Decisions in Paradise Part III, Essay Example

I am Nik and this is my second week on the beautiful island of Kava in the South Pacific, where natural disasters are routine matter. Last week I have already told you about the proposal I made to the company’s management team with intent to strengthen our presence on Kava and help rebuild the island after the natural disasters, which the area is being hit by periodically. The proposal seems to be financially beneficial for the company in the long run, and is also bound to building up a better image of the company if we play our cards right.

The proposal that I sent to the head quarter was met by a mixed response. Alex assured me that some of the managers thought the idea to be outrageous and too bold, while those in my favor said that it was exactly the type of presence the company required on the Kava. Luckily, Mr. Chris Morales had the final vote and agreed go for it, meanwhile giving the orders to start working on the project. The first and the biggest problem was of that of the finances. To undertake the amount of work proposed, we needed a front loading financing. It was like getting all the star players with heavy contracts, without knowing how they will perform in a team with each other. It was therefore decided to break down the work in two parts. The first part was that of the short term objectives, while the second incorporated the long term ones.

The purpose was to start the short term financially feasible projects right away. This was supposed to show the company’s presence on the island as well as to start creating hype.  On the other hand, the primary intention was to start involving the disaster faced people and getting them involved in rebuilding and gaining control over their lives with the purpose of getting them back on their feet as soon as possible. It was our job to make them realize that getting down in own innings did not mean that we were not able to bounce back to win the match. For the short term projects, the initial investment was low and the return could have easily come from the consumers directly. We did not want to work on a higher profit margin as profit was not the main consideration here. As a result, we initiated two other consumer alternatives. First was consumable, easily supplied and purchased by the locals, second were the basic household utility items needed directly by the locals after losing much of their own during the disasters at a pure nominal price.

For the bigger projects we divided the finances into three groups. First was to look into the assets of the company and move whatever mobile assets were available and would be useful to Kava. This did not damage our pocket straight away and some extremely necessary telecommunication equipment and machinery were shipped to Kava. Secondly, we went to the company’s vaults and took the finances, which were readily available to start undertaking the projects.

The second financial alternative came directly from Kava. We went to the government, military and local prominent businessmen of Kava. We made two presentations. First was for the civil government describing the type of infrastructure we wanted to establish on the island. We estimated the costs it would require and the projected benefits it would reap on its completion. We were already bringing some of our equipment and got some mobilization advance from the government as well. Then we approached the military and got the communications network approved by them. Although this meant to give the network to the military of Kava for their financing, but at that time it seemed the best way out of the burden. The military was delighted to have the network available to them for the country’s security and had no problems directly financing it. Moreover, they would get their investment back by providing the communication services at the nominal prices to the local people, and at a little higher price for the tourists by providing them GSM Services through their own providers. Finally, the local business community was approached and was made our local partners in different projects separately. Due to such wide community outreach, we were able to get a hold of the local property like office space, warehouses etc. without paying a penny and only sharing the profit.

The next step was to persuade international donors like USAID, JICA, AUSAID, United Nations and World Bank to allocate some money either directly to local government or through us for the rehabilitation. We got a favorable response and started getting international aid for Kava on regular bases.  When one is working under such perplexing conditions and set of parameters, a lot can go wrong and misunderstandings are easier to occur. This happened in our case as well on some minor issues, which wasted some time.

One of the main issues faced by our company was the balancing of ethics and profits. We had to win the game without committing the foul, although we knew that no one is watching. The amount of money involved and the amount of work required to be done could have easily created instances of corruption. Mr. Chris Morales was adamant to eliminate any corruption either on the individual or company level. For example, when dealing with the government and military of Kava, we approached them with the facthat we had some of the equipment available with us and the rest was bought from our pocket.

Even then we would take mobilization advance of up to 10 to 15 percent, so that we could expedite the shipping and were able to buy more equipment from the market. They appreciated our straight forwardness and agreed with our stance. This way we were able to stand on high ethical grounds and even build a solid understanding relationship with each other, which turned out to be beneficial in the long run. We approached to our local business partners as well, coming clean in this case as expected. We assured them that we could easily hire the offices, warehouses and other related properties and services of local staff. This would increase the price of products we wanted to supply in Kava. With their help, we could keep the prices low by using their properties and help off their staff. We would benefit by keeping our overheads low, the local business community would benefit by having a constant source of business for a long period of time and renting and up keeping their property although at a lower rate, but still on the positive side. Furthermore, they would also be partners in sharing profit with us.  The ultimate beneficiary would be the local population of Kava, which would get the necessary items at a reduced price.

I am so busy that I do not know when the sun rises or sets. I have forgotten about the metaphors and sometimes even about Leonard, my beloved dog. All in all, I am spending a time of my life. I am working for the benefit of the people, having one of the best companies in the world on my side, applying the best knowledge I could get and in a setting which comes straight from a movie set. Life is tough, but I would not have it in any other way. I will try to keep you guys posted and will meet you perhaps next week.

References

Bratton, J., & Gold, J. (1999). Human Resource Management Theory And Practice. London: Macmillan Press Ltd.

Child Education, (2010), Child Education, retirved: 5-Sept-2010: http://childeducation.com.au/

Daud, N. B. (2006). Human resource management practices and firm performance: the moderating roles of strategies and environmental uncertainties. Malaysia: universiti sains malaysia.

United Nations. (2008). UNEP Post-Tsunami Recovery Activities 2004-2007. Nairobi, Kenya: UNEP.