Knowledge of Human Resources Management - Free Essay Example

Activity 1 The CIPD bands are designed to help professional master qualities that aid their success in as HR in future. The tool acknowledges that people may enter the HR department from different career backgrounds and that the management of the human resource is more complex today than in the past. The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development outlines eight behavior, ten professional areas and four bands of competence (CIPD, 2017). This paper will explore two behaviors from band 1 and 2 that are essential for an HR. One of the behaviors that an HR must display as being a decisive thinker rhymes with Band one that require an HR to support colleagues in the management of the organization. To demonstrate the behavior, the each must show the ability to analyze and understand data submitted to the department, in addition, they should be able to gather information from data available at their disposal. Skills require at this levels include the ability to uses informative insights and knowledge in a structured manner to come up with options that can benefit the organization (CIPD, 2017). After analyzing the information, the HR should be in a position to help in the making of recommendation that is robust and defensible, this characteristic summarizes an HR behaviors of being a decisive thinker. Band 2 requires the HR to be of assistance in making a decision with regard to individuals or teams. Therefore, the HR has a clear understanding of the evaluation procedure and the possible solutions. One of behavior requires for the HR is being personally collaborative. HR needs to able to work inclusively and effectively with diverse groups of people, both with the internal environment of the organization and the outside world. Diversification, change, and knowledge of the business environment are critical to the success of an effective HR department. It is possible to achieve driver through collaboration as the basis of practice and interaction with other stakeholders in the organization. In the simplest level, it understands the need of another party while taking into consideration personal objective, through such an understanding, HR can lead the way in the formation of teams and guide the management on decision making with regard to individual or teams. Another behavior essenti al for an HR is the drive to deliver, in this case, the HR must demonstrate the determination, purpose, and resourcefulness to help in the achievement of the best outcome. The HR must demonstrate its commitment to the wider organization goals by being driver of change. When the HR shows that it is ready towards a given organization goals, it completes the bond necessary to accomplish organizational objectives. HR also needs to be a skilled influencer, this requires skills in building and delivering professionalism through a combination of commercial and HR practices to create value for the stakeholders (CIPD, 2017). The HR must acquire respect from all levels of management and be the epitome of correct behaviors in an organization. Credibility is the currency that allows an HR to assist in decision making when it comes to complex needs. Activity 2 One working as a unit to complete certain tasks, people often performs distinct roles, groups dynamics is the manner in which the roles performed by each individual affects the whole group. This is the influence that one’s personality and characteristics have on the entire group. The diversity in nature of groups means that they undergo different dynamics. When the concept of group dynamics is applied to development, it determines why and how a group develops from scratch. Several theories explain why a group develops, a theory developed by George Homans suggest that a group originated from the existence of a common activity, sentiments, and interaction. It means when individual share similar things, then they will develop attitudes that are either positive or negative (Driskell, 2006). A positive attitude causes the attractive force that leads to the formation of a group. For instance, people who like the same activity, for instance, playing football can come together and for m a group. According to social exchange theory offer an alternative explanation to the idea of group dynamics. It implies that a group originates when people have implicit expectations of mutual benefit if they can combine their strengths and weaknesses. Thus, when people see that one’s strengths can supplement their failures, then such people will come closer and form a group. For example, welfare groups thrive on the basis of mutual benefit if the members can dedicate their efforts to a common goal (Driskell, 2006). As understood from the social identity theory, individuals forms groups based on their subscription to silent groups. Such groups can arise from demographic proximity or cultural relations. Group dynamics does not only consider the formation stage of a group but how the group progresses to the final stage of dissolution. As noted by Bruce Tuckman in the 1960s, a group is not at its maximum efficiency at the formation stage. Groups counter certain dynamics as they attempt to reach maximum efficiency. Most groups will under similar conflicts as their progress through the stages of development. Tuckman theory noted the existence of five stages of group development, during these stages, groups exhibit similar characteristics and members must adjust to the issues at hand. The first stage in group development is forming, at this stage, the major groups of the goals are neither clear nor the way of arriving at the final objective, but members share a common interest when it comes to final outcome. The main activity that takes place in orientation is member getting to know each other, their strengths and weaknesses (Luthan 2005). The second stage is storming in which the member faces the most serious disagreements and challenges. Members often pose their concerns and criticism, there is also the element of a power struggle as members compete for leadership positions. If members fail to resolve such conflicts, the group may fail. The third stage is norming, member recognizes each other’s strengths and weaknesses and become accommodative, and the group is them ready to pursue its objectives. The fourth stage is performing, groups members are understanding and can attain higher goals. There is a sense of cohesiveness. Members of the group become rational. Adjourning is the final stage of group dynamic where members agree to split apart. During the process of group formation conflicts may arise, this calls for the group members to have effective conflict resolution methods. One of the approaches applicable in conflict resolution is a discussion (Driskell, 2006). Often, conflicts originate from the lack of effective communication between members, the discussion provides a way of overcoming the communication barriers and reaching a common understanding. Another method applicable in conflict resolution is mediation, a third party can come in to help the conflicting groups reach a common consensus thus solving the problem (Driskell, 2006). Activity 3 I was involved a change project that aimed at improving the organization’s competitive advantage, the management realized the need to transfer its operation from in-house IT architecture to cloud based computing. The project involves convincing the employees that embracing technology was in the best interest of the market. With changes in the global business environment, the organization is increasingly becoming depended on the efficient use of technology for a variety of purposes. One of the main advantages of embracing technology is a reduction in cost as well as efficient business activities. As the HR was involved in the management of the project from start to the end. Project management skills became handy in the process. Organization in the past employed a variety of techniques to achieve development objectives. Nevertheless, the success of a project depended on how effectively an organization utilized its resource in the realization of the objectives (Bredin Soderlund, 2010). During the course of the project, I was able to employ project management tools to solve problems and ensure the success of the project. Employing project management systems helps in the minimization of disputes, disruptions and measuring routine business processes. In many cases, management of a project starts by outlining the skills, technologies, and resources that are critical for the realization of the objectives (Bredin Soderlund, 2010). Skills required in each step of the project varies, the project management team must be in a position to supply necessary skills, this the manpower requirement of a project. To ensure the success of the project, I employed four key phases of project management, these were initiating the project, planning of activities, execution, closing, and monitoring. At the initiation phase, it employed management techniques such as establishing the project team. As the HR, I was responsible for the recruitment of the required personnel, this meant that selecting team members based on the skills requirements in a project (Bredin Soderlund, 2010). The second step was establishing the relationship between the project and the stakeholder, this required training of employees to accept the change and eventually creating a conducive for the new operating procedures. The planning phase of a project needed coming up with a description of the scope, alternative and feasibility study of the project, it also helped in the division of the project into milestones and eventually developing a general schedule to guide the implementation of the project. The execution phase was critical in bringing the project to reality, with good planning and ensuring the availability of all resources need during the course of the project, it was easy to transform the plans in to an actual operating environment (Bredin Soderlund, 2010). The fourth phase closing the down the project and establishing it as the new operating procedure. Finally, without monitoring to ensure that the personnel adapt and retain the changes brought by the project, it is easy for the organization to slip back to its old traditions and rendering the success of the project. As the HR, continuous monitoring is important in transforming the changes into organization culture (Lloyd?Walker, 2013)). With a good planning, I was able to avoid problems such as unrealistic scheduling, excessive resource need, and opposition that would possibly come from the employees. As the HR, I applied influencing, persuading and negotiation skills in making the project a success. At formation, it is important to influence the entire organization into accepting the change as the way forward. I was able to influence management into accepting the change through persuasion, I used industry statistics and suggestion from professional to persuade the management. The process also involved the negotiation with stakeholders to ensure that the project worked for everyone. Through negotiation, I was able to come up with a feasible project. Negotiation also helped in reducing opposition to the project. A combination of the three techniques helped in realizing the project goals. Activity 4 One of the roles of HR is hiring the right people and the retention of employees. An HR must understand what means to be a good workforce manager. Without good recruitment plans, the organization fall due to the inability of human resources to function as planned. Thus, it is critical to assess one’s professional skills with regard to employee recruitment and retention techniques (Swaffield, 2009). Professional development allows one to grade their professional skills with regard to requirements of their workforce. Several methods are applicable in the evaluation of professional skills, one of such approaches include the Development Needs Analysis Tool (Swaffield, 2009). The tool consist of a different question, by answering this question, one can grade their level of qualifications. The tool gives an accurate picture if used honestly. Through the assessment, I realized that I was underperforming in certain areas. Improvement options As a professional, I have an obligation to take part in research within my profession and come up with a new system that promotes efficiency (Thompson, 2009). However, my professional evaluation reveals gaps when it comes to my participation in professional research. My research skills appeared audited and in need of an update. Theme three of the DNAT reveal that I could not help others to access research material or information on trending issues within my profession. With most information generate through research and spreads through various computing technologies, I both need to improve my participation and knowledge on how to use such databases. With regard to implementation abilities, I scored highly on the ability to observe international guidelines on implementation of HR projects. This reveals that I have sufficient knowledge to when it comes to management of workforce as a critical resource to the success of the organization. To maintain my skills updated, I need to continua lly review new policies and attend seminars on the best practices within the profession. Professional Development Plan Action Plan As noted in the earlier sections, some of my skills did not match the expectation of my profession as an HR. Thus, I need to improve such areas in order to remain indispensable to the organization. As a professional, I play a critical role in the development of new knowledge as well as translation of the finding into practice. The development will help me to improve areas of underperformance as well as uphold areas that I already show good performance. Self-Evaluation The professional development plan was effective in helping me to improve my professional skills. Contrary to the initial condition whereby I took little interest in research and had limited access to new publication, I became involved and assisted in the generation of new knowledge that targets the improvement of the profession. Some of my research solved common problems while others generate alternative approaches to certain operation guideline. I also realized that I knew little about the new business environment, my knowledge was limited to local policies and guidelines, through research, seminars, and access to wide range of internal, external and government research, I discovered that the world is changing in there is a lot of diversity in HR practices. Understanding of this global practices helped me to become relevant. In a global economy. I also gained significant knowledge about my organization and factors within both the internal and external environment that affect its bus iness conduct. The process was beneficial to my career.

Condemned Freedom Sartre - 1417 Words

When discussing the Vietnam War and his choice to be involved in discussing international politics Sartre said, â€Å"No matter what I write. I am always in contradiction with myself and with society. That is what being an intellectual means† (M. I. Kindred). The following essay will explain how a contradiction of himself weakens one of the philosopher’s most famous quotes. In examining Sartre’s idea of humans being â€Å"condemned to be free,† there will be logical faults. There will be contradictions with this concept from Sartre’s life. There will also be dissenting beliefs from other Existentialists. Sartre believed that by stating that we are condemned to be free he was expressing the Existentialist emphasis found on human freedom, in reality†¦show more content†¦This shows that Sartre followed a particular political ideal and chose to leave after feeling that his relationship with the political party no longer benefited him. There sho uld be an examination focusing on if joining a group or political party does actually mean one is refusing to choose, as we saw in Sartre’s own life the choice to join and leave an organization are always readily available to the participating person. Focusing on a specific example we can see that our choices to join organizations (though we may let these organizations affect our choices and temporary freedoms) may help us define our essence. A college student decides one day they want to be a member of a club. The student who is a pre-med major decides they will best enjoy joining a club focused on medicine so the student joins the future medical professionals club. This student was not defined as a pre-med major because they joined the future medical professional clubs. They instead have chosen to give up certain freedoms (time required to attend meetings or a specific dress code expected at the clubs events) in exchange for furthering their own goals. Is this not a core co ncept of Existentialist philosophy? Making choices to define your essence. The student wants to be a medical professional so they make a choice to be a member of an organization they believe will aid them in this endeavor. Sartre would argue against such behavior, heShow MoreRelatedJean-Paul Sartre’s Philosophy: Radical Freedom and Responsibility 1253 Words   |  6 Pagesâ€Å"We are left alone, without excuse. This is what I mean when I say that man is condemned to be free† (Sartre 32). Radical freedom and responsibility is the central notion of Jean-Paul Sartre’s philosophy. However, Sartre himself raises objections about his philosophy, but he overcomes these obvious objections. In this paper I will argue that man creates their own essence through their choices and that our values and choices are important because they allow man to be free and create their own existenceRead MoreJean Paul Sartre : Philosophy And The Existence Of God1516 Words   |  7 Pa gesJean-Paul Sartre was an influential 20th century existentialist who mostly acquired information on the study of consciousness and the study of being. Sartre spent many years studying philosophy and the existence of God mostly studying the works of Edmund Husserl and Martin Heidegger. He became a Professor of Philosophy at Le Havre in 1931 and then began teaching at Lycà ©e Pasteur in Paris from 1937 to 1939. During his career, Sartre wrote about many philosophical theories, some notable books includeRead MoreThe Theory Of Free Will And Determinism1310 Words   |  6 Pagesquestioned life in repose of if they are free, why and because. The question of whether there is a clash between causal necessity and human freedom was taken up by many philosophers put their own spin on the idea. Through this short text we will discuss the own theories of Hobbes, Laplace, Sartre, and Freud. The English philosopher Thomas Hobbes provides the text of Freedom to Do What We Want, where he states his belief in the idea of free will, which is that we will are own person to be free. This philosopherRead MoreExistentialism : Existentialism And Existentialism951 Words   |  4 Pages In Existentialism is a Humanism, Sartre defines existentialism and explains his belief of â€Å"existence before essence.† He says that human beings don’t have a pre-established purpose or something that we have to be. He goes in more detail by saying, â€Å"†¦ man first of all exists, encounters himself, surges up in the world – and defines himself afterwards. If man as the existentialist sees him is not definable, it is because to begin with he is nothing. He will not be anything until later, and then heRead MoreSummary : The Respectful Prostitute 911 Words   |  4 Pagesblack young man of only 17 years. It then highlights the many outcries throughout the city, as well as other areas of the country where there have been similar incidents. All pointing to, and claiming systematic racism. In The Respectful Prostitute, Sartre highlights the issue of systematic racism. The play takes place in the apartment of the main character, Lizzie. While on a train relocating from the North, Lizzie is witness to the killing of a black man by Thomas, who she will later realize is aRead MoreSartre s Theory Of The Radical Freedom Essay1685 Words   |  7 PagesSartre’s theory of the ‘radical freedom’ of consciousness Jean-Paul Sartre in his book ‘Being and Nothingness’ provided us with a new interpretation of freedom consistent with his famous account on existentialism. This is the view that existence precedes its essence: â€Å"In a word, man must create his own essence: it is in throwing himself into the world, suffering there, struggling there, that he gradually defines himself† (Sartre, 1943), (Onof, 2016). Here, Sartre stated that humans are completelyRead MoreExistentialism : A Philosophical Movement907 Words   |  4 PagesExistentialists have differing evaluations of the human condition but all of them believe that â€Å"existence precedes essence†. This means that people are born without pre-existing or pre-determined circumstances or rules by which to conduct their lives. Sartre was an atheist and therefore didn’t believe in the morals set forth by the divine creator God. People come into the world lacking essence, and simply exist and can make choices to determine their essence. All existentialists reject systems which proposeRead MoreWhat I Believe Sartre?918 Words   |  4 Pagesbelieve Sartre means in his lecture, where he quotes â€Å"We are condemned to be free., Man is nothing else but what he makes of himself. I will discuss in further details, what I believe he means when he speaks of freedom and its burden. What does freedom mean for individuals and living an authentic life? Why might God be an obstacle to radical freedom and why I consider myself as free as Sartre speaks of? Sartre speaks of this freedom that we all humans have, he says that we are condemned to be freeRead MoreExistentialism1408 Words   |  6 Pagesexistentialism, which has been postulated by Sartre among others. The other proponents of existentialism include Nietzsche, Kierkegaard, martin Buber, Martin Heidegger and Martin Buber. The weakness and strengths of existentialism are going to be discussed in this essay. The main facets of existentialism that are going to be discussed include the following: authenticity, existence precedes essence, being and nothingness, being-in-itself, being-for-itself and man being condemned to be free. The basic issues discussedRead MoreCritically Assess the Claim That People Are Free to Make Moral Decisions972 Words   |  4 Pageswe are important.† Jean-Paul Sartre was a great believer in this: that everything depends on the individual and the meaning he gives to his life. He argued that all physical objects have an essence that determines how the object behaves. This essence determines exactly how the object behaves at every moment; there is no room for freedom. Humans do not have an essence, our existence precedes our essence. The fact that we have no essence gives us our free will. Sartre wrote in his work Being and Nothingness

Banishing Bureaucracy Effectiveness of the Approaches

Question: Describe about the Banishing Bureaucracy for Effectiveness of the Approaches. Answer: Competitive government- Competition is the force that keeps all of us to be better. There needs to be effort by the government to maintain the quality and re-invent efficiency of the system. There should be competition between the public sector firms and private sector firms. It will drive down costs and also enhance quality. The role of competition is ultimate improvement and focus is on superior performance. Competitive government use the force of competition to meet its objectives but there are also concerns over duplication. (Osborne and Plastric, 1997) Privatization- Work under the private hands is well-organized, systematic and as per deadlines. Major concerns in bureaucracy are related to timeline where bureaucratic machinery fails to complete the projects and assigned responsibilities. The question of privatization is pretty complex. On one hand Government is expected same as performance of private sector but the same expectation without the involvement of tax factors. Economic objectives should not disregarded because it is bureaucracy which have to take care of economic development and job factors. (Osborne and Gaebler, 1992) Decentralization: In the current scenario, the belief is prevalent that all decisions are power linked and no-one except authorized person can take the decision. It needs to be changed. There is need for shifting control from top and center to lower levels and this decentralization strategy reduces work burden and improves timelines. When government devolves its power, there are expectations of getting answers to several quirky problems. (Kiesling, 2000) Innovation- There is need to explore new ideas and critically examine them to meet the need and speed of the hour. It is government responsibility to keep the employees motivated by valuing their ideas. There should be tolerance for failure should not be penalized until serious faults are involved to avoid setting fear to the innovator. There are also recommendations that government should only pay for successful ideas whereas as government accepts failure of ideas to be the beginning and it is fairly passable. (Osborne and Gaebler, 1992) Empowerment: The word empowerment deals with adding power with the employees and trusting their abilities of taking initiatives and making decisions. The word empowerment deals with adding power with the employees and trusting their abilities of taking initiatives and making decisions. Sharing real powers with the workers motivates them to work hard and make firm settlement. Sufficient trainings will about using rational decision making techniques and then applying performance measurement techniques to observe the results. With the detailed analysis in the above discussion, it is clear that competitive government is the most effective approach because when a government is efficient and productive, there are low chances of bureaucracy breakdown. Healthy competition will result in growth, accuracy, improved timelines and high satisfaction levels. (Troolin) The least effective approach could be innovation approach because all other approaches are directly linked with critical decision making and work profiles. When all other approaches are implemented successfully, it will automatically encourage bureaucrats to do things in new ways and innovation is all about following fresh ideology. References: Osborne, David, and Peter Plastric. Banishing bureaucracy. Boston: Addison Wesley Publishing Company, 1997. Osborne, David, and Ted Gaebler. Reinventing government. Boston: Addison Wesley Publishing Company, 1992. Kiesling, Herbert. Collective goods, Neglected goods. Singapore: World Scientific Publishing Co. Pvt. Ltd, 2000. Troolin, Amy. What Is the Bureaucracy? - Role, Structure Characteristics.Study.com. https://study.com/academy/lesson/what-is-the-bureaucracy-role-structure-characteristics.html (Accessed on July 28, 2016).

Terms And Conditions Of Employment. Variation Of Contract. Deductions

Terms And Conditions Of Employment. Variation Of Contract. Deductions From Wages Edmund Jonathan Carver Lent 2001 Employment Law, HRM and TQM. Seminar Two: Terms and Conditions of Employment. Variation of Contract. Deductions from wages. Employees in the UK have had a statutory right to written particulars of the terms of their employment since 1963 (Contracts of Employment Act 1963) Current UK law on the subject is mainly in the Employment Rights Act 1996 s.1. Almost every employee is entitled to a written statement of the terms of his employment, which must be given within two months of start of the employment (ERA 1996). The statement must include details such as: identity of parties; date when period of continuous employment began; description of work; particulars of renumeration and any terms re hours of work, holidays and holiday pay amongst other things. It is sufficient for some of the particulars to be in some other document(s) which the employee has reasonable opportunities of reading in the course of his employment or which is made reasonably accessible to him in some other way (ERA 1996,). However this only covers terms relating to sick pay; pensions; disciplinary rules; or ?further action? relating to an appeal against a disciplinary decision or an application for redress of a grievance. Individual notification is required of everything else in the contract. The only people who can enforce a contract are those party to it, in this case the employer and employee. In UK law, whether the terms of a collective agreement are binding as between a particular employer and a particular employee depends on the individual's contract of employment. In the cases of Anderson v Pringle of Scotland Ltd 1998 IRLR 64, Court of Session; and South West Trains Ltd v Wightman & ors 1998 TLR 14th January 1998, non-legally binding agreements between employers and trade unions had been incorporated as a legally binding terms within personal employment contracts. In the example given however the personal employment contract did not exist as a separate entity from the collective agreement Changes in existing terms of employment are usually made in one of three ways: (i) by agreement with the employee(s), possibly with a cash sweetener; (ii) by unilateral variation of contract terms (or of works rules applied by the contracts); (iii) by giving required notice to terminate existing contracts and offering new contracts. An employer cannot impose a change of terms without the employee's consent, changes in terms of employment must be notified to employees within one month although this does not confer on the employer any right to make such changes. It is essential that employees are fully aware of, and accept, any detrimental changes to their terms of employment if the changes are to be legally binding. Acceptance can sometimes be inferred by the employee's conduct e.g.: continuing to work without objecting to the change. If an employer unilaterally enforces a variation in the terms of employment, he repudiates the contract of employment and the employee has the option of accepting the breach and resigning then making a claim for constructive dismissal, or carrying on working and seek damages. Even where an employer has written in the employment contract a clause enabling unilateral changes to be made, such changes must be deemed reasonable and an employee may still be able to claim constructive dismissal if the employer makes significant changes. In any case the employer is obliged to update terms and conditions when they withdraw from a contract otherwise the previous contract still holds. Contracts may contain clauses enabling a degree of flexibility inside the terms of employment, so that even radical changes may still lie within the job description. Such changes may constitute a termination of the old contract if the new terms are sufficiently different, however there is scope for a degree of ambiguity. ?Changes should be discussed with employees in advance. Failure to do so will normally be unreasonable and be held against the employer in any court or Tribunal proceedings? www.emplaw.co.uk. All the above points to the fact that James does not have to work the night shift, if he wishes to bring forward an action there are several channels where he may seek redress, ACAS may be able to help in arbitration and/or conciliation. Failing or instead of this James may

buy custom Easy Jet Case Study essay

buy custom Easy Jet Case Study essay Easy Jet Airline Company was founded in 1995 by Stelios Haji-loannou, a graduate from London Business School. The development of Easy Jet Airline was to compete with traditional airline carriers by undercutting the cost. The company was one of the first low cost airlines in the UK, with flights from Luton to Scotland. The company had two Boeing aircrafts with a capacity of 148 passengers each and the cost of one seat was $28.5 one way. In 1998 the company launched their website to improve their market. However, Haji-loannou denounced the use of internet in the company, as he suggested it did not improve the overall development of the business. In August 1999, the site had a turnover of 38 % from the sale of tickets, an equivalent to the sale of more than 136 000 seats. Currently, Easy Jet website provides 98 percent of its bookings (Boru, 2007). To ensure growth of the online market, the company increased its online discount to $2.51 for one trip, which was higher than any other airline. By the month of September 2000, the internet sales of the company reached 85 percent of the total sales made by the company. In 2003 the company had managed to capture 90% of online sales. Additionally, in 2002, Easy Jet expanded its routes and fleet by obtaining British Airways low-cost subsidiary. Easy Jet Company has reduced Boeing fleet from 73 to 30 and has acquired 106 aircraft Airbuses. The Company operates 137 aircrafts with 289 routes in 21 countries. During the establishment of Easy Jet a lean operation was required to cut the cost. Haji-loannou established a single sales channel to achieve and survive. Likewise, he was encouraged by different companies like Direct Line insurance that worked in collaboration with the airlines, thus enabling it to meet its short and long-term plans. The basic trial was established in 1997, where Haji-loannou observed closely on its popularity. The company had telephone reservation system for selling the seats. The number of callers rose daily from the call reservation system. This led to lack of space in the call centre, due to its growth. This called for a transaction site of $10 million to either build a call centre or sell over the internet. The company decided to sell tickets over the internet due to high demand of passengers. Easy Jet success was achieved by the founder vision and adaptability as well as market business model. The company had direct sales operations, which boosted the market. In addition, it was easy to integrate the call centre into a central booking system. Some of the low cost propositions for Easy Jet were no in-flight meals, no network tie-ups, no travel agents and no tickets. The customers were given personal identification numbers, a factor that significantly customized the products and services offe red by the firm (Denton, 1998). Strategic Evaluation - Situation Analysis Environmental Analysis Easy Jet Airline success was substantially influenced by environment around the organization. Easy Jet concentrates on keeping its prices down to be ahead of competitors. The customer expectation on low cost carriers is flying cheaper. Low income people are given opportunity to travel to and from the UK at an affordable price. The firm has expanded its routes to North African region, therefore expanding their markets. The customers require more convenient ways of flying and booking. This has resulted to Easy Jet increasing the fares if booking is not done in advance, which is at times higher than their competitors. This encourages the customers to book in advance using internet since it is cheaper (Desiraju and Shugan, 1999). To gain competitive advantage, Easy Jet has to keep track of technological developments in aircraft manufacture and e-commerce. The company uses Airbuses, which are lighter and fuel efficient. Likewise, the firm innovated Easy Jet holidays, thus offering hotel and flight packages to the customers booked directly on easyjet.com (Gale and Holmes, 1992). There are several factors, which influence the economy of the Easy Jet and its operational costs. These factors include congestion of customers and increasing fuel prices among other notable environmental factors. To respond to high fuel prices, Easy Jet can stock large amounts of fuel to avoid short term price effect increase. To ease congestion of customers, Easy Jet should expand their routes and increase their fleets. The company vision is to have 120 airbuses by 2015 in the market domination. Easy Jet contributes to the environment through production of friendly planes, which do not emit carbon to the environment. This is due to the fact that carbon emission in to the air pollutes the environment, thus affecting the flora and fauna. Likewise, the customers contribute to the environment by paying small amount of money to Easy Jet which they invest in environmental projects. Easy Jet airline is affected by competitive forces, which affect its market. One of the competitive forces is threat from other substitutes of travel. Other modes of transport such as cars and trains threaten low cost airlines since they are flexible and comfortable. Another threat is from new entrants. To enter in the market, high capital is required to buy aircrafts. Easy Jet does better in the UK than in the rest of Europe region, since there are few market entrants in the UK. Expansion of new market in European countries for Easy Jet is difficult due to companies such as TUI, which are setting up low cost operations. Similarly, it is difficult for new carriers to find suitable airports due to lack of landing slots and takeoffs. Power suppliers are another competitive force, which affects the airline. There are many airplane manufactures in the airline industry. Easy Jet depends on one particular manufacturer of aircraft, a factor that may significantly poses a threat to the airli ne if the company fails. The high price of fuels in the international markets is another factor that affects the profitability of the firm. For instance, in the last five years, price of fuel has increased by almost 300% to $147.6 per barrel globally. The other competitive force is the power of buyers. Easy Jet is a low cost airline hence the buyers shop around for better prices on the internet. This forces the company to review its prices regularly to be ahead. Consequently, rivalry among existing firms is another competitive force affecting Easy Jet. Major competitors of Easy Jet in the UK are MyTravelLite, BMI and Ryan Air. In European countries the competitors are Air Berlin, German Wings and Virgin Express. These competitors affect Easy Jet market and target different segments (Gallego and van Ryzen, 1994). SWOT Analysis To review the marketing strategy of Easy Jet, strengths, weaknesses, threats and all the possible opportunities need to be reviewed. Strengths Easy Jet has different strengths which makes it stay ahead of the competitors. One of its strengths is strong e-business. Use of internet to reserve booking has improved the market of the airline. Flexibility and innovation is another Easy Jet strength (Done, 2004). Use of internet to book seats has increased convenience and flexibility to the customers. Differentiation on pricing is another strength which boosts Easy Jet. Easy Jet has different prices depending in the season. The company charges slightly high during high seasons and low during low seasons. Similarly, the company has strong financial position. Likewise, the company has a powerful branding of their services and products. Easy Jet has several products which improve the image of the company. These products include easy hotel, easy van, easy bus, easy cinema and easy gym among others. These products are available on their website hence boosting their market. Weaknesses Despite the success of Easy Jet both in the domestic and international markets, it has several weaknesses. First, the company has no customer retention policy. Secondly, Easy Jet lacks service and business focus, thus making the low cost model unappealing. Thirdly, focus on convenience and focus on price are reaching to their limit hence expanding becomes difficult. Opportunities Easy Jet airline has various opportunities. One of Easy Jets opportunities is future growth for the company. Ful service airlines are withdrawing from regional market to focus on profitable routes, hence leaving the market for low cost operators. This is a great opportunity for Easy Jet to invest. Another opportunity for Easy Jet is short break market. This market is providing growth for Easy Jet rapidly (Gallego and van Ryzen, 1997). Threats There are several threats facing Easy Jet airline market. First, it is difficult to expand new routes from London. Secondly, the airline market is saturated; hence stiff competition from other airlines. Thirdly, there is high competition in demanding incentives from communities. Fourthly, economic downturn affects business travel times, hence time consuming. Fifthly, the company faces threats from terrorists which affect their market. Likewise, political instability, as currently witnessed in most of the Arabic countries, such as Syria, Egypt, Libya among other, affects their market since they cannot effectively offer their services. PEST analysis PEST analysis describes macro-environmental factors which influence organizational environment. They include Political, Economic, Social, and Technological (Jones, 2007). Political Factors Easy jet organization is likely to be influenced by war in the Middle East. Likewise, there is a threat from European parliament which is forcing low cost airlines to pay three times higher the current price. Economic Factors One of the economic factors likely to affect easy jet is rise in fuel cost, environmental restrictions, and congestion, since it may outlook higher insurance and security costs. Secondly, globalization will boost air traffic. Thirdly, introduction of Europe currency will increase easy jet business. Social Cultural Factors Firstly, use of promotions will be friendly to the customers thou may affect customers if they find that is not the actual price. Secondly, it may be difficult to win German and French cultures since they use credit cards on the internet and phones. Technological Factors First, easy jet will be required to keep technological developments in order to gain competitive advantage. Secondly, use of cost synergies and distribution on the internet will affect costs and prices. Resources and Company Capabilities For an organization to be successful, the success key factors must be determined and evaluated. There are different key success factors that have led to the success of Easy Jet Airlines Company. These factors include baggage delivery, punctuality, safety and low prices. These factors are threshold of customer expectation in any airline company. Likewise, possibility of one-way tickets enhanced Easy Jet success, since other airlines did not offer it. In addition, use of internet to book flights direct improves the market share of the company, due to the fact that it saves time and is convenient. Easy Jet success factors evolved from the company low-cost business model. The model has different characteristics. One of the characteristics is selling ticket directly via internet as well as deducting travel agents commission. This saved time and was convenient to customers. Dynamic seat pricing is the second characteristic of the model. Easy Jet charges high during peak season and low during less busy periods. This has improved the market as well as maintaining the customers. The third characteristic is that the model has low cost prepositions which are used as revenue generating opportunities. Point to point is another characteristic offered by the model. The company has one type of aircraft to reduce the cost of maintenance and staff and crew training. Similarly, this has created economy scale for purchasing spare parts and aircrafts as well as increasing operational flexibility. Another characteristic of the model is that it offers short destination routes with single class ca bin. Easy Jet Resources Easy Jet airline has different tangible and intangible resources, which boost its markets. Tangible resources include financial and physical resources. Easy Jet has 137 aircrafts which are fuel efficient. The airline has strong competitive advantage from new entrants barrier. Easy Jet has dedicated airport slots which are important assets for the company. Likewise, it forms a competitive advantage for the airline. Easy Jet stocks fuel in advance to beat the oil price fluctuations, thus ensuring that the company does not occur loses due to fuel prices. The firm responds to opportunities fast due to financial reserves. Intangible resources include cultural, reputational and technological resources. E-Marketing Strategies for Easy Jet E-Marketing for Easy Jet has led to the rapid growth of the company. E-Marketing is a process of achieving marketing objectives by the use of electronic communication technology. E-Market tool used by Easy Jet is the use of website to sell tickets. E-Tools support marketing in several ways. First, it assists in identifying ways of using internet for marketing research to find out customer wants and needs. Secondly, they help in anticipating demand for digital services. Thirdly, they improve customer satisfaction through electronic channels. They also improve profit margins of a company (Grant, 2005). Setting up e-market for Easy Jet was to reduce manual labor and booking centers cost. The use of internet reduces cost of issuing tickets, reduces tasks, reconciliation, processing and distribution of tickets yearly. This improved administration and management purposes in the business. However, e-market needs logic to be useful to the company. Easy Jets e-strategy scaled down call centre operations as most of the tickets were sold online. The use of internet has also made flights cheaper as compared to that of competitors, thus benefiting the customers (Johnson and et al, 2006). One of the benefits to the customers is that they receive discounts when they book online for each journey. Easy Jet did put all cheap flight online to attract more customers, hence beating their competitors. Customers are able to make bookings, transfer flights, as well as requesting email confirmation duplicates. In addition, customers are able to reschedule their flight bookings and online check for its customers. The website offers an option to the customers to select speed boarding, which enables passengers to board flights before other customers (www.easyjet.com). Easy Jet uses pricing strategy to improve its markets. Pricing approaches used including good value pricing and value added pricing. Easy Jet offers quality services which are of low cost and exceed customers expectations. Easy Jet makes savings through eliminating travel agents from the chain and reducing administrative costs. The company does not offer in-flight refreshments to the passengers. Likewise, the check-in luggage is charged, hence reducing basic air fares. To guarantee good services, Easy Jet ensures the records match with that of major carriers and the passengers are in the plane on time. Value-added pricing includes in-flights and pre-flights. The preflight area has lounges, which are accessible to business passengers. The area has television sets and food stations accessible to the passengers. The in-flight area has comfortable seats, dining and entertainment areas, which are for the passengers who board the first class and business class. E-marketing moulds the passengers according to specifications (Porter, 2004). Another marketing strategy is through promotions. The company runs its promotions online and sometimes in the newspapers. The use of internet has helped in beating the demand of rising number of customers. Promotions are offered online to passengers who book online. This eases congestion in the telephone reservation system as well as in the call centre. Easy Jet uses subcontractors to assist them in their operations. Innovative programs are put up by the management to improve relationships between suppliers and subcontractors. Some of these innovative programs include performaance rating programs and workshops (Desiraju and Shugan, 1999). Value Chain Analysis Easy Jet guarantees long terms contract to ensure delivery in location, time and amount of the aircraft. The operations are carried out by handling reservation staff. The use of online reservation system enabled the firm to cut cost on travel agents and commissions. Further, the use of subcontractors to handle flight services ensures that activities are carried in a convenient way. Outbound logistics ensures final distribution of services and products to the customers. These activities include safe, comfortable and punctual flight trips to the customers. Easy Jet planes are efficient due to large number of customers. Sales and marketing department creates awareness to the audience of its services and products. However, the firm has one weakness of not offering incentives. For instance, there are no refunds if the customers miss their flights. This puts off customers, hence low frequent fliers. The supporting activities for the firm include procurement, technology development, human r esource management and firm infrastructure (Jones, 2007). To outperform other firms in an industry, there are different generic approaches used. One of the generic strategies is overall cost leadership. This strategy ensures low costs to the customers, which increases the profits in return. There are three success criteria used to ensure effective use of this strategy. They include feasibility, acceptability and suitability. Suitability is the strategic position of an organization in terms of expectation of the stakeholders, strategic capabilities of the firm and strategic position of the environment. The strategic position of environment of Easy Jet indicates that this strategy is suitable to environmental factors. The factors of setting up, growing and availability of business model determine the market position of this company. The strong financial background and basic knowledge in transport business made it possible for Easy Jet success. Customers expectations of low market cost made it possible for Easy Jet to venture into the business (Kretsch, 1995). Acceptability is concerned with expected performance of the strategy. To determine Easy Jet strategy, stakeholder reactions, risks, and returns should be verified. Non-financial and financial returns are verified to determine the profit margins in terms of cash flow, pay backs and capital returns. Continuous improvement in profit growth indicates good choice of strategies. Feasibility, access competences and resources of a company are used in accessing the strategy. There are two ways to determine feasibility. They include break even analysis and financial feasibility which help in identifying competences and resources for the strategy (Desiraju and Shugan, 1999). Legal and Ethical Issues Businesses that are using e-commerce system are faced by a lot of ethical challenges. Legal and ethical issues facing e-commerce include consumer protection, computer crimes, taxation, free speech, intellectual property and privacy. Information collected from customers should be protected from hackers. There are different ways private information is collected. They include internal directory, emails, web browsers and user groups. To book flights on Easy Jet website, the customer is required to register by filling in registration form. This information is stored in the database and can be viewed by third parties. Easy Jet should introduce security measures to protect the customer information from hackers, which may destroy their market. The website contains cookies that help the users to maintain user status. Likewise, these cookies improve online services as well as customizing sites. To protect the information, cookies should be deleted from the website. In addition, anti-cookie sof tware can be used to protect cookies from hackers (Rhoades and Waguespack, 2006). There are several principles which protect privacy. One of the principles is to register with the government on legal remedies. Secondly, individual accessing the information should have authentication information to ensure that only individuals with the right have access to the information. Booking confirmation copies should have Easy Jet trade marks to ensure they are genuine. One of the ethical issues is misleading and false advertisements. The use of these advertisements may make the organization to lose its market to its competitors. Another ethical issue facing internet business is the use of obfuscating language. This destroys the market of the company hence there is a drop in profits. Another ethical issue is lack of clear requirements and procedures in the website. This may mislead the customers while booking tickets therefore this may bring about conflicts. Likewise, information may not be linked properly in the website where information is collected in the database. This m ay lead to vital information being left out during registration or ticket purchasing (Desiraju and Shugan, 1999). Future Suggestions and Improvements Easy Jet Company matches well with environment and strategies. Easy Jet has considered competing on services, routes and prices aggressively to drive entrants out of the market. In addition, Easy Jet has strategic decisions of reviewing the cost and routes offered by its competitors. Easy Jet Company targets travelers on leisure since business individuals travel to wide spectrum of destinations. The company needs to review its fleet and ventures into all cities to expand its market. However, the operating costs should not increase. Further, more emphasis should be put on direct marketing such as customer retention scheme. Easy Jet can start selling shares in environmental programs in the website to collect money for charity work. This will promote its market, since the customers will be giving back to the community. Further, the airline should venture into the use of green form of energies in all its branches. This will significantly reduce the firms carbon printing, a factor that wi ll substantially enhance long-term sustainability of our environment. In conclusion, Easy Jet is one of the most successful low cost airlines in the world. This has been contributed by introduction of internet booking to passengers who uses their routes. Factors which influence the economy of the firm and its operational costs include congestion of customers and increasing fuel prices among other environmental factors. Easy Jet airlines competitive forces include threat from other substitutes travel, this threat from new entrants and competitive force is the power of buyers. The strengths of the firm include strong e-business, differentiation on pricing, financial position and powerful branding of their services and products. Easy Jets weaknesses include no customer retention policy, lack of service and business, high focus on convenience and price. They are reaching to their limit hence expanding becomes difficult. Easy Jets threats to its business include difficulties in expanding new routes from London, stiff competition from other airlines, high co mpetition in demanding incentives from communities, economic downturn affects business travel times, hence time consuming and political instability in the countries. Low-cost business model characteristics include selling ticket directly via internet as well as deducting travel agents commission; dynamic seat pricing, low cost prepositions, point to point and short destination routes with single class cabin. Easy Jet responds to opportunities fast due to financial reserves. Intangible resources include cultural, reputational and technological resources. Tangible resources include financial and physical resources. E-Tools support marketing in several ways. First, it assists in identifying ways of using internet for marketing research to find out customer wants and needs. Secondly, they help in anticipating demand for digital services. Thirdly, they improve customer satisfaction through electronic channels. Fourthly, they improve profit margins of the company (Desiraju and Shugan, 1999). It is notable that the website offers to the customers an option to select speed boarding which enables passengers to board flights before other customers. Legal a nd ethical issues facing e-commerce include consumer protection, computer crimes, taxation, free speech, intellectual property and privacy. Buy custom Easy Jet Case Study essay

Pollution pressing environmental problem Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Pollution pressing environmental problem - Essay Example Community members should start with cleaning up their homes, and making sure that they are not contributing to the pollution we have currently. Preventing pollution is simply not cleaning up but ensuring that we are using environment-safe products. This way we are reducing the environmental risks it brings. Simple things like segregating the garbage and throwing them in its proper place will help significantly if we are able to attract other people to do it. Combined efforts of community members will eventually impact the society and it will significantly impact the reduction of pollution. We don’t have to think big in order to help our environment. We don’t have to plan major changes in our lifestyle. We don’t have to gather other corporations and organizations in planning out a big project for pollution reduction. All we need to do is to ensure that we are doing our part and encouraging other people to do the same and we can start a movement, a campaign that wi ll spread within the community, and out to our society and will inflict other nations. Eventually, our small combined efforts may, in fact, be more effective than the bigger, more grandeous plans set up to fight pollution.We also have to bear in mind that reducing pollution is not simply about garbage and not using harmful chemicals in our home. Pollution has many forms. It may be noise pollution, air pollution or water pollution. Eye sores can also be identified as pollutions as it irritates our eyes. Taking this into consideration., we can find more ways on how to help our environment. Noise reduction and waste reduction are ways on how we can help fight pollution. How can we do this? By making sure that we are not producing too much noise and too much waste. We can also take into consideration the technology we have today. We are in the midst of digital advancement. Companies took advantage of this by incorporating environmental projects with their advancements. Paperless billing is one popular project of many utility companies nowadays. They even go out of their way to include prizes when their clients and customers switch from paper billing to electronic billing. This has a significant impact not only in waste reduction but also in reducing the number of trees being cut for paper. We, as simple people, can help out the environment through these simple ways. We don’t have to pay anything, we don’t have to shell out money, we just have to use what we use daily, that is the digital

Finance Policies and Strategies of Multinational Enterprise Essay

Finance Policies and Strategies of Multinational Enterprise - Essay Example Actively managing financial risks allows us to continue doing what we do best – designing and selling great products – instead of just reacting to problems linked to events beyond our control. These risks arise due to the unavoidable effects that some political and natural events have on currency exchange and interest rates. When one of the countries where we operate slides into an economic crisis, for example, a government might impose exchange or currency controls, affecting our cash flow, profits, and funds transfer mechanisms and creating potentially adverse effects on our finances and stock price. These risks arise both from the likelihood that something good will not happen or that something bad will happen (Read and Kaufman, 1997, p. 112). Financial risks are those that threaten the efficiency of the worldwide movement of money and profits amongst our affiliated companies through internal transfer mechanisms (Shapiro, 2003, p. 26). We are exposed to this risk that has several types, amongst which the most relevant given the events just outlined are currency, credit, inflation, and market risks. Although most of the critical events are non-political in nature, their effects on the respective national economies may cause political risks that we must address. Our cost of capital and debt is affected by fluctuations in exchange and interest rates, inflation, and stock market volatility. We also need to manage transaction exposures, the possibility of incurring gains or losses on sales, purchases, and investment decisions entered into and denominated in foreign currencies (Eiteman et al., 2004, p. 155-176). International Finance Strategies Risks are uncertainties and sources of anxiety we need to deal with. Most business and financial risks are caused by outside events and changes in economic variables (GDP growth, commodity prices, interest rates, foreign exchange rates, and stock prices) over which we have virtually no control (Froot et al., 1994). Our inability to control these events, however, does not mean we cannot manage their effects.We manage the consequences of financial risks by adjusting our operational, financial, and investment strategies. Some risks we can take and others we cannot.