Equal Pay and Work Rights

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether the employees’ rights at a bank in U.S. were respected and whether the employees were contented with their salaries. To gather the data, the research was conducted through a descriptive research where 20 employees from the bank were interviewed through questionnaires. Each questionnaire contained 10 major items mainly related to employees’ rights at their workplace, pay, and gender inequality. All the respondents, who comprised of 10 men and 10 women, completed their questionnaires and submitted them for the study. The data collected was analyzed through the application of interpretative techniques. The results obtained showed that there was some discrimination in terms of pay. In addition, there were several issues in gender inequality and workplace conditions. Recommendations were made for the bank to accommodate ‘equal pay for equal work’ principles and to treat all employees equally in regardless of gender. Additionally, the bank was advised to formulate a sexual harassment policy.

 

Introduction

Equal pay and work rights have been a main concern for human resources management in many organizations. Over the years, employees have advocated for their rights of getting paid in the rates that are comparable to their efforts in the performance of their jobs. Although most of the organizations understand the need to remunerate their employees as a motivation tool, very few have paid attention to the issue of equal pay for both men and women (Murphy 27).  As a result, many of these organizations continue applying gender discrimination by paying women less than men even when they perform similar tasks. In relation to this, there are some professions that have been preserved for men, especially the highly paying occupations. Consequently, women are left to do less paying tasks that are not technical. This is even experienced during recruitments where positions such as secretaries and bank tellers are given to women while men get most of the managerial positions. Such stereotypes have continued to affect the payment policy in most American banks where women are paid less than men even when they are in similar positions or are performing work of equal value.

Literature Review

The Equal Pay Act of 1963 requires employers to pay their employees equally for equal work done regardless of their gender. The Act was however passed as an amendment to the Fair Labor Standards Act. While the Act protects both men and women from any act of gender discrimination, in pay rates, it also addresses the problem of sex discrimination in work places. Practically, this law is applied in most situations where women are paid less than men despite doing similar jobs. Since the law was enacted, it has contributed in narrowing the wage gap, although at a slow pace. For instance, in 1980 the weekly earnings for women in US banks were 64% of men’s but the figure had increased to 77% in 2008 (Repa 16). The main weakness for this Act is that it is applied when men and women are doing the same work. Since men are perceived to perform some types of work better than women, most managerial positions in banks and other institutions in United States are left for men. In reality, the Equal Pay Act has helped very few women as wage gap continues in banking sector.

Societal norms encourage men to devalue or value women even in United States where there are strict anti-discriminatory laws such as the Equal Pay Act. For example, in the banking industry, women may be subjected to discrimination by being denied promotions because they are pregnant or because they may become pregnant (Mills 49). At times, jobs may be offered to less qualified males leaving out the more qualified women. Judging women by how they dress is also common in workplaces. This may lead to gender discrimination where women are not promoted to some managerial positions in banks because they are not pretty enough or because they dress provocatively.

In 2010, the Wall Street bank, Goldman Sachs faced a sexual discrimination lawsuit from three former employees who claimed the firm was male dominated. In a case filed in New York’s federal court, the suit stated that Goldman’s portrayed discrimination to managers in assigning pay, promotions, and responsibilities. The suit claimed that Goldman employed more male managers than female and gave them unrestricted authority to assign responsibilities to their subordinates.  As a result, the male managers ended up assigning most lucrative positions to their male colleagues. In terms of gender representation in managerial positions, the suit pointed out that women comprised of 29% of its vice presidents, 17% of managing directors, 14% of partners, and only four members in a 30-person top management committee (Clark 2).

In terms of payment, one of the former female employees of the bank claimed that she earned an annual salary of $800,000 while a male counterpart earned twice as much for doing similar work. In addition, she mentioned situations where she was sexually harassed while at work. In another incident, she pointed out that the bank’s management had encouraged women to wear short black skirts with strapless tops which amounted to indecent exposure.

In another case about pay discrimination, Julie bower who was a former analyst at Schroder Securities bank had sued the bank for unlawful dismissal. She claimed that the bank forced her to resign due to sex discrimination that was common in the bank. Additionally, the bank had paid her a retirement bonus of £50,000 compared to £650,000 that was given to male analysts who retired (‘City Worker’ 5).  An employment tribunal ruled in favor of the plaintiff and ordered the bank to pay her a compensation of £1.4 million for the gender discrimination.

Even after the introduction of employment laws, the issue of equality in pay has not been easy to implement in US. This is mainly due to the fact that men and women perform different tasks that give rise to gender segregation in various occupations. When there are such segregations, the need to pay men and women on the same rates becomes impractical (Robertson 14). For this reason, women employed in management positions in the American banks are still discriminated by receiving salaries that are lower than the male employees working on same positions. This happens in many banks despite women portraying effective management skills when in leadership positions.

Methodology

For this study, a questionnaire was developed for data collection. The questionnaire in its final form consisted of two sections: the first part included questions on participant’s demographics while the second part consisted of several questions that required ‘yes’ or ‘no’ responses. However, there were some questions that required participants to write short responses to describe their views on what was being asked. This approach was used because the research design for this study was descriptive. The study was conducted in a United States bank because employees could be accessed by the researcher and the human resource manager had requested for the study on equal pay and work rights. The study population consisted of employees from different departments of the bank. These departments included customer care, front office, accounting & finance, human resource, and IT.

Participation in the study was on voluntary basis. In addition, the respondents were informed of the research objectives, and that the data collected would be used only for the research purpose. It was emphasized that the findings from this research would benefit the bank employees by giving recommendations on the improvement of equal pay and rights to the human resource manager. A systematic random sample of 20 employees was selected from the bank with half of them being females.

Before filling up the questionnaires, a letter of introduction was given to each participant indicating the reasons for the study. In addition, participants were also assured of their confidentiality and that there was no risk for taking part in the research. Thereafter, the participants were taken through the questionnaires and briefed on how to respond to the questions. At the end, they signed the assent letter accepting to take part in the study and were given the questionnaires. All the questionnaires were completed and returned within three days, allowing sufficient responses for the analysis.

 

Results

When the participants were asked whether their current salary rates were fair, 75% of them thought their salary rates were not fair while 25% thought their salary rates were fair. Similarly, participants recorded such results when they were asked if their salaries represented the value of their input. 90% of the respondents said their salary did not represent the value of their input while 10% agreed their salary represented their input.

On the issue of pay scales in their bank, all the participants responded that the pay scales in the bank varied with gender where men were paid higher in various positions. In relation to this, the participants did not mention the specific situations when men were paid at higher rates than women. However, there were some notable differences on the issue of nepotism in their organization where 50% of the participants believed it was there while the rest had not experienced nepotism.

Only 40% of the participants had experienced sexual harassment while working at the bank but 90% of the participants thought there was gender discrimination in the bank. In addition, the participants gave their reasons for gender discrimination where 95% of the participants explained that senior jobs in the bank were held by men, 80% said women working in the bank were in junior positions, and all the participants mentioned that most men were in higher pay scale than women.

The participants gave various opinions about the differences in salaries for the employees in various pay scales where 60% of the respondents said the salaries were not based on performance, 70% said some bank employees were underpaid, and 90% said salary differences were the basis of inequality.

It was also evident from the results that the working conditions in their bank were not favorable as only 25% of the participants believed the working conditions were favorable. In general, 60% of the participants advised their bank to increase women’s salaries to men’s level and all the participants recommended harmonization for both men and women’s salary scales to avoid pay inequality.

Discussion

From the results, most of the employees believe their salary rates are not fair. In relation to this, most employees believe their salaries do not represent the value of their work input. All the employees agreed unanimously that the pay scales in their organization are different for men and women. However, employees were divided over the issue of nepotism in their organization where some believed men were favored to work in certain positions. Sexual harassment was another issue that was noted from the findings with 40 per cent of the respondents reporting to have experienced it.

Similarly, there was evidence of gender inequality as majority of the participants mentioned they had experienced it. Gender inequality in the bank is experienced when men take up management jobs, while women are mainly in junior positions. This sometimes affects the employees’ effort towards achieving their company’s objectives (Gary 25). In addition, men have higher salary scale than their female colleagues. When the participants were asked to state their opinions on the varying salaries paid to employees, most of them stated that the pay scales were not based on performance and hence were the cause of pay inequality. In another aspect, the working conditions at the bank were not favorable to the employees. Lastly, the results indicated employee’s position that pay inequality ought to be reduced by harmonizing the salary scales.

Recommendations

In order to address the issue of equality, the bank’s management should harmonize the salary scales. As they are, women feel discriminated because their salary rates are lower than men’s despite being exposed to the same working conditions. Likewise, the management should introduce performance contracts where people are paid according to the value of their work (Mata 36).

Furthermore, the social environment at the bank needs to be improved to satisfy the needs of the employees. This requires the management to investigate the problem of sexual harassment to both men and women (Donald 195). It is significant for the management to formulate a sexual harassment policy and to encourage all employees to be reporting sexual harassment incidences immediately. If all these issues are taken into consideration, the principle of equal pay and work right will be enhanced and employees will be motivated towards high productivity.

Conclusion

The problem with this law-based approach can be reflected on how gender-neutral laws may have different impacts on men and women depending on their interpretation.  For this reason, even if these laws are formulated to address individual rights, they are often perceived to be masculine to deny women their rights. In relation to the American banks, the male employees have more advantage than their female colleagues. In many cases, the salary scales show huge discrepancies with men being paid more than women at all levels of employment. There is continued male dominance for managerial positions in banks where they make decisions that favor other male employees. In the end, the rights-based approaches such as the Equal Pay Act, may fail to address the wage differences between jobs that are primarily performed by female workforce and those that are primarily undertaken by male workers in the American Banks.

 

Works Cited

‘City Worker’. £1.4m for a City worker in sex discrimination case. Retrieved from             http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-124022/1-4m-City-worker-sex-discrimination-     case.html on 5^th April, 2013.

Clark, Andrew. Goldman Sachs hit by lurid allegations of sex discrimination. Retrieved from             http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/sep/15/goldman-sachs-allegations-sex-    discrimination on 5th April, 2013.

Donald, Elisburg. Equal pay in the United States: The Development and implementation of the    Equal Pay Act of 1963. Labor Law Journal, 29 (4), pg. 195.

Gary, Charness and Peter, Kuhn. Does Pay Inequality Affect Worker Effort? Experimental          Evidence. Journal of Labor Economics, Vol. 25.4 (2007): 693-723.

Mata, Patrick. Equal Pay Just a Principle of the ILO? New York: BoD, 2009. Print.

Mills, Steves. Living and Working in America. Boston: How To Books, 2004.

Murphy, Evelyn. Getting Even: Why Women Don’t Get paid Like Men and What to Do About it.    New York: SimonSchuster, 2005. Print.

Repa, Barbara. Yours Rights in the Worlplace: An Employee’s Guide to Fair Treatment. New        York: Nolo, 2010. Print.

Robertson, Raymond. Globalization, wages, and the quality of jobs: five country studies. New     York: The World Bank, 2012. Print.

Human Resource Recruitment and Selection

Generally, human resource management mainly deals with efficient management of an organization’s employees in achieving organizational goals. As a fact, human resource management is more popular than the previous versions of personnel management due to its integration with other human resource functions such as job design, recruitment and selection, and human resource development (Wilton, 2010).  Human resource management operates under the perception that employees are different from other resources in an organization such as technology and finance. In connection to this, all other resources must be managed by human beings in order to achieve productivity or profitability and hence the need for the recruitment and selection process.

Recruitment within an organization is an integral part of the overall human resource management and planning process. As such, recruitment and selection process is closely related to other human resource management processes such as job design, human resource development, employee appraisal, reward systems, promotions and transfers, and succession planning.

Assuredly, recruitment and selection requires broader staffing strategies since they represent the first stage of the human resources management in an organization. They are also the most difficult and the most involving of all the human resource management strategies (Byars & Rue, 2004).  Besides, getting the best applicants is beneficial to an organization but hiring of low quality employees can lead to decreased productivity in an organization. In addition, hiring of less than the best can also mess up with the concept of teamwork, poor customer service, and disruptions of long term objectives in an organization.

Unquestionably, recruitment and selection are interconnected with human resource planning. In this regard, human resource planning is a critical and continuous process in an organization since it formulates strategies for the human resource department. Moreover, it ensures that organizational objectives are attained through the selection of enough qualified personnel who have the right qualifications (Cascio, 2003). Subsequently, these employees must be recruited and selected at the right time. Human resource planning is concerned with conducting analysis for all the staffing needs in an organization and their impact to organizational growth.

Undoubtedly, many organizations are aware of the complicated process for the recruitment and selection of employees and opt to outsource service suppliers to conduct this human resource process. This gives an organization a better opportunity to continue with the assessment of the ongoing employees without any interruptions.

Human resource planning fits various explanations. For instance, it can be expressed as a systematic process used to analyze organization’s human resource requirements under various circumstances to ensure the right number of employees with the right skills are viable (Dessler & Lloyd, 2004). On broader perspective, it can be interpreted as a process that matches labor demand with labor supply. From these definitions, it is clear that human resource planning ought to be consistent with both the short-term and the long-term objectives of an organization. Additionally, the information acquired from human resource planning is used in other human resource functions such as job design, recruitment and selection, human resource development, and performance management.

Admittedly, staff recruitment techniques may vary from time to time depending on the prevailing situations. For example, during the times of positive growth, an organization may seek to recruit long-term staff. Likewise, during the period of decline, retrenchments or early retirement programs may be an option. Selection strategies used by various organizations may also differ depending on the urgency of the employment needs. Furthermore, when the human resource planning focuses on the strategic (long-term) and operational (short-term) perspectives, the implication is that the process affects both the current and future operations. Therefore, the recruitment and selection process should also focus on filling current vacancies as well as the preparation for future staffing needs.

The first stage of the recruitment process is the identification of the job vacancies that require to be filled. In the recruitment process, one is supposed to identify all the technical skills and attributes required in the new employee.  In particular, the identification of the vacancy should include a thorough reviewing of all the necessary contents of the role including the specific qualifications one should have to perform effectively in the given position (Compton, Morrissey, & Nankervis, 2009).  Thereafter, this information forms the basis for the job description and person’s specifications. In a different perspective, the role can be reviewed on the basis of whether it fits the current or any future organizational or departmental changes.

This should then be followed by the designing of a job description or a job analysis for the new role. Ideally, a job description should state the duties and responsibilities associated with the given role as well as the reporting lines for the position (DeCieri & Kramar, 2005). Most importantly, the definition of the role as contained in the job description should not be too tight but relatively flexible to allow any future adjustments. In addition, designing of an accurate job description and job analysis is significant in determining the success of the recruitment process as it enables the applicants to make informed decision when applying for the position. In this regard, the job description should not overstate or understate the responsibilities or the expectations associated with the role.

At this level, a task list or a role profile should also be designed where all the duties to be performed by the post holder are clearly stated. This should be straightforward and applicable only when the role profiles are known or agreed. Like in the job description, some element of flexibility should be allowed to avoid defining the duties to tightly.

Once the role has been clearly defined, it is necessary to state the person’s specification. At this stage of recruitment, all the main skills and qualifications required to perform the role successfully are identified (Price, 2011). The specification should be objective, fair, and measurable to minimize the risk of subjective judgment or discrimination. Undoubtedly, person specification ensures that the final selection is objective and justifiable if challenged.

After defining the type of person to be recruited, the method to be used in attracting the suitable candidate is determined. Although there is no recruitment process that can be said to be the best for organizations, the decision to use the internal or the external recruitment process to attract applicants may be based on several factors. Some of these include organizational strategies, human resource policies, and financial or cost implications (Kumar, 2010). Most importantly, what needs to be understood is that the organization’s overall strategies should be integrated with the human resource management policies. This results in the achievement of desirable outcomes in the recruitment process. Therefore, if an organization plans to have a more productive culture, the external recruitment process may be a better option. On the contrary, an organization that focuses on commitment and high quality may decide to use the internal recruitment method. However, the choices for the recruitment methods may vary from time to time depending on organizational needs.

If an organization decides to use internal recruitment, the process can be conducted in several ways. Firstly, the management can decide to use direct appointment or promotion. The advantage with this approach is that it is a quick method that can be used by the management to exercise their reward system (Leggae, 1995). Unfortunately, this approach may result to nepotism or a situation where managers reward their cronies with promotions. Therefore, this method is not advisable unless it results from a careful succession planning or an appropriate selection method is used.

Secondly, the management may decide to use lateral transfer where an employee is transferred from one job or department to another. The internal transfer of employees to the existing job vacancies within an organization may be done as a part of a job rotational program. In addition, it can be as a result of job redundancy in other departments in an organization (Nankervis et al., 2011). For successful internal transfers, supervisors should assess the capacity of their team members for such transfers.

Thirdly, internal recruitment may involve internal adverting where a vacancy is advertised within an organization either through employees’ emails or by placing it on the organization’s notice boards. The advantage with this method is that it can be used to identify fresh talents within the organization that were not known to the management.

For the wider pool of job applicants, an organization may decide to use the external recruitment. This method is considered better than the internal method due to the many options that are available. Advertising is one method of attracting a candidate in external recruitment and can be done through various medium (Martin, 2008). One type of advertising is the online advertising where the job advert can be placed within the shortest time. Besides, online advertising has no limit for content and is accessible to the applicants for 24 hours. In addition, an organization gets a branding opportunity through advertising.

For managerial and professional positions, the most effective places for placing the advertisement would be the internet, professional bodies, consultants, business colleges, professional journals, and in national papers. However, if a company requires an employee with highly specialized skills, arrangements can be done to contact such candidates directly without necessarily placing an advertisement.

To avoid vagueness, an advertisement should be drawn with close reference to job description and person specification. Advertising is done with an intention of attracting sufficient number of candidates who possess the necessary skills and qualifications required for the position being advertised (Kumar, 2010). Certainly, an advertisement that contains inaccurate information may attract unsuitable applicants leading to time wastage in the recruitment process.

Other methods of attracting suitable candidates include recruitment agencies, and employee referrals. For the employee referrals, an organization informs its employee of the availability of a given position and the job description and specifications (Price, 2011).  Following this, the employees are supposed to refer to the organization any suitable candidates they might be aware of and hence saving the advertising cost for the organization.

After placing the advertisement, short listing is done based on merit once all the applications have been reviewed. Under such circumstances, short listing should be done as soon as the application period has expired. Due to this, the short listed candidate can be informed in good time (Nankervis et al., 2011). In addition, delays in the selection process may lead to some of the strong candidates securing employment elsewhere.

Once the short listing has been concluded, the recruitment team should determine the selection methods to be used in getting the best candidate for the job position. For the best practice in HRM, interviewing is the most commonly used method to assess the potential employees (Sims, 2007).  Other methods for selection may include aptitude tests and work based presentations.

To make the selection process successful, the recruitment team must form an interview panel that invites candidates for the interviews. It is the responsibility of the interviewing panel to structure the content of the interview and to decide the role of various panelists. Furthermore, the panel should also determine if there are any types of selection tests to be used and which area in person specification will such tests be assessing.

Once a suitable candidate has been selected, the panel must endeavor to contact the referees with permission from the candidate. At times, the referees may be contacted during the selection process to assist the interview panel to make informed decisions. No doubt, the appointment process follows after the selection of a candidate where the offer for the employment can either be verbal or in writing (Price, 2011). To put this in a clear perspective, the recruitment team is responsible for sending the formal letter of employment to the successful candidate on behalf of the organization. However, the head of human resource management has the overall responsibility of formally welcoming the new employee to the organization.

Furthermore, the human resource department is responsible for designing an effective induction programme for the new employee. In this case, the employee should be informed of the organization’s policies, culture, and procedure. If the induction process is not done well, the new employee may be unaware of the organization’s policies which are necessary for the execution of the assigned responsibilities.

The link between the recruitment and selection process and the human resource development is realized after the induction process.  In the first place, the human resource development (HRD) provides the employees with the relevant expertise to help them meet organizational goals. Similarly, this department arranges for any form of employees’ trainings with an intention of harnessing their skills (Wilson, 2009). Again, the trainings can be done for progressive career development that enables employees to get promotions within an organization.

Admittedly, the human resource department plays a critical role in the recruitment and the selection process.  The process is concerned with the recruitment of employees to fill any vacancies in an organization. In regard to this, the recruitment and selection process must be conducted by a qualified and reliable recruitment team that is appointed by the human resource manager.  At times, an organization may opt to outsource the services for the recruitment and selection process from qualified firms. Nevertheless, the HRM still bears the overall responsibility for the recruitment and selection, human resource planning, induction, and human resource development.

 

 

List of References

Byars, L., & Rue, L. (2004). Human Resource Management. New York: McGraw-Hill.

Cascio, W. (2003). Managing Human Resources: Productivity, Quality of Work Life, Profits.         Boston: McGraw Hill.

Compton, R., Morrissey, W., & Nankervis, A. (2009). Effective Recruitment and Selection             Practices. Melbourne: CCH Australia.

DeCieri, H., & Kramar, H. (2005). Human Resource Management in Australia: Strategy, People   and Performance. Sydney: McGraw-Hill.

Kumar, R. (2010). Human Resource Management: Strategic Analysis Text and Cases. London:     IK International.

Leggae, K. (1995). Human Resource Management: Rhetorics & Realities. London: MacMillan.

Martin, J. (2008). Human Resource Management.  New Jersey: SAGE.

Nankervis, A., Compton, R., Baird, M., and Coffey, J. (2011). Human Resource Management      Strategy and             Practice. Melbourne: Cengage.

Price, A. (2011) Human Resource Management. Michigan: Cengage Learning.

Sims, R. (2007). Human Resource Management: Contemporary Issues, Challenges, and    Opportunities. New York: IAP.

Wilson, J. (2009). Human resource development: learning and training for individuals. New          York: Kogan             Page.

Wilton, N. (2010). An Introduction to Human Resource Management. New York: SAGE.

Young people and crime

Dear Editor,

I am writing this letter to bring to your attention the rise in criminal activities among the youth in the community. I believe that this is disrupting the peace that the community has enjoyed over the past few years. The youth in the community are engaging themselves in criminal activities such as armed robbery and kidnapping. If people do not address this issue, other youths engage in criminal behavior through peer influence. Over the years, young people between the age of 16 and 30 have continued to commit criminal behaviors in society. This is causing havoc in the community and people live in fright that they will be victim to the criminals who steal their property.

There have been many incidences where criminals kidnap kids and solicit for ransom. These cases have escalated in the neighborhood as criminals see this as a quick way to get ransom money. Many parents have lost their kids because in most cases, criminals do not return the kids after receiving ransom money. Five kids in the neighborhood are still missing and there are no clues to their whereabouts. It is possible that the criminals murdered the kids so that they could not report them to the police. There are also cases of rape in the neighborhood and this has led women to live in fear and suspicion. Raped women face traumatic conditions as it changes the way they live. Rape makes women fear men and this makes it hard for them to stay in relationships.

 

It is sad that instead of focusing on studies or gainful employment, young people are choosing to engage in crime because it is easy to get money. In addition, some criminals are misleading other young people by telling them that crime is a god way to make money. What they are not telling them is that crime will ruin their life. Those who are prone to criminals are women and children who fall victim to criminals because it is hard for them to protect themselves.

It is crucial for the community to look for ways in which they can reduce cases of crime, as this will bring the peace that the community had enjoyed in previous years. The first thing I believe the community needs to take into consideration is drug abuse. When young people abuse drugs, it leads them to commit irresponsible behaviors (Burke 121). Use of drugs such as cocaine motivates people to commit a crime. The first solution to reduce criminal behaviors is reducing drug abuse in society. Parents and teachers should communicate to their children about the dangers of abusing drugs (Burke 130). This will ensure that young people do not abuse drugs and, therefore, not commit criminal behaviors. Another solution is that the police should increase their efforts in fighting crime. They can do this by increasing patrols in the most affected areas.

Parents need to take care of their children and ensure their safety. They should put up protective measures like increasing the security at their homes as this will lower the chances of them being kidnap. Employing night guards and putting electrical fences will prevent criminals from entering their homes. Many kidnappers pick kids on their way home after school. Parents should ensure that they pick their kids after school instead of letting them come on their own. This not only lowers the chance for kidnapping but ensures the security of their kids. Increasing patrols in dark alleys can help curb the cases of rape. Law makers can also help lower cases of rape by enacting strict and harsh laws that will make potential rapists refrain from committing the crime.

I believe that citizens can also help in reducing criminal activities. Many people are aware of the people who commit crime, but they are afraid of reporting them to the police. People worry that if they report criminals to the police, other gang members will find out, and this will endanger their life (Morgan, et al. 105). This makes people not to report crime. The police should ensure that they protect those who present vital information that leads to the arrest of criminals. I believe that providing witness protection programs will encourage people to report crime.

In conclusion, parents and teachers should increase their efforts in teaching children of appropriate behaviors that will make them grow to be responsible citizens. In addition, as a responsible society, we should increase efforts in ensuring that there is peace in the community. This will not only lead to cohesion, but will help in developing the community in terms of economy. I propose that the community needs to form a neighborhood watch that will assist police in fighting crime. All the members of the community need to take part in the initiative program that will lead to their well-being.

 

 

 

Works cited

Burke, Roger H. Young People, Crime and Justice. Cullompton: Willan, 2008. Print.

Morgan, Rodney, Sheila Hollins, and Brett Kahr. Young People and Crime: Improving Provision for Children Who Offend. London: Karnac on behalf of the Winnicott Clinic of Psychotherapy, 2006. Internet resource.

Ted Levitt’s Concept about Globalization of Markets

The increased pressures brought by recent advances in technology have created a continued growth in marketing. Businesses are embracing creative ideas, goods, and services that provide noteworthy competitive advantage in the globalization world. In his article entitled, The Globalization of Markets 1983 Theodore Levitt emphasized that marketing success was intimately associated with creative imaginations and thoughts. The main argument in Ted Levitt’s article is that, when companies’ embraces innovation and creativity they are more likely to bring an increased attention and pressure in their marketing function.  Further, Jones & Wadhwani (2007, p. 1) support this article’s concept that companies should learn to operate effectively in the globalization world. Levitt’s article affirms that, technology has created an urgent need for businesses to expound their marketing strategies to succeed in the global competition as discussed by Titus (2007, p. 262).

To capture readers’ attention, the author claims that the most effective companies incorporate superior reliability and quality into their business structures. Globally, Hay (2008, p. 375) support Levitt’s article by arguing that, companies should compete on the aspect of suitable value and the best combinations of quality, price, and reliability for products and services that attract consumers from all over the world. Levitt’s article highlights that the current wave of marketing and globalization has caused most unprecedented characteristics. The changes and improvements wrought by technology have enabled companies to compete with others globally.

Levitt’s argument is that emerging technology has improved transportation, communication, and created new paths for marketing in the global market. Levitt’s article is compelling both in facts and thoughts on how companies managed themselves in 1980s. In a different article, Junarsin (2009, p. 110) claims how most companies concentrates more on reducing their products’ prices instead of utilizing creativity and innovation in their marketing strategies. As argued by Levitt, marketing was the most significant business function that business should have concentrated on to attract consumers both locally and internationally. However, companies satisfied the satisfaction of their own needs at the expense of consumers’ desires. Most managers presumed that marketing means giving consumers what they want instead of understanding what they would like. What the author is saying is that, companies should concentrate more on what customer wants rather than customers themselves. In recent times, the author affirmed that marketers should understand the markets which they sell and distribute their goods. With creativity, innovation, vision, and will, global marketing could be a reality.

In my perspective, I believe Ted Levitt’s prediction about the globalization of markets written in 1983 have come true today. This is because most successful companies have embraced Levitt’s concept that creativity and innovation are key factors in marketing. For years, businesses have generated ideas on how to meet consumers’ needs while converting the first time clients to regular and potential clients.  Today, the world’s desires and needs have become irretrievably homogenized. Indeed, the global and multinational corporations are not the same in that the former operates with definite low relative cost as if the global world was a single entity while the latter operates in various countries and regulate their products and services at a high relative cost. As indicated in the article, companies should learn how to augment their global competitiveness effectively that in turn would enhance growth both in sales and revenues.

 

Bibliography

Hay, M. 2008, “Business schools: a new sense of purpose”, The Journal of Management Development, vol. 27, no. 4, pp. 371-378.

Jones, G. & Wadhwani, R.D. 2007, “Entrepreneurial Theory and the History of Globalization”, Business History Conference, Wilmington, United States, Wilmington, pp. 1.

Junarsin, E. 2009, “Worldwide Globalization and its Impacts on Developing Countries: The Case of Indonesia”, Journal of Global Business Issues, vol. 3, no. 2, pp. 105-121.

Levitt, T. 1983, “ The Globalization of Markets”, Harvard Business Review, 96-102.

Titus, P.A. 2007, “Applied Creativity: The Creative Marketing Breakthrough Model”, Journal of Marketing Education, vol. 29, no. 3, pp. 262-272.

 

African and Trans-Saharan Roots of Slave Trade

Slavery in Africa was well established before the coming of the Americans and the Europeans[1]. Slavery in Africa had its genesis in wars that resulted to capture of captives. The captives, since they could easily escape from their captors, had to be sold to other places since it would be impossible for them to escape or back to their homes.[2] Moreover, slave trade was used as a way of generating wealth. The simplest form of acquiring land to increase wealth was by having more slaves. These were the earliest ways and reasons for engaging in slave trade in Africa

Atlantic Slave trade represented a Shift in Slaves Trade

The slave trade in Africa did not start with the Atlantic slavery. Indeed, slavery existed in Africa many years before the advent of transatlantic slave trade.[3]  In ancient Egypt, slavery flourished as the Egyptians raided neighboring societies in search for slaves. Indeed, the buying and slave of slaves was a common practice along the River Nile. However, although the Egyptians had developed a system of accounting for its slave activities, most African societies did not keep any records. The Arabs and Europeans altered these practices to some extent in the beginning of 7^th century. Arab Muslims raided slaves in West, East, and Central Africa for markets in the Asian countries[4]. However, this form of slave trade was significantly changed by the advent of transatlantic slave trade[5]

The Transatlantic slave trade was the genesis of modern capitalism. It saw businesses flourish in both America and in Europe, which significantly contributed to the industrialization of some parts of Europe. It also connected trade among three continents; Europe, America, and Africa.

The Economic Foundations of the Slave Trade

The economic foundations of slave trade were based on elitist thinking, both in American and in Europe. The European and American elites believed that social economic emancipation would be realized by impoverishing others. In addition, they believed in the acquisition of military power to dominate others. To achieve their goal, slave trade was seen as the only option during that time. Indeed, not only did slave trade help the economies of these nations, it also brought a great misery on the African continent.

There is a great disparity between the African countries and other nations, especially European countries and America. The US, Canada, New Zealand, Australia are among the richest countries[6]. The staggering difference between the African countries and these nations is not based on geographic orientation or the natural resources[7]. However, the difference lies in slave trade, which occurred between the sixteenth and nineteenth century. Indeed, slave trade fueled the rise of superpowers such as Britain. The North American economy was largely anchored on the labor provided by slave in their plantations.

The ideology behind slave trade is better understood by looking the elitists thinking in Europe and America before the advent of slave trade. During this time, the elites recognized two overriding goals that would principally propel economic growth in their countries[8]. First, was the rise to military pre-eminence, and secondly was the generation of economic power. To achieve such goals, the elites knew that they had to play a key role in impoverishing other countries. This was the idea advanced by mercantilism intellectuals at that time, and it played a paramount role in engineering slave trade. Indeed, the captures and sell of African men and women led to economic stagnation in the African nations and the destabilization of the continent, while on the other end, the European and American countries continued to exploit cheap labor sourced from Africa. Profits that emanated form slave trade and plantation farming provided the impetus for economic disparities among the nations. This discrepancy continues even to modern times and is the basis of reparations push by African nations[9]

The Middle Passage of the Slave Trade

The middle passage was arguably the most dangerous and dehumanizing component of the slave trade. It goes on to depict how greed and thirst for money can push people to treat others badly. By definition, Middle Passage refers to the journey taken by the ships that were carrying slaves from the West Coast of Africa to their destination, especially Europe and America. The slaves were mostly obtained form West Africa. From West Africa, they were ferried across the Atlantic to their destination. The slave masters traded the slaves with good like molasses, which was used to make alcohol. However, the Middle Passage speaks more than just the transportation and sale of slaves across the globe. It explains the horrible and devastating journey that the slaves underwent to meet the needs of their masters. The slaves were packed tightly like loads of goods. Death in the ships was the order of the days, and cleanliness was never considered. Human cargo stank through the 5-week journey, suffering all manner of diseases.[10]

Sometimes the journey went as long as three months. Although the trade in humanity was profitable to those who practiced it as well as those who made investments in the trade, it represents a tragedy that has no equal in recorded history. Indeed, the suffering of the blacks in the Middle Passage expressed in the death, suffering, and lack of concern goes on to prove that slave trade was an abomination on the face of humanity[11]

The Nature of the Journey

The Middle Passage is a classic example of the insensitivity of the merchants of slave trade and a gross violation of human values. Scholars have argued that it is not possible to gauge the number of those who perished along the journey.[12] This is because only a few records were kept of the journey itself and therefore historians only make an estimate of those who perished. Indeed, there is consensus that only half of the slaves survived the journey. For instance, some historians argue that a journey was considered successful when one-quarter of the slaves died. From this confession, it is true that most of the slaves died en-route to North America. Death in the journey resulted from infectious diseases such as dysentery, smallpox, and ophthalmia. In addition, suffocation was a common issue because of overcrowding and the deplorable living conditions in the ship. The slaves were only fed twice and exercised during times of good weather. However, when the weather was not conducive, the slaves were tucked below the deck all the day and night. The decks carried slaves, both live and dead. In addition, the slaves had to contend with bad smell emanating from human waste, blood, and stinking bodies. Rape of the African women was commonplace, showing how miserable the Africans were in the presence of their captors[13].

Conclusion

Slavery was thriving in Africa before the coming of the slave masters from America and Europe. It was seen as a way of gaining more wealth in Africa. However, the advent of the transatlantic slave trade formed the basis of modern capitalistic thinking in most parts of the world. Many parts of Europe and America owe their growth to slave trade. This growth was mooted by the prevailing thoughts propagated by the elitists who created imbalances as a way of enriching themselves. The movement of slaves from Africa to Europe was not an easy task. The Middle Passage was the journey taken by ships ferrying slaves from Africa to various destinations. However, the journey was the most dehumanizing in this trade. Slaves were mistreated in virtually every manner of life. Indeed, the transatlantic slave trade remains one of the darkest periods in the African history.

 

 

 

 

 

Bibliography

Darity, A. William. (2013). “Africa, Europe, and the Origins of Uneven Development: the role of slavery”.http://www.academia.edu/2538384/This_chapter_describes_the_economic_foundations_of_the_Atlantic_slave_trade_and_the_role_of_trade_and_slavery_in_generating_European_and_American_economic_growth_and_the_contemporary (Accessed March 29, 2013)

GhaneaBassiri, Kambiz.  A History of Islam in America: From the New World to the New World Order. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010.

Lovejoy, E. Paul. Transformation in Slavery: A History of Slavery in Africa. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2011.

Smallwood, E. Stephanie. (2009). Saltwater Slavery: A Middle Passage from Africa to American Diaspora. Harvard: Harvard University Press. “Transatlantic Slave Trade.” http://www.inmotionaame.org/print.cfm;jsessionid=f8301531021364521467101?migration=1&bhcp=1 (Accessed March 29, 2013)

Warnock, Amanda and Falola, Toyin.  Encyclopedia of the Middle Passage. New York: Greenwood Publishing Group, 2010.

Wright, R. Donald. “Slavery in Africa.” https://autocww2.colorado.edu/~blackmon/E64ContentFiles/AfricanHistory/SlaveryInAfrica.htm (Accessed March 29, 2013)

 

[1] “Transatlantic Slave Trade.” http://www.inmotionaame.org/print.cfm;jsessionid=f8301531021364521467101?migration=1&bhcp=1 (Accessed March 29, 2013)

[2] Donald, Wright, R.. “Slavery in Africa.” https://autocww2.colorado.edu/~blackmon/E64ContentFiles/AfricanHistory/SlaveryInAfrica.htm (Accessed29, 2013)

[3] Paul, Lovejoy, E. Transformation in Slavery: A History of Slavery in Africa. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2011).

[4] “Transatlantic Slave Trade.” http://www.inmotionaame.org/print.cfm;jsessionid=f8301531021364521467101?migration=1&bhcp=1(Accessed29, 2013)

[5] Kambiz.  GhaneaBassiri, A History of Islam in America: From the New World to the New World Order. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010) 17

[6] William. Darity, A. “Africa, Europe, and the Origins of Uneven Development: the role of slavery”. http://www.academia.edu/2538384/This_chapter_describes_the_economic_foundations_of_the_Atlantic_slave_trade_and_the_role_of_trade_and_slavery_in_generating_European_and_American_economic_growth_and_the_contemporary(Accessed  march 29, 2013)

[7] Smallwood, E. Stephanie. (2009). Saltwater Slavery: A Middle Passage from Africa to American (Diaspora. Harvard: Harvard University Press)

[8] Darity

[9] William, Darity, A. “Africa, Europe, and the Origins of Uneven Development: the role of slavery.” http://www.academia.edu/2538384/This_chapter_describes_the_economic_foundations_of_the_Atlantic_slave_trade_and_the_role_of_trade_and_slavery_in_generating_European_and_American_economic_growth_and_the_contemporary (Accessed  march29, 2013)

[10] Stephanie, Smallwood, E. Saltwater Slavery: A Middle Passage from Africa to American (Diaspora. Harvard: Harvard University Press, 2009) 136.

[11] Smallwood, 137

[12] Smallwood, 137

[13] Amanda, Warnock, and Toyin, Falola.  Encyclopedia of the Middle Passage. (New York: Greenwood Publishing Group, 2010) 317

Importance of budgeting

 

Terms of reference

An executive has requested a report on the importance of budgeting to the management function to be submitted to him in a fortnight. I am a financial consultant working for the organization that the executive has sub-contracted. My seniors have appointed me to carry out a research on the how budgeting enhances the performance and control aspect of the management function and submit the findings in two weeks, together with general recommendations.

Background information

(McMillan, 2010, p. 12)A budget is a plan for the future income and expenditures that are at the disposal of an organization. In budgeting, the chief aim is to provide a predictable estimate of revenues and expenditures, while constructing an unseen model of how a business would perform under certain situations. This way, an organization could have a guideline for spending and saving, thus budgeting is the art of money management. The practice (money management) has existed since time immemorial; however, the idea of a budget is a fresh concept, often connected with the British monarchy, parliament was established to offer a system of checks and balances. Though a high-maintenance and tedious task, a budget could aid in controlling an organizations finances. The activity could have varied meaning to different organizations. To some organizations, it is a process of maintaining the flow of a company’s finances, while to others; it offers an opportunity to tabulate the organizations expenses in order to validate the savings.

Scope and importance of the report

(McMillan, 2010, p. 56)Public budgeting is the way technical personnel and policy makers tabulate estimates of the funds that they expect either from the central government allocation or from donors to their citizens according to size of population. Private sector budgeting is quite different, and involves the tallying of cash flows into revenues, and tabulating the balance sheet. This report focuses on showing how the manager of an organization uses the budget to enhance the management function. More so the paper analyzes how the control function of management is aided by the budget framework. The report would be important in offering knowledge on the behavioral aspect and types of budgets that are available. This could provide a great variety of options before a manager makes a decision.

The major findings unearthed by the research include:

1. Budgeting system could be used as a communication tools through gathering and disseminating information on the organization and other organizations.
2. Budgeting deals with people thus has a behavioral aspect where it could act as source of motivation or de-motivation.
3. Activity based budgets places more emphasis on the planning and control function

Types of budgeting

The report deduced that the various types of budgeting include:

Zero-based- this is the approach that requires the manger to justify the allocated resources to all                   activities related to the project. Every budgeting activity is followed by re-evaluation of the same.

Fixed budgets – refer to those budgets which remain fixed during the entire drafting period.

Activity-based budgets- are those mostly used for control and planning, where the planned volumes, relative costs and expected per unit cost of driver of the products are first estimated. Afterwards, all these parameters are multiplied during the tabulation of the budget.

Continuous budgets- refer to those budgets that are prepared in advance, before the commencement of the financial year, for a quick overview by the manager.

Output budgeting refers to the budgeting that analyzes the expenditures with reference to stipulated objectives. These are mostly used by NGOs.

Budgeting and planning

The report deduced that a manager seeking to enhance the performance and control of the management function should apply at least continuous budgeting, activity-based, zero-budgeting and some partial budgeting to achieve that objective. Even though the fixed budgeting could prove handy, it cannot be widely applied in the unpredictable patterns of the current economic times. Activity based budgeting is highly recommended in this report because of it supports strategy execution and perpetual planning. It focuses on identifying the activities and costs in a business organization. The statistics gathered about the activities and how they connect to each other are used in the establishment of goals.

Behavioral aspect of budgeting

The report unearthed that the budgeting process deals with human beings. In this section, the report offers a discussion on how budgeting affects people. Motivation causes people to behave the way they do. (Rakow, 2011, p. 172)It is generated by attitudes and insinuates that individuals are motivated by personal interests and desires. The budgeting process offers a platform for motivation through the setting of targets; they could assist motivation is they are set at the optimal level. If they are too difficult to attain, they would work to cause de-motivation to the manager. If they are too easy, the manager is more likely to be motivated thereby not put in the required effort.

(Rakow, 2011, p. 390)There exists four types of standards set by the process of budgeting, and each has a varied impact on employee motivation. The ideal standard is determined by perfect working conditions, and is a cause for de-motivation as it is practically unattainable. Secondly, there is the attainable standard and could materialize if the work is efficiently brought to completion. Thirdly, there is the current standard that is based on the current working environment. It does not have any effect that is why it is used in expectations budget. The last one is the basic standard and it remains constant over the years. It is employed when the organization needs to carry out a performance and efficiency analysis. Ideally, budgets should tower a bit higher than the expected performance level. This situation is referred to as aspirations budgeting. It is more likely to motivate employees to offer their best level of performance. The report highly recommends that managers should at all times apply the principle of expectations budgeting, where tabulations are based on reasonable expectations.

(Rakow, 2011, p. 69)Planning relies on forecast that has been arrived at in the past to make decisions concerning the future. The estimated parameters generated through forecasting are used to draft plans for the future. For instance, government departments use forecasts of the estimated populations to plan on the amount of resources to distribute to a particular region. The subject of this report described a report that would help them determine the kind and nature of impact that budgeting has on the management function. Budgeting accomplishes its objective as a planning tool through filling the communication gap. It does this gathering and disseminating information. For instance, through the budgeting process, information concerning a company and the activities of its rivals are collected. Budgets are useless when not worked upon, thus the budgetary system contains a self-drive dissemination capability that sees to it that responsible managers really got the budget that they will work with.

Methodology

In investigating the relationship of the budgeting process and the management function, the report employed primary methods of data collection. The research dominantly employed questionnaires and a bit of observation on the collection of data. Other secondary sources like web pages and journal articles also came in handy. In collecting the information from the respondents, the research prepared a list of 5 questions that formed the, major findings of the preliminary findings. The respondents that answered the interview questions were all executives of various organizations, and the behavioral aspect of the budgeting system that they use was analyzed against the success of the organization.

The organizations that extensively used the principles of activity-based budgeting reflected admirable success in their organizations. Observation came in handy at this point, where visual success was measured as a parameter. The internet was used to show the financial position of the different organizations that were represented in the research. Through holding the budgeting process against the financial rating of the different organizations, the research was seeking to investigate whether the budgeting process could affect the cash flows of a company.

Conclusions and recommendation

(McMillan, 2010, p. 560)When carrying out a budget analysis, managers should establish a cash flow estimate that would come in handy. Proper tabulation principles should be applied to the right situations. A budget is not just about the right expenditures, a diagnosis of the situation should be ascertained before a manger embarks on the budgeting process. Without a budget, the control and planning functions of management would be very inefficient.

Sources cited

Top of Form

Rakow, D. A., & Lee, S. A. (2011). Public garden management: [a complete guide to the planning and administration of botanical gardens and arboreta]. Hoboken, Wiley.

 

Bottom of Form

Top of Form

Finkler, S. A., & Mchugh, M. L. (2008). Budgeting concepts for nurse managers. St. Louis, Mo, Saunders/Elsevier.

 

Top of Form

Kinney, M. R., & Raiborn, C. A. (2011). Cost accounting: foundations and evolutions. Mason, Ohio, South-Western Cengage Learning.

 

Top of Form

Penner, S. J. (2004). Introduction to health care economics & financial management: fundamental concepts with practical applications. Philadelphia, Penns, Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.

Bottom of Form

 

Bottom of Form

Top of Form

Steiss, A. W. (2005). Strategic facilities planning: capital budgeting and debt administration. Lanham, MD, Lexington Books.

Bottom of Form

 

Top of Form

Jones, P. (2011). Strategy mapping for learning organizations: building agility into your balanced scorecard. Farnham, Surrey, England, Gower Pub.

Bottom of Form

 

Bottom of Form

Top of Form

Hankins, R. W., & baker, J. J. (2004). Management accounting for health care organizations: tools and techniques for decision support. Sudbury (Mass.), Jones and Bartlett.

 

Bottom of Form

Top of Form

Mcmillan, E. J. (2010). Not-for-profit budgeting for nonprofit organizations. Hoboken, N.J., Wiley. http://public.eblib.com/EBLPublic/PublicView.do?ptiID=543011.

 

Bottom of Form

 

 

 

Financial Management

Project purpose

ABC Ltd is faced with the option of conforming to technological advancements in the operation of their business, or risk being pushed out of business by emerging competitors. The organization deals in small tools, fixings like nails, screws, paints and similar DIY materials to individual clients and small home improvement and decorating businesses. Although the IT department has applied a considerable amount of technology in the financial management of the company’s accounts, the technology is soon becoming irrelevant, as other players are entering the market with up-to date technical know-hows. For instance, ABC Ltd has stipulated aten step procedure on how a customer’s credit information is managed. The system is party computerized and partly manual and was invented 10 years ago by the chairman’s son. It lacks the detailed system level controls considered as standard in most modern computerized accounting packages. The system is inferior and is undermining the company’ sales objectives in the face of their competitors who have employed state-of-the-art packages that provides for online transaction of the construction products. Furthermore, some of ABC’s new competitors are offering delivery services further posing a threat to the dwindling customer base of ABC Ltd.

In the wake of the above scenario, ABC’s management has decided to take a proactive approach, and fix the leak before the ship sinks. The management tasked the finance department to carry a research and come up with recommendations on how to rectify the situation. A report from the auditor’s recommended the introduction of an integrated finance and transaction package. Nevertheless, the auditors fell short of ideas because of their limited knowledge in IT, resulting to the management of ABC Ltd contracting my organization to prepare a report that would broaden their view of the information technology constraint. My report would analyze the ABC’s dilemma and put forward recommendations, and go further to offer a justification of the solutions presented. My report would employ Gantt and SWOT analysis frameworks in coming up with relevant recommendations.. the purpose of the project is  to analyze current technology that exists in the market (this is the technology that has been acquired by the various forces competing with ABC Ltd.), and make suitable recommendations that would lead to the adaptation of an improved technology. The port would report would also address the inferior technology of ABC Ltd. That is outdated and poses future threats in the company’s financial spheres.

 

Scope statement

My project was born out of ABC Ltd.’s request to explore the state at their IT department, and come up with relevant solutions. The paper would achieve this objective by first presenting the current state of the company’s IT system, and state what needs to be improved and why. The company’s board expect us to accomplish a study on their system based on four facts: external competition from rivals who have started offering on-line services for the last three months, their stock prices are outdated; thereby resulting to losses for the company, the company lacks up-to-date management accounts and an information management system that was proposed two years ago has not been implemented, and lastly their credit system is faulty leading.

My project would address the issue of outdated technology, and the corresponding negative impact created. If the company decides to adopt my recommendations, they would secure their market share which is gradually dwindling thanks to new entrants in the market who have adopted up-to-date technology in their dealings. My project would focus in digging into the weaknesses of the current credit system, and recommend steps that the company needs to take in order to come up with a relevant credit system, if possible, maybe ABC Ltd should consider acquiring a more superior technology. The credit management system that this paper proposes should be simple, fast and powerful that would integrate and automate all transactions. The present business world is IT managed, and automation is the way to go for all businesses that aspire to maintain relevance in the IT age. (Carlos, 2007)The new credit management software should have an enhanced customer experience that would enable the business respond to changing and specific business needs. The new system should be able to transmute the business processes with a performance enhancing components that encompass accounting, statutory, inventory and reporting processes (Jones, 2011).

 

The Gantt-chart framework

The gantt refers to a horizontal bar chart meant to be a production control tool and mostly employed in project management. It has a graphical representation of a schedule that aids in the planning, coordinating, and track specific changes in a project. The Gantt chart below represents the Gantt chart collection of activities for the activities that would aid the project in attaining its objectives. The research and report writing were carried out in the following months: April, June, July, November and December of the year 2007, 2008, and 2009. It was crucial for the research to extend over the 3 years in order to collect data. A research producing outdated data or data that was momentarily and did not reflect the true situation lead to inefficient solutions.
key: Task F- preliminary research E- draft writing  D- interviews   C- training    B-evaluation    A-final report

 

Work structure

The horizontal axis represent the total time span of my project, represented in years, and a vertical axis showing the tasks that i would undertake in fulfilling the objective of the project. The major activities that were involved in the project include: carrying out preliminary research. I plan to collect data majorly from primary sources like the ABC Ltd.’s IT department, the  IT experts in the rival camps (if I would be granted permission), and the executives in ABC limited. Other information would be sourced from the websites of the relevant organizations, including those of the rival organizations. In the course of conducting the research, I would be orienting myself toward report writing. the Gantt chart provides for a researcher to record simultaneous activities that are crucial for accomplishing the goals of the research. For instance, while i was carrying out preliminary studies, I was orienting myself toward the report writing, provided for in the training level. In the training stage, i also plan to collect past research work conducted in the field and borrow useful tips that would make my report more appealing. During the training, I would also take this opportunity to initiate various interviews in case the initial research does not gather sufficient data. This reveals the importance of primary data gathered from the informants (the IT experts) because what the staff from the IT department say represent the situation in the ground.  As soon as i am through with the preliminary investigation and the training, I would immediately get into the evaluation stage. Here, I plan to carry out a final evaluation of the draft report and any other additional data collected. The evaluation would usher in the writing of the final report that would be submitted to the chairman of ABC Ltd. the magnitude of the bars represents the amount of time for the particular task to be completed. (Maclean, 2003)The overlapping of the bar spans show that some tasks were carried out simultaneously. The vertical line extrapolated in the middle of the Gantt table shoe the time period the report was written.

Data gathered from the informants provided the basis of the research. Members of staffs from ABC Ltd.’s IT department were so cooperative. They offered information on the workings of their information system. Some of them confessed to losing patient with the system that recorded major delays. The staff lamented that the system lowered their potential, and made them involve in a lot of manual work. “the system makes me miss dinner with my family, because I have to burn time as I wait for it to respond” lamented Howard who is the assistant technician at ABC Ltd. At times, the sales system; (for credit transactions) that was invented ten years ago losses some information.

When any financial information is lost, some finances are lost indeed. The company’s auditors’ also made a representation in the research, by forwarding two informants to respond to the closed and open ended questionnaires. It is surprising to mention that the finance department (for the auditors) made an assertive move voluntarily, maybe because they could not tolerate the system anymore. One of the auditors forwarded declared that he would be more than grateful to our organization when we fix the system. It is sad to the company’s executives to note that a silent discord was brewing out of the frustration of some of the members of staff. They were frustrated over taking blame all the time for the system’s failures. According to the information in the case study, the system failed to track records for part—payments; by flagging the half-payments as fully paid. Some of the errors were noted long after so many water has passed under the bridge, leading to bad debts. At one point, the company had recorded so many bad debts, forcing the executives to summon a meeting to address the issue. After much deliberation, it was discovered that it is the system that result to the setbacks. The members present pointed their finger toward adaptation of new technology but the directors seemed reluctant. Their reluctance was because of the astonishing news of an outdated system; a system that had accrued the company millions of dollars. They had to stay off from making major investments to provide a chance for recovery. As expected, the company recovered the funds injected to set up the system that was designed by the chairman’s son. Even though it was a masterpiece, it lacked some critical components. For example, it was short of online connection that could allow online shopping and payment of products. One could only imagine the levels that the company would be soaring if the system resembled/ was superior to the system employed by the new entrants. One of the executives confessed that the company lacked enough resources at that particular period to invest in a higher technology. During the acquisition of the system, the former IT manager confessed to knowing about the entry into the market of their main rival 3 years prior to their launch. However, the executive further stated that they could not think that the new investors would think of such an advanced idea of the online transaction. Failure to work on the threat noted through intelligence, and downplaying their rivals made ABC Ltd. lose some profits.

Online transactions

ABC Ltd.’ S main rivals are wooing customers online, most probably that could explain the reduced customer base of ABC Ltd. The online transaction saves on time and appeals more to the customer. A motivated customer is the one who is made to appreciate new methods of doing things, one is guaranteed that such a customer would come back next time. A customer who is subjected to delays arising out of system failure is a frustrated one, and though he/she might come back, future transactions are not guaranteed. The management of the company were comfortable with the high revenues generated by the company. In fact, the company was amongst the best performing in the industry. However, taking a closer analysis would lead to the conclusion that it is the customer relation principles that are to thank more for the success of the company, and not the credit management system, as one would assume.

The online transaction made the cost of doing business cheaper, as well as saved a lot of time for both the customers and ABC’s members of staff. Thanks to the online shopping system, a customer could vies the products that have been availed on a company’s website, and make necessary orders. After completing online payments for the products purchased, they are delivered to the customer’s doorstep upon the product’s values fulfilling a set threshold. Of course logic should dictate that free deliveries cannot be made if the sales volume by a particular customer is low. The idea has really amazed the consumer class, to the point that some customers subscribed to ABC are threatening to switch their accounts to the rival company. For the 2 years that the report would take to materialize, the company has adopted measures that would help them solve the issue of a reduced customer base. The company intends to invest in advertisement campaigns for their products as a temporary measure, awaiting the recommendations of the report. The strategic action is expected to run for the two years and would be implemented in two phases. The board recommended a campaign that would enhance the psychological tastes of consumers, and through the consistent campaign, the company hopes that their products would dominate the choice of their customers in need of home decorating materials.

Duration of the research

The research needed a period of two years because of three. Firstly, the timing of the situation did not favor the financial arrangements of the organization; secondly, in order for the report to recommend long-term solutions, it had to be realistic by stretching over some time period, lest it capture passing situations. Lastly, some of the key figures in the company’s IT department were sent away on an exploration trip to Japan to inspect some of the greatest information management systems. By the time the organization contracted my organization, the senior employees were in Japan, exploring some of the construction material companies. The CEO had suggested that we should wait for the delegates dispatched to Japan, for they would provide some more preferences that the company could want to see in the new financial system. He further suggested that we should maintain a regular communication with the japan group to get updated with new findings, for it would be crucial in the writing of the final report. The board also explained that the two year period would allow the board to come up with strategies of raising capital for the system. The ongoing financial crisis in Europe discouraged major investments in the economy, as well as acquisition of loans from financial institutions. The rate of interest was high, as well as the risk of not yielding meaningful productivity with loans, for the economy was in recession. The company ruled out acquiring hard loans from banks and other .financial institutions, leave alone investing in a recession.

Time wastage

The management of ABC limited should improve their time management procedures in order for them to feel the effects of the new technology. The case scenario indicates that the management considers trust to be the most important amongst their employee. They do not handle time with the same awe, and this promoted time wastage practices. Since time is money, the money lost through time wastage would work to render the new system unproductive by disposing the gains realized through it.

Product structure

ABC Ltd.’s credit sales system has got a lot of errors, partly because it is an outdated technology, and because of the changing demands in the market. For instance, when a customer places more than one order per day, transposition errors are inevitable, when the dispatch note numbers are entered onto the sales invoice. My paper proposes an adoption of a system that is managed in the department that it serves as opposed to being maintained in another department, a system that complies all the information of a customer, including providing an online method for product shopping and payment. The system could also be designed in such a way that the cash book and the sales ledge from CB information are connected to ease information management (when information is recoded in the cash book, it reflects in the sales ledger). The online payment method would eliminate the problem of half payments, where customers make part payments awaiting the clearance on despatches marred by queries. The system also involves a manual banking of cheques and this is really time consuming. While describing the kind of a system to adopt, ABC Ltd.’ Executives should propose a system that accommodates part-payments. The current system forwards the remaining balance into a global “part paid invoices” when a part-payment transaction has been carried out. This would make the system easier to maintain, consequently ensure that all payments are made.

Project resources

(Jones, 2011)The make-or-buy decision is the process of making a strategic decision between buying an item externally, or producing it internally. The buy option is also called outsourcing. The changing demand of ABC Ltd.’s products in the market should trigger them to consider a buy-or-make decision. The firm has an IT system that results to troubles with the management of the customer’s financial records, and encourages the application of manual techniques, which are subject to natural calamities like fire outbreaks. The ABC Ltd. Executives should assume both an operational level and a strategic one in drafting both short-term and long-term goals respectively. Nevertheless, as per the nature of the case scenario, the strategic approach is highly recommended. Changes in technology are usually extensive plans and procedures that are normally long-term. The variables that the executives of ABC Ltd. Should consider are an analysis of the future, current environmental issues for instance government regulation, the market trends and more importantly competing forces in the market. They should outsource for activities stretching from administrative to logistic services. However, before approaching the administrative consultants, the management of ABC Ltd should tighten the nuts as far as the principle on time management is concerned. The case scenario presents the management as a bit relaxed in pushing the time management agenda to their employees. However, it is because of the personal initiative of the employees that ABC Ltd. Boasts of a wide customer base.

ABC Ltd. should undertake a make-or-buy decision if the costs of acquiring the new technology is within their means. If it is not, the plan should be integrated with other future plans, but should be marked as important, considering the nature of impact in case they failure on their part. The new technology should also incorporate the information system that was proposed two years ago to guarantee continuity. The two critical factors to consider are costs and the availability of a production capacity that is in line with the technology. If the proposed system turns out to be too complicated, another report would be commissioned to rectify the situation. Outsourcing a new system would guarantee the elimination of the constraints associated with the current information system.

Project risk analysis and mitigation

The current system jeopardizes the financial stability of the company because it is limiting customer growth. In fact, the company has already started recording reduction in their customer base. The old method of securing the customer base through superior customer care relations is long gone, and organizations are finding that they have to employ o lot of current techniques in maintaining and growing sales. The current system also poses a threat to the company’s profits which are minimized in some instances. Going with the information in the case study, it seems like the credit management system was not designed to handle many credit transactions, in spite of the company carrying out credit term transactions on many occasions. The management should apply the SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunity, and Threats) in addressing the problem (Lawrence, 2013). They have strength when it comes to the number of clients, however, this could be short lived if they do not mitigate their current situation. The inferior information system is their main weakness point and the growth in their customer base could be the new opportunity to tap if they adopt the recommendations of this report. Many organizations spend so much in diagnosing the weakness in their organization. ABC Ltd. Is lucky to be aware of the main thing to alter if they want to enjoy future success, the report offers a framework for intervention.

 

Reference list

Carlos, C. (2007). Financial management. Cape town: Juta.

Jones, P. (2011). Strategy mapping for learning organizations : building agility into your balanced scorecard. Farnham: Gower Pub.

Lawrence, W. (2013). Physician practice management : essential operational and financial knowledge. Burlington: Jones & Bartlett Learning,.

Maclean, R. (2003). Financial management in health care organizations. Clinton Park: Delmar Learning,.

Top of Form

Sterpone, L. (2008). Electronics system design techniques for safety critical applications. Berlin:           Springer.

 

Bottom of Form

Top of Form

Jakimovski, B. (2011). Biologically inspired approaches for locomotion, anomaly detection and reconfiguration for walking robots. Berlin: Springer.

 

Top of Form

Satzinger, J. W., Jackson, R. B., & Burd, S. D. (2008). Systems analysis and design in a changing world. Cambridge Mass: Course Technology.

Bottom of Form

 

Top of Form

Riaño, D., Workshop Knowledge for Management Health Care Processes, K4HelP, & Conference on Artificial Intelligence in Medicine Europe, AIME. (2009). Knowledge management for health care procedures: ECAI 2008 Workshop, K4HelP 2008, Patras, Greece, July 21, 2008 : revised selected papers. Berlin [etc.: SpringerLink.

Bottom of Form

 

Bottom of Form

Top of Form

Bottom of Form

 

Contract Formation

Introduction

A contract is an agreement between two or more parties with a lawful object intended to create a legal obligations between the parties. We enter into contracts almost every day. When we board and take a seat in a bus we are already in an implied contract with the bus company. The law of contract is very different from other laws in that it lays down the rights and the duties which are protected and enforceable under the contract law. It’s subject to a number of limiting principles to which the parties to the contract may create and enjoy the rights and the duties themselves. The major components or elements of a contract are offer, acceptance, capacity to contract and consideration.

A contract can be void, voidable, or unenforceable. A void contract is not a contract at all. While voidable contracts can be avoided at the behest of any of the parties to the contract. Unenforceable contracts are not enforceable in a court of law in an action for remedies.

A contract can come to an end by performance, agreement, frustration, frustrating events, limitations, law reforms and breach. The following are the types and classification of contracts; a) Contracts as per to enforceability, valid and voidable contracts, void contracts, illegal agreements, unenforceable agreements. b) Contracts as per to mode of formation, Expressed contracts, implied contracts, quasi contracts. c) Contracts regarding performance. Executed contracts, Executory contracts, unilateral and bilateral contracts.

There are several factors that can vitiate a contract. These are factors that affect the validity and effectiveness of a contract. These are Duress, undue influence, misrepresentation and lack of capacity. Misrepresentation means a statement of fact that’s not true and was part of the contract between the parties of the contract and which could have induced the parties. Under certain conditions, statements that are false made by the seller of goods and services regarding the product quality being sold may eventually constitute misrepresentation. Where a case of misrepresentation has been proved a remedy of rescission may be allowed and later may be damages depending on the nature and type of misrepresentation.

In contract law, misrepresentation are of two types that’s, the fraud in the factum and the fraud in inducement. The fraud in the factum deals in the other party’s knowledge of contract i.e. if he really knew he was entering a contract in question. If he had no idea about the contract at the time of signing the document, then the contract is void abnitio i.e. right from the beginning. Fraud in inducement on the other hand concentrates on the material fact that the misrepresentation attempted to get the other party to enter and be part of the contract. This misrepresentation of facts made the other party to sign into the contract, without which he would not have entered into the contract. This makes the contract void.

The remedies of misrepresentation in the law of contract are connected to orders for specific performance, when contracts prohibits certain actions or activity then an action of injunction may be instituted.

Undue influence involves a person taking advantage of his position or authority of power over another person where his rights to make free decisions is not possible. Duress, also known as coercion is a situation where a person acts or doesn’t act as a result of threats, violence or pressure against him. It’s a threat of violence or even death to induce another person to act forcefully and who under normal circumstances would have acted differently. Duress in common law is used as a defense to avoid a contract. For a contract to be rescinded in common law then the following must be proved.

1. The threat must be of a serious nature that can lead to even death or serious body harm.
2. The harm of the threat must be greater than the harm of the crime.
3. The threat must be real, immediate and not avoidable.
4. The defendant must have found himself in that situation without any input from his own side.

Equitable remedies are the judicial remedies which were developed by the laws of equity during the time of King Henry VII to provide flexible judgments and which were responsive to the needs of the people at the time.

Equitable remedies were established by the Chancery court in England. These were,

1. Injunction- This was to estopp a party from continuing with the business or agreement after the disagreement.
2. Specific performance. These were the doctrines adopted in common law that compels the wrong doer to compensate and also to carry out his remaining part of the agreement.
3. Account profits and restitution. These compel compensation to the aggrieved party.
4. Rescission. This action overturns the agreement and each party is entitled to their contribution in the agreement.
5. Declaratory of relief
6. Rectification
7. Equitable estoppels
8. Subrogation
9. Constructive trusts, equitable lien and compensation.

In election of remedies, under the law of civil procedure, the winning team in the law suit is allowed to choose and decide the nature of remedy that will be convenient and applicable to him. For instance, if a court rules that the plaintiff whose paintings were stolen should be given back an equivalent amount of money or the drawing, he may elect to take the money and forgo the drawing as long as he does not take both of the options.

While terminating the contract, the remedy should be elected and if its inadequate then the aggrieved party should be seek alternative remedy.

 

References.

Wilmot et al, (2009) Contract Law. Oxford. Oxford University Press,

Simpson, B. (1975) A History of the Common Law of Contract: The Rise of the Action of

Assumpsit, Oxford. Oxford University Press.

Ewan M. (2005) Contract Law – Text, Cases and Materials. Cambridge. Oxford

University Press.

 

 Accuracy of Memories

Whether memories are accurate or not has promoted conduction of various researches. Even though, many individuals are confident in the accuracy of their memories, this confident has been questioned through various researches, which contend that our memories are not reliable. Therefore, this has raised the issue of malleability as many influences may cause these memories to change. The paper seeks to explore on how memories affect the daily lives of people such as administration of justice.

Memories are precious and people cannot d do away with them. They are integral to the lives of people as they give people identity (Loftus, 2003, p. 231). Through memory, people are able to share and create bonds in their families and among friends.  Therefore, memories may seem to be fixed as occasioned to certain situations and experiences that people get in.  For instance, the idea of people being or remaining accustomed to their belief system is as a result of memories. Peoples’ memory about an episode that happened in their past may play a fundamental role in shaping their present and future life’s. Such beliefs that are well reserved in the memory my remain integral in their life’s hence impacting on the way they live.

How memory may be influenced

Memory keeps on changing and is usually influenced through people imaginations, leading questions about issues and through their recollection of things that happened to other people (Loftus, 2003, p. 231). For instance, people may remember an event that happened to their colleagues in the past and such events may impact on their decisions in life. This may also alter their way of perceiving certain things.

Memories are not fixed but rather flexible because of the varying everyday experiences that people face. These memories can be lost, created and changed over time.   Memories can either be accurate or inaccurate. It is this dynamics of trying to substantiate whether memories are accurate or inaccurate that raises questions of validity or criminal conviction. Witnesses memories has time in memorial been used as evidence in the courts of law to provide evidence for the offenses. However, because of the lapses in memories, some of the people accused and put behind bars in prisons have been found not to be offenders. This, therefore, has raised questions of whether there is as sense of accuracy in the witness memory. Inaccurate memory can be compelling and may appear real as an accurate memory misleading people in their judgment.

Some people have temporary memories.  Such people often forget easily things that they have encountered or experienced. However, they can remember some of the episodes if given some time. Others have a problem of storing new things and often will forget as soon as they are exposed to this information. This problem is contributed by lack of attention from the individuals or basically poor retention capabilities.  Such people may not be helpful in playing the function of a witness because; they will not be able to remember some of the details that happened as their memory are short.

People memory can be scrambled in the process of trying to retrieve and piece together the original memory of a certain experience ((Loftus, 2003, p. 232). Scrambled memory   in most cases, leads to conflicting narration or remembering of an event. This kind of memory is dangerous especially to the witnesses. A witness with scrambled memory is likely to send a person not guilty into a prison. The person may feel perfectly sure of the truth of the memory. Therefore, this is a clear indication that memory is malleable and therefore, should not be relied upon in making all the decisions. Scrutiny is called for especially in cases where there is participation of the witness in the case. In USA, countless cases of convictions have been made based on mistaken memories and therefore it raises a lot of concern to the authenticity or rather the accuracy of the memories. For instance, it is estimated that in 1991, around 7500 people were arrested for serious crimes and convicted falsely on false witnesses.  Another case of faulty memory was the Washington DC sniper attacks in which ten people were killed in 2002.  The witnesses claimed that they saw a white van fleeing the crime scene. Media repetitions also enhanced this perception in the minds of people and many believed that the people from the white car perpetrated the shootings. However, when investigation was carried out, it was revealed that the suspects were from a blue car.

Propositional memory also called semantic memory is based on facts and underlies general knowledge of the world. It allows people to remember things that happened in the past such as the death of a person. Recollection memory also called episodomic memory, experiential direct or personal memory and is memory of episodes or experienced events such as the passing away of a friend ten years ago.  These kinds of memories are essential in enhancing understanding how memories work.

To prove the inaccuracy of people’s memories, various researches have been conducted. One of the investigation used photographs (Loftus, 2003, p. 232). The real photo was manipulated in a search a way that it captured the children experiences of the subjects. The false photo was pasted in the prototype photograph of a hot – air balloon. The family members of the subjects confirmed that the events had never happened on the subject in their childhood.  The subjects were required to remember all things that happened in their childhood.   More than 50% of the subjects recalled clearly the events that happened in their childhood such as the fictitious hot air balloon. This finding therefore, reveled that, people memory is malleable and can be changed. It changes with time and at the same time, it is possible to shape the memory of individual through the way a person behaves and in the way questions are structured.

Expression of memories in terms of confidence, vividness and amount of detail provided can be used to determine the accuracy or inaccuracy of someone’s memory.  For instance, a person saying the reality or a person that is certain and sure about certain experience is deemed to have more confidence and is likely to express it vividly as opposed to that not sure or unable to recollect their memory. For example, an individual that witnessed his friend being killed is likely to be confidence in expressing this as opposed to someone that did not experience such incidence. However, it is also important to note that, some of the memories may be inaccurate but may be expressed with higher level of confidence and vividness.  Being able to differentiate that that is accurate and inaccurate is the challenge that needs to be identified and approached decisively.

People real behaviors varies from one person to another because of various reasons, one of this is stress. During such circumstances, people tend to miss important information in their environment.  This explains why a person is not likely to remember an assailment because, the person might have focused more on the weapon as posed to the person. A sense of time is also another factor. As time passes by people memories, get hazy and distorted causing people to have problems in their memories and in the remembering issues. Power of suggestion also influences the memory of human beings. Suggestive techniques that some of the psychotherapist use may lead to distortion of memories of individuals. Suggestive expressions lead patients to false beliefs and memories that caused have consequences to both the patient and those people accused (Loftus, 2003, p. 233).  An example of suggestive expressions is, “you do not remember physical abuse, but you have the symptoms, so must imagine who may be behind this”. Such expressions may mislead the memories of the witness leading to false accusation. The best strategy to ensure that cases of memory contamination are reduced is allowing the witnesses to write down what they remember from the episode before talking to any person. This will help them to provide sufficient and up to date information pertaining to the experience or events that they saw or experienced.

Memory failure/distortion is also likely to lead to failure to convict a guilty person especially if their stories conflicts with that of other people. Therefore, through scientific research, such problems can be managed or minimized.  People or leaders should be made not to make decisions based on their myths and misconceptions about memory but rather such knowledge should be shared among the relevant individuals and acted upon diligently. To ensure that this is achieved, there is need for intensive education campaigns to sensitize people on the different kinds of memory. Convicted people should access DNA testing to ensure that they are not convicted based on false witnesses (Loftus, 2003, p. 234). Furthermore, courts cases should be presided over by qualified and quality lawyers who will have to analyze witnesses in their cases. This will help to reduce cases of false witnesses and would ensure that justice is attained.  Therefore, in conclusion, it is evidence that memory is prone to errors as many people may think.  People memory can be infused with compelling illusory memories on important things in their lives. This inaccuracy in memory has caused many injustices to many people. Therefore, it is appropriate that   such injustices are avoided and if not possible minimized to assure all the people that they can get justice.

 

Reference

Loftus, E. (2003). Our changeable memories: Legal and social implications, Nature Reviews          Neuroscience, 4, 231-234.

 

 

Letter of Grievance to the local School Administration

29^th March 2013

Address

To

School Superintended

Dear Sir/Madam

I hereby write this letter citing my disappointments and those of the many parents with regard to an important issue that has come to my attention.  This issue is about the nutritional programs offered to the pupils at your school and how they affect this pupil’s health. Eating disorders is a concern of not only me but also other people in our country today. I also try to think that most teachers in your school acknowledge that obesity is a problem which need touch measures to curb.

It was just last weekend when I was surprising shocked to hear from my daughter who attends your elementary school that they were still being served “Pizzas” and “fries” which she enjoyed during lunch time.  Upon further scrutiny, I also realized that even much of the constituents in breakfast meals were fats and excessive sugars. This is a total disregard to the government’s health stipulations to school. It is therefore with regard to that that I would like to get it clear from the school administration on why the school promotes such unhealthy foods in contrast to the acceptable health diet.

Although there are people who would argue that there are other factors such as genetics and environmental factors influencing obesity and not solely fat foods, studies point out that fats and sugars remain to be the biggest contributors of this condition.  Researchers have also pointed out that the environment has a significant impact on a growing child (Wade & Tavris, 2011).   For instance, the kind of food exposed to children in the school environment will create a culture with regard to the kind of food they partake. This will in turn lead to unhealthy food choices among the kids.   Fatty foods do not only lead to obesity but also other problems such as diabetes resistance to insulin among other health concern.

It is therefore with this concern   that I would urge the school administration to adopt policies and programs in support to of health foods and eliminate those that would only jeopardize the health of our children.

 

 

Reference

Wade & Tavris, (2011).  “Psychology” Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall. Gladwell, M.