Effective recruitment and selection of employees Essay

Effective recruitment and selection of employees - Essay Example 1. Starbucks introduce the recruitment and selection based on equal opportunities policies. They include racial and national diversity of the staff, fair treatment of all recruiters in spite of their religion, sexual orientation, social background, marital status, age and disability. The main advantage of Starbucks Coffee HR management is that it does not consider recruitment and selection in isolation, but in the context of the overall manpower plan and personnel management action program. For example, it investigates the potential of the persons appointed for training, development and future promotion; and their flexibility and adaptability to possible new methods, procedures or working conditions. In anticipation of a suitable applicant being selected, Starbucks have also prepared an orientation script and training proposal to assist both with their smooth transition into the role, together with their future development and advancement (Armstrong, 2003). The first step includes position requirements, needs and skills identification, selection of the tools to be used. During this process, strategic areas of competency are identified. These are broken down into number of clusters and a series of specific individual competency requirements. For example, the strategic competency business knowledge and skills, had marketing as one of the items in its cluster, and understanding the strengths and weaknesses of competition as one of the individual competency requirements (Stone 2005). Starbucks Coffee uses both online and off line recruitment which helps to attract wider target audiences of job seekers. One of the critical differences among Internet recruiters is the method by which their service matches candidates with jobs. Bulletin boards allow employers to search using key words they choose but do not participate actively in making matches. Other types of services take advantage of computer technology to varying degrees in the method they use to match candidate characteristics with the requirements of open jobs (Stone 2005). For off line recruitment, Starbucks uses recruitment agencies and advertising in press. The recruitment and selection practices are based on the interview structure and practical assessment of skills and knowledge of employees, his/her psychological peculiarities and ability to work in teams. The main types of practices are: "behavior-based interviews, training and experience evaluations, ability tests, biographical data, motivational fit inventories" (Armstrong 2003, p. 338). In Starbucks, the practices are based on collecting, measuring and evaluation of the information about recruiters and their skills. Usually, the selection process is based on the interview method. Interview consists of two stages (HR manager's evaluation and interview with the department manager). During interviews, two distinct strategies for selection are used by Starbucks. One strategy, used for managers and leadership positions, suggests that in an environment of rapidly changing job demands, selection based on general abilities such as intelligence, conscientiousness, or adaptability will con tribute most to the overall effectiveness of the organization.

Evaluation Of Formal Strategic Planning Business Essay

Evaluation Of Formal Strategic Planning Business Essay What is strategic planning. As in daily life when people have choices or plans to make, down to the simplest things as in, what will we do this weekend?, businesses need to form plans or strategies to know their way forward with a goal for the business to reach in order to maintain the success of the business and to achieve objectives. All members within a group must know of the plans made in order to follow them with the desire to be successful within their environment for continued growth, success and also to move with the ever changing world in which we live. It is important for management to set out a game plan to continually strengthen the performance of their company. A strategic plan will state how a business should conduct themselves for a period of time in order to achieve these desired goals, this can be seen as a means to an end, looking forward to where changes need to be made and setting out a plan in order to reach that point using strategic methods. Jasparro R.J. (2006) states that strategic planning can help companies to think and act strategically, develop effective strategies, clarify future directions, establish priorities, improve organisational performance, build teamwork and expertise, and deal effectively with a rapidly changing environment. This has proven difficult in recent years and the following report will go into more depth as to the reasons why certain conditions may impact Strategic Planning. Nature of Formal Strategic Planning To form a plan, a business will have to look at both the external and internal environments surrounding their specialist area. It is at this point a company will decide on their competences and look at what the company is best at doing. They may then look at how they can expand on their strengths and look at what their competitors are doing within the same area. They need to know what makes them special and stand out from the crowd, what makes customers turn first and foremost to them, then look at the options they have at that moment in time to maintain the momentum and the returning business. It is at this point in the planning stage that they may look at perhaps not doing something which may be good for the company at a later date and maybe it is not the right time to make such changes yet. There should be a clear distinction between formulation and implementation. Formulation is in the planning process, implementation is carrying out the plans made using SWOT and PESTEL. Five Forces Analysis is a technique for identifying the forces which affect the level of competition in an industry and scenario planning is a technique that builds various plausible views of possible futures for a business. The five forces framework takes into account the potential entrants to the market (threat of entry), buyers (buying power), suppliers (bargaining power), substitutes (threat of substitutes) all leading toward Competitive Rivalry as outlined below: Porters Five Forces Template from thevirtualconsultancy.com PESTEL, an analytical tool which considers external factors and helps a business think about their impacts, allows us to look at Political, Environmental, Social, Technological, Economic and Legal factors which might affect companies. This is a broader plan than a SWOT analysis which concentrates more on the internal factors of a company, on the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. Both SWOT and PESTEL need to be taken into account when considering major changes for any company. Key Characteristics of Strategic Planning Upon consideration of PESTEL and SWOT, a company will be required to look closely at their present work ethics and see where changes are required to help the company improve. Companies also have to limit their weaknesses and see opportunities for the business to thrive for the future. External matters will need to be considered such as recession, the time of year, inclement in weather, looking at the global market, is there a need to outsource certain aspects of the business, will this be cheaper for the company, will it cause more threats? The characteristics of strategic planning are weighing up PESTEL and SWOT matters and forming a plan to overcome or take advantage of the market in which they are in at that specific moment in time. The strategy needs to be frequently reviewed against prevailing external and internal environments. An Intended Strategy is when a company will write down their plan for employees and management to follow, this plan may become a Realised Strategy when this will need to be reformed and another plan made to reach the next level. Sometimes however, these plans are not met and a company will need to sit down with their board of directors and look at an Emergent Strategy, this could be down to major changes within their market, inclement in weather for some companies or many other factors but companies are still required to find a way out of their Unrealised Strategy and to move on from that with another Intended Strategy. Planning is a huge factor in Formal Strategic Planning. Evaluations of Formal Strategic Planning In evaluating strategic planning, business intelligence interprets a need to constantly monitor how the strategy and the objectives are being implemented and to note whether or not the company have overcome problems using their plan or not. If they have not, then the way the strategic plan was set out will need to be restructured to combat the problems and redesigned to provide competitive advantage for the organisation. Drago, W., Clements, C. (1999) indicates that leadership qualities of management and staff should be taken into consideration when applying any strategic plan. This article outlines the necessity to draw on the strengths of your staff and their traits to incorporate this into your overall strategic plan helping you to attain the overall outcome required. Advantages/Strengths of Formal Strategic Planning Strategic planning models the future of the company and allows everyone to see that they are working toward the same mission statement or the same goal. It outlines a paradigm showing strengths and a focus on where the company sees its future. It can add stability to the workforce who can see the company making future plans. Failure to make plans could mean a company becoming stuck in the middle if they have not differentiated enough to gain market share. Through planning, it can be said that companies will learn their market better, know their competitors views and decide whether they need to change their product or become more diverse sticking to a related market or taking their products into another dimension. For example, Virgin began in the early eighties with Virgin music, moving onto Virgin Atlantic and now they have broadened to Virgin media and phones. They recognised that they needed to change their market at specific times in order to continue expansion through planning or foreseeing the future of the company thus increasing their market power. In the early days, Virgin music was used to balance cash flows in order to move into the Virgin Atlantic area and spread risks throughout different branches of the same company. Disadvantages/Weaknesses of Formal Strategic Planning It can be said that in todays economic environment that planning is not always effective, as the market is changing constantly, almost on a daily basis making it difficult to plan anything at all. It is difficult to control anything which is out of our own hands as per the external factors mentioned earlier within this report. A business model could be flawed and may not have had enough thought put into in the initial process which could lead to failure for a business. Personnel could change and a company may need to restructure a plan according to a new setup of staff. A number of external or internal factors or changes can make targets unobtainable. When plans change, and an emergent approach is required to combat weakness in the formal planning, it can reflect that management arent focused totally on the initial goal with a willingness to compromise which could prove time consuming and inefficient due to its flexibility. Mintzberg (1994) states that strategic planning often spoils strategic thinking, causing managers to confuse real vision with the manipulation of numbers, this reflects upon the fact that managers can lose sight of reality and instead remain focused on the strategic plan instead of their vision and may not have a desire to change. Uncertain Dynamic Environment It is indicated in a journal written by Pateli, A.G., Giaglis, G.M. (2005) that researchers are linking performances between business models and strategic planning to take into account strategy, industry and resource based effects outlining that companies are required to look at the broader spectrum and link outside influences with their internal influences. The strategy influence indicates considering such matters as where a company is within their market area, should they expand, should they outsource, are their staff equipped to deal with change, is training required, the need to focus on goals and realise if their potential could be realised or perhaps moving towards a different area entirely for the moment in order to survive as a business. The industry influence will concentrate more on the internal market, looking directly at competition and forward planning, find out if they are equipped to cope with such changes and if not, what steps are required to be taken in order to stay ahead of the game. Johnson G et al (2008) indicates that knowledge complexity of an industry or organisational complexity with larger companies (perhaps local governments with various sectors) makes it difficult to plan anything strategically within the global recession. Managers need to be aware of constant environmental scanning and know what is going on around them in order to know the future direction they face. Using emergent strategies may work best for companies. In this environment, companies will be aware of the constant forces of change outwith their control and realise ways in which to overcome these. Political issues are constantly changing too and at present we face the possible emergence of an Independent Scotland. Although it is said that Scottish people will have more say over ones government and more political freedom, they also face greater economic risks, less security and more differences with England and possible further insecurities with the Euro. Obviously for individual companie s, this could be a time of considerable change and a need to be equipped to face both outcomes. Businesses will need to look closely at both scenarios and have emergent strategies to deal with problems they may face. Challenges of Uncertain Dynamic Environment Within our Uncertain Dynamic Environment, despite the potential advantages of formal strategic planning approaches, it can be of limited benefit to organisations. In a highly volatile global economy, there is a need to act quickly and effectively to change and uncertainty. Contribution/Roles of Formal Strategic Planning in Uncertain Dynamic Environment The role of formal strategic planning comes under scrutiny in an uncertain dynamic environment as it can be shown to have some sort of effect if a company has proven effective in its ability to foresee external †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. Scenarios are visions of the future, a look at what may happen. Conclusion Is planning worth it? Planning is not necessarily strategic thinking. Thinking is intuitive and entrepreneurial based on ideas and a foresight for something a person or a company might want in the future. This is based on questions of what if? and complex thinking. Planning is bureaucratic and can mean that management are overly complicated which can result in faulty decisions. A plan created by a bureaucracy could be overburdened by needless steps and obstructions that would hinder actually getting the task completed in a timely and efficient manner. Bureaucracy is often taken to mean inefficiency and absence of practical considerations. Orders made by people that do not have to follow those orders and really do not understand (or possibly even care) what their orders actually require. However, a certain amount of planning within any business or life decision has to be made to a certain degree with a view to being totally versatile in order to make major changes as and when required to move to the next level. Strategic planning is not easy and has challenges, but the hurdles could be worth overcoming.

Does a Violent Media create a Violent Society? Essay -- social issues

Does a Violent Media create a Violent Society? This issue is one of constant debate, with no real solution. There are many things society as a whole and individuals can do to appease or inflame the issue, however each argument has a counter argument and a counter argument will exist for that and so on. Because it is an issue of such heated debate with no answer or possibility of an answer should we just leave the issue be and choose not to address it further? Or should we make the issue widely known so society is more aware of the role the media can play. Or perhaps we should leave it to the media to publicise that. After all the media does have a strong influence. Take the late 1980's film Terminator, one of the highest grossing films of the 80's. This means millions of people worldwide have been to see it at the movies, and then most probably, rented it out on video. Have these millions of people gone out and killed their arch enemies? I think not. However the file Terminator may have inspired, planted the idea, or conceptualised the seed of an idea in someone's mind. And one or, possibly more murders can be associated with the movie Terminator, a certain method of killing perhaps mimicked in a psychos' rage. Yet isn't it more than likely that the ONLY aspect of the murder affected by Terminator and such films may have been just the technique used. I believe it is more than likely the killer/murderer/stalker would have performed his duties anyway. I s... Does a Violent Media create a Violent Society? Essay -- social issues Does a Violent Media create a Violent Society? This issue is one of constant debate, with no real solution. There are many things society as a whole and individuals can do to appease or inflame the issue, however each argument has a counter argument and a counter argument will exist for that and so on. Because it is an issue of such heated debate with no answer or possibility of an answer should we just leave the issue be and choose not to address it further? Or should we make the issue widely known so society is more aware of the role the media can play. Or perhaps we should leave it to the media to publicise that. After all the media does have a strong influence. Take the late 1980's film Terminator, one of the highest grossing films of the 80's. This means millions of people worldwide have been to see it at the movies, and then most probably, rented it out on video. Have these millions of people gone out and killed their arch enemies? I think not. However the file Terminator may have inspired, planted the idea, or conceptualised the seed of an idea in someone's mind. And one or, possibly more murders can be associated with the movie Terminator, a certain method of killing perhaps mimicked in a psychos' rage. Yet isn't it more than likely that the ONLY aspect of the murder affected by Terminator and such films may have been just the technique used. I believe it is more than likely the killer/murderer/stalker would have performed his duties anyway. I s...

Emotional Marketing: Necessity of Today’s Marketing Management

The purpose of this paper is to write an analysis of an article that discusses an aspect of marketing management. During my research I was attracted to an article by James Cooper Titled, ‘Emotional Marketing as the Basis of Your Promotions’; after reading Coopers article I found Emotional Marketing to be interesting, but his article did not provide enough data to satisfy my interest in Emotional Marketing . So, rather than write about a single article, I have chosen to write about the topic of Emotional Marketing and its necessity in today’s Marketing Management. Marketing mangers must understand that if the consumers’ emotions are addressed in the right way they could get more loyal customers. This has unlashed the approach to marketing which was termed as â€Å"Emotional Marketing† (Drypen). Cooper points out that, â€Å"Marketing to today’s consumers is a challenging business because you are no longer listing the specifications of products and services. Instead you are meeting people on an emotional level to break into their consumer awareness†. As part of a company’s marketing strategy producers need to realize that there is a strong emotional connect between consumers / customers and the products they use. Brands that don't make emotional connections with their prospects and customers will eventually lose out to those that do. The practice of emotional marketing as it relates to value proposition is all about getting your target audience to connect with your product, service, and brand at a very basic and fundamental level – the level of emotions. When building customer value, emotional marketing can be used in influencing customer perceived value and total customer benefit. Some examples of firms that are successful in this application can be seen with top brands such as Starbucks, Porsche, and so on. These products and services make an emotional connection with the people they serve. They have met the challenge of identifying how its products/services can connect emotionally. They have explored what type of experience their product can offer its customers and the perceived value to customer above the firm’s competitors. Emotional marketing can only take place once the company delivers a user experience that represents its purpose. Once the company is able to deliver on that promise, it can market the experience to consumer prospects. Companies must leverage: customer testimonials, word-of-mouth, discussion forums, and trials (marketingscoop). Ideally the company wants its products or services to deliver an experience, and gets prospects to participate along with having the experience themselves. Emotional marketing is a powerful strategy if you can deliver a strong customer experience, thus, leveraging the experience to maximize customer satisfaction in the long run. On the other hand, there are the companies that use emotional marketing when customers are having a not so positive customer experience. These companies take advantage during times of crisis and turmoil. An example of this is appealing to the public during an epidemic or natural disaster and offering short term solutions. Many times the products or services offered are not even effective, nor do they provide the experience the customer desires. Furthermore, the customers’ negative experience is just the opportunity that some companies are looking for to capitalize on short run profit maximization. Leveraging emotional marketing can help in evaluating and selecting market segments to exploit. If and when the marketing/promotion appeals to the emotional aspects of customers the companies, in some cases, can move toward targeting a ‘supersegment’. For example, many symphony orchestras target people who have broad cultural interests, rather than those who only regularly attend concerts (Kotler & Keller pg 229). The product appeal is more toward a cultural or emotion interest rather than that of a physiological need. Emotion acts as a catalyst in the engine of the purchase decision process. Through experience and learning, people acquire attitudes. These in turn influence buying behavior (Kotler & Keller, pg 170). This is important since favorable and unfavorable experiences trigger emotional feeling toward a product or service being marketed. Cooper’s article, â€Å"Emotional Marketing as the Basis of Your Promotions† only touched on promotion of the product as it appeals to emotional marketing. After further research I found that emotional marketing throughout the marketing process is important in its application to: marketing strategy, customer value, target markets, brands, market segment, customer satisfaction and purchasing decisions. In conclusion, marketing managers must understand that costumers get attracted to products which effect there feelings. Companies which want to stand above the competition have to leverage emotional marketing so as to increase market share. Effective development in emotional marketing can shift a marketing challenger or market follower to position of market leader. Thus, making emotional marketing a necessity of today’s marketing management. References Cooper, J. , (Feb. 2008) Emotional Marketing As The Basis Of Your Promotions , Written for Marketinglinx. com, retrevied from the World Wide Web on 14 May 2009 at http://www. articlesbase. com/marketing-articles/emotional-marketing-as-the-basis-of-your-promotions-325335. tml Kotler, P. , & Keller, K. ,(2006), Marketing Management 13th edition, Pearson Prentice Hall. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey Drypen, (Nov. 2008),Emotional Marketing – to Play the Emotional Tune is the Necessity of Today's Marketing, written for Drypen. com, retrevied from the World Wide Web on 14 May 2009 at http://www. articlesbase. com/authors/drypen/73887. htm Unknow n, (2009), Making an Emotional Connection with Your Customers, written for marketingscoop. com, retrevied from the World Wide Web on 14 May 2009 at http://www. marketingscoop. com/emotional-marketing. htm

Sulfuric acid

The resulting copper (II) sulfate solution when cooled can easily crystallize which is in the solid form and the amount of product can be accurately measured by using electronic balance to get the mass of the The experiment is carried out to calculate the percentage crystal formed. Yield of the salt formed. The percentage yield is the percentage of purity of the product that we want and the actual yield is always less than the theoretical value as there are many factors to affect the purity Of the product such as environmental factor, systematic error, random error and others.Therefore, it is very hard to get a 100% yield throughout the experiment. Objective: To make a salt and to calculate the percentage yield of the salt. Reagents & Apparatus: 20 ml Sulfuric acid MM, g Copper (II) carbonate, Bunsen burner, Tripod stand, Gauze, White tile, Filter funnel and filter paper, Glass rod, 100 ml Glass beaker, Conical flask 250 ml Petri dish, Balance Spatula, Procedure: Stage 1 1 Add 20 ml MM sulfuric acid in a 100 ml beaker. Heat carefully on the tripod with a blue flame until nearly boiling. 2 When the acid is hot enough, turn off the Bunsen burner and stand the beaker on a white tile. Use a spatula to add small portions of copper (II) carbonate into the beaker. The reaction is exothermic, so be careful when adding the solid. Stir the mixture gently for about half a minute after each addition. 4 When all the copper (II) carbonate has been added, allow the beaker to cool slightly; meanwhile set up Stage 2. Stage 2 5 Fold a filter paper to fit into a filter funnel, and put it in the funnel. Place the funnel in the neck of a conical flask. 6 When the beaker is cool enough to hold at the top, pour the contents into the filter paper in the funnel. Gently swirl the contents to mix; allow to filter through. Rinse the beaker and pour the Lear blue solution back into it. Boil the solution until the volume is half the original volume. Cool the solution. 8 Obtain the mass off dry Petri dish; label it with your group number. Carefully pour the warm solution into the dish and leave aside for a week. 9 After one week, obtain the mass of the dry crystals. Result : 1 What was the color of copper (II) carbonate? What was the color of the solution produced after the reaction? Before reaction (Copper (II) Carbonate) After reaction (Copper (II) Sulfate) Color Green Blue 2 Describe your crystals.The crystal formed is in blue rhombic shape. 3 Mass of the dry crystals = 3. Egg Precaution steps : 1 . The position of eyes must be perpendicular to the scale of measuring cylinder to avoid parallax error. 2. Stir the mixture gently to ensure the copper(al) carbonate, is fully reacted with sulfuric acid, 3. Handle the acidic solution using gloves to avoid the acid from splitting to the hands. Discussion: 1 Calculate the theoretical yield of crystals that could have been made. + (as) (as) +(l) + (g) = ml=20 =o. Moll -0. 02 x (249. 5) = 0. Mol -?4. Egg Mass of the crystal ( ) 2 Calculate the percentage yield. Percentage yield = x 100% = x 100% = 63. 93% 3 a) Is it possible to prepare copper (II) sulfate if we start with copper (II) oxide and sulfuric acid? If so, describe the procedure. Yes, it is possible to prepare copper (II) sulfate if we start with copper(al) oxide and sulfuric acid. To prepare copper (II) sulfate , prepare of the O. MM sulfuric acid and pour portions of copper(al) oxide is added to the beaker until excess. Stir the mixture and pour into the filter funnel.The filtrate is then heated until the illume becomes half and cools the solution to crystallize. The crystal which is copper (II) sulfate will be formed. The crystal is then rinsed with water and dried with filter paper. B) Is it possible to prepare copper (II) sulfate if we start with copper metal and sulfuric acid? If so, describe the procedure. No, because the position of copper ion is lower than hydrogen ion in electrochemical series . Hence, it doesn't react with acid. Concl usion: As the conclusion, it shows that salt can be made by reacting acid with metal carbonate together.