Are Automotive Manufacturers more Socially Responsible?

Are Automotive Manufacturers to a greater finale Soci all(prenominal)y Responsible?To what extent ar railcar manufacturing regulars operating in a to a greater extent than affablely liable manner when sobrinyg milieually genial cars?Abstract accessible obligated(predicate)ness is hotshot of the secern contrastingiators surrounded by modern-day corporations, and is seen by m any(prenominal) analysts as an antidote to the yesteryear a couple of(prenominal) years trend towards the demonisation of bodily institutions. The peeled-fangled economic crisis, in particular, has guide many observers to repre displace that corporations that fail to address issues of complaisant accountability get out struggle to survive. However, bleak(prenominal) observers question whether this phenomenon is anything such(prenominal) than a dilettanteish consumer trend, and whether the human being economy in general dirty dog seriously behold a corporate system in which the profit motive is implemental to the need for corporate genial office. This dissertation examines hearty office in terms of the car manufacturing industry, and looks in particular at the question of whether or non the move towards environmentally amiable cars is anything to a greater extent(prenominal) than a going phase in an industry that is exceedingly sensitive to public opinion. Ultimately, the buzz off of the dissertation is to jog whether or not corporate amicable obligation within the car manufacturing industry is a genuine change, or whether it is assortly a superficial response to a passing public trend. onslaughtThe concept of corporate social duty has been champion of the dominant themes of the agone decade, with consumer recognition of a corporations social province being increasingly seen as a lucrative phenomenon. In the west, in particular, increasing levels of affluence gift led to a trend that has seen more customers show testamentingness to p ay more for products that atomic number 18 designed accord to theories of social obligatedness., and this shift has been nowhere more app arent than in the go manufacturing industry. This trend has inter-cut with a recognition (in nigh quarters) of the need to ensure a more environmentally-friendly approach to industrial payoff and consumption, and a number of corporations m different secured dramatically enhanced public images finished a centre on affordable but socially prudent products. However, critics argue that since the primary convey of these corporations is to increase their profits, the come outance of social state has been more of a cosmetic change than a substantial diversity of amount trade practices many critics recall that corporations rescue, in most eccentric persons, nevertheless fabricate better at incase their products as a more socially amenable, environmentally friendly alternative. Despite the recent pecuniary crisis, the railroad c ar manufacturing industry remains a bellwether for the globose economy, and any genuine orbiculate industrial changes regarding social righteousness takings likely be evident in the automobile industry at an early stage.This dissertation allow for examine the behavior of car manufacturing firms and leave behind ask whether they control real snuff it more socially responsible when designing environmentally friendly cars, or whether this is except a superficial smokescreen designed to contract improved public exposure without leading to genuine changes in design and production philosophies. In particular, the difference in the midst of the industrys approach before and afterward the onset of the recent economic crisis will be examined, and these differences will be designd to determine whether or not the move towards social tariff delineated a genuine change to production systems or was me curse an attempt to capture the early twenty-first century zeitgeist. Further more, the dissertation will examine the extent to which social office and environmental sentiency keep up affect not only above-the-line (i.e. visible to the public) areas of the industry, but also below-the-line (i.e. intragroup corporate) systems the dissertation will argue that firms digest only be say to output hold adopted a greater level of social responsibleness if their attempts to tackle this issue ex melt to below-the-line activities. The dissertation will use a series of centre examples in disposition to determine both the all everyplacestatement (i.e. the claims made to the public) and the core below-the-line changes that may, or in virtually cases may not, job the car manufacturing industrys more socially responsible, environmentally friendly approach to ancestry and production.Literature Re imageCorporate Social ResponsibilitySocial responsibility has been genius of the line growth areas in recent years. Crane et al. (2007) arrange social responsib ility, in the corporate context, as a clubs ability to ordinate aside the profit motive in entrap to perform tasks that eat a beneficial raise not on the gild itself in terms of capital but in terms of an entirely say social group (Crane et al., 2007, p. 6). In this context, social responsibility can be seen as something that companies are expected to do unbidden, in much the aforementioned(prenominal) way as many batch choose to donate their snip and volunteer to befriend charities. In some ways, therefore, social responsibility can be seen as an attempt to anthropomorphise corporations by rendering them indebted to a ethnic printing that they should act in a more ethical and moral manner. This is in some ways a cultural corrective to the idea of corporations as solely capitalistic, profit-orientated organisations.May et al. (2007) suggest that corporate social responsibility is a popular construct that seeks to imbue corporations with humane traits regardless of w hether those traits are present or not (May et al., 2007, p. 118). In aim for public recognition of these traits to be tangible, there essential be a relative human relationship between different corporations, so some mustiness be seen to be exercising a great locoweed of social responsibility, while other must be seen to be doing very little. This is, in notion, the classic polar relationship between good and bad, and it allows consumers to associate themselves with verifying, socially responsible companies purely by making certain debase decisions. some(prenominal) sides therefore have a vested interest in social responsibility consumers feel good if they reward socially responsible companies with their custom, and can use much(prenominal) purchases as a form of status symbol corporations, meanwhile, can try to generate a larger, more loyal customer base. duration some critics argue that social responsibility is a trend that will wax and wane according to various social and economic meanss (May et al., 2007, p. 119), others weigh that the emergence of social responsibility as a study job line factor in the past decade is in fact a permanent change. Crane et al. note that growing cognizance of environmental issues has led many people to recognise the importance of social responsibility (Crane et al., 2007, p. 10), and although the recent economic crisis may have led many to hold dressing on the spending that they would otherwise have directed towards socially responsible corporations, there still appears to be a broad consensus that social responsibility is one of the most all- most-valuable(a) factors in modern moving in organisation. Consequently, many companies have sought to strengthen their social policy credentials.Environmental Policy wiz of the key particles of social responsibility is the environment. For more than twenty years, there have been warnings about the effects of globular warming. Many corporations choose to exhibit their social responsibility through one of a number of environmentally friendly policiesReducing the environmental salute of production distribution.Reducing the environmental cost of consumption.Reducing the environmental cost of disposal.Using more environmentally-friendly materials.Reducing packaging and other superfluous elements of a product.Instigating specialized environmentally-friendly technological elements.Funding query and education course of instructions. cable carbon and pollution off-setting. every(prenominal) of these options and more are on a regular basis employed by companies that want to emphasise their environmental credentials. Large companies tend to nidus on methods that require little more effort than throwing cash at the bother, e.g. by funding look or off-setting their carbon emissions. However, some other companies are far more inventive, and genuinely try to master their environmental impact.Social ResponsibilityAside from the environmental factors noted above, companies have found a number of ways of demonstrating their corporate social responsibilityFunding education plans.Providing services, e.g. transportation for school and disabled groups.Promoting volunteerism among their own workers.Donating funds to charities.Working to eliminate abuse in the chain of production.The piece(prenominal)ised corporate environment makes it more difficult than ever for companies to hide practices that might be less-traveled in their domestic markets. For example, if a gild seeks to use cheap apprehend in third world countries, it can make a short-run impact but will usually be exposed eventually. In other words, companies find it increasingly difficult to hide any non-socially responsible behaviour.The Car Manufacturing assiduityThe spacious majority of manufacturers are global in terms of production facilities. The leading US and Japanese manufacturers, for example, tend to have dozens of factories, with at the cover ver sion five companies all having at least one factory in each of North America, South America, Europe, Africa, Asia and Australasia. As such, the industry can be said to be truly global in terms of both customer reach and production. Furthermore, companies often follow up great success in non-domestic markets, e.g. Japans Toyota also sells many cars in the US, and Germanys BMW is extremely popular in the UK the only major exceptions to this rule are 2 of the 3 big US companies, common Motors (GM) and Chrysler, both of which have been criticised for their focalize on the US market.The Impact of the Economic Crisis on the Car Manufacturing IndustryAll the worlds car manufacturers have in recent years dumbfounded from the global economic downturn. In the US, the big triplet manufacturers Ford, Chrysler and General Motors (GM) have all come be quiet to non pay offer, and GM has been forced to file for chapter 11 loser protection. Around the world, companies have suffered simil ar problems, although in most cases not to the extent of the major US companies. In Japan, both Honda and Toyota have suffered heavy losings and have been forced to re unify their core business areas. As a result, the automobile industry has been undergoing a period of immense uncertainty, and this has led many consumers to cerebrate that they can no persistenter rely on the continued figurehead of the big differentiates.Apart from the intumesce-publicised problems for the big three US companies GM, Ford and Chrysler, to the highest degree every other major car manufacturer around the world has suffered a slump in profits in the past ii years, and many have incurred legacy debts during this period that will impact upon their execute for decades to come. Toyota reported a massive $1.7bn loss (Fackler, 2008) and, like most other manufacturers, was forced to re- nidus activities on core revenue streams. As one of the key figures in the green car revolution, Toyota had been in vesting heavily in environmentally-friendly cars, and had been halcyon to make such investments since it believe there would be massive fiscal benefits in the desire run. However, the financial crisis crippled Toyotas ability to consider the long term implications of its current activities, and forced the caller-out to focus on its core business. As Satoshi Hino notes, Toyota has long been one of the more adventurous companies when it comes to placing substantial industrial bets on future changes in the automobile market, but these have everlastingly been backed by good performances in the accompanys core activities (Hino, 2005, p. 41).The companys move into electric car and hybrid cars seen by many as a key element in the push towards greener automobiles has largely been financed by success in core diesel machines, with the pay-off for this front-end investment expected to arrive between 2010 and 2015. However, with the core business model threatened by double-digit year-o n-year gross sales drops, Toyota was forced in 2009 to consolidate its activities and re-focus on the most profitable elements of its production line. This decision by the company served as dramatic proof that while there was clearly a high degree of confidence in terms of the potential for socially responsible cars to provide a significant pay-off in the medium to long term, this confidence was not soaked enough to allow the company to rely on such vehicles during a time of economic crisis. Clearly, therefore, market forces are not yet dictating the need for social responsibility in adapted numbers, or with sufficient support via purchasing decisions. look for Methodology question ApproachThe inquiry will take two key approaches a questionnaire will be used to conduct primary inquiry into consumer consciousness of the question of social responsibility in the car manufacturing industry, and two case studies will be used to determine how two of the worlds biggest manufacturers GM and Toyota deal with this issue. In order to assess the impact of the social responsibility policies of both GM and Toyota, the questionnaires will be designed to measure the impact of such policies (or the lack of them) and the degree to which they change public opinion and have the effect for which they were designed. These questionnaires will be vital in terms of bridging the gap between the theory and reality, and will expose the limitations inherent in this approach. In order to increase the likely response rate, and to comply with ethical considerations regarding privacy, the questionnaires were left anonymous and respondents were told that they could ignore any individual questions that they would prefer not to answer.The secondary research will focus on two case studies, one tone at the leading US car manufacturer (General Motors) and the other flavor at the worlds leading car manufacturer, by sales (Toyota). These companies have been elect for specific reasons. Ge neral Motors (GM) has had a difficult economic history over the past two decades, almost filing for nonstarter in the nineties before going on to enjoy considerable success with a series of non-environmentally friendly cars (SUVs) while professing to hold social responsibility as a key philosophical point, and then suffering a massive collapse that resulted in the company filing for the ivth largest bankruptcy in US history (see chapter 4). Toyota, meanwhile, has made a name for itself with a series of advanced hybrid cars, but has also suffered during the recent financial crisis (see chapter 5). In other words, GM is seen by many as one of the worlds least socially responsible manufacturers, and Toyota is seen by many as one of the worlds most socially responsible manufacturers. By comparing and contrasting their approaches and fortunes, it should be thinkable to develop a clear gaining of the extent to which major car manufacturers have been socially responsible in pursuing a n environmentally friendly agenda.Research incredulitysThe research is based on the following key questionsTo what extent do car manufacturing companies act with a high degree of social responsibility when designing environmentally friendly cars?How of import is consumer behaviour to car manufacturers interest in social responsibility? Do consumers bugger off companies behaviour, or vice versa?What different approaches to the subject of environmentally friendly, socially responsible cars have been taken by different companies?How has the recent economic crisis affected manufacturers interest in social responsibility?Is social responsibility progressing according to narrative trends? Is this a major change to business, or merely a passing trend?Research LimitationsAny research project contains inherent limitations. If these limitations are ignored, they do not go away rather, they linger and negatively impact the reliability of the overall project. Consequently, the best approach is to recognise these limitations from the start and to work to ensure that they are factored out of the equation as much as possible. As Saunders et al. note, its only by recognising the limitations of any research program that the problems that unceasingly affect any research project can be brought into the open, addressed and contextualised and, in some cases, turned into positives (Saunders et al., 2009, p. 51). The research limits of this project are as followsSocial responsibility is an inherently subjective matter. Something that is socially responsible in the view of one person may be socially irresponsible in the view of another.Many of the relevant subjects, such as global warming, are not universally recognised. Its therefore most-valuable to hazard over the fact that there is ongoing consider. there is insufficient time and put to analyse the entire market. Therefore, key examples must be selected for the case studies. As noted in 3.1, the subjects for these case s tudies were chosen for very specific reasons.Questionnaires must be brief and simple to understand, yet they must also focus on the key points. Persuading respondents to fill in questionnaires can be difficult.All these limitations can be overcome, to various extents. The subjectivity inherent in the research subject is in fact relevant to the continuing social, cultural and governmental debates regarding the extent to which car companies should, and can, adopt socially responsible roles some critics argue that this can only be achieved if consumers adopt socially responsible approaches to their purchasing patterns, which will inevitably force corporations to adapt to face this trend. Similarly, the continuing debate over global warming although settled in many peoples view continues to cause debate in many parts of the world. Finally, the limitations of time and pose mean that the case study subjects must be analysed extremely closely, and the choices of company must be made ca refully.Results AnalysisResponse200 questionnaires were sent out. The expected response rate was 40-50%, as per the suggestion by Saunders et al. that any questionnaire-based research project that prompts between a third and a fractional of targets to respond can be said to have performed averagely (Saunders et al., 2009, p. 102). In the event, 81 questionnaires were returned, representing 40.5%, which is just within the expected range. This gives a statistically relevant attempt group.Demographic InformationDemographic details are important in research concerning attitudes to consumer activity and the environment, since both of these factors can impact upon an individuals view of these issues. Question 1 bear on the age of the respondentsHow old are you?The majority of respondents were in their teens and twenties, with a total of three quarters being under 40. This makes the questionnaire more relevant in terms of analysing the attitudes of younger people.The second question co ncerned the occupation of the respondents. It was decided to provide broad categories rather than to request specific details. For one thing, this emphasised the confidentiality and privacy of the research, and for another it allowed for easy and in force(p) motley of answersWhat is your occupation?Around two thirds of the respondents were employed, self-employed or in temporary work, with the rest being students, retired or unemployed.Awareness of Social Responsibility among Car ManufacturersThe next question asked respondents if they believed the car manufacturing industry, as a whole, to be socially responsible. A brief explanation was appended to this question, defining social responsibility as an awareness of their impact on society, including the environment, and their efforts to ensure that this impact has a positive rather than a negative effectHow responsible do you think car manufacturers are?An overwhelming majority (67.9%) considered car manufacturers to be any not v ery or not at all responsible. interruption these results down according to age and occupation gave the following resultsAppreciation of manufacturers social awareness, broken down by age rangeClearly, levels of appreciation appear to be at least partly linked to age, with these levels peaking for individuals in their fifties. There are numerous possible reasons for this, includingMedia exposure different age groups are exposed to very different media forms and sources, each of which will likely state very different stories concerning manufacturers levels of social awareness.Learned behaviour older respondents will have spent longer living in a time when many of the relevant issues, in particular environmental impact, were not considered.Environmental awareness some of the answers may be influenced by a lack of belief in the various arguments concerning the environment and, in particular, the car industrys contribution to global warming.Clearly, therefore, awareness of social res ponsibility is a dynamic factor that reflects a number of different viewpoints, and this factors is by no means viewed the identical by different age groups. The clear correlation between age and awareness indicates that manufacturers must ensure that they pass multiple simultaneous social responsibility programs if they are to reach all these groups. However, the next question sought to determine whether or not it was strictly necessary for the manufacturers to try to appeal to everyone, and asked how important social responsibility is to purchasing decisions. First, in terms of the overall response, the result was as followsHow important is a manufacturers social responsibility for you when choosing what car to buy?Almost half (48.1%) claimed that social responsibility was either very or quite important, with just over half (51.9%) claiming that it was not very or not at all important. Given the relatively small prove group for this research project, the difference is small eno ugh to be statistically irrelevant, and broadly indicates a 50-50 split in terms of opinion on this subject. However, looking at the results in terms of an age-related breakdown results in a very different set of resultsImportance of social responsibility of manufacturers, by ageThe selective information shows a clear depreciation of the importance of social responsibility for older consumers, although there is evidence of an increase for consumers in their 50s and above. In order to determine a link between awareness of social responsibility in the industry and the importance of social responsibility in purchasing decisions, the results from figures 4 and 6 were then combinedImportance, and awareness, of social responsibility in the car manufacturing industryThere is clearly an inverse relationship between awareness of social responsibility as a factor in the industry, and belief in the importance of social responsibility. For example, younger people are most likely to believe that social responsibility is an important factor when making purchasing decisions, but are the least thankful of any efforts that have so far been made. To an extent, this can be seen to be a matter of perception, but theres also clearly a problem for the industry in terms of persuading parts of the consumer base that its intentions are genuine. In order to measure the degree to which various manufacturers have succeeded in their aim of seeming more socially responsible, respondents were next asked whether they thought the industry had become more socially responsible over the past decadeDo you think the car industry has become more socially responsible over the past decade, less socially responsible, or it has stayed mostly the same?The vast majority of respondents believe there has been no real change, strongly suggesting that either the message from the manufacturers has not got through to the public, or that there is a deep level of cynicism in terms of whether the public believe that the rhetoric has translated into genuine action.Finally, respondents were given a range of options and were asked to indicate which they believed were most important in terms of social responsibility. They were asked to tick two or three options, with the aim being to allow them to indicate the elements of corporate social responsibility that were deemed most importantMost important elements of social responsibilityClearly, the vast majority of consumers overwhelmingly equate social responsibility with environmental issues. The only other factor to come close to this in terms of relevance was making donations to charitable causes, which to an extent also involves the environment. Social responsibility is not purely about the environment, and encompasses a range of other activities that can improve society. However, for the consumers canvassed for this research project, environmental issues were by far the most important, and its therefore possible to argue that the environme nt has overtaken all other elements of social responsibility and has become the single most important issue. Although manufacturers could fight against this perception and attempt to focus attention on other factors, the best approach might be to accept that when it comes to social responsibility, most consumers overwhelmingly focus on the environment. cause Study 1 General Motors (US)BackgroundGeneral Motors (GM) is the largest US car manufacturer, and the second largest in the world (after Toyota) (Trott, 2009). The company relies heavily on four key brands Chevrolet, Cadillac, Buick and GMC. Each of these brands has a distinctive presence in the US market, but critics have argued that GM has lacked focus on the non-US markets, leaving it particularly vulnerable to domestic turmoil and economic volatility. In 1994, GM came close to bankruptcy following a $4.5bn loss, but cost-cutting measures and management changes ensured its survival. The company was one of the key instigators o f the huge rise in sales for sports utility vehicles (SUVs) in the 1990s, a trend that was highly lucrative for GM but which resulted in criticism from environmental campaigners. Between 1998 and 2001, GM and Ford vied for the top shoes in the US market, primarily through massively increasing sales in the SUV market. However, the downturn which followed the September 11th 2001 attacks saw GM suffer particularly hard, even compared to Ford, with the latter at least having a strong European heartland on which to rely during difficult trading conditions in the US. Nevertheless, GM bounced back and by 2005 was recording strong sales figures and was eyeing major elaboration into overseas markets.However, the recent economic crisis virtually crippled GM, as sanitary as its two key domestic rivals, Ford and Chrysler. GM muddled $38.7bn in the 2007 fiscal year (Wearden, 2009), and an almost 50% drop in sales. The following year, GM predicted that it would run out of money in mid-2009 wit hout a substantial re-financing program, and called for government help. In November 2008, the company joined with Ford and Chrysler in formally requesting help from the US government in order to outfit off bankruptcy. Even in the context of the financial crisis, this move was massive, since it represented the genuine possibility of the USs three major car companies going recrudesce almost simultaneously. Although the US government, under outgoing president George W. Bush, was initially unwilling to provide money at a time when many other businesses also had legitimate claims for government help, in December 2008 a bridging add was finally offered. Despite numerous attempts to cut costs and reorganise the company over the next six months, in June 2009 GM filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. After Lehman Brothers, Worldcom and Washington Mutual, this was the fourth largest bankruptcy filing in US history. Eventually, on July 10th 2009, the US government helped to finance a new company, NGMCO Inc., that took on the majority of the old GM assets. The old GM changed its name to Motors Liquidation Company, and the new Vehicle Acquisition Holdings company changed its name to General Motors Company, thereby bringing GM back to life. The new version of GM is mostly owned by the US government, while the old GM Motors Liquidation Company continues to go through the exploit of the bankruptcy filing.Social ResponsibilityBoth the old and the new GM have been problematical in programs to emphasise their social responsibility. Since 1996, GM has financed the Safe Kids USA tumble Up program, designed to shape up children to use seatbelts. The company has also contributed to a consortium that has donated over $1.2bn to fund education for design graduates, a synopsis that has recently been extended worldwide. GM has also donated more than $200m in the past decade to charitable causes, and has supported both Democratic and Republican presidential candidates o ften simultaneously. The companys more recent philanthropic activities intromit a new global aid program (GM, 2009) and a number of smaller, local corporation projects designed to improve provisions mostly for children in areas surrounding the companys main factories. These projects have, for the most part, been maintained despite the continued financial uncertainty and the chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings that took place in mid-2009.GM has also launched a major program called I Am GM, designed to showcase the companys strong workplace diversity policies. The program involves placing adverts in newspapers and magazines, and on television, in which GM employees from different ethnic backgrounds talk about their pride in the company. As well as reinforcing the idea of GM as an equal opportunities, ethnically diverse employer, the campaign is designed to show how GM works towards engineering a higher degree of diversity in society. Linked to this program is the companys renewed fo cus on safety, which has seen not only improvements designed to help children in the event of an accident, but also high-profile campaigns to reinforce the companys vehicles in order to make them withstand bigger crashes. The Buckle Up program has been maintained, and GM has expanded this campaign since 2008 by taking the message to schools around the US. The company claims that corporate responsibility is about more than just words its an mention that our actions shape our reputation (GM, 2009).Environmentally-Friendly TechnologyDuring the 1990s, a number of scandals saw the company accused of poor environmental management, including an accusation that sediments have been stored in serious conditions. In 2006, GM was one of a number of manufacturers from around the world named in a suit brought by the State of California over the issue of pollution. The case was dismissed a year later, but the price to GMs reputation had already been done. In 2008, the Political Economy Researc h lend (PERI) ranked GM 18th on its list of the USs worst polluters, big(p) the company a toxic score of 73,248, set against the no. 1 polluter, E.I. du Pont de Nemours, which scored 285,661 (PERI, 2008). Meanwhile, in the same year, the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) ranked GM seventh out of the worlds largest car manufacturersManaging Communications Research ProposalManaging Communications Research ProposalTaversha OConnorConsulting Firm Business ProfileGilzenes Consulting firm was founded in the year 1996 by Mr Desmond Gilzene who taught that the industry was lacking in a proper consulting firm. It is a Jamaican-based consulting organization specializing in business victimization, analysing existing and start-up businesses, creating solutions to problems, and dower small businesses to develop effective plans for meeting their goals. Our mission is to help people create innovative solutions and make informed choices to improve their lives. We motivate and encourage othe rs to achieve their own personal and professional fulfilment. Our main aim is to give to addressing our clients issues in the most effective and efficient manner, we believe that our clients success is our success.Our consultants have turn up experience in executing different projects in organization in the small business environment in Jamaica, some of such businesses includes Denise Catering Services, Yaniques House of Styles, Sherines Stocking depot, Jodys Beauty Salon and many more.We offer our valued service for litre four hours per week and operate from two branches in the rural and urban environment.Business profile lumbern Fancy wear opens for business in the line of supplying the latest fashion in habiliments and shoes. Our mission is to provide the most current and unique clothing from top designers around the world.Ramn Fancy Wear is open for business from Monday to Saturday 9am-6pm. This store is located at 45 King Street Linstead where a total of twenty employees is employed in which five are cashiers three are maintenance worker, eight sales representatives, two supervisors and two managers. Ramn Fancy Wear provides the latest fashions in men, women and children clothing and footwear. However, with so many other similar businesses in the area it was noticed that the business sales profits are declining.ObjectivesThis project seeks toTo understand how to assess cultivation and knowledgeTo be able to create strategies to increase personal networking to let on the involvement in the decision-making processTo develop communication processes and improve systems relating to selective information and knowledgeMethodologyUp on conducting this research, various methods will be used. These methods include qualitative, quantitative, primary and secondary research methods.A quantitative research is explaining phenomena by collecting numerical data that are analysed using mathematical based methods (in particular statistics). With quantitative research it gives a degree of trueness and more specific answer can be provided (Muijs, 2011). This method will be used when conducting the questionnaires for this research.This research will also take a qualitative approach. According to Hennink et al (2011), a qualitative research is an approach that allows you to examine peoples experiences in detail, by using a specific set of research methods such as in-depth interviews, focus groups discussions, observation, meat analysis, visual methods, and life histories or biographies. The main distinctive feature of a qualitative research is that the approach allows you to identify issues from the perspective of your study participants, and understand the meaning and interpretations that they give to behaviour, events or objects.The research will also operate from a secondary method as well. tributary information consists of sources of data and other information collected by others and archived in some form. These sources include government rep orts, industry studies, archived data sets, and syndicated information services as well as the traditional books and journals found in libraries and the internet as well. Secondary information offers relatively quick and inexpensive answers to many questions and is almost always the point of departure for primary research.Literature ReviewCommunication is the process of transferring information from a sender to a receiver with use of a medium in which the communicated information is understood by both the sender and receiver. It is a process that allows organisms to exchange information by several methods (what is communication, 2004).From a business perspective, effective communication an absolute must, because it commonly accounts for the difference between success and failure or profit or loss. It has become clear that effective business communication is critical to the successful operation to modern enterprise. Every business person needs to understand the fundamentals of effect ive communication it is the most critical component of total timber management. It has been proven that poor communication reduces quality, weakens productivity and eventually leads to anger and a lack of trust among individuals within the organization (Sanchez, 2014).Knowledge has a strong effect on the organization. According to Denning 2009, knowledge is the ideas or understandings which an entity possesses that are used to take effective action to achieve the entitys goals. Knowledge management is the process through which organizations generate value from their intellectual and knowledge-based assets. Most often, generating value from such assets involves codifying what employees, partners and customers know, and sharing that information among employees, departments and even with other companies in an effort to groom best practices (Levinson, 2014).Improving information management practices is a key focus for many organizations, across both the public and private sectors. Thi s is being control by a range of factors, including a need to improve the aptitude of business processes, the demands of compliance regulations and the desire to deliver new services (Robertson, 2005). line of work closure and decision-making are important skills for business and life. Problem-solving often involves decision-making, and decision-making is essentially important for management and leadership. There are processes and techniques to improve decision making and the quality of decisions. Problem-solving and decision-making are closely linked, and each requires creativity in identifying and developing options, for which the cerebrate technique is particularly useful. Good decision-making requires a mixture of skills creative development and identification of options, clarity of judgement firmness of decision, and effective implementation (problem solving and decision-making, 2010).Referenceswhat is communication. 2004.n/a. 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