Organizational Structure Essay Example for Free

Organizational Structure Essay In this paper, I will analyze the elements of a job analysis and discuss its significance to the hiring and employee development aspects of human resource management. I will describe the importance of a PAQ, proposing two ways the results can be used to redesign a customer service job for efficiency. I will develop two strategies that HR professionals can in the selection for a customer service position using a Fleishman Job Analysis System. I will examine the challenges for designing this job for efficiency and suggest two ways to redesign it. Finally, I will propose three ways a HR manager can use the information from a job analysis to measure the performance of customer service representatives. One of the most important aspects of human resources is recruiting. In order to recruit the best applicants, job recruiters have to be knowledgeable in all aspects of the position. The best source of information about a position comes from a job analysis. A job analysis is the process of getting detailed information about jobs. A job analysis helps recruiters to match job requirements with the best applicants. It is also essential in employee development, performance appraisals and compensation. A job analysis includes many steps but only three elements. Those elements are the sources of job information, the job specification and the job description. The first element of the job analysis is the source of information used. In doing the analysis, human resource professionals gather information about jobs through interviewing employees, observing performance of certain tasks, asking employees to fill out questionnaires and worksheets, and collecting information about a job from secondary sources. Other sources within the company include existing job descriptions and supervisors. Some of those  secondary sources include existing job analysis information from a competitor and O*NET. Next, the job specification includes the tasks that make up the job, the conditions under which the job is performed and what the job requires in terms of aptitude, knowledge, skills and abilities (Noe, Hollenbeck, Gerhart, Wright, 2014). This will provide a lot of data. It measures the amount of time the employee spends on major duties. It provides a description of the major duties in order of importance. It determines whether any licensures, certificates or security clearances are needed to perform the job, as well as the physical, environmental and mental demands of a position. This information is essential in creating a job description. The last element is the job description. â€Å"A job description is a list the tasks, duties, and responsibilities that a job entails (Noe, Hollenbeck, Gerhart, Wright, 2014).† A well-written job description can sell jobs to perspective employees and develop training programs as a job position evolves. Sometimes the needs of business changes and therefore some duties may change within a position. â€Å"For the employer, the job description is often used as a recruiting tool and by supervisors to outline position expectations. The job description may be used to indicate salary or reporting structure and as a reference during performance evaluations (Richards, 2014).† Once all the information has been assembled for a job analysis, it can be further analyzed by using a position analysis questionnaire (PAQ). â€Å"A PAQ is a standardized job analysis questionnaire containing 194 questions about work behaviors, work conditions, and job characteristics that apply to a wide variety of jobs (Noe, Hollenbeck, Gerhart, Wright, 2014).† The purpose of the questionnaire is to measure the job characteristics and its relation to the human characteristics. The PAQ can be used for a few different things. Common uses include developing a compensation model, selection criteria for a specific job and to study the nature of work (PAQ.com, 2014). A PAQ can be used to redesign a customer service job to be more efficient and improve quality. â€Å"Using the PAQ provides an organization with information that helps in comparing jobs, even when they are dissimilar (Noe, Hollenbeck, Gerhart, Wright, 2014).† In making those comparisons, analyzers might find ways to be more efficient. The collected data from this approach helps in developing or revising a job description. In the customer service business the needs of each customer can vary. Therefore, responsibilities of a customer service representative can vary to meet those needs. Those things might not be listed in the job description but will need to be added in order to keep the job description updated. Furthermore, information learned from the PAQ helps in evaluating the position for appropriate classification. A good source to use for worker requirements is the Fleishman Job Analysis system. The Fleishman Job Analysis system (F-JAS) is a job analysis technique that asks subject-matter experts to evaluate a job in terms of the abilities required to perform the job (Noe, Hollenbeck, Gerhart, Wright, 2014).† Because the results of a F-JAS, provides a picture of the ability requirements of a job, than recruiters know what abilities to scan for when reviewing resumes. Typing skills might be a skill that is important in a customer service position. The F-JAS can give us an idea of just how important typing is to a job so that we would be able to make reasonable accommodations for an applicant with disabilities. Human resource professionals can also use F-JAS to update job descriptions. As processes change the need for some abilities change as things may become automated, therefore job responsibilities change. â€Å"Kannisto adds, â€Å"With the compliance environment and legal implicati ons, the stakes are a lot higher for job descriptions to be crystal clear with essential responsibilities. If you have a measure of performance that doesn’t appear on the job description and you have a case brought against you, depending on the agency [involved], there could be punishment,† he explains (Tyler, 2013).† When considering the job of a customer service representative (CSR) who handles consumer inquiries for a company that sells items online and by catalog, a few challenges of designing this job for efficiency, come to  mind. The first challenge that comes to mind is monotony. Over time, employees will be bored of doing the same job over and over. Even more so if the job is divided into departments, such as sales, returns and customer service, employees will lose interest. A suggestion for redesigning the customer service representative position is job enlargement. Employees might find the job more engaging if all the calls came through on department. We could cross-train employees to be able to handle all the calls that come through the queue. Another suggestion is job rotation. Maybe every week, we could rotate the tasks. We could also make some customer services responses automated for customers. So if a customer wanted to check status on an order, we could generate a system automa ted response so that those calls don’t come into the call center. Another challenge for designing a customer service representative job is defining authority. Sometimes, customer service requires problem solving and quick decisions. Waiting to speak to a manager can be frustrating for the customer and it makes the employee look incompetent, because it increases hold time. The employee probably feels impotent having to get permission to make a decision, especially when they know what to do. A suggestion for redesigning the CSR’s position is job enrichment. CSR’s need a certain amount of authority when it comes to resolving customer service issues. This is a way to raise productivity levels and employee satisfaction from a sense of personal achievement in taking ownership of problems and meeting the challenge of increased responsibility. A human resource manager (HRM) can use the information obtained from job analysis to measure the performance of a customer service representative. Job analysis is a set of procedures or methods for determining what workers actually do on the job and for describing which aspects of worker knowledge, skill, ability, and other characteristics are needed for job performance. This process defines a productive employee and gives human resource managers a place to start for measuring performance. One way HRM can use this information is in making personnel decisions. This tool can help determine whether an employee should receive a promotion, transfer, pay increase or be fired. It can also be used for employee development. A performance  appraisal will determine the strengths and weaknesses of employees. This is key to helping our CSR’s grow, because we can create training programs to increase their skills levels. Taking the time to strengthen their weaknesses will make them perform better, which is great for the company. Finally, the performance appraisal can be used as documentation to protect a company from lawsuits, because it is used as the basis for personnel decisions. In conclusion, the job analysis is the foundation of most human resource functions. With its use, job descriptions are created and updated which standardizes recruiting. It is a perfect outline for measuring performance of new and existing employees. Job analysis provides training and employee growth opportunities. Personnel decisions are also validated by job analysis, because it creates a system of checks and balances for hiring, performance appraisals, promotion and demotion and/or firing. Works Cited Noe, Hollenbeck, Gerhart, Wright, (2014). Fundamentals of Human Resource Management. (5th ed., p. 103). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Education. Noe, Hollenbeck, Gerhart, Wright, (2014). Fundamentals of Human Resource Management. (5th ed., p. 107). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Education. Noe, Hollenbeck, Gerhart, Wright, (2014). Fundamentals of Human Resource Management. (5th ed., p. 108). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Education. PAQ.com. (2014). The paq program. Retrieved from http://www.paq.com/?FuseAction=Main.PAQProgram Richards, F. (2014). Key parts to job descriptions. The Houston Chronicle. Retrieved from http://work.chron.com/key-parts-job-descriptions-12366.html Tyler, K. (2013, Jan. 01). Job worth doing: Update descriptions. Retrieved from http://www.shrm.org/publications/hrmagazine/editorialcontent/2013/0113/pages/0113-job-descriptions.aspx

Marijuana Use: An Ethical Examination Essay -- legalization of marijuan

Works Cited Missing Instead of addressing the tiresome argument about whether or not marijuana should be legalized in the United States, I would like to examine a much more fundamental question: whether or not it is right to use the drug. This problem is strictly an ethical one. If we are to examine only the moral implications of the action then we must discard governmental laws from the equation, for this decision could be made anywhere, at any time, under any sort of governmental regime, under any set of laws, which after all are only that particular government’s best guess at morality and who’s to say their judgment is any better than yours? Knowing that this decision is a rather daunting one, I’ve enlisted the help of three friends, Aristotle, Immanuel Kant, and John Stuart Mill, to aid in the decision making process. It just so happens that they are experts in the field of ethics. Aristotle is an ancient Greek philosopher, really the first philosopher to use the word â€Å"ethics†. His major book on ethics is titled Nicomachean Ethics (Bostock 1). In order to understand Nicomachean Ethics and apply it, we must first understand how Aristotle viewed the world. Aristotle sees the world in terms of ends, purposes, and functions. In nature, the end of the acorn is to become an oak tree. In human affairs, the end of architecture is to produce buildings; of shipbuilding, to produce ships; of medicine, to promote health. Humans too have a function, an ultimate end; this Aristotle calls eudaimonia. The traditional translation is happiness, but this translation is misleading. To put it most aptly eudaimonia â€Å"connotes overall success and prosperity and achievement, though it also connotes something that we may call... ... the world would most likely be made up of people enjoying pleasure, something that can not really be considered bad. Many would argue that the world would be full of drug addicts, but this is not the world that we have set up. According to our perceived duty, all must use marijuana in moderation, and to use it to excess would be just as offensive to the duty as would be not using it at all. We have now heard from three very distinguished Moral philosophers, and all have said that moderate use of marijuana is not a bad thing, one even calling it our duty. The most common type of actual moral reasoning is a loose combination or confusion of methods (Sweet 4). So, if we combine all that we have heard, the only conclusion that can be drawn is that the use of marijuana, as a bodily pleasure, is morally justifiable, probably more so than not using the drug.

Classifications of Market Structures in the US

In the United States economy most markets can be classified into four different markets structures. But, each and every market in the United States is completely unique from the others. Generally the best type of market structure for the general public is per-fect competition because it creates the lowest possible price for the public. There are some exceptions were perfect competition isn†t the best choice for the public on account of various reasons. The United States Postal Service is one of them and since the Postal Service is a monopoly, it is its own market. This paper will discuss the budget dilemmas that the postal service has faced for the past twenty years and if it is in the best interest of the economy for the United States Postal Service to continue as a monopoly. The first time there was talk of privatizing the Postal Service was in 1979 when the Postal Service was losing vast amounts of money in the long run. But since the Postal Service is a necessity for America, the government had to subsidize the service in order for it to continue in operation. In 1979 the United States Postal Service had a cash flow of $22. Billion and was additionally receiving $176 million from investing(#1, Intro). Even with this added revenue the Postal Service was still greatly under funded on its own (#1, Intro). During this time it was discussed to privatize the postal service and introduce competition because of the extreme losses that the service was experiencing. A positive argument for privatizing the Postal Service was with numerous competitors in the market there would be more efficiency and the public would receive lower prices. But this would also increase the usage of resources, for example airplanes and cars. One of the problems the Post Office had was its receipts from consumer purchases that were submitted the next day after the transaction (#1, i). If the receipts were submitted earlier the postal service would receive more money because they could invest that money sooner (#1, i). Another way the Postal Service could increased profits was by competitively selecting banks that would give them higher interest rates and such (#1, ii). Probably the most relevant and final way to improve the budget of the Postal Service is to improve the bookkeeping poli-cies and banking techniques (#1, ii). Not only did the Post Service propose to increase profits but they also proposed to cut costs in a number of ways. There were three methods that were proposed in 1946 for the protection of salaries that no longer exists (#2, Intro). These have to do with the rural mail carriers. Under this antiquated method of delivering mail the Postal Service was los-ing money to any mail that went to â€Å"rural† areas (#2, i) There are 48,000 mail carriers that deliver mail to millions of families that are considered to be living in rural settings; this osts the postal Service 858 million dollars a year (#2, i). This is a fairly easy problem to fix considering how much money is being lost. It was proposed that money loss could be significantly cut down if the Postal Service corrected the following problems. The rural mail carriers were assigned a certain amount of time to deliver to a specific rural area, this method was out of date and because of this the carriers have free time for which they got paid for (#2, ii). The next problem was that other mail routes based pay on how many miles he route covered, so the carriers were getting paid by the mile (#2, iii). With this problem fixed the Postal Service could saved 26. 8 million a year (#2, iii). There was also an hourly rate that was in effect which indirectly promoted inefficient service (#2, iii). A stop to this could have saved the Postal Service $255,000 a year (#2, iii). From the num-bers mentioned above, it can be seen why the United States Postal Service was losing so much money. These problems did indeed eventually did get solved over the past fifteen years and now the Postal Service is making record reaking profits. Now in the first quarter of the fiscal year 1996 the Postal Service already has a net income of $1. 2 billion (#3, 1). Now not only is the Postal Service just breaking even, but they are also making a profit. On top of that, the 1. 2 billion dollar figure is 115 billion dollars better then the quarterly forecast predicted (#3,1). It is incredible that they are not only making a reasonable profit but it is increasing over the years. The Postal Service is also now reducing debts. An example of this is when the Postal Service redeemed a 1.5 illion dollar loan two years in advance which will save them 22 million dollars of interest in the next two years (#3,1). The Postal Service isn†t stopping with the revenue that it is receiving now. The Postal Service is planning to increase its international revenues of $1. 2 billion by twice the amount in the next five years and ten-fold by the year 2005 (#5, 1). The Postal Service is continually working to â€Å"streamline† their operations for the future that they are now run-ning. The Postal Service is continualy looking to cut back on borrowing money. All of the recent financial borrowing has been through the Federal Financing Bank, but the Postal Service now is looking into outside sources, such as bonds in the public markets (#5, 2). Business are starting to get jealous of the Postal Service because of the great prof-its it is experiencing. The Postal Service is now making a major impact on the United States Economy (#6, 1). Business are pointing out that in 1995 the Postal Service had records of $1. 8 billion in net income and a 1. 7 billion dollar debt reduction (#6, 1). The $54 billion revenue that the Postal Service is ringing in would put them in 12th place on the Fortune 500 list and 33rd on the Fortune Global 500, with the worlds largest corpora-tions (#6,1). A recent study showed that domestic direct mail sales were at $333 billion in the year 1994 (#6,1). This figure is expected to reach over $500 billion by the year 2000 (#6,1). It can be seen throughout this paper how the United States Postal Service in-creased profits and does not have to borrow as much money as before. It seems that the Postal Service is doing just fine while it is a monopoly. But there are still two arguments for and gainst the Postal Service continuing to remain a monopoly. On one side compe-tition is thought to make industries in the market more efficient and practice more innova-tive (#4, 1). But on the other hand the competition is also thought to lead to â€Å"a wide-spread cream skimming, with the postal service left only the high-cost, unprofitable markets (#4, 1). † So who is to know which market would be better for the American economy as far as the Postal Service goes. But it is speculated if the United States Postal Service does keep increasing its profits over the years, maybe it will be privatized.

Questions on Risk Management Controls Essay - 1162 Words

IS3110 Lab Student Name: Submission Requirements Format: Microsoft Word Your last name must be in the filename of your submitted document according the assignment naming standard. IS3110_Lab2_Lastname_First Email to: SMichnick@itt-tech.edu Due By: 6:00 PM CDT, Wednesday July 2, 2014 Note: Emails received after Due Date will be marked LATE and subject to a grade penalty of 10% each week it is late. Pages 11-17 of the IS3220 Student Lab Manual Lab #2 – Align Risk, Threats, Vulnerabilities to COBIT P09 Risk Management Controls Learning Objectives and Outcomes Upon completing this lab, you will be able to: Define what COBIT (Control Objectives for Information and related Technology) P09 Risk Management is for an IT infrastructure†¦show more content†¦Information – High impact (if you get most business from internet sales) Applications –Low impact Infrastructure –High impact People – Low impact b. Threat or Vulnerability #2: User destroys data in application and deletes all files. Ensure that data is backed up as often as possible to different types of storage. Information –High Impact Applications –Medium Impact Infrastructure –Low Impact People – Low Impact c. Threat or Vulnerability #3: User downloads and unknown email attachment. Employee training and malware detection could help protect system if email is malicious. Information –Medium Impact Applications – Low Impact Infrastructure –High Impact People – Low Impact d. Threat or Vulnerability #4: Fire destroys primary data center. This could be avoided by having primary data center in a low fire risk area or use off site data backup. Information –High Impact Applications –Low Impact Infrastructure –High Impact People –Low Impact 6. True or False – COBIT P09 Risk Management controls objectives focus on assessment and management of IT risk. TRUE 7. Why is it important to address each identified threat or vulnerability from a C-I-A perspective The CIA triad is a fundamental security concept. It is said that others measures of security showed be built on around the CIA concept as well. 8. When assessing the risk impact a threat or vulnerability has on your â€Å"information† assets, why must you align this assessment with your Data ClassificationShow MoreRelatedQuestions On Information Security System1271 Words   |  6 PagesQuestion 1: What is information security? Answer: Information Security is the practice of defending (guiding) information by considering the CIA Triad Principles which are Confidentiality (Authorize access), Integrity (Accuracy and Completeness) and Availability. Question 2: How is the CNSS model of information security organized? Answer: The Committee on National Security System (CNSS) is organize by considering the secure system attributes known as CIA triangle which extend the relationship amongRead MoreInternal Control : The Basic Functions Of Management956 Words   |  4 PagesQUESTION (2) (a) – What do you understand by internal control? (5 marks) Control is one of the basic functions of management. I understand internal control therefore to be the continuous process of ensuring an organisation’s objectives are achieved efficiently and effectively. I believe that internal control is a set of procedures and processes which the management of a company – the Board of Directors and management as a whole – are responsible for in order to prevent or deter and detect fraud;Read MoreThe Effects of Self-esteem and Risk-Taking Behaviors on Financial Management 1314 Words   |  6 PagesAbstract Past research suggests personality variables may affect a person’s style of financial management. Specifically, the purpose of this study was to investigate possible correlations between self-esteem and risk-taking behaviors with financial management. We created a survey measuring these variables, in addition to asking some demographic questions, and had anonymous participants from a Research Methods class take it online. After conducting the survey with the 27 participants, we wereRead MoreApplication Process For Managing Risk, Compliance Risk At The Workplace1706 Words   |  7 Pages4. Identify and provide the resources to introduce and sustain participation. WHS Policy Guide How to respond will be auctioned. †¢ Communicating with the workplace, the importance of providing an efficient mechanism for managing risk, compliance risk in the workplace. - Discussing Web issues. - To listen to the concerns and skills. - To my mind, your role. - Find information and share views. - Triggered à ¹Æ'a appropriate. - Consider what is to be decided. - Attend scheduled. †¢ The application processRead MoreDickinson Technologies Essays1577 Words   |  7 PagesQuestion 1. Assessing the Fraud Risk Factors: High Risk factors and Low Risk Factors. High Risk Factors: 1. Management’s attitude towards overriding controls: Section 5, under topic Integrity and ethical values, of the questionnaire suggests that override could occur without management’s approval, manager’s override is not explicitly prohibited and no interventions by the management were observed. 2. The Degree of oversight related to the company’s control structure exercised by the management:Read MoreRisk Management And Regulation Challenges Faced By Businesses1204 Words   |  5 Pagesderived theories to explain and measure the risk management and regulation challenges faced by businesses in their operations. According to Cox (2007), businesses are affected by diverse risks both in their internal and external environment. Among them include financial and marketing risks, violence crises, and natural disasters. Due to uncertainty of the consequences, several authors have described risk management as the counter measure to reduce impact. Risk is defined as events whose unfavorable consequencesRead MoreInternational Association Of Corporate Directors868 Words   |  4 PagesOrganizations need to know which controls matter the most – and know where to implement controls in their expanding borderless enterprise. However, every control everywhere is not financial ly sustainable. A risk-based perspective enables an efficient and effective GRC program by leveraging threat-based assessments based on attack scenarios. This approach builds a risk register that is populated with most likely attack scenarios. Following the enactment of Sarbanes-Oxley in 2002, many U.S. companiesRead MoreAcc 4911271 Words   |  6 PagesCh. 8: Comprehensive Questions: Analytical procedures ( 8-15 and 8-16) ï‚ ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ch. 10: Comprehensive Questions:  Components of internal control (10-31 and 10-32) ï‚ ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ch. 11: Comprehensive Questions: Assessing control risk (11-21) 8-15 | (Analytical procedures)  In audit planning the audit of Construction Industry Resources, Inc., a building supply company. You have completed analytic procedures relevant to purchases and inventory. The results of these procedures are included in Figure  8Read MoreCase Study616 Words   |  3 PagesCase Study | Quantum Telecom Questions 1. How do we eliminate politics from gate review meetings? Gate review meetings are a form of project close. Gate review meeting could result in the closure of a life-cycle or the closure of the entire project. At each gate, the continuation of the process is decided by the project manager or a steering committee. The decision is based on the information available at the time, including the  business case,  risk analysis, and availability of necessary resourcesRead MoreDenial Of Service ( Dos )1333 Words   |  6 PagesQUESTION ONE: Denial of Service (DoS) is a type of a computer security threat that is designed to attack a network and cripple it by flooding the network with useless traffic. A Dos attack exploits vulnerabilities in a TCP/IP implementation or targets specific operating systems or even specific computer applications. A DoS attack aims at ensuring authorized users do not have access to system resources. Common DoS attacks include buffer overflow, ping of death, smurf attack, TCP SYN attack and Teardrop