Martin’s Textiles

Case #1- Martin’s Textiles The survival of Martin’s Textiles is very much in doubt with the enactment of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which would not only eliminate tariffs but also allow an increase in the quota for Canada and Mexico to ship textiles to the United States. Compounding the issue, Martin’s Textiles has been registering small losses the past several years and is in danger of losing major customers. Therefore, John Martin, CEO of Martin’s Textiles, has to decide whether to move production of his company to Mexico in order to lower labor costs or keep production in the United States, where the company has good labor relations with its employees. In regards to the dilemma that Martin’s Textiles face, I would recommend that the company move its production base to Mexico in order to lower labor costs and stay competitive within the industry. Martin’s Textiles was founded in 1910 and has spanned four generations of the Martin family. However, with the implementation of NAFTA, all tariffs between the United States, Canada, and Mexico would be eliminated within the next 10 to 15 years with most tariffs cut in 5 years. Especially impactful for Martin’s Textiles was the plan’s provision that all tariffs on trade of textiles among the three countries would be removed within 10 years. Even more devastating for the textile industry was that the quota for Mexico and Canada to ship clothing and textiles to the United States each year would rise slightly over the first five years of the agreement. Thus, many textile competitors moved operations to Mexico in response to increased cost competition since the textile industry involved low-skilled and labor-intensive business. In order to cut costs, John Martin needed to lower his labor costs and the only surefire way to do so would be to move production south to Mexico. However, Martin’s textiles has always had great labor relations with its workers and John Martin prided himself on knowing most of the names of employees and even knowing family circumstances of the longtime employees. Therefore, John Martin needed to decide whether to move production down south to Mexico to save costs and keep up with the competition or keep production in the United States where the company has developed strong employee relations. In evaluating what decision John Martin should make, there are several factors that he must consider. The first issue is the economic costs of the business. In the manufacturing industry, work is defined as low-skilled but labor-intensive and thus costs are driven by wage rates and labor productivity. Therefore, it is not so difficult to find workers that are able to work in the textile industry but the challenge in recruiting workers is that the work is very labor intensive. In evaluating the cost of labor, it is important to find workers willing to work for low wages and also ones that are self-motivated and have high workmanship. In addition, another factor to consider is the social costs. As mentioned above, Martin’s Textiles has strong employee relations and thus workers are loyal and have high workmanship. Thus, would the company’s brand take a hit by moving production to Mexico and releasing 1,500 employees, many of whom have been with the company for many years. On the other side, how would Mexican workers respond to the working culture of Martin’s Textiles and would workers show the same loyalty and workmanship that the current employees show? Finally, one has to consider the competitors and rival products when evaluating this decision. What are your competitors doing and how are their products compared to yours in terms of pricing and quality. In evaluating whether Martin’s Textiles should shift production to Mexico or stay in the United States, I believe that the best choice would be to move production plants to Mexico instead of keeping production in the United States. In looking at both alternatives through a SWOT analysis (for a diagram view look at Appendix A and B), it is evident that moving production to Mexico is the more desirable option. First we will look at the option to keep production in the United States, where there are several strengths in this decision. Martin’s Textiles would be able to maintain its strong labor relationship with employees that is has built over the years and consequently not have to deal with labor disputes. Also, the company would not have to invest additional resources in building or purchasing a production plant in Mexico as well as having to move equipment down south. In the short run, they would be able to enjoy the benefits of tariffs in trade. But there are also weaknesses to this decision as well. For one, the company would have to deal with cheap imports coming from Asia and now Mexico since those countries have the advantage of cheaper labor. Also, the company would not have the benefits of a trade barrier with the enactment of NAFTA. Whereas before, the company could justify having higher prices since cheaper imports were subjected to quotas and tariffs; now the higher costs that Martin’s Textiles employed would no longer be protected. Thus, Martin’s Textiles could lose a lot of its clientele since many could opt for cheaper alternatives with the same quality. Additionally, the tariff barrier will be rescinded within 10 years creating further problems for Martin’s Textiles if it is still operating. An opportunity that could arise if Martin’s Textiles decided to remain in the United States would be to brand itself as an â€Å"All-American† company. Since the whole operation of the company is based in the United States, Martin’s Textiles can market itself as such and hope that the patriotism and nationalism card will resonate with its customers. Threats or risks that may come up if Martin’s Textiles decides to stay in the United States could be that the company will not be able to survive the higher labor costs and that its competitors could undercut prices so much that Martin’s Textiles would no longer be viable. Customers have already threatened to leave if costs are not reduced so the company has to figure out a way to cut costs. If it decides that it won’t cut labor costs, then there has to be cuts in other parts of the company. Whether it is the sales force, research and development, or the designers, another part of the company will have to suffer cuts. Next, we consider the alternative of moving production to Mexico and after evaluating this decision through a SWOT analysis, it is clear that moving production to Mexico is the favored decision. One of the strengths of this decision is that the economic costs are highly favorable. The labor cost for textile workers in Mexico are less than $2 per hour compared to the wage rate paid to workers in the unionized New York plant, $12. 50 per hour. In addition by moving production to Mexico, Martin’s Textiles will be able to avoid cost disadvantages that they would have faced by keeping their production base in the United States. In the United States, there are tougher and stricter labor laws, regulations and standards than in other countries. Therefore, Martin’s Textiles will be at a disadvantage to companies in foreign countries with lax labor laws like China. In addition, Martin’s Textiles will be able to enjoy the benefits of the NAFTA agreement now that they have moved their production base to Mexico. The trade agreement allows for an increase in the quota of Mexican and Canadian clothing and textiles to the shipped to the United States. Additionally, tariffs on trade of textiles would be removed within 10 years. Finally, moving production to Mexico would allow Martin’s Textiles to keep most of its major customers as they will be able to enjoy the benefits of lower prices in products since labor costs have been reduced dramatically. However, there are also weaknesses for Martin’s Textiles in moving production plants down to Mexico. For one, Martin’s Textiles reputation will take a hit as the company has had a long history of good labor relations with its workers. Also, there is a great unknown in the Mexican workforce, as John Martin has heard stories of low productivity, poor workmanship, high turnover, and high absenteeism. For John, this may be an unsettling situation as he has relied on strong employee relations over the years. In addition, it would be hard for Martin’s Textiles to forge the same work culture, as John Martin would have a difficult time establishing relations with foreign workers who speak a different language. An opportunity that could benefit Martin’s Textiles if moving to Mexico would be to expand its production to other garments and clothing if desired since it can now employ cheaper labor. If there is a new hot fad in the United States, Martin’s Textiles would have the opportunity to capitalize due to the immense savings from labor costs, which allow them to hire more workers and expand production. A threat or risk of moving production to Mexico could be that the Mexican government demands a bribe from the company for purchasing a textile plant or building a new one. As seen in Appendix C, Mexico is shaded darker than the United States, which makes it more corrupt. Therefore, Martin’s Textiles could be subjected to paying bribes or buying needless licenses. I believe that the best decision for John Martin to make is to move the company’s production to Mexico instead of keeping production in the United States. Although the company has developed an outstanding record of employee relations and there is great uncertainty with the workforce in Mexico, the economic benefits of moving to Mexico are too great. The company would be saving over $10 per hour on each worker and these savings would allow the company to keep customers. In addition, Martin’s Textiles would be able to keep up with its competitors in Asia and other textile companies that have moved their production to Mexico. Though the decision to move production to Mexico would not be a popular decision locally as many people would be losing their jobs, the vitality of the company is at stake. By not moving production to Mexico, Martin’s Textiles would be at risk of falling behind its competitors and ultimately going out of business.

Performance Appraisal

Performance appraisal is a process of identifying, observing, measuring and developing human performance in organizations and has attracted the attention of both academicians and practitioners. The process is also viewed as making an important contribution to effective human resource management as it is closely interlinked to organizational performance (Erodogen, 2002). Performance appraisal is a management tool that helps management in its drive towards optimizing performance, primarily individual performance and therefore, organization performance now and in the future. The aim of performance appraisal can be achieved through assessing how effectively employees are working in their present jobs and what they need to do and know to perform even better (Bono, 2003). (Gupta 2006) defines performance appraisal as a process of assessing the performance and progress of an employee or of a group of employees on a given job and his potential for future development. He further argues that performance appraisal consists of all formal procedures used in work organizations to evaluate personalities, contributions and potentials of employees. (Torrington et al. 2005), define performance appraisal as a system that provides a formalized process to review the performance of employees. Performance appraisal varies between organizations and covers personality, behavior or job performance and it can be measured quantitatively or qualitatively. Performance appraisal involves unstructured narrative on performance of the appraiser. Political behaviors in an organization consist of actions that are taken by individuals or group (Mintezberg, 1983). Their direction is pointed toward the goal of one's own self-interest without focusing on regard for the humans and others in the organization (Kacmar ; Baron, 1999). These actions are informal and are considered a part of an organization's culture, help to maintain interpersonal relationships. As Mayes and Allen (1977) noted, that the actions can implement a dynamic power of influence. When this influence is practiced within organizational boundaries, the behaviors are not considered political. Self-promotion and ingratiation are considered to be examples of political behavior in the workplace include (Godfrey, Jones, & Lord, 1986). Self-promotion actions are mostly proactive. Their purpose is to earn the attention, to build an image of oneself as a competent committed employee. Ingratiation behaviors are less proactive then self-promotion. They emphasis on â€Å"attention- giving† to a targeted person or persons relative to â€Å"attention is getting† from others. A recent study found that politically skilled employees who were involved in ingratiatory behavior toward their supervisors were not only graded positively by them, they were subsequently rewarded for doing this (Treadway, Ferris, Duke, Adams, & Thatcher, 2007). In fact, career success is typically affected by an ability to make accept others that one has the necessary skills needed to perform higher level jobs effectively (Rafaeli, Dutton, Harquail, & Mackie-lewis, 1997). Self-promotion is one important way to do this.Organizational Affective commitmentOrganizational Affective commitment refers to an emotional attachment. Employee beliefs and values regarding their job and role in the organization measure their organizational commitment (Swailes, 2012). Affective Organizational commitment is the measure of employee's identification with the mission and values of the organization perspectives (Mowday, 1982) and supervisor. It is the commitment approach that provides a clearer and more focused scale of organizational commitment (Jaros, 1997) . In addition, recent measures of organizational commitment are attitudinal (Ko, Price ; Mueller, 1997; McGee ; Ford, 1987), and the build validity of affective (attitudinal) commitment is provided support . With strong supervision from their current employers the level of employee knowledge understanding and their commitment level in operations will be higher (Okpara, 2014). Process in evaluating the performance of employees is one of the most important determinants of organizational justice (Greenberg, 1986; Folger et al., 1992). Affective organizational commitment is beneficial to the employee as well. Employees that have affective commitment at their higher levels, experience less stress levels even if they work for longer and harder hours than those not committed. Affective commitment helps in employee's motivation (Meyer & Allen, 1997) and low downs psychological physical, work-related stress (Reilly & Orsak, 1991).Employees are committed to the organization, their jobs and careers exists comfortable, and are able to spend more quality time to their families and hobbies (Reilly & Orsak, 1991). The employee's commitment is the perception of employees procedures used to evaluate their performance is fair (Greenberg, 1990; Colquitt et al., 2001). Further review in the literatures indicates that fair practices in human resource management, particularly in terms of performance appraisal has a predictive role in the employees' attitude such as the organization's commitment (Jehad, 2011). Performance appraisal is viewed as an important mechanism for changing employees' attitude and behaviors such as affective commitment (Morrow, 2011). Moreover, a study by (Tam 1996) indicates that the commitment of government employees is higher in the federal government agencies that implement a fair and transparent assessment.In our study the psychological attachment of the employee with the organization i.e. organizational commitment (Tella , Ayeni, Papoola, 2007). It can be due to the comfort level with the current organization, cost and fear associated with leaving of the organization and joining the other and social disruption caused by new acquaintances in the new environment and leaving the old ones. This particular component which is the need component is known as effective commitment. It may also be due to the feeling that after joining the organization the employee is ought to be loyal and faithful to it (Bruckner 2002). This sense of obligation towards the organization is also termed as the normative commitment. The attachment of the employee can be due to some emotional reasons by which the employees identify him with the goal of the organization. This shows that the employee is affectively committed towards the organization (Hyde, 2000). There can be many antecedents of organizational commitment as suggested by (Comelier 2012) who after investigating a state owned IT industry in Malta, Europe indicated that the employees with lesser educational qualification, having a higher position in the organizational hierarchy and with lesser ambiguity in the role performed, with lower role conflict and positive impact of overall state of roles played within an organization are more committed to their organization. It increases all the normative, continuance commitment and affective components of the organizational commitment (Delaney and Hustled, 1996; Becker and Gerhardt, 1996). Performance Appraisal A DISSERTATION PROJECT On â€Å"STUDY ON PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL SYSTEM AT WAY TO WEALTH† Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirement for MBA Degree of Bangalore University BY JYOTSNA Register Number 04XQCM6037 Under the guidance of Prof. S. Santhanam M. P. Birla Institute of Management Associate Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan Bangalore-560001 2004-2006 DECLARATION I hereby declare that the report titled â€Å" STUDY ON PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL AT WAY TO WEALTH†is prepared under the guidance of Prof. S. Santhanam in partial fulfillment of MBA degree of Bangalore University, and is my original work.This project does not form a part of any report submitted for degree or diploma of Bangalore University or any other university. Place: Bangalore Date: JYOTSNA M. P. Birla Institute Of Management 2 PRINCIPAL’S CERTIFICATE This is to certify that Ms JYOTSNA, bearing registration No: 04XQCM6037 has done a project and has prepared a report â€Å"STUDY ON PERFORMANCE APRAISAL S YSTEM AT WAY TO WEALTH â€Å"under the guidance of Prof. S. Santhanam, M. P. Birla Institute of Management, Bangalore. This has not formed a basis for the award of any degree/diploma for any other university. Place: Bangalore Date: Dr . NAGESH. S.MALLAVALLI PRINCIPAL MPBIM, Bangalore : M. P. Birla Institute Of Management 3 GUIDE’S CERTIFICATE This is to certify that Ms JYOTSNA, bearing registration No: 04XQCM6037 has done a project and has prepared a report â€Å"STUDY ON PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL SYSTEM AT WAY TO WEALTH â€Å"under my guidance. This has not formed a basis for the award of any degree/diploma for any other university. Place: Bangalore Date: Prof. S. Santhanam M. P. Birla Institute Of Management 4 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I would like to take this opportunity to express my sincere gratitude to all those who guided me in the right direction to complete this report.I would like to thank Dr. Nagesh Malavalli ,principal for his support and also to thank my guide Prof. S. San thanam, faculty member, for his guidance and support for making this project a success. I would also thank my family and my friends for supporting me during the project. Place: Bangalore Date: (JYOTSNA) M. P. Birla Institute Of Management 5 CONTENTS Sl. No Page No CONTENTS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 ABSTRACT INTRODUCTION METHODOLOGY STATEMENT OF PROBLEM OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY LIMITATIONS COMPANY PROFILE DATA ANALYSIS & INTERPRETATION SUMMARY & CONCLUSION BIBLIOGRAPHY 9 10 11 14 16 26 27 32 54 59 M. P.Birla Institute Of Management 2 LIST OF GRAPHS Sl. No 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Graphs Graph showing whether PA is conducted every year in the company Graph showing whether job increments & promotions are based on PA Graph showing whether PA objectives are clearly defined Graph showing the purpose of PA Graph showing Feedback on Pa is collected Graph showing the Opinion of the present PA system Graph showing whether PA system needs to be improved Graph showing methods that can be suggested for PA Page No 33 34 35 36 38 39 42 43 PA: Performance Appraisal M. P. Birla Institute Of Management 3 LIST OF TABLES Sl. No 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11Tables Table showing whether PA is conducted every year in the company Table showing job increments &Promotions are based on PA Table showing whether PA objectives are clearly defined Table showing the purpose of PA Table showing Ranking of methods employed in PA Table showing whether Feedback on PA is collected Table showing the Opinion on present PA system Table showing factors covered in PA Table showing Improvements to be done in PA Table showing whether Pa system needs to be improved Table showing methods that can be suggested for PA Page No 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 PA: Performance Appraisal M. P.Birla Institute Of Management 4 ABSTRACT It is a well-established fact the people differ in their abilities and aptitudes. These differences are natural to a great extent and cannot be eliminated completely by giving them education and trainin g. There will always be some difference in quality and quantity of work done by different employees. Therefore it is necessary for the management to know these differences so that it may develop certain programs in the organization for those employees who posses better potentials so that they may be developed to accept the challenges of higher jobs or wrong placement of employees may be rectified .The individual employee may also like to know his capability in terms of his performance on his capability in terms of his performance on the job qualitatively and quantitatively in comparison to his fellow employees so that he improve upon it. No firm has a choice as to whether or not it should appraise its personnel and their performance but the choice lies between the systematic and the unsystematic or casual appraisal. The system of appraising the man is not new but the systematic approach of evaluating the man is by any means a new development .The technique of appraising the man by s upervisors or others is widely known as â€Å" Performance Appraisal† . It is also sometimes termed as Personnel Performance Evaluation, Merit Rating. Thus main objective of the project is to study the Performance Appraisal process being practiced in WAY 2 WEALTH and evaluate its effectiveness. This project aimed at finding out effectiveness in terms of familiarity, and satisfaction level of performance appraisal among the employees WAY 2 WEALTH. The project also focuses on finding out how performance appraisal is matching in meeting the company’s goals and objectives.M. P. Birla Institute Of Management 5 METHODOLOGY The research methodology used in the project is the descriptive approach and it is done among 200 employees . The main sources through which data is collected are 1. Primary data 2. Secondary data The data collected for this research is through primary data collection method. The instrument used for collecting primary data is structured questionnaire fille d up by the employees Statistical tools were used to find inferences between the variables and analyzing the results.The following are the tools used. 1) 2) 3) Kalmograv Smirnov Test Chi – Square test (? 2) Spearman’s Rank Correlation M. P. Birla Institute Of Management 6 M. P. Birla Institute Of Management 7 INTRODUCTION An organization’s goals can be achieved only when people put in their best efforts . How to ascertain whether an employee has shown his or her best performance on a given job?. The answer is Performance Appraisal. Employee assessment is the fundamental job of HRM, but not easy one though.Thus â€Å"Performance Appraisal† is the systematic evaluation of the individual with respect to his or her performance on the job and his or her potential for development . The performance is being measured against such factors as Job Knowledge, quality, initiative, leadership abilities, supervision, co-operation, versatility etc. It is systematic in th at it evaluates all performance in the same manner utilizing the same approach so that the ratings obtained to separate personnel are comparable. It is undertaken periodically according to plan .The essential purpose is the accurate measurement of human performance It attempts to reduce, if not eliminate human bias and prejudice, by means of a system that is subject to impartial review and check. Often such personnel performance appraisal are labeled as ratings where an individual employee, after comparison with another, is rated or ranked as â€Å"Excellent, normal or average† and are commonly used for determining an employees eligibility for promotion or transfer and widely being used for the development of the individual.Any appraisal program will involve time and money . The wise manager should plan up a program with the minimum cost to give maximum benefit . The rationale for using any particular method should be determined by the size ,financial resources ,and philosoph y of the organization . M. P. Birla Institute Of Management 8 Appraisal can be made by one or more superiors or subordinates or by the peers . There can also be committee of members from various related departments to appraise an employee.There may even be a system of self –appraisal in which each employee evaluates his own performance and potential. M. P. Birla Institute Of Management 9 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM To evaluate is to assess the worth or value. In social life, we generally evaluate or appraise the behavior of others in relations to our own needs or goals. Appraisals are judgments of the characteristics ,traits and performance of others. On the basis of these judgments, we assess the worth or value of others, and identify what is good and bad.In industry, performance appraisal is a systematic evaluation of personnel by supervisors or others familiar with their performance because employers are interested in knowing about employee performance. Employees also wish to know their position in the organization. Appraisals are essential for making many administrative decisions: selection, training ,promotion ,transfer ,wage and salary administration ,etc . Besides ,they aid personnel research . Performance appraisal thus is a systematic and objective way of judging the relative worth or ability of an employee in performing his task . Performance ppraisal helps to identify those who are performing their assigned tasks well and those who are not and the reasons for such performance . Differentiating between individuals is easy provided one knows what aspects to take into account. Identifying performance measures is easy if job is clearly defined but difficult if it is broad. At the lower levels of an organization, there are specific jobs and certain tangible and objective standards of performance can be identified. Further up in the hierarchy, jobs become more complex and clear–cut, tangible standards of performance are difficult to specify.Irr espective of the level by and large, most companies use various parameters for measuring the performance like quality of work, quantity of work, job Knowledge, meeting the job requirements, initiative, team working, communicative etc. And they would be rated in accordingly quarterly, half yearly or annually depending on company’s policies. M. P. Birla Institute Of Management 10 Many companies would have a standard format for appraising the performance. Ironically many of the employees would not know the norms of the appraisal and to the surprise many of them may not be fully familiar with contents of the appraisal form.This would be great hazel for the company as well as to the employees because if the employee is not aware of what basis he is appraised, he may not put up all his efforts for better improvement which indirectly effects the companies profits by not meeting the companies objectives and targets. Thus this project â€Å" A Study On Effectiveness of Performance Sy stem† aims at complete study on performance appraisal system and finding out effectiveness of the system in terms of familiarity and satisfaction level of the employees in WAY 2 WEALTH, ChennaiM. P. Birla Institute Of Management 11 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY PRIMARY OBJECTIVES ? To find out the effectiveness of PA system in way-2-wealth ? To Know employee satisfaction on PA system in way-2-wealth ? To suggest the way-2-wealth improve the employee satisfaction on PA system SECONDARY OBJECTIVES ? To find the opinion of employees on various factors involved in PA system ? To find out the openness of personal department in PA ? To find out the scope of critical attributes and other factor coverage of PA system ?To know post appraisal measures taken b way-2-wealth M. P. Birla Institute Of Management 12 REVIEW OF LITERATURE Once the employee has been selected, trained and motivated, he is then appraised for his performance. Performance appraisal is the step where the management finds o ut how effective it has been at hiring and placing employees . If any problems are identified steps are taken to communicate with the employee and to remedy them. A â€Å"Performance Appraisal† is a process of evaluating an employee’s performance of a job in terms of its requirements.It is the process of evaluating the performance and qualifications of the employees in terms of the requirements of the job for which he is employed, for purposes of administration including placement, selection for promotion, providing financial rewards and other actions which require different treatment among the members of a group as distinguished from actions affecting all members equally. _ Heyel Performance Appraisal seeks to provide an adequate feedback to each individual for his or her performance. It purports to serve as a basis for improving or changing behavior toward some more effective working habits .It also aims aat providing data to managers with which they may judge future job assignments and compensation -Levinson M. P. Birla Institute Of Management 13 Performance Appraisal determines who shall receive merit increases; counsels employees on their improvement ,determines training needs ,determines promo ability, identifies those who should be transferred -Ronald Benjamin PURPOSE OF APPRAISAL It can serve as a basis for job change or promotion ? By identifying the strengths and weakness of an employee it serves as a guide for ? formulating a suitable training and development program It serves as a feedback to the employee ?It serves as an important incentive to all employees ? The existence of regular appraisal system tends to make the supervisors and ? executives more observant of their subordinates Performance appraisal often provides the rational foundation for payment of ? salaries and bonus M. P. Birla Institute Of Management 14 ESSENTIALS OF GOOD APPRAISAL SYSTEM It must be easily understandable ? An appraisal plan must be integrated into the or ganization so as to have clear cut ? relationships between the appraisal plan and organization policies relating to performance of the employees.It must have the support of all line people who administer it ? The system should fit the organizations operations and structure ? The system should be both valid and reliable ? The system should have built in incentives that is a reward should follow satisfactory ? performance The system should periodically evaluated to be sure that it is continuing to meet its ? goals What should be Rated? The seven criteria for assessing performance are: 1. Quality 2. Quantity 3. Timeliness 4. Cost Effectiveness 5. Need for supervision 6. Interpersonal impact 7. Training M. P. Birla Institute Of Management 15Trends in employee Appraisal ITEM Terminology Purpose FORMER EMPASIS Merit Rating Determine qualifications for wage increase, transfer, promotion, lay- off Application For hourly –paid workers Heavy emphasis on personal traits Techniques Ratin g scales, Statistical manipulation of data for comparison purpose PRESENT EMPHASIS Performance Appraisal Development of the individual, improved performance on the job, and provide emotional security For technical, professional and managerial employees Factors Related Results, accomplishments, performance Mutual goal–setting, critical incidents, group appraisal, performance standards, less quantitative Post Appraisal Interview Superior communication his rating to employees and tries to sell his evaluation to him; seeks to have employee conform to his view Superior stimulates employee to analyze himself and set own objectives in line with job requirements superior is helper and councilor M. P. Birla Institute Of Management 16 Approaches to Performance Appraisal: 1.A casual ,unsystematic and haphazard appraisal: This method was commonly used in the past . The basis of this method are seniority or quantitative measures quantity and quality of output for the rank and file personn el 2. The traditional and highly systematic measurement: This measures the employees characteristic and employee contributions or both. It evaluates all the performances in the same manner ,utilizing the same approach so that the ratings obtained of separate personnel are comparable 3. The behavioral approach ,emphasizing mutual goal setting: here emphasizes has been laid upon providing mutual goal setting and appraisal of progress by both the appraiser and the appraise .This approach is based on the behavioral value of fundamental trust in the goodness ,capability and responsibility of human beings. The Evaluating Process The process of performance appraisal follows a set pattern viz, a man’s performance is periodically appraised by his superiors. Questions are raised . Is his potential the greatest as a manager or as a staff specialist? What are his strengths and weakness? Where can he make his great contribution? Next sometimes in consultation with the man himself, tentati ve decisions are made on what might be done to advance his development. M. P. Birla Institute Of Management 17 Thus the process would involve following steps ESTABLISH PERFORMANCE STANDARDS COMMUNICATE PERFORMANCE EXPECTATIONS TO EMPLOYEES MEASURE ACTUAL PERFORMANCECOMPARE ACTUAL PERFORMANCE WITH STANDARDS DISCUSS THE APPRAISAL WITH THE EMPLOYEE IF NECESSARY, INITIATE CORRECTIVE ACTION M. P. Birla Institute Of Management 18 TOOLS/METHODS FOR APPRAISING PERFORMANCE: Several methods and techniques of appraisal are available for the measurement of the performance of the employee . The methods and scales differ for obvious reasons 1. They differ in the sources of traits or qualities to be appraised. 2. The variations may be caused by the degree of precision attempted in an evaluation. 3. They may differ because of the methods used to obtain weightings for various traits. M. P. Birla Institute Of Management 19 Methods of Performance appraisalTraditional Methods ? Straight Ranking ? Man-t o-man Comparison ? Grading ? Force choice Description ? Graphic Rating Scales ? Forced distribution Method ? Check Lists ? Free Form Essay Method ? Critical Incidents ? Group Appraisal ? Field Review Method y Modern Methods Assessment Centres Behaviorally Anchored Rating Scale M. P. Birla Institute Of Management 20 COMPONENTS OF APPRAISAL EVALUATION ? â€Å"Who† of the Appraisal ? â€Å"What† of Appraisal ? ? ? Common Pitfalls in Appraisal: ? There is often tendency to rate not only the employee but also the job ? Errors are introduced in the appraisal because of a defect or bias in the person conducting the appraisal ?As Appraisal are in fact opinions ,it is difficult to remove from the subjective element whilst making the judgment ? Performance appraisal do require a lot from the supervisor as they require periodic observation of subordinates performance by them which becomes difficult in case of a first line superior have a large number of subordinates ? There is of ten a large variations in the standards and ratings because some raters are tough where as others are lenient ? There is often lack of communication where by the employee does not know how he is rated ? Often Superiors are reluctant to give a low rating to ineffective subordinate and gives him an average rating ?Sometimes communication of the rating of the employee if done properly would be taken as criticism and may even result in his performing more poorly The â€Å"Why† of Appraisal The â€Å"When† of Appraisal The â€Å"where† of Appreciation M. P. Birla Institute Of Management 21 LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY The researcher has made efforts for an errorless study but the following limitations were occurred ? The survey was restricted to only in Way 2 Wealth and the sample size was 200 ? There may be some changes if the sample size and the geographical segmentation were increased ? Time was a handicap for a detailed study ? A few respondents might have been given biased information, which may affect the reliability of the results ?Unwillingness and inability of the respondent to provide information M. P. Birla Institute Of Management 22 COMPANY PROFILE Way2Wealth is a premier Investment Consultancy Firm that has been launched with the aim of making investing simpler, more understandable and profitable for the investors. Way2Wealth brings a wide range of product offerings from Fixed Income Securities, Life Insurance and Mutual Funds to Equity and Derivatives (on the National Stock Exchange) for the convenience and benefit of it customers. Way2Wealth has over 40 easily accessible Investment Outlets spread across 20 major towns and cities in the country. Mission Way2Wealth is a premier Investment Consultancy Firm, launched with the ission â€Å"to be the pre-eminent destination for personalised financial solutions helping individuals create wealth†. Philosophy We believe that â€Å"our knowledge combined with our investors trust and in volvement will lead to the growth of wealth and make it an exciting experienc Sivan Securities started in 1984, has a long and illustrious track record of being amongst the premier Financial Intermediaries in the country as well as being an incubator for IT start-up firms. The Venture Capital division came to be known as Global Technology Ventures (GTV has provided venture capital to companies such as Kshema Technologies, MindTree, Ivega etc. ) and the Financial Intermediary Division was spun off as Way2Wealth in the year 2000. M. P.Birla Institute Of Management 23 Way2Wealth is promoted by Sivan Securities and Global Technology Ventures Ltd. Prudential ICICI AMC provides further strength to Way2Wealth as strategic equity partner. Over the years, Sivan has developed a strong reputation for navigating its investors through all the ups and downs in the market. Way2Wealth has inherited these same values in addition to a base of 75,000 individual customers, over 300 corporate/institutio nal clients. Other companies in the group include Amalgamated Bean Coffee Trading Company Ltd. (one of the largest Coffee Exporters in India) and Cafe Coffee Day, a chain of youth hangout coffee parlors.Way2Wealth has very credible management teams, who have well over 100 man-years of experience amongst themselves Way2Wealth Investment outlets are designed to be places where retail investors can come in touch with Investment opportunities in an atmosphere of convenience and comfort. The look and feel of the offices across India project a consistent branch image for the company. The features that enable a unique facility for retailing financial services include among others: ? Most branches are located in the ground floor sporting huge glass frontage promoting easy accessibility and reflecting our attitude of complete transparency. ? The major portion of the branch area dedicated for customer use.The furniture is in CKD formats to add flexibility in using the branch for Investors pur poses. ? ? Connectivity to NSE for trading facilities. TV and other electronic mediums to facilitate real time update and dissemination of information to our customers. ? Each branch comprises of trained and qualified Investment advisors to take care of the needs of the customers. M. P. Birla Institute Of Management 24 The Way2Wealth Research Desk Research is at the core of the advice. It believes that sound investment decisions are made on sound analysis of facts, past performance and credible market information. The research cell focuses on providing data and analysis to help customers make sound investment decisions.The Research cell is managed by a highly qualified team that is handpicked and trained extensively in the proprietary Way2Wealth Investment Philosophy centered on finding the best investment solutions for our customers. Based in the commercial capital enables the team to have a pulse of the trends allowing dissemination of the most up-to-date and latest information. ? Personalised Investment Solutions: All the customers receive individual attention ? Full choice of Investments: Mutual funds, Life Insurance, Fixed Income Instruments, Equity and Derivatives ? Processing support: take care of all the paper work and provide service at the doorstep. ? Investor eligibility criteria: Customers with a minimum investment amount as low as Rs. 2500 per month can avail of the services.This unique Way2Wealth concept can be easily experienced through the innovative and customer friendly network of Investment outlets that spans 20 major towns and cities in the country. M. P. Birla Institute Of Management 25 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY The following points are considered in carrying out the research. A. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY: A research design is purely ad simply the framework a plan for a study that guides the collection and analysis of the data. Descriptive Research Here the research is been done on 200 members through a media of questionnaire B. DATA COLLECTION METH OD: The main sources through which data is collected are 1. Primary data 2. Secondary data The data collected for this research is hrough primary data collection method. The instrument used for collecting primary data is questionnaire from the employees. M. P. Birla Institute Of Management 26 E. SAMPLING TECHNIQUE Non – probability (non random ) sampling method is used in this project. F. STATISTICAL TOOLS USED: Statistical tools were used to find inferences between the variables and analyzing the results. The following are the tools used. 1)spearman’s rank Correlation 2) Kalmograv Smirnov Test 3) Chi – Square test (? 2) M. P. Birla Institute Of Management 27 M. P. Birla Institute Of Management 28 DATA ANALYSIS & INTERPRETATION TABLE 1 TABLE SHOWING WHETHER PA IS CONDUCTED EVERY YEAR IN THE COMPANY S.NO 1 2 YES NO TOTAL OPINION NO OF RESPONDENTS 60 0 60 PERCENTAGE (%) 100 0 100 100 80 60 40 20 0 YES NO INFERENCE: All the respondents feel that PA is conducted eve ry year in the company. M. P. Birla Institute Of Management 29 TABLE 2 TABLE SHOWING WHETHER JOB INCREMENTS AND PROMOTIONS ARE STRICTLY BASED ON PA S. NO 1. 2. YES NO OPINION NO OF RESPONDENTS 41 19 PERCENTAGE (%) 68 32 100 TOTAL 60 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 YES NO INFERENCE: Majority of the respondents feel that job increments and promotions are strictly based on PA is 68%and whereas few of them feel that it is not strictly based on PA 32%. M. P. Birla Institute Of Management 30 TABLE 3 TABLE SHOWING WHETHER PA OBJECTIVES ARE CLEARLY INFORMED S. NO 1. 2. 3.CHOICE CLEARLY INFORMED PARTIALLY INFORMED NOT INFORMED AT ALL TOTAL NO OF RESPONDENTS 22 28 10 60 PERCENTAGE (%) 36 46 18 100 50 40 30 20 10 0 PERCENTAGE CLEARLY INFORMED PARTIALLY INFORMED NOTINFORMED AT ALL INFERENCE: Majority of the respondents feel that PA objectives are partially informed, some of them feel it is clearly informed and whereas few of them feel that it is not informed at all. M. P. Birla Institute Of Management 3 1 TABLE 4 TABLE SHOWING PURPOSE OF PA S. NO 1 2 3 4 CHOICE SALARY INCREASE PROMOTION TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT FEEDBACK TOTAL NO OF RESPONDENTS 18 22 14 6 120 PERCENTAGE (%) 30 36 24 10 100 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 PERCENTAGE SALARY INCREASE PROMOTION TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT FEEDBACKINFERENCE: Majority of the respondents feel that purpose of PA is for promotion, some of them feel it is for salary increase and whereas few of them feel it is for training and development. M. P. Birla Institute Of Management 32 TABLE 5 RANKING OF METHODS EMPLOYED IN PA NO OF RESPONDENTS FACTORS 1 GRADING RANKING METHOD CHECKLIST METHOD FORCED CHOICE METHOD 15 22 13 11 2 18 17 16 10 3 12 16 20 13 4 15 6 11 26 INFERENCE: From the table it is seen that the ranking of methods employed in PA is give below: FACTORS GRADING RANKING METHOD CHECKLIST METHOD FORCED CHOICE METHOD RANK II I III IV M. P. Birla Institute Of Management 33 TABLE 6 TABLE SHOWING WHETHER FEEDBACK ON PA IS COLLECTED S. NO 1. 2. YES NO OPI NION NO OF RESPONDENTS 25 35 60 PERCENTAGE (%) 42 58 100 TOTAL 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 PERCENTAGE YES NOINFERENCE: 58% of the respondent feel that feedback on PA is not collected ad whereas some of them feel that feedback on PA is collected. M. P. Birla Institute Of Management 34 TABLE 7 TABLE SHOWING OPINION ON PRESENT PA SYSTEM IN THE COMPANY S. NO 1. 2. 3. 4. OPTIONS VERY GOOD GOOD AVERAGE POOR TOTAL NO OF RESPONDENTS 6 24 18 12 60 PERCENTAGE (%) 10 40 30 20 100 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 PERCENTAGE VERY GOOD GOOD AVERAGE POOR INFERENCE: Majority of the respondents opinion regarding present PA system in the company is good, some of the respondents opinion is average and whereas few of the respondents opinion is poor. M. P. Birla Institute Of Management 35 TABLE 8TABLE SHOWING OPINION ON THE FOLLOWING FACTORS COVERED IN PA FACTORS Job knowledge Quality of work Quantity of work Ability of work Hard work Manner & obedience VERY GOOD 6 7 6 7 10 10 GOOD 21 29 14 24 26 24 AVERAGE 22 13 18 16 12 14 POOR 9 6 12 8 7 9 VERY POOR 2 5 10 5 5 3 INFERENCE: Majority of the respondent’s opinion regarding the factors covered in PA is good, some of them feel it is average and whereas few of them feel it is poor. M. P. Birla Institute Of Management 36 TABLE 9 TABLE SHOWING IMPROVEMENTS TO BE MADE IN PA FACTORS Strongly agree 12 9 10 5 6 7 11 Neither Agree Agree nor disagree 27 25 24 22 20 24 25 11 14 8 14 18 13 14 6 7 11 13 11 11 6 Disagree Strongly disagree 4 5 7 6 6 5 4Confidentiality Critical attributes Role related attributes Post appraisal actions Introducing bars in PA Feedback on PA White paper on PA & after PA INFERENCE: Majority of the respondents agree that improvements has to be made in PA, some of them neither agree nor disagree ad whereas few of them disagree that improvements has to be made in PA M. P. Birla Institute Of Management 37 TABLE 10 TABLE SHOWING WHETHER PRESENT PA SYSTEM IS TO BE IMPROVED S. NO 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. OPTIONS STRONGLY AGREE AGREE NEITHER AGR EE NOR DISAGREE DISAGREE STRONGLY DISAGREE TOTAL NO OF RESPONDENTS 11 20 15 9 5 60 PERCENTAGE (%) 18 34 24 16 8 100 35 30 25 20 18 15 10 5 0 PERCENTAGE 34 24 16 8 STRONGLY AGREE AGREE NEITHER AGREE NOR DISAGREE DISAGREE STRONGLY DISAGREEINFERENCE: Majority of the respondents agree that present PA system is to improved, some of them neither agree nor disagree ad whereas few of them disagree. M. P. Birla Institute Of Management 38 TABLE 11 TABLE SHOWING METHODS THAT CAN BE SUGGESTED FOR PA S. NO 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. OPTIONS ESSAY METHOD FIELD REVIEW METHOD BARS APPRAISAL BY RESULTS 360 DEGREE APPRAISAL TOTAL NO OF RESPONDENTS 9 8 11 14 18 60 PERCENTAGE (%) 16 12 18 24 30 100 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 PERCENTAGE ESSAY METHOD FIELD REVIEW METHOD ARS APPRAISAL BY RESLTS 360 DEGREE APPRAISAL INFERENCE: Majority of the respondents suggest 360 degree appraisal for PA, some of them suggest appraisal by result and whereas few of them suggest essay method. M. P.Birla Institute Of Management 39 TOOLS USED F OR ANALYSIS KALMOGROV SMIRNOV TEST The Kalmogrov Smirnov Test (KS – Test) tries to determine if two data sets significantly. The KS – test has the advantage of making no assumption about the distribution of data. (Technically speaking it is nonparametric and distribution free). It is a goodness of fit used to examine the distribution function of the random variable (X). Test statistics T = = Sup | F (x) – S (x) | Supremum of the absolute value of the difference between F (x) and S (X) H0 is rejected if T exceeds the 1 – a quantile (W1 – a) of the Kalmogrov Smirnov’s Statistic. M. P. Birla Institute Of Management 40TO FIND OUT THE DISTRIBUTION OF RESPONDENT’S RATING PATTERN ABOUT â€Å"WHETHER PRESENT PA SYSTEM IS TO BE IMPROVED† H0: H1: Response Pattern obtained is uniformly distributed Response Pattern is not uniformly distributed Null Hypothesis S (x) 1/5 2/5 3/5 4/5 5/5 Opinion F (x) Cumulative Percentage 0. 18 0. 52 0. 76 0 . 92 1 Cumulative Percentage 0. 2 0. 4 0. 6 0. 8 1 Difference F(x) – S(x) -0. 02 0. 12 0. 16 0. 12 – STRONGLY AGREE AGREE NEITHER DISAGREE STRONGLY DISAGREE 0. 18 0. 34 0. 24 0. 16 0. 08 TEST OF UNIFORM DISTRIBUTION Calculated Value is: T (F (x) – S (x)) Tabulated Value is = 0. 16 T (tab) = 1. 22 / ? n When n = 5, T (tab) = 0. 5456 for 5 % significance level. Calculated value is less than tabulated value. H0 is accepted. INFERENCE: Response pattern obtained is uniformly distributed. M. P. Birla Institute Of Management 41 PAIRED ‘T’ TESTTO IDENTIFY THE COMPARISON BETWEEN THE STATEMENTS THAT ARE GIVEN FOR OPINION ON THE FOLLOWING FACTORS COVERED IN PA Ho: Job Knowledge is very good than Quality of Work H1: Quality of work is very good than Job Knowledge VERY GOOD JOB KNOWLEDGE QUALITY OF WORK 16 24 GOOD 12 96 AVERAGE 80 44 POOR 24 20 VERY POOR 8 16 N=5 X1 16 72 80 24 8 Y1 24 96 44 20 16 D1 -8 -24 36 4 -8 d=0 d1 – d -8 -24 36 4 -8 (d1 – d )2 64 576 1296 16 64 2016 d = 1Od N = 0 where N = 5 M. P. Birla Institute Of Management 42 S2 = 1 O (d1 – d) 2 (n – 1) = S T = = 10. 13 3. 19 d S/ vn = Degree of freedom 0 = n-1 =4 Table Value = 2. 132 Calculated Value is less than Tabulated Value, Ho is accepted INFERENCE: Job Knowledge is very good than Quality of Work M. P. Birla Institute Of Management 43 SPEARMAN’S RANK CORRELATION The rank correlation co – efficient is a measure of correlation that exists between two sets or ranks.Spearman’s Rank Correlation Co – efficient is calculated as follows: r = 1 – 6 O di2 n (n2 – 1) where n is number of packed observation d is the difference between one paired observation. The value of Spearman’s Rank Correlation will always lie between –1 and +1. If the coefficient is HO the ranks given by two sets of judges show perfect positive correlation. If it is –1, the ranks given by two sets of judges have a perfect negative correlation between them. NULL HYPOTHESIS HO: There is no correlation between the ranking of Checklist Method and Ranking Method among respondents i. e. ,  µr = 0 H1: There is correlation between the ranking of Checklist Method and Ranking Method among respondent’s i. e. ,  µr > 0 M. P.Birla Institute Of Management 44 RAN S. NO K (X) RANK (Y) RANK DIFFERNCE (RANK X – RANK Y) DIFFERENCE SQUARE di2 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 3 3 4 2 1 2 1 2 2 1 4 2 2 2 2 2 3 2 1 4 3 3 1 1 2 1 1 2 1 3 1 2 1 1 2 1 1 1 3 3 4 1 1 2 2 1 1 2 2 3 2 2 2 1 -2 1 -1 1 1 -1 3 1 1 -1 -1 2 2 1 -1 2 2 2 -1 -1 -1 4 4 4 1 4 1 1 1 1 1 9 1 1 1 1 4 4 1 1 4 4 4 1 1 1 O di2 =59 M. P. Birla Institute Of Management 45 X = CHECKLIST METHOD Y = RANKING METHOD Spearman’s r = 1 – 6 O di2 n (n2 – 1) = 1 – 6 x 59 25 (252 – 1) = 1 – 0. 0226 = 0. 977 or tabulated or (t), n = 25 at 5% level of significance or calculated or (c) = 1 vn – 1 = 1 v25 – 1 = 0. 20Upper limit (U1) =  µr + or (t) x or (c) = 0 + 0. 3977 x 0. 20 = 0. 08 INFERENCE: Since the ‘r’ value = 0. 977 it lies in the rejection region therefore we reject the null hypothesis at 5% level of significance and we accept the alternate hypothesis. Hence, we conclude that there is positive correlation between the ranking of Checklist Method and Ranking Method among the respondents. M. P. Birla Institute Of Management 46 CHI – SQUARE TEST Chi – Square is an importance non – parametric test and as such no test are necessary in respect of the type of population. We require only the degree of freedom (implicity of course the size of the sample) for using this test.As a non – parametric test, Chi – square can be used (i) as a test of goodness of fit and (ii) as a test of independence. Since the researcher used test of independence only the details about test of independence is given below. TES T OF INDEPENDENCE o2 test enables us to explain whether or not two attributes are associated. In order that we may apply the chi – square test either as a test to judge the significance of association between attributes, it is necessary that the observed as well as theoretical or expected frequencies must be grouped in the same way and theoretical distribution must be adjusted to give the same total frequency as we find in case of observed distribution.Karl Pearson developed a test for testing the significance of discrepancy between experimental values and the theoretical values obtained under some theory or hypothesis. This test is known as o2 test of goodness of fit. Karl Pearson proved that the statistic o2 = ? (O – E) 2 / E O – Observed Frequency E – Expected Frequency o2 is used to test whether difference between observed & expected frequencies are frequent. M. P. Birla Institute Of Management 47 To find o2 table value degree of freedom should be cal culated. Degree of freedom is calculated using the formula (r – 1)(c – 1). The table value for this degree of freedom is seen using 5% or 1% of significant level. If o2 table value is greater than o2 calculated value, Null Hypothesis is accepted or Null Hypothesis is rejected.To determine whether there is significant difference between gender & whether PA is inherently unfair Ho: There is no significant difference between gender & whether PA is inherently unfair H1: There is significant difference between gender & whether PA is inherently unfair GENDER CHOICE MALE FEMALE TOTAL NO OF RESPONDENTS YES 28 20 48 NO 104 48 152 TOTAL 132 68 200 Expected Frequencies are: (48 * 132) / 200 = 31. 68 (152 * 132) / 200 = 100. 32 (48* 68) / 200 = 16. 32 (152 * 68) / 200 = 51. 61 M. P. Birla Institute Of Management 48 CALCULATION OF O2: Observed Frequency (O) 28 104 20 148 Expected Frequency (E) 31. 68 100. 32 16. 32 51. 68 (O – E) 2 13. 54 18. 66 18. 66 13. 54 (O – E) 2 / E 0. 427 0. 168 1. 14 0. 261 2. 01 Calculated o2 = ? O – E)2 / E O – Observed Frequency E – Expected Frequency = 2. 01 Calculated o2 = 2. 01 Degree of Freedom = (4 – 1)(2 – 1) = 3 d. o. f at 5 % level of significance Therefore, Tabulated o2 = 7. 815 Since Calculated o2 < Tabulated o2 Therefore, we accept the hypothesis. i. e. , There is no significant difference between gender & whether PA is inherently unfair M. P. Birla Institute Of Management 49 M. P. Birla Institute Of Management 50 FINDINGS OF THE STUDY. ? All the respondents feel that PA is conducted every year in the company. ? Majority of the respondents feel that job increments and promotions are strictly based on PA and whereas few of them feel that it is not strictly based on PA. Majority of the respondents feel that PA objectives are partially informed, some of them feel it is clearly informed and whereas few of them feel that it is not informed at all. ? Majority of the respondents feel that purpose of PA is for promotion, some of them feel it is for salary increase and whereas few of them feel it is for training and development. ? From the table it is seen that the ranking of methods employed in PA is give below: FACTORS GRADING RANKING METHOD CHECKLIST METHOD FORCED CHOICE METHOD RANK II I III IV ? 58% of the respondent feel that feedback on PA is not collected and whereas some of them feel that feedback on PA is collected. Majority of the respondents opinion regarding present PA system in the company is good, some of the respondents opinion is average and whereas few of the respondents opinion is poor. ? Majority of the respondents opinion regarding the factors covered in PA is good, some of them feel it is average and whereas few of them feel it is poor. ? Majority of the respondents agree that improvements has to be made in PA, some of them neither agree nor disagree ad whereas few of them disagree that improvements has to be made in PA. M. P. Birla Inst itute Of Management 51 ? Majority % of the respondents prefers PA by the HR department, some of them prefer by third party and whereas few of them prefer through top level management. Majority of the respondents agree that present PA system is to improved, some of them neither agree nor disagree ad whereas few of them disagree. ? Majority of the respondents suggest 360 degree appraisal for PA, some of them suggest appraisal by result and whereas few of them suggest essay method. M. P. Birla Institute Of Management 52 SUGGESTIONS The top management should take up periodic programs to explain the objectives and the related issues to the executives and queries should be thoroughly cleared It is necessary to improve the performance analysis and review system in following areas ? There should be clear definition of rewards basing performance ?PA’S should have direct bearing in promotions ? PA should be incident specific & productivity linked & not as per personal linking. ? Self-a ppraisal discussion with the assessing officer & then the officer recording his appraisal will be ideal. Awareness is less in catering department ? Employees to work hard to achieve & a panel of officers with which interaction happens during the course of your job should be appraising officer ? Every year a appraisal letter should be given to employee because that can make a employee to show great affection to their job ascertained ? Subordinate & peers also should have a role in individual’s assessment ?Before or during PA, the reporting officer may discuss with the employee about his plus or minus points in order to educate & improved the employee’s performance in future ? Most of the assessment is based on personal interaction with evaluating officer ? Instead of giving overall rating in the paper good workers should be appreciated by the way of given extra perks or increment ? The decision obtained at performance analysis should be implemented. M. P. Birla Institut e Of Management 53 CONCLUSION The effectiveness of a system is to be determined by the people in it, the system cannot become effective automatically. Simply by basing upon few assumptions about the people involved in it.The same is the case with the executive appraisal system of Way 2 Wealth a considerable number of them have come under Halo effect and stereotyping Objectives of the appraisal system are not clear to most of the employees and behavioral dimensions are not clearly understood Unsatisfactory opinion in respect of existing system and self-assessment Wide gap between formal appraisal system and self-assessment Training needs are not met by the organisation inspite of doing serious exercise in identifying them There is lot of paper work in this system of appraisal by which the appraisal is time consuming The analysis has shown that most of the executives are in favour of a better appraisal system, which is more transparent and has provisions for unbiased assessment of per formance M. P. Birla Institute Of Management 54 M. P. Birla Institute Of Management 55 BIBLIOGRAPHYPERSONNEL MANAGEMENT STATISTICAL METHODS MANAGING HUMAN RESOURCES HUMAN RESORCE MANAGEMENT – C. B. MAMORLA, S. V. GANKAR S. P. GUPTHA BOHLANDER ASHWATHAPPA M. P. Birla Institute Of Management 56 QUESTIONNAIRE 1. Gender : Male ? Female ? 2. Employee Category: 3. Age Group: 4. Experience: 5. Is every year PA is conducted by the company? Yes ? No ? 6. Job increments and promotions are strictly based on PA? Yes ? No ? 7. PA objectives are Clearly informed Partially informed Not informed at all 8. Is PA inherently unfair M. P. Birla Institute Of Management 57 ? ? ? Yes ? No ? 9. PA serves the purpose of Salary increase Promotion Training and development Feedback ? ? ? ? 10.What methods are employed in PA Grading Ranking method Checklist method Forced choice method ? ? ? ? 11. PA forms/procedures are Management oriented Employee oriented M. P. Birla Institute Of Management ? ? 58 12. After PA, Feedback on PA is collected Yes ? No ? 13. The opinion on present PA system in the company? Very good Good Average Poor ? ? ? ? 14. Your opinion on the following factors covered in PA? FACTORS Job knowledge Quality of work Quantity of work Ability of work Hard work Manner & obedience VERY GOOD GOOD AVERAGE POOR VERY POOR M. P. Birla Institute Of Management 59 15. What is to be improved in PA? Strongly agree Neither Agree Agree nor disagree Disagree Strongly disagree FACTORSAppraisal by result Confidentiality Critical attributes Role related attributes Post appraisal actions Feedback on PA 16. Among the following which one do you prefer? PA by the HR department PA by the third party PA by top level management Assessment center ? ? ? ? M. P. Birla Institute Of Management 60 17. Is the present PA system is to be improved? Strongly Agree Agree Neither agree nor disagree Disagree Strongly disagree ? ? ? ? ? 18. What method you can suggest for PA? Essay method Field review metho d BARS Appraisal by results 360 degree appraisal ? ? ? ? ? M. P. Birla Institute Of Management 61 M. P. Birla Institute Of Management 62 M. P. Birla Institute Of Management 63

Week 4 Discussion-Epi Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Week 4 Discussion-Epi - Essay Example 006) Joseph Imoka, the World Health Organization’s tuberculosis coordinator in the country’s health ministry, said, â€Å"TB will attack HIV/AIDS patients who already have low resistance.† Kampala Henry Wasswa, (2006) About 12 cases of tuberculosis was reported in October 2007 in a place called Yellowknife and the TB team in Yellowknife are treating them carefully in addition to spreading awareness among the people who are potentially exposed to it. The bacteria that cause tuberculosis attack not only the lungs, but also other parts of the body. The primary causes of contacting this disease is poor nutrition and over- exposure to smoke and over-crowding. The at- risk group involves the Aboriginal population (Alix McNaught, 2008) and people who live in crowded slums and other places. The conventional methods of detecting outbreaks of diseases such as surveillance of any notifiable disease that is clinician based or laboratory based are less sensitive and timely, leading to poor outcomes and delayed treatment of diseases and therefore a system has been put in place for early detection of outbreaks. In the case of the West Nile Virus, (WNV) cases have been reported to have been imported from countries like Nicaragua etc. The WNV is an arbovirus that belonged to the family of Flaviviridae and generally transmitted among avian hosts and mosquito vectors especially the Culex. Humans and horses are accidental secondary hosts. (Kramer LD, Li J, Shi PY., 2007) Migrating birds are considered responsible for the outbreaks of WNV to places such as Asia, middle East, Americas, Africa, Europe, France, Israel and Egypt. Considering the above two cases, the tuberculosis disease could only be an outbreak because of the occurrence of stray cases in certain areas. To be called a cluster, a larger number of cases are needed to have been reported. Whereas, in the case of the WNV virus, the virus is easily spread through migratory birds and mosquitoes to high risk areas and is

In order for men to fulfill the role that society expects of them, do Essay

In order for men to fulfill the role that society expects of them, do women have to be suppressed - Essay Example In order for men to fulfill the role that society expects of them, do women have to be suppressed? First of all, the main reason of such misunderstandings is hidden in our childhood. We all are born free of patterns. All the children are born full of energy. They are happy just because they live, they are full of love, which the world is based on. That is why children are so active and lively. They live in the unity with the world. This happens until the adults start putting this stream in some frames, which are suitable for them. They want to overlap the current of this stream, because they think that it would be safer for them and for a child. They are sure that it is dangerous to be free, moreover, it is indecent. Adults worry about the opinion of neighbors and relatives if they let their child stay as he is. Other people would judge them, they would demand from you to put your child in certain frames and make a decent person out of him. And when he becomes serious and cold like them, they would say that now it is ok and you managed to bring up your child successfully. The soci ety does not want us to be alive and free. Patterns predefine the destiny of men and women. A future man is convinced that he should suppress a woman. When the boy is born, his parents start telling him: you must. The suggestions vary depending on the conditions a boy is growing up in. Parents usually say: you should be strong, you should not cry. He starts to hide his tears, his weaknesses. However, no person can be strong in everything. We all have our strengths and weaknesses and if we do not accept our weakness, if we deny it, we become even weaker and our strength gets ugly forms.

Summary Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 4

Summary - Essay Example At next stage the company may ensure its web presence through a corporate website. This web presence is then used to provide details of company’s products or services. At the next level of B2C e-business implementation the company may accept online orders and integrate it with its finance department and later on customer may be enabled to make online payments. This requires an integration of website with company’s financial system. In today’s global markets customer acquisition, retention and extension are ensured through used of Customer Relationship Management Systems (CRMs). A B2B e-commerce system facilitates interoperability between supply chain organizations and other business organizations. It is also integrated with local information systems of the organization. These systems are supplier-facing and are known to be Supplier Relationship Management (SRM) systems. The performance of these systems is analyzed in terms of time they take to complete a procurem ent process. B2B e-commerce systems have significantly squeezed the delays and most of the activities are automated and processed online. Closely related to e-commerce is the procurement process, this process is usually considered to cover all activities of supply chain process and it has a separate model for e-procurement process. Examples of e-business and e-commerce systems http://www.ibm.com/us/en/sandbox/ver2/ http://www.walmart.com/ Chapter 8: Knowledge & Systems for Communicating Online Knowledge is the purified form of information. We come across information in our routine life very frequently and by processing this information we accumulate knowledge that has some value to us. Using information is an important aspect of our daily life. It is important to know how to deal with information we come across and embed it with our previous knowledge to purify existing knowledge. Imagination is the other source of knowledge and we tend to imagine whatever we need to know. Imaginati on is a very important tool used for enhancing our knowledgebase. Knowledge management is essential for its systematic acquisition and various fields of knowledge are combined to make a new field of knowledge. Our professional knowledge is a combination of theoretical, empirical, personal, procedural knowledge and practical wisdom. Practicing several knowledge domains with varying depths formulate professional competence. Sharing, collaboration, participation and building knowledgebase are common functions to generate, acquire and retain knowledge. ICT technologies have contributed a lot towards building and enhancing all these knowledge functions. Wikipedia, e-mails, blogs, forums are few to mention the contribution of ICT technologies. Knowledge Management (KM) is an important organizational objective to utilize the scattered knowledge resources like experiences, insights, and various information systems and databases to ensure learning and sharing from existing knowledge. Knowled ge Management can be utilized to create a competitive advantage, to avoid repetition of mistakes and to achieve sustainable growth and improvement at organizational level. KM can also give powerful and useful inferences form an organizational CRM to make intelligent and aware business decisions. Examples of Knowledge and online Communication Systems

I need a topic Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

I need a topic - Essay Example Exposure to women is still not accepted by certain families, in spite of the fact that women’s liberation is growing considerably in almost all parts of the world. Violence to women is another factor meddling with the improvement of women. When we talk of violence, it might be in the form sexual harassment, discrimination in the living circle and working place, restrictions imposed either by the family members, lack of safety in places where people are moderate in numbers etc. This has probably leaded to the growth of Battered Women’s Shelter and Victim Support Groups. Many women struggle to find a definite solution to loose holds with these problems, these Shelter Houses and Victim Support Groups are helping in such a way that they bring them up to face the society with a supporting hand with lots of courage and ambition. This would pave way for many victim women to think that they too have ample chances to prove themselves in the society. To be precise the Shelter Homes and the Victim Support Groups, in which some are aided by the Social Services, provide permanent housing and deals with curing their issues. It gives them a whole some support. Through this a women is first get rid of her domestic violence and gets best suggestions to tackle her subject. Let me narrate an unforgettable event that happened in my life and how did I came out of that problematic event. If had to tell the exact time in what that event took place, I think I need to include the initial incidents which paved the way for the later chronologically. I got married at the age of twenty, in 1997, I though It would be one of the happiest days in my life, my fantasies over my married life became like a mirage, it gave me the expectation that, I will have a sweet life with my husband, but like what we get at the sight of a mirage , nothing but illusion of water, similarly my married life went in the unexpected way. Before

Business proposal Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Business proposal - Coursework Example If the farmers produce more cotton then prices would be lesser to acquire for subsequent production. It is important to note and mention that the leather that would be needed or required is the aniline leather which must have been buffed- a term referred to as full grain. This is so because the texture and finesse of such leather would be subtle to ensure the hands of boxer do not ruffle or hurt during contact or impact to a boxing bag. Waxed linen thread would be useful and beneficial to ensure the tilts fix and form well and perfectly. However, cotton polyester threads would be used to sew the cotton inside while linen threads would be used for tilts. The cotton fillers would be used, but a variety in the concentration would be considered depending on the use of the gloves. Direct labour cost would be divided thrice, the first is the sorting of cotton in terms of finesse. This requires manual laborers who would charge a range of $250-$300 per barrel. The second is the sewing stage where people use machines and would charge $350 per barrel of cotton which would produce 200 pairs of gloves (Golomb 7). The last stage is the finishing where synthetic fabric is waxed and polished by professionals according to world standards. These specialists would charge $400 and the gloves would be ready for market. The overhead costs incurred would be in transporting the finished goods to the prospective markets. This is so because gloves are sold by sporting agencies such as Adidas, thus, the company would incur services of Adidas as selling agents. It goes without saying that as a company, we would pay agency cost to Adidas or any other sports company because they would sell our merchandise on our behalf. Thus, their wages and pay would not only be based on commission thus, their wages would be overhead cost. Customers usually require highly polished synthetic covers because they are easy to customize in

Illegal immigrants who commited violent crimes and have U.S. Citizen Essay

Illegal immigrants who commited violent crimes and have U.S. Citizen - Essay Example America's â€Å"Birth Right citizenship† rule is protected by the Fourteenth Amendment and has turn illegal immigration not only into a gray area, but a sad one for those illegal immigrant status parents who are forcibly separated from their children who are then placed in the foster care system. From January to June of 2011, more than 46,000 parents with illegal immigrant status were deported by ICE with 21,860 parents asked to leave the country but leave their children as well. These parents are mostly illegals who have violent crime convictions as the government has chosen to concentrate on the the reasons for deportation rather than just simply basing the deportation on not having legal documents to be residing in the United States(Gonzales, â€Å"Report: 22% of Deportees Have U.S. Born Children†). One must point out that the Obama administration has been the most compassionate when addressing the issue of illegal immigrant parent status for the American born childr en. According to Gonzales (â€Å" â€Å"Report: 22% of Deportees Have U.S. Born Children†): ICE statistics show that 74% of the 46,486 parents of U.S.-citizen children deported had been convicted of crimes. Another 13% had been previously removed from the country, and 4% were fugitives — immigrants who failed to comply with deportation orders. As proven by the aforementioned statistics, selective deportation may be the key to controlling our illegal immigrant problem in terms of those having U.S. born children. It is an acknowledged fact that being born on U.S. soil does not automatically bestow citizenship on the parents of the child. But it does so for the child and by deporting the parents and keeping the child on U.S. soil, our government has a hand in one of the most inhuman and cruel acts that can be committed by an individual. That of separating a parent from a child and breaking up a family. Further complicating the situation, is the fact that the Fourteenth A mendment, which was drafted after the Civil War in order to ensure that the citizenship of freed slaves and their descendants would be protected. The â€Å"birth right† law has not seen even an iota of amending since it was conceived and thus serves the purpose of the illegal immigrants whose children are born in the United States. This is because the law was enacted during the time when the United States still had vast resources in terms of land, food, water, etc., and thus had unregulated immigration. Since our government has kept that law intact to this very day, then the government has no right to deport illegal immigrant status parents from the country (â€Å"Should Birth Right Citizenship Be Denied for U.S. Born Children of Illegal Immigrants?†). This unamendended law has become the basis of heartlessness within our government in terms of dealing with illegal immigrant status parents. In fact, it was U.S. Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard, D-Calif who said that the repo rt on the statistics pertaining to the illegal immigrant parent removals shows: â€Å"... the terrible toll our broken immigration system is taking on families...We can't continue to claim to value families while deporting parents in the tens of thousands.† (Gonzales, â€Å"Stats Detail Deportation of Parents†). The problems posed by the situation are clear to all those concerned. The real question is, â€Å"

Ethnograph Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Ethnograph - Essay Example The researchers’ decision to use observational and qualitative research method directly addressed the research questions such that research interview is the best choice to determine what care is like from the patients’ point-of-view whereas observational method is the best choice in determining how a patient receives assistance from the unit staff aside from determining the nurses’ perception about the patient satisfaction and quality of care and how care on the unit was organized, pure observation method was used in the study. Upon going through how the researchers conducted the ethnographic study in evaluating the patient satisfaction with the quality of care they received from the health care professionals, readers are expected to have a better understanding about the factors that could significantly affect the quality of care each patient is receiving in the surgical-medical unit. Ethnography is a common research strategy used in the study of social sciences like description of individual cultures (Dictionary.com, 2010). By conducting participant observation, research interviews, distribution of research survey questionnaires, and the collection of supplementary data like photographs, measurements, and patient records, this particular research strategy gathers empirical data regarding the nature and issues about the history of human culture and societies in writing (Maynard & Purvis, 1994, p. 76). In terms of biological sciences, the use of ethnography is similar to a case report or field study except that the study focuses on the patterns of thoughts and behavior of the research participants (Berwick, 2004; Boaz & Wolfe, 1997, p. 150). In relation to the use of ethnography, the article â€Å"Dance of the Call Bells† which uses ethnography in evaluating patient satisfaction with quality of care will be evaluated in terms of its accuracy and efficiency in

Bussiness communication Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Bussiness communication - Essay Example Hence, skill of interpersonal communication plays an essential role not just in resolution of conflict but also in achieving overall success in life. Introduction Communication is a means of sharing your ideas, emotions, feelings, goals, thoughts etc., with other people around you. Healthy and open communication pattern are the foundations of healthy, strong and positive relationships (Krizan, Merrier, Logan, and Williams 2008, p.366). However, problems in communication lead to problems in relationship. Once the relationships are hampered, then it becomes difficult to achieve those goals for which the relationships were created in the first place. Achievement of goals depends on compatibility and bonding with other people involved in relationship. Sadly, due to incompatibility in goals, most of the relationships end up in conflicts. Conflict in relationship is the major reason for failure to achieve goals, both in personal and professional life (Krizan, Merrier, Logan, and Williams 2 008, p.378). Hence, to avoid conflicts, it is essential to have a skill of interpersonal communication (Krizan, Merrier, Logan, and Williams 2008, p.366). However, as human personality is a combination of different aspects like emotions, thoughts, behavior, attitude etc., it is not possible to handle the conflict situation only with single skill. Hence, interpersonal communication skill is the only skill that can help human beings to manage conflict effectively and positively, as interpersonal skill is a combination of different skills which teaches people how to make communication successful by catering to every aspect of human personality and behavior. Definition Interpersonal communication is defined as an effort by two or more people, to create and sustain shared meaning through the process of exchanging the messages with each other (West and Turner 2009, p.10). However, interpersonal communication is not as easy as it sounds. For successful interpersonal communication, one not only needs to be clear about his own goals of communication, but also needs to take care of not hurting other people involved in the communication. According to scholars, only those people who have the ability to carry out effective and appropriate communication with others, depending on the situation, are competent in the area of interpersonal communication (Wood 2010, p.32). People communicate and interact with others with a purpose and goal in their mind. When a particular interaction leads to achievement of the goal of that interaction, then the communication is considered effective (Wood 2010, p.32). If the goals of communication are not achieved, then the interpersonal communication is considered ineffective and incompetent. Very few people have the ability to achieve the goals of communication because interpersonal communication is a ‘skill’ and not a natural ability. It is a part of social skill as it enhances the productivity and meaning of professional and per sonal relationships in life. However, the good thing is that, it can be learned and practiced by everyone who desires positive communication in their lives. Importance of Interpersonal Interpersonal communication is a part of social skill. Hence, people in the field of medicine, psychology, counseling, religion, education, military, human resource, business management etc., are being trained in social skills through different training programs (Hargie, Saunders and Dickson 1994, p.ix). This is

School Violence Essay Example for Free

School Violence Essay Introduction From the many reported and even more unreported events, school violence is seen as a subset of youth violence and a broader health problem. Factors that contribute to school violence are socioeconomic status, family, peers, and mental health. The best way to deal with school violence is to establish physical and social environments that prevent violence and promote safety within schools (Brener 81). There are many different forms of school violence. School violence could be seen as bullying, fighting, weapon use, shootings, stabbings, gang violence, and now growing cyber-bullying. Bullying tends to be the leading cause for school violence. Middle schools have the highest rate of bullying at 43 percent, and 22 percent of high schools have reported ongoing bullying problems in 2005-2006 (Statistics 2). Bullying not only has psychological effects on the victims, but it can affect the bully as well. Bullying can include the following: mocking, rumors, pushing, threats, exclusion, and being forced to do something one does not want to do. School violence occurs in and out of school. The most reported cases of school violence occur on school property. There were 46 percent of schools reporting 20 or more acts of violence on schools grounds. Other forms of school violence occur on the way to or from school and during school-sponsored events. Not only does school violence occur in these areas, but cyber-bullying has also been a big problem in schools lately. Students who are victims of cyber-bullying are more likely to become absent from school or even worse, can lead to several cases of suicide. Bullying Bullying is viewed as a pre-evolution to violence in schools and is common among students in grades six through ten. It is estimated that about ten percent of students are bullied at some point in their lives, six percent have both been bullied and bullied others and thirteen percent admit to SCHOOL VIOLENCE2 bullying others. Bullying is becoming a hot topic in education because of school violence and suicides. Bullying is defined as an act to humiliate another person who is perceived as weaker, or less capable than the bully. The act of humiliation can be anything from physical, verbal or emotional abuse, as well as sexual harassment, which has been categorized under bullying recently (Fried, 1996). The bully is usually a person of dominance over the one being bullied. In girls, dominance is achieved by social status and popularity. In boys, it is achieved by physical qualities such as size and strength. Types of Abuse Physical abuse and bullying includes anything from punching, stabbing, shooting, strangling, and suffocating to poking, hair pulling, and excessive tickling. physical abuse is more common between boys but there are still some girls who bully others using physical abuse. (Winkler, 2005). Violence and aggression among youth has increased a lot in the last twenty years and it begins with physical abuse. This rise in aggression is even more alarming with the higher availability of guns. Instead of using fists and hands more students are using guns and other weapons on both their victims and their bullies. Verbal abuse is the most common form of bullying and there are various forms of this abuse. Verbal abuse is used with an intention to harm another and cause pain, and is used to gain power over another person. (Fried, 1996). In addition, verbal abuse also leaves the victims feeling alone and exposed, and usually escalates, leading to physical consequences. Emotional abuse can reduce a child’s self-confidence to the point where they consider themselves unworthy of respect, friendship, love and protection. This is the most difficult type of abuse to define and diagnose. It can include rejecting, isolating, terrorizing, and corrupting. SCHOOL VIOLENCE3 Sexual abuse is the most complicated, the most difficult to document, and the hardest to address. â€Å"Sexual interactions involving children with peers or younger children are problematic if the relationship is coercive, exploitive, aggressive or threatens the physical or psychological well-being of either participant† (Fried, 1996). Sexual abuse needs two conditions to take place: Sexual activities involving a child and an abusive condition. There are two categories of sexual activities: noncontact and contact sexual abuse. Noncontact abuse includes exhibitionism, voyeurism, verbal sexual propositions or harassment. It can also include sexual notes or pictures, sexual graffiti, making suggestive or sexual gestures, pulling someone’s clothes off, and spreading sexual rumors (Fried, 1996). The conditions of noncontact sexual abuse is sexual activities that occur when there is mutuality, experimentation with sexual language and words in a non-demeaning way, situations when children have equal power and authority, and an absence of coercion or manipulation. Contact sexual abuse is when the other person has a large age or maturational advantage over the child, is in a position of authority, in a caretaking relationship with the child, or the activities are carried out against the child using either force or trickery. What Makes a Bully? Bullies are usually confident and have plenty of self-esteem. They have no difficulty in making friends, and these friends usually share pro-bullying attitudes and problem behaviors. Bullies tend to get in more trouble in school and do poorly in their academics. Often coming from homes where their parents provide little emotional support or involvement, where discipline styles tend to be either extremely permissive or excessively harsh leads to bullying behavior. â€Å"There is a strong relationship between bullying other students at a younger age and being involved in legal and criminal activities later on in life. About 60 percent of people that were surveyed who were SCHOOL VIOLENCE4 considered bullies in sixth through ninth grade had at least one criminal conviction by age 24† (Rimm, 2005). Victims of bullying tend to have social adjustment problems and are more likely to have low self-esteem and feel anxious and insecure. They rarely defend themselves, and male victims are usually physically weaker or smaller than their peers. The most common reason why kids were bullied was that they do not fit in. Children who are bullied may feel anxious, fearful, and have a hard time concentrating on schoolwork. Worrying about being harassed by their peers may also make them afraid to even go to school. â€Å"Researchers have found that adults who were bullied frequently as children had higher levels of depression and lower self-esteem than other adults† (Rimm, 2005). Those who are both bullied and bully others usually have the most serious behavioral and emotional problems. Social isolation, lack of success in school and behavioral problems combined make them a high-risk group. It is most likely that they were bullied first and then imitated the bullying behavior, although it is possible that they bullied first and others later retaliated. They exhibit social-emotional adjustment problems typical of bullies as well as victims which makes it unlikely that they will be resilient enough to adjust to a healthy lifestyle without effective intervention strategies. Middle School Violence Middle school is the period in schooling that comes between elementary and high school. The notion of middle school comes from G. Stanley Hall in 1904 that emphasized the need for an intermediate school. According to Hall, there was an adolescent age that requires its own in-between level of schooling. He defines the childhood period as gradually terminating at the end of the twelfth year, with the transition of adolescence beginning at that point (Coopock, 1974). SCHOOL VIOLENCE5 The background described above is essential in providing reasoning for the increase in violent acts as well as the nature of the violent acts. Middle school is where violent behaviors begin to fester. Just like the middle child in a family, they struggle to fit in. They are too old to fit in with the elementary students and they are not quite old enough to fit in with the high school students. They are battling with hormones associated with puberty and as mentioned above, are starting to develop physically, mentally, and emotionally, which leads to more aggression, sexual frustration and for some, the inability to cope with new social problems. Common Signs of Violence in Middle School Although there are some forms of violence in elementary school, middle school is where the more violent acts begin, where rampage shootings, sexual harassment and or sexual assault and bullying are the most common. Other forms of shootings, stabbings and fights are common throughout a child’s schooling, but as mentioned in the statistics there is a significant increase in the amounts and forms of violence that occur in middle schools. The numbers go from 34 percent which includes rare shootings, name calling, tattling, fighting, stabbing and bullying in the elementary level to 76 percent which more than doubled adding rampage shooting, sexual assault and sexual harassment to the list at the middle school level. Sexual harassment and or sexual assault can be perpetrating by students and administrators. For example, Cleveland’s Wiley Middle School teacher was sentenced to 153 years for sexually harassing and assaulting two middle school students. The effects of assault caused by personnel leaves a bigger scar on these children because the perpetrators are individuals who are supposed to be responsible for protecting the students. Instead, 31 year old Christopher Thomas of Eastlake used his cell phone to call and text inappropriate sayings of a sexual nature with two 14 year old girls from June 2008 until November 2009. One of the girls he sexually assaulted in her home and his cell SCHOOL VIOLENCE6  phone and computer contained nude photos of both girls. During his sentencing, the perpetrator cited that he knew what he was doing was wrong. (website, 2010). Middle High School Violence: Rampage Shootings Most other forms of violence have been described throughout this essay showing the different forms and most of the information provided mainly deals with the problems of urban schools. But contrary to belief, suburban schools encounter school violence of all forms and are particularly known for rampage shootings. Rampage shootings are different from other forms of school violence. For example, these shootings can take place on school campuses before an audience of fellow students; it can involve multiple victims who are often chosen at random and can be carried out by students or former students of the school where they occur. † (Hunnicutt, 2006). For example 14 year old, Michael Carneal of West Paducah, Kentucky, always wore black and was known by his class mates as a Satanist, he went to school on the morning of Dec. 1 1997 and pulled out a 22 caliber handgun and started firing into a praying group of students. He left 3 girls dead and 5 others wounded (Hunnicutt, 2006). Littleton, Colorado is home of the most famous rampage shooting recorded in high school history. The perpetrators were two students who attended Columbine High School, Klebold Dylan and Eric Harris. These two young men, dressed in camouflage, entered the building and began shooting at random. They killed 13 people before killing themselves. The Columbine High School shootings gave the world a picture of one type of violence that is within high schools. School Violence: Urban Suburban Schools Another factor that may influence the occurrence of violence in schools is the number of students that attend a particular high school. There is a large possibility that the relationship of having more students can directly lead to a form of competition and problems becoming more SCHOOL VIOLENCE7 intense. Compared to the 200,000 public elementary and secondary schools in 1940, there were only 65,000 schools in 2005. In those 65 years, the numbers of schools decreased while the U. S. population increased by 70 percent (Quindlen, 2001). A study done by Barker and Gump in 1964 on social functioning size and high school size, recognized that on average, students in smaller schools participate in extracurricular activities twice as much as students who are in larger schools. Another study concluded that smaller high schools sizes had more positive results than larger schools in academic performance, absenteeism, dropout rate, extracurricular activities, sense of community, student satisfaction, social behavior, dropout rate, and parental involvement, regardless of rural or urban settings. Now looking at numbers, â€Å"smaller high schools (enrollment size 400-600) experienced one-eighth the rate of serious crimes (four percent compared to 33 percent), one-tenth the rate of physical attacks with weapons (two percent to 20 percent), and one-third the rate of theft or larceny (18 percent to 68 percent) and vandalism (23 percent to 62 percent)† of that compared to larger high schools (enrollments above 600) (Devoe et al. , 2002). The rates of schools violence tend to mirror the behavior of the general population. Community violence in the inner cities is more of a problem than in rural areas, with rampage shootings being the exception. This helps partially prove that community violence has a direct influence on the children. Much research today suggests that violence is a learned behavior, so children acting out in violent or aggressive ways may have learned the violence from adults in their community. Early intervention may be the best way to prevent this type of behavior. Making the environment safe is the most important thing a community can do. Schools have adopted a zero tolerance policy against school violence which helps prevent violent acts of behavior. Conclusion SCHOOL VIOLENCE8 There are three recommendations from Dessel’s article that can be drawn to inform future practice in education and future research in public school settings. First, increased attention must be paid to the constructs of public school culture and climate. Second, changing school culture and climate specifically involves teacher education. Third, future research must improve and explore the barriers to implementing programs. As Zirkel and Cantor (2004) state, in 1954 people were not asking whether schools would welcome and nurture African American children and adapt the curriculum to be inclusive, but were only starting to open the doors. Today, the doors must not only swing wide open, but all children must be welcomed with acceptance, celebration of differences and acknowledgement of the contribution of diversity, for the benefit of everyone (Dessel, 2010). Bibliography Coopock, N. (1974). iddle Schools School leadership digest. In N. Coppock, Middle Schools School leadership digest (pp.1-42). Arlington: National Association of Elementary Principal. Fried, S. Fried, P. (1996). Bullies Victims. New York: M. Evans and Company, Inc. Hunnicutt, S. (2006). School Shootings. In S. Hunnicutt, School Shootings (pp. 1-102). San Diego : Thomas Gale. Kaiser, D. A. (2005). School Shootings, High School Size, and Neurobiological Considerations. Journal of Neurotherapy, 9(3), 101-115. doi:10. 1300/J184v09n03. 07 Logue, J. N. (2008, January). Violent Death in American Schools in the 21st Century: Reflections Following the 2006 Amish School Shootings. Journal of School Health. pp. 58-61. doi:10. 1111/j. 1746-1561. 2007. 00267. x. Mayer, M. J. , Leone, P. E. (2007). School Violence and Disruption Revisited: Equity and Safety in the School House. Focus on Exceptional Children, 40(1), 1-28. Rimm. S. (2005). Growing Up Too Fast: The Rimm Report on the Secret World of America’s Middle Schoolers. New York: Rodale, Inc. Stein, N. (2007). Bullying, Harassment and Violence Among Students. In , Radical Teacher (pp. 30-35). Radical Teacher. Website. (2010, November 17). 19ActionNews. Retrieved February 22, 2011, from E:\Teacher convicted of sex acts sentenced to 153-years in prison 19 Action NewsCleveland, OHBreaking News, Weather, Exclusives. mht: E:\Teacher convicted of sex acts sentenced to 153-years in prison 19 Action NewsCleveland, OHBreaking News, Weather, Exclusives. mht. Werle, G. D. (2006). Taking Steps to Promote Safer Schools. Journal of School Health, 76(4), 156-158. doi:10. 1111/j. 1746-1561. 2006. 00087. x Winkler, K. (2005). Bullying: How to Deal with Taunting, Teasing, and Tormenting. Berkley Heights: Enslow Publishers, Inc.

What Made Coca Cola Achieve Superior Performance

What Made Coca Cola Achieve Superior Performance Coca Cola has been operating in the industry since 1886 and is continue leading industry at this date. As the worlds largest beverage company today, Coca Cola has business operation to more than 200 countries found in Eurasia, Africa, Europe, North America, Latin America, and the Pacific, marketing a portfolio of 500 brands and 3300 beverage products. In 2009, Coca Cola ranked 26th in the BW 50 and bagged the recognition having the best brand name by the Interbrand. Commenter of the BW 50 especially mentioned that Coca Cola has triumphed over difficult times because of its innovative spirit. In particular, the companys innovative strategy involves preserving the companys values that made Coca cola remarkable and that is by taking its brand image of wholesomeness and family and friends and applying the values in a new category. Moreover, studies have shown that companies that invested in innovations during recessions have recorded the biggest jump in profits. The innovative spirit of Coca Cola is one of the key factors that contributed for the companys superior performance, that is, its innovation strategy gave the company the competitive advantage over its competitors. A competitive advantage is something that provides incremental value when compared to other offerings, wherein value is the perception of how much the buyer benefit ted beyond what was being paid in the product. In order to create value, the four Ps of marketing (that constitute the marketing mix) product, price, place, promotion have to be observed and practiced effectively. Dwyer and Tanner (2006) assert that innovation can be in the form of innovative marketing strategy, innovative manufacturing processes or innovative corporate structure. Also, companies that display the innovative spirit were found to have a corporate culture that supported innovation. Such a culture is dominated by a desire for the company to grow, to improve and to take advantage of all possible opportunities. That is, innovative companies tend to focus on opportunity risk (Dwyer Tanner 2006). With regards to Coca Colas strategy, the innovation comes in the form of innovative marketing strategy embracing the values that made it famous. Moreover, studies have consistently shown that key factors contribute to the likelihood of success of a company. One factor is vision, or the degree to which the development team shares a vision of what the new development project is supposed to accomplish. Another factor is a structured new product development process. Finally, having a long term perspective is another important characteristic. In many ways, these factors may be characteristics of an innovative culture. As Peter Drucker (1985) wrote, When all is said and done, what innovation requires is hard, focused, purposeful work. The literature also points five key components of success; namely close ties to well-defined market that lead to a product advantage; highly integrated and market-oriented company; competitive advantages in technology and production, strong marketing proficiency, and strong financial support. First, if the company has close ties to well-defined market, then it is able to anticipate customer needs, creating a product advantage. In this case, product advantage is the dominant factor in success (Cooper and Kleinschmidt 1987). Second, there must be close coordination between all who participate in the new product development process. A market-oriented company selects its targets more wisely and offers a product mix better matched to customer preferences. Third, the company must have competitive advantage technology and production capability, with which the new product is a good fit. These first three factors should result in a product or service that is unique and delivers superior benefits. The fourth element is that the company must have a strong marketing proficiencyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦The last but essential component is that the company must have strong financial support for its product launch and must take advantage of the marketing proficiencyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦These factors were identified in studies involving tangible products and services. In addition, it helps to choose a market with a high growth rate (Dwyer and Tanner 2006). Coca Colas focus on beverage creation and marketing enables the company to understand and meet the diverse and ever-changing beverage needs and desires of the consumers from all over the globe. The magnitude of Coca Colas advertising and distribution system enabled the company to easily market new non-alcoholic drinks as well as mineral water. Because of this, despite continuously changing consumer taste and preference, Coca Cola maintained its competitive advantage and lions share in the industry. Moreover, Coca Cola marketing campaigns such as Its the Real Thing, The Pause the Refreshes, Things Go Better with Coke and the latest Happiness have further enticed more consumers to try the companys products. In effect of the strong marketing proficiency, the company has become a global selling company with about 1.6 billion servings of products being consumed every day. Coca cola growth strategy in three ways/directions during 1996 olympic games: Emotional branding,the main idea was to let consumers experience the experience instead of product. Main focus was made on recognition of worlds diversity and individuality, and makes connection brands core ingredient. Company made it obvious to consumers that it recognizes its global status. Artworks: Coca cola bottles were used as canvas by 53 artists from different countries to express their spirit, cultural values, customs and traditions. Some of the artworks were so successful that were put on permanent display at theWorld of coca cola in las vegas. Just In Time advertising: during the Olympic games company ran 88 different TV commercials for 17 days. Each commercial was devoted to a particular theme of the Games and was never repeated. This is a very good example of global advertising campaign, as the advertisments ran simultaneously in 135 countries. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Another way Coca-Cola tackled this strategy was through art. With Coca-Cola bottles as the canvas, artists from 53 different countries created works of art using local materials while capturing the spirit of their native traditions and cultures. Among the works, a six-foot-tall replica of Stonehenge from England and a ten-foot bottle made of rattan, wood and grass from the Philippines. The artwork received amazing reviews as many of the bottles went on world tour. Some of the bottles have even been put on permanent display at the sWorld of Coca-Cola in Las Vegas to demonstrate the global power of the Coca-Cola Company that parallels with the international Olympic Gamesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦The third way the company embarked upon this global growth strategy was with Just In Time advertising. Coke screened 88 separate television commercials, and over the 17 days of the Olympic Games, none of them was repeated. Each spot was also carefully bought to target that particular progra ms specific audience. The 17 commercials, one for each day of the Games, reflected the theme of the day and the latest Olympic news to the 135 countries the advertisement ran. These three global growth strategies proved very successful for Coca-Cola. (http://www.unc.edu/~jdee/creativestrategy.html) Further, using the social media, Coca Cola have invested on archives that collect advertising as well as marketing materials. The archives document the crossing point between the companys products and its consumers. It contains advertising and marketing materials from the newspapers, magazines, radio, advertisements and commercials and also photo collection that depicts international and domestic distribution of Coca Colas products. Blogs are then created that promotes the company with focus on heritage and pop culture. Through this resource, the company is able to get new information from the followers of social media. In this way, the company is learning new ideas helpful for future strategies. An example of this is the Fan-based strategy of Coca Cola, as cited from a literature: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Coca-Cola used the fan-based strategy in an attempt to differentiate itself from traditional Olympic advertising, which used athletes. The For the Fans campaign went into action with a series of ads featuring actual photographs of fans drinking Coke at Olympic Games from 1928 onward. The first two commercials aired during the week of March 6, 1996 and featured black and white photos from previous Olympics showing fans in Switzerland holding Coca-Cola bottles. In the next step, Coke focused on a series of ads highlighting real life stories about how Coke has made a difference to young aspiring athletes. Finally, for the third step, Coke used commercials, print ads, and posters that addressed whether the enthusiasm of the fans makes a real difference to the outcome of the sporting event. The answer was resoundingly yes. (http://www.unc.edu/~jdee/creativestrategy.html) According to Dwyer and Tanner (2006) learning is when we connect new information to what we already know. Learning organization is one that consistently creates and refines its capabilities by connecting new information and skills to known and remembers requisite for future success. Organizational learning is the process of developing new knowledge that has the potential to influence behavior. Learning facilitates behavior change that leads to better performance. Many executive have said that the only truly sustainable competitive advantage is to be able to learn faster than competition, a contention supported by research. Moreover, the companys competitive advantages are explored in the following: buyer bargaining power, supplier bargaining power, barriers to entry, intensity of competition and threat of substitute. Among the customers of Coca Cola, the restaurants have the largest bargaining power. Coca Cola earns the largest profit margins from the large purchase volume made by authorized bottlers on its concentrates, in which the bottled beverages are then passed on the customers (restaurant chains). The overall bargaining powers of the buyers have given Coca Cola an average of 28% operating margin. In terms of raw materials, Coca Cola established a good bargaining power with its suppliers. The companys financial situation, e.g., high and stable gross profit margin of 65% indicates that there is low risk for the bargaining power of the suppliers to affect Coca Colas profitability. Also, high earning per capita of the companys employees reveals that the company has relatively low sensitivity to labor costs changes. The company has established exceptional network of distribution system throughout the globe that enables the company to enjoy economies of scale, and hence a remarkable competitive advantage that created barriers for new entrants to participate in the industry. Also, the companys strong brand and large scale advertising provided the company a barrier to competition. Further, the companys strong brands have reduced competition in the consumer staple sector. Disruptive Innovation Theory: Among the companies providing goods and services to consumers around the globe, only 10% are able to maintain and sustain a level of growth that is acceptable for the shareholders, while the rest of the 90% are not able to. Though these 90% have been applying the best strategies to make the business survive like investments on technological innovations, mindful of healthy competition and customers feedback, these efforts are not enough. The requirements of long-term sustainable success not only include the right normal strategies but also disruptive strategies in innovation. The core principle of disruptive innovation theory is that the innovation made by companies tends to have a faster pace that the changes in the customers lives. Hence, to maintain growth, a company must not only create innovations but also must be able to retain its core offerings and should always continue to practice sustainable innovation In the case of Coca Cola, though the company has been operating for quite a long time already, and can actually be considered as a very old company in the industry, it continues to hold a large share in the industry and even expand its market. The reason is that though Coca Cola adapts innovations, it is still able to embrace the values that made Coca Cola remarkable in the first place. In particular, the company preserved its brand image of wholesomeness and family and friends and continuously applying the brand image to new categories. Innovation Index One indicator that Coca Cola engages in innovations is the Innovation Index published by the UTEK Corporation. The latest Strategos/wRatings Innovation Index result of the UTEK Corporation confirms that Coca Cola continues to be innovative, with index score of 78.04 and leads the ranking of innovation performance of food and beverage companies. The SW Innovation Index is based on end-consumers feedbacks on the tangible benefits that they have obtained for the companies products. Corporate Sustainability In terms of corporate sustainability, Coca Cola initiated its Commitment 2020 plan. The plan outlines Coca Colas goals for the next 10 years which include minimization of water usage, reduction of carbon footprint by 15%, retrieval of 100% of the packaging and increase campaign on recycling. The company also plans to use local resources and pledge to eliminate potent greenhouse gases called HFCs (or hydroflourocarbons) by 2015. Literature views Corporate sustainability as: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦a new and evolving corporate management paradigm. The term paradigm is used deliberately, in that corporate sustainability is an alternative to the traditional growth and profit-maximization modelà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦it recognizes that corporate growth and profitability are important and re requires the company to practice the goals of the society, especially those relating to sustainable development like economic development, protection of the environment, social justice, and equityà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦the concept borrows elements from four more established concepts: sustainable development; corporate social responsibility; stakeholder theory; corporate accountability theory. ..Sustainable development need for economic growth with environmental protection and social equity to meets the needs of present generations without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ corporate social responsibility deals with the role of business in society wit h the premise that corporate managers have an ethical obligation to consider and address the needs of society, not just to act solely in the interests of the shareholders or their own self-interestà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Stakeholder theory asserts that the stronger the companys relationships are with other external parties, the easier it will be to meet your corporate business objectives; the worse your relationships, the harder it will be. Strong relationships with stakeholders are those based on trust, respect, and cooperationà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ is corporate accountability is the legal or ethical responsibility to provide an account or reckoning of the actions for which the company is held responsible (www.sunstar.com.ph). The 2020 Vision of Coca Cola maintains that the company will double its global servings per day to 3 billion from 1.6 billion and will double system revenue and improve margins. If this is pulled-off as planned, along with their dividend payout and stock buybacks, it will create solid shareholder returns over a 10 year period. In 2009, Coca Cola publicized its new plastic bottle made partially from plants. The PlantBottle is a fully recyclable bottle and is made from a combination of petroleum-based materials and plant-based materials. In this instance, Coca Cola have made an innovative product. Quoting from the companys website: The Coca-Cola Company the first company to introduce a beverage bottle made with recycled plastic has been focused on ensuring the sustainability of its packaging for decades. It has put resources behind creating packaging that is recyclable and investing in recycling infrastructure to ensure that its packages are collected, recycled, and re-used. Earlier this year, the Company opened the worlds largest plastic bottle-to-bottle recycling plant in Spartanburg, S.C. The plant will produce approximately 100 million pounds of recycled PET plastic for reuse each year the equivalent of nearly 2 billion 20-ounce Coca-Cola bottles. These efforts are all focused on helping close the loop on packaging use and produce truly sustainable packages for consumers (www.thecoca-colacompany.com.). Financial Performance As one of the well-known companies worldwide, Coca Cola currently is trading at a reasonable value. At the end of 2009, the company has published an 8.7 revenue growth, earning growth of 11%, and cash flow growth of 11%. The average annual dividend of the company is $1.76 but entering 2010, the dividend yields 3.26% with a 3-year dividend growth of 10%. Coca Cola showed remarkable performance over the decades. The companys financial performances over the years are reflected in the table below: 2009 2008 2007 2006 Revenue Growth $B 30.99 31.994 28.857 24.088 Earnings Growth $B 6.906 5.807 5.981 5.080 Cash Flow Growth $B 8.186 7.571 7.150 5.957 Dividend Growth Dividend $ 1.64 1.52 1.36 1.24 Yield % 3.28 3.04 2.5 2.8 The financial health of the company is outstanding. Coca Colas net profit margin is at 22% at the end of 2009, which is higher as compared to its competitors like PepsiCo (with only 14% net profit margin). Analysts and investors also considered the cash flow as the life blood of any business. Cash flow is used as a core indicator of a firms financial health and viability and it is considered as a good gauge to quickly judge a firms financial performance. As an indicator, a negative cash flow, on one hand, indicates that the firm is financially troubled. No firm can keep on operating if cash flow is negative. On the other hand, positive cash flow, when cash is increasing, indicates that the firm is financially healthy (at least for the period) and can be able to pay its bills. In relation to this, Coca Colas cash flow exhibits a growth of 11%, from $7.571 billion in 1998 to $8.186 billion in 1999. In terms of dividend growth, the company has recorded increases in dividends for years in a row that made Coca Cola to be among the top in the list of dividend aristocrat. The current companys stock yields 3.28%. The companys dividend has also increased by 7.3%. Moreover, the companys payout ratio is currently at 56%. Moreover, Coca Cola has a long-term debt-equity ratio of 0.20 while the current debt-equity ratio is 1.3 So, in terms of financial conditions, Coca Cola is financially healthy demonstrating a fairly good dividend growth. The company has the highest profit margins in the food and beverage industry, diversified brands, a strong brand, extreme international exposure, and a solid growth. The companys price-earning ratio is also playing a little above 18, which is not bad. Further, the company has concrete revenue, earnings, and cash flow growth. The stock offers an above average dividend yield, and has been diligently increasing dividends over the past 48 years. This is the type of company that just works, period. You dont need billions of dollars in reinvested research and development to sell more Coke, and the products dont get replaced overnight. The Return Driven Strategic Framework The Return Strategy Model is based on three dimensions of performance namely superior and sustainable return on investment, growth while maintaining superior return on investment, and superior total shareholder return. The model serves as the fundamentals of business strategies. It is the result of combining extensive research and real world applications of great corporate performances over ten years or more. The strategy examines the commonalities in business strategies that have resulted to superior performance. Using the Return Driven Strategic framework in evaluating Coca Colas performance, the following points are highlighted so as to show that the company has indeed demonstrated superior performance. First, the company continuously innovate its offerings to better satisfy the needs of its customers, in which innovate is defined as changing the companys product to better satisfy the needs of the targeted consumers. This is done through re-examination of their offerings, modification of the existing ones and development of new products that are perceived to better satisfy the unmet needs of the customers. Coca Cola continuously change its offerings since the company believes that by doing so, they are creating more value for the customers with the anticipated superior return on investment from the innovation. The value is of creating an intellectual and emotional connection between the consumers and the companys offerings. Another driving factor for Coca Colas superior performance is its strong commitment to and discipline for making shareholder value by focusing on return on invested capital. The company maintains goals, incentives and performance measures that are definitely in line with a sustainable return on investment. The Coca-Cola has been profiled as a company that has used Economic Value Added to create shareholder value. In fact, Cokes value-creating business strategies have increased shareholder value. Moreover, Coca Cola have accomplished superior returns as well as growth without violating any ethical parameters of the community where its businesses are operating. CONCLUSION In todays global, intensively interconnected business environment, a major challenge faced by business organizations is how to maximize shareholder value and sustain growth, while at the same time creating economic value for all. For the leading Coca Cola Company the attainment of superior performance is a tough endeavor and it requires combinations of strategies. The remarkable strategy of Coca Cola is its innovation strategy that enables the almost 100 year old business excels and grows despite tough market pressures.