With Reference to Bp Plc’s free essay sample

I will illustrate this discussion with an analysis of the strategies employed by the multinational energy company BP plc (formally British Petroleum). Firstly I shall introduce a tool by which cultural attributes and values pertinent to business can be measured and compared through the study of Geert Hofstede. Then I will introduce the firm BP plc, discussing the firm’s history and current competitive environment. BP plc’s recent and current strategic management actions will be outlined and I will analyse any correspondence between the firm’s strategy and cultural biases as revealed by Hofstede. When considering the effect a firm’s home culture may have upon those firms’ operations we must first find a standard methodology that can be applied to measure the value of said culture or indeed all cultures because without comparison with another culture’s values then our measure becomes arbitrary. Measuring Cultural Values Fortunately the work of Hofstede has provided us with such a measure. We will write a custom essay sample on With Reference to Bp Plc’s or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page He drew on analysis of data gathered from employees of one of the largest multinational companies at the time, IBM (1967 to 1973) these results have since been supported by several more independent studies. Hofstede produced results that showed different culture’s values in the workplace in terms of four (initially) ‘cultural dimensions’ which was extended to five after a further study designed by Chinese academics: Power Distance Index (PDI) is the extent to which it is accepted in a society that there is an uneven spread of power distribution. Specifically as viewed by those with the least power in any given society. A culture with a high PDI shows that it is an accepted and even expected element of that society that a very few people will retain a large proportion of power influence and wealth. Individualism (IDV) which can be contrasted with collectivism. The inference being that individualistic societies have a less integrated group dynamics, the emphasis on looking after oneself and perhaps your own nuclear family. Whilst collectivist societies tend to be viewed as having tight group cohesion with the emphasis on the ties between members of extended families and those in one’s community. Masculinity (MAS) opposed to femininity. Best described as behavioural opposites, a masculine culture will be more assertive and domineering, a feminine culture more inclined to progression through discussion and mutual cooperation. Uncertainty Avoidance Index (UAI) refers to a society’s ability to withstand levels of uncertainty and risk. A society with a low tolerance to uncertainty is more likely to favour structured situations with known and accepted boundaries. It is also less likely to be accepting of new ideas and methods, as these again may constitute an unknown risk. Long-Term Orientation (LTO) is the additional dimension. It refers to values derived from culture’s time perspective. Those with a long term orientation i. e. those who value perseverance and those with short term orientation who value more immediate results. Viewing the combined results of these dimensions for each country goes towards establishing that there are indeed very different cultural biases in each society concerning attitudes in the workplace and in business. When the relative scores are viewed side by side we have a powerful visual tool for exploring how cultural biases may manifest themselves in firms and organisations based in those cultures. In Fig. 1 we see the results for the United Kingdom which can be contrasted against the average results fro all countries in the study. We can observe that British cultural dimensions reflect low power distance tolerance, high individuality, high masculinity, low tolerance to uncertainty and a short term orientation. BP plc. (British Petroleum) When considering which international firm to use as a case study I was curious to apply this discussion to an industry and firm which is a product of the greatest possible degree of globalisation. In a world society with a hydrocarbon economy I find it hard to conceive of an industry more global than that of energy production and thus a multinational oil company. BP plc, unsurprisingly, is a British company. It was founded in 1908 and owes its early prosperity to exploitation of Iranian (formally Persian) oilfields, where it continued to operate until the revolution in Iran in 1979. Although having lost access to the Iranian oilfields, BP plc had expanded operations to the North Sea and Alaska during the 1960s and 1970s. During the 1980s the British government sold off its holdings in the company under the privatization drive. At the end of the decade the company underwent severe corporate restructuring and downsizing. In the 1990s BP plc undertook several corporate acquisitions which resulted in BP becoming the second largest oil company at that time. Moving forward to the present day, according to the Forbes Global 2000 ranking of leading public companies in the world BP plc is ranked seventh as of 2008. It is one of the six ‘supermajor’ oil companies. This title referring to the six biggest energy companies in the world, these firms developed after oil companies began to merge in the 1990s following a period of low oil prices. The intent being to take advantage of the economies of scale such mergers would offer. Anon, 2008) This behavior is typical of the pressures created by increasing globalization; ‘Globalization, the internationalization of markets and corporations, has changed the way modern corporations do business. To reach the economies of scale necessary to achieve the low costs, and thus the new prices, needed to be competitive, companies are now thinking of a global (worldwide) market instead of a national market. ’ (Wheelen et al. 2002) Moving into this decade there have been several events in recent years that have had the potential for large scale negative effects on the firm. In March of 2005, a large explosion hit BPs Texas City Refinery in the United States. Many people were injured in the accident some fatally. BP has admitted full liability for the accident. The following year, in March 2006, a leak in one of BPs pipelines in Alaska caused a spill of oil onto the local environment. BP had to replace a large section of this pipeline. A few months later in July 2006, BP announced closure of its remaining oil wells in Alaska due to leaks into the local environment. Additional leaks in Alaska occurred at various facilities in August 2006 and October 2007. (Anon, 2008) In terms of recent expansion of operations BP has pursued opportunities in Asia Pacific gas, Azerbaijan, Algeria, Angola, Trinidad, deepwater Gulf of Mexico and Russia. Whilst also managing the decline of their established oil developments Alaska, Egypt, Latin America, the Middle East, North America gas and the North Sea, by using new recovery techniques and technologies to improve the recovery from those developments. (BP Company Website www. bp. com 2008) BP Alternative Energy was set up in 2005 to confirm BP’s commitment to alternative energy production; ‘In a short time, we’ve made a real difference – and over the next 10 years we aim to invest $8bn in solar, wind, hydrogen and natural gas power technology and projects that will help reduce carbon dioxide further’ (BP Company Website www. bp. com 2008) Eight billion dollars is a huge investment, and arguable has the dual purpose of improving BP’s public image in the short term and improving its long term competitive advantage as would occur if BP can become a market leader in hese emerging new technologies. Strategy What is strategy? In terms relative to our discussion, strategy and strategic management may be viewed a three part process for the firm in which strategic analysis is required to understand the current position of the firm, strategic choice is require to formulate and choose between of plans of action and strategic implementation is concerned with how strategic choices are delivered (Johnson et al 1989). Failure in realising any part of this strategic process will result in inefficient strategy for the firm. The importance of strategy in the increasingly globalised industries is explained by Wheelen et al; ‘As more industries become global, strategic management is becoming an increasingly important way to keep track of international developments and position the company for long-term competitive advantage. ’ (Wheelen et al. 2002) Essentially, intelligent and appropriate strategic decisions in response to internationally influentially events are necessary in order for a firm to position itself in the market and achieve long term competitive advantage. A concept further emphasised by Porter; A global industry is one in which the strategic positions of competitors in major geographic or national markets are fundamentally affected by their overall global positions. ’ (Porter 2004) Having established what ‘strategy’ entails for a multinational company in a competitive environment of globalisation we should examine Bp’s future strategy. BP’s Annua l Review for 2007 contains the following statement about its strategic intent; ‘BP’s strategy for the future is robust. We have great positions in many of the major hydrocarbon basins of the world. We also have great market positions in the key economies and are preparing for the future by building a new low-carbon energy business. Executing our strategy is where we must improve. In safety, we are significantly lowering the risk profile of our operations. We are working hard to ensure that we have the right people with the right skills in the right places. And we are addressing performance by reducing organizational complexity, improving operational consistency and changing individual behaviours. On the front lines of our business, we are moving this agenda forward. (BP Company Website www. bp. com 2008) Analysis of this statement, along with the information outlined in the previous section regarding recent activities and events in the past decade at BP reveals several key elements of strategy aimed at establishing competitive advantage; BP has identified which area of strategy it must improve upon, that of strategic implementation, as mentioned earlier. BP wishes to reduce the risk associated with their operations. BP is aggressively pursuing new opportunities to ensure its long term viability as an oil producer. BP’s strategy regarding performance includes changing individual behaviours and selecting the best individuals for the business. BP is investing in new and alternative sources of energy to ensure its long term viability as a energy producer and improve its public image BP had a strategy of acquisition and takeover in the late 1990s in order to improve its competitive advantage through economies of scale and also enter new markets. Does Home Culture Matter? Do BP plc’s strategic decisions reflect the cultural dimensions revealed by Hofstede’s study? Reviewing again the British cultural dimensions, we find a culture of low power distance tolerance, high individuality, high masculinity, low tolerance to uncertainty and a short term orientation. Looking at the strategic points above, can be associate any of them with Hofstede’s cultural dimensions? BP wishes to reduce the risk associated with their operations, which would certainly fit the model of a culture of low uncertainty tolerance. BP’s emphasis on the value of the skilled individual and on individual behaviours reflects on this British cultural value of high individuality. BP’s strategy of acquisition reflects the assertive qualities associated with high masculinity, as does the aggressive exploitation of new opportunities. However, when considering the cultural dimension of long-term orientation versus short-term orientation, one must conclude that BP adheres to strategy that suggest a very high long term orientation; its attention to strategic implementation as a means to improve market positioning and competitive advantage, heavy investment in oil exploration and development but also, and perhaps more importantly, heavy investment in the energy producing technologies of the long term future. Both as a means to secure competitive advantage at that time and also to improve its public image. The latter reason suggests a commitment to relational sales strategies, a long term orientation strategy. Perhaps this is not especially surprising given the amount of negative press that was created by several oil spills and a huge industrial accident. BP of course displays many aspects of short term orientation, a drive for performance enhancement and maximisation of profits for example. However the predilection for long-term orientation is not described as being part of British culture by Hofstede’s study. Conclusion In considering the possibility that it is in some way old fashioned to consider the influence of the firm’s home country’s institutions and culture given globalisation’s supposedly homogenising effects we must first acknowledge that the use of one example to illustrate our discussion is hardly likely to be conclusive. With reference to BP plc’s strategic decisions and use of Hofstede’s cultural study I would conclude that in the main part, yes, there is a correlation and thus a suggestion of home culture influence. I believe that the one anomalous result, that of evidence of a strong long-term orientation in BP’s strategy can be explained by the process of globalisation itself and the industry of the firm involved. A multinational firm dealing in a huge and vital industry as oil and energy production could simply not have survived without a tendency for long term orientation in strategy; it would have been consumed by another company by now, very much as BP and the other ‘supermajors’ consumed or merged with smaller companies in the 1990s. Long-term competitive advantage and the necessity of achieving those economies of scale demanded it. In essence, short-term orientation in business strategy cannot endure on the scale that globalisation exists in. In conclusion, no, I do not believe it is old fashioned to consider the influence of the firm’s home country’s institutions and culture, but it must be acknowledged that globalisation itself creates its own normative values in the dimension of long term orientation.

Analytical Essay Sample on the Body Image Standards of Health and Beauty

Analytical Essay Sample on the Body Image Standards of Health and Beauty What is the average weight? What is healthy? How do these two things compare to the standards society has on health and beauty today? What do you see when you look in the mirror? And why don’t people see regular people in fashion TV advertisements? I personally think that advertisers should introduce people of all weight sizes into the fashion advertisements. Throughout history, women’s roles have been to make themselves as attractive to others as possible. Although fashion and physical values have changed over time, this drive has remained constant. The recent change of women’s extreme thinness has become a topic of concern in the health department. This issue starts as early as the first day a person was born. Gender differences, the surrounding environment, and the pressure of ideal image are almost impossible to escape due mostly to the everyday occurrences that one encounters. Roberta Seid’s â€Å"Too ‘Close to the Bone’: The Historical Context for Women’s Obsession with Slenderness† discusses both present ideals and those of previous time periods, as well as the negative effects these standards have had on women. Andy Vu’s â€Å"The Struggle for a Healthy Body Image† presents a similar topic, but it’s related specifically to both male and female college students. S. Almond’s â€Å"The Influence of the Media on Eating Disorders† tries to make the point of how everyone was made to be unique. Almond says that products are often advertise to promote the ideal body image. A lecture by Susan Rausch touched on both college students and society as a whole, offering statistical data on eating disorders and societal views on physical appearance. And In Ann Marie Cussins â€Å"The Role of Body Image in Women’s Mental Health† she discusses the issue from a standpoint aspect. Rausch begins her speculation with a question: Why is it that people treasure variations in the magnificence of nature, but not in the concept of beauty in ourselves? Each expert comments the fact that over the past 40 years, the representations of beauty such as models, actresses, and Miss America, have been getting thinner and thinner. These symbols of perfect beauty are wearing sizes 1, 0 and even smaller (Vu 1), portraying only the thinnest 5 to 10 percent of Americas that fit in this size category (Seid 479). Each agrees that the current average American is now considered â€Å"overweight†. However, Seid and Raush support this statement with statistics: 90 to 95 percent of women do not feel they meet the â€Å"standard†, leading millions of women to think abnormal of themselves (Seid 479). Rausch mentioned that 47 percent of women with normal weight feel they are overweight (Raush’s speech outline 3). Seid mentions that women’s self-image successfulness, and survival could be determine mostly by the way the look. As for men, success is based on how they act and what they accomplish (Seid 480). The way a person looks and their personality determines the person they are able to interact with. In society today, women are viewed as beautiful and vulnerable whereas men are classified as strong and powerful. Cussins explains that women are unconsciously dissatisfied with their motherly role toward daughters (Cussins 2). One of Cussins’s patient talk about her unhappiness with the problem of bulimia, and how bulimia effected the relationship with her mother and family. The patient tries to develop a healthy diet to make her mother happy but she throws up everything she eats or she will feel depressed. Not only is it hard for the patient but also for the mother since she feels that her child is communicating less in-depth with her (Cussins 110-111). This only one of few effe cts that a person has to deal with if he or she tries to achieve the ideal weight. Almond said that â€Å"constant media pressures can lead to body dissatisfaction, which may result in distorted eating patterns†. He also says that the media portraits the â€Å"ideal figure†, making women think that they are overweight because they don’t look like the person in the advertisement, resulting in body dissatisfaction. He points out that products are advertise displaying the ideal body image in hope that people will purchase the product thinking that they are also going to look like that person in the display. Trying to achieve this can lead to â€Å"depression, stress, guilt, shame, insecurity, unhappiness, and lower self-confidence† (Almond 367). The most recent transformation in clothing styles have also played a key role as well; Seid states that the more revealing fashion allows no compensation for the body â€Å"underneath†. With men the issue tend s to be on a different side of the spectrum: bigger is better. In the attempt to â€Å"bulk up† and play the man’s role, many turn to the use of steroids, which are harmful to the body and can produce many serious problems, including cancer (Vu 3). We must now look at the main problems in order to find a way to solve this problem, it has already become a social disease and people need to realize that trying to achieve the â€Å"ideal size† is almost impossible (Vu 3), and even if they do, the damages they do to their bodies can make them feel worse than when the first started to lose weight, it could even lead to death. The question that remains is weather the advertisement individuals and institutions have truly looked into, and understood, the effects of such ideal standards, and when, or if, changes will ever take place. The aftermath that occurs while trying to aim for the so called ‘ideal’ image. And how family and friends affect the way you feel about your body. In the attempt to become the â€Å"perfect† woman, each expert holds that many put themselves trough both psychological and physical pain. Though they each emphasize eating disorders, they do so in different ways. Seid speaks of eating disorders on a whole, relating them to current dieting practices. She states that effects of deprivation can be found in many dieters: tension, irritability, pre-occupation with food, and exhaustion are all present (Seid 478). Vu asserts that a lack of nutrition can lead to the consequence of disorders such as anorexia and bulimia: anorexia can force the body to start feeding on itself, bulimia can cause damage to the teeth and esophagus, and both are life threatening (Vu 3). When the person tries to starve itself to lose weight the body might develop anorexia and bulimia; causing the individual to throw up everything he or she might eat. Men use steroids in to deal with body dissatisfactions. Excess of this drug may lead to â€Å"brain cancer, liver damage and heart attacks†, even young healthy men can be effected (Vu 3). The question now lies on whether or not the person pays a high price in trying to achieve the ‘ideal’ image. All of the experts say the price is not worth it. Rausch states in Vu’s article that the advertising industry promotes a body image that is â€Å"biologically† impossible to achieve and â€Å"live up to† (Vu 3). Seid says that â€Å"numerous studies demonstrate that the majority of the â€Å"fat† cannot slim down permanently. The problem is not their lack of willpower, but the unreasonable expectation placed on them to weight a certain amount† (Seid 478). I personally think that the effects of trying to achieve the â€Å"ideal† image is not worth paying the price for. The person is damaging the body instead of trying to help it. Some people lose weight only to gain it back later, so what is the point of doing it. I think that each person has a different body type and metabolism, some people can’t lose weight even if they try to, leaving them depressed and anxious in the â€Å"journey† towards the perfect body. Bulimia and anorexia are horrible diseases to deal with because of the things they do to the body. I’m not suggesting that if your fat, you can’t exercise or live a healthy life, I think this can be achieved. Just look at the line men playing football, summon wrestlers, they are â€Å"big† but at the same time they are healthy. People cannot just look at the body from the outside, but from the inside. Skinny people are not always healthy, sometimes they are malnourish, or have diseases s uch as the ones pointed out by Vu, anorexia and bulimia. Media has greatly influence people into falling into the trap of what is in style and what is not. Teenage girls are affected by compulsion to receive a degree of thinness that they see in models (Cussins 2). Women who look at fashion magazines wanted to weight less and are more worry about getting fatter than the women who read news magazines (Rausch 3). â€Å"There has been a shift in the media portrayal of the ‘ideal’ body size for women, from the voluptuous curved figure of Marilyn Monroe in the 1950s to a thinner ‘waif-like’ look of Kate Moss in the 1980s† (Almond 367). Over the years the media advertising models have been getting thinner and thinner; making women more dissatisfied because they want to look like that â€Å"girl† in the advertisement. The media have developed the ideal body shape in the hope that it will create more sales of the product that they are trying to sell. But it seems like the advertisement and media industries a re not caring about how a person feels in trying to achieve the ideal body. By promoting the ideal body the media contribute to eating disorders (Almond 367). I believe that the media is the most contributing factor to this problem. They have develop the ideal image of what a person should look like but most of it is false advertisement. I never see a â€Å"fat† person on TV advertising about a beauty product or a new fashion design. When you flip the pages of most magazines all you see is thin women advertising the new Victoria’s Secret new collection. Why doesn’t the media use people of all sizes in their advertisements to fill up the needs of all people. I’m not saying I don’t like the present people in the advertisements, to be honest, as a man I like to see â€Å"hot† women in advertisements but we have to look at the reality: that the people need to see more variety of â€Å"sizes† to satisfy the kinds of people who are looking for something like them, and not making them feel bad because they are looking at something that is â€Å"impossible† to achieve. Now the question that remains is how can we start solving this problem of the ‘ideal’ imagine. Short says that â€Å"Once society starts to realize that society’s stereotypes are just stereotypes, and actually not ideal situations, then people will start to find a cure† (Vu 3). Seid suggest that â€Å"we recultivate our tastes and find a saner middle ground where our bodies can round out with more life, flesh, and health; where we can relish the fruits of our prosperity without self-punishment† (Seid 483). Seid also says that people must get rid or the thought of the ‘ideal’ image, â€Å"because it is misguided and destructive†, she says (Seid 484). Cussins suggest that psychotherapist need a new approach in treating eating disorders. Cussins says that many doctors threat the eating disorder as a second symptom to the eating disorder, making the patient have to come to many visits in a lengthy recuperation. The problem is that the lengthy treatment has a high drop out rate. â€Å"A specialized service where a woman feels that her initial contact gives her hope through feeling that someone is immediately making sense of her problems would avoid the high drop-out rate of those who take a tentative first step†, Cussin suggest (Cussing 113-114). I agree with all the suggestions that have been made by all of the experts, a therapy that understands the patient’s psychological problem with weight needs to be an option for the patient, not just one therapy that looks at the problem from the â€Å"outside†. Having the support of family and friends should also help the person accept who they are. This is very important because sometimes even family members put the person down, and the family is the most important thing in a person’s life. If the person does not have the support of the family than it is going to be even harder for he or she to deal with the problem of the ‘ideal’ obsession. And finally, I think the media contribute the most damage to the ‘not ideal’ people. When I’m watching TV all I see in the fashion advertisements is thin models, not only on television but also in most fashion magazines. I am not â€Å"fat†, but I can not even imagine how an â€Å"ever size† person feels when they see mostly thin people advertising something that is: not fitting for them, too small, or just not their â€Å"taste†. I think that the media should advertise products, and fashion for all types of people: thin, oversized, pretty, ugly. This way of advertising would please all stereotypes, and I honestly think that it would help reduce the problem that itself has created: the â€Å"ideal image†. The obsession over thinness has been in the past, is here in the present, and will be in the future. Based on the sources synthesized, if people don’t do something soon to change this â€Å"ideology†, it will take many centuries to get over something that has evolved for hundreds of years. Fashion, media, family members, and peer pressure will continue to be major factors in the obsession with slenderness. As a result, as long as these issues are still here, the dangerous aftermath will continue to plague Americans for centuries to come: â€Å"We stand poised between a past for which we have lost respect and a future we must now struggle to envision† (Seid 485).

Market Penetration and Branding Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Market Penetration and Branding - Coursework Example Trade promotions, on the other hand, refer to incentives such as discounts, schemes, commissions and freebies that are meant to ensure that the traders stock up and that instances of stock-outs are reduced.Loyalty programs, on the other hand, refer to reward programs that companies offer to loyal customers who frequently purchase their products and services (Davis 169). The loyalty programs are often rolled out such that customers are given specific numbers that they use when making purchases. The long-term purpose of loyalty programs is to reward the customers who the organization considers loyal with free merchandise or to provide them with advanced access to products that have been freshly injected into the market. In as much as both the practice of creating loyalty programs, as well as that embracing sales promotion activities, play a role in ensuring that companies get their expected profits, I presume true the fact that the practice of embracing sales promotion activities is more efficient as compared to that of using loyalty programs. This is because they increase the level of sales when they are floated, and even after their duration has elapsed, organizations normally find themselves in a better position as compared to its competitors within the market. Tasked with the responsibility of developing a branding strategy for Achilles casual shoes, I would settle on Achilles in Trend as the brand name. Similarly, I would embrace sales promotion activities as my branding strategy.