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Corporate Governance and Corporate social responsibility

Corporate Governance

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Introduction

Corporate social responsibility is a hard decision to be taken by the company. Companies do not embrace CSR because it is a nice thing or because they are forced but because it is nice for their business. Companies should not be in business because of money but because of responsibility. They should consider about public good but not private greed. This is because it takes a long time to build a reputation but it takes five minutes to destroy the reputation. Therefore, CRS involves conducting businesses in an ethical way for the interests of the wider community and responding to the priorities of the societies and their expectations. Businesses should be able to balance the interests of the shareholders with the interest of the company and act ahead of regulatory confrontations.

The title CRS is a guide to a company’s missions and assist a company identify what it stands for and it will uphold to consumers. There is development of business ethics that guides a company to work within the stipulated laws. Philanthropy approach is common in companies that have embraced CSR since they give donations to local and nonprofit organizations in the community. This donations include social welfare, art education and health care. Another approach is to incorporate CRS directly to the strategies of an organization. For instance, procurement of fair trade tea and coffee by organizations into their business.

The Nestor Advisor is a company that gives advice on corporate governance, especially suggestions and ideas that will help non-financial companies from many regulations that will burden them. Their aim is to give views that will help the commission to come up with regulations that will meet the needs of non-financial corporations. Their main emphasis is on the board of directors and explanation of structure of the green paper.

Separation of the head of the panel and chief executive officer is the first issue addressed. The commission wants to know whether the responsibilities of the chairperson should be disintegrated from those of the head executive director. Duties of the chairperson must be defined clearly and there is no justification of separating chief executive officer roles from those of chairperson (Nestor Advisors, 2011). Separation of their duties is the best practice for the companies, especially in time of crises. Companies should use this strategy or any other that helps in flexible running of the company.

Board Composition

Professional diversity, international diversity, and gender diversity are discussed in relation to board composition. The commission wants to know the criteria to be used when employing workers. They want to know if the company should disclose whether it includes gender diversity, or it should be specific on the director’s profile.

Nestor advisors suggest that boards should have appropriate methods of the nomination process. Companies should be specific in recruiting board members, and they should have a proper channel of succession (Nestor Advisors, 2011).

They encourage board members to be from different areas; this will reduce the problem of blind spots, as opposed to those from the same area. Though they encourage board diversity, there are occasions when people from the same area perform better due to cohesiveness.

Risk management

The commission wants to know if the board should be responsible for the company’s risks and if they should disclose key issues. It is advantageous to disclose financial risks to stakeholders, but use of appropriate language is advised to avoid confusion and noise (Thomson Reuters, 2010). Boards should direct the companies on the amount of risk it is willing to undertake and the measures they will use to neutralize these risks.

Methods of governance

The freedom of a company should be in accordance with the provisions and be able to explain why it has left a certain practice benefits the company. This is workable in companies where the stakeholders are given active roles.

Statements that stipulate shareholders commitment in governance of the company according to the market should have meaning and be informative. This leaves the shareholder with the role of judging the governance of the company.

In spite of the EU considerations of making the explain approach flexible and market friendly, some improvements must be made. Monitoring groups can take the mandate of confirming that comply statement is complete and comprehensive.

There should be comply codes in certain markets to reduce exposure of governance deals. The EU has to provide comply codes for national markets, but the member states are supposed to choose the codes.

Board evaluation

It has been realized that regular external evaluation is beneficial to the company, not only in time of crisis, but also in opportune times. The board members get a chance to know their weak points and strong points through external evaluation. External evaluators can give valuable additional advised in relation to their areas of proficiency (Nestor Advisors, 2011).

Various businesses want to save by incorporating taxes but this depends whether these companies have corporate social responsibility. A company that is in Corporate social responsibility has the greatest advantage because it avoids double taxation. Corporate social responsibility has the disadvantage of being taxed at the individual and corporate level. Companies in Corporate social responsibilities are taxed from their business profits and shareholders have to pay additional money they take from the corporation including their dividends and bonuses. On the other hand, profits from the Corporation are given to the shareholders and later they pay taxes for these profits, which is similar to sole proprietorship taxing and partnership taxing. The Corporations do not pay any income taxes thus allowing the corporation to incorporate tax savings.

Conclusion

For a company to perform well, it should have a board of members from different domains. This will help them deal with different problems effortlessly. Companies are advised to be discrete and use understandable language when announcing their financial risks, mainly to avoid confusion from its shareholders. Regular external evaluation is recommended as it helps board members recognize their strong and weak points.

References

Nestor Advisors. (2011). EU Commission Green Paper: The EU Corporate Governance

framework.

Thomson Reuters. (2010). Special Corporate Governance: Building Better Boards. New York:

Thomson Reutors Accelus.

Thomson Reuters. (2010). Special Report: Corporate Governance: Building Better Roads.

Corporate Finance 571

Corporate Finance 571

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When a firm chooses to use a single discount rate to compute NPV in all its possible capital budgeting projects .That have wide range of non-diversifiable risks, it is bound to get riskier. This method has many drawbacks and the main harm it imposes is on diversified risks and projects lower risk it means the firm has to choose from inflation rate, interest rate or any desired rate of return (Baker, 2017). This means the projects shall have an internal rate of return that makes the net present value of all the cash flows from the project to be zero. Therefore when the IRR of the project is higher than the cost of capital the NPV of the project shall be positive whereas when it is lower than the cost of capital, the NPV of the project shall be negative (Parrino, 2015).

The firm may be selecting projects that have higher IRR than the single discount rate which are riskier. A single discount rate brings about negatives to a project with higher and undiversifiable risks on ta project that has a relative lower risks. This hides the risk of the projects that are seen to be risky and makes the project to appear less risky than the reality. Alternatively, it does the harm to the less risky projects since it shows them a more risky and less diversified than the actual Since they bring the risk of the other projects to be seen within the project that are less risky.

Therefore, the general risk profile of the firm with the project becomes less likely to depict in a transparent way and make the fir, to appear riskier to the investors as well as the associates (Parrino, 2015). Normally, when a firm wants to decide the rate to be used to discount its future cash flows, is it considers the risk associated with that project and the cost of financing. Therefore the discount rate should engross the risk factor.

In conclusion it would not be advisable for the firm to use one single discount rate in all types of projects.

References

Capital Budgeting Valuation: Financial Analysis for Today’s Investment Projects.” Capital

Budgeting Valuation: Financial Analysis for Today’s Investment Projects – Baker – Wiley Online Library. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Feb. 2017.

Parrino, R. (2015). Corporate Finance. Singapore: John Wiley & Sons.

Continued SWOT Analysis of Big South Conference

Continued SWOT Analysis of Big South Conference

Author’s Name

Institutional Affiliation

Continued SWOT Analysis of Big South Conference

Demand Trends

Big South Conference operates within the sports industry where the demand for live attendance of matches is growing steadily. For instance, the number of people engaging in live match attendance in a single game in the Big South Conference men’s basketball tournament in 2019 was 2,772 (Archdiocese of Philadelphia Schools, 2014). In the women’s edition of this tournament, the live match attendance in a single game in 2018 was 4,610. The NCAA (2018) attests to these figures and confirm that statistically, all-time attendance for women tournaments has grown significantly from a total of 11,210,832 in 2012 to 11,495,642 in 2018. On the part of men, the total attendance has grown in similar trends.

With hundreds of thousands of fan increase in live attendance in 6 years, it is evident that the popularity of Big South Conference is growing, explaining why the association began sponsoring football events in 2002 and women lacrosse in 2013 (Big South Conference, 2019). Big South Conference is continuing its growing presence in NCAA athletic events due to many athletic accomplishments and excellence in the community, classroom, and the field. Based on these trends, Big South Conference needs to continue delivering an appealing and outstanding experience for fans to ensure that it continues to attract large attendance rates. Big South Conference can also augment attendance rates by making ticket purchasing more flexible, participating in building awareness, and leveraging marketing communications to reach new remote attendees. Lastly, Big South Conference can consider the importance of expanding its media partnerships towards enhancing the demand for its offerings in the American community.

Technology Trends

The sports industry has benefited momentously from new digital technologies and the associated advancements. Currently, Big South Conference leverages innovative media and marketing technologies to increase its television packages while expressing its commitment to using technological solutions to foster academic, athletic, and social development of student-athletes (Big South Conference, 2019). Media channels that broadcast different sporting events sponsored by Big South Conference help to spread information about the association fast, increasing its popularity among different populations. Social media such as Facebook and Twitter offer remarkable platforms that make it easier for athletes and fans to connect, which can enable Big South Conference to enhance fan contribution and zeal for sporting events. The availability of smartphones allows for easier, faster, and broader access to news and updates about sporting events for both athletes and fans.

Other technologies that influence Big South Conference and its sports offerings include the availability of ticket processing machines and online application platforms that allow sports attendees to purchase their tickets conveniently and with ease, thus improving their experience. Big South Conference can also take advantage of wearable technology, which includes implements such as fitness and activity trackers and smart watches, to facilitate exercises for athletes and augment its reputation. On the negative side, the availability of streaming sites and contemporary television sets can reduce attendance to sporting events sponsored by Big South Conference as fans may opt to stream live sporting events and watch them from home, Sell (2015) submits.

References

Archdiocese of Philadelphia Schools. (April 04, 2019). 2019 PCL basketball doubleheader among the most well-attended championship events nationally. Philadelphia, PA. Archdiocese of Philadelphia Schools. Retrieved February 16, 2020, from https://www.aopathletics.org/news/2019/3/28/boys-basketball-2019-pcl-basketball-doubleheader-among-the-most-well-attended-championship-events-nationally.aspx?path=xc.

Big South Conference. (2019). Big South Conference History. Charlotte, NC. Big South Conference. Retrieved February 16, 2020, fromhttp://bigsouthsports.com/sportfile.aspx?filename=ALL_0630161346&file_date=6/30/2016.

NCAA. (2018). NCAA women’s basketball attendance records through 2017-18. NCAA.

Sell, J. J. C. (2015). E-sports broadcasting (Doctoral dissertation, Massachusetts Institute of Technology).

Contingent workers are assuming a greater role in today’s organization

Question:

Contingent workers are assuming a greater role in today’s organization. With that as a background, discuss compensation and benefit issues associated with the following workers: part-time, temporary, independent workers, and flexible/telecommuting.

Solution:

In this competitive environment it is very essential to avoid the employee turnover, and focus on the retention of the employees. As any organization train and develop the employees according to their needs, and spend time, money and resources for their growth. The company provides the employees with good compensation packages and rewards for the same. The employee retention has become one of the prime issues in today’s time, as the competition has increased tremendously. Such a program provides a sense of belongingness in the employees and they are more eager to work for such an organization. Motivation is the key strategy of human resource department and the quality of life benefits provide them will extra perks to work for the benefit of the organization.Flextime provides the employees with flexible time of performing his duties; such a benefit helps him to deliver his full potential according to his own chosen time. Independence provides a sense of responsibility as well as freedom to express.And the telecommuting facility provides not only benefit to the employee but also to the employer as easy tracking of the employee can be done on records.

Reference:

HYPERLINK “https://www.google.co.in/search?hl=en&sa=X&noj=1&prmdo=1&biw=1366&bih=629&tbm=bks&tbm=bks&q=inauthor:%22Cascio%22&ei=VWfIT6rmEM-GrAeKm_ynDg&ved=0CEIQ9Ag”Cascio, 2010, Managing Human Resources.

Contemporary philosophical thinking

Contemporary philosophical thinking is the way of thinking in such a philosophical manner, so the way of thinking could be enhances and we could get some integrated ideas behind the happening of the things and the matter. Since the metaphysical influences are also related with the thinking phenomenon of our mind and the way of activity we are influenced with. The diversity of global and diversified culture on the other hand also has a great influence over the philosophical thinking as the culture plays an important role to figure out our thought process. The surrounding, where we live and what we see and what we practice as on daily basis it all part of our cultures. So, obviously it will make an important effect on the contemporary philosophical thinking.

Example: The way we grow the way we think, if we have been grown in a peaceful culture, we will think in the peaceful manner and vice versa. Like, we can see the example of any great philosopher like Aristotle. He influenced so much with the environment around him. He discovered a lot of new philosophies after analyzing the culture and environment of his surroundings. So, we can see that the cultural aspect make a great effect on the contemporary philosophical thinking.

Contemporary Marketing Assignment

Contemporary Marketing Assignment

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(Institutional Affiliation)

Introduction

Building a strong brand has been indicated to provide several financial rewards to companies, and has become a top priority for most firms. Building a strong brand with considerable equity is seen as providing a company with numerous possibilities to benefit a company including increased customer loyalty and decreased vulnerability to actions of competitive marketing and crises in marketing (Aaker, 2004). In addition to this, strong brands are also crucial in profit making through increased margins, in addition, to more favourable response from customers to increases and decreases in price, greater intermediary or trade cooperation and support, and more effectiveness in communication and brand extension and licensing opportunities. With such keen interest in building a strong brand, two issues usually come up. One has to do with the components of a strong brand and the other has to do with ways of developing a strong brand (Farris et al., 2010).

While customer loyalty is mainly described by what individuals do, brand loyalty usually is defined by the feelings and impressions of individuals (Dawes, 2009). A number of global brands can boast the kind of loyalty and passion shown by generations of certain companies like Disney. Disney Company is going to be the basis of this paper on which examples will be drawn on how the company has come up with strategies to build a strong brand that leads to increasing customer retention and loyalty. For more than eighty years, the company has experienced and maintained a lasting and comfortable position in the market. There are numerous reasons as to why the company has managed to be as so, but one of the main reasons is because of the creation of a strong brand (JZMcBride and Associates, 2011).

This document will scrutinize various ways through which Disney Company has built a strong brand, which has helped the company retain millions of customers and their loyalty thus increasing profits. The paper will cite specific examples of how the company has managed to do this.

There are different ways through which Disney is able to keep its customers happy and loyal. One of the ways through which the company has accomplished this is through the creation of a brand promise. The company has been able to narrow down its promise of brand to a single action, which is using heart to entertain (JZMcBride and Associates, 2011). Studies suggest that loyalty includes some level of pre- dispositional commitment in a brand. Loyalty to a brand is seen as a construct that is multidimensional. Such loyalty is dependent on a number of distinct psychological processes and it involves a number of measurements, the perceived value of customers, trust in brands, satisfaction of customers and commitment are all thought to be key influencing entities of loyalty to a brand (Fournier, 2007). As it follows, the strategy of Disney to use heart or feelings in entertaining the customers fulfils all these requirements and ensures that the company maintains the loyalty of its customers.

Another way the company builds its brand and retains customers is by controlling its brand. By being true to its brand in numerous ventures is what differentiates the company from other brands in the market. For instance, the company owns ABC, which broadcasts numerous programs. For instance, ABC broadcasts a show Called Pan Am that is based on the lives of individuals in the 1960s. One thing that one notices is that the show does not include scenes of smoking even though they were increasingly common during this time. This shows that the company wishes to stick to its promise of broadcasting shows that are family friendly (JZMcBride and Associates, 2011). According to a number of studies, commitment to behaviour of repeated purchase are considered as necessary elements for creating brand loyalty and customer loyalty, followed by satisfaction, perceived value and brand trust. Several scholars claim that enhancing customer loyalty has the potential to increase profitability dramatically (Torres-Moraga et al., 2008). It seems that Disney is well aware f this fact because it knows who its customers are, that is, families. By coming up with products targeted to this customer segment helps it form a trustful relationship with its customers (Jones et al., 2004).

Another strategy for creating brand loyalty is studying and getting to know one’s customers, Disney conducts extensive studies to study and learn about its customers. The company knows that its main customers and audiences are the children, and, as it follows, it comes up with designs that suit these customers. For example, numerous windows to the gist shops are low so that these young customers are able to see what is on sale. The company also knows the seasons that its customers prefer to visit, therefore, it is able to get ready for specific audiences and customers (JZMcBride and Associates, 2011). Getting to know ones customers well is one way of knowing and coming up with ways to please and satisfy their needs. By carrying out surveys like those that Disney does, companies are able to know beforehand what to expect, what to provide for customers and the number of customers to expect. Being ready for customers means happy customers, and, thus, more profits (Punniyamoorthy & Raj, 2007).

Despite the fact that Disney has managed to come up with numerous ways through which it can retain its customers, the company has left some areas unexploited. For instance, the company does not challenge its customers to be more loyal or to increase their loyalty. This is to say that the company does not provide its customers with more opportunities to show how loyal they can be to the company. This can be achieved by availing to them more products, advertising them, asking for their feedback on the products and services, and so forth. The company has also not established strong relationships with its customers; the company endangers its brand loyalty by not giving its customers what they wish for. In addition to this, Disney does not ensure availability of certain products as a given and it does not put its brand where its customers want them when experiencing relevant specific needs (Shankar, Smith & Rangaswamy, 2009).

Conclusion and Recommendation

As numerous consumer goods, segments and markets mature the essentiality of customer loyalty and retention has become a greater concern especially as the number of new consumers available becomes scarce. Deep brand loyalty is the ideal objective of marketers, putting in mind the association between increased profitability and loyal customers (Trasorras, Weinstein & Abratt, 2009). As it follows, Disney should consider putting more effort in retaining more customers that are new by doing several things. Such actions should include giving in to customers and providing for them what they need, challenging its customers further to provide more loyalty to its products and services. Furthermore, the company can increase its brand loyalty and retain more customers by ensuring the availability of certain products as a given, in addition to, putting or placing its brand where its customers want them when experiencing certain, relevant needs. These are some actions that can increase the brand loyalty of Disney, including a number of commitments by customers to repurchase or continue purchasing and using the Disney brand. This is usually demonstrated by repeated purchasing of a service or commodity, or other behaviour like advocacy through word of mouth.

For the company to ensure that its customers remain loyal to its products and services, it has to establish strong relationships with its customers and improve on the existing ones. Disney can achieve this through various methods. Disney, for instance, does not have an established platform for dealing with complaints of its customers. Disney can on exploit this fact to improve relations with its customers by building a platform whereby customers can post their complaints and that shows what the company is doing about it. An example is building a website where customers can post their complaints and interact with management on ways to solve their complaints and concerns (Tasorras, Weinstain & Abaratt, 2009). The company should dedicate considerable efforts to this website to show that it is committed to the concerns and needs of its customers.

The company has excellent ways of informing customers of existing and new products as well as excellent platforms for placing orders and tracking orders. To improve its relationships with its customers, Disney has to make sure that these elements remain effective and efficient so that customers are served fast and as required. This way they will be willing to come back for more and remain loyal to their customers. Despite these excellently conducted activities, the company needs to improve its methods of receiving feedback from its customers (Tasorras, Weinstain & Abaratt, 2009). Just like handling complaints, Disney does not have an efficient platform to receive feedback. It has to establish one to sustain positive relationships with its customers.

References

Aaker, A. (2004). Strategic Market Management. New York: John Wiley.

Dawes, J. (2009). The Effect of increases in Service Price on Retention of Customer: The Moderating Role of Relationship Breadth and Customer Tenure”. J. of Serv. Res., 11.

Farris, W. et al. (2010). Marketing Metrics: The Definitive Guide to Measuring Marketing Performance.  New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc. 

Fourier, S. (2008). Delivering on the Relationship in customer relations management. MSI/Duke CRMC. Durham, NC.

Jones, A. et al. (2004). Why Consumers Stay: Measuring the Underlying Scope of Managing Their Differential Strategic Outcomes Services and Switching Costs. Journal of Business Research, 55, 441-50.

JZMcBride and Associates. (2011). Disney approach to brand loyalty. The Spin within. Retrieved from http://www.jzmcbride.com/blog/2011/08/disneys-approach-to-brand-loyalty/

Punniyamoorthy, M. & Raj, P. (2007). An experiential model for brand loyalty quantity. J. of Measurement, Targeting and Analysis for Marketing, 15 (4): 222-233.

Shankar, A., Smith, K. & Rangaswamy, A. (2009). Customer satisfaction and loyalty in online and offline environments. Working paper. Penn State University.

Torres-Moraga, E. et al. (2008). Customer satisfaction and loyalty: start with the product, culminate with the brand. Journal of Consumer Marketing, 25: 302–313.

Tasorras, M., Weinstain, A. & Abaratt, R. (2009). Value, loyalty, satisfaction and retention in professional services. Marketing Intelligence & Planning, 27: 615-632.

Contemporary Issue

Contemporary Issue

We more and more have to compete in a global market. As organizations

Plan and execute plans there are many decision considerations, such as:

* Some countries have favorable tax laws for their businesses and have tariffs on imports.

Because these are developing nation and they want the citizens of their country to move the country to a better economy. As more the favorable tax laws more the people and business would going to flourish.

* Labor costs are usually cheaper overseas and some U.S. firms “offshore” their work.

Because the value of currency of US dollar is higher to other counterparts. So cheap labor would be available in other countries that is it offshore their work.

*America has a diverse population and should maximize resources needs by

Utilizing that workforce; yet some identifiable groups are underutilized.

America needs to remove prevailing racism and give equal work opportunity to all.

* Many organizations consider diversifying their product lines in order to

Balance business cycles and to offset changes in supply and demand.

Yes, this method will benefit to short the cash cycle and help in gaining a foothold in the market.

* Effective management techniques are sometimes elusive and ongoing training

And development efforts are made to develop human resources.

Benefit which an organization is reaping while multiplying with coaching standards. It is the top most priority of the manager to use approach to talk to his subordinates in a positive way which will create a positive impact among employees. This mentoring program benefits organization and clients also. Thus, it is ensured as a learning and development phase made to improve performance with various skills, tools and techniques.

* Some organizations peruse research findings while others feel such reports

Found in journals and professional magazines are not relevant because their

Organization is “different.”

As the organization differs research method also differs but the conclusion receive from this organizations is almost similar.

* Some organizations are unionized and feel this causes a competitive

Disadvantage while others see this as a positive because you can deal with a

Formal cohesive group.

Unionism at workplace creates a rift between employees and the management. Labor union issue arise so management need to think the issues which promotes the team work in the organization. If there any communication and representation of any concern occurred with management the mindset of labor and the critical urgency of the needs to be speculated so that matter can be resolved between both the parties with mutual understanding and good listening skills.

* Motivation of the workforce to excellence and taking more responsibility is

Always a goal but is often not achieved by companies.

Motivation is done according to act of volunteering. Volunteering for any social cause or any event is a drive from person instinct character which drives an individual to perform the act of serving but would perceive it as an act.

* Technology and systems can facilitate productivity but is costly and

Sometimes the workforce resists change.

Yes, it is agreeable technology and change in process can’t be used side by side and with this expensive technologies worker need to get trained to resist and use new technology.

* Total quality management is a process that can lead to ever improving

Results while emphasizing employee empowerment, customer satisfaction, and

Proactive financial reports.

Quality Management is the integration of all departments under certain performance standards. Skilled designers and switchers can enhance the production process by developing new products and new processes for the production of existing products as well. But providing quality products in a cost effective manner that also at an affordable price, needs to be given importance.

* The charter of management remains to accomplish the mission of the

Organization while optimizing the return on investment.

American management faces numerous known and sometimes not yet known

Challenges. Proper direction can come from relevant and effective research.

Going through the strategies followed by the big corporate industry houses it can be well understood that the proper functioning of an organization it has to be aware and practice all the internal and external environments appropriately.

Contemporary International Politics. Reagans Doctrine

Contemporary International Politics: Reagan’s Doctrine

(Author’s name)

(Institutional Affiliation)

Introduction

The period after World War II saw many presidents of the United States develop a number of policies that were aimed at deterring the effects of the Cold war in various nations. Also referred to as ‘Doctrines’, these policies were specifically aimed at assisting these presidents in combating some of the challenges that came as a result of the cold war. More specifically, they were aimed at reducing the impact of the soviet union’s activities to the United states, as well as, the rest of the world. One such doctrine is the Reagan doctrine, which was established by Ronald Reagan and his administration, and was aimed at contesting the involvement of the Soviet Union in global governance. More specifically, Reagan’s doctrine was aimed at diminishing the influence of the Soviet Union in Latin America, Asia, and Africa (Busch, 2001). This doctrine served to do away with the socialist and communist form of governance in these states, and allow them to develop their own forms of governance such as democracy and capitalism.

This paper examines Ronald Reagan’s doctrine illustrating the situation that motivated U.S diplomatic efforts during his time in office. The paper also explicates the Diplomatic efforts that were carried out in relation to this doctrine, as well as, their effects on the U.S and other countries. Conclusively, the paper will provide the advantages and disadvantages of the doctrine.

Reagan’s Doctrine

After the World War II, the global economy demanded particular attention from the countries that were considered as ‘super powers’. This is because the Soviet Union had gained control over most states, which was slowly taking a toll on the global community. Because the cold war in Europe was on the increase, there was an eminent danger of war between Soviet Union and the United States, and this required immediate response. These two super powers were in conflict because of the Soviet Union’s approach of governance. Primarily, Reagan opposed to communism, which was the government in the Soviet Union (Busch, 2001). With the raise in concern over the start of another war, all superpowers began building up their military defenses and upgrading their weapons. This situation needed diplomatic interaction from the United States to stop what was potentially a disastrous war (Gottfried, 2003). During Reagan’s two-term tenure as president of the United States, his administration developed a doctrine whose aim was to maintain international peace through U.S diplomatic involvement. As mentioned before, this doctrine was aimed at diminishing the effects of the Soviet Union’s interference with the running of other nations and states.

Motivation for U.S Diplomatic Efforts

After the Second World War, the Soviet Union had less superior weapons than those possessed by the American army. With the intense atmosphere and the rift between the United States and Soviet Union, the Soviet Union acquired more weapons for defense, as well as, assurance of power. Gradually, the Soviet Union started feeling the pinch of the increase in the cost of the weapons purchased and the army built up. The Soviet Union also suffered from its unplanned manufacturing and agricultural production, thus driving the country into poverty. Additionally, decreased investments in oil from the United States put a strain on the state’s economy, and the Soviet Union suffered immensely (Edwards, 2005). To lower its oil prices, the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan to increase the oil output thus improve the economy. The invasion of Afghanistan prompted international assistance to enable the country to fight off the Soviet Union. Accordingly, the United States provided equipment to the rebels in Afghanistan to fight off the soviet invasion. The United States government was not directly involved in the war, thus avoiding conflict with Soviet Union.

U.S Diplomatic Efforts

Reagan’s doctrine was to raid the globe from communism, which would ensure global economic growth. Reagan’s administrative policies were characterized as insurgent supportive policies that favored the anti-communist rebels in the country. The policies facilitated uprisings in the Soviet Union, as well as, the countries that were under attack from the Soviet Union. Essentially, communism was the target of this doctrine. Reagan was focused on reducing the spread of communism by ensuring that Free states were protected from the communist regime that characterized the Soviet Union (Busch, 2001). With the weapon possessed by the country, Reagan’s approach to curb communism in the Soviet Union enabled nations to reach agreements that would peacefully end the cold war. The key discussion that Reagan proposed was the disarmament of the nuclear weapons that the countries had manufactured to prevent destruction of human life and civilization. The doctrine also required the Soviet Union to free the countries it had invaded (Cowley, 2006). Diplomatic efforts by the United States saved the globe from the eminent danger of another world war.

Effects of Reagan’s Doctrine

Reagan’s doctrine had both positive and negative effects on the U.S and other countries. In relation to the positive effects, the cold war ended with the two super powers being at peace with each other. This means that, the doctrine prevented the breaking out of another war from the first two world wars (Busch, 2001). The war that could have emanated from the crash between the US and Soviet Union could have been catastrophic. In addition to this, the doctrine also facilitated global economic growth. As researchers argue, communism affected economic growth, as it did not facilitate global competition. Therefore, most predicted that a global expansion of communism would affect rapid economies, which would, in turn, encourage more wars (Busch, 2001). The diplomatic efforts by the United States also earned the state more allies who were also opposed to communism. These allies were oil producing countries, and trade between the nations enabled the United States to improve its economy. On the negative side, Reagan’s doctrine resulted in the collapse of the Soviet Union and the unification of Germany (Gottfried, 2003). The collapse affected the economy in the nations that made up the Soviet Union, which resulted in a shift of power. Because Reagan’s doctrine caused the collapse of the Soviet Union, a number of soviet nationals lost their jobs, hence increasing unemployment and poverty in the state. However, the most heart-felt effect of Reagan’s Doctrine was the ending of the Cold War that had haunted various nations at the time.

Advantages and Disadvantages

The advantages and disadvantages of Reagan’s doctrine are drawn from the effects of the doctrine on the U.S and other countries. Researchers have identified two main advantages of the Reagan doctrine including ending the cold war and increasing allies for the United States, which in turn improved trade for the nation (Busch, 2001). The only disadvantage identified with relation to Reagan’s doctrine involves stopping the Soviet Union’s expansion campaign, which affected the economy of the Soviet Union (Busch, 2001).

References

Cowley, R. (2006). The Cold War: A military history. New York: Random House Trade

Paperbacks.

Edwards, L. (2005). The essential Ronald Reagan: A profile in courage, justice, and wisdom.

Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.

Busch, A. E. (2001). Ronald Reagan and the politics of freedom. Lanham [u.a.: Rowman &

Littlefield.

Walker, M. (1995). The cold war: A history. New York, NY: Holt.

Gottfried, T., & Reim, M. (2003). The Cold War. Brookfield, Conn: Twenty-First Century

Books.

Consumer purchasing pattern-Steam.com

Name

Professor

Course

Date

Consumer purchasing pattern-Steam.com

In Consumer purchasing pattern, the relatively young discipline of marketing is related to as psychology, anthropology, economics, sociology, especially when it involves consumer behavior and motivation. One thing that stands out clearly is the convergence of disciplines. HYPERLINK “http://www.store.steampowered.com” Steampowered.com has built lots of its popularity around the gaming products and services. The site attracts a fan base of over 2.5 million registered members all the time. In order to maintain this growth pattern, steampowered must understand their customer-purchasing pattern and behavior.

Effective marketing solution formulated from the customer-purchasing pattern to solve complains presented by the clients. This plan will go along away in taping into the customer behavior and thus delivering the desired results within HYPERLINK “http://www.store.steampowered.com.The” steampowered.com.

Launching a new website, product or service

The relaunch of a new website from www.steam.com To HYPERLINK “http://www.store.steampowered” www.store.steampowered.com will win the target audience. This will also increase the vvvisibility of the company in this crowded market place. In this age of digital marketing, Launching a website was long overdue. Digital presence is extremely beneficial for an upwardly mobile company considering the promises of the web. Sales volume can increase two fold with properly defined and executed digital marketing practices. For example, the company website is extremely instrumental in the success of the company because, the company sales increased by 7% after the company launched its website. This was the first step towards positive ROI. The company has also launched a number of products based on the performance of the other products in the market. Steampowered has also had an opportunity to analyze the real-time performance of its products in the market thanks to digital marketing and the marketing analytics.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

WHEN THE Company employed a number of SEOs, the company never realized how much they were to gain from it. The company website must optimized for search engine, and the number of results given is 71,100,000 within 0.07 seconds. The steam powered home page comes at the top. This means that the company website can be accessed easily with any search engines

Build awareness and reinforce attributes

With the new website in place, the next step is to continue with awareness building efforts while reinforcing the features, qualities and benefits of the products. This can be achieved by organizing promotional quiz to educate the clients and get instant feedback on the questions answered.

Drive traffic

Driving of traffic to steampowered.com is done by engaging the target audience and luring them to the site through sweepstakes and promotional daily prizes to maintain the traffic. The company has a number of online marketing strategies. While increasing traffic to the company’s website the rough advertisements is one way, the company also uses back links in its website so that when one views a proxy website; they are moved to the company website automatically. In this way once people get to the company’s websites, they get to view all the offers that the company has in store.

Reinforcement of brand loyalty

A client will consider coming back to the steampowered site when they reward program is in place. A reward does not necessarily mean free products and services; it can be in the form of a unique product, which later translates brand loyalty. The company has uses a number of loyalty schemes to maintain their customer base. This is a way of recognizing the contribution of the customers to the company and what they mean to the company as a whole. The company realizes the importance of both loyalty schemes and corporate social responsibility, which are the surest ways of giving back to the community.

Brand extension

Employing an excellent brand extension is a key strategy in marketing, which uses a successful, existing and a popular product brand on several products. The company has a wide range of products of which some are industry leading. For example, mortal kombat is the industry leading action game worldwide and is offered by the company as a demo version.

Generate effective ideas for an effective advertisement

Good promotions will entice and encourage customers to tell their experiences and story, in turn help steam.com, to tell their story to prospective customers. The company has employed various effective marketing strategies since its initiation. This has gone a long way in ensuring that the company has always had a steady stream of cash flows. The company has an asset of pillars that it depends on for its marketing planning and execution, marketing excellence and corporate social responsibility. These are strategies have been instrumental in the success of the company marketing strategies.

Increase membership

Increasing the number of active members is fundamental to the growth of the site and drives home the desired result. By using promotional tactics, which focus on consumer behaviors, and delivering quality benefits, words will spread around between friends about the membership program, in turn fuelling the increase in the number of members joining the site membership program. The company has increased its membership portfolio for both online gamers and buyers of contents. This has ensured that the company has a stable income going by their financials. However, it is imperative to note that the company has always been doing its research and development to deliver the latest contents. They have both mc and windows installable software and games; they have games for all genres, classes and ages. The most exciting thing about the steampowered .com is the fact that the company has a pre-purchase demonstration offer that games can purchase at particularly attractive discounts. In this way, the buyers can decide whether to buy the whole version after testing. Some of the main demonstration offers available at discounts includes; jagged alliance, orchards, satazius, trizine 2 demo etc.

Initiate trial/create interest

In the process of a product launch, the main objective is always awareness. Apart from building product awareness, the next overriding objective is to create interest in the product and initiate trial. Giving people an opportunity to try the products freely or at half the price, if found to be desirable; members will come back for more.

The sampling program coupled with smart rebates can easily enhance the conversion on of a consumer sampling a product into a sale. Collect demographic information and get permission to use them for future marketing. The company also applies marketing tactics to get permission from the target audience to market to the sites products to them, now and in the near future. In developing a hook, like a premium offer or loyalty program, which will compel the target audience to take notice and participate in the games. This tactic is only the overlay in this campaign. The main role of marketing is convince consumers by helping them to recognize a known brand.

CONSUMER PROTECTION REGULATIONS IN THE UK

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CONSUMER PROTECTION REGULATIONS IN THE UK

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Literature Review

Introduction

Today, different statutory instruments, Acts of parliament, and government institutions effect customer protection in the United Kingdom. These, mechanisms, which ensure fairness and quality of services and goods bought by citizens, did not just emerge from thin air but from processes and jurisdictions in the past. This literature review provides an overview of the evolution of the United Kingdom consumer protection regime and its current status is imperative.

Evolution and Development of Customer Protection

The advent of the United Kingdom customer protection regime is not regarded as a recent phenomenon as the development of customer protection legislation dates back to the late 17th century and mid-18th century during the pre-industrial era. Studies on the genesis and development of the customer protection regime show that since then, numerous jurisdictions have culminated in the development of a plethora of jurisprudence on the liabilities and rights that United Kingdom buyers and sellers have. Research by Muhammad Akbar concentrated on examining the origin and emergence of the customer protection regime. This work confirmed that the current customer protection legislation in the country is an outcome of imperative developments that occurred from the pre-industrial era to the post-industrial revolution. According to Muhammad Akbar, the pre-industrial period was characterised by low consumption levels within a simple social set up and fewer products than it is the case today. Later, the principle of caveat emptor within the English law was developed and incorporated to deal with this situation. This doctrine upheld the philosophy of individualism where customers had to look after themselves as laws to protect consumers were few and those that existed only dealt with measures and weights of basic commodities. With the growth in consumption and the number of services and products available for consumption, the principle of caveat emptor lost its relevance as sellers assumed greater responsibility in sales transactions. This necessitated the enforcement of specific customer protection legislation in the United Kingdom.

During the industrial revolution of the 18th century, urbanisation and manufacturing intensified, augmenting consumption. Sellers and product consumers began bargaining from long distances, with the former recognising the need for product quality to maintain market competitiveness. This furthered the need for a regime to safeguard the trading standards to ensure that they enhanced public health and customer protection, along with protecting honest traders from unfair competitor practices. During the period of the industrial society in the 19th century, more developments in customer protection laws took place in England, including case law revolving around buyer-seller relationships. However, consumer legal rights to safe products and services remained unrecognised. In the 20th century, mass production emerged, causing a consumer revolution as many products and services became available to consumers. During this time, large-scale developments occurred in consumer protection law, litigation, and the laws of negligence. Also, a movement initiated by an NGO stimulated the development of laws to protect consumers against unfair commercial and trade practices and defective services and products. This led to the development of customer protection laws used today, although they continued to undergo reforms to fit contemporary needs. From a critical stance, Muhammad Akbar’s work is valuable because it provides an informative and comprehensive account of the evolution of UK consumer protection, which enables one to grasp the changes that have occurred in consumer protection over the years.

Current Status of UK Customer Protection

Numerous researchers have focused on the current status of customer protection in the United Kingdom from different perspectives. For instance, Cliona examined customer protection from the perspective of the various reforms the regime will undergo within the context of the UK and Ireland considering the ongoing Brexit debate. According to this researcher, momentous regulatory divergences will be witnessed in customer protection before, after, and even without Brexit. Two of the most significant divergences before Brexit will be the Consumer Rights Act (CRA) 2015 and the Consumer Rights Bill 2015. The CRA 2015 was established to overhaul the contractual rights of consumers in the supply of digital content, goods, and services, together with regulating unfair contract terms in the United Kingdom. The CRA also integrated new rules relating to digital content, which the rest of the European Union is now catching up with as suggested by Taylor Wessing. On its part, the Consumer Rights Bill 2015 was published to reflect to consolidate the current customer protection law, along with endorsing new consumer rights and remedies in Ireland and the United Kingdom. As Cliona suggests, one of the divergences likely to be witnessed between Ireland and the United Kingdom as regards these two laws before Brexit include the objectives and scope of the CRA and the Consumer Rights Bill. Other divergences in implementing reforms of consumer law cover the areas of privity of contracts, jurisdiction relating to the supply of services and digital content, unfair contract terms, sale of gift vouchers, and transparency in contracts. The divergences possible after Brexit (if it happens) will include the areas of language and concepts utilised, the structure of consumer protection law, and the interpretation of the domestic provisions of the law in both the UK and Ireland. Finally, the divergences in implementing consumer law if Brexit becomes impossible will encompass the areas of the models of consumer protection adopted and modes of mapping amendments against the existing legal framework, which is the Consumer Rights Act 2015. Cliona’s research is critically valuable because it provides adequate illumination of possible differences in consumer protection likely to be experienced in Ireland and the UK if Brexit becomes effective.

Louise Nahon argued that reforms in consumer protection laws will have a significant impact in the United Kingdom, irrespective of whether Brexit is effected or not. This author suggests that some of the reforms proposed to come into effect in 2022 include the introduction of new digital consumer protection rules, revision of rules that impact digital service supply, and augmented transparency obligations on online endorsements and reviews. Also, this author suggested that changes will occur in the enforcement and penalty regime relating to unfair commercial practices and unfair contract terms within the harmonised framework across the entire EU. Wessing also acknowledges some of these consumer protection reforms that will occur in the wake of the recent Brexit referendum. These include the integration of the digital content directive and changes in consumer contracts associated with the online sales of goods. The works of both Louise and Taylor appreciate that the United Kingdom consumer protection regime is one of the most advanced regimes in Europe, which will augment consumer confidence when the proposed reforms are attained. Even so, the two differ in that while Louise believes what Brexit will have significant impacts on this regime, Taylor feels that Brexit will not cause great changes to the regime.

Malte Kramme investigated consumer protection from the perspective of the ramifications that Brexit would have on the area of consumer protection. This scholar examined Brexit consequences to consumer protection under three scenarios, namely, UK membership to European Economic Area (EEA), relationships administrated by World Trade Organisation’s rules, and relationships directed by mutual recognition rules within a tailor-made agreement. Based on the EEA model, the most favourable Brexit scenario would entail UK membership of the EEA. The eventual consequence of this membership on consumer protection would the application of high consumer protection standards in the UK. However, Brexit provisions for strengthening the sovereignty of the United Kingdom are incompatible with the EEA agreement, which compels member states of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) to adopt EU legislation strictly. This incompatibility will augment the complexity of the UK consumer protection regime if Brexit becomes effective. From a WTO-model outlook, the consequence of Brexit to consumer protection will include difficulties in interpreting EU consumer protection directives within the UK legal context and uncertainties of conflict-of-laws, enforceability, and jurisdiction associated with the applicability of EU consumer protection law in the UK. Lastly, from the tailor-made agreement model, the consequence of Brexit on consumer protection is the failure to achieve harmonisation of standards provided by both the EFTA and EU in all consumer protection areas. While Malte offers vital details of some Brexit consequences on UK consumer protection, his work has one weakness, which is the failure to identify the specific consumer protection laws directly impacted by the consequences addressed under each model.

Survey-based research by Oya Pinar, Ibrahim, and Mylenko addressed consumer protection regulations from the outlook of cross-country analysis. They examined the applicability of consumer protection principles and laws in deposit and loan services in 142 countries, including the United Kingdom. The outcomes of their study were that many countries have consumer protection legislation in place, but these laws fail to address specific issues in financial consumer protection. As regards the United Kingdom, these authors appreciated that the country has comprehensive consumer protection legislation. This is because the UK has consumer protection legislation with explicit references to financial services and consumer protection regulations outlined within the financial section legislations framework, besides having general consumer protection law with no explicit references to financial services and other forms of consumer protection legislation. The work of this scholar is dependable because it adopts a valid research instrument and is informed by a broad gamut of datasets, which reflect its reliability. The only problem with the study is its focuses on consumer protection regulations in only two financial services, which implies that its outcomes cannot be generalised to all financial services, especially in the United Kingdom.

In another research effort, Mark and Vickers furthered research on consumer protection in financial services. Specifically, these scholars explored the relationships between consumer protection and the contingent charges for financial services within the United Kingdom context. These authors established that the failure to regulate contingent charges can breed significant economic inefficiencies that compromise consumer protection. Further, they confirmed that contingent charges in conventional settings with sophisticated consumers are efficiently executed because these types of consumers are well informed about consumer protection and can hence influence prices, compared to settings with naive consumers, who are less informed about consumer protection. They concluded that sophisticated consumers use awareness of consumer protection regulation to protect naïve consumers when it comes to implementing contingent charges in UK financial services. Also, they suggested that markets dominated by sophisticated customers can perform inefficiently because these consumers can adopt socially ineffective approaches to evade the high contingent charges that naïve consumers pay. Their conclusions corroborate the claims by Matthew Hilton that the United Kingdom’s consumer protection regime is based on information, where information is provided to individual economic actors to prevent market failures. For this reason, consumer protection regulation in such a scenario would be vital in offsetting the distributional concerns. This study is important because it provides a new perspective for consumer protection policymakers that can be useful in designing policies for curbing monopoly of pricing in the financial sector in the United Kingdom towards ensuring consumer protection against exploitative contingent charges.

Bibliography

Books

Ardic, Oya P, Ibrahim A. Joyce, and Mylenko N ‘Consumer protection laws and regulations in deposit and loan services: A cross-country analysis with a new data set’ (The World Bank 2011).

Journal Articles

Armstrong, M and Vickers J ‘Consumer protection and contingent charges’ Journal of Economic Literature (2012) 50 (2) 477-93.

Hilton, M ‘Consumer protection in the United Kingdom’ (2006) 47 (1) Economic History Yearbook 45-60.

Kelly, C ‘Consumer reform in Ireland and the UK: Regulatory divergence before, after and without Brexit’ (2018) 47 (1) Common Law World Review 53-76.

Khan, Muhammad A ‘The origin and development of consumer protection laws in united kingdom’ (2017) 3 (3) Journal of Asian and African Social Science and Humanities (ISSN 2413-2748) 38-52.

Kramme, Malte F ‘Consequences of Brexit in the area of consumer protection’ GPR: (2017) 14 (5) Journal of European Union Private Law 210-222.

Electronic Source

Nahon, L ‘Consumer law reforms will impact UK regardless of Brexit’ (15 Nov 2019) Out-Law Analysis Pinsent Masons https://www.pinsentmasons.com/out-law/analysis/consumer-law-reforms-will-impact-uk-regardless-of-brexit.

Wessing T ‘UK Consumer law in the wake of the EU referendum (17 Jul 2016) University of Oxford, Faculty of Law https://www.law.ox.ac.uk/business-law-blog/blog/2016/07/uk-consumer-law-wake-eu-referendum.