...The company's attorney has informed me that our toy company is facing a discriminatory case filed by a former employee because of the release of the new work schedule. He believes his religious rights were violated when he was asked to work on his religious holy day to accommodate the company’s growth. We will need to consider how our company will respond to this case. To give you more insight about this case the original work schedule for production employees was 8a-5p Monday to Friday. Since the company’s growth the new work shift requires production employees to work 12hr shifts with four days at work and then four days off. In this situation the employee felt that his religious rights were violated when his shift schedule changed to where he could possibly work on his religious holy day. He felt there was no other option but to resign as a result of the new schedule. Constructive discharge is when an employees quits the company because the employee feels the work environment is so unbearable there is no other option but to resign and this clearly linked in this discriminatory case (Encyclopedia of Small Business, 2007. According to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, it prohibits employees from basing employment decision on a person’s race, color, religion, sex or origin. The employment decisions include compensation terms, conditions or privilege of employment (Gomez-Meija, Balkin, & Cardy, 2010). The employee felt that working on his religious holy...
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...Memo Date:22 September 2014 To:Chief Executive Officer From:Robert Willison Subject:Constructive Discharge Background: A former employee has filed a complaint against the company, claiming a violation of the 1964 Civil Rights Act for constructive discharge. Findings: A. How is constructive discharge relevant to this case? The former employee is claiming constructive discharge as a result of the shift change recently implemented. The shift change to 4 12-hour shifts was perceived by the former employee as discrimination as some of the work days may fall on religious holy days. Constructive discharge is one of the discriminatory practices wherein an employee is forced to resign because of perceived intolerable work environment and courts generally agree to the employee if they determine that a reasonable person would also feel the same way if given the employee’s position (Dempsey, & Petsche, 2006). B. Relevant areas under Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. According to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)“religious discrimination involves treating a person (an applicant or employee) unfavorably because of his or her religious beliefs. The law protects not only people who belong to traditional, organized religions, such as Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, and Judaism, but also others who have sincerely held religious, ethical or moral beliefs.” “Religious discrimination can also involve treating someone differently because...
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...Memo from Executive Team To: Chief Executive Officer From: Chief Marketing Officer, Chief Financial Officer, Chief Human Capital Officer, Chief Operations Officer Subject: Potential Acquisition The executive team is equally concerned with the high salary and wages of the employees at the Italy hotel properties. It is possible to try to increase the rates of the guest rooms at these locations. If the rates of the guests are to be increased than we need to justify the increase. Several ways that would help is to evaluate other local hotels, the quality of the amenities, assess the condition of the guest rooms, and keeping the hotel competitive. In order to increase revenue, we would need to compare the rates of other areas hotels. Once we research the competitors' rates, then we must compare it to the hotel's current price structure. In addition, we should complete an assessment of the guest rooms of the hotel. This will include an evaluation of the quality of the amenities the rooms provide, such as: bedding, towels, flooring, window treatments, appliances, furnishings, and fixtures. The results of the assessment will help in determining whether or not these accommodations will support an increase in the rates of the rooms. Along with review the guest rooms, we also should examine the hotel site, as well as assess the customer base. It is important to determine whether the market is commercial or tourist. The commercial market serves the business and transient...
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...Memo Review Shyla M. BCOM/230 July 7, 2014 Memo Review In today’s corporate world, forms of communication range from extremely casual conversations and instant messages to complex presentations and detailed letters. The primary determining factor for which form of communication to use is the audience to which the information will be received as well as the relationship between audience and author. In this paper we will review a University of Phoenix provided accounting memo written from an accountant to the company’s CEO, analyze what information should be included in the memo versus what should be removed; consider if the use of accounting specific jargon is appropriate based on the audience; the CEO; and finally explore what possible repercussion can happen if the memo is not suitable for the targeted audience. In the initial review of the memo, the first error that immediately jumps out is the heading and salutation lines. Both use the acronym “CEO” instead of using the person’s first and last name; which is the more professionally acceptable approach. The CEO may interpret this as either a lack of attention to detail or that the information is generic and not specific to level of authority. Next, the entire memo reads extremely choppy and does not give the reader much lead-in information about why the author has sent the memo to begin with. Since the communication is going directly to the CEO, the introductory paragraph should be clear, concise...
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...use the critical questions. This assignment, which focused on the PDQ Memorandum (Mark Headlee, personal communication, October 1, 2011), was an interesting discussion to use for the critical thinking process. Initially, when I thought about critical thinking as a task, my mind immediately focused on a problem and a solution. It most often times in my experience has been a lengthy discussion which resulted in numerous steps in the process. The model used by Browne and Keeley, is a different approach than what I was familiar with, however, it was quite unique when applying it to the PDQ CEO compensation evaluation. The PDQ scenario was very unique, because there was some background information provided which helped to frame the case of the writer. Without knowing the background information and why the task was being assigned, it would have been difficult to ascertain why the memo was written and also why the critical thinking exercise was even...
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...on our Learning Team. The first communication in our report was the Accounting Peer Memo. The memo did convey the intended message that JJJ was not a good investment for the company. The message could of contained more language that accountants use, as this is a communication from an accountant to other accountants. This type of communication was the most appropriate because any other form would not have as effective, for example an email would not have appropriate enough to convey the message professionally enough. The one thing that I would change to improve this communication would be to add an indentation at the beginning of every paragraph to make the look more professionally written. There were no ethical implications in this memo, because it was written by the head of the accounting department to the accountants in the department all were privy to the information. The memo shared right amount of information because it is the Accounting that did the audit and therefore they have access to all information concerning this deal. As the author of the second memo it is hard not to be biased. After reading the memo along the others I now see the flaws in my work. The memo appeared to be put together in a way to convey the intended...
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...TO: Accountancy Project Discovery Students FROM: Communications Specialists DATE: Fall 2000 SUBJECT: How to Write a Successful Memo This memo's purpose is to explain how to write a memo that successfully conveys a message accurately, concisely, and coherently. Memos are the major form of internal communication in most organizations, so it is vital that business writers understand how to draft these important documents effectively. This memo will cover the correct memo format first. Then, it will discuss clarity and conciseness, consistency and numbers, passive voice, parallelism, sexist writing, agreement, comma usage and hyphen usage. USING CORRECT MEMO FORMAT Unlike conversations, memos leave a "paper trail," so the company can use directives, inquiries, instructions, requests, recommendations, policies and other reports for future reference. Depending on their purpose, memos can range from a few lines to four or five pages. Shorter memos do not require formal introductory and concluding paragraphs. However, most memos assigned in this class will be at least one page long. Therefore, writers should include the appropriate introductions and conclusions. Every memo should have a header containing the word (prominently displayed) MEMO or MEMORANDUM followed by the organization's name. Writers usually draft memos on company letterhead. Following the header are four crucial pieces of information: TO: Name and title (the title serves as a record for reference) ...
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...at the right time and the communication requirements and expectations of stakeholders are properly managed (Cite p. 258). By writing and sending out the internal memorandum the CEO Richard Anderson displayed exceptional management communication skills, because the information was sent to the right stakeholders which were the employees of Delta Air lines, this communication or information was not meant for other stakeholders such as the customers of Delta or the employees of Northwest Airlines. This communication was also sent out at the right time, a day before the media got the news ensuring that the employees do not hear the news of the final merger agreement from an outside media source. The internal memorandum sent out within Delta Air lines gave the employees an idea of the change going on in the company and how they would be affected. In communicating change, the reasons for the change, and the benefits of the change should be stated. These areas were all communicated through the internal memorandum. Reading the internal memorandum one can see that the voice of the memo tries to connect with the readers. The style, tone, voice, and word choices Delta CEO Richard Anderson used in the memo effectively communicated the change. The memo listed out what has been changed hierarchically, who the new CEO and CFO would be due to the merger of both Delta and Northwest Airlines and what has been changed, talking about the physical office location, and also how this change would benefit...
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...send communiqués to four audiences based on the purpose of the communiqué and the receiving audience while projecting the senders leadership style; for the following I will be evaluating the four communiqués my team submitted. In the communiqué sent to the CEO of Riordan Manufacturing, John, the accounting manager, was to advise the CEO of the financial instability of JJJ Company and recommend not moving forward with the acquisition. For this communiqué our team collectively agreed that a formal memo would be the best communication for the audience and purpose, I stand by this decision. The memo was a more formal approach as it was intended for the CEO, which showcased his leadership style more direct and to the point. The structure and layout of the memo was assembled with less of a personal feel as is seen common in e-mails or text to a coworker. The information conveyed in the memo was factual pertaining to the purpose of the memo in regard to the financial instability of JJJ Company. I do not think this memo shared too much or too little information. There was no question of ethics present in the memo as it was examining the instability of the company and it was specifically sent to the CEO. Emails were chosen as the communiqués for the other three audiences. Emails are shorter reports that, “should enable the reader to easily focus on the content as well as easily retrieve it," (Leisker & Flatley, 2008,...
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...Letter/Memo Item 3 Memo from Paula Sprague, Executive Assistance to Roger Steiner, to Chris Perillo, Personal information about people. Item 7 Voice Mail from Jim Bishop of United Hospitals to Michael Grant, concern about the employee. Item 13 E-Mail from Jose Martinez, Group 1 Technical staff to Michael Grant, explanation. E-mail Item 5 Memo from Paula Sprague to Chris Perillo, about free employees to do the work. Item 6 Memo from Harry Withers, Group 6 Technical Staff, to Michael Grant, about problems in teamwork. Item 14 E-Mail from John Small, Group 6 Manager to Chris Perillo finding a replacement. Item 15 E-Mail from Paula to Chris about contract in Kenya. Item 17 E-Mail from Sharon, report. Phone call Item 9 Voice Mail from Pat to Chris, congratulations. Item 10 Voice Mail from Bob Miller to Chris, about John’s joke that disturbed women. Item 11 Voice Mail from Lorraine Adams, Westside Hospital to Chris about the project that needs to move quickly. Item 16 E-Mail from Sharon Shapiro to Chris about sexual joke of John Small that need to be discussed during meeting. Meet with person Item 2 Memo from Hall Harris, Vice President of Community and Public Relations, to all managers, information that can benefit a competitor. Item 8 Voice Mail from Armand to Michael about problems with the Technical Services Phone Line. Item 12 Voice Mail from Roosevelt Moore to Chris about his problems. No response Item 1 Memo from Roger...
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...In this internal Cliffside Holding Company memo, Mr. Anil Ravaswami, Vice President of Human Resources of writes to Ms. Cynthia Castle, CEO to discuss the proposition of a leadership development program for junior insurance executives. Ms. Forsythe of Cliffside Holdings has proposed the new program and identified the total cost to be “$100,000.00 per year plus approximately the same amount for lost time on the job.” Mr. Ravaswami discusses the reasons he believes Cliffside Holding Company should not fund this new development program. The memo and rationale will be analyzed using the steps for Critical Thinking modeled in Asking the Right Questions by Brown and Keeley (2015). What are the issue and conclusion? The issue, or question being raised is apparent in the first sentence of the memo, “That we establish and fund a new leadership development program of our junior insurance executives.” Ravaswami writes that several of the senior leadership members at CHCM have not gone through such training and despite this, are all very “successful and effective without such programs” He goes on to point out that personality traits such as ambition, self confidence and intelligence were possessed by several known leaders throughout history show that leaders are not made, but born. The conclusion, as highlighted in the ‘Conclusion and Recommendations’ of the memo is “CHCM should not invest in the proposed initiative to send its junior executives for annual leadership training.” In...
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...successful business. When writing a business communication it is crucial that you know who the members of your audience are and communicate with the visible purpose. Effective communication achieves its objective to persuade, respond or gain information by considering the style, format, purpose, organization and by tailoring the communication style to meet the audience requirements. Purpose Learning Team A was given five different accounting scenarios with limited amount of information on the JJJ Company, Riordan Mfg, Ad hoc Committee, CEO and the employees. Each team member was assigned a role from the accounting scenario and instructed to write and effective communiqué based on that roles. The communiqués could be n the form of a formal memo, email, power point, and text message. The types of communiqués were based on the information, i.e., formal, informal, long report, short report format, email, power point presentation, or memo, etc. Then each team member had to evaluate the business communication written by the other members and determine its effectiveness by using the following questions as a guide. 1) How well did the communication convey the intended message? 2) Would another type of communication have been more appropriate? Why? 3) Is the communication at the appropriate level for the intended audience? 4) How did the leadership styles in the scenario affect the communication within the group? 5) What changes would you recommend to improve the communiqué...
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...Memo from CEO to Manager: Today at 11 o’clock there will be a total eclipse of the sun. This is when the sun disappears behind the moon for two minutes. As this is something that cannot be seen every day, time will be allowed for employees to view the eclipse in the parking lot. Staff should meet in the lot at ten to eleven, when I will deliver a short speech introducing the eclipse, and giving some background information. Safety goggles will be made available at a small cost. Memo from Manager to Department Head: Today at ten to eleven, all staff should meet in the car park. This will be followed by a total eclipse of the sun, which will appear for two minutes. For a moderate cost, this will be made safe with goggles. The CEO will deliver a short speech beforehand to give us all some information. This not something that can be seen everyday. Memo from Dept. Head to Floor Manager: The CEO will today deliver a short speech to make the sun disappear for two minutes in the form of an eclipse. This is something that cannot be seen every day, so staff will meet in the car park at ten or eleven. This will be safe, if you pay a moderate cost. Memo from Floor Manager to Supervisor: Ten or eleven staff are to go to the car park, where the CEO will eclipse the sun for two minutes. This doesn’t happen every day. It will be safe, and as usual it will cost you. Memo from Supervisor to Staff: Some staff will go to the car park today to see the CEO disappear. It is a pity, this...
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...managed a group of 15 software developers, but now he is assigned with a bigger and more prestigious position; the Vice Presidency of Operations for Health and Financial Services. Chris needs to review all the material in the in-basket, as well as the voice mail and e-mail and prioritize the response to each item. Perillo must make good decisions in a good time manner in order to gain confidence from the President and CEO and also all his new subordinates. Each decision will directly affect his career, so as the future of the organization. The case presents a realistic situation with tasks faced usually by practicing managers. ASSUMPTIONS AND LIMITATIONS Just by analyzing the memo#3 sent by Paula Sprague – Executive Assistant – a bigger assumption can be drawn. The memo shows how well the ‘top of the pyramid’ knows their employees. The list goes from personal to professional information. The CEO has information and knows what was left from Michael Grant. Perillo is being tested with his character having to deal with ethical issues, which is the case of memo#4, and also being tested with professionalism and time management. Perillo has time limitations for his tasks even though dates are not explicit in the case. In corporate world tasks are usually due ‘yesterday’. As a Vice President, If Perillo fails in not keeping up with time management; it can ruin the structure of the entire company. MAIN CONCERN Can Perillo handle the new position and be efficient in a time...
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...The value conflict that could present itself with regards to the PDQ memo, could be those individuals on the Board of Directors that agree with the salary of Mr. James. Some may argue that he is in fact worth every penny that he is paid and it is a salary well earned. Fallacies There were a number of fallacies identified by HR in the communication to the Board of Directors. The three fallacies were Mr. James’ personal wealth, the family relation to the PDQ founder and the negative attitude towards the town and other employees that were expressed by M. James. The mentioning of Mr. James own personal wealth was used to distract the Board from the issues at hand. The HR Department used an article published by two Wharton professors as a way to sway the argument. The memo notes that Mr. James is the only grandson of the PDQ founder and that he himself stands to inherit the company one day. This ties in closely with the personal wealth fallacy, in that Mr. James does not need this job because he is already quite wealthy, and will be even more so one day in the future. Finally, Mr. James exemplified a negative attitude towards the...
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