Ethics, Corruption and Economic Freedom - Assignment Example

Fords vision was based on a product that would be affordable to consumers while Dell’s vision was that personal computers should be built to order and sold directly to customers. The main aim of the two visions was on the consumer being able to get affordable products. Dell went further to ensure that this is done by order. Considering the time when Ford’s company started, information technology was not developed as it is today. Therefore the impact of information technology was to Dell’s company whereby they sold computers over the web by the year 1996 which enhanced their sells (Dos Santos, Brian, Peffers, and Mauer, 10) 2. I tend to disagree with that statement. It is true that all forms of market discipline is built on accurate disclosure but not accurate and complete disclosure. According to me, relevant financial data in a timely manner should be provided. But complete disclosure can bring a problem in a way. The information should not be little that it becomes irrelevant and again it should not be complete disclosure but just enough to serve the purpose. 3. The primary determinants of success or failure in any business are; technical skills management, finances, planning and organizing, economic issues, informal issues, managing conceptual skills, personnel skills, education and training, and human relation. Recommendations to an entrepreneur include: suitable managing technical skills, selecting appropriate personnel with relevant skills, education and paying more attention to personnel training, application of management conceptual skills, good finances, better human relation, recognize the economic situation, and planning and organizing of their business and informal issues (DeLone, 60). 4. The blue graph shows fax machines, newspaper publishers and tube TVs. The three reached its peak and now in the decline stage, this is because they are rarely used currently. The brown graph shows railroads and breathable synthetic fabrics. Although they reached their growth and maturity stage, they still play an important role though they are heading to the decline stage. The green graph shows iPod Nano, plasma TVs, e-commerce, and credit cards. These are the newly developed products that are rising in use and are yet to reach their maturity stage (Foldvary, 523) 5. Taylor’s Scientific Management – aims at breaking down jobs into tasks, scientifically select, train, teach and develop workers and divide work and responsibilities appropriately. Theory X and Theory Y (McGregor) - The average person dislikes work and will avoid it if possible, people must be controlled, directed or threatened with punishment, the average person prefers to be directed, avoids responsibility, is unambitious and wants security, work is as natural as play or rest, workers can be motivated using positive incentives, the average person seeks out responsibility. Equity Theory - Employees evaluate their outcomes in relation to their inputs and compare to their past experience in a different position or different organization or another employee’s experience. If an inequity exists, employee chooses to either change self, distort perceptions, look at situation differently, or leave. Goal-Setting Theory - An individual’s attention to work toward a goal is a primary source of motivation and Incentives matter. Hawthorne Studies - Employees perform better when singled out for attention Maslow’s Hierarchy - Self-actualization, esteem, social, safety and physiological needs of individuals determine their behavior and work. Herzberg’s Factors – Motivating factors (job satisfiers): achievement, recognition, work, responsibility, advancement and growth. Hygiene factors (job dissatisfiers): company policy, supervision, working conditions, interpersonal relations, salary and benefits, job security Expectancy Theory - Determine rewards valued by each employee, determine desired performance level, link rewards to performance, determine what factors might counteract the effectiveness of an award and make sure the reward is adequate for the level of performance The theories have some similarities and differences. The similarities show that workers should be satisfied with their work for them to deliver; this is according to Herzberg, Expectancy, Hawthorne, Equity and McGregor’s theory X. All these theories point out those employees should be motivated and be satisfied with their work for them to deliver. McGregor theory X say that some force should be used to push workers to work. Equity, Hawthorne and Herzberg suggest that do not feel secure and there is a need to make them feel comfortable at their work. These theories summarize the motivational and management skills that should be applied in organizations. It is important to have a servant leadership in any organization since this will encourage the workers. Such servant leadership will lead to workers having job morale leading to increased work output. When the workers are satisfied, they will work very hard and this will lead to a higher work output. These will be brought about by a servant leader (Hofstede, 45). 6. The U.S. economy seems to have been more stable 30-40 years ago than it is today. The reasons why the economy has not grown during the years are; The tax rate have been declining during the years leading to low revenues to the government. This was enhanced by the Bush government that reduced the tax rates. Rise in debt could be halted over the next decade by letting bush tax cuts expire; Tax expenditures are substantial; Wider gap between the rich and the poor; Low wages to workers; Top 1 percents share of total after-tax income has more than doubled over the past thirty years; Most of the budget goes toward defense, social security, and major health programs. Most of these did not happen in the seventies and at that time the economy was growing steadily. The wealth of 20% Americans have gone high while the income of 80% Americans have declined since the seventies. This is a major downfall reflected on how stable the economy is. 7. (a) To the business owners, offshore outsourcing is an important aspect in their business since it creates an opportunity for them to expand their business to other countries. It also creates a competition in the business world. (b) To the share holders it is equally important since an expanded business means that they will get more revenue from their shares in the businesses. (c) To the workers, it is a creation of more working opportunities for them hence more productivity and increased income. (d) To the consumers, it will be possible for them to receive a variety of services from other parts of the world that could have been hard for them to get. (e) Politicians, since they are the ones making governmental decisions concerning offshore outsourcing of a country. It will be a challenge for them to either approve or disapprove this depending on their view or it. They may oppose or support it depending on their political class but the fact is they have a great contribution on this issue. (f) To economists, offshore outsourcing is an expansion of economic territory and it will create more room for them to do their work. (g) On this issue of outsourcing, it is the way to go in this information technology world. It makes business easy between US and other countries. Also services that the US do not have can be received so easily with lower costs. Therefore I fully support the issue (Doh, J, 701-745). 8. From December 2007 to June 2009. This was the time established by the National Bureau of Economic Research. During this time, unemployment rate was so high; Layoff also went high while consumer spending went down; Productivity and employment costs also dropped during this period. President Obama announced the end of the recession in the year 2010. Currently the recession is over but the nation is still facing the effects of the recession of economic recovery. The present period is recovery which is has become the longest recovery period ever in the history of recession in US. ‘Obviously, for the millions of people who are still out of work, people who have seen their home values decline, people who are struggling to pay the bills day to day, the recession is still very real for them.’ Was president Osama’s message when he announced the end of recession period. This shows that the effects will be felt for some time making the 2009 recession the worst ever (Rink, David, and Swan, 220). 9. The simplest way of raising living standards is to make the people get access to sources of income and by lowering the cost of living. This is done by creating jobs, either in the public or private sector and self employment. Lowering the cost of living also has a great effect on the living standards. The prices of basic needs can be lowered so that people can afford them and by these their living standards are raised. The business in free market can help raise the living standard by creating jobs. From the business owners to the people employed in the business. Having policies that are aimed at lowering the cost of basic needs also help in raising living standards of the people. These can be achieved though free market economy. 10. The central bank in any country controls the amount of money in the nation’s economy hence the economic status of the nation. The question of the central bank being either independent from government or not depends on what effects government brings to the functioning of the central bank and whether these effects are helpful or not. It is important that the government determines policies affecting the economic status of a country with other countries. There has been a problem with political authorities of the government. Management of the central bank is based on political class, and the desire of political being re-elected, therefore they will make policies and decisions based on personal gains. According to me, the central bank should be independent of the government. Many nations and the European Union and some countries have approved and are currently heading to this independence (Hall, 23). 11. The main driving forces of economic globalization are international trade and foreign direct investment. The limitations to economic globalization include the growing gap between the richest and poorest people. The results of this disparity are root causes of most of the world’s unresolved problems, including starvation, illiteracy, environmental degradation, violent conflict, and unnecessary illnesses. As much as good practices, good policies and good luck contribute greatly to economic globalization, good policies are still the best driver of economic globalization. When good policies are laid down, it will enhance the growth of globalization in a more organized way and for a longer period of time with a defined focus rather than just depending on luck. Good practices are equally important but some parties may not practice it. Therefore good policies remain the best of all (Li and Rafael, 21). 12. Naive forecasting – is a forecasting technique that the forecast for any period equals the previous periods actual value without any adjustment. Unlike the other methods, it just gives the previous period and that is what is applied in the current period. Moving average forecasting – is a type of observation that uses equally spaced data in time for several consecutive periods used to analyze a set of data points by creating a series of averages of different subsets of the full data. This forecasting type samples an entire period and gives the averages. Exponential smoothing forecasting –is a technique that can be applied to produce smoothed data for presentation, or to make forecasts. This technique also covers an entire period but is concerned with smoothening the curve. Linear regression – Linear prediction is a mathematical operation where future values of a discrete-time signal are estimated as a linear function of previous samples. This technique assumes the incremental with time linearly. Seasonal time series regression –Seasonal variation is a component of a time series which is defined as the repetitive and predictable movement around the trend line in one year or less. This technique applies at specific periods of time where the same is expected during the next period as a trend. References Dos Santos, Brian L., Ken Peffers, and David C. Mauer. “The impact of information technology investment announcements on the market value of the firm." Information Systems Research 4.1 (1993): 1-23. Ratnasingam, Pauline. 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The Academy of Management Executive 7.1 (1993): 81-94. Doh, Jonathan P. "Offshore outsourcing: implications for international business and strategic management theory and practice." Journal of Management Studies 42.3 (2005): 695-704. Foldvary, Fred E. "The Business Cycle." American Journal of Economics and Sociology 56.4 (1997): 521-524. Eiras, Ana I. Ethics, Corruption and Economic Freedom. Vol. 9. Washington, DC: Heritage Foundation, 2003. Hall, Peter A. "Central bank independence and coordinated wage bargaining: Their interaction in Germany and Europe." German Politics and Society 31 (1994): 1-23. Li, Quan, and Rafael Reuveny. "Economic globalization and democracy: An empirical analysis." British Journal of Political Science 33.1 (2003): 29-54. Read More