Web 2.0 Security Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Web 2.0 Security - Research Paper Example The idea of the â€Å"Web 2.0 was given by Darcy DiNucci, an advisor on electronic information paradigm. In this regard, this emerging idea is normally linked with web applications that are helpful to increase the capability to communicate interactive information distribution, cooperation, user-centered plan on the www. Additionally, the web sites which encompass the features of Web 2.0 offer its users the free option to work together or cooperate with each other in the community media discussion as designers of user-produced information material in a virtual society, as compared to those websites where clients are restricted to the inactive analysis of content that was developed for them. Moreover, the instances of Web 2.0 comprise a range of applications like social-networking blogs, websites, video-sharing websites, wikis, web applications, hosted services, folksonomies and mashups. Despite the fact that the idea presents an innovative description of the World-Wide-Web, but it do es not offer an update to some technological conditions, however relatively growing transformations in the means software developers and end users utilize the Web (XIBL; Mysore). Normally, the Web 2.0 incorporates the client-side website browser expertise such as Flash, Asynchronous JavaScript and XML (Ajax) and JavaScript/Ajax frameworks and the Adobe Flex framework like that Dojo Toolkit, Yahoo! UI Library, jQuery and MooTools. In this scenario, Ajax programming utilizes Java-Script to upload as well as download new data from the web server without reloading a page repeatedly (XIBL; Mysore). Web 2.0 uses machine-based connections like that SOAP and REST. In this scenario, servers frequently represent administrative Application Programming Interfaces or simply APIs, however standard APIs (for instance, for positioning to an internet blog or informing a blog revision) are also used in development. Moreover, for the communications in APIs incorporate XML or else JSON payloads (XIBL; Mysore). The new web based or web-supported tools offer a range of effective software features and services to the consumers, workers and business associates. These services could be easily managed and handled. Additionally, the new information technology offers access to a major business resource such as the web server, which gives the capability to access various other useful information resources, for instance database servers (ITSecurity). At the present time, a lot of young people have fully integrated Web 2.0 tools and applications into their professional and personal lives. According to various researches, more than 80% of workers make use of social networking applications or web sites like that MySpace, Facebook and YouTube at workplaces or on their laptops. Thus, it is clear that the fame of video-calling (Skype), instant messaging and peer-to-peer (such as multi-player gaming) is increasing day by day and it is causing augmenting danger for business’s status, networ k performance in addition to information safety (M86 Security). Web 2.0 is definitely very helpful in almost every walk of life. For instance, people read blogs on various latest issues, and place queries on communication board to get response of their questions or investigate specialized debates or forums to get latest knowledge about a definite issue. Moreover, the Web 2.0 applications such as IM (or instant messaging), P2P and Skype frequently offer extra advantages for exchanging information with associates (M86 Security). Obviously, Web 2.0 technology can negatively affect business information security as well as efficiency of organizations. For instance, the lively, interactive website content on Web 2.0 websites can simply divert a worker for hours. Moreover, the businesses are bothered regarding the possible discovery of secret and sensitive data and information by workers when they communicate with other, write messages, write blogs or leave remarks when participating in so cial media (M86 Security). The major examples of Web 2.0 includes

(Must be aviation related) Drones in the public sector Research Paper

(Must be aviation related) Drones in the public sector - Research Paper Example re are various safety issues that the regulatory body of the FAA should take into account while integrating the UAVs to the National Airspace System (NAS). In addition, it was ascertained that the introduction of these unmanned aircrafts for the commercial purpose should be implemented after few years when the people get accustomed to the UAVs. An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) which is generally known as drone is an automated aircraft which does not require any human pilot on the plane. The UAV is controlled either automatically by the inbuilt computer system in the aircraft or is controlled by a pilot through a remote. In the present day context, drones are being used for the delivery of packages to the civilians in the United States. Correspondingly, Amazon has been one of the prime initiators of introducing UAVs in the United States for the commercial purpose. The main objective of Amazon behind its UAV adoption is to carry package delivery through its use. In the year 2013, Amazon declared that it would use small UAVs in order to deliver various commodities to its customers. Amazon proclaimed that these UAVs can deliver products within 30 minutes. However, it can be observed that the UAV delivery system might face certain major obstacles. It can be ascertained that weather would be a major obstacle while grounding the aircraft. Moreover, there might be a possibility that the product that has been dropped in the door step of the customer gets stolen. In addition, people might feel uncomfortable with several UAVs flying above their heads every day. Besides, the people using this delivery system might have the requirement of purchasing UAV insurance that provides security from system malfunctions and uncertain crashes. The prospective users of the UAVs for commercial purpose and the UAV manufacturers can be termed as the audience for this report. The purpose of the report is to determine the impact of various factors that act as an obstacle for the delivery

Reflecting On Ones Practice Nursing Essay

Reflecting On Ones Practice Nursing Essay Striving to become better at what one does entails reflecting on both the positive things that one has achieved and the mistakes committed in the process of performing ones duties and responsibilities. Reflective practice focuses on the learning that has evolved and correcting what has been done wrong. This essay assesses my professional, clinical development through an analytical reflection from a patient seen in the Emergency Care Centre (ECC), as part of the holistic health assessment module. The assessment model used in the consultation will be examined, together with theoretical and evidence based practice, and how this has helped developed my approach, linking decision-making and best practice outcomes. Following Gibbs (1988) model of reflection, I shall establish the integration between theory and practice. This model identified six stages involved in reflective practice where at each stage the I would ask myself a number of questions leading to the final stage of an action plan. It begins with selecting a critical incident to reflect upon followed by keen observing and describing of the incident, then analyzing my experience. This is followed by interpreting the experience and exploring alternatives leading up to an action plan. This is is a cyclical process which enables continual retrospective reflection. II. Reflective Practice Reflective practice has been a key underpinning of qualified nurses since the United Kingdom Central Council for Nursing, Midwifery and Health Visiting (UKCC) (1992) required them to keep a professional portfolio. As professionals, we are accountable for our ongoing learning and self development, providing the best care to our patients. To ensure this, we need to focus on our actions and skills to be able to meet the demands of patients, colleagues and professional bodies. In order to be reflective practitioners, we need to be reflective thinkers. Reflective thinking is thinking that is aware of its own assumptions and implications as well as being conscious of the reasons and evidence that support the conclusion (Lipman, 2003, p.26). John Dewey defined reflective thinking as an active, persistent and careful consideration of any belief or supposed form of knowledge in the light of the grounds that support it and the further conclusion to which it tends (cited in Martin, 1995, p.167) . Reflective thinking leads one to be more self-aware so he can develop new knowledge about professional practice. Reflective practice has been recognised to be an important tool for professional development. Rowls and Swick (2000) agree and observed that practitioners who regularly reflected enabled them to develop their skills and the way they deal with patients. Schunk and Zimmerman (1998) describe how a self- reflective practice allows us to monitor, evaluate and adjust our performance during learning. Adjusting strategies based on assessment on our learning helps to achieve the goal of learning and identifying the activities well suited to our situations (Schunk Zimmerman, 1998). However, practitioners often found the process quite time consuming and there was a greater fear of becoming introspective or being critical of oneself too much in practice. It is likely that one can be too engrossed in his reflection that he gets to neglect the delivery of a great work performance. Schons theory outlines two different types of reflection that occur at different time phases: reflection on action (Schon 1983) and reflection in action (Schon 1983). Reflection in action is often referred to the colloquial phrase as thinking on your feet a term used to being able to assess ourselves within a situation, making appropriate changes and still keeping a steady flow in the process. Reflection on action is when reflection occurs after the event. This is where the practitioner makes a deliberate and conscious attempt to act and reflect upon a situation and how it should be handled in the future (Loughran 1996). This means while performing a professional task, and one keeps thinking if what he is doing is right, he is doing reflection-on-action. After the task, he gets to evaluate what he has done right or wrong, and at that point, he is engaging in reflection-in-action. I am aware that I practice both kinds in my profession. However ,Fry, Ketteridge and Marshall (2003) seem to take a balanced view and define reflection to be an integration of existing knowledge and new knowledge. This implies that as a reflective practitioner, I should always evaluate if my current knowledge is still applicable, and in updating myself, should be able to incorporate my new learning with what I already know. My Own Practice I have been an Emergency Nurse Practitioner for the past 6 years. My task was mostly seeing patients in the emergency setting with minor injuries. I took this course to gain further knowledge and revise what needs to be improved in what I previously learnt during my 15 years as a nurse. Basically, I assess patients with localized problems (i.e, sprained ankles, lacerations, painful joints, minor head injuries etc.). I found it very daunting having to deal with the person as a whole again and investigate multiple systems (respiratory, cardiac, muscular, etc). Having attended tutorials regarding the assessment of these systems using the inspection, palpation, percussion and auscultation (IPPA) methods, I was eager to practice what I have learned and felt ready to assess a patient. Reflecting on Ones Practice In the tradition of Gibbs (1988) reflective practice, the first step is concentrating on one particular example from my own work experience. One incident that is worth reflecting on was my encounter with a patient with left-sided chest pain. I immediately thought that the patient was suffering from cardiac chest pain, but upon further examination, I found out that the patient actually had a recent chest infection which was treated by a GP with antibiotics. The chest infection was resolved, but the patient was left with residual chest pain. It turns out that it was mild pleuritic chest pain after all. In this incident, I initially felt confident in my diagnosis of cardiac chest pain due to my years of experience as an emergency nurse. Such vast experience exposed me to a variety of symptoms and its diagnosed illnesses. My confidence also came from having attended enough tutorials regarding the assessment of symptoms manifested by different body systems. Upon reading the patients notes, the symptom of left-sided chest pain immediately made me conclude that it was cardiac chest pain. I know that merely reading the patients notes is not enough in coming up with conclusive diagnosis. The clinical evaluation may include the basic inspection, palpation (feeling with the hands), percussion (tapping with the fingers), and auscultation (listening) (IPPA) (The Free Dictionary, 2013); CURB 65, which is a simple well-validated tool for the assessment of severity in community acquired pneumonia (CAP) is another essential evaluative method in checking the presence of a deadly respiratory diseas e. The Ohio State University College of Medicine (2012) shares its guideline in the use of this approach. CURB is short for checking the patients confusion, blood urea nitrogen, respiratory rate, and systolic blood pressure. If the patient seems to be delirious or confused, then he is given a score of 1 on the confusion item. If his blood urea nitrogen value is greater or equal to 20 mg/dL, then it also garners a score of 1. A respiratory rate that is more or equal to 30 breaths/minute is also credited for 1 point. The same is true for the systolic blood pressure if it is less than 90 mm Hg or a diastolic blood pressure less than or equal to 60. If the patient is 65 years old and above, then it also gains 1 point. Computing all the points, if the patients score is 0 or 1, then he can safely be treated as an outpatient. However, a score of 2 may indicate that he needs closer supervision when receiving outpatient treatment, or he may be recommended for inpatient observation admission. Most of the time if the collated score of the patient is 3, 4 or 5, then this usually means the patient needs to be confined to inpatient treatment (Ohio State University College of Medicine, 2013). Clinical judgment of the professional is necessary for a decision to be made for the patient. (Karmakar Wilsher, 2010). Still another evaluative method in examining the patient is the Pulmonary Embolism rule-out Criteria (PERC) (Hugli et al., 2011). The thorough process it entails determines if there is a potentially life-threatening cause of chest pain which may include pulmonary embolus, acute coronary syndrome, aortic dissection or tension penumothorax (King et al., 2012, para.3). If the patients chest pain becomes worse when he is applied deep inspiration and recumbency, then it is likely that it is due to a pleuritic cause. With Gibbs reflection model, so far, the first three steps of identifying a critical incident, observing and describing of the incident have already been done. Now comes analyzing my experience. Triage notes stated a 57 year old female who was suffering from left sided chest pain. Observations were blood pressure ; 184/78, pulse ; 74, respiratory rate; 16, saturations on O2; 98%. I had decided to take this patient and perform an assessment on her. The immediate thoughts were of cardiac chest pain as it was stated to be left sided in nature. Since starting the health assessment module the cardiac patient was the system I was least confident in, in the assessment process. I was anxious before seeing the patient. I had concluded that she was suffering from a cardiac chest pain, and imagined her to be requiring some form of intervention from the cardiac team. However, when meeting the patient and gaining further medical history it was clear that she was in fact a stable patient with a different complaint from my first impression. She had recently been treated for a chest infection by her GP, she had undergone a course of anitbiotics, amoxicillin 500mg for 1 week, after which she had felt much better, but over the following week had been left with a residual left sided chest pain which was worse on deep inspiration. She had initially had an expectorating cough, which had now resolved to an occasional dry cough. After a thorough assessment including IPPA, baseline observations, chest x ray, bloods including D Dimer, full blood count, UEs, cardiac enzymes, and a Wells score to rule out PE, the patient was diagnosed with pleuritic chest pain or pleurisy by the Doctor. (see appendix 1) Initially, I was uncomfortable evaluating the patients condition because it was my first patient with a cardiac problem.Throughout the assessment process I felt uneasy with the knowledge that I had initially made a judgement about the patient without even meeting her. It made me revise my approach to patients as a whole and not jump to conclusions before all avenues had been investigated. I was humble enough to accept my mistake when it was confirmed that it was a mild pleuritic chest pain, garnering from the information from further examination and history taking. I felt the need to read up on cardiac chest pain and push myself into seeing patients with that particular problem so that I can overcome my apprehensions. Next in Gibbs model is the interpretation of my experience. The interpretation of the patients condition from the initial triage notes made me aware of myself making a judgement before setting eyes on the patient. This concerned me and made me question my actions. I understood that I was nervous and uneasy at the thought of assessing a patient unaccompanied, and with hindsight put too much pressure on myself regarding responsibility and duty of care. I recognised the need for me to understand that I was gaining knowledge and skills as part of the degree module that I was completing, this didnt require me to diagnose the clinical conditions of the patients, but facilitated in the learning process of assessment skills and putting into place ideas of diagnosis / differential diagnosis. It also made me reflect on my thought processes regarding making snap judgements without gaining further information. The last stage in Gibbs model entails creating an action plan. The experience I have just analyzed made me realize that the current knowledge and experience I currently have are not enough. I need to learn to be more open in my evaluation of the patients symptoms, and hold my judgment until I have completed the necessary information derived from both examination tests and consulting the medical history of the patient. The fast rate of change in the medical field necessitates health practitioners like me to constantly update myself of current trends and the latest methodologies in nursing care. I should also remind myself all the time that the patients welfare comes way before my own ego in terms of priority. Conclusion Through reflective evaluation I was able to adjust the way I assessed patients with chest pain. I relaxed considerably more and let myself enjoy the assessment process. I was able to consolidate the new skills I had learnt and put in place a methodical process of evaluating differential diagnosis. I understood that the official diagnosis was going to be made by the Doctors mentoring my practice which considerably lessened the pressure I put on myself. Through this reflective process it became evident that good and bad working practice can be monitored and evaluated. Mistakes can be avoided and good working practice can be upheld. Although the feelings initially were disheartening, support from colleagues and my own learning outcomes have helped me progress and develop my skills of assessment. As Atkins and Murphy (2003) suggest that reflection should be made in times of uncomfortable feelings and thoughts surrounding a situation.

The 1920s Essay -- essays research papers fc

The 1920’s The 1920’s where a time of conservatism, it was a time of great social change. From the world of fashion to the world to politics, forces clashed to produce the most explosive decade of the century.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The eighteenth Amendment was passed in 1920, which made alcohol illegal. It was called the Prohibition Amendment. This was known as the â€Å"Noble Experiment†. All importing, exporting, selling, manufacturing and transporting of alcohol were illegal. The older people favored this amendment. They felt that alcohol was bad because of the way people behaved after drinking. People thought that crime, death rates and poverty would decrease now because alcohol was illegal. The younger generation did not like this amendment. Many people did not really listen to the law. The law actually increased the amount of people drinking alcohol. Some people would try and make alcohol in their own homes. This was called â€Å"bathtub gin†. Alcohol would be smuggled from Canada during the twenties (Microsoft Encarta, 1999). Saloons that used to serve liquor were now called speak-easies. Instead of reducing the crimes rates, crime was actually greater. Organized crime w as developed because of Prohibition. Sometimes police were bribed and went along with what was going on and would not do anything. The death rates were much higher than before. â€Å"Prohibition destroyed legal jobs, created black-market violence, diverted resources from enforcement of other laws and increased prices people had to pay for prohibited goods† (Thorton, Mark 1991). Al Capone was one of the most powerful bootleggers in Chicago, there were many gangs rivales due to prohibition the people who were bootlegging became wealthy because many people wanted alcohol.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the 1920’s, the Nineteenth Amendment was passed, which gave women the right to vote. During this decade women became strong and more independent. Women were accomplishing a lot more than they had before. Women started going to college so she could earn her own living. More women started leaving the home and working at a factory or as a secretary. Women were discriminated at the work place. They received lower wages then man did. In the 1920’s, the term flapper was introduced. It was first used in Britain after World War 1. Young women were labeled as flappers who wore makeup shorter skirts. Fl... ...hat followed, forty billion dollars were lost. The Great Depression had started. The 1920’s was a decade that changes American life. Frederick Lewis Allen describes the twenties as a â€Å"revolution in manners and morals.† The twenties has been named all types of nicknames, such as: â€Å"The Roaring Twenties†, â€Å"The Era of Wonderful Nonsense†, â€Å"The Decade of the Dollar†, â€Å"The Period of the Psyche†, â€Å" Dry Decade† and the age of â€Å"Alcohol and Al Capone† (Gales Research, 1998). During the twenties, the way Americans lived had changed. The 1920’s was a time in history that has been remembered for its great prosperity but also for its great loss. The Great Depression is what ended the Roaring Twenties. Works Cited Gales Research. 1998. Microsoft Encarta. CD-ROM. Microsoft, 1999. Movies, Music, and Sports of the 1920’s. 9 March. 2003 http://www.albany.edu/ The Roaring Twenties Hitchhikers Guide- lectures with links and Photos H102   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Lecture 09. 9 March. 2003 http://evip.fresno.com/ Thorton, Mark. â€Å"Policy Analysis: Alcohol Prohibition Was a Failure.† July 17,   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   1991. Online. Netscape. 23 April 1998   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  

Total Quality Management: A Case Of Barclays Bank

Abstract A number of bankers hold the school of thought that banks fall under the finance industry instead of the service industry. In consequence, the competition is more inclined to financial prowess rather than service quality. The banking and financial institutions devote their resources, system, time and people more on managing the cash and the assets instead of managing customers and service. The procedures and products setup are in line with the bank’s convenience instead of the customer’s convenience. Additionally, most of the systems are designed with the aim of controlling the customers rather than offering satisfaction. Banks and financial institutions usually give customer service and satisfaction low priority. With few systems designed to monitor customer loyalty. Contrary to that thought, banks and financial institutions provide the service of financial custody to its customers thus belong to the service industry. For this reason, total quality management is applicable in the banking sector given its success with manufacturing industries. Banks stand to benefit from implementation of total quality management owing to the fact that their survival depend on customer loyalty and satisfaction. However, banking sector is somehow slow in reallocating into the customer-first archetype. The paper focuses on Barclays bank; it outlines and analyses how the banking organisation has introduced and developed a comprehensive system of total quality management in addition to the impacts of the implementation. Furthermore, it provides a critique on the same while highlighting possible areas necessary for improvement. Background The current global market is highly competitive with a characteristic of ever escalating customer demands such as, the need for improved products and services. Most markets have increasing supply of aggressively priced services and products from low labor cost sources. With the current competitive threats present in the market place, it is imperative for organisations and businesses to embrace improved and result oriented strategies (Cheng, Madan & Motwani, 2012). Incessant enhancement in total business activities with a keen focus on customer all through the entire organisation, in addition to prominence on quality and flexibility is of the essence to an organisational success. Quality, its management, and the associated continuous improvements play a significant role in many organisations. It is equally important to note that most organisations and businesses utilize total quality management as a means through, which they can endure in increasingly belligerent markets while maintaining their competitive edge over their challengers. The lifeblood of all businesses and organisation is its customers. In most cases, customers determine the sales of businesses and organisations based on their perception of the product and service quality. In consequence, quality concludes profits while the customers delineate and determine what quality entails. The implementation of total quality management has a myriad of benefits to an organisation and business as a whole; increased market share, amplified profitability, customer and employ satisfaction and heightened competitive edge against competitors. High quality has a direct correlation with the survival of organisations challenged with strong global competitors. In most organisations, competitive success is because of high quality (Eriksson & Hansson, 2010). Presently, the high-end significance of implementing total quality management makes it imperative for organisations and businesses to embrace high quality, its management and continuous improvements, especially in the current increasingly competitive market. The organisations that fail to embrace the principle of total quality management are bound to be unsuccessful. Additionally, total quality management is no longer an alternative for organisations willing to survive in the strong competitive markets. In ensuring customer confidence and competing for international business, organisations with ISO certification hold a distinct edge against their rivals. To the quality conscious buyers, total quality management is an imperative process of value addition (Dusseav, 2012). Total quality management entails the methods of management used to improve the productivity and quality in a business organisation: A widespread management approach operates horizontally across a business organisation. Total quality management involves all employees and departments extending forward and backward to include both customers and suppliers. Total quality management model employs a systematic approach on improving quality based on; personal accountability for assemblage success, team-based work groups, running of the work process possessed by individuals, motivation, and quality desire above quantity and facilitated communication involving functional areas and groups. Within the model, suggestions for improvements are sought from every echelon of the business organisation while motivation is distributed through recognition programs and profit sharing. Employee training in the scientific approach to fact-based problem solving remains the feature of the TQM model. The model embraces the use of tools like process flow charts, orthogonal arrays, statistical process control charts and Pareto charts (Cheng, Madan & Motwani, 2012). For any business organisation, quality provides a strategic advantage; a heightened competitive advantage and organisational survival. An organisational strategy based on quality aimed for competitive advantage usually emphasises on strategic resource on unremitting quality enhancement. In addition to creating price-value advantage above competitors, quality allows the organisation to charge a superior per unit sale price through differentiation. A business organisation is able to achieve a more sustainable competitive advantage through implementation of strategy of high quality. Organisations operating and competing on quality hunt an operational strategy capable of controlling product and service quality while seeking incessant improvement. Different market researchers suggest that organisations should focus on quality improvement in order to gain competence instead of laying emphasis on the current foci including efficiency, revenue, and market share. The current foci are by-products of competence that an organisation can achieve through focusing on product and service quality. Organisations vary in terms of the management practices, culture and the processes used to produce and deliver the products and services (Cheng, Madan & Motwani 2012). In this regard, total quality management strategy varies from one organisation to another. However, total quality management calls upon techniques and tools of lean manufacturing, quality control, ISO 9000, six sigma, and a customer focused culture. Introduction Barclays bank is one of the leading financial institutions across the world with over three hundred years of experience. The headquarters of Barclays Bank is situated in the UK with various branches across several countries worldwide. The bank has a strategy to increase the growth potential through continued diversification of business by customer, geography and product. It has the responsibility of progressing, investing, lending and protecting the money of close to thirty million customers across the globe. One of its branches has built a very strong reputation; the Barclays Bank Plc, Mauritius. The Mauritius branch; with close to one thousand one hundred employees, offer various services for corporate as well as individual customers. Quality implementation There are a myriad of approaches and models for a successful implementation of total quality management within an organization. Some of the approaches and theoretical models that are extensively used include; Crosby’s 14 steps to Quality improvement, Juran 10 points for quality improvement and W.E Demings’ 14 points for quality improvement (Bowen, 2013).While a widely agreed upon approach does not exist, Barclays bank has applied an implementation approach that borrows certain concepts and strategies from all the widely known approaches. The bank has implemented its total quality management system in a more customized way. The bank has adopted the EFQM framework theory in its implementation of TQM. Basically, the approach calls for a focus on results, customers, dependability of purpose, involving and training employees, incessant learning and social responsibility. The bank has applied all these criteria in its implementation approach of TQM (Sila, 2012). In a bid to improve its competitive edge and survivability, the branch has employed a number of strategies that ensure high quality of service delivery to their customers. It has embraced unremitting enhancement in total business activities, with a keen focus on customer all through the entire organisation. It is imperative for the bank to create constancy of purpose for unremitted enhancement of services and products. Barclays bank has embraced this as the first priority in implementing quality management. The bank has allocated its resources for long term planning instead of short-term profits. In order to ensure competitiveness and existence of the bank, it has invested in quality and innovation (Dusseav, 2012). Its management motivates their employees in addition to clear communication of the bank’s policies. The strategy of total quality management implementation has been generally broken down into two major categories in the bank’s modus operandi: Human resource m anagement and service quality, and customer satisfaction implementation. Under each major category of the strategies, there are subdivisions of the strategies. All these form a coherent system of TQM implementation at the bank for improved competitive edge as well as survivability. Quality Service and H R Management Barclays bank acknowledges the significance of the human factor as a major determinant in the successful implementation of total quality management. As a result, the bank has accorded superior attention to human factors such as motivation, teamwork and cooperation. The bank conducted an interview on their employees in regards to their viewpoint, before the implementation of total quality management. A number of employees agreed on the introduction of the total quality management by the management. They held the belief that there was a relationship between the introduction of TQM and the success of the bank. The bank introduced the system through written pamphlets to its employees. In an effort to thoroughly understand how the bank has introduced and develop its TQM system, an analysis of the three sub-divisions under human resource management in light of quality management was undertaken (Eriksson & Hansson, 2010). Focus on meeting employee needs Barclays bank focuses on employee needs given that the bank tries to improve their performance through encouraging creative thinking, holding training programs and teamwork. All these activities are aimed at enhancing the employees’ professionalism. Additionally, the bank provided its employees with a chance to express their views while offering rewards for excellence performance. It has a competently designed training program that emphasises on incessantly improving the professional skills of its employees. Techniques such as, workshops, industry level seminars and job training are employed to ensure the efficiency of the program. Focus on continued improvement In a bid to meet the needs of its employees, the bank management tries to enhance the quality continuously through mistake avoidance, cost minimization of financial services, keeping of good documentation system and unremitting amendment of work practices. According to the employees, the bank strives to focus on the customers as well, given that they run surveys with the aim of finding out the customer’s needs. The bank is characterized with listening and providing financial advice to its employees’ interests and needs (Edwards, 2013). Focus on management competition needs It is important to realize that, through creation of effective means of communication between the employees and the customers, the bank has managed to develop their competitive edge. The bank acquired an ISO certification, which has led to a heightened bank performance level as compared to other banking institutions. Additionally, Barclay bank is always on the look-out for new technology aimed at modifying the current process of operation. The bank’s management acknowledges the importance of process innovation in a bid to evaluate their operation processes and the need to alter them. Process innovation has seen the bank to greater heights in terms of customer and employee satisfaction. The innovation allows the lower level management within the bank to communicate to the top management on exactly how the processes should be conducted in order to reflect the true customer satisfaction (Eriksson & Hansson, 2010). Customer satisfaction Barclays bank holds both individual and cooperate customers with high esteem as it acknowledges their significance in the success of the institution. In a bid to create an impressive customer appeal and product and service endorsement, the management of the bank has placed life-long strategies within its services provision. These strategies are focused on constantly delighting and surprising their esteemed customers ahead of their arch competitors. The management of Barclays bank not only ensures that their esteemed customers purchase their product but also recommend the products to their families and friends (Frick, 2009). In an interview conducted to establish the level of customer satisfaction, Barclays showed a satisfactory level of satisfaction to the needs of their customers. The bank has modern technical equipment such as A.T.M services which help save the customers time thereby facilitating their deal with the bank. Apart from the A.T.M services, the bank has employed various strategies aimed at reducing the processing time of its key products and services such as new accounts, loans, credit cards and cheque encashment. Through innovation of mobile applications, the waiting period and down time as well as the queuing period has been significantly reduced (Edwards, 2013). According to the customer feedbacks, Barclays bank delivers most of its promises to their customers. It has eliminated a number of bureaucracy procedures that are deemed obstacles on delivery of promise agreements. The bank management has created an image of reliability among its customers through the use of good dependable documentation. In order to improve the level of customer satisfaction, quality of services offered by the bank is undertaken by qualified employees. The employees are trained to serve the customers with friendliness and efficiency. The working hours of the bank are deemed suitable for their customers and employees on a similar basis. The bank’s skilled employees not only offer quality services, but also quick delivery. This creates a sense of customer being the emphasis of the banks operation. Barclays has effective communication systems through, which the customers’ complaints are channeled and promptly handled. This way, the bank improves on its weakest areas on customer service thereby enabling the customer to feel appreciated as part of the bank. Additionally, the bank focuses on improving the quality of products and services offered in the bank apart from customer service. Barclays bank has some of the best interest rates, inclusive of all charges and hidden fees thereby depicting the quality of its services and products. The enquiries made by the customers either through phone or in person are promptly answered. The bank has trained its employees to employ good work ethics in responding to customer enquiries: few rings before the phone is picked up, reduced number of transfers before the customer is connected to the right person and prompt answering of the phone (Edwards, 2013). The bank employs accuracy and timeliness of account statements as compared to their competitors. This ensures the customers’ trust on the bank while upholding the bank’s image, reputation and integrity. These qualities put the bank at a higher competitive edge within the banking industry. Conclusion In conclusion, the implementation of the total quality management in Barclays is considered successful given the numerous benefits associated with the embrace of the system. The level of commitment practice by the bank’s management has greatly ensured an improved quality of the services offered at the bank. The bank has witnessed a number of benefits associated with the influence of customer satisfaction and continuous process improvement methods on the quality of service delivery and profit margins. The services offered at Barclays have been identified as some of the best as compared to other financial institutions. In terms of focus on employees, the bank has been ranked top as its rewards its employees with competitive salaries. The high quality of services offered by the bank has allowed the bank to charge high prices for its products and services on similar basis. This has ensured high profitability and increased competitive advantage over their rivals. Total quality mana gement should not be considered as alternative, instead effective strategies should be adopted to ensure its successful implementation. In order to ensure that total quality management implementation is effective, it is recommended that the bank expands the role of internal auditor to examine the bank’s performance in terms of service, quality, value and cleanliness instead of limiting their functions. Even though the bank utilized written documents during the introduction of the TQM implementation, it is imperative to change the banks configuration and work practices to facilitate accomplishment of the TQM concepts. It is a daunting task for the bank to differentiate itself from its competitors given that an introduction of a new marketing strategy will automatically be copied. It is therefore imperative for the bank to ensure high quality of services, products and service delivery in a bid to ensure the customers’ loyalty. Bibliography Bowen, R. (2013, December 4). Learn the Theories of Total Quality Management. Retrieved October 31, 2014. Cheng, C. H., Madan, M. S., & Motwani, J. (2012) Implementing quality management in the banking services sector. Total Quality Management, 7(4), 347-356. Dusseav, S.P. (2012)†An analysis of the relationship between financial performance and TQM†, University of Missouri. Eriksson, T & Hansson, J. (2010) â€Å"The impact of TQM on financial performance†, Measuring Business Excellence, Vol. 7, No. 1, 36 – 50. Edwards, C.(2013) Barclays Bank Plc V. Rbs Advanta. Reports of Patent, Design and Trade Mark Cases, 113(10) 2012, 307-319. Frick, R. A., (2009) The application of total quality management on service quality in banking. New York, NY: Wiley. Sila, I. (2012). Examining the effects of contextual factors on TQM and performance through the lens of organizational theories: An empirical study. Journal of Operations Management, 23(12), 83-109. Appendix TQM- Total quality management A.T.M – Automatic teller machine ISO 900- A family unit of quality management standards

Refining the Hr Policy Framework to Support the Vision

[pic] Growing Esteem: Refining the HR Policy Framework to Support the Vision December 2010 Table of Contents 1Introduction3 2Background3 2. 1The environment we will be working in3 2. 1. 1External factors3 2. 1. 2Internal decisions and factors4 2. 1. 3The HR policy imperatives5 2. 2Where we are now5 2. 2. 1Our current staffing profile5 2. 2. 2Current performance7 2. 3The future8 2. 3. 1The goals of Growing Esteem 20108 2. 3. 2Supporting this vision through a refined HR Strategy9 3The refined HR policy framework9 3. 1Consultation and Feedback10 Priority areas for reform10 4. 1Improvement of the performance development framework11 4. 2Clarifying performance expectations12 4. 3Align work activity to ‘work focus categories’ and link these to performance expectations13 4. 4Supporting early career staff15 4. 5Classification issues – broad banding of professional staff classifications16 5Other policy issues17 5. 1Building flexibility – Classification issues17 5. 2A ttracting and retaining highest quality staff17 5. 3Aligning performance – Probation and confirmation17 5. Investing in staff – Leadership and management development18 6Next Steps18 6. 1Governance of the implementation project18 6. 2Plan for areas of further work19 Appendix 1: Schematic diagram of the refined strategic HR Policy Framework20 Introduction We are all part of an institution with a proud record of scholarship and achievement. The University of Melbourne has a well deserved international reputation for research excellence and quality of student outcomes and we have demonstrated our capacity to innovate and lead higher education nationally.Melbourne’s international standing and research prominence has enabled us to attract fine students and staff. We seek to lead through research, to educate for excellence and to connect and contribute through engagement. Substantial progress has been made towards achievement of our vision to be one of the worldâ€℠¢s finest universities and we will need to continue to adapt and improve in pursuit of this vision.The University’s strategy document Growing Esteem 2010, states: â€Å"For the University to realise the ambitions of a refined Growing Esteem strategy it needs people who share the vision and can achieve the actions required. â€Å" Over the coming years we need to ensure that our research and teaching reputation remain among the best in the world in the face of increasing competition; to adapt our approach, to both teaching and our general interactions with students to support a greater proportion of graduate students; and to diversify our sources of revenue to support our endeavour.It is in this context that we seek to articulate our HR strategies and refine our HR Policy Framework so that we can support and develop our staff to achieve the excellence in performance that provides individual satisfaction and collectively will maintain and grow Melbourne’s standing. Thi s paper identifies the major strategic and policy issues which need to be addressed to position us for the future through a refinement of the current HR management framework over the next three years. This paper provides a blueprint for action to guide HR policy development over the next three years.From this framework, detailed policies and procedures will be specified, and there will be opportunity for staff and other stakeholders to provide further input to these as they are progressively developed. These policies will be implemented at the local level within the University and therefore the support that will be provided to our supervisors and managers who are responsible for the day to day interactions with our staff will be vital to their success in bringing about the required changes. Background 1 The environment we will be working inThe environment we will operate in over the next 5-10 years will change significantly and both external factors and the internal decisions made i n our plans will impact on the staff profile we will need to prosper in the new environment and the HR policies and procedures that we need to support our staff. 1 External factors Changes in the external environment provide us with challenges and opportunities. Increased globalisation of the higher education sector will lead to stronger competition for the best students and staff.This competition for staff will include professional staff, particularly specialists, who will also be sought after in the wider economy. Strategies will need to be implemented to attract, develop and retain the best academic and professional staff who can plan, deliver and support an excellent learning experience for students, and also demonstrate innovation and a capacity to thrive in a changing environment. Technological change will also open new avenues for both education and research and the way in which work is performed in general and aids networking.The increasing pace of knowledge acquisition will require review of the range of information taught in courses and in the way it is delivered. On the research side, funding models and the interest of governments in finding solutions to major societal problems drives greater collaboration – both in the development of cross functional teams within the University and also in increased engagement with other universities, other research bodies and industry.The national higher education policy environment is placing more emphasis on nation-building through growth in graduate outputs, job readiness of graduates, social inclusion, funding for performance, and international standardisation of award nomenclature and content. There is also greater emphasis on engagement of universities with their broader communities. All of these factors and the funding regimes which support the national policy decisions are focussed on growth, which is at odds with our chosen direction to limit growth in student numbers.The local policy framework is also influenced by continuing fluctuation in the global financial environment. The international education company IDP Education is now predicting a considerable decline in international student numbers coming to Australia in the medium term which will impact on the University’s capacity to replace lost local revenue from this source. The ageing academic and professional staff profile across the sector and within the University more specifically means that we will have to attract, develop and retain high quality staff to replace staff lost through natural attrition. Internal decisions and factors Melbourne has taken the decision to limit growth and to eventually reduce student numbers to a more stable and manageable size in order to provide the highest quality education to our students. Consequently we will need to build other revenue streams and to find ways of doing things more efficiently. We will need to be both flexible and entrepreneurial and be able to engage well with the external community. Over this time we will also significantly change our student profile, from the current ratio of 70:30 undergraduate to postgraduate students to achieve a 50:50 balance.It will be challenging to attract high quality postgraduate students in these numbers. This more mature student population will be more demanding and will have high expectations of teaching and support and of their interactions with our administrative staff. Their assessment of the quality of the teaching they receive, their overall satisfaction with their experience and their capacity to get good jobs will impact on our rankings both nationally and internationally against our competitors. The HR policy imperatives This likely future environment highlights the need to consider how together we can increase the focus on performance and productivity and ensure that each staff member achieves their goals and contributes to the University in the way best suited to their strengths and expertise. Thi s will require a strong alignment between individual goals and performance and the University’s objectives and a different approach to developing and managing performance.These changes must be introduced in ways which protect and preserve the fundamental values of the institution, such as meritocracy, collegiality and academic freedom. 2 Where we are now 1 Our current staffing profile Melbourne’s permanent staff number in excess of seven thousand, divided almost evenly between academic and professional staff and is supported by over two and a half thousand additional casual staff. Our academic and professional staff include many talented, committed and long-serving people.It is our staff, their interactions with each other, with students and with local, national and international communities that establish and define our reputation and position in the global higher education sector. Staff are employed in positions classified according to the current academic and profes sional staff classification structures, specified in the University’s Collective Agreement. In addition to our paid staff, a large number of honorary and visiting academic staff contribute to the life and scholarship of the University.Our current staffing profile has the following characteristics: †¢ We have a large number of early career academics, with approximately 60% of the University’s academic staff employed at Levels A and B; †¢ These early career academics are predominantly employed on fixed term contracts. This position changes with seniority, with the majority of academic staff at Level C and above employed on a continuing basis; †¢ In contrast, most professional staff are employed on a continuing basis, with 55% of professional staff employed at HEW Levels 5 to 7;Figure 1 : Current distribution of Academic Staff by Classification (headcount, excluding casuals) |[pic] |% Staff Fixed term | | | | | | | |Figure 2 : Distribution of Fixed term and Continuing Professional Staff by |Level A. | |Classification (headcount) |96. | |[pic] | | | |Level B. | | |71. 8 | | | | | |Level C. | | |42. | | | | | |Level D. | | |25. 3 | | | | | |Level E. | |27. 9 | | | | | | | †¢ The growth in the University’s staff numbers from 2005 to 2008 has largely been the result of an increase in casual staff numbers. †¢ Over 10 % of the University’s academic work was performed by casual staff in 2009.Casual tutors are responsible for a significant portion of teaching into new generation degrees. †¢ The ratio of professional to academic staff has remained relatively steady since 2007 and is below the average for Australian universities and the Group of Eight. This is largely because of the way the University classifies Level A and B research support staff as academic rather than professional staff unlike many other universities. †¢ Approximately a third of both professional staff and academic staff are over 50 years of age; Figure 3: Age distribution of academic and professional staff pic] Academic Staff by level [pic] Professional Staff by level †¢ Approximately 55% of Melbourne academics are male; †¢ Women make up the majority of academic staff at Level A, but by senior levels the position is reversed. Although Melbourne performs better than the sector average in terms of the percentage of women at Levels D and E and at HEW10, women remain underrepresented at PVC and DVC levels as well as amongst membership of the Senior Executive more generally.The appropriate consideration of â€Å"performance relative to opportunity† for staff with significant external responsibilities, non-traditional career paths, or less than full-time working hours remains an ongoing challenge; †¢ A higher proportion of our female staff is employed on a part-time basis than the sector average; †¢ In 2008 and 2009 over half of all professional staff positions have also been filled internally w hile 56% of self-initiated departures from the University in 2009 from this group were from staff with less than 3 years service.The corresponding percentage for academic staff for self-initiated early departure is 51%. This suggests a turnover of newer staff to the University and is a concern if these staff are of high quality and being attracted by better offers from other employers. Level A academic staff and professional staff at HEW levels 3-5 are over-represented in these departure statistics suggesting a need to provide better opportunities and support for good early career academics and professional staff; and †¢ Staffing costs per FTE are increasing at a faster rate than student load.Until recently this has been compensated for by revenue growth but as the environmental scan above shows, this may not be possible in the future. 2 Current performance Melbourne is well ranked in international rankings and we improved our position in the most recent round of the Shanghai J iao Tong and Times Higher Education Rankings. In the Jiao Tong rankings Melbourne was ranked 62nd in the world, the second Australian institution after ANU at 59th. This ranking system uses weighted scores associated with alumni, awards, citations, and publications.Melbourne scores better than ANU in the alumni and awards categories but has lower scores in each of the research categories. In the Times Higher Education rankings Melbourne is ranked first of the Australian institutions, at 36th in the world listing. A new methodology was used in 2010 for this ranking based on teaching (the learning environment), international mix (staff and student ratios), industry income, research volume, income and reputation, and citation impact. The quality of teaching within the University is vital to our students’ educational outcomes.While the Times Higher Education teaching scores for Melbourne are higher than our national competitors we have some way to go to reach the level of our int ernational benchmarking partners. The CEQ good teaching scale also indicates room for improvement. While these rankings vary and are not absolute indicators of teaching performance, it is clear that teaching performance has a significant impact on the level of satisfaction of our students. Improvement in our overall teaching performance will contribute to a more positive learning environment for our students.Nationally in 2008 and 2009 Melbourne was ranked first in the country for research income and publications however, if these measures were viewed per capita (across the total number of research and teaching and research staff), then our leading position would not be maintained. We also performed well in nearly all discipline categories in the first trial ERA outcomes gaining scores of 4 or 5 in nearly all discipline categories. Our research performance has a significant impact on our rankings and on our ability to attract research income and quality staff and students.While we s hould be justifiably proud of that performance it will be more difficult to maintain this position in the future due to likely improvements in the performance of our competitors. We could raise our position in the international rankings and maintain our premier position nationally if there was improved average performance in winning grants and publishing across a broader spectrum of the academic staff complement. 3 The future 1 The goals of Growing Esteem 2010Melbourne has articulated the outcomes we wish to achieve by 2015 in Growing Esteem 2010, including that: †¢ Melbourne will have an academic workforce sustainable in number and quality and outstanding in its achievement; †¢ Melbourne will be top ranked in all key national indicators of research excellence and impact; †¢ Melbourne will be top ranked in relation to research higher degree recruitment and outcomes; †¢ Through key partnerships we will have maximised the global impact of our research; †¢ Melb ourne will be ranked in the top five against all national learning and teaching and student satisfaction indicators; †¢ Melbourne will be providing the best graduate experience in the country according to appropriate national indicators; †¢ Staff will feel able to contribute broadly to our vision of interaction with wider society through knowledge partnership, advancement and international activities; and †¢ Melbourne will have talented, diverse staff who share a common vision and whose skills and knowledge equip them to achieve the University’s goal of being one of the best international universities in the world.As has been shown Melbourne is currently well placed in relation to some of these measures of performance, but given the increasingly competitive and global higher education environment, to maintain or improve this position will require improvements in leadership and management and to performance management and development, recognition of the diversit y of professional and academic roles, greater recognition of the efforts of our staff and innovative approaches to retaining, and nurturing the best teachers and researchers and flexible and innovative professional staff. Specifically, amongst other things, we need to: †¢ Emphasise research excellence not just research activity and improve he overall consistency of research performance and the number of high citation researchers who count among the world’s top 250 in their fields; †¢ Understand, reward and promote research excellence and creativity, provide career development opportunities and mentoring and develop a research recruitment and retention strategy; †¢ Improve the consistency of the quality of teaching and the student experience across the University while allowing for increased specialisation of academic staff in this area; and, †¢ Promote engagement activities as an equal partner to research and learning and teaching. 2 Supporting this vision through a refined HR Strategy To flourish in this environment and achieve these ambitious outcomes we will need to more actively manage our staff profile over the next five years through a refined HR Strategy. Our HR strategy must enable us to achieve the level of performance necessary if we are to be one of the world’s finest universities. We will need to: †¢ Develop our existing staff; †¢ Commit resources to attract and retain staff of the highest quality; †¢ Put in place appropriate succession planning; Provide classification structures which recognise diverse career paths and allow specialisation by both academic and professional staff; †¢ Nurture early career academic and professional staff and provide them with clear career paths in the university; †¢ Address the issues relating to the casualisation of our staff complement and the increasing proportion of fixed term staff, while retaining flexible working arrangements; †¢ Recognise and dev elop the partnership between academic and professional staff and build the ability of staff to work seamlessly with colleagues from other disciplines and institutions; †¢ Develop and recruit change-adept and flexible academic and professional staff; †¢ Enhance the support provided for the core activities of the University by improving performance of the central enabling divisions through professional development and performance review; †¢ Develop and improve systems which reward and recognise excellent performance in learning and teaching, research, engagement and leadership and in professionals disciplines; and †¢Continue to encourage diversity and address issues relating to the participation of women, particularly at higher levels of the University. These actions will need to occur in the context of managing staffing and non-salary costs. The current HR Policy Framework needs to be refined to align with this revised HR Strategy to allow greater flexibility in t he way work is organised and to support the development and performance of high achieving staff. The refined HR policy framework The refined HR Policy Framework which addresses this strategy links the following components (and is shown schematically in Appendix 1): †¢ The strategy presented in section 2. 3. 2; The necessary organisational and individual capabilities to underpin the achievement of this strategy –a commitment to excellence; flexibility and a willingness to collaborate and cooperate with internal and external partners (these capabilities were well supported by staff during consultation) ; †¢ Broad HR focus areas– these are the areas where our HR actions will be focussed to assist in building performance and include building flexibility; attracting and retaining the highest quality staff; aligning performance with the University’s objectives; and investing in staff; †¢ The specific high priority HR practices which will have most impac t on the achievement of the University’s strategy and the development of the people required for the future; and †¢ Enablers that will support reform. The enablers to support reform include improved HR support, including the provision of accurate, timely and high level advice for our managers and supervisors, to assist them in working with our staff to continue to build capability and best direct efforts towards our goal of being one of the world’s finest universities. 1 Consultation and Feedback A range of stakeholders were consulted about the refinement of the current HR Policy Framework through a number of forums, including: †¢ the 2010 Heads and Deans Conference; †¢ Senior Executive; individual and group consultations with Deans, Deputy Vice-Chancellors, Pro Vice-Chancellors, senior administrative staff and members of the HR Professional Practice Area; †¢ Academic Board; †¢ the 2010 Planning and Budget Conference (PBC); †¢ facilitated focus groups of staff randomly selected from across the University; and, †¢ a four week consultation period during which staff and unions could review the proposed Framework and provide anonymous feedback. Approximately 200 staff provided feedback via an online survey, which included the capacity to make free text comment. Approximately 60% of responses received were from Professional staff.Respondents represented all levels of the University, all budget divisions and included continuing, fixed term and casual staff. Staff were generally supportive of the HR framework. While there were some differences of opinion expressed, on the whole there was sound endorsement of the priorities that are set out in the following section. Priority areas for reform A number of priority areas for reform are outlined in the following sections. Although they form an integrated set of actions, the first are those considered by stakeholders to be of highest initial priority in contributing to indiv idual and collective performance. The immediate focus of reform will be: 1. improvement of the performance development framework; 2. larification of performance expectations; 3. alignment of academic work activity to ‘work focus categories’ and linking these to performance expectations; 4. support for early career staff; and, 5. professional staff classification structures. As these areas are the highest initial priorities for reform, this paper canvasses them in more detail. Other policy issues, including leadership and management strategy, which will also be integral to the refined HR Policy Framework are identified later in this paper. As specific policies are developed relating to each of these proposals there will be additional opportunity for consultation with staff.This consultation will be undertaken in accordance with: †¢ standard processes for consulting with staff and unions over changes to HR policy; and/or, †¢ the specific requirements of Schedule 6 of the Agreement which contemplates reviews of the i. Performance Development Framework; and, ii. the academic and professional staff classification structures. The consultation required under Schedule 6 of the Agreement will be conducted by a Working Group comprised of four representatives of each of the University and the NTEU in accordance with agreed processes for consultation and negotiation. The review process and outcomes will be implemented no later than 30 June 2011.The priority areas that received most support from staff during consultation were: †¢ support for early career staff †¢ leadership and management development †¢ clarifying individual performance expectations, and †¢ improved HR support. Unless otherwise identified, the proposals discussed are relevant to both professional and academic staff members, though some have specific relevance to one or other category of staff. 1 Improvement of the performance development framework The current PDF system is similar to those used in many other universities. Its application across the University is widespread and the incidence of participation is monitored.Effective performance management of staff allows the University to set clear objectives against which to develop and reward good performers and to identify, support and manage under-performing staff. Sound performance management of both academic and professional staff is central to the University being able to achieve the objectives and the ranking targets it has set in Growing Esteem 2010 as documented in section 2. 3. 1. Sound performance management has particular benefit for staff where it enables development needs to be clearly identified and addressed. Key policy issues relating to staff performance management in the University include: †¢ the nature of the performance management system; and, †¢ its effective application and use as a development tool. To improve the performance development framework we will: al ign performance, confirmation and promotion outcomes for academic staff so that they represent stages in a performance continuum rather than isolated events; †¢ align position descriptions, probationary criteria and objectives specified through the PDF for professional staff; †¢ develop a streamlined and simpler performance management system; †¢ set performance objectives and requirements which are tailored to the work required of the staff member and include consideration of performance relative to opportunity issues; †¢ rate performance against the different aspects of a staff member’s job rather than just one general rating; †¢ replace current performance assessment rating descriptors to reflect the relative achievement of performance expectations (e. g. he â€Å"satisfactory† rating would become â€Å"has met performance objectives†); †¢ better align the PDF with business plans and with departmental and University goals; †¢ develop more objective performance measures and greater capacity to distinguish between levels of performance; †¢ provide a higher level of HR support to provide managers and supervisors with the skills to develop staff and address performance issues; †¢ ensure that we take a fair, firm, timely and more consistent approach to treatment of underperformance; †¢ consider requiring Budget Divisions to establish a panel to benchmark and moderate for consistency and fairness of performance management across the Division[1]; and, †¢ provide a framework in which faculties and other budget divisions can develop performance management schemes specific to their area. Additionally, for academic staff we will: recognise individual strengths of academic staff in the core areas of teaching, research and engagement and rewarding staff for excellence in those areas; †¢ introduce appropriate descriptors for academic staff work functions or focus areas; and †¢ align staf f actual effort with these work functions. Aspects of this reform will be undertaken in accordance with the review process outlined at Schedule 6 of the University of Melbourne Collective Agreement 2010. Other aspects will be subject to the standard processes for consulting with staff and unions over changes to HR policy. 2 Clarifying performance expectations Clear performance expectations are essential to guide staff effort and allow staff to understand how their work contributes to the strategies and goals of the University.They also support the quality, consistency and improvement of performance and allow for self-monitoring which contributes to job satisfaction. To clarify performance expectations we will: †¢ Develop general performance expectations for academic and professional staff (e. g. The Melbourne Academic, The Melbourne Professional). These statements will specify in general terms the University’s expectations of each group and its staff as a whole (includin g broad behavioural expectations); †¢ Remove the University-wide definition of research activity and replacing this with faculty or discipline specific definitions; †¢ Set clear and measurable performance standards for teaching, research, ngagement and leadership on a Faculty basis to guide performance against which individuals can be assessed; †¢ Over time establish common performance standards for professional job families (eg finance, IT, marketing, HR, administration etc) and †¢ Align individual objectives with specific goals for the relevant budget division. This reform will be undertaken in accordance with the standard processes for consulting with staff and unions over changes to HR policy. 3 Align work activity to ‘work focus categories’ and link these to performance expectations Academic work at the University is varied, has diversified and will continue to do so. While the majority of staff combine teaching with research and an engagement c omponent, there are staff who focus solely on research and others who predominantly teach.The academic staff complement includes clinicians and specialist curriculum developers, others who focus on engagement with the wider community or on the provision of specialist services and others who have management roles. Despite the general expectation for Melbourne academics, some of these roles may not have a requirement or an expectation for a research component. There is recognition of the diverse nature of academic work in both our promotion criteria and the Minimum Standards for Academic Levels (MSALs)[2] which provide for academics to contribute to research and/or scholarship and/or teaching (that is to focus on one or more aspects of an academic career). Nonetheless, our research focus, although central to the University, may not allow sufficient recognition of academics with strengths outside this area.An alternative approach is to recognise that not all academics for various reaso ns are equally involved with teaching and research or are required to produce similar research outputs and that it can be difficult for academics to manage the competing priorities of teaching, research, community engagement and administrative duties. While recognising that most will continue to combine teaching with research and will meet expectations in both areas, within a single academic classification, staff with a primary focus on teaching or -activities other than research should be appropriately recognised in terms of this primary focus and associated outputs. The University has recognised in its objectives and targets that the quality of teaching is vital to our aspiration to offer an outstanding educational experience.This can partly be achieved by providing a strong career path for those staff who have an excellent record in teaching, or who have demonstrated the capacity to develop this and who are less focused on a research career. Teaching specialist roles have already been created at a number of leading Australian universities to recognise excellence in teaching. The teaching specialist roles require the staff members appointed to them to make a substantial contribution to learning and teaching, educational design and delivery, and educational leadership. Such roles reflect high performance in teaching and are not created to support and manage staff who are not performing at an appropriate level.During consultation, it was proposed that academic staff within the University should have the capacity to be appointed to positions with a focus on teaching or academic support/leadership based on the excellence of their performance in these areas. This proposition received broad support. Staff who are, or who have demonstrated the capacity to become excellent teachers and who have made a practice of innovation and scholarship in teaching in their discipline could accept an offer to take up a teaching-focused role. Other staff who have academic roles, w ith no specific requirement for research, could accept an offer to take up an ‘other specialist’ role.For example, staff who undertake management roles outside a particular faculty and who are employed to pursue a particular mission for the University (such as the DVC and PVC positions) would be considered part of this focus area. Academic staff within the University will therefore be identified as belonging to one of the following work focus categories based on the requirements of their role and subject to meeting any relevant requirements for the focus category: †¢ Research-focussed †¢ Teaching and Research †¢ Teaching specialist †¢ Other specialist. Appropriately for a research led institution such as Melbourne, the majority of academic staff would remain within their current teaching and research or research focused categories, with performance expectations appropriate to the relevant category and faculty or discipline.Such reform allows for the retention of a single academic classification structure, along with its ranks, levels and salaries, but provides greater recognition of the diversity of work undertaken by individuals within that classification structure. The capacity to move between work focus categories over the course of an academic career is provided for, to allow for broad and flexible careers. Movement between the groups will take into account individual performance and development needs as determined through the performance development system. Teaching and other specialist roles may be offered after joint consideration of the interests, qualifications and capacity of the staff member and the specific needs of the Department, School or Faculty.At present the University has a number of staff classified as Level A and B academic staff who are categorised as Research Only staff but who are supporting the research endeavour rather than undertaking original research. In most other universities this group is general ly classified as professional staff rather than academic. A change in classification for a number of these staff will ensure more consistent reporting between the University of Melbourne and its competitors. As previously discussed, work will also be considered at a later date around further development of the job family categories for professional staff, with appropriate expectations being developed by level and job family. To better recognise the diversity of academic work we will: introduce a new academic work focus category of Teaching Specialist to complement the existing categories of Teaching & Research, Research Focussed and Other specialists; †¢ identify academic staff within the University by work focus category; †¢ develop and apply performance expectations appropriate to the relevant category and faculty and discipline; We will also: †¢ further develop the job family categories for professional staff. This reform will be subject to the standard processes f or consulting with staff and unions over changes to HR policy. 4 Supporting early career staff We need to support the development of our early career professional and academic staff, to provide a positive employment experience and assist them in becoming productive members of staff. Graduate entry level for professional staff is most commonly at HEW5 level, and mentoring and other professional development is important at this stage. We need to be able to provide career paths for the development of specialist expertise.This emphasises the need for a sound performance development program which clarifies objectives and identifies career needs. While, when taken together, growth in fixed term and continuing academic and professional staff in recent years has been relatively modest, the percentage growth in casual staff from 2007 to 2009 is more than double this figure. The key issues for casual early career academic staff are the difficulty in establishing an academic career when there is limited certainty of employment and the concentration of casual staff at lower levels of the academic classification structures and into particular areas, notably teaching into New Generation Degrees.The New Generation Degrees will account for approximately half our coursework student load and their success will be critically important to the future success of the Growing Esteem strategy. The quality of the teaching of undergraduate students is important to, student engagement and outcomes. Improved certainty of employment for excellent staff teaching into the New Generation Degrees should be considered. Pathways for research higher degree students into an academic career also need to be improved, particularly given the need for renewal of the academic workforce. We need to recognise that casual and sessional staff, as well as research students, make a significant contribution to University teaching effort and that early career academics in general require support. To better supp ort early career staff we will: address the barriers to employing early career staff on more secure forms of employment; †¢ improve access to and quality of professional development and mentoring programs for early career staff, particularly in relation to supporting early career staff develop capabilities in relation to teaching (where relevant); †¢ employ research students as a preference for casual and sessional roles; †¢ seek agreement to create a new form of employment which provides greater employment security for early career staff; and, †¢ support budget divisions to increase the number of Early Career Development Fellowships. [3] The introduction of the proposed academic work focus categories will also provide clearer career paths for early career academics. A teaching-specialist academic category would better facilitate the appointment of teaching-specialists as course coordinators (on other than on a casual basis) to support the teaching of large New G eneration Degree subjects. This reform will be subject to the standard processes for consulting with staff and unions over changes to HR policy. Classification issues – broad banding of professional staff classifications Broad banding professional staff classification categories will improve career pathways, provide greater flexibility in staffing and aid retention of good staff. There are currently 10 classification levels for professional staff. Staff can progress to a higher classification by applying for another job which is graded at the higher level or by applying for reclassification where higher level duties are required by the work area. These options may not be available within all work areas and so high performing professional staff may seek employment elsewhere, including outside the University.In order to rationalise the large number of classification categories for professional staff and to provide better career pathways it is proposed that a new professional st aff classification structure be introduced consisting of four broad bands reflecting the level of responsibility and specialisation of professional positions in the University. |New Broad Band |Former Classification |Number of Pay Points within the band | |4 |HEW Level 10 A – 10E |3 | |3 |HEW Level 8 – Level 10 Base |9 | |2 |HEW Level 5 – 7 |9 | |1 |HEW Level 1 – 4 |9 |In order to improve the classification structure for professional staff we will: †¢ reform the structure to provide for a number of broad bands within which movement would be based on performance; †¢ reduce the number of pay points within each band in most cases with the effect of increasing the salary differential between each pay point and make movement between pay points more meaningful; †¢ develop clear performance standards for each broad band; †¢ align position descriptions with each level of the system; †¢ require movement between bands to be based on assessm ent of an application for a position in the higher band; and †¢ introduce soft barriers within the bands that staff would have to satisfy in order to progress.This reform will be undertaken in accordance with the review process outlined at Schedule 6 of the University of Melbourne Collective Agreement 2010. Other policy issues There are also other policy issues which will be included in the revised HR Policy Framework and are important to assist our current staff to achieve their potential and to help the University remain attractive to prospective staff. They will be the subject of further consultation and development through appropriate working groups. The issues identified below are grouped into the key focus areas of the Policy Framework shown in Appendix 1. 1 Building flexibility – Classification issues Policy action |Timing | |Introduce additional performance based salary points at the top of current academic and professional classification levels|2011 | |Aid attr action and retention and strengthen the link between reward and performance for level E staff, possibly by |2011 | |providing additional salary steps at this level | | |Explore introduction of a single salary spine for academic and professional staff |2012 | |Revise academic nomenclature |2012 | 2 Attracting and retaining highest quality staff Policy action |Timing | |Review and determine new reward and recognition policies , including implementing a reward for performance structure to |2011 | |recognise, reward and retain high performing staff | | |Review and revise the staff equity and diversity strategies and action plans |2011 | |Improve Workforce Planning and develop succession plans |2011 | |Review and determine new recruitment procedures to attract good staff |2011 | |Talent management program |2011 | 3 Aligning performance – Probation and confirmation |Policy action |Timing | |Improve linkages between promotion, confirmation/probation and the PDF process |2011 | 4 Investing in staff – Leadership and management development Effective leadership has a strong impact on staff satisfaction and is vitally important to the achievement of our goals.To ensure that we have effective leadership and management from our senior staff, we need to: †¢ clarify expectations of our leaders and managers; †¢ develop a broader skill set amongst staff to manage complex people matters; †¢ provide a business skills set to our managers including business planning and budgeting; †¢ incorporate greater levels of mentoring and coaching by peers; †¢ foster an open culture that embraces and supports change and diversity; †¢ provide more specialised development for professional roles; and †¢ deliver development programs differently so that skills more easily translate into the workplace. Future policy issues for consideration are listed below. Policy action |Timing | |Develop a Leadership and Management Development Strategy |2 011 | |Involving: | | |A clear statement of the nature of leadership and management capabilities; | | |Formal coaching and mentoring; | | |Processes for identification of high potential talent and accelerated development plans for high performers; | | |Quality standards for development program design and delivery; and, | | |Dedicated resourcing and funding to address any identified skills gap. | |Develop and gain agreement to a behavioural competency statement |2011 | Next Steps 1 Governance of the implementation project The further refinement of the revised HR Policy Framework will be overseen by a Steering Committee jointly chaired by the Provost and the Senior Vice-Principal. There will also be a number of related work streams each led by a project owner within HR Chancellery and coordinated by a project director, reporting to the Executive Director, HR. These work streams will draw on expertise across the University from faculties and professional practice areas. Specific refe rence groups mentioned above have also been established to rovide a forum for the further development and testing of policy and procedural initiatives and implementation plans. The Academic Reference group will specifically inform work around the introduction of academic work focus categories within the academic classification system, associated changes to the Performance Development Framework and measures to support early career academics. A Professional Staff Reference Group will similarly inform work on broad-banding the professional staff classification structure as well as the associated changes to the Performance Development Framework and other key matters for professional staff. 2 Plan for areas of further work The following is a broad action plan for the refined HR Policy Framework. Timing |Policy initiatives to be completed | |By June 2011 |Leadership and Management strategy and revised program development | | |Negotiation completed with NTEU and staff about proposed chan ges to PDF and classification structures | | |canvassed above | | |Additional support in place for managers in managing performance | |By Dec 2011 |Establishment of links between promotion, confirmation/probation and the PDF process | | |Leadership and Management strategy and programs finalised | | |Behavioural competency statement developed (with initial emphasis on Leadership and Management | | |competencies) | | |Broad banding of professional staff classification structure (subject to negotiation with NTEU) | | |Improved Workforce Planning and succession plans in place | |Career paths: | | |Program for support of early career academics (including casuals) developed | | |Review of transfer and secondment policies | | |Career paths identified within professional staff job families | | |Review of reward and recognition policies complete | | |Talent management program developed | |2012 |Review of recruitment practices complete | | |Competencies incorporated into HR processes such as performance management, recruitment and selection and | | |learning pathways | | |Consultation on possible changes to academic classification structure (for example, varying number of | | |increment points; overlapping bands) prior to negotiation of the next Collective Agreement | | |Consultation on possible revision of academic nomenclature | | |Employer brand developed to promote employment with the University | | |Revision of Staff Equity and Diversity strategy completed | Appendix 1: Schematic diagram of the refined strategic HR Policy Framework [pic] ———————– [1] The supervisor is responsible for performance management practices, however, it is envisaged that the panel is responsible for the higher level consistent implementation of performance management. Some faculties have moved to implement such practices already. [2] MSALs form part of theUniversity’s Collective Agreement [3] Early Career Development Fello wships are a new category of fixed-term employment introduced through the new Collective Agreement. The University must advertise at least 28 such Fellowships before 30 June 2012. Early Career Development Fellowships were designed to provide a more secure form of employment for Level A and B staff who are predominantly employed on a casual or fixed-term basis. These Fellowships will include a structured development program providing training, supervision and appropriate career and professional development opportunities to enable early career academics to establish an academic career.

Geometric Isomers Definition and Examples

Geometric Isomers Definition and Examples Isomers are chemical species that have the same chemical formulas, yet are different from each other. For example, learn about geometric isomerization: Geometric Isomer Definition Geometric isomers are chemical species with the same type and quantity of atoms as another species, yet having a different geometric structure. Atoms or groups exhibit different spatial arrangements on either side of a chemical bond or ring structure. Geometric isomerism is also called configurational isomerism or cis-trans isomerism. Note cis-trans isomerism is a different description of geometry than E-Z isomerism. The terms cis and trans are from the Latin words cis, meaning on this side. and trans, meaning on the other side. When substituents are both oriented in the same direction as each other (on the same side), the diastereomer is called cis. When the substituents are on opposing sides, the orientation is trans. Cis and trans geometric isomers exhibit different properties, including boiling points, reactivities, melting points, densities, and solubilities. Trends in these differences are attributed to the effect of the overall dipole moment. The dipoles of trans substituents cancel each other out, which the dipoles of cis substituents are additive. In alkenes, trans isomers have higher melting points, lower solubility, and greater symmetry than cis isomers. Identifying Geometric Isomers Skeletal structures maybe be written with crossed lines for bonds to indicate geometric isomers. The IUPAC does not recommend the crossed line notation anymore, preferring wavy lines connecting a double bond to a heteroatom. When known, the ratio of cis- to trans- structures should be indicated. Cis- and trans- are given as prefixes to chemical structures. Examples of Geometric Isomers Two geometric isomers exist for Pt(NH3)2Cl2, one in which the species are arranged around the Pt in the order Cl, Cl, NH3, NH3, and another in which the species are ordered NH3, Cl, NH3, Cl.

Steps for Putting Together a Great Anthology

Steps for Putting Together a Great Anthology Steps for Putting Together a Great Anthology Known as â€Å"Spunk On A Stick,† L. Diane Wolfe is a member of the National Speakers Association. She conducts seminars on book publishing, promoting, leadership, and goal-setting, and she offers book formatting and author consultation. Wolfe is the senior editor at Dancing Lemur Press, L.L.C. and contributes to the Insecure Writer’s Support Group. For more of Wolfe's tips, check out her blog.   Once the stories are edited and cover art (and full wraparound, if you’re planning on printing copies) is created, the book is formatted for print and/or eBook review copies. Once it’s formatted, the price is selected, the bar code and PNC/LCCN ordered, then the title sent to printers/distributors. Be sure it’s marked â€Å"Review Copy.†12. Review copies outReviewers are sent books or contacted as per submission guidelines. This is where the authors can really assist in supplying reviewers. A large list of potential reviewers should be created during the marketing planning phase.13. More marketingMarketing continues with social media posts - Tweets, Pinterest images, Instagram, blogging, Facebook, virtual tour stops set, live appearances set, bookstores-libraries-schools contacted, blogging, Instagram, advertising set, etc.14. Last rounds of editsTwo months before release, the last round of edits occur, catching any typos and other areas where the stories can be tightened and polished.15. Book finalizedA month before release, the finished book is created and sent to distributors and the printer. Copies are ordered for the author and the organization/publisher.16. Release day and more marketingThe big day! All of the authors should play a big part in the release announcements. It doesn’t stop there though - marketing should continue for many months to come.And that’s it. Easy? No. Simple? Yes, if you stick to the outline and plan.It’s challenging working with so many authors, but at the same time, each person brings a fresh set of marketing ideas and a different sphere of influence - not to mention a unique set of skills and abilities. So, while it’s a lot to juggle in the production phase, the marketing part should yield some great results. A win-win for everyone!Have any questions for L. Diane Wolfe? Leave any thoughts or feedback in the comments below!

Assessing The International Human Resource Management Methods Business Essay

Assessing The International Human Resource Management Methods Business Essay Due to globalization, the economy around the world has been largely integrated. Many corporations are expanding their markets into regions or other countries they have never touched before. These corporations are experiencing an evolutionary stage: internationalization. It is clear that effective human resource management of an organization is the major competitive advantage and may even be the most important determinant of organizational performance. Thus, in order to survive in the crucial global economic market, a multinational corporation (MNC) mainly relies on the capability of its international human resource management (IHRM) during the internationalization process. In other words, it is the IHRM’s responsibility to enable the MNCs to be successful globally. Over the past several decades, practitioners and scholars have devoted great effort to explore the field of IHRM and there have developed thousands of literatures which support the notion that international human r esource management is increasingly an important topic. Most of their focus has been on IHRM issues in MNCs. Further, much of the literature deals specifically with managing expatriates (Napier, 1998).This literature review is divided into five parts. First part provides a brief introduction of the IHRM definition. In the second part, reasons for the increasing importance of IHRM are explained. Then, the author introduces strategic IHRM and an integrative framework of Strategic IHRM in MNCs Definition of International Human Resource Management (IHRM) What is IHRM? Actually, it is not easy to provide a precise definition of international human resource management (IHRM) because the responsibility of an HR manger in a multinational corporation (MNC) varies from one firm to another. Generally speaking, IHRM is the effective utilization of human resources in a corporation in an international environment. Scullion (1995: p352) defined IHRM as â€Å"the HRM issues and problems arising fro m the internationalization of business, and the HRM strategies, policies and practices which firms pursue in response to the internationalization of business†. In most studies, the term IHRM has traditionally focused on expatriation (Brewster and Harris, 1999). However, IHRM covers a far wider spectrum than expatriation management. Four major activities essentially concerned with IHRM were recruitment and selection, training and development, compensation and repatriation of expatriates (Welch, 1994). Iles (1995) also identifies four key areas in IHRM as recruitment and selection, training and development, managing multicultural teams and international diversity and performance management. From the perspective of worldwide people management, Hendry (1994) points out three main issues in IHRM: 1) expatriation management and development; 2) the management internationalization through the whole organization; 3) creating a corporate culture to internationalize the corporation to fu lfill the increasing need of inter-cultural interactions of doing business abroad and in home country. Recent definitions concern IHRM with activities of how MNCs manage their geographically decentralized employees in order to develop their HR resources for competitive advantage, both locally and globally. The role and functions of IHRM, the relationship between subsidiaries and headquarters, and the policies and practices are considered in this more strategic approach. Dowling, Schuler and Welch define IHRM as â€Å"a collection of policies and practices that a multinational enterprise uses to manage local and non-local employees it has in countries other than their home countries (Dowling et al., 1993: p2).†