Thursday, November 28, 2019

Ethical and Moral Dilemma McDonalds

In the contemporary business environment, many companies are embarking on the corporate social responsibilities to not only enhance a positive public image but also show an act of social responsibility and moral obligation to the society. In particular, McDonald’s fast food company embarks on an aggressive social responsibility strategy.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Ethical and Moral Dilemma: McDonald’s specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The company has suffered criticism over junk food. Nonetheless, the fast food giant continues to make substantial amounts of revenues notwithstanding the health issues raised regarding fries and junk. Should a company bear the social obligation to meet the demands of the society despite making profits from hazardous goods to consumers? Using the perspectives of such thinkers as Yukl, Machiavelli, Plato, Hobbes and Rand, this paper will focus on the analysis of the organizational dilemma. Standpoints of Various Thinkers on the Issue The moral challenges of power and self-interest raised by the above issue is dazzling. Judging the organization from Yukl perspectives of leadership, the leaders of McDonald’s have assumed various ways in which they exercise power not only on the employees and teams but also on the society (Yukl, 2006). Corporate social responsibility reflects reward power to the society where the company reaps benefits from sales and rewards the society through the initiative (Spence et al., 2004; Zaccaro et al., 2001). The use of reward power by McDonald’s has helped the organization to meet its objectives amidst calls for a paradigm shifts in eating habits. Further, the concept of power and self-interests elucidated by Plato could infer that McDonald’s has centralized power of influencing both the employees as well as the society. Plato sees no rationale for embarking on such strategy since it would imply th at people have power. He distances himself from ‘people power’ and argues that the company, which in this case represents the ‘Republic’, should not bear any moral obligation for the society (Bostock, 2000). Due to the power of self-interests, McDonald’s should focus on its objectives, which is to increase the wealth of its owners rather than distributing its revenues to people (Annas, 1981).Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Contrary to the views of Plato, Hobbes could judge the dilemma from different perspectives. His perspective of power, which in this case is wielded by McDonalds, should be in relation to other people. In his masterpiece, The Leviathan, Hobbes says that power is relational to other people without whom there would be no any phenomenon referred to as power (Ellis Harper, 1997). Hence, McDonalds has wielded relative power giv en that the consumers continue to have faith in the company. Niccollo Machiavelli would argue in line with his premise that human nature is typical of endless competition. In fact, the essence of life is to ensure that every person gets an edge over others. Applying this argument to the context of an organization, McDonalds should not relent on its current strategy whether or not the food they serve are healthy. Antonakis et al. (2009) assert that the company should focus on ensuring that it maximizes on profits without considering the consequences of its operations on the society or consumer. This is in lieu of the fact that an organization should aim at posing the increased competition with other food industry despite the means it uses (Davis Blomstrom, 1975). To the contrary, Rand conceptualizes the concept of power by elucidating that practical power is important and inherent aspect of human beings (Carroll Buchholtz, 2006). Therefore, McDonald’s consumers should be abl e to question the motives of the organization and demand the company to give back to the society through corporate social responsibility. References Annas, J. (1981). An introduction to Plato’s Republic. Oxford: Clarendon Press Antonakis, J., Ashkanasy, N. Dasborough, M. (2009). Does leadership need emotional intelligence? The Leadership Quarterly, 20 (2), 247–261. Bostock, D. (2000). Aristotle’s Ethics. New York: Oxford University Press.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Ethical and Moral Dilemma: McDonald’s specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Carroll, A. Buchholtz, A. (2006). Business and Society: Ethics and Stakeholder Management. Mason, Ohio: Thomson/South-Western. Ciulla, B. (2003).The Ethics of Leadership. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Thompson-Wadsworth Publishers. Davis, K. Blomstrom, R. (1975). Business and Society: Environment and Responsibility. New York: McGraw-Hill. Ellis , A. Harper, R. (1997). A Guide to Rational Living. Hollywood, California: Wilshire. Spence, L., Habisch, A. Schmidpeter, R. (2004). Responsibility and Social Capital. The World of Small and Medium Sized Enterprises. New York: Palgrave. Yukl, G. (2006). Leadership in Organizations. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall. Zaccaro, J., Rittman, L., Marks, A. (2001). Team leadership. Leadership Quarterly, 12(4), 451-483.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More This essay on Ethical and Moral Dilemma: McDonald’s was written and submitted by user Marisa Tillman to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Monday, November 25, 2019

The Rules of Using Positive and Negative Integers

The Rules of Using Positive and Negative Integers Whole numbers, which are figures that do not have fractions or decimals, are also called integers. They can have one of two values: positive or negative. Positive integers  have values greater than zero.Negative integers have values less than zero.  Zero is neither positive nor negative. The rules of how to work with positive and negative numbers are important because youll encounter them in daily life, such as in balancing a bank account, calculating weight, or preparing recipes. Tips for Success Like any subject, succeeding in mathematics takes practice and patience. Some people find numbers easier to work with than others do. Here are a few tips for working with positive and negative integers:Context can help you make sense of unfamiliar concepts.  Try and think of a practical application like keeping score when youre practicing.Using a number line showing both sides of zero is very helpful to help develop the understanding of working with positive and negative numbers/integers.Its easier to keep track of the negative numbers if you enclose them in brackets. Addition Whether youre adding positives or negatives, this is the simplest calculation you can do with integers. In both cases, youre simply calculating the sum of the numbers. For example, if youre adding two positive integers, it looks like this: 5 4 9 If youre calculating the sum of two negative integers, it looks like this: (–7) (–2) -9 To get the sum of a negative and a positive number, use the sign of the larger number and subtract. For example: (–7) 4 –36 (–9) –3(–3) 7 45 (–3) 2 The sign will be that of the larger number. Remember that adding a negative number is the same as subtracting a positive one. Subtraction The rules for subtraction are similar to those for addition. If youve got two positive integers, you would subtract the smaller number from the larger one. The result will always be a positive integer: 5  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ 3 2 Likewise, if you were to subtract a positive integer from a negative one, the calculation becomes a matter of addition (with the addition of a negative value): (–5)  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ 3 –5 (–3) –8 If youre  subtracting negatives from positives, the two negatives cancel out and it becomes addition: 5  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ (–3) 5 3 8 If youre subtracting a negative from another negative integer, use the sign of the larger number and subtract: (–5)  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ (–3) (–5) 3 –2(–3) – (–5) (–3) 5 2 If you get confused, it often helps to write a positive number in an equation first and then the negative number. This can make it easier to see whether a sign change occurs. Multiplication Multiplying integers is fairly simple if you remember the following rule. If both integers are either positive or negative, the total will always be a positive number. For example: 3 x 2 6(–2) x (–8) 16 However, if you are multiplying a positive integer and a negative one, the result will always be a negative number: (–3) x 4 –123 x (–4) –12 If youre multiplying a larger series of positive and negative numbers, you can add up how many are positive and how many are negative. The final sign will be the one in excess.   Division As with multiplication, the rules for dividing integers follow the same positive/negative guide. Dividing two negatives or two positives yields a positive number: 12 / 3 4(–12) / (–3) 4 Dividing one negative integer and one positive integer results in a negative figure: (–12) / 3 –412 / (–3) –4

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Video review Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 2

Video review - Essay Example Organization culture is also aligned in respect to the set goals. Organization structure is aligned in respect to the goals with each department working to achieve the set goal in order to achieve the overall organizational goals (CEB 1). As stated by the speaker, the four critical trends which should be responded to are complex new work environment, the changing work force demographic, the management of talent in respect to the business management and the talents strained by the new realities (CEB 1). The four generation of people explained by the speaker include the individual who work through others, individuals who need close supervision in order to work, talented people but placed in wrong working department and those in need of training in order to perform. All those generation must be managed properly for business progress. The HR should not dismiss individuals who do not deliver but they should be trained and monitor them to identify their talent and fix them in the right department (CEB 1). One significant reality strained by employees in workplace is changing to new work environment. In many cases employees change demographic or places of work in which they experience new rules. Employees moved from one organization to another and strain in adopting the new terms and goal (CEB 1). The five big steps explained by the speaker which companies need to take to drive better talents for good business outcomes are looking back for performance, organizing human resources through performance, moving to new view, redefining means of measuring success and driving any new move through application and not theories (CEB 1). The implications of the human resource function in an organization are network performance, high performance talent, achieving breakthrough performance after application of network performance, team work and process design. The human resource leadership must carry out different

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

Death penalty Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Death penalty - Term Paper Example Following an unsuccessful attempt by a foreign passenger to set off explosives on an airplane in the U.S., public outrage led to pressure to extend the federal death penalty to such crimes. The President has asked for an opinion regarding the constitutionality and the appropriateness of the death penalty for crimes that do not involve actual killing. I am working as one of the staff of the Attorney General of the United States. The Attorney General has asked me to draft a memo that spells out the policy arguments on both sides of the issue and then make a recommendation. This memo is prepared to submit to the president of United States which analyses both the sides of death penalty issue and argues against death penalty. Moreover, this memo provides recommendations to the President about the alterative options to death penalty. â€Å"The death penalty is the ultimate, irreversible denial of human rights† (Death Penalty, 2009). Unlike many other modes of punishment, death penal ty cannot be reversed once it is executed. The core philosophy of American criminal justice system is that not even a single criminal should be punished even if thousands of criminals escaped. Under such circumstances, it is quite possible that an innocent person could be given death penalty based on circumstantial evidences. It is possible for smart criminals to fabricate evidences which are pointing towards innocent people at the crime spots. Thus, instead of original culprit an innocent person may face death penalty. Life is the most important thing in this world and so science or technology succeeded in creating an artificial life form in a laboratory set up. In other words, the secrets behind life are still unknown to us. Only the creator has the moral authority to make changes in his creations. Capital punishment is the most an expensive way of punishing a criminal; so it should be prohibited. It is estimated that the cost needed for executing a death penalty is around 70% mor e than other punishments because of the necessities of the services of expert advocates, forensic testing, witnesses, investigating officers etc. In 1989, the state of Florida executed 42-year-old Ted Bundy. Bundy confessed to 28 murders in four states. During his nine years on death row, he received three stays of execution. Before he was put to death in the electric chair, Bundy cost taxpayers more than $5 million (Capital Punishment - The Costs Of Capital Punishment, 2011) The purpose of death penalty is to avoid threats from hard core criminals to innocent people in future. The innocent people or the tax payers forced to spend millions of dollars for punishing a criminal which is illogical especially when we consider that the objectives of death penalty can be obtained through cheaper options like life sentencing. Death penalty is not suitable for a civilized society like ours since it reduces the gap between the criminal and criminal justice system. A criminal who kills a perso n and the criminal justice system which execute a criminal are doing the same activity of taking the life. Even though the circumstances are different, the outcomes are the same. Delfino & Day (2008) have pointed out that â€Å"In the United States, death penalty is said to serve two principal social purposes: retribution and deterrence of capital crimes by prospective offenders† (Delfino & Day, 2008, p.1). Taking revenge for a crime is not a good philosophy to current generation. America is a Christian

Monday, November 18, 2019

Analysis of Steve Jobs as an entrepreneur Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Analysis of Steve Jobs as an entrepreneur - Essay Example This study will look to analyse Steve Jobs as an entrepreneur by evaluating him with Saras D. Sarasvathy’s work on ‘Effectuation: Elements of Entrepreneurial Expertise’. The study by Saras D. Sarasvathy (2003) was done with an endeavour to seek an answer to question related to the fact that ‘what makes a successful entrepreneur’s brain different from the average person’ (Young Money, LLC, 2011). The main findings of the study were related to ‘process elements of entrepreneurial expertise’, ‘principles of entrepreneurial expertise’, and ‘effectuation: the logic of entrepreneurial expertise’ (Sarasvathy, 2003). The conclusion that Saras D. Sarasvathy derived from her research was that most successful entrepreneurs generally rely on the factor of ‘effectual reasoning’. It means that they primarily define their goals based on the choices as well as the means they are provided with. Successful entr epreneurs are observed to be brilliant improvisers. They generally do not start their business venture with tangible goals, but they look to constantly assess situation to find ways to make most effective utilisation of the available resources. They look to use their personal strengths in order to develop different goals extemporaneously.

Friday, November 15, 2019

Petroleum As The Core Business Of PETRONAS

Petroleum As The Core Business Of PETRONAS The company of my choice is PETRONAS, the petroleum Multinational Corporation based in Malaysia. The paper will outline the background of the company followed by identification of the actual and potential impacts of globalisation on the company. Recommendation of strategies which the company might use to respond to the impacts is covered in the last part of the paper. 1.0 Overview of PETRONAS Multinational enterprise is defined as a large company with substantial resources that perform various business activities through a network of subsidiaries and affiliated located in multiple countries. (Cavusgil, Knight Riesenberger, p.13). PETRONAS, the acronym for Petroliam Nasional Berhad is a petroleum multinational corporation headquartered in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia which was incorporated on 17 August 1974 under the Companies Act, 1965. It is national oil company of Malaysia, vested with the entire ownership and control of the petroleum resources in the country (PETRONAS, 2010). Under the leadership of Tan Sri Hassan Marican, PETRONAS is transformed rapidly into a global company with oil explorations and business joint ventures with overseas partners. Over the years of effort, it has become a fully-integrated oil and gas corporation with operations in more than 30 countries worldwide and ranked among FORTUNE Global 500 ® largest corporations in the world (PETRONAS, 2010). 1.1 Integrated business of PETRONAS PETRONAS is fully integrated across the value chain from the upstream exploration, development, production, processing, and transportation and gas transmission to the marketing of liquefied natural gas and other petroleum products as shown in Figure 1.0. PETRONAS also involved in domestic refining, petrochemical manufacturing and marketing business, while managing a globally coordinated downstream operation designed to optimize product delivery to its customers through its marketing and trading operation (PETRONAS Capital, 2009). PETRONAS also engage in shipping, automotive engineering and property investment. Figure Integrated Business of PETRONAS Source: PETRONAS Annual Report 2010 1.2 Petroleum as the Core Business of PETRONAS Petroleum is the core business of PETRONAS because refined petroleum products account for 37% of the company total revenue amounting to RM80.7 billion (PETRONAS, 2010). Exports and domestic operation contributed 35% and 19.7% of PETRONASs total revenue respectively which bring positive balance of payments to Malaysia (PETRONAS, 2010). Thailand, Japan, Korea and Singapore has been the main crude oil export countries of Malaysia which account for 87% whereas over 40% of gas was exported to markets in Japan, Korea and Taiwan, most of the remainder used domestically for electricity generation (Malaysia Green Technology Corporation, 2010). Figure PETRONAS Composition Revenue 2010 Source: PETRONAS Annual Report 2010 The international operations are as important to PETRONAS which generated 45.3% (RM98.1 billion) of the company total revenue. PETRONASs production are mainly comes from Indonesia, Thailand, Myanmar, Vietnam, Chad, Egypt, Sudan, Mauritania, Iran, Pakistan and Turkmenistan. Africa remains to be the companys prominent operation region which contributed 57.7% of the company international production followed by South East Asia (25.1%) Oceania and Middle East Asia (17.2%). 1.3 Organisational Structure of PETRONAS Figure Organization structure of PETRONAS Source: PETRONAS Annual Report 2010 PETRONAS adopted a centralized functional organisation structure which the executive vice president (EVC) and vice presidents (VC) have to constantly report their performance to the CEO. Each VC or EVP from respective function are responsible to monitor and controlling the overseas operation with the aids of overseas joint venture companies or partners 2.0 External Analysis of PETRONAS 2.1 Political PETRONASS oil exploration often takes place in high political risk countries such as Sudan and Iraq with abundant resources of oil and natural gas. Sudan has been in political instability and having war for more than three-quarters of its existence due to the independence, protracted conflict rooted in deep cultural and religious differences which has slowed down country economical and political development (U.S. State Department, 2010). Recently, Sudans internal war evolved from the issue of exploring more oil region outside the territory because of depletion of the existing oil reserves. Despite political instability of Sudan could disrupt PETRONAS in oil exploration, the company had strengthened its politics affiliation through Malaysian Government to mitigate the effect. For example, PETRONAS is welcome by Sudan Government to pursue exploration and development works in its, Melut and Muglad Basins which has expanded in both the upstream and downstream sectors of the countrys oil and gas industry (PETRONAS, 2010). Besides, liberalize of countries trade policy is prominent to guarantee the profitability of PETRONASs overseas operation. In Malaysian, fewer tariffs are imposed on petroleum and gas product. PETRONAS is assigned to regulate the upstream activities in oil and gas as well as controlling the foreign investment of upstream petroleum and gas industry through the form of production-sharing contracts (PSCs), between foreign investors and PETRONAS. Likewise, South Africas government also developed their national oil and natural gas company, Petroleum Oil and Gas Corporation of South Africa (PetroSA) on managing and promoting the licensing of oil and gas exploration includes onshore and offshore exploration of the country. Thus, PETRONAS set its own oil refining and marketing presence in Africa through its 80% owned subsidiary, Engen Petroleum Limited ENGEN, a leading South African refining and marketing company. 2.2 Social Islam remain as the important role in shaping Malaysias position on many international issues especially those related to the Muslim world of which the Middle East is a part (Ruhanas Harun, 2009). Middle East and North Africa account for 60.4% of the world oil reserve which are the important for PETRONASs exploration and production. Thus, Malaysian government has been proactive to build up religious affiliation by developing membership of a worldwide Islam brotherhood. The action is paid off when Malaysia oil reserves have dwindled and few domestic opportunities exist to drill for new reserves, PETRONAS has successfully to expand its operations to Iraq and Sudan which are Islamic oriented developing countries. 2.3 Economic PETRONAS is the biggest contributor to the Malaysian government budget, accounting for 39.3% of the federal governments revenues in 2008, up from 36.4% in 2007 (CIA, 2010). According to Bank Negara, 26% of inward FDI of Malaysia was channelled into manufacturing oil and gas in 2008. With the financial support of PETRONAS, Malaysian Government has been subsidizing the local fuel prices since 2004 which is different from many countries whose followed the exact fuel prices regulated by global market price of gasoline (Bernama, 2010). The fuel price subsidies is intended to protect the local welfare of middle income household but it causes 5.0 to 44% of Malaysias fiscal deficit (JATRO). The activities of the state-owned PETRONAS influence the aggregate patterns, resulting in substantial investments in exploration and extraction in the oil and gas industry which is more towards the US, Canada and Australia as the recent rapid development of unconventional gas resources. 2.4 Technology Environment In Malaysia, domestic reservoirs are maturing due to the fact that Malaysian production is depleting since oils has been produced for hundred years. PETRONAS has been expanding overseas exploration and production of resources such as South Africa, Egypt and so on. Just like many other oil companies offshore rig has caused ecological imbalances such health and reproductive problems for surrounding marine life, destroys kelp beds, reefs and coastal wetlands, and exposes the wildlife to threats of oil spills (Greening Forward, 2008-2010). In such way, PETRONASs image is harm through the directly linkages to environments pollution. Company has been focusing on green technologies and developing in-house greening solutions. In particularly, the company has an ongoing research for strengthening PETRONAS ECOPLUSà ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢ environmentally friendly, degradable polymer series (PETRONAS Annual Report). 3.0 Overview of Globalization According to Business Dictionary, globalisation implies opening out beyond local and nationalistic perspectives to a broader outlook of an interconnected and inter-dependent world with free transfer of capital, goods and services across national frontiers. As world economy globalizes the national economies integrate into the international through trade; foreign direct investment; short-term capital flows; international movement of workers and people in general and flows of technology (Najam, A., Runnalls, D. Halle, M). This has created opportunity to the rise of multinational like PETRONAS in developing country venturing to the petroleum industry that used to be the exclusivity of companies from developed countries such as Royal Dutch Shell from United Kingdom and Exxon Mobil from United States. With the globalisation effect, PETRONAS has been growing organically and through strategic partnerships, via joint ventures, mergers acquisitions and so on as catalysts for escalated performance (Dato Shamsul Azhar Abbas, 2010). PETRONAS is gaining more freedom either on exporting petroleum products or setting up oil refineries in worldwide. This enable the company to continue dominant its position in the international business environment by penetrating larger capital market that has lesser regulations on foreign direct investment. For instance, PETRONAS is included in The New Seven Sister ranking by Financial Times which considered as one of the most influential international oil and gas companies which controlled about one third of the of the worlds oil and gas production and reserves (Nicholas Vardys The Global Guru, 2010). However, globalisation is not a bonus giving for all companies but imposes certain opportunity cost to the companies operations. PETRONAS may enjoy of possessing diversified revenue base which generated from its overseas operations and marketing. At the same time, the company has the opportunity cost of facing unexpected problems of like changing economic, regulatory and political environments globally and regionally which would create a serious impact to the companys growth. The actual globalisation impact on PETRONAS will be political risk, global competition and global technology transfer. 3.10 Actual Globalisation Impact on PETRONAS 3.11 Political risk Political risks of operating countries remain as the fundamental globalisation impact of PETRONAS because 42.1% of the companys revenue derives from international operation in countries such as Iran, Myanmar, Cuba and Sudan in the fiscal years ended in 2009. PETRONAS strategy was to pick strongest partner in operating countries to minimise these risk. For instance, the company is in partnership with China National Oil Corp. and Sudans National Oil Company, Sudapet, while in Iran it has a tie-up with Frances TotalFinaElf, which has a strong relationship with the country (Leslie Lopez, 2003). 3.12 Global Competition Globalization makes it increasingly difficult for PETRONAS to rely only on national regulation to protect its local positions in oil and gas industry. PETRONAS is deemed to face intense competitions of its oil and gas and refining industries in both domestically and internationally. For instance, PETRONASs retail subsidiary company, PETRONAS Dagangan Sdn Bhd used to compete with its main competitor Royal Dutch Shell but now competing with other retail competitors like ESSO (Exxon Mobile subsidiary), Caltex and BHP (Boustead Petroleum Marketing Sdn Bhd). On the other hand, globalisation of liberalization enables oil firms to set up oil refinery in other countries which lead PETRONAS in a competition of oil exploration and production operations in Sudan. 3.13 Risk and Benefit of Technology Transfer As economies open up, more people become involved in the processes of knowledge integration and the deepening of non-market connections, including flows of information, culture, ideology and technology. New technologies move across boundaries quicker, by connecting workers and citizens across boundaries and oceans (e.g., the rise of global social movements as well as of outsourcing), but they can also threaten social and economic networks at the local level (Najam, A., Runnalls, D. Halle, M). Under the effect of globalization, technology transfer is performed from MNC home country to host countries. PETRONAS presence in Sudan has transferred its exploratory and production technology to expand upstream and downstream sectors of Sudanese oil and gas industry. This could have harmed PETRONAS in a sense that transferring its competitive advantage to Sudan because the nation can explore the countrys oil reserved through skills learned from PETRONAS. Nevertheless, PETRONAS also learn special technology skill through its overseas joint venture partners. PETRONAS learned appropriate petrochemical technology through its joint venture partners include The Dow Chemical Company (Dow Chemical), BASF Netherlands B.V. (BASF), BP Chemicals, Idemitsu Petrochemical Co. Ltd, Mitsubishi Corporation, and Sasol Polymers International Investments (Pty) Ltd, (Sasol Polymers) which possess financing capability, marketing and distribution expertise (PETRONAS Capital). 3.20 Potential Globalisation Impact on PETRONAS 3.21 Depletions of Natural Resources The rapid acceleration in global economic activity and our dramatically increased demands for critical, finite natural resources undermine our pursuit of continued economic prosperity (Najam, A., Runnalls, D. Halle, M.). Under the globalisation process, firms gain free access to exploit natural resources of one country to another without any restriction. Non renewable resources like petroleum and gas sooner will be depleted over the years through uncontrollable exploration and productions. These impose serious environmental cost as well as the influencing the future direction of oil and gas industry. Sustainability of PETRONAS and other petroleum companies is deemed to be affected as petroleum product is source of revenue of the industry. Therefore, finding replacement of these depleted resources through invention of new technology is crucial to sustain the companies the industry. 3.22 Changes in foreign environmental laws and regulation In order to protect the environments, some countries might enact additional environmental legislation and regulation regarding exploration and production of oil and gas, petroleum, petrochemical products and other activities. Environmental law and regulation would limit or prohibit the company on drilling activities within protected areas and certain other areas; and impose penalties for pollution resulting from oil, natural gas and petrochemical operations, including criminal and civil liabilities for serious pollution ( Green Forward, 2008-2010). These would incur significant unforeseen expenditures for PETRONAS to comply with such requirements, which could adversely affect on PETRONAS business, financial condition and results of operations in overseas. Therefore, PETRONAS is in disadvantage because of taking longer time to response the changes in foreign environment laws and regulation attributes to its centralised management structure which connected globally 3.23 Risk of Brain Drain During the year under review, the shortage of critical skills faced by the oil and gas industry represented the key people related challenge faced by PETRONAS (PETRONAS, 2010). With the globalisation effect, PETRONAS could have enjoyed the benefit of penetrating and extracting talents in different countries by setting up overseas operations. However, it put the company at risk of brain drain in worldwide operation. Brain drain is referring to the net loss of a countrys highly trained and skilled manpower through migration (WebFinance, 2010). This is because globalisation process improves the mobility of skilled labour to move around the world freely. This means workers are becoming active information seekers and concern about their benefits in the organisations. Conveniences of knowledge sharing like pay standards and job opportunity via Internet able to influence the workers decision on staying in the same organisations. If PETRONAS Malaysia unable to offered attractive incentive to motivate skilled workers, the company is likely to find very difficult to retain the higher skilled workers who attracted better remuneration and benefits from companies in developed countries such as UK, Middle East, and so on. 4.0 Recommendation Figure Ansoffs Matrix Strategy Source: http://www.franteractive.net/resources/Ansoff-Matrix.GIF 4.10 Diversify to innovative green technology In order to overcome the potential impact, PETRONAS should not over dependence on natural resource like oil and gas to sustain the company future. PETRONAS is recommended to acquire new market with new product line through diversification. The company could focus on developing green technology as the environment preservation is key concern of around the world. Thus, PETRONAS is recommended to develop alternative fuels such as converting plastic waste to fuels, wastewater to fuels and so on which are considered economical to consumers yet reducing the pollution and damages to environment. In Malaysia, PETRONAS should emphasize on recycle energy supply technology by turning garbage into energy because Malaysian produced 23000 tonnes of garbage each day. With this technology, PETRONAS could form partnership with local electricity producer, Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) as a way to increase its competitive advantage of diversification in energy industry over other oils and gas competitors as well as improving the environment status in Malaysia. 4.20 Reposition PETRONASs image By addressing the environmental problem causing by exploration and production activities, PETRONAS has been investing on its corporate social responsibility (CSR) centred on enhancing the education and community programme in Malaysia and abroad. In Vietnam, PETRONAS contribution to the nations development through education was recognised through the Certificate of Merit in Education by the President and Deputy Prime Minister of Vietnam in 2010 (PETRONAS, 2010). But still there is a limitation of the companys CSR direction which should be refocuses on preserving the environments. Therefore, it is important for PETRONAS to reposition its image to be responsible and environmental concern oil and gas corporation. The company has to be alert of the changes foreign environmental laws and regulation as well as filling Environmental Assessment (EIA) before setting up exploration, production, refining and chemical projects in overseas. The company should increase investment on its research an d development by reducing the air emission and discharges resulting from the operation of natural gas processing plant, chemical plants, refineries, pipeline system. 4.30 Retain talents with attractive incentives program and growth PETRONAS believe staff is selflessly built, nurtured and grown under the corporation share value of loyalty, integrity, professionalism and cohesiveness. PETRONAS should continue its CSR on providing quality education in each country as a way to recruit talents from amongst the local and overseas graduates. However, retaining the existing high quality staffs of PETRONAS is a prominent factor to sustain the future of the corporation. Therefore, PETRONAS should increase the human empowerments by offering occupational mobility along both the technical or managerial tracks and ample opportunities for learning and growing. PETRONAS should also launches special incentive program to motivate staff through giving bonuses, company trips and other staff benefits. In this way, staffs would find themselves appreciated and more willing to serve the company with loyalty. 5.0 Conclusion From time to time, the most distinct globalisation impact on PETRONAS is the politics instability of oil exploration and production countries followed by the global competition of building market share as well as the oil and gas resources. The trend of technology transfer under globalisation, on the other hand, has benefited PETRONAS of capturing technical skills from overseas partners but it also leads PETRONAS losses its competitive advantage through transferring patented technologies while exploring other countries. Potential impact of globalisation would be the depletion of resources, changing environmental law and regulation and loss of human capital which are needed to take account by PETRONAS of sustaining its global presence in the coming future. In order to mitigate the actual globalisation impacts, PETRONAS has to strengthen its politics and religious affiliation with oil production countries for the future benefit. As for resolving the potential impact, PETRONAS is recommended to perform diversification in innovative green technology as the world is stressing on environment preservation. In addition, the company needs to reposition its global image not only by means of its current corporate social responsibility that solely focus on regional education but it should be more focus on environment preservation. Next, PETRONASs re-evaluate their incentives plan to avoid brain drain problem which high skilled workers are poached by competitors in developed countries. As a conclusion, it is important for MNC to join hand with government to mitigate the globalisation impact. PETRONAS strategy of growth through joint venture and partnership in the global is a brilliant way of reducing business risk. But without the effort of Malaysia Government of being proactive in developing politics and religious affiliation with Middle East countries, PETRONAS can never gain the opportunity to explore in these countries. Therefore, PETRONAS has to maintain its current competitive advantage as well as keep an eye on the unknown impact of globalisation. 2897 words

Wednesday, November 13, 2019

Speeding up the close :: essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Speeding up the close†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The article I choose to review is â€Å"Speeding up the close† by Gaye van den Hombergh and Laurie Streling from the magazine Financial Executive June 2004 issue. Companies with a 12-month accounting period otherwise known as a fiscal year are coming up with alternative ways to reduce time and speed up the process to meet the impending 60-day deadline. This article discusses fiscal year and the abilities of companies to close the books quickly to access real-time financial results, which, in turn, lead to better decision making. Companies spend or invest funds in projects that hopefully make the firm more profitable, having real-time financial results would make this more efficient. Faster closings means more time for the company to process the numbers, also a rapid close is a sign of the efficiency and success of management and the company. If management has real-time financial results it allows them to respond more efficiently to changes in the market, which, in turn, help investors make significant investment decisions. The article goes on to discuss the pressure mounting for virtual close, but how urgent is it, and is it worth the investment? A survey was conduct of financial executives in companies to see if the pressure mounting for virtual close is significant often to proceed with further action. The Johnsson Group found less than one out of five respondents reported a fully automated close, more than half said that their close process is semi-automated and requires some manual intervention, and a quarter replied that their systems need significant manual intervention. Speed up the close should not be viewed as a vital step to be taken all at once, but as an evolutionary process. The concept of virtual close shows us how far the finance organization have come in the pass couple of years in the time it takes to performing closings. Two-thirds of companies closed their books for the quarter in 4 to 7 business days, 16 percent are accomplishing their closings in 1 to 3 days, but on other hand 21 p ercent of the companies reported needing more than 7 business days for closing. Although companies have to be prepared to confront certain issues while obtaining faster closing, like less emphasis on training, leaving companies with fewer finance â€Å"historians who in fact know the rationale behind the processes and have a deeper understanding of the business†. The next paragraph in this article discusses a more strategic role for finance.