We googled you case study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

We googled you - Case Study Example For this purpose, the company required a winning team headed by a competent team head. However, the candidate, Mini Brewster’s, involvement in aggressive social campaigns, as recorded over the internet, was inhibiting the Hathaway Jones’ HR department to hire the candidate. Brining her over the company could potentially hurt the image of the business’ newly formed operations in China. The main issue involves Mimi Brewster’s acceptance into Hathaway Jones. The company’s CEO is positive about the candidate as Mimi is a very competent and qualified individual. However, the company’s HR manager, Virginia, has some reservations regarding Mimi’s former activities as a socially active student during her years at Stanford. Her reputation on Google based on the search results could damage the company’s image among its consumers and can especially damage the prospects of Hathaway Jones opening up in China. The CEO believes that such incidents that are revealed through the internet and social media could be forgotten because the talent pool is quite limited and Mimi seems to be the perfect fit. Also, the CEO is reluctant to call in the candidate so that they could hear her side of the story. Hence, the main issue is regarding letting go of minor discrepancies that come up after studying the internet history of a candidate. The first solution to the issue is to call Mimi Brewster for an informal meeting along with the HR manager in order to inquire about her previous activities and involvement in social campaigns during her university years. This would allow Mimi to clarify her side in case the internet and Google only predisposed a certain perspective regarding the issue thereby distorting the reality. The second solution is to find another candidate to fill the position whose search history seems to be historically clean. This would

Demand and House Prices in UK

Demand and House Prices in UK Introduction: This assignment is about changes in demand and house prices over the last two years in UK. What happened in last two years in the housing market, what factors are involved to change the demand of housing and pricing? What are the benefits of this research? Before going to the factors that affect the housing market in UK, it is important to know what is housing market and also see the time series graph which shows what happened with housing market in the last three years? Definition of Demand: An economic principle that describes a consumers desire and willingness to pay a price for a specific good or service. Holding all other factors constant, the price of a good or service increases as its demand increases and vice versa. Definition of Supply: The term supply refers to the quantity of a particular product that suppliers (producers and/or sellers) will make available to the market at a particular price. The higher the price, the greater the quantity that suppliers will be willing to supply to the market. (http://www.investopedia.com/terms/d/demand.asp) Real estate economics is the application of economic techniques to real estate markets. It tries to describe, explain, and predict patterns of prices, supply, and demand. The closely related fields of housing economics is narrower in scope, concentrating on residential real estate markets as does the research of real estate trends focus on the business and structural changes impacting the industry. Both draw on partial equilibrium analysis (supply and demand), urban economics, spatial economics, extensive research, surveys and finance. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Housing_market) (http://www.housingmarket.org.uk/house-prices/current-uk-house-prices-trend/08/10.8.09) If we consider the above two graphs of housing prices of UK, we come to know that the prices are going to fall from 2007, before that the prices are high. Now we analyze what happened with the housing market, and what factors are involved to change the demand curve in to the left. The factors affecting house prices and demand are as follows. Factors Affecting The UK housing market: Since the peak in July 2007, UK house prices have fallen considerable. The main reasons for falling house prices are: Difficulty of Getting Mortgage due to credit crunch. Low affordability (high house price to income ratios) Economic recession Rising unemployment Future price expectation Consumer confidence speculation Mortgage: Mortgage companies had to write off bad mortgage debts, there has been a shortage of liquidity in the banking system causing mortgages to be more expensive and difficult to get. As people defaulted on mortgages, house prices which had been booming before the credit crunch started to fall. Falling house prices means the loss of banks, because the resale value of the house was much less than the initial mortgage. Because of the bad experience with mortgage companies going bankrupt, financial institutions became much more cautious about lending money for mortgages. Also, because they had lost money, they couldnt afford to lend more. Therefore, mortgage finance was in short supply causing banks to ration mortgages by requiring large deposits and increasing the interest rates. Falling House prices exacerbate the credit crunch. Although defaults are currently low, falling house prices magnify the problem because it leaves homeowners with negative equity. Therefore, if a homeowner defaults, it multiplies the losses of banks such as Halifax. It is a vicious cycle because the shortage of mortgage funds is causing a fall in demand for houses and therefore, house prices will fall further; this makes the mortgage industry more nervous. This is why the Bank of England has extended its emergency lending to the banking system. The other problem is that peoples decision to buy a house is based on confidence. Given the unrelenting bad news, most homeowners will defer the decision to buy causing further falls in demand. (http://www.mortgageguideuk.co.uk/index.html) (http://images.google.co.uk/images?hl=ensource=hpq=demand+and+supply+curvegbv=2aq=3oq=demand) The graph also shows that the demand is changing towards left, it means the prices are going down but people are not interested to buy a home, because of uncertainty, people are more conscious to buy, because the price of houses continuously fall. Future Price Expectation: According to the independent analysts Oxford Economics, prices will continue to fall in 2010.The average price in London will drop by 16.1 % this year, then a further 3.4 percent next year. Property values will then recover by 2.1 per cent in 2011, 8.9 per cent in 2012, 10.7 per cent in 2013 and 7.4 percent in 2014. The report to the National Housing Federation claims the average price will boom to 354,900 pounds. This is an overall rise of 27.7 per cent from today, but more than 40 percent up on prices expected in late 2010. An average London property bought last year for 331500 pounds will still be worth less in 2013, at 330600 pounds. It expects the2012 Olympics to provide a welcome boost. Its Chief executive David Orr said low income families would struggle to get credit. (London Lite Monday, 3 August 2009 Page 15). These two research shows that prices are still going down in the next two years, after that it is expected the prices will boom, in these circumstances people are not willing to buy house, and research also shows that due to credit crunch low income families are also struggling for getting credits. Credit Crunch: The major factor that affects the demand for houses and prices of houses are credit crunch. The credit crunch which began two year ago shows no signs of abating. With declining economic fortunes in most OECD economies, there is also the prospect of things getting worse before getting better. These are some of the problems stemming from the credit crunch. (http://www.economicshelp.org/2008/07/problems-of-credit-crunch.html) Due to shortage of credit, banks are decline in their reserves as they write off bad debts. In UK, mortgage approval has fallen, causing fall in demand of houses and prices, people lose their confidence to buy and declines of profits of banks and share value. Because of high cost of mortgage, people have less ability to buy that is also big cause that fall the demand of houses and price. Unemployment: The other big factor that affects demand for houses and prices in UK is unemployment, after the credit crunch lot of people are unemployed and in other words they lose their jobs, if we look for the last three years ratio of unemployment in UK, we have better idea and we are in better position to find analysis of what actually happened for the house market. (http://www.economicshelp.org/2008/10/unemployment-in-uk.html) If we consider both of these graphs, we come to know that in April 2007, the employment rate is higher and in April 2009 it totally fell down. Same case happened in the second graph which shows that in April 2007 the unemployment rate is very low, but after the credit crunch, April 2009 the unemployment rate is so high. In other words we say that unemployment is high or lots of people are going to benefits. This is the big factor that affects the demand of houses and price; a lot of people lose their jobs, people do not have the ability and reserve to pay high rate of deposit or high mortgage, this is the cause the demand of houses shift to left. (http://images.google.co.uk/images?hl=ensource=hpq=demand+and+supply+curvegbv=2aq=3oq=demand) Interest Rate: Interest rate play a very important role of getting mortgage, If your interest rate is lower you have to give back less money if you have high interest rate you have to pay back more. But in last two years the interest rate is going down and down at 0.5%. According to general demand supply rules, the demand is high, but if we consider the factor that is directly linked with interest rate is mortgage, the mortgage companies are badly collapsed because of recession. However the interest rate is low people still not interested to buy homes. The main reason is that the mortgage demand high deposit, people do not have money to pay high deposit, this means even the interest rate is lower but mortgage deposit rate is high, that affect the directly to demand of housing and prices. If demand is less definitely the prices goes down. In this analysis, the interest rate is not the direct factor of reducing the demand, but the linked factor of mortgage affect the demand of housing and prices. (http://images.google.co.uk/images?hl=ensource=hpq=demand+and+supply+curvegbv=2aq=3oq=demand) Economic Recession: Many professionals and experts around the world believe that a true economic recession can only be confirmed if GDP (Gross Domestic Product) growth is negative for a period of two or more consecutive quarters. The roots of a recession and its true starting point actually rest in the several quarters of positive but slowing growth before the recession cycle really begins. Often in a mild recession the first quarter of negative growth is followed by slight positive growth, then negative growth returns and the recession trend continues. While the two quarter definition is accepted globally, many economists have trouble supporting it completely as it does not consider other important economic change variables. For instance, current national unemployment rates or consumer confidence and spending levels are all a part of the economic system and must to be taken into 0account when defining a recession and its attributes. (http://recession.org/definition). It is actually more common than you might realize for countries around the world to experience mild economic recessions. Recession (or contraction) is a natural result of the economic cycle and will adjust for changes in consumer spending and consumption or increasing and decreasing prices of goods and labor. Rarely though entirely possible, experiencing can a multitude of these negative factors simultaneously lead to a deep recession or even long economic depression. Effect Of Economic Recession: Generally, an economic recession can be spotted before it actually happens. There are ways to spot it before it actually hits by observing the changing economic landscapes in quarters that come before the actual onset. You will still see GDP growth, but it will be coupled with signs like high unemployment levels, housing price declines, stock market losses, and the absence of business expansion. When an economy sees more extended periods of economic recession, it goes beyond a recession and is declared that the economy is in a state of depression. The only real benefit of an economic recession is that it will help to cure inflation. In fact, the delicate balancing act that the Fed struggles to pursue is to slow the growth of the economy enough so that inflation will not occur, but also so that a recession will not be triggered in the process. Now, the Fed performs this balancing act without the help of fiscal policy. Fiscal policy is usually trying to stimulate the economy as much as is possible through such things as lowering taxes, spending on programs, and ignoring account deficits. (http://recession.org/definition) Consumer Confidence: During times of high consumer confidence, people are more willing to take out risky mortgages to be able to buy a house. For example, in the period 2001-07 100% mortgages and interest only mortgages were quite common. In the early 00s, people were optimistic about the housing market and so took out mortgages with a higher debt to income ratio. (http://www.uk-houseprices.co.uk/housing_market/factors_affecting_prices.html) After 2007 the recession time start, prices are continuously fall, people restricted to invest money, because they continuously fall, so the demand of houses also fall. Speculation: Everybody buy homes to live in, some people buy house for renting purposes o get more money and save the capital. But after the credit crunch the prices are going to fall, so the investors are not more interested to invest. This is bigger factor that affect the demand of houses and prices. (http://images.google.co.uk/images?hl=ensource=hpq=demand+and+supply+curvegbv=2aq=3oq=demand) Prediction: From the above information about changes in house prices and demand, I did able to predict what will happen in next two years or more? The predictions are as follows. Because of recession time, the mortgage companies are still struggling for finance and banks are also struggling to get back the money from costumers, so in these circumstances prices of houses and demand will fall more in next two years. Independent analysts oxford economics shows that prices in London will drop16.1% in 2009 and then further 3.4% in 2010.After 2010 the property will recover 2.1%, 8.9%, 10.7% and 7.4% in the coming years. These figures show that the prices of houses and demand still fall in the next two years. Unemployment rate is continuously fall and expected that still fall in the coming years up to three million people are jobless in the coming two years. This also shows that the demand of houses and price will go down further. People are mostly unemployed, and others are on benefits, so average income is not compatible to mortgage deposit, however the interest rate is lower but people do not have reserve to pay deposit, so the demand is going further to fall in the next two years. The mortgage companies are still fall in finances, they are not willing to give lenders the risky loans, it has also effect the consumer confidence, these two factors indicate further fall in demand and prices of houses. Speculation about the house prices, they are further fall in future, investors are not interested to invest, so these shows that the prices and demand further fall in future. These are facts that predicts further fall in demand and prices of houses in UK, but after 2010 it hope the prices will recover and people confidence improved and demand shift to right. Conclusion: All the factors that affect demand and prices of houses shows that prices and demand further going to fall in the next two years, after 2010 it hope the prices will recover and demand of houses will be high. This is the recession time and mortgage companies and banks are lack of finance to support people to buy homes. However the Government reduces their interest rate but people do not have the ability or reserve to pay high deposit and second reason is that a lot of people are jobless or on benefits, they are not able to pay even less mortgage. These all factors that I discussed above are inter linked with each other, thats why prices of houses and demands are going to fall. After 2010 it hope the recession time will be finish , mortgage companies and banks will be able to provide more finance to costumers, the job condition is better, income is high, so people are more able to purchase houses and demand will be high, if demand is high the prices should be rise. References: (London Lite Monday, 3 August 2009 Page 15). http://recession.org/definition http://images.google.co.uk/images?hl=ensource=hpq=demand+and+supply+curvegbv=2aq=3oq=demand+ http://www.uk-houseprices.co.uk/housing_market/factors_affecting_prices.html http://www.economicshelp.org/2008/10/unemployment-in-uk.html http://www.mortgageguideuk.co.uk/index.html http://www.economicshelp.org/2008/07/problems-of-credit-crunch.html (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Housing_market).http://www.housingmarket.org.uk/house-prices/current-uk-house-prices-trend/08/24.8.09 Bibliography: http://www.uk-houseprices.co.uk/housing_market/factors_affecting_prices.html http://www.economicshelp.org/2008/10/unemployment-in-uk.html http://www.mortgageguideuk.co.uk/housing/house-price-fall.html

The Dangers of Censorship in High School Essay -- Argumentative Persua

The Dangers of Censorship in High School Every day well meaning parents, concerned members of society, and Christian activist groups across the country fight to censor the literature that is being taught in high school classrooms. The word censorship carries all types of implications and angles; it involve s a denial of an author's right to guaranteed freedoms of expression. However, as it relates to education, this issue goes a great deal deeper than the standard First Amendment argument. In attempting to ban certain types of literature from the classroom, censors are taking away the rights of teachers to prepare students for a reality that their parents do not seem to think will ever affect them. They likewise deny students the chance to learn how to rationally make their own decisions and instead try to keep that control for themselves. Censorship is preventing intelligent, thoughtful teachers from pushing students to reach past what is just on the page. Whatever their motives may be, those who seek to repress the use of certain materials are doing more harm than good. Those who actively fight to censor, ban, or restrict the kinds of literature that can be taught in America's classrooms are convinced that anyone who truly believes pornography and obscenity are problems must be in favor of censorship. Kristol (1972) points out that students are being corrupted by books and that anyone who doubts this need only look at the lives of the teachers who oppose him to find adequate proof of the damage they do. He finds that it is the responsibility of the educated in society to regulate censorship, but that these are the very people who are convinced that what is being taught by sensitive educators is indeed appropriate and ev... ...our schools--Censorship of classroom books in the last ten years. English Journal, 86 (2), 21-23. Gardner, R. (1997). A new fashioned book burning. English Journal, 86 (2), 63-64. Greenbaum, V. (1997). Censorship and the myth of appropriateness: Reflections on teaching reading in high school. English Journal, 86 (2), 16-19. Kochman, S. M. (1997). What happens when a high school censors. English Journal 86 (2), 58-60. Kristol, I. (1972). Pornography, obscenity, and the case for censorship. Current issues and enduring questions. (1993). Boston: St. Martin's Press. Lacks, C. (1997). The teacher's nightmare: Getting fired for good teaching. English Journal, 86 (2), 29-32. Rossuck, J. (1997). Banned Books: A study of censorship. English Journal, 86 (2), 67-69. Suhor, C. (1997). Censorship--When things get hazy. English Journal, 86 (2), 26-27.

Heat of the Day By Elizabeth Bowen Essay

â€Å"Heat of the Day† by Elizabeth Bowen is the reflection of the complexities in the relationships across the generations, in love and war, set at the backdrop of 1942 World War. The story is about a life of Londoners and the traumatic experience they had to undergo when the city was being bombarded during war. â€Å"The Heat of the Day† sees the city being shattered and in this scenario of devastation, how the people try to make the sense of their lives? â€Å"The Heat of the Day† follows with same intensity the flow of the wartime stories written by Bowen in 1945. The story is though about warfare yet there is very little description about the war and that only one instance of the air raid, which happens close to the end of novel. The description of impressions of war and the London has been explicitly referred through the voice of characters with the reality transformed through visionary approach of the city. As described by Neil Corcoran, â€Å"The ‘Heat of the Day’ is a novel in which the panic of possibly losing identity, and of others deceiving you about their identities, operates not only as an agency of plot but as the very texture of style.† (Corcoran, 169) Within the context of the centrally located story is woven several others stories told by protagonists to one another with the purpose to retain their identity which they themselves had found in peril. Stella herself tells false story about her marriage to Roderick, as she wants him to believe that his father Victor was the abandoned party rather than she herself. She does so partly to increase the image of his dead father in the eyes of Roderick and secondly to make herself appear as a femme fatale instead of being a victim. The impression of the war scene can very well be seen in one of the scenes where Harrison is standing in the street and the flames appearing from the distance are helping him to read Stella’s address mentioned on the envelop. The depiction of the fire has been made through the use of image chandelier: â€Å"the Chandelier flare makes the street like a mirrored drawing-room† (Bowen, 315). Inside the flat when the two characters are involved in the conversations, the sounds of guns can be heard seeming to be welcomed, as they made Stella to remain quite. â€Å"The guns rested her by opening up once more† and soon they faded, â€Å"The guns, made fools of, died out again, askance† (Bowen, 319). The importance of war seems to be considered very less with Stella and Harrison being hardly aware of any danger. The language has been used in a very poetic way giving a vivid, lucid and a very realistic touch to the nature and the objects surrounding the characters. Bowen penetrates into the physical objects and events manifesting in the human behaviors and their dreams and missions. With great subtlety, complexity and force, she is able to make characters come alive making them have real experience of the terrific upheavals of the warfare. Her prose is beautifully contrived to give meaning and depth to life experiences of the characters, which continues to follow us after the last page has been read and has been placed down. At many occasions, the scenes are shifted from war torn London to the peace and tranquility of the countryside. The difference is clearly seen between the country life in England around the Victorian hulk and in the neutral Ireland. While reading it, we are made to remember about the blackouts, characters forgetting the names of the places during their train journey, continuous alike confusions between the friend and foe, and the direction to which war is taking in the passing years. Amidst this scenario lies the gripping version of the story of woman and the way she comes to term and understanding of the intolerable situations. In the first chapter itself, we are introduced to Harrison and his rude behavior towards woman who is trying to have a casual conversation with him. From the second chapter onwards, we are introduced to the heroine and with that her ongoing situation of crises and dilemma she has to undergo and her interaction and influence of Harrison on her. Their relationship with each other cannot be judged very easily but when the scenes are read carefully then only the realization of the base on which they are building their terrible relationship is felt that even before Robert makes his entry. The relationship between Stella and her son Roderick is also very beautifully carved while he takes over the Irish inheritance. On the other hand Robert’s mother and sister are both very confusing personalities making fuss all the time on whom Stella would never be able to leave good impression according to Robert. All the characters are very wonderfully drawn. There is also a scene where two women are sharing one apartment at the same time enjoying each other’s company and exchanging own tales of woes to each other. They contribute their bit in easing tension of the main protagonists. Amidst all the surviving lives of the protagonists, tensions ensue, as it becomes known that Robert is giving his support to the opponents. His disillusionment with Dunkirk induces him to adopt the title of a traitor. Climactic is the reason given by Robert for this decision of his, and on the other hand wants to enlighten himself with the most meaningful future by the war ends. In the last chapter, we are introduced to Louie who is artless girl at the Bandstand. She is a widow as her husband succumbs to the vagaries of the war. She with her child now would like to spend rest of her life at the devastated seaside where she had spent all her life as a child. An essence of the reality being transferred can be felt by the way characters have been visualizing many places in the city. All through the novel, Bowen has made special reference to the seasons, time and the lucid description of light. This aspect shows her creative spree in impressionistic technique. How the way Stella is mystified can very well be seen in the following scene: The two stations also, in Stella’s mind, became epitomes of the two most poignant seasons — in spring, in autumn everything telegraphs its mystery to your senses; nothing is trite. And more: in these years the idea of war made you see any peaceful scene as it were through glass (Bowen, 104). This passage is a manifestation of the transfer of reality in the form of metaphor. With the help of the impressions and metaphors, Bowen gives vivid description of the city London after the bombardment. The whole city is broken with almost several of the landmarks lost. As critics said there is great exposure of irony in the fiction retold and the sense of solidity and individualization in characterization increase the credibility of the most sensuous fiction. Bowen has captured London with such a great dexterity and with greatest blitz that even after reading the whole novel, the memories of this wartime London would haunt the readers for a long time.

Nothing Impossible

Management Introduction Review of Management Articles Article assigned ANALYSING the thinking of F. W. Taylor using cognitive mapping Introduction Scientific management is one of the three major branches within the classical approach to management. Although the concept was suggested approximately a century ago, it still makes a significantly important role in 21st century management with new conditions and a considerable number of challenges. Frederick Winslow Taylor who was regarded as the father of scientific management suggested his concepts in 1911.Scientific management is defined as a theory that emphasises careful selection and training of workers, and supervisory support (Taylor, 1911). Taylor (1911) believed that precise procedures that were developed after careful study of an individual at work should replace the tradition on decision-making. The purpose of this essay is to review three articles that analyses the Taylorism and present how Taylorism is applied in current mana gement sphere. Analysis of Assigned Article Cossette, P. 2002. Analysing the thinking of F.W. Taylor using cognitive mapping. Management Decision, 40 (2): 168-182 The author of this article used the cognitive map and the Decision Explorer to present and analyse the thinking of F. W. Taylor to produce a more in-depth and detailed knowledge and understanding of his ideas. Cossette (2002) demonstrated that the two key variables in Taylor’s scientific management were â€Å"Maintenance of a rapid pace†¦Loafing or soldiering† and â€Å"Harmonious relations between employers and men aware of their mutual interests†.As Taylor’s scientific management related to efficiency, the first concept that the author highlighted had completely reflected the Taylorism. Cossette (2002) concluded that â€Å"the maintenance of a rapid pace† was the most important concept for Taylor, since it was also by far the most important â€Å"consequence† of the cognitiv e map. Taylor’s scientific management was always considered as the division of labour pushed to its logical extreme, with a consequent de-skilling of the worker and dehumanisation of the workplace (Kanigel, 1999).However, the author showed another aspect of Taylor’s idea which was related to harmony. In cognitive map, the concept of â€Å"Harmonious relations between employers and men aware of their mutual interests† had the second largest number of direct links and the third centrality score compared to other concepts (Cossette, 2002). In addition, Cossette (2002) stated that â€Å"the prior conditions required to improve production and the results of this improvement for both employees and employers, are the two main dimensions that Taylor appears to use as a basis for his conception of the organization of work. Although a small number of concepts from Taylorism were less relevant, they suggested that Taylor’s thinking was not significantly complicated . This article helped us have a better understanding of the ideas of F. W. Taylor, demonstrated the relative importance of the concepts suggested by Taylor and revealed another side of Taylorism. Analysis of Article 1 Wrege, C. D. & Hodgetts, R. M. 2000. Frederick W. Taylor’s 1899 pig iron observations: Examining fact, fiction and lessons for the new millennium.Academy of Management Journal, 43 (6): 1283-1291 However, the authors of this article were in dispute with Taylor in a particular circumstance. Wrege & Hodgetts (2000) stated that Taylor simplified the observation by presenting only some of the information and, he omitted many significant facts. The insight thinking of the authors was that contemporary organisation should apply new tools and techniques to achieve their objectives, and managers should increasingly concentrate on data collection and analysis and fight the tendency to accept anecdotes and hearsay as accurate (Wrege & Hodgetts, 2000).The authors studied an d analysed the case called pig iron observation, which came from Taylor’s scientific management principle, and concluded that although Taylor had made a great contribution to management history, he did neglect some significant real facts in this case such as failure to take the cost of damaging gondolas into account.In addition, the authors suggested five points that we could learn from this observation, which are â€Å"anecdotal data are often erroneous, primary sources must be consulted, all data have inconsistencies, replication is hallmark of good science and digital archiving is now critical† (Wrege & Hodgetts, 2000). Moreover, the authors had concluded some suggestions that are valuable for the managers in new millennium. Wrege & Hodgetts (2000) demonstrated that researchers’ being more systematic and sophisticated was important in their approach to chieving their goals, and that â€Å"benchmarking† was going to be a critical activity in the 21st ce ntury. This article revealed the limitation of Taylor’s scientific management, and the authors of this article recommended a considerable number of approaches and methods to help today’s managers reach their objectives successfully and efficiently. Analysis of Article 2 Boyns, T. 2001. Hans and Charles Renold: entrepreneurs in the introduction of scientific management techniques in Britain.Management Decision, 39 (9): 719-728 The author of this article used the case study of Hans Renold Ltd to extend Taylor’s scientific management theory, and explained how it was applied in this enterprise during the first and second decades of the twentieth century. The core ideals of the author were to confirm the contribution that Hans and Charles Renold made to introduce and develop scientific management in Britain, and distinguish the different methodology between Hans and Charles. It has been accepted that Hans Renold Ltd has been the first company to introduce Taylor†™s scientific management in Britain (Boyns, 2001).Hans Renold â€Å"probably was the first British industrialist to appreciate the work of F. W. Taylor and adapt it to British management practice† (Urwick, 1956). He started to change the organisational structure and introduced a new functional organisation supported by a system of committees in 1908 (Boyns, 2001). Although there were some problems arising such as little resistance from the bulk of the workforce, scientific management principles were eventual successfully adopted at Hans Renold Ltd eventually (Boyns, 2001).The author of this article introduced the first application of Taylor’s scientific management in Britain and emphasized the fundamental position of scientific management in management history as it has already been applied for a century and it still plays a significantly important role in increasing the efficiency in the organisations in the 21st century. Application to Current Management Practice A round the Twentieth Century, Taylor’s scientific management theory had been widely used in the manufacturing and services industries.In the 21st century, scientific management does play an important role, and it is applied in several modern organizations. McDonalds is the world’s most famous brands, which is leading in the globally branded quick service restaurant applied the scientific management successfully in their business operations. Initially, Taylor (1911) stated that wage systems without incentive result in low productivity if no matter how much is produced the employee will gain the same pay. McDonalds stimulates employees in many effective ways.Regardless of the base pay, McDonalds develops competitive wage and promotion programs, hard work, motivation and results are recorded and rewarded at McDonalds (McDonalds, 2006). In addition, McDonalds also establishes great incentive programs in which employees have an access to gift and free food (McDonalds, 2006). McDonalds also offers an incentive pay system and provide the opportunity to earn competitive total compensation for employees when they successfully achieve the goals (McDonalds, 2006).Moreover, Long-term incentives are ensured to employees who are qualified to both reward and long-term creation at McDonalds (McDonalds 2006). Secondly, one of the most important principles of Scientific Management is scientifical training. Taylor (1911) suggested that each company should train the workers scientifically rather than passively leave them to train themselves. McDonalds has a strong belief in training, and training becomes a tradition at McDonalds, because they know its value to the bottom line of their business.Everyone in the business should attend a significantly important training, whether part, full time, hourly paid staff or salaried managers undergoing their compulsory restaurant training (McDonalds 2006). When a new employee joins McDonalds and starts his first working day, he will accept training at once. McDonalds even set up a Hamburger University, and the purpose of this action is to provide all McDonalds Corporation and Franchisees employees with training exclusively in various aspects of the business (McDonalds 2006). Those training systems make their staff more efficient and professional.Finally, Taylor (1911) taught that the only one method of work that maximized efficiency was to develop a standard method of performing each job efficiently by companies. McDonalds builds up a series of detailed and strict working standards, which guarantee that every product from any chain restaurant has high quality (McDonalds 2006). Moreover, McDonalds staff is specialized in different production procedure (McDonalds 2006). McDonalds has developed a standard method of performing each job and the employees can perform efficiently. ConclusionIn conclusion, the authors of the above three articles explained the Taylorism precisely and explicitly. The core thinking o f Taylor’s scientific management was efficiency particularly was speed, and it is widely applied in most modern organizations such as McDonalds to help increase the productivity. Although Taylor’s scientific management has some limitation as sometimes managers could overlook to collect important data by relying on it excessively, it still made an important contribution to the business world in the 21st century.Taylor laid the foundation of management, and with the application of scientific management, production efficiency has improved. Much of core of Scientific Management remains with us today, only been modified, updated and given a human face (Freeman, 1996). Term Paper on Functions of Management Eritrea Education Sector Development Program – Program Management Unit ESDP-PMU Management Functions 1. Introduction: Management is defined as the process of getting activities completed efficiently and effectively with and through other people . It encompasses an a rray of functions with which it accomplishes different tasks done successfully.These functions include planning, staffing, organizing, directing, and controlling. The Eritrea Education Sector Development Program – Program Management Unit, abbreviated as ESDP-PMU, is an institution destined to accomplish education sector program objectives that have to be viewed in terms of the government policy to boost the education sector in all aspects. Through the educational sector intervention, ESDP-PMU works to ensure increase in access, improve quality, boost capacities in all levels of the sector, and ensure equity in delivery education services.This paper explores the management functions in the ESDP, highlights strengths and weaknesses in view of the theoretical aspect of management function. Finally, it highlights some few salient points that are worth mentioning and by way of recommendations it tries to shed lights on issues that need improvement. 2. Overview of the management fu nctions: Henry Fayol defines management as a science of forecasting, planning, organizing, commanding, coordinating, and controlling. The most commonly cited management functions are planning, staffing, organizing, directing, and controlling.Planning refers to the base of the other management functions. It is the management of the organizations’ future in an uncertain environment . Plans can be strategic, tactical, and operational. They can also be long-term or short-term. Plan should be built on specific, attainable, and challenging objectives. In the materials for the management course of SMAP it is mentioned that planning is important in that it offsets uncertainty and change, focuses attention on objectives, helps in coordination, gains economy of operation, helps in control, and increases organizational effectiveness.In that sense it divides plans to standing and single-use plans. Organizing refers to the organization of resources in an organization. Such organization ca n be charted on an organizational chart . Through this function management tries to determine the inside directorial configuration, establish and maintain relationships, and also assign required resources of the organization. Staffing functions follows the organizing function of management. Staffing refers to the filling and keeping filled positions on positions created by the preceding organizing function .Thus, staffing encompasses tasks such as recruitment, selection, training and retraining of employees. Directing refers to the control and supervision of the actions of the staff, thus, enables them to achieve the company’s goals and also accomplishing their personal or career goals which can be powered motivation, communication, department dynamics, and department leadership . Controlling refers to activities related to setting performance standards based on the objectives of the organization, measuring and reporting actual performance, comparing the two, and taking corre ctive or preventive action as necessary.As management is a creative problem solving , the coordination of the various functions mentioned above contribute to an efficient and effective accomplishment of tasks. The section below review the management functions in the ESDP-PMU. 3. Review of the management functions in the ESDP-PMU: The ESDP-PMU is destined to accomplish education related projects. These projects are financed through the proceeds coming from International organizations such as the World Bank, African Development Bank, European Union, as well as other UN bodies such as UNICEF and UNFPA.Each financier or development partner requires the need to follow ones procedures. The other dimension of the matter that needs attention is that each financier or development partner is set up to achieve each project objectives. Thus, there are kind of awkwardness in reaching a harmonized program objectives. Planning function in the PMU The PMU believes that proper planning is a prerequi site to success. It is concerned with the future impact of today’s decisions. In the PMU there is a section that deals with planning issues.It prepares tactical and operational planning in view of the project objectives. The planning that is made part of the Financing Agreements with the respective development partner can be taken as a strategic one. The Planning Section of the PMU prepares an Annual Work Plan and Budget (AWPB). On the basis of which, the procurement section derives its procurement plan, and the finance section derives its financial and disbursement plan. Therefore, we can see the following relationship in the planning function of the PMU. Graph 1.Planning function relationship From the foregoing planning relations graph, we can observe that all the activities envisaged to be done in a year or a year and half through the plans of the respective sections. Overall, all these plans reflect the scenarios â€Å"where we are now? †, â€Å"where do we want t o be? †, and â€Å"how do we get there? †. It is good also to note that the submission of plans and seeking approvals is mandatory. This procedure is deemed appropriate and practically does positively affect the projects. Organizing function in the PMUTo the PMU organizing function refers to establishing the internal organizational structure of the business. The focus is on division, coordination, and control of tasks and the flow of information within the organization. It is through this function that the manager distributes responsibility and authority to employees. The organizational structure of the PMU is shown below. It takes into consideration the objectives and tactics already identified in the planning stage. The structure decides the division of labor, delegation of authority, departmentation, span of control nd coordination issues. When we come to the division of labor, the PMU is divided into 5 sections, viz. , Planning, Monitoring, and Evaluation (PM&E), Pr ocurement, Finance, Engineering, and Administration sections. And all the employees are recruited in such a way that they are fully occupied. In regards to the delegation of authority, as reflected in the organizational structure, the authority is exercised as per the stipulated structure. The sections coordinate their work so as to achieve the objectives. This means that no section can stand alone.Staffing function in the PMU Staffing encompasses the tasks of recruiting, hiring, training, lay-off, and compensation of employees. The PMU recruits its staff with due regards to the management and labor needs. In so doing, it prepares job description, builds a pool of applicants, review the applications and select those to be interviewed, do the interview, check references, and select the best suited candidate and hire him. The PMU provides training to its staff in view of the timely job related developments and requirements.For instance, the staffs are made to be actively involved in t he endeavors to upgrade themselves. Similarly, the PMU lays off its staff in view of staff’s reflections of incapacities in doing the tasks or showing other behaviors that are believed against the norms of the organization. It is the right of the employees to receive the needed compensation related with the job they undertook during their stay in the PMU. Directing function in the PMU Directing is influencing people's behavior through motivation, communication, group dynamics, leadership and discipline.The purpose of directing is to channel the behavior of all personnel to accomplish the organization's mission and objectives while simultaneously helping them accomplish their own career objectives. Highly motivated people perform better than unmotivated people. Motivation covers up ability and skill deficiencies in employees. The PMU gives motivation top priority. Employees are motivated through the material, financial, as well as work environment privileges. This is very impo rtant aspect that expedites the realizations of the objectives.Besides, the communication issues are very important as part of the directing function of management in the PMU. The staffs are careful enough in their communicative efforts such as with the financiers, partners, suppliers etc. The staffs are appraised for what they do, and disciplinary measures are taken for incidents of misbehaviors. Controlling function of the PMU Controlling in the PMU is done in view of the performance standards (indicators) set in each financing agreement back before the start of the implementation of projects.The Planning, Monitoring, and Evaluation Section of the PMU take care of such tasks as monitoring activities and evaluating against standards. The Planning, Monitoring, and Evaluation Section undertake routine or surprise checks of activities. At the mid term and final term of projects, they also conduct evaluations. In so doing, the section seeks preventive and corrective measures such as th e incorporation of new mechanisms of implementations. The controlling function is done in all aspects of the program, such as controlling assets owned by the office, control on the staff in terms of their work hours. . General Observations in the PMU The PMU is known for its staff that is aware of the virtues out of team working, learning by doing, and complementarities. These attributes are very important for the management function to achieve effectiveness and efficiency in the tasks that are destined to accomplish. Most of the staff members are young professionals that they can learn easily from experiences of others, and that they possess the merit to catch up things through continuous reading. The team work in the PMU has assisted the effective accomplishments of activities as scheduled.Synergism is common place, and supporting one another is highly worked upon. 5. Recommendations From the foregoing we can understand that the PMU fully undertaking management functions. In order to cement the positive sides of what is going on in the PMU, I recommend the following points: †¢ that the various projects need to be harmonized †¢ that the staffing function be done in view of the experiences already nurtured. This means the job description in trying to hire staff has to be used in such a way that team work is given greater weight. that more training need to be provided to the staff †¢ that the young professionals be retained as a team in order to pursue the implementation of similar projects in other sectors such as agriculture, etc 6. Conclusion Efficiency and effectiveness are key words related to the realization of plans. The realization of this is the task of management. Management does these through the coordination of its functions. These functions are planning, organizing, staffing, directing, and controlling.The PMU is reputed for pursuing a management style that assists in the realizations of set objectives effectively and efficiently. Al l management functions are employed in the PMU, and thus the fruits of these concerted efforts are tangibly realized. 7. Works cited Website http://choo. fis. utoronto. ca/fis/courses/lis1230/lis1230sharma/plan1. htm http://www. ag. ohio-state. edu/~mgtexcel/Function. html http://www. ag. ohio-state. edu/~mgtexcel/Staffing. html http://www. buzzle. com/articles/management-concepts-the-four-functions-of-management. tml http://choo. fis. utoronto. ca/fis/courses/lis1230/lis1230sharma/history4. htm Kiflemariam Abraham, Reading on Principles of Management. March 2007 Management Term Paper * * Help Desk Operations for the Operating Forces Wilfredo Santiago Park University Author Note This is an insider view on how to streamline and improve the services provided by MCTSSA (Marine Corps Tactical Systems Support Activity) Help Desk to the Operating Forces. Abstract MCTSSA Help Desk was established over 10 years ago to provide technical support to the operating forces.Today the Help Desk is referred to as OFTSSC (Operating Forces Tactical Systems Support Center) with a specific mission stated as: to provide continuous, distributed technical support, troubleshooting, and problem resolution for Command, Control, Communications, Computers and Intelligence (C4I) systems, in order to optimize those systems as force multipliers in assisting Marines to win battles. While the OFTSSC focuses on the needs of the Marine Corps, it offers technical assistance to all C4I system users across the entire Department of Defense (DoD), U. S. Government and all U.S. Foreign National Allies. The OFTSSC provides its customers with remote technical assistance by facilitating online access to supported system documentation, system software and offering live interaction with system subject matter experts (SMEs), via phone, online chat, and email. If a solution to a customer problem is not immediately available, OFTSSC personnel will actively work to obtain a solution by elevating customer issue s to MCTSSA support engineers, system vendors, Marine Corps Systems Command program managers or other commercial or DoD customer support agencies.Help Desk Operations for the Operating Forces The OFTSSC from the start operated in an ad-hoc manner maintaining its mission capability with a support staff composed of contractors and civilian government analysts and a limited number of uniformed personnel. This odd mix of employees with identical goals as a mission end state has presented a management challenge that has hampered efficiency and responsiveness in providing the services as defined in the stated mission. This paper will address three persistent problems that exist within OFTSSC.First, the lack of a verifiable control measure to gauge analyst productivity and quantified work output. Staffing is also a source of issues that continue to impact OFTSSC’s ability to maintain its credibility as a reliable source of SME (Subject Matter Experts) and it has a continuing difficu lty at retaining well trained employees to stick around. In fulfilling its function as a help-desk/support center for the operating forces, employees routinely receive calls from customers describing problems they encounter when employing tactical systems whether in garrison or on deployment.These calls are inducted into a database repository, Remedy. Here the adequacy of Remedy in providing as an output control comes into question. Although Remedy is widely used in the help desk community it is a system that requires a lot of labor intensive modifications to get take advantage of its capabilities as a help desk database tool. Currently, Remedy is employed as an out of the box software with limited modifications. Remedy can be modified as an output control tool that will enable management to effectively monitor employee productivity and efficiency.By design Remedy not only archives problems customers refer for solutions it also is a repository of all solutions created by analysts wh ich is then made available for future use or reference as a knowledge based article (KBA). As calls are received from customers analysts input all data related to problems being referred for assistance into Remedy. The information will include system type and nature of the problem and complete customer information. All these information is populated onto a standard template. The analyst then proceeds to research the KBA archives by using a key word search related to the problem.If a solution match is found this is provided to the customer and the problem is marked resolved and archived. The utility of the Remedy database is not fully exploited as any type of record created is only available only thru accessed. With all these information available within a central repository it should be made available for for all analysts at a glance providing a snapshot of the problem, the status, whether pending, resolved or in progress. This should be displayed on a large monitor for all to see. With this information on display all analysts will have current status of all problems available at a glance.At a minimum this should display two weeks worth of activity. This display will serve as visible output control measure to gauge analyst activity and productivity. This quantifiable and measurable display of work output can be used as an objective measure of performance and used as a basis for compensation rewards. For the analyst this will also serve as a current constant visible reminder of work that is pending, in progress or completed. Today the mix of employee analysts within OFTSSC has a variety of skill sets whose qualifications for the jobs are based on their past work experience with a particular system.This has been a detriment to OFTSSC’s ability to provide reliable analysts consistently without periodic unavailability due to SME absence. This is a cause for concern because of its impact on the service reputation that is expected by the customers – av ailability among others. To fill this requirement gap it is imperative that the depth of analyst skill sets be enhanced. There are thirty analysts currently employed supporting over forty varying systems which include a variety of tactical radios. The systems are grouped into Command and Control (C2) or Tactical Applications (TacApps) with tactical radios included into TacApps.This grouping is done for purposes of limited management and tasking deconfliction. Personnel tasking however blurs the lines of personnel assignments as analysts are often randomly assigned to provide assistance on systems that he or she is not officially assigned. The practice has in many situations caused unexpected disruptions in service quality. Because too often analysts assigned to tasks do not possess the subject matter expertise to provide support requested. To mitigate this situation a training program that will involved cross training all analysts need to be instituted within OFTSSC.Staffing has to be reviewed and a reorganization of the analyst teams will have to be done in a manner that permits a well defined tasking of all analysts based on skill sets and grouping them based on previous assignments. Within each grouping a program of OJT (On the Job Training) will be initiated by pairing each analyst together and each one go thru a training program designed to increase their depth of skill and familiarity with systems other than those they are qualified on as an expert. During the training period ample opportunity will be dedicated to having the trainer and trainee to conduct business as a team.This process will be akin to a mentoring process that facilitates the transfer of knowledge and skill that will improve the services provided to customers. Reorganization and staffing once completed will result in a reliable and available analyst well trained on the system supported. The improved skill sets will require to be maintained if the quality of service is to be credible, thi s can be achieved with a programmed sustainment training that should include in-service training and follow-on continuing education to keep current with the dynamic nature of technology.Summary The operation of a support center such as OFTSSC is unique in that its main customer is the operating thus the focus of its services are the uniformed personnel who maybe in harm’s way, because of this it is critical that the quality and accuracy of service and information provide require a level of expertise that is above the norm. Analysts are assumed to be the experts on the systems they support therefore it is imperative that their training and quality of service measure up to the standards.If the service provided is to have any value or credibility the provider must have the requisite knowledge and training to be consistent with the required standards. At the onset staffing should focus on critical skill sets that are vital to the operational demands of the customers and they shou ld sustain the currency of those skills. In order to maintain and improve the depth of knowledge and skill sets training is essential and once established sustainment will be required.Hiring standard is another area that will have to be visited to ensure that standards are maintained and qualified personnel are selected. This will preclude the impact of substandard services to the customer. References -3 points for not utilizing MG352 text to support term paper. 1. Operations Chief: OFTSSC Standard Operating Procedures, 2010 2. The Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) version 3, 2011 3. http://www. bmc. com/solutions/itsm/it-service-management. tml -3 points for improper citing of reference; below is how article from the Internet should be cited Author (2012, May 15). Name of Article, Date retrieved from the internet & http://www. link. com 4. http://www. marines. mil/unit/marcorsyscom/mctssa/Pages/OFTSSC. aspx -3 points for improper citing of reference; below is how article from the Internet should be cited Author (2012, May 15). Name of Article, Date retrieved from the internet & http://www. link. com