic reasons have also been associated with aggressive outbursts. Take an example whereby a person has damage to his/her frontal lobe or certain forms of epilepsy. In such circumstances, it is difficult to pin-point comprehensible argument for the expression of aggressive episodes.
Want help to write your Essay or Assignments? Click here
Risk Factors for Harming Self and Others
The risk factors of self harm and others are not static. Their value of prediction keeps changing depending on period they occur in a person’s development, social contexts, and the circumstances that one faces. They can be found in an individual, the surroundings, or the individual’s ability to react to the requirements or demands of the environment.
Some factors start manifesting as early as childhood while others do not appear at all until adolescence period or adulthood. Some risk factors entail the family, the school, the neighborhood, or the peer group. Risk factors will be classified as follows for clarity.
Want help to write your Essay or Assignments? Click here
Depression and mental illness
This is one of the most obvious risk factors for indulging in harm to self and others. According to the research conducted by Andover et al, it was proven that mental and addictive disorders result in almost 90% of the suicidal cases reported (Andover et al, 2012). At least one in every twenty youths suffers from mental disorders that are severe enough to impair judgment. However, the sad news is that less than 20% of these individuals receive treatment. Most of those who harm themselves suffer from depression.
School risk Factors
Individuals who view their instructors as not understanding or caring or do not coexist peacefully with their peers have vulnerability of harming others or themselves. They may be associated with the following features;
Past suspension or expulsion for violent behavior
Social isolation, aggressiveness in grade K-3 or hyperactivity
Misbehaving in class, truancy, or being involved frequently in fights
Severe disciplinary issues
Want help to write your Essay or Assignments? Click here
Anger or frustration when handling school artwork or essays
A student that has previously brought a weapon at school
Academic failure when joining school
Academic pressure from parents and guardians.
Community risk factors
Persons that are highly exposed to community violence are at severe risk of engaging in self-destructive behavior. This usually arises when one shapes his/her conduct after what they have learned and experienced in the community. Moreover, some youth who grow up without having meaningful connections with responsible adults lack the necessary guidance that they should acquire so that they may cope with their daily lives (Moran, et al, 2012). Other community risk factors include;
Severe economic deprivation
Easy accessibility to guns, weapons, and other dangerous equipments
Poor community organization and low attachment in the neighborhood
Few recreational activities for people in the community especially the youth
Individuals who have engaged previously in vandalism and destruction of property
Want help to write your Essay or Assignments? Click here
Personal Risk Factors
Persons who have been involved in violent behavior previously
History of being bullied by friends, classmates, or relatives
History of uncontrolled angry outbursts and tantrums
Individuals who have previously bullied their peers and younger youths
Aggression to animals
Alcohol and substance abuse
Previous attempts of suicide
Fire- setting
Persons that result in calling of names and cursing when they are mad
Recent experience of loss, humiliation, or rejection
Cult or gangs involvement
Unstructured time
Preoccupation with explosives and other weapons
Does not own up and blames others for problems they are responsible for
Often having mood swings and significant depression
Want help to write your Essay or Assignments? Click here
Family Risk Factors
History of possession of a weapon and use by a family member
History of being punished frequently
Previous family violence
Inconsistent or severe punishment
Lack of support or proper supervision from parents and guardians
Youth has a past history of abuse by a family member
Individuals who grew up without clear expectations or standards of behavior being imposed on them by their care givers.
Cultural Risk Factors
Conformity issues and assimilation, variations in expectations and gender roles feelings of victimization and isolation can all increase the levels of stress and vulnerability of people. In addition, some cultures especially the Pacific and Asian cultures view self harm particularly suicide as a rational reaction to shame.
Want help to write your Essay or Assignments? Click here
Situational Crises
Daine et al argues that about 30% of individuals’ cases of abuse and harm to self and others are linked to an identifiable precipitating occurrence such as loss of a valued relationship, divorce of parents, the passing away of loved one, or sexual abuse. Normally, all these events coincide with other risk factors (Daine et al, 2013).
Conclusion
Some individuals view self injury engagement as a means of coping with their emotions. However, the troubles they are running away from will still be present even after their self-mutilation. Moreover, the relief that these individuals feel after involving themselves in self harm or abuse of others is usually short term.
Therefore, it can result in greater amounts of self-injurious conducts to acquire relief. Some people have even gone further and described self harm as an addiction. It is difficult to manage such behave just like any other compulsive behavior or addiction. However, proper management plan should be put in place to help these people fight the condition.
Some of the interventions that can be used include interpersonal treatments, therapies of problem-solving, and use of “emergency card” mode of interventions (Rossouw and Fonagy, 2012). Other treatment forms that have proved to be essential include dialectical conduct therapy which is administered often among individuals who self-harm themselves and/or others from time to time.
The burden associated with injury to self and others is often a heavy one, especially because people who engage in this behavior do it in private where they hide their secret from their loved ones and friends. They create a burden that is extremely hard to carry. This may result in more severe self injury to escape the feelings. Therefore, proper platforms should be established whereby such people can be access easily for counseling and support.
Daine, K., Hawton, K., Singaravelu, V., Stewart, A., Simkin, S., & Montgomery, P. (2013). The power of the web: a systematic review of studies of the influence of the internet on self-harm and suicide in young people. PloS one, 8(10), e77555.
Fisher, H. L., Moffitt, T. E., Houts, R. M., Belsky, D. W., Arseneault, L., & Caspi, A. (2012). Bullying victimisation and risk of self harm in early adolescence: longitudinal cohort study. bmj, 344, e2683.
Hawton, K., Saunders, K. E., & O’Connor, R. C. (2012). Self-harm and suicide in adolescents. The Lancet, 379(9834), 2373-2382.
Rossouw, T. I., & Fonagy, P. (2012). Mentalization-based treatment for self-harm in adolescents: a randomized controlledtrial. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 51(12), 1304-1313.
Want help to write your Essay or Assignments? Click here
