Managing Business Problems Essay Example for Free

Managing Business Problems Essay What are the causes of poor productivity within large organizations and how can we look at trying to improve this? Productivity is the degree of output achieved in relation to a certain level of input. For example, in a call centre environment, productivity would be seen as the number of telephone calls answered per hour by a certain number of staff. The telephone calls are the output and the staff available to take the calls are the input. In order to improve productivity, one of the following has to occur: The level of input is decreased however the level of output remains the same, or, the level of output increases but the level of input remains the same. In relation to the example of the call centre, this would mean reducing the number of staff available to answer the phone but yet the remaining staff would still have to answer the same number of calls, i.e. they would have to answer more calls each to compensate for the decrease in staff. Or the other way to increase productivity in a call centre would be to keep the same number to staff available to take customer calls but the number of calls being answered in total would have to increase. Productivity is a major issue within any organisation but especially call centres. Call centres do try to forecast the number of calls they expect everyday and allocate resources accordingly to deal with these pressures, however there are still thousands of calls abandoned (where the customer hangs up before even getting through to an advisor) each and every day, this is sometimes referred to as call leakage. This is a growing problem for call centres across the country and it is surprising the amount of customers who will take their business elsewhere simply because they cant get through on the phone as they see it as poor customer service. In many cases it isnt feasible for staff numbers to be increased in order to cope with the call volumes that are being received and so the only solution to reducing the call leakage is to increase the productivity of the existing staff. Working in a call centre environment myself I appreciate that this is a very challenging task as call centre agents generally feel overworked and underpaid already and trying to get more work out of them will be difficult. However my research into call centre life has thrown up some issues surrounding the task of increasing staff performance in order for your business to work smarter. My research examines the possibility of reward systems as a means of increasing productivity, how call centre staff view their own roles and changes they would like to see in order to help them perform better During my research I searched the Emerald website to find relevant journal articles to assist my studies. I came across an interesting one called An exploration of managerial issues in call centres by Colin Armistead, Julia Kiely, Linda Hole and Jean Prescott. This paper consisted of two case studies carried out in two large organisations; these will be known as Case Study A and Case Study B. I found this article useful as it explores why people work in call centres, how they feel about their jobs and this research is spread over all levels from call centre agent to general manager. Case Study A provides a good background to call centre life and will aid understanding of what it is like to work in a call centre environment. In Case Study A, a total of fourteen staff members of all levels were interviewed, interviews lasted one hour and were all taped and transcribed. The interviews explored the initial decision to work for a call centre, the expectations they had before they started and the extent to which their jobs had lived up to those expectations. The authors also examined company statistics; they found evidence of high turnover in staff who had been employed for a few months then reducing to comparatively low turnover after they had been employed for more than six months. I found the findings from Case Study A to be very surprising having worked in a call centre myself and not having had very many positive experiences during my time there. The overall impression from those interviewed was that they felt very positive about their workplace. There were inevitable differences in how different levels of employees viewed certain issued but there were more similarities than differences. I was interested to see how employees had spoke about productivity and performance targets. It became apparent that performance targets were related to the number of calls answered, the time in which it took to answer the calls and also the levels of call leakage. It is very easy to monitor call centre agents against an array of time-related measures and staff felt under a lot of pressure at times due to this. I can relate to this, as this is exactly how I felt working as a call centre agent. One manager interviewed in Case Study A stated that the most important thing in managing call centre staff was motivation, motivation, motivation, yet the manager in question admitted he had little idea of how to motivate staff. I do agree that motivating staff to perform well is an issue and I appreciate that highly motivated staff will be more productive but I also think that if staff working in call centres had a better understanding of the bigger picture and knew how their actions impacted upon the business as a whole they may change their attitudes and automatically perform better and more efficiently. This is just my opinion from my experience of working in a British Gas call centre for almost three years I have been privileged enough to have been given an insight into the deeper realms of the business, something which frontline staff rarely come into contact with and I do feel this would be of benefit to them. As it stand now, staff are being thrown tough performance targets by management and expected to meet them without question, they have no understanding of why the business needs them to perform at a particular level and what the consequences will be if they dont. I believe business awareness to be a vital part of representing a company to the public and the company I work for do offer a business awareness course, however this is e-learning based and has to be completed in your own time. Needless to say, there are not many staff who take advantage of this opportunity to understand the business they work for due to the above conditions and a lot of staff are probably unaware that the facility even exists. If British Gas were to allow the time for staff to complete this course during working hours or even to be paid overtime for the time they spend on it outside their scheduled hours, they would have a massive response and although this would be time consuming and possibly quite costly, I believe that the positive effects on how employees work would outweigh the costs. Productivity is very poor in the call centre I work in after reading relevant sections in a book called Remuneration Policy by Patrick McCauley I am under the impression that a successful reward system can help to improve productivity. McCauley defines motivation simply as goal directed behaviour and he makes it clear that employees will only be motivated to increase their performance by goals that are actually of interest to them, for example if a manager said to his team one day that the person with the highest productivity that day would be rewarded with a family ticket to the local pantomime then you would get Sandra, the mother with 2.4 children, husband and nice semi-detached house working her socks off, however, Matt, Gary and Emma, the three students on the team and Harold the grandad of the team who is six months off retirement would not be interested in the slightest by the managers offer of reward. McCauley states that the three key questions we need to consider when devising a successful reward system are: * What goals will employees actually pursue? * What factors will determine their success or failure in achieving these goals? * What will be the consequences of achievement or frustration for the employee and the organisation? As I have already mentioned, it is important to offer rewards that are of interest to the staff and that will actually motivate them to perform better and drive them towards goals which involve meeting productivity and performance targets on the way. It is important to offer generic rewards that are appealable to all or a choice of a few different rewards in order to cater for all the different ages, cultures etc. I have dome some research in to reward systems whilst working on a service excellence team in the British Gas call centre and the rewards that were constantly being requested by staff were things such as an extra days annual leave, high street vouchers, deputising for a higher level role for half a day as a development opportunity etc. These were things that the frontline staff were telling management would motivate them to work harder and to a higher standard, however management declined these requests as they saw them as too ambitious and they were especially against the extra holiday which unfortunately was the most popular suggestion. It was a shame these suggestions were declined as staff then felt that they were being ignored which in turn lowered morale and saw a drop in productivity for a short while, it would probably have been cheaper for the company to have allowed a small number of desired rewards which would have increased productivity for while and certainly wouldnt have reduced it. Staff are already aware of what their targets are on a day to day basis and we need to remember that there will be a percentage of staff who do consistently meet these targets, therefore when setting criteria for a reward system we have to set it higher than daily performance targets to show that staff are being recognised for going above and beyond the call of duty and not just being coaxed into doing what is already expected of them. Staff will have to meet daily performance and productivity targets and then some before they can achieve a reward. If an employee successfully achieves a reward for their performance then not only will their productivity have had to increase to achieve the reward in the first place but as that desired behaviour has now been rewarded, the employee will be conditioned into repeating it in order to gain further rewards. If an employee either attempts and fails to reach the goal required to achieve a reward or doesnt make the effort and sees his colleagues around him being rewarded for their increased effort and performance it will have one of the two following effects upon him: * He will become de-motivated as he is feeling left out or a failure as his efforts are not being recognised because he fails to reach the required standard and his performance will drop further. * He will become determined to work to the required level to achieve a reward to prove to himself and his managers that he too can perform well. If the latter of the consequences occurs then the reward systems is still being effective in all areas as even failures are being motivated to continue to strive for the reward on offer. However if the company begins to see individuals experiencing a drop in motivation and performance they may need to consider addressing this with a reward for example for the most improved productivity each month, therefore even those whose efforts dont bring them above the required productivity level for a standard reward have a chance of recognition for their efforts alone. McCauley examines Vrooms expectancy theory and this supports the issues raised above. Vroom does state though that the criteria that needs to be met in order to achieve a reward has to be very clear cut and communicated thoroughly to all levels of staff so as to avoid woolly areas where decisions to reward or not may be disputed. Throughout my research I have identified underlying issues surrounding the productivity of call centre staff and how to improve this by encouraging motivation amongst staff and providing them with personal goals that at the same time guide them towards achieving the productivity levels required by the business. I have come to the conclusion that productivity can only really be successfully increased in the long term by providing something for the individual to work towards, not just setting targets and expecting them to be met. I also think that increased business awareness amongst frontline staff would be beneficial to any call centre so then at least they know and understand why there are certain pressures placed upon them and they may be more welcoming to the challenge of attaining higher targets. Bibliography An exploration of managerial issues in call centres. (Journal Article) Colin Armistead, Julia Kiely, Linda Hole Jean Prescott. Remuneration Policy

Sparta: Why the May Fly Only Lives for One Day :: essays research papers

Sparta; Why the May Fly Only Lives for One Day   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Greece, a land of culture and philosophy, separated at its birth into two classes; Athens awoke to the cultural, intellectual side of life while its brother Sparta focused on mainly building up military power. Sparta was the brawn of Greece, while Athens was the brain. In an analogy, it would be comparing Rich Nastro (The Brawn, not to say that he has no brain, but he is the most muscle-built teacher at Saint Paul’s, and I needed an example that you, the teacher could relate with, and I know you could relate to yourself,) to Jim Buckler (The Brain, and even though he may know how to build nuclear weapons, he is not war-like enough to use them. In addition, he is not grading this, so I do not have to explain myself to him.) Sparta was located on the southern tip of the Peloponessus, and had little trade with other city-states. It also never set up any colonies, so financial wealth came from conquering other city-states. (Farah 115) Sparta focused so much on the military, they forgot about other important aspects of daily life, such as flossing, developing an artistic community, or creating a stable government. Poorly managed priorities in Sparta were prevalent and would have caused economic recession if they had not pillaged neighboring countries and city-states. However, Sparta was cruel to the people they conquered, and forced their victims into slavery, a.k.a. Helots. The Helots had to farm the land and honor the Spartans even though, much like the American south during slavery, the Helots outnumbered the Spartans. Despite slaves outnumbering the Spartans, the military ruled with absolute power, and crushed every rebellion the Helots attempted. The rebellion, attempted by the Helots, lasted for thirty years before the Spartans crushed it, and even with the Helots’ superior numbers (200,000 Helots to 10,000 Spartans), they still did not manage to overthrow the Spartan military because Sparta had develo ped the Phalanx. (Farah 115) Despite its initial success, the Phalanx was the ultimate boiling pot for the lobster of Sparta. The Iron Age came about when Sparta was establishing itself, iron weapons and armor were cheaper to produce than their predecessor of bronze, so weapons became readily available for any one who wanted one (just like now!) This meant that everybody and their brother was buying weapons and armor to arm themselves’ to become part of the Phalanx legions that were the pride and joy of Sparta.

Case Study On HR Planning

Ms. Barnacles has an MBA-Human Resources Management from Winston Churchill University and has been instrumental in formalizing the institution's human resources' policies and procedures. Occupancy rates in the hospital had run between 76 and 82 percent from 1987 to 2012. However, since then, occupancy has fallen to 57 percent. Such declines have not been unusual for this industry during this period due to the emphasis of on outpatient services and increasing competition.However, the decline inning occupancy rate has affected this hospital revenues to such an extent that it ran a deficit for the first time last year. The only response to these changes thus far has been a tightening of requirements for equipment or apply purchases. At the most recent quarterly meeting of the Board of Directors on July 31 , 201 3, DRP. Imides Gigantic presented the rather bleak financial picture. The projected deficit for 2013 was PH 3,865,000. 00 unless some additional revenue sources were identified o r some additional savings were found.The Board's recommendation, based on the immediate crisis and need to generate short-term saving, was that employee layoffs were the only realistic alternative. They recommended that DRP. Imides Gigantic consider laying-off up to 10 percent of the hospital's employee's with an emphasis on hose in â€Å"non-essentials† areas. DRP. Gigantic responded that the hospital employees had never been laid off in the history of the institution. Moreover, she viewed the employees as part of the â€Å"family/' and would have great difficulty in implementing such lay-off.Nevertheless, since she had no realistic short-term alternative for closing the â€Å"revenue gap†, she reluctantly agreed to implement the layoff policy which would be as fair as possible to all employees, with guarantee of reemployment for those laid off, and to find additional revenue sources so that layoffs would be unnecessary in the future. DRP Gigantic called Tees Barnacl es into her office the next morning, shared her concerns, and asked her to prepare both a short-term plan to save PH over next year through employee lay-offs as well as long-term plan to avoid layoffs in the future.Her concerns were that the layoffs themselves might be costly in terms Of lost investment in some of the laid-off employees, lost efficiency, potential lawsuits, and lower morale. She was concerned that the criteria for the layoff not only be equitable, but also appear to be equitable to the employees. She also wanted to make sure that those being laid off received adequate† notice so they could make alternative plans or so the hospital could assist them with finding alternative employment.Since the hospital has no previous experience with employee layoffs and no union contract constraints, her feeling was that both seniority and job performance should be considered in determining who would be laid off. Tees knew the hospital's performance appraisal system was inade quate and needed to be revamped. While this task was high on her â€Å"to do† list, she also knew she had to move ahead with her recommendations on layoffs immediately. The present reference appraisal system uses a traditional checklist rating scale with summary rating.Since there is no forced distribution, the average ratings of employees in different departments varies widely. Exhibit 2. 1 . Shows the summary ratings of employee's in each department. Most supervisors in all departments rate most of their subordinates either â€Å"satisfactory' or â€Å"outstanding. † Tees has done a quick review of those employees whose over-all ratings Were â€Å"unsatisfactory† or â€Å"questionable†. Most are employee's with less than three years of seniority, whereas, the â€Å"satisfactory† employee has worked for Sat. Filament approximately seven years. Tees is preparing to submit her recommendations to DRP.Gigantic and has come to YOU, HER Consultant, for advice. Exhibit 2. 2 provides a summary of the distribution of employees and payroll expense by department for the most recent year. Questions: 1. Identify the major problem or problems and their causes. 2. What are some alternatives for dealing with these problems? For example is it possible to avoid layoffs through the use of attrition? 3. Develop a plan for implementing employee layoffs over the next year which will generate 3 million pesos is savings. Give specific details concerning apartments affected, the use of seniority versus merit, the amount of notice, and out-placement activities.

DNA and Crime Investigation Essay - 2149 Words

DNA is deoxyribonucleic acid, which is found in almost all living things. DNA serves as a code for the creation and maintenance of new cells within an organism. Within humans, it is found in almost every cell. Although most of our DNA is found within the nucleus of our cells as nuclear DNA, a very small amount of our DNA is also found within the mitochondria as mitochondrial DNA. Because mitochondrial DNA is generally not used for solving crimes, for the purpose of this paper it will be disregarded. DNA is a long curved structure, made up of pairs of four specific bases: adenine, guanine, cytosine, and thymine, is the repository of a code from which all of our cells are made. The code is made up of base pairs which look like the†¦show more content†¦Although DNA was initially observed by Frederich Miescher, a German biochemist near the end of the nineteenth century, the key to the structure of DNA was not discovered until almost a hundred years later. It was at that time that science realized the importance of DNA to the study of biology. In 1953 four scientists: James Watson, Francis Crick, Maurice Wilkins and Rosalind Franklin completed a DNA model which they created using observed X-ray diffraction patterns. This model showed how the structure of DNA was able to transmit genetic information from parents to their offspring. The work of these four people led to a complete restructuring of the beliefs of the scientific community regarding genetic information. Their initial word led to further work which encompassed their hypothesis of how DNA replicates itself. From this work came the modern technologies of DNA fingerprinting and sequencing. DNA fingerprinting is a technique that is used to determine how likely it is whether genetic material came from a specific person or family group. Since 99% of human DNA is identical, that means that it is only 1% of our DNA which is different, and it is that 1% that we look at when we are attempting to determine the origin of a DNA sample. Enzymes are applied to DNA to break it into smaller pieces which are called restriction endonucleases. These restriction endonucleases becomeShow MoreRelatedThe Role of Dna Technology in Crime Investigation5441 Words   |  22 PagesDNA profiling DNA profiling (also called DNA testing, DNA typing, or genetic fingerprinting) is a technique employed by forensic scientists to assist in the identification of individuals on the basis of their respective DNA profiles. DNA profiles are encrypted sets of numbers that reflect a persons DNA makeup, which can also be used as the persons identifier. DNA profiling should not be confused with full genome sequencing. 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