Corporate Governance and Ethical Responsibility Essay Example for Free

Corporate Governance and Ethical Responsibility Essay 1. Determine at least three different internal and external stakeholders that Dr. DoRight might have to deal with on a daily basis at the hospital. Stakeholders are individuals who are involved in, have a vested interest in, or a â€Å"stake† in the success of an organization (Merriam-Webster, 2011), such as a hospital. Dr. DoRight is an influential decision maker as the President of the Universal Human Care Hospital and it is important for him to consider how his decisions and actions affect the stakeholders of the hospital. In the course of his daily activities Dr. Do Right will interact and impact many of the hospital’s internal and external stakeholders. Internal stakeholders are be committed to an organization’s success. Often internal stakeholders will participate in the strategic development of coordinating resources to fund and sustain an operation. Examples of internal stakeholders which Dr. DoRight might engage daily would be: Director of Public Health, Head of Health Intelligence and Information, Director of Nursing, Public Health Strategists, Vice President of Human Relations or Members of the Board of Trustees (Markwell, 2010). External stakeholders are not directly connected to the organization; however, they are vested in the hospital’s success as clients, business or community partners. These stakeholders have influence over organizational activities by contributing their views and experiences related to issues which are important to them. Medical providers or suppliers, Patient Advocacy Groups, Quality Assessors, the Media, and Heads of Local Community and Special Interest Groups are examples of external stakeholders Dr. DoRight may deal with on a daily basis (Markwell, 2010). 2. Compare and contrast potential conflicts of interest that may exist between the internal and external stakeholders. Conflicts of interest exist between the hospital’s internal and external stakeholders. Medical providers such as, staffed research doctors or pharmaceutical manufactures want to provide the ‘best’ wellness plan by providing cutting-edge tests, treatments and medications which are likely to be more expensive to the payer or patients. Payers, such as insurance providers and private paying patients, would prefer a more cost effective approach to wellness with accurate diagnosis and treatments with fewer visits and tests (Wiseman, 2005). Although internal and external stakeholders may have different priorities, they will share common objectives. All stakeholders will share common ambitions for Universal Human Care Hospital to provide quality medical services to its patients. Additionally, all stakeholders will appreciate the hospitals efforts to improve the quality of life for the community it directly serves. (Markwell, 2010). 3. Discuss whether Dr. DoRight has fulfilled his ethical duty by reporting the illegal procedures. Dr. DoRight has reported the illegal procedures and patents dying due to negligent supervision and oversight to his Regional Director, Compliance Manager, as well as an Executive Committee in January 2009, but he has not fulfilled his ethical duty. As a doctor it is his responsibility to protect all patients from criminal acts including the illegal procedures and negligent supervision which has been reported at Universal Human Care Hospital. As there has been no result from the investigation after two years he has a responsibility to take further action to preserve the lives of patients. His ethical duty should include reporting the illegal procedures, as well as, the negligent supervision and oversight to higher ranking internal authorities. If the appropriate investigation and corrective actions do not occur he has a further ethical obligation to report the incidents to external authorities. As a doctor he is legally bound to take reasonable action. The law recognizes several exceptions the â€Å"no duty to rescue† rule and several apply to Dr. Do Right’s ethical dilemma (Halbert Ingulli, 2012). Continued deaths due to negligence and illegal procedures should be reported beyond the Regional Director, Compliance Manager and the Executive Committee as the failure to do so may result in his dismissal or even criminal prosecution. As a doctor he assumes contractual responsibilities to medically help others, and prevent them from being harmed. Patients in the hospital in which he is President may be lulled into a false sense of security, believing they will be helped, only to be neglected when lifesaving assistance is needed. Doctors and nurses employed in the medial facility which he oversees are endangering their patients and he is currently participating in creating a dangerous situation for several patients. Finally, there is a â€Å"special relationship† between Dr. DoRight’s medical facility and their patients. This relationship has a degree of dependency from the patient to the hospital and those whom govern the medical facility. As the President of Universal Human Care Hospital he is required to reasonably protect all patients from harm including the protection from the illegal procedures performed by the medical staff, and neglect or oversight of the supervising staff (Halbert Ingulli, 2 012). 4. Describe the deontology principle and apply it to the ethical dilemma that Dr. DoRight faces in this case. The deontology principle â€Å"is marked by steadfastness to universal principles †¦[of] respect for life, fairness, telling the truth, keeping promises – no matter what the consequences† (Halbert Ingulli, 2012). Immanuel Kant, the most famous deontological thinker, believed humans could rationally develop an absolute set of rules to govern behavior, and these rules should be applied in all situations without consideration of the consequences. For example, Immanuel Kant believed there is a never good time to lie, even if it could produce a favorable outcome, such as lying saving someone’s life (Halbert Ingulli, 2012). Under the deontology principle, moral and ethical behavior â€Å"is a matter of holding, without exception, to certain principles† or categorical imperatives (Halbert Ingulli, 2012). The first of these principles is that people should act under the assumption that the same action they chose should be repeated if roles were reversed and they ended up on the receiving end of those actions. In Dr. DoRight’s ethical dilemma a deontological approach would require him to make his decisions in the frame of reference of being a patient whose death resulted from the hospital’s negligence or oversight. If Dr. DoRight made decisions in this frame of reference it is doubtful two years would pass without any definitive findings from the internal investigation into patient deaths (Halbert Ingulli, 2012). Another categorical imperative of the deontology principle is that it is unethical for people to use others for their own gain. A mutually beneficial relationship should exist where all stakeholders gain something they want. In Dr. DoRight’s ethical dilemma, the relationship could be mutually beneficial if the patient receives suitable medial services and attention in exchange for monetary compensation. Dr. DoRight’s decisions can be considered unethical as the relationship is not mutually beneficial. Patients within his hospital to continue to die as a result of a variety of illegal procedures, while Dr. DoRight continues to win awards for his leadership and meeting his business goals (Halbert Ingulli, 2012). Patients have a right to make a fully informed decision when selecting their medical providers. Making fully informed decision for oneself is â€Å"of great ethical value in deontology† (Halbert Ingulli, 2012). In the last two years, Dr. DoRight has told his Regional Director, Compliance Manager and the Executive Committee about the patient deaths due; however, disclosures are not provided to patients. With the insight of increased mortality rates due to the illegal procedures coupled with negligence and oversight it less likely patients will chose his medical facility for their health care needs. It is unethical according to the deontology principles to keep this information from patients. An infringement is being placed on some of the patients most basic rights; the right to life and health. Within the deontology principle this is never acceptable. Dr. DoRight falls short of several deontological principles, and is unethically infringing on the rights of his patients who are dying as a result of his decisions (Halbert Ingulli, 2012). 5. Describe the utilitarianism principle and apply it to the ethical dilemma that Dr. DoRight faces in this case The utilitarianism principle guides individuals, like Dr, DoRight, to ethically â€Å"behave in a given situation †¦ to choose an alternative that is likely to produce the greatest overall outcome.† This principle evaluates the advantages and costs of an individual’s actions not only for the decision maker, but for all stakeholders who will be impacted by the decision. Within the utilitarianism principle the long and short term consequences to the stakeholders are analyzed when evaluating a dilemma, while weighing the size of the group and the effects of the decision upon the stakeholders (Halbert Ingulli, 2012). In Dr. DoRight’s dilemma some consequences may be shared by numerous stakeholders, both internal and external. For example, the media could tarnish the reputation of the hospital and several of its staff by publicizing the deaths as prev entable. This consequence could result in an increase of livelihood for external stakeholders such as the media, medical malpractice attorneys, or the extended family member of deceased patients. At the same time, it could result in the loss of livelihood amongst internal stakeholders such as; doctors, nurses and other members of as the hospital’s 5,000 employed staff (Halbert Ingulli, 2012). Smaller external stakeholders carry the burden of the greatest negative consequences. Most costly would be the loss of life to patients who died as a result of illegal procedures and negligent supervision. Although this group of stakeholders may be small in comparison to the 20,000 patients treated at the hospital, â€Å"losses of life and health weigh heavily on the scale† when assessing the consequences of a decision within the utilitarianism principle (Halbert Ingulli, 2012). The causes of deaths have not been revealed after two years of internal investigation. If an outside organization investigated the details of the illegal practices and neglect it could negatively impact some internal stakeholders. An external investigation could have a negative impact on hospital finances, the Executive committee, and the livelihood of the Regional Director, Compliance Manager or their direct staff. On the other hand, patients, doctors and other stakeholders could benefit from this same decision in the form of additional staffing, proper training and technology to provide accurate diagnosis. Ultimately, the short-term costs a few internal stakeholders of the hospital would be outweighed by the long-term benefits to several stakeholders if Dr. DoRight made this decision (Halbert Ingulli, 2012). References Halbert, T. Ingulli, E. (2012). Law, Ethics, Business. In Law Ethics in the Business Environment (7th ed.). Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning. Markwell, S. (2010). Health knowledge. Retrieved from http://www.healthknowledge.org.uk/public-health-textbook/organisation-management/5b-understanding-ofs/managing-internal-external-stakeholders Merriam-Webster. (2011). Stakeholder. In Merriam-Webster Dictionary. Retrieved from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/stakeholder Wiseman, B. (2005). Who are the stakeholders in healthcare?. Retrieved from http://patientsafetyed.duhs.duke.edu/module_a/introduction/stakeholders.html

Danone Company Analysis

Danone Company Analysis Group Danone or Danone is the French company which has the head quarter and stock exchange at Paris. Danone group produces variety of product in many business segmentations; fresh dairy product, water, baby food, medical nutrition and beverage. The group primarily operated in European country; UK, France, Spain, Germany, Italy, through it has operation in Asia, US, Mexico, Argentina, Russia, Brazil, Poland and other parts of the world. In this analysis, we are focusing on Danones bottled water division only in order to make it more specific and easy to use the secondary data. Our group also considers both UK market and Global market according to secondary data provided. Danones group is the second leading producer of packaged water in the world based on volume. The group is also second leading producer of packaged water in Europe, Asia-Pacific and Latin-America. (Data monitor, 2009). Their water division market packaged under Volvic, Badoit, Aqua, Naya, Lanjarà ³n, Font Vella, Bonafont (Brazil), Villa del Sur, Villa Vicencio. The group is focusing on natural mineral and spring water based business. There are two big brands from this group are operating in UK bottle water market; Evian and Volvic. On the figure two below has shown the Danones group key date from 1958 to 1997. Figure2: Danones group Key dates (company history, funding universe) Financial performance analyzing is equipment that the company has to be done every year in order to measure the company performance and company growth so, before we looking through each topic in market driven marketing, we have to consider and analyze their financial performance. Then, we will know that Danone is loss or gain the profit (Growth, stable or loss). Danone group using many strategies in order to make the company growth; growth strategy; joint venture, acquisitions by vertical integration, corporate governance etc. which will describe in detail later on. By looking at figure3, we can conclude that from year 2005 to 2006, revenues of Danone group on bottled water division is decreasing. Then, increasing two years from 2006 to 2008 and decreasing again between 2008 and 2009 (a little). We cannot totally conclude that this company has bad operation by considering only revenue so; we have to calculate percentage growth, financial ratio; profit margin, Debt-asset ratio, Return on assets, Average revenue per employee, average profit per employee and also consider the market share of Danone group in the industry in order to summarize the financial performance of the company. Now, lets calculate the percentage of growth rate by using equation below; By using this equation, we can calculate revenue growth, asset growth, liability growth as shown on the table2 by the next page. Then we calculate the profit margin by using equation below; Debt-asset ratio, return on assets, revenue per employee and profit per employee can be also calculated by using equation below; All result of calculation have displayed on table 2 below; There are many financial ratios in the business that the company has to calculate and consider but in this report, we have limited information therefore we calculate only important or key ratio in order to analyze the basic company performance. Now, lets consider each element on the table2; According to the profit margin equation, we can see that the pattern of profit and profit margin are showing into the same direction (Profit margin profit) that decrease trifling during 2005 to 2006 and exploding at year 2007 and decreasing down to the previous level at 2008 to 2009. We can notice the irregular pattern at year 2007 which may come from some unusual situation in the company. It may come from the policy of the company to lay out some employees or many employees may leave or retire in this year because we can notice from table1, number of employee in 2007 is decreasing down abundantly therefore the company will have less expense and high profit. Another possible reason is in 2007, Danone group joint venture with Dutch Mill group (Datamonitor, 2007) which they can expand their product to Thailand. Danone group also joint venture with others company around the world in this year but they expanded in others market division; milk, yogurt or daily products which we do not con sider in this report. We will discuss more detail on joint venture later on How brand growth? If we are considering only on profit margin element, we can conclude that Danone group operating their company very well because their profit margin shown all positive number. On the figure5 above has represented three graphs of growth; revenue growth, asset growth and liabilities growth. Revenue growth pattern is decreasing from 2005 to 2006 and keep increasing during 2006 to 2008. Then, decreasing again by the last period 2008 to 2009 which means the company had using good marketing strategies on the bottled water division; sale promotion, innovation of product, packaging, cutting price etc. therefore, the company can be able to generate more revenue during 2006 to 2008. However, if we look back to the profit (Net income) graph on figure4, during 2007 to 2008, the company lost the profit. Next, asset growth and liabilities growth pattern are nearly the same as shown on the figure 5 except last period (2008-2009) that asset is increasing but the liabilities is decreasing which looks take the benefit to the company; gain more asset with less liabilities. By this figure, we can notice that on the year 2007, revenue growth and asset growth is a lot increasin g same as profit margin pattern. Now, we may summarize that during 2007, Danone group acquires and joint venture with others company on the bottled water division which make the company have to use more money in order to invest more then, the liabilities is increasing. The company also had more profit and asset. We will not focusing on total liabilities and total asset much on this figure because we already discussed on their growth by the previous figure but, we plot these two elements because they are related to the debt and asset ratio in order to make more easy to understand this ratio. Recall back to the debt-asset ratio equation on the third page, we can see that debt-asset ratio is going to the same direction as liabilities (debt-asset ratio liabilities or debt). This ratio tells us about how the company manages their debt compare with the company asset. By looking through the pattern at the figure6 above, we can see that debt-asset ratio is decreasing during 2005-2006 then, increasing by two year and decreasing again during 2008 to 2009. We can conclude that Danone group can operate their debt and asset better during the last period (less liability, more assets). This figure doesnt tell us much about the company performance. It shows the average revenue and profit per employee which have the same pattern as profit and revenue and we can see that which less number of employees, the profit per employees is increasing. (2007) Now, the last and important ratio, the return on assets (ROA) percentage shows how profitable a companys assets are in generating revenue. Actually, Return on assets is an indicator of how profitable a company is before leverage, and is compared with companies in the same industry but there are a lot of Danone competitor which we will discuss later therefore with ROA of Danone group only, we can conclude that at 2007, Danone group has the highest ROA which mean good because it means the company can use their asset in order to generate high level of profit. (Well operation) Market share of Danone group bottled water division Market share is one of the most important elements that we have to consider in order to analyze the company performance. The figure9 below will show the market share of bottled water market in United Kingdom. By this pie chart, we can conclude that Group Danone is the leading player in the United Kingdom bottled water market, generating a 30.8% share of the markets volume. By the next page, we will see another set of data with show the company shares of bottled water by off-trade value 2006-2010. From this table, we also can see the same result as the previous source of data; Group Danone is the leading player in the United Kingdom bottled water market. As I have mentioned above Danone group owned a big two brand in the UK market; Evian and Volvic. We will discuss more detail about these two brands when we focus about brand equity, Duplication of purchase, Double Jeopardy etc. At that topic, we will show the share of each brand in the market. In this topic, we also notice the main competitors of Danone group; Tesco, Highland Spring, Nestle. How the company growth? Danone group use the many business strategies in order to move forward the company as I had mentioned some of them by the previous topic; acquisition, joint venture, finance agreement (vertical integration) which provide a lot of advantages to the company. Before we go through the company detail, lets we explain briefly about vertical integration to make more understand why this company can be growth by using this strategy. The degree to which a form owns its upstream supplier and its downstream buyer is referred as vertical integration. Because it can have a significant impact on a business units position in its industry with respect to cost, differentiation, and other strategic issues, the vertical scope of the firm is an important consideration on corporate strategy (Quick MBA, 2010) The expansion of activities downstream is referred as forward integration, and expansion upstream is referred as backward integration. There are some advantages of using vertical integration which mentioned by Quick MBA; reduce transportation cost id common worship results in closer geographic proximity, improve supply chain coordination, provide more opportunities by means of increased control over inputs, capture upstream or downstream profit margin, increase entry barriers to potential competitors, gain access to downstream distribution channels that otherwise would be inaccessible, facilitate investment in highly specialized assets in which upstream or downstream players may be reluctant to invest and lead to expansion of core competencies. For Danone group, the acquisitions initially took the shape of vertical integration, acquiring Alsacian brewer Kronenbourg and Evian mineral water who were the glassmakers largest customers. This move provided content with which to fill the factorys bottles. In 1973, the company merged with Gervais Danone and began to expand internationally. (Danone group, 2007) Joint venture is one of the strategies that make Danone growth, Danone group had joint venture with many country around the world; India, Israel, Pakistan, China, Thailand etc. which we can say that Danone is the Global company as you can see on the figure11. On the bottled water division, Danone group always looking for acquiring their suppliers, suppliers competitors and also competitors company in order to produced bottle to the company which low cost and eliminate their competitors. Danone group also joint venture with the foreign company for expanding the product to the new market (Dutch mill group in Thailand). In the others hand, Danone group also sell some part or some brand of their company to others company. For example, Arvie water which belonging to Danone group was acquired by Eurokin this year. (Datamonitor, 2010) etc. Establish the non-profitable organization is one of the key marketing strategies to growth: Danone Institute International. Danone Institute International is a non-profit organisation originally established in 1997 with funding from the company. The Danone International Prize for Nutrition, worthà ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬120,000, is presented biennially to honor individuals or teams that have advanced the science of human nutrition. Brand equity There are many ways to measure the brand equity which mentioned differently in past journals and researches. We cant say exactly which element can measure the brand equity effectively because it depends on many factors on the brands on each industry (Daily product, technology product etc.). Those journals and researches are not totally accepted but they failed to reject because they may works in some brands and related situation. Recall back to case study 3 that I have mention about the metrics that we can use to measure brand equity. The brand equity measurement that I want to measure can be summarizing into five main groups as shown on the table5. On each sub element of each group can be measure in two ways; quantitative and qualitative measurement. From this topic until the end of this report, we will focus deeply to the brand of bottled water division of Danone group. The big two brand that I will focus on are Evian and Volvic but we will not describe into their history or their company profile for these two brands because they have operating under Danone group. We will go through the analyzing part of their secondary data on each topic. These two brands are the top leader brand in the UK market. Brand equity measurement Loyalty Perceived Quality Leadership Association Brand Price premium Perceived Quality Perceived Value Brand Awareness Satisfaction/ Loyalty Leadership Brand Personality Brand momentum Organization Association Brand Contribution Table5: Five main groups of brand equity measurement. Now, I will explain each element briefly how they work. Loyalty is core dimension of brand equity. Brand equity blunders that go to the heart of the customer relationship should affect loyalty. A loyalty consumer base represents a barrier to entry, a basis of price premium, time to respond to competitor innovation and a bulwark against deleterious price competition. The price premium is the basic indicator for brand loyalty. For the satisfaction measurement, we can measure them by the existing consumer who can perhaps be defined as those who have used the product within a certain time such as last year (use the experiences for the last experience customer view). The loyalty is focusing on the existing consumer only. Then, it does not enough to measure the total brand equity so, we need more elements; Market behavior, the market share with price and distribution indices, the performance of a brand as measured by market share [1] (and/or sales with other financial information i.e. grow th rate, profitability etc.) often provides a valid and sensitive reflection of the brands standing with customers. When the brand has a relative advantage in minds of consumers, its market share should increase or least one decrease. In contrast, when competitors improve their brand equity, their share should response. Market share can be particularly detective brand equity measure when it increases as a result of reduced price or prices promotion. Thus, it is important to measure the relative market price at which the brand is being sold. Brand, Brand awareness is an important and sometimes undervalued component of brand equity. Awareness can affect perceptions and attitudes. It also reflects the salience of the brand in the customers mind. Brand momentum is a metric which is a strong indicator of short-term growth, are either technology leaders or financial institutions that emerged from the recession on a gust of increased demand and brand contribution is metric reveals how effe ctively and closely the brand has connected with its customers that also effect to the brand equity. Next, lets move to Association measures, the key association component of brand equity usually involves images dimensions that are unique to a product class or to a brand. It can be generate general measure that will work across product classes. Measurement of association can be structure around three perspectives on the brand; the brand-as-product (value), the brand-as-person (brand personality) and the brand-as-organization (organizational association). The last group that can be chosen to measure brand equity is perceived quality and leadership, perceived quality is one of the key dimensions of brand equity, it has the important attributed of being applicable across product classes. Perceived quality can be measure with scale such as the comparison of high quality vs. average quality vs. inferior quality among the brand. For the leadership, we can say that the product is the leade r in the market segment or not. If they are the leader, it should have high brand equity. We may measure it by the leading brand vs. one of the leading brand vs. not one of the leading brand or innovative, first with advance in product. Now, we will analyze the secondary data in order to understand and ranging the brand equity of bottled water industry. From the figure12 below which shown the Top bottled water brands in the world 2010 (BandZ, 2010), we can conclude that Evian has the highest brand equity and well-known brand in the world on this market division and followed by Aquafina, Perrire, Dasani, Volvic etc. because it has the highest brand value, brand contribution, brand momentum and also very high brand value change (high growth rate of brand value). [How did three elements work, we discussed at appendix1]. We can say that Evian was especially successful in this market because the brand value grew 21 percent. Evian shifted from a rational explanation of it benefits to an emotion appeal that associated the brand with youthful vitality. Its one-minute video simulation of roller-skating babies entered the Guinness World Records last year as the most watched online ad ever, with over 45 million viewing (BrandZ, 2010) We also can noticed that two brand under Danone group has the positive brand value change various with others brand that got the negative percentage of brand value change. Evian also one of the top 20 raiser brand as you can see at the figure13, Evian enjoyed badge equity, especially in emergent market, which accounted for 52 percent of sakes. Hence, we can conclude about Danone Company that they had good operation on their brands in bottled water division on 2010. As I have mentioned at number 1 on page 10, market share is one of the equipment that we can use to measure brand equity. Figure14 above represented the market share of UK bottled water market, Volvic and Evian got the highest market share in UK market by three years (Black Box) therefore we can conclude that the Volvic and Evian has the highest brand equity in UK then follow by others brand even though Volvic and Evian have negative percentage change but they still get high market share rather than others brand. Donone group still the leader in the UK market with high brand equity. Leadership is one of key measurement of brand equity as well. Danone has been on the wrong end of the trend towards seeking British waters and its two market-leading brands have seen sales decline despite developing a much more environmentally-friendly positioning in recent times. The brands continental provenance, once a major asset, now puts them at odds with a more environmentally-aware consumer. However, after spending large amounts on above-the-line advertising in 2006 and 2007 (Mintel, 2009) Danone has reduced spend in 2008 and 2009. The next year will be pivotal if it is to reverse its brands fortunes, with the company set to increase its marketing budget markedly. If and when Britain pulls out of recession, it is likely to see a less protectionist consumer. However, the concern about food miles is unlikely to go away, and if anything will increase further in importance If we look through the table6 which presented brand share of bottled water by off-trade value 2007-2010, we also see the same result as above. Volvic and Evian got the highest percentage of off-trade value. Lets move to the next element, perceived quality, the quality is one of the most important of the product which effect to the brand equity. Healthy and refreshing are two personalities that people want to get from the bottled water brand. At the figure15 on the next page, we can see the percentage of people ranging about their perception to each personality in each bottled water brand. Evain got highest number of people who have ever heard this brand (Green box) and percentage on many personalities (Purple Box); Authentic, Cool, Genuine, Stylish, Natural, Healthy and Refreshing. Volvic is also the same, it got high percentage on Healthy, Natural and Refreshing. From this secondary data we can say that these two brands have high quality on the consumer view point so, we may conclude that Evian and Volvic have higher brand equity than others brands in the market even thought this time Evian get higher percentage than Volvic but two of them are operated under Danone group. The last element that we will use to measure brand equity in this report is Satisfaction. We will consider two graphs in order to conclude the satisfaction which displayed on figure16 and figure17. From the figure16, we can say that matching their leading positions in the market and marginally higher usage than other brands, Danones Evian and Volvic have the highest retention, of roughly two in five each. They have high brand intention. For the figure17, it show the level of sactisfaction by ranking into 6 levels; excellent, good, average, poor, unsectisfy, dont know. We can see the result directly that Evian and Volvic get highest excellent level in the market. Hence, from these two figures we can conclude that Evian and Volvic have highest sectisfaction in the UK bottled water market so, these two brand also have the highest brand equity in this market as well. Again, Danones two leading brands are also the best endorsed. Most of the companies around the word have their brands which represent what they are or we can say the brand is the identification of each company. Brands represent tremendously valuable pieces of company property, capable of influencing consumer behavior, being bought and sold, and providing the security of sustained future revenues to their owner. The brand equity is the value directly or indirectly accrued by these various benefits. There are many ways to measure the brand equity, in this assignment mentioned 5 main groups to measure brand equity; Loyalty, Perceived Quality Leadership, Association, Brand and Market Behavior. Brand equity is the combination of the many strong components of the brand (good operation, reputation, performance, CSR, supply chain etc.). It can generate trust and expectation of the customer. Trust can be change into value of the brand. If any customer trust some brand, they will have high brand loyalty means they will stick with that brand. Expectation is the factor that tells the future planning of the brand. These two words are very important for the brand. We know that the brand equity is very hard to get it and it also very difficult to protect it too. The normal way to protect brand equity is Brand Identity Manual because the symbol or logo is the thing that shows the equity of the brand. Everything in this world always has two sides (advantage and disadvantages). Brand equity also has two sides; companies can build high and good brand equity but it they do not protect them carefully, it also very easy to copy and there is still possibility of negative brand equity when the brand affects the market negatively. (We can consider Toyota as example, very hard to built brand equity and also very easy to lose some of them because their small mistake on the supply chain assemble line and design process).We can notice that the brand that has high brand value should be global brand. However, some brand may successful in some country so, they will get the high value brand only on that country. Its may depend on many factors; culture, lifestyle, religion, environment etc. Finally, we can put all elements of brand equity measurement together as the new model which we called brand value chain on the figure 6 below; Brand map This brand map is analyzed by Mintel which illustrates a three-dimensional brandscape based on; Differentiation, Trust and Experience. This map gives a snapshot of the current strength and quality of selected bottled water brands, where they are in their growth and how healthy they are. From the figure 18, we can see that the differentiation of the bottled market it very low because the water cannot be changed much. The product from Danone group; Vilvic and Evian got high percentage of Trust which takes an advantage to the company in term of brand equity and loyalty.

Birth of a Nation Essay -- essays research papers

On March 3, 1915 the movie The Birth of a Nation was released at the Liberty Theatre in New York City. This film was financed, filmed, and released by the Epoch Producing Corporation of D.W. Griffith and Harry T. Aitken. It was one of the first films to ever use deep-focus shots, night photography, and to be explicitly controversial with the derogatory view of blacks.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Throughout the movie, the film justified the need of the KKK in order to keep social harmony among society after the Civil War. In the beginning, the Cameron family was depicted as loving family and the slaves were depicted as sensible and content beings during the slave period. The chaos and madness started after the civil war during the Reconstruction period. Blacks were then portrayed as animalistic savages that were oppressing the rights of the white people in the community and threatened their livelihood. So, African Americans could only be placed into two categories in this movie. They were either the faithful servant or the renegade whose objective was to intimidate and terrorize white people. The black slaves are shown as noble beings that defended their masters against other black people. However, the black people in congress are shown as arrogant and ignorant with no manners. This sort of subtly suggest that blacks proper role is to tend to the land and that they lack the sense and morals to be given them the same equality as a white person. If blacks were on the same le...

Charlotte Brontes Jane Eyre :: Charlotte Bronte Jane Eyre Essays

Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre "There was no possibility of taking a walk that day....I was glad of it; I never liked long walks, especially on chilly afternoons: dreadful to me was the coming home in the raw twilight, with nipped fingers and toes, and a heart saddened by the chidings of Bessie, the nurse, and humbled by the consciousness of my physical inferiority to Eliza, John, and Georgiana Reed." So goes the opening to the novel 'Jane Eyre' by Charlotte Bronte. We are immediately brought into the story; the scene has been set and feelings exposed. As can be seen in this quotation, Bronte creates a very friendly, easy opening, attempting to make an intimate relationship with the reader. The characters most personal feelings are openly displayed, this being very uncommon in 19th century novels. In 'Jane Eyre' Bronte writes in the first person, giving the novel a more autobiographical feel. These paragraphs also give us an example of pathetic fallacy, a technique repeatedly used by Bronte throughout the earlier chapters of 'Jane Eyre'. In addition to this we are shown Jane's dislike, as a child and adult, of the Reed children and her position and inadequacy in the Reed household; Gateshead. The portrayal of life with the Reed family and Jane's whole childhood, is one both cruel and fascinating. Bronte, through Jane's eyes and thoughts, manages to convey life and the world from a child's perspective, while still maintaining an adult's way of thinking. Jane is very perceptive and intelligent, and this shown when she is faced with John Reed. Her fear of him is immediately appears when he interrupts her peace while she is reading, and she states how she "trembled at the idea of being dragged forth" by him. As the readers, we are shown how she must have been treated in such a way that she has become fearful of her own cousins. Moreover, when John tells Jane to refer to him as 'Master', we are shown how socially inferior and insignificant she is to them, and is constantly being reminded of this. Right from the beginning of the novel Jane's sense of loneliness and isolation is evident form the way she hides herself behind thick curtains in a deserted room, neglected by her cousins and aunt. The description of John Reed given to us by Jane is extremely visual and detailed and we are shown that, although of a young age, Jane is very sensitive, alert and prudent of people and the world around her. Mrs Reed, while remaining a minor character, becomes one of the most influential people in Jane Eyre's life, although still not

The Normality of my Family Essay -- Essays Papers

The Normality of my Family According to The American Heritage Dictionary the word normal means â€Å"conforming with, adhering to, or constituting a norm, standard, pattern, level or type; typical.†However, in the culture we live in, these standards, patterns, levels, and types vary drastically. What is considered normal in one region, state, city, neighborhood, or even household maybe completely different in another. As Americans we share many traditions, customs, values and views, and at the same time, we all live very differently; that is what makes this nation so great. Most people seem to consider their own lifestyle, to be perfectly normal, even if it is nothing like that of someone else. So if we all live so differently, what is normal and who defines it? I was brought up in the town of Smallville, USA. Smallville is the kind of place were almost everyone knows each other, and familiar faces are always everywhere. Friday night football games are about the most exciting thing to happen all week. There is only one grocery store, a few stop lights, and all two lane roads, many of which are dirt.To me, this is completely normal, but that is because it is what I am used to. Until now, it was all I had ever known. I had lived in Ortonville all my life. A few days ago my ‘city slicker’ room mate and I were out running around.We were not far from my hometown so we decided to make a slight detour so she could see where I was from. We drove through the tiny downtown of Ortonville, past my High School, and by my house. She was amazed. To her, it was like being up north!She even compared it to being like â€Å"her Grandparents cottage in the upper peninsula.†She kept cracking jokes about cows out numbering people and such.We b oth got a... ...ir relationship as normal. In way they kind of reminds me of Tammy, from People Like Us. Tammy put her families relationship on the line at times so that she could provide for them. Sometimes I feel that way about my parents. I get the feeling that they think that providing us with a nice house, new cars, and fancy furniture is more important than their happiness. I would love to see my parents do things like go on dates, cuddle, and even just talk about things other than business. To answer my own question, what is normal and who defines it, I would just like to say that normality is something that everyone defines for themselves. We all have different views on what is normal. Normality is just what you know, what you were brought up with, what you are used to. It is everything and anything you want it to be, and that is why it is such a wonderful thing.

Human Capital Management Essay

â€Å"It is important for HR Management in managing the knowledge capital of an organization and aligning it with organization’s strategic plan†. Critically assess the strategic role of HCM and challenges of managing the knowledge capital in an organization that you are familiar. The organization that I would like to choose is Jabatan Pelajaran Negeri Terengganu (JPNT). JPNT consists of more than 400 workforce and this agency is responsible for administrative and policy executioner of Ministry of Education in the whole Terengganu. In JPNT, there is a small unit of Human Resource Department and this department has 20 staffs. However, until the last day of my service there, the HR department did not establish any single policy about human capital management. Therefore I will attempt to answer this question while recommending what should be done by JPNT to succeed in maximizing their human capital. Before we discuss further the strategic role of HCM and challenges that had to be overcome by HCM specialist, let us look at the technical definition of this question. Knowledge capital is defined by Business Dictionary as the â€Å"know how† that results from the experience, information, knowledge, learning, and skills of the employees of an organization. Of all the factors of production, knowledge capital creates the longest lasting competitive advantage. It may consist entirely of technical information or may reside in the actual experience or skills acquired by the individuals (BusinessDictionary. com 2012) . Knowledge capital is an essential component of human capital. Human Capital is defined by (Baron and Armstrong 2007) as the knowledge, skills, abilities and capacity to develop and innovate possessed by people in the organization. This is one of the attributes of the intellectual capital. Intellectual capital is defined by the same author as the stocks and flows of knowledge available to an organization. It is categorized into three categories namely human capital, social capital and organizational capital. These capitals are usually combined with the physical resources which are the financial and physical assets for the purpose of value creation to the firm. As cited by (Sveiby 1998)Tom Stewart who in his June 1991 article Brain Power – How Intellectual Capital Is Becoming America’s Most Valuable Asset, proposed the importance of intellectual capital to the management agenda. He defined intellectual capital in his article as: the sum of everything everybody in your company knows that gives you a competitive edge in the market place. Knowledge Management consists of managerial activities that focus on the development and control of knowledge in an organization to fulfill organizational objectives. (Sveiby 1998) Therefore it means that the integration of all management activities that focus on development and control of knowledge is what we call as knowledge management. Challenges of managing knowledge capital in JPNT will be diffused together as I explained about the role of HCM in the organization. Knowledge management is defined as the process of storing and sharing the wisdom, understanding and expertise accumulated in an organization about its processes, techniques and operations (Baron and Armstrong 2007). Therefore, the data that should be synthesized and acquired should explain the organization’s activity for instance the achievement of the employees in knowledge sharing among them and ensure that the knowledge is maximized in terms of its usage. Everybody must share their skill, knowledge and experience without any malicious intentions for the purpose of maximizing the performance of JPNT. However, it brings challenges to HR specialist in JPNT as it is not a culture of sharing. Some of the staffs afraid to share their know how because they thought that by doing so, it might jeopardized their career envelopment in the future. HR specialist overcomes this by implementing a fair assessment indicator to measure their performance without favoritism, nepotism and biasness. In my opinion, the most important attributes that distinguish Human Resource (HR) with Human Capital Management is the element of the workers as assets. As discussed by (Baron and Armstrong 2007) human capital theory emphasized on regarding people as assets of the organization, and investment in people will generate long run return. Scarborough and Elias noted that human capital theory is similar to physical capital theory but they differ in terms of the reference for human capital theory is made to people and skills while in physical capital theory reference is made to plant and equipments. Both emphasized on value creations to firm. Thus by applying this theory, JPNT needs to redefine the cost associated with training and development and career progression as the investment that will create value for the agency. Staff that undergoes training must be ensured that the new skills matched with their job description and the staff is using that new knowledge in order to effectively execute their job. For instance, the weekly training is not supposed to be done by the JPNT if on the purpose of fulfilling the quotas of training hours. Remuneration is not under JPNT’s jurisdictions however JPNT can recommend the salary of their staff to PSD (Public Service Department). Accepting staff as the asset of the organization will be mutually benefit to both parties involved. On the employee’s part, they will be feeling more motivated, appreciated thus will contribute better in their performances. As for the organization, it will boost the overall organization’s performance, decrease turnover rate, absenteeism and other negative behavior of the staffs. However this theory is not agreed by some scholar for instance Davenport(1999). Davenport argued that worker must not be treated as assets because of three main reasons. The first reason is workers cannot be brought, sold and replaced by their owner. Secondly, the principle of this theory is unacceptable and inappropriate in practice is because workers cannot be owned by the firm as the firm owned plants and machines. Lastly, there is not absolute way of calculating human value-no convincing method of attaching financial value to human resources. Therefore, treating workers sorely based on assets can create drawback to the organization. The interpretation of this concept should be made carefully and it should match with the objective of the organization. It is also not an easy task to convince the top management since the culture of bureaucracy is very strong in JPNT. The next part, I will discuss about the strategic role of HCM. HCM’s role as stated in the book Human Capital Management by Baron and Armstrong, HCM acts as business partner of the firm. Secondly, they are also responsible in developing, analyzing and using business data. Thirdly, they are also responsible for enhancing job engagement and commitment, fourthly, they are responsible to build ‘Business Case’ and lastly, they are also responsible for engaging with the other function of the organization. (Baron and Armstrong 2007)These points will be elaborated one by one in below. For the first one HCM acts as the business partner with the top management of the organization. This concept was introduced by Ulrich in 1998 where the author proposed that HR specialist should be share responsibility with management people to run the business. They must have the ability to understand and exploit opportunities and HR specialist themselves must understand how their role could help in achieving the objective of the organizations. Ulrich suggested that in order for the organization to create value, HR professionals must carry out their responsibility as strategic partners, administrative experts, employees’ advocates and as driver of changes. This can be done through strategy execution, improved planning by thorough discussion on how the firm should be organized to carry out the strategies. HR engagement with operating and marketing function is essentials in ensuring that all of their initiatives will become successful by answering the following issues- whether the initiatives is best aligned with strategy implementations, they make selection based on priority, and lastly the evaluations of the initiatives should be indicate positive linkage to business result. HR specialist must act as employee advocate, human capital developer, functional expert, strategic partner and lastly as leader in terms of HR function. However, the premise â€Å"HCM act as business partner† did not agreed by all practitioners. Tim Miller and Alex Wilson reported by Smethurst(2005) and Pickard(2005) are the examples of the top management who disagree with this premise. Convincing the top management will not going to be easy. Still HCM emphasized on the importance of evaluation of what had been happen within the organization and it also provides basis for value adding strategist. Therefore, according to this theory, HCM in this case the HR specialist in the human resource department should work together with the top management of JPNT in ensuring the creation of value to the firm. The value that we meant here is creating competitive human capital that at the end of the day this human capital will be able to serve successfully to their customers thus deliver excellence business service for the organizations. Secondly, HR is responsible to develop, analyze and use human capital data. The measurements that must be developed by HR should be able to measure issues relating to workforce, capable of measuring the levels and trends in performance achieved by both individual and business, can measure the impact of HR policies and practices on business performance or what Mercer HR Consulting called as â€Å"Business Impact Modeling†. It is also expected that HR should be able in building an effective measurement to measure the effectiveness of line manager in applying HR policies and the measurement tools should be able to measure the effectiveness of HR function (Baron and Armstrong 2007). The workforce matrix should provide data which allows the business to measure the key characteristics of the people it employs. Understanding the relationship between workforce matrix and people management is very important because the workforce matrix focus on the influences business performance and show the business of what need to be done to improved the added value from human capital resources. Therefore, HR cannot simply gain data without proper implementations of specific procedures and standards because gaining accurate data will never be easy. The data accuracy will show the current situation and trends of human capital within the organizations. In JPNT, the typical tool to measure the human capital is Key Performance Indicator (KPI) in human resource department reflect the organizational goal. They matched the number of training and types of training according to the need of the staff. Therefore KPI’s adopt by Human Resource department is quantifiable; they are defined in terms of the feedback that they gain through exit training survey. This KPI however is not emphasized on skills retention that the staff gained on the training. They are not focus workers as the assets of an organization; therefore, I think there are a lot of improvement needs to be carried out to improve this measurement method. Next, is on the aspect of measuring the overall performance. Human Resource department use Balance Score Card that is developed by Beatty et. Al (2005) to measure them. Balance Score Card highlighted four important aspects which are customer perspectives, internal perspectives, innovations and learning perspectives and lastly the financial perspectives. This scorecard focuses on balanced representation and analysis of data. In HR, four dimensions are being highlighted which are HR competencies, its practices, systems and deliverables. On the aspect of financial performance, the HR department always runs cost benefit analysis to choose the best trainer to train their staff or just simply using the internal sources that they have. Productivity is measure when the training course that undergo by the staff is beneficial and the new knowledge are continuously used by the staff. The operational impact or effectiveness is measure for instance creation of successful training course to the staff and when the staff perceived such programs contribute to their career developments. Lastly, is in terms of customer service. Through continuous training programs, the staffs become more skillful in treating the customers thus more of them will be delighted. Measuring the impact of HR policies and practices are one of the toughest roles of HR specialist. This is because it is hard to determine â€Å"causation†-what actions or factors that are specially cause the performance (Baron and Armstrong 2007). Genome II is a model that was developed by National Building Society proved statistically that the more committed the employee, the happier the customer will. Genome project had focus on recruitment and retention, deeper understanding of the commitment of the employees, reward system that is more transparent and flexible, increase the effectiveness of the execution on the first line management, promotes recognitions, and develop a culture where both managers and their subordinates demonstrate right behaviors. Focus area of GenomeII could act as a benchmark to be applied in JPNT. Effectiveness of the line manager could be improved with the intervention HCM (Bohlander and Snell 2010). Guidance, help and further training is available in case where they need them. With this, it was hoped that line managers can carry out their people management responsibilities effectively. For instance if the line manager of JPNT encounter any unsolved problem or the problem is not routine, they can always refers to HCM specialist to guide them. Human resource should be measure to indicate whether they are executing their role and meet the target of their department. Tsui and Gomez-Mejia (1998) cited in (Baron and Armstrong 2007) had clarified the distinction between process criteria- how well things are done and output criteria- the effectiveness of the end result. To distinguish them, ‘utility approach’ by Boudreau(1998) can be applied. Beside this approach, HR performances can also be measured using points suggested by Likierman (2005) that the budget allocation is in line with HR objectives- means HR has a say in changes in implementing the strategy, analyze and interpret the reason behind it, comparing internal and external benchmarking, enhance the usage face to face discussion to gain the feedback, and lastly the measurement should not expect to measure something that is impossible, and they should be noted that many problems just being mitigated, instead of being solved, and this is harmful to the JPNT. Another important role of HCM is in the terms of promoting job engagement and commitment. Job engagement happens when people are willing to commit to their work and willing to perform excellently in their job. Hay Group defined engage performance as a result that is stimulated by employee’s enthusiasm for their work and direct it to the success of the organizations. On the other hand, organizational commitment is defined as the recognition of goals and values of the organization, a sense of belonging to the organization and willingness to contribute effort for the organization (Baron and Armstrong 2007). Organization commitment and job engagement can be created by JPNT if JPNT set a great place to work, HR people promotes positive discretionary behavior, create excellence total reward policy and constantly measure job engagement and commitments. JPNT should provide conductive working environment- comfortable in nature, ergonomics, make sure that the job prospect is parallel with training, appraisal, and the superior staff should take care of the welfare of their subordinates. JPNT can adopt the criteria suggested by The Sunday Times in identifying the best 100 companies which are leadership of senior management level, good relation with their superiors, have the opportunities of personal growth and developments, balanced work-life issues, cooperativeness between colleagues, my company- the way JPNT treats its staff and lastly the fair deal- pay and benefits are provided to all, without nepotism and biasness. The superior should also act in discretion manner; it means that not everything must be solved black and white. For instance, if one of the subordinates absent for their work with a concrete reason, the superior should not punish he or her. Reward is categorized into two which are transactional reward (tangible reward-the pay and benefits) and relational reward (intangible reward-learning and development and work environment). That is the responsibility of HR to create the best reward model that can motivate their employees in the future. The tangible reward is easily to be copied by the competitors as everyone have the capability to pay and gives benefit for instance dental plan, but the intangible reward it harder to be imitated thus increase the chances of sustaining the firm’s competitive advantages. Next, another role for HR professionals is as strategist. Strategist here means HR professional should be able to address long term issues related to management and development of people and the employment relationships. This role is clearly demonstrated when HR professional are being regarded as business partner- they have the persuasion power to influence the top managers to develop business strategies that are maximizing the potential of human capital. (Baron and Armstrong 2007) As we discussed earlier, people are the assets of the organizations, thus they are one of the resource to achieve and sustain competitive advantage of JPNT HCM is also responsible to develop a good business case. Baron and Armstrong 2007) As I discussed previously, HR specialist should be able to persuade top management, a good business case can act as one of the convincing evidences on why the top management should agree to HR specialist’s proposals. The case should show how the purposed course will add value in terms of income will exceed the cost or by executing the proposal, it will yield positive return on investments (Bohlander and Snell 2010). The business case should present on how the available human capital data will impact on key areas of organization’s operation, show how it will the proposal will increase the business competitive edge, or presenting a successful pilot projects to be implemented to the entire organization, the proposal can be implemented without much hassles, it will also able to enhance the employer’s brand by promoting JPNT as the best place to work and lastly the points, data are presented in neat manner, simple and easy to understand. Challenges for managing knowledge are knowledge acquisition, knowledge modeling, knowledge retrieval, knowledge reuse and knowledge maintenance. In JPNT it is hard to get the information needed and turn the information to become useable. For instance, it is hard to transform the tacit knowledge to become explicit knowledge, to identify the gaps in knowledge, and difficult to acquire and integrate the knowledge that is cross departmental and different expertise. Therefore, it is important for the HR specialist in JPNT to be able to create an approach that is able to integrate all knowledge in the organization so that it can be benefited to all. On the top of that, knowledge modeling is also can be another obstacle for HR specialist in managing knowledge capital in the organization. The challenge that is faced by JPNT HR specialist is how to use the knowledge available in solving problems because knowledge possessed by staffs are varies from one another (Bhojaraju 2005). To overcome this, HR departments had introduce mentor and protege program. As a conclusion, the roles that are played by HCM are indeed complex and requires HR specialists to be able to multitasking, possessed multidisciplinary of knowledge and wide range of skills to execute their roles perfectly thus enable them to overcome the challenges of managing knowledge capital in JPNT. Top managements should also give full cooperation in favor of HCM so that the utilization of knowledge capital in JPNT could be maximized.

The Period in American History from 1781 to 1789

The period in American History from 1781 to 1789, when the United States was organized under the Articles of Confederation, was not characterized by a strong and effective government, but instead provided the framework upon which a more effective government could be built. The Articles of Confederation, since they prevented a strong central government from having power over states' rights, tended to create problems for a government that wished to rule with any amount of authority.This was particularly evident in the areas of foreign relations, internal discontent over tariffs, and political party struggles. While the United States was attempting to establish itself in diplomatic affairs, this became increasingly difficult to do since the federal government had little power when it came to tariffs and import duties, and also because it had no way of enforcing any agreement which it made with other countries. John Jay's Treaty with Great Britain proposed measures which would improve re lations between Great Britain and the U.S. , but because the U. S. was not a strong military power, it lacked the means to enforce the agreements of Jay's Treaty. A similar type of situation occurred when the U. S. tried to negotiate with Spain over the right to navigate on the Mississippi River. Because of the weakness of the government under the Articles of Confederation, the United States did not reach a peaceful settlement concerning the Mississippi River until the Pinckney Treaty of the 1790's.Political party struggles (or struggles between the beginnings of political parties) also tended to bring about disunity in the early government, thereby weakening its effectiveness. Rawlin Lowndes reflected the attitudes of the pre-Constitutional era in his speech to the South Carolina House of Representatives, when he stated that, rather than tear down the existing government and adopt a constitution, attempts should be made to improve the existing structure.Further conflicts over the n ature of the Constitution occurred between federalists, who supported a Constitution with provisions for a strong central government, and anti-federalists, who favored supremacy of states' rights. These conflicts added to the existing troubles of the government under the Articles of Confederation, thus making it even more difficult to rule effectively. Internal problems also existed in the area of land distribution, although these were solved fairly effectively by the Land Ordinance of 1785 and the Northwest Ordinance of 1787.The manner in which new lands acquired from Great Britain had been redistributed also caused an increase in the faith of the government between 1781 and 1789. However, internal struggles continued to exist. Tariffs that were passed between states caused internal friction for the new country and the lack of a unified monetary system brought additional problems. Since the government under the Articles was not given power to set up a sound currency system, or to e stablish a national bank, even greater disorganization prevailed.The founding fathers realized this need for a stronger central government and eventually organized at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia to discuss the problem. Although they recognized the present government's weaknesses, they also saw that the basic structure of it was based on a sound principle and should not be done away with completely. Although problems continued to exist over questions like whether to have a national bank, the Founding Fathers eventually agreed that a Constitution and a strong central government would be needed if the government of the U. S. was to rule effectively.