Qualified Employees In Hospitality Industry Tourism Essay

Qualified Employees In Hospitality Industry Tourism Essay The need of qualified employees in hospitality industry, their commitment to service quality and to what extent it impacts customer satisfaction is not any more a matter of question; it is an important issue that concerns not only hospitality management education in Bulgaria but it is recognized all over the world. The industry suffers from high turnover (Mehra, 2006) which directly reflects to the product and service quality offered (Pizam and Thornburg, 2000) and respectively to low revenues and profits (Tracey and Hinkin, 2008).Furthermore, problems occur in graduates perception of future career in hospitality industry due to disappointment of the work experience they gain during their mandatory practices in this industry which decrease their willingness for further professional development in this field (Waryszak, 1999; Jenkins, 2001).The gabs in hospitality management education system is an important issue of serious concern and represents a huge interest among researchers and a cademics. According Mr. Ilian Ilchev a manager of Vocational Training Center (VTC) Bourgas who is responsible of the training of cadres in hospitality industry, Bulgarian tourism sector faces serious problems finding qualified employees in this field. Most of the students in Bulgarian universities and colleges offer low quality of education. There is no interaction between the practice in tourism sector and the higher education offered in Bulgarian schools. Moreover, after graduation students are not attracted from the low payment in this sector, and the inability to start career on managerial level is from great disappointment for them. As far as the education of hospitality management is concerned, there is a need to classify the supply side of the Bulgarian education. The institutions that provide tertiary education in Bulgaria are separated into two types: universities with duration of study from four to six year, depending on the object of study which offer bachelor and master degree, and colleges with duration of study three years offering professional bachelor degree. There is existence of Private Professional Colleges (PPC) with duration of study two years offering certificate for professional qualification which are 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th degree (National Statistic Institute) and so called Vocational Training Centers (VTC) which are working at the same principle as PPC and offer the same levels of professional qualification. The difference between them is that PPC give opportunity for the student to continue their education for professional bachelor/bachelor degree in its partner Bulgarian university or colle ge but VTC on the other hand is considered to be not only for students but for everyone that wants to acquire craft knowledge in particular field. There is small percentage of private colleges which are part from any statistic that offer courses based on educational programmes similar to foreign colleges that suits the students needs in particular industry. The period of study in these colleges is from two to three years and after completing the course, student can continue their education in university abroad. Most of the courses are franchised and validated by the foreign college or university and the majority of them are based in Nederland, Great Britain, Norway etc. However, the degree awarded by their Bulgarian college or university partner is not acknowledged by the Bulgarian Ministry of Education. Here comes the question how effective is the education offered from these institutions connected with hospitality industry and how many of them produce qualified employees and leade rs that could suits the needs of this industry? According to Jenner, 1992 and Sneed Heiman, 1995 the concern for a good quality of education in tourism sector should be equally high for both government and hospitality and tourism industry. Bulgarian government does not subsidize the colleges that offer higher education in hospitality management and very few hotels do have clear structured training system. The limitation of Master and doctoral programs in this field in Bulgarian universities with specialization in hospitality is an obstacle for development of further academic resources and researches which could be in favor for the progress of these programs. Furthermore, courses such as Entrepreneurship, Strategic Management, Marketing Management, Corporate Finance etc. which are essential for the hospitality education do not exist in Bulgarian State universities. Such courses are recognized in the Bulgarian colleges which are affiliated by foreign universities but from financial p oint of view, not every student can afford it. Unfortunately, such gaps in the hospitality education are not rare phenomena in other countries such as India that faces the same problems (Jauhari V.2006). A serious issue of concern in Bulgaria is connected with the jobs opportunities that the Bulgarian students have after graduation. It is generally known that the aim of the higher education is to prepare qualified cadres which are able to find a realization on the labor market. The quality of education is a leading factor that influences students opportunities of finding the most suitable job placement according to the acquired qualification (Georgieva Y., Kalinov K. 2005).Unfortunately, in Bulgaria it is a well known fact that the students find difficulties to find job in the sphere of their higher education and most of them start working something which is totally different or similar to what they have studied in the university, mostly at minimum wage rates.Moreover,the number of graduates in hospitality industry exceed the number of available managerial positions on the labor market, something that happens in India as well and that leads to : à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦mismatch of supply and demand of certain skills in hospitality industry (Jauhari V.2006). According to Zhang and Wu (2004), China faces the same difficulties in hospitality industry, namely: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦lack of qualified staff at both operational and managerial level, high staff turnover rates, unwillingness of university graduates to enter industry, gap between what is taught in school and college and realities of the industry itself In most cases, it leads to job dissatisfaction, low productivity and respectively to low quality of service. Researchers have found that there is absence of positive and strong interaction between job satisfaction and education (Gordon, 1975; Weaver, 1978). One of the assumptions is that the students with higher education expect their work during the years to be rewarded and when their expectations are not met it easily leads to dissatisfaction of the job position (Wright and Hamilton, 1979).However, a recent statistic shows that the number of people who mostly leave the country are young people between 25-29 years old (NSI). This means that higher educated or not, young people in Bulgaria prefer to work and to look for a better career opportunities abroad instead of develop their skills at home which directly reflects on the different branches of the Bulgarian economy, namely to operate with young and qualified cadres. It is a reasonable explanation why Bulgarian hospitality industr y desperately has a need of qualified employees and managers who can offer good quality of service and ability to compete with other popular hospitality industries such as Turkey, Greece, Malta etc. The good quality of higher education in hospitality management plays crucial role of providing the tourism market with well trained, skilled and educated managers, but on the other side, frontline employees are those who has direct contact with the customers, and the quality of service provided by them is essential for the success of any organization within the hospitality industry (Chang, 2006).Customer service is viewed as customer perception of what he/she had experienced and remembered (Beaujean, Davidson, and Madge, 2006; Bymes,(2005). Most of the time, when a customer leaves a hotel or a restaurant dissatisfied from the received service, it forms immediately a negative perception (Bymes, 2005).Thats why, it is essential and not fully recognized in Bulgarian hospitality industry that the successful organizations are those that perceive customer service as: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦the starting point and ending point for any effective account relationship in which the key to success is clear thinking about what it feels like to walk in the customers shoes (Bymes, J., 2005). Employees commitment to service quality is also an important factor that contributes for a strong organizational performance. Organizations with high commitment among subordinates could only benefit from it with lower turnover and comparatively higher motivated employees. It is important for every company to know how to motivate its employees and to create better relation between customers and frontline employees. It is considered as a step ahead of creating a sustainable customer service (Cadwallader, S., Jarvis, C, Bitner, M., and Ostrom, A., 2009; Spector and McCarthy, 1996). It is also assumed that committed employees are more likely to provide customers with better quality of service (Zeithaml, Parasuraman and Berry, 1990).According to Kini and Hobson (2002) the good quality of service entirely depends on: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦employees commitment, satisfaction, involvement, and morale. In hospitality industry in Bulgaria is very difficult to be found such employees. Frontline employees are à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦typically underpaid, undertrained, overworked and highly stressed (Hartline and Ferrell, 1993), a statement which apply pretty much to the Bulgarian hospitality employees working environment. It concerns mostly the seasonal workforce in Bulgarian winter and summer resorts where people work almost at minimum wage, in most cases relying on tips or small percentage of their daily profit. Hotel and restaurant employees are occupied ten-twelve hours per day, sometimes even more, depends on how busy is within the organization. Furthermore, a common practice is working without days off which easily contribute for stressful working environment, a topical issue that contributes to low quality of service (Ross F. G 1995).All these factors reflect negatively on employee satisfaction, productivity and loyalty to the organization and respectively to customer satisfaction and pr ofitability. The link between frontline employees satisfaction, loyalty, productivity, customer satisfaction and companys profitability is well depicted in so called Service profit chain (Heskett, Sasser Schlesinger, 1997); illustrated in Figure.1.According to Crowford, A. and Hubbard, S. (2007), in the Service profit chain: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦there is a link between employee satisfaction and the service concept, directly impacting customer satisfaction. This impact affects customer loyalty, which in turn influences revenue growth. Lastly, revenue growth extends back to the beginning influencing the internal service of the organization. Understanding an employees level of satisfaction, commitment, involvement, and self-esteem gives managers and strategists means to create a favorable environment where the links in the service profit chain work to the advantage of the service provider. Employees satisfaction and commitment as a starting point in Service profit chain, impacting the delivery of good quality of service and companys profitability, are major components that absence in many Bulgarian hospitality organizations. The results are higher turnover among frontline employees and managers due to the lack of quality of work life (QWL), a topical issue of great interest among researchers and academics. The delivery of good service highly depends on QWL provided by the hospitality organization, mainly when employees needs and expectations are met, so that they are motivated to work in companys favor (Kanungo, 1982 and Efraty Sirgy, 1990) or in other words through better QWL there is a significant improvement of employees productivity, performance and service quality (Havlovic, 1991).A recent research made to investigate employees expectations of QWL (Kandasamy,I, I. Sreekumar, A., 2009) indicates that during a conversation with the employees from three different h otels, they show willingness to participate, when provided, in companys service training programs which could be a good chance for them to enhance their skills. According to Rousseau (1995), in most cases, employees even expect their company to provide training programs as an opportunity for further career development: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦in exchange for the employees time, effort, and skill Tourism industry in Bulgaria supported by the government and orientated in the mainstream of mass tourism, entirely depends on its seasonal workforce. Practices such as service training almost do not exist in Bulgarian winter and summer resorts because of its seasonality, where the percentage of five and four stars hotels grow dramatically in the last couple of years. As Mr.Lubomir Popiordanov, Chair of the Bulgarian Association for Alternative Tourism (BAAT) pointed out Bulgarian mass tourism is mainly connected with quantity instead of quality and it lacks in added value (Sofia News Agency).Most of the hotel owners are mainly focused finding ways to be fully booked during the whole season instead of improving the quality of service through training programs. It is not yet recognized that through such programs frontline employees could work much more effectively when dealing with customers complaints which on the other side makes feel them satisfied with their job (Babakus et al., 2 003; Schneider Bowen, 1995; Tax Brown, 1998).Some other research papers support the thesis that organizations that invest money in service training programs are more capable to keep its employees within the company, makes them feel happy at the workplace and committed to the firms values(Babakus et al., 2003; Lee, Park, Yoo, 1999; Sweetman,2001; Tsui, Pearce, Porter, Tripoli, 1997). Other approach of keeping frontline employees committed to the organization, providing better quality of service is through companys reward system. George and Gronroos (1989) also suggest that rewarding service employees periodically ensure their commitment to service quality. Similar to the training programs, reward systems and policies are very important for motivating employees when dealing with customers complaints. The fact that companys reward structure contributes for employees satisfaction at the workplace and impacts their organizational commitment is so far supported by many service literature studies (Bowen, Gilliland, Folger, 1999; Brown Peterson, 1993; Farrell Rusbult, 1981; Heskett, Jones, Loveman, Sasser, Schlesinger, 1994; Lawler, 2000).For the Bulgarian hospitality industry a clear structured reward system could be in favor of reducing employees turnover and to encourage more qualified cadres to enter this sector. Most industry researchers agreed that employees commitment to service quality is highly influenced by managers commitment to service quality and the way they demonstrate it (Bowen and Schneider 1985; Hartline and Ferrell 1996; Mohr-Jackson 1993; Babakus et al. 2003). As it was mentioned before the higher education is from significant importance in hospitality industry in order to generate leaders capable to show their subordinates motivation, skills, confidence and flexibility which could positively affect employees behavior towards the delivering of a better quality of service. Managerial coaching is considered as an appropriate tool of providing employees with support mainly connected with their knowledge, skills and performance within the organization. This method embrace approximately the same goals concerning employees further skill development at the workplace as training ,but coaching is presented in more informal way. It represents the ability of the managers to create sustai nable correlation between employees and supervisors so that their everyday activities and experiences are synchronized and able to became an object of learning (Phillips 1994).Coaches is design to demonstrate employees the best way of doing their job when dealing with customers. It gives employees an idea of their opportunities, and how to perform better using new and different approaches.Furthermore, through coaches employees are provided with regular feedback which aims to get the best of its employees and to show them that their work is appreciated. Bulgarian hospitality industry has a lot to learn concerning the education provided, aiming to attract qualified cadres to work in this field and their ability to be committed to service quality. It is so far recognized internationally that qualified employees who are satisfied with their job are more committed to the service quality which directly affect customer satisfaction of the received service attitude. Having in mind that todays world economy is 70 percent service based, more and more academics and people working in this sphere are looking for a way to design companies that are able to provide the best service to its clients (Schneider White, 2004). The importance of improving the quality of service is the main driver for companys successful retention of customers (Gustafsson, A., Johnson, M., Roos, I., 2005).At operational level service employees are those who creates the connection between the customers and the organization and most importantly through them and their perso nal contribution to deliver proper service, managers are aiming to attract and impress customers (Chase, 1981; Heskett et al., 1994; Oliva and Sterman, 2001), and respectively to satisfy them. Thus, managers commitment to service quality has indirect impact on customers satisfaction (Subroto, B. Natalisa, D., 2003).Even that managers also contributes for the delivering of excellent service, frontline employees are from great importance when the target is better productivity performance and gratifying customers needs (Yee,R., Yeung,A., Cheng,T.C,2008). Service quality in the modern hospitality industry is a crucial factor in creating long-term relationship between organizations and customers and to make them feel satisfied (Martin, 1986; Croby et al., 1990; Tornow and Wiley, 1991; Tsa, 1994).Many researchers have argued that there is significant correlation between customer satisfaction and service quality (Roth and Van Der Velde, 1991; Roth and Jackson, 1995).Other studies in service marketing have suggested that customer satisfaction is in emotional reply of a particular experience connected with provided service( Westbrook and Reilly (1983).According to Yoon and Suh (2003), the excellent service highly depends on employees because when they are satisfied with their job and motivated, it is more likely to deliver better services and to give more from themselves. Other research papers prove that loyalty among employees contributes for higher levels of service delivering (Loveman, 1998; Silvestro and Cross, 2000).Employees which ar e able to provide service quality are considered much more capable to solve problems easily and in proper manner which positively affects customers perception of the provided service. Bulgarian hospitality industry needs serious improvements connected with the service attitude toward customers and radical changes in employees working environment, in order to work in full capacity. Successful tourism or hospitality business could not operate without satisfied guests and subordinates (Gursoy and Swanger, 2007). As pointed out in The Service Profit Chain: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦providing employees with a superior internal working environment is likely to lead to satisfied employees who are both loyal to the organization and able to provide the customer with an excellent service experience. Customers will recognize and value the outstanding service offered to them. (Heskett et al., 1994, 1997). However, several studies indicate that employees satisfaction plays crucial role in achieving companys financial aims (Koys, 2003), which means that when a company make an affords to take care for its employees, they will do the same in return for companys customers. This care could be express through better payment, reward practiced, training and managerial coaching and not at the end, through companys ability to make feel its employees secure (Gursoy and Swanger, 2007; Koys, 2003; Schneider, 1991). Customers loyalty and satisfaction are supposed to be contributory factor for customer profitability. The relationship between customer satisfaction and profitability is considered as fundamental marketing concept which means that the companys goal is to pursue customers needs, wants and wishes (Helgesen.O, 2006).When all this consumers factors are met, customers are satisfied from what they receive, the company is pleased having a long-term financial returns on business. Customers who are highly satisfied are considered to use one and the same products and services more frequently and respectively to stay loyal to the company that provides them (Anderson et al., 1994; Gronholdt et al., 2000).Customers loyalty is an important factor in hospitality industry that contributes for consumer reuse of a certain product or service which positively increase companys profitability. Moreover, satisfied customers are much less price sensitive and they are willing to pay even at high price (Ander son et al., 1994) which directly affects companys economic performance. Satisfaction among customers reflects in positive way on organizations overall reputation which on the other side could be a premise of creating strong relationship with important distributors and suppliers. From what was mentioned so far it becomes obvious that: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦customer satisfaction generates more future sales, reduces price elasticity, and increases the reputation of the firm. (Yee, R., Yeung, A., Cheng, T.C, 2008). All of the mentioned sources and publications speak of the aspects that Bulgarian hospitality needs to focus in order to function successfully, to develop and to be competitive on the market.

Does Globalisation of the media offer more or less opportunities for democracy? Essay

We live in society today where the media plays an alarmingly big part in how we see the world, and how our opinions are formed, whether it is from what we watch on television to who we vote for. The media has helped to make our society a democracy by placing emphasis on issues that at one stage in time would have been considered strictly private issues such as child birth, homosexuality, child care, domestic violence, and sexual harassment. Due to this democracy we now look differently at politics, and are more active in whom we want in office, and how we want our children to be raised. The globalisation of the media has increased our access to information about people and events around the world, but in the process it has also shifted issues on what should or should not be in the public domain.1 The media performs an essential part in our democracy socially, politically, economically and culturally. It is the main source of political information and allows us to access political debate. It allows us as an audience to be informed and to participate in how we should perceive things. Democracy needs the media to provide people with a wide range of opinions, analysis and debates on important issues. It needs the media to be able to reflect on the diversity of the audience, and it needs the media to be accountable for what is going on around them, and to be diverse and deliberate in how they communicate these issues to audiences. 2 The increased information given to audiences has a ‘democratising effect’, mobilising audiences into action, which in turn has significant implications for governments and businesses. International relations and events in our democracy are more visible and transparent, have more domestic policy ramifications and involve the public more often. While the globalised media plays a big part in our democracy, and has been characterised by the massive economic expansion and technical innovation it has also caused many problems for democracy. There is an increase in inequality, cultural and social tumult and individual alienation. The digital revolution and introduction of new technologies are redefining our notions of politics yes, but they are also redefining the structuring powers in society. Increasingly power resides in the hands of those that can produce, control and disseminate information the most effectively. This goes back to Marx’s theory that those who control the world govern it. While the proliferation of communications and increased global interdependence might create global understanding, equality and harmony it doesn’t necessarily mean that there is an increase in human communication and co-operation. If anything it is leading to the replacement of traditional structures, such as family religion, and the community with one that are supposedly more relevant.3 There are too few transnational media conglomerates dominating the world media, and fewer than 24 media conglomerates account for the majority of our newspapers, magazines, films, television and radio. With only a few big conglomerates running the show the media has become a vehicle used for commercial exploitation. There has been a steady increase of commercialisation of sports, arts, and education. This is disturbing when audiences are turning to the media to tell us how to vote, and how the government is being run. The media is constantly used by these conglomerates to spread existing structures and values, which are dominant globally and emphasise the free-market economy and the capitalist liberal democracy. The spread of the media has in fact broken down barriers to communications and international commerce, and makes it more difficult for governments and regulatory bodies to protect their cultures and societies from commercialisation and advertising.4 The main conglomerates have made the media very concentrated. Companies such as Times-Warner, Disney and Viacom have such diverse media holdings that they own both the means of production and distributing, further concentrating the media outlets and the information that we receive through the mass media. The media is vertical where production and distribution companies are allowed to own various types of networks, channels, and television stations. The media is supposed to be neutral yet how can they be so neutral when companies seem to ignore the important role that culture and social values play in shaping information. How can they be neutral when only a few conglomerate companies run them? The choices made everyday by government officials, media producers and distributors determine what topics are covered, what they want us to know and what they don’t want us to know, what information is selected and how it is portrayed. The simple choice of one story over another is not just economical and professional but also political.5 The choices that the media makes in presenting stories determines what becomes part of its audiences natural consciousness and what values and ideas take precedence to the general public. But these choices are not made by what they think the public wants but based on their own beliefs, and reflect cultural, social and national values and identity. The mass media is viewed as a means to increase diversity, democracy and the power of the individual. Yet more and more it seems that the media is a vehicle being used by the government and the producers to manipulate the community and advertise. It is assumed that the more television channels we have, the more diverse the information we receive. But this is a misconception, as Western Products, Hollywood values and advertising dominate nearly all of the media. More often now than not the information that is transmitted by the media is infotainment and advertising. The media is used so that audiences find it more difficult to have an impact on policies, goals and directions of their own social, economic and political institutions. As mentioned the media is owned by transnational corporations that command huge economies, run from the top and are interlinked in various ways. Their first interest is profit, and to construct an audience of a particular type. One that is addicted to a certain life-style with artificial wants. Their primary function is selling audiences to advertisers. They don’t make money from their subscriptions. They make money when an advertiser pays them. They believe in free market principles for others, but not for themselves. The major corporations in every society rely very heavily on state subsidy and state intervention.6 Making a profit from their advertising fees means that media outlets are influenced by various corporate interests. News coverage and other media content is therefore affected. Stories can end up being biased or omitted so that they don’t offend their advertisers or their owners. Corporate media is not a good thing for democracy when there is a risk of an increased economic and political influence that becomes unaccountable for. That is a great concern in democracy. Companies such as Newslimited and Times-Warner are so big that they have the power to stop other companies setting in on what they consider their turf. Times-Warner owns everything from Cable TV to sports teams and smaller companies that don’t have these options find that they can not compete in the media market. The problem with this is that with so few companies in complete power they are the ones making the decisions to what information is disseminated to the public, and this is done but what they think will make them a profit, and what will be beneficial to them. Companies such as News Corp wrote about the heroics of the War on terrorism, and the Iraq War because it was beneficial for them to support the U.S Government. The information filtered through to audiences was biased because it wasn’t telling people why there was a war, but that we should be supporting it. This was done because it would make them profit, and work in their favour. This was also shown in 1998 when Rupert Murdoch personally intervened to prevent one of the companies that he owned, HarperCollins, from publishing the memoirs of former Governor of Hong Kong, Chris Patton. He alleged that it was because he didn’t want the memoirs to offend the Government, but it was in fact because it might jeopardise plans by News Corp to have future expansion in China.7 Firms in the media industry compete with each other, but they also work together to reduce competition and in fact the nine largest American firms have joint ventures with nearly six of the other eight giants. Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp has at least one joint venture with every other of his competitors. This is not an appealing notion for we, as the audience has little say in what is produced. It also sadly it indicates that the main purpose to our media is only to make money for those huge companies in charge. If this is the case then how can Journalists be protected from the commercial interests of their owners? And how can information be filtered out evenly without bias when media owners wish to sell their space to the highest advertiser. Journalists claim to give readers the news that they think is important to their lives, but in fact tend to be assisting in the process of converting Journalism into the type of consumer news and information that advertisers want.8 Global conglomerates such as Times-Warner, News Corp, Sony, Viacom, Bertelsmann, and AT & T have an impact on our culture, especially when they are entering nations that have been tightly controlled by an already corrupt media system or nations that have significant censorship over media such as China. The Global companies don’t have respect for tradition or custom especially if it stands in the way of profits. Another problem with having such a globalised media in our democracy is that the media produces so much knowledge, information, dissemination of everything and that produces an absence of everything too, and in doing so produce a situation that causes too many images. The mode of production is then affected. The media has introduced us to a world with no fixed territory, a world increasingly without limits. This can cause us, as an audience to have a loss of sensibility, a loss of limits. This affects the mode of production. One does not produce what is absent, or what is invisible. It affects the production of culture, by mixing them with different cultures.9 If anything the consolidation of ownership across the various media remains a threat to democracy. The public’s right to information and ideas from the widest possible range of sources means little in a world dominated by a handful of interlocking media giants. The news programs that people see, and the advertisements that accompany them are dominated by the success of white, wealthy westerners and the examples of the dangers posed to them are poor, black, non-westerners. Women are also represented in the media by glamorous models, actresses and news presenters. The problem with a globalised media in a democracy is that it can ruin the public infrastructure and that in turn means the demise of the public sector, which results in privatisation and more commercialism. Media ownership and media concentration becomes a problem when audiences are not becoming well informed because the audience or public can not act as an authoritarian. The danger of living in such a world means that while there is an increase in the mode of communication, new forms of identity and community there is an equal loss in political sovereignty, economic opportunity and cultural diversity. 1 Healey, Justin Mass Media and Society, Spinney Press, 2000 2 McChesney Making Media democratic, Boston Review issue 23 3 Mowlana, Hamid Globalisation of the mass media, London-Sage Publications, 1997 4 Tunstall, Jeremy The new Hollywood Network Cartel and Europe, Carleton University Press 1998 5 Chomsky Noam Media and Globalisation Third World Network, 1996 6 OECD Globalisation: challenges and opportunities OECD Publishing 2000 7 Wiseman, John Global Nation, Cambridge University Press, 1998 8 Kortin, David, The mythical victory of Market Capitalism Goldsmith, Edward and Mender, San Francisco 1996 9 McChessney, Robert Global media, neoliberalism, and imperialism, Monthly review, volume 52 issue 10 2001

Factors Leading to the Increase in the Gap Between Rich...

FACTORS LEADING TO THE INCREASE IN THE GAP BETWEEN RICH AND POOR NATIONS DUE TO GLOBALIZATION INTERNATIONAL INEQUALITY Inequality must be defined and be able to be measured so that comparisons can be made between rich and poor countries. Once the causes are determined, the effects of globalization can be evaluated and be measured. The World Bank defines inequality as the disparity of income and standard of living among nations and their citizens (Birdsall, 2002) The income gap that exists between the rich and poor countries has become substantial. In 2003, the richest fifth of the world’s population received 85% of the total world income, while poorest fifth received just 1.4% of the global income (infoplease, 2005).When the GDP is†¦show more content†¦Although the two countries adapted well to globalization, there is little doubt that their newfound relative prosperity opened many new fissure lines. Inequality between coastal and inland provinces, as well as between urban and rural areas, skyrocketed in China. Another large group of Third World countries in Latin America, Africa, and former Communist countries, experienced a quarter-century of decline, or stagnation, punctuated by civil wars, international conflicts, and the onslaught of AIDS. While rich countries grew on average by almost 2 percent per capita annually from 1980 to 2002, the worlds poorest 40 countries had a combined growth rate of zero. For large swaths of Africa, the income level today is less than 1-dollar-per-day. For these latter countries, the promised benefits of globalization never arrived. Social services were often taken over by foreigners. Western experts and technocrats arrived on their jets, stayed in luxury hotels, and hailed the obvious worsening of economic and social conditions as a step toward better lives and international integration. 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The ethical behaviour of firms Do ethics work - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 10 Words: 3079 Downloads: 5 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Ethics Essay Type Research paper Did you like this example? 1. Dissertation title Proposal Does ethical behaviour pay? An investigation of whether the Western consumer society cares about ethical behaviour of firms, and in such potentially could have an influence on corporate social responsibility behaviour of organizations, and hence give an indication of whether ethical behaviour pays in terms of consumer popularity. 2. Introduction and overall aim, objectives and rational for the research Companies such as Enron, Nike, Nestle and Exxon, just to mention a few, have been in the spotlight due to their à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“un-ethicalà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  behaviour. And arguably cases as such have catapulted corporate social responsibility on the agenda of business research. Cases as above mentioned arguably make it clear that corporate social responsibility and business ethics are very important to modern business, and thus make it an excellent research topic for a business dissertation. It is timely and relevant! Ethics i n academic terms has many definitions, and thus can potentially make it difficult to draw the lines between what is ethical and what is not. But how is ethics defined in laymanà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s terms? If people were asked to give their own definitions of ethics, would it still be as hard to draw the line around ethical behaviour? And considering that many companies who arguably behaved à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“unethicalà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  are still very successful in business, do people actually care about ethical behaviour of firms? Would they choose one product over another due to the knowledge that the company behind it is à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“moreà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  ethical? If they donà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t, how does ethical behaviour then pay off? And if they do, how much influence could they potentially assert? The dissertations aim is to give some insights on whether corporate social responsibility and ethical behaviour really matters to consumers. And in such has it a potential power to influe nce corporate behaviour, as then ethical behaviour would really pay off? The length of the dissertation will vary between 10à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢000 to 12à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢000 words and the first draft shall be completed within 3 months. After 1 moth the feedback of the supervisor should be given, and the final dissertation shall be handed in 2 months after that, with all the amendments being made accordingly. 3. Critical review of the existing literature Corporate Social Responsibility seems a new fad in the business environment, and corporate social reports are published by many firms nowadays. There seems to be no consensus in writers of when this concept of corporate social responsibility originated, but what writers do however agree on is that the emergence of the subject has to do with the growth, and thus power, of large companies, and the unfortunate ill-treatment of societal issues that have come with it (Boatright, 1993 and McEwan, 2001). There are various definit ions of corporate social responsibility. Boatright (1993:386) describes social responsibility as being à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“the selection of corporate goals and the evaluation of outcomes not solely by the criteria of profitability and organizational well-being but by ethical standards or judgements of social desirability. The exercise of social responsibility in this view must be consistent with the corporate objective of earning a satisfactory level of profit, but it implies a willingness to forego a certain measure of profit in order to achieve noneconomic endsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ . In this definition, corporationsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ first aim should be to make a satisfactory level of profit, naturally, but then however the corporation should not focus on making further excessive profits but however should try and do something of value for society. What will be relevant to this research is to compare this definition, with the ideas and definitions of the general population. To then compare a nd analyze the differences, or no differences, in definition, and thus expectation. Arguably, one of the most famous economists Milton Friedman wrote that corporations only have one responsibility, and that is to make money (cited in Frank, 2004). In this view, any extra efforts made by companies in attaining broader social goals, is just a waste of money. Also Trevino and Nelson (1999) outline, that the corporation is responsible to numerous stakeholders, and therefore has a responsibility to make a profit, simply to maintain their employees and please the shareholders. A typical argument why organizations only have the responsibility to make money is because this classical view believes that à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“In a well-ordered society, corporations attend to business while government and other institutions fulfil their proper rolesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  (Boatright, 1993:94). Arguably this statement could be challenged by simply looking at the 100 largest companiesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ reve nues, because their GDP nowadays exceeds the GDP of 50% of the earthà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s countries (McIntosh et al, 1998). This therefore means that the top 100 companies are a lot more powerful than many countries, and thus it could be argued that with such power, certain responsibilities should also arise. This is relevant in outlining, firstly the changes in the business environment, and secondly in highlighting the enormous power organizations really have nowadays. Particularly interesting will be to identify if people actually know about this, and if it will change (or influence) their opinion about corporate social responsibility. But the real interest in this investigation will be how much do consumers actually care about corporate social responsibility. Is the ethic of selfishness; Egoism (Hinman, 2003) really true? Do people really life secluded from each other? Not giving nor taking to-from no one. The book by Frank (2004) à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“what Price the Moral High Ground ?à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  does contradict this view, and puts forward empirical research which seems to imply that people do not solely behave in a selfish way. This will be of particular interest since it will determine a. if people are interested whether or not organizations behave ethically and b. if they care about what is happening around them, and are willing to act for the common good. Baudrillard (1970, cited in Heath, 2002) argues that we are living in a consumer society, were materialism is at its pique. Also other writers are noting on the phenomenon of our materialistic Western society. Hoffman (1996) argues that nowadays in America, success of life is all defined in materialistic terms. Arguably not only in America this is the case, but generally all Western societies seem to have made a move towards a more materialistic value system. The ethics of consumerism has gradually replaced traditional values and promoted instant gratification and hedonism (Crane and Matten, 2004). Hendry (2004) in his book à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Between Enterprise and Ethics, Business Management in a Bimoral Societyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  notes that the morality of self-interest has gained much more social legitimacy in recent years, compared to the traditional morality. Consumption has grown significantly and the per capita private consumption in Western Europe has grown by over 50% since the 1980à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s (Crane and Matten, 2004). Whether this growth in consumption is desirable, and most of all sustainable would be an entire dissertation topic for itself. Not only is the move of consumerism a questionable one when it comes to ethics, but arguably also is this trend of large multinational corporations with their enormous power influence that have come with it. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“It is not about how to conduct business, but whether to continue to sustain an enterprise that is based on increased consumptionà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  (Westra and Werhane, 1998). Of particular interest and rel evance to the dissertation will be how much this trend of consumerism and materialism is affecting people individually, and how much in turn this will affect peopleà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s attitude towards corporate social responsibility, and thus willingness to forego certain consumption patterns for a more ethical business environment. 4. Research Methodology Proposal: a.) Research Strategy and design There are two different research theories, namely the deductive; theory testing, and inductive; theory building (Saunders et al., 2003). The dissertation will walk on both paths in regards to the research theory, as the outcome will not be able to build a theory, but however it will also not be a theory testing research, as there is not much theory existing on this field of research. Therefore, it will be a combination of both, but the inductive theory should be predominant. As for the research philosophy, there are two different corners of thoughts, the Realist (Objectivist) corner and the Relativist (Subjectivist) corner. The Realist approach is positivistic and with the viewpoint of a natural scientist, it believes in external reality and quantitative data research. The Relativist approach believes in the social construction of reality and therefore focuses more on qualitative data and interpretivism (Saunders et al 2003). This research will be based on a relativist philosophy. Firstly because the author can more identify with this philosophy, and arguably has thus chosen a subject requiring this research philosophy. And secondly because it will make more sense to collect and focus on qualitative data, as the research is trying to determine the attitudes of people to then interpret the possible effect this might have on business behaviour in regards to ethics. To determine the research strategy we firstly need to identify what is meant by the term research strategy. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“By a research strategy, we simply mean a general orientation to the conduct of business researchà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  (Bryman and Bell, 2003:25). They make a distinction whether research is conducted through quantitative or qualitative data. The strategy for this dissertation will mainly be based on qualitative research due to the fact that it is based on a relativistic philosophy, as already mentioned above. However, there will also be some quantitative data used, to identify how many people would react and believe a certain way. The validity and reliability (Bryman and Bell, 2003) of the secondary data that will be presented in the dissertation should arguably depict a valid and reliable picture of the subject matter. However, this data will not provide a holistic picture of the subject matter, and therefore the primary research will have to be conducted. But when it comes to secondary research, validity and reliability might prove a little trickier. There are certain features of this research that can not be ignored. Firstly, it will be impossible to interview everyone who could have an opinion and influence on the subject matter, therefore only a sample can be taken. How representative this sample will be no one can tell. Also, if a different researcher would undertake the very same study, the results will most likely be different, firstly because people might tell another person different things, but also because interpretations may vary. On top of that, what people say is the truth and what they actually believe to be the truth and what really is the truth, may all be different things. Also may there be some variations in what respondentsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ say they do and what they actually do (Lave et al. 1977 Clement, 1982, cited in Machin, 2002). This arguably may hold especially true when asking questions about a subject, where an implied right answer is given by society. Also must be noticed that attitudes, believes, habits, opinions and interests seem to vary in stability by respondents; one day they answer one thin g, the next day they answer something else (Foddy, 1993). And it has to be acknowledged that all of this will make it very difficult to depict a reliable picture on peopleà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s attitudes. The research design seems to prove to be difficult to categorize, and hopefully it will become clearer during the research process. It will however certainly have some aspects of a comparative design (Bryman and Bell, 2003). Because it aims to identify if people actually do care about business ethics, and thus they will be asked questions about different cases, and their attitudes about them will be compared. b.) Data sources The secondary research will mainly rely on books, articles, online references and databases such as Ebscohost.com. This research should outline and show the differing views and theories on the subject matter. The secondary research will define the initial stage of the dissertation, and then help to guide the primary research which hopefully will reveal s ome new issues. These new insights then again will be investigated and tried to make sense of by going back to some further secondary research, again from the above mentioned sources. c.) Data collection methods Malhotra and Birks (2000) outline two distinct types of market researches; the problem identification research and the problem solving research. This dissertation will more be an investigatory research, and thus seems more in the lines of an identification research. Therefore what seems to be crucial is to gain insights from people. Which people to interview does not seem to matter, as most adults, and even adolescents seem to matter for this topic of research. Therefore a wide range, from all age groups, races, employment backgrounds and sex shall be taken. There are two ways this information gathering process will take place; one is by structured face-to-face interviews, and the other is through self-completion questionnaires. Campbell (cited in Bulmer, 2004) a rgues that open interviews would be a good tool to assist in the study of public attitudes on unfamiliar social and political issues. Therefore it is argued that this therefore is a good tool to be used for this research. The structured face-to-face interviews will be used to identify important issues, which will then be focused on, in the questionnaire. Questionnaires on the other hand are usually intended to gain quantitative data (Birn, 2000), however it will be tried to collect also some qualitative data as well. Therefore, the construction of this questionnaire will be very important. Questionnaire design There are numerous issues that would need to be taken into consideration when designing a questionnaire. Following is an outline of the main issues that will be taken into consideration when designing the questionnaire: -Wording; small changes in wording can lead to very different responses, and respondents often misinterpret questions (Foddy, 1993). -Design; th e layout and design are most important in order to avoid confusion (Sanchez cited in Bulmer, 2004). -Sequence; answers given to previous questions will affect the answers to next questions, hence outlining the importance of the order of questions (Foddy, 1993). -Sensitivity; careful when formulating sensible questions (Foddy, 1993). -Memory; the human memory has its limitations, thus caution when asking questions requiring a good memory (Foddy, 1993). Naturally all questionnaires will be pre-tested to ensure that only one possible interpretation of the questions is possible (Noelle-Neumann, cited in Bulmer, 2004) d.) Data analysis techniques The data will be analyzed using a template analysis. This means that firstly categories will be drawn out, determined by the trend that can be identified from the collected data. Then the data will be unitized according to the important categories that have been identified. And then the units will be placed into their respectiv e categories (Saunders et al, 2003). 5. Ethical Implications Research ethics is of particular importance when undertaking primary research. Therefore the questions for the structured interview and the questionnaires will be designed in a sensible way in the best attempt not to offend anyone. People will be informed what the research is designed and intended for. Naturally all information will be treated with most confidentiality and the information will not be given to any other source. Also will the research not fabricate nor falsify any data presented in the dissertation. (Spata, 2003) 6. Timetable This following timetable will be based on 5 days a week and an 8hour working day for the first 3months and then the final 2 months of the period of the dissertation. 2 weeks: Reading literature, drawing out the main themes 3 days:Write the Methodology 2 days:Drawing up the questions for the face-to-face interview 2 days:Conducting face-to-face interviews 2 day s:Evaluating face-to-face interview results 2 days:Draw up a questionnaire (based on results from interviews) 4 days:Carry out Questionnaire 4 days:Evaluate Questionnaire 4 days:Write the findings 4 days:Write the first chapter 4 days:Write the second chapter 4 days:Write the third chapter 4 days:Write the fourth chapter 4 days: Write interpretations of findings 3 days:Write the conclusion 2 days:Sort out the Appendixes personal reflection and Abstract 2 days :à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Security daysà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  The plan for the two moths after the feedback will need to be established after it can be determined how much change has to be done to the dissertation. 7a.) References Birn J. R. (1990, 2000) The Handbook of International Market Research Techniques (2nd edn.), Ebbw Vale; MRS (the market research society) Boatright J.R, (1993) Ethics and the Conduct of Business, Englewood Cliffs; Prentice Hall Bryman A. and Bell E. (2003) business research methods, Oxford: Oxford University Press Bulmer M. (2004) Questionnaires Volume I, London; Sage Publications Bulmer M. (2004) Questionnaires Volume II, London; Sage Publications Crane A. and Matten D. (2004) business ethics, A European Perspective, Oxford: Oxford University Press Foddy W. (1993) Constructing questions for interviews and questionnaires, theory and practice in social research, Cambridge; Cambridge University Press Frank R. H, (2004) What Price the Moral High Ground? Ethical Dilemmas in Competitive Environments, Princeton; Princeton University Press Heath E. (2002) Morality the Market, Ethics Virtue in the Conduct of Business, New York; McGraw Hill Hendry J. (2004) Between Enterprise and Ethics, Business and Management in a Bimoral Society, Oxford; Oxford University Press Hinman L.M, (2003) Ethics, A Pluralistic Approach to Moral Theory (3rd edn.), Toronto; Thomson * Wadsworth Hoffman E. (1996) The Unpublished Papers of Abraham Mas low, Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications Machin D. (2002) Ethnographic Research for Media Studies, London; Arnold Malhotra N. K. and Birks D. F. (2000) Marketing Research, An Applied Approach (European Edition) Edinburgh: Pearson Education, Financial Times Prentice Hall McEwan T, (2001) Managing Values and Beliefs in Organisations, Edinburgh; Financial Times Prentice Hall McIntosh M, Leipzinger D, Jones K. and Coleman G, (1998) Corporate Citizenship, Successful strategies for responsible companies, London: Financial Times Pitman Publishing. Saunders M., Lewis P. and Thornhill A. (1997:2003) Research methods for Business Students (3rd edn.) Essex; FT Prentice Hall Spata A. V. (2003) Research Methods, Science and Diversity, USA: John Wile Sons, Inc. Trevino L.K. and Nelson K.A. (1999) Managing Business Ethics, Straight Talk About How To Do It Right (2nd edn), New York; John Wiley Sons, Inc. Westra L. and Werhane P. H. (1998) The Business of Consumption, Environm ental Ethics and the Global Economy, Lanham: Rowman Littlefield Publishers, Inc. 7b.) Bibliography Baker M. J. (2002) Research Methods, Marketing Review Vol.3 Issue 2 p. 167 Balsley H. L. and Clower V. T. (1988) Research for Business Decisions: Business Research Methods (4th edn.), Columbus: Publishing Horizons, Inc. Budd J. W. (Winter 2004) Mind Map as Classroom Exercises, Journal of Economic Education Vol.35, Issue 1, p.35 Burns A. C. and Bush R. F. (1995:1998:2000) Marketing Research (3rd edn.) New Jersey; Prentice Hall Daymon C. and Holloway I. (2002) Qualitative Research Methods in Public Relations and Marketing Communications, London; Routledge Easterby-Smith M., Thorpe R. and Lowe A. (2002) Management Research, An Introduction (2nd edn.) London; Sage Easton G. (1982:1992) Learning from Case Studies, Harlow; FT Prentice Hall Gill J. and Johnson P. (1991:1997) Research methods for managers (2edn.), London; Paul Chapman Publishing Ltd. Hartley R. F . (2005) Business Ethics, Mistakes and Successes, Place Unknown: John Wiley Sons Inc. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "The ethical behaviour of firms: Do ethics work?" essay for you Create order