Well

SAS is a privately-owned creator of software in the globe. It was ranked as the finest company to work in, owing to their drive to provide customers with the greatest business methodical technology and sustenance. The company has a user friendly HR strategy which provides technology applications enabling its customers to navigate easily and capitalize in the challenges and opportunities faced in their business life.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Well-designed HR systems in SAS specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The company has its own balanced scorecard solution which includes a planned and HR vision software. The measurement of HR strategies is the best starting point to deal with an economy where value creation is dominated by human capital and some assets which are indefinable. Strategy is part of their goal, enabling the organization to learn how to lever the knowledge to their advantage. Combining s trategy and analytics has remarkably made the organization make informed decisions concerning the welfare of its customers (Cary and Lincoln 2000). The organization provides its employees with balanced lives which eventually lead to business and adept technology which can be appreciated. An environment that inspires the employees is offered, allowing them to build long-term relationships with their customers and focus in solving their economic troubles. As a result, SAS gleaned greater value from the huge volumes of data they collect resulting in their being the leader in business analytics. SAS enables its customers to turn vast quantity of data into usable knowledge in a supportive, encouraging and empowering culture. The employees create hours that they feel work best for them, and they end up feeling like a family. It is possible for another firm to adapt to the culture of SAS. Creating a family-like environment for its employees is influential in increasing the productivity of employees. Conflicting HRM practices Conflicting practices in HRM is one of the reasons of lack of total performance in any organization. There are two levels that HRM is concerned with; the recruitment, motivating and developing of competent employees, and the assignment of conflict management. A level of conflict is usually experienced in many organizations hence the HRM specialist must formulate methods to eliminate or alter the conflict that arises (Campbell, Macklin Pinnington 2007). The conflicts usually involve achieving targets of production against representing the interests of the workforce. Achieve a balance between the two is indeed a hard task in this time of political and economic reforms.Advertising Looking for research paper on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Recommendations Organizations must understand that the endowment and commitment of their staff and managers are their greatest asset s. There must be structural challenges in the organization which must ensure that the workforce of the organization get recognition for their work. Managers must posses principled negotiating and counseling skills in order to handle issues of vacancies, transfer and voluntary retirement of employees. Local management enlightening and training mechanisms must be developed to equip the management with the necessary skills. Attempts to recruit and retain highly skilled workers must be made from the onset in order to have a minimal workforce which is productive. The company should embrace the idea of development of the careers of the employees and enable discussions on their career and aspirations (Campbell, Macklin Pinnington 2007). Conclusion It is the responsibility of HR departments to ensure that their organization creates a favorable environment for its employees. Suitable working conditions create greater productivity and career enhancement. Highly-efficient employees will be mo tivated to be more productive and boost the organization’s image. References Campbell, T. Macklin, R. Pinnington, A. (2007). Human resource management:Â  ethics and employment. New York: Oxford university press. Cary, N. Lincoln, M. (2000). Balanced Scorecard Collaborative Taps SAS for HRÂ  Action Working Group. Web. This research paper on Well-designed HR systems in SAS was written and submitted by user Keaton Durham to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

The eNotes Blog Top E-learning Trends You Can Implement Immediately in YourClassroom

Top E-learning Trends You Can Implement Immediately in YourClassroom What do we talk about when we talk about e-learning? In the past, most courses and learning activities fell on one side of a dichotomy: they were either instructor-led or computer-based, either online or off, either synchronous or asynchronous. Today, the distinction is not quite so clear. Although there are still plenty of e-learning-only courses, blended courses are becoming increasingly popular from elementary to corporate classrooms. Even courses that may not specifically be â€Å"blended† are incorporating more digital elements and activities. In this new environment, e-learning is becoming less of a special category and more just a way to describe what happens in classrooms everywhere, every day. Now that computers and mobile devices have become nearly ubiquitous, one of the biggest challenges to the adoption of education technology and e-learning practices is simply not knowing how to implement them. Here are four of today’s top e-learning trends and recommendations for implementing them immediately in your classroom, whether it is face-to-face, online, or a combination of both. Microlearning Microlearning is an extension and revisioning of the concept of chunking, which has been around since the mid-1950s, when psychologist George Miller published his famous paper that popularized the phrase â€Å"seven, plus or minus two.† The idea is that the human brain is generally able to keep between five and nine things in working memory, after which the information either needs to be converted to long-term memory or it will be forgotten (sounds familiar?). This limitation is widely familiar to e-learning professionals, instructional designers, and kindergarten teachers, but for some reason by the time you reach high school, college, and corporate training departments, educators seem to forget their own experience of spacing out during long, boring lectures and start delivering them regularly to their students. Then they wonder why their own students can’t apply, or even remember, what they were supposed to have learned. Implementing microlearning can be as complex as transforming an entire e-learning course into flexible, on-demand, bite-sized learning activities that students can access on mobile devices, but it can also be as simple as basic chunking, i.e., dividing content into short, logically organized pieces. Here are three steps for implementing microlearning through chunking. This process can be used in any type of course, at any level, delivered via any modality. Create a hierarchy of the information. It’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking that all content in a course is equally important, but it simply isn’t true. Your students will not remember everything, and since so much information is readily available online, they don’t really need to. By establishing priorities and eliminating what is unnecessary, you can maximize the likelihood that they will remember what is most important. Group the content logically. Pieces of content that are similar should go together. This is a simple guideline that is easy to ignore, but grouping related content not only helps learners make relevant connections, but also helps keep both you and your students from getting lost in what can feel like a never-ending sea of information. Break it down into bite-sized pieces. The easiest way to do this is to start at the top and make your way toward the center: first break the entire course into themes, then the themes into modules, and finally the modules into individual learning activities. The general guideline is that each learning activity, whether it is a lecture or a mini-quiz, should take no more than 10 minutes. Image via Emerging EdTech Gamification Last year around this time, gamification was merely a buzzword, but now it is being used to increase learner motivation, engagement, and interaction in classrooms across the spectrum. By definition, gamification is the use of game elements and game mechanics in non-game situations. In practice, this can take many different forms, from using points, badges, and leaderboards (aka PBLs) to creating learning activities that incorporate narratives, quests, and boss fights (i.e., difficult challenges). Gamification is being rapidly taken up in corporate training and other forms of workforce education, with generally positive results including increased sales and revenue, reduced training times, increased conversion rates, and increased customer retention. In schools, gamification has been shown to help children develop a positive attitude toward math, increase their attention span, and lower the amount of disruptive behavior. Here are five ideas for introducing gamification into your classroom: Gamify the assessment system. One of the easiest ways to introduce game elements into a course is to gamify the assessment system. For example, Indiana University professor Lee Sheldon designed a system in which learners gain â€Å"experience points† by completing various learning activities. At the end of the course, their letter grades are determined by the number of experience points they earn. Issue digital badges for student accomplishments. Digital badges are micro-credentials that are closely tied to specific knowledge and skills. The research on them is still fairly preliminary, but there is evidence that badges increase learner motivation. Using the Mozilla Open Badges platform, any organization can create and issue badges. Best of all, it’s free. Use progress bars and levels to establish goals. Too often in traditional courses, the learning and achievement goals are unclear, and students never really know how they are doing until they’ve taken the final assessment. In games, however, players always know exactly where they are and what they need to do to succeed. Creating progress bars and levels for individual learning activities can allow students to set specific goals, assess their progress along the way, and provide intrinsic rewards for reaching those goals. Use role play. Role play in games is an excellent way for learners to develop communications and interpersonal skills, which are two of the top skills companies are looking for in new hires. This idea can be implemented anytime students work in teams. For example, having students fill designated group roles like facilitator, reporter, timekeeper, Devil’s advocate, and runner can improve the effectiveness of the teams. Use an online gamification platform. A variety of online platforms offer tools to gamify courses on a larger scale. For example, Badgeville is a gamification platform used by many organizations to increase employee motivation and drive customer engagement. Social Media When you hear the term social media, chances are you immediately think of Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Though these are certainly the biggest social networking sites, the definition of social media can be expanded to include any type of online media platform that facilitates interaction and collaboration among learners. Social media can be used to create and distribute content, host online chats, create spaces for learners to share resources, facilitate the development of learning networks and communities, and much more. Here are five ideas for using social media tools in online, offline, and blended classrooms: Have learners create and share multimedia content. YouTube (video) and Audacity (audio) are free tools you can use to create course content, and also to have learners create content. This is a great way for distributed users to share their ideas. Use social bookmarking sites for curating and sharing resources. Social bookmarking sites like Delicious and Pinboard allow users to easily curate, annotate, and share resources. One main advantage of using these sites is that the curation and sharing can continue long after the course is completed. Create a hashtag for course discussions. Many massive open online courses (MOOCs) utilize Twitter hashtags for both synchronous and asynchronous course discussions and this practice can easily be adopted for both traditional and e-learning courses as well. Encourage reflection and interaction through blogging. Blogging is an excellent platform for learners to engage in reflective practice and to share their experiences. Most of the top blogging platforms have private options so that learners can share only with others in the class. Create Google+ communities. Google+ is a highly versatile social media platform that offers the benefit of being more professional (and less distracting) than Facebook or Twitter. It also allows learners to easily separate their personal and educational or professional lives. Google+ can be used to share resources, collaborate on documents, and host live interactive sessions (Google hangouts). Mobile Learning Finally, if we had to pick just one top e-learning trend for 2014 (and probably 2015 as well), it would be mobile learning. People are using their mobile devices more than ever- to do more things than ever- and there is no sign yet of this trend slowing down. Students are bringing smartphones and tablets into classrooms, and employees are bringing them to work. Mobile learning is unique in that it represents both a shift in how education is conceived (e.g., mobile learning is more â€Å"pull† rather than â€Å"push,† more learner-oriented, and much more flexible than traditional learning) and a platform to support other major e-learning trends (e.g., microlearning, social media, etc.). Here are some quick tips and best practices for implementing mobile learning: Create mobile-friendly content. Mobile-friendly content is short, concise, and light enough to not consume too much bandwidth. Mobile learning activities should be even shorter than the 10 minutes or so people can be expected to pay attention on a computer- a recent University of California study found that people working on a device switch tasks an average of every 2 minutes and 11 seconds. Introduce spaced, or distributed, practice. For knowledge retention and skill-building, nothing beats spaced practice, and mobile learning provides the perfect platform for introducing it into any course. Use a learning management system or even just a Tweet or email scheduling program to send single-question quizzes, reflection questions, or other mini-activities to students’ mobile devices. In this way, mobile learning supplements  what is done in the classroom. Make it social. Between texting, social media, and Candy Crush, mobile devices provide ample opportunity for distraction. Make mobile learning engaging by making it an opportunity for social learning and interaction. Make it easy. No one wants to type long paragraphs or struggle through difficult site navigation on their mobile devices. If the interface is frustrating, learners simply won’t use it. Thus, the mobile learning mantra is KISS, aka â€Å"keep it simple, sweetie.† Many learning management systems offer easy mobile conversion, and social media tools like YouTube are also excellent for mobile. Virtual meeting and virtual classroom software is less conducive for mobile learning (at least on Smartphones), so if learners will be interacting with the course primarily via mobile devices, consider Twitter discussions with hashtags instead. These four e-learning trends are currently among the easiest and most flexible in terms of immediate implementation. They can be used in any type of class, at any level, and within or outside of a learning management system. As e-learning tools improve, there will be even more ways to implement trends including adaptive learning and big data in more learning environments. About the Author:  David Miller is an educational researcher who has several years of experience in the field of teaching, online testing and training. He is associated with prestigious universities and many leading educational research organizations. Currently, he is pursuing research in online knowledge base software and is also a contributing author with ProProfs.

Leading Change Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Leading Change - Essay Example The organizations culture was a fouled up one whereby the plants of the firm competed against each another. Eitel felt that there was need to overhaul the organization’s culture. The only way to do this was by setting up change in all the people throughout the organization by spending 10 Million on a very new philosophy called â€Å"Great Game of Life†. The main target of the philosophy was to come up with an environment whereby employees felt that they were indeed making a difference, having fun and in an environment where they were free in making decisions. The philosophy’s use was to train, develop and experiential experience through inclusion of a ropes course, training in classrooms in order to reinvent the company and build it to a better company. He believed that there was magic when people working together share their ideas, truths and beliefs concerning issues in the company. The main target of Eitel was to help employees learn how to think in new better ways, take crge and have fun while executing their duties. His philosophy focused on changing the behavior of employees and working environment to an environment that led to job satisfaction. Free sharing of ideas targeted building up an innovative and creative organization resulting from effective communication in the company. The premise of â€Å"Great Game of Life† was that for every profitable business to grow; customers’ satisfaction with the firm’s products is high, the employees are cooperative, innovative, creative, satisfied with their work and committed to the tasks assigned to them. In addition, the culture of the business and the leadership system empowers and motivates the workforce. By applying all the above mentioned requirements of a successful business, the firm started growing dramatically and its market share increased increasing the sales of the company making the company very profitable. The leadership system of the firm changed and the

Incorporating the Cost of Capital Research Proposal

Incorporating the Cost of Capital - Research Proposal Example On the other hand, A negative net present value is a bad management decision. Thus, management must not push through with the planned investment. The Net present value is arrived at by the following: The managers will invest in a capital asset only if the net cash inflows are more than cost of capital. The difference between the two is the net cash inflow. The entire articles gives evidences that this very popular formula is more than just a formula. The entire journal is devoted to giving importance to the factors of sales, variable expenses and costs, as well as fixed expenses an costs. Clearly, the objective of the paper is persuade managers of the importance of cost of capital in decision making activities. The objectives are correctly stated. The objective truly draws the reader to the reasons of managers in using the various components in the cost volume profit analysis. For, the article clearly explains how the sales, variable expenses and costs as well as fixed expenses contributed to the increase and decrease of net income. The article clearly shows that cost of capital is a very important tool in determining if it would be economically profitable to infuse more money into a high monetary value assets (Schneider,1). Obviously, the objectives are correctly stated. One of the key issues considered in the article shows that cost of capital is arrived at by by including the interest expense spend fo... the net present value in determining if it is profitable to invest large sums of money in a new equipment or other similar large funded investments. The articles states that Cost Volume Profit Analysis incorporates the cost of capital. Evidently, one of the key issues considered in the article shows that cost of capital is arrived at by by including the interest expense spend for borrowing money. Further, this same article also explains that there is a strong relationship between cost of capital and factors like net revenues, variable expenses and fixed expenses. In addition, the articles tells that managers would make better decisions if the cost of capital is included in the cost volume profit analysis. The article also tells that the manager's process improvement decisions must also include financial data under product mix and pricing. This formula is the mathematical representation of the economics of producing a product. The article shows that the investment is not good if the cost of capital is more than the net cash inflow from operating the investment. On the other hand, an investment in high value items is an excellent management decision if the net cash inflow exceeds the cost of the capital. The article also discusses that increases in variable costs will decrease profits. On the other hand, increases in net revenues increases profits. Further mathematical computat ions show that net profit is the difference between the net revenues and total expenses and costs. Truly, this same article also explains that there is a strong relationship between cost of capital and factors like net revenues, variable expenses and fixed

Comparison and Contrast between the UN and the WTO Essay Example for Free

Comparison and Contrast between the UN and the WTO Essay The United Nations is an international organization that acts as a pool between 191 member countries in the world. The UN was founded in 1945 with the objective of preventing the conflict between member countries. However, in the past 60 years, its responsibilities have increased manifold and now it has become the most important organization in the world that has authority over almost all countries in the world. The world Trade Organization is a multilateral organization that sets the rules and regulation for the global trading system. It also resolves disputes between the member countries. It is the most powerful organization in global business and trade. The WTO was founded in 1995 after several rounds of negotiations that lasted for decades. Although both the United Nations and WTO work for the benefit of their member countries, their functions and operations are quite different. Structure of the UN and the WTO The United Nations is divided into several administrative bodies including the UN General Assembly, UN Security Council and the UN Economic and Social Council. There are also several other organs of the UN that work for the benefit of people across the globe. â€Å"The UN Secretary General is the head of the Secretariat, which is one of the principal organs of the United Nations. The UN Security Council is the most powerful body within the UN. It has five permanent members and 10 non-permanent members† . Representatives from all member countries of the UN meet in the UN General Assembly and discuss important issues. The structure of the WTO is completely different from that of the United Nations. â€Å"Currently, there are 150 member countries in the WTO. There are different levels in the WTO structure. Ministerial Conference is the highest decision making body within the WTO. It can make decisions on all trade-related matters. The General Council is another level organ of the WTO, which carries out the functions of the WTO on a regular basis† . Missions and Objectives The main objective of the UN is to ensure peace in the world. It also keeps a tab on issues such as health, economy, security, population growth, unemployment, disarmament, human rights and social development. â€Å"The UN General Assembly, the Economic and Social Council and other important bodies of the UN cooperate with each other to provide assistance to the member countries on the issues that need special attention† . When an issue is considered very important, the General Assembly has the power to convene an international conference to draw global attention to it. The UN also works for sustainable development and invests in basic education, health care and economic opportunities for all. The WTO aims to increase international trade by promoting lower trade barriers. It also provides a platform for the negotiation of trade and business development. The WTO sincerely works to resolve disputes between member countries. â€Å"The main objective of the WTO is to help producers of goods and services, exporters and importers. It also ensures a competitive trading system that accommodates more developing countries and gives them more time to adjust with others† . Financial Resources The United Nations is financed by assessed and voluntary contributions from member states. The UN General Assembly approves the regular budget and determines the assessment for each member country. The United States is the largest contributor to the UN. The WTO is also financed by its member countries. Besides the member countries, many non-government organizations are also involved in generating funds for the WTO. Transparency The United Nations is not a mere governing institution. It is a forum where sovereign nations gather to discuss their differences and resolve them amicably. In the recent years, several reform initiatives have been taken in order to make the UN more transparent and accountable. The governing power of the United Nations has been expanded by squeezing out most of its inefficiency. The WTO allows all member nations to hold discussion on all concerns related to trade and business. It also focuses on non-trade concerns such as gender issues, employment, health, food security, ecology and animal welfare. â€Å"The WTO maintains open principles and cooperates with other international organizations. It also takes the accountability for protecting vulnerable economies of developing countries against powerful countries in the world† . It serves the welfare of all people who intend to have economic benefits. Conflicts between the two Organizations The Global presence of both the organizations and their operations for the growth and development of countries often result in bigger conflicts. The power invested in the WTO overshadows some of the global institutions of the United Nations. Sometimes, the decisions made by the WTO also over-ride the jurisdiction and mandates of the UN bodies. â€Å"Ecology and biodiversity are two major areas where both the organizations contradict each other. While the WTO allows free trade and business irrespective of ecological consequences, the United Nations emphasizes on environment, biodiversity and climate change by putting certain restrictions on trade and agriculture† . Difference on Development Issue There are several differences in the approaches of the United Nations and the WTO. That undermined the global progress on development. â€Å"The standards set by the United Nations in human rights, labor rights and social policies have drawn criticism from the WTO. On the other hand, the UN wants the WTO to concentrate on trade, not on health and other services. The strained relationship between the UN and the WTO has become a major obstacle for economic growth and development† . The actions of most countries in the WTO are not consistent with their commitment to the United Nations. Most of the members of the International Labor Organization (ILO), a UN body, are also members of the WTO. They have differences on several issues including the market policy and labors’ rights. Conclusion Both the UN and the WTO are the most powerful organizations in the world. Their main objective is to work for the development of the countries in the world. Although their individual roles are different, they share the same vision. The United Nations is the largest organization in the world and plays much broader role in various fields whereas the WTOs role is limited to trade and business. Both the organizations hold negotiations and discussions between the member countries for the implementation of policies.These organizations provide opportunities to all countries to resolve their disputes and conflicts. Bibliography Hoekman, Bernard M. Michel M. Kostecki. The Political Economy of the World Trading System: From GATT to WTO. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995. Murphy, Craig N. Global Institutions, Marginalization and Development. London: Routledge, 2005. Condon, Bradly J. NAFTA, WTO, and Global Business Strategy: How Aids, Trade, and Terrorism Affect Our Economic. Westport, CT: Quorum Books, 2002.

Hydromaint Year Essay -- Essays Papers

Hydromaint Year During Hydromaint's audit, you and Pam had a number of discussions. You, Pam, and Mike Johnson are generally satisfied that the accounts are in accordance with GAAP and are supported by underlying facts. Pam tested Jerry's pension accounting (which she found to be correct) by preparing a pension worksheet based on data contained in the actuary's report: Current service cost $1,064,043 ABO at 12/31/X7 2,840,000 Interest on the PBO 8% Interest on plan assets 8 Jerry has agreed to adjust his accounts and note disclosures for all corrections proposed by C & L. Pam raised a number of questions that may require adjustment. No other matters were found to be questionable. Pam's questions are as follows: 1. Accounting for R&D does not appear to be in compliance with SFAS No. 2. The work is of the nature described in SFAS No. 2, para. 9, and is not being conducted for others under contract. 2. Pam also noted that warranty contracts are given on all sales of pumps and valves. LS-Pump/Valve and now Hydromaint, have accounted for warranties only on the costs to "make good" when warranty claims were actually filed by customers. If warranty costs had been recognized as sales were made, the liability at January 1, 20X7, would have been $500,000. Pam noted, however, that Nick Riley and Ray Ballard were aware of the warranty contracts and took these into account in valuing the acquisition of LS-Pump/Valve. Nick and Ray did ...

Ways to Keep Fit and Healthy

HOME EXERCISE You don't have to join a gym to get exercise. Depending on your interests you can purchase inexpensive equipment for improving muscle strength, endurance, flexibility, aerobic capacity, fat burning, core training and the like. I recommend an exercise ball, and yoga mats for stretching. Pilates equipment for floor work, a small weight set, and abdominal exercisers are also a good investment. EAT YOUR VEGGIESYou are what you eat; therefore you can only create the body you want when you fuel yourself with food that is good for you. Find food grown locally. Daily servings of vegetables, and food grown without pesticides are best. SPEND TIME OUTDOORS Take a daily walk. Walking burns fat, and boosts your mood as well as your metabolism. Walking will also get you outside, where you can enjoy nature and experience your neighborhood. BREATHE Sounds easy, and it is! Conscious breathing centers your mind, develops focus, and calms the  nervous system.HYDRATE Drink plenty of wate r. Your body is made of over 80% water. Water cleans your blood, floats your brain and burns fat! Drink plenty of fresh water every day. FIND PASSION IN EACH DAY Doing what you love keeps your mind fit and focused. SCHEDULE TIME FOR YOURSELF It is all too easy to let the demands of others interfere with our best of plans. Pencil in your fitness time and keep those appointments as conscientiously as you do all your appointments.A few minutes of meditation, breathing or walking will restore your energy so you can better address the tasks at hand. INNER FITNESS. MEDITATION Meditation provides calm center to work from. It can reduce health risks, and has been known to lower  blood pressure  and reduce inflammation inautoimmune disease. Meditation can heal your body, mind and soul. SLEEP Sleep is when your body grows, your body heals, and your mind dreams, relaxes and organizes. To encourage healthy sleep,