Tuesday, December 24, 2019

Effects Of Foreign Direct Investment On Agricultural...

ABSTRACT This research investigates and empirically examines the effects of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) on agricultural output and economic growth in Kenya. The methodology involves estimating an economic growth model using panel data of the period from 1990 to 2013. By applying the OLS method, the results indicate that FDIhas a negative effect on the economy overall, while combining with other factors such as labour, GCF and exports. However, on its own, FDI’s prove to have a positive but insignificant effect on GDP. CHAPTER ONE Introduction Statement Claims that the Foreign Direct Investment in Agriculture in Kenya have brought about many benefits as opposed to the vices are wrong. In his book, Multinational Corporations in Political Economy of Kenya, Langdon investigates multinational Corporations performances in Kenya in the mid 1970’s and concluded that their impact was overwhelmingly negative to the economy of Kenya. He argued that the MNC’s in Kenya after independence to date became ‘powerful instruments’ for profit making, a great deal of which profit was repatriated. They produced fewer spread effects in form of employment or linkage than local entrepreneurs would spur. 1.0 Introduction Agriculture is the beating hub of the Kenyan economy. The agriculture sector is the single largest sector of the economy accounting for about one quarter of GDP. About 18 per cent of growth in GDP in 2012 was from the sector, up from 7.5 per cent recorded in 2011. 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Monday, December 16, 2019

In Your Opinion What Is/Are The Main Theme(s) Of The Book Free Essays

Have you ever thought about death? Are you ready to die? If your answer is no, you can change it by reading Tuesday With Morrie . This book is filled with perfect aphorisms and life lessons that can change someone’s life. Tuesday classes with Morrie changed Mitch Albom’s life and thought him how to live. We will write a custom essay sample on In Your Opinion What Is/Are The Main Theme(s) Of The Book? or any similar topic only for you Order Now The issues that they talked about are big lessons for everyone. Personally, I have learned a great deal from the book and in this essay, I explain some important themes which, in my opinion, are offered in rejection of what culture is holds to be true, give love and let it come in, and do not think money is everything. First theme is rejecting what culture is saying. do not believe what people around you telling what is right or wrong. Try to develop your own culture by finding people whom you can trust . Every society has its own problems; therefore, you need to be strong and listen to your heart , do your work , and do not give up on things that you do not believe in . For example, in the book Morrie’s opinion is â€Å"we are teaching the wrong things. And you have to be strong enough to say if the culture doesn’t work, don’t buy it† (page 35). This quote means that if you listen to media, news, and your friends and do what they ARE saying, you will end up with an unhappy life. Likewise, Morrie, who loses his independence, is still accepted in society, because he has unique way for living, he has his own culture. He started project called Greenhouse, where poor people could receive mental health services. He visited by colleagues, kept in touch with his students, and wrote letter to his distant friends. All of this is signs of a fact that he was successful in developing his own culture. To sum up, do not waste your time to believe culture and do not lose your confidence. Believe yourself and trust your belief to have a happy life. The second theme is the fact that love can never die. If you have someone to love you, you will never disappear from his or her minds. Love between you and your family will take care of you at any time, even though you got terminal disease, like Morrie, and there is no hope for you to live. â€Å"The fact is there is no foundation, no secure ground, upon which people may stand today if it isn’t the family. (page91) For instance, in Morris’s opinion â€Å"love is A rational act† (page 134). It means if you give love, it will return to you. He quoted from W. H. Auden the thing that love is the essence of every person, and every relationship without it is nothing. We can see that the importance of love in Morrie’s life is clear for him because when he is going close to death without care of his family, he would pe rish. In conclusion, love brings happiness and meaning to life. Lastly, do not think money is everything. People who just work for money are always busy. They do not pay attention to people around them, they are alone, and everything is money for them. They think money gives them power, and it can sustain them at any time even when they face with death. However, Morrie knows better since when one encounters death, neither money nor power will give one the feeling that they are looking for. People, who think more money is better, do so because they did not find meaning in their lives, so to find out the meaning in their lives, they just run for new houses, new cars, and property. They seek meaning in appearance. The truth is, you don’t get satisfaction from those things. Only offering what you have to give, gives you satisfaction. †(page126) For example, if you have skill in computer, you can teach to the old people. They will be very grateful. This is how you start to get respect by offering your time and your talent. Lastly, money cannot give you everything you need; on the contrary, it can make you lonelier. In conclusi on, I really enjoyed the book and I have learned from it. It thought me that culture is not always right and most of people do not know this fact. They rather be brainwashed in their lives. Second theme is love people around you, enjoy your moment with them, and find someone to give your love uniquely. Have children to experience one of the most important feelings in life; a sense Of fullness and felicity which cannot be expressed in words. Additionally, the last thing is money. It is not something for which you would be supposed to work and spend all your time on. Instead, pay more attention to people around you, and put more essence of human being in your lifetime. Finally, I am seeing this book as a life reference, filled with perfect quotes and stories. I really recommend it to people to read and learn from it. How to cite In Your Opinion What Is/Are The Main Theme(s) Of The Book?, Papers

Sunday, December 8, 2019

Impact of culture on the Merger between Sprint and Nextel Sample

Question: Describe thee impact of culture on the Merger between Sprint and Nextel. Answer: Assessing the Impact of Culture on the Merger between Sprint and Nextel Mergers and acquisitions characterize todays competitive business environment. However, about 80% of these mergers fail to achieve their expectations where as one-third of them fail after five years of their operation (Stahl Mendenhall, 2005). Existing evidence suggests that the final success of any merger and acquisition is substantially determined by how the involved organizations manage the cultural elements of their transition. Taking the case of Nextel and Sprint, their failure to manage their distinct cultures resulted in their poor financial performance in the industry. For this reason, the paper assesses the impact of culture on the merger between Sprint and Nextel and consequently provides recommendations on what the leaders of the two organizations could have done to unify their distinct cultures. Overview of the Merger between Sprint and Nextel Sprint in 2005 acquired its principal rival Nextel for a sum of $ 35 billion with the primary objective of keeping pace with the leading players in the industry including AT T and Verizon (Hart, 2007). The company by 2008 had written down Nextel value of 80% confirming that the merger had been a total failure. The failure according to Hart (2007) was attributable to a clash between the two organizations cultures. Nextel was known for its entrepreneurial, Khaki culture whereas Sprint was acknowledged for its buttoned-down formality culture. The culture differences between the two organizations greatly affected their advertising strategies. Likewise, the culture difference triggered a sense of mistrust between the two companies. For instance, some Nextel staff complained that their entrepreneurial and aggressive culture that triggered their growth was being overshadowed by the bureaucratic approach executed by Sprint (Hart, 2007). On the other hand, Sprint felt deceived by the deterior ating network of Nextel arguing that it was the main reason for losing customers. Importance of Taking into Consideration Culture during Mergers and Acquisitions According to Ferris, Jayaraman Sabherwal (2013), a majority of organizations during mergers and acquisitions primarily focus on maintaining their reputations and credibility without taking into consideration the impact of their cultural differences in their financial performance. The author notes that both employees and managers comprehend that culture is crucial in enhancing the success of an organization compared to their operating model or strategy. Regardless the significance of culture, manager sand C-Suite executives does not give it a priority when implementing change programs as in the case of the merger between Sprint and Nextel. Additionally, in Kotters formula, culture comes last after everything has been addressed by an organization. Therefore, organizations such as Sprint and Nextel should have given priority to their distinct corporate structures if they wanted to succeed in the telecommunications industry. Integrating two distinct corporate cultures entail understandi ng the cultural norms of each company before commencing any operation. However, the leaders of the two companies failed to acknowledge the fact that culture influences the manner in which individuals behave and comprehend their actions. Recommendations on What Nextel and Sprint Organizational Leaders Could Have Done To Create a Unified Strong Culture for the Organization To enhance their competitiveness following the merger, it was essential for both Sprint and Nextel organization leaders to design a rigorous program that would address issues related to cultural integration. It is so unfortunate that the leaders treated culture as a soft and wooly topic. However, the organization leaders could have done the following to create a unified and vigorous culture for the resulting organization following the merger. Making culture a crucial aspect of the change management Culture refers to the shared behaviors, beliefs, and values that highlight how individuals accomplish various responsibilities in the organization (Teerikangas Irrmann, 2016). Therefore, to integrate two different cultures, it was necessary for the two companies to define their cultural objective in wider terms. Likewise, it was important for the two companys top management to set a cultural agenda by outlining the type of culture they wished to implement following their merger. In this context, it was upon the company leaders to blend the two cultures or determine the type of culture that would enhance the value of the merger. Since the aim of the merger between Sprint and Nextel was to cross-sell products, it was paramount for their leaders to integrate their sales force culture. Analyzing cultural distinctions that matters There is often a considerable difference between the acquired and the acquirers culture. Through analysis of their cultures, it becomes easier to measure and identify the differences among units, people, functions, and geographical regions. Besides, analyzing cultural differences would have helped the two organizational leaders identify the loopholes that needed to be closed to enhance the success of the merger. To identify the gaps, Nextel and Sprint managers could have used a variety of tools including management interviews, accountability mapping and decision x-rays, audio and video recordings, customer interviews and employee surveys (Antoine Kleiner, 2011; Fischbacher-Smith Fischbacher-Smith, 2014). The aim of management interviews is to reveal managerial priorities and styles of the two companies whereas audio and video recordings would enable the two companies to get a glimpse of how employees in the two companies work. Customer interviews would have helped in identifying th e perceptions of the external stakeholders regarding the two organizations whereas employee surveys would have provided significant insights regarding accepted priorities, attitudes, and behaviors. Implementing a Decision-making process that is not affected by cultural distinctions The process of decision-making is determined by the culture of an organization. For this reason, leaders of the merged companies are often subjected to a situation that requires decisions to be made quickly. However, different companies exhibit different decision-making styles depending on their culture. To address this issue, Nextel and Sprint company leaders would have taken the necessary step and identified individuals who would be involved in the decision- making process following the integration. Besides, it was essential for them to comprehend their different decision-making styles including the structures, processes, and assumptions that support it (Weber Fried, 2011). Additionally, it would be crucial to communicate their expectations to individuals involved in the decision-making process including their deadlines. The need for speedy decisions would have transformed the manner in which decisions were made regarding their operations (Davenport Barrow, 2009). Identifying the owners of the corporate culture and requesting them to work with the Senior Management For effective integration of the two cultures, it was important for Nextel and Sprint leaders to choose owners to help in the cultural integration process. In most cases, the owners are Organizational Development practitioners and Senior Human Resources whose views are crucial during a takeover. Apart from owners, the views of external stakeholders are crucial in providing insights regarding the value of culture in the performance of the company (Marks Mirvis, 2011). Taking into consideration the strengths of the companys existing cultures rather than focusing on their weaknesses Whenever two organizations merge, it is often assumed that organization leaders should take into consideration the best part of the culture of each company and integrate them. However, in most cases, well-designed processes and structural controls of the acquirer might be difficult to integrate with the acquired company less structured ways as in the case of Sprint and Nextel. For this reason, it was important for the companies to maintain distinct core competencies to enhance their survival in the industry. Given the fact that the companies exhibited different cultures, it was important for the leaders of the two organizations to assess the distinct aspects of their cultures and identify those which could be integrated (Bellingham, 2010). If it becomes difficult to integrate the distinct aspects of their culture, then the leaders should focus on the correlation between business results and cultural assumptions. Equally, the leaders should have focused on addressing cultural issues t hat were crucial to the success of the merger. Building the Employee Brand Given the fact that the primary objective of the merger was also to retain the staff, it was then important for the company leaders to reinforce staff loyalty towards the merger. In fact, it should have been the leaders priority to make the acquiring firms brand more attractive by providing employees with a sense of identity, rewards, and career advancement opportunities (Barratt-Pugh, Bahn Gakere, 2011). As discussed earlier, Nextel staff complained that their entrepreneurial and aggressive culture that triggered their growth was being overshadowed by the bureaucratic approach executed by Sprint (Belias Koustelios, 2014). On the other hand, Sprint felt deceived by the deteriorating network of Nextel arguing that it was the main reason for losing customers. For this reason, it was important for the two organizational leaders to address these issues by making sure that employees felt comfortable with the merger. Conclusion Based on the above analysis, culture plays a crucial role when integrating two companies, and if let to itself, it undermines the value of the merger as in the case of Sprint and Nextel. For this reason, addressing culture should be based on the understanding that it is implicit and powerful. In fact, employees find it difficult to transform their cultural beliefs to adopt new ones. Therefore, it was important for Sprint and Nextel to analyze their cultural differences with the aim of establishing a single culture that would enhance their operations in the telecommunications industry. References Antoine, B., Kleiner, B. (2015). Cultural Considerations and Impacts on Mergers Acquisitions. Franklin Business Law Journal, 5(1), 84-93. Barratt-Pugh, L., Bahn, S., Gakere, E.(2011). Managers as Change Agents Implications for Human Resource Managers Engaging with Culture Change. Journal of Organizational Change Management, 26(4), 748-764. Belias, D., Koustelios, A.(2014). The Impact of Leadership and Change Management Strategy on Organizational Culture. European Scientific Journal, 10(7), 451-470. Bellingham, R. (2010). Getting People and Culture Right in Mergers and Acquisitions. London: Amherst, Mass. Davenport, J., Barrow, S. (2009). Employee Communication During Mergers and Acquisitions. Farnham: Gower. Ferris, S. P., Jayaraman, N., Sabherwal, S. (2013). CEO Overconfidence and International Merger and Acquisition Activity. Journal Of Financial Quantitative Analysis, 48(1), 137-164. doi:10.1017/S0022109013000069 Fischbacher-Smith, D. Fischbacher-Smith, M.(2014). What Lies Beneath? The Role of Informal and Hidden Networks in the Management of Crises. Financial Accounting Management, 30(3), 259-279. Hart, K.(2007). No Cultural Merger At Sprint Nextel. The Washington Post. Retrieved from, https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/23/AR2007112301588.html Marks, M. L., Mirvis, P. H. (2011). A framework for the human resources role in managing culture in mergers and acquisitions. Human Resource Management, 50(6), 859-877. doi:10.1002/hrm.20445 Stahl, G., Mendenhall, M.E.(2005). Mergers and Acquisitions: Managing Culture and Human Resources. Stanford, Calif: Stanford Business Books. Teerikangas, S., Irrmann, O. (2016). Cultural change following international acquisitions: cohabiting the tension between espoused and practiced cultures. Management International Review, (2), 195. doi:10.1007/s11575-015-0276-1. Weber, Y., Fried, Y. (2011). Guest Editors' Note: The role of HR practices in managing culture clash during the postmerger integration process. Human Resource Management, 50(5), 565-570. doi:10.1002/hrm.20449