Human resource strategy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Human resource strategy - Essay Example Based on the new developments in the business world, HRM strategies are also undergoing drastic changes at present. Earlier, HRM functions were labeled as personnel management. Later, it acquired the form of human resource management. Now instead of HRM, Strategic human resource management (SHRM) is gaining grounds in organizations of the modern world. The core of SHRM is to prepare the employees in accordance with the strategies of the organization. The integration of the employees in to the main streams of organizational activities is a modern day business strategy. Along with the expansion of human resource management or strategic human resource management, lots of ethical problems are also arising. When organizations move into foreign markets, they must adapt to communication, culture and human resource issues. Domestic business and international businesses have more differences than similarities. Moreover, ethical dimensions of HRM would be more significant in cross cultural bus inesses than in domestic businesses because of the huge differences in cultures between countries. â€Å"Education, social standing, religion, personality, belief structure, past experience, affection shown in the home, and a myriad of other factors will affect human behaviour and culture† (Encina, 2007). Most of the current organizations have extremely diverse workforce and hence the interests of these diverse workforce may often been clash each other. Strategic HRM policies should be formulated in such a way that all the employees working in an organization get equal opportunities and fair treatments. â€Å"Ethical conventions should be fully addressed by the HRM profession and ethics be integrated into the strategic HRM process† (Carey, 2011) Business ethics was not much interested in the issues relating to the ethical management of employees till recent times. â€Å"Apart from the development of ethical awareness among managers and the ethical dimension of change management processes, there has been little debate around the ethical basis of much HR policy and practice† (Winstanley & Woodall, 2000, p.1). However, current business Gurus are aware of the necessities of managing employees in an ethical way for the sustainment of their business. This paper briefly analyses the ethical dimensions of strategic HRM in future Ethical dimensions of strategic HRM in future The work culture in different countries are different and hence while employing diverse workforce, an organization may face clashes between the interests of diverse employees. For example, Americans like to work under a stress free environment because of the immense freedom they are enjoying in their country because of democracy. However, Chinese may not enjoy such freedom in the work places of their country because of the tight communist administration. An American working in China may face extreme difficult situations in China because of the contrasting business management ph ilosophies he may face in China. Strategic HRM should give more focus in such areas in order to reduce the stress levels of the diverse employees. â€Å"There is a powerful argument that the wider economic system and ultimately the business organisations within it exist to serve human and societal needs rather than the opposite†

Buyer Behaviour and Analysis Literature review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Buyer Behaviour and Analysis - Literature review Example The basic principle of consumer behavior is the individual-product-situation relationship. The consumer behavior principle states that the dynamics of the market can only be understood iff the consumer, the product purchased, and the complexity of consumer behavior is appreciated. First, the customer recognizes a need or responds to a marketing stimulus (Lantos, 2011, P.359). Consumers buy the products that they are strongly motivated to buy. Motivation is the imbalance between the consumers current and desired states, the wider the gap the stronger the motivation. Motivation is related to previous experience and level of product involvement. The more complex the decision making process the more diversified the consumer’s desire for information. Therefore, marketing managers are required to analyze the marketing mix more keenly when the consumer is involved, and the complexity of the decision making process is high (Ellwood, 2002). Involvement is the feeling of importance or the personal interest associated with the product at a given situation. Involvement is a state of arousal or interest driven by current external variables and past internal variables. It impacts searching, processing and decision making. It is a reflection of the importance of a specific product to an individual in a given situation. Involvement is a function of the risk that customers associate with the buying of a product, with more risky products getting greater involvement (Hennig-Thurau, 2000, P.176). Functional risks have the most impact on customer behavior; the risk is the possibility that a product does not meet customer expectation. Customers mitigate this risk by gathering information on the product or turning to a known entity that has a good reputation. Economic risk implies that more expensive products require more complicated decision

The Love Story :: Love Stories Romance Essays

The Love Story Some of the elements in the love story have changed over time. In the ancient world and during the Middle Ages, love stories did not have happy endings, and they focused on love outside of social and economic status. This was an innovation at that time, because most marriages were arranged and the partners were of the same social class. Beginning in the late Middle Ages and the Renaissance, love stories began to have happy endings, because marriage was coming to be rooted in feelings of truelove and couples came together by personal choice. Modern love stories are influenced by Hollywood, and often feature pre-marital and extra-marital sexual relationships, and single parents with children. Over the years, a conventional format was followed. As entertainment and moral values changed, however, the distinction between convention and innovation became blurred. The conventional love story formula has several elements: The couple wants to be together. Often it is love at first sight. There’s an obstacle for the couple to overcome. Those obstacles are usually: lack of communication noble or innocent actions are wrongly perceived other people come between the lovers At the beginning, the couple is neither rich nor poor. There is superficial glamour surrounding the main characters. Fate is used to justify unlikely coincidences. Some outside force brings the couple together. The story has a happy ending (Jensen 75-96) There’s always some convention and some innovation in any given love story; for example, the movieSleepless in Seattle features both. The conventions in Sleepless include superficial glamour. Both Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan are very attractive. Theirs is a love at first sight. The innocent action wrongly perceived comes about when Meg Ryan sees Tom Hanks hugging his sister. They are neither nor poor, and fate has Tom Hanks at the airport when Meg Ryan arrives. Of course, the couple meets at the top of the Sears Tower, and, presumably, lives happily together. The innovation is Sleepless is the way the couple gets together. They have never met each other. They are brought together by Tom Hanks’ young son, who calls a radio show for lonely hearts. Of course, all love stories don’t end as happily as Sleepless in Seattle. William Shakespeare’s tragic love story Romeo and Juliet was updated and made into a movie staring Leonardo DiCaprio and Clair Danes. Romeo and Juliet is conventional in some respects: the good looks of the leading actors, they fall in love at first sight, and the obstacle they must overcome is the longstanding feud between their families.

Hello Walmart

Hello, Wal-Mart? Ashford University BUS644 Operation Management Dr. Ronald Beach November 26, 2011 Hello, Wal-Mart? It is very common for everyone that lives in a small town to get all their groceries at Wal-Mart. During the last 50 years of creation, from a small town on Arkansas, Wal-Mart became the biggest retail company of the world. At this time, this company is one of the major employers of the world and has more than 4,000 stores just in America. It is very difficult for a small business to compete with this company.Now before going forward, it is very important to understand how Wal-Mart operates. The main strategy of their operation is getting the cheaper supplies and sells their products a very low price to the customers. Another of their strategies is to centralize all kinds of products in one store. The key element for this business is to analyze the market considerations when they open a new location. There are tools to help companies to find out the best location. For e xample, according to Stevenson (2011, P. 48), â€Å"Geographic Information Systems is a computer based tool for collecting, storing, retrieving, and displaying demographic data on maps†. Now that we know this, let’s analyze the following disadvantages of opening a new Wal-Mart in a small town. Disadvantages for owners of small business located nearby are several. Let’s start by mentioning that small towns are surrounded by and full of small business that support the local economy and employ the local population.With the presence of Wal-Mart, small businesses that offer similar products will be obligated to reduce their price to the minimum in order to compete with the big retail company. According to Dartmouth College, in 2009, they conducted a study that indicates the â€Å"the impact a Wal-Mart store has on a local business is correlated to its distance from that store. The leader of that study admits that this factor is stronger in smaller towns†. Wal- Mart is using what people call predatory pricing. Wal-Mart buys products from cheaper suppliers; this issue hurts the local suppliers and local economy.Small businesses will be obligated to reduce their price to the minimum if they want to compete. All the money that small businesses will generate goes to local banks and stays in the community; in the case of Wal-Mart, this money goes to the main banks in other towns or cities, and the bottom line is this money does not stay in the area. According to the Institute of Local Self Reliance as Wal-Mart expanded small business retails dropped more than 39% and many small businesses are now closed.Let’s imagine this town a few years later with all these small business closed and for any reason Wal-Mart has to leave the town. The consequences will be catastrophic. Another point to take in consideration is the possibility that Wal-Mart is doing a monopoly of the sales in the small towns. With their aggressive campaign of reducing pri ces to the lowest minimum, and disappearing small businesses, they are obligating the consumers to only go to Wal-Mart for their needs. The disadvantages from the town residents and the residents of nearby towns are also several.Let’s start to mention the impact of a new Wal-Mart store in the life of these residents. Earlier it was mentioned how small business were, in many times, obligated to close. These issues have a direct impact in the life of the residents, since these small businesses contract local people. People are forced to, in many cases, to leave the town because they cannot afford the costs of living. Wal-Mart only can hire a smaller group of people than many small businesses together.After all, the only place to work will be at Wal-Mart and without a competitor they will mandate the wage pay and the benefits of their employees. When small businesses are closed they destroy the moral and the way of life of the community. When these businesses close, residents wi ll lose their livelihood. Many of these new Wal-Mart stores get the land at very cheap price; they bring with them traffic, delinquency, and a big reduction of price in the land of the residents surrounding these stores; all this translate as a big reduction of taxes that these small tows will receive.According to the Institute of Local Self Reliance â€Å"many studies have found that when locally owned business are displaced by Wal-Mart, the participation and voter turnout falls, the number of active nonprofit organizations drop and residents are less likely to know and interact with their neighbors†. Now after hearing all the arguments of these two groups, it is time for Wal-Mart representative to respond to all these allegations and propose some of the advantages to open a new store in a small town.The first thing to analyze is that where ever a Walmart is, residents of that town and nearby towns are finding a big reduction in the cost of their products. Another of the goo d things that Wal-Mart will bring to the town is a good market ideas and competition. Owners that bring good ideas can benefit of the presence of a big store like Wal-Mart. There is a main factor here, with an economy like the present, a store like Wal-Mart will bring to the town lower prices for the customers, a reduction of transportation, and an increase of jobs for the community.When we talk about transportation, it means to drive less to find all the products in the same place. When we talk about jobs, it means new jobs for the residents close to the store. One of the more important arguments to favor Wal-Mart is the support of the community through programs by their customers. References Stevenson, W. J. (2011). Operation management (11th ed). New York: McGraw-Hill/Irwin. Retrieved from http://www. ilsr. org Retrieved from http://articles. chicagotribune. com/2010-07-04/business/ct-biz-0704-soda-wars-20100703_1_chicago-wal-mart-costco-and-wal-mart-pricing

Beryllium Facts - Periodic Table of the Elements

Beryllium Atomic Number: 4 Symbol: Be Atomic Weight: 9.012182(3)Reference: IUPAC 2009 Discovery: 1798, Louis-Nicholas Vauquelin (France) Electron Configuration: [He]2s2 Other Names: Glucinium or Glucinum Word Origin: Greek: beryllos, beryl; Greek: glykys, sweet (note that beryllium is toxic) Properties: Beryllium has a melting point of 1287/-5Â °C, boiling point of 2970Â °C, specific gravity of 1.848 (20Â °C), and valence of 2. The metal is steel-gray in color, very light, with one of the highest melting points of the light metals. Its modulus of elasticity is a third higher than that of steel. Beryllium has high thermal conductivity, is nonmagnetic, and resists attack by concentrated nitric acid. Beryllium resists oxidation in air at ordinary temperatures. The metal has a high permeability to x-radiation. When bombarded by alpha particles, it yields neutrons in the ratio of approximately 30 million neutrons per million alpha particles. Beryllium and its compounds are toxic and should not be tasted to verify the metals sweetness. Uses: Precious forms of beryl include aquamarine, morganite, and emerald. Beryllium is used as an alloying agent in producing beryllium copper, which is used for springs, electrical contacts, nonsparking tools, and spot-welding electrodes. It is used in many structural components of the space shuttle and other aerospace craft. Beryllium foil is used in x-ray lithography for making integrated circuits. It is used as a reflector or moderator in nuclear reactions. Beryllium is used in gyroscopes and computer parts. The oxide has a very high melting point and is used in ceramics and nuclear applications. Sources: Beryllium is found in approximately 30 mineral species, including beryl (3BeO Al2O3Â ·6SiO2), bertrandite (4BeOÂ ·2SiO2Â ·H2O), chrysoberyl, and phenacite. The metal may be prepared by reducing beryllium fluoride with magnesium metal. Element Classification: Alkaline-earth Metal Isotopes: Beryllium has ten known isotopes, ranging from Be-5 to Be-14. Be-9 is the only stable isotope.Density (g/cc): 1.848 Specific Gravity (at 20 Â °C): 1.848 Appearance: hard, brittle, steel-gray metal Melting Point: 1287 Â °C Boiling Point: 2471 Â °C Atomic Radius (pm): 112 Atomic Volume (cc/mol): 5.0 Covalent Radius (pm): 90 Ionic Radius: 35 (2e) Specific Heat (20Â °C J/g mol): 1.824 Fusion Heat (kJ/mol): 12.21 Evaporation Heat (kJ/mol): 309 Debye Temperature (K): 1000.00 Pauling Negativity Number: 1.57 First Ionizing Energy (kJ/mol): 898.8 Oxidation States: 2 Lattice Structure:Hexagonal Lattice Constant (Ã…): 2.290 Lattice C/A Ratio: 1.567 CAS Registry Number: 7440-41-7 Beryllium Trivia Beryllium was originally named glyceynum due to the sweet taste of beryllium salts. (glykis is Greek for sweet). The name was changed to beryllium to avoid confusion with other sweet tasting elements and a genus of plants called glucine. Beryllium became the official name of the element in 1957.James Chadwick bombarded beryllium with alpha particles and observed a subatomic particle with no electrical charge, leading to the discovery of the neutron.Pure beryllium was isolated in 1828 by two different chemists independently: German chemist Friederich WÃ ¶hler and French chemist Antoine Bussy.WÃ ¶hler was the chemist who first proposed the name beryllium for the new element. Source Los Alamos National Laboratory (2001), Crescent Chemical Company (2001), Langes Handbook of Chemistry (1952), CRC Handbook of Chemistry Physics (18th Ed.), CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics (89th Ed.)

Water Gas Definition and Uses

Water gas is a combustion fuel containing carbon monoxide (CO) and hydrogen gas (H2). Water gas is made by passing steam over heated hydrocarbons. The reaction between steam and hydrocarbons produces synthesis gas. The water-gas shift reaction can be used to reduce carbon dioxide levels and enrich hydrogen content, making water gas. The water-gas shift reaction is: CO H2O → CO2Â   H2 History The water-gas shift reaction was first described in 1780 by Italian physicist Felice Fontana. In 1828, water gas was produced in England by blowing steam across white-hot coke. In 1873, Thaddeus S.C. Lowe patented a process that used the water-gas shift reaction to enrich the gas with hydrogen. In Lowes process, pressurized steam was shot over hot coal, with heat maintained using chimneys. The resulting gas was cooled and scrubbed before use. Lowes process led to the rise of the gas manufacturing industry and the development of similar processes for other gases, such as the Haber-Bosch process to synthesize ammonia. As ammonia became available, the refrigeration industry rose. Lowe held patents for ice machines and devices that ran on hydrogen gas. Production The principle of water gas production is straightforward. Steam is forced over red-hot or white-hot carbon-based fuel, producing the following reaction: H2O C → H2Â   CO (ΔH 131Â  kJ/mol) This reaction is endothermic (absorbs heat), so heat must be added to sustain it. There are two ways this is done. One is to alternate between steam and air to cause combustion of some carbon (an exothermic process): O2Â   C → CO2Â  (ΔH −393.5Â  kJ/mol) The other method is to use oxygen gas rather than air, which yields carbon monoxide rather than carbon dioxide: O2Â   2 C → 2 CO (ΔH −221Â  kJ/mol) Different Forms of Water Gas There are different types of water gas. The composition of the resulting gas depends on the process used to make it: Water gas shift reaction gas: This is the name given to water gas made using the water-gas shift reaction to obtain pure hydrogen (or at least enriched hydrogen). The carbon monoxide from the initial reaction is reacted with water to remove carbon dioxide, leaving only the hydrogen gas.Semi-water gas: Semi-water gas is a mixture of water gas and producer gas. Producer gas is the name of fuel gas derived from coal or coke, as opposed to natural gas. Semi-water gas is made by collecting the gas produced when steam is alternated with air to burn coke to maintain a high enough temperature to sustain the water gas reaction.Carburetted water gas: Carburetted water gas is produced to enhance the energy value of water gas, which is ordinarily lower than that of coal gas. Water gas is carburetted by passing it through a heated retort which has been sprayed with oil. Uses of Water Gas Water gas used in the synthesis of some industrial processes: To remove carbon dioxide from fuel cells.Reacted with producer gas to make fuel gas.It is used in the Fischer-Tropsch process.It is used to obtain pure hydrogen to synthesize ammonia.

E-Commerce -Golden Screen Cinemas (Gsc) - 4805 Words

UNIVERSITI TUNKU ABDUL RAHMAN BACHELOR OF COMMERCE (HONS) ACCOUNTING BACHELOR OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION (HONS) ENTREPRENEURSHIP UBAI3013 E-COMMERCE (MAY 2010) 1. Background The company we had selected is the largest chain of cinemas in Malaysia, Golden Screen Cinemas (GSC). It was founded in 1981 as Golden Communications Circuit, while the Cathay is the one of the oldest cinemas in Malaysia until 1998. At the same time the website has been launch in 1981. Besides, GSC was founded in 1998 as a merger of Golden Communications (GC) Circuit and Cathay Cinemas. The merger has resulted in the biggest single entity in the Malaysian cinema entertainment business. The first GSC cinema to operate in Malaysia was opened in Kota Kinabalu on 14†¦show more content†¦The website also available e-ticketing service. Customer can buy and book the ticket online. | | Has a navigation bar (e.g, shows the buyer the different pages within the site and where the buyer can go). | Yes | The navigation bar was consistent throughout the website. Exhibit 2.1-Navigation BarThere are navigation bar on the top of the website that display â€Å"offersamp; events†, †Å"movie†, â€Å"news†, â€Å"show times amp; ticketing† and â€Å"contest†. Buyer’s can click on the navigation bar and choose the different pages they can view for more information. | | Has contrasting colors (e.g., uses light background w/dark letters or dark background w/light letters). | Yes | The website uses light orange background with dark letters. This shows the background is attractive and the words are clear for buyer to view it. | | No scroll down option (e.g., has all the information on the screen and the buyer is not required to use a scroll left/right or down to see everything on the page). | No | The website has scroll down option and it would be beneficial to have this option as it enable the viewer to obtain more information in a single page. | | Has Intranet links (e.g., provides to take the buyer to other pages within the web site and does not take the buyer to a different web site). | Yes | When buyer clicks on it, these links b ring buyer to other pages within the website and doesn’t take buyer to a different website. | | Uses subject tabs (e.g., uses subjectShow MoreRelatedimpact of technology in service industry1855 Words   |  8 Pagestransfer, loan application and repayments and also buying investment product. On the other hand, non transactional activities are included account balance viewing, viewing of previous bank transactions, bank statement downloading, check book ordering, E banking application downloading and also the provision of account or bank statement. According to statistic from Bank Negara Malaysia, the number of internet banking and mobile internet subscriber in Malaysia has increased since year 1995. Table 1