12:00 pm Late Fall Management

For my post, I chose Chapter 6. Chapter 6 focuses mostly on decision making, which is one of the key skills/factors into having a business that is successful. My group for the Kiva project chose a woman by the name of Teofila. Teofila lives in Tarma,Peru. She is 48 years old, and a few years ago, she decided to open up a small grocery store. She is requesting the loan from Kiva.org so she can stock her store with the supplies needed to make a profit.

Chapter 6 mentions a decision-making process. I believe Teofila will have a lot of decisions to make that includes this process. For example, when Teofila requested this loan, that process was in order. She identified her problem, which was her not having enough supplies in her store. She identified the decision criteria, which included what was relevant in making her decision. She then had to weigh her options(how she could get the products, if through a loan, how to pay it back).  Similar to any decision, Teofila also had to find alternative solutions, in case one of her plans did not work out. Just as she needed to find the alternative solutions, she also had to analyze them. She had to consider the pro’s and con’s of each solution. After she did that, she was able to select an alternative/solution. Her solution included requesting a loan through Kiva.org. Since this is not the first time Teofila has requested a loan, this decision could become a programmed decision in the future, providing that it is successful. The seventh step in the process includes implementing the alternative, which is what she did by requesting the loan. If she receives the loan, she could then include the final step of the decision-making process, by evaluating her decision, and whether or not it was effective.

Having this business in such a needed community, it is very possible that Teofila’s store can be successful. Though, just with any business, there are no certainty’s. She cannot possibly know any definite outcomes. As a businesswoman, it may be helpful for her to structure a policy, so with future decisions regarding her business, there will be an outline for her to follow that could be very helpful. Teofila will also have many risks, where she can estimate the likelihood of certain outcomes, such as the success of the store, the profit, and the joy it may bring to her and those of her community.

Also, in Chapter 6, there are four styles of management. These styles include Directive, Analytic, Conceptual, and Behavioral. Although i feel every manager possesses each one of these styles, I believe Teofila uses mostly the Behavioral style. From the information gathered, she seems to work well with others, and she is equally concerned about those around her as she is with herself and her family.

Teofila may also be interested in using heuristics, a way to simplify her decision making. Although it is clear that Teofila will have important decisions to make on a daily basis, I feel she will be successful in her business.

 My group decided to make Yawa Irène Akpayi our kiva recipient.  She is the single mother of three children and her business is selling cereals and grain. She has been in business for about seven years and has a good demand for her product.  She lives in Lome which is the capital of  Togo.  Togo is a country in west Africa that is like a lot of places in Africa ravished wit the aids virus. There are more people gradually moving into the area from the countryside. Which means there are more perspective customers. In order to better serve her already existing and perspective clients Yawa must be able to globally manage her business.

 As we learned in chapter 4 if you want to have a business that goes just beyond your borders, you must have a broad perspective.  That is you should have a geocentric or world-oriented view. She should try an stay away from the parochialism view, which is a view that there is only one way to do something and that’s it. With people coming in from the country side and other places she must realize that they may have a different culture. She should be sensitive as to how they might have different ways of doing things, and try to adapt or accommodate herself to these different people. She should also be aware of potential growth opportunities for her business.  There maybe someone else coming in from the country who has land for her to grow grains on. They could go into some type of  joint venture.  She could also trade her grains with other people for things she may need. The key for her is to keep an open mind, be sensitive to others culture, and to stay efficient and effective as possible.

 I have seen other people on kiva that are from the same remote area, so she might want to look at possibly setting up trade agreements or even alliances with different people.

My Kiva Recipient is Ms Yawavi AMEKO.  She is a widow with four children. Ms AMEKO is a hair dresser at her own salon in Nuedjè in Notsè located in Lome, Togo.  It is important that she realizes that the polycentric (belief that the host country knows the best business approach) political environment she is use to can’t be ignored in her day to day business. In my opinion her home land is very narrow and less forth coming when it comes to change. Leadership and power comes to the strong and ruthless by nature it seems. This can be used to her advantage if geocentric ideals are researched, learned, and absorbed in order to expand her reach. Being that she is in the most populist area reaching out to surrounding cities could help generate tourist revenue.  Starting there will help her better understand different ethnocentric beliefs. By that I mean watching underachieving or less geocentric competitors in order to take advantage of their short comings and drive consumers to her salon.  She also buys and sells hair weaves. I would encourage her to evaluate profit margins and management difficulty. It may be some sort of Multidomestic corporation close that could sever as a blueprint for her small business.   

The Nget Soun group plans to start their own soup and rice business. The group wants to use the loan to for plates, tables, and chairs to help start up her business.

Ethics is about doing the right thing. To be a respected company they will have to be ethical to the people of Roka Village which is where they are located.  This business should feel obligated to be ehtical simply because it is the right thing to do. Being ethical could create a great public image and would surely increase profits with popularity. Being socially responsible will tend to bring in big profits in the long run.

A good start to being ethical is making sure that the money they receive from the loan is used soley to get the business started. Once they get on the right foot and start to build profits, they could look into helping their economy and society.  Taking social responsibility means not only caring about maximizing profits but also using the socioeconomic view to help improve their society.  As a company develops new technologies, they should not only think about how it can build profits but how it can benefit society.  They should also take into consideration if it will have a negative impact on the world and should weigh the benefits with the potential risks. 

The Nget Soun Group must also have solid values so that they can evolve into a  business that consumers respect.  Although it may sometimes be easier in the short term to take unethical shortcuts to build your business quickly, building the trust of your employees and customers takes time and will eventually lead to a company that people want to work for and a brand that consumers trust.  Once the company gains the trust of consumers, they can also influence them to help out the society as a whole. 

Treating all employee’s and customers with the same amount of respect is also important. The managers decisions and actions should be fair and positive to employees. Good managers, in turn, have employees  who mirror their behavior when dealing with customers.   When employers share the same values as their employess in a business, it will help employees be more committed to their work and more loyal to the company.  This is important to keep employee turnover at a minimim to keep hiring costs low.

Influencing marketing efforts may not sound like it could do alot but their are plenty of examples that prove different. In chapter 5 we read about Avons Production Inc. , their commiment to breast cancer increased their profits 4.9 million. if the Nget Soun group decides to push for these extra efforts it could help them a very long way in becoming successful.  Since the village the Nget Soun group is located in is poor, they could market one free meal per week to those who can’t pay.  This would probably make people more likely to think of them as an ethical business and would also make them want to support the business some day when they can afford to pay.

As you can see, a good and successful business will always be more popular, successful and profitable when their business philosophy is strongly based in ethics.

My team decided to select the Nget Soun Group as our loan recipients. They are a group of twenty-two members in the village bank of Roka located in the Kandal Province of Cambodia. Mrs. Nget Soun, who is the village bank president, was selected to lead the group by the members. Mrs. Nget Soun wants to start a new business selling rice soup because her income has been considerably low. In starting a new restaurant business, Mrs. Nget Soun needs a loan to buy tables, chairs, plates, and any other necessary items.  She is a 42 year old mother of four children who attend the local school.

The province of Kandal is located in the heart of Cambodia. Kandal has a population of 1,075,125 people, and comprises of 11 districts. Kandal is the suburban extension of Phnom Penh, and it completely surrounds the capital city. Nearly 90% of Cambodians are of Khmer heritage, and most of the people speak the Khmer language. Cambodia is ranked one of the poorest countries in the world. About 36% of Cambodians live below the poverty line. Fishing and agriculture is one of the main sources of income, and tourism also produces revenue for the Cambodian economy. The start of a small business for the Nget Soun Group would help subsidize their household incomes.  

To assist the Nget Soun Group in developing a new business, Chapter 5 of the ninth edition of Management introduces the issues of social responsibility and managerial ethics. Social responsibility is defined as a business’s intention, beyond its legal and economic obligation to do the right things and act in ways that are good for society.  The two views in becoming socially responsible are the classic and socioeconomic approaches. Classicists say that stockholders or owners profits should be an organizations primary concern. The socioeconomic view feels that managers should be responsible for any group who might be affected by the organizations decisions and actions. There were four examples of stages for different types of managers discussed in this chapter. Stage three is one of the stages; I feel could be beneficial for the Nget Soun Group to implement in their small business. Stage three expresses the need for a company to be socially responsible to their customers, who are the stakeholders that could be affected by the decisions the company makes. Being socially responsible for the customers might include fair prices, high-quality products, and good customer service. Although the Nget Soun Groups business is just getting started, they do not have to wait to have a successful revenue coming in to be a quality restaurant that shows concerns for customer satisfaction. Good customer service is one of the key expectations needed for a business to achieve successful growth.  Once, the Nget Soun Group reaches their goal of achieving success in their business, they could also implement the stage four socioeconomic view where a manager has a broader view of making their society better as a whole.  

Chapter 5 also talks about managerial ethics, and how it is important for a manager to be a good role model, ethical, and honest. Ethics is defined as the principals, values, and beliefs that define what is right and wrong behavior. Since, the Nget Soun Group consists of 22 members, who may not all have the same principals, values, and beliefs it would be a good management strategy for the members to implement an ethics policy for the business. In order to establish a good relationship with all stakeholders, by having an ethically responsible business, a company needs to develop a strong cultural organization that not only believes in their product, but also feels it is important for all employees to understand the company’s value system.  I recommend that the Nget Soun Group establishes a strong value system for their business, and reinforce those values through weekly or monthly meetings. Although the Nget Soun Group is currently developing into a lucrative business, it is imperative for the members to develop ways of achieving socially responsible and ethical growth in their company.

My Kiva person Estabon from Peru.  Would learn alot of business ideas in chapter 4 for his tree cutting business.  Like he should avoid having a parochialism views and ideas.  Because you never know if your idea of managing is good for another country like Brazil.

He should also see if he has any free trade agreements with some of his fellow South Americans.  He should also have a poly centric attitude were he lets the host country manage their way and not his that’s if he puts one of his tree cutting business in Brazil.  Which isn’t a good idea because of how people keep cutting down the rain forest. 

Also about letting the host country run it their way you never know what their religion is because some countries run things by religious beliefs.

In group number three, we decided to pick a women by the name of Yawavi Ameko.  Yawavi is from western Africa in a small country called Togo.  She is a widow and has four children to take care for.  Her small business consumes her braiding hair for a living and also has a salon named “La Glorie De Dieu”.  Yawavi’s company has been around since 1988 and it is located in the Adawlato district.  She also commerce in her hair extensions, weaves the hair then buys wholesale and resells the retail.  Yawavi Ameko is asking for a 500,000 dollar loan to purchase two boxes of hair extensions and two boxes of of weaves.  This profit will help her expand her commerce and will help her make sure all of her children’s expenses are covered.  

In the country of Togo, their symbolism is the word Ablode, which means freedom and independence.  Their culture is influenced by thirty-seven tribal ethnic groups, and is mostly inspired by Ewe, Mina, and Kabre French.  All of which are the official language that is spoken in Togo but however, many african languages are spoken there as well.  The country makes these colored fabrics with bright colors for ceremonies, and to represent the colored scenes of ancient everyday life.  Doing business in Togo is different in some ways then in the United States.  They are different such as being more relaxed, and having smaller business than larger ones.  Most of their businesses consume farm work, rather in the United States there are multiple businesses besides just farm work.  They are both the same because they have the same concept of trading goods to other countries to strengthen their economy.  

In chapter three of our ninth edition textbook for the class of management deals with the most important concept of business, and that would be organizational culture and the environment.  In this chapter there are four main points my recipient needs to consider in her business.  The first thing Yawavi Ameko needs to figure out whether she is more on the side of omnipotent view, or looks things on the symbolic view.  In an omnipotent view means that the managers are directly responsible for an organization’s success or failure.  In an symbolic view says that much of an organization’s success or failure is due to external forces outside the managers’ control.  In my opinion she needs to look at both sides of the point of view.  The reason is because, Yawavi is in charge of her small business, and it will depend on her whether the business becomes more successful or becomes a failure.  Showing a side of the symbolic view is important for her too because if for some reason she is commercing goods back and forth to get her braids, and in the mean time something goes wrong then, her business might fall because of an external force that wasn’t in her control.  The next major point in the chapter is how an organization’s culture keeps on continue.  If Yawavi wanted to spread her business across the country, she would need to higher employees and they would have to be trained in a process called socialization.  This is important because they need to be able to adapt themselves in organization’s culture since it still continues.  The culture plays a major affect on Yawavi and needs to beware how this can hurt her.  The culture affects her by the way she plans, organize, lead, and control her business.  This is important because without these four components her business wouldn’t grow, and become less successful.  The third key point for Yawavi and her business is she needs to look at how the external environment comes into affect.  External environment is the forces and factors outside the organization can have an affect on the organization’s performance.  Within the external environment there are two components, and those would be specific and general.  How the specific would come into play for her business is it deals with the suppliers, costumers, and the competitors.  Since Yawavi commerce her goods, its important to know that managers seek the needs in lowest price available as possible.  She also needs to be well aware of any competitors.  Managers can never ignore competitors and it is important to do the job well so the customers will continue to be happy and come back to purchase your products.  Customers are always the most important when it comes to a business.  Yawavi needs to make sure her products are not overly priced, and making sure the product is not going to fall apart on costumers.  Building good customer service is one way to keep business coming in.  For the general environment it includes political/ legal, sociocultural, demographic, technological, and global conditions that affect the organization. Out of all of these she needs to consider the political/ legal conditions the most.  I would say that because she needs to know her government regulations, and the laws.  This will make sure she will keep her business legal, and safe for her and the customers.   One last point in chapter three is the different ways to create a culture.  One way to create a culture is by ethical and by doing so it will have a very powerful and positive influence on the employee behavior.  Another way is innovative culture, and how you would do this is by involvement, communication, creativity, and diversity.  The last way in creating a culture would be a customer responsive and the characteristics would be the type of employees you have, being a good listener, and having a wide spread in empowerment.  I believe the culture Yawavi needs to create is one that has all three of these characteristics into one.  She can have a business where it can be powerful, having the creativity, and being a good listener.  Having some of these different ways of creating a culture would show her customers her own unique way in running her small business.

Our group chose to loan money to the Nget Soun Group.  This group of twenty two resides in Roka village in the southerly located Kandal Province of Cambodia.  This group is headed by Nget Soun, the village bank president, a Khmer noodle seller.  In hopes of opening a rice soup business, the group has asked for financing to buy tables, chairs, and plates to help get them started. 

            Organizational culture is the shared values and principles that influence the way members of an organization act.  Cambodian’s values and traditions are deeply rooted in their religion and culture.  More than 90% of Cambodians, or Khmers as they are often called, are Buddhist.  Buddhism reinforces a strict sense of hierarchy within society which is mimicked in their business’ strong organizational culture.  Some of the Buddhist beliefs are centered around the idea of saving face.  If a person disagrees with someone or an idea, they will remain silent to save face.  An individual always takes second place to the group.  Khmers have extremely tight bonds with their family and people in their village.  These bonds insure they will be taken care of in times of financial distress, so it is no wonder this is a group effort to start a business. 

            When starting their business, the Nget Soun Group needs to keep their environment in mind.  In terms of their specific environment, they should be aware of their customers, suppliers, and competition.  This group has chosen to start a rice soup business which is smart considering Khmers eat rice with almost every meal.  In 2000, Cambodia had once again become self-sufficient in rice, so there should be no issue of shortages of their main ingredient, rice.  To beat out competition, the group should build their reputation on a commitment to fresh, quality soup.  The general environment, including economic and political conditions, will also affect how they do business.  According to the Transparency International’s recent rating report, Cambodia is the third most corrupt nation in Southeast Asia.  Countries such as the US have been hesitant to offer aid because in the past it has been illegally transferred into private accounts.  Although corruption is rampant within the government, the economy is slowly and steadily growing.

            The stakeholders of the group, in this case its twenty two members, must identify and manage all of these distinctive factors.  By assessing environmental uncertainty, such as rice crop failure, and being aware of their specific and general environments, the Nget Soun Group should be able to have a thriving business.

Amanda Cross

     My Kiva recipient is Yawavi Ameko.  She is a widow and mother of four from Agou, Toga in Africa.  The town where she resides is small with only a population of 1,000.  Most of the countries natives deal in agriculture and mining.  Yawavi has her own salon  ”LA GLOIRE DE DIEU”.    She does most of the hair in her village and with the holidays approaching she needs a loan for 500,000 francs ( 975.oo us currency) to meet the demand of her clients and take care of her kids.

     In chapter three we talked about creating an innovative culture and Yawavi has done just that.  She has chosen to be an entrepreneur and for a woman in a militant country, that is tough.  She is being a role model not only for her kids but other women.  She also is a strong and innovative manager using the Kiva project to get a loan for her shop.

          The group that we chose to lend our money to was a group by the name of Nget Soun in Roka Village, Cambodia. The village bank consists of twenty-two members and is located in Roka village in the Kandal Province. The group plans to use the loan earnings for different purposes. Mrs. Nget Soun is the village bank president, whom was selected by the members of her team and the bank. She is a 42-year-old widow with four children who are all attending the local school. She has been earning gradually less income to support her family, and now lives in poor conditions. The act of giving her family a better life is what fueled her interest to start a new business. Consequently, she decided to ask for a loan to buy tables, chairs, plates to start a rice soup business. This is a group loan consisting mainly of monthly loans. One member has an end-of-term loan and the rest have monthly payment loans. These members are not required to pay any principal on the loan until the very end of the term. End-of-term loans are the main focus because it is the most beneficial to the poor Cambodian culture. It allows them to repay portions of the principal whenever they are financially able to.

The country of Cambodia is mostly flat and forested land and has a geographic location in Southeast Asia on the Gulf of Thailand.  Cambodians are made up of a variety of citizens that are commonly called Khmer. The Khmer constitute almost ninety percent of the total population. Also included in the population is an assorted variety of ethnic backgrounds such as Chinese, Vietnamese, Chams, and hill tribes, also known as Khmer Roeu. The official language used in the Cambodian culture is called Khmer. The language itself is part of the Mon-Khmer family and is influenced by the Indian Pali and Sanskrit languages that were in turn influenced by Thai and French languages. The language is also related to those spoken by hill tribe citizens in Laos, Vietnam and also Malaysia. It has no pitch and the script is taken from the South-Indian alphabet, which is written from left to right and leaves no space between words. French and English are also spoken. The younger generation however is being geared more towards the English language for their own benefit.

            Since the country has a hierarchical culture, the business world follows strict behaviors. Respect and admiration is always to be shown to senior advisors and when there is a group meeting, the most senior of the group should greet guests of high ranking positions. You should introduce your members according to their rank to help associates distinguish and understand the dynamics of the group. Handshakes are considered to be normal but one should be advised not to engage in one that is too firm as this may be perceived as aggressive. Cambodians greet their business colleagues with the honorific title “Lok” for a man and “Lok Srey” for a woman with their first name alone or combined with the first and surname.

            With management being such a necessity in the business world, small business owners must understand all of the ideas and conceptualizations that go along with creating their own business and eventually growing it into something much more stable. The ideas that are brought forward in Chapter five of the ninth edition of our management textbook deal primarily with social responsibility and managerial ethics. The Nget Scoun Group could most definitely implement these concepts into their small business. Social Responsibility is something that they will most likely not be able to partake in immediately, however I would recommend that once the business is stable enough, actions should be taken towards this topic. Management’s only social responsibility in the classical view is to maximize the profits by operating the business in the best interest of the stockholders or shareholders. In the socioeconomic view, the social responsibility goes beyond just maximizing profits for the organization. This view includes protecting and improving the welfare of the society. Basically, firms have a moral responsibility to the community to become involved in social, legal, and political issues. If the Nget Seoun group can eventually recognize their social responsibility in Cambodia, they will gain a great competitive advantage. Since the country is very poor, I would imagine that the citizens are much like us in the fact that activeness by a company in the community is very positive in terms of public relations. It makes the company seem caring and less greedy in the eyes of the people.

            Ethics are defined as principles, values, and beliefs that define what is right and wrong behavior. Ethical standards are not universal. Social and cultural differences ultimately determine the acceptable behaviors. This is another issue that the employees of this company must keep in mind. Managers can provide as a good role model by being ethical and honest at all times and admitting failure and not trying to cover it up. Ethics training can also be of value to the company as well. It can make a difference in ethical behaviors, increase employee awareness of ethical issues in business decisions and make employees more confident that they will have the organizations support when taking unpopular but ethically correct issues. As long as they do the right things, over time they will gain the acceptance of the community as an ethical entity to embark business with.