...Part I This article starts out by describing the issues the Rainbarrel company faced a year ago before they employed Hiram Phillips. Rainbarrel was fat and happy according to Hiram. Although they had the potential for greatness, the lack of discipline held them back. As Hiram suspected he had done great improvements with Rainbarrel’s numbers. He was able to reduce labor cost and lower cost as a result of higher productivity. Hiram was even able to increase the number of calls the customer service representatives were taking each day by 50% and reduce their call time from 6 minutes a call to 4 minutes a call without incurring any capital costs. Another improvement Hiram was able to make was an increase in on-time shipments which was something the company was not watching before Hiram. The percentage of on-time shipments has gone up over the past six months and currently is 92%. By creating a new policy that commissions would be at actual purchase price instead of full price when discounts were used, Hiram was able to reduce cost reduction by 50%. The larger point Hiram wanted to point out in his presentation was that straightforward rules and rewards will drive superior performance. When Hiram listened to the presenter before him he learned that negative effects his changes has caused for the company. He has been learning how the workers have learned ways around the rules that only make the numbers look good but cause other problems. One problem noted was how quickly the phone...
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...companies to avoid laying off individuals from their jobs. Sometimes funds are scarce, so companies have to decrease hours a certain employee might have to work. That keeps them safe on the job, so they do not have to get laid off. They will see a pay decrease also but as long as they still have a job. It avoids them from getting laid off and searching for another job. Communication and honesty are very important to any organization to keep their employees informed about any changes. Exit Programs The early retirement plan is a broad topic. It is a good option if you do not have another resource. The early pension to which employees could aspire, the employer would provide the board, it is important to know that only people who are 55 years or more can acquire this benefit. Many employers try to make early retirement seem more attractive for those who are on the layoff list, by constructing some incentives. The incentives offered depend on the type of pension of work you acquired. There are two types: defined contribution and defined benefit. Incentives come to include: a single payment of the defined contribution pension to increase the value of the fund or pension benefits that work as if he had worked for the normal retirement age (if you are in a defined benefit plan). There are two problems: those who do not participate are recognized as being fired and access to severance pay, the other negative point is that people under 55 cannot access early pension, are left to be compensated...
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...banks and made it mandatory for commercial banks to have a minimum shareholder fund of 25million Naira. This reform affected many banks, some closed down operations while many had to merge in order to meet up. DATLEX went through a significant financial meltdown, as many of these banks are the company’s major clients. During this down turn, many workers were laid off and it affected the culture of DATLEX. It affected the income of the company and thus affected all the staff as a whole. DATLEX went from having a benefits package to having a NO benefits package. They used to have all types of employee incentives and appreciation activities. Employees usually get an official car after three years of service to the company. Now the employees are lucky if they get a chicken in the fall and a bag of rice at the Christmas holidays. Rewards for employees doing well are not there anymore. With the downturn, DATLEX lost a lot of their highly skilled, highly valuable employees. DATLEX always strived to high the best hands but at the current time, the company is not willing to provide the salaries and benefits to get the best due to the financial crisis they are going through. In the last few years, the company has focused on cost cutting. Thus, almost everything that differentiated DATLEX from its counterparts in the security business has declined. I was a Business Development Officer for DATLEX...
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...Strategic Plan, Part III: Balanced Scorecard BUS/475 Intro A balanced score card is necessary when analyzing the objectives of a strategic plan. Mix and Go will be able to use this method as part of our strategic plan. The four areas of the strategic plan that can be analyzed using the balanced scorecard include: Financial, customer, internal operations, and learning and growth. Each one of these categories will be analyzed separately in order to understand each of their cause and effect relationships. The analysis starts by defining the objectives of each category, and then proceeded by the goals and initiatives of Mix and Go. The scorecard below is in table format to help develop an organized plan for reaching our business objectives outlined in the previous SWOTT analysis. See Score Card Below ------------------------------------------------- Financial Scorecard Objectives | Measures | Targets | Initiatives | Decrease the cost of packaging by offering Eco-friendly merchandise to package food in that is reusable | Increase in the amount of merchandise sold to new customers who return using their own packaging | Frequent repeat business, incentives for going green and helping reduce waste and lower our costs | This can be achieved by actively promoting the benefits of waste reducing and recycling in our store | Lower overall inventory costs while maintaining the highest quality of goods. | Inventory costs should match revenues to support the supply...
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...cases slow production of a product or service to a halt. An Economic incentive is any factor (financial or non-financial) that provides a motive for a particular course of action, or stands as a reason for preferring one choice to the alternatives (Cambridge University Press 2013). This shows that non-market production is still an important part of the puzzle when it comes to economics and the incentives that effect our economy on a daily bases. For instance, it can be used to boost the economy in certain areas by given huge taxes breaks. Another way is to allow funding for certain projects in a specific area. In an article written by Brent Balk the cost of labor without a financial transaction is described as “output prices and there for should be considered a marginal costs” (Balk, 2012). He goes on to compare projects being done that show marginal cost and those that don’t. To the best ideas of what the actual cost of a job or project would be one must consider all sides even the non-market production. The bible tells us to make sure we have well laid plans in Luke it says "For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it” (Luke 14:28). This shows when we make plans to do something we should count all cost, not just the financial but the non-market coast as well. Thing such as the time it takes to make the plans and...
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...2011 1 EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION Notes on THE MANAGEMENT OF EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION….. Executive compensation is the total remuneration or financial compensation a top executive receives within an organization. This includes a basic salary, any and all bonuses, shares options, and any other company benefit. Over the past three decades, executive compensation has risen dramatically beyond the rising levels of an average worker’s wage. Executive compensation is an important part of corporate governance, and is often determined by a company’s board of directors. Executive compensation is a very important thing to consider when evaluating an investment opportunity. Executives who are improperly compensated may not have the incentive to perform in the best interest of shareholders, which can be costly for those shareholders. While new laws and regulations have made executive compensation much clearer in company filings, many investors remain clueless as to how to find and read these critical reports. This article will take a look at the different types of executive compensation and how investors can find and evaluate compensation information. WHO IS AN EXECUTIVE? A person or group having administrative or managerial authority in an organisation. The chief officer of a government, state or political division. Chief executive officer (CEO), one of the highest-ranking corporate officers (executives) or administrators . A chief executive officer (CEO) or chief executive is the...
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...lives of their workers by imposing rules that bulk of the work forces cannot adhere. Naturally, labor laws do not take care of the country’s privileges according to the environment of their civilization. Nevertheless, companies have been unsuccessful to understand that their arrangements discourage workers’ performance, which leads to reduced revenue for the entire firm (Sloan, 2009). Mainly, establishments have to respect worker human rights if they are to be competitive in their route of commerce and safeguard the corporation’s sustainability. Inherently, because employers refuse to adhere to the employees’ rights to be able to converse with their management to come up with a plan; this has caused laws and regulations to be born (Gompers, 2013, p. 222), which leads to low employee morale and incentive in their workplaces. Subsequently, the current United States government labor laws and regulations, have improved probabilities of personnel joining labor unions. This makes it so that they are jointly fighting for their privileges, which means that the acts are sufficient to contest for workers’ rights notwithstanding of their positions in their workplaces. The United States has been increasingly passing laws to protect the rights of employees...
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...Southwest Airlines Case Study Southwest Airlines (“Southwest”) and began in 1971 and was founded by Rollin King and Herb Kelleher, servicing Dallas, Houston and San Antonio. Southwest keeps things simple and consistent, which drives costs down, maximizes productive assets and helps manage customer expectations. Southwest is a low-cost air carrier that offers nearly 3,400 flights per day to 72 cities in 37 states. Southwest’s tangible resources include financial resource, physical resource and technological resource. * Financial Resources: Managing their cash well, generating over $985,000,000 and with an operating income of $262,000,000 in the fiscal year of 2011. * Physical Resources: Instead of having agents or computerized booking systems, they have implemented a travel agent, Centre and vending machines at the airports. Southwest operate a wide variety of aircrafts; employed scores of pilots, flight attendants, ticket agents and dispatchers; and implemented comprehensive safety programs. Southwest require physical resources to operate successfully and meet safety and profitability goals. Southwest boasts a fleet of 550 planes, making as many as six flights per day. Southwest features a fleet entirely made up of Boeing 737 airplanes. * Technological Resources: Southwest is always one-step ahead, cutting down on additional cost and using only single type of airplane Boeing 737 for the entire fleet. Southwest intangible resources include human...
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...Company Motivational Profile Google is a company which was formed in 1998 by two men; Sergey Brin and Larry Page. The search engine was named “Google” after a similar word “googol” which means a number “1” followed by “100” zeros, meaning “a lot” of information. The two men shared one mission which was to organize information on the internet, making it so everyone could access, making it more useful overtime. When Google.com was formed in 1998, it was basically a search engine which allowed people to search for basic information. Today’s Google.com offers a much broader selection of services which can be found through their search engine. Google also offers many services along with its famous search engine such as Google Maps, You-Tube, Google Apps, Google Earth, Gmail, Google Calendar and Google Docs which are all programs designed to help users find information more efficiently. Google also earns profits through advertising; from displaying text ads for mobile advertising to large and small companies as well. Google first came to light with their first advertising program in 2000 called Ad Words, which was a program that allowed people to see how ads can be useful. Currently, the company is involved into display advertising which is growing rapidly due to products such as their Google Display Network, comprised of over 1 million partnered websites including other Google-owned websites such as YouTube. Google has recently posted a third-quarter revenue of $7.20...
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...CASE ANALYSIS BA 2 – HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGEMENT (Author’s note: The following script has been taken directly from its source. However, this has been altered as seen fit. Questions have been added for academic purposes .) “THE BEST LAID INCENTIVE PLANS” FAT AND HAPPY It was true. Hiram Phillips, CFO and chief administrative officer for Rainbarrel Products, a diversified consumer-durables manufacturer, was in a particularly good mood. He was heading into a breakfast meeting that would bring nothing but good news. Sally Hamilton and Frank Ormondy from Felding & Company would no doubt already be at the office when he arrived and would have with them the all important numbers – the statistics that would demonstrate the positive results of the performance management system he’d put in place a year ago. Hiram had already seen many of the figures in bits and pieces. He’d retained the consultants to establish baselines on the metrics he wanted to watch and had seen various interim reports from then since. But today’s meeting would be the impressive summation capping off a year’s worth of effort. It was obvious enough what his introduction should be. He would start at the beginning at Rainbarrel Products a year ago. At the time, the company had just come off a couple of awful quarters. It wasn’t alone. The sudden slowdown in consumer spending, after a decade-long boom, had taken the whole industry by surprise. But what had quickly become clear was that Rainbarrel...
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...area of compensation and benefits Compensation and benefits are a set programs established by organizations that reward employees for the services they have rendered for the benefit of the organization. These programs are usually designed with several objectives in mind. Organizations establish these programs to motivate the employees into increasing their performance to their sheer best, attract the best employees to work for the organization, and extend the period which the employees will continue to offer their services, hence, help in retaining employees in the organization for a longer period. The employee benefits programs provided by organizations include life insurance, stock ownership plans, health insurance, vacation, leave, contributions to retirement plans and disability insurance. Benefits add value to the returns an employee receives for their contributions to an organization. Benefits are an addition to an employee’s payment. Benefits can be both intangible and tangible, benefits such health insurance, vacation, stock ownership plans, leave, and contributions to retirement plans are tangible. However, having a well-furnished and conducive office, getting appreciations from the boss, and receiving a promotion can be considered to be intangible benefits. Profit sharing or stock options are also considered as compensation in some instances. These types of compensations are usually provided in the form of executive compensation. Executive compensation is compensation...
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...Professional Experience Situation Executive managers such as a CEO may be more interested in maximizing their own wealth that the company’s stockholders wealth and as a result pay themselves excessive salaries (Brigham & Houston, 2013). Excessive and hefty incentive compensation practices may be one of the key contributing factors to the global financial crisis and the healthcare industry is not immune to this type of corporate exploitation. Hospitals across the region are cutting staff, patients may not be provided with the best care and/or medical equipment necessary for treatment, elected officials are considering slashing Medicaid and Medicare funding, and medical bills are driving an increasing number of people into bankruptcy. But the six- to seven-digit compensation packages for the chief executive officers who lead taxpayer-subsidized hospitals remain untouched and in most cases are growing. As such the case with a local non-profit community hospital that I practiced critical care nursing in which the CEO made more than $1 million in bonuses in addition to his salary while the hospital laid off nurses, closed down nursing units, and continued to use outdated and poorly functioning medical equipment. Financial practitioners and scholars emphasize the crucial role that executive compensation plays in encouraging executive managers to focus on the company’s mission and financial objectives (Brigham & Houston, 2013). Hospital executive salaries are growing at about...
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...Assignment No: 01 University of Dhaka Module: Principles of Management (4204) Question-1: Identify Taylor's four principles of scientific management. Answer: The Four Principles of Scientific Management is a monograph (A specialist work of writing on a single subject or an aspect of a subject, usually by a single author) published by Frederick Winslow Taylor in 1911. This influential monograph, which laid out the principles of scientific management, is a seminal text of modern organization and decision theory and has motivated administrators and students of managerial technique. Taylor was an American manufacturing manager, mechanical engineer, and then a management consultant in his later years. He is often called "The Father of Scientific Management". His approach is also often referred to as Taylor's Four Principles, or Taylorism. Taylor argued that the principal object of management should be to secure the maximum prosperity for the employer, coupled with the maximum prosperity for each employee. He argued that the most important object of both the employee and the management should be the training and development of each individual in the establishment, so that he can do the highest class of work for which his natural abilities fit him. Taylor demonstrated that maximum prosperity can exist only as the result of maximum productivity, both for the shop and individual, and rebuked the idea that the fundamental interests of employees...
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...avoided, but it can be alleviated according to Franco Gandolfi (HR strategies…, 2008).The difficult decision management often makes involves laying off hardworking employees who look forward to working for an organization that cares for its employees. On a good note, Gandolfi (2008) states that there are several cost-reduction stages short-range, mid-range, and long-range phases incorporated with contemporary Human Resource (HR) practices that can help businesses defer, minimize, or avoid any activities that involve downsizing (p. 52). With that in mind, one short-run option available to managers in lieu of firing employees encompasses mandatory vacation; unfortunately, employees will not like that option; but organizations have to do what is best for business. Mandatory vacation requires employees to utilize their accrued vacation days paid or unpaid; most, if not all employees will not want to be told that they have to utilize those days without pay (Gandolfi, 2008,...
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...The Reluctant Workers Ros’Mika D. Harris Lisa Hilton Business 375: Project Management 07/19/2012 Identify and analyze three of the core skills that were at play in the case of the reluctant workers, referencing the ten skills described in Chapter 4. The three skills that were lacking in the case study were team building skills, leadership skills, and administrative skills. The first skill team building focuses on “effective communications, sincere interest in the professional growth of team members, and the commitment to the project” (Kerzner, 2009, pg 149). In the case study the workers did not perform as a team they did what they wanted, how they wanted, without regard to the others on the team or the project manger and the project. The workers did not respect Tim Aston as the project manager and were set in their ways according to Phil Davies the director. Phil was not much help stating that in the project environment the workers think they are more important than the project and that is the way it is in a project organizational form. (Kerzner, 2009, pg. 294) In order to build a team there needs to be a great support system from the top down to the workers. Phil was very passive aggressive by acting like the workers were right and the project manner was wrong, this shows that there was not support from the top. Tim came to Phil for advice and all he received were excuses as to why the workers work ethic was lacking. The second skill that is...
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