Nucor Corporation Case Essay

Summary: For more than 20 years the Nucor Corporation has been one of the leading manufacturers of steel and steel related products in the world. With their technology advancement, low debt ratio, decentralized type of organization and many more, this company still thrives to achieve better goals in their company. Aside from the positive views of the company, it also faced problems like bankruptcy. (te pakidagdagan n lng) History: Nucor traced its origins to auto manufacturer Ransom E. Olds, who founded Oldsmobile, and later, Reo Motor Cars. Through a series of transactions, the company eventually became the Nuclear Corporation of America, a company involved in the nuclear instrument and electronics business. In 1972, the firm changed its name to Nucor Corporation. By 1998, it had become America’s second-largest steel maker. Operations: Nucor related its diverse facilities in rural areas across the United States, establishing strong ties to its local communities and its work force. As a leading employer with the ability to pay top wages, it attracted hard-working, dedicated employees. These factors also allowed Nucor to select from among competing locales, siting its operations in states with tax structures that encouraged business growth and regulatory policies that favored the company’s commitment to remaining union-free. By mid-2008, Nucor operated 53 facilities throughout the United States and one in Point Lisas, Trinidad. The company also maintained operations through wholly owned subsidiaries, Harris Steel and the David J. Joseph Company (DJJ). Strategy: Nucor’s strategy focused on two major competencies: building steel manufacturing facilities economically and operating them productively. Organization Structure: Compared to the typical Fortune 500 company with 10 or more management layers, Nucor’s Structure was decentralized, with only the four management  layers illustrated below: Chairman / Vice Chairman / President Vice President / Plant General Manager Department Manager Supervisor Human Resource Policies: Employee relations at Nucor were based on four principles: 1. Management is obligated to manage Nucor in such a way that employee will have the opportunity to earn according to their productivity. 2. Employees should feel confident that if they do their jobs properly, they will have a job tomorrow. 3. Employees have the right to be treated fairly. 4. Employees must have an avenue of appeal when they believe they are being treated unfairly. Compensation: Nucor provided employees with a performance-related compensation system. All employees were covered under one of four compensation plan, each featuring incentives for meeting specific goals and targets. 1. Production Incentive Plan * employees directly involved in manufacturing were paid weekly bonuses based on actual output in relation to anticipated production tonnages produced. The bonuses were paid only for work that met the quality standards and were pegged to work group, rather than individual output. 2. Department Manager Incentive Plan * Department managers earned an annual incentive bonus based on the performance of the entire plan to which they belonged. The targeted performance criterion here was return on assets. 3. Non-Production and Non-Department Manager Incentive Plan * All employees not in the Production Incentive Plan or Department Manager Incentive Plan – including accountants, engineers, secretaries, clerks, and receptionists – received a bonus based primarily on each plant’s return on assets. It could total over 25% of an employee’s base salary. 4. Senior Officers Incentive Plan * Included all corporate executives and plant general managers. A portion of pre-tax earnings was placed into a pool that was divided among the officers. If Nucor did well, the officers’ bonuses, in the form of stock (about 60%) and cash (about 40%), could amount to several times their base salaries. If Nucor did poorly, an officer’s compensation was only base salary and, therefore, significantly below the average pay for this level of responsibility. Information Systems: Benefits: Nucor took an egalitarian approach toward employee benefits. Nucor’s benefit program also attested to the company’s commitment to education. Technology: Nucor did not have a formal R&D department, a corporate engineering group, or a chief technology officer. Instead, it relied on equipment suppliers and other companies to do the R&D, and they adopted the technological advancements they developed – whether in steel or iron making, or in fabrication. Teams composed of mangers, engineers, and machine operators decided what technology to adopt. Future: The company’s biggest challenge (in the future) is to continue to grow the company at 15 – 20% per year, and to keep earnings parallel with its growth. Analysis: Nucor Corporation became one of the top corporations in the steel industry because of their handwork and technology innovation. This company also sees and takes care of its employee’s needs, which in return gives them  a quality service in their work. Conclusion: Nucor, even though we can see it as a successful, almost perfect company, still faces problems like other businesses in the industry. Problem: The company has lost one-third to one-half of its market value when the stock reached its peak value (mid-2008), and has not recovered as of 2012. Recommendation: We can recommend change in the company’s technology, like getting more advance equipments in making steel and steel-related products. Or the company could make a merger to other company to utilize its resources to its maximum while keeping cost low.

“A Conversation with my Father” by Grace Paley Essay

A Conversation with My Father is a fictional story about a daughter and her dying father. At his bedside, he asks her to tell a story. She tells a tragic story of a woman who gets involved in drugs because of her son but then the son leaves her and she is stuck in the drug lifestyle. She soon after decides to get her life back on track and she succeeds in doing so. The father rejects the daughters ending because he believes that she is avoiding tragedy. Through ambiguity and connotation in the conversation between daughter and father, Grace Paley shows that people are often afraid of confronting tragedy or even accepting it. Paley repeats the word end throughout the story. The father in A Conversation with My Father is the one that uses both words the most. In lines 6-7, the father says, Poor woman. Poor girl, to be born in a time of fools to live among fools. The end. The end. The father at first shows some sort of sympathy by recognizing that this woman was not in the best condition but he goes on to say that it is the end. By the end he means the end of her life and that her life cannot get back on track no matter what. Anytime that the narrator uses the word end it is meant to describe the end of the drug addict woman in the daughters story (Lines 6-8, 14). Grace Paley also has repetition of the word tragedy. The word tragedy is also ambiguous throughout the story. In line 9, the father says, what a tragedy. The end of a person. In this line the fathers usage of the word tragedy is not ambigious because it is clear that he is describing the end of the mother in the story. In line 14 the father says, Tragedy! Plain tragedy! Historical tragedy! In these lines it is unsure in what context that father is talking about tragedy. It is hard to tell whether he is talking about the character from the story or his own daughter. It seems like he is most likely talking about his daughter because in the line before that he says, You dont want to recognize it. The you refers to the daughter and the it refers to tragedy. The father believes that a weakness of his daughter is that she does not recognize or accept tragedy. The usage of the word tragedy and end together is what helps get Grace Paleys point across to the readers in this story. In several lines the father  mentions both words together in order to show that people are afraid of confronting tragedy or even accepting it (Lines 9, 14). In line 9 the father states that the end of a person is tragic but the daughter goes on to show her naà ¯vetà © ness by saying that it does not have to be the mothers end because in reality, the mother could go on to be successful at her current job or become even more successful at something else. It is this point in the story when the father tells the daughter that her writing is no good because she does not recognize tragedy and therefore there is no hope for her. After he tells her that there is no hope for her, he goes on to say The end. In that point in the story the phrase is used to describe how the father feels about his daughters future (Line 14). In the last line the father says, Tragedy! You too. When will you look it in the face? Here he is pointing out his daughters refusal to recognize or accept tragedy. He is calling her a tragedy because she will not recognize tragedy. At every point in the story before this, the author either used the word tragedy when talking about the mother from the story or about society as a whole but this is the point in the story when he lets his true feelings out. The father believes that society as a whole chooses not to recognize tragedy just like his daughter. He wants to show his daughter that she is turning into a tragedy because she will not accept tragedy like the rest of society. The father seems to believe that if you do not make tragedy a reality then you will become a tragedy yourself. Although there are specific examples throughout the story to show how the father believes that the daughter denies tragedy, there are several parts where the father also comments on the naà ¯vetà © of society when it comes to tragedy. In line 6 the father says, †¦born in a time of fools to live among fools. The word fools refers to society as a whole. The father is trying to say that we are all naà ¯vetà © because noone recognizes tragedy. He continues in this line to use the phrase the end (Line 6). The connotation of the phrase the end changes in this line. In this line it more refers to the entire general population instead of the specifically the mother from the story or his own daughter even though it seems like that is what he is referring to. In lines 22-23 the daughter says, Im sorry for her. Im not going to leave her there in that house crying (Actually neither would Life,  which unlike me has no pity.) By stating that the daughter shows that she does not believe in tragedy and that she refuses to let a story have a bad ending because it is immoral. This line not only shows that the daughter will not recognize tragedy but the second part, where she states that life would not leave the mother in the same condition either, proves that society feels the same way about tragedy. The phrase in the parentheses is interesting because it points out that life itself would not accept tragedy even though in general life pities no one. The whole point shows that although we as a people generally do not pity anyone or anything, we do make an acceptation for tragedy. The word tragedy and end are two very strong words in this short story. No other words would get the authors point across. The author used them ambiguously in order to get her point across to the audience. The father uses the story that he had his daughter tell to show her tragedy. He hoped to show her that people are afraid of it and that they often do not recognize it. He wanted her to realize her own tragedy before it led to her end because he believed that denying tragedy is what leads to failure or the end.

Change Management Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Change Management - Assignment Example The postal organization specializes in courier and express services (Australian Government, 2011). The organization is trying to expand business in the field of retail merchandise and agency services. Traditional postal service business had become unprofitable in last few years. The concept of traditional postal communication has changed due to evolution of email communication, social networking. People prefer to use internet communication rather than traditional postal services. The postal organization has incurred a loss of $90 million in last 5 years. Australian Post is trying to change business strategy in terms of shifting focus on retail Merchandise and agency Services. They need to manage the change process carefully. Change management will help them to build a strong organizational framework. Change Management Change management tries to integrate different systems and structure with the organizational structure of the company. Change management can be applied in the transitio n phase of the organization. A company can go for whole system change or partial system change. Many organizations use ADKAR change management model to improve productivity. Dupont is a well known chemical company of USA. They used the model to implement change management in the production process. ADKAR model can be explained in the following way. A- Awareness is generated for change. Top management of the company identifies problem areas like staff productivity, poor service delivery, poor annual sales volume and low productivity of existing system. The management then decides to change existing process. D- Existing employees express desire to participate in change process. They can be termed as change agents. K- Knowledge in terms of training and development is given to the change agents. The knowledge process helps them to understand key issues of new system. A- This is the application part of change management. In this phase organization starts to use new implemented system. Or ganization takes external help to implement new system. The external system monitors the application phase. Coaching and mentoring are required to manage change agents. R- Organization tries to reinforce the sustainability factor. Companies try to maintain the new implemented system. They try to analyze the result of change management in this phase. Change management is a dynamic process. Organization can implement change management program in various areas like marketing, production process, financial management system and organizational structure. Change management can be implemented by altering the thinking process of existing employees. It is very difficult to find employees who accept change very successfully. The organization needs to select change agents ready to accept new system. Service based models like changing customer relationship management requires rigorous training and development program. Top level management needs to communicate with change agents regularly. Study shows that at least 15 engagements are required to clarify the objectives of top management (University of Pennsylvania, 2010). Change Management in Australia Post Australia Post has business expertise in the field of postal services (like letter and parcel delivery, courier services). The organization is trying to expand business in the field of third party agency services like banking, bill payment, insurance, passport application and

Conflict in an organisation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Conflict in an organisation - Essay Example Hence it is an easygoing workplace which takes care of the employees in a free-flowing way (Pelled 1999). The work tasks are therefore dependent on one another yet being independent at the same time. This means that there are as such no dependencies within the working bases of the employees however they have to interact with one another so that team development could prevail at the end of the day. This also gives the employees a chance to know each other better and in a more resolute way. They also explain the issues that crop up at their respective ends and then go about solving the same through collective bodies. The dispute that took place was between two employees who never got along at the workplace. It was an issue that happened due to inflated egos of John and George. Both of them detested each other in entirety and did not appreciate the existence of the other one whilst being at work (Harper 1994). There was a form of negative chemistry that existed between the two and it ha d long-lasting repercussions as far as work domains within the organization were concerned. Both of them had a heated debate in a meeting and this led to a physical brawl between the two. This was indeed the beginning of much more that was waiting to happen within the workplace realms. The clues present in the wake of understanding whether or not this was a conflict situation come about when one tries to relate the different nuances which happened in the first place (Meyer 2004). This was a conflict that led to a physical attack on the part of John which put George in a very difficult position. George could have held back and let John face all the music as then the human resources department would have taken serious notice of the fight but this did not happen. George lost his cool and attacked John in return. Both men started to fight without any purpose. They just wanted to make their viewpoints clear – the other one should not be allowed to have his way no matter what

HW 9 HUMAN RESOURCE Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

HW 9 HUMAN RESOURCE - Assignment Example Many organizations have formulated the wage payment system based on the contribution of the result of the job to the common goal of the organization. Compensation policies of any organization must have provisions of timely review of payment structure in order to consolidate the resultant crises. This program of pay revision to wage earners is possible only with continuous interaction and awareness of their role in the organization. Broadbanding is a system of human resource management to administer the functions of employees of different departments under a particular appraisal system in order to facilitate easy formulation of payrolls. The salary ranges are consolidated into fewer pay ranges with higher difference between two adjacent levels of payment in this system with an intention to avoid overlap of payment ranges (p.435). This system of personnel management is beneficial to the organization as there are lots of chances of payment hikes without offers of promotion whereby expertise of the employee grows with his experience in the same field. Broadbanding may be considered to be on a competency based pay system. It alters the regular narrow salary ranges at different levels to extremely wide salary ranges for the most desirable employee. This system allows employees to choose a work of their interest and proficiency irrespective of the departments to which they are employed. Payment through broadband syst em ensures the participation of every employee in accomplishment of their skill set enhancement. Under the system of competency based compensation the skill set required by the employees of different fields is framed as a combination of works from various departments. While making a slab for payment at a broadband level, highly paid employees face a probable reduction in their pay because of the stipulation of their skill

Business in china and korea Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Business in china and korea - Essay Example The conflicts with North Korea prevented South Korea from concentrating more in economic sector. In short, doing business in a country depend on many internal and external parameters. This paper briefly analyses the business prospects in Chin and Korea. Mao Zedong was succeeded in implementing a cultural revolution in China through the October revolution. But it is difficult to recognize Mao as the architect of modern China. Deng the visionary leader followed by Mao was the architect of modern China. Mao was more adamant in the implementation of the tight communist principles whereas Deng has given the communist principles more liberal look and a human face. Mao was more focussed on ideological warfare and class struggle whereas Deng shifted his attention towards the practicability of communist principle in economic progress. Lieberthal (2003) has mentioned that the political considerations in Beijing dictated the pace and thrust of the reform process throughout the 1980’s (Lieberthal, 2003, p.123). Mao failed to recognize that the biggest population of China need more practical solutions than the one mentioned in the communist manifesto. On the other hand, Deng realized that for China like a heavily populated country, princ iples on papers may not help and practical solutions were required. Gittings, (2005) has mentioned that political reformation process undertaken by Deng was the result of his realization that the economic reforms would be ineffective unless the party could also be reformed (Gittings, 2005, p.173). Politics were dictating the Chinese administration before Deng and it was difficult for the business people to start a private business in China before the Deng administration. Deng has realized that the government alone may not be able to tackle China’s problems and the cooperation of the private capital is essential for the

CONSTRUCTING AN INTERNATIONAL REAL ESTATE PORTFOLIO Coursework

CONSTRUCTING AN INTERNATIONAL REAL ESTATE PORTFOLIO - Coursework Example Implementation complexities in constructing an effective portfolio possess risk factors, which make it necessary for crucial exposure and assessment of opportunities for the investment in the international real estate market. There has been an increase in international investments especially in international real estate markets, which is clear from the UK listed and unlisted wholesale markets. It is evident that most products fall under the value-added or opportunistic and risk or reward; hence they offer a wide range of the investments returns. The international listed real estate funds have different collective strategies according to different regions as indicated by fig.1. There is a variation of real estate types depending on the countries or country targeted. Consequently, there are different ways of gaining exposure to the investable market. Various options are employed to acquire and manage equity interests for international real estate investments. The aim of the paper is to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of applying various methods for gaining exposure to the real estate investments. In addition, it evaluates the different methods used to fully acquire and manage equity interests in international real estate investments. Real estate refers to; the commercial sectors of office, retail, industrial, and leased residential real estate sectors. The real estate appraisers in the UK reflect value of asset factors such as expected income growth, risk of liquidity, management costs, income growth related risks, and the tenant default risk that enables the capitalization of the current and future income expectations and streams. This indicates that the international real estate investment can offer a number of investment features that have different risk levels. The different investment procedures makes it possible for the income streams to be cut in many ways and offers

Recommendation MEMO to Darla Domke Research Proposal

Recommendation MEMO to Darla Domke - Research Proposal Example She believes that she will have a upper hand in her business The most appropriate step for Darla Domke to take when setting up the I’ll cook for you business is to establish her own in house advertising and not hire an outside advertising agency (Dunung 2010, p. 22). Advertising comes with a number of drawbacks. Thus depending on the decision that an individual has made to start a business it is important that they choose the most appropriate kid of advertising strategy that will meet their needs as well as that of their customers. From the pros and cons listed in relation to whether Darla Domke should hire an outside advertising agency or develop an in-house advertising agency, it would be appropriate for her to set up her own advertising agency that she will be able to work within her own schedule and incorporate a number of ideas that are within her area of competency (Pringle & Starr, 2006, p. 161). With her own services, she can use them to serve as her advertising strategy at the same time (Provost 2014, par 1-8). Establishing an in house advertising agency as opposed to the hiring of an outside advertising agency has benefits that include the ability to effectively save on time and costs as well as the ease of control of activities. There is room to make faster and informed decisions. One of the disadvantages that is normally associated with the establishment of an in house advertising agency is that most of the people in the business may not have the required experience and expertise (Kazmi, Batra &U Satish 2008, p. 64). For the case of Darla who is a qualified nutritionist, getting time off her regular office job will give her more time to prepare high quality meals. She will also make use of her skills and abilitities to ensure that the meals she prepares are healthy and of the appropriate quality. In addition, if she requires any additional personnel, she should ensure that they have the relevant level of professionalism,

Nike Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Nike - Research Paper Example This is to say that the company is one of the richest companies in Oregon. Mission statement and goals Nike’s Mission statement is: To bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete in the world. According to Bill Bowerman, everybody who has a body is an athlete. The company therefore aims at bringing inspiration and innovation to the entire humanity. The company has five goals for its business processes. These are, to provide an environment which develops individuals to maximize their contribution to Nike, to provide innovative and quality products and services both internally and externally, to identify consumer segment opportunities that are focused, to establish and nurture good emotional ties with groups of consumer and to maximize profits (nikerepository.com 1). History and products Nike was founded in January 1964 by Philip Knight, a track athlete in the University of Oregon, and his coach Bill Bowerman. They gave the company the name Blue Ribbon Sports . Initially, the company operated as a distributor for Onitsuka Tiger (the current ASICS), a Japanese shoe maker. At that time, it was making high sales at local track meetings and other evens related to sports out of an automobile that belonged to Knight. The company grew rapidly and opened its first retail store in 1967. By 1971, its relationship with Onitsuka was almost ending and Blue Ribbon Sports prepared to launch its own line of shoes that would bear the Swoosh latest designed by Carolyn Davidson (nikerepository.com 1). In January 1971, Nike first used the swoosh and released its first group of products named Nike and bearing the swoosh. Their first products were brands of truck running shoes. In 1978, Knight and Bowerman changed the name of the company to Nike corporation. By 1980, the company had taken over almost half of the athletic footwear market even without TV advertisements. Since then, the company has expanded and as of November 2008, it had acquired some companies to become it s own major subsidiaries. These are Converse Inc, Umbro, Cole Haan and Hurley International and Nike Golf. Other Nike subsidiaries are Bauer NIKE Hockey Inc and Exeter Brands Group LLC. Nike produces a vast range of sports equipment and sportswear. Currently, the company produces a variety of shoes, shorts, jerseys, baselayers and other types of sportswear designed for use in a range of sport like basketball, ice hockey, cricket, tennins, lacrosse and other track and field sports. The name Nike is the name of a Greek goddess of victory and Nike Corporation markets all its products under its own name. This also include Nike Pro, Nike Golf, Nike+, Nike Skateboarding. Some of the products produced or sold by its subsidiaries are marketed under different brand names for example Air Jordan/Jordans which are sold by its Jordan brand subsidiary. Manufacturing, marketing and supply chain In order to meet its global demand, Nike has contracted over 700 shoe factories and these factories are now manufacturing Nike-branded products. Most of the contacted factories are located in Asia including China, India ,Indonesia, Vietnam, Pakistan, Taiwan, Thailand, Philippines and Malaysia. CRS Wire. (2005). Manufacturing and marketing is therefore achieved is therefore through subsidiaries and contracted companies. Currently, the company operate in over 160 countries globally. Nike recognised the need develop a well-coordinated and efficient SC for the

Resistance investigation Essay Example for Free

Resistance investigation Essay Resistance is the opposition to current and voltage within a given material. George Ohm discovered the concept of resistance in 1826. He stated that the current flowing through a wire is proportional to the potential difference across it as long as the temperature remains constant. The formula to calculate resistance is Resistance (measured in Ohms)= potential difference across a wire (volts) Current through a wire (amps) In this investigation we are going to find out how resistance changes in relationship to when the length of a wire is changed. We will take readings every 10 cm because this should give a substantial variation in the readings and go up to 100 cm because this will give us a sensible set of results to work with. To ensure that the experiment is safe we will have to clear the work area and make sure that it is clean and dry, and keep the current low, in this case two volts. I predict that as the length of the wire increases the resistance will also increase in direct proportion, as there will be more particle collisions in the longer wire. In addition the free electrons in the outer shell have to carry the charge further, which also increases the chances of collision. To make the experiment a fair test we will use 2 volts throughout and include a switch in the circuit, which will enable us to control that the circuit is only on when we are taking readings. It will therefore obey ohms law, as the temperature will remain cool, and the cross sectional area of the wire will also remain the same. We will keep the same apparatus throughout the experiment and will take more than five sets of results to ensure that we have a good statistical average. The only thing that we will change is the length of the wire. The apparatus we will need in the experiment are a power supply, wires, a switch, a 1metre ruler, a voltmeter and an ammeter. Results These are the sets of results that I obtained: Distance (cm) Voltage (v) Current (a) Resistance (ohms). From these results we have found out that as the length of a wire increases so does the voltage and resistance, whereas the current reduces. The data shows that the distance of a wire does have an effect on the resistance through it. This is because as the length of the wire increases the likelihood of collisions between the nucleus of the atom and the electron which carries the charge increases. On the graph the line of best fit shows that that there is a good correlation of the data showing that there is a direct and proportional relationship between the length of a wire and the resistance. This proves that my original prediction correct that the resistance of a wire will increase as the length does. Evaluation The method used for the experiment worked well and we were able to gain the results needed to make a conclusion. The accuracy of the data was on the whole good but there were two odd results. These were anomalies as the resistance was lower on average than the resistance from the reading taken from a 10 cm shorter wire. The method for the investigation was well suited to the experiment. To improve the reliability of the results we could keep the room temperature constant, and be more accurate in measuring the length of the wire. We could also use more accurate voltmeters and ammeters. Due the close position of the points plotted on the graph there is enough accurate information obtained from the results to support the definite conclusion that as the length of the wire increases so does the resistance. To improve the results we could repeat the experiment but take readings at different or more frequent intervals . We could also take more sets of results.

History Of South Africa

History Of South Africa South Africa was settled by the Dutch in 1652 as an ending point for ships on their way to the East Indies. The Dutch first settled the area that was to be Cape Town and with time expanded across the entire tip of southern Africa. Fruit and vegetables were grown here to battle the problem of scurvy aboard passing ships. South Africa changed hands and became a British colony, after the Napoleonic wars in 1815. Most of the Dutch went north to escape from the English. Here they developed tribe- a well known community, and over the period of time they migrated South from Central Africa. Overt there a war resulted between the Dutch Boers and the Zulus, a powerful tribe led by Shaka. The Boers won and created an Afrikaner state in the north. In 1899 there were the Boer Wars as a result of the English trying to capture this Afrikaner state. In 1910 South Africa became a union which is a coalition between the English and Afrikaner states. In 1960 South Africa became independence from British rule and became a republic. During the 90s, with the release of Nelson Mandela- president, South Africa went through an amazing transformation. South Africa (Africas southernmost nation) is also Africas largest and most developed economy. Today South Africa produces high-tech equipment and is a world leader in the output of gold and diamonds. Johannesburg and its satellite cities are home to more than 8 million people and generate 9 percent of all economic activity in Africa. In the 21st century, South Africa is a democratic country representing all its diverse people-often called the rainbow nation. Today South Africa is making up for decades of social disruption and lost education, but high unemployment and the AIDS epidemic threaten economic progress. NELSON MENDELAS CONTRIBUTION Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela was born on 18 July 1918 and served aspresident of South Africa from 1994 to 1999. He was the first ever to be elected in a fully representative democratic election. South Africa was a troubled nation for a long time and things are not perfect yet, but he fought hard for victory. Years after he started his journey, he became the first democratically elected president of South Africa. Nelson Mandelas political path started from 1944 when he and 5 comrades organized the African National Congress Youth League. He was appointed league president and in 1952 he was elected as national volunteer-in-chief of the ANCs Defiance Campaign, a civil disobedience campaign against discriminatory legislation. And this was the start of his resistance against apartheid aws. The following years were marked with Mandelas arrestment, banned and imprisoned accompanied with contributions to the freedom struggle. In the year 1959 Mandela and 155 members of the ANC were arrested. Mandela went underground leading his army to bring freedom and peace back to all South Africans. After 17 months he was arrested and sent to Robin Island which is the most notorious prison in South Africa, on a life sentence. Nelson Mandela established teaching community at Robben Island even when he was in prison and he never gave up his struggle. Finally the rest of the world began to see the sheer wrongness. The government was left with no choice but it had to freed Mandela and other people. Nelson then formed the first multi-racial government in South Africa and due to this he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, and became President. After this he changed the country and freed a nation. Between 1960 and 1994 as a president, Mandela organized the Truth and Reconciliation Commission to investigate human rights and to keep an eye on political violations committed by both supporters and opponents of apartheid. He introduced large number of social and economic programs to improve the standard of living of black people of South Africa. In 1996 Mandela presided over the enactment of a new South African constitution, which established a strong central government based on majority rule. Through this it was made possible to prohibit discrimination against minorities, including whites. In the year 1998, it was his 80th birthday and Mandela wed the politician and humanitarian Graca Machel who was the widow of the former president of Mozambique. The next year, Nelson finally retired from politics at the end of his first term as president. Nelson Mandela will be remembered always for his humility, empathy, leadership power and strong efforts towards South African liberation. CULTURE OF SOUTH AFRICA The South Africa culture is known for its ethnic and cultural diversity. Culture in South Africa is about as diverse as it can come. The black South African still has a large number of rural inhabitants who lead largely poor lives. Though cultural traditions survive most strongly among black South African, aspects of traditional culture have declined as the black South African have become increasingly urbanised and westernised. Urban black South Africans, generally, speak English or Afrikaans in addition to their native languages. Some smaller but significant groups of blacks also speak Khoisan languages. Some of them are speakers of the endangered languages most of whom belong to the KhoiSan family, that receive no official status. The life style of members of middle class, who are predominantly white, is very similar in many respects to that of people found in Western Europe, North America and Australasia. Some of them often study and work abroad for a great experience to the world market. Indian South Africans are very particular about their heritage, languages and religious beliefs, being Christian, Hindu or Muslim and speaking English, with Indian languages like Hindi, Telugu, Tamil or Gujarati. South Africa is a multi-cultural society and defining distinct subgroups by skin colour. The mixture and joining in South Africas urban areas, along with the suppression of traditional cultures during the apartheid years which shows that the old ways of life are vanishing but traditional black cultures is still prevailing across the country. Marriage customs and taboos differ across the different groups but the majority of the traditions are based on the beliefs in a mannish divinity, inherited spirits, and paranormal forces. Generally, polygamy (a marriage which includes more than two partners) is accepted and lobolo (dowry) is usually paid. Zulu is one of the strongest surviving black cultures and massed Zulu singing at Inkatha Freedom Party demonstrations is a powerful expression of this ancient culture. The Xhosa also have a strong presence; they are known as the red people because of the red-dyed clothing worn by most adults. The Ndebele are a related group, who live in the north-western corner of what is now Mpumalanga in strikingly painted houses. The distinct culture of the Afrikaners has developed in a deliberate isolation, which saw them wandering around with cows and the Bible while 19th-century Europe experimented with democracy and liberalism. Till today, rural communities are revolving around the conservative Dutch Reformed Churches, however Afrikaner redneck is extremely far from a tautology. Apart from the Afrikaners, most of the European South Africans are of British extraction. The British generally tend to have the dominance over the business and financial sectors. There is also a large and prominent Jewish population and a significant Indian population. Though South Africa is a home to a great diversity of cultures, most were suppressed during the apartheid years when day-to-day practice of traditional and contemporary cultures was ignored, and destroyed. In the society, one can be jailed for owning a politically incorrect painting, serious art was forced underground and blandness ruled in the galleries and theatres. SOCIETY SOCIAL STRATIFICATION Classes and Castes Foundation of Cape Town was done in 1652. There were various indicators of racial unfairness. Slaves were of mixed parentage, they rated high than Africans. Since three centuries the system of racism slowly attained a legal status in society. In that process, class and economic status of darker people confined as lower. Despite of racism these people obtained a formal education and a European-style middle class cultural and economic identity as merchants, farmers, colonial civil servants, clerks, teachers, and clergy also many prominent leaders were born including Nelson Mandela. Symbols of Social Stratification Before colonialism, the aristocratic chiefs symbolized their authority by wearing special animal-skin clothing, ornaments, and the power of military equipments, by functioning of chiefly courts and assemblies and they were also entitled by custom to display, mobilize, and increase their wealth by acquisition of many wives and large herds of cattle. Inkhatha march served as a status symbol, with fine horses, pioneer wagons, and horse-drawn carts giving way to imported luxury automobiles. POLITICAL LIFE Government African communities were based on the hereditary period of rule, in which the senior son of the highest or great wife of a chief succeeded his father. Whereas succession was not straightforward, and brothers, older sons of other wives, and widows all competes for power. A decade later, Afrikaner emigrants from the Cape ( voortrekkers ), established the independent republics of the Orange Free State and the Transvaal, ruled by an elected president and a popular assembly called a volksraad . Leadership and Political Officials Democratically elected president, Nelson Mandela was one of the most admired political figures in the world. There are nine provinces, each with a premier selected by the local ruling party and provincial ministerial executives. Social Problems and Control Legacy problems amount to a social crisis. Unrepresentative government and repressive racial regulations created mistrust of the law among the black majority. Unemployment is rapidly increasing since 1994 which leads to highest crime rates. The education and health care facilities are failing. The established black townships are tapped under unemployment, crime, and insecurity, including drug dealings, alcoholism, rape, domestic violence, and child abuse. Military Activity The South African Defense Force was notorious for its unstable intervention in the civil war in Angola in the mid-1970s. After 1994, the army has renamed by South African National Defense Force (SANDF). It achieved progress toward racial integration under the command of recently promoted black officers drawn from the armed wing of the ANC, Umkhonto we Sizwe, and the military budget experienced reductions that have limits ability of the SANDF to respond military emergencies. Major military venture since 1994 leads of an invasion force to save Lesothos elected government which was poorly planned and executed. Peacekeeping missions were doubted by high rates of HIV infection. SOCIAL WELFARE AND CHANGE PROGRAMS Land restitution and reform, judicial reform, pro-employee labor regulations, welfare grants, free primary schooling, pre-natal and natal medical care, tough penalties for crimes and child abuse, and high taxes and social spending are all part of the ruling partys efforts to address the social crisis. These problems have been difficult to deal with because only 30% of the population contributes to national revenue and because poverty is widespread and deeply rooted. This effort has been made more difficult by restrictions on the level of deficit spending the government can afford without deterring local and foreign investment. An extreme level of social spending, however, has eased social tension and unrest and helped stabilize the democratic transformation. SOCIALIZATION Infant Care Baby care is traditionally the sphere of mothers, grandmothers, and older sisters in all communities. Among the social problems affecting these communities prevalence of early teenage pregnancy. Many white middle-class families have part/full-time servants who assist with child care, including the care of infants. The employment of servants to rear children exposes children to adult caregivers of other cultures and allows unskilled women to support their own absent children. Child Rearing and Education Primary context of family is for the socialization of the young. The African extended family system provides a range of adult caregivers and role models for children within the kinship network. African families have shown elasticity as a socializing agency, but repression and poverty have damaged family structure among the poor. Middle-class families of all races socialize their children in the manner of suburban Europeans. Today a unified system of formal Western schooling includes the entire population, but the damage done by the previous educational structure has been difficult to overcome. Schools in black areas have few resources, and educational privilege still exists in the wealthier formerly white suburbs. Expensive private academies and schools maintained by the relatively wealthy Jewish community are among the countrys best. Rates of functional illiteracy remain high. Higher Education There are more than twenty universities and numerous technical training institutes which are of varying quality and many of them are nominated as black ethnic universities under apartheid have continued to experience political disturbances and financial crises. Now racially mixed universities are also experiencing financial difficulties in the face of a declining pool of qualified entrants as well as slow rate of economic growth. RELIGION Religious Beliefs South Africa is a deeply religious country with high rates of participation in religious life. The population is tremendously Christian with only very small Jewish, Muslim, and Hindu minorities. Other important denominations include Roman Catholics, Methodists, Lutherans, Presbyterians, and Anglicans. Indigenous Black African religion centered on veneration of and guidance from the ancestors, belief in various minor spirits, spiritual modes of healing, and seasonal agricultural rites. The drinking of cereal beer and the ritual slaughter of livestock accompanied the many occasions for family and communal ritual feasting such as births, initiation, marriage, and funerals. Religious Practitioners Indigenous African religious practitioners included herbalists and diviners who attended to the spiritual needs and maladies of both individuals and communities. In some cases their clairvoyant powers were employed by chiefs for advice and prophesy. Historically, Christian missionaries and traditional diviners have been enemies, but this has not prevented the dramatic growth of hybrid Afro-Christian churches, religious movements, prophetism, and spiritual healing alongside mainstream Christianity. Other important religions include Judaism, Islam, and Hinduism. For the Afrikaners, the Dutch Reformed Church has provided a spiritual and organizational foundation for their nationalist cultural politics and ideology. Rituals and Holy Places All religions and ethnic sub national groups have founded shrines to their tradition where momentous events have occurred, their leaders are buried, or miracles are believed to have happened. The grave of Sheikh Omar, for example, a seventeenth-century leader of resistance to Dutch rule in the East Indies who was transported to the Cape and became an early leader of the Malay community, is sacred to Cape Muslims. Afrikaners regard the site of the Battle of Blood River (Ncome) in 1838 as sacred because their leader Andries Pretorius made a covenant with their God promising perpetual devotion if victory over the vastly more numerous Zulu army were achieved. The long intergroup conflict over the land itself has led to the sacralization of many sites that are well remembered and frequently visited by a great many South Africans of all backgrounds. Death and the Afterlife In addition to the beliefs in the soul and afterlife of the varying world religions in South Africa, continued belief in and consultation with family ancestors remains strong among Black Africans. People at a Zulu market Zulu is the largest South African language group, with about nine million speakers, but it does not represent a dominant ethnic grouping. Formal communal graveyards, not a feature of pre-colonial African culture, have since become a focus of ancestral veneration and rootedness in the land. Disused graves and ancestral shrines have most recently figured in the land restitution claims of expropriated African communities lacking formal deeds of title to their former homes. THE SIMILARITIES BETWEEN INDIA AND SOUTH AFRICA India and South Africa share history and festivals which reminds of the heritage. They both are richly diverse countries. The people in India and South Africa are majority of dark skin. Indians and South Africans like spicy food. The Poverty rate of South Africa and India is almost the same. Animal life also similar in both the countries, where elephant and monkey are the two most common animas among India and South Africa. Jungles are also there in both the countries with the similar landscape. Indian weather and South African weather is hot. Both Indians and Africans were slave by the outsiders. India and South Africa both are rich by their culture. Both India and South Africa are still developing. India and South Africa has geniuses who know every thing in their field. India has a national holiday on 2nd October for celebrating the great mans birthday is also a significant day in South Africa. Both India and South Africa are seen as the backward places by some of the countries.

societhf Seclusion from Society :: Adventures Huckleberry Huck Finn Essays

Huckleberry Finn – Seclusion from Society Imagine the amount of freedom one feels as they drift down a river voluntarily stranded on a raft. The thought of it is relaxing to the mind, but actually experiencing it for yourself is a whole new happening. The freedom, no worries, no sounds but the noise of the river water rushing and the sounds of boat horns off in the distance. In Mark Twain's novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the author effectively symbolizes the river as a place outside of society. In the novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Twain uses the river as an escape from society for the characters Huck and Jim. Twain is showing examples of his own life through the character Huck. The reason for saying this is that Twain had grown up amongst many rivers in his life time, including "a New York town named Riverdale which is now a part of the Bronx, New York City's northernmost borough, Riverdale was a separate residential community when Mark Twain rented a house there in 1901."(Rasmussen, 391) Twain loved the water so much that he piloted many steamboats on the Mississippi River. The last steamboat on which Twain worked as a pilot was the "Alonzo Child." "The Alonzo Child was a 493-ton side-wheeler, the Child was built in Jeffersonville, Indiana for the Missouri river trade around 1856" (Rasmussen, 8). This is an example of how Twain lived by many rivers and how Twain used the river to get away from society. In Twain's novel the character Boggs shows an excellent example of someone who is lost and uses seclusion as an escape from society. "In chapter twenty-one, Huck is idling in the scruffy village of Bricksville, when Boggs charges in on a horse during his monthly drunk. A red faced man in his in his fifties. Boggs rides about wildly hurling insults and threats proclaiming that he has come to kill Colonel Sherburn."(Rasmussen, 39) This shows that people don't give him as much respect as he would like because when he gets drunk he acts very irresponsible and he is a bad role model. There for Boggs secludes himself to his home to hide his embarrassment.

THE ART OF DELEGATION Essay -- essays research papers

There is a limit to the amount of work that you can do on your own. There is only so much value that you can deliver to your company or organization without the help of other people. If you are successful in your career, at some stage the demands on you will become greater than you are able to cope with on your own. When this happens, you are forced to rely on the help of others, you are forced to delegate. Delegation is a process by which a manager examines the various responsibilities and tasks at hand, and rather than assuming and completing those tasks and responsibilities on his or her own, that manager decides to assign the work to other employees. Effective managers must be willing to entrust a task, power or responsibility to another person. Theodore Roosevelt was quoted as having said, "The best executive is the one who has sense enough to pick good men to do what he wants done, and self-restraint enough to keep from meddling with them while they do it." Delegation is a skill that incorporates analysis, planning, awareness and self-confidence. It requires a manager that is able to incorporate the four functions of management: planning, organizing, leading, and controlling. Planning involves formulating a systematic process for delegating tasks to other employees. Organizing involves arranging the resources your employees may need in order to accomplish the delegated task. Leading involves the guiding, leading, and overseeing of employees in order to achieve the task. Controlling involves verifying that the employee’s performance matches the action plan. Delegation involves passing responsibility for completion of work to other people. The ideal position to reach as a manager is one where your staff carries out all the routine activities of your organization. This leaves time for planning, thinking, and improving the efficiency of what you are doing as a manager. Ultimately, delegation involves getting the help you need, when you need it by the staff member most qualified to assist with the task at hand. In the Arkansas Governor’s office, where I currently work, delegation is a colossal part of each work day. The Governor cannot possibly address all the problems and issues relating to the state of Arkansas personally; therefore, he has a chief of staff who is responsible for the proper delegation of tasks to other staff members. The chief ... ...gradually. Each task delegated should have enough complexity to stretch that member of staff - but only a little. When you delegate a job, it does not have to be done as well as you could do it (given time), but only as well as necessary: never judge the outcome by what you expect you would do (it is difficult to be objective about that), but rather by fitness for purpose. You want to delegate as much as possible to develop your staff to be as good as you are now. Tasks in which you have experience are the easiest for you to explain to others and so to train them to take over. You thus use your experience to ensure that the task is done well, rather than to actually perform the task yourself. In this way you gain time for your other duties and someone else becomes as good as your once were (increasing the strength of the group). By delegating, a manager exhibits trust in his or her employees by giving other people's ideas a chance. A subordinate's decision doesn't have to be exac tly what yours might have been. So welcome and reward ingenuity. Reference Roosevelt, Theodore. Leadership Quotes. Retrieved October 6, 2004 from http://www.pittencrieff-glen.com/leadership_quotes.htm

Ernest Hemingway and Hollywood Essay example -- Biography Biographies

Hemingway and Hollywood "I try, when I'm writing a screenplay from somebody's original work, to be as faithful to it as I can be, within the limitations of a screenplay and remembering that the novel medium and the screen medium are entirely different" -Screenwriter, Casey Robinson, (Laurence 12). Hollywood attempted twice, but it still could not produce a film adaptation of A Farewell to Arms that Hemingway considered to do literary justice to his classic novel. The first effort was in 1932 when Paramount producer Frank Borzage used ridiculous publicity stunts to lure audiences, such as sending letters to women stamped REJECTED BY CENSORS. They read: Dear Madam: War-time! Suppose you were alone in a dark, drab, Swiss hotel room! In a few weeks you were to become a mother-and the man you loved was miles away-on the shell-torn Italian front. You write letter after letter to him-twenty one of them-and they are all returned stamped REJECTED BY CENSOR: This is just one of the dramatic situations in Ernest Hemingway's A Farewell to Arms, which comes to the _____ Theater on ___ (date). As you read in the novel, you'll see A Farewell to Arms on the screen! (Laurence 42-3). This was just one of the many shameless ploys Hollywood used over the years to exploit the celebrity status of the revered author; however "the effectiveness of such a publicity piece depended on the recipient's not having read the book-else they would recognize that no such situation exists in the novel" (43). Studios knew what they had to do get the ratings they sought; it was gratifying for the public "to believe that going to a movie was as good as reading a book" (43). By the time devoted Hemingway readers saw the film ... ... Arms he once said "(they did not ) also get the right to my sanction of the picture version" (Laurence 44). Despite the sum of money he made, Hemingway suggested "that the best way for a writer to deal with Hollywood was to meet the producers at the California state line: 'You throw them your book, they throw you the money. Then you jump into your car and drive like hell back the way you came" (Oliver "A Hemingway Retrospective") Works Cited: Laurence, Frank. Hemingway and the Movies. Jackson: University Press, 1981. Oliver, Charles ed. A Moving Picture Feast: The Filmgoers Hemingway. New York: Praeger 1989. Oliver, Charles. "A Hemingway Retrospective: Hemingway and Hollywood." http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/books/1999/hemingway/stories/hollywood/ http://mason-west.com/Hemingway/films.php: Films based on the works of Ernest Hemingway. Ernest Hemingway and Hollywood Essay example -- Biography Biographies Hemingway and Hollywood "I try, when I'm writing a screenplay from somebody's original work, to be as faithful to it as I can be, within the limitations of a screenplay and remembering that the novel medium and the screen medium are entirely different" -Screenwriter, Casey Robinson, (Laurence 12). Hollywood attempted twice, but it still could not produce a film adaptation of A Farewell to Arms that Hemingway considered to do literary justice to his classic novel. The first effort was in 1932 when Paramount producer Frank Borzage used ridiculous publicity stunts to lure audiences, such as sending letters to women stamped REJECTED BY CENSORS. They read: Dear Madam: War-time! Suppose you were alone in a dark, drab, Swiss hotel room! In a few weeks you were to become a mother-and the man you loved was miles away-on the shell-torn Italian front. You write letter after letter to him-twenty one of them-and they are all returned stamped REJECTED BY CENSOR: This is just one of the dramatic situations in Ernest Hemingway's A Farewell to Arms, which comes to the _____ Theater on ___ (date). As you read in the novel, you'll see A Farewell to Arms on the screen! (Laurence 42-3). This was just one of the many shameless ploys Hollywood used over the years to exploit the celebrity status of the revered author; however "the effectiveness of such a publicity piece depended on the recipient's not having read the book-else they would recognize that no such situation exists in the novel" (43). Studios knew what they had to do get the ratings they sought; it was gratifying for the public "to believe that going to a movie was as good as reading a book" (43). By the time devoted Hemingway readers saw the film ... ... Arms he once said "(they did not ) also get the right to my sanction of the picture version" (Laurence 44). Despite the sum of money he made, Hemingway suggested "that the best way for a writer to deal with Hollywood was to meet the producers at the California state line: 'You throw them your book, they throw you the money. Then you jump into your car and drive like hell back the way you came" (Oliver "A Hemingway Retrospective") Works Cited: Laurence, Frank. Hemingway and the Movies. Jackson: University Press, 1981. Oliver, Charles ed. A Moving Picture Feast: The Filmgoers Hemingway. New York: Praeger 1989. Oliver, Charles. "A Hemingway Retrospective: Hemingway and Hollywood." http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/books/1999/hemingway/stories/hollywood/ http://mason-west.com/Hemingway/films.php: Films based on the works of Ernest Hemingway.

Plastic Money Essay

The study assesses the impact of outsourcing on organisational performance and it is done in Century Bottling Company Limited. It focuses on the benefits and challenges companies face in outsourcing their non-core activities. The study uses the objective of assessing the impact of outsourcing on organisational performance to get data presented in the findings. These show that companies benefit from outsourcing though they face some challenges in their bid to outsource their non-core activities to outside providers. Organisations always prefer letting specialists in different fields accomplish certain tasks in their companies and this means that organisations can benefit from outsourcing as shown in the Literature Review The Data was collected and then analysed to fit the purpose of the study though with several limitations ranging from financial constraints to time constraints. see more:types of plastic money The findings show that companies outsource to access special expertise, speed up delivery of services, reduce costs and get  enough time to concentrate on their core activities. In the long run companies have benefited from outsourcing in several ways like reduction in costs and company staff getting enough time to concentrate on their core activities to promote the company`s competitiveness in the market. In conclusion, companies should outsource some of their services so as to reduce costs and concentrate on core activities. This therefore shows how important outsourcing is and other companies should adopt it just like Century Bottling Company has done and get good quality services from experts as well as more time for core activities. CHAPTER ONE 1.0 INRODUCTION. This chapter looks at the background, problem statement, objective, research questions and significance of the study. 1.1Background The rationale to outsource was rooted in the cost constraints facing asset managers as they struggled to survive the bear market. Traditionally, the outsourcing market focused on infrastructure, data operation and cost takeout as primary drivers but in addition enterprises are looking at outsourcing business areas to achieve greater flexibility and gain greater ability to respond easily as outsourcing is evolving into a strategic tool for change. Lysons 2000, says outsourcing developed as a reaction to the over diversification that took place in the 1970’s and early 1980’s and has led many enterprises to review their core and concentrate on them. In Uganda, business processes that were kept inside the firm such as cleaning and transport are increasingly being outsourced to places where costs are cheaper and back-off operations can be provided like in Century Bottling Company Limited, cleaning, security and part of transport have been outsourced to outside providers. Century Bottling Company Limited located at Namanve and it deals in production of soft drinks like sodas in different brand names say, Sprite, Coke, Fanta, Novida, Stoney, Datsan and Minute maid among others. It has a range of activities some of which are core 1  and not outsourced. Those that are considered non-core are outsourced to different service providers. It gets a list of service providers, looks at their terms, kind and quality of services provided and the costs involved. It is from this list that it selects the most favourable to outsource to. For instance, Century Bottling Company outsources activities like part of its transport is given private vendors who have trucks in good mechanical conditions, negotiate the price and terms of service. These pick the products from the company premises and deliver them to the agreed destinations like depots and various customers. Cleaning is also done by A&A for all departments in the company and this gives the employees a good working environment and more time to perform their duties. However, despite outsourcing these activities are still having weaknesses like late deliveries due car mechanical breakdowns and unsatisfactory cleaning which is at times due to personal character of the cleaners and poor supervision. Looking at outsourcing as a way of reducing on the work load of the company staff and giving core activities more time for companies to perform to their best, Century Bottling Company also outsources its non-core activities so as to concentrate on the core activities to improve its performance in important areas like the production department since the quality of a company’s products is very crucial for its performance in the market. In its bid to outsource, Century Bottling Company has not forgotten what outsourcing is all about. This gives a relationship between what outsourcing is and what Century Bottling Company is doing. 1.2 Problem statement Outsourcing is a very crucial function in an organisation because it directly affects the firm’s operational activities. Following the identified problems such as late delivery, poor cleaning, high transportation costs in Century Bottling Company, steps have been taken to solve the problem by bringing trusted and better qualified people to provide the services. Despite the steps taken, the contribution of outsourcing to organisational performance is still low. Therefore, the study is to establish the impact of outsourcing on organisational performance with a  case study of Century Bottling Company. 1.3 Objective of the study. The study aims at assessing the impact of outsourcing on organisational performance. 1.4 Research questions (i) Which activities are out sourced and which are not? (ii) How is outsourcing beneficial to an organisation? (iii)What are the challenges encountered in carrying out outsourcing? 1.5 Scope of the study The study focuses on the procurement department of Century Bottling Company Limited. It establishes the impact of outsourcing on organisational performance and the study covers the procurement staff, user department and providers of different services. The study looks at the outsourced activities, benefits of outsourcing and the challenges in connection with the organisational performance. 1.6 Significance of the study (i) The study will help business managers to minimise losses through minimising costs and creating value for money. (ii) The research CHAPTER TWO LITERATURE REVIEW. 2.0 Introduction This chapter looks at a review of issues and factors that have been explored and studied in the existing literature on outsourcing and examine the existing gaps. 2.1 The concept of outsourcing. Baily, 1998, many organisations today are turning to external procurement, where we even find that functions such as transport, accounts, computer services, even purchasing can be outsourced. This gives the company employees time to perform their duties to the company’s satisfaction and this improves the organisational performance which is every company’s objective to achieve competitive advantage. Eyaa, 2006, defined outsourcing as a decision by firms to have an external supplier to take over an activity that would have otherwise been performed in-house by organisation employees. Usually organisations look for the best service providers to whom to outsource their  work, this gives them a chance to get their work done by experts which means good quality work leading to a good company name. Lysons and Gillingham, 2003, states that outsourcing is the strategic use of resources to perform activities traditionally handled by internal staff and their resources. It is a management strategy by which an organisation outsources major non-core functions to specialised and efficient service providers to help the organisations perform best where it is best capable. Axelsson and Wynstra, 2000 defines outsourcing as a decision and subsequent transfer process by which activities that constitute a function that earlier have been carried out by a company are instead purchased from an external supplier. Usually companies that provide outsourced services choose what they can do better, this means training their workers to perform to the best of the clients expectations. This means specialisation with all its benefits to organisations. Different Authors like, Bendor, Bona and Lysons suggest that the following activities should not be outsourced or if done it should be done with great management consideration; management of strategic planning, management of finance, management of consultancy, control of supplies Quality and environmental management. The ranges of services that are outsourced are timeless and these include; Waste disposal, research and development, transmission service, estate management, customer brokage, catering, Asset repair and control library and cleaning. Although various organisations have tried to look at what the different Authors have written and put it in consideration in their bid to outsource, they have not fully met their intentions like cost reduction, efficient and effective service provision from the service providers to whom they outsource their activities. This is partly due to the ever increasing prices of products which also mean increase in prices of services being outsourced. 2.2 Cost reductions. Sabiti, 2003, says that, the organisation that outsources is cutting administration cost of maintaining or doing the activity in house, the overriding factor in outsourcing decision is cost cutting, but where as this may make business sense in the beginning, in some cases it 6  could bring complications and put the whole exercise at a high risk if all concerns are not adequately assessed. This means that the outsourcing organisation should not only look at the costs being low but also consider the outcomes of process of outsourcing at the end of everything to the organisation. Manzi, 2004, states that the most common economic factor that influences the decision is the need to reduce costs. Where the benefits analysis has been carried out and has been established that it is most economic to outsource rather than continue to operate a given function looks forward to making profits in business. Kulumba, 2005, states that, outsourcing is a popular phenomenon with managers because they believe that outsourcing vendors are inherently more efficient due to economies of scale. The outsourcing organisation benefits from getting the services from the provider at a reduced cost since it is provided on a large scale and usually for a reasonable time if it is good work. Antonuccci 1998, advised that, if the vendor is efficient than the prospective client, organisations could reduce its own costs through function consideration and resource optimization. Due to experience in the field and knowledgeable experts, it leads to proper and efficient use of resources yet with good quality work. 2.3 Key factors necessary for outsourcing 2.3.1Competence Bourassa 1988, says that organisations should focus on core activities and leave the noncore activities to outside providers who have the skills to do them better. The providers who have all the required competence, skills, and service providers should be of desired level to be able to meet the company requirement. K Farrington, 2006, also shows how important competence is, it is the core activities of the company that tell or manifest the performance of the organisation. These activities need much more time so as to come out at their best and give the company competitive advantage over others. This can be achieved through outsourcing non-core activities and concentrate on its core competence. 2.3.2 Management support Peter Jeans 2008, suggests that when it comes to outsourcing, it should be supported by all departments of the organisation so as to get the best of the benefits of outsourcing in the  organisation. To achieve success, we always have to stand together to share ideas for better organisational performance. Garry Petty, says that any activity in the company done without management consent and support is a manifestation of failure in that activity. This shows how much important management support and involvement is in all company activities outsourcing inclusive. 2.4 Drivers of outsourcing 2.4.1 Quality actual capacity Lysons and Gillingham 2006, state that, it is temporarily insufficient to comply with demand; the quality motive can be subdivided into three aspects, that is to say; Increased quality demand, shortage of qualified personnel and outsourcing as a transitional period. Therefore companies have various reasons for outsourcing their non-core activitie s. 2.4.2 Finance Frankwood and Sangster, according to them, the company has a limited investment budget. The funds must be used for investments in the core activities which are long term decisions and leave non-core activities to outside providers to do them on behalf of the organisation. 2.4.3 Core business Erick Bartz, shows that, Core business is a primary activity that enables an organisation to generate revenues to concentrate on core business activities. All subsequent activities are supportive and should be outsourced to give enough time to the core activities. 2.4.4 Benefits of outsourcing Outsourcing is beneficial in the following ways; 2.6.1 Cost saving This is the lowering of the overall cost of the service to the business. This involves the score defining quality levels, repulsing, renegotiations, cost restructuring, access to lower cost economies through off showing cold labour arbitrage 2.6.2 Specialisation Lysons and Gillingham, say that, Outsourcing allows an organisation to concentrate on areas of business that derive competitive advantage and outsource non core activities to specialist with better skills and expertise. 2.6.3 Access to innovation There are opportunities to have access to capabilities of suppliers into the products and services of the customer organisation rather than attempt to replicate the capabilities of a supply network (www.pwc.com) 9 2.6 Challenges of outsourcing Like any restructuring exercise and management decision making in business, there are risks associated with outsourcing that procurement managers or top management need to consider carefully (Procurement News December,17th,23rd 2003) and these may be; The possibility of over depending on or leveraged by suppliers which make switching costs to other suppliers in future prohibitively expensive. Over a long time, a supplier of outsourced service may become complacent or change ownership and also a risk of a fall in employ morale for fear of being made redundant, confidentiality links of company matters and in some instances loss of intellectual property rights. Eyaa, 2006, says that, high prices being imposed on suppliers due to increasing trends in outsourcing, the demand for suppliers is so high and has pushed the rates being charged by the suppliers to be high. This later increases the costs yet outsourcing is all about helping firms cut costs. Too much expectancy from suppliers as Company employees tend to expect too much from supplier firms as far as service provision is concerned because they are specialists yet things can go wrong once in awhile. Such issues should not be ignored. Manzi, 2005, according to him, there is a possibility that vital company information may be at a risk of being linked to the company’s competitors which is dangerous since some suppliers may be spies to the company. Conclusion. Organisations always want to let specialists in a particular area accomplish a certain task for them. This implies that business can benefit from the practice of outsourcing. 10 Outsourcing is growing at an exponential rate and could deliver desired benefits if proper choices are made at the inception of the arrangement. When companies choose to outsource, they should give themselves room to monitor performance, renegotiation, or terminate the arrangement with the service providers. The outsourcing client must also ensure that their employees are informed about the progress of discussions regarding outsourcing their department and properly treated when the arrangements come into effect. CHAPTER THREE METHODOLOGY 3.0 Introduction This chapter provides an over view of the methods used to collect and process data. It gives the research design the sample selection methods, size, and data processing. 3.1 Research Design The study uses both qualitative and descriptive study designs. Both methods are used to help carry out self report data collection from the interested sample and allowing a thorough and easy analysis of the respondents’ opinion. Both survey designs adequately lead to collection of reliable information by description of the impact of outsourcing on organisational performance in the study area. 3.2 Data Collection Methods Data is collected from interviews conducted in Century Bottling Company as well as responses from the questionnaires. Some of it is from secondary sources such as magazines, text books, internet and Newspapers and this is quoted where necessary and used to draw deductions as per the study. 3.3 Data processing and analysis The information is assessed, edited to eliminate the errors, the data is then coded and grouped according to the study to ease analysis, it is then analysed using SPSS. The findings are interpreted in light of the research objective and reviewed in order to attach meaning to the Data collected. 3.4 Limitations of the study i. Financial constraints Relatively a lot of money is required in this study. This involves photocopying of articles, making phone calls, word processing, binding, transport. These increase the cost of the study. ii. Language barrier Questionnaires written in English are only limited to respondents who only know English. This is quite a problem while extracting information from the illiterate respondents. iii. Lack of adequate cooperation Some respondents are busy and others suspicious of the study thereby not willing to fully cooperate. Officials in the procurement department are busy attending to their normal schedules and meetings and had no time to answer some of the questions. This affected the quality and quantity of data collection. iv. There is a threat of time limit and deadlines that need attention considering the fact that the study is carried out alongside other activities like course works, lectures and tests as well. CHAPTER FOUR PRESENTATION, INTERPRETATION AND DISCUSSION OF THE FINDINGS 4.0 Introduction. This chapter presents findings from literature review, primary data from the interview and questionnaires filled by Century Bottling Company staff. The study is guided by the objective of assessing the impact of outsourcing on organisational performance. 4.1 Relevance of outsourcing. To Century Bottling Company, outsourcing is relevant in different ways, say, it easies the working process, it is cost saving and provides more time to the employees to concentrate on the core activities. This helps the company to keep in business with competitors in the industry as lack of concentration may have a very big impact on the company’s performance and customers may be taken. Century Bottling Company outsources its non core activities leaving the core activities to their staff. In Century Bottling Company, all core activities such as the, production of all their products, the cooler department, the ware house, managerial staff recruitment, among others have not been outsourced for reasons like protecting the quality of the company’s product, protect company secrets and records. However, non core activities have been outsourced to outside providers who have more expertise and these include the following; Medical services to staff are provided by International Medical Centre which renders medical services to the staff whenever they need it. Cleaning services in all departments of the company is done by A&A cleaning services Motor vehicle repair and servicing is done by City Tyres Company Limited to the company cars. Security services are provided by Saraceen security services limited. Part of the transport of the company’s products is done by individuals with trucks that are in conditions good enough to deliver company products to the various destinations. Catering services are  provided by Sunset Hotel where staff is able to get their meals in time and get back to their duties in time. The other findings indicate that outsourcing is a manifestation of hurdles that are associated with the functionality of internal departments. This is because some senior organisation executives have a feeling that there is no return on expenditure, in sourcing does not meet the needs of the business and forecasted games in productivity that are used to justify that never materializes. As a result of this perception, top executives find outsourcing more relevant as a means of cost saving and focusing on their core business activities. 4.2 Nature of organisational performance Century Bottling Company considers outsourcing of non core activities as the best option. It looks at identifying potential providers, establishing both short term and long term relationship with the service providers without compromising the objectives of the organisation as a way of having good organisational performance through outsourcing. 15 This is because the services that have been outsourced are also important to the organisation as well as its performance in the long run. 4.3 Whether outsourcing improves organisational performance It is seen that the impact of outsourcing on the performance of an organization depends on which stake holder is making the analysis. In Century Bottling Company, many of the non core activities are outsourced in order to give the organisation ample time to concentrate on core activities such as production and the cooler department. Looking at the way activities were done before outsourcing, for instance, in the transport department, it was at times hard to deliver company products to the customers in time more especially the ones in the remote areas, but with the idea of outsourcing part of transportation to capable individuals, such customers have been catered for as they are now able to get what they need in time. This promotes customer loyalty and creates a good company image leading to competitive advantage. This indicates an improvement in organisational performance through the transport department. Source: primary data. Table 1 above indicates that, majority of the people are degree holders. This implies that the company is in position of making good decisions about outsourcing. 4.4 Conclusion Century Bottling Company carries out outsourcing to gain access to special expertise, to speed up delivery of services, reduce costs, focus on core activities and improve technology among others. Since the inception of the concept of outsourcing, organisations find outsourcing as the preferred method of procuring non core services and enjoy benefits of outsourcing by concentrating on core activities thus improved management performance CHAPTER FIVE SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION 5.0 Introduction. This chapter looks at the summary of the findings, conclusions and recommendations drawn from the study. 5.1 Summary Basing on the case study of Century Bottling Company and other literature by various authors, it is believed that organisations outsource services that are noncore to the organisation. It is established that outsourcing has a long term as well as short term bearing on the organisation. The study establishes why organizations outsource many of their non core activities. This is seen by analyzing and discussing the literature review and the interview conducted in Century Bottling Company 5.2 Conclusions Basing on the study above, it is clear that outsourcing positively increases on the performance of organisations, that is to say, it reduces on costs, increase access to new technology, new expertise, core competence concentration, speed up delivery and increase revenue / profits. Therefore, the rate of organisational performance as a result of outsourcing is high in both short and long- term and many business executives are committed to attach their success to the outsourcing process. In the previous chapter, we find that to a greater extent, outsourcing is very relevant Century Bottling Company, however, it is not in order to judge outsourcing as trouble free since it is associated with some calamitous results and firms need time to apply clear outsourcing methodolo gies in order to realize its full usefulness. 5.3 Recommendations Organisations should outsource their noncore business to outside providers that can bring great competitiveness. This is because outsourcing gives company staff more time to concentrate on core competences to produce better quality products and outcompete their competitors in the market hence a competitive advantage. Organisations should establish a partnership with the service providers to establish tools to measure the performance where organisational requirements should be matched with the implementation process through identifying new skills, abilities and knowledge for each project, thus, encourage organisations to obtain front-edge outsourcing. The choices are many for service outsourcing as well as their providers, therefore, this puts organisation on attention to strategically assess their partners. Organisations should not only consider cost reduction and base on low prices and big players to fill their requirements, but should also emphasize the type of relationship and the trend of behaviour between the outsourcing organization and the service providers. Organisations should come up with clear acknowledgement on whether the provider will be able to respond reasonably to the expectations and frequent changes in business and technology requirements to ensure continuity in service provision. For organisations to measure outsourcing effectiveness as regards performance, they should put in place a standard format of measuring performance such as performance evaluation, performance ratios and performance appraisal such that the success from outsourcing g management point of view is the same as what clients deem to be success. 5.4 Areas for further research Opportunities for further research still exist in this area. The study examines outsourcing and its impact on the performance of

Behavior Description Interview Essay

You have invested the time of several experienced employees and a good deal of expense to interview a number of promising entry-level accountants. However, you wonder if your interviewing techniques are really helping you hire the job candidates that will be superior performers and help your organization remain profitable. Your concerns may be justified if you are using a typical interviewing strategy in which there is no standard set of questions or a strategy in which interview questions do not explicitly focus on the past behavior of the applicant. Yet, there is an alternative. Studies in human-resource management suggest that behavior description interviewing may help you identify better performers from the rest of the applicants PRINCIPLES OF THE BEHAVIOR DESCRIPTION INTERVIEW The first principle of the Behavior Description (BD) interview is interviewers standardize or structure the interview. The most important aspect of standardization is asking applicants the same or highly Similar questions. This allows all applicants to have a chance to provide information about certain job-related concerns and allows interviewers to compare similar types of information. The alternative of each interviewer asking their own questions will have your organization comparing apples and oranges when trying to make hiring decisions. Often this leads to lower quality hiring decisions. An organization may also seek to standardize the location of the interview, the individual who conducts the interview, etc. Any efforts to ensure similar treatment of applicants should be encouraged. An additional benefit of standardizing interview questions is that the interview is more defensible in court. In the past, organizations that had standardized questions won employment discrimination lawsuits more often than those without standardized questions. The second principle of BD interviewing is to explicitly focus on past behavior. BD enthusiasts believe that past behavior is the best predictor of future behavior. They also believe more recent behavior is a better predictor of future behavior than older behavior and that longstanding trends are better predictors of behavior than isolated incidents. The belief in the effectiveness of using past behavior to predict future behavior leads BD interviewers to ask certain questions. These questions use a superlative adjective (e.g. most, least, toughest, etc.) to focus the applicant on one particular incident of behavior. For example, accounting firms need staff members who are willing to address both internal and client problems. To gather relevant information about an applicant, a BD interviewer might ask the applicant to â€Å"tell me about the last time a new idea of yours helped an organization or group work better.† The interviewer might also be ready with follow-up questions such as â€Å"how did you develop this idea,† â€Å"how did you convince your supervisor or client to adopt it,† and â€Å"how did it help the organi zation?† The follow-up questions may be answered as the applicant discusses a particular situation, but their presence alerts the interviewer that this information is important. In another instance, accounting professionals are often called upon to make presentations to groups such as audit committees or boards of directors. Accordingly, an interviewer might ask a job candidate to â€Å"tell me about the most difficult presentation you have ever had to make to a group of five or more people.† Probes might include â€Å"what was the presentation about,† â€Å"how did you prepare for it,† and â€Å"was the presentation evaluated or graded?† In each case, the BD approach to interviewing should yield a large amount of high quality information to the interviewer and can help the somewhat anxious applicant have a particular incident to discuss. The BD approach to interviewing can be strongly contrasted with more typical interviewing strategies. First, typical strategies suggest interviewers â€Å"let candidates take the interview where they want to,† â€Å"go with the flow,† or let the interviewee talk about any subject they desire so that you can best assess their personality. While this advice is encountered frequently, it is highly inaccurate. Studies contrasting BD interviewing to this approach show that the BD interview does a much better job of predicting job performance. In addition, studies that statistically combine the results of 10,000+ interviews from many smaller studies strongly suggest that various styles of interviews that standardize questions or other aspects of the interview work much better than the nonstandardized interview styles. Second, BD interviewing seeks to avoid making judgments of applicants’ personalities. Assessing personality characteristics in a 345 minute interview would be highly difficult for a psychologist. As a result, many professionals rely on well established tests to measure personality–they are cheaper to use and much more accurate. Additionally, many personality characteristics do not have a history of predicting job success. Currently, many human resource management professionals believe intelligence and dependability do differentiate higher performers from lower performers. Extroversion, considered by many to be a positive trait for auditing personnel, also differentiates higher versus lower performers in some situations. Other traits should be viewed with caution until they clearly are shown to relate to job performance. Care should also be taken in trying to match the personality type of an applicant to the personality of the office. While it is extremely difficult to measure either of the above, it is also potentially hazardous. The solution to this problem is to avoid using most personality traits and ask applicants about past behavior that may be similar to behavior required on the job. Finally, the BD interviewer tries to avoid hypothetical and self evaluative questions. In most cases, there is little evidence to suggest that most hypothetical questions actually distinguish between better and poorer performing individuals. This may be due to the difficulty of injecting enough â€Å"reality† in the situation to make it a good predictor of job success. Self-evaluative questions such as â€Å"describe yourself† or â€Å"are you computer literate† also have no history of predicting job performance. In addition, they ask the applicant to do your job for you. You should decide how competent applicants are in a particular area since you are worried about their contribution to your organization. Applicants’ answers are influenced to a large degree by their desire to land a job. BD interviews differ from situational interviews. Recent literature has confused the two approaches. While the BD interview focuses on past applicant behavior, the situational interview asks applicants how they would behave in future situations (extensive research is used to create real situations). The situational interview can also require different types of rating scales to be used at the end of the interview. While there are several differences between BD interviewing, situational interviewing, and typical interviews, there are also similarities. BD interviewers also believe it is important to break the ice with applicants, that they should ask for an applicant’s preferred name, that they should take notes, and they should close the interview in a professional manner. These guidelines are important in any style of interview. STEPS TO CONSTRUCTING A BD INTERVIEW Three steps should be used to develop a BD interview. They are illustrated in the following hypothetical example involving the hiring of entry-level accountants in a CPA . Interviewers need to analyze the job and determine the key results areas. Key results areas are the major tasks or behaviors that an entry-level accountant must be able to accomplish. Key results areas may be defined by many different strategies including a discussion among recruiters, managers, and partners. Key results areas might include: 1. Communicate with other individuals-a. In verbal and written forms with other accountants including supervisors and peers; b. In verbal and written forms with clients; 2. Diagnoses organizational problems; 3. Recommend solutions to organizational problems; and 4. Use common computer software (e.g., spreadsheet programs, data retrieval software, on-line services, or tax-preparation packages). The above behaviors or tasks should be examined to determine the knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) that will enable them to be accomplished. Thus, an entry-level accountant should have: 1. Written communication skills to interact through letters and reports to clients and other accountants; 2. Verbal communication skills to communicate with clients and other accountants (not necessarily including making presentations to large groups); 3. Ability to diagnose problems in complex situations; 4. Ability to solve problems individually and in groups; 5. Ability to attend to large amounts of detail; 6. Ability to manage multiple tasks; 7. Knowledge of common software programs; The KSAs required lead to a selection plan that involves a series of BD questions. In this example it is assumed that there will be two interviews: a recruiting interview at the school and an invitation to the firm’s office. To evaluate the candidate’s KSAs the following questions and probes might be used. 1 Written communication skills a. Ask for a sample of writing from a professional or educational setting before the second interview. 2. Verbal communication skills: a. Watch for verbal communication skills throughout each interview and rate them at the end of the first and second interviews. 3. Ability to diagnose problems in complex situations: a. Tell me about the last time you recognized a problem in an organization in which you were involved. * How did you recognize the problem? * How did you study the problem? * How did you determine a solution to the problem? b. Tell me about a time in the last year in which you were gathering information from a person who was being uncoopeative. * What was the situation? * Why were they being uncooperative? * How did you feel? * How did you get the information you needed? * What was the result in this situation? 4. Ability to solve problems individually and in groups/teams: a. What was the most successful solution that you and a group of other individuals developed to a particular problem? * What was the problem? * What was your role? * What was the result of your solution? b. What is the toughest problem that you as an individual have solved in an educational or work setting? * What was the problem? * What was the result of your solution? 5. Ability to attend to large amounts of detail: a. Tell me about the last time when you had to gather large amounts of information to complete a project. *What was the project? *How did you organize the details? * What was the end result? * Did anyone assign you a grade for the project? b. Which class of yours required the most attention to detail. Please tell me how you dealt with the demands of the class. * How did it require attention to detail? * What was your strategy to deal with the detail? *What was the result? 6. Ability to manager multiple tasks: a. Tell me about how you managed your school work and extracircular activities during your busiest semester. * What made the semester so busy? * Did you have any priorities? * Where there any strategies that helped you cope? * How did the semester turn out (in terms of grades, activities, etc.)? b. Tell me about the last time you had to â€Å"juggle† several different responsibililties when you held a job. * What were the responsibilities? * Did you have any priorities? * Where there any strategies that helped you cope? 7. Knowledge of computer software programs: a. Please tell us about the most involved computer project that you have been involved with in school or in an organization. * What software was involved? * What was your role? * What was the result or grade? 4. Please tell us about the last time you learned a new piece of software. * What did it help you accomplish? * How did you learn it? * Did you enjoy the experience? c. Please tell us about any time that you used a spreadsheet program such as Lotus 1-2-3, Quattro Pro, or Excel. * Was individually or a group? *What did you need to accomplish? * What was the result or grade? Once the questions are developed, recruiters should organize the questions and probes into some logical order on an interview form. The form may provide reminders to greet the applicant warmly and any other reminders desired by the recruiters. It should definitely leave enough room for notes about the answer to each question. These notes can be extremely helpful when recruiters are trying to remember the remarks of each person recently interviewed. We recommend that recruiters practice with the new interviewing form. Recruiters may pair off and take turns playing the interviewer and the applicant, or they may wish to enlist a student to go through an interview. The trial interviews could be recorded on a video camera. The feedback from the video playback is often a very valuable learning experience. Lastly, an interviewer evaluation report should be designed to record ratings for each candidate. The process is relatively simple once the knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) required by the job have been listed. We suggest that recruiters list all the KSAs down one side of the paper as seen in Figure 1. (Figure omitted) This will allow a systematic consideration of each applicant against job requirements. Next, recruiters should choose a rating scale. We have – chosen a five-point scale anchored by â€Å"very little† of the KSA on one end of the scale and ‘a great amount† on the other end of the scale Scales should have from five to seven points and anchors meaningful to the recruiters. A place for notes or comments and a set of simple instructions is also recommended. Finally, there should be a place for an overall evaluation of the candidate. There are several different methods which can be used to generate an overall evaluation score. A recruiter can make an overall evaluation of the candidate on the same scale used for each KSA. Unfortunately, past research has suggested that this method is not very reliable. Another option is presented in the figure on page 77. In this case the recruiters add their ratings to form a final evaluation. This approach is relatively simple and often yields final recommendations quite similar to more complex methods. Furthermore, individual KSA’s can be weighted differently. In this case, each KSA evaluation score could be multiplied by its weight. All scores would be summed to obtain an overall score For example, assume that the first four KSA’s in the figure were assigned weights of .2 and the last three KSA’s weights of .1. A candidate might be given a rating of 5 on the first two KSA’s and ratings of 4 on the other KSA’s. The candidate’s overall evaluation score would equal 4.8 (5 x .2 + 5 x 2+ 4 x .2 + 4 x 2 + 4 x .1+ 4 x .1+ 4 x .1). Either of the last two approaches is recommended. The authors would like to thank Paul Osting (Vice-Chairman, Human Resources, Ernst & Young, New York, NY), J. Breck Boynton (Director of Human Resources, Elliot, Davis, & Company, Greensville, SC) and Patricia G. Roth (Clemson University) for their comments and suggestions.