Case Analysis: Staffing Wal-Mart Stores Essay

Wal-Mart has been ranked in the Fortune’s list of the top 100 companies to work for in the United States (Mark, 2003). Wal-Mart had increased their workforce from 1996 to 2001 by almost 50 percent, of which the percentage of women decreased from 67 percent to 64 percent during this time. Wal- Mart had used a hierarchical human resources (HR) structure that consisted of several levels of management, divisions, and regions. â€Å"In 2001, management employees earned about $50,000 on average while hourly employees earned $18,000† (Mark, 2003). Wal-Mart’s â€Å"Division One† had over 2,600 stores which were organized in five or six divisions, with five or six regions within their given area, and 80 to 85 stores within each region (Mark, 2003). Policies were set on a computer-based information system that employees could access at any time, along with watching videos on the company’s history, and reading the associate handbook. Promotions were given based on performance evaluations and requirements. Certain allegations were made that Wal-Mart was more male oriented in higher-level positions, and overall hiring more men than women. Wal-Mart created a goal to make the percentage of women employees 50 percent of the workforce. A problem exists in that Wal-Mart has fought off any organizing attempts of unions by their employees, which limits employees’ influence on policies and company process’s. This problem filters down to the hiring and promotional process that occurs within the company. As stated in the case study, â€Å"†¦from date of hire until first being promoted to an assistant manager was 4.38 years for women and 2.86 years for men. For store managers, the times were 10.12 years and 8.64 years respectively† (Mark, 2003). From the numbers, men were promoted faster than women, but Wal-Mart states that promotions were given based on performance evaluations. Furthermore, it was stated store managers filled positions with lateral moves and waiving minimum requirements as a way of bypassing the process (Mark, 2003). Wal-Mart published documents to reflect how committed they are to fair practices. On the flip side, the public can now scrutinize Wal-Mart by using their public reports against them. A public article stated, â€Å"women associates had stated that Wal-Mart supervisors told them that men were paid more because they had families† (Mark, 2003). Included in the same article was a Wal-Mart official that admitted to writing that customers should feel as if they can trust Wal-Mart employees â€Å"with their wife and their wallet† (Mark, 2003). Additional information would have to be offered pertaining to the required practices and process’s Wal-Mart has in place for the hiring of employees and promoting employees from within the company. Does Wal-Mart have a policy where an entry-level employee can be hired, and managers and supervisors are promoted from within the company? Surveys and reports taken from current employees for their thoughts on the numbers of men to women in various positions will help with determining where and how severe the problem is. Why is Wal-Mart continuously voted one of the best company’s to work for if there was a serious problem internally? Possible solutions to the problem can range from having more People Division (HR) employees to oversee a smaller number of stores, to filtering public reports that may potentially create a negative perception of the company. Implementing more People Division employees within each region will allow more attention to be given for each store. Wal-Mart looks to move towards making their employment equity record balanced. This is apparent when taking into consideration the numerous letters to managers to push for making the numbers of men to women more equal. Wal-Mart can filter applications submitted and have them separated and reviewed on an as needed basis on what gender is needed more at a specific store. Rank the applications per region based on specific qualifications and gender. Then rank the region and the stores within this region on which store needs more women or men employees. For promoting employees, a minimum requirements list should be associated with each job position. A series of events should happen for each promotion beginning with the supervising manager and ending with the People Division Executive Vice President. Possible candidates are nominated and then screened by higher-level management along with those that apply. Only employees that meet all the requirements should be considered. Regional management will have the biggest influence on the hiring or promotion of an employee since they are ultimately responsible for that region. To be equal to all candidates applying for a given promotion, a test or jeopardy style game should be played and the winner is given first chance to take job. The test and game questions will pertain to company policies, job duties, and associate handbook information. Another solution would be for the employees to form a union. This would give the employees some power to fight for their working rights. Unionizing the employees would give them some power to make sure all employees were treated fairly within their workplace. Adding more people to the People Division will increase employee expenses for the company. Also, the addition of more People Division employees will create more training to be done and could take People Division employees away from their daily responsibilities. On the other hand, the addition of more People Division employees could help with balancing out a gender issue and hiring more of one gender than the other. More People Division employee’s means that you can have more HR employees present at more stores at one time. This will help with moving towards employment equity faster and mitigating any problems quicker. This may be the best solution for Wal-Mart and maintaining their reputation for being one the best companies to work for. As for the filtering of applications, having minimum requirements set for each job, and regional management having a large influence on the decision for who gets promoted, this would all cause more attention for them. Filtering applications may already be done, but this can lead to being accused of discrimination. Wal-Mart stating that they â€Å"urge† their supervisors to correct any inequalities in the store that pertain to gender is already a basis for being accused of gender discrimination. A store has fewer women than men and the store hires women to balance it out. The men are being discriminated now. An employee of a specific gender is promoted to balance out the men to women ratio amongst regional and store managers. That is still discrimination towards the opposing gender. It would be a lose-lose situation for Wal-Mart. Holding a test and a jeopardy style game could be a viable screening act to allow the most knowledgeable, company savvy person to be first in line for the promotion. The questions will pertain to specific company policies, job duties and responsibilities, and associate handbook. The negative part of this would be creating a competitive environment that can distract employees from their job. Also, time would have to be taken to allow for the taking of the test and the playing of the game, and the possibility of several promotions at the same time would pose a problem. The formation of a union for the Wal-Mart employees would have great benefits for them, but possible negative aspects at the workplace. Being unionized means that the employees would make less money due to union dues, but could have better benefits and more job security. Wal-Mart holds the power by keeping unions out and keeping the power to make decisions without possible employee strikes. Hiring or implementing more People Division employees would play as the best solution for the problem. Increasing the amount of â€Å"eyes† the People Division have in the stores will help with the hiring and promoting of employees to be done quicker. Having more People Division employees means more time at stores and with employees educating them on issues at the workplace, company culture, and the process’s that the company has in place. Rather than regional and area managers visiting every few weeks, there would be a People Division employee visiting a few times a week. The new People Division employees could put more policies in place due to the familiarity of the stores. These policies will be enforced more having the HR employee present more often. This could also alleviate the perception of customers and employees that think men are promoted more based on their gender. Specific requirements are present with each job position and the best candidate for that position would get it. Performance evaluations can help validate a manager’s decision on which he/she nominates to be promoted. A man or woman who are both in the running for the same position, and they both meet the requirements and have similar performance evaluation reports, the person that has been with the company the longest will then be chosen. The article mainly pertains to the employment equity goal within Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart’s constant push against the employees unionizing has allowed them to expand, become the low price leader, and keep company costs low. References Mark, K. (2003). Staffing Wal-Mart Stores, INC. (A) [case study]. Ivey Management Services. Mark, K. (2003). Staffing Wal-Mart Stores, INC. (B) [case study]. Ivey Management Services.

Internal Assessment

The Social Effects of Absentee Fathers on Boys in Inner-city Communities â€Å"Fatherliness Is an albatross around the neck of this nation, welling us down and choking development†, is a statement Martin Henry, a national journalist, salutes in his article on May 26, 2013 in the Jamaica Gleaner. Inner city communities are plagued with single-parent families and oftentimes it is the father which is absent. Mothers can do much and no more and boys who come from these broken homes oftentimes become a product of their society and a pattern develops.The issue of absentee fathers has become a social problem In the development of the family (the first Institution of colonization). The community, specifically the Inner-clues, and the society in general. Whether we believe it or not, fathers bring something unique to the family and for this reason, an irreplaceable connection and contribution is made to the life of a child. These contributions can never be replaced by any program of an y kind. The absence off father can cause a child to suffer emotionally and socially.Psychology has taught that issues such as this are correlation: a allegations may exist. According to Jennifer Flood's article,† A review of literature relevant to delinquency and adolescent behavioral and academic success revealed that there may be correlation between a male role model and the teaching of self- control and socially appropriate behaviors†. Koru, a renowned psychologist sums this up in just one sentence,† Fatherliness is a driver for delinquency and crime†.In situations where there is no male figure to look up to or aspire to be like, boys turn to media personalities Like rappers, artistes and sport personae, ones who have animal background and upbringing as they do. However, these figures are not necessarily positive role models as they display signs of arrogance and resentment towards authority. Furthermore, they do not see this as socially unacceptable becau se they aspire to be like them and so whatever that person does is seen as ‘right' in their eyes. They acclimatize to that kind of behavior and carry them out in their daily activities. Aid a mi daddy† and â€Å"Mi a Spartan Devil† are common phrases used by the fatherless boys In the community of Granville, SST. James. This affects how hey relate to one another, elders and society on a whole. A statistical analysis shows that fatherless children who normally possess this kind of mindset are 20 times more likely to end up in prison; 20 times more likely to have behavioral disorders; 14 times more likely to commit rape; 9 times more likely to drop out of high school; 10 times more likely to abuse drugs and the list goes on.What glorious future for our boys! This natural disaster sweeping away our country continues as boys with absentee fathers suffer from lack of affection and support because there Is no male Geiger to love and support them, specifically when It co mes on to those physical activities such as: sports and manual labor. They pretend as though this doesn't affect them as it demeans their manhood to show their true feelings.They use different mediums to bring out the anger they feel inside which may, unfortunately, resort to a life of crime and violence. Mothers of these children have to now face the reality that they have now become a menace to society. This lack of affection can also no idea of how to express and show love and so find it difficult to commit to a allegations. They have children outside marriage or any stable relationship, hence, continuing the tradition and the cycle of being an absentee father.Edward Koru, writing about father absence, father deficit and father hunger in Psychology Today underlines the behavioral problems,† Fatherless children have more difficulties with social adjustments, and are more likely to report problems with friendships, and manifest behavior problems; many develop a swaggering, in timidating persona in an attempt to disguise their underlying fears, resentments, anxieties and unhappiness. Gangs and violence and the adoration of the gun as power spring out of this condition. The litany of disaster now becomes a norm which affects us all as citizens of this country. The absence of a father in the family places a heavy weight on the mother of this child. His basic needs may not be met because a mother in those type of communities normally don't possess a high income Job which earns enough money to supply the needs of the child and so the child grows up into a teenager with the mindset meek a living and will do anything to be successful at this. This springs over to boys being more likely to experience unemployment, having low salary Jobs and even experience homelessness.I strongly believe that we are confronted with a major social disaster. The decline of fatherhood is a major force behind many of our biggest problems: low educational performance, crime, violence , poor social relations and weak economic performance. Clearly, the only way to fix this problem is to solve this issue of fatherliness in our homes.

48 Shades of Brown

q Life for a 16 old teenage boy was all about to be different. Dan, a typical teenager has all the interests a normal male would. While Dan’s parents are in Geneva, he stays with his aunt Jacq, a fashionable, and techno flavored, short haired, 23 year old uni student, in Brisbane. While staying there, he encounters a test of adult responsibilities, first love and battling through adolescence. Teenagers have been pressured into doing things they don’t want to do, Dan gives us an example of teenagers giving into peer pressure, forced to say that he was a student studying law at University. Teens who are being pressured by their peers think that they will become more popular if they do the [pic] ‘cool’ thing even if it can cause themselves harm. Teenagers these days are dealing with peer pressure every day, from mates telling them to lie to their friends and family, drinking when they are underage and/or don’t want too. Dan discovers that his life isn’t that easy, winning people’s hearts, remembering 48 shades of brown, drinking under age and peer pressure. This play shows how teenagers relate to real life, what they go through every day, what challenges they have to pass through, even what things they need to remember, such as passing school, remembering things for exams, juggling schoolwork and a social life. Dan’s first love starts right at the start of the book with one of Jacq’s uni friends who is currently a second-year Psychology student, Naomi, a pretty blonde 18 year old. Dan quickly realizes that Naomi has a thing for people who can name things, such as naming trees. When Dan realizes this, he tries to learn every shade of brown to impress the girl and win her heart. Teens will do anything to impress their ‘first loves’ from remembering things for them, to impressing them with flowers, teens these days think that the other gender has a big impact in their lives, but sometimes this can cause them to forget the real things in life, like study and family. People forget what things are important in life as well, like school work, getting good grades to maintain a good OP, to set you up in life, but don’t forget family, family is something you need to be by your side, teenagers continue to forget what family they have, parent and siblings are wondering why teenagers are changing. While at Jacq’s uni party, Dan gets himself into a sticky situation, he is pressured into lying to a girl called Imogen who is intoxicated, who continues to flirt with Dan while he is interested in Naomi. Dan goes with the flow and allows her to make out with him in his room, until Imogen becomes not to well and throws up all over him. This is happening more regularly, people drink too much, dance a little, make out a little, and become sick. Teens are continuing drink more and more every weekend, we are continuing to hear about parties that are going wrong, people who are drunk and becoming violent or just being taken to hospital for drinking too much and having their stomach pumped. In this play, Philip Dean, has shown the relevance to what a normal teenager’s life would be, with a couple of bumps on the way. From love, to adolescences, he has shown the real way a male teenagers mind would work, what challenges in life, what things they need to remember; just like ‘48 Shades of Brown’.

OCcupational Health Assignment for a BSc degree programme

OCcupational Health for a BSc degree programme - Assignment Example They are meant to protect the identity and ensure the anonymity of the patient and the staff involved. This practice is being employed in accordance with clause 5 of the Code of Professional Conduct (2004) and the Department of Health’s Caldicott Committee Report (1997). I was asked to see an employee of the UK-wide Bakery service who had been off sick for a laceration on both her arms. The patient, Cynthia, was 32 years old, single, and living alone in a one bedroom apartment within the vicinity of the city’s commercial district. She had been working the night shift with the Bakery service for 5 years running and about 2 days prior to my visit, she reported to the HR that she was taking time off work for injuries she suffered when she fell through a glass door. She had lacerations on both her arms due to her accident. She was later taken to the hospital where she was stitched up and sent home. However, during my visit, she confided in me that she did not actually obtain the injuries from falling through a glass door. Instead, they were self-inflicted injuries and she did not inform the hospital that her injuries were self-inflicted. She said that she attempted to take her life because she had a dispute with a co-worker with whom she was havi ng a relationship. She also felt alone and depressed about her life and the direction that her life was taking. When I saw her, she was weepy, sad, and very glum. Her wounds were healing well, but I could see that she lost the general interest in life. She looked haggard and looked like she had not slept and eaten for days. I was concerned about her situation because she still had feelings of suicide. I managed to persuade her to confide in her HR. Between me and the HR, we were able to convince her to attend Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and to see a counsellor. At work, the HR and the manager decided to move her to the day shift in order to give her more interaction with other employees.

Beethoven; Art and Protest in the 1800s Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Beethoven; Art and Protest in the 1800s - Essay Example Part four Allegro molto e vivace has strong Haydnian expression but with distinguishable thematic elements borrowed from the previous part. This reveals a complex form of sonata and becoming an ending for a symphonic cycle (Oscar, 1926). An example of a work of visual art from the 1800s is realism. It was reviewed by Donna Campbell who is an associate professor of English, Washington State University (Oscar, 1926). Realism in art and literature refers to the attempt to represent familiar and everyday people and situations in an accurate. More specifically, the term "realism" refers to the literal and artistic movement of the late 1800s and early 1900s (Oscar, 1926). This movement was a reaction against romanticism. Romanticism was an earlier movement that presented the world in much more idealized terms (Oscar, 1926). It responds to industrial revolution in such a way that modern artists have taken realism to new heights when they create paintings so realistic that they appear to be real photographs this helps their industry grow because who wouldn’t to purchase a painting that that appears real. Also they have made sculptures of human beings so life like that they are mistaken to be real people (Oscar,

How media affects to private life Research Paper

How media affects to private life - Research Paper Example Similarly, Baym has pointed out in yet another example that â€Å"all of this happens in a cultural moment when individualism is increasingly defined through consumerist practices of purchasing mass mediated and branded products† (5). The above discussed two examples are cited as they are highly representative of the effects that media have on private life. The characteristics of new media technologies to enter the personal realm has been going on increasing in scope and strength. For example, earlier television technology was one-way only thereby keeping the role of the viewer limited to being a passive spectator. But when live television broadcasts became technologically possible, the viewer could talk back, but also had to partially open up his/her personal space to the media. Later when online communication technologies emerged, this feature of enabling two-way communication got strengthened (Baym, 7). One consequence of such highly interactive media has been the creation of a â€Å"sense of placelessness† (Baym, 8). People communicating from very distant places would have a feeling that they were close geographically. Another aspect of this phenomenon is that people have less access to the other person's physical details like location or activity, while communicating (baym, 9). All these and many other changes in media interaction can bring about many corresponding changes in the private lfe as well. Invasion of privacy is a much talked about aspect of media and this is especially the case when it comes to individuals with celebrity status. When princess Diana died in a car crash after being pursued by the paparazzi, a heatd debate had emerged on this topic. It was the advent of new media technologies that made paparazzis possible (Cashmore, 8). It is observed that technology enabled paparazzi â€Å"not just to peer but to examine andd scrutinize in forensic detail†, the personal lives of celebrities (Cashmore, 8). Another impact is th e information in high volumes and in different modes can be transmitted over long distances and in very little time which further made possible the intrusion of media into the private lives of celebrities (Cashmore, 8). For example, Rupert Murdoch could telecast through his satellite telvision network, any sensational celebrity news, all over the world within no time (Cashmore, 9). The constant search for new content in a world of high media competition also enhanced the invasion of personal spaces (Cashmore, 9). Cashmore has cited the example of Madonna who realized the potential of media to encash the personal, and worked with the media on this to gain from it (11). The scandalous indiscretionary behavior of Elizabeth taylor with Richard Burton was caught on camera by a paperazzi through the use of a telephoto lens (Cashmore, 16). This is a very good example of media, with its very inherent nature, affecting private life. Once the technology of a telephoto lens and what it could d o became known to all, the celebrities also learned to behave in certain ways in order to cheat its eyes. Now a celebrity person has to make a limited choice (limited again by what is technologically possible) of making a part of his/her private matters public through the media but all the same keep a balance to avoid over exposure. The media celebrity culture makes a seemingly just demand on all celebrities to exercise this choice either consciously or unconsciously. If they fail to attain a balance

The Development of a Proposal for Organisational Research Essay

The Development of a Proposal for Organisational Research - Essay Example f service to the customers.1 However, the increasing number of â€Å"lay-offs† which resulted from globalization makes it a challenge for HR managers to maintain employees’ commitment and loyalty.2 For this reason, the HR personnel acknowledge the need to introduce effective initiatives that could motivate employees to perform their best at work. The best solution to increase employees’ working motivation is to minimize stress barriers related to work and personal lives.3 Most people believe that this can be done by allowing them to enjoy flexible work arrangements since implementing long working hours or the traditional 8 or 9 to 5 workday job requirement could result to a detrimental effect on employees’ work satisfaction and level of productivity.4 In line with the positive remarks of Flexible Working Arrangements in the world of business, the researcher aims to test whether the implementation of the said program within a school setting. For the purpose of this study, a short literature review will be discussed to give the readers a better insight about the benefits of promoting a balancing work and other aspects of employees’ life. In line with answering the research question and meet the objectives of the study, the researcher suggests the use of a semi-structured interview as well as qualitative and quantitative survey questionnaires as part of the methodology. Along the way, the researcher will discuss the underlying philosophies behind the chosen methodological approaches; the sample frame that will be used for the study; data collection processes including the proposed analysis of the gathered data; estimated cost of the study; and the ethical consideration on data gathering. Eventually, a detailed time frame for each research stages will be discussed. recruitment process of competitive human resources as well as its existing employees’ absenteeism and work performances. By creating a more attractive and suitable work place for the