We Googled You A Case Study - Click to Get Solution

Questions: 1. What are the goals/objectives of the company in this situation? What is it that the company wants to achieve? Before the company takes any action, it should be clear on what it is trying to accomplish. 2. What is the issue that needs to be decided in this case? Describe 3. What are 3differentalternative courses of action that can be taken to address this issue? Explain 4. Whichoneof your 3 options do you recommend? Why? How does this recommendation help the company to address the issues and to achieve their goals? 5. What are the specific action steps that can be taken to IMPLENT your decision and to turn it into reality? What needs to be actually done? 6. How many words are in your answers total? Answers: 1) GOALS AND OBJECTIVES In the case study the objective is to hire Mimi Brewster for the job of project manager in the new division of China. The CEO of the company wants to make a good judgment regarding the recruitment of Mimi Brewster inn his company as he is confused because of the negative internet reviews about her. Hathaway Jones is having hard face in his company and is searching for some new innovative talent so as to bring back the position of the company. CEO of the company is Fred Weston who believes that the company already has a well equipped employee Hathaway Jones to resolve the issue but to him it seems his past has to be questioned for the future things. So he wants to hire Mimi Brewster to open the new division in China. So, the company wants to achieve the goal and bring young passionate employees like Mimi and improve the company standards for present and future both. 2) STATEMENT OF ISSUE The issue is that whether or not Mimi Brewster should be considered for the position at Hathaway Jones. The issue is faced by the CEO Fred as when he was willing to appoint Mimi for the job than he got a call from Virginia Flanders who is the vice president of human resource. He stated that he has found some information from the internet about Mimi Brewster that is of great consideration for Fred. At this point of time Fred starter to have some problems so as to recruit Mimi for the new division. The issue has aroused may be due to the following reasons as follows: The legality of internet for screening the candidates recruitment. Mimis lack of experiences at professional and managerial levels. Improper description of the position in China. Reputation on the internet. The views about a particular person given on the internet can highly influence the recruitment procedure. Improper and ineffective communication between the CEO and the HR. A lack of proper clarification about Mimi given by the HR to Fred can also be the cause of this issue. Recruitment of a manager from outside. Sometimes company get in to a trouble on hiring a recruiter from outside the company while some good people are working for them. 3) SOLUTION ALTERNATIVES The three different alternative solutions to this problem are as follows: Conducting a second interview process between the CEO Fred and Mimi Brewster that would help to clarify the doubts of Fred relating to the internet misinterpretation reviews about her. In this Fred can judge her once again. Fred can offer Mimi some similar position or any other position inside the Hathaway Jones in the U.S market. As Mimi comes from the background of Chinese history Fred can make Mimi a liaison among the China and US market. Fred can appoint Mimi on the demand that Mimi should improve her relations with the China market as it has created a negative impact on Mimis work and personality. 4) RECOMMENDATION I would recommend the second option of recruiting Mimi on a similar or another position inside the Hathaway Jones in the US market or making Mimi a Liaison between the two markets of USA and CHINA. It would be recommended by me as firstly Mimi is aggressive, creative, passionate, risk taker and a talented employee. A employee like her would definitely improve the present and future of the company. This is already been proved by her previous companys recommendation letter. Secondly this can act as a way of assuring Mimis work and proving wrong the internet reviews about Mimi. If they are proved wrong than Fred can promote and give away the project manager position which he was to give Mimi with out having any doubts. The company will surely improve his performance and standards if a hardworking and passionate employee like Mimi work for them. They can improve the business in China and US as Mimi knows Chinese culture and fashion trends which can give company a lot of help and could im prove business. 5) ACTION STEPS For this the following steps are to be taken: Conducting an interview again between the CEO Fred and Mimi Brewster. Asking clarification about Mimi relationship with the Chinese culture and clearing out the reason that why Chinese wrote out in a negative manner about Mimi. Demanding Mimi to improve and sort out the clashes that has occurred between her and the Chinese market. Asking Mimi to provide means and proofs about the negative reviews that had been written on her on the internet. 6) I wrote total 893 words for these answers.

I heard that it started when a bloke called Archie Duke shot an ostrich because he was hungry. Essay Example

I heard that it started when a bloke called Archie Duke shot an ostrich because he was hungry. Paper There are few historical debates that have aroused such controversy as that of the causes and origins of World War One. There is an abundance of sources, both reliable and not so, and the blame for the war has been thrown around and indeed at everybody involved. Unlike the Second World War, where Germany is generally accepted as being to blame, WW1 is steeped in disagreement even to this day. Unfortunately for the historian, the blame for the war simply depends on who you ask. Britain, Germany, France, Russia, even capitalism itself have strong arguments against them. A problem one faces when investigating the crisis is that each argument does have its strong points, and, if approached unwarily, each could be accepted as the main cause of the war.Perhaps it is not surprising, then, that Baldrick should become a little confused as to the state of affairs. It accepted that at the time of the war, many Tommies and indeed civilians were unclear as to the reasons for conflict. The obvious point Baldrick is referring to is the assassination of Franz Ferdinand in June of 1914. This short term cause was accepted by many at the time to be the main cause of the war, but I believe this is only because of the events proximity to war itself, and media hype (the British popular press becoming prominent in the late eighteen hundreds).I do not question the fact that the death of Ferdinand contributed to the start of the war, but I believe that war would have broken out if the assassination had not taken place. It was, we must remember, the state of international affairs which made Ferdinands death so significant in the first place. For example, the Black Hand, the organisation to which Gavro Princip, Ferdinands killer belonged, had been formed to aid the creation of a Greater Serbia. I think that this is evidence that international diplomacy, although perhaps not so dramatic (and accessible to the masses), played the key role in the start of war.I think that, as has been refle cted in the media coverage of war in Iraq, peoples ideas of the causes and justification of war are largely influenced by the popular press. As is the same now, different newspapers had different opinions on the war. The most prominent papers, such as The Daily Mail, promoted the idea of the evil hun, skewering babies on bayonets and suchlike, and the idea was generally accepted by the British public. I think it is the presss influence which is largely responsible for the public perception of war, but with the extremely useful tool known as hindsight, we can see the whole picture.Marxist historians state Imperial rivalry and capitalism as the underlying causes of war. I agree with the idea that Imperialism significantly contributed to the war. The fact that there was a fairly hefty rivalry between nations is clear from their aggressive actions overseas, with the major powers such as Britain and Germany scrabbling to obtain and retain significant areas around the globe. The Marxist t heory, however, goes on to say that the acquisition of new territory led capitalists to look for new markets abroad, which in turn encouraged governments to obtain more and more land, adding to the tensions between states.They claim that this ultimately led to war. I disagree with this theory, one, because the hostilities in Africa and Asia never truly threatened international war, and two, because I think that business heads at the time were keen to encourage amiable relations between states, with trading between nations truly coming into is own at this time. Fritz Fischer, a prominent German historian, claimed that all of the nations international diplomacy was ruled by domestic policy. I disagree with this statement. If we look at the political circumstances of the nations at the time, I think it is clear that the general public were not adequately empowered to influence diplomacy. For example, Germany, who had more voters than any other country, parliament had no actual power ov er the government. This meant that although public opinion was probably taken into consideration, it is unlikely that her actions were actually dictated by the masses.It is my opinion that the First World War was not caused by a single event. It may be fair to say that Ferdinands assassination sparked the war, but I find it incredulous to think that this one spark was the actual cause of a world war. I think that the reasons for war are numerous and interlinked; a patchwork quilt if you will of diplomacy and economy. The treaties and agreements at the time the Franco-Russian alliance of 1892 (although it was not made public until 1918), the triple entente, the German-Habsburg alliance of 1879, and the various trade treaties at the time all set the stage for war. So was war inevitable?I believe so, although I think that the circumstances of war could have been very different. I think that the rise of Germany itself thanks to Bismarck, and the amazing acceleration of production there , was bound to lead to competition with another state. The theory of Social Darwinism; that if you are not growing you are dying (originally invented by English philosopher Herbert Spencer), could be argued to be illustrated by the actions of Germany and Britain during the naval arms race. Their expansion, both militarily and territorially, I think is fair to say was only down to competition with each other; Britain had been a clear leader in Europe, and had no real need to expand other than to prevent a rival close to home.There is an idea that if Britain had made its stance clear during the July crisis in 1914 (we must remember that the triple entente was only an informal agreement, rather than a binding alliance), then Germany would not have gone to war with France. I think that this is plausible, as Germany would certainly have been reluctant to fight such a close rival, but I retain the belief that war would have taken place, if not that month, perhaps not in 1914, but at some point in the near future.So how close was Baldrick to the truth? It could be argued that he is right in saying the war started when Franz Ferdinand was assassinated, but I think it would be wrong to say it started because of his death. The tangled web of alliances in Europe at the time ensured that if one country went down, they all went down. Because of this I believe that if Princip had not shot Ferdinand and his wife, there would have been another incident to act as a catalyst to war.

The Battle of the Bulge essays

The Battle of the Bulge essays The Battle of the Bulge, also known as Battle of the Ardennes, began on December 16, 1944 at about 5:30 in the morning. This was supposed to be Hitlers last attempt on trying to defeat the Allied forces. He thought that the bond between the British, the US, and Russia was weak, so he didnt have to worry about the three countries joining forces and outnumbering him. He also thought that he had enough troops to launch a surprise attack on the Western Front. He believed that things like bad weather-especially the cold, rugged terrain, and the Christmas holiday would probably catch the Allied Forces by surprise. Hitler planned on lowering Allied air power and cutting off a main supply base for the armies on the Western Front. If he did that, he would be able to surround Canadas 1st army, Britains 2nd Army, and the USs 1st and 9th armies. And, if that happened, the northern forces would all be surrounded and they would be cut off from supplies, and the southern forces would be pushed out of Germany. Hitler expected it to be an easy fight. The night before the battle, Hitler sent in troops to infiltrate the front. Some of the troops were dropped in a parachute, and some others drove American jeeps. They spoke considerable English, and wore American uniforms so that they wouldnt look suspicious. They tried to confuse the US army by cutting down telephone lines, giving false directions, changing signs on the roads, and just creating havoc. The battle began at the crack of dawn. Hitler managed to push back American forces. Because of surprise, lack of communication, and being outnumbered, it gave Hitler a great chance of success. But, after two days of fighting, the Germans had not made very much progress, but Hitler did manage to attack two southern American divisions and surround the least experienced division of the American VIII Corps. On December 17, 72 prisoners of war, or ...

Buddhist canonical texts Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Buddhist canonical texts - Essay Example The latter are the various commentaries on canonical texts and other treatises on the Dharma, as well as collections of quotations, histories, grammars, etc. () However, it should be borne in mind that many divisions are arbitrary, and some texts fall between categories, or can be associated with more than one category. Canonical texts are in some way or other associated with Gautama, the historical Buddha. Different schools, however, are not always in agreement about which texts are canonical, and the various recessions of the Buddhist Canon contain widely varying numbers and types of texts. Broadly speaking, the texts come in three types: sutras (i.e. discourses), vinaya (relating to the rules of monastic discipline), and abhidharma (analytical texts). Together these three make up what is known in Sanskrit as the Tripitaka and in Pali as the Tipitaka. Both the sutras and the vinaya of every Buddhist school contain a huge variety of documents including discourses on the Dharma, commentaries on other teachings, cosmological and cosmogonical texts, stories of the Buddha's previous lives, and various lists (Skilton 50). The Theravada and other Nikaya schools believe, more or less literally, that these texts contain the actual words of the Buddha. The Theravada canon, also known as the Pali Canon after the language it was written in, contains some four million words. Later texts, such as the Mahayana Sutras, are also considered to be the word of the Buddha, but were transmitted either in secret, via lineages of mythical beings (such as the nagas), or came directly from other Buddhas or bodhisattvas. Some 600 Mahayana Sutras have survived in Sanskrit, or in Chinese and/or Tibetan translation. The most complete Mahayana Canon is in Chinese, though it was originally in Sanskrit. It contains texts from many strands of earlier tradition. Non or semi-canonical texts have been important from very early in Buddhism. Extensive commentaries exist in Pali for the Pali Canon and in Tibetan, Chinese and other East Asian Languages. Important examples of non-canonical texts are the Visuddhimagga, or Path of Purification, by Buddhaghosa, which is a compendium of Theravada teachings that include quotes from the Pali Canon. The Milinda Panha, or Questions of Milinda, is a popular condensation of the Dharma in the form of a dialogue between the Buddhist sage Nagasena and the Indo-Greek King Menander (Eddy 164). The treatise Awakening of Faith in the Mahayana (attributed by the faithful to Ashvaghosa) strongly influenced Mahayana doctrine and inspired numerous commentaries authored by early Chinese and Korean Buddhist teachers. Shantideva's Bodhicaryavatara has been influential in both Mahayana and Vajrayana, and his Shikshasamucaya contains references to texts which are no longer extant in any other form. The Platform Sutra of Huineng might be considered a semi-canonical text, it is one of a very few texts not thought to be spoken by the Buddha that has the label "sutra". One should note, however, that this distinction may be an artifact of translation: in the original Chinese, the Platform Sutra is a jing, a term that may be translated as "sutra", but is also applied to a variety of other classic texts, such as the Daodejing and the Shi Jing. In the Platform Sutra, Hui Neng gives an autobiographical account of his succession as Zen Patriarch, as well as teachings about Zen theory and practice. The Zen and Ch'an school in particular rely on non-canonical

Module 2 Case Assignment Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Module 2 Assignment - Case Study Example CPI/Original Year CPI) * 100 = ((234-217)/217)*100 =7.834 Part III: 1. Unemployment Rate = (Number of people Unemployed / Number of people in the civilian labor force) * 100 = (2500/30000) * 100 = 8.33 % 2. Now 500 people have stopped looking for a job so they will not be counted, as unemployed neither they will be counted in the total labor force. So now unemployment rate is: ={(2500-500)/(30000-500)} * 100 =(2000/29500) * 100 =6.78% Part IV: 1. As we can see that the interest rates on the treasury bonds tends to increase over the years. The difference among the rates in the bonds is caused by Maturity Risk Premiums. This is because to invest for a longer period is relatively risky due to the uncertainty in the economic conditions. 2. The statement that ‘the liquidity premium requires that an asset can be sold both quickly and for fair market value’ is false. This is because the liquidity premium is paid to the investors as a security. Since, the bonds ‘cannot be easily converted to cash’. They are paid a premium to compensate for the illiquidity. 3. Inflation over the years = (Change in CPI / Original CPI) * 100 = ((105-102.5)/102.5)*100 = 2.439 % Therefore, annual inflation rate over the 3 years is 1.02439. Divide 1 by the number of years, so we get 1/3. Now, 1.02439 ^ (1/3) is 1.00806. And subtracting 1 from 1.00806 will give us the annual inflation rate, which is 0.008064 or 0.8064 %. Investors should require a 0.8064% inflation premium. 4. The yield curve will not have an upward slope but rather a flatter curve since the investors will not get high rates of interest on purchasing bonds as the risk of investing is zero and the value of their capital will remain the same. Part V: 1. As we compare the GDP levels of the US, Japan, Canada and the UK, we can see the trends of the rate of their GDP growth in the respective years from 2008 till present. During 2008, the GDP of all the countries increased by a similar figure that is aroun d 1 to 1.5 percent. During 2009 the trends changed for all countries as we can see however to varying extents. The GDP of all countries decreased. This is visible from the negative rate of growth as we can see where the GDP of Japan was highly affected and it fell by 9 percent. However, the GDP of UK fell by 6 percent, of US around 5 percent and 4 percent for Canada. After 2010, the economic situation seemed better and the economies started to recover where Japan hit the rate of almost 14 percent, from a negative rate of 9 % to a positive 5. Other countries GDP also increased with UK increasing least. In 2011, the trend seemed somewhat stable for the US and Canada. The rate decreased a little for the UK. However, it was very static in the case of Japan until 2012. 2. The prices were increasing persistently during 2008 in all the countries. However, inflation rate in the US and in the UK was highest of about 4 percent. The inflation rate in Canada was about 3 percent while in Japan i t was 2 percent. During 2009, because of the economic crisis prices actually decreased, as it is visible from the figure, with Japan facing deflation 2 percent and the US of about 1.75 percent. Canada faced deflation of about 1 percent. While the prices in the UK did not decrease, they rose at a lesser rate. Gradually prices started rising during 2010 until 2012, with UK facing highest rate of inflation, following the US and Canada at a similar pace. And Japan was still stuck in

Assessing The Strategic Human Resource Management Preferences Business Essay

Assessing The Strategic Human Resource Management Preferences Business Essay Number of growing organizations believes that Human Resource (HR) provides them competitive advantage. It was understood by many organizations that competitive advantage can be obtained by quality work force/employees and culture. Approach of linking Human Resource Management to Strategic objectives of an organization is called as Strategic Human Resource Management (SHRM) (Bratton and Gold, 2001). It was cited by Bratton and Gold (2001, p39) strategic management is defined as that set of managerial decisions and actions that determines the long-run performance of a corporation. Strategic HR ensures that employees/human capital of an organization contributes to its achievements with their skills and performance. Traditional HR is concerned with implementation of policies and techniques like recruitment, staffing, remuneration, assessment etc (Klabbers, University of Bergen). But linking the general HRM and the organizations strategy gives HR department more scope to enhance the abili ties of their workforce and concentrate on the vision and mission. This connection is made to improve the organization performance and develop organizational culture which in turn facilitates innovation and flexibility. Overall the key principle of Strategic HRM is to achieve organizations vision and mission. Bratton (2001) describes SHRM as a continuous process that requires constant adjustment in three major areas namely Value of Senior management, the environment and the resources available. Fig 1: Three major poles in strategic planning (Adapted from Bratton and Gold, 2001) Some authors believe that Strategic HRM is an Outcome and some believe that its a process. It was cited by Bratton and Gold (2004) that authors like Ulrich (1997) and Snell et al had different opinion on Strategic HRM. Snell et al believed that its an outcome designed to achieve sustained competitive edge through quality workforce. Ulrich (1997) also stated SHRM as an outcome of mission, vision and priorities of HR department. HR strategies are more concerned about matching the Five Ps that stimulates the employee roles for competitive strategy (Bratton and Gold, 2004, p46 and Cerdin and Ashok Som, 2003). It was cited by Cerdin and Ashok Som (2003) that Strategic HRM is identified in three levels namely Strategic, Managerial and operational level. Strategic level looks to the long term future, Managerial level looks at the mid term and the operation level looks at the short term focus. Different models and approaches were discussed in this assignment to understand the functionality o f strategic HRM and how far the organization able to implement it. Models and Approaches There are several approaches and models by which Strategic HRM can be applied but basic strategic HRM model is widely accepted by many authors, researchers and even critics as well (Kane and Palmer, 1995). This basic model is based on the external and internal environment and basic organization strategies. Fig 2 Basic Model of Strategic Human resource Management (Adapted from Kane and Palmer, 1995) Strategic HRM models demonstrate how an organization links its business strategies and HR function to achieve it goals. Though SHRM adopts resource based philosophy, there are three different models defined by authors (Bratton and Gold, 2004, p49). These models are Control based, Resource based and Integrative model. Control based approach generally deals with control of work place and direct monitoring of employee performance. According to this approach, HR strategies and management structure are used as instruments and techniques to enhance labour productivity and there by increasing profitability. Resource based approach satisfies the human capital requirements of the organization (Armstrong, 2006, p117).It was observed by Bratton and Gold (2004) that sustained competitive advantage is not achieved by external market position but careful assessment of their own skills and capabilities that competitors cannot copy. Main objective of this approach is improving resource capability and effective utilization of resources to achieve the goals set by the organization. Within this model there are three different approaches by which organization can implement strategic HRM practices (Armstrong, 2006, p117) High Performance management approach High commitment management model and High involvement management model High Performance model helps in developing several processes by which employee performance is improved and impacted. This in turn directly effects the organization growth. This model believes enhancing the employee skills and encouraging them to learn continuously. This model involves rigorous recruitment and selection procedures, learning development activities and performance management system. Kemin nutritional technologies in India adopted similar model in implementing their strategies human resource. Kemin is a manufacturer of animal feed ingredients and human food ingredients. Their head quarter is located in Des Moines, US and having operations in over eight countries. Kemin have more than 4000 employees world wide. Kemins vision is to improve quality of Life by touching half the people of the world every day with its products and services. In order to achieve this vision Kemin strategically aligned all its divisions to contribute to the vision. HR division developed strategies to improve workforce capabilities and bring quality workforce into the organization. They have made certain changes in their recruiting process that will indirectly lead them to the vision of the organization. Now their selection process is complex and specifically looks for individuals who are matching to their core values. The recruiting process involves three stages with the initial screening is made to identify the ability of the individual to adapt to the situations and show high levels of resilience. Individuals integrity is also tested during this process. This process is fallowed by the technical assessment of an individual by the concerned department and finally personal interview is done by the HR to speak about his growth in this organization, performance analysis, incentives and learning prospective. Once the strategic planning is done for the year, senior management roles out the goals and responsibilities to the concerned departments. They constantly monitor the proceedings of their departments and analyse how far they have come. For example, Customer Lab Services (CLS) come under the marketing department. This department is evolved to support the marketing department technically. All the employees in the CLS have clear job responsibilities which will contribute the organizations strategic goals. If the organizations (Kemins) strategic plan is to improve one particular product group in this year, all the employees in CLS will have their SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Time bound) goals related to that product category. This SMART goals system is implemented by Kemin to align organizational strategy to the HR practices so that they have a competitive edge to their competitors. These goals are set during the beginning of the year and monitored regularly by the senior management/supervisors. These goals are agreed mutually with the concerned supervisor regularly and employees are committed to deliver them. Kemin in 2005 introduced 360 degree appraisal system to analyse the employee performance in the place of regular one to one appraisal system. In 360 degree feedback system, employees are asked to select colleagues, peers or supervisors to rate them in the aspects of adoptability, development, learning, team work and technical etc. Again selection of the ratters should be discussed with the employee and his/her supervisor. All the employees are encouraged to participate in team meetings, ask questions regarding the approach of the organization to achieve certain task. Employees are also encouraged to submit ideas which will lead to a new product or a new business opportunity. Employees are provided with career ladders to understand about the hierarchies and their future growth. This will enable employee to focus more and contribute to the organizational growth and there by obtaining personal benefit. Kemin also identified few employees interested in taking new job roles and provided them with horizontal promotions (Lima and Pereira, 2003). For example an employee who was found efficient in serving customers was identified and offered to serve in marketing department where the employee originally belongs to CLS (Technical). Kemins HR department also incorporated developmental goals in their regular SMART goals so that employees make an effort to develop some personal capabilities which in turn help organization or help the individual to perform the job better. Kemin regularly conduct strategic meetings with the HR personals to understand their core capabilities and competencies. Some of the key points are listed below. Finally all the employees who are leaving Kemin are interviewed in process called Exit interview (Arnold, 1995) to find out their experience with Kemin and know possible areas of improvement. A clear vision and mission Clear job description and SMART Goals Rigorous recruitment/interview process 360 degree appraisal system Developmental trainings Horizontal promotions Encouraged to learn and develop continuously Exit interviews One of the main strategic plans of Kemin is to maximise utilization of resources without increasing the cost structure. Kemin HR had built a strategy to cope up with this task. HR hired few internship students to conduct market surveys and research in different locations so that they avoid cost bared by regular employees and their time and travel expenses. These small things contributed in a big way to companys performance. All the departments worked parallel to each other to achieve the same objective saving time and money. Overall by implementing these strategies Kemins Strategic HRM function aligns with the companys objectives, vision and mission. These strategies deliver high performance environment for the employees and for the management. Kemin also provided opportunities for its employees to work globally and allowed them to participate in seminars, conferences etc where ever they were held. Kemin also made a strategy to retain employees by giving them benefits for staying lon g years. Once the employee of Kemin stays longer than 15 years he/she will join the presidents elite committee which plays a major role in taking key business decisions. The High commitment approach is defines as a focused approach which concentrates on development of career goals and trainability and commitment of employees (Armstrong, 2006, p119). Key points of this strategic approach are developing ownership where employees are given opportunity to speak and involved in decision making. The second aspect is providing clear communication to the employees about the goal they are committed to achieve (Armstrong, 2006, p279). And the initiative of this approach is to develop leadership skills. Commitment can be increased or enhanced by making leaders inside the organization. From this theory it is understood that Kemin also practiced such type of strategies to improve the commitment of the employees. Kemin provide employees with useful trainings like SALT (Strategic accounts and leadership Program) and Project Management (e.g. Stage Gate process).So it seems Kemin strategic HRM is a mix of the two approaches discussed above. The High involvement approach involves treating employees as partners in the organization. In this approach employees are given opportunity to communicate with the managers continuously about the organizations mission, vision, values and objectives. Integrative model characterized by two dimensions namely acquisition and development and the locus of control (Bratton and Gold, 2004, p53). Bratton and Gold explained that Bamberger and Meshoulam (2000) integrate two main models of SHRM. Whatever strategy or approach fallowed by organization it is the aim of the SHRM to obtain competitive advantage and achieve organization objectives. TASK TWO HRM Practices , horizontal and vertical integration Introduction Organization now concerned about their human capital and their competitive advantage. Human resource management (HRM) largely replaced the term Personnel management. Personnel management deals with managing people in the organization who contributes to the organizations performance. Human resource management can be defined as a strategic and coherent approach to the management of people. HRM operates in a coherent way to help organization perform better and achieve target. HR philosophies, strategies, policies, processes, practices and programs are the processes by which Human resource function works. Values and guidelines of principles of people management (Armstrong, 2006, p4) are described in the HR philosophies. HR strategies define the path of the HR function in achieving organizations vision. Key functions of HR department are Improve organizations effectiveness Human capital management Knowledge management Rewarding and employee relationship management All the goals and policies are made by the HR department are finally helps to improve stakeholder value by putting the customer in the first place. HR function will play a major role in creation of an environment for the employees that enable them to utilize their capabilities maximum and benefit the organization (Armstrong, 2006, p54). HR function also supports the management to achieve its vision through the people. HR function also aligns with organizations strategies to achieve vision and it can also be described as vertical integration. Concept of coherence can be described as Horizontal integration which defines developing HR employment and development policies and practices. Different theorists defined several models Human resource management. Some of the models include Matching model, Harvard frame work model and conceptual model. Matching model include four generic processes namely selection, appraisal, rewarding and development. The Harvard frame work model was developed by Beer et al of Harvard University, hence called as Harvard model. s Kemins HR function employed effective policies to serve employees and the organization with benefits. By providing benefits to the employees it is eminent that organizations performance is improved. HR function in Kemin operated in organized way by both horizontal and vertical integration. To integrate HRM successfully its is observed that people in that department should have a good idea about how HRM is different from personnel management (Cathy, 2005). Kemins vision states that Improve the quality of life and touching people, and their mission states that they provide nutritional solution to the customers by continuous improvement in their people, process and products. Every department in the company has been provided with a quality policy for which the department is committed to achieve certain tasks. Kemin HR quality policy is to provide best man power, improve organizational culture, reduce cost to the company, provide healthy and safe environment to the employees and provide c ompetitive edge to the company. Some of the key HR policies and practices adopted by Kemin are listed below. Code of Conduct Appraisal and promotions Internet and email policies Selection of employee and referral program Dress code and corporate clothing Salary increase, increments and incentives Leave and transfer policies Equal opportunities These policies make sure that HR function deliver best value to the employees. Horizontal integration of HR policies in Kemin was done with precision so that employees feel satisfied about the efforts of organization in treating them. Selection of employee was done with great importance. The interview process includes analysing the persons ability to adjust to the culture, capability to deliver job and respect the vision of the company. Salary negotiations were done in the HR interview to meet the organizations requirements. Important HR policies regarding transfer, promotions, transfers, relocation were circulated to the employees to make them aware of the organization policies and avoid any kind of confusion. It is important for the HR function in Kemin to protect and preserve companys valuable information within. The code of conduct and internet email policies serves as the protective strategies for Kemin. All the Kemin employees were asked to maintain professional relationship w ith internal and external customers and maintain the organization culture. One more basic function which was employed by Kemin was providing trainings to the employees for defined hours in a year. All the employees are eligible for the trainings and the trainings were selected based on the department and job roles. These training are provided to employees for their personal development and to make employee take care of his own career instead of looking for promotions (Ben, 1998) Employee referral system was found to be effective in Kemin. Every employee can refer a friend, past colleague or any he knows for any available position in Kemin and when the referred persons is successful and joins the company, employee will get a monitory benefit. This will encourage employees to bring new talent to the organization. Kemins HR department takes good care of the new employee in a way that he/she will get familiar with the organizations flow, roles and responsibilities of the job. An induction program will be provided for the new employee and mentor for the new empl oyee also assigned to monitor the progress. All the employees were provided with career ladder so that employee knows where he stands and understand the organizations hierarchies. Employees performance was measured twice in a year. Performance was measured in terms of SMART goals. Every goal set was given with some weightage and employees bound to achieve those goals. Performance will be measured in ratings/marks gained on the scale of 5. For example if an employees performance was analysed as meets the requirement, it means he/she achieved 3 on the scale. If the employee exceeds expectation it is measured as 5 on the scale. If the employee attains 5 on the scale, he/she will be eligible to climb up the career ladder. Increment and incentive schemes were rolled out to all the departments to reward the employees according to their performance. Vertical integration of HRM deals with the alignment of HR strategies with business strategies. This kind of integration encourages everyone in the organization to take responsibility of HRM, not just the HR department (Cathy, 2005). It was cited by Cathy (2005) that HR role also requires a business partner role along with the HR manager. Kemins HR manager was effective in delivering tasks related to people and controlling business process as well. Kemins HR manager was involved in many operation meetings and board meetings and developed ideas to achieve the strategic goals. This can be explained by an example by which HR manager made a difference in reducing cost to company and helping the strategic goal achievement. Kemin wanted increase the customer retention and satisfaction by 5 percent, increase the product sales by 25 percent during the year 2005. To achieve the task all the product managers had to work collectively in mobilizing the sales force. But achieving 25 sales growth was something difficult without the help of HR manager or department. It was difficult for the sales people to travel all over India as it consumes lot of time money. HR manger then employed internship students from different backgrounds to serve different departments in different location. This saved enormous amount of time and money for the company. The other concept of HRM vertical integration is to provide organizational learning/work based learning. Every employee has been provided with 40 hours training. It was cited by Bratton and Gold (2001) that formal and informal trainings can act as lever for the organization in terms of sustained core competencies. Trainings such as SALT (strategic account and leadership trainings) and Project management trainings make the difference in the employees in terms of competency and leadership which are most important for the organization. Kemins strategy is to produce innovative products with best processes. One of the Kemins HR policies includes Idea generation by which employees can submit an idea to improve, develop a product or a process. Each Idea will be considered after a careful investigation and analysing the feasibility. If the idea is unsuccessful initially, it is recorded for future use or reference. Once any idea is successful, idea generator is recognized and rewarded so that it motivates the other employees to contribute in the same way. Retaining the quality staff always been a difficult task for organizations. Reducing employee attrition rate/ worker turnover ( Ing-chung Haung et al, 2006) was one of the important goals for Kemin. Kemins HR employed a new strategy to retain the skilled employees. Kemin offered overseas assignments to the employments where they can work for sometime out side the country of origin. This lead to belief and trust of the employees on Kemin and lot of employees anticipated and shown positive approach to it. To improve the performance analysis of employees Kemin incorporated 360 degree feed back mechanism by which employees are rated based on their performance and behaviour. One of the main functions of the HR is to manage change in the organization. Change management is the process of continuous renewal of organization structure, direction and capabilities (Moran and Brightman, 2001). To improve the working condition Kemin even changed its office location to Chennai (India) city from a r ural area. HR played a major role in facilitating the change. He handled the people resistance (Waddel and Amrik, 1998) to the change in way that it had a very little impact on the organization performance. This change was anticipated by Kemin to achieve corporate goals and improve working conditions for the employees. Kemin seemed to effectively integrating its HR strategies to its business strategies. Recommendation Although Kemin appeared to be functioning well in the area of HR management, there are some areas of concern for the Kemin. Its is suggested that Kemin could use best fit model or the mix of culture fit and best fit models to manage the strategic HR function. Kemins employees had a dissatisfaction regarding the company salary policy and employee welfare. Though Kemin appear to be well function strategically, its bit neglected the Horizontal integration part. Kemins employees were unsure about the increment and incentive packages. In their policies it was mention that how and who are eligible for incentive and increments but it was not clearly mentioned that what is the percentage of raise they will get if their performance is above expectation. Few of the recommendations are listed below. It is suggested to document and communicate the reward and incentive policies accurately. Conduct regular audits to improve HR function and performance. It is suggested to Kemin that it employs strategies to improve employee satisfaction in terms of salary and compensation policies. Kemin should continue its practices in analysing the performance of employee and look for continuous improvement of the process. Kemins recognition system also needs improvements as they does not involve lower level employees. Often people from those levels hesitate to come forward and submit an idea. Kemin is suggested to have some strategies to motivate the lower level employees and come forward to participate in developmental programs. Kemin also should engage employees in some cultural activities that enhance team building and group working culture. Kemin also should employ job rotation (Huang, 1999) policy to enhance the learning capabilities and change to routine job responsibilities. These recommendation might help Kemin in improving the quality of life of their employees and help organization to perform better. Overall Kemin seem to be in good condition in employing HR policies and practices both in horizontal and in vertical integration. REFERENCES Armstrong Michael (2006), A hand book of Human resource management practices, 10th edition, Cambridge University Press, London. Arnold Kransdorff (1995) Exit interviews as an induction tool, Management Development Review, Volume 8  · Number 2  · pp. 37-40,  © MCB University Press Ben Ball (1998), Career management competences the individual perspective Librarian Career Development, Vol. 6 No. 7, pp. 3-11,  © MCB University Press Bob Kane and Ian Palmer (1995), Strategic HRM or managing the employment relationship, International Journal of Manpower 16,5/6, pp. 6-21, © MCB University Press. Bratton J, Gold J, (2001), Human Resource Management: Theory and Practice, Routledge, Publications. 2nd edition. Cathy Sheehan (2005), A model for HRM strategic Integration, Personnel Review Vol. 34 No. 2, pp. 192-209 q Emerald Group Publishing Limited Cerdin Jean-Luc Ashok SOM (2003),Strategic Human Resource Management Practices: An Exploratory Survey of French Organisations, Strategic human resource management practices: exploratory surveys on French organization, Groupe ESSEC CERNTRE DE RECHERCHE / RESEARCH CENTER, ESSEC Working Papers DR 03024 Huang, H. J. (1999). Job Rotation from the Employees Point of View, Research and Practice in Human Resource Management, 7(1), 75-85. see at http://rphrm.curtin.edu.au/1999/issue1/rotation.html, accessed electronically on 14th May 2008. Ing-chung Haung, Hao-chien Lin, Chih-Hsun Chuang, (2006) Constructing factors related to worker retention, International Journal of Manpower, Vol. 27 No. 5, pp. 491-508 q Emerald Group Publishing Limited Klabber Jan H.G, Enhancing corporate change: The case of strategic human resource management, University of Bergen, Norway, KMPC Netherlands, See at   http://www.ifm.eng.cam.ac.uk/mcn/pdf_files/part9_1.pdf, accessed electronically on 8th May 2008. Lima F and Pereira P T (2003), Careers and wages within large firms: evidence from a matched employer-employee data set International Journal of Manpower, Vol. 24 No. 7, pp. 812-835 q MCB UP Limited Moran J.W and Brightman B.K (2001), Leading organizational change, career development international, vol.6 No.2, pp 111-118, MCB University press. Ulrich, D. (1997), Human Resource Champions: The Next Agenda for Adding Value and Delivering Results, Harvard Business School Press, Boston, MA, . Waddell Dianne and Amrik S. Sohal (1998), Resistance: a constructive tool for change management Decision, Management decision, 36/8, MCB University Press, pp 543-548

Delivering Lifelong Learning

Delivering Lifelong Learning Enhancing learning through using technology Thinking back to when I delivered in work focused training sessions I found that technology was a huge aid to the learning for the students. I would set them web quests and get them research topics around the subject of day, One in particular that I remember was asking them to look at the human right act I asked them to work in pairs and put together some information about what the act was and why it was so important and how it linked into working in Health and social care.I gave them a set amount of time to do this then asked that they nominated a person to feedback to the group about what they had learnt. Looking back now I see that by encouraging learners to use this technology this was supporting the differentiation off the group it supported all the learners to gain knowledge and understanding even the ones who were not as confident in speaking up as others.I guess the other main way I support learners to u se technology is to encourage them to use the online etrack site to check there progress once I get a learner engaged with this I find that they look forward to checking their progress after each visit it’s a good tool for motivation. And another way would be by getting the learners to access and use the BKSB to support there learning with the maths and English it’s an excellent online tool that will guide them to up skill in the specific areas needed.It can however, as mentioned before highlight too many areas for development and perhaps scare the learner completely so this aid has negatives and positives. Technology can also support learners when writing written assignments they can use Microsoft word and send work over on email for electronic submission or send it to etrack a secure site to make additional progress in between assessments with their assessor. Learners can also use internet for research to support their learning. I also use offline exams that once upl oaded can give instant results, this is good as the learner knows.I have put together a case study of some of the various technology that can be used to support learners and have looked at what the positives and negatives of them are. |Technology available |Positives |Negatives | |Blogs, chat rooms and online discussion |Will help learners to communicate with each other. |Not all learners have | |forums |Accessible and inclusive. Can aid learning from peers. |internet. Connection | | |Is flexible the learner can log on in there own time. problems IT issues, would | | | |not support learners with | | | |low literacy levels. | |Cameras and mobile phones. |Aids communication. Often an instant response. Take |Not always cost effective | | |pictures of evidence |to all learners may create | | | |barriers for some.Bad | | | |signals. Unable to read a | | | |learners body language and | | | |vice versa | |Computer facilities to enable word |Can save work /use spell checker/ word coun t can go back|Not all learners have | |processing assignments and saving |and amend if needed. access to a home | |documents. | |computer/Can not be used | | | |during power cuts? Viruses | | | |could cause work to be | | | |lost. |Digital media for visual/audio recording|Good to play back work/ film to aid recall |Again learners may not have| |and playback | |access to this equipment. | |Electronic portfolios/etrack |Accessible/ sustainable i. e. no need for paper. |Again can create barriers | | |Can access supporting materials. |as not all will have access| | | |at home.Internet | | | |connection problems. | |Email |Electronic submission of work/communication/feedback |See above and also not | | |Can help evidence work set and completed |always an immediate | | | |response.IT issues may | | | |prevent you from receiving. | |Internet access |Accessible and inclusive/ Can access resources |Can lead to plagiarism | |Mobile phones |Aids communication/ Take pictures of evidenc e/ Internet |Not cost effective to all | | |access/Apps |learners/ may create | | | |barriers for some.Poor | | | |signal. Not always an | | | |immediate response. | |Online/offline and on demand tests |sustainable i. e. no need for paper instant results e. g. May highlight lots of work | | |diagnostics exams |required/ may not be a pass| | | |could de motivate | |Online discussion forums |Can be flexible to the learner/ can aid learning from |Again learners may not have| | |peers |access to this equipment. | | |Poor internet connection. | |Presentation software |Visual aid for learners/ can be emailed and used as a |Does not support all | | |reference |learning styles | |Scanners |Can upload documents evidence immediately |Again learners may not have| | | |access to this equipment. |Web cameras and video conferencing |If you cannot be in the same place as your learner and |See above | | |need to observe them | | |VLE |Can access supporting materials |See above | |Specialist equipment such as readers |Can aid learners with visual impairment or limited |See above | |tape recorders, Talking |verbal communication | | |calculators/Computer terminals with | | | |speech output | | | |DVR |Can be played back uploaded for evidence |Some people don’t feel | | | |comfortable being recorded. |Expectations of the minimum core in relation to delivering lifelong learning Firstly I would like to explain the importance of good communication it is imperative to ensure that information is given and received. It is the key to motivation, managing behaviour and promoting good working relationships. It includes verbal non verbal and written and can include various technology email/webinar and forums. I must ensure that I have excellent communication techniques to be able to maintain learner’s attention and to show professionalism when giving feedback. I need to be aware of my tone and facial expressions knowing when to change my tone to say show sympathy an d understanding r to take control of a disruptive group.I need to ensure that if I use jargon that the learner is supported in understanding what that is? ETRACK what is etrack a demonstration needs to be given so that the learner understands. Speaking/ Listening/Reading/Writing are the four skills I must demonstrate when supporting learners in Literacy, language and ICT I have looked at Tuckman’s theory of group work in relation to how people in groups communicate. He came up with a development model that shows the stages of development of how groups will communicate. Forming In the first stages of team building, the forming of the team takes place. The individual's behavior is driven by a desire to be accepted by the others, and avoid controversy or conflict.Serious issues and feelings are avoided, and people focus on being busy with routines, such as team organization, who does what, when to meet, etc. individuals are also gathering information and impressions – abo ut each other, and about the scope of the task and how to approach it. This is a comfortable stage to be in, but the avoidance of conflict and threat means that not much actually gets done. Storming Every group will next enter the storming stage in which different ideas compete for consideration. The team addresses issues such as what problems they are really supposed to solve, how they will function independently and together and what leadership model they will accept.Team members open up to each other and confront each other's ideas and perspectives. In some cases storming can be resolved quickly. In others, the team never leaves this stage. The maturity of some team members usually determines whether the team will ever move out of this stage. Some team members will focus on minutiae to evade real issues. Norming The team manages to have one goal and come to a mutual plan for the team at this stage. Some may have to give up their own ideas and agree with others in order to make th e team function. In this stage, all team members take the responsibility and have the ambition to work for the success of the team's goals. Performing It is possible for some teams to reach the performing stage.These high-performing teams are able to function as a unit as they find ways to get the job done smoothly and effectively without inappropriate conflict or the need for external supervision. By this time, they are motivated and knowledgeable. The team members are now competent, autonomous and able to handle the decision-making process without supervision. Dissent is expected and allowed as long as it is channeled through means acceptable to the team. 1. ^ The Five Stages of Project Team Development, Gina Abudi – Retrieved May 18th 2010 Its not very often I deliver to groups but this research has helped me to look at the importance of it and also the importance of communication not only from myself but between learners.I often teach learners individually however they te nds to be a group within one setting and they will often work together to learn and gain knowledge for the award. So it’s important that I have an understanding the theory and psychological dynamics of group work. Evaluation of own practice in delivering inclusive learning and teaching I feel that I do adapt my teaching to try to suit each individual need. I have some learners for example who need much more support with their functional skills than others and in these cases I have arranged extra visits with and given one to one support. I do feel that since delivering Functional skills my practice has improved.At the start I found it difficult to know where to start with supporting learners and with experience I have gained confidence and knowledge of the support materials available. I have also recently obtained some really helpful handouts to support learners with understanding the requirements of literacy. They are like flash cards and are very easy to understand. Looking back I can think of learners that this resource will have been very helpful. And I wish now that I had sourced them sooner. I am also not entirely confident in speaking in group situations and I know that the only way to prepare for this is to be fully prepared and to ensure that I have researched a subject fully.I have passed my functional skill level 2 in literacy and Math but would like to go on to complete the level 3 as I feel this will enhance my knowledge and confidence and thus can only benefit my learners. I intend to complete a diagnostic on the BKSB to identify what areas I need to improve on. I also need to work on some of my ICT skills in particular spreadsheets as I work in health and social care its not to often I have deliver ICT so I feel I have not focused on this area as much as I should have. I In particular I know I need to work on spreadsheets and I have been working through some workbooks on the BKSB to help with this. I would hate to ever be in a situation wh ere a learner wanted support in this area and I was unable to give it.