Reaction paper on the documentary called The corporation Essay

Reaction paper on the documentary called The corporation - Essay Example These are just a few of the mind games businesses use as bait to catch the big fish in a sea of high-potential buying power of consumers today. With this said, understanding what goes into the process of the â€Å"prey-predator† in the business kingdom & how the predator uses temptation to blur the lines between â€Å"needs† and â€Å"wants† is crucial for everyone as consumers to know when to take a bite and when to commit to a non-indulgent fast. The Corporation documentary written by Joel Bakan and directed by Mark Achbar and Jennifer Abbott shows they are up to one thing in producing this material – to breach into the politics of the pursuit of power and profit of businesses today. First of the points this documentary has tackled that is worthy of notice would be the difference in the business environment before and today. In the past, all that a business would pursue would be to breakeven from the cost of operating the business and earning beyond that was considered a bonus. However, contemporary businesses today, I believe spend half the time minding their own business and the other half monitoring their competitors’ moves and constantly on the lookout for events that they could use to benefit them. Just like dirty politics as we call it, there are a lot of hidden secrets to the success and downfall of business tycoons. Some of the well-kept secrets that have been revealed by this documentary would be the reality of the bargaining activities of corporations to fight for their rights that human beings alike enjoy, the business hoax against the United States President Franklin Roosevelt, the suppression of a news-worthy story of a television station so they could protect certain parties affiliated to them, and the most trivial among all would be the alleged involvement of IBM in the historical Nazi holocaust that destroyed so many lives (Bakan, J.). Indeed, what can be a matter of just being provided quality products and s ervices for consumers like us could come from controversial undertakings waiting to be avenged. The second point that awakened my cognizance was when the writer of the documentary tagged corporations today as either being a person or a psychopath (Bakan, J.). It was for me automatic to comprehend how corporations are so much like people. They have rights to intellectual property, tangible properties, properties that are backed up by contracts and trusts which a company could always fight for to propel a peaceful and at the same time speedy development of their business. Aside from that, just like people, corporations have certain needs that would smoothly fit Maslow’s hierarchy – Physiological needs that pertains to legal documents, capital, manpower, & goods needed before they could start operating the business; Safety from market-reach-devouring competitors; The need for belongingness in a certain business category, being fully equipped for competition; Achieving utm ost self-esteem by being top of mind of not only one’s chosen target market but including those that are not; And lastly, the highest would be self-actualization where competitors’ moves does not directly affect one’s business performance anymore. However, what is naked to consumers’ eyes would be when corporations start being a psychopath. This could be

Undrerstanding & organisation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Undrerstanding & organisation - Essay Example The existing structure gave a considerable amount of autonomy to the personnel at the operational level to make decisions, whilst each member of staff, depending on their area of expertise, had the power to veto any decisions made by the rest of the personnel. The changes were proposed by the then deputy chair and managing director of the supermarket chain Sainsbury’s, who famously claimed that the NHS was devoid of management that can make firm decisions and not always resort to consultation with doctors or senior clinical staff, as was prevalent due to the consensus management style.The following is an analysis of the NHS case with regards to the changes brought about in the general structure of the organisation with the introduction of the concept of general management to exercise control and coordination of activities, as opposed to the consensus management style that existed prior to the changes. The existing structure gave a considerable amount of autonomy to the personn el at the operational level to make decisions, whilst each member of staff, depending on their area of expertise, had the power to veto any decisions made by the rest of the personnel. This was referred to as a ‘lowest common denominator’ style of decision making. Griffith, however, proposed a more management oriented structure, where line managers would be introduced for each unit or hospital, and these managers will carry the sole responsibility of making decisions, applying control measures especially where finances are concerned, and overall coordination of activities within the guidelines provided to achieve strategic objectives. Understanding the environmental circumstances which prompted the need for such changes in a nationalised organisation would provide more insight as to why such measures were necessary, and what these changes have implied for the organisation over the years. One method to study the environment is the PEST analysis, which stands for an under standing of the Political, Economical, Sociological and Technological aspects of the market environment (Johnson et al, 2008; Kotler et al, 2006). The political, economical, and sociological aspects in relation to the NHS case are quite intertwined, as this was a period when Britain was undergoing many changes as a result of the economic recession that started in the preceding years, and the young conservative government under the leadership of Margaret Thatcher was in the process of making many difficult decisions to turn the economy around and to reduce unemployment that hit the three million mark during this time. In addition to this, the Falkland war, albeit won the British public’s admiration of the Thatcher government, resulted in additional expenditure, along with added burden of sustaining existing nationalised businesses, which meant increase in taxes and the resultant inflation. This has caused the government to take stringent measures where financing was concerned specifically for nationalised organisations like the NHS. The government also fully or partly privatised many other initially nationalised organisations to extend some of the burdens to more profitable private entities. It could be that pure observation of how, many private firms have operated profitably during the economic recession, by employing measures of cutting costs, dissolving unwanted business operations, removing redundant personnel etc may have motivated the government to employ similar measures in the nationalised businesses. This seems fitting to the fact that the opinions of an executive from a supermarket chain were taken aboard, and then implemented as in the case of the NHS. The aim, however, was to include a certain degree of competitiveness within nationalised organisations in relation to other organisations in the market, which may result in profitability and expansion, and ultimately creation of new jobs (http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,920566-3 ,00.html). Another political factor playing an important role during this period was the influx of immigrants despite the government’s best efforts to curb it. Margaret Thatcher’s government was faced with problems related to incoming immigrants from Asian Commonwealth countries like India and Pakistan, and refugees from other regions, and measures had to be