How Organisations can Utilise the Talent Pipeline Essay

How Organisations can Utilise the Talent Pipeline - Essay Example The paper will also focus on how the concept of best practice can contribute to talent management. In order for the organisation to utilise the talent pipeline to be a super achiever, factors such as acquisition, utilisation, development and reward of talent have to be taken into consideration. The first step that should be taken by the organisation is to attempt to streamline its recruitment efforts so that they are geared towards attracting the best talent in order for it to operate viably. Pfeffer (1989, p.65) suggests that companies which are concerned about their competitiveness as well as making profits through people ought to â€Å"expend the effort needed to ensure that they recruit the right people in the first place.† In this regard, there is need to create a super ‘fit’ whereby candidates with qualities that meet the expected role standards are recruited in the organisation. Talent is identified during the recruitment exercise and it is my strong convic tion that the right person is selected to fill the post within the organisation. Such a move can motivate me to join a particular organisation given that I will be aware of the fact that I possess the right skills and talent to execute the tasks that will be assigned to me. Factors to consider when recruiting employees There are many factors that can be considered when determining the right person to fill the post available in the organisation. According to Baron & Kreps (1999), candidates who display greater talent and knowledge of the of the job ought to be given preference as these can be continually developed to meet the changing expectations of the organisation. This is supposed to be the first stage in recruitment and ultimately retention of talented employees given that the employers are given the opportunity to assess the candidates at face value if they are capable of meeting the demands of the job as well as to establish if they possess interests for that particular job. T his stage heralds a complex process that is concerned with choosing the right candidates for the organisation. It is easier to retain a talented employee than the one who is not as going to be illustrated below. Retention of employees Employers can utilise the talent of the employees through implementing various measures. According to Pfeffer (1998), there is need for the organisation to take into consideration the needs of the employees so that they can put optimum performance in their operations. I am also of the idea that if the employee is treated as a valuable asset to the organisation, he is likely to utilise his talents for the betterment of the organisation in the execution of his expected duties. The employee should be given the opportunity to display his prowess in that particular task assigned to him. The employers must also be accommodative to the ideas that may be suggested by the employee such that his talent can be fully utilised for the benefit of the organisation as a whole. Development of employees Acquisition of talented employees is not an end in itself given that there is need to constantly develop these employees so that they remain competent in their operations. According to Schultz et al (2003), organisations operate in a dynamic environment that is constantly changing and in order for them to remain viable, they need to adopt change. On the other hand, the employee

Government Regulations - Propose Regulation Change Essay

Government Regulations - Propose Regulation Change - Essay Example The Coalition contends that per the 1991 Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has jurisdiction and exclusive authority to regulate interstate faxes. In the 2003 TCPA Order the Commission determined it would consider state regulations and conflicting state and federal regulations on a case-by-case basis. The Coalition asserts that 50 different state laws would result in undue hardship and expense with respect to interstate business faxing. The Coalition has asked the FCC to exert its preemptive jurisdictional authority and enforce the Federal regulation and not consider the petitions on an individual basis. This would maintain consistency in the EBR exemption in all states as written into the Do-Not-Fax law of 2005. As a party with a vested interest in interstate fax communication, I oppose the Coalition's blanket approach to advocating preemptive FCC jurisdiction. It is my opinion that business would be better served by postponing a ruling on the petition to give the FCC ample time to draft a proposal to fairly regulate business to business faxing at the federal level. The FCC needs to offer an enforceable solution with definable and verifiable terms, reasonable opt out methods, and an acceptable expiration time of the EBR.

Native Americans in the United States and Patrick J. Buchanan Essay Example for Free

Native Americans in the United States and Patrick J. Buchanan Essay In the introduction, Patrick J. Buchanan notes that Queen Elizabeth II went to the settlement of Jamestown in 2007, the town’s 400th anniversary. The Queen had been there before, when Jamestown was founded and again in 1957. Buchanan uses the Queens visit to Jamestown as a firsthand experience of how much has changed in Jamestown since its founding. He quotes the Queen, â€Å"Since I visited Jamestown in 1957, my country has become a much more diverse society just as the Commonwealth of Virginia and the whole of the United States of America have also undergone a major social change. † Buchanan mentions how different not only Jamestown was 400 years ago but also how different her citizens were. For example, the citizens massacred Native Americans and enslaved Africans. Jamestown was not yet built around the ideas of democracy and equality. The American Revolution was another key example; it was fought for freedom and distance from Britain and not for equality. The only persons of power at the time were rich white men. Buchanan makes the point that America 400 years ago was not based around democracy, equality and diversity, so why should we value that in the present? In 1957 the Queen visited Jamestown, Virginia. The changes noted by the Queen were extreme. â€Å"Virginia has indeed become a radically changed society. No longer does Richmond proudly call herself the Capital of the Confederacy. Lee-Jackson Day is out. Martin Luther King Day is in. The Confederate flag flies nowhere. † This demonstrates how much can change in 350 years. Buchanan believes that 2007 Virginia is ashamed of 1957 Virginia, and the state should be proud of who she was in 1607. America in 1607 was did not celebrate diversity or multicultural beliefs, so why should they now? Buchanan describes early American settlers as having an us-or-them sentiment. For example, the early settlers thought that their Christian faith made them superior beings and those who opposed them were inferior. Another point that Buchanan makes is when other culture such as Native American, African, or Spanish cultures were introduced to Americans they were not only rejected, but fought against in a violent manner. In 2007 Virginia culture and diversity is not only welcomed, but celebrated. Buchanan believes that this is not what the Founding Fathers of America had in mind during the creation of our country. In his concluding thoughts, Buchanan remarks that America is a changing nation especially in the areas of diversity, democracy and equality. No longer is religion taught in schools, and with it dies the beliefs that founded this nation.

The effect of Levis online community

The effect of Levis online community Methodology This section of the dissertation will focus on the area of the research design, the methodology conducted and it will also relate to the sample used, methods choice and the methodology criticism. The research which focuses on an online Levis community will use qualitative work to examine how Levis brand personalities influence young Chinese consumers, how this online Levis community affects people who communicated with each other and may strengthen their brand loyalty. Research Design For this dissertation, there are increasingly young Chinese consumers wearing Levis jeans on whom I might conduct and exploratory study to generate possible explanations. Because this research is an exploratory research, the major emphasis is on the discovery of the ideas and insights of consumers. Churchill and Iacobucci (2005: p77) described the purposes of exploratory research and suggested it should include, â€Å"formulating a problem for more precise investigation or for developing hypotheses and gating information about the practical problems of carrying out relevant research.† It is widely acknowledged that while quantitative approach emphasize on theory testing which means using existing theory tested and measured a specific research context (Carson et al. 2001); in long-standing tradition, qualitative research are considered to be exploratory in nature because studies are characterized by flexibility with respect to the research used (Churchill and Iacobucci, 2005). Gordon and Langmaid (1988) demonstrated the differences between qualitative research and quantitative research. Qualitative research concerned with understanding things rather than with measuring them using quantitative research; and â€Å"qualitative research emphasis is on in-depth understanding of how, why and in what context certain phenomena occur; and what impacts upon or influences such phenomena†¦.conversely, quantitative research is more relevant where the research emphasis is on comparison.† (Carson et al. 2001: p66) According to the differences, by using a qualitative a pproach, more in-depth study in the research process could provide information and insights with much more detailed and thorough level than quantitative analysis approach (Weischedel et al. 2005). For this dissertation, the intention of the research is to seek human views at the root of empirical experience on Levis jeans. So the qualitative research approach is more suitable for this dissertation. Because qualitative research approach focus on things really happen as researchers and people experience them. Besides, some characteristics of qualitative research were mentioned by Gordon and Langmaid (1988) which includes small samples of consumers which may not represent large populations; a wide different of techniques to collect data, not just a structured â€Å"question-and-answer† format; and access to the ways in which consumers express themselves. For this dissertation, the samples will be chosen from the online Levis community and a semi-structured interview questionnaire will be conducted during the research. Meanwhile, qualitative research is often carried out to examine consumers attitudes and behaviour in relation with a product category, usually with the specific aim of understanding consumers relationships with a specific brand (Proctor 2005, Gordon and Langmaid 1988). Kozinets (2002) also believed qualitative methods are mostly useful for illustrating the rich symbolic world that cause peoples needs, desires, meanings, and choices. Due to the research objectives of th is dissertation are exploring the attitudes of Chinese consumers who like to wear Levis jeans and show loyalty to this brand as well as perspectives towards one Levis online community, While quantitative research might be used to find differences between Levis normal consumers and Levis fans, qualitative research could be used to examine the attitudes, feeling and motivations of the Levis fans. Although, qualitative research has some limitations and disadvantages, such as small sample size (Gordon and Langmaid, 1988) and free-flowing discussion can result qualitative research projects with many different thought (McDaniel and Gates 2006). There are still some main advantages for qualitative research: first, it is usually much cheaper than quantitative research; second, there is no better way to understand the in-depth motivations and feelings of consumers (Proctor, 2005). According to these main advantages, the qualitative research will be developed during the research process. Secondary Data It is very important to understand market and brand background before doing research. So secondary data plays a crucial role in understanding this such as the market assessment of Levis in China as well as supports the research analysis. There are two types of secondary data. The first one is called internal database which means the company itself (Levis Company) and the second one is called external database which means other organizations or persons (McDaniel and Gates, 2006). In the dissertation, secondary data such as Levis annual report and GMID will be used to study the situation of Levis in China. Because Levis Company has a significant business performance in the world, some public media such as website, newspaper even textbook will be consulted to gain contextual information on this brand. The second data information we are looking for in this topic will also be conducted in the dissertation to strengthen the reality and accuracy of the market orientation. Sampling Sampling means using information which was obtained from a subset (a sample) to estimate about various characteristics of the total population (McDaniel and Gates, 2006). This research aims to seek the reason of young Chinese people like to wearing Levis jeans; therefore non-probability is appropriate to represent this purpose in small sample units. Because the respondence in non-probability samples is more rational representative if collected in a careful process. (McDaniel and Gates, 2006; Proctor, 2005) But the main problem of non-probability is the accuracy and the range of sample units (Forrest, 2003). Meanwhile, the results of using non-probability samples may not be projected to the total population (Proctor, 2005). Meanwhile the samples of this dissertation will be chosen from an online Levis community. McDaniel and Gates (2006) demonstrated the advantages of the Internet Sampling which included â€Å"target respondents can complete the survey at their convenience; the interview can be administered under software control; data collection is inexpensive.† (p315) However Chen and Hinton (1999) argued, online interviewing may include some sampling biases that should be thought by researchers considering the method; research methods are limited in their ability to survey members of the researchers target population because the motivation of potential interviewees to agree to being studied using the proposed method; and the ability of the method to include selected interviewees. In this project, interviewees will be obtained from their different levels in the online Levis community. The â€Å"level† in this Levis online community means the favorite level they like Levis jeans through t heir contributions such as Levis jeans photos they uploaded in this online community; Levis products introduction they wrote in this community, their own feelings about Levis products shared in this online community. The higher level they obtained means the more experience they had on Levis. The reason for choosing different level people is trying to investigate different voices and feedbacks as well as support the research objective to give further suggestions. In-depth Online Interview Qualitative researchers who use interviews as data collection tools believe that they can, â€Å"investigate elements of the social by asking people to talk and to gather or construct knowledge by listening to and interpreting what they say and to how they say it† (Mason, 2002: 225). For this project, by using interview method, it could examine interviewees feeling about Levis brand. Several researchers have found the usefulness of the internet to design and conduct qualitative research projects and online data collection methods are increasingly used (Gruber et. al. 2008). In this dissertation, I will focus on an online Levis Community and the netnography method which is used will be text-based online individual depth interviews with open ended questions. Interviewing is an important qualitative approach, because it is a highly personal process which means creating through personal communication. In-depth interviewing is defined by Neuman (1994: p246) as a social relationship a short-term, secondary social interaction between two strangers with the explicit purpose of one person obtaining specific information from the other. The use of in-depth interviews was seen as a suitable methodology which could obtain rich data through a detailed and open discussion with consumers and decision makers (OConnor and Madge, 2004). In many fields, online in-depth interview and face-to-face in-depth interview are similar processes for the researcher and both can be considered â€Å"†¦ conversations with a purpose† (Burgess, 1984: p102). However, there are still some differences between online interview and face-to-face interview. OConnor and Madge (2003) stated, comparing with face-to-face interview which would be impractical, costly and time consuming; online interview is conducted on the Internet, so that it has lower cost and is a convenient way to carry out. For this dissertation, because all the interviewees are young Chinese people, they are familiar with online environment; they are good at using chatting software such as MSN Messenger and QQ. Meanwhile, online interview method could avoid geographical problems. Gruber et al. (2008: p257) also mentioned, â€Å"Online interviews are cheaper to conduct than traditional interviews as there are no travel, venue renting and accommodation expenses. Researchers do not have to tape and transcribe online interviews as the online chat programmes that are used to conduct interviews automatically generate interview transcripts, which allow a quicker analysis of data; further, the whole interviewing process may be less stressful and more convenient for respondents as they can be interviewed at home or at work in a familiar and non-threatening environment.† Another advantage by conducting online interview for this project is the interviewees are the members of Levis online community. Qualitative on-line research, such as on-line in-depth interview, is particularly useful when the target population is small, very specialized in its skills, and difficult to find and recruit (Miller Dickson, 2001). On the other side, online interview also exist in some limitations and disadvantages. OConnor and Madge (2002) argued, although online interview could obtain rich and valuable to the researchers, there are many problems of online research so that online research should not be exaggerated and researchers should be aware of these problems. Firstly, Chen and Hinton (1999) concerned about limited samples and limited data during the online research process. They believed this sample limited problems could lead to non-specialized interviewing, such as the general assessment of a group which did not be defined because their access to the Internet. For this dissertation, the sample will be chosen in one online Levis community and the interviewees are members of this community. The second disadvantage is that online interview may receive less attention of interviewees and may not make interviewers to create rapport which is important to create a relationship with interviewees who are then wil ling to share information. (Chen and Hinton 1999; Gruber et al. 2008; OConnor and Madge 2003). The online interview is difference between face-to-face interview because online interview happened when both interviewer and interviewee fact to computer screen. â€Å"It may be that distractions result in respondents not being fully engaged with the interview whilst dealing with interruptions of which the interviewer may not be aware. In the face-to-face setting the interviewer can respond immediately to external factors, perhaps by suspending the interview, whereas the virtual interviewer, unable to see what is happening, may carry on regardless, not aware that s/he does not have the full attention of the respondent † (OConnor and Madge, 2003: p137) Gruber et al. (2008) demonstrated, during the online interview, because both of interviewer and interviewee face to computer screen, they cannot receive each others respondence such as body language, head nodding and facial expression s, as a result, researchers developing online interviewers can not able to observe if interviewees are losing interest in the chat or if they are annoyed or unclear about a particular question. As a result, there is no rapport was created. For this project, because the MSN messenger softer ware will be used as interview tool, this problem will also happen during this online interview process. Summary By summary, this research will focus on solely qualitative methodology. Secondary data will be used for an early stage of understood of the background of Levis in China. Online in-depth interview will be conducted in the exploration the reason of different consumers in one online Levis community like wearing Levis jeans. The limitations and disadvantages of online interview and sampling were also discussed in this chapter.

Business Trip Encounter with SARS :: Personal Narrative China Travel Essays

Encounter of the Worse Kind My scheduled flight to Hong Kong was delayed because of a conference meeting that ran over in New York. I rescheduled for the following week on Tuesday, February 21, 2003. I arrived in Hong Kong and met my business contact and headed off to the conference at the Metropole Hotel. Something seems odd here, unlike my trips before. There are people with masks on everywhere. I asked my business contact what was going on. He said there was some kind of flu going around. I have never seen so many people with masks on before. In the U.S. people rarely put on masks even if they have the flu. He also said that a lot of people are sick and some have died from it. It seems odd that people would die from catching the flu; I mean nowadays who dies from getting the flu. We finally arrived at the conference and I met my clients. Most of the clients seemed sick but were determined to finalize the deal. Some of them were coughing and some had sore throats. I was afraid I would get sick from being too close to them and I tried to take precautions by taking cough drops and Tylenol when I felt I was coming down with the flu. I was glad when the meeting was over. The contract took two days to iron out all the details. Since the meeting went well I decided to stay in Hong Kong for a little longer. I needed a break from work and wanted to go sight seeing. I have been to Hong Kong a couple of times but never had the chance to see the countryside. The following morning when I woke up I started to cough and was running a fever. I was probably infected from the close contact of the sick clients. So I decided to stay in and rest for a while. I was sleepy and couldn't get up from my bed. The next day it got worse. I had a sore throat and had muscle pain. I've never been this sick before and I thought to myself that it was due to getting older and my immune system not being up to par. I have been very busy lately and my stress level has been up more than usual.

Fast Breeder Reactors Essay -- Nuclear Power Energy

Fast Breeder Reactors Abstract In this report I will investigate how different breeder reactors operate, the many problems addressed by the Fast Breeder Reactor, including efficiency and cost, the disadvantages of Fast Breeder Reactors, and working examples that have been constructed throughout the world. Introduction There is another type of modern nuclear energy, an interesting idea that will grow on you, so to speak. If one were to think of an â€Å"alternative† nuclear energy source, a pebble bed fission reactor or namely fusion reactors come to mind. The Liquid Metal Fast Breeder reactor (FBR) is the alternate â€Å"alternative† reactor. FBRs first went critical (became operational) in 1951 with the American experimental EBR-1 in Idaho. FBRs, in principle, produce more fissile material than they produce. Although they still need a blend of stable fertile material with fissile fuel, the fact that they convert this mix to a unified fissile material while generating electricity at the same time is the primary reason these reactors are appealing. The technology used for FBRs has been consistently researched in the US, USSR, France, UK, Germany, Japan, China, and India at different points in time beginning in 1949 with initial design work performed on the EBR-I in the US (Encarta-200 5). Asian countries currently lead the world in the effort being invested in this type of reactor. We could see a significant number of FBRs being built within the next 25 to 50 years, as the demand for fossil fuels increases with pollution and the constant and inefficient consumption of fossil fuel supplies by all nations. Are FBRs a viable energy source for California or the US? I will discuss the atomic process that FBRs use to operate, the problems the... ...Foundation. Retrieved July 28, 2006, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monju Nuclear Power Reactors. (2005). Nuclear Energy. In Encarta Reference Library 2005 [CD-ROM].Microsoft Corporation. Nuclear reactor. (2006). In Wikipedia [Web]. Wikimedia Foundation. Retrieved July 28, 2006, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_reactor Fast Breeder Reactors: Do They Have the Juice? Breeder Reactors 11 Nuclear Waste and Breeder Reactors - Myth and Promise. Retrieved July 28, 2006, from agree.net Web site: http://www.agree.net/DefenseWatch/Nuclear%20Waste%20and%20Breeder%reactors.htm Shi, R. R. Liquid Metal Fast Breeder Reactor. Retrieved July 20, 2006, Web site: http://www.nuc.berkeley.edu/thyd/ne161/shir/project5.html Superphenix. (2006). Superphenix. In Wikipedia [Web]. Wikimedia Foundation. Retrieved July 28, 2006, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superph%C3%A9nix

Operations inventory management: Defining replenishment from requirements philosophy Essay

The requirements philosophy of inventory management and control aims to balance short term lower inventory and higher customer service. The materials requirements planner first determines the total amount of parts needed to produce a particular item on the production schedule. That is taking the output of a certain production schedule to be able to determine the needed items and raw materials, input, required to complete it. Current stock of parts are then located at the inventory database. The on-hand inventory is then subtracted from required quantity. The task is to break down the production schedule into all required parts which shall be used to schedule purchasing and manufacturing. (Burton & Bragg 2000). Requirements philosophy also recognizes the existence of subassemblies which is usually produced in advance or in parallel run prior to the manufacture of the final product or assembly. A schedule of the quantity and completion of the assemblies must be prepared to determine the exact date on which any part shall be purchased. Requirements planning involved timing. It extracts from the item master file the number of days or lead time required for a supplier to deliver a certain item from date of purchased. The cycle time or production time of each assembly must be determined to be able to achieved accuracy in production scheduling and purchase. Requirement philosophy is closely tied to the timing of transactions. Any change in the production schedule has a definite impact to major transaction changes that will call for urgent messages for urgent orders. (p. 150). Inventory replenishment refers to the need to calculate cost structures by using information about demand for better understanding of network topologies. It aims to understand service level requirements and its direct impact on inventory investment and allocation based on their relative supply chain. The inventory planner needs the information from the materials requirements planner to be able to manage direction and control of the flow of operations for the purpose of getting the perfect inventory level for a specific item for a specific period. Allowances on replenishment quantities at reorder point were then made for replenishment lead time and calculated safety stock to accommodate possible market demand fluctuations. This serves to be critical for incorrect information could mean probable stock out. Reorder actions served to preserve the integrity of the management inventory serviceability. Aspects of item cost, item physical and chemical characteristics, continuity of demand, shipping characteristics, and storage and handling requirements of the items were all taken into considerations. The determination of the reorder level then is guided by accurate computation of production cycle or working stock cycle which will temporarily respond to the average level of customer demand occurring during the period. Furthermore, a safety or buffer stock are then set on top of the level of requirements acting as allowances or additional inventory added to cycle stock in the event of variance in the normal distribution of demand. (Ross 1996). To differentiate, requirements philosophy supplies the specific requirements needed to support and complete a production schedule while replenishment philosophy is being computed on top of the required level of inventory taking into consideration the external factors of cost, lead time, shipping and storage requirements of the item in particular marked by determining a reorder level specification for each item or raw materials on record with high consideration on the factors of demand and supply availability.