Account Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Account - Essay Example Return on capital employed or Return on Total assets measures the firm’s overall effectiveness in generating the profits. This ratio has gone up a little from 0.6 in 2005 to 0.7 in 2006. This increase does not signify much. The assets of the company are underutilized. Similarly return on net assets (also known as return on equity- ROE) measures the return earned on owners’ investments. Arriva Plc. earned 0.22 on equity or net assets in 2005 and 0.21 of net assets in 2006. The earnings are certainly not encouraging. Debtors’ collection period and Creditors’ payment period reflects average age of accounts receivable and accounts payable respectively. These collection and payment periods have shown a little improvement. Average collection period has come down from 47.98 days in 2005 to 46.04 in2006. Also average payment period has also come down from 95.78 days in 2005 to 82.67 days in 2005. This reflects the working capital problems or cash shortage being faced by Arriva Plc. Creditors have started doubting the company because of its dwindling liquidity position. That is why creditors have reduced the credit period. Gross profit ratio cannot be calculated as there are no trading activities involved. But the net profit ratio shows an improvement from 5.9% in 2005 to 6.06% in 2006. This is certainly an achievement despite cash crunch and difficulties in meeting short term obligations faced by Arriva Plc. during the year 2006. Finally it has been observed that Arriva Plc. is a low geared company. With complete reliance on equities Arriva Plc. is finding it difficult to mobilize funds. It is suggestible for Arriva to reconsider about capital mix. It may be beneficial to bring in more debts not only to improve working capital position but to utilize assets to their full capacity. One of the fastest growing industries in world is travel and tourism. Its financial managements assume importance as under noted issues impact the volumes and costs

Human resource management Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

Human resource management - Assignment Example This study attempts to provide detailed analysis of role of human resource management for entire industry in the UK in context with the laws and recommendations are provided to strategically manage the human resource in improved way. This study focuses on HR practices, roles and processes of Hilton Hotel as an example of hospitality industry of the country. As a human resource manager of a hospitality organisation, the role and purpose of HRM is to formulate and execute strategies that are best fit for the organisation so as to achieve efficiency and organisational objectives. A set of multiple HR activities and strategies is briefly discussed as follows: The most important HR function of an organisation is to select right people for the right jobs keeping in view skills, aptitude, motivation, etc for the long run. This is a complete process comprised of several steps designed to filter and choose the right candidate. Hilton Hotel focuses to hire people through testing, interviewing and screening; however it can further improve the process by applying psychometric tools so that the pool of applicants becomes large and candidates are systematically filtered in less time. The existing and new employees need to be trained and equipped according to the dynamic external environment so as to effectively compete in the global and domestic market. Training Need Assessment (TNA) is a process to grasp the lagging skills and potential of the people in organisational context which helps to design training programs effectively. Hilton Hotel has training programs mostly focused around customer services while management training, sustainability and competitiveness training can add value to human capital of the organisation despite keeping a single focus as it is reported that skill gap is 21% in the industry. The employees once selected and trained become an asset for the organisation and they need to be retained to save cost and

Apples Management Strategies

Apples Management Strategies In a highly competitive environment such as the computer and technology industry, the structure of an organization needs to balance the benefits of a free and creative workforce all the while employing rigid guidelines to ensure cost control and efficiency. Apple Computer tried to accomplish this grey area of management when they restructured the organization in 1992. While some of the techniques they implemented looked promising, others appeared as if they were not going to solve their current problems. To facilitate creativity in generating new and unique products, Scully will articulate a far-sighted vision very broadly, at a 50,000 foot level and leave the lower level managers and workers to fill in the blanks. While it is important for Scully to allow the engineers freedom in generating ideas for new products, he may be allowing them too much freedom. Without providing the lower level workers certain specifications and milestones, they will surely overshoot their budget and miss deadlines. To ensure that these milestones are met, Scully should provide them with a semi-rigid guideline for the development, yet still allowing wiggle room for creativity that will distinguish their products in the market. The freedom that is allowed for creativity at Apple also has the potential for abuse. The current structure is lacking boundary controls that define what behaviors will be tolerated and which behaviors are prohibited. These controls should be carefully chosen by upper management and designed to facilitate creativity and boost employee morale, yet keep the workers behavior professional and goal oriented. Recently, upper management has received negative feedback in surveys from the companys employees. We feel that the upper management at Apple is too inexperienced and that it should be comprised of workers promoted from within the company. The average senior manager has only been with the company for 5.5 years, when many of the lower level employees have been with the company for double that amount of time. This may be leading to the decrease in employee morale, thus resulting in them losing the drive they need to keep Apple innovative and profitable. Apples employees are adequately educated and know the products as well, if not better, than most of management, and may potentially lead to the subordinates undermining any recommendations made by their seniors. Compensation and bonuses are a main incentive for exceptional performance and motivation at Apple. While the goals and measures that the bonuses are based upon are aligned with Apples long term goals, we feel that lower level employees bonuses are based on goals that they are not responsible for attaining. For instance, a line worker certainly does not have great control over the companys market share, just as a marketer has no influence over any product flaws that engineering may have missed. Each division should have their own independent measures to determine bonuses. These measures should only consist of goals that they have direct control over. If an employees bonus is dependent on a goal that their job affects, it gives them incentive to excel at their respective duties in the organization. Senior managements compensation on the other hand, should be based on all of ACPIs, as they are responsible for the success of the organization as a whole. Apples new strategy calls for an increase in productivity, which often can mean an increase in speed. Though it was said that Apple remained a very pleasant place to work: its offices were bright, modern, high-tech buildings. The atmosphere was still casual, reflecting the California lifestyle of many of the employees. And the companys historically strong, individualistic culture was reinforced by Apples own technology. It seemed that even though people still enjoyed the environment, they did not necessarily still love the work. One manager said people were being pushed to the limits; long hours and limited resources were leading to burnouts.' The issue here is that to increase productivity the correct way means an increase in efficiency. Most people agreed that the new system had not fundamentally reengineered anything; they were simply having employees work harder with fewer resources. Apple was used to an informal style and not used to employees feeling overworked. Apples people management seemed to be letting its people down. A 1992 Survey suggested that the vast majority of employees perceived that the company did not invest in its workforce and that executive management was not concerned about their future. It also suggested that most employees believed that Apples best people had been passed over for a promotion. Apple was supposed to be a place that people longed to work for. Now it has become a place where employees are unhappy and with the rapid growth new employees were often promoted with little time to develop appropriate management skills. John Sculley often emphasized the importance of leadership. Shortly after he announced his long term view of the organization in a companywide meeting, he released his public view of management: Capable leadership is essential to Apples immediate and long-term success. Thoughtful planning and execution of executive capabilities will be a strategic edge for Apple as we move forward. With all the new management positions due to the rapid growth, this capable leadership began to be questioned. We have learned that there are many ways in which managers can positively affect organizational culture. The way that employees were currently being hired did not seem to use these techniques. Part of the reason that the managers were lacking the proper skills could be because they were not hired based on their value or belief in the new strategy. If the practices are going to be consistent throughout an organization it must promote people whose values are consistent with the companys culture. In order to fix this problem and ensure the successful management of Apple, the manager in charge of getting managers ready for their job sat down with each general manager and created a list of core competencies needed for that division. These would align with the new strategy for the most part; however there was a new focus. The new focus was one that had never been used before, customer focus. It is interesting that in the middle of implementing this new strategy that seemed to be centered on higher productivity, lower prices and product development they would stress the importance of customer focus to all their general managers. This, though not exactly a poor decision, is inconsistent with the other ways that the company went about executing this new strategy. Until this point it had been about increasing productivity with longer hours, rapid growth and successful promotions. After the 1992 survey that showed no improvement in the previous year, it is easy to see that a change was needed. Customer focus seemed to be that change. The reason this inconsistent change was needed was because Apple managers did not believe they had the time to allow the original plan to work. A quality manager was quoted saying We cant wait three to ten years to get results. We wont be alive if we wait that long. As a group, our consulting firm has provided you with several solutions to these ongoing problems at Apple. Our solutions relate to four problem areas at the firm; compensation, promotion, communication, and creativity. Make compensation and bonuses in line with attainable goals. A line workers bonus needs to be attributed to the job he is performing and the goals which go along with that job. The Senior V.P. Secretary is getting his bonus because the RD team has spent 80 hours a week all year cranking out new ideas and products. It doesnt seem fair that the rewards are not in line with the work done to achieve them. Operational level divisions bonuses based on performance, length of time with the company, end of year evaluations done by management. Upper managements bonuses should be based on ACPIs as a cohesive whole since they are responsible for the marketing and final decision making. The company should not cut salary and switch to a commission based pay method. If the Apple wants to improve their gross margin, they need to find other ways to cut costs rather than screw over their employees. If employees feel like they are so far stretched beyond their means and burnt out, they will lose their motivation and drive to do the job they love. This can essentially push employees to stop caring about the end product and companys goals because they are so burnt out from trying to reach these unattainable goals. If you allow them to be creative and just give them simple structure and guidelines as well as some direction, they will still be able to think freely and meet overall goals. Promote from within Management has handed out promotions to employees who may have been unqualified, or may never have worked for the company before. We believe internally advertised job openings would be a better way to make promotions, this way anyone who felt qualified for a position could apply. Other people can make recommendations for co-workers who they feel would also be suitable and qualified to take on that new position. A requirement for the management position will be the Apple University Manager training potential new managers with the Executive readiness program. Rather than simply have this be a review process, they can turn this into a training session. This would help management pass down the organizational vision, image, and voice of the company. The managers will all be trained in a standardized format so everyone works on the same page. The way that Apple had previously promoted employees had significantly decreased their employees morale and made it difficult for them to respect their managers. With a system that allows for more promotion within the company with seniority taken into consideration there will more than likely maintain their culture and dedication to the company. When a large company makes quick management modification and changes, culture can easily be the largest factor affected. Therefore, it is imperative that Apple does whatever they can to maintain a strong culture. A strong part of the group (consensus) feeling gives way to a strong culture, as well as assist in increasing employee morale. Communication Top-Down and Bottom-Up Meeting in San Jose would have been easier to communicate the strategy if they hadnt waited until there were already problems. They would have better off communicating in this style every quarter. This way, employees can give recommendations and ideas to upper management. Managers also need to be qualified and ready to manage. Without management skills there can be a lack of effective communication and implementation. With the proper training and qualifications, managers will have the ability to communicate company ideas and direction in the best way possible to their employees. Promotion from within allows the manager to have pre-existing relationships with co-workers and other employees. They will feel more comfortable talking to them, as well as realize the importance and necessity of communication in the organization. Quarterly meetings with all employees to communicate vision to the entire organization rather than only having the top managers know exactly what is going on and the specific directions theyre headed. Creativity Due to the company wanting to crank out new technology at a faster than ever speed, this has completely stifled employees ability to come up with new products at their own pace and expertise. By forcing the new structure, incentives, performance and commission-based pay, people are not given the same freedom to be creative. There was a sudden change in the company through establishing rules, lowering autonomy, concentration on improving the profits, and constantly having new managers who are not qualified nor trained for the position. This places a large shock value on employees who are used to working so freely and creatively. We think a more productive and efficient method of finding new ideas and technology would be a similar concept to the process IDEO uses. Group think brainstorming sessions for the RD department to boost creativity and piggy-back launch even more creative ideas. We want to instill the idea that it is ok for RD ideas to fail, but the important part is for the employees to take risks and generate as many ideas as possible to throw on the table for discussion. Apples new strategy was good in theory, but it was riddled with implementation problems. Promotion, communication, creativity, and compensation methods all appeared as if they were overlooked when Apple developed their new strategy. Our solutions to these problems should provide a smoother transition for the company, all the while boosting employee morale and productivity.

Film Festival Start Ups :: Movies Films Film Festivals Essays

Film Festival Start ups Silicon Valley fairly bursts with life and energy. Everywhere you look new companies, ideas and innovations are on the move and on the rise. Welcome to the land of start ups; small companies with a dream who survive and thrive by skill, luck and sheer tenacity. While the term usually describes high tech concepts, start-ups abound in the Valley - from the small catering company on the comer to the neighborhood printing shop down the street to the local film festival. Yes, that's right - film festival. The Local Scene "Film festival" usually conjures images of stretch limos, glittering starts and rabid paparazzi. Think Cannes or Sundance and you think big budgets, big egos and big-time Hollywood take over. Even smaller, more local festivals have the same overtones. Take the San Francisco International Film Festival. Champion of such "outsider" interests as gay rights, and American Indians long before those concepts became acceptable, SFIFF has mellowed with maturity. Called the "gray lady of local fests" by Dennis Harvey in Variety (June 30, 1997), the SFIFF continues to support international diversity, but with more of a prestigious, elitist atmosphere. The air, apparently, has become more rarified in San Francisco. The second largest film festival in the Bay Area, the Mill Valley Festival has a much more relaxed atmosphere. But, even within this atmosphere, some of the need for mainstream acceptance and money tends to bleed through. Start-ups seem to have two destinies - wonderful success or complete failure, with little middle ground. Other film festivals have ventured into the Silicon Valley before. Most of them had wonderful prospects - at the beginning. The Santa Cruz Festival, the San Jose Film Festival and the Monterey Film Festival, all showed great promise, and none made it to a third year. The Santa Cruz Festival ran from 1982 to 1985, and died of erratic handling. Part of the Santa Cruz charm is its dedication causes, its fierce independence and the feel that comes together with one word - Burkenstocks. Unfortunately, the wild, eccentric and fairly unorganized tendency that adds charm to the city killed the film festival. With wildly erratic programming that could confuse even dedicated fans and the death of festival found Les Goldman in 1986, the Santa Cruz Festival passed into the night. In 1984 San Jose made its stab at a festival. The Cinema of the Fantastic focused on science-fiction and fantasy in the beginning.

Qing Dynasty Essay

The last dynasty in China, the Qing dynasty, ruled from 1644 to 1911, and there is argument to say that their failures, especially those towards the end of their rule, created the underlying tension and ideologies behind the Communist victory in China and the consequential establishment of the People’s Republic of China (PRC). These failures can be subdivided into military failures, weaknesses of the leadership, financial disarray, political troubles, and the Qing dynasty’s failure to implement lasting, effective reforms. It can easily be argued that the Qing dynasty didn’t recognise the importance of the military until it was too late and they suffered for neglecting it. The dismissal of a key general, Yuan Shikai in 1908 can be seen as a turning point for the military in this period. The dismissal wasn’t for valid reasons, but purely a chance for Regent Prince Chun to assert his authority. However, this had disastrous consequences the Qing dynasty, as th ey had lost their only loyal general, leaving them without military protection, an issue which had already been exacerbated by the Boxer Rising in 1900-1901. The Qing dynasty then made a further mistake in putting too much trust in him when he (reluctantly) returned. This resulted in Yuan Shikai using his unarguable military strength to gain political power. In all, this left the Qing dynasty with little, if any military strength. Their army wasn’t loyal, nor was it organised and there was much internal strife. Therefore the Chinese people were left yearning for a government that was strong enough to command military as well as political power, planting the ideas of revolution in their heads. The Qing dynasty also had a lot of problems with leadership. During the â€Å"100 Days† period of attempted reform, obvious internal power struggles arose which further weakened the dynasty. Here there was the struggle between the reactionaries of the government, those that wanted China to remain traditional and to uphold the ideas of Confucian living, and progressives who were in support of bringing in reform and change to modify China . With hindsight, it can be argued that, perhaps if the progressives had won the debate over reform, there might not have even been a need for a revolution. However, at the time it is important to note that the ideas of Confucian living and social harmony were a core part of Chinese society, and because most of the Chinese public had not known any different, something as radical as what the progressives were suggesting was seen as alien and threatening.  The reactionaries outweighed the progressives in court, and led by Dowager Empress Cixi, they forced themselves into power. For a while, although Cixi was in no way a perfect leader, at least there was a constant leader who was reliable. However in 1908, upon the death of Emperor Guangxu and Dowager Empress Cixi, Pu Yi came to be emperor. However emperor Pu Yi was only a very small child at the time, so Prince Chun acted as regent. He lacked authority, and so 3 further years of inconsistent leadership followed. The Chinese public started looking for someone who was confident to lead them into a revolution and give them what they need in way of reform, opening up and opportunity for a n ew leader to step in. From the end of the Opium Wars, the Qing government had been plunged into a state of bankruptcy, leaving them without enough money to impose an industrial modernisation programme that China so desperately needed. This was made worse by the crippling penalties imposed after the Boxer Rising in 1900-01. The effect of this is most obviously highlighted with the railways crisis from 18958-1911. During this time the railway boom in China meant a great opportunity for provinces to thrive, bringing in trade and new jobs. However, the Qing government chose to nationalise the railway, and to be able to afford to do so, that meant that they had to raise taxes and rely on foreign loans. Naturally, the Chinese people in these provinces weren’t happy with the fact that not only have the government taken away a huge possibility for local investment, but were then imposing taxes on the very people who were missing out. This led to open opposition of the government for the first time in China, as well as a damaged sense of pride because they were relying on foreign investment. The Qing dynasty was widely regarded among the Chinese as old-fashioned and redundant. First of all, this was down to the simple fact that they originated from Manchuria, which wasn’t even part of China, meaning that they were out of touch with the growing popularity of nationalism. Also, their authoritarian tradition made them incapable of responding to the demands of the revolutionaries, who were inspired by Japanese and Western models of democracy. This is because, among the people, there was fear of the punishments associated with â€Å"disrupting the social harmony† (defying the government). Combined with the government’s fear of change, it can be argued that this is why it took until 1949 for China to have a revolution, compared to America or France. Finally, and most importantly, was the Qing dynasty’s  blatant disregard for the crucial need for reforms. The closest that they got to reform was during the â€Å"100 Days† in 1905, when reforms based on western models were proposed but completely ignored in courts and so therefore didn’t go through. Part of this was to do with Dowager Empress Cixi leading a strong opposition against the reform. However, she later went on to introduce some reform, for example she brought an end to tests in Confucianism for government positions and she created provincial assemblies. Many historians have argued, however, that this was just an attempt to win over the revolutionaries who were turning against the idea of an â€Å"establishment† all together. Generally, by the time of the formal abdication of the Qing dynasty in 1912, the revolutionaries within China were ready for change. They were fed up with having a corrupt, inconsistent central government that weren’t in touch with the modern concepts behind revolutionary thoughts. This lay the foundations for the Chinese revolution and the eventual establishment of the PRC in 1949.

How do leaders develop

How do leaders develop? Given the large amount of different facets leaders posses in order to perform effectively in their respective domains, it is hard to specifically define leadership- however, it can be merely presented as an influencing process between a leader and the people who follow. Furthermore, leadership development is essential in carrying an individual through from the stages of emergence all the way to leadership effectiveness, and was defined by Day (2012) as â€Å"the expansion of an individual's capacity to be effective in leadership roles and processes†.According to Contracts (2010) and Murphy (201 1), there are major developmental stages in leadership; starting in early childhood, those years playing a major role in the upbringing of future self-regulation and leadership identity. Studies by Viola and Possessing (2011) have also demonstrated that many skills acquired at a young age during â€Å"sensitive periods†, when learning has proven to be easi er and happens faster, often have an impact on leadership development in later stages; therefore an adequate early environment may reveal itself as helpful in developing future effective leaders.Furthermore, research from Arrive et al (2006) argues that many leader personality traits are partly genetically inherited, and that parents contribute to many characteristics shown in their children; which helps demonstrate that there are a considerable amount of factors in leadership development that are, at least for the early years, beyond the control of the individual concerned and will most likely have consequences (positive or negative) on leadership development in the person's future years.However, initiative is arguably the main driver for self-regulation and a moon trait in leaders, according to Larson (2000). In addition, Caldwell (2008) states in his findings that practice is the main method for obtaining desired leadership skills, leading us to think that anyone with enough init iative and the right set of goals could potentially become an effective leader. Considering the impact of an individual's environment on their personal traits and attributes, most noticeably from the early years, how much control do we really have over our leadership development?Based on a research conducted by Arrive et al (2006), at least 30% of personality heartsickness in relation to transformational leadership is attributed through genetics; which is an indication that genes play a large role in determining leadership attributes in individuals, whether it is leader emergence or leader effectiveness. However, 70% of leadership traits stem from other sources; it is therefore important to analyses all the other factors influencing the development of the individual's leadership skills.Acting as the main role-models, parents are a vital influence in their children's developments and play a major role in their relation to adhering: â€Å"Parents contribute to their children's religi ous beliefs, intellectual and occupational interests, feelings of self-esteem or inadequacy, adherence to traditional or modern notions of masculinity and femininity, helpfulness to others, skills, and values† (Wade & Atavist,2008) A research conducted by Contracts (2010) concluded that there are four different types of parenting styles; these are: authoritative, neglectful, authoritarian and indulgent.Each one of the four is argued to have varying effects on children's leadership development. It is believed that authoritative parents are the most likely to raise children to be effective leaders, by educating them with strict discipline and monitoring; but also supportive and encouraging of them to think and act independently as they become more mature (Murphy, 2011).On the other hand, according to Banding (1991) authoritarian parents tend to exert control and punishment based on firm rules; which is a parenting method that is not usually prone to leadership skill development in children, generally resulting in teenagers with a lack of social and communication skills.Furthermore, neglectful parents are absent or play very minor roles in their children's lives; as a result they tend to raise teenagers with poor social skills and low self control. However, indulgent parents, who will be present without ever enforcing many household rules, tend to raise children with generally higher creativity levels; but will also lead to lower social skills and self-control due to a lack of firmness in regards to their education from their parents.Another phenomenon instigated by parenting, which can be observed from infancy and acts as an indicator for future adhering outcomes, is the attachment or bond that infants have with their guardians; Insinuators et al (1978) determined three different types of attachments a child can have: Secure, avoiding and ambivalent- these will influence the individual's future social behavior.According to Insinuators et all's findings, in dividuals who benefited from secure attachment to their guardians in their formative years are generally more socially adaptable as adults and have the confidence resources to take on leadership roles; whereas individuals who suffered from insecure attachments (avoiding or ambivalent) tend to comparatively lack social confidence due to the absence of a sense of security from a guardian as a child and, in contrast, will not seek out leadership.This goes to show that parents have a considerable impact on the outcome of their children, which ultimately will affect them in regards to their leadership development, abilities and capabilities. It is quite obvious that early influences and genetics have an impact on leadership development in adulthood, those early years being a delicate, sensitive and an important period of development.However, as long as individuals keep on learning new skills and behaviors, development will continue (Bernstein, 1989). An individual's background, environme nt and early upbringing are not the only factors in successful effective leadership development; although those elements are strong enablers, with many demonstrated correlations, they are not everything needed to be a leader .Caldwell (2008) underlined the crucial importance of training and practice through his analysis of notable leaders such as Bill Gates or the Beetles, and included that it requires 10 000 hours of work to become an expert in any field; and this can be achieved by anyone with the initiative to do so. Although practice may yield more results in skill development and mastery if performed at a young age during the â€Å"sensitive period† of learning, it does not however mean that it will instigate zero form of leadership development if practicing occurs later in lifetime (Viola and Possessing 2011).Another important concept explained through a model developed by Lord and Hall (2005), which encompasses the development of leadership identity and self- exultatio n in relevance with the lifespan approach to leader development, is that our notion of leadership evolves through time; for example the way leadership is demonstrated and perceived as a child in primary school will be completely different to the way in which it is viewed by adults with different motifs and sets of personal goals.Leadership identity plays a vital part in leadership development, acting in correlation with self regulation; as individual goals and motivations progress through time, we tend to re-develop new updated leadership identities and adapt our goal researchers accordingly, in order to eventually achieve effectiveness and have control over our own leadership development. Previous findings demonstrate a clear correlation between early influences and leadership development.Furthermore, the presence of a sensitive period in regards to learning and developing core characteristics found in early years of childhood is an indicator of the limited amount of control we hav e over our own leadership development, given that most main decisions regarding young children's upbringing and social environments are made by the parents, and ultimately become defining eaters for the individuals.This emphasizes the fact that individuals placed in a favorable environment for developing leadership skills, self-efficacy and regulation at a young age have a considerable advantage over those that aren't, and consequently greater chances of becoming leaders in the long-run; this can be used as an encouragement for parents and schools to focus on those crucial character- building and defining years in order to enable individuals with the best opportunities for effective leadership from early on.It is still however possible for individuals to hang their leadership development trajectory and develop a different leadership identity at any given time after reaching maturity, if they posses the urge to become an effective leader or differ from a current leadership position; it is only their original circumstances as a young child which they have no control over, which is a major part of leadership development.