Monday, December 30, 2019

University of Phoenix Organizational Culture - 1133 Words

Organizational culture can be defined as the system of attitudes, beliefs and values that are collectively expressed in support of organizational structure. Organizational culture is a pattern of shared basic assumptions that dictate the behavior of individuals within an organization. Culture determines which practices are appropriate and which are not, effectively developing standards, guidelines, and expectations for individuals within an organization. Although they work hand in hand, there is a definite distinction in the beliefs and the values that make up organizational culture. The beliefs of an organization are assumptions of the way things are, while values are an assumption about the way things should be. By that definition,†¦show more content†¦As the stock prices were inflated, the liquidity of the company was spread very thin. Through the individual business ventures of these highly educated individuals, Enron took out loans and spread their finances thin. Additi onally, there was an intense culture of competition within Enron. Skilling implemented an intense employee evaluation system (PRC 360-degree review) in which employees were judged on the profits of their projects. The bottom 10% of employees according to this evaluation were often fired or demoted. This created a state of individual paranoia at Enron in which individuals, in order to keep their jobs, were forced into using shady accounting practices and not worrying about the future considerations of a deal as long as it turned a short term profit. Because of this intense culture of internal competition, employees at Enron (even the ones who felt they were using unethical practices) were reluctant to speak up. The corporate culture made it hard for ethical objections to be heard or taken seriously. In an employee s recollection of his experience at Enron it was noted that saying things like This doesn t make sense was unofficially sanctioned †¦I got the idea that not many peo ple actually knew what was going on, and asking questions would further show this lack of knowledge. Furthermore, Enron s message about their values was demonstrated through the actionsShow MoreRelatedAssignment : Moreno Medical Center1657 Words   |  7 PagesCenter: Issues in Managed Care Moreno Medical Center (MMC) is a physician-owned full-service acute care hospital that has been around since 1975 (University of Phoenix, 2016). They recently experienced changes in payment with managed care, so they started looking closer at the processes and patient satisfaction with their current procedures (University of Phoenix, 2016). Currently, patient experience in the outpatient surgical clinic is low due to long delays throughout the admission and discharge processesRead MoreOrganizational Behavior Communication Paper1190 Words   |  5 PagesSouthwest Airlines Organizational Behavior amp; Communication Paper Erica Sepulveda Communications for Accountants/Com 530 January 30, 2012 Southwest Airlines Organizational Behavior amp; Communication Paper Airlines, such as Southwest Airlines, strive to provide the best customer service that they can offer to keep their customers happy. A prospective Southwest passenger may probably make their reservation by calling the customer service number, logging onRead MoreOrganizational Psychology Paper714 Words   |  3 PagesOrganizational Psychology your name PSY/428 September 20, 2010 Marianne Narick Organizational Psychology As organizations grow and expand globally, the growing number of business competitors who provide the same services becomes greater. Organizational psychologists are a benefit to organizational success, regardless of size. Organizational Psychologists can offer fresh ideas for improvement using various methods of study and research. One important step in understanding the peopleRead MoreTransparency in Corporate Governance1507 Words   |  7 PagesRunning head: TRANSPARENCY IN CORPIRATE GOVERNANCE McBride Financial Services - Transparency in Corporate Governance University of Phoenix May 4, 2009 Transparency is imperative with respect to corporate governance due to the crucial nature of reporting financial information to maintaining investor and consumer confidence. The lack of devotion to corporate governance policies will send the message that the company is unbalanced and the leadership is not incorporating the highest level of integrityRead MoreLeadership in Action Essay1016 Words   |  5 Pagesthree years. This paper will describe the formal culture of the organization and how this structure compares with other organizational structures. How the companys informal culture influences their effectiveness and formal structure will also be addressed. The role of power and politics will be looked at as well as which leadership style would be the most effective for the Chief Operating Officer (COO) for S Fs structure and culture. Organizational Structure is defined by McShane-Von Gilnow asRead MoreChange Management Essay example1644 Words   |  7 Pagesadjustments toward the new vision or processes and procedure, finally to put in place new constraints for the new processes and procedures (McShane, 2003.) The Burke-Litwin Model of Organizational Performance and Change is based on the idea, which theorizes the need to explore organizational functioning and organizational change. This theory is brought to light by describing how performance is affected and how effective change takes place. Furthermore, both in terms of content that coincides withRead MoreMba 520 Syllabus1576 Words   |  7 PagesMBA/520 Transformational Leadership Course Syllabus University of Phoenix MBA520 ________________________________________ Please print a copy of this syllabus for handy reference. Whenever there is a question about what assignments are due, please remember this syllabus is considered to be the ruling document. GENERAL COURSE INFORMATION COURSE NUMBER: MBA/520 COURSE TITLE: Transformational Leadership COURSE START DATE: 1 March 2007 COURSE END DATE: 5 April 2007 COURSE LOCATION:Read MoreChange Management1610 Words   |  7 Pagesadjustments toward the new vision or processes and procedure, finally to put in place new constraints for the new processes and procedures (McShane, 2003.) The Burke-Litwin Model of Organizational Performance and Change is based on the idea, which theorizes the need to explore organizational functioning and organizational change. This theory is brought to light by describing how performance is affected and how effective change takes place. Furthermore, both in terms of content that coincides withRead MoreMission, Vision Values - Alameda County Community Food Bank965 Words   |  4 Pageswas chosen for completing a strategic plan. This paper will discuss the strategic plan for the Alameda Community Food Bank, components of the strategic management process that will be analyzed, and how the outcomes will affect the leadership and culture of the organization. Background The Alameda County Community Food Bank has been in existence helping people since 1985 and serves as the central clearinghouse for donated food in Alameda County (Alameda County Food Bank, 2007). The Food Bank providesRead MoreLeadership and Organizational Change Concepts Worksheet1042 Words   |  5 PagesLeadership and Organizational Change Concepts Worksheet Concept Application of Concept in the Scenario or Simulation Reference to Concept in Reading Feedback Process In the Simulation, CrysTel contracts consultants to conduct surveys internally to identify the weakest and strongest of the departments characteristics. The consultants have been given a budget of $65,000. An Employee Satisfaction and Climate survey (with a total cost of $48,000) was utilized by the consultant. This is the

Sunday, December 22, 2019

Literature Review Wage Suppression / Bracero Program

Elsa Gomez Pena Professor Murshid POSC 349B 02 November 2015 Literature Review: Wage Suppression/Bracero Program In a capitalist society, profit maximization is the primary concern of firms and corporations. Because wages are a deduction from profit, one often reads in our texts and other articles inspired by Marx that wage can never be low enough for capital. These kind of statements are supported by empirical evidence, in particular, by various companies’ and economic policy makers’ major efforts over the past years to suppress wages in general. Rivoli highlights the idea that in a capitalist society, the ‘race to the bottom’ is a driving mechanism for profit maximization, in turn such actions result in labor exploitation and†¦show more content†¦897). During this time period, the United States was experiencing a factor period of abundant land and labor, therefore it made sense that since WWII was occurring, the growers demanded more labor. When the war ended, the Bracero Program continued, causing discontent among the returning U.S. domestic labor force. Although the Mexican government signed a second agreement extending the Bracero Program, it slowly lost any control over the program after the end of World War II, resulting in a chain reaction of illegal immigration (Gamboa 1993 p. 860). Mexican laborers who participated in the Bracero Program hoped that the involvement of the Mexican government would protect them from exploitation at the hands of U.S. growers. The Bilateral agreement suggested that those laborers chosen would meet physical standards, live in sanitary housing, have paid transportation, and be paid a decent wage for the crop they harvested (Cohen 2011) However, that was not the case; living conditions were meant to treat workers as â€Å"replaceable† and â€Å"interchangeable† (Mize Swords 2010 p. 19). The laborers were bound to a specific schedule, their lives were structured around work schedules and always separated from U.S society (Mize Swords 2010 p.19). They had to individual choice, every small action they performed came at a monetary cost.

Saturday, December 14, 2019

America’s Commercial Airline Industry Free Essays

1989 has been a year in which both aviation experts and spokesmen. For the flying public have expressed intensified concern over what they perceive to be a substantial deterioration in the safety of America†s passenger airline operations. In the first nine months of 1989 alone, there have been ten fatal air crashes involving large transport-category planes owned by U. We will write a custom essay sample on America’s Commercial Airline Industry or any similar topic only for you Order Now S. based carriers (Ott p. 28). This compares disfavorably to the first nine of months of 1988, when but two such accidents took place, and in fact, it is the highest number of death-causing accidents for the American commercial aviation industry during the 1980s (Fotos p. ). This spate of airborne tragedies has prompted interested parties to ask a series of disturbing questions. Is it now safe to fly on American owned airlines, and, related to this, is it now riskier to board these planes than it was before industry deregulation took place in 1978? What, if any, specific factors have contributed to the perceived decline in the industry†s safety standards? Finally, what, if anything, can be done to enhance the airworthiness of U. S. passenger planes and to improve the safety performance of the crews who man them? In this paper, all three of these questions will be addressed, and, without advancing too far ahead, we discover that there simply are no definitive answers to any of them. As serious accidents among America†s air carriers have mounted in 1989, a â€Å"conventional wisdom† has supplied a plausible account of the historical roots of the present safety problem. In 1978, the Federal government de-regulated the U. S. airline industry. Faced with an increasingly competitive environment, individual carriers tried to hold down fares by making cost-related cuts in policies and procedures related to safety. Many have argued that, â€Å"increased competition may lead airlines to skimp on investments in safety,†(Bornstein and Zimmerman p. 913) by, for example, allowing aging planes to take to the skies following routine inspections rather than replacing them with new craft. But there is an overarching problem with this explanation: 1989†³s accidents apart, empirical data suggest that it is currently safer to fly on a plane operated by a major U. S. air carrier than it was ten years ago! In 1978, the odds of a large airliner†s becoming involved in fatal crash were one for every million aircraft departures; ten years later, that proportion has dropped to around one in every 2. 25 million departures (McConnel p. 207). On the whole, it is, in fact, comparatively safe to fly, and even with 1989 crash incidents added to the aggregated figures, flying is no more dangerous today than it was prior to deregulation. The Federal Aviation Administration, the National Transportation Safety Board and an array of independent air safety experts have all probed this year†s major airline accidents. Despite all of post hoc study, they have been unable to discern a common link among them, (Ott p. 28) with one major exception. The qualification at hand refers to dramatic increase in the volume of air traffic since de-regulation. According to NTSB member John Lauber, † ‘ if there is a trend in accidents, it is a trend set by the increasing volume of air transport operations rather than any fundamental deterioration in the margins of safety (Ott p. 28). At first glance, this argument is comforting: more flights in the air simply result in more accidents commensurate with higher traffic volumes, so that the impact of de-regulation has had only the broadest and most indirect influences upon the industry†s safety record. But to ascribe the recent rash of safety problems to the â€Å"neutral† effect of higher traffic volume in the wake of de-regulation and leave it at that overlooks several critical points. For example, to remain competitive, many airlines schedule flights in clusters for the convenience of their passengers. This, in turn, as Rudolf Kapustin (an independent industry- watcher) states, tends to increase risks among flight occurring at â€Å"peak times (Ott p. 28). † Far more worrisome, when accidents for smaller, commuter or regional airlines are factored in, we find that 16 percent of all airlines had safety records considerably worse than the norm, accounting for nearly 80 percent of all airborne accidents between 1977 and 1984 (Ott p. 30). These figures strongly indicate that policies and practices by the airlines themselves may have acted as variables that have had a role in recent accidents. There are two major factors that appear to have had a part in this year†s major carrier crashes, both of which can be related to cost cutting challenges upon the airlines unleashed by de-regulation. The first of these concerns the planes themselves. There is evidence to suggest that some U. S. airlines are operating a higher percentage of â€Å"high time† or â€Å"geriatric† aircraft than was previously the case. About 2,300 of the 8,000 odd commercial jets flown by major airline crews have passed twenty years of continuous service. Plainly, aging fleets have some immediate linkage to two recent air fatalities. In April, 1988 Aloha Airlines 737 experienced a structural collapse; a huge section of the upper fuselage peeled off; one flight attendant was killed and sixty-one passengers were injured. â€Å"The aircraft in question,† investigators found, had logged some 90,000 take-off/landing duty cycle, † the second highest number recorded by any jetliner operating in the free world. Eight months later, with the Aloha case still under study, a United Airlines 747 bound for Honolulu literally disintegrated in the air over the Pacific Ocean, resulting in nine deaths. This craft was another â€Å"veteran† plane, one that had a maintenance record suggesting increasing safety problems. Clearly, there is an economic motive behind airline operation of â€Å"geriatric† planes. A Boeing 737, for example, cost around $25 million at present, so that, † it is in the economic interest of an airline to prolong the life of its current fleet if it can do so at reasonable cost and without compromising safety. In the opinion of some critics, given the competitive pressures of a de-regulated market environment, some airlines are paying too much attention to this economic imperative, and, conversely, too little care to the maintenance of adequate safety standards. Most jet transport accidents are not the result of equipment failure; a full two-thirds can be attributed to human error. At present, all U. S. air carriers, major airlines and regionals alike, are facing a reduced pool of qualified pilots and flight personnel to staff their crews. De-regulation has meant a higher level of demand for a finite number of qualified crew members, and, at the same time, the number of potential crew members leaving the nation†s armed forces (the traditional mainstay of new hires for the airlines) has dropped sharply in recent years. As has been noted in a recent issue of Aviation Week Space Technology: † the major airlines are reported to be drastically reducing the amount of flying time they require from applicants, â€Å"and while † there is no shortage of applicants (there is) a shortage of highly qualified ones (Pilot Turnover†¦ p. 91). Inexperienced pilots tend to make more mistakes than their veteran counterparts, so that the labor demand growth that has taken place with deregulation coupled with a reduced number of former armed forces pilots available may well be a factor undermining airline safety. Having stated that it is, in general, safe to board U. S. operated planes, yet another qualification must be made at this juncture. Smaller carriers, flying short routes and known as â€Å"commuter† airlines have much worse safety records than the major airlines. According to McConnell: In the past decade, commuter airlines have had 81 fatal accidents, Killing 384 people. In 1987 alone 35 accidents caused 58 deaths. And in the first two months of 1988, crashes killed 22. The Commuters† fatal accidents rate per 100,000 departures has averaged Seven times that of the major airlines (McConnel p. 206). These smaller carriers, like their major airlines counternumbers, are subject to FAA monitoring and regulation, and the results of FAA inquiries into the safety of the commuter lines has led the Agency to suspend or revoke commuter airline operating certificates on 58 occasions since 1981 for safety violations. The heart of the problem with the commuter airlines resides in the shrinking pool of qualified pilots available to them (Ott p. 28). Generally offering lower pay than the majors, the commuter lines have experienced a drain of talent as many of their most experienced pilots have left to take positions with the majors. In 1985, major U. S. carriers hired some 7,600n new pilots; the majority of them previously worked for commuter airlines (McConnel p. 209). At the same time, willingness of the majors to accept less qualified pilots from sources apart from the regionals has decreased the quality of regional hires yet another notch (Pilot Turnover†¦ p. 91). The trend toward less experienced crews in this segment of the industry is undeniable. † The pilots hired by U. S. regionals who had less than 2,000 hr. flight time rose 22. 3% of those hired in 1985 to 36. 2% in the first six months of 1989 (Ott p. 29). In addition to a declining level of experience in the cockpits of commuter aircraft, these pilots face demands that often exceed those placed upon pilots working for the majors. On some small carriers, pilots face several trips a day between under-equipped airfields, and in addition must plan routes, study weather, handle baggage and even fuel the plane. Fatigue can become a factor (McConnel p. 207). To fill spots, regionals have tried to lure flight instructors from flying schools into their ranks (Pilots Turnover†¦ p. 91). Unfortunately, by engaging in this practice, the regionals reduce the capacity of the nation†s flight schools to enlarge the pool of personnel available to all carriers. If a shortage of qualified crew members is identified as a factor that has some causal relation to a perceived decline in American air carrier safety, this effect is most acute at the level of the commuter/regional firms. The evidence regarding the effect of de-regulation upon safety for American airlines is mixed, inconclusive, but nevertheless broad enough. Common sense tells us that older planes and less experienced crews will have a negative impact upon safety, and, in the case of commuter lines, the latter has probably contributed to a performance record significantly below that of the major carriers. Given that a case can be made that identifiable variables are now eroding flight safety, the question naturally becomes: What can be done to remedy or, at least, ameliorate this situation? The FAA formed an Airworthiness Assurance Task Force shortly after the Aloha incident, and, in February, 1989, this body issued its recommendations. These proposals generally dealt with the tandem problems of aging fleets and inexperienced crews. Regarding the former, The Task Force noted that in several recent accidents, parts that had either been inspected and passed review or parts that were thought to have an â€Å"infinite† working life, broke down. The Airworthiness Assurance Task Force recommended to the FAA an $800 million program to upgrade older aircraft. The key provision would mandate the replacement of various parts and assemblies at specified time intervals, even if inspection detected no flaws. In other words, the industry would move to a plan of preventive replacement, rather than preventive maintenance. The plan would require repairs in about one of every five jetliners currently in service (Hoffer p115). The FAA itself has followed up on this recommendation: this year the agency mandated replacement of rivets on older 727s, and in the near future, the order will be extended to veteran 737s and 747s as well. The cost of all this promises to be high, amounting to an average of around $600,000 per plane. Still, conducted on a phased basis, it does not spell financial ruin for the majors, and given FAA powers, they have no choice but to comply. The FAA has also made recommendations regarding improvement of crew performance. It has, for example, suggested that airlines should â€Å"avoid pairing two pilots who may be qualified but inexperienced, either as pilot or in the particular aircraft type they would be flying (Ott p. 29). † The Agency has also urged that only experienced pilots be given control over aircraft during times of severe weather conditions. Both of these proposals have been accepted by the industry. Far more controversial, the FAA has also endorsed the idea of setting autonomous safety departments within each airline that would have absolute power to ground flights or personnel on the basis of safety. These departments would actively monitor pilot performance through retrospective examination of data contained in tapes on flight recorders (Fotos p. 31). Although the airlines see such a move as having safety-enhancing outcomes, the notion that control over scheduled flights will be ceded by line management to a safety procedures, has met with some resistance. At bottom, implementing the FAA†s suggestions will carry a step price tag in both financial and management labor terms, and taken together, may contribute to a second round of shakeouts, as weaker carriers will not be able to bear these costs and continue to be competitive. How to cite America’s Commercial Airline Industry, Essay examples

Thursday, December 5, 2019

Springer Science and Business Media †Free Samples to Students

Question: Discuss about the Springer Science and Business Media. Answer: Introduction A company needs to be making specific plans for every unit within the organisation (Armstrong Taylor, 2014). An effective HR plan is same in this regards. JJ furniture Ltd needs to have a proper human resource plan. This will help the company to make sure that they have a team culture within the organisation. There are various requirements of the team management plan which is discussed in later part of the report. This report also showcases the different types that are required for improving the efficiency of the organisation. In order to reduce the confusion regarding the work, power and responsibility of the member within the project team, it is essential to have clearly defined organisational structure (Nutcache, 2018). The organisational structure for the project team is as follows: Here at the top of the chart is project coordinator who has the role of coordinating all the activities that will be done for achieving the project. Under them lie training coordinator and accounts/ administrator who has the role of providing trainings to the members and managing the financial requirement of the project respectively. Below them lies the provincial coordinators under whom there are various field coordinators. These filed coordinators are responsible for completing various takes from time to time. Under them lies the project member having diverse specialities. For having an effective project management Plan Company needs to have an efficient staffing and recruitment plan (Bratton Gold, 2017). Plan for the selection and recruitment for the members for JJ furniture limited is as follows: Defining the project roles: Before recruiting or staffing a company needs to define the roles for the staffs that need to be selected. This includes title or post for which they are being recruited for, their duties, rules for communication like whom, when to report, other details like team performance criteria, their salaries, benefits. Searching team candidates: This can be done with the help of job descriptions posted on various advertising mediums (Linman, 2011). Interviewing and testing the candidate: After the requests are received, interviews are conducted so as to select candidates for different roles. This selection is done as per the test they have given. Team building plan After the candidates have been selected it is essential that they work like a team (Flamholtz, 2012). In order to ensure this a team building plan is necessary for the company. Team building plan for the project is as follows: Follow the team building stages: Five stages of team development must be used. The five stages are forming, storming, norming, performing, adjourning are used. Team building activity: There are many team building activities that need to be used. This may include some team exercise like games etc. Training: For converting the group into the team, training is highly necessary. Training helps in enhancing team building exercise. This also assists in reducing the cost of project as working in team increases the efficiency of the employees. Rewards and assessment: A pre pan must be made which must focus on the rewards and incentives that will be given by the company to the team when the project gets done on time. Manage team: There are very aspects that is associated with the team like encouraging effective communication, utilising communication skills, observation, team performance management, good decision making etc. (Kehoe Wright, 2013). They all need to be managed in a proper way so as to make sure that team becomes effective. Staff management plan It is essential for the comp any to make sure that they have an effective staff management plan. This helps them in ensuring the highest of staffs efficiency which is good for the company and the staffs themselves (Jiang, Lepak, Han, Hong, Kim Winkler, 2012). The plan is as follows: In any team management communication plays a very crucial role (Meredith Mantel Jr, 2011). The communication plan for the Project team is as follows: Purpose and approach: The purpose of this plan is to make sure that no confusion remains in the minds of team members while executing the task. Goals and objectives: Some of the goals and objectives are as follows: To reduce the confusion regarding the roles and responsibilities of various staffs throughout the project completion. To create dialog between all the stakeholders associated with the project so as to gain acceptance regarding any project. For taking feedbacks form various associated stakeholders of the project. Communication roles: Various roles of different members related to communication is determined like steering team, project sponsor, leadership/ management team, project lead etc. Communication methods and tools: The tools of modern mediums of communication like the emails and conferences must be used. Feedbacks must be taken with the use of surveys so as to understand problems that team is facing. Selection of tool and method must be based on the requirement of the project. Assessment plan While any project is carried there are various kinds of assessments needs to be done (Kerzner Kerzner, 2017). This will be helpful in the longer run as improvements can be made as per this assessment. The assessment plan is based on various kinds of metrics that is predefined. This is always done on the basis of the data that is collected at the time of project completion. Some of the used metrics: Quality: To ensure a higher quality is achieved at the each level of the project completion. Performance management: On the basis of the data collected about the performance of the team member, there must be a management plan that must be made. This includes the tools like training. Training: After the evaluation of the performance on the basis of metrics that a company has set for them, training must be provided to the members regarding the skills they are lagging. This is must be done as per the requirement of different individuals as different members of the team have different skill requirements. Improvement plan After all the assessment is done it is crucial for the team to have an improvement plans (Thomas, 2012). This must be made after the proper analysis of performance of the whole team and the members in team. The improvement plan is as follows: Deciding the improvements required: Before Improvements is made first it is essential to decide the improvements that are actually required. This must be on both levels i.e. team level and members level. Training: The training must be given to the members according to the skills they are missing. Evaluation and retraining: The evaluation must be made after the training has been provided so as to judge the performance and again training must be provided as per the further requirements. This must be a continuous process. Conclusion From the above based report it can be concluded that in an organisation human resource plan is highly necessary. There are various plans that are required by the firm for completing any project. This includes the designing organisational structure, designing team, staffing and recruitment plan etc. along with this for managing the team there are several requirements. This includes staff management plan, communication plan, assessment plan and improvement plan etc. All these are necessary for the growth of the company. References Armstrong, M., Taylor, S. (2014).Armstrong's handbook of human resource management practice. Kogan Page Publishers. Bratton, J., Gold, J. (2017).Human resource management: theory and practice. Palgrave. Flamholtz, E. G. (2012).Human resource accounting: Advances in concepts, methods and applications. Springer Science Business Media. Jiang, K., Lepak, D. P., Han, K., Hong, Y., Kim, A., Winkler, A. L. (2012). Clarifying the construct of human resource systems: Relating human resource management to employee performance.Human resource management review,22(2), 73-85. Kehoe, R. R., Wright, P. M. (2013). The impact of high-performance human resource practices on employees attitudes and behaviors.Journal of management,39(2), 366-391. Kerzner, H., Kerzner, H. R. (2017).Project management: a systems approach to planning, scheduling, and controlling. John Wiley Sons. Linman, D., (2011). Retrieved from: https://www.mymanagementguide.com/project-team-planning-tips-basic-steps-for-recruiting-project-staff-members/ Meredith, J. R., Mantel Jr, S. J. (2011).Project management: a managerial approach. John Wiley Sons. Nutcache, (2018). Retrieved from: https://www.nutcache.com/blog/introduction-to-project-management-organizational-structure/ Thomas, D.A. (2012). Retrieved from: https://www.pmi.org/learning/library/managing-improvement-initiatives-projects-6019