Category: University of Mumbai BMS Notes

E-Recruitment, also called as Online Recruitment, is the process of hiring the potential candidates for the vacant job positions, using the electronic resources, particularly the internet.

Internet recruiting is the act of scouring the Internet to locate both actively searching job seekers and also individuals who are content in their current position (these are called “passive candidates”). It is a field of dramatic growth and constant change that has given birth to a dynamic multibillion-dollar industry.

Traditionally, recruiters use large job boards, niche job boards, as well as social and business networking to locate these individuals. The immediate goal of Internet recruiting is to find individuals that a recruiter or company can present to hiring managers for the purpose of employment. Quite often, Internet recruiters have very short-term goals when it comes to recruiting online. The general catalyst that sparks this process is when a new job requisite comes in (called a REQ). The recruiter scans his or her database to see if anyone’s resumes match the requirements. If not, they proceed to search on the Internet.

The challenge arises when recruiters contact passive candidates willy-nilly. If a person is not currently seeking for a job, they generally have no interest in learning about new positions. Excessive contacts of this nature could lead to complaints of spam. A far more logical way to approach Internet recruiting is for recruiters to view themselves as an authority site[clarification needed] and answer the What’s In It For Me (WIIFM) question that all individuals have: “What’s in it for me to act upon your email”?

If a recruiter also offers resources such as career help, salary information, how to manage job stress, and the like, they break out of the stereotypical headhunter mode and enter into the “valued resource” mode to the individuals they contact.

Tools

• Major search engines: Using boolean operators (AND, OR, NOT, etc.), related search syntax (parentheses for clauses, quotation marks around multiple-keyword phrases, etc.) and appropriate special commands (intitle:, inurl:, site:, filetype:, etc.), one can generate very targeted search strings to find just the kinds of candidate resumes and/or prospect biographies desired. These are typically most effective on major engines such as Google, Yahoo, Live, Exalead, etc., that each have billions of pages indexed as well as support for many special commands.
• Niche search engines and job boards: In some cases, it can be more effective to use a more narrow search tool. Blog-specific search engines such as Gigablast can deliver targeted results within that subset of the Internet. There has also been a proliferation of niche job boards that provide companies with candidates from specific career fields or backgrounds. Among notable niche job boards are MediaBistro, eFinancialCareers.com, Ivy Exec, and Execunet.com
• Discussion lists: Similarly, using Google Groups (formerly Deja) to search Usenet postings can find unique results within newsgroup discussion lists. Yahoo Groups, Topica, etc., are other online communities that each host millions of discussion lists which can be searched. Many portals and individual association sites (see below) offer their own forums where posts (and their posters) can be searched.
• Other virtual communities: LinkedIn, Spoke and [Xing.com] (formerly OpenBC) are currently the largest of the professionally skewed social networks with differing levels of depth on candidates, though some search capabilities are reserved for paid tier members only. Other larger virtual communities, such as Facebook and [MySpace], contain a higher percentage of non-professional content. As a result, these may be less efficient for recruiting purposes even when advanced search techniques are employed.

Advantages of E-Recruitment

• The recruitment process becomes more efficient and easier to record details of the applicant.
• Right people for the right job can be easily found through E-Recruitment, by matching the candidate’s CVs with the job profile.
• Less time required in hiring the potential candidate for the firm.
• Beneficial for both the employer and the job seeker, the corporations can find the prospective candidates through their CVs attached to world wide web, and similarly, the candidates can search the employer through their job vacancy advertisement posted on the internet.
• Low cost per candidate, as compared to the physical recruitment process.
• Wide geographical coverage, i.e. the candidates can be hired from any part of the world.

Disadvantage:

Low Quality of Applicants

Due to different standards of education around the world, not all talent is the same, and the company is exposed to lower quality recruits if they do not conduct the vetting process thoroughly. Additionally, cultural differences might inhibit the recruitment process and office culture once the recruits begin their employment.

Miss Out on Qualified Candidates

If the HR department isn’t competent with the internet, it might lose out on the most valuable and well-trained candidates for the job. This loss of human capital can present massive costs down the line, which will outweigh the initial savings in recruitment costs.

Too informal

For executive roles, some companies believe that online job postings, especially on social media, can give off a negative image. Therefore, if you are looking for someone to find a qualified person to fill in this position, we would recommend advertising the job board in a reputable recruiting company and not on social media.

Keywords Miss Valuable Talent

Skills and industry standards change over time. Older generations might use a different word for a specific skill, thereby being filtered out. This could lead to a loss of a valuable talent pool.

Material costing is the process of determining the costs at which inventory items are recorded into stock, as well as their subsequent valuation in the accounting records. We deal with these concepts separately.

Material Costing for Initial Inventory Acquisition

A company must decide whether it will record acquired materials at their purchased prices, or if additional costs will be added, such as freight in, sales taxes, and customs duties. The addition of these other costs is allowable, but may require a certain amount of additional work. It is easier to charge these additional costs to expense as incurred, so they appear immediately in the cost of goods sold.

Overhead is not allocated to raw materials, since these items have not undergone any production activities (with which overhead is associated). Overhead is only allocated to work-in-process and finished goods inventory.

Material Costing for Subsequent Valuation

Once inventory has been received into stock, it is subject to the lower of cost or market (LCM) rule. In essence, this rule states that the recorded cost of inventory should be at the lower of its recorded cost or the market rate. From a practical perspective, this rule is usually only applied to those inventory items having the largest extended costs. Its application to low-value items would not result in any material changes, and so is avoided from an efficiency perspective.

A cost layering concept must also be applied to inventory. Cost layering refers to the order in which inventory items are charged to the cost of goods sold when units are sold to customers. Several possible cost layering concepts that can be used are:

• Specific identification method. Assign costs to specific units of inventory, and charge these costs to expense when the specific units are sold. Usually only applies to expensive and unique inventory items.
• First in, first out method. Assign costs based on the assumption that the earliest goods acquired are the first ones sold. If prices are increasing, this tends to result in higher profits.
• Last in, first out method. Assign costs based on the assumption that the last goods acquired are the first ones sold. If prices are increasing, this tends to result in lower profits. This method is not allowed under international financial reporting standards.
• Weighted average method. Uses an average of the costs of all units in stock when charging costs to the cost of goods sold.

The following are essential for ascertainment of accurate material cost:

(I) Computation of total cost of material purchased.

(II) Systematised material issue procedure.

(III) Appropriate methods of pricing material issues.

(I) Computation of Total Cost of Material Purchased:

Most of the details needed to ascertain the total cost of material purchased can be obtained from the invoice sent by the supplier.

The basic purchase price has to be adjusted in the light of delivery and forwarding charges, sales tax, excise duty, etc. Similarly, transport charges and cost of containers have to be included. Any discounts receivable have to be appropriately subtracted.

(a) Discounts:

There are three types of discounts to be considered:

(i) Trade Discount:

This is a discount allowed by the supplier to compensate the buyer for the costs of ‘breaking bulk’, selling in small lots to customers, repacking, etc. The supplier is relieved from all these costs by the buyer by purchasing a large quantity. This discount is usually given by the wholesalers.

(ii) Quantity Discount or Bulk Discount:

This discount is allowed by the supplier as a measure of savings in cost which arise from the production of longer runs and the distribution of larger quantities. Part of the savings accruing to the supplier out of a large order is passed on to the buyer by means of quantity discount.

(iii) Cash Discount:

This discount is offered by the supplier to the buyer as an option. The discount is linked to payment of the invoice amount before a specified due date or within a specified number of days. The purchaser may make use of the option and obtain the discount if his cash position permits it. Generally, this discount is considered as a matter of ‘financial policy’ and not taken into account for computation of material cost.

(b) Transport and Storage Costs:

If transport cost and cost of storage in transit are not included in the invoiced price of the supplier, they may be added as the direct costs of purchase to the cost of material. If it is not possible to identify such costs with specific materials because of paying a combined amount for several materials, they may be treated as indirect expenditure and included in the overhead.

(c) Cost of Containers:

The supplier may or may not charge separately for containers. If no charges are made, no accounting treatment is required.

(II) Material Issue Procedure:

Materials kept in the stores are to be issued to production departments whenever the departments require them. The store keeper is to issue materials only when a material requisition is presented to him.

(a) Material Requisition:

It is a properly authorised document initiated by the production departments to draw the required material from stores. It has to be initiated by properly authorised person to avoid misappropriation of material.

The requisition serves as authority to the store keeper to issue materials. The store keeper puts serial number on the requisition and makes entries in the issue column of the bin card. After this the requisitions are sent to the cost office where the value of material issued is also filled up and credit is given to the material issued in the stores ledger and the job receiving the material in the job ledger is debited.

(b) Bill of Materials:

It is a document listing all the materials required with quantities required for a particular job, order or process. The bill of material serves the purpose of material requisition. The bill of material is prepared for a job of non standardised type so that estimate of all materials required for the job is made by the production department before the job is started. This is helpful to estimate material cost of the job for submitting tenders or quotations.

Treatment of Surplus Materials:

(a) Return of Surplus Material:

Sometimes, excess materials maybe issued to production departments. When these materials are returned to stores a Material Return Note is to be prepared by the department which has the excess materials. Generally, three copies are prepared. One copy is retained by the department which is returning the material. Two copies are sent to the store keeper. The store keeper keeps one copy for making entries in the Bin card and the second copy is sent to the cost office for making entries in the stores ledger and for giving credit to the job where the material is in excess.

(b) Transfer of Surplus Materials:

Transfer of excess materials from one job to another job is to be avoided as far as possible. This is because record for transfer may not be made and actual material cost of jobs may be inaccurate. However, sometimes the material may be allowed to be transferred to avoid delays and handling charges. The transfer is to be allowed only with preparation of material transfer note so that the cost of material transferred is debited to the job receiving the material and credited to the job transferring the material.

(III) Methods of Pricing Material Issues:

The purchase prices of materials fluctuate on account of changes in the product prices, buying from different suppliers and on account of quantity discounts. Because of price fluctuations, the stock may include several lots of the same material purchased at different prices. When these materials are issued to production, it is important to consider the correct price at which these materials are charged to production.

Economic order quantity (EOQ) is the ideal order quantity a company should purchase for its inventory given a set cost of production, demand rate and other variables. This is done to minimize variable inventory costs, and the equation for EOQ takes into account storage, ordering costs and shortage costs.

The full equation is:

EOQ = √(2SD / H), or the square root of (2 x S x D / H).

S = Setup costs (per order, generally includes shipping and handling)

D = Demand rate (quantity sold per year)

H = Holding costs (per year, per unit)

EOQ applies only when demand for a product is constant over the year and each new order is delivered in full when inventory reaches zero. There is a fixed cost for each order placed, regardless of the number of units ordered. There is also a cost for each unit held in storage, commonly known as holding cost, sometimes expressed as a percentage of the purchase cost of the item.

The economic order quantity is computed by both manufacturing companies and merchandising companies. Manufacturing companies compute it to find the optimal order size of raw materials inventory and

merchandising companies compute it to find the optimal order size of ready to use merchandise inventory.

The ordering and holding costs

The two significant factors that are considered while determining the economic order quantity (EOQ) for any business are the ordering costs and the holding costs.

Ordering costs

The ordering costs are the costs that are incurred every time an order for inventory is placed with the supplier. Examples of these costs include telephone charges, delivery charges, invoice verification expenses and payment processing expenses etc. The total ordering cost usually varies according to the frequency of placing orders. Mostly, it is directly proportional to the number of orders placed during the year which means If the number of orders placed during the year increases, the annual ordering cost will also increase and if, on the other hand, the number of orders placed during the year decreases, the annual ordering cost will also decrease.

Holding costs

The holding costs (also known as carrying costs) are the costs that are incurred to hold the inventory in a store or warehouse. Examples of costs associated with holding of inventory include occupancy of storage space, rent, shrinkage, deterioration, obsolescence, insurance and property tax etc. The total holding cost usually depends upon the size of the order placed for inventory. Mostly, the larger the order size, the higher the annual holding cost and vice versa. The total holding cost is some time expressed as a percentage of total investment in inventory.

EOQ with Discounts

Quantity discount is a reduction in price offered by seller on orders of large quantities. Quantity discounts exist in different forms and in certain scenarios they may not be obvious. The well-known buy-1-get-1-free sale is actually a 50% quantity discount since you effectively purchase a unit at half the normal price.

Different forms of quantity discounts provide different purchase incentives to buyers. For example, the one discussed above has a tentency to compel the buyer to purchase more than they need at the moment i.e. the seller will not allow you to purchase just one unit at 50% of the full price. Another form of quantity discount which is based on the cumulative quantity purchased during a specific time period actually induces the buyer to continue purchasing from the current supplier and restricts switching to other suppliers.

Implication for Decision Making

When purchasers following Economic Order Quantity (EOQ) model for ordering inventory have the opportunity to avail a quantity discount on order sizes greaters than their EOQ, they need to base their decision, apart from qualitative factors, on the net effect of the decision on the their income. A typical quantity discount has the following three effects on the income of a purchaser:

1. A saving in the form of reduced price
2. A saving in the form of reduced ordering costs
3. A loss in the form of increased total holding costs of inventory

A decision to avail the quantity discount should be taken only if the net effect of the above components on the income is positive.

EOQ Assumptions

If the economic order quantity model is applied, the following assumptions should be met:

• The rate of demand is constant, and total demand is known in advance.
• The ordering cost is constant.
• The unit price of inventory is constant, i.e., no discount is applied depending on order quantity.
• Delivery time is constant.
• Replacement of defective units is instantaneous.
• There is no safety stock level, i.e., the minimum stock level is zero.
• Restocking is made by the whole batch

Limitations

• Erratic changes usages: the formula presumes the usage of materials is both predictable and evenly distributed. When this is not the case, the formula becomes useless.
• Faulty basic information: order cost varies from commodity to commodity and the carrying cost can vary with the company’s opportunity cost of capital. Thus the assumption that the ordering cost and the carrying cost remains constant is faulty and hence EOQ calculations are not correct.
• Costly calculations: the calculation required to find out EOQ is extremely time consuming. More elaborate formulae are even more expensive. In many cases, the cost of estimating the cost of possession and acquisition and calculating EOQ exceeds the savings made by buying that quantity.
• No formula is a substitute for common sense: sometimes the EOQ may suggest that we order a particular commodity every week (six-year supply) based on the assumption that we need it at the same rate for the next six years. However, we have to order it in the quantities according to our judgement. Some items can be ordered every week; some can be ordered monthly, depends on how feasible it is for the firm.
• EOQ ordering must be tempered with judgement: Sometimes guidelines provide a conflict in ordering. Where an order strategy conflicts with an operational goal, order strategy restrictions should be developed to permit honouring the goal.

Advantages

• The economic order quantity helps in reducing the holding costs of inventory. The company does not have to order excess stocks that need to be stored in warehouses and thus saves money that would have to be spent on rent and other expenses related to storage.
• The economic order quantity equation helps an organization to determine the number of units and the number of units it needs to purchase. This reduces the ordering costs as the company orders in fewer times and saves on costs related to transportation, packing, etc.
• The EOQ helps the organization to manage its inventory in a better manner. It is now able to minimize its operational costs, and this ultimately leads to profits.
• It makes restocking an easy process as the formula helps to determine how often you should be placing orders.
• The EOQ model helps the company to find the best deal because now you are purchasing only what you require and not any excess that can become a waste.

Micro-Environment

The micro-environment is basically the environment that has a direct impact on your business. It is related to the particular area where your company operates and can directly affect all of your business processes. In other words, it consists of all the factors that affect particularly your business. They have the ability to influence your daily proceedings and general performance of the company. Still, the effect that they have is not a long-lasting one.

The micro-environment includes customers, suppliers, resellers, competitors, and the general public.

Macro-Environment

The macro-environment is more general – it is the environment in the economy itself. It has an effect on how all business groups operate, perform, make decisions, and form strategies simultaneously. It is quite dynamic, which means that a business has to constantly track its changes. It consists of external factors that the company itself doesn’t control but is certainly affected by.

The factors that make up the macro-environment are economic factors, demographic forces, technological factors, natural and physical forces, political and legal forces, and social and cultural forces.

Micro Environment of Business:

The micro environment consists of the factors of the firm’s immediate environment.

These include:

(a) Suppliers

Suppliers or vendors are those persons or firms who supply inputs like new materials, certain parts, cutting tools etc., to the company. The vendor quality and reliability is a must for the smooth functioning of the business.

They should supply all imputes of right quality and stated quantity in time. In order to be on safe side, adequate stock of input elements should be preserved in the company and services should be taken of more than one vendor to supply the goods.

(b) Customers

Today with the advancement of technology and because of foreign collaborations, it has become easy to manufacture any product, but it is still very difficult to sell i.e., to create, increase and sustain the customers.

Every day we watch a new advertisement e.g., buy one tooth paste tube and take another free along with it or take two shampoo bottles at the price of one etc., to allure the customers. Monitoring the customer sensitivity is, therefore, a prerequisite for the business success. How many different categories of customers shall be there to buy a product, depends upon the product itself.

For example, an automobile tyre manufacturing concern, can sell their tyres to:

• Individual scooter or car owners
• Scooter, car, truck manufacturing industries
• Governments and other user institutions
• Public sector or private sector transport undertakings etc.

(c) Competitors

Take an example of a firm ‘A’ making Televisions. Its competitors are not only the firms making and marketing T.V., but are all those firms who compete for the discretionary income of the customers. There are so many firms making T.V., scooters, refrigerators, cooking ranges, stereo sets etc.

The first is the desire competition amongst them. In other words, the primary task of firm ‘A’ here is to influence the basic desire of the customer to buy only T.V. and no other product. This desire can be created in the customer by giving festival discount or by introducing some installment scheme etc.

The second is the product form competition if once the customer decides to by a T.V. Product form competition implies, whether the customer should go for a black and white T.V. or a colour T.V., should he buy a T.V. with or without remote control.

Should he buy a 14″ TV or 21″ TV or still of bigger size. The firm ‘A’ may or may not be making all these models. So it has to attract, by its advertisement, the attention of the customers to go for a model being manufactured by them.

The third is the brand competition i.e., the competition between the different brands of the same product form. For example, there are a number of T.V. makes in the market, such as, Onida, BPL, Sony, Beltek, Videocon, Crown, Texla, etc. Now, the firm ‘A’ should work to create primary and selective demand for his T.V. sets, by alluring the customers by enchanting advertisements, and attractive schemes.

(d) Public

Public means a group of people. Public opinion can be a threat to a business firm whereas it can be an opportunity for another business firm. Public normally forms an opinion about different brands of the same product after using the same.

Opinion travels from friend-to-friend, neighbour-to-neighbour etc.,— Use this brand of washing powder or buy that brand of T.V. or refrigerator. They are using it for the last five years and it is working trouble-free etc. This is consumer publics which has an important effect on any companies business, can make or mar it.

The second is the Media publics where some newspaper tries to tarnish the image of a business firm by giving his own reasons or logic, and this adversely affects the business of the firm. Its share price may also come down. The third is Local publics.

The issue of environmental pollution caused from chimneys or waste liquid streams from the factories has often been taken up by local public and, at times, it has resulted in the suspension of production operations and/or take pollution abatement measures by the factories.

(e) Marketing Intermediaries

Marketing Intermediaries are those firms/individuals who help the company in promoting, selling and distributing its goods to final buyers.

Examples of marketing intermediaries are:

• Middlemen (agents/merchants) who help the company find customers.
• Physical distribution firms who assist the company in stocking and moving goods from their origin to their destination, such as warehouses and transportation firms.
• Marketing service agencies such as advertising agencies, market research firms etc., which assist the company in targeting and promoting its products to the right markets.

Macro Environment of Business

The macro environment consists of larger societal forces that affect all the factors in the company’s micro environment.

(a) Economic Environment

Economic environment refers to all those economic factors which have a bearing on the functioning of a business unit. Some such factors have been discussed below:

• Growth Strategy: The economic environment in our country is the result of the economic growth strategy pursued during the past five decades by the Government of India. The growth strategy followed was based on the Soviet Planning Model which believed that the saving rate in the economy and growth rate could be increased by investing heavily in the capital goods and heavy industry sectors at the expense of the consumer goods sector.
• Economic System: The economic system is a very important determinant of the scope of (private) business. The economic system and policy are a very important external constraint on business.
• Economic Planning: The Government prepares and implements a comprehensive economic plan integrating the private sector with the public sector. India has been doing economic planning since 1951, when First Five Year Plan was launched.
• Industry: Around mid-1960s, India had a better industrial base and possessed more pre-requisites for industrial growth than South Korea, Malaysia, Taiwan etc. But the country subjected all outputs and other factors to rigid price and quantity controls, investment was strictly rationed, there were multiple barriers to entry, and the objective of the financial system was to supply subsidised development funds irrespective of returns. As a result all the countries mentioned above are far ahead of India in industrial growth. In 1970’s, Indian Government started believing that mini-plants constituted appropriate technology, notwithstanding strong evidence to the contrary. Such plants were encouraged through fiscal concessions and subsidised development finance. Mini-cement, mini-paper, mini-steel, mini-sugar plants were set up. None of these were technically viable, so they fell short of economies of scales, and could only exist under a regime of subsidies, high tariffs, severe quotas and purchase preferences. In 1980’s as the financial situation worsened, all these mini-plants became sick units. According to the Industrial Policy of the Government of India until July 1991, the development of 17 of the most important industries were reserved for the state. In the development of another 12 major industries, the state was to play a dominant role. In the remaining industries, cooperative enterprises, joint sector enterprises and small-scale units were to get preferential treatment over large entrepreneurs in the public sector. The government policy, thus limited the scope of private business. However, the new policy ushered in, since July 1991 has wide opened many of the industries for the private sector.
• Human Resource: Human Resources play a crucial role (of people) in an economy. People work to produce goods and services. People provide markets for goods produced. Degree of economic prosperity depends on the quality and skill of the people. People need economic growth just as prosperity demands services of people. Unluckily, our country has more number of people than the economy could afford. However it goes to the credit of the country that it was the first in the world to adopt family planning as a state policy.
• National Income and Per Capita Income: The aggregate flow of goods and services represents the total income earned by factors of production (such as) land and other natural resources, labour, capital and enterprise) employed during the year and this is popularly called national income. The rate of growth of the national income in an economy is an indication of the pace at which the economy has been growing. A high growth rate indicates that the economy is a developed one. Low growth rate implies that the economy is a developing or a poor one. A high national income indicates that the economy is developed and the overall environment is favourable for business growth.

(b) Technological Environment

Science is a systematised body of knowledge and when this knowledge is put into practice (or to practical tasks) it becomes technology. Technology changes very fast and a firm which is unable to cope with the technological changes may not survive.

(c) Political Environment

Political environment is another important constituent of the business environment which can bring any business enterprise to the ground. A Political (and Government) Environment or system prevailing in a country decides, promotes, fosters, encourages, shelters, directs and controls the business activities of that country.

A political environment/system that is stable, honest, efficient and dynamic and which ensures political participation of the people, and assures personal security to the citizens, is a primary factor for economic development. Two basic political philosophies exist all over the world.

The first, known as Democracy refers to a political arrangement in which the supreme power is vested in the hands of people. They have got the right to rule and vote on every matter. But this form of pure democracy is not workable in a complex society. Hence the Republican form of government comes into the picture in which the people/public, in a democratic manner, elects their representatives who do the ruling.

The second system known as totalitarianism also called Authoritarianism is one in which individual (person’s) freedom is completely subordinated to the power of authority of the state and concentrated in the hands of one person (i.e., a Dictator) or in a small group which is not constitutionally accountable to the, people. Societies ruled by military or by a dictator, plus most oligarchies and monarchies belong to this category.

(d) Social Environment

The social environment is made up of the attitudes, desires, expectations, degrees of intelligence and education, beliefs, and customs of people in a given group or society. Social desires, expectations and pressures give rise to laws and laws, in turn, influence the business.

Social factors include:

(i) Attitude of people to work

(ii) Attitude to wealth.

(iii) Desires and expectations.

(iv) Family and customs.

(v) Religion and Marriage.

(vi) Values and beliefs.

(vii) Intelligence and education.

(viii) Ethics-personal conduct.

(ix) Tastes and preferences.

(x) Social responsibility of business.

For any business, the cost of ignoring the customs, traditions, taboos, tastes and preferences, etc., of individuals or of society can be very high. The buying and consumption factors, habits of people, their language, beliefs and values, customs and traditions, tastes and preferences, education, all these factors affect the business. In Thailand, Helene Curtis switched to black shampoo because Thai women felt that it made their hair look glossier.

(e) Legal Environment

Judiciary settles legal disputes between the employer and the employees, employer and public or employer and government and hence affects the business. Legal authority also sees to it that the exercise of government conforms to the general rules laid down by the legislature, it may declare that the particular order issued is, in fact, ultra vires.

The courts of justice protect the citizens from unlawful acts passed by the legislature and arbitrary acts done by the government. Many times, judiciary has ordered the closure of fume-emitting and other factories spreading pollution which became dangerous for society. Judiciary has also restrained and censored human rights violations etc. The legal environment has far-reacting consequences on business.

Difference

1. Intrapersonal

This level refers to an internal dispute and involves only one individual. This conflict arises out of your own thoughts, emotions, ideas, values and predispositions. It can occur when you are struggling between what you “want to do” and what you “should do.”

Factors of Conflict in Individuals:

• Unacceptability:

Every individual has a known acceptable alternative in terms of his own goals and perceptions. Since the alternative preferred by the organisation is not satisfactory to him, he is unable to accept it. Unacceptability is subjective because the alternative unacceptable to one may be acceptable to another individual. When the alternative is unacceptable to an individual, he will search for new alternatives. His search for acceptable alternative continues. But sometimes, repeated failure to discover acceptable alternatives leads to a redefinition of acceptable.

• Incomparability:

The individual knows the probability distribution of the alternatives but he is not able to take decision because the outcomes are incomparable. When the results are not comparable, no decision could be taken. Similarly, an individual is also unable to make proper comparison of alternatives. Comparison requires clarity, technique of comparison including assigning weights to different components, rationality in attitude and behaviour and the competence to perform the task.

The procedure of comparison depends also on the clarity and decisiveness of the individual regarding the minimum standard of achievement. If the individual does not have much clarity as to the expectancy, he will not be able to make comparison. The state of incomparability causes lot of tension and conflict to the individual.

• Uncertainty:

Individuals are uncertain about the environments within and outside the organisations. If the environment could be properly depicted, the behaviour of the people regarding acceptability of the alternative and efficacy of the alternative could be ascertained with certainty. In a state of uncertainty, the individual feels frustrated which is ultimately reflected in conflict. Within an individual there are usually a number of competing goals and roles.

2. Interpersonal

This conflict occurs between two or more people in a larger organization. It can result from different personalities or differing perspectives on how to accomplish goals. Interpersonal conflict may even occur without one party realizing there was ever conflict.

Interpersonal conflict involves conflict between two or more individuals I and is probably the most common and most recognized conflict. All conflicts are basically interpersonal conflicts because most of the conflicts involve conflict between a person in one organisation or a group and another person in other organisation or a group.

Every individual has a separate acceptable alternative course of action and different individuals prefer different alternatives. The organisation itself creates situations in which two individuals are placed in conflict situations. This may involve conflict, for example, between two managers who are competing for limited capital and manpower resources.

Another type of interpersonal conflict can relate to disagreement over goals and objectives of the organisation. These conflicts are highlighted when they are based upon opinions rather than facts. Opinions are highly personal and subjective and may lead to criticism and disagreements. These conflicts are often the result of personality clashes.

According to Whetten and Cameron there are four sources of interpersonal conflict.

(1) Personal Differences:

Personal differences can be a major source of conflict between individuals. Individual differ because of one’s upbringing, cultural and family traditions, family background, education experience and values.

(2) Information Deficiency:

Lack of information can be another source of interpersonal conflict. This type of conflict often results from communication breakdown in the organisation.

(3) Role Incompatibility:

Another source of interpersonal conflict can be role in compatibility. In today’s inter functional organisations, many managers have functions and tasks that are interdependent and the individual roles of these managers may be incompatible.

(4) Environment Stress:

The interpersonal conflict can also be due to environmental stress. Stress from environment arises because of scarce or shrinking resources, downsizing, competitive pressures and high degree of uncertainty. Interpersonal conflicts have a tendency to resolve themselves because the conflicting parties are not in a position to remain tense for a very long time. Time is the healing factor for these conflicts. In case the inter-personal conflicts are of persisting nature it can be resolved through counselling, effective communication, win negotiation and transactional analysis. Management must analyze the reasons for conflict and resolve to create an atmosphere of openness and mutual trust in the organisation.

3. Intragroup

This level of conflict occurs between members of a single group when there are multiple people with varying opinions, backgrounds and experiences working toward a common goal. Even though they may all want to achieve the same goal, they may disagree about how to reach it. Intragroup conflict can also occur when team members have differences in communication styles and personalities.

Intra group conflict arises when differences crop up between the members of the group. The individual may want to remain in the group for social needs but may disagree with the group methods. Intra-group conflict may arise in three ways.

(i) When the group faces a new problem

(ii) When new values are imported from the social environment into the group and

(iii) When a person’s extra group role comes into conflict with his intra group role.

Intra group conflict is like the interpersonal conflict with the difference that the persons involved in the conflict episode belong to a common group. The causes are similar to those of interpersonal conflicts.

4. Intergroup

This level of conflict occurs between different groups within a larger organization or those who do not have the same overarching goals.

Conflicts between different groups in the organisation are known as intergroup conflicts. Inter-group conflict may also be stated in terms of organisational conflict.

Causes of intergroup conflict may be summarized under four heads:

(i) Absence of joint decision making

(ii) Difference in goals

(iii) Difference in perception and

(iv) Difference in goals as well as perception.

(i) Absence of joint decision making:

Organisation is comprising of different groups. Each group puts its urgency for having maximum share in the limited resources and press for the acceptance of its own time schedule for the performance of a task. If the wishes of a group in respect of resources and time schedule are accepted, justice cannot be done to other groups, which will ultimately lead to organisational ineffectiveness. Joint decision making is the only solution to resolve the conflict. The conflicting parties may sit together and discuss their own needs in the overall organisational perspective.

(ii) Difference in goals:

Difference in goals arises due to the following reasons:

(a) Factors which affect the commonality within the organisation such as heterogeneity in groups

(b) Factors that affect the clarity and consistency of reward structure and

(c) Factors which affect comparability of reward structure

(iii) Difference in Perception:

Differences in perception causing intergroup conflict arise due to:

(a) Members having different sources of information

(b) Different techniques of processing the information

(c) Different time horizons and

(d) Difference in goals.

5. Organizational conflict

All the conflicts discussed in the preceding discussion relate to conflicts within the organisational settings. Inter organisational level conflict occur between organisations which are in some way or the other dependent upon each other. Conflicts at individual level, group level or inter group level are all inherent in the organisation level conflict. The organisation level conflict can be between the buyer and seller organisation, between union and organisations employing the members, between government agencies that regulate certain organisations and the organisations that are affected by them.

Managers must try to live with this type of conflict. If the conflict is properly handled it can be constructive in achieving the results. It can act as a stimulus it may be a challenge and motivational force to keep the organisation moving.

Interpretation is the act of explaining, reframing, or otherwise showing your own understanding of something. A person who translates one language into another is called an interpreter because they are explaining what a person is saying to someone who doesn’t understand. Interpretation requires you to first understand the piece of music, text, language, or idea, and then give your explanation of it. A computer may produce masses of data, but it will require your interpretation of the data for people to understand it.

What is Involved in Business Interpreting?

Business interpreting, just like any other type of interpreting services, is a complex task. It requires expertise and experience. It requires knowledge of the subject matter and fluency in the required languages.

Business interpreting can use simultaneous interpreting or consecutive interpreting, especially if participation is large. Whisper interpreting on the other hand is another form of interpreting service that can be used for intimate business meetings where only a few people are attending.

Business interpreting is becoming more vital because the market in increasingly globalized and the success of international meetings depends on the complete understanding among participants.

Interpreting for business is used for business meetings, sourcing overseas suppliers, staff training, HR consultations, business visits in foreign countries and international trading in new markets.

Characteristics of Business Interpreting

These are the top characteristics of business interpreting a complex and demanding task that requires fluency not only in the native languages but also in business language and terminology, awareness of cultural differences and experience, expertise and professionalism to deliver the most accurate business interpreting service the client requires.

• The interpreter simplifies communication where there are international participants, despite the different languages spoken by the delegates. Professional business interpreters see to it that the word choices, the nuances of the languages and the terminology are fully delivered.
• Business interpreters ensure that participants are able to express themselves in their own language and understand the discussion or presentation in their native languages.
• Interpreters ensure that everything involving translation of the discourse, presentation, speech or conversation is properly handled so that the participants can focus on the meeting that is taking place.
• The business interpreter works in various contexts. They may handle business negotiations, training sessions or study visits.
• In large meetings and conferences, the most straightforward and effective interpreting solution is simultaneous interpreting. This is the most complex but flexible type of interpreting. Simultaneous interpreters are very fluent in the original and target languages. They should be subject matter experts since they have to draw on their knowledge and expertise about the specific business sector, with a deep understanding of the particular business/industry terminology. They do not have the luxury of looking at dictionaries or other references while interpreting. Their delivery of the translation of what has been said involves a very short gap from the time of the delivery and the translation. They interpret from a soundproof booth, using a headset to listen to the speaker and simultaneously translate as the speaker talks. Speakers of the particular language listen to the translation through their own headphones in real time.
• A business interpreter has the ability to improve business negotiations. But as a communication facilitator, the interpreter also carries a huge amount of responsibility. It is not only about their language fluency. A business interpreter must also be aware of the cultural nuances, as well as the subtleties of the language. These two factors are critical to business negotiations and communication among meeting participants.
• The interpreter must be a very good listener and speaker. The work is very demanding. They should be incredibly focused in order to convey what is being said by the speaker accurately. They also require business language fluency aside from being fluent in the language they are translating into, as they have to precisely and quickly translate the message into another language.
• The business interpreter should also understand cultural sensitivities. This involves not only the language. The interpreter should be able to interpret nonverbal cues, subtle body language and other verbal cues from the speaker, to ensure the accuracy of the interpretation. Understanding cultural differences is important in order to convey the intentions and message of the speaker accurately. For example, a Japanese businessman avoids expressing direct negatives, so during negotiations, he may say tabun, which means This is an indication that he is not willing to consider the proposal. An English-speaking businessman would think that there is still a chance since it’s a maybe instead of a direct no.