Development of organisational capability at SISCO Article

Development of organisational capability at SISCO - Article Example In a large transnational organization of the size of SISCO, certain key initiatives that were initiated by the leadership team to acquire, retain, groom and manage talent are discussed in detail in the remaining part of this paper. Human resources is one of the most valuable and unique assets of an organization. According to Leon C. Megginson, the term human resources refer to "the total workforce, as well as the values, attitudes and beliefs of the individuals involved (Noble, 1985)." Management as a process involves planning, organizing, staffing, leading and controlling activities that facilitate the achievement of an organization's objectives. All these activities are accomplished through efficient utilization of physical and financial resources by the company's human resources. Human Resources management is one of the most complex and challenging fields of modern management. A human resource manager has to build up an effective workforce, handle the expectations of the employees and ensure that they perform at their best. He/she also has to take into account the firm's responsibilities to the society that it operates in. Human resource management deals with the "people" dimension in management. In their book Human Resource Management, Byars and Rue, say "Human Resource Management encompasses those activities designed to provide for and coordinate the human resources of an organization (Rue, 2000)." According to Ivancevich and Glueck, "Personnel or Human resource management is the function performed in organizations that facilitates the most effective use of people or employees to achieve organizational and individual goals (Glueck, 1995)." Every organization is composed of people and utilizing their services, developing their skills, motivating them to enhance their levels of performance and ensuring that they remain committed to the organization are essential for the accomplishment of organizational objectives. This is true for all types of organizations - government, business, education, health, recreation and social action. Acquiring and retaining good human resources is an essential pre-condition for the success of every organization. Organizations that can do this will be both effective i.e. they will be able to achieve their goals as well as efficient i.e. they will use minimum resources necessary to achieve their goals. Inefficient or ineffective organizations face the danger of stagnating or going out of business. Competent managers and workers are essential for the coordination of efforts towards the ultimate objectives which ensure the survival of the organization. Though such coordination alone cannot guarantee success, the lack of it can lead to failure. In the changing times, it has become evident that it is the human resourc

Introduction to Ethics -- Arguments for and against affirmative action Essay

Introduction to Ethics -- Arguments for and against affirmative action - Essay Example It seeks to create an environment where race and gender will not stand against someone’s ability to move up the hierarchy if one has the necessary skills and credentials for the job (Libertella, Sora & Natale, 2007). It is meant to correct the wrongs that have been created against the people of a specific gender, race, or religion. While the intentions were right, over time the imposition of AA started showing signs of reverse discrimination where the rights of the majority were at stake. Based on the policies of AA, people started giving preference to members of the target group without merit and the quotas for minorities were filled up carelessly. All these resulted in the White males being deprived of their basic rights. Thus Affirmative Action, while trying to provide equal opportunities to all, ends up in discriminating the Whites, and hence unethical. There will always be two sides to an argument and whether it is fair to the Whites or not, remains debatable. At times, some sacrifices for the greater good of the society are better than no action. If this be true, AA is justified because the intention is to provide more opportunities to the minorities and women. Nevertheless, this amounts to social segregation. Arguments again abound that social segmentation exists in every society based on religion, race and economic differences. Such segregation or discrimination might work for some time for social good. People have tried to justify that AA helped to make up for past wrongs. Instead of doing justice it violates the rights of the Whites for equal consideration (Stanford, 2005). Besides, discrimination on the basis of a belief that one race or sex is inferior is wrong because it violates the moral right to equal respect (Himma, 2001). Decision need to be taken based on character and abilities and not on stereotype. In a democratic system,

Research Methodology for Business Analysis

Research Methodology for Business Analysis RESEARCH METHODOLOGY METHOD Research Strategy The purpose of this study is to use the literature as a framework to answers our two research questions. Because our questions are profound, and therefore hard to measure, an analytical research approach that promotes measurement and a quantitative model is not appropriate for our study. Since the term strategy is an intangible phenomenon, information regarding the subject can only be gathered through deep interviews. For such studies the qualitative research strategy is preferred (Gilljam, Esaiasson et al 2004). Our purpose is to describe the strategy applied in our case company by using the literature we have compiled as a framework. Even though there might be some instances of normative conclusions for how a strategic management controls system should be formed, there is no direct empirical research tied to that conclusion in our thesis. Therefore our research approach neither derives from a normative research approach. Our study should rather be classified as a descriptive one. Our main purpose is to describe how a strategy can be defined and how it can be used as a management control instrument. The descriptive study is used to describe a certain phenomenon through previous theories and thereby testing the validity of these theories in practice. The descriptive study leads to a deductive research approach. The deductive approach is used when the research is based on previous theories. The theories used states what type of empirical information that should be gathered, how it should be in terpreted and how the results can be related to the theories to describe the empirical material. This research approach consist the base of our thesis. Research Philosophy Since we wanted to identify the strategy of Lema, the best way to gather this information was to interview the staff of the management team. Through our interviews we were able to gather adequate empirical information to interpret and describe Lema’s strategy based on our theoretical framework. Due to our emphasis on interviews we derive our interpretation of reality through an operator’s perspective. This perspective concludes that reality is a social construction (Gilljam, Esaiasson et al 2004) and it is interpreted differently by each individual. Therefore the truth consists of coherency among different individuals’ interpretations of reality. This perspective is consistent with our choice of conducting four interviews to validate the coherency between each individual’s interpretations and thus we attempt to build a reliable empirical data of reality. Inquiry approach By studying and summarizing the works of Michael Porter and Chan Kim Mauborgne’s Blue Ocean Strategy we have come up with a coherent theoretical work frame for examining how a strategy can be defined in an actual business. Further to this, we have investigated how the strategy can be executed by using Kaplan Norton’s theories about Strategic Mapping and The Balanced Scorecard as well using Simon’s strategy implementation theory Levels of Control. According to Robert K. Yin (2006), a case study is that which discusses a contemporary fact in its real context. A case study also supports the use of several theoretical frameworks to describe empirical information. In accordance with this guidance we realized that this was an appropriate method for achieving the purpose of our thesis. Therefore our research method is based on an in depth, single case study in which we examined both the strategy and strategy management control system. Further to this we also wanted to make clear how the different theories could be used as complements to one another and use them together to describe the strategy of a company. Selection of Case Study Objects In order to be able to apply the theories that we have chosen for strategy definition and strategy implementation, we thought that a company with a clear market position would be suitable for us. This because an evident market position often mean a distinct value proposition, which facilitates the process of defining a strategy (Porter, 1996, 1998). Since our theoretical framework revolves around many different theories, it was also important that the company was of an appropriate size so that we would to be able to assemble the empirical and theoretical material into one comprehensible context. When searching for interesting companies that could be appropriate for our thesis, we became more and more interested in Lema because they have a unique concept and position. While the vast majority of companies have suffered during the recent financial crisis, Lema has defied this general pattern of decline and prospered. In mid-2009 their growth rate was higher than it had been for almost h alf a decade, despite the prevailing crisis. The fact that Lema has defied the general condition of the market suggests that they are in some way distinguished from their competitors. This triggered our interest for a more detailed study of the strategy that has contributed to Lema’s success. After some initial contacts with Lema and receiving their support we decided to build our case study around their company. Literature search In order to find a practical and valid theoretic framework for strategy definition and strategic management control systems, we started our literature search by looking at previous studies within the field of strategic management controls. This was done by searching the Swedish database â€Å"Uppsatster.se† and through Gothenburg University’s own database GUNDA. We used key search words such as â€Å"strategy†, â€Å"strategic management controls† and â€Å"strategy implementation† to find relevant studies within the specified field. After covering a broad number of previous works we found several commonly used articles and books. We later searched for these articles by entering their specific article names within the scientific databases EBSCO, Emerald and Google scholar. The books that we used in our thesis were found in the various Gothenburg University libraries by searching on either the author’s name or the title of the book. We first briefly overviewed the articles and books that we had found in order to evaluate whether they were relevant to our research question or not. The sources that we found relevant were later used to create our theoretic framework. We were also g iven literature guidance from our supervisor Ingemar Claesson and from a business case competition’s (BI-Marathon) readings recommendations. The coherency among the sources we found through the database searches and those sources we received from our supervisor and reading recommendations from the business competition gives credibility of relevancy to our sources. Since our thesis converge two interconnected discourses; those of strategy literature and those of management control, we consider our literature overview of five models quite broad. This approach enabled us to apply a combination of appropriate theories to be able to answer our research questions in a manner that we saw fit. Through the literature search and understanding of the previous studies we created a theoretical framework. This theoretic framework guided our collection of empirical data in the case study so that the theoretic framework could later describe and interpret the empirical information. Selection of Respondents In the process of selecting respondents we assumed that we needed to interview employees at leading positions within Lema in order to gain information from those with significant insight into the strategic processes. In order to gain a broad perspective of Lema business and activities we chose to interview the CEO, CFO, Purchasing Manager and the Store Manager of the company. By interviewing these respondents we gained insight into the different areas relevant to our study. Our respondents were: Boris Lennerhov, CEO, Lema Ullared (3/5 16.00-18.00) Per Andreasson, CFO, Lema Ullared (3/5 10.00-12.00) Christian Henriksson, Store Manager, Lema Ullared (4/5 10.00-12.00) Carin Kjellgren, Purchasing Manager, Lema Ullared (5/5 10.0-12.00) Interviews We have designed our interview template based on the theories that we have compiled so that the interview would be thematic and thereby congruent with the purpose of our thesis (Gilljam, Esaiasson et al 2004). Our interview questions were designed in a semi-structured way, as an entirely structured interview often leaves too little room for respondents to answer freely (Patel Davidsson, 1994) A semi-structured interview also enabled each respondent to focus on the questions he/she found more relevant. We used the same general design for all interview templates in order to get a broad perspective of the interview subjects and to cross-reference these answers with one another to ascertain the answers coherency. Before the interview we met with the respondents to briefly explain to them on the different areas that we would be discussing so that our respondents would be acquainted with the topics of the interview. However we did not send the exact interview template, since we did not want our respondents to give us â€Å"automated† answers. None of the respondents requested to be anonymous, which contributed to the credibility of our research (Gilljam, Esaiasson et al, 2004). Data processing To facilitate the data processing and ensure the reliability of data received from our interviews we printed out our interview templates and used them during the interviews. Answers were document by both computer and by hand to ensure reliable answers. Since the interviews were held in Swedish in order to make sure that our respondents felt comfortable and to be able to gather more information, we had to first translate the raw data into English. The interviews were recorded for validity check during the data processing. After documenting all answers directly after each interview we put together all four answers and concluded the coherent answers of each performed interview into one final main answer. This process is consistent with our research philosophy of the operator’s perspective that reality is based on coherency among each individual’s interpretations. Due to our interview structure, which is based on our theoretic framework, we could quite easily relate the answers to our theories. We later analyzed the empirical data with our theoretic framework to answer our two research questions. Method Critics – Validity and reliability The validity of research studies is the most difficult and most important problem in empirical social studies. (Gilljam, Esaiasson, 2004) The term validity can be defined in three different ways: Congruency between the theoretic definition and the operational indicators Free from systematic errors The research examines what we intend to research The first two definitions can be categorized as conceptual validity while the third definition is categorized as result validity. (Gilljam, Esaiasson ,2004) These two categories are related to each other by the following formula: Conceptual validity + Reliability = Result validity (Gilljam, Esaiasson et al, 2004) The greatest validity problem is that of conceptual validity. The problem of social science empirical research is that many theoretic terms are abstract and intangible and therefore makes it difficult to use proper operational indicators that measure the theoretic term. Therefore improper results and wrong conclusions are created by using inconsistent operational indicators to measure the theoretic term. Further for the proper result to be valid, the reliability of the study must be high. Reliability implies that the thesis is free from unsystematic and random errors. These kinds of errors might occur due to stress, carelessness or sloppy notes, misunderstood interview answers, negligence of certain information during data processing etc. However it is argued that conceptual validity is more important than reliability. (Gilljam, Esaiasson et al, 2004) For example if the operational indicators used in a study does not measure the intended theoretic term the results are flawed, but if the conceptual validity is correct and the reliability is low the results are slightly skewed though the overall result is still accurately measured. Since the theoretic terms strategy and management control systems are very abstract and interpreted differently among researches and professionals. There are no unanimous operational indicators that properly define these two terms or any unanimous framework in which these two terms can be described. However in this thesis we have implied a theoretic framework that guided us how to describe strategy and through this framework we formed interview questions that could be seen as our operational indicators. Thereby we attempted to achieve as good conceptual validity as possible. To increase the reliability of our thesis, we taped all our interviews and performed the same interview with our four chosen respondents. We used structured interview templates printed on A4 paper that would provide a clear guide for notes and made it easier for us to refer answers to our literature framework. We transcribed the answers directly after the interviews to make sure that the answers were correctly documented. Still the reliability for this study might be imperfect because our behavior during the interview might have affected the respondents’ answers. However we tried to prevent this so-called interviewers effect (Denscombe, 2000) by reacting as neutral as possible to the respondent’s answers. Further, Lema has not worked with any kind of strategy controls therefore some respondents were unfamiliar with our subject. If the respondents had read through our content email and prepared a bit before our interviews, their answers might have been better. Since we only conducted four interviews with the management team of Lema our empirical finding might include a large amount of their subjective assessments. It would have been better to interview a larger number of respondents within the management team and even conduct the same interviews with external industry experts5 to further validate the answers of our respondents from Lema.

History and Politics :: Essays on Politics

History and Politics Dominica’s History and Politics are two subjects that become intertwined with each other as the politics have controlled the history of the island since before Columbus discovered it in 1493. From the indigenous tribes fighting each other for control to the Europeans racing to colonize Dominica the island has changed hands many times, which can be seen through the unique culture that exists there today. During these changes the politics of Dominica were altered as different tribes had different ways of ruling just like Spain, France, and Britain did too. Millions of years ago fierce volcanic activity began deep below the sea, in the region known now as the Caribbean. Some of these volcanoes managed to push their way up from the ocean floor to become islands; the tallest of these islands is Dominica. Since then Dominica has seen many different inhabitants, some stayed for thousands of years while others abandoned the island as soon as they arrived. From the ancient Ortoroid, Igneri (Arawak), and Kalinago (Carib), to the Spanish, French and English, every group left their mark and thus Dominica has a very rich and diverse history. The first inhabitants of Dominica were the Ortoroid who left the South American mainland around 3100 BC. They traveled in canoe type boats and used sails and paddles to navigate from island to island. One of the islands they settled on was Dominica, where they lived for over 2500 years. Evidence suggests that the Ortoroid where extinct by 400 BC. (www.Skyviews.com) The Igneri or â€Å"Arawak speakers,† were the next group to live on Dominica arrived around 400 AD. They were a peaceful tribe that had also traveled by boat from South America, and dispersing to settle on a number of different neighboring islands. During the 1,000 years that the Igneri occupied the island, a well – defined culture was developed that thrived as a result of the plentiful supply of fish and warm climate that is found on Dominica. (www.Skyviews.com) Sometime around the end of the 12th century AD, things took a bad turn for the Igneri. At this time the violent warlike people known as Kalinago, began to make their way up the Caribbean chain of islands, invading and conquering the islands they stopped at. By the early 1400’s they had reached Dominica, they named the island, ‘Wai’tukubuli’, which translates to, ‘Tall is Her Body’.

Nightmare in the city

It was a cold dark night in metropolis, a large city just outside of New York, USA. The year is 2199 and the dawning of a new centuary is apon us with great delight to most of the million citizens or so that live here. But in the ranks we were more worried about the mass killings that strangely occur this time every hundred years. I am an underground detective that investigates for the police â€Å"The names Brody, Detective Brody,† I said to the new Detective sergeant of the NYPD. â€Å"It's good to meet ya, Kid,† the new sergeant growled at me through the thick black smoke of his cigar. My first impressions of the character were one of trust and one of dress sense, which in both cases he had none of. I left the police station at about 10.30pm and took a back alleyway back to my apartment on 7th and 4th street when I noticed that every street lamp went out the moment I walked past, it went out â€Å"funny,† I say to myself aloud and carry on walking by the lights which still went out every time I walked past them. I had only experienced this once before in my lifetime but I was as usual under the influence of my favourite tipple at the time, Thankfully today I was sober. Then suddenly I heard a cry, a loud screeching noise a few hundred metres away dead ahead of me, I knew this alleyway well I used it every day. There was no way anyone could be attacked down this alleyway, but then again the excitement of the next few hours as the clock strikes twelve made me very apprehensive, so I ran down the alleyway to find out what had happened. I ran for about two minutes then I tripped over a large object on the floor I looked around and I found a woman on the floor unconscious and bleeding heavily so I instantly called an ambulance to help come and pick her up. Buy the time they arrived she was dead. No one knew who was there on site could understand her cause of death, No impact wounds on the head or body which could have caused the blood, No gunshot on her body, nothing. This got me even more worried. I got home about two hours later, the shock of seeing someone in that condition made me sick. Who or what as the case could be did this to such an innocent person. When I got into my bedroom I fell onto my bed and slept, as I was not in the party mood after this little fiasco. I woke up several times in the night as the partying kept me awake for hours at a time then before I knew it my alarm woke me up at about 7.30am before I got dressed I wrote a list of what I could do to help the poor ladies family. I finished my list had a wash and got changed I then sat down for breakfast I sat watching the holoscreen to see if the killings of last night had been better or worse than last time. The reporter informed me that the killings were ten times as bad as last time and that you should avoid going out at all costs. Unfortunately my time had come to leave the warm comfort of my home and headed downtown to my office on 12th and 9th. I left my apartment with caution, as you don't quite know what is going to happen at this time of year. As I left the tatty main door to the block I saw all of the wonderful displays that all of the children had made for the city up in flames. They looked like old torn clothes rather than wonderful display of affection to the community. It looked like a scene from an old space movie where only the star was left after they destroyed the planet. The city even had the red glow of the fires that were here and their, as the fire robots tried to extinguish them

The Untold Notions of American History

It is indeed a notable fact that the United States of America has been known to be a naturally independent and self-sufficient country since then. Historians have deliberately suggested that America is isolated from the rest of the world and that it has its own characters, ideologies and events that are all undoubtedly unique.This is the primary reason why American history is taught with the basis of chauvinistic perception- that America is autonomous from the start.If most historians or instructors resolved to that suggestion, Thomas Bender chose to stand up for what he thinks is the truth about America. In his book â€Å"A Nation among Nations: America’s Place in World History†, he persuasively narrated that America’s history must be seen and taught in a broader perspective instead of just focusing on its said â€Å"autonomy†.He proposed that the country’s history shouldn’t be treated as an entirely exceptional account because its triumphs and travails have also been experienced by other countries but in various ways.   Bender presented a more global view of America’s history by providing five key events, which he believes influenced the view of Americans today towards their country.First is the New World’s discovery wherein people from different points of compass arrived and settled in scattered regions of America primarily because of oceanic travel and trade. Next comes the â€Å"age of rebellion† or American Revolution which Bender depicted in the context of competition among empires.He pointed out that the significance of rivalry between Europe and the rise of nationalism in other countries is often neglected when it comes to teaching or retelling America’s history. Subsequently, when countries decided to redefine their core beliefs about the nature of freedom, the Civil War took place. Bender discussed this third event with apt concentration on the violence and cruelty which resulted to million deaths in America.He transparently pointed out that America underwent a violent process to build a strong nation. The fourth point that he tackled was the rise of imperialism which affected America against Spain, France, England, and Germany. The fifth and last point that he discussed was the response of America towards industrialism and urbanization during the 20th century.Bender believed that those five events were really vital in America’s history and that they must be taught in an unbiased manner. Meaning, they must not be desensitized for they contain unnoticed truths about the country. In the final chapter, Bender defied Americans to rethink their twisted notions of America’s history.He believed that viewing America as an â€Å"interdependent history with other histories† is helpful because it will justify the sense of identity of Americans.   Thomas Bender was indeed successful in showing that America has shaped and has been shaped by other countries and that under the power and consistency of America lays a deeply grounded truth: that is indeed a nation among nations.