Countries in Africa Considered Never Colonized

Good Versus Neutral . In The Fourth Century B.C.E., A Fervid

Good versus Neutral In the fourth century B.C.E., a fervid debate was unfolding between the master Mencius and the debater Gaozi. The morality and ethics of humans was at stake. Their beliefs would change how individuals and societies viewed their decisions, their life outcomes, and ultimately, their true nature. In the ring, two clear opposing stances weighed in, but only one would make the cut. In one corner stood Gaozi, defining human nature as neutral, and in the opposing corner stood Mencius, defining human nature as good. Gaozi’s assertion of human nature does not promote any form of ethics or positive personal choice within a society, whereas, Mencuis’s definition upholds strong ethics and personal choice within a society.†¦show more content†¦In this analogy, he compares water to humans and direction to human nature. Gaozi declares human nature does not distinguish between good and not good, therefore, asserting human nature is neutral. The fluid ity of water and how it can easily be shaped by the environment, introduces the argument that the environment shapes human nature. Based on this claim, if humans were all raised in the same environment, they would all make the same decisions, and their lives would inevitably turn out the same. His argument does not address why children raised within the same family can turn out drastically different. Their parents rear them in the same environment, they are presented the same opportunities, and they start off with the same life chances. According to Gaozi, these children would flow in the same direction, not split off with one going east, towards goodness and one going west, towards badness. However, Gaozi’s argument can deliver relief to those who believe their lives turned out dramatically different than they anticipated. Some people may look at themselves and see wickedness as their true nature and feel ashamed or wonder where they went wrong. If they rely on Gaozi, then they may feel unburdened of their wrong doing because they know their environment shaped their life, and they had no other choice but to go west. They would gain freedom from their choices and solace in knowing their essence is not bad, but neutral. The idea of neutrality as human

Effects Of Firm Capability On External Collaboration †Free Samples

Question: Discuss about the Effects Of Firm Capability On External Collaboration. Answer: Introduction Most of the recent business studies conducted focus on the good part played by effective collaboration of the firms with customers and the suppliers. However, it must be noted that collaboration of the firms with customers and the suppliers can have both good as well as bad effects especially in an industrial environment that constantly seeks to gain competitive advantage (Wang et al., 2015). The thesis statement of the essay is in support of the article reviewed that in the face of a highly competitive and challenging business environment, the collaboration of the firms with customers and suppliers can pose negative effects on the firms especially in the sectors of customer service. Discussion In the context of customer service in a hostile business environment that is constantly changing, customer and supplier collaboration of firms can be targeted towards self-interests. Such a view can be backed up by the fact that collaboration between the suppliers and the customers can create a flow of exchange in knowledge in minimum cost. However, the highly hostile condition of the industry where each organization tries to gain competitive advantage over the others, makes the firms to be overly concerned in sharing information that is valuable with the suppliers that causes for the ineffectiveness in the firm-supplier collaboration (Narayanan, Narasimhan Schoenherr, 2015). This is because, withholding critical information from the suppliers may make the suppliers hesitant in sharing information which can lower the chances of the firm in acquiring ideas that are innovative and provide better and superior customer service. As the authors of the reviewed article state, highly compet itive markets may tend to focus more on their own self-interests and be potentially distracted from building effective collaborations compared to PSFs and suppliers that operate in less competitive markets (Heirati et al., 2016). In a highly challenging and constantly changing environment, the supplier-firm collaboration loses its importance to some firms for the preference of quick results resulting in a short-term firm-supplier relationship that negatively affects customer service standards. Scholars have claimed, openness in sharing knowledge and reducing the fear of opportunism by partners, inter-organizational trust enhances alliance performance, especially under conditions of behavioral uncertainty (Capaldo, 2014). In the highly fluctuating business trends, firms often feel pressure from rival strategies and lose their patience in waiting for favorable outcomes from supplier collaboration. This creates a pressure on the suppliers. Moreover, the challenging environment may cause the firm to lose faith in the competencies of the suppliers that would make them less cooperative towards the suppliers, which adversely affects the supplier-firm relationship, as the suppliers tend to be less cooperative towards the firm by withholding valuable information that prevents the firm from providing satisfactory customer services (Yu, et al., 2013). Collaboration of the firms with customers is a long term process that requires the customers to understand completely their role in the relationship. Moreover, in a constantly changing business environment, the desires and requirements of the customers are forever changing. Hence, the firms do not get a time enough for sufficient interaction to establish a strongly reliable and understanding relationship with the customers in the fast changing environment through effective communication that de-motivates the customers who might find it unnecessary to collaborate with the customers due to lack of effort from the firms side (Wang et al., 2015). Moreover, the changing needs of the customers may cause the firm to perceive the futility of their previously offered service benefits which might affect adversely the firms performance in customer service. The statement of the authors of the reviewed article that as customers needs change quickly, a PSFs existing services become obsolete and in efficient to address the customers emerging needs, can back up this argument (Heirati et al., 2016). Furthermore, collaboration with suppliers can pose negative effects on service in case of short-term oriented collaborations. This is because in cases of short-term relationships with partners, each entity tries to exploit the other. When the suppliers realize that the partnership is for a short period they focus on their self-interests compromising the efforts toward the desires of the customers. Hence, the PSFs lack in providing better service to the customers. This is evident in the statement of the authors of the reviewed article that suppliers may focus less on the outcomes of a service project and the customer's needs, when they perceive their collaboration as a one-off business transaction or believe that a focal PSF seeks to satisfy its self-interest goals (Heirati et al., 2016). Conclusion The above arguments conclude that in a hostile and changing environment, a collaboration with the customers and the suppliers by the firm may create certain negative effects on the customer service of the firm. This is because in turbulent environments, collaborations of firms with suppliers and customers can be self-interested, lacking in faith, time-consuming and demoralizing. Introduction The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) has seen a significant growth in the count of the low-cost carriers (LCC) that serve short routes in the GCC regions. The LCCs are gaining massive popularity posing serious challenge to the full-service carriers (FSC) within the area of the GCC (Jimenez, Claro deSousa, 2014). Therefore, it is safe to say that the LCCs have gained the attention of many travelers who are price-sensitive as well as others who have gained from their reliable service in relatively low fares (O'Connell Warnock-Smith, 2013). However, there remain travelers who prefer the FSCs despite their high fares for the comfort they offer to the business and leisure travelers. Hence, it is obvious that these two categories of business travelers have certain differences in their characteristics. The thesis statement of the paper is that the travelers prefer LCCs more than the FSCs in the GCC region. Discussion From the demographic aspect, most of the business travelers who prefer the LCCs are mostly younger and are working in smaller companies with a middle position in the management of the administrative services of the company. However, the business travelers who mostly prefer the FSCs are comparatively older and are working in executive positions in larger companies. This is because the LCCs have grown in popularity for providing good and reliable services in relatively lower fares than the FSCs (Malighetti, Stefano Redondi, 2013). Hence, the business travelers working in smaller companies prefer the LCCs for they receive satisfactory service without having to spend much. However, the business travelers in executive positions in larger companies do not like to compromise in the superior service and comfort presented by the FSCs. To be precise, Unlike their counterparts using LCCs, they place greater importance on in-flight service, comfort, business lounge facility, and FF programs, an d are willing to pay higher fares for these product elements (Desai, Siddique Yaseen, 2017). It must be stated belonging to whichever group may be, travelers prefer to maximize their return value for the travel expenditures. The travelers who usually prefer the LCCs find it unnecessary to travel in business classes and therefore, opt for the LCCs (O'Connell Warnock-Smith, 2013). However, the travelers using the FSCs also value reduced travel prices and therefore, have started to grow an inclination for the LCCs that would help them to cut down on their travel expenses In case of reduction in travel budget, several users of network airlines would prefer to use LCCs rather than reducing the frequency of their flights (Desai, Siddique Yaseen, 2017). The LCCs have reportedly gained attention of travelers who have previously traveled in the FSCs. This is because, with the changing market trends of the airline industry, the preferences of the travelers have also begun to change (Jimenez, Claro deSousa, 2014). Travelers as the businessmen who travel extensively have realized the importance of personal changes have started preferring using the LCCs as they give almost similar if not as extravagant experience as the FSCs. In this manner, they do not have to compromise too much on the comfort as well as in the pay. The statement, The flexibility of low cost airlines and their wider range of destinations and greater frequency of service, combined with changes in tastes in the leisure market indicate that the low cost airline share will increase also on routes dominated in the past by charter airlines, provides an evidence for the above-stated argument (Anne, 2015). The LCCs in the GCC region have developed their service from the LCCs in the Southwest, greatly preferred by the travelers. The Southwest LCCs are popular for simplified procedures of passenger processing, maintaining single kind airplanes and offering high flight frequency. These services have satisfied frequent travelers. Hence, the LCCs in the GCC region have based their service on the Southwest LCCs, highly pleasing their customers while modifying certain areas as fitting to their needs. This fact is founded by the statement, Some low-cost airlines have attempted to customize the Southwest model to fit their specific needsdespite these variations, all LCCs are primarily competing with each other and with legacy airlines based on fares, convenience, and several other service elements (Desai, Siddique Yaseen, 2017). Conclusion The above-mentioned arguments prove that the with the rapid rise in the popularity of the LCCs, travelers have started preferring the LCCs over the FSCs. This is because the LCCs are cost-effective, more frequent and covers a wider range of places than the FSCs. Moreover, the LCCs does not let the travelers compromise on service in lower fares. References Anne, G. (2015). Aviation and Tourism Implications for Leisure Travel. Capaldo, A. (2014). Network governance: A cross-level study of social mechanisms, knowledge benefits, and strategic outcomes in joint-design alliances. Industrial Marketing Management, 43(4), 685-703. Desai, S. S., Siddique, C. M., Yaseen, Z. (2017). Segmentation of Airline Market in the GCC Region: Profiling Business Customers Using Low Cost and Full Service Carriers. History, Problems and Prospects of Development of Modern Civilization, 670. Heirati, N., O'Cass, A., Schoefer, K., Siahtiri, V. (2016). Do professional service firms benefit from customer and supplier collaborations in competitive, turbulent environments?. Industrial Marketing Management, 55, 50-58. Jimenez, E., Claro, J., de Sousa, J. P. (2014). The airport business in a competitive environment. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 111, 947-954. Malighetti, P., Stefano, P., Redondi, R. (2013). The Low-cost fare response to new entry. European Transport Research Review, 5(4), 185-194. Narayanan, S., Narasimhan, R., Schoenherr, T. (2015). Assessing the contingent effects of collaboration on agility performance in buyersupplier relationships. Journal of Operations Management, 33, 140-154. O'Connell, J. F., Warnock-Smith, D. (2013). An investigation into traveler preferences and acceptance levels of airline ancillary revenues. Journal of Air Transport Management, 33, 12-21. Wang, G., Dou, W., Zhu, W., Zhou, N. (2015). The effects of firm capabilities on external collaboration and performance: The moderating role of market turbulence. Journal of Business Research, 68(9), 1928-1936. Yu, W., Jacobs, M. A., Salisbury, W. D., Enns, H. (2013). The effects of supply chain integration on customer satisfaction and financial performance: An organizational learning perspective. International Journal of Production Economics, 146(1), 346-358.