New Era University

SCHOOL OF GRADUATE STUDIES

1. Philosophy and ethics of values

a. What is the meaning of moral standards? What is the relationship of business ethics to
moral standards?

Answer: The norms about the kinds of actions believed to be morally right and wrong as well as
the values placed on the kinds of objects believed to be morally good and morally bad.

Business ethics establishes the rules and standards that govern the moral behavior of individuals
and groups. It also distinguishes between right and wrong conducts. It involves honest
consideration to underlying motive, to possible potential harm and to congruency with
established values and rules.

b. Does utilitarianism provide a more objective standard for determining right and wrong
than moral rights do? Explain.

Answer: No necessarily. Under a utilitarianism approach, you would be required to do what is

best for the greatest amount of people. However, determining that is not always so easy. What is
"best" is very subjective. But then again, "moral rights" are neither clear nor universal. So
determining both standards will draw in subjectivity.

c. Does utilitarianism provide a more objective standard than principles of justice?

Explain.

Answer: "Justice" is measured differently by people. What is just to one person may not be just
to others. Under a utilitarian approach, you would need to do what is in the best interest of the
community. For example, take a convicted murderer. The best option under utilitarianism may be
to lock such a person away in prison to protect society. But under a moral rights theory, it may
not be the case. There may be mitigating circumstances that dictate the person be handled in a
different manner. But then again, many people define "morals" differently, so determining what
"moral rights" to judge a person or situation upon can be extremely subjective. On the flip side,
determining what is best for the community or the majority of people opens the doors to a very
subjective approach

d. Contrast the views of Locke, Marx, Smith, Keynes and Spencer on the nature and
proper functions of government and on its relationship to business.

Answer: Though Marx and Smith diverged drastically in their political ideologies, their
economic theories were similar. Both men held the labor theory of value. Each believed that the
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number of labor hours put into an object created the value and thus the worth of the object. This
theory was successfully refuted by the Austrian School of Economics theory of value
subjectivity. From this theory, it follows that a product possesses value only if there exists a
valuer. The object must be useful to a consumer in some way; if it is not, it is not valuable. The
consumers feelings or subjective analysis give the object its value. Because of the laws of
supply and demand, if an object warrants a high use value, it will be commensurable with a high
exchange value. We have seen that the more desirable or valuable an object is, the higher its
price will be. This is the most logical theory about price and value. The labor theory of value is
incorrect because even though hours of labor might have gone into building an object, if no one
wishes to purchase it, it has no worth and cannot be made commensurable with anything else.

e. From ethical point of view big business is always bad business. Discuss the pros and cons
of this statement.

Answer: Lets take one example....cosmetics...one of the largest businesses in the

world..women(and men)can function very well without 99.99% of their products, but they
don't!...is it ethical to have such a gigantic advertising push to get people to buy things they don't
"really" have to have???..but the demand is there..so.......sad to say but if you look around you
can find zillions of examples of big business supplying us with things we "want",not what we
"need". That's an ethical question for both sides of the advertising, the seller and the buyer.As
long as the buyer is willing to wallow in these areas when their monies could be better spent(on
more ethical issues),nothing will change....many people will say big business is BAD....until its
that company that supplies them with the needless things they "want", then they'll hush up about
it--and move on to another company they can attack. Big oil is the target right now...but if people
would stop and think about all the gazillions of bi-products they consume on a daily basis thanks
to that "demon" oil, they'd shut up real quick due to the fact they don't want to do without those
things in their lives! Many people haven't stopped long enough to realize that,when they do,oil
won't be quite as demonic as it used to be!

f. Any pollution law is unjust because it necessarily violates peoples right to liberty to
property. Discuss.

Answer: The main and important role of the society today is to ensure that the environment is
handled in such a way that it is preserved for the sake of future generations. This is what is being
pursued under the topic of sustainable development. Since pollution affects the environment,
environmental sustainability has made there be lots and lot of laws on pollution. These laws on
one side have greatly helped meet the intention of environment sustainability laws but on the
other hand have the unfair aftermath of denying people the liberty to live in different ways. The
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three mostly affected areas of human life are social activities, economic activities and
environmental activities.

In terms of social activities, the pollution laws have left people changing their lifestyles like the
number of children per family just so that as to be able to provide for them without straining the
environment. In such a case, the utilitarian argue that the aspect of happiness that is supposed to
be achieved from life are forfeited for reasons of preserving the environment for future
generations. In addition, people made to make life decision that in no way affect the provision of
needs today and in the future. This has led to change of lifestyle preferences like people have to
preserve tree and hence tending to focus not on wooden furniture but on others like metal and
glass equipments. Base d on human economic activities, the world had to change to alternative
sources of fuel and energy except for the main one which had been from fossils and whose main
effect have been negative as it has caused great pollution of the environment causing global
climatic changes and other effects.

In terms of economic growth, nations have to change from being growth oriented to being capital
intensive. This way, the growth oriented perspective will be abandoned for reasons of changing
industrializations. This would also mean doing away with what was viewed as steadily
increasing production by industries to steady state production where only what is required by the
society is produced with not excessive production.

g. In view of contractual agreement that every employee makes to be loyal to the employer,
do you think whistle blowing is very morally justified? Explain your answer.

The employment relationship is a legal notion widely used in countries around the world to refer
to the relationship between a person called an "employee" (frequently referred to as "a worker")
and an "employer", for whom the employee performs work under certain conditions in return for
remuneration. It is through the employment relationship, however defined, that reciprocal rights
and obligations are created between the employee and the employer. The employment
relationship has been, and continues to be, the main vehicle through which workers gain access
to the rights and benefits associated with employment in the areas of labour law and social
security. It is the key point of reference for determining the nature and extent of employers'
rights and obligations towards their workers.

Is there an employment relationship? There are a number of key elements to establishing if an

employment relationship exists between two parties. A contract of employment exists where an
offer of employment at a given rate of pay has been accepted. The terms of a contract may be
verbal, written, implied, or a combination of all three. Some types of contracts, for example for
an apprentice, are required by law to be in writing. A contract of employment will come into
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existence as soon as employees start work and by doing so, demonstrate that they accept the job
on the terms offered by the employer. An employment relationship, established by a contract of
employment, places certain rights and obligations on employers and employees. Some of these
obligations will have been expressly stated in the contract itself, either verbally or in writing, and
others are legal obligations that come from legislation, awards or agreements or from common-
law employment principles. For example, employers must comply with State and federal laws in
relation to pay rates, working conditions, taxation, workers compensation, occupational safety
and health, equal opportunity and superannuation, in addition to any agreed conditions in the
contract. If there is no employment relationship established, most of these laws will not apply.
This would be the case with a volunteer, a trial worker or a subcontractor. However, as each
piece of legislation provides a different definition of employees or workers, it is important that
employers check which obligations they have in each particular circumstance.
Employment law also regulates the nature of pay and conditions within a contract of
employment. Any condition agreed to is invalid if it conflicts with a legal requirement.

h. Do you agree or disagree with the claim that corporate management are so similar to
governments that employees should be recognized as having the same civil rights as citizen
have? Explain your answer.

Answer: Corporate personhood is the legal notion that a corporation, separately from its
associated human beings (like owners, managers, or employees), has some, but not all, of the
legal rights and responsibilities enjoyed by natural persons (physical humans). For example,
corporations have the right to enter into contracts with other parties and to sue or be sued in court
in the same way as natural persons or unincorporated associations of persons.

2. Marketing Management
a. Marketing has been described as being both an art and science. Discuss the
difference and similarities between these two marketing thrusts. Provide your theoretical
response and a real life example where you have seen both process work efficiently at
creating customer value and loyalty.

Answer: Marketing is defined as the science and art of exploring, shaping and fulfilling the need
of the customers. As it is manifested in the definition that Marketing is a blend of Science and
Art; therefore, it can be inferred that both the terms have a strong connection with it.
Science is the study of theories and phenomena related to the physical world based on systematic
experiments and observation while Arts is the practical reflection of humans creativity and
imagination.
Marketing if taken as a science means considering all relevant variables and forecast that are
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crucial for the marketing or business on rational, systematic pattern. In contrast, when it is taken
as Arts it is considered as the idea, soul, essence, spirit and the metaphysical characteristics of
business that is actually helping it to thrive and prosper. For Instance, before launching a new
product, all the necessary research is carried out on rational grounds. All the variables like
market trend, number of competitors, price, product placement, marketing strategy and tactical
plan are evaluated systematically. The use of historical data or past performance is also used in
doing this. In a word; it involves much science so far. On the other hand, thinking of a new
business idea, devising innovative promotional plan, Giveaways and all the marketing tools
involves imagination. This falls under the scope of Arts. It can be concluded that Marketing is a
blend of Science and Art

b. Distinguish between the concepts of value and satisfaction.

Answer: Customer value is when a customer perceives that the range of benefits they receive
from a transaction exceeds the cost and effort undertaken to participate in that transaction. In
other words, did they get a good deal and did they benefit overall from the purchase? Virtually
all organizations strive to deliver good overall value for both their current and potential
customers value. Without providing true customer value firms will be unable to attract and retain
customers. And without customers there is no functioning business in the long-term. Customers
need to perceive that value exists for them that is, they will receive more benefits than the
costs they incur.

Customer satisfaction, on the other hand, occurs after the consumer has become a customer. That
means they have purchased the product or have had dealings with a service firm with. Customer
satisfaction is their assessment of how well that value was delivered that is, did they get the
value that they expected to receive?

the offering will be successful if it delivers value and satisfaction to the buyer. The value reflects
the sum of the advantages and costs to the customer. It's a combination of quality, service, and
price. Satisfaction reflects a person's judgment of a product's perceived performance in
relationship to the expectations. if the performance falls short of the expection, then the customer
is dissatisfied and disappointed. IF it matches expections, the customer is satisfied. If it exceeds
them, the customer is delighted.

c. The competing concepts under which organizations have conducted marketing activities
include: the production concepts, product concept, selling concept, marketing concept and
holistic marketing and concept. Evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of each
concept. Which concept do you believe is the most effective? Why?
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Answer: The first two concepts are production concept and product concept, and their main
advantages are low price and availability. The production concept is considered to be one of the
oldest concepts in business and managers very often are really concentrated on achieving three
main purposes: low costs, mass distribution and rather high production efficiency. This concept
may be used in situations when a company wants to expand one or another part of certain market
or in a situation when obtaining of the basic product is important. Thinking about the
disadvantages, it is possible to mention that sometimes managers plunge into the development of
one product putting their interests to the first place, forgetting about the needs of customers, who
will buy this product in future. Offering innovate features or improving the product, each
manager should remember that the right price, distribution and advertisement are also necessary
part of sales process.

The third concept is selling concept, and its main purpose is to sell more goods to more people.
Its advantages are an opportunity to give people information about the product, to inform buyers
about the future perspectives which they can receive buying one or other product, but aggressive
practice of selling is also among disadvantages of this concept. Some firms in a situation of
overcapacity are trying to sell people everything what they make except of making products what
the market and its buyers want.
The fourth concept is marketing concept which includes in itself many good business
characteristics. Its main purpose is not to find the right customers to companys products, but to
understand customers needs and to give them the right products. Drummond and Ensor (2005)
stated that this concept has a more competitive nature, because each product has its target market
and satisfying the needs of this target market a company may be more successful than trying to
make the right products to all groups of customers. The main disadvantage of this concept may
be a very specific set of products and only very basic innovations, but it can be solved by
effective marketing strategies of development.

Lastly, the fifth concept is the holistic marketing concept and it seems to be the most effective
concept among all the above numerated. The holistic marketing concept is in trend nowadays
and it has a big variety of perspectives in contemporary business world. New era needs an
establishment of new set of practices and beliefs, and exactly the holistic marketing concept is
the right choice in this situation. There is no doubt that a new era provides managers with a
necessity to reorganize existed traditional applications of the marketing concept making it better
day after day.

d. Define internal marketing and its role in the company. Outline how various departments
within the company can demonstrate a customers focus.

Answer: Internal marketing is based on the idea that customers attitudes toward a company are
based on their entire experience with that company, and not just their experience with the
companys products. Any time a customer interacts with an employee, it affects their overall
satisfaction. Everyone from a sales clerk to an over-the-phone tech support specialist helps to
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shape that customer's experience. Therefore, customer satisfaction is deeply dependent on the
performance of a company's staff.

For example, Apple has a unique organizational culture that emphasizes innovation, creativity,
and expertise. In order to promote this culture, they are highly selective when they recruit
employees and extremely thorough when they train them. Apple realizes that the best way to
promote the image of their brand is for every employee, particularly the ones who work with
customers, to accurately represent that image. Anyone who has been to an Apple store knows
that the employees are experts in the products they sell and are willing to answer an endless
number of questions. They are smart, accessible, and knowledgeable, positively reflecting the
company as a whole.

e. Indicate the differences and similarities between the following terms. Marketing plan,
strategic marketing plan and tactical marketing plan.

Answer: A marketing plan is a comprehensive blueprint which outlines an organization's overall

marketing efforts. A marketing process can be realized by the marketing mix, which is outlined
in step 4. The last step in the process is the marketing controlling.

Strategic Marketing Planning-Planning marketing strategy requires a thorough understanding of

trends in your industry, your competitive position and the demographics and buying habits of
your target customer. Achieve this understanding through industry and market research; then
formulate your goals. Your strategy is the road map that helps you to achieve our goals and
comprises a financial plan entailing your marketing budget as well as a conceptual plan. If you
run out of money before your strategies can be implemented, your marketing may not achieve
your goals.

Tactical Marketing Planning-Advertising, community building and sales promotions are all parts
of your tactical marketing plan. Advertising entails online, radio, television and print marketing.
It communicates your brand image and informs your target customer of your presence in the
market and any promotional events you're hosting. Plan only activities that directly support your
strategic marketing plan. If your strategy involves expanding into the high-end consumer market,
your tactics might aim to convey a quality image at a reasonable price. Advertising and events
showcasing the newest products and informational events designed to educate your customer
community about use and maintenance of your products can help to convey your company's
reliability as a prime reason the customer is better served by purchasing your high-end product
line.