Business Planing and Ethics - Book Report/Review Example

XXXX XXXX XXXX Question Discuss your philosophy surrounding the topics Ethics. Answer To answer to this question, I will address the following issues; general concept of Ethics, instinct as a driving force, my own understanding of Ethics. Ethics is a philosophical concept that controls human being activities in the society. Society establishes certain norms based on religious belief, social values, morals and custom of its habitant. They then become the foundation of the concept Ethics. The concept Ethics came to modern civilization from the Greek word “ethos”. The word “ethos” was used to define a common residence. Then it was used to denote the nature of phenomena like moral, customs and nature. It was Aristotle, the Greek philosopher, who lived during 384 – 322 B.C., derived the word “ethical” from “ethos”. Aristotle introduced the word "ethical", to define a class of human qualities, which he named the ethical virtues. To represent the system of ethical virtues as significant areas of knowledge and to highlight this knowledge as an independent science, Aristotle introduced the term "ethics". The further evolution of this concept gave birth to a new concept in philosophy, by the name morality. Morality is a measure of the extent to which a person is responsible for his actions. Ethical interpretations of morality define guilt and responsibility of an individual. Human beings are born with the instinct. Instinct is the driving force of progress of society. At the same time, instinct can act as a destructive force for the human society. Starting from Biblical incident about Abel and Cain, clash between instinct and wisdom never stopped and will never stop. Wisdom is a function of ethic and morality. Wisdom is the tool to control evil instincts. Greed is an evil instinct. Greed can be expressed in various ways. Ambition of making money at any cost is the result of greed. In materialistic society, everyone wants to make money. Money is medium for human existence. How do we make money? Set up another ponzi scheme? Use means to inflate and deflate stock market? We have seen the outcome of such greed. How to control greed? The answer is wisdom based on ethics and morality. Pleasure is another human instinct. Pleasure is the satisfaction of needs and interest of a person. How to determine “needs” and “satisfaction” of a person? How to determine an appropriate method or means for pleasure? Again it is wisdom, based on ethics. Ethics along with morality is the determining factor to help the society to win over evil instinct. Though, the meaning of ethics is hard to define, my belief is wisdom and consciousnesses are two fundamental values of ethics. Wisdom and consciousness can balance emotion and passion. Emotion and passion are driving forces of human behavior. It helps individuals tirelessly strive to wealth, fame, and power. Though, it is not wrong to dream about wealth, fame and power, but it is essential to understand which road is right for these achievements. Achievements should be for the benefit of the society, and not only for the benefit of an individual. Society is our bigger family. This understanding has a positive value, which gives the possibility to improve social, political, economic, professional, cultural status of individual member of the society. Ethics should drive us to do something that will be useful to the society. Only wisdom can help one to do good for society. If society gains, an individual also gains. Society is an aggregate of individuals. Conscience is a distinct moral-psychological mechanism, which operates from within our own souls, meticulously checking whether or not we are doing right for the society. The main function of conscience is self-control. Conscience reminds the person of his moral obligations, of the responsibility which he incurs in front of others and to himself. Quiet but insistent voice of conscience is a powerful instrument of morality. The above analyses disclose that Ethics is the science about the correct attitude of man to the GOD, to other people, and to one’s own life path. This is my belief, values, attitudes and expectations from own self. Question 2: Explain the differences between a strategic plan and business plan. What is the approach you would like to take in each type of planning process? Answer 2: Keywords: resources, market, type of business, purpose of business, business and strategic plans According to the famous American economist Paul Samuelson, dormant desire of an individual is to start own business. Unfortunately, desire is not enough. A roadmap becomes essential to fulfill the desire. Combination of desire and a roadmap may fulfill the dream of an entrepreneur. This so-called roadmap is the business plan. The business plan is a working tool. It describes the companys operation process to increase profitability. It identifies areas of activity of the company. It targets markets and determines the place of the company in these markets. A business plan format may be different, but the principal elements of a business plan are resources and market. A company, using resources, provides commodity or service to the market. The goal is to make a profit. A business plan determines how to use financial, human and intellectual resources. Effective application of resources is the key to the success of a business. There are mainly three different types of business; a startup business, an existing business, a growing business. A business plan must correspond to the types of business. A business plan for a startup business emphasizes on idea. It should reflect on how to turn the idea into capital. It should identify the strength and weakness of the idea. The purpose of this business plan is to secure financing. A business plan for an existing business emphasizes on managing. It should focus on comparing planned vs. actual performance. A clear understanding of this comparison will provide with the tool for company management. A business plan of a growing business emphasizes on expansion. The principal thrust of business plan for an expanding business is to raise capital and develop a new strategy to manage growth. The subject matter of business plan should correspond to needs or purposes of the business. Different purposes will determine the content of the business plan; 1. A complete business plan describes business idea to a potential partner or investor about marketing research results, justification of strategy of development of the market, the estimated financial results. 2. A conceptual business plan describes business idea as the basis for the negotiation with a potential investor or partner to determine the extent of their interest or possible involvement in the project. 3. A company business plan describes prospects of companys development for the forthcoming planning period to the Board of Directors or the shareholders outlining budget and economic indicators to justify investment of resources. 4. A presentation type business plan describes the development of business to the company senior management for the justification of use of centrally allocated resources or request for an increase of resources. 5. A general business plan to obtain commercial loans from the lender Strategic plan is about how to implement the business plan. It is a functional instrument of the company management. It describes the selection of organizations goals and how to achieve them. Strategic planning provides the basis for all management decisions. It provides a framework for the management of members of the organization. Strategic planning gives an opportunity to the shareholders, and management to determine the direction and pace of business development. It outlines the global market trends. It helps to understand what organizational and structural changes should be applied to become a competitive and successful company and achieve its goals. Strategic planning comes from the word strategy. The word strategy represents a long-term qualitative development of the organization, in all of its spheres, procedure and forms of activities. Strategic plan helps the company to achieve its objectives. Competitive position of the organization and development of strategic management determines policy. The implementation of the strategy is a critical process, as successful implementation helps company to achieve the set goals. Strategy may be implemented through different programs, budgets and procedures. Strategic planning may be for medium-term or short-term. For the successful implementation of strategy, company management must (1) communicate with the employees and make them understand the goals and plans of the company explaining where the company is approaching and engage them in the process, (2) provide resources, and directives at the right time, (3) solve tasks at their own levels and carry out assigned to them functions. Business plan and strategic plan are integral parts of one object. If the business plan is the foundation, then strategic plan is the superstructure. If the foundation is weak, superstructure will collapse. If superstructure is weak, foundation will remain under the ground. There is no benefit of having a strong foundation without a strong superstructure. My approach will be, a goal based business plan and an issue based strategic plan. Question 3: What did you learn from this class? What did you like or not like about this class? How will you apply what you learned from this class? What should be changed/enhanced or preserve / retained? How can we improve? Answers 3: The principal task that educational institutions undertake is to provide the market with specialists for different fields. There are many disciplines where theoretical knowledge is more effective than practical knowledge. This is not the case with business administration courses. One can get plenty of theoretical knowledges, but without some practical training, he or she will be in a difficult position, in the real world. Think about a pilot who has plenty of theoretical knowledge about wind dynamics, material fatigue, jet engines, but he never attended simulation courses. That the pilot will never be able to fly a plane. This course is another simulation class. Pilots learn to fly in simulation classes; I learned real world business interaction in this class. In business administration course, it is essential to provide students with real world business knowledge. Nonetheless, we also need classical concept of running a business. I learned from this class both classical and real world business modeling. I liked seminars and discussions. Seminars are crucial for us. In the seminar, we can real business world information from highly qualified and established individuals of the business world. They provide with information and analysis of the business world’s different activities. It is like dissection class for medical students. I also liked Teamwork and Class discussions. This is where students find practical application of his knowledge. It is beneficial to listen to seminars, but it is essential to imply knowledge of seminars in Teamwork. Seminar is information. Speaker is providing students with information. Practicing some of this information in Teamwork will help. After a seminar is delivered, different Team can write their scenario and demonstrate it to fellow students. This will show how we perceived the message given by the speaker. I think we need to put more importance on Teamwork using seminar material as a scenario. I will apply everything that I learned in this class. Lessons from this class combined with my theoretical knowledge will provide me with the tools, which I will need when I start my job. I am not talking about copying, what I learned. I am talking about implying concepts. Schools are not fortunetellers. They cannot give an exact recipe of real world’s work. Schools give concept. This course gave me those concepts. I will use them in my practical work using my own talent and intelligence. This class gives student practical knowledge. This class is a workshop. In this class, we try to model real world’s business situation and trend. It is better to have as much modeling materials as possible. Instructor should explain the purposes of this or that model. Students need to understand the purpose of these models. It will not be a bad idea to have tests after practicing models. These tests should not be used for grading the student, rather give the instructor answer is students got the message, what instructor intended to do. I enjoyed the class and sure about the rest. Question 3: At the time of retirement what do you want be remembered for doing as a person and professional. Answer 3: Since my childhood, I often dreamed about my future: what will it be? I did not have a clear vision except some random visions like patches of clouds floating over the sky. I had dreams, but dreams without real work do not happen by them. I knew I had to learn, and gain knowledge. I needed a lot of hard work and study. I am now preparing for the profession. Today I have a clear vision to express how do I want to be remembered at the time of retirement. The span of life that we spend from the first day after graduating from a college is confined to two premises. One is office, and the other is home. I probably spend about 40 years of my life inside these premises with different human beings. None of them will be like me, even my own children. I will pay my attention to two things, (1) building a compromising relation with individuals I have to live and work with, (2) finding a compromising time frame for family and job. Man is not born with a set of predetermined qualities that he will use in his professional life. These qualities are a combination obtained from the nature and circumstances of life. Special form of training can contribute certain qualities. In every day of life you create your own personality. This is what I am doing now, and will do in the future. In my work, I consider myself as a future head of the organization. The head of the organization is a person, who is controlling the organization from the inside and outside of it. He uses his authority, right, and entrusted status to build the organization, evaluate, control and manage his own activities and others’ activities. He is the leader. How to become a leader? You cannot designate the leadership using some formula. This is the combination of art, skill, ability, and talent used for conducting a business. Some people have them by nature. Others are studying it, but never attain. In the end, each person finds his own style. What is my style? I want to be dynamic, and charming, and be able to inspire others. I want to be calm, and restrained in my speech and behavior. I want to inspire and give confidence to my subordinates to ensure that work is carried out quickly and qualitatively. I am an optimist. An optimist is always willingly to listen to others, and their ideas, because he is always waiting for the good news. The pessimist listens as little as possible, because expects distressing news. The optimist thinks that people mostly are ready to come to help, have a creative mind, and strive to build. The pessimist thinks that they are lazy, and stubborn. I will love my employees. Being the manager of people, I cannot accomplish anything, if I do not love my employees. What a good leader do to his employees? The best leaders are taking care of their employees. They are interested in what others are doing. A good leader is available and is not hiding behind the door of the Cabinet. The best leaders are humane, and they are aware of their own weaknesses, which make them more tolerant to the weakness of others. A leader must be courageous. He always tries to find a new way. If he will allow someone to conduct an experiment and he fails, he will not lay the blame on him and not lose faith in him. This is the kind of leader I want to be. My family will be an important part of my life. I know it will be difficult to be an ideal person to all members of my family, but I always pay attention to the interests of my own family members. I will always try to find a balance of interests among my family members. I will be a loving husband and father. I will not finger point to the weaknesses of my wife and children, rather help them a finding a solution in their hard time. How do I want be remembered by my employees, when I retire? I want to hear from them – Oh, we will miss him. We will not have that supporting hand and caring heart anymore among us. How do I want to be remembered by my family, when I retire? I want to hear, enjoy your life, as you did all these years. Works cited “All about strategic planning.” Managementhelp.org. n.p. n.d. Web. 28 April 2012. “Aristotle (384-322 B.C.E).” www.ucmp.berkeley.edu. n.p. n.d. Web. 28 April 2012. “Aristotle’s ethics (Stanford Encyclopedia of Phylosophy).” Plato.stangford.edu. n.p. n.d. Web. 28 April 2012 “Business planning.” www.canadabusiness.ca. n.p. n.d. Web. 28 April 2012 “Ethics Resources Center.” www.ethics.org. n.p. n.d. Web. 28 April 2012. “Ethics Resources Center.” www.ethics.org. n.p. n.d. Web. 28 April 2012. “Ethos Definition.” www.merriam-webster.com. n.p. n.d. 28 April 2012 “How to write a business plan.” www.sba.gov. n.p. n.d. Web. 28 April 2012. “What is ethics ?” www.scu.edu. n.p. n.d. Web. 28 April 2012 “What is ethos? A definition for speakers” sixminutes.dlugan.com. n.p. n.d. Web. 28 April 2012 “What is strategic planning?.” www.namac.org. n.p. n.d. Web. 28 April 2012 Read More