Investigating the Use of Integrated Marketing Communication in Non-Profit Organizations

Introduction

The emergence of non-profit organizations has been accompanied by significant developments in the economies of many nations. This follows the enormous revenues that these organizations inject into the economies of nations in which they operate (Spiller, 2013). Besides, these organizations have been witnessed to register immense profits, which have enabled them expand their operations in the recent years. As such, many non-profits organizations have opted to venture into the world of business in the view of developing like their counterparts. Currently, it is estimated that the number of non-profit organizations that are found in the Unites States is 1.4 million. This follows the report that was released by the Urban Institute in 2006 (Kitchen, 2008). Furthermore, it is estimated the recent gross domestic product that is constituted by the nonprofit sector in the U.S. is 5.2 %. This represents approximately $1.4 trillion in terms of the revenue generated. On the other hand, the amount of assets generated by this sector in terms of dollars is 1.3 trillion. It has also been noted that 9% of the U.S. workforce is employed in the non-profit sector (Mihart, 2012). Thus, the non-profit sector happens to one of the most competitive sectors in the world. This has made many companies or organizations employing much effort in attracting employees, donors, media attention and grant funding.

Several non-profit organizations have shifted to the adoption of strategies and philosophies, which were known to be practiced by for-profit corporations, so that they can have an advantage (Dant, 2011). Some of these mechanisms involve famous marketing concepts like database marketing, branding, market segmentation and market orientation among others. These techniques have managed to propel many non-profit organizations towards profit-making. In the view of marketing techniques that are employed by these organizations to maximize their operations, IMC (Integrated Marketing Communications) has emerged to be a significant approach. IMC can be defined as the integration or incorporation of public relations, advertising, sales promotion and direct marketing into a comprehensive scheme or plan (Herron, 1997). Non-profit firms that embrace this approach are often focused on establishing relationships with their supporters and utilizing tactics of communication such as face-to-face communication donor appreciation and recurring newsletters. This is because they believe that this approach provided an efficient means of accomplishing these goals.

Research Questions

This study aims at expanding the knowledge concerning the non-profit organizations’ present use of Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) in building relationships with stakeholders. As such, this research focuses on accomplishing three goals, which are illustration of the content and application of IMC strategies in organizations, determination of the nonprofit organization types that employ IMC currently and to examine the efficiency or success of these IMC strategies that are used by these organizations. Thus, the research aims at addressing the following questions:

1. What are the non-profit organization types that have a high probability of embracing or adopting relationship-building as a significant organizational approach?
2. What communication strategies are considered efficient by non-profit organizations that embrace the significance or relationship-building?
3. Does the success of given strategies relate to success of establishing and maintaining associations with specific stakeholders?
4. Does the success of given strategies relate to benefits that the non-profit organization view as significant to stakeholders?

Literature Review

Studies have revealed that non-profit organizations always gain from developing long-term associations with their supporters. Moreover, studies have demonstrated that new donors do not become profitable in relation to the net income, which is obtained by nonprofit organizations for duration between 12 and 18 months (Clow, 2013). Thus, for these organizations to ensure that their investments in hiring or recruiting donors are worthwhile, they need extend their relationships with donors for periods that exceed 18 months.

In many no-profit organizations, two stakeholder groups that are considered vital are the people who gain from services that are offered by these organizations and supporters who are involved in the donation of time and money. Communication and marketing approaches that aim at establishing relationships with have managed to be successful when applied to all these stakeholders. Researchers such as Barkensjo and Bennett conducted a study on five association-building strategies with people who obtain services that are offered by human welfare organizations or charities in Great Britain. These relationships tactics included two-way communication, database marketing, and relationship advertising. In addition, listening and face-to-face contacts were studied. In their research, the two individuals identified that high satisfaction levels and high quality associations were noted by service recipients who happened to be linked to organizations that employed high quality tactics of relationship-building.

Social exchange theory can be employed in the illustration of the concept of dedication, associations and trust in relation to organizations. This theory was developed in 1959 by Harold Kelly and John Thibaut (Andreasen, 1995). According to this theory, people often assess associations based on consequences. Each association has rewards and costs that are liked to it. Moreover, the consequences that are associated with relationships can be perceived in terms of costs incurred and rewards obtained. Costs are always viewed as drawbacks, which are undesirable and serve block organizations from attaining their goals. On the other side, rewards are often perceived as benefits, which are enjoyable or aid in achieving certain aspirations. In the view of these statements, the social exchange theory can be applied to the association between a non-profit entity and individual (Chen, 2011). As such costs of relationships are the individual’s monetary costs, social dedication, time and emotional investment. On the other hand, rewards d o vary one from one person to another and may include gains from social affiliation between the individual and organization, tax benefits of donations and satisfaction that is obtained from helping other individuals.

Social exchange theory often considers associations a matter which has a high magnitude of selectivity.  This is because different associations possess different consequences for different individuals (Andreasen, 1995). When an individual is involved in the exploration of venturing into a novel relationship, this person may be engaged in the assessment of the expected benefits and required investments. As a result of this, this person can be noted to be involved in the comparison of the cost-benefit ratio or association’s anticipated outcomes to this person’s comparison level (CL). CL is refers to the measure against which an individual may assess or evaluate the magnitude of attraction that is linked to a relationship or its level of satisfaction (Quesenberry, 2012). As such, the nearness of the evaluated satisfaction to that of the individual’s CL often leads to high satisfaction level on the part of this individual. Thus, this person can derive a high satisfaction from the relationship in which he or she wants to join.

An individual often chooses whether to break or maintain the association he or she is involved in by considering her or his CL_alt (comparison level of alternatives).  CL_alt refers to the minimum level of results that an individual can accept in relation to the opportunities, which are available in a relationship. The magnitude of CL_alt is dependent on the quality level that is linked to the existing alternatives, which are considered appropriate to a person (Quesenberry, 2012). When the relationship’s results go below an individual’s CL_atl, this person is often expected to drop this association.

As associations meet results of expectations for costs and rewards, trust is always developed between partners in a relationship. Therefore, partners do gain confidence or self-assurance with each other’s integrity and reliability. The present confidence represents the relocation from a relationship, which is unpredictable to one that is predictable. Predictable relationships are usually associated with stability or robustness as behaviors and motives of partners are can be envisaged.  Moreover, as partners continue to meet their expectations in the association, the magnitude of their attraction towards each other always increases. As a result of this, partners do get inspired to continue investing in their relationship. This is because the satisfaction levels that they expect usually continue to rise up (Chen, 2011). On the contrary, the amounts of existing alternatives, which are associated with the achievement of the same satisfaction level, do decrease. Dedication between relationship members happens when satisfaction attains a level, which precludes the anticipated results of all the existing alternative relationships. Consumer loyalty or accomplishment of this level of commitment is the ultimate aim that is linked to the development of relationships for many organizations.

The approaches of dedication and confidence are vital for the establishment of robust relationship alongside. As a result of this, these two concepts are of central significance to non-profit entities. As one would anticipate, individuals have a high willingness of choosing to aid non-profit organizations, which demonstrate services of high quality. Volunteers and donors should demonstrate the willingness to believe that a given entity will employ their donations of time and money in conducting operations in a suitable manner (Quesenberry, 2012). According to the prediction of the social exchange theory, donors or supporters will continue to contribute money and time to organizations, when these parties are satisfied with results of obtained from organizations. As such, non-profit organization should make the provision of rewards, which are desirable to supporters, their priority. This should be extended to ensuring that levels of satisfaction that supporters obtain from organizations are of high quality.

Sample Population and Sample Procedures

The study will employ random sampling technique in selecting the participant organizations. Ten organizations will be involved in this study. Moreover, the study will obtain data that concerns non-profit organizations from the government statistics on tax payments. In addition, data on these organizations can be obtained from the government agency that deals with statistics on charitable organizations (Anderson, 2009). Besides, accurate representation of the population under study will be accomplished by means of sample stratification. This process will be conducted using annual revenue. Consequently, the selection of organizations to take part in the research will be followed by the use of telephone call or online search to identify the addresses or contacts of these organizations. Furthermore, online survey will be sent to these organizations. This will be followed by sending of follow-up emails to those organizations that will not respond after a 4 to five days. It is crucial to note that the random selection process will be repeated to add the number of participants to thirty in case some of the selected organizations will not respond. This will be accompanied by the stratification process and sending of follow-up emails as in the initial process.

Methodology

This research will employ both qualitative and quantitative techniques in the collection and evaluation of data. Qualitative technique is significant because it focuses on obtaining deep knowledge on a specific event or organization as opposed to surface description of enormous samples of population. This method always serves to provide a clear comprehension of the structure, order and broad patterns (Anderson, 2009). Besides, this research technique is referred to as filed research as it is based on the provision of information that is related to human group in social settings. On the other hand, quantitative research technique focuses on numerical analysis. Its objective is often targeted at developing or employing mathematical models and hypotheses or theories that relate to phenomena. One of the main reasons that qualify this method to its use in this study is its ability to yield reliable and quantifiable data, which are often generalized into enormous populations (Creswell, 2003). As such, the study will employ the data obtained from the participants in making inferences about the entire population of non-profit organizations. Besides, this method will enable me test the generated hypothesis as opposed to the qualitative technique, which is extremely exploratory in nature.

Research Instrument

Interview will be employed as a qualitative research technique. This is because it will benefit the research in many ways. This instrument will be used in investigating the research questions in an adequate manner. Moreover, they will provide an insight concerning views of non-profit organizations in relation to the use of ICM in the building of relationships. Interviews always aim at obtaining on gaining a suitable understanding of events via first-hand experience, truthful reporting and citation of valid conversations (Anderson, 2009). In addition, this method will provide the study with a suitable platform on which the investigation of the usefulness and efficiency of library collections and services that are related to the topic of study will be conducted. Consequently, the use of interviews will lead to the achievement of high rates of response from the participants alongside the recording of the participant’s words. Moreover, the accuracy of the research will be enhanced as those who participate in interviews are always not influenced by other participants.  Therefore, interviewing of the non-profit organizations will enable the study identify essential mechanisms of responding to the research questions. Participant will be queried on the views concerning the use of IMC in non-profit organizations and answers that they issue will be noted down. This will provide adequate data that will be employed in assessing the efficiency, which is achieved by organizations that employ IMC in relationship-building.

Piloting Instrument

Ten questionnaires will be used as the piloting instrument in this study. Questionnaire is the main mechanism, which employed in the gathering of data as it provides an easy way of accessing people or participants who are located in far distances and those who are near (Saunders, 2003). Based on the method of distributing questionnaires, the process can be done in a swift way followed by an immediate analysis of data. Questionnaires are vital as they help eliminate the biasness that can be associated with the interviewer. This is because the involvement of the interviewer may lead to cues and guiding that can affect the reliability and legitimacy in the research.

In this study, a close ended questionnaire will be designed and replicated to ten questionnaires. These questionnaires will be distributed to the communication professionals who are found in the non-profit organizations that will participate in this study. Eight variables will be evaluated in this research. These variables will include the significance or relationship marketing, the average duration of associations between supporters (community leaders, board members, donors and corporations) and organizations, the view of success in the establishment and maintenance of associations with principal stake holders, views of gains to organizational supporters, annual revenue, and the view of success with communication techniques in building or sustaining relationships. The communication techniques that will be investigated include mailings, advertising, face-to-face and emails. Besides, database marketing and public relations among other will be included in the investigation. Thus, adequate and accurate data will be obtained from the use of questionnaire in this study.

In conclusion, conducting an investigation of the use of IMC in non-profit organizations is crucial in expanding the knowledge that is related to the non-profit organizations’ present use of Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) in building relationships with stakeholders. Furthermore, it is vital in the achievement of three objectives, which include are the illustration of the content and application of IMC strategies in organizations, determination of the nonprofit organization types that employ IMC currently and to examine the efficiency or success of these IMC strategies that are used by these organizations.

References

Anderson, L; Taylor, F. (2009). Sociology: The Essentials. Belmont, CA: Thomson, Wadsworth.

Andreasen, R. (1995). Marketing Social Change. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers.

Chen, W. (2011). Integrated Marketing Communications and New Product Performance in International Markets. Journal of Global Marketing, 24(5) 397-416

Clow, K. (2013) Integrated Advertising, Promotion, and Marketing Communications (6^th Edition). New Jersey: Prentice Hall.

Creswell, J.W. (2003) Research Design. London: Sage

Dant, P; Gleiberman, A. (2011). Preventing and Combating the Onset of Dark-Side Symptoms. Journal of Marketing Management, 27(13) 1426-1443

Herron, B. (1997). Marketing Non-Profit Programs and Services. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers.

Kitchen, J; Schultz, E. (2008). Integrated Marketing Communications: Practice Leads Theory. Journal of Advertising Research, 48(4) 531-546

Kotler, P; Alan, R. (1987). Strategic Marketing for Non-Profit Organizations. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Mihart, C. (2012). Impact of Integrated Marketing Communication on Consumer Behavior: Effects on Consumer Decision Making Process. Journal of Marketing Studies, 4(2) 121-129

Quesenberry, A; Coolsen, K; Wilkerson, K. (2012).  IMC and The Effies: Use of Integrated Marketing Communications Touch-Points Among the Effie Award Winners. International Journal of Integrated Marketing Communication, 4(2) 60-72

Saunders, M; Lewis, P; Thornhill, A. (2003) Research Methods for Business Students. Harlow: Prentice Hall.

Spiller, D. (2013). Using Metrics to Drive Integrated Marketing Communication On Decisions: HI-Ho Silver. Journal of Integrated Marketing Communication, 5(1) 24-38

 

Brands and Branding

A brand is a unique feature, name, design or a symbol that identifies a product by making it different from the competitors’ products. For instance the Coca Cola brand has stood the test of time as the official logo that identifies the customers to the products of the Coca-Cola Company. Likewise the apple logo identifies Apple Companies electronics. Each and every company requires branding itself so as to attract the right customers for its products. Additionally branding acts as a valuation process which makes the customers to associate given goods or services with delivery of value in what is known as a value proposition. Branding helps a certain commodity gain a long term impression in the eyes of the consumers who begin associating a product with posterity or long term benefits (Bush & Hunt 2011). Among the important terms used in branding as a form of marketing is commodity branding; a specific feature that ascertains a certain good, a make represents branding of cars among other electronics while concept branding associates people especially celebrities to a certain activity aimed at creating public awareness such as environmental conservation activities.

The topic of brands and branding is multifaceted because it encompasses many concepts with regard to business operations and marketing. There arise the need to appreciate brands identity and reputation. Additionally there is need to explore and create new realities to counter fresh perspectives which then creates a multi-sensory experience for the customers. Apparently this summarizes the act of marketing into being an experience that triggers all the five senses of the customer into making them make a purchase that they would have not purchased. This is because marketing is an essential part of any business undertaking which is aimed at attracting new customers, maintaining current customers as well as reminding the existing loyal customers that the product still exists.  The scope of this paper is therefore limited in context by the need to apply theoretical and conceptual issues covered in this course. Marketing issues regarding branding, brands and their relevance to industries, strategic marketing, cultural phenomenon, demographics, multi-cultural contrast, and consumption patterns; strategic planning among other issues encompassed in the field of marketing is critically analyzed (Asker 2008).

The theoretical aspects engulfed in the topic of branding are theoretical dating back to the years in the 1100 B.C to 500 B.C as well as periods in the 13^th century. Industrial revolution brought a major drift on branding as industries began creating awareness on the economies of scale accrued from large scale production of goods and services. As companies began to produce goods for the international markets where most of the consumers were traditionally accustomed to local manufacturers, the idea of associating companies to their brands became logical. Companies dealing in packaged goods such as Juicy Fruit Gum, Campbell Soup, Coca-Cola, Quaker Oats, and Pears Soaps found branding to be the way to familiarize with their customers (Gustave, 2008). Among key players in revolutionizing the idea of branding was James Walter who made theories regarding trademarks.

As more and more companies were being set up to mark the industrial revolution, companies were forced to develop slogans and advertisements which were showed on televisions and broadcasted on radio. By the year1940 companies were synonymous with the fact that marketing developed a psychological, social and emotional relationship between them and their commodities (Andreas & Michael, 2010). Traditional branding practices were transformed in the 1980’s when companies began using celebrities and athletes to associate their products with value and equity. With time, companies have come to appreciate the need for differentiation, focusing and costing as a prerequisite to attracting potential customers. This is because commodities associated with brand value have been known to brand their companies which make them marketable to shareholders as well as the customers. Currently, recognized brands have been implied as having the power to communicate with the customers by impacting on their emotional senses. Likewise brands have had the power to attract the attention of the media leading to publicity marketing through social media. This is because of the post modernistic use of celebrities in advertising products.

The idea behind branding is supported by brand theories as well as marketing theories. Therefore brand marketing is an aggregate of these two theories which collectively attempts to illustrate how culture, value, products, science, technology and quality can be combined to satisfy customer’s needs. This is possible through the creation of extensive social campaigns aimed at increasing product visibility as well as imprinting the goods or services into the minds of the consumers. The brand theory emphasizes that branding makes a product credible in the eyes of the consumer. It also states that a brand can be used as a measure of product reliability as well as a social enterprise. The competitiveness of a brand therefore represents the overall competitiveness of a company. On the other hand the marketing theory is represented by the 4P’s of marketing.  The 4P’s represent price strategies, product differentiation, and promotion and place (Asmussen, Harridge & Farquhar 2010).

A marketing manager has to ensure that his products are positioned conveniently so that it reaches the target customers. Promotion on the other hand concerns itself with creating awareness and desire in the target customers. Again there is the issue of brand enterprise which specializes in ensuring that a certain good or services attains a competitive edge over its rivals. These necessities the need for a company to market its products by fostering its communication tools among them being public relations, advertising and promotion (Diller, Shedroff & Rhea 2006). In the event that these communication tools are integrated with market segmentation then the business will be able to attract the right customers. On the other hand, the marketing theory has been advanced by the advent of the internet which led to the introduction of network marketing. This is an electronic technology where the internet integrated with computers is used as a network for transmitting media thus facilitating marketing.

Generally, the marketing theory has been essential in supporting the applicability of the branding theory. The internet has changed the concept of branding which is now shifting its focus into the electronic media. Businesses are branding their commodities using websites which are created specifically to inform the customers on any new advancement or generally educating customers on several emerging issues regarding product use. Social media is being used to brand companies as well as their products even though there arise the risk of negative publicity accruing from falsified propaganda spread by rivals over social networks (Edelman 2010). Collectively these two theories form brand marketing which describes the need for marketing in creating awareness. Thus marketing goes hand in hand with product branding. To this extent it is worth noting that companies do not create brands. Companies only produce goods and ensure that it creates the necessary tools, resources, actions and means through which the product is highlighted into becoming a brand.

Postmodern marketing has continuously been innovative with the advancement of communication. This is because communication is a key aspect in influencing the consumers into making a purchase. It is also the media through which a business reaches out to the consumers thus affecting their perception of products. As a result they are triggered into fantasizing about the experience which makes them want to have the adventure that comes with purchasing certain goods or services. It is through communication that a company also promises the customers on their initiative and admiration to fulfill their wants by providing value as well as giving the customers a value proposition. This further means that a suitable marketing strategy has to influence the buyer’s emotions. Good branding makes the customers feel that they are bound to benefit emotionally if they made the purchase. Another essential in marketing and branding is the need to ensure that the marketing strategies used by a business matches the consumption habits, choice, likes and lifestyle of the target buyers of a good or final users of a given service (Kapferer, 2008). It is therefore prudent to note that unlike traditional marketing literatures which emphasized on the need for attaining a certain level of satisfaction in order to attract customer loyalty, modern organizations are more absorbed into the use of marketing to brand their products. With such strategies it is evident that some goods and services attract customer loyalty even through the fail to offer the lowest prices or the best quality as their advertisements promise. This means that branding as a way of marketing is essential in creating customer loyalty.

The second factor towards attracting customer loyalty as stated by Schroeder and Salzer-Morling is the need to know the business environment. Among the factors inherent in knowing a business environment are the cultural beliefs of the consumers as well as their religious beliefs, language, and traditional practices (Holt 2004). By so doing, a business is expected to keep abreast with the branding needs of the consumer and also such information would be helpful in knowing what the consumers want and making possible strategies towards satisfying their each and every need. For instance, Muslim as a religion is dominant in some countries across Asia, Europe, and Africa therefore a company envisioning a globalization plan has to be vigilant on the environment in which it invests. The Islamic religious beliefs prohibit them from purchasing pork or products made of pork. Again, the religion emphasizes on some pertinent procedures that have to be followed while slaughtering, processing, displaying, storing, and preparing and selling to the Muslim dominated markets. First and foremost is the need to observe hygiene. Second is the need for sanitation.

A qualitative research conducted on the Malaysian market regarding a brand product called Halal provides a deeper insight into the concept of branding as both a cultural and a consumption phenomenon. Muslim societies have had a long tradition of using Arabic as their media of communication. It is the language with which Quran is written thus all the Muslims have an understanding of Arabic (Zambardino & Goodfellow 2007). As a marketing strategist, using the word halal which means permissible is a good idea towards branding a product. The applicability of the term in the food processing industry associates it with food that is not forbidden. For any marketer who wants to target and penetrate such a market as the Malaysian or Middle East consumers, he or she needs to be aware of the Halal regulations as it is set by the Department of Islamic Development. Again there is the Halal agenda which is yet to be incorporated into Muslim dominated states so as to guard the consumers against risks associated with cultural and consumption dynamics.

Even though this initiative started in Malaysia is strongly believed to have an impact on the Muslims in the country, if the initiative is implanted in major Muslim states then manufacturers will be forced to rebrand their products with the halal logo so as to avoid losing out on their other market segments as a result of religious and cultural differences. The first mover companies which will be fast in adjusting to make investments in the Islamic markets with these regulations will be favored by these implementations and as a result such companies will increase their chances of gaining a large segment of the market. With such branding initiatives, the governments in these Islamic dominated economies are bound to benefit from manufacturers, the public and marketers. This is owed to the fact that ISO certified products or those with the HACCP or GMP marks will be disregarded in these markets thus giving way to Halal branded goods thus governments will gain much more revenues through taxes and tariffs (Brodie & Chernatony 2009).

Looking at the role of emotions, family ties and national perception on a given product, it becomes rife that consumers can become loyal to a certain brand because of their passionate or emotional ties to these products. Holts’ theoretical perception of branding supports that players brand their sports teams and in the process they become a brand by themselves. The case scenario of David Beckam connotes the applicability of this theory. Because of the player brand, the fans become emotionally attached to these sports team as well as individual players who play an iconic role in the games. In the end the fans become loyal to the team just because of an individual player who brands the team with much passion. With time, the fans become emotionally connected to a sports team of club to the extent of purchasing their jerseys at whatever cost and also attending their games despite the entrance fee (Boyle & Magnusson 2008). This is because the jerseys are a show of loyalty.

The other idea revolving around the emotional attachment and family ties is that certain families become accustomed to a certain brand. This concept can be attached to the fact that children are more often than not likely to follow the path created by their parents. This trend can be mildly referred to as heritage as it reflects back on the cultural phenomenon. At a national level, people are always loyal to their countries despite their geographical location. This trend is majorly shown in goods of ostentation which people prefer to keep as a souvenir for the next generations. In the dimension of sporting activities, people tend to be emotionally connected to their national teams. People residing in the United States have always traced back to their roots to show how emotionally attached they are to their national teams during international events (Zambardino & Goodfellow 2007). This example brings us to the appreciation of the value of consumers and brands on marketing. Reflecting back on the marketing theory, then these scenarios support the importance of marketing in creating emotional desires that can only be satisfied after watching a game or associating yourself with a certain product in the form of a sports activity or a given service.

Looking at branding as a social issue reveals that social media has played a pertinent role in attracting customers from diverse geographical locations hence limiting the negative effects that were experienced from unfavorable demographic trends. Again branding has been essential in promoting the use of social media to delineate people from polarization brought about by multicultural contrast. The advancement of social networking sites has been facilitated by the advancement of the internet and communication technologies. From the introduction it is acknowledged that both the marketing and branding theories support the role of social media which can either create a negative or a positive brand identity. The use of Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, MySpace, Google Plus, YouTube among other social media have transformed traditional media (Dunn 2010). This is majorly attributed to the fact that modern social media has enhanced connections between two or more people who can creatively share ideas over an online platform. This media is also being used to give highly specialized services because they are cheap and readily available. Facebook is among the most used media for branding products. If well managed, these media tools have proved to build personal customer relationships as compared to traditional media. It also allows dedicated customers to keep in touch with the marketing teams for various companies thus help them air their views about preferred product modifications.

Based on relevant researches conducted to determine the role of social media in creating a brand identity, it was identified that profit making organizations used social media to establish their brands by creating an image to be associated with their commodities. The brand created by these companies is aimed at targeting certain segments of the society via speedy communications. This is often done using celebrities in what is known as celebrity branding strategies. Celebrity branding can also be defined as branding activities where a prominent or a famous person is made to become a brand ambassador (Jan, Kristopher & Bruno 2011). As an ambassador, the celebrity will be obligated to use his or her social status to influence people into buying a product, attracting donations for charities and at times featuring in advertisements. Celebrities selected for this purpose have to ensure that they attend public relation events or create their own line of products or services under a given company name so as to increase its marketability.

Celebrity branding is interconnected to social media because most celebrities have Facebook timelines and Twitter handle where they can interact with the desirable customers thus influencing them into making purchases. The scope of social media has been pushed further with the realization that companies can make short videos and broadcast them over YouTube with the intent of reaching out to internet users who use social media to decide on the products to purchase. Such trends have been vibrant on social media inform of pop-up windows which contain links to specific company websites where a potential customer can order for goods in the event that the company supports online selling platforms. Among the products that have benefited from the use of social media and celebrity branding have been companies dealing in fragrances and clothing. With these trends many licensed products now bear celebrity names such as Lady Gaga, Nicki Minaj and David Beckham (Tildesley & Coote 2009).

There is also voice advertisements that can be accessed through links shared on social media. This strategy has been mostly used by musicians because most of them have distinctive voices that make them a brand all together. Research proved that companies that use sports professionals or athletes have had a huge impact on their brands. Among the most prominent celebrity branding is the Nike Golf Apparel where they use an iconic figure of Tiger Woods. Woods was signed up by Nike Corporation on a sponsorship deal to use his successful brand name to brand the Nike golf apparel (Tan 2010). There are pictures on social media that identify Tiger Woods with the Nike Company and since consumers believe that celebrities are undistinguishable from quality, fashion and style. They are coerced into buying Nike apparels among other products from the same company. Customers especially teenagers and youths have found themselves subscribing to friendship with celebrities over social media so as to keep up with the marketing trends posted by the celebrities as brand endorsements.

Looking at the place of corporate social responsibility in modern organizations, it is acknowledgeable that CSR is continuously becoming an important concept for companies aimed at branding themselves as well as their goods and services. From a conceptual point of view, CSR acts like an implied contract between a firm and the neighboring society. Therefore the concept of social responsibility goes a long way into limiting multicultural contrast as well as attaining the career objectives for the neighboring communities. With the increasing awareness on the need for growth of ethical consumers and the moralized brand-scape, organizations are branding themselves as being oriented towards environmental conservation. Organizations that have in the past shown active participation in saving the environment have had an easy time luring customers to its products. The world seems to be revolutionizing the traditional forms of production and forms of energies which polluted the environment leading to such negative effects as global warming. Environmental conservation organizations have brought up the green issue so as to promote corporate consciousness as well as driving corporates into ethical dealings as a way of earning a reputable brand name (Chen 2010).

The criticality with the use of CSR as a branding tool emanates from the realization that branding is not limited to the concept of adding value to services or goods. Branding is a wide concept that covers the need for ethical dealings among corporates. For companies to brand themselves, they need to integrate green values and become socially responsible so as to foster positive publicity with the neighboring communities. Additionally the incorporation of CSR and green issues into an organizational system will act as a differentiation strategy in the markets which have been crowded with competition and rivalry between many companies. Sustaining a positive publicity on the other hand has the effect of creating corporate competitive advantage. Coupled with the realization that branding has become a major tool for differentiation, proper use of brand name and brand significance can become a core asset in wading off competition. Then advertisements can be used to further persuade the customers into making a purchase. The concept of a ethical branding has been embraced by several companies among them being the Shell Company whose newspaper advertisement are prominent with scenic beauty with a visually attractive and green countryside where a fox is seen grazing while in the background, there is an oil refinery (Jansson, Marell & Norlund 2010). Other companies such as Marks and Spencer have made big strides in the garment industry by embracing corporate social responsibilities.

In addition to corporate social responsibilities there is the emerging trend of corporate identity which comes in handy when defining ideologies on the interfusion of business ideas. It further relates to business ethics which associates a given business with the need to provide safe goods and services. Corporate identify refers to the corporate branding where a company is identified using its logo or slogan but postmodern marketing refers to corporate identity as representing the way in which an organization interacts with its stakeholders. CSR, CI and business ethics have receive much focus in the recent past with some business analysts suggesting that CI to be used in creating uniqueness. CSR should be used as differentiation tool while ethics should be used as a bridge between the two thus in the eyes of the customers, they will be convinced into believing that the firm is devoted into providing value and at the same time being involved in environmental conservation initiatives. Corporate brand has been known to relate to Corporate Identity (Klein 2008). This is true because identity is a tool that improves the publicity of an organization thus increasing the chances that an organization will become a brand name.

There are several advantages that can be accrued from developing a corporate identity or a corporate brand. In the eyes of a consumer, a corporate identity is synonymous with an ethical brand which means that customers are more willing to purchase goods that have been accredited as being an ethical brand (Henry 2012). The process of ethical branding begins with the enactment of a value chain where the customers are provided with valuable products which emphasize on the principle of honesty. The value chain and value proposition process is further supported by enacting a sound corporate social responsibility plan which will likely have an impact on the buying behavior of the customers. By combining these strategies with environmental conservation initiatives such as the use of green branding, then a company will benefit from increased customer loyalty. Brand ethics also affects the attitude of the buyers towards a given company thus it is prudent for a company to indulge in any social activity that will improve its credibility among the customers. Consumer based organizations have shown support for green branding by introducing certification as a way of authenticating fair trade. Certification also ensures that the procedure for securing economic justice is simplified so as to earn consumers trust.

In conclusion, branding has proved an essential ingredient to boosting marketing activities. There are many forms of branding beginning with product branding, celebrity branding and .corporate branding (Friedman 2011). Among the emerging trends in the postmodern marketing is the concept of green branding. All these forms of marketing complement each other because they collectively influence the value chain and attainment of a value proposition. In giving the customers valuable services, a firm gains customer loyalty in return which promotes its marketing efforts. Coupled with other marketing strategies, branding is a powerful too in helping a firm reach out to the customers as well as achieving a competitive advantage.

 

 

List of References

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Critical Marketing

Introduction

Critical marketing is a branch of marketing that takes different perspectives from the conventional marketing. The conventional marketing model is based on the need-satisfaction concept (Tadajewski & Brownlie 2008, p. 4). Such type of marketing (conventional marketing) models have continued to strive to satisfy customer needs while making profit from associated activities. As such, satisfaction of the customer/market needs has for centuries formed the moral backbone of the traditional marketing model (Tadajewski & Brownlie 2008, p.1). Nevertheless, in 1960s a group of scholars began to critically study the foundation of conventional marketing model. The group was more interested in the cost-benefit analysis of the traditional marketing concept. For instance, Tadajewski and Maclaran found that even though marketing-related activities contributed immensely to the growth of the economy, the negative impact of such activities on the society was being recognized by stakeholders (2009, p. 1). Other scholars such as did not only acknowledge the economic benefits of marketing activities to the economy, but also recognized the drawbacks of marketing activities (Tadajewski & Maclaran 2009, p. 1). From 1960s onwards, scholars aligned with the critical marketing school of thought have endeavored to advocate for ecologically and socially-desired goals (Mingers 2000, p. 219). For instance, critical marketing scholars believe that marketing tools have the ability to create environmentally and socially-friendly outcomes which the conventional marketing tools do not. As such, critical marketing cultivates a pattern of shift from the traditional perception of marketing to promote environmental and social wellbeing.

Critical Marketing Theory

The critical marketing theory (CMT) argues that there should be a change in the manner in which marketing is perceived. CMT bases its tenacity on the critical theoretical framework. That is, the marketers are out to criticize the traditional marketing strategies (Burton 2008, p. 772). It other words, CMT aims at delegitimizing the traditionally perception of marketing that takes into account various theoretical frameworks which define human economic behaviour. Critical marketing theorists argue that the best way to challenge the traditional marketing model is to have “a limit attitude” towards marketing based on how it is understood today (Tadajewski & Maclaran 2008, p. 11). Nevertheless, a limited attitude does not imply that the theorists would campaign for a complete overhaul of the traditional view of the market. As such, a critical view of marketing requires a limited view of marketing. That is, a marketing tool or strategy should have certain limits for it to be socially and ecologically responsive. In other words, critical theory takes into account Marxist notion of economics as far as the economics of marketing are concerned.

Critical Marketing Pedagogy

Critical marketing pedagogy involves a critical marketing approach. Traditional marketing strategies did not accommodate criticism from conventional marketing thought (Tregear et al. 2007, pp. 411-424). However, research on critical marketing often endeavors to discover ways that could make students, teachers, and the communities think differently from other students, teachers, and communities that are based on the traditional perception of marketing.  This would not imply that teachers and students would completely ignore the traditional views about marketing. For instance, the academic community would not denounce the fact that the role of market is to satisfy the needs of the customers, manufacturers, and the middlemen. The academic community would also not dispute the fact that marketing is based on the principle of customer satisfaction. Nevertheless, scholars would appreciate the fact that some change in worldview is a critical component in transforming the nature or design of marketing. Essentially, academicians would seek to identify the limits of marketing as an academic or intellectual aspect of economics. As such, criticism would imply that the academicians would analyze and reflects on the limitations born by the conventional concept of marketing.

Nevertheless, critiquing and reflecting on the intellectual limitation of the conventional marketing model does not imply that academicians should adopt the traditional perspective in their critiquing. The traditional/conventional critiquing is based on the conceptual meaning of the conventional market model. Nevertheless, academicians would objectively analyze and reflect on the current marketing strategies to correct the environmental anomalies or enhance social justice in the society.

Correcting the side effects of the conventional gender-based marketing would be one of the objectives of the academicians. Primarily, many commercial advertisements and product designs are based on stereotypical grounds thereby supporting the common gender-based stereotypes (Eisend 2010, pp. 418; Paek, Nelson & Vilela 2011, pp. 192-207). For instance, most car advertisements involve female celebrities or models who pose besides the car being advertised. Car manufacturers rarely use male celebrities and models to advertise their cars. At the same time, very few magazines use male celebrities and personalities as cover pages. As such, the excessive use of women in the advertisement of cars and magazines sustain common stereotype that men are the once who control the economy. For instance, a Lamborghini advert bearing a semi-nude, but beautiful female celebrity or model suggest that the advert is mean for the male audience. This is because from a traditional perspective, it is the men who are supposed to be attracted to women and not the other way round. Therefore, when car manufacturers rely on female celebrities to sell their cars they help sustain the stereotype that men are the ones with the money to buy goods and services. The same time, such advertisements sustain the notion that women are sex objects. Nevertheless, post-modernistic view of the world disputes the traditional view of reality (Brown 1992, p. 3). For instance, sexuality is not a mere male-female divide while gender is not entirely based on the husband-wife divide. In fact, there are over 22 sexual orientations. Known sexual orientations includes (the conventional) bisexuality/heterosexuality, homosexuality, masturbation, transsexual, sexual fetishism, voyeurism, telephone scatalogia and lesbianism among other sexual orientations. As such, academicians would be justified is they argue that the media is doing social injustice by continue to market products a long heterosexual form of sexual orientation.

In addition, the academic community would be justified if they challenged the notion that gender is a man-woman divide when in fact gender is multi-variant. As such, it is wrong for the academic world to continue viewing marketing as an activity meant to satisfy the needs of men and women. Furthermore, it is practically wrong to advertise female goods and services while implying that all women rely on their husbands and father s thereby denying the fact that modern women are economically independent (Catterall et al. 2005, pp. 489–504). At the same time, the conventional gender-based marketing ignores the fact that some modern women marry other women while some modern men marry modern men. So other than believing that advertisement of goods and services should be based on of the traditional gender concept, such, academicians should embrace the current gender ambiguities. As such, scholars would be acting in the spirit of fairness if they write academic materials reflecting the real social and economic nature of the society.

Critical marketing should take the center stage of marketing class. Currently, critical marketing rarely features in the contemporary marketing-related academic discourses (Catterall et al. 1999, pp. 344–353). Scholars blame the lower ranking position of critical marketing on lack of historical developments and theoretical tradition (Brownlie 2006, pp. 505-528). This is because critical marketing is an emerging concept in marketing studies. As such, many academic discourses are made of entirely conventional marketing theories and logistics that service the current economic developments. As such, the lack of historical theoretical evidence that supports critical marketing makes it had for scholars to challenge the existing theoretical frameworks. That is, the politics of popularity of certain marketing and affiliated theories run supreme at the expense of the reality.

At the same time, the critical marketing foundations of the 1940s and beyond have been too weak to make critical marketing grow. According to Facault (1984, p. 45) as quoted in Tadajewski & Maclaran (2009, p. 11) (Skålén et al. 2008, p. 2). Criticism in marketing involves an analysis and a reflection on limits. In addition, early works critical to the conventional marketing approach used various marketing examples present during the time (Tadajewski and Maclaran 2009, p. 11). One is the example of such cases includes works of Paul Lazarsfeld (1941) who contrasted administrative and critical research (Tadajewski & Maclaran 2009, p. 11). Lazarsfeld argued that the majority of critical research fell in the two categories; administrative and communications dichotomies. According to Lazarsfield as quoted in Tadajewski & Maclaran (2009, p. 11) administrative critical research was conducted was conducted solely for some private and public organizations for the purposes of solving challenges related to business activities; most business research fell in this category. At the same time, Lazarsfeld cited that critical research differed from administrative research in two ways. First, critical research advances from the prevalent social trends where issues related to Shuman values or desired effect rule. Such a notion of critical marketing implies that scholars would continue propagating and promoting the traditional concept of marketing.

Nevertheless, critical marketing is an all encompassing subject; one cannot rule out communication research and critical research from critical marketing discourses. For instance, critical marketing research meant for management purposes should focus on four major areas. That is, a critical management research should strive to offer critique to the general rhetoric, traditional thinking, authority and objectivity as present in the traditional management styles (Shroeder 2007, p. 2). As such, management scholars should endeavor to conduct research that criticizes the obvious rhetoric. Nevertheless, the critiques should often provide a reflective approach that provides another alternative. Traditional management researches often emphasize the significance of creating new business opportunities for the company. For instance, managers may commission research meant to determine the customer’s perceptions on the company’s products so as to make changes to please the customers. Besides, other managers may commission research into ways that would increase the demands for their companies’ goods and services. Common rhetoric in such management tactics often involve what the competitors are offering, what the buyers are used to and what the management can do to make the customers love the goods. As such, phrases such as “while stocks last”, “rarely available, and “viewing essential” would change if the managers take a limited approach to exploitation to enhance equity (Pryce & Oates 2008, pp. 319–348). Nevertheless, such transformations can only take place when management students learn to criticize the obvious rhetoric to enhance environmental and social well being.

Secondly, the academic community should question the traditional thinking and customs related to marketing. Primarily, a critique of the traditional theories would eliminate the limitations by providing alternative theoretical conceptions. For instance, a critique of the nine traditional marketing theories would provide an alternative interpretation that may help in the restructuring of the limitations evident is such theories to enhance social and ecological wellbeing. The theories include the marketing mix, SWOT analysis and the Maslow’s hierarchy of needs among other theories. The marketing mix theory relies on four major indicators that prevalent in the current market; that is, the product, price, place and promotion (Brownlie & Saren 1992, pp.34-47; Tadajewski et al. 2011, p. 25). Essentially, market mix theoretical model strives to maximize gains by manipulating the four market variables: price, product quality, place (destination) and promotion. Often, the traditional take on the relationship between product and the product is that whenever the price is higher the buyers would buy less. At the same time, the relationship between product and the price is that the higher the quality the more the price.

Nevertheless, the relationship between price and product, on one hand, and place, on the other hand is that the more affluent the place the higher the quality of the product/price and vice versa. As such, opportunistic marketing agencies would make higher quality, but overpriced goods destined to affluent market places while produce defective, but cheaper products destined to certain market destinations. However, the promotion process may not reveal the defective nature of the products in question for fear that such moves would damage their reputations. As such, this critique indicates that market mix theoretical framework may lead to defective products that endanger the lives of the users. As such, scholars would provide an alternative theory to the market mix that takes into account the negative effects that market mix has on the environment as well as the present and future society.

A SWOT analysis (theory) looks at the organization’s strengths, weakness, opportunities, and threats (Professional Academy 2013, para. 2). Basically, a SWOT analysis puts the organization’s interests at the heart of the market structure. For instance, if the strength of the competitors is mass production the organization adopts mass production which has dangerous environmental implications such as environmental pollution and resource depletion. At the same time, if the organization’s weakness is negative public perception then the organization adopts an image enhancement campaign aimed at bettering its image. Similarly, if the threats to the organization include cheaper alternatives sold by the rival organizations then the organization may incorporate business malpractices to secure an edge in the market. At the end of the day, the organizations would employ both ethical and unethical means to remain relevant in the market. Such, moves often damage the quality of products thereby putting the lives of the consumers at risk. Therefore, whenever scholars reflect on a SWOT analytic perspective, they would provide alternative interpretation of the theory while taking into account the manner in which traditional views the social and environmental issues. Besides, scholars may come up with another theoretical understanding that incorporates environmental and social interests in the design o conception of the theory. Other than break the market into smaller segments on the basis of economic threats and opportunities, researchers would category the market in terms of opportunities and threats to social and environmental improvement (Brownies et al.1999, p. 34).

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs stipulates that human wants are hierarchical in nature. According to Maslow as reported in McGuire (2012, p. 5) human wants’ satisfaction graduates from the more basic to the least basic wants; the satisfaction of the very basic provides room for the satisfaction of the least basic wants. Maslow’s theory stipulates that the super rich would be interested in leisure and other non-materialistic items whereas the poor are more interested in food items and other basic necessities. As such, traditional marketers categorize the market in terms of wealth. As a result, marketers’ adverts targeting the poor neigbourhood would deal with the basic commodities while those targeting the rich would while wealthy neighborhoods deal with luxury goods and services. As such, Maslow’s theory implies that the organizations would exploit the super rich through exorbitant pricing of luxury goods and services. As a result, traditional market researchers support the notion that the poor do not require leisure or political leadership because they do not

Radicalizing Critical Marketing and Marketing Management

Management is the center of decision-making as far as marketing is concerned. Critical management allows managers to reflect on the current marketing practices before making informed decisions about the best advertisement models friendly to the society and the environment. For example, critical managers would challenge the traditional notions of marketing by coming up with alternative marketing strategies s to correct the social and environmental limitations of conventional marketing strategies. This is because the conventional marketing approach is organization-centered (Osborne & Ballantyne 2012, pp. 155-172). A radical shift in management would involve several thematic and methodological approaches different from the traditional view of marketing. Such thematic and methodological aspects would help the consumers change their views and attitudes towards marketing and consumption culture.

Traditional marketing strategies are often persuasive in calling upon the consumers to buy the goods and services. Traditional marketing strategies involve convincing the consumer of the advantages of buying certain goods and services. For instance, marketers often use attributes such as lower pricing and quality among other attributes to convince consumers to buy certain goods and services. Critical marketing management would, for instance, use environmentally sensitive advertisement themes in their marketing. For instance, other than convincing consumers to buy a certain brand of sausage because it is cheaper, marketers would urge consumers to buy such sausages out of the promise of conserving the environment. Alternatively, marketers would also spearhead an advertisement culture where marketing of goods and services takes a neutral view of the buyers’ gender. Nevertheless, such developments can only prosper when managers take the lead in such decision-making processes. As such, managers ought to make informed decisions by critiquing the current marketing model with the goal of challenging the traditional way of marketing goods and services. Such criticism should move in line with the desired goals; the desired goals should be different from the current notions of objective marketing (Shroeder 2007, pp. 2-3). That is, the managers should set a policy where their organizations would make advertisements that contribute to environmental protection and social justice. This is because traditional marketing strategies emphasize on materialistic marketing for the benefit of the organizations. For instance, other than erecting billboards made from plastic materials, business managers would advertise their goods through newspapers and electronic media because billboards are not environmentally friendly. Newspapers are also biodegradable hence environmentally-friendly (Heckley 2009, p. 2). At the same time, organizations would better the environment if they adopt policies such as packaging their goods in attractive, but environmentally-friendly materials. As such, organizations should limit the profit motive by adopting environmentally and socially sensitive marketing strategies. Extremely-profit motivated society negatively affects the environment and erodes the value for humanity through unethical business practices.

Besides, business managers may come together to create social marketing to alter public opinion on the use of certain products. For instance, business managers may apply media popularity issues in campaigning for a change in attitudes about the use of plastic bags (Raftopoulou & Hogg, 2010, pp. 1206-1227). After the public opinion has changed, business managers will have a lee way to introduce environmentally sensitive products. This is because it would be difficult for one business organization to created environmentally friendly consumer habits without involving other stakeholders.

Critical Marketing and Publishing

Publishing is one of the leading economic activities in the world. The economic leadership is based on the fact that printed literature such books and journals are the leading channels of conveying knowledge from one person to the other. According to Shroeder (2007, p. 3)’s view on marketing, publishers should challenge the obvious marketing models. Traditionally, books and journals have copyrights and are often made in print media. Nevertheless, modern books are a mixture of written and digital books. Critical thinking demands a reflection on the traditional concept of publishing with the goal of correcting environmental and social injustices propagated via conventional publishing models. For instance, critical publishing would involve fair pricing of books, elimination of plagiarism, use of environmentally friendly paper and ink, use of less print media in publication via promotion of digital book formats. In addition, publishers should promote social justice by avoiding racial or spreading negative ethnicity while using racism to market books and other pieces of written literature (Tadajewski 2012, pp. 485-508). Furthermore, scholars should publish new marketing theories and concepts that enhance social justice.

Conclusion

Critical marketing is a broader concept in marketing discourse. Critical marketing involves careful reflection on the traditional notions of marketing to correct them. Basically, the traditional notion of marketing is customer-centric; that is, organizations market goods and services that satisfy the needs of the customers. Nevertheless, customer-centric marketing has negative implications to the environment and the society at large. Basically, advertisers sustain the status quo with respect to stereotypes, unhealthy consumer behaviours and cultures. Nevertheless, critical marketing demands a critical scholarly approach to the concept of marketing to eliminate the cultural biases, create environmentally conscious marketing strategy via a creation of alternative theoretical framework. Besides, managers should reflect on the current marketing models to identify and put into place alternative, but sustainable as well as socially-responsible marketing strategies. Overall, cooperation among stakeholders is key to the success of critical marketing endeavors.

 

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Best Self

Introduction

Every person has a ‘Best Self’. It is believed that every human being has two sides. The two sides are the weak side and the strong side. The side that manifests itself most is mainly determined by a number of factors including the experience that one goes through. There is also that person that each human being aspires to be. It is not necessarily that one is already there, but it is their desire that they should get there.

Physical

As a social worker, there are certain attributes that are considered a must have. Social workers interact and engage people from all walks of life. As a social worker, the sociability aspect is one that cannot be avoided. This is the ability to interact comfortably and fit within all social contexts at ease (Basin, 2009). Charisma is also crucial for every social worker. When one looks at the mirror, they want to see a charismatic person, full of life and inspiration. Social workers contribute largely to attitude and behavioral change. They must therefore, appear capable of causing such influence. The best self for me as a social worker comes out when I have had enough rest. Enough rest constitutes eight hours of sleep, healthy meals and a quite environment. It is only then that I can focus my mind to what I am doing and hence bring out the best in me.

Psycho

I can easily form constructive thought patterns by listening, watching or reading informational material. Engaging in constructive discussions also comes in handy in enabling me bring out the best self. Loud noise often interferes with my train of thoughts. I therefore prefer a serene environment that has tranquility to bring out my best thought patterns.

Feelings

My best self is happy, calm and collected. I gain great satisfaction upon accomplishing a goal and this gives me a lot of happiness. As a social worker, interacting with different people and helping them find their destiny gives me great satisfaction and happiness. There is this feeling of energy that drives me to want to do more of what I do.

Social Context

The Best Self is not only in relation to the self but also in relation to others. For instance, when my best self is at work, I am able to establish smooth and successful relationships with others. I find myself understanding other people better. I am also able to exercise patience when at my best. The people around me find it easier to get a long with me and engage more. There is happiness and satisfaction both on my part and the part of the people I interact with (Furves, 2012).

Conclusion

The best self of each person comes out in different circumstances. It is crucial that each person identifies the circumstances under which they can bring out their best. Having a great interest in social work, I have taken time to reflect about my best self. It is only when at my best that I can deliver best results. It is important for people to establish relationships with themselves. For healthy relationships with others, one must have a healthy relationship with themselves. Relationship with oneself helps one understand them in a more in-depth way. As such, it enables one to pass on the best to other people.

 

 

References

Basin, G. (2009). Becoming your best self: a theoretical and practical guide to personal     transformation. New York: iUniverse.

Furves, K. (2012). My best self-working card tricks. London: Sage.

 

Human Sacrifice in Aztec Art

The Aztec people were famous for their artistic nature. They were mostly into drawings, pottery and sculpting. They also created many creative drawings, which would be used by the warriors as tattoos on their bodies as an honor for their achievements. One of the most known theories about the Aztec people is that they practiced human sacrifice as a way of executing rituals to their heathen gods. Archeological findings state that the Aztecs, like most Mesoamerican ancient cultures, sacrificed people, a practice that was very wide spread in Mexico. This can be seen from some of the Aztec drawings. It is estimated that the Aztecs sacrificed over twenty thousand people each year. The practice of human sacrifice and bloodletting was highly practiced to appease the gods and to gain favor. The practice was so much glorified to an extent that they would wage special battles in a bid to capture people whom they would use for future sacrifices.

Aguilar-Moreno (2007), states that the rite of human sacrifice was a part of a difficult tapestry of beliefs that have been debated by many specialists. The main conceptions about human sacrifice revolve around the sacred nature of the human blood, the notion that people owed debts to the gods that had to be paid with either human blood or lives and the impression of a secure relationship between life and death. The Aztecs believed that in creation, some of the gods had given their lives while others had auto sacrificed so it was upon them to repay this debt with blood or human lives and if they did not, the result would not be pleasant.

The Aztecs had a two hundred and sixty day calendar per year with eighteen months per year and a sacrifice had to be made in every month. The sacrificial person would be taken to the top of the temple where was laid on a tab. Four priests would hold him down while the fifth one would deeply slice open his abdomen all the way to the diaphragm. He would then rip his heart out. The heart, still beating, would be placed in a bowl apprehended by the specific god that the sacrifice was dedicated. The rest of his body would be thrown down the pyramid stairs. The body would be fed to animals and people, thus showing cannibalism. The head of the individual would be cut off and laid out on display. Before every sacrifice, the people gathered to watch would auto sacrifice first by piercing or stabbing themselves. Other forms of human sacrifice included burning people, mutilating them, drowning, killing in fights or shooting with arrows. Cannibalism was considered religious and spiritual enough because the families of the sacrificed person would be invited to share in the meal to honor him. They believed that the gods were taking the sacrifice through the human bodies and this was thus considered a chance to share a meal with the gods.

Making sacrifices to the gods was a big part in the lives of every Aztec. Auto sacrifice was a ritual, which everyone had to practice to pay their debts to the gods. The sacrifice was done by an individual through pricking with a thorn or cutting with a blade in order to bleed. The cuts would be made on parts of the body with flesh such as the tongue, earlobes, lips and chests. This practice was said to be a personal act of atonement to the gods. They considered the human body sacred because they believed it consisted of three souls. They believed that it could obtain divine powers and the souls could increase a person’s power in a life span (Aguilar-Moreno, 2007). The Aztec temples were made of tall podiums or pyramids with one or more sect rooms adjoined by stairs going up on one side of the pyramid. These pyramids were where the human sacrifices were performed. Stones were used as altars placed on the stairs and this enabled anyone observing from below the pyramid to see.

The extraction of hearts was said to be way of unifying it with the sun, as they believed the slain heart flies towards the sun in a blood trail. The sacrificed persons were referred to as the god dead and were believed to go in a pure state to live in the sun. They believed that the situation in which a person died determined the kind of afterlife they would have. They had certain levels of deaths that led to particular heaven or hell levels. They reckoned that if a person died peacefully at home, he had the lowest level of death and that he would go through extensive torturing passages to end up in a dull hell. They believed that a good way to die was through sacrifice or war for men and while bearing child for women, as this meant they would be in the second highest level in heaven. Death of children held the highest level in heaven.

The Aztecs believed that the universe could cave in after a fifty-two year cycle if the gods were not physically powerful. Therefore, they held a ceremony named the new fire ceremony where all fires were put out at midnight. They then would sacrifice a human being and wait until morning. If the sun came out, they would celebrate in the belief that the sacrifices for the cycle had been enough. They would light a fire on a victim’s body, which would be taken around to every household in the cities or towns. They would celebrate that the end of the world had been postponed and this was a beginning of another fifty-two year cycle.

The arts of the Aztecs that represented human sacrifice included the sunstone or the calendar stone that represents human sacrifice in relation to the Tonatiuh cult or the sun god. The Ocelotl-Cuauhxicalli was where the human hearts of the sacrificed people were stored. The Cuauhtli-Cuauhxicalli shaped like an eagle was another vessel that stored the blood of the sacrificed humans so that the gods could come down and drink them. The Coatlicue of Coxcatlan, believed to be the representation of the earth, is viewed with hands with claws with a skull head claiming the human beings bodies. Its head is believed to have holes where human hair was fitted to make it appear almost human (Aguilar-Moreno, 2007). Excavations date human sacrifice in Mexico as early as the classics period of between 100 and 600 AD. Sacrificial ritual offerings have been found at the Templo Mayor, nearby imperial provinces in the east and south of the basin and other major places in the Mexico Basin. Archeologists have found beheaded bones with major cuts. Some of the items used in the sacrifices have also been found, some including ritual knives, bowls and boxes, which are later taken to museums for preservation. These excavation findings support indeed that human sacrifice was practiced.

 

Reference

Aguilar-Moreno, M. (2007). Handbook to life in the Aztec world. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

 

 

Public Service Systems Flyer

The Maryland State has had its share of the historic developments that have been symbolic of the great reforms in the public service sector in United States. This is evident with the need and urgency created by the government for the associate directors in charge of staffing of civil servants at the federal levels to educate relevant departments on the evolution and functionalities of the civil service system as well as the challenges experienced by the workforce managers the state of Maryland. Looking back at the 100 years of evolution of the American public service system, there have been major reforms spanning around policy change and enactment of bills to facilitate institutionalization of reforms among public servants. In the locus of historic focus are amendments regarding hierarchies, salaries and functionality of the public service system. An example is the previous role played by the president in appointing top leaders for public service positions.

The implication of such appointments came to be associated with the connection between political appointments and cronyism which deterred leaders from equitable allocation of job opportunities to the junior and subordinate staff. Led by the urgent need to create equity in job allocations across, there was a call of disassociating senior leadership from politics thus the Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act was enacted in the year 1883 (Janet & Robert, 2011). The newly created system was majorly focused on meritocracy where senior managers, public service executives and diplomatic heads were supposed to be vetted using a test and interview after which the best candidate would be appointed. The subsequent endorsement of the Hatch Act in 1929 further reformed the system by prohibiting the participation of senior public servants from active politics.

In describing major events and decisions that shaped the evolution of the Public System Service in the United States, due attention was focused on reforms after the assassination of James Garfield a former president of the United States. The public protested against the act and asked for reforms in the public system which led to the Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act.  The acts provided for the formation of the United States Public Service Commission to monitor to monitor political patronage among senior officials holding public offices. The act allowed state and municipal governments to participate in politics because of their close connection with people at the grass-root level. The January of 1978 was marked with the renaming of the U.S Public Service Commission to U.S Office of Personnel Management (OPM). The renaming process was supported by the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 under the         1978 reorganization plan. The act also discredited meritocracy as being biased towards the appointment of youths in public service because of their inexperience. Instead the Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA) was made to supplement OPM (Janet & Robert, 2011). The U.S Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) was also decreed safeguard the rights and privileges of civil servants and collectively the three bodies targeted eliminating inefficient public servants.

The question on managing challenges facing the public workforce in the 21^st Century revolves around historical practices regarding the appointment of public officers because there is a clear conflict between government agencies and independent agencies regarding appointments and work standards. Another challenge is the current payment system which is a replica of the 1923 China Lake Demonstration Project (Janet & Robert, 2011). The system is flawed by complex sets of principals such as the General Schedule (GS) which determines pay rates for different job division. Because of the complexity of the payment systems, the public service system in the United States lacks equitable pay. Furthermore the level of education attained by public servants is not reflected in the current payment system.

 

 

Reference

Janet, V. D. & Robert, B. D. (2011). The New Public Service: Serving, Not Steering. New York: M.E. Sharpe.

Fire investigation

 

Part C. (LO 3): Effect of fire on people

Assuming that an individual is in a developing room-fire environment, there would be significant variations in “thermal penetration depth” of skin with time mainly because the temperatures in the room will keep on rising (Hassan & Togawa, 2001). Thus, thermal penetration depth will also continue to increase proportionally to the increasing temperatures (Huang & Togawa, 1995). For instance, considering that in developing room-fire environment, the fire continues to increase the temperatures then at 44^oc the human body will start to feel pain, at 48^oc a first degree burn injury will be received by the human skin, at 55^oc a second degree burn injury will be received by the human skin, and with increasing temperatures the burned human tissue becomes numb at 62^oc and finally at 72^oc there is instant destruction of the human skin. So, these changes illustrate the variations experienced in “thermal penetration depth” when a person is in a developing room-fire environment characterized by increasing temperatures (Huang & Togawa, 1995).

Considering that the mean thermal inertia of the skin is estimated to be, and the skin heat flux is steadily maintained, then at normal skin texture and pain threshold, the equation shown below wil be used to calculated when person should experience pain and a burn:

Therefore, a person will experience pain at:

The human skin will receive first degree burn at:

The human skin will receive first degree burn at:

Part D. (LO 3): Impact of explosions on people

Barotrauma is usually defined as a physical damage to tissues of the body tissues caused by a pressure difference between a gas space that is inside the body, or in contact with the body, as well as the fluid that surround it. In most cases the occurrence of barotrauma is instigated by an exposure of an organism to dramatic and significant ambient pressure change such as a free-diver, a scuba diver, or an ascending or descending of an airplane passenger. However, there is a significant relationship between barotrauma and Boyle’s law especially because there are significant pressure differences experienced when diving which result to barotrauma characterized by hydrostatic pressure changes.

However, in this case the surrounding pressure is mainly characterized by two main components that act on the diver such as: the water pressure and the atmospheric pressure. Thus, descending 10 meters in water would lead to ambient pressure increase by an amount equivalent to the atmospheric pressure at sea level meaning that this will lead to the doubling of pressure acting on the diver. Therefore, this change in pressure acting on the diver leads to a reduction in the diver’s gas filled space volume by half (Ngo, et al., 2007). This is a clear indication of how Boyle’s law is related to barotrauma since it describes the relationship between the pressure in the gas and the volume of the gas space as illustrated in the diver’s example.

Moreover, since the Boyle’s states that an air-filled space volume will decrease proportionally with increasing pressure, and vice versa, this means that all the spaces around our bodies that are air-filled are usually affected by increasing or decreasing pressure in one way or another. This is mainly because as the surrounding pressure changes, a balance must be achieved between the pressure and the air-filled spaces in our bodies (Ngo, et al., 2007). Thus, when we engage in activities that cause significant changes in pressure such as diving the most obvious body parts that are affected include the middle ear, the sinuses, and the lungs. Moreover, the air which is usually trapped under dental works that are faulty may lead to considerable discomfort while the air trapped in the gastrointestinal tract may also cause discomfort (Ngo, et al., 2007).

Computation of ‘scaled range’ has been done for relatively long period of time for conventionally high explosive materials and it has also been extensively used to assess the effects of explosives on both structures/property and people (particularly primary blast effects) as well as the environment (Stoll, et al., 1982).However, the computation of the ‘scaled range’ has been done as follows (Ngo, et al., 2007):

The peak overpressures caused by spherical blasts have been estimated on scaled distance  expressed by the equations below:

 

Moreover, a relationship for the calculation of the high scale explosives maximum blast overpressure in bars is computed using the equation shown below:

However, the ‘scale range’ has being playing as essential role in these assessments where explosives range from low scale to high scale. However, with an increasing scale of an explosive the effects increases meaning that high scale explosives will tend to have significant effects compared to low scale explosives which not cause actual effect on a person, property or environment. Explosives cause physical harm to people while at the same time destroying structures as well as polluting the environment, but the magnitude of the effects depend on the scale of an explosive.

 

References

Burton, A.C. (1935). Human Calorimetry: The average temperature of the tissues of the body. J Journal of Nutrition, 9(3), 261–280.

Fox, R.H., & Solman, A.J. (1970). A new technique for monitoring the deep body temperature in man from the intact skin surface. Journal of Physiology, 212(2), 8–10.

Hardy, J.D., & DuBois, E.F. (1938). Basal metabolism, radiation, convection, and evaporation at temperature from 22° to 35° C. Journal of Nutrition, 15(4), 477–492.

Hassan, M., & Togawa, T. (2001). Observation of skin thermal inertia distribution during reactive hyperaemia using a single-hood measurement system. Physiological Measurement, 22(1), 187-200.

Huang, J., & Togawa, T. (1995). Measurement of the thermal inertia of the skin using successive thermograms taken at a stepwise change in ambient radiation temperature. Physiological Measurement, 16(4), 213-230.

Kurz, A., Sessler, D.I., Christensen, R., Dechert, M. (1995). Heat balance and distribution during the core-temperature plateau in anesthetized humans. Anesthesiology, 83(3), 491–499.

Ngo, T., Mendis, P., Gupta, A., & Ramsay, J. (2007). Blast Loading and Blast Effects on Structures: An Overview. EJSE Special Issue: Loading on Structures. University of Melbourne, Australia.

NIST, (2013). Fire Dynamics. Available at: http://www.nist.gov/fire/fire_behavior.cfm (Accessed on 27th November 2013).

Rajek, A., Greif, R., Sessler, D.I., Baumgardner, J., Laciny, S., & Bastanmehr, H. (2000). Core cooling by central-venous infusion of 4°C and 20°C fluid: Isolation of core and peripheral thermal compartments. Anesthesiology, 93(3), 629–637.

Stoll, A.M., Chianta, M.A., & Piergallini, J.R. (1982). Prediction of threshold pain skin temperature from thermal properties of materials in contact. Aviation Space Environmental Medicine, 55(12), 1220-1223.

Stolwijk, J.A.J., & Hardy, J.D. (1966). Partitional calorimetric studies of responses of man to thermal transients. Journal of Applied Physiology, 21(3), 967–977.

Xiong, J., Kurz, A., Sessler, D.I., Plattner, O., Christensen, R., Dechert, M., Ikeda, T. (1996). Isoflurane produces marked and non-linear decreases in the vasoconstriction and shivering thresholds. Anesthesiology, 85(2), 240–245.

 

 

Computer Law and Legal Issues

Question 1

1. The coming together of AB and YZ represents a merger of sorts. Mergers are governed by the law. A merger occurs when one firm takes up all the assets and liabilities of another company. The identities of the acquired firms are dissolved as they take up the identity of the acquiring company. Assets and liabilities taken by the acquiring company include both tangibles and intangibles. The databases and the websites owned by the merging companies are part of the assets that will automatically transfer to MN on merging of the two.

AB’s website and logos was designed by a student that was on a summer internship with the company. The lack of a formal contract between the developer and the company can be taken to mean that the developer was acting as an agent of the company where she was attached and that the web development was part of her work with the company for the period of her summer placement (Davison, 2003;12). Concerning YZ, their IT system and CV checking service was developed by an employee of the company. There is no mention of the existence of any contract between the YZ and the developer of the IT system. Therefore, it can be taken that the employee’s development was part of his job specification, of which he was properly rewarded for by the employee via salary payout.

Again, the fact that AB was in a long term relationship with a local university, which appointed one of its staff to support placement students at the company does not explicit allude to the existence of any formal contract. The fact that these three relationships between the companies and their IT developers failed to enter a legally binding contract precludes AB, YZ, and MN from any legal obligation. In other words, it can be assumed that both the merging companies met their obligation to their developers by offering summer placement opportunities to the students from the local university and payment of a salary to the developer at the YZ Company.

However, the MN Company must consider certain aspects that surround database and websites. These intellectual properties are protected by the Copyright, designs, and Patents Act, 1988. The Act protects the authors of original databases and websites. However, the data in the database is not protected by the Act. MN should be concerned with the Copyright, designs, and Patents Act, 1988 and ensure that it does not infringe it (Macmillan, 2007; 15). However, the protection of the databases by the Copyright, designs, and Patents Act, 1988 can be circumvented by MN’s IT team. This can be achieved by reselecting and rearranging the data from AB and YZ’s databases. The Copyright, designs, and Patents Act, 1988 does not prohibit the reselection and rearranging of data from databases. MN can therefore take advantage of this loophole, rearrange the date from AB and YZ’s databases, and use it in their new database.

The Copyright, designs, and Patents Act, 1988 seems to favour the developer of a website or database. The works done for the two companies, i.e. AB and YZ might have been commissioned works and since there is no mention of a contract, the ownership of patent on these databases remains with their original developers. Commissioned works refers to any work created on behalf of a company or an individual by a developer. The ruling in the case of Feist Publications, Inc. v. Rural Telephone Service Company, Inc. offers a legal direction for this case (Hall, & Ely, 2011; 335

The same argument can be applied on the logo design used by the AB Company and the CV checking system used by YZ Company are protected because they are intellectual property and are as thus, protected under the Copyright, designs, and Patents Act, 1988 . Having looked at the dictates of the law on this matter, now as a director in the new company, I would advise on a number of issues (Derclaye, 2008; 25). Firstly, the new company should maintain the relationship with the university and enter into a legally binding contract that will effectively transfer the ownership of the websites and databases from the developer to the new company at some considerable compensation. Additionally, the company can also consider buying the CV checking system from its original developer (Davison, 2003; 15).

Second, the merging will proceed seamlessly if MN appoints a contracted developer or IT specialist to do the merging of the system. The company can contract the students from the local university to do the merging because they are likely to be familiar with the system that was developed either by themselves or by their colleagues. Third, hiring a group of students will ensure that the job is completed within a good deadline and that both the cost and the integrity of the data will be checked. Fourth, MN must ensure to enter a contract with the appointed IT personnel and the contract should have a clause, which transfers the ownership of the new website and database to MN Company. This will in effect protect the company in the future (Davison, 2003; 16)…

Part B: Negotiation

One of the main things that must be agreed upon is the cost of the entire project. As a director, I will be kick-start the negotiation by laying out the requirements of the job at hand. Primarily, I will outline the requirements of the new system, which includes a need for the merging of the two IT systems. Secondly, I will outline the importance of the job being completed in a record time. Quality and security issues will also feature prominently in our initial negotiation (Ghauri, 2005; 248).

Concerning the time aspect of the project, I will enquire whether it is possible that the University allocates a number of IT students to work on the project during their summer attachment programs. Additionally, I will also request that the university appoints a supervisor or two who will work closely with the students to ensure that the merging of the systems proceed seamlessly (Torremans, 2007). In addition, it will be important to request that the lecturer mediate the process of acquiring the legal rights for the IT systems of the AB Company that were designed by students from the University.

Moreover, it will be important to lay down the expectation of the company on the new project. It will be important to point out to the lecturer that MN will expect the two systems previously owned by AB and YZ to be integrated to function as one seamless IT system. After setting out the expectations of the Company, I will then move to request that the Company and the University to enter into a formal agreement that will be established on a legally binding contract. This contract will outline the expectations of each party of the contract and will protect the interest of the contracting parties.

 

 

Bibliography

Davison, M. J. (2003). The legal protection of databases. Cambridge, UK, Cambridge University Press.

Derclaye, E. (2008). The legal protection of databases a comparative analysis. Cheltenham, UK, Edward Elgar. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&scope=site&db=nlebk&db=nlabk&AN=218979

Ghauri, P. N. (2005). International business negotiations. Amsterdam [u.a.], Pergamon.

Hall, K. L., & Ely, J. W. (2011). The Oxford companion to the Supreme Court of the England and Wales. Oxford [etc.], Oxford University Press

Macmillan, F. (2007). New directions in Copyright, designs, and Patents Act, 1988 . Cheltenham, Edward Elgar.

Torremans, P. (2007). Copyright, designs, and Patents Act, 1988  a handbook of contemporary research. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar.

 

 

 

 

Q2: Crime and the Court

The case at hand relates to an illegal access of information by an employee of one of the merging companies. The employee in question accessed information that she was not supposed to. Her clearance level did not allow her access to this level of information. In actual sense she hacked into the database and sent out emails to applicants that had submitted their details to the company’s CV checking system. This unauthorized access of clients’ information is considered a crime by the Police and Justice Act 0f 2006 (Gutwirth, 2011).

Accordingly, any intentional access of a database without proper authorization or access of a database with stolen credentials is considered illegal to the extent that the person accessing such information can be prosecuted for breaking the data protection law. Her access of the database is considered unlawful because it also contravenes the Privacy Act, which safeguards the data provided to the CV checking system by the clients. This act by the employee places both the company and the client in precarious positions. The client’s private information is accessed by someone that is not supposed to access it. Any injury caused to the client by this illegality can prove costly to the company. The employee’s purposeful and unauthorized access of the company’s database (Jay, & Hamilton, 2003; 17)

The Data Protection Act 1998 offers protection to a person’s computer identity. The Act ensures that login credentials are protected from fraudulent computer impersonations. A person’s computer identity is created and limited to his own use. The fact that the employee was able to access the clients’ CVs without using her own login credentials goes to show that there was either theft of computer identity or the owner of this identity gave out his login details. Whichever the case, the employee is still guilty for unauthorised access of sensitive information (Jay, & Hamilton, 2003; 18).

Electronic mail forgery and document forgery is covered by the Data Protection Act 1998. Many cases have been prosecuted in court because every e-mail sent bears an e-mail user’s identity available to every person that receives the email. There is a possibility that the employee used the computer owned by the person’s whose identity she stole. This would also serve as a source of evidence for the case. The email sent will always be left in the system and can be retracted and used in court for the prosecution of a data fraud that was perpetuated by the accused person(Salomon, 2010; 7).

Users of computer systems ought to protect themselves against computer identity theft. This can be achieved by the users having login credentials that are not easy to hack. Additionally, users of computer systems must ensure that they log out of all systems prior to shutting down their computers. Moreover, computer users should be advised against sharing their computer identities with unauthorised persons (Salomon, 2010; 7).

1. Expert Witness

An expert witness is a person called upon to give an expert opinion on a case in which they never witnessed firsthand. For one to qualify as an expert opinion, he or she must be an authority in the field that he or she is witnessing. Supposing the expertise and qualification of an expert witness is challenged in court by the defence counsel, the prosecutor must cross-examine the expert in a manner as to establish his or her credentials as an expertise. Based on the cross-examination, the trial judge will then make a ruling as to whether or not the witness qualifies as a trial witness or not (Clifford, 1998; 4).

Previously, expert witnesses enjoyed immunity from being sued for the expert evidence they give in court. However, this privilege has been abolished via a recent landmark ruling in the Supreme Court of England and Wales. In the case of Jones v. Kaney (2011), the Supreme Court upheld that there is no need for the continual justification of the principle of expert witness immunity. The previous expert immunity status meant that expert witnesses could not be sued based on the evidence given or reports adduced in court. However, the lifting of this immunity exposes the expert witnesses to possible liabilities under which they can be sued for tort or breach of contract and negligence.

As a matter of advice, I would advise the expert witness to base his testimony on her expertise and not on emotions. I would reiterate the fact that she is not supposed to be biased in favour of any party; her role in the case will be to give the expert opinion on the matter at hand. Baring in mind that the protection against liability has been lifted, I would advise the lecturer to ensure that she has an indemnity cover in place (Kuhne, 2003; 4). This would protect her in case a suit is filed against her. Finally yet importantly, I will advise her to have her retainer contract reading that her expert evidence and report should not be relied upon for any other purpose except for the preceding of the case at hand.

 

 

Bibliography

Clifford, R. C. (1998). Qualifying & attacking expert witnesses. Santa Ana, Calif, James Pub. Group.

Gutwirth, S. (2011). Computers, privacy and data protection: an element of choice. Dordrecht, The Netherlands, Springer.

Jay, R., & Hamilton, A. (2003). Data protection: law and practice. London, Sweet & Maxwell.

Kuhne, C. C. (2006). A litigator’s guide to expert witnesses. Chicago, Ill, ABA General Practice, Solo & Small Firm Section.

Salomon, D. (2010). Elements of computer security. London, Springer-Verlag.

 

 

Q3:

1. Protection of the Law on Inventions

The rights inventions determine the person that owns the patent in an invention. The owner of the patent excludes others from making, selling or using the invention for a period of 17 years. To analyse the case presented, it will be important to address the issues enumerated below: Inventions are covered by Copyright, Designs, and Patents Act, 1988.

1. Long term protection of the Software

In this case, there is no written agreement between the employer and the employee. However, the employee was hired for inventing the AI system and as thus, the ownership of the patent belongs with the employer. The employer can protect this invention by applying for its patent. This will ensure that he enjoys ownership of the invention for a period of up to 17 years (Blanco, 1994; 17).

1. Issues relating to discussion with bank and private Investor

Before approaching a bank or private investor for funding, I would ensure that the invention is patented. After that, I will have a feasibility study done on its viability in the market. This will help me persuade the potential financiers of the invention’s viability. It will also be useful to have a proposed budget for the roll out program for the actualization of the invention with data comparing capital investment against expected returns (Borking, 1985; 23).

• Issues relating to the database specialist who is working at a competitor

Patenting the invention will effectively take care of this issue. The former employee will effectively be prohibited from using or selling the invention to the rival company. If the employee goes against the provisions of the patent law, as the former employer I would move to court and sue him for damages (Hanneman, 1995; 14).

1. Issues that should be considered by recruitment company purchasing this software to match CVs and job descriptions.

A company purchasing this software that matches CVs and Job Descriptions should consider a number of factors prior to making a purchase. Firstly, they should consider the price of the program and ensure that it is within their means. Second, they should consider the compatibility of the program to the company’s IT infrastructure (Saks et al, 2010; 8). Third, the company should consider the effect that this system will have on employee morale and ensure that the employees are adequately trained to operate the program.

 

 

Bibliography

Blanco White, T. A. (1994). Patents for inventions and the protection of industrial designs. London, Stevens.

Borking, J. J. (1985). Third party protection of software and firmware: direct protection of zeros and ones. Amsterdam, North-Holland.

Hanneman, H. W. A. M. (1995). The patentability of computer software: an international guide to the protection of computer-related inventions. Deventer, Netherlands, Kluwer Law and Taxation Publishers.

Saks, A. M., Haccoun, R. R., Belcourt, M., & Belcourt, M. (2010). Managing performance through training and development. Toronto, Nelson Education.

 

 

 

Company Analysis for Investment Purposes: Alberta Investment Management Corporation in Focus

1. Introduction

Investment is one thing that everyone should consider doing. This is because getting into investment lets an individual build his or her financial strength. This makes it important to be very careful when contemplating going for investment. An investor should ensure that he or she goes the first steps towards an investment project (Pangarkar, 2011). Firstly, the purpose of investment is very important to identify. This is because it determines the type of business entity or company to invest in. The purpose of investment may range from safety, income or growth. With this already determined, the investor should look for a company which will help him or her achieve the investment purpose. According to Pangarkar (2011), there is also need to understand the risk involved in various investment considerations. This will alleviate the risk of entering into an investment which will leave a feeling of dissatisfaction in the mind of the investor. The money required to enter into a given investment option is also important to consider.

1.1 Investor Profile

My client is interested in earning income as well as growing his income. This means that it is important to choose a company for him which fits his needs. It is important to go for a company which shows significant growth in its earnings. It is also important to consider the stability of the company to invest in. The profitability of the company is also a major point of interest for the investor so as to consider investing. It is also important to consider the liquidity of the company selected. The investor is also interested in knowing how the future of the company might be, putting into consideration the company’s past performance. This should be supported by the company’s aspect of paying returns to the investors. The returns may be in terms of dividends among others.

2.0 The Company

Alberta Investment Management Corporation (AIMCO) is a company in the United States which is listed in the New York Stock Exchange. This company operates in the real estate industry. It specializes in apartment communities in the United States. This company boasts of more than 260 communities in the areas it operates in. It is worth noting that the company houses more than 250,000 people. It has interests in 24 states in the United States and also parts of Columbia and Puerto Rico.

AIMCO has its headquarters in Denver Colorado. This company’s initial public offer took place in the year 1994. It carries out its business in the New York Stock Exchange under the code AIV. On its development and growth, the company went into acquisitions and mergers. For example, the company bought a company known as Homecorp. At the time of acquisition, Homecorp had more that 5,300 housing units. This strengthened AIMCOS business foundation. This took place in the year 1994. In terms of mergers, an example involves the Insignia management Group which took place in the year 1995. This made AIMCO enjoy benefit from 65,000 housing units. Thereafter, the company made more acquisitions including Walters Management Company, Winthrop and Balcor Asset Management among others. It is worth noting that the company has continued carrying out moves which have made it grow in leaps and bounds.

2.1 Brief history, development and growth AIMCO

Alberta Investment Management Corporation is a company in the United States which is listed in the New York Stock Exchange. This company operates in the real estate industry. It specializes in apartment communities in the United States. This company boasts of more than 260 communities in the areas it operates in. It is worth noting that the company houses more than 250,000 people. It has interests in 24 states in the United States and also parts of Columbia and Puerto Rico. This company boasts of a good number of apartment communities which have been able to offer comfort to the residents.

AIMO has its headquarters in Denver Colorado. This company’s initial public offer took place in the year 1994. It carries out its business in the New York Stock Exchange under the code AIV. On its development and growth, the company went into acquisitions and mergers. For example, the company bought a company known as Homecorp. At the time of acquisition, Homecorp had more that 5,300 housing units. This strengthened AIMCO’s business foundation. This took place in the year 1994. In terms of mergers, an example involves the Insignia management Group which took place in the year 1995. This made AIMCO enjoy benefit from 65,000 housing units. Thereafter, the company made more acquisitions including Walters Management Company, Winthrop and Balcor Asset Management among others. It is worth noting that the company has continued carrying out moves which have made it grow in leaps and bounds.

2.1 The Rationale of choosing AIMCO (Alberta Investment Management Corporation.)

Since investment decisions have to be done with many considerations, settling on

AIMCO was directed by such. One main reason for selecting this company is the fact that it is in the real estate industry. The real estate industry has been recognized as the best in terms of giving income and growth to an investor. This fitted well with the profile of the client which is to earn large amounts of income and grow his financial strength from a viable investment. Secondly, the choice of AIMCO as a good company for investment was driven by the need to satisfy my investors need to get consistent returns from the investment. This was based on the fact that AIMCO’s financial goal is driven by the need to give predictable and attractive returns to the investors. This means that the objectives of the investor will be supported by investing in AIMCO.

The other reason for settling on AIMCO was that it has an aspect of diversification. This was informed by the company’s business objective of owning and operating well-diversified portfolio of apartment communities. This means that the company’s business would be attractive to a wide client base for the benefit of the investors. The other reason is the fact that the company is wholly committed to making it possible for the investors to achieve the objectives set out. This is driven by the specified need of the company to work towards increasing the level of profitability and long-term sustainability of the company which would be very beneficial to the achievement of the company’s objectives. This makes an idea to invest in the company necessary to consider going ahead with.

In the selection of this company for the purpose of my client’s investment, the mission and vision statement of the company were very useful. It is worth noting that the mission and vision statement of a company tell a lot about what to expect from the company. For AIMCO, the mission statement is ‘To consistently provide quality apartment homes in a respectful environment delivered by a team of people who care’. This means that the company’s products will never lack market. This is a good indicator that the investors should expect good returns from their investment. With this supported by the vision statement ‘To be the best owner and operator of apartment communities, inspired by a talented team committed to exceptional customer service, strong financial performance, and outstanding corporate citizenship’, the returns to the investors would be very attractive thus cementing the need to invest in AIMCO. Another reason for going for this company for investment is the fact that credit analysts have been reflecting the company as stable. This is important since the company means that it has not been swallowed by high amounts of debt. With a stable state of ranking, te investor will be able to put his money in the company without fear of the company getting tied in loads of debts with financial institutions.

3.0 Financial Ratio Analysis

To make the process of selecting a company complete and efficient, carrying out financial ratio analysis of the company is very important. Financial ratio analysis refers to the process of establishing the relationship between two or more values of an organization’s financial statements for a given period of time. Financial ratio analysis is usually important in investment decision making because it helps in breaking down the complex financial statements, making comparisons f companies easy even if they are not of the same size, analyzing a company’s performance trend over a given period and makes obtaining of information quite easy(Monks & Lajoux, 2011). After carrying out financial ratio analysis for the company, the decision to settle on AIMCO as the best investment option was made.

For AIMCO, the financial ratio analysis is as follows:

3.1 Liquidity ratios

To come up with proper decision regarding investing in AIMCO, the liquidity of the company was important to consider. The liquidity of a company refers to ability of a company to take care of the short term financial obligations. This is usually through cash or assets or portfolio which can be easily converted to cash. Some of the commonly used in liquidity analysis of an organization include the current and quick ratio.

From Appendix 2 which shows the balance sheet of AIMCO, the current assets and current liabilities of AIMCO for the three years give the following ratios.

3.1.1 Current Ratio

This is one of the commonly used liquidity ratios in financial ratio analysis. The current ratio is usually derived by dividing the total current assets of an organization by the current liabilities of the company. It is one of the easiest ratios to calculate since the process is not complex at all.

Current ratio= Current Assets/ Current Liabilities

For AIMCO, The current ratio is as follows

Year	Current Asset	Current Liabilities	Current Ratio
2012	888,726	349,416	2.54
2011	1,281,533	315,058	4.07
2010	769,526	324,444	2.37

 

The current ratio of the company seems to be impressive. From the year 2010 up to 2012, the company has experienced tremendous growth in the current asset ratio. The current ratio of AIMCO stands at 2.54. This means that the company is able to pay its shorter obligations with ease. This means that the company is not going to look for more financing outside its current assets. Even though the current ratio for the year 2012 is lower than that of the year 2011, it is still attractive since it is above 1. It is worth noting that the higher the value of the current ratio, the better for a company.

3.1.2 Quick ratio

The quick ratio of a company measures the ability of a company to pay for its short term obligations without relying on its inventory as part of the source of financing. This means that when deriving the quick ratio of an organization, the stock or inventory value is excluded from the current assets total. Therefore for AIMCO, the figure for total current assets for the year 2011 and 2010 will have to change. This will be after excluding the values for assets held for sale which represent the company’s inventory.

To derive the quick ratio for the company, the current assets schedule will be as follows after excluding the assets held for sale.

Year	2012	2011	2010
Current Asset	Amount ($000)	Amount ($000)	Amount ($000)
Cash and cash equivalents	84,413	91,066	111,325
Restricted Cash	146,859	183,970	199,190
Accounts Receivable	34,020	41,796	49,855
Notes Receivable	102,897	111,205	116,726
Other Current assets	520,537	382,949	194,740
Deferred income tax assets	58,736
Investment in unconsolidated real estate partnerships	59,282
Deferred financing costs	45,387
Total current assets	888,726	810,986	730,572

 

Therefore after the adjustment of the current assets, the quick ratios for the company are as follows.

Year	Current Asset	Current Liabilities	Quick ratio
2012	888,726	349,416	2.54
2011	810,986	315,058	2.57
2010	730,572	324,444	2.25

 

As per the calculations for the tree years, the company is also liquid enough to take care of its financial obligations in the short-term. This means that the company can pay its cash obligations in the near future without considering the input of the company’s inventories.

4.0 Profitability ratios

4.1 Return on Assets

=Net Income/Total assets

	Net Income/ Loss	Total assets	Return on Assets
	Amount ($000)	Amount ($000)
2012	195,361	6401380	0.030518576
2011	-58,164	6871862	-0.008464081
2010	-89,624	7378566	-0.012146534

 

For AIMCO, the company is experiencing a positive return on Assets currently. In the years 2010 and 2011, the return on assets was negative. In the year 2012, this trend changed and a positive return on assets has been experienced. This means that the company is currently using the company is using its assets in the right way towards the company’s profitability.

5.0 Stock Market ratios

These ratios are calculated from a company’s stock market performance. This ratio gives an indication of the company’s shares performance in the stock market. These ratios are usually calculated from the information obtained from the company’s daily performance in the stock market. The commonly used stock market ratios include the earning per share and Price earnings ratio.

5.1 Earnings per share

Earnings per share are derived so as to determine how much the company is affording each share in terms of earnings (Monks & Lajoux, 2011). This helps in calculating how much an investor will be able to earn from the investment in a given amount of shares.

The formula for deriving earnings per share is as shown below:

EPS = (net income – preferred dividends) / common shares outstanding

For AIMCO, earnings per share for the three years are as follows;

Year	Net Income	Preferred dividends	Net Income less preferred Dividends	common shares outstanding	Earnings per share
	Amount in $000	Amount in $000	Amount in $000
2012	195,361	2,315	193,046	145,038	1.33
2011	-58,164	14,037	-72,201	120,433	-0.60
2010	-89,624	14,346	-103,970	117,063	-0.89

From the calculations, to date the company is doing fine. The earnings per share for the years 2010 and 2011 were negative. This shows a very negative aspect of the business capable of discouraging investors. With the current earnings per share standing at 1.33, the company is making good returns to the investors something which should be integral in encouraging investors to be interested in the company’s stock.

5.2 Price earnings ratio

This is a ratio which measures a company’s share price against the earnings per share of the company. This ratio is derived by dividing a company’s market price per share by the earnings per share.

P/E = market price per share / earnings per share

For AIMCO limited, the price earnings ratios for the three years are as follows.

Year	common shares outstanding	Market Price Per share	Earnings per share	Price Earnings Ratio
2012	145,038	27.06	1.33	20.33
2011	120,433	21.24	-0.60	-35.43
2010	117,063	24.50	-0.89	-27.59

 

It is worth noting that the high the price earnings ratio, the better for the investors of a company. For the price earnings ratio calculated above for AIMCO, it is evident that the shareholders of the company will be able to earn more from their investment in the company. This cements the decision that it is prudent to invest in AIMCO. Additionally, the price earnings ratio has shown that the company has experienced tremendous growth which has enabled it to move from negative price earnings to posting a positive one of 20.33. It is important to note that the higher the price earnings the better for an organization (Jones & Hill, 2009). When the price earnings are high for a company, it gives an indication that the investors should wait for bigger returns in future from their investment. It is also very useful in showing the amount interested investors are willing to pay per dollar of earnings.

6.0 Risk level of the Company

In business, risk is one thing that exists as the business continues with its operations. It is always important to evaluate the risk associated with a company being considered for investment purposes. This is because the risk analysis helps in determining the negative uncertainties which might occur in the process of company’s operations. It is usually useful for an investor so as to make the final decision on whether to invest or not in a given company. In the case of AIMCO, the risk level seems to be very low. This is because the company shows a very strong foundation and a strong balance sheet. The company has also started posting positive results as indicated by the financial statements of 2012. Additionally, the company’s reputation does not seem to be negative. There are no cases which seem to be undermining the company’s name in the eyes of investors and customers. This means that through the image of the company, the risk is reduced. This means that it is prudent to invest in this company. The only risks which can face the company are loss of confidence of customers and loss of market share to competitors. These risks can be prevented by the application of strategies which handle the situation properly.  Proper strategies are known to be the solution to several business risks (Johnson, Whittington & Scholes, 2011).

To prevent the risk of lack of customer service, it is important to use proper product development and design strategies. These strategies will ensure that the quality of the products of the company remains attractive to the customers. This will ensure that the customers do not have a reason to shift their loyalty from the company. This will be supported by proper product differentiation. It will ensure the products of the company stand out among those of competitors.

To prevent the risk of losing share of the market to competitors requires better strategizing regarding external aspect of the business (Jones & Hill, 2009). This is because market competition is war which requires rounded planning. Pricing strategies would come in handy when trying to win over the market share in the market. It is important for the company to ensure the pricing decisions are made with a lot of caution. It is important for AIMCO to set prices which are attractive to the customers. The risk of losing share of the market to competitors will be done away with if the company sets slightly lower prices as compared to competitors for the similar products. This will ensure that the current customer base is maintained as well as acquiring on new ones.

From the obtained information regarding AIMCO, it is worthwhile to put money in the company. This is because from the look of things, the investor will not end up losing any of his hard earned money. From the history and development of the company, there is an indication that the company is headed for great things. The pace at which the company grew to become one of the largest owners and operators of apartment’s communities in the United States and the Puerto Rico as well as Columbia districts. The objectives of the company are quite impressive an in line with the profile of the investor. This means that the purpose of investment of the investor will be supported fully. The fact that the company is fully committed to delivering high rates of returns to the investors is quite encouraging. Fr example, the purpose of growth and income generation will fully be supported by the company’s commitment. With all these facts supported by the strong mission and vision statement of the company, there is reason enough to invest I AIMCO. Additionally, the company has revealed that it is liquidity. In fact, the liquidity level as shown by the derived liquidity ratios is very impressive. It means that once an investment has been done in AIMCO, there will be no complications concerning handling of short-term financial facilities. The profitability of the company has also shown great improvement as shown in the financial statements and ratios of the year 2012 as compared to those of previous years. This is made better by the increase in prices of the company’s stock. According to Fama (1976) a rise in prices of a company’s stock is an indicator of market efficiency which is instrumental in the success of a company. With the risk level of the company being low, it makes the decision to invest in AIMCO reasonable.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

References

Fama, F. (1976). Foundations of Finance: Portfolio Decisions and Securities Prices, Basic Books, New York.

Johnson, G., Whittington, R. & Scholes, K. (2011). Exploring corporate strategy, 9th ed., Harlow: Pearson Education Limited.

Jones, R. & Hill, W. (2009). Strategic Management Essentials. 2nd ed. SouthWestern: Cengage Learning.

Monks, A. & Lajoux, R. (2011). Corporate Valuation for Portfolio Investment: Analyzing Assets, Earnings, John Wiley & Sons.

Pangarkar, N. (2011). High Performance Companies: Successful Strategies from the World’s Top Achievers, John Wiley & Sons.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Appendices

Appendix 1: The Current assets of AIMCO for the tree years (2012, 2011 and 2010)

Year	2012				2011	2,010
Current Asset	Amount ($000)				Amount ($000)	Amount ($000)
Cash and cash equivalents	84,413				91,066	111,325
Restricted Cash	146,859				183,970	199,190
Accounts Receivable	34,020				41,796	49,855
Notes Receivable	102,897				111,205	116,726
Other Current assets	520,537				382,949	194,740
Assets held for sale	470,547	38,954
Deferred income tax assets	58,736
Investment in unconsolidated real estate partnerships				5 9,282
Deferred financing costs			4 5,387
Total current assets			888,726		1,281,533	769,526
Appendix 2: The Current assets of AIMCO for the tree years (2012, 2011 and 2010)
Year		2012			2011	2,010
Current Liability		Amount ($000)			Amount ($000)	Amount ($000)
Accounts Payable		30,747			32,607	27,323
Accrued liabilities		318,669			282,451	297,121
Total current liabilities		349,416			315,058	324,444

 

 

Proposal for a New Communication Structure in an Organization

  Thesis

Organizations and people depend on clear, concise, and correct communication skills in order to meet the companies’ established goals, their own needs, and expectations. Agarwal (2010) affirms that, effective communication in an organization assists workers to perform their jobs and responsibilities and promotes motivation by informing the employees and altering their altitudes. Such point of view was supported by Kreps (2011) who cited that, a good communication structure serves among other things, four functions within an organization: monitoring, feedback and control, motivation, emotional expression, and information exchange.

This paper outlines a proposal for a new communication structure in an organization. The paper will discuss five concepts that will help the organization succeed from the point of view of how such concepts are deemed necessary for effective communication within an organization.  The concepts that will be proposed in this paper include key principles of human communication, key relational communication skills, formal and informal communication, and leadership strategies.  These concepts would, if implemented assist the organization to achieve an effective communication.

Key Principles of Human Communication

People skills are deemed essential and necessary in all organizations. For instance, Agarwal (2010) perceives effective communication as a building block that assists in conflict resolution, listening, relationships, networking, and understanding everyone in an organization. However, in order to achieve these and other benefits associated with effective communication, the four key principles in communication must be considered whenever communicating within organizations. These include:

1. Communication is a process
2. Communication is irreversible
3. Communication is transactional
4. Communication includes both content and relationship dimensions

Communication Process

Communication refers to a process in which data is sent from a source to the intended audience with a meaning that is perceived by the receiver (Agarwal, 2010). Companies which want to grow should have a concise functioning communication process. Agarwal (2010) argues that, without proper communication process, organizations will not be able to accomplish their visions and mission. Instead, such organizations will experience frequent chaos resulting from misunderstanding within the workplace. It is only through effectively transmitting message(s) from one person to another that information and ideas can be exchanged.

Literature cites that, communication process involves five basic elements including sender (encoder), message, channel, receiver (decoder), and feedback. In order for communication to take place, there must be a clear purpose (expressed as message) (Agarwal, 2010). The message passes from the sender through some medium (channel) to the receiver or indented audience who then decodes the purpose or message that was initiated by the sender. Agarwal (2010) ascertains that, if an organization uses the communication process effectively to the later element, the process will guarantee transference of “intent” from one person to another. The communicator can use feedback to assess or check the communication process’ effectiveness.

Communication is Irreversible

Literature cites that, what people communicate and do matters (Agarwal, 2010). This is justified from the point of view that, once people communicate, the message becomes part of the relationship. The irreversibility communication principle will keep an organization aware of the importance of choosing what to communicate and where to communicate or perhaps not to communicate anything. Agarwal (2010) points that, once an individual communicates something there is no way to take the message back. Such argument is true for all communication forms including gestures, posture, and facial expressions. Therefore, this principle will educate the organization to be careful regarding what to communicate thus avoiding passing wrong messages that might harm the organization in one way or the other.

Communication is Transactional

Transactional implies that communication is an ongoing and continuously changing process (Agarwal, 2010). That is, people are changing, the people with whom they are communicating are changing, and their environment is also changing. Agarwal (2010) cites that, in any transactional process, all elements exist in relation to each other. Such relationship serves to inform the organization that, there can be no source of information without a receiver. That is, any one communicating anything within the organization should be aware that, at least there is someone who will receive information and that such message will have a particular impact within the organization (Agarwal, 2010). Moreover, this principle assists in understanding that, every person reacts to communication on the basis of aspects such prior experience, background, attitudes, self-esteem, and cultural beliefs. Therefore, considering these factors whenever communicating to employees, will guarantee positive feedback.

Communication Includes both Content and Relationship Dimensions

The content refers to what people speak or write while relationship refers to the communicator’s role with respect to the recipient (Rai & Urmila, 2009). In other words, a statement made by the organization’s Chief Executive Officer to workers yields a different result than the same statement made by a co-worker. For instance, a supervisor might tell an employee “come to my office”. In this case, the content refers to the command that the supervisor gives the employee. The supervisor should have requested “could you please go to my office”. Ideally, this communication dimension will assist the organization to understand that, message content affect the relationship within the workplace in different ways. Therefore, it advisable to choose the right message content whenever communicating.

Key Relational Communication Skills

There are a number of key relational communication skills that promote effective communication within an organization. These include but not limited to active listening, self-disclosure skills, relational needs such as affection, control, and inclusion; co-orientation, and interpersonal conflict management skills.

Active Listening

Active listening is one of the fundamental components not only for relational communication but also for effective communication. A good communication structure should train employees not only to focus fully on the speaker by actively showing verbal and non-verbal listening signs (Kandlousi, Ali, and Abdollahi, 2010). All speakers would like listeners to demonstrate active listening by responding to what they communicate. According to Agarwal (2010), appropriate response to listening should be both non-verbal and verbal. That is, it should include smile as an indication that the listener is attentive to the message. The other active listening sign is the posture. An active listener should lean slightly sideways or forward while sitting (Agarwal, 2010). Additionally, an active listener might slightly slant his head or rest the head on one hand.

Moreover, an active listener should look at the communicator. Although the eye contact might be intimidating, when combined with smiles, eye contact will encourage the communicator. The other active listening sign is a reflection of speaker’s facial expressions. Agarwal (2010) argues that, reflection show sympathy and empathy in emotional circumstances. However, attempting to consciously mimic speaker’s facial expressions might be inattention signs. Agarwal (2010) recommends that, an ideal communication structure should enable communicators to identify these and other active listening signs.

Self-Disclosure Skills

Self-disclosure refers to communication skills that involve voluntarily telling someone something about yourself thereby enabling him/her to understand you. Barker and Gower (2010) reported that, people mostly like seeing both leader’s professionalism and humanity. Information about communicator’s present state is more bonding and likely to make clients feel related than information about his skills and success. While building rapport, the communicator should be aware that, he/she is not telling the other people things that are obvious to the public, but private and confidential information. Therefore, this communication structure will train communicators how to use self-disclosure as a rapport-building technique, thereby helping them to improve their communication skills and build long term relationship not only with employees, but also with clients. That will assist the organization to increase its sales and make friends.

Relational Needs

The other relational skills that a good communication structure should outline are inclusion, control, and affection. Inclusion refers to people’s need to be recognized as important contributors in any human interaction. Kreps (2011) cites that, if inclusion feeling is a baseline condition for a good human existence, then organizations should consider the need to make a difference through control. The term control refers to people’s desire to both make difference in their social environment and to impact on what happens. On the other hand, people seek a sense of being liked. Kreps (2011) argues that, friendship and other intimate relations serve affection. This explains why the absence of relationships leads to alienation feeling that people might have from time to time. However, a good communication structure will assist an organization to mitigate alienation among employees.

Co-Orientation

Co-orientation concept is based on the idea that, two people can actually have similar perception regarding the same object. The greater the similarity (co-orientation), the more efficient will be the communication from one person to another. Studies show that, organizations are undergoing dramatic changes (Kreps, 2011). Perhaps, this is because stakeholders exert more influence on organization’s responsibility within the society. Similarly, stakeholders are likely to view such developments quite differently than organization does. Therefore, the proposed communication structure will assist in identifying the relationship between groups within the organization and assist in building a co-oriented communication structure that will ensure mutual understanding between stakeholders and organization.

Interpersonal Conflict Management Skills

The essence of effective communication skills in managing interpersonal conflict is to be found in the presence of consistency between what people think, what they say verbally, what their bodies communicate, and deeper values within their heart (Kreps, 2011). Understanding such aspects might be challenging for any organization. However, the proposed communication structure will assist this organization to understand and respond to interpersonal conflict through appropriate cultural lenses. For instance, the structure outlines various things that communicators should avoid in order to create a safe space in which to manage interpersonal conflict. First and foremost, communicators should not assume that his truth is the general truth (Kreps, 2011). This is because what is true for one person might not be true for another. Secondly, in order to ensure effective interpersonal conflict management, communicators should not insist that other people must agree with their ideas.  Thirdly, people should not unconsciously assume that anyone within an organization will perceive things the same way. Instead, it is advisable to check out other people’s concerns (Kreps, 2011). Therefore, it is justified that, the proposed communication structure will offer good tools for resolving interpersonal conflicts thereby fostering good relationship within workplace.

Formal and Informal Communication

This section will discuss the differences between formal communication and informal communication and how such differences affect the organization. The proposed communication structure suggests a balance of formal and informal communication in the organization in order to ensure effective communication. Although the two communication media have their advantages and disadvantages, an organization cannot function without either one of them. According to Agarwal (2010), hierarchical organizations use formal communication including e-mail, memos, speech, and/or meetings to inform employees of what is going on within the organization. On the other hand, informal communication is expressed through, rumors, personal note, overhead commend or gossip among employees within the organization (Agarwal, 2010). Therefore, using informal communication will assist employees to express their personal feelings such as like or dislike within the workplace.

In most cases, formal communication occurs when communicators use formal channels within the organization. According to Agarwal (2010), formal communication involves official matters which are done using specific procedures and rules established by the management. Formal communication helps in fixing responsibilities and maintaining authority relationship within an organization. However, formal communication is time consuming, cumbersome, and leads to many distortions at times (Agarwal, 2010). This justifies why organizations should balance the two communication media in the workplace.

On the other hand, informal communication arises out of communication channels that are less official and less rule driven. Agarwal (2010) cites that, informal communication is related to employees’ social needs. However, it does not follow authority lines compared formal communication. This explains why at times it is difficult to fix responsibility about information accuracy using informal communication. Nonetheless, organizations use informal channels to fortify formal communication channels. A study conducted by Agarwal (2010) show that, informal communication assists in expressing information that cannot be channeled via formal channels. Moreover, informal communication satisfies people’s desires to understand what happens in an organization thereby offering them an opportunity to express complaints, worries or dreads. Agarwal (2010) adds that, informal communication facilitates to ameliorate managerial decisions because more people are in the decision-making process. Therefore, it is justified that, organizations require both formal and informal communication since each communicates plays independent roles.

Leadership Strategies

For a leader to be effective, he/she ought to be an effective communicator. Kandlousi and Abdollahi (2010) concur with such argument and add that, an effective leader should inspire and encourage employees to aspire to succeed and believe in the organization’s goals. In most cases, if employees trust and respect their leader, they will be motivated to contribute to the organization’s success. This communication structure is based on various leadership communication strategies including verbal and verbal communication. Kandlousi and Abdollahi (2010) content that, although verbal communication is the most common form of communication within an organization, people pay less attention to words compared to non-verbal cues that accompany words. Owing to such argument, this communication structure recommends more use of non-verbal cues such as hand motions, facial expression, eye movement, and body structure. That is, leaders should strive to match their nonverbal signs to their words. This will render them more believable and trustworthy.

Leaders should also be able to adapt their communication style depending on their audience (Kandlousi & Abdollahi, 2010). This implies that, when listening to employees, leaders needs to have more directive style than whenever they are delivering a presentation to clients. Kandlousi and Abdollahi (2010) acknowledge the view that, leaders should be able to identify audience’s interests and characters. This will enable them to adjust their communication style depending on what audience needs and what will encourage them to react thereby meeting communication goals.

The other fundamental leadership communication strategy suggested in the proposed communication structure is active listening. Literature cites that, leaders should focus on both speakers’ nonverbal and verbal languages (Kandlousi & Abdollahi, 2010). Ideally, leaders should concentrate only on speaker and ignore outside interruptions such as speaker’s own wandering thoughts. Finally, leaders should be aware that, employees will always look to them as a model of how they should behave within the workplace under certain circumstances. According to Kandlousi and Abdollahi (2010), employees tend to imitate their leaders’ communication and actions. Therefore, if employees see leaders using active listening style whenever communicating to clients, they are likely to emulate them. The proposed communication structure suggests that, leaders should consider whether or not they want their employees to communicate in the same style to the same audience.

In conclusion, whenever people communicate, they transfer a particular message. However, effective communication can only be achieved via clear, concise, and correct communication skills throughout the organization. Once implemented, the proposed communication structure will facilitate effective communicate across the company via the recommended procedures and tools.

 

References

Agarwal, O.P. (2010).  Effective Communication-1.  Mumbai, IND: Global Media

Barker, R. T., & Gower, K. (2010). Strategic application of storytelling in organizations toward effective communication in a diverse world. Journal of business communication, 47(3), 295-312.

Inc.

Kandlousi, N. S. A. E., Ali, A. J., & Abdollahi, A. (2010). Organizational citizenship behavior in concern of communication satisfaction: the role of the formal and informal communication. International Journal of Business and Management, 5(10), P51.

Kreps, G.L. (2011). Communication in organizations. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education,

Rai, Urmila Rai, S.M. (2009).  Managerial Communication.  Mumbai, IND: Global Media