Employment Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 4

Employment Law - Essay Example For years the clothing industry had been trying to build a union for employees in the industry. Now that the company was going public and Clark’s company had 100 employees, the representatives from the union approached Ms. Clark to seek permission to contact the company employees. While this was not really necessary, they did it out of respect for Ms. Clark. When Ms. Clark was summoned by her CEO and the board of directors, she meticulously related the law’s stand on the matter of unions and their rights to contact employees. Unions and collective bargaining agreements rightly cite that any statement or any policy which creates any form of inference of barring a worker or even a union representative from being part of a labor union is illegal under law. Therefore, Ms. Clark can press charges on her employers for trying to blackmail her into ceding to their demands and whims of stopping workers from joining the labor union. Under law, cited by the yellow dog contract, workers must refrain from agreements by employers that require them to make pacts not to join unions in the future or in order to retain their employments. Such pacts or agreements are illegal. As a matter of fact they have been illegal since 1932. The retirement package that was presented to Ms. Was not complete as required by law. The package did not extend the normal retirement benefits and did not extend insurance coverage, or even pay her social security as required until the age of 59. Additionally, the package did not even offer her buy-out-funds. The retirement package presented by the company reeks of age discrimination on Ms. Clark. She fits the age bracket which is above 40 years. The Age Discrimination Act protects from such dismissal as that of Ms. Clark because the reason she was dismissed is not clear. She does her work well but when she decides to grant access to the union representatives she is dismissed for refusing to accept a flawed retirement package. Under this

Business marketing report Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Business marketing report - Case Study Example The gist of this is the need for an effective marketing plan that carefully takes into consideration all of the available data, with the end goal of helping MMG achieve its yearly revenues target of $1 million, or a turnover of 100 guitars on a monthly basis (Finnbogason). II. Discussion A. Analysis of the Case Facts The total guitar market in Canada is $59 million, and the revenue targets of MMG accounts for a small fraction of that, indicating a certain amount of realism in the sales targets, given that the MMG play is purely online. The total market is made up of 2.5 million people, while the sales target is 1,200 guitars annually out of total potential sales of 146,000 acoustic guitars. Again this numerical target is realistic, and is just a small fraction of all unit sales in the country. Meanwhile, among age groups, those between 15 and 24 years and over 55 years had the most leisure time, and they are natural potential target markets for guitars, as a leisure product (Finnboga son). China is the traditional manufacturing base for MMG, but given a one percent increase in tariff and rising labor costs and transport logistics costs, there is some concern whether China remains viable moving forward. Scale is a factor in this decision, and given that MMG only moves 1,200 units a year by target, there is the question of whether the scale is significant enough that any upward movements in labor costs, shipping costs, and tariffs would be material increases in the cost structure of MMG, given profit margins exceed 50 percent of costs, as projected for the new dreadnaught product to be launched in June of that year (Finnbogason). That MMG guitars suffer from a quality perception problem over the fact that its guitars are made in China., even though its guitars in actuality are of high quality and are preferred by seasoned musicians even in TV-broadcasted blind tests, is not a deal breaker, and can be assuaged and managed with advertising. In this sense endorsement deals help. Likewise, word of mouth can be a powerful form of endorsement from ordinary players who become customers as well. In other words, this problem of quality perception is not really a major problem, assuming that the right marketing interventions are implemented in the context of a holistic marketing plan for all of MMG (Finnbogason). The table on pricing reveals that the two Summer Wages models have thinner margins than the premium Signature Dreadnaught model, which has a margin of 40 percent. The two basic models sell at $799 for the Tofino model and $899 for the Dionisio model, with margins at 30 percent and 35 percent respectively. In terms of sales contribution currently the premium model accounts for 50 percent of sales, and the latter two models 40 percent and 10 percent respectively. All of the models are substantially cheaper than respective competing models from other makers. On the other hand, the new product launch would make the sales mix different from the ab ove status quo, with the new mahogany-based dreadnaught model taking market share from the premium line and from the Dionisio line, to take up 25 percent of all revenues,

Philosophy ( professional and business ethics) Essay

Philosophy ( professional and business ethics) - Essay Example Most likely, Bob is not only self centered but also materialistic in nature causing him to care very little about the benefits or positive aspects of â€Å"being good† or acting morally. One aspect of acting morally is how one is perceived by others. If Bob begins to act in a manner that appears moral and considerate of those around him, he is more likely to be trusted and liked. If Bob is trusted and liked, he will easily be able to convince others to do business with him or even help him out in a time of need, in the spirit of neighborly kinship. As an amoral person, Bob must feel the consequences of his actions in that others around him are repelled by him and avoid a great deal of contact with him. If Bob can be convinced that changing his attitude and actions will yield favorable results for him personally, he will most likely be conducive to such changes. The concept of â€Å"ought† or â€Å"should† may in fact be erroneous to Bob as the idea of what one should or should not do are subjective and void of scientific reason. Additionally, Bob is coming from a place of primal desire or concern as opposed to an ideology that doing the right thing is something that one should do in order to be a good person versus the motivation to do the right thing in order to perpetuate one’s own best interests. In theory, the latter of the two motivations, seems to in essence make the notion of Bob’s doing the right thing amoral because of the motivation behind those actions. This however, may be the only form of morality that Bob is willing to embrace and since it benefits those around him for him to act morally as opposed to amorally, it can be argued that regardless of Bob’s motivation for his moral actions, the actions themselves are moral due to their results all the way across the board. Additionally, if Bob can be convinced that his conversion to moral actions versus continuing in amoral actions will preserve his

The Organization System - Culture and HR Policies and Practices Term Paper

The Organization System - Culture and HR Policies and Practices - Term Paper Example Hence resource-based view of the firm suggests that if an organization has any resource which is valuable, immobile and inimitable it can be used as its sustained competitive advantage which will work as a weapon against its competitors. Wright and McMahan (1992) identified four criteria for a firm’s resource to provide as a source for sustained competitive advantage as: 1) Contribute positive value to the firm 2) Unique among competitors (both current and potential) 3) Must be imperfectly imitable 4) Must not have any alternative resource to get replaced This means that for a resource to provide competitive advantage to a firm it must be unique, rare, difficult to copy and without alternatives; above all it must add positive value to the firm. Applying this concept to Southwest Airlines it can be seen that Southwest Airlines has utilized its human resources and nourished the relationship among various levels of staff to offer quality services to its client. Competitive advant age of Southwest Airlines as identified by many authors and researchers is the relationship between its employees which ensures the firm, overall, has a shared knowledge and goal base to proceed on. Gittell (2005, p. xii) explained it beautifully â€Å"Southwest's most powerful organizational competency--the "secret ingredient" that makes it so distinctive--is its ability to build and sustained high performance relationships among managers, employees, unions, and suppliers.   These relationships are characterized by shared goals, shared knowledge, and mutual respect†. Hence this characteristic of shared knowledge and shared goals arrived at by mutual relationship among employees is what makes it distinctive among its competitors. Applying the four criteria identified by Wright and McMahan (1992) on the above discussed competency of Southwest Airlines, we can say that being a part of an industry where customer’s experience matters a lot this is a competency which abso lutely adds real value to the company. Only when employees work according to a shared goal will their actions work in the same direction, which is, of course, utmost important in achieving customer satisfaction. As far as being unique is concerned, in an industry where there’s cut throat competition and every airline is striving hard to improve its services, achieving a level where the resource become an irreplaceable competency is certainly considered as unique. Though the resource is not completely inimitable however it is difficult to imitate. This is because though every airline works to improve its customer relationships via embedding a sense of shared goals among its employees however doing is perfectly is what only Southwest Airlines is doing. There exists evidence in literature that Southwest Airlines is unleashing its employees’ relationship in such a manner that it promises the firm a valuable and inimitable resource. Hence the resource can be considered as i mperfectly imitable. Lastly, since human resources, specifically human intellect, as suggested by Zairi, Jarar & Aspinwall (2010) â€Å"is fast becoming the executive skill of the age† it is difficult to find an equally worthy alternative. They added that there is no doubt many facets in an organization like IT, new processes, new products and services etc however they are well replaceable, whereas the only irreplaceable resource is workforce in

Work integrated project Lab Report Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Work integrated project - Lab Report Example Evaluation of Limitations and Alternative Proposal 13 References 15 Bibliography 17 Overview Swan Sweet  is the manufacturing and wholesale segment of Lebanese Sweet and is located at Maddington, West Australia.  Swan Sweet was founded by Hassan Youssef in the 1920’s and was then known as ‘Hassan Youssef Sweet Lebanon’. The company has positioned itself as the key supplier of confectionery items for the business market. Swan Sweet  offers sweets and other  catering solutions to fulfill all the business needs of their customers. They are well known for their supplies of freshly baked Baklava, a variety of Mediterranean pastry.  They also offer wholesale solutions to their customers for promotional  proceedings and corporate events  by providing bulk products enabling the clients to develop and build their businesses (Swan Sweet 2011). The report addresses the issues pertaining to a change intervention process of Swan Sweet. The report analyzes the int ernal and the external drivers which led to the change intervention in Swan Sweet explaining it’s rational and purpose. The study considers the change perspectives that might have driven the owners of Swan Sweet. The study also describes the change strategy adopted by the management of Swan Sweet and demonstrates the approaches employed for the development as well as implementation of the change strategy. An assessment has also been made of the options available to and restraints the company Swan Sweet faced when selecting the resulting strategy. The report also confers about the strategic planning tools employed as well as how they were customized or discarded to match the organisational requirements of Swan Sweet. The report evaluates the confines of the change intervention process, and finally proposes alternative change perspectives and strategies for the change intervention in Swan Sweet. 1. Rationale of Change Intervention Swan Sweet has evolved over the years since its foundation in the 1920’s and has under gone various modifications in their functioning process. Swan Sweet’s incessant up gradation in terms of quality is aligned to their objectives of customer satisfaction. Swan Sweet has implemented a distinctive blend of technology and service to offer sufficient products options. The  product service of Swan Sweet is designed in a mode that it enables the customers to specify  their exact requirements. Swan Sweets ensures that each and every product delivery made by them is unique and precisely as per the requirements of the client.  Customer service and customer satisfaction is the top priority of Swan Sweets. The company guarantees to deliver every product order on accurate time,  as per the agreed budget and of the best possible quality. Swan Sweet’s goal is to provide customer delight by means of the utmost levels of service and quality achievable (Swan Sweet 2011); this had served as the internal driver or the principle which had motivated Swan Sweet to employ incessant change in order to upgrade the level of the services provided by them. The management of Swan Sweet believes in contemporary marketing technologies and has also developed online shop for marketing their products. The management of Swan Sweet was certain that there was a demand for an online platform which would provide best quality sweet and other confectionary products for the business segment (Swan Sweet 2011). The success of their online delivery service has proven the existence of such a requirement amongst the public. In the initial years of the formation of Swan Sweet, the growth of Muslim populace in

American Education Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

American Education - Research Paper Example † The hypothesis tested was the simple answer: â€Å"No. Not at all.† 2. Introduction In the early periods of American History, Christianity formed the main source of knowledge and teaching. Before the emergence of the Private School System, the Church influence was eminent on the American Education System. As per the founding rules and regulations set for the running of the education system, the American Federal Government had no rights of interference in the field of education. However with the passage of time, it was felt necessary that the country must have a centrally established education system (Haugen and Susan, pp43-49).   The Federal Ministry of Interior was responsible for looking after the affairs of education which included all sorts of funding until in 1979 when the Federal Ministry of Education was established formally. After 1979, all the affairs of the education in United States of America are addressed in the Ministry of Education. There is however an exception to some states that they can form and implement policies of their own which aim at benefitting the educational institutions. In United States, besides the government, there are social groups and educational organizations which aid and fund in education sector. The United States’ law protects every citizen’s right of getting education. ... American Education System is however not up to the required mark which would help the countrymen achieve the height and grandeur among the nations of the world. The institutions are educating the students with an aim to fill them with knowledge of theory having no attempt to turn them practical. They must despite try to make them innovators as to make them capable of devising their own methods of success. The obsolete method of memorization of stuff is against the current day requirements of skills. The system has failed to produce inside the student a will to conquer (Diane, pp74-88). Tony Wagner agitates against the American Education System in a calm manner: â€Å"Today knowledge is ubiquitous, constantly changing, growing exponentially†¦. Today knowledge is free. It’s like air, it’s like water. It’s become a commodity†¦. There is no competitive advantage today in knowing more than the person next to you. The world doesn’t care what you know. What the world cares about is what you can do with what you know† (Wagner and Compton, p 56). The schools in United States are unable to produce innovators which mean that American society must suffer from inertia: â€Å"The culture of schooling as we all know is radically at odds with the culture of learning that produces innovators† (Wagner and Compton, p 59). His conclusion was based on the research he conducted during visits of a large number of schools. He was sure that the current system if persisted for long would result in a society devoid of innovators. Many reasons have been deliberated upon by the researchers of the American Education System which hinder innovations. Students are taught to concentrate upon improving their GPA.

Britain in the second World War Essay Example for Free

Britain in the second World War Essay Britain in the second World War: the Evacuation of British Children Explain the differing reactions of people in Britain to the policy of evacuating children during the Second World War. There were a variety of reactions towards the evacuation of children in World War 2. Everyone was affected by the evacuation but the main reaction was that it was needed. I am going to look at different groups and what their reactions would have been towards the evacuation. Firstly I think I should look at the children themselves. Many children would have wanted the evacuation, as they would be concerned for their safety. Children would naturally be afraid of air bombings and the sound and sights of bombs would horrify them. If it meant they were safe Im sure they wouldnt mind leaving their homes. Well I definitely think that the more mature children would definitely not mind leaving. Many children then lived in poverty, and would not get to go on holiday; this would then be like a long holiday for them. Many children enjoyed the evacuation as they experienced new sights and new surroundings. An example of this is in the A Coursework Sources Booklet On : the evacuation of British children in the Second World War. On page 6 source 14, a boys says, instead of having to play cricket in the garden, we went bird nesting. This suggests that the boy did not enjoy playing cricket, but was enjoy himself more when evacuated. But Im not forgetting this is only the reaction of one boy. But there were some children who would get homesick or not enjoy themselves. This can be expected when you put young children into new surroundings and they would have been scared. In the booklet, page 4, source N it quotes And hot water from a tap. And there was a lavatory upstairs. And carpets. And something called an eiderdown. And clean sheets. This was all very odd. I didnt like it. it was scary. This shows that even though this person was now living in better conditions, they were not happy were they were and they would rather be home. I think it depended on your host. If you liked them, then you would likely enjoy yourself. If you didnt like them the majority hated it. I will now look at the reaction of the mothers. I think the majority of mothers would have felt the evacuation was correct and would have felt reassured that the Government was taking some action and getting the children to safety. The mothers would also like the evacuation because they would benefit. They could now concentrate more on work now and in the view of the economy this was an advantage of the evacuation. Knowing that their children were now safe and werent in danger of their school being bombed, they could work more efficiently and harder, therefore producing more artillery for example. If the mothers were working harder at work they would be tired at home and therefore if the children were away they wouldnt have to worry about them misbehaving, or getting into trouble, but they could now relax more. Also they would be better off financially, they may be getting better wages as they had time for over-time, and the didnt have to spend money on the children or as much food etc. But some mothers may not like it as much as others, as they may worry about their children being away from them. They may worry that their temporary parents did not treat them well or feed the well etc. Some may feel that they would be safer at home though this was obviously no the case). They may also find themselves very lonely, their husbands had gone and now their children, and there now would be less help around the house Also mothers are very protective of their children and they may worry that their children may get ill or hurt, and if this was the case they would feel they should be there to care for them. I now think it is appropriate to look at the reaction of the fathers. As with the mothers I feel the majority of fathers would welcome the evacuations, as they could respect that it was for their safety. They would welcome it as it would be very comforting knowing their children were safe, and they knew that if they felt this way they could fight with more heart, effort and overall increase moral. So contributing to the war effort.