Merit vs Anniversary Pay Rates Essay

Performance reviews are an integral part of business. Employees crave feedback, whether it is positive or negative, as it provides motivation and a better understanding of the job requirements. Anniversary Date and Common Merit Date performance reviews each have advantages and disadvantages. It would behoove the human resource professional to choose the approach that best suits their organization’s needs and goals. Some of the factors that should be taken into consideration are; planning cycles, hiring practices, and organizational culture (Koss, 2009, p. 7) Anniversary reviews are commonly used when the organization has a lot of hourly, lower level employees (Koss, 2009, p. 2). This method provides a fair system. â€Å"Every employee receives a performance appraisal and sometimes a compensation adjustment on the one year anniversary of their start in a job, and at one-year intervals thereafter. All employees get reviewed and receive compensation adjustments at the same interval† (p. 2). This method is popular when the organization wishes to evaluate select employee performances against industry established standards, instead of vetting an employee against an alternate employee (p 2). [The Anniversary Date Method can] lighten the managers’ workloads and increases the likelihood that they’ll spend more time on their employee performance reviews, since they’re not caught trying to do them all at once. In addition, they spread out the appraisal-related workload over the year, avoiding processing peaks† (p. 2). Sometimes, Anniversary Date reviews are not the ideal choice. â€Å"An employee’s future is based solely on his/her manager’s subjective opinion of them† (p. 2). When appraisals are conducted annually, and on the anniversary date, usually about half of the staff is in line with prospective organizational objectives (p. ). Another con of this method is that the appraisal date generally does not match with any specific performance period (p. 2). This method can also result in inadequate reporting, and lesser understanding of why objectives were not met (p. 2). Because the manager is evaluating the performance of the individual, and not the comparative performance of their peers, it can create an unfair environment, and compensation allocations may be unequal (p. 3). Managers tend to try and accommodate the compensation budget, which is directly related to the cyclical ups and downs of the economy. If there is no money left in the budget, an employee with a year end review may receive a lower increase, not because they are less deserving, but because there is no more room left in the budget (p. 3). Common Merit Date Reviews is a procedure where organizations evaluate all of their employees at one specific time (p. 3). â€Å"One of the biggest advantage is that †¦they allow for corporate and individual goals to unite. HR actually spends less administration time on focal reviews because the process typically runs over a few months, rather than an entire year. This allows for†¦everyone in the organization to align their goals appropriately† (p. ). Because everything is done at one time, and each employee’s performance is being evaluated at the same time, managers can compare employees to each other, and provide consistent and fair appraisals, and allow for compensation to be [somewhat] unaffected by changing business cycles (p. 4). â€Å"Another advantage is that if any changes to evaluation criteria have to be made, new forms or processes can be distributed out to everyone at the same time† (p. 4). When the organization is focused on completing appraisals once a year, it can be much simpler to offer training on tools, processes, and skills necessary (p. ). While there are many advantages to the Common Merit Date Review, there are still a few disadvantages. Newer employees will not be permitted a full year of performance for evaluation. If there are a large number of employees, managers will need a significant amount of time to review the process and may have to neglect other tasks until the process is complete (p. 6) †¢Koss, S. (2009). Which is Best? Anniversary vs. Focal (Common Date) Performance Reviews. Koss Management. Retrieved February 26, 2011, from kosshrexpert. com/Article-WhichisBest. pdf

Marketing of Service †Restaurant Chain Essay

With the rise in disposable income, dining outside has become a staple part of the modern world. This has been a phenomenon of most of the cities across the continent. The beautiful and pristine continent of Africa is no exception with the spurt of the cities and the settlements from the outside countries. An interesting cradle of development in the continent is the country of South Africa. As the standard of living of most South Africans has risen over the last decade, eating out has become a popular leisure activity. According to Statistics South Africa, restaurants and coffee shops are steadily growing their businesses year on year. Take-away also did well, with businesses growing at an annual rate of around 15%. These increases were in spite of rising interest rates. In recent years, this market has grown and more restaurants have opened – offering a wide variety and an improving quality of food. So, while the market offers plenty of opportunity for a small business, it also demands quality and preferably a special or different offering. We, at Golden Restaurants , in our explorations to roll out across the seas , couldn’t help overlook this burgeoning market. Hence, going ahead with our vision of taking our Flagship Restaurant Brand ‘The Golden Bowl’ to the International Market, we have thought of setting our eyes on the Africa’s , the beautiful South Africa to begin with . Being in the Indian Restaurant Market for quite sometime and having burnt our kitchens to serve clients from different classes , particularly , the rich and the creamy , we would like to conjure our expertise in positioning ourselves as a class apart and an amphitheatre for the Rich and the Super Rich Indian South Africans . This document provides a peek into the South African Indian Market and our strategy to market and promote the experience of Dining in a different way to the Rich Indian populace. Introduction Setting up a restaurant means first deciding what type of food to serve. South Africa has plenty of ‘traditional’ dishes of its own, and has long been a fertile market for cuisines from India, Italy, Greece, France, China and Japan. This exposure has grown in the last decade, and will continue as the country has become home to thousands from other African countries. Knowing our expertise in the Indian Cuisines, we plan to target High-earning individuals or families of the large Indian Diaspora with plenty of disposable income but not much time as well as dual-income family groups and the Flux of Indian Tourists to the country. Though there are a sizeable number of Indian Restaurants, around 40, located in the Indian strongholds like Durban, Johannesburg, Cape Town, Pretoria catering to the different strata of the diaspora, we intend to focus ourselves on the niche rich segment and provide an enriching experience with differentiated Service Value Addition. We plan to start with Johannesburg, as our strategic location , it being a hotspot of Indian settlement and also one of the wealtiest cities of the country . We would like to offer our guests a dining experience like no other. A unique, interactive dining experience creating memorable moments with family and friends or the corporate honchos. From the time the first piece of bread is dipped and the last piece of dessert is savored, you’ll be graced with the time to discover new things about people you thought you knew. And, those you’re getting to know. The emphasis would be on the first impressions and the power of contrast, simplified but exhaustive dining, an engagement of the senses and a choreographed ambience. The pick of the cuisines of the four corners of India would be on offer and the Indian exotic feel would be the main forte. Indian Diaspora in South Africa The history of the Indian diaspora in South Africa is a fascinating saga of almost a hundred & forty years. Indian South Africans are people of Indian descent living in South Africa and mostly live in and around the city of Durban, making it ‘the largest ‘Indian’ city outside India’. Many Indians in South Africa are descendents of migrants from colonial India (South Asia) during late 19th-century through early 20th-century. At other times Indians were subsumed in the broader geographical category â€Å"Asians†, including persons originating in present-day Iran and parts of the small Chinese community. The modern South African Indian community is largely descended from Indians who arrived in South Africa from 1860 onwards. The first 342 of these came on board the Truro from Madras, followed by the Belvedere from Calcutta. They were transported as ndentured laborers to work on the sugarcane plantations of Natal Colony, and, in total, approximately 150,000 Indians arrived as indentured laborers over a period of 5 decades, later also as indentured coal miners and railway construction workers. The indentured laborers tended to speak Tamil, Telugu and Hindi, and the majority were Hindu with Christians and Muslims among them. The remaining Indian immigration was from passenger Indians, comprising traders, and others who migrated to South Africa shortly after the indentured labourers, paid for their own fares and travelled as British Subjects. These immigrant Indians who became traders were from varying religious backgrounds, some being Hindu and some being Muslims from Gujarat (including Memons and Surtis), later joined by Kokanis, and Urdu speakers from Uttar Pradesh. . There was also a significant number of Gujarati Hindus in this group. Indian traders were sometimes referred to as â€Å"Arab traders† because of their dress, as large numbers of them were Muslim. Passenger Indians, who initially operated in Durban, expanded inland, to the South African Republic (Transvaal), establishing communities in settlements on the main road between Johannesburg and Durban. Natal’s Indian traders rapidly displaced small white shop owners in trade with other Indians, and with black Africans, causing resentment among white businesses. | Population, Regional & Linguistic Distribution The South African Indian origin community currently numbers around 1. 15 million and constitutes about 2. 5% of South Africa’s total population of 45. 45 million. About 80% of the Indian community lives in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, about 15% in the Gauteng (previously Transvaal) area and the remaining 5% in the Cape Town area. In KwaZulu-Natal, the major concentration of the Indian population is in Durban. The largest concentrations of Indian settlement are at Chatsworth, Phoenix, Tongaat and Stanger in the Durban Coastal area, which covers approximately 500,000 of the Indian origin community. Pietermaritzburg – noted for its link with Mahatma Gandhi – has a community of approximately 200,000. Smaller inland towns in KwaZulu Natal such as Ladysmith, Newcastle, Dundee and Glencoe make up the bulk of the remaining Indian population. In the Gauteng area, the Indian community is largely concentrated around Lenasia outside Johannesburg and Laudium and other suburbs outside Pretoria. There are also smaller groups in towns in the Eastern Cape and other provinces. Settlement of Indian origin people in a particular area, as with other South African peoples, came about as a result of the Group Areas Act that forced racial division into particular designated areas. According to the figures provided by the Department of Education and Culture, in the Province of KwaZulu-Natal, the linguistic break-up of the Indian community is as follows: Tamil 51%, Hindi 30%, Gujarati 7%, Telugu 6%, Urdu 5% and others 1%. Starting a restaurant in South Africa Product is a key element in the overall market offering. Marketing-mix planning begins with formulating an offering that brings value to target customers. This offering becomes the basis upon which the company builds profitable relationships with customers. A company’s market offering often includes both tangible goods and services. Each component can be a minor or a major part of the total offer. At one extreme, the offer may consist of a pure tangible good, such as soap. Toothpaste, or salt—no services accompanying the product. At the other extreme are pure services, for which the offer consists primarily of a service. Examples include a doctor’s exam or financial services. Between these two extremes, however, many goods-and-services combinations are possible, the best examples is â€Å"Restaurant†. A restaurant is an ideal case of a product meets services story and the success of the greater concept as a whole depends on the combined successes or excellence of the entire gamut of offerings right from the food served to the services rendered to the ambience offered. We are not just offering our core Product with an elite Service but we blend it with a rich dining experience, one that would linger on for quite sometime. Now that we have identified the country, learnt about the population and have good statistical information which support the opening of an Indian Restaurant in South Africa, let’s put on the Thinking Hat and do some Brainstorming like a marketers. We have the vast South African Market which is more or less a mixed kind of market with heterogeneous culture. So, at first we need to identify our target market and position our pro-ser-exp (product served in a unique manner to give an experience of lifetime) by the process of S. T. P (i. e. Segmenting, Targeting and Positioning)

Fox and Coyote and Whale

Native American traditional stories, folktales, are stories passed down from generation to generation by story telling and performance. Native Americans emphasized the importance of living in harmony with the naturual world. They had complex religious beliefs, sophisticated poltical systems, and strong morals. Some of the stories are creation myths, tales of heroes, and tricksters. Trickster tales are stories that have animals or human characters who engage in deceit, violence, or magic. Often trickster tales are said to explain why the world is the way it is.â€Å"Coyote and the Buffalo† and â€Å"Fox and Coyote and Whale† are two trickster tales, retold by Mourning Dove, explaining how Coyote's action created changes in the world. In theses two trickster tales, Coyote, the main character shares some similarities in morals, character, and transformation . Yet there exsists differences in how these traits are presented. One similarity between these two trickster tales i s that they both have purposes to teach morals. The moral teaching in â€Å"Coyote and the Buffalo† is to not be greedy.An example would be when Coyote killed the cow for more food because he was tired of eating only the fat. As a result he gets the remains of the cow stolen and is left with nothing. In â€Å"Fox and Coyote and Whale†, one of the morals is not to steal someone's wife.Whale steals Fox's wife and takes her to his lodge which leads Coyote and Fox's wife. Whale ends up getting his head chopped off and thrown into the ocean. They both teach morals, just in different ways. One difference that these two trickster tale have is Coyote's character trait. For example, in â€Å"Coyote and the Buffalo†, Coyote is portrayed as numbskull.Actions like kicking the Buffalo Bull's skull out of revenge, killing the cow Buffalo Bull gave him thinking Buffalo Bull will never know, and trusting a stranger with the little food he had left to take a nap, all make Coyote a numbskull. In â€Å"Fox and Coyote and Whale†, Coyote is smart and thoughtful.When Coyote helps Fox outsmart the water maidens, into telling them where Fox's wife was located, they go on a journey to recapture Fox's wife from Whale. Even tho Coyote in one tale contrasts Coyote's character from the other they both did well people. Coyote from â€Å"Coyote and the Buffalo†, got out of dieing by offering Buffalo Bull new horns.Buffalo accepted, so it was a win-win situaton for Coyote. In the other tale, Coyote helped find Coyote's wife by decieving the water maidens, and getting information before killing them. This helped regain Fox's wife's love.The coyote in these tales had diiferent mentalities from one another, one being an idiot and one being smart. Another similarity that theses tales have is that they both explain why the world is how it is. For example, in â€Å"Coyote and the Buffalo†, when Coyote gives Buffalo Bull new horns, they become the horns tha t all buffalos would have from that point on.Also, when Coyote kills the cow that was given to him by Buffalo as food he decides to go back to Buffalo to ask for another one but the cow that Coyote killed returned from the dead and refused to go with coyote again and Buffalo denies him another one.This explains why there are no buffalo in the Kettle Falls on the Columbia Rive, all because of Coyote. In â€Å"Fox and Coyote and Whale†, Fox and Coyote go after Fox's wife who was taken by Whale. After Fox and Coyote rescue her, Fox's cuts off Whale's head and tosses it into the ocean.This is why there are no whales in the rivers, and Whale could no longer make love to the wives of other men. This trickster tale also explains why Land people and Water people don't like each other. Coyote plays a role in how everything changed and how everything transformed.From reading both trickster tales, I learned that by decieving people you can get things out of them. These tales defenitely taught many moral, such as respect the dead, don't take what you have for grante, the importance of familiy and fidelity, ect. It gave a background on how the world transformed.

Importance of Political Socialization

There are many ways that our ideas are shaped and influenced as we grow up. This process by which we develop certain ways of thinking is called political socialization. There are three main influences which change and shape us being, the family, the mass media, and formal education. The family definitely has the greatest impact on us as we grow. This is primarily because ever since the beginning of childhood we are exposed to the ideas of our parents. Their ideas are the ideas that young children learn, and soon begin to form these ideas are their own. The saying that â€Å"You never get a second chance to make a first impression† holds true here in that this is what first the child is exposed to, and it is hard to get people to change from their original ideas of politics, or anything for that matter. In 1965 Jennings and Niemi selected a sample of high school seniors throughout the country and found that 58.9% of them had chosen the same party as their parents. Another influence on how people are shaped is the Mass Media. Today more and more people are spending more and more time watching television. The average grade school student spends more time watching tv than he or she does at school. The media has been called the â€Å"new parent† by some. However, the programs that would influence political opinion the most, such as the news, are rarely watched by the youth of today. The final major influence of people political socialization is their formal education or school. Countries have historically had government classes in their schools to â€Å"preach† the goodness of their particular type of government. For example, American children have been taught the virtues of capitalism and democracy for years. In Germany, during the Nazi era, children were taught how murders could be justified in certain situations. There are certain types of ways used to measure the public's opinion once they have been formed. There are usually samples that are performed instead of complete polls because it can save a lot of time. Scientific sampling is polling random people to form the general opinion of many people. In closing, it is evident by reading above that people today are influenced by the Mass Media, schools, and probably most importantly, families. Importance of Political Socialization There are many ways that our ideas are shaped and influenced as we grow up. This process by which we develop certain ways of thinking is called political socialization. There are three main influences which change and shape us being, the family, the mass media, and formal education. The family definitely has the greatest impact on us as we grow. This is primarily because ever since the beginning of childhood we are exposed to the ideas of our parents. Their ideas are the ideas that young children learn, and soon begin to form these ideas are their own. The saying that â€Å"You never get a second chance to make a first impression† holds true here in that this is what first the child is exposed to, and it is hard to get people to change from their original ideas of politics, or anything for that matter. In 1965 Jennings and Niemi selected a sample of high school seniors throughout the country and found that 58.9% of them had chosen the same party as their parents. Another influence on how people are shaped is the Mass Media. Today more and more people are spending more and more time watching television. The average grade school student spends more time watching tv than he or she does at school. The media has been called the â€Å"new parent† by some. However, the programs that would influence political opinion the most, such as the news, are rarely watched by the youth of today. The final major influence of people political socialization is their formal education or school. Countries have historically had government classes in their schools to â€Å"preach† the goodness of their particular type of government. For example, American children have been taught the virtues of capitalism and democracy for years. In Germany, during the Nazi era, children were taught how murders could be justified in certain situations. There are certain types of ways used to measure the public's opinion once they have been formed. There are usually samples that are performed instead of complete polls because it can save a lot of time. Scientific sampling is polling random people to form the general opinion of many people. In closing, it is evident by reading above that people today are influenced by the Mass Media, schools, and probably most importantly, families.

Muslims in America Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Muslims in America - Essay Example The essay "Muslims in America" talks about the position of Muslims in the United States of America after the WTC attacks and the 9/11 attacks when the Muslims Groups tried to kill the American people. The terrorist attacks in the US had played a major role in settling beliefs in minds of young and innocent Americans. Muslims have played a very important role in integrating with the culture of the USA. There have been many Muslims rappers in the country. Muslims have been vocal in their opinions through magazines and other means of public publications. There are Muslims Comedy groups up and running in many parts of the country and they all share a common sense of humour which is nowhere connected with the plight of Americans suffering from terrorism. The Sunni Muslims in the USA are in the majority, while the Shia Community is in the minority. They both follow their schools of jurisprudence, and more than 2/3rds of the Muslims believe that religion is an important tool to strengthen one’s life. The Muslims have integrated very well with the rest of the population in America. Although there were some doubts in the early part of the 20th century, all these doubts were erased when the Blacks living in the USA started converting to Islam, as the religion provided the best possible means to live a life which was devoid of any discrimination as opposed to Christianity. The Wall Street Journal in its report had claimed that the Ameri can Muslims had been projected as role models for the Muslims.

Prosecutorial Misconduct Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Prosecutorial Misconduct - Research Paper Example In this respect, this becomes unacceptable by the law. Therefore, in order for the criminal justice system to be in a position to provide the mandate for which it is created, there is a need for the reformation of this problem. This will provide a solution to the issue as the prosecutors among other law enforcers will be in a position to act within their specified duties. In this sense, both the criminals and other citizens of the countries will be given the opportunity to enjoy their individual rights of justice. Within the legal profession, there are those convictions that have been made in a wrongful manner. Although most of the time these have been contributed by honest mistakes that could not have been prevented or avoided, there are those that have taken place as a result of ignorance and the lack of responsibilities by the members of the legal profession. This is a sign that in far too many cases, the same people who are entrusted with the responsibility of ensuring truth and justice since they are the law enforcement officers and mainly the prosecutors lose focus of this obligation and instead of working towards the maintenance of justice they mainly focus on securing convictions for themselves regardless of the consequences placed on the defendant. It mostly applies to the prosecutors who aim at providing evidence against the defendant despite the fact that they also possess alternative evidence to prevent the incrimination of the said defendant. This means that they may have evidenc e to incriminate a different individual hence leading to the wrongful conviction of the first defendant (Davis, 2007). It refers to the illegal action or the lack of action by the prosecutor especially in the attempt to influence the jury to convict a defendant inappropriately or to give a punishment that is harsher than it is necessary. At times, it is also known as selective prosecution. This is a problem that has currently been

Military Technology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Military Technology - Essay Example The internet and phones connect us to people who are thousands of miles away from us and have bonded people together as well as widening our view on staffs and made information even more accessible to persons. Evolution of technology has made life easier by saving lives via technological medical advances. Newer technological advances might lead to newer scientific discoveries. For instance, the developed DNA sequencing and copying technologies has led us into important breakthroughs in several areas of biology, specifically in reconstruction of evolutionary relationships amongst organisms. One might think the society is relying too much on it but that might be a good staff since that's the way our lives seems to be improving now thanks to technology (Hardy, 2002). Our everyday lives are spent surrounded by technology and technology not just being Xboxes and TVs. We heavily depend on cars, trains, and planes for transportation. The society also rely greatly on advancements in weaponry so us to keep the country safe. We spin around technology and it has enhanced our lives greatly. I think our everyday life would be miserable without evolution of technology. ... Moreover if you don’t own a recent one then it`s same as not owning one at all. With the evolution of technology, we are discovering new, and life altering ways to enhance research into many diverse fields which we use every single day. One of the most essential forms of research which with the aid of technology has assisted individuals worldwide is medical research. Devoid of the evolution of technology that the society has now, most of the treatments the society has for diseases, injuries and infections would have not been invented if the technology society has today did not exist. Human life spans would significantly be reduced, and they would not recover from diseases, injuries or infection the way they are able to now. Less harmful infections and injuries would be more serious and might not heal as they do. Diseases too would be way more deadly than they are currently (Jaeger & Bowman, 2005). A good example of how society is dependent on the current technology to assist p eople as well as make huge improvements on illnesses is evidenced in reliance on artificial limbs to make life easier. The continued funding of NASA( National Aeronautics and Space Administration), together with its combined innovations in shock-absorption and robotics materials are inspiring and allowing the private sector to generate new and better solutions to animal and human prostheses. Advancements for instance Environmental Robots Inc.’s improvement of artificial muscle systems that has actuation capabilities and robotic sensing for use in extravehicular activities and space robotic of NASA are being adapted to generate a very functionally dynamic artificial limbs. Technology also make our lives easier and that of society through improving the transport sector.