Physiological Interference Hearing Impairment

Physiological Interference Hearing Impairment Communication is very much important or can be say a part of our daily life as we communicate in a daily basis. Therefore, effective communication is very important to ensure that our message has been delivered with clear understanding to the listener. No matter how brilliant or invaluable your idea, it is worthless unless the listener would be able to understand it. Hence, effective communication is important at every level of an organization as it is use to deliver message or to complete a task given. Moreover, communication is vital in marketing or business industry where presentation has to be done daily. Hence, effective communication is very important for the message to be delivered clearly without any form of communication barriers. Communication barriers are some kind of interference in communication and are divided into four categories. The categories are physical, physiological, psychological and semantic, each with different kind of communication interference. For example, physical interference may be interpreted as noise disturbance as it is obvious that it will affects both speaker and listener. Physiological on the other hand, may be translated as barriers of communication in the way of speaker or receiver. For example the speaker or receiver might be hearing impaired or have speech articulation problems, or suffer from short term memory loss. In addition, there is also psychological interference in the form of communication barriers. This type of interference is in the form of mental makeup of the receiver or the sender. It includes biases, prejudices, narrow-mindedness, and extreme emotional behaviour. Besides that, there is also semantic form of interference in communication barriers. These barriers include language, dialectal and cultural differences. When these interference occur, speaker or listener might not be all to fully understand the message to be deliver. As can be seen, all these interference has to be removed or minimize in order for the message to be deliver clearly. Hence in this assignment, I would highlight effect of communication barriers and ways overcoming it. 2.0 Communication Barriers 2.1 Physical interference (Noise) Physical interference may be defined as a kind of interference which is external and outside the control of both speaker and listener. It will affects the physical transmission of the message. Hence it affects both speaker and listener due to the physical interference that happens. As the name implies, physical interference comes in the form of physically kind of interference. In this physical interference, I would like to mention noise or a form of distraction in communication barriers. Noise is a form physical interference that would interfere with both speaker and listener. For example, noise disturbances from cell phones, loud music, sound of traffic from busy road and many more other examples. Any of the examples if occured will definitely posed as a kind of communication barriers to the speaker and his audiences. This is because that the message couldnt be clearly heard by the listener due to the noise from a busy traffic. Besides that, form of physical interference may come from the listener itself and can be due to a ringing cellphone which could interrupt the whole crowd. If any of these happens, the speaker may have to pause the presentation or conversation which could bring disruption in his flow of presentation. Hence this kind of physical interference has to be avoided in order to eliminate communication barriers causing both speaker and listener to unable to understand the message about to bring clearly. 2.2 Physiological Interference ( Hearing Impairment) Physiological interference as mentioned before is a form of communication barriers in interfering a communication between listener and speaking. This form of communication barriers challenges both part of the speaker and receiver. For example, hearing impairment is a form of physiological barrier to communication. Hearing disorders may be a result from hereditary, genetic issues, developmental abnormalities or medical, or other environmental factors. While hearing loss will not cause any problem mentally nor development problem but for areas such as communication, language, social development might be affected by the problem. In communication, it will be a barrier for both speaker and listener if one side of the party has hearing impairment causing the message to unable to reach another side. For example if the speaker has this problem, he might not know the volume of his voice and intonation and it may cause problem to the listener. If its to soft listener might not be able to heard it or too loud will cause listener to feel discomfort or acted as a noise. On the other hand, if the audience has hearing impairment, it will be tough for the speaker to overcome this barrier eventhough he deliver his speech loud and clear. This is because the audience is having trouble listening to it. It might be too soft for them to listen clearly. Hence this posed as a communication barrier to the speaker and need to be overcome in order to benefit both party. 2.3 Psychological Interference ( Emotion) Psychological interference comes as a communication barriers that which affect the mindset of a person, be it the speaker or the listener. This type of interference includes biases, prejudices, narrow-mindedness, and extreme emotional behavior. Emotions could be a barrier to communication if your emotions have been troubling you be it when you are angry, happy or excited as you may be too preoccupied with the emotions and hard for people to convey the message to you in communication. Hence it became a psychological interference in communication barriers. For example, a receiver who is emotionally upset tends to ignore what the sender is saying or can be say not paying attention to it. So it forms a communication barrier where as the receiver couldnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t understand what the sender is trying to say in its message. On the other hand, a speaker who is emotionally upset may not be able to present his ideas or overall feelings of a presentation effectively. Hence the audience would not understand or get those ideas in his presentation. All in all this kind of situation form a communication barrier in the form of psychological interference as it disrupts the mindset either one or both party. 2.4 Psychological Interference ( Information overload) Another example I would touch on psychological interference is information overload as it is very common today with our revolving advance technologies which could allow us to fetch information nearly from anywhere. It can mean a constant 24 hours a day 7 days a week, flow of information. However, this flow of information is important as they keep us updated to everything that happens around the globe. We all spend time watching and listening, interacting in personal computer and many more. All of these inputs can affect on our ability to take in more information and evaluate what we take in through normal communication means. Too much of input of information is what we called information overload where our ablility to be effective listeners degrade with all those sufficient information around us. Trying to do two things at one time certainly affect our capability to listen and concentrate on a lecture or communication. The listener or the speaker might get confused with too much of information available at one time. Hence it creates a communication barrier where it reduce the effectiveness of our listening capability and information from speaker could not reach to its listener. 2.5 Semantic Interference( Linguistic) Last but not least, another type of communication barrier is a semantic interference where there is difficulty in expressing oneà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s self to another which applied to those who are speaking in a different language than the speaker. This often occurs in international level communication where different nation has their own official language for example Japan has their Japanese language and Korea has their Korean language. Both of the nations might understand just simple English but not their counterpartà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s language. In another words, it could means that the speaker could speak good English and can be understand well by people who speaks English as well but with a semantic barrier, person who has been speaking Spanish for example could not understand English so well. Though they could still understand English but there are some words whereby they just could not understand well. Hence a semantic barrier is form between the Spanish listener and English speaker. This requires a different approach so the conversation could be understand by both party. 3.0 Ways of overcoming these barriers. 3.1 Physical interference (Noise) To solve the communication barriers of physical interference could be done with just a few simple step as most of the problem comes from poor planning. For example before starting a presentation, the presenter could ask the audience to silent their in order to prevent disruption during the speech. By this simple step the problem could be solve and the audience will not interrupt the speech. When there is noise interuption from the busy street or construction site, the problem could be solve with a little future planning. One could actually visit the meeting or the venue before hand in order to ensure that there is no physical interference. In this case, the venue could be change or just simply install speaker and increase the volume in order to counter the noise. With just a little future planning and management work to be implemented physical interference would not be a communication barrier in an event. As can be seen, with these ways of solution, physical interference will not interrupt or become a barrier to the speaker and listener. Hence the speaker could deliver the message clearly to the listener. 3.2 Physiological Interference ( Hearing Impairment) In order to solve the problem, we must first understand the problem. In this case physiological could be a real challenge as both the listener and speaker has to be free from physiological interference. In the example, hearing impairment has been highlighted as the communication barrier that prevent the speaker and listener to communicate freely with understanding to both sides. In this problem it could be solve with a little help from the technology that has been so advance in the medical field. Hearing aid could be worn by those with hearing impairment and this could solve the communication barrier between speaker and listerner. With the help of hearing aid both party could benefit from it as the speaker would not have to speak louder and the listener will have clear understanding of the message that will be delivered. 3.3 Psychological Interference (Emotion) In the psychological interference, emotion has been considered as one of the communication barrier that interrupt between a conversation or communication. As a human being, its no suprise that everyone of us would have emotions. However its about the control over the emotion, how one could handle his stress, sadness, happiness from showing out. Its about the profesionalism of the speaker in handling his speech in a presentation. The speaker will need to control his emotion, set aside every problem in order to deliver his message to the listener. Experience is what needed the most in order to solve this problem as with experience one would get used to it and become numb towards this emotion. In the listener point of view it is pretty much the same deal to speaker, whereby they will have to cast aside their emotion for a moment and concentrate on the listening skills. The speaker could also include some sense of humour in his speech in order to eliminate this communication barrier as jokes would bring out happiness in listener and caught their attention for the entire duration of speech. Hence the problem could be solve with a little tweak on the mindset and with the help of sense of humour will cancel out this psychological interference in communication barrier. 3.4 Psychological Interference ( Information overload) In another point I have made earlier in this writing, which is another form of psychological interference in the form of information overload which will certainly become a communication barrier between the listener and speaker. This communication barrier exist is purely due to the ease of getting information, where a person with a simple internet connection will be having tons of information disregard what it is and where the person is at. In a presentation point of view, this could be eliminated by making every point brief and as summarised as possible. For example, a long sentence or paragraph could be summarise in point form and information included should be those that its important. In this case, it would not bored the audience and the information will be receive well by the listener. It would also solve the problem for communication barrier as the speaker and listener both understand and receive, deliver all the information well. 3.5 Semantic Interference( Linguistic). The last of the communication barriers which is semantic interference where in before language is a problem. This is due to different part of people from the world meets, where they have their own language and not much language of the others. Hence it creates a semantic interference between both party. In order to solve this problem, the conversation the both has to be in the same language. For example english which is an international language where I believe everyone could have understand it. So both party have to converse in english to allow the communication to work. Besides that, they should only use simple english in order for both of them to understand the message and information. As conclusion with simple english and using a language that both side could understand will eliminate this communication barrier of semantic interference 4.0 Conclusion All things considered, communication barriers is definitely a disadvantages in communication, where communication is so important in sending the information or message to another party. Hence, with existence of interference discussed before such as semantic, psychological, physiological and physical. All of the mentioned above have to be avoided in order for a communication link between speaker and listener to be connected. With all the ways of overcoming these barrier has been mentioned before I believe that all the barriers could be minimise or eliminated. As can be seen, when all of the barriers were eliminated, speaker and listener will have a clear understanding of what about to deliver or receive by both party and such a great means of communication has been achieved. It will bring benefit to both of the party, so it is important that these barriers can be overcome for the good of both listener and speaker.

Adelphia Communications Corporation

Adelphia Communications Corporation was one of the leading cable companies before filing for bankruptcy in the year 2002 due to gross internal corruption which led to the conviction of some of its leading directors and board members.It was established in 1952 after its founder John Rigas purchased Cable Company for three hundred dollars as a hedge for the lost sales of his theater company. It was bought in Couldersport, Pennsylvania and this remained the company's headquarters until the bankruptcy file.Shortly after filling for bankruptcy, the company's headquarters moved to Greenwood Village in Colorado. Most of its major assets were acquired by Time Warner Cable and Comcast in the year 2006 and its remaining assets are being auctioned online by a company known as LFC which in interned based.Due to this acquisition, the company no longer offers it cable services and since it offered long distance services, high speed internet and telephone services with over a hundred thousand custo mers in twenty seven states, this services was taken over by Pioneer Telephone.After the company's downfall it retained a skeleton status with more than two hundred and fifty employees mandated to oversee the bankruptcy issues and it is still recognized as a corporate entity which is still struggling to fight its obligations financially and also handle the litigation claims.The Mississippi Company was initially started in the year 1684 and it was a chartered company. It was started on the demand of Rene-Robert Cavelier, Sieru de La Salle after he projected it from the year 1660 and later being appointed the Governor of Fort Frontenac, which was at the mouth of River Mississippi.After traveling over the country through the River, he returned to France and there he solicited for the establishment of the company. After he achieved his goal of the company being established, he returned to start his colony but he failed and finally was killed by his men in a mutiny.Rene-Robert Cavelier, Sieru de La Salle was succeeded by Pierre Le Moyne d' Iberville who built a fort and succeeded in settling a colony. It was very successful and in 1718 it had already established New Orleans city which was located at the Louisiana territory.John Law, a Scottish businessman gained controlling interest in the company and it was renamed Compaignie d'Occident and its major target was to conduct business and trade with the North American French colonies and much of the Mississippi River basin was located around this area.John Law was also granted a monopoly ranging a period of twenty five years by the government of France to trade with North America and West Indies.The company's success increased and in the year 1719, the company acquired Compagnie de Chine, Compagnie des Indes Orientales and a contingent of other trading companies of France.John Law came up with a marketing scheme which was very effective by all means. that exagerrated Louisiana wealth and this had the effect of leading to wild speculations on the shares of the company in 1719. The company's shares loss to a magnificent 15,000 livres from 500 livres.However, by the summer of 1720, the confidence in the shares declined and hence the price of the shares was back to 500 livres by 1721. The Regent Phillippe II of Orleans dismissed John Law at the end of 1720 and Law consecutively fled France. Â  

Curbing Unemployment Through Skills Acquisition

Curbing Unemployment through Skills Acquisition: A Study of the National Directorate of Employment (NDE), Kaduna State By AMUPITAN, Oboromeni Federal University, Lokoja Nigeria January, 2011. ABSTRACT The paper â€Å"Curbing Unemployment through Skills acquisition: A case of the National Directorate of Employment (NDE)†Kaduna State is about unemployment and how it can be reduced through skills acquisition. This work is aimed at finding out how the NDE has reduced unemployment through its skills acquisition programme.Data was collected from both primary and secondary sources which include published and unpublished works, journals, internet, questionnaires and interviews. The systematic sampling method was used in determining the sample size of 150 respondents, statistical tables was used in data analysis while the Average Mean Score method was used for the test of the hypothesis formulated. The formulated hypothesis which states â€Å"that inadequate skills acquisition has led to an increase in graduate unemployment in Kaduna State† was Accepted.It was discovered and also recommended that skills acquisition is an effective tool in reducing graduate unemployment. Thus, specific skills acquisition schemes should be included in the curriculum of post-secondary schools to help make graduates self employed. INTRODUCTION 1. 1Background of the Study Unemployment is no longer an alien word to the world’s populace. Even the western world experienced a notable rise in their unemployment rate, as the official unemployment rate in the 16 European countries that use the euro rose to 10% in December, 2009. Deutsche. 2010) Developed countries which hitherto experienced full employment are presently affected. The situation in Nigeria is quite alarming as the unemployment rate tends to be on a perpetual rise. In nations, most especially, developing countries like Nigeria unemployment serves as a major yardstick for development as was rightly portrayed in Dud ley Seers definition of development. Seers (1969) asserted that: The questions to ask about a country’s development are therefore: what has been happening to poverty? What has been happening to inequality?What has been happening to unemployment? If all three of these have declined from high level, then beyond doubt this has been a period of development for the country concerned. If one or two of these central problems have been worse especially if all three have, it would be strange to call the result â€Å"development† even if per capita income doubled. As a result of this consequence and the rising rate of unemployment, the Federal Government of Nigeria established a committee in 1986 to proffer solution to the menace (unemployment).The committee’s recommendations formed the basis for the establishment of the â€Å"National Directorate of Employment† in 1986 established to curb and reduce the rate of unemployment through skills acquisition, self employm ent and labour intensive work scheme. 1. 2Statement of the Problem The International Labour Organisation feels â€Å"occurs when a person is available and willing to work but currently without work†. It is unfortunate that such occurrence is prevalent in the nation. Ake opined that â€Å"unemployment remains the greatest challenge of the economic wellbeing of the Nigerian Nation† (Daily Trust Newspaper, Jan. , 2010 Pg. 34) Unemployment rate has been of immense interest to the general public and policy makers. The Small and Medium Enterprise Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) was established in 2003 to promote the development of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) sector of the Nigeria economy. It is to source, process and disseminate business information, develop policy, establish business support programmes build capacity and promote services, enhance MSME access to finance. The question is: how may Micro Small and Medium Enterprises have emerged from this scheme?The recent crisis in the financial sector which has led to a ban on loan is an obvious limitation to this scheme. Should our graduates then become unemployed because banks are not giving out loans? Another of such programme is the Nigerian Agricultural Co-operative and Rural Development Bank (NACRDB) Limited which is dedicated to financing agriculture at both micro and macro levels, they are to provide affordable financial and advisory services to the farm and non-farm enterprises of the Nigeria economy using well trained and highly motivated staff, back by appropriate technology.If the NACRDB provided such assistance on time and make their procedures less cumbersome, many people would have been attracted to the scheme. But ironically, such funds more often than not are eventually made available at the end of the farming season. Also programmes such as (the Directorate for food, Roads and Rural Infrastructures otherwise known as (DFRRI), Mass Mobilization Self Reliance and Ec onomic Reconstruction (MAMSER) and the National Agricultural Land Development Project (NALDA) created by the Babangida regime were all scraped by the Abacha regime.During the 1980’s there was a global recession which became progressively worse for Nigeria because of the inherent weakness in the economy. The sudden reduction in oil prices led to cuts in government expenditure budgets leading to a reduction in employment opportunities especially school leavers. Hence, in order to curb the menace of the rising unemployment rate and considering its political and socio-economic implication; which includes a general increase in crime rates, such as armed robbery, youth restiveness, political thuggery, alcoholism, vandalization of petroleum pipes and electricity cables and prostitution.Economic wastage such as excessive loss of output which manifests in a reduction of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and gross underutilization of Human Resources were reasons which led to the establishme nt of the National Directorate of Employment in 1986 to create employment for the teaming unemployed. Unfortunately, unemployment has either been on the rise or fluctuating, this is reflective in the various unemployment rates. As at 1985, unemployment rate was 8. 5%; 14. % in 2005 and as at December, 2009 it became 19. 7% (Wikipedia Encyclopedia). Is the National Directorate of employment living up to its mandate or are there other factors that affect unemployment? This, the researcher seeks to find out. Hence, this study seeks to find out how the National directorate of Employment has helped in reducing unemployment through skills acquisition programmes. 1. 3Objectives of the Study 1) To determine the causes of unemployment in Nigeria. ) To find out whether skills acquisition will help curb unemployment to the barest minimum. 3) To proffer possible solutions to the problems being faced by the National Directorate of Employment and make recommendations that will help improve the Di rectorate. 1. 4 Hypothesis Tested The following hypothesis was formulated: That inadequate skills acquisition has led to an increase in graduate unemployment in Kaduna state. 1. 5Significance of the StudyThe study would provide vital information on the reduction of unemployment through skills acquisition; thereby helping not just students of public administration but the general public, policy makers and politicians, who are either affected in one way or the other or charged with the task of making developmental policies to set their priorities right. On the whole, the work would also add to knowledge. 1. 6Scope and Limitation This study is limited to the graduate scheme of the National directorate of Employment, Kaduna state.Focus was on two local governments, that is, Zaria and Kaduna north, mainly because they contain the highest proportion of graduate beneficiaries. The time frame used is 2005 to 2009. 1. 7Methodology Data for this study was collected from both primary and secon dary sources, which include textbooks, journals, newspapers, article, and the brochure of National Directorate of Employment, National Directorate of Employment annual reports, file documents, internet, and publication, among others.Primary data were sourced mainly from questionnaires administered to both staff and beneficiaries of the National Directorate of Employment. Population and Sample Size Two local governments (Zaria, and Kaduna South) were picked as the focus basically because they have the highest amount of graduate beneficiaries. Thus, 150 questionnaires were administered to both members of staff and beneficiaries. The Systematic Sampling method in which 1 respondent was picked out of every 8 respondents was used. This gave a sample size of 150 respondents out of the total population size of 1200 people.The total population size includes both beneficiaries and staff is 1200. The data collected were analysed using descriptive statistical techniques i. e. Average mean scor e and tables will form the basic analytical tools. LITERATURE REVIEW AND THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK 2. 1Discussion of Related Concepts 2. 1. 1Unemployment Unemployment as defined by the International Labour Organisation â€Å"occurs when a person is available and willing to work but currently without work. Thus ILO agrees that only a person who is willing and available to work can be referred to as unemployed.This implies that not everybody who is not working is unemployed, To Colander D. C. unemployment occurs when people are looking for a job and cannot find one. This further concurs with the earlier definition where there is a conscious effort by the person or people seeking employment, but fails to point out if the person or people in question have something doing or not, because some people who are working seek new jobs. Form the foregoing definitions, one is forced to ask if anybody willing and available to work could be termed unemployed, evened if the person is a child.To this F rank R. et al defined unemployment as â€Å"adults not holding a job but looking for one. † Who then is an adult? An adult is one who is 18 years and above, therefore the definition could be said to be â€Å"Anyone who is 18 years and above who is not holding a job but looking for one could be termed unemployed. In line with the aforementioned, the Bureau of Labour Statistics USA considers a person who is 16 years or older who has not worked during the preceding week but made some effort to find work (for example, by going to a job interview) in the past four weeks as unemployed.Unemployment in Nigeria has actually become a menace, a vivid picture of which was painted by former executive secretary, National Manpower Board (NMB) Umo when he said at a seminar that â€Å"the problem of unemployment amongst our tertiary gradates is of recent vintage, if situated in a historical perspective, it is not more than two decades since it started, but since then, it has become unabated and cumulative†. To him many young graduates move from long spells of unemployment to high crimes including armed robbery while others have become handy tools for unscrupulous politicians. 2. 1. 2EmploymentThe Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary defines employment as â€Å"the situation in which people have work†. This definition clearly States that when a person has work doing he/she is employed but fails to specify if the person is being paid for the work or not. Operationally, employment could be referred to the act of labour force being temporarily or fully occupied on either wages basis of interest basis for self occupied work. This definition added a new dimension, in that employment could be work based on wages or mere self interest either way, one is employed provided he/she is working.Frank et al defined employment in terms of being employed. To them a person is employed if he or she worked full-time or part-time (even for a few hours) during the past week or is on vacation or sick-leave from a regular job. In a nut shell, employment could be defined as a person who is currently working for wages or self-interest. 2. 1. 3Labour Force Thomas J. H. et al (1970) defines labour force â€Å"as the non-institutional population who are working or looking for work†.That is, it includes the unemployed, employed, proprietors, the self employed and members of the armed forces. To him, the labour force excludes all person engaged exclusively in housework in the homes or attending school, that is, a student, is not a member of the labour force unless he is working in addition to attending school (it is worthy of note that â€Å"non-institutional population† refers to all persons 16 years of age and older including members of the armed services but excluding persons in institutions). 2. 1. 4 Full EmploymentTo Ackely the concept of full employment is a very â€Å"slippery concept† and though â€Å"full employment is not definable nor should it be defined†, believes that Henry Hazlutt, it is worth-while analyzing the various views of economists on full employment. The Classical View The classical economists believed in the existence of full employment in the economy. Full employment to them was a normal situation and any deviation from this was regarded as abnormal. To the classical economists â€Å"unemployment resulted from the rigidity in the wage structure and interference in the working of free market system.This comes in the form of trade union legislation, minimum wage legislation etc. On the other hand, Full employment exists â€Å"when everybody who at the running rate of wages wishes to be employed†. According to Pigou, those who are not prepared to work at the existing wage rate are not unemployed because they are voluntarily unemployed. To them, there should be no possibility of involuntary unemployment in the sense that, people are prepared to work but they do not find work. Accordi ng to the classical economists, the above view only operates in an ideal economy.This far differs from the reality in which involuntary unemployment is prevalent. The Keynesian View To Keynes, full employment means the absence of involuntary unemployment. That is, full employment is a situation in which everybody who wants to work gets work. He assumes that â€Å"with a given organisation, equipment and technique, real wages and the volume of output are uniquely co-related so that, in general, an increase in employment can only occur to the accompaniment of a decline in the rate of wages†.In order to achieve full employment, Keynes advocates increases in effective demand to bring about reduction in real wages. 2. 2Types of Unemployment Economists have distinguished between various types of unemployment which includes Cyclical Unemployment, Frictional Unemployment, Structural Unemployment and Classical Unemployment. The aforementioned types are the most widely accepted by scho lars. Other additional types that are occasionally mentioned are Seasonal unemployment, Hardcore unemployment Migrated unemployment. . 2. 1Cyclical or Keynesian Unemployment Cyclical or Keynesian unemployment is also known as Demand Deficient Unemployment. It occurs when there is not enough aggregated demand in the economy. Cyclical unemployment exists when the number of workers demanded falls short of the number of persons supplied (in the labour force). It gets its name because it varies with the business cycle which consists of alternating periods of booms and depressions. Robert F. et al said it could e likened to the most familiar form of musical chairs, in which the number of chairs is always less than the number of players. The Great Depression of the 1930’s is a striking example of Cyclical unemployment. In Nigeria today, the recent economic in Nigeria recession where supply was more than demand, most especially in the private sector is an example of cyclical unemploy ment. 2. 2. 2Frictional Unemployment Frictional unemployment occurs when a worker moves from one job to another. The time period between jobs is considered â€Å"frictional unemployment†.Frictional unemployment is an example of a productive part of the economy, increasing both the worker’s long term welfare and economic efficiency and is also a type of voluntary unemployment. 2. 2. 3Structural Unemployment Structural unemployment occurs when the numbers of jobs in a labour market are unable to provide substantial jobs for everyone who wants one. 2. 2. 4Classical Unemployment Classical or real-way unemployment occurs when real wages for a job are set above the market clearing level, causing the number of job-seekers to exceed the number of vacancies.Economists like Murray Ruthbard, suggest that even social taboos can prevent wages from falling to the market clearing level. Some economists believe that this type of unemployment can be reduced by increasing the flexibilit y of wages (abolishing minimum wages or employee protection) to make the labour market more like a financial market. This suggestion unfortunately, will lead to massive exploitation on the part of employers most especially in developing countries. 2. 2. 5Seasonal Unemployment Bradley R. S. s of the view that some joblessness is virtually inevitable as long as we continue to grow crops, build houses, or go skiing at certain seasons of the year. At the end of each season thousands of workers go searching for new jobs, thereby experiencing some seasonal unemployment in the process. Like in Nigeria, during the raining season, farmers are actively employed to plough sow, cultivate and harvest crops, this include both the aged and young. It is very common to see rural-urban migrants, return to their rural villages to cultivate during the raining season.And once harvest is over they return to towns to search for menial jobs to carter for their needs. 2. 3Causes of Unemployment in Nigeria T he cost of unemployment in any nation cannot be overemphasized, below are some of the costs identified by eminent scholars: individuals, economists, psychological, social socio-political. Economic Causes i)The Legacy of British Rule The bequest of some Nigerians who had high school education after independent and held job felt to be remunerated with high wages was a right.This made majority of high school graduates at that time expressed their distaste for agriculture and their desires to be â€Å"pen pushers† these people were attracted to white collar jobs which were borrowed from the colonial master. This white collar jobs were unlike agriculture which provides employment for about eighty percent of the population. The colonial government fiscal policy with respect to employment also discouraged new entrants into agriculture which was the major alternative for white collar job.Under the policy, marketing boards were introduced where farmers were heavily taxed by the coloni al government. This made agriculture less appealing and killed the incentive that would have made people wish to take it upon as a carrier. Therefore, the mentality of white collar job was built into individuals Nigerian as a future employment. ii)The Oil Boom Era (1974-1980) Agriculture prior to the exportation of petrol had been the main asset of the economy but was neglected during the oil boom. All sorts of things were imported into the country.The government of the day embarked upon all sorts of â€Å"white elephant:† projects e. g Ajaokuta Steel, building of Refinery, etc instead of investing in property with the windfall from oil. Over reliance on petroleum has till today led to fluctuation in government’s expenditures on unnecessary things and wastage of resource. The sudden slump in the international market for oil makes many projects undertaken especially construction come to stand still. Many employment opportunities were forced to reduce their capabilities. Nigeria found itself in economic mess which it is still battling to salvage. iii)Consumption Pattern This entails the pattern of consumption of Nigerians’ as a relationship to the problem of unemployment. It has contributed to the high level of urban unemployment because the consumption of urban centres’ entails imported goods which attracted more able people from rural areas to search for job in urban centres’. This is due to the fact that Nigerians are to believe their home made goods are inferior.But the more the demand for goods and services from foreign source the more employment we make available to the nationals of those countries and the reverse is the case for Nigeria. Social Causes i)Rural-Urban Migration The flow of labour force from rural to urban area has been a major cause of Nigeria’s unemployment situation. As a result of the neglect of agriculture and great increase in government expenditure during the oil boom era led to the migration of many young people who would have otherwise stayed in the rural areas to practice agriculture as an occupation.Most migrants from rural areas were found to have only primary education with few having six years of secondary education. This led to surplus of unskilled workers and shortage of high level manpower. But now that Nigeria’s economy is producing more and more gradates from her institutions of higher learning, in almost all the metropolitan cities the unemployment problem continues to increase. People unable to get job since urban areas became saturated and unable to absorb every skilled job seekers. Table 1Unemployment Rates, 2003-2007 (as at December) Description| 2003| 2004| 2005| 2006| 2007| National (Composite)| 14. 8| 11. 8| 11. 9| 14. 6| 10. 9| Urban | 17. 1| 11. 0| 10. 1| 10. 0| 10. 0| Rural | 13. 8| 12. 1| 12. 6| 15. 1| 12. 6| Source: National Bureau of Statistics, 2007. From the table above the composite unemployment rate stood at 11. 9% in 2005 compared with 14. 6% in 2006, and 10. 9% in 2007. It also shows that the rural unemployment rate is higher, hence, the reason for migrating to the urban areas in search of greener pastures.Educational Factors The type of educational system inherited from the colonial masters put more emphasis on the production of gradates for white collars jobs at the expense of technical and vocational type. The result is that gradates do not only get unemployed but do not even find â€Å"black – collar† jobs to manage. Government policy with respect to university admission for first degrees in favour of the science as opposed to the arts does not still encourage students to study the science and other technological subjects, which Nigeria lacks.However, the expansion in all educational level ranging from primary to tertiary institutions has contributed more to the unemployment problem. This is because the expansion does not correspond with the job provisioning for future graduates from the numero us schools. Political Causes i)Political Instability Ever since Nigeria got her independence from the British colonial masters in 1960, there has been political instability. A major problem of post independent Nigeria has been conflicts of personalities in politics and unbridled political party rivalries both of which affected government policies in all parts of the country.Apart from the fact that the country had to go through a civil war form 1960 up till 1970. There has also been series of coups which have often resulted in abrupt changes in government up to date like that of June 12, 1993. This political environment which is unstable has negative effects on investment thereby creating problem of unemployment in the country. ii)Migrants from Neighbouring Countries People from neighbouring countries such as; Ghana, Benin Republic, Ivory Coast and Togo move down to Nigeria in search for jobs.They feel that the Nigeria economy is better and more promising. As a result of this the Ni gerian Labour Market cannot absorb all the job seekers, since it has too many factors to contend with. Foreign job seekers especially those from the Economic Community of West Africa States (ECOWAS), those countries are often prepared to accept lower wages than Nigerians for the same type of work. And as employers are looking forward of cutting costs, they have no choice but to absorb these foreign seekers. Socio-Political CausesThe political independence Nigeria got from Great Britain was more of a flag independence and not economic Independence. Nigeria even today remains subservient to the whims and caprices of countries like Britain and United States of America. Despite the effort made to gain total control of the economy through the promulgation of the indigenization decree of 1977, Nigeria’s economy is still dominated by multinational corporations that employ a substantial number of Nigerians, thus, the fact remains that the profit is fleeing Nigeria to foreign countrie s head quarters.The profit flight is supposed to be ploughed back into the country for provision of more jobs and development. Furthermore, external participation in the domestic activities of Nigeria by foreigners which is not reciprocated by similar Nigerian participation in their own domestic affairs militate against development efforts. All these slow down the economic growth and cause unemployment problem. Ethnicity Problem Nigeria is made up of many ethnic groups. Each of this ethnic group had the fear that another group may dominate it.Apart from this, some ethnic groups which tend to be closer to neighbouring countries identify more with the than with other ethnic groups in the country that they are not familiar with. It is a fact that some northern States in Nigeria prefer to recruit Pakistani, Egyptians, and Indian professionals other than Nigerians from other ethnic group. Such discriminatory policies no doubt cause more unemployment in the country. 2. 4Theoretical Framew ork Various scholars have propounded theories relating to employment and unemployment.These include those of the Classical view who believe that full employment was a normal situation and any deviation from this was regarded as abnormal. Okun’s law which was propounded by an American Economist named Arthur Okun (1926-1980) who looked at the US GNP during the 1950s and 1960s. Thus, for the purpose of this work the KEYNESIAN THEORY was adopted. It was propounded by John Maynard Keynes, a British Economist whose ideas have profoundly affected the theory and practice of modern macro economics, social liberalism and economic policies of government. 2. 3. 1TheKeynesian Theory In the Keynesian theory which was propounded in 1936, Keynes argued that aggregate demand determined the overall level of economic activity, and that inadequate aggregate demand could lead to prolonged periods of high unemployment. He opined that if aggregate demand is not high enough to sustain full employmen t level of economy, then a gap is created between aggregate demand and aggregate supply known as the deflationary gap. To him this gap must be closed through concerted government programmes if not, the situation could degenerate into chronic unemployment.The Keynesian prescription for reducing unemployment includes the following: 1) Increase in aggregate total demand through direct increase in government expenditure 2) By government policies that indirectly encourage more private investments (e. g. investment subsidies, tax allowances, low investment rates on business loans, establishing of institutions, etc). 2. 3. 2Its Application to this Study Looking at its applicability to this work, the Keynesian theory States that: inadequate aggregate demand could lead to prolonged periods of high unemployment.It is no longer news in Nigeria that the demand for labour is on the decrease, as industries (e. g. textile) which hitherto where major employers of labour have been closed down due to unfavourable working conditions such as poor electricity supply, financial institutions have been hit by global recessions and the public sector have also resorted to downsizing thus making aggregate demand grossly inadequate thereby leading to a high rate of unemployment. Nigerian unemployment is a typical case of shortage in aggregate demand; the supply by far supersedes the demand.With thousands of graduates leaving the higher institutions each year, the demand for time in the labour market depreciates. To Keynes, if aggregate demand is not high enough to sustain full employment level of the economy, then a gap is created between aggregate demand and aggregate supply known as the deflationary gap. This gap manifests itself in chronic unemployment which is been witnessed in Nigeria, with an unemployment rate of 19. 7% as at December, 2009. He further propounded that this gap must be closed through concerted government programmes so as to avoid unemployment.From the foregoing it i s evident that the Keynesian theory of unemployment not only explains the unemployment problem but has proffered solutions or ways of eradicating it. An Overview of the National Directorate of Employment 3. 1Introduction The worldwide economic depression of the early 80s caused a rapid deterioration in Nigerian’s economy. Industrial output shrank to an all time low and commercial activities were consequently reduced, leading to the loss of employment opportunity for many Nigerians.By the end of 1985 the unemployment situations in Nigeria had reached desperate and alarming proportions (about 8. 5%). In the urban areas, where the educated tend to congregate, the unemployment rate was especially high. In the rural areas, it was no less severe. Graduate unemployment, which hitherto was unnoticed, emerged and was growing rapidly. The effect of such large-scale unemployment spelt disaster for both the society and individual victims. Deviant behaviours expressed in crimes and other anti-social behaviours were frequent among the frustrated youths.The increase in crime rates and riots further created an atmosphere of general insecurity. Unemployed youths were easily susceptible to such manipulations and incitement by unscrupulous elements in the society or even politicians. It is in line with this that president Babangida appointed a committee on 26 March 1986 to deliberate on strategies for dealing with mass unemployment under the auspices of the Federal Ministry of Employment, Labour and Productivity. The report of the Chukwuma committee, as it became popularly known, was approved by the Federal Government in October 1986.Based on its recommendations the National Directorate of Employment (NDE) was established on November 22, 1986 and its initial core programmes were formally launched on 30th January 1987. The president in his 1987 budget speech directed the new body to concentrate its effort on the reactivation of public works, promotion of direct labour, pro motion of self-employment, organisation of artisans into co-operatives, and encouragement of a culture of maintenance and repairs.To ensure effective implementation of the President’s directive, a board of Directors representing a cross section of all interest groups from industry, commerce, agriculture, finance, employers, labour and government was set-up to define policy and supervise operations. This board articulated four (4) practical programmes nationwide, each operating as a separate department. They include: a) National youth Employment and Vocational Skills Development Programme. b) Small scale industries and graduate employment programme. c) Agriculture sector employment programme d) Special public works programmes.These programmes were backed by the necessary administrative, monitoring and support personnel, thus enabling optimum use of resources and prompt response to the requirement of the public. 3. 2Objectives of the National Directorate of Employment The objec tives of the NDE were clearly Stated in Decree No. 24 of 1989 [i. e. NDE Decree (1989)] section 2 of the Decree provides for the objectives of the directorate. Thus, the NDE mandate is as follows: i) To design and implement programmes to combat mass unemployment. ii) To articulate policies aimed at developing programmes with labour intensive potentials. ii) To obtain and maintain a data bank of employment and vacancies in the country with a view to acting as a clearing house to link job seekers with vacancies. iv) To implement any other policies as may be laid down from time to time by the Board established under section 3 of its enabling act. NDE’s main function is to combat mass unemployment through skills acquisition, self-employment and labour-intensive work scheme. 4. 1Summary of discussions and findings It is no longer news that salaried jobs can no longer cater for the teaming graduates turned into the labour market from various higher institutions in Nigeria.This has led to the search of alternative means of lively hood. One of such is the acquisition of specific skills to make graduates self-employed. It is against this backdrop that the hypothesis which States, â€Å"That skills acquisition is a prerequisite to a reduction in graduate unemployment in Kaduna State† was formed. In order to ascertain the hypothesis above, respondents were asked questions bordering on their level of acquisition vis-a-vis unemployment. The questions were answered by checking one position on two point scale of â€Å"Yes and No†. 4. 1. 1SkillsAcquired apart from Western Education Here respondents were asked if they have acquired any skill apart from the regularly western education. The responses gotten are shown in table 4. 1 below: Table 4. 1 Acquisition of Special Skills apart from Western Education Response| No. of Respondents| Percentage| Yes | 86| 59. 7| No| 58| 40. 3| Total | 144| 100| Source: Researcher’s Survey, 2010. The table above indi cates that 86 respondents representing 59. 7% have acquired specific skills other than the western education while 58 respondents which represent 40. 3% have not.This shows that specific skills acquisition is not alien to graduates in Kaduna State. 4. 1. 2Self Employment The respondents were further asked if they were presently self-employed. The following were the responses gotten: Table 4. 2: Self Employment Response| No. of Respondents| Percentage| Yes | 55| 38. 2| No| 89| 61. 8| Total | 144| 100| Source: Researcher’s Survey, 2010. Table 4. 13 depicts that 38. 2% of the respondents are self employed while 61. 8% are not. This shows that some respondents are utilizing the skills they have acquired. 4. 1. 3Nature of Self EmploymentThe respondents who claimed to be self-employed were asked to specify the nature of their self-employment and the following responses were gotten. i) Fashion designing ii) Farming iii) Electrical works iv) Wood work/carpentry v) Mechanized farming vi) Forest trading 4. 1. 4Acquisition of Specific Skills by Graduates in Kaduna State Many people agree that depending solely on salaried jobs is not the best. Thus, people should learn to acquire alternative sources of income. Hence, the respondents were asked: Do you think that most graduates in Kaduna State have acquired necessary skills to make them self employed?Their responses are given below. Table 4. 3: Acquisition of Special Skills by Graduates in Kaduna State Response| No. of Respondents| Percentage| Yes | 36| 25| No| 108| 75| Total | 144| 100| Source: Researcher’s Survey, 2010. The table above shows that 36 respondents signifying 25% agreed that graduates in Kaduna State posses the necessary skill of being self employed while 108 respondents representing 75% were of the contrary view. , this shows that most gradates in Kaduna State have not acquired necessary specified skills to be self employed. 4. 1. 5Self Employment an Alternative to Salaried JobThe respondents were further asked if they agreed that self-employed in an alternative to salaried jobs. The following responses in table 4. 15 below were gotten. Table 4. 4: Employment an Alternative to salaried Jobs Response| No. of Respondents| Percentage| Yes | 136| 94. 4| No| 8| 5. 6| Total | 144| 100| Source: Researcher’s Survey, 2010. The table above indicates that 94. 4% of the respondents agreed that self-employment is an alternative to salaried jobs while 5. 6% do not agree that it is an alternative. Based on the responses gotten, it clearly shows that most people take self-employment as an alternative to salaried jobs. . 1. 6Skills Acquisition Schemes Established by the Government and Self Employment In a bid to make people become self-employed, government has put in place various schemes among which is the NDE. Thus, respondents were asked if the skills acquisition schemes put in place by the government have helped beneficiaries to become self-employed. The following were the res ponses gotten Table 4. 5: Skills Acquisition Schemes and Self Employment. Response| No. of Respondents| Percentage| Yes | 120| 83. 3| No| 24| 16. 7| Total | 144| 100| Source: Researcher’s Survey, 2010. From table 4. 16 above, 120 respondents representing 83. % agreed that the skills acquisition schemes put in place by government have helped beneficiaries to become self-employed while 24 respondents representing 16. 7% disagreed. 4. 1. 7Inclusion of Specific Skills Acquisition Programme in Post-Secondary School Curriculum With regards to specific skills acquisition, respondents were asked if skills acquisition programmes be included in Post-secondary schools’ curriculum and the following responses were gotten: Table 4. 6: Inclusion of specific skills acquisition programmes in post-secondary school curriculum Response| No. of Respondents| Percentage| Yes | 140| 97. 2| No| 4| 2. 8|Total | 144| 100| Source: Researcher’s Survey, 2010. For table 4. 17 above, 140 respo ndents representing 97. 2% opined that specific skills acquisition programmes should be included in all post-secondary schools curriculum while 4 respondents representing 2. 8% held a contrary opinion. 4. 1. 8 Opinions about Skills Acquisition Schemes in Nigeria Respondents were asked to state their opinion on the skills acquisition schemes put in place by government and the following opinions/views were gotten: i) That the skills acquisition schemes have helped reduced unemployment not only in Kaduna State but in the country as a whole; ii)That loan should be made available to the unemployed so that they can utilize both funds and skills together; iii) That skills acquisitions schemes should be fully implemented so that it’s aims and objectives can be accomplished; iv) That skills acquisition scheme should be well funded; v) It was also expressed that the skills acquisition schemes in Nigeria is too small compared to the population of the unemployed, thereby making it insign ificant; vi) That, the skills acquisition schemes are sub-standard and need to be improved so that it can compete with those in other nations; vii) That skills acquisition helps graduate to become self employed; viii) That for skills acquisitions to succeed an adequate system that ensures the monitoring and evaluation of the scheme must be put in place; ix) That the skills acquisition schemes have been bedeviled by poor management plan, indiscipline and corruption; x) That the culture of skill acquisition should be inculcated into the citizens right form primary schools; Finally, that there should be more awareness and funding of the schemes available The table below shows a summary of the questions asked and responses gotten. 4. 2Test of Hypothesis using the Average Mean Score Method. The average mean score was used to test the Hypothesis which States: â€Å"That inadequate skills acquisition has led to an increase in graduate unemployment in Kaduna State†. Formular: X = ? p x where X=Average mean score ?p=Summation of percentages x=Total number of variablesDecision Rule: Accept Ho if average means score is 60% and above, reject Ho if average means score is less than 60%. Variables 1) Acquisition of specific skills other than western education 2) Self employment 3) Acquisition of specific skills by graduates in Kaduna State. 4) Self employment and alternative to salaried jobs 5) Skills acquisition schemes and self-employment 6) Skills acquisition and post secondary curriculum Table 4. 7: Highest Responses Variables | Responses | 1| 59. 7% of the respondents opined that they have acquired specific skills other than western education. | 2| 61. 8% of the respondents said they were not self employed. 3| 70% of the respondents were of the view that most graduates in Kaduna State have not acquired specific skills. | 4| 94. 4% of the respondents agreed that self-employment is an alternative to salaried jobs. | 5| 83. 3% of the respondents agree that skills ac quisition schemes have made their beneficiaries self employed. | 6| 97. 2% of the respondents agreed that specific skills acquisition programmes should be included in post-secondary school curriculum. | Source: Researcher’s Survey, 2010. No. of Variables Percentages 159. 7 261. 8 375 494. 4 583. 3 697. 2 Total 6471. 4 ?p=471. 4= 78. 6% x 6 X = 78. 6% From the above calculation the average mean score of the Hypothesis is 78. 6%.Going by the decision rule which States that Accept Ho if average mean score is 60% and above, our Ho which States; â€Å"that inadequate skills acquisition has led to an increase in graduate unemployment in Kaduna State† is Accepted. This implies that adequate skills acquisition will lead to a decrease in graduate unemployment in Kaduna State. 4. 3Major Findings It was discovered that Skills Acquisition is an effective tool in the reduction of graduate unemployment in Kaduna State. The researcher found out that most unemployed graduates in Kadun a State will opt for self-employment through the acquisition of specific skills, rather than wait for the non-existent salaried jobs. The researcher found out that â€Å"skill acquisition schemes† when effectively implemented will go a long way to reducing graduate unemployment not just in Kaduna State but in Nigeria as a whole.It was also discovered that skills acquisition gives birth to small scale enterprise which in turn boost individual and national economy. As in the case of developed nations like China, Japan and even USA who started from small scale enterprises and they are world powers today. Thus, the importance of skills acquisition in unemployment reduction and by extension poverty reduction cannot be over-emphasized. 5. 1Conclusions and Recommendations As established by the study, the importance of skills acquisition cannot be overemphasized. Thus, it is recommended that learning of specific skills should be inculcated into the curriculum of the post-secondary sc hools of not just Kaduna State but Nigeria as a whole irrespective of the course of study.In developed countries like the USA courses are courses such as fashion designing, automobile repairs, traffic control, animal husbandry, typesetting, catering, horticulture, swimming, memo writing, satellite installation, wood work and even cooking are included in formal school curriculum. Such compulsory electives should be imbibed in the nation thereby creating the spirit of entrepreneurship. There should be a diversification in the activities of the National Directorate of Employment. New challenging and innovative skills should be introduced from time to time. This will make it more enticing appealing for gradates to enrol, as young people like to explore new grounds. Also, specific organisation or institution should be established with the sole aim of tackling graduate unemployment.Since unemployment cuts across various barriers (gender, class, age) and the National Directorate of Employm ent which is saddled with combating unemployment cannot effectively manage graduate unemployment as its resources (time, finance) are divided among other classes. Thus, giving more attention to graduate unemployment by establishing a body with the mandate of combating graduate unemployment will go a long way. References Bradley R. Schiller (2004) The Macro Economy Today 9th ed: New Delhi; McGraw Hill Irwin Companies. D. Rudiger et al (2004): Macro Economics: New Delhi; Tata McGraw-Hill Publishing Co. Ltd. David C. Colonader (2001) Macro Economics 4th ed. : New York; McGraw-Hill Irwin.Euro-Zone Unemployment Climbs to 10 percent High Deutsche Welle. January 29, 2010. F. Onosode (1993): The Decades of Development Crises in Nigeria Essays. Ikeja: Malthouse Press Ltd. F. A. Hayek, The Constitution of Liberty:www. google. com G. Umoden (1992): The Babangida Year: Ikoyi-Lagos; Gabumo Publishing Company ltd. http://atext. ap[lia. com/controller/apliatext. aspx International Labour Organisat ion: Resolution concerning statistics of the economically active population, employment, unemployment and underemployment, adopted by the thirteenth International Conference of Labour Statisticians (Oct. 1982) pg. 4. Jhingan M. L. (2004) Principles of Economics. 2nd ed. : India; Vrinda Publication Ltd.National Bureau of Statistics, Core Welfare Indicator Questionnaire Newswise, Retrieved on October 27, 2008. National Directorate of Employment (2006) Brochure. Kaduna State Office. Richard A. (2007): â€Å"Fact Sheet on the Impact of Unemployment (PDF) Virginia Teach, Department of Economics USA. Robert F. e al (2001): Principles of Economics: India; McGraw-Hill Publishers S. Dudley (1969): The Meaning of Development. Eleventh Conference of the Society for International Development, New Delhi India. Wikipedia Encyclopaedia. www. econlog. econlib. org/archieves/2009 www. google. com www. uo. org/public. /english/bureau/stat/dpownload/ res/ecacpop. pdf

Transnational Corporations Example For Free - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 8 Words: 2398 Downloads: 10 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Business Essay Type Essay any type Did you like this example? 1. Discuss the basis of the three different views of the motivation of transnational corporation (TNCs) below. The view that TNCs aim to maximise shareholder value is a reflection of the economic model of the firm. This model sees all corporations, including TNCs, as production à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" distribution units whose sole goal is to provide maximum value to their owners. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Transnational Corporations Example For Free" essay for you Create order As such, under this model TNCs will always pursue maximum shareholder value according to the duty that they have to their owners to maximise the return on investment (Coase, 1937). In contrast, agency theory holds that as the owners appoint managers to act as their agents, the interests of these managers will often override those of the owners. This is particularly relevant for major multinational corporations, who are likely to have a number of disparate owners who are unable to exercise effective control over the managers and the company as a whole. As such, the top managers goals can override those of the owners as the top managers are directing the TNCs activity (Ietto-Gillies, 2001). However, in a major TNC the top managers themselves are often unable to effectively exercise control over the entire organisation, and have to devolve responsibility to divisional and unit managers. In this case, it is the techno-structure itself, defined as the number of managerial and contr ol levels in the TNC, that determines the overall direction of the TNC, with limited influence from top managers and owners. The techno structure defines these interests depending on how many levels of management there are, hence defining how well the owners and top managers can maintain any control. 2. Why do firms seek to expand their productive activity overseas, instead of simply exporting overseas? Compare the contributions of ANY TWO of the following to this question. S . Hynmer, R. Vemon and J. Dunning. One of the main reasons that firms look to expand their production activity overseas, instead of simply exporting overseas, is to keep control of their production. The process of exporting results in a loss of control of production, as local agents have to be responsible for distribution and retail, and these agents may make decisions to suit their own ends. In addition, control will be reduced by the fact that the exporting firm can only export their surplus production, and may not be able to increase capacity to the point where they can fully satisfy the overseas market, thus reducing their ability to use capacity to suppress any competition (Hymer, 1960). In contrast, according to the eclectic paradigm devised by Dunning (1988), expanding production overseas is the only way that firms can take advantage of locational advantages such as cheap labour and raw materials. As such, under the eclectic paradigm, the expansion of production overseas will be driven by the need to ma ximise production efficiency, rather than the need to maintain control over foreign sales. 3(b) Explain the functions of the headquarters of a large transnational corporation (TNC) and explain the variety in way TNCs organise both their research and development and production facilities internationally. The headquarters of a large TNC serves two main functions. The first is to coordinate and monitor the activities of the different aspects of the techno structure of the TNC, and hence ensure that they are all pursuing the interests of the owners and directors, and not the interests of the techno structure itself. The second is to provide centralised functions such as human resources and payroll to help maximise the efficiency of these supporting back office functions and ensure that costs are kept low (Ietto-Gillies, 2001). In terms of the organisation of research and development and production facilities, TNCs have a number of choices in this regard. Firstly, they can choose to locate them in the nations with the lowest labour cost and most favourable investment regimes, such as China and South East Asia. This provides significant cost advantages, but can create increased transport times and requires the loss of some control. Another option is to locate them in the most p roductive and advanced nations. This is more suitable for products such as pharmaceuticals, which require significant skills and economic development in order to develop and manufacture successfully, and also command a higher premium. Finally, TNCs can choose to outsource some or all of their RD and production to specialists, which can dramatically reduce costs and risks, but at the cost of losing some control (Ietto-Gillies, 2001). 4. Consider the major changes, since the 1970s, in the relationships transnational corporations (TNCs) have to ANY THREE or the following; to other firms, to their individual customers, to their workers, to the communities they operate in, to national governments and to supranational organisations such as the World Trade Organisation. Since the 1970s, the development of the European Union as a supranational organisation has changed the operations of TNCs operating in any countries in the EU. With the EU now being viewed as a unified market, and the European Commission acting as an overall regulator, the actions of TNCs are now largely influenced by EU policy, rather than by the policies of individual member states. This can be seen in the case of Microsoft, which was fined by the EU for anti-trust practices rather than by any member state. With regards to the relationships with individual customers, the most marked change has been in a shift away from selling to customers, and towards marketing to them. Previously, organisations concentrate on manufacturing goods and then selling them to customers by convincing the customers that they wanted them. However, in recent years as the range of companies and products has increased the paradigm has shifted towards using marketing to identify problems and needs, and then demonstrate to consumers how a specific product or service solves their problems or addresses their needs. This is a more individual approach to consumers than in previous years (Ietto-Gillies, 2001). Finally, the relationships between TNCs and their workers have become much more complicated. Firstly, increasing levels of labour legislation have given the workers more power to switch jobs without penalty and with minimal notice, whilst employers are less able to reduce their workforce in times of crisis. This has in turn led to TNCs focusing more on using contracts for peripheral activities such as marketing, whilst only maintaining a small core of full time employees for the most critical activities such as research (CIPD, 2008). (b) Discuss the argument that the socio-cultural and political consequences of trans-national corporation (TNC) activity globally are harmful both to rich and poor nations alike. The main focus of this argument is that the activities of TNCs are aimed at providing benefits to their owners and managers, not to the nations in which they operate. As such, TNCs always look to move their manufacturing and other operations to the country that is most beneficial to them. This implies harm to rich nations, who will see a fall in available jobs due to the price of labour, hence an increase in unemployment which reflects badly on government and society. For poor nations, this means that much of their economic growth is focused on being attractive to TNCs, which places downward pressure on labour rights and reduces the ability of governments to shape policy. This leads to a rise in the number of sweatshops and other labour intensive manufacturing operations in poorer nations. Whilst these may pay more than traditional jobs such as subsistence agriculture, they also often require longer working hours and in harsher conditions. The manufacturing also creates envir onmental damage thus harming the population as a whole (Frynas and Pegg, 2003). 6. In his (1973) Economics and the Public Purpose, J.K. Galbraith argued that large corporations transcend the nation state to create an international planning community (p. 180). Discuss the relevance of Galbraiths view of the power of trans-national corporations to replace the market both nationally in todays world. In the modern world it can be argued that TNCs have largely evolved and developed to transcend national markets. This can most clearly be seen in the case of major information and media companies that are now able to serve the entire world from a single offering, such as Apples iTunes music downloading service. However, factors such as these are arguably due more to developments in communications and transport efficiency, with any company of any size able to use the internet to market and sell products around the world and arrange for international shipping over the phone. Indeed, if anything the large size of large corporations has made them more vulnerable to the interventions of nation states, as the corporations are as dependent on the richer nation states for access to their markets as the nation states are on the corporations for access to goods and services. As such, the only area in which the nation state can be said to have transcended nation states is amongst the po or nation states who are reliant on TNCs for much of their economic growth and employment (Frynas and Pegg, 2003). 7. Answer both part to this question: (a) What is Civil Regulation and how is it supposed to discipline trans-national corporation (TNCs) Civil regulation is the process by which nongovernmental organisations, NGOs, exercise some power over TNCs through setting codes of conduct for businesses and holding them to these codes across the world. The theory behind civil regulation is that governments can only have a limited impact on TNCs, as they are wary of antagonising them and hence losing the benefits of TNC operations. NGOs are not subject to the same concerns, and hence are able to set codes of conduct for TNCs around labour relations, pricing and other factors. Whilst the TNCs do not have to follow these codes, the NGOs often have a significant impact on consumer attitudes, and hence can rally consumers to boycott TNCs who flaunt accepted guidelines (Sethi, 2003). (b) Examine the problem TNCs face in responding to Civil Regulation and the main strategies TNCs have adopted to cope. The main problem that TNCs face in responding to civil regulation is that businesses and NGOs tend to have diametrically opposing views. NGOs are strongly focused on social welfare and, if TNCs followed all of their recommendations, they would tend to make only marginal profits, hence losing investment and causing owners to replace the managers. TNCs have adapted to cope with this problem by cooperating and negotiating with NGOs to produce guidelines that allow for the achievement of a reasonable profit whilst adhering to some guidelines. In addition, TNCs have begun forming and sponsoring NGOs of their own, who act to challenge some of the claims around the negative impacts of the TNCs, and help to minimise the impact of any consumer backlash (Sethi, 2003). 8. In his The Civil Corporation (2001), S. Zadek argued that corporate responsibility or corporate citizenship required a move away from Civil Regulation of trans-national corporations. Explain and assess Zadeks argument. The main thrust of Zadeks (2001) argument is that civil regulation requires NGOs to effectively regulate TNCs, whilst corporate responsibility requires TNCs to regulate themselves. As such, as long as civil regulation is prevalent, TNCs will tend to defer to its rules, and placate their customers by achieving the minimum possible compliance with accepted civil regulations. This actively discourages businesses from taking further innovative steps to become more responsible, as they can effectively claim that they comply with all applicable civil regulations and hence need do no more. This argument has merit, as in the absence of formal civil regulation; businesses could effectively compete for customers by competing to become more responsible. However, the argument assumes that consumers will take the time to compare and judge the responsibility of different businesses, which may well not be the case. In addition, without clear guidelines and regulations to judge businesses by , it may be difficult to objectively measure the social responsibility of a business, allowing TNCs to market themselves as socially responsible even if they are not. 9. Consider the following quotation from D. Korten (2001 :pp. 19-20) The client believed global corporations might offer an answer to the problem of poverty and human conflict. The client has since concluded, however, that the systemic forces nurturing the growth and dominance of global corporations are the heart of the current dilemma. The client now believes that to avoid collective catastrophe we must radically transform the underlying system of business to restore power to the small and local. Drawing on the arguments or R. Douthwaite (1996) and C. Hines (2000) consider how local changes in behaviour and global changes to the rules of finance, production and trade might help restore power to the small and local. Douthwaite (1996) argues that one of the main changes in behaviour required to restore power to the small and local is the shift towards localised production and distribution networks, particularly for food. This is based on the argument that global food production networks focus on producing high priced food for richer nation s, hence putting pressure on agricultural resources and damaging them, reducing food security and food democracy. A shift to local production and consumption would keep wealth within local economies as they would be producing and buying food amongst the community, hence keeping power local. In terms of rule changes, Hines (2000) argues that taxes are needed on energy and resource use, as well as on pollution. In order to achieve this, citizens will need to demand that the trade system is changed to reduce the impact of the World Trade Organisation, and instead focus on creating localised trade. This will reduce the power of TNCs, thus allowing a shift in regulation and global rules to support small and local operations and promote social and environmental priorities ahead of global trade and economic growth. References 1. CIPD (2008) CIPD The Nature and Terms of the Contract Employment: Workbook. BPP Learning Media. 2. Coase, R. H. (1937) The Nature of the Firm. Economica; vol. 4, p. 386-405. 3. Douthwaite, R. (1996) Short Circuit. Strengthening Local Economics for Security in an Unstable World. The Lilliput Press. 4. Dunning, J. H. (1988) The Eclectic Paradigm of International Production: A Restatement and Some Possible Extensions. Journal of International Business Studies; Vol. 19, Issue 1, p. 1-31. 5. Frynas, J. G. and Pegg, S. (2003) Transnational Corporations and Human Rights. Palgrave MacMillan. 6. Hines, C. (2000) Localization: A Global Manifesto. Earthscan. 7. Hymer, S. H. (1960) The International Operations of National Firms: A Study of Direct Foreign Investment. PhD Dissertation. Published posthumously. The MIT Press, 1976. 8. Ietto-Gillies, G. (2001) Transnational Corporations. Routledge. 9. Zadek, S. (2001) The Civil Corporation: the New Economy of Corporate Citizenship. Earthscan.