...The Reluctant Worker The Reluctant Worker Case Study Melanie Jackson Michael Clark Project Management 375 July 29, 2012 The Reluctant Workers One of the most important but often least understood characteristics of good project managers is the ability to know their own strengths and weaknesses and those of their employees (Kerzner, 2009, p. 148). In the Reluctant Workers case study there were three core skills directly related to proficiency in effective program management at play: Team Building, Conflict Resolution and Leadership skills. This paper will discuss these three core skills along with an analysis of the way the young project manager exercised his effectiveness skills. It will also analyze the degree of support the company provided the project manager and to what extent he received it. Lastly, in order for both the senior executive and the project manager to become effective leaders recommendations will be made relative to personnel and resource allocation. Team Building One of the hardest things for a Project Manager to learn is how to build a team. Project Managers plays several roles, which includes an array of responsibilities such as team management, conflict resolution, coaching, mentoring, scheduling, planning, interviewing, and training. Tim Aston, a newly hired Project Manager arrived on the job excited about his new position. Tim wanted to prove that he was the best project manager this company had ever hired. After Tim was...
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...xxx-Business Class Professor Name Withheld Saturday, May x, 20xx Case Study Analysis: The Reluctant Workers Tim Aston, a young Project Manager only three months into the company, is experiencing difficulty with the operation of his project. The case study is a dialog between Tim and his director, Phil Davies, concerning the advancement of the project. The analysis is on three of the ten effective program management skills and the improvements that should be made for the project to succeed. The three skills identified and analyzed are team building, leadership, and management support, based on my interpretation of the case study. I also have recommendations for both the project manager and the director of project management that will improve environment for the project, and the relationship between the project manager and his staff, and between the project manager and the director of project management. Team Building Team building is described as one of the main responsibilities of the program manager.. "Team building involves a whole spectrum of management skills required to identify, commit, and integrate the various task groups from the traditional functional organization into a single program management system. To be effective, the program manager must provide an atmosphere conducive to teamwork." (Kerzner, 2009, p 148-149) The characteristics for effective team building are choosing committed workers, having a good relationship with the team, the expertise and resources...
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...The Reluctant Workers Essay BUS/375 April 29, 2012 Managing projects within time, cost, and performance is easier said than done. The project manager’s environment can be extremely brutal and is composed of numerous meetings, reports, conflict resolution, planning, communication, and crisis management. This essay will briefly discuss the case study of the reluctant workers and cover the core skills that were in play with the scenario, along with an analysis of skills and the effectiveness of the project manager’s skills. Additionally, this essay will discuss what kind of support the project manager received and any recommendations for the project manager and his executives. Analysis of Core Skills, Execution, and Effectiveness After analyzing the scenario, the author found some inconsistencies of the way the project manager was handling his team first, one of the responsibilities of a project manager is using his or hers team-building skills. Team-building entails a whole range of management skills required to identify, commit, and integrate the various task groups from the traditional functional organization into a single program management system. He or she must have good interpersonal relations, expertise and resources, good program leadership, open communications, clearly defined goals and objectives, and team members who are committed to the program (Kezner, 2009, p. 149). Motivation is a personal choice and Mr. Aston should understand that he cannot...
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...harlotry would admit a decline in violence against women in the sex industry. “Prostitutes who experience violence may be reluctant to call the cops since what they're doing is illegal. Sex workers in licensed brothels, on the other hand, can have somebody to back them up, according to a paper by Barbara Brents and Kathryn Hausbeck of the University of Nevada. Brents and Hausbeck interviewed brothel owners and made these observations… The study concluded that "brothels offer the safest environment available for women to sell consensual sex acts for money (Fuchs)”. Sex workers now are prone to not call police during an emergency, due to the fact that there could be serious consequences even for the victim. However, if legal,...
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...Case Study: Lesotho Appeal Industry Fight AIDS Anne Menlove, Hugo Vera, Hannah Nielsen, & Moriah Martin Grand Canyon University: HLT 411 May 29, 2016 Lesotho is a small country in the Southern tip of Africa that has been burden by an epidemic of HIV. It is estimated that 22 percent of the population is infected, being 270,000 people in the country but only one-quarter of those infected has received antiretroviral treatment (ART) (Gilden, 2009). There is an apparel company, Precious garments, that has taken on the fight against AIDS by starting the Apparel Lesotho Alliance to Fight AIDS (ALAFA). ALAFA goals as an organization are to determine social and economic factors of the population with HIV, develop a peer education model, and find the cost-effectiveness (Gilden, 2009). Roles and Importance The overall role that ALAFA has to help to fight against HIV/AIDS by giving help to HIV positive Basotho women that work in the apparel and textile industry. The organization provides information on prevention, testing and treatment (antiretroviral therapy) services in factory based clinics (Gilden, 2009). The issue of HIV/AIDS is important to ALAFA because not only do they want to create a healthier and more stable work environment, but they also want to change the lives of the apparel workers and provide the necessary care that they need (Gilden, 2009). Social and Economic Factors The Apparel Lesotho Alliance to Fight AIDS launch did encounter some social and economic...
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...Objectives: ➢ Students will learn key Human Resource practices as recruitment, selection, training, compensation, performance appraisals and laws that constrain these practices. ➢ Students will come to understand how these practices can be successfully developed and implemented in the context of today’s environment. ➢ Students will develop an understanding of HR importance to an organization and learn about the manager’s role in the HR process Course Requirements: 1. Please come to class prepared to discuss the chapter readings and present a thorough written brief on the assigned cases. Each case must be at least 1 full page in length (12“font). Case studies must be submitted at the beginning of each class. E-mail copies will not be accepted. These cases will be checked for content, grammar, use of examples and must answer the questions associated with each case. Strong emphasis in grading will be placed on individuality and originality. Questions concerning these papers may be presented to the instructor at any time. 2. Final Exam: Students are expected to choose a topic from the fourteen (14) that are listed in the syllabus. Each paper should be at least 10 pages in length and should follow the APA Style of writing (please see the attached examples). To avoid plagiarism, all papers should include in-text citations as well as a reference page. There are no limits to the number of citations used. Students must prepare a PowerPoint for the final presentation...
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...ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR-I An Analysis Of The case study on “Julia Stasch’s Dilemma” INTRODUCTION: The case revolves around Julia Stasch who from being a teacher went on to join Stein and Company. Stein & Company is a real estate company providing complete array of real estate services. Stasch work here could be called as Change Agent in the industry. Her efforts in introducing affirmative action as well encouraging women and minorities to be part of real estate industry improved their conditions. However because of the mentality of being a male dominated industry in construction projects, she was facing problems of introducing and encouraging women workforce in construction industry The Case study concludes as to what Julia Stasch should do to overcome her dilemma, introduce changes and also be able to obtain the bid Metcalfe Federal building to advance the cause. OUTLINE OF THE CASE: Stein & company, founded by Richard A Stein which started as a small venture handling rehabilitation of townhouses evolved into a successful enterprise responsible for over a billion worth of commercial properties in Chicago . Julia Stasch, a socially conscious high school teacher, joined Stein and Company as a secretary to Richard Stein but rose to the status of president and chief operating officer within 15 years. Julia Stasch’s first real opportunity to address minority and women’s issues in construction began in 1984 when Stein and Company was asked by the city of Chicago...
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...PEPPERCORN DINNING CASESTUDY I. DIAGNOSIS From studying the whole case, looks like issues are primarily concentrated on group level. INPUT: Organization design is clearly the major input to group design. It consists of the design components characterizing the larger organization within which the group is embedded. Below is the mission statement and All-American dining organization’s goals and polices, which are the fundamentals of peppercorn dining. Though All American Dining encourage participatory decentralized management style, it seem like organization is highly centralized. However worker at unit level are interested in making their own decision. It also looks like there seems to be a lack of communication between management and line employees. It seems that there is general belief among line workers that the management of All-American Dining, as well as the management at Peppercorn doesn’t really care about them. Workers felt that no one cares about them , while there used to be time when personal director used to visit peppercorn dinning once a month as per All-American dinning policies and at that time workers used to feel that someone cared about them and appreciate their work. All the small groups at peppercorn felt that communication is major problem and management are not paying attention to their needs. Groups felt that things didn’t get done quickly specially problem related with repairs and maintenance because there is so much paperwork involved and...
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...question is hardly trivial. Whether a company is growing to take advantage of a new market opportunity, restructuring to remain competitive or simply trying to cope with attrition resulting from retirements and turnover, one thing is certain — more and more employees are newcomers to work groups, departments or organizations. In today’s volatile economy, more than 25% of all workers in the United States have been with their company less than a year and more than 33% less than two years. Americans will, on average, change jobs 10 times between the ages of 18 and 37.1 And, of course, new employees are only part of the challenge — the constant state of internal restructuring in most organizations continually pushes managers to assimilate waves of employees suddenly transferred into new work roles and relationships. The Challenges The first and most obvious challenge with newcomers is jumpstarting their productivity. Initially, newcomers are typically a net drain on productivity, drawing a salary, incurring training and orientation expenses, and consuming co-workers’ time without providing much in return. A recent study by Mellon Financial Corp. found that lost productivity resulting from the learning curve for new hires and transfers was between 1% and 2.5% of total revenues. On average, the time for new hires to achieve full productivity ranged from eight weeks for clerical jobs to 20 weeks for professionals to more than 26 weeks for executives.2 In the past, managers were often content...
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...The article “Defending the one percent” by N. Gregory Mankiw (Journal of Economics Perspective-volume 3, number 27-Summer 2013-Pages 21-34) is an attempt to analyze some reasons for not having an equal distribution of income, regarding special attention to the one percent of the people with the highest income. This issue has been debated for decades and has kept the attention of many economists. Since this disparity leads to inequality, the role the Government has been subject of analysis in order to stablish the level of involvement and the mechanism to solve the problem via taxation. The paper starts pointing out an example of disruption of a utopic economy where a new entrepreneurial idea has come up. In this case, everyone wants the new product, but there is only one provider; therefore, the demand exceeds the supply and the entrepreneur ended up being richer that the others. This unequal redistribution of well-being started as a voluntary exchange, so there are two questions the author brings up, related to contribution of the entrepreneurial to the alteration of the public policy and whether or not this policy should remain unchanged. This is a reflection of what has been happening in the United States where the income has grown, but not in a uniform way across the income distribution, which leads to the question for policymakers to make taxation more progressive. The second issue in the paper is related to inefficiency as a result of inequality. Taking as example the...
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...Jainab K. Anawari Mynna Marie M. Barrientos Roxanne A. Berhay Michelle Anne W.S. Pamaran Kier Luanne T. Sudiacal PEPSI GROWS POTATOES Case Analysis I. Problem Statement: -What should Pepsi do to ensure the supply of quality of potatoes in the production of its chips given its growing demand? II. Objectives The main objective is to make the company less susceptible to supply fluctuations given the growing demand of potatoes in the market. In order to achieve this goal, the company must also look into some other objectives: a. Pepsi must explore ways to ensure a supply that can meet the growing demand of potatoes for the production of its chips, b. Pepsi must effectively and efficiently maximize its limited resources (growing a potato farm, and involving local farmers) III. Areas of Consideration In this case study, there are certain factors that need to be considered. First, the Chinese government had banned the import of potatoes and potato seeds so they cannot rely on the same suppliers they had in the US. Second, the potatoes bought at the local market were of poor quality and did not meet Lay’s standard. Third, as a US company, PepsiCo does not have a good knowledge about Chinese culture and natural environment in China thus brought about the need to employ local workers. Chinese farmers were reluctant to invest and become Pepsi’s supplier because hold-up risk is high due to thin market for high quality potatoes in China. By having a potato...
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...Performance Analysis Brittannie DePew Bus 303 Ricci Rizzo 10/6/2014 Performance Analysis Annually or bi-annual every employee has experience with reviews the show performance through the time of work one may be employed. Performance appraisals are assessment tools that have proven to have advantages to the effectiveness of the work place. The performance appraisal process can be referred to as terms that provoke and propel strong responses; opinions, judgment, and sentiments are expressed in contextual format (Kumar 2005). Scholars have regarded performance appraisals as a strategic and integral part of an organization (Longenecker and Goff 1992). Typically those who administer the performance appraisals are human resource managers/professionals or managers. A tool used in the appraisal process needs to be standardized, reliable, valid, and appropriate for the position; making sure this tool meets all these qualifications is a mere part of the process of administering the appraisal process. Success in a business can be dependent upon an employer’s ability to be proactive with their employees. “Research shows that managers with poor communication or interpersonal skills are often the downfall of a company's otherwise sound performance management program (“Setting up a performance management system”, 1999). Strong communication skills provide comfort and the ability to provide feedback with empathy and remain professional; which are considered very important when communicating...
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...Administration, East West University 43 Mohakhali, Dhaka 1212, Bangladesh Tel: 88-017-4427-0243 E-mail: mars@ewubd.edu Rumana Afroze (Lecturer) Department of Business Administration, East West University 43 Mohakhali, Dhaka 1212, Bangladesh Tel: 880-181-888-3767 Received: July 2, 2011 doi:10.5539/ijbm.v7n3p206 Abstract The RMG sector of Bangladesh has experienced disputes and violent protest by the workers in recent times. This study explores the reasons for recent unrest in the garment sector. Since managers are mainly responsible for applying human resource practices, this paper has given particular attention to their views on recent attitude changes of workers. Results show that mutual understanding among workers and managers is absent in the RMG sector. This study also states that high-work load, poor behaviour of line managers, low skills and low wage rates are the notable reasons for high job turnover and social unrest. Poor relationship between workers and supervisors is the main source of conflict. This study finds that there is growing demand for work life balance among the workers of RMG sector. Keywords: Bangladesh, Readymade garment sector, Labour management, Labour dispute, HRM 1. Introduction In the age of knowledge economy and changing business environment, achieving competitive advantages and superior employee performance require proper Human Resource Management (HRM) (Becker & Huselid...
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...Title: Analysis of the case study The Treasure Trove of the Aging Workforce. Roman Rodriguez South New Hampshire University Abstract: Based on the case study “the Treasure Trove of the aging workforce, I am going to discuss and analyze some of the benefits and challenges associated to the aging population within a company. I am also going to discuss the policies that could be put in place, their inherent challenges especially for managers who are willing to manage properly the diversity in their groups and put in place an effective program to address it. Introduction: As the population ages, new challenges arise in the employment relationship and the interaction with managers. Diversity within an organization can bring a lot of advantages but also some specific challenges that could be addressed by several actions that could eliminate inherent problems. We will discuss first some of the most difficult challenges and then will review some policies that could be put in place in order to ensure an effective diversity program. In addition to this, we will discuss some actions that have been envisioned. Finally we will review the positive aspect that bring a diverse workforce. Subheadings There are two major forms of workforce diversity which are individual differences and ethnicity. It is key to analyze and comprehend all the individual differences in order to pro-actively address some of the challenges that you may find in a diverse workforce. Some of individual differences...
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...Introduction Emphasis on human capital is a recent development. For a long time, concern has been placed on other factors of production. It was not until recently that attention shifted to Human capital which has led to a massive wave of investment in human capital development. Human capital development is the term used in referring to factors such as education, health, and other variables that can raise productivity. It refers to the ability to perform work so as to produce economic value. To a large extent this a function of the skills and knowledge workers acquired through education and experience. When viewed from a macro perspective, Human capital represents the human factor in an organization and this consists of the combined intelligence, skills and expertise of workers that gives the organization its distinctive character. It consists of those elements of the organization that are capable of learning, changing, innovating and providing the creative thrust which if properly motivated can ensure the long-term survival of an organization. Increasing attention is being given to Human capital due to globalization and its attendant saturation of the labour market. Concern about the issue has been being compounded by the recent downturn in the various economies of the world. This has led Organisations to appreciate the need to leverage on the workforce for competitive advantage in order to thrive and keep ahead of the competition. One major way of doing this is...
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