Author: chris

Mental Health Superior Court Paper

In this case, the young man had been hospitalist just two days back with psychosis and homicidal ideation. Psychosis refers to mental disorder which has direct effects on feelings and behavior. Sometimes, the psychosis patients may not actually realize that they are suffering since the symptoms include disorganized thoughts and speeches making them believe in themselves only. Homicidal ideation on the other hand results from other illnesses like psychosis and delirium, and it involves accumulated ideas and plans for ravage though the real revenge may not take place. Therefore, the young man’s psychosis illness had led to homicidal ideation which requires full treatment in accordance to the doctor’s schedule for recovery or else, the treatment may not be effective.

In this case, the doctor played a legal ethical role of protecting patients’ rights by first indicating that the young man still needed treatment after only two days of admission. He also explained the symptoms which directly matched the acute psychosis the young man was diagnosed with. Prodromal phase is the first stage of psychosis which is not easily recognized since the behavioral changes are not magnificent. The second stage of psychosis is acute psychosis where the actual sign and symptoms are clearly evident. These symptoms include positive and negative symptoms. Positive symptoms include; Delusions, which are false believes like someone is being followed or monitored, being plotted against, that one has unique abilities or even believing that other people are on full controlling. Hallucinations are other positive symptoms where someone hears, tests and even smell unreal things. Disorganized speech or behavior is also involved where someone acts the opposite of real expectation. The negative symptoms involve negative attitudes, suicidal behaviors, anxiety and depression, substance abuse and little display of emotions among others.

Prior to the doctor’s explanations which directly linked to the young man’s behavior, it was clear that he actually suffered psychosis and homicidal ideation. In addition, the doctor noted that the young man was positively responding to the antipsychotic treatment, which implied a positive progress in curing the illness. Since relapse took place the day before court, it implied that the young man behaved similarly to the initial symptoms which could further be interpreted that, he was not recovered but at the recovery stage thus prompting the doctors to decide his more hospitalization days for a full recovery. The patient’s father was also scared, a condition which would worsen if the patient was released without having fully recovered. The father has the legal right of choosing the healthcare of preference as a patient’s family, which has more concern on the family security.

Even though the patient seemed more euphoric than hostile, it did not imply he was well since that is one of the positive symptoms of disorganized behavior. This was acting on the opposite of everyone’s expectation in court, in addition to his response to the judge’s question of why he got angry. He said he got angry because his father and other family members maddened him, a real indication of a positive psychosis symptom of delusions which are false believes. On considering the evidence in court, the court had to discuss on the maximum hold days in hospital including the involuntary medicate to the client, which would ensure full recovery of the patient from psychosis and homicidal ideation.

Competing, Accommodating and Collaborating

The choice of style is dependent on the values of a society in which the business exists. For example, a collectivist society values harmony and strengthening social relationships where these values always take precedence over the completion of tasks and personal desires. In such a society, the efforts of individual businesses are meant to serve a collective good. On the other hand, in individualistic societies, the values are: assertiveness, individual achievement, autonomy and competition (Tjosvold, Leung & Johnson, 2000). Here, personal achievements and satisfaction are the primary objectives.

Competing is a style where the needs of the business come first over the needs of others. The major tenet of this style is aggressive communication. The aim of being aggressive is so that the other party’s interests seem subordinate to those the business in question. One of the most effective ways of being overly assertive is the use of threats. This underhand technique has been found to be very effective and it involves extensive research into the competing business’ ways of conducting business and history to establish areas where it might be vulnerable to blackmail. The competing style of negotiation is the least diplomatic of all other styles (Gates, 2011). This is because the business in question has very low regard of the other party’s interests. In most cases, this type of style is used where the business must win as a last result. This entails situations where the business must come first in order for it to survive or to get ahead of the competition.

Accommodating on the other hand is the complete opposite of competing. Here, the individual business’ interests are secondary to those of others. Diplomacy is key in this style as the business yields to the needs of others. Accommodating style values relationships with other businesses thus making a point of ensuring that competing interests do not drive a wedge between them. In avoiding conflicts that might damage the relationship between two parties, one party decides to yield on principle so that the other can gain. In most cases accommodating occurs where an individual business exists within a given group with mutual benefits accruing. Here, the business will be asked to allow another to capitalize a given situation with the expectation that a future opportunity will be accorded to it. For as long as the business is in the group, its particular interests are balanced with those of others to ensure that there is equity and guaranteed survival or profitability for each.

Collaborating entails pooling the needs and goals of individual businesses towards a unified goal. This negotiation style is often referred to as the win-win problem-solving style. This is because neither party in the negotiation comes out ahead of the other. There is an extensive give-and-take exchange in this style where a better solution for all parties is envisaged and where individual solutions would not suffice (Shell, 2006). The basic principle here is building consensus. The needs of all parties in the conflict are integrated and the negotiators consider exceeding the budget of possibilities that is usually at the centre of such conflict. New ideas, energy and time are the basic ingredients in the resolution of disputes. Collaboration is similar to both competing and accommodating styles to a certain extent since it is an amalgam of the two. For it to be successful, negotiating parties must strike a balance between assertiveness and cooperativeness. Communication must be tempered so that neither party irks the other or is too hostile curtailing the negotiation process.

All these negotiation styles infer some sort of control for the desired outcome to be achieved. Competing is pegged on having maximum control of the negotiation process. Businesses that are competing are sometimes driven by the fear that the loss of control will result in outcomes that may not be favorable to them. The desire to exercise maximum control in a negotiation may lead to different outcomes depending on the requirements of the other party in the negotiation. If the other party is accommodating, then the competing party achieves its desired results with minimum fuss. However, where there are two competing interests, the resolution of the conflict might take a lot of time or might end up with other undesired consequences. Therefore, a business that is seeking to establish a favorable negotiation style for its conflicts must first decide what it values most. The choice is usually between the relationship with the competing party or the favorable outcome. Where both parties have competing interests, with assertiveness leading to a favorable result for one meaning that the other leaves empty handed, the relationship between the two parties will inevitably deteriorate. However, where the other party is accommodating, then achievement of the desired result is at no damage to the relationship.

A business must always decide what its priorities are in every negotiation. In some instances, the opportunities that it is competing for might be secondary to having a good relationship with the competing party. Where the business deems the concerns of the other party as being more important than its own or where the balance between a favorable outcome and a health relationship tips in favor of the relationship, then it is best to cede ground to the other party and yield. Accommodating is a very misunderstood concept as many businesses view it as losing at the expense of others. Contrary to this opinion, accommodating is a strategy that if well executed lays the ground for more opportunities in the future. This is because this action leads to the establishment of a mutual relationship between the two parties which lead to the yielded party considering the other party’s interest over its own in future engagements. Additionally, businesses should be tactical enough to realize that ceding ground in one scenario in order to capitalize on an even bigger one immensely benefits them. Consider a scenario where two businesses are competing for a sizeable contract; but where one business has additional information that a better contract is in the offing once the present one is finalized. The negotiating parties will both be assertive in order to get the contract. However, the business with the additional information will tactfully yield to the pressure of the other business with the full knowledge of a better contract soon to be offered. When the new opportunity arises, the business that got the first contract will be so embroiled into it such that it will not have an interest in the new contract. Thus, accommodating leads to an advantage if tactfully employed.

Perhaps the most widely used negotiation style is collaborating. This ensures that the status quo is maintained as neither business comes out ahead of the other. This process is the most gruesome as a consensus must be arrived at; where both parties in the negotiation feel comfortable. This is because individual interests and needs must be coalesced into a unified interest and goal that is mutually beneficial to both parties. Collaborating is difficult since the result must be a win-win for both parties and not as simple as one taking all at the expense of the other as is the outcome in the other two.

Conflict management stems from the realization that the existence of conflicts is a natural phenomenon in the course of doing business (Hofstede, 1980). The choice of conflict management style is made depending on a dual-concern model where a business considers its own interests or the interests of others. The two concerns are either being assertive or cooperative. Assertiveness is the level to which a business seeks to satisfy its own concerns whereas cooperativeness seeks to measure the level to which a business considers the concerns of others. The result in a hypothetical situation always amounts to sharing a cake that is at 100%. Maximum assertiveness for a business is attained when the business gets 100% of the cake, whereas maximum cooperativeness is when the business gets 0% of the cake with the 100% going to a competing interest. The former scenario falls under the competing conflict management style where there is high concern for self and low concern for other while the latter is under accommodating conflict management style where there is low concern for self and high concern for others. Collaborating is a when there is high concern for both self and others meaning that the hypothetical cake is shared on a 50-50 basis.

 

References

Gates, S. (2011). The Negotiation Book. United Kingdom: A John Wiley & Sons Ltd, Publication.

Hofstede, G. (1980). Culture’s Consequences: International Differences in Work-Related Values. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.

Shell, R.G. (2006). Bargaining for advantage. New York, NY: Penguin Books

Tjosvold, D., Leung, K. & Johnson, D. (2000). Cooperative and competitive conflict in China. In M. Deutsch & P. T. Coleman (Eds.), Handbook of Conflict Resolution: Theory and Practice (pp. 475-495). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass Publishers.

Security Supervision and Management Theory

1. Criteria of selecting a successful security officer firm

As a Security Director in fast growing company, the most effective criteria for selecting a security company is through setting out realistic qualifications and recruitment process. Detailed interviews and exclusive research will be a fundamental step towards making the appropriate choice. A verifiable certification is one of the mandatory qualifications for a successful security firm to manage the security affairs in a fast growing company. The presentation of the relevant registration documents will be useful in demonstrating the competence of a security firm (Davies and Christopher 71). Certification details will also be of the essence in assisting the Security Director in understanding the credibility of the security company employees. The verification of registration certificates will as well serve a critical role in helping Security Director understand the professional qualification of security firm employees. Strong organisation skills will be a mandatory requirement for a winning Security Company. The security company must demonstrate its ability to facilitate maximum protection in a developing organisation. A company should also exhibit its ability to fulfil all the security needs.

The need and desire for long-term relationship will be an additional advantage for the preferred security company. A firm that has an interest in offering long term services need to be considered for the offer as opposed to an organisation that will be interested in offering short term services. The desire for long-term relationship will be an indicator of the organisation stability and commitment towards offering high quality services. Segment-specific skills and knowledge will be an additional advantage for a preferred company. A good security firm should be acquainted with the business security needs and the most effective mean of facilitating the organisation security needs.

1. Challenge faced by modern Corporate Security Directors

The main challenge that faces Corporate Security Director is balancing between motivation services to security professionals and helping a company attains its intended profit. Normally, it is the duty of Corporate Security Director to help the security firm improve its profitability. Similarly, it is the responsibility of the Corporate Security Director to ensure that security professionals are motivated towards offering high quality services. Recent studies affirm that well motivated security officers are committed towards facilitating quality services as opposed to less motivated professionals. In some situations, security officers demand unrealistic motivations initiatives that can compromise organisation’s profitability. Therefore, despite offering better enumerations to security officers, Corporate Security Director encounters a serious challenge of ensuring that the security firm attains its projected profit objectives.

1. Actions of reducing risk of dramatic workplace violence

To reduce the risk of dramatic and continuous workplace violence, organisation’s managers need to adoption disciplinary measures that will sanction the involved actors. The adoption of severe sanctions against dramatic workforce will discourage workers from engaging in destructive acts within an organisation. Taking legal action against the individual involved in workplace violence will also minimise destruction of properties in a company.

To zero rates the cases of destruction of business properties, the organisation’s manager should ensure that every employee understands the legal actions subjected to professionals who engage in workplace violence. Training and education programs on the side effects of engaging in workplace violence will as well play a critical role in reducing unnecessary destruction of properties in the work place. Continuous seminars on the most effective means of solving emerging conflict in the workplace will be of the essence in reducing unnecessary conflict.  The adoption of reliable and appropriate communication mechanism can be a critical step towards dealing with the ever-increasing cases of workplace violence. The adoption of a reliable communication mechanism will offer an opportunity for employees to present their dissatisfaction at the most appropriate time. Effective and continuous interaction in an organisation will also aid in the adoption of quick and satisfying means of solving organisation challenges (Davies and Christopher 71)

1. How to motivate security officers in the  modern environment

Continuous communication with security officers is a vital mechanism of improving employees’ motivation. Communication helps employees understand the9r role and value in an organisation.  Through the adoption of reliable interaction mechanisms, employees get an opportunity of presenting their grievances and concerns. Communication will also make security officers feel comfortable in their work. Rewarding outstanding performer will help in improving the morale of employees. Employees’ rewards can be either intrinsic or extrinsic. Intrinsic rewards involve simple gratitude and recognition while extrinsic rewards include additional pay and promotion.

The involvement of security officers in the decision-making process can be useful in improving employees’ morale. Instead of making organisation decision in boardroom meeting, systematic involvement of all actors will be useful in advancing the morale of all actors. The involvement of security officers will also be supportive in identifying potential managerial talents. Offering training among security officers is a vital initiative towards improving their morale.  In most instances, employees want to have professional advancement in their workplaces. Therefore, an initiative that will help employees learn new experiences and skills will help security officers in taking an active role in an organisation.

1. Conducting security assessment risks

With an aim of conducting a comprehensive security risk assessment, Corporate Security Director needs to use modern technology to inform and assemble the assessment team. The security assessment team should involve top security officers and few junior officers. The organisation top officials also need to be involved in the process. A comprehensive security risk assessment should be an indoor affair. The use of indoor assessment mechanism will be vital in minimising the anxiety brought about by external experts. The assessment will aim at examining the effectiveness of the policies put in place to address security issues in the organisation. The assessment will also aim at understanding the security officers’ morale and commitment towards their work.

The most effective technique and methodology of conducting accurate comprehensive security risk assessment are direct observation.  Interview will also be useful in understanding employees’ perception on the laid down security policies in the organisation. After the assessment, the collected facts can be presented through complying a comprehensive security report. The report should include the assessment findings and recommendations for further action. The report should be reported directed to the organisation stakeholders

1. The most effective means of dealing with terrorist activities

The organisation of international seminars and conferences on the impacts of terrorism is a waste of time in the fight against terrorism. In most instances, involved actors do not implement the recommendations for international conferences efficiently. So far, strategy that target in a specific religion group has not produced the required outcome. The use of excessive force has as well proved ineffective in the fight against the threatening terrorism attacks.  Using excessive forces largely affect innocent people in the society.

To avoid being the target of terrorist attack, organisation needs to use modern technology in protecting terrorism attacks. Educating community members on the dangers associated with engaging in terrorism attacks can play a critical role in reducing terrorism n cases. Finally, the adopting of reliable strategies that will incorporate the ideas of all actors will be helpful in dealing with modern threatening security infection. The involvement of community members and the adoption of modern security means will reduce unnecessary discrimination in the fight against terrorism activities

Work cited

Davies, Sandi and Christopher  Hertig. Security Supervision and Management: The      Theory and Practice of Asset Protection. Amsterdam: Butterworth-         Heinemann/Elsevier, 2008. Print

 

International Marketing Strategy Report

Introduction

In the book “International Marketing Strategy: Analysis, development and implementation” by Isobel Doole and Robin Lowe, it is stated that the Chartered Institute of Marketing describes marketing as a management process that deals with the identification, targeting, segmentation and positioning of its products with in the market for the sole purpose of satisfying the customers. In return the company enjoys profits thus marketing entails focusing on the specific needs of the consumers, identification of methods to satisfy the needs and orienting the company towards gaining production efficiency. International marketing further entails the marketing manager identifying the various levels in which marketing can be approached and furthermore, ascertaining the uncontrollable elements underplaying the international environments. Thus international marketing requires strategies so as to deliver and satisfy the specific needs of the consumers (Zhang, 2010). In analyzing these strategies, Huawei provides the appropriate case scenario representing an international company operating in Eastern Europe. The main country in focus is Russia.

Description of Huawei Technologies Company

Huawei Technologies Company Limited is an international corporation whose parent production processes are conducted in China. The company specializes in designing, production and distribution of telecommunication equipment, services as well as networking. Huawei has its headquarters at the Shenzhen area of Guangdong. Huawei overtook Ericsson and became the best producer of telecommunication equipment and facilities around the world in the year 2012. Reflecting back on the history of the company, it was founded in the 1987 by Ren Zhengfei with the aim of developing telecommunication networks. Among the other roles for which the company was formed include the provision of consultancy services, providing operational equipment’s which satisfy the FCC electronic requirements. The scope of its operations were to be initiated in China but later on move into the global sphere. Currently the company boasts of 140,000 employees. Of these number, 46% work for its research and development departments abbreviated as R&D. By so doing the company has managed to diversify its international market share which has led to an increase profitability. These strategies have seen the company operate in 140 countries across the world. Additionally, the company has been contracted by more than 50 leading telecom companies (Doole & Lowe 2013).

Question One: SWOT Analysis

The macro, micro and external environment influences on the marketing strategies selected by Huawei in Russia can then be analyzed using the SWOT analysis. After gaining ground in the Chinese market through the Hutchison Technologies, Huawei decided to venture into the international markets in 1996, Huawei contracted the Beto Corporation to produce switches for the Russian market (Marilyn & Judy, 2010). The experimental stage was marked with a lot of success that the company experienced a 12% increase in its profitability index. The management thus identified the hidden potential of the market after which it strategized on how to take-over the market. SWOT analysis represents an integrative matrix which analyses Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. Strengths are made up of internal factors that determine the efficacy of a firm’s performance. One of the strength in Huawei products is their innovativeness. In terms of functionality, the hardware systems embedded in the networking equipment are powerful making it to have high transmission speeds.

The incorporation of new production processes through the implementation of total quality management was a boost to the value chain which has helped in the institutionalization of quality production techniques in the Russian market. Additionally, Huawei has been loyal to the research and development department which has led to the innovative redesigning of their networking equipment. Weaknesses refer to limitations that work against a business making it vulnerable to adverse competition. Weaknesses originate from internal factors and can be very harmful to a business if not taken care of. On the part of Huawei, even though the telecommunication and networking equipment have admirable features and potential for growth in the Russian market, their gadgets are sold at a much higher price than its competitors. The high pricing might have originated from the value chain process but affordability is the first thing often considered by customers because consumers may be willing to own these devices but if the prices are high then sales are lost. Besides, the Huawei’s supply chain in Russia has not been perfect, insufficient supply is a very big problem especially when demand exceeds supply (Ireland, 2010).

The introduction of the Huawei Value Growth Solution has translated into numerous competitive advantages which has accrued towards internal efficiencies and strength. The Huawei Value Growth Solution abbreviated as VGS was developed as a monetization engine whose end result has been increased profitability and efficiency for the company (Wang, 2010). This new product feature complements the terminal and network infrastructure set up by Huawei Company to facilitate the dissemination of mobile broadband in Russia. This is because the VGS incorporates a stand-alone DPI which has been associated with bandwidth management, policy control and optimization of content delivery. This added to the efficiency of the company by topping up their main servers to a total of 30 including MTS, Megafon, Telefonica, Cell C, Etisalat, MTN, STC and CMCC. The instalment of the Huawei VGS system therefore translates to efficiency which makes it a strength.

Opportunities are chances that if utilized not only improve performance but also increases a business profits. They are external factors hence the strategic manager has no control over them. These factors are generally classified as the macro environment. In the case of Huawei, opportunities have continuously availed themselves given the strategic marketing campaigns that have been made against competitors such as the Spanish telecommunication Telefonica, German Telecommunication DT, Vodafone, French Telecommunication and the Italian Telecommunication TI (Ariel, 2011). The second opportunity relates to a bid by the company to diversify and expand its portfolio or operations into the sale of smartphones to its customers in Russia. This is actually a globalization opportunity that will help Huawei to increase their customer base thus increasing the profitability while at the same time maximizing customer value. The third instance of opportunity has been achieved by contracting and sub-contracting companies like Cricket which is a company dealing with the carriage of networking facilities at a low cost. Furthermore Google has partnered with Huawei to produce not only phones that are branded with the Huawei logo but also, the company uses the android O.S to power the Huawei smartphones.

The focus on threats will be limited to the analysis of Huawei’s macro environment in terms of possibilities. These are the potential risks that a firm is likely to be exposed to in the external environment and cannot be influenced by the firm. At Huawei, it is acknowledged that the risk assessment and containment process is greatly dependent on the manager’s decision making skills. Though these elements are external, a business could use them to their advantage. The biggest threat facing Huawei is competition from seasoned rivals. Huawei’s main competitors in the Russian market are Spanish telecommunication Telefonica, German Telecommunication DT, Vodafone, French Telecommunication and the Italian Telecommunication TI. The second threat is the risk of exposure to foreign exchange discrepancies. There exists foreign exchange risks which have to be addressed especially for companies involved in international trade with customers outside of the free trade zone. Huawei therefore needs to be vigilant on the changes in exchange rates or alternatively leverage the company against any potential risks.

Question Two: Evaluation of the company’s product, price, promotion and distribution strategies in the Russian market.  The organizations approach to positioning in the marketplace

The factors identified in the macro environment are legal, political, technologies, cultural, economic and social factors. The micro environment is consistent of stakeholders, customers, competitors, suppliers and intermediaries. Internal environment consists of finance, employees and functional responsibilities (Manton, Donald & Courtny, 2012). Designing a marketing plan based on the type of business environment in which a business operates is the best way of penetrating international markets. After knowing the environmental factors it is easier to create a clear picture of Huawei’s rivals in the Russian market, their strengths and weaknesses which were identified by analyzing the marketing mix consistent of the 4 P’s. Most of these needs of the marketing plan were addressed by stakeholders and a board of directors without forgetting the regional marketers from Huawei branches and contractors in Russia. The aspects of pricing, product, promotion and distribution or place are summative termed as the 4P’s of the marketing mix.

The main components in the 4Ps include product, place, promotion and the price. In pricing networking equipment produced by Huawei in Russia the company’s sales and marketing department considered customers’ willingness and potential to purchase. Identification of the customer’s potential is pertinent in determining their purchasing power. The prerequisite factors considered in this context are the lifestyles of the Russians, their level of income and their willingness or propensity to spend on technologies (Steve, 2013). As a result, Huawei’s products in the Russian market are priced depending on the ability of the consumers to purchase while at the same time using a marketing model whereby customers are offered with a variety of products whose features equate to the value added. For instance most of the products are priced cheaply as compared to the competitors. As a result most of their electronic products range from $50 to $1000. Moreover, since Huawei operates as an international venture in Russia, South Africa, German, United Kingdoms among other countries, international prices are considerate of the exchange rates in these countries, the taxation policies as well as the legal political factors. Economic factors such as recession come into play during the low financial times.

Product defines the physical good that a company deals in. Huawei is a manufacturer of networking and telecommunication equipment. After its inception, Huawei’s product line have been organized around three major product segments. The Russian market enjoys products and services such as the Telecom Carrier Networks which have been strategically done by building networks to provide, transmit and disseminate telecommunication services (Hofstede 2008). The second product segment enjoyed by the Russians is Enterprise Business which entails the provision of equipment, services and software to enterprise customers. The third segment is the manufacture of devices to enhance telecommunication services. Specifically, Huawei announced its introduction of enterprise business in the Russian market in 2011. This enterprise was geared towards providing infrastructure, both wireless and fixed communication, cloud computing and data center for the Russian market. Hence, Huawei’s products include the provision of hardware and software programs for their potential groups of customers.

The partnership between Huawei and Magafon has facilitate the establishment of the Huawei Value Growth Solution (VGS) which is a in the end, the company has benefited from improved product features and services. Among the embedded product features that make Huawei more adoptable is that subscribers can now access various networks through one access point provided by Huawei. Second, is that the product can shield interfaces during networking thus fostering privacy while simultaneously encrypting the access codes. For a long time now, Huawei’s operations in Russia have been associated with smooth system upgrades which augments towards improved services and this boosts the integration of speed with device sharing the same network.

Place relates to positioning of the products to facilitate access by the customers. Positioning of products in the global markets is determined by the volume of customers in the various market segments. Huawei identified huge market opportunities in Russia thus it was the first international company where Huawei contracted its services and products. The positioning of these products was determined by the loyalty of the Russian customers. The issue of nationality among multinational firms has been a factor in the development of MNC’s in the international markets (Perlmutter, 2007). With the increasing concern that the Russian governments are forced to protect their domestic markets and industries from unfair competition. Thus it has to put in place strategies that will hinder internationalization of other firms. In the recent past, Russia has been using market protectionism strategies to prevent excessive invasion of the European market with Chinese and American firms. This has been done through increased tax rates, creation of trading blocs, enactment of embargoes and quota system among other restrictive measures.

Promotion is the process of increasing the visibility of a product. It can be done through advertising, personal selling and offering of after sale services. Given the fact that Huawei’s product line is consistent of industrial products which are issued to suppliers and contractors, the costs incurred along the supply chain are minimized by eliminating middlemen who inflate prices by increasing the costs of delivering the products to the final consumers (Kotabe & Helsen, 2008). The direct distribution system complements promotional strategies that have been facilitated by advertisements on social media as well as soft selling strategies which have been effective in gaining the loyalty of potential customers in the Russian market.  By involving themselves in promotion and marketing activities, Huawei have managed to gain sales exceeding $16 billion from the Russian market in 2012.

Question Three: Discuss some of the company’s decisions at the corporate level and identify and discuss the important factors for the company in their international market expansion. Evaluate the entry strategies and market selection.

Huawei has defined its corporate culture by incorporating a mission and objective statement that is proportionate to what the firm desires to achieve in the short term and long term. In the case of Huawei, they have incorporated a culture which values their customers above anything else. With time the corporate structure which has divided the firm into two groups where one is group is concerned with maintaining the culture of offering best services to consumers and their clients in the Russian market. The consultancy department as well as Huawei online customer care is concerned with maintaining the culture of customer service. This has been among the strengths associated with the organizational culture at Huawei.

The Ansoff Matrix presents a medium which elucidates on the four aspects of market expansion, product development, market development and diversification all of which, at one point or the other, have been used by Huawei to enhance their competitive advantage position (Quelch & Deshpande 2009). Selective pricing of telecommunication and networking equipment have been reinforced with the research and development department abbreviated as R&D. Huawei have over time achieved not only product development but also market development in the global sphere. Their provision of excellent services has been enhanced by the company’s prioritization of profitability over the size of the firm. Product development has further been influenced by continuous development of the workforce through rigorous training. Coupled with the establishment of an elaborate reward and appraisal system, the company has managed to innovate differentiate its products from its competitors. The strategy of market expansion and diversification has been aided by the company’s creation of networks which stretch out to cover subsidiary and affiliate companies.

The market expansion bid by Huawei have seen it gain access to international markets. The market entry strategies have been seconded by the unpublished journal “Internationalization and entry strategy of enterprises: A case study of Chinese firm: Huawei” by Dawei. According to the author, the decision to disintegrate the Soviet Union marked the formation of a socialist bloc which mean that Russia had to abolish the Berlin Wall so as to integrate Eastern Europe and the Asia Pacific region into the free trade area. With the unification of these regions, the European and Asia markets became integrated and dependent on each other. It is from this initiative that China has grown its relationship with Russia. Market selection and entry strategies implemented by Huawei in identifying and entering the Russian market involved cross border segmentation. This process followed the realization that the Russian market is different from the Chinese market thus the most suitable market entry strategy was the creation of regional segment (Omar, 2012). The market segmentation process was supported by the separation of the market based on market commitment and market knowledge. In this market commitment, is associated with the determination of the consumers propensity and willingness to purchase electronic products supplied by Huawei while the concept of market knowledge denotes the practice of collecting both general and specific concerning the customers for the electronic products produced by Huawei.

The aspect of product development is also seconded by the company’s decision to invest into researching and developing the Huawei VGS servers which have been tailored towards meeting ‘data explosion’. Huawei acknowledges that the 21 century is an information age thus there is a lot of sharing of information and data. As a result, the company has funded R&D initiatives in Russia which augments towards attaining three major market objectives. The first objective is improving revenues by use of differentiated packages which are segmented to suit various market segments. These improvements have been implemented in conjunction with Megafon which is a top operator and carrier of data the Russian Market. The second advantage accrued from product development resonates around the need to improve the experience of the subscribers by offering security features such as anti-virus, comfortable and convenient access to mobile internet and above all facilitate content adaptation. The third advantage of the Huawei VGS is that it improves the efficiency of the network in such a way that it can support large bandwidths. This was facilitated through traffic optimization, caching, and traffic management.
Question Four: Make recommendations for marketing strategies that will contribute to the competitive advantage of your chosen organization.

Based on the fact that Huawei competes in a broad global market, cost leadership strategy has not been factored in. Cost leadership is defined as the ability of a company to control its internal efficiencies in order to provide their products and services at the least possible cost. Huawei Company has improved its value chain and value proposition which assures the customers of services that are relative to their payment. It is also proposed the use of differentiation which is evident by the ability of a company to offer unique product features and characteristics (Kotler 2010). Huawei has managed to differentiate its products in the electronics segment by offering premium services of high quality, good customer care services, advanced technology and rapid innovation. Differentiation has also been associated with the ability for Huawei to sustain its differentiated services and products by creating unique products and service offers that are at per with technology.

The third strategy is the low cost strategy. This strategy can also be referred to as niching which entails the identification, segmenting and positioning of a products in markets that have not been exploited by the competitors (Rugimbana & Nwankwo, 2008). Huawei has been a beneficiary of this strategy which has been aided by its R&D and innovation. The fourth strategy is focused differentiation. This strategy is supported by the identification of market niches after which products and services are provided. This is supported by focusing on a certain segment of potential networking customers and telecommunication markets in the international sphere. To this end, it is prudent to note that the international strategies support the corporate level strategies because by enhancing the internal efficiency of a firm, its efficiency in the global markets is increased as well. For instance, niching has been profitable in the multi-domestic, trans-national and global markets across America, Europe, Asia and Africa.

 

 

References

Ariel, K. B. 2011. Corporate Reputation: Pricing and Competing in Chinese Markets. Journal of Business Strategy, 25, p.45-50

Doole, I. & Lowe, R. 2013. International Marketing Strategy: Analysis, development and implementation. Cengage, United States

Hofstede, G. 2008. Culture’s consequences: comparing values, behaviors, institutions and organizations across nation’s international differences in work-related values. (2^nd Ed). Sage. Canada

Ireland, H., 2010, Understanding Business Strategy. South Western, Canada

Kotabe, M. & Helsen, K. 2008. Global marketing management. (4^th Ed). J. Wiley and Sons. U.K

Kotler, P. 2010. Marketing defined: Principles of marketing. Australia: Apple-cross.

Manton, E. J., Donald, E. E. & Courtny, K. R. (2012). College Student Journal. Vol. 42 Issue 4, p1037-1044. 8p.

Marilyn, M. & Judy, N., 2010. Exploring SWOT analysis – where are we now? A review of academic research from the last decade. Journal of strategy and management, Vol. 3, p 215-230

Omar, O. 2012. International Marketing. Times Higher Education. Issue 1885, p39-39. 1/9p.

Perlmutter, M.V. 2007. Becoming globally civilized, managing across culture, Mastering Management Part 6, Financial Times, 1 December 2007.

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Criminology: Essay

Question One

Corruption has affected the U.S. police department for a long time. Normally, corrupt police officers take money or negotiate for favors in their careers in order to corrupt deals. In some cases, police officers accept bribes in order to carry out shoddy investigations against criminal gangs (Adler, Mueller, and Laufer, 2013). In other cases, police officers accept to free criminals after such officers receives a bribe from such criminals.

Generally, police officers usually accept bribes from drug traffickers and illegal gangs. In exchange, such officers are often expected to facilitate the activities of such criminal groups by providing such groups with sensitive information about government operations or informing them about planned government operations against the gangs.

Most urban towns in the United States have special groups that investigate police officers who are implicated in corruption. Unfortunately, such groups have not been able to reduce the rate of corruption in U.S. cities. One of the challenges associated with police corruption is the fact that most corrupt transactions are often carried out in secret (Adler, Mueller, and Laufer, 2013). In other words, it is usually hard to establish the total number of corrupt deals in the country. There are several levels of corruption in the U.S. army. Corruption of authority is one of the most common types of corruption (Adler, Mueller, and Laufer, 2013). Normally, corruption of authority occurs in the form of free banquets or drinks. Police corruption may also take the form of kick backs. Still, police officers may make opportunistic thefts from suspects or crime victims. Finally, some police officers usually engage in criminal activities by

 

 

Police corruption has negatively affected the effectiveness of government security agencies. Consequently, widespread corruption in the police force has made the public to lose confidence in the policed force. Therefore, the U.S. government must devise effective ways of reducing corruption in the police. For instance, the government could put more stringent measures against police officers who engage in corruption (Adler, Mueller, and Laufer, 2013). In addition, the government should engage the public in the fight against corruption. Finally, the government should adopt equip the law enforcement officers with modern equipments in order to enhance the ability of such agencies to detect and deal with corruption cases more effectively.

Question Two

Corporate crime is a category of criminal activity where the people who commit a given corporate crime have a different legal identity from the organization which they represent. In general, it is difficult to define corporate crime precisely. According to Adler, Mueller & Laufer (2013), corporate crimes usually involve business organizations, nonprofit organizations, and other corporate agencies. However, business organizations have a different legal identity from their owners. This implies that some corporate criminal activities may not be linked with individuals directly.

Interestingly, business organizations must have personal representatives in order to enable such organizations to enter into formal deals with other organizations.  Overall, there is a considerable overlap between the definition of corporate crime and that of white collar crime. White collar crimes refer to criminal activities which are committed by professionals by using their professional expertise (Adler, Mueller, and Laufer, 2013). On the other hand, most corporate crimes are often committed by learned people.  As such, it is often difficult to differentiate the two concepts. Organized crime and corporate crime are related. Some corporations are often formed in order to facilitate predefined criminal activities such as money laundering. However, some people may also engage in corporate criminal activities unintentionally.

Moreover, it is often difficult to find out the person who is responsible for a given criminal activity especially in a situation where state agencies are also involved in a given crime. Generally, it is believed that most corporate criminal activities are often attributed to the opportunities provided by state agencies. For instance, corruption in the police force may facilitate and encourage corporate organizations to engage in corruption (Adler, Mueller, and Laufer, 2013). Therefore, it becomes difficult to quantify the frequency and magnitude of corrupt deals. Sometimes, police officers usually conceal the identity or details of a corruption case; thereby making it difficult to find out how frequent a given organization engages in corruption. The concept of “noble cause corruption” further makes it difficult to quantify the frequency of criminal activities. Noble cause corruption refers to a situation where police officer uses erroneous figures and lies to fix a case.

Question Three

Delinquency refers to behaviors and activities that against the general principles of the law. According to Adler, Mueller, & Laufer (2013), juvenile delinquency is often uncommon among children from middle class families because of the intellectual abilities of their parents. Although the level of education of the parent may affect children’s behaviors directly, there are several other factors that make children from middle class families to be less vulnerable to juvenile delinquency compared to those from poor neighborhoods.

Overall, middle class neighborhoods usually have more criminal gangs because most residents of poor neighborhoods are usually unemployment. As such, they often turn to crime as an alternative source of income. Moreover, most poor neighborhoods tend to be insecure. This is because such areas are often supplied with less effective security facilities such as poor street lightening and less police camps (Adler, Mueller, and Laufer, 2013). Consequently, residents usually form informal gangs to secure them from being attacked by gangs from other areas. On the other hand, areas dominated by middle class families are usually supplied with better security facilities; thereby contributing to the low number of criminal gangs in such areas (Adler, Mueller, and Laufer, 2013). In addition, middle class families usually take their children to good schools; thereby reducing the tendency of such kids to join juvenile gangs. In the long run, children from middle class families usually tend to acquire lucrative professional career; thereby reducing the overall level of juvenile delinquency in middle class neighborhoods.

Question Four

Illegal prostitution, illegal drug use, and money laundering are some common criminal activities in the United States. Essentially prostitution is illegal in the United States. In the United States, prostitution is categorized as a public order crime because it disrupts the general moral ethics and order in the society (Adler, Mueller, and Laufer, 2013). There are three main categories of prostitution in the United States. They include escort, street, and brothel prostitution. Generally, prostitution is usually associated with human slavery and tracking.

Drug trafficking is another widespread criminal activity in the United States. Some of the illegal drugs which are consumed in the United States include cocaine, heroin and bhang. Normally, people who use such drugs tend to engage in other criminal activities such as homicides, theft, robbery, and sexual assault. Moreover, those who consume illegal drugs usually influence teenagers to use such drugs; thereby contributing to continuous use of drugs. Overall, the US government has found it hard to fight the illegal use and consumption of drugs because of corruption in the police force.

Normally, police officers usually receive bribes in order to help criminals to distribute and consume illegal drugs. Unfortunately, the use of illegal drugs contributes directly to high cases of juvenile delinquency. Money laundering refers to a criminal activity where criminals transfer the revenues generated from illegal business deals such as prostitution and drug trafficking to business accounts in foreign countries (Adler, Mueller, and Laufer, 2013). In most cases, money laundering crimes are difficult to identify and control because different financial institutions have different policies regarding the methods and amount of bank deposits that they accept. However, the United States has been able to identify and investigate a number of money laundering cases through international coordination.

References

Adler, F., Mueller, O.W. & Laufer, W.S. (2013). Criminology. New York: McGraw- Hill.

 

 

Leadership Style of a Senior Executive in My Previous Organization

Effective leadership may involve adopting different leadership styles as the organizational context changes. Cultural differences for example may render some of the leadership styles redundant in some cultures even when they are effective in others. Other aspects such diversity in workforce demographics as younger generations join the workforce and technology advancements that have led to virtual work teams pose challenges for leaders to motivate employees. As such, organizational leaders are likely to face increasing challenges that will test their leadership capabilities to unprecedented levels. In this paper, I analyze the style of leadership of the Chief Operating Officer (COO) in my previous organization and organizational factors such as structure and culture, and their effect on employee outcomes. Following such analysis, the subsequent sections will highlight practices organizations can use to motivate employees, and challenges in managing diversity and importance of diversity in enhancing competitiveness in a global environment. Finally, a business strategy to address issues identified above is presented.

Leadership Style of the COO of a Previous Employer

The leadership style of the COO in my previous organization espoused various characteristics that helped to motivate employees to commit to the organizational goals. Her core strength was her participative approach to decision making. This was for instance evident in divisional teams where she allowed team members to discuss aspects such as team objectives, team procedures and expected behavior within the team. Through such an approach, team members were able to develop a sense of ownership of the team’s work and thus commit to the goals they had set out to achieve. Studies evaluating effect of participative (or shared) leadership on team outcomes have revealed various benefits of such an approach. The benefits cited in studies include promoting team and individual learning (Liu, Hu, Li, Wang, & Lin, 2014), trust in leadership, job satisfaction, and better performance (Braun, Peus, Weisweiler, & Frey, 2013). Such benefits were also evident in the teams that our COO led.

Use of the participative approach at times however tended to lead to delays in decision-making, which was disadvantageous in cases where projects were urgent. Secondly, the approach may not have worked with novice employees who would have needed a more directive approach to build their skills to perform organizational tasks.  Such changing organizational contexts may necessitate a situational leadership approach, which, as discussed by Thompson and Vecchio (2009), involves modifying the leadership style depending on the organizational context and the expertise level of the followers. Nevertheless, the effects of failure to adopt such situational leadership approach did not have a great effect on the organizational outcomes since the COO mainly delegated direct supervision of new employees to line managers.

Organizational Structure and Culture of the Company

The organizational structure and culture of an entity influence organizational processes thus affecting how employees work. Organizational structure refers to ways through which power and authority is distributed within the organization. Such ways influence how organizational processes are carried out. In my former entity, the organizational structure was divisional. Such a structure involves ordering organizational processes according to a specific criterion such as geography, products or services, processes, or target customers (Stanford, 2010). Although such a structure confers advantages such as skill specialization, lower resource duplication, and career development within the department, it is not supportive of cross-functional teamwork (Stanford, 2010). Due to such a structure, although projects were assigned to teams, the teams tended to be within the same geographical division without engagement of international units. However, the divisional structure helped to enhance relationship skills within the same division since experts in the industry would mentor new employees.

Organizational culture also helps an entity to enhance performance by inculcating values that are supportive of innovation. Definitions of organizational culture share the perspective that it “consists of some combination of artifacts … values and beliefs, and underlying assumptions that organizational members share about appropriate behavior” (Detert et al., 2000, p. 851, as cited in Prajogo & McDermott, 2011, p. 713). According to the four dimensions of the competing values framework (Quinn & Spreitzer, 1991 as cited in Prajogo & McDermott, 2011, p. 14), my previous organization tended towards control than flexibility. Control emphasizes stability and continuity whereas flexibility emphasizes spontaneity and development (Prajogo & McDermott, 2011). On the internal-external focus continuum, my previous employer emphasized an internal focus. As such, emphasis was on maintaining and improving existing features of the entity rather than creating the capacity needed for adapting to external environment (Prajogo & McDermott, 2011). In respect to employee development, this was evident from focus on internal training rather than external training. As such, the organizational culture of my previous employer was not suited for development of cross-functional teams that would learn from external environment to provide solutions to the entity’s challenges.

Performance of the COO based on her Ethical Conduct and Effective Communication

The COO in my former organization exemplified various behaviors that made her an ethical role model across the organization. For example, she expressed concern and compassion whenever an employee under her leadership was experiencing hardship. For example, she acted as an advocate for employees to have flexible work arrangements when dealing with family aspects such as caring for young infants, pregnancy, bereavement and sickness. Further, she espoused a high degree of fairness in her leadership, always allocating tasks and responsibilities to employees equitably. Even whenever there were disagreements among team members, the COO never acted in a condescending manner and showed respect to every employee.

From such traits, the COO had been able to earn the trust of many employees, with her honesty and integrity helping in building such trust. For example, when disappointed with the performance of any employee, she would schedule a meeting with such an employee and explain clearly her disappointment. Such confidential sessions helped to avoid embarrassing the employee in front of other employees, while ensuring that the concerned employee committed to better performance in future. Through such meetings, the COO would also learn of factors that may have contributed to the employee’s poor performance thus help to redress them. Further, the COO often communicated the need for employees to act ethically even when there was pressure to increase the profitability of the entity. Weaver, Trevino and Agle (2005) argue that such characteristics of leaders help to develop a culture of ethics throughout the organization. Through the COO’s involvement, the entity was able to develop a code that would guide employees when faced with ethical dilemmas.  Such characteristics established the COO as a beacon of ethical practices within the entity thus placing the entity on a trajectory for sustainable growth.

In respect to communication, the COO was also an effective communicator. She used various opportunities for example to stress the importance of providing exemplary service to the entity’s customers. Further, whenever there were changes in the organization, the COO would communicate well beforehand to prepare the employees for the changes that were forthcoming. Such communication involved various channels such as employee emails, notices on organization’s notice board, and through departmental meetings either in person or through the heads of department.

Three Practices Organizational Leaders can use to Motivate Employees

Organizational leaders can use various practices to motivate employees. One of these is to give employees rewards that matter to them most as advocated for in the expectancy model of motivation (Isaac, Zerbe, & Pitt, 2001). This would involve interacting with the employees to learn of what they value most and then using such information to provide relevant rewards. For example, leaders may offer employees who have families a flexible work schedule to help them manage their family and work responsibilities. This may be through allowing such employees to work from remote locations when possible.

A second approach to motivation would be to apply the principles espoused by Herzberg’s motivation theory. In this respect, the leaders would ensure that work tasks and organizational processes are designed in a way that respects employees’ values and beliefs. Through such redesign, leaders would help to tap into intrinsic factors of motivation, which offer a better opportunity for the entity to encourage employees to commit to the entity’s vision in the long-term (Bassett-Jones & Lloyd, 2005).

A third way through which leaders can motivate employees is by tapping into McClelland’s theory that recognizes people’s need for achievement, power and affiliation (Lawrence & Jordan, 2009). In this respect, the leaders can motivate employees by empowering them to make decisions and lead organization’s projects. Further, leaders can motivate employees this way by providing clear career progression avenues within the entity.

Challenges Leaders Encounter when Managing Diversity

Diversity in the workplace can arise from various aspects including culture and demographic differences.  In respect to cultural diversity, managers face challenges such as differences in languages, values, and beliefs (Seymen, 2006). Such differences may lead to conflicts when one culture considers a specific behavior acceptable while the leader’s culture considers such behavior unacceptable. Examples of these differences include perception of time, power distance, uncertainty avoidance, and collective responsibility as envisaged by Hofstede (Bird & Fang, 2009). In respect to demographic differences, as Gratton (2011) notes factors such as better healthcare have led to the occurrence of employees of diverse generations within the workplace. Such diversity may present challenges for example where the leader is leading employees who might perceive him or her to be inexperienced due to his or her age.

Irrespective of such differences, managing diversity effectively can help organizations to compete effectively globally. For example, in respect to culture, diversity helps an organization to have access to diverse perspectives that would help it to provide products or services that are relevant to its diverse customer base (Seymen, 2006). In respect to demographics, diversity in an entity allows to preserve an entity’s memory thus fostering learning (Gratton, 2011). This is enabled where employees nearing retirement act as mentors for young employees thus avoiding loss of important skills when such retiring employees leave. Eventually, this would translate development of competencies for the entity to compete effectively globally.

Business Strategy to Address the Challenges and Issues Identified

To address the challenges noted, an entity needs to have a strategy for enhancing leaders’ skills to manage diversity as part of the human development strategy. The strategy would involve training programs for managers to create awareness about diversity, especially where managers are deployed to international areas where the host culture differs significantly from home culture. In one study, for example, Waxin and Panaccio (2005) note that cross-cultural training helps expatriate managers to adjust rapidly to their host culture thus enabling them to guide the entity to achieve its goals.

A second approach is for the entity to run exchange programs where managers from different regions can be posted on temporary basis to other regions to enhance their awareness of diversity in areas where the entity does business. This would enable the entity to have a repository of leaders who can lead its operations in different regions when the need arises. Further, the entity can encourage diversity among its workforce through just recruitment practices that enable different individuals who have the qualifications to perform tasks for the job positions to apply for such jobs.

Conclusion

Effective leadership has become a core organizational aspect that determines success in a competitive workforce. From the analysis of my former employer’s COO leadership, aspects such as participative approach to leadership, modeling ethical behavior and effective communication enabled her to influence employees to achieve the organizational goals. In respect to diversity, increasing diversity in workforce has presented managers with challenges such as diversity in values, philosophy of work, and beliefs. Such diversity have necessitated managers to enhance their diversity management skills to enable the entity to reap benefits of diversity such as increased innovation and enhanced organizational learning.

 

References

Bassett-Jones, N., & Lloyd, G. C. (2005). Does Hezerberg’s motivation theory have staying power? Journal of Management Development, 24(10), 929-943. Doi:10.1108/02621710510627064

Bird, A., & Fang, T. (2009). Editorial: Cross cultural management in the age of globalization. International Journal of Cross Cultural Management, 9(2), 139-143. Doi:10.1177/1470595809335713.

Braun, S., Peus, C., Weisweiler, S., & Frey, D. (2013). Transformational leadership, job satisfaction, and team performance: A multilevel mediation model of trust. Leadership Quarterly, 24(), 270-283. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2012.11.006

Gratton, L. (2011). Workplace 2025 – What will it look like? Organizational Dynamics, 40(4), 246-254. doi:10.1016/j.orgdyn.2011.07.002

Isaac, R. G., Zerbe, W. J., & Pitt, D. C. (2001). Leadership and motivation: The effective application of expectancy.  Journal of Managerial Issues, 13(2), 212-226.

Lawrence, S., & Jordan, P. (2009). Testing an explicit and implicit measure of motivation. International Journal of Organizational Analysis, 17(2), 103-120. Doi:10.1108/19348830910948959

Liu, S., Hu, J., Li, Y., Wang, Z., & Lin, X. (2014). Examining the cross-level relationship between shared leadership and learning in teams: Evidence from China. Leadership Quarterly, 25(2), 282-295. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2013.08.006

Prajogo, D. I., & MCDermott, C. M. (2011). The relationship between multidimensional organizational culture and performance. International Journal of Operations & Production Management, 31(7), 712-735. doi:10.1108/01443571111144823

Seymen, O.A. (2006). The cultural diversity phenomenon in organisations and different approaches for effective cultural diversity management: A literary review. Cross Cultural Management: An International Journal, 13(4),296-315, doi:10.1108/13527600610713404.

Stanford, N. (2010). Guide to organisational design: Creating high performance and adaptable enterprises. London: Profile Books.

Thompson, G., & Vecchio, R. P. (2009). Situational leadership theory: A test of three versions. Leadership Quarterly, 20(5), 837-848. doi:10.1016/j.leaqua.2009.06.014

Waxin, M. F., & Panaccio, A. (2005). Cross-cultural training to facilitate expatriate adjustment: It works! Personnel Review, 34(1), 51-67. Doi:10.1108/00483480510571879

Weaver, G. R., Trevino, L. K., & Agle, B. (2005). “Somebody I look up to:” Ethical role models in organizations. Organizational Dynamics, 34(4), 313-330. doi:10.1016/j.orgdyn.2005.08.001

 

Global Business Environment

Introduction

Coca Cola is the world largest beverage multinational company that specializes in the production of soft drinks. The company is headquartered in United States and manufactures and distributes the carbonated soft drinks to various bottlers located in different countries around the world.  The products that the company manufactures are transported in liquid form to the respective countries where they are bottled by the respective bottlers.  Varieties of products are manufactured by the company and include Coca Cola, Fanta and Sprite among other brands.

Ethical Issues Critical For Success

The Coca Cola Company code of ethical conduct has a number of important issues that are critical to its business success. Strict following of the stipulated code of ethical conduct has been one of the major factors that have contributed to the success of the company in the global market.  Three key issues in code of conduct that have contributed to the growth and success of Coca Cola include integrity in business and financial records, relations with customers and proper use of company’s assets. The three issues can be argued as the most important factors that have enabled Coca Cola to grow and maintain its leadership position in the market.

Integrity in business financial records in Coca Cola code of ethics requires every employee of the organization to ensure accuracy in all financial reporting of the company. This code of ethics is important since it can help prevent any financial misappropriation and misuse of the company’s thereby reducing cases of fraud. Majority of organizations have suffered the consequence of poor management of business and financial records (Morrison, 2002). This code of ethics makes it possible for the company to ensure that there is accuracy in its financial and business reports so as to reduce the level of corruption and financial scandals. Maintaining proper business and financial standards also help protect the interest of investors in the company.

Another important code of ethics for Coca Cola provides guidelines to the employees regarding relations with customers. Customers are the main source of revenue for the company and this makes Coca Cola to value it customers. This code of ethics requires the employees of the company to consider and treat customers as their partners. Customer satisfaction is important to the success of the organization. Provision of enhanced customer care ensures customers loyalty and trust and this can lead to high sales of the company’s products.

Protection of the company’s assets is also another important issue in the ethical code of ethics for Coca Cola Company. Assets of organization are important in the production process for organization. Assets form the main strength of business since they facilitate production and distribution of the products of companies. Misuse of assets can cause negative consequence to companies and even in some cases result to collapse of companies. It is therefore important for company to develop measures that will ensure that their assets are properly used, managed and maintained so as to ensure productivity.

Comparison of the Code of Conduct of PepsiCo and Dr Pepper Snapple Group Inc

PepsiCo and Dr Pepper Snapple Group Inc also have the three critical issues that include integrity in business and financial statement, relations with customers and protection of assets in their code of ethics.  There are however some similarities and differences of the three critical issues of success as applied by PepsiCo and Dr Pepper Snapple Group Inc.

Both of PepsiCo and Pepper Snapple Group have addressed the issue of business and financial statement in their code of ethics. In both cases the companies indicated the importance of observing the accuracy in financial statements and reporting.  Both of the companies emphasized on the importance of the accuracy of information provided to the investors and the security and exchange commission.  The difference between the issues regarding accuracy in financial reporting is that the two companies used different terms to describe the issue. In the case of PepsiCo, the issue is described as accounts and record keeping while in the case of Pepper Snapple Group it is described as sound accounting and financial reporting.

With regards to relations with customers both PepsiCo and Pepper Snapple Group stresses on the commitment to customers as a way of ensuring the growth of the company. They all outlined how the employees should interact with their customers during the business operations. The issue of customer relations in the case of PepsiCo is combined with relation with other stakeholders of the organization such as suppliers and competitors. This makes it appear as equally important as the other stakeholders. The major difference between the manners in which the issue of customer relation is addressed in this two code of ethics can be explained by considering the content of the ethical code. In the case of PepsiCo, the relation with customers is combined together with relations with consumers, suppliers and competitors while in the case of Pepper Snapple Group it includes customers, suppliers and competitors.

Another issue of success that is included in the both the PepsiCo and Pepper Snapple Group code of ethics is the protection of the company’s assets. The protection of the company assets in the PepsiCo and Pepper Snapple Group has some similarity in that they both value the important of the company’s asset towards productivity. There are a number of similar assets of the two companies that are mentioned under this issue such as computers. The main difference regarding this issue is concerned with the manner in which the two companies address it in the code of ethics.  In the case of the PepsiCo they referred to it as protecting and proper use of the company resources while Pepper Snapple Group refers to it as safeguarding the resources of the company.

Addressing the Issues

The two companies have been able to address the issues through various mean so as to be successful and productive in the market. They have both put appropriate strategies that can help address the issue of financial mismanagement, poor customer relationship and misuse of the company’s assets.  PepsiCo normally trains its employees on customer care service to enhance the employee’s relations with customers, observe strict financial reporting in the company through monitoring of all the company’s financial statements and strict monitoring of the company assets use.  The company is having a sound financial reporting, efficient use of assets and enhanced customers relations (Baron, 2003). One of the benefits that PepsiCo can get from addressing the critical ethical issues effectively is that it can improve its financial performance in the market. The company can also gain the confidence of investors and consumers and this can increase the sales of the company products. Failure to address the ethical issues can lead to a number of negative consequences to the company such as collapse of the company in case of fraud or mismanagement of the company’s assets. It can also lead to loss of customer loyalty to the products of the company.

Pepper Snapple Group also maintains accurate financial reporting, maintains close relationship with its customers and ensures that its assets and resources are used efficiently and in a productive way. Through developing appropriate strategies and ensuring that high ethical standards are maintained, Pepper Snapple Group can grow its market base and increase its sales and revenues. The company can also enhance its brand and image in the market.

Improving the Code of Conduct for Coca Cola

The rapid change in the business environment can render some of the business practices irrelevant (Grainger & Nankervis, 2001). Companies must be able to change their strategies and technique in accordance to the changes in the business environment.  In order for the code of conduct of Coca Cola to remain relevant it must be able to change them so as to be in accordance to the changes in the business environment. The two technique that can be used to ensure that the code of conduct remain relevant include formulation of a team to be responsible for the code of conduct. The team should regularly observe various changes in the business environment and update the code of ethics appropriately. Another technique is to evaluate the effectiveness of the code of conduct regularly so as to determine if it complies with the current business environment.

The two methods that Coca Cola uses to manage environment issues are the responsible use of water and energy and proper management of waste. The responsible use of water and energy helps conserve water and energy. This plays an important role towards the conservation of the environment as it leads to a reduction of the rate of water depletion in the environment. The proper management of waste leads to safe and healthy environment which is free from contamination.

 

Technological Advancement in Coca Cola

Coca Cola has been at the forefront of innovation and technological advancement. To embrace technological advancement Coca Cola has used two main approaches that include investment in research and development program and motivating of its employees. The company invests heavily in research and development programs so as to develop new and competitive products. The company also motivate it workers through various incentives hence makes them improve their performance in the market. It provides a favorable environment to it employees and this increase their performance and innovation capabilities.

Three technological challenges that the company could face include lack of skilled personnel, lack of adequate capital for the research and development program and the diverse taste and preference of consumers.  The strategy that Coca Cola can use to minimize the challenges is through collaborating with various research intuitions in its research and development programs. This will provide skilled personnel who are able to develop products that meet the taste and preference of people from diverse cultural groups.

Lobby Strategy of Coca Cola

Coca Cola has widely used a lobby strategy that involves the use of public relation to influence the decision of the local government of different countries. The use of public relation as a lobby strategy was used effectively by Coca Cola among other companies involved in manufacturing of cans and lids to block government attempt of banning the chemical used in the linings of the metals and lids in the United States.

 

Global Corporate Citizenship Efforts of Coca Cola

Coca Cola is involved in a number of global corporate citizenship efforts such as sponsoring of various sports in different countries and participating in environment conservation programs. Through sponsoring of various events such as sports the company has been able to develop and maintaining close relationship with its customers. This has encouraged customers to purchase its products due to the feelings that the company is responsible for their welfare (Young, 2001). Participation in the environment management and conservation also help build the reputation of the company and encourages the sales of its products in the given community.

References

Baron, D. P. (2003). Business and its Environment (p. 2). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Grainger, R. J., & Nankervis, A. R. (2001). Expatriation practices in the global business

environment. Research and Practice in Human Resource Management, 9(2), 77-92.

Morrison, J. (2002). The international business environment: diversity and the global economy.

Palgrave macmillan.

Young, S. (2001). What do researchers know about the global business

environment?. International Marketing Review, 18(2), 120-129.

 

Humanitarian Intervention: U.N and U.S

The Changing Attitudes and Philosophy of U.S. and U.N

Two schools of thought have defined the U.S politics regarding humanitarian interventions. According to Christopher (2013), there are Progressivism and Founding schools of thought. Over the years, Founders ideas have evolved, albeit, after series of events into Progressivism. The Founding school of thought relied on the need to formulate a foreign policy that would spread true democracy and self-governance in the world. The Founding idea stresses the use of forces for first, securing the lives of American nationals. On the other hand, Progressivism relies on two principle tenets. The first tenet relies on ethical idealism. Broadly stated, this tenet prohibits pursuit of personal interests but only that, which satisfies the aspirations of the collective whole. The second tenet rests on the value of evolution on the society. Progressives believe that societies should evolve from the monarchical and dictatorial regimes into more democratic, civilized, and ethical ones that guarantee more freedom.

The act of humanitarian interventions remains controversial in the face of international laws that guarantee sovereignty of nations. However, the basic debate touches on the need to protect human rights in the face of sovereignty issues. The creation of the U.N, which represents a community of states in the world, has reduced the meaningfulness of sovereignty laws. The U.N derives its power from Chapter seven of the U.N Charter (Christopher, 2013). Broadly, U.N humanitarian interventions take three forms. First, there are provisions under chapter seven that allows direct use of force to achieve peace as an agreed end. The second one involves negotiations towards a peaceful resolution of the existing conflict. Lastly, there is peace building after the war. This involves the creation of structures that will ensure a lasting peace.

References

Christopher, B. (2013). Remaking the world: progressivism and American foreign policy. The Heritage Foundation. Retrieved from http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2013/09/remaking-the-world-progressivism-and-american-foreign-policy.

 

 

 

What’s Eating Gilbert Grape?

In general, the study of personality and respective traits has continued to undergo intense research within the field of psychology. The film, What’s Eating Gilbert Grape? provides an effective platform for assessing personality based on the lead character, Gilbert Grape. Based on the novel, the film written by Peter Hedges depicts the struggles that the lead character faces as he provides for his family while providing care for his autistic brother, Arnie and his depressed and obese mother, Bonnie. In addition, Grape has to assume paternal responsibilities due to his father’s suicide while maintaining a disloyal relationship with a married woman, Betty. Therefore, with significant use of the protagonist’s experiences with his family as well as prevailing social dynamics, Carl Jung’s Personality Theory will apply considerably in assessing his personality.

Part 1

In overview, the Jungian theory of personality is among the oldest forms of character assessment tests ever derived within the field of psychology, specifically personality psychology. Unlike several personality theories, the Jungian approach to personality focuses on internal and external disparities among individuals. The amalgamation and interaction of individual born tendencies build a personality. In addition, the combination of these predispositions leads to the creation of a unique character within every person. For example, when an individual faces a certain experience such as violence, his mental status will undergo alteration and affect his personality as well as his perception of the committed act. Accordingly, this particular theory concentrates on recognizing and enumerating these individual characteristics of personality. Irrespective of the similarity within this body of research, numerous theorists have developed further theories on traits based on Jungian’s introversion and extroversion theorem. Examples of these conjectures comprise the trait theory by Gordon Allport, which asserts the existence of three qualities that make up personality. These include cardinal, central and secondary traits. The other category constitutes the Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire by Raymond Cattell, which asserts that there are 16 character traits (Maddi, 2001).

Identification of Personality Theory

Nonetheless, in response to the film and the lead character, What’s Eating Grape, the best theory that applies constitutes the attitudes of Introversion and Extroversion by Carl Jung. Undeniably, Jung developed a personality model based on two global traits evident in each person. Based on these categories, Jung argued that differences in personality grew out of the orientations in life among different persons, which lead to the emergence of disparate attitude types. From this assertion, it is evident that the Jungian approach to personality identifies introversion and extroversion as responses to the internal and external world. According to Jung, introversion comprises directing attention towards the inner world. For example, people such as Gilbert Grape who liked being on their own or had limited social contact with other individuals are introverts. In contrast, extraversion focuses on directing attention and energy externally on the outside world as well as other people (Maddi, 2001). For instance, Becky is an example of an extrovert based on the way she was free-spirited and social with Grape and his family. Therefore, an individual who is an introvert tends to be reserved and quiet while an extrovert manages to be outgoing and considerably sociable.

Therefore, the main reason behind the selection of the theory while corresponding to Gilbert Grape involves the character’s predisposition towards introversion. Throughout the movie, the protagonist exhibits an introverted attitude based on the way he directs his energies towards his internal experiences. According to Jung, the introvert generally focuses on his inner psychic activities and thus, takes pleasure in engaging in duties that limit him from having an encounter from the social world. In illustration, Grape showed this by concentrating more on his thoughts and his personal life without expressing himself to any person. This is different from the extroverted attitude, which influences a person to channel his energies on the outside world, without considering individual thoughts and experiences. In view of this, the Jungian theory applies specifically to Gilbert Grape based on the manner he interacts with the external world. It provides a suitable platform for evaluating Grape’s actions, thoughts and decisions and elucidating them psychologically and rationally.

Periphery

The peripheral personality type that best fits Gilbert Grape comprises the introverted psychological type. Based on his unfortunate experiences, the protagonist has evolved into a socially awkward person. In relation to his introversion, the lead character tends to be withdrawn. This is due to the responsibilities that he has to assume within his dysfunctional family. As narrated within the movie, Grape underwent a massive transformation due to a number of events that took place within his family. Foremost, the death of his father because of suicide unleashed a myriad of responsibilities that he had to gain regardless of being considerably young (Matalon, Ohlsson, Teper, & Hallström, 1993). An example of his introversion is based on Grape’s limited social interactions due to occupational obligations such as his grocery job in Lamson’s Grocery Store, family duties that involve caring for his obese mother, his autistic brother as well as his sisters, and fatigue due to back pain (Matalon, et al., 1993).

Corresponding to the Jungian theory, the character also exudes Introverted Feeling. As said by Jung, introverted feeling comprises inner and contemplative concentration on the personal world of profoundly based values that seeks harmony via alignment of individual mannerisms with those mores (Maddi, 2001). In the film, Grape exudes this function-attitude based on some of the activities he performs. A good example of this is his involvement in a sexual relationship with Betty Carver, wife to Ken Carver, an insurance salesperson (Matalon, et al., 1993). The protagonist consistently tends to Mrs. Carver’s emotional and physical needs even though he is aware of the immoral implications. Furthermore, Grape is also aware of society’s negative judgment if it learns of this activity based on its values. Thus, the lead character decides to quit the relationship in order to align his personal values with that of his personal world.

Further proof of Grape’s introverted feeling is according to his strained relationship with society. Grape knows that the society already knows of the circumstances surrounding him and the attention imposed on him because of his brother’s mental condition and his mother’s depression and obesity. Because of this, he attempts to live in mystery in order to avert further attention from the society. For instance, when his mother dies, Grape decides to burn his house and all material possessions in order to restrict the townspeople’s attention. Furthermore, he also tries to assume financial and emotional responsibilities for the family even though he feels the opposite. The reason involves his desire to live in peace with his inner world. The mores and values instilled in him by the society influence Grape to assume such roles in order to be in peace with his inner world. Hence, irrespective of the burden that he has, the protagonist cannot abandon his family because of the profound values deep inside him.

Still on his emotions and thoughts, the protagonist feels the need to escape from his harsh life as well as his forced responsibilities. In order to explain this, the Jungian premise asserts that introverted attitude overly considers fantasies and dreams. For instance, the lead character generally fantasizes of his freedom from his family by running away and the other burdens cast upon on him as an outcome of his responsibilities. Even though he realizes that such thoughts are impossible to achieve, he continually visualizes them. Nonetheless, he is unable to do this since he cares more of his family’s serenity. Moreover, the society may judge him significantly since it will view his actions as irresponsible and negligence of duties passed down to him. Hence, Grape has to continue being a caregiver and a financial provider for his family regardless of his dreams and fantasies.

Development of Character’s Personality

Many of the events that the lead character has undergone led to the development of his peripheral personality type. His introversion is a result of his focus on his inner experiences rather than external experiences. This notion coincides with Jung’s paradigm, which alleges that the focus on individual and external experiences ultimately leads to the development of different attitudes and relative functions in correspondence to introversion and extroversion. Hence, applying to Grape, the character tends to exude characteristics that generally incline of the introvert scale. Some of the example traits that Grape exhibits comprise quietness, moodiness, reservation, and introspection. Apart from this, Jung’s assessment dictates that introverts are more likely to recharge their energies when in solitude due to the overbearing implications that events such as social gatherings may impose on their thoughts, sentiments and actions.

The development of Grape’s personality due to his experiences is in accordance to a variety of events that occurred in his family especially when he was young. For instance, the suicide of his father transforms the protagonist’s character into distinct and exclusive. His experiences equip him with innate capabilities and incentives that continue shaping his character. Simply, his personality possesses a variety of particular motivations as well as developmental attributes. The lead character discovers that most of his relationships with his companions and the neighboring townspeople undergo characterization as an outcome of his familial responsibilities. Based on this, Grape possesses a caregiver character, where he functions to supply those he knows with aid as well as other types of nurturing. This is evident due to the considerable time he has engaged in the provision of care for his mother and brother (Matalon, et al., 1993).

Core

Indeed, Grape’s character is rather unique and distinct from most of the characters within the film. Based on his introverted personality, Grape manages to hold his family together irrespective of the negative thoughts towards his family. Even though he feels tired with all the responsibilities he assumes as provider and caregiver, he continues to persist since he knows that his family depends on him considerably. Nonetheless, some of the traits that Grape possesses are inherently similar to those of his mother, Bonnie. From the film, it is evident that both are melancholic based on the experiences they faced. Foremost, her husband’s suicide drove Bonnie into a condition of quietness accompanied by depression. The same instance also applies to the anti-hero. Accordingly, the demise of his father forced him to withdraw based on the roles that he had to attain in his absence. This undergoes illustration where Grape had to focus on caring for the family at the expense of his father’s death and his mother’s depression.

Further similarity between Grape and his mother in relation to personality involves the subsequent change in both individuals’ characters. For instance, Bonnie experiences a change of character when she manages to celebrate the eighteenth birthday of Arnie, regardless of her melancholic persona and her physical challenges. The same also applies for the lead character. Consequently, the protagonist goes through character modification when he becomes romantically involved with Becky. By reflecting on his sentiments and realizing that he loves his family, Grape changes from a melancholic character to a more expressive person and actually begins to exude positive emotions towards his family, especially Arnie. Based on these separate instances, it is evident that both characters experience an alteration of personality due to the influence of significant persons in their lives, who enable them to accomplish considerable strides irrespective of their structural and interpersonal constraints.

Part II

Strengths of the Jungian Personality Theory in Evaluating Gilbert Grape

Indeed, the Extraversion-Introversion Personality Theory by Carl Jung provides a rather logical assessment of Gilbert Grape’s personality in the film, What’s Eating Gilbert Grape? Based on the propositions of the theory, it was possible to assess Grape’s initial character based on the two attitudes provided by the respective premise. The two attitudes, which comprise introversion and extroversion, provided a fair mechanism for studying the character of the protagonist. Foremost, Jung’s theory offered a platform for understanding the initial character of Gilbert Grape. As an example, the theory did this by revealing Grape’s introvert traits, which mostly include quietness, moodiness and reservation. The focus on Grape’s personality was only possible through the examination of his visible traits based on the mechanism provided by the premise. From his qualities, it was possible to distinguish the protagonist’s character from the others evident within the film. In addition to differentiation, the respective personality theory also facilitated the use of exemplification. Exemplification generally involves the utilization of illustrations as evidence in order to make a logical argument.

Concerning the character, the theory provided several possibilities, which were important in establishing Grape’s actions. Such actions offer the individual with the ability to note the introverted aspect of personality within the lead character. Apart from this, Jung’s conjecture also established the causative reasons behind some of the choices reached by Grape. Such reasons are further proof of the lead character’s introversion. For instance, his decision to have a secretive affair with Betty Carver and his lack of social interaction with the townspeople illustrates his predisposition to solitude. In addition to this, the Jungian hypothesis also determines the elements that led to the development of his personality. By asserting the effect of experiences, the viewer is capable of knowing the specific aspect that led to the growth of the protagonist’s melancholic persona. For example, Grape’s introversion is attributed to his consistent focus on his inner experiences due to the events that led to his family’s dysfunction.

Additionally, the Jungian theory also explains Grape’s thoughts based on the utilization of function attitudes. According to Jung, four functions lead to the development of eight disparate personality types. Feeling, which is the foremost sentiment, is the approach through which an individual comprehends the worth of conscious activity. For example, Grape expresses feelings of dissatisfaction and moodiness due to the activities he carries out such as his grocery job, and his care giving responsibilities for his obese mother. The second function, thinking, enables an individual to comprehend the meaning of objects and thus, depends on rationality and callous mental activity. The last functions, intuition and sensation, seem similar though they have considerable distinctions based on the definitions provided by Jung. For instance, sensation comprises the mechanism via which an individual knows that something is real while intuition involves having knowledge of something without consciously understanding the origination of the knowledge. Based on these functions, these personality types constitute Extroverted Thinking, Introverted Thinking, Extroverted Feeling, Introverted Feeling, Extroverted Sensing, Introverted Sensing, Extroverted Intuitive and Introverted Intuitive (Maddi, 2001).

Concerning Gilbert Grape, the Jungian theory enabled the application of Introverted Feeling as a personality type in order to understand some of the character’s actions. As mentioned, introverted feeling generally involves alignment with personal values with values of the inner world. From this, it is simple to understand the actions behind Grape’s ceased relationship with Betty. Undeniably, the protagonist is aware of that the relationship goes against the institutions present within his internal world as an outcome of society’s influence. For instance, in order to stop the conflict between his personal values, the lead character ends up dissolving the association he had with Betty Carver. The influence of the Introverted Feeling personality type allows him to concentrate more on his personal values rather than the mores expressed by the external world.

In addition, the Jungian theory also provides a valid elucidation of the protagonist’s thoughts. The most obvious of these explanations is evident in Grape’s thoughts of escapism. As an example, the protagonist possessed thoughts of running away from his family and living in solitude in order to avert from the responsibilities imposed on him. In assessment, the Jungian theory explains that introverted persons usually exhibit predispositions towards dreams and fantasies. This applies for Grape who can only fantasize about abandoning his family. However, in reality, he cannot do that since he is aware of the dependence that his family has on him.

Drawbacks of the Jungian Personality Theory

Nevertheless, the Jungian personality theory lacks infallibility especially in explaining the initial character as well as the development of Grape’s personality. For instance, it does not explain why Grape decided to express his feelings and thoughts to Becky regardless of him being an introvert. Apart from experiences, other causatives are also capable of creating the respective personality type his character embodies. In addition to this, the specific premise is also unable to point out the origination of the introverted attitude in general. By rejecting involvement in the development of personality, this particular presumption further affects the determination of Grape’s traits in relation to Jung’s personality theory. Based on this, it is important to assess other theories that may actually cover the shortcomings of Jung’s hypothesis. One of these theories constitutes the Psychoanalytic Theory by Sigmund Freud (Maddi, 2001). Even though the conjecture provides a fair elucidation for the character’s traits, Freud’s premise offers a critical explanation of the development of Grope’s personality in terms of the decisions he makes.

In relation to elucidation of Gilbert Grape, the use of the psychoanalytic theory asserts why Jung’s theory does not explicate the character’s actions, emotions and thoughts as well as the change in personality properly. In terms of the actions that the character commits, Jung’s personality theory identifies the focus on inner experiences as the reason for the protagonist’s drives. On assessment, this statement is valid enough. However, the only problem is that it does not explain some of the actions that Grape commits. For instance, the point at which Grape forgets his brother, Arnie in the bathtub in order to be in Becky’s presence is uncovered for by this particular assertion (Matalon, et al., 1993). However, relative to Freud’s psychoanalytic theory, it is possible to explain Grape’s sudden change in behavior regarding the aforementioned action.

The fallibility of the Jungian theory is also evident when it fails to explain Grape’s increased negligence towards his mentally handicapped brother, Arnie. For example, because of the immense emotions he expresses towards Becky, the lead character continues to abandon his responsibilities at the expense of his sibling. Another instance of this negligence apart from the one mentioned is when Arnie climbs the water tower. The event takes place when Grape talks with his sister, Ellen concerning Becky and the sentimental impact she poses on him. Even though the lead character is aware of Arnie’s affinity towards climbing the water tower, at this instance, he seems to be unaware of this and fails to watch over his brother resulting into his hike over the hazardous structure (Matalon, et al., 1993). From this event, it is evident that the id sought to satisfy its emotional needs and as an outcome, failed to influence Grape from protecting his brother.

Undeniably, it is possible to suggest that the uncontrollable desire of the id against the ego led to the action. For a while, especially after his father’s death, Grape has always been an effective caregiver for his family. In illustration, the protagonist continues to provide care for his disabled mother, his young sisters, and his mentally ailing brother. At this point, one would argue that the superego of his psychological structure enabled him to balance morality to his responsibilities. Based on this, whenever Grape would have thoughts of leaving his family, he would experience feelings of guilt and shame. Such sentiments arose out of his reflection of the dependence that his family has for him irrespective of his youthful nature. Because of such emotions, the lead character became unable to leave his family.

Further explication of Grape’s personality is evident when Grape decides to have an affair with Ken Garver’s wife, Betty (Matalon, et al., 1993). Once again, the Jungian theory fails to explain the reason behind this action pertaining to the lead character. Even though Jung’s premise manages to construct an introverted personality out of the relationship, it is still unable to elucidate the probable origination of the particular behavior. For example, Grape involves himself in a sexual yet romantic relationship with Betty. Irrespective of Betty’s marital status as well as his young age, both continue to participate in the relationship without considering the possible limitations of their involvement. At this point, one would associate the impulsiveness and the pleasure seeking nature of the id with the actions of the lead character. Indeed, the id functions on basis of the principle of pleasure.

On another note, the Jungian conjecture fails to explain the familial bonds between Grape and his dysfunctional family. Freud’s Attachment theory explains these drawbacks. Accordingly, attachment constitutes a special sentimental relationship among close individuals. It involves a transaction of care, comfort and pleasure. The attachment presumption generally focuses on Freud’s propositions concerning love. Nonetheless, the ideology of attachment is an enduring psychological connectedness among human beings. It usually arises out of early childhood experiences, which comprise a significant effect on behavior and development in the later phases of life. (Maddi, 2001). Relating to Gilbert Grape, the attachment theory applies considerably especially relating to the caregiver personality that the lead character exudes in the motion picture. For example, the bond between Grape and his brother, Arnie shows this assertion. Based on the attachment theory, it is possible to assert that attachment assists in survival.

Therefore, for Grape, the bond established between him and his brother is that of protection. As an autistic boy, Arnie is incapable of engaging in reasonable actions. This is evidenced by his passion for flagging cars and climbing the water tower. Because of this, the protagonist strives considerably to protect Arnie from any form of hurt. The relationship between both siblings illustrates the attachment that each have for one another. In another instance, there is also a shared bond between Grape and the rest of his family. Indeed, the lead character acts as the caregiver for his siblings and his obese mother (Matalon, et al., 1993). Despite of his negativity towards his mother, the familial bond influences to continue being a protector, a brother as well as a father for his siblings and parent. Apart from this, the attachment that he possesses with his family especially after the death of his father has instilled caregiving developmental attributes within his personality, thus allowing him to foster his family.

Conclusion

 In conclusion, the Extroversion-Introversion Personality Theory by Carl Jung is important in assessing the lead character, Gilbert Grape in the movie, What’s Eating Gilbert Grape? The particular hypothesis provides a pair of psychological personality types, which are evident in most individuals. These characteristics comprise introversion and extroversion. By applying these traits, it is evident that Gilbert Grape possesses an introverted personality type, which lies heavily on the melancholic side based on its predisposition towards low extraversion and high introversion. Nonetheless, the theory possesses a variety of shortcomings based on its inability to explain the change in personality within the lead character as well as some of the thoughts, feelings and actions that he performs.

 

References

Maddi, S. R. (2001). Personality theories: A comparative analysis. Prospective Heights, IL: Waveland Press.

Matalon, D., Ohlsson, B., Teper, M. (Producer) & Hallström, L. (Director). (1993). What’s eating Gilbert Grape? [Motion picture]. United States: Paramount Pictures.

 

Insights on Academic Freedom

Summary

Stanley Fish makes a decisive case for academic freedom in his essay entitled Conspiracy Theories 101. The essay is centered on a debate that arose after concerns were raised about Kevin Barrett’s teachings. Barrett is a University of Wisconsin lecturer located at Madison who confessed to intentionally using his own opinions in his teachings in a bid to influence his student’s views on Islam (Fish 13). While critics argue that lies should not be justified by the use of the term academic freedom, supporters say that all viewpoints should be embraced. Fish supports neither side by stating that academic freedom should not be based on content. Rather, it should be the choice to interrogate any available material in order to make a personal conclusion. Effectively, he is advocating for professors to teach whichever topic they want without necessarily striving for its partisan adoption by students. Similarly, he recommends that any subject matter be carefully analyzed in a free and fair environment.

Analysis

 Definition

According to Fish, academic freedom should be defined as the chance to make an independent assessment of any subject. Thus, this signifies that no external interference should be included in the thought process. Consequently, if a person has a certain political affiliation, he/she should not apply that in his/her teachings as that would be prejudicial to students with opposing viewpoints. As a result, Fish recommends that lecturers should shelve their personal opinions or ambitions and instead teach any material with the aim of allowing students the liberty to make their own informed opinions.

Explanation

When Fish says, “The distinction I am making—between studying astrology and proselytizing for it—is crucial and can be generalized” (Fish 13) he means that he has no problem with learning about the history of astrology and its influence in the society thus far. Equally, his statement asserts that he finds it unethical for a teacher to teach astrology with a particular hidden agenda in mind. The lecturer cannot, for example, use his/her Christian background to predict the exact date of a future event say the apocalypse and proceed to coerce students to accept that opinion. However, Fish believes that such a teacher ought to introduce any topic in astrology and leave the students to figure out different aspects of it after which they can make their own judgments based on their own beliefs and values.

Likewise, Fish reiterates that Kevin Barrett should undergo further vetting in order to determine the true intentions of his teachings (Fish 13). In fact, he proposes that specific questions should be asked to ascertain Barrett’s objectives. Whereas Barrett propagated that the 9/11 terrorist attack was an inside job committed by the American government, he acknowledged that indeed he taught the same to his students. Hence, the students were bound to accept his idea as the truth. Nevertheless, Fish would have preferred that Barrett raise the topic of The World Trade Center bombing and let the discussion take its natural course by allowing students to give their views. Only then, would that be considered academic freedom.

In addition, it would be a bad precedence for example, if a white history teacher with hatred to the black community teaches that whites are superior to blacks. Furthermore, it would be catastrophic if the same teacher’s goal were to incite white students to violence against their black colleagues under the false pretense of showing domination. The teacher’s right to freedom of speech does not warrant him/her to compel students to pay allegiance to his/her private ideas since that could result in unimaginable chaos (Fish 13). Therefore, the teacher should practice academic freedom by teaching the history of racism within the context of the curriculum.

Personal Opinion

I fully agree with Fish’s assertion of academic freedom because institutions of learning should not be exempted from the high professional codes of conduct administered on other occupations. Every career choice comes with a distinct demand for absolute integrity and intellect. However, it is universally accepted that since the nature of various jobs require the use of the brain, there is always a temptation for an individual to make choices based on their personal beliefs. Yet it has been frequently proven that people are able to put aside their own opinions and make decisions purely based on logic.

Normally for instance, judges do make verdicts about cases by weighing the merits and demerits of a case. Suppose a staunch Christian judge in California, which has permitted gay unions, is faced with a case about the legality of a same-sex marriage. Despite his/her inclination to the Bible teaching on marriage as a union between a man and a woman, that judge has to offer a verdict that is anchored in law. Judges face this same scenario before they make rulings. Often, they are led by the guidance provided for in the constitution. Thus, they rarely render judgments claiming to stem from their personal notions. Likewise, academics need to distance their thoughts from the subjects in their teachings for them to offer an effective and objective-oriented learning environment. By so doing, they free the students to interrogate the topics under discussion in a productive manner that helps them make independent conclusions of different events in the society.

Conclusion

It is therefore the responsibility of each academician to exercise restraint in his/her teachings. Personal opinions should not be left to override the course material because that will be a disservice to the intellectual well being of the students. Consequently, professors need to offer a balanced worldview of events that unfold and allow students to make their own analysis using the available evidence. Even if they offer opposing opinions, such debates create a healthy learning environment and contribute towards achieving academic freedom in educational institutions nationwide.

 

Work Cited

Fish, Stanley. “Conspiracy Theories 101.” The New York Times 23 July 2006. Print