Human Resource Management

There has been a prolonged debate among the scholarly world on the HRM or the Human Resource Management approach over the employees. Noe et al (2006) have asserted on the changing organizational environment, and with it changes the operational strategy. As Noe et al (2006) stated, “it has been found that the traditional autocratic approach towards the employee management has been direly changing, and with the next few decades the organizations around the world would adapt to more balanced or in other words, ‘democratic approach towards their workforces.” Understanding this notion asserted by the authors in the early 2006, the prediction put forth by them has now been evident to be emerging as the new approach in most of the organizations, and even the companies, which once had the traditional autocratic culture are now changing their entire strategy towards democratic or in other words more soft in order to increase the rate of employee satisfaction and retention.

Guest (2011) in his journal have posited the growing significance of humanistic approach, and at the same time he is also saying that there is a crucial role of instrumental approach as well during the management process. According to him, “shelving the instrumental approach totally would be counterproductive; in fact there is a necessity in these when it comes to disciplinary actions.” On the other side he also asserted that, “understanding the current growth perspective of the organizations around the world, it becomes apparent that majority of the organization has humanistic approach as the base, and it is this approach that is driving prosperity for the organization.” Kehoe and Wright (2013), have stated the same what Guest (2011) have asserted; that more than 87.7% of the companies that have a greater growth and employee retention percentage are using humanistic approach. It is also important to establish at this point that higher performance of the organization and humanistic approach are highly correlated (Kehoe and Wright, 2016). 

In order to understand the rate of inclination towards Human Resource Management’s soft approaches, a survey was conducted with a sample of ten of the students within the class. And a series of questions was asked to them to understand their perspective on it. It is important to consider their view as crucial; since most of them would be choosing a job or hold position in the future, and their notion would be in operation when the time comes. There are mainly three questions asked each of the individuals of the chosen sample, and they are;

1. Do you think soft or a humanistic approach of HRM towards the work force would bring forth employee retention and satisfaction? (Yes/No) 
2. Do you think that an instrumental or a hard approach is significant for the growth of the organization? (Yes/No) 
3. Which one would you choose if you are to hold a position of an HR manager? (Instrumental/Humanistic)

According to the results, 8 out of 10 or the 80% of the members from the sample group have supported the humanistic approach over the instrumental. 80% of the members have affirmed that humanistic approach of HRM towards the workforce would bring forth employee retention and satisfaction, as same as the Guest (2011) have asserted in his journal. While 90% of the members have said that instrumental approach has a significant part in the organization’s growth, and this can also be associated with the notion posited by Guest (2011). However, 80% of the members have said that they would choose humanistic over the instrumental when they hold a responsible position.

Understanding these perspectives, it becomes clearer that there is a steady increase in the usage of humanistic approach over the instrumental approach; however, the significance of instrumental approach in crucial organizational scenarios is inevitable.

References: 

Guest, D. E. (2011). Human resource management and performance: still searching for some answers. Human resource management journal, 21(1), 3-13.

Kehoe, R. R., & Wright, P. M. (2013). The impact of high-performance human resource practices on employees’ attitudes and behaviors. Journal of management, 39(2), 366-391.

Noe, R. A., Hollenbeck, J. R., Gerhart, B., & Wright, P. M. (2006). Human resource management: Gaining a competitive advantage.

A Report on CSR at Brico Devices

Executive Summary:

CSR or Corporate Social Responsibility is a significant part of business organizations today. With the increasing concern over the climate and social issues the companies around the world is taking CSR as a very serious component for the success and future prosperity. With the recent media development on the issues of CSR faced by the company,’ Brico Devices’, it is important for it to evaluate and determine those issues and develop suitable solution for the future improvement and sustenance.

1. Introduction:

1.1. Background:

The newly emerged negative coverage on the CSR activities of Brico Devices has bought forth immense damage to its brand. It has been alleged that the company failed to provide healthy and good working condition for the workers, low pay rates, indulging in activities that environmentally non-sustainable and even disposal of waste in unsafe manner. Keller et al (2011) assert that it is important to for the company to have a strong brand, since it is through the brand equity a business retains and attracts the customers. 

Lindgreen and Swaen (2010) defines CSR aka Corporate Social Responsibility as a process of initiation and responsibilities developed and followed by the companies and other related regulatory bodies for the social and environmental wellbeing. The authors also pointed out that the correlation between a company’s CSR and ‘Brand Equity’ is high, since one of the factors would affect the other.

1.2. Aim of the Report:

• To assess and understand Corporate Social Responsibility and its importance for the modern firms 
• To conduct a CSR audit 
• To synthesize recommendation according to the audit conducted

1.3. Methods:

In order to acquire the aim of the research, the following methods are followed; 

• Assess and understand the meaning of CSR and its importance for the business, through several secondary sources. 
• Conduct a survey within the workforce of the company in order to understand the issues more profoundly 
• Synthesize recommendation after understanding the issues found through the audit

2. Understanding CSR:

2.1. What is Corporate Social Responsibility aka CSR?

As discussed in the introductory part of this report, the CSR is a firm’s initiative to take responsibility for the social and environmental well being. Tai and Chuang (2014) have signified that the CSR activities or the responsibilities are not only developed through a mere company perception over the social and environmental responsibility that have to be initiated, but there is also a dire necessity to consider the regulatory clauses put forth by the governmental bodies and the data provided by the verified environmental protection groups. 

In the current times consumers are not only concerned about the quality of the product they buy, but also the company’s production aspect as well. As Suliman et al (2016) have posited that the modern consumers are not only satisfied with the product quality, but they are also highly concerned over the company’s responsibility over the social and environmental causes. They also posits that seven out of ten consumers today are concerned more on the moral responsibility of the brand or the company they are loyal to, than the product itself. For example, the allegation on the company Nestle over the ‘child slavery’ in Thailand and coco-fields of Africa have bought down 18.7% of the global revenue (Kelly, 2017).

2.2. The Importance of Corporate Social Responsibility:

In the current business world, Corporate Social Responsibility has become a pivotal standard of practice. The CSR has often become a firm’s commitment towards the social and environmental responsibility, which in turn improves the company reputation and brand equity. On the other side, Lindgreen and Swaen (2010) asserts that CSR is one of the most ‘significant strategy’ when it comes to competitiveness; and in order for the company to be successful, developing CSR is not only mere necessity rather crucial, hence it is important for the company to integrate the aspects such as policies and processes, which constitute to the environmental, social, ethical and even consumer rights to become prominent player in the industry. 

Following are few of the importance of CSR, according to Frederick (2008):

• The concept itself would provide the opportunity for the company and its various workforces to contribute to the society and the environment 
• CSR helps the organization in creating and building a positive image that would directly as well indirectly contributes towards its business. 
• CSR would also help in create positive and healthy environment for the employees within the organization, which then results in the productive indulgence of them for the acquisition of company goals.

3. Findings:

There are mainly four areas in which the company is facing problem, especially under the section of CSR. Therefore after a thorough investigation, the issues concerning each area have been discovered and evaluated.

3.1. Poor Working Condition:

After the thorough investigation in to the various departments of the company, various issues have been found that would directly or indirectly affect the employees’ health and wellbeing. It has been found that in the ‘cartridge section’ there is an immense forming of fiber dust particles, which is harmful for the health of the employees in that department. At the same time, it has also been discovered that there are no protective mask and measures provided for the employees in that department while working, and also the majority of the ventilation system are faulty. The same issue has been found in the welding section, where most of the employees are working without proper or sometimes with dysfunctional working and protective equipments, which would put the health of the employees at danger.

3.2. Low Pay Rates:

It has been found that the employees are receiving payments below the minimum allotted by the government rule. Another significant finding is that many of the employees’ promised bonuses and penalties is at stake, and the complaints dropped regarding this by the employee communities has not been discussed or considered by the respective department or even passed to the higher management till now. This failure from the company’s part is causing many of the trained and skilled employees to leave the company, hence increasing the employee turnover rate for the past five months. Another finding is that the employees who left the company is opening up on the internal issues the company facing in the area of work condition and payment issues towards the general public.

3.3. Environmentally Unsustainable Practices:

The company has failed to synthesize an efficient energy management system and policy. For this reason many of the sections or the departments within the company is overusing electricity, which way above the allotted slot. The company is still using a diesel powered electricity generator for its energy backup, which is emitting a considerable amount of greenhouse gas into the environment. Many of the operational and production areas are still using plastics and other non-degradable materials, which are considered harmful for the environment. Currently the company’s environmental and waste disposal policy is outdated, which is the main reason for the recent issues to get more serious.

3.3. Issues in the Waste Disposal:

As discussed in the ‘poor working condition’ section, the cartridge production section is immensely creating fiber dust particles, and due to the faulty ventilation system most of the dust are removed manually and dumped into the nearby localities. There is a high chance that these fiber-dust particles would be carried by the wind towards the nearby streets and residential areas, which would create health issues for the people living around. Most of the employees are failing to follow the waste disposal method mentioned in the packages of these fiber materials, and this mainly because there has been no attempt from the management to educate these employees in these areas. Also as discussed in the ‘environmentally unsustainable practice’ section the company is highly utilizing non-degradable materials for the production and personal usage of the workforce, which then again is not properly disposed by the company.

4. Conclusion:

After the thorough investigation it has been found that the company has several issues concerning CSR, which is then getting affected negatively over its name and the brand itself. The issues includes,

• Absence of proper protection and faulty ventilation system, which is causing unhealthy work environment for the workforce. 
• Dysfunctional and absence of protective equipments in the wielding section, which increases the risk of accidents and mishaps 
• Employees are underpaid amidst of the government rule of minimum wage. 
• Employee complaints regarding their payment have not been discussed or met with appropriate solution 
• Increasing employee turnover due to the failure of management to come with effective solution for the pertaining employee-issues. 
• Ex-employees are spreading about the poor work condition and the payment issues of the company with the general public, which then causing the company’s name and brand to get degraded. 
• Absence of an effective and efficient energy management system, and also high usage of fossil fuel and non-degradable materials. 
• Poor waste disposable policies and process

5. Recommendation:

The following recommendations are put forth for the company after assessing the findings:

• The company should equip more protective equipments for the employees in all the concerning departments. 
• All the faulty ventilation system should be repaired or replaced 
• The management should consider in restructuring the entire payment system, and should release the pending bonuses and other remunerations for the respective employees 
• All the complaints asserted by the employees should be tabled and discussed, in order to develop suitable solutions 
• An efficient energy management system and environmental policy should be developed, and through this the usage of fossil fuel and non-degradable materials should be decreased or even eliminated if possible. 
• An updated waste-disposal policy should be synthesized in order for the effective disposal of the fiber and non-degradable waste materials.

References:

Frederick, W.C., 2008. Corporate social responsibility. In The Oxford handbook of corporate social responsibility.

Keller, K.L., Parameswaran, M.G. and Jacob, I., 2011. Strategic brand management: Building, measuring, and managing brand equity. Pearson Education India.

Kelly, A. (2016). Nestlé admits slavery in Thailand while fighting child labour lawsuit in Ivory Coast. [online] the Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2016/feb/03/nestle-slavery-thailand-fighting-child-labour-lawsuit [Accessed 13 Jul. 2017].

Lindgreen, A. and Swaen, V., 2010. Corporate social responsibility. International Journal of Management Reviews, 12(1), pp.1-7.

Suliman, A. M., Al-Khatib, H. T., & Thomas, S. E. (2016). Corporate Social Responsibility. Corporate Social Performance: Reflecting on the Past and Investing in the Future, 15.

Tai, F.M. and Chuang, S.H., 2014. Corporate social responsibility. Ibusiness, 6(03), p.117.

Entrepreneurship and Small Business Management

Introduction:

Entrepreneurship is one of the fundamental components for the economic and social growth. It brings forth not only national development but also regional as well as local too. For this reason, even though the entire concept of entrepreneurship seems simple, the entire working of it is complex and dynamic; and also each of the entrepreneurial capabilities in an individual differs from one another in respect of the life experience and knowledge they acquired. The report aims to discuss the aspect of entrepreneur and entrepreneurship in an extensive way.

Part 1:

P1: Provide an introduction to the report by examining different types of entrepreneurial ventures and explaining how they relate to the typology (different types) of entrepreneurship. Your introduction should aim to define entrepreneurship and explore entrepreneurship scope and typology

Ducker (2014) defines the process of entrepreneurship as one of the most creative approach towards the business and business activities to organize, manage and lead people within the organization towards the organizational goal. It is also important an effective entrepreneurship will bring forth positive change and development for the organization. Ducker (2014) points out that the overall entrepreneurial activities consist of innovative way of developing and enacting materials, the techniques in which the developed materials are utilized and adopted, and finally expand the entire process of production or the manufacturing. 

On the other side, Kirzner (2015) signifies the mental ability that an entrepreneur should have during the operation, in order to bring order and harmony to the chaos, this involves all the risk that are hidden in the business and marketing activities. Krirzner (2015) also associates the term ‘entrepreneurship’ with the words ‘innovation and creativeness’ , which in turn contributes to the growth and sustainability of the organization as a whole. 

It is a known fact that the current and the future business, and also other important sector dwells upon effective and efficient entrepreneurial skills of the individuals. Ducker (2014), one of the fundamental aspect of the concept of entrepreneurship is to formulate a vision for the company, and through time implementing it in the most strategic and timely way. Hence, assessing true entrepreneurship does not only confines within walls of an organization and the development of a specific organization, rather it influences and contributes to the overall local and national economy as well, and also take into consideration all environmental requirements during the momentum. 

Here are the various kinds of entrepreneurship in accordance with its companies or the organization associated with: 

Large Corporations: When it comes to large corporations, it has a certain life cycle; and this mainly because they acquire growth as well as sustainability through synthesizing new services and products, and also through the business of the persisting products and services respectively. When it comes to large corporations, they are always subjected to competition; hence it is important for them to mould their products and services accordingly with the changing business environment and trend, and the most adaptive and effective change can be bought forth by efficient entrepreneurs. According to Kirzner (2015), the innovative and creative ability of the entrepreneur manifests best during the turning point or the imminent change. 

Entrepreneurship of Small Businesses: When it comes to small businesses, UK has an immense rate in the sprout of start-ups. According to Shattner (2016), there is a tremendous growth in the emergence of startups in UK, in the year 2015-16 only, there were more than 3630 startups sprouted in UK only. It is also important to convey the very fact that these startups are also contributing to the overall employment in UK to more than 19.8%. Local and regional supermarkets, internet cafes and stores, consulting companies, automobile retailers and even small-scale production houses constitutes some of the small-business startups emerged in the last few years in UK. The formations of these companies are through few members or even as a family business model. 

Scalable Business Startups and Entrepreneurship: The ventures that have the goal to dynamically change the entire persisting model, says Ducker (2015). This type of entrepreneurial ventures focuses more on the quality and in the creative aspect of the business, and for this reason they involves efficient personnel as their workforce. As the term itself suggests, the main aim of these companies are the ‘scale’, which indicates the financial investment and the venture capital funds for the expansion. 

Social Entrepreneurship: The fundamental aim of this kind of entrepreneurship is to develop the products and services for the betterment and progress of the people and societal systems. The entrepreneur of these firms focuses to produce and implements products or services that would lead to effective and efficiency of the society and environment, and also towards the betterment of the population.

P2: Building on the different types of entrepreneurial ventures explored in P1, you are now required to explore the similarities and differences between each. You could consider the roles, characteristics and objectives of different types of ventures: private; public; social enterprises - as well as different sized ventures: micro; small; medium.

The similarities and the dissimilarities are of different types of entrepreneurial ventures according to Schaper et al (2014) are;

Type of Entrepreneurial Ventures	Attribute of the venture	Roles	Goals
Business Entrepreneurship	The main attribute of the business is to generate revenue and profit.	Since the main aim of these ventures is to generate profit and revenue, the role they acquire is also competitive in nature. For this, they would indulge in ht e production of quality product or services or both in order to win the customer segment	As discussed in the ‘role’ section, the main aim of the business company is acquire maximum revenue and profit, and through this to become the leading company in the respective industry and also to acquire maximum market share.
Social Entrepreneurship	Social entrepreneurship is mainly oriented on the betterment of the society, people and the environment	Social entrepreneurship’s role is to synthesize product and service for the overall betterment and improvement of the three afore said areas, and that is people, society and the environment	Through development of the effective and efficient products and services that would influence and improve the ongoing condition of the environment, people’s living and through this society as a whole
Macro Entrepreneurship	Macro entrepreneurship is largely managed and lead by business founders and owners of large businesses. For them, their main vision is to bring change within the industry they are established through more market shares and expanded revenue, and establish themselves as leaders of it.	The entrepreneurs of these types take the role of the captain, and through this a better understanding of the organization they are at work can be understood with all its strength and weaknesses. Hence, by strategizing suitable market and operational strategies to become successful and acquire market shares in the respective industry.	Goal is to become the market leaders and successful in acquiring the maximum market segment.
Micro Entrepreneurship	Founded and operated as a small-scale, within minimal investment. When it comes to small business or the macro-entrepreneurship, the maximum number of employees would range 5-10, since the initial annual revenue would range from £50,000-£100,000.	Although the workspace for the employees are comparably small than that of the macro entrepreneurial ventures, it is important to comprehend the very fact that these small businesses would provide an efficient ground for the employees to acquire industry knowledge and to develop efficiency. For this reason a better understanding and knowhow on the activities, operations and the role they have to play would empower the entrepreneur in efficient entrepreneurship.	To generate maximum profit within the established industry

P3: Present, interpret and assess relevant data and statistic to illustrate the impact micro and small business have on the economy. You should consider local, regional, national and international economic impacts.

As discussed earlier in this reported startups or in other words small-scale businesses are sprouting in a significant rate in the country of UK. As Shattner (2016) posited in the Forbes article, more than 3500 startups in UK alone during the time period of 2015-16. One of the main reasons for this phenomenon is the nation’s political and economical condition that is favoring the start as well as growth of these companies. Shattner (2016) also says that there is a major contribution by these small scale companies towards the country’s economy, for this reason the political and legislative factors are immensely favoring the country in its economic and financial position. 

Parker et al (2012) in their international business journal states that there are various factors, which are contributing to this strong economic condition in the UK for the small businesses and they includes the overall industry growth rate and the revenue turnover. In the 2015 ‘Telegraph.uk’ article by Elizabeth Anderson, a whopping amount of £ 5.7 Billion was accounted in the year 2014-15 alone as micro business turnover, and in comparison to the total turnover that is evaluated in the UK’s small-medium-large businesses, this accounted to 13.7%. On the other side, the employment rates have risen with the sprout of startups during those periods of time. 

It is estimated that more than 27 million people are employed under small-scale businesses across UK and this includes both men and women. If the total workforce in UK has to be estimated, among the total workforce 25.7% is considered to be employed in small scale businesses (Anderson, 2017). It is also important to signify the fact that the overall business growth of the small scale is surging, in comparison to the big companies in UK, and according to Anderson (2017) the major reason for this growth factor is the introduction of innovativeness and creativeness in the strategic and operational area in the small businesses. When comparing these factors with the big companies, innovative and creative’s are lesser in percentage says Anderson (2017). 

Ducker (2015) asserts that importance of creativity and innovation in business are crucial for its growth and sustainability, hence in this case UK’s small business have developed and implemented various creative and innovative techniques in acquiring business and market leadership. And Anderson (2017) affirms this fact that a larger percentage of the sprouting as well as the existing small businesses are heavily indulging in the development and implementation of creative and innovative strategies for the growth and sustainability. From this, it can be comprehended that the small businesses in UK are currently a major contributors of the business ideas and also contributing to the overall economic growth of the country. On the other side Parker et al (2012) affirms that small-businesses or the companies in UK played a major role in surpassing the difficulties and challenges faced by the nation during the 2007-08 global recession. 

When it comes to UK business sectors, there are mainly three business industry that played and still playing crucial role in the economic growth, and they are the ‘Hospitality Industry’, Real-estate Industry and the ‘wholesale-retail industry’. And it is in these three industries that maximum numbers of startups are occurring throughout UK. According to Storey (2016), 39.8% of the total revenue constitutes and is generated from these three major sectors. It is also important to note the fact among the 10 companies that get registered in each week of a month, at least four of them belongs to any of these three industries discussed as per Storey (2016). 

P4: Building on the information you provided for P3, you must explain the importance that small businesses and business start-ups on the growth of the social economy

As discussed before, the small businesses in UK play a very crucial role in the economic growth and sustainability of the country. A larger percentage of the populations within UK are employed or in other words working in small-businesses and these small-enterprises acts as a core generator of employment in the industry. With these employment, the flow of cash within the economy becomes and effective (Lewis, 2013). Many of the small businesses, which became successful and also emerging, are opening up significant opportunities for the local and regional population of UK. With these facts, information and data discussed, it becomes clear that small-businesses are without a doubt one of main component and spine for the economic growth and sustainability in UK.

New jobs and new opportunities are getting created by the small businesses without a doubt, which in turn contributes to the bigger economic growth of the country itself. Apart of being a major reason for the economic boost and employment, small businesses in UK are also playing an important role in modernizing the entire UK’s financial structure as well as the lifestyle. Hence by understanding the entire facts tabled here, it becomes clearer on the very role of small businesses and its contribution towards social as well as financial economy of the nation.

Part 2:

P5: Determine what makes a successful entrepreneur. You could consider examples of successful entrepreneurs and determine the characteristic traits and skills they possess. Similarly, you could explore whether entrepreneurs are born or made and whether entrepreneurship skills can be learned over time.

Entrepreneur or entrepreneurship is a concept that surpasses the mere confinement of business management. When it comes to success of an entrepreneur in the current context, he or she should surpass the conventional way of starting and managing a business, and reach towards a new level where innovation and business go hand in hand. It is also important for an entrepreneur to develop ideas in accordance with the changing business environment and implement those business ideas in the form of strategy towards the business. Hence a mere ability or a skill is not sufficient in an entrepreneur; it rather requires passion and desire too. 

During an recent article, Richard Branson, the Co-founder of the company Virgin Groups asserted that there are numerous factors that influences a entrepreneur. One of the main assertions he made was on taking the risk, since entrepreneurs should always be ready to take risk (Branson, 2013). According to him, risk brings forth tremendous opportunity for the business as well as for the personal growth of the entrepreneur. Apart from it, it is also important for the entrepreneur to be adaptive towards the situation, especially when it comes to leadership styles (Branson, 2013). 

When it comes to question whether leaders or the entrepreneurs are made or born, there a two notions sustained among the scholarly world; where one side posit that ‘entrepreneurs are made’ and the other says ‘entrepreneurs are born.’ Baum et al (2014) in their book, ‘The Psychology of Entrepreneurs,’ asserts that the entrepreneurs are made, rather than the notion of being born is merely an old one according to them. They add that it is the external environment of an individual, which supports and moulds the internal aspect of that individual; and entrepreneurship, which is a combine factor of leadership and management skill, is mostly formed through that external stimulus as per Baum et al (2014).

P6: Assess how aspects of the entrepreneurial personality reflect entrepreneurial motivation and mindset. You may wish to consider how personality is shaped by family upbringing, lifestyle, cultural differences and personal motivation and drivers amongst other factors.

There are various elements that constitute an success entrepreneur, according to Ducker (2014), it includes the ability to innovate, risk taking, development and implementation of new business ideas and even acquiring dynamic leadership and management skills. Understanding these aspects, it becomes clear that entrepreneur is an individual who reinvents from time to time in order to become competitive. There is a greater correlation between the entrepreneurial personality towards entrepreneurial motivation and mindset. Baum et al (2014) affirms that the entrepreneurial personality is majorly formed from the childhood itself, and the external environment in which he or she grew has a greater influence on the personality. The individuals who are bought up in an environment of creativity and freedom have shown prominent traits of leadership and management, than that of the individuals who are born and bought up in strict childhood environment. It is also important that these individuals who possess these positive personality traits acquire more skills in understanding their fellow men or the workers, which in turn contributes to the overall mindset and above all towards entrepreneurial motivation. 

P7: Examine, using relevant examples, how a person’s background and past experiences can hinder or foster entrepreneurship. Factors to consider may include level and type of education, national culture, economic circumstances and character traits. The risks and rewards of starting a business should also be considered. 

The approach of each entrepreneur is different when it comes to business and decision making process. These differences are mainly because of the personality traits they acquired through time and life experiences. Education and the life experience is a greater catalyst in the formation of an individual personality, and the same applies to an entrepreneur too. Baum et al (2014) points that traits such as self-motivation, self-management and coordination is important in an entrepreneur and they are derived from factors such as education and life experience, since it is these aspects that make the individual to surpass the challenges in the way. 

For example, Richard Branson says that his risk taking ability is mainly formed from his past experiences, since he believes that with each challenge an opportunity and knowledge opens up for the individual. Assessing his positive view or the character towards the business, it becomes clearer that this was formed through the education or the knowledge he received through the life experience. 

One of the main and the more prominent terms that has been uttered throughout the scholarly articles on the subject of entrepreneurship is the word ‘risk’. The concept of risk carries a tremendous opportunity as well as challenges for the individuals, and it is one of the profound character traits in a successful entrepreneur. It is also important that this risk taking factors in an entrepreneur have developed through time with the factors such as knowledge and the life experience in which that knowledge is acquired. Therefore for an entrepreneur who is initialing a business startup, risk is one fundamental factor that he or she must understand in all its aspect, because risk does not mean blindingly taking a leap of faith, rather constituting the idea through the calculation of challenges faced in the past, makes the entire process effective and efficient.

M3 To achieve M3 you are required to develop your response to P5 and P6 by exploring and examining different lines of argument relating to entrepreneurial characteristics

Task P5 and P6, explores more into the concept of entrepreneur and entrepreneurship. One of the fundamental questions has been explored here, what makes the entrepreneur successful, and as the discussion detailed there is not one but many elements at play for its success. This affirms the notion that each of the entrepreneurs has same as well as different approach towards their business, and this approach is greatly influenced by the character traits or the personality of the individual, which formulated through the course of time.

M4 To achieve M4 you are required to develop your response to P7 by analysing the link between entrepreneurial characteristics and the influences of personal background and experience to specific successful entrepreneurs, differences that small, medium and large businesses make to the economy, applying relevant data and statistics.

Task P7 extensively explores the entrepreneurship through the concept that entrepreneurs are born. Each of the positive or the negative attribute that a entrepreneur has, is because of the past experience and the knowledge he or she accumulated through that experience. Since the notion has been affirmed that the entrepreneurs are born, it becomes a clear factor that accumulated life experience has a greater role to play in the formation of the entrepreneurship. The example of Richard Branson himself would clarify this notion, since his risk taking ability is mainly an acquired skill, in which he have already dealt with the same situation before in his business experience. When each of the challenges are surpassed, it gives an extra confidence for the entrepreneur to face the next, as discussed in the earlier part the ability to take risk does not mean to take a leap of faith, rather a calculated move towards the challenges and opportunities.

Conclusion:

The report explores the concept of entrepreneur and entrepreneurship in an extensive way. It also discusses the contribution of business or the entrepreneurial ventures towards the growth of the region as well as for the nation. On the other side, the report also conducted a detailed study on the attribute of entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship.

References:

Anderson, E. (2017). Britain hits record number of startups as more aspiring entrepreneurs take the plunge. Telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 8 July 2017, from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/businessclub/11692123/Britain-hits-record-number-of-startups-as-more-aspiring-entrepreneurs-take-the-plunge.html

Baum, J. R., Frese, M., & Baron, R. A. (Eds.). (2014). The psychology of entrepreneurship. Psychology Press.

Drucker, P. (2014). Innovation and entrepreneurship. Routledge.

Kirzner, I. M. (2015). Competition and entrepreneurship. University of Chicago press.

Lewis, W. A. (2013). Theory of economic growth (Vol. 7). Routledge.

Parker, S. C., Congregado, E., & Golpe, A. A. (2012). Is entrepreneurship a leading or lagging indicator of the business cycle? Evidence from UK self-employment data. International Small Business Journal, 30(7), 736-753.

Branson, R. (2013). Richard Branson on Taking Risks.

Schaper, M. T., Volery, T., Weber, P. C., & Gibson, B. (2014). Entrepreneurship and small business.

Shattner, W. (2017). Forbes Welcome. Forbes.com. Retrieved 8 July 2017, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/yoavvilner/2016/01/18/16-london-based-startups-ready-to-take-on-2016/

Storey, D. J. (2016). Understanding the small business sector. Routledge.

Network Concept

1. Networking Systems: 

1.1. Networking system’s constraints and benefits:

1. LAN aka Local Area Network: A network that is isolated in its nature and it usually built within a physical location such as home and office. Under this system, the computers are linked with a server that is small and also to a wide area network or in other words internet. They are usually utilized and are helpful in sharing data such as small to big documents, files, games and others. 
2. MAN aka Metropolitan Area Network: MAN or the Metropolitan Area Network is usually a computer network large in its size that are linked or connected with each other from various geographical or distant locations. It has a similar structure with the LAN network, and the only dissimilarity it has with it is the area it is covered, since MAN covers typically larger area than LAN does, for example, a college campus and sometimes an entire city. 
3. WAN aka WIDE Area Network: Similar to that of Local Area Network or LAN, however in this case there more devices that are interlinked within each other by means of telephone, satellites or optic cables.

Networking Topologies:

1. Bus: A set of links made by every device towards other devices individually. Although the entire system is simple in nature, various errors or troubleshooting occurs in it. Data redundancy issue is one of the primary examples, and also if one device cease to work, it effects the device which is connected with it too. 
2. Ring: Almost similar to that of the bus network. Unlike bus topologies, ring does not have termination. Ring topologies is considered to have no end, and this mainly because the entire linkage in a circular form. Adding or linking new network might sometimes challenging due to this circular nature of connection. 
3. Star: Under this topology, each node is linked towards an individual switch. And it is at this switch all other nodes are also linked. Therefore a direct connection is made from switch to node. The disadvantage of this system is that a large amount of wire is required for the connection. 
4. Mesh: In this topology, every other node is used to connect each other. Mostly this topology is used in developing wireless network. The main disadvantage of this topology is that it requires extensive management as well as the overhead is usually high. 
5. Hybrid: This when more than one topology’s are used to connect with each other. Star and ring topology is used under this networking.

1.2. Current Network Technology:

It is to be assumed that it would take more than usual time to access files from a remote server using a thin client. All the processing is done within the server, especially in one specific implementation of the thin client. However, the modern LAN technology would come for aid at this moment, which causes fewer problems. When it comes to LAN, Gigabit Ethernet could offer 10-100 GB/sec data rate.

It is also a noticeable factor that the hard-disk technology as well as processors is evolving at an immense rate. With this the memory capacity and the performance are also enhancing tremendously. Higher access speed and enhanced capacity is required for the server in the current context, since most of the clients are using central server for the storage of their data. On the other side, the technology is also becoming cheaper in the course of time. All these factors are contributing to the evolution and development of computer network concept.

1. OSPF: A routing protocol used in large, single and also in group network. It was Internet Engineering Task Force that developed it. It can be also utilized in Gateway protocol. 
2. FTP: FTP aka File Transfer Protocol is typically a standard protocol, utilized for transferring data from one server to another, or from one client to another host. In order to upload any file to the website, the admin or the user requires username, password and the host id as well. 
3. SMTP: Simple Mail Transfer Protocol aka SMTP is used in the exchange of email. This would work in align with POP3 service. 
4. TCP/IP: Transmission Control Protocol and Internet Protocol are nothing but a stack of protocol. Considered to be different in nature, however, it is has its similarity with HTTP, SMTP and FTP.

1.3. How Protocols Enable the Effective Utilization of Different Networking Systems

It is indeed a fact that diskless workstation and the network computers has the capacity to transfer maximum data to and fro within the servers than from a ordinary PC workstation. For this reason the traffic will be increased and the user or the client could access the server at any given time. This scenario would eventually lead to collision, in which it triggers numerous retry from the client, since this would increase the traffic of the network and contribute to the immense growth in the traffic rate. For this reason there is a requirement of multiple access protocol for the effective utilization of network computer’s actual capacity, within the network. TCP/IP protocol stack would contribute to a effective multiple access technology within the data link layer. 

Three of the pivotal physical layer protocol that enables the rapid communication between the network computers is fast Ethernet, GB Ethernet and Ethernet. Network protocol would assure the use of different networks systems.

1. OSI model layer tow handles the logical as well as physical linkage to the packet’s destination through the utilization of a NIC aka Network Interface Card 
2. Layer 3 Protocol aka Network Layer Protocol is used for routing as well exchange of datagrams from a one to another network. IP protocol usually assesses bigger datagrams and recognizes the host with a 32-bit Ip address. 
3. TCP, UDP are level 4 protocols. TCP aka Transmission Control Protocol assures the linkage between multiple hosts, especially two, within the network through socket, in which it is later determined by the port number as well as the IP address. It would also assure lower level of overhead in the transmission service; however, the error assessment is usually lower in this.

2. Software and hardware:

2.1. Software and Hardware Component’s Role:

1. Software: All the network software has protocols and programs, which require connection with the computers. One of the main usages of this is the data sharing.

• Application Sharing: Uses the same platform for the connection and management of the computer. The network cost can be reduced by the use of network share application software platform. 
• Hardware Sharing: Hardware such as phone, fax and printer can be used for the sharing. If a printer is linked with the server, and server with the computers, the user could use the printer by using any of the computers connected. 
• Security and Management: Most of the Network software offers basic security as well as backup of the valuable files. It can also monitor and report the efficiency as well as usage of the computer. 
• Operating System: Linux or Windows operation system.

2. When it comes to hardware there are many, and this includes;

• Gateway 
• Modems 
• Routers 
• Hub 
• Network Interface Cards aka NIC 
• Bridges

2.2. Types of Servers:

If user requires a server, there are mainly five types of server, and they are,

• Server 
• Proxy server 
• Web server 
• Mail server 
• FTP server 
• SMTP server

Server: Structured and designed to receive as well as to process request from other devices and also to deliver or to process the data towards other devices within a wide area or a local network.There are many servers that is operating in the current times, hence here few of the common server types.

• Proxy Servers: Acting just like middle between the real server and the user. The client mentioned here is usually a web-browser. Usually when a query is made by the user towards the browser, initially the browser would try to provide a solution, or it would forward the request towards a real server. Through this time consumption is reduced. On the other side proxy servers are also used in the filtration of the requests. 
• Mail Server: Used for the deliverance of email within a network. The servers receives the email from other servers and send it to the right client. 
• Web Servers: Used for hosting websites. Delivers the webpage to the requested client. Image or HTML documents are used in all of the web content. 
• Application Server aka App Server: Used for the management of application between the user and the server. 
• FTP Server: Also known as File Transfer Protocol is a standard protocol used for the exchange of data from one client server to another or a client to host.

A new network always requires the selection of server type. Despite the location, the selection process is usually intricate.

2.3. Selecting Server Based on Requirement

1. Sever Hardware: To Setup a Strong Foundation. Severs are in most of the places today, from corporate servers that linked with printers, to the storage servers attached with the network used in the backing up of files. Although they are not much powerful than a normal desktop computer, it is designed in such a way that multiple people could access it at one time. In order for the website to work, a good enough server is required to handle multiple connections at a time, and could do the operation without error or interruption.

2. Server Scaling: During the selection of a server, there are mainly three components that could determine the most suitable package, and they are;

• Processors: Considered as the central nervous system of the server. Today most of the servers available have multi-core processors, which could solve many of the challenging computing in a greater precision and speed. More efficient and faster the processor, faster will be its efficiency to solve the computing as well as for the application to run smoothly. 
• RAM: Another pivotal component is the Memory of the server, since this would allow the information to flow without any force to read or write operations into the storage drives of the server. Even for a simple blog page requires a adequate amount of memory. 4 GB is the minimum, one should look for. 
• Hard Drive Space: The most important part of the server, since it is here all the storage of the data and the information occurs.

3. Redundancy and Support: Speed as well as power is a pivotal part of server, since this would increase the ease of accessibility. On the other side, the built in hardware and software should be taken into consideration for the protection of data and failover. For example, most of the servers backup the files from the main hard drives; hence no data loss would happen if one hard drive fails in the process. However for this to be success, multiple hard drives are required. 

4. Peak traffic: it is important to consider peak traffic as important, as it is the number of people trying to access the webpage that would in turn provide it publicity and popularity. When it comes to corporate websites, usually peak traffic occurs when a newsletter on any of their new launch would happen, and on the other side personal website gets its traffic whenever they get popularity through secondary sources. 

5. Dangers being Unprepared: If the website is incapable of handling high traffic, it would either lags or it would go offline. Since this is dire disadvantage for the site owners, for they could lose the peak traffic in these instances. This situation would also allow mirror WebPages to take over and take advantage of the situation, if the original webpage fails to open. 

6. Selection of the host for handling Peak Traffic: There is plenty of third party content delivery system available currently to support the websites during its peak traffic or viral success.

2.4. Inter Dependence of Workstation Hardware with Network Components

When it comes to diskless workstations they have their own operating system within the server. If there is a requirement for the workstation to use any of the network components such as server or printer, it has to establish its communication with the network component; or in other words behalf of diskless workstation, the server has to communicate. Because of this, there is a high possibility of increase in the traffic and eventually congestion. Also the workstation or the client hardware has to wait, while the network computers are utilizing the hard disk (CPU, Memory etc). Therefore by the deployment of network computers or the diskless workstation, the interdependency of the workstation station would increase. For this reason it is pivotal to install reliable software as well as hardware within the server, and also allow backup and redundancy techniques as well for the server.

Shareholders and Stakeholders

Executive Summary:

The report evaluates the responsibility of a company director to place shareholders interest above other stakeholders’ interest. In order to acquire the objective, the report has extensively investigated the roles of shareholders and other stakeholders. It is important for every company director to place their shareholders interest as primary, and this is mainly because of the significant role they play, unlike other stakeholders, on the organization’s finance, operations, governance and control.

1. Introduction:

There has been long debated among the scholarly and the business community over the role and importance of stakeholders and shareholders. In the 2003 MIT Management Review, Smith has stated that the major distinction when it comes to business practice and business ethics is between the shareholders and the stakeholders. Although, both the elements have a sublime similarity, it is important to conceive both as different concepts itself says Smith (2003). 

In the course of time, the importance of stakeholders or in other words the role of stakeholders is becoming important in the business sector. As Adams et al (2011) asserted the stakeholders are turning into a pivotal consideration point in the business, especially due to the increase in the social awareness and improved business models. 

On the other side the role of Shareholders are widely debated among the business community as well as among the scholarly world. According Fox and Lorcsh (2012), the shareholders cannot be considered as owners of a particular company, at least in terms of legal aspects; even though the philosophy of corporations consider shareholders as the center of their entire business universe. However, Sandhbu (2011) argues that the shareholders are indeed the owners of the companies, or at least needs to be considered them as one. As an example he pitches the existence and the operations of public companies such as pensions funds, mutual fund and hedge fund corporations, where a pivotal role is played by the shareholders in the operation, finance and administration of these businesses. 

Hence it is important to assess and understand in detail each of these concepts and their role as well as importance in the business world. The report aims to evaluate and determine the evidence that the responsibility of a company director is to place shareholders’ interest over the stakeholders’ interest.

2. Understanding Shareholders and Stakeholders:

Since 20th century, the outlook and the definition towards shareholders have persisted within a same set of thoughts and aspect among the business world. Omran et al (2002) defines shareholders as those who made their investment in a business or a firm through the purchase of shares of that particular business or the firm, and has special interest in the success and flourish of that business especially in the financial aspect. Omran et al (2002) also posits that a role played by the shareholders varies in terms of the type of investment they make for the company, for this reason he terms them as active investors and the passive investors. Active investors are those who have profound influence over the company and its operations, while passive investors are those who invest few percentage of their income into a company, pursuing an income on monthly or yearly basis. 

Coco and Ferri (2010, p. 357) asserts that, “the interest of shareholders over the monetary valuation of the company they have invested is immense, since any fluctuation in this area would directly or indirectly affects the investment made on the company by the shareholder.” For this interest it is important to assume that there is a greater pressure from the shareholders over the company directors in the business operation, especially for the increase of the share-price so that their value of dividend would also increase with it. Through this their financial positions are improved and above all secured. 

In another aspect, the investment made by the shareholders into a business is often liquid and mostly temporary as per Green (1993). The temporary period is mainly due to the form relationship that the shareholders have with the company. As Green (1993) asserted anytime an individual can become a shareholder of a company, and at the same time he or she can sell of the share at any moment for the purpose of a quick profit. Also the same investor would have multiple shares of multiple companies, which legally as well as in the business angle would never make them an owner. Hence, as Fox and Lorcsh (2012) argued that the shareholders would never become the “owners” of the company can be affirmed here. 

Stakeholders on the other side, have a different kind of investment towards the company. Harrison et al (2010) says the stakeholder’s needs to be considered as an investor in the company, but the traditional notion of investment does not totally comply with the stakeholders’ investment within a company. In another perspective, stakeholders are individuals who has stake in the company’s success as well as failure, and this can be comprehended through numerous reasons. In one perspective there is a significance of stock holders and their involvement as a stakeholder and on the other customers of a company is also considered as a stakeholder, since they have a dire part to play on company’s success and failure. Harrison et al (2010) states that even communities that relies on the firm for employment, suppliers that relies on the firm for the contract of several services and even employees that is working within the firm, and who are dependent on to the firm; are all stakeholders in one way or the other. 

Unlike shareholder, stakeholders, according to Adams et al (2011), are integrated by longevity. This means, for a stakeholder it is not easy to make a quick decision to take their stakes away from the firm they have invested upon, since many of the elements are legally bonded with the company. As Adams et al (2011, p. 1337) stated, “There are set of factors that is imposed upon them to make them rely on the company, and this includes cultural and geographical aspects that decide the success or failure of the company, in which the stakeholders have a major part to play.” For this reason, it is not only the performance of the firm that stakeholders are interested in, but also the external factors and the secondary impacts that would mould the performance of that firm.

3. The Contrast in the internal working of a Stakeholder and the Shareholder:

According to Zhong et al (2017), “All shareholders are considered to be the stakeholders, but not all the stakeholders are considered as the shareholder of a company.” Since shareholders are investors and has already invested in a company that make them a stakeholder. As discussed earlier in the report, stakeholders interest always focuses on the success of the company, and here shareholders have the same interest that of the stakeholders, which makes them a stakeholder as well (even though the success aspect differs in both the cases). On the contrary, not all stakeholders are shareholders, and by assessing the stakeholder of a company, this would become clear as per Zhong et al (2017). The best examples of stakeholders are the customers, suppliers and even the employees a company possesses, and it is not necessary that these stakeholders necessary holds actual share or shares of the company. 

Due to the reasons or the causes discussed above, there is a series of conflicts within the interest of the stakeholders and the shareholders of a company. When it comes to shareholders, especially the active or the mega shareholders, have the power or the authority to pressurize the company in certain level (Adams et al, 2011). For example, for their own optimization and increase of the profit they sometimes indulge in controlling the board of directors of a company to utilize a short-term business strategy, and this in some cases might kill the chances of the company’s success in the long run. Apart from it, they also have the freedom to sell of all their shares at their will and invest the same amount in another firm, which makes the position of shareholders all the more important among other stakeholders the company has (Adams et al, 2011). 

When it comes to other stakeholders such as employees and the suppliers, there is a greater or deeper hook they have on the company for its long run and success, since their dependency to the company is greater than that of the shareholders. Due to this dependency of the stakeholders towards the company, it becomes clear that their part as a stakeholder is second to that of the shareholders of the company, since the shareholders holds a greater authority over the company’s success. For the board of directors, the main concern of them is to make their company survive the market and business challenges, and at the same time serve the interest of the shareholders as primary; because for them the stakeholders, especially the employees and suppliers are replaceable. As Smith (2003) asserted, the company view their internal stakeholders, especially the employees and suppliers as something that can be replaced if necessary for the company’s survival. 

This degree of separation or the gap in the preference of the board of directors over its stakeholders is the main reason that pushes the internal stakeholders, especially employees towards the conflict of interest. For employees, their main focus is to move or sometimes fight against company layoffs, specially catapulted on the interest of the shareholders and in some cases for their long term sustainability/survival. Therefore there is a greater degree of rationality that both the shareholder and the stakeholder could invest to secure their self interest, mainly short term in nature, at stake of organization’s viability in the long run.

4. Importance of shareholders: or shareholder above other stakeholder

Although the ownership of the shareholders are debated among the business and scholarly communities, their significance in the business and the business operations are significant without a doubt. According to Harris and Raviv (2010) there are mainly four areas that the shareholders have the power over the company, and they are;

Source: Harris and Rajiv, 2010

• Finance: It is important for every company to raise funds for its ongoing operation as well as for the growth and enhancement. When shareholders invest their money in a company, in return, the company would give the shareholder a certain percentage of authority or control. Harris and Raviv (2010) exerts that the control that the company is giving to the shareholders are not necessarily ownership, since there are many aspects adhered to the term. For example, private firms and startups in some cases would adapt to this method and invite investment into their company for their growth and sustainability. External companies and venture capitalists pursue their investment in these companies in order to acquire certain percentage of share of that company. 
• Operations: When it comes to firm’s operation, the shareholders plays direct as well as indirect role. It is the shareholders, especially the mega-shareholders, which play a major role in electing the directors, who then have the authority to appoint other senior officials; this includes CEO or chief executive officer. Through stock market, shareholders also play an indirect role. They invest in the companies which has the potential to back their investment, for this reason the management of the company would be under persistent pressure for the surplus cash-return towards the investors. 
• Governance: For most of the public companies the board of directors is directly answerable to the shareholders, and it is important for the company to provide periodic financial disclosure of the company to all its shareholders. Some of the crucial decisions of the company are taken and implemented after discussing it with the shareholders. 
• Control: As discussed in the operation section, the shareholders have a greater authority to determine who would control the company. Harris and Raviv (2010) assert that this is one of the advantages of a public company, since decision of the collective shareholders will always be for the success and prosperity of the company they invested upon.

5. Conclusion and Recommendations:

As asserted in the report, the shareholder is always a stakeholder of a company, but a stakeholder is not necessarily a shareholder. The report affirms the significance and the authority of shareholders’ have over the company they invested upon, and at the same time the report also explains the dependency factor of both the shareholder and stakeholder over the company. From this it becomes clear that shareholders stand above the stakeholders of the company. Comprehending this factor, few recommendations are developed for the company directors for the successful future interaction with the shareholders as well as the stakeholders.

Recommendations:

• It is important for the company directors to understand the conflict interest between shareholders and other stakeholders, and strategize the operation as well as governance accordingly. 
• Although the shareholders posit a greater interest for the company, it is important for the directors to bring about balance between shareholders’ interest and other stakeholders’ interest for the long-term sustainability and growth of the company. 
• It is recommended to the directors to assess each strategy put forth by the shareholders, and implements only those that could assure long term success. For this it is important for the directors to conduct meeting with their respective shareholders and extensively discuss on each of the strategies.

References:

Adams, R. B., Licht, A. N., & Sagiv, L. (2011). Shareholders and stakeholders: How do directors decide?. Strategic Management Journal, 32(12), 1331-1355.

Coco, G., & Ferri, G. (2010). From shareholders to stakeholders finance: a more sustainable lending model. International Journal of Sustainable Economy, 2(3), 352-364.

Fox, J., & Lorsch, J. (2012). What Good Are Shareholders?. Harvard Business Review. Retrieved 1 August 2017, from https://hbr.org/2012/07/what-good-are-shareholders

Green, R. M. (1993). Shareholders as stakeholders: Changing metaphors of corporate governance. Wash. & Lee L. Rev., 50, 1409.

Harrison, J. S., Bosse, D. A., & Phillips, R. A. (2010). Managing for stakeholders, stakeholder utility functions, and competitive advantage. Strategic Management Journal, 31(1), 58-74.

Harris, M., & Raviv, A. (2010). Control of corporate decisions: shareholders vs. management. The Review of Financial Studies, 23(11), 4115-4147.

Omran, M., Atrill, P., & Pointon, J. (2002). Shareholders versus stakeholders: corporate mission statements and investor returns. Business Ethics: A European Review, 11(4), 318-326.

Sandbu, M. E. (2011). Just business: arguments in business ethics. Prentice Hall.

Smith, H. J. (2003). The shareholders vs. stakeholders debate. MIT Sloan Management Review, 44(4), 85-91.

Zhong, N., Wang, S., & Yang, R. (2017). Does Corporate Governance Enhance Common Interests of Shareholders and Primary Stakeholders?. Journal of Business Ethics, 141(2), 411-431.

The responsible enterprise in action

1. Introduction:

The main aim of this report is to critically assess the sustainability choice that is available to a business, and also to evaluate the sustainability performance as well as actions of the firm through application of suitable scholarly frameworks. The entire report is divided into five parts, where all the objectives will be critically assessed and interpreted. Apart from it a set of recommendation has also been developed at the end of this report towards the chosen organization. 

With the changing business scenarios, organizations around the globe are facing multi facet challenges, both internally and externally. Jones and Jones (2010) in his book ‘Handbook of organizations’ have asserted on this growing challenges, and according to him the business sectors are becoming complex through the course of time, and this complexity is acting as both challenge as well as the opportunity for the organizations currently. 

In the assignment one, one of the main challenge asserted was on the employee-skills. March (2013) also supports the notion put forth by Jones and Jones (2010); that the challenges within the business sector is significantly increasing, especially the technological, structural and also environmental challenges. In order for the company to overcome, it is important for the workforce as well as the management to equip the skills and ability required, in order to adapt with the change itself. On the other side empowering the employees and the management would not only makes the entire organization capable of facing and overcoming the scenario, but also would help the firm to acquire competitive edge and market leadership as well. 

Another important address made in the assignment one was on the growing demand for the quality and the productivity. According to Goetsch and Davis (2014), quality is the degree in which the customers believe that a particular product has met and sometimes even exceed their expectation. For example, today when a customer purchases an Apple smart phone or an Iphone, there are few expectations adhered in the customers, and the future sales and success of that smart phone has a larger dependency on the rate in which the customers are satisfied. At the same time, it is also important for the organization to meet the demand through productivity once the demand and sales go high with the respective product through sustainable means. Although quality and the productivity factors are indeed posed as challenges for an organization, nevertheless these factors would also pose as opportunity that boosts the organization in its many aspects, including the brand equity. 

Third and the final challenge asserted in the assignment one was on the management of diverse workforce. The term diverse encompasses a wide variety of category, and this includes ethnicity, race, homosexual, elderly, physically challenged and sometimes even community based. According to Harvey and Allard (2015) managing the diverse population or the diversity management is a persisting challenge within an organization. Although there are various scholarly as well as business frameworks developed for the effective management of the diverse population within an organization, accommodating the diverse workforce by acknowledging their difference in their lifestyle, family requirements and work style is still an ongoing challenge for the companies. However, a company’s objective of recruiting diverse population has always been primary due to the potential it brings forth.

2. Strategies to Address the Challenge: 

Every organization has either a collective or individual strategies to address the issues or the challenges ahead. McNie (2012) defines strategy as an action plan structured to acquire a long-term objective or sometimes to overcome an obstacle.

2.1. Strategies for the Development of Employee Skills in Technological, Structural and Environmental areas:

Although most of the companies are indulging in off the job training and coaching sections, it proves to be insufficient, says McNie (2012). This is mainly because the awareness and exposure that the employees are getting during off the job top training are not effective as the on the job, where the employee could comprehend learn through trial and error. 

According to Daley (2012) there are three main strategies for improving or developing the employee skills, and they are mentoring, networking and nurturing.

Source: Daley, 2012

• As per Daley (2012) mentoring is the process of advising and guiding the employee through the work procedure. During a recent interview with the Coca Cola Manager Brandon M. Buchanan, he asserted that the on the job training has more potency than the off the job training (Maya, 2017). As a part he profoundly believes that the act of mentoring is most effective and efficient one. Through mentoring strategy Daley (2012) asserts that the manager or the employer could guide the workforce suitably through real life scenarios and with this it is not only the knowledge that is expanding for the employees, but awareness as well. He also affirms that the employee knowledge and awareness in the environmental aspect of the company and the industry will be strengthened through this strategy. 
• Through the strategy of networking, the employees are able to forge themselves with the organizational culture as per Daley (2012). In a recent article from the popular Virgin Groups, the Chairman and the Founder of the company Sir Richard Branson have emphasized the importance of employee networking. Through this method he have affirmed that the employee confidence level in many areas have increased significantly. 
• Another main strategy proposed by Daley (2012) is through nurturing, and by the term ‘nurturing he meant to provide the right experience to the employees, and make them evolve within it. It is important for the employees to gain knowledge and experience in multiple areas in order to become efficient, and the area includes technological, structural and environmental. For this, nurturing would enable the management to develop the skills in these areas says Daley (2012).

2.2. Strategies for Improving Quality and Productivity by Adapting Sustainable Practices:

According to Griffin (2012) it is important for every organization to improve its products’ quality as well as productivity, since this would contribute to the increase of the customers as well as satisfaction of the employees. With the traditional approach of process mapping, cost-benefit analysis and benchmarking, an organization could acquire the improvement in the workflow, however, in the current context it is also important for the companies to be aware of environmental issues as well while strategizing quality and productivity improvement. Therefore the productivity could decrease the percentage of defects, delay, cost as well as the other environmental issues as per Griffin (2012).

• 

  Source: Griffin, 2012

• Assessing the Process: Through standardization of the policies and procedure in order to improve efficiency. 
• Effective Alignment: The business process should be aligned with the industry standard, especially of the environment and workplace health and safety. 
• Developing Performance Scale: With the use of key performance indicators as well as the environmental standards, the organization should be able to forecast the future outcomes. 
• Efficient Quality Testing: The product should comply with the industrial as well as environmental policies, and at the same time should decrease the defect by a greater percentage.

2.3.Strategies for Effective Management of the Diverse Workforce for the Workplace wellbeing:

Diversity management is not only a strategic requirement for the organization today, but also ethical as well. As Labelle et al (2010, p. 341) stated, “Although the traditional notion of diversity management as an ethical necessity has surpassed, still most of the organizations consider it as an essential ethical element.” However, in the current context, the major importance is given on its potentiality rather than the ethical aspect. As Labelle et al (2010) pointed out; the amalgamation of various cultures contributes to enhancement of creative ideas and experiences. There are mainly three strategies that could pave path to the effective management of the diverse workforce, and they are;  

Source: Labelle et al, 2010

• The recruitment process: An effective recruitment process by providing equal employment opportunity guidelines. 
• Training: Providing effective training and education in order to nurture the skills of the diverse workforce 
• Reviewing the Policy: Ensuring equal treatment to all the workforces.

2.4. How Organizations can become Responsible for the production of Sustainable Products:

Over the past two decades, the significance of sustainability has increased tremendously. Various researches conducted around the world are pointing out the benefits a company could acquire by turning themselves into a responsible organization by producing more sustainable products. Srirangan et al (2012) asserts that by the production of sustainable products, the organization could become responsible mainly in two crucial areas.

• Reduction of Waste: One of the important aspects to adapt to the production of sustainable products is to reduce the waste. 
• Decrease the Risk of Environmental catastrophe: With the emergence of issues such as climate change and global warming, the environmentalists as well as scientists around the globe are asserting to cut down the level of usage unsustainable products. Hence by the production of sustainable commodities, the organization could contribute to environment and its sustainability.

3. Impact of adapting responsible approach over the customers:

The quality of an organization is pivotal in the current business context. As all the business required being responsible towards the society as well as towards the environment they thrive upon. 

According to Maxwell and Van der Vorst (2009) it is the quality of the organization that determines its ability to thrive and survive during the economic fluctuations, and one of the main qualities is always acquired through being a responsible company. By the term ‘responsible company’ the authors asserts on a company that projects quality in all its aspects, especially by giving primary importance to the society and environment; in the second context is also important to have elements such as efficient and effective employees, improved quality and productivity, and also effective as well as efficient diversity management system in order for a company acquire quality. 

According to a recent study, it has been found that companies that produce more sustainable products with quality, and also has an efficient workforce would contribute to the increase of the overall profit and would also boost the brand equity of the company (Allwood et al, 2012). It is also an evident factor that in the current business context, customers are willing to pay more on the sustainable products. 

Today more and more companies are adapting to sustainable and responsible practices, and this is mainly because of the understanding that these two factors have turned into crucial strategies for the business to acquire market leadership and competitive edge. As Allwood et al (2012) stated, today the business organizations around the world could expect a lump-sum return on their investment through practices that are environmentally and socially sustainable. For example, today the consumers in UK and Australia are willing to an extra $3 for a bottle whine that is produced through sustainable practices (Aschemann-Witzel, 2015). It is important to note at this point that these consumers are willing to pay for the products that made through sustainable practices; in fact the figures actualize the fact that they are already buying the products, which was certified as ‘sustainable.’ 

In another study conducted by the Solar City Group over the ’Consumer Trend and Sustainability’, it has been found that 72% of the customers wanted know about the sustainability initiatives adapted by the organization; 75% customers are most likely to buy products from a company that is responsible and are initiating enough effort on the sustainable practices; 82% of the customers are most likely to buy products from the companies that projects Corporate social responsibility than those companies which projects less; and 93% of the customers are aware of consuming the energy and protection of the environment (Solarcity.com, 2017). 

During a 2013 industry-environmental study conducted in the United States by Gibbs and Goel (2013), asserted that 75% of the people affirmed that they buy products from the companies that adopts sustainable practices, 60% of the people said that they read news on companies that are going green; while 72% of the people showed interest in learning on the sustainable practices that the companies are practicing. 

Understanding these perspectives of the customers, it becomes clear that majority of the customers around the world are becoming more aware of the sustainable practices and the importance they give to those companies that are practicing it. And through sustainable practices and by becoming a responsible company there are mainly two advantages or the benefits that it would achieve in the business perspective, an enhanced brand awareness and a competitive advantage (Maxwell and Van der Vorst, 2003).

Source: Maxwell and Van der Vorst, 2003

Maxwell and Van der Vorst (2003) states that, by improving brand awareness, the company projects that they are ‘doing good’ for the environment as well as for the society, since this becomes one of the major pillar not only for the company’s sustainability within the industry but also for its growth as well. Many companies are today integrating their sustainable practices and corporate social responsibility with their marketing campaign. For example, the 2017 TV commercials of Pepsi and Colgate in UK, on the water conservation and the employee welfare respectively caught attention from the viewers. It has been reported that there has been 9.3% increase in the sales after that advertisement is aired in UK (Solarcity.com, 2017).

4. Conclusion:

As discussed in the report, there are tremendous challenges that a company has to face today, and among them adapting to sustainable practice and also being a responsible company is the most difficult one. Although there are various challenges when it comes to adaptation of the sustainable practices by various companies, there are few that are considered crucial and require immediate attention. One of the main issues is the lack of employee skill and knowledge, the other is the improvement of quality and productivity through sustainable practices and third is to effectively manage the diverse workforce. The first two are considered as a direct contributor and the third, an indirect contributor. It is also important to understand that all these challenges pose as a business opportunity in another aspect, hence by finding resolution for each of these issues with suitable strategy, would opens up the opportunity abided in each. The report also discussed impacts a responsible organization would make on its relationship with the customers, mainly through emphasizing growing customer awareness and knowledge on the organizational company practices.

5. Recommendations: 

It has affirmed that the adapting to sustainable practice and being a responsible company would not only bring forth company sustainability, but growth as well. Comprehending its significance and its role in enhancing the business opportunity, few recommendations are synthesized for the company.

• It has been understood through the study that it is important in the current context to improve the skills and knowledge not only on the business and industrial aspect, but also on the environment and sustainable practice as well. For this reason it is recommended that the organizations should equip their employees with adequate knowledge on the importance of environment and on the related sustainable practices that the company is operating on. 
• Improving the quality and productivity of the organization is another challenge that a company could turn into an opportunity. The study has also affirmed that more and more customers are now buying products, which are made through sustainable ways. For this reason it is recommended for the organizations to develop effective and efficient plan to improve the quality of the product and also productivity of the organization through sustainable ways. Integrating quality with suitable ways of production would help the organization in its growth in the long run, this includes enhancement of brand awareness and increasing competitive advantage.

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