U08a1 Compensation & Benefits Assignment Template Essay

U08a1 Compensation & Benefits Assignment Template - Essay Example Legally mandated benefits involve guaranteed pay; these are monetary reward provided by an employer based on the relationship between employee and employer. In most cases, guaranteed pay is best presented in basic salary (Andrus, 2012). On the other hand, variable pay is an example of voluntary benefits paid by an organization to a worker that is based on management discretion, effectiveness or results realized. Usually, voluntary benefits are best represented in bonus forms and sales incentives. Benefit communication should involve offering employees the right information on the incentives they stand to gain and allowing them adequate time to make hard decisions, if any. The practice also involves helping them go about permanent conditions, which is usually easier to manage than awaiting the eleventh hour. Employees should be educated on behaviors like maintaining good health and refraining from drug use (Tacchino, & Littell, 2011). Compensation policies are often riddled with different problems. These include the challenge of hiring the right employee to a given position. Unfavorable Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Legal and Environmental conditions hinder the implementation of better compensation policies (Szendrei, & Rodriguez, 2010). Pros. Formal pay structure is advantageous because an employee can make permanent plans based on it. Non-monetary compensation enables the employee to save monetary resources, and feels part of the organization. Cons. Monetary compensation can be easily wasted by the employee. Non-monetary compensation may sound a long-drawn burden to an employee, especially those who have access to better non-monetary compensation offered by an organization. Organizations carry out a cost benefit analysis to find out how effective, or how badly, an intended action will impact organizational goals. Even though, the analysis can be employed for almost any case, it is usually executed on

Emperor Constantine Essay Example for Free

Emperor Constantine Essay The relationship between the man and religion is centuries old and so is relationship between the man and the God. God in many forms have profoundly been capturing the hearts and souls of humans. In whatever phase of life this world has taken the man into, religion has always predominated the man’s life and so along with it several questions? Since, the Western world’s explorations started way back in14th Century, Christianity also spread, dug its roots in many parts of the world and spread its own interpretations about the Jesus, and his teachings. see more:to be human is to err It is evidently true that now people have ardent belief that Jesus was both human as well as divine and the life of Jesus on this Earth was both of ordinary man as well as supreme but this belief was not always there. It was the period between first and third century; people never tried to ponder on this theological aspect of their so ardent belief. Even Church did not have time to delve and search about this aspect as they were occupied in missionary activities and striving to protect themselves from persecutions. But the time suddenly changed when Emperor Constantine put an ultimate end to persecutions and also gave his moral and financial support to the Church. His support bore fruit and Christians organized themselves. In the year 325 AD at the Council of Nicaea, there was a debate among the Scholars and religious preachers. The debate was on the topic, Was Jesus a human or divine? Arius, both a priest and a preacher from Alexander said that Jesus was a human but was the first to be created by God but his opponents gave a strong argument by saying that if Jesus had been only a common human being like you and me then his death and finally resurrection would never have been so powerful to redeem our sins. If it was Jesus who had to provide salvation to humans then he ought to be divine. The opponents won and their views and ideologues appeared in Nicaean creed, where it is written, Jesus is true God of true God, begotten, not made. (Flesher, 2003) Another debate took place at Ephesus in 431 A. D. and the topic was if Jesus was human as well as divine then how can these both natures be culminated in one? Many Christians from Abtioch in Syria said that Jesus had traits of both divine and human nature but he used it differently. For e. g. If Jesus is God, he performs miracles but when Jesus plays the role of human then he suffers like a human and died. The Christians from Alexandria argued that though these two natures were blended together but these characteristics were not of equal measure. His divine power was more powerful as with his divinity, he had led human kind towards salvation and redemption of sins. His physical and normal human beings traits are not of much importance. These debates did not come into any conclusion. Again the Fourth Council was held at Chalcedon 20 years later, when Bishops thought to resolve the problem by taking middle position and got into belief that Jesus was both human as well as divine and with both these natures blended, gave human beings the path of righteousness. As a human being, he got himself prone to temptation, sins but his divine power overcame his human instinct, and this divinity in him takes the humans on the path of salvation. This formulation became the basis for the Catholicism, Protestantism, and Eastern Orthodoxy, but this belief was not adopted by every one especially Churches of Egypt, Syria, Ethiopia and Armenia. (Flesher, 2003). â€Å"And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us† (ESV. Bible John 1:14). When Jesus was born, he was human being which his closest disciple also said, â€Å"That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life—the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness † (1 John 1:1). John established him as a human being when he conveyed that Jesus disciples saw, touched and heard Him. (The Good News Magazine, Online Edition) He also felt hunger, thirst when he went on fast and fatigue too. Geza Vermes in his The Changing Faces of Jesus delve into the different facets of Jesus, taking into consideration the letters of Paul and the Gospel of John. The author said that as soon as the first century came to an end, Christianity forgot about the real Jesus and his messages. â€Å"Jesus, the religious man with an irresistible charismatic charm, was metamorphosed into Jesus the Christ, the transcendent object of the Christian religion. † (Vermes, 2000) In the most polemic tone, Geza Vermes (2000) said that: â€Å"As a historian I consider Jesus, the primitive church and the New Testament as part and parcel of first-century Judaism and seek to read them as such rather than through the eyes of a theologian who may often be conditioned, and subconsciously influenced, by two millennia of Christian belief and church directives. † Vermes consulted Gospel of John, which had endorsed the divine status to Jesus and then moved on to the Pauline letters, the book of acts and the Synoptic Gospels and said that if one goes by Synoptic Gospels, historical and Jewish religious tenor, Jesus is shown as a prophet – a holy man, a charismatic healer and exorcist. He also said that Jesus was a teacher to preach the words of God to the people on this Earth, as the other holy men of Jewish did. He went further to say that Jesus was a Hasid, a holy man from Galilean equivalent to other holy men as Hanina ben Dosa. Jesus always said that he was the son of man and just like other Galileans. Jesus did not indulge in halakhic matters. He even said that Jesus never wanted to form a new religion, as advocated by the Early Christian churches. Even Paul also never considered Jesus as a divine being or as a historical person. For Paul, Jesus is a redeemer of sins. He too said that Jesus was unmarried and no one else except Jesus has left a legacy of his magical words to take the human beings out of their sins towards the path of God and true living.

Oligopoly Structure Of Markets Beneficial To The Consumer

Oligopoly Structure Of Markets Beneficial To The Consumer (Tutor2U, 2007)An oligopoly market is a market structure which shares a large percentage of the market by a few firms. It results in a high degree of market concentration. An important characteristic of an oligopoly is interdependence between firms. Being interdependence means that each firm must be careful of the likely reaction of other firms in the market when making pricing and investment decision (Tutor2U, 2007). In addition, oligopoly market is barriers to entry and non price competition. It means by increasing market share without changing price, which can take the form of persuasive advertising, quality of service, loyalty schemes, free gift and packaging (The student room, 2005). According to the characteristic of oligopoly above, this is shown in the UK supermarket industry, as the diagram shown (Tutor2U, 2007); there are three main supermarkets which are Tesco, Sainsburys and Asda. The main supermarkets are now having more than three quarters which is 72% of the grocery ma rket. For the purpose of this essay, it will be a discussion about the market structure of the UK supermarket whether it provides some significant benefits for consumers. There are only few supermarkets with similar products in oligopoly market. Because most food manufacture will supply to the entire supermarket, such as Kelloggs and Heinz (Just food 2010). The supermarket produces its own generic or own-label goods for some products. They have produced their own-label product ranges from food to some basic cares. For example, Tesco planed to extend its Finest to include a range of homecare. Own-label sales generate 38% of Sainsburys total revenue, with its Taste The Difference premium range estimated to contribute between à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ¡200m and à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ¡300m. However, many of these generic products are made at the same factory, and are simply labelled differently for the different stores, so this is a false differentiation of products. This means that all of the products available for sale in the different supermarkets are the same, which is one of the features of an oligopoly (Tutor2U, 2007). Therefore, consumers do not have any choices because the re are only few big supermarkets in the market, which are selling the same product with different package. It is a negative side for consumers. In addition, the firms charge the same price in an oligopoly (PEOI, 2000). However, the UK supermarket suppliers have the same products are supplied to the firms. Therefore, the cost of all the supermarkets will be the same as each other. For example, the Cravendale Fresh Filtered Semi Skimmed Milk was priced as à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ¡1.05 in Sainsburys. However, Asda sold it as 86p (Mysupermarket Insights, 2000). All in all, this theory of oligopoly of supermarket structure can provide some benefits to consumers as they can have a more valuable price by comparing different price of the main supermarkets. However, the products which sole in the supermarkets are all very similar price. Firms compete on price in an oligopoly market. Therefore, they can become a price maker and making higher profit. This feature can result in the price wars where one supermarket has price cuts in its goods and other firm will follow this situation (Wisegeek, 2003). For instance, Morrisons has fallen to 57p/kg and 59p/kg of bananas. After Morrisons promotion, Tesco has also made some price cuts, worth à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ¡1.2bn. Lastly, Asde sells two million kilograms of bananas a week by charging 46p/kg, which is the lowest price in 14 years (Mailonline, 2000). The price competition can be shown in the Kinked Demand Curve (Economics help, 2003). If the price raise from (Economics help, 2003)P1 to P, then firms will lose a large share of the market because they become uncompetitive. If firms cut the price down, firms can gain a larger market share. However, other firms will cut price too. Therefore demand is inelastic for a price cut. In a price war, Tesco had a price cut which was between 3% and 25% discount promotion. This could result in increasing 12% market share in eight weeks. Therefore, consumers can cost less by having this price competition as there are many different promotion and price war which should provide benefit to consumers. Moreover, supermarkets need to compete other ways besides price. It means supermarkets should increase market share without changing prices. This can be shown in persuasive advertising, quality of service, loyalty schemes, free gifts, packaging and temporary price reductions, which are required to attract consumers (The student room, 2005). Therefore, these factors are aimed to bind consumers to particular supermarkets for reasons other than price. Firstly, according to research data from Nielsen media Research, Sainsburys spent some à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ¡9.97m compared to Tesco which spent à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ¡7,3m. However, with Asda spending some à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ¡4.23m, the two giants of the UK supermarkets still highly cost in advertising (CBI Interactive Inc, 2000). The more advertising is shown to consumers, the more possibility to attract and give information to the consumers. Secondly, research by Baruch Colleges business school in the US has found that, western consumers are more prefer to gifts th at reword loyalty and patronage than pure luck or blanket rewards. So, consumers may feel happy to spend money by getting discount. Also, the bigger the discount of the loyalty card, the better attractive of consumers. Consequently, as there are also some other factors that can influence consumers in an oligopoly market. It means consumers can gain different benefits from this non-price competition between firms. Consequently, although consumers do not have many choices as there are only few big supermarkets, and prices are identical in some ways, consumers still can have benefit which is provided by oligopoly market. As consumers can have lower price product by the price competition. In addition, the interdependent firms compete in other ways, for example, discounting, advertising, and quality of service, which are give consumers a more valuable consideration. In this case, the oligopoly market structure creates a situation that is beneficial to the consumers.

Historic Preservation: Gentrification or Economic Development :: Free Essays Online

Historic Preservation: Gentrification or Economic Development Historic preservation has traditionally been simply restoring historically significant architectural or geographical sites for aesthetic value or for the benefit of future generations to better understand the ways and styles of the past. As the National Trust for Historic Preservation explains, â€Å"when historic buildings and neighborhoods are torn down or allowed to deteriorate, a part of our past disappears forever. When that happens, we lose history that helps us know who we are, and we lose opportunities to live and work in the kinds of interesting and attractive surroundings that older buildings can provide† (NTHP web site). Recently the use of historic preservation has also begun to be viewed by cities and towns as a means to economic development and urban renewal. According to advocates, historic preservation has aided in local economic and community revitalization, increased tourism and employment, and preserved regional history, culture, and pride. However, historic preservation has often lacked public support due to a negative reputation. Some see it, not as a means to revitalizing local communities, but rather, as simply driving the problems further under the surface or into other areas, namely, as a means to gentrification. This reputation is not entirely unfounded, as there have been instances when gentrification was exactly the intended goal. There is a fundamental dichotomy and tension within economic development policies in general, and specifically with historic preservation, between the need to bring in wealthy residents and new businesses and the likelihood that it will drive out or alienate low to moderate-income local residents. Historic preservation will, of course, not work for every struggling area in the nation, but for those that can use it, alone or in conjunction with other methods of economic development it is important to recognize that the only way to have truly sustainable economic development and not simply economic growth at the expense of local community and quality of life issues is to find a balance between this dichotomy and accommodate all members of a community. Social and Economic Benefits Organizations such as the National Trust for Historic Preservation and the US department of Housing and Urban Development, and their state and local counterparts are currently emphasizing the benefits of historic preservation as a method of urban revitalization. According to Judith Kremen, Executive Director of the Baltimore County Historical Trust, historic preservation benefits local economies because it: â€Å"creates a

Tgif Case

TGIF Case Problems: Macro – Quantum Software is experiencing problems in regard to their liabilities due to their TGIF beer bust parties. Quantum is also facing the issue of continuing success in sales. Micro – Quantum over works their employees and is using the beer bust parties to keep morale high. Some employees however are taking advantage of the free beer every Friday and are consuming too much. Causes: {draw:frame} Quantum has had much success in the past three years of its existence. While that is a huge positive it comes with some responsibilities. One is keeping up on staffing issues. Quantum seems to be highly under staffed and is asking employees to work 16 hour days 6 days a week. The over worked employee gave Erin, one of the owners an idea as these individuals need to blow off some steam after these horribly long weeks Quantum is asking them to work. Another cause for their current situation concerning the beer bust Friday is Erin was its convincer. She now has a vested and seems to be bias interest in keeping beer bust Fridays despite the risk it lends to the organization. It seems that the problem would not have even come to pass if the first issue of under-staffing would have been addressed. Instead now a chain reaction of causes has taken place: Alternatives: Quantum has several options to mitigate the issue of too much liability which could affect their profits. First Quantum could ask every employee to do a breathalyzer test and sign a waiver before driving home, leaving no liability to Quantum. Another alternative to their current state is hiring more people. Obviously the work to employee ratio is too high. Quantum could move beer bash Fridays to a bar, giving the liability of when to stop serving the employees beer to the bar and its owners. The last alternative to discuss in this forum is instead of having beer bashes to just give the employees every Friday afternoon off to do with what they please. Recommendations: First, Quantum owners, Erin and Stan need to sit down with the attorney Bill and review exactly their liabilities and the kinds of suites they would be up against if something went wrong. Instead of beer bash Friday, Quantum should have a monthly happy hour at a local bar, and reassess the work load they have and hire the appropriate amount of people so that the employees have normal working hours of 40 hours a week. Also, take the opportunity with the current employees and create a psychological contract to bring out any underlying expectations both the employees have about Quantum and what Quantum has towards the employees. Both changes still provide Quantum the corporate climate they seem to be trying to attain with beer bash Fridays, however they mitigate the need for employees to ‘blow off steam’ and helps boost moral through comfortable workloads and social happy hours monthly. Lastly, by putting into place a planned change control process for future issues as Quantum grows they will be able to mitigate these types of liabilities in the future. OD Practioner Behavior Profile One â€Å"Self-Assessment Exercises† will help you gain insight into yourself and your preferences. This understanding is directly applicable to your development as an O. D. practitioner. You are expected to share the results and to discuss their implications for practitioner effectiveness with the instructor. You are encouraged to share them with your classmates online. Weekly reflection Recently at DST Systems, DST has experienced changes in the business environment. DST saw these changes when the organization started utilizing strategies such as restructuring, de-layering, downsizing, merging and acquiring. This has left the organization faced with great challenges in managing associates retention. While reading this week’s chapters I saw DST in several of the key terms, specifically during the NOGO case and describing their management style as Sluggish. DST is a great example of a Sluggish management organization. Seniority and hangers (people who just hung around and grabbed a paycheck) were the individuals rewarded. Three weeks ago I left DST after 5 years of service. I did so because of that mentality. They have operated for the last 30 months in the red. Change is upon them now as it is a cost concern. Instead of going about change in a positive and forward way, DST instead is laying off people without doing a re-organization to utilize their untapped human potential. I stayed during the layoffs and fortunately did not lose my job from it being cut. When I saw however their lack in communication about the layoffs and there was no change process communicated as no additional changes were going to be made, I decided that this corporation wasn’t moving in a direction that was positive and got out. My fear is one day DST Systems, who was once quite an innovative and inspiring corporation with a phenomenal background, will be a case in a text book for another MBA student to learn what not to do and asses where they stepped incorrectly.

The Star essays

The Star essays In Great Expectations, by Charles Dickens, light is used symbolically through the example of Estella. Miss Havisham brings Estella up in the darkness, consequently sheltering her from the true meaning of life. By Miss Havisham's orders, the house in which Estella lives is lit only by artificial light. Estella constantly lives a false life by never knowing the true significance of her words and actions. Her confinement to the darkness affects Pip, the one person who truly loves her. Estella represents his unreachable star, a light in the darkness that he faithfully reaches for. The sun, earth's star, is our source of life. In this way, Estella acts as Pip's continual source of inspiration. He strives to become a gentleman for her, so he can spend the rest of his life by her side. Pip's life was unfulfilled until "her light came along the dark passage like a star." This light, in the darkness of her surroundings, will light the way for Pip and always guide him back to Estella. The light that Estella represents is significant to this remarkable work, Great ...

Absence Of Malice Essays - Absence Of Malice, Films, Malice

Absence Of Malice Essays - Absence Of Malice, Films, Malice Absence Of Malice ABSENCE OF MALICE By : xxxxxxxx An interesting study of how a well placed newspaper article can affect a persons life and how it can ruin a persons life. Newman is the son of a mobster, but runs a legal business. However, he is in business with his uncle who is still connected to the mob. When a labor leader comes up missing, a federal investigator, thinking Newman is involved, leaks the info to news reporter, Fields. Giving Fields credit, she did attempt to contact Newman before the news release, but sent the story through without confirmation of details. In effect, this ruins Newmans' life and business. He brings a suit against the paper and Fields, which is mediated by Brimley, a no nonsense judge. Absence of Malice is a film that is several years old now, but it still play a big role in our society, as all we know the media has the ability to influence the way that people view the world, as well as their opinion of what they see and read. Like in the movie Paul Newman reputation was damage by reporter that in my opinion represented most of the media in our world when the ambition to be a super star and have the satisfaction of being the first to tell the story without verifying the source. Even to use information when a person asks no to be identified like in the case of the woman who kill herself after she read in the newspaper what she asked Field no to mention. And to support my point of view there is another moment of the movie when all the character involve in this case was in a meting with the assistant of the general attorney and he asked Sally Field if she was involved with suspect Newman she answered that no it was not true but yes it was accurate. They had been lovers but her trust was in something professional. Or was it ambition? I think that the ambition that she pursued to be the person with the big news makes her careless about the feelings of others and that problem is our daily problem. In conclusion I say that the media uses the true as a weapon to get what they want; usually means business, power, money and they will use what ever is necessary to get the prime time and so on. They are so smart to get the true twisted according to them, to get the people a very different view of the real true. And as a result of all this the person involved on good or bad suffers the consequences of this news, even if this was true, half true or not true at all. The damage is done and the public already makes their opinions about it.