Fluent Essays

Respond to Rachael and Taylor with at least one fully developed paragraph. What is your reaction to their moment of persuasion? Would you have done the same thing, or would you have approached the situation differently? Why or why not? Remember, your approach can be completely different from your peer's approach, as you can bring your own unique perspectives and life experiences to the situation.   Rachael post I spent the bulk of my life working in a customer service setting and I can think of numerous times where I have had to go head to head with either my boss or one of my employees. One time that comes to mind is while I worked managing a Family Dollar store. The Christmas season had just wrapped and we were moving all unsold merchandise to a clearance area. I moved mine to the “final” location against a wall rather than the main aisle which the district manager and I butted heads on. He wanted it in the main flow of traffic where as I wanted to be able to put out my next seasons merchandise knowing that my stockroom was already full and the Christmas stuff would have to be moved again in a week and a half anyway. After going back and forth we compromised giving one four foot section to Christmas clearance with a sign indicating where more was located. I was frustrated by the fact that in my small store the district manager was insisting on us moving merchandise multiple times when it could easily be seen almost anywhere you stood. It created more work for me as well as my staff and because we were short handed at the time it just seemed illogical to move something only to move it again the following week. Doing it once was more efficient, but I accepted the compromise knowing it was probably best. Taylor post A moment of persuasion that I can recall is when I tried to convince my dad to enroll in automatic payments for his bills. My dad is very unorganized and has a hard time managing his payment due dates for bills. I am consistently trying to convince him to set up automatic payments for his bills, as this will limit the amount of manual tracking for him to do. He gets very aggravated and stressed when he has payments that come past due, and more times than not this tardiness incurs late fees. He knows that automatic payments would help reduce the stress of tracking payments and the late fees incurred, but his urgency of wanting control of his payments being made dominates his decision making. I showed him that sometimes there are more benefits that companies offer when you can sign up for automatic payments such as discounts on your monthly rate, but this has yet to alter his mind set. My moment of persuasion was unsuccessful, as I haven’t been able to break my dad out of his comfort zone. I used several methods of persuasion one of which was showing him the benefits of automatic payments, and the stress that is relieved by doing so. I have also tried showing him methods that can be used to track automatic bill pay, such as writing the automatic payment dates on a calendar. I know he likes to be in control of submitting his payments and knowing the balance that is needed in his account to pay the bills, however he is unable to track the bill due dates successfully, which leads to further stress and aggravation. Although I was unable to successfully persuade him in this moment, I am hopeful that the evolvement of technology will provide a level comfort to users who are uneasy with the processing of automatic payments currently. Respond to Ezell and Alicia post by sharing your own observations on their chosen countries and asking questions to encourage other considerations. Ezell post The country I have chosen for my final project is Spain. Although I have never visited Spain, I have always had a genuine desire to learn more about the Spanish culture and language. A few years ago, I completed a one-year certification course in Culinary Arts at the University of South Carolina. For one of my final projects, I successfully prepared a Spanish dessert of sweet egg yolks with saffron cream and almond crust (Yemas de Santa Teresa sobre cremoso de azafrn y crujiente de almendra). That dish impressed my instructors (as well as myself) because of the difficulty in the cookery of the egg yolks to achieve the correct texture and sparked my interest in Spanish cuisine. Through this project I expect to gain a deeper understanding of Spanish laws, culture, customs, economics, and other information that is important in the consideration of conducting business in the Spanish market. Business Observations: ⦁ Strategic location along approaches to Strait of Gibraltar. ⦁ Major seaports, container ports and LNG (liquid natural gas) terminals allow for easy access for imports and exports by sea. 102 airports with paved runways provide access to transportation by air. ⦁ Despite rigorous law enforcement efforts, North African, Latin American, Galician, and other European traffickers take advantage of Spain's long coastline to land large shipments of cocaine and hashish for distribution to the European market. This can potentially expose the company to risks associated with organized crime and hijackings. ⦁ The age structure indicates a strong labor force with 53.51% of the population falling within the working age group of 15–54-year-old individuals. A literacy rate of 98.4% indicates a trainable work force. ⦁ The largest urban agglomerations are found along the Mediterranean and Atlantic coasts and can provide a source of trainable employees in close proximity to major seaports and potential jobsites. Alicia post The country I chose for my final project is New Zealand. I had several friends who traveled there when I lived in Hawaii, and I always hoped to go as well. The landscape is gorgeous, and the famous kindness of the inhabitants appeals to me the most. I am excited to learn more about their business practices.  Geographic Elements (Central Intelligence Agency, 2015): Regional location -South Pacific Ocean to the southeast of Australia. Positioned along the ring of fire. Water access -Tasman sea, South Pacific Ocean Bordering countries- Shares maritime borders with Australia, Tonga, Fiji and other island nations in Oceania.  Natural hazards or climate- Earthquakes, volcanic activity. Country Composition (Central Intelligence Agency, 2015): Literacy race - 99% Rate of Urbanization - 0.92% annual rate of change and 86.8% urban population Heavily populated cities- Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch Major religions Christian- 37.3% Educational data - 6.3% of GDP Age Structure 0-14: 19.63%. 15-24: 12.92%. 25-54: 39.98%. 55-64: 11.93%. 65+ 15.54%. Business observations:  ⦁ Wellington Harbor functions as the country’s trading, transportation and communications hub.  ⦁ There is no formal class structure in society. A person’s level of education and wealth does not earn them status or respect; instead, it is simply acknowledged that they have an advantage or a ‘leg up in life’ ⦁ The indigenous people (Māori) are more likely to earn less, have poorer health standards and economic standards of living.  ⦁ Strong social and political will to preserve the natural environment. ⦁ New Zealanders do not like high-pressure tactics or selling that is confrontational and pushy. ⦁ Aiming for a fair deal will create better chances of future business with them, so emphasize win-win scenarios. ⦁ Decision making can be a slow process as subordinates are often consulted. ⦁ Expanding New Zealand’s network of free trade agreements remains a top foreign policy priority.  ⦁ China is one of New Zealand’s most important trading partners.  From the above information New Zealand handles its business relationships well and values honesty. If water ways were impacted operations would falter since that is one of the only avenues to which they receive goods. There are always risks when living or doing business on an island. There is a sense of uncertainty and disasters can always happen, products can be harder to get including shortages and more.