Case Study Group - Why is culture important?

 

1. Abdurasulov Najmiddin Tp069840

2. Manashov Ziyoviddin Tp070402 

3. Zaher Iqbal Abir Tp077580

4.Hm Nazib E Huda Tp077128

5. Adam Mohamed Ahmed Tp077122

6. Shabill Addin Anas bin Safril Tp078383

Why culture is important? 

(Adam Mohamed Ahmed Tp077122 and Shabill Addin Anas bin Safril Tp078383)

Culture is a mainstream for multitude of aspects. Furthermore, it directs us in the way we see and act whereby it helps to form our worldviews and gives the world meaning through lenses we use in the interpretation and engagement with the world (Gelfand et al. 2011). It determines behavioral characters we have, affects how we make decisions, or it gives us an insight on our spatial/temporal surroundings (Matsumoto, 1996). The second aspect of culture that plays the role of connecting the human with the society is the creation of an identity within a society (Poole, 2000). Thus, because of this emotional relatedness, people become able to support each other and reduce the level of destructive emotions such as loneliness, sadness, and depression (Haslam et al. , 2008). Furthermore, culture resembles a treasure trove in that it secures the rituals, traditions, and seemly habits of the society as a chronicle and at present, as an identity. Through the continuum of heritage the individuals are given the clarity of the heritage and the sense of self-awareness and continuity can be reinforced over time. Concretely, a community infused with diverse cultures draws them into an innovation and creativity environment where people are exposed to novel perspectives and fresh ways of thinking (Leung & Chiu, 2010). By creating bridges through cultural differences, efficacy of teams will be reinforced, and solutions that address pertinent issues across the board will be developed, thereby improving the quality service delivery system.Cultural sphere encompasses more than a simple aspect of human existence; it is a fundamental feeling of ours that makes us human. It fashions our lives by an array of means of thinking, performance and communication with others. In actuality, this culture influence occurs in a profound manner on an individual basis as well as on a society, and then culminates into the overall progressing and cohesion of human communities.The understanding of culture is crucial, because it helps to acknowledge culture’s influence as it unfolds from personal choices to the collective superiority in society.

 

Do you think facebook overpaid for whatsapp? why? (Hm Nazib E Huda Tp077128)

In 2014 Facebook was willing to pay $19 billion for WhatsApp while the income of this company had not yet attained the desired level. The truth turned out to be that only a few millions of dollars were received from membership subscription for the ad-free WhatsApp even though the subscribers found the service highly great. WhatsApp was still not clear about its commercialization strategy during the Facebook session even if Facebook, used by billions of people, is perceived as its primary appeal. The most essential problem is that in the period of its existence Whatsapp hasn’t proved its capacity to serve as a profitable source of revenue for Facebook either by advertising or any other means (Swisher, 2014). Facebook started the Messenger service initially. Facebook has posed a risk to WhatsApp, and their subsequent act of buying the company was viewed by many as an attempt to occupy the rival’s future market position. In conformity with the arguments of Reisinger (2014), Facebook may get a substantial deal of the messaging application industry if it makes a purchase of WhatsApp. People will communicate via messages sent on WhatsApp, a social media channel. The report showed that Facebook would be provided with rates that were not lower, compared to the immediate messaging system rivals. This argument was though to be shared among opponents. According to Constine (2014) they may have believed that the money could have been spent well if it had been just being invested or buying some other assets. It highlights the necessity of cultural awareness and sensitivity in fostering a harmonious and progressive global community. Embracing cultural diversity is not only beneficial but essential for the enrichment and advancement of human civilization.

Problems in bringing in new investors

1. Investors May Have Differing Visions (Zaher Iqbal Abir Tp077580)

You may be concerned about a loss of control or the shareholder ratio. It's possible that an investor doesn't understand the project or has a different vision than you, even if they may have the best of intentions. Divergent perspectives can result from an excessive number of persons in control. Intentions may also vary. Some investors are more interested in really helping your business scale than they are in seeing it grow to attract more customers. Others may have hundreds of investments and be more focused on profitability than other factors. Shark Tank parodied this in a marketing film, depicting Bill Nye proposing a climate change awareness charity event. The sharks in the investment market asked what the financial benefit was (Panel, 2022)

 

2. You Won't Be Able To Take As Many Risks (Manashov Ziyoviddin Tp070402 )

Here's the simplest reason not to have investors early on in your startup's life: You owe them something. You're less free to pivot, take risks, be creative and experiment when you've got a board of voices reminding you of what you owe and what your startup was "supposed" to be. Not every investor understands how many degrees a startup might pivot in terms of mission, revenue plan and direction. While many of them do have entrepreneurial roots, time and success can make anyone forget what the ground game was like. Obviously, the resources investors offer might be worth it to you. But if you're at a nimble, agile, evolving, adapting phase of your startup, you might be best served by prioritizing freedom over money (Panel, 2022)

 

3. You'll Have To Give Up Control And Management (Abdurasulov Najmiddin Tp069840)

You might not want investors for your business if you want to retain full control and management over your business. You have to realize that you give up some of the control when you use investors to fund your business. If you're not okay with that, you're better off reconsidering your options (Panel, 2022). Bringing in new investors may dilute the ownership stake and control of the existing stakeholders. Balancing the need for capital with maintaining control over decision-making and strategic direction is a key consideration.

In addition, this could also imply bearing out new pressures and expectations for the investor. Investors by nature always want to select a timeframe for their investment to get returns in such a way as to disregard the long-term goals but chase short-term gains. It is sometimes difficult to find harmony between the pressure put by the investors and the founder's initial vision and way of work. 

From the other side, investors' presence can bring about considerable variation on the business ground. Investors may desire to acquire equity positions in your business, where they may be interested in aggressive growth plans, mergers, acquisition, or even selling the company which is likely to be diverging from the founder’s plans. This issue might as well highlight how imperative it is to very impartially weigh whether the advantages of changing the financing mode are superior to the negatives.

The final conclusion is that although the investors turn the fastest business growth possible, they too can attach several specific strings that don’t necessarily suit every entrepreneur. Full control and implementing initial business choice could be critical to make sure that there will be no pitfalls along the way on the implementation of the original strategic direction. Accordingly, it is necessary to do a careful analysis of all the conclusive and partial aspects of bringing investors in so as to ensure that you growth goals are in line with your long-term business objectives.

 

References:

Constine, J. (2014, February 19). With 450M Users, WhatsApp Finally Begins Testing Verified Accounts With Green Checkmarks For Businesses. TechCrunch. https://techcrunch.com/2014/08/21/whatsapp-19b/.

Reisinger, D. (2014, February 24). WhatsApp’s Ex-CEO: We Never Wanted To Sell To Facebook, Google. ReadWrite. https://readwrite.com/2014/02/24/whatsapp-jan-koum-facebook-google-acquisition/.

Swisher, K. (2014, February 19). Inside the Facebook-WhatsApp Megadeal: The Courtship, the Secret Meetings, the $19 Billion Poker Game. Recode. https://www.recode.net/2014/2/19/11623314/inside-the-facebook-whatsapp-megadeal-the-courtship-the-secret-meetings.

Panel, E. (2022, April 21). 10 Good Reasons Not To Seek Investors For Your Business. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/theyec/2021/12/22/10-good-reasons-not-to-seek-investors-for-your-business/?sh=6b8308020fc5