ShantanuT01/DACTYL-Pretraining huggingface dataset:
Business ethics is a crucial subject in the modern business world (De George 1999, pp.6-8). It is imperative that this issue be clarified to all employees within an organization so as to ensure that no employee operates in a way that is not acceptable due to ignorance as far as the subject of business ethics is concerned (Barry 2000, pp. 29-31). In this short essay, the aspects of disclosing the defective products to the chief executive officer and other managers, carrying out customer notification, internal changes to avoid such problems and how to create a strong business ethics culture will be dealt with (Robert 2003, p. 40). To start with, the best way to inform the Chief Executive Officer and other managers about the defective products are to present the carefully drafted report on the investigation carried out and the findings made. This will act as a solid base that will assist refute any objections and answering any questions. If possible, samples of the defective products should be presented to the company leaders. This will make the claim convincing. Far from the above, the aspect of customer notification is the most delicate. It is not easy to predict the nature of the customers’ reactions especially if the products have been in the market for a long time and therefore the customers have used them for a long period (Harman 2004, p. 156). The best way to do it is to weigh the advantages of disclosing the problems to the customers against those of not disclosing. It is always better for the company to be proactive. This means that the company should notify the customers through the media and recall all the defective products after a heartfelt apology. This way, the company will appear not only caring but also honest in that it has chosen to withstand adverse customer reactions with the aim of protecting them from using defective goods. The human nature of the company will be experienced and the customers will end up having a positive view of the company. As a way of avoiding problems associated with product quality and business ethics in the future, the company will be better off if a body is established to monitor all the operations of the company so that the quality of the products is controlled and the actions of all the employees are kept in check. The aim is to ensure that the products are of superior quality and the actions of the employees are appropriate. This type of arrangement will make it easy for the company to detect any problem in the production process or any other company undertaking before it the cu
It is quite interesting to note that within the modern society, external appearance continues to become a deciding factor by which individuals are treated. While it may be true that there are distinct laws against racism within office environments, this does not ensure that preconceived societal notions regarding certain racial and ethnic classes do not appear to be the main factor into the means by which people perceive and choose to be perceived by the others. For example, when it comes to preconceptions regarding race, it was noted in the studies, such as those by Denny et al. (2012), that individuals with a distinct Latin American heritage were categorized under the same racial preconceptions as illegal immigrants despite being legally American (Denny et al., 2012). This manifest itself in a distinct level of distrust and the lack of willingness to hire people of Latin American decent due to the current preconceptions of criminal behavior attributed to this particular racial stereotype. The same type of preconceptions also applies to people with distinct religions, such as those belonging to Islamic faith. Mujtaba & Cavico (2012) note that despite a vast majority of Muslims not ascribing to the teachings of radical Islam, it is seen that the general public still perceives Muslims as being capable of such atrocities as the September 11 attacks on the basis of such people belonging to the Islamic faith (Mujtaba & Cavico, 2012). As a result, people who ascribe to the Muslim faith are often discriminated against due to the current ill-conceived notions that all Muslims are religious fanatics. On the other end of the spectrum, it is generally perceived within American society that people of Asian descent are generally good at math despite it is an inaccurate racial stereotype. This often results in people of Asian descent being put on career paths by managers that involve considerable level of mathematic quantification despite the fact that such individuals may or may not possess sufficient talent in the field. As it can be seen from such examples, external preconceived notions regarding certain demographics can and often have an impact on the way in which people are treated by the general public and the opportunities that become available to them. From this particular perspective, it can be seen that hidden differences, such as political orientations, sexual preferences (in some cases) and personal habits, can thus be considered as an advantageous attribute due to the way in which people can conceal them and, as a result, limit the means by which people can judge them based on preconceived ideas that are correlated with such factors. It should be noted though those hid
The Five Forces Model of Competition Analysis The five forces analysis of the rental movie industry shows that threats:  1. Substitutes- high  2. Competitive rivalry- high  3. Threat of new entry- low  4. Buyer power- medium  5. Supplier power- low In the rental movie industry, substitutes and competitive rivalry present serious threats to a company’s profitability in the rental movie industry. Buyer power presents a medium threat, while threats involving supplier power and new entry cannot affect a company’s market position in the rental movie industry. Competitive rivalry In 2008, the rental movie market in the United States stood at $ 9.5 billion. Although Netflix, presently, is the market leader in the industry with 6.3 million subscribers as at 2009, if faces fierce competition from Blockbuster and new entrants such as Wal-Mar and Intelliflix. The competition essentially encompasses price wars that have seen Netflix lose some of its customers to its rival, Blockbuster. Threat of Substitutes Netflix’s subscription can be substituted in a number of ways. Customers can obtain movies from rental stores, cable companies, DVD renting kiosks and movie theatres. Thus, the substitution for subscription is easy and hence a considerable threat. Threat of New Entry Netflix’s elaborate distribution systems and economies of scale make it increasingly difficult for new entrants to operate in the industry. Thus, new entry presents a lesser threat to Netflix’s market position. Buyer Power Netflix’s subscription is mostly online, thus, individually, the customers have less power to influence the company’s market position. Supplier Power Netflix and its suppliers benefit mutually from agreements and partnerships involving movie studios. They have a revenue sharing agreement. Thus, supplier power has little impact upon the company’s performance. Key Driving forces in the Industry Among the key success factors in the rental movie industry, is the cost. Affordable movies that offer customers value for their money will attract more customers. The capacity to offer a convenient service promptly also influences customers in the industry. In addition, the ability to offer a large variety of movies e
Introduction Art has always produced works with comparable works. The fact behind this is that although fictitious, art, and more so literature is a result of the encounters in the lives of the authors. It is therefore common to have works that have closely related themes and topics. A perfect example is the comparison of the topics presented in the books “ The unbearable lightness of being” and “The Kite Runner”. This paper compares among others the themes; invasion/war, change of the identity of the main character country, relationships (family/friends), attitude towards marriage, sexuality, betrayal, and racial and social differential. The paper aims at providing evidence on how related topics of different novels can be. Concept of eternal recurrence The novel The unbearable lightness of being’s main objective is to counter the concept of eternal recurrence. It states that each person lives only once and that events in life are not repetitive but rather occurs once. It presents the events surrounding Tomas the novel’s protagonist. His family love relationship, career, and residence. This theme is so evident in that even though there are a lot of love relationships in the novel there is not even one that is identical to another. While Tomas looks at love as a leisure activity, the romance in Franz is from the much he has read in the books. On the other hand, Sabina involves Tomas in infidelity just for fun. She enjoys humiliation and thus takes life with simplicity. Never does she ever think of the reoccurrence of the past events. This is to show how much she does not believe in the reoccurrence of events in life. The case in Tomas changes when he later notices that his wife meant a lot to her and thus follows her when she leaves her (Hosseini, 2007). He is depicted in the novel as an un-predictive character. Similarly, in “The Kite Runner,” the betrayal that is so recurrent as later explained in this paper, repeats itself differently each time. The events that cause the betrayal cannot review and even where the afflicted feels the zeal to revenge they cannot. When Amir reveals that he was been betrayed by Ali, he decides to search for Sohrab a virtue as compared to the betrayal. The concept of eternal recurrence that is countered mostly shows persons who are affected by a phenomenon passing the pain down the line by inflicting as much pain if not more on others. In both books, the country of the main character is being invaded. According to the rule of eternal recurrence, the wars should have the same features. However, the way both the wars occur and how the people behave also prove that the occurrences can never be the same and thus Kundera’s point is proven. Hosseini, Khaled presents the events that happen when a beautiful country is invaded by war through the friendship of two boys who were very close and lived like brothers yet each lived in his world. Dubbed as a very controversial novel, The Kite Runner has elicited many debates in the literary world (Kundera, 1985). Love and relationships The Kite Runner presents us with a clear picture of family relationships where
“Garbage Wars” is a book about how garbage is handled in Chicago and the politics that surround it. The book is authored by David Pellow a lecturer and the head of the sociology department at the University of Minnesota. The book offers detailed accounts of how garbage affects the people who live in vulnerable areas and the accompanying health risks of handling garbage. Pellow also delves into the issue of racial politics and how this issue plays out in the garbage management arena. The author of this book is able to maintain an ethnographic tone throughout the book. As a renowned psychologist, the author stays within his area of expertise and delivers an insightful account of the sociological impact of degradation. According to the book, racially motivated ideologies are one of the main causes of degradation. The book traces the origins of the federal waste management to the Second World War when recycling policies of the Nazi Regime were racially motivated and tended to favor the elite and oppress the minorities. The author notes that the racial aspect of recycling is not limited to small organizations, but even large organizations are culprits. The effects of degradation are more severe to the lower and working class members of the society. The book also relates degradation to other historical events such as struggles for labor rights, civil rights, and women’s rights. According to Pellow, environmental degradation is also a major cause of inequality in the modern society. “Garbage Wars” provides a rich account of how the efforts to reclaim and process garbage have affected the lives of the citizens. Although the book refers to several historical accounts and figures, all of these are easy to corroborate. The author is also able to refrain from turning the book into a speech about inequality. Overall, the book is a valuable asset to scholars, environmentalists, and social activists.
Neil Gaiman’s book is based on the TV series by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and compared with a novel known as Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland written by Lewis Caroll in 1865. The two novels have similarities and differences, but Neil Gaiman seems to borrow a lot from Lewis’ story. However, Gaiman changes the scenes in order to fit the current world and remain relevant to the present society. While Lewis features a woman and imaginative places, Neil makes use of a man and set an action in the well-known places, namely London (Caroll 10). In Neverwhere , the author draws comparisons between different styles to depict existing differences in the current world. The different themes and characters issued and depicted in the book can be applied in management to provide a basic guideline in terms of the principles of management and the current growth being experienced around the globe. This paper seeks to investigate how these themes can be applied in management to improve expertise and the level of performance. In summary, the life revolving around Richard’s experience of London above and London below indicates a certain system of management. A management system is a procedural plan of continuously improving the methods of leadership and processes in an organization (**). The best business entities are marked by distinguished management systems that carry the vision of the organization. In the novel Neverwhere, the plot revolves around management processes of a group of people. Richard goes out to get his life back, and Door on the other hand, flees from her assassins. The two have to manage several people and projects including, the Marquis and Hunter. Further, the Angelus asks Door and her company to get him the unique key from the Black Friars. They move from one project to the other ensuring that they achieve their goals at each level. Door and Richard achieve their objectives individually, which proves that their management systems were effective. In London below, nothing can be achieved without thorough management systems just like in a real organization. The scene marks the beginning of the entire story and also the most interesting application in terms of management principles and practices. Richard is caught up in a situation when he continues doing his daily duties. He goes to work, and his fiancée implies that he wants to start a family. His fiancée is suggestive to this as she “saw in Richard an enormous amount of potential, which, properly harnessed by the right woman, would have made him the perfect matrimonial accessory” (Gaiman 12). He is caught up in London above where everyone is busy running their own errands without any regard to other people’s businesses. Such scenarios are common in management where the managers continue running errands regardless of changes and advancement that are taking place around them. Moreover, they continue to apply leadership methods that have been in existence for a long period without encouraging thoughts of invention or change. There is a tendency of d
Introduction The purpose of this research will be to examine the ISO 9000 family of standards used to measure quality management systems within organizations as well as the requirements needed for ISO certification and registration within companies. The ISO 9000 is a group of standards that are commonly used to measure the level of quality management within most organizations around the world. They are also a set of criteria that are used to help organizations develop the capability of gaining and retaining satisfied customers. The ISO 9000 standards measure the type of service quality provided to the clients and customers of an organization. Organizations that have met the quality standards developed by the International Organization for Standardization are given the ISO 9001 certification based on the standards of quality management (Hoyle 108). The ISO 9000 standards were created originally to facilitate the mutual understanding of quality management system requirements that would be used in national and international trade activities. The certification schemes which fall under the ISO standards were developed to reduce the costs incurred by comp
Travellers Insurance specializes in insurance packages meant for businesses and individuals. The company is founded on the ground that individuals and businesses have a lot to protect. In this regard, it offers detailed claim services and policies to ensure that the clients are satisfied. To invest in confident businessmen, Travelers Insurance provides various insurance options that cater for large and small businesses. Therefore, businesses enjoy fashioned claim services and coverage. The management at the company is such that there are a wide array of services and packages offered for businesses and individuals. This ensures that the company enjoys a huge market share. Individuals are offered services depending on their needs. These include services for motor vehicles, events such as wedding, education policies, health insurance, homeowners, rental, coverage for expensive items, identity fraud, and shipping services. In addition, individuals are offered protection against calamities such as draught, flood, and tsunamis. On the other hand, services offered for businesses include liabilities, protection against risks, global marketing, and bonds. On the same note, businesses are served depending on whether they are large, mid- sized, or small (Hersey & Blanchard, 1969). In my opinion, this makes the business successful since it is possible to serve a wide array of customers. The company is able to do comprehensive research and know the customers’ needs. This can be achieved through an analysis of the customers’ feedbacks and responses. Consequently, there is provision of services that are fashioned depending on the clients’ needs. I would like working for a company where there are various departments to cater for the customers’ needs. Moreover, the employees should be given an opportunity to present their views and opinions that make them feel appreciated as part of the company. At Travellers Insurance, the services offered to businesses depend on whether the business is small, large, or medium- sized. The management at the company believes that this helps in serving the customers appropriately. However, I believe that there i
Introduction In his theory, Weber asserts that once exploited, rationalization would transform the social life all over the world. The theory further argues that less grip on the traditions and customs within the society, results into efficient novel practices contrary to the customary practices. Weber concludes that the concept of rationalization would come to dominate all the spheres of human thriving since he believes in the continued decrease on revolutionary counterforce. Because of Weber’s idea, the social life has turned to ‘an iron cage’ in which increase in rationalization is inevitable. Weber’s theory forms the basis of Ritzer’s McDonaldization thesis. In his argument, Ritzer incorporates Weber’s inexorable character and the primary components of the rationalization process. Weber’s argument is based on the paradigm of bureaucracy while Ritzer’s thesis hinges on ‘fast-food restaurant’ traceable to McDonald’s chain of restaurant of 1955. Ritzer argues that, with the embodying of the rationalization principles, many fast –food restaurants emulated McDonald’s model, which has spread to other social sectors. This article explores the Ritzer’s thesis. McDonaldization and five dimensions McDonaldization is a phenomenon in which the concepts of fast-food chains have become predominant in the most sectors of the society. Ritzer invented the term to describe the sociological transformations which were deemed efficient than the traditional practices. Ritzer posits, “McDonaldization is the process by which the principles of the fast-food restaurant are coming to dominate more and more sectors of American society as well as the rest of the world” (292). It is indeed a rationalization process. Ritzer organizes several empirical examples into five features of McDonaldization, viz. predictability, efficiency, calculability, control, and irrationality. These features constitute a rational system. Efficiency is the process of realization of the desired end by deployment of the optimum means. All sectors in the society seek for efficiency in accomplishment of their goals; the difference however is, McDonaldization imposes efficiency onto the individuals. In fact, McDonaldization leads to blind adoption of methods of efficiency. It may vastly affect either consumers’ or employees’ efficiency (Hannigan 454). In his thesis, Ritzer presents salad bars as an example: in essence, consumers buy a plate and then proceed to the bar to create their own salads. This ensures efficiency in service delivery to the restaurant. In order to enhance efficient action between the customers and employees, the fast-foods restaurant have laid down rules, structures, regulations and norms which employees and the customers have to conform. Calculability is another dimension of McDonaldization in which the assessment emphasizes on the amount of the outcome, at the expense of quality. As Ritzer puts it, timing is a very significant concept in McDonaldization (292). The McDonaldized society requires employees to accomplish their task within the shortest time possible. In fac
Introduction This article explores the most successful Internet business model with specific reference to Amazon e-business model. The concept of ‘business model’ entails all fundamental components of a given business (Hedman and Kalling, 2003). The term has gained popularity mainly in e-businesses and among scholars in e-business studies (Afuah and Tucci, 2001; Cheng, Heng, Love and Irani, 2001). Zott, Amit, and Massa (2010) have identified common grounds with regard to the concept of a business model. They note that business models have “new units of analysis, a holistic perspective on how firms do business, an emphasis on activities, and an acknowledgement of the importance of value creation” (Zott et al., 2010). A number of giant corporations have evolved because of the growth in Internet technologies and associated business models. Some of the touted successful Internet business models include Yahoo!, Cisco, Amazon.com, Oracle, E-Bay, DoubleClick.com, Facebook, and HomeStore.com among others. This decade has been the era of Internet-based business models. Yet, the Internet growth is not over. Scholars and professionals believe that the Internet has entrenched itself in the modern business. It has provided several ways through which businesses have risen above obstacles associated with distance and time (Tassabehji, 2003). The Internet is here to thrive and drive businesses. Criteria of Success for Internet-based business models One can rate a successful business model by using several criteria. A successful e-business model should display several elements of these criteria. Clear signs of a robust business model include:   * Growth in revenues   * Growth in profits   * Global presence and expansion into new markets   * Successful acquisitions and alliances   * Differentiation abilities In addition to these characteristics of successful business models, successful e-business models have identified also other critical areas. These include:   * Creating unique Web site with user-friendly attributes   * Controlling unique product line   * Continuous innovation on products and services   * Use of reliable and easy Internet-based payment models or credit card methods   * On time delivery   * Use of effective marketing strategies   * Adopting best practices in the industry   * E-businesses must also keep their