Human Resources Performance Essay

1. What factors should Perkins and Balkin consider when setting the wage for the purchasing agent position? What resources are available for them to consult when establishing this wage? †¨ Katie Perkins opened her own sports store. The company grew quickly and she hired 16 employees to manage different areas of the store. After a while Perkins decide to open a new position for a purchasing agent. When setting the wage for the purchasing agent position Perkins and Balkin must consider their internal and external factors. Internal factors include compensation strategy of the organization, worth of the job, employee’s relative worth and employer’s ability to pay. A company’s compensation strategy is how they plan to compensate their employees in general terms. The worth of a job is just what it says, what that position is worth to the company in the revenue or cost savings it generates. External factors include conditions of the labor market, area pay rates, co st of living, collective bargaining and legal requirements. The labor market reflects how much supply and demand there is within the industry for a particular position. 2. Suggest advantages and disadvantages of a pay-for-performance policy for Perfor- mance Sports. †¨ The advantages of a pay for performance policy is typically that productivity is increased while overall employee compensation costs are decreased because it doesn’t pay poor performers well. The disadvantages are measuring employee performance isn’t always easy. There will always occur some discrepancies in the performance level measured by the employer and actual performance level obtained by the employee which leads to dissatisfaction and decrease in motivation of the employee. 3. Suggest a new payment plan for the customer service representatives.

Abraham Maslow

Abstract Abraham Maslow is considered to be the father of Humanistic Psychology. Though growing up in a cruel household, he accomplished much in his lifetime. An avid advocate of â€Å"Human Motivation†, Maslow developed many theories corresponding to the subject. This article goes into detail on his theory of Hierarchy of Needs and Self-Actualization. Maslow put forth the notion of a 5-level pyramid of needs. Psychological, Safety and Security, Love and Belonging, and Esteem were considered essential â€Å"basic† needs. These must be fulfilled before a person can reach the highest level of Self-Actualization. Maslow studied a range of historical and public figures to come to a conclusion of the characteristics of a self-actualized individual. A self- evaluation of myself concludes the essay. While evaluating yourself is never an easy task, I thought extensively on how to bring myself to a self-actualized level. I would be honored to eventually achieved the self-actualized potential, as only less than 2 percent of our population have been recorded as so. Early Life Abraham Maslow was the first-born child of Samuel and Rose Maslow. He was born on April 1, 1908 in Brooklyn, New York. His parents were destitute, uneducated immigrants from Russia. Strongly religious, they strictly adhered to the Judaism denomination. Maslow was raised the sole Jewish boy in a non-Jewish neighborhood. Due to this, he grew up lonely and found contentment in books. Maslow once said â€Å"I was a little Jewish boy in a non-Jewish neighborhood. It was a little like being the first Negro enrolled in an all-white school. I was isolated and unhappy. I grew up in libraries and among books, without friends† (Hall, 1968, p. 37) The home-life of Abraham Maslow was filled with troubled times, as well. The relationship between Maslow and his father was hostile. Being uneducated himself, Samuel Maslow forced his son to be versed in areas that were of no interest to Abraham. According to Maslow’s own recollection, his father loved whiskey, women, fighting, and regarded his son as ugly and stupid (Emrich, n. d. ). Samuel frequently humiliated his son in public, causing Maslow to think of himself as disgusting. This left marks on his self-confidence. If riding the subway, he would look for an empty car, so that no one would have to see how atrocious he was. Maslow intensely despised his mother, Rose. He felt that his mother was insensitive and unloving. Showing signs of affection or love was alien to her, especially to her own family. His disgust of his mother began when she decided to place a bolt-lock on the refrigerator. She only removed the lock when she was in a pleasant mood. Maslow had a love for animals. When he was a child, he found two deserted kittens and brought them home. One evening, Rose found young Abraham feeding the kittens milk in the basement of their home. She flew into a rage and crushed the kittens’ heads against the wall. This horrific event stuck with him for the rest of his life. As an adult, Maslow eventually reconciled with his father. In interviews, he actually spoke positively of him on a few occasions. Nevertheless, he never desired to make peace with his mother. Throughout his life, his hatred continued to grow and he even refused to go to her funeral. Through all the heartache, he managed to have a valuable relationship with his uncle that continued the full-length of his lifetime. On December 31, 1928, Abraham Maslow married his long-time love and first cousin Bertha Goodman. The couple conceived two daughters, Ann and Ellen. Maslow later stated that the moment that he married Bertha, his life changed forever. He regarded this as the â€Å"true beginning of his life† and they remained happily married until his death (Emrich, n. d. ). Education In 1922, Maslow attended the Boys High School in Brooklyn (Hoffman, 1988). In high school, his love for Social Science and Philosophy began to emerge. At the early age of 17, Maslow enrolled at the City College of New York (CCNY). He majored in science, focusing on a future career in humanities. While at CCNY, Maslow excelled in English and Social Sciences. Trigonometry was not his strong suit, causing him to be on academic probation in his second semester (Patel, 2012). In 1926, Maslow’s father pushed him to enroll at the Brooklyn Law School (BLS) to begin law studies. Abraham endured nightly law classes, while still attending day classes at CCNY. After two months, he dropped out, realizing that law was of no interest to him. In 1927, Maslow left CCNY for Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. Due to cheaper tuition, he applied to the College of Agriculture at Cornell. He majored once again in social sciences to fulfill his dream. Maslow was disheartened by an Introductory Psychology course that he took, instructed by Edward B. Titchner (Emrich, n. d. ). He found Titchner’s teaching in of Structuralism and his theory of â€Å"Scientific Introspection† dull. At the end of the semester, Maslow left Cornell to return to New York and attend CCNY once again. In 1927, Maslow was again studying Humanities and Social Sciences at CCNY. In 1928, Abraham transferred to the University of Wisconsin after hearing of its exceptional professors. In 1930, he finally was awarded his Bachelor’s Degree and in 1931 he completed his Master’s. After having a hard time finding employment as a professor, he accepted the position of a Psychology Teachers Assistant at his Alma Mater. While assisting in psychology classes, famed experimental psychologist Harry Harlow took notice of him. Maslow soon became Harlow’s research assistant and first doctoral student. Harlow and Maslow studied the social behavior and learning potential of primates. Influenced by his work with Harlow, Abraham instituted a study of investigating food in preferences in animals (Patel, 2012). He examined pigeons, dogs and monkeys throughout his studies and found that the higher the animal is on the phyletic scale, the more fluctuating the animal’s food preference will be. Maslow published a paper of his theory called â€Å"Appetites and Hunger in Animal Motivation† in 1935 (Patel, 2012) His paper displayed the dissimilarity between hunger and appetite, and showed that behavior cannot be understood as motivated by the gratification of survival needs (Hoffman, 1988). For his doctoral degree, Maslow continued his research of primates; focusing on their dominant behavior. Throughout his studies, he found that the higher the monkey was on the primate scale, the less brutality in dominance. The results of his studies lead him to go beyond his original dominance theory and recognize that something else stimulates behavior, particularly in higher levels of human nature (Wilson, 1972). After achieving his PhD in 1934, Maslow accepted a fellowship at Columbia University. Working alongside the prominent Dr. Edward L. Thorndike, he extended his research to dominance in humans. While they were actively working together, Thorndike administered an IQ test on Maslow. Much to their surprise, he responded with a result of 195. Although Maslow originally was inspired by the work that he did with Thorndike, he eventually became uninterested. Maslow was compelled to research human sexuality, which Thorndike stood behind. Between 1937 and 1942, Maslow published numerous articles based on female sexuality (Emrich, n. d. ). Throughout his studies, he found that dominant women are more likely to be extroverted. Although that may be true, he found that those women were allured to highly-dominant men, who were aggressive and vain. Vice versa, women who are less-dominant, tend to interested in men who are kind in nature. In 1937, Maslow accepted employment as a psychology professor located at Brooklyn College. For the next 14 years, he would teach at BC and continue his human sexuality studies. In 1951, was afforded the opportunity to become Chairman of the Psychology Department at Brandeis University. Soon after accepting the position, he began to question the way the psychologists came to conclusions. He had his own ideas on how to understand the human mind. He would eventually call his theory â€Å"Humanistic Psychology†. He published many documents in his later life, including the notable works â€Å"Motivation and Personality†, â€Å"Toward a Psychology of Being†, and â€Å"The Further Reaches of Human Nature†. In July 1966, Maslow was elected president of the American Psychological Association. Due to his failing health, he retired from teaching and accepted a fellowship at the Student Affairs Graduate Association. On July 8, 1970, Abraham Maslow passed away at the age of 62 after suffering a heart attack. He left behind prominent theories that are still referenced today. These theories include Maslow’s Hierarchy of Self Needs, Maligned Human Nature, Self-Actualization, and the Theory of Human Motivation. Hierarchy of Self Needs In his 1943 paper â€Å"A Theory of Human Motivation†, Abraham Maslow first introduced his concept of Hierarchy of Needs. He stated that a person must full their most basic needs in a natural hierarchy while advancing to a higher, self-actualization. His theory is most often displayed in pyramid form. The original five stages of Maslow’s Hierarchy are divided into basic or so-called deficient needs and growth needs. The lowest levels of the pyramid consist of a person’s deficient needs, eventually advancing to the more complex, growth needs at the top. Once these needs have been fulfilled, one may work on his or her) rise to self-actualization. The first level to be satisfied is a person’s â€Å"Psychological† needs. These include one’s necessity for oxygen, water, food and sleep (Cherry, n. d. ). Maslow believed that â€Å"Psychological† needs consisted of your most basic, considering that a person could not live without these attributes. Once a person’s psychological needs have been achieved, the level of â€Å"Safety and Security† comes into play. These are the needs for structure, order, security and predictability. Once the individual has a sense of being secure, safety needs have sufficiently been met. Maslow’ considered the third level of needs to be less of a priority than psychological and security needs (Cherry, n. d. ). The stage known as â€Å"Love and Belonging† corresponds to the need that drives an individual to seek relationships with others. This is based on affection towards friends, family, children, and an all-around sense of community. Satisfaction of â€Å"Belongingness† then triggers the rise of â€Å"Esteem† needs. Maslow proposed two levels of esteem needs, these being know as lower and higher stages. The lower stage pertains to the need for status, fame, recognition, attention, respect of others, appreciation, and even dominance (Boeree, 1998). The higher form relates to the needs for self-respect. This includes feelings of confidence, achievement, independence, and freedom. The lower stage is easier to lose, based on the fact of the characteristics relying on the respect of others. Self-Actualization â€Å"What a man can be, he must be. This need we call Self-Actualization. † –Abraham Maslow The highest level of â€Å"Self-Actualization† needs presents itself once all â€Å"basic† needs have been satisfied. This need is fundamentally different from the former levels in the aspect of prior needs are driven by â€Å"deficiency† (Heylighen, 1992, Pg. 41). According to Maslow, Self-Actualization pertains to â€Å"Ultimate Psychological Health† that is continually developing. This stage is also known as â€Å"Growth† needs, due to the fact that once self-actualization is reached, it cannot be lessened, only made to grow. Maslow biographically analyzed several historical and public figures in his conceptualization of the Self-Actualization theory. Abraham Lincoln, Albert Einstein, Thomas Jefferson and Eleanor Roosevelt were included in a group of individuals that Maslow believed met the standard of Self-Actualization. In his research, he examined their biographies, their acts and personally interviewed a few contemporaries. From these sources, he developed a list of common qualities that these people possessed. 1. Openness to Experience- They are eager to learn new ideas and skills, open to engage in new experiences, and try new things. 2. Accurate Perception of Reality- They tend to be truthful and are able to differentiate between genuine and dishonest. 3. Freshness of Appreciation- They are open to spontaneous feelings of awe and wonder and are more prone to peak experiences. 3. Spontaneity- They are natural, open-minded and not worried about what other people may think. 4. Creativity- They exhibit a playful attitude towards problem solving and self-expression. 5. General Attitude of Acceptance- They are not deterred by events that they cannot change, only what is, might be or ought to be. 6. Stability- They have little difficulty making decisions and know how to distinguish between good and bad. 7. Autonomy- They do not need other people, make decisions for themselves, prefer solitude, and have a need for privacy. 8. Empathy- They possess an affinity towards humanity as a whole. They are friendly to everyone that they meet, especially children. 9. Sincerity, Self-Disclosure and Intimacy- They have close personal friends, family and lovers and tend to drop all defenses. Maslow once stated â€Å"There are no perfect human beings† (McLeod, 2007). Studies have found that less than two percent of the population actually achieves self-actualization. To be self-actualized, a person did not need to display all of Maslow’s stated characteristics, yet merely achieve one’s potential.

With reference to suitable theory and models of group decision making, Essay

With reference to suitable theory and models of group decision making, critically analyse how to performed in the group decision making process used to achieve a solution - Essay Example Knights and Willmott (2007, p.325), using a model identified by Williams et at (1985) present a contrast between the â€Å"ideal† rational decision making process, and those factors that introduce irrationality: There is also the impact of the amount of information available, and who has it. March and Simon (1958 in Knights and Willmott 2007) identified â€Å"bounded rationality† as an issue for decision making. The human mind can only cope with so much information at any one time, otherwise information overload results. What the mind takes notice of, will be determined by the individual, and much of the complexity involved in the decision will be lost. Information asymmetries also affect group decision making processes. Brodbeck et al (2007) note that certain information asymmetries are beneficial for group decision making, while others are not. Information vigilance instructions (withholding decisions until all available information has been discussed) and having sufficient time for the discussion (to allow for sharing of all available information) contribute to effective group decision making (ibid, p.473) while critical norms (which reduce negotiation possibilities) and dual-task structuring (dividing a task in two and requiring all information to be obtained before decisions can be reached) hinder it (ibid, pp.473-474). An individual making a decision only has to consider their own requirements when selecting a solution. Within a group or team, however, there are several viewpoints to consider, and the complexity increases as the size of the group or team does. In a group situation, decision making is affected by what people bring to meetings to discuss the issues. If a similar situation is known to someone, they might bring their knowledge of how that problem was solved (Watson, 2006). Who attends such meetings and who is absent also affects the decision outcome (ibid) as those with relevant knowledge might not be present; if they were

Cognitive Dissonance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Cognitive Dissonance - Essay Example "Cognitive dissonance is a motivational state brought about when a person has cognitive elements that imply the opposite of one another" (Wicklund and Brehm 10). In the search to understand the causes of events, people seem disposed to explain them in terms of the personal characteristics of those associated with the events. First, explaining events in terms of persons permits a simpler organization of the world than does an extended and differentiated causal analysis. It is easier to view the person as the cause than to track down and keep in mind numerous other factors. Third, attribution to persons makes irreversible events appear to be reversible, even if only symbolically. For example, Wicklund and Brehm (2001) suggest that revenge is a symbolic reversing of events. A need for justice may promote attribution to persons in another way. In order to preserve a belief that the world is just, critics perceive those who receive good outcomes as good persons and those who receive bad o utcomes as bad. Lerner and his colleagues have gathered considerable support for this idea (Walster 87). There is the importance of both choice and high self-esteem for causing dissonance from engaging in harmful, attitudinal behavior. Only for people high in self-esteem, it is reasoned, would such an action be inconsistent with the self-concept and likely to produce dissonance. The theory could handle the results by arguing that, given choice, an outside observer would more confidently infer that the person truly disliked the victim if his conception of his personality was such that he could act confidently on his principles and beliefs. In any event, for present purposes the experiment demonstrates again that our own behavior and the circumstances in which it occurs can significantly affect liking for another person (Festinger 33). For instance, success and failure may be taken as signs of an individual's merits beyond what a rational analysis would call for. Outcomes may influence the esteem in which the person is held by others and that he feels for himself. The impact of the outcome on self-esteem may be greater to the extent that the outcome is attributed to the person. The desire to deny responsibility for bad outcomes, may really be the desire to protect self-esteem from the negative implication of producing bad effects. And taking credit for good acts can be regarded as an attempt to enhance self-esteem. Thus, cognitive dissonance may be a way to enhance or preserve self-esteem (Walster 87). In true cognitive dissonance, threat to self-esteem depends on two necessary factors. One is that the outcome must be attributed to the person. The other is that the attribution made must be relevant to the person's self-esteem. If either factor is absent, there is no threat. Critics and psychologists will call these factors the outcome/attribution factor and the attribution/self-esteem factor. If both are present to some degree, the threat to self-esteem depends on the strength of each factor. The threat is greater, the

The Millenium Dome Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

The Millenium Dome - Essay Example Millennium experience was great exhibition that was intended to celebrate the beginning of the third millennium. The exhibition was generally open to the public from January 1st to 30th 2000. This exhibition was a concern of political controversy because it failed to get the attention of visitors that were anticipated due to the recurring financial constraints. The initial associated complex and the exhibition has since been demolished, the dome however still exists and is currently a significant exterior feature of the O2. The Millennium Dome project was completed and maintained in spite of its commercial failure. This is because it was the immense nuclear bunker in the underground that was designed to house the heads of state, the government and the military elite in the event of biological or nuclear strike on the capital (McGuigan, 2003). This paper seeks to critically evaluate the UK project â€Å"The Millennium Dome†. There has been a controversy surrounding the UK proje cts that were involved in the turning of Millennium. The successful attractions to the visitors can offer a boost in the tourism industry in the United Kingdom. This created a positive effect of multiplier on the economy and local residents. On the other hand, the unsuccessful visitor attractions led to the damage and negative image of the area. The Millennium Dome was managed by the New Millennium Experience Company (NMEC). They received funding from United Kingdom taxpayer and the lottery funding, in addition, they got support from the government. On a critical evaluation of the Millennium Dome, a total of 6,516,874 visitors were attracted to the Dome throughout its operational year. This was over half of what the government predicted (Myddleton, 2006). Centrally, in less than 3 years into the Millennium Dome’s renaissance of 1997 as the entertainment destination in London, the apparent and controversy in the mismanagement of various aspects of the operations of the Millenn ium Dome were cast aside. The negative public reputation of the Millennium Dome was a subject of various academic commentaries and media regarding the operations of the Millennium Dome had been overcome by the positive reviews generally enjoyed by the O2 venue (Guardian, 2006). The UK project the Millennium Dome enjoys the distinction of being conceived by the Conservative government and the new labor raised it to its full extent. Evidence shows that no matter the kind of political aspects taken to the whole process, there was a genuine political will at all times to make a distinct British statement about UK and the country’s attitude towards the millennium. The plan of the Millennium Dome was set such that it was situated on the edge of the Prime Meridian. The architecture of the Millennium Dome is both unique and imposing. It was described as iconic in appearance (Hemmington, 2007). It had an 80000 m2 glass fiber surface that is coated with Teflon. This made the Millennium Dom sufficiently large and observable from the space. The major difficulty that inundated the Millennium Dome project and concept was the government failure to generally solicit the grounded objective and to develop estimates of costs and finances properly for the construction of the Millennium Dome project. These constraints compounded when the emphasis shifted from the appearance of the building on completion to the practical day to day facility operation during the year of millennium and what would be done to the structure after the passage of the

Long Term Care Insurance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Long Term Care Insurance - Essay Example There are many reasons why retirees have suddenly started to consider the worth of long term care insurance policies. The main reason is however the dramatic increase in the insurance premiums. Buying insurance policies for long term care is basically gambling where risks, cost, and benefits can be calculated. These policies are not like the other insurances where the costs and risks are low but benefits are high; such as fire insurance. The insurance policymakers use tactics to sell their insurance policies by touting scary advertisements about probabilities of seniors spending life in nursing homes. Where the insurance premiums are too high, the benefits are comparatively lower. With insurance premiums of about $2500 annually, 60 year olds and other Americans do not purchase the insurance.The second main reason is due to several misconceptions that Americans have about long term care and insurance policies. The lack of awareness programs have led to many misconceptions which were h ighlighted during several surveys that took place recently on why Americans won’t buy long term care insurance. The biggest misconception that people had was that Medicare is going to cover their long term care. The truth is it does not due to the current system of long term care, the benefits provided by Medicare and Medicaid has reduced. Many Americans also believe that they are too young to buy long term care insurance while others also believe that long term care is already included in their health insurance policy.

Women's Studies. Black women Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Women's Studies. Black women - Essay Example Finding a website that focused solely on the lives and accomplishments of African women and/or on African-American women wasn't a piece of cake. There were websites that contained information about famous African-American people, who after a lot of struggle made it big as artists, musicians, sportsmen; or information posted about the blacks in the Black history month, but a website based entirely on African-American women's lives was not that easy to find. However, after skimming around numerous websites for about an hour and seeing if they had the required material, I came across docsouth.unc.edu, a website featuring the "First-Person Narratives of the American South", that provided voice to the minority groups (i.e, Southerners) who remained unheard or were not given the value they deserved. (The University Library, n.d.) One of the memoirs the site contains is of Joice Heth, a black woman who was born on the Island of Madagascar, on the Coast of Africa, in the year 1764, and lived up to around 161 years. She was a slave too, but her life was not nearly as bitter as most of the others of her kind, for she was blessed with the fortune of having kind masters. She is said to have been the nurse of George Washington since he was born, and this is one of the things, apart from her astounding age, that grabs the attention of people towards her. This memoir was published in 1835 and it also contains several testimonies of people who knew Joice, affirming her goodness and the belief that her piety could never be doubted. The Narrative of Bethany Veney, A Slave Woman: Electronic Edition is yet another story of a black slave, which shows that the right to education was a far off thing; she had to ask her master's permission to even go to Church (Malburne, n.d.). When she got married to a slave named Jerry, and later when he was sent tp jail and she went to visit him, she was not even allowed to meet him in private. "We had committed no offence against God or man. Jerry had not; and yet, like base criminals, we were denied even the consolation of privacy. This was a necessary part of the system of American slavery. Neither wife nor mother could intervene to soften its rigors one jot."(Collected Black Women's Narratives, 20) Highlights from Fanny Jackson Coppin's autobiography Reminiscences of School Life, and Hints on Teaching were also found in the website, which proved to be quite helpful in learning about the achievements of capable black women. Coppin, too, was born a slave in Washington DC in 1837, but luckily for her, she was bought by her aunt for $125. Her autpbiography shows how keen she was not inly to pursue education for herself, but also to do as much as possible to help and educate others. After taking a lot of diverse courses, she became so good at teaching that when she was chosen to teach a preparatory course at Oberlin, they feared the children would rebel against her due to her coloured skin, but instead, the children loved havi ng her as their teacher so much that the course had to be divided until no more students could be added to it. In 1865 she joined Institute for Colored Youth(IYC) and in 1869 became the principal of it, where she worked on the dire need of providing vocational education to African Americans with very clear demands: "We do not ask that any one of our people shall be put into a position because he is a colored person, but we do most emphatically ask that he shall not be kept out of a position because he is a colored person" (Collected Black W