Note:To prepare for this essay please read the required articles that is attached
I need an essay in the following subject:
In this essay you examine the notion of ‘high-performance work systems’ as an example of a system operating within organisations, designed and implemented by HR and/or line managers. Use this week’s Collaboration to share your thoughts about HPWS, and HR systems and organisations in general, with your colleagues. Be sure to discuss ways in which your experiences and differing perspectives can help you understand what you have read and, in turn, how your readings can help you expand your thinking about organisations and systems.
•Exploring similarities and differences in your perspectives on the potential value of HPWS
•Sharing alternative perspectives on implications of HPWS for HR managers, line managers and the organisation’s design
•Synthesising general lessons about the HR leader’s role in organisation design, systems design and relationships with line managers
The following conditions must meet in the essay:
1) I want a typical and a quality answer which should have about 1400 words.
2) The answer must raise appropriate critical questions.
3) The answer must include examples from experience or the web with references from relevant examples from real companies.
4) Do include all your references, as per the Harvard Referencing System,
5) Please don’t use Wikipedia web site.
6) I need examples from peer reviewed articles or researches.
Appreciate each single moment you spend in writing my paper
Best regards
SAMPLE ANSWER
High performance work system is a need for all organizations since it impacts their organizations positively. Multi-skilling is work ethic that is highly encouraged because it helps in achieving high-performance of work design advocated for in any organization (Gilbert, De Winne, and Sels 2011). In order to enhance the high-performance work design, the leaders adopt the usage of the supportive techniques, where members are supported in bettering their working conditions rather than the use of autocratic style of leadership. For the kit-marshalling, the support systems are employed to improve on work performance and to make the team work function effectively as compared to the productive units, material are adequately supplied to avoid shortage that may slow down the work.
To attain success in an organization, the management has to set goals to aid in attain the success through hard work as can be seen in leading corporations like Google. Thorough training is normally done on the new employees so that they familiarize themselves with the corporate culture of their organizations. Boxall and Purcell (2008) argue that, the employees are advised to be involved in the trainings that take place in the organization in order to learn more on the code and ethics of the business. This helps put the business in a position to produce high work performance which will lead to the success of the organization. Employees are allowed to participate in the payment system as this will motivate them to work harder as they feel acknowledged to be part and parcel of the organization. The payment systems are designed in a way that suits the organization and the employee’s needs, such that each of the two sides benefit from the system. In some cases team members are allowed to use the peer performance review where they evaluate one another on matters of performance to identify if the management team is working or if the workers are failing in their duty of working hard towards the success of the organization. The peer performance review, therefore, helps to ensuring both the management and the workers carry out their role accordingly.
The human resource specialists should be able to contribute to the process of organization design since they have great contribution to the success of the business. At Google, the HR department are actively involved in the organization design so that all the work is properly aligned with the organizations mission and vision. The organizations of a particular function and activities in regard to the basis upon which the relationship between are managed by the human resource managers together with the line managers. Managers work to ensure that people work cooperatively together and if need be the organization has to be adjusted so that it can be able to fit the particular strengths and attributes of the people available to achieve the desired goal. According to Gong, Law, Chang and Xin (2009), there is the need to have an ideal structure that will be modified to meet particular desired circumstances that are helpful to the organization. The alternative perspective on implication of the high-work performance on the organization design will be to optimize the arrangements for conducting the affairs of the business by clarifying the overall performance of the business. Organization design also aims at providing the achievement of the cooperation effort together with the integration of activities and teamwork in pursuit of a common goal. Organization design defines the role and the function of each organizational unit, such that all the individual roles are well clarified not forgetting the role of the authorities and the accountabilities. Organizational design aims at building of flexibility into the system and this helps the system to adapt fast to challenges and new situations which if not taken into consideration may negatively affect the organizations success. It also aims at planning and implementing organization development activities and this positively contributes to the success of the organization which later motivates its workers. The human resource managers have role to review the organization to ensure that each persons present is playing his role as required through hard work. The review is normally conducted in four stages which include the analyzing stage where the managers have to review the factors that may affect the organization in the present or in future. They also have to diagnose what ought to be done to better the organization functions and structure through the implementing of the organization after planning for the right time to do so. When all these reviews have been done it then calls for the implementation of the plan that has been set aside to be followed to the later.
Both the human resource and the line managers have to set guidelines that will help the organization to move forward (Sanders & Frenklen, 2011). These guidelines involve the differentiation of work for all to know what they should do and integrating the work so that all the people in that organization through the high work performance can be able to work towards the same goal. The managers need to allocate work to all the departments, project groups, functions, individual position and all units in that organization and advocate for team work. They also need to delayer the organization by removing superfluous layer in order to promote flexibility and increase responsiveness with the aim of enabling the people to be given more responsibility on their duties. This helps to reduce costs on the much undone work and improves the overall efficiency of the business. According to Sanders Frenklen (2011), the main motive of HR department is to ensure that all the functions within the organization is aligned with the mission and vision of the organization.
Lessons about HR in an organization design, system design and line managers are enormous within organizations. The lesson about the human resource an organization is that the organization design that they employ in their work leads to the organization planning. Through planning, they can be able to convert their analysis in to data, which aids in the recognition of the human resource requirements in line with the changes that ought to be implemented to better the working of the organization. According to Frenkel, Sanders, & Bednall (2009), planning is what determines the structure, relationship and the roles which prove contingent in the present and in future. Human resource has to be involved in organization design because it is all about people and they work they do. In case of consulting people from outside there is the need to ensure that the line and the human resource are involved in order to make the implement the proposals smoothly.
References
Sanders, K., & Frenklen, S. 2011. HR-line management relations: characteristics and effects. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, Vol. 22, No. 8, 1611–1617
Frenkel, S., Sanders, K., & Bednall, T. 2009. ‘How Do Employees Perceptions of Management and HR-Line Relations Affect Employee Attitudes to Work,’ paper presented at International HRM conference, Amsterdam
Boxall, P., and Purcell, J. 2008. Strategy and Human Resource Management (2nd ed.), Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan
Gong, Y., Law, K.S., Chang, S., and Xin, K.R. 2009, ‘Human Resource Management and Firm Performance: The Differential Role of Managerial Affective and Continuance Commitment,’ Journal of Applied Psychology, 94, 263–275
Bjo¨rkman, I., Ehrnrooth, M., Smale, A., and John, S. 2011, ‘The Determinants of Line Management Internalisation of HRM Practices in MNC Subsidiaries,’ International Journal of Human Resource Management, 22, 8, 1654–1671
Ethical Principles in Wal-Mart Employment practices
Ethical Principles in Wal-Mart Employment practices
Order Instructions:
you must using 3 of 5 reading materials, i give .
and you must write 2 argument and 1 counter argument.
1 – Fiduciary Principle
•Is concerned with money and finances
•Each officer has a legal fiduciary duty to act in the best interests of the stakeholders and other employees within the firm.
•An implied fiduciary duty for every employee to act in a way that generates positive benefits for the firm.
•Examples: conflicts of interest, good faith efforts for carrying out responsibilities. Prudence with the company’s resources, loyalty.
2 – Property Principle
•Based on the belief that every employee should respect property as well as the rights of the owners of the property.
•Expected that the employee should be a good steward to the resource that he/she has access to. •Examples: theft, misappropriation of funds, wasting resources, misappropriation of intellectual property
3 – Reliability Principle
•Based on the belief that it is the employee’s responsibility to honor the commitments he or she has made to the firm.
•Examples: breaching a promise or contract, not fulfilling a promised action, ensuring that suppliers and other business partners are paid in a timely manner
4 – Transparency Principle
•Based on the belief that every employee should conduct business in a truthful and open manner.
•Assumes that employees will not make decisions based on a personal agenda.
•Examples: keep accurate and current records of business obligations, fraudulent and deceptive actions of the employee, financial information is presented in a truthful and accurate way
5 – Dignity Principle
•Based on the belief that each employee needs to respect the dignity of all individuals.
•Encourages the enhancement of human development not only within the company and the marketplace, but also in the society at large.
•Examples: ensuring the human rights of health, safety and privacy.
6 – Fairness Principle
•Based on the belief that stakeholders who have a vested interest in the firm should be treated fairly.
•Reciprocal fairness
•Fair exchange – getting paid a fair wage for an honest days work.
•Distributive fairness
•Equity – all groups (sex, gender etc.) get paid the same for the same work)
•Wages are distributed fairly amongst the various positions in the organization
•Fair competition
•Avoiding price wars, bribery and collusion.
•Procedural fairness
•Stakeholders are treated fairly and whistleblowers are protected
7 – Citizenship Principle
•Based on the belief that every employee should act as a responsible citizen in the community.
•Expected that employees respect the laws of the community – criminal, competition, environmental, corporate social responsibility.
•Examples: Taking a universalist approach and doing the right thing even when no one is looking.
8 – Responsiveness Principle
• Based on the belief that employees have a responsibility to respond to the requests for information about the operations from various stakeholders.
• Expected to react in a timely manner.
• Examples: disclosing who your suppliers are or how your goods are being produced.
Assessment task
Based on the Learning Portfolio assessment, write a 1000 word academic essay addressing the question below. Students should include six (6) to ten (10) scholarly references which include at least three (3) of the Five Required Resources found on vUWS in the Assessment Tasks sub-folder called Essay – Week 14, as well as any other references that may help them support their arguments. That is, only references that have been cited in-text should be listed in the reference list.
The essay should have a clear structure which includes:
1. An introduction that:
a. Includes a few general statements about the topic to clarify your interpretation of the question;
b. Includes a thesis statement that presents your position on the topic; and
c. Outlines the main points that support your position.
2. A body that:
a. Includes a series of logically developed arguments that support your position and
b. Ensures that each argument and/or sub-argument is supported by descriptive, analytical and normative ethics which is elaborated upon.
3. A conclusion that:
a. Summarises the main points discussed in the body of the essay;
b. Restates the thesis statement; and
c. Includes a final comment that does not introduce any new ideas.
4. Cohesive text that aids with the logical flow of the arguments presented.
5. A reference list which is alphabetical order by authors last name and includes only the resources that are used in the body of the text (i.e. in-text citations)
Note: This assessment will evaluate what students have learnt throughout the semester.
You must use at least three (3) of the Five Required Resources and the Paine et al (2005) article.
SAMPLE ANSWER
Ethical Principles in Wal-Mart Employment practices
Ethical principles in business practices refer to the measure of relations (good or wrong) observed from adhering to the international business standards like employees’ rights protection. Notably, employees include direct and indirect employed population, which depends on direct wedges or pay such as Wal-Mart (international retailers) purchases. Following diverse businesses and organizations venturing into the market, Wal-Mart relation to labor force is guarded by the Global Business Standards (GBS), which observes the employer-employee relationship internationally. Therefore, ethical principles are usually monitored by GBS to the extent of its control. This implicates that some organizations and companies violate some ethical principles unnoticed, hence affecting the employment chain of dependency (direct and indirect employees) (Bielby 2003). Positive applications will be addressed on Reliability principle and Dignity principle application on Wal-Mart employments, while Negative argument will address Wal-Mart failures from applying Fairness principles in its operations. Therefore, this paper seeks to investigate some positive application of ethical principles in Wal-Mart, while reflecting on some negative aspects perceived in some ethical application.
First, Reliability principle has been positively applied in Wal-Mart operations as supported by Hemphill (2008). This has been evident on employees and suppliers commitment towards maximum output of Wal-Mart sales. Specifically, employees are paid an average salary compared to other retail competitors. In addition, Wal-Mart considers average benefits for its employees such as healthcare cover while ensuring punctuality in their payment achievements. This has been widely related to the current reliability on its 1.8 million employees for maximum performance (Hausman & Leibtag 2005). On the other hand, Wal-Mart relies on its Suppliers for every day to day business.
Suppliers have developed the reliability principles such that delivery of products and raw materials to Wal-Mart is mandate. Irrespective of location of the Wal-Mart store, suppliers fulfill their supply obligation at the negotiated prices. To ensure a simultaneous reliability of Wal-Mart to its suppliers, payments are accomplished as agreed (Hemphill 2008). This has led to long sustainability of supply chains, which have indirect related suppliers and producers depending on the supplies. Notably, punctuality in accomplishing payments of both suppliers and employees has developed Wal-Mart reliability principles, a concept transferred to customers. Wal-Mart customers have developed a notion that cheap and affordable items are acquired from Wal-Mart stores (Neumark et al 2005). Reliability on cheap items from Wal-Mart has also increased its competitiveness by making low class people depended on its cheap products.
Secondly, Dignity principle has been evident in Wal-Mart whereby, self-respect is practiced among individual employees. This principle enables sustainability measures among individuals, extending from the organization itself to its market grounds, while involving its environment too (Fishman 2006). Notably, dignity principles ensure good public relations through employee confidence and believe. This relates dignity principle application to transparency principles where employees keep organizational goal and objectives by avoiding centralism, internalization, and personal interests. Therefore, dignity through transparency principles keep employees fully informed while motivating them towards work under no supervision. Good public relations are therefore attained, reflecting more customer attraction.
As noted by Fishman (2006), Wal-Mart has realized employee satisfaction through transparency and dignity principles applied in financial information. Increased believe in employees performance under no supervision has been evident in Wal-Mart, while transparency in financial matters has motivated employee performance as supported by Neumark et al (2005). More so, employees get open and direct information on business obligations aligned on Wal-Mart’s business schedule. Employees get a free working atmosphere while applying dignity in performance following transparency in the organization programs.
Fairness principle makes the third GBS principle which has been applicable in Wal-Mart stores. However, this principle has not been perfectly working in the day to day operations of Wal-Mart, since failures have been evident in several fields. For instance, good public relations have been diminishing, sex segregation has been indirectly observed, suppliers have been pressurized to give low supply costs, and employee benefits have been widely reduced to the remaining healthcare cover only (Tilly 2007). These statements illustrate direct failure of the Fairness principle in Wal-Mart operations and employments.
Gender discrimination has been evident in most Wal-Mart stores in both women and men employees in different locations. For instance, women are discouraged from higher positions like managerial positions, a concept which is usually twisted to sound as health concern by the men leaders. As noted by Besen and Kimmel (2006), promotion of ladies in workplace is not materialistically achieved, even though it’s denoted in Wal-Mart principles. Therefore, ladies seeking for high wages are turned down smoothly but on gender bases of ladies incapability (Blau 1984). Men on the other hand are also oppressed under this Fairness principle in store duties. Women are never called in to off load tracks, even though on similar line of duty and payments as their counterpart men (Bendick 2003).
Also, Wal-Mart has practicing poor Fairness principles by putting pressure on suppliers to lower supply prices, even though it is not usually a consistent practice. From diverse perspectives, employment can be addressed from all relations, direct or indirect resulting to Wal-Mart being the end buyer. Therefore, all costs related to Wal-Mart purchases affect different dependents irrespective of the region, implicating that low purchase price reduces the producer chain salary and wages as a result. For instance, the stores were reported to lower their purchase prices on a few items, while rising purchase price for other commodities. For example, lowering of supply prices led Rubbermaid, one of the Wal-Mart’s initial suppliers to run bankrupt as noted by Tilly (2007). These practices have been affecting their suppliers respectively, even though such Wal-Mart’s practices have not been directed by their competitors’ prices (Basker 2005).
Lastly, Wal-Mart has been practicing negative Fairness principle in reducing the number of benefits it offers on its employees compared to other retailing organizations. This has reflected to low salaries with their employees suffering oppression in the denied employee benefits (Tilly 2007). In Mexico for instance, Walmex (Wal-Mart in Mexico) practices the fewest employee benefits strategy, a concept which has reduced average employees’ pays to low percentages when compared to other retail competitors.
From considering the three ethical principles in Wal-Mart practices, their viability effect can be deduced from the investigation addressed above. Therefore, Wal-Mart has successfully been practicing Reliability principle and dignity principles through transparency in its operations. These principles have motivated it employees to maximum production, while also motivating the suppliers through punctuality in payments. However, Wal-Mart has not been successful in implementing Fairness principle in its operation. This has led to gender segregation, low employee benefits and low price on suppliers leading to bankrupt of some suppliers like Rubbermaid. Amendments on Wal-Mart’s relations to employees, suppliers and customers would be critical for its future progress.
References
Basker, E 2005, Selling a cheaper mousetrap: Wal-Mart’s effect on retail prices, Journal of Urban Economics, vol. 58, no. 2, pp. 203–229.
Bendick, MJ 2003, The representation of women in store management at Wal-Mart Stores, Inc, January.
Besen, Y & Kimmel, MS 2006, At Sam’s Club, no girls allowed: the lived experience of sex discrimination, Equal Opportunities International, vol. 25, No. 3, pp. 172-187
Bielby,W.T. 2003, Expert Report, in Dukes et al. v. Wal-Mart Stores.
Blau, F. 1984, Occupational segregation and labor market discrimination, in Reskin, B. (Ed.), Sex Segregation in the Workplace: Trends, Explanations, Remedies, National Academy Press,Washington DC, pp. 117-43.
Fishman, C 2006, The Wal-Mart Effect and a Decent Society: Who Knew Shopping Was So Important?, Academy of Management Perspectives, The Wal-Mart Effect, Penguin Press
Hausman, J & Leibtag, E 2005, CPI bias from supercenters: Does the BLS know that Wal-Mart exists?, National Bureau of Economic Research, Working Paper No. 10712, August 2004 (revised June 2005).
Hemphill, TA 2008, Demonizing Wal-Mart: What Do the Facts Tell Us?, The Journal of Corporate Citizenship, Autumn, 31, p. 26
NB: Many students who have worked hard are disappointed with their results. In many cases the cause of poor marks for hard working students can be traced back to poor essay and examination technique. When answering an essay or examination question, make sure that every line addresses the question asked and make sure that you show that you ANSWER the question set by the examiner. Writing off-topic is always a bad mistake!
SAMPLE ANSWER
Employee safety
Introduction
Every employee has the right to safety. This must be ensured by employers so that employees do not suffer stress and illness as a result of working at a specific establishment. In recent times, there have been many court suits related to psychiatric illness. However, it has been and it is still difficult to embrace the whole idea of people suffering psychological torture. There is difficulty as well on how to address the notion of psychiatric illness and how this could be tackled with to avoid floodgates in court suits on the subject (Prosser & Keeton 2004). Some say that people owe those around them a duty of care. The truth of this statement is yet to be established as there should be factors to be considered before holding someone liable in breach of the duty of care. Imposing a duty of care on people unknown to each other would sound unfair and misinformed. The foregoing thus calls for a criticism of the concept of psychiatric illness and liability whatsoever that arises there-from.
Sources of Law
The term sources of law relates to where the rules originate from. What dictates what the law should be may also be a source of law. The law my come from the Constitution. In many countries, the constitution is considered the mother of all the laws of the respective land. Other laws borrow from the main body of law-the constitution (Chemerinsky 2011). If there is any conflict between the Constitution and any other law then the Constitution will and has always taken precedence.
Common law is also another source of laws. Common law is the laws that were developed through the observation of the customs of the English people and developed through judicial decisions. In most cases where there is no law providing for any remedy, then the common law would be looked upon for a solution.
Legislation is another source of law. These are laws made by Parliament- the legislative arm of a democratic state. Legislations have to pass through set procedures and would in most cases become law upon being assented to by the authorized person, the head of state in most cases. Apart from the Constitution and legislation we have case law as a source of law. Case law is the law developed by courts when interpreting the statutes passed by Parliament. Case law may at times be referred to as judge-made law.
Tort Law and Negligence
The law of torts covers the relationship between persons (Ratanlal and Dhirajlal 2013). It is the law that seeks to give remedy for wrongs committed by persons against their neighbors or anyone defined by the law. Through the law of torts the aggrieved parties can get damages for injury suffered as a result of the tortuous acts of those they interact with on daily basis. Tort law also covers contractual relationship between parties (Abraham 2012). Through it, parties to a contract can enforce their civil rights and those accused of violating the civil laws would be liable for either damages or any other remedy provided by the Courts of Law (Franklin & Cardi 2008).
Negligence on the other side is the failure to act in a way that any reasonable person would have acted if faced by the same circumstances (Blyth vs. Birmingham Waterworks 1856). Negligence mostly arises out of failure to act as required. For instance, a driver is supposed drive carefully knowing that he might cause injuries to others if he drove recklessly. Liability in negligence arises if the driver does not take reasonable measures to ensure he drives safely. Also related to this is the test for reasonableness (Bolitho vs. City & Hackney Health Authority 1997).
In employment relations, there has to be a contract for employment between the alleged employer and employee. Through the offer and acceptance of the rights and duties arising from employment, a contractual relationship arises and binds the parties to that contract (Diamond & Levine 2013). One of the duties owed to each other is the duty of care. The employer owes the employee a duty of care, to protect the employee by making the working environment conducive for the work required. Similarly, the employee owes the employer the duty to perform every part of the job carefully and as highlighted in the contract of employment.
Duty of care
Duty of care may be defined as taking responsibility for those around you in a situation where those people rely on you. In determining if there is a duty of care owed some factors must be considered. There has to be a relationship between the plaintiff and the defendant (Ranchhodas & Keshavlal 2003). Some sought of proximity would be vital if established before deciding where liability arises. Relying or depending on someone for some shielding would be important in establishing a duty of care. In the same direction, it would be necessary to establish if the duty of care is in fact owed (Hodgson & Lewthwaite., 2012). It is after this that the element of breaching such a duty of care owed to another that some liability may be imposed.
Liability Of Employers For Psychiatric Illness Of Employees.
Issues concerning post traumatic stress can be traced to 1897 (Wilkinson vs. Downton) Employers are in most cases profits-oriented. All they seem to care about is the huge profits their companies should make. They therefore care less about the welfare of the employees and subject employees to pressure to be productive despite most instances of poor working conditions. This causes the workforce to be exposed to potentially bad risks of physical health and mental torture. In view of the foregoing, there has to be a regulatory framework to provide for psychiatry related illness experienced by employees most specifically as a consequence of working under stressful environments (Vincent 2009, p 45).
Failure in adhering to the duty of care was much covered in the death of a man in Northumberland. The man’s employers had ignored the safety requirements set by the law. Managers must not be so relaxed when the safety of employees is the subject. Installation of basic safety measures should be a priority to any employer. (Murphy & Cooper 2000) The families of such employees who die while at work due to poor working environment are left with no option but to sue for the negligence. In-spite of suing, it is evident that no monetary compensation can equilibrate the life lost. For lawyers who argued for the availability of negligent infliction of stress they could not make it as they were told to leave lawmaking to legislature (Piresferreira v. Ayotte).
Lives lost or psychological trauma as a result of employment has to be incorporated to cater for the mental health of the employees. Employees should be compensated heavily. We should see all workers that suffer psychological stress as a result of poor working conditions get compensated as was the case in the law enforcement officers in Hillsborough (Diamond & Levine 2013).
A shift from the unfair compensation for injuries sustained at work only should be embraced. Bodily injuries are not independent from the overall functioning of the body system and should not be the only basis for compensation (Edwards, Edwards & Wells 2011). Breaking ones arm does not only render the injured disabled but it also affects injured persons mentally as they would have to find a way to start living without an arm. This tortures a person mentally and has to be considered when awarding damages (The American Law Institute 2013).
Conclusion
In conclusion, the rules and laws protecting the employees from work related injuries should shift from the old rules that only covered employees against physical bodily injuries to provide for psychiatric illness suffered as a result of poor working conditions. There has to be stricter rules and penalties for employers who violate safety policies required by the law as relaxing on this matter would mean continued neglect of employees’ rights.
References
Chemerinsky, E (2011), Constitutional Law: Principles and Policies. 4th Edition
Ranchhodas, R & Keshavlal, D (2003), English And Indian Law of Torts. Cornell University Library.
Vincent, A (2009), Death in the Work Place; Management Services.
Murphy, L R & Cooper, C L (2000), Health and Productive Work: An International Perspective. London. Taylor & Francis.
Blyth vs. Birmingham Waterworks (1856). Exchequer.
Bolitho v City & Hackney Health Authority [1997]. HL.
Hodgson, J. & Lewthwaite, J (2012), Tort Law. Oxford University Press.
The Case Study for this week is Building a Coalition, which appears on page 629 of the course text.
Each student is required to analyze this week’s case study and submit a two- to three-page paper addressing the key questions identified below. Remember that all case studies present both too much and too little information. There may be information presented that is not really relevant, and there may be scant information about a key area. This analysis does require interpretation of the information and there is not one right answer. However, you must explain and defend any assumptions you made or conclusions resulting from your analysis with citations from the text or from the case itself. There is no need to research outside sources for this paper.
Your paper must include the following labeled sections.
Category Points Description
Part I: Group Development 15 Identify and summarize the stages of group development.
Reflecting on the case and textbook material, what stage is the group at now? How could an understanding of the stages of group development have assisted The Woodson Foundation in building a cohesive coalition?
Support your conclusion with evidence from the case and our text.
Part II: Problem Identification 30 Identify key problems.
Identify primary and secondary problems the Woodson Foundation is facing. Identify what the organization should have understood about individual membership in teams in order to have built group processes that were supportive of her groups’ goals.
Do not necessarily limit yourself to only team theory here. Plumb any concepts we have covered to date in class if you feel they are relevant.
Part III: Retrospective Evaluation 40 Given that there is no one perfect solution for this situation, identify, describe, and defend two possible solutions to the primary problem(s).
Clearly identify and defend both courses of action. Identify and discuss specific steps needed to implement your selections. Support your selections with evidence from the case, the text, or weekly discussion.
Remember that deciding on a course of action entails envisioning and planning the steps to success. Be sure to identify implementation steps for both possible solutions.
Almost every situation presented with relation to group dynamics and behavior can have multiple avenues for remedy. It is important to develop the ability to critically evaluate more than one alternative and rationally identify pros and cons of each.
Presenting pros and cons for the identified alternative solutions in a table format within the paper is acceptable.
Part IV: Reflection 15 What would you advise as a strategy for managing diversity issues for program leaders?
Grading Rubrics Back to Top Criteria Failed to Meet Minimum Standards Met Minimum Standards
60% = 60 points, D Satisfactory
70% = 70 points, C Good
80% = 80 points, B Superior
90% = 90 points, A
Part I: Group Development
(15 points) No problem summary included
0 Identifies the stages of group development with some summary; does not tie theory back to the case
9 Identifies the stages of group development with some summary, and ties theory to the case situation with minimal supporting evidence from the case and text
11 Identifies the stages of group development and ties theory to the case situation with supporting evidence from the case and text
13 Clearly and accurately identifies the primary issues presented by the case with clear supporting evidence from the case
15
Part II: Problem Identification
(30 points) No possible solutions discussed
0 Discusses case in general terms with no insight into the real issues presented
20 Discusses issues presented by the case generally, without supporting references; identifies secondary issues, not primary issues
23 Identifies the primary issues presented by the case with some supporting references to the case
26 Clearly and accurately identifies primary and secondary issues presented by the case with clear supporting evidence from the case
30
Part III: Retrospective Evaluation
(40 points) None provided
0 Does not clearly identify or explain selected recommendation for solutions
27 Identifies recommended solutions with no implementation steps
31 Clearly identifies recommended solutions with discussion of implementation steps at a summary level
35 Gives a clear and focused analysis with implementation recommendations; directly relates selection to course readings
40
Part IV: Reflection
(15 points) None provided
0 Perfunctory effort at answering question
10 Summary level reflection on leadership
11.5 Good faith effort in examining leadership issue with supporting material
13.0 Well-presented insights into leadership issue with supporting material
15
THE CASE STUDY IS BELOW
CASE 3 Building a Coalition
Learning Goals
Many of the most important organizational behavior challenges require coordinating plans and goals among groups. This case describes a multiorganizational effort, but the same principles of accommodation and compromise also apply when trying to work with multiple divisions within a single organization. You’ll create a blueprint for managing a complex development team’s progress, steering team members away from negative conflicts and toward productive discussion. You’ll also be asked to help create a new message for executives so they can lead effectively.
The citation provided is a guideline. Please check each citation for accuracy before use.
The Scenario
The Woodson Foundation, a large nonprofit social service agency, is teaming up with the public school system in Washington, D.C., to improve student outcomes. There’s ample room for improvement. The schools have problems with truancy, low student performance, and crime. New staff quickly burn out as their initial enthusiasm for helping students is blunted by the harsh realities they encounter in the classroom. Turnover among new teachers is very high, and many of the best and brightest are the most likely to leave for schools that aren’t as troubled.
The plan is to create an experimental after-school program that will combine the Woodson Foundation’s skill in raising private money and coordinating community leaders with the educational expertise of school staff. Ideally, the system will be financially self-sufficient, which is important because less money is available for schools than in the past. After several months of negotiation, the leaders of the Woodson Foundation and the school system have agreed that the best course is to develop a new agency that will draw on resources from both organizations. The Woodson foundation will provide logistical support and program development and measurement staff; the school system will provide classrooms and teaching staff.
The first stage in bringing this new plan to fruition is the formation of an executive development team. This team will span multiple functional areas and establish the operating plan for improving school performance. Its cross-organizational nature means representatives from both the Woodson Foundation and the school district must participate. The National Coalition for Parental Involvement in Education (NCPIE) is also going to be a major partner in the program, acting as a representative for parents on behalf of the PTA.
Conflict and Agreement in the Development Team
While it would be perfect if all the groups could work together easily to improve student outcomes, there is little doubt some substantive conflicts will arise. Each group has its own interests, and in some cases these are directly opposed to one another.
School district representatives want to ensure the new jobs will be unionized and will operate in a way consistent with current school board policies. They are very concerned that if Woodson assumes too dominant a role, the school board won’t be able to control the operations of the new system. The complexity of the school system has led to the development of a highly complex bureaucratic structure over time, and administrators want to make sure their policies and procedures will still hold for teachers in these programs even outside the regular school day. They also worry that jobs going into the new system will take funding from other school district jobs.
Woodson, founded by entrepreneur Theodore Woodson around 1910, still bears the hallmarks of its founder’s way of doing business. Woodson emphasized efficiency and experimentation in everything he did. Many of the foundation’s charities have won awards for minimizing costs while still providing excellent services. Their focus on using hard data to measure performance for all their initiatives is not consistent with the school district culture.
Finally, the NCPIE is driven by a mission to increase parental control. The organization believes that when communities are able to drive their own educational methods, students and parents are better able to achieve success together. The organization is strongly committed to celebrating diversity along racial, gender, ethnic, and disability status categories. Its members are most interested in the process by which changes are made, ensuring everyone has the ability to weigh in.
Some demographic diversity issues complicate the team’s situation. Most of the students served by the Washington, D.C., school district are African American, along with large populations of Caucasians and Hispanics. The NCPIE makeup generally matches the demographic diversity of the areas served by the public schools. The Woodson foundation, based in northern Virginia, is predominantly staffed by Caucasian professionals. There is some concern with the idea that a new group that does not understand the demographic concerns of the community will be so involved in a major change in educational administration. The leadership of the new program will have to be able to present an effective message for generating enthusiasm for the program across diverse stakeholder groups.
Although the groups differ in important ways, it’s also worth considering what they have in common. All are interested in meeting the needs of students. All would like to increase student learning. The school system does benefit from anything that increases student test scores. And the Woodson Foundation and NCPIE are united in their desire to see more parents engaged in the system.
Candidates for the Development Team
The development team will consist of three individuals—HR representatives from the Woodson Foundation, the schools, and the NCPIE—who have prepared the following list of potential candidates for consideration.
Victoria Adams is the superintendent of schools for Washington, D.C. She spearheaded the initial communication with the Woodson Foundation and has been building support among teachers and principals. She thinks the schools and the foundation need to have larger roles than the parents and communities. “Of course we want their involvement and support, but as the professionals, we should have more say when it comes to making decisions and implementing programs. We don’t want to shut anyone out, but we have to be realistic about what the parents can do.”
Duane Hardy has been a principal in the Washington area for more than 15 years. He also thinks the schools should have the most power. “We’re the ones who work with these kids every day. I’ve watched class sizes get bigger, and scores and graduation rates go down. Yes, we need to fix this, but these outside groups can’t understand the limitations we’re dealing with. We have the community, the politicians, the taxpayers—everyone watching what we’re doing, everyone thinking they know what’s best. The parents, at least, have more of a stake in this.”
“The most important thing is the kids,” says second-year teacher Ari Kaufman. He is well liked by his students but doesn’t get along well with other faculty members. He’s seen as a “squeaky wheel.” “The schools need change so badly. And how did they get this way? From too little outside involvement.”
Community organizer Mason Dupree doesn’t like the level of bureaucracy either. He worries that the school’s answer to its problems is to throw more money at them. “I know these kids. I grew up in these neighborhoods. My parents knew every single teacher I had. The schools wanted our involvement then. Now all they want is our money. And I wouldn’t mind giving it to them if I thought it would be used responsibly, not spent on raises for people who haven’t shown they can get the job done.”
Meredith Watson, with the Woodson Foundation, agrees the schools have become less focused on the families. A former teacher, she left the field of education after being in the classroom for 6 years. “There is so much waste in the system,” she complains. “Jobs are unnecessarily duplicated, change processes are needlessly convoluted. Unless you’re an insider already, you can’t get anything done. These parents want to be involved. They know their kids best.”
Unlike her NCPIE colleagues, Candace Sharpe thinks the schools are doing the best they can. She is a county social worker, relatively new to the D.C. area. “Parents say they want to be involved but then don’t follow through. We need to step it up, we need to lead the way. Lasting change doesn’t come from the outside, it comes from the home.”
Victor Martinez has been at the Woodson Foundation for 10 years, starting as an intern straight out of college. “It’s sometimes hard to see a situation when you’re in the thick of it,” he explains. “Nobody likes to be told they’re doing something wrong, but sometimes it has to be said. We all know there are flaws in the system. We can’t keep the status quo. It just isn’t cutting it.”
Strategies for the Program Team
Once the basic membership and principles for the development team have been established, the program team would also like to develop a handbook for those who will be running the new program. Ideally, this set of principles can help train new leaders to create an inspirational message that will facilitate success. The actual content of the program and the nature of the message will be hammered out by the development team, but it is still possible to generate some overriding principles for the program team in advance of these decisions.
Your Assignment
The Woodson Foundation, the NCPIE, and the schools have asked you to provide some information about how to form teams effectively. They would like your response to explain what should be done at each step of the way, from the selection of appropriate team members to setting group priorities and goals, setting deadlines, and describing effective methods for resolving conflicts that arise. After this, they’d like you to prepare a brief set of principles for leaders of the newly established program. That means you will have two audiences: the development team, which will receive one report on how it can effectively design the program, and the program team, which will receive one report on how it can effectively lead the new program.
The following points should help you form a comprehensive message for the development team:
1. The development team will be more effective if members have some idea about how groups and teams typically operate. Review the dominant perspectives on team formation and performance from the chapters in the book for the committee so it can know what to expect.
2. Given the profiles of candidates for the development team, provide suggestions for who would likely be a good group member and who might be less effective in this situation. Be sure you are using the research on groups and teams in the textbook to defend your choices.
3. Using principles from the chapters on groups and teams, describe how you will advise the team to manage conflict effectively.
4. Describe how integrative negotiation strategies might achieve joint goals for the development team.
The following points should help you form a message for the program team:
1. Leaders of the new combined organization should have a good idea of the culture of the school district, the NCPIE, and the Woodson Foundation because they will need to manage relationships with all three groups on an ongoing basis. How would you describe the culture of these various stake-holder organizations? Use concepts from the chapter on organizational culture to describe how they differ and how they are similar.
2. Consider how leaders of the new program can generate a transformational message and encourage employee and parent trust. Using material from the chapter on leadership, describe how you would advise leaders to accomplish these ends.
3. Given the potential for demographic fault lines in negotiating these changes, what would you advise as a strategy for managing diversity issues for program leaders? (Robbins 629-631)
The citation provided is a guideline. Please check each citation for accuracy before use.
SAMPLE ANSWER
Team Formation
When developing a team from groups with diverse priorities and interests, various points should be put in mind. First, the group should be as representative as possible (Robbins & Judge, 2012). It should be able to serve the interests of as many of the stakeholders as possible. Second, each of the groups should be willing to give up some of their interests. The group cannot serve every individual want of the team. For this reason, each stakeholder group should be ready to meat halfway with their likes. Another way to look at a good team is to make sure that the team meets the common interests of the stakeholders. It is, therefore, very important to ensure that people who have the interests of the students at heart are selected.
Some of the candidates are likely to be good team members while others are not. A good team should be willing to negotiate. In this case, those who are in rigid positions are not likely to be good team members (Robbins & Judge, 2012). One such individual is Meredith Watson. She is seemingly in a position that shows unwillingness to negotiate. She wants to ensure that parents are involved. To her, this is nonnegotiable. Second, there is Mason Dupree, who feels that the schools are greedy for money. With this in mind, she is unlikely to negotiate in favor of the schools at any one point. On the other hand, there are those who are willing to meet halfway. One such individual is Ari Kaufman. Ari Kaufman believes that the most important thing is to help the kids. This is a belief that is held by all. For this reason, his position in the team will be a universally accepted position. Second, there is Candace Sharpe, who is reasonable in her arguments. She believes that the schools are doing their best despite her being with one of the other groups as well. She is, therefore, most possibly driven by principles.
Message to the program team
The program must learn the culture of each of the three groups. The Woodson foundation has a culture of being economic. They want to ensure that the project is cost effective. The school district representatives have a culture of ensuring that the employees are fairly treated to ensure that the team created is unionized. Thirdly, the NCPIE has a culture of parent inclusion. They will want to ensure that parents are included every step of the way and that the interest of the parents are satisfied.
Leaders of the new program need to create a transformational message. The transformational message should hold the message that is agreed upon by all parties (Lansford, 2008). In this case, the message should support ensuring that the interests of the students are met. This should be the foundational message of the project leaders. They should show how truancy will be reduced while increasing student performance.
To manage the conflict between the various leaders and the shareholders, both accommodation and compromise should be integrated into every negotiation process (Lansford, 2008). They should be willing to allow some of those things they do not believe in to go through or allow meeting halfway with their negotiators. By so doing, each team will ensure that they meet common objectives as well as their individual interests
References
Lansford, T. (2008). Conflict resolution. Detroit: Greenhaven Press.
Identify and assess the benefits that should be part of a core package and those benefits that should be part of a flexible package. Defend the use of such benefits and how they may be superior to others with regards to motivation.
The following conditions must meet in the essay:
1) I want a typical and a quality answer which should have about 1400 words.
3) The answer must include examples from experience or the web with references from relevant examples from real companies.
4) Do include all your references, as per the Harvard Referencing System,
5) Please don’t use Wikipedia web site.
6) I need examples from peer reviewed articles or researches.
Appreciate each single moment you spend in writing my paper
Best regards
SAMPLE ANSWER
Employee benefits comprise of various types of non-salary compensations that are Employee benefits comprise of various types of non-salary compensations that are accorded to employees in addition to their basic salaries or wages. A set of core benefits must be covered in the various company plans with significance. Some benefits that employees need to receive are well stipulated in the law, such as unemployment compensation, social security as well as worker compensation. Employees, therefore, have the right to be provided with such benefits. Other types of benefits are diverse and distinct from one farm to another or different industries e.g. pension, life insurance, health insurance, gratuity, medical plan, and paid vacation.
Flexible business plans should enable employees to make a choice of the benefits that they need or want from a program package that is offered to them by employers (Wayne, 2010). This paper is the identification and assessment of the various benefits that should from part of the core package and the benefits that should form part of a flexible package. There is an analysis on the superiority of the respective benefits in regards to motivation in this discussion as well.
Creating a benefits package that is comprehensive for employees encourages them to lead productive and healthy lives at the workplace. Such unique core benefits like on-site care during work, pet insurance, sponsorship of corporate events, and the matching of the company with donations for charity all make a very important difference. However, in compiling the core benefits package, employers should be able to choose the benefits that perform optimally with the culture of the company and determine how programming of benefits will ultimately affect the bottom line (Wayne, 2010). In some instances, it is those smallest perks that are less costly in both financial and time frameworks that bring in the most impact. In the present day, organizations are increasing their creativity by compiling their core benefits packages such that stress on the health benefits to employees. Such programs that have been included in the CORE plans even include; flu shots on the worksites, prenatal care, CPR training, and smoking cessation programs (Wayne, 2010).
A study has shown that organizations that present attractive packages to their employees enjoy significantly reduced turnover rates as compared to an organization that don’t do the same. In terms of the level of motivation that core benefits packages are set to increase on the part of the employees, retirement and benefits programs often come first, and then the preferred network of partnership programs come second. Retirement planning and the administration of these benefits is one essential core package content that should be put into consideration by employers. Organizations should involve an experienced team in implementing health plans, disability and life insurance, 401ks, and accounts for tax saving (Hunt, 2007). The employer’s network affiliates should look at the unique employee situations and then customize a harmonized retirement and benefits plan. In regard to preferred network for partnership as the second most crucial package of the benefit plan, organizations should strive to offer sound advice and customized solutions to help employees achieve their short and long-term objectives, making sure a secure financial future is guaranteed. The preferred partners that they hire should provide educational guidance and information on mortgages, home buying, insurance, financial planning and many more (Hunt, 2007). This will save their employees on money and time substantially.
The reason retirement and benefits programs will come before the preferred network for partnership in terms of employee motivation is because a core benefits package must include supplemental health products as the most significant component. The supplemental health benefits offer creative solutions to the issue of the cost of healthcare, at the face of sky rocketing healthcare costs. Employees need to benefit by having a catastrophic coverage, but still under reasonable deductions, and that’s why this package must be included in the core benefits package. In an era of sky rocketing costs of benefits, employers are in a dilemma concerning the cutting down of costs related to employee benefit while at the same time providing a comprehensively attractive benefits plan. A research survey done by LIMRA shows that 63 per cent of the employees stated that core benefits were an important factor in the selection of job offers from two different companies (Hunt, 2007). Core benefits for full-time employees include basic life insurance and personal accident insurance; longtime disability coverage; tuition remission; and tuition exchange, among others. The core benefits that are awarded to both part time and full time employees include; business travel and accident travel insurance and health advocate and employee assistance programs (Hunt, 2007).
Flexible benefits packages allow employees are normally formalized systems that enable employers to make a variation of their benefits and pay package in order to meet their personal wants and requirements (Wayne, 2010). Majority of organizations only give chance limited form of flexibility for a few number of benefits, but in the recent developments in the realms of the work environment, a comprehensive flexible benefit culture has been adopted, but still they are not adopted widely as much as Core benefits are. Companies should however introduce a flexible benefits package scheme as part of a broad move towards more flexible environment for work. Flexible schemes will increase the reward value that is perceived as being offered to employees at no extra cost, hence boosting the employee motivation levels. The inclusion of benefits plans ranges from organization to the other with some organizations favoring a limited approach as opposed to the limited one (Wayne, 2010).
In order of decreasing impact on the level of employee motivation, the flexible benefit package content can be listed as follows: company pension scheme, life assurance, private medical insurance, critical illness insurance, personal accident insurance, and holidays (Henricks, 2013). It is evident that this list encompasses mostly on the flexible health benefits. This is because they perform better in the realms of employee motivation, tax and national insurance implications, as well as the impact to the organizations determined by employee health. Other flexible benefits that fall behind the above listed category include flexible schemes on; marriage and divorce, birth or child adoption, death of a dependent, absence of long-term sickness, and promotion (Henricks, 2013).
In the case of a flexible business plan, employees are actual contributors to the benefits plan because they are accordingly deducted from their before-tax income, hence reducing their contribution of the employers (Gould, 2010). The flexible plans have increased in popularity with employers in the present day workplace setting. This is because of such corresponding changes in the health and child-care cost, which have dramatically and tremendously risen in the last few decades. The organizations, therefore, have to customize and harmonize on the benefits to offer and which not to offer because, in the general sense, all employees expect benefits as a result of employment. In return, they will be motivated, and this will benefit their employers (Gould, 2010).
At Suncor, for example, the organization has believed the importance of rewarding people who have a hand towards the success of the business. This can either take monetary as well as nonmonetary form; examples of employee packages that have been implemented in this organization include career development programs, benefits and pensions. The organization has specifically implemented competitive saving plans and pension schemes, insurance and comprehensive healthcare, generous time of duty put together in a package that is adjustable to accommodate the constantly changing needs of individual employees and their families (Compensation & Benefits – Careers – Suncor. (n.d.). Flexible benefits scheme can allow employers to give room to staff to choose the benefit that they feel suit them, in the USA; this benefit is considered a popular method of integrating benefits packages. During acquisitions and mergers, flexible benefits scheme a diverse option from which the employees can choose from. These include provision of mobile phones, vouchers and childcare
In the general analysis, the main logic of offering employee benefits besides employee motivation is to meet the changing workforce needs (Johnny, 2011). Especially with the generation z entering the workforce and the generation y extending their retirement times, it is becoming increasingly important and common to create a workplace whereby the employee benefits cover both generations working in this setting. By offering both core and flexible benefits, employers are offering the employees an opportunity to the choice of packages that will best satisfy their various unique requirements, hence keeping them motivated to the goals of the organization (Johnny, 2011).
References
Johnny F. (1 February 2011) “Flex Plan Enrollment Rules Eased” Employee Benefit News.
Henricks, Mark. (May 2013) “Take Your Pick: Want to keep health-care costs low and employees happy in today’s economy?” Entrepreneur.
Gould, Jay (24 November 2010, “Flexible Spending Accounts Benefit Both Employees, Employers.” San Antonio Business Journal..
Wayne R. (11 December 2010), “How to Set Up a Cafeteria Plan.” Capital District Business Review. 11 December 2000.
Hunt, Kelly A. (August 2007), “Survey Finds Flexible Benefits on the Rise, Particularly Among Public Employers.” Government Finance Review.
Analyze the relevancy of the top three issues critical to the two national unions.
Consider the following:
•What are the issues? Are the issues the same for both unions? Why do you think they are similar or dissimilar?
•What is the source of the statement presenting the issue: a particular political representative, a recent poll, or some other source? Is this source reliable?
•Do you think the issues are relevant to the current world of work? Are the more relevant issues that are not being addressed? Include evidence to support your opinion.
•Do you think the issues could be addressed by management within today’s laws? Why or why not?
•Is there a better alternative than the voice of these two unions?
Present evidence you have found through your research to support your impression of the issues’ relevance to the world of work today.
SAMPLE ANSWER
Labor Unions in America: AFT and SEIU
According to Skurzynski (2008), a union refers to “an alliance of men and women, who fight together for safe working conditions, decent pay, better health benefits, the right to work at whichever jobs they want, and several other additional rights”. In America, there are numerous labor unions, which have taken an active role in championing for the rights of their members, and advocating for favorable legislation for workers within and beyond American borders (Skurzynski, 2008). The American Federation of Teachers (AFT) and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) are examples of such unions.
AFT was founded in 1916 to represent more than 1.6 million workers within the education sector, as well as nurses and other healthcare personnel (American Federation of Teachers). Through political activism, public engagement, and collective bargaining, the union advocates for economic opportunity, social justice and equity, quality education and healthcare, and democracy. SEIU, on the other hand, was founded in 1921 to represent workers in property services, public services, and healthcare sectors (Service Employees International Union). With more than 2 million union members, SEIU is the fastest growing workers’ union in America. The union campaigns for economic relief for its members, healthcare reform, better working conditions and rights, and social justice.
Both AFT and SEIU address similar issues because, in America today, organizations are more concerned with accumulating wealth than the welfare of their employees. Likewise, the nature of jobs constantly changes while the standard of living continues to rise, and yet, working conditions remain the same. Now more than ever, unions provide the collective bargaining power needed to ensure that employees do not go back to unlivable wages, impossible working hours, and sweatshop working conditions. In the absence of this collective representation, even favorable legislation and policies will have minimal impact on the welfare of employees, if there is no one to strong-arm corporations into enforcing them.
In conclusion, labor unions are exceedingly essential to America’s workforce, and the welfare of middle and low class working families. Without them, there is no better voice to champion for job security, safe working environment, better working rights, and decent wage
References
American Federation of Teachers. (n.d.). About AFT. Retrieved September 10, 2014, from American Federation of Teachers: http://www.aft.org/about/
Service Employees International Union. (n.d.). About SEIU. Retrieved September 10, 2014, from SEIU.org: http://www.seiu.org/our-union/
Skurzynski, G. (2008). Sweat and Blood: A History of U.S. Labor Unions. Minneapolis: Twenty-First Century Books.
We can write this or a similar paper for you! Simply fill the order form!
2,500 word Written Report – 100 marks weighted to 70% of marks for the module
Your friend has accepted a new job and has the opportunity to choose between becoming an employee or an independent contractor. Advise your friend on how employee/contractor status is determined, the advantages and disadvantages of each status and the source of the terms contained within employment a contract.
70%
(ii) Marcia placed an advertisement in a shop window which read: ‘£50 Reward for the return of my black wallet which I lost yesterday, Sunday. Call 020 000 1111”.
Meanwhile, Frank found a wallet in the street and when he examined it, he saw an address inside which he understood to be that of the owner. He was busy for a couple of days so he waited until Tuesday morning before calling at the address with the wallet.
Marcia answered the door and was very pleased to see her wallet, complete with all of the contents. She thanked Frank and he went on to work.
That evening, on his way home, Frank saw Marcia’s advertisement in the shop window and he wondered if it was referring to the wallet he had returned. He called at Marcia’s house and she confirmed that the advertisement was hers. Frank asked for the reward and Marcia told him he was not entitled to it.
Frank is upset and puzzled and has asked you to explain why Marcia has refused to give him the reward.
30%
Parts and (ii) have different weighting therefore the word count for each part should reflect this. Approximately 1,750 words for part and 750 words for part (ii).
Please remember that you must provide properly referenced evidence for all of the claims/assertions you make.
SAMPLE ANSWER
Employment, Contract, and Reward
Part I
How Employment/ Contract Status is Determined
By definition, independent contractors are self-employed individuals and since these individuals are not considered employees, they are not covered by labor, employment, and related tax laws. As such, employers may be tempted to reclassify workers as independent contractors so that they can evade the payment of benefits and taxes alongside other liabilities (Cappelli & Keller, 2013). Whether or not an employee is covered by a certain tax, labor, or employment law hinges in relation to the definition of a worker. In many occasions, statuses often fail to provide a clear definition of the term employee. Therefore, there is no single standard, which can be employed in distinguishing between an independent contractor and employee. For instance, in UK, employers can determine the employment status of individuals by focusing the tax and employment laws. By focusing on the tax law, employers can manage to determine whether individuals are exempted from PAYE (Pay As You Earn) or not. On the other hand, employment law helps employers to determine whether their employees have employee’s rights or not (Bidwell & Briscoe, 2009). One can be considered an employee when he or she works under a contract of employment. An individual can be an employee under employment policy, but have a status that is different for purposes of tax. As such, employers need to work out the status of every worker in both tax law and employment law. All employees are considered workers, but an employee possesses additional employment responsibilities and rights, which are not applicable to workers who are regarded as employees.
In working out the employment status of an employee, several conditions are often taken into consideration. An individual is considered an employee when this person is needed to work regularly, unless he or she is on leave such as sick leave, holiday and maternity leave. A person is also considered an employee when he or she is needed to perform limited number of hours of which payments are made. Furthermore, an individual is taken as an employee when a supervisor or manager is accountable for his or her workload, dictating when a piece of task should be completed, and when this person cannot send a different person to perform his or her work (Cappelli & Keller, 2013). Any person is considered an employee when this individual is paid during holidays, when national insurance and tax is deducted from his or her wage; when he/she can join the pension scheme of his or her employer; when the employer’s grievance and disciplinary applies to him or her; when the person’s contract outlines redundancy procedures, when then this person’s employer provides tools, materials, and equipment needed for his or her work; when this person has a different job from that of his or her employer, when he/she works for his or her employer only; and when his/her stamen of conditions and terms of contract uses terms such as employee or employer. In case the employers are unable to determine the employment or contract status of an individual, the employer can use the ESI (Employment Status Indicator) to achieve this goal. On the contrary, this tool cannot be employed in determining the status of employment of some workers such as agency workers, company directors, individuals holding on office and persons offering services via intermediaries. The ESI tool operates by asking a series of questions concerning the working relationship between the engager and worker. Moreover, the presence of a contract that outlines the terms of the relationship between the worker and employer is significant in this process. Once the details needed by the tool have been provided, the ESI then displays worker’s employment status. The ESI tool can be relied on when the answers it has provided offer a clear reflection of the conditions and terms under which the worker being investigated provides his or her services (Cappelli & Keller, 2013). The outcomes of the tools can be relied on when the ESI has been completed by either an authorized representative or engager.
Advantages of Employment Status
As an employee, one can be entitles to several advantages. First, an employee is entitled to a steady or constant income. Employees are often paid fixed salaries, which helps in ensuring that they receive regular amount of income at the end of every month. Furthermore, this benefit is significant in ensuring that deductions are not made on the wages of employees even in situations where they may not attend work due to issues such as sicknesses or other commitments. As such, employees can be considered to enjoy the element of income security in that they are certain of the amount that they will receive at the end of the month based on the agreement they made with their employers (Bidwell & Briscoe, 2009). Moreover, employees are entitled to work within specified time frames. As such, any extra hour besides the normal working hours is considered overtime and the employer is often accountable to paying employees for such hours. The status of being employed also subjects the employees to benefits like health insurance among other insurance covers. As such, employees can obtain medical treatment in case of situations involving occupational injuries and other illnesses. Employees are also entitled to other benefits such as training, which can help in improving the worker’s levels of skills and knowledge in the field of practice.
Disadvantages of Employment Status
Despite having many advantages, employees the status of being employed has been noted to have many disadvantages. In relation to this, the incomes of employees are low despite being steady. Many workers are always not aware of the value of the input that they give to their employers. Moreover, while many workers lack the knowledge of the value of their inputs, they can also be fired at any moment. Thus, the status of being employed has no employment security. When employees are fired, their income often ceases to be steady for a prolonged period. Employees have also been noted to have limited levels of control over their work as they are often monitored by their employers who have total authority over them (Cappelli & Keller, 2013). Working as an employee means that workers do not own much of their time, which limits the personal activities in which individuals can be engaged. Moreover, being employed limits workers’ capabilities to decline performing tasks that are assigned to them despite these tasks being difficult or complex (Cappelli & Keller, 2013). Working with employers can also be stressful, especially in situations where tasks are needed to be performed urgently. Consequently, an employee may also experience problems working other employees who may prove stubborn. Lastly, the aspect of earning a fixed salary limits the amount of income that employees can earn at every payment period.
Advantages of Contract Status
Working as an independent contractor can subject an individual to several benefits. Independent contractors often know the value of their work and are at an advantage of charging substantial amounts for the services they are offering their clients. Moreover, the fact that these individuals have almost total control over the work enables them to perform these tasks in a relaxed environment (James & Harvey, 2003). Thus, independent contractors are not vulnerable to stress from other employees or employers as in the case of employees. Besides, independent contractors have the ability to decline performing task that they consider difficult or complex. Independent contractors have the ability to increase their level of income as the can look for jobs from many clients. Moreover, this benefit is enhanced by the fact that independent contractors have the knowledge of the quality of their input, which enables them to charge prices that are commensurate to the quality of service or tasks that they perform to their clients. Being that these individual are their own bosses, the level of job security that they enjoy is higher than that of employees. As such, they do not suffer from the fear of being sacked by employers as in the case of employees.
Disadvantages of Contract Status
Being an independent contractor can subject an individual to certain disadvantages. First, independent contractors are not entitled to steady incomes as there are seasons when they often experience shortage of clients. As such, these individuals are always forced to ensure that they generate more income during boom seasons to that they can compensate for leans seasons. Therefore, the level of income security that these individuals enjoy is lower than that enjoyed by employees. In addition, independent contractors are not entitled to benefits such as health insurances and other insurance covers (James & Harvey, 2003). As such, these individuals cannot obtain financial aid from their clients in cases involving illnesses or occupational accidents. As a result, they may be forced to cover for expenses arising from such events. Furthermore, independent contractors cannot benefit from incentives such as trainings that employers often offer to their employees. As such, independent contractors are always forced to cover for the costs of such incentives.
Source of Terms Contained within an Employment and Contract
Prior to entering into any contract, several statements are often made by one party with the aim of inducing or encouraging the other party or group to enter into a contract (Gunasekara, 2013). In relation to this, disputes may arise from such contracts concerning whether the statements made should be the term or part of the contract. Besides, these disputes may concern the statements that should be considered as mere pre-contract talk thereby excluding them from being the term or part of the contract. It is crucial to note that parties or groups that have entered into a contract are only bound the terms of the contract, and not by peripheral statements, which have been developed. In relation this, courts may be forced to focus on the proof of intention by either one or other groups that the statement should form part of the contract. For example, when the interval between the establishment of the statement and attainment of the ultimate contract and agreement is long, the statement can be considered as part of the contract. It is also significant to note that signing of an agreement qualifies that agreement to be the term of the contract. Furthermore, many employees are often issued with written statements that contain the key conditions and terms of the employment contracts. However, even independent contractors are often entitled to such documents (Gunasekara, 2013). Some of the information that should be provided in such documents are names of employee or contractor and employer or client, date of employment or contract, and continuous employment or contract started, working hours or duration of contract, and job location. As such, employees and independent contractors should be cautious prior to signing agreements or contracts with clients or employers or clients as breaching them may lead to adverse legal consequences.
Part II
Reward can be defined as a compensation or sum of money that is issued to a class of individuals or the general public for the performance of service that is considered special (Jansen & Zimmerman, 2011). In relation to this, the money that Marcia wants to give to anyone that finds her black wallets is considered a reward as it is a payment to a special service, which involves finding the lost wallet and taking it to Marcia. In many situations, police often offer rewards for information that can helps in arresting and convicting offenders. In legal terms, the individual promising a reward is offering himself or herself to enter into an agreement or contract with the individual who conducts the required action. As such, the legal principles of rewards are obtained from the contracts’ law. Taking this aspect into consideration, it can be argued that Marcia had offered herself into a contract with Frank.
A contract of reward is often created when an actual offer that is valid is made. In such a situation, the offer is considered a mere proposal or conditional promise by the individual issuing the reward (Jansen & Zimmerman, 2011). The person issuing the reward is referred to as the offerer in legal terms as in the case of Marcia. It is also vital to note that a consummated contract may be attained when the requested action has been conducted. Therefore, the case involved between Marcia and Frank is considered a contract as the required action, which involves finding the black wallet and taking it to Marcia, has been performed. The individual issuing the reward can do it on any condition that he or she wishes and the terms must be accomplished prior to the recovery of the reward. In relation to this, terms that Marcia stated were met by Frank as he found the lost black wallet and returned it to Marcia.
In legal terms, it is required the information provided must be timely and adequate for an individual to collect a reward from the offerer. In a situation in which the information was already known when it was provided by the informant, a reward cannot be given (Weber & Mayer, 2011). In relation to this, it can be argued that Frank presented the lost wallet when Marcia had already addressed the urgency that she needed from it. The advertisement made my Marcia indicated that she was to be contacted on Monday, while Frank contacted her on Tuesday. As such, it can be argued that Frank’s submission was untimely and inadequate. Moreover, in the legal terms it is required that the individual performing the required action be aware of the offer and purpose of performing such a service (Kraft, 2013). As such, any person that performs the required action without the knowledge of the offer or the purpose of his or her action is not entitled to the collection of the reward. In relation to this, Frank is not entitled to the collection of the reward, as he was unaware of the offer made by Marcia and purpose of his action. When Frank returned the lost wallet to Marcia, he did not ask for the compensation for his service as promised by Marcia. This action made Marcia realize that frank was unaware of the offer she had made. Moreover, Frank made his ignorance clear to Marcia when he returned to collect the reward after reading about the offer in the advertisement that had been posted by Marcia. As a result, Marcia acted in line with the law and declined to issue the promised offer to Frank. In this case, Marcia can be considered innocent.
The rule, which denies the person who lacks the knowledge of the offer or the purpose of his or her action from collecting rewards, is founded on the concept that in the absence of such knowledge the meeting of minds cannot exist (Goldenberg, 2014). Meeting of minds is significant in facilitating or advancing the realization of the terms provided by the contract. In relation to this, it can be argued that there was not meeting in minds between frank and Marcia as frank was unaware of the conditions provided by the contract prior to making his submission or presenting the lost wallet. Furthermore, it is vital to note that having the knowledge of the statutory remedy does not qualify the claimant to recovering a reward. Therefore, Frank could have managed to collect the rewards from Marcia in a situation in which he was aware of the offer and purpose of his action prior to delivering the wallet to Marcia.
References
Cappelli, P; Keller, R. (2013). Classifying Work in the New Economy. Academy of Management Review, 38(4), 575-596.
Cappelli, H; Keller, JR. (2013). A Study of the Extent and Potential Causes of Alternative Employment Arrangements. Industrial & Labor Relations Review, 66(4), 874-901.
Bidwell, J; Briscoe, F. (2009). Who Contracts? Determinants of the Decision to Work as an Independent Contractor among Information Technology Workers. Academy of Management Journal, 52(6), 1148-1168.
Goldenberg, P. (2014). Protecting the Reliance. Columbia Law Review, 114(4), 1033-181.
Gunasekara, C. (2011). Independent Contracting in Low Skilled, Low Paid Work in Australia. International Journal of Employment Studies, 19(1), 50-69.
James, Jr; Harvey S. (2003). Employment Contracts, US Common Law and the Theory of the Firm. International Journal of the Economics of Business, 10(1), 1-49.
Jansen, N; Zimmerman, R. (2011). Contract Formation and Mistake in European Contract Law: A Genetic Comparison of Transnational Model Rule. Oxford Journal of Legal Studies, 3194), 625-662.
Rosenberg, A. (2013). Contract’s Meaning and The Histories of Classical Contract Law. McGill Law Journal, 59(1), 165-207.
Weber, L; Mayer, J. (2011). Designing Effective Contracts: Exploring the Influence of Framing and Expectations. Academy of Management Reviews, 36(1), 53-75.
We can write this or a similar paper for you! Simply fill the order form!
The assignment is for a short business report. Sources/references aren’t needed, nor is a title page. However it requires creating and embedding charts within the report. I will attach detailed instructions. Thank you!
SAMPLE ANSWER
To: Ms. Suarez, CEO
From:
July 28th 2014.
Subject: Workforce Transportation habits.
The impact of the company’s workforce on the local traffic can be analyzed from different perspectives. The most appropriate way of assessing the workforce effect is through the analysis of employee behavioural habits and their preferences. Many factors affect the behaviour of employees when transportation becomes a source of employee problems. The following is an analysis of several behavioural habits that have been observed.
Out of a total of 43,500 employees, only 23% opt for carpooling ventures every day of the week while 11% opt for carpooling on certain days of the week. Only 2% randomly decide to use the carpooling option while 64% are not documented which may mean they are undecided or uninterested.
A total of 23556 employees or 54% of all the employees use the public transport system every day of the week while only 5% or 2029 employees use the public transport on certain days of the week. A total of 12,053 employees have never used the public transport system and only 5862 or 13% of the employees use the public transport randomly.
Improvement That May Encourage Use of Public Transportation
The greatest improvement that may encourage the use of public transportation is the implementation of reduced commuter time.
About 7285 or 17% of the total number of employees prefers reduced commuter time than any other activity or precaution that may attract the use of the public transport while 5634 or 13% of employees would use the public transport if the fares were reduced or subsidized. Increased safety perception would attract 4932 or 11% of the employees to use the public transport system while only 3278 or 7% of the employees would be attracted by the conveniences of fewer transfers. More stops for the public transport system would encourage 1155 or 3% of the employees while only 852 or 2% of the employees would be encouraged by cleanliness. A total of 12070 or 28% employees are undecided on what may encourage them to use the public transport system while 8294 or 19% would not be encouraged by anything to use the public transport
The numbers of employees who use the public transport totalling to 17915 or 41% of the employees are illegible for alternative telecommuting options. Employees who have agreed to telecommute several days a week are 1433 or 8% of the employees who use the public transport while those who would telecommute several days a week are 3583 or 20% of the employees who use the public transport system.
The largest number of employees who use the public transport and would agree to telecommute are 5375 or 30% of the total employees who use the public transport while 7524 or 42% of the employees who use the public transport contend that telecommuting options is not applicable in their work options as illustrated in figure 4.
Recommendations
The first recommendation would be to lobby the city or county representatives to reduce the fares charged by the public transporters to encourage the use of the public transport system or to persuade the management to subsidized the fares of public transport to encourage more employees to use the Public transport. Fares discourage the use of the public transport by about 13%. Only 23% of the workforce is engaged on full time carpooling options every day of the week and majority of the employees are undecided or are interested on the carpooling option. About 54% of the employees use the public transport every day of the week and a further 13% would be encouraged to use the public transport if the fares are reduced. Cleanliness discourages only 2% of the workforce while safety measures discourage about 28% of the employees. The 28% of the employees who are undecided on what may encourage them to use the public service would also be encouraged by the reduction of fares of the subsidies being extended from the management.
The other option is to allow the employees whose work options can allow them to telecommute as more time will be saved as shown by the high number of employees who preferred reduced commuter time to even safety. Most Employees are conscious about the time spent commuting and they detest the use of the public transport because of the commuter time taken to reach their destinations. About 17 % of the employees are discouraged from using the public transport because of commuter time. While 42% of the employees who use the public transport are categorical that the telecommuting is not applicable to their work conditions it’s worth noting that about 30% of the employees who use the public transport telecommute randomly and a further 20% telecommute several days a week. It would be very convenient if a section of the employees would be allowed to commute every day of the week as its convenient, safe and time saving.
Finally i would be obliged to discuss the recommendations of the report with you in your own time on any day that you may be available.
We can write this or a similar paper for you! Simply fill the order form!
Work orientations model of labour market processes
“…the major flaw with a work orientations model of labour market processes is that many people have few job choices, taking whatever work they can get,
even if it is now what they would prefer.” (Krahn p426) Despite this acknowledgement, Krahn, Lowe and Hughes continue to focus on work orientations because employers want workers with the right attitudes, i.e. motivated but docile. Discuss.
– min 300 words
Use at least three (3) quality references Note: Wikipedia and other related websites do not qualify as academic resources.
Your assignment must follow these formatting requirements:
Be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides; citations and references must follow APA or school-specific format. Check with your professor for any additional instructions.
Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student’s name, the professor’s name, the course title, and the date. The cover page and the reference page are not included in the required assignment page length.
We can write this or a similar paper for you! Simply fill the order form!
