Business Management

Business Management Essay Task: Choose a company and identify all motivational (employee-centered) programs that the company has in place. Then ascertain the significance and objectives of these programs. Next provide a critique of these programs. Finally, recommend changes that will improve on the programs and/or new programs that will better meet the objectives articulated above. Overview: The company that I have chosen as the subject of my research is the AAA Travel Agency. More specifically, I have interviewed several travel agents from the Reno, Pennsylvania location, which serves patrons from Western Pennsylvania as well as West Virginia. The bulk of the information for my analysis has come directly from the in-office interviews with Ms. Tiffany Pacior, the senior travel agent for the Reno office. She has provided me with information directly out of the AAA employee handbook as well as personal information covering the positive and negative effects she has experienced from the programs I will be discussing. There can be little doubt that the backbone of every successful business or company is its staff of employees. Employees are the vital parts of the business machine that can aid in its success or contribute to its failure. It is for this reason that it is imperative to possess the ability to acquire and maintain effective employees. The chief method by which a business or company can accomplish this task is through employee-centered motivational programs. The goal of these programs is to encourage employees to maximize their performance by targeting three specific motivational stimuli. These include morale, satisfaction, and rewards. After researching their policies and interviewing employees, I have came to the conclusion that AAA of Reno, Pennsylvania has adopted Fredrick Taylors approach to motivating their employees. In this paper I will demonstrate how AAA applies Taylors scientific management approach to target the three motivational stimuli stated above. I will also provide some insight from the employees perspective as to how effective the programs are at what they are designed to achieve. The scientific management approach to motivation evolved from the work of Frederick Taylor. He believed that when highly productive people discover they are being compensated basically the same as less productive people, then the output of highly productive people will decrease. Consequently, the scientific management approach to motivation is based on the assumption that money is the primary motivator. This seems to be the ideology that AAA has adopted to produce high morale, achieve satisfaction, and reward their employees. Morale, as it applies here, may be defined as the overall feeling of the members of an organization. Generally speaking, a company with a high morale among its employees enjoys above average performance and a lower than average employee termination rate. AAA has several programs in practice, which support the scientific management approach to motivation to produce high morale. First, it is not uncommon for a travel agent to work beyond the scheduled forty-hour workday to complete the tasks of a heavy business day. It was for this reason that the company offers overtime compensation for the dedication of their employees. The company pays one and a half times their regular hourly rate of pay when an agent works more than their scheduled hours per week. Also, for those individual days when an agent works more than ten hours per day, they are entitled to overtime dinner pay. The employees stressed that this is a worthwhile program because it allows overtime workers to order dinner from local delivery shops. The objective here is simple, no one likes to work on an empty stomach and so why not use a little give and take to make the employees feel like they are not being taken advantage of. It has proven to be effective from the opinions of the employees I interviewed. The final program I was made aware of designed to bolster company morale is the paid time off program. This allows employees to take time off from their work for various reasons and to be regularly paid as if they were working for that period of time. Acceptable reasons for this privilege cover a wide spectrum including personal vacation, minor illness, funeral leave, jury duty, holidays, military leave, and marriage. READ: Business Law and Ethics : Physicians and Professio Essay Ms. Pacior explained that although these programs .

A description of the values of the 1960s and compared to the values of Essay

A description of the values of the 1960s and compared to the values of today - Essay Example To discuss it further, changes with the values of the society has been notably noticed thus, this paper aims to compare the past and present and then evaluating it through a good reflection of it. A good example for this comparative reflection paper is the television shows â€Å"Leave it to Beaver† of 1960s and the â€Å"Family Guy† of today. Both television shows focus on the story of a certain family. However, these two shows do not portray the traditional type of a family but rather the dysfunctional one. â€Å"Leave it to Beaver†, is under the production where in black and white features are visible. It is pretty obvious that this show has been quite old as well. The way characters act was somehow different and so the film style (such as sound effects, camera tricks and so on) that they had. This show represents the society where in simplicity with fun is the main goal. It is a good thing that they made the show as a contrast of what an ideal family really is so that they could get the people’s attention towards their show. Dysfunctional scenes and actions that were seen during the show are not so deeply intense that children would misinterpret it. It was just like simple immature things that Beaver did thus, making its viewers laugh. This shows that during 1960s, the values of the people are very interactive and simple. They are not so liberated about the world. The culture was not yet abuse in terms of too much immorality that people do. On the other hand, â€Å"Family Guy† discusses the values of the society today. Family Guy is a cartoon show that also portrays family dysfunctions. Just like Leave it to Beaver, it also has its main goal that is to get the attention of every family through a clear and fun demonstration of what the society of today really are. It is more liberated and straight forward of the current happenings with regards with the people’s society. Both television shows showed what type of society they have during their

Importamce of the eticks for the IT professionals Essay

Importamce of the eticks for the IT professionals - Essay Example The advent of technology has leaped mankind to a new level in almost every field of life, ranging from education to business, tourism to medicine. IT departments and computer professionals have grown to become one of the important assets of any organization since they have the power to drive the organization towards the attainment of an effective and structured infrastructure. IT professionals are known to be involved in different activities like development, analysis, design, implementation and maintenance pertaining to computer applications and hardware, as well as data mining and data warehousing techniques. The computer applications that are developed by IT professionals have an impact on their environment and society; some effects may not be as positive as the others. Therefore, it is important for the IT professionals to understand the magnitude of the probable effects of their creations so that they can aim to produce applications that benefit the society, rather than cause ha rm. Thomson and Schmoldt (2001) defined professional ethics as the concepts of doing good or bad, right or wrong; it involves the decision making aspects of any professional conduct. Computer ethics have gained much importance over the last two decades since many articles, journals and conferences discuss its relevance in the prevailing times. It has been attempted to be explained by many researchers, however, Bynum and Rogerson (1996) defined it comprehensively as the field of analysis that identifies the effects of information technology on the health, wealth, intellect, freedom, privacy, security and work of individuals in the society. Therefore it can be stated that computer ethics involve the effects on humans as well as on the society. Crnkovic (n.d) pointed out that an IT professional possesses the power to ‘create’; this power has to be exercised with greater responsibility since it influences people and their lives. The IT professionals should have strong ethic al mindsets to overcome the unjust temptations and continue to use their tools and platforms for the betterment of mankind. 2. Literature Review An IT professional maintains relationships with several figures including, employer, clients and society. Some conflicts of interest might rise among these entities; it is the responsibility of the IT professional to tackle the conflicts with ethical considerations. Keil (2008) categorized the ethical concerns of IT professionals as following: data protection, privacy and security, intellectual property and honesty. Moor (1998) stressed on the relevance of computer ethics by defining it as a ‘special field of ethical research’. He classified the area of computer ethics into two broad divisions; firstly, the social effects of the computer technology on humans and society, and secondly, the policies and standards that are formulated for the implication of computer ethics in different fields. He argued that there exists a ‘p olicy vacuum’ in the area of computer ethics. Moor (1985) also agreed with the minimal focus on formulation of policies of computer ethics on an international level. Few efforts that have been made in this respect have resulted in the development of ‘ACM Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct’ (Association for Computing Machinery, 2011). The guideline compels the IT professionals to develop software that protect the users from health and safety threats. It discourages all actions that are aimed to intentionally destroy data or files that might be present in any individual’s system i.e. development of viruses. Computer ethics are also important so that due credit for the development of any software is given to the deserving side. ACM Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct also promotes this notion and strictly prohibits any unauthorized replications or usage of programs or tools (Association for Computing Machinery, 2011). Weckert (1997) defined intellect ual prop

Self-build Dissertation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 7500 words

Self-build - Dissertation Example Findings revealed that the self-builders are satisfied with most of their projects’ aspects and all share a desire to promote self-building to other families. However, self-builders find the planning and permission gathering process tedious and tend to consume much of their time, money, and energy. Therefore, policy reforms regarding planning and permissions are suggested to alleviate the hardships that self-builders face even at the early stages of the project. Most importantly, the study revealed that planning is a significant component of self-building which primarily influences cost and build time. Self-builders should therefore, take it incumbent upon themselves to put the same effort to planning as they would the actual building. Table of Contents Executive Summary 1 Table of Contents 2 List of Figures 3 Chapter 1 – INTRODUCTION 4 Chapter 2 – EVALUATION OF SELF-BUILD CONSTRUCTION METHODS 7 Chapter 3 – REVIEW OF THE PROCESS OF SELF BUILDING 14 Looking / Finding Land 15 Financing the Self-Build Project 15 Designing the Self-Build Project 16 Planning the Self-Build Project 16 Choosing the Building System 17 Project Management 19 Compliance with Building Regulations 20 Building Contract 22 Compliance to Health and Safety 23 Materials and Scheduling 23 Chapter 4 – ANALYSIS OF THE PILOT STUDY DATA 26 Chapter 5 – CONCLUSION 43 REFERENCES 45 Appendix 1 – SURVEY INSTRUMENT 48 List of Figures Figure 1: Greatest Motivation to Self-Build 27 Figure 2: How Land was Availed of for the Self-Build Project 28 Figure 3: Factors which Facilitated Availment of Land for Self-Build Project 29 Figure 4: Early Problems Encountered in Self-Build 30 Figure 5: Type of Land / Plot Purchased or Used 31 Figure 6: Mortgage Type Availed 32 Figure 7: Build System Used 33 Figure 8: Total Floor Area 34 Figure 9: Status of Self-Build Home 35 Figure 10: Self-Build Project Budget 36 Figure 11: Percent of Budget Covered by Loan 37 Figure 12: Pers on Who Handled the Self-Build Project 38 Figure 13: Build Time 39 Figure 14: Level of Satisfaction on the Outcome of the Self-Build Project 40 Figure 15: Suggested Self-Build Reforms 41 Chapter 1 – INTRODUCTION The construction industry in the United Kingdom provides employment to about 2.4 million people. The sector contributed 8 per cent to the UK Gross Domestic Product. The construction sector also supports all other industries and government services in the UK in terms of their dominant role in the establishment of buildings and infrastructure. This may yet be a signal that as of 2010, the construction sector is springing back up from the slump in 2009 precipitated by the deepening recession (The Construction Industry Training Board, 2010). A review of the construction output reported by Office for National Statistics (2011), however, revealed that total output from the sector dropped by 18.3 per cent in February of this year, from last quarter figures. New work output de creased by 19.1 per cent, while repair and maintenance plummeted by 16.8 per cent. The largest decrease in construction output was in new work for private housing at 23.3 per cent. This documented decline may well be a consequence of the problem of housing affordability which Riley (2005) forecasted to be getting worse in the coming years. The government lost no time in implementing interventions to ease out

Thomas Paine on American Independence Assignment - 5

Thomas Paine on American Independence - Assignment Example Paine was known to be anti-monarchist for his views on England. Thomas Paine used deductive reasoning in his article as he influenced the American citizens to gain independence from the British. He explained that the British monarchies were ruthless and oppressive. He used simple and clear language to address his crowd. He chose the bible to support his arguments, a book familiar to most of his readers. He stated that heave could not be brought down by vice (Berg, 2013). Paine created a vision for the citizens of America, which was founded on principles that empowered its citizens. The arguments of Paine on American independence were deductive in nature. He used deductive reasoning in explaining to the citizens, why they need to have an independent government. In his argument, he explains that the forming an initial government is important. The first government will be a democratic government, and it will develop into a representative government as it progresses (Berg, 2013). Paine argues that monarchies are a major setback to the development of the society. It was one of the reasons he tried to persuade the ordinary American citizens to get independence from the British. The use of emphasis on his arguments and his conclusion indicate that his argument was deductive. He argues that how comes the King's powers cannot be questioned to determine if he is wrong. He further states that the individuals of North America need to be given power. Power was meant to be handed to ordinary individuals of the country. In his defense, he says, the British government would gain success with time before the Americans are granted their independence. The British military would be stronger with time and it would be harder to defeat them (Berg, 2013). The battle between British soldiers and militia in Massachusetts was the first revolutionary battle in America.  Ã‚  

History Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

History - Essay Example Social activists and reformists advocated for favourable attitude towards the urban-industrial society and called for efficient government intervention. The intervention sought to resolve economic and social disparities owing to unfriendly policies that favoured a selected few (Eisenstark et al 3). The movement argued that the government should be an agent of human welfare, an aspect that ought to cut across socioeconomic levels. In addition, progressives were against large corporations that were seen to have poor working conditions with little compensation. As such, the movement sought responsible citizenship and democracy with regard to elections, referendum, and recall. In light of this, the progressives recommended the adoption of secret ballot during elections, candidate nomination through primaries, and direct election of senators under political reforms. The movement also urged for regulation of large corporations and monopolies, which were seen to benefit top management at th e expense of the employees. Progressives called for social justice to limit child and female labour and drinking. Intensive lobbying by the progressives achieved changes in various aspects of life under prevailing conditions. These changes saw social, economic, and political reforms that were geared towards quelling public dissatisfaction. Social reforms majored on education, women rights, and problems facing minorities in America society. The lack of education was illustrated as a major cause increasing levels of poverty and progressives advocated for modernisation of schools. Changes in the education system transformed schoolhouses into consolidated school districts that offered graded class. Prohibition laws were also established in an effort to curb rampant alcohol consumption in saloons, which were regarded as gathering placing for political machines (Milkis and Mileur 138). The progressives concern of alcohol consumption was based on the negative effects felt at social and eco nomic levels. The prohibition laws served to encourage efficiency in the economic front as employers were in need of sober workers. Minority groups, particularly African Americans faced increasing violence in most parts of the country owing to the tension over economic competition. As such, African Americans were lynched and executed, which initiated calls for laws against such acts. Progressives worked to end such atrocities against the African Americans signalling the beginning of struggles against racial discrimination. African American organisations cultivated for local approvals from the majority whites to establish black educational institutions such as Tuskegee Institute. Progressive concerns about deplorable working conditions and child labour were characteristic of economic reforms. The reforms stipulated and enforced safety regulation with frequent inspections serving to improve the working conditions of workers. In addition, the employers were expected to offer injury com pensation for all workers. Similarly, some states passed laws limiting working hours for women while abolishing child labour and setting a minimum age for employment. However, this did not settle in well for some families that needed more income in order to survive. In line with improving the living standards, progressives advocated for housing laws that aimed at replacing tenements with better housing. The tenements were settlement houses

UK Taxation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

UK Taxation - Essay Example (Macleary, 1991:17). The UK Tax system is based upon a combination of both these forms of taxation and a compromise between them, with individuals being taxed progressively higher, in accordance with their income level. Tax incentives are provided to encourage savings by providing relief from taxation for such amounts. Earnings arising from gifts or winnings from gambling may be exempt from tax, capital gains are taxable, although it may not fall specifically under the category of income tax. (Macleary, 1991 :22). Tax exemption is provided on a personal allowance, usually about 5000 pounds a year. The application of progressive tax rates indicates that different tax rates apply for different income bands, with higher tax percentages being applied to higher income bands. Such a tax system is justified on the basis of fairness, and because it provides a buffer for the poor to be protected from indirect taxation, promoting social cohesion by using taxes collected from the rich for health, educational and other programs to benefit of the poor.(Ruane, 1999). However, it is also argued that progressive tax is unfair because it is akin to a form of double taxation, because those who earn more income already pay a greater share of tax even on a standard rate (Ruane, 1999). This method of taxation results in maximum revenues coming from a small segment of the executive population, hence in a recession, there is a real danger of a sudden drop in taxes collected. The higher income bracket of talented individuals may also be tempted to migrate to other countries where tax rates are more conducive, thus creating a brain drain. There is also a greater tendency to evade the payment of taxes when the rates are too high and the Government in the long run, ends up with a reduced amount collected from taxes because the tendency to double taxation is resented by individuals, who try to escape it through various means. This is the