Assessment 2

Project Plan

Your Name (First M. Last)

School or Institution Name (University at Place or Town, State)

Introduction

The project on which the plan is based is the introduction and implementation of the Management Information System in an organization. MIS is an information system which helps the managers and people in the organization with the information required to an organization’s operations and for the purpose of decision making. MIS gathers data from different areas of the company and are important and help managers taking quality decisions ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"ai82t0m0c6","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Laudon & Laudon, 2016)","plainCitation":"(Laudon & Laudon, 2016)"},"citationItems":[{"id":964,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/FGhKhGPG/items/FZXIMT86"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/FGhKhGPG/items/FZXIMT86"],"itemData":{"id":964,"type":"book","title":"Management information system","publisher":"Pearson Education India","ISBN":"93-325-8266-1","author":[{"family":"Laudon","given":"Kenneth C."},{"family":"Laudon","given":"Jane P."}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2016"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Laudon & Laudon, 2016). Implementation of MIS requires all the departments and employees to participate in the project. The goal for the organization to implement the MIS is to enhance the business performance by providing management with the systematic information in forms of reports on a regular basis.

Purpose of project plan

The Project plan is developed to provide a clear definition of the project and define the project goals and objectives. Moreover, the plan will serve as a written document and a kind of agreement between all the parties involved in the project. The project plan will help the company in the implementation of MIS in the organization effectively and minimize the impact on the standard business processes.

Project Goals and Objectives

The goals of the project are to support the business goals of implementing the MIS in the company with a defined budget and time. It will help the organization to follow the timeline and assign key roles and responsibilities for the project completion considering the time and budget constraint. The deliverable of the project is implemented MIS in organization with people trained to use it effectively.

Project Methodology

Implementation of an Information System in an organization is a complex task, and it requires the step by step procedures along with the evaluation at each step. The project methodology used for the successful completion of this project would be the Waterfall method. This technique allows us to have more control over each of the stage and reduces the risk of any loss of information or requirement in the initial stages ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"a8ev95hf0u","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Charvat, 2003)","plainCitation":"(Charvat, 2003)"},"citationItems":[{"id":977,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/FGhKhGPG/items/9I8INRT2"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/FGhKhGPG/items/9I8INRT2"],"itemData":{"id":977,"type":"book","title":"Project management methodologies: selecting, implementing, and supporting methodologies and processes for projects","publisher":"John Wiley & Sons","ISBN":"0-471-22178-3","author":[{"family":"Charvat","given":"Jason"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2003"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Charvat, 2003). MIS implementation begins with the requirement specification in the implementation plan. A whole MIS department are designed and based on requirements, procurement for software and hardware is done. Then the plan is implemented and monitored for continuous improvements and its impacts on other systems.

Project work plans

Work breakdown structure

WBS can be defined as the "deliverable hierarchical decomposition of work to be executed by project team." Work breakdown structure provided a framework of the organization task to organize and manage the work of the project effectively ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"ado8p0ns4j","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Guide, 2004)","plainCitation":"(Guide, 2004)"},"citationItems":[{"id":965,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/FGhKhGPG/items/6EU435KY"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/FGhKhGPG/items/6EU435KY"],"itemData":{"id":965,"type":"paper-conference","title":"A guide to the project management body of knowledge","container-title":"Project Management Institute","volume":"3","author":[{"family":"Guide","given":"PMBOK"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2004"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Guide, 2004). It organizes the teamwork into manageable sections ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"a239ljfsuni","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Brotherton, Fried, & Norman, 2008)","plainCitation":"(Brotherton, Fried, & Norman, 2008)"},"citationItems":[{"id":967,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/FGhKhGPG/items/SVG8CD4T"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/FGhKhGPG/items/SVG8CD4T"],"itemData":{"id":967,"type":"paper-conference","title":"Applying the work breakdown structure to the project management lifecycle","container-title":"PMI global congress proceedings","page":"1-15","author":[{"family":"Brotherton","given":"Shelly A."},{"family":"Fried","given":"Robert T."},{"family":"Norman","given":"Eric S."}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2008"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Brotherton, Fried, & Norman, 2008).

Work breakdown structure of this project is as follows:

-2982942037700

Project Staffing Plan

Project staff is essential to complete the tasks of the project. The staffing plan helps to identify the required staff to do certain tasks for the projects and helps in assembling a project team.

Role

Responsibilities

Participant(s)

Project Sponsor

decision-maker for the project implementation

Provide guidance and oversight

Approve the project elements

Name of Concerned Person

Steering Committee

Commits department resources

Approve resource allocation funding/resource allocation

Resolves Issues and Conflicts

Give Direction to Project Manager

Review project deliverables

Name of Concerned Persons in committee

Project Manager

Manage Project according to the Plan

Serves as a contact to the Steering Committee

Get guidance from Steering Committee

Provide overall project direction

Lead Project Team to Objectives

Handle problems solution

Manages project budget

Select and reject vendors

Name of Concerned Person

Project Core Team

Identify Business Requirements

Communicate project goals and Progress throughout the project to personnel in their area

Review and approve project outcomes

Coordinates group work

Provide knowledge and recommendations

Identify and remove project barriers

Identify risks and controlling them

To be identified by Steering Committee.

Subject Matter Experts

Lend expertise in the implementation of the MIS

To be identified by Steering Committee.

Review Team

Continuously Evaluate deliverables

Project schedule

Project Schedule clarifies what work is needed to be done and sets a time frame for the completion of tasks ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"am34oki0lb","properties":{"formattedCitation":"{\\rtf (\\uc0\\u8220{}Project Scheduling | Project Management Basics,\\uc0\\u8221{} n.d.)}","plainCitation":"(“Project Scheduling | Project Management Basics,” n.d.)"},"citationItems":[{"id":959,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/FGhKhGPG/items/6VEZY3EN"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/FGhKhGPG/items/6VEZY3EN"],"itemData":{"id":959,"type":"webpage","title":"Project Scheduling | Project Management Basics","URL":"https://www.projectinsight.net/project-management-basics/project-management-schedule","accessed":{"date-parts":[["2019",1,16]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (“Project Scheduling | Project Management Basics,” n.d.). The project schedule shows how much time one activity is going to take and what will be the starting and ending date and time of each task. It also identifies the sequence of tasks. The work break down structure acts as the building block for the project schedule. It actually reflects the work break down the structure of the project. The aim of project schedule is to help, plan and execute the project tasks and tracks the progress of the project. The Project Manager and Project Team is involved in the scheduling of project ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"a1fov43jj37","properties":{"formattedCitation":"{\\rtf (\\uc0\\u8220{}6 Steps to Successful Schedules,\\uc0\\u8221{} n.d.)}","plainCitation":"(“6 Steps to Successful Schedules,” n.d.)"},"citationItems":[{"id":980,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/FGhKhGPG/items/6BVCSIX3"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/FGhKhGPG/items/6BVCSIX3"],"itemData":{"id":980,"type":"webpage","title":"6 Steps to Successful Schedules","container-title":"Project Smart","abstract":"Creating a comprehensive schedule is one of the more difficult activities that project managers face. Schedule creation is often considered more art than science.","URL":"https://www.projectsmart.co.uk/6-steps-to-successful-schedules.php","language":"en"}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (“6 Steps to Successful Schedules,” n.d.).

The tool that is used to develop the project schedule is the Gantt chart ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"a10qh37rbv9","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Wilson, 2003)","plainCitation":"(Wilson, 2003)"},"citationItems":[{"id":975,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/FGhKhGPG/items/PI4C8LAI"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/FGhKhGPG/items/PI4C8LAI"],"itemData":{"id":975,"type":"article-journal","title":"Gantt charts: A centenary appreciation","container-title":"European Journal of Operational Research","page":"430-437","volume":"149","issue":"2","author":[{"family":"Wilson","given":"James M."}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2003"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Wilson, 2003). It helps the project manager to visualize and track the progress of the project.

Project Gantt chart:

The Gantt chart represents the five tasks of the projects from the implementation plan to the actual implementation of the project and training.

Project Budget /Cost

The project budget is the detailed calculation of the project expenses and cost that will be incurred to complete the project activities. In the initiation stage of the project, the project budget is developed. The typical budget involves the cost of labor, materials and another operating cost of the project ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"afpngabqg0","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Kerzner & Kerzner, 2017)","plainCitation":"(Kerzner & Kerzner, 2017)"},"citationItems":[{"id":971,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/FGhKhGPG/items/ZYEW6H3Y"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/FGhKhGPG/items/ZYEW6H3Y"],"itemData":{"id":971,"type":"book","title":"Project management: a systems approach to planning, scheduling, and controlling","publisher":"John Wiley & Sons","ISBN":"1-119-16535-0","author":[{"family":"Kerzner","given":"Harold"},{"family":"Kerzner","given":"Harold R."}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2017"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Kerzner & Kerzner, 2017). The reason for making the project budget is that it is the best estimate of cost of the whole project. It helps the project manager with the management of finances and also to have a cost-benefit analysis of the project. It also helps manager understanding if the project is on track in terms of finances or if it's exceeding.

Project manager, sponsor and project team is involved in the budgeting of the project. The project budget is created and divided during the execution of project.

Line Item

FY05-06/Baseline

FY05-06/Adjusted

Material

Other

FY Total

Material

Other

FY Total

Implementation Plan

Setting up MIS department

$0

$0

$0

$0

Procurement

$0

$0

$0

$0

Database Creation

$0

$0

$0

$0

Training and Implementation

Total

=SUM(above) \# "#,##0" $0

$0

$0

$0

Total Revised Project Budget 0

Project Risk Assessment and Control

The risk assessment is an attempt to identify, prioritize and document the threats to project or any of its tasks. Risks that are identified at the beginning of the project are mitigated to avoid any threat in the future ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"a140e98kf4i","properties":{"formattedCitation":"{\\rtf (\\uc0\\u8220{}Initial Risk Assessment - Easy Project Management,\\uc0\\u8221{} n.d.)}","plainCitation":"(“Initial Risk Assessment - Easy Project Management,” n.d.)"},"citationItems":[{"id":961,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/FGhKhGPG/items/XS6MJPAP"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/FGhKhGPG/items/XS6MJPAP"],"itemData":{"id":961,"type":"webpage","title":"Initial Risk Assessment - Easy Project Management","URL":"http://www.easyprojectmanagement.co.uk/InitialRiskAssessment.html","accessed":{"date-parts":[["2019",1,16]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (“Initial Risk Assessment - Easy Project Management,” n.d.). Risk assessment is monitored on a regular basis and is updated to ensure that the risks do not occur in the execution of the project. Project team identifies the control processes to control risks and reduce their impact.

Risk assessment and control helps assure the satisfactory results of a project by specifying a system that can be used to detect the risks and manage them ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"ad9dre4204","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Grey, 1995)","plainCitation":"(Grey, 1995)"},"citationItems":[{"id":969,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/FGhKhGPG/items/VFIXBIAK"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/FGhKhGPG/items/VFIXBIAK"],"itemData":{"id":969,"type":"book","title":"Practical risk assessment for project management","publisher":"Wiley","volume":"25","ISBN":"0-471-93979-X","author":[{"family":"Grey","given":"Stephen"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["1995"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Grey, 1995). Project manager, sponsor, team and project stakeholders are also involved in risk management and planning. Risk management is supported by various tools ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"a2060gbjmjp","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Raz & Michael, 2001)","plainCitation":"(Raz & Michael, 2001)"},"citationItems":[{"id":974,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/FGhKhGPG/items/EBBUM7YU"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/FGhKhGPG/items/EBBUM7YU"],"itemData":{"id":974,"type":"article-journal","title":"Use and benefits of tools for project risk management","container-title":"International journal of project management","page":"9-17","volume":"19","issue":"1","author":[{"family":"Raz","given":"Tzvi"},{"family":"Michael","given":"E."}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2001"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Raz & Michael, 2001).

Risk types

Risk Level

L/M/H

Likelihood

Mitigation Strategy

Project Size

Project Schedule

high

Certainty

Create a detailed project timeline

User systems affected

high

Certainty

Control document must be developed for user systems

Project Definition

Low User’s Knowledge Level

medium

Likely

Project Manager assigned to assess global implications

Scope Creep

low

Unlikely

The scope is the first thing developed in project plan and is reviewed by many parties

Vague deliverables of Project

low

Unlikely

Available in project plan, can be changed 

Vendor Project Deliverables

Medium

Fairly likely

Inclusion in the project plan, subject to modification 

Unrealistic Cost Estimate

Low

Unlikely

Already in the project plan, open to alteration as newer details keep coming  

Unrealistic Timeline Estimates

medium

Somewhat likely

Monthly review of timeline by three groups (Steering Committee and Project Manager) for preventing any undetected departures from the timeline

Number of Team Members not in knowledge of the Business

low

Unlikely

Consultant and Project Manager would identify gaps in knowledge and provide necessary training

Project Leadership

Steering Committee existence

Low

Unlikely

Frequently seek feedback to ensure continued support

The absence of Commitment Level/Attitude of Management

low

Unlikely 

Frequently seek feedback to ensure continued support

Lack of commitment or poor attitude of users

low

Unlikely 

Frequently seek feedback to ensure continued support

Lack of commitment from middle managers

low

Unlikely

Frequently seek feedback to ensure continued support 

Project Staffing

Project Team Availability

medium

Somewhat likely

Details and continuous review of project

Increase the commitment of team members and participants.

Consultant to recognize any impacts caused by unavailability.

Lack of effective management due to physical location of the team

medium

Likely

Comprehensive Communications Plan

Intranet project website

Poor working relationship as a result of Project Team Shared Work Experience

medium

Somewhat likely

Comprehensive Communications Plan

Weak User Participation on Project Team

low

Unlikely

User Group Participants coordinated by full-time employees

Project Management

Change Management Process not clearly defined

low

Unlikely

N/A 

Quality Management Processes vague

low

Unlikely

N/A 

Software Vendor

amount of time prior work has been done with the Vendor by the team leads to the creation of a foreign relationship

high

Certainty

An all-inclusive vendor assessment and selection procedure (integrated into the Project Plan) will be used to define and predict the relationship between the vendor and the department

Team’s Lack of Knowledge

Medium

Somewhat likely

Detailed vendor evaluation and selection process is already there in Project Plan, and it will help the team in better understanding

Poor Functional Match of work package with the requirements of existing system.

low

Unlikely 

A consultant can compare the initial requirements with the available functionality and identify the match. Vendor selection is clearly based on the match with requirements and specifications.

Team’s Involvement in Package Selection and in the success

low

Unlikely

Detailed vendor evaluation and selection process is already there in Project Plan

The following processes will be followed for the different risks identified in the risk register:

Monitoring risk factors for occurrence: Any occurrence of risk factors will be scanned by the risk manager which leads to the realization of a risk that has been identified daily or weekly in the risk register.

Evaluation: The risk manager will determine whether the associated risk for any occurring factor has been realized or not and make a preliminary evaluation of the impact of the risk.

Consultation: Consultation among the risk decision makers and the risk managers will take place accordingly and settle the response based on the consultation.

Response: Implementing the action based on the decided response will be for the risk manager to initiate, according to what has been identified in the risk register concerning that particular realized risk.

Logging: the risk manager will make logs in the risk control log for any occurring factor alongside its associated risks, along with the response that has been taken.

Communication: The key risk decision-makers and stakeholders are to be notified of the different realized risks that are occurring. Weekly team meetings will be held to review a summary of recently realized risks. A summary of risks will be published for customers as well as stakeholders alongside the status report of the project.

Project Setback

The project is based on the implementation of the Management Information System. During the life cycle of the project, different issues can occur related to management, organization environment, leadership and personnel ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"a7gnad5po2","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Burke, 2013)","plainCitation":"(Burke, 2013)"},"citationItems":[{"id":968,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/FGhKhGPG/items/E2GL8F26"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/FGhKhGPG/items/E2GL8F26"],"itemData":{"id":968,"type":"article-journal","title":"Project management: planning and control techniques","container-title":"New Jersey, USA","author":[{"family":"Burke","given":"Rory"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2013"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Burke, 2013). Depending on the nature of the project, major setback that can occur in the project life cycle is the technical issues. These issues can be related to the hardware and software of the project that can encounter when the MIS is in the implementation phase. Technical issues are related to the impact and Information System is going to be produced on organization and its people.

Under this technical issue, major setback can be the error in the troubleshooting ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"a2egrpebqb5","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Kornkaew, 2012)","plainCitation":"(Kornkaew, 2012)"},"citationItems":[{"id":963,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/FGhKhGPG/items/YJIDWGXV"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/FGhKhGPG/items/YJIDWGXV"],"itemData":{"id":963,"type":"article-journal","title":"Management information system implementation challenges, success key issues, effects and consequences: A case study of fenix system","container-title":"Jonkoping International Business School","author":[{"family":"Kornkaew","given":"Artit"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2012"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Kornkaew, 2012). If the software fails to troubleshoot the whole process of MIS implementation will stop. The MIS implementation requires it to be connected with the existing systems and softwares of the company. If the software creates any issues, the process of integration will stop, and it will disturb the timeline of project. Major software issues contribute to more cost and other issues in the project. This software issue requires sheer attention and the active participation of vendors in solving it. To overcome the impact and reduce the likelihood of occurrence of this issue it is always important to ask the vendors and developers to test and troubleshoot the software while it is being developed at the beginning of the project.

Project Quality Management

The project quality management plan defines the criteria’s and the acceptable standard of quality based on the requirements of organization and its need to implement MIS. Quality management activities ensure that MIS implemented will meet the requirements and need of the company. All the processes identified in the WBS will be performed accordingly. If the project is not conforming to the defined plan, then issues are identified and resolved.

Project manager, team and project sponsor are responsible for the quality management of the project ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"a2qppam1dut","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Rose, 2005)","plainCitation":"(Rose, 2005)"},"citationItems":[{"id":972,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/FGhKhGPG/items/NF7YDZSV"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/FGhKhGPG/items/NF7YDZSV"],"itemData":{"id":972,"type":"book","title":"Project quality management: why, what and how","publisher":"J. Ross Pub.","ISBN":"1-932159-48-7","author":[{"family":"Rose","given":"Kenneth"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2005"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Rose, 2005). The quality goals of this project can be:

The deliverable matches the requirements of company

Deliverable is aligned with industry best practices

It is easy to use for the employees and integrated departments

The software has satisfactory quality level.

The employees are well trained to use the system

There are no hardware or software issues with the system

Project Constraints

Every project has some constraints ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"a10ilsiuq80","properties":{"formattedCitation":"{\\rtf (\\uc0\\u8220{}Defining Project Constraints,\\uc0\\u8221{} n.d.)}","plainCitation":"(“Defining Project Constraints,” n.d.)"},"citationItems":[{"id":973,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/FGhKhGPG/items/WCTLKF3R"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/FGhKhGPG/items/WCTLKF3R"],"itemData":{"id":973,"type":"webpage","title":"Defining Project Constraints","container-title":"pmtips","abstract":"Project constraints are anything that restricts or dictates the actions of the project team. That can cover a lot of territory. The triple constraints—time, resources, and quality - are the big hitters, and every project has one or two, if not all three, of the triple constraints as a project driver. Many projects in the Information Technology area, for instance, are driven by time. Projects in the pharmaceutical industry are driven by quality but may have time or resources as a secondary...","URL":"https://pmtips.net/blog-new/defining-project-constraints","language":"en-US"}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (“Defining Project Constraints,” n.d.). This project has the following constraints

-Project finances are limited

-Any technical error can appear in the project

4. Conclusion

Project Management tools and techniques are important to understand and perform any business activity in a proper manner ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"anl2dmo5o5","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Keil, Rai, Mann, & Zhang, 2003)","plainCitation":"(Keil, Rai, Mann, & Zhang, 2003)"},"citationItems":[{"id":979,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/FGhKhGPG/items/Q4UHSEX2"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/FGhKhGPG/items/Q4UHSEX2"],"itemData":{"id":979,"type":"article-journal","title":"Why software projects escalate: The importance of project management constructs","container-title":"IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management","page":"251-261","volume":"50","issue":"3","author":[{"family":"Keil","given":"Mark"},{"family":"Rai","given":"Arun"},{"family":"Mann","given":"JE Cheney"},{"family":"Zhang","given":"G. Peter"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2003"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Keil, Rai, Mann, & Zhang, 2003). The implementation of MIS is an organization the crucial step, and it demands planning and use of project management tools to ensure accurate scheduling and budgeting of the project. Without initial risk assessment and control, the project will not be completed in time resulting in the increase in the cost and duration of the project. Work break down structure clarifies the tasks and subtasks and help in the staffing of project ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"a255c0vkmq5","properties":{"formattedCitation":"{\\rtf (\\uc0\\u8220{}PMA - 3.Plan - Develop Project Staffing Plan,\\uc0\\u8221{} n.d.)}","plainCitation":"(“PMA - 3.Plan - Develop Project Staffing Plan,” n.d.)"},"citationItems":[{"id":957,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/FGhKhGPG/items/DKGU4WA3"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/FGhKhGPG/items/DKGU4WA3"],"itemData":{"id":957,"type":"webpage","title":"PMA - 3.Plan - Develop Project Staffing Plan","URL":"https://pma.doit.wisc.edu/plan/2-2/what.html","accessed":{"date-parts":[["2019",1,16]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (“PMA - 3.Plan - Develop Project Staffing Plan,” n.d.). Assigning roles and responsibilities to the project team helps in the clear definitions of roles and concerned persons are held accountable. Other plans that can be made to ensure effective management of this project can be issues management. Moreover, the communication plan can ensure all the stakeholders are informed about the completion of project.

References

ADDIN ZOTERO_BIBL {"custom":[]} CSL_BIBLIOGRAPHY 6 Steps to Successful Schedules. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.projectsmart.co.uk/6-steps-to-successful-schedules.php

Brotherton, S. A., Fried, R. T., & Norman, E. S. (2008). Applying the work breakdown structure to the project management lifecycle. In PMI global congress proceedings (pp. 1–15).

Burke, R. (2013). Project management: planning and control techniques. New Jersey, USA.

Charvat, J. (2003). Project management methodologies: selecting, implementing, and supporting methodologies and processes for projects. John Wiley & Sons.

Defining Project Constraints. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://pmtips.net/blog-new/defining-project-constraints

Grey, S. (1995). Practical risk assessment for project management (Vol. 25). Wiley.

Guide, P. (2004). A guide to the project management body of knowledge. In Project Management Institute (Vol. 3).

Initial Risk Assessment - Easy Project Management. (n.d.). Retrieved January 16, 2019, from http://www.easyprojectmanagement.co.uk/InitialRiskAssessment.html

Keil, M., Rai, A., Mann, J. C., & Zhang, G. P. (2003). Why software projects escalate: The importance of project management constructs. IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, 50(3), 251–261.

Kerzner, H., & Kerzner, H. R. (2017). Project management: a systems approach to planning, scheduling, and controlling. John Wiley & Sons.

Kornkaew, A. (2012). Management information system implementation challenges, success key issues, effects, and consequences: A case study of Fenix system. Jonkoping International Business School.

Laudon, K. C., & Laudon, J. P. (2016). Management information system. Pearson Education India.

PMA - 3.Plan - Develop Project Staffing Plan. (n.d.). Retrieved January 16, 2019, from https://pma.doit.wisc.edu/plan/2-2/what.html

Project Scheduling | Project Management Basics. (n.d.). Retrieved January 16, 2019, from https://www.projectinsight.net/project-management-basics/project-management-schedule

Raz, T., & Michael, E. (2001). Use and benefits of tools for project risk management. International Journal of Project Management, 19(1), 9–17.

Rose, K. (2005). Project quality management: why what and how. J. Ross Pub.

Wilson, J. M. (2003). Gantt charts: A centenary appreciation. European Journal of Operational Research, 149(2), 430–437.

Assessment 2 – Strategic Direction

RUNNING HEAD: JD.COM

Assessment 2 – Strategic Direction

Student name

Institution name

Strategy Recommendation report

Contents

TOC \o "1-3" \h \z \u Executive Summary PAGEREF _Toc8977645 \h 2

Current Strategies Assessment PAGEREF _Toc8977646 \h 2

New Strategies PAGEREF _Toc8977647 \h 8

Mission PAGEREF _Toc8977648 \h 8

Vision PAGEREF _Toc8977649 \h 8

Objectives PAGEREF _Toc8977650 \h 8

Value creation PAGEREF _Toc8977651 \h 9

Target segments PAGEREF _Toc8977652 \h 10

Demographic segmentation PAGEREF _Toc8977653 \h 10

Situational segmentation PAGEREF _Toc8977654 \h 11

Behavioral segmentation PAGEREF _Toc8977655 \h 11

Geographic segmentation PAGEREF _Toc8977656 \h 11

Privacy, ethical and legal issues PAGEREF _Toc8977657 \h 11

External partners PAGEREF _Toc8977658 \h 12

Organisational model PAGEREF _Toc8977659 \h 12

Revenue model PAGEREF _Toc8977660 \h 13

Cost model PAGEREF _Toc8977661 \h 14

Strategy alignment PAGEREF _Toc8977662 \h 14

Recommendations PAGEREF _Toc8977663 \h 15

Executive Summary

Mr Liu Qiangdong founded Jingdong (JD) in June 1998. The company was started as a small counter to sell magneto-optical products. After three years of its establishment, the company was running 12 stores in the chain. Regrettably, Liu Qiangdong had to stop the extension of its stores due to SARS. Then he moved towards the idea of e-business and in 2004 company website jdlaser.com. went online. The company went for further diversification in 2010 and progressed to a comprehensive mega-site that started selling all kinds of products. Currently, the company is a partnership with the foreign e-commerce system. It also has a bulk investment in the self-owned logistic system. Its main competitor is Alibaba ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"KNorWa1O","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Zhang et al., 2017)","plainCitation":"(Zhang et al., 2017)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":2032,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/KZl8ZL3A/items/8I2Q9VGZ"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/KZl8ZL3A/items/8I2Q9VGZ"],"itemData":{"id":2032,"type":"paper-conference","title":"The Key Success Factors in the Development of Platform-Based Business in China-Case Study on Alibaba and Jingdong","container-title":"International Conference on Applied Human Factors and Ergonomics","publisher":"Springer","page":"185-193","author":[{"family":"Zhang","given":"Wenjuan"},{"family":"Chen","given":"Ming"},{"family":"An","given":"Wenjia"},{"family":"Zhang","given":"Jianan"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2017"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Zhang et al., 2017). To compete effectively it is using different strategies such as changing buyer behaviour and using low-price strategy. It has also invented mobile online banking and introduced English website of JD.

Current Strategies Assessment

Business canvas model can provide effective strategy analysis.

Fig. 1 Business canvas model

Core competencies

Competencies are a collection of tangible and intangible assets with skill and knowledge of the employee. In this strategic analysis, we will identify each separately.

Tangible Assets

The assets that exist in the physical forms such as fixed assets and current assets are known as tangible assets.

Skilled Employee

The JD has the highest number of working staff over the nation. They have more than 120,000 skilled employees wherein approximately 11,145 as warehouse staff and 5,832 as customer service personnel. The skilled employees providing high values to quick and high values to the customers.

Logistic Systems

JD has its own logistics system which is proven to be successful to make the delivery faster than their competitors. They approximately 256 warehouses with 36 cities, pickup station around 495 and approximately 24,412 delivery people across China.

Infrastructure

They have built their own physical warehouse and pickup station with call centre office to support the kiosk high traffic flow. The new infrastructure was built in a way to deliver the order within the timeframe of 3 hours.

Internet finance service

JD has introduced the new payment system known as ‘Baitiao’. In this system, customer can get credit which can only be used at JD. This system helps JD to increase average monthly spending per order by 33%.

Intangible Assets

The assets which do not have a physical appearance are known as intangible assets such as band reputation.

Brand value

JD has developed the goodwill to reform the brand value. To improve the band value, JD has come up with own self-operated system and skilled trained team to enhance the experience of shopping online.

Reputation

The reputation of the JD has been improved by taking the surveys from the customer over phones and emails. They also started building an alliance with social media to improve the customer experience based on their behaviours.

Customer satisfaction

JD especially introduce the program for benchmarking customer satisfaction by various techniques. It has been observed that there was a high number of customer feedback with more than 80% satisfaction ratio.

Capabilities to identify core competencies

A logistic system with customer satisfaction

The new logistic system has not only helped in improving customer satisfaction but also enhanced the experience to buy the products online. The system gives flexibility to the customer to get their favourite products from anywhere, anytime. It’s also integrated with a centralised data system where information about each consumer is store with security.

Finance platform with a brand value

The finance platform which helps the consumer to buy the product on credit basis. This has resulted in an increase in brand value. This system also allow the supplier, investor and fundraiser to interactive with each other which helps the build the rapport of JD.

A skilled employee with a reputation

Over the analysis of the case study, we have found that JD has an excess of staff which is not letting them make any profit. Though they have improved their reputation by serving their customers in a traditional manner.

Opportunity in a rural area

We have also observed that there is a wide range of exploring into the rural region. As the local and imported products are not easily available to them. They can use a mobile application or website to make the order which can enhance the overall growth of JD.

JD.com being China’s largest online retailer for 3C products is successfully running its business using aggressive strategies to achieve the core values. These strategies are:

JD is primarily selling magneto-optical products along with electronics, mobile phones, and computers.

The company has three core businesses: e-business, finance and logistics.

Currently, it is offering nearly 1.5 million products ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"EYCuj5Qg","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Chan et al., 2018)","plainCitation":"(Chan et al., 2018)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":2021,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/KZl8ZL3A/items/IVVS7Q3I"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/KZl8ZL3A/items/IVVS7Q3I"],"itemData":{"id":2021,"type":"article-journal","title":"JD. com: leveraging the edge of e-business","container-title":"Emerald Emerging Markets Case Studies","page":"1-30","volume":"8","issue":"3","author":[{"family":"Chan","given":"Allan KK"},{"family":"Huanyong Chen","given":"Caleb"},{"family":"Zhao","given":"Long"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2018"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Chan et al., 2018).

Electronics products and home appliances have a high ratio of total gross merchandise volume (GMV).

It has extended its target market to rural areas to capture the large potential market ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"v9X7qkdm","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Chan et al., 2018)","plainCitation":"(Chan et al., 2018)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":2021,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/KZl8ZL3A/items/IVVS7Q3I"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/KZl8ZL3A/items/IVVS7Q3I"],"itemData":{"id":2021,"type":"article-journal","title":"JD. com: leveraging the edge of e-business","container-title":"Emerald Emerging Markets Case Studies","page":"1-30","volume":"8","issue":"3","author":[{"family":"Chan","given":"Allan KK"},{"family":"Huanyong Chen","given":"Caleb"},{"family":"Zhao","given":"Long"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2018"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Chan et al., 2018).

Going for globalization by staring its English website with a new domain name, joybuy.com.

The company was listed on NASDAQ in 2014 that allow different operational structure and system changes.

It has completed four rounds of fundraising during 2007 and 2013 and uses these funds to support his logistics system and low-price strategy.

It is also China’s largest company IPO in the USA.

JD has launched an online customer service centre to cultivate consumers’ trust ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"3hUBbMnk","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Redrup, 2018)","plainCitation":"(Redrup, 2018)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":2026,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/KZl8ZL3A/items/GMBPK93V"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/KZl8ZL3A/items/GMBPK93V"],"itemData":{"id":2026,"type":"webpage","title":"How Chinese e-commerce player JD.com is becoming an AI powerhouse","URL":"https://www.afr.com/technology/how-chinese-ecommerce-player-jdcom-is-becoming-an-ai-powerhouse-20180719-h12vph","author":[{"family":"Redrup","given":"Yolanda"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2018"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Redrup, 2018).

It has a self-built logistics system that has been built on an image of “joyful shopping experience” among customers.

It has heavy investments in logistics system and owns advanced automated logistics centre.

It is successfully managing different stakeholders in its supply chain.

It has 7 fulfilment centres, 256 warehouses and 6,906 delivery and pickup stations across the country.

It has strong partnerships in the industry such as a partnership with Tencent, to take benefit of the major social media platform in China.

It also has a strategic alliance with Walmart to develop O2O.

The company has been listed as 366th on the Fortune Global 500 ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"b1oTcRqy","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Chan et al., 2018)","plainCitation":"(Chan et al., 2018)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":2021,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/KZl8ZL3A/items/IVVS7Q3I"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/KZl8ZL3A/items/IVVS7Q3I"],"itemData":{"id":2021,"type":"article-journal","title":"JD. com: leveraging the edge of e-business","container-title":"Emerald Emerging Markets Case Studies","page":"1-30","volume":"8","issue":"3","author":[{"family":"Chan","given":"Allan KK"},{"family":"Huanyong Chen","given":"Caleb"},{"family":"Zhao","given":"Long"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2018"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Chan et al., 2018).

In 2012, the company started targeting cross-border e-tailing.

The customers are not –Chinese and Chinese living aboard.

Its main competitors are; Tencent, Yihaodian, Amazon, Suning and VIPShop.

Alibaba is offering JD a tough competition in all spheres.

Alibaba’s model is considered as more effective by investors due to held less inventory risk and profit margins.

JD currently has more investments then profits ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"GHypaXHV","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(JD.COM, 2019)","plainCitation":"(JD.COM, 2019)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":2029,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/KZl8ZL3A/items/XDY2YIGR"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/KZl8ZL3A/items/XDY2YIGR"],"itemData":{"id":2029,"type":"webpage","title":"JD.com, Inc. Financial and Operational Highlights, JD.COM","author":[{"family":"JD.COM","given":""}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2019"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (JD.COM, 2019).

It has also been blamed for the leaking of consumer data and selling fake products.

New Strategies

JD is performing well in the market with the two-digit annual growth rate in its sales volume. However, it has been facing different challenges related to its internal operations as well as external competitors that are requiring some new strategies. The company is required to implement different strategies that can bring a balance between investment and profitability both in the short and long terms. Following is the layout for implementing new strategies:

Mission

The company has a mission to make its customer's life carefree and joyful.

Vision

The company has the vision to become the most reliable corporation in the world and gain its consumers’ trust ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"Bajuot5X","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Chan et al., 2018)","plainCitation":"(Chan et al., 2018)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":2021,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/KZl8ZL3A/items/IVVS7Q3I"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/KZl8ZL3A/items/IVVS7Q3I"],"itemData":{"id":2021,"type":"article-journal","title":"JD. com: leveraging the edge of e-business","container-title":"Emerald Emerging Markets Case Studies","page":"1-30","volume":"8","issue":"3","author":[{"family":"Chan","given":"Allan KK"},{"family":"Huanyong Chen","given":"Caleb"},{"family":"Zhao","given":"Long"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2018"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Chan et al., 2018).

Objectives

Gain customers trust

Compete, competitors, effectively

Maintain a balance between investment and profitability

Maintain good relationships with suppliers

Gain a competitive advantage through its self-owned logistic system

Expand the target markets

Value creation

In order to provide a reliable and scalable platform to its partners and customers, JD.com has to create these values. Firstly, it has to gain operational excellence by getting value-added technology, offering low prices, reducing manufacturing and distribution costs. Currently, it is using technology to achieve different objectives such as fastest delivery to satisfy customers, the facility of online shopping and payment and successfully running the logistic system. By improving this, it will be able to gain a competitive advantage by speedily marketing the new product and delivering the new product ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"Pxw0qLwv","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Ma et al., 2017)","plainCitation":"(Ma et al., 2017)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":2031,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/KZl8ZL3A/items/8E6SB7A4"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/KZl8ZL3A/items/8E6SB7A4"],"itemData":{"id":2031,"type":"article-journal","title":"Online search-based advertising strategy for e-Business platform with the consideration of consumer search cost","container-title":"Kybernetes","page":"291-309","volume":"46","issue":"2","author":[{"family":"Ma","given":"Buqing"},{"family":"Xu","given":"Xiaoyan"},{"family":"Sun","given":"Yanhong"},{"family":"Bian","given":"Yiwen"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2017"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Ma et al., 2017). With this, it will also be able to have its presence globally. The automation of operations will not only enhance the quality of operations but will also increase the profits by reducing the costs. However, as JD sells online and is in danger of different frauds and scams. It is also required to develop such strategies that can overcome these difficulties. The company currently has a bad reputation regarding the safety of customer’s data. Thus, it must have its own secure information system with all encryptions to save the data and satisfy the customers and gain their trust. Secondly, it has to focus on its employees and their skills and the efficacy of its technologies. Currently, it has efficient teams in logistics that make the delivery of products very fast. However, these teams are required to extend in all departments. Then, it should also focus more on customer satisfaction. For this, it should also offer them different incentives along with improving the quality of its products and services. It should focus on their needs and increase its product lines. With product differentiation, it can also compete well in the industry.

Fig. 2 value creation at JD

Target segments

JD should extend its target segments and adjusts its offers to their exclusive needs and requirements. Following steps can be taken for this purpose.

Fig. 3 Targeting JD customers

Demographic segmentation

Target customers that have internet access.

Situational segmentation

Target customers that like convenience, have interest in new products, like discounts and low prices,

Behavioural segmentation

Target recurring customers and gain their loyalty. Also, target customers that are fond of innovations and technology. Use aggressive marketing to attract these customers as they believe much in referrals, suggestions and recommendations regarding products.

Geographic segmentation

Target international customers and customers in rural areas.

Fig. 4 Types of market segmentation

Privacy, ethical and legal issues

As a part of e-commerce JD can face different legal and ethical issues.

It should make strict rules with regard to collecting, preserving and disposing of consumer’s information ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"TON5QLvt","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(JUNG, 2018)","plainCitation":"(JUNG, 2018)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":2028,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/KZl8ZL3A/items/52G57ZMJ"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/KZl8ZL3A/items/52G57ZMJ"],"itemData":{"id":2028,"type":"webpage","title":"How Would the New Chinese E-commerce Law Change Taobao?","URL":"https://pandaily.com/how-would-the-new-chinese-e-commerce-law-change-taobao/","author":[{"family":"JUNG","given":"CHAUNCEY J"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2018"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (JUNG, 2018).

The organisation has been involved in privacy concerns with regard to consumers. Now it’s a time to change this.

Consumer’s identity who use Electronic Payment System must also be protected ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"XLBBcBig","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Martin, 2015)","plainCitation":"(Martin, 2015)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":2023,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/KZl8ZL3A/items/T3ALXJLK"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/KZl8ZL3A/items/T3ALXJLK"],"itemData":{"id":2023,"type":"article-journal","title":"Ethical issues in the big data industry","container-title":"MIS Quarterly Executive","page":"2","volume":"14","author":[{"family":"Martin","given":"Kirsten E."}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2015"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Martin, 2015).

The company should also refrain from behavioural advertising ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"qbAFE0BW","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Martin and Murphy, 2017)","plainCitation":"(Martin and Murphy, 2017)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":2024,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/KZl8ZL3A/items/L8T3QSH5"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/KZl8ZL3A/items/L8T3QSH5"],"itemData":{"id":2024,"type":"article-journal","title":"The role of data privacy in marketing","container-title":"Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science","page":"135-155","volume":"45","issue":"2","author":[{"family":"Martin","given":"Kelly D."},{"family":"Murphy","given":"Patrick E."}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2017"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Martin and Murphy, 2017).

The company should also check for suppliers and make sure not to sell the fake products as it had happened in the past.

It should also register its all trademarks and Intellectual property.

External partners

Walmart is the main external partner of JD. The strategic alliance between the two organisations was started in 2016 for the further development of JD business ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"BL1fFnq9","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(\\uc0\\u8220{}WALMART LAUNCHES ASDA FLAGSHIP STORE ON JD,\\uc0\\u8221{} 2017)","plainCitation":"(“WALMART LAUNCHES ASDA FLAGSHIP STORE ON JD,” 2017)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":2022,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/KZl8ZL3A/items/UJJDS52A"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/KZl8ZL3A/items/UJJDS52A"],"itemData":{"id":2022,"type":"webpage","title":"WALMART LAUNCHES ASDA FLAGSHIP STORE ON JD","URL":"https://jdcorporateblog.com/walmart-further-strengthens-jd-com-strategic-alliance-with-launch-of-uk-retailer-asda-flagship-store/","issued":{"date-parts":[["2017"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (“WALMART LAUNCHES ASDA FLAGSHIP STORE ON JD,” 2017). The aim behind this was to better serve consumers with the influential amalgamation of e-commerce and retail. Thus, it covers both online and offline retail. Walmart with this has an opportunity to expand in China e-commerce ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"vM4JDxYf","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(\\uc0\\u8220{}Walmart and JD.com Announce Strategic Alliance to Serve Consumers across China,\\uc0\\u8221{} 2019)","plainCitation":"(“Walmart and JD.com Announce Strategic Alliance to Serve Consumers across China,” 2019)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":2020,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/KZl8ZL3A/items/LIQRSA5K"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/KZl8ZL3A/items/LIQRSA5K"],"itemData":{"id":2020,"type":"webpage","title":"Walmart and JD.com Announce Strategic Alliance to Serve Consumers across China","URL":"https://news.walmart.com/2016/06/20/walmart-and-jdcom-announce-strategic-alliance-to-serve-consumers-across-china","issued":{"date-parts":[["2019"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (“Walmart and JD.com Announce Strategic Alliance to Serve Consumers across China,” 2019). JD, on the other hand, is taking advantage of Walmart and Sam’s Club’s imported products. The other external partner is Tencent that is providing the company major social media platform in China.

Organisational model

Organisational model is the way of arranging people, their duties and responsibilities within the organisation to achieve the desired goals.

Fig. 5 Organisational structure

Revenue model

The revenue model for the organisation is

Fig. 6 the revenue model

Cost model

The cost model for the organisation is:

Website hosting

Customer development

Configuration

Maintenance of website

Storage

Distribution

Employees’ salaries

Marketing

Training

Strategy alignment

The business model canvas is aligning e-strategy with physical strategy. By focusing on all these segments, the company can achieve its objectives and goals.

Fig. 7 strategy alignment

Recommendations

Strategic Recommendation

Use advanced digital technique by creating a social media platform

We would like to recommend JD to create the advance digital transformation which will help the company to create an interactive dashboard using social media. We can also analyse the customer using integrated insights based on their behaviour. This would enable the JD to predict the products based on their requirements.

Employee Layoff

Though employees are the most important resource of the organisation as JD is growth so continuously, they need to come up with an innovative technique which can help to automate the process smooth and robust.

Strategic alignment with foreign countries

JD can make the use of Chinese government policies to expand revenue and increase profitability. As they also have their own logistics systems would add another advantage to alliance their partnerships with international brands.

Introduction of paid membership service

They can also initiate the technique of engaging with the customers by launching the membership card. This would help the JD to engage existing customers and get new customers. This membership would help the customers to get promotions of bundle deals and discounts on orders.

Use for cutting edge technology to delivers orders through Artificial Intelligence

As JD is growing rapidly with respect to revenue, they can develop the technological device such as drone for delivering the orders using artificial intelligence. This would reduce the manpower required to process the order for delivery. While developing cutting edge technology we need to consider the PESTEL model. Overall, this would save the lead time to deliver the order in rural regions. It would also save tremendous money at the same time there would be an upfront cost of developing the new solution. JD would definitely compete with Alibaba.

Bibliography

ADDIN ZOTERO_BIBL {"uncited":[],"omitted":[],"custom":[]} CSL_BIBLIOGRAPHY Chan, A.K., Huanyong Chen, C., Zhao, L., 2018. JD. com: leveraging the edge of e-business. Emerald Emerging Markets Case Studies 8, 1–30.

JD.COM, 2019. JD.com, Inc. Financial and Operational Highlights, JD.COM [WWW Document].

JUNG, C.J., 2018. How Would the New Chinese E-commerce Law Change Taobao? [WWW Document]. URL https://pandaily.com/how-would-the-new-chinese-e-commerce-law-change-taobao/

Ma, B., Xu, X., Sun, Y., Bian, Y., 2017. Online search-based advertising strategy for e-Business platform with the consideration of consumer search cost. Kybernetes 46, 291–309.

Martin, K.D., Murphy, P.E., 2017. The role of data privacy in marketing. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science 45, 135–155.

Martin, K.E., 2015. Ethical issues in the big data industry. MIS Quarterly Executive 14, 2.

Redrup, Y., 2018. How Chinese e-commerce player JD.com is becoming an AI powerhouse [WWW Document]. URL https://www.afr.com/technology/how-chinese-ecommerce-player-jdcom-is-becoming-an-ai-powerhouse-20180719-h12vph

Walmart and JD.com Announce Strategic Alliance to Serve Consumers across China [WWW Document], 2019. URL https://news.walmart.com/2016/06/20/walmart-and-jdcom-announce-strategic-alliance-to-serve-consumers-across-china

WALMART LAUNCHES ASDA FLAGSHIP STORE ON JD [WWW Document], 2017. URL https://jdcorporateblog.com/walmart-further-strengthens-jd-com-strategic-alliance-with-launch-of-uk-retailer-asda-flagship-store/

Zhang, W., Chen, M., An, W., Zhang, J., 2017. The Key Success Factors in the Development of Platform-Based Business in China-Case Study on Alibaba and Jingdong, in: International Conference on Applied Human Factors and Ergonomics. Springer, pp. 185–193.

Assessment 2: Case Study

Assessment 2 Case study

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to examine the role of corporate governance in the profitability and effectiveness of the organisation. We examine the case of Mittal steel before the merger and after the merger, how its structure altered and what were its benefits and drawbacks. The company merged with other steel company Arcelor. Before the merger, the corporate governance of Mittal included the family and friends of Mittal, which reflected the biases and lack of independence of the board. After the merger the shares of Mittal family reduced which resulted in the selection of new board based on their competencies and abilities. We also discussed the ethical theories and corporate governance theories that supported the decision of selecting the corporate governance of the organisation.

Table of Contents

TOC o 1-3 h z u HYPERLINK l _Toc4406944 Assessment 2 Case study PAGEREF _Toc4406944 h 3

HYPERLINK l _Toc4406945 Abstract PAGEREF _Toc4406945 h 4

HYPERLINK l _Toc4406946 Introduction PAGEREF _Toc4406946 h 6

HYPERLINK l _Toc4406947 Post-merger board structure PAGEREF _Toc4406947 h 7

HYPERLINK l _Toc4406948 Voting Equity of Mittal Family PAGEREF _Toc4406948 h 9

HYPERLINK l _Toc4406949 The effectiveness of pre-merger and post-merger of Mittal steel board PAGEREF _Toc4406949 h 10

HYPERLINK l _Toc4406950 Conclusion PAGEREF _Toc4406950 h 10

HYPERLINK l _Toc4406951 Recommendations PAGEREF _Toc4406951 h 11

HYPERLINK l _Toc4406952 References PAGEREF _Toc4406952 h 12

Introduction

Corporate governance is the set of rules and practices through which a firm is controlled. Corporate governance is generally involved in balancing the interests of different stakeholders of the company. These stakeholders are the shareholders of the company, management, financiers, government, customers, suppliers, distributors, and community. It is the set of rules, policies, and controls which are used to dictate the organisational behaviour (Bhasa, 2017, P.31). The board of directors have an essential role, and they are pivotal in governance. Board of directors are the direct stakeholders, and they influence corporate governance. The directors are selected by the shareholders and other board members of the company. They are the representatives of the shareholders of the company. Boards are usually made up of the inside stakeholders, executives, and the founders of the company. The role of governance is essential for the performance and stability of the organisation (Aguilera et al., 2018, P.89). The governance can be either good or bad, and The bad corporate governance can adversely affect the reliability and integrity to the shareholders. It also changes the financial health of the firm. While good corporate governance produces a transparent and unbiased set of rules and policies which provide equal incentives to all the stakeholders such as the employees, directors, and shareholders, here, we will discuss the issues of the corporate governance of the Mittal steels. The Mittal steel governance was in control of a family. The directors were not independent most of the shares of the company were owned by Mr Mittal and his family. Some directors were from his family while others were his business partners and friends. There were no independent directors who can raise voice against any policy set by Mr Mittal. The company underwent for acquisition with other steel business Arcelor steel corporation. The Arcelor has a great concerned about the corporate governance of the Mittal steel. The new governance of the merged business included genuinely competent and independent directors. One of the directors in the governance was nominated by the employees to defend their stake. Though the governance of Mittal steel was not independent, the question arises how the business was still successful. The reason for the profitability of Mittal steel is the mergers and acquisitions with other businesses. They invested in different small and large scale businesses. The post-merger governance of the business included the independent and competent directors, and they will not be influenced or pressurised by any authority (Kim et al., 2004, P.813). Unlike the pre-merger Mittal audit committee, the post-merger audit committee will include some independent auditors. The benefits of the independent board of governance are greater than its disadvantages. The independent board can make an unbiased decision which will not involve the conflict of interest of a specific group (Paniagua et al., 2018, 231). Everyone can raise their voice for the stake of business and its other stakeholders such as employees, community, suppliers and so on.

Post-merger board structure

When two companies merge all the top management, directors, and governance changes, the directors are taken from both the businesses to work for mutual interest. Merger and acquisition are one of the major method used by the corporate for the rapid transformation of their fortunes (Pirson et al., 2011). This dramatic changes in the business can lead to some job losses as well. Mostly the junior level management jobs are at risk, due to the changes in the top management and the governance. After the merger, the combined boards of both organisations shrink to a great extent. In some cases, the directors are at higher risk than the other management. The post-merger structure is based on the effective directors whose presence is essential for the growth and stability of business (Alba, 2009, P.3). Only those directors survive whose presence can benefit the organisation in a true sense. The need for organisation is to gain efficiency and reduce the cost of overstaffing or unnecessary positions. When the organisation are going through a merger, they negotiate the process and every decision they want to make. Both the organisations are open and welling for the change in their management. Merging organisations are also influencing organisational culture. According to the change management theory, there is the transitional stage which can lead the organisation to great losses. The insecurity in the employees regarding their jobs is also a risk for the organisation. The merging of two companies also develops a sense of miscommunication and lack of understanding in the initial stages. The post merging governance structure is more formal and based on talented and competent directors. This structure does not include any nepotism and biases, and the family-based structure is no more applicable after merging (Bonazzi, 2007, P.9). A board evaluation framework can help in the evaluation of possible changes that can boost the performance of both the merged board and the organisation as a whole. It also ensures strong integration and setting the stage for the success of the newly merged firm. The merging process is based on sharing the best resources of the organisation. In todays world, the top organisations merge to use the competitive edges of each other. For instance, if one organisation has a strong distribution channel and other has the latest technology they merge for mutual gain the profit of such organisations boosts and their fortune change after merging. According to the agency theory, the interest of management is different from the interest of the owners. The management is the agent working on behalf of shareholders, usually found less interested in the benefits of the organisation (Greening development, 2012, N.p). So the involvement of ownership in governance and management can strengthen the control of the business.

Voting Equity of Mittal Family

In the case of merging the Mittal steels and Arcelor steels, the voting equity of the Mittal family reduced to 43.5 per cent which diminished the monopoly of the family in the governance of the company. Initially, the companys governance included Mr Mittal, his son, his daughter, and others were his business partners and friends. Before the merger the board was not independent, and there was no representative of employees in the board. The board was selected for four years, and most of the shares were owned by the Mittal family which didnt allow any director to disagree with the highest shareholder party. According to the stewardship theory, the steward protects and maximises the wealth of the stockholders of the company through their performance (Heath et al., 2004, P.249). Stewards are the executives of the organisation and the managers work on behalf of shareholders. The satisfaction of stewards is associated with the performance of the company. They are rewarded when for the best performance to motivate them.

The motivation could be both intrinsic and extrinsic. The Mittal family has lost the one-third majority which allowed the talented and merit-based people to chair the governance body. Other investors will have the chance to elect their representatives on the boards in the annual general meeting. The vote right of the family reduced, so the employees will also get the opportunity to elect their representative in the board to raise voice for their issues. According to the resource dependency theory, the role of the board is to provide access to the resources which are needed by the firm. The directors represent the management in broader decisions. The resource allocation and financing mega projects are decided by corporate governance. The fair and independent governance body can make a better decision, and there is less influence of one party. The resource allocation and provision enhances the performance of the organisation and its survival.

The effectiveness of pre-merger and post-merger of Mittal steel board

According to the Financial Times article, the Mittal steel merged with Arcelor Steel to maximise the profit for both the organisations. Before the merger, Mittal Steel was a listed company, but 75 per cent of its shares were owned by the Mittal family. So the board of governance included Mr Mittal, his family and friends. The advantage of such a governance structure is the boards have better relations and understanding with each other. Moreover, they have strong control over the management and the business. They have a common stake for which they are more honest and loyal. The decision making is relatively easy because of the same mindset people on the board. However, there are some disadvantages to this type of governance structure such as the lack of independence and expression of opinion. Here the ethical consideration is at risk and the family can impose strict policies over the management. Moreover, due to nepotism, there are less competent people in the governing body of the organisation who have no vision. On the other hand, after the merging with Arcelor steel the shares of the Mittal family reduced to 43 per cent which allowed other stakeholders to elect their representative through voting. The employees also got a chance to elect their representative on the board of governors. This type of governance structure is essential for the independence and autonomy of the firm. All the shareholders are satisfied because of their voting rights. The firm will be more effective because of the diversity in the board members. All members have different approaches and different intellectual skills. They could decide the better fate for the organisation.

Conclusion

The governance of an organisation decides the set of rules and policy, which is executed by the management. Management works on behalf of the shareholders of the company. The management is executing the plans, while the board is making policies and broader decisions. The shareholders usually elect the directors of the company. The listed companies follow all these principles. Merger and acquisition is the process which is widely practised in the global market to transform the fortune of the business. In the case of Mittal steel the governance was in the hands of Mittal family who are the major stakeholders of the firm. The governance body included mostly family members and friends. It restricts the chances of growth due to the incompetent people in the board due to the favouritism and biases of the ownership. In some cases, it could be helpful such as, the better control and understanding of the business. The board have better relation so they can take better and timely decisions.

Recommendations

The governance of the organisation is to set the vision of the organisation. They take broad decisions which help the organisation to survive and grow in the long run. Here I will recommend a few points for the better structure of corporate governance. First, the corporate governance should be based on merit and elections by the shareholders. In the case of a family-owned business like the Mittal steel, the shareholders should select the directors not by personal relations but the basis of their competencies and abilities. The board must include people from different backgrounds and expertise. In the decision of the corporate governance ethical theories should be considered to avoid biases and selection based on nepotism (Sorin Monica, 2011, P. 119). The rights of employees and other shareholders should not be exploited.

References

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Heath, Joseph Norman, Wayne 2004, Stakeholder Theory, Corporate Governance and Public Management What can the History of State-Run Enterprises Teach us in the Post-Enron era ,Journal of Business Ethics, vol. 53, no. 3, pp. 247 265.

Kim, Hyun Dong, Lee, Bong Soo, Lee, Sang Whi, Park, Kwangwoo Jambal, Khishigjargal 2015, The Effect of Corporate Governance on Post Reverse Merger Survival ,Asia Pacific Journal of Financial Studies, vol. 44, no. 6, pp. 811 848.

Paniagua, Jordi, Rivelles, Rafael Sapena, Juan 2018, Corporate governance and financial performance The role of ownership and board structure ,Journal of Bus.Um Q c m

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A person, Michael Turnbull, Shann 2011, Corporate Governance, Risk Management, and the Financial Crisis An Information Processing View, Corporate Governance An International Review, vol. 19, no. 5, pp. 459470.

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Assessment 3

Case Analysis

Woolworth’s Group Limited and Qube holdings limited

Student’s Name

Institution

Introduction

Financial investment or any other type of investment in the stock market or in any other requires an investor to properly understand a company. The basic principle of evaluation is the financial performance of a company within a given period in a market. Understanding the financial performance would help an investor to make sound decision regarding on whether to invest on a company or not. Therefore, this report presents the evaluated financial performance of business and the analysis of the financial information of Woolworth Group Limited and Qube holdings limited. Woolworth Limited is one of the leading corporations with several stores in Australia and other countries worldwide. It has operated for decades and in 2005, it acquired Metcash Holdings to increase its market share in the market. Though it has faced some challenges in the market, Woolworths performance has been above its competitors in the market. Woolworth has total revenue of $65.669 billion, $2.326 billion, $1.593 billion, at the end of financial year 2018 CITATION Woo17 \l 1033 (Woolworth annual report, 2017). On the other hand Qube Holding Limited is a leading logistic provided in Australia. It was founded in 2010 and since then it has realized constant growth.

Comparative Analysis of corporate governance

Good corporate governance is central to ensure efficient operation of a company. Woolworth practice strict standard to ensure that it maintains its performance in the market. It has board of directors, which is the final decision market of the company. The analysis of its practices established that Woolworth has abided by all ASX recommendation of corporate governance and therefore, it has strict regulations, which everyone stakeholders are required to follow strictly. However, the board of directors of Woolworth serves the interest of shareholders and they are also accountable to shareholders for strategic direction CITATION Ali14 \l 1033 (Klettner, 2014). The board of directors is individuals with various skills and experience in various fields of studies. The board also appoints the CEO of the company and other holders of senior positions in the company. It has both internal and external auditor in charge of conducting financial accountable to ensure that the company operates efficiently. The study also established that the company practice diversification and it has employed people from different background in the society. In terms of remuneration, 60% of employees earned $25, 500 to $50,000 annual salary and the rest of 40% which are the senior managers and directors earned $ 50,000 annually.

Qube Holding Limited practices strict corporate governance well. It has the board of directors, management team and other employees. The boards of directors of Qube Holding Limited are committed to high standard of corporate governance and have a strong believe that high standard corporate governance lays a strong foundation for the performance of the company. It also has a strong foundation for the performance of the company and therefore, it has well structured corporate governance. Comparably, Woolworth Group Limited has best governance, which is well grounded as organizational culture. Though both companies have board of directors, management and policies, Woolworth still has a strong and high standard of corporate governance which has been nurtured to be part of the organization. It is also important to point out that both companies are audited by internal and external auditors and therefore, the financial management are accurate and open for scrutiny CITATION Qub19 \l 1033 (Qube Holdings Limited, 2019). This therefore, helps the company to limit vulnerability in the company which can cause serious financial risk. The board of directors of Woolworth and Qube are selected by the shareholders of the company through a vote. It is therefore, evident that both companies have a lot of similarities when it comes to corporate governance and management structure as well. This is because Qube and Woolworth strictly followed the regulation set by ASX on corporate governance and management of corporate in Australia. However, Woolworth Group Limited as a better corporate governance because its corporate governance is nurtured and adopted as part of the company rather than rules as practice by Qube Holding Limited.

Analyze financial information and evaluate financial performance

The analysis of financial information of Woolworth Group Limited indicates that in last few years, the company has improved its financial performance.

Woolworth Group Limited

The analysis of the financial performance of Woolworth for the last four years indicates that Woolworth has experienced some changes in the market. Since 2014, the liquidity ratio, profitability ratio as increased despite the market challenges which include stiff competition. First, the analysis of the liquidity ratio obtained that Woolworth has a liquidity ratio of 0.78 or 78%. Qube Holding Limited also has improved its performance based on its liquidity ratio. This means that its performance well in the market. Since the liquidity ratio is below one, it means that it does a strong liquidity and therefore, it means that the company performs better than other companies such Qube Holding Limited in the market.

Qube Holding Limited

The analysis of financial performance of Qube Holding Limited current ratio is 1.46; Quick ratio is 1.45 and cash ratio of 0.41. It has a strong capital structure and therefore, it been performance well. It is established that Qube Holding has Total Debt to Total Equity of 53.16, total debt to total capital of 34.71, total debt to total asset of 31.73, long time debt to equity of 51.32 and long term debt to total capital of 33.51. It is therefore, means that Qube Holding utilizes assets and liability well to generate revenue. It is not also at risk and therefore, it can still pay for its short and long term liabilities without seeking outside finances. Moreover, the analysis of the profitability ratio indicates a consistent trend as well. Qube Holding has a higher gross margin of 16.4, net margin of 11.79, return on asset of 4.41 and return on equity of 7.07. Qube Holding Limited Return on Invested Capital is 4.93, and return on capital is 3.69 CITATION Qub18 \l 1033 (Qube Holdding Financial , 2018). It means that investors earned return on their investment. This indicates an improved financial of performance of Qube at the end of the financial year 2018 compared to other companies in the stock market. It is also evident that Qube Holding has short strong financial strength.

Beta and standard deviation

The analysis of the stock performance of Qube and Woolworth indicates unique and different performance. The Standard deviation of Qube Holding Limited registered is Std Deviation, 0.052918942 and Woolworth has STD deviation of 0.046473476. However, the Beta for Qube Holding Limited is 1.89143 and Woolworth Group Limited is 2.922. This still indicates that Woolworth Company performs better than Qube in the market. The high Beta and standard deviation means that the company performs better and therefore, there is not financial risk the two companies are likely to face based on the Beta and standard deviation of the market performance

Risk and return associate with Investment

The risk and return on investment are measured based on the stock performance of a company. Investors usually focus on earned return for efficient decision on whether to investment on a stock or not. The benchmark for investment in this case, would be the stock performance of both Qube and Woolworth group Limited. As stated by Campbell, Giglio, Polk and Turley (2018) the performance of a share of a company on the stock market indicates the risk factor in business and whether the investors can realized higher return of investment from their investment. The analysis of Woolworth performance on the stock market indicates that its share prices are up and down and this means that its performance is not stable. In a single day, the stock prices decline and increase and therefore, it means that the company has some vulnerability with does not allow its shares to be stable in the stock market. Therefore, unstable performance in the stock market is a risk which is associated to investment. Most investors would want to invest in a company with stock performance. The current share piece of the company is $ 37.50 and price movement of ‎$0.22 (0.59%). However, Qube Holding Limited share prices are $3.5 and price movement is 0.34%.

Figure 1: Woolworth shares return

In figure 1 above, the graph indicates a slope performance of Woolworth group Limited in the stock market. The performance is up and down every single day, which indicates market vulnerability. This kind of vulnerability translates to high risk, volatile of a market. Therefore, a critical element, which are used for investment benchmark is the return registered from market. The graph above in figure 1, indicates that Woolworth return is low and therefore, from the analysis an investor can be able to make appropriate decision on kind of investment decision to take based on the return made by Woolworth Group Limited.

Figure 2: Figure 1: Qube shares return

e.) Assume you inherited 800,000 which of the two companies would you invest on

Every investor focuses on return and would want to invest on stock with quick and high return. With $800,000 I would invest on Woolworth’s shares for future return. Though the analysis of the earned return of Woolworth indicates that it experiences share fluctuation every day, it has higher return compared to Qube Holding Limited. Woolworth Group Limited has high liquidity ratio and profitability, therefore, the company is not at any financial risk. The debt to equity ratio is also high which means that it can still finance both its short and long term debts without seeking for external support and therefore, it means that investment made to the company would not be exposed to any risk. The share return of the company is high and by investing in the company; there are high chances of earning return without experiencing high loses.

Bibliography

BIBLIOGRAPHY Klettner, A. L. (2014. Corporate Governance Regulation: Assessing the Effectiveness of Soft Law in relation to the Contemporary Role of the Board of Directors . Strategic Management , 2-35.

Qube Holdding Financial . (2018). Qube Holdding Financial Performance. https://www.marketwatch.com/investing/stock/1k1/profile?countrycode=de&iso=xfra , 2-15.

Qube Holdings Limited. (2019). Corporate Governance Statement. https://qube.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Corporate-Governance-Statement-FY19-Master-draft-clean-Final-140819.pdf , 2-15.

Woolworth annual report. (2017). 2017 Corporate Governance of the Woolworth group Limited. 2015 , 2-34.

Appendix

Qube

Qube

Woolworth Closing

WoolWorth Return

Portfolio Return

30-Jun-2019

82.780

0.054387976

33.230

0.059292318

#REF!

31-May-2019

78.510

0.053542673

31.370

-0.015070644

#REF!

30-Apr-2019

74.520

0.054926387

31.850

0.047697368

0.005815

31-Mar-2019

70.640

-0.044759973

30.400

0.060341821

-0.00331

28-Feb-2019

73.950

0.057788585

28.670

-0.023833844

0.002037

31-Jan-2019

69.910

-0.034258876

29.370

-0.001699524

0.001431

31-Dec-2018

72.390

0.016285273

29.420

0.017289073

0.000529

30-Nov-2018

71.230

0.02888921

28.920

0.017235315

-0.00102

31-Oct-2018

69.230

-0.030527937

28.430

0.012464387

-0.00028

30-Sep-2018

71.410

0.0023863

28.080

-0.007773852

-6.5E-05

31-Aug-2018

71.240

-0.047466239

28.300

-0.059488202

0.000708

31-Jul-2018

74.790

0.026348291

30.090

-0.014089122

0.000172

30-Jun-2018

72.870

0.051515152

30.520

0.072382291

-0.00675

31-May-2018

69.300

-0.035087719

28.460

0.021536253

-0.00123

30-Apr-2018

71.820

-0.006776379

27.860

0.059718524

0.003973

31-Mar-2018

72.310

-0.053410132

26.290

-0.047808765

0.000844

28-Feb-2018

76.390

-0.031444149

27.610

0.024489796

0.001676

31-Jan-2018

78.870

-0.018297237

26.950

-0.012820513

0.00159

31-Dec-2017

80.340

0.011456628

27.300

0.014492754

-5.3E-06

30-Nov-2017

79.430

0.023186912

26.910

0.039799073

-0.00093

31-Oct-2017

77.630

0.031627907

25.880

0.026576755

0.000748

30-Sep-2017

75.250

-0.007255937

25.210

-0.030384615

-0.00138

31-Aug-2017

75.800

-0.094709184

26.000

-0.026217228

-0.00369

31-Jul-2017

83.730

0.011109769

26.700

0.045418951

-0.00146

30-Jun-2017

82.810

0.039673572

25.540

-0.019577735

-0.00324

31-May-2017

79.650

-0.088672769

26.050

-0.030877976

-0.00239

30-Apr-2017

87.400

0.017343732

26.880

0.014339623

0.000407

31-Mar-2017

85.910

0.043610301

26.500

0.028726708

-0.00475

28-Feb-2017

82.320

0.008082292

25.760

0.047154472

0.000816

31-Jan-2017

81.660

-0.009100837

24.600

0.020746888

0.000199

31-Dec-2016

82.410

0.047806739

24.100

0.052861512

0.002879

30-Nov-2016

78.650

0.07167189

22.890

-0.032135307

-0.00132

31-Oct-2016

73.390

0.013674033

23.650

0.016330039

0.001517

30-Sep-2016

72.400

0.008216126

23.270

-0.018557571

0.001185

31-Aug-2016

71.810

-0.071622495

23.710

0.012815036

-0.00077

31-Jul-2016

77.350

0.040069921

23.410

0.120631881

-0.00191

30-Jun-2016

74.370

-0.039519566

20.890

-0.055605787

0.002118

31-May-2016

77.430

0.047909054

22.120

0.000452284

0.001974

30-Apr-2016

73.890

-0.013747998

22.110

0.000452489

0.000518

31-Mar-2016

74.920

0.068149415

22.100

-0.034934498

0.003249

29-Feb-2016

70.140

-0.108427609

22.900

-0.056836903

0.001465

31-Jan-2016

78.670

-0.080205776

24.280

-0.008979592

-0.00515

31-Dec-2015

85.530

0.07679718

24.500

0.035065484

-0.01032

30-Nov-2015

79.430

0.035188323

23.670

-0.018249689

-0.00266

31-Oct-2015

76.730

0.055143014

24.110

-0.029388084

0.003204

30-Sep-2015

72.720

-0.031433138

24.840

-0.059090909

-2.8E-05

31-Aug-2015

75.080

-0.137875363

26.400

-0.076923077

-0.00534

31-Jul-2015

87.087

0.028544579

28.600

0.060830861

-0.00449

30-Jun-2015

84.670

0.00047009

26.960

-0.037142857

0.002792

31-May-2015

84.631

-0.042534038

28.000

-0.050203528

-0.00427

30-Apr-2015

88.390

-0.048501071

29.480

-0.000339098

-1E-05

31-Mar-2015

92.896

0.016100957

29.490

-0.039726473

0.00131

28-Feb-2015

91.424

0.028993619

30.710

-0.033668974

-0.00139

31-Jan-2015

88.848

0.042965558

31.780

0.035853977

-0.00073

31-Dec-2014

85.187

0.061075322

30.680

-0.014138817

0.002247

30-Nov-2014

80.284

0.002982107

31.120

-0.135555556

-0.00473

31-Oct-2014

80.045

0.068933457

36.000

0.051401869

0.003483

30-Sep-2014

74.883

-0.0741515

34.240

-0.053097345

0.006977

31-Aug-2014

80.881

-0.029014925

36.160

-0.021380244

-0.0031

31-Jul-2014

83.298

0.035484669

36.950

0.049119818

-0.00524

30-Jun-2014

80.443

-0.008702047

35.220

-0.061550759

0.001568

31-May-2014

81.149

0.03409379

37.530

0.00562701

0.001486

30-Apr-2014

78.474

0.018853306

37.320

0.044792833

-0.00292

31-Mar-2014

77.022

0.037235467

35.720

-0.009703355

0.001215

28-Feb-2014

74.257

0.005792806

36.070

0.058702671

0.002739

31-Jan-2014

73.829

-0.045886889

34.070

0.006499261

-0.00177

31-Dec-2013

77.380

-0.000257003

33.850

0.004749184

0.000277

30-Nov-2013

77.400

0.022870662

33.690

-0.034670487

-0.00127

31-Oct-2013

75.669

0.068389271

34.900

-0.002857143

-3.1E-05

30-Sep-2013

70.825

-0.022377814

35.000

-0.018783291

0.000139

31-Aug-2013

72.447

-0.018461124

35.670

0.070528211

-0.00146

31-Jul-2013

73.809

0.072708875

33.320

0.015544041

-0.00192

30-Jun-2013

68.806

0.034699372

32.810

-0.005757576

-0.00105

31-May-2013

66.499

-0.089720899

33.000

-0.093655589

-0.00798

30-Apr-2013

73.053

0.079988237

36.410

0.077537733

0.002329

31-Mar-2013

67.643

0.011000446

33.790

-0.032636702

0.00207

28-Feb-2013

66.907

0.043754849

34.930

0.118117798

0.012658

31-Jan-2013

64.102

0.036506915

31.240

0.065121036

-0.00172

31-Dec-2012

61.844

0.04171553

29.330

0.00170765

0.002027

30-Nov-2012

59.368

0.033593074

29.280

-0.016128338

0.000176

31-Oct-2012

57.438

0.035502959

29.760

0.022600834

0.00152

30-Sep-2012

55.469

0.018816222

29.102

-0.029034436

0.0011

31-Aug-2012

54.444

-0.048496437

29.972

0.036751838

-0.00089

31-Jul-2012

57.219

0.083427495

28.910

0.066044776

-0.00035

30-Jun-2012

52.813

0.074898785

27.119

0.013615734

-0.00313

31-May-2012

49.133

-0.049451607

26.755

0.019275251

-0.00285

30-Apr-2012

51.689

0.037325349

26.249

-0.001539646

0.002775

31-Mar-2012

49.829

0.013554522

26.289

0.02647175

-0.00016

29-Feb-2012

49.163

-0.02427951

25.611

0.0209762

-0.00094

31-Jan-2012

50.386

0.0292564

25.085

-0.012350598

6.96E-05

31-Dec-2011

48.954

0.038396624

25.399

0.019496344

-0.00052

30-Nov-2011

47.144

-0.03795413

24.913

0.03401932

-0.00153

31-Oct-2011

49.004

0.081668496

24.093

-0.042236525

0.002312

30-Sep-2011

45.304

-0.055371215

25.156

-0.014274385

0.001616

31-Aug-2011

47.960

-0.021311143

25.520

-0.063845583

0.000956

31-Jul-2011

49.004

-0.05793499

27.261

-0.029189189

0.003625

30-Jun-2011

52.018

0.033188463

28.080

0.012404232

-0.0015

31-May-2011

50.347

-0.057531186

27.736

0.033949453

0.002342

30-Apr-2011

53.420

0.025

26.825

-0.013764881

0.000659

31-Mar-2011

52.117

-0.013368481

27.200

0

0.000769

28-Feb-2011

52.823

0.012390393

27.200

0.006741573

0.000217

31-Jan-2011

52.177

0.033287374

27.018

-0.010011123

-0.00045

31-Dec-2010

50.496

0.051574151

27.291

0.006343284

0.000682

30-Nov-2010

48.019

-0.012678937

27.119

-0.054673721

0.000125

31-Oct-2010

48.636

-0.044361931

28.687

-0.016990291

-0.0024

30-Sep-2010

50.894

0.017296223

29.183

0.038904899

-0.00235

31-Aug-2010

50.028

-0.042998478

28.090

0.076386196

0.00061

31-Jul-2010

52.276

0.080592105

26.097

-0.045521836

-0.00038

30-Jun-2010

48.377

-0.053143858

27.342

0.013883677

0.003346

31-May-2010

51.093

-0.122030422

26.967

-0.016605166

-0.00908

30-Apr-2010

58.194

0.039438621

27.422

-0.032142857

-0.00254

31-Mar-2010

55.986

0.043954006

28.333

0.043219076

-0.00608

28-Feb-2010

53.629

0.012962615

27.159

0.037896365

-0.00071

31-Jan-2010

52.943

-0.029535096

26.168

-0.076428571

-0.0046

31-Dec-2009

54.554

0.038825758

28.333

-0.001782531

0.000436

30-Nov-2009

52.515

0.010526316

28.384

-0.02025847

0.001237

31-Oct-2009

51.968

0.009661836

28.971

-0.021196581

0.000413

30-Sep-2009

51.471

0.125

29.598

0.043897216

0.000426

31-Aug-2009

45.752

0.074766355

28.353

0.028256881

0.000123

31-Jul-2009

42.569

0.097435897

27.574

0.033763278

0.013662

30-Jun-2009

38.789

0.109846329

26.674

0.039842209

0.009339

31-May-2009

34.950

0.000854457

25.652

-0.051272455

-0.00165

30-Apr-2009

34.920

0.010941549

27.038

0.068372651

0.003926

31-Mar-2009

34.542

0.165436242

25.308

-0.043228768

0.002358

28-Feb-2009

29.639

0.107806691

26.451

-0.05631769

-0.00267

31-Jan-2009

26.755

-0.069204152

28.030

0.038620172

-0.01312

31-Dec-2008

28.744

-0.15224406

26.987

-0.004850746

-0.01614

30-Nov-2008

33.906

-0.154094293

27.119

-0.035971223

0.009275

31-Oct-2008

40.082

-0.054434538

28.131

0.022058824

0.00818

30-Sep-2008

42.390

0.005188679

27.524

-0.04090268

0.000672

31-Aug-2008

42.171

0.066666667

28.697

0.125396825

-0.00086

31-Jul-2008

39.535

-0.010455564

25.500

0.030674847

-0.00131

30-Jun-2008

39.953

-0.050803403

24.741

-0.117965368

-0.01818

31-May-2008

42.091

-0.056410256

28.050

-0.034146341

-0.00046

30-Apr-2008

44.608

0.072709878

29.042

-0.010344828

-0.00247

31-Mar-2008

41.584

-0.007595538

29.345

0.000344947

0.000417

29-Feb-2008

41.902

-0.147165992

29.335

0.006597222

-0.01077

31-Jan-2008

49.133

-0.164128596

29.143

-0.152691968

0.001194

31-Dec-2007

58.781

-0.009220453

34.394

0.004135894

0.001384

30-Nov-2007

59.328

-0.030081301

34.253

0.011958146

0.003111

31-Oct-2007

61.168

0.090618904

33.848

0.125883541

-0.00031

30-Sep-2007

56.085

0.022484134

30.064

-0.007018717

-0.00076

31-Aug-2007

54.852

0.016402506

30.276

0.096372298

0.013618

31-Jul-2007

53.967

-0.017918552

27.615

0.010740741

-0.00048

30-Jun-2007

54.952

-0.002707581

27.321

-0.018538713

-0.00183

31-May-2007

55.101

0.050037908

27.837

-0.027915194

-0.0012

30-Apr-2007

52.475

0.049741345

28.637

0.040823832

-0.00089

31-Mar-2007

49.989

0.006004804

27.514

-0.000367647

0.000311

28-Feb-2007

49.690

-0.001598721

27.524

0.145263158

0.005851

31-Jan-2007

49.770

0.011317704

24.033

-0.006276151

7.03E-05

31-Dec-2006

49.213

0.04322159

24.184

0.086363636

0.012476

30-Nov-2006

47.174

-0.005660377

22.262

0.063315611

-0.00046

31-Oct-2006

47.442

0.042622951

20.936

0.021224087

0.003675

30-Sep-2006

45.503

0.000656168

20.501

-0.021256039

-0.00135

31-Aug-2006

45.473

0.020535714

20.946

0.087184874

0.002726

31-Jul-2006

44.558

0.008781806

19.267

-0.055086849

0.001177

30-Jun-2006

44.170

0.02848541

20.390

0.083333333

0.00785

31-May-2006

42.947

-0.081276596

18.821

-0.003215434

-0.00054

30-Apr-2006

46.746

0.037527594

18.882

-0.009028147

0.000317

31-Mar-2006

45.055

0.010033445

19.054

0.023369565

-0.00089

28-Feb-2006

44.608

0.004479283

18.619

0.066666667

-0.00043

31-Jan-2006

44.409

0.044444444

17.455

0.023738872

0.001001

31-Dec-2005

42.519

0.022727273

17.051

-0.009406232

-0.00053

30-Nov-2005

41.574

0.075102881

17.212

0.041641151

0.004326

31-Oct-2005

38.670

0.012236397

16.524

-0.018039687

0.000448

30-Sep-2005

38.203

0.027005348

16.828

0.023384615

0.003002

31-Aug-2005

37.198

-0.04249872

16.443

-0.009146341

-0.00036

31-Jul-2005

38.849

0.029249012

16.595

-0.006662629

0.000634

30-Jun-2005

37.745

0.024291498

16.706

0.027380212

-0.00128

31-May-2005

36.850

0.0195377

16.261

0.051013734

0.000232

30-Apr-2005

36.144

0.039473684

15.472

-0.047352025

-0.00034

31-Mar-2005

34.771

-0.035053823

16.241

0.031491003

0.000922

28-Feb-2005

36.034

0.080847255

15.745

0.066483893

4.32E-05

31-Jan-2005

33.339

0.04423676

14.764

-0.027981346

-0.00243

31-Dec-2004

31.927

0.021967526

15.189

0.000666667

0.00182

30-Nov-2004

31.240

-0.021495327

15.179

0.121076233

-0.00434

31-Oct-2004

31.927

0.063265982

13.539

-0.017621145

0.001378

30-Sep-2004

30.027

-0.000331126

13.782

0.076679842

0.009291

31-Aug-2004

30.037

-0.032671365

12.801

0.080273271

-0.00348

31-Jul-2004

31.051

-0.041743401

11.849

0.027192982

0.002099

30-Jun-2004

32.404

0.000921659

11.536

-0.0264731

-0.00216

31-May-2004

32.374

0.0416

11.849

-0.007627119

-0.00194

30-Apr-2004

31.081

-0.061561562

11.940

-0.004219409

5.5E-05

31-Mar-2004

33.120

0.051136364

11.991

0.010230179

0.002049

29-Feb-2004

31.509

0.038348083

11.870

-0.000851789

-0.00236

31-Jan-2004

30.345

0.035993209

11.880

-0.005084746

0.001789

31-Dec-2003

29.291

0.067028986

11.940

0.040564374

0.002536

30-Nov-2003

27.451

0.003636364

11.475

0.019784173

3.03E-05

31-Oct-2003

27.352

-0.007220217

11.252

-0.051194539

-0.00256

30-Sep-2003

27.550

-0.012477718

11.859

-0.003401361

-0.00011

31-Aug-2003

27.899

-0.060301508

11.900

-0.003389831

0.000609

31-Jul-2003

29.689

0.010152284

11.940

-0.057507987

6.89E-05

30-Jun-2003

29.390

0.046388102

12.669

0.022040816

-0.00287

31-May-2003

28.088

0.037472447

12.396

-0.051857585

0.003363

30-Apr-2003

27.073

0.044913628

13.074

0.056418643

0.003327

31-Mar-2003

25.909

0.061532192

12.376

0.05704408

-0.00065

28-Feb-2003

24.407

-0.052875338

11.708

-0.030988275

-0.00412

31-Jan-2003

25.770

-0.04037037

12.082

0.047368421

0.000218

31-Dec-2002

26.854

-0.005524862

11.536

0.007067138

7.31E-05

30-Nov-2002

27.003

-0.106907895

11.455

-0.080422421

0.000506

31-Oct-2002

30.236

0.00862641

12.456

0.000813008

-4.2E-05

30-Sep-2002

29.977

-0.023647554

12.446

0.025

0.000518

31-Aug-2002

30.703

-0.009624639

12.143

0

31-Jul-2002

31.002

Average

0.006270268

0.006041533

#REF!

Variance

0.002800414

0.002159784

#REF!

Std Deviation

0.052918942

0.046473476

#REF!

Covariance

0.000735356

#DIV/0!

Correlation

0.300487378

#DIV/0!

Assessment On Motivation

Assessment of Motivation

Name of the Writer

Name of the University

Assessment of Motivation

Introduction

Many managers and individuals do not understand the importance of spending time and resources in motivating employees in their workplace. Most people do not understand that motivating employees is not useful for just the employees themselves but helps in extending the existence of managers. Employees are an integral part of an organization and their commitment towards the organization is imperative. If they have no organizational commitment then there should be no expectation from them to excel at their work. Recent studies have shown that the majority of the firms currently in operation around the world have a hard time attracting and retaining talented employees (Peters, 2015). Furthermore, these studies also illustrate the effect that employee leaving on organizations is, for example, it is estimated that a loss of ten employees is around one million dollars to the organization. Furthermore, other than the loss of money, organizations also lose knowledge and the experience of the individuals that might be leaving. These are some of the reasons why motivating employees is an important task for organizations. This shows that employee motivation has a huge impact on the productivity in the organization. This report focuses on the need for motivating employees within the workplace. Specifically, this report will focus on the literature behind motivating employees, models of motivation, theories of motivation and a real-world example for implementing these theories.

Motivation

Motivation can be defined as the reasons on which the behaviour of a person is based on. Other researchers broadly define motivation as the attributes that are associated with our actions regarding doing one thing or the other. Furthermore, the motivation of the intrinsic form is shown through personal enjoyment or pleasure (Bellemare, et al, 2016). Intrinsic motivation is also a method of energizing and sustaining activities by the use of spontaneous activities that provide satisfaction to the person. This type of motivation is visible during times such as exploration, play and challenge seeking activities that people mostly do to get a reward of some sort.

Some researchers have seen to compare and contrast intrinsic motivation with extrinsic motivation, which can be explained as the motivation generated by contingency reinforcement. But under this comparison, researchers have seen to be more inclined towards intrinsic motivation. This is because this type of motivation is more desirable and is thought of a method that has a higher chance better learning outcomes in comparison to extrinsic motivation (Hennessey, et al, 2015). Furthermore, it can be said that motivation involves an accumulation of perceptions, interests, beliefs, actions and values, which are all very closely related. This leads to the conclusion that the different approaches to motivation can either focus on cognitive behaviours or non-cognitive behaviours, or maybe both as well.

Academic literature

Multiple researchers globally have researched motivation and its relation to employee performance. Early approaches to the study of motivation were mostly based on the reinforcement of intrinsic type. Literature characterized reinforcement contingencies as the reason for all behaviour such as achievement. The most vocal proponent of this notion was B.F. Skinner, and he is also the one who has researched reinforces of different types. Positive reinforces and rewards are mostly used in relation to the belief that through them only the desired actions would have resulted. However, negatively reinforcers are those which increase the chance of one situation occurring by removing any negative stimuli accredited to that behaviour (Lăzăroiu, 2015),. Punishment is one reinforce that decrease the chance of any behavior occurring by referring to unpleasant consequences that might result from said action. An example under this framework would be of the teacher who uses good grades and praise as a method to get the wanted behaviour. Whereas, bad grades are used as means of deviating from self-destructive behaviour. Other researchers have noted that this type of approach is limited in its nature. Its limitation arises from the fact that rewards and punishment are not fully equal and also are not effective for every student.

The study of employee motivation and performance is solely based on the work done by Maslow, Herzberg and Taylor. The concepts of motivation are inclusive of the overall structure of an organization and the behaviour model within that organization. Each of these researchers links how motivated an employee is about the performance of the employee. But researchers have proposed the fact that managers are not able to motivate employees bit rather that they influence what employees are motivated to do. In terms of boosting employee morale, implementing a range of communication channels to facilitate the quality within subordinate and superior communication. The advantage of such an approach would be that employees would have a way of voicing their concerns regarding the various aspects within their jobs that they find either unpleasant or demotivating. Furthermore, this method also shows that the engagement is ready to listen to their views and there is an environment of engagement and appreciation. Furthermore, strategies that become a contributing factor to the personal and professional development of employees is an effective strategy for employee motivation. But the fact is if the motivational aspect of the development program is to be highlighted more vividly than a third party with prior experience and competence shall implement them.

Research dictates that the use of job rotation and flexible working hours and job sharing are all excellent methods of increasing motivation of employees. An increasing number of organizations are starting to appreciate the importance of alterations in working patterns and their benefits. But some organizations are left behind in the sense that they do not understand the importance of such an important tool. Research has also dictated that the managers should delve into self-motivation practices and should be proactive regarding such approaches. This is beneficial in the sense they also need to maintain a high level of motivations so that they can effectively motivate their subordinates as well. The main challenge that studies have found out regarding motivation in workplaces is the motivation of every employee while keeping the differences within them in mind. This is why individual differences have seen to be the biggest hindrance regarding increasing motivation among employees for management. Other researchers while focusing on the same problem have focused specifically on differences that arose due to difference in cultures. In the sense of an organization, culture can be explained as a pattern of behaviour, norms, knowledge, traditions and values that are common within a certain group of people. So in this sense, the differences in culture have seen to be the biggest challenge towards motivation in employees.

Contemporary models in motivation

Management’s around the world have started the potential benefit that motivation has on increasing employee morale and employee productivity. Research has seen that Motivation is a key ingredient in the development of an extension program. But the fact is that it is not always used properly in relation with people (Safa & Von Solms, 2016). There are certain models out there that help in clearly explaining the use of motivation. The model that is to be presented here was derived from the work of Mayo, Likert, Maslow, McGregor and many more. This model includes inputs the process of motivation and the associated components and finally the output.

Input

The input within this model is the person either professional or an everyday man who has his own goals, value system, abilities and needs. Needs was referred by Maslow as psychological, physical and social. Other researchers such as Herzberg, used the definition of needs by Maslow to determine the level of job satisfaction and dissatisfaction among a variety of working people. They found positive factors leading to job satisfaction as recognition, responsibility growth, achievement and growth. Whereas, factors such as supervision, relationships with subordinates, status, difficulties with company policy and administration are some of the reasons for increasing job dissatisfaction among employees.

Motivational Process

The motivational process within such a model is based on three levels. These three levels are organization, group integration and personal. The organization has the biggest role to play in terms of increasing motivation across its employees. In today's world the, individuality and creativity and their related philosophies have seen to be successful forces for motivation within any organization. Furthermore, group integration is an indication of how good is the structure and function of a group and how well that has been kept by the different members. Group integration is majorly influenced by leadership, group members and goal setting. An increasing number of turnover and dissatisfaction with policies has seen as the signs of decreasing integration within a group. Lastly, the personal part refers to how employee's high-performance periods and the sense of achievement and recognition and responsibility and the same is the scenario with an average person. Research has suggested that this can also be accredited as motivation and individuals use this to satisfy their needs.

Output

Within this model, the output is presented in two separate parts. One is related to an average person whereas the other relates to a professional. In the case of an average person, two important results can be seen in case of occurrence of motivation. First, any of his participation in organizational activities would explicitly suggest that the person is trying to fulfil some sort of need or a goal of sorts. In terms of professional, the measurement of output is done based on how effective and efficient one was in obtaining the participation and was able to effect change in behaviour in his clients.

Theories of motivation

Regarding increasing motivation in the workplace, there are several theories out there that clearly explain the relationship between motivation and employee productivity and efficiency. Furthermore, out of the plethora of motivation theories out there Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs and Herzberg's Two Factor Model are the most widely accepted theories. These theories indicate the relationship between motivation and employee productivity. These theories are as follows.

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

This model was presented by Abraham Maslow in 1954 and was his take on how motivation was affecting people and professional. Under this theory, Maslow described five levels of needs that every human has. Furthermore, every level needs to be fulfilled as it helps someone to be motivated by any factors of a high level. According to this theory, one cannot be motivated by positive feedback if the psychological needs that are thought of to be basic for a person are not met (Fallatah & Syed, 2018). This theory has very much real-world applications, this is because if someone's pay isn't enough to feed his family there is no need for that person to care about a sticker which just states "good work". Under his theory, the needs are arranged in order from psychological needs to need for self-actualization. So if the basic need is secured then security is sought, then belonging, then esteem and finally come self-actualization.

Herzberg’s Two Factor Model

In comparison to Maslow, Herzberg was the one that came up with the more popular theory regarding motivation. According to him, certain factors or as he characterized them as Hygiene Factors, needed to be there so that employees can be satisfied. On the other hand, these hygiene factors are not a sure-fire way of increasing motivation among employees. To form this theory, Herzberg conducted interviews with around two engineers in different industries in the United State of America (Andersson, 2017). After his analysis of the answer, she received from these interviews he found that the good feelings or motivation was mostly associated with the content factors of the job. Whereas, bad feelings were generated due to the job context factors. So the intrinsic factors related to the job are what promote satisfaction regarding a job whereas, extrinsic job factors are known to be dissatisfiers or in other words hygiene factors.

Real-world example

I used to work in a content writing firm before and worked on projects for multiple clients at a certain time. At one point in time, all the projects that I had to write about were either out of my expertise or even my interest. During this time I was sent into the hands of a recently appointed new manager. My manager to motivate me did a couple of things different from average managers. Firstly, he set up some expectations, by understanding my condition regarding the projects I was assigned. To move forward, he shared his experiences with me and used them to motivate me to get interested in the projects I was assigned. Moreover, he continuously gave me feedback, not in a demeaning manner but more of in an encouraging manner even when my work was not that up to par. Moreover, he supported me through the whole time I was under his supervision. All these efforts of his led to the development of a personal connection, which helped in fostering a better relationship at work and increase respect for each other.

Conclusion

Motivation is very important for the effectiveness and productivity of employees within any working environment. There is a high amount of literature present in the world that supports this notion regarding motivation and employees. Furthermore, the model presented for motivation has three parts such as inputs, motivational process and outputs. Moreover, Maslow's hierarchy of needs and Herzberg's two-factor model are two of the most prominent theories of motivation currently used in organizations.

References

Andersson, S. (2017). Assessing Job Satisfaction Using Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory: A Qualitative Study Between the US and Japanese Insurance Employees. IAFOR Journal of Business & Management, 2(1), 22-35.

Bellemare, M., Srinivasan, S., Ostrovski, G., Schaul, T., Saxton, D., & Munos, R. (2016). Unifying count-based exploration and intrinsic motivation. In Advances in Neural Information Processing Systems (pp. 1471-1479).

Fallatah, R. H. M., & Syed, J. (2018). A Critical Review of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. Employee Motivation in Saudi Arabia (pp. 19-59). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.

Hennessey, B., Moran, S., Altringer, B., & Amabile, T. M. (2015). Extrinsic and intrinsic motivation. Wiley encyclopedia of management, 1-4.

Lăzăroiu, G. (2015). Employee motivation and job performance. Linguistic and Philosophical Investigations, (14), 97-102.

Peters, R. S. (2015). The concept of motivation. Routledge.

Safa, N. S., & Von Solms, R. (2016). An information security knowledge sharing model in organizations. Computers in Human Behavior, 57, 442-451.

Assessment One - Report

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Assessment One Report

Name of the writer

Name of the institution

TABLE OF CONTENTS

TOC o 1-3 h z u HYPERLINK file///CUsersshahidamalikFoldersDesktopAMP-116928_5_1539_MUYA..docx l _Toc26497258 Introduction PAGEREF _Toc26497258 h 3

HYPERLINK file///CUsersshahidamalikFoldersDesktopAMP-116928_5_1539_MUYA..docx l _Toc26497259 BHP Billiton Sustainability PAGEREF _Toc26497259 h 3

HYPERLINK file///CUsersshahidamalikFoldersDesktopAMP-116928_5_1539_MUYA..docx l _Toc26497260 External and Internal Factors Impacted BHP Billiton PAGEREF _Toc26497260 h 5

HYPERLINK file///CUsersshahidamalikFoldersDesktopAMP-116928_5_1539_MUYA..docx l _Toc26497261 External Factors PAGEREF _Toc26497261 h 5

HYPERLINK file///CUsersshahidamalikFoldersDesktopAMP-116928_5_1539_MUYA..docx l _Toc26497262 Internal Factors Impacting BHP Billiton PAGEREF _Toc26497262 h 6

HYPERLINK file///CUsersshahidamalikFoldersDesktopAMP-116928_5_1539_MUYA..docx l _Toc26497263 Ensuring Operational System, Supply Chain, and Logistics PAGEREF _Toc26497263 h 7

HYPERLINK file///CUsersshahidamalikFoldersDesktopAMP-116928_5_1539_MUYA..docx l _Toc26497264 Operational System PAGEREF _Toc26497264 h 8

HYPERLINK file///CUsersshahidamalikFoldersDesktopAMP-116928_5_1539_MUYA..docx l _Toc26497265 Supply Chain PAGEREF _Toc26497265 h 8

HYPERLINK file///CUsersshahidamalikFoldersDesktopAMP-116928_5_1539_MUYA..docx l _Toc26497266 Logistics PAGEREF _Toc26497266 h 8

HYPERLINK file///CUsersshahidamalikFoldersDesktopAMP-116928_5_1539_MUYA..docx l _Toc26497267 Conclusion PAGEREF _Toc26497267 h 9

HYPERLINK file///CUsersshahidamalikFoldersDesktopAMP-116928_5_1539_MUYA..docx l _Toc26497268 References PAGEREF _Toc26497268 h 10

Assessment One Report

Introduction

BHP Billiton is one of the worlds largest resource and mining companies around the world. The companies have a presence in 25 countries all over the globe while employed almost 100,000 people as employees. The company is an Australia based company that is headquartered in Melbourne and listed on the ASE (Australian Securities Exchange) and London Stock Exchange. The main products that bhp produces on the national and international level include aluminium, copper, iron ore, manganese, nickel, uranium, silver, and titanium minerals. Beyond these, BHP Billiton also has coal assets and petroleum. Furthermore, the company is also involved in other activities like wore production, equipment manufacturing, shipbuilding, and cement and breaks product etc. (Britannica, 2019).

This paper is aimed to analyze the BHP Billiton in terms of its sustainability, factors (internal and external) affecting BHP Billiton, and operational systems.

BHP Billiton Sustainability

BHP Billiton is one of the top Australian companies that can be found a highly effective company in terms of i5ts sustainability and management regarding strategic decision making and direction. Being an international company with having more than 60,000 employees all over the world, the company put efforts everywhere to ensure sustainability from every perspective.

According to the official report of BHP Billiton, sustainability is the key factor and core to our strategy and decision while integrated into every activity (business and operational activities) we perform. The company is one that considers their sustainability as its key factor of success and growth in every region of the market place they operate in. the approach of BHP Billiton is that sustainability is the core and heart of everything they do. The company make sure to put the health and safety of everything including business operations, employees care and development, and business strategies at first (BHP Billiton, 2019). The company can also be found a highly environmentally responsible business entity in the market that always respects and value the rights of human beings while ensuring the support of every host community or community of operations (Valle, 2016).

With relation to the strategic direction and operational imperatives, the company oversees the sustainability approach that the planning and other strategic governance while monitoring the board of operational practices. The company does this to oversee those systems of strategic direction and manage all of the operational imperatives in terms of risk management. The company also work to have the best business advice about strategic direction that can affect their sustainability positively (Jenkins, and Yakovleva, 2006). In addition to it, the Forum on The Corporate Responsibility is one of the keys to sustainability and engagement program.

The company apply its sustainability on all levels such as organizational practices and external environment. These activities and application include day to day activities and decisions of the company regarding operations and future direction while ensuring environmental sustainability. These activities and approach are supported by the sustainability standards and requirements of BHP Billiton. These standards are the basis for establishing and executing management systems for business decisions and operations (BHP Billiton, 2019). In short, sustainability is mainly aimed to ensure risk management, business operations, future planning (strategic direction), and environmental sustainability.

External and Internal Factors Impacted BHP Billiton

Several external and internal factors have been experienced by BHP Billiton impacting the company in terms of their daily activities and strategic decisions. Several external and internal factors have impacted the company, its normal business activities and strategic decisions but the factors that have the hugest impacts are as follows.

External Factors

Political

Involvement of the government and political bodies in the business and industry operations by implementing new policies and practices.

The corruption on the national level in host communities and on the global level in the areas of business policies, organizational policies, and associated departments.

The political sustainability on both the national level (in Australia) and international level.

The laws and regulations of the governments in the industries of BHP Billiton operations such as changes in pricing, and safety laws and other anti-trust regulations.

Amendment in the existing laws and policies and the introduction of new laws like benefits laws, employee benefits, and taxation etc.

Economic

The economic level and systems of the countries, BHP Billiton is operating in.

The involvement of the government entity through the development of new economic policies on the national levels.

Variances in the economic policies and rates on the national and international level.

The economic growth rate of communities of BHP Billiton operations, interest rate changes, and variance in the currency on the local and global level.

Social

The demographics of the countries and the skills level, population, and their societal hierarchies.

The power structure, changes in the power structure, class structure and standards of education of all potential customers around the world. Social convection in the cultures where BHP Billiton exists and operates as well as the role of gender in each community or marketplace (Northey, Haque, and Mudd, 2013).

The spirit of innovation and entrepreneurship on the local and international level as it increases competition for BHP Billiton.

Technological

The advancement of technology on the global level and the innovation of technology that BHP Billiton currently uses in its operations.

Development of technology used by major competitors all over the globe. Continuous effects of the innovation and changes in technology on the operations, costs, business policies, business practices, and value chain structure of BHP Billiton (BHP Billiton, 2019).

Internal Factors Impacting BHP Billiton

The internal factors that impact and impact the company the most are

Leadership

Leadership is internal that ultimately impacts the BHP Billiton and its operations and strategic decisions. This factor impacts the strategic decisions and daily business operations by incorporating new business policies and taking new decisions regarding future direction and current operations (Terence, 2019).

Customers

Customers are the people who have the most crucial and huge impact on BHP Billitons activities and decisions. Customers impact the company because the company have witnessed changes in its activities and decisions as per changes in the customers preferences and changing behaviours.

Suppliers

Suppliers are the people who also have a huge impact on BHP Billiton on every level. The company experiences this factor up to a very high extent impacting the company. Suppliers impact the company and its daily and strategic decisions by the changes in the process of supply, quality of the material they supply to BHP Billiton, and timing of supplies (De-Vitry, 2003). This can impact the inversely because it directly impacts the company, strategic decisions, and reputation in the market place.

Ensuring Operational System, Supply Chain, and Logistics

BHP Billiton takes several steps to ensure its Operational System, Supply Chain, and Logistics, but some key, main, major, and important steps and action that BHP Billiton takes for ensuring each of them are

Operational System

BHP Billiton put efforts to provide all employees with safe, secure, and proper and consistent access to important information.

They develop effective and highly efficient business and organizational processes with partners with easier collaborations.

Another, BHP Billiton streamline communication with suppliers, customer, and communities of operations by developing long term tech plans (BHP Billiton, 2019).

Supply Chain

To address sustainability priorities, BHP Billiton works to empower its supply chain. For the purpose, BHP Billiton takes numerous steps for this concern but the one that can be witnessed highly prioritized and considered important by the management is fostering innovation in supply (Beresford, Pettit, and Liu, 2011). It means that the company foster innovation and advanced technology to ensure their supply chain.

Logistics

For ensuring logistics by BHP Billiton to address their sustainability priorities, the company follows the steps below.

BHP Billiton tries to get the most advanced IMS (Information Management System) used by competitors in the industry (Dane, Marina, and Michael, 2019).

Keep highly appropriate and sizable inventory at each warehouse around the world.

Redefine the SOP and train the logistics professionals consistently.

Ensure the involvement and use of BlockChain and its transformation in the logistic practices (Bernard, 2017).

Conclusion

After an in-depth analysis of every aspect of the BHP Billiton, its business, operations, performance, strategies, and business decision, it came to conclude that the company is a well-performing entity in the industry. The sustainability strategies and practices of BHP Billiton are highly effective. These are so because the company ensures every aspect of sustainability like risk management, business operations, future planning (strategic direction), and environmental sustainability. Apart from this, several factors are experienced by BHP Billiton that impacts the company on the internal and external level. These factors mainly include Political Factors, Environmental Factors, Social Factors, And Technological Factors (External) while Leadership, Customers, and Suppliers are the internal factors that impact company and strategic decisions. But there are crucial steps BHP Billiton takes to ensure its Operational System, Supply Chain, and Logistics. These activities mainly include providing a safe environment, developing efficient organizational practices, and streamlining communication (for Operational System), fostering innovation and technology in Supply Chain, and adapting advanced IMS, ensuring appropriate inventory, ROP, training, and involvement of Block Chains to for ensuring Logistics to address sustainability priorities.

References

Beresford, A., Pettit, S. and Liu, Y., 2011. Multimodal supply chains iron ore from Australia to China. Supply Chain Management An International Journal, 16(1), pp.32-42.

Bernard, M. 2017. How Blockchain Will Transform The Supply Chain And Logistics Industry. Available at https//www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2018/03/23/how-blockchain-will-transform-the-supply-chain-and-logistics-industry/4209dab45fec (Accessed 5 December 2019).

BHP Billiton. 2019. BHP A leading global resources company. Available at https//www.bhp.com/ (Accessed 5 December 2019).

BHP Billiton. 2018. BHP Sustainability. Available at https//www.bhp.com/our-approach/sustainability (Accessed 5 December 2019).

BHP Billiton. 2019. Operations Services. Available at https//www.bhp.com/our-approach/work-with-us/operations-services (Accessed 5 December 2019).

Britannica. 2019. BHP Billiton Australian Company. Available at https//www.britannica.com/topic/BHP-Billiton (Accessed 5 December 2019).

Dane, S. Marina, P. and Michael, M. 2019. BHP Billiton and Codelco Foster Innovation in the Supply Chain Shared Value Initiative. Available at https//www.sharedvalue.org/groups/bhp-billiton-and-codelco-foster-innovation-supply-chain (Accessed 5 December 2019).

De-Vitry, C., 2003. Resource classificationa case study from the Joffre-hosted iron ore of BHP Billitons Mount Whaleback operations. Mining Technology, 112(3), pp.185-196.

Jenkins, H. and Yakovleva, N., 2006. Corporate social responsibility in the mining industry Exploring trends in social and environmental disclosure. Journal of cleaner production, 14(3-4), pp.271-284.

Northey, S., Haque, N. and Mudd, G., 2013. Using sustainability reporting to assess the environmental footprint of copper mining. Journal of Cleaner Production, 40, pp.118-128.

Sutantoputra, A.W., Lindorff, M. and Johnson, E.P., 2012. The relationship between environmental performance and environmental disclosure. Australasian Journal of Environmental Management, 19(1), pp.51-65.

Terence, B. 2019. Learn About BHP Billiton, the Largest Mining and Resource Company. Available at https//www.thebalance.com/company-profile-bhp-billiton-2340279 (Accessed 5 December 2019).

Valle, D.D., 2016. Addressing the climate change challenge at BHP Billiton. AusIMM Bulletin, (Feb 2016), p.34.

Business and Management PAGE MERGEFORMAT 11

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Assessment Task 2: Individual Assignment

Assessment Task 2: Individual Assignment

valery chahine (First M. Last)

School or Institution Name (University at Place or Town, State)

Motivation theories can be classified as process theories and content theories. The content theories focus on the needs of people and the ways needs are prioritized. Fredrick Herzberg's two-factor theory and Maslow hierarchy theory fall in this category. On the other hand, process theories are related to the cognitive antecedents which result in the motivation. Vroom, Porter and Lawler’s theories fall in this category. This paper seeks to discuss one of the content theory i.e. Maslow’s Theory of Hierarchy of Need and one of the process theories, Vroom’s Expectancy Theory of Motivation by providing, by making a comparison and contrast and elaborating usefulness of each fort managers in real life organisations.

Maslow believed that there is a hierarchy of needs within every individual and each stage of need must be satisfied in order to reach the new level. These needs keep an individual motivated and the ascending order of these needs can be summarized as, need for self-actualization, esteem needs, belonging needs, safety needs and basic physiological needs CITATION McL07 \l 1033 (McLeod, 2007). Vroom’s expectancy theory offers a framework for investigating work motivation. According to this theory, people are motivated in the ways which produce desired results for them and it enables to predict motivation in the cases where there are alternatives to be chosen CITATION Lat12 \l 1033 (Latham, 2012). The equation of Vroom's theory is Motivation (M) = Valence (V) x Expectancy (E). Valence is the individual preference of a certain result, it can be negative when a person doesn’t want a particular outcome and it can be positive when he desires an outcome, and value of E can be zero or one CITATION Est12 \l 1033 (Estes, 2012).

The Maslow theory was an earlier proposition and the later theories were based on that. Vroom's theory is also based on the foundation of Maslow theory. Overall both theories enable an individual to change their input depending on the expected outcome and desired result CITATION Min15 \l 1033 (Miner, 2015). Both allow an individual to establish the results that are most likely to motivate others. Maslow theory discusses human needs in a hierarchical manner and his understanding on the unsatisfied needs is also linked with expectancy theory that the desire to satisfy the unmet needs keep a person motivated and that individual concerns to undertake an action that produces the desired outcomes. An individual understands where they are lacking and they will strive to achieve desired results. High expectation results in greater motivation and this approach is the same for both theories i.e. Maslow hierarchy of needs and Vroom’s expectancy theory.

Unlike Maslow's theory, Vroom's theory is focused more on the desired than needs. When Maslow theory relates to internal needs and the factors that can satisfy those needs such as money and time, Vroom's puts efforts, performance and results apart. Expectancy is something which makes a person believes that their extra dedication and performance will produce the desired results, in short, hard work pays. Performance and outcomes, when linked together, make an individual perceive that the excellent performance will provoke a worthy and viable outcome and finally valence connects effort and outcome as dictated by motivation. In Maslow theory, an individual gets motivation from something extra such as something other than just cash or job fulfilment. Expectancy theory becomes most complicate in comparison with Maslow theory in motivating employees because the efforts to perform the task will link to the surrounding and ability to dictate the subsequent performance of an individual. This theory might fail to apply to a considerable amount of people. In contrast to expectancy theory, Maslow theory states that striving for a need, for instance, self-actualization can be the motivation rather than actually achieving self-actualization.

Maslow hierarchy theory is very important for the managers to consider while motivating employees CITATION Kau13 \l 1033 (Kaur, 2013). Maslow argued that if managers motivate their employees by fulfilling their needs they must understand which needs are most important. Maslow theory gives the flexibility to managers to allow the development of their employees in the best possible way which increases satisfaction and motivation. In addition, this theory also aloe managers to understand the specific needs of certain employees ensuring motivation. Expectancy theory can be employed by managers to regulate the outcomes and desires of employees and they can determine the kind of performance needed to perform those goals CITATION Hon09 \l 1033 (Honore, 2009). Managers can make sure that the desired level of performance is possible and they can link desired performance with the desired outcome.

In addition, managers can analyze the situation which may have conflicting expectations and they can ensure equity in the overall system or everyone. The more expectations employees have on their workplace, the greater is the motivation to perform, and this approach is same for both theories i.e. Maslow hierarchy of needs and Vroom’s expectancy theory CITATION Hon09 \l 1033 (Honore, 2009). Maslow theory has greater motivation to employees in comparison to expectancy theory as Maslow theory creates a foundation for the expectancy theory and it focuses on the ways different needs are associated with each other.

In a nutshell, both theories are related to motivation and contribute to motivating employees and individuals. No single motivation theory is sufficient in the modern organisations and each theory has its own merits and demerits. The content and process theories utilize needs and logic and contribute towards ways in which people can be motivated to obtain desired results. Maslow and Vroom's theory has some points of similarities and differences, both enable a person to change his input depending on the expected outcome but the expectancy theory focuses on needs rather than results and it separates performance, achievement and effort of a certain task making it difficult for most of the people to explore their potential. I believe that the Maslow theory is more realistic and the changing workplace needs more new theories of motivation.

References

BIBLIOGRAPHY Estes, B. &. (2012). Examining motivation theory in higher education: An expectancy theory analysis of tenured faculty productivity. International Journal of Management, Business, and Administration, 15(1), 1-7.

Honore, J. (2009). EMPLOYEE MOTIVATION. Consortium Journal of Hospitality & Tourism, 14(1).

Kaur, A. (2013). Maslow’s need hierarchy theory: Applications and criticisms. Global Journal of Management and Business Studies, 3(10), 1061-1064.

Latham, G. P. (2012). Work motivation: History, theory, research, and practice. Sage.

McLeod, S. (2007). Maslow's hierarchy of needs. Simply psychology, 1.

Miner, J. B. (2015). Organizational behavior 1: Essential theories of motivation and leadership. Routledge.

Assigment

Chapter review

[Name of the student]

[Name of the institution]

Decision-making process starts from identifying some problems related to the workplace or personal life. Various solutions to these problems will then be suggested and the most appropriate alternative will be chosen and implemented. Decisions can be programmed or non-programmed based on the circumstances under consideration. Some problems come up again and again over a period of time while others occur less often. The recurring problems will have a set solution available with the company that will be used time and again. Anon-programmed decision will have to be taken in an emergency situation when such a problem arises that has not been faced by the company before. The problem must also have important consequences on the company in terms of sales or other performance measures so that a non-programmed decision can be implemented.

The first step is to identify the existence of some problem in any given organization. This problem may be that the organization is facing a decrease in the productivity of its workers. The manager will use the funnel approach to find out that the staff lacks the technical skills to carry out the necessary production activity. There can be a large number of decisions that can be considered by the company but some of these decisions will be skipped because the company will not have sufficient resources to implement them. Some alternatives will not set within the goals and objectives set by the company so they will be eliminated. Whatever option is implemented by the organization, its consequences should be studied with the help of a control and evaluation system. The feedback will be gathered to know if the desired outcomes have been achieved and if there is some discrepancy seen, the organization should be able to make suitable adjustments to the decision taken and improve that according to the requirements of the organization. All the alternatives have certain risks involved with them that have to be considered while implementing them. CITATION War12 \l 1033 (Warren R. Plunkett, 2012)

Reference

BIBLIOGRAPHY Warren R. Plunkett, G. S. (2012). Making Decisions. In G. S. Warren R. Plunkett, Management. Cengage Learning.

Assigning Project Resources

Assigning Project Resources

[Name of the Writer]

[Name of the Institution]

Assigning Project Resources

In the fast-paced industry of today, every task demands to be done with a high rate of accuracy within the given time and availability of resources. To achieve the objectives of any organization, within the limitations of time and resources the tasks are divided into projects, which are handed over to capable people who can understand and handle the project efficiently, called project managers. The process of breaking down these objectives and tasks into projects is known as Project Management. Project management Project management refers to organizing, planning, and managing tasks along with resources in order to achieve a well-defined goal, with the constraints of time and money (Turner, 2014).

Project managers are well-learned and experienced individuals who understand the nature of projects and have a firm grip on the distribution of resources and time. A project manager acts as the mastermind of the project, and he or she can steer the project in any direction in order to achieve the desired goal or objective, in the most efficient manner within the minimum cost. In order to make sure that the project is receiving adequate support, a project manager should make sure that all the objectives have been made at the end of the project duration. And effective project management ensures that all the objectives of the project have been met within time. Following steps can be taken by the project manager to make sure that the project is receiving enough support and backing from the side of stakeholder:

Clarifying the objectives and the risks involved in the project.

Planning proper schedules, risks, and distribution of resources and time.

Having a proper and clear communication line with the stakeholders and keeping them informed on regular intervals regarding the progress and hindrances in the project.

Assigning resources to the project requires a careful analysis of the details that the project carries with it. A project manager needs to scan the availability of resources and disperse and use them accordingly so that they may prove to be of maximum benefit for the project and the organization (Burke, 2013). A similar situation can be seen in the case of human resources or human capital, which can be divided and allocated specific duties as per the area of their skills so that they can perform their task and use their expertise at a place and time where it is most fruitful.

A project manager should take the decision to “level-load” the project once it has reached the stage of maturity or it has become independent. The term "level-loading" refers to the phase of the project when it has reached a certain point where it has just recovered its cost and not started adding any value in the project (Kerzner, & Kerzner, 2017). So the project manager should let the project “level-load” or run independently, or with the minimum interference by the management so that the results and capacity of the project can be inferred.

As it has been already established that both time and resources are limited in a project, with the condition to manage everything in a minimal budget, sometimes it happens that the resources necessary for the project are not available or the team working on the project runs short of those resources. As soon as a project manager realizes that the needed resources for the project are not available or they have run short of the resources, he or she should follow the below-mentioned steps to ensure the smooth running of the project:

Immediately inform the stakeholders and the higher management about the entire situation.

Arrange for alternate resources within the allocated budget and the given time.

Make clear and understandable planning’s and communicate the outcomes of this non-availability or shortage of resources to the higher management, so that the project may not go in delay.

References

Burke, R. (2013). Project management: planning and control techniques. New Jersey, USA.

Kerzner, H., & Kerzner, H. R. (2017). Project management: a systems approach to planning, scheduling, and controlling. John Wiley & Sons.

Turner, J. R. (2014). Handbook of project-based management (Vol. 92). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

Assignment

Toshiba Scandal

Name of student

Institutional Affiliations

Introduction

Toshiba is an old company which started operations in 1873 when a person was hired to develop telegraphic equipment. The company eventually developed into a part of present company named Toshiba. The second part of company was developed by a student who made the first arc lamp for the country and country had to import all its lamps before that. During the World War II, company filled in huge orders for the state in terms of radios, vacuum tubes and other military equipment. The company saw a very lucrative time from the mid 1950 to the first oil crisis of 1973. Toshiba invested heavily in the research and development after 1973.

The major problems in this case are the individual stance taken by Toshiba and the weakness of Japanese system of governance. In May, 2015, Toshiba had a decrease in its share price right after it had announced problems in its accounting records. The Japanese stock exchange rose by 7.6 % whereas the company stock fell by 17% in value. There were many executives of company who had resigned due to accounting reporting issues. Before the announcement of these issues, Toshiba was considered as most important part of Japanese economy and it was recognized all over the world. The company works within many segments across many industries which makes its business complex. The company intended to compete in the global business environment by reinforcing earnings base. The accounting scandal of Toshiba took place because company had to face global competition from around the world and executives attempted to show that company is successful CITATION Sus18 \l 1033 (Hass, Burnaby, & Nakashima, 2018).

The major ethical issue in this case is that the company had communicated wrong results to the stakeholders and more specifically the shareholders and investors. Operating results were altered by company by more than $ 1.2 billion from the time of financial crisis 2008. The problem was that the company set the operational goals which were impossible to achieve. There were no written documents which could show the approach of management in terms of setting impossible targets and many leaders in company did not even know about existence of any problem. The profits were deliberately overstated by the company over a period of many years because there was no internal control practiced by the company. There were many fake transactions that took place just before the completion of some accounting period. It was the duty of auditors to find out this practice and put a check over it but they failed to do so. The management had a perception that set targets will be achieved by their employees. Another ethical issue is that the person who raised his voice over any issue was frowned upon by all other members. The organization valued teamwork for the achievement of the goals set by top management. The legal issues associated with this practice were improper implementation of the accounting principles and in some instances, ignoring the application of these principles. The industry played some part in forcing this practice because the corporate governance system in the country to look after such activities. This weakness of system allowed company executives to manipulate the figures to show wrong results and even the auditors did not catch any fraud in the financial statements.

Major Issues and Actual Happening

The issue started in 2008 when the chief executive Asutoshi Nishida stated that a loss of 18.4 billion Yens should not be announced because it was too embarrassing. The employees in company started to change the figures to convert this huge loss to a profit of 500 million yens. There were no written proofs of such manipulations found during the external investigation of the matter. The problem with such manipulation is that the company has to continue changing the figures in financial statements until these frauds are exposed and reported. The employees achieved the untrue goals set by the top management and they set even tougher goals for the next accounting period. All divisions were involved in the misrepresentation of accounting results. The continuous achievement of goals meant that there was a continuous increase in profitability of the company. It was suggested by the investigative authority that a huge penalty may be placed over the company for misstatement of financial results. They also analysed the financial statements prepared by Toshiba and there were four main characteristics of fraudulent activities. In the first instance, company understated the total amount of a contract by using percentage of completion accounting whereas the work in process aspect of the project was understated which resulted in an increase of sales and decrease in expenses. If any contract is noticed to be losing money, its total cost was underestimated at the end of accounting period which meant that losses from provision of contract were understated for the accounting period CITATION Ang08 \l 1033 (Hock & Chung, 2008). There were manipulations of numbers in terms of part transactions and operating expenses in the visual products business of company. One of the accountants did notice some problems in financial representation of electronic goods segment of company but did not blow the whistle and did not share the information with any of his team member. One reason may be that whistle blowers were not seen as a positive character in the Japanese business world.

There was a carryover process used by company so that profits can be overstated by adjusting profits and losses. If the sales initiatives were not able to cover any gap, these carry overs were used to adjust them. The company used an accounting process that was based on used cash instead accrual system of accounting, overstated values in consolidated statements of accounting and an early record of reduction costs. The last aspect of fraud related to false representation of inventory of semi-conductor inventory by manipulating buying and selling transactions. The total restatement of income from continuing operations was 224 billion yen.

The Securities and Exchange Surveillance Commission started investigating the issues at Toshiba and presumed that legal charges will be put on the three men in power at the company. The public prosecutor had the opinion that criminal charges could not be placed on these people. The manipulation of earnings from buy-sell transactions was not regarded as illegal.

The Japanese culture comprises of obedience and deference which makes it easier for businesses to hide their wrong doings. There have been many stories of Japanese companies hit by various forms of scandals. In order to stop these frauds, the Japanese firms should forego the obedience factor to hierarchy. There were much developments in the US corporate governance after some major scandals in the USA and authorities have come up with the Sarbanes-Oxley act in 2002 and other related reforms to make a stronger system of corporate governance. The law requires that there should be more directors on the board who are unrelated to the core business of company so that there is a separation of interest between the business and directors. Their major goal was that the directors should represent external stakeholders and shareholders rather than working to benefit the internal stakeholders. The Japanese system of corporate governance is not very strong as compared to the US system. Japan was ranked very low in terms of corporate governance by a survey in 2010. Current government thinks that economy is improved by a stronger system of governance will improve the economy and bring in more investment from outside CITATION Mar17 \l 1033 (Bremaer, Akio, Kotaro, & Kazunori, 2017). In 2003, the main idea in country was a company with committee which meant that all companies will have a committee to oversee the corporate governance issues. This was further changed to a company with nominating committee in 2015. Toshiba Company had more members on its board of directors and a small percentage of these directors were from outside of company. In other firms, there was a smaller number of members on board and they had a larger percentage of members from outside of the company. There is a whistle blower protection act of 2006 which was enacted in April 2006 and the fraud at Toshiba was reported by such a whistle blower in 2014.

The scandal happened because the firm followed individualism as the major theory. This theory implies that the only obligation of the business is towards stockholders whose wealth has to be maximized within the law. The company however changed the figures of financial statements to provide benefits to stockholders especially the revenue section was manipulated so that stock holders were benefitted in short-run. In the long run, company had to report their losses and hit the stockholders with decline in prices. A completely opposite theory is the utilitarianism that forces businesses to take all the stakeholders into consideration while making any decision. There is a sense of unhappiness in the stakeholders of Toshiba because there were 7000 employees who lost their jobs because of the scandal. Customers were unhappy because they will not be able to buy Toshiba products in future CITATION Ari13 \l 1033 (Markelevich & Rosner, 2013). The stockholders lost a huge amount of money as the stocks fell by 40% as a result of scandal being reported. The only happy stakeholder as a result of this scandal is the securities and exchange surveillance commission because it identified and rectified the accounting errors in company records.

The government authorities made sure that there are more effective audits performed by auditors after the happening at Toshiba. There has been more detail pursued by the auditors while conducting audits at firms. More time is also spent on an average audit by the concerned persons. The companies put the majority of blame for Toshiba scandal on a weak corporate culture regarding governance in the country. More and more companies are increasing steps to comply with the rules and regulations already laid down. The companies also mentioned that they will shuffle employees in and out of accounting and finance departments so that they do not get too much used to the practices of company and cannot conduct any fraudulent activity CITATION Tho16 \l 1033 (Wilson, 2016).

Various effects

There will be many implications of steps taken by authorities after Toshiba scandal. The steps taken are relevant in a way that they will not allow the same scenario to take place again. A stricter system of governance will also compensate the obedience-based system of Japanese firms because employees will follow the orders of their seniors but if there is something wrong, governance authorities will take care of that. Another relevance of these steps is that the accounting personnel will not be allowed to stay at the same position for a longer period of time so they cannot team up to undertake any fraudulent activity. This was a major reason for the Toshiba scandal to occur. In order for these solutions to be sustainable, the authorities have to take all stakeholders into confidence. All stakeholders should believe that the application of such actions will benefit them in the long run. Stakeholders such that shareholders will definitely benefit from these steps so they will consider these measures as sustainable over a longer period of time. From the perspectives of enforcing authorities, these steps will take a considerable time before they can be considered truly sustainable over a longer period of time. These steps will have much more value in terms of social impact because they will rebuild the confidence of society in the accounting records presented by firms. The auditors will be more respected in the society as well as their work will become more difficult as compared to the past. The financial aspects of these resolutions will be that companies will have to spend more money in hiring and keeping their auditors because their work will be more complex and important. One most important impact of this happening is an increase in auditor’s liability CITATION Kho17 \l 1033 (Rahman & Bremaer, 2017). For the particular auditor, there were no serious implications of the event. There are three major authorities for announcing and implementing any punishment for auditors in case of any such occurrence. The SESC recommends any action against auditors to the financial services authority. There have been two actins imposed on Ernst and Young ShinNihon for wrong audit of Toshiba. The firm cannot take up any new audit case for three months starting from January 2016 and implementing a fine of an amount which is equal to two-year audit fee from Toshiba. There were seven accountants who were accused of being negligent in their duties. The firm laid off the CEO and imposed a significant pay cut on all the employees who were involved in practice. The stance of SESC was that Toshiba should be fined to an amount of 7.37 billion Yen but this fine was not imposed actually. The association of public accountants in Japan suspended the membership of Ernst and Young for three months from July to September. Toshiba itself cancelled the contract with the firm and made a new contract with PWC. The company has also announced that it will share information with audit committee more frequently.

Conclusion

The case of Toshiba in Japan has many implications for the current and future scenarios. On the organizational level, it has triggered a change of audit firm and application of better governance principles. On the industry level, it can force other firms to have more detailed audit reports and assess the role of personnel from accounting and finance department so that they can be held responsible for any wrong doing. The future for organizations will be tough in Japan particularly and all over the world generally CITATION Kar05 \l 1033 (Peursem, 2005). In Japan, the business ethics culture will improve as other organizations will learn from the experience of Toshiba. On an international level, ethics culture will go from the individual approach to the stakeholder approach which will mean that there will be more importance given to concerns of all stakeholders of business. Auditors will also have to be more careful in selecting the clients because cases like these will affect their reputation. Both the companies and auditors have to work very hard to improve their reputation while working with financial and accounting data. There should be appropriate use of technology by both firms and organizations which will allow them to know any relevant trends in performance of a particular sector or organization. In order to curb such practices in the future, strong ethical practices have to be shown by businesses so that employees are ethically trained and raise their voice if they see some wrong doing.

References

BIBLIOGRAPHY Bremaer, M., Akio, H., Kotaro, I., & Kazunori, S. (2017). Uncertainty avoiding Behavior and Cross Border Acquisitions in the Asia-Pacific region. Japan and the World economy, 99-112.

Hass, S., Burnaby, P., & Nakashima, M. (2018). Toshiba Corporation—How Could So Much Be So Wrong? Journal of Forensic and Investigative Accounting, 267-280.

Hock, A. C., & Chung, K. L. (2008). Who Left the Gates Unlocked? Reconciling the Duties of Auditors and Company Directors. Singapore Academy of Law.

Markelevich, A., & Rosner, R. L. (2013). Auditor Fees and Fraud Firms. Contemporary Accounting Research, 1-37.

Peursem, K. A. (2005). AUDIT CHALLENGES: DILEMMAS FOR THE AUDITOR IN A GLOBAL ECONOMY. Asian Academy of Management Journal of Accounting and Finance, 53-66.

Rahman, K. M., & Bremaer, M. (2017). http://www.ic.nanzan-u.ac.jp/MCENTER/pdf/wp1704_.pdf. Retrieved from http://www.ic.nanzan-u.ac.jp: http://www.ic.nanzan-u.ac.jp/MCENTER/pdf/wp1704_.pdf

Wilson, T. (2016, November 14). https://www.reuters.com/article/us-japan-companies-auditors/japanese-firms-face-tighter-audits-after-toshiba-scandal-reuters-poll-idUSKBN1380WU. Retrieved from https://www.reuters.com: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-japan-companies-auditors/japanese-firms-face-tighter-audits-after-toshiba-scandal-reuters-poll-idUSKBN1380WU

Assignment

Your Name

Instructor Name

Course Number

Date

Business Models

Starbucks originated in Seattle and its specialty is coffee. The organization has more than 16,000 outlets worldwide along with new outlets running in everywhere. Starbucks is mainly involved in the sales of cold and hot beverages, with food and accessories. To keep up with the competitors Starbucks is always making efforts.

Starbucks is as an example of a pure-play organization. Pure play refers to an organization that is focused on one industry or product. Starbucks business is categorized as pure-play because it is focused on selling coffee. It belongs to B2B and B2C e.g. if a customer buys a starbuck’s coffee from an outlet using a card is called electronic B2C transaction, however, Starbucks purchasing the raw coffee from the dealers is a B2B operation.

Through business models, the business delivers and creates value to clients. Significantly, it also sketches out the revenues, prices, and costs that can allow the business to earn a profit if it goes well (Chen). Starbucks practices different corporate models. It owns an online store where different products are purchased. The business model Starbucks uses is Advertising model. Advertising model delivers a blend of ads and content. This is very operative when there is more traffic e.g. online newspaper. The organization practices this model and displays ads online. A unified culture is a chief asset of the Starbucks business model.  Nevertheless, the foundation their strength is morals and simplicity. Another strong pillar of the organization’s business model is their supply chain. In the past few years, the company has made this pillar stronger because of the dedication on quality, ethics environmental practices.

 A revenue model defines the structure of how an organization creates its revenue.

Community, Subscription and the Brokerage models, are the organization’s revenue models. The community model success depends on online communities. Through the community model, the businesses make money by giving leverage to product sales, advertisements, or sometimes members of the community make substantial donations. Starbucks uses this revenue model as it charges people from connecting with its community where the best advice is provided linked to its product. With the subscription model, fee is charged from the clients for the services they provide e.g.: AOL, the model used by the organization charges a certain fee for recharging its card and giving the Wi-Fi access (Leih, Greg, and David). The next brokerage model brings the purchasers and venders together at one stage and a fee is charged for the transactions made. The total revenues in 2017 exceeded $22 billion compared to $14 billion in 2013. 79% of sales came from company-operated stores.

It is necessary to highlight that though the company-operated outlets consume more gross margins, they partake a lower functioning margin as compared to licensed stores (Boulton, et.al). The organization can make a great influence through an enhanced blend of licensed stores and company owned. Fund-raising campaigns can be sponsored online to make a difference in the company’s web presence. It can include also community requirements and spread awareness. It keeps a track of the developments and all the concerns and employees who need attention. Starbucks is undoubtedly an organization that is leading around the globe. The organization however uses very simple strategy, that is “connecting links between treating employees with dignity and respect and producing good services and products strategies” which has helped it making its mark.

Works Cited

Chen, Stephen. "The real value of ‘e-business models’." Business Horizons 46.6 (2003): 27-33.

Leih, Sohvi, Greg Linden, and David Teece. "Business model innovation and organizational design: A dynamic capabilities perspective." (2015).

Boulton, Richard ES, Barry D. Libert, and Steve M. Samek. "A business model for the new economy." Journal of business strategy 21.4 (2000): 29-35.

Assignment

Assignment

[Name of the Writer]

[Name of the Institution]

Assignment

In this present era of globalization, multiculturalism is widespread in the corporate sector as more and more employees of different ethnicities and cultures are joining the multinational companies globally. Managing of such a diverse workforce is becoming a challenge for the business leaders as the mode of communication, evaluation and feedback can become complex sometimes. American nosiness leaders are more direct and strict and have different ways of conduct when it comes to professionalism whereas Chinese are more polite and German leaders expect punctual attitude in the workforce.

Working under different upbringings, cultural attributes and regional traits makes it harder for the management of different levels to interact with each other. Due to this reason, it is vital to respect the cultural difference of each other and show more tolerance so that productivity can be increased in the workplace. Business leaders should not show reluctance to embrace diversity in the workplace; instead, they should take this positively. Another essential feature of the multi-cultural management teams is communication. There should always be an open communication so that the employees may feel comfortable in delivering his opinion in crucial business matters (Lisak, & Erez, 2015).

Business leaders should be flexible enough to build strong relationships with all the employees by fairly giving everyone the chance irrespective of their backgrounds. Understanding should be developed by clear communication so that no one gets offended when it comes to evaluation and assessment. The norms in the workplace should be very clear and neutral that does not leave anything behind for ambiguity. Business leaders should bring employees of all the cultures under one umbrella of unity that will be made through official norms and particular culture specified for the vision of their business. Proper office culture should be followed and maintained by adopting the approach of inclusion. Whenever a conflict occurs, it should be addressed immediately.

References

Lisak, A., & Erez, M. (2015). Leadership emergence in multicultural teams: The power of global characteristics. Journal of World Business, 50(1), 3-14.

Assignment

Forecasting

Forecast errors

The forecast performance of various weather systems is affected by large variations between original and forecasted values. More errors arise from the errors in initial conditions as compared to errors in model formation. Various sources have to be examined before any clear conclusion can be drawn about the sources of forecasting errors. There are many ways to separate the analysis and model errors including running one model with different initial conditions or running different models with same initial conditions CITATION FRa96 \l 1033 (F, E.Klinker, P.Courtier, & Hollingsworth, 1996).

The simplest way of calculating forecast error is to subtract the actual values from the forecast values. A positive forecast shows that there is a higher value forecasted as compared to the actual value and a negative forecast is the situation when some value has been over estimated. Generally, there has been an over estimation in the data given for the assignment. Only two times out of 11 there is an under estimation of values.

YEAR

ACTUAL (MILES FROM JOHNSTOWN)

24-HOUR FORECAST (MILES FROM JOHNSTOWN)

Forecast Error

1

4

6

2

2

5

5

0

3

30

40

10

4

2

10

8

5

12

13

1

6

7

5

-2

7

11

11

0

8

21

25

4

9

12

8

-4

10

12

15

3

11

6

9

-3

It can be seen from the last column of the above table that most forecasts have resulted in a higher value as compared to the actual values.

Mean Absolute Deviation

This is used as a measure of variability in the data presented. Firstly the mean of data has to be taken by adding all values and dividing the sum of values by their number. Next step is to subtract mean from all values and take the absolute of these values. It is necessary to take the absolute of these values because the sum of deviations taken from mean is zero. These differences are then summed up and divided by the number of values to obtain the final result.

YEAR

ACTUAL (MILES FROM JOHNSTOWN)

Difference from mean

1

4

│4-10│ = 6

2

5

│4-10│ = 6

3

30

│30-10│ = 20

4

2

│2-10│ = 8

5

12

│12-10│ = 2

6

7

│7-10│ = 3

7

11

│11-10│ = 1

8

21

│21-10│ = 11

9

12

│12-10│ = 2

10

12

│12-10│ = 2

11

6

│6-10│ = 4

Sum = 65

The mean absolute deviation is 65/11 which is approximately 6. This is simply the mean average of the absolute differences between actual reading and the overall mean showing the amount by which mean differs from the original values. This method gives proportional place to each entry in the result and is easier to be taken up by new researchers. Some other measures of variation have been considered too complicated for the new researchers to understand CITATION Ste14 \l 1033 (Gorard, 2014). Another issue regarding the use of other measures of dispersion is that they do not take into account the relative distance of values from the mean.

Naïve Model

A naïve model is based upon the estimates from the past year or time periods. In the present study, a naïve model could have been used to estimate temperature for any future time period. Naïve models were first suggested by the economists in 1940s as benchmarks of forecasting accuracy. A simple naïve model will state that the temperature based on the previous year value. The naïve model can be traced back to the caveman who used to say that tomorrow’s weather will be same like today. The documented proof for this method can be seen from Braddock Hickman in 1942. CITATION Rob831 \l 1033 (McLaughlin, 1983). The following table will show the forecasts based on previous years’ values.

YEAR

ACTUAL (MILES FROM JOHNSTOWN)

Naïve Forecasts

1

4

-

2

5

4

3

30

5

4

2

30

5

12

2

6

7

12

7

11

7

8

21

11

9

12

21

10

12

12

11

6

12

There is a considerable difference between the original forecasts made by Monica and the naïve forecasts which shows that there can be some errors made by her. The differences will be judged by using the mean squared error which is a measure of dispersion for forecasting errors, taking the average of squared individual errors.

ACTUAL (MILES FROM JOHNSTOWN)

24-HOUR FORECAST (MILES FROM JOHNSTOWN)

MSE

4

6

(4-6)^2

5

5

(5-5)^2

30

40

(30-40)^2

2

10

(2-10)^2

12

13

(12-13)^2

7

5

(7-5)^2

11

11

(11-11)^2

21

25

(21-25)^2

12

8

(12-8)^2

12

15

(12-15)^2

6

9

(6-9)^2

ACTUAL (MILES FROM JOHNSTOWN)

Naïve Forecasts

MSE

4

-

(4-0)^2

5

4

(5-4)^2

30

5

(30-5)^2

2

30

(2-30)^2

12

2

(12-2)^2

7

12

(7-12)^2

11

7

(11-7)^2

21

11

(21-11)^2

12

21

(12-21)^2

12

12

0

6

12

(6-12)^2

The above tables show the mean squared error for both the actual forecasts taken by Monica and naïve forecasts based on the values of previous years. When we calculate the values for two data sets, we see that MSE for naïve forecasts is 162.18 and for Monica’s forecasts, they are 20.27. Thus we will prefer the forecasts put in place by Monica.

Mean Absolute Percent Error

The mean absolute percentage error is one of the most widely used measures for forecast accuracy. It is the average of absolute percentage errors and is scale independent and is easy to interpret. One major drawback with this method is that it produces undefined or indefinite values when there is a zero involved in the calculations. If the values are very small, this method may produce very large percentage errors. An approach used in this case is to exclude the outliers or values counting to less than 1 CITATION Sun16 \l 1033 (Kim & KJim, 2016).

Forecast Bias

This problem refers to having either very high or very low forecasts as compared to the actual values leading to a forecasting error. Many reasons may result in this situation. The optimism bias is shown mainly by sales and other relevant forecasting teams. This is because there is a bonus system put in place for the sales people and they want to show higher sales. Sandbagging is the reverse of optimism bias where executives tend to lower the forecasts so that no subordinate is able to win any bonus. An anecdote bias is a situation where something bad had been experienced by the employees of a company and any future estimates will be made considering the past event or happening. The recent data bias is true for all processes which are undertaken by humans. Our minds remember the most recent happenings more than the past ones which means that people will tend to over react to the most recent happenings. The forecast can be affected by some silly things which are shown to the participants before they make their estimates. In the data provided by Monica, there is optimism bias reflected.

Developing a regression model over a period of time will better suit Monica and she will be able to make better forecasts using it. This will also help her to know the changes that will take place over a period of time and also forecast independently for a particular point in time.

References

BIBLIOGRAPHY F, R., E.Klinker, P.Courtier, & Hollingsworth, A. (1996). Sensitivity of forecast errors to initial conditions . Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society, 121-150.

Gorard, S. (2014). Introducing the mean absolute deviation 'effect' size. International Journal of Research & Method in Education, 105-114.

Kim, S., & KJim, H. (2016). A new metric of absolute percentage error for intermittent demand forecasts. International Journal of Forecasting, 669-679.

McLaughlin, R. L. (1983). forecasting Models: Sophisticated of Naive? Journal of Forescasting, 274.

Assignment

Business and management

Shali Moriah (First M. Last)

School or Institution Name (University at Place or Town, State)

The assignment requires taking the decision to reduce the decision making to reduce engineers from six to four as required by NASA. The cut back requires to analyze six of the engineers and make a decision regarding whom to fire to meet the workforce requirements. The decision-making model employed in this case is Bounded Rationality. It the concept that decision makes take decision-based on their limited rationality. This means that they can't avoid three constraints, limited information availability, limited human capacity to appraise the information and time constraint ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"a2muv329lad","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Gigerenzer & Selten, 2002)","plainCitation":"(Gigerenzer & Selten, 2002)"},"citationItems":[{"id":1135,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/FGhKhGPG/items/K2BBSCLX"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/FGhKhGPG/items/K2BBSCLX"],"itemData":{"id":1135,"type":"book","title":"Bounded rationality: The adaptive toolbox","publisher":"MIT press","ISBN":"0-262-57164-1","author":[{"family":"Gigerenzer","given":"Gerd"},{"family":"Selten","given":"Reinhard"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2002"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Gigerenzer & Selten, 2002). Hence the choices made are satisficing, going for a satisfactory outcome rather than the optimal one.

The workers I have decided to cut include Sandra Rosen and Elon Boyer. The decision made is based on the information available, and it is not the best possible option. The employees have been evaluated to take the cut off a decision on the basis of information like their performance, tenure in the company, family responsibilities and ability to get a new job very easily. Sandra is 22, she is single and has the top bachelor's degree. She has not spent even a year with the company and has high ratings. She is capable of getting any better job in no time. Although she is able to enhance the morale and productivity in the department, the company does not have a long term relationship with her as compared to other employees like 14 or 20 years.

The decision to cut off Elon Boyer is also based on the facts that he has no kids and is having an advanced degree from a top university. His wife is also a doctor, so there is no likelihood of him facing financial strains. Rest of the employees have children, and they are overburdened with family responsibilities, they will face a hard time if they would be terminated at once. Elon also has a hard time fitting with his co-workers even in three years, and his performance may reduce in future due to this fact. The company owes to the employees who have been it in all the circumstance, and they hold a share in the company.

References

ADDIN ZOTERO_BIBL {"custom":[]} CSL_BIBLIOGRAPHY Gigerenzer, G., & Selten, R. (2002). Bounded rationality: The adaptive toolbox. MIT press.

Assignment

Assignment

[Author’s name]

[Institute’s name]

Assignment

Milton Friedman presented the theory on social responsibility that is based on the argument that the only standard of social responsibility is to maximize the profitability level. It is established that all the different resources and activities should be utilized to obtain better forms of business growth. The major supporting argument in this context is that the expansion of business profitability is a necessary condition to develop a favorable working environment for the investment ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"x1r6CW2F","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Fox, 2012)","plainCitation":"(Fox, 2012)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":1766,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/7Hi3kAOD/items/TIQBNANZ"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/7Hi3kAOD/items/TIQBNANZ"],"itemData":{"id":1766,"type":"article-journal","container-title":"Harvard Business Review","title":"The social responsibility of business is to increase… What exactly","volume":"18","author":[{"family":"Fox","given":"Justin"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2012"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Fox, 2012). The development of a conducive business approach is possible to consider the idea of social responsibility for the sake of profit enlargement.

The primary support against Friedman’s statement is that the profitable perspective of business comprised of different stakeholders such as suppliers, regulators, clients, workers, and the overall community. The success of the entire form of business can never be adhered to without considering responsibilities towards these shareholders. The survival of the business can never be imagined without considering the fundamental needs of all the associated factors. Maximization of short-term and long-term returns is possible with the active inclusion of social responsibility towards different shareholders. It is important for higher management to provide better working conditions to the employees under the domain of social responsibility to successfully achieve business objectives. There are several social concerns that eventually influence the company’s profit margins ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"LO7xtbjs","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Friedman, 2013)","plainCitation":"(Friedman, 2013)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":1767,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/7Hi3kAOD/items/PLR5FHLK"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/7Hi3kAOD/items/PLR5FHLK"],"itemData":{"id":1767,"type":"article-journal","container-title":"Huffington Post","page":"12","title":"Milton Friedman was wrong about corporate social responsibility","volume":"6","author":[{"family":"Friedman","given":"John"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2013"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Friedman, 2013). This specific argument explicitly indicates that the practical idea of corporate social responsibility for the business is more than to enhance the profitability level.

A comprehensive analysis of far and against arguments on Friedman’s approach to social responsibility helps me to determine my position. I am against the statement delivered by Milton Friedman that social responsibility is only connected to profit enhancement. The modern business perspective requires organizations to play their active role to address different social issues. The involvement of all the stakeholders is an essential condition to achieve corporate outcomes effectively.

References

ADDIN ZOTERO_BIBL {"uncited":[],"omitted":[],"custom":[]} CSL_BIBLIOGRAPHY Fox, J. (2012). The social responsibility of business is to increase… What exactly. Harvard Business Review, 18.

Friedman, J. (2013). Milton Friedman was wrong about corporate social responsibility. Huffington Post, 6, 12.

Assignment

Business and management

Shali Moriah (First M. Last)

School or Institution Name (University at Place or Town, State)

Response to Question 1

During Groupon’s brief history, some of the important decisions made by Andrew Mason include the decision not to sell Google. Google had made Groupon a $6 billion offer in 2010, which was almost twice than what had been offered by Google for any acquisition. The buyout offer, however, was rejected by Mason. Another major decision involved making the company public and selling stocks. They filed paperwork with the U.S. Securities Exchange Commission in June 2011 for their stock’s Initial Public Offering. Thirdly, Mason brought in a customer relations manager, which helped the company retain merchants for multiple deals; a decision that played a major role in Groupon’s development.

Response to Question 2

Mason’s decisions do not seem to be unsystematic or random, and as such, do not demonstrate garbage can model. This model rejected linear organizational decision ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"a1s5qrpm2ff","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Peters, 2002)","plainCitation":"(Peters, 2002)"},"citationItems":[{"id":1141,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/FGhKhGPG/items/5YBUMSQB"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/FGhKhGPG/items/5YBUMSQB"],"itemData":{"id":1141,"type":"article-journal","title":"Governance: a garbage can perspective","author":[{"family":"Peters","given":"B. Guy"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2002"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Peters, 2002). The decision to hire a customer relations manager, in fact, was very rational, as its outcome demonstrated. Moreover, he showed awareness of other possibilities and alternatives, when he chose not to take the buyout, calculating the likelihood of success for each of those alternatives.

Response to Question 3

When Mason envisioned Groupon, he seems to have made a very creative decision. Creativity refers to the process of being influenced by organizational and individual factors which leads to the development of useful, novel products, ideas or both. Mason utilized a rather simple idea and developed it into a modern-service that not only benefitted customers but was also fun to use. His former boss felt that Mason’s idea was worth a million dollars, which turned out to be true.

Response to Question 4

A few factors I would take into consideration before entering into competition with Groupon is, what special service am I offering that Groupon has not thought of so far? Where is the weakness in their model, and how can I make improvements in those areas? How much will I dedicate each quarter for promotions and marketing? How do I build a repute with traders and merchants to keep them interested in purchasing from me? How will I handle my business’ growth? Am I taking decisions rationally or jumping into a situation head-first that I know little about.

References

ADDIN ZOTERO_BIBL {"custom":[]} CSL_BIBLIOGRAPHY Peters, B. G. (2002). Governance: a garbage can perspective.

Assignment

Rising Cost of Heath Care

Sheila Anthony

NURS - 6053N : Interprofessional Organizational and Systems Leadership

Walden University

12/06/19

Rising Costs of Health Care

The Origins: The Johnson Reform of 1965

The American health care system underwent a first reform movement under the mandate of Democratic President Lyndon Johnson (1963-1969). In 1965, with the Social Security Amendments , Johnson created the first two public health insurance systems in the United States: "Medicare" and "Medicaid". "Medicare" allows elderly and disabled people to benefit from compulsory health insurance, financed by a payroll tax deducted from wages and a federal subsidy. Financed by the states (40%) and the federal state (60%), "Medicaid" covers the most destitute, means-tested, with the eligibility thresholds varying considerably from one state to another. According toUS Bureau of Statistics , these two devices affect 35% of the US population, or more than 100 million people in 2014, a figure in sharp evolution since the introduction in 2010 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) , better known as Obamacare. This reform, which extends the health insurance coverage, modifies the financing of the health system and promotes innovations to modernize the supply of care, is the largest company since 1965.

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), or Obamacare

Extension of health insurance coverage

Between 2010 and 2015, Obamacare reduced the number of US adults not covered by health insurance. Nearly 17.5 million uninsured would have taken out coverage, according to information from the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation ( ASPE ). The rate of uninsured in the United States would have reached an historical level of 11% in the second quarter of 2016, according to the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index. This rate remains very important; however, the goal of President Obama is to reach 0% of uninsured. Of the 37 million adults not covered in 2010, this would have risen to nearly 20 million. This decrease is due to four main measures: the introduction of regulations that oblige private insurers to cover children who depend on their parents until the age of 26; the creation of a " market place " to find a coverage adapted to the wealth situation of each; expanding the Medicaid program through a grant from the federal government; and the regulation of the private insurance market.

Reform of health system financing

Obamacare has also made a complete overhaul of the healthcare financing system, through fiscal and regulatory measures. Wage contributions, on which the financing of the "Medicare" program depends, increased from 1.45 to 2.35% and were extended to total individual incomes above $ 200,000 a year, and to households with higher incomes. income over $ 250,000 a year. At the same time, the share of public spending in total health expenditure in the United States increased by 3 points: from 45% of the total expenditure in 2007, it represents 48.3% in 2014, according to data from the World Bank (in the OECD, it oscillates around 60% over the last decade).

Federal regulation of private insurance

Coming into force in 2014, the federal regulation of private insurers regulates the insurance market to make health insurance more accessible to Americans. This is one of the essential elements of the reform, yet little publicized in France. Obamacare is primarily a plan for regulating private health insurance in the United States. The new regulations prohibit the taking into account of medical history, the annual reimbursement limits, and the limits on the dependent remains determined according to the income of the insured. Insurers must offer preventive measures, renounce price discrimination and clarify their documents in order to facilitate choice and competition. In addition, they must cover a minimum basket of services, including prevention.

Promoting Innovations and Experiments to Modernize the Healthcare Supply Structure The

least known part of the reform, and yet central, Obamacare has also created the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI); a budget of $ 1 billion a year, which promotes innovation in the provision of care. The CMMI allows the implementation of experiments to modernize the health care system and improve its performance. It stems directly from ACA Title 3 " Improving quality and efficiency of health care ". The experiments allowed by the CMMI concern both the payment system and the struggle to reduce the medical deserts, attracting young practitioners in areas where the supply of care is the most sparse.

What remains to be done?

While the rate of people covered by health insurance, public or private, has improved in five years, coverage remains a relative success (11% of Americans remain uncovered) and the problems of structuring and efficiency of the system are far from being solved.

The United States remains the country that spends the most on the health of its inhabitants: 17.1% of GDP, $ 9,400 per year and per capita. France, which devotes a significant part of its expenditure to health, devotes 11% of its GDP and $ 4,035 (3,600 €) per capita (OECD Health Statistics, 2016). Despite this significant financial effort, the US system remains underperforming compared to other OECD systems. The United States is indeed below the OECD average in terms of life expectancy at birth (78.8 vs. 80.5 in the OECD) and infant mortality (0.05% vs. 0.038% in the OECD) and remain the largest country obesity (35.3% of the population aged 15 and over, compared with 19% in the OECD). Finally, despite large expenditures, the country fails to increase its medical density: with 2.6 doctors per 1,000 inhabitants (3.3 on average in the OECD) the number of annual consultations per capita is among the highest OECD (4 on average, compared with 6.6 in the OECD). Significant margins of progress remain, in a country yet resistant to any reform concerning its health system. Kane, (Sunanda, and Fadia Shaya,)

Thus, Obamacare alone can not solve the problem of coverage or the problem of inefficiency of the system. These reservations aside, note that the Obama reform is an important step, won hard struggle against conservative forces, and probably irreversible. The conservative governments of Reagan or Bush have never returned to the creation of "Medicare" and "Medicaid", to which Americans, including Republicans, are now deeply attached. After promising his repeal during his campaign, the future US President Donald Trump recently announced that it could retain certain measures provided for by the ACA. Among these, the prohibition for insurers to take into account the medical history of the persons covered or the obligation for private insurers to cover children who depend on their parents until the age of 26 years.

Deregulation of health care

More than any other country in the world, the United States has adopted a capital-intensive system of health care distribution. Capitalism has certainly demonstrated its superiority over any other economic system in the creation of consumer goods and services. The question is, is it also the best system for health care? As one American commentator put it, it's a bit like citizens paying a premium of $ 30 a month to private insurance to cover the risk of having to go to the barber. Would not it be more efficient to go to the hairdresser directly and pay 15 dollars? The probability of a person having to resort to health care during their lifetime is close to one hundred percent. (Kelly, Porr, 2018) "

This is a big problem for doctors: each insurance company uses different rules for the payment of visits, places different obstacles for referrals to specialists, different lists of medicines they agree to pay, and so on. This produces huge amounts of paperwork, and to allow this system to work, medical visits to the United States are much better paid (from the doctor's point of view) than in Belgium. A well-managed medical practice generates a lot of money, but also employs a lot of people.

The solution to this problem seems obvious: a single insurance company, a single set of administrative documents, a single set of operating rules for the relationship between the insurer and the care provider. The debate currently raging in the United States regarding health care reform is completely poisoned. Health industry lobbies spend $ 1.4 million a day to influence representatives and senators in Washington. They continually brandish the scarecrow of "socialist medicine" (Ricketts & Fraher, 2013).

The government is the problem"

What is the reform proposed by the Democrats in the House of Representatives? To begin, the creation of a regulatory system of health insurance companies, aimed at limiting the excesses mentioned above. Basically it is to make it more difficult for insurers to deny care to their policyholders on the basis of more or less honest pretexts.

Secondly, try to significantly reduce the number of unemployed by creating mandatory premiums for employers and employees. Health insurance will become mandatory for most working Americans.

Finally create a "public option" that would be a new state insurance company that would aim to compete with private insurance and also cover all people who fail to secure in the private. All countries in the world are struggling with the problem of increasing the cost of health care. America has the additional problem of believing in free enterprise so much that it has made it a religion. More than half of Americans have developed since the Reagan years an absurd mistrust of anything related to the government.

References

Ricketts, T., & Fraher, E. (2013). Reconfiguring health workforce policy so that education,

training, and actual delivery of care are closely connected. Health Affairs, 32(11), 1874–1880. doi:10.1377/hlthaff.2013.0531

Kane, Sunanda, and Fadia Shaya. “Medication Non-Adherence Is Associated with Increased

Medical Health Care Costs.” SpringerLink, Springer US, 13 Oct. 2007, link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10620-007-9968-0.

Kelly, P., Porr, C., (January 31, 2018) "Ethical Nursing Care Versus Cost Containment:

Considerations to Enhance RN Practice" OJIN: The Online Journal of Issues in Nursing Vol. 23, No. 1, Manuscript 6.

Assignment

Evaluation of effectiveness with which Mattel implemented safety policies with subcontractors

Student’s Name

Institution affiliated

Introduction

Mattel, a world-leading toymaker with factories in different countries including China and Mexico was found culpable for violating international safety laws by manufacturing and distributing toys laced with a high concentration of lead. Large stock of Mattel’s popular toys such as hot wheels and Barbie dolls were sold in the United States, Europe and other parts of the world. As the leading manufacturer, Mattel had an intuitive opportunity to manage its safety processes and ensure that the products released to the market are impeccable. Although the company had running systems for internal quality and safety checks such as testing laboratory in Shenzhen China, it fails to perfect its processes as Jim Walter, the company’s vice president admitted that the company is not perfect, and processes have holes. The company failed to implement safety policies concerning the subcontractors

Evaluation of Mattel effectiveness concerning subcontractors

Mattel had different subcontractors supplying different products including paint and other materials. Different subcontractors like Dongguan Zhongxin Toner Powder Factory, Hong Li Da and others, supplied products to Mattel through official contractors of the company. Mattel did not have full control of the activities of the subcontractors making it difficult to regulate their activities. It can be argued that the problem with Mattel originated from an inability to implement proper safety measures about products received from the subcontractors. The products that the company received were not subjected to adequate safety processes before used in manufacturing. For instance, when Mattel’s certified supplier Dongxing New Energy Company realized that they had a limited supply of yellow pigment they decided to seek the intervention of obscure company completely disregarding possible breach of standards as set by Mattel. They sought suppliers from Dongguan Zhongxin, which had a poor reputation for provided fake documentation about the quality of their supplies

Mattel did not follow its guidelines concerning the testing and certification of products received from suppliers. Both Mattel and Dongxing Companies did not test the yellow pigment received from Dongguan Company, this showed that there was laxity and neglecting of laid procedures. Importantly, the company had a large number of suppliers who were regarded by the company has trustable as they had long term relationships. However, without the knowledge of Mattel Company, the suppliers used subcontractors who operated without supervision. This created loophole for shady companies to supply products laced with impurities such as lead. With improper vetting of suppliers to determine worthiness and reputation, many proxy companies supplied materials through Mattel’s known suppliers.

Mattel had many trained personnel tasked with the responsibility of training and supervising suppliers, and ensuring that all products received by the company meet acceptable standards and measures. Over 200 employees in China were tasked to perform this function; however, deployment of these employees was skewed as they were not stationed in manufacturing plants of the suppliers. This made it impossible to supervise suppliers hence giving chance for subcontractors to operate. Besides, Mattel failed to work closely with suppliers and supervise their activities. This provided a chance for Early Light Industrial Company, one of Mattel’s suppliers, to outsource paint from unauthorized Hong Li Da.

In conclusion, Mattel’s subcontractors contributed significantly to the crisis, which caused significant losses and recall of products worth millions. Mattel failed to supervise suppliers while not subjecting products from suppliers through adequate testing before using it in industrial processes.

Reference

Baron, David. Mattel Crisis Management or Management Crisis. Stanford Graduate Business School. 2008. 4th October, 2019. < https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/faculty-research/case-studies/mattel-crisis-management-or-management-crisis>

Assignment #2

Fair Labor Standards Act

Name

Affiliation

Date

The basis for the Act

Until the laws of 1935, the American bosses were, for the most part, globally free to hire and fire, to manage the company according to their employer's prerogative. This situation sparked outrage among workers for the formation for Standard Labor Act. The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 for the protection of employees had imposed itself in the US industry and dealt with the forty-hour week with overtime pay, the minimum wage and the minimum age of the worker. The Social Security Act of 1935, Social Security Act, had also introduced, from employee and employer contributions, collective social rights: unemployment insurance, welfare for poor families called welfare and Social Security, the only fund affecting all American workers, including self-employed, and equivalent to French pension insurance (Clinton, 2011).

When the federal minimum wage was introduced in 1938 by Franklin D. Roosevelt to the Fair Labor Law, his policy came into force after the collapse of the 1929 market during the Great Depression. The bill was strongly opposed by the Supreme Court, which rejected several laws on minimum wage before it came into force and created sections in the Democratic Party at that time. After much resistance, however, FLSA became the final part of the New Deal legislation that came into force (Samuel, 2000).

Summary of the Act

The FLSA was published at a time when the US was suffering from the Great Depression, Congress had the idea that it should be widely applied so that could provide a real cure for then existing the disgraceful working circumstances. In the nonexistence of a wide application, dishonest companies would perhaps have benefited through the modest benefit of being capable to offer biased concessions to disadvantage FLSA compliant employees, creating damage to employers' employees complacent. The comprehensive scope of the FLSA defends workforces by encompassing the responsibility for the failure to comply with its terms beyond the limits of ordinary work (Clinton, 2011).

FLSA includes in the field of application the concept of joint employment. The parties who were found to be combined employers, their position was analyzed through using multi-factor financial truth test, each thing is held responsible jointly and individually for acquiescence with the FLSA for use during the specific workweek.

The responsibility to be a joint employer guarantees that labors are paid their legitimate salaries and guards genuine deeds from one-sided rivalry. The joint employment is understood in a broad sense for achieving the objectives of the FLSA. The FLSA was approved by Congress and enacted on June 25, 1938. The Supreme Court considered the constitutional FLSA in the case of 1941 US vs Darby Lumber Co. (312 US 100). The FLSA deals with four macro-areas: the minimum wage, the pay provisions of the overtime, child labor, and equal pay for equal work, and regulate the public sector than the private sector (Nicole Long, 2015).

The ability to hire and fire is generally considered a strong indicator of status of an employer. The DOL indicates that this consideration sets the requirements of the lenders, clarifying that setting simple requirements to ensure consumer safety, such as requesting a criminal background check and first aid certification or that of cardio pulmonary resuscitation ( CPR cardiopulmonary resuscitation ), should be considered a weak indicator of employer status, similar to the common requirements of authorization at state and local level, which does not suggest the existence of an employment relationship. However, "the lender's broader requirements, such as meeting all training requirements provided by the State (in addition to the training required for the licenses in question), must be considered a strong indicator of the status of the employer (Mayer, G., & Collins, B. 2013).

Compliance Requirements for Employers

FLSA call for the employers to pay non-exempt and covered workers the minimum wage and remuneration for overtime hours, quantified at one and a half times the normal hourly wage. Under the FLSA, employers must pay employees with a salary not less than the federal lowest wage which from July/2009 is 7.25 USD per hour. There is no legislation which indicates a particular pay period but generally takes place weekly (Nicole Long, 2015).

Under the FLSA, employers must pay overtime every hour at 40 weekly with an hourly fee equal to one and a half times the normal hourly cost of the worker. The timetable for the calculation of overtime is weekly, the daily overtime is not expected if it has not been regulated by a collective agreement or a regulation specific to some Member State. The work week does not necessarily correspond to the calendar week. The workweek is a fixed period of the applicant for seven consecutive days (168 hours). The workers may prefer overtime to be commuted to them through the bank. The legitimacy of this exchange depends on whether the worker works in the public sector or private sector; in private this procedure is not possible if overtime is required under the FLSA, while in the public it is allowed (Mayer, G., & Collins, B. 2013)..

Not all employees covered by the FLSA are entitled to the payment of overtime or are subject to the minimum salary. The FLSA defines four general categories of workers, which are exempt from the minimum wage and overtime requirements of the Statute. These exempt employees are managers, administrators, professionals, and door-to-door salespeople. Salespeople are defined by the FLSA employees who sell their employer’s services, facilities or products, to clients as a representative of their employer, by selling door-to-door at the client’s home or those who sell products, services to clients outside the company headquarters, and in general both at the customer's home and at the place where he works) (Samuel, 2000).

Benefits for employees by the Fair Labor Standards Act

The FLSA Act. 1938 offers a bundle of advantages to the employees as the employers have to pay covered and non-exempt workers the minimum wage and remuneration for overtime hours, quantified at one and a half times the normal hourly wage. There is no legislation which indicates a particular pay period (unless there is legislation in one of the states members), but usually takes place weekly and is on a weekly basis that must be respected. Moreover, FLSA must pay employers overtime with an hourly fee equal to one and a half times the normal hourly cost of the worker. This is beneficial for the employees (Mayer, G., & Collins, B. 2013).

Violation reporting process and remedies for Employees

The FLSA is applied by the Department of Labor (DOL). The Wage and Hour division carries out inspections and investigations and publishes rules and regulations. The Minister of Labor is authorized to file a complaint on behalf of workers seeking to recover wages and overtime and may also request compensation for an amount equal to the number of wages due and unpaid. The minister may also issue an injunction against violations of the law. The criminal proceedings for intentional violations can be instituted by the Department of Justice. Employees can file a complaint to recover wages and overtime liquidation of damages for an equal amount. They can also get reinstatement. The limitation period is two years; while the intentional willful violations are extended to three years (Samuel, 2000).

Steps employers should take to ensure compliance

Disputes sometimes arise concerning the identity of the employer, since the status of the employer work generally determines who will be held legally responsible if workers' rights are violated. As a general rule, employers are legally responsible for their actions. When a company deliberates the power to influence the work decisions of managers or supervisors, the company is accountable if the latter use the power to make work decisions in ways that disrupt the law. The argument that the employer was not aware of the actions of the employee or that the employee's actions were contrary to company policy will not save him from this responsibility (Mckay, D. 2018).

Employers must prudently choose, train, observe and analyse the actions of their staffs, in particular, those accountable for judgements in the area of human resources. There are limits to this responsibility which is limited to the actions of the employees undertaken within the scope of the task for which they were hired. The behaviors of harmful employees adopted outside of their duties could constitute employer liability in the event of negligence or recklessness on the part of the latter or if he has expanded or made to believe that he had done the responsibility of the employee who commits the fact (Nicole Long, 2015).

The reaction of employers to the December 1, 2016 change in Fair Labor Standards Act

The updated version of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) published by the United States Department Of Labor (DOL) is aimed at increasing the salaries of employees who were exempted from the overtime wages. The changes have been done the first time after the year 2004. These changes have provided relief to the executive, administrative, computer and sales professionals. The new regulations have significantly heightened their weekly income. This decision has not been respected by the employees as they will have to pay these professionals much more than before. Therefore, they have raised their concerns in front of the US Department of Labour (DOL) (Mckay, D. 2018).

References

Clinton, J. (2011). Congress, Lawmaking, and the Fair Labor Standards Act, 1971-2000. American Journal Of Political Science, 56(2), 355-372. doi: 10.1111/j.1540-5907.2011.00547.x

D. Samuel, H. (2000). Troubled passage: the labor movement and the Fair Labor Standards Act. Retrieved from https://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2000/12/art3full.pdf

Mayer, G., & Collins, B. (2013). The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA): An Overview. Retrieved from https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R42713.pdf

Mckay, D. (2018). The Fair Labor Standards Act. Retrieved from https://www.thebalancecareers.com/the-fair-labor-standards-act-us-524845

Murray, J. (2018). Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and Employers. Retrieved from https://www.thebalancesmb.com/the-fair-labor-standards-act-how-it-affects-employers-398269

Nicole Long. (2015). Fair Labor Standards Act Compliance. Retrieved from https://smallbusiness.chron.com/fair-labor-standards-act-compliance-2963.html

Assignment #2

Just-in-Time Inventory

[Author’s Name]

[Institution]

Just-in-Time Inventory

An operational philosophy, commonly known as Just-in-time (JIT), has helped manufacturers a lot since the last decade, in accelerating their production rate. Almost every manufacturing company in now implementing this approach, but Toyota motors is considered the pioneer of this manufacturing strategy CITATION Les95 \l 1033 (Duclos, Siha, & Lummus, 1995). This essay would discuss how this approach has helped Toyota motors in accomplishing it mission statement, sustaining quality and quantity of its product and applying uniform plant loading operations to support its operations.

Support of JIT to Mission Statement and Future Operations

Toyota motors applies the JIT approach not only to its manufacturing operations but also to the entire business. JIT approach has helped Toyota motors to accomplish its goals concerning the mission statement and future operations of the company. JIT approach has helped Toyota motors to establish total visibility concerning the whole manufacturing process and human resource and equipment. Moreover, it has helped Toyota motors create a balance between supply and production. As far as future operations are concerned, it helped the company acclimate production techniques to its customers’ requirements. Elimination of waste is another factor which has helped the company boost it production and plan for the future accordingly CITATION Les95 \l 1033 (Duclos, Siha, & Lummus, 1995).

Role of JIT in Product Delivery

Product quality is the most important thing for any company’s long-term survival. The JIT approach has helped the company make exceptional improvements regarding its product quality. This approach has helped Toyota motors maintain quality and focus on continuous improvements, waste elimination and simplicity CITATION kum10 \l 1033 (Kumar, 2010). This particular technique actually allowed the company to utilize its resources to its full capacity. Moreover, JIT helped Toyota motors analyze and find out all the veiled sources of the problems concerning production quality. In addition, JIT not only helped the company, but also allowed its workers to play a vital role in decision making CITATION kum10 \l 1033 (Kumar, 2010). Smooth production flow is another factor which helped the company deliver products in the right quantity and at the right time. It has also helped the company avert fluctuating production rates, which are so crucial to avoid for product quality and product delivery, as they yield delays and surplus inventories.

Uniform Product Loading

Toyota motors is a leading automobile manufacturing company. The product line of the company now mainly depends upon the robotic assembly line. Assembly of the product is carried out by robots. So, JIT has helped the company in number of ways, as it has integrated all the production activities CITATION Les95 \l 1033 (Duclos, Siha, & Lummus, 1995). No product will be produced or taken to assembly line unless or until it is required. It actually enables the company to schedule the product which not only saves time and enhances the product quality but also make a stringent cut in inventory and material loss. Elimination of waste is another factor which has helped Toyota motors optimize the production rates and enhance the quality of its products. It has helped the robotic assembly line of the company to eradicate waste from the overproduction, inventory, rework, machinery breakdown and processing CITATION Les95 \l 1033 (Duclos, Siha, & Lummus, 1995).

JIT Supplier Relationship

Inventory management plays a vital role in any production company. JIT plays a vital role in the purchasing arrangements which yield long-term contracts between buyers and suppliers. Inventory reduction is a crucial element for any production company and JIT has helped Toyota motors to reduce its inventory. JIT supplier relationship helps the companies i.e. buyers and seller to co-locate their facilities which configures the supply chain and hence helps to reduce the inventory CITATION Les95 \l 1033 (Duclos, Siha, & Lummus, 1995). It enables the company to repeat business with same suppliers. JIT approach actually demands analysis to empower suppliers to remain price competitive and restricts the competitive bidding to the new parts only.

References

BIBLIOGRAPHY Duclos, L. K., Siha, S. M., & Lummus, R. R. (1995, June). JIT in services: a review of current practices and future directions for research. IJSIM, 6(5), 36-50. Retrieved from https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/4c71/bb263040f1fdca725d6d85318f3077c01c80.pdf

Kumar, V. (2010). JIT Based Quality Management: Concepts and Implications. International Journal of Engineering Science and Technology, 2(1), 40-50. Retrieved from http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.153.7648&rep=rep1&type=pdf