Ethical And Cultural Issues With Social Networking Media Essay

Ethical And Cultural Issues With Social Networking Media Essay It is a network or a social structure made up individuals, organizations or the society at large based on virtues of friendship, business, interests, religion etc. In other words it is the grouping of individuals into specific groups based on common interests/platforms. Although social networking is possible in person, especially in the workplace, universities, and high schools, it is most popular online. This is due to the fact that unlike most high schools, colleges, or workplaces, the internet is filled with countless individuals who are looking to meet other people, to gather and share first-hand information and experiences. Online Social Networking Social networking extended to the virtual space is effectively online social networking. In such a scenario websites are used as a common platform to meet and network and the internet binds all of the together. These websites are known as social sites. Social networking websites function like an online community of internet users. Depending on the website in question, many of these online community members share common interests in hobbies, religion, or politics. Once an individual is granted access to a social networking website he can begin to socialize. This socialization may include reading the profile pages of other members and possibly even contacting them. Making friends is one of the many advantages of such websites. Apart from friends, one can develop professional contacts, share photos, discuss events etc. Another one of those benefits includes diversity because the internet gives individuals from all around the world access to social networking sites. This means that although a person is in London, he could develop an online friendship with someone in China or India. Not only will that person make new friends, but might also learn a thing or two about new cultures or new languages and learning is always a good thing. As mentioned, social networking often involves grouping specific individuals or organizations together. While there are a number of social networking websites that focus on particular interests, there are others that do not. The websites without a main focus are often referred to as traditional social networking websites and usually have open memberships. This means that anyone can become a member, no matter what their hobbies, beliefs, or views are. However, once a person is inside this online community, he can begin to create his own network of friends and eliminate members that do not share common interests or goals. Some of the very popular online networking websites are as follows: Facebook Twitter Orkut MySpace Hi5 LinkedIn Flickr Business Ethics Business ethics (also known as corporate ethics) is a form of applied ethics or professional ethics that examines ethical principles and moral or ethical problems that arise in a business environment. It applies to all aspects of business conduct and is relevant to the conduct of individuals and business organizations as a whole. It changes for every business unit with the passing of time as well as geography. What might be ethical in Spain might be wrong in Nigeria and what might be right in Nigeria may be wrong in India. Therefore, it is the fundamental duty and responsibility of the corporate house to keep such ethical and cultural issues in mind while doing business internationally. Culture in International Business When working in the global commercial environment, knowledge of the impact of cultural differences is one of the keys to international business success. Improving levels of cultural awareness can help companies build international competencies and enable individuals to become more globally sensitive. Facebook Facebook is a social networking website launched in February 2004 that is operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc., with more than 500 million active users in July 2010. Users can add people as friends and send them messages, and update their personal profiles to notify friends about themselves. Additionally, users can join networks organized by workplace, school, or college. The websites name stems from the colloquial name of books given to students at the start of the academic year by university administrations in the US with the intention of helping students to get to know each other better. Facebook allows anyone who declares themselves to be aged 13 or older to become a member of the website. Facebook was founded by Mark Zuckerberg with his college roommates and fellow computer science students Eduardo Saverin, Dustin Moskovitz and Chris Hughes. The websites membership was initially limited by the founders to Harvard students, but was expanded to other colleges in the Boston area, the Ivy League, and Stanford University. It gradually added support for students at various other universities before opening to high school students, and, finally, to anyone aged 13 and over. The original concept for Facebook was borrowed from a product produced by Zuckerbergs prep school Phillips Exeter Academy, which for decades published and distributed a printed manual of all students and faculty, unofficially called the face book. Year Revenue Growth 2006 $52mn 2007 $150mn 188% 2008 $280mn 87% 2009 $800mn 186% 2010(Estimated) $1100mn 38% Revenues of Facebook over the past 5 years Despite all the fame and success, Facebook has met with some controversy. It has been blocked intermittently in several countries including Pakistan, Syria, Peoples Republic of China, Vietnam, and Iran. It has also been banned at many places of work to discourage employees from wasting time using the service. Privacy has also been an issue, and it has been compromised several times. Mark Zuckerberg Co-founder, Facebook Mark Elliot Zuckerberg is an American entrepreneur best known for co-founding the popular social networking site Facebook. Zuckerberg co-founded Facebook with fellow classmates Dustin Moskovitz, Eduardo Saverin, and Chris Hughes while attending Harvard. As of March 2010, he is the youngest billionaire in the world, with a net worth of US$4 billion in 2010, due to his 24% share of Facebook. Zuckerberg is responsible for setting the overall direction and product strategy for Facebook. He leads the design of Facebooks service and development of its core technology and infrastructure. Earlier in life, Zuckerberg developed a music recommendation system called Synapse and a peer-to-peer client called Wirehog. However, he abandoned both to pursue new projects. Zuckerberg attended Harvard University and studied computer science before founding Facebook. While at Harvard, Zuckerberg created Facemash, a website that compared students dorm photos side-by-side in a fashion similar to HOT or NOT. Harvard administration was not amused, and Zuckerberg faced subsequent disciplinary action. Less than three months later, he launched Facebook. Ethical Cultural Issues with Facebook Egyptian cleric issues fatwa against Facebook Facebook has been under the scanner in many of the Islamic countries due to its inability to tackle the reserved and strict Islamic views on social customs. One such major issue has been the issuance of a Fatwa against it by a top Islamic cleric in Egypt. According to Sheikh Abdel Hamid al-Atras infidelity has increased due to the usage of Facebook leading to a number of divorces in Egypt. He says that Facebook is acting as a tool which destroys family life by encouraging spouses to have relations with other people which is opposed to Islamic law. Mr. Atras former head of the fatwa commission at Cairos Al-Azhar University. While one or other of the spouses is at work, the other is chatting online with someone else, wasting their time and flouting the Sharia. This endangers the Muslim family. According to him Facebook is a double edged sword. On the one hand it has propagated the spread of Islam among the youth but on the other hand it has allowed people forbidden love and relations w hich qualifies them as a sinner in the eyes of Islamic Law. This controversy has evolved a lot of attention in Egypt and many senior clerics have demanded strict action against Facebook including its founder Mark Zuckerberg. The religious leaders also called Muslims using Facebook as sinners and have asked all Muslims to shun the website. This has rendered severe flows to the image and revenues of Facebook, denting its plans of a global presence including the reserved Arab and Islamic nations. The road ahead: Facebook should really device ways to roll out country specific versions of the popular website keeping in mind the ethical and cultural barriers which are the two most important pillars of doing successful international business. It should be extra careful in its roll out plans in Islamic nations which would not digest the liberal ways of facebook very well. Strict regulations should be in place so as to keep the people in check and so that the religious beliefs and practices are kept in place and not played around with. Facebook banned in Pakistan Pakistans government ordered Internet service providers to block Facebook on Wednesday amid anger over a page that encourages users to post images of Islams Prophet Muhammad. The page on the social networking site has generated criticism in Pakistan and elsewhere because Islam prohibits any images of the prophet. The government took action after a group of Islamic lawyers won a court order requiring officials to block Facebook until May 31. The Facebook page at the centre of the dispute Everybody Draw Mohammed Day! encouraged users to post images of the prophet on May 20 to protest threats made by a radical Muslim group against the creators of South Park for depicting Muhammad in a bear suit during an episode earlier this year. This attracted protests all over Pakistan, majorly by students who rallied demanding that Facebook be banned for tolerating the controversial web page. In an attempt to respond to public anger over the Facebook controversy, the Pakistani government ordered Internet service providers in the country to block the page. But the Islamic Lawyers Forum asked the Lahore High Court to order the government to fully block Facebook because the site had allowed the page to be posted in the first place, said the deputy attorney general of Punjab province, Naveed Inayat Malik. The road ahead: Facebook clearly ventured into danger area by playing around with Muhammad who the muslims consider as their God. Not only did facebook not comply with Islamic norms but it flouted them too, attracting the ire of the entire Islamic community. The result being that the website was banned in Pakistan and an Islamic version of the website was created, called MillatFacebook. This dealt a severe blow to the websites plans and aspirations and resulted in slowdown in business which was clearly evident from the drastic drop in the growth rate of its revenues. The Deputy Attornet General of Pakistan also wants an arrest warrant issued against Mark Zuckerberg, and wants the Interpol to arrest him and deport him to Pakistan. The Pakistan government has also asked its representative to raise the issue with the United Nations General Assembly. The future for facebook in Pakistan thus looks bleak. Facebook FRIENDS Create Ethical Issues For Journalists Facebook has captured everyones mind and it is hard to believe that there are people with internet connections who are not on facebook. This has raised an important concern for people who are in the profession of journalism. It raises an important ethical question: Does becoming friends on social media sites compromise the reporter-source relationship? Before the advent of social media, journalists regularly disqualified themselves from writing about family and friends. Even the most ethical reporter might have trouble writing objectively about his or her friends arrest, for example, and readers might question the credibility of the reporter and the newspaper. With social media, the line separating relatives/friends from strangers has disappeared and it therefore becomes difficult to write against a social friend. Even if someone is able to write it, it might be biased. This came to the forefront when it was discovered that a Times reporter is connected on Facebook to two Republican candidates for office. This relationship questioned the reporters ability to report fairly about these candidates and their opponents. No specific bias was noticed in the reporters stories but only the perception of a conflict of interest. Since the lines of relationships have become blurred with the rise of online social media, the ethical aspect of reporting is being questioned. The argument that would be the best solution is to be friends with both sides at any given point of time to stay away from any chances of bais towards any one party. Most reporters see Facebook as a powerful communications tool, and nothing more. Whats important is that their reports remain fair and free from bias. Conclusion Ethical and Cultural issues form the core of international business/relations. One cannot at any point tend to ignore these two important factors, because without the successful understanding of these, international success will only be a dream. In order to make it big, companies/organizations should clearly understand these critical factors and make proper arrangements to tackle the same.

Objectives and Measurement

The main goals that hard core will be aimed at achieving for a period of one year are:-1. To improve the health statues of people by serving a minimum of 50customers per day.   The main objective of hard core is to improve the health status of the people.   For the start a minimum of 50 customers will be served within one day.   People will be advices on the diets to take so that their health status improves.   Teachings on maintaining the required weight shall also be offered.Our customers shall be taught on the kind of lifestyle to lead in order to keep their bodies strong and free from preventable diseases.   Also our customers shall be educated on the kind of exercised to carry out regularly so as to maintain their bodies and remain strong.   Also educate our customer about nutrition values of various foods.   We shall ensure that a minimum of 50 customers have been served per day.2. To ensure 99% efficiency in offering quality services.   We shall ensure that any service offered by hard core is within the best standards.   Health issues are very crucial and sensitive to somebody’s life.   A small mistake can lead to the death or deterioration of the health of a customer.   Therefore we look forward to offering the best services to our customers.3. To buy 30 equipments by the end of the year for the start hardcore shall be having the basic equipments for weight measurements, skin treatment, and body massage to ensure a smooth running during the start.   But as time will go by hardcore targets at buying 30 equipments for offering our trainings.4.To reduce the cost of services by 10% compared to our competitors for hardcore to expand and have more customers it will be charging lower prices to all the services it will be offering our prices will be lower by 10% compared to those charged by our competitors.5. To build one big recreational hall for practicing by the year 2009.   Hardcore has got many professionals like nutritioni st, dietitians, naturopathic doctors, dermatologist, the rapist, personal trainers, fitness instructors, physical therapist and psychiatrist.   Each and everyone of this professional require his own room. This room should be enough and spacious to accommodate at least four people and some equipments.   So for hardcore to be efficient in offering all its services a recreational hall should be build by the year 2009.6. To buy at least five televisions sets for our customers to be watching while waiting to be served by the end of year 2008.   Hardcore should buy at least five televisions that will be installed at the halls to keep customers busy as they wait to be served.   These television sets should also be used to offer basic teaching to customers to issues like diets, nutrition, prevention of diseases, the importance of maintaining health bodies.   Therefore these televisions will assist offering some basic teachings to our customers.7. To increase our monthly sales by 1 0% by the year 2009/ hardcore will have its own retail shop.   This shop will be selling equipments for homes, clothing, other supplements and nutritional valued light foods and drinks to compliment the services it offers.   Hardcore will target at increasing its monthly sales by 10% as from the year 2009.8. To own our own  ½ acre piece of land by the year 2009. For hardcore to offer its services efficiently it need to won  ½ on acre piece of land by 2009.10. To have a well trained team of 90 professionals within the first 6 months of starting.   Hardcore should have at least 90 well trained professionals like nutritionists, dietitians, naturopathic doctors, dermatologist, therapist and many more others.   These professionals are the once to ensure that hard core is fulfilling its main mission of improving the health status of its customers.Performance MeasurementPerformance measurement is vital in all organizations because the organizations need to verify the validity o f the selection methods; they also need to do performance measurement in order to improve productivity of the organization.As much as this may seem an important and key aspect of management, still it has a lot more difficulties associated with it. Some of the main factors that may make performance measurement to be more challenging are the measurement problems that make it impossible the supervisors (those in charge of the performance measurement) to tell the juniors or subordinates that they are below the average standards.How should the organization deal with such situations? In order for organizations to do performance measurement well, then they should carefully study the job, systematically and scientifically, in order to determine the nature and characteristics of the job, knowledge, skills and experience required for the successful performance of the job.They should collect all the vital information related to the job. They should then look at the specific individual tasks th at comprise the job and qualifications necessary to do the job. This is called job analysis that involves determining the content of the job in terms of what the worker is expected to do, methods and techniques used, and lastly, the conditions and skills required for the job.For proper job measurement, the management must adopt the following process and the methods of job measurements that follow:Management should identify and isolate the component tasks of the job. They should examine when, why and the tasks are done. Find out the duties and responsibilities involved in the job. Identify the working conditions involved in the job. Determine the demands which the job has on the job holder. Know the job relationships. After gathering all these, management can now use the methods of job measurement to know whether the job is being done s it is supposed to be done. The various methods of job measurement include:Performance ratingCritical incidentMBOPerformance RatingUnder performance r ating values such as creativity, initiative, dependability, knowledge etc assigned to the job and the rating is presented on a scale like this and questions are asked.To what extent does this person demonstrate creativity and then the scores given for the question give the rating of the employee.This method has a number of problems like:a) Managers may be inclined to give everyone a high rating and hence failure to differentiate them.b) Managers may tend to be influenced by most recent performance rather than general performance.Critical IncidentGood and bad performance incidents are recorded at the end of the period. The more the good performance incidents the better the employee. The major problem is that this type of job measurement is comparative and qualitative and cannot determine the actual performance on the job.MBOHere the performance of the job is rated as per the objectives set at the begging of the period i.e. sales targets set as 15% and then the sale representative get s 15%, he will get a positive sales performance order and vice versa.For this method of appraisal to be effective there must be a clear understanding between the employer and the employee at the point of setting the objectives. The authority and recourses necessary to achieve the objectives must be delegated to the managers.ReferencesLnick F. John and WillinLee Ziegler, sales promotion and modern Merchandising, McGraw Hill.

Social Environment Accounting - 2446 Words

Accounting Forum 28 (2004) 1–5 Introduction Social and environmental accounting: trends and thoughts for the future Over the years Accounting Forum has explored different possible directions for the ï ¬ eld of social and environmental accounting. With a new publisher—Elsevier—it is our hope that we shall reach new markets and opportunities. In recent issues, these explorations have been extended to theorising the role of accounting in transnational global processes, and to the channels of global information and the interpretation of that information. In particular, contributions have attempted to explore the notion that accounting discourse is a medium through which relationships between business and society can be created, nurtured†¦show more content†¦A cross-sectional analysis indicates that the share price response is mainly a function of the relative ï ¬ ne imposed on the ï ¬ rm; other explanatory variables such as environmental performance news or sector membership were unsuccessful in explaining variations in the market responses they observed. Equally, Accounti ng Forum has been interested in the interdependencies between social and environmental accounting which extend to the nexus between accounting and information to employees and other relevant parties. In this issue of Accounting Forum, R. G. Day presents evidence concerning the evolution of reporting about employees in the last century and its relationship with mandatory disclosure rules (Day, 2004). 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