Internal and External Influences on Business Environment

In today’s dynamic business environment, organisations are subject to a myriad of influences that shape their operations, strategies, and overall performance. These influences can be broadly categorised into internal and external factors, each playing a crucial role in determining a company’s success or failure. By understanding these influences, businesses can develop robust strategies to navigate challenges and capitalise on opportunities in an ever-changing marketplace. Internal Influences on Business Environment 1. Organisational Structure and Culture One of the most significant internal influences on a business is its organisational structure and culture. The way a company is structured can greatly impact its efficiency, decision-making processes, and overall performance. Organisational structure defines how tasks are formally divided, grouped, and coordinated within a company. A well-designed structure can facilitate communication, enhance productivity, and foster innovation. Conversely, a poorly designed structure may lead to inefficiencies, conflicts, and reduced performance. Organisational culture, on the other hand, refers Continue reading

Analysis of Chinese Room Thought Experiment in Artificial Intelligence

The mind has been the center of philosophical debates for the longest of times. John Searle has attempted to explain understanding and the mind when in 1980 he created his famous Chinese Room thought experiment. However, he is not discussing the human mind like many philosophers do. Instead, he is looking into the minds of machines. Searle is looking into Artificial Intelligence and debating whether or not it can actually be comparable to human understanding. While the Chinese Room thought experiment was originally posed to counter the claims of Artificial Intelligence researchers, philosophy has also used it to look into the minds of others. It is a challenge to functionalism (mental states constituted solely by the role they play) and the computational theory of mind (the human mind is information processing system and that thinking is a form of computing) and is related to many others famous thought experiments. In Continue reading

Problems of Artificial Intelligence (AI)

The rapid development of technologies preconditioned the emergence of drastic changes in peoples lives. The introduction of new approaches to work and rest triggered the reconsideration of traditional values and promoted the growth of a certain style of life characterized by the mass use of innovations and their integration with different aspects of society. However, technologies continue to evolve and nowadays we can observe the development of artificial intelligence (AI) that is considered a technology that can think and make decisions similar to human beings. Its creation is a significant step in the future as the efficiency of multiple tasks can be increased due to the utilization of artificial intelligence. Today, AI peculiar to machines as opposed to the natural intelligence (NI) possessed by all living beings. The adherers of this technology outline numerous benefits that can be associated with the further development and implementation of the given tool. Regarding Continue reading

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Software – Background, Benefits, and Limitations

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is a common buzzword in today’s business circles. Some researchers define it as an interactive tool for managing a company’s relationship with its customers, or clients, while others perceive it as a set of processes and activities for organisations to communicate with internal and external shareholders. CRM strives to do three main things – create precise marketing campaigns, create a coherent view of customers, and create an effective consumer database. Precision marketing predominantly focuses on creating products and services that appeal to customer needs (to increase sales). The database creation is part of wider trend created by CRM to increase investments in data warehouses. Companies adopt CRM by buying appropriate software. CRM software applies to key service areas of an organisation, such as marketing, customer service, and technical support. Its functions include providing a central database where customer related information is stored, retrieves and display that information Continue reading

The Role of Emotional Intelligence in the Hiring Process

There are several types of jobs where emotional intelligence (EI) assessment could be effective in personnel selection. Moreover, high EI is necessary for highly demanding jobs. For instance, lawyers and file clerk, who face a lot of emotional labor during their day-to-day work, may fake their chances of securing a job position or use interpersonal interactions. However, such jobs as accountants and welders, which have little to no emotional labor, do not depend on emotional skills. HR professionals may not effectively measure or predict EI via testing methods. For instance, on the psychometric test for EI, it is impossible to predict EI as it is a measure of cognitive intelligence rather than EI. The use of practice employment tests is significant in improving recruitment and personnel selection outcomes for highly demanding job positions. Therefore, HR professionals who are ardent about using psychometric tests for EI may discover that they are Continue reading

Justifications on The Doctrine of Vicarious Liability

Legal systems and ethical codes mirror the values that people within a society have and provide the guidelines for the development of appropriate behaviors. Ethics and law continually interact with each other and affect decision making in various spheres of life. Legal duties bind employers and employees and enforce them to behave according to major ethical principles. The doctrine of vicarious liability serves as the example of this type of interactions between the law and ethics. It is the liability of the employer for the negligent acts of the employee in the course of his or her employment. Overall, it means that an employer is accountable for the wrongful or negligent torts of his/her subordinates when they are fulfilling prescribed work responsibilities and roles. Researchers and legal practitioners distinguish many ethical-legal explanations for the given rule. Some of them are analyzed in the following paragraphs. Vicarious Liability and Corporate Social Continue reading