CARDIFF METROPOLITAN UNIVERSITY

UNIVERSAL BUSINESS SCHOOL

Name: Ankush Goel

Course: BABM Level 4

Student id: 20095314

Subject: Business in Global Context BSP 4002

Module leader: Prof. Siddhartha Bose Signature

REFLECTIVE COMMENTARY
BUSINESS IN GLOBAL CONTEXT

Abstract: This Report showcases the understanding of Business in Global Context with reference to
the patchworks. It analysis and provides a reflective summary of various patchworks and incorporates
them in the Business of Global Context
Contents Pg No.

Executive Summary 2

Introduction 3

Patchwork 1: Climate change is real: The 4

earth is drowning

Patchwork 2: The Chain of Happiness  6

Patchwork 3: Clonacion Business Ethics and 8

CSR

Patchwork 4: Use and Abuse of Digital 10

Technology

Conclusion: Connecting the dots 13

Bibliography 14

REFLECTIVE COMMENTARY 1
 BUSINESS IN GLOBAL CONTEXT

Executive Summary

This Report explains the meaning of Business in Global Context and analysis how business
activities affect the Business world globally. This portfolio contains Four different patchworks
addressing the global business environment. The First Patchwork launches a campaign with the
theme of standing up for environment, aimed at the business community it raises awareness towards
adoption of sustainable development as a measure of growth. The Second Patchwork raises the
importance of Happiness and incorporates the PERMA model. The Third Patchwork explains the
importance of Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility with reference to a case study and the
final fourth patchwork enlightens about the use and abuse of digital technology. Finally, the
outcomes of all the patchworks are explained providing a better understanding of the subject
Business in Global Context.

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Introduction

Business in Global context at its core analysis the business environment across the globe it works
towards defining the way people interact in different regions and economies. It also analysis the forces
which globally influence the decision making in any organization. Through globalization the whole
world has become a global village and in this global village we have diverse people settled in diverse
economies, BGC targets towards defining how consumers and marketplaces interact and impact the
business environment. The subject also highlights the internal and external factors which influence business
decisions.

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Patchwork 1 - Climate change is real: The earth is drowning

(Made by: Ankush Goel)

Climate change is real and is happening across the globe rapidly. Claudine Schneider, a famous
environmentalist and former US representative in The green lifestyle said, “A healthy ecology is the
basis for a healthy economy.” (Forbes.com, 2016). The first patchwork raises concerns regarding the
environment and how business houses need to immediately stand up and preserve the deteriorating
environment. The first patchwork contains a poster displayed above and a press briefing surrounding the
posters theme. The press release explains the theme of the poster and also highlights the repercussions if
business houses don’t stand up for the environment.

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The poster portrays how our planet is drowning due to industrial pollution and degradation our
industries have caused. It highlights the fact that climate change is happening at a very rapid rate, it also
accepts the fact that with the growth in global population demands would increase however if
development is not carried out in a sustainable way without harming the environment the world would
collapse and drown.

Global warming and other environmental issues are on the rise and one of the major reason for their
escalation is the amount industrial waste business houses produce and dump to satisfy the ever
increasing human needs. Environmental problems such as brownfield effect are also visible now.

The patchwork also compares how the world has changed in the past decade, earlier we had forests and
fresh air around us but now we only have concrete forests surrounding us. As inhabitants, it reminds us
our responsibility towards the environment and encourages us to act immediately before it’s too late.
Corporates in one way or the other are contributing towards suffocating our earth be it by discharging
untreated chemical waste in rivers or by emitting harmful gases like NOx and CO2.

The heart of this patchwork encourages business houses across the globe to work towards sustainable
development and stand up for the environment which provided us everything and asked nothing in
return. This patchwork also helps realize the problems a new organization could face in setting up
industries. There is an urgent need to act towards preserving the environment or else the human race will
reach a dead end from which there is no turning back.

Volkswagen group is the perfect example to justify that if corporates don’t work towards preserving the
environment they can face serious repercussions. The company faced a huge setback due to their poor
and bogus emission standards and is set to face huge monetary loss, close to €2.5 Bn. Worth loss was
noted in October last year (BBC News, 2016)

Taking Volkswagen’s example, we can surely say that if companies don’t start taking environmental
sustainability a priority governments and social organizations will interfere which may cause huge
monetary loss. Thus, it is crucial globally for any business house to work on preserving the environment
as it has an indirect yet crucial role to play in a company’s success.

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Patchwork 2 - The Chain of Happiness 

(PERMA model, 2016)

The Second patchwork helps understand the importance of happiness in today’s business environment.
The patchwork explains that a happy person is more productive and efficient. The PERMA model
incorporated here shows the critical requirements of any person to be happy and increase his output at
work. (Authentichappiness.sas.upenn.edu, 2016).

[P] Positive Emotions: In the business world it is essential for a person to be surrounded by positive
thoughts and emotions like contentment and joyfulness in order to succeed in today’s competitive and
stressful business world. (Positive Psychology, 2016)

[E] Engagement: Productivity can be increased through proper engagement. Engagement in a task can
be achieved by concentrating and setting priorities which not only makes work easier but also helps a
person increase his efficiency and improve his overall wellbeing. (Positive Psychology, 2016)

[R] Relations: People with positive healthy relations tend to be happier than others, Relations matter as
they act as support systems during harsh times, when there are healthy relations between peers a chain of
happiness gets created and positive emotions start flowing in, helping in development of strong work
relations. (Authentichappiness.sas.upenn.edu, 2016)

[M] Meaning: People want to work for the bigger picture, a bigger cause than just making money to
feed themselves. If a person attaches meaning to his work, he can achieve job satisfaction which
provides immense pleasure and happiness. (Pascha, 2015)

[A] Achievements: Achieving something provides a sense of inner satisfaction and immense pleasure
which not only boosts one’s confidence but also makes him happy. Everyone in the business world
strives to achieve greater heights and accomplishing tasks satisfies them. However, it is important to
limit aspirations at a certain point and stay happy with what you have in order to make sure you don’t
blindly run after achieving goals rather than enjoying the achievements. (Pascha, 2015) 6
Money and Happiness
The patchwork also links the happiness a person gets from his remunerations. Google is known to be the
best company to work in because not only it offers a great working environment but also pays
handsomely (Fortune, 2016). More money means greater purchasing power which not only increases sales
but also enables a person to buy things that provide higher level of satisfaction. Money is not everything
but in today’s world it is nothing less than oxygen you need it at every step from buying clothes to
buying cars everything requires money. Money can directly satisfy and take any individual to the 4th
level of Maslow’s need theory.

However, the patchwork also reminds us that there is no certain tangible or intangible medium
delivering happiness to an individual or a group who strive to achieve it at all times.

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Patchwork 3 – Clonacion Business Ethics and CSR

Business ethics is the study of business practices and actions a

company takes to solve controversial issues, these are often guided
by law and also provide the basic framework a corporate adopts in
CSR & EThics in BGC
order to be publically accepted (De George, 2011). The term “Ethics”
finds its origination from the Greek word “ethos” meaning the Xerox Corporation is an
beliefs of a community. Ethics are those standards that define what industry leader in document
is morally right and what is wrong. (Arora, 2014)
technology, with a revenue of
Corporate Social Responsibility on the other hand is the initiative a
over $19 Bn. It has been
corporate company takes to make up for the effect it has had on the
environment it basically is a company’s responsibility towards the awarded the most ethical

environment (Investopedia, 2007). company award for more than

An organizations business ethics and CSR activities define its 5 straight years by the
business environment. Business environment has two aspects Ethisphere Magazine. The
internal and external. Internal factors operate within the business
whereas external factors cannot be contained inside the business yet Company is a perfect example

have an impact on the business. (HBR on business and the environment, to show that with high ethical
2000)
standards a company can
The business environment of any company is critically affected by
reach ultimate heights.
their ethical standards and CSR initiatives.
(Xerox.com, 2016)
Patchwork 3 designs a case study on the ethics and CSR activities of
Clonacion & Co. It highlights the Companies vision, CSR initiatives
and ethical code of conduct. The Case Study also highlights the
ethical dilemma the company faced and how their strong ethics and
CSR initiatives helped the company reach newer heights.

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Clonacion and Co. provides an innovative service of a Virtual Trial-room. The company focuses on
developing 3-D clones of people and help them experience an apparel without physically trying it.

Clonacion has achieved stake holder appreciation and numerous awards for their high ethical standards
and CSR initiatives.

Clonacion’s approach towards Ethics

“Ethics and CSR is not an added dimension to our company ethics and CSR are the core components
that make our company” – Vaneet Chaudhary, CEO Clonacion. The company has as a separate Ethics
Compliance officer who has a special dedicated team and directly reports to the CEO. They have also
incorporated a 24x7 ethics helpline and to make sure that their customers data is not misused they protect
customer’s data through high security servers and advanced encryption techniques.

Clonacion’s Take on CSR

The company partnered with more than 50 orphanages and Non Profit Organizations to work for the under-
privileged children and provide access to proper clothing and enable them to live a dignified life. The
company partnered with T.H.E foundation and invested over $1.5 Mn. on afforestation and also donates
money to eradicate poverty. Clonacion also works towards Skilling India and provides computer and
vocational traing courses in various rural regions. The case study reports how Clonacion through its
dedication and passion towards making the world a better place has been recognized by bodies like Forbes
and Ethisphere to be one of the youngest and most ethical company in the world.

This case study determines that businesses across the globe if practice high ethical standards and conduct
CSR initiatives will not only achieve customer loyalty but also achieve stakeholder appreciation. The crux of
this case study allows us to use our creative imagination to build the significance of ethics and CSR in
today’s dynamic world.

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Patchwork 4 – The use and Abuse of Digital Technology

The Final fourth patchwork addresses our dependence on technology and how the most powerful
medium in today’s world can be misused. Technology has indeed revolutionized the business
environment; it has made communication across the globe convenient but this convenience has slowly
taken over our entire life. The patchwork increases awareness on how it is time to take control of our life
and not be ruled by the same gadgets we created. The patchwork also highlights the fact that the same
technology which we use to simplify our life can pose as a big threat if misused.
(Businessreviewaustralia.com, 2016)

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Technology is advancing with each passing day and with these Technology in the Business
advancements the entire business world is now shifting and world
Amazon is all set to disrupt the
adopting the digital era. Technology has not only helped cost e-commerce business
reduction but also allowed newer ventures to start. environment with the launch of
Amazon Drones.
Due to technological advancements people can do business across
Amazon drones not only reduce
the globe a simple way to define is the way we can communicate delivery costs but also provide
through the help of e-mails and systems like skype. However, quick delivery options through
the use of drones in their supply
everything has two sides to it, we see the good side of technology chain system.
but the truth is it also has a bad side attached to it. This patchwork
raises awareness about the dark side of technology as well. (Amazon.com, 2016)
(Smallbusiness.chron.com, 2016)

The Use of Technology

Due to the evolution of technology books have almost vanished and

eBooks and Ipad’s have indeed replaced them. Software’s such as
TurnItin have helped make sure that students don’t just copy paste
from the web but actually conduct a critical analysis of the topic.
Technology has helped make sure that our close ones are safe and
secure, with the help applications like SOS and PERS help is just a
touch away. Technology has helped us become more cautious about
health with and software’s such as word and excel have made the
business world a lot simpler. (Caregiver Stress, 2016)

Cloud Computing and mobility have disrupted the business

environment with increase in mobility and the access to any and
everything on demand has also allowed companies to judge
customer behavior through analytics and market with systems like
Google AdWords. (App Data Room, 2013)

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The Abuse of Technology
Technology has literally dominated our world we have truly become depended on it. Social interactions
have almost dissolved and everyone prefers to keep in touch through mediums like Facebook and
Twitter rather than physically meeting. People have become lethargic and have limited their life to their
gadgets. Another serious issue besides the dependence on technology is its misuse through Pornography,
hacking and sexual exploitation and cyber bullying. (pathak, 2013)

The patchwork sums up that indeed digital technology has changed us and our methods of conducting
business. Today it is an inseparable part of our lives but it is very important to understand that too much
of everything is bad. We need to not only use the internet prudently but also make sure that we don’t
become dependent on something we created. The patchwork also provides an understanding that in
order to get a competitive edge in today’s business environment companies need to accept and adopt the
digital era.

(Anon, 2016)

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Conclusion: Connecting the dots
This report attempts to connect the four patchworks to get insights on the subject - business in global
context.

The first patchwork helps understand the importance to preserve the environment. All businesses operate
in this environment and if there is no environment there is no business. The patchwork makes us realize
that the entire human race the inventions the businesses everything is dependent on the environment and
if steps towards preserving it are not taken the world will drown and with it we all will reach the dead
end Thus it is important businesses across the globe take action and act as responsible corporate citizens
to preserve our earth before it’s too late.

The second patchwork tells us about basic human psychology if employees are happy they are more
productive. In order to get the most from employees an organization must motivate them not only with
money but also with positivity, engagement, attempting to build healthier work relations and providing a
sense of achievement as well as meaning to their job.

The third patchwork defines the role of ethics and CSR for a company’s growth It defines how it is
necessary for organizations across the globe to address social issues rather than just running behind
profits. The case study also defines how by following ethics and giving back to the society helps create
customer loyalty and enhance a company’s brand image.

The fourth and final patchwork enlightens about the power of technology and how it can be used and
misused. It also states the fact that in order to survive in the corporate world businesses have to accept
and adopt technology globally. Technology has indeed transformed the business world and made it a lot
simpler however it is important to make sure that we don’t become slaves of technology. Humans
created the world’s most powerful tool in the form of internet and with great power comes great
responsibility hence it is essential to make sure that this power is used prudently.

Business is not just about earning profits but involves various dimensions such as making sure
employees are motivated and happy, to see to it that you don’t just take and take form the environment
but also give back to the society ensure there is prudent use of technology and finally make sure that the
environment stays undisturbed and intact because there is no growth or advancement if there is no
environment.

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Bibliography

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 PERMA model. (2016). [image] Available at:

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