Author: chris

An analysis of the culture of an organization

‘The value of a student’s international experience goes beyond purely the acquisition of language – it lies in the ability to see business and personal issues from other than your own cultural perspective’ Charles MacLeod, Head of UK Resourcing, Price Waterhouse Coopers 2008

 

Title:

 

An analysis of the culture of an organization

 

Your report will apply a theoretical framework used in the study of organizational culture (e.g. those developed by Schein, Hofstede, Weick, Handy/Harrison or Duffy) to conduct an analysis of an organization’s culture.

 

The analysis will illustrate the culture by focusing on EITHER

 

1.  an issue (something which the organization has responded to) OR

2.  a particular organizational practice (something the organization does) OR

3.  an event (some particular incident or series of incidents inside the organization) OR

4.  a sub – unit (an organizational department department/division) .

 

You will be able to choose from one of seven organizations:

 

(The web sites are provided as somewhere to consult in the first instance but should not exhaust your enquiries)

 

Business Simulation

1- introduction about problem including aims , objectives , assumption , key performance indicators and any other relevant information you deem appropriate.

2- design a table showing entities , state variables , and events .

3- an appropriate flowchart with detalied explanation .

4-Develop relevant Activity Cycle Diagrams with detailed explanations .

5- Explain which data collection method(s) would be appropriate from your point of view to capture the require information for modelling this problem.

6- Develop a simulation model to imitate the system above (“As-Is” situation). Explain every single component stating role and shift pattern. Run the simulation for 200 students and 5 simulation replications and analyse the “As-Is” results based on key performance indicators identified in (a).

7- Design at least two experiments (scenarios) to :
i- Minimise the overall simulation time .
ii- Achieve a minimum queue at each work centre .
iii-Reduce the resources, work centers idle times.
iv-Maximise the resources utilisations.
v- Minimise average waiting time .

8- Compare with the use of Excel diagrams the “As-Is” scenario with the above mentioned scenarios.

9- Recommendations for further improvement (bulle: points)

Quality and Operations Management ( “Santa Cruz Mexican Restaurant” Instructions )

1. Based on the reductionist approach and utilising a number of the quality tools and techniques, assess the situation and determine the reasons for poor customer satisfaction and its potential impact on loyalty behaviours at the restaurant.

Note: question 1 (above) is carried out in-class as a group activity. You MUST ensure that you take any data away with you and incorporate it into your individual submission.

2. Using the PAF model determine those aspects of the service that contribute to the restaurant’s costs of quality i.e. prevention, appraisal, internal and external failure costs.
3. Develop a procedure that should be followed by the staff when they come into contact with a diner.
4. Encompassing both the personal and procedural dimensions, create a set of meaningful standards of service for the restaurant.
5. Design a detailed mystery diner checklist for the Santa Cruz Restaurant
6. Design an improved Customer Comment card.
7. Make recommendations for improvement, including an improved process map of the customers’ experience that removes the non-value added steps in the process.

Human Resources

Part 1:  Questions on Sales Performance

Introduction to give to respondent: Please think of two people: Person “A”, who is the highest performing salesperson, and person “Z” who is the lowest performing salesperson in your organization.

  • Question 1: What exactly has person “A” done/achieved/performed which person Z has not?

Remark: Please note, we are not asking about how these two persons differ as individuals (e.g., one is more skilled, motivated, smart, etc.). Hence, a description of the two individual personalities is not what we are asking for. Instead, we are interested in how salespeople’s performance is defined in your organization.

Please answer Question 1 here in about 10-15 lines:

Person A was more successful in placing clients in other businesses. For our business it is key that we manage to integrate our clients once more into the work environment as soon as possible. Therefore, a good “sales person” at our company has to be able to identify possible options for the reintegration of our clients quickly and then “sell” our client to a company, so that he can be integrated back into the labour market as quickly as possible.

Furthermore, person A would also have a lower fallback rate, meaning a low percentage of clients who would not be able to maintain the arranged position at another company.

Lastly, the best performing salesperson should receive a high customer satisfaction rating.

 

 

  • Question 2: Will the performance indicators of salespeople’s performance in your organization (i.e., the respondent’s organization) change in the next decade? And, if yes, how? What indicators will become more important? What indicators will become less important?
 Please answer Question 2 here in about 10 lines: The indicators for performance will change, as our focus is shifting to creating “sustainable” sales, meaning that it is becoming ever more important that the people we place can stay in there new position on the long run. Consequently, the pure “sales” measure, as of how many people did a sales manager manage to place, will become less important and the focus will shift to the quality oriented measure of “how many people you have placed one year ago are still in the same position.

Lastly, one has to realize that the hard measure of “how many people did you place last year” will still be used, but a combination of the two will allow us to focus on sustainable growth and closer partnership with our clients and customers.

 

  • Question 3: Let’s assume that all salespeople in your firm (i.e., the respondent’s firm) would tomorrow copy the exact behaviours of person “A” and perform the same as he/she in the next decade. Would your sales organization then be successful?
Please answer Question 3 here in about 10 lines:

On the one hand, clearly the focus should stay on timely placement of our clients, as the quicker they find a new occupation the better for the people. Nonetheless, it is important that our organisation does also focus on the sustainability of “sales”. If the placed client, drops out after just a couple of months, it is not only very frustrating for the client, but also for the company that took on our client and could potentially negatively influence our partnership with these companies. The reason why we focused on the short-term measures so far is that the political pressure to reduce costs quickly was greater than the long-term strategy of reintegrating our clients on the long run into the labour market. Nevertheless, this tendency is shifting and the focus is now more on building sustainable partnerships with companies and finding viable and sustainable solutions for our clients and partners. 

Analyzing a Curriculum Guide

google
NCU learner
go to the Learners Portal Login – Northcentral University
Login name all lower caps – myronhawthorne
Pass Phase – Myron2222
Click on ED5016-8 top left
Click Activities
Click Activities 6

Activity Resources

Chapter 19 in Glickman, C. D., Gordon, S. P., & Ross-Gordon, J. M. (2010). SuperVision and instructional leadership: A developmental approach. Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.

Q&A Principles of Logic

Question 1:How do formal proofs contribute to an understanding of the processes of logical reasoning? Can you see any context in which these may be useful in the real world?
Question 2: Give examples of the distinction between material conditionals and biconditionals not given in the learning modules or in the book, and show how they are distinct.

Chapter 9
Question 1: Please explain how expressing universal categorical propositions as conditionals articulates their internal structures. Why are particular propositions not expressed in that way?
Chapter 10
Question 1: An analogical relationship is obvious when directly expressed. In what other ways do we employ them as a way to understand unfamiliar phenomena?
Chapter 11 and 12
Question 1: Read the Lecture Notes for this section, and address how logic and scientific method determine the nature and limits of rational thinking.
Question 2: How does the structure of the brain parallel the development of human cognition. The answer is in the Lecture Notes.
Chapter 13
Question 1: In what way is probability central to scientific method? To knowledge generally? How is it central to conceptions of epistemology, quantum mechanics, and thermodynamics?

Psychology – Critical review paper

The CRITICAL REVIEW paper will require the student to produce a commentary focused on one of the basic ideas, concepts or topics that are presented in one of the readings from the course pack. This commentary should consist of the student’s interpretation and critique of the material, including agreement or disagreement with, or extension of the author’s ideas. Again, it is important to note that the grade on the paper will NOT depend on the student’s agreement with the author’s point of view. However, the grade will depend on how well the student justifies his or her ideas and how clearly the ideas are presented. The course pack paper chosen for this critical review should be of reasonable breadth to allow for some integration of the ideas presented in the class meetings and other readings. Any of the papers listed below will meet this criterion. Other papers in the course pack are also suitable. However, if an alternative paper is selected it must be approved (via email message) at least one class before the due date of the paper. The suggested papers for the CRITICAL REVIEW PAPER are:

1) Mueller, J. The specific energies of nerves.

2) Barzun, J. Culture high and dry.

4) Huxley, A. The Doors of Perception.

5) Gibson, J. The perceptual systems.

6) Percy, W. The Loss of the creature.

7) Bruner, J. On perceptual readiness.

8) Neisser, U. Attention and the problem of capacity.

9) Bruner, J. The Proper Study of Man.

10) Whorf, B.L. An American Indian model of the universe.

11) Davidson, D. Rational animals.

12) Davidson, D. Three Varieties of Knowledge.

12) Cassirer, E. An essay on man (chapters 2, 3, and 4)

13) Roszak, T. Science in extremis: Prospect of an autopsy

Note that many of these readings come from sections of the syllabus, associated with different parts of the course, especially the last section. Nevertheless, it is perfectly reasonable to review an article from the end of the syllabus (e.g. Davidson’s “Rational Animals”) for your critical review even though the course topic associated with the material might not have been covered. None of the articles in the course pack was written with the expectation of their inclusion in a college course and all are readable independently of our syllabus. Of course, if a student reviews an article from the end of the syllabus, the grader will not expect the student to have had access to subsequent lecture, discussion and reading material.

Proposal for Program Change

The decision cycle for the next fiscal year budget has begun and the department budget officer has asked each division chief to prepare requests for changes to the current year’s budget. As a program manager in a government agency, your division chief has asked you to prepare next year’s request, making sure to forecast revenue and control costs. Prepare a proposal for program change consisting of four parts: •Statement of the Problem: Describe the public nature of the issue or problem addressed by your request. Justify your case through measures of need or demand for services provided through the program, illustrated delivery gaps among for profit, nongovernmental, and other government agencies, and how the problem has changed during the recent past. •Alternative Solutions to the Problem: Identify at least 2 different approaches to the problem described in part 1. Each alternative should be described in such a way that the reader understands that the particular choice is both feasible and reasonable. The staffing and budgetary requirements of each alternative must be clear. •The Preferred Solution: The proposal should be justified in terms used in the problem statement. The outcome of the proposal should relate to the goals and objectives of the program, and illustrate the impact of the proposal and expected benefits to the public. •The Budgetary Requirements of the Preferred Solution: The financial needs of the expanded or new program should be listed, and the proposed sources of funding for the proposal should be identified.