Berjaya Corporation Berhad Essay

1.0 Introduction A business that seeks to operate honestly, considers people and the environment when making business decisions, and tries to make a positive contribution to the local community and to wider society Berjaya Corporation Berhad is an investment holding company and is engaged in the provision of management services. Berjaya Corporation group of companies is founded by Tan Sri Dato’ Seri Vincent Tan Chee Yioun when he acquired a major controlling stake Berjaya Industrial Berhad in the year of 1984. It is originally known as Berjaya Kawat Berhad and now known as Reka Pacifiic Berhad. In October 1988, Berjaya Group became the holding company of Reka Pacific Berhad. The principal activities of the subsidiaries consist of Consumer Marketing, Direct Selling & Retail; Financial Services; Hotels, Resorts, Vacation Timeshare & Recreation Development; Property Investment and Development; Gaming & Lottery Management; Development of Sanitary Landfill, Environvental Services and clean Technology Investment; Food & Beverage; and Investment Holding (appendix 1). Hence, due to their strategies structure, it has made them successful until today. At Berjaya Corporation group of companies, they believe that being a social responsible company can bring a balance between profitability and communities they operate. Due to their business, Berjaya companies almost in touch with society daily needs. Therefore, Berjaya always encourage their staff to take part in the Group’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities. Over the years, Berjaya Corporation had planned many charity projects, fund-raising events and donations as a social commitment towards the society. 2.0 Current Practices 2.1 Community To curb the escalation of strays in Malaysia, Berjaya Corporation Berhad organized a charity concert and conducted by Berjaya Youth to raise funds  for the approximately RM115,000 for the sterilization of 1,000 rescued animals. Besides that, Berjaya Youth had collaborated with Paws Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) to launch its Mobile Animal Clinic at Berjaya Times Square (appendix 2). Better Malaysia Foundation, Tan Sri Dato’ Seri Vincent Tan ‘s personal foundation, had donated the mobile animal clinic that worth RM220,000 to create awareness on the importance of spaying and neutering of animals to curb the escalation of strays in Malaysia. The mobile animal clinic features a well-equipped examination room that can administer vaccination and perform sterilization on animals safely. Besides that, Berjaya Corporation has partnered with PAWS Animal Welfare Society to build a cattery building that can provide space for 300 cats. This cattery is to improve the living conditions of homeless cat till they get adopted. With this cattery, Berjaya Corporation want to create awareness for people to adopt a cat instead of buying. This is a good news for PAWS as PAWS is shortage of space and limited funds to take care those abandoned cats and dogs (appendix 3). Disabilities are always one of the groups that need community to give support. On 14 June 2014, Berjaya Corporation Berhad donated RM200, 000 to the Life Prostheses Centre (â€Å"LFL†) located in the Bandar Utama Buddhist Society’s building in Petaling Jaya, Selangor. The centre is the first and only prostheses workshop in Malaysia that provide free prosthetic limbs to poor and less fortunate Malaysia (appendix 4). However, the cost of making a limbs is not cheap, each cost estimated between RM3, 000 to RM5, 000. With the contribution of RM200,000 , it will enable the centre to get 40 to 70 prosthetic limbs depending on the type and level of amputation. Next, Berjaya Cares Foundation contributed 10 units of dialysis machines worth RM450,000 to the National Kidney Foundation of Malaysia (appendix 5). Since the establishment of this foundation, Berjaya Corporation have never failed to support them, Berjaya Corporation Berhad has raised funds for National Kidney Foundation through annual Kenny Roasters Chicken Run event  for 2 years and through donation boxes placed in 7-Eleven outlets. Last year, they get to set up a one-stop information hub for all matters related to kidney and kidney care. 2.2 Employees Employees of Berjaya Corporation had their priority in the company. Berjaya Corporation always give their employees good quality in their workplace to make sure their employees can focus in their career development. Besides that, employees are constantly encouraged to participate in training and development programmes which relevant to their job field, so they can improve their productivity and develop skill sets. Moreover, Berjaya Cares Foundation regularly organizes talk about health, safety awareness and other topics such as personal development to their staff (appendix 6), while the Sports Toto Fitness Centre with full completed gymnasium equipment and facilities is set up to encourage their staff to exercise regularly and maintain a healthy lifestyle. Besides that, Berjaya Cares Foundation had set up a Staff Welfare Fund to manage and supplement financial aid to their employees and their family member whenever they need help in illness, natural disaster and death. This is a very good benefit to become their staff. 2.3 Environment A group of 17 Sports Toto volunteers went to Kuala Selangor Nature Park to plant mangrove trees. Mangrove trees are very good in carbon absorption and act as natural flood retention â€Å"sponge† to hold heavy rainfall which can prevent flood. Next, Mangrove trees help to hold sediments along riverbanks to safeguard coastline erosion and reduce pollution to coral reefs and marine life and also provide breeding and nursery grounds. They had planted 100 mangrove saplings (appendix 7). Other than Sports Toto, Berjaya Hotel & Resorts conducted a project of three  day Tioman Island Clean-Up Day with over 100 participants including staff, media and children from Sekolah Kebangsaan Tekek, Tioman. This activity can educate people about the importance of coral reefs to the ecosystems. There are a total of 121 reef-destroying Crown of Thorns were removed during the dive clean-up (appendix 8). They also clean up the beach with given handheld plastic bags. The result of cleaning up the beach is 15 bags of discarded plastic litters, paper wastes, beverage cans and bottles that weighing over 300kg. 2.4 Sports Toto In Malaysia, gambling is illegal as Malaysia is a Muslim country and majority of the population is Muslim. However, Berjaya Corporation Berhad insists of starting up the gambling business to the country and it is known as Sports Toto. Sports Toto Malaysia was incorporated by Malaysia Government in 1969. Then it is privatized in 1985. Today, Sports Toto is owned subsidiary of Berjaya Sports Toto Berhad and listed on the main market of Bursa Malaysia. Sports Toto is a zero sum game that accumulates the money and distributes to the winners and at the same time, gain profit from it. When people are winning the game, there will always a lot of losers. There are losers more than winners. 2.5 Conflict of the Board As we know, the current chairman and Chief Executive Officer (â€Å"CEO†) of Berjaya Corporation is Dato’ Robin Tan Yeong Ching, the eldest son of Tan Sri Dato’ Seri Vincent Tan Chee Yioun. Tan Sri Dato’ Seri Vincent Tan Chee Yioun was the previous chairman and CEO of Berjaya Corporation and now he is the major shareholder of Berjaya Corporation. Dato’ Robin Tan Yeong Ching was later appointed as the Chief Executive Officer (â€Å"CEO†) of the Company on 1 January 2011 and subsequently as the Chairman/CEO of the Company on 23 February 2012. CEO and Chairman shouldn’t be the same person because this will be conflict. 3.0 Rank about the company 3.1 Employees Employee is the most concern for Berjaya Corporate Berhad because employees are company’s best asset. As Boudreau and Ramstad (2007) present: â€Å"Whether it is called â€Å"people,† â€Å"labor,†Ã¢â‚¬Å"intellectual capital,† â€Å"human capital,† â€Å"human resources,† â€Å"talent,† or some other term, there source that lies within employees and how they are organized is increasingly recognized as critical to strategic success and competitive advantage. Without employees, Berjaya Corporate could not be success like today. Berjaya Corporation Berhad is the Top 30 Best Companies to work in Malaysia and today Berjaya Corporation Berhad has a total of 17,000 employees strength. Berjaya Corporation has various industries such as food and beverage, automotive, hotel and resorts and more. Hence, employee takes an important role in the company as they are backbone of the company and they are the one who services the customers. Therefore, company need to treat their employee nicely as the way you treat your employees is the way they will treat your customers (Branson, 2014). According to the Maslow Hierarchy Needs (Abraham Maslow, 1943), there are five categories of human needs such as basic needs, safety needs, belonging needs, esteem and self-actualization needs. These five needs separated to high and low categories. However, company should try to fulfill the low needs for their employee. Although is not a company’s responsible to fulfill all the employees needs, employees will become loyalty to the company once the company can fulfill their needs. Employees who The hierarchy of needs theory is relevant to this study as the theory is applicable to organizational orientation and employee motivation (Greenberg & Baron, 2003). First of all, employees work to fulfill their basic needs in their life. They will only work for company when there are reasonable salary amount for them. Thus, Berjaya Corporation will give their employee bonus, incentive and even lucky draw during Berjaya Founder’s Day. Next, safety needs is a very important need towards the employees especially  for some job that will take risk. Berjaya Corporation had always conduct healthy talk or body check to their employees, so they know how to take care their body. Other than that, belonging needs is very important to an employee. Employee who feels they belong to the company, they usually will put a great deal of effort into their daily tasks. 3.2 Community Community is the second concern of Berjaya Corporation, they have planned many charity events and donations towards the community. Every year, they will have an event called as Berjaya Founder’s Day. Berjaya Founder’s Day is an annual affair dedicated to give back to society. This day, they will rise up a fund from the efforts of staff and sponsor form banker, suppliers and friends of Berjaya. The first Berjaya Founder’s Day was conducted on 26 February 2011 and get RM6.6 million donations for 30 beneficiaries. Next, the second Berjaya Founder’s Day get a total amount of RM11.6 million for 61 charitable organizations. The third Berjaya Founder’s Day on 23 February 2013 contributed RM20.2 million to 74 charitable organizations, while the latest Berjaya Founder’s Day on 22 February 2014 has collected RM25.6 million to 90 charitable organizations. From above, we can see that every year of the amount and number of charitable organization are increasing. This shows that nowadays society a lot of people need help from a big company like Berjaya Corporation come out to support them. These charitable organizations include those that support community, education, heath causes, international humanitarian aid, local performing arts as well as environmental awareness and animal causes. According to instrumental theories from Garriga and Mele’s (2004), Berjaya Corporation is focusing on achieving economic objectives through social activities. Through social activities, this can maximize shareholders’ value and is a strategy for competitive advantage. Times have changed. There are more than 8,000 companies around the world use corporation social responsibility in their business. Because corporate social responsible is a way for companies to benefit them while also  benefitting the society. It is a win-win situation. According to a data released by Net Impact, the nonprofit that aims to help businesses promote sustainability, 65% of MBAs surveyed say they want to make a social or environmental difference through their jobs (Knowledge@Wharton, 2014). When a big company can give back to the community, it will be the most inspiring parts of corporate life. It shows that the company takes care of the society and it is an ethical company. This helps company to get good reputation from the society. 3.3 Environment Environment is the third concern of Berjaya Corporation. Berjaya Corporation is a diversified company that will initially influence the environment from their projects. When they are starting up a factory in a rural area, Berjaya Corporation will have to go through the process of deforestation. Cutting off the trees will definitely given a negative impact to the environment such as landslide due to the destroyed on the existing mechanical root structure in the area. However, as an ethical business, Berjaya Corporation will take up the responsibility to improve the environment by organizing an awareness event. For instance, mangrove trees planting for environmental conservation were held on 19 April 2011 with the group of Toto Sports volunteer in Kuala Selangor. Total of 100 mangrove trees are planted. The resource of our planet is limited and unsustainability is stated in the theory of Environmental Ethics (Paul W. Taylor, 1986). Moreover, Berjaya Corporation has also incorporated â€Å"Go Green† program in their business to avoid wastage and spread the awareness towards their customer. For example, use green products for take away food and beverage such as Starbucks Reusable Tumbler and Kenny Rogers Roasters I-Care Box. This shows how Berjaya Corporation cares about the environment. In addition, Berjaya Corporation chooses to cooperate with local suppliers to use less paper work and also give business to them. In addition, Berjaya Corporation ships their products by sea rather than airfeirght. 3.4 Sports Toto Sports Toto is a subsidiaries company of Berjaya Corporation. Sports Toto is very popular among Malaysian and it is the largest number of forecast operator in Malaysia as it has more than 670 outlets in Malaysia. Over the years, Sports Toto has been made many corporate social responsible such as charity, community sports, education and cultural promotion. It is a responsible corporate citizen but also a unhealthy games for Malaysia especially Malaysia is a Muslim country. It is unfair when only the Chinese and Indian can buy Toto tickets while the Malay is not allow to purchase. Malaysian called it â€Å"buy a hope† when they place their bets. Therefore, everyday there are a lot of Malaysian spend money on buying toto tickets. Some of them even use their money like water to purchase to try to win the grand prize. But Sports Toto is the only one that â€Å"winning big†. However, people with little money are always attracted to buy because it gives them the feeling of winning and the amount of the prizes is too great for them. In summary, gaming industry is harmful for individuals and society. However, it is the greatest happiness for the greatest number, stated by the utilitarianism theory of Jeremy Bentham (1987) . Jeremy Bentham said that it does not matter on the action but the result. If the result happens to be good and not harmful to others, it is consider as ethical. Therefore, the Sports TOTO game do helps on certain people on their financial issue. Sports TOTO creates hope for people to continue survive without financial difficulties. 3.5 Conflict of the Board In Berjaya Corporation, the CEO and Chairman seat is taken by the same person who is Dato’ Robin Tan. It is unethical to do so because it shows no fairness towards the employee. This is egoism ethical because they only hand over the position towards to their family instead outsiders. Chairman and CEO have different roles in the company, if this two roles combined together will creates an inherent conflict of interest. The Chairman of the Board of a company is the chief representative of the shareholders. The CEO of the company is the leader of the managers. The job of the chairman is to look after the shareholders. His main job is to fire the incompetent managers that are not qualified or control ones that overreach. Chairman should also look for workers that are potential enough to help company earn profit. While the CEO’s job is to manage, report to the board that set the policies and priorities based on the shareholders’ wished and needs such as higher income, high reward policy or bonus. Besides that, he should look out for the interests, salary or extra allowance of managers. If chairman was the same person, he will basically reporting to himself. This shows that Chairman and CEO had two different and conflicting roles. Where this might bring conflict of interest arises. 4.0 Recommendation Berjaya Corporation Berhad should encourage more green activities instead of replanting the trees or cleaning the beach. They should conduct green activities in all of his company and Subsidiaries Company together as this will be effective towards the society. They can also gather different ideas and save up unnecessary costs. It can also bring a good image to their employees or other company will follow their steps. Besides that, Sports Toto should stop convince consumers that buying toto tickets is a good habit through advertisement, this may lead people to spend a lot of money on toto tickets and end up becoming poor. Next, Berjaya Corporation should allow every employees to attend the health talk, not only the small amount because this may causes employee feel unfair and do not feel they belong to the company. Lastly, Berjaya Corporation should get two people to in charge position of CEO and also chairman as this two positions will have conflict if taken by the same person. 5.0 Conclusion Berjaya Corporation Berhad is very good in their CSR which makes them different from other company. CSR can also bring benefits in terms of risk management to company such as cost savings, access to capital, customer relationships, human resource management, and innovation capacity. CSR can also make company outstanding compare to company that did not do CSR. According to the European Commission, company with more responsible business can foster more growth. Hence, CSR is very important for a company especially public listed company like Berjaya Corporation. However, Berjaya Corporation not to only focus on CSR but also take care of their primary stakeholders such as shareholder and customer by fulfill their needs and wants. 6.0 Reference Bentham, J. (1987). An introduction to the principles of morals and legislation. In J. S. Mill and J. Bentham, Utilitarianism and Other Essays,Harmandsworth: Penguin. Berjaya.com, (2014). Berjaya Corporation Berhad. [online] Available at: http://www.berjaya.com/corporate-profile.html [Accessed 29 Nov. 2014]. BOUDREAU, J. W. – RAMSTAD, P. M.: Beyond HR. Boston. Harvard Business School Press, 2007. ISBN 978-1-4221-0415-6 Branson, R. (2014). The way you treat your employees†¦ – Virgin.com. [online] Virgin.com. Available at: http://www.virgin.com/richard-branson/the-way-you-treat-your-employees [Accessed 28 Nov. 2014]. Fisher, J. (2004) Social Responsibility and Ethics: Clarifying the Concepts, Journal of Business Ethics 52: 391-400. Greenberg, J., and Baron, R. A.( 2003). Behavior in Organizations: Understanding and Managing the Human Side of Work.Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Knowledge@Wharton, (2014). From Fringe to Mainstream: Companies Integrate CSR Initiatives into Everyday Business – Knowledge@Wharton. [online] Available at: http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/from-fringe-to-mainstream-companies-integrate-csr-initiatives-into-everyday-business/ [Accessed 27 Nov. 2014]. Maslow, A. H. (1954). Motivation and Personality: NY: Harper Taylor, Paul W. (2010). â€Å"Egalitarian Biocentrism†. In Keller, David R. Environmental Ethics: The Big Questions. John Wiley & Sons. 7.0 Appendix Appendix 1: Berjaya Corporate Structure Appendix 2: Animal Mobile Clinic Appendix 3: New home for homeless cat Appendix 4: Free prosthetic limbs to poor Appendix 5: Donate 10 units of dialysis machines to the National Kidney Foundation of Malaysia Appendix 6: Health talk to employees Appendix 7: Sports Toto volunteers plant mangrove trees Appendix 8: Tioman Island Clean-Up Day

Aztec and Mayan Difference

Aztec and Mayan differences One difference between the Aztec and the Mayan is the location, and time period they were in. The Aztec and Mayan lived in the same time period but the Mayan had actually been around longer than the Aztecs. The start of the Mayan empire began before the Aztec as well but, once the Aztec empire began they were the dominant empire in Mesoamerica. Location the Aztec were located in central Mexico were Mexico City now lies and the Mayan were located in the Yucatan Peninsula. Another difference between the Aztec and the Mayan is they spoke different languages. The Aztecs spoke nahuatl and the Mayan spoke Maya.One of the differences is that the Aztec language was poorly understood and less popular than the Mayan language. The Mayan language however is considered one of the most striking visually writhing systems in the world. The Aztec and Mayan had a different way of ruling their empires. The Aztec were ruled by a supreme ruler. The Mayan had city states each r uled by a sovereign ruler. Because the Aztec were a big group while the Mayan were many groups in one. The Aztec and Mayan had different names for their deities. They both had a feathered serpent god for the Aztec the god was called Quetzalcoatl and for the Mayan it was Kukulcan.Not only that they also had different gods that had different roles. They also had different views of these gods the Aztec believed they needed to sacrifice a lot of people to please them while the Mayan not so much. Last of all The Aztec were warlike and the Mayan were scientific. The Aztec waged war against other tribes forcing them to pay tribute. The Aztec were proud of their war tradition which in one can be concluded why they died out they lived by the sword and died by the sword. The Mayan studied stars were they came up with a very scientific calendar, and were obsessed with astronomy. Therefore the Mayan were true to life.

Analyze Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Analyze - Assignment Example In this regard, it becomes less expensive to settle sovereign debt and penetrate integrated financial markets (Figge, 2010). Similarly, currency unions also help to promote trade liberalization because of the uniformity in the exchange values. For instance, during global inflationary periods, countries worst hit do not suffer from financial losses when trading with their partners (Figge, 2010). However, challenges also occur due to currency unions, sovereign debts and integrated financial markets. For example, there is the loss of an independent monetary policy, which affects the moderation of demand stocks and curbing of inflation rates (Figge, 2010). This implies that a country may be unable to execute monetary policies during inflation because it might affect international trade. It is apparent that introducing other monetary policies might involve the formation of a central bank to oversee the process. Another disadvantage is that currency unions may have a negative influence on developing countries when making investment decisions (Figge, 2010). This is because it limits the budget of the developing countries that cannot raise the required funds to initiate investments in the developed economies. The evolution of money involves the development of a medium of exchange unit during transactions. The first transaction was barter trade, which entails trading goods and services for other similar commodities. This implies that one would exchange his goods with other goods he needs or suits his wants. One of the cons of this system is that it enabled people to get what they wanted easily. This is because the two parties would agree on the commodities to exchange without problems (Davies & Julian Hodge Bank, 2002). Alternatively, it faced the problem of double coincidence of requirements in which one party had to fulfill the wants of the other. For instance, a person who had goats and wanted grains would not do

Sustainable Design Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Sustainable Design - Case Study Example Sustainable design requires that all the people involved in the design and construction of a project adopt a co-creation approach where they complement rather than replace nature. Among the factors that they should consider include, water conservation, the use of sustainable materials, renewable energy, site development and indoor environmental quality. The High Line is a public park built on a redesigned railway. Cataldi et al (2011) state that the park was first opened to the Public in 2009. It is a 2.3 kilometer (1.5 mile) long green corridor. According to the official website of the High Line (2014), the park opens from 7am to 11pm. Figure 1 shows the beautiful flowers in the park. One of the reasons behind the success of the park is the deliberate effort to co-create with nature. For example, the flowers and trees in the park are perfectly suited for the soil and climate of the area. This not only reduces the amount of effort required to care for them, but also ensures that the vegetation in the park can survive for a longtime. Fig 1 According to Sustainable plant (2014), a closed loop is a system in which there is no exchange of matter with the outside environment. The park uses recirculated water. This approach ensures that it does not put a strain on the limited water resources. It is a feature of the sustainable design principles which inspired the development of the park. The reason why the Park has such an elaborate design is because the city allowed the advocacy group who had fought for the project to be implemented. This allowed a group of people who were passionate about the idea to be involved. According to Cataldi et al (2011), this shows the value of ensuring that all stakeholders are given an opportunity to give their input on community development. Schools that incorporate green design, create a good learning environment and atmosphere for its students. This results in better academic performance in the

The Misrepresentation of Police on the TV Research Paper

The Misrepresentation of Police on the TV - Research Paper Example In many TV programs and shows, police officers are depicted as the front line of defence, as a strong force able to protect all citizens from all possible threats and crimes. Drugs, crime, and threats to the family and to safety generally are the stock-in-trade of these shows. However, programs like "Cops" depict the police as the front line of defence against such threats. "Americas Most Wanted" gives viewers a sense of empowerment as they fight back with telephone calls that help to capture dangerous criminals. There is actual footage of the police in action, breaking down a door in a drug bust, or chasing and wrestling a suspect to the ground. In real life, the police are unable to respond effectively to all reported cases of crimes and check all telephone calls coming each hour (Dowler 230). Also, some are concerned about the guarantee of confidentiality for callers that seemed to be compromised by televised comments identifying them as "neighbours" or "former girlfriends," or gi ving other identifiable characteristics. In real life, the source of scepticism is, for the most part, related to the experience of various forms of contact with the police. In reality, when you do try to help the police, the police never turn up until the crimes been committed. Also, Scharrer (2001) admits that: â€Å"the depiction of previously unemotional cops who were "all business" has changed to include modern sensitivity and more well-rounded portrayals in these roles† (615).

Health care marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 14

Health care marketing - Essay Example a need of people in contrast to the cosmetic plastic surgery to advertise which, the marketers have to make additional efforts like involving popular celebrities and stars in the marketing to motivate the people because cosmetic plastic surgery can generally be lived without. It is absolutely true that in times of crisis, organizations in the contemporary age have to take objective steps without wasting any time to control the damage and save their image from getting tarnished among the public because the channels and networks of information have become omnipresent and the flow of information through them is rampant. People make use of such social media websites as Facebook and Twitter to run campaigns against such companies during the times of crisis, and by condemning the activities of such companies in their posts. Organizations that wait to control the damage before sufficient damage has been cost cause themselves a lot of damage as a result of declined value amongst the public in general and the stakeholders in

EDUCATION Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

EDUCATION - Essay Example Online education is the solution for students who want to enroll in a prestigious university, but could not, because of distance, time and the complexity involved in balancing other relevant responsibilities. Through online education, a student with various roles as a professional, mother, or part-time worker, could enjoy the benefits of convenience through accessing course modules at their most accessible time. Further, one could exercise skills in time management to prioritize diverse social responsibilities as a family member or an employee, in addition to being an active and collaboratively participating student. Interaction with colleagues and instructors are eminently made easy. Concurrently, online education assists students through multidimensional support systems such as video conferencing options, sending correspondences through emails, accessing online library, and counseling services through the university’s live support site, among others. The unlimited support sy stems provided by online education is truly a remarkable advantage that is readily available to those who opt for this innovative technological breakthrough.

Research Method in Social Science Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Research Method in Social Science - Essay Example It is infact a habit of questioning what you do, and a systematic examination of the observed information to find answers, with a view to instituting appropriate changes for a more effective professional service. One's philosophical orientation might stem from one of the several paradigms and approaches in research - positivist, interpretive, phenomenolist, action or participatory, feminist, qualitative or quantitative. The concept of 'validity' can be applied to any aspect of the research process. It ensures that in a research study correct procedures have been applied to find answers to a question. 'Reliability' refers to the quality of a measurement procedure that provides repeatability and accuracy. 'Unbiased and objective' means that every step has been taken without introducing vested self-interest. Adherences to these three criteria enable the process to be called 'research'. However, the degree to which these criteria are expected to be fulfilled varies from discipline to discipline and so the meaning of 'research' differs from one academic discipline to another. For example, the expectations of the research process are markedly different between the physical and social sciences. In the physical sciences, a research endeavour is expected to be strictly controlled at each step, whereas in social sciences rigid control cannot be enforced and sometimes is not even demanded. There are two main para... However, there is distinction between qualitative data on the one hand and qualitative research on the other as the first is confined to the measurement of variables and the second to a use of methodology. Qualitative Vs Quantitative Research The term quality comes from the Latin word qualitas which means "of what kind'. There is an element of evaluation and judgement and taste connected to the term quality. Quantity is a different matter. The term quantity comes from the Latin word quantitas meaning "how great" or, for our purposes, "how much" or "how many". In the context of social science, quantitative researchers are sometimes accused of being too narrow, basing their research on what they count, measure and observe, and neglecting other matters. Qualitative researchers, however, are accused of "reading into" texts that are not there or of having opinions or making interpretations that seem odd or excessive. Therefore none of the modes of research are exclusively complete in themselves. A combination of the two approaches is a better way of solving a social science research problem. Qualitative and quantitative research methodologies differ in the philosophy that underpins their mode of inquiry as well as, to some extent, in methods, models and procedures used. Though the research process is broadly the same in both, qualitative and quantitative research are differentiated in terms of methods of data collection, the procedures adopted for data processing and analysis, and the style of communication of the findings. Qualitative and quantitative research can be compared on the basis of certain parameters. Let us delve into the parameters one by one. 1. Underpinning philosophy The underlying philosophy of the quantitative approach is

Technological Changes Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Technological Changes - Essay Example In the next ten years, the impact of the internet technology is expected to influence companies especially in developing and emerging economies where its benefits still remains unharnessed. The internet technology is projected to facilitate more and more transactions online among business parties and even individual consumers (Kotler and Armstrong 2002). The snail mail will be eliminated and be replaced by electronic mails as more efficient means of communication. More purchases transaction between retailers and buyers will also be observed. Because of these improvements in the market which is facilitated by the increasing internet literacy, D Package Express will be handling less mails or smaller packages containing mails to customers and business. However, with more global purchases facilitated by the internet technology, mail packaging and supplies will be used in order to ship packages globally. As customers constantly seek products through online transaction, they connect with more suppliers which can provide them with more valuable products. As emerging countries will also shop online, D Package Express will also be given the chance to expand its horizons with the possibility of opening up new outlets in these locations in the future.

Chemical reaction paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Chemical reaction paper - Essay Example The chlorine compounds formed such as hypochlorite is in unstable and decomposes gaining oxygen to form a stable compound. Proper understanding of how bleach works require scrutiny of the changes that take place at the molecular level. The oxidation process by the bleach breaks the chemical bonds of the coloured part of the molecules known as the chromophore. The breaking of the bond changes the molecule in such a way that it has no color or does not reflect any color in the normal spectrum that can be seen with naked eyes. On the other hand, reducing bleach acts by converting the double bond of the chromophore into a single bond and thus changes the optical structure of the compound making it colorless (Innes, 2009). During the process, some bonds are broken. The chemical bond in the chromophore is broken which converts it to a compound that has no color or cannot reflect color in the normal spectrum. Another type of bond broken is the covalent bond in the bleaching agent as the release or gaining of oxygen atom

Julius Caesar Essay Example for Free

Julius Caesar Essay Each unlawful overthrow ends in disastrous consequences because no one knows whether the next leader will achieve greatness or insignificance. The country wouldn’t be prepared for such an event such as an assassination. It also causes chaos among the people because many individuals will be furious because they may have loved the original leader. There will be more riots and a less civilized society. Brutus and Cassius had a plan which they would assassinate Julius Caesar. They both agreed they wanted to, but for different reasons. Brutus says that it would ruin the republic because the people would want someone like Caesar as king. Cassius is irritated because he believes that Julius Caesar is just as normal as Brutus and himself. He thinks that Caesar is going to be treated as a god rather than a king and Caesar didn’t do anything to deserve to be king. Cassius brings in cases where Caesar is a mortal man such as Caesar not being able to swim and Caesar having a seizure in Spain. The consequence that â€Å"conspirators† were facing was that if they assassinated Caesar, they knew they were going to be killed. Mark Antony wanted revenge on the conspirators. He was the last one to speak at Caesars funeral which was very favorable to him because no one can oppose. Now, people will remember his speech the most out of anyone’s and more people will follow him. Antony also paused a lot in his speech so people had time to actually think about what he was saying. This led to a civil war where many of the conspirators were murdered. â€Å"Julius Caesar† is connected to â€Å"The Lord of the Flies† because in both books, a group of people wanted to overthrow their leader or just disagreed with their leader. Ralph and Piggy discover a conch and they used it to call over the other boys. When everyone was together, they elected Ralph as their leader. Ralph appoints Jack in charge of hunting for food for the entire group. Ralph sets up a system where the hunters set a fire so when someone passes by, they’ll see someone’s on the island. When someone passed by, the fire was out and Ralph and Piggy were furious. The conch symbolized order and normal civilization. When in a meeting, they would blow the conch to give people the right to speak. While searching for the monster, the kids see a silhouette of a parachute. Jack and Ralph hold a meeting telling the group of what they have just seen. During the meeting, Jack calls Ralph cowardly and proposes Ralph being removed from office. Jack walks away with the hunters. Meanwhile Ralph and the remaining children build a new fire. Before finishing the fire, most of the kids have moved to Jacks side. Jack declares himself the new leader. Life under Jacks dictatorship was quite violent. He organized a hunt with the new tribe members. During the hunt, they had a ritual where they slaughtered a sow to solemnize the event. After, the members cut off the sows head and they placed it on a sharpened stake. They put it in the jungle as an offering to the beast. When they were under Ralphs rule, they were never this uncivilized and unorganized. The Lord of the Flies is a voice that Simon keeps hearing. The Lord of the Flies tells Simon that Simon will never escape him. It says it exists within all men. It represents the madness that the children under Jack believe in. When Simon waked up, he goes to tell everyone that he saw a dead parachutist. The other see a shadowy figure from the jungle which they don’t know is Simon and they kill him. It just shows the chaos that’s happening on the island that they would kill their own friend. The final struggle of Mark Antony was what he should do regarding the conspirators. The conspirators had just killed King Julius Caesar. Once Mark Antony took over, he had to make a decision whether to he should or shouldn’t take revenge on the assassinators. The final struggle between Jack and Ralph was if Jack should call truce with Ralph or not. The children needed to find a plan to get off the island and Jacks clan chasing Ralph to kill him wasn’t the solution. A comparison with â€Å"Julius Caesar† and â€Å"Lord of the Flies† is that a normal person tries to corrupt the leader in one way or another. The difference is that in â€Å"Julius Caesar†, Brutus and Cassius try to assassinate Caesar, but they don’t necessarily want to take over. They just truly believe that Caesar does not deserve to be king because they think he’s a normal person. In â€Å"Lord of the Flies†, Jack tries to overtake Ralph, but not assassinate like Brutus and Cassius. The similarity is that they both succeed in what they want to accomplish. Brutus and Cassius kill Caesar and Jack overtakes Ralph as leader. The Tusnian Revolution was a revolt against President Zine El Abidine Ben Alio who was president from 1987 to 2011. They revolted because there was a high unemployment rate, food inflation, and corruption. Also, the living conditions were very poor and there was barely any freedom of speech. President Ben Alio resigned in January 2011. You can learn from â€Å"Julius Caesar† and â€Å"Lord of the Flies† that one shouldn’t think that you’re above all and on a higher power than everyone else.

The effects of block scheduling Essay Example for Free

The effects of block scheduling Essay Summary of Current Knowledge and Theory Relevant to Block Scheduling Overview of Perceived Advantages to Block Scheduling Several researchers (Dobbs, W. , 1998; Hurley, 1997; Zepeda, 1999; Staunton, 1997; Staunton and Adams, 1997; Pisapia, and Westfall, 1997; and Eineder and Bishop, 1997) reported the following perceived strengths and advantages by both students and teachers to block scheduling:   Increased teacher preparation time (in both teams and as individuals).   Double the class time for certain core subjects such as language arts and math.   Half as many students for teachers per semester. Additional elective class choice for 9th grade students; more choices for upperclassmen, including options of Advanced Placement and other higher level coursework   More time for completion of labs, incorporating technology, class trips, and other various applications of learned material   Improved school climate and decreased disciplinary referrals   More time to do homework and for guided practice under the direction of the teacherImproved academic achievement by students Ability of students to accumulate enough credits to graduate early. More one-on-one time between teachers and students. In general, surveyed students liked the block scheduling. They claimed to be getting better grades, to have time for more in-depth study, and got more attention from the teachers. They said their lives were less stressed and they liked having a fresh start each semester. Nearly all students asked said they would not want to return to the traditional schedule. One of the greatest effects of the 4 x 4 schedule is that students report having less homework. Of the 37 students interviewed, 20 said they had less homework, 7 said they had more, and 6 said they had about the same. If you dont like the teacher, you dont have to deal with him all year, or if you dont like the subject. When the semester ends, its like a new school year. Youre not bogged down. Clearly, these students reaped academic benefits from the change to the 4 x 4 schedule. Both college preparatory and general students reported they were learning more and receiving more individual attention (Hurley, 1997). Surveyed teachers indicated that they enjoyed lecturing less and spending more time one-on-one with students. Teachers teaching in block scheduling used more of a team approach and allowed them to experiment more in the classroom (Staunton, 1997; Staunton and Adams, 1997). Teachers also reported that their teaching methods and practices changed as block scheduling was implemented. They used a wider array of strategies and activities. In one Florida study of over forty high schools on block scheduling, â€Å"forty percent of the teachers reported less stress at school, one-third reported increased common planning time, and 80 percent noted that they preferred the block schedule to their previous schedule† (Deuel, 1999). There seem to be several perceived advantages associated with block scheduling. Overview of Perceived Disadvantages to Block Scheduling Several researchers (Dobbs, W. , 1998; Hurley, 1997; Zepeda, 1999; Staunton, 1997; Staunton and Adams, 1997; Pisapia, and Westfall, 1997; and Eineder and Bishop, 1997) reported the following perceived weaknesses and disadvantages by both students and teachers to block scheduling: Additional costs in hiring teachers.   Additional costs in adding space for teachers or the need for teachers to ‘travel’ which means he has no permanent classroom. Difficulty in making up work from absences because missing one day equivalent to missing two classes   Some classes clearly benefit from meeting every day (i. e. performing arts classes)   Need for teachers to commit to using new teaching methods   Ninety minutes is a long time to hold the attention of students   Uneven schedules in which the harder classes all end up lumped into one semester making it too difficult and the next semester too easy. The possibility that there will be a long gap in between sequential courses if they are not taken in back-to-back semesters. The primary disadvantage given by surveyed students is that the classes are too long. Students particularly gave this as a weakness when their teachers lectured for nearly all of the time period. Others noted that â€Å"bad classes are really bad when they are held for 90 minutes† (Hurley, 1997). Surveyed teachers voiced concerns about interruptions of sequential material from one semester to the next and consistency issues with students. However, teacher opinion seemed to be mixed about this issue. Some foreign language teachers feared a sequential break between levels (Scheduling Foreign Languages on the Block, 1998). Other researchers found that some schools actually showed an increase in foreign language test scores because students could take level I and level II courses in back-to-back semesters (Schoenstein, 1996). Some teachers felt more comfortable with the lecture approach and had little comfort with experimentation of teaching methods (Staunton, 1997; Staunton and Adams, 1997).

Management of Provision in the Early Years Setting

Management of Provision in the Early Years Setting Introduction: This essay is built on the management case study. I am going to critically analyse the case study using theoretical and research evidence of the management of provision in early years setting. This will provide a critical analysis of the management of provision of the setting in terms of these factors. (a) The manager’s role and responsibilities. (b) Leadership styles. (c) Government early years policies that influence the management of provision. (d) Financial and human resources management. To understand the manager’s role and responsibilities I and my friends in decided to interview a children centre manager. I was asked to make an appointment with the manager. I called the manager and arranged interview time with groups mutual understanding. But unfortunately my mates were not ready to go for the interview. So with my lecturer’s permission I went alone to interview children centre nursery manager. Provide relevant contextual information about the setting where you did the interview, for example is it a school-based early years provision, a private nursery, or Children Centre? Is it in a rural or urban location? Is the area social and ethnically mixed? What ages of children attend? (150 words approx I visited Children Centre in Hackney to interview nursery manager. The purpose of interview was to understand the role and responsibilities of nursery leader or manager in early years setting. The Children Centre is located in Central London under Hackney council authority. The children centre provides health and education services for children and families. The nursery provides the provision for 0-5 years old with the maximum capacity of 75 children. It consists of two baby rooms; both rooms can have 12 children in each room. Also, they have two toddler rooms; large room can have 14 children and small room with capacity of 12 children. The pre-school can have 24 children in the roo m. According to the manager, all rooms are full with maximum number of children and have two years waiting list for baby room and long waiting list for other rooms for children from outside admissions. According to Ofsted report (April 2014) The centre provides outstanding service for children and families and the nursery educators are supporting children to get ready to school and support them to learn numeracy and phonics before starting school. To understand leadership role in the early years setting it is vital to understand the contextual meaning of leadership. According to Northouse (2013, p4) â€Å"leadership have different meanings for different people and there is no common theory about leadership† It is vital to have good management to deliver good provision on children in early years settings. The management or leadership in early years settings should have good knowledge and understanding of early years foundation stage curriculum, governments policy and guidelines, current research and practice and work in partnership with parents, staff and other agencies to provide high quality provision for children. Northouse (2013) suggests that â€Å"leadership needs followers and leaders role to achieve a common goal with followers with a common purpose†. According to Blatchford and Manni (2007, p.1) effective management provides better outcome for children when there are better and warm relationships between practitioners and children. Also children learn better when practitioners use open-ended questions to give chance to children to use their critical thinking and answer with confidence. For effective leadership role, appropriate training is essential to provide good quality of provision for the early years because, leadership role involves multi-professional work. Moyles (2006) suggests that leader and manager have different roles but complement each other. In early years the mangers role is to making sure that the organisation is running smoothly by good planning and coordination. However, the leaders role is to inspire and motivate others for change. The manager and leader both characteristics are important in education field. Therefore, it is more important especially in pre-school age, when manager, leader, parents, and teacher rapidly form relationship. It is vital to examine government’s policy to provide highly qualified and trained workforce as leaders and managers in early years settings and children centres, to provide better care and education for children and excellent working partnership with patents. A good leader always encourages the staff to accomplish set targets or tasks. The tool of supervision is a useful way to support staff by listening to their voices, thoughts, interests and needs. It is essential to unfold government of UK’s policy on early years education. Ang (2012) states that government of UK gives high priority of training and qualification programmes for leadership to work in early years. The workforce and development council (CWDC) introduced Early Years Professional Status (EYP) award in 2007, to all graduates from different sectors to get qualification and training to work as early years professional (EYP). It is nationally accepted standards for professionals to work as a leader in children centres or schools within early years settings. The government of UK have facilitates students with full grant to accomplish the EYP status. Its Managers duty to make sure that nursery is running smoothly on daily basis and provides high quality provision for the children. For example, during my interview with nursery line-manager in Children Centre in Hackney, I asked one part of my question. [Q] ‘How do you ensure the continuing development of staff s strengths and areas of development? [A] â€Å"I use tool of supervision and appraisals to ask staff if they need any support or want to go to any training. Sometimes, I used my initiative to recommend certain training for staff such as my one staff was not confident to deal with children with challenging behaviour so I spoke to her and recommended training ‘Working with Children with Challenging Behaviour’. Also Centre teachers make observations on staff on monthly basis. It’s including outdoor play and small language sessions and literacy sessions. Teachers give comments what they observe and give copy to staff as well to read feedback from teacher and write any comments. During teachers observations if teacher feel that education officer needs support and training to support children, then we send them on relevant training or on next session teacher and the educator take the session together and educator observe the teacher to improve her techniques to run l anguage or literacy sessions. According to staffs strengths they have been designated areas of responsibilities such as staff with creative skills is given creative area and to manage displays in the room†. Rodd (2006,p) suggests that â€Å" the professional support provided through effective supervision helps staff to listen to and accept constructive feedback and learn to reflect upon and critically evaluate their own performance†. The new collation government policy (2013) is emphasis on to provide better child care, by raising the standards and quality and giving parents more choices. The recommendations were set out after ‘Nutbrown report’ was published in 2012.It was commissioned by the government and Cathy Nutbrown was responsible to carried out the research. According to BBC report (2012) on ‘Nutbrown Review’, the report says that early years students have not questioned on competency in literacy and maths. Professor Cathy Nutbrown(2012 ) recommended that â€Å"Well-taught courses and learning routes which lead to reliable qualifications can help early-years practitioners to improve their skills, knowledge and personal qualities, constantly developing in their roles†¦.This can only benefit young children, both in terms of their day-to-day experiences in the Early Years Foundation Stage and future learning outcomes. [Q] What system do you have in place to ensure effective assessment and early years profiling. Do practioners have time away from the children to complete this work? How do you ensure that assessment clearly informs planning for the medium and short term? [A] â€Å"When we recruit new staff , always make sure that candidate have minimum level 3 qualification or diploma in early years care and education and good knowledge of early years foundation stage curriculum with good communication and writing skills to produce well structured assessment and daily observations. All staff is taking one hour time out to do assessments or filling every week. Also every week each room is having time out to have planning meeting for one and half hour to share observations with colleges and plan for target children. During planning staff looked into medium term planning before implement activities for coming week†.

Essay --

CHILDREN WITH A DISABILITY Children with a disability are children first Around 320,000 Australian children 0-14 years have a disability Disabilities that affect children are intellectual, psychiatric, sensory/speech, acquired brain injury and physical. The prevalence of profound or severe disability in children is gradually increasing1 , particularly among children aged 5-14. The main area of increase is intellectually disabling conditions, most reported as Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (AHDH).2 Also reported is a dramatic increase in the rate of diagnosis of Autism spectrum disorders (atypical neurological functioning) over the past decade.3 The majority of children with a disability live with their families During much of the 20th Century, children with a disability were provided with ‘whole of life’ services, usually in large, segregated institutional settings. The process of ‘deinstitutionalisation’ that has occurred over recent decades is one of the leading policy and structural transformations in health and community services of the last century. Between 1981 and 1996, the number of people aged 0-14 accommodated in institutions almost halved.4 Children with disabilities belong with their families, not in institutions, but families often require extra financial assistance and services to care for a son or daughter with a disability. Without such support, the impact of disability can impose significant pressure on parents and siblings and can lead to family breakdown. Most children with a disability go to the local school In 2001, using a narrow definition of disability that excluded children with specific learning difficulties, State Education Departments identified 114,250 st... ...rge multi-service organisations, and are located in every State and Territory across Australia. NDS defines its purpose under two broad categories. Firstly, it works to increase the capacity of its members to operate efficiently and effectively through provision of information, networking opportunities, and corporate partnerships. Secondly, NDS exists to make the voices of people with disabilities and their service providers heard by governments at both state/territory and federal levels. By so doing, NDS influences public policy to deliver outcomes that are responsive to the needs of people with disabilities and their providers. NDS has a National Secretariat in Canberra and offices in every State and Territory. More information: Locked Bag 3002 DEAKIN WEST ACT 2600 Phone: 02 6283 3200 Fax: 02 6281 3488 Email: nds@nds.org.au Web: www.nds.org.au Essay -- CHILDREN WITH A DISABILITY Children with a disability are children first Around 320,000 Australian children 0-14 years have a disability Disabilities that affect children are intellectual, psychiatric, sensory/speech, acquired brain injury and physical. The prevalence of profound or severe disability in children is gradually increasing1 , particularly among children aged 5-14. The main area of increase is intellectually disabling conditions, most reported as Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (AHDH).2 Also reported is a dramatic increase in the rate of diagnosis of Autism spectrum disorders (atypical neurological functioning) over the past decade.3 The majority of children with a disability live with their families During much of the 20th Century, children with a disability were provided with ‘whole of life’ services, usually in large, segregated institutional settings. The process of ‘deinstitutionalisation’ that has occurred over recent decades is one of the leading policy and structural transformations in health and community services of the last century. Between 1981 and 1996, the number of people aged 0-14 accommodated in institutions almost halved.4 Children with disabilities belong with their families, not in institutions, but families often require extra financial assistance and services to care for a son or daughter with a disability. Without such support, the impact of disability can impose significant pressure on parents and siblings and can lead to family breakdown. Most children with a disability go to the local school In 2001, using a narrow definition of disability that excluded children with specific learning difficulties, State Education Departments identified 114,250 st... ...rge multi-service organisations, and are located in every State and Territory across Australia. NDS defines its purpose under two broad categories. Firstly, it works to increase the capacity of its members to operate efficiently and effectively through provision of information, networking opportunities, and corporate partnerships. Secondly, NDS exists to make the voices of people with disabilities and their service providers heard by governments at both state/territory and federal levels. By so doing, NDS influences public policy to deliver outcomes that are responsive to the needs of people with disabilities and their providers. NDS has a National Secretariat in Canberra and offices in every State and Territory. More information: Locked Bag 3002 DEAKIN WEST ACT 2600 Phone: 02 6283 3200 Fax: 02 6281 3488 Email: nds@nds.org.au Web: www.nds.org.au

The First Seven Years Essay -- essays research papers

Growing and learning is a part of life that no one is exempt from. This fact influences everyone, whether it be a young child learning to share or an old man learning to let go. Feld, in The First Seven Years, finds that he has to let go of several of his own issues to allow his daughter to undergo her own growth and learning. Feld is the typical father, he wants only the best for his daughter. Feld wants the best education, the best man, the perfect life. He believes that ,as a farther, he can make her life perfect simply by telling her the necessities of life. However, after several incidences Feld understands that he must learn to let go. He discovers that he must let go of sending her to college, "He had begged her to go.." he had to let go of the fact that Miriam would not marry the perfect man. "Let her marry an educated man and live a better life." In the end Feld learned that he could not alter his daughters future in anyway. The only thing he could do is to keep his silence. "Then he realized that what he had called ugly was not Sobel, but Miriam's life if she married him." When Feld explains to the readers that Miriam is always reminded him that she wants freedom, he is revealing to the reader that he is growing and beginning to understand that he has to let go so, Miriam is free to live her life, and make her own mistakes. Although, being able to let go is...

The Experience Of The War In Korea Essay examples -- Personal Narrativ

The Experience Of The War In Korea The Korean War was a trying time for America. The nation was getting involved in a war that had little or no possibility of a fortunate outcome. The Korean people were divided among how the country should be run. A uniform system of government looked like it may never come to be. In order to protect one of its vital interests as well as to prove to the rest of the world that America didn’t stand for communism, the United States began taking up arms. The war would prove a most difficult task to achieve successfully. In fact, it was almost impossible to continue fighting what seemed to be far from a worthy sacrifice of American lives. It was January 10, 1950 when Robert Marrara of Arthurdale, WV, among thousands of other men, were drafted and sent to California for basic training. Robert is 5’9" tall with wavy, silver hair and a structure that shows just how strong of a man he is for being 72 years old. Of Italian descent his parents immigrated here and he was one of several children. They lived in poverty, as most of America did, through the thick of the Great Depression. He attended electrical school after college didn’t seem right for him. He is a genius by all standards but is far too modest to admit it. His experiences are enough to fill days full of stories and the personal interview he gave was a treat. Robert recalls how difficult coping with the situation in Korea was, but also how he welcomed the challenge: "It was tough and, you know, but I really, I have to say that I did enjoy being, because my knowledge was – my previous training before I got in the army – was the very thing I needed to do the job I was assigned to do. And because I could do it in such a good way – and you ... ... a  ¾ inch electric drill and I took a crank with me and I made a shaft for that drill so that it could drive that engine and start those engines with that electric drill and that 20 minutes or 25 minutes after I got back over to the quartermaster, I had all them engines running with that electric drill. From that time on, during the whole summer and fall when they had ice and ice cream I got it delivered to my tent. They delivered me ice two times a week and they’d deliver ice cream one time a week. A three-gallon can for my carburetor-ignition repair section." Throughout the interview Robert emphasized the value of his work during the war just as he values the war effort itself. Overall, those who died did so for a worthy cause (Marrara, Personal Interview). America backed its promises to defend South Korea, even though the effort could be viewed as ill decided.

Review of Hr Policies and Practices

64 A STUDY OF HRM PRACTICES AND ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE IN SELECTED PRIVATE SECTOR ORGANIZATIONS IN INDIA 1. Executive summary The new economic environment is primarily marked by the freeing of shackles for entrepreneurship and economic growth. The â€Å"license system† has been replaced, to a great extent, by a â€Å"market system†. The challenge of Human Resource Management (HRM) practices would be to create an environment of resilience, which can accommodate and assimilate successfully changes in systems, structures, technologies, methods, etc. People would have to ascribe the right meaning to the change process.India is well-equipped to succeed on global markets. It has a pool of highly educated people, a well-developed judicial system, democratic governance, an established banking industry, and fairly sophisticated and inter-linked fi nancial markets. Knowledge industries will be at the vanguard of economic opportunity, and India will be poised to take advantage of this trend with its corpus of highly skilled people. The changes on the market scene have necessitated the Indian industry to look inward for the development of human resources (HR).People develop themselves in a globalized scenario with new directions along with new problems and issues arising to develop new competencies to meet the changing requirements, aspirations, and problems. There are, however, some universal goods towards which all human resource management efforts should be aimed at. The emergence of Japanese human resource management has led to the concept of culture in a big way. At the organizational level, the goal of HRM is normally to have competent and motivated employees to ensure managerial effectiveness and growth of the organization.Organizations normally direct their HRM efforts towards the development of competencies and organizational culture. Organizations use mechanisms to achieve HRM goals with competent and committed employees. Organizations can achieve v ery little even if they have excellent technological and other resources at their command. Such an assertion gains better credibility in the context of developing countries like India, that is, typically in early growth stages in terms of economic development, and growing more rapidly than the ‚traditional‘ developed economies of Japan,North America and Europe. The countries with higher rates of growth are mostly in South East Asia, South Asia and some Latin American countries. Research evidence shows that HR practices along with culture do affect effi ciency in the organization. There are hardly any or very few studies which show a link between HRM practices and organizational culture in India. The review of literature has identifi ed that the major chunk of research in India emanates from descriptive data and experience sharing, which does not serve certain practice-oriented concerns.There is very little systematic, empirical research in the scientifi c paradigm that h as been carried out in the Indian HR lexicon. HR research is inspired by western models, and lacks an indigenous perspective. The review of literature on HRM practices has revealed that the most of the work done is in relation to organizational strategy. The methodology employed a sample of 95 respondents from two private sector organizations. The questionnaire consists of 90 items, of which (1) 69 items concern HRM practices of the organization, and (2) 21 items concern organization culture.The correlation analysis has been used to infer the relationship between variables of HRM practices and organizational culture. A healthy culture is required for utilizing and enhancing employee competencies and to develop people. This study focuses on the positive signifi cant relationship between HRM practices and organizational culture in private sector organizations. There is a positive signifi cant relationship between HRM practices and variables of organizational culture operationalised in terms of self-realization, status enhancement, inventive values and socio economic support.The pressures are most likely to be felt by those who have led and managed the change process in such a volatile economic environment. HRM would have the ability to attract and retain people and this would be the key to manage this macro change—in terms of both pace and rate. Change leaders would be confronted with the need to reorient culture, thinking and paradigms. HRM as a function and as a prime mover would need to focus on this changing and emerging role with the help of organizational culture. 2. Introduction The global turmoil has witnessed the growing importance of Human Resources Management (HRM) in both business and public life.The turbulent business climate brought in the wake of liberalization, globalization, changing technologies, growth in knowledge and advances in information technology is offering managers a complex and challenging situation (Davis, 1995). Indian organ izations are tending to become competitive to meet globally relevant standards. The growing emphasis on privatization has warranted a new focus in terms of result orientation, long-term strategies, consumer focus, initiative and different mindsets for internal and external communication.The Indian business scenario is characterized by the historical rigidities arising largely out of centralized planning. Our decision-making is infl uenced, among other factors, by posing more a constraint rather than a facilitator. The practice of protecting Indian industries through protective tariffs and quotas for over four decades has led to a lack of global competitiveness in terms of quality of products, services and prices. Indians are more accustomed to thinking in terms of narrow identities like our own selves, caste, and community, regional and linguistic groups.A failing and defi cient infrastructure and frustrating bureaucracy at operating levels, and the cultural and indigenous barriers added fuel to fi re. Hamel and Prahalad (1991) contend that a competitive advantage is obtained if a fi rm can obtain and develop human resources, which enable it to learn faster and apply its learning more effectively than its rivals. The HRM has emerged and evolved as one of the most important areas of organizational science and practice. It has not been developed in isolation, but rather in the context of industrial change and economic development.The uniqueness of the Human Resources (HR) approach requires a totally different type of attention from managers. The HR has characteristics that provide the greatest challenge as well as opportunity. A company‘s HR is fragile with delicate relationships, along with unpredictable contributions, and permanency is uncertain (Guest, 1991). Wright, Smart, and McMahan, (1995) mention that the crucial inputs, among others, to an organization are its human resources. People bring to their jobs diversity of skills, needs, goals, and expec tations. They are ocialized into the organization through their hiring to begin with, and their continuous functioning in the organization. According to Bulla and Scott (1994), we need to ensure that the human resource requirements of an organization are identifi ed and plans are made for satisfying those requirements. Guest, Conway, Briner and Dickman (1996) are of the opinion that the interface between the individual and the organization is critical to full utilization of human resources. The individual and the organization establish a „psychological contractâ€Å".Individual members expect to make contributions to the organization and receive certain rewards in return. The organization provides certain rewards and expects in return certain contributions from the individual. It is at this interface between the individual and the organization that issues such as HR planning, work analysis, career development, leadership, job motivation, the appraisal-reward process, and the organizational culture become important. The patterns of work relationships at work refl ect the HRM philosophy.The practices and philosophy of HRM are perpetuated by managers who are encouraged to follow the role model of their seniors. In the process of organization socialization they internalize the values and attitudes of their leaders. The entire process is thus institutionalized (Snell, Youndt, and Wright, 1996). In general, HRM has been described as: broad and strategic; involving all managerial personnel; regarding employees as the single most important organizational asset; being proactive in its responsibilities; and having the objective of enhancing organizational performance and meeting employee needs (Poole, 1990). . Organizational culture The idea that organizations have culture has been acknowledged since Lewin, Lippitt and White’s (1939) research on creating social climate. Culture and climate are integral parts of an organization. Organizational culture refer s to a system of shared meanings held by members that distinguishes one organization from other organizations (Schien, 1985). Organizational culture provides employees with a clear understanding of the way things are done in that organization. Organizational culture is the perceived, subjective infl uence of the formal system, the informal ‚style‘ of managers and other ignifi cant environmental factors on the attitudes, beliefs, values and motivation of the people in a particular organization (Litwin and Stringer, 1968). The concept of culture is seen as a kind of bridge between the individual and the organization. Culture performs a number of functions within an organization. It creates a distinction between one organization and another, it conveys a sense of identity for role incumbents, it facilitates the generation of commitment, and it enhances social system stability. Finally, culture sells as a sense-making and control mechanism that guides and shapes the attitude s and behaviour of employees.Hofstede (1980) felt that cultures which are high on the long-term orientation focus on the future and hold values in the present that will not necessarily provide an immediate benefi t (e. g. , Japan, China), while cultures with short-term orientation (e. g. , USA, Russia) are oriented toward the past and present and promote respect for tradition and for fulfi lling social obligations. The fi ve dimensions discussed by Hofstede (1980), help us understand the potential problems of managing employees from different cultures.One interesting fi nding of his research was the impact of culture on a country’s economic health. He found that countries with individualistic cultures were wealthier. Collectivistic cultures with high power distance were all poor. Cultures seem to affect a country’s economy through their promotion of individual work ethics and incentives for individuals to increase their human capital. Research into the link between org anizational culture and effectiveness is also limited by lack of agreement about the appropriate measures of effectiveness. The current literature has its roots in the early 1980s.Deal and Kennedy (1982) and Peters and Waterman (1982) focused their attention on the strategic importance of organizational culture and stimulated interest in the topic. Kotter and Heskett (1992) expanded on this by exploring the importance of adaptability and the fi t between an organization and its environment. Peters and Waterman (1982) argued that companies with strong culture are highly successful. They argued that superior fi rm performance is achieved if a company moves away from a purely technical, rationalistic approach towards a more adaptive and humanistic approach.Carroll (1983), Reynolds (1986), and Hitt and Ireland (1987) questioned the approach taken by Peters and Waterman. Owing to such results, the causal link between strong culture and performance was seriously questioned by the end of t he 1980s. Most of the studies lack a clear theoretical conception of the nature of the cultureperformance link. Siehl and Martin (1990) elaborate on this view and also suggest that culture may serve as a fi lter for factors that infl uence the effectiveness of the organization.These factors may differ between organizations. A more thorough understanding of the mechanisms at play is essential for research on the culture-performance link. Wilderom and Van den Berg (1998) found no direct signifi cant zero-order relationship between culture and performance. Taking the perceived performance and managerial leadership along with HRM practices into account, Wilderom and Van den Berg (1998) did discover that a signifi cant relationship exists between culture and performance.This fi nding illustrates the importance of the development of more elaborative theories on the direction and contingencies in the relation between culture and performance. Without such theories, we may draw overly simple or even misleading conclusions. In light of the above fi ndings, it is necessary to understand the relationship between HRM practices and organizational culture. The presumption is that more effective systems of HRM practices, which simultaneously exploit the potential for complementariness or synergies with organizational culture, lead to better performance and enhanced effectiveness.Indian organizations are embedded in Indian culture, which infl uences and is infl uenced by the economic, political and social factors, and is also subjected to global business infl uences. Sinha and Sinha (1994), found self-realization and inventive values as the highest form of work values in Indian culture. Organizations appreciate corporate core values of self-realization and inventive values as they encourage and recognize innovation, creativity and achievement. 4. Review of literature Schuler (1992) suggests that Strategic Human Resource Management (SHRM) has many different components, includin g policies, culture, values and practices.Strategic business needs of an organization are infl uenced by its internal (which mainly consist of factors such as organizational culture and nature of business) and external characteristics (consisting of the nature and state of economy in which the organization is existing and critical success factors, i. e. , opportunities and threats provided by the industry), which are infl uenced by HR activities. Thornhill, Lewis, Millmore, and Saunders (2000) found a potential role for HR-centred strategies to be used to change or realign the culture of an organization.An organization can change its culture through its recruitment strategy of replacing managers with those from outside, restructuring the organization, downsizing the workforce, training programmes, new reward strategies and performance management to alter employee behaviours or reinforce emergent ones. After the economic liberalization, Indian organizations were under pressure to cha nge from low-cost, indigenous, less effi cient and outdated technology to high-cost modern technology and prepare people to use it. This was done to develop and maintain their competitive edge in the larger business environment (Khan, 1999).The potential value of the employees is to be increased by collectively enhancing and linking their skills and capabilities in tune with the contemporary requirements of the market, and to be faster than the competitors. The success of the HRM will be determined by its ability to harness the intelligence and spirit of people by creating a learning climate. Indian organizations normally direct their HRM efforts towards the development of competencies, culture and effectiveness among employees individually or in groups 69AOP 18(4), 2010, ISSN 0572-3043 (Singh, 2003). Organizations may use many mechanisms to achieve their HRM goals as without competent and committed employees, an organization can achieve very little even it has excellent technologic al and other resources at its command. Such an assertion gains better credibility in the context of developing countries like India, that is, typically in early growth stages in terms of economic development and growing more rapidly than the ‚traditional‘ developed economies of Japan, North America and Europe.This also includes most South East Asian, South Asian and some Latin American countries. Selection in organizations is based on non-job related criteria like attractiveness, goal orientation, and interpersonal skills: a general lack of concern for value congruence (Prakash, 1994). The dominant emphasis has been on the universal practice of identifying and improving on existing performance strategies. This practice would require a complete reversal where congruencies of values should fi nd a place in selection and training.Only then would it possible to achieve linkages with the values of the wider socio-cultural context in India. In order to make an organization eff ective, the values of the society and the cultural milieu should be synthesised with those of the organization and its functioning. Fombrun, Tichy, and Devanna (1984) expanded these premises and developed the model of SHRM, which emphasises a ‘tight fi t’ between the organizational strategy, organizational structure and HR system. Political, economic and cultural forces are responsible for an organization’s mission and strategy.This explains these causal relations, which form the ‘tight fi t’ between strategy, organization structure and HR polices and practices. On the basis of mission and strategy, the shape of organization is structured, i. e. , people are organized to carry out different tasks to achieve the organization’s mission. Hendry and Pettigrew (1992) propose that a number of internal factors such as the organizational culture, structure (positioning of HR), leadership, level of technology employed and business output directly contr ibute to forming he contents of HRM. HRM could be seen as a menu of strategic choices to be made by human resource executives in order to promote the most effective ‘role behaviours’ that are consistent with the organization’s strategy and aligned with each other (Sparrow and Hilltrop, 1994). The present study The present study is to examine the relationship between HRM practices and organizational culture. To this end, HRM practices are viewed in terms of planning, recruitment, selection, training and development, performance evaluation, career management and rewards.Organizational culture is viewed in terms of self-realization, status enhancement, inventive values and socio-economic support. Self-realization consists of values such as achievement, ability utilization, advancement, aesthetics, personal development, and peace of mind. Status enhancement, one of the variables of organizational culture, consists of values of altruism, authority, physical activity, and prestige. Inventive values, another variable of organizational culture, consists of values of autonomy, creativity, lifestyles, risk-taking, and variety.Socio-economic support consists of work values of social relationship and interaction, comforts, dependency, good working condition and economic gains. The self-realization and inventive values give inner satisfaction to a person while performing a job in an organization. The variables of status enhancement and socio-economic support are extrinsic values, which are required in the Indian environment. Indian society and developing societies are ridden with insecurities and lack of resources and people generally have a history of failures.Fear of failure leads to giving importance to socio-economic support and lack of resources lends too much importance to status enhancement (Sinha, 1990). The idea that individuals are capable of development rests on the conviction that people are important and their involvement is necessary for a n organization to be effective. This conviction is translated into practice through a variety of programs that facilitate individual development and lead to better adjustment with the environment. In a growing economy, the emergence of the new organization and shift in the HRM paradigm have ecessitated a review of the skills, roles and competencies of the ‘new’ HR managers (Ulrich, 1997); in this new era, HRM has evolved in the context of the globalized economic environment. As such, it represents a response to the dramatic and continuous change that globalization has had on society and the world of work. Those who will man the HRM will undergo a change in roles. It will be necessary to inculcate in employees the required new skills, competencies and motivation (Dyer jr. , 1999). The understanding of HRM practices would require a comparative study of practices in the organizations.The relationship between HRM practices and organizational culture among private sector org anizations is studied. This paper also studies similarities and differences in HRM practices and organizational culture between two different organizations in the private sector. 5. Objectives of the study 1. To investigate the various HRM practices, i. e. , planning, recruitment, selection, performance evaluation, training and development, career management and rewards at the managerial levels in private sector organizations. 2. To study and examine the relationships between various aspects of HRM practices and organizational culture. . To fi nd whether there is any difference in the organizational cultures of the two organizations under study. This study was conducted at a time when Indian organizations were facing a very different competitive scenario compared to the past. They were facing competition from MNCs in the new liberal and global economy on the domestic markets. The competition was in terms of reduced cost, improved quality of products and better services. These enviro nmental constraints placed more pressure on managers. More often than not, these concerns were looming large on the horizons of Indian organizations.The fi ndings have bearing in this context. Managers across organizations in the private sector strongly endorsed self-realization (one of the variables of culture), which was signifi cantly correlated to almost all HRM practices. These are planning, recruitment, selection, performance evaluation, training and development, career management, and rewards. While organizations fi nd themselves in worldwide competition, most of the individuals are striving for achievement, ability utilization, advancement, aesthetics, personal development, and peace of mind.Realization or anticipation of realization of the values has resulted in better performance. Self-realization encourages people to satisfy their achievement needs in the work situation (Super and Nevill, 1986; Sinha, 1990). Self-realization in India came quite close to self-actualization in Spain. Status enhancement was strongly related to HR practices in private sector organizations. The values loaded on this factor are authority, altruism, prestige and physical activities. The desire for authority, altruism, prestige and physical activity has a positive impact on the performance of managers.Managers developed a positive attitude towards their work and contributed signifi cantly to self-realization and status enhancement, which were the most valued factors in India. Recruitment, selection, and performance evaluation, training and development, career management, and rewards turned out to be strongly correlated to status enhancement in the private sector. Selection based on planning along with proper recruitment leads to status enhancement. Rewards (fi nancial and non-fi nancial) were strongly related to status enhancement. Performance evaluation (one of the HRM practices) was strong related to status enhancement.Performance evaluation served as a key input for admi nistering formal organizational rewards, career growth and a tool of punishment (Cummings, 1973). Managers working in the organizations were in an excellent position to analyze newcomers’ skills and abilities and to provide feedback (House, 1995). As a purveyor of organizational expectations, performance evaluation was critical. Through the evaluation process, those working in the organization were aware of how well they were meeting their task and role demands (Asford and Cummings, 1983; Nelson, 1990).Clear rewards are the hallmark of an organization that effectively socializes newcomers. In addition to their readily apparent value, the rewards provide 75 AOP 18(4), 2010, ISSN 0572-3043 challenging assignments, promotions and salary increases, etc. , which give encouragement that provide status enhancement for managers (Chatman, 1991). Rewards were also found to be strongly related to inventive values in private sector organizations. Those working in the organizations with d esired values of risk-taking, variety, autonomy, lifestyle and creativity were rewarded.Rewards encourage people to be more creative, have variety and autonomy in their work life along with risk-taking and help to chalk out one’s own lifestyle in the organization. Similarly, training and development in private sector organizations were strongly correlated to inventive values. So, rewards and training and development in the private sector affect both individual esteem and lifestyle signifi cantly. Managers have developed to take on a variety of tasks in order to perform at an optimum level.Managers in the organization have developed to be autonomous and chalk out their own lifestyles to be more effective in the job. This also means employees will expect organizations to offer them opportunities to develop a portfolio of skills that enhances their marketability. Thus, organizations will have to provide work assignments and learning opportunities that allow for challenge and gro wth and self-development (Maurer and Tarulli, 1994). Socio-economic support consists of social relationships and interaction, comforts, dependency, good working conditions and economic gains.Managers were indifferent and did not care much for social interactions and relationships, whereas Indian managers held signifi cant value expectations concerning economic gains, good working conditions and comforts. HR practices were signifi cantly related to socio-economic support in the private sector. Through planning, recruitment and selection practices, newcomers with stronger systems of support report fewer adverse psychological outcomes related to job performance than do those with less support. Quality relationships with organizational insiders can even help newcomers to overcome the negative effects of unmet expectations (Major,Kozlowski, Chao, and Gardner, 1995). Interacting with enthusiastic newcomers may be good for insiders’ attitude and morale. The study also found a relati onship between career management and socio-economic support. People working in the organizations look for career management that will give them the breadth of experience that seems to be needed now, and start looking down on the in-depth expertise of the command-centred manager. So, a shift in culture happens, not because people have changed, but because their beliefs about what they have to do to get ahead have changed (Gunz, Hung, 2000).Rewards were strongly related to socio-economic support in private sector organizations. Litwin, Bray and Brooke (1996) felt that the nature of rewards is the key determinant of how effective they are. Managers who emphasized recognition and encouragement were more effective in shaping the culture of the organization or targeted results. The reason could be that managers working in the private organizations are experiencing a tremendous amount of change around them, thereby realizing that socioeconomic well-being will provide them with stability in a fast changing environment.Furthermore, evidence from literature found the contention that similar work experiences result in uniformity of culture characteristics (Schein, 1987). 76 ACTA OECONOMICA PRAGENSIA 4/2010 Rewards (one of the HRM practices) were strongly related to all the variables of culture in private sector organizations. There is hardly any difference between the two organizations when it comes to practicing rewards and training and development. People within the organizations are either rewarded or trained for acting in accordance with the dominant values of the organizations in India.Although this sample is not large enough to generalize the results, still rewards send clear and consistent signals about desired values and norms expected from people working in the organizations (Sethia and Van Galinow, 1985). The perception of the respondents from both private sector organizations were compared and it was found that there was a statistically signifi cant difference in the variable of socio-economic support between the two organizations, as shown in the table. This means employees in organization A perceived it in a better manner in comparison to their counterparts in organization B.Prakash (1994) felt that Indian organizations are congruent with their cultural surroundings (which is marked by diversities and paradoxes). There is a need to use multiple perspectives at different levels of analysis such as society, organization, management and the individual. It is important that organizations continue to grow and evolve newer perspectives in terms of their values and redefi ne their linkages with the society. Such fi ndings provide support that market economies have the inevitable consequences of rendering organizations competitive.Newman (1972) predicted that the Western work relationships are likely to appear to a great extent in Indian organizations as well. That is, employees in the organizations are likely to become achievement- oriented. There is a struggle for survival, where no one can afford to ignore an opportunity to get optimum results. As one moves higher on the hierarchical ladder of an organization, the individualistic orientation becomes stronger. The correlation analysis between dimensions of HRM practices and dimensions of culture shows that HRM practices do affect the culture of the organization.Ulrich and Lafasto (1995) felt that HRM practices provide information and shape behaviour and experiences of employees. Thus hypotheses H1a, H1b, H1c, H1 d, H1 e, H1 f and H1 g are validated. 11. Conclusions This paper has shown a signifi cant, positive and meaningful relationship between HRM practices and organizational culture. HRM practices become the means whereby organizational culture is created and sustained. Designing new culture requires that HRM professionals are ahead of the cultural change curve with innovative and exciting HRM practices.HRM has been proposed by others to be a potentially powerful le ver for shaping and changing the culture of an organization to make the organization more effective (Schien, 1983; Ulrich, 1997). This is a study of HRM practices in two large private sector organizations in India. HRM practices differ between the private sector organizations. This variation provides support to the fact that the adoption of HRM practices is contingent on the specifi c requirements of each organization (Schuler and Jackson, 1981).There is a signifi cant difference between the socio-economic support variable in organizations A and B. One fi nds no signifi cant difference in the other three variables of organizational culture in private sector organizations, i. e. , self-realization, status enhancement and inventive values. The results developed through inferential analysis to measure differences among the variables of HRM practices and organizational culture in private sector organizations are as follows: 1. The two private sector organizations showed that the perceiv ed mean of organization A was higher for all HRM practices. . The comparison of the dimension of organizational culture in the two private sector organizations showed that employees of organization A perceived the socio-economic support more than those in organization B. 3. It is evident that organization A showed relatively better perception of planning, recruitment processes, selection, performance evaluation and career management aspects of HRM practices in comparison to organization B. 4. There is no signifi cant difference between organization A and organization B in training and development and rewards as per the response of the respondents. 5.Planning, recruitment, selection, training and development, performance evaluation, career management and rewards are signifi cantly correlated with all the dimensions of organizational culture. Human Resource Management Practices – Literature review Human resource management (HRM) practices are being increasingly treated as depen dent rather than independent variables. Whereas in the past researchers focused almost exclusively on how changes in HRM practices affect employee performance or satisfaction, researchers now are beginning to ask how organizational conditions shape HRM practices.Examples of organizational conditions hypothesized to impact HRM practices include strategy (Hambrick and Snow 1987; Snow and Hrebiniak 1980; Olian and Rynes 1984; Lawler 1984; Hambrick and Mason 1984; Gupta and Govindarajan 1984a, b; and Miller, Kets de Vries and Toulouse 1982), organizational life cycle stage (Kochan and Chalykoff 1987; Kerr 1982, 1985), technological change, union presence, internal labor markets and even whether or not an organization has a personnel department (Osterman 1984; Pfeffer and Cohen 1984; Cohen and Pfeffer 1986).Until recently almost all HRM research was dominated by the technical perspective. The technical perspective presumes that organizations wish to plan, staff, appraise, compensate, tra in and develop their employees in order to ensure that the right people (skill-wise) are in the right place (job) at the right time (Collins 1979). The technical perspective leads to research designed to develop techniques for maximizing the match between employees' knowledge, skills and abilities on the one hand and the demands of the jobs on the other (Schneider 1985).The presumed result of good matching is organizational effectiveness, from which individual employees and the organization as a whole both benefit. The control perspective views HRM practices as a means for organizations to ensure the predictability and reliability of social interactions. The goal is to ensure that employees behave as solid citizens, living according to organizationally approved norms and values (Noland and Bakke 1949; Hollingshead 1949; Bowles and Gintish 1976; Edwards 1976; Collins 1979).This perspective recognizes that organizations attempt to govern social performances in addition to job performa nce. Desirable social behaviors presumably include getting along well with others and acting as a good citizen who shows concern for the organization's functioning. The institutional perspective posits two major explanations as to why organizations use particular HRM practices: organizations copy the practices they see being used by others, and/or they adopt practices to gain legitimacy and acceptance (Meyer and Rowan 1977; Zucker 1977; Meyer 1980).The institutional perspective assumes that legitimacy and acceptance are important objectives for most organizations because constituencies have the power to offer and withhold resources which, in the long run, may determine the firm's economic performance. 180 The political perspective holds that HRM practices reflect the distribution of power in an organization. For example, having an extensive set of HRM practices implies a powerful personnel department upon which others must depend when making personnel-related decisions (Osterman 198 4; Pfeffer and Cohen 1984).But existence of other powerful groups-such as unions or competitors who minimize their labor costs-may act to countervail or suppress the expression of the personnel department's wishes (Doeringer and Piore 1971). As suggested by Kochan and Chalykoff (1987) the economic perspective can also explain variations in HRM practices. Relatively affluent conditions in an organization permit it to pay higher wages. This in turn enables an organization to attract more job applicants and be more selective. Higher selectivity (lower selection ratios) diminishes the need to train employees.Furthermore, the attraction of more highly qualified individuals may lead to conditions that give more power and discretion to the employees, thus reducing the attractiveness to them of collective bargaining. The reverse scenario holds under less affluent economic conditions (Osterman 1984). Based on the five perspectives previously presented which help explain some of the variation and similarity in HRM practices across organizations, we aim to diagnose two private organizations from human resource management practices perspective.Our hypothesis is: HRM practices differ based on the company’s size and activity length. Conclusions Based on the analysis, we can conclude that both companies are efficient from HRM point of view. Both organizations are continually developing, having a market in expansion, the difference between them, which may influence the HRM practices, are the size and the activity length: organization 2 is large and relatively old compared to organization 1. The differences recorded are elated to prospecting, selection methods, training needs evaluation, working conditions, and social protection area where organization 2 is more developed. From the five perspectives presented, only three are representative for the analyzed organizations. The technical perspective presumes that organizations wish to plan, staff, appraise, compensate, tra in and develop their employees in order to ensure that the right people (skill-wise) are in the right place (job) at the right time. That is why both organizations are carrying out trainings for their employees and the trained people usually got promoted.The political perspective holds that HRM practices reflect the distribution of power in an organization, having an extensive set of HRM practices implies a powerful personnel department upon which others must depend when making personnel-related decisions. The results of the analysis point out that human resource department of the two companies are relatively strong and well organized. There are no conflicts, which can mean that either the employee are satisfied with their work and rewards or the labor unions are not very strong compared to the management and HR departments of the companies.The economic perspective can also explain variations in HRM practices. It is well illustrated by the analyzed organizations as they have a conti nually growing activity volume which means that they can give higher salaries. In the case of organization 2, which is larger and relatively old compared to organization 1, the management offers, besides rather good salaries, non-financial benefits. Also, the social protection is more developed in the case of organization 2. Based on all these results, we can conclude that our hypothesis is confirmed, HRM practices differ based on the companies’ size and activity length.In an early review of the HRM – performance literature, Dyer and Reeves (1995) posited 4 levels of outcomes of HRM practices—employee, organizational, financial, and market— suggesting that the impact of HRM is likely to work outward through these levels. Employee outcomes consist of affective reactions such as satisfaction and commitment as well as behavioral reactions such as absenteeism and turnover. Organizational outcomes focus primarily on operational performance measures such as qua lity, productivity, and customer satisfaction.Financial outcomes, such as accounting profits, represent the next step in their causal chain. Finally, market outcomes consist of measures of the market value of firms based on stock price. Becker et al. (1997) similarly argued that HRM practices operate most directly through employee skills, motivation, and work design, resulting in behavioral outcomes such as creativity, productivity, and discretionary effort, which are expected to work through operational and eventually through financial market outcomes.