Of what value are the four key concepts of Organization & Identity Essay

Of what value are the four key concepts of Organization & Identity (Identity, power, inequality, insecuirty) for understanding p - Essay Example These theories attempt to provide a justification for the theorisation of organisations and businesses as we have today. They provide a basis for describing and analysing the structures and foundations of organisations in the world and how humanity evolved from an unstructured world to a system whereby the concept of work takes the centre-stage and organisations are at the forefront of societies. This paper examines four important concepts related to organisations: identity, power, inequality and insecurity. The paper would answer the research question: what is the value of the four concepts of organisation and identity provides for the conceptualisation and understanding of management practices and systems in organisations. In attaining this end, the following objectives would be examined: 1. An assessment of organisational behaviour and conceptualisation of organisations. 2. An examination of the concept of organisational identity and internal structures. 3. An evaluation of the po sition of power and inequality in organisations. 4. The conceptualisation of the distribution of power, insecurity and corporate justice. Portions of this paper would involve the writer's personal experiences as an importer. The writer has been involved in the importation of products from China into the UK. The writer makes his profits from the cost variations and differences in prices between China and the UK. This profit provides him with a source of livelihood and the potential of recreating this income generation opportunity in the form of an organisation is examined at various points in the essay. Organisational Behaviour & Conceptualisation of Organisations Knights and Morgen (1993) argue that consumptions marks the modern society. This is because in the world today, there is the free economy where people work and the are free to do whatever they want. Things are fixed by the concepts of demand and supply. Hence, there is the need for people to come together to define the syst em through which they can work and provide the best results and optimise resources. Consumerism is in vogue because people are not restricted and governments do not continue to wield the control that they had before the Second World War (Knights and Morgen, 1993). In most nations around the world, there is the freedom to run commercial entities and get things to happen. This has led to a trend where organisations run the affairs of individuals and groups in different parts of the world. Consumption tends to influence the way people come together to do things. Consumption is crucial in the world today and demand and supply define how things must be done and how resources should be allocated. This laissez-faire system has encouraged the creation of groupings for effective work and the attainment of results. Consumption trends provide the roadmap for people to put factors of production together to attain results. This has provided the impetus for the creation of businesses and organisa tions in different parts of the world. The the trends in consumerism has provided the impetus for corporate entities to come together and grow as they pursue their economic ends through the provision of goods and services for consumers to use to satisfy their needs and aspirations. Drawing into my personal experience, I can identify that the importation industry revolves greatly around consumerism. In my sector of operations, most companies involved in the industry provide goods and services

Critical Assessment and Comparison of the Competitiveness and Dissertation

Critical Assessment and Comparison of the Competitiveness and Profitability of the UK Food Retail Sector - Dissertation Example The analysis of the two sectors has revealed that there are mixed trends with respect to the performance of selected companies in this study. However, within the retail sector of UK, Morrison’s and Sainsbury are better performers as compared to Tesco. On the other hand, BG and Shell have superseded BP as per the financial analysis. The SWOT analysis of the retail companies and analysis through Porter’s Five Forces Model has revealed that there are significant opportunities for the companies to expand their businesses; whereas at the same time, the competition in the market is also at peak. Similarly, for oil and gas companies, the analysis showed that there are no significant threats for the companies, but for BP the oil spill incident is still showing it’s after effects. Introduction Two of the most successful and competitive industry sectors in the UK are the UK food retail industry (specifically supermarkets) and the UK Oil and Gas industry. Both industries ar e major contributors to the UK economy. The grocery market alone in 2011 was worth ?156.8 billion and in 2011-2012 the UK oil and gas industry paid production tax of ?11.2 billion, almost a quarter of the exchequers corporation tax (IGN, 2012; Oil & Gas UK, 2012). In times of austerity and economic recession such as the UK is currently experiencing, it is insightful to assess the financial health of each of these organizations using ratio analysis in order to understand how they are achieving their level of success. According to Jones (2006) ratios are an extremely effective means of achieving this because if suitable ratios are selected and applied it can reveal interesting facts about how the company is managed and run, and where there may be areas of potential risk and weakness such as excessive borrowing. Rationale The rationale for this study is to understand how different ratios are employed in different industries and to evaluate the challenges that can be encountered if the same ratio is used in different industries. There is an inherent risk in taking the output of financial ratio analysis at face value without fully appreciating the context of the output. Therefore, by examining two highly successful industries it is hoped to identify areas of best practice using financial ratios as guides. The industries selected for research arethe UK food retail sector and UK oil and gas. These two industries have been chosen for particular reasons. Firstly, the UK food retail sector is one of the most competitive market places in the UK,characterized by high output volumes, fast turnover and tight profit margins. It is an industry where any mistakes are quickly reflected in the financial data and stakeholders are unforgiving (Palmer, 2004; Retail Week, 2012). It is this level of competition and volatility which makes the industry an interesting study because food is essential to every household and so the performance of food retail giants such as Tesco, Sainsbury ’s and Morrison’s can be regarded as a sensible barometer of the current economic situation in the UK. Furthermore, the success of Tesco at the international level undoubtedly points to the value being created in this industry in the UK. This alone makes it an interesting area to conduct research in.The second industry, UK oil and gas plays a major part in the UK economy in terms of exports, technology, and