Foundations of Business - Assignment Example

i. Economic status If the economy has consumers who have more economic resources they likely to purchase more from large companies such as Wal-Mart and Ford because of their reputation rather than purchasing cheap substitutes from other places or companies. ii. Government regulations Wal-Mart and Ford are two of the most popular companies in the world in their own categories. The two companies have expanded their operations worldwide. As a result, these companies have to adhere to the regulations laid by host governments. Sometimes, these regulations and laws limit their ability to make maximum revenues. iii. Consumer trends Consumers changes with time. These trends will significantly affect both Wal-Mart and Ford. For example, due to advancement in technology, automobile companies have incorporated new technologies in manufacturing of vehicles. This has significantly influenced consumer trend as consumers seek technologically advanced products. Therefore, Ford has to grapple with changing technology. i. Environmental sensitivity Consumers are increasingly becoming more sensitive to the environment. As a result, many companies have put up measures to ensure that their activities do not impact on the environment in order to remain relevant in the eyes of the consumers. If Wal-Mart and Ford fail to adhere to environmental rules and regulations, they are likely to lose significant numbers of customers who are sensitive to such issues. A2 The factors of production that would be needed for the production of surfboards include land, capital, labor, and entrepreneur. Land represents the place on which production will take place. The land needs to be located in an ideal place, such as the coastal areas. Also, this land has to be located in a place where raw materials are readily available. Capital is needed for the purchase of equipment, pay employees, purchase land, and for other related fees. This capital may be obtained from personal savings, loans from financial institutions, and donations. The entrepreneur is needed because he is the one responsible for managing all the activities required to produce these surfboards. Finally, labor is needed and it includes the employees. The local community can provide the organisation with employees. A3: The four types of competition include perfect competition, monopolistic competition, oligopolistic, and monopoly. In perfect competition, the situation is characterized by a large number of buyers and sellers. Firms in perfect competition market sell standardized or homogenous products. In monopolistic competition market, firms have both an element of monopoly power and an element of competition. In oligopoly, few firms produce identical or similar products or services. In monopoly, one firm produces products or services that have no close substitute and such a market have significant barriers that discourage potential entrants. A4: Today, organisations are driven to success by people of integrity. Educational institutions represent one of the areas in which individuals can learn and practice integrity issues. Educational institutions have codes of conduct and the violation of these codes deny students an opportunity to obtain confident command of what they are supposed to learn. This dishonesty is then transferred to employing organisations in future. Behaviours that violate academic integrity include fabrication such as altering of grades and other official records and falsifying research; plagiarism such as inadequately or inaccurately citing sources, and misrepresenting the work of other people as one’s own; cheating; and facilitation. There are various disciplinary actions that are subjected to students who engage in dishonesty. Each educational institution has its own ways of dealing with dishonesty cases. If someone is accused of academic dishonesty, he/she is reported to the academic department head who reviews the case to determine whether there is evidence of dishonesty. The student is then consulted. If there is evidence of academic dishonesty, disciplinary action is taken depending on the severity of dishonesty. If one witnesses an incident of academic dishonesty, he/she should report immediately to the appropriate faculty member. A5: Explain the difference between an ethical dilemma and an ethical decision providing an example of each. An ethical decision entails a right-versus-wrong decision. That is, one in which there is an ethical choice and unethical choice. Ethical dilemma is different from ethical decision and it usually comes before ethical decision. When one is pushed by his/her employer to cook figures, he/she will be in a dilemma whether to fulfill the will or her employer or to adhere to the laid code of conduct. A6: An ethical lapse occurs when one makes a decision that is unmistakably illegal or unethical. For instance, in the example above, if one gives in to the pressure of his/her employer to cook the books, he/she has committed an ethical lapse. A7: Suppliers: UC providers include the alumni, other universities and colleges, and food purveyors. The university ensures that it pays and treats its suppliers well. Government: The University ensures it adheres with requirements by the state and federal government, including board of trustees, governing board, sponsors, and buffer organisations. Surrounding community: The University is surrounded by Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders; therefore, the University has increased awareness of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders culture and knowledge. Clientele: This group includes students, employees, parents, and service partners. The University ensures that it provides students with high quality education. Also, it ensures that high quality services are offered to parents and service partners. A8:? Importing: A firm can expand internationally by importing products it has manufactured in other countries. Also, it can import products manufactured by other companies into its local market. Exporting: This is an expansion method in which a firm manufactures products and exports them to be sold outside its national borders. Licensing: In licensing, a company is allowed to sell the products of a producer from the host country or to use its intellectual property in exchange for loyalty. Franchising: This is a type of licensing agreement in which, in addition to granting rights to use firm’s patents, trademarks, brand, and technology, the patent firm frequently provides assistance with design, organisation, equipment, and marketing of the business. A9: A sports equipment producer may consider outsourcing production to China because of availability of labor, raw materials, and large market. The plan to move the production function to China may help some factors of the Australian economy and hurt others. Australian citizens will be hurt by this action because the company will have moved employment opportunities to another country. The Australian economy would benefit because of the inflow of FDI into Australia as a result of production function in China. Moving production function to China would be more beneficial to the company because the company will enjoy the benefits listed above. These benefits would not be realized if the company decided to retain its production function in Australia. A10: First, section 70.2 should not be repealed since it is unethical to do that. It is important for any organisation not to engage in acts that are considered unethical such as offering bribes regardless of whether there are express laws about the same or not. Ethical-wise, the company should not consider it disadvantageous when it is bidding for the same project with companies from countries that do not prohibit bribes. Water-treatment project is a project which might be under much scrutiny; therefore, on one side, it might be very advantageous for the company if it would be able to provide evidence that it has not engaged in bribery. A11: Why have some multinationals decided to help control AIDS in their workforces? HIV/AIDS has become one of the world’s major epidemics. Organisations are increasingly starting to engage in activities that can improve their social responsibility status. Engaging in AIDS control measures represents one of the ways in which organisations seek to improve this status. These programme have had impact on the employees and other organisational stakeholders and have made many of them to change their sexual behaviours. However, there are other organisations that have not been able to help; rather, these organisations have avoided employing people who are HIV positive. In an environment where the government has been unwilling or unable to help control the spread of HIV, it would serve as an opportunity for the business to establish measures of controlling the spread of HIV. This would help increase the organization’s competitive advantage. From a humanitarian perspective, the organisation should set a certain percentage of employment opportunities for people with HIV. In addition, the organisation should engage itself in community programme aimed at reducing the spread of HIV. A12: Most small businesses are found in the service-producing sector because the service-producing businesses do not require huge financial resources for start-up. Some of the small service-producing businesses include hotels, educational institutions, advertisement, insurance, and consultancy, and transport service businesses. There are many small businesses found in in the good-producing sector, including fast-food organisations, and booksellers. A13:. The advantages of starting a new business include low start-up costs, site selection, independence of the owners, and no-baggage. The disadvantages of starting anew business include high level of risk, high level of commitment, limited financial resources, and delayed profitability. Existing business have an existing business model. Buying an existing business is less risky than starting own business. Buying an existing business ensures that the buyer realizes immediate cash flow. Secondly, the market for the organization’s product is already established. Finally, the buyer of the business acquires existing customers, suppliers, staff, equipment, stock, and contacts. The disadvantages of buying a business include the need to conduct major improvements to old plant and equipment. Secondly, the buyer runs at a risk of acquiring badly managed business and low staff morale. Finally, the buyer may require injecting a lot of financial resources and time. A small business enjoys independence supported by the benefits of a big business network. Also, these businesses have a higher rate of success compared to start-up businesses. The benefits of buying an established business outweigh the disadvantages; therefore, it is more beneficial to buy an already established business. Read More