Associate Level Material Essay

Introduction Due in Week One: Give an overview of the company and the security goals to be achieved. 1 Company overview As relates to your selected scenario, give a brief 100- to 200-word overview of the company. Sunica Music and Movies is a multimedia corporation that currently has four locations. Due to jumbled inventory, no internet commerce, and other factors they have been losing more and more customers. By installing a WAN, they will be able to keep track of their inventory better. They will also be able to keep their finances in order. There are also plans to make it where people can order online. In the end the company is going to make sure that their network is fully functional for all four stores, be secure for their customers, and protect all the assets of the company with a proper plan and proper security. 2 Security policy overview Of the different types of security policies—program-level, program-framework, Issue-specific, and system-specific—briefly cover which type is appropriate to your selected business scenario and why. I feel that issue specific would be the proper system to use for this company. The problems they have are issue specific and can be solved by addressing specific issues. By fixing each issue seprately, they will be able to become the safe and reliable company they want to be. 3 Security policy goals As applies to your selected scenario, explain how the confidentiality, integrity, and availability principles of information security will be addressed by the information security policy. 1 Confidentiality Briefly explain how the policy will protect information. By installing a WAN, Sunica makes sure that the inforamtion stays within the company itself. That make it more difficult for hackers to infiltrate their system. 2 Integrity Give a brief overview of how the policy will provide rules for authentication and verification. Include a description of formal methods and system transactions. This system will make sure that their is no unauthorized access to any of the information. It will also keep logs to where if anything does go wrong they can pinpoint exactly where and when it happened. It will also stay updated to the point where there wont be any unneccesary issues. 3 Availability Briefly describe how the policy will address system back-up and recovery, access control, and quality of service. By having a WAN the company will maintain all control of their system. Which will make backup of the system easier. And it will also allow them to be able to recover anything lost with more ease. And finally it allows tem to make sure that everything stays up to date so that the material will always be accesible and at the highest quality possible. References Cite all your references by adding the pertinent information to this section by following this example. American Psychological Association. (2001). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (5th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.

The Power of the Follower: the Arab Spring and Social Media

THE POWER OF THE FOLLOWER SAND011A MBL 921-S Leadership Assignment II Group Member Student Number Contribution Addison, B. 7078-516-3 100% Bheamadu, A 3285-589-3 100% Deonarain, N 7288-417-7 100% Deshmukh, A 7136-472-2 100% Jooste, D L 7276-682-4 100% Mahura, S 7300-632-7 100% Mavimbela, R 7294-314-9 100% Mnube, M 3326-099-0 100% Singh, Yashin 3667-383-8 100% Nkosi, N 7308-888-9100% Singh, Yeshvir 7308-490-5 100% Thuntsane, E 7294-747-0 100% Mulder, R7303-318-9100% Mkwanazi, S7288-373-1100%EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This assignment delves into the changing socio-dynamic landscape given the growing rate of mobile and IT connectivity as well as the growing number of users on social media platforms, such as Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Flickr and the like. The recent political uprisings on the African continent have hinted towards the use of social media tools to bring about socio-political change and either directly or indirectly challenge the leadership status quo.Many have refuted the claims o f the impact of social media during the uprisings, such as Malcolm Gladwell who dismisses the relevant importance the media, academics and thought leaders have placed on its ability to influence leader behaviour or bring about any meaningful change (www. newyorker. com, 2010). However, the contrary views outweigh Gladwell’s views and, in our opinion, bare consideration. According to Fleishman (2003) â€Å"leadership is an attempt at influencing the activities of followers to willingly cooperate through the communication process toward the attainment of some goals. The traditional view of leadership is its ability to influence follower behaviour. Thus, this assignment aims to explore the role of neo-social dynamics (social media) to influence leader behaviour, i. e. follower upward management of leaders. The assignment begins with a case study to determine social media’s impact in Africa, contextualized but not limited to the Egyptian uprisings. It then proceeds to pro pose an alternative mind-map developed in assignment 1 and concludes with the development of an HR value proposition to generalize a leadership model for use by organizations. TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. The Case Study| 4| | 1. 1 The Purpose of the Study| 4| | 1. 2 Background of the Study| 5| | 1. 3 Significance of the Study| 5| | 1. 4 Research Methodology| 6| | 1. 4. 1 Theoretical Framework| 6| | 1. 4. 2 Data Collection| 7| | 1. 4. 3 Research Hypothesis| 7| | 1. 4. 4 Key Research Questions| 7| | 1. 5 Conclusion| 10| | 1. 6 References| 11| 2. | Integration of the Case study Findings| 12| | 2. 1 Introduction| 12| | 2. 2 Assignment 1: Overview of the Leadership Model| 12| | 2. 3 Leadership Mind Map Recommendation| 14| | 2. 4 Conclusion| 18| 3. | The HR Value Proposition| 19| | 3. 1 Definition| 19| | 3. HR Value Proposition Objectives| 20| | 3. 3 A Systemic HR Mental Model| 20| | 3. 4 Organisation Challenges Proposed| 21| | 3. 5 Business Implications| 22| | 3. 6 The HR Value Proposition- Appl ication| 22| | 3. 7 Conclusion| 25| | 3. 8 References ( section 2 and 3)| 26| I. THE CASE STUDY 1. 1Purpose of the Study Social media is a popular term to describe a variety of media tools that is suggested to have played an important role in recent political revolutions. In the recent events in North Africa, the role of social media has been best characterized as an enabler, facilitating rallies and galvanizing participants.Despite limited access to the Internet and limited freedom of expression and information, social media penetration is on the increase in Africa. Social networks are spoken of in villages, schools, and fast-growing cities where the middle classes are now demanding access to quick information (Marieme Jamme, 2011). In the mid-1990s, as the use of mobile phones spread in much of the developed world, few thought of Africa as a potential market. Now, with more than 400 million subscribers, its market is larger than North America's and is growing faster than in any ot her region.The most common social media tools are Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and relatively new social media sites like Diggs and Foursquare. The communication is in the form of status updates and ad hoc statements. While discussion may be limited, the dissemination of information has been seen as the most influential component of the upheavals in the Middle East and Northern Africa (MENA) region (uicifd. blogspot. com, 2011). The case study intends to explain the impact of neo-social dynamics on leadership within the context of the recent political uprisings. In doing so we propose three hypotheses: i.Social media creates the leaderless revolution in the digital age. ii. Social Media creates Citizen Journalism – freedom of speech for the oppressed. iii. Social Media accelerates the rate of revolutions. 1. 2 Background of the Study The rate of technological and online communication advances suggest that organizations and governments can no longer suppress the spread of an ide a, message, or of news occurring globally. The implication is that if one is able to connect to the Internet and express a view about a situation, then the information will be broadcasted.The recent events in North Africa may signal a way forward for the rest of the continent as technology becomes more easily accessible to more Africans. Calls for socio-political transformation heard on the streets of Tunisia and Cairo were echoed globally, rousing sympathetic support internationally. The revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt are extensively seen as being mobilized, organized, supported and driven through the use of social media tools such as Facebook, Twitter and mobile phone technology which allowed for extensive political expression and rallying against government corruption online and off the ground. . 3Significance of the Study Traditionally, the greatest power that governments have held over their people has been that of information/freedom of speech. The promise that Internet conn ectivity brings to Africa is that people are now using the abundance of information for oversight of government and more interaction with administrations (J. Gossier, 2008). New communication technologies, especially social media via the Internet, have become important resources for the mobilization of collective action and the subsequent creation, organization and implementation of social movements around the world.Therefore, the impact of social media on current leadership dynamics requires exploration as the recent public demonstrations of rebellion have been underpinned by suggestions that social media has changed the status quo on how Africans engage and share their views and are no longer being silenced by oppressive leadership with these (social media) tools in hand. 1. 4RESEARCH METHODOLOGY The qualitative case study method is an effective tool for developing an understanding about a particular case, its features, and its impact.According to Stake (1994), â€Å"case study i s defined by individual cases, not by the methods of inquiry used. † As such, the goal of case study research is to understand the complexity of a case in the most complete way possible. The richness of data gathered through this method complements the article’s theoretical framework and is required to answer the research questions. This case study will be an exploratory case study which is an attempt to understand what happened within cases by looking beyond descriptive features and studying the surrounding context. (www. capam. com)We categorize the â€Å"Egyptian revolution† in this study as the activities and conditions that led to and defined the anti-government protests that occurred between 25 January and 11 February 2011, ultimately leading to the resignation of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. Case researchers examine both common and unique features of a case, with an emphasis on its defining features (Stake, 2005). 2. 4. 1 Theoretical Framework Researc hers may study a single case or multiple cases. In multiple case studies, researchers  study cases  in depth individually as well as look across cases for similarities and differences. (RWJF, 2008)Selected Cases a. Social Media in the Arab World (Ghannam, J. , 2011) b. Reasons Social Media contributed to the 2011 Egyptian Revolution (Chebib, N. & Sohail, R. 2011) 2. 4. 2 Data Collection The above literature was selected because of its relevance to social media, leadership, information technology and the considerations made regarding the plausible causes of changes in the socio-political landscape. Other secondary sources originating from published online news reports were also analysed. Such secondary data were appropriate for this study because of both the nature of our analysis and the wealth of information available.The qualitative researcher often must use her or his judgment, based on a set of criteria, to decide how much and how long a case should be studied to aid in unde rstanding (Creswell, 1998; Stake, 2005). 2. 4. 3 Research Hypothesis This case study explores the impact of neo-socio (social media) dynamics on leadership in Africa in order to understand contemporary social movements. In pursuit of this goal, the analysis specifically seeks to establish support for the following hypotheses, which will be verified through the case study: I. Social media: creates the leaderless revolution in the digital age.II. Social media: creates Citizen Journalism – freedom of speech for the oppressed. III. Social media accelerates the rate of revolutions. 2. 4. 4 Key Research Questions Three questions have been identified to guide the approach in solving the hypotheses: i. Who led the protests in Egypt? ii. How was information regarding the revolt obtained and circulated? iii. What was the rate of protestor-mobilization and the speed of the outcome? i. Who led the protests in Egypt? To succeed, one of the essential characteristics of the revolution was t hat there were no leaders.Had there been leaders, it would have been far easier for the existing powers to target them for arrest or worse and thus decapitate the revolution. The absence of leaders made such a response impossible. Instead of a revolutionary leadership – a Che, or a Lenin, or even a Walesa (who was imprisoned many times) – there was no one. The only way to have contained the revolts was bloody crackdown on everyone on the streets – a path that Syria's Bachir al Asad seems to be following, perhaps imitating the grotesque example of his father, who had the town of Hama flattened after a rebellion there, killing perhaps 20,000. carneross. com) ii. How was information pertaining to the revolt obtained and shared both locally and internationally? The concept of citizen journalism (also known as â€Å"public†, â€Å"participatory†, â€Å"democratic†,†guerrilla†or â€Å"street† journalism) is based upon public cit izens playing an active role in the process of collecting, reporting, analysing, and disseminating news and information (www. wikipedia. com). New Media technologies such as social networking and media-sharing websites in addition to the increasing prevalence of mobile phones have made citizen journalism more accessible to people worldwide.Due to the availability of technology, citizens can often report breaking news more quickly than traditional media reporters. Notable examples of citizen journalism reporting from major world events are the Arab Spring. Hundreds of Arab activists, writers, and journalists have faced repercussions because of their online activities. (Gannum, 2011) In Egypt, blogger Abdel Kareem Nabil Soliman, known as Kareem Amer, was released in November 2010 after more than four years in prison and alleged torture for his writings that authorities said insulted Islam and defamed Mubarak. Soliman returned to writing his blog shortly after his release.In Syria, 19- year-old Tal al-Mallouhi was said to be the youngest Internet prisoner of conscience in the region and in December 2010 marked her first year in prison, mostly incommunicado, for blogging through poetry about her yearning for freedom of expression. (Gannum, 2011) In Bahrain, a social networking campaign has called for the release of blogger Ali Abdulemam who was imprisoned for allegedly posting â€Å"false news† on his popular site BahrainOnline. org. These are merely three of the scores of Arab Internet users across the region that have faced arrest and incarceration and other repercussions stemming from their online writings.Government challenges and other impediments, notably low broadband high-speed Internet penetration rates as a percentage of population, stand in the way of wider and faster Internet access. According to the Arab Advisors Group, the top three countries in broadband adoption in the region as a percentage of population are the United Arab Emirates at 14 pe rcent, followed by Bahrain at 12 percent, and Qatar at eight percent as of late 2009. (Gannum, 2011) In 2009, the Arab region had 35,000 active blogs and 40,000 by late 2010.Although Egypt’s interior ministry maintains a department of 45 people to monitor Facebook, nearly 5 million Egyptians use the social networking site among 17 million people in the region, including journalists, political leaders, political opposition figures, human rights activists, social activists, entertainers, and royalty who are engaging online in Arabic, English and French. (Gannum, 2011) 111. Rate of protestor mobilization and the speed of the outcome The Egyptian Revolution began on 25 January 2011 and ended on 11February 2011 lasting a total of 18 days, overthrowing the 30 year old rule of Mubarak.The Jasmine Revolution in Tunisia, which ousted president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, lasted 28 days. The Egyptian revolution succeeded in overthrowing the present regime in the shortest time period. (Che bbib and Sohail, 2011) As shown in figure 1 below, the Egyptian revolution is the second shortest revolution in terms of both the number of days it lasted and deaths. FIGURE 1: Days of Revolutions and Deaths that occurred during those Revolutions 1. 3 Conclusion Hypothesis 1: Creates a Leaderless Rebellion The analysis above clearly indicates the lack of emergence of significant leaders in any of the revolutions.Revolutions ignited by passionate people having sufficient common ground and cause can mobilize a revolution which can be steered and sustained(without a leader) towards the achievement of the common goal. Hypothesis 2: Creates Citizen Journalism – freedom of speech for the oppressed There is a symbiotic relationship between social media and citizen journalism on the one hand and traditional media on the other hand, in that they play off each other. Traditional media remains an essential vehicle for reaching a domestic and international audience. n that while social m edia played a tremendous role, especially in empowering freedom of speech, the impact of citizen journalism was limited and interest in the cause was catapulted only through traditional media coverage. Hypothesis 3: Results in Rapid Mobilization and Swift Results Revolutions can be short and bloody, or slow and peaceful. Each is different. The Egyptian revolution was one of the quickest and swiftest revolutions in history. The facts and figures have indicated that it was also a revolution with one of the lowest death tolls.The deaths and number of days for revolutions historically were far in excess of the Egyptian revolution; were deaths ranged in the 3000’s, the death toll in Egypt was documented at 300. III. REFERENCES 1. Ghannam, J (2011): Social Media in the Arab World 2. Chebib, N. and Sohail, R. (2011): The Reasons Social Media contributed to the 2011 Egyptian Revolution 3. Cogburn, D. and Espinoza-Vasquez F. (2011): From Networked Nominee to Networked Nation. 4. Abrom s, L. and Lefebvre, R. (2009): Obama’s Wired Campaign: Lessons for public health communication 5. http://www. carneross. com/blog/2011/04/23/necessity-leaderless-revolutions) 6.Yin, Robert K. , Applications of Case Study Research, Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA, 2003a, 2nd 7. edition. 8. Yin, Robert K. , Case Study Research: Design and Methods, Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA, 2003b,3rd edition. 9. Yin, Robert K. , â€Å"The Abridged Version of Case Study Research,† in Leonard Bickman and Debra J. 10. Rog (eds. ), Handbook of Applied Social Research, Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA, 1998, pp. 229-259. 11. Stake, R. E. (2005). Qualitative case studies. In N. K. Denzin & Y. S. Lincoln (Eds. ), The Sage handbook of qualitative research (pp. 443–466). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE. 12. Glesne, C. (2006) Becoming Qualitative Researchers (3rd ed. . Boston: Allyn and Bacon. 13. Gladwell M. 2010 http://www. newyorker. com/reporting/2010/10/04/101004fa_fact_gladwell(date accessed: 08/07/2012) 14. Bo hler-Muller N. and van der Merwe, C. 2011 The potential of social media to influence socio-political change on the African Continent. Africa Institute of South Africa 15. Toni Ahlqvist, Asta Back, Sirkka Heinonen, Minna Halonen, (2010),†Road-mapping the societal transformation potential of social media†, foresight, Vol. 12 Iss: 5 pp. 3 16. Andre-Michel Essoungou, 2010 A social media boom begins in Africa, www. un. org/en/africarenewal/vol24no4/socialmediabom. tml (date accessed 17 July 2012) 17. Gossier, J. 2008 Social Media in Africa, Part 3: Democracy 18. carneross. com/blog/2011/04/23/necessity-leaderless-revolution section 2 2. integration of case study findings – Recommendations for Leaders Assessed in Assignment 1 2. 1 Introduction Emerging from an exploration of the likely impacts of social medial in the context of the political uprisings explored in question 1 above is the indirect threat neo-socio dynamics pose to autocratic governance, as was the case wi th Hosni Mubarak resigning from presidential office, a mere 18 days after the start of the Egyptian protests (bbc. o. uk 2011). This is in stark contrast to the rise of US President Barrack Obama, whose 2008 election campaign has been heralded as a win for social media, after a landslide victory which sought to â€Å"convert everyday people into engaged and empowered volunteers, donors and advocates through social media† (Edelman, 2009). Comparing these two leaders on the basis of their style of governance suggests polar opposite styles from democratic to autocratic leadership. Autocratic leaders are those who make unilateral decisions and issue instructions.It is often criticized because it negates relationships between followers that allow decisions to be made by leaders and followers (Ehow. com), whereas democracy advocates inclusive and engaging governance. Following on from the mind map developed in assignment 1, we recommend an alternative leadership approach for the bu siness leaders surveyed. 2. 2Assignment 1: Overview of the Leadership Model In the first leadership assignment, three leaders were surveyed and a leadership mind map was developed. The mind map sought to establish which leadership theory these three leaders subscribed to.As per table 1 (below), all three leaders subscribe to the power and influence theory of leadership, path-goal theory, leader-member exchange theory (LMX), ethical leadership, transformational leadership, servant leadership, spiritual leadership and authentic leadership. A fundamental leadership trait amongst these surveyed leaders was found to be building and maintaining ‘trust’. THEORY| MS. MABUNDA| MS. GOVIND| MR. SIBEKO| 1. Power & Influence| Legitimate (Positional)Expert (Personal)| Reward (Positional)Referent + Expert (Personal)| Reward (Positional)Expert (Personal)| 2.Path-goal| Supportive| Directive| Directive | 3. LMX| High LMX| High LMX| High LMX| 4. Transformational| Yes| Yes| Yes| 5. Ethical | Yes| Yes| Yes| 6. Servant | Yes| No| No| 7. Spiritual| Yes| Yes| Yes| 8. Authentic| Yes| Yes| No| Table 1 Leader Theory Summation of Surveyed Leaders (SAND011A, 2012) Image 1, below, provides a graphic of the leadership mind map that was developed in assignment one. The leaders used a combination of both positional and personal power. The mind map also showcased adaptations to this power and influence model, with various modes of leadership also complementing their primary leadership model.Image [ 1 ] Assignment 1 Leadership Mind Map (SAND011A, 2012) Trust formed the core of their leadership character, without which these leaders believe that their effectiveness to lead would have been severely impeded. We believe this to be true as followers are more inclined to trust people when they understand their leader’s values and observe that their actions are congruent with those values because they can reliably predict how their leaders will act. As such, leaders of high characte r instil trust.However, given their reliance on positional and personal power, an alternative leadership model is proposed below. 2. 3 Leadership mind-map Recommendation The demands of neo-socio dynamics on leadership is such that leaders must develop a broad range of personal and professional competencies in order to meet the challenges they will inevitably face. Tomorrow’s leaders must stay abreast of the impact of the social media curve. Primary and secondary stakeholders now have access through social media applications to mobilize and either do great harm to an organisation or support its efforts.This was recently illustrated by the Woolworths vs. Frankies dispute. According to Frankies, Woolworths, had sabotaged its attempts to sell its product and claim ownership, by selling an imitation of its drink. Supporters of Frankies mobilized and retaliated on social media spaces such as Facebook and Twitter. The response by Woolworths was plagued by its inability to understand the social media playing field. Instead of engaging followers, Woolworth’s executives chose to release press statements that appeared to only exacerbate the situation.The Advertising Standards Authority ruled in favour of Frankies, and Woolworths was ordered to remove its ‘copy-cat’ version of the soft drink. (Moneyweb, 2012) In a recent Sunday Times Article (Aug, 2012) Woolworths CEO, Ian Moir notes that the company was surprised at how quickly outrage was spread in the Frankie’s soft drink saga. In response to his own leadership displayed during the communication crisis, he stated that it (the social media outrage) was a problem within an hour which made it difficult to manage(C. Barron, 2012).It is safe to conclude that had Woolworth’s leadership endorsed a different response, strengthened its stakeholder engagement and understood the immediate impact of social networking, they would have adopted an alternative approach to engaging their stakeho lders. i. Authentic-Transformational Leadership The case study (in section 1) and the preceding Woolworths example highlights the need for ‘open leadership’. According to Charlene li (2011) â€Å"By embracing social media, leaders can transform their organizations to become more effective, decisive, and ultimately more profitable in this new era of openness in the marketplace. Whilst no model and no list of leadership behaviours or competencies can fully capture all the critical components of stakeholder management; our group has selected the prescriptive, authentic-transformational leadership model, for leaders to align themselves to. Transformational leadership describes a leader who motivates followers to performance beyond expectations, but has often been attacked for its potential to be abused. Bass and Steidlmeier (1999) point out that the ethics of transformational leadership have been challenged.For example, transformational leaders: (1) can use impression mana gement behaviours that pave the way to immoral behaviour (Snyder,1987) and (2) manipulate followers into losing more than they gain (White & Wooten, 1986). To mitigate these shortcomings, an additional form of leadership has been proposed to complement transformational leadership i. e. authentic leadership (Nichols, Thomas W. , 2008). Authentic leadership is an over-arching concept that aims to include transformational leadership and all positive forms of leadership (Avolio and Gardner 2005). At the heart of authentic leadership is the concept of ethicality.The concept of authenticity may contribute to the transformational leadership paradigm, producing an ideal form of leadership. Whilst many pseudo-transformational leaders are able to exert control over their followers, their lack of character and ethical behaviour ultimately bring harm to their followers. By acting on a core set of benevolent values, authentic transformational leaders, bring out the best in their followers and sp ur them on to do great things for society. ii. Behaviour of Authentic-Transformational Leaders Ethics are a basic component of authentic transformational leadership.Image 2 (below), demonstrates that these kinds of leaders engage in: * Idealized influence:   Serving as examples of excellence and character; creating a climate of high standards for task performance and ethical choices. * Inspirational motivation:   Developing and communicating an ambitious, exciting and morally good vision for the group to achieve; involving followers, empowering them and encouraging their development. * Intellectual stimulation:   Fostering open discussion of the vision, its implementation and encouraging new ideas from their followers without criticizing them publicly for their mistakes. Individualized consideration:   Demonstrating genuine concern for followers' development; provide coaching and mentoring and rewarding followers for creativity and innovation. Image 2 Transformational Leader ship Model (Management Study Guide, 2009) iii. Advantages of Authentic Transformational Leaders The advantages become apparent when demonstrating ethical behaviour and personal character while performing the four types of leadership behaviours in Image 1. Many researchers have proposed outcomes relating to authentic, transformational, ethical, and charismatic behaviours.These include trust (Robinson, 1996), organizational commitment (Conger, 1999), satisfaction (George & Jones, 1997), performance (Howell & Avolio, 1993) and organizational citizenship behaviour (Gardner & Schermerhorn, 2004). Additionally, the above authors suggest that: * These leaders develop higher levels of self-awareness. * They lead followers through personal development and organizational change. * They are able to persuade them to step out of their comfort zones, take a leap of faith and follow their leaders into the unknown.These also support a recent HBR discussion amongst Harvard’s leadership academ ia, who advocate the need for an increased level of self-awareness amongst business leaders, effective diversity management and forging greater partnerships with ALL stakeholders, both consumers and suppliers alike in the age of a more connected and socially (pro) active business environment. 2. 4Conclusion Authentic-transformational leaders are those leaders who are able to intellectually stimulate, inspirationally motivate and ideally influence their followers in an ethical manner.They are transparent in their dealings and ethical in their actions and it is their authenticity that removes the potential for them to abuse this leadership style. (Bass and Steidlmeier(1999). section 3 THE HR VALUE PROPOSITION-recommendations to mitigate the implications of the case study findings through the use of hr value propositions 3. HR Value Proposition 3. 1 Definition Human Resource, â€Å"HR†, professionals add value when their work aids an organization to achieve its goals. It is not the design of a program or declaration of policy that matters the most, but what recipients gain from these actions (Success360degree. com).In a world of increasingly scarce resources, activities that fail to add value are not worth pursuing. The HR value proposition means that HR practices, departments and professionals produce positive outcomes for key stakeholders – employees, line managers, customers, and investors. (Amerin, 2005) According to David Ulrich (2005) HR needs to be able to show how their activities create value for key stakeholders. He asserts that HR must have a direct line of sight to the market place such as the customers who buy products and services and to the shareholders who provide capital and that HR must be framed as a source of competitive advantage.He states that ultimately HR professionals need to be able to spell out how they provide a unique and powerful perspective of the linkages between employee commitment, customer attitudes and investor re turns. (Harvard Business School Working Knowledge, 2005) The role of a leader in an organisation is to lead change, lead transformation, lead teams and lead engagement. This process is often a learning on the part of the leader. For this reason, leadership branding is often part of the HR value proposition due to the fact that HR is the custodian of learning and development within an organisation. . 2HR Value Proposition Objectives * HR needs to be able to show how their activities create value for key stakeholders (i. e. the business, customers, employees, investors) * HR must have a direct line of sight to the market place such as the customers who buy products and services and to the shareholders who provide capital (a suggestion of a strong market orientation). * HR professionals must align practices with the requirements of internal and external stakeholders (operating in a silo is no longer suitable). HR professionals must acquire the personal knowledge and skills necessary to link HR activity to stakeholder value. * HR professionals need to be able to spell out how they provide a unique and powerful perspective of the linkages between employee commitment, customer attitudes and investor returns. 3. 3 A Systemic HR Mental Model HR needs to frame a new mental model that will make others take notice of and acknowledge the profound and sustainable benefits HR brings to organisations in the new economy.Such a mental model must form the strategic framework that provides HR professionals with the evidence that HR is truly adding value to key stakeholders. Once developed, a systemic HR mental model will provide the strategic framework that enables HR professionals to make significant and tangible contributions to business performance. For instance, HR professionals will be able to use these models to economically justify their initiatives, advise where the business is at risk, highlight opportunities to continually improve performance and most importantly, show how they add to stakeholder value.This conclave will provide a platform where eminent HR professionals will discuss the issues that organizations need to handle in order to transform the role of HR and aid organizations to gain and sustain competitive advantage. (www. ksom. ac. in) The HR Value Proposition, which was developed by Dave Ulrich in 2005,expressesfivekey elements for the value creation activities of HR, namely: 1. Knowing external business realities 2. Serving Internal and External Stakeholders 3. Creating HR Best Practices . Building HR Resources 5. Ensuring HR Professionalism Figure 1 HR Value Proposition Template (D. Ulrich 2005) 3. 4ORGANIZATIONAL CHALLENGES PROPOSED The HR Value proposition mind map (Table 1) speaks to challenges organisations may be facing. Social media connectivity and activism can impact business relations both internally (employee relations) and externally (customer relations). We therefore propose two examples of this for a generic Company X: 1. Employees who are dissatisfied with utocratic, heavy-handed leadership within an organisation; and 2. customer online queries or complaints are being sluggishly attended to, resulting in poor customer service levels. 3. 5Business Implications 1. Employees could take to social media and discuss amongst themselves their dissatisfaction with their leaders resulting in lower levels of staff morale, productivity and insubordination (borne out of frustration and on-going discussions in and amongst disgruntled employees).The recent Marikana Mining tragedy, although still under investigation, could potentially point toward employee mobilization (which may have been aided by social media interaction such as Blackberry messenger â€Å"BBM†, or possibly Facebook engagement) and possibly suggest how three thousand employees mobilized to the exclusion of their own union leaders, who purport not to have known about the impending strike action. . Customers who sense that company X is not engaging speedily and effectively to their queries or complaints may view the company’s indifference as a sign of it not being customer oriented and they may retaliate on social media platforms. The online conversation could inform new customers and other existing customers of the company’s level of degree of engagement as such impacting business performance. . 6 The Value Proposition- Application The HR Value Proposition will address the issues in the two examples cited above that will result in improvement or a turnaround strategy. The systemic mind map model will seek to address the first two of the elements of Ulrich’s HR value proposition namely, 1. Knowing external business realities; and 2. Serving Internal and External Stakeholders.The reason for choosing the above two elements is because neo-socio dynamics (social media) suggests (1) a new and evolving external business reality in the form of online and mobile phone technology, its connectivity, user a ctivity, and continued global growth in online social engagement and (2) ‘serving internal and external stakeholders’, who are now seemingly more connected and willing to voice their dissatisfaction, implies that HR needs to re-orientate its value proposition in light of how and where internal and xternal stakeholders are now having their conversations, which is online, in real time, sporadic, and transparent. As such the Value Proposition should aim to: * Create market value for investors by increasing intangibles. * Increases customer share by connecting with target customers. * Help line managers deliver strategy by building organisation capabilities. * Clarify and establish an employee value proposition and enhance individual abilities. * Improve the line manager’s ability to understand external business realities.HR Value Proposition Element| HR Transformation Criteria| HR Intervention| HR Value Proposition| Knowing the external businessRealities Article I. AND Article II. Serving externaland internal stakeholders| Create market value for investors by increasing intangibles. Increases customer share by connecting with target customers. Helps line managers deliver strategy by building organisation capabilities. Clarifies and establishes an employee value proposition and enhances individual abilities.Improve the line managers ability to understand external business realties| * The experience, level, function, previous management education, current challenges faced and demographic background of the potential participants needs to be considered when setting the objectives so that the programme is made relevant to the participant as well as the organisation. Leadership development needs may be carried out at this time which are linked to the strategic objectives and competencies needed for organisational success. * Based on the results of assessments they will be nominated to go on courses to close the competency gap. A suitable audience wi ll be selected * An evaluation system and corresponding actions to reward success and improve on deficiencies preferably the Kirkpatrick Model in which to gauge self-development of leaders; their ability to contribute to the teams they lead; and which help them contribute to the business and strategic change. The basket of offerings from a development perspective and leadership programme will be: 1. Emotional Intelligence 2. Resilience 3. Customer Orientation 4. Problem solving 5. Analytical Skills 6. Communication 7. Networking 8. Coaching 9.MentoringAnalytical skills. 10. Communication 11. Networking| 1. Clear focus on customer satisfaction and meeting the needs of the customer. 2. Improved staff retention 3. Lowered staff turnover 4. Increased productivity 5. Display of effective leadership and managerial skills 6. Effective problem solving and decision-making. 7. Analyse and integrate information and facts and demonstrate performance and change in behaviour 8. Make decisive and proactive decisions 9. Clear and detailed written communication skills. 10. Clear focus on networking with all key stakeholders. Table 1: HR Value Proposition Mind Map – Generic Organization X 3. 7 Conclusion The business world shapes leaders, pushing them to adapt and change in the face of social technology’s revolutionizing impact. Social media has connected, networked and empowered employees, customers, partners and investors and all stakeholders of the company globally. The change has been so rapid that leaders are increasingly caught unprepared(Barry Libert and Sally Ourieff 2012). To succeed, and even just to survive, leaders must evolve as today’s technologies are changing.Social, mobile and cloud technologies force savvy businesses to become open, transparent, and inclusive organizations with stakeholders. Leaders must create new frameworks to integrate their understanding of social and mobile technologies into their leadership skills and management team s must recruit candidates equipped with these new capabilities. â€Å"Be Open, Be Transparent, Be Authentic† are the current leadership mantras, yet companies often push back according to Charlene Li (2011). Traditionally business is premised on the concept of control, yet the new world order (neo-socio dynamics) demands ‘openness’. ______________________________________________________ 3. 8 REFERENCES – SECTION 2 AND 3 1. Aughton P. 2005, Mapping the HR Value Proposition 2. Augie Ray May 11, 2010; (http://blogs. forrester. com/augie_ray/10-05-11-seven_things_your_organization_must_do_because_social_media) 3. Barron, C. 2012: A social media shock for Woollies, Sunday Times Business Times Aug 19th 2012 pg6. 4. Barry Libert and Sally Ourieff 2012, Recruiting and Developing Great Teams in the Facebook Age , https://www. bluesteps. com/blog/Recruiting-and-Developing-Great-Teams-in-the-Facebook-Age. aspx (date accessed: July 28 2012) 5. Bass, B.M. & Steidlmeier , P. (1999). Ethics, character, and authentic transformational leadership behaviour. Leadership Quarterly, 10(2): 181-217. 6. http://dssresources. com/faq/index. php? action=artikel=225 7. http://www. ccl. org/leadership/pdf/research/creatingGovernmentLeaders. pdf 8. http://www. ccl. org/leadership/pdf/research/futureTrends. pdf 9. http://www. ehow. com/list_6713655_effects-autocratic-leadership. html 10. http://www. highwayafrica. com/media/Citizen_Journalism_and_Democracy_Book. pdf 11. Li, C (2011) Open Leadership: How Social Technology Can Transform How You Leadhttp://www. charleneli. om/open-leadership/ date accessed July 16th, 2012 12. Nichols, Thomas W.. Authentic transformational leadership and implicit leadership theories.. Denton, Texas. UNT Digital Library. http://digital. library. unt. edu/ark:/67531/metadc9056/. Accessed July 16, 2012. 13. Transformational Leadership theory http://managementstudyguide. com/transformational-leadership. htm date accessed 16th July 2012 14. Ulrich D, 2005, HR’s New Mandate: Be a strategic player, http://hbswk. hbs. edu/archive/4861. html (date accessed: 30/07/2012) Images:  © 2012 (Twitter) Twitter Inc. , (Facebook) Facebook Corp, (YouTube) Google Inc.

External and Internal Environments Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

External and Internal Environments - Essay Example The company is engaged in the business of running retail stores that come in various formats like discount stores, supercentres, neighborhood markets, etc. worldwide. The products of the company are also offered through different e-commerce websites that includes samsclub.com and walmart.com. Wide range of merchandise products are also offered by the company which comes at every day low price (EDLP). The company's operation is divided into three broad segments namely, Wal-Mart International, Wal-Mart US and Sam's Club. External Environment Analysis The external environment in which Wal-Mart operates its business activities can have a significant impact on its growth and sustainability in future. The various external environmental factors that can have an impact on the company and its corresponding retail industry can be better understood through the PESTEL analysis. It stands for Political, Economical, Social, Technological, Environmental and Legal factors concerning the organization . Of all these six environmental factors the Economical and Social factors can have a significant impact on the organization and the industry in which operates its business. A detailed analysis of these two factors has been discussed below: a. Economical Factors: United States is considered to be one of the largest economies of the world with gross domestic product (GDP) of around $15.09 trillion and per capita GDP of around $49,000 in 2011 (CIA, 2012a). The recent global financial crisis (GFC) had a significant negative impact on the US economy but it recovered well. The US retail savings which also suffered a setback due to GFC is expected to have a steady growth. The disposable income of the US population is also expected to increase. All these factors can have a positive impact on Wal-Mart in increasing its sales in the forthcoming years through its low and competitive pricing strategy. b. Social Factors: The increasing healthcare costs and the ever increasing aging population o f US are major concerns for the country at present. Another major social concern for the country is the rising inequality of income. United States has been ranked 42 out of 136 nations with respect to the income equality parameter as evaluated by the Gini coefficient (CIA, 2012b). Although US economy as a whole has experienced consistent growth it has not translated into redistributive social policies and increased wages. All these social concerns can have a significant impact on Wal-Mart because it employs large number of laborers and the wages issues associated with them can hamper the future growth prospect of the company. Industry Analysis Porter’s five forces model helps an organization to assess the competitive forces which exists within the industry (Hill & Jones, 2012, p. 49). The forces which help out in the process are named as a) threat of new entrants, b) threat from the substitute products or services, c) bargaining power of the suppliers, d) bargaining power of the consumers and finally e) competition within the industry (Society for Human Resource Management (U.S.), 2006, p.38-39). Out of the five competitive forces mentioned above two most important forces that can have a significant impact on Wal-Mart has been described below: a. Buyer Power: The retailers that operate in the retail industry vary greatly in their size with respect to companies like Wal-Mart who are having large chain of supermarkets

Slp5 599 Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

Slp5 599 - Coursework Example The new and final cumulative profit based on the recent decisions is 1,693,539,768 in comparison to the previous profit, which were 1,544,929,139. Therefore, this substantial change in the sum of profits revealed that incorporation of new decisions has allowed better results in comparison to previously decisions undertaken. Nevertheless, it is important to reveal that the new decisions pedestals upon the CVP analysis and data generated and presented in the market report. Hence, indicating that CVP analysis has been of great help in fetching larger profits. It can be noted from the above grid that the Research and Development expenditure on the tablet model X5 has been cut down to 0% throughout four year period from 2012 to 2015. The reduction in R&D is justified on the basis of the model losing its appeal in the market which was considered unlikely to create any new sales for this model. Moreover, it is also indicates that the price of the same model is maintained at the same level of $275 per unit in these years. Furthermore, during 2012-2015 the expenditure on research and development of X6 has been set at 60% in comparison to previous decisions for the model, which were 34% and 40%. The greater acceptance level of this model amongst customers and greater margins are bases for the decision to increase the R&D expenditure on this model. This would allow the model to maintain its position and offer better technology to customers. The price of X6 was increased in 2012 to $450 from $430; however, during the next three years 2013-2015 th e price was reduced to $440. In addition, the research and development expenditure has increased on X7 from 33% to 40% during 2012 and this increment on X7 was maintained till 2015. This was done to give this model a good platform for greater consumer acceptability and purchase of the model in its yearly years.

Business ethics Dissertation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Business ethics - Dissertation Example Ethics examines the ethical problems and moral issues faced by the businesses and apply to individuals as well organizations. It is a form of applied ethics more relevant to ethical conduct of organizations and individuals working in organizations. Business ethics have both the normative as descriptive dimensions however, from the perspective of the practice, business ethics are mostly considered as normative in nature. The overall emphasis is balancing the act between the commercial and profit maximizing motives of the organizations with that of the non-commercial and non-economic concerns which may directly affect other stakeholders of the organization. It has been argued that the business ethnics have evolved over the period of time however, the concept as a whole started to take roots during 1970s. Over the period of time, not only on the academic level but at the practice level, business ethics evolved and organizations started to give due consideration to business ethics. Organ izations actually attempted to adapt business ethics in order to distance themselves from the dubious business scandals. As a result of this drive, overall reporting on ethical issues improved to allow all the stakeholders a better view of information regarding ethical conduct of the organizations. This literature review will provide an extensive analysis and exploration of the seminal and most recent work on the topic of business ethics. By reviewing the existing and past literature, this review will offer an insight into how the discipline has evolved and what future course of action can be taken by the researchers in this discipline. Ethics and Business Ethics Conceptually, business ethics deal with moral features of the commercial activity performed by the business entities. In practice, however there is a wide array of disciplines and subjects which are pursued under the heading of business ethics. Business ethics therefore are constructed as a discipline for moral reflection t he commerce activity and are considered as as old as the trade itself is. From academic point of view, the field of business ethics however, is relatively new as major work in this field took place in the last 4 decades which witnessed growth of literature on the topic of business ethics and organization efforts to incorporate business ethics into their strategy. The roots of ethics and business ethics largely are founded in the religion as it is from here the overall need to do good emerge. Religion stressed upon the use of justice and fairness in terms of trade and commerce and thus binds its followers to observe justice, equality and fairness when dealing with others in trade and commerce related activities. The oldest evidence regarding setting up some sort of ethical bindings on the commercial activities can be found in the Code of Hammurabi which not described the rules for setting up prices but also deliberated upon setting up tariffs and other rules for the commercial activi ty. (Moriarty, 2005) However, the definite and more formal theory on business ethics starts with the work of Aristotle and Plato as contained in both the Republic as well as Politics. Republic, a book by Plato clearly speaks about the idea of Justice and outline that Justice is speaking the truth and giving back what one receives. This idea of justice seem to be aligned with the responsibility of the business to actually provide accurate and true reporting of its affair besides participating into the activities which are beneficial for the society as a whole. Plato’s concept of justice therefore is considered as something where Justice flows naturally from the type of activities pursued by the organizations. This relationship of justice also outlines the basic structure of the exchange taking place between two parties engaging into any trade related transactions and forming the contractual arrangements. Business activities therefore need to be oriented towards the achievement of a balance between the rights of two parties engaged into sort of

FEDEX REPORT Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

FEDEX REPORT - Essay Example As far as product and market destinations are concerned, FedEx is known to offer the second largest civil fleet service across the United States and other Caribbean Islands including Puerto Rico and Dominican Republic (Breiman et al, 2009). There also is FedEx Ground, which is a dedicated courier service for Canada and other North American countries. FedEx also offers customer specification and tailor services including home delivery, custom and insurance provided through FedEx Trade Network, supply chain service, corporate services, print service, as well as FedEx Ship Centers. As a way of ensuring that its products meet customer specification and needs, there is a dedicated FedEx product named FedEx TechConnect, which offers toll free customer support to customers all around the globe. It has been said that through FedEx TechConect, FedEx creates a competitive advantage of learning from within its own rank, why and how it will succeed with its product strategy. Pricing Strategies P ricing has been said to be a very important marketing strategy for the creation of competitive advantage in a globally competing market. ... The price discount on FedEx Ground is one of such popular pricing strategies used by the company to ensure that customers get value for money. What is more, FedEx tries to keep its traditional base cost of service as minimal as possible. For example pick up services are offered by FedEx at a traditional rate of $6 per delivery (Carter, Daniel and Betty, 2006). In relation to key competitors on the American and Canadian market, this traditional cost has been said to be one of the lowest. In addition to the traditional cost offered on pick up services, there is an additional weekly charge of $6 for business locations that make requested pick up services. Placement Strategies In terms of location, FedEx is predominately situated in the United States and Canada. These are where most of its stationery offices are. But thanks to globalization and flight services, this limited placement is not in any way a limitation to the distribution strategy adapted by the company. This is because in it s scheme of distribution strategy, the company operates on a borderless strategy whereby it opens up its service to all continents of the world. To make this strategy sustainable, FedEx has an air fleet service dedicated for an inter-continental goods and mail delivery. Even though the company reports of effectiveness with this distribution strategy, experts have said that FedEx could reach a more deepened mileage with its products and services if the company expanded its placement by way of opening more offices and centers across its key regional markets (Icove, Karl and Vonstorch, 2005). It has been suggested for example that the company had continental head quarters, from which it would operate a more decentralized placement strategy. The advantage of such a decentralized placement

International HRM Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

International HRM - Essay Example The United Kingdom is also a very masculine society, which emphasises a cultural orientation toward achievement of success and exhibiting ambition and motivation in the professional world. This culture is also driven by a short-term orientation, meaning that future gains will be more eagerly sacrificed in order to achieve rapid results, especially in business. This is especially apparent in the professional relationship between the London Stock Exchange and UK investors, using quarterly results to help investors achieve instant gains. In order to fully understand the complexities, problems or opportunities for UK-based management expanding into France, Germany and Japan, it is necessary to outline the most prominent cultural characteristics that make up societal and professional values, beliefs and orientations. This essay describes the characteristics of the French, German and Japanese business cultures to critically assess what degree of adaptability will be required by the UK-base d organization upon new foreign business market entry. Research indicates that there are some distinct differences and moderate similarities to the UK culture that will determine the strategy direction for people management in these countries. Working with French employees For people management to be effective in France, the UK-based HR team must understand the fundamentals of what drives professional culture in this country. France scores highly on the power distance metric in Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions framework. The notion of cultural power distance is defined as the level of inequality that is tolerated within a culture (Leng and Bothelo 2010). For instance, a less powerful figure (such as a subordinate employee) will be more indulgent and accepting of a more powerful figure (such as executives) maintaining disparity between ranking representatives of the business. Much of these cultural beliefs are driven by long-standing power distance between government and general society that was founded during the historical periods where France was governed by autocratic monarchy structures (Communicaid 2009). Powers in France, as it relates to business and government, have always been centralised in which business executives maintain the majority of control, thus creating organisational structures where decision-making authority is top-down rather than horizontal. French citizens further maintain a great deal of ethnocentrism, a belief in superiority of French culture and its rich history, which further supports acceptance and tolerance for power distance. For a UK human resources practitioner, there should be consideration of the high prevalence of tolerance of power distance. It is unlikely that French employees will be accustomed to working within decentralised business hierarchies that facilitate a great deal of team-working and horizontal problem-solving and decision-making. Therefore, there would be advantages for the UK manager that is attempting to facilitate more effective work processes and outcomes to take a hard approach to people management. Armstrong (2007) describes the hard HRM approach as an HR strategy that ensures more effective