Case Study - New Supervisor Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Case Study - New Supervisor - Essay Example The most pressing issue for George is lack of planned strategy and organized way of working. The work lacks proper documentation of work and records of workers, including their work schedules, attendance and performance details. Hence to monitor the work performance and productivity, George needs to streamline the process and develop strategic plans to organize work schedules. These should be communicated across the employees. He should also define duties and emphasize on disciplined work culture where achieving targets is highlighted. He should also delegate duties so that junior managerial and administrative staff become well versed in the office processes. Most importantly, George must create a pool of talent based on skill and aligned work. This would enable the workforce to organize the schedules for optimal performance. There also needs to be constant communication across management and workforce so conflicts can be resolved early and amicably. From the remaining issues, the top priority of George would be to resolve the issue of Francine who had filed a grievance with the personal department against the assistant supervisor. As there was no organized way of working and office lacked proper records of employees work details, the case of Francine needs to be resolved early as she could easily have EEOC claim. George has huge burden of streamlining the work process and create facilitating work environment. Strong work culture ensures long term sustainable competitive advantage (Armstrong & Baron, 2005). Therefore strong teamwork needs to be promoted. Performance based incentives would be motivating factors for the workforce (Armstrong & Murlis, 2007). George also needs to develop well organized record keeping and documentation of office records. This would help to evaluate performance regularly and motivate workers for incentives and bonus. Moreover, creating talent pool would facilitate better

Ketchikan, Alaska Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Ketchikan, Alaska - Essay Example This however drew attention to the enormous wood reserves and in 1954; one of the biggest pulp mills in the world was established. This too was closed down as a result of obsolete equipments and severe environmental regulations. (Thompson, 2008). The city is a home to a large number of different tribes and communities and hence presents a very wide and diverse culture. Many different tribes that have origins ranging from Indian to American live in this area. The famous tribes of Ketchikan are: Inupiat, Yupik, Aleut, Inuit, Tlingit, Haida, Tsimshian and Eyak. Akin to the various tribes, there are a range of religions prevalent in the area but the most widely practiced are Christianity and Buddhism. There are a number of churches in the city like St John’s Church on the mission street and the First Lutheran Church on the Tongass avenue. These religions have made an impact on the life of the people of Ketchikan as well as the whole region of Alaska. Different Institutions like sc hools, colleges as well as churches reflect the ideologies of these different religions spread throughout the state. (Ketchikan, Alaska) The city contains plenty of historical sites and museums that attract the visitors.

Problem Solution and Management Plan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Problem Solution and Management Plan - Essay Example It requires an excellent management and leadership skills in the managers concerned with the given project. The manager needs to have persistence, optimism, listening skills, and the ability to wok collaboratively towards the objectives (Queensland Government, 2007). After the identification of the problem, it is necessary to consider the possible solutions to the problem. All the solutions are examined and the probable consequences evaluated against the objectives of the organization carrying out the project. It is also appropriate to consider the ease with which a particular solution can be implemented. A course of action that is easy to implement and has the maximum likely positive consequences suffices to provide a solution to the problem. 2. The solution to the problem Developing a solution to the stated problem requires effective managerial and decision-making skills through a scientific method (Creative Problem Solving, 2011, para.2). Three solutions were identified to address the issue that arose in carrying out the reservoir construction project. Developing an appropriate solution consists in evaluating the possible results of each of the solution if adopted. It is appropriate to consider the financial impacts of each of the solution, the legal obligations, as well as how the solution relates to the organizational values, policies, and objectives. The manager has to understand the ‘environment in which the solution and to work and the organizational constraints imposed upon it’ (Vandenbosch, 2003, p.7). One identified option was to hire an engineering firm that would deal with the breakdown of the granite rock that would impede the construction of the reservoir. The contractor did not consider this part of the contract, as it would call for additional expenses in terms of labor and time. Now, subcontracting a separate engineering firm would be appropriate since such firms have demonstrated capacity and competence to perform such tasks. How ever, this option would call for a relatively higher additional cost. Besides, there will be a need to advertise for the subcontract and recruit the best firm. The other option was to do away with this contractor, cancel, and re-advertise the contract. This is equally expensive. The whole cost that has been incurred in the advertisement and in the selection of this contractor will be lost since the process has to be repeated. It would also show lack of ethical consideration that is contrary to the organizational values and culture that the needs of different stakeholders need to be considered in designing the operational plans. Besides, it has also been observed that this contractor is among the best that had applied for the job. Losing the contractor would compromise the project to the disadvantage of the beneficiaries. Moreover, it is also likely that the next contractor will raise the same issue and the problem will continue in a cycle. The other contractors might also doubt the credibility of the management of this organization giving the management a negative image. This would have negative impacts on contracting for future projects. The other option was to amend the contract to include basting of the granite rocks, in the event that the contractor is capable of performing the task. The contractor has indicated that he has the capacity to perform the task. This option would be cost-effective as compared to the first option of hiring an engineering fir

The accidental investment and Mans search for meaning compared Essay

The accidental investment and Mans search for meaning compared - Essay Example These themes revolve around ethics, morality, values and motivation. Ethics is the differentiation of good and bad and so is morality. Morality however has an aspect that revolves around the background the individual or people have been brought up in and the morals that were instilled in such individuals. It is therefore not a wonder then that in the first book which solely deals with bankers, the author describes in detail how some bankers shamelessly and in most cases surreptitiously swindle their clients finances by lying about investments and especially those made through the internet. The author who was also in that business but later due to the lack of ethics and morality of the colleagues left explains how those bankers are self-centered thinking only about their future and not of those clients. This may be termed as a lack of morality, self-value and even ethics. The theme of motivation in this book becomes evident where it the motivations of the bankers to make ends meet and avoid having a poor future that make them swindle and lie to clients about investments. The same can be said about the second book whose concept of lack of morality, values and ethics revolves around the Nazi soldiers whose lack of the above mentioned themes led to them treating the Jews inhumanely and subjecting them to unbearable torture. It is this torture that made the author of the book decide to introduce a motivator through counseling the rest of the prisoners to keep their hopes and dreams alive and avoid them losing touch and giving up in life despite them being in the concentration camp. In the first book about investment, the author gives first-hand experience of what really goes on in the investment business that the rest of the population do not know are simply too ignorant to understand. The ethics and morality by bankers in the investment business has simply evolved from being that based on truth and deep care for the client to that of making money and generating rev enue regardless of how they will do it. Their values are not in customer satisfaction or benefit like it used to be the case in other previous decades, they simply think about themselves and their future which is uncertain and hence will fleece the innocent investors of their money without flinching an eye. Their motivation relies on internet and it superb working to connect many investors and at the same time remain faceless hence avoiding feelings of guilt in the end. The other book â€Å"Man’s search of meaning† is simply a personal experience about the author’s time spent in Nazi’s concentration camp, the hardships they faced, the inhumane treatment, the lack of morals and values by the guards running the camps and in the end the motivation behind survival in the camps and not giving up hope in spite of all the mistreatment. The theme of the first part of the book is about ethics and morality and how the guards in the concentration camp just like the bankers in the above book think about only themselves and hence step down harder on the rest of the people to achieve their goals and objectives at the end of the day. The motivation in the second part where logo therapy is employed by the author in a bid to keep alive and survive all that is interconnected with the motivation behind the banker’s use of internet to benefit themselves and feel less guilt or sad emotions for what they are doing. 2 How do the themes connect with my own ethics, values, interests and motivators? Ethics enable a person differentiate between the good and the bad and therefore make one avoid or correct the things that are deemed bad by the individual or society and concentrate on the good or work towards the good. The

The legality of downloading mp3 Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

The legality of downloading mp3 - Research Paper Example There are many contradictory opinions on this subject, and the fact that day by day the number of illegal mp3 downloads grows just makes the matter more and more actual and painful for the people whose work is being stolen. Transmitting mp3 files over the Internet has become by far the most popular method of distribution, generating in this way controversial and intense debates. This subject has been chosen for the research paper not only due to the indisputable popularity of the illegal actions, but also because of the fact that most of us have at least once downloaded the music we like by using these illegal sites, even if we are aware that it was wrong. Nevertheless, â€Å"the law enforcement community in the twenty-first century seems to have finally awakened to the fact that ...computers are here to stay†1 and something must be done in order to solve this problem as efficiently as possible. The term paper will be focused on revealing the essence of the growing popularity of illegal mp3 downloads, the legal matters that arise from these actions and come up with some recommendations on combating this phenomenon. The author will focus both on the national Canadian context, as well as on the international one, pointing out the main differences and similarities and analyzing them. The paper will be finished with the conclusions, where the personal opinion of the author is expressed, as well as some recommendations, which, in the author’s opinion, could improve the statistics. It is not possible to talk about illegal mp3 downloads in Canada, where downloading music from peer-to-peer networks is legal, uploading it being against the law. â€Å"Canada has a private copying levy, which grants the right to make personal, non-commercial copies of sound recordings. Canada has imposed levies (fees) on recording mediums like blank CDs and similar items. These levies are used to fund musicians and

Cause and Effect Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Cause and Effect Paper - Essay Example As the demand increased across the spectrum, housing demand was also rising. This led to an inflation of house prices which in turn attracted more and more people to buy houses as investment in property began to be considered as an investment that was bound to yield a good return. Due to the increasing demand in the economy, the US government maintained a low rate of interest so that banks could lend more – and the banks were more than willing to lend to finance this consumer demand as it meant greater profits for them. Statistics suggest that the total loans outstanding for banks increased from 99% of GDP in 2000 to 132% of GDP in 2007. Mortgage loans also saw a similar increase in lending – from 48% of GDP in 2000 to 73% of GDP in 2007 (McKinsey, 2010). During this period, as bank lending increased, the focus of banks began to shift from looking at the fundamentals of lending to looking at volumes and profitability of loans. Therefore, they started lending heavily to subprime borrowers - borrowers with a poor credit rating - and these borrowers were attractive for banks as they could charge a higher rate of interest to these customers. In order to hedge against these risky loans, the banks also started selling Mortgage Backed Securities (MBS) which were bonds payable against receipt of housing loan installments. The increasing demand of loans led to an increase in interest rates for lending. As a consequence, financing and refinancing became costlier and loans were no longer easily available to pay installments or to fund further demand. This caused a reduction in demand in the housing sector as well. With a reduced demand, the prices of houses stopped increasing – in fact, they began to fall. Now, subprime borrowers found it increasingly difficult to sustain their installment payments as the value of their assets (house prices) began to run below their liabilities (loans outstanding). This further caused them to default on their payments . This defaulting of payments had two important effects – banks lost the money they had lent and had to write off the loans, and MBS were no longer paying the return they promised to pay. As a result, insurers and investment banks who had promised payments in case of failure of these MBS incurred huge losses. All financial institutions had to suffer these losses and the worst hit were banks like Citibank, insurers like AIG, and investment banks like Lehman Brothers. Due to these losses, consumers lost confidence in several of these financial institution and most banks saw a bank-run – when depositors line up outside banks to demand their deposits. In the end, some of these companies had to shut down, and many other financial institutions had to be bailed out by the US government to keep them running. All of this, led to a severe downturn in the US economy. Another important implication of this downturn was that the credit rating agencies were blamed for not being proac tive and reviewing properly their ratings for the financial companies. This downturn led to companies reducing their costs to stay profitable. They did so by firing their staff and by stopping their recruitment. Consequently, unemployment started to increase in the US economy reaching 9% which led to further lowering of consumer confidence and demand. In order to prevent the situation from getting worse, the central bank reduced its interest rate to near zero level and increased the money supply heavily. However, due to

The Events of September 11 Attacks Research Paper

The Events of September 11 Attacks - Research Paper Example In Hamburg, most of the secondary planners and pilots became radical and better equipped to attack. In the morning of September 11, 2001, four planes were hijacked by 19 militants said to be mostly of the Saudi Arabia origin who subscribe to the ideals of Al Qaeda, undertook attacks targeting the US. They used four California-bound flights, taking control soon after their take-off. Some of the terrorists took charge of two commercial airliners and crashed them into the World Trade Center’s twin towers at about 8.45am. Another airliner was crashed into the Pentagon by another group of terrorists at 9.45am. Another group took charge of yet another commercial airliner that was headed to the White House, Washington DC but it crashed in Pennsylvania at 10.10am after the terrorists were overpowered by passengers. It is believed that the perpetrators were involved in a holy act aimed at killing as many westerners as possible considered to be enemies. The then President George W. Bush was shuttled around the country due to security concerns and was only back to the White House at about 7pm and addressed the nation and indeed the world at 9pm to restore confidence in America’s sovereignty. Operation Enduring Freedom was hatched to oust Taliban regime and destroy the terrorist network of Osama (Bodden, 2007). Arrival of first responders Immediately the World Trade Center, WTC was attacked, there was a concentrated response by emergency services. According to Flood (2011), over 100 emergency medical service, EMS units together with many dozens of private ambulances arrived at the site, setting up triage centers from where the injured would be ferried to hospitals. Over 2,000 Port Authority and NYPD police officers enforced security in the area, ransacked the twin towers and assisted in rescuing survivors. Being a five-alarm fire situation, 214 FDNY units, much more than the required 44 units responded to the emergency with 58 ladder trucks, 112 engines, seve n squad companies, five rescue companies, dozens of chiefs, four marine units and massive support, communication and command units. Unfortunately, many of these first responders were also killed in the process. Why the Attacks? The question of what caused the 9/11 attacks remains elusive but has been largely attributed to the failed foreign policy as was applied in the Middle East. According to Bodden (2007) and Seessel (2003), the US had attracted hostility due to its support for Israel, a Jewish state, to be established and sustained. The Palestinians had for over 60 years raised their plight of being homeless and brutalized but no one, not even the US paid attention to their woes. This support for Israel caused anger among Islamic nations thus causing the radical Islamists to call for the withdrawal of the US from the region. Other initiators of the attacks have been cited as the presence of US troops in Saudi Arabia and the economic sanctions that were imposed against Iraq in 19 90. Therefore, Islamic fundamentalists called on supporters of radical Islam to declare war against the government and citizens of the US.