Business Ethics: some questions and answers

Business is about business, not about ethics - which is only for philosophers, professors, or theologists. This is how cartoonists joke about "business ethics". But actually business ethics is important. State and briefly explain three convincing reasons why ethics matters for business. 

1.individuals get sentenced for crimes they commit. For example: 

Bernhard Madoff

biggest financial fraud in history:

cleverly defrauded investors

for around 15 billion (!!!) US dollars

 2009: maximum sentence

2.companies get bancrot and loose their reputation and customers, their market share. 

Example: 

ENRON, energy firm, Texas:

manipulated their accounting

Arthur Andersen: thumbs up + cash in

When it got known, they shredded all documents related to Enron audit.

Convicted for obstruction of justice

Reputation irreparably damaged

End of the company

3.societies get damaged and human lives destroyed or lost. Environment gets polluted or damaged. Tradegies happen.

Example: 

Bhopal gas tragedy

Gas leak incident, India, 1984, considered the world's worst industrial disaster

Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL)

pesticide plant in Bhopal

 558.125 people injured

 -3.900 severe permanently disabling

injuries (blindness, brain damages,

paralyses, sterility and others)

 -8.000 deaths

Expain the difference between the terms "morality" and "ethics" ? 

Morality:

The social norms, values, beliefs which define what is right and wrong in social interaction.

The study of morality: the explication/development of rules and principles that define what is right and wrong in social interaction. 

Ethics rationalizes morality.

Morality: shows up in your feeling that something is right or wrong.

Ethics: is about what kind of reasoning might justify right or wrong.

“Moral problem”/”ethical problem” can refer to the same situation.

In the film "The Corporation" US shareholder activist Robert Monks states: 

"A corporation is an externalizing machine in the same way that a shark is killing machine. Each one is designed in a very efficient way, to accomplish particual objectives, there isnt any question of maleviolence or of will. The enterprise has within in, and the shark has within it, those characteristics that enable it to do for which it was designed."

a. What is an externality? 

externality: the effect of a transaction between 2 parties on a third party who has not consented to, or played any role in, the carrying out of that transaction. 

b.What does it mean that corporations are externalizing machines? 

Corporations are designed to create externalities, inflict (negative) effects on third parties...

to human beings, their lives and health, to society, the public good, to animals and the environment. 

What does the term "social enterprise" refer to? 

The company has a social goal – its founders gave it a social mission.

A social enterprise Mission:

create social value alongside commercial value.

The investor has a social goal & invests into companies…

We can say that greed rules the marketplace and the most of the things that happen in economy.

The greed of corporations for maximizing profits.

Negative externalities from corporations are for us to see in its extreme forms everywhere in the world.

Human beings, animals and the environment gets sick and even dies, because of so many companies ignore the rest of the world and are only about maximizing their profits at any cost for everyone else, creating negative externalities.

The so much important output goes alongside many negative externalities for all of us.

Humans have entered an unofficial, but scientific period named "anthropocene" period. It is the time since industrialisation (beginning of the 19th century). Since that time we are having an effect on the planet that has to be compared with any Ice Age or Comet Impact. We have such a situation because of the economic greed.

Nowadays we talk about the 6th mass extinction on planet earth. 

The corporations, huge corporations are particularly responsible for this extinction. They could make less profits and be more ethical, but they never stopped and now the whole planet has to pay the bitter price for their greedy game. 

In devilish ways we talk about a demon Mammoth, who rules people's minds and economy, he looks down on earth and makes people jealous at what others have and he is all about money, making more money. This is all this demon knows. 

I recommend to watch this movies/clips:  

"The corporation"

"Rogue Trading" 

"The holocene (6th) mass extinction of Life on Earth" is a short eyes opening clip.

it opens eyes for what really happened on the planet and why the world is the way it is nowadays. 
We rarely think about animals or plants, but all we think about is other humans and interaction with them. No matter where we look, there are too many of us and unfortunately people could not stop from getting less at cost of the world (other humans environment, animals,...) 
Enough should be actually enough, but I guess it is a lack of empathy and a focus towards pure profit, pure output without caring for the rest. 
Very egoistic and brutal economical behaviour, that costs too much on a long term scale for such a short period of pleasure and progress. 
100 or 200 years of "easier time" with more profits are nothing compared to the "real hard times" coming during the next 1000 or 2000 years, if not longer suffering periods. Without animals, without insects, without fresh water, with natural disasters, polluted air, all sorts of cancer types, other spreading diseases and mutations, mental and physical disruption, overpopulation, radioactive polution, lack of any natural resources and a sick life style for all of our mentally disrupted "cyborg-children".

It is definitely over with planet earth and we should hurry to find new planets to live on or human extinction through negative externalities of industrial and technical process and its global use for profits is the next coming soon.

retailing and e-retailing, online advertising, different kind of marketing methods, promotion of the product, selling and delivery process

Comparison of retailing and e-retailing considering the factors (physical expansion, technology, customer relations, competitive customer database, supply chain cost and price changing):

Physical expansion

Retailing: There is no need for further physical expansion
E-tailing: there are a lot of markets where you can expand your online offers


Technology

Retailing: It is more traditional and technology is not that important

E-tailing: It is a further and further developing technology


Customer relations

Retailing: The relationships are build and only need to be continued

E-tailing: Relationships must be built and trust, but this is possible through steady communication, e.g. via email.


competitive database

Retailing: you have most information you can need
E-tailing: you can target customers more directly, you have more data information and more positive competitive strength


Supply Chain Costs

Retailing: Costs are relatively high
E-tailing: You can reduce costs further and further, because of better communication 


Price changing

Retailing: it lasts a bit longer to react
E-tailing: you can react directly to price changes and inform your customers immediately

Definition of online advertising: 

Online advertising is a paid message on a web site, online service or other interactive medium, such as interactive messaging

Advantages of online advertising: you can reach your target group and your target person directly. You are really independent from time and you can use several interactive possibilities.

Disadvantages of online advertising: how can you measure your results, costs versus benefits

Some arguments for using Online Avertising (Internet):

you can reach your desired target group or person
it is a very current technology
it reduces costs
you can communicate directly with your customers
richness, you have several media opportunities, e.g. direct mail, videos, banners,...
it is timeless
you can reach a mass market

Different kind of online marketing  methods to increase the attractiveness of the Business 2 Customer website: 

-some interactivity mediums on the web sites, e.g. videos, games,...
-direct mailing, write mails with current offers to your customers with a link to your web site or offer regular newsletters
-blogging: show current information via blogs 
-ad in chat rooms
-banners
-ad in social networks like studivz, facebook
-offer online catalogs
-game ad
-search engine ad (the most effective way)
-pop-ups (ad web sites which open in a new browser automatically)

Some possibilities where to sell a product:

brick-and-mortar retailer: traditional way of selling
-brick-and-click-retailer: partial electronic commerce, traditional way plas additionally through electronic transactions, the internet
-virtual retailers: only online
-multichannel retailer: use several opportunities at the same time
-online malls


Some ways to promote your product: 

I personally would promote my product with the help of different online ads. I would use different banners, ads in chat rooms about the event that is connected to the product I want to sell. I would use ads in social networks like facebook or twitter or myspace.
Additionally, I would promote my flags on my own homepage which is linked to several other pages and listes in search engines like google or yahoo.
So, I would try to use different strategies and several possiblities at the same time.

some arguments for the traditional way:
people are used to go to the shopand have direct communication with the salespeople, especially old people use this traditional buying method

pure online way:
it is timeless, prices can be compared and you reach a lot of people at the same time

multinational retailer:
I think that is the best way, because you can offer your product traditionally in a usual shop or store and at the same time  you could sell it in a online mall and over all on your own homepage. So you use all kind of retailing channels and reach all my potential customers.

Some parts of the selling and delivery process that have to be considered: 

The selling process: 

you have to consider under which circumstances you sell your product. What do you sell Is it a mass product or not. What will be your quantity and quality values?

And the next decision you have to make is: how your customers will pay. Do you offer to buy for example via pay pall or other online paying services or with a credit card or may be a bank account withdawal.

The delivery process:

you have to think how you deliver your product to the customer the fastest and the cheapest way. How your product will arrive at your customer's door.  Will you do the delivery on your own or will you use "ups" or "deutsche post" or "dhl" or other famous transport companies.
Do you do the transport as an included service or has the customer to pay some fees? 

marketing across cultures, negotiations across cultures, using networking sites at work, business benefits of online technologies

business-frog                   the grass is always greener


Marketing across cultures: description of the areas of cross cultural differences in marketing

If you want to do marketing in several cultures, you have to look on several points like: language, colors, gestures, religion, is the society more collectivistic or individualistic, the values of the culture.
If you have an american marketing campaign and you want to put it in the asian market, you have to translate it right, so you can overcome the misundestandings. The colour is a very important point. Be aware what kind of colours you use for your campaign. There is a good example on this issue with a famous company Pepsi. For example Pepsi in East Asia. The light blue colour stands for death. As white stands for death in China. Be aware of gestures. Do not use gestures that have different meanings in their cultures. Religion is a big point. For example McDonald's in India. They put lamb instead of beef into their hamburgers, because they believe in India that cows are holy animals and it is forbidden o eat them.

Negotiations across cultures: a guideline for a successfull negotiation as well as the 4 dimensions of intercultural negotiations

It is better to follow guidelines in negotiations with different cultures, so you do not get in trouble and strange situations. Try to avoid gestures. In some cultures gestures are welcomed, mostly in east european countries.
Negotiations with Russians:
If you want to d obusiness with Russians you have to be punctual and you have to take your time. Because Russians do not like one-spot-decisions. They tend to make negotiations long nad you have to be able to go for couple sessions there to negotiate with Russians. So they are very unflexible in this case. You have to start with easier points and than you you move into more complexe topics later, step by step. Russians always decide themselves for the low-cost solution. So the money has more value than the time that you have invested into this. Agreements should be done by lunchtime or at the dinner table. Do not go over night if you negotiate with Russians, start the next session on the next day.

Differences between men and women in negotiations:

Men and women are very different in their way of communication. WOmen talk much more and much longer than men do.
Women are better communicators and if men talk, than men talk mostly about things and equity.
Women talk about feelings, people. Men are very direct and women are more indirect.

Essay: should networking sites be banned from work 

Social networking sites such as facebook, Twitter, Myspace etc are very hyped and more a mainstream at the moment. Many people join thus social platforms and they communicate with their friends or families on this level. That means also workers are present on the social websites. The question is: should networking sites be banned from work?

A total ban would be an overreaction, because sensible employers should know that the employees spend the most of their time with working. So, it is possible that the workers can visit those websites during the breaks. But it is unexcusable if they exploit the moment and spend hours on facebook, twitter, etc. It can also have some advantages if workers join social networking sites. They can get some important information that it benefit their work. It can also be that they become more motivated or more creative, because they have visited social networks websites during their breaks. So they can bring their full effort for the work.
But it has also negative effects of using such social websites. If an employee make use of it, he or she will spend hours surfing the internet and will not work. So social platforms are more for social private situations and not for work. The employee comes  to work and has to work to get his or her money at hte end of the month. If an employee is surfing the internet instead of working, this behaviour would cost his or her company more and it would be a financial loss. In the same time, that he or she is surfing online and enjoying communicating with other, he or she could have already done his or her work for the company. It is possibly necessary to set off a range of rules for not allowing surfing social websites and the employee would put his full concentration and effort into his work.
To sum up the pros and cons I would rather say that it is ok that employees could use social website duringtheir breaks, but it would be bad if they would disuse the situation. The employee has to find out the right measure for using social websites that a set off regulations or policies would be unnecessary.

The sales of online companies are increasing; There seem to be some arguments for going online. Here are some attitudes to business benefits of online technologies: 

Richness: you can decide between several media opportunities, e.g. video banner, pop ups, pictures, ...

global standard & ubiquity: you can reach such a mass of people all over the world with the internet.

Interactivity: the communication and interactive behaviour of consumers and business oganizations offers a time-saving and at the same time service-oriented opportunity.

social technology: everybody is involved and can handle it to go online.

It is a future market, you need to be there if you want to be successful. As well as density of information, personalisation, and customization.

terminology, sentences, law terms, facts on Doug Ivester, words&phrases, E-commerce & E-business, online advertising

business terminology

"Last week, the management asked me to take care of some American foreign visitors arriving at the airport. I was at the airport to welcome them to Heidelberg. The conducter came, said our tickets were not valid and made us pay. What a embarassing experience! Well, I was surely more awake next time - even though their flight home took of 6 a.m.!"

business sentences: 

The terms of the contract are agreed by the parties.
The contract is drafted by an attorney.
The finished contract is signed by the parties.
One of the parties breaks a contract term.
The other party commerces legal action.
The parties try to settle the case out of court.
But the parties cannot agree, so litigate continues.
The case goes to full hearing.
The judge delivers a ruling.
The claimant is or is not awarded damages.

British English law terms:

The person who initiates civil action = claimant
A document that defines a company's internal organization = articles of association
Legal regulations that govern unfair business practices = competition law
A document that has a cash value that may be traded, given or sold = negotiable instruments
a legal represenative = solicitor
The termination of a company's business with the support of its shareholders = voluntary liquidation

some facts on Doug Ivester, chairman and the CEO of Coca Cola company:

parents background/ values:
His parents were factory workers in a tiny mill, strong religious values, save money, high expectations for their son

present position: CEO of Coca Cola company

previous job: accountant

previous boss: Roberto Gorzueta

presonal qualities: hard worker, dedicated to his job, modern thinking, thrives on finding solutions, works systematically

management style/beliefs: big on discipline, set aspirations, communicatione freely with subordinates, hierarchy slows things down, business planning not annually, but on-going process, CEO's mustn't sit in their offices and get isolated

achievements at Coca Cola:  maximize shareholder's value, modern, communicative leadership

hobbies: people watching and gambling in Las Vegas

Ivester has a drive, what does this quality mean?

A person with "drive" is very dedicated to achieve certain goals and works extra hard to do so. Ivester showed his drive by working as hard as he did, being there to achieve the position of CEO, raising the company's shareholder value, taking extra lessons in marketing and media coaching.

How did Ivester prepare for the position he now holds?

He worked systematically to obtain the breadth needed to be a modern CEO, getting media coaching, spending Saturdays being tutored in marketin.

Ivester wants his employees to be dressed nicely according to their positions. I agree with that policy to an extent. If you have a lot of personal contact with potential customers you should dress in a professional manner, if you work by yourself it is not that important in my opinion.

Why does Ivester want employees to think of themselves as "knowledge workers"?
He wants them to think that their office is the knowledge they carry around with them. That wy they can work everywhere, which is important for a multinational company such as Coca Cola.

Ivester believes that many American executives are getting "terribly isolated". What is Ivester doing to avoid getting cut off from his staff?
He thinks that to many American executives sit in their offices and avoid the contact with their subordinates, therefore being isolated. Ivester talks with his subordinates a lot, deals with their problems and tries to find solutions with them as a team.

business phrases and words:

A time of high unemployment and poverty = depression

A very successful, powerful company = powerhouse

Very determined to succeed = to be driven

Organizing people into different levels of importance = hierarchy

Something that happens regularly each year = annual

Gets a feeling of satisfaction of doing something = to thrive on something

Explaining the meaning of business words:

deadline = A day and/or time by which something has to be finished

shareholder = A person who owns a certain percentage of a company, meaning a certain amount of shares

tangible asset = A tangible asset is something you buy as a company t ostory money, e.g. a company's building

self-employed = A person who is running their own business

Attribute= An attribute is a certain quality of your product, showing the product's value 

business sentences:

The Google brand is growing rapidly. According to the Millward Brown Brandz report, it holds first place in the list of top 100 brands. In fact the IT field dominates the top-ten corporate brands. Google operates websites at many international domains, the most popular being www.google.com, and generates revenue by providing effective advertising opportunities. Google always on the user and consumers usually see Google as quite trustworthy.
Now many companies begin to recognize that brands are mongst their most valuable assets. They understand that brands are becoming ever more powerful in driving busienss growth. Blackberry and Apple are the two fastest-growing brands in the top 100, and China Mobile is growing steadily, too.

E-commerce: What are the differences between E-Commerce and E-Business?

E-commerce is the term for buying, selling and exchanging products or services via computer networks. E-Business adds t othis term online services, business partnerships and online transactions within an organisation.





There are several ways to classify E-Business. 
Here are some classifications by market relationship and the respective relationships in a matrix: 

CONSUMER:

consumer: consumer to consumer, transaction among consumers

business: business to consumer, transaction between companies and consumers

government: government to consumer, possibility to use tax services



BUSINESS:

consumer: consumer to business, feedback pages

business: business  to business, transactions among companies

government: government to business, taxation services

GOVERNMENT:

consumer: consumer to government, feedback forum

business: business to government, feedbak forum

government: government to government, communication service within the government 


real life examples and the explaination of their special kind of market relationship:

customer 2 customer: Ebay is a possibility to make transactions between consumers

business 2 business: Eurooffice is transactional and enables business between companies

business 2 customers: Amazon is transitional, BP has an intensive brand building


Definition of the term "Online Advertising" and its advantages and disadvantages:

Paid message on a website, online service or interactive medium such as an interactive online message service.

Advantages: Possibility to narrow ads t oa specific customer group. It is interactive and the context can be changed easily.

Disadvantages: There is a conflict between cost and benefit. it is not possible to measure the results.

business abbreviations, british&american business equivalents, mergers&acquisitions, Sony, Primark model&Mr Marchant's dilemma

business explainations:

Provision is not a form of income for a universal bank, but interest and commission is.

Accounts payable and long-term debt are liabilities on a company balance sheet, but inventory is not.

Fixed assets and intangible assets are items on a company balance sheet, but expenses are not.

Earnings and net income match wit heachother, but revenue does not. Revenue is not a form of a profit like earnings and net income is.

Shareholder's equity and capital and reserves match with each other, but investments does not. Investment does not match with other 2 words, because you have to spend money when doing investment.

business abbreviations:
P/E: price earnings ratio
IPO: initial public offering
APR: annual percentage rate
GAAP: generally accepted accounting principals
EBITDA: earnings before interests, taxes, depreciation and amortization.

business sentences:
We are still a little bit confused about the new marketing campaign for June and July. Maybe we could discuss it later today.
We have nearly completed our presentation and would like some advice fro you before we show it to the boss. Do you have any projectors in your company?
BTW, do you know whether management wants us to to go to Worms next week? If they do, we will have to take the early plane and book the hotel this week. We think we should go, what about you? 

British English business terms and their American English equivalents

solicitor = attorney
negotiable instruments = commercial paper
articles of association = bylaws
voluntary liquidation = dissolution
competition law = antitrust law
claimant = plaintiff

Mergers & acquisitions: Why do most mergers fail?

Mergers do not have a lot of advantages, but companies should have in mind that most mergers fail and do not create value.
This can happen because of miscommunication and because the companies have different objectivs, organisational structures or corporate cutures which do not fit with each other. Although a bad preparation can lead to problems and if the companies have underestimated the costs and risks of a merger, it can be problematic either. Many mergers do have the consequence of losing customers, because the customers do not identify themselves with the new company anymore. So companies should have in mind that the biggest challenge are always the people, either the employees or the customers.

If they can not identify with the new company and its image, companies have to work hard to vercome this hurdle and try to hold customer's loyalty.

Sony: Which marketing tools or strategies would you use to market a robotic dog in Germany?
The robotic dog represents a lot of gadgets and stands for an electronic lifestyle. To market this to customers in Germany Sony has to work and think about a good marketing strategy, because people in Germany are not so addicted to technology as people in Asia are. This is why Sony has to adapt it's marketing strategy especially to the German customers. They should use all available media channels as many people as possible. Tehy can use IU advertisements, print media or e-mail marketing. Events should play a big role, because it enables the customers to experience the features of the robotic dog. Then they should use the customers testimonials, that means using the customers as non-pact ambassadors to get get feedback from them and include their opinion in the marketing campaign.
Sony should evaluate its marketing activities by using sales figures and customer satisfaction surveys to see if their strategy is successfull in Germany.

Case study: Primark: Primark model & Mr Marchant's dilemma

Primark focuses on high - quality merchandising at value for money prices.
Tehy sell at rock-bottom prices and to be able to do this, they have to keep their production and operational costs minimal. They only use private labels and do not use any direct advertisement or celebrity endorsement.
Primark has just a small number of stock keeping units and orders large volumes from its suppliers and sells overstock quickly and at an extreme discount. Ferthermore they are located at their large stores outside of downtown, so that they are not easy to end. This means that the company relies on word-of-mouth and just docuses on cheap products.
Mr. Machant face several dilemmas. The first one is the prompt international expansion in order to enter new markets and reach more customers. The problem here is that some brands smuggle when leaving their home base and because of the different shopping cultures in the different countries it is not sure if their concept will be successfull in other countries. The next dilemma is the model modification, e.g. moving sales online, so they should decide if they stay with their traditional high-street model or if they move their sales online too. And last but not least Primark has the problem of a lack of social responsibility. This happens, because you often find bad press about the company, for example about the overtime laws, the child labour and the poor quality of the products. In order to be successful in the future, they have to clean up their social reputation.

China's fakes & it's impacts: what are the different effects of counterfeiting on the global economy & rights holders and what are the advantages of combating it.
China has the one of the most important counterfeiting problems in the world's history. This causes damage to the global economy. Innovation gets underminded, criminal networks gain financially and the environment gets negatively affected.  It also encourages sweatshop conditions and and can lead to a decrease of foreign investment, because of the fear of getting copied. So counterfeiting influences the whole trade structure. Right holdes have to deal with a damaged brand value, lower royalties and a lower sales volume. Also they will have more costsin order to combat counterfeiting when combating counterfeiting this may have a positive impact on the environment and the economy.
COmpanies will invest more in innovation and R&D and also the foreign investments will increase again. Consumers can profit more of a better quality and do not have to care about health and safety risks of products. Also governments will benefit from it, because of an increase in tax revenues. The criminal networks won't be supported anymore and a better and faster trade is possible.

Review on the article "Crisis in the eurozone" written by Chrostopher Alessi and published at Manila times.
The eurozone was implemented in 2002 with one single currency for the 17 members in order to increase the economic integration and improve the trade as a further step of the Maastricht Treaty. Originally Maastricht laid out several criteria for those EU-members that wanted to enter the euro zone.
They should have a healthy financial situation with a low inflation rate and a good productivity. In reality it was clear from the beginning on, that some of the members are not able to fullfill these criteria on the long term and so less solvent EU-members were allowed to adopt the euro, which means they entered the euro without a deep restructuring. Nowadays we have to deal with the consequences of it, because those countries threaten the eurozone's liability and triger a eurozone sovereign debt crisis, because more and more members ask for rescue and bail out packages in order not to get insolvent Greece.
Crisis is one of the most serious examples. The crisis was a result of prolonged defeat spending economic mismanagement, government misreparting and tax evasion. Therefore they already received two bailout packages, but also those couldn't prevent a political chaos as a result of all the austerity measures. Ireland is another country that received financial aid, but there the crisis was spured by a bank default crisis. And the risk is still increasing, because of Portugal's worsering debt crisis and Spain's rising budget defeat. Especially the debt crisis in Italy is a bit problematic, because it is the eurozone's third largest economy and a bailout is not an option for them. SO they already had a lot of reforms and changed their discourse to a more growth oriented approach, which showed it is obviously, theat the EU needs th reform in order to prevent further crisis and to coordinate fiscal and economic policy. That is why a fiscal union is planned together wit ha fiscal pact, when Germany haven't accepted the eurobonds.

interesting good business english topics: terminology, business sentences to use, explaination of business vocabulary, HRM, building global brands,..

Terminology:

The terms of the contract are agreed by the parties.
The contract is drafted by an attorney.
The finished contract is signed by the parties.
One of the parties breaches a contract term.
The other party commerces legal action.
The parties try to settle the case out of court.
But the parties cannot agree, so litigation continues.
The case goes to a full bearing.
The judge delivers a ruling.
The claimant is or is not awarded damages.

business sentences:
We at SAB are celebrating our tenth anniversary this week! Sarting with only three employees in 2001, we are now one of the leading companies in the software branch. Each of our 60 agencies is a daughter and offers you consistently high quality. Our company's 500 employees are all very engaged. As you can read in our prospect, Martin Eismann, a man of genial ideas, has contributed most to our company's success.Martin, a former mathematician, has a funded technical knowledge ans is a specialist in creating software programmes for noble properties.

In January the employees will get a bonus. We aren't suprised about that. Our deals were very profitable last year. Should the CEO donate half of the bonus? The crisis in Greece cannot be overseen.

Explaination of business words:

win-win solution = An agreement that benefits both sides.

Bottom line = The lowes result that a negotiator will accept.

walk-away point = The stage when it becomes clear that there will be no agreement.

principled negotiator = A person who considers the interests of both parties.

BATNA (best alternative to a negotiated agreement) = The course of action you or your company will take if the talks fail.

Definition of financial terms:

Debtors: A person who owes somebody money.
Assets: Things in a corporation that are valuable.
Creditors: People to whom somebody owes money.
Equity: value of a company's shares.
Liabilities: Debts a company has, money you owe.
Deposit: A part of money that is given for a larger payment.
Standing order: Instruction for a bank to pay a fix amount of money on the same day each month.
Loan: Maney that a bank lends.
Overdraft: Maney that you owe when you have spent more than you had on your bank account.
GDP: Services within a country in 1 year.
mortgage: A legal agreement by which a bank lends somebody money to buy a house (for example).


business sentences: Thank you for being here today. I had to knock together this presentation, so please excuse any mistakes. I'll be the first to break the news. Studies have shown that the percentage of left-handed people is increasing worldwide, so we're going to produce tools for left-handers.

Our marketing campaign to plug the products begins on International Left-Hander's Day, on 11 January. I believe this new line will generate a lot of buzz quickly. We have to strike while the iron is hot. I do not want to jump to conclusions, but I have the feeling we are going to make a lot of money: we will be able to take it in. Every evening horrible pictures are broadcasted on TV: Our department looks after our clients and customers in Germany. I would like to help. What do you think about this business issue?

Investment banking: what are the characteristics of Hedge Funds, their strategies and what are my  views on them?

There is no precise definition of  Hedge Fonds, but it can be described as agressive investments in domestic and international markets to generate high returns. There are different strategies such as "Arbitrage", "Global -Macro", "Event Driven" and "Equity Based". "Arbitrage" means that in one stock market (e.g. NYSE) a share costs for example 160 Euros and is sold, so there is reduced demand for this share. At the same time the same share at another stock exchange market costs 140 Euros and there is increased demand, so the price of this share adjusts at 150 Euros.
In my opinion Hedge Fonds have too much influence on financial markets worldwide. THere is only minimal regulation and the priority goal of hedge fond managers is profit. THey  are even willing to bet on bancrupcy of countries so I think that there really should be more regulation.

HRM: what is the recruitment process as well as the performance and compensation management of HRM?
THe process of recruiting describes the identification, selection and attraction of capable candidates for current or future needs. A company can do this in its own way (internal search) or with help of job agencies. Referrals or head-hunters. To make sure that organisational goals are met, managers should hold meetings with the staff and introduce periodical reviews of the employee's performance.
The level of compensation depends on the menagement phylosophy, on the kind of business and on how profitable the business is. 

Emerging giants: The strategies for going global.

There are three strategies for going global. THe first is called: " Replicate business models in markets with similar structures". To build scale, companies can extend the business business models developed in their home county to new, similar markets. For example the company "Zain" from Kuwait saw a familiarity, similarity with the African region and culture and established business there. Zain filled institutional voids and was prepared to complete when competitors entered.
THe second is"Adapt business models to developed markets". COmpanies from emerging markets enter developed market to get access to new technologies and retailers. They can start from a local company understanding the local market like Teva from Israel did in a joint venture with a US company. So Teva was prepared to complete once companies from developed markets entered Israel.

The third strategy is "Aquire global capabilities, through global institutions". This is to be seen as a compensation for the home market voids and to fast track the entry to developed markets, e.g. through "overseas acquisitions", like Tata from India aquired Jaguar.

Fiat -Chrysler Alliance: Marchionne's 10 point plan as well as the Fiat-Chrysler opportunity.
Within the "10-point-plan", Fiat wanted to boost sales, reduce platforms, improve manufacturing, increase carryovers and cut costs. Forthermore  the company wanted to add partners, enter new segments, share best practices, get new designs to market faster and upgrade and expand dealers.
Chrysler ( one of the three biggest car manufacturers in the USA) searched for a partnership. THen both "married". Marchionne ecame the CEO of Chrysler and was closely involved i nthis business. There also were three milestones in the history of Fiat and Chrysler.
1st: a new fuel efficient engine was introduces for production in the US.
2nd: Chrysler-products were distributed outside the US, 3rd: a chrysler-branded vehicle was built on a fiat platform for the first time. All in all it was a good opportunity. Fiat started t osell the "500" in the USA with new features and adapted to the US-market.

Building brands: how do you build a global brand and what are the challenges you might encounter?
Brands are built by visibly manifesting a global identity and the "personality" of a company (corparate identity). Brands are also created by providing a good service and products with a very good quality. The challenge is for my brand to be difficult to imitate and to stand out of the crowd. A good strategy is to be funny, challenging and innovative. Once a company established a brand, it facilitates the achievement of its business objectives. 

summary of the main ideas of the business text "Good friends are there to help"

The text " Good friends are there to help" by Ferry Batzoglou and Manfred Ertel appeared in teh magazine " Spiegel" on November 16th, 2011 and describes the real story of what is behind China's investments in Greece.
As Greece is struggling wit hits finance policy, the country is looking out for help all over the world. China offered Greece to invest in their country and Greece accepted it, believing that China would help them out of trouble. But Greece thinks that China has another intention. China aquired rights to a container port in Greece and instead of creating well-paid jobs for unemployed Greeks, the Chinese employer is paying little and hiring unexperiences workers. Papandreou's decision t osign contracts within China made may be a bit too fast without considering risks and disadvantages, but the money they needed so urgently stood in the first place. Now Greece is realizing the problems and China is admitting that they are no "white knights".
To sum everything up, it became clear that China was only looking for own profits and established a "gateway to Europe" by investing in greek ports and companies. The european governments need to make decisions on how to deal with th situation.

HBOS, BP, building brands, e-commerce

HBOS: how important is customer service in the banking sector and how can you offer a profitable one? 
HBOS focuses on customer service to keep customers and t oaquire new customers. Employers have to have knowledge about the products and services they offer in order to provide what customers ask for. In addition they should know how to handle people and their problems. Social skills are crucial . They want to create a competitive advantage by performing a better customer service than their competition. One reason for that is that products and services of banks are pretty similar. Therefore customer service is the most important part of a bank's activities. To distinguish from their direct competition and to remain profitable.

BP: what are the major issues surrounding corporate mergers? 
BP's merger with AMROCO has been very successful as they reached tangible and strategic synergy prices. Now they are able to compete with other top companies of the industry & governments take them more seriously. But most mergers fail, because they can not make the system work. People have to trust and accept each other in order to build up one new company. Different cultures and languages as well as different organisational structures are hardles that can not be neglected. On order to become competitive, reduce costs, learn from each other and be profitable employees need to build one team with a common goal.


building brands: what is a brand and what are the challenges inolved in building a global brand?
A brand is a promise to the customer. There are certain values attached to a brand like quality or ofun. But it is also just a name, what is more important ar ethe services and the people behind that badge to make a successful brand. The brand creates an image that helps people to define what they stand fo. E.g. buying products from the copy shop symbolizes that they value the environment. Building a global brand is challenging as culture and language differs from country to country. Most of the time it is not possible to implement just one marketing strategy to promote your product and brand. It is importnat to consider religio, demographics or the political situation in a country in order to be successful. 

e-commerce: what maeks a successful e-business and what are the advantages for consumers and companies? 
A successful e-business like Amazon or Dell has to build up a smooth network with suppliers, their own logistic people and delivery partners in order to keep their promises, e.g. delivery within 24 hours. They shouls monitor what their customers buy in rder to predict what they might be interested in next time they visit their homepage. an e-business should provide product descriptions and recommendations fromother customers.
Another crucial part is the design of the homepage and the user friendliness as shopping should be as easy as possible. Customers shouldn't get frustrated.  Advantages for the customers are that that they can choose from a massive selection of products and they dont have to leave their homes doing so.
E-businesses on the other hand benefit form less costs as they do not need shops to offer their products.