Training and developing an age diverse workforce in SMEs Assignment

Training and developing an age diverse workforce in SMEs - Assignment Example so offers important clarifications in regard to T&D plans developed in SMEs, especially in regard to the differences between these plans and those used in large firms. At a first level, it is noted that the owners of SMEs have to face changes on a continuous basis. Large firms may also have to face such problem but with the following difference: for SMEs failing in coping with change could result to the closure of the business while in large firms funds and time could retrieved easier for managing the particular situation. Another important issue highlighted in the particular article is the following one: in SMEs the success of T&D is strongly depended on the skills and capabilities of owners who are those who will undertake all tasks related to T&D, including the design and monitoring phases of the T&D plan involved (Beaver and Hutchings 2005). In addition, different modes of T&D seem to be preferred in SMEs, compared to the large firms: in SMEs ‘on-the-job training schemesâ⠂¬â„¢ (Beaver and Hutchings 2005, p.593) seem to be preferred while in large firms ‘off-the-job T&D schemes’ (Beaver and Hutchings 2005, p.593) are quite common. Especially in regard to the T&D schemes for diverse workforce, SMEs can be more effective, since the smaller number of employees allows the limitation of time for copying with change. The above characteristic of SMEs is described as their major advantage in regard to the management of diversity, an activity that it is closely related to the identification of effective T&D schemes (Beaver and Hutchings 2005, p.599). Since 2005, the time point to which the article of Beaver and Hutchings refers, a series of changes has introduced in regard to the working environment. These changes vary, covering different areas. The specific phenomenon is reflected in the literature published in this area. Depending on the type of change involved in organizational environment, different initiatives in regard to a firm’s T&D schemes would be

ICT Coursework Essay Example for Free

ICT Coursework Essay Mellor Village is an area that only has three doctors who all work individually in the same community. I am their ICT system analyst to help them through the process of creating a better organised health centre. This medical centre will be named Mellor Village Health Centre and will have new logo and slogan and I will create a database too. The new medical centre will have a sufficient amount of staff which will include the following: * 3 doctors * 2 medical centre nurses * 2 district nurses * 1 health centre manager * 1 secretary * 3 receptionists * 1 counsellor * 1 health visitor * 1 midwife PROBLEMS * The first problem is that all the patient records are on a paper-based system, there are no computers . This is risky because papers and files can get misplaced. So loads of files in cabinets takes up a lot of space. Also tea could be spilt on it by accident and important patient information would be destroyed. * Another problem is that people make appointments and they dont turn up or forget they had one. This creates confusion and wastes the doctors time. Also minor appointments take up the time which could be needed for emergency appointments. * Staff need to be trained on how to use the computer whilst putting patient records on it and this is a major necessity. * Also there will be more staff so more money will be needed to give out wages to everyone and there wont be enough money to give out. SOLUTION * The solution to the first problem is that by creating a computer system the records of all the patients will be put on the computer and they wont take up any space because everything will be stored on the computer. Also they will stay safe on the computers, this means there will be as revolutionary paper-less office. * Staff will be the only ones to view patient information so this will reduce the risk of hackers hacking in the files. * Another solution is that creating a logo and a slogan will be very easy because it will be done using the computer. Which will be efficient and there will be a variety of choices for my logo and slogan. Plan For Relational Database I will create my relational database by going onto Microsoft access. There I will create one table in design view to store each patients main records of contact. This will be table 1 and it will have records such as; * Title * Surname, * Forename, * Address, * Medical No, * Telephone, * Medical history * Gender The medical number will be the primary key. Further I will put the patients information in and save this as table 1 and close it down. I will then create a second table in design view which will be called table 2. It will have fields such as: * Surname, * Medical number, * Doctors name, * Date of appointment * Time of appointment * Ailment. The medical number is the primary key because it is the unique key field for each record. I will put each individual persons information in detail in this table. I will then save this as table 2 and close it down. There will be two tables because one will just include identity and address of the patients. The second table has to be made because it is more in-depth information into each persons medical services and problems. I will go on tools -relationships and add table 1 and 2 and close it down. Thirdly Ill go on relationships edit relationships and go on create new and press ok. Furthermore, I will click on enforce referential integrity and Ill click create. This will be saved and closed. Furthermore by clicking on + on each record of table 1 that persons appointment time and table 2 information will come up. This is a relational database in which both tables relate to each other. The importance of a relational database is that all the data doesnt have to be stored in one large table and all the data is linked together by the key fields and the database management system. It is more better and beneficial than a flat-file database. Feasibility Study The computerised solution will reduce paperwork because all patient records will be stored on a computer system. All the data will be on a database. This will reduce the amount of files and filing cabinets. The solution speeds up the process considerably, because it takes less time to store data on a computer, and it doesnt waste the doctors time. So if the staff works for less hours they will be paid less wages, which will mean the centre will have to give out less money. It also creates fewer mistakes because the spellchecker corrects and identifies the errors in grammar with validation and verification. It provides better reports for the managers because they are clearer, neater and more presentable. These potential benefits outweigh the costs involved of introducing the new system. This is because the benefits are: * That time is used efficiently and not wasted. * It is also easier to make a back-up copy after typing something up. * There is ultimate accuracy because the spell checker identifies the mistakes. These are then verified and validated.Fewer mistakes are made and this is how the computerised solution will improve and increase accuracy. * The Data Protection Act will keep the patient details and data safe by password protection. This reduces the risks of hackers gaining access to confidential files. The costs are: * that the computer could be hacked in or files could be lost. * The computers take up a lot of space too. * Viruses could delete all the information. * There are more staff so more wages has to be given out. * The staff have to be trained on how to use the computer if they dont know. This will cost money and time. * There are health and safety risks because eyes will be strained and eyesight could get worse. * Also they could have back ache and hand ache with sitting in one position too long and holding the mouse for long periods.

TOURISTS :: essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There are many definitions for the word â€Å"tourist.†Ã‚  Ã‚   The known definition of a tourist is a person that travels for pleasure and isn’t born in the place they travel to.   To some people, the tourists that come to Nantucket may be very annoying, rude, dirty, and smelly and they are not native to the island. While others may think they are nice, friendly, and very generous people that just weren’t born here, I tend to disgree. Just think of the many day-trippers who flock, like seagulls, to the Tavern and don’t leave a tip after treating the hardworking waitress in a rude manner, with their screaming kids whining and belching, and the horny husband who pinches her derriere as she walks away.    To back up the definition of the word that I agree with, I have provided some other examples based on occurences I have been involved with or seen.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   A tourist, in my opinion, is a person who is very rude, hostile, pushy, urgent, always rushing, and ignorant when it comes to directions and locations. Since tourists aren’t born and live in the place they are visiting, they can’t see all the landmarks and interesting sites there is to see.   They are always rushing to fit as much as they can into one day’s events before they go back to where they live.   They stop you every few minutes while standing in front of The Hub to ask where Main Street is. This also ties into â€Å"being rude† because they don’t ask in a polite way usually, and they rarely say â€Å"Thank You.† They can’t be bothered with slow people.   I worked at D&B Car Wash last summer and I got a lot of rude customers everyday.   I would ask them what wash they would like, since we have three kinds, and they would throw the money at me telling me to just give them a wash.   They were ob viously in a hurry to do something.   Most of the time they didn’t even know how to drive their car in properly, and they would get it stuck, then get upset and start screaming and saying they were going to sue the Car Wash if any damage happened to their car. Then the manager would come out and a whole fiasco would begin.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There are many distinctive features a tourist has or uses that allows others to be able to identify them.

Philippine War :: essays research papers

The Philippine War   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I don’t believe the Philippine War was justified. There are more ways than war to solve the annexation of the Philippines. I agree on some of the policies, but not all of the policies, that were in place during that time period.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I believe the war was not justified for a number of reasons. The ratio of dead to wounded was higher than it was in the civil war which is considered one of the saddest wars in this country’s history. In the civil war, the ratio was one wounded to five killed, where as in the Philippine War, the ratio was one wounded to twelve killed. America instead of trying to peacefully resolve the situation, decided that force was a more potent way to talk and guarantee control of the newly gained possession. I would use war as a last result, trying diplomacy first. It was good that the United States was freeing a country from an immoral government, but there are better ways to solve the controversy of what to do with the new annexation.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There were several policies in place at the time, some which were put into place before the war, some during the war, and some after. The ratification of the annexation process was long and difficult. There were debates as to how to treat the Filipino people. One suggestion was to treat the Filipinos as dependents, and not citizens, like the Native Americans came to be treated. Many of the imperialists believed that the Filipinos were savages and harsh policies would give America control. The anti-imperialists were not exactly sure whether to treat them as peers or to set them free. I would treat them as equals, as normal people, as they are like everyone else. At the time they might not have been as technologically advanced as we were, and their government may have seemed primitive to ours. I think we should have worked with them to help create a government, rather than occupy and just take over.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Another policy that occurred because of the war was the â€Å"open door† policy. America had much interest in Asia, and the Philippines provided a door to China. America viewed China as a weak country, and was afraid that other countries might attack China, take over, and exploit it. The annexation of the Philippines gave America the opportunity to â€Å"protect† china. So the Americans proposed an open door policy, where each country in the treaty were allowed a place of influence, where china had to respect the laws of the countries, but were allowed to collect tariffs.

Taboo: Management Consulting and Policy Prohibiting Women

The Taboo of Women in Management International management consulting firm Burns & McCallister is listed by Working Mother magazine as one of the top fifty firms in the United States for employment of working mothers and by Working Woman magazine as one of the top ten firms for women. The firm has earned this reputation for several reasons. First, nearly 50% of its partners are women. Second, it has a menu of employee benefits that includes such things as flex hours, sabbaticals, family leave, home-based work, and part-time partner-track positions.However, B&M recently has been the subject of a series of reports by both the Los Angeles Times and the New York Times that scrutinise its policy on female executives in certain nations. B&M has learned, through its years of consulting, that certain countries in which it negotiates for contracts prohibit the use of women in the negotiation process. The cultures of many of these countries do not permit women to speak in a meeting that include s men.Consequently, B&M has implemented a policy prohibiting women partners from being assigned these potential account negotiations and later the accounts themselves. Clerical help in the offices can be female, but any contact with client must be through a male partner or account executive. For example, Japan still has a two-track hiring system with only 3% of professional positions open to women. The remainder of the women in the Japanese corporate workforce become office ladies who file, wear uniforms, and serve tea. Dentsu, Inc. a large Japanese ad firm, had a picture of the typical Dentsu â€Å"Working Girl† in its recruiting brochure. Surrounding the photo are comments primarily about her physical appearance: such as (1) her breasts are â€Å"pretty large†; and (2) her bottom is â€Å"rather soft. † In response to criticism regarding B&M's posture, the head of the firm's New York office has explained: Look, we're about as progressive a firm as you'll find. But the reality of international business is that if we try to use women, we can't get the job. It's not a policy on all foreign accounts.We've just identified certain cultures in which women will not be able to successfully land or work on accounts. This restriction does not interfere with their career track. It does not apply to all countries. The National Organisation for Women (NOW) would like B to apply to all its operations the standards that it employs in the United States. No restrictions are placed on women here, NOW argues, and other cultures should adapt to our standards; we should not change our standards to adapt to their culture. NOW maintains that without such a posture, change can never come about

One of the book, which has influenced my thinking Essays - Economy

One of the book, which has influenced my thinking Essays - Economy one of the book, which has influenced my thinking a lot. This book introduced the Theory of Constraints to the world of business and has made its way to B-Schools as a textbook. Eliyahu Goldratt has done an excellent job in explaining his theory using a novel-style writing. It is a story of a struggling plant manager to improve his plant's performance and save it from closure. The expert in this story provoked the main character to "derive his solutions by supplying the question marks instead of exclamation marks" . If your organization/plant faces the classic problem of Quality, Cost Delivery: " why can't we consistently get a quality product out the door on time at the cost that can beat the competition? " or if you have a plant manager who is " always promoting some new thing he's doing, and most of the time what he's doing isn't any different from the things everyone else is doing ", then you better read this book and make others to read it as well. The important lessons one will learn from this text are summarized below. This will be beneficial to you only if you have read this book once and would like a recap. If you have not read the book yourself, then do not expect to gain the understanding of these concepts from this post. The goal of an organization is to make money by increasing net profit , while simultaneously increasing ROI and cash flow. Three critical measurement to achieve this goal and develop operational rules to successfully run a business are: throughput, inventory, and operational expenses. Inventory is turned into throughput by incurring operational expenses. So, the real goal is to: Increase throughput while simultaneously reducing both inventory and operating expense. Every process is a set of dependent events...in combination with statistical fluctuations. What's happening isn't an averaging out of the fluctuations in our various speeds, but an accumulation of the fluctuations. And mostly it's an accumulation of slowness - because dependency limits the opportunities for higher fluctuations. Balance flow, not capacity. A system of local optimums is not an optimum system at all; it is a very inefficient system. The numbers are meaningless unless they are based upon the constraints of the system. Bottlenecks dictate inventory as well as throughput. So, the Theory of Constraints is postulated as: Identify the system's constraint(s). Decide how to exploit the system's constraints. Subordinate everything else to the above decision. Elevate the system's constraint(s). If in the previous steps, a constraint has been broken, go back to Step 1, but do not cause inertia to cause a system's constraint. The Goal is a very compelling novel. Novel, HUH!! Who ever heard of a novel about a production plant? Well, Eli has made the production managers have quite an epiphany. In one book he might have changed the whole world of cost accounting. Eli approached the production world with a common sense view. Using just one goal, making money, he referenced every activity to it. Eli said, "I view science as nothing more than an understanding of the way the world is and why it is that way." You see, Eli is a physicist, and in being one, has to understand why things work the way they do. His common sense approach is illustrated beautifully in this novel. He has looked at cost accounting from the outside and has developed a whole new system because of it. Everyone from accountants to production managers to CEO's should read this book. Because of its fundamentals, it should be part of the curriculum of every accounting program. This novel has and continues to help the industry to make strides toward continuous improvement. Chapter One The first chapter gets the reader acquainted with Mr. Alex Rogo and his apparent problems with his production plant. This is shown through a confrontation between Mr. Rogo and his boss Mr. Peach, the Division Vice President. The dispute is over an overdue order #41427. Through their conversation it's learned that Mr. Peach will not settle for anything less than the order being shipped today, and since the plant is neither productive nor profitable, Alex has three months to

Data Collection and Analysis essays

Data Collection and Analysis essays September 11, 2001, was a day when our world changed for the worst. No longer were we invincible, we had enemies and they made themselves known to us in one of the worst possible ways. Two United Airlines flights and two American Airlines flights were hijacked, two of the hijacked planes were flown into the World Trade Center buildings, one flight was flown into the Pentagon and one flight was crashed by the passengers into a field in Pennsylvania after they confronted the terrorist. Since that fateful day almost three years ago Americans have flown less on average than at any other time in modern aviation. The airline industry is slowly beginning to rebuild itself due to new and improved safety measures implemented by the FAA and by the airlines themselves. For the year 2000, a total of 599,909,724 passengers took to the friendly skies on domestic flights, for 2001 only 560,358,842 passengers flew (www.transtats.bts.gov). The drop in passenger traffic can be directly attributed to the September 11 terrorist attacks. As the public begins to feel safer with the new measures implemented by the FAA the number of passengers has slowly begun to increase. It was June of 2002 when passenger traffic began reporting the type of numbers experienced before Sept. 11. The transportation safety board shows that airline traffic for domestic flights has now reached pre 9-11 numbers. Indeed for the first five months of 2004, nearly half of the total passenger count for 2001 had already flown, 250,549,294 as compared to a total of 560,358,842. These numbers bear out the fact that the safer we feel the more we will fly. The federal air marshals first began in 1968, first known as the Sky Marshal Program. It continued through the 1970s to prevent hijackings from Cuba. After a hostage situation in 1985, President Reagan wanted an immediate expansion of the program on all air flights coming to, traveling wi ...