I feel that from this module I have learnt many things, and have learnt a new way of learning. I feel that by completing class discussions and group work , my interpersonal skills have improved and also my communication with others in a foreign language. Indeed, it was pretty hard to explain myself at first but this group questions improved it by thinking in a different way. The content of the modal has also effected the way I interact with people, by focusing on how people have different personalities and how people react to certain situation by adding where they come from which might lead to some apprehention and restraint.
By using the blogs I created, the most challenging was the perception and communication blog. This is because in my own opinion I though if people in an organisation wanted to communicate about anything including any problems they could just talk face to face with someone in the human resource department. As an end result when asked to give examples on new methods of communication for an organisation I did not offer new ideas that could benefit everyone. This includes methods that could keep people anonymous and will then mean that people will be able to feel free to make any complaints on any issues troubling them in the work place.
If I was to improve the module as a whole I would have two or three test by the year but with a less worth. Indeed, It would make students more concerned about their module of people and organisation as they will be able to have oppportunities to know their talents and drawbacks about the module, and then they will not be stuck if they don't understand things what were their mistakes during these tests. Indeed, it would benefit the module if reading was needed before lectures which will make students more involved they will then go further in their idea during group task at the silence and it would help eveyone in the class as no one like to hear a silence in the classroom. Therefore, the lecture would go with more further details and informations about the actual topic of the lecture.
Overall , I think the module is a very good module as it is really entertaining , all the lecture are pretty much interactive which makes the students comfortable and make them participate. Indeed, it helps students to express themselves more easily to let them share informations with their other coursemates. It was a pleasure to attend to those lecture as I was fascinated by the passion that has every teacher during the lecture by learning to students.
mardi 8 mai 2012
Blog 13: Performance Management
Performance Management is the process which contributes to the effective management of inviduals and teams to achieve high levels of organisational performance. (Armstrong and Baron,1998). The university measures my performance by providing assignements that are then marked in percentages. These assignements allow the university to see the skills I have when it comes to written work. These skills are normally marked in different categories which include knowledge and content,analysis, evaluation, grammar and references. When you attend university, there are many expectations you have as to how your life will change. Moving out of home, going to a new place, meeting new people and have a different work load. A personal tutor is assigned to each student when they first go to university, and it is this personal tutor that is there to perform the university's equivalent to an appraisal.
There are also timet tests which are given and they are also marked in the same categories as the assignement but not all of them. Hence, the results received from both these assignements and tests will allow the university to measure performance on whether students are managing well with their studies. Students are then informed about their results from the feedback they receive form tutors or lectures. During this time the feedback will allow students to be made aware of their strenghs and weaknesses. This means that if the student is not doing well they could be advised on how to get assistance to improve their work. This is very effective as students can be made aware of these problems within time before it has a negative impact on their work .
The skills required for an effective mentor are that they should have good knowledge and experience. This means that hey should know about the subject they will be mentoring and also have experience because they will be able to deal with any challenges that are likely to occur. An effective mentor should also have people skills this is because they will be able to understand the person they are mentoring and understand certain characteristics different people have. Furthermore, a mentor should be able to identify weaknesses and be able to give honest opinions. This is because if they can identify weaknesses they are then able to help their mentee to work on improving such weaknesses. This then allows an honest opinion to be given to the mentee and alow any questions to be asked. A mentor should also have good communication skills because it allows the mentor and mentee to understand each other.
Ambition, is required from both the mentor and mentee. An ambition for moving forward and increasing efficiency of both their job roles. Being a good listener, understanding, vocal, cheerful, and being optimistic are all other character traits which are needed to be a mentor. Indeed, when I was playing my last year of rugby , I've had this trainer who was really autoritary and pushed me further and further, every time when he could pushed me , he did it . Therefore, I struggled really hard , but he was learning me basics things about rugby but also about life and mostly about discipline, listening and understanding. Furthermore, he kept motivated me by encouraging me to always go further, even though at first it was really hard to understand what he really wanted from me but I finally realised when I reached a state of mind that I understood what he wanted to teach me and kept pushing me all time.
Overall, having a mentor while you are growing up is mandatory as he will always show you the right path , ethics, and will continually evaluate in order for you to develop as a person with multiple skills as discipline, listening and understanding.
References :
Performance Management. Available from: http://www.cipd.co.uk/hr-resources/factsheets/performance-management-overview.aspx [Accessed 8/05/12]
Mentor Overview . Available from : http://osakabentures.com/2011/04/want-an-it-mentor/ [Accessed 8/05/12]
Mullins, L.J (2002). Management and Organisational Behaviour. 6th ed. Essex : Financial Times Pitman Publishing Imprint.
There are also timet tests which are given and they are also marked in the same categories as the assignement but not all of them. Hence, the results received from both these assignements and tests will allow the university to measure performance on whether students are managing well with their studies. Students are then informed about their results from the feedback they receive form tutors or lectures. During this time the feedback will allow students to be made aware of their strenghs and weaknesses. This means that if the student is not doing well they could be advised on how to get assistance to improve their work. This is very effective as students can be made aware of these problems within time before it has a negative impact on their work .
The skills required for an effective mentor are that they should have good knowledge and experience. This means that hey should know about the subject they will be mentoring and also have experience because they will be able to deal with any challenges that are likely to occur. An effective mentor should also have people skills this is because they will be able to understand the person they are mentoring and understand certain characteristics different people have. Furthermore, a mentor should be able to identify weaknesses and be able to give honest opinions. This is because if they can identify weaknesses they are then able to help their mentee to work on improving such weaknesses. This then allows an honest opinion to be given to the mentee and alow any questions to be asked. A mentor should also have good communication skills because it allows the mentor and mentee to understand each other.
Ambition, is required from both the mentor and mentee. An ambition for moving forward and increasing efficiency of both their job roles. Being a good listener, understanding, vocal, cheerful, and being optimistic are all other character traits which are needed to be a mentor. Indeed, when I was playing my last year of rugby , I've had this trainer who was really autoritary and pushed me further and further, every time when he could pushed me , he did it . Therefore, I struggled really hard , but he was learning me basics things about rugby but also about life and mostly about discipline, listening and understanding. Furthermore, he kept motivated me by encouraging me to always go further, even though at first it was really hard to understand what he really wanted from me but I finally realised when I reached a state of mind that I understood what he wanted to teach me and kept pushing me all time.
Overall, having a mentor while you are growing up is mandatory as he will always show you the right path , ethics, and will continually evaluate in order for you to develop as a person with multiple skills as discipline, listening and understanding.
References :
Performance Management. Available from: http://www.cipd.co.uk/hr-resources/factsheets/performance-management-overview.aspx [Accessed 8/05/12]
Mentor Overview . Available from : http://osakabentures.com/2011/04/want-an-it-mentor/ [Accessed 8/05/12]
Mullins, L.J (2002). Management and Organisational Behaviour. 6th ed. Essex : Financial Times Pitman Publishing Imprint.
Blog 12 : Selection
Selection is the process whereby not only does the employer choose between two or more interested applicants, but applicants also select, deciding how much further they wish to pursue their original enquiry. Then end of the recruitment and selection process is a legally binding an agreement. (Torrington et al., 2011).
The first process of selection is looking through appliers's CVs and this then allows the employer to select the ideal people that they want to discard people which don't suit the education or experience whiliust keeping the best fitted,however, education doesn't always show the true personality of the individual, and could leave less educated people with a lower level of English grammar being discarded when theey may be very good at a more hand on skill. (J.Mullins,2007)
If the candidate does well they will move on to the next selecion method which is the group exercise. Group exercise is when a number of candidates are brought together and seen simultaneously by the selecor. This method as it can be similar to a real life situation. This means that candidates strenghts and weaknesses reflect even more during this assessment as they could evaluated on how they could react to a real life situation. However, this depends on the type of situation and the groups can at time not have someone to take the leading role. Hence the benefit of group exercises is that the candidate can choose their own role that could reflect their strenghts at a greater level. However, there is a drawback about this method is that the given task may not display the candidate's strenghts. This is because people react to certain situations in different ways and certain situation may not bring out the someone's best skills.
Interviews are usually used after other processes have taken place, and are often the last process within the recruitment chain before a decision is made. These is where people can experience what someone is like as a person, and see how they deal with interacting with people they don't know under a stressful situation. This in my opinion is the most efficient way of dealing with the selection process.
I have been involved in a number of educational and job selection processes. For which I think has made me really think about myself was the application to University. Indeed, the application for university I had to go through different interviews with my teachers in 6th form as I was the only one who wanted to go to University in England, so every teachers asked me why I wanted to change of course so suddenly whereas all my course mates stayed in France to common courses but I felt that I had to do something else, and my teacher did everything she could to test me , so she made me pass an interview and asking why I would go there instead of carry on a course in France , what was really motivating me. Furthermore, I convinced my teacher by explaining my real motivations about leaving for University such as discover other cultures , being more open-minded about meeting new people. Therefore, she asks me why would I be taken in University as there is already many english who will be placed in front of you in the applying list . I felt like I was going through an interview as she told me that she tried to make it as much as she could, which led to feeling that experience made me grow up and realise my real motivations about my future.
The application for university I feel could be done in a very different way, and the selection of who is accepted onto a course could be looked at in a better way. There are many people who do not have the commitment or the amibtion to complete a degree course, and apply as to just use up time. I feel that if the selection of university becomes harder, for instance an interview or personality test there would be a decrease in absenteeism creating a higher efficiently within the lecture room and creating a higher standard of person for people getting degrees.
Overall to conclude, I think the selection part of the recruitment process is clearly a complex one , indeed, this is because the selection methods for instance group exercises can help candidates be more familiar with their working environment. Also, by using and developping the correct stages of selection, the best person for the role can be selected, however, all processes have positives and negatives and so for the selector to see and analyse many different aspects of the skill and character of the individual.
References :
J.Mullins, L.(2007) Management and Organisational Behaviour. 9th ed. Harlow: Pitman inprint.
Torrington, D.,Hall, L., Taylor, S. and Atkinson, C. (2011) Human Resource Management. 8th ed. Harlow: Pearsons Educations Limited
The first process of selection is looking through appliers's CVs and this then allows the employer to select the ideal people that they want to discard people which don't suit the education or experience whiliust keeping the best fitted,however, education doesn't always show the true personality of the individual, and could leave less educated people with a lower level of English grammar being discarded when theey may be very good at a more hand on skill. (J.Mullins,2007)
If the candidate does well they will move on to the next selecion method which is the group exercise. Group exercise is when a number of candidates are brought together and seen simultaneously by the selecor. This method as it can be similar to a real life situation. This means that candidates strenghts and weaknesses reflect even more during this assessment as they could evaluated on how they could react to a real life situation. However, this depends on the type of situation and the groups can at time not have someone to take the leading role. Hence the benefit of group exercises is that the candidate can choose their own role that could reflect their strenghts at a greater level. However, there is a drawback about this method is that the given task may not display the candidate's strenghts. This is because people react to certain situations in different ways and certain situation may not bring out the someone's best skills.
Interviews are usually used after other processes have taken place, and are often the last process within the recruitment chain before a decision is made. These is where people can experience what someone is like as a person, and see how they deal with interacting with people they don't know under a stressful situation. This in my opinion is the most efficient way of dealing with the selection process.
I have been involved in a number of educational and job selection processes. For which I think has made me really think about myself was the application to University. Indeed, the application for university I had to go through different interviews with my teachers in 6th form as I was the only one who wanted to go to University in England, so every teachers asked me why I wanted to change of course so suddenly whereas all my course mates stayed in France to common courses but I felt that I had to do something else, and my teacher did everything she could to test me , so she made me pass an interview and asking why I would go there instead of carry on a course in France , what was really motivating me. Furthermore, I convinced my teacher by explaining my real motivations about leaving for University such as discover other cultures , being more open-minded about meeting new people. Therefore, she asks me why would I be taken in University as there is already many english who will be placed in front of you in the applying list . I felt like I was going through an interview as she told me that she tried to make it as much as she could, which led to feeling that experience made me grow up and realise my real motivations about my future.
The application for university I feel could be done in a very different way, and the selection of who is accepted onto a course could be looked at in a better way. There are many people who do not have the commitment or the amibtion to complete a degree course, and apply as to just use up time. I feel that if the selection of university becomes harder, for instance an interview or personality test there would be a decrease in absenteeism creating a higher efficiently within the lecture room and creating a higher standard of person for people getting degrees.
Overall to conclude, I think the selection part of the recruitment process is clearly a complex one , indeed, this is because the selection methods for instance group exercises can help candidates be more familiar with their working environment. Also, by using and developping the correct stages of selection, the best person for the role can be selected, however, all processes have positives and negatives and so for the selector to see and analyse many different aspects of the skill and character of the individual.
References :
J.Mullins, L.(2007) Management and Organisational Behaviour. 9th ed. Harlow: Pitman inprint.
Torrington, D.,Hall, L., Taylor, S. and Atkinson, C. (2011) Human Resource Management. 8th ed. Harlow: Pearsons Educations Limited
Blog 11 : Recruitment
Recruitment is the process of identifying and hiring the best qualified candidate in the most cost effective way. Once a company finds the ideal match betwenn job and employee, it is known as a successful recruitment. Therefore, successful recruiting is related to the growth of a company because at each level of a company department it must have all its employees. Recruitment "includes those practices ad activates carried outby the organisation with the primary purpose of identifying and attracting potential employees"(Torrington et al.,2011, p.158). There are over a million people who are recruited by an employer in the UK each year, so the process is clearly a very well-practiced one.
The website www.fish4jobs.co.uk is using e-recruitment which involves interesting operations by combining many ways traditionnaly performed not by only advertise vacancies, but they are also willing to undertake some shortlisting on behalf of employers, sending on a selection of the CVs that have been submitted by job-seekers. (Taylor,2002)
The website www.fish4jobs.co.uk is a recrutiment webiste where people can search for jobs and apply for vacancies and companies can post informations on their very interactive, fun to visit and very speedy, offering all manner of services to job-seekers. The website is easy to navigate on and there is also a slideshow that shows weekly features jobs with the possibility of browsing easily any vacancies on the website as the button "browse" is almost in the middle which gives us a great idea of what we want to find and search.Furthermore, the recruiting website is making it easier to use it by adding a website app on the first page which means it can be accessed anywhere in the country. Another thing within the site which makes it stand out over others is the ability search for work experience, and to be able to contact organisations. This allows students to know the requirements that organisations have for when they come to the stage of graduation, and by gaining work experience before they graduate, increase their ability to be employed, as experience in their chosen fields is as important as the education standard. Furthermore, the option of having a username and password allows the user to customise their service to receive alerts when new opportunities become available in the sector they are looking at, and so making the information received more important.
E-recruitment is the process of using electronic devices to recruit employees via internet. The freefashion intership recruiting website caught my interest because it is laid out like an online magazine but without the slideshows and flashing advertisements.
Overall to conclude, it is clear that there are many benefits to having the developed use of technology in order to enhance the recruitment process. However, on the other hand, some tests can give a poor judge of character, indeed, the judgement will not make a clear image of the person applying making the process harder and allowing the employer to miss out on potential employees. In order to not do that , it is important that technology and human contact are used between the recruiter and the job-seeker in order to achieve results for both sides.
References :
Torrington, D., Hall, L., Taylor, S. and Atkinson, C. (2011) Human Resource Management. 8th ed. Harlow: Pearsons Education Limited.
Taylor, S .(2002) People Resourcing. 2nd ed. Wiltshire : Cromewell Press
Recruiting Websites [online]. Available from : http://ww.fish4.co.uk/ [Accessed 8/05/12]
The website www.fish4jobs.co.uk is using e-recruitment which involves interesting operations by combining many ways traditionnaly performed not by only advertise vacancies, but they are also willing to undertake some shortlisting on behalf of employers, sending on a selection of the CVs that have been submitted by job-seekers. (Taylor,2002)
The website www.fish4jobs.co.uk is a recrutiment webiste where people can search for jobs and apply for vacancies and companies can post informations on their very interactive, fun to visit and very speedy, offering all manner of services to job-seekers. The website is easy to navigate on and there is also a slideshow that shows weekly features jobs with the possibility of browsing easily any vacancies on the website as the button "browse" is almost in the middle which gives us a great idea of what we want to find and search.Furthermore, the recruiting website is making it easier to use it by adding a website app on the first page which means it can be accessed anywhere in the country. Another thing within the site which makes it stand out over others is the ability search for work experience, and to be able to contact organisations. This allows students to know the requirements that organisations have for when they come to the stage of graduation, and by gaining work experience before they graduate, increase their ability to be employed, as experience in their chosen fields is as important as the education standard. Furthermore, the option of having a username and password allows the user to customise their service to receive alerts when new opportunities become available in the sector they are looking at, and so making the information received more important.
E-recruitment is the process of using electronic devices to recruit employees via internet. The freefashion intership recruiting website caught my interest because it is laid out like an online magazine but without the slideshows and flashing advertisements.
Overall to conclude, it is clear that there are many benefits to having the developed use of technology in order to enhance the recruitment process. However, on the other hand, some tests can give a poor judge of character, indeed, the judgement will not make a clear image of the person applying making the process harder and allowing the employer to miss out on potential employees. In order to not do that , it is important that technology and human contact are used between the recruiter and the job-seeker in order to achieve results for both sides.
References :
Torrington, D., Hall, L., Taylor, S. and Atkinson, C. (2011) Human Resource Management. 8th ed. Harlow: Pearsons Education Limited.
Taylor, S .(2002) People Resourcing. 2nd ed. Wiltshire : Cromewell Press
Recruiting Websites [online]. Available from : http://ww.fish4.co.uk/ [Accessed 8/05/12]
Blog 10 : Equal Opportunity and Diversity
Equality and diversity are very different even though they are often used interchangeably. Equality refers to creating a society where everyone has the opportunity to fulfill their potential in a fairer society. Equality approaches suggest that an individual's social identity will impact their life experiences. Diversity is understanding differences and recognising that each of these individuals is unique. Diversity is also accepting the different dimensions in society that includes religion, race, age, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation and physical. Also, diversity is about valuing differences in staff and customers in terms of all all aspects of differences. (Wolf, 2007).
The impact the age legislation might have had includes changes to working hours and the way some organisations operate. This means the employer would have to arrange shifts that can accommodate employees of all age groups. This is because some of the older staff might not be able to work long hours because they would have to go home to spend time with their families. Demographic changes, legislation and labour shortages have led to increase recognition's of the need for equality and respect for age. With the UK having an ageing population since the millenium there has been an increase in the labour market in participation from older workers. However, although with the implementation of the 2006 age legislations, 59% of respondents still claim they have been disadvantaged due to their age. (Torrington et al., 2011)
Tesco's most innovative practises include creating virtual subway stores in Korea. This is because Korean people are very busy as a result they do not have time to do their own groceries in stories. Tesco which is known as Homeplus brought this idea and all customers have to do is scan the code and have their groceries delivered. This shows that the organisational had to make changes that would be effective for the people of that particular culture and this allows equal opportunity. Asda also has equal opportunity practises for instances, they employ different individuals who come from different age groups, cultures and ethnicity. They also explain their beliefs on their website where they show all their emloyees who work for them.
Sterotypes normally held about older people and younger people are that older people are less productive than younger people. This means assumptions are made that people find it difficult to work efficiently in a company and younger are more likely to leave their current job to work at a different company. Another stereotype is that older worker are boring, forgetful, unproductive and cannot learn. Whereas, young workers are known to be lazy and also avoid work wherever possible. They are also thought of as more likely to make complaints and be late for work. An idea on how change these attitudes in companies and organisations would be to have team exercises. That would lead to a better communications through differents age groups between young and old workers and to a better understanding. It would mean that their experience and knowledge will be valuable to the company and both the age groups will treat each other equally because they wil be depending on one another.
Overall in conclusion due to legislations changes organisations are having more variety of employees working for them and their being more considerate to their employees cicurmstances. For instance, Tesco has set goals to look for people who reflect diverse communities they serve (Tesco,2012). However, this would also have a positive impact on an organisation as they are seen to be giving equal opportunities to different people.
References :
Mullins, L. (1999). Management and Organisational Behaviour. 5th. Essex: Prentice Hall
Tesco (2012) Tesco Modern Innovation[online]. Tesco PLC. Available from : http://www.tescoplc.com/careers/working-for-tesco/modern-innovative/ [Accessed: 8 May 2012]
The impact the age legislation might have had includes changes to working hours and the way some organisations operate. This means the employer would have to arrange shifts that can accommodate employees of all age groups. This is because some of the older staff might not be able to work long hours because they would have to go home to spend time with their families. Demographic changes, legislation and labour shortages have led to increase recognition's of the need for equality and respect for age. With the UK having an ageing population since the millenium there has been an increase in the labour market in participation from older workers. However, although with the implementation of the 2006 age legislations, 59% of respondents still claim they have been disadvantaged due to their age. (Torrington et al., 2011)
Tesco's most innovative practises include creating virtual subway stores in Korea. This is because Korean people are very busy as a result they do not have time to do their own groceries in stories. Tesco which is known as Homeplus brought this idea and all customers have to do is scan the code and have their groceries delivered. This shows that the organisational had to make changes that would be effective for the people of that particular culture and this allows equal opportunity. Asda also has equal opportunity practises for instances, they employ different individuals who come from different age groups, cultures and ethnicity. They also explain their beliefs on their website where they show all their emloyees who work for them.
Sterotypes normally held about older people and younger people are that older people are less productive than younger people. This means assumptions are made that people find it difficult to work efficiently in a company and younger are more likely to leave their current job to work at a different company. Another stereotype is that older worker are boring, forgetful, unproductive and cannot learn. Whereas, young workers are known to be lazy and also avoid work wherever possible. They are also thought of as more likely to make complaints and be late for work. An idea on how change these attitudes in companies and organisations would be to have team exercises. That would lead to a better communications through differents age groups between young and old workers and to a better understanding. It would mean that their experience and knowledge will be valuable to the company and both the age groups will treat each other equally because they wil be depending on one another.
Overall in conclusion due to legislations changes organisations are having more variety of employees working for them and their being more considerate to their employees cicurmstances. For instance, Tesco has set goals to look for people who reflect diverse communities they serve (Tesco,2012). However, this would also have a positive impact on an organisation as they are seen to be giving equal opportunities to different people.
References :
Mullins, L. (1999). Management and Organisational Behaviour. 5th. Essex: Prentice Hall
Tesco (2012) Tesco Modern Innovation[online]. Tesco PLC. Available from : http://www.tescoplc.com/careers/working-for-tesco/modern-innovative/ [Accessed: 8 May 2012]
lundi 7 mai 2012
Blog 9 : Flexible working
Flexible working is the ability of an organisation to adapt the size, composition, responsiveness and cost of the people inputs required to achieve organisational objectives.(Pilbeam and Corbridge, 2010)
There is three examples of companies that offer flexible work are NHS, Sainsbury's and Nando's and they are all companies operating in different markets. The NHS offers temporary work, part-time and career breaks. It also offers bank work which really benefits students especially those studying nursing. This is because they can choose when they can work and decide a working pattern for themselves. Sainsbury's also offers career breaks, parental leave and part-time work. Furthermore, Nando's is following by offering part-time, full time work and study leave for any of the students who work there and might need time to focus on their academic studies.
There are also different forms of flexibility for instance, numerical flexibility which is the amount of staff needed to meet customer needs. This means the organisation has to adjust the staff to the demand that is available. Another form of flexibility is financial flexibility this is the difference of the pay and reward systems between different employees and their skills. This also helps reflects the de,and of labourt in an organisation and then determines the pay and rewards system that can be used or should be used. Functional flexibility allozss employees to work in different departments when needed which means the employees have to be multiskilled and can switch jobs. There is also locational flexibility which is when an employee has been employed at a certain location which is where they might be based but work elsewhere. Temporal flexibility is adjusting and making changes to the working schedule to make effective use of labour during busy times as Christmas Sales.
An advantage of flexible work for the employer is that they will be higher productivity and profits and better customer service. This means that happier employees will lead to a successful business as "working flexibly can bring many benefits to your work-life balance, it can increase the time you have to care for a child or other family member and can make managing these responsibilities much easier" (Government, 2012). Furthermore, since some workers will be working at home instead of travelling to work and being stuck in traffic jams for long hours, this time can be used to do work and this will contributes even more to the productivity of the company. On the other hand, there are also advantages for employees for instance, they will become more motivated because they will feel stressed which means that they won't be worrying about their personal life and staying focused on their work. Also, reducing stress could lead to a better performance at work and benefits for the employees could lead to have the opportunity to have achieve a life balance.
There are also challenges that are likely to arise as employees who work at home and could feel isolated as they may not socialize much with the office workers. Furthermore, workers could also face longer working hours and flexibility could be stress added for them. This means that at times the employees might not need the flexible arrangements because they will have to make sure that they have done all their work.
Overall, Flexible working has its benefits for an organisation especially for the workers who could get demotivated and that could have a negative impact on the organisations's performance.Indeed, this means that the company must be concerned about personal issues that the employees could have which will affect the performance of the workers.
References :
Mullins, L, J. (1999) Management and Organisational Behaviour. 5th ed. Essex: Prentice Hall
pp 571-572
Nando's careers [online]. Available from : http://www.nandos.co.uk/careers/search [Accessed 7 May 2012].
Government (2012) Advantages of Flexible Working [online]. Available from :http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Employment/Employees/Flexibleworking/DG_184874 [Accessed 7 May 2012].
There is three examples of companies that offer flexible work are NHS, Sainsbury's and Nando's and they are all companies operating in different markets. The NHS offers temporary work, part-time and career breaks. It also offers bank work which really benefits students especially those studying nursing. This is because they can choose when they can work and decide a working pattern for themselves. Sainsbury's also offers career breaks, parental leave and part-time work. Furthermore, Nando's is following by offering part-time, full time work and study leave for any of the students who work there and might need time to focus on their academic studies.
There are also different forms of flexibility for instance, numerical flexibility which is the amount of staff needed to meet customer needs. This means the organisation has to adjust the staff to the demand that is available. Another form of flexibility is financial flexibility this is the difference of the pay and reward systems between different employees and their skills. This also helps reflects the de,and of labourt in an organisation and then determines the pay and rewards system that can be used or should be used. Functional flexibility allozss employees to work in different departments when needed which means the employees have to be multiskilled and can switch jobs. There is also locational flexibility which is when an employee has been employed at a certain location which is where they might be based but work elsewhere. Temporal flexibility is adjusting and making changes to the working schedule to make effective use of labour during busy times as Christmas Sales.
An advantage of flexible work for the employer is that they will be higher productivity and profits and better customer service. This means that happier employees will lead to a successful business as "working flexibly can bring many benefits to your work-life balance, it can increase the time you have to care for a child or other family member and can make managing these responsibilities much easier" (Government, 2012). Furthermore, since some workers will be working at home instead of travelling to work and being stuck in traffic jams for long hours, this time can be used to do work and this will contributes even more to the productivity of the company. On the other hand, there are also advantages for employees for instance, they will become more motivated because they will feel stressed which means that they won't be worrying about their personal life and staying focused on their work. Also, reducing stress could lead to a better performance at work and benefits for the employees could lead to have the opportunity to have achieve a life balance.
There are also challenges that are likely to arise as employees who work at home and could feel isolated as they may not socialize much with the office workers. Furthermore, workers could also face longer working hours and flexibility could be stress added for them. This means that at times the employees might not need the flexible arrangements because they will have to make sure that they have done all their work.
Overall, Flexible working has its benefits for an organisation especially for the workers who could get demotivated and that could have a negative impact on the organisations's performance.Indeed, this means that the company must be concerned about personal issues that the employees could have which will affect the performance of the workers.
References :
Mullins, L, J. (1999) Management and Organisational Behaviour. 5th ed. Essex: Prentice Hall
pp 571-572
Nando's careers [online]. Available from : http://www.nandos.co.uk/careers/search [Accessed 7 May 2012].
Government (2012) Advantages of Flexible Working [online]. Available from :http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Employment/Employees/Flexibleworking/DG_184874 [Accessed 7 May 2012].
vendredi 4 mai 2012
Blog 8 : Corporate Social Responsibility
Corporate Social Responsibility is the decision of an organization makes to become responsible in a social and environmental way in the economy.Indeed, it is a concept whereby companies decide voluntarily to contribute to a better society and a cleaner environment. "A concept whereby companies integrate social and environmental concerns in their business operations and in their interaction with the stakeholders on a voluntary basis." CSR includes looking at ethics and doing what is right socially and environmentally, which means that the business will have to consider its stakeholders like customers.
For example, Marks and Spencer have lauched an brand new system which is called : "The Plan A doing the Right Thing". Indeed, this new idea has been launched in January 2007 selling out 100 comittments to achieve in 5 years. Marks and Spencer demonstrates CSR by this plan, they have been taking part in fair-trade, being green by reducing waste from their stores and taking part to deuce climate change. They have also been giving customers advices on how to healthy meals and live a healthy lifestyle. Furthemore, they have been selling recycled reusable bags and each bag has been made from these bottles. However, this plan is a 5 years committment which Marks and Spencer need to satisfy their customers all along the years.
However, the benefits for Marks and Spencer for taking these initiatives are that they will appeal more customers by using reusables bag, and by preserve the environment, indeed, it will have an impact on their reputation of a company that is concerned about what is going on in the economy and in the environment whihc will make Marks and Spencers able to keep taking part in CSR as they will be able to support their further plans.
Overall, we can see that Marks and Spencers is a good example of a company that is using CSR into action. This has been done by taking preventions of further action for the environment and they have made CSR part of the running of their business which has allowed them to continue selling their products and to appeal more customers with a better reputation.
References :
Johnson, G; Scholes,K; Whittington,R, (2005), Exploring Corporate Strategy, 7. Essex: Prentice Hall
Marks and Spencer Plan A [online]. Available from : http://plana.marksandspencer.com/about
[Accessed 4/05/12]
Marks and Spencer CSR [online]. Available from : http://corporate.marksandspencer.com/documents/publications/2005/2005_csr_report.pdf
[Accessed 4/05/12]
For example, Marks and Spencer have lauched an brand new system which is called : "The Plan A doing the Right Thing". Indeed, this new idea has been launched in January 2007 selling out 100 comittments to achieve in 5 years. Marks and Spencer demonstrates CSR by this plan, they have been taking part in fair-trade, being green by reducing waste from their stores and taking part to deuce climate change. They have also been giving customers advices on how to healthy meals and live a healthy lifestyle. Furthemore, they have been selling recycled reusable bags and each bag has been made from these bottles. However, this plan is a 5 years committment which Marks and Spencer need to satisfy their customers all along the years.
However, the benefits for Marks and Spencer for taking these initiatives are that they will appeal more customers by using reusables bag, and by preserve the environment, indeed, it will have an impact on their reputation of a company that is concerned about what is going on in the economy and in the environment whihc will make Marks and Spencers able to keep taking part in CSR as they will be able to support their further plans.
Overall, we can see that Marks and Spencers is a good example of a company that is using CSR into action. This has been done by taking preventions of further action for the environment and they have made CSR part of the running of their business which has allowed them to continue selling their products and to appeal more customers with a better reputation.
References :
Johnson, G; Scholes,K; Whittington,R, (2005), Exploring Corporate Strategy, 7. Essex: Prentice Hall
Marks and Spencer Plan A [online]. Available from : http://plana.marksandspencer.com/about
[Accessed 4/05/12]
Marks and Spencer CSR [online]. Available from : http://corporate.marksandspencer.com/documents/publications/2005/2005_csr_report.pdf
[Accessed 4/05/12]
mercredi 2 mai 2012
Blog 7 : Personality
Personality can be defined as ' the characteristic patterns of thoughts, feelings and behaviors that make a person unique' . It explores ways in which individuals react and interact with others and describes the concept of growth and development within the psychological system.
Personality is subject to much debate, indeed, as is it inherited or developed as a responsed to environmental conditions. This is known as the nature versus nurture debate. Both play at part in an individual's personality and are considered to both be right but it is still unclear how much it is determined. It is clear that physical characteristics such as eye colou are hereditary yet genetically speaking it is not so clear when it comes to an individual's behavior and intellect.
The nature theory states that one's behaviour and attitude are inherited. Indeed, the nature theory also relates more to the human genes which could be inherited from parents and ancestors, which links to the human theory. The nature theory is believed to link to all the human features that we have at birth. However, there is still issues as to whether its nature that could cause certain behaviour such as crime. On the other hand that behiaviour relates more toward the environment and the surroundings. Therefore, the nurture theory states that the human behaviour is caused by the environment because someone could be raised in a particular environment might lead to an another behaviour not being caused only by the inherited genes.
Furthemore, the Nomothetic is known to describe an objective matter. Indeed, people who adopt this approach are mainly concerned with studying what we share with others. It describe the study of groups of individuals. This approach normally aims to forecast behaviour and tends to look at human behaviour and personality at a higher level and looks lesser at any issues relating to the environment linking towards human behaviour. Henceforth, Nomothetic approach claims that it's possible to forecast personality types and how they would behave in certain situations.
On a other hand, there is the Idiographic approach describes the study of the individual on himself, indeed, psychologists are interested in this aspect of experience want to discover what makes each of us unique. This approach aims to acknowledge the developing and the uniqueness of self-concept.(Medilexicon,2006). Self-concept describes personality in terms of the individual's own understanding and interpretation of their identity.
After taking the personality test , I was able to witness that I have a high level of consicousness and openess.However, I saw that I had a medium level of agreeableness and extroversion, but a low-level of Neuroticism which might mean that I am to much open-minded and could have a more specific approach on certain reflexion and different subjects.
Overall, nurture has a more dominant influence as this is because most people's changes in behaviour are normally caused by a change in environment.Therefore, they will have to adapt to their new environment. However, this depends as their nature instinct could kick in causing them to behaviour in a more natural way that will not be affected by changes in the environment.
References :
Idiograhic [online]. Available from http://cranepsych.edublogs.org/files/2009/07/idiographic_versus_nomothetic.pdf [Accessed 2/05/12]
Nature vs. nurture [online].Available from: http://www.simplypsychology.org/naturevsnurture.html [Accessed 2/05/12]
Personality is subject to much debate, indeed, as is it inherited or developed as a responsed to environmental conditions. This is known as the nature versus nurture debate. Both play at part in an individual's personality and are considered to both be right but it is still unclear how much it is determined. It is clear that physical characteristics such as eye colou are hereditary yet genetically speaking it is not so clear when it comes to an individual's behavior and intellect.
The nature theory states that one's behaviour and attitude are inherited. Indeed, the nature theory also relates more to the human genes which could be inherited from parents and ancestors, which links to the human theory. The nature theory is believed to link to all the human features that we have at birth. However, there is still issues as to whether its nature that could cause certain behaviour such as crime. On the other hand that behiaviour relates more toward the environment and the surroundings. Therefore, the nurture theory states that the human behaviour is caused by the environment because someone could be raised in a particular environment might lead to an another behaviour not being caused only by the inherited genes.
On a other hand, there is the Idiographic approach describes the study of the individual on himself, indeed, psychologists are interested in this aspect of experience want to discover what makes each of us unique. This approach aims to acknowledge the developing and the uniqueness of self-concept.(Medilexicon,2006). Self-concept describes personality in terms of the individual's own understanding and interpretation of their identity.
After taking the personality test , I was able to witness that I have a high level of consicousness and openess.However, I saw that I had a medium level of agreeableness and extroversion, but a low-level of Neuroticism which might mean that I am to much open-minded and could have a more specific approach on certain reflexion and different subjects.
Overall, nurture has a more dominant influence as this is because most people's changes in behaviour are normally caused by a change in environment.Therefore, they will have to adapt to their new environment. However, this depends as their nature instinct could kick in causing them to behaviour in a more natural way that will not be affected by changes in the environment.
References :
Idiograhic [online]. Available from http://cranepsych.edublogs.org/files/2009/07/idiographic_versus_nomothetic.pdf [Accessed 2/05/12]
Nature vs. nurture [online].Available from: http://www.simplypsychology.org/naturevsnurture.html [Accessed 2/05/12]
vendredi 27 avril 2012
Blog 6 : Perception and Communication
Perception and Communication can be influenced by many different factors for example past experiences, attitudes, and behaviour.Perception is defined by Robbins et al (2010) as "the process by which individuals organise and interpret their sensory impressions in order to give meaning to their environment'.
Communication is a key skill involved within the workplace as its involved within 70% of employees time at work. Communication is important to keep control and inform employees of what's happening within the organisationm in order keep them motivate employees.
During my last year in college I made an incorrect perception of one my teachers. Indeed, this judgment was wrong and made because I thought that since she was the youngest of my teachers at the age between the late twenty's. As her young age for teaching I thought that she wouldn't have any authority. This includes that she had to win her authority but that was an immature judgment. However, within the first ten minutes of her first lesson. Later on, I discovered that she had an autocratic approach toward students and was stricter than any of the other teachers teaching the same subject. She proved that she was more capable that she could teach us with authority which made me realise that my perception of her was wrong.
The university can use different ways to improve communication with students one method that can be used is having a contact page on blackboard with applications such as question and suggestion box.This would allow students to drop any questions, comments and complaints.
This method could be efficient as that could improve communication within the university between students and staff. However, it might be only reliable when the internet is working, this means that if there is any power cuts, all the suggestion and question will not be available and accessible to all student which could have a negative impact on communication.
The university could aslo conuct questionners every months that students could take part in answering. These questionners could be based on the activities going on around university. Students, might feel the need to be heard as they may also have their own opinions they want want to discuss through that process.
However, this method also has its drawbacks as students might not feel the need to take part with those questionners.
Therefore, the university could put in place a system which allows a way of communication between students by creating a social network or a link on the blackboard page, and on somewhere in the campus. Indeed, this would be a fun method and a social way to communicate to students and between them. However, this method has also a few drawbacks, such as students might take advantage of this system and start to diffuse non-academical informations, which could lead to a lack of work and also the maintenance of this system would be an issue through technical difficulties or faults occuring in the system.
References :
Books:
- Mullins,L.(2010) Management and organisational behaviour.9th ed. Essex : Pearson Education Limited.
lundi 26 mars 2012
Blog 5 : Conflict
Conflict can be defined as behaviour that is intended to obstruct another individual from achieving their goal. Brooks (2006) stated that ' conflict is apparent when at least one party perceives that it exists and where an interest concern of that party is about to be compromised of frustrated'.
At the beginning of my university academic studies, all students doing the similar course as me were put into groups were we had to come up with a business idea. Therefore, many people wanted to be in groups with their friends, however, groups were made by the teacher which made me work with another person that I didn't have good relationships with. Indeed, I really wanted to have a great grade which would help me have a good final grade module, therefore, I was willing to work lot on that business idea. However, my group mate wasn't motivated at all and just wanted to finish this as quick as possible which led to a conflict between the two of us. Therefore, we decided to delegate the half of the work that he would need to research individually and they present it in front of the classe. This worked effectively as he didn't want to have a bad grade and look bad in front of his classmates. As an end result the new business idea was created and presented in lectures.
French and Raven had five different sources of power and these included coercive, reward, expert, legitimate and referent power.
Indeed, the Legitimate power includes people who has achieved the right to detain the power, it is usually people with high social hierarchies, cultural norms, and organisational structure.For example, if hey have worked they way up the company's hierachy structure rather than coming through the back door at managerial level.
Also, Coercive power is when people are afraid of their managers so their power is based on fear.Reward power is achieved when individuals have the perception that they will be rewarded in the future. This power can be related to expert, when an individual has the expertise to carry out the job so is therefore rewarded with the power.Finally referent power is caused as result of influenced due to the person's characteritcs towards other which could alloz them to gain some respect in the organisation. This is also known as charisma that could also appeal to the subordinates and allow them to be comfortable towards their leader. For example, the representatives of a certain part who can have a referent power to gain people's approval and support for any strategies they could have planned.
A Guardian article suggests that work is related to stress mainly caused by too much work in the UK as people have to work long hours which leads to more stress and tiredness. Indeed, as people have to work long hours which leads to more stress. This is also believed that work related to stress is the cause of more illnesses such as heart diseases . This article links back to the lecture on work related stress because work reduces employees well being.Therefore, this also links back to the article where stress has lead to illnesses that have lead to workers taking more time off work and being compensated.
Overall, a conflict has its advantages and disadvantages in work places. An advantage of conflict would be the fact that everyone's views and opinions are considered. This shows good communication in the organisation and could reduce any more conflict arising in the future as it could affect the performance of the organisation.Conflict also may not be healthy for certain organisations that may not need it. Also, French and Raven's power have their advantages and disadvantages. Indeed, a leader can not rely on one power source as this may not lead to them being a good leader.However, if a leader were to only rely one power source this could lead to confluct amongst the subordinates to have a better leader, as they may not find their leader having the right qualities and this also links to work related stress as overload work could impact on someone which might feel pressure due to monitoring subordinates.
lundi 19 mars 2012
Organisation Culture
Organisational culture was defined by Hofstede (1984) as ' a body of learned behaviour, a collection of beliefs, habits and traditions, shared by a group of people and learned by people'. People working within the organisation develop their own culture in the same way a national identity is developed in societies. Culture normally refers to a group of people that follow the same behaviour, when relating this to an organisation it gives a sense of identity for example 'what we do' and 'how we should behave'.
Visible aspects of organisational culture relate to the physical and social environment. There are two main theories which explore the levels of culture within an organisation these are Schein and French and Bell. According to Mullins (2010) Schein suggested in 1992 that ' the most visible level of culture was artefacts and creations'. This level includes technology, language both written and spoken and the behaviour of group members. This theory is often related to an onion as the outer layers are visible aspects of culture, the middle layers are deeper aspects of culture and the centre is the basic beliefs on which the organisation was built.
Schein (1992)
The second theory is French and Bell' organisational iceberg. French and Bell (1990) suggested that tehre were two constrasting aspects to organisations, the first is visable and formal , whereas the second is more hidden and refers more to what goes on despite the formal structure.
French and Bell (1990)
Organisation culture can be classified in many different ways. Indeed, There is four types of organisational culture : Power culture, Role culture, Task culture and Person culture.
Power Culture
Within a power culture, decisions are often made as quickly as communication is made in person. Indeed, 'A power culture is often found in small businesses as it relies deeply on trust, empathy and personal communication'
Role Culture
A role culture is decided via rules and regulations. The job role or title is often seen as more important than the individual and therefore, the power is based on the level in the company hierarchy.
People in a role culture, work to a job description, these are often seen in the public sector such as for instance, hospitals.
Task Culture
A task culture is a project based on the organisation that involves a lot of teamwork. This type of culture uses the right resources and people to create a unique business. A task culture is more based on expert power rather than personal power. Within this type of culture there is a a lot more freedom and flexibility.
Person Culture
Person culture is mainly based on when the individual is the central focus and more important to the organisation. This means that there isn't a hierarchy as the company only exists to serve the interests of those within it. For instance , a group of doctors can start their own private practice or surgery. Therefore, this means that the organisation has a person culture as a result there is no hierarchy. This organisation will then exist to serve the main interest of those within the organisation.
To conclude, organisation culture refers to the behaviour, beliefs and traditions of a group of people within an organisation. Indeed, there are a few theories that explore organisation culture on a similar concept but Schein splits an organisation into three layers whereas French and Bell only split it into two. Every organisation is unique, and will therefore have a different culture. These can be classified under by the four types of culture, however this is not always possible as many organisation contain different aspects of all four cultures.
Bibliography
Mullins, L. (2010) Management and organisational behaviour.9th ed. Essex: Pearson Education Limited.
Visible aspects of organisational culture relate to the physical and social environment. There are two main theories which explore the levels of culture within an organisation these are Schein and French and Bell. According to Mullins (2010) Schein suggested in 1992 that ' the most visible level of culture was artefacts and creations'. This level includes technology, language both written and spoken and the behaviour of group members. This theory is often related to an onion as the outer layers are visible aspects of culture, the middle layers are deeper aspects of culture and the centre is the basic beliefs on which the organisation was built.
Schein (1992)
The second theory is French and Bell' organisational iceberg. French and Bell (1990) suggested that tehre were two constrasting aspects to organisations, the first is visable and formal , whereas the second is more hidden and refers more to what goes on despite the formal structure.
Organisation culture can be classified in many different ways. Indeed, There is four types of organisational culture : Power culture, Role culture, Task culture and Person culture.
Power Culture
Within a power culture, decisions are often made as quickly as communication is made in person. Indeed, 'A power culture is often found in small businesses as it relies deeply on trust, empathy and personal communication'
Role Culture
A role culture is decided via rules and regulations. The job role or title is often seen as more important than the individual and therefore, the power is based on the level in the company hierarchy.
People in a role culture, work to a job description, these are often seen in the public sector such as for instance, hospitals.
Task Culture
A task culture is a project based on the organisation that involves a lot of teamwork. This type of culture uses the right resources and people to create a unique business. A task culture is more based on expert power rather than personal power. Within this type of culture there is a a lot more freedom and flexibility.
Person Culture
Person culture is mainly based on when the individual is the central focus and more important to the organisation. This means that there isn't a hierarchy as the company only exists to serve the interests of those within it. For instance , a group of doctors can start their own private practice or surgery. Therefore, this means that the organisation has a person culture as a result there is no hierarchy. This organisation will then exist to serve the main interest of those within the organisation.
To conclude, organisation culture refers to the behaviour, beliefs and traditions of a group of people within an organisation. Indeed, there are a few theories that explore organisation culture on a similar concept but Schein splits an organisation into three layers whereas French and Bell only split it into two. Every organisation is unique, and will therefore have a different culture. These can be classified under by the four types of culture, however this is not always possible as many organisation contain different aspects of all four cultures.
Bibliography
Mullins, L. (2010) Management and organisational behaviour.9th ed. Essex: Pearson Education Limited.
Schein (2012) [online]. Available from: http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3653/3521730263_64bf4fd5fe_o.jpg [Accessed: 25th March 2010].
mardi 13 mars 2012
Blog 3 : Leadership
Before examining the role of a leader, it is necessary to look at the concept of a leader. A number of theories about leadership have been devised over the years. Most of theories assume that leadership has to do with an individual intentionally exerting influence on others to structure the relationships in an organization.(Browaeys and Price, 2008)
Related to this is the question of the difference between a manager and a leader. One can be a leader without being a manager and vice versa. The leader is a person who will have a strong influence on others subordinates, indeed, a leader is born with the ability of influencing people in order to motivate his co-workers by generating ideas and inspiring others. We could also say that the leader is an asset in a organization because he can anticipate the future of the organization by being more personal with the employees and then by communication and encouraging in order to be more efficient within the organization .However, the manager is a person often seen as someone who is planning and controlling his subordinates in order to achieve results through a specific process and a specific method .Indeed, the manager may be more impersonal and have not very good communication skills and have a low emotional involvement with the employees in order to plan, control, organise to achieve the results.
An example of an organization is my sixth form class in France. The key leaders in this organization were the teaching staff because they organized weekly meetings about what they could improve about their teaching and the student life at the school. Indeed, I worked for my school for a certain period of time in the social committee which made me contribute more to my next courseworks.
As a result I’ve became more involved every day and my teachers were watching if everything was all right and so they could told me what was wrong in order to make me improve in this area of relationship with other people. This means that my teachers could see what they had to change about future students involved in the social committee and then they would develop new ideas and methods to help improve the academic staff performance. This links to the Goleman’6 leadership styles where the leader is a pace setter and push the students to accomplish tasks. This then links to how the teacher will push the students to accomplish their grades by working with them, however, that is if the students are willing and motivated enough.
To conclude, the key leaders of my college were the teaching staff because they were effective as they were more passionate about their jobs and with their students, also, they found innovative ways to help the students to be motivated. This links to the Goleman’s theory were the leader is democratic which means they can participate, listen to the bad and the good news in order to gain valuable input from his co-workers. This shows how teachers can help students if they are going through any form of any stress that could affect their studies. However, it depends if the teachers have the right skills and potential to deal with the students issues. In my opinion, I think that the committee and the staff teachers are leaders in an academic organization if they are involved enough to take some time to listen to their students in order to keep them motivated and willing to get involved in their studies.
Bibliography
Browaeys, M.-J. and Price, R. (2008) Understanding Cross-Cultural Management. 1st ed. Harlow: Pearson Education Limited.
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