INFORMANT: WHAT IS IN A BUSINESS DEGREE?

INFORMANT: WHAT IS IN A BUSINESS DEGREE?: What is in a business degree? A business degree can be applied to virtually any industry and can also be used to help you start your ...

WHAT IS IN A BUSINESS DEGREE?

What is in a business degree?

A business degree can be applied to virtually any industry and can also be used to help you start your own business. It provides a broad exposure to all the crucial elements that make an organization function well. Business is one area where continuing education even for established professionals is crucial in order to remain competitive. Being a social science, it not only prepares one for managerial responsibilities but also enables real life applications.

The business degree has equipped me with many skills and expanded my horizon of thinking. This is my greatest investment for tomorrow. The return on investment (ROI) is promising having sharpened my tools ready for the corporate world. According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development study, the global financial crisis has made college degrees more important than ever in raising personal income. The study shows that the difference in earnings between the low and highly-educated has widened from 2008 to 2011.

"Probably in these times there is no better investment you can make than in your education. Rate of return is in the order of 10 to 15 percent. And then think about what other investments you can make these days where you get a similar rate of return," Andreas Schleicher once quoted. In most industrialized countries a degree is of utmost importance and not just a degree but what you study!

A business degree makes one a better manager and decision maker in day to day activities. Studies have shown that the average person makes around 600 decisions per day. Multiply that by the number of days in a month and you’re talking about tens of thousands of decisions over the course of a single year. No matter which major you choose, earning a business degree will qualify you for more than five times the number of jobs than those available to a high school graduate.

Earning a business degree is a rewarding venture. Visualize of the ideal job you wish to have, could be a C.E.O of your own firm or even C.O.O at IMF! Who knows God’s plans for us? Talk of the seven figure salary you have heard of, it will be yours if you utilize the degree well. Finishing the 8-4-4 system is itself a proof of the patience to get quality education. It is enjoyable and rewarding in the long run.

WORLD'S BEST CEO.

WORLD’S BEST CEO

Harvard Business Review in November last year reported about world’s performing CEOs. On top of the list was Jeffrey Bezos of Amazon. The report compiles list of best performing CEOs by comparing returns by shareholders for 1200 S&P Global companies.

Jeffrey Bezos is an American technology entrepreneur and founder of Amazon. He is also an investor as well as a business magnate globally. As the CEO of Amazon, he guided Amazon.com to become one of the largest retailer online and top companies for internet sales. According to ranking of wealthiest persons globally, he stands at number 15 on the Forbes list of billionaires.

Before becoming successful, one must have had experience in an area he wishes to stamp an authority. Bezos previously worked in different companies under different roles something that prepared him to become the best CEO years later. In Wall Street he worked in the computer science department. Later on he worked for Fitel, Bankers Trust and D. E. Shaw &Co in internet enabled business opportunities.

Upon learning about business opportunity in internet use, he left a well paying job at Hedge fund to found Amazon.com in1994. According to portfolio.com, Bezos pays attention to business detail. This is a quality that makes him to be where he is today.

The efforts of ensuring Amazon achieves growth and profitability has the CEO have previously been recognized. He was Named person of the year by Time Magazine in 1999. In 2008, he was part of the selected best leaders in U.S. Lastly before being named world  best CEO, in 2012 Fortune named him as the businessperson of the year.

To achieve this interesting personal milestone you have to do things in a unique manner. Bezos transformed Amazon from an online bookstore to a retailer and business services provider. In the process the stock of the company increased by 397% in the last five years.

This is one leader I wish to chat with to make the Kenyan Bezos. His leadership is formidable and can be emulated anywhere globally. He treasures customer so much that he even has a vacant seat to represent customers at conference tables. Having customers’ interest at heart is the sure way of succeeding.

OBSTACLES TO POVERTY REDUCTION

OBSTACLES TO POVERTY REDUCTION

Towards the end of last year Kenyans received some good news. The Kenyan economy moved to low middle level income status. This was achieved earlier than expected considering it was expected to take effect in 2030. This meant more employment opportunities and improved living standards. Fast forward to march 2015, the situation is even worse.

Here are some of the reasons that can be attributed towards the failed poverty reduction. At the top is the restricted growth to urban places. The scenarios of urban areas being favored in terms of development at the expense of rural places have been heard or seen. Many are left wondering why they are being marginalized when it comes to sharing the national cake. Rural places have poor road networks as compared to urban places thus bringing disequilibrium.

High population growth rate that exceeds the available resources is also to blame. Currently there is an annual change of 2.7% in terms of population. According to the census report, in 2009 Kenya had a population of 38.6 million people. Comparing that with the 2014 population estimates, Kenya has about 44.4 million people. This makes the government o strain in offering services to her citizens.

Mismanagement of resources is another key hindrance. Development funds are embezzled in broad daylight. Have you not heard of impeachment threats from various counties? We now have what is referred to as devolved embezzlement of resources thanks to the devolved system of governance.

The setting of goals should be long term for effective implementation. In Kenya the story is different. Even the millennium development goals are short term to align with the political calendar. In the end a lot is planned for but little is achieved. Did you know Kenya has one of the best blueprint development plans? We only fail in implementation part because we over focus on short term goals instead of being strategic thinkers.

Poverty will remain part of us unless we prioritize where to invest. Politicians invest their precious time fighting over titles. What is in a title? The sacred cow projects are launched with the end results being disaster. Public funds find storage in some greedy individuals who do not have interest of public welfare. We should invest in education and infrastructure as this will increase literacy and ease communication respectively.

Finally is revenue redistribution, the area that interests politicians and investors the most. Every august house member fights for his/her region to get a large share of the national cake. Why fight for what you have not worked for? In the end it becomes a competition on who is smarter to influence biased redistribution of revenue. In the end the core objective is overlooked.

In conclusion all the above causes of failure to eradicate poverty such as growth restriction to urban areas, high population growth and resource mismanagement should be countered. Kenya has changed status so should living standards improve by eradicating poverty. “Kick poverty out of Kenya…”

MENACE OF UNEMPLOYMENT

Menace of unemployment in Kenya

Unemployment occurs when people are without work and actively seeking for limited slots of work opportunities. The unemployment rate is a measure of the prevalence of unemployment. According to International Labour Organization (ILO) report, more than 197 million people globally or 6% of the world’s workforce were unemployed in 2012. Market mechanisms are the major causes of unemployment skyrocketing and ironically they also resolve unemployment.

Unemployment has become a menace in Kenya since more jobs are lost than created. External environment may have become an obstacle to creation of employment opportunities. Interventions imposed on the labor market such as unionization, bureaucratic work rules, minimum wage laws, taxes and other regulations many a time discourage hiring of workers. The current regime should intervene strategically to increase demand for labor lest unemployment becomes a national threat.

Eveready Battery Company, Inc., an American manufacturer of battery brands recently reached a decision to close Eveready East Africa’s Nakuru plant. Eveready was facing cut-throat competition from cheap battery imports mostly from china. The cost-cutting move meant the company had to retrench 99 employees thus adding to unemployment menace. They instead opted to source batteries from Egypt, its affiliate. “We blame cheap imports for the closure of our factory and several others in Kenya,” said the plant manager. Indeed we are ‘creating’ jobs in Kenya. Once Eveready, a dream employer for most graduates in late 1990s leaves Kenya market then all is not well. We need to fix the causes and not the symptoms.

Cadbury, a British Multinational Confectionary company also announced closure of its Nairobi factory at the end of October. Their reason being a global transformation strategy meant to reinvent its supply chain. The move will leave about 300 Kenyans who worked in the plant either as permanent or casual employees become unemployed. Upon closure the company will import its products from Egypt to sell locally. As unemployment is becoming a menace, Egypt is set to benefit from our misfortune. It is difficult to comprehend how you stop operations making a significant number of active workforces to be unemployed without consulting the stakeholders.

Kenya’s economy largely relies on the agriculture sector which contributes 25.3% of GDP. 2.63% of the national GDP is from horticulture while 1.29% is from the flower industry. Horticulture is one of the top foreign exchange earners in Kenya, generating approximately US$ 1 billion annually. All the good news is set to evaporate overnight due to the effects of the new taxes by the European Union (EU). 150,000 people stand to lose jobs should horticulture industry collapse as it has threatened to. Kenya’s European Union market share of about 38% is in danger, the situation will get worse, and the consequences are better imagined than experienced. When the backbone of our employment hope, agriculture, starts to stumble instead of creating more employment opportunities then we are in danger.

Diversification is the best option for any entity that needs to stay afloat in the face of competition. Local and foreign factories should review their marketing and operational strategies to counter foreign competition. The multinational firms should also increase operational efficiency to create employment opportunities instead of jeopardizing them. The best option is for youths to embrace entrepreneurship as they make significant percentage of the Kenyan active workforce.

 written by:

Moffat Onyancha

B.Com-Operations Management 4^th year student.