Management of people and organizations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Management of people and organizations - Essay Example This report consists of an organizational structure of the Walgreen Company. The company follows rigid departmentalization, which is a centralized set-up. The departments are not expected or needed to interact with each other on a daily basis. There are times when inter department communication is necessary but they are not expected to work in collaboration for the fulfillment of their routine tasks. It consists of levels of functional setup with centralized reporting and authoritative work processes. The original structure consists of three levels of management; the CEO on the first level, CFO and Departmental heads on the second level, supervisors and managers in the third level. There is a recommendation given to re-structure the set-up. Instead of three levels, Area Managers can be located at level two who will be responsible to give directives to the departmental heads. As Walgreens is providing services at national and international platforms, it is necessary to locate Area Man ager. During this process, some authority and decision-making powers of CEO can be transferred to the Area Managers. It is bureaucratic organization with very less communication between the departmental heads. However, there can be some delegation of work within the department. Supervisors can take the role of the Line Managers in the organization. However, there is a need to define their responsibility. Managers and Departmental Heads can play an effective role in filling communication gap and provide solutions within the department.

MGT 511 CASE ASSIGNMENT 3 Work-Life Issues Essay

MGT 511 CASE ASSIGNMENT 3 Work-Life Issues - Essay Example The main aim here is to ensure that the individual spends equal time and energy on home matters, family activities and also self well being. Some of main reasons a work life balance is so focused on is the need to spend quality and flexible hours in taking care of the elderly, children and also better health care. With the growing levels of competition the need for flexible working hours and conditions, the concept has been well received by numerous large organisations however has not been very well received by other smaller organisations. A number of the large organisations and medium scaled companies provide the employees with a chance to have shorter work weeks and flexible schedules as well as options to work from home. Also companies are now adopting the flexible work hours and flexible work environment as a part of the corporate social responsibility as well. An excellent source of information for the work place flexibility is that presented by Ken Giglio of the Sloan Work and Family Research Network. The website provides a wide range of flexibility options provided by several companies keeping in mind the needs of the workforce (Giglio, n.d.). As seen in the case study by Giglio, it is evident that companies like AFLAC provide the employees with a flexible work environment and are not very strict in terms of the work hours. The company works on the principle that if the employees are taken care of, then the employees will also take care of the business. The Gen X and Gen Y have very different approaches and perspectives to the work life balance. The differences relate to the attitude of work as well as the views and the changing work demographics in America. The Gen X is more focused on the fulfilment that they achieve from life. The typical family here will include both parents working and in case of any family needs, the wife tends to make changes to her work schedule accordingly. Here in Gen X the women need more flexible work options. However in the case of Gen Y, the men contribute to the work within the house as well. Here the men take up the roles of being a husband, father and also caregiver. This generation does not focus on the traditional gender roles and as explained by Fraone (2010), â€Å"Traditional gender roles no longer apply in a  marketplace, where women earn over half of all graduate degrees and have (in some  industries) the earning potential of their male counterparts† (Fraone, 2010).  Ã‚  Here in Gen Y the men take on the role within the family and here the men tend to be more involved in raising the children and also working towards child care responsibilities as well. As explained by Harrington in Fraone (2010), â€Å"The progressive organizations that we work with have developed a wide array of policies to support their employees and many are striving to foster a culture of flexibility, agility and viewing employees as a whole person† (Fraone, 2010). There is however a common issue wher e the managers or the Gen X workers tend to over look the role of men in home related work and also tend to overlook women who need flexible work conditions for family care. It is also crucial to note here that corporate leadership styles tend to be diverse and this provides a chance to provide better equitable work life balance as well. The leaders within an organisation may not always have children or may have children who are grown, or may not even have elderly to care for within the family.

MGT ASSIGNMENT PART ONE Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

MGT ASSIGNMENT PART ONE - Essay Example one example, there exists many such examples around the globe whereby strategic planning can seek to anticipate and ameliorate many of the challenges to profitability and change that exist within the current business environment. Furthermore, an evidence of tactical planning can be seen in the way in which BP has sought to further improve upon its safety performance in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon Oil spill within the Gulf of Mexico. Although BP was only partly responsible for the Macando Blow Out, the fact of the matter was that the incident was able to focus a high degree of oversight and introspection into the means whereby wells were drilled, caps were placed, and safety procedures were followed within the industry. More than being the greatest oil spill in history, the Macando Blow Out has provided BP with an exceptional opportunity to implement tactical planning on all of its oil drilling operations as a means of ensuring such an eventuality does not again occur. Finally, for the aspect of contingency planning that BP engages in, one can understand such a determinant also through the lens of the Macando Blow Out. What was evidenced at the time that the explosions and subsequent leak was first evidenced was the fact that BP was wholly and completely unprepared for dealing with a situation such as this; both on the tactical front as well as upon the contingency planning front. Rather than integrating a belief or understanding with the shareholders within the arena of public opinion that the firm was in control and was capable of dealing with the situation, what unfolded for the world to see was a firm that seemed to be muddling its way through the greatest oil spill in recorded human history. This destroyed consumer confidence and has left a very biased taste within the minds of shareholders that has yet to be erased. Although the majority of the damage from Deepwater horizon has since dissipated, the pervasive memory of how the firm dealt wit h

Theater History Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Theater History - Essay Example Entertainment in these early times involved travelling productions. With the rise however of very popular stars and the clamor of audiences to see their performances as often as they possibly could, the stage theaters started to be strongly patronized. This also marked the beginning of the single play with long-running stage productions. Significantly thereafter, the theater started to become one of the oldest forms of entertainment, and this, even long before the televisions and the cinemas were born. This paper will particularly focus on the following key points: realism, the resurgence of new melodrama and that of political censorship, with the end in view of not only discovering the correlations between the aforementioned key points and the rise of the stars, but that of their linkage as well, to the future growth of theater itself. (Germany) and Konstantin Stranislavsky (Moscow) advocated realism, the true depictions of life. Eventually, this soon became the dominant mode in most of the theatrical productions not only in Europe but also in the West (www.wsu.edu/brians/hum_303/naturalism.html). Most of the playwrights and production directors centered on the lives of shining stars like French stage actress Sarah Bernhardt (1844 -1923) and Italian stage player Eleonora Duse (1858 -1924). The renowned Sarah with the reputation of being a very serious dramatic actress then was referred to as "the most famous actress in the history of the world". She would later in this artistic profession earn the nickname of "The Divine Sarah" (Wikipedia). Injuring her right leg in 1905, an amputation was done in 1915, but this did not stop the ambivalent Sarah from continuing to tour and perform. She succumbed to a lingering ailment and made her final goodbye in 1923 while filming La Voyante (www.who2.com/sarahbernhardt.html). E leonora Duse, on the other hand, was considered as the greatest Italian player of her age, marking her American debut in 1893. With nineteen years hiatus, she made her farewell tour in 1923 (Fuse). Both Sarah and Eleonora had beautiful golden voices and each shared their respective abilities to breathe their emotional lives into the classic roles that they performed. Consequently, in their own respective rights, they would each further the movement toward the bringing about of remarkable realistic acting. Their professional careers became major successes despite of the fact that both their real lives were wrought and harrowed by the characters that they played. This fusion of realism and drama that are seen in turn in both these dramatic performers ushered in many changes in scenic and costume design, acting styles and staging. Similarly, in real life, both of them from frequent bouts of physical ailments, most of the time some financial difficulties, and the common problem of havin g countless love affairs. In any event, together, the two great stage actresses were most instrumental to making the concept of realism, the most dominant mode in the history of playwriting and theatrical productions during the 19th century. RESURGENCE OF NEW MELODRAMA "Melodrama was the primary form of

READING Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

READING - Assignment Example Of great interest is the position that Kal Raustilia and Chris Sprigman (2012) take, contrary to conventional knowledge and mainstream belief. Raustilia and Sprigman are of the persuasion that it is not possible to quantify losses attributed to piracy and copyright violations and that statistical provisions by proponents of Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and Protect IP Act (PIPA) which show that copyright infringement costs the US 200 billion dollars and 750,000 jobs annually, cannot be relied upon. Raustilia and Sprigman (2012) cite Tim Lee’s assertion that statistical figures should neither be taken at face value, nor unquestionably relied upon since such figures are almost always prone to approximations, double and triple counting. Raustilia and Sprigman continue that in some instances, music piracy may serve as substitute for legitimate transactions, and that the same can also trigger increased savings, since, instead of money being spent to purchase music, music is downloa ded on the one hand. On the other hand, increased savings may catalyze economically significant initiatives and undertakings, and thereby covering for the supposed loss of jobs and revenue which piracy may have caused. Nevertheless, a critical look at factors that underpin legislation which proscribe the infringement of copyright rules and logical reasoning leave the proposition which Raustilia and Sprigman advance as too impractical to be effected. In the same vein, it is most probable that Raustilia and Sprigman had not thought deeply about the implications that would come with the violation and collective disregard of copyright laws. In the first place, Gorski (2011) illustrates that the need to safeguard creativity and originality defeats the standpoint that Raustilia and Sprigman (2012) advance. It must be realized that the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, Title 17 of the United States Code, the NET Act and the Copyright Act of 1909 do not merely seek to ensure that all who ac cess music buy them, but to actually protect originality and creativity. Always, music is a culmination of training and creativity which are valuable resources. It is preposterous to argue that the training and creativity which an individual uses to earn a living should be treated as valueless. In this case, Raustilia and Sprigman’s proposition that music piracy can help generate financial or economic value does not suffice since such an arrangement alienates the original thinker, creator and director of an original piece from his work. The kind of advancement which Raustilia and Sprigman make is tantamount to robbing Peter to pay Paul, if not worse. In a separate wavelength, it is important to note that legislative pieces such as the Copyright Act of 1909, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, Title 17 of the United States Code and the NET Act are the very provisions which created the existence of the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and mandates RIAA to disc harge its duties and responsibilities. RIAA shows clearly that the music industry alone have forfeited millions of dollars to piracy. RIAA further divulges that in 2002, music revenue fell by 7% since the sale of CDs declined from 882 million to 803 million units. The report that RIAA provides in this case may be used to vindicate the statistical provisions that the proponents of SOPA and PIPA advance

Sport marketing assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Sport marketing assignment - Essay Example His experience applies a lot in my career where I am studying at a level that is considered of an older age. His experience is evidence that age does not determine how successful you will be in your career. The class guest mentions that studying at a young age can be overwhelming, but with the proper attitude and determination, it is possible to make it. The performance of the franchise was so poor that there was a joke to personify the franchisee. Radio hosts often teased their listeners and told them that they could win a first prize, which was two tickets to the nuggets game and the second prize would be four tickets to the nuggets game (class guest). However, the class, guest did not let this ridicule pull him down or throw him off course. He knew if he were successful in the franchise, he would have a chance at getting far with his career. No matter what people talked, he stuck to his vision and with determination and calculated moves, he made the difference. In my career, people always talk down and tell me how it is impossible to make it. If I follow the experience of the class, guest, I will definitely make it to the highest point of my career. When the guest joined the Nuggets, they were averaging about 4000 in season ticket sales. This situation made it hard for him to introduce himself as the vice president of the Denver Nuggets. When the guest made these comments, it seemed impossible for the Nuggets to get back on their feet. However, the most insightful thing that he mentions is how they were able to transform the franchise from the situation; it was into the success that the franchise had only three years to make it or break it. It is not easy to improve a business of such magnitude in such a short time. Doing so involves a lot of dedication and determination. Another factor that was working against them while struggling to improve the franchise was the pressure that was coming from the

Satyam Computer Services Essay Example for Free

Satyam Computer Services Essay In early 2009 the chairman of Satyam Computer Services admitted publicly to a fraud taking place in the company. Satyam reported in the financial statements billions of dollars in profits and cash assets that never existed. The public auditor’s responsible for auditing the financial statements of Satyam Computer Services at the time was PW India, an affiliate of Pricewaterhouse Coopers. The Securities and Exchange Commission determined that Satyam was able to commit the financial statement fraud due to the negligence of the audit team. The audit team tasked with auditing the records of Satyam failed to confirm cash balances in bank accounts which were grossly over represented. Later it was determined that the more than one billion dollars Satyam claimed to have was actually no more than sixty-six million. During the audits of Satyam Computer Services, the audit team at PW India never sought confirmations for the cash balances that management asserted which is a clear violation of auditing standards. The SEC, during the investigation, determined that many audit teams in PW India accepted cash confirmations directly from the management of their clients and almost never questioned the reliability of the confirmations received. It was also revealed that sometimes the banks would send statements directly to the auditors even though they weren’t directed to do so. Even though the bank statements showed different balances then those given to the auditors by management, the audit team never questioned the differences in amount. Procedures, for reviewing audits, were put into place to assure that all audits are completed with the highest degree of professional care. The Satyam audit team was warned by a partner from a different Pricewaterhouse Coopers firm that their cash confirmation procedures were deficient, but nothing was done to correct the deficiency. Due to this deficiency the Satyam fraud was not uncovered. As a result Satyam Computer Services was fined 10 million dollars by the SEC for fraud and PW India was fined 7. million dollars by the SEC and PCAOB. The critical issue in this case is that PWC India did not act in accordance with PCAOB or AICPA standards and codes of professional conduct. The critical factors are as follows: * The auditors did not act with due professional care. * The auditors did not appropriately assess the risks of material misstatements. * The audit team did not exercise professional skepticism. * The auditors did not act with integrity or in the best interest of the users of the financial statements. Due professional care, as required by the PCAOB, require the auditors to maintain professional knowledge and skill at the level required to ensure that clients receive competent professional service and to act in accordance with professional standards. This is the most vital part of the audit process to make certain that the audit will be handled with, ultimately, the users of the financial statements best interest in mind. PWC India, in their audit of Satyam, had completely disregarded this fundamental requirement of auditors. By relying on the confirmations given to them by management, the auditors did not provide the users of the financial statements with the skill and professionalism they are trusted with. As a result, they completely missed an obvious fraud taking place at Satyam and if the executive of Satyam hadn’t admitted to the fraud PWC India’s controls would have never caught the overstatement. Another relevant issue here is that the audit team did not appropriately assess the risks of material misstatements which resulted in the fraud. Before an audit, in the planning stage, the audit team should have identified accounts, transactions, and disclosures that could affect the financial statements significantly if they were materially misstated. The auditors at PWC India did not properly identify that the risk that the assertions of management about the cash accounts would result in a high risk of material misstatement. Cash accounts regardless of industry should require a special attention during an audit. The professional judgment of the auditors was lacking in the audit of Satyam’s cash balances. When evaluating the risks of certain accounts the auditors should have asked themselves whether there is a risk of fraud, whether there is subjectivity in measuring the financial information, and whether there is any unusual balances in the accounts. The answer to these questions should have all been yes in this case and there is no reason why they shouldn’t have properly confirmed the cash balances. One of the many requirements of an auditor is to exercise professional skepticism. The auditor must take what’s given to him with a ‘grain of salt’ and also question and confirm the existence, occurrence, and accuracy of account balances. In the audit of Satyam, the auditors acted with no professional skepticism whatsoever. If the auditors are not doing their due diligence, the audit risk will rise due to the increase in detection risk. Management took advantage of the fact that the auditors procedures of detecting material misstatements were lacking. This article’s relevance to the auditing profession is enormous. From here, auditors should learn to not take anything for granted and to always question what is put in front of you, unless it is from a completely objective source. The auditors at PWC India did not follow the basic requirements of an audit engagement which resulted in a major fraud. Even when the banks sent account confirmations directly to the auditors, despite not being requested to do so, the auditors still did not question the discrepancies. The gross negligence in this case should be an example to all auditors; do not take anything for granted. The quality control review also failed in this case. Auditors need to heed the advice of the review team. Here, the audit team ignored the recommendations of the review team to confirm cash balances with the banks. Quality control reviews are very significant to an engagement and auditors should not take recommendations without due consideration.