The human resource, employment relations strategies, processes adopted in the fast food industries in the United States, Germany and Australia

Introduction The fast-food industry has become extremely internationalized within the last three decades; such companies as McDonald’s or Burger King operate in countries that may have different political and legal systems, cultures, or even religions (Berberoglu 2002, p. 135).Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on The human resource, employment relations strategies, processes adopted in the fast food industries in the United States, Germany and Australia specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More This essay is aimed at comparing and contrasting the human resource and employment relations strategies used in such countries as the United States, Australia, and Germany. These countries have been chosen because such examples can show how multinational corporations (MNCs) adapt to different legal systems, social values, and cultural environments. For instance, the United States can be seen as a country where the fast-food indu stry first achieved enormous success in terms of financial performance. By looking at it, one can understand the origins of HR practices used in the fast-food industry. In turn, Germany can be of great interest to business administrators because of its labour relations system that requires MNCs to develop more complex HR strategies and give more bargaining power to workers. Finally, Australia is a state which places much emphasis on the corporate social responsibility of private businesses and one should see how companies adapt to these requirements. Overall, it is possible to say that a MNC has to take into account such factors as the labour laws of a country, the degree to which workers are unanimous, and cultural values of a particular society.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Although, it may not be possible to develop a model that can fit every country, business administ rators can identify a set of best practices that are related to staffing, training and development, remuneration, management, and industrial relations. Theories related to HR practices in multinational corporations To a great extent, the success of international companies depends on their ability to improve or optimize every aspect of their performance. These organizations have to be concerned with the cost of their operations, especially labour expenses, and relations with customers. These aspects of performance are of crucial importance to the fast-food industry which can be defined as a group of firms specialising on â€Å"branded† convenience food prepared in a place and meant for direct sale to retailers (Royle Towers 2002, p. 2). Human resource management plays an important role for these organizations, because it ensures that a company can recruit and retain the employees who can effectively cope with the goals that the organization sets. The first strategy is based on the convergence theory. According to this approach, cultural boundaries or distinctions can be eroded; therefore; similar HR models and approaches can be replicated across countries (Mcgaughey Cieri 1999, p. 236). In contrast, the divergence theory implies the difference between cultures will continue to play an important role and HR managers will have to encourage diversity (Mcgaughey Cieri 1999, p. 237). The countries that have been chosen for this discussion do not differ significantly in terms of such cultural indicators as power distance or uncertainty avoidance (Hofstede 2012).Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on The human resource, employment relations strategies, processes adopted in the fast food industries in the United States, Germany and Australia specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More However, there are some differences in such values as collectivism and individuality, especially if one is speaking about t he United States and Germany (Hofstede 2012). Thus, the influence of culture is one of the issues that multinational corporations (MNCs) should be aware of. Secondly, HR professionals have to think about laws that are implemented in specific countries. It should be mentioned that the term human-resource relations refers to the programs that an organization puts in place in order to ensure that the employees receive the benefits that are guaranteed by legislation (Lusthaus 1999, p. 69). In particular, one can mention such issues as compensation, protection of health, or human rights (Lusthaus 1999, p. 69). In turn, employment relations strategies can be understood as long-term objectives set by the management in order to preserve or change workplace procedures and results (Rose 2008, p. 81). Fast-food companies have to focus on such activities training, recruitment, and compensation policies to make sure that their labour costs remain low, while the quality of organizational performa nce is not impaired. Yet, one should take into account that HR practices and relations with workers are affected by a variety of factors, for example, labour legislation of a specific country, or the attitude of a society toward a specific job or occupation, and so forth. Thus, HR managers should be aware of these factors. Overall, the task of these professionals becomes more complicated when they have to adjust their practices to a different country.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More For example, fast food companies that operate in Germany have to consider the increased role of trade unions there and collective bargaining power of German workers (Royle, 2012, p. 75; Schnabel Wagner 2008, p. 497). In turn, Australian fast-food companies have to be more concerned with their public image (Allan, Bamber Timo 2002 p. 161). HR professionals must ensure that the practices used in different divisions of the organization do not compromise the company and its image. MNCs are pressured to conform to the local legal and social norms. This is one of the most difficult tasks that HR professional have to cope with. On the one hand, they are pressured by the senior executives who are mostly concerned with the profitability of an enterprise. Yet, they also have to comply with the rules set by the government of a foreign country. Overall, these examples suggest that HR policies are instrumental for the effective performance of an organization. They have to ensure cost-efficienc y and good relations with customers. These aspects of performance are crucial for the fast-food industry. Moreover, this discussion shows that HR practices and employee relations have to be adjusted to a certain cultural, social, and political environment. The following section will illustrate this argument in more detail. Comparison and contrast of HR practices in different countries The practices that exist in different countries Despite the fact that the countries that have been chosen for discussion may differ in terms of legal environment, there are some similarities in the practices used by fast-food companies. The similarities are mostly related to such aspects as staffing, training, development and management. First of all, one should speak about training and development. One of the trends that can be observed in the United States, Germany, and Australia is the standardization of workplace procedures (Royle Towers 2002, p. 144). As a rule, fast food companies provide specif ic instructions for each activity that an employee can be engaged in. Special attention is normally paid to customer service (Royle Towers 2002, p. 144). Managers pay special attention to such aspects as politeness of employees, their facial expressions, their reactions to clients’ requests and so forth (Leidner 2002, p. 25). The training programs in the fast-food industry are designed to develop these skills. These corporations attempt to make sure that their workers can understand every workplace procedure. Moreover, they are trained to act as interchangeable parts of a mechanism (Royle Towers 2002, p. 144). To a great extent, this policy can be explained by the corporate culture of such companies. These MNCs usually pay special attention to the training that they provide to workers in order to succeed. Staffing is another aspect of HR practices that is replicated in the United States, Germany, and Australia. Fast-food companies have accepted the idea of high turnover in their organizations. To a great extent, this policy can be explained by cultural factors that are present in the United States, Germany, and Australia. One should take into account that jobs in the fast-food industry do not enjoy popularity in economically-developed countries (Tannock 2001). They are usually associated with lack of education or skills that allow a person to climb a social ladder (Leidner 2002, p. 16). Employees of such restaurants can even be ridiculed by peers. This stigmatization is particular strong when one speaks about the person who has already reached adulthood (Leidner 2002, p. 16). Thus, fast-food companies employ mostly young people who are pursuing their education or who are just searching for a part-time job (Allan, Bamber Timo 2002 p. 152). Overall, fast-food corporations have already accepted the idea of high turnover within their divisions. Moreover, when recruiting people, they emphasize such issues as their ability to work flexible hours or free tr aining that the company can offer. Thus, fast-food companies usually employ only young people who do not want to stay with them for a long time. One can say that each of the countries that have been chosen is an advanced economy, and the employment in the fast-food industry is not rewarding for the majority of people. Thus, fast-food companies should take into account that people see them as only part-time employers. Another aspect that people should take into account is management style, especially the degree of autonomy that workers have in fast-food industry. As a rule, the employees of fast-food companies do not have many opportunities to take part in the decision-making (Royle, 2005, p. 42). More likely, they have to act like subordinates who are supposed to follow every instruction or command of the business administrator. Again, this policy has been replicated in many countries, including the United States, Australia, or Germany. However, this approach is consistently critici zed by trade unions of these countries. Overall, these policies can be explained by the corporate culture of fast-food companies and their emphasis on cost-efficiency. In this case, cultural differences between countries do not manifest themselves. On the whole, HR professionals should that the majority of their employees do not want to work with them on a regular basis. The differences in HR practices and employee relations The managers of fast-food companies should take into account that not all of their practices can be easily replicated in different countries. The most important aspects are the remuneration and industrial relations. For instance, MNCs operating in the United States attempt to minimize the wages of the employees and they do not face much resistance (Leidner 2002, p. 12). It should be noted that in this country the labour terms are more favourable to employers, rather than employees (Leidner 2002, p. 12). American law imposes restrictions on companies, but it does not give many positive rights to workers (Leidner, p. 12). This is the main peculiarity of labour relations and remuneration in this country. Fast-food companies that began to operate at an international level attempted to emulate these policies in other countries, but they did not achieve success. For instance, such a strategy may not be successful in Germany where the collective bargaining power of workers is much stronger. The efforts of the German labour force are usually more synchronized in part because trade unions play a more important role in this society. It should be noted that in Germany a larger percentage of workers are unionized (Schnabel Wagner, 2008, p. 497). Apart from that, the German Trade Union Federation that represents the rights workers is an influential organization and many companies have to accept its demands (Royle 2002, p. 71). Moreover, according to Works Constitution Act employees are allowed to establish councils that should represent their rights ( Royle 2002, p. 72). In this country, the companies that resist the unionization of their employees are more likely to face public criticism. One can mention that McDonald’s had to encounter such difficulties when it entered the German market because it could not reach an agreement with trade unions (Royle 2002, p. 71). Therefore, Germany has a system of checks and balances that offer more protection to employees. In Australia, the rights of workers are also well-protected, in part because fast-food companies working in this country have to act as good corporate citizens (Allan, Bamber Timo 2002, p. 161). Such MNCs as McDonald’s, Hungry Jack’s, and KFC have decided to manage the entire union discussions instead of dealing with separate trade unions (Allan, Bamber Timo 2002, p. 140). So, in Australia the rights of workers are protected due to corporate social responsibility, while in Germany their rights are defended by trade unions. Managers should also take in to account that Germany and the United States differ from one another in terms of cultural values and these differences may explain why remuneration and labour relations differ in these countries. For instance, according to Geert Hofstede, Germans place less emphasis on individuality in comparison with Americans (Hoftede 2012). This means that German workers are more cohesive or unanimous (Hofstede 2012). They are more likely to join their efforts in order to force a company to raise wages. Overall, this example suggests that the practices of a company have to take into account the cultural and political environment of the country. As it has been shown, the degree of collectivism can determine the bargaining power of employees. Overall, the differences that have been identified are mostly related to human resource relations. In particular, one can speak about such aspects as compensation and labour relations of MNCs. These corporations should take into account that in the future, th e majority of governments may require them to act as responsible corporate citizens, and it will be more difficult for them to defend their reputation. HR professionals can help them avoid these problems by designing strategies that can improve employees’ satisfaction with their work. Recommendations It is possible to identify best practices that fast-food MNCs can adopt in order to perform successfully in different countries. First of all, fast-food companies should continue their policies regarding training and development. Their task is to provide on-the-job training to employees. As it has been noted before, practically every workplace procedure in fast-food industry is specified and standardized. This approach will enable them to maximize the performance of their employees at a relatively low cost. Certainly, high turnover of employees is usually believed to be a cause of many problems for many companies (Tesone 2008, p. 206). Yet, high turnover does not pose a significa nt risk to fast-food companies because they want their employees to be interchangeable in the workplace (Royle Towers 2002, p. 144). This is one of the approaches that can be applied in different countries. Secondly, while recruiting employees they should focus on such aspects as flexibility of working hours, absence of educational requirements, and ability to earn some income at the time when a person cannot secure a more prestigious employment. These organizations should remember about the demographic characteristics of their labour force. Fast-food companies should recruit young people who believe that fast-food industry can offer them only a temporary employment. This strategy can be applied in the United States, Germany, Australia, and many other countries in which fast-food companies operate. This approach has already proved to be effective. As it has been said before, the employees of fast-food companies can often be stigmatized. HR professionals highlight some positive aspe cts of working in a fast-food restaurant, for example, flexible working hours or ability to receive free training. Thirdly, they should remember that the bargaining power of workers can be greater in some countries. The managers of fast-food companies should remember that in Germany and Australia the social performance of businesses has to reach higher standards. Such practices as of-the-clock work may no longer be permissible. In the previous sections it has been shown that fast-food companies have to act as responsible corporate citizens because people who live in Australia, Germany and the US may eventually pay more attention to their labour practices. These companies should remember that they also need skilful employees, and it is necessary to find ways of retaining workers who can improve the operations of fast-food restaurants. Conclusion The success of fast-food companies strongly depends on their ability to adjust to the legal, social and cultural environment of other countr ies. In particular, they need to focus on the laws that are implemented in the country, people’s attitudes toward a certain occupation, and some of their cultural values such as collectivism or individuality. These organizations should remember that human resource and employment relations strategies can require some modifications, depending upon a particular country. For instance, in Germany fast-food companies should be ready to cooperate with trade unions. The examples discussed in this paper suggest that daily operations, workplace practices, and recruitment of employees can be similar in across different countries. They are relatively similar in the United States, Germany, and Australia. They can continue using such practices in the future. However, promotion of employee’s rights, the empowerment of personnel, and their compensation require much more attention of HR managers who work outside the United States. They should note that bargaining power of workers can b e very strong in some countries such as Germany. References Allan, C., Bamber G Timo, N 2002 â€Å"Employment relations in the Australian fast-food industry†. In Royle, T Towers, B (eds.), Labor relations in the global fast food industry, Routledge, New York, pp. 140-152. Berberoglu, B 2002, Labor and Capital in the Age of Globalization: The Labor Process and the Changing Nature of Work in the Global Economy, Rowman Littlefield, London. Hofstede, G 2012, National Culture: Germany. Web. Leidner R 2002, Fast-food work in the United States. In Royle, T Towers, B (eds.), Labor relations in the global fast food industry, Routledge, New York, pp. 7-27. Lusthaus, C 1999, Enhancing Organizational Performance: A Toolbox for Self-Assessment, International Development Research Centre, Ottawa. Mcgaughey, S, Cieri, H 1999, ‘Reassessment of convergence and divergence dynamics: implications for international HRM’, International Journal Of Human Resource Management, vol.10 no. 2, pp. 235-250. Rose, E 2008, Employment Relations, Pearson Education, New York. Royle, T Towers, B (eds.) 2002, Labor relations in the global fast food industry, Routledge, New York. Royle, T 2005, ‘Realism or idealism? Corporate social responsibility and the employee stakeholder in the global fast-food industry’, Business Ethics: A European Review, vol. 14, no. 1, pp. 42-55 Royle, T 2002, ‘Undermining the system? Labour relations in the German fast-food industry’ †. In Royle, T Towers, B (eds.), Labor relations in the global fast food industry, Routledge, New York, pp. 69-92. Schnabel, C, Wagner, J 2008, ‘The Aging of the Unions in West Germany, 1980-2006’, Jahrbucher Fur Nationalokonomie Und Statistik, vol. 228 no 5, pp. 497-511. Tannock, S 2001, Youth At Work, Temple University Press, London. Tesone, D 2008, Handbook Of Hospitality Human Resources Management, Elsevier, London. This essay on The human resource, employment relations strategies, processes adopted in the fast food industries in the United States, Germany and Australia was written and submitted by user Ahmad Q. to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

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Lastly, the mes sage should contain the mobility factor; the ability to move from one person to the next (Richard Clark, 2009). Having at least one the first four elements along with the last one will encourage a beneficial response from the community. An organization should continue to listen to the community as long as it is in business. Since anyone can say anything, a company should always keep an eye on the sphere. Listen to what the communities say about it. This help in controlling bad press and empowering good ones. Of course, monitoring the blogosphere may seem impossible, fortunately, there are some tools that keeps the company notified whenever a new entry with its name appear in the wild. 4. The Way to a Catastrophic Social Media Utilization As beneficial as SMM can be, a misuse or unplanned approach can result in a total waste of resources. Lacking a staff member who can handle a frequent delivery of quality content can degrade the social effort. Also, the absence of a strong message that can create a community around it will result in a partial loss for the impact on people. Social media is global, so, cautious should be practiced at all times to avoid any offending messages. Not only that, a corporation should realize that social media is an open platform and there is no such thing as off-the-record and for that not only should they monitor their own channels but also their employees. There have been many incidents where companies had to fire their employees for inappropriate messages posted in their own personal spaces. One famous incident when Delta Airlines had to fire Ellen Simonetti a flight attendant over inappropriate pictures posted in her blog in the companys uniform (Ellen Simonetti, 2005). To avoid such inc idents, the organization should provide clear guidelines to what is appropriate and what is not when it comes to their social messages. 5. Blogs We have mentioned earlier different social media tools that can be utilized to the benefit of the organization. Now, we will discuss these in further details while providing real examples for the usages of these tools by other organizations or individuals. Starting with blogs, which as mentioned earlier is a website with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material usually maintained by one person with few exceptions where they are maintained by a group of people depending on the function or goal of the blog. Blogs also give the readers the ability to leave their comments in an interactive format. This feedback mechanism of the blogs is one of the main reasons why blogs are one of the most important social mediums. From an SMM point of view, the feedback is the opinion of their consumers, their needs, or their dissatisfactions which make them a gold mine of information for the company. A lot of companies had already adopted blogs and integrated them to the ir daily operations starting with CEOs like Jonathan Schwartz (President CEO, Sun Microsystems) and George F. Colony (Chairman CEO, Forrester Research) and a long list others. So what does these CEO talk about? Most would think that talking about their companys milestones, new products or services, or future plan would be the obvious choice. But going back to the reason should most companies based their activities on social media is to raise awareness. Not many people will want to read about the companys achievements or its products, thats the purpose of the main website of the company. These CEOs blogs actually contains interesting and useful materials. If we take a quick look at George Colonys blog, we will find his personal thoughts, expectations, review, etc. but all with a unified theme, the CEO perspective. One of his entries were regarding the imminent dominance of Apples iPhone among CEOs over the Blackberry ones and listing iPhone features that the blackberry lacks. Norma lly, you wouldnt expect to see a mobile review in a research company CEO blog though he still managed to keep it relevant to the overall blog theme, but that what makes it interesting. Thats what makes people coming back to you. Because each blog will compete with millions of other blogs and to stand tall among the crowd, you have to distinguish yours. If you are a small business owner, your blog could be relevant to your industry. But regardless of the blogs theme, without valuable content, the blog will be a definite waste of time. Passing the CEO blogs and going further into the companies hierarchy, we can also find many of the management team, adding their own touch to the blogosphere like Tom Berquist (CFO, Ingres) and Michael Tiemann (CTO, Red Hat). Going further all the way to developers, analysts, etc., you will find plenty of other blog writers. Some companies have also what can be called an official blog. These official blogs are similar to an announcement board, where org anizations announce new products, technologies, or ideas of future plans, though in most of these cases, these companies already have interested loyal audience who are eager to listen to them. A good example is Nokia Conversations. This blog might seem to be a portal to announce new mobile phones, software, or services. But it is more than that, as the name suggests, Nokia tries to engage their readers as much as possible. They hold social activities sometimes, for example, a photo context for one of their camera phones. This blogs provides lot of valuable knowledge to Nokia. Based on the feedback from this website, Nokia fix problems, annoyances, or add missing features to their products from the comments and suggestions of their audience. This creates loyalty to their brand. It is a win-win situation for both; the customers get the product and the company gets the sales. Of course, when it comes to small businesses and entrepreneurs, the case is usually different as their first an d main objective is to raise awareness as oppose, for example, to Nokia Conversations where the main goal is the good publicity, the customers feedback and the loyalty. For those individuals, creating a blog, or creating a page in a social network -as discussed later -is not enough. For people to come to you, you have to get to them first; participation on other blogs -in the same industry -will inform the audience of your existence, your personality, and you interests. You cant tell people to come to you, but you can go to them, raise their interest and let them follow you back. One of the best utilizations for the power of blogs is demonstrated by Adobe Inc. They have create a comprehensive network that allows for personal interaction between people with common interests-those interests, of course, are related to Adobe and their broad range of software products. The result is an officially sponsored message board and blog site dedicated to informing the public about Adobe, answering questions about products and product applications, and whats more is allowing public input on the developmental process of future Adobe software titles. They have compiled all of these features together in a feed aggregator called MXNA (Adobe XML News Aggregator). According to Adobe, this tool is designed to monitor over 2400 Adobe related blogs and news sources all in one place. As a result, users can search through all of these sources for articles, tutorials, code samples, downloads, sample applications, information or help they need and if they have a question that doesnt ha ve an answer, they can post it to get their answers from Adobes staff. Thus creating communities that are completely and wholly devoted to being the definitive destination of any and all who seek answers about all things Adobe (Greg Brian Martin, 2007). From Adobes perspective, they have given customers the satisfaction that the company is committed to helping them get the most out of their purchase and making sure that the customer is satisfied with the product. Second, the originated communities also exist so that those users who have discovered solutions to problems they feel are common or troublesome (or both) may share these ideas with fellow participants of the communities (Greg Brian Martin, 2007). By giving the public the opportunity to not only ask when they need help but also, to answer and help other members of the community, Adobe has exponentially cut down on their customer support costs. Usually the return on investment in social media cannot be quantified, but in Adob es case we can somewhat relate to the result of their investments. Their costs of service and support went down by $6 million in the same period between 2006 and 2002 when the communities where introduced. 6. Social Networks The second tool of interest in this paper and one of the fastest growing is the online social networks. These networks function like an online community for internet users. It is different from site to another, but usually members share a similar interest e.g. Flixster -for Movies enthusiasts -or similar hobbies like Spoccer -for Soccer players. Yet, there is the general type where most of the crowd resides. Ahead of the crowd is Facebook follow by MySpace in terms of the number of active members. It differs from one site to another, but once you sign up to one of the services, all of them will suggest that you create your profile. Though the available fields to fill differs depending on the interest, they all ask for the same basic information whether you are an individual or an organization. Honesty is an important factor when filling the profile, as getting caught lying in a social network is more devastating than off one. After preparing your profile, you should try to look for p eople with the same interest to start connecting. Depending on the type of industry, you might want to look into different sites. The most common website among professional is LinkedIn, though, when you are targeting the general public Facebook is the best choice as it has the largest base of members. But if you are working in music industry, for example, MySpace is usually a better choice. Though, Willa Plank would argue that for small businesses, it is better to start in smaller more related communities as it is easy to disappear among huge crowds (2009). Social Media Marketing has been adopted by many of the large corporations like Dell, Hershey, and Kraft but one of the most outstanding is a community for moms called Vocalpoint by Proctor Gamble. The program recruited thousands of women who were picked because of their large social network. They were recruited to talk about PG products to their friends (Robert Berkman, 2008). But SMM is not exclusive to businesses, but it can also help hobbyists and individuals. For example, if you are in a garage band, as mention earlier, MySpace is known for its music services and it would be the best place for the band to start promoting itself. One of the best examples is OmniSoul (aka. The Crash Motive), a Newark, Delaware band. The five member of the group met at University of Delaware and they first hit when they won Battle of the Band competition there. Then the band began touring around their local area growing their fan base and the local radio started playing their songs. Eventually, the y developed their own website and their MySpace pages. Their individual pages were like any normal page with basic information. The band page, on the other hand, includes a profile picture of the entire band, an audio player with four of the bands original full-length songs in rotation, a list of upcoming tour dates, a list of friends, and a comment area where friends can leave messages to the band (Greg Martin, 2007). Derek Fuhrmann, the lead singer of the group had the following to say about MySpace, MySpace is an amazing tool for bands today to not only promote their music, but more importantly to keep in touch with their fan base. Making fans an intricate part of a bands world through daily interaction is really a brilliant concept. (Greg Martin, 2007). The band is hoping to get the nationwide exposure they need from the MySpace page. They hope that the social networking feature of MySpace will help their exposure, by adding as many friends as possible. The more friends the band has, the more people will come into contact with them. The exposure is not for the band name only, but also for their music. We mentioned earlier they had four full-length tracks in their space, any of their friends, can take these songs and post them on their personal Space, where it will be played whenever someone visited their website. On top of gaining the exposure, they also hope to strengthen its relationship with preexisting fans. They kept feeding them information of the bands day to day activities, news postings, the occasional MySpace promotional contest, and by posting on friends comment spaces, the band seems to be committed to reinforcing the ties it has already created. Their efforts paid off and on December 27th, 2009 they performed their last show on their first nationwide tour at Deer Park in Newark, DE. The success stories resulted from social networks are beyond numbering, however, for the sake of diversification, two more quick examples will be mentioned. Social networks were there to help corporation and small businesses, but they also exist to help individuals, too. Kristen Luke is a principal at Wealth Management Marketing, a small financial marketing advisory firm in San Diego. Her story with social networks started out with LinkedIn. There, she was found by Dow Jones News Wire reporter. The reporter formed some interest in Kristen, so she called her and quoted her in a couple of stories in Wall Street Journal. This turned into increased traffic on her website (Stephen Arnold, 2009). The second story is a bit different than the norm as Bradi Nathan and Terry Starr started by conducting a survey on Facebook before launching their business. The survey was targeted at working moms and moms who wanted to go back to the workforce. The idea behind the survey was to find out what mom s would want from a mom social network. The results of the survey are the bases of their blossomed business (David Spark, 2009). 7. Micro-Blogging Micro-blogging is one of the most recent tools to appear; yet, it is growing at an alarming rate. As mentioned earlier, it is a service that allowed its users to publish short messages of around 140 characters or less. Its limitation of 140 characters is overwhelmed by its tight integration with mobile phones. Most micro-blogging services provide the ability to add a new entries using SMS and also receiving others entries by SMS in addition to the regular browser from any pc or even cell phones. This ease of access is what helped burst its success. Though, the 140 doesnt seems like much to say, yet, the last couple of years have shown, as will be shown later, its devastating power. Throughout this paper, Twitter -the most successful micro-blogging service -will be used interchangeably with micro-blogging. Micro-blogging shares the some common grounds with the other social media; if you want to be followed, you have to be interesting to people. Whole Foods Market realized that fact and since their first day on twitter, they abide by that rule. Within a week of highlighting some fun things that were going on at specific stores, people started noticing them on twitter. From there the market kept getting more publicity and within a year, they had over a million followers (Cody Nolden, 2009). While Whole Foods twitters were related to their stores, the CEO of Zappos.com took a slightly different approach. He personally drives the corporate account and always has something interesting to say most of which are not related to work. But most of them had one thing in common, humor. Now, Zappos has over 1.6 million followers (Cody Nolden, 2009). Dell has a more direct approach toward its twitter. It uses the medium to send exclusive offers to their followers. By June 2009, they made over $3,000, 000 in twitter related sales (Antone Gonsalves, 2009) Interest will get you followers, but to keep them, the personal element should be added to the mix. JetBlue Airlines and Southwest Airlines have two things in common; operating in the same industry and they both twitter. Both companies offer similar messages in their twitters; however, JetBlue has 600,000 followers more than Southwest. By taking a closer look at both channels, you will notice that over half of JetBlues messages are in fact replies to other people where in Southwests the percentage goes way down. People tend to feel wormer toward a personal response (Cody Nolden, 2009). The best methodology to approach the micro-blogging differs by the industry, the goals, and the targeted audiences and limited by creativity. A group of tourist information enthusiasts at Coos Bay, Oregon, led by Katherine Hoppe, looked at twitter differently. Instead of taking a direct approach, they looked at twitter as an opportunity platform. The group kept looking around twitter hunting their towns name; looking for an opportunity to promote it. One day, Lee Hopkins along with his friend were planning a road trip from Seattle to San Francisco. They twittered their friends to suggest a place to stay, and one of them suggested Coos Bay. Katherine caught the message and contacted Lee and she was successful in persuading them to stop by the city. They stayed for a couple of days, enjoyed it, blogged their trip, and added what became a popular series of videos for the trip. Unfortunately, not all companies apprehend the concept of social media and micro-blogging. JCPenney has taken a strange twisted approach to reach people on twitter. They stalk anyone who mentions the word shopping in an entry. They ambush the writer with a message similar to check out JCPenney online at www.jcp.com à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ No wonder they dont have too many followers. Micro-blogging has been useful to many, useless to some, and it has been disaster to others. Twitter has a hidden ugly face too and it showed it to Horizon Realty Group a Chicago real estate company. The story began with one of the company tenants Amanda Bonnen. Amanda twittered to her 20 followers that the company didnt care about the mold in her apartment. Because of the comment, the company filed a law suit against her, asking for $50,000 in damages to their reputations. They argued that there was no mold in her apartment. The next day, the law suit became one of the hottest topics in the whole twitter network which mean, the comment of irritation to 20 twitterers became a hot topic to thousands and thousands of people. Social media users do not read all the facts carefully before flaming. Whether Horizon Realty was right or wrong, no one in the social network would see the $50,000 as reasonable, either. The ugly face of micro-blogging doesnt just scare, it usefulness goes beyond that sometimes for a whole city like the city of Phoenix, AZ. One night at the city, a group of friends found out that their car had been towed as a part of a towing scam thats been going on for over a year and a half. The group behind the scam didnt know that this group was one of the most active twitterers in Phoenix. As a result, within 24 hours, there has been an investigation, and the word has reached the mayor and city council. Within 48 hours, the local media got involved covering the story. Within 72 hours, the scam has been shutdown (Sandra Gonzalez-Bailon, et al. 2009). So, what does the mean to businesses? Even though it makes twitter looks scary, it should only makes companies to jump in with both feet and eyes. Jumping in with both feet can help the company building a close relationship with the consumers. But thats not all; they should also keep an eye on what people say about them. Being there in the first place before disasters can help form a better response and ease spreading it around. 8. Social Bookmarking Social bookmarking started as a service to keep your bookmarks with you wherever you go. Then it was morphed into a full fledged social community to share sites of interest, articles, images, or videos. Other people can rate, tag, and comment on these bookmarks which might seem like a social filtration for these bookmarks. The usage for these services is a straight forward one and the easier it is you make it for visitors of your website to bookmark it, the faster it will spread giving the interest factor existence. NBC11 in California realized the benefit of social bookmarking so they started by adding the option to share their news on Digg with a click of a button. Soon after, they realized also that the news with pictures are the most submitted ones. Since the inclusion of Digg into NBC 11 website, the site traffic has spiked (Figure 1) (Adam Singer, 2008). Fig. 1 Traffic History for NBC11 before and after integrating Digg 9. Video Sharing As the name implies, the websites helps their member to upload and share videos with the community. So many people became famous overnight because of these websites. The top most viewed video on YouTube -the most popular video sharing website -for 2009 was for a 48 years old Scottish lady signing in British Got Talent TV show. Now that lady signed a contract with Sony Music and released her first album which is on number 1 spot in the top 200 Billboard list (Stan Schroeder, 2009). The business sector wasnt left behind; some companies were able to utilize the power of these websites too. One company to make a successful use of the video sharing is Blendtec. They introduced a serious of interesting, funny, and low cost advertisements which immediately gone viral over the network. Because of the series, the ads resulted in increasing the sales of the company five times (Samir Balwani, 2009). 10. Conclusion When traditional media giants like CNN or MSNBC jumps into the social media wagon, you realize that it is not something to be taken lightly. Social media is here to stay; it is not a passing event. For businesses, it is only a matter of what is the best way to take advantage of it and there is no special formula to answer that. It is not a one size fits all thing. But it is safe to say that the different tools of the social media can work well together and making use of more than one tool can produce better results. For example, simple things like linking your twitter or blog to your social network account, so that you can share your feed immediately in your social network. Another usage would be to twitter your blog entries. In the Coos Bay incident, mentioned earlier, the group created a Flickr -a social site for sharing images -album to hold images from around their town and encouraged the people in town to post their pictures. Social media marketing should be planned carefully, e ven though the financial costs might be nominal to none, but the time consumption factor isnt to be overlooked.

Think Before Speaking Essays -- George Orwell, Animal Farm

The author George Orwell earned a reputation for standing apart and making a virtue of his detachment. In 1948, he created an image of communist Russia in the form of animals. Orwell’s book, Animal Farm, depicts this huge allegory. Animal Farm tells the story of a farmer overthrown by his animals who then take over the farm. The animals want an anti-human-like society with equality for all. When the pigs become more and more like humans with a social hierarchy, the farm’s society is destroyed. The ignorance of other animals leads to the pigs’ oppressing others. The author Will Rogers once stated, â€Å"When ignorance gets started it has no bounds.† The ignorance of a horse, a donkey, and the sheep play an enormous part in their suppression by the pigs in Animal Farm. When a horse named Benjamin becomes unaware of actions going on on the farm he tends to lean on the leader Napoleon’s opinions for support. After the animals were slaughtered, Boxer said, â€Å"I do not understand it. I would have believed that such things could happen on our farm. It must be due to some fault in ourselves. The solution, as I see it, is to work harder.† (Orwell 85). By ignoring the fact that many of his fellow animals were harmed, Boxer is showing that he does not understand the reason of the slaughtering. The real reason for the animals being killed is because of them opposing the pigs. The pigs could simply execute additional animals for a second time without Boxer and other animals not knowing the motive. A different time Boxer shows that he lacks knowledge is when he only takes Napoleon’s opinion as an answer to difficult questions. Boxer states, â€Å"If Comrade Napoleon says it, it must be right.† (Orwell 56). This is Boxer’s response towards eliminating ... ...en interrupted the Meeting with this. It was noticed that they were especially liable to break into `four legs good, two legs bad` at crucial moments in Snowball’s speeches (Orwell 47, 48). The sheep’s only saying to support their opinion was â€Å"Four legs good, two legs bad.† Rather than, making speeches and creating debates the sheep only yelped one saying in their support. Bottom line- ignorance leads to oppression. Why is this important? By using Animal Farm to represent communist Russia Orwell showed that ignorance and oppression are still present in the modern world. Boxer’s, the hens’, and the sheep’s lack of knowledge is still present today. To stop oppression through ignorance all should think before they act or speak. Oppression through Ignorance can be stopped if all notice how much power they have in their hands. Works Cited Orwell, George Animal Farm

Matt Moreau’s Dilemma Essay

Introduction Chuck Mackness, the president of Bantings department stores recently appointed Matt Moreau as head of customer services due to customer complaints at the other department stores. To help Matt in the staffing of his newly created department, Steven Judson, corporate personnel manager, refers Sally Armitage, an ideal candidate who holds many years of management experience at other department stores. After calling Tony Abbott, regional manager, who worked with Sally and gave her performance appraisal, Matt finds out that Sally recovered from cancer a few years ago and is unsure whether Sally would be capable for the high demanding position. This paper will analyze the ethical issues and alternatives for this case. Identify the Stakeholders Matt Moreau is the newly appointed manager to improve the quality of customer service. His task is difficult and demanding because the stores are managed through an operations department who reports to the president. This means Matt will have little authority to implement new programs unless he hires people with line management experience that have developed credibility with the operations department. Chuck Mackness is the president of Bantings and appointed Matt as head of customer service as a result of customers complaining at other department stores. He expects Matt to implement new programs for the staff and stores and wants to see results by Christmas. On his last field visit, he met Sally and she indicated that she would benefit from head office experience. Chuck mentions this to Steven Judson who passes onto Matt. Tony Abbot is the regional manager that encompasses Chute Hill store where Sally is working. Tony worked with Sally when she was the assistant manager at Eastland Mall store and together they turned the store around from being the worst performer. Afterwards, he gave a performance appraisal of Sally giving her much of the credit. Tony is affected by the decision because if Matt promotes Sally, he will have to work with a different manager at Chute Hill store. Sally Armitage is a highly competent manager at Bantings who started out as a clerk and worked her way into management. She always had good or excellent performance appraisals and has management experience at various department stores. Although she is in good health, her medical history shows that she had cancer a few years ago and she still goes every three months for regular checkups. Her current position at Chute Hill store is only 10 minutes away from her home whom she lives with her teenage daughter. Despite the high performance, her medical history will be factored into Matt’s decision. Other stakeholders include Sally’s teenage daughter and the other departments in Bantings. Sally is divorced and if she does get hired, she will have less time for her daughter because she would have to commute on the road longer. The other departments in Bantings will be affected because with Sally’s ambition and her creditability to the president, the customer service department will be able to implement organization-wide programs. Stakeholders’ Frame of Reference Matt is interested in adding Sally to his staff because of her experience and her relationship with Chuck but also understands the risk of hiring an employee with her medical history. The risk is if Sally’s health deteriorates halfway through, there won’t be someone else to fill her position. It is also important to consider the cost of training and how detrimental it would be to the department especially when it is a very demanding position. Chuck Mackness, the president of the company is indirectly involved. He mentions Sally to Steven because he must have noticed her ambition to climb the corporate ladder and that he may have seen some personal traits in her. That way, Matt would of consider Sally as an candidate and the possibility of hiring her may lead to Chuck working with Sally someday. Tony Abbott does not want Sally to leave her job because he understands the health issues after working with her at the Eastland Mall store. Although Tony gave her a performance appraisal, he understands the absences Sally took were serious. During the conversation with Matt, Tony believes Sally should not be hired because of her current state of health. He believes Sally is able to cope with her current position because she lives only 10 minutes away and that she has got a good staff when she’s not feeling 100 percent so she can coast a little bit. Sally is looking for a position in head office because she is ambitious. She does not consider the factors that would affect her if she does get hired. Her commute to work would increase to one hour each way unless she moves closer to downtown. The job would take a toll on her health and she would not have much time for her daughter with the late nights, meetings and traveling. Even if her illness comes back, she believes she can cope with the demanding job by working even harder to prove to herself that she can do anything. Sally’s daughter would not want her mother to be hired because that would lead to less time spent together and if they do move to downtown, Sally’s daughter would be one hour away from school or she would have to change schools. The other departments in Banting would not want any change in operations because they would have to learn new procedures and software. Ethical Issues Matt is obligated to make decisions in the interest of the company. If Sally is hired and her illness comes back, this decision would lose money for the company and Matt’s position to improve customer service would be hampered. Also the fact that Chuck wants to see results by Christmas would put even more pressure on the department if Sally becomes ill. Because Matt knows about her medical history, he should make the best decision in her interest. By hiring Sally to the demanding position could potentially endanger her health. If her illness comes back, it would be detrimental to her and Matt. It is also important to consider her daughter and the toll it would take on their family. Alternative #1 – Hire Sally The first alternative is to hire Sally. This option has the highest risk and highest reward. The risk is by promoting Sally, her health could deteriorate and she would not be able to perform at a high level. At that point the company would have invested into her training and would not be able to train another employee in the time. The company would be at a loss and the original objective of improving customer service would not be executed properly. The upside of this is that Sally is able to cope with the stress and excels at her position. Her proven management experience and her drive to perform at a high level would ensure the improvement of customer service. Alternative #2 – Hire somebody else The second alternative is to hire somebody else with a clean medical history. This is the safest alternative because the company would not risk the possibility of the employee not able to perform the job. This option would not lose the company money as the employee would not have any sudden medical problem. There would most likely be other employees who are interested in the head office environment and are as qualified as Sally. Alternative #3 – Rent an apartment suite in downtown for Sally The third alternative is to rent an apartment suite close to downtown so the burden of the long commute for Sally is gone. The company would incur additional expenses but as long as Sally’s benefit to the company is greater than the expense, the company would go with this decision. However the risk that the job is too stressful for Sally is still present. The late nights, meetings and tensions could prove too stressful for her. Choice of Alternative The second alternative is the best option for Matt. He is able to control the fact that whoever he hires will be not have any major health issues that would ensue later on. Although Sally is the ideal candidate for the position, there are other candidates with years of management experience and have developed credibility with the operations types. In the other two alternatives, where Sally does become ill due to the demanding job, she could file a lawsuit for employee negligence. This would not happen and this alternative is also in the best interest of Sally because her current position is optimal for her health and her family.

Anne Hutchinson Essays - American Political Philosophy, Free Essays

Anne Hutchinson Essays - American Political Philosophy, Free Essays Anne Hutchinson Anne Hutchinson She was born as Anne Marbury in 1591 in Alford, England. Her father, Francis Marbury, was an official in a church in Cambridge. He was not content with the Church. He declared publicly that many of the church ministers were not fit to guide people's souls, and for that he was jailed for a year. Even so, he continued verbally attacking the Church, claiming that high church officials freely appointed whoever they wanted, and those people were not usually qualified for their positions. Tired of constant arrests and inquisitions, he finally chose conformity and calmed down. Anne spent a lot of time reading her father's books on theology and religion. She admired his defiance of traditional church principles. She was also fascinated with theological questions like those about the fate of the Native Americans, who did not know about salvation. When she was twenty-one, she married a man named Will Hutchinson and became known as Anne Hutchinson. She also became a mother to fi fteen children. There was a minister, John Cotton, who she always admired. He was originally a Protestant, but as time passed he leaned more and more towards Puritan beliefs. Like her father, he spoke about the corruption in the clergy and called for purification of the Church. He recognized the destructive influence of the Catholic Church on the Church of England, and talked about opportunities for religious freedom in America. Anne Hutchinson's family went to Reverend Cotton's church every Sunday to hear his preachings. Eventually, John Cotton's dream came true, and he was able to cross the Atlantic Ocean and come to New England. In 1634, Anne Hutchinson took her family and followed him to Massachusetts. She wanted to express her increasingly Puritanic views, and she wished to be once again part of John Cotton's congregation. During her voyage to America, she assembled groups of women to discuss religion. She spoke of her views, and became known as a radical. She even claimed that God had revealed to her knowledge of the day of their arrival. Out of sheer coincidence, or for some other unknown reason, she guessed it correctly as September 18, 1634. To her great surprise, New England turned out to be more religiously constrictive than England ever was for her. She was not welcomed warmly by John Cotton because of her unorthodox views. He told her that it would be best for her if she would withhold from speaking about her views. As a prerequisite for her acceptance into the Puritan Church, she had to accept that she was guilty of wrong thinking on the ship and God had not really revealed to her the day of their arrival and that it was a mere guess. She compromised, but in her mind she still held on to her views. She believed that faith alone could bring salvation. She also believed that all people could talk to and receive an answer from God if they would listen. She once said that she felt that nothing important could happen if it was not revealed to her by G od beforehand. Seeing the apprehension of the Church and the community at her views, she only expressed them in the privacy of her own home where she sometimes assembled women to share her ideas with. She was never in open defiance of the Church. Although she disagreed with some of its principles, she was still its devoted member. John Cotton also understood the harsh regime of the Puritan Church and its intoleration of nonconformity. He once said that in New England, members of the Church suffered for having a mind of their own. There was another prominent religious figure in New England. His name was John Winthrop, Governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony. His dream was to found a city where the Puritan religion would be followed with utmost devotion. He sincerely believed in the inferiority of women to men. He also believed that a woman who devoted herself to reading and writing had lost her understanding and reason. He wrote that women should leave the intellectual work to men, whose minds are stronger. He urged them to honor and keep the place that God had set for

Imagery In Macbeth Essays - Characters In Macbeth, Free Essays

Imagery In Macbeth Essays - Characters In Macbeth, Free Essays Imagery In Macbeth Imagery in Macbeth Essay submitted by Unknown In his plays, Shakespeare uses many forms of imagery. Many forms of his imagery are used in his play 'Macbeth,' including the forms of clothing and darkness. Each detail in his imagery, it seems to me, contains an important symbol of the play, and symbols that we must understand if we are to understand either the passage it is in, or the play as a whole. In 'Macbeth' I think that the imagery of clothing is used to suggest that throughout the play, Macbeth is seeking to hide his disgraceful self from his eyes and from others. I think that Shakespeare wants to keep alive the ironical contrast between the wretched creature that Macbeth really is and the disguises he assumes to conceal the fact. Secondly, I think that in the play honours are thought of as garments to be worn; likewise, Macbeth is constantly represented symbolically as the wearer of robes not belonging to him. He is wearing an undeserved dignity. A crucial point in describing the purpose of clothing in 'Macbeth' is the fact that these are not his garments. Therefore, Macbeth is uncomfortable in them because he is continually conscious of the fact that they do not belong to him. In the following passage, the idea constantly recurs that Macbeth's new honours sit ill upon him, like a loose and badly fitting garment, belonging to someone else: New honours come upon him, Like our strange garments, cleave not to their mould, But with the aid of use. (1.3.144) The second, most important chain of imagery used to add to the atmosphere is that of the imagery of darkness. In a Shakespearean tragedy a special tone, or atmosphere must be created to show the darkness and blackness in a tragedy. In Macbeth, Shakespeare uses the design of the witches, the guilt in Macbeth's soul, and the darkness of the night to establish the atmosphere. All of the remarkable scenes take place at night or in some dark spot; for instance, the vision of the dagger, the murder of Duncan, the murder of Banquo, and Lady Macbeth's sleep-walking, all occur at night. Darkness is the time when the traveller hastens to reach safety in his inn, when Banquo rides homeward to meet his assassins; furthermore, it is the time when the wolf howls, the owl screams, and when murder steals forth to his work. In 'Macbeth' I think the darkness symbolizes many things. First, and most importantly, it stands for the evil and death in the play. The darkness could partially blind out all of the horrible things that occur in the night. For, only in darkness can such evil deeds be done. Secondly, the darkness shows one of Lady Macbeth's weaknesses: her fear of the dark. In the play, phrases of fear escape from her lips even in sleep. She believes darkness to be the place of torment. In the whole drama, the sun seems to shine only twice. First, in the beautiful but ironical passage when Duncan sees the swallows flirting round the castle of death. Next, when at the close the avenging army gathers to rid the earth of its shame. Therefore; I can conclude that darkness is used to establish the evil parts of the play; whereas, daylight is used to establish victory or goodness in a play.

Analysis of the Strategic Situation of HTC, the Mobile Phone Handset Essay

Analysis of the Strategic Situation of HTC, the Mobile Phone Handset Firm - Essay Example The main objective of the paper is to undergo strategic situational analysis of HTC which is a mobile phone handset firm. It will attempt at preparing a SWOT analysis of the company. The study will also focus upon Porter’s five forces model as well as industry life cycle analysis. In order to comprehend the resources held with the company, the study will make use of the value chain analysis. PESTEL analysis will be conducted in order to comprehend the macro environmental factors affecting the products and the services of the company. Porter’s Five Forces Model In order to recognise the competitive scenario of the smartphone industry in which HTC operates, the Porter’s five forces analysis can be quite applicable. Entry Barriers There are several barriers that prevent companies from entering into the smartphone industry. A few of the barriers that may work in favour of HTC need to be determined. High fixed cost, which is required for research and development, is c onsidered to be one of the biggest barriers to entry into the industry. High brand recognition of the established companies is considered to be other barrier to entry for the new firms since people prefer to purchase goods from those companies that they trust (Scribd, 2012). Bargaining Power of Buyer It has been observed that the bargaining power of the buyers of smartphone is quite high. There are innumerable substitutes available in the smartphone industry. The product differentiation is quite low in comparison to the competitors. The demand for smartphones is generally elastic because of the fact that they are not indispensable products (Scribd, 2012). Threat of Substitutes Products There are various substitutes available for smartphones which are generally utilised for mobile phone’s admittance to information. There are a few substitute products available in the market, which include laptops, cell phones, pagers and organisers. The cellular phones as well as laptops offer the services that are needed by most of the customers in terms of access to information for the consumers. The different complements that the consumers can use for the smartphones are e-mails along with maps, internet applications as well as software that are available over the phones (Scribd, 2012). Rivalry There is high competition in the smartphone industry and even though there are few strong competitors, the industry does not endorse numerous organisations. This is because of differentiation. Although there is greater differentiation between the casual as well as the professional users for smartphones there is limited capability to differentiate it. There is negligible scalability in order to generate more number of software by not directing the market to a small number of firms (Scribd, 2012). When customers purchase a regularly utilised product, they tend to put greater emphasis upon quality instead of price. There is minimum differentiation for price and the companies with recognized low quality as well as fewer budgets for research and development will face difficulties in competing within the market. Bargaining Power of the Suppliers The phones are normally assembled making use of the components from numerous suppliers. Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) has

Finance - British Petroleum Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Finance - British Petroleum - Essay Example There were many reasons that affected the BP share prices during beginning of 2011. The issue that had highly impacted the BP share prices was the decision taken by Transocean Ltd after conducting an internal investigation. Transocean Ltd is the world’s largest offshore drilling contractor whom the BP had contract with. They provide the most versatile fleet of mobile offshore drilling machineries to assist customers find and utilise efficiently oil and natural gas reserves. Transocean Ltd announced on June 22, 2011 the release of an internal investigation report illustrating the reasons behind the explosion on the Deepwater Horizon rig on April 20, 2010. Transocean operated and owned the Deepwater Horizon rig that was drilling on the oil well in the Gulf of Mexico and their report had an impact on the BP prices the following weeks. In the opinion of Transocean, HP was to be held accountable for the disaster at the rigs as HP was controlling the drilling process at the oil well . The report explains that some of the inaccurate decisions made by HP resulted in the massive explosion on the oil well. According to the findings of the report the reason behind the explosion was the preparing a wrong design of the well, which was carried out by BP, together with an ineffective cement program. The guardian reports this; â€Å"the explosion and the oil spill was the result of a succession of well design, construction, and temporary abandonment decisions that compromised the integrity of the well and compounded the risk of its failure; the Swiss firm, Transocean Ltd, also said that many of the decisions were made by well owner BP in the two weeks before the incident† (The Guardian, 2011). Lacombe (2011) said that the report of Transocean can affect the BP share prices as it indicated that the decisions of BP included narrowing of the geological window in order to keep the drilling safe. Moreover, at the end of the week the BP share prices had declined to arou nd 437.15p (Yahoo Finance, 2011). However, after the sudden decline in the BP share price due to the Transocean report, the company was seen prospering in the market. Weatherford International was the first contractor whom the British Petroleum had been in association with at the Macondo oil well, and the business association continued for quite a long time. And when the financial management of the Weatherford International had taken the decision to clear all the settlement claims with the British Petroleum, the decision created a great effect on the PB share prices. In fact, Weatherford International was the first contractor whom the company was intending to make settlement with, and it was of great significance as the settlement process was moving forward and would potentially create a positive effect on BP share prices. Moreover, the financial management of the company decided to clear all its association at the Macondo oil well which has been the prime target at the oil spill at the Gulf of Mexico during last year. As Lacombe (2011), points out, when the good news about the Weatherford International’s settlement with British Petroleum at Macondo oil well was spread around, the BP share prices increased by 16.1p and was closed at 445.7p. Apart form these, Mitsui of Japan, one of the minority partners of the BP Company at the oil well, also made the decision to settle its claims with the company soon after the Weatherford I