Management History Essay Example for Free

Management History Essay Managers can look at past managerial methods in order to make decisions that will best suit themselves and help their organisations, as well as giving their organisation a competitive advantage (Boddy D. , 2005). In this essay I will be arguing against the proposition that knowledge of management history is irrelevant to modern practice. To show that management history is important for modern managers, I am going to discuss and focus on a number of historical management techniques and theories and how they can be useful. I will talk about how these management techniques and theories are relevant with modern management. The first approach I will look at is the classical approach. Too elaborate on this theory I will split it in to two areas; the scientific management theory and the administrative principals. Firstly I will discuss the scientific approach; where I will talk about Frederick Winslow Taylor and his theory on the importance of workers being trained and the importance of the selection process (Bartol Martin, 1994). The next branch is the administrative approach involving theorist Henri Fayol and how his theories have been well respected and become a big part of modern management today. To finish off my argument I will be talking about the behavioural side of management by relating to Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Through looking into these methods I hope to give the reader a good understanding as to why I believe historical management has had a big impact on modern management today and will continue to do so in the future. The first discussion will be based around the classical approach, an approach to management that is seen as a way of managers making decisions based around economic concern. There are three main areas within the classical approach, these being scientific management, administrative principles and bureaucratic organisation. However, throughout my argument I will be focusing only on two of these approaches, thus being the scientific approach and the administrative principals. The two main theorists who are heavily involved in these consist of Frederick Winslow Taylor, whom was the founder of scientific management and Henri Fayol whom has had a big influence on the administrative principals. I will also mention Mary Parker Follet whom has also had a big impact on the administrative principals. (Schermerhorn, Davidson, Poole, Simon, Woods, Chau, 2011). I have chosen to focus only on these two areas of classical management as they are well related to my argument that historical management is relevant to modern management. The  first approach I will be discussing is the classical approach, where we will first be talking about scientific management. The man behind the scientific management theory is known as Frederick Winslow Taylor. Taylor’s main contributions to management thought and practice hav e come through his idea of the scientific management theory and approach. In 1911, Frederick Winslow Taylor published his work, ‘the principles of scientific management.’ These principles described how applying the scientific method to the management of workers could greatly improve productivity through the analysis and synthesis of workflows. It is a theory of management that analyzes and synthesizes workflows, improving work productivity (Schermerhorn, Davidson, Poole, Simon, Woods, Chau, 2011). To back my argument that management history is important for modern managers we see Henry Ford come into the picture. The ideas of Taylor were continued through well-known car manufacturer Henry Ford who went on to replace his workers with machinery, generally when it came to doing things such as heavy lifting (Daft, 2005). Scientific management has four guiding action principles, these being; to develop a ‘science’ for every job that includes rules of motion, standardize work processes and appropriate working conditions. Also to carefully select workers with the right abilities for the job, to carefully train them and give them proper incentives to cooperate with the job ‘science’ (Schermerhorn, Davidson, Poole, Simon, Woods, Chau, 2011). Frank Gilbreth whom worked as a bricklayer put Taylors ideas into place and created a method that allowed the number of movements to lay a brick reduce from 18 to 2 therefore going on to increase the rate from 120-350 bricks (Hatch Cunliffe, 2006). Taylors work is still being used in modern day and his concepts are well thought of, his ideas are clearly seen at the roots of management today. Scientific management has proven to be a very beneficial way for companies to develop and improve their approach towards business (Helms Cengage, 2006 ). The next part of the classical approach I will be talking about is the administrative principals. The administrative principal’s approach to management came about from a man named Henri Fayol. Most management textbooks published today acknowledge Fayol to be the father of the administrative theory (Daft, 2005). Fayol was a French mining engineer, whom gradually worked his way up the ranks until he was manager of up to 10000 employees for over 30 years. The administrative principles  involved issues such as departmentalization, span of control, exceptions to routine, and hierarchy. An example of the administrative principals being used in modern management can be seen through major fast food franchise McDonalds. The efficient production of their fast food is crucial towards customer satisfaction and organisation success therefore Fayol’s principles come in use for this systematic type of organisational structure. Here we see another part of historical management being used in a very successful franchise within the modern era. Mary Parker Follet was also a contributor to administrative principles. Follet believed that growth and success would come from the direct interaction between members of the organisational groups achieving common goals and objectives. She also displayed a general understanding of groups and showed commitment to human co-operation, creating ideas that are still relevant today (Schermerhorn, Davidson, Poole, Simon, Woods, Chau, 2011). The next part of my argument belongs to that of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Abraham Maslow has identified 5 important needs that individuals should aim to require in order to positively influence their contribution within the workplace. Maslow’s theory is often represented as a pyramid, with the larger, lower levels representing the essential needs, and the upper levels representing the need for self-actualization. The first need starts from the bottom of the table, this being psychological. Psychological needs are our basic needs, needs such as food and water. Safety needs are next, expressing an emphasis on the need for security and protection. Self-belongingness is the next need and falls under the category of social needs and feeling as though you are a part of something, a community, or group of some type. This is then followed by self-esteem needs which will mean you are given respect and recognition for your work, leaves the employee with a sense of competency. The last need of all and the highest need in Maslow’s theory is self-actualisation. This need looks at employees achieving self-fulfilments and goals, on the completion of certain tasks employees allow themselves to grow in confidence by using their abilities to their full extent (Davidson, Griffin, Simon, Woods, 2009). Maslow believes that the only reason that people would not move well in direction of self-actualization is because of hindrances placed in their way. These days we are beginning to see Maslow’s theory in many businesses as a way of motivating employees. Managers are using Maslow’s  theory within the work place to help give their employees motivation and something to work towards and achieve, it is a tool managers use to help point employees in the right direction (Davidson, Griffin, Simon, Woods, 2009). A prime example of this is volunteers working for non for profit organisations. With the fact that there is no money involved in volunteer works it is important for these volunteers to have the Maslow’s theory approach merged into their business setting as well as a part of their work ethic. This is vital in order to feel as though they are reaping rewards from the hard work they are putting in, as in volunteer work, money is non-existent. Managers also now tend to change and mix up the way they are motivating employees by giving different rewards and motivation stimuli in order to keep volunteers and employees happy to stay with the organisation (Hatch Cunliffe, 2006). As I have stated, it is clear too see that the two types of classical approaches discussed both have an impact on modern management. With Frederick Winslow Taylor and his theory of scientific management we can see that an important aspect is to obtain maximum wealth for both the employee and the employer. The example of Frank Gilbreth and his techniques used with bricklaying help us understand that positive outcomes come from Taylors theory and we are able too see that his theory has not gone un noticed and is infact a part of modern management. The same goes with the next part to classical management, this being the administrative principals. We again see administrative principles being applied to modern management. Our example based around this theory being major fast food franchise McDonalds. ‘The efficient production of their fast food is crucial towards customer satisfaction and organisation success.’ McDonalds is one of the largest franchises in the world today and will continue to be for years to come, and it is worthy proof showing the administrative principals involvement within such a successful franchise within modern management. The last theory I discussed was that thought by Abraham Maslow and his hierarchy of needs. This theory is a vital part of one’s mind and can help achieve a certain degree of self-belief within an employee as well as a manager or employer. It is a useful tool for managers to keep employees motivated and feel as though they are achieving. Throughout this essay I believe I have been able to support my argument as to why I believe that historical management is relevant to modern management. References Bartol, K. M., Martin, D. C. (1994). Management. Michigan: McGraw-Hill series in management. Blake, A, M. (2010) One hundred years after The principles of Scientific Management. One Hundred Years after The Principles of Scientific Management, 1-9 Boddy, D. (2005). Management an introduction 3rd edition. Harlow: Pearson Education Ltd. Daft, R, S. (2005). Management second pacific rim edition. Florida: Dryden press. Davidson, P., Griffin, R. W., Simon, A., Woods, P. (2009). Management 4th Australasian Edition. Milton: John Wiley Sons Australia. Hatch, M. J., Cunliffe, A. L. (2006). Organization Theory. New York: Oxford University Press Inc. Helms, M. M., Cengage, G. (2006). Chain of Command Principle Retrieved 22 August, 2011, from http://www.enotes.com/management-encyclopedia/chain-command-principle Schermerhorn, J. R., Davidson, P., Poole, D., Simon, A., Woods, P., Chau, S. L. (2011). Management (4th Asia-Pacific ed.). Milton, Queensland: John Wiley and Sons.

Wealth Distribution in the US

Wealth Distribution in the US United States of America consists of 50 states and one federal district, with capital in Washington. Unites States has the largest economy in the world, with a nominal GDP of $ 16.8 trillion by the year 2013.[1] The U.S. is a big producer of oil and largest producer of natural gas. It has the second place in the trade after China.[2] Moreover U.S. is the largest financial center in the world with a center in New York. The unemployment is 7.7% by the year 2013, meaning 12 million people,[3] whereas the population represents 315 million. It is a huge country with a huge territory and due to the differences in living standard of the population; the distribution of income and wealth is extremely unequal. 1.1 Current status on wealth distribution Wealth inequality means the unequal distribution of assets among American inhabitants in the United States. Assets or wealth refers to everything what the family or a person possess minus all debts e.g. the real estate, automobiles, stocks, bonds, businesses, savings, and investments minus all mortgages, vehicles loans, educational loans, financial assets loans etc.[4] According to President Obama (2014) the top wealthiest 1% possesses 40% of the nation’s wealth; the bottom 80% own 7%, which refers to the current state of the wealth distribution. The average employee needs to work more than a month to earn what the CEO earns in one hour.[5] Wealth is not something to spend on the daily expenditures, it should be a contribution to the income in order to achieve and retain the desired status and standard of living.[6] Wealth should support current consumption or should be retained to support the future consumption.[7] Moreover, wealth should be used for short- and long-term financial security, social prestige, and is a tool to get an access to political power, and can be used to produce more wealth.[8] The more wealth one has, the more power one has, and the less restrictions there are to live the life one likes. Generally the working and middle class finance all standard living costs through income and wages, while the rich are aiming on gaining more wealth, and making more profit of it.[9] 1.2 Historical change of wealth distribution in the US Changes in wealth from 1989 to 2001 By observing how the wealth of American households changes with the time, one can notice a general increase in wealthier individuals and a decrease in the number of poor households. Moreover the share of households with more debts than assets (negative net worth) significantly decreased from 9.5% in 1989 to 4.1% in 2001.[10] From 1995 to 2004, one can notice a significant growth among household wealth in the whole U.S., they doubled from $21.9 trillion to $43.6 trillion, which rely not only on the wealthy part of the country but on all residents of America, however the wealthiest of them used that time to make up 89% of this growth.[11] The situation on unequal wealth distribution in the U.S. was always an issue but during this time, wealth became only more unequal, and the wealthiest 25% became even wealthier. The significant role in an increase of housing wealth played life-cycles. Every baby-boom, people who reached the peak of their careers and the middle aged population contributed a lot to the general increase of wealth throw-out of the U.S., by achieving the comfortable levels of wealth.[12] The other explanation of a strong increase of household wealth is that financing the own houses / flats and cars became more accessible for all classes of population by introducing different financial products like mortgage loans, leasing etc and by introducing some social assistance e.g. granting favorable financial conditions for poor families. Table 1: Share of wealth held by the Bottom 99% and Top 1% in the United States, 1922-2010 Source: http://www2.ucsc.edu/whorulesamerica/power/wealth.html Changes in wealth after 2007 During the financial crisis the wealth of the households declined from 2007 to 2009 by a total of $17.5 trillion or 25.5%, which is comparable to one year of GDP.[13] However in 2010 the household net worth improved the performance by growing of 1.3 percent only to a total of $56.8 trillion. Still that growth was not enough to reach the value before the crisis and 15.7 percent is needed to recover.[14] According to statistics of 2007 the top 1% own 34.6% of the total U.S. wealth. The next 19% possess 50.5%, which means that the top 20% wealthiest possessed 85% of all financial assets, which is incredibly unequal. While the bottom 80% of the US residents owned only 15% of the total wealth.[15] As was mentioned before, the percentage of wealthy people in 2014 even increased. 1.3 Comparison with other countries The figures of 2013 showed that the wealth inequality in the U.S. was worse than in most developed countries. Moreover according to some figures the United States does not belong in the league of the developed countries due to the unequal wealth distribution. As the U.S. top 10% own 75.4%, comparing with other countries (2014): Australia 50.3%, Canada 57.4%, Denmark 72.2% , Finland 44.9%, France 51.8%, Germany 61.7%, Italy 49.8%, Japan 49.1%, Spain 54%, U.K. 53.3% and Singapore 61.1%, which means that the US has the most unequal wealth distribution among the top 20 developed countries. However there are even some extreme examples like Chile 72.5%, India 73.8%, Indonesia 75%, South Africa 74.8%, Kazakhstan, Russia and Ukraine.[16] In case of Switzerland, Denmark and Sweden the percentage of people with their own houses there is quite low as they tend to rent flats but there is no big difference in population classes like in the U.S. 1.4 Wealth vs. Income It is important to distinguish two following definitions: Wealth and Income. Income refers to a flow of money (per hour, per week, or per year) which means wages and salaries, i.e. income which people receive through work, retirements and some social aids; whereas wealth refers to the assets owned, e.g. houses, cars, financial assets (stocks, bonds), investments etc.[17] However income inequality is not adequate enough to describe the economic inequality, as it does not replicate the full picture of individual’s economic situation as some people live from their wealth and not from the income. According to the United States Census Bureau definition income is received on a regular basis before payments for personal income taxes, social security, union dues, medicare deductions, etc†.[18] By considering this definition it’s clear that the wealthiest families have low income however they earn their money through their assets, which enables them to support their lifestyle. As was mentioned before dividends and bond payments are not included in the classification of income but are the primary source of funding. People in retirement have also little income but a higher wealth due to saving of money during their lifetime, which they hand over to their children and children would be wealthier than their parents due to usage of their assets to earn profit.[19] A low-income household with above-average wealth is not necessarily worse off than a medium-income household with no wealth.[20] By taking a look on a table below there is a comparison of top 1% and bottom 40% and it is obvious that by having only debts (like these 40%) it is very hard or impossible to create wealth. There is only little exception of people, who created much wealth in one generation, while most of the wealthiest come already from rich families and were born rich. Who can be this top 1% of the wealthy people in the United States? Most likely these people to be self-employed and they earn most of the income from capital and financial assets.[21] The most common professions are managers, physicians, IT-administrators, lawyers, and teachers.[22] The wealth is not something, which could be gained in a couple of years. There are assets, which are given from parents to the children in order to make more wealth on existing wealth. That’s why top 1% are wealthy U.S. families, which made their business long time ago. 1.5 Mechanism to gain wealth As was mentioned before wealth is assets like real estates, vehicles, stocks and other financial and non-financial property. While some people save their money the whole life to get a house and all other expenditure go for food, clothes, gas and travels, the others make more wealth out of their wealth and with each generation these families become wealthier. There rises a question what is the way for a normal average class man to gain wealth? There are some possibilities or buildings established by the Federal Government. There are 401k plans, 403b plans, and IRAs. These tools (pension funds) are so called tax shelters, which were made for working individuals. They transfer pre-tax contributions of earned income to the tax sheltered savings accounts.[23] Contributed assets in Roth IRAs (individual retirement arrangement) are tax free and all interests, dividends, and capital gains are all excluded from income taxes. However in order to invest in these tools, one need a relative high capital and it’s only available for those individuals and families, who can afford to bind their assets for a long time (typically until the investor reaches age of 60). [1] _ Gross Domestic Product: 4th Quarter and Annual 2013, Bureau of Economic Analysis [2] _ Inman, economics correspondent China overtakes US in world trade [3] _ Federal Reserve Database-FRED [4] _ Hurst, (2007) [5] _ Marsden, (January 26, 2014) [6] _ Grusky,(2001), page 637 [7] _ OECD (2013) Framework for statistics on the distribution of household income, consumption and wealth, page 120 [8] _ Keister, page 64 [9] _ Gilbert, (1998) [10] _ US Federal Reserve on wealth distribution in the United States (2006) [11] _ Zhu Xiao Di. (2007) [12] _ US Federal Reserve on wealth distribution in the United States (2006) [13] _ Broder, (2010) [14] _ U.S. Federal Reserve, (2010) [15] _ Forbes (2011) by Deborah L. Jacobs [16] _ http://www.huffingtonpost.com/eric-zuesse/us-is-now-the-most-unequa_b_4408647.html (2013) [17] _ Grusky, (2001), page 637 [18] _ U.S. Census Bureau, (2005) [19] _ Keister, (2004), page 65 [20] _ OECD (2013) Framework for statistics on the distribution of household income, consumption and wealth, page 121 [21] _ New York Times (2012) [22] _ New York Times (2012) [23] _ 401(k) Resource Guide – Plan Participants – Limitation on Elective Deferrals

Royal Mail Group: Human Resource Structure

Royal Mail Group: Human Resource Structure The Royal Mail group belongs to the UK government. It is a public limited company which has seen lot of success in past years. The degree of success was clearly reflected in the account of its annual turnover.Inspite of its success in the past, Royal Mail group have also witnessed higher degree of competition through its years. As it is not the time when King Henry (eight) established Royal Mail back in 1860s, it was very much necessary for the company to grow with the new advancement and sophisticated technology. The strategy they made and implemented was restructured according to the new level of demand and necessity of their customers. It was in 2006 the company first introduced the online postage system in which the customers can pay online. The stiff competition from the competitors sided by the change in status of the monopoly which the company have enjoyed before 2006 weakened the strength of the company. Modernisation was a major necessity to defend the pressure of competitio n from the competitors but company was not able to procure much fund for restructuring. Company have seen deficits in pension funds too. In 2003, a part of the Royal Mail group was privatised. In 2006, about 14 private operators were allowed to participate in the working of the company. HUMAN RESOURCE STRUCTURE An organisation should hold the unique strength of efficient recruiting which steps it out to a new level of development. It should involve group co ordination sided by developing leading power and talent. Innovative ideas should be given room for development and should create an environment to develop that culture. As this sort of organisation requires lot of effort from their staffs to stick on to their strict time lines, HR management should be the top priority management agenda. A company with good reputation helps it to attract the cream of the labour market. Identification of the core requirements by the Royal Mail enabled them to frame a new set of HR strategies from 2005, HR management in Royal Mail is mainly divided into 3 functional areas. It worked with People and Organisational Development Services. The organisation mainly focused on developing the prior HRM skills such as leadership quality, diversity and developing the organising talent. Business partners were the HR managers and they were assigned to different business locations. Combining with the strength of HR strategy, Royal Mail believed that they can reap the benefits of identification of the areas where the improvements should be made. Current state of the organisation can be closely studied with evidence based HR management approach. Employee assessments have been made and their performance was made into account. The findings were as follows which turned to be the organisations HR strategy; HR functions should include some hard skills relating to finance. It is essentially a quantitative aspect of human resource management.HR manager should be successful in knowing the operations which is being done in an organisation. This focuses mainly on calculative aspects.HR manager should prove his credibility in business development too. He should have the ability to manage the employees in a rational manner. Basic HR function should posses some soft skills which is essentially a qualitative aspect of human resource management. It is mainly confined with employee feedbacks, assessing works and reporting their performance. Good leadership is an essential characteristic of soft skill. Good communication with the workers boosts the relationship of manager to the workers to a great extent. Soft skills help to achieve higher work motivation and commitment. Congruence or a state of agreement should be present in the organisation as the workers in the Royal Mail should be fully content with their positions. MODE OF RECRUITMENT The criteria used by Royal Mail organisation for selecting a suitable candidate are as follows; Through advertisements job vacancies are communicated. Each job has a reference number. In Royal Mail website, using this reference C.V can be uploaded. If the reference number is unknown then candidate can search through and find out the suitable post to apply. If there is no job available at a certain point of time, provision for dropping of email id is given as when such vacancies are open, candidates are communicated through mail. It is cheap, focussed and quick mode of selection. By this method applications are selected, screened and interview is conducted by HR managers for recruitment. Human resource strategies developed by Royal Mail organisation was subtle. Professional development is given more importance with the effective use of business tools and technical skills. Hence training of the employees is done and performance is monitored. Performance appraisal is regarded as one of the top agenda of HR management. Training is structured in such a way that it includes class room training, seminars, teaching and the specialised coaching of encouraging the employees to understand their potential and hence upgrade their skills. They have given many supports and services like performance related pay bonuses and pension scheme. They have failed in the implementation of strategies due to the following reasons; Pressure from the trade unions. Deficits in pension fund. Bad communication. lack of fund to pay salaries. Inefficiency in managing work force. Redtapism EMPLOYEE BENEFIT RELATED ORGANISATIONAL FUNCTION To improve the commitment and psychological satisfaction of the work group, monetary considerations were channelized in such a way that it improved the motivation and role perception. Employees are given opportunity to pursue academic study which is seemed to be helpful for their position. They are paid in their study leave too. Financial support is given for the study. Independent support is provided by the organisation for health of employees in relation to the job, traumas, debt etc. Employee consideration was taken into account while framing the HR strategy. As one of the topmost organisation in UK, employees got discounts and offers in a wide range of products and services. The Royal Mail is located in easy location which helps the employees to come to work very easily.While working, some roles are paid shift allowances and mostly in flexible hours. Pension plan was developed and employees were made to contribute. Based on contribution, employee pension was paid by the organisation. After joining the Royal Mail, an employee is entitled to 4.5 weeks paid holidays per year and 8 bank holidays for the first five years.Option for purchasing extra holiday is given to employee to raise the entitlement upto 6 week maximum. By framing this sort of relaxation avenues, employees are likely to be more productive in work life devoid of stress. Flexible timing is developed by the organisation in which the employee can choose the timings as it allows them to adapt the time to meet their family needs too. The remuneration for the employees was not a standard one as per employee reviews as there was protest from the part of union regarding pay, modernisation and conditions in the organisation. Apart from the HRM core issues, secondary issues like health and safety, employee welfare etc should be taken into consideration while framing the HR strategies of the organisation. For gaining good competitive advantage, the satisfaction of employees should be reaped and this should be attached to the corporate plans while framing a HR strategy. Royal Mail was not very successful in reaping these benefits due to inefficient strategy formulation and lack of finance. For example: deficits in pension fund made the existing employees very much concerned about their future in the company. Belief in the organisation tends to decline which resulted in lack of motivation and commitment to work. Employee relation based on expectation and understanding failed. CHANGES IN HR PLANNING Human resource is the vital component of an organisation. The approach taken for the implementation of HRM should be adapted according to the business environment rather than a traditional defensive mode taken by the Royal Mail organisation as before. According to the economic view of implementation of human resources, Labour input cannot be measured purely in terms of workers employed in a particular job. It is not at all necessary that the labour input is directly proportional to the quantity produced in a production scenario as there is law of diminishing returns. To acquire the full efficiency of human resources in the organisation, there was some HR planning put into effect in 2005.The organisation was very successful in reducing the money spend on human resources by fifty seven million pounds in just 2 years. It was framed as a part of business transformation which included reducing absence rates, slashing head counts in HR etc.There was a significant improvement in HR to employee ratio from 1:75 to 1:130. HR planning was fruitfully implemented in the area of education sided with training and improvement in sickness absence. A three point plan was framed to prevent inefficiencies and introducing HR business partners into each area. The job description development and person specification is found to be the unavoidable part of HR planning. The repetition of tasks were monitored and prevented. A central shared service was created which brought all the experts towards the head office human resource team to point on strategies. The HR structure was restructured with business partnership and management change. In 2008, the Royal Mail organisation has become the toughest arm by employing 200000 plus workers. RIVALS AND COMPETITION Royal Mail was facing competition for many years. Counting from DHL , TNT the Royal Mail organisation has got a long list of rivals. Common complaints about the Royal Mail organisation were the unsatisfaction with the delays of the couriers, very short working hours, low level of customer service and unplanned delivery without a proper tracking system. The competitors in the field utilised these drawbacks and worked on it to made it as their main advantage. They concentrated in building up a business structure which was mainly build upon the basement of customer satisfaction and identification of their need. The work force in the company was trained and developed in such a way that the blend of HR ideas reflected in their working. Group coordination and subtle implementation of business strategy made them more powerful in capturing the market share more easily. Many of large organisations were looking for a better service provider so that their package are delivered in a better and s afe way. This became a concern to Royal Mail. For example, TNT managed to get high profile esteemed customers like Centrica and BT within a short span of just 6 years.It is continuously investing more funds in the sorting and processing technology. The Royal Mail have introduced the online stamp systems as a part of modernisation but the studies on customer reviews made it clear that the idea was subtle but the steps or the procedures involved in the purchase process is horrible. Improper implementation of ideas also counts very bad in the world of business. As now TNT handles more than 270 million items in a month and it is looking for more efficiency by building up a centralised distribution hub. As in the case of Royal Mail, a well established organisation which have a good history is still working on to improve its efficiency in all aspects of its working. Developing a competitive work force was the only solution for Royal Mail to raise from the edge of disaster. New HR strategies were framed and the focus fall upon the workforce. The need of transformation was identified and HR was a priority for them. Recruiting was done to get the competitive work force and training was given to them to make them adapatable to the changing environment. Expert team was employed to know the weaknesses. The main weakness which was figured out was the lack of customer focus and the dissatisfaction of them derived as a result. WITHSTANDING RIVAL COMPETITIONS The quality of work and the scaleability of costs were discussed among the executive committee. The pressure of competition was well known by the Royal Mail groups. To better their current position the trade off between the quality and efficiency were pointed out in the organisation and greater care was invested to perform the task specifically by taking into consideration the scopes and the risk involved in the business. It was leadership which was given importance to asses and develop operational managers. As a reform to introduce more technical tools, a computer based operational organisation simulation was set up.It identified the needs for development and the steps needed for improving the existing plan or replace the current plan with some other advanced plan. Next step was the design of leadership workshops which involved mainly scoping the identification of the current market situation and industrial relation for this time.Changes in the business plan of Royal Mail sided by the change in the management approaches and their practical implication was pointed out. These steps which were taken provided the foundation of the approaches they have taken later. Knowledge about the business and its new scope has to communicated with the managers. Inspite of great competition and regulation, the need for the managers to become more creative and make them ready to face the challenges was necessary. The operation manager played an important role in the management structure. They are actual backbone of performance. For stimulating high performance in the organisation, more concern was given to capability of the managers. Further concern was focussed on whether they are able to work with the surroundings if they are good in doing their job in high standard. So the need of making the workers more supportive with group coordination was also given attention. New performance standard was set up through lot of research and assessment. The prority was given to regain the operational control.they were investing their time to get the best output. Assessment is often a tough task in a management structure. There are various tools and methods to find it out. However, the Royal Mail was very much careful in the process as it wanted to be fit for the purpose and should involve realistic time demand both for the people involving in assessment and the people who asseses. The final step was to develop a selection process to fetch new managers as per vacancies. The key qualities was identified and developed. Performance appraisal was well designed to assess the performance level too. Some sort of changes in approach taken by organisation were as follows, Protection of the universal service   The need of the customers was taken into consideration and covered issues which ranged from the services provided to customers, its affordability to them the quality of service through efficient use of human resources. Market analysis investigation of existence of any failure in operation of organisation. Regulatory safeguards Giving more concern to the necessary protections for the people and the other companies in the same field. OPERATIONAL PERFORMANCE Royal Mail made a performance improvement programme which was sponsored by its management and union. Root cause for the operational failure was closely analysed and studied. Based on the studies new methods and approach which has to be used in the three years programme to put in track the new action plans jointly by the Royal Mail group and the union to contribute to greater performance in the working. Training the internal project teams in the working process was made to build up models for efficient working. Strategic HR solutions was developed in the organisational development, learning and managing talent, development which gives light to business plans. Front line managers, staffs and union members were involved in the business meetings. This contributed to make the employees feel like they are the vital part of organisation which in turn boosted their commitment to the organisation and greater motivation level in working with the group. A new corporate strategy function was created and implemented. This mainly involved: coaching of directors. Planning and integration in the strategic programmes conducting capability testing on a pilot basis in divisions of management. Creating more realistic and practical approach to alter the working in various division. EFFECT OF RECESSION Royal Mail had seen a dramatic down trading in its business in the country. Customers began to abandon the first class post as it was not affordable in recession. Even the Royal Mail organisation had admitted the truth. The recession trends shown the volume of customers sending letters began to shrink at a steady rate or switching on from first class services to second class postal services. The situation had become even worse as the customers were switching on to emails and internet based social networking sites. In addition to the chaos created by the strikes, the recession made the organisations position even worse. However a combination of modernisation which accounted in cost reduction and slight price changes sided by good product mix helped the company to increase its profit. As the company was undergoing a very tight financial position, it was not possible to increase the wages. The reward system existed at the time was unlikely to change. In 2008, the mail market in United Kingdom fell by eight percent. Royal Mail was intending to cut up 16, 000 jobs as a part of huge cost cutting plan. Quality of service of the organisation would be hampered by such a plan. WITHSTANDING RECESSIONS EFFECT Royal Mail organisation planned to raise the price of the first class and second class stamps. Another important decision was to cut down the middlemens commission. These decisions were prone to pressure from four walls which made the condition of organisation even worse. The recession had given opportunities for organisational development in the company. The professional development was made possible. Flexibility and the knowledge of the employees was boosted. Training was given to employees at the time of recession so that they got time for skill updating. Many new developed sorting machines were introduced by which more than eighty percent of the mail were sorted automatically. Modernisation was given priority which resulted in installation of intelligent letter sorting machines. New technology was introduced to sort more A-4 sized mail which also included magazines and some catalogues. Hand held scanners were introduced which recorded the confirmation of delivery within a short span of time. Reading of bar codes of special delivery was made possible with these scanners. As a part of nurturing development Heathrow world wide distribution centre was set up which involved high technology facility for the mailing services. The importing and exporting of the mail was done systematically removing the unsatisfaction of the customers which existed before. Flexible working hours was designed so that the workers get greater commitment to work as they get time for their family too. This enhanced their motivation level. SWOT ANALYSIS SWOT is the method used to evaluate the strength, weakness, opportunity and threat an organisation possess. SWOT analysis of Royal Mail carves out the following attributes; Strength Monopoly it has enjoyed for 350 years count its goodwill and brand name. Good location of organisation, good benefits package that is being provided to the employees. Weakness    Inefficient senior management, too much politics, bad communication, bad delivery, delay in delivery due to inefficiency, lack of control. Opportunity Lack of opportunity of business development in post mail market. The number of people depending on mail services decline at a faster rate. Threat High competition from strong competitors like TNT, DHL etc. Modernisation remained as a question mark as there were deficits in fund for paying salary and pensions. The financial position of the Royal Mail has become more worse in the time span of 2005 to 2010.It was in 2008, one of the high profile human resource director, Kevin Green walked away from the Royal Mail organisation. Previously it was Tony McCarthy. Lack of healthy interaction with the trade unions resulted in poor industrial relation. Every employee seeks to improve their returns from the organisation and when such promotional aspects are absent in an organisation it is more likely that the employee move from one organisation to another. This might be the thing what happened in Greens case. Privitisation of the Royal Mail has become a necessity as the mail volumes were falling at a faster pace, low investment, low efficiency and there was huge deficits in the pension fund too. In march 2009 the defecits in the pension had been figured around 10 billion pounds. At the time organisation had about 176000 employees. The sorting and delivery process were decided to be handled by a new independent firm.It was obvious that outside investors maintained majority of share and the rest was given as a share to Royal Mail staff. This was a good practical application of HR strategy as it helped the employees to work more efficiently as they have to work for their own company. CWU trade unions opposed the privatisation decision as they feared that the plan would devastate the services given by Royal Mail. The trade union was even more concerned about privatisation as there were possibility of job losses for staffs and more pricing for the customers. Still chaos continuous in the Organisation.

Atomism: Democritus And Epicurus Essay -- essays research papers

Atomism: Democritus and Epicurus In the Atomists, we see pluralism taken as far as it could possibly go. We see Democritus and Epicurus divide all the world, as well as the universe, into two categories; atoms and empty space. Everything else is merely thought to exist. The atoms are eternal, infinite in size and number and they are moving through the empty space. There is no motion without empty space. Both Democritus and Epicurus agreed that motion was impossible in a plenum, but it is here that their theories diverge. In the cause of the motion, we begin to see a variety of opinions. Both Democritus and Epicurus agreed that the â€Å"qualitative world of sense perception arises from the motion of qualitatively neutral atoms. They believe that the immense qualitative variety results from the ‘jostling' of atoms...as they collide and bounce apart, and so, constantly form new groupings† (Jones 84). They believe it to be a mechanical process occurring completely by chance. Furthermore, although new groupings are constantly being formed, only the few that can survive are considered the â€Å"right† combinations. These are the combinations we recognize through our senses as being â€Å"real†, although they are not. However, the way in which this complex motion begins is a source of controversy and disagreement amongst the Atomists. Democritus assumes that the atoms' motion is perpetual. The atoms are never at rest. He presumes that their nature is to move, thereby avoiding â€Å"the problem of explaining the origin of the complex motion of atoms by simply affirming that it is in their nature to move so† (Jones 85). He believes that atoms are born along with the whole universe in a vortex. The vortex is not an outside influence, but rather the motion of the atoms themselves. He never accounts for the initiation of this motion. He simply states that it is an inherent quality of the atoms themselves. Epicurus, on the other hand, wanted to find a reasoning behind the initial movement of the atoms; to find the cause of the initial collisions which start the creation process of the universe. Through observation of objects falling â€Å"down† within our limited perceptual space, Epicurus concluded ... ...ualities? Epicurus ambiguously calls these qualities â€Å"accompaniments† yet never explains how they can exist outside of reality and still be considered real. Epicurus changed the doctrine of Democritus in many ways in an attempt to clarify some of the more questionable postulations. Epicurus' theory is not necessarily superior, but certainly progressive. There is room for discourse on a variety of the Atomists' theories. Since they are the first school of thought from which we have so much written record, there is bound to be divergence of opinion. The areas I have discussed relate only the area of physics. Epicurus attempts to resolve some of the dilemmas Democritus leaves unresolved in ethical and psychological dilemmas as well. Of course, lingual and interpretive constraints play a part in all philosophical theory of the classical period. Yet in our "modern" world, we rely heavily on the ideas set forth by these great thinkers. It would be foolish to take one concept as superior over another because the scope of ideas given to us by these thinkers is too great a wealth to judge subjectively.

Two Views of Affirmative Action Essay -- Affirmative Action Race Essay

Two Views of Affirmative Action "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal†¦." Even before it became a nation, America was heralded as a land of equality. Thomas Jefferson's statement begs more than a few questions, one of which is: "How can we ensure equality to everyone?" Beginning in the late 1960s, the federal government provided an answer to this question in the form of affirmative action. In recent years, many people have called this policy into question. Interestingly, affirmative action is sometimes attacked by the people it helps, and defended by those it hurts. In particular, two recent essays demonstrate that people's race does not necessarily determine their beliefs on the issue of affirmative action. "Why I Believe in Affirmative Action" is by Paul R. Spickard, a white man who is defending affirmative action, while "A Negative Vote on Affirmative Action" is by Shelby Steele, an African-American who is attacking the program. When the two essays are considered as respon ses to each other, Steele's logical explanations of the effects and implications of affirmative action expose the flaws in Spickard's ethical arguments supporting it. Both authors structure their arguments to appeal to their respective audiences. Since Spickard's essay is written for Christianity Today, he makes a lot of ethical appeals that a Christian audience could easily relate to. Steele, on the other hand, is writing for The New York Times Magazine, so he relies on logic that would appeal to a more general audience. Spickard begins his ethical appeal by establishing his credibility through focusing on his support of affirmative action even though he has been denied employment because of the program. He says, "I a... ...demonstrating the absurdity of trying to make up for what our ancestors did. According to Steele, these attempts to pay for the wrongs of our ancestors grow out of a need "to impose on the world a degree of justice that simply does not exist." In other words, affirmative action seeks to correct wrongs that cannot be corrected because the people who were involved are no longer living. When Spickard's essay is examined alone, its arguments are quite convincing. However, Steele's essay effectively addresses the arguments of his opposition. As a result, his essay becomes much more effective than Spickard's, because he is able to point out all of the faults in Spickard's arguments. When these essays are read together and compared to each other, Steele's logic is much more convincing than Spickard's moral appeal, and exposes the flaws in the affirmative action program.

Stereochemistry: Addition of Bromine to Trans-Cinnamic Acid

STEREOCHEMISTRY: ADDITION OF BROMINE TO trans-CINNAMIC ACID Required Prelab Readings:McMurry Chapter 5, Sections 8. 2 & 21. 2 Morhig, Sections 7. 1 and 7. 3. Previous techniques that you must know and be able to perform: Suction Filtration and Melting Point This experiment is designed to demonstrate two concepts. First, it will provide a demonstration of how chemists can use chemical reactions to understand reaction mechanisms. Second, is the concept of multi-step synthesis. You will be performing the following reaction: Isomer IIsomer II + Enantiomer+ EnantiomerBrominetrans-Cinnamic Acid2,3-Dibromo-3-phenylpropanoic acid MW 160 g/molMW 148 g/molMW 308 g/mol bp 60  °Cmp 133-134  °Cmp 93-95  °Cmp 202-204  °C When an electrophile, such as bromine, adds to an alkene, the addition can be done in a syn fashion, in which the two groups add to the same side of the molecule, or in an anti fashion, in which the groups add to opposite sides of the molecule. Depending on the mode of add ition, syn or anti, and the stereochemistry of the starting alkene, various stereoisomers will result. In some cases, a racemic mixture of products is formed, other times a meso compound is produced. Feature Article –  Free-Radical BrominationThe Fischer projections shown above are two possible stereoisomers that could form in the bromination reaction that you will perform. One is the result of a syn addition, the other is the result of an anti addition mode. Note that each would form as a racemic mixture, (+). You are to determine, based on the melting point of your product, which pair of enantiomers is produced. By knowing which enantiomeric pair is formed one can predict a plausible mechanism. Hint: you can predict the stereochemical outcome of a syn vs. anti addition of bromine to alkenes before you step foot into the laboratory.The simplest example of a multi-step synthesis is to examine virtually any commercial medicine. Almost without exception that medicine was prepared by a series of reactions rather than in a single step. A multi-step synthesis generally requires a chemist to perform a chemical reaction, isolate, purify and characterize the product and then use that product as the starting material for the next reaction. You will be using the product of this reaction as your starting material next week. It will be important for you to have the product from this week properly identified so you can correctly predict the product of next week’s reaction. The most time-consuming part of this experiment is setting up the glassware. Be sure all fittings are tight, well-greased, and clamped so as to prevent any escape of bromine vapors into the laboratory environment. An actual set-up is provided for you in the lab for you to look at. ? You will need to set up the apparatus as shown in figure 7. 4 a on page 63 of Mohrig. NOTE:You are responsible for calculating the amount of trans-cinnamic acid (in grams) equivalent to 4  mmol. You must have this done before you enter the lab. HazardsMolecular bromine is extremely toxic and corrosive; its vapors are damaging to the skin eye and respiratory tract. Wear gloves and UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES AR E YOU TO REMOVE THE BROMINE STOCK SOLUTION FROM THE HOOD. Only remove your bromine solution in the stoppered funnel. Sodium thiosulfate reduces Br2 to Br-1. When working with Br2, always keep a bottle of 5% sodium thiosulfate handy for rinsing the skin in case of contact. Experimental ? Assemble a 50 mL round-bottom flask with a Claisen head, reflux condenser, and addition funnel. Into the round-bottom flask, add trans-cinnamic acid (4 mmol) and 10 mL of methylene chloride.Add a stir bar. ? Obtain 4. 0 mL of a 1. 0 M solution of bromine in methylene chloride in the addition funnel. Attach a heating mantle and variac and heat the mixture to a gentle reflux. The variac setting should initially be 25-30. Adjust this setting as necessary until the solution is refluxing . ? While it is refluxing, add the bromine solution at a rate of two drops per second. You need not loosen the stopper on the funnel for the bromine addition due to the high density of methylene chloride. The red-orange c olor of the bromine should dissipate as it reacts with the mixture.Continue to reflux for an additional 10 minutes after the last of the bromine has been added. ? The color of your final solution should be a very pale yellow. If the red-orange color persists after the 10 min, add cyclohexene dropwise (1-2 mL) until the red color disappears. ? Remove the reaction flask and cool it in an ice bath for 10 minutes with a greased stopper on top. Allow the product, 2,3-dibromo-3-phenylpropanoic acid, to crystallize. ? Meanwhile, disassemble the rest of the reflux apparatus and sit it in the back of your hood to allow the fumes to dissipate.Rinse the glassware with a small amount of sodium thiosulfate to destroy any remaining bromine. ? Collect the crystalline product by suction-filtration, and rinse with a minimal amount of ice-cold methylene chloride. Allow it to air-dry and record the mass and melting range of the product. Have your instructor check the weight of your product and initial this value in your lab notebook. Save all of your product as it is the starting material for next week. STEREOCHEMISTRY: Addition Of Bromine To trans-Cinnamic Acid DATA SHEET NAME: Section Number: Overall Reaction (including stereochemistry, Symyx Draw): Mass of acid: Theo mmol product: mmol of acid:Theo mass product: Volume of Br2 sol’n: Mass recovered product: mmol of Br2: mmol recovered product: % yield of product: Melting point of recovered product: Literature melting point: Calculations: (notebook) Post Lab Questions 1. What is the stereochemical relationship between Isomer I and Isomer II? 2. Use perspective drawings, Fischer Projections and words, to demonstrate whether syn addition of bromine to trans-cinnamic acid results in Isomer I or Isomer II. Repeat the process for anti addition. NOTE CAREFULLY:The question is about mode of addition (syn vs. anti), not mechanisms; do not use curved arrows to explain your answer.3.Based on your results, did the addition occur by a syn or anti mode? Explain your reasoning. 4. Provide the â€Å"electron-pushing† mechanism for this reaction and show how both enantiomers are produced. Use perspective representations to draw structures. Assign the R / S configuration to each stereocenter in the products. 5. Using perspective drawings with the correct stereochemistry, redraw the pair of enantiomers you drew in question 4 and show how each can be redrawn as the Fischer projection of Isomer I, Isomer II, or the enantiomer. Clearly label all stereocenters as R or S. 6. Show the products of the following electrophilic addition reactions (symyxdraw):

Sandy Hook

Alyssa Garcia Period 5, A & R Mr. Leighton 28 March, 2013 Sandy Hook Elementary Shooting On December 14, 2012 a horrible tragedy occurred in Newtown, Connecticut. Twenty year old Adam Lanza killed twenty innocent six years olds and six staff members at Sandy Hook Elementary. The shooting happened approximately around 9:30 a. m. , while announcements were being said on the loudspeaker to the students. This is a misfortune that will never be forgotten. We all have questions on how, when, what, where, and why Adam Lanza would do this. Some questions still have stayed unanswered.America’s most recent mass killer is Adam Lanza. Before the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary, news articles have discovered that Lanza had killed his Mother Nancy Lanza, at their Newtown Connecticut home before he took action at Sandy Hook elementary. Lanza took his life as well at the elementary school after he killed twenty-six innocent lives. Adam must have had plenty of time to plan out the shooting. Nancy Lanza was shot four times in her bed with a 22 caliber rifle. Reports have discovered that his mother would teach him how to aim guns at a young age. People that knew Adam when he was a kid say he was an â€Å"odd† child.Marvin Lafontaine knows the Lanza family from New Hampshire through a Boy Scout program (Weiegand). Lafontaine said that Adam was very anti-social and did not like to be touched by others. When Adam was in middle school he was diagnosed with Asperger syndrome which is an autism spectrum disorder that is characterized in the social behavior. As a child finding out that you are diagnosed with Asperger syndrome must be a challenge in life to obtain with. As a mother, it must be a difficult challenge to do the best to your ability to provide the needs for your child.Adams’ father Peter Lanza was divorced from Nancy when Adam was ten years old. The divorced must have made an impact in his life. Also, Adams’ older brother had moved out to attend a university out of state. At this point in his life he probably felt isolated and felt like he was different from others. He was identified as a child who is very likely to be bullied (Weiegand). I believe that Adam Lanza was motivated by violent video games and a mass murder. As a kid, Lanza and his mother Nancy would play video games.I am not assuming that his mother was part of the reason why he would do this massacre, but many people might believe that she influenced him. I am sure those were not her intentions at all. She was using video games to spend quality time with her son during the difficulty of the process of the divorce. Comparing the shooting at the elementary school and the video games are fantasies that he killed twenty-six lives and the deaths are counted as a â€Å"score†(Rodriguez). On December 17, 2012 the news said that Lanza kept a spreadsheet with five hundred names connected to past massacres in the past.Next to the names Lanza wrote each killer and the weapon to be used. The video game â€Å"Call of Duty† is about a mass murder named Anders Breivik who kills seventy-seven people in Norway in 2011. Lanza played this video game and I am sure it inspired some violence. Works Cited Bart, Brient. â€Å"Breitbart. com. †Ã‚  Breitbart News Network. N. p. , 27 Feb. 2013. Web. 18 Mar. 2013. Bennett-Smith, Meredith. â€Å"Gene Rosen, Sandy Hook Hero, Harassed By Conspiracy Theorists Who Claim He's An Actor. †Ã‚  The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost. com, 15 Jan. 2013. Web. 18 Mar. 2013. Nhan, BRENDAN. â€Å"United States Project.   Columbia Journalism Review. N. p. , 22 Jan. 2013. Web. 18 Mar. 2013 Rambo, Mindy. â€Å"Sandy Hook Shooting – Hoax †Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ JustMommies Message Boards. N. p. , 16 Jan. 2013. Web. 18 Mar. 2013. Rivera, Ray, â€Å"Newtown Debates School’s Fate after Shooting. † The New York Times. January 13, 2013. Web. March 6, 2103 Rodricks, Dan, â€Å"Remembering S andy Hook on the way to Congress. † Baltimoresun. com. March 6, 2013. Web. March 5, 2103 Rodriguez, Jessica. â€Å"Sandy Hook Hoax Video: Conspiracy Claim Draws 11M Views on YouTube (VIDEO). †Ã‚  Christian Post. N. p. , 19 Jan. 2013. Web. 18 Mar. 2013. Staglin, Douglas. â€Å"Conn.Paper Regrets Gun Ad next to Sandy Hook Story. †Ã‚  USA Today. Gannett, 3 Jan. 2013. Web. 18 Mar. 2013. Stern, Mark. â€Å"The Slatest. †Ã‚  The Slatest. N. p. , 7 Feb. 2013. Web. 18 Mar. 2013. Tracy, James. â€Å"Memory Hole. †Ã‚  Memory Hole. N. p. , 16 Dec. 2012. Web. 18 Mar. 2013 Tribune, East Valley, â€Å"Tempe Elementary District police take active role on school safety. † nbcnews. com. March 4, 2103. Web. March 7, 2103. View, The. â€Å"Experience ABC Online. †Ã‚  The View. N. p. , n. d. Web. 18 Mar. 2013 Weiegand, Davis, â€Å" PBS show provides more clues about Sandy Hook Shooter. † Newstimes. Com. February 17, 2103. Web. March 7, 2013