Coca Cola Organizational Management Essay Example

Coca Cola Organizational Management Essay On Tuesday, April 23, 1985 The Coca Cola Company announced that it would change the formula of its flagship soft drink; a formula that had been America’s favorite for 100 years. Kansas newspaper editor William Allen White said, â€Å"Coca Cola is the sublimated essence of all that America stands for. A decent thing honestly made [and] universally distributed. † (As cited in Oliver, 1986, p. 4) How could Coca Cola have tampered with the taste of a drink that was distributed to 155 countries and consumed more than 303 million times a day? Years of planning preceded the arrival of New Coke and years of internal problems contributed to the demise of the old one. Some of the seeds to those problems were planted in the original formulation of the Coca Cola Company, but would go unnoticed during the company’s boom years. In 1885 John Pemberton, an Atlanta pharmacist registered a trademark for â€Å"French Wine Cola-Ideal Nerve Tonic Stimulant†. He eventually changed the formula by taking out the wine and adding caffeine and Kola nut. Thus, Coca Cola was born. Pemberton sold the rights to Coca Cola in 1889 to Georgia business man Asa Candler. We will write a custom essay sample on Coca Cola Organizational Management specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Coca Cola Organizational Management specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Coca Cola Organizational Management specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Candler sold the syrup to wholesalers who mixed the syrup with carbonated water, and sold it to soda fountain proprietors. Also in 1899 Benjamin Thomas and Joseph Whitehead approached Candler with a proposition to bottle Coke. Candler thought it was too expensive a venture and wanted no part of it. Candler sold the bottling rights to Thomas and Whitehead for $1. 00! (Oliver, 1986. ) Each bottler had an exclusive right in perpetuity to bottle Coke in his area and no one else except soda fountains could sell Coke in that market. The bottlers actually owned the Coca-Cola trademark in their territories and the company could not refuse to sell them the syrup. (This set up, which formed the heart and soul of the Coca Cola system, would come under attack nearly 100 years later when the Federal Trade Commission charged the company with violating anti-trust laws by restricting competition. ) Candler contracted with the bottlers to sell them the syrup at a fixed price and by the 1920’s that contract was still binding. In Candler’s day sugar was 7 cents a pound, but post WWI inflation brought the price up to 28 cents a pound. When Coca cola tried to pass the increase on to the bottlers, they sued. They agreed to pay for the syrup according to the price of sugar based on the 1921 price with quarterly adjustments for the fluctuating price of sugar. However, the rest of the syrup ingredients prices were locked at the 1921 level. This pricing strategy worked for 50 years, but then the 1970’s came with its soaring inflation and the company barely made a profit on Coke. In 1923 Robert Woodruff , son of Earnest Woodruff who, as one of several businessmen bought the Coca Cola company from Asa Candler in 1919, became president of Coca Cola. Woodruff, acting as a structural change agent, launched radical new programs insisting on quality control, and firing up the bottling industry to make his product ubiquitous. These strategies signaled singular foresight because up until now, most people got their Coke at a soda fountain. Woodruff, in an effectual mix of theories E and O, fired his sales force and rehired them renaming them servicemen instead of salesmen. Part of their â€Å"new job† was to train retailers to properly dispense the syrup and find better methods for mixing the drink. At bottling plants, servicemen would increase productivity and efficiency by advising on all aspects of the operation. With Woodruff’s sweeping quality control programs, Coke lovers could expect to find one, and only one unmistakable taste in the North and South and from coast to coast. (Pendergrast, 2000) Woodruff wanted to place Coke â€Å"within arm’s reach of desire† anywhere and everywhere in the country. Wherever there are people who get thirsty, make Coke an option. Woodruff realized the enormous potential of the bottle as a means to carry out this dream. Coke in bottles could go anywhere. If people would sip Coke at the soda fountains and then find it on the grocery store shelves, they would probably buy it. Within Robert Woodruff’s first five years as president of the company, Coca Cola in bottles began to outsell Coke sold at soda fountains. Coke cropped up, as the 1927 advertising slogan claimed, â€Å"†¦around the corner from anywhere. † (Oliver, 1986) Woodruff outlined a plan in 1926 to test the drink in Europe. When the board of directors balked, he did it anyway in secret and turned a profit in three years. As Coca Cola went global, some recommended modifying coke’s flavor to suit the taste buds of each nationality but Woodruff stood by his belief in the universal appeal of coke’s single, secret formula. In the 1950’s Coca Cola ruled the soft drink world and its name was as universally known as that of any other product in commercial history. The advertising budget for the company in 1955 was 30 million dollars. Coca Cola continued to spend huge amounts of money on advertising, and Coke remained the favorite soft drink throughout the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s. Comfortable profits up to and including 1984, made it very difficult to Coca Cola’s top officials to accept that as Coke neared its 100th birthday it’s lead over Pepsi was decreasing fast. Coca cola spent more than Pepsi on advertising, it was competitively priced and was more widely distributed that Pepsi. Apparently marketing technique was not the problem. In the end, the company felt it had no choice but to consider the product itself. Around this time, in 1984, we were experiencing the â€Å"Cola Wars. † Pepsi was going all out to prove that consumers liked the taste of Pepsi more than they liked the taste of Coke, and the â€Å"Pepsi Challenge† proved it. Exclusive Pepsi drinkers rated Pepsi higher than exclusive Coke drinkers rated Coke. Coca Cola had been collecting evidence and concluded that taste had to be the single most important cause of Coke’s decline. No matter how much money Coca Cola poured into its marketing programs, the results were not significant enough. â€Å"We estimated that the system, including bottler’s and the company, annually outspent Pepsi by 100 million and still their share declined. In 1980 when Coke’s market share grew, they outspent Pepsi by 150 million. † (Oliver, 1986. p. 95) The company’s top executives were also very busy at the time fighting law suits with their bottlers over the price of syrup, and not paying attention to a new and growing market population. Market analysts believed baby boomers were more likely to purchase diet drinks as they aged and became more health and weight conscious. Therefore any future growth in the full calorie segment had to come from younger drinkers, who at that time favored Pepsi and its sweetness by even more overwhelming margins than the market as a whole. While Coca Cola was enjoying a 52% share of the soft drink market, and fighting with the bottlers over rising syrup prices, Pepsi was hard at work attracting a younger, more â€Å"with it† segment of consumers. Pepsi had Michael Jackson touting its soft drink to this up and coming consumer group, and Coke had Bill Cosby, who was their parents’ age, as its spokesman. Younger people and teens were no longer depending on their moms to come home with the beverage of her choice. With this population becoming more economically independent, they were able to choose their own soft drinks and convince mom or dad to pick Pepsi up with the week’s groceries. Coca Cola’s senior executives commissioned a secret project named â€Å"Project Kansas† to test and perfect a new flavor for Coke itself. Much of the market research conducted between 1983 and 1985 on the possibility of a new Coke was discouraging. One set of focus groups said that Pepsi could improve its formula, but the answer to a Coke reformulation was a resounding NO. In other focus groups, there was another problem. When asked, What is your favorite drink? most people said, Coke!   Ã‚   When asked, What do you drink? the response was shocking:   sometimes Coke, sometimes Pepsi, sometimes even a generic if it was on sale. As Thomas Oliver puts it, There appeared to be a disturbing gap between what people said and what they did. (Oliver, 1986. p. 104) When Roberto Goizueta took over as CEO in 1980, he pointedly told employees there would be â€Å"no sacred cows in how the company did its business, including how it formulated its drinks. † (Newsweek, 22 July 1985. p. 39) Robert Woodruff was still alive and in his 80’s when Goizueta made this statement. Goizueta even said that Woodruff agreed with him about changing the taste of Coke. Bearing in mind what Woodruff said about 50 years before regarding the â€Å"single secret formula† being the only one for Coke, one must question the idea of Robert Woodruff being on board for a flavor change. The company’s marketing department went out in the field armed with samples of possible new drink for taste tests, focus groups and surveys. The results of that were strong; the high fructose corn syrup mixture overwhelmingly beat both the regular Coke and Pepsi. A small majority felt angry and alienated at the very thought, saying they would stop buying Coke altogether. Their presence in focus groups tended to skew results in a more negative direction as they exerted indirect peer pressure on other participants. The surveys, which were given more significance by standard marketing procedures of the era, were less negative and were key in convincing management to move forward with a change in formula for 1985. (Hays, 2004) But the focus groups had provided a clue as to how the change would play out in a public context, a data point that the company downplayed but which was to prove important later. In addition, the researchers never made it clear to the consumers that old Coke wouldn’t be available at all. Not stressing in the tests that the new taste would replace the old taste. Goizueta even defended the change by pointing out that the drink’s secret formula was not sacrosanct and inviolable. Referring of course, to the fact that the formula had been changed before, albeit minutely, to make it Kosher. One could argue that Goizueta was comparing apples to oranges by making this point. The reaction to the new Coke was immediate and violent. Three months of unrelenting protests ensued against the loss of coke. In addition to the noisier public protests, boycotts and bottles being emptied into the streets, the company had more serious reasons to be concerned. The bottlers were expressing concern over the new taste. Most of them saw great difficulty having to promote and sell a drink that had long been marketed as the â€Å"Real Thing†, constant and unchanging, now that it had changed. Bottlers also started threatening boycotts of New Coke. With the company now fearing boycotts from consumers and bottlers, talks about reintroducing the old formula moved from â€Å"if† to â€Å"when†. The resistance was so fierce that on July 11, 1985 Goizueta publically apologized to the American people. This mea culpa, in itself, changed American corporate behavior. Never before had a major corporation told the American people that it was sorry. Coca Cola executives announced the return of the original formula on July 10, 1985, less than three months after New Coke’s introduction. Throughout the 120 years of Coca Cola’s life, there have been a few changes. As Brian Dyson CEO at Coca Cola in the 1980’s said, â€Å"Eventually, anything that oesn’t change in the face of change will wither and die, and that’s the law of nature. † (Oliver, 1986. p. 99) Change is part of organizational life and essential for progress. When Robert Woodruff took over at President of the Coca Cola in 1923, he instituted structural change in that he treated the organization at a set of functional parts. Woodruff reorganized the parts of his machine, and achieved g reater overall performance. Most effectively by creating a service team with his salesmen and making the mixing process of Coca Cola syrup universal. He also substituted the title â€Å"serviceman† for the title, â€Å"salesman† for a team of employees, which changed the way his sales force was viewed by the bottlers. The salesmen were no longer seen as a force to be defended against, but part of the whole organization working together to create a fantastic, one and only product. Woodruff incorporated all four types of change; organizational, cost cutting, process, and cultural change into this one bold move. He was also a strong leader in that he insisted the taste of Coke would be universal throughout the world, and not be changed to suit any one nationality’s tastes. Robert Woodruff effectively mixed Harvard Business professors Michael Beer and Nitin Nohria’s Theory E and Theory O. before the theories were even discovered! (Luecke, 2003) While he aimed for a dramatic and rapid increase in profits by relying heavily on cost cutting, and process change, he also made use of Theory O by creating higher performance in fostering a powerful culture and capable employees through the servicemen training of bottlers and soda fountain owners regarding the mixing and dispensing of Coca Cola syrup. The syrup pricing debacle with the bottlers created a problem that would affect Coca Cola’s relationships and bottom line throughout the existence of the company. While hindsight may be 20/20, there may be no way that Asa Candler could have foreseen the precipitous jump in syrup ingredient prices in the years to come. Perhaps Candler could have used some more economic expertise to successfully forecast future rising prices. As far as Robert Goizueta and his decision to change the flavor of Coke, literally over Robert Woodruff’s dead body, that was clearly a structural process change made solely within the tenets of Theory O. While â€Å"it is impossible to anticipate the what when or where of change, it is something that business can count on and should plan for. † (Luecke, 2003. p. 1) Problem identification is important, but how the problem is identified is also important. Goizueta and his top executives were looking at their bottom line and shareholder value, and virtually nothing else. This included the lawsuits they were involved in with the bottlers over syrup prices. Candler’s deal with the bottler’s many years before came back to haunt them. They were looking at the prospect of Coca Cola being second in the market place for the first time in history. Their tunnel vision did not allow them to see the strides Pepsi was making with the â€Å"younger generation†. Coca Cola had made a structural process change in the flavor of Coke instead of a cultural change focusing on their relationship with bottlers, and most importantly, their relationship with consumers. They did not consider the fact that it was the unique taste of Coke that had made their company so successful. They should have left the taste of the â€Å"Real Thing† real. There were a few other things that could have been changed that needed fixing, rather than fix the one thing that wasn’t broken. For a few dollars more, they could have settled with the bottlers, and concentrated on what they could do to reel in the next generation of consumers without making the huge mistake of changing the formula.

Pacific Coast Migration Model Into the Americas

Pacific Coast Migration Model Into the Americas The Pacific Coast Migration Model is a theory concerning the original colonization of the Americas that proposes that people entering the continents followed the Pacific coastline, hunter-gatherer-fishers traveling in boats or along the shoreline and subsisting primarily on marine resources. The PCM model was first considered in detail by Knut Fladmark, in a 1979 article in American Antiquity which was simply amazing for its time. Fladmark argued against the Ice Free Corridor hypothesis, which proposes people entered North America through a narrow opening between two glacial ice sheets. The Ice Free Corridor was likely to have been blocked, argued Fladmark, and if the corridor was open at all, it would have been unpleasant to live and travel in. Fladmark proposed instead that a more suitable environment for human occupation and travel would have been possible along the Pacific coast, beginning along the edge of Beringia, and reaching the unglaciated shores of Oregon and California. Support for the Pacific Coast Migration Model The main hitch to the PCM model is the paucity of archaeological evidence for a Pacific coastal migration. The reason for that is fairly straightforwardgiven a rise in sea levels of 50 meters (~165 feet) or more since the Last Glacial Maximum, the coastlines along which the original colonists might have arrived, and the sites they may have left there, are out of present archaeological reach. However, a growing body of genetic and archaeological evidence does lend support to this theory. For example, evidence for seafaring in the Pacific Rim region begins in greater Australia, which was colonized by people in watercraft at least as long ago as 50,000 years. Maritime foodways were practiced by the Incipient Jomon of the Ryukyu Islands and southern Japan by 15,500 cal BP. Projectile points used by the Jomon were distinctively tanged, some with barbed shoulders: similar points are found throughout the New World. Finally, it is believed that the bottle gourd was domesticated in Asia and introduced into the New World, perhaps by colonizing sailors. Read more about the JomonRead about bottle gourd domestication Sanak Island: Redating Deglaciation of the Aleutians The earliest archaeological sites in the Americas- such as Monte Verde and Quebrada Jaguay- are located in South America and date to ~15,000 years ago. If the Pacific coast corridor was only truly navigable beginning around 15,000 years ago, that suggests that a full-out sprint along the Pacific coast of the Americas had to have occurred for those sites to be occupied so early. But new evidence from the Aleutian Islands suggests the sea coast corridor was opened at least 2,000 years longer ago than previously believed. In an August 2012 article in Quaternary Science Reviews, Misarti and colleagues report on pollen and climatic data that provide circumstantial evidence supporting the PCM, from Sanak Island in the Aleutian Archipelago. Sanak Island is a small (23x9 kilometers, or ~15x6 miles) dot about the midpoint of the Aleutians extending off Alaska, capped by a single volcano called Sanak Peak. The Aleutians would have been partthe highest partof the landmass scholars call Beringia, when sea levels were 50 meters lower than they are today. Archaeological investigations on Sanak have documented more than 120 sites dated within the last 7,000 years- but nothing earlier. Misarti and colleagues placed 22 sediment core samples into the deposits of three lakes on Sanak Island. Using the presence of pollen from Artemisia (sagebrush), Ericaceae (heather), Cyperaceae (sedge), Salix (willow), and Poaceae (grasses), and directly tied to radiocarbon-dated deep lake sediments as an indicator of climate, the researchers found that the island, and surely its now-submerged coastal plains, was free of ice nearly 17,000 cal BP. Two thousand years seems at least a more reasonable period in which to expect people to move from Beringia southward to the Chilean coast, some 2,000 years (and 10,000 miles) later. That is circumstantial evidence, not unlike a trout in the milk. Sources Balter M. 2012. The Peopling of the Aleutians. Science 335:158-161. Erlandson JM, and Braje TJ. 2011. From Asia to the Americas by boat? Paleogeography, paleoecology, and stemmed points of the northwest Pacific. Quaternary International 239(1-2):28-37. Fladmark, K. R. 1979 Routes: Alternate Migration Corridors for Early Man in North America. American Antiquity 44(1):55-69. Gruhn, Ruth 1994 The Pacific Coast route of initial entry: An overview. In Method and Theory for Investigating the Peopling of the Americas. Robson Bonnichsen and D. G. Steele, eds. Pp. 249-256. Corvallis, Oregon: Oregon State University. Misarti N, Finney BP, Jordan JW, Maschner HDG, Addison JA, Shapley MD, Krumhardt A, and Beget JE. 2012. Early retreat of the Alaska Peninsula Glacier Complex and the implications for coastal migrations of First Americans. Quaternary Science Reviews 48(0):1-6.

Case Commentary Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Case Commentary - Essay Example The bone of contention was that while domestic companies were allowed to set their own individual baselines, the foreign companies were not allowed to set their own baselines and had to comply with those established by the Act.12 The US government argued that while it was possible to evaluate the small number of domestic companies compliance with the Act based on their baselines, using the same approach for foreign companies that were more in number would place an unjustified quantitative pressure on the Environment Protection Agency (EPA). The statutory baselines for the foreign companies were, therefore, necessary to allow EPA function. They further argued that the Act was absolutely necessary and in compliance with Article XX for human health protection, clean air and conservation of exhaustible natural resources. This case was unique in that while it pursued the greater environmentalist goals, it was based on trade disputes thus its arbitration by the WTO appellate body was justified.34 On 24th January 1995, Venezuela requested a WTO address while Brazil did the same on 10th April 1995. The two countries alleged that the US Clean Air Act discriminated against their rights and violated the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) Articles 1 and 3, and Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) Article 2. On 10th April 1995, a panel was set up to review the complaints and evidence presented by Venezuela. The panel was finally formulated on 26th April 1995. Upon a request from Brazil, a third panel was set up on 19th June 1995 to specifically review Brazilian complaints and evidence. On 31st may 1995 it was decided that the two panels reviewing Venezuelan and Brazilian evidences and complaints be coalesced into a single panel. The decision to coalesce the two panels was reached in accordance with Article 9 of the Dispute Settlement Understanding (DSU).56 The panel concluded its review and

Environmental Health Science - Reducing Air Pollution through the use Essay

Environmental Health Science - Reducing Air Pollution through the use of Oxygenated Gasoline - Essay Example description should include a description of 1) who (or what) was studied, 2) what type of study was used (toxicology or epidemiology, and which study design if the latter), 3) how exposure occurred and 4) one toxic endpoint. Use your own words; do not copy from the paper or abstract. Scientists for the State of California, the Aquatic Toxicology Laboratory, UC Davis, reviewed existing literature on toxic effects of MTBE to freshwater organisms, and new information was generated on chronic, developmental toxicity in fish, and potential toxicity of MTBE on the California resident species. Based on the time of exposure and endpoint measured, MTBE was found to be toxic to various aquatic organisms at concentrations of 57-> 1000 mg/l (invertebrates), and 388-2600 mg/l (vertebrates). Developmental effects in medaka (Oryzias latipes) were not observed up to a concentration of 480 mg/l, and all fish hatched and were found to be performing feeding and swimming in a normal manner. Bacterial assays peformed proved to be most sensitive to toxicity to Salmonella typhimurium measured at 7.4 mg/l within 48 h. when observed for 5 days micro algae, showed decreased growth at 2400 and 4800 mg/l. This study concludes that MTBE does not appear to bioaccumulate in fish and is rapidl y excreted or metabolized. Although the available data suggests that at environmental MTBE exposure levels found in surface waters ( Exposure in human beings might occur through contact with skin, breathing exhaust fumes, consumption of contaminated water. For example: breathing fumes while pumping gasoline or in polluted city air, drinking or swimming in contaminated water and receiving MTBE treatment for gallstones. †¢ Name one

Evaluate the relevance of cross-cultural theories in explaining how to Assignment

Evaluate the relevance of cross-cultural theories in explaining how to manage companies in different countries - Assignment Example This, in itself, puts the workforce and the management in a multicultural stance. Universalism as a general theory might help ‘blend the culture’ and improve performance, while on the other hand it does not take into account the essential differences in cultures and particularism has to be followed (Alexandria, VA, 2008). It is pertinent to understand that while setting up a global mind set is productive, not all human resource strategies will fit every culture and situation, hence the need for adaptability (HRMagazine, 2008). Sensitive factors like religion and gender often define whether the host culture is neutral or emotional. Recognizing this has significant advantage in terms of control over the business and workforce itself. For example, ignoring a religious taboo might result in a strong setback for the company if the relevance of cultural differences is ignored (Himmelberg, Michele, 1998). Language barrier, the most common issue, is crucial and requires new communication skills to be dealt with (Carter, L, 2005). When a lingua franca does not already exist, it might be useful to train the local workforce in an international language (Feingold, Jean, 2006) but training the management in the vernacular has its key advantages including elimination of redundancy, direct management and easy understanding of the culture (Carter, L, 2005). These key theories are relevant most of the time even in the internet age, but when companies approach different cultures not only to utilize the workforce but also for marketing, the cultural dimensions take a more significant role. Cultural dimensions such as perceptions of justice, power distance and individualism define the employee behavior resulting in direct influence on turnover and other outcomes directly affecting the company’s ability in the competitive market (Kim et al, 2007, p. 104, 83-95). According to opposing studies, the cultural

The Implementation Of Performance Management

The Implementation Of Performance Management Performance management is one of the tools human resource managers can employ to engage employees and teams to achieve their goals and motivate them to achieve high levels of organizational performance. Nowadays, HR managers are faced with a variety of competition and business environments that are constantly changing individuals values and lifestyles. Hence, the HR mangers need to understand the processes that can help employees achieve the goals set by their organizations. Aim The purpose of this report is to evaluate human resource management, in particular, performance management by focusing on three general purposes namely, strategic, development, and administrative. Arguments are made outlining the advantages and disadvantages of implementing performance management systems. Furthermore, sources of performance information used to evaluate the sales assistance of ANZ Bank are examined. Finally, an evaluation of the fairness of performance management is provided. Relevant literatures will be reviewed and discussed to support the ideas presented within this document. Scope This report discusses, evaluates and in some cases, criticizes existing researches dealing with performance management and also shows the relationship between different researches toward performance management, including the advantages and disadvantages of implementing this system. Also, evaluations of the performance information that can adequately measure the performance of ANZs sales assistance along with the fairness of performance management systems are provided. The General Purposes of Performance Management Commonly, the purpose of Performance Management is to achieve an organizations goals or objectives. For instance, Walters (1995) states performance management is the process of improving the quality and quantity of work finished and aligning all the activities involved with an organizations objectives. Similarly, Armstrong (1998) recommenced performance management as the strategic and integrated approaches to deliver the successful to organization by improve the performance of employees by developing the capabilities of teams and individual contributors. Moreover, William (2002) states that performance management targets individuals within an organization and aims to direct and improve their performance and ultimately enhancing the organizations objectives. Schuler, Fulkerson and Dowling (1991) claimed that Performance management is an essential business driver to help businesses achieved desired results. Generally, Performance Management is an ongoing process that needs to be monito red throughout the year. The Performance Management purposes, which mainly includes areas such as, strategic, developmental, and administrative. Thus, the overall expectations and performance objectives are reviewed as following: 2.1 Strategic Purposes: Armstrong (1999) pointed out that the important features of PM are goal setting and feedback coupled with the development of individual characteristics as well as the development of organizations strategies. Utilizing the ideas presented within several literature reviews, the major roles of Strategic Performance Management can be classified as follows: (i.e. Atkinson, 1998; Dumond, 1994; Sink, 1991; Martinsons et al, 1999; and Neely, 1998) Overlooking the process of strategy implementation by assessing if the strategy is being put into practice as planned. Managers and higher-level personnel issue objectives and goals and not only ensure that these strategies are implemented but also that the contents of the strategy are up to date. The position check and selection employees by looking at whether the result of performance expectation is achieved University of California, Berkeley introduced the communication process that includes clarifying expectations, setting objectives, identifying goals, providing feedback, and evaluating results. Consequently, to help employees understand and meet the company goal provided the clearly of direct communication by pass the information to employees about the expectation of individual to be achieved, and also provides the feedback including benchmarks performance in difference department, teams, individual by report as the whole regarding their performance with respect to expected goal have been consider. Documentation process that enable line manager and employees to see the performance management as a part of daily workplace behavior. 2.2 Development Purposes: Performance management is an ongoing process. After a set of work objectives and organizational goals are agreed upon, the HR start with a clear agreement based on the strategy, goal, measure, and performance goal to be implemented. Organization coaching and developing process by evaluation of employees attention to these strategies and point out employees strength and weakness when the employees not perform well as they should. Therefore, the performance management seeks to improve these employees performance. Moreover, organization has to ensure the employees achieved the measurement results through the feedback so employees know where they stand. De Cieri et al. 2008 suggested that to build a performance culture by establish the process to encourage performance management feedback each day rather than the process that occurs throughout the year. As the result, the reviewed of performance annually more likely distorted and forgotten in order that organization should progress monito r regular and provide employee feedback after each particular event finished. At the end of performance period, assessment is made against objectives, means or behaviours demonstrated. Plus, new objectives for the next performance period maybe established (The University of California, Berkeley). Furthermore, Kaplan and Norton (2001) argued that employees at level need to learn the principles of the system, its measures, tools and procedures. Thus, the organization encourage improvement and learning by provided valuable information to help identify individual training need to improved employee performance and build up the potential of employee for further advancement. Moreover, Performance management system focuses on the skills that are required to perform a particular job and training will help employees to achieve that skill employee will get training that are required and have better positions and compensation offers within the organization. 2.3 Administrative Purposes: De Cieri et al. 2008 described the studied of PM can help the organization in particular to administrative decision making such as salary, promotion, retention, and termination and recognition of individual performance. The organization can define employee salary toward their performance, the person who greater performance will get the greater salary. The successful of performance management process (well-conceived and well-implemented) can motivate employee through financial with the compensation and also can motivate by non-financial reward such as positive feedback and opportunities to development (Armstrong, 1999). Thus, the reward can motivate employee via their efforts that rewards can be financial and non-financial by basically rewards provide base on the organization ability to pay and legal regulation as the company take the action by use the performance measure to calculate the rewards. As the result, it can say the reward can motivate and encourage building short term and long term incentives of engage performance. As the result, compensation can motivate the person to perform well by the good compensation package will increase the employees productivity and satisfaction level of the employees. In additional, some organizations award the salary and bonus base on their performance. Armstrong and Baron (1998) demonstrate that performance can be affected by several of factors, all of that should be taken into account when managing, measuring and rewarding performance. 3.0 Arguments For and Against the Implementation of Performance Management Argument For: Increasing Productivities A key aspect of performance management is training and developing new techniques that can help organizations improve individual, team and organizational performance. For example, ANZ develop their employees to be successful in their roles, by hosting training programs in a wide range of areas such as developing inspiring leadership qualities, providing learning and development opportunities and by developing and retaining talented employees who want to undertake challenging assignments. As a result of all these programs, trained sales assistance units are able to market new products online to increase customer convenience and satisfaction (Corporate Responsibility Review, 2008). As online functionality improves with time and effort, customers are provided with concise and timely information such as interest rates, currency exchange rates and so on, resulting in an increased number of customers utilizing these services and higher s productivities. Produce Meaningful Measurement of Employee Performance Performance management can help ensure that employees receive a fair appraisal based on their performance, by using various methods to evaluate employees. Organizations then inform employees of the results, in the form of constructive feedbacks. Organizations also take efforts to improve aspects of employees productivity by providing clear information of what is expected of them and align these expectations with the overall company goals and targets and also by hosting quality training and development programs. Consequence, the measurements are useful for organization setting standards for comparison with similar organizations or previous years (Hyndman and Anderson, 1997) Increased Retention Rate Performance management systems are implemented not only to evaluate employee performance but also to understand the basic needs of employees. It helps senior mangers to understand what employees are looking for, in terms of job satisfaction or how he/she is performing in their respective jobs. It helps to increases retention rates in organizations. Employees are aware of what is required of them and focus their output according to these specifics. For instance, ANZs business strategy of recruiting and retaining employees has resulted in an increase in the number of employees from 8,810 to 9,245 between 2008 and 2009 (ANZ, 2010). Performance management also can help ensure that employees receive equitable treatment because performance management appraisals are based on results. Analysing these results can lead to enhanced job satisfaction, increased productivities and so on. Additionally, performance management can facilitate ongoing, constructive communication between supervisors and employees, all the while focusing on achieving organizational goals and targets. Armstrong and Baron (2003) also suggest that the successful implementation of performance management systems can result in desirable culture changes and avoid problems such as, lack of understanding and enthusiasm. Against: High Cost Recently, organizations have been forced to cut down cost due to the global economic crisis. The decision of whether or not to train employees has been a consequence of this phenomenon. Even though training is the best way to retain and maintain employees, the effects of economic recession have led to organizations cutting down on training programs. During periods of economic recession, organizations are faced with a higher than normal rate in employee turnover. (Glance, Hogg and Huberman, 1997). External Factors Performance management frameworks and systems do not directly take into consideration external factors such as, global recessions or natural calamities. As such, when such a scenario does arise, performance management system may have to undergo heavy modifications to compensate. Unrealistic Performance Targets Sometimes organizations are desperate to achieve organizational goals and as a result, unrealistic performance levels may be set for employees. These targets are often difficult and unattainable, and as a result, dissatisfied employees may decide to leave their jobs. Actual Performance versus Target Performance Failing to effectively implement performance management systems may give rise to a lapse between actual and target performances. A managers inability to conform to procedures such as conducting regular meetings to discuss employees performance and providing them with necessary training may lead to a breakdown in the entire system. Therefore, an employees lack of understanding of what is precisely required of them can greatly impact an organizations performance as a whole. 4.0 An Evaluation of the Performance of ANZs Sales Assistance Like any successful organization, ANZ bank takes its corporate responsibilities very seriously by adopting responsible business practices and by reporting and updating their Corporate Responsibility (CR) Performance. ANZs CR Reporting follows the guidelines set by the global best practice standards. In 2008, ANZ Bank implemented a new, streamlined approach, known as the Global Performance Management Framework, to facilitate enhanced monitoring of their employees performance and to utilize their personnels full potential. As such, the simplified and globally homogenous approach they adopted utilizes a concept known as balanced scorecard, which measures and evaluates the performances of their employees across four main company objectives, namely, Financial, Customer, People and Process, and also the benchmarks of behaviour and risk/compliance that are exhibited throughout the year. The Performance Management at ANZ is divided into three stages: Performance Planning, Performance Coaching and Performance Assessment. Performance Planning: This stage involves setting clear and measurable objectives and targets at lower levels of the organization. Strong emphasis is placed on the impact that achieving these goals have on the organizations broader business goals and priorities. Employees and managers are unified under a common set of highly ambitious, yet realistic and achievable goals from the beginning so that each individual understands the importance of his/her role and how he/she can contribute to the overall success of the organization. One of the key focuses of this stage is ensuring that employees have a clear understanding of the behaviour and risk/compliance standards expected of them. Performance Coaching: At this stage of Performance Management, managers conduct regular meetings with employees to coach and develop them. Managers are required to evaluate employees performance and appraise their current status in respect to the performance levels expected of them by conducting mid-year performance discussions. A key aspect of this stage is to ensure that managers provide employees with sufficient support and learning opportunities that can enable them to succeed at their roles. Performance Assessment: At this stage, higher level personnel provide lower level employees with an evaluation of their performance at the end of the year. The outcomes of this stage are linked directly with the companys remuneration and rewards schemes. (Corporate responsibility review, 2008) Following these guidelines, the Performance Management Framework provides each individual within the organization with a clearly defined set of objectives and goals and ensures that they understand precisely what is expected of them. Sales assistance involves handling routine client enquiries in all segments of the companys objectives. Therefore, the tools and instruments employed in maintaining the organizations new Performance Management Framework, can effectively evaluate the performance of sales assistance in ANZ Bank, especially when coupled with detailed and informative annual CR Reports. In addition to providing annual performance reports, ANZ also maintains a Corporate Responsibility website and issues annual CR Interim reports and monthly Corporate Responsibility updates to stakeholders. The information contained within all these reports and updates can adequately evaluate the performance of personnel, and more importantly, provide detailed information on specific branches of the companys departments, like sales assistance. ANZ has been reporting on its CR Performance since 2004. Each year, the organizations goals and work programs include high-priority issues involving their industry, customers, employees and the community. According to the 2008 CR Report, by September 2008, ANZ had witnessed the first rise in customer satisfaction statistics in over six months. The organization had set six customer-oriented goals: Implement a new Personal Division policy and processes to assist retail customers facing financial difficulty Maintain their position as the number 1 Lead Bank for major Corporate and Institutional clients Achieve Equator Principles reporting for 100% of ANZs Project Finance transactions Continue to improve their retail customer satisfaction and match the performance of community and regional banks Meet or exceed the performance standards set out in their Customer Charter and conduct a review of its commitments Implement Institutional social and environmental lending policies for forests, mining, energy and water. The first three goals in the above list were successfully achieved, while the latter three goals were partially satisfied. There were five employee-oriented goals set by the organization for the year 2008, and only one of these goals placing women in managerial positions in Australia and New Zealand was unattained, although, the actual statistics only marginally trailed the target figures. The goal of employing 100 Indigenous Australians, as part of the Indigenous Employment Strategy was successfully accomplished, as 106 Indigenous trainees were employed by ANZ in 2008. The three other set goals that were partially achieved are: Closing the gap on pay differential between men and women at all levels of the organization, Reducing their Lost Time Injury Frequency Rate by a further 20% in Australia and New Zealand and report performance globally, and improve their performance in the ANZ Engagement and Culture Census. Of the four community-oriented goals that were set, all four were successfully accomplished. The goals included: Release ANZs bi-annual financial literacy research, Meet their financial literacy and inclusion program targets, Achieve 70,000 hours of staff volunteering across the Groups and 15% participation in payroll giving, Achieve the commitments in our Reconciliation Action Plan including staff training, financial literacy and assisting to build the capacity of Indigenous organizations. The figures and outcomes in these reports provide adequate information towards evaluating the performance of various branches in various departments. 5.0 Evaluation of the fairness of performance management One of the most important functions of human resource management is Staff Performance Management. As discussed earlier, ANZ Bank employs a management tool known as the Global Performance Management Framework to monitor, evaluate and enhance the performance of its employees. One of the key aspects of Performance Management is to formulate a set of goals and priorities that serve as targets and guidelines for employees to better understand their respective roles and how each individuals performance impacts the organization as a whole. The employee performance management system encompasses the following basic aims: Direct employees in order to achieve the objectives in the various departments and branches present within an organization. Appraise, evaluate and monitor the performance of employees and enhance communication between employees and management personnel. To provide pathways and formulate schemes for developing employees. Throughout this report, various research materials are sited supporting the fact that performance management, if implemented properly, can ensure an organizations success. This section of the report attempts to link performance management with other Human Resource Management functions to ascertain and evaluate the fairness of performance management. Figure 1: The link between Performance Management and other HR Functions For a performance management system to be effective and functional, certain elements are normally incorporated into the system: Open and fair Oriented towards the competency of employees An ongoing process (HRM civil service bureau, 1999) Open and Fair This element of the performance management system seeks to achieve fairness in performance appraisal by encouraging employees to be outspoken and constructive in their feedbacks. Additionally, managers are also encouraged to be open and objective in their appraisals of the employees. The following methods can be instrumental in accomplishing this: Formulating comprehensive and detailed objectives and targets. Encouraging higher-level employees to conduct discussions with employees pertaining to their performances and providing counselling and training when necessary. Making equal opportunities available to all staff members, in terms of promotions, remuneration and rewards packages and training and development. Forming a panel, whenever possible, to facilitate fairness in performance appraisals. Oriented Towards the Competency of Employees The competency of employees can be broadly classified into two sub-categories; core competencies and functional competencies. Competency relates to the knowledge, attributes, attitude and skills that are required for an employee to succeed in his/her role. Core competencies include a set of skills necessary for an employee to satisfactorily perform his/her duties in their respective departments. Functional competencies include specific sets of skills required by an individual to perform his specific role in the organization. Making use of a system that is competency-oriented greatly enhances the beginning stages of performance management, where goals and objectives are formulated. Employees at different levels of the organization are able to understand what is required of them due to the well-structured job requirements that align each individuals role in the organizations chain of command. An Ongoing Process Performance management systems are an ongoing endeavour that requires constant attention and monitoring. Failing to maintain set standards on a regular basis may lead to a decline in the quality of the companys performance and output. This process involves: Performance planning: This stage involves the appraiser and the appraised, in that, the former informs the latter of the responsibilities and objectives they are required to satisfy, by setting realistic, precise and quantitative targets as comprehensive guidelines for them to follow. Coaching and development: Here, particular emphasis is placed on giving recognition to good performance and providing helpful feedback and guidance to employees. Recognizing noteworthy performances can be a good way of boosting morale and encouraging employees to strive for excellence. Providing continuous counselling and advice can ensure that employees are up to date in the organizations ongoing quest for success and retaining the level of success, once it is achieved. Interim review: An interim review aims to evaluate employee performance. It is a formal interview or discussion where the evaluating personnel identifies performance results and undertakes appropriate actions, assesses development and training programs, identify any shortcomings or barriers that prevents employees from reaching their full potential and make modifications to the objectives required of the employee. Human Resources personnel bridge the gap between employers, managers and employees. Therefore, in addition to their other tasks, HR personnel can ensure the fairness of the employee performance appraisal procedures by understanding the employees concept of fairness and encouraging helpful feedback from employees, thus facilitating better communication between higher-level personnel and lower-level employees.. A fair and transparent system promotes and encourages employees to perform at their best, as the possibilities of achieving promotions and benefit packages are ever present and realistic. Conclusion Obviously, PM is one of the most important functions of HRM which links individuals objectives and organization goals. Thus, PM can be a very effective and efficient management tool if applied properly. An organization should provided its employees with the clear information of the organizations aims, job expectations and motivate employees to perform better by focusing on the desired results, improving communication, and developing the skills and attitudes of employees to better enable them to achieve organizational goals. Moreover, the implementation of performance management frameworks can be both advantageous and disadvantageous for an organization. Analyzing ANZ banks sources of performance information shows that the implementation of a solid PM framework, coupled with their globally recognized reporting methods enables the organization to adequately evaluate the performance of ANZs various departments and sectors, including the sales assistance unit. Finally, fairness in evalua ting and appraising employees performance within an organization can motivate employees to enhance their performance. Organizations can achieve this by providing equal opportunities for their employees towards promotion options, access to remuneration and rewards schemes, training/counselling/mentoring/advising, providing clear, concise information and specifying job tasks and so on. 7.0 Recommendations Organizations should continue to review their strategies regularly by focusing on performance management. Organizations should strive to take actions that can facilitate improvements and employee training and also focus on the development of strategies to justify any gaps, if present, between the organizations actual performance and target goals. Fairness plays an important role in motivating and guiding employees. Although, the concept of fairness may vary from one individual to another, there are certain ideologies, however, that remain constant. For example, it is commonly understood in a workplace that an employee should be rewarded based on his/her performance within the organization. The aspects of fairness that may vary from one individual to another are feelings of how one was treated by his/her employer or manager in regards to a particular scenario. Therefore, it is important for managers and employers to ascertain how their employees perceive fairness. This can be accomplished by providing employees with questionnaires that will enable them to express their take on fairness. This will help higher level personnel to understand their employees more intimately and tailor their remuneration and rewards packages and training opportunities accordingly. In performance management, the employees are subject to be reviewed by their managers. Employees will directly receive feedback from the members of their team. The team members will observe each other and then report to managers when performance problems occur. Subsequently, the managers should combine the feedback gained from their team members and then undertake the necessary corrective measures.

Eye Witness Identification Essays -- essays research papers

Although the phrase â€Å"they all look alike to me† is widely known and used as a joke (Goldstein & Chance, 1985) the implications that the phrase yields may not be as widely understood as they should be. In the criminal justice system, eyewitness identifications can play a major role in the decisions made by jurors even though it has been shown that jurors have little awareness of factors that affect the reliability of eyewitness accounts (Cutler, Penrod, & Dexter, 1990). One such factor is identifications made by people identifying someone of a different race, (when describing race as Caucasian, of African descent, of Asian descent, or Latino), which can be referred to as other-race identification or other-race recognition (Lavrakas, Buri, & Mayzner, 1976). If the phrase â€Å"they all look alike to me†, which states that people of another group appear homogenous, is true for most people then it is possible that other-race identifications should be considered less reliable than within-race identifications. It has in fact been shown that people are more accurate at identifying others of their own race than at identifying others of a different race (Penrod, Shapiro 1986). Since it has been established that the other-race recognition is not always as accurate as within-race recognition, finding the cause for this effect is important. One possible cause is the quantity of experience a person has with another race. People are less accurate at identifying faces of a different racial group than at identifying faces of their own racial group because they have less experience with the other race. We would expect that as the amount of experience a person has with a different racial group decreases the less accurate they will be at identifying faces of that race. It would also be expected that if you raise someone’s level of experience with a different racial group, possibly through training, the ability to identify faces in that racial group should increase. The amount of experience a person has with another racial group should determine how accurate they will be at identifying people of that race. Those who report having large amounts of contact with another race should show better accuracy in identifying people of that race than those reporting small amounts of contact with the other race. In a study done by John ... ...vents the drawing of a firm conclusion. REFERENCES Brigham, John C., & Malpass Roy S., (1985) The role of Experience and Contact in the Recognition of Faces Of Own- and Other-Race Persons. Journal of Social Issues, 41, 139-155. Lavrackas, Paul J., Buri John R., & Mayzner Mark S., (1976) A Perspective on the Recognition of Other-Race Faces. Perception & Psychophysics, 20, 475-481. Shepherd, John, Deregowski, Jan B., & Ellis, Hadyn D., (1974) A Cross-Cultural Study of Recognition Memory For Faces. International Journal of Psychology, 9, 205-211.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Goldstein, Alvin G., & Chance, June, (1985) Effects of Training on Japanese Face Recognition: Reduction of the Other-Race Effect. Bulletin of the Psychonomic Society, 23, 211-214. Anthony, Tara, Copper, Carolyn, & Mullen, Brian, (1992) Cross-Racial Facial Identification: A Social Cognitive Integration. PSPB, 18, 296-301. Shapiro, Peter N., Penrod, Steven D., (1986) Meta-Analysis of Facial Identification Studies. Psychological Bulletin, 100, 139-156. Cutler, B. L., Penrod, Steven D., (1990) Juror Sensitivity to to Eyewitness Identification Evidence. Law and Human Behavior, 14, 185-192.