External influences affecting the firm and its activities Essay

External influences affecting the firm and its activities - Essay Example 5 The article, â€Å"Wal-Mart files legal complaint against growing protests ahead of Black Friday† written by FoxNews.com on November 20, 2012. 6 References 8 Introduction It is factual that no business exists in a vacuum but in an external environment that consist of various factors and other players outside the business. Indeed, there are factors that the business can control. Nevertheless, the presence of external factors which the business cannot control is a fundamental challenge that all businesses face. As such, business manager must consider these factors and establish their influence on the business. The magnitude of external factors’ effect on business progress depends on the type of business and type of influence. We can conveniently classify the external factors into social, legal, economic, political, and technological factors. This paper will draw a comprehensive report on the external influences affecting four different firms and their activities. In doi ng this, the paper will summarize the information in four relevant stories that address external influences on specified firms and their activities.  The companies in this context will include the Starbucks, Cheetham Hill Construction Company, Apple, and Wal-Mart. The article, â€Å"the reality of recession for small businesses? ‘We need help' authored by Julia Kollewe, Nadine Schimroszik and Dan Milmo on 25 October 2012. ... 1). The article notes that although the construction company had recorded fair progress, the company faces serious challenges in generating new business since the recession ended. Indeed, the article reckons that the company now operates under tight margins and the company encounters challenges in paying the employees and the suppliers. In fact, the article notes that the effects of recession on construction manifested the true picture of the economy at the time. Assuredly, most small firms including Cheetham Hill Construction Company now live on a knife edge and they constantly delay payments to suppliers except to the main suppliers (Kollewe, Schimroszik &Milmo 2012, p. 1). More so, the article establishes that the company called for tax breaks to enable the company train a new generation of construction workers. Prior to the recession, the company used to take apprentices every year but now the company cannot afford that subject to the recession. Indeed, since most of the workforc e in construction comes from SMEs, the construction companies are lacking labor supply as the SMEs suffer from the recession (Kollewe, Schimroszik &Milmo 2012, p. 1). Notably, recession has very significant adverse effects on any business. Ideally, the most adverse effect of recession on business is reduced job security as workers prefer recession-proof businesses which have capacity to thrive or survive a recession. Furthermore, small business suffers the greatest loss in a recession subject to their inadequate preparedness, budget constraints, and few resources. Other effects that derive from recession include reduced cash flow, loss of demand, and marketing constraints (Sandilands 2013, p. 1). The article,

Doping in sports Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Doping in sports - Essay Example Seemingly, he had all figured out. He precisely knew that the venal attitude towards winning excluded the true spirit of sportsmanship and introduced a possibility of cheating, more especially through doping. Indeed, his speech was an act of prophesy because decades after, the sporting activity is saturated with incidences of doping (Burns, 2005). The most hit sporting activity has been the Tour de France cycling competition which drew the full attention of the media to the doping issue (Hoberman, 2007) an issue that had otherwise been covert prior to this. If one ever thinks that doping is a threat to the sporting activity alone then he/she is ultimately mistaken. Based on the sophistication and scope of doping, it poses a threat to more than the world of sport. Initially, doping was considered as a cheating problem but now it has reached proportions that are subject to societal concern. Indeed, as the stakes involved in the sporting activity keep on increasing, the practice continues to be widespread and consequently, the moral values of the sporting activity become questionable and the general health of the sportsmen continue to be under threat and great risk. This paper seeks to assess the issue of doping in sports and how the issue is soon running out of hand and hence the possible remedial steps that can avert the possible doping catastrophe in the sporting world. Therefore, in a bid for the paper to embrace the above scope, the paper will have the following headings; The Problem of Doping in Sports, the Aims and Motivations of the Dopers, Testing for Doping, Doping Testing strategy riddled with Challenges and the Doping Rules as Enforced by the Medical Commission of the IOC. The scope of the problem that doping in sports is, can be shown or be illustrated by looking at a few examples. For instance, in 1986, two pharmacists and a physician were indicted for having sold more than 1000 tablets of Tonedron, at