Supplier Code Of Conduct Essays (Examples)

Global Business Environment

Ongoing challenges in the global business environment are mostly attributed to unethical business practices, failure to embrace technology advancements, and intense competition among businesses. Apple Inc. is an example of a company that has faced challenges in the global business environment because of unethical business practices with regards to its suppliers' compliance with the company's code of conduct. Despite safety being one of the major components of Apple's operations, the company is renowned for having suppliers that are abusive to their workers. For instance, Wintek and Foxconn are among the firm's electronics suppliers with factories characterized by terrible working conditions. However, when Apple's supplier code of conduct is raised, the situation with these suppliers remains the same and contributes to numerous concerns regarding compliance. As a result, Apple has made several changes to its Code of Conduct in recent years, which have generated new standards for suppliers…

References

Kaiser, T. (2012, January 27). Report: Apple's Suppliers Continuously Violate Code of Conduct,

Apple Does Nothing to Change It. Retrieved March 7, 2015, from http://www.dailytech.com/Report+Apples+Suppliers+Continuously+Violate+Code+of+Conduct+Apple+Does+Nothing+to+Change+It/article23867.htm

Nova, S. & Shapiro, I. (2014, March 25). Assessing the Reforms Portrayed by Apple's Supplier

Responsibility Report. Retrieved March 7, 2015, from  http://www.epi.org/publication/assessing-reforms-portrayed-apples-supplier/

Organizational Theory #1

Create a code of ethics for an organization of your choice. For each point in the code of ethics, describe an ethical dilemma that would be resolved using the code of ethics.

All employees will conduct business honestly and ethically. We will constantly improve the quality of our services, products and operations and create a reputation for honesty, fairness, respect, responsibility, integrity, trust and sound business judgment. (Provides a clearly stated, over-arching business philosophy for honesty and fair dealings that every employee can follow).

No illegal or unethical conduct on the part of company employees or affiliates is in the company's best interest. All are expected to adhere to high standards of personal integrity -- not allowing their personal interests to conflict with the interests of the company, its clients or affiliates. We will not compromise our principles for short-term advantage. (Encourages all employees to seek the…

References

Beauchamp, L., & O'Connor, A. (2012). America's most admired companies: A descriptive analysis of CEO corporate social responsibility statements. Public Relations Review, 38(3), 494-497. doi:10.1016/j.pubrev.2012.03.006

Jones, G. (2010). Organizational theory, design, and change (6th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Raytheon Corporation: Code of conduct and ethics

Prelude:

Raytheon Company is a well reputed technology and innovation company which deals in security, defense and civil marketson a global scale. It has a rich and bright history of 92 years and continuing, Raytheon can provide top of the line electronics, integration of mission systems as well as other capabilities indicated below:

• Sensing capabilities

• Effects

• Command and control

• Communications

• Intelligence systems

• A diverse array of mission support services

Raytheon was one of the first startups, which were founded in Cambridge in Massachusetts Institute of Technology on July of 1922. It was started as an American appliance corporation (Raytheon Company, 2014).

The founder of the company was three associates namely:

• Vannevar ush (future dean of engineering department of MIT)

• Charles G. Smith (scientist notable for his work on electrical characteristics of gases)

• Laurence Marshall…

Bibliography

Akamai Technologies. (2014). Code of ethics. Retrieved from www.akamai.com/html/policies/code_ethics.html

Corrections Corporations of America. (2005). A guide to our code of ethics and business conduct. Retrived from https://www.cca.com/Media/Default/documents/Social-Responsibility/Fostering-Meaningful-Careers/Code_of_Ethics.pdf

Chunhua, C., & Yihan, N. (n.d.). How to Motivate Employees' Ethical Behavior-Based On Management Control Theory. Retrieved from http://www.seiofbluemountain.com/upload/product/201010/2010qychzh05a2.pdf

Department of Education, Training and the Arts. (2011). Code of conduct. Retrieved from  http://deta.qld.gov.au/right-to-information/pdf/codecond.pdf

Corporate Conduct

Global corporations are often difficult to control because they operate in various countries throughout the world. As such actions that may be illegal in some countries are perfectly legal in others. Furthermore law enforcement officials and governments do not have the power to enforce laws that are outside of their jurisdictions. These issues call into question the effectiveness mechanisms that exist to control global corporate conduct. The purpose of this discussion is to Assess the effectiveness of various mechanisms that exist to control global corporate conduct and recommend a mechanism that I believe is the most effective.

Survey of Mechanisms and their Advantages/Disadvantages

Private Regulation

Private regulations employ civil regulations to compel transnational corporations to operate according to a certain set of standards. According to the "defining feature of civil regulation is that its legitimacy, governance and implementation is not rooted in public authority. Operating beside or around…

Bibliography

Fritsch, S.(2008) The UN Global Compact and the Global Governance

of Corporate Social Responsibility: ComplexMultilateralism for a More Human Globalisation? Global Society, Vol. 22, No. 1, pg. 2-26

Haufler, V. 2003 "Globalization and Industry Self-Regulation," in Governance in A Global Economy: Political Authority in Transition, Miles Kahler and David Lake, eds. Princeton University Press, 2003, p. 226

Haufler, V. 2002 The Public Role for the Private Sector, and The Emergence of Private Authority in Global Governance Rodney Hall and Thomas Biersteker, eds. Cambridge University Press, 2002.

Apple Case Study

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) is a global leader in the development, design, manufacturing and marketing of smartphones, tablets, media devices, personal computers, operating systems, services, peripherals and network solutions. As of December 2014 the company is operating in 16 nations, with 444 open Apple retail outlets (Apple Investor Relations, 2014). The company has 92,600 employees and generated $182 in revenue during their latest financial or fiscal year that ended September 31, 2014 (Apple Investor Relations, 2014). This was a 7% increase over the previous year. The company is very profitable, generating $52.5 in profits in their latest financial reporting year, also increasing 7.2% over 2013. Countries the company operates include Australia, razil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, and the United Kingdom with the majority of stores in the United States (Apple Investor Relations, 2014).

Analysis of Market Systems

The nations that…

Bibliography:

Apple - Investor Relations (2014). Retrieved December 27, 2014, from  http://investor.apple.com/ 

Brustein, J. (2014, Oct). New iPads, iMacs, and apple pay: Nine things we learned from Apple. Business Week, 1.

Coy, P. (2014, Nov). Inside Apple's gigantic rewards program for shareholders. Business Week, 1.

Domanico, A. (2014, 11). New iPhones: Roomier, thinner, and speedier. Macworld, 31, 28.

Organizational Ethics

Ethics

In life and in business, there are situations that challenge, question, and test an individual's set of personal and professional ethics. Ethics is a crucial element to sustain a society as well as an organization. This paper will discuss several issues regarding the practice of ethics and the practice of leadership within organizations. The kind of leadership an organization maintains and models for employees plays a significant role in the practice of ethical conduct within the organization as well as ethical conduct during business practices with parties outside of the organization, including suppliers and consumers. As part of this discussion, the paper identifies prominent issues regarding leadership ethics in organizations, factors that directly contribute to the practice or lack of ethics on the individual and organizational levels. With analysis and references to relevant texts, the paper proposes an ethical code for a fictitious company such that there…

References:

Dorasamy, N. (2010) Enhancing an ethical culture through purpose -- directed leadership for improved public service delivery: A case for South Africa. African Journal of Business Management, 4(1), 56 -- 64.

Stanwick, P.A., & Stanwick, S.D. (2009). Understanding business ethics. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Waggoner, J. (2010) Ethics and Leadership: How Personal Ethics Produce Effective Leaders. CMC Senior Theses, Available from:  http://scholarship.claremont.edu/cmc_theses/26 . 30 June 2012.

Apple (the computer company) with relation to China. The paper will need to focus on the company's product development and supplier relations within the Chinese market.

Apple

"Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL; formerly Apple Computer, Inc.) is an American multinational corporation that designs and sells consumer electronics, computer software, and personal computers. The company's best-known hardware products are the Macintosh line of computers, the iPod, the iPhone and the iPad. Its software includes the OS X and iOS operating system; the iTunes media browser; and the iLife and iork creativity and production suites. Apple is the world's third-largest mobile phone maker after Samsung and Nokia. Established on April 1, 1976 in Cupertino, California, and incorporated January 3, 1977… Fortune magazine named Apple the most admired company in the United States in 2008, and in the world from 2008 to 2012" (ikipedia: Apple Inc.)

The following essay describes Apple's relationship with China…

Wikipedia. Apple Inc.

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Inc .

Rathee, J. (2012) Could Apple's China Love Affair Be Over?  http://wallstcheatsheet.com/stocks/could-apples-china-love-affair-be-over.html/

Apple Inc. Ethics

The Apple Inc. has grown exponentially from the years when it diversified from being strictly a computer manufacturing company to production of consumer electronics. It has then had several firms across the world and in some areas places where the labor cost is very low, hence predisposing the organization to possibility of labor abuse. This has then called for strict ethical policies followed by implementation of the same.

According to Apple Inc. (2009), the organization has strived to make sure the employees and those with whom Apple is associated with like the suppliers show appropriate conduct at all times. Its ethical foundation is that all the workers are treated with maximum respect and dignity and that the manufacturing processes are environmentally friendly from the start to the end of the chain. According to Apple, there are four components of integrity; honesty, respect, confidentiality and compliance. To ensure…

References

Apple Inc. (2009. Apple Supplier Code of Conduct. Retrieved October 22, 2012 from  http://images.apple.com/supplierresponsibility/pdf/Supplier_Code_of_Conduct_V3_1.pdf 

Christina Warren, (2011). Apple Gives Back-to-School Promotion a Mac App Store Twist. Retrieved October 22, 2012 from  http://mashable.com/2011/06/16/mac-app-store-back-to-school/ 

David Murphy, (2011). Apple to Match $10K in Charitable Contributions Per Employee. Retrieved October 22, 2012 from  http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2392762,00.asp

Ethics

With the Starbucks code of conduct, there are a few goods things. First, it touches on a wide range of subjects. There are actually several different reports such as human rights, social responsibility, health care, animal welfare and supplier code of conduct (Starbucks.com, 2014). Second, I like the fact that it addresses the farmers from whom the company buys its beans -- these are people doing manual labor in hot countries, band often do not receive a living wage. So that is good. Third, I like that the company has targets and tracks some of its social responsibility outcomes. This will help the company to improve its social responsibility performance, as well as its ethical performance.

As for the McDonalds statement the company also reflects social responsibility in its statement. This is something that McDonalds has been forced to address by protests and negative publicity and there isn't any…

References

McDonalds. (2014). Standards of business conduct for employees. About McDonalds.com. Retrieved April 11, 2014 from  http://www.aboutmcdonalds.com/mcd/investors/corporate_governance/codes_of_conduct/standards_of_business_conduct.html 

Starbucks.com (2014). Starbucks on the issues. Starbucks. Retrieved April 11, 2014 from  http://www.starbucks.ca/responsibility/learn-more/policies

Corporate esponsibility and Marketing Strategies

Apple Inc. Ethics and social responsibility

Apple is known across the globe for its quality products and up-to-date technology that allows the users to feel to be ahead of other brands hence forming an ardent brand community with great brand loyalty. In order to achieve these technologies, Apple often outsources parts and even services from developing nations particularly in the Asian world. The reason for the preference of the Asian workforce is due to the ability to achieve unprecedented turn around time on new products with speed and flexibility unlike any other regions. They also prefer the sourcing for the production of parts in China which helps them to be close to the hundreds of the manufacturers of components that may be needed as well as the engineers who are central in the production of the final products (Harjani A., 2014). This model of business…

References

Apple Inc., (2012). Apple Supplier Code of Conduct: Version 4.0. Effective Date-January 1, 2014. Retrieved January 20, 2015 from  https://www.apple.com/supplier-responsibility/ pdf/Apple_Supplier_Code_of_Conduct.pdf

Arthur C., (2012). Apple supplier audit begins with Foxconn plant. Retrieved January 20, 2015 from  http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2012/feb/13/apple-supplier-audit-foxconn 

Campbell M, (2013). Apple terminates contract with supplier after audit finds underage labor violations. Retrieved January 20, 2015 from  http://appleinsider.com/articles/13/01/25/apple-severs-ties-with-chinese-supplier-after-audit-finds-74-cases-of-underage-worker-violations 

Harjani A., (2014). Apple manufacturing partner looks to build factory in the U.S. Retrieved January 20, 2015 from  http://www.cnbc.com/id/101364554# .

Nike consistently underreacted to these concerns and as a result created an even larger public relations challenge for themselves by not internalizing it equivalent to a threat to profitability. As with any crisis that gets ignored, the critics only get louder the more they perceive their voices not being heard. For Nike, this continued on for years until they began to aggressively attack the problem as if it were one impacting profits, including the development of auditing and independent monitoring programs, and an open-door policy to Congressional critics who had the power to initial investigations and define if any U.S. laws were being broken or not.

Many of Nike's competitors subcontract production to Asian factories similar to those used by Nike. What was Nike singled out by human rights and labor activists?

Nike was singled out for a variety of reasons. First, the company's lack of seriousness in response to…

References

Vidhi A Chaudhri. (2006). Organising Global CSR: A Case Study of Hewlett-Packard's e-inclusion Initiative*. The Journal of Corporate Citizenship,(23), 39-51.

Kristen Bell DeTienne, and Lee W. Lewis. "The Pragmatic and Ethical Barriers to Corporate Social Responsibility Disclosure: The Nike Case. " Journal of Business Ethics 60.4 (2005): 359.

Lim, S., and J. Phillips. "Embedding CSR Values: The Global Footwear Industry's Evolving Governance Structure. " Journal of Business Ethics 81.1 (2008): 143-156.

Nadvi, R. "Global standards, global governance and the organization of global value chains." Journal of Economic Geography: Global Production Networks: Debates and Challenges 8.3 (2008): 323-343.

Responses
Week 1: One strategic control would obviously be the budget. The budget is one of the main strategic controls. The company determines its spending on R&D, new market entry, marketing for different products, and this spending is indicative of what the company's priorities are for the coming year. If there is no money for something, it is not a priority. If General Mills sees innovation as a pathway forward, it will spend on R&D. If it sees an acquisition as a key strategic pathway, it will put itself in a position to absorb a rival.
Another major strategic control is the rewards system. The rewards a company sets out for its employees will orient the employees towards the specific activities that are being rewarded. If the rewards are general – say, net profit-based- they will orient employees to perform their duties well in a general sense, but that's it,…

Apple Inc. Investment Analysis and Recommendations

Apple Inc. is an American multinational company specializing in designing and producing mobile telecommunication devices that include iPhone, computer software and hardware, Apple TV, Apple Watch, iPod, and other electronic devices. Apple was incorporated and publicly registered in 1977. Headquartered in California, Apple is one of the most successful American companies in term of revenue with the annual revenue reaching $233.7 billion at the end of 2015 fiscal year. On February 2016, Apple recorded $521.3 billion worth of market capitalization. While Apple designs the bulk of their products in the United States, the company's manufacturing plants are located in China. Apple also operates in Europe, Japan, Canada, and Latin America. (Apple Inc. 2015).

Board of Directors

Apple Inc. Board of Directors is overseeing by the company CEO (Chief Executive Officer) and other competent senior management. The Board oversees the day-to-day operations of the company…

The second step is to initiate a supplier code of conduct. The greatest potential for ethical violations falls with suppliers such as agricultural firms or offshored service providers, and these violations can result in negative publicity for the company.

Ultimately, it is not expected that these ethical standards will form a competitive advantage for the company. Having high ethical standards is more of a hygiene factor in that it is something a company needs to have to avoid negative impacts, but few companies get any particular competitive mileage from their ethical policies. There is little impetus to join the fair trade or organic businesses for most of the products we sell. hile many consumers are willing to pay more for said products, it remains a niche category especially in Europe and the UK. This usually means that the volumes are too low to justify the effort. Overall, the best approach…

Works Cited:

FAO. (2001). Ethical issues in food and agriculture. Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations. Retrieved March 22, 2011 from  http://www.fao.org/DOCREP/003/X9601E/X9601E00.htm 

HRW. (2010). Hellish work. Human Rights Watch. Retrieved March 22, 2011 from  http://www.hrw.org/en/node/91458/section/3 

Hussein, M. (2009). Hiring and firing with ethics. Human Resource Management International Digest. Vol. 17 (4) 37-40.

Van Tulder, R. & Kolk, a. (2001). Multinationality and corporate ethics: Codes of conduct in the sporting goods industry. Journal of International Business Studies. Vol. 32 (2) 267-283.

Corporate Social esponsibility

The concept of corporate social responsibility began to arise in the 1960s as an ideal that corporations can have a number of different impacts on society and the environment through their actions. Corporations are not simply answerable to shareholders, but to a wide variety of other stakeholders as well. The responsibility that corporations have, therefore, is social, not just economic. Dahlrud (2006) studied a number of different definitions for corporate social responsibility and determined that it is not something that can be defined. ather, CS is a social construct, meaning that there are multiple definitions and which definition is most suitable depends on the way the term is used. For corporations, the implication is that they can set their own definitions based on what is relevant to their interests, and the interests of their different stakeholders. The classic view that the only social responsibility corporations have is…

References

Arndt, M. (2010) Monsanto vs.Food Inc. over how to feed the world. Bloomberg Business. Retrieved November 27, 2015 from  http://www.businessweek.com/innovate/next/archives/2010/01/anyone_whos_see.html 

Dahlsrud, A. (2006). How corporate social responsibility is defined: An analysis of 37 definitions. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management. Retrieved November 27, 2015 from  http://www.mcxindia.com/csr/newsarticle/pdf/csr_news45.pdf 

Friedman, M. (1970) The social responsibility of business is to increase its profits. New York Times Magazine. Retrieved November 27, 2015 from  http://www.colorado.edu/studentgroups/libertarians/issues/friedman-soc-resp-business.html 

ICTSD. (2010). Monsanto accused of unfair business practices. International Center for Trade and Sustainable Development. Retrieved November 27, 2015 from  http://www.ictsd.org/bridges-news/biores/news/monsanto-accused-of-unfair-business-practices

Company X has faith in its employees to utilize their own ethical judgment in conjunction with the rules and standards set forth by the company in order to assure that actions within the company are performed at an optimal level across the board.

Implementation and Communication

In order to assure that a code of ethics is implemented to the best of its ability into a company, gradual implementation must be used along with clear communication as to each step of the process in order to assure that the code of ethics is fully understood and used within the company by its employees.

In order to begin implementation, a checklist regarding steps needed to begin code adherence could prove helpful in providing a smooth transition into code use. In the early stages of implementation, it is crucial that as many people as possible -- employees included -- are involved in both…

References

Emerson, T., McKinney, J. And Neubert, M. (2010). "The effects of ethical codes on ethical perceptions of actions toward stakeholders." Journal of Business Ethics. 97:1. p. 505-516. Retrieved from: ProQuest Database.

Gaumnitz, B. And Lere, J. (2007). "Codes of ethics with impact." The CPA Journal. 15:1.

p. 106. Retrieved from: LexisNexis Database.

Godkin, L. And Valentine, S. (2009). "Ethics, social responsibility, and ethical reasoning in an education-based center: when doing good results in good employees." Journal of Leadership, Accountability and Ethics. 7:3. p. 1-18. Retrieved from: ProQuest Database.

Ethics Code and Hiring Strategy

Working within a field with such ever-evolving technologies can cause daunting problems for new start-up companies. As such, it is extremely important for new business owners to develop strong and efficient strategies to deal with the hiring and maintenance of employees to best ensure that operations run smoothly. With Ken Burton needing to focus on fulfilling orders for two companies, he must put together a proper plan to hire the right people and get the ball moving on operations and productions.

As a new business owner, it is crucial for Burton to ensure that all his new employees are handled responsibly in order to promote the best business practices and thus the most efficient production force. In order to care for employees, a strong code of ethics needs to be developed before the hiring process can actually take place. Such a code must "encourage high…

References

American Staffing Association. (2012). ASA code of ethics and good practices. Members. Retrieved August 6, 2012 from  http://www.americanstaffing.net/members/code_of_ethics.cfm 

Park, Josh. (2011). Best hiring strategies for small businesses. Course Park. Retrieved August 5, 2012 from  http://www.coursepark.com/blog/2012/01/best-hiring-strategies-for-small-businesses

Apple: Challenges of a Global Supply Chain

Given the accelerating pace of its new product development and introduction cycles, success of its retail chain globally, the added requirement of greater customer-facing training, and the need to constantly innovate, Apple places a very high level of demands on it suppliers globally. Of the many elements of the company's value chain, suppliers and the supply chain are foundational the company's success (Lucas, Kang, Li, 2013). What has been troubling about the Apple supply chain and its practices in the past has been a lack of consistency and governance regarding supplier ethics, human rights, education, safety and sustainability for preserve the environment (Lucas, Kang, Li, 2013).

As Apple's Chief Compliance Officer, the need for providing greater education to all suppliers globally is a top priority. The latest 2015 Apple Supplier esponsibility Progress eport provides a useful series of frameworks for illustrating just how…

References:

Kanter, J. (2010). Apple finds proof of poor Labour standards. Supply Management, 15(5), 7.

Lee, P.K.C., Lau, A.K.W., & Cheng, T. (2013). Employee rights protection and financial performance. Journal of Business Research, 66(10), 1861.

Lucas, K., Kang, D., & Li, Z. (2013). Workplace dignity in a total institution: Examining the experiences of Foxconn's migrant workforce. Journal of Business Ethics, 114(1), 91-106.

Moren, D. (2010, 05). Apple Cleans Up Its Supply Chain. Macworld, 27, 14.

Global Environment

AT&T

AT&T's code of ethics can be found on its ATT.com website (2014). The code exists in accordance with the requirements of the Securities and Exchange Commission, according to the company. The code contains nine items: honest and ethical conduct, conflicts of interest, disclosure, compliance, reporting and accountability, corporate opportunities, confidentiality, fair dealing and protection and proper use of company assets. Under each category, the company explains its policies. Under "honest and ethical conduct," AT&T says it will "act with integrity," using a synonym to make a redundant statement. It also says it will "observe both the form and spirit of laws and government rules and regulations," which is the same as line IV, compliance. It will "adhere to a high standard of business ethics," another redundant statement, and without defining "high standard."

The company rather curiously defines "conflict of interest:" as arising when a personal interest interferes…

References

A&T Code of Conduct. (2014). Retrieved February 18, 2014 from  http://www.att.com/gen/investor-relations?pid=5595 

AT&T (2013) AT&T global supplier diversity. AT&T. Retrieved February 18, 2014 from  http://www.att.com/gen/corporate-citizenship?pid=17724 

Holmes, A. (2014). AT&T buoyed in lobbying push against spectrum auction limits. Center for Public Integrity. Retrieved February 18, 2014 from www.publicintegrity.org/2014/01/07/14081/att-buoyed-lobbying-push-against-spectrum-auction-limits

Saint Louis University. (2013). $1 million AT&T contribution to support global education initiatives. Saint Louis University. Retrieved February 18, 2014 from  http://www.slu.edu/x87581.xml

Hershey Company

Hershey's is a listed company. Its products are sold in Hershey's own retail stores, but also in most store chains. In addition to this, the company develops several partnerships with suppliers.

Some of the most important issues in the company's code of ethical conduct that ensure its success are represented by promoting diversity, producing products consumers can trust, and dealing fairly within the marketplace. In order to benefit from productive employees it is important to develop a cultural environment that sustains their productivity (Hershey's, 2012). One of the most efficient ways to reach this objective is to promote workplace diversity. This ensures that all issues are viewed from different points-of-view, and that different solutions can be determined. It also ensures that employees can improve their skills of anticipating situations that can affect the company's activity.

Producing products consumers can trust is one of the most important issues that…

4. Corporate Social Responsibility Report (2014). Hershey's. Retrieved July 6, 2014 from  http://www.thehersheycompany.com/social-responsibility/shared-goodness/pdfs/2013_THC_CSR_140505_V6_TR.pdf .

5. The Hershey Company (2012). Industry Today. Retrieved July 6, 2014 from http://industrytoday.com/article_view.asp?ArticleID=FDQ_F23_hershey.

6. Hostetter, C. (2004). Sugar Allies: How Hershey and Coca Cola Used Government Contracts and Sugar Exemptions To Elude Sugar Rationing Regulations.

Ethical Behaviors of Mattel in the Toy Industry

The ethicacy of corporate behaviors are influenced by a myriad of factors yet most strongly reflect the internal culture, alignment of leadership to vision, and accumulated trade-offs made by management over years of ethical decisions, trade-offs and outcomes. In the study Mattel, Inc.: Global Manufacturing Principles (GMP) - A life-cycle analysis of a company-based code of conduct in the toy industry (Sethi, Veral, Shapiro, Emelianova, 2011) the authors successfully provide insights into the moral and ethical dilemmas of operating a multinational corporation (MNC) that is highly dependent on Global Manufacturing Principles (GMP). The life-cycle analysis of company-based code of conduct also illustrates how creating a solid ethical foundation using a Corporate Social esponsibility (CS) platform is only as effective as the aligning of senior management, vision and mission, and manufacturing, sourcing, supply chain and distribution is (Sethi, Veral, Shapiro, Emelianova, 2011). When…

References

Gordley, J., & Cecil, S. (1998). Good faith and profit maximization. Review of Business, 19(4), 11-17.

Heinze, E. (2010). The meta-ethics of law: Book one of Aristotle's Nicomachean ethics. International Journal of Law in Context, 6(1), 23-44.

Kielsgard, M.D. (2011). Universalism and human rights in the 21st century. Asia Pacific Law Review, 19(2), 155-176.

Machan, T.R. (2004). Aristotle and the moral status of business. Journal of Value Inquiry, 38(2), 217-223.

PHI Security and Privacy

Privacy and security is significant for any institution operating under offices because of clients, which prompts for the need of protecting the flowing information. In the context of a hospital, there is need for protecting the client's information in order to assure them of their privacy and security. Privacy is always important when attending to the clients since it provides an environment where the latter can open up to their doctors. Privacy refers to what the protected; information about the patient and the determination of the personalities permitted to use while security refer to the way of safeguarding the information through ensuring privacy to information (odrigues, 2010). The patients also need security because of the inevitability of serene environment for their recovery. Even though St. John's hospital presents good strategies in terms of their sound policies, this is not enough in ensuring confidentiality in the information…

Reference.

Harman, L.B., & American Health Information Management Association. (2006). Ethical challenges in the management of health information. Sudbury, Mass: Jones and Bartlett

Publishers.

Nass, S.J., Levit, L.A., Gostin, L.O., & Institute of Medicine (U.S.). (2009). Beyond the HIPAA

privacy rule: Enhancing privacy, improving health through research. Washington, D.C:

Code of Conduct Framework

The Board in charge of every firm has the responsibility to come up with, and record in writing a code stating the processes and practices that the company should follow for fair UPSI disclosure, as per the principles given in the Regulations; Schedule A. Schedule A gives specific minimum standards such as equality in accessing information, policy publication e.g. those about dividend, pursuits of inorganic growth, meetings and calls with analysts, recording the meetings and calls in writing among others. Furthermore, the Boards in charge of all listed market intermediaries and corporations are required to come up with a code that regulates, supervises and makes reports of trading activities by the staff and any other connected party (Nishith Desai Associates, 2016).

Reporting Violations

Any employee of a Company is allowed to present a complaint, which should be made with no ulterior motive or out of reasonable…

Management Action and Productivity

usinesses in developed countries tend to think of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) as a characteristic that is centered in their own businesses or, failing that, situated in the industries of wealthier nations. The CSR movement is substantively skewed in the direction of the developed world where the motivation for adopting a CSR initiative is driven more by altruism -- or "enlightened self-interest" (Vogel 2006: 18) -- than profit margins. It is unusual to find a perspective that considers CSR from the perspective of a sourcing company. In the centrically-oriented corporate arena of the developed world, CSR is seen as originating with the company that establishes a supply chain with a multinational company -- not the other way around. In order to manage and control ethical issues arising from doing business with overseas markets, many corporations rely on a social compliance model (PricewaterhouseCoopers 2007).

The social compliance…

Bibliography

Buying your way into trouble? The challenge of responsible supply chain management. 2004. Insight Investment, HBOS. London, UK: Acona Investment Consulting. Retrieved  http://www.acona.co.uk/reports/Buying+your+way+into+trouble.pdf 

Cooper, D.R. And Schindler, P.S. 2008. Business Research Methods, 10th Ed. Edition, McGraw-Hill.

Environics International 3rd Annual CSR Monitor. 2002. (In November of 2003, Environics became GlobeScan Incorporated. [Press release] Retrieved  http://www.globescan.com/news_archives/csr02_press_release.html 

Eslenshade, J. 2004. Monitoring Sweatshops: Workers, Consumers, & the Global Apparel Industry. Temple University Press.

9. eturns - defines the condition under which the product can be returned, what procedures must be used, advance notice requirements, shipping issues and the like.

10. Damages - defines procedures for reporting, estimating and recovering damages if suffered by any party. This may include penalty payments with a defined upper limit for recovery.

11. Governing Law - defines the location where litigation will occur in the event that a breach of contract suit must be pursued through the court. The Mooters interest: This contract component would have defined Britain or France as the court for litigating recourse and recovery. With regard to the Mooters situation, different jurisdictions and applicable laws apply if this suit progresses to court.

The following contract components could have been included in the Mooters' sales contract; however, given its likely low monetary exposure, these contract components are likely unnecessary.

Entire Agreement - defines that no…

References

Black's Law Dictionary. (1990). St. Paul, MN: West Publishing Co.

UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sales of Goods. (1980). [Online]. Available: http://www.uncitral.org/pdf/english/texts/sales/cisg/CISG.pdf.

Uniform Commercial Code - Article 1. (2008). Cornell University. [Online]. Available:  http://www.law.cornell.edu/ucc/1/ .

Kimberly-Clark Corporation is a global manufacturing and marketing company in the consumer products business. The Company is currently concentrating new marketing efforts on emerging markets of Asia, ussia and Latin America. Historically, the Company was an integrated (pulp to finished product) paper products business. It has been reducing its exposure to the basic commodity pulp manufacturing capacity in an effort to improve its profitability in the consumer tissue business. The Company operates with a high degree of ethical behavior. "Doing the right thing" is a critical aspect of the Company's business strategy. The Company's Code of Conduct sets out guidelines for all employees (worldwide) on the topics of freedom of association (right to organize), diversity and non-discrimination, global human rights, workplace safety, and fair dealing with customers, suppliers, competitors and each other. The Company was ranked fifth among the top 100 large U.S. companies by the Corporate esponsibility Magazine. Cost…

References

Asaada, Jason N. (2011, February 1), Kimberly-Clark Corp, Standard & Poor's, Stock Report

CRO, (2011, January), Corporate Responsibility Magazine, Retrieved February 23, 2011 from http://thecro.com/content/corporate-responsibility-reports

Dillon, C.A. & Kelly, Edward J. (2011, January 26), Kimberly-Clark Corporation, Credit Suisse, Equity Research Report

Kimberly-Clark, Code of Conduct, Office of the Chairman of the Board, Retrieved February 23, 2011 from www.iflo.com/fls/Kimberly-Clark

Integrating Total Quality Environmental Management Systems - a Critical Study of TQEM

Relevance of TQM to Environmental Management

Scope of Dissertation

Moving from Reactive to Proactive Management

Understanding TQM in Relation to TQEM

History of TQM

Operation of TQM

Quality and Environmental Management Standards

Environmental Management Systems

Weaknesses of EMS Standards

Total Quality Environmental Management

Comparing ISO 9000 and ISO 14000

Integrating the ISO 14000 Environmental Management System

Demographics

Impact of certification on economic and ecological performances

Research Design and Nature

Integrating a Sustainable EMS with TQM

Steps to Implementing an Effective TQEM Strategy

Final Word

ibliography

INTEGRATING QUALITY AND ENVIRONMENTAL ManagementS SYSTEMS - A CRITICAL STUDY

INTRODUCTION

ackground and Overview of Study

For decades economic growth has been considered the main indicator of a healthy society (Oliver, 1996). However, only recently has society begun to recognize the environmental cost of this growth. As a result, there is now an…

Bibliography working paper. Winnipeg, MB: International Institute for Sustainable Development, 1996. 58

Bisang, O. (2000), Green Banking - The Value of ISO 14001 Certification

Chattopadhyay, S.P. (2001), "Improving the Speed of ISO 14000 Implementation: A Framework for Increasing Productivity," Managerial Auditing Journal, 16/1, pp. 36-39.

Chinn, R. (March 21, 2001). Roadmap to Realization -- "Getting Started with Your QMS/EMS Integration Process. Alamo Learning Systems.

Clark, D. (1999), What Drives Companies to Seek ISO 14000 Certification, Pollution Engineering, Summer, pp. 14.

Business Ethics

Every company has corporate governance initiatives in place. Consider that corporate governance simply refers to how the company is run and controlled. The current usage of the buzzword derives from the issues that a few companies had where executives or managers were not subject to appropriate levels of governance. Thus, the guidelines issued recently by the OECD, the ASX, the Combined Code and in Sarbanes-Oxley serve to institutionalize stronger corporate governance policies in order to strengthen public confidence in capital markets. Most companies would already be following these guidelines.

For example, the first category covered by the Combined Code is about the Board of Governors. Boards of Governors have always been responsible for corporate governance -- for our company not to have any governance policy would imply that it does not have a Board. hat is recommended is that the Board has specific features and structures. One recommendation…

Works Cited:

ASX: Corporate governance. (2011). Retrieved November 30, 2011 from  http://www.asx.com.au/governance/corporate-governance.htm 

Friedman, M. (1970). The social responsibility of business is to increase its profits. New York Times Magazine. Retrieved November 30, 2011 from  http://www.colorado.edu/studentgroups/libertarians/issues/friedman-soc-resp-business.html 

No author. (2011). Management compliance guide. Sox Toolkit. Retrieved November 30, 2011 from  http://www.soxtoolkit.com/sox-govern.htm 

OECD principles of corporate governance. (2004). Retrieved November 30, 2011 from  http://www.oecd.org/document/49/0,3746,en_2649_34813_31530865_1_1_1_1,00.html

Apple's Current Position On Its Ethical And Social esponsibilities

Corporations are increasingly seeking a vision in maintaining social responsibility alongside a vision in business. There are also demands for greater accountability and transparency in corporate actions of organized consumers, state representatives and grass movements (Garsten, 2003). Many corporations aim to engage in corporate citizenship and to be socially responsible by adhering to social accountability standards and voluntary codes of conduct. This essay endeavors to examine Apple's current position on the social and ethical responsibilities and to determine whether it has met the responsibilities. The study also determines the impact caused by the violation of ethics and social responsibilities among Apple's suppliers.

Current Position on the Company's Ethical and Social esponsibilities

Corporate Social esponsibility comprises of actions that are not required by the law, but extend beyond the transactional interest of companies and further social good. CS is often used to…

References

Creel, T. (2010). Environmental Reporting Practices of the Largest U.S. Companies. Management Accounting Quarterly 12(10): 13-20

Garsten, C. (2003). The cosmopolitan organization -- an essay on corporate accountability. Global Networks 3(3):355 -- 370

Kenney, M. (2011). How venture capital became a component of the U.S. National System of Innovation. Industrial and Corporate Change, 20(6): 1677 -- 1723

Northrop, E. (2013). The Accuracy, Market Ethic, and Individual Morality Surrounding the Profit Maximization Assumption. American Economist, Vol. 58, No. 2: 111-124

Therefore, our company's mission is to ensure that our customers receive the highest quality products, with similar services, while ensuring that our employees are satisfied and motivated on personal and financial levels. Our company is also determined to significantly engage in the life of the community of which we are part of.

Corporate Social esponsibility

In today's competitive market environment it does not suffice to provide high quality products and services. A company that intends to develop a sustainable position on the market must ensure that CS actions are being taken.

As a consequence, our company intends to make a difference in the eating style of people. Therefore, the company organizes seminars on this subject. People are invited to attend to these seminars held by authorities in the field that explain people the importance of a healthy eating style and the benefits of organic foods.

Also, the company is interested…

Reference list:

1. Smith, J. (2003). The Shareholders vs. Stakeholders Debate. MIT Sloan Management Review. Business Ethics and Public Policy, Leadership and Organizational Studies. Retrieved April 26, 2010 from  http://sloanreview.mit.edu/the-magazine/articles/2003/summer/44411/the-shareholders-vs.-stakeholders-debate/ .

2. Phillips, R. (2004). Some key questions about stakeholder theory. IVEY Business Journal. Retrieved April 26, 2010 from  http://www.iveybusinessjournal.com/view_article.asp?intArticle_ID=471 .

3. Deal and Kennedy's Cultural Model (2010). MindTools. Retrieved April 26, 2010 from  http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newSTR_86.htm .

4. Cooke, R.A. & Szumal, J.L. (2000). Using the Organizational Culture Inventory to Understand the Operating Cultures of organizations. Handbook of Organizational Culture and Climate. Retrieved April 26, 2010 from  http://books.google.ro/books?id=AUt1i9ZEa48C&pg=PA147&lpg=PA147&dq=robert+a+cooke+organizational+culture&source=bl&ots=ZRyk-MTlUj&sig=R9niqrhTVi1q-VNdWnvL-fB9lAg&hl=ro&ei=FcXVS93VJ8-ZOIy8vJ4O&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4&ved=0CDAQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=robert%20a%20cooke%20organizational%20culture&f=false .

The model consists of five phases:

1. Perception of the ethical problem

2. Description the situation and objective definition of the ethical issue

3. Identification of alternatives

4. Selection of an alternative

5. esolution (Cooper, 2006).

This model has been implemented successfully in both the public and private sectors. The goals of the model are to create a management team consisting of responsible individuals that promote high standards, ethical decision-making practices on behalf of their code of ethics, transparency and accountability (Cooper, 2006). Ultimately, according to Cooper's model, ethical decision making is the process of identifying a problem, generating alternatives, and choosing among them so that the alternatives selected maximize the most important ethical values while also achieving the intended goal.

Conclusion

Most work-related decisions have an ethical component. With few exceptions, problems that involve people also involve ethical issues. Decisions that affect people's jobs and careers have an ethical…

References

Business Dictionary (2009) "Conflict of Interest"  http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/conflict-of-interest.html 

Cooper, T. (2006). The responsible administrator: An approach to ethics for the administrative role (5th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Jossey-Bass.

Olsen, a. (2009). Authoring a code of ethics: Observations on process and organization. Center for the study of ethics in the professions. Illinois Institute of Technology. http://ethics.iit.edu/index1.php/Programs/Codes%20of%20Ethics/Authoring%20a%20Code%20of%20Ethics.html

Schnebel, E., & Bienert, M.A. (2004). Implementing ethics in business organizations. Journal of Business Ethics, 53, 203-211.

Organization (Apple)

Apple Inc. (Apple) was built on January 3, 1977. It is presently engaged in manufacturing, designing and marketing mobile communication and media devices, personal computers, and portable digital devices. It also sells a number of related software, peripherals, services, networking solutions, and third-party digital content and applications. The Company's products and services comprises iPad, iPhone, Mac, Apple TV, iPod a portfolio of consumer and professional software applications, the Mac OS X and ios operating systems, iCloud, and a number of accessory, service and support offerings. It also sells and provides digital content and applications through the iTunes Store, App Store, iookstore, and Mac App Store. y the end of year 2011, the Company, as part of a consortium, obtained Nortel Networks Corporation's patent portfolio. In February 2012, the Company obtained app-search engine Chomp.

Apple sells its products worldwide through its online stores, retail stores and direct sales force,…

Bibliography

McGregor, J. (2012). NATIONAL. Retrieved from Apple's Tim COOK faces leadership challenge on labor issue:  http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-leadership/post/what-apples-dividend-and-stock-buyback-move-tells-us-about-apples-leadership-switch/2011/04/01/gIQAyXjBNS_blog.html 

McGregor, J. (2012, march). NATIONAL. Retrieved from What Apple's stock move tells us about the company leadership switch:

Ethics are often stronger than the laws of the land. Laws are cobbled together by special interests and have little to do with right and wrong, or personal ethical codes. For most people, their own personal codes of ethics will be stronger than the laws. People are much less likely to violate their own personal ethical codes than the laws.

Morals are codes of conduct put forward by a society, often within the context of a cultural or social group. Ethics are, following the Aristotelian tradition, a general guide to behavior that an individual adopts as his own guide to life (Gert, 2011). The relationship between the two is self-evident: while ethics are individual they are often strongly influenced by society's moral context.

Kohlberg (1971) outlined morals are being pre-conventional, conventional and post-conventional. Pre-conventional morals are in the obedience and punishment orientation and the self-interest orientation. Like when you learn…

References

Anderson, K. (2009). Ethnographic research: A key to strategy. Harvard Business Review. Retrieved February 17, 2014 from  http://hbr.org/2009/03/ethnographic-research-a-key-to-strategy/ar/1 

Gert, B. (2011). The definition of morality. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Retrieved February 17, 2014 from  http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/morality-definition/ 

Kohlberg, L. (1971) From Is to Ought: How to Commit the Naturalistic Fallacy and Get Away with It in the Study of Moral Development. New York: Academic Press.

Friedman, M. (1971). The social responsibility of business is to increase its profits. New York Times Magazine. Retrieved February 17, 2014 from  http://www.colorado.edu/studentgroups/libertarians/issues/friedman-soc-resp-business.html

Ethical Practices ithin Business

BP Struggles to Resolve Sustainability Disaster

Over the past 20th century and in the 21st century, ethics has neither been an option nor a luxury. It has not only become a moral or legal responsibility, but has also been an organizational priority within all sets of work groups, including both public and private institutions, organizations and companies. Ethical practices have also become the only strategy to combat the growing impatience within the society, as well as their responsible competitions and/or actions. These ill and unethical acts may in the long run impoverish a section of the regional economy through various organizations while enriching the crafty economies. Organizational leaders must thereby keep abreast of the rapidly changing technological advancements together with their possible effects on globalization, competitor products and services, opportunities, and threats that their organizations may face. Over a century, BP, the formerly Anglo-Persian Oil Company…

Work Cited

Carl, Safina. BP Struggles to Resolve Sustainability Disaster. Annual Report and Form- Case

4, 32:2, (2012),342-352.

In addition, it will be necessary for the company to continue to use technology to stay on the cutting edge of shoe innovation.

eferences

Adidas." MarketLine 2006. Datamonitor database. Datamonitor. University of Phoenix, Phoenix, AZ. November 28, 2006 http://dbic.datamonitor.com.

Beckett, W. "Merging Performance and Fashion." Women's Wear Daily 192(39) 2006 Aug 24: 9. Business Source Complete. EBSCOHost. University of Phoenix, Phoenix, AZ. November 28, 2006 http://web.ebscohost.com.

Binole, G. "Asian Market Forces Could Affect Nike." Portland Business Journal. (1997 Nov 7). November 28, 2006 http://portland.bizjournals.com/portland/stories/1997/11/10/story3.html.

Callaway Golf." MarketLine 2006. Datamonitor database. Datamonitor. University of Phoenix, Phoenix, AZ. November 28, 2006 http://dbic.datamonitor.com.

Daley, W. The Emerging Minority Marketplace. No date. U.S. Department of Commerce. November 28, 2006 http://purl.access.gpo.gov/GPO/LPS70698.

Fredeen, B. Knowing Nike's Customers. 2000 Feb 1. Motley Fool. November 28, 2006 http://www.fool.com/news/foth/2000/foth000201.htm. v.

Ellis, K. "Global Competition Intensifies Industry Lobbying." Women's Wear Daily 191(86) 2006 April 24: 14-15. Business Source Complete. EBSCOHost.…

References

Adidas." MarketLine 2006. Datamonitor database. Datamonitor. University of Phoenix, Phoenix, AZ. November 28, 2006 http://dbic.datamonitor.com.

Beckett, W. "Merging Performance and Fashion." Women's Wear Daily 192(39) 2006 Aug 24: 9. Business Source Complete. EBSCOHost. University of Phoenix, Phoenix, AZ. November 28, 2006  http://web.ebscohost.com .

Binole, G. "Asian Market Forces Could Affect Nike." Portland Business Journal. (1997 Nov 7). November 28, 2006  http://portland.bizjournals.com/portland/stories/1997/11/10/story3.html .

Callaway Golf." MarketLine 2006. Datamonitor database. Datamonitor. University of Phoenix, Phoenix, AZ. November 28, 2006 http://dbic.datamonitor.com.

Burberry

It is my opinion that Burberry does not meet the spirit of Section C. The company highlights the risks that it faces on pp.54-56 in the 2011 Annual eport. The company presents, however, only generic risks. Twelve risks are highlighted in total, including the loss of key management team members, IT issues, global catastrophes, risk associated with emerging markets, ethics, regulatory compliance, supply chain issues (twice), licensed business risk, economic downturn and unauthorized trademark use.

The problem with Burberry's discussion of these risks is that it is shallow. The company describes the impact, but in a superficial fashion. For example, economic downturn could "lead to a reduction in demand" and failure to adhere to ethical standards could result in "penalties, adverse press coverage, and reputational damage." There is basically nothing in these statements that provides any insight. The investor is already able to draw the line between, say, a…

References:

Burberry 2011 Annual Report. Retrieved April 4, 2012 from http://201011.annualreport.burberry.com/projet/multimedia/files/Full_annual_report.pdf

Organizational Structure

According to Pugh (1990), the organizational structure is an instrument that appears from the need to fulfill the organizational aims and objectives with the tools and activities that are available. Following the way that this process is managed, several types of organizational structures can be identified, including pre-bureaucratic structures, bureaucratic and post-bureaucratic structures, functional structures, divisional structures and matrix structures.

Westinghouse organizational structure falls into several different categories. On one hand, it is a bureaucratic structure. Among the characteristics of such an organization, Weber (1948) identifies several: "precision, speed, unambiguity, & #8230; strict subordination, reduction of friction and of material and personal costs- these are raised to the optimum point in the strictly bureaucratic administration."

The bureaucratic nature of the organizational structure at Westinghouse is motivated by at least two aspects: (1) the nature of the industry in which Westinghouse operates: the nuclear industry, highly regulated, which implies…

Bibliography

1. Handy, Charles, (2007). Understanding Organizations. Penguin Books.

2. Deal T.E. And Kennedy, A.A. (1982) Corporate Cultures: The Rites and Rituals of Corporate Life, Harmondsworth, Penguin Books, 1982

3. Weber, M. (1948). Essays in Sociology. London: Routledge

4. Pugh, D.S., ed. (1990).Organization Theory: Selected Readings. Harmondsworth: Penguin.

Most companies are today setting up certain 'ethical codes of conduct', which the employees, right from the top echelons, are expected to follow; in fact, it is considered a business imperative to follow a code of ethics within the various operations of the firm. (Ethics in Business)

hat prompted this sort of measure was the fact that not only were quite a few companies suffering losses from the breach of trust that the lack of ethics was inflicting, but also because of the fact hat investors and consumers were also suffering. The recent wave of scandals that rose from the series of frauds and the feeling of a lack of ethics among the top personnel in companies on all Street that came to light has brought the attention of the entire world on the changing ethics in the major companies of today, and this has led to a need to…

When Enron wanted to develop its company, and became involved in the concept of the 'new growth model', it was decided that the company would only take the lower road to attaining profits and to expand its business. (Geisst, 398) Kenneth Lay, one of the most important people of Enron, in other words, the Chairman and the Chief Executive had to prepare to appear before the Court in order to prove his innocence and proper behavior according to the existing code of ethics followed by any company of Enron's standing, which had come under question in 2002. (Enron Lapses and Corporate Ethics)

What was his crime, and what was he accused of? Kenneth Lay was accused, in a 11 count indictment, of lying to the public, including investor in the company, and also of indulging in 'wire frauds', as well as in 'security' frauds, and in making false statements to the general public. He then pleaded 'not guilty' to all the charges, and was subsequently released on a $500,000 bail. However, the Securities and Exchange Commission further accused Lay in another civil complaint of more than $90 million. Though Lay continued to deny all the charges that were being heaped upon him, and also said that he was sad that he was not able to save his company, the government felt that there must be severe punishment awarded to the perpetrators of corporate crime wherein there is a breach in ethics, and therefore, Lay, who had been caught quietly selling 918,000 shares of Enron to unsuspecting shareholders, giving false reports of the company's real health, and of defrauding three Banks in order to obtain stock. (Lay surrenders to Authorities)

The result of Kenneth Lay's dishonesty was that 4,000 people were left without jobs, all of a sudden, and the life savings and pensions of a great number of people were also completely wiped out. The Company Enron went bust, and it owed its creditors more than $65 billion. The punishment that Lay faces today is a maximum sentence of 175 years of imprisonment. (Enron's Ken Lay: I was fooled) the 'WorldCom' Boss, Bernie Ebbers, was accused of masterminding the gigantic, billion dollar corporate accounting fraud that was perpetrated in WorldCom. As for the question "Why did Ebbers have to perpetrate such a fraud," the only answer is that he was the only individual within the company who had the capacity and the capability of planning

randing Affects the uying Decision

"How Does randing Affect Consumer Purchasing?." Using this research question, analyze the strengths and weaknesses of each research method (qualitative and quantitative) within the scope of the proposed dissertation topic. Identify which method you will select (or state whether you will use a mixed methodology) and explain the reasons for your choice.

DA Qs 1 Answer

The marketing guru Philip Kotler perceives branding as a "name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that identifies one seller's good or service as distinct from those of other sellers." It has also been adopted by the American Marketing Association. Michael Dunn, President and CEO, of Prophet, a strategic professional services firm in San Francisco, states that branding is just a defensive tool against market competition; but acts as "insulation against deteriorating economic conditions."

The essence of a brand is the base upon which the prosperity of the…

Bibliography

Dash, M. a. (2010). Marketing Research An Applied Orientation.

Ormrod., P.D. (2010). Practical Research: Planning and Design, Eighth Edition. Pearson Prentice Hall.

Scroggins Westey A.'*, R.E. (2010). Research Challenges in Cross-cultural International Business: The Issue of Cross Cultural Construct Equivalency. Advances in Management .

SONIA WESCHE*, N.T. (2010). Challenges and Opportunities in Cross Cultural Geographic Inquiry. Journal of Geography in Higher Education, 59-75.

In February of 2001, the government responded to pressures to relieve some of the suffering, the Emir loosened many of the laws. The U.S. considers Bahrain and important non-NATO ally in the ar against Terrorism, often using Bahrain as a staging area fro entry into Iraq. For this reason, the Bush administration continues to support increases in arms transfers to Bahrain. eapons transferred to Bahrain have included large and small weapons from shot guns to M60 tanks.

Indonesia

In 1999 Indonesian armed forces killed citizens in East Timor in response to the formation of anti-independence militias that were being organized. The government forces were equipped with U.S. M-1-6 rifles and other U.S. military equipment. The militia was also equipped with $1 billion in U.S. arms and training. In this case, the U.S. had been supporting the illegal occupation of East Timor since 1975. The U.S. supplied arms to both forces…

Works Cited

Bahrain." Available from  http://www.fas.org/asmp/profiles/bahrain.htm . Accessed December 6.

Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor. 2006. UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Hundred and eighty-third plenary meeting Resolution 217(a)(III) of the United Nations General Assembly, December 10, 1948. Available at  http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2006/78715.htm . Accessed December 6, 2007.

Deen, T.U.S. Ramps Up Arms Supplies to Repressive Regimes. May 26, 2005. Available at  http://www.antiwar.com/ips/deen.php?articleid=6080 . Accessed December 6, 2007.

Disarmament" UN Department of Disarmament Affairs. Conventional Arms Branch. Available at  http://disarmament.un.org/cab/index.html . Accessed December 6, 2007.

Business Society and Corporate Values

There has indeed been a great deal of discussion regarding CEO compensation, which is rightly viewed as being completely out of line. The core problem and cause of inflated CEO salaries cannot be attributed to a single reason, but is rather the result of a range of inter-connected factors. What is definitive is the fact that these salaries have inflated over time; this is in part due to the fact that greed is a progressive, boundless factor. "According to the Economic Policy Institute, in the late 1970s, total compensation of chief executives in large American corporations was 35 times that of the average American worker. In 2007, it was 275 times that" (Borger, 2007). These facts alone demonstrate that there is good reason to be in a state of alarm. The reasons for such severely inflated and remarkably unjust salaries are a result of the…

References

Ball, P. (2012, July 4). GlaxoSmithKline's bribes are evidence that Big Pharma isn't working. Retrieved from Guardian.co.uk:  http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/jul/04/glaxosmithkline-big-pharma-not-working 

Borger, J. (2008, September 5). Why do CEOs make so much? Retrieved from Minnpost.com:  http://www.minnpost.com/politics-policy/2008/09/why-do-ceos-make-so-much 

Boselovic, L. (2011, May 15). Rajaratnam case puts big chill on insider trading. Retrieved from post-gazaette.com:  http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/business/news/rajaratnam-case-puts-big-chill-on-insider-trading-297777/ 

Choudhury, U. (2011, October 14). Rajaratnam becomes a 'whipping boy' for Wall Street misdeeds. Retrieved from firstpost.com:  http://www.firstpost.com/business/rajaratnam-becomes-a-%E2%80%98whipping-boy%E2%80%99-for-wall-street-misdeeds-107346.html

Organizational Ethics

General overview of organizational ethics policies

ationale for the design of code of ethics

The written code of ethics

Discussion and comparison

General overview of organizational ethics policies

The standards which help business to operate are often described as organizational ethics. The ethics and the policies of ethical conduct in business are usually demonstrated through acts that exude fairness, integrity, honor, compassion and responsibility. The policies on organizational ethics are formed keeping in mind the vision and objectives of the company as well as pressure from the external forces (Snoeyenbos, Almeder, & Humber, 2001).

Policies of organizational ethics are often related to uniform and fair treatment of the employees of the company. This means that the organization needs to set a certain standard for equal treatment of all employees that demand the same respect for each regardless of the race or religion or cultures or lifestyles of the…

References

Barth, S. (2003). Corporate ethics. [Boston]: Aspatore.

Cooper, T. (2001). Handbook of administrative ethics. New York: Marcel Dekker.

McDonald's ethical issues. (2016). Ethics of McDonald's. Retrieved 11 May 2016, from  http://mcdonaldsethics.weebly.com/mcdonalds-ethical-issues.html 

McKinney, J. & Moore, C. (2007). International Bribery: Does a Written Code of Ethics Make a Difference in Perceptions of Business Professionals. J Bus Ethics, 79(1-2), 103-111.  http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10551-007-9395-3

Corporate esponsibility and Marketing Strategies

The ethical and social responsibilities lie at the forefront of any company's public image. That image is becoming increasingly more important to uphold as external pressures become more powerful. These ethical questions and challenges have to be faced every day. The issue of ethics is wide encompassing including all aspects of business from basic hiring of employees up to advertising claims. Companies rely on honest employees to represent a trust worthy image for the company including the business's goals and objectives (Munson, 2014; Gibbs, 2014).

The purpose of this paper is to look at the Apple Corporations standing on ethical and social responsibilities, and to deduce whether or not they have upheld their official ethics code of conduct. An examination will be included regarding Apple's suppliers and the violations of both ethical and legal labor laws that they stand face with. Along with that come…

References

Boulware, C. (2013). Apple Inc. Vs. Samsung Group. Retrieved from GuardianLiberty Voice Web site:  http://guardianlv.com/2013/10/apple-inc-vs.-samsung-group/ 

China Labour Watch. (2013). Apple's supplier Pegatron Group violates workers' rights. Retrieved April 21, 2015, from http://www.chinalaborwatch.org/newscast/211

Chun, R. (2011). Corporate Social Responsibility at Apple. Retrieved April 21, 2015, from  http://www.imd.org/research/challenges/corporate-social-responsability-apple-opportunity-rosa-chun.cfm 

Didovych, M. (2013). Ethics Behind Apple and Foxconn Relationship. Presentation, The College of Westchester. Available at  http://kc2odn.com/Maryana-apple.pdf

WorldCom (CEO Bernard Ebbers) supported by years of profitability arising from the deregulation of phone companies was a fast moving stock that was highly toted by stock specialists as a must buy, even while it was seriously hemorrhaging from bad and fraudulent business deals and its own shoddy accounting, cover ups and bad investment deals.

WorldCom quickly supplanted at&T as the favorite of many investors, based heavily on Grubman's recommendations. The investment world quickly sang WorldCom's praises as a result. A technology magazine, Network World, named it one of the ten most powerful companies, behind only Cisco and Microsoft. After listing its virtues, the magazine went on to conclude that, "MCI WorldCom will probably be a keeper on this list." 18 as for its investment virtues, Grubman claimed that it was a traditional "widows and orphans" stock, to be held for the long-term. Based partially upon his recommendations, Fortune listed…

References

Beauchamp, Tom. L. Bowie, Norman. E. Ethical Theory and Business 7th Ed. New York: Prentice Hall, 2003.

Dalla Costa, John. The Ethical Imperative Why Moral Leadership Is Good Business. Reading, MA: Perseus Publishing,1998.

Fox, Loren. Enron: The Rise and Fall. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley, 2003.

Geisst, Charles R. Wall Street: A History: from Its Beginnings to the Fall of Enron. New York: Oxford University Press. 2004.

Alternative 2

Nike should consider training leaders in labor relations and define corporate responsibility requirements. The products that are developed should undergo environmental checks and balances to ensure safe materials are used in the designs as well as equipment in the plants.

Pros

With knowledge about labor concerns in house, Nike is better able to proactively investigate their own plants where a complaint may arise. They will also be better prepared to address problems and quickly negotiate equitable solutions. This will reduce the amount of downtime associated with production interruptions due to strikes, walkouts or boycotts.

Cons

The level of administrative employees increases overhead and costs for the company. Though these teams labor and environmental oversight professionals are necessary they do not contribute to the revenues of the company directly.

Solution to the Problem

A detailed Ethical Code of Conduct or Corporate Governance Policy that must be adhered to would…

References

Global Exchange. (1999). Nike: what's it all about. Electronic memo, Global Exchange.

Locke, R.M. (2011). The problems and perils of globalization: case nike. Publication Siteman: MIT

Navran, F. & Pittman, E. (2003). Corporate ethics & sarbanes oxley. Retrieved June 2,

2011 from http://www. ethics. org/erc-publications/staff-articles. asp?aid=759

Nike Inc.

Operations Evaluation of Nike Incorporated

Marketing Mix Price

Marketing Mix Place

Market Situation

Factories Based on Region and Product

Current Situation of Footwear Industry

Marketing Mix Product

Nike Current Situation

Strengths

Marketing Mix Promotion

eaknesses

Opportunities

Threats

Critical Evaluations

PEST Analysis

Growth Opportunities

Political Evaluation

Economic Evaluation

Social Evaluation

Technological Evaluation

Changes in Operations orkers at Factories

Code of Conduct Grade Assessment

Operations Evaluation of Nike Incorporated

Understanding how globalization affects a company will be analyzed to explore how Nike Incorporated handles the multiple risks and capitalizes on the benefits of such expansion. As Nike has faced immense growth and criticism due to the complex business model that has led to the number one position in the athletic footwear industry. It has been a challenge to balance strong organizational performance along with required corporate ethical standards expected for a global leader. A critical evaluation of Nike Inc. will…

Works Cited

Harvard Business Case. "Hitting the Wall Nike and International Labor Practices." Case

Number 9-394-198. 2010.

Locke, Richard M. MIT. "Promises and Perils of Globalization" Nike. 2010. <

http://www. scribd. com/doc/31654319/NikeCaseStudy

Audit Management DQ

Consider the governance of the company owning ana Plaza and describe the regional expectations as well as best practice in this area and the benefits that adoption brings. Evaluate the governance of ana Plaza during and after the collapse of the building against these and explain how this helped or hindered ana Plaza.

The management of ana Plaza failed to ensure employee safety. In such a case, workers and suppliers equate the weakest points in relation to conditions of order and input dependency, footloose sourcing practices, and hand-to-mouth contracting. One of the incidents that happened in 2013 at Sadia Garments Ltd. saw new unionized workers facing aggressive campaigns on factory management (Ayres, 2014). Workers faced threats of violence while lead organizers were sent death threats. Later, one factory supervisor attacked the Union General Secretary for Sadia Garments with a pair of scissors while demanding for the resignation…

References

Ahmed S. & Lakhani, L. (2013). Bangladesh Building Collapse: An End to Recovery Efforts, a Promise of a New Start. CNN. Retrieved November 10, 2014 from  http://www.cnn.com/2013/05/14/world/asia/bangladesh-building-collapse-aftermath/index.html?iref=allsearch 

Ayres, A. (2014). A Guide to the Rana Plaza Tragedy, And Its Implications, In Bangladesh. Forbes. Retrieved November 10, 2014 from  http://www.forbes.com/sites/alyssaayres/2014/04/24/a-guide-to-the-rana-plaza-tragedy-and-its-implications-in-bangladesh/ 

BBC Bengali Service (2013). Bangladesh factory collapse toll passes 1,000. BBC Bengali Service. Retrieved November 10, 2014 from  http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-22476774 

Benettongroup.com (2014). Benetton Group Backs an Initiative In Support Of the Victims of Rana Plaza and Their Families. Benettongroup.com. Retrieved November 10, 2014 from  http://www.benettongroup.com/archive/press-release/benetton-group-backs-initiative-support-victims-rana-plaza-and-their-families

These claims are virtually all based on the concept that corporations - particularly multinationals -- should be held accountable for their actions within their sphere of operations. "Corporations, for their part, have responded in numerous ways, from denying any duties in the area of human rights to accepting voluntary codes that could constrain their behavior" (atner, 2001, p. 436). In fact, this very point is echoed throughout the literature; for example, "At the turn of the 20th century, corporations tended to disregard the public interest willy-nilly. And even as recently as one-half century ago, corporations had so much power over the marketplace and so little responsibility to society" (Sriramesh & Vercic, 2003, p. 450). Despite these trends, things are changing, though, as atner points out: "The last decade has witnessed a striking new phenomenon in strategies to protect human rights: a shift by global actors concerned about human rights from…

References

Blackburn, V.L., Doran, M., & Shrader, C.B. (1994). Investigating the dimensions of social responsibility and the consequences for corporate financial performance. Journal of Managerial Issues, 6(2), 195.

Cable, V. (1995). The diminished nation-state: A study in the loss of economic power. Daedalus, 124(2), 23.

Casmir, F.L. (1997). Ethics in intercultural and international communication. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Dalton, D.R., & Metzger, M.B. (1996). Seeing the elephant: An organizational perspective on corporate moral agency. American Business Law Journal, 33(4), 489-576.

Auditing a Website for Cultural Diversity

'Diversity' in the website

The usefulness of the diversity information

The appropriateness of the photographs and graphic material

Website eliance as Employee, Customer & Supplier

Internal Issues Affecting reflection of Diversity

As a Female Potential Employee Aged 55 years

'Diversity' in the website

For this study we consider the case of Tesco Plc, a global retail chain with business in almost every continent in the world.

The company corporate website - http://www.tescoplc.com is an interesting website. The website of the company has a 'search' option. When the word 'diversity' is put in the search box, it yielded several answers and most of them were related to customers and employees. The results showed where the company used the word 'diversity' in documents related to customers and employees.

One of the documents titled 'Core Purpose and Values' of the company stated

"Understanding people -- customers, colleagues,…

References

Alserhan, B., Forstenlechner, I., & Al -- eNakeeb, A. (2009). Employees' attitudes towards diversity in a non-ewestern context. Employee Relations, 32(1), 42-55.  http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/01425451011002752 

Aulenbacher, B., & Innreiter-Moser, C. (2013). Making the difference -- " critical perspectives on the configuration of work, diversity and inequalities. Equal Div And Incl: An Int J, 32(6).  http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/edi.2013.03032faa.001 

Garib, G. (2013). Leisure managers' perceptions of employee diversity and impact of employee diversity. International Journal Of Hospitality Management, 32, 254-260.  http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhm.2012.07.002 

Tesco plc,. (2015). Tesco plc. Retrieved 7 November 2015, from  http://www.tescoplc.com/index.asp?pageid=10

e-Commerce could bring to the estake akery

Cost reduction

Capability

Competitive advantage

Communication improvement

Control

Customer service improvement

Implementation Plan for the e-Commerce with Timeline

Contact Strategic Customers and Suppliers (3 Months)

Determine what Competitors are doing (1 Month)

Evaluate and Acquire Proper Tools and Skills (2 Months)

Start Simple (3 Months)

End-to-End Validation & Accreditation Testing (2 Months)

Go Live! (1 Month)

Monitor (Ongoing)

Extent of the e-Commerce implementation within the Timeframe Specified

Market Penetration

Market Development

Product Development Strategy

Diversification Strategy

References

Appendices

List of Figures

Appendix 1: usiness Model of estake akery

Appendix 2: Key Drivers of e-usiness (Tassabehji, 2003)

Appendix 4: Ansoff model for Growth Strategies (AdamKasi, 2008)

Introduction to the estake akery.

Appendix 1 gives a brief outline of estbake bakery.

estake is a retail business, so it comes under the classification of business -- to - consumer (-2-C) that sells cakes directly to consumers,…

Bibliography.

1. AdamKasi (2008). Intensive Growth Strategies: Ansoff's Product-Market Expansion Grid. URL:  http://www.soopertutorials.com/business/marketing/1787-intensive-growth-strategies-ansoffs-product-market-expansion-grid-2.html  [Accessed: 05-August-2011].

2. Andam, Z.R. (2003). e-Commerce and e-Business. e-ASEAN Task Force, UNDP-APDIP.

3. Bakery Bazaar. URL:  http://www.bakerybazar.com  / [Accessed: 04 August 2011]

4. Chaffey, D.; Mayer, R.; Johnston, K. And Ellis-Chadwick, F. (2003). Internet Marketing, 2nd edition.© Pearson Education. ISBN 0 273 65883 2

Polish Companies Reacted to Ethical Issues and Changes in usiness Standards Since the Fall of Communism in 1989?

Poland's Economy Pre-Communism's Fall

Poland's Natural Resources

Minerals and Fuels

Agricultural Resources

Labor Force

The Polish Economy Under Communism

System Structure

Development Strategy

The Centrally-Planned Economy

Establishing the Planning Formula

Retrenchment and Adjustment in the 1960s

Reliance on Technology in the 1970s

Reform Failure in the 1980s

Poland's Economy After the Fall of Communism

Poland After the Fall of Communism

Fall of Communism

Marketization and Stabilization

Required Short-Term Changes

Section 2.3.2. The Shock Strategy

Section 2.3.3. Initial Results

Section 2.3.4. Long-Term Requirements

Section 2.4. Macroeconomic Indicators for 1990-91

Section 2.4.1. Price Increases

Section 2.4.2. Impact on Productivity and Wages

Section 2.4.3. Statistical Distortions

Section 2.4.4. Agricultural Imbalances

Section 2.4.5. Causes of Decline

Section 2.5.The Polish Post-Communism Privatization Process

Section 2.6. Structure of Poland's Economy: Post-Communism

Section 2.6.1. Fuels and Energy

Section 2.6.2.…

Bibliography

Bowie E. (1999) Business Ethics a Kantian Perspective Oxford: Blackwell

Ciszewska B. (1998) Unethical behaviour Warszawa: Rzeczpospolita

Cryssides G.D.; Kaler J.H. (1999) Introduction to the ethics of business. Warszawa: PWN

Davies W.F. (1997) Current issues in business ethics London: Routledge

PENALTIES - CIVIL & CIMINAL

There are statutes that impose penalties both civil and criminal for government contractors who commit fraud, waste or abuse. Some of those statutes are as follows:

False Claims Act;

False Statements Act;

Forfeiture Statute;

Anti-Kickback Act

Bribery and Gratuities statutes;

Mail and Wire Fraud statutes; and the Public Integrity Act and recent legislative initiatives to strengthen criminal penalties for violations of conflict of interest laws. (Peckar & Abramson, 2007)

The government has the right to audit the records of the contractor for up to three years following a contract for the government being completed. Companies with contracts exceeding $5 million are required to: (1) post a fraud hotline poster; (2) establish a written code of ethics; (3) establish an employee ethics and compliance training program; and (4) establish an internal control system. (New ule for Government Contractors, nd)

SUMMAY & CONCLUSION

The Corporate Compliance Plan…

Nike, Puma

Nike and Puma are two of the major competitors in the international athletic footwear and apparel industry. Nike was founded in 1964 and is based in Beaverton, Oregon, a Portland suburb. Puma was founded in 1924 and is based in Herzogenaurach, a small town near Nuremburg in the Franconia region of Bavaria. Puma was founded by two brothers, but they later split and one would form Adidas. Both companies operate internationally, with roughly the same business model of overseas production and marketing-driven sales. Nike makes more extensive use of celebrity endorsements, but Puma sponsors many sports teams as well. Nike has 34,000 employees while Puma has 9500 employees. Nike is the larger of the two companies. Nike has revenue of $20.8 billion and net income of $2.13 billion. Puma has revenue of €2.7 and net income of €202 million.

Slide Two: Both firms have faced ethical challenges, primarily…

Works Cited:

Ethisphere. (2010). 2010 World's most ethical companies. Ethisphere. Retrieved November 15, 2011 from  http://ethisphere.com/wme2010/ 

Greenpeace. (2011). Puma overtakes competitors Adidas and Nike in race to drop toxic pollution. Greenpeace. Retrieved November 15, 2011 from  http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/press/releases/Puma-overtakes-competitors-Adidas-and-Nike-in-race-to-drop-toxic-pollution/ 

MSN Moneycentral: Nike. (2011) Retrieved November 15, 2011 from Nike Code of Conduct. Retrieved November 15, 2011 from http://www.nikebiz.com/responsibility/documents/Nike_Code_of_Conduct.pdf

Puma Group Management Report for Financial Year 2010. Retrieved November 15, 2011 from  http://about.puma.com/wp-content/themes/aboutPUMA_theme/financial-report/pdf/IAS_Konzernabschluss_e_2010.pdf

Wal-Mart Inc.

Wal-Mart is an American-based multinational discount store, currently operating more than 11,000 retail outlets in 27 different countries, and serving approximately 140 million customers weekly. Headquartered in Bentonville, Arkansas, Wal-Mart grew from a small family-managed retailer in 1945 to the world's largest retailer, and was named the world's largest company by revenues in the 2014 Fortune 500 list. The company operates its retail stores in two forms: i) Sam's clubs, which deal in assorted product lines including jewelry, electronics, hardware, to name but a few; and ii) Wal-Mart stores, dealing in similar product lines in addition to groceries, household appliances, apparel and clothing, beauty and heath products, and so on. In fiscal 2014, Wal-Mart reported a massive $473 billion in sales, more than $80 billion more than Costco, its closest competitor. It is widely believed that the company's corporate governance strategy, codes of conduct, values, mission statements and…

References

Flannery, M. (2006). Wal-Mart: Case Study. University of California, Santa Cruz. Retrieved 11 December 2014 from  http://people.ucsc.edu/~rbaden/Case%20Study%20Example.pdf 

Ireland D., Hoskisson, R. & Hitt, M. (2011). Understanding Business Strategy Concepts Plus (3rd ed.). Mason, OH: Cengage Learning.

KPMG. (n.d.). Stakeholder Communications: The Toolkit. KPMG Inc. Retrieved 11 December 2014 from  https://www.kpmg.com/SG/en/IssuesAndInsights/ArticlesPublications/Documents/Advisory-RC-Stakeholder-Communications-Toolkit.pdf 

Lussier, R. & Achua, C. (2009). Leadership: Theory, Application and Skill Development (4th ed.). Mason, OH: Cengage Learning

Tony oma's estaurant, a franchise in the restaurant industry that focuses on Italian food products. The company may employ anywhere from a dozen to 20+ employees per individual restaurant at any given time. Tony oma's like any restaurant in the food service industry has concerned itself with many different ethical issues and considerations including ethics related to vendor selection processes.

esearch suggests that a company such as Tony oma's must be particularly aware of ethical issues related to vendor selections, to ensure that vendors are selected for service in a fair and ethical manner along the strictest business morals. There are many opportunities for bribery and other ethical violations to occur in the vendor selection process.

The purpose of this report is to identify potential breeches of ethical conduct with regard to vendor selection and to help established a code of ethics related to vendor selection that is based on…

References:

CADA. "CADA Suggested Code of Ethics for Vendor Evaluation." June, 2002.

Retrieved 29, November 2004,

ICCMA. "The 'free' lunch, an online discussion." Public Management, 83(5), 2001:2

NFSMI. "Chapter 1 -- Vendor Selection Procedures." National Food Service Management

5% of total liabilities. Their retained earnings, on the other hand, total $5.073 billion. The heavy use of retained earnings is partially explained by their view of themselves as a growth company. hile they pay a dividend, Nike prefers to re-invest much of its profits back into expansion. They do not feel that the market has matured sufficiently to stop their aggressive growth strategy. Another consideration in their capital structure is the cost of capital. On account of its low volatility, Nike has a low cost of debt, approximately 6.8% using CAPM. Their long-term debt is primarily a revolving credit facility. The rate, based on their a+ rating, is LIBOR + 0.15%, which would equate to 4.12% based on the October 15th price of the 1-year LIBOR. If anything, Nike could become more financially efficient by increasing their use of debt financing.

Nike places strong emphasis on human resources. They…

Works Cited

Cohen, Marshal (2007). USA: Athletic footwear is significant portion of overall footwear market. Fibre 2 Fashion. Retrieved October 21, 2008 at  http://www.fibre2fashion.com/news/company-news/npd-group/newsdetails.aspx?news_id=32512 

Some financial information, ratios from Reuters. Retrieved October 21, 2008 at  http://www.reuters.com/finance/stocks/overview?symbol=NKE.N 

Nike 2008 Annual Report. Retrieved October 21, 2008 at  http://media.corporate-ir.net/media_files/irol/10/100529/Areports/ar_06/docs/10k.pdf 

Nike 2006 Annual Report. Retrieved October 21, 2008 at

Sales Management & Strategic Marketing LO 1: Understand the Basic Principles of Sales ManagementWhat is sales management?Sales management refers to creating selling strategies, recruiting and training the sales team, and organizing the activities that aim to achieve the companys sales target. Sales management is critical in helping the business create a superior sales force, minimize costs, develop a robust relationship among the team members and the consumers, and achieve the sales target (Chunawalla, 2021).Benefits of Sales ManagementEvery company must have effective sales management processes for its market success. It will help the company meet its sales target, increase sales performance, thrive in a very competitive environment, close sales faster, and regulate sales processes. Additionally, sales management plays a significant role in lead qualification optimization. Furthermore, through effective coordination, planning, and controls, the salespersons can guarantee quality selling processes, thus enabling the company to scale up. In addition, through effective sales…

ReferencesAffandi, A., Sarwani, A.S., Erlangga, H., Siagian, A.O., Purwanto, A., Effendy, A.A., Sunarsi, D., Wicaksono, W., Suyatin, E.A., Wahyitno, C.D.M. and Juhaeri, G., 2020. Optimization of MSMEs Empowerment in Facing Competition in the Global Market during the COVID-19 Pandemic Time.Systematic Reviews in Pharmacy,11(11), pp.1506-1515.Chunawalla, S.A., 2021.Sales Management. Himalaya Publishing House Pvt. Ltd.Ingram, T.N., LaForge, R.W. and Schwepker Jr, C.H., 2007. Salesperson ethical decision making: The impact of sales leadership and sales management control strategy.Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management,27(4), pp.301-315.Katsikea, E., Theodosiou, M., Perdikis, N. and Kehagias, J., 2011. The effects of organizational structure and job characteristics on export sales managers job satisfaction and organizational commitment.Journal of World Business,46(2), pp.221-233.Mahmoud, E., Rice, G. and Malhotra, N., 1988. Emerging issues in sales forecasting and decision support systems.Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science,16(3-4), pp.47-61.Patterson, L., 2007. Marketing and sales alignment for improved effectiveness.Journal of digital asset management,3(4), pp.185-189.

Hence, these are "invisible" to the end user, but no less vital to the success of the company for it. Components of this type of competition include production lead time, development speed in research and development, production quality, and the capacity of group companies and parts suppliers (The Manufacturer, 2010). Production quality is one of Toyota's great success benchmarks, as the company's inherent philosophy is that quality is a built-in component of all its products.

A further benchmark is the Toyota Global Vision 2010. Created in 2002, the Vision identified four areas of innovations. The first of these is the drive towards greener practices, known as "true to the earth" (The Manufacturer, 2010). The drive is to develop the most advanced environmental technologies, as seen above. The second component is "Comfort of life." This means that Toyota would create products that provide ease, safety and comfort for users. "Excitement for…

References

Lean Directions (2001). Toyota Site Visits Reveal Best Practices. Retrieved from: http://www.sme.org/cgi-bin/get-newsletter.pl-LEAN&20010209&5&

The Manufacturer. (2010). The Toyota Vision. Retrieved from: http://www.themanufacturer.com/us/detail.html?contents_id=4010

One World Trust. (2006). Toyota Motor Corporation. Retrieved from:  http://oneworldtrust.org/publications/doc_view/101-2006-gar-accountability-profile-toyota?tmpl=component&format=raw 

Spear, S.J. (2002, Sep. 5). Just-in-Time in practice at Toyota: Rules in Use for building self-diagnostic, adaptive work-systems. Retrieved from: www.hbs.edu/research/facpubs/workingpapers/papers2/0102/02-043.doc

In China, that is not the case and there are tens of millions of peasants who would read such descriptions and think those workers lucky. Such context would have made for a more balanced and honest article.

Indeed, the initial article is one of the more flawed in the series of reports that the Times put out on the Foxconn issue. The article begins with an anecdote about a worker who was killed in an accident. The reality is that workers are killed on the job every day in America, too. The company paid his family quickly with a check as compensation. Again, the article makes this sound somewhat harsh, but an American firm might drag the case through the court system for years. There is no sense of contrast provided in the scathing original article that would allow a reader to have a better sense of why China's working…

Works Cited:

BBC. (2012). Apple's Tim Cook visits Foxconn China factory. British Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved March 31, 2012 from  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-17553296 

Bradsher, K. (2012). Two sides to labor in China. New York Times. Retrieved March 31, 2012 from  http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/31/business/global/labor-shortage-complicates-changes-in-chinas-factories.html 

Chao, L., Areddy, J. & Poon, a. (2012). Apple pact to ripple across China. Wall Street Journal. Retrieved March 31, 2012 from  http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304177104577313393458215040.html 

Duhigg, C. & Barboza, D. (2012). In China, human costs are built into an iPad. New York Times. Retrieved March 31, 2012 from  http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/26/business/ieconomy-apples-iPad-and-the-human-costs-for-workers-in-china.html?pagewanted=all