David Ortan Plc Case Study Essay Example for Free

David Ortan Plc Case Study Essay 1.1.David Orton Plc: A brief overview of merger of Orton group and Costwise David Orton Plc was a result of merger when Orton group, distinguish British Food Retailer Company, acquired Costwise Company in 2005. British CC (competition commission) had reservations at this mighty onset of merger as companies were independently huge retailers already and their reservation was somewhat genuine. The outcome of merger could obviously be a huge monopolize and was evidently aimed at controlling the large market share. The fear laid in commission’s stance that the result of merger will ultimately monopolize certain areas of the region. Nevertheless, it took substantial time to achieve this target as costwise had recognised since very beginning that two companies differ in structure and size therefore it will take quite a while to feel the impact physically. The impression of this merger let staff members of both companies to feel uncertain and uncomfortable, especially of costwise organisation and they feared that each company will be swallowed by the other. Motivational problems related with finance were of major importance to employees of both companies and here too, employees of costwise tended to complain more. The senior management and executive members of costwise company sought to gather and discuss at large weaknesses and strengths of the organisation on realizing that employees’ attitude and perception toward merger could have substantial impact on company’s performance. This meeting cleared company and its employees’ view of the desired merger and future of company was discussed by management personnel (Huczynski, A. Buchanan, D., 2007). 1.2.Motivational state of employees The staff at costwise was more inadequately motivated towards the merger for the most part as capacity is intricately linked with the question of motivation. Some of the employees’ concerns were included salaries issues, intangible rewards, apprehensions, secondary benefits and recognition etc which were being abandoned by the higher management. Employees were also of the view that costwise company didn’t give them a chance to flourish and  grow. They weren’t given deserving opportunities including measures and promotion which otherwise would help them to grow tithing the framework of the organisation. Conversely, management thought that employee’s reduced performance has affected the overall performance of the organisation as a whole. The organisation gave much quality of supervision, interpersonal relations, and efficient administration of regulation and policies of the company. Recognition for outstanding performances, advancement to upper level of tasks and some other general interests of employees were kept low on the other hand. Employees were bound to grow at slow pace as limited or no training programs were carried out by company’s management thus affecting the overall performance of the employees (Mullins, L., 2007). There were, nevertheless some factors which were being appreciated by the employees and which had a direct, progressive affect on employees motivation level. Those factors include sense of interaction, loyalty and trust and chemistry between employees and management which led each party to realise organisational problems occurring within the organisation. The sense of interaction and utmost respect of work were responsible to increase employees’ moral and a practice of trust and loyalty among them could be seen through observation (Kelley, H.H., 1999) 1.3.Attitudes and Perception of the employees In any such situation, there are probable situations where attitudes and perceptions of the associated employees change drastically. One of the obvious attitudes that could be expected from employees is their felling of low self worth. This feeling is probable and any person associated with a company which is going to merge up with another company of twice its size can have it. This circumstance, however, could result in employees’ reduced level of efforts and sometimes deliberately withholding efforts. Poor performance and uncertainty can be suspected in this case which organisations are required to reduce or get ready for the aftermath. Employees’ withdrawal of their commitment to work can seriously damage the stability and competitive advantage it earned during the time therefore managers have to take the responsibility and devise action plan to waive off such situations (Myers, D., 2005) The employees are supposed to have alarming beliefs and questionable attitudes toward the merger and if those attitudes do not get properly managed, it will badly affect the company’s performance. The most questionable attitude in this case could be employee’s perception toward management decisions as it could a sense of uncertainty within them. They become more sensitive to their future as any uncertain thought about company’s decisions and actions could let them thin that their job is at stake. Thus staff turnover is quite probable as no employee could thrive in uncertain work environments. Differences in opinions, either professional or technical could also result in employees’ frustration and developing angry attitude resulted by genuine work complaints (Nelson, D. Quick, J., 2006) 1.4.Resultant effects Resultant effects which such attitudes can have may include employees’ self-centeredness, their insensitivity to other people, their constant attention and affirmation seeking behaviour which could confront to abrupt in some cases. Lack of cooperation, failure to follow regulations and rules at work and absenteeism could be some results and forms of attitudes which costwise company can expect from its employees. It will be of utmost responsibility of new management to reassure the employees of costwise that they are fundamental assets of the organisation and they have to adequately motivate the employees in best possible manner. It is quite obvious that employees will act in circumstances which dictate their perception of situations. In this scenario, motivation will dictate their perception of jobs. It is also probable that employees of any company compare themselves and their positions with their counterparts and feel a sense of inferiority. Supervisory perception could also be expected for example costwise managers will feel uncomfortable to work under supervision of Orton’s management if any such scenario happens. This will only increase the problem for the costwise organisation and it will also account for bad perception of merger in vicinity of strong factors arousing uncertainty among costwise employees (Buchanan, D. Huczynski, A., 2004) Self-perceived insufficiencies in comparison to former Ortan organisation are resultant from reasons of differences in development and capacity and the suspicion that ultimately  results in lack of equity. Competition of resources is another perception that has strong effect on employees’ attitudes of both companies as it will cause discrimination since Ortan employees are in better positions than costwise’ thus they are more likely to obtain benefits and resources such as salary increments and training programs . In this case, employees of costwise will obviously feel inadequately compensated and benefited even before the merger. This threat, either real or illusionary, is suppose to cause deep-rooted problems as all such scenarios are directly related with human psychology (Daus, 1997). 1.5.Main issues faced by senior managers Complex work environments and due to some other demographic and technological changes and innovations, senior managers have now augmented responsibility of supervising staff and employees of any organisation. Obviously the most important task is to increase the employees’ performance thus increasing overall performance of the organisation. In a case where employee’s attitudes toward work have been exacerbated by above mentioned factors and attributes, senior managers have to work hard in order to obtain their objective. They need to get employees back to work with full enthusiasm which will help them in scoring tasks and meeting deadlines. There are those employees who want to be supervised, some of them feel certain insecurities, and some feel company’s decisions as threatening their future. Managers are therefore needed to address such issues within the organisation and propose sustainable solutions (Kanigel, R., 1997) Employees’ unethical behaviour is another serious issue which requires mangers to taken care of. Some employees, who are satisfied by the policies and decisions of the organisation, tend to ignore rules and regulations set by the management. They compromise on the delivery and quality of work thus affecting organisation and its outer world relationships. The challenge of such employees’ commitment and motivation is one difficult task which managers at both organisations have to carry out. This can, however, be solved by taking simple steps which first include assessment of the behaviours and attitudes of such employees and of those factors which are responsible for such behaviours and attitudes. For example, a clear observation of the case study  suggests that employees at both organisations weren’t happy for their salary compensations. They in fact found it unsatisfactory that some employees of some departments are getting higher wages whereas some other deserving staff members have not been compensated by the organisation adequately. They had another concern that organisations failed to address their social, emotional, psychological and esteem concerns. Obviously mangers do have the responsibility to take care of such issues if organisations want to increase the motivation of employees (Kinicki, A. Kreitner, R., 2006) Culture, gender, sexual orientation and religion etc. are dominated by the diverse workforce by whom both organisations operate. This diverse workforce thus engenders complexities and challenges for the management as minds of employees are naturally discriminated. These employees do have strong impact on other staff members thus senior managers are more likely to deal with challenging circumstances. Rewards, appreciation, recognition and especially balancing and equal treatment are such tools which can be highly useful in fighting similar challenges. Employees’ interaction has to be monitored by the management and with advancement of telecommunication; the challenge has become strong and important. They have to devise solutions that effectively control this challenging situation since employee privacy has already been restricted in several sectors (Gentile, M. C., 1996). 2.Critical analysis of the study Effective management of organisational behaviour is somewhat critical and requires the management to effectively examine the sources of motivation, group influence and job design among other things. It needs to define behaviour modification procedures which will help the learner to realise and appreciate the direct connection between organisational behaviour and possible consequences of it. Positive reinforcement is an effective tool which includes administrating sentencing on bad or negative behaviour and rewarding good or positive behaviour. The X and Y theories of Douglas McGregor play vital role in effective management of behaviours. Theory X involves the style of rather authoritarian management which recommends that coercion with help of application of threats upon individual is effective as an average individual detests work. The theory also argues about achievement  of organisational objectives through letting individuals concerned about it as an average individual doesnâ₠¬â„¢t like to have responsibility and rather prefer to be secure at all cost. Participative management theory or Theory Y stipulates that individuals are mainly self-directed thus they will have to take the responsibility. According to Douglas McGregor, The capacity to employ creative thinking and imagination is widely spread throughout individuals thus capacity and intelligence is partly utilised by the industry. Ability to possess responsibility and self-direction drives individuals to obtain organisational objectives (Robinson, G., and K. Dechant, 1997) The above discussed theory can be utilised in developing reward schemes and policies for staff members by rewarding those employees with benefits who perform well and grueling those who show bad behaviour and retain poor performances. By implementing this model, employees at David Orton Plc will be more obliged to work hard and return considerable benefits for the organisation in their quest to rewards, promotions, incentives and other forms of recognitions. Another effective methodology in this regard could be the Content theory which deals mainly n the area of individuals’ requirements and demands. These requirements can be broken down further into their primary requirements such as food, clothing, shelter etc. and their secondary requirements such as desire of power, achievement among colleagues, approval and love etc. It is however critical to locate the influence over behaviour by these requirements. The influence by primary needs is easy to understand and identify but influence by secondary requirements on behaviour varies by certain factors and is difficult o understand. The hierarchy of needs theory by Abraham Maslow tends to explain the requirements which could possibly affect the attitudes and behaviours of individuals working under the organisational framework (Larbi, G., 2006) Self-actualisation is needed to get managed against above mentioned background by investing in an effective, creative and challenging work place environment. Promotions, independence, flexibility and providence of bigger responsibilities are among some factors which can be employed to boost esteem if managed well. Lower level requirements including social, psychological and security requirements can be efficaciously managed by procuring safe working conditions, friendly work atmosphere and reasonable  and suitable work hours. Therefore the theory of Maslow or theory of hierarchy of needs can be applied to the case of merger, David Orton Plc which observes dissatisfaction among its employees over inadequate pay structure, lack of recognition and other social, emotional and psychological wants. This theory can be effectively applied by management by sufficiently increasing employees allowances, rewards, salaries and give them an overall well being in their areas of complaints (Larbi, G., 2006) 3.Conclusion Concluding, organisational behaviour seems to resolve around people’s perception, their power to act feel under organised settings. The organisational complexities occurring within the framework of an organisation need associated management and senior executives to evaluate key behavioral factors which dominate the system. They have to examine the reasons behind such factors and once they succeeded in identification, they got to develop sustainable strategies and plans to tackle organisational behaviour problems. Any solution aiming at increased performance by the employee will result in increased performance of the organisation. For this, management needs to realize employees that their talents are being recognized and to compensate them with adequate resources, pays and secondary benefits so that they could overcome the sense of terrifying uncertainty and work hard for the goodness of their own and the organisation. Ensuring sufficient motivation among employees is one thing but managing this motivation all along is another yet a difficult challenge for the organisation. Strategies aimed at actively fostering the development and growth of the employees will only make sure that their capacity and motivation is developed. An organisation flourishes when management succeeds in developing and establishing a strategy which ensures employees that their received salary is linked with their performance and that their expectations towards their compensation against work done will be adequately rewarded. If employees lost interest in work and what they do at the organisation, nothing could prevent organisation from failure and economic devastation therefore enriching jobs will help greatly in developing employees’ interest in their jobs they will feel enchanted to have something more than a job  which rewards them with a paycheck and it surly is a great thing. To instill such strategies into organisational framework, organisations are needed to assess behaviours and issues related with employees and propose better solutions for them. References Buchanan, D. Huczynski, A. (2004) Organisational Behaviour: An Introductory Text, 5th ed., Harlow: FT/Prentice Hall Daus (1997). Challenges of leading a diverse workforce. Academy of Management Executive, 11, 32–47. Gentile, M. C. (1996). Managerial excellence through diversity, Chicago, IL: Irwin; and Joplin, J. R. W., and C. S. Huczynski, A. Buchanan, D. (2007) Organisational Behaviour: An Introductory Text, 6th ed., Harlow: FT/Prentice Hall Kanigel, R. (1997). The one best way: Frederick Winslow Taylor and the enigma of efficiency. New York: Viking. Kelley, H.H. (1999) â€Å"Attribution in Social Interaction.† In Attribution: Perceiving the Causes of Behavior. E.E. Jones, et al. Morristown, MJ: General Learning Press. Kinicki, A. Kreitner, R. (2006) Organizational Behavior: key concepts, skills, best practices. 2nd ed. McGraw Hill Larbi, G. (2006). â€Å"Applying the new public management in developing countries,† in Y. Bangura and G. Larbi. Public sector reform in developing countries: capacity challenges to improve services. Basingstroke, Palgrave. Mullins, L. (2007) Management and Organizational Behaviour. 8th ed. FT/Prentice Hall Myers, D. (2005) Social Psychology. 8th ed. Boston: McGraw Hill Nelson, D. Quick, J. (2006) Organizational Behavior: Foundations, Realities Challenges. 5th ed. Thomson South-Western Robinson, G., and K. Dechant (1997). Building a business case for diversity. Academy of Management Executive, 11, 21–31.

Buddism Essay -- Religion Philosophy

Buddism Buddhism is probably the most tolerant religion of the world, as the teaching can coexist with any other religion. Other religions however, aim to be restricted and cannot accommodate Buddhism at the same time. The Buddhist teaching on God - in the sense of an ultimate Reality - is neither skeptic (as is sometimes claimed), nor vague, but clear and logical. That we can neither define, describe, nor usefully discuss the nature of that which is beyond the perception of our infinite consciousness. It may be indicated by negatives and described indirectly by analogy and symbols, but otherwise it must ever remain in its truest sense unknown and unexpressed, as being to us in our present state unknowable. In the same way, Buddhism denies the existence in man of an immortal soul. The Enlightenment which dwells in life does not belong to one form of life. All that is man's changing and mortal; the Immortal is not any man's. The Buddha pointed out how no thing is the same at this moment as it was a moment ago. Even the everlasting hills are slowly being worn away, and every particle of the human body, even the hardest, is replaced every seven years. There is no finality or rest within this universe, only a ceaseless becoming and a never-ending change. Buddhism is a natural religion; it does not violate either mind or body. Its ethics closely approximate the Natural Law. The Buddha became aware of how men are born and die according to their good and evil actions, according to their self-created Karma (or the consequence of worthy and deserving deeds). Buddhism is a teaching of the Buddha who was born a prince of Kapilavathu, at the part of the Himalaya mountains near the border of Nepal in 623 B.C. He married and ... ...nverted to schools, and other public use. Monks and nuns have been required to undertake employment in addition to their religious functions. In Tibet, the Chinese, after their takeover and the escape of the Dalai Lama and other Buddhist officials into India in 1959, attempted to undercut Buddhist influence. Only in Japan since World War II have truly new Buddhist movements grown. Growing interest in Asian culture and spiritual values in the West has led to the development of a number of societies devoted to the study and practice of Buddhism. As its influence in the West slowly grows, Buddhism is once again beginning to undergo a process of adaptation to its new environment. Although its influence in the U.S. is still small, apart from immigrant Japanese and Chinese communities, it seems that new, distinctively American forms of Buddhism may eventually develop.

Artificial Birth Control

Definition of Artificial Birth Control Artificial birth control can be defined as any product, procedure or practice that uses artificial or unnatural means to prevent pregnancy. Barrier methods such as condoms and diaphragms, hormonal methods such as the pill and IUDs, and surgical sterilization procedures such as a vasectomy or hysterectomy are all considered to be artificial birth control methods. Artificial birth control is also refers to the use of any medication, barrier or device to prevent pregnancy.Many people use it instead of or in addition to natural family planning, which relies on tracking menstrual cycles, body temperature and consistency of mucus discharge to determine when a woman could conceive. The term â€Å"artificial birth control† is most frequently heard in relation to religious teachings on family planning. Many religious groups encourage the use of natural family planning as opposed to artificial birth control, believing that using artificial contrace ption is contrary to God's will. Certainly, though, there are also non-religious people who choose not to use artificial birth control for personal, ethical or medical reasons.Barrier Method The barrier method is one type of artificial birth control and as the name implies, barrier contraceptives use some sort of barrier to prevent sperm from reaching an egg. Available barrier contraceptives are male condoms, female condoms, diaphragms, cervical caps and contraceptive sponges. Spermicide acts as a chemical barrier and therefore also falls into this category. It is also to prevent pregnancy by killing ejaculated sperm. Spermicide is often used in conjunction with barrier birth control. Hormonal Method Any type of hormonal contraceptive is considered to be artificial birth control.Although the birth control pill is probably the most common hormonal contraceptive, it's far from being the only one. Other available hormonal contraceptives are the birth control patch, the vaginal ring, De po-Provera injections, Lunelle injections and the intrauterine device (IUD). Intra-uterine devices (IUDs) are small devices inserted in a woman's uterus. They prevent the fertilization and/or implantation of the egg by changing the mucus around the cervix and the uterine lining. They last for several years. Surgical Sterilization The final type of artificial birth control is surgical sterilization.For men, the sterilization procedure is called a vasectomy. For women, both tubal ligations (also known as having one's tubes tied) and hysterectomies cause sterilization. It's important to understand, though, that a hysterectomy is typically performed for medical reasons, including cancer or endometriosis. For this reason, a hysterectomy is not usually considered artificial birth control. Alternative Methods If you have decided that artificial birth control methods are not right for you but you aren't yet ready to have a child, you may want to consider natural family planning.Natural fami ly planning involves tracking your temperature or cervical mucus changes to determine your fertile days. On those days, you abstain from sex to avoid pregnancy. The rhythm method finding your ovulation date based on your menstrual cycle and withdrawals are also considered by some to be natural family planning methods. History Artificial birth control methods have been used for thousands of years. The ancient Egyptians created vaginal suppositories thought to prevent pregnancy, and many cultures used condoms made of linen or animal intestines.

Understanding Convenience Samples

The process of statistical sampling involves selecting a collection of individuals from a population. The way that we do this selection is very important. The manner in which we select our sample determines the type of sample that we have. Among the wide variety of  types of statistical samples, the easiest type of sample to form is called a convenience sample. Definition of Convenience Samples A convenience sample is formed when we select elements from a population on the basis of what elements are easy to obtain. Sometimes a convenience sample is called a grab sample as we essentially grab members from the population for our sample. This is a type of sampling technique that does not rely upon a random process, such as we see in a simple random sample, to generate a sample. Examples of Convenience Samples To illustrate the idea of a convenience sample, we will think of several examples. It is really not very hard to do this. Just think of the easiest way to find representatives for a particular population. There is a high likelihood that we have formed a convenience sample. To determine the proportion of green MMs produced by a factory, we count the number of green MMs in our hands that we took out of the package.To find the mean height of all third-grade students in a school district, we measure the first five students who are dropped off in the morning by their parents.In order to know the mean value of homes in our town, we average the value of our home with our neighbors homes.Someone wants to determine which candidate is likely to win an upcoming election, and so she asks everyone in her circle of friends who they intend to vote for.  A student is working on a survey of students attitudes toward college administrators, and so he talks to his roommate and other people on the floor of his residence hall. Problems with Convenience Samples As indicated by their name, convenience samples are definitely easy to obtain. There is virtually no difficulty in selecting members of the population for a convenience sample. However, there is a price to pay for this lack of effort: convenience samples are virtually worthless in statistics. The reason that a convenience sample cannot be used for applications in statistics is that we are not assured that it is representative of the population that it was selected from. If all of our friends share the same political leanings, then asking them who they intend to vote for in an election tells us nothing about how people across the country would vote. Furthermore, if we think about the reason for random sampling, we should see another reason why convenience samples are not as good as other sampling designs. Since we do not have a random procedure to select the individuals in our sample, although our sample is likely to be biased. A randomly selected sample will do a better job of limiting bias.