Please answers the questions individually

? 1. You're a senior manager at a growing business and you're ready to add employees. Your HR manager has recommended a temp-to-perm policy. You know the advantages of this approach, but what might be some of the disadvantages?
? 2. Assume that you're a prospective job seeker (which you may very well be). What do you personally see as the advantages and disadvantages of taking a temp-to-perm position? Under what circumstances are you most likely to take a temp-to-perm position?
? 3. What sort of challenges are likely to confront a manager who supervises a mix of temporary and permanent employees? In what ways might these challenges differ if the temporary workers have been hired on a temp-to-perm basis rather than on a strictly temporary basis?

Pringly Division

A meeting of senior managers at the Pringly Division has been called to discuss the pricing strategy for a new product. Part of the discussion will focus on estimating sales for the new product. Over the past years, a number of new products have failed to meet their sales targets. It appears that the company?s profit for the year will be lower than budget and the main reason for this is the disappointing sales of new products.

A new technique for estimating the probability of achieving target sales and profits will be discussed. This requires managers to estimate demand for the new product and assign probabilities. A range, rather than only one goal will be established.

The first strategy is to set a selling price of $170 with annual fixed costs at $20,000,000. A number of managers are in favor of this strategy, as they believe it is important to reduce costs.

The second strategy is to increase spending on advertising and promotions and set a selling price of $200. With the higher selling price the annual fixed costs would increase to $25,000,000. The marketing department are adamant that increased emphasis on advertising and promotions is essential.

The following probability distributions have been agreed with the managers after consultation with all departments and is the same for both selling prices.

Estimated demand (units)
Estimated probability (units)

150,000
0.25

180,000
0.5

200,000
0.25


Additional information:

The estimate or variable cost per unit is $30.
The probability of the new product achieving break-even is very important. A profit greater than $4,000,000 is expected.
Required:


Compute break-even at each level.
Is the company likely to achieve its desired target profit of $4,000,000 or more? Support your discussion with financial analysis.
Should the company go ahead with the new product?
Would this type of analysis be useful to a large company with a wide range of products?
ROI (return on investment) and residual income are two other methods that can helpful for this type of decisions. Could they be applied in this situation? Support your answer with financial analysis.
HINT: Don't forget to use the variable costing approach for your analysis.

Take on the role of a senior manager in a healthcare organization (use an Eldercare organization). Prepare a 4 full- page paper in which you address the following:

Describe the role of a healthcare administrator in the setting that you selected

1. Describe the types of processes that would need to be managed in the organization you selected for exploration.

2. Discuss the role of communication in the organization you selected and the role of the healthcare manager in coordinating organizational activities

3. Describe at least 3 different jobs that would need to be filled in the organization and describe how you would divide work processes. Discuss the advantages of departmentalization.

Writing expectations:

use a minimum of 3-4 credible (scholarly) sources in your Case Assignment
Must be double-spaced with 1-inch margins and typed in 12-point Times New Roman.
Your essay should have a Title Page and Reference Page (not included in 4 full page count).
Essays should be proofread for spelling and grammar mistakes.
You must cite all texts used, including page numbers and in text citations to avoid plagiarism.
Your essay must have a purpose statement in the introduction, a main body, and a conclusion.

READINGS/SOURCES TO USE

CHRON, (2017). The Role of Managers in Health Care. Retrieved from http://work.chron.com/role-managers-health-care-16590.html

Benson, T. (2016). What managers need to know to connect with millennials. Westchester County Business Journal, 52(20), 20.

TITLE: Healthcare Management (2nd Edition)
CONTRIBUTORS: Walshe, Kieran & Smith, Judith
PUBLISHER: McGraw-Hill Education
DATE PUBLISHED: September 2011

TITLE: Introduction to Health Care Management, 2nd edition
AUTHORS: Shanks, Nancy H. & Buchbinder, Sharon Bell
PUBLISHER: Jones & Bartlett Learning. 2012
*** Chapter 1: An Overview of Healthcare Management

TITLE: Dunn & Haimann\'s Healthcare Management, 9th edition.
AUTHORS: Dunn, Rose & Haimann, Theo
PUBLISHER: Health Administration Press
DATE PUBLISHED: 2010
***Chapter 1: The supervisor?s job, roles, functions, and authority

Stack, L. (2014). Execution is the Strategy: How Leaders Achieve Maximum Results in Minimum Time (1). Berrett-Koehler Publishers.
pages 29-46

TITLE: Healthcare Management (2nd Edition)
CONTRIBUTORS: Walshe, Kieran & Smith, Judith
PUBLISHER: McGraw-Hill Education
DATE PUBLISHED: September 2011
Chapter 8: Healthcare Services: Strategy, direction, and delivery

TITLE: Introduction to Health Care Management, 2nd edition
AUTHORS: Shanks, Nancy H. & Buchbinder, Sharon Bell
PUBLISHER: Jones & Bartlett Learning. 2012
Chapter 5: Strategic Planning

TITLE: Dunn & Haimann\'s Healthcare Management, 9th edition.
AUTHORS: Dunn, Rose & Haimann, Theo
PUBLISHER: Health Administration Press
DATE PUBLISHED: 2010
Readings: Chapter 3: Decision Making; Chapter 4: Coordination Organizational Activities;
Chapter 5: Communicating

TITLE: Healthcare Management (2nd Edition)
CONTRIBUTORS: Walshe, Kieran & Smith, Judith
PUBLISHER: McGraw-Hill Education
DATE PUBLISHED: September 2011
Chapter 17: The Healthcare Workforce

TITLE: Dunn & Haimann\'s Healthcare Management, 9th edition.
AUTHORS: Dunn, Rose & Haimann, Theo
PUBLISHER: Health Administration Press
DATE PUBLISHED: 2010.
Readings Chapter 12: Division of Work and Departmentalization; Chapter 17: The Staffing Process

Read the HBR Case Study titled The Very Model of a Modern Senior Manager by Mike Morrison.

In addition to the Case Study, you will find four commentators who offer expert advice

Read their expert advice

Provide your own insights and reactions to it based on what you have been reading and learning in this course, and any additional research you may find.

It is imperative that you use good critical thinking identifying your own points of view related to this case study, and then provide additional research validating your point(s) of view.

Therefore, your assignment is to...
1. Read the case study
2. React to the case study by writing a 4 page paper and include a minimum of 2 additional pieces of research
3. Minimally you should answer the question of "Should Barker go forward with competency modeling?" we say minimally, because we expect your other insights and reactions to the case study based on your learnings from this course thus far.

There are faxes for this order.

Assignment 5: Leadership and Leadership DevelopmentYou are to write a three to four (3?4) page paper that answers the following:
Discuss the keys to effectively managing leadership development at each of the following levels: a first-line supervisor, a middle manager, a senior manager, and the President/CEO.MY NOTES: Each of these has a different set of general kinds of responsibilities. Make sure you are specific in addressing what is appropriate at each level.
Compare and contrast strategic leadership and operational leadership, explaining which type of leadership is essential for the long-range survival and growth of an entrepreneurial organization and why.MY NOTES: Explain what strategic and operational leadership is then address the rest of the question. While, obviously both have impact on the long term survival, one is more critical. Saying both are equal will not get you many points.
Discuss the most common style of leadership used by effective leaders of larger companies (Stage III and beyond) and explain why this style of leadership is used.MY NOTES: Be sure to identify the style, explain the style, and explain in detail why it is used by effective leaders. This also means you need to explain how an effective leader behaves and how this style helps them be effective.

Flamholtz, E. G., & Randle, Y. (2007). Growing pains: Transitioning from an entrepreneurship
to a professionally managed firm (4
th
ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass - John Wiley &
Sons, Inc

The key to this assignment is to show how these concepts apply in the real world. Please organize the paper around these six questions.


?Questions from senior management

In viewing the health of an organizations? IT activity, our research has indicated that senior managers often ask questions in six critical areas. Four of these areas are essentially diagnostic in nature, whereas the remaining two are clearly action oriented.

1. Is the firm being affected competitively either by failing to implement required IT applications or by faulty implementation of strategic applications? Is the firm missing opportunities that, if properly executed would give it a competitive edge or, more pessimistically, enable it to survive? How important is It to success in the industry? Failure to do well in a competitively important area is a significant problem; failure to perform well in a nonstrategic area is often less critical to the overall health of the firm.

2. Is the firm targeting its IT application development efforts effectively? Is it spending the right amount of money, and is it focusing on the appropriate applications? At times, management asks this question for the wrong reasons. We are sure that many are familiar with the following scenario. An industry survey that compares IT expenditures for a firms leading competitors is circulated among the senior management team. Immediately, attention is focused on those dimensions in which the firm is distinctly different from its competitors-most often attention is focused on those areas where the firm is spending a significant amount more than the competitors. This causes great excitement. After much investigation, it is often discovered that either the company uses a different accounting system for IT than its competitors and therefore the numbers are not directly comparable (e.g., they have excluded telecommunications expenses from their figures while the firm has included them), or the company has a different strategy, geographical location, and/or mix of management strengths and weaknesses than its competitors, and, therefore, what competitors are or are not doing with IT is not directly comparable. Raising the question of effectiveness is appropriate, but attempting to answer it solely with industry surveys of competitors; expenditures is not. The IT management challenge is much too complex. Similarly, the rules of thumb on expenditure levels have become much less useful as the range of technologies and opportunities has increased. For example a major catalog company that worked tirelessly to translate its catalog onto CD?ROM less than three years ago now has the catalog fully available electronically via the Internet and believes that within the decade up to a third of its products will be sold that way.
3. Is the IT asset of a firm being managed efficiently? Sometimes a firm is spending appropriately, but is not getting the appropriate productivity out of its hardware and staff resources. This is a particularly relevant issue in the late 1990s, given the extreme shortages in qualified IT professionals and intensified international competition. On the one hand, the global telecommunications highway allows the firm to access competent development staff around the world (for example, in India and the Philippines) at a fraction of European and U.S. cost. On the other hand, unless standards are rigorously enforced, the new distributed IT architectures can lead to an explosion of support costs.
4. Is the firm?s IT activity sufficiently insulated against the risks of a major operational disaster? The appropriate level of protection varies by organization, relative to the level of strategic and operational dependence on IT. In most instances, business managers underestimate the degree to which their firms are dependent on IT. Even small interruptions in service can cause massive customer defections or significant-and costly-operational disruption. For example a 2-minute interruption of the air traffic control system over La Guardia airport resulted in a 40-minute delay to landing aircraft. An 8-hour downtime for Amazon/com caused such problems that its stock price dropped.
5. Are IT and business leaders capable of dealing with the IT-related management challenges? Historically, senior business leaders have been quick to replace the IT senior management team for performance problems. While often the quickest and most apparent solution to the problem, the high turnover can exacerbate the underlying cause of the problems. Failure to identify and address the underlying problems can spell disaster for the new team that is brought in to ?clean up the mess?, the effort ultimately fails, with the cycle of poor performance continuing. This same cycle of failure can also be seen in outsourcing arrangements; business management often erroneously believes that it can solve IT performance problems by ?throwing the problem over the wall? To be fixed by an IT vendor. Without commitment to actively participate in problem definition and solution, the outsourcing relationship may also be doomed to failure. Clearly, the skills and expertise required to manage the information resources of a firm have sharply changed over time with the evolution of the technology and its potential uses within the firm, the leadership skills and perspectives appropriate today may not have worked in the past and may not work in the future. In many situations the problem is also compounded by a lack of suitable explicit performance measurement standards (metrics) and objective data for assessing performance. As will be discussed in subsequent chapters, we believe the development and installation of these metrics are absolutely vital.
6. Are the IT resources appropriately placed in the firm? Organizational issues such as where the IT resource should report, how development and hardware resources should be distributed within the company, what activities, if any, should be outsourced, and the existence and potential role of a an executive steering committee are examples of topics of intense interest to senior management.?

Do you think being a financial manager is the best preparation for later becoming a CEO?

Write after reading the following
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
Article from Bureau of labor



A bachelor?s degree in finance, accounting, or related field is the minimum academic preparation, but many employers increasingly seek graduates with a master?s degree and a strong analytical background.


The continuing need for skilled financial managers will spur average employment growth.


Nature of the Work

Almost every firm, government agency, and organization has one or more financial managers who oversee the preparation of financial reports, direct investment activities, and implement cash management strategies. As computers are increasingly used to record and organize data, many financial managers are spending more time developing strategies and implementing the long-term goals of their organization.

The duties of financial managers vary with their specific titles, which include chief financial officer, vice president of finance, controller, treasurer, credit manager, and cash manager. Chief financial officers (CFOs), for example, are the top financial executives of an organization. They oversee all financial and accounting functions and formulate and administer the organization?s overall financial plans and policies. In small firms, CFOs usually handle all financial management functions. In large firms, they direct these activities through other financial managers who head each financial department.

Controllers direct the preparation of financial reports that summarize and forecast the organization?s financial position, such as income statements, balance sheets, and analysis of future earnings or expenses. Controllers are also in charge of preparing special reports required by regulatory authorities. Often, controllers oversee the accounting, audit, and budget departments. Treasurers and finance officers direct the organization?s financial goals, objectives, and budgets. They oversee the investment of funds and manage associated risks, supervise cash management activities, execute capital-raising strategies to support a firm?s expansion, and deal with mergers and acquisitions.

Cash managers monitor and control the flow of cash receipts and disbursements to meet the business and investment needs of the firm. For example, cash flow projections are needed to determine whether loans must be obtained to meet cash requirements or whether surplus cash should be invested in interest-bearing instruments. Risk and insurance managers oversee programs to minimize risks and losses that may arise from financial transactions and business operations undertaken by the institution. They also manage the organization?s insurance budget. Credit managers oversee the firm?s issuance of credit. They establish credit rating criteria, determine credit ceilings, and monitor the collections of past due accounts. Managers specializing in international finance develop financial and accounting systems for the banking transactions of multinational organizations.

Financial institutions, such as commercial banks, savings and loan associations, credit unions, and mortgage and finance companies, employ additional financial managers, often with the title Vice President. These executives oversee various functions, such as lending, trusts, mortgages, and investments, or programs, including sales, operations, or electronic financial services. They may be required to solicit business, authorize loans, and direct the investment of funds, always adhering to Federal and State laws and regulations.

Branch managers of financial institutions administer and manage all the functions of a branch office, which may include hiring personnel, approving loans and lines of credit, establishing a rapport with the community to attract business, and assisting customers with account problems. Financial managers who work for financial institutions must keep abreast of the rapidly growing array of financial services and products.

In addition to the general duties described above, all financial managers perform tasks unique to their organization or industry. For example, government financial managers must be experts on the government appropriations and budgeting processes, whereas health care financial managers must be knowledgeable about issues surrounding health care financing. Moreover, financial managers must be aware of special tax laws and regulations that affect their industry.

Areas in which financial managers are playing an increasingly important role involve mergers and consolidations and global expansion and financing. These developments require extensive specialized knowledge on the part of the financial manager to reduce risks and maximize profit. Financial managers are increasingly hired on a temporary basis to advise senior managers on these and other matters. In fact, some firms contract out all accounting and financial functions to companies that provide these services.

The role of financial manager, particularly in business, is changing in response to technological advances that have significantly reduced the amount of time it takes to produce financial reports. Financial managers now perform more data analysis and use it to offer ideas to senior managers on how to maximize profits. They often work on teams acting as business advisors to top management. Financial managers need to keep abreast of the latest computer technology in order to increase the efficiency of their firm?s financial operations.


Working Conditions

Financial managers work in comfortable offices, often close to top managers and to departments that develop the financial data these managers need. They typically have direct access to state-of-the-art computer systems and information services. Financial managers commonly work long hours, often up to 50 or 60 per week. They are generally required to attend meetings of financial and economic associations and may travel to visit subsidiary firms or meet customers.


Employment []

Financial managers held about 693,000 jobs in 1998. Although these managers are found in virtually every industry, more than a third were employed by services industries, including business, health, social, and management services. Nearly 3 out of 10 were employed by financial institutions, such as banks, savings institutions, finance companies, credit unions, insurance companies, securities dealers, and real estate firms.


Training, Other Qualifications, and Advancement

A bachelor?s degree in finance, accounting, economics, or business administration is the minimum academic preparation for financial managers. However, many employers increasingly seek graduates with a master?s degree, preferably in business administration, economics, finance, or risk management. These academic programs develop analytical skills and provide knowledge of the latest financial analysis methods and technology.

Experience may be more important than formal education for some financial manager positions?notably branch managers in banks. Banks typically fill branch manager positions by promoting experienced loan officers and other professionals who excel at their jobs. Other financial managers may enter the profession through formal management trainee programs offered by the company.

Continuing education is vital for financial managers, reflecting the growing complexity of global trade, shifting Federal and State laws and regulations, and a proliferation of new, complex financial instruments. Firms often provide opportunities for workers to broaden their knowledge and skills by encouraging employees to take graduate courses at colleges and universities or attending conferences related to their specialty. Financial management, banking, and credit union associations, often in cooperation with colleges and universities, sponsor numerous national and local training programs. Persons enrolled prepare extensively at home, then attend sessions on subjects such as accounting management, budget management, corporate cash management, financial analysis, international banking, and information systems. Many firms pay all or part of the costs for those who successfully complete courses. Although experience, ability, and leadership are emphasized for promotion, advancement may be accelerated by this type of special study.

In some cases, financial managers may also broaden their skills and exhibit their competency in specialized fields by attaining professional certification. For example, the Association for Investment Management and Research confers the Chartered Financial Analyst designation on investment professionals who have a bachelor?s degree, pass three test levels, and meet work experience requirements. The National Association of Credit Management administers a three-part certification program for business credit professionals. Through a combination of experience and examinations, these financial managers pass through the level of Credit Business Associate, to Credit Business Fellow, and finally to Certified Credit Executive. The Treasury Management Association confers the Certified Cash Manager credential on those who have 2 years of relevant experience and pass an exam, and the Certified Treasury Executive designation on those who meet more extensive experience and continuing education requirements. More recently, the Association of Government Accountants has begun to offer the Certified Government Financial Manager certification to those who have the appropriate education and experience and who pass three examinations. Financial managers who specialize in accounting may earn the Certified Public Accountant (CPA) or Certified Management Accountant (CMA) designations. (See the Handbook statement on accountants and auditors.)

Candidates for financial management positions need a broad range of skills. Interpersonal skills are increasingly important because these jobs involve managing people and working as part of a team to solve problems. Financial managers must have excellent communication skills to explain complex financial data. Because financial managers work extensively with various departments in their firm, a broad overview of the business is essential.

Financial managers should be creative thinkers and problem solvers, applying their analytical skills to business. They must be comfortable with computer technology. As financial operations are increasingly affected by the global economy, they must have knowledge of international finance; even a foreign language may be important.

Because financial management is critical for efficient business operations, well-trained, experienced financial managers who display a strong grasp of the operations of various departments within their organization are prime candidates for promotion to top management positions. Some financial managers transfer to closely related positions in other industries. Those with extensive experience and access to sufficient capital may start their own consulting firms.


Job Outlook []

The outlook for financial managers is good for those with the right skills. Expertise in accounting and finance is fundamental, and a master?s degree enhances one?s job prospects. Strong computer skills and knowledge of international finance are important, as are excellent communication skills as the job increasingly involves working on strategic planning teams. Mergers, acquisitions, and corporate downsizing will continue to adversely affect employment of financial managers, but growth of the economy and the need for financial expertise will keep the profession growing about as fast as the average for all occupations through 2008.

The banking industry, which employs the most financial managers, is expected to continue to consolidate and reduce the number of financial managers. Employment of bank branch managers, in particular, will grow very little or not at all as banks open fewer branches and promote electronic and Internet banking to cut costs. In contrast, the securities and commodities industry will hire more financial managers to handle increasingly complex financial transactions and manage investments. Financial managers are being hired throughout industry to manage assets and investments, handle mergers and acquisitions, raise capital, and assess global financial transactions. Risk managers, who assess risks for insurance and investment purposes, are in especially great demand.

Some financial managers may be hired on a temporary basis to see a company through a short-term crisis or to offer suggestions for boosting profits. Other companies may contract out all accounting and financial operations. Even in these cases, however, financial managers may be needed to oversee the contracts.

Computer technology has reduced the time and staff required to produce financial reports. As a result, forecasting earnings, profits, and costs, and generating ideas and creative ways to increase profitability will become the major role of corporate financial managers over the next decade. Financial managers who are familiar with computer software and applications that can assist them in this role will be needed.


Earnings []

Median annual earnings of financial managers were $55,070 in 1998. The middle 50 percent earned between $38,240 and $83,800. The lowest 10 percent had earnings of less than $27,680, while the top 10 percent earned over $118,950. Median annual earnings in the industries employing the largest number of financial managers in 1997 are shown below.

Security brokers and dealers
$95,100
Computer and data processing
63,200
Management and public relations
62,800
Local government, excluding education and hospitals
48,700
Commercial banks
45,800
Savings institutions
41,800

According to a 1999 survey by Robert Half International, a staffing services firm specializing in accounting and finance, salaries of assistant controllers and treasurers varied from $42,700 in the smallest firms to $84,000 in the largest firms; corporate controllers earned between $47,500 and $141,000; and chief financial officers and treasurers earned from $65,000 to $319,200. Salaries are generally 10 percent higher for those with a graduate degree or Certified Public Accountant or Certified Management Accountant designation.

The results of the Treasury Management Association?s 1999 compensation survey are presented in table 1. The earnings listed in the table represent total compensation, including bonuses and deferred compensation.

Table 1. Average earnings for selected financial managers, 1999

Vice president of finance $165,400
Chief financial officer 150,100
Treasurer 129,800
Controller 109,700
Assistant treasurer 96,500
Director treasury/finance 93,200
Assistant controller 75,900
Senior analyst 63,000
Cash manager 56,600
Analyst 45,500

SOURCE: Treasury Management Association

Large organizations often pay more than small ones, and salary levels can also vary by the type of industry and location. Many financial managers in private industry receive additional compensation in the form of bonuses, which also vary substantially by size of firm. Deferred compensation in the form of stock options is also becoming more common.


Related Occupations

Financial managers combine formal education with experience in one or more areas of finance, such as asset management, lending, credit operations, securities investment, or insurance risk and loss control. Workers in other occupations requiring similar training and skills include accountants and auditors, budget officers, credit analysts, loan officers, insurance consultants, portfolio managers, pension consultants, real estate advisors, securities analysts, and underwriters.


Sources of Additional Information

Disclaimer: Links to non-BLS Internet sites are provided for your convenience and do not constitute an endorsement.

For information about financial management careers, contact:

American Bankers Association, 1120 Connecticut Ave. NW., Washington, DC 20036. Internet: http://www.aba.com


Financial Management Association International, College of Business Administration, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL 33620-5500. Internet: http://www.fma.org
Financial Executives Institute, 10 Madison Ave., P.O. Box 1938, Morristown, NJ 07962-1938. Internet: http://www.fei.org
For information about financial careers in business credit management; the Credit Business Associate, Credit Business Fellow, and Certified Credit Executive programs; and institutions offering graduate courses in credit and financial management, contact:

National Association of Credit Management, Credit Research Foundation, 8840 Columbia 100 Parkway, Columbia, MD 21045-2158. Internet: http://www.nacm.org
For information about careers in treasury and financial management and the Certified Cash Manager and Certified Treasury Executive programs, contact:

Association for Financial Professionals, 7315 Wisconsin Ave., Suite 600 West, Bethesda, MD 20814. Internet: http://www.afponline.org
For information about the Chartered Financial Analyst program, contact:

Association for Investment Management and Research, P.O. Box 3668, Charlottesville, VA 22903. Internet: http://www.aimr.org
For information about the Certified Government Financial Manager designation, contact:

Association for Government Accountants, 2208 Mount Vernon Ave., Alexandria, VA 22301-1314. Internet: http://www.agacgfm.org


An industry employing financial managers that appears in the 2000-01 Career Guide to Industries: Banking


O*NET Codes: 13002A and 13002B


/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
Abstract:
Financial managers who want to distinguish themselves and their organizations need to demonstrate their leadership ability. Because financial managers sometimes overlook the need for leadership skills, cultivating mentors who can teach them specific leadership skills, such as improved communications and entrepreneurship, may be necessary.

Health-care financial managers can sharpen their leadership skills by distinguishing between leadership and management, adopting a new mentoring model, evaluating the usefulness of new management techniques, understanding the connection between technology and leadership, looking for the solution beyond the problem, and being seen and heard within the organization.

Full Text:
Copyright Healthcare Financial Management Association Apr 2000


The increase in for-profit hospitals and consolidations, more stringent regulatory requirements, and declining reimbursement have increased the overall expectations of healthcare executives regarding the performance of their senior financial managers. Most financial managers recognize that educational credentials and experience in the healthcare industry are necessary to advance their careers. They also need technical skills to produce computer-generated financial reports for the healthcare organization.

More than technical expertise, however, today's senior financial managers need to demonstrate leadership skills to effect strategic and behavioral change. Some of the strategies healthcare financial managers can use to polish their leadership skills include distinguishing between leadership and management, employing a new mentoring model, seeing new management methods as more than fads, understanding the connection between technology and leadership, looking for the solution beyond the problem, and participating within the organization.

Distinguish between leadership and management. Although the skills required for leadership and management overlap to some extent, there also are distinctions. As shown in Exhibit 1, page 51, management tends to be task-oriented, whereas good leadership tends to emphasize the motivational aspects of accomplishing tasks and reaching goals. Because their jobs are technical in nature, many healthcare financial managers focus on developing their management skills, leaving the inspirational and consensus-building role that characterizes leadership to others. Demonstrating leadership, however, would help them achieve success for their department and the organization as a whole.

In particular, healthcare financial managers need to adopt a proactive leadership stance rather than react to change after their facilities are negatively affected by it. With the implementation of the ambulatory payment classification (APC) system, for example, healthcare financial managers should take the lead in assessing their coinsurance billing practices and their entire billing systems and processes. Waiting to see what will happen means deferring leadership to those outside the finance department.

Moreover, the Federal government's emphasis on regulatory compliance for the Medicare and Medicaid programs calls for teamwork and harmonious personal relations, particularly in the finance department. Financial managers need to assert leadership by creating a positive atmosphere in which employees feel free to inform management of compliance issues they believe should be addressed.

The ability to inspire loyalty also is more important than ever, due in part to the regulatory climate. Leaders who inspire loyalty can motivate employees to discuss their concerns internally first rather than report them to an outside agency. Employee loyalty has eroded in recent years in many industries, making employee turnover a significant problem in a thriving economy Employees recognize good leadership skills, however, and are more inclined to remain with an employer and maintain a cohesive work team if they respect their manager's leadership abilities.

Legislation continues to affect the payment healthcare organizations receive and operational changes they must implement. Healthcare financial managers realize that implementation of privacy standards mandated by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, for example, will be costly and operationally challenging. Good management recognizes that change is imperative, but only good leadership can effect change.

Employ a new mentoring model. Because employees tend to change jobs more frequently than they did in the past, less emphasis is being placed on traditional mentoring, whereby a seasoned manager would instruct a junior manager over time. A new approach to selecting a mentor that financial managers should consider adopting emphasizes specific skills acquisition over more generalized experience. To guide their selection of a mentor who will help them enhance their leadership skills under this new model, healthcare financial managers should take the following steps:

Determine their own strengths and weaknesses. Financial managers should identify specific leadership skills they wish to develop. These skills could range from public relations to information technology.

Identify individuals who have skills they want to develop. There may be many individuals in the financial manager's organization who have the desired skills and are willing to share their expertise. The CEO is a likely mentor, but marketers, public relations directors, physicians, and board members also may have a wide range of skills--particularly interpersonal and communications skills--that are important to developing as a leader. Develop relationships. Most people are flattered when others wish to learn from them and respond well to sincere solicitations of advice and expertise. Mentoring sessions can include informal lunchtime discussions; reviews of prepared material, including impact statements regarding various pending changes in payment and outlines for future presentations to industry groups; discussions of personnel issues, such as how to evaluate, motivate, and reward department members; and attendance at presentations by the mentor. It is particularly important to network with peers at HFMA programs and at meetings of other industry groups, where industry leaders are accessible and prepared to share their knowledge.

See new management methods as more than fads. Management methods come and go. New management methods, such as zero-based budgeting, management by objectives, continuous quality improvement, quality circles, and business process reengineering, often amount to mere fads that managers implement without eliciting their true value to the organization. A leader, however, knows how to recognize methods or aspects of methods that support the organization's progress, implement these programs, and discard programs that are not useful. Healthcare financial managers should not have unreasonably high or low expectations of new management methods or discard old methods simply because new ones have come along.

For example, many financial managers bought highlevel software programs to compute the impact of APCs on their facilities. Healthcare financial managers, however, cannot rely solely on software programs to obtain needed information. They also need to assess APC impact by initiating a detailed claims audit and a thorough review of office billing procedures.

Understand the connection between technology and leadership. Although healthcare financial managers do not have to be experts in information systems, telecommunications, or the Internet, they do need to understand the capabilities of these technologies and how the technologies should be applied to their organization. Computers will be handling an increasing amount of the work in healthcare finance, but healthcare financial managers need to know how to use the data that are generated to support the organization's strategic goals.

Look for the solution beyond the problem. Financial managers are trained to ensure that the organization's financial goals are met. This function can appear daunting when resources are limited, and financial managers are used to championing conservative financial positions. Leaders, however, view challenges as opportunities. To emerge as organization leaders, financial managers need to become greater risk takers. For example, several years ago the government proposed new rules on "hospitals within hospitals" (a wing or floor of a hospital licensed as a different hospital, often to secure cost-based payment for long-term patients). Many healthcare executives closed their facilities before the final rules were released. Other financial managers, however, spearheaded efforts to maintain their status. These efforts were rewarded when the new law grandfathered some facilities, allowing them to operate as before.

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EXHIBIT 1:

Participate. Healthcare financial managers cannot lead an organization without actively participating in that organization. Activities that enhance leadership include attending meetings outside the finance department, participating on organizationwide committees, becoming involved in public relations events, sponsoring an achievement award and personally presenting it, attending a hospital-sponsored golf tournament or 10-kilometer run, and cultivating relationships with leaders from other departments or the community at large. Being seen and heard is an important facet of leadership.

Conclusion

Leadership opportunities abound for healthcare financial managers who wish to take advantage of them. By broadening their scope beyond management functions, healthcare financial managers help move their organizations forward while receiving recognition for their work. Developing leadership skills will increase their visibility throughout the organization and in the community, which, in turn, will help them advance in their career.

[Author note]
ABOUT THE AUTHORS

[Author note]
Robert B. Kowalski, MSHS, is health data director, Parkland Community Health Plan, Dallas, Texas, and a member of HFMA's Lone Star Chapter.

[Author note]
Manie W. Campbell is a principal, CampbellWilson, Dallas, Texas, and a member of HFMA's Lone Star Chapter

1. Answer the four questions below. The questions as a whole are equally weighted although the parts may not be. Post your answers (marked as "Midterm_yourName.docx, and DatabaseModel_yourName.docx") to your Assignments Folder ?Midterm? in WebTycho by Sunday September 23, 11 p.m. EST .
2. Adequate answers for the entire examination should run approximately five to seven double-spaced pages (total for all questions) with one to one and a half pages per question plus one reference page. Use one-inch margins and 12-point font and default word wrap. File format must be in Word format. Exam will not be accepted if file format is not in compliance.
3. This is an open-book individual essay examination. You may use any resources in addition to the textbook, such as other books, articles and the Web. Some questions may require research beyond the text, lecture notes, and conferences. You must, however, do your own work and you may not collaborate with your classmates.
4. Questions should be answered in your own words. However, when you use the words of others in any answers, you must use quotation marks and attribute the source right there.
5. Answers will be evaluated on the following criteria: key content, logical flow, and clarity. Note: There is no correct answer. It is how well your answer is justified.
a. Key content (65%): Weaves together appropriate original content and references that demonstrates synthesis of course topics culminating in an original and insightful conclusion. Efficient use of vocabulary related to course topics.
b. Logical flow (20%): Clear organization, flowing from introduction to specific to conclusion, written logically and succinctly. Essay responses should have three parts: introduction, body (which expands on the introduction), and then a conclusion. An excellent introduction should set the context. The body of the response should further develop the concepts in the order presented in the introduction. An excellent conclusion should align with the introduction. The introduction and conclusion should demonstrate that you know the key points at an appropriately high level (e.g. management). There should also be sufficient level of detail in the body to convey that you know the details behind what you are discussing.
c. Clarity (15%): No spelling and grammatical errors. Adheres to suggested length of entire exam. Correct in text citations and bibliography adhering to APA style.
6. If a question does not seem clear, send me a Private Message or e-mail

Question 1. Your Senior Manager is considering you for a position as an IT Project Manager. Research the Internet and define the role and responsibilities of an IT Project Manager supported by a reference (one or two sentences). Using the Knowledge Framework for Information Systems (Fig. 1.2), discuss the topmost two areas needed to successfully manage a project by an IT Project Manager in your opinion. Justify your response. (Note: The Knowledge Framework for Information Systems has 5 areas.)
Question 2. List one important (hardware or software) technology that you expect to happen in the next 10 years? Give a real world example of this technology as it is currently used (e.g. Walmart?s use of RFID in the warehouse). Using the five competitive strategies (Fig. 2.4, p. 51), explain how this technology will enable the business to be more competitive.

Dear Sir/Madam

I am a medical doctor studying for an MBA degree at a prestigious UK university. I am currently in the process of writing my dissertation. The topic is medical management in the private healthcare sector. In addition to the plethora of information that I have already ploughed through in order to complete my literature review, I would like to receive some additional information from yourselves, either in the form of research papers or dissertations on a relevant topic.

In my dissertation, I am comparing the private healthcare sector (Nuffield Hospitals) to the public (NHS) system. I am looking at such things as differing standards of service between the two sectors, patients differing expectations in both of these sectors, the organisational culture of both sectors, management and leadership styles in both sectors, how these factors contribute significantly to the overall effectivity of both sectors, and recommendations for organisational change.

I am looking for relevant essays/papers written on medical management that contain some or all of the above-mentioned information/research. The papers need to be at least 5000 ? 10 000 words long.


Regards

Dr J Konovalov.
P.S. Please read the information below. There are some bits of my dissertation just to give you an idea about what to do. You need to write something similar to it!
Abstract

This paper will take an holistic view on both the private and public healthcare market, but with more emphasis on the private healthcare market. For the purposes of this paper two representatives have been identified: The Royal Devon and Exeter hospital which is a part of the NHS and also the Exeter Nuffield private hospital.

This paper will explore the current issues and challenges that both organisations are facing in their mission to provide first class healthcare to all of their patients. The purpose of this paper is to illustrate potential market problems and the paper aims to offer practitioners guidance and consultation on potential changes within modern healthcare delivery. The paper also highlights the great potential that organisations have to learn from each other. This paper aims to highlight the current challenges faced by both public and private sector hospitals, elaborating particularly upon the role of progressive technology and knowledge, the importance of relationships at all functioning levels of medical profession in contributing to an organisations success.

The demands of modern business have called for an increasingly mobile and flexible workforce. This means that less emphasis is placed on loyalty towards an organisations employees than at any time in the past. In the present employment climate, recruiting, retaining and motivating the right employees is an increasingly difficult task. Senior managers must come quickly to the stark realisation that it is their communication that sets the standard for the company. Senior managers now need to recognise and shoulder their responsibility in becoming real role models for effective communication.

The main players in the modern healthcare market are diverse and also have differing interests. For this reason it is anticipated that conflict, tensions and opposing priorities are likely to arise in a potential change management process. This paper is able to identify potential problems and using a set of contemporary business management suggestions, offer some ready solutions to these problems as they are manifested at The Royal Devon & Exeter Hospital. The broad aims of this paper will be met using the following research tools - qualitative research, data and organisational analysis and theoretical models.

Communication methods and function are not the only features that have undergone some major changes in recent years. With market conditions in a constant state of flux, many organisations are finding that significant and continuous changes are necessary if they are to remain competitive. Not surprisingly, one of the most significant and continuous changes is seen in an organisations culture. Examples of effective culture change programmes illustrate how the remit of the communication professional has changed over the last five years. Their work may now contain elements of the change manager, the general manager and the strategist, as well as the more traditional writer, editor and speaker.
1 Introduction

Present day management and leadership styles in a modern and growing healthcare environment need to be flexible in order to suit the changing needs of medical professionals. Organisations change their structure in order to improve efficiency, both financial and human. This type of structural adaptation can take place no matter how large the organisation is. Size is not a major issue any more. Managers have come to realise that they are, for wont of a better phrase, instruments of change. Managers have to use their workforce as a tool to successfully achieve objectives and also to cope with the uncertain situations that are a part and parcel of everyday business life. Medical staff, particularly consultants, play a key role in today?s highly volatile political and business environment. They shoulder a great deal of responsibility whilst also under the pressure of having to reach agreed objectives and targets. Such a wide and heavy burden of responsibility leads to problems within the NHS. This paper will analyse the private medical sector (Exeter Nuffield hospital) and take the view that it is high time the NHS (Royal Devon and Exeter hospital) looked to the private sector of the medical profession.

In both the public and the private sectors, managers who are leaders themselves have to develop strategies for finding and evaluating problems quickly, and thereafter implementing practical solutions that will satisfy both the patients (who fulfil the role of customer) and the medical staff (the workforce) to achieve a continuously high standard in healthcare service. However, only those managers/leaders who initiate the required change on time and who are also sensitive towards changing environments and relationships between those people within the organisation can achieve success. Chia (2003) believes that general managers will need to have the ability to undertake three generic tasks in order to initiate the correct organisational changes. According to Chia these are strategic thinking including sense making (creating meaningful patterns and plans, making choices (decisions) and dealing with obstacles/conflicts (problem solving).

Although this paper does not deliberately set out to draw comparisons between the RD&E (NHS) and Exeter Nuffield (Private) Hospital, invariably the reader may feel compelled (as did the author) to draw conclusions as to how, as Chia (2000) puts it, ?organisations may learn from each other.? In the authors opinion, the NHS may be developed into a better and more productive healthcare service using the highly functionalised, quick and responsive professional mechanisms that are found at the Exeter Nuffield Hospital.

In achieving this goal, the first aim will be to discover how the centralised control and coordination of managers can influence nursing and medical practice in both the public and private sectors. This will involve an analysis of current skills and knowledge and the source of such knowledge; for example, what is the role of modern technology in the current healthcare systems? Analysis of qualitative data will lead to a broader understanding of the organisation of the Nuffield private hospital and current issues of healthcare knowledge particularly where the interaction between management and clinical practice is required. As Brown and Duguid (1991) say, ?knowledge is to be found in the day-to-day reflections and actions of practitioners themselves.?

This paper aims to assess the Exeter Nuffield private hospital regarding its construction as a function of the attitudes, behaviours, values, abilities and beliefs of nurses, consultants, and healthcare managers. Such an analysis is intended to reveal the strengths and weaknesses of the Nuffield organisation and how management and clinical behaviour may be changed and improved.

5 Conclusion

Both the Exeter Nuffield hospital and the RD&E are different types of organisation but both of them have a shared goal in trying to achieve higher standards of patient care. However, the Nuffield is significantly outperforming the RD&E in most of the comparable areas. Is it not time then, that the NHS looked to the private sector to see what it might do to improve?

One of the key differences between Exeter Nuffield Hospital and the RD&E is relationships between staff at all levels. The NHS seems to have employed a good deal more managers than it actually needs. In addition, the managers at the RD&E seem to be under performing in comparison with the managers at the Exeter Nuffield hospital. Managers at the Nuffield are strongly motivated by profit and as has already been mentioned, they appreciate the value of their consultants for this reason. Therefore, the managers at Nuffield Hospitals are really prepared go the extra mile in order to satisfy and work with the consultants and medical staff. For this reason the relationship between managers and consultants at the Nuffield Hospitals is extremely close. This type of organisational culture with its own particular norms values and attitudes ensures that the Nuffield private hospital is a success. This automatically produces higher standards in the delivery of medical care at the Nuffield Hospitals. This accounts for the rapid progression of the Nuffield hospital over the last ten years in delivery of the best medical practice.

At the NHS the goals and objectives are different. The NHS is not a profit led organisation. However, the issue of organisational culture and relationships between medical professionals at all levels is very important and needs significant change and development. A crucial development as well as an excellent starting point would be for the NHS to empower its consultants. The NHS must make significant improvements if it is to survive and it would not go amiss for the NHS to take a good look at the private sector before it begins to implement any such changes. As it stands the NHS could learn a great deal from the Nuffield private hospitals.

Hi,

I need to improve on my assignment. Emphasis should be on relevant ILO legislation.

The weaker areas of my assignment identified were:
Executive summary
Description of the organisation
Review of HSMS
Gap analysis
Hazard identification
Risk assessments
Conclusions
Recommendations
Action plans.


Executive summary

The executive summary should provide a concise overview of the important points, it should summarise the main conclusions and recommendations and should state the implications to the company of non-compliance as well as any costs involved and the benefits.

Description of the organisation

When writing the introduction there are a few specific items that need to be included: -
aims and objectives
methodology ? how you will collect your information and how you will represent it in the report
description of the workplace (size, activities)
employment profile (age range, sex, nationality)
work patterns (hours worked, days worked, shift work etc.)
legal framework ? the main legal aspects applicable to your site and how they have impacted on your organisations management systems ? what have they changed.

The aims would be the generalised goal of the assignment.

The aim is about what you hope to do, your overall intention of the assignment. It signals what and/or where you aspire to be by the end. It?s what you want to know. It is the point of doing the assignment. An aim is therefore generally broad. It is ambitious, but not beyond possibility.

The objectives would be the specific steps required to achieve the aims. The objectives should be S.M.A.R.T
? Specific ? be precise about what you are going to do
? Measurable ?you will know when you have reached your goal
? Achievable ? Don?t attempt too much. A less ambitious but completed objective is better than an over-ambitious one that you cannot possible achieve.
? Realistic ? do you have the necessary resources to achieve the objective? For example: time, money, skills, etc.?
? Time constrained ? determine when each stage needs to be completed. Is there time in your schedule to allow for unexpected delays?
In terms of the legal environment you will not get high marks unless you talk about ILO conventions/recommendations and codes of practice. This is the legislation that is in the syllabus. Of course you can also mention national legislation. More importantly you have to select the most relevant legislation, outline what it requires and demonstrate the impact on the organisation i.e. what have you done to comply, what could happen if you do not comply?

Review of HSMS

For the management review section, you will need to describe in detail what is in place, how the systems work, who does what when and how often etc. The goal of the description part is to demonstrate your understanding of how the model is implemented in practice at a local level within your organisation. You need to structure your description around the structure of your chosen model. Including a diagram of your chosen model will be beneficial here for the reader.

Gap analysis

To do the gap analysis it also has to be detailed. You need to compare your organisation against each and every requirement and sub requirement of your chosen model. Using an audit checklist is a good foundation and you can incorporate this into your table. The table will need to clearly show whether the requirement is complied with or not, the level of noncompliance, how serious this is (some gaps are a higher priority than others), clearly describe the gap and its implications (the implications help justify the priority) and suggest ways of fixing the gaps. To get top marks you also need to suggest specific ways to maintain or improve performance, even where the requirements of 18001 are being met. Failure to consider the compliant areas in the gap analysis will reduce your mark to 2 out of 6.

Hazard identification

When writing this section, I would include a brief paragraph or two on how you identified your hazards as well as how you developed your risk rating, what criteria you used etc. so they can see this then see the hazards identified.

You should also separate the physical hazards from the health/welfare so that the reader can quickly see which is the highest priority physical hazard and which is the highest priority health/welfare hazard to know then which ones will be taken forward to the risk assessment section.

In this section you need to describe the hazards and how they can cause harm. It is important that the Examiner feels that they are real hazards that you have spotted, and not just generic categories that exist in your workplace. You also need to discuss the implications of the hazards i.e. the possible injuries, ill health, moral, legal, financial etc. There is no need for any detailed information on control measures or how to resolve each and every hazard you have spotted.

Risk assessments

The guidance requires a credible and persuasive justification for your choice of top priority hazards. You will need to use a variety of good arguments, and not just rely on a typical severity x likelihood reason. Other reasons could include industry statistics/guidance show that these hazards are priorities, accident trends, enforcement action taken against you, a recent major accident in your organisation (or similar organisation), complaints from workers, pressure from management/H&S Committee/Group H&S management, request from insurance company etc.

When you write this section I would include an introduction stating which hazards you selected for risk assessment (don?t forget to include your in-depth justification for your choices here) and why and then go on to describe your chosen risk assessment model.

I would provide a brief explanation of your risk assessment methodology stating which model you followed and briefly what is required. The guidance says: ?The methodology adopted in completing each risk assessment should be briefly described, including reference to relevant publications, legislation, other technical documents and standards.?

Your risk assessment methodology must be appropriate for the hazard you are risk assessing. The guidance says: ?The risk assessment methodology chosen should be suitable and sufficient, legally compliant and be appropriate for each hazard identified. High marks will not be awarded for a generic risk assessment model when a specific risk assessment is required due to the nature of the hazard e.g. manual handling.? You should also ensure you follow each and every step of the risk assessment model. Deviation from it will lead to a loss of marks. The marking scheme gives the criteria for full marks: ?Full risk assessment of chosen hazard following recognised risk assessment model. Full consideration of all factors.?

It is important that your risk assessment is suitable and sufficient, and that your recommended actions for improvement are clearly justified. The guidance says: ?The risk assessment should include a review of the existing control measures and provide options for further action with reference to a hierarchy of control. The candidate should make use of any data available for any hazards which have already been quantified e.g. noise surveys.?

When you write the risk assessment section ensure that you include the following sections as a minimum ? other aspects will be required depending on the risk methodology you selected to use: -
? title of the assessment - this should be the same as identified in the hazard identification section
? all the hazards associated with the activity/issue (please remember only include physical hazards in the physical risk assessment and health/welfare hazards in the health/welfare risk assessment).
? who can be harmed and how
? evaluate the current controls - state why they are good and why they are not sufficient
? current risk rating - this should be in numbers so it can be compared
? the additional controls needed - these should be hierarchy order starting off with those that would eliminate the risk down to the last resort of PPE.
? residual risk rating - this is the risk rating based on the additional controls you have suggested been in place - also in numbers - the reader can then compare this to the existing risk rating to see how much your recommendations would reduce the risk by
? a review date for the whole risk assessment - this should be based on the risk rating but should be no longer than annually.

Conclusions

The conclusions should refer the reader back to the aims and objectives and describe how well they were achieved they should also summarise all the main findings from the gap analysis and the risk assessments and put a persuasive case forward to management to make them take action ? include your legal, moral and financial arguments here.

Recommendations

The recommendations section follows on directly from the conclusions so for every issue noted in the conclusions there should be a recommendation. There should be recommendations for the management review section and the risk assessments ? the recommendations should be justified and realistic. There should be a cost benefit analysis for each recommendation and they should be prioritised and your system for prioritization should be explained to the reader.

You need to ensure you can answer the following questions when you look at your report:
Is every problem you summarise in the conclusions covered by at least one recommendation?
Is every recommendation linked back to a conclusion?
Are your recommendations specific and realistic? (i.e. will a senior manager be able to understand these and think they are possible?)
How have you prioritised your recommendations?
Have you written a cost benefit analysis for each recommendation? What specific costs did you include? What benefits?
Have you explained/justified why each recommendation is necessary and how it will improve the situation?
Action plans.

The action plans are the step by step actions needed to complete the recommendations from the previous section. Following the table in the guidance document ensures you include all the correct information. The success criteria section often causes concerns - this is the way you will test to ensure the actions are effective so for example if you have an action as train staff the success criteria could be a small test so see if they have understood the requirements of the training.

FedEx Corporation

Complete the following exercise (Research and Application 11-30) and submit to your instructor.

The questions in this exercise are based on FedEx Corporation. To answer the questions you will need to download FedEx?s Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended May 31, 2005 (file date July 14, 2005). You do not need to print this document to answer the questions.

Required:

What is FedEx?s strategy for success in the marketplace? Does the company rely primarily on a customer intimacy, operations excellence, or product leadership customer value proposition? What evidence supports your conclusion?
What are FedEx?s four main business segments? Provide two examples of traceable fixed costs for each of FedEx?s four business segments. Provide two examples of common costs that are not traceable to the four business segments.
Identify one example of a cost center, a profit center, and an investment center for FedEx.
Provide three examples of fixed costs that can be traceable or common depending on how FedEx defines its business segments.
Compute the margin, turnover, and return on investment (ROI) in 2005 for each of FedEx?s four business segments (Hint: page 99 reports total segment assets for each business segment.)
Assume that FedEx established a minimum required rate of return of 15% for each of its business segments. Compute the residual income earned in 2005 in each of FedEx?s four segments.
Assume that the senior managers of FedEx Express and FedEx Ground each have an investment opportunity that would require $20 million of additional operating assets and that would increase operating income by $4 million. If FedEx evaluates all of its senior managers using ROI, would the managers of both segments pursue the investment opportunity? If FedEx evaluates all of its senior managers using residual income, would the managers of both segments pursue the investment opportunity?

Book we are using; Noreen, E., Brewer, P. and Garrison, R. (2011). Managerial Accounting for Managers. McGraw Hill Irwin. New York.

Carefully review the Grading Rubric for the criteria that will be used to evaluate your assignment.

FedEx Corporation

Complete the following exercise (Research and Application 11-30) and submit to your instructor.
The questions in this exercise are based on FedEx Corporation. To answer the questions you will need to download FedEx?s Form 10-K (http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1048911/000110465905032464/a05-11806_110k.htm) for the fiscal year ended May 31, 2005 (file date July 14, 2005). You do not need to print this document to answer the questions.
Required:
? What is FedEx?s strategy for success in the marketplace? Does the company rely primarily on a customer intimacy, operations excellence, or product leadership customer value proposition? What evidence supports your conclusion?
? What are FedEx?s four main business segments? Provide two examples of traceable fixed costs for each of FedEx?s four business segments. Provide two examples of common costs that are not traceable to the four business segments.
? Identify one example of a cost center, a profit center, and an investment center for FedEx.
? Provide three examples of fixed costs that can be traceable or common depending on how FedEx defines its business segments.
? Compute the margin, turnover, and return on investment (ROI) in 2005 for each of FedEx?s four business segments (Hint: page 99 reports total segment assets for each business segment.)
? Assume that FedEx established a minimum required rate of return of 15% for each of its business segments. Compute the residual income earned in 2005 in each of FedEx?s four segments.
? Assume that the senior managers of FedEx Express and FedEx Ground each have an investment opportunity that would require $20 million of additional operating assets and that would increase operating income by $4 million. If FedEx evaluates all of its senior managers using ROI, would the managers of both segments pursue the investment opportunity? If FedEx evaluates all of its senior managers using residual income, would the managers of both segments pursue the investment opportunity?

Managing Across the Organization

Imagine that you are the CEO of an organization. You?ve managed the organization effectively, including managing the relationships and processes across the organization. However, when the Senior Manager, R & D left the organization, you discovered that he had left a bad legacy in the organization as he attempted to gain power over his peers and subordinates by controlling information. This left the team in a quandary. In order to prevent this from happening again, you want to prepare the new manager as she takes on her new responsibilities.

Conduct research regarding power and politics, as well as on employee involvement. Write a confidential note of 700-1,050 words to the new team leader describing what you know about how to successfully manage a cross-functional team across a manufacturing organization. Address the following questions in your note:

a. What critical internal partnerships and alliances must a new R&D leader maintain in a manufacturing organization? Explain.

b. How does the formal power structure help (or hinder) cross-functional team effectiveness? Explain.

c. What kinds of things should the team leader know about the informal political landscape? In a system with a strong informal culture, whose help and support should the new team leader cultivate and why?

d. What strategy would you suggest the new team leader employ to be successful?

e. Be sure to support each of your assessments from the libraryand recommendations with sound research

Please write in APA writing style!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Please respone with 3-4 sentences for each ones comments:

Text: Human Resource Management by Noe, Hollenbeck, Gerhart and Wright

1. How is the effectiveness of H R measured in their company?
The effectiveness of HR is measured by survey emails that go out to the company. Employees are required to complete them. It is also measured by how quickly and successfully they respond to employee inquiries.
2. How do they do ROI? What is the methodology used? How well are the numbers accepted by management? How has this helped HRs reputation in the company?
The only way they look at ROI is looking at the length of employment and turnover rates. They do not calculate the cost per hire.
3. How do HR professionals develop the skills to deal with the future business world?
HR employees usually come with prior experience and are required to take off-site classes yearly.
4. Review the trends with the interviewee and ask them which trends are affecting their company and what is HRs role in helping the company be successful in that environment?
Innovation and technology-they are currently changing processes so that everything is done on the computer and going paperless.
5. Does HR sit at the strategic planning table? If so, how did this come about? If not, what is HRs role in helping the company meet its goals?
HR does not sit at the strategic planning table. Since the company is so large they are given orders by the corporate office. Their role is to do what they are told as efficiently as possible.
6. What would you most like to change about your current HR department?
HR does not get a lot of input since everything goes through the corporate office. They sometimes feel like they dont have a lot of authority.
7. What are the main tasks that occupy your day?
The main tasks they handle are training for new hires, payroll, and helping employees with their PTO. For the new hires they are just responsible for the basic orientation.
8. The company recently went from time sheets to a web based payroll, which one is more effective?
The web based system is much better because payroll can be entered quickly and employees can access their information at any time. Employees can go online and print out their old paychecks and check their hours.
9. What is the current procedure in place for employee health benefits?
Employees are signed up for insurance benefits right away, and it is effective after 30 days on the 1st of the month following the hire. This helps eliminate the gap of not having insurance for the new hires and is gracious of the company to do.
10. How are employee complaints handled?
The most common employee complaints are usually personal issues between employees or managers. Usually the complaints are handled through mediation with the two employees and an outside party. ??"

___

For this interview I spent an hour and half in our HR department and spoke with our Employment Administrator and our Senior Human Resources Manager
1. How is the effectiveness of HR measured?
A. Our organization doesnt really have a set of metrics that are used to rate our HR dept the data that is collected for our Affirmative Action plan is very data intensive and does a very good job of showing how our hires reflect our diversity goals related to our recruitment pools. Additional our HR department manages all our employee benefits and because of that our health insurance premiums are not going up next year. Although this is not an official measure of the effectiveness it does show that this group is doing a good job. Another way HR tracks effectiveness is based on how many employees enroll in offered training courses that HR provides. Our HR department is very focused on growing human capital so they pay very close attention to how many employees take additional training and what kind of training is most popular.
2. How do they do ROI? What is the methodology? How well are the numbers accepted by management? How has this helped HR reputation within the company?
A. Mostly because we are not a for profit organization our HR dept does not track its cost per hire. Really the only way they keep track of return on investments is based on employee fed back and if the services provided are used or not. Management is fine with this system and this way of doing things allows HR great flexibility. This flexibility in hiring processes and others has gone a long way towards improving HR reputation within the organization. They are now seen being more responsive to the needs of all the different departments. Although they do still struggle with the image of being the police
3. How do HR professional develop skills to deal with the future business world?
A. All the HR mangers are very proactive in reading all the HR journals and attending HR conferences. They also attend many scientific conferences to stay current with trends and topics within our scientific research community.
4. What trends are affecting the organization and what is HRs role in helping the company in that environment?
A. Diversity is a trend has always been a part of the organization but it has kind of gone in waves over the years. For a year or two it will come to the surface but then fade into the background again. Within the last year it has become a main focus of the NCAR director and he has taken the ball and really run with it. So diversity as a goal has really become more of a way of life then just another trend. Mentoring though our Leadership Academy has also really grown in popularity.
5. Does HR sit at the strategic planning table?
A. Many of our divisional strategic plans focus more on science and research agendas so most of the time HR does not have a place within strategic planning. However, recently NCAR has developed a workforce management plan that outlines plans and goals for developing our future workforce. The Director or HR and the Senior Manager of HR both were on the executive committee that developed the plan but HR provided more of a supportive role rather than a role in planning and finding solutions. HR provided data, demographics and numbers on turnover rates, average age of current employees. They generally provide support for what departments and divisions want to do rather than handing out solutions that are to be followed.
6. How are employee benefits decided on? And do they ever chance based on employee interest/participation?
A. Our benefits administrator has been out of the office so I couldnt get a detailed answer on this.
7. What are a couple of the biggest challenges facing our HR dept over the next year?
A. Revamping our new employee orientation is going to be one of the biggest challenges just because there is so much information and we are looking at the best and most effective way to communicate it all to new employees. Next the HR dept is working on getting everything on line and reorganizing the HR web site to make it more users friendly.
8. Based on the HR survey I had a few fellow employees complete along with a rep from HR the one things that everyone agreed on was that HR could be more effective communicating with employees what could HR do better?
A. This is pretty much an organization wide problem with how best to communicate to 1500+ employees. Depending on the information HR uses every available means of communicating to staff from our daily staff announcements to updating the web site and sometimes mailing information to peoples homes but there are always people that miss it.
9. Unlike most HR depts. Our payroll and employee safety/comp is handled by two other departments within the organization, is this a better system and why?
A. It is a very good system for our organization because it allows HR to focus entirely on hiring, recruiting and training.
10. What are the main recruiting tools used by HR?
A. Job fairs are used a lot to find student assistants many of which stay on with the organization after graduation esecially in engineering and computing specialties. Ads in relevant professional publications are used as well as notices send out to our Member Universities. Networking within the Atmospheric Sciences world-wide community is the most common way of finding higher level directors. Ads in local newspapers are used to find worker for more blue collar positions like food and event services. ANEKA
___
1.How is the effectiveness of HR measured in their company?
LL: HR department may have other metrics, but Engineering monitors number of new personnel requisitions each week and total number of outstanding requisitions by each department. Also number of outstanding job offers, number of acceptances, and number of new employees within last 30 days (when an acceptance becomes an employee at the company, then that is termed a new employee). We sometimes form ratios of these quantities, but the real indicators are how quickly the department meets the demand. These metrics are the focus for us in the current climate, which is an urgent need to hire technical personnel.

2.How do they do ROI? What is the methodology used? How well are the numbers accepted by management? How has this helped HRs reputation in the company?
LL: I dont know the answer to this one, because I do not see the total expenditures by HR per new hire. Retention of employees should be an issue here as well, because when an employee leaves the company, we have to incur the hiring expense again.
3.How do HR professionals develop the skills to deal with the future business world?
LL: Our HR personnel take outside classes and receive within-company mentoring.
4.Review the trends with the interviewee and ask them which trends are affecting their company and what is HRs role in helping the company be successful in that environment?
LL: Current trend for our company is rapid hiring due to several new contracts--especially of technical personnel with appropriate security clearances. HR helps prepare job descriptions, screens candidates, sets up interviews, makes formal offers. HR attends and sets up job fairs. HR evaluates competitive salaries and benefits for the industry and specific positions.
MF: Large scale downsizing, while trying to identify and retain resources which are crucial for current and future operations.
Third party website software, to manage candidate job applications and resume' information mining.
Learning how to use websites such as LinkedIn, to represent and market their hiring needs.
5.Does HR sit at the strategic planning table? If so, how did this come about? If not, what is HRs role in helping the company meet its goals?
LL: Yes. The VP for HR is a member of the CEOs Executive Staff, and participates in strategic planning. The HR VP contributes directly to the corporate strategic plan, which is updated annually.
6.Is there a formal mentoring program at the company? If not, why not?
LL: There are formal mentoring programs at the company, including a fairly brief new employee orientation and assignment of mentors from the new employees functional group. Both of these programs are currently under review.
7.What steps are being taken, if any, to mitigate the threat from brain drain? (Brain drain Is a term used to describe the loss of skilled and experienced intellectual, technical and professional personnel through transfer to other professional environments, or what may be of more immediate concern; the impending retirement of the baby boomer generation. )

LL: Some of the steps: 1) Modest amount of in-house training for cross-generational differences, in an attempt to make the company environment more attractive to younger employees. 2) active recruiting of young engineers at selected universities. 3) support of young engineer organizations and activities at the local university. 4) Increased mentoring activity to train young engineers by senior engineers. 5) Some effort to identify qualities of the work environment that appeal to younger engineers??"more net centric hardware and software, for example.

8.What tools/methods are used to increase employee retention?
LL: Employee surveys to identify sources of employee satisfaction/dissatisfaction, and then explicit actions to make changes accordingly. Areas of greatest concern include improved training, more transparent evaluation process, and access to best tools (software, computers, technical hardware).
MF: Benefit packages.
Pay for performance rewards (both individual and company performance), which is intended to reward personnel who are willing to engage and outperform their peers.

Surveys to identify concerns of the workforce, and trends good or bad, for any particular departments.

"360 degree" evaluation, which also reviews an employee's manager.

Assessment of other company benefits in the same class.


9.How has the recession affected the way HRM is performed?
LL: At first, more emphasis on employee retention in the face of uncertain business opportunities. Greatly reduced hiring, and consequently less activity with job fairs, while sorting through larger volume of job applications. Within the last few months, the new business has risen dramatically, so that now the emphasis is on increased hiring, especially of technical personnel.

10. Is there a formal succession plan in place?

LL: Formal succession plan extends to VPs and their direct reports. We expect to include more management levels in the coming year. Critical technical personnel are identified, and cross-training or new hires identified to provide back-up for those critical personnel.
MF: a large part of activity during the recession, is how to manage downsizing of the workforce, and at the same time, comply with government regulations. I can't remember the name, but there is a regulation (at least in CA), that if a company is laying off more then 10% or the workforce, there are certain things they must comply with, such as giving the employee an 60 notice. This becomes an important factor in the treatment and "packages" given to employees. There is a lot of contract work as well, to develop legal agreements for the laid off employees, to essentially waive some rights, and provide more legal recourse for the company, in exchange for severance money.
Sue


There are faxes for this order.

Customer is requesting that (FreeLanceWriter) completes this order.

Would you be able to reply to the attach class discussion?

1. Describe the process that an organization follows when using a deliberate strategy. How does this process differ when an organization implements an emergent strategy?


The process that an organization follows when using a deliberate strategy is to choose and implements a plan with specific goals. Senior Managers are given distinct responsibilities. Any company can implement this plan by assigning most senior managers with two specific responsibilities, one short term and one long term.
While this strategy shows some specificity, an emergent strategy is one where a pattern of action develops over time in the organization in the absence of mission and goals or despite mission and goals.

2. Which strategy should a firm develop first - its business level or its corporate level strategy? Describe the relationship between a firm's business and corporate strategies.

It depends on the type of business, if it is a large organization which compete in a variety of industries and market or an organization that deals with one particular industry or market.
Corporate-level strategy is suited for an organization operating simultaneously across several industries and markets. Although the large organizations are engaged in several businesses, industries and markets, a business- level strategy is developed and needed for each industry and market; this is the relationship that exists between the business and the corporate strategies.

Your manager believes in learning from other companies' success stories as well as stories of failure. In particular, she likes to apply various management theories when possible, rather than starting from the beginning every time a decision has to be made. She asks you to write a memo to her addressing the following:

From any recent or current event in the news, discuss and explain the use of these two specific
theories that the firms you researched believed in
=In the human resource area, moving toward an employee empowerment culture
=In the marketing area, the theory of penetration pricing

For each of these two, explain the following:
=The issue being addressed that gave rise to employing these theories
=How the theory being followed leads to specific actions on the part of the company
=Results achieved
=If you had been the senior manager in these situations, at those companies, how might you
have addressed the situation any differently? What other theory could have been the basis
for the decision.

I have three questions that need to be answered one of the questions will be a response to a article that need to be read I will post the link for the article please label the response as question 1-3


Question 1

One of the most important aspects of healthcare administration and governance is medical staff credentialing and ?delineation of privileges.? As a senior manager, you will be directly involved in making sure that physicians practicing in your organization are qualified for the services they offer and procedures they perform. You must protect patients? safety as highest priority in this regard. What steps will you take in the process of physician credentialing and delineation of privileges for your hospital or clinic?

Question 2

Clinical support services are diverse in any modern healthcare facility, but they all share some common elements from a management perspective. Select any one of the CSS departments of interest to yourself, and provide examples of performance measures that you would use in managing the service. Be sure to address all seven dimensions of performance for your department.




Question 3

Read: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/12/AR2008091203367.html

What did you learn from this article about nursing recruitment and retention? How would you use this information as CEO, COO, CNO, or senior manager in creating your own nursing recruitment and retention plan?

University of Phoenix. SOC/315 week 4

Search the Internet to find at least one news item about this lawsuit, preferably from a news source in the state in which the incident occurred.
Write a 1,050- to 1,200- word paper that includes the following:

A description of the compliance issue that led to the lawsuit and its ramifications for the organization.
A brief summary of the functions of the EEOC in one paragraph.
The EEOC?s role in this lawsuit.
Whether or not this lawsuit promotes social change; justify your reasoning
A comparison of the EEOC press release to the news item. What accounts for the differences?
Strategies you would implement, if you were a senior manager of this company, to ensure future compliance and inclusion in the multicultural workplace.

Format your paper consistent with APA guidelines.

For this assessment, the writer has to read carefully the ?Erickson: Leading In Times of Change? case study (attached to this order) and answer the following questions:

Discuss:

1- Which theoretical approach/es to leadership can better explain the Leadership style of Carl-Henric Svanberg?

2- Provide your assessment of the ?operational excellence ladder? approach and discuss why Carl-Henric Svanberg?s focus on soft skills was suitable for Ericsson.

3- Were there some measures and strategies that Svanberg could have chosen to take but that he ignored?

While the writer required to use the case study material as evidence, he also needs to support his answers with further academic material such as peered viewed journal articles (available through the university library databases) and books. In addition more practitioner-oriented publications and company material (widely available online) would also be useful.

Main Texts:

- Yukl, G. (2010) Leadership in Organization. London: Pearson Prentice-Hall. 7th Edition.

- Jackson, B and Parry, K. (2008) A very short, fairly interesting and reasonably cheap book about Studying Leadership. London: Sage.

Other suggested texts:
- Grint, K. (2005) Leadership: Limits and Possibilities. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

- Western, S. (2008) Leadership. A critical text. London: Sage.


Articles:

- Adler, N.J. (1996) Global women political leaders: An invisible history and increasingly important future. Leadership Quarterly, 7(1), 133-161.

- Alvesson, M. Svenningsson, S (2003) ?The Great Disappearing Act: Difficulties in doing ?Leadership??. Leadership Quarterly, 14(3), 359-381.

- Barge J. K. and Fairhurst G. T. (2008) Living Leadership: A Systemic Constructionist Approach. Leadership, 4(3): 227 - 251.

- Day D.V. (2000) Leadership Development: a review in context. Academy of Management Review, 37, 1047-1060.

- Elliott C. and Stead V. (2008) Learning from Leading Women's Experience: Towards a Sociological Understanding, Leadership, 4(2): 159 - 180.

- Grint, K. (2005) Problems, problems, problems: The social construction of ?leadership? Human Relations, Vol. 58, No. 11, 1467-1494.

- Grint, K. (2007) Learning to Lead: Can Aristotle Help Us Find the Road to Wisdom? Leadership, 3(2): 231 - 246.

- Guthey, E. and Jackson, B. (2005) ?CEO Portraits and the Authenticity Paradox?. Journal of Management Studies, 42(5), 1057-1082.

- Knights D and Wilmott H. (1992) Conceptualising leadership processes: a study of senior managers in a financial services company. Journal of Management Studies, 29, 761-782.

- Morrell K. (2006) Aphorisms and Leaders' Rhetoric: A New Analytical Approach, Leadership, 2(3): 367 - 382.

- Morrell K. and Hartley J. (2006) A model of political leadership, Human Relations, 59(4): 483 - 504.

- Osland, J.S., Bird, A., Delano, J. and Jacob, M. (2000) Beyond sophisticated stereotyping: Cultural sensemaking in context. Academy of Management Executive, 14(1), 65-79.

- Sinclair, A. (2005) Body possibilities in Leadership. Leadership, 1(4), 387-406. Additional articles on Leadership Development practices will be provided during the course.

Websites:

- Interview with Keith Grint:
http://www.som.cranfield.ac.uk/som/knowledgeinterchange/media/transcripts/A
rts%20of%20Leadership%20-%20Part%202.pdf

- Public opinion: Keith Grint:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/career_and_jobs/public_sector/
article420933.ece

- Also in http://www.lums.lancs.ac.uk/news/timesgrintopinion/

TOYOTA cars company


You are required to examine the external environment of TOYOTA you have selected and discuss how this impacts on the internal organisational strategy (structures and management).

Task 1: Critically evaluate the key factors (e.g. environmental, global, competition, technology) that impact on TOYOTA performance. Your findings should be drawn from use of analysis tools (e.g. PESTLE, Porter?s five forces, SWOT).


Task 2: Provide strategic recommendations for senior managers of the TOYOTA

The above two tasks need to be presented in a business report format.

These questions are related to "Business English'', so make sure you strict to the subject of "Business English" when answering the questions. The answer to first question should be 2 pages long. The answer to the second question should cover about 3 pages.


Q1: Design a questionnaire to determine the learning requirements of a potential ''Business English'' student, Mr.Hasegawa. He is the senior manager of an automobile manufacturer.


Q2: Mr. Masoni is an environmental engineer and has just left his job in local government and is now working in the area of water pollution. He is employed by a consultancy in Tokyo which specialises in advising companies about how to comply with targets imposed by national and local governments as well as those imposed by international agreements. He will frequently travel abroad to meet with sales
personnel from companies producing technology to reduce water pollution. Although he is not a buyer,
he is required to report back to his employers on this technology and to make recommendations on
effectiveness and value.
Before he goes on his first trip to England, his company has booked a course of Business English lessons on a one-to-one basis with your school. As a Business English teacher, you have been asked to devise the course.
Perform a language analysis based on the following:
1. Job analysis
2. Definition of need in terms of outcome
3. Target Performance objectives
4. Breakdown of performance areas in terms of language (notions / functions / vocabulary /expression / structures)
5. Language Analysis
Note: You might want to do some research regarding the job description of environmental engineering in order to understand how to write the answer.

Sunflower seems like it had a corporate culture that was neither sunny nor floral. Actually, it sounds like a pretty nasty place to work. And then they changed.

Please read the article below. What do you think? Describe the changes made at Sunflower and tell if they reflect the kind of cultural leadership you would use.

Please write three pages.

Using the power of corporate culture to achieve results: A case study of sunflower electric power corporation
Management Quarterly; Washington; Summer 2001; Justin W Schulz; L Christian Hauck; Rita M Hauck;



Abstract:
An in-depth analysis of the attempt by Sunflower Electric Power Corporation, a generation and transmission cooperative, to change the culture of the organization from the top down. Sunflower was the first of several G&Ts to default on senior debt obligations. In 1988, the morale of Sunflower people was at an all-time low, as they faced an uncertain future with a debt structure thought by many to be only a temporary fix, with local newspapers leveling charges of mismanagement and corruption. At the core of Sunflower's change in approach was the deliberate redevelopment of its corporate culture. For Sunflower, the whole, its people and culture, would become more than the sum of the parts.


Sunflower Electric Power Corporation was the first of several generation and transmission cooperatives (G&Ts) to default on senior debt obligations. Sunflower was driven to renegotiate its financial obligations with its creditors, including the Rural Electrification Administration, the National Rural Utilities Cooperative Finance Corporation, and the Bank for Cooperatives. The debt restructuring agreement was signed just days before CEO, Chris Hauck, was hired in 1988. Sunflower and its eight members faced a plummeting local economy, doubledigit interest rates, and the problem of what to do with their brand-new $500 million coal-fired Holcomb power plant, loaded with expensive cutting-edge pollution control equipment and sized to meet an anticipated booming demand for energy that, even today, has not fully materialized. In 1988, the morale of Sunflower people was at an all-time low, as they faced an uncertain future with a debt structure thought by many to be only a temporary fix, with local newspapers leveling charges of mismanagement and corruption. In those days, some employees even feared cashing their paychecks in their local communities, as they felt they were blamed for the bad situation. This article summarizes the dramatic story of Sunflower's fresh approach to "business as usual."

At the core of Sunflower's change in approach was the deliberate redevelopment of its corporate culture. For Sunflower, the whole, its people and culture, would become more than the sum of the parts. In reflecting on Sunflower's development from the late 80s into the 21st century, the management team identified three key elements that made the transformation possible. First, many midmanagers were ready for a change and they knew it had to be deep, not superficial. Second, the Sunflower Board of Directors brought in a new CEO committed to breaking down organizational walls between work units as well as opening up decision processes to encourage participation from everyone. Third, the new CEO brought in an organizational consulting team to help develop the processes that would make Sunflower a more effective organization.

THE COMPELLING EVENT

When he joined Sunflower, Hauck discovered that his predecessor had enforced an intense command-and-control culture that encouraged managers to fight over and protect turf. Power was used to advance the self-interests of this previous CEO and some managers who followed his lead. Other Sunflower managers were stifled in their efforts to do their jobs properly. Concerns about the financial condition, and questions of mismanagement, resulted in an investigation by the Kansas Corporation Commission and the Commission's support for the dismissal of the incumbent CEO.

Hauck's prior employment experiences had taught him what he did not want in a job or a company. From his past employment in senior positions, Hauck had seen bosses and work environments that no one should tolerate. He knew that as the new CEO he wanted to create an environment in which people would thrive, not just survive.

Shortly after his arrival, the new CEO had to deal with the residual effects of the previous management style. One of his senior executives was a particularly abusive manager. The manager frequently engaged in the practice of berating one supervisor until the man became physically sick. This supervisor and his group were so fearful of the executive and his predictable reaction to any mistakes they might make that they avoided taking the reasonable business risks that were necessary for them to succeed. Their work performance was dismal. Hauck dismissed the executive and made clear to all employees that he counted on them to use their judgment, including taking thoughtful risks. As the group came to believe that it really was part of their "job description" to risk reasonable mistakes, their performance improved dramatically, and these improvements led to significant, and much needed, rate reductions.

Dismissing the abusive manager and setting a different tone set the stage for building a better work climate, but there was more to do. Hauck found that Sunflower's entire executive management was seriously misaligned. The misalignment was evident in the conflicts over decisions, recurring turf issues, and the withholding of information by managers. To help address these problems, Hauck, with the support of the senior staff, began looking for a consulting firm with the expertise to help the company better align its management. Eventually, Sunflower developed a sound, long-term relationship with a Denver-based firm, Applied Behavioral Sciences, PC. This marked a new direction in how Sunflower would conduct business.

REDEFINING THE PROBLEM

Hauck initially defined the management difficulties as "people problems" that would go away if individuals could just be given the right psychological assistance to help them "fix" their personal shortcomings. But Sunflower's new consultants, Drs. Justin Schulz and Tom Traynor, emphasized that organizational development isn't just a matter of changing individuals. Rather, they explained the importance of interviewing the entire executive and senior management group, along with conducting an assessment of the company as a whole, in order to have an understanding of the organizational environment and to grasp how effectively it functioned in decisionmaking, communication, and utilization of human capital. The consultants explained that to attack the most aggravating symptoms, such as "misalignment" and "dysfunctional behavior," without an understanding of what triggers and perpetuates them can lead to changes that make the problems worse, rather than better. Schulz and Traynor interviewed the entire Sunflower management team and administered an objective behavior survey throughout the company. A week later, they met with the Sunflower executives to report the results, and, as one may have suspected, there was much more to the story than the executives had grasped.

While there had been a recent improvement in the overall climate, there were still significant deficiencies. Simple rejection of problematic practices of the past had not created a new organization. While the practices of the old regime had been renounced, people were not clear on what to do instead. The work environment did not include any new coherent cultural values or norms of expected behavior. Rejection of the old practices had created a vacuum. While operating in this vacuum, managers still engaged in unproductive conflict and withheld information, micromanaged staff, and blamed others.

In spite of Hauck's desire to create open, honest work relationships, an overall lack of trust prevailed, especially between work units. Many people expressed frustration at not being able to have more latitude in how they did work, as well as at the lack of progress in creating an emotionally safe and open work environment.

One thorny issue was the behavior of a particular supervisor. Although highly regarded for his knowledge and experience, the supervisor's behavior had triggered numerous complaints about his combative, and disrespectful manner. If the company managers were going to "talk the talk" about having a better work environment, something would have to be done. But what?

THE CEO's DILEMMA

Hauck had approached the management alignment problems as a problem with "them." The assessment of how the organization was functioning, as done by Schulz and Traynor made it clear that the problem was with "us," that is, the entire company. Addressing the perceived shortcomings of individual managers might provide some temporary improvements in specific cases, but the benefit would have little impact on the larger functional problems that involved the entire company. Creating a healthier, more effective company would require an entirely new approach by management.

Hauck realized that to create the kind of company he envisioned, he would have to give up control in exchange for leadership. This posed a serious dilemma when he considered his own business skill set. In all of his professional life, he had come to understand that the role of executives was to be in charge - to "make things happen." The last thing a real executive did was to give up control - especially in the tradition-bound electric utility industry where being in control was the way utilities were always run.

With consultation from Schulz and Traynor, Hauck redefined his job. The concept of servant leadership struck a sympathetic chord with Hauck and his personal belief system. As a servant leader, Hauck saw that he, and all of the Sunflower executives, were accountable to Sunflower as stewards in a much larger community. Hauck, and his executive team, began to approach their jobs as being responsible for managing the assets of their members and helping employees do their jobs. Since their jobs were now to help people get their work done, they could devote their efforts to supporting staff rather than managing them.

Hauck also realized that to effectively lead the entire team to accept the concept of servant leadership, he would have to lead by example. Acting on his belief that this was the right direction, Hauck laid out a new ground rule for doing business-- from now on, everyone in Sunflower was to hold him accountable to act consistently with his stated values, and if anyone disagreed with his decisions, they were to confront him directly.

Reflecting on their collective responsibility, the executive team identified a core value that would be the overriding principle for how Sunflower would conduct its business: Above all else, people are to be treated with dignity and respect. In the following years, this principle would prove to be a true benchmark for guiding actions that Sunflower could rely on time-after-time.

IT TAKES A MANAGEMENT TEAM

To DEVELOP A COMPANY

At this point, Schulz and Traynor began coaching the executive group on leadership practices that would demonstrate a commitment to treating people with respect and dignity and, at the same time, increase accountability. In the course of this phase, the executive group determined that they needed to be more proactive in addressing problematic behavior on the part of managers or supervisors. After more thorough consideration of the problems they were having with a key manager, they determined that, in fact, part of the problem was a mismatch between the manager's personality and style and what they were expecting him to do. They had put the wrong person in the position. Rather than trying to "fix" the manager, they decided to rotate him to a demanding senior staff position that would capitalize on his considerable technical talents, while changing the interpersonal dynamics of his work to better suit his interpersonal style.

Moving the manager meant finding a replacement for a key position. The executive team decided to promote a supervisor whose interpersonal style seemed more in line with the environment they wanted to nurture. Using the personnel change to shake up "the old way of doing things" and implement cultural change, Hauck's team wanted to unleash the potential of people that was not being tapped.

Hauck's vision involved an organization where people, at all ranks and in all positions, took initiatives without fear of reprisal. Leadership was not to be top-down, but a responsibility shared by everyone. To introduce the operational managers and supervisors to a new way of looking at running the business, Schulz and Traynor designed a four-day leadership development program for all Power Production and Transmission (Operations) management - thirtyfive managers and supervisors. Not until the fourth day of the program would Hauck and his executive group participate. On that last day of the program, the participants would share what they had learned and devise a plan for implementing new practices.

This program did not resemble training, as everyone knew it in the past, but was a bold test of the executive group's belief that leadership could come from all ranks. The program, The Spirit of Leadership, was convened at an executive conference center 250 miles away from Sun flo we r's center of operations. With all operational managers at the program , Operations' functions would be the total responsibility of line staff for that week. If the most vital operations could be managed on a day-to-day basis without management, both the line staff and the management staff would have to rethink their roles and business operations. And rethink it they did, beyond anyone's expectations.

This management leadership program became a watershed event for Sunflower. The goal had been to promote a more open, participative style and to put an end to the turf battles and micromanagement that had stifled employees. By the third day, the operations supervisors and managers had "caught the fever" and had changed the workshop agenda. The management group started to become a cohesive team, and as a team they set as their highest priority the task of creating a set of principles for guiding their daily actions. When Hauck and his executive group joined the participants on the last day, they encountered a more cohesive management team with a new set of practices for conducting the business-their Management Commitment Statement. The management team had drawn a line in the sand; a standard for their accountability (See page 9 for a copy of the statement).

A follow-up assessment by Schulz and Traynor revealed that change had begun, but there was more work ahead, especially in one unit. The most noticeable improvements had occurred among managers and supervisors. For example, line employees noted that the management group was being much more cooperative with one another, but this had not extended to substantial improvements in the working relationships between managers and supervisors. Line employees believed that they were listened to more and that their input was solicited, but they were unable to tell whether their input made much difference. Line employees also perceived that this newfound enthusiasm for openness, respect, and dignity was driven entirely by the CEO and was not widely embraced among the executive team or among the broader senior management group. Sunflower now had to take the next step to extend these changes.

The next phase of development was targeted at expanding the increased cooperation and improved communication vertically. This phase included training for line personnel, first-line supervisors and ongoing process consultation for the Operations Managers. Individuals were given training in conflict resolution, and learned strategies for working with others. By April of 1993, the anticipated changes were beginning to take hold. Six months before, many employees had stated, in effect, that "nothing really changes, they just paid lip service." Now, the complaints were aimed at the small number of managers and supervisors who were still not acting to give employees more say in managing their work. At the same time, it was apparent that there was conflict within the executive team, including very sensitive interpersonal conflicts. These conflicts were not getting addressed, much less resolved. An underlying "hot" issue that continued to impede the executive group's development was Hauck's own management style. While endorsing a more open, participative work climate, his fellow executives often felt intimidated and unable to confront him when they had serious differences of opinion. The realization that the executive group was not yet a team brought home to Hauck that change really would have to begin at the top. The realization of the development needs of the executive group led to the next phase in Sunflower's development - process consultation with the executives.

PROCESS CONSULTATION WITH THE

EXECUTIVES

Unfortunately, after much initial progress, development not only stalled, but a reassessment revealed that some units had actually regressed.

Some of this was due to Sunflower's vulnerability as a "single-- shaft" G&T with all of its base-load requirements produced at Sunflower's coal-fired Holcomb Station. The Power Production Manager felt significant pressure to keep Holcomb Station running with on-line availability expected at higher-than-average industry performance. The fear of "The Big Mistake" among Operations people seemed to contribute to an erosion of Sunflower's reputation for exceptional productivity rates. But most of the regression in performance seemed directly related to the avoidance of conflict among management.

After experiencing the satisfaction of being a more cohesive team, the management group found itself unable to address conflict openly and productively. As a consequence, accountability, as well as decisionmaking, deteriorated. Out of frustration, some line supervisors reverted to the old, abusive practices that had been displaced. Employees complained of feeling less empowered and resentful when people were not held accountable for living by The Management Commitment Statement.

Closer inquiry into the difficulty revealed that the accountability demanded by a more open, participative management practice was triggering significant personal conflicts for some managers and executives. Under the old commandand-control regime, many had been able to let someone else (i.e., "the boss") apply the heavy hand of telling people what to do; supervisors could sidestep feeling responsible for decisions as they implemented these directives knowing that they were just doing what they were told. However a more open process, based upon full sharing of information, weighing ideas by their merits and following through on commitments required a higher level of personal responsibility than most had been used to. A more open, participative management style now meant that everyone was responsible for holding each other accountable; a responsibility that made several key people extremely uncomfortable.

Additionally, some executives perceived that Hauck moved so quickly with new ideas that they did not have enough time to absorb them, or that he did not commit sufficient time to important considerations. As well as the personal style differences among Hauck and his executives further compounded the problem, as these differences generated communication conflicts that led them to question each others' motives. They were not sure how much to trust each other. The focus now had to be on building a greater degree of trust among executives and managers.

Because the changes that had been implemented had created personal developmental conflicts with several key people, individual executive coaching was added to the process consultation that Schulz and Traynor were providing to the executives as a group. This individual coaching helped these managers establish personal development plans to complement the work that the management and executive teams were doing on resolving their interpersonal differences.

During this phase, the executive group began to address their real perceptions of, and feelings toward, one another. In the process, they became much better listeners, "Seeking first to understand before seeking to be understood." They made the transition from being an executive team in name to becoming an executive team in fact. They also began to openly discuss how their own styles and ways of dealing with people and anxiety-provoking issues undermined the changes they were trying to bring about.

The Power Production managers and supervisors and the Vice President of Administration were soon given an opportunity to test their new skills when implementing a "no facial hair" policy for personnel whose jobs required the possible use of respirators as part of their fire fighting gear. In the past, a policy would have been announced, and if people did not like it, they would have been given a hostile reply of "Tough." But now, that employee input was sought and considered, making management apprehensive about how to implement a necessary policy that they knew would provoke intense criticism from employees very attached to their beards. The emotional attachment some employees had to their facial hair threatened to turn this seemingly minor policy into a major source of resentment.

The time spent developing themselves as a management team had paid off, as they tackled this thorny issue. As apprehensive as some were about the flak they expected to receive from some employees, as a team they were better able to use each other's ideas, collaborate and prepare the implementation of the policy. To avoid having the announcement be impersonal, they decided that the Power Production Manager would announce the new fire fighting gear policy at an all-hands meeting, rather than by written communication. That Manager felt confident that his managers, who had helped craft the implementation strategy, were fully supportive. As expected, there was some resistance to the policy. But the support he had from his managers made it easier for the Power Production Manager to announce the policy, listen to complaints without being defensive, acknowledge the anger that some might feel, and make clear that the policy must be implemented. Although there was some grumbling, it faded as people accepted the policy.

Hauck also began noticing a change in the relationship of the executive team and senior managers with Sunflower's Board of Directors. As he noted, "We're talking more with the Board, now, rather than to the Board." Addressing the interpersonal issues within the executive team was, at times, uncomfortable, but it enabled them to create the kind of team they wanted. Decision making was more efficient, they were quicker to voice concerns or differences of opinion, they spent more time inquiring about one another's ideas and perceptions, and they had a better appreciation of their individual differences, needs, and perceptions. The executive team now had a shared vision: It was not just one CEO's vision; it was the executive team's vision, shared and supported by all on the team.

In the course of its develop-ment, Schulz and Traynor helped the Executive team see that they were evolving toward a specific type of organizational culture, one known as a Competence Culture. The essence of a Competence Culture is that it constantly pursues new frontiers; it is driven to excellence in new ideas and innovation. Effective leaders in Competence Cultures are visionaries and standard setters, challenging themselves and others to seek new achievements. In the Competence Culture, ideas are judged only by their merit. Anyone can come up with a "best idea." In contrast, in the Control Culture, the culture more commonly found in the utility industry, seniority and conservatism prevail in judging ideas; ideas from juniors in the organization must be carefully checked by those higher up to assure that they do not introduce risk or too much change. Status in Control Cultures comes from your position in the organizational hierarchy, not from the quality of ideas.

Having this clearly defined core culture as their goal, management now had a systematic way of thinking about their culture and the leadership practices that best suited the needs of Sunflower. Complex planning activities, such as outage planning or restarting a mothballed unit, are driven by those who have essential knowledge or insights about the issues, rather than by those who control turf. This leads to a high degree of information exchange with a common understanding of the critical issues. Because of the openness of the process and focus on best ideas, all those involved feel ownership for the decisions. The value of Sunflower's deliberate development of its core culture and leadership practices has been demonstrated time-and-again as decisions become increasingly complex, require a more thorough understanding of the issues, and require quicker reactions.

THE WORK CONTINUES

For Sunflower, organizational and leadership development are not events, but an essential part of the ongoing business. Because of its own commitment to developing as a leadership team, the Executive Team has become a cohesive, aligned group. Differences in ideas are not just expressed - they are thoroughly explored until there is a clear agreement on how to proceed. Ultimately, each idea is measured by how well it serves Sunflower and its stakeholders, and differences in psychological styles are seen as strengths, because the executive team relies on the different styles of its members to complement one another.

Enlarge 200%
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For the year 2001 and beyond, the development plan is to further extend the circle of leadership in Sunflower beyond those in managerial and executive positions. To advance this development, Schulz and Traynor meet regularly with employees from both the supervisory and line ranks to improve significant work processes.

As Sunflower moves ahead, the Executive Team is beginning to identify leadership for the future as they plan for developing succeeding generations of leaders in the company.

THE RETURN ON INVESTMENT

Contrary to predictions in the late 1980s, Sunflower not only survived, but thrived. Today Sunflower employees flourish in an environment of trust and synergistic interdependence. Sunflower enjoys an exemplary reputation as a caring and productive community citizen, and, within the electric utility business, as an example of excellence in achievement in virtually every measurable operating parameter, including rate decreases to members over the period amounting to 34%, an 89% increase in megawatt-hour sales, generation performance that greatly exceeds industry statistical norms in availability, and in recording significant productivity gains.

An intended and important success of Sunflower's process has been the ability to approach important decisions confidently and efficiently. One important decision of the last decade was whether to reactivate Sunflower's mothballed 100 MW gas-steam generating unit, and if so, how to most efficiently deploy it in the power markets. The decision-making process that was used involved the participation of virtually all of senior management meeting together for a free exchange of ideas and strategies. The participants unanimously acclaimed the meeting as an incredible display of the synergy, which the team had acquired from the on-going management development efforts. Their collaboration produced rewards and opportunities beyond the wildest dreams of the group, providing the cornerstone of a business arrangement that led to more than an $8 million annual reduction in Sunflower's rates.

Sunflower pays attention to its culture and values. The benefit is not only to Sunflower as a company, it is also to its employees and their families. Family members have reported that the employees' experiences with cultural transformation have brought a significant improvement in the overall quality of their family relationships and quality of life. In several cases, an employee's spouse has reported that the employee's personal growth from on-the-job interpersonal skill development had carried over into their marriage, enabling their family to stay together.

IMPLICATIONS FOR OTHER

COOPERATIVES

The experience at Sunflower highlights important considerations for any cooperative that plans to develop its corporate culture as part of its strategy for success. First, cooperative executives must be clear about what culture they wish to create or strengthen. Looking back on the early days that set the stage for change, the managers were correct; the change they needed had to be deep. Pursuing "management de jour" - latching onto the latest management fad - would not be a path to real change.

One way of testing the depth of the transformation envisioned for executives is to ask some questions about the culture they will build.

* Upon what values or principles is this culture based?

* How deeply rooted are these values or principles, and who is committed to living by them?

* How can the desired culture be described to others so that they can understand what it is like?

* How do people act within this culture so that they know what will be expected of them?

* How will building or strengthening this culture change the way the cooperative functions?

* How will it make life better for people?

A second consideration is having a compelling event or circumstance to motivate people to pursue cultural change. In Sunflower's case, the compelling circumstance was its financial crisis that required debt restructuring and employment of a new CEO. Without a compelling event or circumstance, people are often too comfortable with the way things are to drive real change. Cooperatives that are threatened by the changes occurring in today's power markets may well feel so anxious about their future survival that they are ready to change.

A third consideration is about planning. Successful cultural change efforts have to be strategic and tactical at the same time. In Sunflower's case, development was evolutionary, in that the initial effort was focused on part of the company - Operations - and grew over time to be applied across all elements of the company.

Although the focus was not initially corporate-wide, it was always aimed at changing interpersonal and organizational processes to reflect the core value of treating people with respect and dignity, as well as building a competence culture. Whether initiating change in some parts of the organization first or going company-wide at the outset, we would argue that many attempts at major organizational change fail, either because the intended change has no real relevance to the company's core business strategy or because the change efforts are not integrated in a manner that creates a synergy among the change activities. Cultural change efforts are much more likely to succeed if there is a coherent developmental plan that aligns business strategy, culture development and leadership development.

Fourth, organizational and leadership development are ongoing. If these are treated just as occasional events or "training," they will not make significant contributions to the organization. Organization and leadership development are core responsibilities for executives and managers. Truly dynamic organizations cultivate leaders rather than managers. The ones that are most succesful at using the power of corporate culture are those who cultivate leaders who reflect their cooperative's core culture and values.

Fifth, executives are so close to the day-to-day activities that they need someone from the outside with a detached point of view to help them see their company objectively. Work demands can interfere with stepping back and being objective. People may fail to give executives a complete picture of all that is going on within the organization. Additionally, the size and complexity of organizations, and the work that goes on within them, are often more than one individual can absorb. In Sunflower's case, Chris Hauck found that he needed the outside point of view, as well as coaching from his consultants to fully appreciate his own thinking, personal reactions and effects on others and make the best use of his talents.

Developing powerful company cultures is real work, and it is strategic work. Like all effective strategic work, it requires a clear vision of where you are going, a plan for getting there, bold action, and a commitment to follow through to achieve results. And, as Sunflower discovered, it can pay off many times over.

[Sidebar]
MANAGEMENT COMMITMENT
October 8, 1992
Sunflower Management Workshop

[Sidebar]
We, the members of the Sunflower Management Team, are committed to work together toward the continuing improvement of Sunflower, the specific goals developed at

[Sidebar]
the October 1992 Workshop and toward the following general goals for Sunflower:

[Sidebar]
1. To have a positive attitude toward Sunflower, toward each other within the Sunflower Management Team and toward all other Sunflower people.
2. To cooperate when working with each other and to promote and support intra-department and inter-department cooperation.
3. To work toward total company alignment and to empower people to this result.
4. To trust each other and to earn the trust of the Sunflower people. To demonstrate the Respect and Dignity ideals of Sunflower,
5. To recognize that it is our responsibility to manage environments and things, not to manage people. Our responsibility is to empower people to manage themselves. We will ask, "What can I do as a member of the Sunflower Management Team to help people perform their work?"
6. To develop healthy, positive and more thorough communications throughout Sunflower.
7. To identify and resolve interpersonal problems at the most immediate and practical level.
8. To supervise and evaluate performance objectively, consistently and respectfully.

[Sidebar]
We invite all Sunflower People to join with us in this commitment.

[Sidebar]
Types of Organizational Cultures

[Sidebar]
From years of researching the cultures of companies, Dr. William Schneider has identified the four following types of organizational cultures: Control, Collaboration, Competence, and Cultivation. These four cultures can be identified by their distinctly differing approaches to strategy, leadership, and organizational behavior.

[Sidebar]
Control cultures drive for predictability and order. Leadership is authoritative and conservative, with a high regard for "proper channels." The strategy for success is to create and enforce order throughout the organization and with customers. (Think: Exxon or Proctor & Gamble.)
Collaboration cultures pursue close relationships with customers. Mirroring this emphasis on the quality of relationships, their leadership invites high participation and focuses on building highly cohesive teams. Success comes from the quality of relationships, both within the organization and between the organization and its customers. (Think: Southwest Airlines or Charles Schwab.)
Competence cultures pursue excellence, innovation, being the first with new ideas. Leadership in competence cultures is visionary, sets high standards and encourages people to achieve new heights. The strategy for success is to be exceptional, unique. (Intel or the old Bell Labs would fit here.)
Cultivation cultures pursue life enrichment, for customers and employees. Leadership is charismatic and inspirational. (Examples: W.L. Gore and Habitat for Humanity.)

[Author note]
Justin W. Schulz, Ph.D., is a corporate psychologist and president of Applied Behavioral Sciences, a professional corporation providing organizational and leadership development services. He has assisted dozens of organizations in the electric utility, health care, manufacturing, oil & gas, and high tech industries with reorganizations, aligning organizational culture and leadership with business strategy, and with mergers and acquisitions. He played a key role in the decommissioning of Fort St. Vrain Nuclear Power Station for Public Service Company of Colorado. His numerous publications include articles for the electric utility industry in Nuclear Engineering International Ra"aste, and Public Utilities Fortnightly. He lives with his wife and children in Littleton, Colorado. He can be reached via email at [email protected].

[Author note]
L. Christian Hauck, is president and CEO of Sunflower Electric Power Corporation, Hays, Kansas, a G&T that serves most of the wholesale power and energy delivered in the 34 counties of western Kansas. Prior to coming to Sunflower in 1988, Chris served in senior executive and legal positions at Colorado-Ute Electric Association, Florida Power & Light Company, Southern California Edison Company, Lockheed Aircraft International, Inc., and the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. He holds a B.A. in Economics from California State University at Los Angeles, and a J.D. from UCLA School of Law. He and his spouse Rita have two sons, both graduates of the United States Air Force Academy, who are currently on active duty, one an F-16 fighter pilot; the other a health care facilities officer.
Rita M. Hauck, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor of Technology Studies at Fort Hays State University, Hays, and Kansas. She holds an MBA in Management from FHSU, has taught in the University's School of Business, and has extensively studied management theory as a student, professor and consultant to her co-author. In addition to her substantive input to this article, Dr. Hauck also made significant editorial contributions.

I will send you more supplymentary information later.

Here is the topic and describtion

Objectives
This assessment item relates to the course learning outcomes numbers 1 to 5 as stated on page 1.

Which are:
1. situate strategy and human resource management within a contemporary organisational framework
2. develop insights into implementation strategies and understand the importance of those insights for the human resource management professional
3. incorporate appropriate individual and organisational human resource management strategies within an organisational context by way of analytical essays and reports
4. critically and analytically evaluate the relevance of new theories, design methods and concepts within human resource management
5. communicate your knowledge and analysis skills, in counter argument.

Read the following case study, The IT firm and the performance appraisal system (Boxall and Purcell 2008) which has been given for your class discussion on week 8 on your moodle website of this course as background for your report.
Case study
The company is an innovative IT service business, providing consulting and software applications to insurance companies. It has 700 employees, all of whom are employed on individual employment contracts. If its historical rate of growth continues, it expects to have 1000 staff fairly shortly. The firm has expanded very quickly in its specialist segment of the industry and senior management realises its HR policies have not kept pace. Given the companys desire to professionalise all parts of the business, two years ago, Angus, the CEO, appointed an HR Director, Glenys. Since then, she has built a small HR department of 3 staff.
Glenys is a member of the senior management team, which also includes Angus and five other senior managers: three in charge of service divisions, one in charge of the companys own information systems and one the financial controller. All have lower level managers reporting to them, with the greatest number of middle managers and team leaders (first-line managers) in the operating divisions.
With Anguss full support, one of Glenyss first acts, 21 months ago, was to hire a firm of HR consultants to help the company develop a good performance appraisal (PA) system, one which would help managers to set performance objectives, formalise the process for making merit-based pay recommendations, and foster employee development. Senior management, led by Glenys, worked with
the consultants on the design of the system. Angus felt he could leave it to the members of his senior management team to speak up if they thought anything was unwise in the design and, besides, he thought, Ive now got a highly paid HR Director and an HR department and theyre the experts on this stuff. The new PA system is based on setting individual performance objectives on an annual basis (a
management-by-objectives (MBO) system). It involves staff participation in setting these goals and requires managers to keep an eye on how goals are going every three months in case some goals need to change or employees need coaching. At the end of the financial year, the system requires managers to meet with each of their team members to discuss achievement against planned goals. It uses a five-point rating scale to assess overall achievement against these objectives, anchored as follows:

1 2 3 4 5
Unacceptable Marginal Competent Commendable Outstanding

The performance appraisal system is not simply about performance issues, however. Once the performance rating has been discussed, it then moves into a section on employee development in which the manager is supposed to discuss employee knowledge and skills and agree a development plan, which may include training recommendations

All the companys managers were put through 2 days of appraiser training. This was designed to help them deal with such issues as rater bias and how to handle difficult appraisal interviews. After the training was complete, the consultants declared the system installed and departed. The CEO, Angus, then told managers to go ahead and set objectives with each team member. This was done, not without
some difficulty, but it happened. Then, after 12 months, appraisal interviews were carried out, with Glenys and a member of her staff helping to ensure this happened. Managers found the systems requirements somewhat laborious but at least the forms were on-line and the recommendations on pay and training could be sent directly to the companys HR department that way. Some four months ago,
Glenys informed Angus that all the recommendations had arrived.
Unfortunately, no merit pay increases have emerged yet and disquiet is bubbling up among the staff. A round of post-installation focus groups, comprised of randomly selected team leaders and staff members, has just been conducted by the HR consultants who installed the system. They show that employees are losing confidence that anything positive will come out of the new PA system. The sort of comments people have been making include the following:
The idea of rewarding our stars is good but HR makes it all too complicated!
Look, Im prepared to give them the benefit of the doubt but the whole thing has taken too long. Why are they not making any decisions?
Well, in my view, things were better before there were any high-powered HR procedures in the company. My manager had more pull then and could get his boss to act quickly on a pay increase. There was no form filling and people were gung-ho and pretty loyal for this industry.

Several of the best performing staff have resigned in the last month, moving for better pay and conditions elsewhere. There is currently a very healthy labour market for talented programmers.
Part of the delay relates to a problem with the pattern of appraisal ratings across departments. Managers in Division X, the largest service department (where problematic employee turnover is occurring), have rated 60% of their staff as outstanding (five on the scale) while most other managers in the company have
given an average rating of (close to) 4 with around 20% in the outstanding category. Glenys is not at all happy with Division X. Along with the pay recommendations, she has reviewed the training recommendations from Division X: these actually suggest that a lot of fairly expensive training and development activity is needed for most staff there. This is hardly consistent with the view that 60% of the staff are at level 5 in terms of job performance. What are Division Xs managers up to?


Just to make matters worse, the business environment in the insurance industry has deteriorated dramatically in the last 3 months (due to a string of adverse weather events) and this is expected to make insurance companies less likely to commission new software projects. There is now a board-driven directive to review costs in all departments. Angus, who has enjoyed running a high-growth company, now finds himself in the position of having to manage a different context altogether. He has to ask Glenys to meet with him and the rest of the senior management team to review all recommendations for salary increases. Despite lower level managers having told staff that their performance is commendable or outstanding (and, in Division X, that 60% are outstanding), he makes it clear to her that any pay increases will now have to be very carefully handled and will not proceed without his personal approval.

You should write a report
In your report, include discussion and recommendations for linking HR system to organizational performance that will contribute to the future growth and prosperity of the organisation. Critically analyse the case and evaluate the following aspects:

the core issues and HRM concepts directly or indirectly reflected in the case.
the black box problem: links between HRM and performance
the role of culture in Strategic HRM practices and the concept of internal fit, as critical to a high quality performance in HRM
the key HR competencies, practices, policies and/or eterminants for success in addressing the big issues identified in the case.

To demonstrate your research ability and understanding of the topic, your report should include:
Practical examples, with evaluation of the successes and/or failures evident in those examples.
Reference to relevant theories and models.
Synthesis of research from multiple, correctly cited sources (at least ten (10) publications
including two (2) critical research articles). You should follow the Harvard Referencing Guide available at http://facultysite.cqu.edu.au/FCWViewer/getFile.do?id=5763
The assignments in this course will be assessed using criterion-based ssessment as set out in the Assessment Criteria & Standards Matrix provided at the end of this course profile.

There are faxes for this order.

Customer is requesting that (Infoceo) completes this order.

Business Plan

"Starbucks"

General instructions
-Your plan should be typed, single spaced, with 1-inch margins all around and font size 12.
-Use bullet points, charts, tables, and illustrations wherever appropriate.
-Your plan should be readable as a stand-alone document, so don?t simply answer the questions in the outline above; instead, provide a clear, succinct, and self-contained narrative that happens to address the relevant points from the outline.
-All reports should be written in first person, i.e., you work for the firm.
-For your business plan report, please take care to paraphrase your research information, not simply copy what someone else has written.
-Please provide a bibliography with your report. The style for the bibliography can be MLA or APA. If you are unsure about format, you can google for a sample.

2 Sections;
1) Management team (1/2 to 1 page)
-Who runs the company?
-What are their respective roles? Who is responsible for what?
-What experience/skills do senior managers have that relates to the business, e.g., education, prior work experience, other unique qualities?
-How are senior managers paid? (Percentage of profits? Salaries? Bonuses?)

2) Personell (1/2 to 1 Page)
-How many employees work for the firm? Full/part time?
-What are their roles/titles?
-What skills must they have?
-How are they paid? (Wages, salaries, bonuses, commissions, ownership potential ??) Benefits?

TERM PAPER TITLE:
SHATTERING THE GLASS CEILING: Breaking Barriers For Women

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

I. History of The Glass Ceiling for Women

II. Why Does The Glass Ceiling Problem Still Exist?

III. Research Findings on The Glass Ceiling (include trends)

IV. Analysis of The Glass Ceiling Problem

V. Possible Solutions for The Glass Ceiling Problem

VI. Solution of The Glass Ceiling Implemented

VII. Why This Solution Method Is Effective?

VIII. References

REFERENCE LIST:
1. Heneman, Judge, Heneman, Staffing Organizations, 4th Edition, Irwin, 2003,
ISBN: 0-07-248259-1

2. PLEASE PROVIDE CURRENT BOOK SOURCE (No Web Source Allowed)

3. PLEASE PROVIDE CURRENT BOOK SOURCE (No Web Source Allowed)

4. PLEASE PROVIDE CURRENT BOOK SOURCE (No Web Source Allowed)

5. PLEASE PROVIDE CURRENT BOOK SOURCE (No Web Source Allowed)


SPECIAL NOTE:

? Include references from both practitioner and academic sources.

? Discuss how Wisconsin is the state in which the glass ceiling has been reported to the greatest extent.

? A minimum of two (2) citations per reference ? total of a minimum of 10 citations.

? Diagrams for visual aid purposes would be helpful if possible

? Email paper in Microsoft Word file attachment to [email protected]



LITERATURE RESCOURCES TO BE USED

PRACTIONER SOURCES

? Academy of Management Executive
? Business Week
? Compensation and Benefit Review
? Fast Company
? Fortune
? Harvard Business Review
? HR Focus
? HR Magazine (Society for Human Resources Management)
? Management Review (American Management Association)
? Organizational Development Journal
? Organizational Dynamics
? SAM Advanced Management Journal
? Training Magazine
? Training & Development Journal
? Sloan Management Review (M.I.T.)
? Wall Street Journal
? Workforce


LITERATURE RESCOURCES TO BE USED (CONTINUED)

ACADEMIC SOURCES

? Academy of Management Journal
? Academy of Management Review
? Administrative Sciences Quarterly (Cornell University)
? California Management Review
? Employee Relations Law Journal
? Human Resource Management (University of Michigan)
? Human Resource Planning
? Industrial & Labor Relations Review
? Industrial Relations
? International Journal of Human Resources
? Journal of Applied Psychology
? Journal of Labor Research
? Journal of Management
? Journal of Organizational Behavior
? Journal of Occupational Psychology
? Journal of Vocational Behavior
? Labor Law Journal
? Organizational Behavior & Human Decision Processes
? Personnel Psychology
? Public Personnel Management


TERM PAPER GUIDELINES:

I. This section should acquaint the reader with the specific topic and the relevance to strategic staffing. Present key facts that are important in understanding the problem/issue of interest.

II. What are the key problems? Keep in mind that many of the surface ?problems? are really symptoms of underlying problems. Identify the key problem(s) underlying the variety of symptoms that may exist in the situation.
Some questions to ask when formulating the definition of the problem include:
1. Have I identified the basic problem(s) or issue(s), or am I dealing with the symptoms? What is the point of the study?
2. If I have identified more than one problem/issue, are they separate or related?

III. In this section, address what is discovered in your search of the literature. This means not only reviewing theories, concepts, and studies discussed in your text, but also reviewing what other writers/researchers may have to say about the subject of the analysis. You should talk about the concepts, ideas or insights that have the most value for helping to make sense of the term paper. What theories can you use? What writers say something of value? And why? Which models are helpful, and why? What theories or concepts will be challenged or criticized because the findings are different?

The objective in a literature review is to ?open the doors? to information that may provide you with clues or the map that will point the way to solving the particular problem. The structure of a good literature review can best be described as an upside-down wedding cake. Begin the review in very broad terms --- painting an overview of the field of interest. Then, gradually narrow your focus until you zero in on the key issue(s) of concern.

IV. This section should provide a detailed analysis of the causes of the problem(s) or issue(s) you identified in Section II. A major objective is to clearly illustrate how you are using strategic staffing course concepts (Heneman, Judge, Heneman, Staffing Organizations, 4th Edition, Irwin, 2003,), as well as from the literature review to better understand the causes of the problem(s) or issue(s).


TERM PAPER GUIDELINES (CONTINUED):

V. Offer some solutions that are appropriate for the situation and those who must implement them.
1. What are the strengths and weaknesses of each alternative?

VI. This section should outline your recommended solution to the problem(s) or issue(s). The solution will be one or a combination of the alternatives listed in Section V above. It should be specific, stating what should be done, by whom, with whom, and in what sequence. In short, it will include not only what should be done but also how it should be done.
Some questions and concerns to keep in mind when writing your Solutions section are:
1. Have I indicated an awareness of the problem of implementation (the how aspect)?
2. Have I been too general?
3. What aspects of the problem remain unresolved by my solution?
4. Does my solution and implementation address the problems and causes identified in the previous sections? Does my solution take into account the pros and cons listed earlier?
5. How will I evaluate the effectiveness of the implemented action?
6. What process checks or procedures will I put in place to institutionalize the improvement?
7. Could my solution create other problems? What are the risks facing your solution? What contingency plans do you recommend?
8. Assess the realism of your proposed action plan. For example, is there adequate time, money, or other resources available for your solution? Also, does your solution place too much reliance upon other people being ?reasonable? ? (e.g. on what you think is ?reasonable?)?


TERM PAPER GUIDELINES (CONTINUED):

VII. This section of your analysis should, using course concepts, tell why your solution and implementation will work. A major objective is to clearly show how you are applying course concepts to arrive at a workable solution and implementation to the problem or issue you have identified.
Some questions to ask when writing your Justification section are:
1. Have I applied the appropriate course material?
2. Do I support my conclusions with appropriately referenced facts,
quotes, and readings?
3. Does my justification recognize the pros and cons listed earlier?

VIII. All citations in the paper must appear in the reference list, and all references must be cited in the text. You must cite NO MORE THAN FIVE SOURCES and all web sources will be unacceptable. Choose references judiciously and cite them accurately.

VERBATIM INFORMATION FROM TEXT:
Heneman, Judge, Heneman, Staffing Organizations, 4th Edition, Irwin, 2003,
ISBN: 0-07-248259-1

THE GLASS CEILING

The ?glass ceiling? is a term used to characterize strong but invisible barriers for women and minorities to promotion in the organization, particularly to the highest levels. Evidence demonstrating the existence of a glass ceiling is substantial. The composition of the U.S. labor force is approximately 54.5% male and 45.5% female, and 79% white, and 21% minority. In the Fortune 2,000 industrial and service companies, however, only 5% of the senior-level managers are women, and of that 5% virtually all are white. In the Fortune 500 companies, 97% of senior managers are white, and 95% are male.

As one goes down the hierarchy or looks across specific industries, however, a more mixed pattern of evidence of found. Across all executive, administrative, and managerial occupation, 52% are held by males (40% white and 12% minority), and 48% are held by females (36% white and 12% minority); in these occupations the percentage of white males ranges from 75% in construction to 42% in retail to 16% in health services and social services. Thus, the closer to the top of the hierarchy, the thicker the glass in the ceiling. At lower levels, the glass becomes much thinner. There are substantial variations in this pattern, though, across industries.


THE GLASS CEILING (CONTINUED):

Where glass ceiling exist, there are two important questions to ask. What are the reasons for a lack of upward mobility and representation for minorities and women at higher levels of the organization? What changes need to be made especially staffing-related ones, to help shatter the glass ceiling?

BARRIERS TO MOBILITY

The Federal Glass Ceiling Commission conducted a four-year study of glass ceiling issues, including barriers to mobility. It identified three sets of barriers.

1. Societal ? assess to educational opportunities; stereotyping, prejudice, and bias related to race, gender, and ethnicity
2. Governmental ? weakness in collection and dissemination of glass ceiling information; lack of vigorous and consistent monitoring and law enforcement
3. Internal ? lack of outreach recruitment practices, management training, mentoring, tailor training and job assignments in revenue-producing areas, access to critical developmental assignments on committees and task forces; initial selection and placement on jobs in staff and professional jobs outside the upward pipeline to top job; biased rating and testing systems; little access to informal networks of communication; counterproductive behavior and harassment by colleagues.

An instructive illustration of these barriers, particularly the internal ones, comes from a 21-company study of men and women in sales career. The study found that 41% of women and 45% of men were eager to move into management, but the women were much less optimistic of their chances of getting promoted. Whereas the sales forces studied were 26% female, only 14% of sales managers were female. The study portrayed ?a survivalist culture where career paths are more like obscure jungle trails and where most women say they experience sexual harassment.? The study also found ?recruiters? use of potentially discriminatory screening tests, managers? negative stereotypes about women, women?s lack of access to career-boosting mentors and networks, and difficulty entertaining customers in traditional way such as fishing and golf outings.? Saleswomen were also highly dependent on their mostly male managers for job and territory assignments, which were often based on stereotypes about willingness to travel, relocate, and work long hours.


OVERCOMING BARRIERS

The Federal Glass Ceiling Commission also studied in-depth the practices found in many organizations that were successfully changing to overcome barriers to upward advancement for women and minorities. They concluded that such glass ceiling initiatives had the following characteristics in common:

? They have CEO support.

? They are part of the strategic business plan.

? They are inclusive; for instance, they do not exclude white non-Hispanic men.

? They address preconceptions and stereotypes.

? They emphasize and require accountability for promoting women and minorities.

? They track progress

? They are comprehensive

Based on their findings and deliberations, the commission issued a set of 12 recommendations for eliminating the glass ceiling. A summary of those recommendations is provided in Exhibit 6.9.

In terms of specific staffing practices that are desirable for eliminating the glass ceiling, we offer the following suggestions. Barriers to upward mobility can be addressed and removed, at least in part, through internal recruitment activities. Internal recruitment planning needs to involve the design and operation of internal markets that facilitate the identification and flows of people to jobs, through out the organization. This may very well conflict with seniority-based practices or seniority systems, both of which are likely to be well entrenched. Organizations simply have to make hard and clear choices about the role(s) that seniority will play in promotion systems.


EXHIBIT 6.9 SUMMARY OF THE FEDERAL GLASS CEILING COMMISSION RECOMMENDATION

FOR BUSINESS

? Demonstrate CEO commitment

? Include diversity in all strategic business plans; hold line managers accountable for results

? Select and promote qualified individuals; expand recruitment pools; seek candidates from noncustomary sources, background, and experiences

? Use Affirmative Action

? Prepare minorities and women for senior positions; enhance developmental experiences; provide mentoring

? Provide training throughout the organization to improve sensitivity to gender, racial, and ethnic differences

? Adopt policies that accommodate the balance between work and family responsibilities

? Adopt workplace practices that emphasize high performance

FOR GOVERNMENT

? Be a leader in eliminating own glass ceiling

? Strengthen enforcement of antidiscrimination laws

? Improve data collection about women and minorities in the workplace and organizations

? Provide for public disclosure of diversity data, especially for senior positions


OVERCOMING BARRIERS (CONTINUED)

In terms of recruiting strategy, where to look for employee looms as a major factor in potential change. The organization must increase its scanning capabilities and horizons to identify candidates to promote throughout the organization. In particular, this requires looking across functions for candidates, rather than merely promoting within an area (from sales to sales manager to district manager, for example). Candidates should thus be recruited through both traditional and innovative career paths.

Recruitment sources have to be more open and accessible to far-ranging sets of candidates. Informal, word-of-mouth, and ?good old boy? sources do not suffice. Job posting and other recruitment strategies that encourage openness of vacancy notification and candidate application will be necessary.

Recruitment changes must accompanied by many other changes. Top male managers need to fully understand that women executives differ from them in what they perceive to be the major barriers to advancement. Research suggest that women executives are more likely to see an exclusionary climate (male stereotyping and preconceptions of women, exclusion from informal networks, and inhospitable corporate culture) as a critical barrier, whereas top male managers are more likely to point to experience deficiencies (lack of significant general management and line experience, not being in the pipeline long enough) as the culprit. Hence, top management must take steps to not only create better experience-generating opportunities for women but also to develop and foster a more inclusive climate for women, such as through mentoring and providing access to informal networks. To encourage such changes and improve advancement results for women and minorities, managers must be held formally accountable for their occurrence. For example, Motorola tracks the progress of women and minorities within each senior manager?s area of responsibility and formally evaluates managers twice a year on this progress. To lead by example, the CEO has diversity, EEO, and AA goals in his bonus goals; these elements are also part of the bonus calculation for other senior managers. Since 1989, Motorola has gone from 2 to 43 women vice presidents and from 6 to 41 minority vice presidents.

Additional research has shown that HR professionals think both women and minority employee could benefit from a set of changers that would help eliminate career-advancing barriers. The top five changes are (1) CEO support of women and minorities and professional and senior roles, (2) dedicated effort to recruit and retain senior women and minority managers, (3) placement of women and minorities on boards of directors, (4) mentoring programs targeted to women and minorities, and (5) career development programs targeted toward women and minorities.


SUMMARY

In summary, solutions to the glass ceiling problem require myriad points of attack. First, women and minorities must have visibility and support at top levels ? from the board of directors, the CEO, and senior management. That support must include actions to eliminate prejudice and stereotypes. Second, women and minorities must be provided the job opportunities and assignments that will allow them to develop the depth and breadth of KSAOs needed for ascension to, and success in, top positions. These developmental experiences include assignment in multiple functions, management of diverse businesses, line management experience with direct profit-loss and bottom-line accountability, diverse geographical assignments, and international experience. Naturally, the relative importance of these experiences will vary according to type and size of the organization. Third, the organization must provide continual support for women and minorities to help ensure positive person/job matches. Included here are mentoring, training, and flexible work hours systems. Fourth, the organization must gear ups its internal recruitment to aggressively and openly track and recruit women and minority candidates for advancement. Finally, the organization must develop and use valid methods of assessing the qualifications of women and minority candidates.
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