Enterprise Target Status Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Enterprise Target Status - Research Paper Example The implementation of internal network is also hidden behind routers. All firewall's and routers have also been protected with passwords only known to employee from network administration department (Lammle, 2007). Network desired status There is a need to ensure that the software that is being adopted is shared amongst the various departments. . ERP handles all the activities that are done in the human resource department using integrated software. Its primary function is to enable the exchange of information between all the sections in the department. It also gives an opportunity to the employees to check their status concerning payment, personal information, tax information and employment data. More so, the system has a user friendly interface which enables the user to complete the intended task with a lot of simplicity. In addition, the system is able to track all the details about the employee’s vacation automatically using a project planner (Porter, 2010). The role that is played by a good network in the company cannot be underrated since without it, different computers that support the system cannot communicate with each other and with the database server. There are three network components that are used to automate a business. These are the network operating system, the physical connection and the application components (Ross, Weill, & Robertson, 2006). Network operating system is the suitable operating protocol that facilitates communication. The sending and receiving of information is made possible by the NOS. It is the software that manages the exchange of data between the client computer and the server. The ability of the server to accommodate large number of client computers and enable them to exchange data and information is due to the presence of suitable NOS (Saha, 2007). The network operating system that is used in the in the department uses TCP/IP (transfer control protocol/internet protocol). The most common NOS are UNIX, Windows NT se rver, Linux, and OS WARP server. One issue that has been problematic for most business organizations is the creation and maintenance of enterprise-wide technology architecture. This case is currently seen in most organizations that have been analyzed before. When middleware options began to proliferate so did companies in their use of web technologies with integrated systems. However, creating web instituted e-business systems that respond to this challenge are complex. This means that companies have to struggle to integrate diverse and unique databases and applications that are developed in diverse languages. This means that the organization had to acquire diverse middleware systems. This will be done to respond to enterprise application integration as a major challenge in its enterprise architecture process (Porter, 1985). The organizations will have to establish and maintain a neutral ground with respect to the nature if technology architecture that is compatible to enterprise-wi de technology architecture. It embraces all information technology issues in the organization, which encompasses technical, informational, application and infrastructural architecture. This is the reason why the companies will have to adopt common object request broker architecture (CORBA) to integrate different languages in an intermediary (Buchanan, 2002). In conclusion, enterprise architecture helps companies or business organizations become effective with the use of information techn

Should the Government Bail out the Auto Industry Essay

Should the Government Bail out the Auto Industry - Essay Example Further, US automobile industry is dominated by three major players namely Chrysler, General Motors and Ford. However, from the year 2003, the scenario in the U.S. automobile industry has dramatically transformed. At present, the lion’s share of cars sold in the U.S market were either assembled or manufactured by foreign manufacturers at their new North American manufacturing units which is famously known as â€Å"transplant facilities† or imported. Due to cut throat competition, the big three U.S. auto majors now have to concentrate only in light trucks manufacturing and even there, they are being encountered by competition from foreign manufacturers. Since 1980, on financial ground, the major three big players of U.S.A have laid off more than 600,000 jobs. Michigan has been the worst affected state since more than 100,000 individuals have lost their jobs in the automobile industry since 1980. It is to be noted that in 1980, Regan administration had been urged to negotiate quotas on imports from Japan. Nonetheless, by and large U.S deficit in automotive trade deficit in automotive commerce had enlarged from $ 10 billion in 1979 to in excess of $150 billion per annum in 2000 despite of high quantum of inward remittances by foreign automobile manufacturers and a fall in the imports as foreign model cars have been manufactured at transplant assembly facilities in U.S.A itself. In 1980, U.S. had framed policies intended at demanding foreign automobile manufactures operating from America to manufacture more of the model of cars that they sell to America and some other policies intended at increasing awareness of consumers about imported vehicles and automobile parts, like the American Automobile Labeling Act, seem to have had no effect on t he increase of this sector’s trade deficit. In 2004, the trade deficit with the Japan was more than $48 billion and the U.S exports to Japan were just $ 2 billion Further, U.S.A trade deficit with Korea

Trends: The Labour Market In Oman

Trends: The Labour Market In Oman Introduction This paper presents an analysis of the following within the working context of the author who is working as External Relations Manager for Bank Muscat, in the Banks Head Office in Muscat. Main issues and trends in the labour market in Oman that impact the key competences of the organisation Bank Muscat, Oman An Evaluation of the Strategic approaches to HRM that can improve organisational performance Organisations approaches to HRM toward Talent Management After the analysis and evaluation of the above HRM issues and approaches, this report concludes with some recommendations for improving the performance in Bank Muscat, where the author is working as its External Relations Manager. Issues and Trends in the Labour Market in Oman Labour market issues and trends are driven by labour market structure and labour diversity (Schuler Jackson, 2007). The labour market in Oman is composed of indigenous Omani workers and expatriate workers (Al-Lamki, 2005) who have different national cultures (with different ethnicities) which give rise to labour diversity (Triandis et al, 1994) as well. Like its member countries of the GCC-Gulf Cooperation Council, Omans labour market is tight which always poses recruitment difficulties (Metcalfe, 2007). The GCC Gulf Cooperation Council countries (Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, the UAE, Bahrain, and Qatar) do not have sufficient indigenous skilled work force  [1]  as a result of which the GCC countries had been relying very heavily on imported work force for their economic development. According to the World Tribune report  [2]  , Omans expatriate work force constitutes a majority of 54% of the total work force in the country. As per the recent statistics published by the Ministry of National Economy (2009), Oman, the expatriate population stood at 900,248 against the Omani population of 1,967,180 at mid year 2008. In other words, these statistics indicate that from only a third of the nations population the expatriates occupy a high 54% of the labour market in Oman. In consequence of the above, the Government of Oman has been implementing its Omanisation Policy vigorously since the start of year 2009 (although the Governments Omanisation Policy has been active in the country since 1988 when it was introduced by His Majesty Sultan Qaboos Bin Said through the Ministry of Civil Services to replace the expatriate work force with local Omani work force) in the private sector. This is due to the fact that the Governments implementation of its Omanisation Policy has been successful so far only in the Omani public sector and not in the private sector as the sector still relies heavily on the expatriate work force (Table 1). Nonetheless the banking sector in Oman is an exception to the poor Omanisation in the private sector (Al-Lamki, 2005). Table 1: Employment of Omanis in the Private Sector  [3]   Currently there are 17 commercial banks, including Bank Muscat, in Oman. Bank Muscat is the largest and leading commercial bank in Oman  [4]  . Bank Muscat has been continuously striving to improve its human resources to enhance its operations as well as to contribute to the further development of national human resources. Currently, Bank Muscat has a very high 92% Omanisation rate which has earned the Bank the prestigious GCC-Level Achievement in Nationalisation of Human Resources in November 2009  [5]  . The Bank also continues to be a heavy investor in information technology to keep itself on top of the competition. Bank Muscat has won for the ninth consecutive year in 2009 the Best Consumer Internet Bank award from the prestigious Global Finance. Service sector organisations are labour intensive and in consequence the human resources represent a substantial portion of the overall operating cost of the service organisation (Massey, 1994). Also human resources cost continues to be one of the most difficult expenses to control in organisations yet it is the critical most factor that affects organisational performance (Pfeffer, 1998). These views apply very well to Bank Muscat also. Being an operator in the services sector where in the customers and the employees engage in direct contact (Schneider et al, 1980), and driven to be more cautious in conducting its daily business due to the current global economic crisis, Bank Muscats major focus of its HRM practice is directed at enhancing customer services through effective customisation of banking products and efficient delivery of quality banking services in a cost-effective way. It would be pertinent here to mention Bank Muscats Mission and its Quality Policy. Bank Muscats Mission Statement Quality Policy Bank Muscats Mission Statement is effectively combined with its Vision Statement which states that, Over one million satisfied customers by 2010 through continuous enhancement of stakeholder value  [6]  . And Bank Muscats Quality Policy Statement states, Our Quality Policy is to achieve and sustain a reputation for quality in the national and international markets by offering products and services that exceed the requirements of our customers. We strive to remain the bank of first choice in all our product and services  [7]  . Accordingly, Bank Muscats strategic emphasis is on building further its sources of competitive advantage which are strong community of satisfied customers and quality offerings of banking products and services. Further the financial services market in Oman (Bank Muscat competes directly with HSBC, Standard Chartered Bank, Oman International Bank, National Bank of Oman, Bank Dhofar, Bank Saderat Iran, and Bank Sohar) is becoming relatively more competitive than the financials services market in the neigbouring Qatar. Currently Bank Muscat runs 125 branches, operates 362 ATMs and 112 CDMs, and 4,200 PoS terminals throughout Oman. And another 3 more branches are going to be opened soon in the other cities of Oman, namely, Sohar, Salalah, and Sur. Human Resource Investment Bank Muscat considers its investment in its human resources as the most valuable asset which forms the basis for the Banks operations. In as much as the Banks human resources contain highly-skilled and experienced people, it also has newly recruited staffs that are relatively low-skilled as they are fresh University Graduates. Human resource movements are caused by recruitments and exits. Since bulk of Bank Muscats operations occur in the Banks retail branches, from time to time Bank Muscat recruits new Omani staffs in order to meet its human resource requirements, based on its formal recruitment and selection policies, at its new branches. There are no effects on the movements in the Banks human resources due to employee leaving. For instance, the employee turnover rate at the end of 2009 was 0% for the third consecutive time, as there were no exits due to resignation, retirement, or termination. For senior positions at the branches staffs are appointed through internal recruitment job promotions (e.g. Assistant Manager to Branch Manager) and the resultant vacancies are filled through the recruitment of new Omani staffs. Competence and Training and Development In view of the above Bank Muscat requires its new staffs with low-skills (who are currently filling in the first-line staffs mostly in the clerical cadre) to upgrade their skills. Acquisitions of higher level skills by these staffs would help the Bank to provide its quality-integrated services to its customers much more vigorously in the pursuit of its strategic mission and vision through a high quality services strategy and at the same time complying with the Governments Omanisation targets. Accordingly, the present HR competence needs of Bank Muscat are derived from the necessity to up skilling its young Omani staffs within the Banks need to maintain competitive advantage against the ongoing rapid changes in the business environment in Oman. To this end the Bank Muscats HR goals are currently focussed in training and development: To reduce skills shortages in the area of complex tasks To Encourage learning to acquire Bank specific-business knowledge for obtaining higher efficiency as well as to cope with changes To provide opportunities for personal and professional development and career growth To forge long term employment tenure on the basis of competence and skills-advancement (through higher/professional education) for entry-level staffs. Strategic Approaches to HRM for Improving Organisational Performance In todays rapidly changing competitive business environment, human resource management is being increasingly considered as a critical part of the strategic management (Sheehan, 2005; Schuler Jackson, 2007) and in consequence Strategic Human Resource Management (SHRM) as a field in itself has been increasingly applied since the 80s as part of management practice (Becker Huselid, 2006). According to Tichy et al (1982) the strategic approach to HRM is known as Strategic Human Resource Management. The strategic alignment of HRM with the organisations business strategies would contribute to enhanced organisational performance (ibid). Strategic Human Resource Management is defined by Ulrich (1997, p.89) as, the process of linking HR practices to business strategy. The outcome of the application of strategic human resource management is HR Strategy: the mission, vision, and priorities of the HR function (ibid, p.190). Managers can contribute more in the form of value-addition to the firm through the strategic use of their human resource competencies (Mullins, 2007). A strategic approach to HRM for improving organisational performance would demand the matching of the needs and talents of people with that of the organisations objectives (ibid). In other words, a competency-based HRM system can provide an organisation to sustain as well as develop its peoples competencies for the organisations future success. Four-task Model of HRM Schuler et al (2001, p.115), through their Four-task Model of HRM, assert that a strategic approach to HRM would contribute to the development of an effective HR plan which would help improve organisation performance by carrying out effectively the following four core HR activities: The organisation maintains the right number of people Employees are equipped with the right work knowledge and job skills for rendering efficient and effective performance (competence) Employee relationships and behaviour are consistent with the culture and values of the organisation. Employees are motivated adequately to meet the organisations needs. When these core activities are effectively carried out the resulting changes in the human resources in the form of employee attitudes and behaviours within a right organisational climate should lead the organisations successful performance (Bowen Ostroff, 2004). For instance these four core activities can help an organisation to create cultures that maintain its unique competencies, promote social relationships built on mutual trust, knowledge sharing, and teamwork (Schuler Jackson, 2007). Together these imply that an organisation which develops employees to acquire better work skills, become more knowledgeable, and achieve higher competencies would be able to effectively promote improved organisational performance. High Performance Work Practices (HPWPs) A key approach to SHRM is high performance work practices (Huselid, 1995). HPWPs are considered by researchers to produce positive effects on an organisations financial and business performance (Appelbaum et al, 2000; Schuler Jackson, 2007). When individuals are provided with the right environment and collaborative team work with adequate job discretion it is highly likely that they would produce high individual performances which collectively would lead to accomplishing a successful organisational performance (Becker Huselid, 2006). In order to do this the management of the organisation should use high performance work practices (Huselid, 1995). In other words use of high performance work practices would impact positively on both individual performance and organisational performance. HPWPs include employee empowerment, employee training, and teamwork (ibid) and talent management and staff retention (Huselid et al, 2005). Likewise high performance HR practices that includes a rigorous selection of staffs and robust training and development systems to increase employee ability levels and skills, supported by comprehensive incentive schemes to motivate employees, and empowering employees, have positive impact on employee productivity and organisational performance (Appelbaum et al, 2000). These HPWPs can lead an organisation to the development of skilled employees who actively engage in producing successful behaviours for the organisation which thus form a key source of competitive advantage to generate mutually beneficial outcomes to obtain higher organisational operating performances (Schuler Jackson, 2007). HPWPs lead to the achievement of these favourable organisational operating performances through the improved social structure within the organisation that greatly assist in better communication and higher cooperation among the work force (Appelbaum et al, 2000). Employee empowerment today is considered as part of talent management (Bux Tay, 2010). Hence, these two key HR practices that are in use at Bank Muscat have been discussed: in the next section 2.2.1, namely, employee empowerment; and talent management, including employee empowerment in Bank Muscat have been discussed in section 3 later. Employee Empowerment Only when individuals are empowered and made to get involved they can become an organisations most valued employees as a consequence of which they would become the right people who can offer value creation both for the organisation and its customers (Sarkar, 2009). Mullins (2007, p.702) defines employee empowerment as, allowing employees greater freedom, autonomy and self-control over their work, and responsibility for decision-making. According to Spreitzer (1995), employee empowerment is a motivational factor that embeds: employee competences and consistent behaviour and ability to initiate and regulate actions, which collectively influences operating performances in the organisation. The concept of employee empowerment is about leaders giving up their control in order to get the desired results for the organisation (Gretton, 1995 in Mullins, 2007). This is supported by Spreitzer (1995) who states that leaders can become more effective if only they can give up their power, but retain responsibility, to their staffs and teams. An effective management of employee empowerment is capable of producing a large number of benefits to an organisation from the top level to the bottom level (Mullins, 2007). By empowering its employees an organisation can improve both the individual ability and the organisational ability to perform successfully (ibid). Further, employee empowerment can be used as a successful organisational tool to raise employee productivity and profits (ibid). Likewise, empowerment facilitates employees to become innovative and render good performance since conflicts can be greatly avoided and more cooperation can be obtained (Spreitzer, 1995). Appelbaum et al (2000) suggest that empowerment enables greater utilisation of employee knowledge, abilities, and skills which in turn makes them cooperate more in the form of teamwork (Spreitzer, 1995). In many organisations HR role is restricted to routine tasks like hiring and firing, implementing the decisions made by others on pay and benefits (Frost et al, 2002). However, if the HR managers are empowered, then they would be engaged in much deeper aspects of recruitment, selection, and retention, employee training and development and focus strongly on workplace diversity which can contribute to increasing their competence and encourage them to empower their staffs in order to enhance the business and financial performance (ibid). Approaches to Talent Management It would be useful to understand the meaning behind two key words: Talent and Talent Management. CIPD of the UK provides two critical definitions on Talent and Talent Management as follows  [8]  : Talent Talent consists of those individuals who can make a difference to organisational performance, either through their immediate contribution or in the longer-term by demonstrating the highest levels of potential. Talent Management Talent management is the systematic attraction, identification, development, engagement/ retention and deployment of those individuals who are of particular value to an organisation, either in view of their high potential for the future or because they are fulfilling business/operation-critical roles. As discussed earlier, Bank Muscat operates in the services sector and by nature is a labour intensive Company whose main objective of running its banking operations is to provide high-quality customer services in banking and finance. And in this pursuit the role of the Banks people is critical in adding value not only to the customer services they render but also add value to Bank Muscat, thus eventually adding value to the Banks stakeholders. In view of the above and given the diversity of the work force of Bank Muscat, talent management at the Bank would have implications for recruitment and selection of competent staffs and staff retention. Further in terms of succession planning the Bank also has a need to mentor/coach future leaders/managers for Bank Muscat. Figure 1 illustrates the Talent Management framework at Bank Muscat which has been reproduced from the talent management framework supported by the Government of Australia for managing skill shortages  [9]  . Accordingly the following HR activities will be discussed here: Staff Recruitment and Selection Strategic Human Resource Development Mentoring Staff Retention. In addition to the above employee empowerment in Bank Muscat has been discussed as part of the Companys talent management practice under the heading Strategic Human Resource Development. Figure 1: Talent Management Framework The major recruitment and selection objective of Bank Muscat is to attract and retain and thus have the right people with core competencies to enable the Bank to continue to maintain its competitive advantage as a the countrys leading bank in terms of profits, net assets, and up to date IT infrastructure. According to Pollitt (2004, p.24) the following are the core competencies expected from the workers by organisations world wide. These are: Well developed leadership skills, The ability to shift attitudes and behaviors, The capacity to exert effective influence and work through others, The talent for successful partnership working and, most importantly, having the potential to adapt quickly to internal and external change, and To get that change owned and embedded in an organization. Given the low level availability of talent with the above core competencies recruiting right people now is much harder for organisations (ibid). This is particularly true in the case of Bank Muscat which requires people with the above skills and consequential difficulties in finding and recruiting such talent within the tight labour market in Oman. Main (2008) asserts that retaining highly skilled staff is a better option than recruiting new talent as recruiting would not only be an expensive option but also would be time-consuming in the present economic conditions, which applies to Bank Muscat as well though staff recruitment and selection process cannot be ignored. Staff Recruitment and Selection As mentioned earlier the labour market in Oman is differentiated in terms of the composition of the workforce (indigenous workers and expatriate workers). Further Oman has a tight labour market (like its other GCC member nations) which makes recruitment and staffing of employees extremely difficult due to the domestic shortage of skilled people on the one hand and the available young work force lack work experience and the required job skills. In the current economic downturn more and more employers are driven by the need to attract and retain workers with high skills and competencies to improve their organisational performances (Lunau, 2009). Many firms in Oman are experiencing low business and Bank Muscat is no exception which is indicated by a 21% drop in its annual profits for 2010 at OR73.7 million (about USD191.4 million)  [10]  . Nonetheless, aided by its human resource planning the Bank is on the look out for new workers to meet its staffing requirements for succession planning as well as its ongoing retail branch expansions. Without clear job descriptions any recruitment and selection process would be a failure (Frost et al, 2005). For example, the recruitment and selection process in some of the Omani public sector undertakings were criticised by the State Audit institution of Oman. The key to Bank Muscats recruitment and selection process is the use of clear job descriptions for recruiting the right people. Further since competence is considered as the critical element of Bank Muscats HR practices, priority is given to internal recruitment through promotions which actually helps the team members to work with maximum initiatives, increased expectations, and higher motivation. Strategic Human Resource Development (SHRD) Incorporating the core competencies of human resources and relating them for improving organisational performance is the purpose of strategic human resource development (Bratton Gold, 2007). When strategic human resource development is aligned the corporate strategies of the organisation it can lead to the creation of organisation-specific knowledge and skills (Garavan et al, 2007) which will also help build the core competencies of human resources. An effective recruitment and selection process should complement and support the training and development process (Boxall Purcell, 2003 in Bratton Gold, 2007). Accordingly, Bank Muscats recruitment and selection process is complemented by its training and development process which primarily focuses on building strong customer relationships. Training for Skill and Competence Development at Bank Muscat For this purpose, the Bank has been operating successfully its own Management Development Centre since year 2005 as part of its SHRD. Each training programme at the Centre is driven by the HR Departments training needs assessment exercise. This internal training and development Centre handles the training of the low-skilled employees on one end and high-skill positions on the other end. Training is imparted by training consultants from Dubai, London, and Australia who are supported by 3 full-time professional trainers of the Centre. The Centres training emphasis is based on self learning and Job-integrated learning. And the taught instructions along with the workshop learning programmes are delivered by the trainers who interact freely on a dialogue-basis rather than on a monologue-basis, encourage the trainees to participate more actively in the training and development process. The newly recruited low-skilled employees undergo a short and vigorous training to skill them for their current jobs. Likewise, mid-level skilled employees are trained on a regular basis to develop their current skills to high skills. In other words, both these skill groups receive training for advancing their careers within Bank Muscat. As for junior executive positions customised training programmes are provided at the Banks cost through the College of Banking and Financial Studies (CBFS), Muscat. These training programmes are revised from time to time to keep them up to date in terms of relevance to meet Bank Muscats HR needs. To ensure this the Banks HR Director and the College engage in the course revisions. Additionally, for senior executive positions Bank Muscat provides fully funded educational support for the MBA programmes from the UK. However, it is left to the choice of the individual staffs to pursue the MBA programmes. Nonetheless, employees from all the three skill-level categories receive full career guidance from the Management Development Centres Career Counsellor. Performance Appraisals in Bank Muscat Staff progress and promotion are based on formal performance appraisals in Bank Muscat. Performance appraisals are carried out mainly by the branch managers and within the Banks Head Office they are carried out by the departmental managers (e.g. Manager SME Department). Informational inputs to the branch and the departmental managers for these performance appraisals come through the 360 degree feedback process (including customer complaints). Employees of Bank Muscat are expected to have knowledge and understanding of the banking products. Therefore, performance of employees in the Bank is measured on the basis of their sales performances in the branches i.e. sale of the banking products (housing and auto loans, special savings accounts, fixed deposit schemes, Bank Muscat Credit Cards, etc). Once the performance appraisal process is completed the concerned managers and their staffs meet to discuss poor performance issues and commendations. This dialogue is facilitated by the open communication (which is continuously kept alive due to the employee empowerment practice in Bank Muscat). To the knowledge of this author the follow-up to poor performances resulted in the issues being solved rather than the same employee being found fault with, in terms of poor performance, again. Accordingly, none of the Banks employees has ever been reprimanded or were subject to any disciplinary actions by the Banks superiors. Employee Empowerment in Bank Muscat As discussed under section 2.2.1 earlier, employee empowerment is part of the talent management practice in Bank Muscat. Employee empowerment in Bank Muscat is carried out through: A simple 15 minutes briefing before the opening hours of the Bank on each first day of the week (which in Oman is Sunday for the Banks only) by the heads of the divisions/Branch Managers with their respective staffs. Direct communications in the form of intra-mail to the staffs from their bosses. Introduction of team-based work groups across SME Banking, Housing Loan, and Auto Loans that are linked with group bonus schemes for the team members. Active encouragement by departmental managers to engage their team members in planning and decision making relating to customer service issues and issues relating to operations. Above all the HR Executives directly report to the Banks CEO. By empowering its employees through delegation their productivity (faster processing of customer services) Bank Muscat has been able to keep its profitability up even in the current recessionary time. Mentoring A key strategy in the talent management is to put together the employees and their mentors to transfer the mentors skills, experience, and work behaviours to up-skill employee competencies in order obtain higher-levels of organisational performance (Murray, 2001). The purpose of mentoring process is to transfer professional, technical, and generic skills to people who will continue working in the organisation (ibid). In other words the mentoring process would help employees to stay with the organisation and thus ensure not only in retaining their talent but also help the organisation in its succession planning (ibid; Main, 2008). For example, banking companies stand to benefit from the mentoring process in the form of decreasing time needed to master customer service skills (Murray, 2001, p.36). Bank Muscats major objective is to capture key organisational knowledge from its senior leaders who are approaching their retirement and ensure knowledge-sharing among all its staffs. Based on the outline provided by Murray (2001, p.36) the other objectives of Bank Muscats mentoring process are: To improve retention by making our experienced and skilled people feel more valued To improve results-profit or other-with people who are more competent, confident, experienced, and motivated To ensure representation of diverse groups at all levels of the organization To enable our people to learn to work with others with different education, ages, cultures, physical abilities, etc. To improve communication across functional and divisional lines. Bank Muscat applies this to its staffs at all levels i.e. from new workers to newly promoted Managers. In particular the following details the formal mentoring process at Bank Muscat: Each newly promoted Manager will be paired with a mentor. New young recruits and those who are in their early career stages are paired with senior staff members for ensuring their training and retention. Senior members of the staff are to identify leadership and managerial talent and coach them to excel in their present and future work. Special rewards are given to managers whose mentoring leads to staff retention (over a 5-year minimum period). During the last 3 years the top management carried out 4 promotions among assistant branch managers and 3 promotions among branch supervisors among the branches in the Muscat area. Staff Retention The noted management consultancy company, McKinsey Company recommends the creation of Employee Value Proposition (EVP) as a strong means to retain talent in organisations (Brannick, 2001). Four elements make up the EVP (ibid, p.30): Great Company Company and its people care mutually for each other. Employees have pride in working for the company. Great Job Employees feel that their work is highly valued and their talents and achievements are duly recognised by their company. Great Leaders People who provide

Cyberculture :: Computers Technology Internet Essays

Cyberculture Through new technologies including computers, World Wide Web, and email, we have seen many changes the way we think about and carry out the process of writing. While most seem to welcome new technologies others like Sven Birkets believe these new technologies are hurting the learning process. He writes, â€Å"Many educators say that our students are less and less able to read, or analyze, or write with clarity and purpose. Who can blame the students? Everything they meet with in the world around them gives the signal: That was then, and electronic communications are now (63). This â€Å"cyberculture† that we are a part of has truly changed the way we currently live our lives. If we use new technologies to enhance learning and not it’s primary source we as a culture, a â€Å"cyberculture† will be able to make even greater advances than previously anticipated. Presently the need for actual printed textbooks is on the decline and is sure to c ontinue as we move further into the future. I was first introduced to computers in the early 1980’s and have witnessed first hand the advancements we as a culture have made over the past twenty years. I have gone from the green screen that we learned create a program that would make our name repeat itself on the screen, to creating a full functioning web page. The computer games have come a long way as well. There were two games on our school computers when I first started, â€Å"Lemonade stand† and â€Å"Lawnmower†. These were very basic games that were very badly animated if you could chose to call it animation. These games didn’t have a hand controller since the â€Å"Joy stick† wasn’t invented yet. The games of today look as though a movie crew has filmed them. The first word processing programs had to be loaded by disk each time you wanted to use them and were quite expensive. Today the programs are already loaded and stored in the computer and the expense is ve ry minimal. Our word processing programs can check for spelling and punctuation errors as well as grammar mistakes. For those who have grown up with this option it may not seem like a big deal but for those of us that learned to type on a typewriter that wasn’t even electric these advances are enormous.

Socialism and Capitalism

Difference Between Socialism and Liberalism †¢ Categorized under Ideology,Politics | Difference Between Socialism and Liberalism Socialism vs Liberalism The terms ‘socialism’ and liberalism’ are used a lot nowadays, and many people often mistake one for the other. In order to differentiate between these two terms, one must keep in mind the clear-cut differences by defining the prevailing ideology of each term. The tenets of socialism assert that the state should wield total economic power by manipulating prices of goods and wages of workers.Furthermore, socialism requires people to submit to the rule of law. In return for their compliance, citizens are provided with resources rationed by the government. On the other hand, liberalism is more challenging to define since it is further divided into classical and modern liberalism. Classical liberalism states that the government should take control of an institution in order to ensure that it continues to be of se rvice to the people, free of charge. Classical liberalism does not see any need for the government to enforce law and order and subjugate its citizens under the iron rule of law and order.However, modern liberalism veers away from this ideology by adding a new twist. Modern liberalism asserts that aside from ensuring economic and political security, it is also the government’s job to interfere with people’s day-to-day affairs in order to maintain social security. Modern liberalism, in effect, can be compared to socialism, because both of them assert that the government can effectively uplift its citizens not only by seizing control of the economy or private institutions, but also by keeping a close watch on citizens to ensure that none of them become subversive.Many modern-day politicians have been supporting modern liberalism because they believe that the government can solve all problems once it is granted total power. These politicians point out the inequality of di fferent classes in society, and propose reforms that at first seem to favor the poor and marginalized, but in the end just grants the government reason to extend its powers to curtail private interests. And even though liberals seem to advocate reforms to improve government policy, they are still embracing the same old political structure to further their own ambitions.The late U. S. President Franklin Roosevelt himself defined liberalism as the ‘saving grace for the far-sighted conservative,’ and also ‘reform what you want to preserve. ’ Capitalists and supporters of democracy believe that socialism and modern liberalism are detrimental to economic progress. Because prices of goods and wage of workers is controlled directly by the government, privately-owned companies and institutions cannot flourish under a socialist or modern liberalist government.People who value freedom of speech and human rights likewise oppose socialism and modern liberalism, because they believe that such ideologies limit a citizen’s right to choose which products to buy, what job to take, what religious belief to espouse. Even though modern liberalism is more subtle and suave than socialism, it still ends up giving too much power to the government in the guise of economic, political, and social security. Summary 1. Socialism says that only by granting the state total economic and political power can economic progress and equality among citizens be attained. . Classical liberalism says that the state should only take over an institution to ensure that citizens can freely benefit from that particular institution’s services. Classical liberalism does not require the thorough enforcing of law and order to reach economic progress and equality. 3. Modern liberalism says that the state should interfere not only in economic or political affairs, but also in social affairs, such as day-to-day activities of its citizens. In effect, modern liberalism cease s to be associated with classical liberalism, and instead becomes similar to socialism.

Lion’s Creed Essay

Listen good, my children; this is a story of my past, and it takes place when I was a little whelp, like you, in a village in Africa. We might be in chains now, but free your ears of the shackles of slavery and listen closely. This is a tale of a man called Credo, a brave man, a strong man. Once, not so long ago, there were these two men, strong as lions fighting over territory in the savannahs of the African continent, a man called Credo, and a man called Kha’Jin. But this story begins much earlier, when Credo was still a pup: The air was stale and the sun was scorching the earth as clouds of dust hovered over the grassy plains, and besides the squawking noise of various carrion feeders, everything seemed to be at a halt. There, a blood-gorged pit near a small tribal village; in this arena did, by a trial of blood, boys become true men. And one boy in particular has passed his test, a boy lighter than the others, who was adopted by the Zulus as an infant, when a pack of hyena s attacked and most likely killed his parents. I would know, as my father was the one who found him in the savannah, I was but a boy when Credo passed his test, and I was afraid because he was different. But he grew, and as he grew, he honored the tribe by hard work and dedication, the values that would bring him into the ring of blood in which he now stands. There he is covered in blood, shaking from exhaustion, breathing for his life, the young boy, and above him, a grown man with a spear in one hand, and in the other, a shield decorated with a bloody, zebra’s hide. They know each other, at least the boy knows the man. This is a man deemed to be one of the strongest in the village, a man that can lift a whole wildebeest by himself! With a quick thrust at Credo, the man seemed to have secured his victory– or so he thought. The boy leapt to the side like a cougar, passion and fear intermixing in his deep, blue eyes to become the most powerful weapon one can ever hope to yield; as salty sweat ran down his blood and d ust covered face, the will to live helped the boy defeat his enemy. Swinging recklessly, the man stumbled, and the boy, Credo, took this opportunity to win. As he turned, Credo’s tomahawk began to enter the area between the enemy’s shoulderblades. The man’s eyes widened in despair, and he stood motionless for a few, good moments. Then, as if the stone axe took a week to lodge itself into his body, a loud scream decorated the stale silence of the crowd watching around the ring; the man was now on his knees, not ready, but helpless enough to receive the finishing blow. The boy stood over his enemy, snatched the spear out of his hand, and looked him in the eyes. What he saw, was fear–the fear of death; this fear, however, did not stop Credo from taking his place among the tribe. â€Å"Kill or be killed,† echoed through his head†¦ The spear now stood erect in the man’s chest, the dust clouds whizzing by, while everything else remained silent. In the silence, the gravel grinding beneath credo’s footste ps was the only noise. Slowly circling his nearly dead enemy, Credo took his tomahawk into his hands once again. He turned towards the man again, lifted his hands high, so everyone could see them, and as the rays of sunlight enveloped his weapon, he struck downwards with unrelenting force. An unpleasant sound of bones breaking and teeth and skull fragments dropping to the ground like dates, blood gushing faster than the raging Ncandu Falls. Red all over, Credo knew that this was hi’s domain now. But the story begins in his prime; after passing his test, Credo, seeing no point in fighting his, now, own people, turned to the hunt and was recognized by the son of the Chief Kha’Zix, Kha’Jin. The two grew up to be inseparable; they were the two who would bring our tribe to new heights. I remember looking up to their brotherhood, as a boy. The two would come back from a long day of hunting, with large, white grins on their faces as they dragged their catch into the village. I hoped I could be like them one day†¦ Marching out of a amber sunset with food for the tribe. But at the turning of age, when the Zulu chief, Kha’Zix is on his ill with an unknown disease brought in by those white devils from far away lands, a new chief was needed. Credo, who proved himself over and over with his leadership abilities and fiery attitude, has caught the eye of the village elders. Despite most of the tribe not wanting a ‘white devil’ as their leader, Credo was in position to be the next chief. Obsessing with the thrill of the hunt, and proving his village that he was the ultimate hunter, Credo unconsciously ignored the struggle for power as things fell apart. Credo had his eyes set on the greatest honor amongst the Zulu people, mastering the lion’s own game. He intended to use the pelt of the lion as a gift to his chief and father, and at the same time prove his worth. The sun was beating down the Zulu village, as usual, and everyone was busy; some over come with sweat, curved like sickles, hastily picking out ripe yams from the dirty fields, some sitting, with their brows tense, scraping and tanning leather, while others were stringing bows, arguing what traps are best suited for hunting and warfare, as though preparing for war, actually. And as this went on, Credo was further away, in the open fields of South Africa, hunting like a wild cat, prowling through the low brush of the plains of South Africa, sneaking, trying not to make a single branch crackle under his cautious footsteps. Wildebeest was his game today; he needed a large catch as food was scarce those days†¦ He let out a beastly yell as he started running towards the herd, which immediately ran in the opposite direction. This hunter, had no intention of letting his prey loose; he guided one of the smaller calves into an oasis, where he carefully prepared a trap to catch it. Trapped, the beast was dazed, but slowly breaking loose, as the net was not meant to hold down such large animals. He flung his bola at the calf wildebeest’s legs. The bola wrapped around them with a whizzing sound, and moments after, it was helpless, on the ground, yelping. The other wildebeest were long gone by the time Credo was standing dominant above his prey, its tongue out, struggling to stand up and run away, still producing inarticulate sounds, crying for help. Bowing down, Credo unsheathed his jambiya, a curved dagger he ‘confiscated’ from a corpse of a merchant up north near the town of Sofala, east from our village. He looked at the calf one last time, and bathed in its fear; he placed the tip, gently at the left side of the base of its head, his eyes widened, his hand jerked, his roar frightened th e birds around, as he pushed in, and then across, leaving a pool of blood behind as a memory. Bringing the carcass back to the village, Credo is stopped by Kha’Jin, the son of the sickly chief. â€Å"Going back to the village with such a large amount of meat by yourself, are you?† said Kha’Jin as he blocked Creedo’s way with his large body. â€Å"Yes, brother, how are you doing today?† Kha’Jin’s smile was showing now, and they embraced each other with a powerful pat on the back. â€Å"What an odd question to ask someone when their father is dying, and their so called ‘friend’ is next in line.† Smiled Kha’Jin. â€Å"I am†¦ sorry, I did not mean to offend. And, what exactly do you mean ‘next in line,’ next in line for what?† The mood suddenly changed to something less friendly, and you could almost hear Kha’Jin’s brow furrowing. â€Å"Are you serious?! You are to become the next chief, Credo, you are to become what I was destined to! You†¦ you took that away from me, just like you tried to take away my father, but he never favored you, I was always his favourite, because†¦ because I am his real son, and because I am the same like everyone in the village–† Now losing his patience, Credo dropped his prey and a familiar darkness surrounded his head. Credo was alway one to lose his temper quickly; lies and disrespect were ways to make him furious, as he tolerated neither. Credo, in fact, was always favored by the chief, as he did not show great ambition to become chief, but to help his village, even if it meant the most difficult labor. The son, on the other hand, was proving himself worthy to be chief, arrogant enough to think the title will be bestowed upon him no matter what. A thundering fist flew towards Kha’Jin’s face, who was much larger than Credo, physically. Credo was not afraid, he assaulted the chief’s son with great fury before being held back by other village members, who now looked down upon his behavior. â€Å"Who attacks someone in mourning,† we thought. The next day, no one spoke to Credo, and stricken with rage and anguish, Credo attempted something he was not yet ready for. Gathering his weapons, he headed towards the barren plains to the north. Now I know that this was, in fact, the part of Kha’Jin’s plan to get rid of the only thing standing between him and the title of chief. The sun set with a glaring orange tint, and the tribe moved on to the tomorrow as Credo to his demise. The night was young and Credo stupid. He decided to attack the alpha lion by himself, in the dark. Stalking the lion, Credo’s only thoughts were of his timed attack; â€Å"Strike when ready†¦Ã¢â‚¬  He thought. The lion was asleep, and Credo was going to take this chance to best the beast. He was too foolish to remember that lions do not sleep alone. Before he even got close, let alone the chance to pounce, he was jumped by a lioness, which pinned him to the ground and looked at him, baring her teeth, ready to attack. She tore off a fist sized portion of Credo’s muscle with a single rake of her claw, but our hero made up for his lack of insight with his agility; he grabbed some dust into his bleeding fist and flung it, along with his fingers, into the lioness’ right eye. The beast roared, and stumbled away from him. Barely managing to get up, Credo ran for his dear life. He didn’t get too far when he fell and stopped moving. The next morning Credo awoke, and the lushness of a forest surrounded him, he was marveled, yet confused by its beauty, still dazed from the wound the lioness inflicted. He realized: the closest forest to the village is half a day away, and above him stood three large figures, one of which was Kha’Jin. He stood there, his shadow gleaming over Credo, with a wide smirk on his face. â€Å"Awake, ‘brother’? I have good news, and bad news, at least; I decided. I will make you chief. Bad news: You will not be chief of MY village, not while alive.† laughed the man. The men, carrying sticks and stones, took turns savagely beating Credo into a pulp of bloody fury. Bones were cracking and skin was tearing; if he did not die of the sheer pain, he would die of shame later on. Just like a lion will die if his mane is cut off. Laying there broken, defeated, humiliated, the only thoughts that were coming through Credo’s head were that of vengeance and redemption. The young hunter spent two days and two nights whimpering in pain, until he was found by a group of those ‘white devils’ passing through the forest, scouting the area. Unconscious he lay there, as the group approached†¦ Chapter 2: A Fresh Beginning Day 2: After arriving to this new land, me and the royal expedition have decided to explore and get familiar with the environment. Mostly a savannah, this region is dotted with several forests; we are about to examine the one close to our base camp for new species of animals and plants. This hot weather will, most certainly, prove to be difficult to handle in this warm clothing. â€Å"Good Lord, Mary! Look at this poor man, laying over there under that tree!† pointed one of the three soldiers accompanying me. â€Å"Quickly, someone, give that man some help!† No matter how and how much we tried to awaken him, he would not budge, exhausted, beaten and dehydrated, he was in barely any condition to live, let alone open his eyes. If the pain did not kill him, the infections, surely would. Still, it is important to try. We scurried him back to the camp where I treated him with bandages and liniment. Day 5: Miraculously, a few days later, he awoke. He seemed different than the rest of the royal expedition, feral is the word best describing him. He saw, that we seem quite like himself, or so he thought. He was intrigued by our skin color, for some reason; it is fairer than his own, and living amongst the Africans, it must have confused him. With his head lowered, the subject in front of me, Samuel, I will name him, looked around in curiosity. I take it he grew up here, though he looks very British to me. At first frightened by the unknown, this man was willing to set that aside and accept us as family in order to, perhaps, repay the debt of saving his life. Day 246: A long time has passed since we rescued Samuel, and he has, over the course of the last half a year, or so, has proven to be the most fascinating creature ever. His learning abilities are extraordinary, as are his abilities to hunt, learned from the native tribes, I presume. I also note that in such a short time, we have been able to learn much about his former people, as he calls them, as he learned about us. We are now able to communicate, to a certain extent, and Samuel seems to have taken a liking in us, especially myself. Unfortunate this is, indeed. We have received a new mission, it is to use Samuel to find the tribes, and expand the borders of the British, Christian Empire and remove all potential barricades and threats. It pains me to use this man after he has done so much for us, but if the Lord wishes so, it will be done. In the meantime, Samuel still practiced his hunting skills, though this time, with gunpowder and rifles. He finally caught, what he told me to be the most dangerous game in the savannah, the lion. He presented its pelt as a gift, which was in his culture, the greatest honor, for both factions. â€Å"This is thank you, for rescuing me,† stated Credo, on his knees. â€Å"This is most peculiar, Samuel, why†¦ I don’t know what to say! I suppose a thank you is in an order, and you are most certainly welcome. It was only proper of God’s men and women to save their lost brother, I am sure you would have done the same.† I reluctantly took the lion’s pelt. There was a glimmer of hope in Samuel’s eyes, he had found his true family, his own kin. The rest of the colonists made him believe that they meant only the best for the native peoples, and that the only thing they wanted was to spread Christianity and bring peace amongst the tribes. Chapter 3: The Return Foolishly enough, Credo led the colonists to our village, his old home. He was the ambassador of the two factions, not the great hunter I was used to seeing as a young boy. The peacebringer, not the hunter, not the warrior he used to be, and that is what brought him to his knees once again, he was reborn, but he was weak, not strong. He was naive, still; he believed anyone who said they believed him. Even the colonists, the white demons who wanted to purge our land of US! Kha’Jin was now chief of our tribe, and he did not want the rest to find out what he has done to Credo. Credo was managing to convince the tribe to convert to this strange belief, and he was saying how we would be protected from the other tribes and given technology to dominate. We did not need that, we needed Credo, the Great Lion. After one of his preachings, Credo was returning back to the colonist camp with two other soldiers. Kidnapping him, once again, he tied him to a tree in the same forest he was beaten in before. But things were different this time, Credo has matured into a better being, he has learned about the technology of the north and of the power of reason. Unfortunately, that was not at all effective with Kha’Jin, who tried to break Credo once again. Unwilling to suffer defeat once more, by the hand of the unjust, Credo’s animalistic instincts reactivated. The rush of pure adrenaline allowed him to snap the vines as though they were hay, and he leapt onto Kha’Jin, grabbing the first thing he could find, started savagely beating him until there was a bloody pool left on the ground. Meanwhile, in the village, the colonists were displeased with our lack of cooperation, so they decided to use force. One by one, the colonists were slaughtering my people like cattle, in an attempt to make an example. When Credo returned from the forest, still bloody and baring his fangs, the village consisted of two parts. One of which was the old, familiar place he used to call home, and the other a steaming pile of carcasses and stench of his former brethren. Baffled, he snuck into one of the houses still standing to find out the colonists were cleaning the land from the Zulu people. Overcome with anger, not thinking clearly, Credo decided it was time for retribution. Finding his dagger and old clothing, Credo, along with the night, crept into the colonist camp closest to his village, and as he has done before, slaughtered all living things in that camp, but one. He left Mary alive, he owed her his life, and he could not take hers away without taking his own too. With both Kha’Jin and the colonists gone, Credo was appointed the chief of the tribe and quickly regained his reputation in the village through hard work and his ferociousness. He was happy with himself, as he finally proved to everyone that he was the lion, the ultimate predator. Chapter 4: In The End†¦ Day 321: When I woke up in the morning, everyone was gone, and a note was stuck on a spear in the ground, next to my bed, it read: â€Å"Blood for blood, you killed my people, I killed yours. -Samuel Credo† I, the single colonist that survived, Mary, fled back to the port where I came form, grateful for my life, but furious with Credo’s actions. When I went back to the port, I demanded reinforcements and the cleansing of the Zulus, as they have killed the children of the Lord. Soon after, a battalion of one hundred or so royal soldiers marched to the village, and with our superior technological power, destroyed the Zulus, along with Credo, who fought relentlessly until the end.