The University of Ghana in Legon, Ghana, was established in 1948 as an affiliate college of the University of London called University College of the Gold Coast. In 1961, the university was reorganized by an act of Parliament into what it is today: the independent, degree-granting University of Ghana (http://www.ug.edu.gh/).
The Balme Library is the main library in the University of Ghana library system. Situated on the main Legon campus, it coordinates a large number of libraries attached to the university’s various schools, institutes, faculties, departments, and halls of residence, most of which are autonomous. The library was started as the College Library in 1948 and was then situated in Achimota College, which was about 8 kilometers from the present Legon campus. In 1959, the College Library moved into its brand-new buildings at the Legon campus and was named after the University College of the Gold Coast’s first principal, David Mowbrary Balme.
As in the case of many other modern university libraries worldwide that face resources challenges and the need to serve an increasingly diverse customer base, the Balme Library has implemented numerous initiatives. One such initiative is a performance management system. However, several of the 5657components of the performance management process at the Balme Library are in need of improvement. First, there is no evidence that a systematic job analysis was conducted for any of the jobs at the library. Second, the forms that the employees are rated on contain vague items such as “general behavior.” The forms include no specific definition of what “general behavior” is or examples explaining to employees (or managers) what would lead to a high or a low rating in this category. In addition, all library employees are rated on the same form, regardless of their job responsibilities. Third, there is no evidence that managers have worked with employees in setting mutually agreed-upon goals. Fourth, there is no formal or informal discussion of results and needed follow-up steps after the subordinates and managers complete their form. Not surprisingly, an employee survey revealed that more than 60% of the employees have never discussed their performance with their managers. Finally, employees are often rated by different people. For example, sometimes the head of the library rates an employee, even though he may not be in direct contact with that employee.
Based on the above description, please answer the following questions.
1)Identify one component in the performance management process at the Balme Library that has not been implemented effectively and describe how the poor implementation of that component has a negative impact on the flow of the performance management process as a whole.
2)Make sure you identify the problem and not just symptoms.
Added thoughts:
In examining this case and other cases, let’s consider a critical thinking approach. Normally we want to move toward solutions before we have thoroughly formulated the problem; the text and author and your studies to date have emphasized that point; probably in your profession as well. We can define a problem as the difference between the current state and the desired state.
Critical thinking and analysis has two essential parts – a process on how we define the problem and can we assess our process? Elder and Paul (2005) instruct us that a problem should be formulated from various points of view. In the case we are examining, does your analysis consider the problem from the management point of view? What is the current and desired state? What if we examined the problem from the employee point of view – from department manager’s point of view – from customer points of view? Now we can move toward a solution!
Paul, R., & Elder, L. (2005). A guide for educators to critical thinking competency standards: Standards, principles, performance indicators, and outcomes with a critical thinking master rubric(Vol. 8). Foundation Critical Thinking.
Also,
1) The answer must raise appropriate critical questions.
2) Do include all your references, as per the Harvard Referencing System,
3) Please don’t use Wikipedia web site.
4) I need examples from peer reviewed articles or researches.
5) Turnitin.com copy percentage must be 10% or less.
SAMPLE ANSWER
PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT PROCESS
Performance management is the act of assessing and measuring the output of individual employees, departments, faculties or the organization as a whole. This management aspect entails significant activities that aim at providing a way to examine the production levels of a given organization (Gruman et al., 2011). Therefore, when these performances are measured, the organization can be able to follow the trend of production levels in its activities. This will tell whether the production levels are meeting their targets or they are way below the set targets. The significant of this management aspect is the emphasis it puts on the main performance areas that can help the organization achieve steady growth in providing products or services to their customers.
The performance management process comprises a performance management plan. A performance management plan states the critical performance areas and provides an estimated budget for the organization to use towards achieving their performance targets.
In the Balme Library, the main library of the University of Ghana library system, lacks a comprehensive performance management plan. This means that there is no interaction between the management and the employees of the Balme Library. This shows that the main problem is that there is no helpful work relationship between the managers and the employees. According to the evidence inferred from an employee survey that was conducted, there is no hint of a performance management plan managerial system of the library.
The problem with not having a performance management plan is that there is no basis at all set for a sound foundation on which the entire process of performance management can be built on (Ashdown, 2014). The employee survey revealed that over 60% of the employees in the Balme Library have not had any confrontation with the management of the library concerning the productivity level of the library. The main problem hindering the improvement of the adopted performance management system is the lack of a performance management plan.
The consequences of the problem stated above are very drastic pointing in the negative direction. Balme Library can only meet the need of serving a diverse customer base when they successfully implement the performance management plan. As the situation is right now, there are no targets set for the library. The employees output is not geared towards certain goals. Thus, there is no sure way of telling whether the service level of the library is below or above the measure of standards.
In the current situation, Balme Library will continue to offer services to its customer base. The level of improvement of these services cannot change or will experience little change over an extended period of time. This trend is due to the lack of a set standard of services offered by the employees. Each employee works at an individual level and the services provided by each employee will vary considerably. This in turn leads to a performance conflict whereby a high-performance level of one employee may be brought down by a low-performance level from another employee. Therefore the performance level for the whole library will turn out to be a general depression.
The desired level of performance for any modern university library is very clear. It entails working with the limited available resources to provide efficient services to a diverse customer base. From a manager’s point of view, there are some issues that need to be solved for Balme Library to achieve this conventional level of performance.
To effectively implement the performance management system, the management of the Balme Library needs to determine the key management issues that are not carried out well in the library.
First, the management is not concerned with the grading of employees in the library. This creates a problem of allocating tasks to the qualified employee. Thus, many employees have not been able to carry out their responsibilities in a sufficient manner.
Second, there is no significant supervision of workers. This means that employee work in not overseen by anybody. The lack of an overseeing body or a supervising body leads to low standards of performance.
Lastly, the rating of employees is not done in a proper manner. This their issues goes hand in hand with the second issue. Therefore, the lack of a supervisor leads to the absence of an appropriate to review the employee’s rating. Thus, the task of rating an employee’s performance is left to a person who may not be in direct contact with the employee.
In contrast with the manager’s point of view. There is the employee’s point of view. The main issue regarding the employee’s perspective is the lack of an efficient management system. This leads to laxity among employees and encourages low service standards in the library. The management system does not interact with the employees. No interaction means that employees are not kept in check, have no clearly cut roles and responsibilities. Therefore, the output of the employees is below average.
In conclusion, the improvement of the implementation of the performance management system is due to lack of one of its components, which is the absence of a comprehensive performance management plan. The lack of this component is due to a problem that exists in the Balme Library. This problem is the lack of good work relationship and interaction between the management and the employees. Successful implementation of the performance management system can only be achieved when the problem above is solved.
References
Ashdown, L. (2014). Performance management.
BPP Learning Media (Firm), & Chartered Institute of Management Accountants. (2013). Performance management.
Griffin, R., & Moorhead, G. (2011). Organizational behavior. Cengage Learning.
Gruman, J. A., & Saks, A. M. (2011). Performance management and employee engagement. Human Resource Management Review, 21(2), 123-136.
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For this paper, the writer will have to read the two post and react to them in one paragraph each. The writer will expand and constructively challenge each of this postings using a minimum of one scholarly article to support his point. each posting respond must have a minimum of 250 words and APA must be use . The writer will respond directly on the uploaded paper with the respond coming directly under each posting as indicated. the references must be in APA format.
SAMPLE ANSWER
It is true that the effectiveness of any investment decision depends on the cash flows, project life, and the discounting factor (Preda, 2009). Before the commencement of the project, an immense understanding of the overall project is critical as this will help provide an economic view whether the project is feasible or not. The time value of money will help assess the feasibility of the overall project by comparing the inflows and the outflows of the overall life cycle of the project (Cornett, Adair, & Nofsinger, 2013). The cash flows consideration needs to be done in combination with the overall life of the project in determining whether the benefits of the project are sufficient to justify the current outlays. The combination of the payback period, the net present value, and the internal rate of returns are significant in determining the feasibility of the project.
The project with a positive net present value is feasible and has positive outcomes of the investment. However, the shortcoming of the net present value is that is does not take care of environmental factors that may also affect the outcome of the project (Cullen & Broadbent, 2012). In this regard, evaluating the capital project requires multiple analyses that also take care of other factors such as environmental influences. In this regard, the optional situation evaluations are good in assessing capital project feasibility as it will provide a clear understanding of the potential of the project, in addition to providing an overview of how much the organization is likely to lose in case the project fails. According to Hightower (2009), the use of decision trees in analyzing the feasibility of the project is also useful as it gives provides the management with the option of abandoning the project during implementation when the net present value turns out to be negative.
References
Preda, A. (2009). Framing Finance: The Boundaries of Markets and Modern Capitalism. University of Chicago Press
Cornett, M., Adair, T., & Nofsinger, J. (2013). M:Finance. McGraw-Hill/Irwin; 2 edition
Cullen, J., & Broadbent, M. (2012). Managing Financial Resources (CMI Diploma in Management Series). Routledge; 3 edition
Note:To prepare for this essay please read the required articles that is attached then answer the following questions:
1)Evaluate the findings of the authors in regards to changes in the design, implementation, and effectiveness of performance management systems since earlier studies were conducted.
2)Analyse the claims of the authors in relation to the level of satisfaction, the training of users, and the involvement of employees with performance management systems.
3)Support your argument with evidence from the study and other real examples where possible.
Also,
1) The answer must raise appropriate critical questions.
2) Do include all your references, as per the Harvard Referencing System,
3)Please don’t use Wikipedia web site.
4) I need examples from peer reviewed articles or researches.
5) Turnitin.com copy percentage must be 10% or less.
Note:To prepare for this essay please read the required articles that is attached
Appreciate each single moment you spend in writing my paper
Best regards
SAMPLE ANSWER
Introduction
Performance management serves the purpose of decision making while developing the skills of employees. Developing and managing human capital involves making decisions on pay increases, transfers, promotions and retirements (Pulakos 2004). The appraisal information gathered is applied as a guide to employee training, experience evaluation and other mentoring and development activities (Hillgren & Cheatham 2000).
The role of performance management can only be felt if the attitudes, skills and commitment levels of those people responsible for its implementation are wholly on the exercise while owning the appraisers together with the appraises (Lawler 1994). The effectiveness of the whole program can be eroded by perceived unfairness in the exercise hence procedural fairness and distributive justice must seem to prevail at all time during the entire implementation process. The critics of the PM system are convinced that the PM system only satisfies short-term performance while jeopardizing the long-term organization plans by building fear among the staff while encouraging unhealthy competition and rivalry among the employees (Deming, 1982). Managers are mostly frustrated by the performance management standards as they attempt to address its challenges and expectations (Lawler 1994).
According to Rheem (1996) companies that utilize the PM effectively perform better financially than those that have not implemented the PM system in their HRM structures.
The role of performance management has changed greatly since its inception. Its prim role of performance measurement of setting performance objectives seem to have been surpassed by other pressing management issues like determination of staff training and development needs which according Nankervis & Compton (2006) rank on top of the HRM list with a rating of 89.2% while appraisal of past performance, alignment of objectives and development of competencies are also on top of the list ranking closely at 88.9%, 75.5% and 56.6% respectively. At the bottom of the list are setting of performance objectives, retainment of caliber staff and change of organization culture and which were ranked as 2.4%, 27.55 and 28% respectively. The major traditional functions of the Human Resource Management (HRM) and Performance Management (PM) of dismissal, discipline, the retention of the high caliber staff and organizational change are no longer the prime responsibilities of the departments.
However, performance management (64%) is still favored as a management tool compared with other hybrid systems (21%) such as trait-based appraisal systems or the management by objectives (MbO) systems (7%). About 65% of the respondent confirmed consistent use of the PM system while almost 75% of all the PM have been largely developed by the HRM specialists while only a paltry 12% are reported to be imposed by respective head offices.
According to Nankervis & Compton (2006) the trend towards modern, customized and sophisticated performance system that are effectively designed to align the goals of the organization and individuals including company objectives. However the satisfaction of performance management by HR Professionals has declined compared to the earlier studies that were carried out 1990. The ratings dropped and registered a range of 84% to 20% as highly effective while 49% registered as effective. The best systems of performance management are enshrined in ideal principles of organizational strategic alignment and individual employee goals whose outcomes are transparency, equity, consistency, friendliness in view of clear links of salary review and human capital development.
Strategic management elements have also been introduced on the PM systems to make more effective and powerful. The introduction of the Balanced Scorecard brought in fresh impetus to the system that was slowly becoming ineffective. By assessing the company’s values and mission, the targets and objectives of the Balanced Scorecard (BSC) can be carefully articulated to reflect the needs of the company. However, only 25.5% of the total respondent who took part in the survey had implemented the BSC in there PM system. According to those respondents who have implemented the BSC system, 95% of them are satisfied with the performance of their PM systems as the systems are now consistent and focused towards the attainment of the organizations goal (Nankervis & Compton, 2006).
Ineffective and less attractive systems reflect none of the qualities above and which suffer from inadequate communication systems, lack proper feedbacks or any technical training.
Nankervis & Compton (2006) states that “…satisfaction levels with present systems have deteriorated since the earlier studies, the training of system users has declined, and the involvement of employees in the review of their own and their team’s performance is not yet well implemented. The dissatisfying factors remain those of all previous studies, and indicate the guiding principles that HRM professionals should use in order to further develop their performance management systems – alignment, integration, commitment, collaboration, feedback, outcomes, and user-friendliness” (pg. 100).
The success of the Performance management system or its failure is greatly hinged on the attitudes and skills of the implementing officers together with the perception of the employees. Any form of bias or unfairness being perceived or otherwise, can ruin the whole purpose and objective of the performance management system. The level of commitment and decisiveness of the implementing officers in the HRM department is of utmost importance if the system is to succeed (Hedge and Teachout 2000). Recognition and other forms of rewards that accrue to best performing staff must be clearly outlined and the procedures effectively communicated to all the employees (Wilson 2001).
Nankervis & Compton (2006) concludes that “…section reports only the qualitative responses of the sampled HRM professionals of the perceived effectiveness of their present performance management systems. The study did not include quantitative measures. Although the majority of respondents (69%) report general satisfaction with their present performance management systems, ranging from 49 per cent ‘effective’ to almost 20 per cent which are ‘more than effective’(16%) or ‘highly effective’ (4%), more than 30 per cent are less than satisfied…” (Pg. 93)
The level of satisfaction for the PM is far above average and its effectiveness and application is what really matters.
To conclude, the performance management system has gradually changed from its previous roles of setting performance objectives to development and training of employees. Its success depends entirely on the attitudes of the implementers and the perception that the employees will have when implemented (Nankervis & Compton, 2006).The introduction of the Balance Scorecard into the system has added a new positive strategy in the management and implementation of the performance management. Its application is still limited but it has registered great success in all areas that it has been implemented. The performance of the PM system is effective if it’s implemented positively and fairly across the whole spectrum without any bias. The most effective systems of performance management should be protected under the ideal principles of organizational strategic alignment and individual employee goals whose outcomes are transparency, equity, consistency, friendliness in view of clear links of salary review and human capital development. These traits can only be recognized if the attitudes and behaviors of employees are positive and the system is free from any form of bias.
References
Hillgren, J.S., & Cheatham, D.W., 2000, Understanding Performance Measures: An Approach to Linking Rewards to Achievements of Organization Objectives, Scottsdale, AZ: Worldatwork.
Hedge, J., M. Teachout, 2000, Exploring the concept of acceptability as a criterion for evaluating performance, Group and Organization Management 25(1): 22–44.
Lawler, E., 1994, Performance management: The next generation. Compensation and Benefits Review 26(3): 16–20.
Nankervis, A.R. & Compton, R. L., 2006, Performance Management: Theory in Practice? Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources, vol. 44 (1)
Schuler, R.S., 1992, Strategic Human Resource Management: Linking People with the Needs of the Business, Organizational Dynamics, 22, 19 – 32.
Note: To prepare for this essay please read the required articles that is attached then answer the following questions:
Topics
•The importance of performance management
•Reward systems and their purpose
•The role of performance management
•Characteristics of a good system
•Integration with other HR activities
Which features of the system implemented at Network Solutions correspond to what were described in the selected weekly reading as ideal characteristics? Identify characteristics that are missing from the system at Network Solutions.
Added thoughts:
In your essay consider the topics for discussion this week. Our text lists a number of key characteristics such as strategic congruence; encourage a thorough and continuous evaluation process; results will be used to make important decisions; expectations of employees are clearly communicated; discriminates among high, average, and low performers; encourages ongoing communication between manager and employee, etc. What might be the most important? Can these characteristics be weighted as to what is most important, second, etc?
Also,
1) The answer must raise appropriate critical questions.
2) Do include all your references, as per the Harvard Referencing System,
3) Please don’t use Wikipedia web site.
4) I need examples from peer reviewed articles or researches.
5) Turnitin.com copy percentage must be 10% or less.
Note: To prepare for this essay please read the required articles that is attached
Appreciate each single moment you spend in writing my paper
Best regards
SAMPLE ANSWER
Introduction
Competitive pressures that exist in the international business environment are compelling most companies to adopt new and progressive ways of managing human capital. Strong emphasis is being placed on performance management systems (Pulakos, 2004).
Performance management entails joint teamwork between management and employees in reviewing, monitoring and planning overall work objectives and its contribution to organization development.
Effective performance management results in clear job classification and enumeration of responsibility and employee expectations. Performance management enhances productivity for both individuals and group while also developing individual employee capabilities that makes it possible for employees to realize their full potential through effective feedback systems. Performance enables the organization to integrate the organization goals and the employees expectations by aligning the company’s core values, strategies and goals together with the employees goals (Hillgren & Cheatham, 2000).
Performance management provides a basis for making critical human capital decisions for example decisions on pay increment and reward systems while also improving effective communication between the management and the employees.
Performance management is a critical tool in successful companies and other high performing companies and it’s also one of the most important responsibilities for managers.
Performance management can be used for decision making mostly relating to promotions, transfers or pay increases or for development purposes and which relates to job training, evaluations and mentoring.
Reward System
Reward systems are applied to motivate employees to be more productive and committed to the company’s goals and objectives. Reward systems are mostly classified into two basic categories. These are financial and non financial reward systems. Financial or extrinsic rewards relate to individual merit which is solely dependent on performance while non-financial rewards (intrinsic) include development, recognition, career guidance and other forms of schemes that target non financial benefits to employees. The debate is basically whether the two systems draw the same effect on employees or if one of them is better that the other but main role of good reward system is to motivate the employees to continue working hard for the organization, boost their morale encourage them to be more productive (Lado & Wilson, 1994).
The role of performance management
The role of performance management is to provide the basis for decision making both in other decision making efforts and developmental purposes. Performance management assists in making decisions that affect the employee pay structure and bonus compensation while developmental performance involve staff training, transfer, promotions and development training (Hillgren & Cheatham, 2000).
Performance management is practically the foundation of HR human capital management. It provides the policies and procedures for hiring and terminating the services of the employee including the procedures for promoting and review of salaries and other staff remuneration. The performance management system (PMS) coordinates the functions of the HR department regarding staff performance.
Characteristics of a good Performance Management system
Strategic and Context Congruence
The major characteristic of a good performance management system is that it must contain staff input in order for it to attract the cooperation of all the staff in the organization. The goals of the organization and those ones of individual employees should be aligned so as ensure that the company is moving in the right direction for the interest of both parties i.e. the organization and also the employees besides it should also be and be congruent with the norms that are based on the culture where the organization is located (Pfeffer, 1994).
Thoroughness, Practicability and effectively communicated
The performance management system should include all employees. The performance measures that are applied in performance management should be practical and acceptable to all employees. Performance management should utilize performance measures that are consistent, reliable, free of errors and effective. The performance management systems should be perceived as fair by the employees in terms of practicability in order for it to acceptable by all the employees. The system should also have adequate system of communication together with an inclusive way of communicating with all the employees.
Meaningfulness and Reliability
Employee evaluation should regularly take place at specific intervals and which employees ae aware of. Performance management system should also provide the skills necessary to develop the evaluators as the results of the exercise are used to make critical management decisions hence they should be accurate and reliable.
Efficiency
The PMS should be able to identify the effectiveness of the system for the behaviors of the employees. Systems that result in staff ineffectiveness should be re-evaluated and adequate steps taken to reverse any negative effects on the system.
Acceptability and Fairness
The whole system should not only be fair but must also be perceived to be fair by the employees. For the employees to be effective, they should have the right attitude in order for the to be productive and effective.
Correctability
The system should have a process that they can appeal to incase of unjust reactions from the management. The process will create more trust for the system among the employees. Employees whose services have been terminated can seek redress and appeal against decisions that may be seen as unjust.
However, the whole system should have effective checks and balances to ensure that before the management takes drastic action against employees then all the channels have been exhausted. For example, before the services of an employee is terminated several warnings must have been communicated to the employee including sessions of counseling, retraining, transfers to other departments and termination should be the last option.
Integration with other HR activities
The functions of performance management system and human resource activities actually overlap. Performance management is more involved in performance of the employees and the methods of evaluating and measuring the output of the employees compared to the expected performance. Employees are constantly evaluated to ensure that their productivity is at par with the management’s standards (Schuler, 1992).
Human resource department major roles of staffing and development of manpower including staff promotion, transfers, terminations and reward system are effectively managed under a good performance management system. Innovative human resource management systems include systems of performance management. Traditionally the human resource department was mostly concerned with personnel duties in most organizations but currently the major functions include getting the right employees for different jobs while at the same time providing training, experience, motivation and also ensuring that the employees have the right attitude for the job and is well oriented with the requirements of the employment environment (Collis & Montgomery, 1995). The relationship between the employer and the employee can be described as related to principal-agent relationship and the human resource obligation is to ensure that the relationship has competitive advantage over other competitors just as much as the functions of performance management are supposed to be bring out the best from individual employees.
References
Collis, D.J., 7 Montgomery, C.A. (1995) competing on Resources: Strategy for the 1990’s, Harvard business Review, pp. 118 -128
Lado, A. A. & Wilson, M.C. (1994) Human Resources Systems and Sustained Competitive Advantage; A Competency-based Perspective, Academy of Management Review, 19, 699 – 727.
Pfeffer, J. (1994) Competitive Advantage through People, Boston: Harvard Business School Press.
Schuler, R.S. (1992) Strategic Human Resource Management: Linking People with the Needs of the Business, Organizational Dynamics, 22, 19 – 32.
Hillgren, J.S., & Cheatham, D.W. (2000). Understanding Performance Measures: An Approach to Linking Rewards to Achievements of Organization Objectives, Scottsdale, AZ: Worldatwork.
NOTE: each paragraph is a different question on its own
Paragraph 1 (please provide a minimum of 300 words with 2-in-text APA style reference)
Think of a recent boss you have had. Were they more of a manager or a leader? Was this appropriate for their role? And how did it impact you as a follower?
Paragraph 2 (please provide a minimum of 300 words with 2-in-text APA style reference)
Identify and discuss the six trait characteristics in the trait approach to leadership. If one does not have these traits, can he or she still be a leader? Explain your position.
SAMPLE ANSWER
Paragraph 1
My recent boss, who was the senior health officer in a private health facility, was more of leader and a very effective one and this is because of the traits he possessed such as integrity as was evidenced by the way he was able to account for every cent given to him, intelligence as evidenced by the wise and strategic decisions he used to make concerning the running of the facility, self confidence as was evidenced by the way he used to implement his policies despite receiving criticism from a few people, determination as was evidenced by the way he used to extend his working hours for at least two hours daily and his punctuality in keeping time and finally sociability as was evidenced by the way he used to interact with his subordinates (Ledlow & Coppola, 2011, pg 62).
This was very important in the role he played as the senior officer whose main work was to oversee that the day-to-day operations of the health facility were carried out as required. At the end of the year, the facility was able to get more patients compared to the previous years and most of them commended the facility for its quality services. This had a great impact on me since it helped me appreciate the need of possessing the same traits that is determination, self-confidence and integrity. The appreciation of these traits is what helped me gain the ‘Employee of the Year’ award at the end of the year. (Wiseman & McKeown, 2010, pg 15)
Paragraph 2
For a leader to be effective according to the trait approach should posses some traits and this is as follows;
Intelligence
Research done has shown that leaders have a relatively higher intelligence compared to non-leaders. Intelligence is what boosts communication skills, problem solving skills and reasoning skills of these leaders. However, it has been shown that the intelligence quotient of leaders and their subordinates should not differ much since this can make it difficult for the subordinates to comprehend ideas from their leaders and also hinder the communication between the two. (Northhouse, 2004, pg 20)
Self confidence
Self confidence in leaders is important since it boosts one’s self-esteem and this acts as a motivation of aiming at productivity in whatever one does.
Determination
This is very important especially during the times when one is faced with challenges. A determined leader is able to overcome any hurdles or obstacles. Determination also ensures that a project or assignment given is performed to its maximum and such leaders do not settle for mediocrity. This is very important when it comes to producing quality work. (Northhouse, 2004, pg 20)
Integrity
Integrity involves being trustworthy. Leaders with this trait are able to motivate their subordinates to posses the same trait. Research has shown that most of the successful organizations in the world are run by integral leaders compared to some organizations which have collapsed as a result of leaders lacking integrity. Such organizations are usually faced with issues such as corruption. (Northhouse, 2004, pg 21)
Initiative
This is the quality of being able to come up with new ideas. (Gordon, 2002, pg 56) Most of the successful leaders in the world such as Steve Jobs came up with new ideas and this uniqueness is what made them successful.
Sociability
This is the quality of being interactive with other people. This trait usually enhances communication between leaders and their subordinates which is very important in the operation of an organization. (Northhouse, 2004, pg 21)
In conclusion, if one does not possess these traits, he cannot be a leader since leadership is a skill that requires principles to be adhered to so as to ensure that the interests of the people are served. The failure to adhere to these principals will definitely lead to the lack of mutual interest between the leaders and the individuals that are been led and the person leading will no longer be viewed as a leader.
References
Ledlow, G. R., & Coppola, M. N. (2011). Leadership for health professionals: Theory, skills, and applications. Sudbury, Mass: Jones and Barlett.
Wiseman, L., & McKeown, G. (2010). Multipliers: How the best leaders make everyone smarter. New York: HarperBusiness
Gordon, J. R., (2002). Organizational behavior: A diagnostic approach. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
There have been observed efforts made by organizations to ensure value based stakeholder approach. This has matched some of the points in the checklist. However, there has been less inclination to two of the points in the checklist. The question of the percentage of employee activities spent in building productive stakeholder relationships would yield a negative answer. This is based on the realization that the employees’ activities in most of organizations do not match the efforts of building productive stakeholder relationships. This emanates from various issues. It could be attributed to the inclination of organizations towards making more and more profits such that the employees are not allowed any time such that they can orient their activities towards creating productive stakeholder relationship. This could also be attributed to failure of the employees or the leadership of the organization to realize the importance of productive stakeholder relationships.
There has also been less practice of the corporate culture valuing and supporting participation and open and shared decision making and collaboration across structures and functions. In its stead, in many organizations, there have been hindrances to open and shared decision making and participation. Weiss (2014) asserts that; this aspect is crucial in determining value based stakeholder, hence success of an organization. This could be attributed to the adoption and usage of autocratic leadership whereby the opinions of subordinates are not put into consideration in decision making. This makes the subordinates not to feel free to air their views. Where there have been attempts to orient the undertakings of an organization towards valuing and supporting participation and open and shared decision making and collaboration across structures and functions, there have been failure to articulate this to the culture. The implication of this is that; such aspect has been taken as not being very useful and therefore it does not bear the expected fruits.
In April 1994, Jean Kelly, manager of the South-Western Ontario region of Medictest Laboratories, faced a tough situation in Sarnia, Ontario. The Ontario government had imposed funding cutbacks to the Ontario Health Insurance Plan (OHIP) for all testing centres in the province, creating a severe need for cost cutting. Over the past two years, Medictest Laboratories had reduced costs by improving work-flow efficiency. However, further cost reduction was necessary and required a review of the supervisory structure. Jean had designed a new organizational structure that streamlined management and furthered the company’s objectives for augmenting employee decision-making power, but this structure would require the dismissal of five long-term supervisors. Jean wondered how to implement these changes without a negative impact on morale, productivity, and motivation.
THE INDUSTRY
The technology-based health care industry was rapidly changing. In particular, the testing laboratories industry was experiencing significant streamlining due to funding cutbacks and the impacts of new technology and automation.
Labs received testing orders from doctors, hospitals, and medical centres. Upon filling each order, the labs would bill OHIP,1 which paid a specified amount for each type of test. Labs were responsible for controlling their costs in order to achieve a profit. As the Ontario Government attempted to decrease its expenses, funding for health care came under severe pressure. The compensation provided by OHIP for testing was significantly reduced. The laboratories were faced with a 17 per cent decrease in funding for completion of the same work; this placed tremendous pressure on the profit margins. Many testing laboratories attempted to adapt by restructuring, down-sizing and streamlining. Further funding reduction was expected over the next two years. The Ontario Ministry of Health offered a restructuring credit, based on market share, for those testing centres that reduced their costs beyond industry standards and invested significantly in new technology.
1OHIP is a program, run by the Ontario government, which provides free basic health services to Canadian citizens and landed immigrants living in Ontario.
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Each medical laboratory was required by law to have a medical doctor on the Board of Directors to be accountable for medical care. Although usually not directly involved in the operation of the lab, this person approved all major decisions before they were implemented and facilitated the relationship between the for-profit labs and the public hospitals.
MEDICTEST LABORATORIES
Medictest Laboratories head office was based in London, Ontario, and operated a chain of private medical laboratories in Canada. Medictest Laboratories was comprised of labs and specimen collection centres throughout Canada. These centres determined the most appropriate tests to be performed and then executed the tests.
As stated in the 1993 annual report, the company’s commitment was:
to seize the opportunity to serve the needs of the health care marketplace, to persevere in innovation, to achieve the defined objectives and to realize the shared vision of leadership in health care.
Medictest’s future objective was to become more automated through the integration of state-of-the-art technology. In general, Medictest had a reputation for its ability to make excellent decisions. It was also known as a non-unionized, people-oriented company that truly cared for its employees and truly believed in its values (see Exhibit 1). Upon hiring dedicated and hard-working employees, Medictest was considerate and thoughtful toward them, recognizing them as a valuable resource. The company placed high priority on enabling employees to develop to their full potential and to advance within the organization. The employees were very close and tight-knit among the Ontario labs, often remaining with the company for long employment periods.
Medictest had begun to establish goals to augment empowerment, teamwork, and shared responsibility. These concepts were gradually being implemented by restructuring leadership teams and by choosing leaders who fit with these objectives. Former pyramid-style systems of authority were being replaced with new structures for decision-making. A self-directed team approach was designed to empower employees to make decisions. The intent of the restructuring program was to re-align resources in order to operate more effectively and efficiently.
Because of funding changes and the company’s goals for empowerment, head office began to review the leadership and support staff structure across Ontario. Recent changes had been made to the upper management structure, including consolidating four regional management positions into one. Medictest Sarnia was a target of consideration for restructuring because of the large size of its management team. Discussion about these changes had begun two years ago.
MEDICTEST SARNIA
The Sarnia location was a large laboratory, processing thousands of specimens daily, operating on a 24- hour basis. This testing facility served physicians, patient centres, hospitals, and other Medictest locations, handling one-third of Medictest’s testing in Ontario. Most of this testing was for South-Western Ontario, although some tests were also completed for clients in other regions. Because of the high volume of work
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?done at this location, the Sarnia lab had a great impact on the perceived quality of service provided by Medictest in general; therefore, there was significant pressure on the management at Medictest Sarnia.
Medictest Sarnia currently operated with 12 supervisors and 234 employees, many of whom had been with the subsidiary since its origin 20 years ago (see Exhibit 2). Most of the testing was completed at one main location, but there were also several smaller nearby sites that were part of the same operation.
Within the past two years, measures had been taken to improve work-flow efficiency. Six months ago, it had become evident that, although costs needed further reduction, no additional improvements were possible within the current structure.
Jean Kelly had worked for Medictest for two years. In her former position as Operations Manager, she had been responsible for all operations done by this laboratory. Recently, her position had expanded to Manager of South-Western Ontario, which also gave her the responsibility of market share and revenue generation within this region. Upon graduating from Leeds University in England with a post-graduate degree in medical micro-biology, Jean had worked for six years as a laboratory manager at Toronto East General Hospital. Over the past few years, she had taken business courses through continuing education. Jean was asked by head office to review the current supervisory structure and develop a revised one that would cut down on costs and facilitate the goals of empowerment. Jean found the ensuing changes exciting and challenging. She had been given a few months to report the structural changes to the Regional Manager.
Jean’s objectives for redesigning the current structure were to reduce costs to ensure profitability and to build a new organizational team that would support empowerment through responsibility and leadership. Although there was some teamwork already in place, the supervisory structure was so large that there was no need to be interdependent or even to meet regularly. Jean thought that a leaner management team, with different responsibilities than the existing team, would be better equipped to carry out these new interdependent roles. The revised structure had to “make sense,” by providing a logical connection among the departments. Jean also hoped to better integrate the testing facilities with client services and improve relationships with other Medictest locations. In developing a different supervisory team, Jean had to choose leaders who possessed the core technical competency and, more importantly, displayed the appropriate leadership skills to fit the new objectives.
Effects on Management
Before Jean made any changes, she gave the supervisors the option to take part in designing a new structure, either directly or indirectly. They were given three options: to be directly involved in the design; to fine-tune the structure after it had been designed; or to be told after the decisions were made. They chose to have no active involvement, reasoning that they were too close as a group, and preferred to be told about the changes once they were decided upon by upper management. Jean had expected this because the individuals would have felt that they were negotiating for each others’ jobs. Although this eliminated some valuable input, Jean believed it would be less painful for the supervisors.
While Jean analyzed the current structure, some interesting dynamics began to take place among the supervisors. Each supervisor was competent and hard working, having worked for Medictest for an average of 18 years, with minimal movement or change in responsibility or position. They knew each other well and were comfortable with their roles and work environment. They had known for the past two years that changes were going to be made. Six months ago, they became aware that these changes would be
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?structural and would affect their positions. Anxiety levels escalated. They wanted to hear about the changes as soon as possible and were uncomfortable with the delay. Although productivity was unaffected by the anxiety, some supervisors began to protect their turf, by emphasizing the size and importance of their particular unit at every opportunity.
The supervisors realized that there would be a smaller leadership team and thus began inwardly to assess their own strengths and weaknesses, reasoning whether their style of leadership would be one of those desired for the new roles. Each supervisor’s individual level of anxiety depended on his or her personal situation; most of them could determine from their own intuitive comfort level whether they would be chosen to stay.
Jean held one-on-one discussions with the supervisors. The two Supervisors of Specimen Collection began increasingly to inquire about the severance package, alternative careers, and retirement options. It appeared to Jean that they were prepared to leave Medictest.
Even those supervisors who felt strong in their role experienced high anxiety. Resumes were prepared and other job opportunities were considered. While work performance continued normally, the supervisors behaved differently. They were quieter than before and vigilant for signals of what changes would be made. Jean had to be extremely careful of her actions. For example, Jean had to occasionally delegate meetings to supervisors if she could not attend; her choice of supervisor now took on new meaning for the supervisors. Another time, when Jean discussed the severance packages with the group of supervisors, she had to be careful with whom she made eye-contact.
Effects on the Staff
Great lengths had been taken by management to prevent the staff members in Sarnia from knowing about the pending structural changes, in order to keep the situation manageable for the supervisors. Within the past few weeks, the staff members had found out that a review of the supervisory structure was taking place. They were anxious about the effect these changes would have on them and were concerned that the “right” supervisors be chosen to stay. Several employees, who were fond of their supervisors, discreetly approached Jean, encouraging her to “bear in mind the right person for the job.”
Additionally, the staff were aware that the largest laboratory, located in London, was expanding due to automation. This knowledge created the fear that the lab in Sarnia would be closed, because of its proximity to London.
DEVELOPING A REVISED STRUCTURE
Jean saw several opportunities for effective change to the current structure at Medictest Sarnia.
The Lab Service Representative was basically responsible for new business, while the Client Service Representative was in charge of keeping current business. Jean decided that these positions could be consolidated due to market place changes.
The Courier Supervisor had taken early retirement in January 1994 with a separation package. His position had not been filled since his departure, and this had not created any problems. There was some apparent overlap and excess supervision of the Specimen Collection Centres and Courier operations. Jean concluded that the courier and collection centres staff could be streamlined under one supervisor, instead of the
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?previous four. However, this would require a strong, energetic supervisor who was capable of handling the increased responsibility.
The supervisors of Testing Centres 1 and 2 currently shared the same staff; Jean decided their positions could be merged into one with few problems.
Testing Centre 3 was highly complex and completed 80 per cent of the tests. It currently had a strong supervisor with potential for inter-regional liaison with other Medictest locations.
Testing Centre 5 was of low complexity but of high importance and was highly interdependent with Testing Centre 4. These centres could logically be merged.
The Customer Service Department dealt with customer requests and communicated testing solutions to customers. This department operated within a vacuum, separate from testing. The lack of communication regarding customer requests negatively affected the level of service provided to the customers. Jean saw the opportunity to address this concern by linking it with Testing Centres 1 and 2, under one supervisor.
Billing was closely audited by OHIP every two years. OHIP subtracted a percentage from revenue for each minor error found. Each billing form had to contain specific and correct information (e.g., the ordering doctor’s name) in order to prevent this direct loss of revenue. Because of the high cost of error, it was important that this department be well managed. The current supervisor had high expertise in this function. This expertise could be utilized throughout the region. By separating billing from customer service, this supervisor could focus externally on the reduction of error rates throughout the specimen collection centres in various locations.
Based on the above observations, Jean developed a new structure that reduced the number of supervisory positions by five (see Exhibit 3). Working closely with Helen Hoi, the head office Director of Human Resources, Jean now had to evaluate the current supervisors. Helen had previously been a manager at Medictest Sarnia and had worked with these supervisors several years ago.
The best candidates had to be chosen for these new positions. Jean would need leaders who would be willing and able to move forward with twice as many staff members as before. Because of the closeness of the group and the desire for any rumour possible, it was difficult to evaluate the supervisors without disclosing any information. After a thorough evaluation of the current supervisors, their skills, assurance, and ability to take on increased responsibility, Jean and Helen developed a list of six supervisors to form the revised leadership team.
THE NEXT CHALLENGE
Head office and the Medical Director agreed to the structural changes. The next challenge Jean faced was the communication of the decisions and the logistics involved in that process. How should the changes be conveyed to the supervisors leaving, to those supervisors staying, and to the staff? Where should the discussions be held? Who should communicate the decisions? In what sequence? What should the physical set-up be? How should head office be involved? There were many questions that would have to be thoroughly addressed before the plan was implemented. Jean wanted to develop a clear, specific plan that would maintain employee morale, enable the operations to continue, maintain self-confidence in those chosen to stay, and redirect those not chosen in such a way that their dignity would be preserved. Jean wondered what reactions to expect from the supervisors and the staff. She wanted to effect the changes within the next month. It was important for this process to be recognized in the future as a natural change effect, instead of a “Black Day.”
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?Quality
Exhibit 1
THE VALUES OF MEDICTEST
Doing the right things the right way;
Competence
Having the appropriate attitudes and abilities;
Caring
Showing genuine concern for others;
Respect for the Individual
Treating people as individuals, with the same understanding and appreciation we seek for ourselves;
Mutual Trust and Openness
Having confidence enough to rely on others and to be open to new and different people and ideas;
Integrity
Being reliable and accountable in word and behaviour;
Teamwork
Accepting a “hierarchy of roles with equality of persons” willing to work together as “we;”
Communication
Listening is the key;
Balance
Keeping home and work in perspective, recognizing that one helps the other;
Simplicity
Maintaining humility, humour, and a common-sense approach to work and life;
What is expected of all individuals can be summarized as Competence and Mutual Trust.
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Exhibit 2
CURRENT STRUCTURE — SARNIA
Regional Manager
Manager
South Western Ontario
Technical Supervisor
Lab Service Representative
Client Service Representative
Lab Service Rep
Supervisor of Specimen Collection Centres & Couriers
Supervisor of Testing 1 & 2 and Customer Service
Supervisor of Testing 3
Supervisor of Testing 4 & 5
Supervisor of Billing
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SAMPLE ANSWER
Management in Organizations
It is common for managers to face tough decisions as they exercise their roles. It is a good characteristic of managers to be able to make the most appropriate decisions from such situation. Implementation of changes could lead to adversities in business organizations and the process should be carried out carefully. In the case of Medictest Laboratories, Jean is forced by shortage of funds to cut off some of the staff. Among them are five supervisors, all noted to have helped the company prosper in their respective departments. Definitely, the situation is not favorable for the supervisors. Jean has to implement changes in such a way that the company retains a good reputation of being considerate on the matters relating to its employees. In addition, it is hard to ensure that the changes would not be accompanied with decline in Mediclabs’ economic achievements. The supervisors had been competent in their work and their departure is likely to severely affect productivity.
Being at the top management position, Jean has the responsibility to chair a meeting where the communication would be made to all members of the staff. As Lipman wrote, a good manager should communicate to the juniors confidently (2014, Pg. 2). In the communication, Jean should first seek the understanding of all the members and therefore requires usingconvictive language. It is likely that after all members have understood the situation, Jean would not hurt their dignity in the implementation of the changes. Again, jean should recognize the great contributions made by the entire staff and purposely emphasize on those of the leaving supervisors. The retained staff should be encouraged to continue delivering and be advised to get prepared to take extra responsibilities. By making an intelligent communication, Jean would enabled Medictest retain its high-earned reputation of being people friendly and concerned with its employee’s welfare.
The manager should however, avoid any implication that the six selected supervisors were the best as it would receive a bad response especially from the leaving group. Managers are required to be intelligent when making critical communications.
Evaluate Adoption of Systems Application Products Order Instructions: A report to critically evaluate the adoption of SAP (Systems Application Products) within a business setting
Evaluate Adoption of Systems Application Products
you will need to use the Macquarie university database.
Evaluate Adoption of Systems Application Products Sample Answer
Introduction
The report sets out to critically evaluate the adoption of SAP (Systems Application Products) within a business setting. SAP is anything but an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system that offers a unified business operation to the company by integrating the core developments. The report goes ahead to deliberate on the pros and cons associated with the adoption of SAP in finance and accounting. Furthermore, the report talks about the SAP’s significance of decision-making processes and proficiency of a business transaction in terms of planning, forecasting, and disseminate information across various departments. On the dark side of it, the report talks about security and cost among other factors. Moreover, a justification of SAP and its functionalities are not only discussed but compared between Epicor Enterprise and SAP as far as the financial management solution is concerned. Based on the review of the literature, the report will propose a few recommendations on the merits of SAP integration in Finance and Accounting. In the end, the report will wrap up with a summary and synthesis of relevant points.
SAP Overview
The business has been evolving requiring high-speed processing of business transaction due to changes in its internal and external environment. The most significant technological changes in the business setting have been applied in accounting and finance. One of these technological changes witnessed in the development of System Application Products (SAP) to help enhance the proficiency of a business transaction (Shang & Seddon, 2007). ERPs such as SAP is critical in terms of decision-making processes since they provide accurate and timely information and also increase transaction effectiveness. SAP system provides the most detailed and accurate information about the business operation an aspect that makes the system dependable in the business world. It also increases business accessibility by the customers due to the development of different modules and different access levels.
SAP provides a range of modules sales, distribution, and financial accounting. Apart from managing accounting processes, it has provisions that enable an organization to analyze data, monitor product cost and compare the figures with the budgeted figures. This helps the organization to get a clear assessment of the profitability and the interior operations. In a nutshell, the SAP system allows organizations to integrate management processes of the business for efficient reasons (Chand, et al., 2005). The SAP system executes all operational activities such as product management, production process, marketing, and sales. The SAP system collects, distributes and manages information across boundaries within the supply chain organization. The system breaks down organizational data into various units, reducing the time required to process product information (Shang & Seddon, 2007).
Some of the characteristics of SAP include:
Integration: SAP is made up of different application modules that work together to provide comprehensive information and it covers most of the business needs of an organization it also creates an integrated information system.
Standardization: It is a step by step system that can be followed by anyone involved in an organization including the customers.
Routinization: SAP reduces the amount of routine work undertaken by accounting as well as the labor and money by the administration.(Hughes & Beer, 2007).
Centralization: All the information from all departments is contained in one central database.
Challenges and benefits
The need for system applications that manage different components of today’s business world is imminent. Indeed, many technology organizations have endeavored to structure a management system that would holistically meet the demand for management. SAP (System Application and Products) is designed to monitor the operations of an organization without reference to the industry of operation. The primary modules that SAP has include; Production Planning, Sales and distribution, material management, human resource, and finance to name just but a few. These major modules allow for adoption even in the most diverse business endeavors. Industries that engage in production find solace in the system abilities to connect to the different departments involved in the production process. Furthermore, SAP provides real-time information a factor that ogres well with production industries (Chand, et al., 2005).
With reference to finance, SAP has managed to provide even tailor-made solutions meeting the needs that the clientele demands. The increased preference to SAP finance module has been encouraged by the tenets that the system provides. SAP allows users to transfer, manage and analyze data with a higher sense of security. Indeed, accounting and finance transactions have increased in volume over the years. The amount of data and documents’ that accounting has been associated with is voluminous in nature hence cannot be handled manually (Gaa-Frost, Krimmel, & Pulkowski, 2011). SAP finance module allows the management and control of the financial data within pertinent security measures. The accounting module further automates most of the accounting functionalities like calculating profit and loss, management of customer ledgers, and maintenance of balance sheets. The latest addition to the SAP finance module is asset management in the enterprise.
It is also noteworthy that the management of enterprises has seen significant changes and the target system has taken root in management. The finance module in SAP allows for planning to achieve pertinent objectives that the organization aims to achieve. Further, with the realization of economic globalization, most of the enterprises have ventured into different markets that operate under different currency regimes (Shang, & Seddon, 2007). Currency strength provides accounting difficulties, especially with its volatile nature. As earlier highlighted SAP allows for real-time control of data and with the finance module in place SAP allows ease in accounting through automatic conversion calculation. It is also equally important to highlight that although the rules of operation and accounting are universal financial execution and operations are unique to the different enterprises. SAP is aware of this fact and further allows for customization to the financial needs of the organization in order to ease the management of information.
In order to equally grasp the tenets of the finance module, it is important to highlight some of the financial components that the module offers. SAP general ledger provides the management of external accounts that the organization has. Most of the enterprises have suppliers and debtors in their books of accounts. SAP allows ease in the management of their ledgers as it provides synthesized information to on the ledger while still identifying pertinent details about the creditor or debtor. SAP accounts payable and receivable (Shang, & Seddon, 2007). This component deals with information about customers and vendors. The element serves as a critical contributor to the creation of balance sheets and account statements. SAP helps to manage banking and cash accounting transactions in financial institutions. Through these components, enterprises can engage in economic activities like auditing of statements and bank reconciliation.
SAP funds management is quite essential to any enterprise as earlier emphasized. Most enterprises have realized the power of budgeting. This component allows the company to create and manage budgets. With pertinent automated calculators, the component benchmarks gray areas in budget execution while still merging revenues and expenditures. Indeed, SAP provides relevant accounting solutions to enterprises around the globe. The abilities that the system provides have further attracted utility by various enterprises around the world.
As earlier identified information technology, management has the inclusion of new innovative products EPCOR Enterprise being one of them. In the spirit of competition and scholarly interrogation different schools of thought exist on which is superior to the other. In addition, both systems are designed to offer entrepreneurial management support. However, with reference to the finance module, various comparison points are a reality. SAP through the earlier discussions provides a more detailed interrogation into the entry and analysis of data. It lays more emphasis on the various points of the user interface and the daily transactions that the enterprise. This fact provides an advantage to enterprises such as banks that handle large transactions on a daily basis. EPCOR ERP, on the other hand, capitalizes on financial analysis, it has a robust edge in the extrapolation of economic data and finite analysis (Gaa-Frost, Krimmel, & Pulkowski, 2011). Hedge funds adopt a preference to the system due to its deductive capabilities. Indeed, these management systems attract merit in their right and heavily contribute to the robust financial system enterprises enjoy today.
When an organization implements SAP, there are many benefits that come along. This benefits could be commercial, technical or social. This numerous benefits of using SAP in your business also include delivering a modern system that is highly efficient. The organization also gets a comprehensive, as integrated cross-functional business processes.
SAP assists the organization to align strategies and operations this is because before it is implemented, there is a thorough inspection of the existing environment is undertaken; it is referred to as the ASIS analysis. All the problems are identified and corrected before implementation of the system. This is when all the organization strategies short term, medium term and long term are identified, clarified and prioritized. All internal tasks are organized so that the SAP system can be used effectively. This assists the organization to put together their financial statements and their state of accounts (Gaa-Frost, Krimmel, & Pulkowski, 2011).
SAP increases productivity this is because data is only entered once for all after that the data is passed throughout the organization eliminating redundancy. After the information has been given every accountant, and the financial officer can analyze the information on their terminals. This will enhance the reporting and analysis of the business environment is increased in the financial and accounting. SAP also helps in minimizing the cost and increasing flexibility; the enterprise architecture helps to promote process standardization efficiency and adaptability.
It also helps to reduce accounting errors hence reducing risks in the business, because it can solve the different business problem in different organization sizes. It helps to improve the financial management and corporate governance it helps the organization to assess the financials of an organization. It also helps in business controls and management risk.
SAP optimizes the business transaction by eliminating the high cost of integration because there is no need to buy any other software that improves cash flow reduces borrowing (Search.SAP, 2015).Moreover, the company gets a higher (ROI) return on investments when they use SAP in their daily running of the organization by using Rapid Application Development, which is less costly.
SAP has a consolidated system with few interfaces underpinned by a single recording system, this allows persons using the system to work with a familiar interface that has terminologies that are associated with accounting.
Another advantage that is associated with SAP is its flexibility. It permits the organizations to customize the system depending on their rules and structure. The rules define what is allowable and not allowed into the system. The organization can also decide which employees will access a particular area within the SAP system environment this will restrict the access to only the allowable employees only (Search.SAP, 2015). It also ensures that the SAP data attains flexibility in different databases since one can export the information on a spreadsheet to be analyzed. That aside at time SAP is inflexible reason being at times supplier package doesn’t meet the company needs.
SAP system permits the organization to manage it accounting and financial activities creating a chain of activities with the product life cycles and supply chain activities. SAP system also has analytical features on its own that is used for evaluating, reporting and decision making in both simple and complex organization
Challenges of SAP
With all the benefits associated with the SAP, the system is a not without challenge some of the challenges are structural and others technical.
High cost is one of the disadvantages associated with SAP because purchasing and implementing the software is not a cheap task. In order for the company to be able to use this software, there must be the necessary hardware required to run the program this increases the cost further. The SAP system is not only composite but also laborious to be installed by the average IT people in the organization, so the business is forced to hire installation and maintenance labor. In order for the organization’s employees to be able to work, they have to be trained this increases the cost further.
SAP systems are also known by their complexity this is a challenge for it takes ages for the implementation of the SAP system to be completed this is because Sap features are implemented a portion at a time.
In reality, such security holes ate used a wage an attack on a given system (Valverde, 2013). Business establishments that embrace Enterprise Resource Planning are faced with this threat. However, to the use of Information Systems (IS) Security Framework has been critical in fighting off malware attacks on ERP system (Hughes & Beer, 2007).
Recommendations of success factors for SAP approval in Finance and Accounting
Systems Application and Product (SAP) data processing Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) implementation has had had its share of failures and successes. In a study by Bhanwani (2009) asserts 30% and 10% of SAP implementation failed due to lack of efficient planning and technology driven reason, respectively. However, SAP implementation has had its success as determined by grouped into organizational and technological perspectives.
Success factors from the firms perspective include; Good Scope management, project team composition, and sustained management support. Efficient Organizational Change (OCM) and Business Process Engineering (BPE), Project Championing, and firm communication are also critical variables. Besides, user involvement and testing, a formal project schedule, and trust among partners involved as well as an efficient training program, appropriate consultants, and empowered decision makers. Technological success factors include relevant SAP version, avoiding customization, efficient software configuration, and sufficient legacy system knowledge (Bhanwani, 2009).
Good Scope Management: where the top management ascertains that any changes in the original design are under control. The Project Team Composition is properly planned to constitute of a manager, SAP external consultants, project leads, testing and technical teams.
Sustained Management Support: Support from top management should percolate from rolling out the project, assessing the benefits, determining the mission and scope as well as provide adequate resources. Efficient OCM and BPE involves determining the blueprint and a well-documented process.
Project Championing: It is a role of the sponsor to ensure full support in advancing the project and availing the required resources.
User Involvement and Testing is essential in defining requirements, provide assistance in assessing the configuration, as well as the transition of data and the final system testing. Firm Communication is vital amongst top management, project team and end users in permitting easier adaptation of the system. A formal project schedule of implementation defines time frames during which each phase is implemented without exceeding the scope of the project. Trust among partners involved in the project is essential (Bhagwani 2009: Fang et al. 2005). On one hand, the client, the SAP provider and the external consultants on the other must sustain trust during the implementation of the project. An efficient training program involving the company management and the end users is necessary. Preventive troubleshooting is essential to enable tracking and fixing of problems before they advance to cause damages. Having the appropriate consultants who are experienced and properly accustomed to the SAP modules being implemented, helps in making the project a success. Empowered decision makers must be involved. This is a team of company personnel well informed to double check that the provider of SAP and consultants has met the required standard of the implementation (Bhagwani 2009: Fang and Patricia 2005).
Relevant SAP version that falls within the providers support or avoid rushing for the latest version that is yet to satisfactorily tested. To avoid customization by acquiring SAP that falls within the industry standards, in this way evading the expensive tailoring or customization processes. Efficient software customization –the SAP configuration should match the requirements and pitched towards producing a seamless and integrated value chain. Sufficient legacy system knowledge – prior understanding of the legacy systems is pertinent to reduce the necessity of configuration and accelerate the transition of data as well as making of interfaces (Bhagwani 2009: Fang et al. 2005).
Fang et al. (2005) further suggests having monitoring and evaluation in places eradicates system defects in the computer system. Performance should be compared against project goals. A project management criterion is applied to assess implementation timings of each stage, realization expenses, and the quality, whereas the operational criteria analyze the production system.
A consistent monitoring and evaluation of the stress level of the project team members help to determine the need to inject motivation to boost morale. An interactive environment in an organization enables personnel to be innovative and, therefore, participate in the implementation process. By entertaining shared values and popular objectives, creates an atmosphere conducive to acceptance of a new technology. Such an organizational culture is a critical success factor. Finally, acknowledging cultural diversity is another key success factor. In the same way, a corporate culture defines values within the scope of the organization. Likewise, cultural diversity eliminates the defects of cultural differences among clients, consultants and end users and therefore presenting a national culture.
Evaluate Adoption of Systems Application Products Conclusion
It becomes apparent from the report that ERP systems such as SAP have many benefits. The collection and distribution of data across various departments of the organization, executing of all business operations such as; product planning and management, production process, marketing, and sales just to name but a few. As the business plan to acquire a SAP system, they should keep in mind the associated benefits and challenges associated with the program. The challenges are relatively negligible as compared to the benefits (Chand, et al., 2005). SAP covers all the fronts of the business so it a good package while considering one for accounting and financial analysis. However, the security issue must never be under-estimated because of the adverse damage that the malware can do not only to the system but the colossal losses associated with security lapse. In the end, modern organizations can only leave out the implementation of SAP at their peril.
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Valverde, R, 2013. Cybercrime Prevention in Bahrain via IT Security Audit Plans, Proceedings of the Nineteenth American Conference on Information Systems, Chicago, Illinois, August 15-17, 2013, (Accessed May 2013)Top of Form
In this context, an ‘expert system’ is an information system, or application, that dynamically simulates the advice that would be given by a human
expert when asked about a ‘problem’ related to their field of expertise. For example, an expert HR consultant might be asked how much severance needs to be paid to an employee being dismissed. The HR consultant would ask the ‘client’ a series of questions such as … is there a union contract? Is the
company governed by provincial or federal employment standards? How long has the employee worked for the company? How much money does the employee make? What is their job title or level? Why are they being let go? … and so on. At the end of the series of questions, the human expert would answer the question. He or she, for example, might say … “Well, given the circumstances you’ve indicated, I would recommend a severance payment of six months salary.” A good expert system would ask a user the same kind of questions and provide the same answer as a human expert.
In doing this assignment you should start with a problem to be solved. It should be the kind of problem someone might discuss with an expert. For example:
What kind of skateboard should I buy? (ask a expert skater)
i.e. Purpose of skating, weather, street or park, etc.
What make-up or fabric colours look best on me? (ask a fashion consultant / expert)
i.e. Skin tones, shape of face, body, etc.
How should I dress for a meeting with the Queen? (ask an expert in etiquette or protocol)
i.e. Is is a dinner or ceremony, morning or evening, formal or informal, etc.
Assume that a human ‘user’ will ask this question of your ? ‘expert system’. Your job, then, is to create a series of questions that will result in the system answering the question. The ‘answer’ of course, will vary depending on the answers provided by the user. That is, the expert solution will change if different users answer the questions differently.
Steps:
1. Design and build a web-based expert system as a series of hyperlinked pages. You can use HTML, XML, MS Word … or any other tool you know how to use (e.g.,
Adobe Dreamweaver, CorelDRAW, iWeb, etc.) to develop your web-based expert system. Each individual question or outcome must be on a separate page. The minimum number of webpages required is 80. The pages should be linked and organized in a file or folder (e.g. a USB memory stick) that can be easily read by a web browser.
2. During the second-to-last class (the last class prior to the final exam). Prepare a six-minute class presentation during which you will explain what your
expert system does … and what problem it is designed to solve. You will be expected to demo your system using members of the audience as ‘users’ and
answer questions.
3. Immediately before you deliver your class presentation and do your demo, submit a written report.
The report should be double spaced and follow the following format:
• Cover page – the template is attached – see below
• Executive Summary – an overview and summary of your report
• Introduction – What is the problem you are trying to solve? Why did you pick that problem? Where did your idea come from? Is it an important or series
problem? Why? Do other expert systems exist which are similar to yours?
• Knowledge Engineering – Who was the human expert whose knowledge you used to create your system? How did you go about documenting this knowledge? Did you need to do any additional research? How do you know your expert’s solutions are correct? Did you test them or validate them in any way? Did you talk with more than one expert?
• Methodology – How did your team manage the project of creating the system, preparing the presentation and writing this report? Include a work breakdown summary, a GANTT Chart and a PERT diagram.
• Technical Overview Provide an outline of your system. How was it built? What tools were used? How was it tested? If there were problems, how were they
fixed?
• Benefits -What are the pros and cons of your system? That is, its strengths and weaknesses?
• Next Steps – If you continued this project, what would you do to make your system better? How would you improve it?
• Conclusions – What did you learn? What are your observations and conclusions about developing an expert system? What advice do you have for anyone else doing a similar project? What is likely to happen with expert systems in the future?
• Works Cited – This is an academic assignment.
We can write this or a similar paper for you! Simply fill the order form!
Note: To prepare for this essay please read the required articles that is attached then answer the following questions:
The future of leadership
The foreseeable future for business looks challenging and uncertain. Many factors may contribute to high volatility:
Financial, security, transport and communications all face unpredictable environments.
In this essay you will analyse the issues that business leaders will face in the future.
To prepare for this essay:
•Reflect on your vision of the future of business leadership.
analyses the issues facing business leaders in the future.
explaining how your and a colleague’s thoughts about business leadership concepts relate to the issues facing business leaders in the future.
discussing ways your experiences may impact how you address issues facing leaders in the future
Also,
1) The answer must raise appropriate critical questions.
2) Do include all your references, as per the Harvard Referencing System,
3) Please don’t use Wikipedia web site.
4) I need examples from peer reviewed articles or researches.
5) Turnitin.com copy percentage must be 10% or less.
Note: To prepare for this essay please read the required articles that is attached
Appreciate each single moment you spend in writing my paper
Best regards
SAMPLE ANSWER
BL.COLL.W8
Dubrin (2004), described leadership as the art of accomplishing set goals through communication with other members. Leadership is a social influence process that requires rallying for the support of other persons with the exclusive endeavour of completing a certain task. The leadership task is done by leaders, who are the people that are at the forefront of guiding and directing the team towards certain set objectives (Dubrin, 2004). Leaders are unique persons, as they possess visionary skills and social intelligence that facilitates them in doing the right thing and achieving organizational goals. Different leaders are distinguished amongst their leadership styles, and the visionary school of thought identified two forms of leadership. These are transformational leadership and transactional leadership (Bass & Avolio, 2010).
Leaders who exhibit transformational leadership are solely focussed on the concerns of the fellow team members. Such leaders depict respect, charisma, trust, and above all, a clear vision for the entire team (Bass & Avolio, 2010). Additionally, such leaders motivate the team and provide inspiration and intellectual stimulation. They attempt to inspire their subordinates to build up their individual leadership capacities. It is a reciprocated process where the leaders and the team members aim at lifting each other to greater heights in terms of motivation and morality (Bass & Avolio, 2010).
Transactional leaders, on the contrary, are those who reward the members of the team in terms of their performance and meeting of their set objectives. Transactional leadership can be equated to the traditional view on leadership, where for subordinates to get any reward, they need to perform certain duties as stipulated in the contractual agreement between them and the leader (Bass & Avolio, 2010). This form of leadership has a direct quid pro quo, where something is exchanged for another hence, the leaders lead via social exchange.
Leaders are not only required to create a vision, but they should be the vanguard in delivering the vision. Creation of an excellent vision requires the amalgamation of tools such as external environmental analysis (PESTLE), Michael Porter’s Five forces for attaining competitive advantage, and the SWOT analysis, just to highlight a few (Bass & Avolio, 2010). Businesses are constantly evolving, and both the internal and external environment are transforming at an alarming rate.
As such, businesses need to have a futuristic orientation, a responsibility accorded to the leaders of the specific organizations. The near future for businesses is very challenging and increasingly uncertain. Several factors within the business contribute to this high volatility (Bass & Avolio, 2010). Among these factors are transport, security, communications, and the financial environment. Owing to this, future business leadership requires a precise vision that will facilitate business leaders in tackling the challenges and issues they are bound to face.
The vision of future business leadership relies fundamentally on four vital foundations; speed, innovation, internal alignment and executive behaviour (Bigler, 2009). Speed entails the comprehension of the market rhythm of a firm. It necessitates the understanding of the tempo of the market, which is usually determined by the purchasing power, and the buying patterns of clients. Innovation requires that leaders create and maintain a portfolio of innovative strategies and growth initiatives, as well as be keen on novel technological advances to prevent being competed out in the future. Internal alignment concerns the alignment of the market rhythm with operating, executive and support processes (Bigler, 2009). This results to recurring timing instead of timing that is calendar based for the entire processes undertaken.
The fourth foundation is executive behaviour (Bigler, 2009). To ensure effectual leadership, leaders are anticipated to evaluate the rate at which initiatives are launched successfully, the rate at which they attain their targeted returns, and the rate at which the market value of the firm is growing. Briefly, they need to evaluate the efficiency, productivity, and effectiveness of the firm (Bigler, 2009). For overall success, the vision of future business leadership should rotate amongst these four imperative foundations as these will counter the envisaged uncertainties and the relatively high volatility in the future business sphere.
Business leaders face various challenges that are capable of impacting on them in the future. Among these challenges are the state of the global economy, emerging global mega trends, uncertainties of long-term prospects, and social contracts and the role of enterprises (Cooper, 2005). The global economy poses a challenge in consequence of the volatility of the currency markets. The emerging global mega trends are characterized by customers altering their tastes and preferences, new commerce, emerging economies, and pervasive computing (Cooper, 2005). Social contracts and the role of enterprises is a challenge that is bound to impact businesses in the future since the expanding business environment is progressively making it almost impossible for businesses to operate in isolation (Cooper, 2005). There is hence the need to involve other stakeholders in the firm’s operations, and this exposes the business to externalities and leads to a reduction in profitability.
To tackle the challenge of the global economy, business leaders are required to spearhead growth and profitability, as well as innovation (Cooper, 2005). In addressing the issue of the emerging global mega trends, business leaders are required to be led by technology in order to generate many future opportunities and abundant growth. Uncertainty of long-term prospects can be countered by the need to have a long-term focus (Cooper, 2005). Long-term focus is a combination of several short-term prospects. Business leaders, as they aim at addressing the short-term challenges, should also place the firm in a position where the firm also has a view on the emerging future (Cooper, 2005). The challenge presented by social contracts and the role of enterprises can be embarked upon by gradual business expansion to enable the business have several divisions of entire business functions without compromising on the short-term prospects (Cooper, 2005). This will result to reduced need for outsourcing, and enhanced profits due to economies of scale.
List of References
BASS, B. M. & AVOLIO, B. J. (2010). Transformational leadership development: Manual for the multifactor leadership questionnaire, Consulting Psychologists Press, Palo Alto, California, USA.
BIGLER, W. R. (2009). Strategy execution through executive process innovation: A longitudinal case example and research model. International Journal of Management and Enterprise Development, Vol 7, No. 1. 98-123.
COOPER, C. L. (2005). Leadership and management in the 21st century business challenges of the future. Oxford, Oxford University.
DUBRIN, A. J. (2004). Leadership research findings, practice, and skills, 4th ed., Houghton Mifflin Company, Indianapolis,
