Category: Management

Introduction

A small plumbing supply company in Olean, New York, is concerned about doing right to the employees in terms of the benefits offered. However, it does not know what this statement means. This paper explores the concept of benefit management at the organization.

Finding out Employee Needs and Wants

The needs and wants for different employees may be based on differences in their performance levels. This claim underlines the significance of performance appraisal systems. The appraisal enables payments to be done according to the expected performance and competence level of employees (Crede, Chernyshenko, Bagraim, & Sully, 2011). Inflation statistics can also help in knowing what the employees need.

The overall effect of inflation is to increase the general costs of goods and services. It results in the reduction of an employees purchasing ability. This situation may lead to reduced motivation. Consequently, adjustment of employee benefits to restore their purchasing abilities is important. The only reliable sources of inflation levels are national statistics from a countrywide financial management organization such as the Central Bank. The salary and benefits package may also be statutory enhanced.

Employees in the US are classified as either exempt or non-exempt. The provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act, which is administered by the US Wages and Hour Division of the Department Of Labor, provides that all employees are non-exempt except when a proof is provided to prompt the treatment of an employee (Lambert & Vicki, 2012). All employees in the United States must be paid a salary that is at least the minimum of what is provided for as the minimal federal wage for every hour worked. They are also eligible for overtime pay that is equal to one and half times the wages for the normal working hours.

Effects of the Size of the Company

Paying according to the performance level requires the development of a strategy for comparing performance among different employees. Consequently, work measurement and study are important. Such systems are only appropriate where many people work for similar vocation units. The size of the plumbing company limits the collection of performance appraisal information. In some situations, only one employee may be working for a given work unit. Hence, comparing performance levels to help in establishing a standard time so that employees who perform above it receive higher benefits is problematic.

Flexible Benefit Program, Satisfaction, and Cost Reduction

Flexible benefits offer employees an opportunity to select packages, which meet their unique needs better. Employees are more satisfied in working for organizations that meet their needs as prescribed in Maslows hierarchy of needs. Therefore, a flexible benefits package has the impact of increasing workforce motivation, work commitment, and engagement. Flexible benefits encompass setting dollar at a maximum, say $3000 per year, and then requesting employees to select benefits within this range based on their needs. Hence, an organization can manage its costs more effectively while ensuring accurate budgeting for costs that are associated with the benefits in the future. Flexible benefits are tax exempt. This plan provides an opportunity for making substantive savings on taxes.

Reflection and Commentaries

My future goal is to build a profitable and highly performing organization. Consistent with the lectures, I enjoyed the mechanisms and practices that I can deploy to realize this goals through performance management approaches. However, I least enjoyed the fact that this plan involves various challenges, including working with people who are motivated in different thresholds by different approaches to work impetus and satisfaction. I recommend incorporating practical cases on the applicability of the concepts learned in theory in class settings.

Reference List

Crede, M., Chernyshenko, O., Bagraim, N., & Sully, M. (2011). Contextual performance and the job satisfactiondissatisfaction distinction: Examining artifacts and utility. Human Performance, 2(2), 246272.

Lambert, C., & Vicki M. (2012). The Top Three FLSA Violations and How to Avoid Them. Journal of Human Resource Management, 12(3), 306-313.

Executive Summary

This report addresses in detail all the factors that a company needs to analyze before deciding to start operations in another country. The report continues to elaborate upon the different types of structures that can be utilized and the logic behind each structure, for instance direct investment model or a parent-subsidiary model. Furthermore, the report also elaborates upon what is the multinational financial system, and how companies that operate in various international locations can benefit from it. Moreover, the important managerial issues that arise due to the global nature of the company are also discussed, for instance global cash management or repatriation regulations. Another important factor that is discussed in this report is the additional risk that the company takes when it goes global and how this risk can be minimized, for instance exchange rate risk and political risk. This report discusses the different available strategic options, and analyzes the viability of the alternatives through the use of financial and non-financial tools. The financial aspect of the analysis will entail the use of Net Present Value (NPV), while the non-financial analysis will look at the PESTEL analysis.

Introduction

The issue of investment appraisal is of major concern among all the financial managers. The essence of investment appraisal is to determine which of the competing needs is of benefit to the entity that is planning to invest (Pauline & Sidney, 2007, p. 108). A project or an investment is termed as financially viable if the amount of cash flows it generates offsets the costs incurred and provides a residual amount to the company as profit (Jayaratne & Philip, 1996, p. 233).

Although financial tools are used to appraise investments, there are other non-financial factors that are considered when planning on the investment (Demirgüç-Kunt & Vojislav, 1998, p. 203). A rise in globalization has given rise to international business and as such, individuals have engaged in cross-border business activities. Most of the modern day business entities have an aspect of international business either through selling or buying internationally (Daniels, 1997, p. 118).

Multinational Capital Budgeting

When a company intends to expand and invest in markets where it has not operated before, it has several critical decisions to make, and Capital Budgeting is one of the most important ones. The company has two basic options: it can operate through a subsidiary unit or run the operations by itself, and this decision has huge implications on the future operations of the company (Buckley 2000). The basic differences are in the tax calculations, allowance of remittances and exchange rates of the currencies of the two countries. Exchange rate fluctuations and the rate of inflation in the host country is also of critical importance in the decision making process. Following factors need to be analyzed while developing a multinational capital budget (Baker 1998):

1. Initial investment
2. Price and Consumer demand
3. Costs
4. Tax laws
5. Remitted Funds
6. Exchange Rates
7. Salvage value
8. Required rate of return

Multinational Financial System

For a firm that operates in a global market, with operations spanning over several financial regimes, the multinational financing system creates several opportunities, which can be classified as arbitrage. Following are the three main ways by which the company can benefit through the multinational financial system (Madura 1999):

Tax arbitrage

MNCs can shift their accounting profits from units in high tax brackets to units in low tax brackets, or from units in tax paying position to units which are in tax losses, thus substantial amounts of tax payments can be avoided.

Financial Market Arbitrage

MNCs can shift funds from one unit to another and in the process get round exchange controls, receive better risk-adjusted returns on surplus funds, and utilize formerly unavailable sources of capital.

Regulatory System Arbitrage

Under some government regulations the profitability of a company is to keep under a certain limit, MNCs can disguise their true profits by reallocating them to other units.

Use of International Financial Markets

When the operations of the company are in the international market, it also helps to use the international financial markets. It broadens the scope of the company, and provides additional opportunities by increasing the possible sources of funds (Wendy & Mayer 2003). It also makes the portfolio more diversified, thus decreasing the risk. International debt market, for instance, is huge in size and provides a great opportunity for funding new projects.

Repatriation of Profits

The second most important thing after making the profit is the repatriation of the profit (Solnik 2000). The purpose of going into other global markets is to make profit in those markets and bring an optimal amount back to the home country. The repatriation laws may vary largely between different countries. Therefore, before making any investment decision, the company should analyze in detail the regulations which rule the repatriation of profits.

International Tax Planning

When a company shifts from domestic operations to global level of operations, it presents a lot of opportunities and challenges, as well. One such case is the taxes that the company incurs. The company needs to plan its taxes in a very sophisticated manner. Shifting the profits and losses amongst different units of business, which are under different tax regulations, the company can save significant amounts of taxes (Pauline & Sidney 2007).

Management of Risk  Hedging

Expanding the business to other countries offers several opportunities, but it also exposes the company to previously irrelevant risk, for instance exchange rate risk or political risk etc (Walter & Smith 1999). The company thus needs to take precautionary measures to hedge itself against the risk. There are several alternatives available to the company, for instance to hedge against the exchange rate risk, the company can invest into options and futures, according to the forecasted fluctuations of the currencies. Furthermore, the purpose of risk management is to manage the risk and be ready in case crisis occurs, it can never be used to eliminate all risk. Therefore, while making the projections of future cash flows, the company should use risk-adjusted discounting rate. The company should also do sensitivity analysis and simulations to better understand their exposure to the risk.

Forecasting Future Exchange Rates

Forecasting the future exchange rates is of critical importance for the company, because eventually the company needs to convert the profits into their home country currency. Hedging is one way to minimize this risk, but the company still needs to make the projections. For this purpose the overall economic and political situations of the country need to be studied. The inflation rates, the rates of growth, the GDP all need to be studied in order to forecast the exchange rates. Much of the required date can be taken from IMF and World Bank resources.

After Tax Home Cash Flows

One of the prime concerns of the parent company is to calculate the after-tax cash flows the company would be able to bring back to the home country. This process involves certain steps. First of all, the operational unit generates a certain income in the host country, on which it has to pay the host country corporate tax rate. After that the unit itself has to retain a certain level of earnings to fund the operations of the company. After which the remaining profits are remitted by that unit, on which the host government puts a holding tax, and takes the required actions under the repatriation laws. The remaining amount is then converted into home country currency, which is the actual after-tax cash flow that the parent company gets.

Multinational Working Capital Management

In order to manage the Working Capital in a multinational setting, the companies need to manage the current assets and current liabilities, while also tackling with several other factors such as the political factors, the exchange rate issues, taxation and liquidity limitations. Overall, the company has two goals:

1. to minimize the funds tied up in the working capital,
2. arrange sufficient funds and liquidity for the running of global business.

Working capital has to be managed in an attempt to maximize the ROA and ROE, and it also has an effect on the performance and efficiency ratios (Baker 1998).

International Cash Management

International cash management refers to the efforts of the MNC to determine the amount of cash balances held throughout the units and its aim it to aid the cross-border movement of cash. MNC typically establish an international treasury to carry out these activities (Daniels 1997). It aims to release the cash that is unnecessarily tied up in the system. Cash netting is a very effective alternative in this matter, and also techniques such as wire transfer, cash pooling and electronic transfer are widely used to facilitate the cash management.

Assessment of the Political Risk

Assessing the political risk of a particular region is also very important for the parent company. Even if the market has good demand for the product, the prices are also very good, and the taxation laws are also favourable, a market with a high level of political risk can still prove to be a bad investment. An unstable political environment, for instance, can pose several threats to the company. A change in the government may result in formation of new regulations or tax laws, thus rendering a very lucrative market completely useless, and the huge initial investments can all be lost.

Analysis using Net Present value

Net present value is a capital investment appraisal method that takes in to consideration the time value of money. It gives the present value of the future cash flows of a project. The essence of the present values is that a dollar today is worth more than a similar dollar at a future date (Madura, 1999, p. 196). This method uses the cost of capital, the discounting factor, the duration of the project, and the financial values of the projects (Shaprio, 2000, p. 122). It is usually given as a percentage using the cost of capital, it is possible to determine the present value of the future cash flows of the project and hence establish whether the project is in real sense profitable or not (Buckley, 2000, p. 98).

When appraising investments using the net present value the limiting factor is the net present value of the project (Vance, 2003, p. 139). This is because the higher net present value results in value maximization of the enterprise and using the rules of rationality, investors would opt to invest in projects that will result in maximization of the value of the firms.

If there is only one project to be appraised, it is acceptable only if the NPV is more than zero. If an investments return does not provide an NPV that is more than 0, the investment in that particular project is usually rejected since the project is not financially viable.

Evaluating the investment using NPV

The figure calculated for the net present value of the investment is -696,315.78 (appendix). This means that the project is unable to fund its cost of investment and also the operational costs and yet make profit. The investment proposal by EMF Plc is therefore not financially viable and as such, the management of IMF Plc should reject the investment if the results of this appraisal technique are to go by.

The Assumptions made

While coming up with the figures for use in the Net Present Value, there are various assumptions that have been made. The first assumption is that the cash flow of ¬ 450,000.00 in the first year is the half the total cash flow of ¬ 900,000.00 from the total cash flow of the whole project. This is because of the fact that the Joint venture project is a 50:50 sharing ratio between EMF Plc and IMF Plc. The same case applies to the sharing of the operational costs.

The second assumption is that the cash inflows predicted will actually be the exact figures if the joint venture is implemented. This is normally not the case since it is usually impossible to predict with certainty what amount of cash can be earned at such periods. However, for calculation purposes the predicted cash flows are assumed to be true.

The non-financial appraisal methods (PESTEL)

The analysis of the PESTEL factors presents the internal and the external environments that the business operates in. This acronym stands for Political, Ecological, Social, Economic, and Legal factors. These are remote factors that the company does not have control over and as such the organization has to adjust so as to fit in the remote environment.

Political factors have to do with assessing the political conditions that affect the business environment. The formation of the joint venture however is not affected by the political situation in the country. This is primarily because the business was already running even before the joint venture proposal by EMF Plc. The Social factors have to do with the general perspective of the public about the business and its products. Again, for the simple reason that the business was already running before the joint venture and also the fact that the business specializes in offering financial services cushions it against dealing with the social factors in the country.

The legal factors deal with adhering to the rules and regulations that have been set by the government. The government provides the environment under which companies do business. The government therefore expects all these persons no matter what they are doing to adhere to the set rules and regulations.

The law enactments, therefore, provide a vital non-financial factor which ought to be considered carefully before accepting the joint venture proposal from EMF Plc.

Operational and strategic Challenges in re-domiciling to Monaco

Re-domiciling to Monaco is one of the intentions of the management. While Monaco is a fast growing haven for international business headquarters, there are several challenges that come along with shifting from France to Monaco.

First, re-domiciling to Monaco would mean investing a lot in non-current assets so as to fund the new company headquarters. This is because the government requires any company doing business in Monaco to have a physical premise within the country. (Walter & Smith, 1999, p. 146). The company will need to invest heavily in the noncurrent assets and this has the potentiality of affecting the liquidity position of the company.

The other operational challenge that the company has to deal with is working out tax. This country is never considered as a tax haven. A Monaco company that makes more than 25% of its annual sales in Monaco will be liable to pay over 33% in taxes, despite the fact that the company is fully incorporated in Monaco.

Overall, re-domiciling to Monaco has more disadvantages than advantages. It would expose the company to stricter regulations and higher taxes. It would decrease the level of profits, and increase the taxes imposed on those profits. Demand conditions in Monaco are suitable since the growth rate is high, but from an operations point of view, it is not a very ideal place.

Sources of Finance for the proposed expansion to Asia

During expansion programs, businesses incur along of expenses more so when moving into new markets where they have not been before (Shleifer & Vishny, 1992, p. 120). This necessitates a company to look for external sources of finance so that it could cater for these costs.

The essence of external financing goes beyond just the funding. External financing is also used as a risk management tool. The management of a multinational corporation can use external financing as a tool to spread risk. This happens where the capital structure of the company involves debt thus ensuring that the risk of failure is shared among different parties in the organization. In case of a loss, the pain incurred is not wholly borne by the share holders of the company but is also felt by the various other stakeholders.

The first source is the use of inter-company financing. This is where the company uses funds from the existing companies that have operations in other countries to fund the expansion (van Lelyveld & Knot, 2008, p. 189). The advantage of this is that it is a cheap source of financing.

The other source of financing for the company is through the use of Local currency financing where the company can borrow from the local banks so as to finance the operations (Eitemann & Stonehill, 1998, p. 253). This can be a very useful financing source more so for working capital (Solnik, 2000, p. 156).

Another possible source of financing is sourcing for loans from the various lending institutions. The importance of a loan is that a company can negotiate for a large sum of money and pledge some of the assets as collateral. The loan is usually a common source of finance for many companies. It should however be noted that loans are expensive to service since in most cases they attract high interests rates and as such, the company may incur huge interest expenses when repaying the loan which may in turn reduce the profit from the operations.

Conclusion

The running of a multinational business presents many challenges both in the operational and strategic activities of the corporation. However, with the right tools and effective management practices that includes risk management and effective employment of corporate governance principles, the company is able to man the operations well.

As such IMF Plc should objectively evaluate the available options in order to make the right decisions with regard to accepting the joint venture or not. It should also look at the various non financial factor that influence the choice of investment option so as to ensure that the decisions made are sound and to the best interests of the various stakeholders. Once the company puts all these factors into consideration, the decision on whether to divest or accept the joint venture will be an easy one. The strategic goal of expanding to Asia should also be objective appraised by the various investment appraisal methods; both financial and non financial as presented by this paper.

Based purely on the NPV the joint venture does not seem to be a profitable option.

Appendix 1

Calculation of the Net present value of the proposed investment in a joint venture with EMF Plc

References

Baker, J 1998, International Finance, 5th edn, Prentice Hall, New York.

Buckley, A 2000, Multinational Finance, 4th edn, Prentice Hall, New York.

Daniels, J 1997, International Business, 3rd edn, Addison-Wesley, London.

Demirgüç-Kunt, A & Vojislav, M 1998, Law, Finance and Firm Growth, Journal of Finance , vol 22, no. 3, pp. 2017-2037.

Eitemann, DK & Stonehill, AI 1998, Multinational Business Finance, 7th edn, Addison-Wesley., London.

Jayaratne, J & Philip, E 1996, The Finance-Growth Nexus: Evidence from Bank Branch Deregulation, Quarterly Journal of Economics, vol 13, no. 1, pp. 639-671.

Madura, J 1999, International Financial Management, 2nd edn, International Thomson, New Jersey.

Pauline, W & Sidney, J 2007, International Financial Analysis and Comparative Corporative Performance, Journal of International Financial Management and Accounting, vol 19, no. 5, pp. 111-130.

Shaprio, A 2000, Multinational Financial Management, 4th edn, Wiley & Sons, New York.

Shleifer, A & Vishny, R 1992, Liquidation values and debt capacity: A market equilibrium approach, The Journal of Finance, vol 12, no. 3, pp. 1343-1366.

Solnik, B 2000, International investments, London, 4th edn, Addison-Wesley, New York.

Taylor, F 1996, Mastering Derivatives Markets, 5th edn, FT-Pitman, Oxford.

van Lelyveld, I & Knot, K 2008, Do financial conglomerates create or destroy value? Evidence for the EU, Journal of Banking and Finance, vol 22, no. 2, pp. 2312-2321.

Vance, D 2003, Financial Analysis & Decision Making: Tools and Techniques to Solve Management Problems and Make Effective Business Decisions, 4th edn, McGraw Hill., New York.

Walter, I & Smith, R 1999, Global Capital Markets and Banking, 5th edn, McGraw-Hill, New York.

Wendy, C & Mayer, T 2003, Finance, Investment and Growth, Journal of Financial Economics, vol 17, no. 3, pp. 10-36.

Introduction

The print advertisement for this paper introduces the KIA Motor Companys new car Forte to its potential customers. The advert attracts and encourages the viewer to make the right decision towards purchasing this car. This advertisement is appealing to the consumer. The print advertisement is also interesting and good to every viewer. It explains why KIA Company has succeeded in its business objectives. This paper explores the unique aspects of this advertisement. This discussion examines certain issues such as message-theme, appeal, executional framework, taglines, and visual element.

Analyzing the Advertisement

The message-theme portrayed in this advert is the effectiveness of KIAs cars. The customer understands why this newly introduced car is the best solution to every driver who wants speed, power, and fuel efficiency. The audience gets the opportunity to know everything about this car. A Leverage Point (LP) is an essential tool in every advert. This tool compels the buyer to transform the message into a personal aspect or value (Advertising Design, 2014). The audience finds a new solution in this car because of its speed and power. The car is also fuel-efficient thus making it attractive and worth having. The viewers believe they will benefit from this product.

The other notable aspect is the advertisements appeal. The advert appeals to every customer who wants to benefit from the car. The advert focuses on the major appeals such as humor, rationality, fear, scarcity, and emotion (Shimp & Andrews, 2013, p. 57). The use of a tiger-like camel creates both fear and humor. This strategy makes the advert more persuasive and creates attention (Shimp & Andrews, 2013). The audience laughs and remembers the advert much easily. The practice also increases the number of possible buyers. The rational appeal used in the advertisement helps the viewer process the targeted message. The strategy informs and encourages the viewer to purchase this car.

The other notable attribute about the advertisement is the attributes-benefits-personal value. The value of the advert appears to motivate the values of the targeted customers. Many car owners are looking for elegant and fuel-efficient cars. The advert delivers this message to the audience. The viewer will be ready to purchase this reliable car from KIA Motors. This approach makes the advert extremely powerful. The strong visual elements of the advert make it easy to remember. The viewer stores the message and tagline of the advert in his or her brain. The positive attitude created about the advertisement encourages more viewers to buy this car. The advert portrays a dual-coded message that is easy to remember (Shimp & Andrews, 2013). The practice makes this advertisement meaningful to the customer.

The tagline in the advert also makes it powerful. The tagline Fast and Fuel Efficient summarizes everything about this car. The tagline encourages more viewers to embrace and purchase this car. The designer has also succeeded by presenting the best executional framework. The designer presents every aspect or feature of the advert in a competent manner. An appealing advertisement addresses the needs of every targeted customer (Advertising Design, 2014). The visual elements also inform the viewer about the benefits of the car. The advert encourages the buyer to choose this car because it provides the best solution.

Conclusion

The message-strategy for this advert is effective. The advertisement uses all attributes in order to inform, convince, and empower the viewer. The customer finds it hard to forget this advert because it combines humor, appeal, and verbal element to deliver the best information. The tagline supports the strength and effectiveness of this care from KIA Motors. The advert supports the companys promotional approach for this car. I personally believe this advert will make the marketing strategy for this new car effective.

References

Advertising Design: Theoretical Frameworks and Types of Appeals. (2014). Web.

Shimp, T., & Andrews, C. (2013). Advertising Promotion and Other Aspects of Integrated Marketing Communications. Cengage: Cengage Brain.

Introduction

Robbins, Bergman, Stagg, and Coulter, are reported to be among the best authors of the books covering organizational management practices; this paper will therefore critically take a look at the management book fourth edition written by the four authors. In essence this book actually focuses on the management concepts that are meant to be helpful to the managers while carrying out their business practices.

The authors in this book state that management in business is all about trying to solve business problems creatively. It is all about directing the employees in an organization so that the goals are met. This is where the resources available in an organization are manipulated. These resources include the natural resources, technological resources, financial resources, and the human resources. From the book we therefore find that there are various functions through which management operates. Planning as a function involves deciding the future occurrences or activities in an organization. This can include activities done in the week, month, year or more (Robbins, Bergman, Stagg, and Coulter, 2005).

The authors of this book note that organizing is all about using the available resources to accomplish the plans in the institution. Controlling is just monitoring the plans to ensure the plans are implemented. It involves feedbacks and modifications. Leading means being in the forefront and helping the employees achieve the desired results. In management there is the use of power given by the position in an institution. Leadership has to do with using power to influence the entire people in an organization to achieve the desired results.

Discussion

The book states that planning is the process of developing the companys mission and defining specific methods of accomplishing it which can either be on a broader or narrow perspective depending on the scope of the business. They note that planning comes in a number of ways since all sectors in any other business require some form of planning in order to stick to what has been planned. First, there is financial planning which entails the budgeting allocations for all the programs being undertaken within the company. Sponsorship is part of financial planning in that money is needed each year to cater for the teams and individual players being sponsored by companies.

It also includes the setting and monitoring the financial spending of the Company in view of auditing any misappropriation of funds. Provision of benefits, compensations and salaries are also taken care of at this stage. Another section of business organizations that need planning is the policy formulation section. This is critical in that as a profit making company, strategies must be placed correctly to counter marketing issues such as competition from companies which manufacture the same product e.g. In Nike Company, Reebok and Adidas production of counterfeit products w affects the companys reputation. (Rampton, 2003)

Local policy development, creation and implementation come hand in hand with policy planning. Human resource planning is crucial to achieving the best from employees. Planning its recruitment, hiring, evaluating, training and maintaining the calibre of the workers in any organization is important ensuring that skilled workers are employed in organizations

The authors also indicate the other process of planning as a business concept which is that of strategic planning which refers to the process of determining an organizational mission and basic objectives and defining the strategies which will govern in acquisition and utilization of resources to achieve these objectives and accomplish the mission. In order to enhance this approach much attention need to be directed to formulation of workable strategies. They further define a strategy as the calculated means by which the enterprise deploys its resources to accomplish its purpose and basic objectives under the most advantageous circumstances (Robbins, Bergman, Stagg, and Coulter, 2005).

They implied that a strategy defines the direction in which the organization intends to move and establish the framework of action through which it intends to get there. Strategy therefore provides a framework for guiding any business thinking and actions. The book indicates that strategic planning the organizations mission is defined, corporate objectives established, and strategies developed following a thorough process of environmental and situational analysis.

Strategic planning guides the organizations behaviour and set the directions of an organization and how this business enterprise can constantly adapt to its environment. Strategic planning ensures that there is a good fit between the firm or organization and its environment within which it interacts. A firm that fits well to its environment increases the chance of survival and prosperity as compared to that does not fit to its environment. It is therefore prudent for any firm to establish and maintain a positive relationship with its environment.

They claim operational planning which addresses the activities and resources required to implement set strategic plans. This approach is mainly dedicated to the allocation of resources, scheduling of actual working activities rather than selection and formulation of strategies as in the case of strategic planning. In essence this approach deals with implementation and execution of the organization chosen plan that involves putting organizations resources in to place and assigning responsibilities to individuals and organizations units for example strategic business units (SBUs). Under this approach the organization must ensure that the specific performance targets in all functional areas within the firm are attained without jeopardizing the survival and continued growth for the business.

The book states that the low level managers for example the supervisors have the responsibility of ensuring activities are carried out within a set specific time, using the required resources, and meeting the set targets without much difficulty. Short-term operational plans for small or elementary units of the organization such as individual departments and at times individual managers are implemented to ensure the success of the organization. Key functional strategies for example HR, marketing, financial strategies should be adhered to avoid any risk of losses associated with poor performance (Robbins, Bergman, Stagg, and Coulter, 2005).

The authors point out that certain variables that stress achievement of goals and centre on output are normally used to facilitate operational planning approach which may include, quality in production and efficiency in the work done. Under this case the management of any firm needs to improve on managerial activities by building people skills through friendly management and also motivation of employees.

They state that management also needs to put in place enough machinations to cope with the ever changing environment through continuous improvements of operations and continued update of knowledge and skills by the workers through training. Also the organization has to emphasize the importance of work groups in achieving results. The book also indicates that it is a challenge to the entire management to be effective in the activities and much need to be done including training of managers in order to cope with change that may be brought about by globalization (Hilltop, 1994)

The book also states organizing as another managerial concept which indicates how the internal structure of the company is set. It generally focuses on the division, coordination of activities and how tasks are controlled within the company. General company procedure demand good organization from the leaders and managers. In any organization the management is responsible for organizing the annual general meetings that brings together all the stakeholders on board. They also organize daily and monthly meetings within the specific affiliate factories when an issue arises. Proper organization of a meeting or how a project will be conducted results in a successful meeting.

The authors state that after planning, organizing is immediately carried out in any business organisation. This is where the available tasks are assigned to various people and departments in the organization. The resources available in the organization are then allocated to enable the accomplishment of the tasks. The book emphasizes that in organizing there is the division of labour and work specialization is carried out. At this stage systems in an organization are designed.

This enables employees to easily coordinate across departments. There is the delegation of duties such that each person knows what he or she is supposed to do. This increases accountability in any organization (Robbins, Bergman, Stagg, and Coulter, 2005).

Leadership is also described by the book as directing people to do specific duties by influencing their personal behaviour through incentives and motivation, teamwork, individual dynamics and discipline. According to the authors, the core purpose of leadership is to channel all the employees behaviour towards attaining the companys objectives. They further argue that leadership is thus essential in creating and maintaining a healthy organizational culture within any business organization. Leading does not necessarily come from that in power but from any individual who provides information and suggestions on the way forward. (Maundy, 2001)

The authors further reckons that decision making within organizations rests on the shoulders of the managers and leaders in the organizations who usually take risks whenever an issue that requires to be addressed arises. They further note that leading should aim at bringing change in any organization. It also involves giving inspiration to people. In leadership there is a lot of motivation that is carried out.

For instance they note that, in any job, there comes a time when one feels like giving up, the drive to work is not there and at such moments employees need to be motivated to work. Leading is therefore quite interpersonal in nature; it is not just the manager in an organization that is supposed to lead but it should even exist between employees. In brief according to the authors leadership is an aspect that has to do with mutual influence.

The authors note that controlling is simply following up on plans to ensure proper implementation; this according to their supposition means that planning and controlling are closely related. The authors further presume that in management activities within an organization controlling acts as the final link i.e. management cycle is never complete without controlling executed. (Hilltop, 1994)

They also indicate that under this function of controlling there is setting, communication and application of the performance standards of employees or people. When mechanisms to monitor employees activities are put in place and the corrective action applied then the control aspect can be termed as effective. The manager or the leader normally observes what is happening in the organization and compares with what was initially planned to happen. If what is happening is not as per what was supposed to happen then corrective action is taken such that those below standard required standard attain this standard.

They also point out that when there is delegation of activities by the manager to employees then the control facilitation is quite effective. He can then ascertain whether the ideas are being implemented or not. Timely feedback on what the employees are doing is important to the supervisor because he is always accountable on matters concerning performance of the employees. In this case, effective internal control in an organization is a fundamental responsibility of the organizations management. The resources should be used effectively and efficiently in achieving the results. The resources are used without mismanagement and with very little wastage to achieve the planned results (Robbins, Bergman, Stagg, and Coulter, 2005).

For instance total revenues and expenditures should be accounted for. Therefore the authors in this respect notes that control as a management tool should not be isolated in to exist alone. Rather it should be incorporated with auditing, budgeting and planning. Control is never effective if it doesnt give feedback to the organizations management. When controls are too many they may be ineffective. Control also helps organizations to comply with laws and regulations like meeting standards in quality. It ensures that financial reporting is reliable and helps operations be efficient. (Rampton, 2003)

Robbins, Bergman, Stagg, and Coulter notes that any organization is always faced with problems at some point and these problems usually require decisions to be carried out ethically. Situations usually arise which call for implementation of ethical standards and in this issue there is always universalism and relativism. There are different conceptions of rights that govern universalism. Ethical decision making should be done consistently by managers under universalism. In relativism, the local norms are considered in making the decisions ethically. Ethical decision making involves transparency in making the decisions. This is being transparent mostly to the people that are affected by the decision

The writers attempts to uncover several ethical considerations and they argue that in such attempts it is good to consider the effects of making the decision to be taken. What are the harmful effects? Managers should consider how they can avoid such effects. For decision making to be ethical, it has to be fair. This is in relation to everyone that is affected by it. Do they consider the decision made fair? So if the decision is transparent, fair and it has no harmful effect then it is quite ethical (Maundy, 2001).

Robbins, Bergman, Stagg, and Coulter further identifies the concept of business ethics which they define it as the norms or standards of behavior that guide moral choices about the conduct of the personnel in a business organization and the relationship with its publics. According to them the goal of business ethics is to ensure the safety of the employees, management, and the external publics from suffering the consequences from the business activities of the particular organization.

Robbins, Bergman, Stagg, and Coulter assert that business ethics along with social responsibility defines what the organization ought to do in the management of the business. According to authors, the social responsibility aspect of a business organization towards the society merits considerations in all the faces of strategic management, whereby the organization must exercise strategic planning through environmental and organizational appraisal in order to provide answers to what an organization might do and what it can do (Robbins, and Barnwell, 2006).

Further they presume that the span of business ethics is extensive and can be measured from different perspectives. In this case the organizations management should ensure that several ethical considerations must be balanced for the business to be successful in its operations and relations with its employees and the surroundings of its business, this includes;

They also make some attempts in explaining the importance of Corporate communication; which they define it as a process that is used to facilitate the exchange of information and knowledge of the enterprise with the individuals who have a direct relationship with the organization.

According to them; this practice is normally applied in the internal communications management as from the sharing of the knowledge to decision making with employees, suppliers, investors and the firms partners among other interested stakeholders. They argue that corporate communication is normally used to build the firms reputation among its stakeholders and effective communication system involves the following: change management, issue management, corporate social responsibility, crisis communication and internal relations (Maundy, 2001).

The authors note that the objectives of corporate communications is to inform and influence other people, promote policy change, raise funds, to monitor progress and to revise plans and to leave experience documented for the future of the firm. An enterprise needs a good internal communication system for it to build a consistent messages and analysis of its progress, to provide accurate and timely information to those who need it and to enable it develop an institutional memory and experience.

They also attempt to critically look at other culture which to them it means the environment surrounding an employee at work. This is meant to shape the relationship of an employee and his work in an organization. Robbins, Bergman, Stagg, and Coulter in their writings argues that the aspect of culture represents an employees personality that carries principles, attitude, fundamental interests, knowledge, and background that create a persons behavior.

They also note that Culture is particularly inclined by the organizations management team due to the roles in decision-making and strategic direction they impose in the organization. The manger should put in mind that culture is learned thus employees are capable of learning how to perform, employees value rewards that are not associated with behaviours since they have different needs, shared rewards from co-workers or have their most important needs met in their departments or project teams (Robbins, and Barnwell, 2006).

Conclusion

From the writings of Robbins, Bergman, Stagg, and Coulter we can deduce that any business organization has to have effective decision making processes that go along not only with basic management functions but also with effective strategies that fits present contemporary business world. Effective decision making is crucial to an organization and the authors note several underpinnings that are very important in order to achieve their objectives. Every organization needs to re-evaluate their performance in order to develop strategies that are compatible with existing challenges as well as opportunities.

The authors position therefore is clear that management is the procedure of getting things done by means of and through human resource personnel by directing and inspiring their hard work towards achieving universal goals. Further we can deduce that human resource in any organization is the most important asset since without them the management cannot attain the achieved goals since they are the one coordinating the activities of any particular organization (Maundy, 2001).

Reference

Hilltop, J. (1994): European Human Resource Management in Transition: Prentice Hall, New York.

Maundy, L. (2001): An Introduction to Human Resource Management: Theory and Practice: Macmillan, Palgrave.

Rampton, L. (2003): Human Resource Management. Melbourne press, New York.

Robbins, S., and Barnwell, N. (2006): Organisation Theory:  Concepts and cases: 5th Edition, NSW: Pearson Education Australia Pty Ltd.

Robbins, S., Bergman, R., Stagg, I., and Coulter, M. (2005): Management: 4th Edition. Sydney: Pearson Education Australia Pty Ltd.

Introduction

The supply chain is used in every type of business. And the supply chain is followed in all spears of a business. The term supply chain management has two parts  supply chain and management. Supply chain is the circle where the work of passing the raw material, work in progress and finished goods happened. Another most important thing is that the finance of a company also runs through this circle. Usually the following types of things are circled through a supply chain (Christopher, 1992):

1. Raw material
2. Work in progress (WIP) or half-finished goods finished goods and
3. Finance of a company

Definition of Supply chain management (SCM)

Supply chain management is some sort of flow of product or service or raw products (can be convertible into the consumer good) from one source to another. Here source can be a manufacture, service provider or maybe the final consumer. Some include information supply is in the criteria of SCM. SMC is a process of supply the materials, information and finances as they move in a process from supplier to manufacturer, to wholesaler to consumer (Renganathan, n.d.). It is a work of coordinating. A good chain of supply always makes the company profitable. As it does not save any excess material or good and always save as much as the company needed. And Beamon (1998) asserts that for this reason the company should not invest excess money for the reason. If there is no proper chain management the company should not understand where to invest and where not.

To show the chain supply management there is example shown on the next page. An example is the supply management of a warehouse (TU Delft TBM, n.d.a). The example showing that the raw material is supplied by the sources to the manufacturing plant, and the manufacturing plant pushes it to the warehouse, and the product being produced is distributed to the retailers of wholesalers. If the product belongs to the wholesalers then they supply it to the retailers and finally it is sold to the consumers. It is the flow of products from the source to the consumers. But there is another flow that happened to the chain. And the flow is financial flow. That works just opposite of it. Consumers purchase by cash it has been gathered by the retailers. And the chain began from last stapes and complete to the first point. These are the form of chain works in it.

Works of supply chain management

Works of supply chain management are also reflected in the definition of the supply chain management. Though works of supply chain management is briefly indicated by Joshi (2000) in following ways:

• Purchasing: The first work is to purchase product or raw material from the source of from the producer (like- farmer, collector of raw material )
• Supply to the next source: After further processing or if the purchaser is only seller then the goods or raw material should be supply to the next source.
• And after the proper processing when product is ready to sell then it should be sold to the final consumer and finance is collected.

The supply chain management has lot of dimensions. Most important work of supply chain management is to control the supply or material transferred from the previous source. We can group supply chain management in the following criteria (by controlling):

The supply procedure that can be controlled

Usually the supply chain is controllable in the internal dimension. The internal environment includes manufacturing, distribution or retail capacity. Improving performance in those areas has, to date, been the priority of most supply chain management initiatives (Dorf, (1992). The supply is controllable as proper account is maintained. For supply chain management the product design process, including market requirement analysis, manufacturability and the ease with which the product can be distributed throughout the supply chain. Companies can use concept to consumer approach and maintain the life cycle of the product to run everything properly.

Partial Control

Here the company does not have full control on the supply chain. But the company has an influencing power to the supply. As for that it can be called that the company has a partial control on the supply chain. Someone has also named it as customer dimension. And it is also said that here the administration has influencing power but does not have total control.

Dimension that cannot be controlled

On the external dimension a company does not have any control. Though it is told there is a very small control on the factors. As a result the external dimension has been a lower priority or absent from supply chain.

For example we can show a lot of supply is maintained by Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) technology in the automotive supply chain and radio frequency identification device (RFID) technology, which is emerging as a mandatory requirement in some consumer goods and retail supply chains.

The problem

The problem is mainly related to the internal control of supply. The recommendation of put off the problems by surveying some journals is given below.

Need a supervisor

Though there is no supervisor, the situation is not properly under control. Supervisors can save data of taking the supply or needed elements. And after one month observation the supervisor can tell actual or an around figure of supply needed. The supervisor should be under control of the board of control or under the proper administration. Data that are saved by the supervisor should be maintained in the following way:

Every type of item should be saved in the following way. Though it is a little bit costly but it can be fruitful for saving supply.

Proper research on quantity needed

There is no actual research for the quantity needed for regular use. The authority should arrange a research for calculating how much supply the medicine organization needed. And the ordering quantity will not be less able.

Access restricted

Access should be restricted by the administration. And no one can enter in to the rooms without permission of the clerks who are employed. And for two rooms there are two clerks who are already employed.

Overall review systems

Overall review systems and proper control should be taken to face the problems. And the control area should be properly maintained by the authority. A fruit full control can very easily maintain every trouble.

Work distribution and accountability for the related persons

Work is distributed according to the post and status. And also administration should show their accountability. And admin should make signal about their responsibility and accountability.

Conclusion

Control-able procedures can prevent all kinds of problems created by the employee. But actual steps should be made against the systematic troubles.

Then the supply chain management will be able to come in a successful position.

References

Beamon, B. M., (1998). Supply Chain Design an Analysis: Models and Methods, International Journal of Production Economics, Vol.55 No. 3, 1998, pp. 281-294.

Christopher, M., (1992). Logistics and Supply Chain Management. Strategies for reducing costs and improving services. London, FT Prentice Hall, 1992.

Dorf, R. C., (1992). Modern Control Systems. Addison-Wesley, 1992.

Joshi, Y., V., (2000). Information Visibility And Its Effect On Supply Chain Dynamics, MSc Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2000.

Renganathan, Rajiv. (n.d.). Supply Chain Management for Beginners. Web.

TU Delft TBM (n.d.a). Global Supply Chain Game. R.H. Smith School of Business. Web.

TU Delft TBM. (n.d.). Supply chain management. R.H. Smith School of Business. Web.

Introduction

The theory of scientific management was published by Frederick Winslow Taylor at the beginning of the 20th century. At present, the principles of scientific management introduced by Taylor are called Taylorism. The concept of this theory is different from traditional management methods based on initiative and rewards. It is critical to examine the basic principles of scientific management and evaluate them from the perspective of positive and negative outcomes. Moreover, as the theory was invented in 1911, it should be observed in 21st-century circumstances.

Overview

Taylors labor organization and production management system appeared in the USA at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. It is characterized by the use of science and technology achievements to obtain the maximum surplus value by increasing the working class exploitation (Taylor, 2017). Scientific management principles combine labor and knowledge, considering the production process as a system of interrelated sequential actions. Taylor suggested that the main obstacle to productivity growth is inadequate management. The results of Taylors analysis showed that eliminating unnecessary motions in the labor process, using more sophisticated equipment, and changing procedures would significantly increase productivity.

Principles

Referring to affirmative principles, scientific managements core concept is increasing production efficiency based on the scientific approach. It is mainly achieved by improving organization and production management methods. The implementation of scientific analysis to study the work process helps determine the best ways to accomplish a task (Taylor, 2017). According to Schachter (2020), adherents to this principle benefit the managers performance as he or she learns what constitutes an efficient days work. Thus, scientific methods allow the personnel to approximate a benchmark of efficient work.

Another principle is that the rational labor system is impacted by new rules based on work analysis, a logically verified arrangement of workers, and training in new methods. This factor is crucial as workers training is of great importance, which made it possible to increase labor productivity and fulfill an employees potential (Taylor, 2017). By systematically applying Taylors approaches to the process, first-class professionals can be trained in a few months.

Furthermore, according to Taylor (2017), the management should break down complex tasks, and provide instructions to workers. By dividing the operations into individual elements, Taylor determined the duration of each of them and, as a result, deduced average rates. As a result, labor productivity increased by 3.5-4 times, and wages  by 60% (Taylor, 2017). Therefore, such practice leads to significant accomplishments and improved performance and speed. Another principle is increasing workers motivation through incentive pay systems. Management set production rates achievable, paying extra for those who exceeded the minimum (Taylor, 2017). According to Taylor (2017), the pursuit of personal good has always been a much stronger incentive in any work than considerations of the common interest. In the case of a balance between costs and rewards, the managers can expect employees to have a good attitude towards their work and be satisfied with the organization.

Besides, due to the principle of maintaining friendly relations between managers and workers, the latter can initiate technological innovations and the organizations management (Taylor, 2017). Taylor (2017) argues that this type of cooperation can point to mismanaged factors that need to be corrected. The interaction between the individual and the leadership is based on psychological and economic agreements, determining the conditions for an employees mental and financial involvement. Therefore, it is a reasonable approach as it stimulates productivity and output.

Regarding ineffective principles, the scientific management theory is based on absolute adherence to the developed standards. According to Schachter (2020), focusing on economic motivation and not considering social and intellectual factors, standardization resulted in diminished worker skills and worker monotony. Thus, the disadvantage of this point is that the mechanical understanding of individuals and their place in the organization limits the operations excellence and does not always lead to its improvement. Furthermore, the principle of constant monitoring can enforce stricter adherence to rest and meal breaks, reduced systemic overtime, and increased direct observation. Authoritarian leadership, tight supervision, and a system of punishment affect trust levels, influencing the costs and speed of company development (Schachter, 2020). Therefore, when the trust level is low, speed decreases, and expenses rise; it also may result in negative employees attitudes to the company, leading to high employee turnover.

Moreover, the theory does not recognize disagreements, contradictions, or conflicts between people. Taylor (2017) claimed that the approach would eliminate all causes for disputes and tensions between managers and employees due to fair compensation. However, this is partially true as conflicts between an individual and a group and intergroup conflict may arise in the work process. Moreover, Taylor (2017) considered only the material needs of workers. The organization should have a set of values to maintain employees motivation. If the enterprise does not have a mission, workers will not put their best effort into completing their assigned tasks, being not interested in the businesss success. Finally, one of the scientific management principles is improving not the process of completing tasks but the employees performance (Taylor, 2017). The point lacks the objective to learn the best ways to accomplish work, instead emphasizing management to achieve control of workers (Schachter, 2020). Therefore, the need for the particular assigned activities should also be considered whether they are beneficial to the organizations economic performance in general.

21st Century

In the 20th century, labor was mainly repetitive and manual, while these days, it requires intellectual resources. Automation is prevailing, leading to changing the work processes; it was previously deterministic with a set of variables known in advance, aimed at repeated manual production of the same activity. At present days, it has become unique, based on knowledge and dealing with the unknown. Therefore, scientific managements original theory should be reassessed; there is a new modern approach called Digital Taylorism (Günsel & Yamen, 2020). It is a system based on combining routine and intellectual work, while the latter involves creative and knowledge duties.

The three principles that can be learned from the traditional scientific management approach are breaking down complex tasks into simple ones and monitoring employees performance and incentives for specific work. Digital Taylorism provides a certain level of accuracy due to the active use of new technologies; as workers act in a certain way, breaking down complex tasks increases predictability and consistency while limiting errors. For instance, concerning the surveillance of workers, most systems are automated; therefore, they can be used as tracking technologies (Günsel & Yamen, 2020). Günsel and Yamen (2020) provide an example of the Amazon Company that implemented such devices in a routine. The movement and productivity of warehouse workers are tracked through wristbands with a tactile notification feature (Günsel & Yamen, 2020). Finally, incentives can be applied in the form of good surroundings and working conditions, emphasizing an employees well-being.

Conclusion

To sum up, the concept of Taylorism became a decisive turning point, contributing to management. Within the framework of the theory, Taylor identified several management principles. Increasing the efficiency in such a system is possible by improving employees qualifications and working conditions and rationalizing production. Some of them can be considered advantageous regarding their actualness and implementation in management systems in the 21st century. However, some can be regarded as archaistic, not meeting todays requirements. Overall, companies need to adopt scientific management principles with modifications in the new digital age.

References

Günsel, A., & Yamen, M. (2020). Digital Taylorism as an answer to the requirements of the new Era. In B. Akkaya (Ed.), Agile Business Leadership Methods for Industry 4.0 (pp. 103-119). Emerald Publishing Limited.

Schachter, H. L. (2020). The uses of Frederick Winslow Taylor: how management theorists have interpreted scientific management over the years and why. In K. Bruce (Ed.), Handbook of Research on Management and Organizational History (pp. 3955). Edward Elgar Publishing.

Taylor, F. W. (2017). The Principles of Scientific Management. Enna Products Corporation.

Introduction

A strategic approach for organizing the most valued assets of management is referred to as Human Resource Management. Valued assets are said to be the people who are working for the company and contribute to the success and progress of the company. The success of the company relies on the proper management of its people because the workforce of a company is the major factor that runs the business.

Human Resource Management and Human Resources consequently reinstated management of the personnel that describes the process in terms of manipulating the people around the organization. The development of Human resource management is coming out at the pace. This approach can be classified into an academic theory or by a business practice that credits the theoretical techniques and their applications when it comes to managing the labor force of the employees.

In an academic theory, Human Resource Management centers on maintaining the strategic goals of an organization by building a good rapport with the employees through managing them accordingly. A link should be given a highlight between the company and its employees. As such, an organization should give importance to its employees and give them just treatment on the way they are handled. Some of the things that an organization must give to the employees are proper handling, concern with the way of allotting the workforce through various departments, providing the benefits, and settling the legal requirements (Wilkinson, 1988).

Basically, the academic theory in Human Resource Management is indicating that people should not be manipulated like robots or machines by the superiors hence an interdisciplinary evaluation of the people inside the workplace is needed. Certain areas like psychology, industrial engineering, industrial psychology, and organizational as well, sociology, critical theories, and industrial relations are important players in Human Resource Management.

And now, many schools especially colleges and universities give bachelors and masters degrees in HRM. A model which is used by many organizations that were developed by Dave Ulrich illustrates the areas that Human Resource Management plays (Ulrich, 1996). These areas are Strategic business partner, Administration, change agent, and Employee champion.

On the other hand, in critical theory, postmodernism is seen to be one of the essential parts in the academic theory, and Legge (2004) actually questioned whether Human Resource Management is a postmodern dissertation or a modernist project. It argues whether Human Resource Management is the chase of shaping an attitude according to Wilkinson (1998). This comprises of taking consideration of empowerment or may be referred to as pseudo- empowerment.

A lot of critics remind us that man should be separated and treated differently from a machine. Critical theory in Human Resource Management determines that for the reason that people are the subject in the workplace. The subject is said to be a crucial one and thus, a simple idea of the best way or the uniformity of the perspectives on the main subject arises. Power and authority in the workplace is a large and intricate subject that can not be quickly described. This left many critics to recommend that management professionals, consultants, and HR managers are more often than not exceeds simplicity but to be able to make an idea, they are made simple and often lead management as a total to fall into the catch of oversimplifying the connections.

There are known challenges that SHRM or Strategic Human Resource Management are facing. New directions in the academics and practice of SHRM should be given a focus as well though it has already emerged in most Universities worldwide. Giving attention to the overt interpretation of the black box between HR and the performances of the firm, the integration of implementing HR strategy as the main umpire of the changeable subject in this connection. There had been direct implications for the nature of fit and contingencies in SHRM and the significance of a distinguished HR architecture not just only across the firms but also inside the organization (Becker and Huselid, 2006).

Discussion

Globally, Human Resource Management is emerging into a corporate scene. Management of the people has given a big part in academics, consultants, programs and training, and the like. There has been a broad eagerness in Human Resources in a proactive and strategic sense that appears widely in large products such as a service organization. At the same time, management strategies have become a significant discipline for professional people and academics though the nuance and are said to be varying from the point of view of a long- term planning into that of taking incremental stages in a strategic path of indefinite business environments such as the macro and micro environmental factors it comprises.

Writings on Human Resource Management have grown exponentially over a long period of time (Tharenou et al., 1994). Many contributions on the strategies of Human Resource Management mostly came from the West through a large number of educations in journals, business magazines, and books as well. However, though personnel management has been given an emphasis as a critical resource in an organization, it really does not occupy a position in the strategic management writings.

Observed SHRM research has been a stimulating line of the question for more than a long period of time. One of the major influences that affect the shifting forms and kinds of analyzing the strategy on Human resource management are those that connect with the resource- based and principles of a knowledge-based view. Also, it comprises the level of performance that the managers and employees should take note of rather than planning.

The internal sources of the benefits and reliability put the focus on the resources that are significant in the success of an organization through somehow they are rare. Perhaps, those are not readily available and not suitable for alternatives such as altering people by the latest technology. Such instances can appear imperfectly because the combination of the two does not match the capabilities or course of action that can be imitated by each other. A man can never be changed by a machine because the two performs tasks differently and they do not resemble the same level of thinking.

According to Boxall and Purcell (2008), Firms that want to enhance the quality of their HRM need to think carefully about the black box links between HRM and organizational performance. The ascending importance of the employees to the success of its organization merely connects with the emergence of strategic human resource management and it is a matter of fact viewed worldwide.

The corresponding strategies of Boxall and Purcell regarding this matter gives a keen review of the diverse literature in a structure that makes it convenient for the readers to identify the evolution of the area and the contemporary thinking of the people about Strategy and Human Resource Management. The idea distinguishes itself from other same pictures in various ways. One of these illustrates the U.S and European points of view about SHRM (Strategic Human Resources) that came into different views.

The researchers in the U.S agrees with an implied managerial approach that caters to how the Human Resource can gain shareholders while in Europe, they emphasize more n the significance of parity among the interests of the different stakeholders like the employees, subordinate organizations, governments, and the total system of society. Thus, Europeans attempt to highlight the importance of the perspectives and environment while the U.S points out the best practices.

Bowen and Ostroff (2004) opposed that Human Resource practice is a way of communication mechanism to the employees, and those communications should be interpreted by the personal interpretation of each person. A newer conceptualization should be promoted about commitments and this can go through the inclusive measures to make sure that the categories are sheltered. The experiential evidence about the connection of an organizations human resources strategy and its performance outcomes implies various results as what the recent information provides.

A commitment can be one of the things that can be viewed to measure the link between the HR practice and its performance with the employees. While most of the studies had been paying attention to the firms as the center of the attachment, an individual can conceive for other focus that scopes both that perhaps attributable by the Human Resource practice and that subsequently illustrate performance. Just, for example, is committed to the goals, the main job, to the heads of leaders, or maybe to the whole team could act as a determinant of whether a commitment to the whole organization exists. This idea prevails a general view of the supposed commitments which can be impacted by the practice of HR and may be linked to the performance of the firm.

The concept of the underlying principles recognizes that people play an important role in the Human Resource practice that they experience and it greatly affects their remorse with regard to their commitment. As the multilevel paragon illustrates the impact of the Human Resource practice on the performance and viewed that each should perceive, react to those practices and interpret as well as the processing of information largely influenced by their previous experiences (Dryer and Reeves, 1995). To cite an instance, people who have worked for the superiors that tried to exploit them will most likely share a new employers gain-sharing program as simply another technique of exploiting the workforce.

An individual who is a result of a positive workforce from his or her past employer nevertheless interprets and reacts to the same kind of programs as a humane way of sharing its progressive organization with the employees. Also, matters about commitment can add up to an employees desire to remain as a function of a lack of alternatives where people can make more money and gain benefits from it.

Apparently, the result can be an affective antipathy, simultaneous, and highly motivated per se. An employee may feel obligated to choose to render a longer service in the company because the firm is compensating him/her accordingly. The attribution for commitment overtly can differ in the exact human resource practice experience. Having multiple commitments describe the fact that a conflict may arise even though HR practice aims at being successful in handling this matter because of setting priorities (Legge, 1987).

One can be highly dedicated to an organization but however, having an external commitment with other affiliations such as being into sports can take over the persons commitment in his company. A more specific example is like when a companys president resigned from his position, considering that his position that all his subordinates aim for. The presidents position compensates well and he serves as the master of all, but because of his dedication with other affiliations for example his own family, he opted to leave his work and manage his own family.

In addition to, subcultures in terms of gender classification are increased because of the everyday and practices on neutral gendering that becomes vital on shaping the view of social reality. Australian organizations broadly pay a lip service to primary practices that obeys the law where in it maintain the credibility of neglecting an honest fairness and egalitarian practices (de Cieri and Kramar, 2003).

Conclusion

People or employees inside an organization are seen to be the most important factor that should be considered in unlocking the black box between the HR practice and the performance of its organization. The success of an organization relies primarily on its people who serve as the key players on manipulating the different departments of a firm. An emphasis should be brought by the best quality of Human Resource Management because they are the ones who directly constitute the leadership among the employees.

The success of an organization also relies on the effectiveness of HR practice as to how they relate with the employees and give them reasons why such employee should make up with the firm and stay for a long- term basis. This is what Boxall and Purcell is trying to depict about the black box links, which are the relationship inside an organization. Outcomes of the employees consist of emotional reactions such as satisfaction and commitment and also the behavioral responses like the absenteeism and turnover.

On the other hand, organizational outcomes centers primarily on the operational act measures such as quality, productivity, and customer satisfaction. While conversely, outcomes on financial aspects such as accounting profits stand for the next step as a result of the two working together as one. These are attainable through building a just and fair treatment of each variable which leads to the high- quality performance of a firm.

Commitment is seen to be the most important factor for the result of strategies that Human resource should give an emphasis to. It merely suggests that to be able to fully understand how human resource practice affects performance; a measurement should be made in all aspects of practice not only on giving dedication to the work and being committed to it. The roles of SHRM are likely to be the first one to promote the formation of having acquainted of the people in an internal environment of a firm. This depicts the things that will help the management to gain the commitment and motivation of the employees to stay in the company.

Having a big position in a firm does not ensure that an employee is committed to the firm and he/she will maintain a long lasting stay within. There are different aspects that a person faces aside from being into his work.

Thus, this primarily encourage the firms to evaluate the performance of SHRM and apply it to the firm by making sure that the key players meet their satisfaction with regard to the work and be personally complacent. And in return, the employees will be encouraged to have a dedication, if not commitment, to the firm. Managers should be held liable for handling the workforce and maintaining the good relationship between them in an organization. It can be a good thing that a firm should provide the benefits for the employees which will, in the first place, motivate them to do their job well done as what the firm wanted. It was previously noted that satisfaction with the work set up makes an employee to commit with the firm.

In addition to, a practical work in SHRM should be extensive and be able to take account of a focus on measures of helpful implementation of the said strategies. In particular, an attention should be given to the strategic business processes that illustrate the involvement of human content or the people who makes up an organization (Ulrich, 1996). However, it is crucial that these actions have a theoretically clear line of sight to the final strategic outcomes and certainly in financial aspects. Through these, the variables should be the one to be highlighted on.

References

Becker, B., and Huselid, M. (2006). Strategic Human Resources Management: Where Do We Go From Here? Journal of Management, vol. 32: pp. 898  925.

Boxall, P. and Purcell, J. (2008) Strategy and Human Resource Management, 2nd edition, Palgrave Macmillan.

Bowen, D.E., and C. Ostroff. (2004). Understanding HRMfirm performance linkages: The role of strength of the HRM system. Academy of Management Journal 29: 20321.

de Cieri, H. and Kramar, R. (2003) Human Resource Management in Australia. Sydney: McGraw-Hill.

Dyer, L and Reeves, T (1995) Human resource strategies and firm performance: what do we know and where do we need to go?, The International Journal of Human Resource Management 6(3): 656-670.

Legge, K. (2004). Human Resource Management: Rhetorics and Realities, Anniversary Edition, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

Legge, K. (1987) Power, Innovation and Problem- Solving in Personnel Management London: McGraw- Hill.

Tharenou, P. Latimer, S. and Conroy, D. (1994) How do you make it to the top? An examination of influence on womens and mens managerial advancement. Academy of Management Journal, 37, 599-93L.

Ulrich, D. (1996). Human Resource Champions. The next agenda for adding value and delivering results. Boston, Mass.: Harvard Business School Press.

Wilkinson, A. (1988). Empowerment: theory and practice. Personnel Review 27 (1): 4056.

In terms of retail sales, Walmart is one of the worlds largest companies. The company has expanded into foreign territories after its success in the U.S. market. Intending to expand its influence, Walmart entered the Chinese market in 1996. Walmarts existing human resource management practices did not meet the needs of the regional business community. Within the past 20 years, Walmart has gone through multiple employee management models to resolve the tension between then-current employee management models and actual retailing performance in China.

Walmarts then-current HR practices did not promote business expansion in the Asian region. According to Xie and Cooke (2018), Walmarts HR policies in 1996 were underpinned by its corporate core values and were marked by these characteristics: treating employees as its business partners, competitive salary and welfare benefits, emphasis on employee training and development to help employees to grow, and fairness and transparency in promotion based on merits (p. 10). Although the employees were generally satisfied with working conditions and career opportunities, the businesss underperformance invited soon-to-come radical changes in the companys strategic course.

Yaochang Chens appointment as the new chief executive officer of Walmart China had major implications for the companys approach to HR. The primary stakeholders involved in this decision were Walmarts top managers both in China and at home. According to Xie and Cooke (2018), Walmarts corporate core values were largely abandoned in favor of locally informed practices, including deploying a two-tier workforce with the longer-serving workforce on permanent employment contracts and the new workforce on temporary contracts with different terms of employment and conditions (p. 10). Compared with the local average and minimum wage threshold, the pay level decreased relative to the local average and minimum wage. In addition to the substantial decline in employer contributions to social security premiums, the number of formal employees and the number of contributions made by formal employees have been drastically reduced (Xie & Cooke, 2018). By the 2000s, Walmart employees in Shenzhen had fallen from mid-income earners to low-income earners. The corporation has then faced constant allegations of unethical HR practices and has worked hard to amend mistakes made.

In conclusion, Walmarts expansion in the Chinese market has been challenging for both employers and employees. To increase the performance of the business, Walmarts executives implemented multiple questionable HR practices. This resulted in declining employee social security and a subsequent public outlash. The corporation has since applied considerable effort to rectify HR-related issues and amend its public image.

Reference

Xie, Y., & Cooke, F. L. (2018). Quality and cost? The evolution of Walmarts business strategy and human resource policies and practices in China and their impact (19962017). Human Resource Management, 58(5), 521-541.

Abstract

Human resource management (HRM) is a vital aspect of overall organizational management. HRM has evolved to develop into a comprehensive and complex discipline in business. Some of the major functions of HRM include job design; recruitment and selection; training and development; workforce planning; performance management and remuneration/compensation.

The HRM as a discipline is subject to changes emanating from economic and management trends. It is recommended, therefore, that stakeholders in HRM should strategize on adapting to emerging trends and changes in the dynamic world characterized by high levels of competition.

This research paper aims to give an elaborate discussion on HRM paying key attention to history and evolution, key aspects, and the future of HRM. The paper concludes by giving some recommendations that are pertinent to the survival of HRM as a management element and as a discipline in business.

Introduction

Human resource management (HRM) is one of the most vital aspects of management. HRM is geared to ensuring that employees in an organization give their optimal performances as per set organizational goals and objectives (Dias, 2011).

HRM departments within businesses have distinct mandates that are pertinent to employees from job design; workforce planning; recruitment and selection; training and development; performance management; remuneration and legal and regulating issues (Smith & Mazin, 2011).This research paper studies on HRM as a topic of business and a discipline in management.

Literature review

History of HRM

HRM has evolved and changed over time to become an integral part of management it is today. It is worth noting that when HRM emerged, many business stakeholders and contributors argued and believed that it was a weak aspect of management (Aslam, Aslam, Ali, Habib, & Jabeen, 2013). As such, it was predicted that HRM would have a short life and not survive the dynamics of management.

Managing workers has been part of many organizations management since the ancient era when labor planning was adopted. However, the origin of HRM can be traced back to the early 20^th Century. The table below summarizes the evolution of HRM from the early 20^th century, highlighting some of the key events and milestones.

Key aspects of HRM

Job design

Job design can be defined as changing the content and processes of a job to increase an employees satisfaction, motivation, and productivity (Zareen, Razzaq, & Mujtaba, 2013). Therefore, job design is a vital tool that HRM can adopt to optimize employees performance and overall realization of organizational goals.

Some studies have analyzed the link between job design and employee performance. It is generally concluded that a strong positive link exists between job design and employee performance. HRM can use effective job designs to involve, motivate, and augment the productivity of employees (Abid, Sarwar, Imran, Jabbar, & Hannan, 2013).

Recruitment and selection

The processes of recruiting and selections are vital in HRM and, therefore, should be done right (Shih, 2005). It is worth noting that although the two terms are related, they differ in meaning and application. Recruitment can be termed as the process of attracting, screening, and selecting qualified people for a job (Omolo, Oginda, & Oso, 2012, p. 141). Selection involves choosing job applicants with the best qualification from a group of candidates (Ullah, 2010).

Recruiting and selection processes are integral parts of organizational management and specifically resourcing strategies. The essence of recruiting is matching potential employees with their job requirements (Dagdeviren, 2015).

Research has revealed that proper recruitment/selection augments organizational performance since employees are vital assets in any organization (Omolo, Oginda, & Oso, 2012).

Training and development

Organizations must invest in employees training. Employees need to augment their proficiency for organizational survival in any business (Truitt, 2011). Accomplishing of organizational goals can be linked to the level of employee training (Hafeez & Akbar, 2015). It is worth noting several management reasons including changing trends and requirements necessitate training and development of employees. As such, organizations should constantly train their employees to survive the ultra-competitive business environments.

Workforce planning

Varied definitions of workforce planning exist. A somewhat comprehensive approach defines workforce planning as a process in which an organization attempts to estimate the demand for labor and evaluate the size, nature, and source of supply which will be required to meet that demand (Sinclair, 2004, p. 2). The commonly adopted definition, probably due to its simplicity and preciseness, is getting the right number of people with the right competencies in the right jobs at the right time (Sinclair, 2004, p. 2).

Workforce planning is a vital aspect of HRM. Workforce planning aids HRM in obtaining the appropriate labor pertinent in meeting organizational goals. Currently, the business environment is extremely competitive and, therefore, planning for the workforce is a prerequisite for organizational success and survival (Louch, 2014). Additionally, the current economic environment is characterized by fluctuating trends and thus, HRM must plan for downturns and upturns in the economy.

Moreover, HRM should plan to avoid losses associated with changing demography. It is imperative to note that organizations are faced with losses emanating from the aging and retiring workforce (Mills, 2016). As such, workforce planning helps organizations avert the loss of skills and knowledge. Finally, workforce planning helps HRM departments by providing schedules that allow employees space and time to work for common goals (Syedain, 2010).

Performance management

Performance management is an aspect of HRM geared to instituting shared workforce comprehension of overall organizational goal achievement. Organizational goals are established and are aligned with employees skills, qualifications/competency, plans, and result orientations. Considerable emphasis is put on augmenting outcomes, training, and development of employees in attempts to attain organizational goals (People Streme Human Capital Management, 2013).

It is worth noting that performance management encompasses other aspects of HRM, including job design; recruitment and selection; training/development; compensation among others. Also, performance management is relatively broader about other related HRM aspects such as performance appraisal. Performance management has an overall goal of improving the performances of all parties in organizations. Overall, organizational improvement is achieved through planning, controlling, and evaluating team and individual performances.

Remuneration/compensation

HRM plays a vital role in determining employees remuneration (Australian Human Resource Institute , 2016). Remuneration/compensation is a key element of job attractiveness, motivation, and employee retention. Additionally, remuneration plays an extremely significant role in determining the efficacy and effectiveness of employees (Gupta & Shaw, 2014). As such, remuneration determines the type of people who apply for jobs, who are hired, and employees motivation.

The future of HRM

Current and future trends are likely to have huge implications for HRM. Therefore, HRM managers should be swift in adapting to the changes and trends for HRM to survive. The following are some of the trends that are likely to have significant impacts on the HRM profession.

Big data

Global technology is extremely dynamic and thus, information and data are readily available, especially with the big data phenomenon. Traditionally, organizations used academic results to recruit. However, the link between employees performances and academic qualification is relatively weak. By adopting technology and big data, organizations can use different variables to predict employee performances. Therefore, big data will revolutionize the recruitment and selection of employees (Kumar & Kumar, 2014).

Big data is likely to have negative implications on the psychosocial aspects of HRM. It is worth noting that engaging employees is a key driving factor in a business. However, with big data, avenues of employee engagement are limited as there are no elaborate explanations behind data (Gibson, Ziskin, & Boudreau, 2014).

HRM profession should be equipped with appropriate mechanisms of telling the story behind data. Other departments in an organization are less likely to have such capacities, expertise, and appropriateness of interpreting employees data. The HRM profession must develop psychosocial and communication disciplines in an organization. Otherwise, other departments such as marketing might take over some of HRM mandates.

Skills gaps

Skills gaps are widening and, therefore, HRM departments should be swift and effective in the tapping of skilled workers. As such, for organizations to have the right personnel, HRM should be more aggressive. HRM must develop initiatives that swiftly tap skills when needed. Drastic changes and talent management are prerequisites for the success of HRM departments in the volatile labor market with the knowledge-oriented era.

Diversity and inclusion

Globally, drives for diversity and inclusion are apparent. HRM departments are highly impacted by diversity and inclusion issues. Regulations and legislation concerning diversity and inclusion affect the functioning of HRM departments. For instance, gender and minority issues highly influence HRM recruitment and selection decisions. The trend is likely to be prolonged as more advocacies for diversity are predicted.

Studies show that extreme diversity can be retrogressive and a hindrance to effective goal realization. A more diverse workforce faces more challenges in attempts to realize organizational goals. Therefore, HRM departments should adopt effective collaboration tools and provide adequate time for people from diverse backgrounds to work in harmony.

Generational issues

A multigenerational workforce is a product of generational diversity that will influence the future of HRM. Most HRM departments are not adequately prepared for a multigenerational workforce. It is worth noting that the older generation has a relatively higher experience and knowledge than the young generation. Thus, when the older generation retires, they are likely to leave organizations with knowledge deficiencies.

HRM departments have adopted inverse mentoring techniques where the younger generation mentors the older generation.

Social media impacts at workplaces

Social media has revolutionized the way employees interact at workplaces. Information and ideas are now exchanged easily and fast. HRM, therefore, is faced with the challenge of ensuring that organizational cultures support democracy at workplaces while ensuring that employees welfare is prioritized. HRM departments (to tap the positive influence of social media) should adopt the culture of sharing, innovation, and engagement of employees.

Globalization

Globalization has highly impacted HRM in many countries. Many firms are operating beyond the political boundaries of the countries of their origin. Employment of foreigners and different labor regulations in different countries are some of the globalization factors that will continue influencing the future HRM.

Conclusion

Human resource management (HRM) continues to be an integral part of organizational management. HRM is relevant in harnessing employees abilities, qualifications, knowledge, and skills while employing them to attain organizational objectives and goals. HRM as a discipline has evolved. Also, HRM is likely to experience changes in the future due to current and possible management and economic trends.

Some of the key elements of HRM discussed in this paper include job design; recruitment and selection; training and development; workforce planning; performance management and remunerations/compensation.

Recommendations

The following are some of the recommendations that are pertinent to HRM.

1. HRM departments should embrace technological development and changes for survival.
2. HRM departments should put more emphasis on employees motivation and job appropriateness to improve performance and ensure business survival.
3. HRM should be sensitive to emerging issues and trends and seek adaptation techniques.

References

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Aslam, H. D., Aslam, M., Ali, N., Habib, B., & Jabeen, M. (2013). A Historical View of Human Resource Management Practice: Literature Review. International Journal of Human Resource Studies, 3(2), 126-137.

Australian Human Resource Institute. (2016). Remuneration and Rewards. Web.

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Gibson, C., Ziskin, I., & Boudreau, J. (2014). What Is the Future of HR? Web.

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Omolo, J. W., Oginda, M. N., & Oso, W. Y. (2012). Effect of Recruitment and Selection of Employees on The Performance of Small and Medium Enterprises in Kisumu Municipality, Kenya. International Journal of Human Resource Studies, 2(3), 140-150. Web.

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Under Armour became one of the most promising prospects when it came to the production of sporting goods. The company sees itself as a rival for such companies as Nike and Adidas. The strategy of Under Armour can be described as flexible and well-adjusted to the real-life market, but it has several critical weaknesses that seriously impact the companys brand image and reputation. If we are talking about the strengths of Under Armour, the first thing that comes to mind is the unconditional growth of the company and its profits. During a time interval of fewer than ten years, Under Armour was able to conquer the market and get in line with such brands as Adidas and Nike (Hitt 101). The company expects to find its niche in the market and does everything to succeed. One of the strong sides of their strategy is their collaboration with famous athletes and their participation in Under Armours marketing campaigns. Another asset that adds to the strengths of the company is its rich and stylish advertising. The influence of famous athletes is enormous and Under Armour strives to make the most out of it. The company believes that its future is bright as their incomes increase annually. One of the reasons for the increased output is the global nature of the brand.

The key weakness of the company relates to its uncontrolled expenditures. The investments of Under Armour cause a number of critical issues for the company. The problem is that the company has to spend a lot of money not only on marketing but also on various innovations (in both IT and manufacturing). These innovations include the improvements applied to the companys supply chain and expansion planning. Under Armours unrestrained outlays are expected to predict the future of the company (Porter and Norton 56). On the other hand, the companys attempts to win over social media did not end up successfully. Under Armours online presence is a serious topic of discussion that should be carefully approached by the executives. The third companys weakness can be characterized as an inability to win over the athletic customers who are looking for the best brand that offers sporting goods. This customer segment is rather large and Under Armour will have to find a way to obtain the data concerning the needs and requirements of these customers so as to polish up its marketing strategy and win big.

The first strategic suggestion for the company is to invest in footwear production. In terms of footwear, Under Armour has the chance to compete with its rivals. The thing is, the company will have to explore the markets that are not very popular on the international scale (including golf and tennis). The companys opportunities look promising, and its decision to improve its footwear product mix will be profitable (Hitt 112). The second strategic suggestion is to distribute the goods directly to the companys customers. In perspective, this will help Under Armour to reach the suburban and rural markets (in the US only) that are untouched at the moment. The third opportunity is the expansion of the brand that will lead to its worldwide recognizance. This will majorly affect the incomes of the company and help the administration to minimize their expenditures. The process of expansion will assist the company in adjusting their product mix to the specific needs of its customers all over the world and building a positive brand image for Under Armour.

Works Cited

Hitt, Michael. Strategic Management Cases: Competitiveness and Globalization. Thomson, 2012.

Porter, Gary, and Curtis Norton. Financial Accounting: The Impact on Decision Makers. Delmar Learning, 2014.