- Conducting business ethically and responsibly.
Business ethics are the professional ethics that are meant to be employed in a business scenario. The ethics inspect ethical values and moral or ethical problems that can arise in a business atmosphere. It has a broad application – from a perspective of conducting business to the behaviour of personnel and the organizations. Another term is associated with it, and that is responsibility that covers the moral attitude of the employees in a business setting. These two terms go side by side in a business environment.
Both of the above terms have their own unique approach and operation. Business ethics can be descriptive or normative in its presentation. For instance, understanding the business ethics within an academic framework, it is descriptive. On the other hand, taking the ethics as a career specialization or practicing it in corporate sector, it is normative.
Implementation of the business ethics is very important from a company’s point of view. It can take the company to new successful heights. It misuse can cause a big loss. For example, Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. does not follow the business ethics and they witness a big loss both in the form of their image and money. The media giant runs a tabloid – News of the World.’ It covers the gossip from around the world, and was the Britain’s best-selling newspaper on Sundays. However, it was revealed that some of its reporters have hacked cell-phones of private individuals. This act was a deliberate attempt to invade the individual’s privacy. The public was outraged over the issue. The cell-phones of military personnel, killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, were also hacked. The scandal caused a serious harm to the News Corp. and its market value was dropped by five billion dollars.
This is the result of not employing the business ethics. Every company along with its individuals have a genuine responsibility towards the world and the individuals who use their product or service. It is mandatory to follow business ethics, and the company should be aware of its responsibility.
- The global context of business.
A business unit in a country can overcome limitations and boundaries to reach to the customers in another country. This gives the business a quality to operate in the world. The concept of globalisation enhanced the business operations at the global level. Globalisation facilitates international integration by providing a supportive environment to interchange products, ideas, world view, and also some interesting facets of different cultures.
Globalisation facilitates the promotion of the products and services depending on the aspects of the product utilization. In other words, the global setting of a business reveals the need and consistent usage of a certain product that can be utilized by the country or region in which the product or the service is being launched.
However, it can lead to the increasing competition among different companies. The competition is good for two reasons – the customers get the good product, and the companies invest more on the innovation and adaptation of the new technologies. The incorporation of the naïve technology and innovative aspects can prove fruitful in facilitating the business at the global level. For instance, android phones and tablets are common in today’s world but, the important aspect is that which cell-phone company manufactures the coolest smart phones. This has led to more and more competition. However, in the long run the company with the best product finally succeeds. There is an element of cost also. The company which can give a cool smart phone at a low cost will surely make its market.
- Marketing communication and branding.
Marketing communications are simply the messages that are employed to communicate with the market to make business deals. In other words, it is a strategy utilized to enhance the communication aspects of a company with its market (customers). It acts as a main tool to facilitate the process of selling of products to the customers.
It is an organizational function that sets the process of communicating the customers and customer relationship management. The communication can be achieved through various means. For instance, in branding, every opportunity to influence an organization's (or the individual's) brand upon the customer is known as a brand touch point. It is also called brand contact point. The concept of branding includes everything from television, media advertisements, event sponsorships, webinars, and personal selling to even product packaging.
Branding is an experiential opportunity that an organization creates for its customers and stakeholders through the brand touch point. It has been a subject of vital importance to study the organization’s brand touch point and the control of the customers and the stake holders. Marketing communication scores brand management wing of an organization. It acts as vehicle to promote the name, and brand, products, or services to the customers and stakeholders.
The main focus of the marketing communication is on the products and/or services. Its centre of interest is totally opposite to that of corporate communications that has company and the enterprise itself at its main focus.
- Internet marketing.
Internet marketing or online marketing is a type of marketing where internet is used as a means to reach the customers. It is new form advertising where the products and services are promoted through the internet. Simply speaking, it uses internet to deliver promotional marketing messages to customers. This type of marketing can be carried out by email marketing, social media marketing, search engine marketing, many types of display advertising (including web banner advertising), and mobile advertising. Now-a-days attractive animations are used to promote certain products and services.
Online marketing can be done through pop ups, trick banners, expanding ad, floating ad, and text ads etcetera. These strategies have proved very beneficial, and have boomed the world of advertising.
Internet advertising is becoming a popular trend. Comparatively, its cost is low, and can be reached to global customers. It has one of its peculiarities; it can be interactive in nature. That means, clicking on the advertisement panel can lead it to the main website from where the customer can buy a product or service.
It is an emerging large business and is growing at a great pace. For instance, internet advertising revenues surpassed those of cable television and nearly exceeded those of broadcast television in the United States, in 2011. It is proving to be one of the influencing business strategies.
Many common online advertising practices are controversial and increasingly subject to regulation. There is a demand of regulating such advertisement under the general advertisement rules and regulations.
- Motivating, satisfying and leading employees.
Jones, Gareth, George, Jennifer in their book, Contemporary Management, stated that the employee motivation is the "psychological forces that determine the direction of a person's behaviour in an organization, a person's level of effort and a person's level of persistence.” The employee motivation is a dynamic behaviour that the employee utilizes it in the business and/or organization’s setting.
Similarly, employ satisfaction is the extent to which the employee enjoys himself in the organization’s atmosphere. Here the atmosphere includes other employees and the work culture of the organization. The satisfaction ranges from the facilities and bonuses provided to the salary of the employee.
Also, leading employees achieve highest satisfaction and are highly motivated. Such employees are purely synchronised with the functioning of the organization. Motivating, satisfying, and leading employees enhance the proper functioning of the organization. Such employees are highly encouraging to other employees and guide them according to their needs. They create good human relations that are very important to job satisfaction, and lead to the productive environment in the organization. However, the highest levels of job satisfaction can be achieved by effective leadership. It means that Motivating, satisfying and leading employees are possible only when there is an effective leadership present in the organization.
So, Motivating, satisfying and leading employees can act as a backbone for the proper functioning of the organization. Such employs can be very beneficial to the overall productivity of the organization.
References
Hackman, J.R. (1980). "Word redesign and motivation". Professional Psychology. pp. 445–455.
Jones, Gareth R., George, Jennifer M. (2008). Contemporary Management.
