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Lobster is one of my much-loved seafood dishes due to its delicate rich flavored meat, however, after reading this article I have a change of mind. “Consider the Lobster” by David Foster Wallace is a controversial article to whether or not it is humane to drop a live lobster in a pot of boiling water. He brought up the question is it right to boil a live lobster just for one’s desire, quite thought-provoking. Thus, he had convinced me to his viewpoints on logos, ethos, and pathos. I believe Wallace uses description to deliberate the meaning of pain to convince and gain my heart he includes definitions about taxonomical terms and references to prove his point while he compares and contrast different viewpoints on this specific matter. In order for Wallace to get his point across in the first paragraph he described what Main Lobster Festival was, he expressed it in the first person which allowed me to see stuff from his perspective and to understand how he felt towards this subject.
Get original essayIn the article, it’s evident Wallace tends to show pathos the most, where he includes foot and end notes voicing his opinion and stance on a precise segment of the article which allows him to bring a new perspective up. To get his stance across he uses a lot of rhetorical strategies that I myself had to contemplate. His strategies made me ponder on several other viewpoints such as the lobsters, chefs, and meat lovers. Wallace captures the use of pathos in a way that would be very convincing as he compared and contrasted the lobsters to humans. He drew me in when he stated, “the lobster will sometimes cling to the container’s sides or even to hook its claw over the kettle’s rim like a person trying to keep from going over the edge of the roof. Giving me a sense of remorse for the lobster as if I were the creature being placed into a pot of boiling water.
In addition, he compares the Main Lobster Festival to Nebraska beef Festival. he states a few of the festivities but the one he emphasized most on was “watching trucks pull up and the live cattle get driven down the ramp and slaughtered right there” screening that image in my head I naturally had the tendency to feel guilty which was Wallace’s main point to why is it that one feels bad for the cattle, but not the lobster, there is not a difference in my eyes. Furthermore, that is when Wallace introduced me to the ethos side of the argument where he sways me that it is, in fact, inhumane to boil a lobster alive when he stated “It is difficult not to sense that they're unhappy, or frightened, even if it's some rudimentary version of these feelings,” showing we should not judge and treat the lobster better or worse based on what pain level they feel. His perspective made me consider the lobster more just by that consideration.
However, Wallace brings up the argument that one may think they have the rights to eating a lobster because they are not human. Wallace proves this theory that people defends that assumption. At the Main Lobster Festival, there was a” Test Your Lobster IQ Test” conducted where it stated that lobsters have simple nervous systems like those of a worm or grasshopper. He explained a particular case where he questioned a man named dick whose son in law so happens to be a professional lobsterman and one of the Main Eating Tent’s regular suppliers who argues that lobsters are simply just a large sea insect he goes on to say “there’s a part of the brain in people and animal that lets us feel pain and lobsters don’t have these parts” Wallace denies Dick’s son in law beliefs by giving his own insight in his footnote elaborating on why the cerebral cortex in the human brain is actually not what gives experience of pain “ the cerebral cortex is the brain-part that deals with higher faculties like reason, metaphysical self-awareness, language etc.” He goes on to give in his own opinions how pain is experienced by articulating someone accidentally touching a hot stove and yanking there hand back do not involve the cortex the brain is bypassed altogether and all the neurochemical actions take place in the spine.
Not to mention some consider “lobsters are not human” to the motive to why lobsters do not need ethical concern. Which brings me to the conclusion that if lobsters aren’t human neither are cats and dogs. Wallace has me curious as to why is that we humans are defensive when it comes on to cats or abused dog but not a lobster they are all non-human creatures. On the contrary, Wallace began to shift his ideas to Logos which is the “appeal based on logical or reason”. According to precise evidence, lobsters have neurotransmitters that are more similar to those in a human which allows them to register pain.
Game Theory examines our interactions and decisions in social contexts through the lens of ‘games’. It explores the outcomes of the different strategies available to their participants (known as either ‘players’ or ‘agents’) and looks to find the most ‘rational’ option, which means maximizing the payoff in terms of their own self-interest). Game Theory has been labeled a “descriptive” theory, as opposed to an “explanatory one”: it doesn’t explain why players act in a certain way, nor does it forecast the definite course of action they will take. Instead, it lends insight into how agents will act if they play rationally and consistently throughout. A ‘game’ can be broadly defined as a strategic scenario involving multiple participants: as Binmore asserts in Game Theory: a very short Introduction, games are in action “whenever human beings interact”. Therefore, because games need to involve more than one player, although many conventional games such as Risk, Volleyball, Spit, and Catan, are still mathematically classed as ‘games’, others such as Patience, crosswords, and the once-popular single-player version of Crossy Road, however enjoyable, are not technically games. Through games, game theory can be used to explain everyday phenomena and has applications in many fields Game Theory’s applications are ever-expanding, and there now exist many different types of games, from non-zero games to asymmetric games to combinatorial games, all of which describe are slightly different: some games have a winner, others don’t, etc., accommodating almost every type of social interaction there is.
Get original essayGame Theory, remains in its infancy, at less than a century old, especially compared with other famous theorems (such as Pythagoras’ Theorem) which have aged millennia. Although the first recorded discussion of a game was in 1713 (within a letter of James Waldegrave’s), and underwent some scrutiny in the 19th and early 20th centuries, Game Theory as we know it today was only truly born in the early- to mid-20th Century with the publication of a paper titled On the Theory of Games of Strategy in 1928. This work, written by the allegedly-mad Hungarian mathematician John von Neuman, although not wholly exceptional in itself, led to the collaboration of von Neuman and Oskar Morgenstern, an eminent Austrian economist, and ultimately facilitated the publication of Theory of Games and Economic Behaviour in 1944. It was the later published, to a much greater extent than the former, which truly revolutionized the field, described decades later by the Princeton University Press as the “classic work upon which modern-day game theory is based”. When it was first invented, the theory could only be applied to specific circumstances, but since then, the scaffold has been “deepened and generalized”, growing in its complexity and applications. It really is a ‘living’ theory, continually evolving and adapting, changing with the world; I think that is partly what makes it so captivating, that there is so much more to learn about it and learn from it, for example, Game Theory has become a major source of novel concepts in Microeconomics.
Both silent: departmental each= 0.5h total
Both blame: school detention each= 2h total
One blames, One is silent: Blamer is let off, blame is given a Saturday= 3h total
Undoubtedly the most widely-known toy game is the Prisoner’s Dilemma, a scenario which beautifully demonstrates how Game Theory can help us to choose the mathematically ‘sensible’ option while bringing to light the paradox that the algebraically-correct choice is often far from the optimal solution. Ordinarily, the infamous game is modeled using criminals and jail sentences, but in order to make it more resonant, ‘prison sentence’ will be exchanged for school detention and the game’s two criminals for two ill-behaved pupils. The - albeit minorly modified - the game goes like this: two students have breached the school’s Code of Conduct, but the teacher sanctioning them does not have enough evidence to convict them. Consequently, in order to obtain the truth, the teacher places them in separate rooms (likely somewhere in the ominously-named ‘Dungeons’) and offers them a choice: they can either remain silent or tell on their associate. The Prisoner’s Dilemma (or rather the Schoolchild’s Dilemma) is a textbook example of a non-zero-sum, non-cooperative game of complete information: the gains of a player do not necessarily counteract the losses of the other, both pupils cannot collaborate, yet each knows the full terms of the game and that their counterpart also answers to the same terms. The teacher sets out the conditions: if both students tell on one and other, they both receive a School Detention (one hour after school on a Friday); if one tells, but their loyal companion doesn’t, the informant suffers no penalty, while the betrayed friend weathers 3 hours in a Saturday Detention; whilst if they one tell on their accomplice, and the pythey each receive departmental detention lasting 15 minutes. What should they do? Obviously, the ideal option is that both remain silent: with this course of action, their combined sentence is a mere 30 minutes. However, because the players cannot communicate, a prisoner is no way of ensuring their accomplise will stay mute. Therefore, the rational (from a purely mathematical perspective) option is that they both give up their associate. This is known as the dominant strategy (it is the best tactic regardless of the other player’s actions): the player either suffers a 1-hour sentence or a no sentence at all, rather than the possibility of a 3-hour sentence. If both players, reason alike, the outcome is known as a Nash Equilibrium, which is simply a situation when both players employ the dominant strategy.
Vague applications (inc telecoms)
Games don’t simply exist on the whiteboard, but also in reality. MAD (Mutually Assured Destruction) during the Cold War, awkward dodges in the street (a desperate attempt to maintain social distancing), and …….. are all examples of games which were and are played out in actuality.
The American, and later British, auctions, are a fantastic example of….
From a philosophical perspective, Game Theory is intriguing. It imposes an algorithm on our decisions, making one wonder if you really can ‘win’ the game of life. In some ways, Game Theory can be restricting and liberating: in certain instances, one realizes that choices are finite, and questions the extent to which one really does have Free Will, but, on the other hand, in many cases, it can rid of us of indecision, help us to make more sensible choices, from which we gain the most. However, ethically speaking, the mathematically correct option, does not necessarily correspond with what we consider to be the morally ‘right’ one, introducing an ethical dilemma: the conflict of the benefits of the individual versus societal benefit. But morality is at the center of our society, it is the base of our religions: we need to be able to distinguish between the inherently ‘right’ and the inherently ‘wrong’, and the answers are given by game theory such as, in the Prisoner’s Dilemma, to tell on your friend, do not, to many seem morally right (although, for that matter, neither is disobedience in the first place). As Ethicist Carissa Veliz argues, in Game Theory assumes that the players only care about the best outcome for them, but in reality, this is often not true; in the prisoner’s dilemma. This brings to light one of the biggest caveats in game theory: it assumes that we play the game rationally, but humans have emotions, (hopefully) a moral compass, and common sense; they are neither robots nor slaves to algebra and calculations. Alternatively, the fact that game theory, especially during the Cold War time, through the eyes of game theorists, continues to build up a nuclear arsenal in order to compete ….the issue of nuclear weapons… Over time, this conflict could become increasingly problematic as people increasingly turn to mathematics for ‘moral’ justification.
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Get custom essayGame theory and its uses are ever-expanding; it is a constantly blossoming, not static, theorem, something which makes it truly intriguing: there is such potential for discovery. Indeed, there is something so satisfying about whittling a series of options down to the rational one, although at times, game theory can become very complex, if not messy, when you introduce a multitude see Binmore. Game Theory, partly due to its recent founding unearths many deep-seated moral questions which have yet to be resolved, fact ethicists and philosophers will debate for years to come.
In the world where everything is accessible, the world has failed to realize that the human race will lead us all to the destruction of the earth. People have always had basic needs such as food, and shelter. But as society grew wealthier, their appetites changed. They became interested in acquiring things for reasons other than survival. This results in the consumption where humans have made consuming a necessity in their action of outstripping resources available to meet the needs of the world’s demand. Consumerism is a phenomenon that was always inherent in the relatively developed societies, where people purchased goods and consumed resources to the extreme of their needs.
Get original essayIn the current modern world where increasingly cheap and high-calorie food is being prepared in large amounts of ingredients like salt and sugar with the addition of the increasingly sedentary lifestyles as well as increasing of urbanization, there is no doubt that obesity has increased rapidly in the last few decades around the globe.
I want to talk about the statistic of the world obesity where according to the World Health Organization, “Worldwide obesity has nearly tripled since 1975 wherein 2016” and “more than 1.9 billion adults, 18 years and older, were overweight and out of these numbers, over 650 million were obese”. Obesity itself does not only affects the adults but children as well as according to the World Health Organization, “In 2016, an estimated 41 million children under the age of 5 years were overweight or obese. Once considered a high-income country problem, overweight and obesity are now on the rise in low- and middle-income countries, particularly in urban settings. In Africa, the number of overweight children under 5 has increased by nearly 50 percent since 2000. Nearly half of the children under 5 who were overweight or obese in 2016 lived in Asia.”.
This issue impairs the lives of consumers in terms of health. The global health problem of obesity lies in the constant need of one to eat luxuriously rather than eat only what they need. Consumerism can also be blamed for other social ills where the heavy advertising of delicious but unhealthy foods, such as sweets, and fast food has caused a significant rise in diet-related health problems. In the 1990s, for the first time in human history, the world’s population of overweight people was roughly the same as the number of underfed people about 1.1 billion. Obesity can lead to other related diseases, such as cardiovascular disease (mainly stroke and heart diseases) as well as musculoskeletal disorders (especially osteoarthritis which is a highly disabling degenerative disease of the joints in one’s body).
Even with all this being true, obesity is largely preventable as on the individual level, one can decide to start making the choice of a heathier life through the right choices of food to limit to lesser consumption of sugar, salts and fats and to change their sedentary lifestyle to become an active one through engaging actively in physical activity. As for businesses who play a significant role in the food industry, they can firstly restrict the marketing of foods high in sugar and salts and perhaps promote healthier choices to the public. Secondly the businesses should ensure that their industry provides the availability of nutritious and healthy choices for the consumers to afford.
Consumerism also impairs the world we live in. By keeping up with our materialistic wants, we are slowly killing the environment. As consumerism continues to accelerate climate change in a warming world, we will see many impacts to the established agricultural system that we have today since most of our food is developed under stable climate conditions. The average American throws away approximately 185 pounds of plastic per year, 50 percent of the plastic used just once before being discarded. Over the last 10 years, more plastics has been produced than in the entire last century and enough is discarded each year to circle the earth four times. Another direct impact our actions affects the living creatures seriously where 1 million sea birds and 100,000 marine mammals are killed every year from plastic in the oceans, and 93 percent of Americans age six or older test positive for the plastic chemical, The United Nations also reports that 3.3 million premature deaths per year are from air pollution caused by the production of consumerism.
Landfills are full of cheap discarded products that fail early and cannot be repaired. Products are made psychologically obsolete long before they actually become worn out. Over 220 Billion cans, bottles, plastic cartons and paper cups, are thrown away each year in the “developed” world (“Ideas and shared solutions for sustainable & low cost green living” ).
As reported by National Geographic News, almost 1.7 billion people worldwide are now part of the “consumer class” (National Geographic refers to them as “the group of people characterized by diets of highly processed food, desire for bigger houses, more and bigger cars, higher levels of debt, and lifestyles devoted to the accumulation of non-essential goods”). And the disturbing fact is that this number grows. What for years was considered a pain of the Western countries is now spreading in the third world - half of global consumers live in developing countries, including 240 million in China and 120 million in India - and they are markets with the most potential for expansion (Mayell).
Christopher Flavin, president of Worldwatch Institute said in a statement to the press, that “Rising consumption has helped meet basic needs and create jobs but as we enter a new century, this unprecedented consumer appetite is undermining the natural systems we all depend on, and making it even harder for the world’s poor to meet their basic needs”. China is a great example of changing realities. Only 25 years ago there were almost no private cars and cities were crowded with bicycles. By 2000, 5 million cars moved people and goods; the number was expected to reach 24 million by the end of 2005 year. In the US, there are more cars on the roads than licensed drivers (“Ideas and shared solutions for sustainable & low cost green living” ).
Multiple studies emphasized that maintaining good relationships with stakeholders are essential for retailors. However, the perceptions of stakeholders are different in varied regions, according to few comparative studies. In China context, researchers suggest that companies should focus on relationship with supplier, government and customer, and that relationship with government is vital for multinational businesses, where in western context, the relationship with government is important, but it is not emphasized as that much in China. In addition, researchers suggest that management in western context should also take consideration of the relationship with employees which ar barely mentioned in China context. In western context, scholars used the term ‘relationship network’ to describe relationship with stakeholders, specifically referring to relationship with government, partners, and potential partners. In China context, instead of calling it ‘relationship network’, some western scholars use the term ‘guanxi network’ to distinguish uniqueness of Chinese network from that of western cultures. The term ‘guanxi’ has a derogatory sense which implies corruption from both cooperating companies and government perspectives.
Get original essayFirstly, the Chinese government should be viewed as two separate parts: one central government as the executive manager and many local governments as the executioners. A plan enacted by the central government might not be fully executed by the local government. The ungrounded plan is caused by intentional non-execution of local governments or involuntary execution because of centralized bureaucracy. Hence, it is possible that MSCs experience obstacle or devalued benefits as they expected from the announced plan of central government.
Secondly, local supplier has two types: state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and none-SOEs. SOEs have severe bureaucratic relating issues. None-SOEs also values guanxi networks to some extent. Retaining good relationship with these suppliers has direct impacts on the operation strategies of low cost, quality and flexibility. Stable relationships with suppliers can help supermarket chains pursue quality and flexibility purposes. A contrary example is that Walmart was being mighty towards its suppliers and forced its suppliers cutting costs. This damaged its relationships with suppliers. Consequently, many high-quality suppliers turn to other domestic companies. Managing robust, dense ‘guanxi network’ will benefit MSCs to access new business opportunities, experience less obstacle from the government, and access critical resources.
As to relationship with customers, researchers agree that good relationship with customers have certain positive affect on performance. Some scholars argue that research on relationship with customers lack robust measurement to precisely indicate how good relationship contribute to good brand and performance outcome. Others argue that the branding in Chinese retailing industry are not as effective as it in other regions, instead, they suggest that Chinese customers are loyal to ‘low price and value’ instead of ‘well-known brand’.
Appropriate strategy and management quality play critical role for the success of MSC performance. The most frequent discussed aspects are market differentiation, innovation, localization, strategic alliance and flexible strategies. Studies have examined the correlation among environment, performance and strategies using quantitative, qualitative, or mixed approaches. Most studies were conducted in a form of interviews or surveys and few studies maps archived objectives of companies (ex: financial status) to its strategies. Remaining articles discuss literature or case studies on general topics such as technology and innovation and outlined existing challenges for MSCs operation in China.
In short, case studies manifest that flexible strategies accordingly to the institutional environment are critical. One stable strategy is not an appropriate approach as the institutional environment continuously changes. In regard to specific strategies and tactics, marketing differentiation was outlined in many country-specific studies. The competition in multiple traditional industries is becoming fierce and tense. Therefore, a distinguishable market positioning or product differentiation can mitigate competition pressure by avoiding direct competition. It is especially effective corresponding to industry which has high price sensitivity and low distinctiveness of products. In addition, localization and strategic alliance are critical pattern for MSCs to blend into the local institution. Numbers of MNCs cases illustrated that many multinational businesses failed in China because they failed to acclimate to the local environment.
Finally, the significance of supply chain management is well-recognized in retailing industry. It is the system that a company used to deliver demanding goods to right customers in at appropriate time. A supermarket brand with well-organized logistics and supply chain strategy has a qualified advantage over other market players, whereas optimizing supply chain serves as a competitive tool. It gives retailer a huge cost advantage, especially, compares to smaller retailers. Unquestionably, effective supply chain strategy is critical for any MSCs and domestic companies.
This part syntheses findings from prior analytical work, approaching research questions on a solution-driven basis.
The changes of business environment can be viewed as opportunities and threats. Undoubtedly, the rising awareness of consumerism of later generation and transformation from a manufacturing-driven to consumption-drive encompass new marketing opportunities. Services-based industries are expected to grow in the near future. Firstly, previous studies on western countries indicated that mergers and strategic alliance are common in supermarket industries and government usually proceeds strict process for avoiding monopoly competition. On the other hand, many venture capital companies with or without retail roots invested in supermarket industry in China, resulting in that domestic companies merge with greater scale and resource and savagely expand its business nationally. The competition is worth considering.
Secondly, the government involvement can be positive and negative. The government encourages foreign investment and development of retail sector, and the protectionism is weakened in modern periods. However, the bureaucracy and corporation are still unresolved issues for both domestic and foreign companies. Moreover, the large domestic companies generally have strong relationship with the government, which will engender detriment for MSCs in competition.
Lastly, one intriguing findings is that the use of newly emerged and popularized technologies such as big-data, data mining, and E-wallet, have been studied in both China and Western cultures in recent years. Researchers suggest that using these technologies promptly and effectively could help the supermarkets to obtain few years of lead in competition. Many creative retail formats which cooperate with these technologies emerged. For instance, Amazon created cashier less stores and Alibaba create a food retail format which integrate online-ecommerce and offline stores. Many other innovative formats are merging in China and no research at current studies has examined these practices. These new formats are still at the examination stages in the market. The future of retailing formats is not predictable. At this point, the academic research regards to innovation of retail format is one step behind the practices.
In order to compete with domestic companies, proactively adapt within the changing environment, MSCs have to response accordingly to the environment, its positioning and situations. The researchers suggested three critical success factors specifically for MSCs in China are robust ‘guanxi’ network, flexible-dynamic strategies, and high quality of general management. The government in a stable communism context which dominated by one party have strong involvement in market activities. The execution of policies and regulations might not be effective, but, in most of time, they are extremely efficient. Therefore, fast reaction towards changes in politics and regulations is a fundamental ability for MSCs. Also, governmental system complying within corruption should not be omitted. It can disrupt fair market competition and it is especially apparent phenomena in lower tier cities. To mitigate risks caused by corruption and bureaucracy, MSCs could build ties with the governments or ally with local partners who have strong “guanxi” network in China.
There are a broad range of strategies which have been well developed and practiced, aiming to achieve different business purposes in a particular situation. It is convinced that flexible strategies are suggested for MSCs. Mono-fixed-strategy will not be effective to a country in a developing period, within multiple cultural groups, broad territory, and enormous territory. China markets are highly fragmented and should not be treated as a whole. For instance, the first-tier cities (ex: Beijing Shanghai etc.) should be treated as well-developed areas. Its economic scale and consumer buying power is strong as that in developed western regions. Second tier cities (Hangzhou, Nanjing) could be viewed as emerging-developed cities and third-tier to fifth-tier cities can be viewed as developing areas. In addition, the inner land is less developed in general. People live in different regions of China have different shopping behavior. Therefore, strategic management should have two fundamental characteristics: flexibility and variety. The flexibility refers to selective and flexible strategy making for adapting the changes and local environment. The variety characteristics refers to that successful retailing management are pragmatic-oriented in strategic choices and they react to institutional environment with mixed of strategies, for instance, a mix of adaption and standardization for marketing strategy (Cao et al., 2013). Furthermore, numbers of cases studies which investigated failure cases of MNCs and MSCs in China indicated that failed to adopt or execution localization is one of the key factors that failed the business in China. These companies focused on polishing their global image, but failed to interact within the locals, their target markets.
The quality of general management refers to other management aspects instead of strategy management. The general management factors are non-arguable elements that can affect supermarket performance outcome and the practitioners and scholars have common agreement on these elements. The most important element is supply china management which served to not only generate cost reduction or create operation efficiency but also create additional value for its stakeholders without extra input. Other elements such as inventory management, software management also have certain level of influences to the performance outcome.
Before delivering implication of the study, limitations of this study should be aware of. Firstly, the report solely relies on secondary materials and many selected materials exist sampling issues. Secondly, to observe development or changes of environment over a period of time, all relating studies used cross-sectional approach. In those cases, a longitudinal study is a better approach for the purpose of observing development or changes of a phenomenon over a period of time.
The present study contributed to both theoretical implication and practical implications. With a theoretical perspective, this study outlined institutional environment under China context and realized that the research findings relating institutional environment from academic is consistent with the observations from the government as well as the media. In addition, the studies systematically review success factors of the retail industry and instilled CFS which are appropriate to China context. In addition, there are relatively few studies devoted to possible application of emerging technology such as big data and data mining in China context. In China, emerging format which complying with newly emerged technologies have not been realized by western scholars, but Chinese business practitioners have been already practicing these new technologies and formats in reality.
With a practical perspective, the findings of this study offer grounded implications for MSCs. Firstly, the study outlined the significance of relationship with government as well as some challenges relating to government system. Secondly, it clarified few differences in perception between Chinese society and western societies. Management under western context are suggested to take consideration of employee-relationship, however, it is not emphasized in supermarket industry under China context. In addition, branding is less effective in China and Chinese customers are very sensitive to price instead of brands. It has been proved from interviews from management side as well as customer’s sides. International business has a natural advantage in which Chinese customers generally have better brand perception of foreign brands. Although branding is not decisive factor, MSCs could benefit from it if two brands offer similar prices of consumption goods.
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Get custom essayThe future trajectory of supermarket sector in China can be viewed within following aspects: development of retail format and overall growth. The key concern for management in regard to the growth of the industry is whether the short-run market trend of this industry would see a steady growth. The view towards short-run growth, academic studies, media views and governments report all point to one direction. The overall retail sector will see a steady growth in coming few years as a result of government effort on consumption-driven economy as well as increasing awareness of high-quality of living in Chinese society. Existing retail format has been well-established, but emerged retail formats demands exploration. Future research can focus on views towards emerging retail format which combined online and offline future and equipped with advanced technologies and a format with a focus on convenient purpose or with enjoyable, high-standard shopping purpose.
There are a few kinds of payment methods that people staying China uses, cashless payment or by cash. Examples of cashless payment are Alipay, Tenpay and WeChat Pay which use mobile phone devices to make payment by scanning the QR (Quick Response) Code. Researches have shown that 75% of the China citizen are more likely to go cashless payment. Why?
Get original essayIt is because of in China, there is a high level of counterfeit money in China and a high level of pickpocketing. There have been many incidents like my friend have counterfeit and a few of my friend got pickpocket. From a survey made by PayPal, 90% of Singaporeans say they prefer to use cash as their primary mode of payment, with only small percentage using digital payments regularly. However, when it came to using cash regularly, 43% of the 90% cited problems such as having insufficient cash on hand, and long queues at the automated teller machines (ATM).
The same study found out that Singaporeans are actually more aware of the various digital payment platforms than their Asian peers, but are slower to embrace these new technologies, some are due to the confusion over the large options of e-payments. Quoted from Prime minister Lee Hsien Loong: “In Singapore, we too have e-payments, but we have too man different schemes and systems that do not talk to one another.
So people have to carry multiple cards, and businesses have to install multiple readers. It is inconvenient for consumers, it is costly for businesses. And the result is, most of us still prefer cash and cheques – 5 in 10 transactions are cash and cheques”. Therefore, I can conclude that Singaporeans still rely on cash more often.
On the other hand, in the same research survey, only 25% of the locals preferred using cash as their primary mode of payment. 75% of them all preferred cashless payments instead. The main reason for this was because of the inconvenience felt by many using traditional banks, they have to travel long distances for rural customers to having queue in the branches in the cities which require a lot of their time being spent on just drawing out money from their bank account.
Advantages of cashless payment (QR Code)
Disadvantage of cashless payment
In China, there is only one application I used which I was informed beforehand, WeChat. When my group of friends went to SanLiTun where there is a lot of real shopping products and good food, we were checking out the place. Nigel and I discover a claw machine shop nearby call LLJ Claw Machine shop. That shop has good reviews so we decided to look up on it. When we got there, outside there is few people who have a chain of very cute plushies.
We decided to spend our afternoon and we went into the shop. One thing I realized that is the shop is very organized despite the huge crowd of people. There is one person to guard one proportion of the area. The next time I observed is that everyone is using WeChat to pay the machine unlike Singapore arcade which still uses tokens.
The next thing that hits me that worried our group is that some people have WeChat but we Singaporean students do not have a China bank account to transfer money to convert into the tokens. We went to ask the lady who is at the counter which is in charge of the administration. Luck was on our side, there is a way to top up the token (money for the game) in the phone which is to buy a 100-yuan card and manually top up the money on the phone.
How does the claw machine work? The player has to produce a QR code from their mobile phone, there is a scanner that scan the QR code and deduct the specify amount of token from the player account which makes a lot of thing easier, lessen the amount of workload and focus more on the security as compared to Singapore.
In Singapore, there is lot of problems in arcade like having machine malfunction, token get taken in but not allowing the player to play or the machine needs to clear out all the token in order for the next player to play but in China, there is no such problems faced as they used the QR code. From my experience, I realized the reason why most prefer the cashless payment as there is many advantages like it is quick and easy, no worries such as having not enough money to make the payment or no cash.
The aim of this research work is to study consumer’s buying decision of Fast Moving Consumer Goods. Biscuit as a delicious food during morning and evening for tea break. Hence the biscuit are moving fast in the market as all the people consumer variety of biscuits, bread, rusk, cakes and dairy products. Hence it is inevitable to have a thorough study on consumer buying decision in biscuit. The study also reveals the reason for buying the Biscuit. The study is start with objectives of consumer buyer decision in purchase of Fast Moving Consumer Goods in biscuits, analyzing level of satisfaction in FMCGs products. The Convenience samplings are used for the study. The techniques that are used for data collection is questionnaire. The study covered 40 respondents of the consumer’s. Tools and techniques used are simple percentage, Chi Square test. The satisfaction level of consumer’s also depends on products specific and market wide factors.
Get original essayThe biscuits that are prepared today are the substances made of several ingredients and available in various flavors, colors, sizes and tastes. Today people consume biscuits very fondly during the time of snack. Today Britishers consume digestive biscuits along with tea during the snack time. Today biscuits are usually those substances that are sweet to taste. People are very fond of biscuits that resemble sand witch i.e. layered with cream between the two biscuits. The substances that are mixed with flour may be cream, flavors of fruits and nuts, chocolate, jam and many others. The savory biscuits have captured a huge market today. The type of savory biscuits is cream crackers, oatcakes, crisp breads, etc. Rusk is also a type of biscuit that is a hard substance made from bread usually used for teething of a baby. Rusk is a biscuit that is usually consumed by placing it in tea or coffee.
Biscuits are little level cake that is fresh and generally sweet. It is worried about the taste and propensities for the general population. Already, it was utilized as an eating routine for patients and vitality and taste for kids. These days, scones are considered as a decent option for sleek tidbits and drive-thru food. So presently, among all rolls accessible in the market. In business world, numerous brands of items are delivered and showcased by a solitary fabricate. The choice whether to purchase or not depends just based on customer thought processes. Current market is buyer situated and now the shopper is the definitive power.
Hemant J.Katole (2018) in this study customer brand loyalty and buying behavior of consumers for fast moving consumer goods, especially biscuits. Two parameters, gender and age are considered to verify health and brand consciousness of consumers while buying biscuits. The researcher collected the data by using observation method and questionnaire method. In the observation method, researcher collected the data of actual timing taken by the consumer for buying biscuits. It was found out that customers are health conscious irrespective of gender while purchasing the product especially biscuits.
Dr.V.Kannan (2017) in their article say that concluded biscuits as a delicious food during morning and evening for tea breaks. Hence the Britannia products are moving fast in the market as all the people consumes variety of biscuits, bread, rusk, cakes and dairy products. Now a day’s Britannia has established its own market in major parts of the country. The retailers are the main intermediaries who frequently meet the ultimate consumer of the Britannia product. They now show the consumer preference and attitude towards products having different brands. Once they lose the existing customer, they could not get them back. Further, they could not get potential customers. Hence it is inevitable to have a thorough study on customer preference and attitude towards Britannia product. The study also reveals the reason for buying the Britannia products.
The modern marketing promoting and business are completely customer and consumer arranged. These thoughts ought to be remembered with every one of the producers. Else, they need to lose the current customers. Every one of the organizations should endeavor to fulfill the wants and needs of the consumer’s in all conceivable ways. As there are overwhelming rivalries in the confectionary things, the Biscuits business ought to be extremely watchful with respect to buyer fulfillment. The Company new items contribute impressive piece of the pie in the aggregate market. Bread rolls are most prevalent among its consumer fundamentally in view of its taste and inclinations, low cost and significantly more accessibility. Consumer request particular biscuits of in retail shop as a result of their promotion.
The basic belief of marketing-oriented company is that the customer is the hub around which the business revolves. Therefore, understanding what makes people in general buy and what makes your customer in particular buy is a vital part of business success. Market itself means – customer, around whom all marketing strategies are formulated and implemented. In order to meet competition at the market place, the marketing managers are using various methods to add value to the final product which will reach the hands of the consumers. It means in ever changing marketing environment, there is a growing concern or awareness among marketers to go for a careful study of the consumer behaviour around which all marketing activities are made. Following are the key marketing implications of consumer behaviour.
Get original essayUnderstanding the consumer behaviour is the basic for marketing strategy formulation. Consumers reaction to this strategy determines the organization success or failure. In this competitive environment Organisations can survive only by offering more customer value - difference between all the benefits derived from a total product and all the costs of acquiring those benefits - than competitors. Providing superior customer value requires the organization to do a better job of anticipating and reacting to the customer needs than the competitor. Marketing strategy is basically the answer to the question: How will company provide superior customer value to its target market? The answer to this question requires formulation of marketing - mix – product, price, place and promotion - strategies. The right combination of these elements meets customer expectation and provides customer value. For example, marketer of a bike must know the customers performance expectations, desired service, Price willing to pay, information he seeks and after-sales service to provide superior customer value.
The most important marketing decision a firm makes is the selection of one or more segments to focus their marketing effort. Marketers do not create segments but they find it in the market place. Market segmentation is the study of market place in order to discover viable group of consumers who are homogeneous in their approach in selecting and using goods or services. Since market segment has unique needs, a firm that develops a product focusing solely on the needs of that segment will be able to meet the target group desire and provides more customer value than competitor. For example, right segment for Femina magazine is educated urban women. The success of this magazine depends on their understanding of the urban woman.
Product positioning is placing the product, service, company, or shop in the mind of consumer or target group. Through positioning marketers seek the right fit between a product and desired customer benefits. The right positioning means understanding the consumer perception process in general and perception of company’s product in particular. For example, Samsung brand is perceived as premium brand by few customers and value-driven brand by others in the market, but marketer must find out what makes their target market to perceive differently and position it accordingly.
Studying consumer behaviour enables marketing researchers to predict how consumers will react to promotional messages and to understand why they make the purchase decision they do. Marketers realized that if they know more about the consumer decision making criteria, they can design marketing strategies and promotional messages that will influence consumers more effectively. The importance of consumer behaviour made marketers to think of a separate branch in marketing research - Consumer research, to deal exclusively for consumer related issues. The current focus of consumer research is on study of underlying needs and motives in taking purchase decisions, consumer learning process and attitude formation process.
A sound knowledge of consumer behaviour can help the organisations that sell ideas and concepts of social relevance. Institutions that promote family planning, AIDS free society, governmental agencies, religion orders and universities also appeal to the public for their support in order to satisfy some want or need in society. The knowledge about potential contributors, what motivate their generosity, how these motives can be effectively appealed is useful for the organizations involved in these activities.
To major areas where consumer behaviour study helps government is in policy making on various services, and in designing consumer protection legislation. The knowledge of people’s attitudes, beliefs, perceptions and habits provides adequate understanding of consumers.
“Money doesn’t buy happiness.” Throughout history, this concept has been heard time and time again and has been proven to be true. People can continuously purchase material items, but in the end, those items can never satisfy a person’s innate need for love and connection. As people buy such objects, they are making a poor attempt at filling a missing void in their lives. In the 1920s, this ideal began to loose its significance as society became swept up in consumerism. Shopping became people’s favorite pastime and the ever-expanding consumption of goods began to set the standards for happiness. Aldous Huxley experienced the rise in the sales market and saw the negative influence that it had on society as consumerism began to dominate people’s lives; consequently, Huxley wrote Brave New World to depict an exaggeration of the world if society continued to participate in mass consumerism. Huxley intended for his novel to be a warning to the public of the ramifications from consumerism and to ensure that his imagined dystopia does not become reality.
Get original essayIn his novel, Huxley illustrated an assembly line that, rather than producing cars, produces human beings instead, making "the principle of mass production at last applied to biology” (Huxley 5). Through the execution of Bokanovsky’s process on assembly lines, one single egg can “become anything from eight to ninety-six embryos” (Huxley 4). In the World State, people are continuously produced like material items such as Ford’s Model-T cars. The use of Ford’s technique on human reproduction dehumanizes the creation of life and turns it into a mechanical process rather than the personal and intimate experience that it actually is. As humans are created and start life in an unfeeling manner, they continue to live in the same manner, making the society of Brave New World emotionally stunted. The ability to make multiples of a single genetic being through Ford’s assembly line immensely diminishes the value of life. People are perceived as objects in the World State that society can use while they are alive and well-functioning; however, when they are no longer of use, they are cast away and simply replaced by another engineered being.
In the 1920s, Henry Ford was the prime manufacturer in the automotive industry. His invention of the assembly line made the production of thousands of Model-Ts to be possible. His ability to continuously produce the same exact product in a quick and effective manner was what inspired Huxley’s own version of an assembly line in Brave New World. Through his novel, Huxley depicted his notion that as technology and consumerism was thriving, society’s morality was diminishing. In the 1920s, people’s priority was to purchase new products and to contribute to the sales market. As goods were being produced frequently, people began to shop incessantly, so much so that it became society’s favorite activity. Writer Sharon Beder described the increasing desire to shop, as the “leisure activit[y]” provided an “escape from real life” (45). As consumerism flourished, it superseded familial obligations and friendships, as people chose to go shopping and being in their consumerist paradise, over spending time with their family and friends. Sentimentality lost its importance in civilization and materialism took over. Society in the 1920s wrongly fixated over the assembly line and consumerism, so much so that Huxley illustrated a world where the assembly line is the source of human life and consumerism is the foundation of their civilization, to caution people of the risks of consumerism.
In Brave New World, after humans are engineered through assembly lines, they then undergo conditioning that molds them into the World State’s ideal citizen. In order to keep civilization in a structure manner, conditioning is used to keep the public under the command of the World Controllers. Children endure electric shocks to be taught to “hate the country,” but also “love all country sports” requiring the “use of elaborate apparatus” that requires them to consume “manufacture[d] articles as well as transport” (Huxley 16). Conditioning is a form of manipulation to ensure that people continue to purchase goods and care for nothing other than consumerism. The conditioning is perceived to be justifiable to World Controllers, as society would unravel if the cycle of purchasing goods ceased. Since consumerism is practically instilled in the citizens since childhood and contributes to the stabilization of society, people do not realize the disadvantages. Therefore, the World Controllers use consumerism as a distraction to the public to ensure that people will not detach from society’s norms. Instead of questioning the ethics and fairness of the World State, people are conditioned to focus on consumerism.
Corporations and producers made consumerism an endless cycle. In the 1920s, companies encouraged people to purchase goods—even when they did not have a sufficient amount of funds—through the allowance of credit and installment plans. The notion of “buy now, pay later” enabled people to continuously buy items without any concerns of not being able to pay the full product price (“A Consumer Economy”). With the ability to buy numerous goods using credit and payment plans, the population kept increasing the amount of money that they owed to manufacturers. Eventually, people’s recklessness caught up to them, as they could no longer pay off their goods and producers began to demand the amount that was owed. Corporations had allowed credit and installment plans to achieve their “goal [of] trap[ping] consumers in the world of consumption” (Spierings and Houtum 902). Companies deceived people by glamorizing credit and payment plans to better their product sales.
With Brave New World, Huxley depicted the lack of care that manufacturers in the ‘20s had for consumers and companies’ true intentions behind credit and payment plans. The use of credit and installment plans were forms of manipulation that compelled the public to continue purchasing goods. Credit and installment plans were created, not to help shoppers buy more products, but for shoppers to owe more money. People unknowingly fell under the thumb of manufactures, all while under the false pretenses that corporations were providing advantageous opportunities to consumers. Huxley wanted people to stop wasting their funds buying unnecessary objects under the belief that credit and payment plans were made to be helpful systems. The use of credit and installment plans created a parasitic cycle, as corporations benefitted from feeding off of consumers’ purchases and consumers suffered as they were eventually left with financial issues.
Another significant aspect of the World State that aids in sustaining social order is soma. Since consumerism is essential to the World State’s functionality, the World Controllers use soma to impel the public to continually purchase goods, ensuring that the civilization does not unravel. Soma induces pleasure in its users and assures that the public’s minds do not wander away from their fictional happy world. With soma, the World Controllers are able to “render [the] population docile” and secure the people’s obedience to their conditioning and to society’s norms (Hickman 145). As soma makes people more pliable and instills them “in [a] world of comfort and pleasure,” they heedlessly fulfill the stipulation to shop as “nothing else is of consequence” (Sawyer 82). People have no doubts as to why they are shopping or if they need to shop, rather their soma-induced minds makes them susceptible to believe that shopping is what they have to do and is the only activity they should do—other than having sex. The World Controllers manipulate the public through soma as the drug compels people to believe that buying goods is their purpose in life, but in actuality, soma is what allows the World Controllers to control their lives.
In the 1920s, advertisements, like soma in the World State, drove consumerism. The use of commercials coerced people to continue their consumerist lifestyle, as people was constantly exposed to promotions that persuaded them to shop. Advertisements embellished products to sway the public towards purchasing them. Through product promotions, “advertisers were no longer simply responding to demand; they were creating demand” (“A Consumer Economy”). Companies used advertisements to convince people to keep buying pointless items. Huxley used soma in Brave New World to describe the effect of advertisements on the public in the ‘20s, as people kept purchasing goods based on the products’ exaggerated benefits that the advertisements portrayed. Manufacturers glamourized their goods to persuade people to buy them, and once people bought their merchandise, rarely did they fulfill the advertised expectations. Manufacturers cared less for their product price and the product’s ability to meet the advertised claims, as they were primarily concerned with selling their goods. The advertising process in the 1920s was merely a form of a stimulus that Huxley reproduced through soma in Brave New World to show the public that producers used advertisements to manipulate the public. Through advertisements, producers were able to make an abundant amount of money and contribute to the furtherance of the sales market. He wanted people to see the truth behind the embellished claims made in advertisements and used the influence of soma in Brave New World to do so.
Soma is not the only factor that prompts the purchase of goods in the World State, as the mantra “ending is better than mending” substantially aids in the growth of consumerism (Huxley 37). The citizens in Brave New World constantly purchase new items as they are conditioned to “love having new clothes” (Huxley 37). They discard any item that is deemed old or even marginally “used” and rather than attempting to fix the item, they believe the better choice is to replace it with a new version. People choose to buy products that are easily reparable, simply because they believe a slightly damaged object can no longer function properly and has lost all significant value. The buying of new products diminishes any chance of creativity and innovation that may possibly arise with the reparation of an object and also ensures that people do not form emotional attachments to their objects. As old and broken objects are continually discarded, society remains dull and emotionally-detached. The principle of “ending is better than mending” further drives the consumption of products within the World State, along with the suppression of creativity and deep emotions.
Like the World State, the ‘20s saw a never-ending production of goods. New products were constantly being created and released. People would buy the “brand-new,” “just-released” radio with the “best speakers for the clearest audio” in an attempt to have the newest and greatest item; however, never being able to actually achieve their goal as another “brand-new” and “best” radio would be released the following day. The public’s desire for the latest products fortified consumerism as people continued to purchase item after item “for it [was] the constant production of new desires that define[d] and dr[ove]” consumerism (Spierings and Houtum 902). Companies kept creating products that they claimed were better than before—while in reality, there were only minor improvements—in attempt to increase their sales and earn more money. Huxley illustrates how the useless spending on unnecessary items contributed to the cycle of consumerism and encouraged corporations to continue their duplicitous release of products. With the concept of “ending is better than mending,” Huxley shows how wasting money to constantly purchase new items causes damage to no one, but consumers themselves. Therefore, Huxley wanted to establish the message to people in the ‘20s, that instead of continuing to buy products that have slight improvements and falling into the manipulation of advertisements, people should be content with the objects that they currently possess.
In the World State, conditioning and soma are used to ensure the lack of identity and individuality among the population. With conditioning, people’s mindset are sculpted into that of an ideal World State citizen, and with soma, people dismiss anything that negates their indoctrinated beliefs; consequently, the public is compelled to not have any thoughts other than those of the World Controllers. When John, an outsider who grew up on the Savage Reservation, comes to the World State, he rebels against the World State’s social order. He yearns to maintain and develop his identity and choses to not “want comfort,” but rather want “God,” “poetry,” “danger,” “freedom,” “goodness,” and “sin” (Huxley 182). He wants to discover more of what the world has to offer and to cultivate his mind with ideas outside of those that are conceived by the World Controllers; however, according to the societal standards of the World State, by pursuing his aspirations, he is “claiming the right to be unhappy” (Huxley 182). The loss of the fundamental traits that develops people’s identities is believed to be an imperative aspect in maintaining happiness in the World State. The World Controllers’ idea of happiness is only attainable if people lost their opinions, morals, and essentially, their identities.
With the growth of consumerism in the 1920s, people lost their individuality and the characteristics that made them unique, and began to construct their identities based off of consumerism. The objects that they purchased determined their social status, how others viewed them, and eventually how they viewed themselves. Consumerism led to people “shop[ping] for ‘identities’” and as identity was made into a commodity it could “be bought by other shoppers to acquire the same status” (Spierings and Houtum 903). Rather than valuing their own individuality, people focused on continually buying goods to fabricate an image of who they believed they wanted to be. Consumerism compelled society to care only for material items and created the belief that insubstantial objects were vital for living a successful and content life; however, author Steven White describes how people can “feel fulfilled through [consumerism], but this fulfillment is ultimately a social and not an individual one” (91). With Brave New World, Huxley illustrates how materialistic items should not define happiness and identity. People’s possessions do not make up their character, and spending time and money on material goods merely creates an illusion of a superior figure. Huxley wanted people to instead, spend time and effort on refining their identity to become the best possible version of themselves, and by doing so they can achieve true happiness. Through following the standards that are set—such as those by the World Controllers and by consumerism—people neglect the aspects that individualize them and make them unique from the rest of civilization.
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Get custom essayThe consumerism that swept the 1920s inspired Huxley to depict his beliefs and reasons behind specific components of Brave New World. With consumerism escalating in the ‘20s, greedy manufacturers began to manipulate consumers to increase their wealth, and identity and happiness became dependent on materialism. As society was changing due to the negative impact of consumerism, Huxley witnessed these changes and through his novel, illustrated the possible consequences of consumerism. With the creation of his dystopian world, Huxley depicted the wrongs within his world that were caused by the influence of the consumerism, specifically aspects of consumerism such as the assembly line, credit, installment plans, and the continuous production of goods. Through illustrating the exaggerated effects of consumerism in Brave New World, Huxley hoped to change the concept of contentment and identity stemming from materialistic purchases and to enlighten the public out from under the grim shadow of consumerism.
Chuck Palahniuk and Aldous Huxley make a vastly fascinating portrayal of the image of consumerism in their works. Miriam Webster, in her dictionary, defines consumerism as “the belief that it is good for people to spend a lot of money on goods and services.” Consumerism has more than one aspect. It can be materialistic, technological, or self-consummation. The industrial revolution was basically the event which set people towards consumerism. Both novels, indirectly, represent a picture of American Capitalist community which is dominated by consumerism and perfection.
Get original essayIn Fight Club, a one sees that characters are fighting one another. However, this is not totally right. Their true motifs and what is fought for transcend the fact that they are only fighting. All characters in the novel are haunted by consumerism. They all adopt the idea of Renewal by all its aspects. In fact, this mechanism results in turning them into victims to their societal customs as if they are locked in unrestrained movement of consumerism. They all try to fulfil their desires by doing so. They seek only joy and nothing more. Nevertheless, they don’t get satisfied. Their appetite for buying and purchasing new things is always at higher rate. “The things you own, end up owning you” (Palahniuk, 1996)
The Novel depicts another dimension of contemporary American growth which is the pursuit of perfection. For them, perfection might be in the body of a human being or in anything else like a house, for example. “A minute of perfection was worth the effort. A moment was the most you could ever expect from perfection.”(Palahniuk, 1996). In modern American community, the phrase “the perfect man” is a man who is rich, stylish and adequate. Moreover, a man who possesses a great part of luxurious furniture; consequently, influences the surrounding people. America’s infatuation with perfection and beauty, and its fascination with consumerism are two sides of the same coin as the novel hints; the two are overwhelmed with the passion to be “perfect”. In other words, the characters in the novel sell themselves in the purpose of seeking perfection. This devastated passion of the figures in the novel consequences in transforming them into “products”, merely like a piece of furniture in an apartment.
In Brave New World, there is a logo which says “Community, Identity, Stability”. The whole system of this World State is established according to those elements. This system is conditioned. The characters are conditioned and systemized to consume. They are learned that when goods get broken and require mending, they have to get rid of them. "Ending is better than mending. The more stitches, the less riches “(Huxley 52). People in the World State are acknowledged as inferior and minor beings if they don’t possess the most recent and extreme goods. It is the same case in America; the highest percentage of citizens see substantial properties as stuff that can be simply disposed of and interchanged. A way of identifying people is by what they possess of the finest goods and not frivolous ones.
The social system of Brave New World and the American community, nowadays, share a lot of similarities, but they are different in one critical aspect, knowledge. People in the novel are mechanized; they don’t have control of their actions. They are modified to never ask, but always consume. Citizens lack consciousness and freedom of choice because they even don’t know what independent individuality and freedom mean. In contrast, this is not a regular case in America at the current time. People are conscious for what they do and basically responsible for their actions and decisions. Self-determination and reliance is the primary distinction between America and The World State of Huxley. Huxley’s World State doesn’t give the permission to read any book or even to any connection to knowledge because if it is allowed, this will lead people to think and examine the world around them. ”You can't consume much if you sit still and read books" (Huxley 60).
Fight Club and Brave New World are both emulations for the modern American society aspects of perfection and consumerism. The image of consumerism and the prosecution of perfection is greatly portrayed throughout the novels. In Palahniuk’s work, consumerism is like a fashion, lifestyle, and a token that distinguishes superior people from inferior ones. In addition, perfection was being sought in each dimension of life. On the other hand, In Huxley’s work, consumerism was an essential part of the conditioning system of the world. People are taught to consume. It’s much like an unconscious consumerism because people are mechanized to do so. In this systemized World State, you are perfect as long as you consume. Perfection was achieved parallely with consumerism and throughout controlling people’s lives and minds.
This report will feature in this task an organisation from Section Q (Human health and social work activities). It will feature an NGO organisation in Oxfam and how the external business environment factors impact the organization. “Whether it’s an international bank, university or a multinational motor manufacturer no organisation exists within a vacuum, there will be competitors, be subject to international, national and local government regulations, pollution regulations, technology changes and fortunes of the global economy” (Brooks et al 2011).
Get original essayOxfam logo (Oxfam International, 2018)“The name Oxfam comes from the Oxford committee for Famine Relief founded in Britain in 1942.” Oxfam International was founded in 1995 by a group of NGOs (Non-Governmental-Organisations) with an aim of reducing poverty and injustice on an international stage. The group campaigned for food supplies to be sent through an allied naval blockade to starving women and children in enemy-occupied Greece during the Second World War. Oxfam has become the world’s leading relief delivery institution also helps vulnerable communities develop, end unfair trade rules, demand global health and education services for all as well as combating climate change. Oxfam is Global and operates in Africa, North & South America, Australia, Asia and Europe (Oxfam International, 2018).
As a multinational corporation Oxfam have been able to freely operate across many borders, enter into join ventures with corporations and serve society. All of this is due to improved transport, connections and communication as a result of globalization (‘the narrowing of international borders to allow corporations to operate under a single umbrella as a global village’) (Guy, 2007). Oxfam however still have to comply with the politics and economics of international business. Oxfam operating in Kenya would have to comply with political and economic forces that may affect their operations. A Pestle analysis is a good tool to analyze Oxfam’s external environment and also analyse strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats that may present themselves in the form of the overall environment of the NGO.
In a country Like Kenya and the African continent in general poverty is rampant, thus increasing the need for social and international aid. Oxfam would have to be aware of the external PESTLE (Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Legal and Environmental) forces that may affect their organization.
Oxfam would need to be observant of Government regulations such as environmental pollution regulations i.e. (plastic bags and bottles) and preservation of Natural resources i.e. (rivers and lakes). In order to provide humanitarian services to those in need, Oxfam would have to comply with business regulations in Kenya and East Africa as well as taxation laws, import and exports laws while dealing with sponsors and government intervention during natural disasters e.g. earthquakes and floods. Oxfam would also need to comply with the fiscal benefits demanded by the government as well as annual NGO reports of operations that need to be submitted to the government (Oxfam International, 2018). Political and legal factors are likely to affect Oxfam in terms of weaknesses, strengths, opportunities as well as threats to the way Oxfam operate.
Kenya has the largest economy in East Africa and is undergoing rapid urbanization, however 17 million Kenyans are suffering from poverty and living in non-urban areas. Oxfam are looking to provide aid to these people but some economic issues to consider would be; recession which affects NGOs more than profit making firms i.e.(fuel and food costs) which would slow down operations with sponsors in order to deliver necessary aid to those in need (Oxfam International, 2018). Economic factors may affect Oxfam in terms of strengths, opportunities and threats.
Social factors would really be contracts with sponsors, partners and donors e.g. which individuals and organisations would be willing to join the cause of Oxfam in the particular region and help them provide aid to the needy (Gromel, 2011). Social factors are likely to play into Oxfam’s strengths and present more opportunities.
Changing opportunities and earlier mentioned urbanization and globalization can only help increase the reach of Oxfam in Kenya and Africa in order to be able to reach a wider audience in order to be able to help those in need e.g. social media platforms used to generate awareness of issues that need to be addressed i.e. hunger, famine and gender equality (Gromel, 2011). Use of tracking systems of supplies and food and vehicles to be able to deliver and help communities in need. These are some of the ways technology can aid Oxfam in their mission (Oxfam International, 2018). Technological factors are likely to benefit Oxfam in terms of strengths as well present more opportunities.
Environmental issues that may have an impact on Oxfam would be environmental regulations that have to be followed i.e. regulations against emitting harmful gases, chemicals or substances into the o-zone and conservation of trees, forests and wildlife. As well as natural disasters that may generate an opportunity for aid but at the same time leave a lot of people in suffering. Other environmental influences maybe competitors competing for sponsors in order to launch initiatives to benefit the eco-system e.g. Red Cross and UNICEF (Oxfam International, 2018). Environmental factors are likely to generate opportunities as well as threats for Oxfam.
Five Forces Model (Soul High, 2012)
Expanding from the pestle framework, the above porters framework looks at the five forces affecting NGO’s and this can be applied to Oxfam in the following ways:
Power of suppliers - in the case of NGO’s suppliers are donors and can also be customers, they hold a big impact in ensuring the mission and resources of Oxfam are achieved. Suppliers not only help in delivery of goods but also necessary services needed from professionals i.e. doctors, sponsors, volunteers, farmers and teachers.
Power of large costumers - The power of large costumers’ maybe corporate funders and other donor organisation. They are very important as they influence the adaptation of a company’s model i.e. schools management that may require aid for the students and rely on Oxfam to do a good job or a displaced community looking for aid. Donor customers work hand in hand with the NGO to provide necessary resources such as food, clothing and shelter.
Level of rivalry in the market - This maybe other NGO’s working to provide the same services as Oxfam e.g. Unicef, Red Cross, United Nations children’s fund etc. The rivalry among NGO’s is usually respectful as NGO’s work in different territories to provide aid where it is scarce and will not intrude on rival territories.
Threat of potential entrants to the market - The barriers to entry into the non-profit sector are really low due to lack of profit and new entrants would need large donations, so this isn’t really a large threat for established NGO’s like Oxfam.
Threat of Substitutes - The threat of substitutes for NGO’s which is product and service based i.e. (food and health services) may be Water Aid, Doctors without borders, food for the hunger, free education. In the words substitutes may come from the government or other NGO’s and this could be a substantial threat to Oxfam in certain areas.
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Get custom essayThis task offered an in depth look at the external environmental forces affecting Oxfam, as a Non-profit organisation and how some of these forces may play into Oxfam’s favour and how others maybe a disadvantage to Oxfam However it is necessary to analyze such forces in order for Oxfam to be able to deliver their services effectively and develop new programs in the process. Models/theories used in this task include the porter’s five forces theory and the Pestle analysis.