Student: Human Resources

Hitek 1 Title: JOB DESCRIPTIONS AT HITEK & DOWNSIZING: ANATHEMA TO CORPORATE LOYALTY Institution: Grantham University Instructor: Barbara Davis Student: Franessa Wilson Date: March 26, 2013 Hitek 2 Case Study: Job Descriptions at Hitek Based on what you know about high-tech companies, what are some likely strategic objectives for HITEK? Given these what should be the objectives of HITEK’s HR department? Do you think these are the objectives that guide the behaviors of Rains? Explain. A strategic objective is one that an organization must achieve to make its strategy succeed.Strategic objectives for Hitek are continued industry issues and supply chain challenges of prices, short product lifestyles, mass customization, globalization and strategic market planning. Strategic objectives provide direction for an organization, and strategic objectives provide a way to measure the organization’s progress toward realizing the ideas listed in the mission statement. For instance, if an organization has the idea that it will provide perfect customer service, then a strategic objective for the organization would be to score at the top level on customer service satisfaction.Strategic human resource objectives are goals aligned with the organizations goals. It’s the managerial process requiring human resource policies and practices to be linked with the strategic objectives of the organization. The human resources objectives at Hitek, supports organizational goals; such as profitabilities, business regulations, ethics and principles. Yes, I believe these are the objectives that guide the behaviors of Rains. Isabel Rains is the vice president of human resources and she rules the department with iron fist.Iron fist according to Wikipedia means with strict authority. Hitek 3 Jobs change frequently at HITEK. What approach to job analysis makes the most sense in such a fast changing environment? Customized? Standardized? Task-focused? Competency modeling? Eval uate the strengths and weaknesses of the alternative approaches and make recommendations to Hill about how to proceed. A job analysis sits at the heart of all human resource practices making it a critical component of management activity in every organization.Emphasis should be placed on a strategic approach to job analysis, present a strategic job analysis framework and discuss implications for the organization. A job analysis is necessary for the successful functioning of an organization. Job analysis is focused on the collection of work related information for the job as it currently exists or existed in the past. The need for change often is unpredictable, thus tends to be reactive. The successful management of change is crucial to an organization in order to survive, and succeed in the present highly competitive, and continuously evolving business environment.The environment of an organization consists of the conditions circumstances and influences that affect the organizationà ¢â‚¬â„¢s ability to achieve its objectives. The external and internal environment of an organization are both composed of five elements; which are physical, technological, social, political, and economical. The external environment influences how human resource functions will be performed. The internal environment influences both of human resource policies and procedures, as well as the individuals who make up the workforce of the organization or business.External environment has a significant impact on HR policies and practices. It helps to determine the values, attitudes, and behavior that employees bring to the job. Internal environment is also Hitek 4 known as organizational climate. The elements of the internal environment technological, physical, social, political, and economical effect and are affected by the policies, procedures, and employment conditions that managers oversee. The human resource department plays a more active role in influencing change in an organization or business.Organizational effectiveness is critical to success in any economy. Change management is defined as the process of continually renewing an organizations direction, structure, and capabilities to serve the ever changing needs of the internal and external customers or consumers. According to Burnes 2005, change is an ever present feature of organizational life, both at an operational and a strategic level. In order to achieve increased and sustainable business results, organizations need to execute strategy and engage employees.To create organizational effectiveness, business leaders need to focus on aligning and engaging their people, the people management systems, and the structure and capabilities (including organizational culture) to the strategy it results in higher financial performance, higher customer satisfaction, and higher employee retention. An organization that can sustain such alignment will achieve increased business results. Effective implementation of strate gy is a key driver of financial performance. Organizations that fail to fully engage their workforce in the business strategy will fail to produce reliable, sustainable business results.The link between employee engagement factors and successful strategy execution is vital (Burnes, 2005). Hill could use a SWOT analysis for the strengths and weaknesses of an alternative approach. SWOT stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. A SWOT analysis can offer helpful perspectives at any stage of an effort. Explore possibilities for new efforts or solutions to problems. Make decisions about the best path for the firm’s initiative. Identifying the opportunities for success in context of threats to success can clarify directions and Hitek 5 choices.Determine where change is possible. If the organization is at a juncture or turning point, an inventory of their strengths and weaknesses can reveal priorities as well as possibilities. Adjust and refine plans mid-course. A new opportunity might open wider avenues, while a new threat could close a path that once existed. The purpose of performing a SWOT is to reveal positive forces that work together and potential problems that need to be addressed or at least recognized. Before conducting a SWOT analysis, Hill should decide what format or layout he will use to communicate the issues.Strengths are resources that an organization possesses and the capabilities that an organization has developed. Weaknesses are resources and capabilities that are lacking or deficient in an organization; thus preventing an organization or business from developing a sustainable competitive advantage. Is the new job description (case exhibit 4) better than the old one (case exhibit 3)? Why or why not? Consider the perspective of employees as well as the perspective of the person supervising this job, Does your answer change depending on the way the job description is being used?The new job description is better than the old job description because it is more detailed. The skills needed are listed, how much education the applicant should have, and how much relevant experience is required. The supervision received is listed, therefore the applicant knows that he or she will be working under close supervision of a technical superior or manager, but no supervisory duties or experience is required. No, my answer does not change. Hitek 6 Case Study: Downsizing- Anathema to Corporate Loyalty Why is Daniels sensitive to DSI’s recruitment efforts?At Defense Systems Incorporated, Daniels feels that DSI’s layoffs or terminations are poor alternatives to dealing with a turbulent environment. The major problem as Daniels sees it is to preserve as many jobs as possible until business picks up. To terminate the new hires would irreparably harm DSI’s future recruitment efforts. Although terminations would improve the balance sheet in the short run, Daniels worried about the impact of such a move on corporate loyalty, a fragile and rare commodity at other major firms that have had to cut their white collar workforce ( Jackson et al; 2009, p. 226).A great possibility for downsizing to be an unsuccessful firm's strategy and therefore to decrease the corporate reputation, it is important before making the decision about downsizing to reconsider the necessity of such a decision. Downsizing has become a critical issue around the world. Downsizing and mass lay-offs are happening not only on US companies but also organizations in the entire industrial world. The number of organizations and jobs affected by downsizing has been staggering. In theory, downsizing is presumed to have positive outcome for an organization. In many situations, downsizing did accomplish what management had intended.However, there are many critiques on the manager views where unintended and negative consequences of downsizing resulted. It is important to point out that downsizing can be approached from at le ast three different perspectives: a global or industry level, a micro or individual level, and an organization or strategy level (Burnes, 2005). From a global or industrial point of view, discussions of downsizing, including mergers and acquisitions, ventures, and market strategies. From a micro or individual point of view, discussions of downsizing focus on individual stress levels associated.Hitek 7 What are some potential problems for the current class of engineers recruited at DSI? DSI does not rely on subcontractors to produce parts needed in its assembly operation, and the new employees will only receive ten hours per year of training, and most of the training will be obtained during orientation. Underutilizing these talented recruits for a long time would certainly lead to major dissatisfaction (Jackson et al; 2009, p. 226). How could the use of temporaries, student interns, or subcontractors potentially help DSI? They could bring a fresh perspective to the company.Interns of ten come in to jobs unafraid to question how things work or why jobs are performed a certain way which can help bosses discover smarter ways to do those tasks. Their perspective as newbies is valuable, especially when it comes to identifying and even solving problems that go unnoticed by full-time employees. They are at ease with the social media. Interns tend to understand social media in a way many business owners and bosses cannot, simply because young people live and breathe networks like Facebook. To them, networking on online channels is not another time-consuming task, but rather part of the day.They are productive in nature. While many full-time workers toil in jobs that lack benchmarks, most interns have a start and end date. Because of that, interns tend to be more productive. Unless you count the rare promotion or job change, some employees work in what feels like an endless cycle, which can lead to career burnout. They are courteous. New employees can be shy, but since i nterns are trying to make a good impression in a short period of time, they’re often more friendly than their paid counterparts. Interns recognize that every hallway passing could be a future opportunity.They are trying to impress. An internship Hitek 8 serves as a trial period for both sides. The intern may also be looking to set the groundwork for a recommendation or a full-time position down the road. That means they’re likely to put in a significant amount of effort to make sure you’re happy with their work. They provide free advertising via word of mouth. These young workers are excited, and if you impress them, they’ll want to tell the world about their experience with your company. They’ll spread the good word to their peers about the job, which can help recruitment efforts. They are fast learners.Young minds are like sponges, absorbing information quickly. Young workers also tend to be good at multi-tasking. The time it takes to train an in tern to perform a task is often a fraction of what it takes to train a full-time employee. Evaluate Daniels’s alternatives for reducing DSI’s labor surplus. What do you recommend? Why? Several older employees have accumulated several weeks of unused vacation time. Daniels wondered if employees could be encouraged to take unpaid leaves of absence. He also thought that early retirement incentives could be offered to make room for some of the bright young engineers (Jackson et al; 2009, p. 27). Unpaid leave is time off from work which is provided without pay. When an employee takes or is given unpaid leave, he or she retains a position in a company, and many retain benefits as well, but the employee receives no salary or wages. There are a number of reasons to take or institute this type of leave, and it is an option which is available from many companies. A company may require employees to take unpaid leave, or a furlough. This is done as a cost cutting measure, with the company preferring to force employees to take time off instead of eliminating positions at the company.This tactic is designed to retain Hitek 9 employees during periods of economic hardship, and while it may be onerous to employees, many people prefer unpaid leave to uncertain layoffs. Hitek 10 Works Cited 1. Burnes, R. (2005). Organizational Change Management: A Critical Review. Journal of Change Management Vol. 5(4): 369-380. Retrieved on March 24, 2013 from http://www. ncbi. nlm. org 2. Jackson, S. , Schuler, R. ; Werner, S. (2009). Managing Human Resources, 10th edition, pgs. 184-187, and 226-227.

Analysis of UK and Pakistan Education System Essay

UK is one of the renowned trading power and financial hub of the world, stands at third position in European Union following Germany and France. The agriculture sector of the region is particularly strong and mechanized. Its efficiency can be ensured through the production of 60 percent food needs with only 2 percent of workforce. The region has significant energy resource but due to increasing demands it is importing energy from 2005. The insurance and financial institutes in addition to bank are generating the largest portion of GDP of the region. The recent financial crises particularly influenced the economy of the region during 2008 because of the financial sector of the region (www. cia. gov). Literacy rate of the region is 99 percent while 5. 5 percent of GDP is fixed for the development of education sector. According to such percentage of GDP it stands at 44th position as compare to other countries (www. cia. gov). There were 89 universities and 131 higher education institutes operating till August 2011 (www. universitiesuk. ac. uk). The expansion in higher education system of the region is relatively slow as compared to the other countries competing with the region according to the report of Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD, 2007). There are several countries coming up with significantly higher number of college and universities although the growth of education sector in recent years in UK is also remarkable. The increase in the educational institutes positively influence the graduation rate in UK as it was 37 percent during the year 2000 and reached upto 39 percent in 2005. On the other hand the position of the region was dropped from 3rd to 10th position as compare to around 20 countries while considering the educational performance (www. guardian. co. uk). The recent financial crises negatively influenced all the sectors therefore the government was planning to reduce the educational expenses by 25 percent during the upcoming four years. It was mentioned the chancellor that the reduction in the budget for educational sector depends on the treatment with the other sectors which are influencing the budget of the region. No guarantee of not cutting the educational budget was given by the chancellor. It was further mentioned by the government official that the possible saving through reduction in welfare budget may positively facilitate in reducing percentage of cut in educational budget (BBC, 2010). UK is also famous as an esteem education provided all around the world and students of different continents are presently completing their education in UK. Recently the government particularly focus the immigration process of students for making amendments. The seniors of UK education sector that the shift of government towards Tier 4 student immigration program may adversely effect the higher education institutes and the whole economy. The government particularly deployed for deciding about the student visa system of UK according to the new rules and policies. In addition the numbers of immigration given to the skilled workers also threatened the education sector because the student which will not take higher education may reduce the scope of universities and it will be quite difficult for the region to compete with the other countries as far as the educational sector is concerned (www. orkpermit. com). Pakistan is facing severe law and order situation in addition to political disputes which negatively influencing the trend of foreign investment. The recent energy crises are also one of the factors which badly effecting the overall development of economy. The unemployment rate according to the government is 6 percent but the real rate is very high because of the slow economic development. During the recent years the growth of the country significantly reduced while the inflation rate is particularly increasing. On the other hand food prices have also remarkable increased. The UN Human Development Report estimated the poverty during 2011 around 50 percent population. The inflation rate was recorded at 7. 7 percent during 2007 which was crossed 13 percent during the year 2011. The currency value of Pakistan has decreased by 40 percent since 2007 due to such circumstances (www. cia. gov). The education facilities in Pakistan are although developing but still require significant attention to compete with the global market. The literacy rate of the country is very low and estimated as around 50 percent in which 63 percent are males while remaining are females. The government declared 2. 7 percent of annual GDP for the education sector so that further schools can be developed and established according to the need of population. Keeping in view the expenses declared for education sector as compared to the remaining world the country is at 142nd position which is considerably low rank (www. cia. gov). Ministry for education is performing critical role for the development education sector in Pakistan. The key aim is to promote education according to the policies and plans defined by the management of the firm. Under this ministry education policy for 1998-2010 was prepared for significantly focusing the overall development educational sector within Pakistan. In this policy the education of the nation and Islamic knowledge was particularly focused for reasonable development. Literacy, non-formal, elementary, secondary and teacher education were also included. The government particularly focused vocational and technical education in addition to higher education for the students so that the need of the market can be fulfilled. The government also particularly focused the private sector which is consistently and rapidly developing within Pakistan for providing upto the mark quality education to the nation (http://www. moe. gov. pk). The higher education sector of Pakistan is facing problems due to significant reduction in the budget during the last two years (2010 and 2011). Presently the government is spending around 1. 8 percent of its GDP on education and in the world there are only six countries found which are following Pakistan. The upcoming problems for the education sector of Pakistan are further critical as the government has planned to devolve the higher education system to the provinces till 2014. It will be a huge loss to the upcoming generation as the standard of education will be decreased in addition to huge wastage of money invested for the development of the sector. The policies of the government are negatively effecting the development of education sector although there is crucial requirement of central authority which ensures the development of education sector (newsweekpakistan. com).

Inside the Story and Movie of Beowulf

Ever since I was younger I remember reading the story of Beowulf in my English and thinking how much better it would be if it had a movie to it. Little did I know it did, produced in 1999 my English teacher Mr. Billings made us watch then movie then discuss the two stories. Now when I saw this movie I could not stay awake to save my life. Then in 2007 another movie with the story of Beowulf came out and I was excited as it got great reviews. Now when I watched the movie, I noticed many similarities and differences from the poem and the movie.So with what I can recall from the story line and the movie I will give a brief explanation of what these two stories had in common and not common. There are many similarities between the poem and movie of Beowulf. Some include the clothes, the drinking, some fight scenes, and Beowulf’s arrogance. When we first read the story you can tell the description of the older style clothes and armor and spot on throughout the movie. Another similar ity is the drinking between the two stories. When we first read the book we hear about the Danes hall where they celebrate and drink till they pass out.When we watch the movie you see many scenes of these men drinking mass amounts of alcohol. The next similarity I want to talk about is the fight scene between Grendel and Beowulf. At the beginning of the story Beowulf grasps Grendel’s’ hand until he breaks Grendel’s’ fingers which stays true to the poem. Also it is important to mention that that in the movie and poem, Beowulf is seen as a hero of humans able to overpower the Danes. This is why he arrogant throughout both stories thinking he can destroy anything in his path.Now as we all know, most of the time when a book or poem is turned into a movie it will have many differences. I was not surprised to see the movie of Beowulf not stay true to the original poem. The first difference we come across is at the beginning of the movie as it starts off with Gr endel’s death, when in the poem it starts with the Danes having a beer party in the hall. The major difference between the two is the poem actually explained a detailed story line of Beowulf’s journey. When I watched I movie I felt if left out some important pieces that i like in the poem.Another big difference was the fight between Beowulf and the dragon. In the movie Beowulf had the cut part of his off arm off and he rips out the heart of the dragon. Now this scene is extremely different from the poem, the movie just added more dramatics to make the viewer more into the movie. Now in this writer professional opinion I thought the movie and poem had many differences but still caught the essence and story of Beowulf. This movie and poem are connected by a history of power and violence in which we can see bloody scenes and deaths.There also two histories that lack of love, and neither of them provides any link of friendship, but rather each of them cares about their own , every character of the movie and poem takes care of themselves because they have to fight to defend themselves from the terrible things that happen. Another important aspect of the two stories are they both belong to the old English period with differences with the pronunciation of Modern English and the English spoken at the time of the poem.So as you can see there are many major differences and similarities between both the poem and movie and Beowulf. I hope after you have read this compare and contrast essay you will have more knowledge over the poem and movie of Beowulf. The story and movie of Beowulf is one of my favorites and a great memory of why I love to read. So no matter what, if you have not yet read of seen the movie I highly encourage you to as it’s a great story, one to not be forgotten.

IT Security & Sarbanes-Oxley Act Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

IT Security & Sarbanes-Oxley Act - Term Paper Example Because of the original intention and the mandate of the Act, financial accuracy must be certified by the management concerned. Because of the provisions of the Same Act, the penalties for financial fraud have been made more severe. Similarly, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 strengthened the autonomy of external auditors who analyze and reexamine the accuracy of corporate statements of accounts and also bolstered the oversight function of the board of directors. Simon, Smalley, and Schultz (2009) divulge that the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 comes against the backdrop of serious corporate and accounting scandals such as the Enron, Adelphia, Tyco International, WorldCom and Peregrine Systems Scandals. These scandals had cost investors billions of dollars, following the collapse of the affected companies share prices. These scandals, together with their serious effects weakened public confidence in Americas security markets. The Act comprises 11 sections which range from criminal penalties to additional corporate board responsibilities. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 demands that the Securities and Exchange Commission implements rulings on prerequisites to compliance with the law. One of the ways the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 effects and constraints IT security section 404 compliance is by emphasizing a comprehensive understanding of internal controls, as a set of an enterprise's internal procedures, providing reasonable assurances that the enterprise will meet its target in all the specified areas. This is the case since Section 404 Compliance extends emphasis on not just historical financial reporting, but on internal controls also. Together with the rules spelled out in the SEC, there is a requirement that public companies' management should assess and report periodically, on the effectiveness of internal controls on financial reporting.

Construction organisations have adapted themselves to address change Essay

Construction organisations have adapted themselves to address change and the growing complexity of the construction industry.Pre - Essay Example One of the key characteristics of the construction industry is its high complexity; the projects developed across this industry are depended on a series of factors, including technology, climate conditions, suppliers’ and employees’ efficiency and responsibility, local regulation and so on. Therefore, for the firms that operate in the particular industry the full achievement of their goals is a challenging task; in fact, the research on the industry’s characteristics and performance has led to the conclusion that operational and strategic failures are common phenomena in this industry. This issue is discussed in this paper; it is concluded that the above failures can justify the argument that in modern market no single ideal organization can exist. The aspects and the explanation of this argument are presented in this paper referring, as an example, to the challenges and the performance of firms operating in the construction industry. 2. Change and increase of co mplexity in the construction industry - characteristics, responses and consequences - discussion of the premise that there is no single ideal organization. ... The value of the construction industry for economies worldwide cannot be ignored. For example, in USA, one of the most competitive construction markets globally, the value of the construction industry for the domestic product has estimated to 9% - referring to 2005 (Atallah 2006). Despite its size, the construction industry in USA is not well structured – a high fragmentation has been identified; more specifically, most of the industry’s firms are small and operate within their local area – about 2.1 millions of the relevant businesses are self-employed (Atallah 2006). This fact limits the potentials of these firms to face the challenges set by the globalization. The above phenomenon is common in countries worldwide. Firms in the construction industry are usually established and operate in the context of the development of particular construction projects; in many cases, the end of a construction project can set the survival of a construction firm in risk. In oth er words, there is no expansion of the activities or tasks allocated to the employees. Rather, the operation of each construction firm is depended on the successful development of a particular construction project; it is for this reason, that most of firms in this industry are self-employed – the number of employees is low. This trend is reflected in the figures released in the study of Bennett (2003); in accordance with the above study, the construction firms in Italy have been estimated to 482,000 (for 2002), a number extremely high taking into consideration the potential number of construction projects developed across the country/ compared to the country’s size and relevant needs (Bennett 2003). Moreover, in accordance with a

International Logistics Road Transportation Industry in Turkey Essay

International Logistics Road Transportation Industry in Turkey - Essay Example The Turkish Highways Directorate belongs to Ministry of Public Works and Settlements (Bayindirlik Bakanligi). It is responsible for construction, maintenance and operation of the highway network in Turkey, but it is not autonomous since revenues come from the general budget.It is responsible for 63 000 kilometers of roads of which 31 000 are State roads, 1897 are toll roads, and the rest are provincial (vilayet) roads.Village roads belong to the MoT.The Highway’s Directorate includes 18 Regional Offices of which one is in Ankara. All roads are realized with public funds.The Turkish General Directorate of Highways, KGM, has an annual estimated budget of about EUR 1 billion. The investment budget, amounting to approx. 60% of KGM's total budget is thinly spread over numerous projects with an average completion time of nine years.Investments are dominated by works on an over-designed motorway program. Total expenditures on the program reached about EUR 10.4 billion in 2001 with an nual allocations in the last few years of about EUR 468 million. The operational budget, on the other hand, is mostly consumed by wages, with minimal allocations for maintaining existing assets.Turkey's road/traffic accident rates are 3-6 times above those of EU countries. About 7 000 people die each year in road accidents and the losses due to injuries and property damages are estimated to be in the order of 2% of GDP. â€Å"The state in Turkey still plays a major role in basic industry, banking, and transportation†, ( CIA world factbook, 2007).... Issue The Turksih Highways Directorate belongs to Ministry of Public Works and Settlements (Bayindirlik Bakanligi). It is responsible for construction,maintenance and operation of highway network in Turkey, but it is not autonomous since revenues come from general budget.It is responsible for 63 000 kilometres of roads of which 31 000 are State roads, 1897 are toll roads, and the rest are provincial (villayet) roads.Village roads belong to the MoT.The Highway's Directorate includes 18 Regional Offices of which one is in Ankara. All roads arerealized with public funds.The Turkish General Directorate of Highways,KGM, has annual estimated budget of about EUR 1 billion. The investment budget,amounting to approx. 60% of KGM's totalbudget is thinly spread over numerous projects with an average completion time of nine years.Investments are dominated by works on an overdesignedmotorway programme. Totalexpenditures on the programme reached about EUR 10.4 billion in 2001 with annual allocations in t he last few years of about EUR 468 million. The operational budget, on theother hand, is mostly consumed by wages, with minimal allocations for maintaining existingassets.Turkey's road / traffic accident rates are 3-6 times above those of EU countries. About 7 000 people die each year in road accidents and the losses due to injuries and property damages are estimated to be in the order of 2% of GDP. "The state in Turkey still plays a major role in basic industry, banking and transportation", ( CIA world factbook, 2007) Every two years the number of fatalities on the roads equals the death toll of the tragic Marmara earthquake in 1999. 8.2.2. Highways Since

If Black English Isnt a Language, Then Tell Me, What Is by James Essay

If Black English Isnt a Language, Then Tell Me, What Is by James Baldwin - Essay Example For example, reading about Congo Square, made me aware of Black American history, and Baldwin’s own identity. My biggest comprehension problem was Baldwin’s comments on the language used in England. It took several readings to understand that one’s social background and education are reflected in the way one speaks English, and one’s language determines one’s chances of advancement in life. In his essay, James Baldwin defends the unique form of Black English. He sees it as a mark of identity, and is proud of its difference from mainstream English. He traces the origins of Black English to the despicable tradition of slavery, and states that the language evolved from the need for self-protection, and a common means of communication. He argues that Black English reflects the reality of the Black American experience. Baldwin holds that Black English is a language, not a dialect, and defends its use by Black children in schools. He is scathing in his criticism of those Americans who despise it, and accuses them of