Essays about Trade.

Introduction

Labor relations can be described as the employment relationship in the organization of employment. Public and private enterprises both are faced with the labor relations problems. In this context, collective bargaining can be defined as the process of negotiation between an employer and group of employees to reach at an agreement (Zhang et al., 2014). The interests of the employees are represented by a trade representative and the process mainly aims to regulate the working conditions and bring harmony between the relations of employer and employees (Zhang et al., 2014). In this context, the present essay aims to evaluate

Part A

Introduction
Fortune 500 companies are the top 500 companies in the US which are listed by Fortune magazine every year. The companies are generally ranked on the basis of their gross revenue (Fortune 500). The Fortune magazine started to enlist these 500 best company in 1955 for the first time. The concept of selecting best 500 American companies was first created by Edgar Smith, the editor of Fortune 500. In these 500 best companies, the top companies are Wal-Mart Stores, Exxon Mobil, Chevron, Berkshire Hathaway, and Apple (Fortune 500)
The company chosen for this research paper is Disney. Fortune

Economic systems refer to institutions and laws in a certain country that determine the owner of economic resources as well as the ways such resources change hands between people. More so, economic systems give directions on the way resources feature in the production process for various economic services and goods. Economic systems differ from country to country. The rationale for the difference in economic systems between countries finds its basis upon the different resources and economic environments between countries. In light of the above, the content below highlights some of the distinct differences between the economic system of China

Challenges and Most Effective Measures in Feeding Such a Rapidly Expanding Population

The total number of humans on Earth is extremely increasing. The medicine and healthcare development provided an opportunity to lessen the rates of death in 19th and 20th centuries which led to significant grown of population. The population of Earth has already beaten the record of 7 billion and, according to UN projections, 11 billion is expected in 2100 due to high rate of birth in Africa. Other researches state that 9 billion is possible in 2100 and then the rate of birth will be stabilized. The demographic boom in some of the less developed countries contrasted with aging

Cultural expectations and meaning laden the tendency of giving a gift to another person. In fact, western culture debates the fact that gifts lack an attachment in the future where the recipient has an obligation to reciprocate and emulate the actions of the person who gave the gift in the first place. The assertion in western culture and many other cultures around the world is that gifts are symbolic of sincere appreciation and gratitude in light of the varying relationships that people have. In fact, the culture of giving and receiving gifts began early in the history of intercultural

Globalization

Globalization has revolutionized the way contemporary civilizations operate. Passaris (2006) defines globalization as a “global integration of economies through trade and investment flows” with the aim of promoting “international competitiveness” (par. 6). While drivers such as trade agreements and migration triggered the onset of globalization, the advent of the internet gave this concept a tremendous boost. First, it has facilitated the flow of information across geographical boundaries. As a result, people can quickly exchange ideas, knowledge, innovations, and skills to promote economic, social, and political development. Secondly, the social networks on the internet provide communication platforms that cut across

At the present time, much emphasis of the discussion over the system of the international relations is on the topic that it is unjust at its root and, as a result, promotes under-development. Throughout the history of human development and the world system formation, "the natural systems that have supported human life on the planet are being stretched, some to breaking point. What science has been telling us for decades is now making itself felt in the most unmistakable ways" (McDonagh, 2013, p. 1). In fact, long before the development of the system of international relations and world economy, every individual and every group used to improve their living conditions through exploiting the natural resources which have always belonged to them. "Every continent independently participated in the early epochs of the extension of man’s control over his environment – which means in effect that every continent can point to a period of economic development" (Rodney & Babu, 1981. p. 2-3).

But what do we have today? Let's take a look at Africa, which is the original home of a human being. This continent "was a major participant in the processes in which human groups displayed an ever increasing capacity to extract a living from the natural environment" (Rodney & Babu, 1981. p. 3-4). However, in the modern world., the majority of African countries are considered to be the third-world countries, suffering from starvation and having no prospects for development.
Therefore, the main point of this essay is to prove that the current structure of the international system is inherently unfair, creates inequalities , and benefits only the most advanced and developed nations.

Not only prominent economists and doctors of sociology are concerned about the inequality promoted by the current structure of the international system, but also other men of outstanding personality, including political and religious leaders, express their concern about this issue. For instance, Pope Francis (2013), asserted that "Human rights are not only violated by terrorism, repression or assassination, but also by unfair economic structures that creates huge inequalities".

Speaking from the perspective of economic opportunities, it should be noted that the process of globalization affects various states in different ways and the undeveloped countries do not experience all the benefits of this process as compared to the developed nations. "Inequality in this context refers to an unequal distribution of benefits and losses under the uneven process of a globalized world" (Ashaver, 2013, p. 34).

The fundamental problem of the international system is that the benefits of globalization cannot be distributed evenly around the world. The majority of industrial sectors of the developed nations benefit from international trade and make huge profits by means of the influx of skilled labor from abroad, international funding. In the meantime, the majority of developing nations lose their competitiveness or simply become unnecessary. It is obvious that these forgotten industries need time, money, and physical resources to adjust to the new conditions of life within the international economic system.

However, this process of renewal and restoration is impossible for the majority of industries in the third-world and developing countries. As a result, owners end up losing money and their business overall, and common people end up losing their jobs. These changes deeply and profoundly hurt the national economies of each country, causing great changes in the economic structure and increasing the unemployment rate.

As of today, the structure of the international system also provides for the de-industrialization of the economy, which basically means that manufacturing sector loses ground, while the arena is left to the thriving service sector. As a result, workers have to go through the process of professional retraining in order to find a place in this changing global system.
What is more, the current international system creates a large gap between skilled and unskilled employees. Of course, skilled workers' salary increases significantly, while the unskilled ones get paid peanuts or even lose their source of income. Although some economists argue that such inequality is a powerful incentive for employees to train, develop and acquire a new qualification, it definitely gives rise to unemployment.

Such inequality of economic opportunities causes significant wage disparities, particularly in the developing world. For instance, "Brazil has one of the most unequal distribution of income - the top 20% of the population receives 26 times the income of the bottom 20%" (United Nations Development Programme, 1992, p. 22).
Continuing this topic, it should be noted that "inequality is also manifested in the fast-growing gap between the worlds rich and poor people and between the developed and developing countries, and in the large differences among nations in the distribution of gains and losses" (Ashaver, 2013, p. 34).
Another major point of concern regarding the current international system is the flows of international migration. In pursuit of better living, many unskilled and unqualified workers move from the undeveloped countries to the developed states. There is no need to explain that their salary differs significantly from that of the country residents.
The majority of governments of the developed nations impose severe restrictions and barriers in order to restrict immigration flows. "It is clearly unrealistic to expect that industrial countries will greatly lower their immigration barriers" (United Nations Development Programme, 1992, p. 6).

Another major issue associated with the international migrations is the labor standars and working conditions the immigrants have to operate in. In fact, in recent years, "international labor standards have become the newest point of contention in trade disputes between industrial and developing countries" (Golub, 1997, p. 20). A lot immigrant workers have to work in unfavorable working conditions, work excess hours in order to earn a living. What is more, many multinational corporations employ young children and make them work up to 12-14 hours a day.
As to international investment, it should be noted that the allocation of investment also seems to be extremely unfair. The undeveloped nations, as a general rule, receive no or little investment as compared to the developed nations. "Why have these countries attracted so little investment? The major reason is that investment is generally more profitable in rich countries than in poor ones" (United Nations Development Programme, 1992, p. 53).
It is obvious that international investment is one of the key elements for successful and productive development for the third-world countries. As a result, "where the international economic system is hostile to investment in new, productivity enhancing economic activities is where its elements create obstacles to development" (Montes, 2014, p.2).

According to former Secretary-General of the USSR, Mikhail Gorbachev (2001), "We could only solve our problems by cooperating with other countries. It would have been paradoxical not to cooperate". For the purpose of solving the abovementioned issues of promoting under-development, various international organizations and institution, including IMF, the World Bank, GATT, and WTO, have been established. However, having regard to the fact that the issues of under-development still exist and that the gap between developed and developing nations is widening year by year, there are some questions that need to be answered.
In his research "Globalization, Development, and International Institutions: Normative and Positive Perspectives", A. Milner clearly stated the three key questions that still remain without answer: "Would the developing countries have been better off if these institutions had not existed? Would resources for aid and crisis management have been as plentiful or more so if they had not existed? Would globalization have occurred as fast and extensively, or even faster and deeper, if these international institutions had not been present?" (Milner, 2005. p. 834).

References

Ashaver, B., 2013. Poverty, Inequality and Underdevelopment in Third World Countries: Bad State Policies or Bad Global Rules? IOSR Journal of Humanities and Social Science [Online], 15(6), 33–38. Available from: <http://www.iosrjournals.org/iosr-jhss/papers/vol15-issue6/f01563338.pdf?id=7752> [Accessed 19 Jul. 2015].
Golub, S., 1997. Are International Labor Standards Needed to Prevent Social Dumping? Finance & Development [Online], 20-23. Available from: <https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/1997/12/pdf/golub.pdf> [Accessed 22 Jul. 2015].
McDonagh, T., 2013. Unfair, Unsustainable, and Under the Radar: How Corporations Use Global Investment Rules to Undermine a Sustainable Future. Democracyctr.Org [Online], 1-18. Available from: <http://democracyctr.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/under_the_radar_english_final.pdf> [Accessed 20 Jul. 2015].
Milner, H., 2005. Globalization, Development, and International Institutions: Normative and Positive Perspectives. Perspectives on Politics [Online], 3(4), 833–854. Available from: <http://faculty.georgetown.edu/jrv24/milner_05.pdf> [Accessed 23 Jul. 2015].
Montes, M.F., 2014. Obstacles to Development Arising from the International System . In Obstacles to Development in the Global Economic System . Geneva: South Centre, pp. 1–29.
Rodney, W. & Babu, A.M., 1981. Some Questions on Development. In How Europe underdeveloped Africa. Washington, D.C.: Howard University Press, pp. 1–432.
PSB, 2001. Mikhail Gorbachev Interview. PBS.Org. [Online] (updated 23 Apr. 2001) Available from: <http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/commandingheights/shared/minitext/int_mikhailgorbachev.html> [Accessed 24 Jul. 2015].
The Guardian, 2013. Pope Francis: the humble pontiff with practical approach to poverty. [Online] (updated 14 Mar. 2013) Available from: <http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/mar/13/jorge-mario-bergoglio-pope-poverty> [Accessed 20 Jul. 2015].
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), 1992. The widening gap in global opportunities . In Human development report 1992. New York: [Oxford University Press] for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) [Online] Available from: <http://hdr.undp.org/sites/default/files/reports/221/hdr_1992_en_complete_nostats.pdf> [Accessed 20 Jul. 2015].

Section 1: Enterprise Resource Planning Systems

With upwards of 20 stores and operations across multiple countries, Guaranteed Shoe Company should expectedly have supply chains that involve even more countries, staff, and business partners. This renders it necessarily difficult, resource-intensive and laborious to ensure the business runs effectively, especially given the automated online ordering. Enterprise Resource Planning Systems (ERP) offer a backbone in the integration and automation of internal information systems and business processes across the logistics, manufacturing, distribution, accounting, human resources and finance functions of the organization.

It offers seamless support for internal processes and integration with external business partners to ensure that value is delivered to the customers. For instance if a client places an order for shoes that are unavailable at a store, the system can have the shoes shipped from other stores, and/or make an order from the supplier without the involvement of staff. Similarly, while the company, currently has to stock products in the stores, determine how fast they move before deciding on the pre-order amount and/or discontinue the product, this can now be done automatically. It is possible to determine how well individual products sell, and ERP systems’ automatic inventory management systems enable the company to automatically re-order more and/or make other decisions regarding the stocks. The system aggregates customers’ orders, handles purchasing and accounts payables, scheduling, order tracking, inventory control and warehousing, distribution/shipment and accounts receivables.
According to O'Brien & Marakas (2010), ERP systems create commerce platforms, backed up with additional support capabilities that include streamlined inventory management, warehouse management and flexible pricing, strengthened back office and core applications (e.g. finance and accounts receivables). Other benefits include increased visibility into the Guaranteed Shoe Company’s supply chain and ease operational scalability. Since the company is headquartered in the US and has 20 branch offices across the world, decision-making is heavily dependent on the ability for the senior managers to get excellent quality information on the company’s performance. With ERP systems, this information is readily available and continuously updated, which means that managers do not have wait for reports from the branch offices before they can a decision.

This way, the system ensures quality and efficiency in the internal processes, cost reduction, provision of real-time cross-functional information to support decision-making, and organizational agility in responding to varying consumer needs. These systems transform Guaranteed Shoe Company into one giant store, despite the geographical dispersion. However, while the company already has a website that allows automated ordering, order processing, and management, it does not have a proper ERP system, which does, however, offer it considerable value. However, the company needs to be alive to the issues associated with the implementation of ERP systems, which owing to their complexity present a considerable risk of implementation failure. Improper implementation may result in catastrophic disruptions. If the company chooses to implement the systems, it is critical to plan, customize the system to the firm’s functions, and manage the change process effectively. This frees up the staff to concentrate on other activities, such as customer service, while at once making the firm’s functional business practices easier for the company, which is critical given the company’s global operations.

Section 2: Customer Relationship Management Systems

Guaranteed Shoe Company thrives based on its great customer services, as perhaps best shown by its commitment to arrange for, and ship shoes that are unavailable at stores to the customers. Given the wide range of products, coupled with every client’s unique needs, it extremely difficult for the company to meet its obligations without the right technology. The CRM software will help the company’s sales, marketing and customer service practitioners to track relevant data about the past and future customers and prospects, as well as other life cycle and business events. Customer information may be captured from numerous contact points, including the website visits, email, fax, retail stores and personal contact with others. The data is then stored in databases that integrated and availed across the organization, effectively facilitating better customer service since all staff can access the clients’ information. Further, Guaranteed Shoe Company’s sales staff would be equipped with the tools and data necessary to support their marketing activities, o;optimizing cross- and up-selling. For instance, emails gathered through multiple contacts can be used to sent marketing information (offers, discounts and product recommendations).

It is easy to customize services to every customer because the company will have a wealth of information about them. For sales agents, decision support is easily the most important aspect of the CRM system, not least because it gives them important information about the customers’ past history, shoe sizes, type, regularity of purchases and responsiveness to marketing campaigns. With the multiple number of stores, it is important that Guaranteed Shoe Company’s retention and loyalty programs are effective by tapping into the pool of existing customers and making sure that they remain committed to the firm. Given the intense competition in the retail market, hanging onto the existing customers is critical, and if the company fully implements the CRM system, it will have the best chance of getting it right. With the help of these systems, the company can save up to 600% of the costs necessary to get new customers, achieve greater customer satisfaction, brand loyalty and equity.
Similarly, the gathered information is important in direct marketing campaigns, not least because allows the company to automate some of the marketing activities, including the planning, scheduling and tracking marketing campaigns. Manipulatable customer data is available to the Guaranteed Shoe Company’s staff, who can assess the performance of marketing campaigns, as a basis for further campaigns. For instance, the number of customers that respond to emails about new shoe lines at the company’s store can be targeted with further marketing messages (including discounts, free deliveries and other offers). Even most importantly, once orders have been placed by the customer, the system’s real-time order tracking and customer support capabilities schedule clients’ requests for service and assign them to staff where necessarily, ensuring that as many customer needs are served to the best possible extent. O'Brien & Marakas (2010) points to call center and help desk modules/software that can make the company’s sales support activities markedly easier.

Section 3: Supply Chain Management Systems

Supply chains, especially for a company whose operations spans several countries are considerable. The most important difficulties for Guaranteed Shoe Company include high volatility in the clients’ demand, higher consumer expectations in regard to customer service, in part because of the intense competition and quality. The company already uses its intranet, extranet, and electronic commerce portals to ensure customer orders are managed efficiently. In addition, the company has to ensure that it meets these expectations at acceptably low costs, because the ability to pass on additional costs to the consumers is limited both by the competition as well as the customers’ unwillingness to accept such costs, which means that if the company has to be profitable, it faces an increasing logistical burden to deliver value. Other challenges include globalized competition, commodity prices’ volatility, complex consumer demand patterns, increased financial volatility (including exchange rate volatility and inflation), globalized labour markets (raising cross-cultural and employee compensation issues), increased exposure to varied regulatory requirements across different countries, supplier landscape complexity, and geopolitical instability. Navigating all these factors is difficult enough, but even worse, is the fact that these variables are characterized by considerable uncertainty.

These risks cannot simply be managed by buying larger insurance policies, and Guaranteed Shoe Company needs to explore a range od strategies to ensure The company should shift its focus towards better cost management (logistical support) and value chain management. Operating costs reduction is critical for survival in this business, and to achieve this,the company needs to cut back its overall inventories, bolster quality, improve customer service, increase the order turnaround time, reduce capital costs and ensure that the company adheres to the highest possible ethical standards. This is impossible to accomplish without a supply chain management system. These systems integrate planning ordering, production and delivery in the organization as well as across the company’s value chain. According to O'Brien & Marakas (2010), these systems use information technology to manage and support the firm’s value creation operations from the supplier to the customer.

This system will help the company to anticipate better the customers’ needs by forecasting, which in turn allows the company to anticipate demand and plan according. Effectively, this will make it possible reduce inventories considerably since the stores will only hold stocks that are likely to move fast. This also cuts back on the cost of holding too much stock (including warehousing) and reduces the probability of shoes being unavailable in the shops and forcing clients to place singular orders that are more expensive to fulfil compared to large orders. In addition, Guaranteed Shoe Company can integrate its supply chain management system with its suppliers, to ensure seamless cooperation in the planning and delivery of the customers’ needs. This eliminates any need to for the company’s staff to fill out orders in order to get more stock. Given the fact that the company’s suppliers are spread across the world, as well as its stores, the instantaneous communication and cooperation is extremely important in overcoming many of the challenges facing a multinational company such as ours. For instance, the changes in the supply chain can be automatically reflected in the product’s pricing, which makes it possible for the company to incur the risks of exchange rate and inflation fluctuations, etc.

Section 4: Business Intelligence

Business intelligence will prove to be a critical strategy for Guaranteed Shoe Company, especially if the company chooses to implement the enterprise resource planning system, the customer relationship management system, and the supply chain management system. These systems present considerable opportunities for the company to harvest consumer, supplier, and other data, process it, and use it to create real time and actionable strategic information that can be used to create competitive advantages. The company need to invest in technologies that would create value out of the wealth of data that it will collect from its customers, suppliers, and other business partners, to help in strategic decision-making.
According to Bradburry (2014), technology, including simple tools such as Microsoft Excel and Access can transform data into usable information that would make the difference between it and its competitors. This is even more important for organizations that have the infrastructure to collect data (including ERP and CRM systems). This goes to show that in order for Guaranteed Shoe company to reap the most benefits from the recommended technologies, it needs to create synergies from the implementation of multiple similar complementary technologies. With these technologies and the wealth of data that they can gather from differing contacts with customers and business partners, it is possible to develop business intelligence. Effectively, information technology will be rendered into a tool that does not only achieve efficiencies and improve customer satisfaction but perhaps most importantly, take a central role in strategy formation. Even most importantly, is the fact that business intelligence facilitates the innovation of products and services, which help achieve further client value. For instance, the company may decide to include clothing lines if it realizes that its customers desire to shop for both shoes and clothes. The fact that the information available to the firm may be unique to it means that the data can help it generate sustainable competitive advantages.

References

Bowen, D. (2014). E-commerce: how to approach the next big thing in B2B marketing. Retrieved 2015
Bradburry, D. (2014, Apri 7). New weapon for small businesses: data mining. Retrieved 2015, from http://business.financialpost.com/entrepreneur/how-small-businesses-can-find-success-in-their-data
Brassington, F., & Pettitt, S. (2006). Principles of Marketing (4 th Ed ed.). New York: Financial Times/ Prentice Hall.
Kirby, S. L., & Richard, O. C. (2000). Impact of Marketing Work-Place Diversity on Employee Job Involvement and Organizational Commitment. Journal Of Social Psychology, 140(3), 367-377.
McKinsey & Company. (2010). The challenges ahead for supply chains: McKinsey Global Survey results. Retrieved July 25, 2015, from http://www.mckinsey.com/insights/operations/the_challenges_ahead_for_supply_chains_mckinsey_global_survey_results
O'Brien, J., & Marakas, G. (2010). Management Information Systems (10th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill Companies,Incorporated.

Introduction

Change is an inevitable phenomenon in the organization. When initiatives for change run aground, business executives face resistance to change among its employees. Change agents can easily point their fingers at the people who never wanted to be the part of the change. However, blaming in the change phenomenon is not only pointless; it can also pave the way to destructive managerial behaviors. If the perception of managers for the resistance is threat, they can become defensive, competitive, or uncommunicative. The need is to find out the missing pieces and defective assumptions. Although resistance can be self-serving or unreasonable,

Where other global businesses falter, IKEA succeeds. Founded 76 years ago in a small Sweden town, Almhult, the company has become the world’s largest furniture retailer. IKEA’s business model and well-designed home products have been replicated globally en masse. The company’s largest market is Germany, followed by the US, France, the UK, and China. This college essay on IKEA can be viewed as a case study of service excellence, and, consequently, commercial success. After a brief introduction to the company’s history, several questions will be tackled the most salient of which is the following: is IKEA’s success a function of marketing, culture, or human resources? It will be argued that the behemoth of furniture shopping has made multiple successful forays into the global market due to its insistence on the promotion of Swedish culture. The idea of the proud little nation with admirable work life balance and inimitable wholesomeness appeals to consumers around the world. For this reason, IKEA stores are regarded by customers as spaces of acculturation rather than manifestations of corporate greed writ large.