A Dangerous Business Essay

The collaborative investigative report conducted by the New York Times and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation is an eye-opener on the real situation of thousands of employees working for giant industrial corporations. On the outside, it seems that American workforce is definitely more fortunate compared to those who take employment in developing countries. The general public is made to believe that every employee in the US is treated fairly and with respect. But with this documentary, the truth has been exposed. For several years, the McWane Corporation has been actively involved in contributing to the advancement of the US economy. However, this economic achievement comes with a price. Unfortunately, the collateral damage in this enterprise for monetary profit comes in the package of the human resources. Ironically, this particular organizational component is deemed to be the most important factor in the accomplishment of success in any company. A business would not function without its employees and vice versa. This natural and logical cycle has always been evident in the business world. However, in the case of McWane, their workers were treated as if they were indispensable. See more: Satirical essay about drugs As a result, plants owned by McWane holds the record for the highest number of violations regarding safety in the workplace. Looking closely on these intriguing and appalling facts about America’s workplace safety and the government’s efforts to reinforce the protection and security of the welfare of the employees, it cannot be helped to doubt the justice and labor system in the US. Based on the interviews and the accounts of former employees of McWane, it can be surmised that there is a deliberate attempt to compromise safety for the sake of increasing productivity which will eventually lead to a significant boost in McWane’s revenues. Also, the government is very lenient in punishing companies that violate safety regulations because they are afraid that penalizing a powerhouse company can send a negative message to other corporations which could drastically affect the economy of the country. The dilemma here is whether to look after the global status of a nation or paying attention to the common good of the majority. Meanwhile, workers are belittled by the top management because they think that workers can be easily replaced. They know that people cannot live without work because common individuals need to sustain their ways of living with money. Companies exploit this situation wherein they make people feel they need any job as long as they will be paid so that they can be able to afford their chosen lifestyles. Because of this, many workers were injured, incapacitated and even died while on duty at their respective workplaces due to the neglect of management, leniency of the government and the build up on the dependency on monetary compensations.

How McDonalds use motivational theories Essay

To what extent do McDonalds use motivational theories to enhance the performance of their employees and hence increase efficiency/productivity? Are these methods effective? Introduction McDonalds is a large multinational company that supplies millions of people with fast food. It is important for them to ensure that the workforce they employ is working to their full potential. McDonalds are very customer/ market orientated. They depend on a reputation for customer service. If employees are not motivated then this will suffer. If workers aren’t motivated costs rise. E.g. training costs increase in proportion to staff turnover. â€Å"When an employee is given a task to do and it is not carried out satisfactorily, this failure may well be due to a lack of motivation, rather than a lack of ability†. With this in mind McDonalds must ensure that their workforce is motivated. Motivation can be linked to a number of factors such as pay, working hours, working environment etc. (see appendix p1 for full list). As well as these the corporate culture and management styles can play a part influencing the motivation of the employees. Well-motivated employees achieve more. They are more committed, vigorous and productive. Over the years various strategies for motivating employees have been developed. These are known as motivational theories. Many different and often contrasting theories have been put forward by a number of different theorists (see appendix p1, p2). I am going to look into the extent that McDonalds, Hertford, use these. Hypothesis/theories Employees who are poorly motivated often score badly on at least one of the factors influencing motivation: an undemanding job, unpleasant working conditions and low pay. (see appendix p1) A lack of motivation- either limited to one area or department, or spread throughout the firm- cause employee dissatisfaction. This results in a higher labour turnover leading to a waste of time and money (see appendix p2) increased incidents of absenteeism and/ or sickness, poor timekeeping, and more disputes between both formal and informal groups within the firm. Motivational problems are not easily overcome. Normally if one person in a whole workforce is unmotivated they will start moaning to the other employees. This can then cause the problems to spread as those that have heard the moaning may also start to moan (low motivation and moaning become contagious). The problems become very hard to stop dead. I feel that an organisation such as McDonalds will try to prevent them arising in the first place. Also according to V.H Room the greater the motivation of an employee the greater the chance of them performing a set task providing they have the ability. He put this into an equation: Performance = Ability x Motivation (people need the ability to do a task but they also need the motivation to do it) This equation leads me to think that McDonalds will use a lot of motivational theories as the equation shows that motivation is a very important factor influencing a person’s performance so McDonalds will try to increase it in as many ways as they possible can. Method Primary research To find the information that I needed I constructed a questionnaire table that gave me a lot of information in as little a time as possible. One table told me what McDonalds were doing to motivate the staff and which of these motivation techniques they found effective. (See appendix for method on the  questionnaire and data collection) Secondary research I used data collected by the key skills group in my year. They constructed a questionnaire to pupils in year twelve to find out â€Å"what factors motivate them in their paid work and how this information could be useful to employers†. Then I took particular questions from this for my work and they gave me the results for these. The questions that I used were 5,6 and 7. (See appendix for copy of this questionnaire Pages 6,7). This was relevant to me as some of the question lead to answers that could be related to motivational theories and motivation in general. Analysis The results collected showed that McDonalds used a lot of factors to motivate their workforce and the results showed that the factors the employees found the most important in motivating them were the ones that McDonalds had satisfied well. (The results table in the appendix p4,p5 shows this where the two columns both have the number three in them) It seems that rather than use one single motivational theory McDonalds have taken all of them and tried to combine as shown on the bottom of the back page in the appendix where I have linked factors from my questionnaire table to specific theories. (See appendix p5 for evidence) McDonalds has a democratic leadership style and a task culture (see appendix for definitions/explanations p1) both of which are associated with McGregors theory Y worker (see McGregor in the appendix p1). This increases motivation according to the survey that was carried out by the key skill group. (See appendix p8 for results proving this) There is group working associated with Elton Mayo yet there is a performance related pay scheme that would be linked to F.W Taylor. They have even taken into account the work done by Fredrick Hertzberg which says that an  employees needs can be put broadly into two categories of motivators and Hygiene factors (see appendix p1 Hertzberg). He says that although hygiene factors should be present- motivation falls if they are ignored- they themselves do not motivate employees. His theory suggests that managers must provide motivators in the form of job enrichment and job rotation schemes. As you can see from the table of results (appendix p5) McDonalds staff have said that this is important to them and have said that job rotation schemes have been used and used well. The Questionnaire that the key skills group constructed showed that most of the students were given training in their job and that the vast majority thought that they should have been trained. It is suggested that if proper training were given it would motivate the employees. However I feel that whether an employee is given training or not is better linked to Hertzberg’s motivators and hygiene factors because he says that a hygiene factor alone will not motivate a person however if the factor is neglected then it will cause a lack of motivation. This seems to be the case with training as shown by Question 6 of the key skill questionnaire. Evaluation My prediction that McDonalds would use a lot of motivational theories seems to be correct, as they do not just use one of the theories they have integrated all of them And they have a democratic leadership style. However despite all this they still have quite a lot of labour turnover. â€Å"We do everything we can to ensure that the staff are motivated. We give them proper training and a 4 week trial period yet myself and my colleagues still find ourselves short due to employees not staying with us for that long† said the store manager when I was conducting my research. One view (a) could that this could be down to the fact that most of the employees are young and still at school, college or university. Therefore they may quit the job when they have to start revising for exams, when they go home from their universities or when they finish school and go in search of a permanent higher paid job or career. All of this leads to higher recruitment and training costs. Showing that although the staff they have stated they are motivated they are still losing employees thus showing that they are not being as efficient as they would like. They are making their employees more productive and efficient but are not being efficient in keeping them. (See problems of labour turnover in the appendix p2). Another view (b) could be that staff do not see McDonalds offering a long term career. Alternative jobs are available to the staff and the pay is about the same (Evidence from results of Q5 in the key skills survey). This indicates that their staff retention problems are more likely down to the factors outlined in view (a) above. Conclusion From the data collected I can conclude that McDonalds in Hertford uses motivational theories to a very large extent. My research showed that they have tried to take all of the theories, put together by all of the theorists, and combine them as well as adopting a democratic leadership to make sure that they benefit from a hard working, motivated and therefore productive workforce. The company appears to have the correct type of management as the results of the key skills survey question 7 (See appendix p8) suggests that the workers are McGregors theory Y workers (appendix McGregor p1) I feel that the company is being effective in motivating the employees and my research proves this. This shows that they are using all of the motivational theories to their advantage shown in the appendix where the motivational factors are linked to theory. One of the reasons for motivating the workforce was to increase productivity and I think that they have done this as my questionnaire showed that the employees were motivated. This motivation will increase their productivity and performance according to the manager and V.H Rooms equation. (See appendix p2) I conclude that McDonalds have increased their efficiency to a small extent just by increasing staff productivity because if each worker is producing faster then they are cutting costs in the form of time. However my research showed that McDonalds, Hertford, are not being as efficient as possible as they are still suffering from labour turnover but this may be nothing to do with lack of motivation but simply that the predominantly young staff do not regard it as long term employment option although they do tend to be employed for 1 to 2 years as part time staff.

Identify and critically evaluate the most significant suitability Essay

Identify and critically evaluate the most significant suitability issues affecting Events or the events industry. What are the prospects for the future - Essay Example There may also be less financial objectives correlated with the thoughts and the feelings during and after the event, of those who are attending it (Raj & Et. Al., 2008). In the paper, a particular event industry will be studied in relation to its sustainable development along with the principles of sustainable operations within the industry. Various facets comprising their financial factors, environmental influence, environmental ethics, various sustainability issues along with their benefits, threats and risks, corporate social responsibilities toward the consumers, environmental audit, marketing procedures and public relations, change of climate and its implications along with carbon footprints and budgets will be taken into the consideration in the discussion of this paper. The paper has been focused particularly on sport events and sport event industry. According to Jones, sustainable development is regarded as the capacity to make sustainable development and also provides a surety that it can comply with the needs of the current situation without considering the capability of future expectations (Jones, 2010). From the ecological or environmental point of view, a sustainable system relating with the environment maintains a constant supply of resources along with avoiding overuse of renewable resources or harmful environmental functions and ultimately diminishes non-renewable resources to a certain extent (Harris, 2000) From the economic point of view, a sustainable development focuses mainly on performing various actions in order to create a better future for the people. Also, it identifies the situations where market prices of the economy do not properly match with the external costs (Harris, 2000). From the social perspective, a sustainable system should perform various functions like proper allocation of equity; maintain the requisites of social services like healthiness,

Critical summary Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 4

Critical summary - Essay Example For instance, the gilded silver the grinder was innovated in this era. Language and traditions assimilation was also an aspect that was affected in this era. The development of China into a cosmopolitan Empire is shown by the different individuals that were in the dynasty. This means that ideologies from different areas in terms of religion, trade and traditions were incorporated into developing cosmopolitan Empire. This is an area that helps in understanding how China became to be one of the most developed countries in the world. Relating the excerpt to information on empire development in China, it is imperative to note that some of the dynasties formed played a huge role. In my opinion, this is one of China plays a huge role in developing the international economy. Having different individuals play a huge role in economic development can be related to some of the recent growth in the neighboring regions like Japan. This clearly depicts that cosmopolitans are developed from incorporation of different

Answer to discussion board post Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Answer to discussion board post - Assignment Example ers aiming to effectively relay knowledge, it would be appropriate therefore, to assess the general or predominant learning styles of the students to provide the learning strategies that would maximize the students’ potentials to learn. This would also entail teaching applicable study skills like â€Å"active listening, reading comprehension, note taking, stress management, time management, test taking, and memorization† (Education Corner, 2011, par. 2), as needed. The strategies for applying study skills could be different depending on the subjects, such as English, science, history or mathematic classes since the subjects have diverse thrusts, learning objectives and focal points; but the study skills remain the same. For instance, English classes aim to develop students skills in grammar, writing, reading and comprehension which requires study skills that would develop proficiencies in these areas (note taking, reading comprehension, time management). On the other hand, for mathematics, skills could be apty developed through practice and provision of visual learning aids, such as flashcards, charts, or graphs, as needed. History requires a lot of reading and science subjects need both reading and applications, where active listening, note taking, time management and memorization would assist students in enhancing their potentials to learn. It is a matter of using the most appropriate strategy to apply the study skills deemed needed to impro ve learning and academic performance of

History of education Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

History of education - Essay Example Therefore, in consideration of various educational philosophies, their similarities and differences in approaches, which points to the possibility of integrating and merging the philosophies to generate a common deliverable, the curriculum and instructional foundation of the school would be based on a combination of perennialism, realism and experimentalism philosophies of education. Perennialism This is a philosophy of education that considers education as a constant for human life, upholding the fact that all humans are constant, except for their ability to reason (Power, 1990). Therefore, perennialism philosophy of education provides that education should be based on rationality; where students are taught the world’s constant and permanent phenomena, with a view to prepare the students for the life they are going to face. According to this educational philosophy, students learn reality and life truths through studying and also through divine acts, where the ability to reaso n and be rational gives rise to goodness itself (Bhattacharya, 2002). Therefore, perennialism as an educational philosophy emphasizes on a high level of discipline and behavioral control, which eventually translates to an all round personality, which is well adaptable to the realities of the world, that easily exudes goodness. The curriculum based on this philosophy would require the study of subjects and doctrines that teaches students the value of rationality, while enabling them to face life as it is. This creates a breed of students who are appreciative of life, and who applies reasoning in each aspect of their undertaking. This enables the students to internalize the life truths, while perceiving the external environmental changes as merely superficial (Pathak, 2007). This educational philosophy is relevant for adoption into the newly created curriculum and instructional foundation, since it would prepare students to face life with all its realities, while also making them more rational and disciplined, which are some of the most relevant virtues for human survival in the world. Realism This is yet another educational philosophy that perceives the world as it is, thus defining the role of school and education as that of teaching students about the world. Realism as an educational philosophy emphasizes on the need to obey the laws of nature, while fitting into the prevailing conditions of the physical world, without any attempts to interfere or change what nature has dictated for the world (Power, 1990). Therefore, this philosophy requires that the school curriculum should be based on subjects and disciplines that correspond to natural observations, such as Mathematics and sciences. Thus, under this educational philosophy, the role of the teacher is to impart the relevant knowledge to the students, with a focus on feeding them the natural facts. The philosophy also requires that order and discipline forms the core aspect of students’ value system, s imilar to the Mother Nature, which is disciplined and orderly, observing natural and predictable trends, unless when it is interfered with, by humans (Bhattacharya, 2002). Thus, this philosophy is not resistant to changes that might occur to the school and in the curriculum applied in teaching the students, since change is

Kant's Perpetual Peace Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Kant's Perpetual Peace - Assignment Example Therefore, he advanced an honorable approach to similar address factors. In the current world, nations have formed international treaties to cease tensions and guide resource allocation (Kant, 2007). The treaties like the Nile Treaty guide the equitable sharing water resources in the African Nations thereby reducing resource-driven conflicts. Besides, the Geneva Conventions promulgated in the year 1949 helped to cool the tension of the World War II. It described the fundamental rights of wartime captives and offered protection for the bordering people and the wounded thereby minimizing the prevalence of the war. Nations also formed treaties to combat global terrorism and enhance peaceful coexistence of the nations. The most notable include the Protocol for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts and Convention on Offenses and Acts Committed on Board Aircraft (Cassese, 2006). The treaties so far have protected citizens of various countries against acts of terrorism that can trigger incidence s of war. It is an approach borrowed from Kant’s Perpetual Peace framework. Kant also indicated that global peace shall arise if the worldwide community and neighbors respect the sovereignty of other nations. Respecting the independence of other nations, entail respect of the countries institutions and symbols of unity. These include the presidency, the national flag, and the constitutions. In addition, valuing the sovereignty of other nations include observance of the cultural heritage and non-interference.