Posts Tagged ‘management’
Job Rotation as Career Development Mechanism for Management Trainee Officers (MTO’s)
Introduction
To get a competitive edge over the competitor, organizations are looking for competitive advantages. Employees having multi-skills is also a tool to get competitive edge, and job rotation is a process which make employees multi-skillful. Organization use job rotation in efficient way than regular training, through this, employees will get practical experiences and it will develop employees, it also give organization competitive edge (Blashka, 2007). Job rotation is a process to change position of an employee from one job to another job (Edwards, 2005).The process through which an employee can develop some new relevant skills. An employee should not expect in start that he will perform the entire duties and tasks of the new position, but he should expect first to develop the new and necessary skills to carry on the new job (Oregon, 2004). Job rotation is lateral transfer between different jobs in an organization, the rotated employees do not get that position forever and some time they don’t back to former jobs. Rotation can also has a function of staffing (Campion et al., 1994)
Through job rotation we can improve products flexibility, employee’s satisfaction and reduce the risk of musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) (Dan Macleod March, 2006). Erikson & Ortega (2006) explained job rotation with some theories: employees learning theory says that rotation will make employees more versatile, employer learning theory say by job rotation employer would able to know about employees capability, and according to employee motivation theory rotation makes job more interesting, and it reduce boredom and fatigue. Job rotation is an administrative control which can reduce musculoskeletal injury and fatigue.(Jonsson, 1988, Anderson 1988, Doelen and Barsky 1990, Hazard et al. 1992)
Some authors have declared job rotation is time wasting and costly phenomena by providing direct training and learning process (Campion & McClelland, 1991, 1993; Feldman, 1981; Louis, 1980; Ostroff & Kozlowski, 1992; Quartly, 1973; Zeira, 1974). But it is proven by some scholars that job rotation has positive relation to some benefits, knowledge and skills outcomes and negatively related to cost perceptions (Campion et al., 1994)
TEM – Total Ethical Management
TOTAL ETHICAL MANAGEMENT – A SYSTEMS APPROACH
By
VIKRAM KARVE
A Manager must possess the requisite proficiency in analyzing and managing ethical situations in the contextual scenario which, at times, are quite complex.
There is, thus, a need for present day management education to prepare future managers to tackle such dilemmas and contingencies.
This author’s interactions with faculty, students and practicing managers reveal that very few management courses include Ethical Management in their curriculum and even those that do seem to view Managerial Ethics from a limited perspective restricted to just three aspects:
(i) Economic Analysis, based on impersonal market forces. The belief is that a manager should always act to maximize revenues and minimize costs, for this strategy, over the long term, will produce the greatest material benefits for society.
(ii) Legal Analysis, based on impersonal social and political processes. The belief is that a manager should always act in accordance with the law, and strictly implement rules and regulations. Relying on economic or legal analyses, either by themselves, or in conjunction with each other may help a manger seek shelter under the umbrella of “situational ethics”.
(iii) Philosophical Analysis, based on rational thought process. The view is that a manager should always act in accordance with principles of behaviour or beliefs that are “right” “proper” and “just”. Such black-and-white moral reasoning manifests itself in formulation of codes of conduct which, more often than not, are deceivable vessels full of promise but empty of intention.
Owing to this non-sytemic perspective of Managerial Ethics, the management student views the ethical domain as consisting of cut-and-dry unimplementable and unrealistic codes of ethics comprising platitudinous moral verbiage at one end of the spectrum, and the “loopholes” of situational ethics at the other end.
How then does one equip the management student to make the transition from the domain of codes of conduct and situational ethics, which are grossly inadequate to analyze and manage real-life ethical dilemmas, to a more holistic Total Ethical Management [TEM]
It is the author’s view that application of Systems concepts is sine qua non for implementation of Total Ethical Management [TEM] in a holistic manner.
The salient aspects of application of the Systems Approach in the context of TEM are described below in a nutshell.
A Role of Ethics and Social Responsibilities in Management
Ethics can be defined as a process of evaluating actions according to moral principal of values(A.Alhemoud). Throughout the centuries people were trying to choose between profit and moral. Perhaps, some of them obtain both, but every time it could have roused ethical issues. Those issues concern fairness, justice, rightness or wrongness; as a result it can only be resolved according to ethical standards.
Setting the ethical standards for the way of doing business in corporation is primarily task of management. Corporations have to maintain the same standards as an individual person and, in addition, corporations, as organizational units, have their own social responsibilities toward customers, employees and society. However, any business should keep it’s original purpose of functioning – making profit. Balancing the traditional standards of profitability and burden of social responsibilities is not an easy task. In recent years it has been a trend of setting standards of corporate ethics according to high degree of morale.
To be able to keep the ethical standards management must follow the law. However, there are some complications in enforcing it. The law affects and is affected by social forces and prevailing ethical standards. “Although the law can codify societies ethical
________________________________________________________________________
Alhemoud, Ali ” Management Ethics is Smart Business.”
values, ethical decision making transcends the law in that 1) the law deals with actions not
with thoughts, and therefore it does not (and cannot) codify all ethical requirements; and
2) an individual or a group may perceive a given law as immoral, not as a guide to ethical behavior.” ( A. Alhemoud). How, then, a company can ensure that its code of ethics is both followed and enforced ? ” …Defense firm such as General Dynamics and TRW, and an information company, Dun & Broadstreet, have appointed internal ethics officers or ombudsmen. Whether employees have faith in these safeguards against corporate retaliation is hard to tell, though it is one step forward (The Economist August 19 1995)
The ethical codes of corporations that that get so important nowadays also did not come into being at once. They emerged from individual ethical standards and corporate consciousness. Moreover, the public demand for prosecution of any violations of corporate, professional and business ethics has been increased. Finally, mass media made possible for society reveal secrets that were kept from public before. So, the business conduct regulations were created to “draft guidelines for ethical conduct, develop a process for monitoring business practices and recommend ways to correct questionable activities.” (J.Byrne) All these measures were taken to balance various social responsibilities with the high degree of moral and sense of attainment.
Effective Career management as a mechanism for personal and organizational Development and Growth
By Agaba Herbert
Introduction
According to wikipedia the career management process begins with setting goals/objectives. A relatively specific goal/objective must be formulated. This task may be quite difficult when the individual lacks knowledge of career opportunities and/or is not fully aware of their talents and abilities. However, the entire career management process is based on the establishment of defined goals/objectives whether specific or general in nature. Utilizing career assessments may be a critical step in identifying opportunities and career paths that most resonate with someone.
Ball (1997) notes that making career choices and decisions are the traditional focus of careers and interventions. The changed nature of work means that individuals may have to revisit this process more frequently now and in the future than in the past. Managing one’s organizational career concerns the career management tasks of individuals within the workplace such as decision making, life stage transitions, dealing with stress and so forth.Raddon (2005) (ed) notes that the changes in the drivers, form, content and structure of work have been evolving since the first exchange of goods and labor existed, but within the last century the pace of this evolution has accelerated, and information professions have been among some of the most rapidly changing areas. These changes have been taking place in a context of social, economic and technological flux…organizations have responded through the responding need of technologies, changing formal structures, decentralization, improved flexibility, structural alterations in the workforce, and different responses to issues of race and gender.
Career management at a Personal level
Sustainable career management starts when one is a child. It involves parenting styles and roles in a family. This means that both parents of a child should ensure that they closely monitor their child development in terms of the likes and dislikes, their thinking patterns; the way they socialize with others in terms of group activities with their friends. This stage is crucial because at that time the brain is growing so what the children do and like is deeply ingrained. It is the role of their parents to try and understand these patterns so that they can guide their children well. The challenge is that some parents seem to think that what worked for them will necessarily work for their children something which may not be the case. This has affected the careers of many people who have gone on to do “famous” courses something which is regretted at the latter years of their careers. At this level, career management involves setting personal goals and devising strategies to achieve these goals. It should be noted that career management is a an on-going process that involves self evaluation to find out if one is still on the same path s/he chose to take years back.
Hospitality Management
Hospitality management is the academic study of the running of hotels, restaurants, and travel and tourism-related business. Hospitality management is both a field of work and a field of study. In the work sense, it refers to management of hotels, restaurants, travel agencies, and other institutions in the hospitality industry. As a field of study, it refers to the study of the hospitality industry and its management needs.
The hospitality industry is vast and very diverse. Any time people travel, stay in a hotel, eat out, go to the movies, and engage in similar activities, they are patronizing establishments in the hospitality industry. The management of such establishments is very challenging, as managers need to be flexible enough to anticipate and meet a wide variety of needs. They must also handle tasks such as training employees, handling staff, setting standards, and so on.
The hotel industry, which is an integral part of the tourism sector, provides a large percentage of the total employment in the tourism industry. A hotel needs the services of trained staff to provide professional services for national and international clients. The hospitality industry consists of broad category of fields within the service industry that includes lodging,restaurants, event planning theme parks, and transportation. The hospitality industry is a several billion dollar industry that mostly depends on the availability of leisure time and disposable income.
The hospitality industry covers a wide range of organizations offering food service and accommodation. The hospitality industry is divided into sectors according to the skill-sets required for the work involved. Sectors include accommodation, food and beverage, meeting and events, gaming, entertainment and recreation, tourism services, and visitor information. Hospitality industry is closely linked with travel and tourism industries. India is experiencing huge footfalls as a favorite vacation destination of foreigners and natives and the hospitality industry is going into a tizzy working towards improving itself.
Hospitality management refers to some procedures of serving the tourists and the visitors in a way that they feel every ease in the place not known to them. It refers to the management of different aspects such as living, foods and travelling. Today the visitors rank the countries on the basis of quality of hospitality they received from the visiting country. Poor the quality poor the visiting rate and vice versa. Hence it drives the need to improve more and more hospitality services of a country. The people engage in this business tries hard to satisfy their visitors by providing all the necessary arrangements with a presentable manner.
Career in Hospitality Management
Hospitality management is the academic study of the running of hotels, restaurants, and travel and tourism-related business. Hospitality management is both a field of work and a field of study. In the work sense, it refers to management of hotels, restaurants, travel agencies, and other institutions in the hospitality industry. As a field of study, it refers to the study of the hospitality industry and its management needs.
Given the potential for interesting and rewarding careers in tourism and hospitality industries many young people are looking for suitable courses which will help and facilitate them to build strong career in tourism and hospitality industries. After graduating from Hotel Management institutes there is a wide range of career option available for all the aspirants.
Hotels, one can get placed in reputed hotels like Taj, Oberoi’s and to some international chains like Hyatt, Sheraton etc. One can get placed in different departments like housekeeping, front office and food & beverages etc depending upon skills, knowledge and interest of the candidate.
Airline industry, is also a good option for the hotel management students. One can join as an Air Hostess and Flight Stewards. Some of them can also join as ground Staff or as Public Relationship officers. Retail sector, has a wide range open for hotel management graduates. It includes PVR, Malls, Back Office jobs, joining as receptionist in corporate offices, Hospitals and BPO industry.
Enterpreneur, one has the option to open up his own hotel as he has done the theoratical study and can now implement studied principles to make his hotel world famous.
Careers in hotel management-The Hospitality sector travel & tourism, hotel industry – has witnessed a fast growth in recent years. To match its rapid growth, the Hostel industry is in constant need of qualified professionals. Candidates opting for the Career in Hotel Management need to go through a rigorous professional training program. Qualification in Hotel management will open doors for young aspirants in the areas like Management trainee in hotels, Customer relationship executives in hotels, Housekeeping management, Cabin crew in airlines, Catering officer in cruiselines and executive in Tourism Development Corporations.
With increasing globalization, career opportunities in the field of hospitality are not limited within the country but there are chains of hotels which operate internationally providing scope of a career abroad. With the growth of hotel industry propelled by foreign and domestic tourism and business travel, the demand for well trained quality personnel too has grown impressively.
Ethics In Management – A Primer
MANAGERIAL ETHICS – A Primer
By
VIKRAM KARVE
Honesty and Loyalty may be often deeply ingrained in the make-up of simple and humble people than in men of high position. A man who was taking bribes when he was a constable does not turn honest when he becomes the Chief of Police. The only thing that changes is the size of the bribe. Weakness of character and inability to withstand temptation remain with the man no matter how high he climbs.
ETHICS and HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
It is often stated that the most important resource of any organization is the Human Resource. This article addresses the relevance of ethics in Human Resource Management and discusses various ethical and motivational aspects, including ethical values and ethical decision-making.
Ethics is an integral and vital aspect of Human Resource Management since most of our actions and decisions have ethical manifestations with consequential ramifications in the HR domain.
There is a general belief that ethics is concerned only with financial propriety.
Whilst this aspect certainly involves ethics, ethical management is all encompassing concerning each and every facet of your professional and personal life.
There is a story, probably apocryphal, which illustrates this aspect.
There was a cyclonic storm and millions of fish were washed ashore and were struggling for life on the beach. A man came to the beach and patiently began to pick up the fish, one by one, and throw them back into the sea. An amused passerby asked him what difference it would make, to which the man pointed to the fish in his hand and said, “Ask this fish?”
Thus, we see that seemingly routine decisions, which at the organizational level do not appear to have major ethical magnitude, have large ethical significance at the individual level.
The purpose of this article is to give you a basic understanding of the fundamental concept of ethics, to have you reflect upon the relationship between your ethical values and your behaviour as an HR Manager and to show you how to develop a personalized approach to deal with ethical dilemmas.
Even though only a very small fraction of the employees may indulge in unethical behaviour, it has serious ramifications on the organization as a whole and affects a large number of people who are stakeholders.
How to Address the Customer Service Gap
Copyright (c) 2008 Drew Stevens PhD
Finding Solutions that otherwise puzzle organizations
Organizations believe that they provide exactly what customers desire. Ask any firm and the Paretto Principle prevails. 80 percent of most organizations believe they deliver exemplary customer service. Ironically, less then 20 percent do. According to research by consultancy Bain and Company, only 8 percent of companies really deliver on customer service.
Our present environment exists with a gap in delivering service. There are numerous reasons for the gap, however, we believe two issues contribute to this gap, a) greed and b) the inability of customer relationships.
Greed Many statements by management consultant Peter Drucker are famous. However, in the book The Practice of Management, Drucker clearly states, “There is only one valid definition of business purpose: to create a customer.” Organizations today are trumped by two fundamental issues- competition and productivity. The focus is so acute that raising revenue, higher profits and increasing productivity all ignore the necessary myopia of customer concentration.
Exemplars of avarice include Starbuck’s, the airline industry and retail establishments. Anytime an organization believes they can achieve higher growth they raise fees, not one CEO or analysts stops to ask what the impact of the client is. Prior to heightened fees, customer remain for two purposes 1) either first mover advantage in the case of Starbuck’s or 2) value such as American Airlines. Yet when fees increase, customers tend to jump ship for cheaper and more appealing alternatives.
The solution for any firm is to thoroughly conduct an impact analysis to determine potential market losses. New revenue means nothing when you lose a core customer base. Customer dissonance cannot be taken for granted.
Customer Relationships Customer connections are very difficult to build- that is to say unless you are focused on your core asset. First, as mentioned earlier, an organizations entire strategy must exist for the client. Strategic questions to ask are, “Who is the customer? Why does the customer buy? What is the value that our firm provides? How do reach disseminate product, service and announcements to our customers? These questions all told focus all beliefs, all values and all attitudes for the company asset. Further, it is imperative to treat the client as such- an asset. Nothing happens, no one gets paid and the electricity does not provide power to the plants unless a customer is involved.