Corporate Stakeholder Economic Interests

Table of contents

Acme Motor Company’s vision is “to become a global firm and the world’s lowest-cost volume producer of the highest-quality vehicles”. Acme Motor Company’s market share is one of the highest in Mexico. Every organization has its own organizational and operational strengths and weaknesses, and Acme Motor Company is not an exception. The company’s goal to produce quality vehicles at affordable prices may have an effect on the interest of its stakeholders.

A stakeholder is any person or group that has a claim or concern in an organization. The interest of each of Acme Motor Company’s stakeholder (stockholders, maquiladora workers, consumer, and the Mexican government) can be affected by the scenario given. The case of a maquiladora worker named Enrique Santiago can benefit or harm some or Acme Motor Company’s entire stakeholder. Below are the perspectives of each of Acme Motor Company’s stakeholder on the scenario given:

Acme Management and Stockholders

Every company’s management goal is to maximize profit and to minimize costs. In some instances, the goal of being cost-effective means neglecting the welfare of its workers.

The passage of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) has a “tremendous impact on trade competitiveness” (TED case study, 1996). Companies avoid labor issues such as environmental, health, working conditions and pay since these are all barriers of a free trade affecting profits (TED case study, 1996). Most of the investors who buy a company’s stock are interested on the profits that a company can earn and do not put much attention to other factors such as the welfare of its employees or workers. The cost of doing business in Mexico is cheaper, thus most company’s has lower production cost resulting to more profits. Most companies provide lower wages due to the lower cost of living in Mexico.

Maquiladora Workers

The cost savings of manufacturing in Mexico is one the reasons that the maquiladora industry has grown significantly under NAFTA (Celestino, no date). Under the Mexican Labor Law, maquiladora workers are entitled to overtime premiums and a provision of free medical and transport services. Mr. Enrique Santiago and other maquiladora workers of Acme Motor Company working for 14-15 hours a day are entitled to an overtime pay and a transport service since they are working beyond the regular working hours specially at night. In addition, Mr. Enrique Santiago must be provided with a free medical service since his daily task can harm his physical well-being. It is important that Maquiladora workers understand the risks or dangers they deal at work in order to protect their interest.

According to Sawicki (1998), “majority of the Mexicans that work in the maquiladora’s experience an unpleasant working environment that includes exposure to many potentially hazardous materials, lack of information, and shortage of protective equipment”. Workers must demand their employers for a safe workplace. In addition to a safe workplace Maquiladora workers at Acme Motors Company should be provided with sufficient facilities such as clean drinking water, wash area, and proper working clothes. Wages in the Maquiladora is equal to an average of two Mexican minimum wages which is still not enough since an average of four to five minimum wages per day is necessary to attain minimum sustainability.

 Consumers

Customers are always after a company’s product quality, good customer service, and fair price.
However, the above scenario can have an effect on Acme Motor Company since issues facing a company specially labor-related issues could influence customer’s decision making.

Mexican Government

A reduction on workforce of some companies due to the recent economic downturn in the United States affected the auto industry and other industries in Mexico. The impact of globalization introduced laborsaving manufacturing processes that affect more than 30% of Acme Motor Company’s maquiladora workers. The global economic mandate in Mexico brings the establishment of the maquiladora, which increased the profits of many companies due to lower labor cost, absence of environmental, safety, and health restrictions, and greater control against labor union movements.

Mexico is a country with one of the strongest labor codes. However, the lenient enforcement of health, safety, and salary standards of the maquiladora industries in the country can cause harm to workers since their safety and benefit are taken for granted in lieu of maximizing profits. The maquiladora industry is an example of the cost of economic policies that privilege corporate profits rather than bringing them into balance with the needs of workers, communities, and the environment (The maquiladora industry, 2006). The Mexican government should strictly enforce the country’s labor code in the maquiladoras since the passage of NAFTA brought the decline in the working conditions, labor rights, and social protections of the workers.

Acme Motor Company must not take for granted the welfare of its maquiladora workers. The company’s management must formulate ways on how to boost employee morale, productivity, job satisfaction, and incentives to motivate workers. There is a saying that “prevention is better than cure”. The cost of labor uprising is greater; since it can affect not only the production operations at Acme Motor Corporation but also a loss on the company’s image and goodwill.

Bibliography

  1. Celestino, M. L. (no date). Manufacturing in Mexico. Retrieved December 13, 2006 from: http://www.maqguide.com/Worldtrade.htm
  2. Sawicki, S. (1998). The maquiladoras: Back door pollution. Norwlak: the environmental magazine, Volume 9 Issue 4 TED case study (1996). Nafta and the Environment. Retrieved December 12, 2006 from: http://www.american.edu/ted/Maquila.HTM
  3. The maquiladora industry (2006). Retrieved December 13, 2006 from: http://www.afsc.org/mexico-us-border/maquiladora.htm

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Assess the Marxist View That the Main Role of the Family Is to Serve the Interests of Capitalism

Assess the Marxist view that the main role of the family is to serve the interests of capitalism. There are many different perspectives of the family. Each different view sees different things as the main role of the family. Marxists view the family in a very belittled manner. They believe that the main role of the family is to serve the interests of capitalism and bourgeoisie. They also believe that the family cushions the main provider. Marx’s views on the capitalist mode of production highlights the exploitative nature of the eco system.

He displays how the middle class take advantage of the working class and their labour; the working class are a tool used to create profit and to keep profit at a reasonable level. Marx argues that the monogamous middle class nuclear family developed to help them solve the problem of the inheritance of private property. The men needed to know who their children were in order to pass on their property to their heirs. The family was therefore thought to be by Marxists as designed to control women and protect property.

The Middle class nuclear family is emerged with capitalism. It is patriarchal as designed to guarantee and encourage male power through the inheritance of property. It therefore serves the interests of capitalism. Marxists would argue that families are a unit of reproduction, they believe that the family is essential in the reproduction of the labour force. In pre capitalist society people only grew staple foods, drank water and lived simple life’s. People choose to have numerous children. More children meant more farm hands and help around the farm.

It also acted as an insurance, against the famine, disease and other natural disasters. After the industrial revolution this all changed, Families would have less children because there was a higher chance of them surviving. Men would find themselves working and getting paid much less than the money they made for the business Engel says women’s role in the family was harsh as they did unpaid work such as cleaning and childcare. The capitalist benefits from the unpaid labour given to them by women and children within the unit.

Zaretsky argues that the family is a major consumer of capitalist products. This fact in itself ensures a market for capitalist products. Because it means that the working class are first exploited and underpaid and then overcharged to buy the goods they do not need which they produced. Functionalists would argue industrialisation led to the slow replacement of extended families by nuclear families because industrialisation requires more geographical and social mobility.

Geographical mobility is easier for nuclear families while if within extended families young adults achieve higher social status through social mobility than their parents this, according to Parsons would make for social tensions within the extended family which would be avoided if young married adults lived separately in their own nuclear family. Industrialisation leads also to processes of structural differentiation which implies that new more specialised social institutions such as factories, schools and hospitals develop to take over some of the functions previously performed by families.

This means therefore that the nuclear family loses some of its functions but it remains crucial in relation to the two functions which it does retain, the socialisation of the young and the stabilisation of adult personalities. In conclusion, the main purpose of the family is to support capitalism to a certain extent as Marxists have many valid points however Capitalism may not be seen as biased and therefore the Marxist view of the family is rejected and Marxists ignore family diversity completely.

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Student’s Interests and Balanced Career Development

Educational institutions should actively encourage their students to choose fields of study that will prepare them for lucrative careers. Write a response in which you discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the claim. In developing and supporting your position, be sure to address the most compelling reasons and/or examples that could be used to challenge your position. When choosing the fields of study, students would be Influenced by mainly three kinds of factors-?their own Interest, parents’ preference, and school’s encouragement.

In many cases, the last two factors always win, and both of them are related to lucrative careers such as laws and medical science. In my opinion, educational Institutions should not Interfere with students’ decision by encouraging them to choose areas that will prepare them for lucrative careers, but should respect students’ own interests. Personally, majors should be based on one’s own interests rather than whether those fields could create students’ large profits. Career is a part of life, and the quality of one’s career would decide the quality of one’s life.

According to Mason’s research of need, the top two levels are self-realization and self-esteem. Although many people still gain success in their unlinked field and gain those two levels, large percent of people would not be motivated when doing the Job that they do not like. For those people, lucrative careers could only meet their most fundamental need, that is, the need for food. Even if educational institutions do not actively encourage students to choose the majors related to lucrative careers, many students would also choose such majors because of being driven by money, let alone purposely lead dents to choose such majors.

Taking students’ real needs for self-realization and self-esteem, school institutions should not try to manipulate students’ own choice of fields by purposely encouragement. To sum it up, although the encouragements of choosing fields of study that will prepare them for lucrative careers would bring educational institutions many profits, for example, rich alumni, the institutions should not actively adopt such measurements, but to take more influence Into consideration, such as students’ own Interests or the balanced career development of a society.

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Competence and Career Interests Profiler Paper

I was very surprised when I took the Career Profiler; I had taken something like this when I was a senior in high school. In high school my results suggested that I should do something in agriculture, and now 11 years later it suggests that I should do something in Business, Finance or Law. These […]

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My Information Technology Job Interests

During my research for this paper I have learned quite a bit about myself. This assignment forced me to look at what my strengths and preferences are. Coupled with the information I have learned about the job market, I know have some direction. This paper will explain what I have chosen. My Information Technology Job […]

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Statement of Interests

“Studies! Studies! Studies! You have no time for indulgence; there is not much time for games or hobbies. They are luxuries.” These words are still ringing in my years. It is an unforgettable period of my life-the tough days at campus that has made me whip myself to be a top performer in my curriculum. […]

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Special Interests and the Media

Culture, ideology, politics, and economics are linked in the output of media organization in way that is true for no other sector of capitalist enterprise

Introduction

Although some might believe otherwise, the media is not a neutral or objective institution. It is rather a disputed space that can be manipulated to serve certain interests. McNair affirms that “culture, ideology, politics, and economics are linked in the output of media organisation.” This statement is especially true of the UK newspaper industry. McQuail  also argues that power structures social relationships and that this has an effect on the way the mass media is organized. Both historically and presently the influence of the media can be observed. Newspapers promote certain ideologies, create and reinforce cultural patterns, and greatly influence views on politics.

Media products that are made for mass consumption are often controlled by a handful of wealthy owners. This is very similar to what Karl Marx calls the ‘bourgeoisie’ or the owners of the means of production. They are in control of factories and the livelihoods of workers. However, in much the same way, media production serves the interests of the few, and not those of the masses. The ruling class often determines the content of widely distributed newspapers.

In support of McNair, I will argue that media output is very closely linked to culture, ideology, and politics, in a way that is advantageous to those who own the means of production. In order to show this, I will discuss all factors (culture, ideology, politics, and economics) in relation to each other and analyse the influence that the newspaper industry has had historically on political, economic, and cultural affairs. The paper will mainly look at 18th century, 19th century, and present press and media output in Britain.

Critical Analysis

The struggle over control of newspaper content is also an economic struggle between the bourgeoisie and the workers or the lower classes. This is a conflict that mirrors the Marxist notion of class struggle. Starting as far back as the 18th century, the UK ruling class has fought to destroy radical newspapers of the time, such as Poor Man’s Guardian, Twopenny, and Republican. The aims of the radical press were to promote class organisations through the development of a critical political analysis. Class organizations and unions were meant to earn workers better wages and more rights. Thus, by developing radical newspapers, the working class sought to improve their economic condition. This is an example of the struggle between the aristocracy and the workers who were criticising corruption and the repressive taxation which was impoverishing them. Here, politics is also interrelated to the media and to economics. It was only through adopting a critical political analysis that workers could advocate for their rights. On the other hand, the politics of the right (or the wealthy owners) represent their economic interest of keeping the wealth and control of the press in the hands of few.

The emergence of more progressive publications in the early 1800s showed how the ideology of the ruling classes was in opposition of radicalism. Their politics served to prevent the workers from gaining more control of the media output. Between 1830 and 1836 there was an increase in circulation of radical newspapers. In London alone, the readership grew from half a million to 2 million. Dr Philmore, a member of Parliament, complained that “these infamous publications inflame working people’s passions, and awaken their selfishness, contrasting their present condition with what they contented to be their future condition- a condition incompatible with human nature, and with those immutable laws which providence has established for the regulation of human society “. In other words, the rich believed that it is their right to maintain their social and economic standing. In response to radicalism, they sought to pass regulations that would control the media output. This implied that they could promote the views that would benefit their own economic and social condition. As already seen, those who can control media output use this resource to promote their ideology, culture, and politics. In this way, they also maintain their wealth.

In order to silence the voice of radical newspapers in the 1800s, the government decided to introduce the stamp duty, which meant that publications were redefined to include political periodicals. Curran and Seaton (2010) also note that during those days, the government sought to increase press taxation. This was to ensure that those in charge of the press are wealthy men of high social standing. Curran and Seaton explain that the reason behind stamp duty was “to restrict the readership to a well to do by raising the cover price; and to restrict the ownership to the propertied class by increasing the publishing cost “. This shows how economics plays a big role in restricting those who do not have the necessary means from promoting their own ideology, politics, and culture. The example clearly illustrates the link between economics, culture, and politics that McNair talks about. It also portrays, once again, how those who own the means of production can promote the ideologies that benefit them.

Over time, those who were financially in control of the media used this to their advantage and slowly began to take radicalism out of the picture. It became the norm that only those who have enough capital could have a say in politics and influence the ideology of the masses. In the late 19th century, when some control methods failed and stamp laws were repealed, the press establishment embarked on a “sophisticated strategy of social control”, where the radical newspapers were replaced by apolitical, commercial publications, read by mass audiences and controlled by capital. According to McNair (2009), the radical publications of the end of the 19th century had either been forced out of existence, moved right politically, or become small specialist publications. As newspapers became cheaper and the market expanded, capital investment and running costs increased beyond the capacity of radical publishers. Thus, radical voices were once again silenced. This shows that the output of news is greatly influenced by the ownership and capital, as only the wealthy are powerful enough to determine the course of media production.

Currently, it can be said that media output in the newspapers is still dependant on who owns the enterprise, what are their politics, and what kind of ideology and culture they want to promote. Oftentimes, the output does not necessarily reflect the truth, but rather takes the form that is best suited to serve the interests of the few. It is not uncommon for stories to be censored or even not published at all. To illustrate this, Anthony Bevins  argues that “Journalists cannot ignore the pre-set ‘taste ‘of their newspapers, use their own sense in reporting the truth of the any event, and survive. They are ridden by news desks and backbenches executives, have their stories spiked on a systematic basis, they face the worst sort of newspaper punishment –byline deprivation.”

Conclusion

The history of newspaper publishing in the UK shows that economic interests influence media output immensely. I have argued that, historically, culture, ideology, politics, and economics are all interrelated influences on the content of media. In order to show this, my paper has looked at historical events that have had an impact on the course that the media (especially newspapers) has taken during the past few hundred years. Starting with the 18th century, the press has been a battlefield between the rich and the poor. Radical newspapers fought to have a say in politics. Unfortunately, those who had more wealth and invested more capital were the ones able to take control of the press. With the control of the press also came the promotion of certain ideologies. The ruling class favoured the politics that went against the interests of the workers. Politicians and capitalists alike strived to protect their standing. The stamp duty is an example of measures that they were taking to ensure that radical media output does not grow enough to influence political views. Even though this measure did not last, the effect that commercialization has had on newspapers and media output, in general, is still evident. Those who own media corporations prefer an apolitical and commercial approach. Over time, the voices of workers with radical demands have stopped being heard in the mainstream media. Moreover, even the practices of journalists nowadays are influenced by this approach to media as a profit driven enterprise. The relevance of stories is often determined based on commercial appeal and sensationalism, rather than facts. Stories can be censored and facts hidden. Economics, as well as politics are mainly to blame for these developments. McNair sums up this interrelationship perfectly through his work. The fact that politics, economics, culture, and ideology play a big role in determining media output is undeniable. Although this is unlikely to change in the near future, it is important to know whose politics and interests influence what we read, hear, and see in the media.

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