Organizational Behavior and Human Resources Essay

Organizational behavior is the study and application of knowledge about people or groups of people in an organization. It focuses on what people do and why they do it with aim of improving what they do. Since an organization is a collection of people working together in an organized social structure to achieve a common goal, application of theories and concepts of human behavior is imperative to attain the goals of organizations. Organizational behavior covers areas such as human behavior, leadership in an organization, teams, communications, employee relations etc. Clark, 2008). A study of the organization’s behavior helps the management to succeed in business opportunities. Human resource management is a strategic approach to the management of employees in an organization. It includes activities such as planning, selection, recruitment and maintaining employees. To sustain high performing employees, ensuring safe working environments and compliance to rules and regulations in an organization are some of the main objectives of human resource management. These objectives can only be attained through efficient analyses of the employees’ behaviors. Therefore, when human resource management and organization behavior blend together in an organization, they help to bring about strong and active workforce which help the organization meet its strategic goals. Effective policy development in human resources would help management to establish a strong workforce and explore untapped resources and strategies that would improve the organization performance. In order to employ effective policies, the management should make best decisions in a timely manner in a given situation. Human resource managers should be involved in making strategic decisions of the organization such as being informed on the long term plans of the strategic management. To amicably resolve personnel issues and find appropriate solutions to these issues, the management should have proper human resource policies. The policies should incorporate fresh ideas that reflect current situation in the organizations and the current business world in general. Human resources policies ensure that employees receive equal treatment in a wide range of employment issues and in legal matters incase they arise. To effectively develop human resource in any organization, it is necessary to have policies on employees’ benefits such as educational assistance, retirement benefits, health care and medical benefits etc. Another factor to consider when formulating the policies is the safety, health and security of the employees. Issues such as workplace violence, drugs, crisis management, and diseases like HIV/AIDS should be addressed in policy development. In addition it is important to consider employees relations which entail dispute resolutions and grievances, employee’s privacy, employee’s performance management, discipline and the conduct of employees in the organization. Selection, recruitment and placement of employees is a fundamental function in the human resource management. Discrimination in terms of race, religion, sex or in any form should be discouraged in the hiring and recruitment process. In order to improve employees’ skills and their efficiency, there should be a policy on employee training and development. In conclusion, effective policies should seek to motivate employees whereby they feel comfortable and satisfied hence improve their performance. The human resource should operate in a flexible environment. For instance, employees can operate in shifts where different people start and end their workday at different time. The organization should adopt technologies that would enable the employees to work outside the workplace. A study in organizational behavior shows that different people get motivated in different ways and can perform better under different circumstances. The management should therefore, customize their way of rewarding employees to their particular preferences (Marques, 2007).

Dangerous habits of drivers Essay

Driving a vehicle is a serious matter and requires a great deal of responsibility. Poor driving habits can cause tragic loss that could have been preventable. By taking a defensive approach to driving, we could ultimately save someone’s life or help prevent an accident. To prevent accidents, drivers need to have a responsible attitude and a level of maturity. Driving is a major part of life but some habits like, using cell phones, speeding, and drinking and driving could be known as abusing the right of driving. Firstly, talking and texting while driving is a major addiction that could lead to accidents. People spend a big part of their day commuting; many use this time to catch up on phone calls or returning messages. Getting caught up in a conversation on a cell phone can lead to the loss of focusing. It is hard to be aware of two things at a time, but some people don’t realize this because of over confidence. Texting while driving could also lead to loss of control on the car. This most likely happens when one is using both hands to text and is also looking down on the phone. If there is no control of the steering wheel by the driver, the consequences could lead to death. I myself was one of those drivers until my six-year-old son told me once â€Å"mom you can’t use your phone when you are in the car; it’s not safe!† I was so embarrassed when I heard his little voice. I asked my son where he had heard this and he said his teacher told them in class. I immediately apologized to my kids and told him he was right and I will no longer use my phone when I’m in the car. There are so many applications for our smartphones that will help with the addiction to talking and texting while driving. Secondly, another bad habit is driving over the speed limit. There is always people running late for appointments, teen drivers who feel they have a great deal of experience behind the wheel, and drivers with fast sports vehicles who think they have the right to go faster than everyone else. Speeding can cause a driver to receive a ticket, go to court, attend traffic school, and on top of all that, make their insurance rates rise. If a driver gets several speeding tickets in a short amount of time, the DMV may suspend the license. When you speed, you have less time to react to unexpected situations. Other drivers have less time to react to your situation.

Navy Recommendation

1. While serving in the capacity as the Command Career Counselor the USS STEPHEN W GROVES (FFG 29), I have had the good fortune to have Petty Officer Jason Martinez work with me as the Assistant Command Career Counselor for our ship. 2. This past year has afforded me the opportunity of witnessing the many accomplishments PS1 has been able to achieve both personally and professionally. Petty Officer Martinez has demonstrated exceptional knowledge of all necessary retention programs such as PTS, CIMS, NRMS, Fleet RIDE and NRMS. He has led the way in training and providing information to our crew through First Terms Success Workshops, Career Development Training Courses and GENDET Success Workshops. Furthermore, PS1(SW) Martinez has been a driving force to ensure career development boards are conducted effectively. He has embodied the ideals of career development by encouraging the engagement of the chain of command providing the guidance needed by sailors to attain the objectives of the Sailor Continuum’s five vectors. 3. In addition to the above-mentioned accomplishments, he has completely overhauled our Command Sponsorship Program, establishing a new sponsorship team from the main departments of the ship, and providing the necessary training for instant results. Petty Officer Martinez flawlessly processed and tracked 23 reenlistments of which 15 were SRB entitlements over 110,000 dollars. He has processed six Fleet Reserve, seven Career Status Bonus, and 56 Perform to Serve applications. During this period while assigned as Assistant Command Career Counselor, he has stepped in and executed the duties as the Command Career Counselor, while I was away either TAD or on leave. 4. Petty Officer Martinez routinely performs his tasks flawlessly and at a higher pay-grade than is expected at his current rank, whether it is explaining Navy policies to the Captain, Executive Officer or counseling a sailor as to his career path options. His overall development as both an Assistant Command Career Counselor and a sailor over the past year has been nothing short of exemplary! Petty Officer Martinez is the type of leader that the Navy needs to continue leading the way in the career-counseling field! 5. A very important contribution that PS1(SW) Martinez has made to the success of the ships program is his ability to work together with and support the building of the career development team. In fact, one of his most important qualities has been his ability to earn the confidence and trust of the crew onboard the ship. It is this trait, in addition to all his other abilities, that makes him an effective career counselor. S. J. MARTINEZ

The Peace Treaty Lab Report Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Peace Treaty - Lab Report Example His 14 points were aimed at improving the conditions of the European states and had little to do with benefiting America. After the war the European countries had no specific direction or plan on what to do. The major concern to the European Allied forces was the division of the lands and reclamation of their own which had been lost to the enemies during the war. They had no idea on how to ensure lasting peace in the world so such an event would never occur again. At such a time America provided a neutral approach to the war as their entrance in the war had put them in the light of a moral crusader attempting to put an end to war as America faced little direct threat from the enemy and no advantage of territorial advances. So whatever the outcome, America would have had no benefits as compared to the European countries directly involved in the fighting. Perhaps that is why America did not enter the war as an ally but an Associated Power. Wilson wished his country to be a role player in providing peace to the world. (Henig, pp.10, 1995) The 14 points of Wilson could be demarcated into two basic categories. The first category contains those points which were generalized in nature and would require equal participation from all the nations. These policies aimed at establishing equality and a sense of fairness among the victors and the defeated. The other policies were more specific in nature addressing issues related to countries directly; such as the issues relating to Belgium, France, Italy, Austria, Hungary, Turkey and the Balkan states. The generalized policies proposed by Wilson could be seen as attempts to make the superpowers act more humbly and provide the smaller countries less reason to fear them. He proposed the abolition of hidden treaties which were considered the primary cause for the war in the first place. Another proposal was to have open sea travel over international waters. Decolonialization and disarmament of all countries aimed at removing the resentful image of the superpowers who had led many smaller countries to enter the war because of their colonial power over them. These measures aimed to cut down the possibility of the superpowers using other nations to aid them in their conflicts. Finally an open trade agreement was proposed which was very much similar to the WTO being implemented today. This aimed at providing a fair chance to all the countries to do business rather than facing barriers in trade by larger more powerful countries. These policies were not met with much enthusiasm from the Br itish and French as they believed these policies to not recognize the "hard reality of the situation". (Henig, pp.10, 1995) The specific policies were aimed at restoring the lands lost by the warring nations and in introducing an American style of governance in the countries responsible for the war. But probably the most visionary proposal of the Wilson 14 Points was to have a multilateral international association monitoring the nations and ensuring peace and foreshadowing the League of Nations. This proposal could be seen implemented in the form of the creation of the United Nations in 1945. The proposals made by

The current business situation at this Starbucks shop and management Assignment - 2

The current business situation at this Starbucks shop and management operations aspects - Assignment Example The paper tells that operation management is the process through which inputs, in form of raw materials and labor, are transformed into finished goods and services. The main impact of operations management in a firm is a positive perceived value that the customer feels has been added to a product, which will make him come back every other time. Since operations management determines the quality of products and services, it is a key basis for the determination of success and long-term sustainability of the company. To ensure a firm is successful currently and in future, operations management have to be the best practices for high quality and efficiency in a production or service industry firm. The focus of the assignment will be on Starbucks Coffee Company and the specific branch will be the Starbucks coffee shop on 91 Clarence high street in Kingston town (Kingston Upon Thames, London, United Kingdom). In 1971, a delicate coffee and tea vendor was founded and named Starbucks. The com pany began operations by offering coffee to restaurants and espresso bars. The chairperson and CEO Howard Schultz in 1985 transformed the business by altering it into an international coffee brand involved in coffee service, high-quality goods, and augmented desire to teach clients on the importance of coffee and tea. From the Seattle roots, Starbucks has expanded internationally to market imported coffee, Italian style espresso, food products, cold beverages, fine teas, and coffee fixtures. Currently, Starbucks has developed a good brand image with its 176,000 employees and has created lasting relationships with coffee farmers and manufacturers. Starbucks consists of 17,000 stores situated in 49 countries globally with a high brand demonstration in the United States. A transformation model is a framework used to aid leaders in understanding their organizations

Summary Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 94

Summary - Essay Example Apparently the author assumes that responsibility of protection is indeed a reinforcement of the obligations. Evans is steadfast in expressing the core issue in the article. First, Evans states that there is need to talk about the mass destruction of human beings which includes genocide, ethnic cleansing and war crimes among other crimes against humanity (Evans, 2). The author seeks to address several solutions to the problem and how they can be alleviated. For example, the author states that human rights activists have to step up in ensuring such instances are reduced. Thirdly, the author expresses the need to focus on the consensus that has been achieved. This is to give information on the progress and how the situation will be improved. Lastly, the author talks about solving all the problems in the world. This is with an assumption that the world’s problems could be annihilated through a humane and peaceful way. Bulley is focused on analyzing the ethical foreign policy. The author states that the ethical foreign policy was instigated to make decisions in difficult situations. This is where all choices have consequences and the decision makers have to consider the choices (Bulley 442). For example, Iraq is a country that has had a situation that would have many solutions. However, each of the solutions would have consequences. In this case, the author assumes that there are other avenues that could be used whereas the consequences are minimized. Though it would take time to implement such solutions, it would be a prudent approach especially when saving humanity. The author states that due to the choices made in Iraq, there has been an eruption of humanitarian crisis. Therefore, there should be better avenues of solving such situations rather than bringing more implications. Chomsky explicitly states that some principles that apply in the world benefit some people. For example, the author states

Fujiwara Clan and Governance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Fujiwara Clan and Governance - Essay Example Although the history of japan is often illustrated by institutional progress, it has had some significant turning points. As such, japan has had a long interesting history. Archeological evidence implies that people have resided in the region since the prehistoric era. This vast history is divided into groups so as to make it more manageable. These periods often have varying lengths i.e. decades to centuries. The Fujiwara family dominated japan between794 to 1160. There is no record of a specific starting year of their dominance in the government. To ensure they ruled the state of japan, they made emperors to be just puppets. An increase in population, food production decline and competition for resources saw the decline of the Fujiwara family and other great families. These problems engineered the occurrence of various military disturbances. The Taira and Minamoto who were Fujiwara family members attacked each other over land issues. This led to the collapse of the Fujiwara family as they created rival regimes. The In no cho took over from the Fujiwara clan. They slowly replaced the Fujiwara court members by the Minamoto family. Unlike previous regimes where civil authority controlled the government, military might determine the strength of the government. Despite its eventual decline, the Fujiwara clan was very successful in governance as a result of the factors highlighted herein.

Hospitality Management Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Hospitality Management - Case Study Example Moreover, it will discover the UK consumer trends, present the variety of backgrounds of investors and give a future outlook along with a forecast which has been urbanized to illustrate the industry and the factors moving its growth and future. In conclusion, it will comment on short-term and long-term investment as well as recommending an outcome for the investor. A Thistle Euston hotel, according to the EU, is defined as 'a communal accommodation enterprise, typified as being prearranged in rooms exceeding a countrywide specified minimum and as providing ordinary services, counting room service'. Usually, the UK definition is made according to the investment of a license to sell liquor. (Lawson, 1998) According to the newest beginning figures from the Hotel Thistle Euston Survey by Deloitte, the UK hotel industry has established to be the strongest entertainer in Europe in the first six months of 2004, by means of revenue per obtainable room (revPAR) rising 11 percent against the similar period in 2003, resulting from a balanced mix of rising occupancies and standard room rates. London, which is the most important performer in the UK, knowledgeable a 6% augment in standard room rate year on year (ACAS 2002). Budget Hotel is on the entire purpose-built, identified lodging unit by a smallest of 50 rooms and standard low prices. Personage units are frequently identified as lodges, inns or - less usually now - motels. Bed and Breakfast is a private house; several rooms of which are set aside for overnight guests whose paid lodging comprise breakfast. (The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language) The competitive environment There is always tough competition amongst the key players inside the UK Hotel Industry: From the Smith Travel Research where the grand insist for the Residence Inn was at 30% and the supply was merely at 8%. The Marriott PLC has urbanized a new group called "Residence Inn" to adapt this great market insist. UK center market hotel brand, Thistle, is initiation a luxury worldwide sister - Guoman, which is set to spread internationally. In order to grow the brand Thistle intends to upgrade some existing properties in the UK and launch an "ambitious acquisition strategy" abroad. Whitbread has made the decision to decrease their experience to (and eventually exit from) the full-service hotels division where they are the UK operators of the Marriott brand, due to the low returns from this franchised commerce. The company also obtain Premier Lodge from Spirit Group for pound; 505 million, and combining Travel Inn and Premier Lodge and marketing them to the UK consumer under on brand (Ackers, P.

Managerial Accounting Practices Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 2

Managerial Accounting Practices - Essay Example ng on the other side provide information that is of pivotal importance for management to make day to day decisions as well as to set their long term strategy. When financial accounting provides standardized reports to external stakeholders, management accounting enables accountants to provide information for each and every level of management, from section supervisor to department heads. â€Å"Management accounting is concerned with the provisions and use of accounting information to managers within organizations, to provide them with the basis in making informed business decisions that would allow them to be better equipped in their management and control functions (wikipedia, 2007)†. The purpose of managerial accounting is to provide management with the information that holds key importance in strategic planning, directing and motivating employees and evaluating and controlling organizational performance. It provides basis for decision making for future activities. Reports are prepared for each and every segment of department so that the department heads and section managers may know exactly about their department’s performance and can reward or take controlling measures for their employees. Managerial accounting provides data to enable management of making budgets which are a part of their planning process. Budgets help management know exactly of their current state of resources and their future use in various activities from day to day operations to expansion projects. Daily sales report generated by management accountants or daily production reports help management analyze the efficiency of various department. Comparisons between the standard and the actual help management to know about the current and required status of their business activities and counter measures can be taken if found deviating from standards. Managerial accounting’s ability to provide basis for controlling measures lays ground for key performance measures for an organization.

Answer the 3 questions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Answer the 3 questions - Essay Example This way, the laws empowered the states to serve the people, where this was a merit in the collection of revenue to deliver services to the citizens of different states (Bailyn 59). In order to effectively govern the emerging nation, the political leaders at that time made great accomplishments to come up with a workable body of political institutions, customs and laws. Evolution of laws and institutions One key benefit in the law was the creation of institutions that limited the power and ability of the state governments to ensure that there was minimal abuse of power.This was part of the creation of the bill of rights in the first to the twelfth amendment of the constitution, which limited the powers of state leaders and the federal authority. The federal authority was also created as an overall body that brought together the different states that formed the United States of America under the Articles of Confederation to cut down on the powers of the government and improve service delivery to the people. With the creation of articles of confederation or the amendments, there was disunity in the adoption of these amendments based on differences of opinion between federalists and anti-federalists bringing about a state of disunity. This is because creation of laws that protected citizens meant curtailing on the powers of the federal government and empowering state governments and its people. Another challenge was in the issue of internal wrangles in congress, where laws and debates were subject to corruption and ministerial manipulation, which was part of fears emanating from the newly found state of freedom from England. England, in this case was part of the reason why changes took place since it served as a colonial power that colonized America, and then unification of the different states after the declaration of independence. Another factor that led to political change in the America after the revolution was the need to alliances with foreign powers, where this prompted the creation of a confederation of the original thirteen states that created the base for the formation of the United States of America. This again brought about suspicions on the laws that would be passed by state governments in that they would be unjust, which a challenge was trying to get the bill of rights ratified by all the states in the confederation. Conclusion America holds a rich history related to the struggles and warring trends in each of the colonies to represent the political landscape from which the country rose. American politics are thus characterized by revolutions that seek independence from oppositional ideals propagated by the settlers. The cumulative implications of these political changes brought about individual liberty of way of life, full freedom of thought, expression, the press and elimination of religious influence from legislation and education system. These changes were mainly brought about by the political leaders who accomplished the e stablishment of political institutions and customs to govern the emerging nation. Q.2 Introduction The American society underwent a series of intellectual and evangelical renewals that greatly affected a number of colonists, a process that preceded the American Revolution during the late nineteen seventies. This period signaled the advent of an all round evangelism that viewed religion to

Problem Identification Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Problem Identification - Essay Example Change management encompasses planning, oversight or governance, project management, testing, and implementation. Knowledge Gaps: As the infusion of mass media information into a social system increases, segments of the population with higher socio-economic status tend to acquire this information at a faster rate than the lower status segments. That gap in knowledge between these segments is defined as knowledge gap. The organization over a period of time has created a definite distance between what is planned on the design board and what is on the field. This may not have been a deliberate act of separation, but very un-intentional as the changes happened over extended periods of time. When the copiers were actually placed at the customer premises, and the field service teams started facing problems and were unable to service them for whatever reasons the replace warranty given by the organization started becoming costly and the service manuals released prior to the product release were becoming more and more not-so-relevant. Research methodology: This research will use the mixed-method design, but will lean more toward the evidences that have been quoted in various knowledge management studies. Since the Knowledge management area of study is relatively new area of study not much of quantitative information is readily available in free domain. This will be the primary limitation of the research

Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde Essay Example for Free

Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde Essay The famous Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde was written by Robert Louis Stevenson and has remained popular ever since its publication in 1886. Robert was born in 1850 and was born in Edinburgh, Scotland. He was brought up a calvalist, however followed the bohemian life style. He married Mrs. Fanny Osbourne in 1880 and supported Priest Dameor who cared for the lepers. Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde is a rich tale of the duality of mankind and how we are in essence creatures created for good, however in all of us there is the seed to do bad. The moral of the story is an old biblical one that many Christians recite daily in prayerLead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. This might be one of the reasons Stevenson wrote this book; Jekyll lives a double life of propriety and shame, imprisoned by the moral demands of Victorian society, and so did Stevenson. He too was surrounded by upright, religious and rigid citizens. He was even pressured into studying law at Edinburgh University. This book was written as a horror story. We know this because of the settings and plot. Stevenson wrote the book at the time of many murders in the east of London and the complete ignoring of social values and heartless deeds committed by Mr Hyde are totally in synch with Jack the Ripper and Sherlock Holmes. Mr Hyde represents the exact opposite of what Victorian gentlemen should act and the savageness of his actions is what made the book so scary back then. The story takes place in London during the nineteenth century. The central mood of the novel is one of mystery and terror. Stevenson creates dark settings to create a mood of anticipation and mystery. E.g. He was aware of an odd, light. Mr Hyde only comes out in the dark, foggy night, which subsequently makes the reader suspect mainly sinister intentions and automatically informs the reader that there is an expectation of trouble and something threatening, as the dark brings ominous feelings and terror to the reader. Stevenson changes the weather from regular night to more dark and foggy so that it is almost impossible to see clearly, therefore emphasising the fact through the fog, there is something concealed and surreptitious lurking about which makes the reader feel anxious. Also, he makes the character more evil looking in the dark e.g. In the darkness of the night he gave an impression deformity without any namable malformation. This makes the reader picture a horrific creature that makes them feel defenceless and exposed. Stevenson describes the fog being broken up as a haggard shaft. This gives the sense of destructiveness and violence. Also the quote swirling wreaths gives the sense of death as wreaths is what is placed on-top of a coffin. Finally Stevenson describes the gloomy avenues as mournful re- invasion of darkness which gives the sense of decay and obscurity. All these quotes also make the reader feel uneasy and apprehensive. The quotes It seems she was romantically given and London from all around very silent gives an eerie effect and provides a somewhat peaceful response. These quotes are also examples of emotive language, because they give the reader an emotional response. A certain sinister block and tramps slouched are both examples of figurative language which gives the reader a precise picture of what is in the setting. The quote tramps slouched gives us an unpleasant image of what reality was really like for the poor, making the reader feel uncomfortable as well as sympathetic. As addition to Stevenson using figurative and emotive language, he also uses a wide range of verbs like ragged and dingy which helps the reader to get a detailed picture of the insecurity and filthiness in which they lived through, and adjectives like ragged children huddled, which illustrates the fear and torment which even children went through. The quotes low growl of London and city in a nightmare, all give off the impression that the streets of London at the time were grimy, dangerous, dingy and simply terrifying places to live. Also the word growl, an example of personification, gives a sense that there is a savage, ruthless and a ferocious monster prowling about London. Finally the metaphor, light of some strange conflagration, gives a reference hell which makes the reader feel uncomfortable. Even though there are many quotes referring to the struggles of Victorian society, there are on the other hand several quotes which describe the other side of Victorian society which was entirely different. For example, bachelor house, close by the fire and gratefully to bed, all give off a cosy, warm, safe and welcoming impression. So yet again we have another contrast of the rich, warm, safe Victorian residence to the poor, insecure and generally tough Victorian slums. This shows that if you were rich you could use the power whatever way you like, however if you were poor, you were trapped in a world of poverty and in a sense of revulsion. There are three main characters in the novel, Dr Henry Jekyll, Edward Hyde and Mr Utterson. Dr. Henry Jekyll is a prominent middle- aged doctor and throughout the novel he is physically described as both tall and handsome. He is also extremely wealthy and by all who him, he is described as well respected and proper. For example, Stevenson describes Jekyll as a entertainer and a person known for charities which gives the impression that Jekyll is a warm, pleasant, middle class gentleman. In the book, his voice is only heard in the concluding chapter (Henry Jekylls full statement of the case), only after being described through the lens of Utterson, Lanyon, Poole and Enfield. The doctors belief that within each Human- being exists two countering forces, good and evil, leads to his experiments to try to separate the two. This however, was not done merely for scientific reasons, but also because he enjoyed escaping the confines of the respectable guise of Dr. Jekyll. The quote which illustrates this is The transformation was succeeded by a sense of joy. This also suggests that people didnt know what was right and what was wrong and would do and ask questions later. Also in the book he is described as less distinguished for religion, which suggests he too questioned Christianity like many other people of his time. For example, Darwin challenged religion as he came up with the theory that we evolved from monkeys which would mean the world wasnt made is seven days. Edward Hyde is a small, deformed, disgusting young man (much younger than Dr Jekyll) that is devoid of an apparent profession. Also the quote deformed illustrates that some Victorians disliked and rejected disabled people. Stevenson describes Hyde as callous and violent and a murderous mixture of timidly and boldness, which gives the impression Hyde is a fierce, ruthless, brutal monster. Despite the many descriptions of the horror that Edward Hyde invokes (by Lanyon, Utterson and Enfield), we are never told in detail precisely why or what features are so disgusting to observers, which emphasises the fact the novel was made in the time where phrenology (judging someone by their appearance) was the key to knowing if someone was good or evil. Hyde is also often compared to animals e.g. snarled, implying that he is not a fully evolved Human- Being. Another factor which suggests he is compared to animals is the fact he only menaces society at night e.g. trampling a girl in the street and murdering Sir Danvers Carew, which relates him to rodents and other nocturnal animals. Finally the quote the man seems hardly human, illustrates the fact Hyde is not a whole and has something missing. Good. Mr Utterson is the narrator of the book and is described as tall and loveable. He is a middle- aged lawyer plus someone that all the characters confide in throughout the novel. As an old friend of Jekyll, he recognises the changes and strange occurrences that centre around both Jekyll and Hyde. Stevenson describes Utterson as a reliable and Modest man which suggests he is perhaps the most circumspect and respected character in the book; therefore, it is significant that we view the crimes of Hyde through his observant frame. However, when Utterson discovers Hydes body in a red cabinet, instead of reporting it to the police he precedes in reading a letter addressed to him, which suggests he is more interested in his social status than solving the mystery. The quotes his friendship seemed to be founded in a similar catholicity of a good nature and his friends were those of his own blood or those who he had seen the longest, illustrates the fact he is insular, biased and narrow-minded. Knowing this makes the reader question if the story is told accurately and truthfully. The thing I noticed about this novel is that all the women are either victims or maids. E.g. the girl who got trampled on, the maid who witnessed the murder of Sir Danvers Carew and the house maid. This suggests that the middle class Victorian society were very sexist. However, if a Victorian was to read a modern day horror story, they would probably come up with the same conclusion, as the majority of victims in todays horror stories are women. The strange case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde is typical of the horror genre as it has many factors in which we would expect to see in a horror story today. For example, the story is mainly set at night, there are victims and most importantly the evil character is punished at the end of the novel. Mr Utterson is the narrator of the book and we are told the story through his eyes and told as though its true. This contributes to the element of suspense as we only know what Utterson knows. Suspense is also built up as Stevenson writes as if there is a final explanation as to whom the mystery figure is but doesnt let on and instead lets the suspense build. He occasionally allows a small amount of information out just to whet the appetites and keep up an atmosphere of mystery and confusion. For example, at the end of chapter five (Incident of the letter), Utterson says Henry Jekyll forge for a murderer. Not only does this make you wonder who the murderer is, but it also makes the reader want to read on. This atmosphere, one of controlled suspense, gradual building up of a sense of horror and destruction is achieved through a slow accumulation of unemotional detail, as this leaves the reader wondering what the characters are like and what they might do. I believe horror stories today do still follow a similar pattern, in the fact people who do bad deeds are usually punished, they are packed with suspense and often include someone trying to solve the mystery or catch the villain or monster, which in our case is Mr Utterson. However, the major difference in more recent examples of the genre is the tendency to locate the monstrous squarely within the normal, rather than presenting it as a threatening creature, such as Mr Hyde and Frankenstein, all made by individuals. Alfred Hitchcock had in fact changed this direction of the horror genre in 1960 with Psycho; the movie not only presented its most frightening moment, the shower murder, it also suggested that horror resides in everyday life rather than in alternative worlds of the supernatural or the gothic. Finally, the recent so called slice and dice films, such as Halloween, and living dead movies such as the night of the living dead are demonstrations of how contemporary special effects technology can depict increasingly gruesome and imaginative dismemberment and mutilation usually at the expense of character, plot and theme. Even though these are all films, we can still see how there is a greater desire for horror stories which are related to everyday occurrences or objects. In Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, Robert Louis Stevenson illustrates the devastating effects of meddling with Gods creation and how our negative and evil desires and urges can overtake our original selves until we lose touch of who we once represented. Furthermore, Dr Jekylls desire and addiction to temporarily alter his existence results ultimately in his deadly demise. Jekyll and Hyde demonstrates how innocent curiosity about the darker sides of our nature can soon get out of hand and how evil is compulsive and how evil can so easily take control of the good. Stevenson has used Jekyll and Hyde to show that everyone has good and evil inside them. He portrays this very well by using the setting to portray good and evil e.g. dingy street and a grand residence. He also makes a very important point which is relevant today as it was in the nineteenth century. This is that bottled antisocialable behaviour can lead to sudden violent outpourings, such as seen in Hydes murder of Sir Danvers Carew. In Victorian society no one questioned God so the idea of something happening which isnt controlled by God would be unusual. Also electricity had only just been invented so people were quite wary about the things science could do. I think the main theme in the book is duality and how London is split into good and evil, rich and poor, scientific fact and experimenting new ideas. The final point I wish to mention is how they kept secrets. On the outside people were warm and inviting, however inside, people kept intimate secrets, such as dealing with drugs, alcohol and prostitution. I believe this was probably due to the fact there wasnt much pleasure in this type of life. There are many morals included in Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde; however there are two main morals which stand out, one straight forward moral and a more complex moral. The straight forward moral is that if you do bad deeds you will be punished and also how addiction can lead to violence and how violence can lead to murder. The more complex moral, however is about the appeal of being Mr Hyde. Because Mr Hyde is described and talked about so much, he is probably the most interesting and exciting character in the book, which turns the straight forward moral on its head and makes Hyde the most appealing character in the novel. I believe the relevance of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde has changed considerably over the last hundred years. The main difference is that the Victorians saw this book religiously, however now when we read this book we think its about personal weakness and how addiction can lead to evil. A Victorian also wouldnt see the relevance of drugs and alcohol in this book, nor would they understand the relevance of addiction and what effect it has. Some may say that as humans, we wear masks. Not real masks, but masks that cover up our true personality showing our good side around our friends and our bad side around our family. These are great examples of mans fight in duality; our good side is always competing against our evil side, resulting in our duality, our fight over good verses evil. In this story, Doctor Jekyll is a regular scientist with the same feelings as every other human being; Mr. Hyde is a manifestation of Doctor Jekylls evil side and as a result, he is able to commit murder without any guilt. In the end, the evil manifestation won, taking completely over the Doctors body. The fight between good and evil is over! Finally, I believe the strange case of Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is about how Dr Jekyll struggles to decide either to do the right thing and be a good citizen, or to do the thing Dr Jekyll desires the most and to be Mr. Hyde which he knows is wrong.

Balanced Score Card (BSC) Advantages and Disadvantages

Balanced Score Card (BSC) Advantages and Disadvantages Abstract The study reports an evidence of the efficiency and usefulness of the Balanced Score Card (BSC) as a management control and communication strategy. This paper firstly examines the available literature on management control and communication which has identified elements of strategic control and effective communication. Secondly, this study presents a model of control and communication significant to the Balanced Score Card. Thirdly, the study further investigates archival and practical interviews data to represent the utilization and also evaluates the effectiveness of control and communication of the Balanced Score Card. The study incorporates data collected from the various departments of a large, international manufacturing company. Data is collected from Indian administrators, managers and the Balanced Score Card designers whose divisions are the purpose of Balanced Score Card. The study congregates evidences in respect to the challenges encountered by many and as in this case even by a large, well financed multinational corporation associated with the implementation and designing the Balanced Score Card. These results may be broadly suitable to other companies planning to adopt or adopting the Balanced Score Card as a management and strategic control tool. The data points out that this particular Balanced Score Card, as applied and designed, is definitely an effective tool for managing corporate strategy. Obtained results also illustrate stress and divergence amongst the top and the middle level management concerning the suitability of certain aspects of the Balanced Score Card as an evaluation, communication and control mechanism. Certain aspects include conformation of laid-back relations amongst successful management control, positive effects, motivation and strategic alignment of the Balanced Score Card. These positive effects include the changes in development and implementation of both the customer focused services and the Balanced Score Card. In contrary, unsuccessful management control and communication originate conflicts and acts as a source of poor motivation in respect of the use of Balanced Score Card as an assessment device. Data Availability: All the data gathered for this research is regulated and supplied under a strict non-disclosure agreement, which necessitates the researcher to safeguard the company’s proprietary information and identity. Introduction The available academic and professional strategy literature asserts that numerous multi-nationals have discovered time-honoured performance measures (e.g., profits, return on investment, and ex post costs) to be inadequate strategies for judgmental action in today’s speedily changing, super-competitive environment. Solitary dependence on present, financial performance measures does not perhaps mirror the significance of present resource verdicts for upcoming financial performance (e.g., Dearden, 1969). However, several years ago, some organisations identified the significance of non-financial performance measures (e.g., General Electric during 1950’s), budding global competition and the mounting up of the TQM movement has broadened the appeal for non-financial measures of performance. Authors have piled up, both the academic and professional literature with suggestions to believe more on non-financial performance measures for both evaluating and managing organisations since the 1980’s (Berliner and Brimson 1988; Dixon et al. 1990; Johnson and Kaplan 1987; Nanni et al. 1988; Rappaport 1999). Along with the normative arguments, empirical research studies can also help in establishing the effectiveness and roles of non-financial measures of performance. Numerous studies have attempted to relate some specific non-financial performance measures to the financial performance (Ittner and Larcker 1998a; Behn and Riley 1999; Foster and Gupta 1999; Banker et al. 2000).1 Results of numerous human resources literature illustrates that, it’s the systems of non-financial performance measures that seems to be comparatively more reliable determinant of firm’s performance than the individual measures themselves. (Huselid 1995; Huselid et al. 1997; Becker and Huselid 1998). The purpose of this research is to study the impact and process of administering an organisation using the non-financial measures of 1 The ever rising body of research study which has examined empirical associations amongst the financial and the non-financial performance measures in a variety of industries and firms also includes Foster and Gupta (1990, 1999), Banker et al. (1993), Barth and McNichols (1994), Banker et al. (1995), Amir and Lev (1996), Banker et al.(1996), Ittner and Larcker (1997, 1998a), Perera et al. (1997), Behn and Riley (1999), Banker et al. (2000), Ghosh and Lusch (2000), Hughes (2000). These research studies repeatedly found significant associations the financial and non-financial measures of performance, although research studies of the effects of performance of including the non-financial measures in the compensation plans are comparatively less steady and consistent. Given the growing empirical and extensive theoretical support, it is not at-all astonishing that several companies report that they are switching to non-financial, forward-looking information for both evaluating present performance as well as for guiding decisions (Ittner and Larcker, 1998b). Performance, particularly in the context of Balanced Scorecard (BSC), a comprehensive structure of performance measurement system. The Balanced Score Card, popularized by Kaplan and Norton (1992, 1993, 1996a, 1996b, 1996c) and also accepted extensively across the globe, has been presented as a better and superior blend of financial and the non-financial measures of performance. 2 Balanced Score Card is projected to direct strategy growth, execution and communication because it clearly focuses on the financial as well as the non-financial measures of performance. Moreover, a well designed Balanced Score Card could also provide some unfailing feedback for performance evaluation and management control. Atkinson et al. (1997) regarded Balanced Score Card as one of the most momentous developments in the field of management accounting, justifiably attaining a strong research attention. Silk (1998) assessed that approximately 60 percent of the U.S. Fortune 500 companies are experimenting or have by now implemented a Balanced Score Card. Despite its elevated profile, astonishingly very little academic research has actually focused on either the outcomes or the claims of the Balanced Score Card (Ittner and Larcker 1998b). An expected question that arise is: does the Balanced Score Card’s use, content, implementation or format have recognizable effects on either the outcomes or the business decisions that could not be achieved with existing ways, in combination or alone? In the very first study of its category, Lipe and Salterio(2000) identified effects in decision making connected with the format of the Balanced Score Card. The layout of the performance measures in four associated groups appears to communicate decision-related information to subjects presenting a laboratory assessment task. Most of the other previous and current studies, however, are comparatively uncritical explanations of Balanced Score Card adoptions. Kaplan and Norton (1996b) debates that the Balanced Score Card is not principally an evaluation process, but it is a communication and strategic planning device to (1) explain links amongst leading and lagging measures of non-financial and financial performance and (2) offer some strategic assistance to the divisional managers. The Balanced Score Card asserts to describe the necessary steps for reaching financial success; for example, investment in some particular types of knowledge to improve the processes. If these links are valid replications of a company’s economic opportunities and productive and administrative 2 An identical approach for merging the numerous performance measures, the tableau de bord, has been implemented by certain French organisations for numerous years (Epstein and Manzoni 1997). processes, then the Balanced Score Card symbolizes and can also communicate the company’s working strategy. Moreover, communicating these links effectively throughout the company can be decisive to implementing that strategy fruitfully (Tucker et al. 1996; West and Meyer 1997). Some organisations may possibly also use non-financial measures as a basis of performance measurement. On the other hand, they might judicially use the financial performance measures for the purpose of evaluation or they can also enhance the performance by using the Balanced Score Card as a vade mecum to financial success (e.g., Rappaport 1999). The present research is aimed at investigating the management-control and communication attributes and the efficacy of a successful, large, multi-national company’s Balanced Score Card model. The research comprises of qualitative and archival data gathered through interviews with the managers, Balanced Score Card designers, and users to (1) measure the observed attributes of the Balanced Score Card as both a control and strategic communication device and (2) find confirmation of the Balanced Score Card’s evaluation impacts. The present research does not test as to if the company’s Balanced Score Card is a statistically suitable model of the company’s performance and activities. This attribute of the Balanced Score Card shall be tested in succeeding research (Malina 2001). The company commenced using the Balanced Score Card to enhance its strategy. The Balanced Score Card has largely affected the view point and the action of users, both adversely and beneficially. When all segments of the Balanced Score Card are effectively communicated and well designed (as per the criteria mentioned in the study), the Balanced Score Card appears to persuade and inspire the lower-level managers to correspond their activities to the company’s strategy. Additionally, as per managers beliefs these changes result in enhanced sub-unit performance. In spite of this, there is also a consistent confirmation that the weaknesses in strategic communication and the flaws and imperfections of the Balanced Score Card design have affected the relationships amongst some middle and top level managers adversely. The stress survives because the Balanced Score Card design aggravated strong differences amongst their views of upcoming future opportunities. Gaps and weaknesses in communication generate unwillingness and mistrust to change. While certain specific shortcomings and flaws could be exceptionally unique to the company studied, these results appear to reflect largely on the issues of the Balanced Score Card uses and its design. The second section of this research study builds up a research question on the basis of reviewing the literature on communication standing by the features of effectual communication of strategy. The third section then builds up another research question with a synopsis of the attributes of management control tools that successfully control strategy. The fourth section later illustrates the company’s Balanced Score Card and the research site. Then the fifth section discusses about the practices used to analyze and obtain the qualitative and archival interview data. This part also displays a theoretical model for describing the effectiveness of the Balanced Score Card. The following sixth section then derives an empirical model for the effectiveness of the Balanced Score Card and also addresses the raised research questions. Lastly, the final section of this study encapsulates the conclusions and also offers certain suggestion for future research. Literature Review The Balanced Score Card and Communication of the Strategy Kaplan and Norton (1996 c) states that, â€Å"by articulating the outcomes the organization desires as well as the drivers of those outcomes (by using the Balanced Score Card), senior executive can channel the energies, the abilities, and the specific knowledge held by people throughout the organisation towards achieving the business’s long-term goals.† Therefore, Kaplan and Norton (1996 c) claims that not merely just the Balanced Score Card exemplifies or helps to create organizational knowledge and strategy, however even the Balanced Score Card itself effectively communicates knowledge and strategy. Merchant (1989) contends that failure in communication is one of the main reasons for poor organizational performance. Because neither the organization’s strategy nor its knowledge succeeds or exists apart from its chief human actors, the capability to communicate effectively may itself be a basis of competitive benefit (Amit and Shoemaker 1990; Grant 1991; Schulze 1992; Daft and Lewin 1993; Tucker et al. 1996). If the Balanced Score Card does articulate the organizations strategy and knowledge in a better manner, then it could act as a foundation of competitive advantage, at-least until all other competitors implement it equally well. However, the organisational communiquà © literature recognizes an intricate set of features that influence the effectiveness or quality of communication in the organisations. Based upon a review of the present literature, an organisations communication system or device could be characterized with the elements of its (1) exchange and creation of knowledge, (2) support of the organisational culture, and (3) messages and processes. These communication characteristics have been briefly reviewed below: Exchange and Creation of Knowledge Knowledge, which could be a tactic or an objective, is the foundation of strategy implementation and formulation.3 Thus, an effectual system of communication holds up an organisations strategy by fostering both tactic and objective knowledge. An effective system 3 Objective knowledge is expressible and observable in the normal language – outcomes and production processes, for instance. However, unspoken language is understood and known but it is not easy to convey in language – an individual’s insights or experiences, for instance. This subsection draws greatly from Tucker et al. (1996). of communication exchanges the objectives (observable) of knowledge amongst the most important individuals so that everyone is aware of the organisations present status. Organisations construct objective knowledge from the integration and development of the new knowledge by individual experts. Objective knowledge generally derives itself from the sharing and refining of the individuals tactic knowledge, which is recognized but not yet usable or articulated by the organisation. Thus, a system of effective communication enables and encourages the individuals to share their experiences and also gathers those shared experiences. This may best possibly be accomplished by frequent and intense sharing, and might also be by dialogue rather than a one-dimensional reporting. Perhaps significantly for the effectiveness of the Balanced Score Card, de Haas and Kleingeld (1999) further debates that participating in the design of the performance measurement system is an essential element of an effective communication of strategy. Support of Values, Beliefs and Culture As per the traditional sight of an effective organisational communication, it supports individual interests and the organisational culture by focusing on certain desired patterns of beliefs, shared values, and behaviour. Effectual communication exhibits that the organisation accomplishes its promises and that group or individual rewards are predicted based upon their actions (Goodman 1998; Tucker et al. 1996). Communiquà © by leaders which steadily articulates shared values, beliefs and goals (Goodman 1998; Tucker et al. 1996) is also efficient in directing behaviour and reinforcing culture. Moreover, effectual communication ought to encourage behaviour coherent with organisational values, beliefs and goals (Goodman 1998). Kaplan and Norton (2000), the proponents of the Balanced Score Card, debates that it can also be a tool of strategic and cultural change. Coherent with Kotter’s (1995) study of change processes, the Balanced Score Card could facilitate change by effectively communicating and creating a convincing realistic vision of and also a method for attaining change. Communication Messages and Processes Individuals make use of and rely on communication only if its messages and processes are observed as trustworthy and understandable. Other features of effectual organisational communication procedures are reliability, predictability, completeness, and routineness (Tucker et al. 1996; Goodman 1998; Barker and Camarata 1998). Besides this, communication is also more successful if it applies well defined terms and concise messages (Goodman 1998). Moreover, effectual communications system prevents misrepresentation of performance or repression of truth. There should be no equivocation concerning the differences between â€Å"looking good† and truthfulness or coherence with winning. An effective system of communication and its operators will be indignant of â€Å"spin, deniability, and truth by assertion† (Goodman 1998). As a result, organisational communication shall be effectual if the messages and processes are a valid and convincing representation of the performance. In a nutshell, effectual organisational communication strategies should hold the recognizable attributes of: Knowledge sharing – including participation and dialogue Support and assistance of organisational culture – changing or existing Valid messages trustworthy, understandable and reliable The organisational communication literature foresees that a Balanced Score Card, which comprises of these above mentioned attributes, shall create positive organisational outcomes, positive motivation, and strategic alignment. The foremost research area shall be: Question 1: Is the Balanced Score Card an (in) effective device for communication, creating (negative) positive organisational outcomes, (in) effective motivation, and (non) alignment? The Balanced Score Card and The Management Control of The Strategy general condemnation of managing the organisations on the basis of financial performance measures is that these measures persuade the managers to make short-run, myopic decisions. The financial measures incline to emphasise on the present impacts of the decisions, lacking an obvious link between long run strategy and the short run actions (current criticisms include Luft and Shields [1999], McKenizie and Schilling [1998]). Moreover, the traditional financial performance measures could work in opposition to the knowledge based strategies by considering the enrichment of resources like human capital, which might be crucial to implementing a strategy, such as current expenses (e.g., Johnson 1992). Dixon et al (1990) debates that the time-honoured financial measures, by dispensing costs of many developments, as well work opposing to the strategies based on reduction of manufacturing time, flexibility and quality. For numerous lower level employees, most of the financial measures of performance are excessively comprehensive and also very far isolated from their actions to offer helpful feedback or guidance on their decisions. They may need certain measures that relate more accurately and directly to the outcomes that they can persuade. (McKenize and Schilling 1998). A numerous studies have found proof that the financial, traditional performance measures are utmost helpful in conditions of low complexity and relative uncertainty; and not in the conditions faced by many trans-national organisations today (e.g., Abernethy and Brownwell 1997; Govindarajan and Gupta 1985; Govindarajan 1984; Gordon and Naranyan 1984). Lynch and Cross (1995) debates that all set performance measures should motivate the behaviour contributing to constant improvement and development in certain vital areas of competition, such as productivity, flexibility, and customer satisfaction. Therefore, they should replicate a cause and effect amongst strategic outcomes and operational behaviour (Keegan et al. 1989; Ittner and Larcker 1998a).4 Moreover, as and how an organisation recognizes new strategic goals, it shall also comprehend a requirement for new measures of performance to persuade and supervise its new actions (Dixon et al. 1990). 4 Contemplation of the time lags might be really important for illustrating these cause and effect relationships (e.g., Norreklit 2000, Banker et al. 2000). Hence, organisations optimally and perhaps sensibly might implement a varied set of measures of performance to demonstrate the diversity of management efforts and decisions (e.g., Ittner and Larcker 1998b; Feltham and Xie 1994; Banker and Datar 1989; Homstrom 1979). The empirical evidences in support of these propositions is narrow and limited but growing.5 The Case of Management Control For The Balanced Score Card Kaplan and Norton (1996 b) had organized various measures of performance into the Balanced Score Card, which is itself a admissible expression in most of the Western business management models.6 Indeed, the Balanced Score Card might have diffused extensively throughout the globe on the power of its internal logic and intuition. Kaplan and Norton (1996b) asserts that the Balanced Score Card offers two noteworthy improvements over the traditional non financial or even the financial performance measures. Firstly, the Balanced Score Card discovers four associated fields of activity that might be crucial to almost all organisations and also to all levels inside the organisation: Increasing financial success Providing Customer value Improving the effectiveness of internal processes Investing in growth and learning capabilities Following the rationale of the Balanced Score Card and disregarding the cost benefit considerations, almost every organisation can implement measures in all the four areas to persuade and supervise actions suitable to organisational strategy. An appropriately constructed Balanced Score Card in its utmost basic use, can offer a complete picture of the status of an organisation, similar to a vehicle’s dashboard showing temperature, oil pressure, fuel levels, speed, engine RPM and coolant. 5 For instance, Banker et al. Offers empirical support with the help of widespread time series data in a service firm for the relations amongst lagging financial performance and principal non-financial measures. Moreover, they employ an event-learning method to locate beneficial performance results from incorporating these non-financial measures in the management performance assessments. 6 The advocates of EVA ® or economic value added, also assert improvements over the traditional financial performance measures, but that is also a synopsis of the financial measure, even though the one that rectifies for the claimed financial reporting faults and errors. EVA ® do not integrate the non-financial, complementary performance measures. Therefore, the Balanced Score Card could encourage positive and constructive organisational outcomes like improvements and developments in all the four areas of organisational activity, which comprises of administrative activities and the Balanced Score Card itself. Evaluating this first level of usefulness and effectiveness is the major objective of this study. Moreover, the Balanced Score Card also seeks to connect these measures into one model so as to accurately replicate the cause and effect relationship amongst the individual measures and the categories. Employing the automobile correspondence, the Balanced Score Card encourages a change in the car’s performance (e.g., speed) specified a designed increase in the engine RPM and fuel consumption (and maybe other factors). A model like this may back-up operational decisions, provide trustworthy feedback for performance evaluation and learning, and make forecasts of results given environmental conditions and the decisions.7 The Role of The Balanced Score Card for Performance Measurement and Strategy Implementation The proponents of the Balanced Score Card emphasise its alliance of the critical measures with the links and the strategy of the measures to the valued outcomes. Additionally, the literature on management control recognizes other features of the control systems that might be crucial for the successful operation and implementation of the strategy and shall apply to the Balanced Score Card.8 To be efficient and effective, Balanced Score Card measures ought to be verifiable, objective, and accurate. 7 Whereas the primary claim for value of the various performance measures would create few debates beyond the considerations of benefit and costs, the secondary claim is a rigorous and bold hypothesis. A potentially testable and literal explanation of the balanced score card is that, it explains lagging, leading, or contemporaneous relations amongst the performance measures. For instance, improvements in growth and learning like reduced time of cycle (e.g., Luft and Shields 1999). Similarly, progress in the in-house processes will predictably result in an enhanced customer value (e.g., market share and satisfaction). Lastly, progress in the customer value shall lead to some predictable increment in the financial success (e.g., profits). Generating such a coherent and comprehensive model is an inspirational objective which is similar to imitating the business model of the company itself. Achieving such an experiential result shall not establish any causality amongst the balanced score card elements because (1) factors absent from this model might be correlated alongwith both effects and causes, (2) the causes of earnings might not be generalizable further beyond the context of a particular firm (Norreklit 2000), and (3) few of the proposed measures might not be self-governing and independent. 8 Unless otherwise mentioned, this particular section draws from the summaries in Merchant (1989, Chapter 2) and Simon (2000, Chapter 11). If not, the measures shall be manipulated and will not be able to replicate the performance, or even the managers could in good belief attain good quality measured performance but in-turn cause harm to the organisation. Even if the managers can attain high measured performance by fraud, cheating or any other method, then the system shall lose its required motivational effect and credibility rapidly. Moreover, the combination of Balanced Score Card measures should entirely illustrate the organisations crucial performance variables; instead it should be restricted in number so as to maintain the measurement system administratively and cognitively simple. A comprehensive set of measures of performance shall accurately replicate the difficulty of the organisations tasks and responsibilities, but a lot of measures might be costly, confusing, and distracting to administer. Nevertheless, Lipe and Salterio (2000) failed to find confirmation of any information overload from the various measures used in their experimental study of the Balanced Score Card. Optimistic motivational impact persuades managers to put forth effort for achieving the organisational goals. While enlightening but not manageable the performance measures might be essential, optimistic motivation demands that in some way or the other few of the Balanced Score Card measures should replicate manager’s conduct and actions. For instance, relative performance assessment (e.g., across alike business units), which is capable of identifying â€Å"influenceable† however, not absolutely controllable results, can be an essential constituent of the Balanced Score Card (e.g., Antle and Demski 1988), but it shall not be adequate by itself. Widespread goal setting researchers validate that the performance should be correlated to demanding but achievable targets (e.g., Locke and Laltham 1990). Without such unequivocal Balanced Score Card targets, the performance would likely be comparatively lower than what could be realistically achieved. Finally to fabricate the goal commitments, the Balanced Score Card shall be linked to well understood and prompt penalties and rewards. Rewards which are ambiguous, uncertain, or delayed shall be unsuccessful motivational devices. Consequently, even if an organisation’s Balanced Score Card replicates its crucial performance variables and the links to valued and appreciated outcomes, it might be unproductive and disastrous as a successful management control tool if it lacks the other attributes. For instance, Ittner et al (2000) asserts that bias in a bank’s Balanced Score Card escorted it to both the bank’s deterioration to its interim financial measures of performance and little advantageous impact. To recapitulate, an effective and successful management control device, which is competent to promote required organisational results, shall have the subsequent, apparent management control elements to, firstly, achieve strategic alignment: A complete but economical combination of the measures of crucial performance variables, correlated with strategy; Crucial performance measures just casually correlated to valued organisational results; and Successful and effective – accurate, purpose, and confirmable – measures of performance, which seems to be associated to effectual communication. Secondly, to further encourage positive motivation, an efficient management control tool should have the attributes of: Measures of performance reflecting the managers influenceable actions or/and controllable actions, e.g., measured by relative or/and absolute performance; Appropriate standards or performance targets that are demanding but attainable; and Performance measures which are associated to meaningful and significant rewards. The Management control theory forecasts that, if the Balanced Score Card contains these attributes, then it becomes probable that the Balanced Score Card shall encourage positive outcomes and motivation and strategic alignment as well. Consequently, the secondary research area/question which complements the first is: Question 2: Is the Balanced Score Card an (in) effective device for management control, creating (negative) positive organisational outcomes, (in) effective motivation, and (non) alignment? Subsequent explanation unfolds the information of a model which replicates the two stated research questions. This model, supported and based on the review of all literature, demonstrates that the Balanced Score Card’s communication characteristics and management control generate results by creating motivation (or not) and strategic alignment. This research also explains about the labour and efforts put in for collecting the data on an applied Balanced Score Card’s organisational communication attributes and management control, along with the facts confirming the Balanced Score Card’s effects on organisational outcomes, motivation, and  strategic alignment. It is audacious to judge the efficiency and the efficacy of the Balanced Score Card against the facts from a non experimental, single Balanced Score Card implementation. Though, a careful and detailed assessment of a crucial case could be generalizable to the theory and instructive (i.e., analytical generalisation, Yin [1994, 10-32]), which in this particular case is that the Balanced Score Card could be an effective management control and strategy communication device. The Characteristics of Balanced Score Card and The Research Site Synopsis of The Research Site The research site is an Indian Economic Times 500 company having over 15000

The economic problems faced by Hindustan Unilever Limited

The economic problems faced by Hindustan Unilever Limited The problems that Hindustan Unilever Limited currently facing is increasing input costs and operations costs due to rise in raw material costs, increasing imitative and spurious products, and stiff competition from other FMCG players. There is slowdown in the global economy and the problem that started in the financial sector extended rapidly to other sectors affecting not only the US but the global economy. Most of Indias domestic sectors are also affected including countrys exports performance and FMCG sectors. There is an unprecedented volatility in raw materials price contributed largely by increasing crude oil prices. Unprecedented volatility in raw materials price associated with uncertainties in the commodities movement needs a desperate careful management in the FMCG companies. Although some companies managed to do well categories like detergents met decreasing sales. Hindustan Unilever Limited has a large brand portfolio consisting number of brands. It will be difficult to manage such extended brand portfolio by any company but it is the nature of FMCG industry and company. The current global scenario with swinging raw material prices and intense competition faced by the company needs a careful management. Major issues or problems The problem that the company is facing for long time is the increasing imitative products. The popularity of the HULs brand and the reach it possess drives the local manufactures to imitate the products leading some to produce even the fake products. The fake products are seen highly in rural markets. This greatly affects the brand equity of the HUL. The company is facing increasing input costs due to increase in price of the raw materials. There is a potential impact on the company due to rising inflation, freight costs and raw materials. Hindustan Unilever Limited is facing tough competition than years before from ITC, Procter Gamble, Colgate-Palmolive, Nestle and Godrej. ITC is competing toughly with HUL through various brands that are market leaders. The competition is further intensified by several new entrants. This intensified competition already witnessed by HULs losing market share in certain segments and also increase in operation costs. STRATEGY FORMULATION: Strategic alternatives: The strategic alternatives for HUL to address the issues of increasing input costs and operations costs due to rise in raw material costs, increasing imitative and spurious products, and stiff competition from other FMCG players are, Leverage and Proliferation of brand portfolio Competitive pricing Cost efficient initiatives Leverage and proliferation of brand portfolio: HUL has gained reputation of meeting customer needs through various products in different segments. HUL has strong supply chain and distribution network meeting customer needs. This gives competitive advantage for HUL over its competitors. The proliferation of brand portfolio will protect customers especially in rural markets from purchasing spurious products. HULs product of different brand in same category will back the revenue generating brand from imitative products. Competitive pricing: Hindustan Unilever Limited facing stiff competition from organized as well as unorganized players in the industry. This is an industry where buyers have numerous choice of brand to shift one brand to another brand if not affordable. Rising inflation in the country makes the companies to increase the price of their product. Competitive pricing will get the local manufactures and organized players on their feet. Cost efficient initiatives: Increase in the raw material price and uncertainties in the commodity movement rises the operation costs of the company. The company is in desperate need to do some initiatives like cutting down the advertisement cost and also to cut down the cost in its operation rather than worrying about the increase in raw material price. Alternative Evaluation: Leverage and proliferation of brand portfolio: Leveraging and proliferation of brand portfolio by introducing new brands will help the company to compete with the spurious products and competitors brands by providing the customers a variety of brand in the same category. This will prevent the customers from shifting to imitative products and competitor brands thereby retaining the customers. Hindustan Unilever Limited has a competitive advantage of robust supply chain and distribution network. This will help the new brand in reaching the customers effectively. The disadvantage is that the company will have various brands in the same category which may make difficult to manage them. Competitive pricing: This strategy of competitive or decreasing the price of companys product will not to efficient. The company is dealing with increase in input and operation costs. Reducing the price of the products will decrease the profit margin. Moreover it will start the price war in the industry which is not good for the company as well as to the industry. Most of the HULs market leader brands are being closely chased by its competitors with only slight difference in the market share and lot of local products. Also, in many categories in oral, skin care segments the competitors are having market leader brands with strong foothold. Initiating the price war will have a drastic impact on all the segments also will not increase the profit margin. Cost efficient initiatives: The cost efficient initiative like reducing cost over advertisement and reducing the operation cost will help the company to gain competitive advantage in its operations. However FMCG industry requires consistent advertisements and promotional effects to stay in the minds of customers. Cutting down the expense on advertisement will let the competitor to gain advantage over HUL in reaching the customers mind. Also the organization cannot do much about the increasing raw material cost where they have a choice of only optimizing the procurement procedures. Alternative choice: Leverage and proliferation of brand portfolio is the optimal choice to address the problems that the company is facing. HUL has a competitive advantage of possessing many strong brands with robust supply chain and distribution network. They have a strong resource that they can allocate to proliferate the brand that can cover different market segments at different price points. This will prevent the price wars as it will give consumers a wide choice of brands that can cover different market segments at different price points and simultaneously retain the customers from shifting to competitors brands. This will give wide choice to customers and back the revenue generating brands from its competitors. This is an industry which is difficult to retain the customers. So it is risky to go head on head with the competitors with revenue generating brands. Proliferation of brand will increase the volume growth and profit margin. STRATEGY IMPLEMENTATION: HUL will not require any culture or structural changes in the organization to implement the strategy. The organization with its robust supply chain and distribution network will help the brand to reach the customers like other brands. Immediate action plan: The company has to first differentiate the strong performing and revenue generating brands from the non-performing brands. It is important to determine brand relevance and assessing the key competitors in the category. Short term action plan: The company has to decide the segments in which they have proliferate the brand portfolio. A research has to be conducted to analyze the performance of existing brand and that of the competitors brand. Long term action plan: After determining the category they need a well designed performing monitoring system to analyze the performance of brands before and after the introduction of new brand.

Birth Control Essay examples -- Contraceptives, Birth Control Essays

People have been having sex since the beginning of time; after all, how would we be here today if they had not. Yet, there has also been the pervasive problem of how to gain control over reproduction, in essence, how to prevent unwanted pregnancies. This is a challenge, even today, in an age of technological advancements, mass communication and education. However, through the years, the spread of information and awareness surrounding birth control has resulted in its increased availability and an improvement in the lives of both men and women. People are very clever and ingenious and have, throughout history, devised a variety of birth control methods. The earliest known contraceptive came from the Egyptian women of around 1500 B.C. They were thought to have created a suppository of crocodile dung and honey. The acidity of the crocodile dung could, potentially, kill the sperm, and the stickiness of the honey was supposed to stop the sperm from entering the woman (Wikipedia 2). Other forms of suppositories also were used, ranging from olive oil and honey, to cloths soaked in vinegar. Women also used a variety of herbal abortifacients (which are used to induce abortion). They are â€Å"part of a folk culture of herbal medicine handed down among women for thousands of years† (London 2). One example of an abortifacient is the ancient French and German use of the root of worm fern. It was commonly called the â€Å"prostitute root† by the French (London 2). More modern abortifacients include turpentine, castor oil and ammonia, to name a few. Frighteningly, the ingestion of small amounts of poison was another tried method, including mercury and arsenic. A list of various additional, popular contraceptive methods included â€Å"withdrawal ... ...being challenged. Works Cited: 1) Gordon, Linda. Woman’s Body, Woman’s Right- A Social History of Birth Control in America. NY: Grossman Publishers, 1976. 2) London, Kathleen. Yale- New Haven Teachers Institute. The History of Birth Control. 2004. http://www.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/1982/6/82.06.03.x.html 3) Oyler, Julie M.D. The History of Birth Control. University of Chicago Hospitals. 18 March 2003. http://imr.bsd.uchicago.edu/chiefs/History%20of%20Medicine/Birth%20Control_files/v3_document.htm 4) â€Å"Birth Control.† Wikipedia. 2004 Wikipedia- the free encyclopedia. 29 October 2004. 5) â€Å"Birth Control.† Houghton Mifflin. 2004 A Reader’s Companion to American History http://college.hmco.com/history/readerscomp/rcah/html/ah_009600_birthcontrol.htm

Wireless Computing Essay examples -- Education, Teachers

In an attempt to improve the integration of wireless computing, educators and policymakers are reevaluating ways to incorporate technology tools into the grade level performance standards without separating the two educational standards (Collins & Halverson, 2009; Weston & Bain, 2010). Presently, students and teachers at the rural school district under review have the ability to transmit information through wireless technological resources. Francis and Mishra (2008) explained that teaching-learning with wireless computing effectively will demand that classroom teachers are knowledgeable of the security of information. The researchers insisted that teachers need to know about the stored or transmitted information through wireless technology. In addition, teachers will also need to learn the practicality and effectiveness of using such technology for educational purposes. Although both the schools and students possess different wireless technology tools within this southeast rural K–12 district in questioned, the devices are not used to augment new pedagogical strategies due to teachers' technology attitudes, lack adequate training or beliefs (Hayes, 2009). Teachers will continue to be uncomfortable with wireless technology unless their attitudes about technology changes (Hennessy, Harrison & Wamakote, 2010). Teachers' who lack confidence in instructing with wireless technology tools may hesitate to use them (Francis & Mishra, 2008; Teo, 2009). Teachers’ attitudes, awareness, lack of autonomy, lack of skills to assess what wireless technology offers, and technophobia appear to be the primary barriers that hinders teachers from integrating technology into their instructional practices (Hennessy et al., 2010; Ursava... ...udes towards technology and the uses of such technology. In addition, this study will apply quantitative measures to generate numeric quantifiable concrete analyses of the findings (Deeptee and Roshan, 2008; Leedy and Ormrod, 2010). This study attempts to distinguish a concrete analysis between the measurements found and the natural abilities of teachers using available technology during instruction. From those measurements and descriptions, the researcher will design an online support network (OSN) as an instructional resource (Snider, 2009; Hennessy, Harrison & Wamakote, 2010). A professional learning network will assist K–12 teachers with integrating available technology effectively in the classroom. Access to professional learning resources will encourage teachers’ confidence through the use of available technology and help with any possible technophobia.

Shylock in William Shakespeares The Merchant of Venice Essay -- Merch

Shylock in William Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice One of the most interesting and thought provoking characters in the Merchant of Venice is Shylock. Throughout his five scenes in the play he is looked down upon, betrayed, deserted, punished and humiliated by Christian society, his daughter and all those that will eventually need his money. His faith and his way of making a living are the Christians' only justification for this treatment, yet even in his alienation he is still, as we see later, constitute to Venetian Law. Shylock's first appearance in the Merchant of Venice is in Act 1 Scene 3, where Bassanio is talking about Antonio taking out a loan on his behalf. Shylock seems jovial in this first scene, before the Christians start to heap insults upon him. I believe that this scene may contain the only true indicator of Shylock's true demeanour, i.e. an agreeable businessman. This view is unfortunately shattered by the arrival of Antonio and his good credit rating. Shylock hates Antonio, not only on principle, as the Christians hate him, but also due to Antonio's own money lending activities and this, his cardinal sin, of charging no interest. As Shylock says, "I hate him for he is a Christian; but more, for in low simplicity he lends out money gratis, and brings down the rate of usance here with us in Venice." Even now, you can recognise Shylock's hatred, firstly upon principle of religion, and secondly hatred on behalf of his business, which may be the most important thing to Shylock apart from his beloved religion. The burden of his race gives Shylock both a sense of righteous indignation and an overwhelming sense of ... ... he ever want to marry Portia? By the end of the play, I had almost forgotten that the only reason was because he wanted a steady source of income without the hassle of working. I believe that Bassanio may have been just as devious as Shylock. He worked out that by showing his greed to Portia during the test, would spell the end of the relationship. Portia could even have been in it for greed. If not for money, then maybe different collateral, lust for Bassanio could be interpreted as greed, could it not? If you think about it, all the characters are driven by greed when you get down to it. As I stated earlier, Shylock's race had little or nothing to do with the outcome of the play. If he had been a Christian moneylender, the same would have happened. In the end, the saying is true: money is the root of all evil.

BPR and Enterprise Systems

Some of the factors that a process engineer should take into consideration when designing a BPR project includes the following; first of all the project engineer should consider developing a decision making framework, which should be relevant at the very initial stages of the project in relation to the project requirements and objectives as well as goals. The framework is the most important tool, which will be used through the whole life of the project.This factor is unique to the BPR projects as it is not taken into consideration in establishing the ERP projects (Portougal and Sundaram p13-150). The second factor is the recruitment of recognized individuals, who should be recognized persons from the various departments that they represent. These leaders will be required to participate in the various aspects of the project, especially the selection and implementation phases of the project.This is important as it will encourage free flow of information in carrying out the projects. Th e third factor is that, the engineer should take into consideration to the project management as well as planning measures, to ensure that innovation advances are encouraged in carrying out the project as well as avoid unnecessary project expenses (Harmon, Rosen and Guttman, p52-67).The fourth factor the engineer should consider should be the use of consultants as, well as the decisions of the peers where a given proportion of the project is assigned to the outsiders to encourage the application of new knowledge skills which will improve the project. Finally, among other considerations the project engineer should consider developing a kind of special office environment which will be deciced to the project team.So as to improve on the performance of the project, the engineer should consider the training programs which will enable the project team members to improve on their performance skills. Some of the factors that are considered to be unique in relation to the BPR projects, when considered with the other projects are that the process is carried out as a continuous process, whereby evaluations are carried out on a regular basis to improve on the areas with display some forms of difficulties (Portougal and Sundaram p13-150).Some of the problems encountered while undertaking the BPR projects include the organizations failing to offer the necessary support in carrying out the projects; many of the projects fail to take off well in cases where the organizational resources are not dedicated in carrying out the projects. In such situations, the management of the project does not carry out strategic planning activities, which will seek to establish the market focus for their project.In relation to that, the project may have been initiated by the wrong people or in the wrong department in the organization, which does not initiate the management of the organization to dedicate its resources as they feel they may lose in the process (Harmon, Rosen and Guttman, p52-67) . The other difficulty experienced in carrying such kind of projects is that the work groups, which are involved in carrying out the project activities lack inspiration, as well as innovation tactics in carrying out the projects, and this are the most important requirements for the success of the projects.This can be caused by the management of the organization as well as that of the project injecting too much pressure on the project members, and also the participants would lack the needed knowledge and skills to carry out the project activities. On the other hand, there are problems in cases where underestimations are made in relation to carrying out the project activities. In any BPR project, there is usually social career as well as the procedural dimension which need to be carried out to ensure that the project is successful.The problem in this area arises as to the management of the human aspects, which involve change that is usually comprehensive to manage as compared to other environmental changes (Portougal and Sundaram p13-150). To address the issue of support from the organization when carrying out the BPR projects, there is need for the management of the organization to come up with ways in which they allocate the resources of the company towards the projects by developing budgets before the projects are implemented.So as to ensure the project members will carry out their project activities well, the training programs should be used to initiate competency in the project members. To improve their morale to work, they should be compensated according by initiating a number of remuneration packages that will be of benefit to the project members. Considering that the management of change is an issue in carrying out the BPR projects, it is important for the management of the organization to initiate flexible management structures, which would initiate a culture of change within an organization before the projects are undertaken.In doing so, the project me mbers will find it more ease to adapt to changes in the project activities, as they will have been used to a culture of change (Langer, p268-230). Given that most of the projects fail as a result of inefficiencies in the management functions, the is need for the management of the organization and that of the project to carry out strategic management activities before and as they carry out the project activities. This is to ensure that the uncertainties in the future of the project are dealt with in a more efficient way.The advantages of carrying strategic planning activities is that they enable an organization to handle its strengths and weaknesses as well as the emerging business opportunities at the market place and in that way could be able to come up with effective strategies. This will enable the project management team and the organization to utilize their potential in achieving project success with the limited resources (Harmon, Rosen and Guttman, p52-67). In carrying out BPR projects they are usually a number of tools that can be used in carrying out the requirements of the project.One of these tools includes the use of the IT architecture. In using this instrument a number of packages have been developed which could enable the user to carry out the different aspects of the project, which include process analysis to redesigning as well as project modelling. The tool enables the organization to determine the difference between the level of work required to be carried out in a given project, and the ways in which the difference can be narrowed so as to achieve the objectives of the project.Despite the tool being useful to the organization, it seems to a complex technique in carrying out the project activities and sometimes could act as a hindrance to the various project activities, which could affect the general results off the projects. The challenge which comes from the use of this tool is that it demands that the decisions of the project needs to be m ade early enough, so as to make the necessary adjustments as the project progresses and within a limited time period (Langer, p268-230).So as to deal with this major challenge in the use of the IT architecture, there is need to simplify the technique so as to enable the project members to implement its use with ease. In addition to that, early planning measures need to adopt. Some of the common goals that are aimed at in carrying out the BPR and enterprise systems involve; analyzing as well as suggesting ways in which the organization can be able to improve on it most critical business activities, which form part of the organizational structure.This is all intended at increasing the general performance of the organization, so as to create value for the various stakeholders of the organization (Langer, p268-230). The second most important goal relates to the successfully coordinating the various resources of the organization such as its hardware, software and many others so as to mak e them be in line to the organizational culture thus achieve an optimally functioning organization system.Some of the similarities between the BPR and the enterprise system are that, they both are focused towards initiating change in the organization, which will eventually improve on the performance level of the organization. The main difference between the two approaches is that the process orientation in the two is totally different. In BPR, the manner in which change is initiated is through innovations and also encompassing of knowledge which has been used in the past, whereas for the enterprise approach such measures are not taken into consideration (Langer, p268-230).BPR is considered to be more suitable especially if it is done in appropriate manner in carrying out organizational change, which is one of the ingredients needed to create value for the customers. On the other hand, the BPR projects can involve the customers in initiating the creation of value thus end up engaging the organizational members in activities that will seek ;to establish a competitive advantage for the organization (Harmon, Rosen and Guttman, p52-67).The enterprise system is more suitable in situations where trade offs need to be made between the various project techniques that need to bring about change in the organization under various situations (Harmon, Rosen and Guttman, p52-67). References Portougal, V, Sundaram, D. Business processes: operational solutions for SAP implementation. Idea Group Inc (IGI), 2005. Harmon, P, Rosen, M and Guttman, M. Developing E-business systems & architectures: a manager's guide. Morgan Kaufmann, 2001. Langer, A. Analysis and Design of Information Systems. Springer, 2007.