Category: Management

Toronto SARS Outbreak: Case Study

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Critical Response to SARS in Toronto, in Howitt and Leonard, Managing Crises, pp. 75-130

The Toronto SARS crisis serves as an important case study for emergency operations personnel. During the unfolding of the crisis, there were some actions that were laudable actions and some others that were unsatisfactory. Given that 43 people lost their lives and scores of others suffered infection, a deep introspection on this emergency episode is called for. The rest of the essay will critically examine the actions taken during the event and identify areas in which emergency responses could be ameliorated. 

As author Pamela Varley repeatedly points out in her case study, the ‘novelty’ factor of the SARS epidemic put conventional Emergency Operation Plans (EOP) to test. But the quick rate of spread of the virus, with hospitals themselves proving to be mediums for contagion, had made the Toronto emergency response team all the more arduous. Further, the . . . Read More

Qantas Airways: Service firm audit

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Qantas Airways has established a reputation for itself in the highly competitive airlines industry. It has also survived the test of time by being a long time player in the Asia-Pacific regional market. Behind this success are valued marketing and service practices. Even a cursory analysis of Qantas’ business processes indicate how the company has followed the 7P’s of service marketing, especially those of People, Processes and Physical facilities. The rest of the essay will elaborate how the company had applied these principles and where it can still improve.  

It is already said oftentimes that human resources are the backbone of services companies. However clichéd this maxim is, it yet remains true. Since the staff and crew of Qantas are direct points of contact for customers, they virtually serve as the face of the company. Behind Qantas’ steady rise within the airlines market are robust processes of provisioning, recruitment and training of its staff. . . . Read More

Accountability in Management – Meaning, Definition, Examples

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This concept comprises many alternative meanings and connotations. Although a typical definition would suggest the fundamental notion involved is one of responsibility to someone, or for some action (and both elements could be present simultaneously, of course), there is the added dimension of the need to actually render an account (i.e., of one’s conduct) to a superior person or authority so that the adequacy of the level of performance might (retrospectively) be judged.

At a general level, accountability is the basis of agency theory, whereby an appointed agent needs to demonstrate that they have exercised due discretion in the execution of the principal’s best interests— although academics for many years have pointed out the implicit encouragement, because of the existence of reward structures that benefit the agent, for that agent to falsify records of activities undertaken on their principal’s behalf. The Parable of the Unjust Steward is a classic case here, in . . . Read More

Absolute Advantage Theory of International Trade: Meaning, Examples and Notes

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The argument that countries differ in their ability to produce goods efficiently, and hence one country may have an advantage in the production of a product that is absolute over any other country in producing it is called absolute advantage. Efficiency is defined as producing with a minimum of waste, expense, or unnecessary effort, and therefore includes low cost, fewer resources, and fewer labor hours.

Writing about agricultural trade, Luther Tweeten argues that the United States has an absolute advantage in wheat production because only one hour of labor is required to produce a ton of wheat versus four hours to produce a ton of wheat in the rest of the world. In contrast, elsewhere in the world sugar production requires two hours of labor versus three in the United States to produce one ton of sugar. Because labor supply is limited and transferable between commodities but not between countries, wheat output (elsewhere in the world) is forgone to produce sugar. Similarly, . . . Read More

Employee Absenteeism – Review of Literature – Causes, Costs and Solutions

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Absenteeism can be defined as any failure on the part of the employee to report to work when scheduled to do so. This includes absences that occur for any reason, whether involuntary or voluntary. Here, involuntary absenteeism refers to unavoidable illnesses and injuries that prevent an employee from attending to their work obligations. Voluntary absenteeism, on the other hand, includes unplanned absences to look after sick dependents, but can also be the outcome of boredom and/or low job satisfaction.

Unauthorized absenteeism represents a major cost for organizations all over the globe. Although individual incidents of absenteeism are fairly innocuous, the cumulative impact can be substantial. The impact on the North American economy alone is estimated to be in excess of $60 million. The obvious costs are those associated with the absentees themselves and includes their regular pay and benefits. Beyond this are the costs related to replacement labor, overtime, and lost . . . Read More

Finding Employees and Keeping Them: Predicting Loyalty in the Small Business

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Summary of article:

The article titled ‘Finding Employees and Keeping Them: Predicting Loyalty in the Small Business’ accounts for various factors that determine employee loyalty in small businesses.

The authors assert that employees in small businesses are expected to be more versatile and dynamic. This makes hiring the right people a little challenging. In larger businesses, each employee is a specialist in a particular facet of business. To this extent, job descriptions can be sharply defined and employees hired in numbers. (Dyer and Reda 2010)

Indeed, as the study identifies, small businesses which adopt a formalized hiring process tend to perform better than their less structured counterparts. For example, parameters such as financial performance, revenue growth, as well as owners’ success perception, all point to this correlation. More importantly, selection of personnel inadequately skilled for the role has a detrimental effect on . . . Read More

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Management Case Analysis: Netflix

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Case Synopsis
DVD rental business is coming to the end of its life-cycle. While Netflix made a name for itself by excelling in this domain, the technological landscape and consumer preferences are constantly in a flux.
Netflix’ leadership position in streaming video is somewhat secure for the moment. But rapidly changing technology and competition from niche players pose numerous challenges that require anticipation and proactive implementation.

Key Themes
The major themes w.r.t. the Netflix study are ‘emergent technology’, ‘supply-chain innovation’, ‘precision logistics’, ‘saturated market’, ‘key product strategies’, ‘marketing strategy’, ‘customer relations’, and ‘value creation’. To elaborate on a few, let us consider first the theme of emergent technology. Netflix was a pioneer in supply-chain innovation and distribution. Hence its precision logistics was a pivotal factor in its success . . . Read More

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Decisions within US Congress: How Human Resource Management principles can help

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What is the Issue?

Oftentimes, decisions within the US Congress are not made in a straightforward, transparent manner. Although elected Congressmen and Congresswomen are representatives of their respective constituencies, multiple external factors influence their decisions. Corporate lobbies are a major external factor intruding on the democratic foundation of the Congress. Likewise, political ideology, as in staunch conservatism or liberalism can play a key role in the decision making process. As the text by Denhardt et. al. suggests, applying Organizational Behavior theories to the working of Congress can help get to the root of the issues. One can then proceed in designing strategies for countering the issues.

Strategies to ‘fix’ the issues

Denhardt et al is show how ‘the power of vision’ is the precursor for the smooth functioning of organizations – be it private, public or non-profit. (p.26) The US Congress will thus have to . . . Read More

Healthcare for Indian Women

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India is an ethnically and linguistically diverse country. It is also variable in terms of socio-economic and development indicators. Moreover the federal structure stipulated in the Indian constitution makes health care predominantly a state-level responsibility. As a result, depending on the economic prosperity, dominant political ideology, and even some cultural factors, access to healthcare varies across individual states. Given the breadth of diversity of Indian demographics, picking merely one group for analysis is a challenging endeavor. This is so because demographic groups in India intersect across language, caste, gender and class lines. When we apply these parameters to the Indian population we get thousands of small groups with marked differences between them in terms of privilege and quality of life. As a result no one group can be said to directly relate and represent India and its healthcare system. In order to overcome this challenge, the biggest minority group in . . . Read More

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Continuing professional development (CPD)

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It is true that CPD needs to be reflective and designed to improve an individual’s attributes, knowledge, understanding and skills. There are several reasons why this is true. Firstly, a good CPD program will include “discussions with colleagues or pupils to reflect on working practices.” (TDA-CPD Guidance, 2013) Such a reflection at the outset will help measure its relevance to the participants. Next, it will also help denote learning objectives and design apt teaching strategies toward attaining those objectives. Just as reflective activity is integral to CPD during the event, it is also important afterwards. Herein, participants “may need time to reflect on what they have learnt and what the impact may be – this could be on their own or with others. Colleagues or children and young people in the school may be able to play a part in this collaborative reflection.” (TDA-CPD Guidance, 2013) Hence it is clear why reflective activity is a crucial part of CPD.

The . . . Read More