Category: Company

Abstract

Today’s rapidly changing world is able to totally restructure the workforce, and employers face severe challenges in workforce management. Diversity management has been a key issue among employers in reaching sustainable growth, employee satisfaction, and retention, talent acquisition. The importance of diversity management can be linked to long-term organizational strategies that will enhance positive corporate reputation and development. However, the term ‘diversity’ can be conceptualized differently and top executives today understand that an organization has to adapt.

The current paper observes and analyzes the Diversity and Inclusion statement of one of the most famous cosmetic brands, L’Oréal, and proposes practical recommendations for improving the diversity statement.

Introduction

The strategy that could enhance the world reputation of the brand L’Oréal.

L’Oréal is undoubtedly one of the best-known cosmetic brands all over the world offering a wide range of products, both inexpensive and luxurious. The beauty brand was founded in 1909 by Eugene Schueller, a young graduate of the chemistry faculty with great joy in entrepreneurship (L’Oréal, 2019), and now has more than 63 million employees around the globe (D’Auzers, 2008). The company spends a big part of its income on Research and Development, which is a ground reason the company can be on the top of the list ahead of world-known cosmetic brands. The company is committed to producing goods for people of ‘all walks’ (L’Oréal 2019) and to achieve it the company aims to create a unique workplace where people of different ethnicity, social background, religion, gender, age, or disability can feel to be treated with respect and valued.

Inclusivity and diversity

The beauty flagman speaks out the promotion of diversity and inclusivity within the company and outside to be the core strategy for several years (L’Oréal, 2018). The diversity and inclusivity campaigns of 2017 could greatly affect the company’s development by increasing sales.

The company names its Diversity and Inclusivity statement as ‘People matter at L’Oréal’, which ideally represents ground strategies and aims. The diversity and Inclusivity statement, which is last updated in 2018, includes five subsections, i.e. Key figures, Strategy, Key examples, Top executive endorsement, and Partners.

The strategy which is called ‘People matter at L’Oréal’ is comprised of three main directions of diversity and inclusivity strategy, promoting more females in executive positions, welcoming people with various backgrounds, and enabling talents with disabilities to show their skills.

The key figures subsection presents that the promotion of women in each level of management has greatly improved in comparison to 2010, the share of female executives has increased by 10 percent, and a more than 20 percent increase in the share of females in global brand management positions (L’Oréal, 2019). Additionally, the gender pay gap has decreased dramatically over the past several years from a 10 to 2 percent gap. Moreover, payable parental leave in France for females comprises 20 weeks and 6 weeks for other partners.

On the diversity statement landing page, a visitor is encouraged to watch a short video explaining how they perceive diversity. This video, along with the videos, where top managers at L’Oréal share their views on diversity and inclusion, is informative and impressive. Top executives discuss what diversity represents in itself and its importance, and the implications of a diverse working team. At L’Oréal, it is important to take into account the uniqueness of representatives of each race, ethnicity, nationality, and culture. It is highlighted that a growing number of diversified groups of their consumers entails understanding the needs of those customers, and thus not only the diverse workplace a social responsibility but also important a key to business success.

On a separate Key examples page, a number of projects and initiatives implemented by the company are presented. Initiatives related to fostering mental health among women and support for minority groups, etc. These can be perceived as proof of the viability of the company’s diversity statement.

From the Diversity and Inclusivity report of L’Oréal, it is visible that the company pays high attention to previous lessons taken from its experience and shows the strong commitment of top executives to achieving a high level of diversity within the company.

Nature and purpose of diversity statements

As more and more business organizations come to understand that diversity, equity, and inclusion can significantly affect their long-term profits, they are promoting diversity in the workplace and trying to make the public know that they are committed to it. The purpose of a diversity statement is to consider the feelings of a company’s stakeholders. One of the core theories in diversity value in diversity or ‘optimistic’ (Triana, 2010) represents ways how diversity in a team can offer a wide range of options in making decisions and how sometimes values may replace negative effect disadvantages of homogenous teams. The Diversity and Inclusivity Statement of L’Oreal also represents the company’s strategy of including creativity, problem-solving, resource- acquisition, and marketing arguments. L’Oréal is selling its products all over the world, for women and men, young and old, with totally diverse audiences. The beauty brand’s most successful strategy was to engage a diverse team of personnel to better understand the needs and demands of its customers.

To be specific, there are more other reasons why diversity can create a competitive edge for L’Oréal. A diverse employee base can guarantee better customer service, composing a workforce that mirrors its diverse customer base can be fundamental in acquiring more market share. In comparison to homogeneous teams, a team consisting of diverse members can have the advantage of a broad range of information, fresh perspectives, and various approaches to solving problems. The wider expanse of experience and knowledge can improve critical analysis of an issue or a project, by applying different scenarios and introducing different points of view.

The statement of diversity and inclusion is important in many ways. It is a way to show that the company both cares for the customers and the employees it hires, and it strives to maintain social justice and give equal opportunities to everyone, who wants to work for it. It creates a company image and any incident involving non-compliance with its statement can become a dark spot on its reputation.

The diversity and inclusion statement is not legally binding; diversity in the workplace is the strategy a business chooses to implement. However, there has to be a question of whether diversity statements reveal legitimizing characteristics. It has to be asserted that diversity and inclusion policy becomes legitimate when there is evidence of compliance with the objectives set. In this case, the company has to create a favorable working environment for its diverse employee body, and there has to be zero tolerance for discrimination cases.

Critically analysis of the organization’s diversity statement

The long-term success of multinationals is achieved by embracing diversity and inclusivity

On the website, apart from the diversity and inclusion statement, L’Oréal publishes figures in support of its words. One of the important criteria for assessing the company’s compliance with the inclusion policy is its transparency. Making data publicly available can show how much the company is committed to the fulfillment of its diversity objectives. According to numbers over the period, 2010-2018 greater percentage of women were promoted to top managing positions with higher indicators of career development, whereby the gender pay gap has decreased by five times, also more favorable conditions were created for parental leave, and people with disabilities. In addition, the company’s employee body is very diverse comprising over 158 nationalities.

As its objective to promote diversity and inclusiveness company highlights three strategies:

• Promoting more women to top managing positions
• Engaging people from every social, economic, and multicultural origin
• Recruiting people with different physical and mental disabilities

It can be stated that the main goals and aims of L’Oréal’s diversity and inclusivity statement as the followings:

• To represent a wide range of its stakeholders within the company’s internal staff, sales teams, recruitment, and overall corporate workflow
• To hardly penetrate sexual equity within the team by promoting more women in executive positions and enhancing policies regarding gender equality.
• To show up the company as a unique and innovative company recruiting and supporting personnel with disabilities.
• To develop and revive a truly diverse community at L’Oréal.

Generally, the company’s Diversity and Inclusivity statement clearly set what they strive for in order to diversify their team of employees, how they are doing it currently, and what initiatives are yet to come.

Diversity in people with disabilities

Employing people with disabilities matters in L’Oreal. The diversity statement successfully covers it and backs up with a number of initiatives. This can also be seen in figures. In 2017, L’Oréal employed 1177 people with disabilities. One of the initiatives endorsed by the senior management order to reveal the disability inclusion biannual Disability Initiative Trophies launched in 2008. The event hosts the company’s subsidiaries from 60 countries to share success stories about disability inclusion projects.

Additionally, the importance of Disability Initiatives Trophies can be seen in that it strengthens the connection between the L’Oréal headquarters – where the International Diversity Team resides – and the company’s subsidiaries. Frequent exchange of information between different subsidiaries and headquarters in order to facilitate the initiative contributes to the connection of geographically dispersed companies. This unique link is of great importance to L’Oréal to ensure and further promote diversity and inclusion strategy worldwide. In summary, L’Oréal can enhance its disability agenda by encouraging its subsidiaries to collaborate in resolving an issue that is concerned to be correlated with business success by senior management.

It can be seen that L’Oreal is aimed to promote its intention to hire employees with disabilities and a number of initiatives have been proposed, including a broad range of social activities and internal practices (Heming, 2018). The company both hosts and participates in various forums and conferences concerning disability and diversity. In 2009 an exclusive training program for young talent with disabilities was established. It creates an opportunity for 12 people with a disability to work with specialists for six months to develop knowledge and skills (Heming, 2018).

Gender equality.

In 2018, L’Oreal was found to be the top gender-balanced company in Europe by Equileap (L’Oréal, 2018). This fact has to be highlighted in order to show that gender discrimination is by no means applicable to company policy. We have already mentioned that gender equality is one of the main strategies and aims of the L’Oréal over last several years and being at the top of the best companies in ensuring sexual equality shows the strengths and well implementation of the Diversity and Inclusion statement of the company.

Cases of discrimination.

Although diversity and inclusion statements do not have a legally binding effect, there has to be an underplaying obligation to comply with what they assert is important for them. Some deeper research on the company’s diversity policy revealed that there have been several cases related to racial and ethnic discrimination (Bennet, 2018; Samuel, 2009; Chrisafis, 2007). L’Oréal which asserts gender equality in all terms has been involved in the racial discrimination lawsuit of one of its top woman managers. As Amanda Johnson (Bennet, 2018) sues her former employer she alleges inappropriate treatment from her colleagues and her subsequent unjustified firing. Another case of racial discrimination involved barring black, Arab, and Asian women from its advertisements (Samuel,2009). According to the court ruling company’s actions were inappropriate and found guilty of discrimination against race and fined.

This type of issue can put the company’s commitment and inclusivity statement into question. However, despite the issues related to discrimination in the working place, there is significant evidence that the company is committed to its values and constantly takes action to promote diversity. Not only this is seen in numbers but also the acknowledgment of their endeavors in this relation by various awards it gets year to year.

What can be recommended

Diversity and inclusion statements should serve a purpose. For it to be an effective statement it has to have these elements: value, plausibility, and accountability. The terms ‘diversity’ and ‘inclusion’ seem to be used interchangeably. The former focuses on combining experiences and knowledge of people from different backgrounds, while the latter is defined as enabling them to work in an environment, where they can perform at their best and differences among people with various characteristics would work for their company’s benefit.

As much as the company asserts diversity in its workplace and that inclusion is a priority management policy, it should follow its objectives to achieve them. The dangers of empty discourse, and inconsistency between words and reality, have to be avoided when designing a diversity statement. It is desired that diversity statements be not generally descriptive but support the desired values. In this sense, it is recommended that more training and diversity awareness initiatives be organized for the staff.

In a dynamic, technology-driven world, with company stakeholders from diverse cultures in order to be innovative, a company has to develop new perspectives into diversity. There are examples of companies hiring felons, the example of AT&T or American Express; hiring women who have taken career breaks for different reasons by PayPal or Goldman Sachs, etc. It is suggested that L’Oreal be innovative and come up with new methods of introducing diversity within its organization.

Another way to improve diversity can be providing training in the language necessary for working for a company, as the company has subsidiaries in over 60 countries. This allows recruiting from a wider base of candidates. Language barriers should not be a reason for not considering a qualified candidate.

Companies that embrace diversity as one of their mission statements need to ensure that practices and policies are in place to stay compliant with state regulations. It has to be highlighted that an organization takes care of the impact of policies/practices on different groups of employees. One suggestion for L’Oreal is to establish a system of giving feedback with surveys and suggestion boxes in order to understand how the workers feel about those policies. This will enable them to further enhance existing practices. Both positive and negative feedback should be viewed as valuable. Any policy that is observed to be an obstruction or not helpful for an employee should be changed and adapted accordingly.

Moreover, putting written policies can be not enough; it has to be ensured that the non-written rules of the company are explained to all workers.

Conclusion

While it’s clear that diversity can be very beneficial to an organization, it’s essential that managers, as well as the employees in the organization, understand how to manage it for both their own benefit as well as that of the organization. The more an organization shows a clear commitment to supporting diversity and endorses the idea that diversity is an opportunity and not a problem (Triana, 2010), the less likely it is to have problems resulting from perceived discrimination at work. Clearly, L’Oreal has done immense work to contribute to the creation of diverse workplaces from top to bottom, taking into consideration factors like gender, disability, cultural/racial differences, etc.

Your hotel is not the first lodging house to find themselves at the center of a public relations disaster. As you know, news goes viral faster than the speed of light and in order to bounce back your public relations team must have a solid crisis management plan. This plan requires more than an apologetic press release or a CEO’s dishonest circuit of appearances on primetime television. Crisis Management must respond to disasters promptly and decisively, using an array of platforms to communicate with the public. Most importantly, companies that make mistakes must accept responsibility for their actions instead of playing the blame game and distancing themselves from those mistakes. My proposal would be for the head of the department to confront the issue head on in a press conference emphasizing that the hotel doesn’t discriminate against those with physical limitations. “Often, proactive crisis management can defuse or minimize the damage in advance by planning out both action and communication strategies” (Broom and 308). As mentioned above it’s important to seem sincere and not rehearsed. The goal is to regain the trust of the public, dismiss confusion and the perception of incompetence. Stay away from wording that promotes the attitude of insensitivity and retaliation. Remember not to place blame and own up to your part in this fiasco. Placing blame promotes confrontation and could place the company in a back and forth debate that leads to litigation.

Although you had several options on how to respond to the hotel fiasco, your first option was the best for this situation. Immediately issuing a video news release in which the CEO persuasively outlines how this was an isolated incident and does not reflect hotel-chain policy is not a bad idea, however it does get into playing the blame game between employee and employer. The option of placing blame on the offending manager and announcing that he has been removed from his position absolutely places blame on the other person. A position we should avoid due to the possibility of that blamed employee suing the company. In that case both parties lose. Reviewing the booking policies and procedures for both the chain and for each hotel to see if there is a real policy issue with such bookings could come off wrong for several reasons.

This could take some time to review if management is not familiar with the policy. While we know that this step is going the extra mile to quote the policy word for word, to the public it may look like buying time to come up with a story. It may also give the impression of hesitation and not being honest. Again, the overall goal is to gain the trust of the public. Developing and placing media feature stories about hotel employees who have family members participating in the Special Olympics is also not a bad idea but has nothing to do with the hotel. If the hotel hosts this event and allows the families to stay there during the competition, that would be great PR for the chain and shows transparency towards other groups of people and their differences. In short, we all make mistakes. The way a company responds to a crisis determines the longevity of that company’s future. There’s not one method that will fix all problems that come about however, the take away here is to be prepared not if, but when your crisis hits. Your company’s reputation is a fragile thing that takes years to build and seconds to destroy. Despite how may likes your company has on social media and no matter how trusted your brand is right now, no company is immune from a public relations crisis forever.

In today’s era, an individual can stay 3 hours without water or food. But the Internet? Can you stay without the Internet even for 30 minutes? No! Even though the Internet is a young technology, it has become a necessity these days. Every working individual today needs the Internet to get their work done. The Internet lets you transfer any kind of information around the globe in no time. But how the Internet really works? In this essay I’m going to answer for all the confusions and myths, regarding the Internet.

Ninety-nine percent of the Internet in this world is powered by fiber optic cables. Basically, the Internet reaches the device, in the absence of cables, using the 3-Tier System.

Tier 1 Companies

Initially the optical fibers are used to connect the countries. This is done by putting the optical fiber in the oceans and seas all around the world. These optical cables which are also known as the submarine cables are spread throughout the world inside the oceans and are then bifurcated state-wise. The optical fiber cable or the submarine cable is a cable laid on the sea-bed between land-based stations to carry telecommunication signals across stretches of ocean and sea. These cables are laid into the sea bed with the help of special cable layer ships. Today almost 99% of the data traffic carried by these cables are carried out under the sea. The optical fiber has hair line size wires each of which contains about 100 Gbps speed. These cables have a carrying capacity in terabits per second. The reason satellites are not chosen over optical fiber cables is that the satellite can carry only 1000 megabits per second with higher latency. Hence even though the submarine cables cost several hundred million dollars to construct, it is preferred over satellite connections.

The company that installs these cables into the water are known as the Tier 1 company. For example, Tata Communication is one such company that has installed optical fiber cables in the ocean. Reliance Jio has installed submarine cables between Asia, Africa and Europe.

Tier 2 and Tier 3 Companies

The Tier 2 companies take the Internet connection from Tier 1 companies in Gbps giving some amount and then these connections reach till our homes by the Internet service providers which are known as the Tier 3 companies which pays a bigger amount to the Tier 2 companies. Hence, the Internet is free, but the charges are taken because the installation and maintenance process costs a huge amount of money.

Taking the process further, the Tier 2 companies further install various towers in the country at specific distances to take the connection from oceans to every state of the country. For example, a company has installed one such tower with 100GBps bandwidth in your area. So, everyone in your area is using this connection to use the Internet and hence the bandwidth gets divided. So, if we consider 20Mbps speed, 5 people can use the 100Gbps bandwidth.

Speed Variations in the Internet

Considering the speed of the Internet, the speed is divided area wise as described before. But the second that should be taken into consideration is the server. For example, you are accessing amazon.com in India. Now they have a server installed in Bangalore which lets you access the website directly from India without any kind of data passage from the submarine cable even though its main server is in the US. Similarly, big companies like Google Flipkart, etc. have their servers installed in several countries for faster access of their websites. Now if you are accessing a website using a proxy server, then it might take longer for the website to load as the data is passed from your country to its server’s company and is then transferred back to your device.

Data Security

A server in your country keeps your data safe. India has a neutral Internet access point called NIXI (National Internet Access of India) where the server is manufactured and installed in India itself. In this way, the personal information of Indians like Aadhar card data is stored in India without any data being transmitted through submarine cables to other countries. Such companies are formed through the cooperation of Tier 2 and Tier 3 companies.

Breakage of Cables

There is a possibility that the cables installed in the sea might get broken due to natural events or the fishing trawlers. Hence store stations are located to detect break in the cables by electrical measurements like SSTDR. It can detect a fault in about 20ms. Once a cable damage is located, a cable repair ship is sent to the location. Next the submersible is sent to the location inside the sea and hence the cable is fixed.

Conclusion

Concluding the Internet working, first the optical fibers are installed into the sea beds by the Tier 1 companies which are then distributed into states and your doorstep by tier 2 and tier 3 companies respectively.

Ethical Dilemmas usually occur happen in this when two parties don’t agree with that association culture. Every organization has its own ethical culture according to their requirements and standards but they are few rules that are created by the government which should be followed by every business company. This dilemma had created work clashes in a business affiliation and business operations of that affiliation couldn’t function properly. The association had presented this ethical culture concept for the sake of their employees and reduce work clashes. It would help the affiliation employee to understand the right decision in business decisions in that affiliation. The affiliation employee shall know their working association ethical culture to reduce that ethical dilemma.

When affiliation employees don’t know that company rules then the employee would face problems in their workplace. More than 80 percent of a business association in this technology world had adopted this ethical culture to reduce that ethical dilemma. The remaining 20% of business companies are going to accept that culture in their business process. The business affiliation which doesn’t follow this ethical culture then that affiliation had to face legal clashes and ethical dilemmas chances in that affiliation would be more. Ethical dilemmas occur in a business affiliation when affiliation doesn’t follow that affiliation ethical culture which would create work clashes in that affiliations.

The business affiliation must be strict about their culture because when affiliation employee doesn’t follow their culture then they would create clashes that affect the reputation of that business organization. This work clashes would affect the affiliation development process and the strategy that affiliation had created would not work properly as that affiliation thought. This culture that had created by business affiliation would help the affiliation employees who work in the association to take decisions correctly which would increase affiliation stocks. The affiliation shall train its selected candidates about their culture before making its employees work in that company. It would diminish to solve the work clashes in a business association. Clashes in business affiliation would create trust issues between those business affiliation employees and which directly affected that association business.

The reputation of the business association in this business field is everything to the company as the stakeholder would be interested in that company which would have a good reputation in this stock market. When affiliation employee has good knowledge about their ethnic culture then they could decide within seconds which would right decision. It would help the business association to improve business productivity in this business market. The company assigned its work based on employee talent and ability. The disadvantages of this concept are it will make it difficult for the company to adjust to another organization because of every company’s different ethical concepts. When a business affiliation employee follows the rules and regulations of the company and completes their work following the rules then the whole company would be benefited. Dilemmas would create business affiliation losses in that association business process in this business world. Affiliation shall think methods to reduce this work clash.

It is said that one of the best ways to learn something is to study and watch the people who are very successful at this task. So, if one was wanting to get better at business and the strategies behind it, a great way to learn would be by studying and learning about some of the greatest businessmen in the world. One of the most talked-about businessmen in the world currently is Elon Musk. Elon Musk is a very hardworking, intelligent man who owns multiple multimillion-dollar companies and is very wealthy himself. By studying him and the way he thinks, people can learn some of the tactics and strategies he uses to make money and run his businesses and apply them to their own lives to improve their own wealth and business knowledge.

Elon’s childhood was far from normal. He was born in Pretoria, South Africa on June 28, 1971, to Errol and Maye Musk (Blystone, 2019). Elon was very different compared to other kids. He always kept to himself, ignored just about everyone, and would constantly zone out. This problem was so bad that doctors originally believed he had hearing problems as a small child (Vance,2018). Musk had a very strong ambition, even as a child. He read at least one book every day in an attempt to expand his knowledge (Adkin, 2019). He got his first computer at the age of nine. At the age of twelve, he first started working with programming, which he taught himself when he made his own video game and sold it for five hundred dollars. The game was called Blastar (Blystone, 2019). Then, at the age of seventeen, Musk decided to move to America by himself. He first moved in with some relatives in Canada and worked at low-end jobs. He also attended Queens University in Kingston Ontario for two years before moving to the United States in 1992 after receiving a scholarship from the University of Pennsylvania. Here, he would obtain a Bachelor of Science degree in physics. To further his education, Musk also attended The Wharton School for the University of Pennsylvania for another year to acquire a bachelor’s degree in science (AstrumPeople, 2019).

Elon owns or is part of multiple companies and has lots of things going his way at the moment. He is currently forty-eight years old and has a net worth of about twenty-two billion dollars (AstrumPeople, 2019). Elon owns multiple companies that range from dealing with spaceships to making flamethrowers, but his first-ever official business was a company called Zip2 that he started up with his brother. This company created a platform on the internet that could offer its customers some additional services. In 1999, Musk would sell the company to AltaVista for three hundred and seven million dollars (Adkin, 2019). With this money, Elon could now focus on some of his bigger and better ideas, thanks to the ability for him to be able to fund them now. Musk’s second company was called X.com until it merged with another company named Confinity to become the more well-known company today: PayPal. This company would become the first to ever create a digital currency. Musk would once again sell this company to eBay for one and a half billion dollars, which he would end up splitting up with other owners of the company (Adkin, 2019). Elon’s next business is arguably his most famous business to date, Tesla Motors. Tesla Motors is a car company that only sells electric cars. In 2008, the first model, the Tesla Roadster, was released. It could travel around two hundred miles in one charge (Hoffman, 2012). These cars are known for their simplicity and their technology. As a matter of fact, some of the newer models have the option to come with an autopilot model (Vance,2018). Another one of his biggest companies is the company SpaceX. SpaceX is a company that launches rockets into space. A big reason for the starting of this company is Elon’s fascination with trying to colonize Mars. It is one of his biggest goals in life. The company is located out of Hawthorne, California. Elon has put so much effort into this company specifically that he already has fifty launches planned over multiple years that would cost around five billion dollars and has gotten contracts from NASA for over 1.6 billion dollars (Vance, 2018). Musk is also the biggest investor and chairman of the board of Solar City located in San Mateo, California. He invested over ten million dollars into the company. This company is one of the largest energy suppliers in the entire world. It provides energy to businesses, homes, and governments through solar panels (AstrumPeople, 2019). All of Elon’s companies share a common factor. They all deal with either space colonization, renewable resources, or the internet. This is because Elon’s goal in life is to significantly contribute to things that will impact humanity’s destiny in the future. He is always pushing the boundaries of society for the better.

Elon Musk is so successful and powerful because of a few key strategies and methods he uses. One of the biggest reasons is that he is very good and making products that appeal to feelings and emotions(Dudharejia, 2017). By appealing to their emotions, people are much more likely to impulsively buy your product, spend their money on it without even thinking about it, and even develop a need for your product. Another thing about Musk is that he is always confident that whatever he invests in is going to succeed. As a matter of fact, he is so confident and assured others that what he does will be successful that there is such thing called “The Musk Effect”. This effect has been proven through the fact that every company he has started or joined has had a tremendous spike in success rate as soon as he joins the company. For example, Musk originally had little understanding of cars and rockets, but he was so confident and quick to learn about them that Tesla and SpaceX are now huge companies worth millions of dollars (Dudharejia, 2017). Musk also uses a method of tactical thinking called first principles thinking which reframes a problem to help give a simpler solution. First-principles thinking is when one makes a basic assumption that cannot be deduced any further than what it already is. This strategy helps when trying to break down complex problems. An example of this from Elon Musk can be found when Elon first had ideas of making rockets to discover Mars and the rest of space. While doing research, he found out that rockets can cost up to sixty-five million dollars. So, instead of asking himself where he could find an affordable rocket, Musk asked himself what made rockets so expensive. He did more research and found that the materials needed to make a rocket in the market were only about two percent of the actual price of premade rockets. By simplifying the problem he had, Elon was able to reduce the price of building his first rocket by ten times the price of the original pre-built one (MacKay, 2017). Determination is another strong attribute of Musks. He has a drive for success like no other and will stop at nothing to accomplish his goals and get what he wants to be done. When Elon first moved to America and started working on Zip2, he was poor and had nowhere to live, but he did not let that stop him from working. He lived, slept, and worked all in the same office area and had to go shower in the locker rooms of a local stadium (Carolyn F., 2016). Musk is also good at changing the traditional way of thinking. This can be seen in all his companies. For example, Tesla is formed off the idea of using renewable resources to fuel transportation instead of the traditional fossil fuels which are bad for the environment. When first joining in on the rocket business competition, Musk realized that he would once again have to revolutionize how people thought about rockets in order to beat out the big-name companies that had already existed. He did this by introducing reusable rockets, which cut costs tremendously (Carolyn F., 2016). Another simple thing that Elon does is enjoy his current success and reward his hard work occasionally. An example of this can be found when he bought an eighteen hundred square foot condo after he got his share from the sale of his first startup. He even spent one million dollars on a McLaren car for one million dollars (Ahmed, 2016). By doing this in moderation, he can not only enjoy life more, but he is boosting his confidence which helps tremendously in business. Elon is also a major risk-taker. As stated earlier, he moved across the country and away from his family as a teenager. When Tesla, SpaceX, and Solar City were just starting up, Elon invested so much money into the companies that he had to borrow money from his friends just to cover his living expenses (Garin, 2019). Obviously, it looks like all these risks he took worked out for him, but the truth is that he failed lots of times throughout the process. Musk once said that he believed that Tesla would be a failure, but he did it anyway because it was important to him (Garin, 2019). The key to this is that he not only is not afraid to fail, but when he does, he is able to learn from his mistakes to make himself and his companies better all around. A very important business strategy Musk also uses is investing his profits from companies into other companies. By doing this he can generate more ways of income, making him even more money. From the two companies that he has sold, he has invested at least forty-five percent of the earnings off of it into building new companies (Garin, 2019). If Musk had not have invested the money he made from Zip2 into his other companies, he more than likely would not be nearly as popular, wealthy, or successful.

While it may seem that Elon’s life over the past few years has been just about perfect, it is far from the truth. For him to be as successful as he is, he has had to make many big choices on what and where he spends his time. He has sacrificed so much time on his businesses that he has no time for anything else, even his own family. It got so bad that he would eventually end up getting a divorce from his wife, Justine (Adkin, 2019). Another downfall that comes with being the ruthless leader that Elon is, is that he is hated by lots of people, including his own employees. There was a point in time where Tesla was struggling and not doing well. So, Elon had some of his employees working twenty-four-hour workdays. Running all these businesses also puts him under a lot of stress, which he often releases onto his employees. Elon once tasked his best worker at SpaceX, Steve Davis, to take a part that was quoted at one hundred and twenty thousand dollars and build it for Elon with a budget of under five thousand dollars. After working on it every day for over nine months, he finally was able to make it for only three thousand nine hundred dollars. He then wrote Elon an email describing this as the greatest accomplishment of his life, to which Elon responded with a simple ok (Adkin, 2019). Even though Elon’s treatment towards Davis helped to do something never done before, it gave many people a reason to dislike Elon. One of the worst things Elon did though was with Mary Beth Brown, his longtime executive assistant. She worked behind the scenes a lot with all of Elon’s companies to make sure that they were running right and was always by Elon’s side when he needed help. She did so much work that she believed that she deserved a raise. When she asked for one Elon responded by telling her to take two weeks off to see if he could do her job by himself. When she came back after two weeks, Elon fired her on the spot (Adkin, 2019). While Elon’s ruthless mindset is beneficial to him and his companies most of the time, it also comes with some major downfalls.

As seen, Elon lived a very different life from others, which is what it takes to be as successful as he is. By looking at some of the ups and downs in his life, tactics and strategies for not only business but also for life were discovered. The study of how Elon thought and the information on the businesses he owns also helped to unravel new techniques. Sometimes the goal to be successful is hard and will be no fun as seen by Elon’s beginnings. It takes lots of perseverance, sacrifice, and dedication in order to become better. Being successful and wealthy also has its downfalls. People will always be looking to hate and be against whoever is the most successful. Overall, much was learned through the studying of Elon Musk’s life that could help one in starting a business, running a business, making money, and even just life in general.

SWOT ANALYSIS

SWOT analysis is a method for identifying organization’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. SWOT analysis evaluates what an organization can or cannot do in terms of both internal as well as external factors. Conducting a SWOT analysis determines the factors that will assist the firm in achieving its objectives. SWOT also identifies the factors that must be minimized or overcome to attain the desired result.

In BMW, we found several of strength, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. For strength, consists of one of the most successful auto brands in the world, advertising, high budget, competence in hybrid and electric cars, geographically diversified sources of income, perfect engineering and excellent driving experience and last is high skilled labour. Then, for weaknesses consist of poor automotive brand portfolio, human resources, unable to meet demand, lack of performance appraisal, increasing debt level, diversification in the workplace, and worker morale is low. Next, for opportunities consist of New Series, Increase profitability by innovation, Autonomous driving technology, strategic partnership, green vehicle, digital marketing and last popularity in developing countries (China & India). Then, as for threats consist of competitor (Volkswagen, Mercedez-Benz, Audi), price factor, increase cost in raw material, chinese car manufactures, economic fluctuations, shortage of skilled workforce, and last is rise in fuel price.

From SWOT analysis, we make an Internal Factor Evaluation (IFE) and External Factor Evaluation (EFE). Internal Factor Evaluation consists of strength and the weaknesses. Then, as for External Factor Evaluation consists of opportunities and threats. The purposes from the evaluation is to summarize and evaluate the factors given which will give the highest impact in the organization. Before we make an evaluation, there are FIVE steps that need to be followed which are list down the factor in sequence, assign a weight range from important to very important, assign a response rating for each factor, multiply the weight by its rating for the weighted score, and last sum all the weight score.

Then, from our observation in BMW. In the strength, brands is the highest influence in the company. We know that BMW is one of the most successful automotive brand in the world. Then, as for weaknesses, BMW get the highest rate by poor automotive brand portfolio. Next, for opportunities the highest rate goes to the new series in BMW. We know that BMW always have an idea to produce new series time by time. Then, last for the treats is, the highest rate is in term of their competitor like Audi, Mercedez-Benz, Volkswagen and many more.

STRENGTH, WEAKNESSES AND OPPORTUNITIES IN BMW

Next, move to the opportunities of BMW. The first opportunities that we have, research is by introducing new models of BMW series. They should declare a new models of cars that from a different markets that can target a group of lower class by providing luxury cars that suitable for their ability but still giving them more than what they are expected for their cars. BMW has a chance of producing new models. As for now, people always keep waiting for new models of cars release especially from BMW models. Therefore, a new models car of BMW is expected to match our newly technological advancements from time to time. This is one of the reason why car’s brand need to release new cars often to meet consumer demands or needs, so BMW is one of the good choice to fill this need as people always demanding the new models from BMW.

Then, growth the profit by the innovation make by BMW. From the innovation make, BMW should get a chance to increase their profit of BMW Group. Then, as we can see on the innovation side, BMW has get good relationship with alpine among others to modify the BMW cars to make sure it is more interesting to attract the customers. For example, as we know that in 2012, BMW Group get the highest sales as 1.845,186 Group of BMW vehicle are sold. Then, we can see that any innovation that BMW comes out for their cars, it’s always make people more attract to change for a new models especially for the people who are make BMW as their favorable cars.

Next, autonomous-driving or self-driving technology. With advancing technology, we believe that BMW can make their cars more advanced in term of the driving the cars. We know that now BMW has a very great or good plan for their vehicle to make it as the safest cars, which fully with advancing technology introduce. Other than that, this technology was introduced to make sure people with a BMW car can bring or feel the best experience while driving with BMW cars.

Other than that, strategic collaboration with BMW Group. The collaboration or we can say it as a partnership that make by BMW Group with the other group is one of the main reason or main goals to strength their relationship with the other group. Other than that, BMW can promote their brand around the globe to make it more well-known for the people. Other than that, from the collaboration, BMW also can share what are the innovation that make by them, which bring the customers to purchase their brand. Other than that, BMW also make an agreement with Brilliance China Automotive Holdings Ltd. in China. The Brilliance China Automotive Holdings Ltd. is one of the company that have a great technology and in China this company known as one of the technology leaders. One of the main goals from the collaboration from Brilliance China Automotive Holdings Ltd. is to form a BMW Brilliance Automotive (BBA). From the collaboration make, who knows BMW can use their advancing technology to put in their brand also. However, other than from Brilliance China Automotive Holdings Ltd., BMW also have a partnership with Toyota Motor Corporation and Peugeot Citroen.

Next, BMW also one of the green vehicle. Nowadays, we know that customers becomes more aware about environmental protection and negative thinking of petrol and diesel cars. So that BMW emphasis on green vehicles. It will definitely create the strong position in the future when the firm produce most ecological vehicles, which comply with new reduced vehicle omission regulation. Alternatives fuels can power green vehicle and advanced vehicle technologies include hybrid electric vehicles, plug-in hybrid electric vehicles and many more. Electric cars now have been more popular around the other brands of car and not only in BMW cars. However, for the people who are the fans of BMW car will feel happy if BMW car also introduce green vehicle in the cars. We know that, right now people around the world are more demand on the emissions free vehicle especially for brand cars like BMW. This is because BMW will continually produce cars with a green vehicle. Then, in 2013, BMW had released its first electric vehicle BMW i3.

Then, popularity in developing countries (China & India). China is now the second most important market for BMW Group while India retains number 1 spot in India’s luxury market. Then, if the BMW get popularity their brand in China and India, it will make the sales of the BMW increase time by time because we know that China and India is among the developing countries. Then, when BMW starts operation in India at January 2007, BMW cars start to known around the people at that particular country. Other than that, BMW also record worldwide sales in 2013 and this is one of the great achievement for BMW. The BMW Group also had its best first six months ever at the start of 2013. Then, BMW Group also increased sales by 6% to 954,521 cars including BMW cars and mini cars.

Lastly for the opportunities in BMW is digital marketing. For BMW, with the introducing of digital marketing, customers or people will more aware of the existence of BMW brand. We know that right now people are trying to get any information from the digital marketing platform. This is because, digital technology can attract more people as we can promote our brands at many ways. Other than that, BMW also can promote their brand in their own websites. BMW should make the website for their own company to make it easier for people to search or get know everything about the BMW Group. Then, from the website make it will promote the brands around the world. The, from the promotion make, people will get engage with anything that BMW update about their cars either in term of introducing new models, or in term of the price of the cars, or it can be in term of the strength of the BMW cras compare to the other cars. So, from digital marketing, the company should make something to attract the people to feel interested to purchase the cars

THREATS IN BMW

Then, we move to the threat. Firstly is, competitor. Competitive pressure in the car industry has grown. There are several car brands in the world which investing aggressively in technology, marketing and driver safety to grow their market share. BMW’s competitors are their biggest threat. BMW, Mercedes and Audi have always been in competition producing similar cars. However, BMW has always been on the top but in recent years Mercedes and Audi. We know that each brands had produce cars with better design, technology or the cost itself also each of the brand have their differences but it depends on the people itself which one will make them more attract.

Secondly is price factor. More people will be price conscious one day. In the future, luxury cars will stop receiving as much attention as people will no longer demand on luxury cars. Nowadays, we know that people are becomes price conscious. If the price keep increase from time to time, the people will no longer feel attract to purchase it especially for younger generation as their income still not too large. BMW one of the highest price car in the cars industry and for now the price of the BMW still not too highest but one day the price will rise time by time. Then, at that time, people will considered money they will use for something more valuable and they do not think luxury car are part of their goals.

Thirdly is increase cost in raw material. Cost of raw material are growing for each year that will lead to higher operating cost. If they are facing this issue, due to rise in costs of raw material, it will lead to less profit and higher input costs. As the technology use are more advancing from time to time, so the cost of raw material also will increase. Exactly, BMW wants the best technology for their cars, but increasing cost of raw material will make the cost of the car higher than usual. Then, if the people are no longer afford to buy, the income of the BMW Group will decline from time to time.

Fourthly is Chinese car. They produce cars similar with BMW but with better technology and at lower price. BMW take a plan to joint venture with Brilliance Auto to produce BMW cars to Chinese market. We know that China is the largest market in the world, so the Chineese cars also can make the BMW Group decline their income. However, BMW maintain on China’s luxury car market. Although Audi started, making cars in China but BMW still command a strong following among Chinese car buyers. China is crucial in the race to be the world’s top luxury brand but BMW is still maintain the world’s No. 1 luxury-car brand.

Next, Economic fluctuations. We would never expect the economic fluctuations that will happen. The word have their ups and down in term of the economy sector. For now, the economic still grown but in the future we can’t expect that the economy will fall. If the economy still stable around the world, the sales of BMW cars also will stable. However, if the economy will fall in the future, the sales of the vehicle also will decrease. Moreover, we can’t expect anything from the uncertainty market that will happen. So, not only for BMW brand, the other brands also shoul get ready in terms of economic fluctuation in the industry. Other than that, it will effect on the import & export of the cars. This is because how BMW going to import or export if the economy will fall in the future. It will consume a lot of money in term of import or export the cars.

Then, shortage of skilled worker. When there is shortage of skilled worker, means it will slow down the manufactures of cars. Every industry will get involved with this kind of situation and not only for BMW. Then, in preventing this threat, around 2007, leaders at a BMW train plant in Germany, it were concerned about declines in productivity as their workers aged. They anticipated the average age of workers would rise from 39 to 47. Then, BMW come out with an idea to avoid shortage of skilled worker by developed a pilot project for one of the most labor-intensive production lines with workers to reflect workforce projections. Moreover, BMW Group should come out with a back up plan to avoid the shortage of skilled worker in the future.

Lastly for the threat is rise in fuel price. We cannot expect when the fuel price will arise, but from time to time we need to get ready. However, BMW need to adapt with to the need of green fuel and green machine. Rise in fuel price have a great impact to BMW’s performance, as BMW’s cars are known to be a lot of higher in consumption of fuels. BMW needs to strongly adapt to the need of green fuel and green machines so that it can absorb the potential customers who are looking for green car solutions, especially in the mature markets.

Corporate surveillance, the monitoring of a person or a group of people collecting data on others, is in our everyday life. Sometimes we are aware of it but do not really pay attention or care about it until it becomes a bit too much. Should corporate surveillance be allowed?

Learning more about corporate surveillance is important because consumers should be aware that it crosses the line between sharing basic information and invading their privacy. Understanding the concept of corporate surveillance might make people be more careful while visiting some sites or some places. In the world in general 61.2% uses smartphones, and in America, 88% of people use social media. So, we are talking about a tremendous amount of people that are ignorant of their privacy being violated. Although corporate surveillance can benefit in many ways, it should not be allowed.

The definition of privacy has now shifted. Now companies do not care about people wanted to stay discreet about their personal information. This is based on the article Selfie Culture in the Age of Corporate and State Surveillance, written by Henry A. Giroux .“ The author argues that the selfie is not just another fad deeply enmeshed in popular culture. On the contrary, selfies are less about entertainment and vanity than they are symptomatic of a retreat from privacy rights, an intense site for the commodification of the self, and a veritable resource for the surveillance state and its national intelligence agencies such as the National Security Agency.” Basically, the author is saying that corporate surveillance is so developed that even by taking selfies companies have information about consumers that should have remained private. Social media is not only about entertainment, it also puts people’s privacy at risk. The “ selfie culture” is now a political problem which people should be aware of and protect themselves from.

Companies now know more about us than we do about ourselves because they keep on spying on us. It is based on “ The New Tech Totalitarian “ written by John Gray. “ “Connected cars” could monitor drivers and lock down a vehicle if users fell behind in their payments for it. Other schemes have proposed that individuals’ health be monitored by “wearable accelerometers”, which would “improve traceability of their compliance” with dietary and medication schedules. As the “internet of things” advances, car dashboards, refrigerators, thermostats, spectacles, and watches will become platforms for advertising. Location data collected from smartphones already record how people travel and shape where and what they consume.” This shows that it benefits companies to spy on consumers because if a consumer tries to steal or is doing something illegal they can easily track him. The same thing applies to criminals, the government can use this information to track a criminal which benefits everyone in this case. In this case, it is acceptable. But there are always two sides to a subject. It does not benefit so much consumers because their privacy has been violated. They should be able to have a say in companies and the government spying on them.

Before it was harder for companies to know about people’s personal information unless the person gave it to them. Now everything had changed, gained more capacity to do collect data. According to “ Privacy Under Capitalism” written by Jacob Silverman, it states, “With the proliferation of networked devices in our homes and on our bodies, our surrounding environments now overflow with sensors and other data producers. Earlier generations saw some forms of governmental and commercial data collection about the home and what goes on in it. Market research, census records, consumer surveys, loyalty cards, credit bureaus, property records—these were common pre-digital data streams, and many still exist in one form or another.” This evidence highlights the fact that compared to the previous generation, now they know everything about us. They have the ability to know your location, activities, who you talk to, what type of music you listen to, etc… Unlike before people had to fill in papers or surveys for companies to know their preferences. Now everything is easier for them because of the increase of devices that we use all the time. It is totally not safe to use our electronic devices because companies always have access to it and it’s easy to spy on us.

However, corporate surveillance has some benefits. Benefits like machines helping you or companies sending you coupons once you apply on one of their sites. It is based on “ Fast Companies” written by Heather Woods from Amazon. “First, smart devices offer exceptional convenience at an unprecedentedly low cost …This isn’t new. Wealthier people have long relied on the labor of others to manage their households and workspaces. Smart home technologies promise similar effects. They can automate chores, including vacuuming, grocery shopping, and even cooking.”Smart devices have been invented to help people in their everyday tasks. These devices even though the companies have access to their customer’s personal information, it is very beneficial for people with special needs. They won’t have to do some home tasks themselves, they could just tell the smart device to. The disadvantage is that like I mentioned the companies will have access to your personal information, like what you tell the device to do or are your preference, more information than what you want them to know about you.

As long as we recognize its advantages, we still have to keep in mind its multiples disadvantage. Companies spying on us as an impact. It is based on “ The Best Of The Left”. According to Best of the left, politicians and some companies use social media like Facebook to target particular groups of people. Its shows that the government and companies are constantly spying on people. They have people’s data and information.

I was not sure about either if corporate surveillance was negative or not. Now I am definitely against it. I believe everyone should have the right to be fully informed about the information collected from them. Do people really care? Are people trying to make changes when aware? People should do more about the situation.

Have you ever had one of those days of existential crisis where you just want to free yourself from corporate bondage and build a business of your own? There comes a point where you just wish to give up your job and do something that makes you happy? Or as a new graduate you are clueless and have no idea where to go? The answers for all these questions lie in one word – startup.

A startup or start up is a company initiated by individual founders or entrepreneurs. A startup is a young company that is just beginning to develop. Startups are usually small and initially financed and operated by a handful of founders or one individual. These companies offer a product or service that is not currently being offered elsewhere in the market, or that the founders believe is being offered in an inferior manner.

There were times when scoring your first job in a big corporation was considered as a great deal in the society. But now the times have changed. People no more thrive to get jobs in a multinational company instead a passionate person tries to build his own empire. Working in a big corporation surely gives you a lifelong experience about how things are to be done but there are many more limitations of working in such companies. Corporate jobs do not provide flexible working hours, fancy perks, growth opportunities and an innovative working environment. An employee in a corporate job is forced to carry out the same monotonous, consistent, predictable and repetitive work he was allotted on his first day of job for the rest of his career. This limits the growth of the employee in relation to his job and his own self. These situations force an employee to eventually get tired and give up. There was a time when big corporate were undisputed leaders in proving jobs with best salary and growth opportunities, but the modern-day scenario is entirely different. Everyday social media is brimming with stories of rising startups doing path-breaking work or existing ones making it big. This has led to an increase in the thirst for power and status amongst youth. This power and status can only be earned if they take the matters in their own hands. This is where a startup plays its part.

Startups are tricky in nature. Startups are successful only when there is a concrete idea of how things will be carried out by the owner. Starting your own company does not mean that you just quit your job and open up a venture. A startup requires a lot of work in the beginning few years but the fruits of those efforts are enjoyed for a lifetime. Before starting your own business there are a few questions a person needs to ask themselves before putting the idea into action:

• Is your idea new or superior to the existing businesses?
• Are you a risk taker?
• Do you have adequate finance to put your idea into action?
• Does your idea make any impact on the minds of the consumers?
• Are you flexible about your level of earnings in the first few years?
• Lastly, do you want to make an impact on the society?

At a startup, especially a very small one nearly every problem is an opportunity for you to step in and add value. Each problem that you face while executing your idea is an indirect opportunity to grow and prepare yourself for any challenges that might show up in the future. Once you learn how to remove those road blocks, you are good to go. Identifying and solving problems has one major professional upside: it allows you to grow your skill set and pushes you to innovate in your own way.

Generally speaking, if you own a startup or work at a startup, you are either building a product or selling it. In the beginning stage of the company, there’s less need for internal departments, like human resources and accounting. It often makes more sense to outsource tasks like bookkeeping, or managing the members of the team pitch rather than hiring a specific person to do the work. Building and selling will always be the core functions. Depending on your idea, the role, and the size of the company, sometimes there is need to carry out little bit of both the functions. But again, all the functions that will be carried out by the owner shall depend on the type/ nature of his business idea.

To build a startup a person must first be familiar with the opportunities he may get in the future and challenges that he might have to face to stay in the course for a long period of time. One of the great advantages of the rapid pace of startup life is that you’ll have the opportunity to learn and acquire a variety of transferable skills. a startup role can help you gain skills and insight into multiple positions. You will gain skills you never thought of having, simply because you have to. Working for a startup is the best way to gain as many skills as possible. In a startup, the person is his own manager and this gives him a lot of autonomy to carry out his work. If there is a proper balance between autonomy and responsibility, the work environment shall be more efficient which will eventually lead to increase in growth opportunities. There is another significant reason as to why so many people are so inclined to put in the hard work for a startup it’s because they know the payoff it will bring them later on will all be worth it. Get in early with a startup, make it big and you’ll never have to worry about money again. All these gains, equity, autonomy, skill up gradation for life, flexibility of working hours and opportunities for growth can be expected out of a startup. When an employee dives into something due to their curiosity to create something new, that’s when magic happens. Curiosity is part of the passion that startup employees possess. A drive to learn more and improve will lead to nothing but success and recognition.

Startup has its advantages and opportunities but the road is not always easy and smooth. There are chances when the idea fails and the outcome generated is different from the expected. There is a high possibility that there is shortage of funds and the venture has to be shut down. A large corporation has a team to handle every task, but a startup has no team, no one to turn to in a crisis. You’ll have to solve your own problems. This can be strength for many because it will bring value in long run but again there might be people who avoid problems and might give up at once. Also, the workload in the initial stages is high; there is no flexibility in working hours and only few holidays and vacations to spare. It is important for a startup to show early growth trends. Another challenge for a budding entrepreneur may be stability. Stability in earnings is necessary to carry out a successful business firm. An entrepreneur loses his work life balance once he indulges in a startup. But on the other hand, it is safe to say that the opportunities outweigh the challenges mentioned above. Once the entrepreneur starts earning and the growth chart shows positive trend, all the challenges seem small.

The biggest difference between a startup and a job at a bigger company is the rate at which things change. At a large corporation, you might do the same set of monotonous tasks for several years, until your superior retires or gets a promotion. At a startup, your role and responsibilities will evolve frequently. Within six months, you might be doing something significantly different from the role you were hired to do in the first place. That means your skill set will have to grow at an equally fast clip. India is all set to break away the traditional career paths as a lot of talent is tending towards working with the Indian startup space. India is transitioning from a 9-to-5 work culture to a startup environment, where employees are consciously forgoing stability in exchange for the promise of accelerated growth.

To boost a startup an entrepreneur requires funds. Lack of money is one of the major problems because money is the bloodline of every successful business. These funds can be raised in various ways.

1. Bootstrapping (self-funding) your own startup. New startups generally find it hard to raise funds from investors based on a plan on paper and thus bootstrapping is an efficient way to raise funds. You can invest your own savings and this will not invite a lot of formalities either.
2. Crowd funding. Crowd funding is a new way of raising funds. Under this technique money is raised from a group of people who are intrigued by the ideas presented. Money can’t be raised until the idea presented is rock solid and has a chance of growth in the future.
3. Angel investor. Angel investors are individuals with surplus cash and a keen interest to invest in upcoming startups. They also work in groups of networks to collectively screen the proposals before investing. They can also offer mentoring or advice alongside capital.
4. Venture capital. Venture capitals are professionally managed funds who invest in companies that have huge potential. A venture capital investment may be best suited for small businesses.
5. Business incubators and accelerators. Early-stage businesses can consider incubator and accelerator programs as a funding option. Incubators are found in almost all major cities and they help new businesses raise capital.
6. Bank loans. Bank loan is the most traditional method of raising finance. Bank loan can be either provided for working capital needs or for funding. Any entrepreneur can approach the bank and apply for the loan. The loan shall be granted on the basis of business valuation. Entrepreneurs can also raise term loans or asset backed loans.
7. Government schemes. To encourage the era of startups in India, the Indian government has launched various programs which help new entrepreneurs raise funds for their venture. The ‘Startup India’ project by the Narendra Modi can be another option to raise funds for your business. As a part of this initiative a fund worth Rs.10000 ($1.6 billion) has been set up the government. This money is disbursed via the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI).
8. Microfinance. Non-banking financial corporations (NBFC) provide loans to small and medium enterprises at a very low rate of interest. These loans are generally given in order to promote the growth and development of small businesses in India.
9. Others. Some other way through which an entrepreneur can raise money can be through selling his own assets, borrowing from family and friends or by owning a credit card.

An entrepreneur can use all of the options listed above when raising funds for his business. However, if you want to grow your business really fast then you will have to take external assistance and borrow money from outside sources. Although, bootstrapping is an efficient way to raise funds but without external funding an entrepreneur may not be able to gain the advantage that market has to offer. It is also important to remember that before applying for funds the entrepreneur must have a solid idea for his business and must stand on strong grounds in times to come.

The investors invest in the business not only based on the idea presented but also on the basis of how the entrepreneurs come across during the meeting. An entrepreneur must be someone with an innovative mindset; someone who is not afraid to experiment when the opportunity calls for. An entrepreneur must be grit and must be an excellent communicator. Curiosity is the key. A curious person has the guts to go beyond the usual and experiment new things. Thus, an entrepreneur must possess all such traits in order to impress the investors and his own employees and consumers.

There was a time in India when the major player in the job sector was the government agencies. Later on, people started bending towards big private corporate offering higher salary and fancy perks. These perks enticed people and lured them in corporate bondage for life. But now the times have changed. India is a developing country which is continuously offering new growth opportunities to people who have their own ideas and wish to set up their own business. With the launch of government’s Startup India mission, India is progressing towards becoming the next big startup nation. Never before in the history of India the government has taken such a step to promote and flourish the startups. The aim of the mission is to provide funds to new entrepreneurs so that they can grow nationally and expand globally when the time comes. The direct involvement of government on such mission can prove to be a real boost for the economy as well. As a new graduate or a person who is sick of corporate jobs, with a startup idea, you won’t have to invest much of your time finding ways to raise finance and grow your business because the Indian government’s mission to make India the next big startup nation is at your service.

It is often said that, ‘The grass is greener on the other side’. People with a startup might feel jealous of their friends, working in big corporate going on vacations but the reality behind this fun is often frightening. A new entrepreneur might not get a chance to enjoy for a few years while building a business but for such real entrepreneurs nothing compares to the satisfaction that they derive from their work; the one they actually wished to do.

Case Study Answers

Question-1 Why should ABC analyse existing practices in relation to diversity?

ABC should analyse existing practices in relation to diversity because neither company mission nor the current operational plan contains any detail for the implementation of the diversity which implies that all the benefits of the diversity that have been mentioned will not be reaped by the company so they should carefully examine their existing practices in accordance with diversity.

Question-2 Explain the benefits of diversity in ABC and how diversity relates to achievement of business objectives?

Following are the benefits of diversity in ABC: –

1) High degree of profitability: –

Representatives who communicate in various dialects or originate from abroad have exceptional aptitudes and encounters. Representatives from multiple foundations can present new arrangements and points of view that were beforehand obscure. When working with various groups, be that as it may, it is imperative to organize the representatives’ government assistance through legitimate pay and human services. These guarantees representatives feel sure about the organization, paying little heed to their experiences.

2) Exchange of assortments, thoughts, and collaboration

Every individual from the group contributes various thoughts and one of a kind critical thinking viewpoint. By having numerous personalities at the table, organization workers can tackle issues all the more rapidly and proficiently.

3) Learning and development

Being presented to new societies, thoughts, and points of view can possibly change the manner in which representatives think, work together with each other, and even influence one’s feelings of compassion. To be fruitful, an organization ought to endeavour to interest various populaces and situations. This social introduction considers wide-running customers and a superior open door for the organization to be effective.

4) Effective correspondence

Clients who communicate with delegates from his/her topographical zone or social childhood will cause the client to feel increasingly good with the agent and the organization itself.

5) Diverse experience

A various blend of abilities and encounters helps colleagues become progressively responsive and adjust to changing conditions without any problem.

By Following ways diversity relates to achievement of business objectives-

1) Various sentiment and viewpoints

Representatives with various foundations and encounters will unite an assortment of viewpoints, accordingly inspiring elective arrangements and approaches while talking about a point or issue. Whenever oversaw well, the qualities and best bits of knowledge of each individual can be saddled to elevate profitability and convey better outcomes.

2) Unity of assorted qualities

Decent variety likewise presents the chance to join specific qualities to the upside of the association. As each individual has various abilities and has fluctuating qualities, these can be joined for more noteworthy execution and profitability. Specialized attributes in a single individual can be merged with the administration qualities of another, and the business quality of one more.

3) The planning advantages

There is additionally a favourable functional position of having a different workforce. As people have special time responsibilities, having a changed gathering guarantees that work undertakings can be satisfied consistently throughout the year.

4) Makes organization appealing

From the commercial centre point of view, an organization that advances working environment decent variety and a comprehensive workplace adds to its appealing quality as a business. A working environment that is available to investigate new thoughts and styles is particularly engaging for the bold receptive representatives of Generation Y. If an association makes it realized that they centre around what people can bring to the table more than the up-and-comer’s financial foundation, ethnicity, and so forth, they are bound to pull in various scope of candidates.

Q-3 Why might it be a good idea to access and review diversity policies from organisations that are similar to the ABC?

It might be a good idea to access and review diversity policies like that of ABC organizations because these policies need to be updated from time to time. The meaning of diversity keeps on changing from person to person. For one, it may mean something, and for the other, it may mean something else. So, overall, it means that the policies have various benefits, as mentioned in the question. They need to be reviewed to have a check whether they are being followed or not, and if not, then what changes are required so that policies and their implementation are updated.

Q-4 What other sources of information might be useful? List 2 sources and briefly describe the information that might be collected from these sources?

The other sources of information that might be useful are: (i) Curriculum vitae of the candidate (ii) Government id-proof

From curriculum vitae, we will be able to gather information about the gender, educational qualifications of the candidate and from government id-proof, we can have information about the residence of the candidate so that we know what is the variation in diversity in the company so that talent of varied skills the organization possess.

Q-5 – Who should be consulted and involved in the development/ amendment/ improvement of diversity policies for ABC and why?

I think it should be the employee representative members of all the departments that should be consulted and involved in the development of diversity policies along with the higher authorities. A meeting should be conducted over this. The reason is that the employees on the ground level will be better able to tell what changes they need in terms of diversity in their organization.

Q-6 – Note and describe the steps that would be followed, after the initial research phase, to prepare a diversity policy and develop an action plan for the policy.

• As a manager my target would be to keep at least a mix of 50% diversity and every work division.
• I will choose a combination of a mix in age group (that will have somebody from the age of 45 and somebody in their 20s)
• Mix of creativity and experience also would be chosen.
• In the initial role out model I will roll out these changes temporarily and after evaluating the flaws and outcome the final diversified policy will be rolled out.

Q-7 – Diversity policy has been developed and finalized. What are the next steps? Consider tools, presentation, communication and stakeholders. Develop benchmarks and indicators to measure impact of policy implementation. Explain how to monitor business activities, team plans and staff performance to ensure diversity policy is effectively implemented.

• Once the policy is formalized, I will sit with the stake holders and with the help of flowcharts and intrinsic study analysis will show them how our new vision of diversification and inclusiveness is met.
• I will take to SPOC leaders from the various divisions and explain how we plan to implement the policy in phases.
• As a HR manager, since that my motive shall never be to force people, I will have meeting cum presentation with the employees, where I would address all their queries in this respect and also release a FAQ flyer. I will assure them that no change shall be mandatory for them and they could out of the policy freely at their own will.

Q-8 – Once the policy is implemented and has been operational for a period of time it will be necessary to review it. Explain why this is necessary, how it might be done and what might occur as a result of a policy review.

Of-course policy review is very critical. As mentioned above, the current policy has been revamped after a period of four years. We need to respect the fact that the dynamics keep rapidly changing and we need to inspect each and every aspect of diversification policy. We need to have critical reviews from those on who it has been implemented and how is it affecting the results of the company. Is it going in the upward direction as planned or is the other way round? Critical thinking is required. Satisfaction levels of the employees will also have to be looked into.

Utilitarianism is one of the most established and influential normative ethical theories, that determines right from wrong by focusing on consequences. It states we should strive to generate the greater good to the greatest number of people who stand to be affected by the action. In this essay I will be highlighting both the positive and negative features of utilitarianism in practice as illustrated by David Meeler’s analysis of the global textile industry. Before underlining the positive and negative aspects illustrated in the case study, it is worth noting the significance that the textile industry plays within the country.

The textile industry is one of the biggest employer in the manufacturing sector providing jobs to minorities, women and most locals within small communities. It contributes greatly towards the developmental process of the economy through advancement of small communities.

In the case study analyzed by David Meeler, we see how companies within the textile industry applied utilitarian thinking due to the rising value of the dollar and decline in currencies in Asia which resulted in high cost of producing goods and services and less cost to import from Asia. Companies had make tough decisions to ensure the success of their companies by maximizing the overall long-term benefit for all. In doing so, David Meeler highlights some of the negative aspects arising from the action taken by the companies. A lot of textile jobs were lost due to closure of plants. Therefore, loss of employment equals to no income thus a decrease in standard of living and also creating stress and unhappiness. Furthermore, local business suffered because they were unable to sell goods and services to people that do not have an income and can’t afford it. An increase of imports from Asia drops the country’s GDP. Contributions to charities and church decrease and eventually cease. Last but not least the burden on the local governments are increased causing an increase in taxes cuts so as to support services and career retraining for the lost jobs. (pg 58 – 60).

Despite the negative outcomes listed above, Meelers article illustrates advantages as well. Through imports, the textile industry increases production at a lower cost and increases their profits which gives the companies an advantage in the local and global markets. Low cost goods in the America and stock holder’s profits maintained. Also it brings new employment opportunities to developing countries, increased happiness and improved standard of living. pg 58-60)

In summary, according to utilitarianism we should act in a way that promotes the greater good for the greatest number of people. In David Meeler’s case study, one may ask if the greater good for greater number of people was in Asia or America. However, the article conveyed how utilitarianism has positive and negative aspects when applied in business ethics and also how it can be justified even though it may cause harm to others.