Human

In the contemporary business world, the competition among business organizations to outdo the others is becoming very keen. Different management techniques and business strategies are adopted to garner the best resources; man, money and material, in order for the business to curve an edge for itself among it competitors.

Some business organization in a bid to compete favorably with other blue chips and guilt edge companies, have resorted to merging with other companies. Business merger is used as a means of consolidating and strengthening the financial, managerial and material base of the merged organizations. In this view Steven and Louis (1990:17), has it that “A firm acquires another for the same reasons that one firm would merge with another or that one firm would enter into a joint venture with another firm. It is the debenture with another firm’s potential profitability through the use of or sharing of another firm’s expertise”.

In the aftermath of the merging process, sometimes, it is observed that negative factors that are detrimental to the effective and efficient operation of the organization would begin to surface. “Mergers are seldom hostile in nature…A merger like any other business activity, is not without its risks” (ibid:73).

In a bid for organizations that are merging to have a successful takeover, it is expedient that vital issues regarding the process of merging are adequately addressed. “Obviously, there are hundreds of issues that need to be addressed and hundreds of large and small decisions that need to be made in any merger process” (Shannon and Stephen, 2000:35). This research study tends to base its focus on the human, economy and managerial effectiveness and efficiency of the merging organization. A case study of Sony/BMG would be use in the conduct of this research work.

The merger between Sony- BMG will be the second- largest record company in the world with 30 percent of the world music market and combined sales of more than $8 billion, according to Nielsen Soundscan, placing it just below Vivendi’s Universal Music Group and ahead of  Warner Music Group and EMI Group. ( Keller 2004).

The five multinational music companies- Universal Music, Sony Music, EMI, Warner Music and Bertelsmann Music Group (BMG)- have been engaged in a collective courtship ritual for years. The decline in sales by more than a quarter since 1999, and even after swinging cost cuts, industry insiders feel that they  need to merge in order to restore profitability. Hence, this brought no surprise at the announcement of Sony Music and BMG merger, the group wish to combine 25% share of the global recorded- music market and sales of 4.5 billion pounds- 5 billion ( $ 5.1 billion –5.7 billion). ( The Economist Print edition, 2003).

The BMG’s label including RCA, J Records, Jive and Arista, are home to Elvis Presley, Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake, Christina Aguilera and such America Idol alums as Kelly Clarkson, Rueben Studdard, Clay Aiken and Fantasia Barrino. Sony’s Columbia and Epic Records rosters feature the like of Beyounce Knowles and Destiny Child, Jennifer Lopez, Michael Jackson, The Dixie Chicks, Celine Dion among others. (Kelly, 2004).

The Federal Trade Commission cleared the way for the merger of Sony and BMG. “The FTC approval, means that regulators believe the new companies, henceforth known as Sony- BMG, does not violate antitrust laws and that the merger can move on full-steam ahead”. According to a statement from Sony, “ Now with regulatory approvals behind us, we look forward to establishing a dynamic new company”.  BMG echoes, “ we now look forward to creating a global recorded music company comprising many of the world’s most successful artists as well as a vast catalog of recordings” (ibid)

In the first half of 2003, Sony Music made a negligible profit of $2m on sales of $1.14 billion; BMG had an operating loss of 117m pounds on sales of 1 billion pounds.  The companies have said they could make combined cost savings of $250m- 300m if they merge.

The following observed problems are to be solved in this research work:

1. What best procedure to adopt in business merger, that will make the business marriage a success?
2. How can the takeover of the organization be managed in order to avert negative tone in the organization, which can distract managers and leave workers disgusted and feeling betrayed?
3. Job security has always being the fear of workers in the course of a merger. How can a merger be conducted in order to alley this fear from their existing workers, or those they intend to employ.
4. Business merger tends to bring together different organization with its own destined organizational culture. Any conflict between the purchasing firm and the purchased firm can have serious negative human capital impact and detrimental implications to the organization. How can these diversity in organization cultures be managed and married so as to promote a cordial and peace atmosphere in the newly merged organization.
5. How would the business strategy of the merged company be conducted so as to take into cognizance the hitherto strategy each organizations had carried out so that it won’t be dysfunctional to the effective and efficient management of the business organization

Objectives of the Study:

• To proffer a feasible and pragmatic way of conducting business merge in order to make the business marriage a successful venture.
• To know the effect business merger tends to have on the human, economy and managerial aspect of the merging organization.
• Also, the research study tend to compare from the experience of different company that has merged, so as to see those factors responsible for its success or failure.
• The economy implications of business merger would be looked into. It is to determine whether business merger add to the economy buoyancy of the country, or its contribute to its depression.
• The research study also tend to find a workable methods and pattern in preventing and managing conflict arising from diversity in organizational culture: ways these can be married together for the effective operation of the organization.

The following hypotheses are derived for this research study.

1. H₁: Business merger brings about negative tone, which distracts manager, and leave workers feeling disgusted and betrayed.
2. H₁:There is a positive relationship between workers fear for job security and their performance in a merged company.
3. H₁: Diversity in organization culture is dysfunctional to a successful business merger.
4. H₁: Diversity in inherent business strategy of merging organizations affects its effective and efficient management in the merged organization.

The significance of this research study to the generality of people include the following:

• The research tends to be beneficial to intending companies, who nurse the desire to merge. It will give them the insight into the proper procedure to follows in order for them to arrive at a successful merger.
• The research also would be as a point of reference to other researcher who have find their interest in researching in this line of research study
• Workers of merging firms tend to benefit from the research work, in the sense that they would know the resultant effects of business merger. And how to adjust to adapt to the new trend in the emerged organization.
• The research study would clarify the advantages, benefits and the negative implication of business merger. This will tend to alley the fear of people and also bring them to terms with the realities of the implication of the process.

The scope of this research study would cover operations that concern business merger in contemporary times. The range will p to those since 1990 to the current year (2005).

The observed limitation to this research study boils down to the underlisted:

• The period of merger of SONY/BMG, is still in its early days. There is no long range of time or mature in which the case study would be studied to draw out the occurrence in the merged organization.
• The problem of allocating more time to this research work becomes very difficult, since other educational activities and personal function demand the timer sharing.
• Adequate funding of the research projects, in terms of visit to the case study, sourcing materials, and the general typing and binding of the research work is another limitation that is observed; since enough funds to adequately pursue this task is not readily available.
• Data collection from the case study and material sourcing to adequately conduct a good work is not easy to come by more effort need to be put to see that this come to pass.

Business merger: Business merger is an organizational reform and transformation, where two or more organization that hitherto operate as a different and separate entity, comes together to form a single organization, where resources are jointly managed in order to achieve set objectives and goals for the organization. According to Steven and Louis (1990:73), “a merger can be considered to be a mutual agreement of sorts between two firms to join together to become one company”.

Corporate takeover: Corporate takeover is sometime use as a synonym for business merger, corporate takeover is the acquisition of a firm, by another firm which take control of the purchased firm

Acquisition: Is a structured transfer of one firm’s assets to another in an agreed upon and orderly manner. In many instances these assets are all – inclusive and constitute the acquired firm in its entirety. (Ibid: 117).

Effectiveness: Effectiveness is a term that can be defined as the ability of an organization to achieve its sets objectives and goals.

Efficiency: Efficiency is the ability of an organization to optimally utilize its resources in the attainment of set goals and objectives. Thus, it is seen as the proportion in which output surpasses inputs, in the production process.

Human resources: Human resources as used in this study signify the total workforce of an organization. i.e.  the people working in a business organization.

“The business press is full of examples of how to merge two companies poorly. Success stories are harder to come by” (Shannon and Stephen, 2000:35), this goes to say that literatures on business merger concentrates more on those things that results in its failure, and little about on the procedure to take in making the marriage a success.

In the course of merging two firms, problems may arise after the merging process, due to diversity in operational culture. In this view, Steven and Louis (1990:117), puts it that “By their very nature, acquisitions are invasive. One firm, in essence, takes over the management and financial responsibilities of another firm. In many instances, it is necessary to restructure the acquired firm and to merge the two distinct corporate cultures into one. Also, with an acquisition comes unique problems and the requirement for unique strategies necessary to make the acquisition a success”.

According to Shannon and Stephen (2000:143), “Despite all the work that was done before the deal is sealed, it is often during integration planning and implementation that things begin to fall apart rather quickly”. The major reason behind this derailment is that no clear process has been identified in the first place. Managers in units to be consolidated are given a vague mandate to ‘make it work’, while still being expected to fulfill all of their previous duties (Ibid).  In the view of Steven and Louis (1990:73),

Mergers are seldom-hostile min nature. Therefore, negative factors inherent in hostile takeovers are absent. The possibility of massive selloffs are usually not an issue. In addition to accept and support the merger than oppose it. There are, however, other factors common to merger, acquisition, and alliance activities that must be considered, such as power struggles between the firms, a clash of corporate cultures, organizational and reorganization issues, the effects of a new corporate direction, and entry into new or unfamiliar markets.

Despite the historical flood of acquisition activity, the track record for acquisitions has been poor, and the chances of  a successful acquisition have been equally slim. Statistics show that more than 50 percent of all acquisitions will be resold with in three years of their purchase (Ibid. 117). A merger, therefore like any other business activity, is not without its risks. Moreover, these risks can be managed and minimized. When studying merger activity, several common strategies tend to surface that characterize  successful mergers; these include long term corporate commitment, inter alia. (Ibid. 73).

“Serious errors were made by managers who engaged in wide-ranging merger activity and by the investors who financed them. It is important for business leaders to understand what went wrong and low to avoid making similar errors in the future. It is also important for policy makes to understand what happened. Good policy is unlikely to grow from the barren soil of misunderstanding”.

According to the Economic Report of the President (1988:191), “Although extensive research has established that takeovers tend to be beneficial, not every take is successful in attaining its originally contemplated benefits, and there are many examples of takeovers that, in hindsight, appears to have been misguidedit is impossible to predict which takeovers will be unsuccessful, the takeover process must be evaluated in the aggregate, and cannot be assessed on the basis of isolated examples of failure or success”.

There are protagonists and critics of business mergers and takeovers. According to Work and Seamonds (1988: B-1), There are many who still defend takeovers. They include free-market economists who insist that buyouts force corporations to focus on results rather than size, to redeploy their assets, and to reduce their stifling bureaucracies. Economists argue that mergers of business producing the same or a similar product may result in increasing returns to scale and a decline in unit costs as the number of units produced increases.

This many economists believe that mergers are not only useful, but that they are, in fact, essential in a dynamic economy. Others who see merit in takeovers are arbitrageurs, raiders, greenmails, investment bankers who play chaperone or matchmaker, lawyers, speculators and short-terms shareholders. These groups sometimes help to turn merger or acquisition ordeals into feeding frenzies from which they, because of their privileged position or expertise, stand to realize handsome profits or fees.

According to Abbasi, Hollman and Murrey Jr. (1991), “proponents contend that mergers reduce stifling bureaucracies and promote efficiency in the allocation of resources and in the production of goods and services. Critics insist that mergers amount to no more than a shuffling of assets that markedly display the greed of raiders, speculators, arbitrageurs, and others”. Both proponents and critics usually fail to take into cognizance the resulting human dislocation, which inevitably follows a merger.

Merger of companies has its devastating effects on the employees of these organizations. “Studies reveal that the real and poignant issues that affect workers were given scant attention during and after the acquisition process in may of the most recent mergers. As a result, many employees felt that the psychological contract, they counted  on throughout their career had been broken by corporate takeovers and the human dislocation which followed it “ .

Also in any business consolidation, the potential for wrenching operational change and a collision of organizational cultures between two previously separate and autonomous organizations is very strong. Any conflict between the purchasing firm and the purchased firm can have serious negative human capital impact and detrimental organizational implication.

According to Abbasi, Hollman and Murrey Jr. (1991) “The ordeal of a takeover can distract managers and leave workers disgusted and felling betrayed” “An acquisition can imperil not only jobs but also the future security of those who stay” (Ibid). For an effective takeover management. Abbasi, Hollman and Murrey Jr. (1991) gave the following recommendations:

• End tax breaks for the acquiring corporation: this should help produce corporate restraints, help reduce the amount of foregone takes and ultimately lead to a healthier economic environment.
• Extend current antitrust laws or pass new antitrust laws to encompass unfriendly takeovers.
• Require a two or three month moratorium after the announcement of the intention of making an offer and the offer itself.
• Permit workers- the groups most likely to be directly affected by a take over – to have some voice in hostile takeover attempts.
• Establish a government-sponsored takeover panel to review takeovers.
• Empower the comptroller of the currency to restrict or to monitor commercial bank lending for unfriendly takeovers; inter alia.

Theories are abstraction from the real world, in order to give explanation to phenomenon. In other words, it is a tested hypothesis, used to give explanation to the relationship between two or more variables. According to Ravenscraft and Scherer (1987:1), During the hiatus between the conglomerate merger wave of the 1960s and the record merger activity of the early 1980s, a vigorous school of thought emerged that sought to explain the causes and efficiency benefits of mergers through the study of stock price behavior. One of the first contributions found the pattern of stock price c movements to support the hypothesis that “mergers are a mechanism by which the market system replaces incompetent management” (Mandelker, 1974:324), as quoted by Ravenscraft and Scherer, 1987:1).

Another school, straddling parts of academia, the consulting profession, and the business press, focused with growing skepticism on the fruits of past mergers. According to Louis (182:89), “most of the acquirers were lured into buying unstable companies, or into committing foolish mistakes that harmed stable ones”. Peter Drucker observed that two merger out of five are “outright disasters, “two” neither live nor die, “and one” worker” (See Ravenscraft and Scherer, 1987:1).

Methodology

Research Design

The quantitative survey research design would be use in the conduct of this research study. According to Odiagbe (1999:11), “survey is designed to answer question about fact description, conduction, and relationship. Although it is often enumerative in nature, it goes beyond the simple enumeration associated with census”. Thus, the survey design would make use of questionnaire as instrument for the collection of data from the respondents.

The total population of study would encompass all workers of SONY/BMG Company. This will include clients that patronize the company.

Sample Size and Sampling Technique

The same size to be adopted for this research would be 150. The sample would cut across both workers and clients to the company. The sampling technique to be adopted is the simple random sampling technique where all members of the total population have equal chance of being included in the sample without bias.

Data Collection Methods

In the course of conducting this research both the primary and secondary data would be utilize the primary data would be derived through self-administered questionnaires. While the secondary data would be gotten from textbooks, journal publications, Newspapers and magazines articles, seminar presentations, government gazettes and internet publications.

Data Analysis and Interpretation

Simple percentage would be use to classify the responses of the respondents in a tabular form and interpretation would be given to this. Chi-square  (X²) would be used to test the research hypotheses the Chi-square (X²) decision rule would be:

• Accept the null hypothesis (H_o), when the X² calculated value < the X² table value. Hence reject the alternate  hypothesis (H_I)
• Accept the alternate hypothesis (H_I) when the X² calculated value > the X² table value. Hence, reject the Null hypothesis (H_o)

The basic general assumption people have on business merger induced the following:

• It is assumed that business merger would make the merged companies to have financial, material and managerial increase to enable it competes favorably with its competitors.
• It is also assumed that merger would result to the lost of jobs as a result of the restructuring that will take place in the merged organization.
• It is also believed that merger and takeovers tend to have psychological effects on the workers, this may dislocate and make them put up defensive behavior to the work.

In line with the above highlighted assumptions on merger, the research tend to focus more on the results and findings it will derive form its data analysis and findings from the research. Thus, the assumption would be relegated to the backseat as the research work proceeds. Comparison will be done after the research findings are uncovered. Also data for the research would not be falsified. The privacy of the respondents would be respected.

References

1. Abbasi, S.M, Hollman, K.W. &Murrey, Jr.,J.H.(1991), “Merger Mania: Human and Economic Effects”. Review of Business. Vol. 13, 1-2.
2. Anders, George (1988), “With Leveraged Buy- Outs in Spotlight, Here Are Answers to Common Questions”, Wall Street Journal, October 28, p. B-1.
3. Economic Report of the President (1985) p. 191.
4. Keller, Julie (2004), Feds Ok Sony- BMG Merger. http://www.eonline.com/News/Items/ 0,1,14617,00html  (6^th June,2005)
5. Loius, Authur, M. (1982) “ The Bottom Line on Ten Big Mergers”, Fortune, May 3, p. 89.
6. Magnet, Myron (1984) “Help! My Company Has Just Been Taken Over”, Fotune, July 9, p.44.
7. Odiagbe, Martin (1999) A Handbook of Research Methods, Seminar Presentation & Term Paper Writing. Lagos: Summit Publishing Enterprises. P.11.
8. Panos, John, E. (1989), “ Taking the Humane Approach to Post acquisition Layoffs”, Mergers and Acquisitions, March- April, pp. 44-47.
9. Pickens,jr. T.B. (1988), “Takeovers :A Purge of Poor Management”, Management Review, January pp. 52-54
10. Prokesch, Steven,E. (1985), “ People Trauma in Mergers”, New York Times, November. P.D-1.
11. Ravenscraft, D.J & Scherer, F.M. (1987), Mergers, Sell-Offs and Economic Efficiency. Washington, DC: The Brookings Institution, p.1.
12. Shannon, R. Wall & Stephen, J. Wall (2000) The Morning After : Making Corporate Mergers Work after the Deal Is Sealed. Cambridge, MA: Perseus Books ,p. 35, 143.
13. Sinetar, Marsha (1981), “ Mergers, Morale and Productivity,” Personal Journal, November, pp. 863-66.
14. Steven, A.D.& Louis, E.V.N. (1990), Strategic Corporate Alliances: A study of the Present, a Model for the Future. New York: Quorum Books. Pp. 73,117.
15. The Economist Print edition 92003) “ Britney, Meet Michael”, http://www.economist.com/displaystory.cfm?storyid=22022914 (7^th June, 2005)
16. Therrien, Lois (1990), “ The Best and Worst Deals of The/80,s”, Business Week, January 15, pp.52-57.
17. Work,C.P.& Seamonds,J. (1985), “What Are Mergers Doing to America?” U.S News and World Report, July 22, pp.48-50.

As we approach the new millenium, it has become obvious that more than ever before, we need technology. And yet every new technology places new demands upon us creating new forms of frustration and stress. We can not live with it, but we can not live without it. If we fail to conform ourselves, will we remain the ignorant victims of the computer age? Will we become its slave? This is the focus of this paper. We have learned from our readings that the Luddites learned about the technology that was being abused in their time. They worked on the cotton gin machines and were skilled technicians.

They understood that it was not the power of a useful machine they were fighting but the power of those who mismanaged it. The same can be said for the management of computer technology. There is not doubt that computer technology has become central to the operation of global multinationals, financial markets, security surveillance, and as well as everyday life. There is little we can do with a computer interface device that will preserve our identity. Governments acting as a global police force protecting us from ourselves can easily monitor the electronic trail of commands and transactions.

Perhaps the Luddites could see farther into the future than anyone suspected. With regards to the downfall of technology and the role it would play on people’s lives, as they became dependent upon technology for survival. Let’s take for example the huge technological dilemma of the fast approaching twenty-first century; the issues surrounding Y2K. It has been feared that people’s lives will be totally devastated, as the technology they have grown to depend on will suddenly fail them on January 1, 2000.

It is thought by many that all of the technology that we have come to depend upon for survival will cease to function successfully. The cars which we depend on for travel, the coffee we depend on to start our day, the electronically controlled furnaces we depend on for heat, and the elevators we depend on to bring us to work will suddenly fail us all together. Even the traffic lights will become chaotic as the computers that control them will be tricked into believing it is January 1, 1900.

Even the great mastermind computer programmers of our time could not think of anything more than a band-aid solution to the transportation problem. It appears that the Transportation Department of the City of Calgary will solve their traffic light dilemma by tricking the computer system that controls the traffic lights into believing it is January 1, 1972. Obviously this band-aid solution will not solve all problems, as this will still be a problem for the next generation of transportation programmers.

It appears as the New Millenium fast approaches we need to return to an age that does not depend on technology for survival. People are concerned that since no technology is reliable enough to survive the Y2K dilemma that we will have to return to the ways of our ancestors for survival during this time of technological uncertainty. Heaven forbid if we could not get a fresh loaf of bread from our technologically advanced breadmakers. Information technology is a valuable extension of our power of perception and reasoning, but when we rely on it exclusively it has a debilitating effect.

When we were first confronted with this new technology it absorbed all of our human resources in order to learn and adapt to the magnitude of this new technology. Many of us overextend ourselves and become obsessive allowing computers to consume all of our attention; therefore, losing our perspective of reality and purpose. If this remains the permanent attitude resulting in the overextension of our own resources, which this technology was meant to serve, then we have become the servants of this technology.

Disney’s coordination in high-performance teams is achieved through the use of organizational goals and how the mission and vision are communicated. As the complexity of the organization increases, coordination relies increasingly on the use of direct supervision and task standardization. So, with increased organizational complexity comes an increased need to manage human activities. The manager is challenged to meld the demands of the organization and the needs of the individual worker into a functioning whole.

Meanwhile, the organizational behavior and system at Walt Disney is something worth noting. When Mike Eisner and Frank Wells became the CEO and CFO of the Disney Company in late 1984, they began implementing changes such as rebuilding the animation department. Even if they knew this strategy would take years to pay-off, its end results were tremendous. Animation helped increase attendance at the theme parks by creating the materials for new attractions. Television animation came back which helped fuel attendance at Disney films that led to increased merchandising (Stone, A.1993).

They also created Touchstone pictures, a division of Walt Disney that had no name affiliation with Disney. Through this company, the studios were able to release a series of staggeringly successful films without tarnishing the Disney image. This would be followed by the creation of Hollywood Pictures, another hidden-Mickey studio. These organizational strategies were successful in bringing Walt Disney back to its glory. It proved helpful especially because this move can generate funds for the projects that needed the financial back-up.

They could then continue to produce films with values without worrying about where to get the funding. This is actually a smart move on the part of its leaders. In today’s tight labor market, it may be tempting to fill positions with the first applicant who meets their basic requirements. But WDC believes taking the time to find the best person for the job can help them reduce turnover, increase productivity, and possibly avoid a lawsuit for negligent hiring in the event of a crime committed by an employee.

If in the past, Walt Disney has not been that serious in conducting background checks on its applicants, now management is more careful. The Walt Disney World Company has begun conducting criminal background checks on applicants when hiring new employees. This procedure emerged after an incident where one of its cooks at the Florida Hotels was charged with raping a 16-year old tourist. (http://www. hotel-online. com/Trends/EI/EI_PreScreenings. html).

There seems to be a lack of management supervisory skills here as the person would have been aware of company policies on this matter. Managers have been burdened for years with an impossible task, telling them they ought to motivate others single-handedly, when the most a manager can do for others is to jump-start them – inspire them. Real motivation catches internally, after the mission is clear. Peak performers draw productivity from deeper reserves that are inexhaustible – from the sources of motivation. You can tell people to value excellence.

You can insist that they increase their productivity. You can emphasize the need for changing their behavior. You can attempt to train people and motivate them to upgrade their job skills and increase their effectiveness. But until an individual makes a personal commitment to achieving peak performance or makes that internal decision to excel, nothing much will happen (McClelland, D. 1955). There had been instances that in measuring the strength of an organization, the other aspects such as human capital had been raised.

Although, organizations are still trying to work out an accurate measuring tool, they have acknowledged that to be able to stay viable in any given business they also must look at the issue on human capital. As Peter Cheese and Bob Thomas wrote: …the most successful organizations today and in the foreseeable future will be those that are able to measure the business impact of their investment in people—whether that investment is employee recruiting, performance management, skills development or benefits administration. (p1, 2003)

HP is one of the biggest computer companies in the world. Stanford University classmates Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard founded HP in 1939. The company’s first product, built in a Palo Alto garage, was an audio oscillator-an electronic test instrument used by sound engineers. One of HP’s first customers was Walt Disney Studios, which purchased eight oscillators to develop and test an innovative sound system for the moviei?? Fantasiai??. (http://welcome. hp. com/country/cn/zh/support. html? pageDisplay=support) Around six years, HP never stop innovate.

In 70s HP continues its tradition of innovation with the introduction of a new array of computing products. Foremost among them is the HP-35, the first scientific handheld calculator, which ushers in a new era of portable, powerful computing. HP continues to look for new opportunities around the globe, laying the groundwork for an eventual joint venture with China over the course of several trips by HP representatives to that country. The decade is marked by significant growth in earnings and employment, with HP passing the $1 billion mark in sales in 1976.

The company will pass the $2 billion mark three years later in 1979. Toward the end of the decade, Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard delegate day-to-day operating management of the company to John Young. (http://www. hp. com/hpinfo/abouthp/histnfacts/index. html) In the 80s HP makes its entry into the printer market with the launch of inkjet printers and laser printers that connect to personal computers. HP’s high-quality, inexpensive inkjet printers spell the end of dot-matrix printers. The HP LaserJet printer line, which debuts in 1984, goes on to become the company’s most successful single product line ever.

The quality and reliability of HP’s printers make HP a highly recognizable brand by both consumers and businesses. Near the end of the decade, HP is recognized for its rich past as well as for its technological advances and products. The garage where the company started is declared a California historical landmark, and HP celebrates its 50th anniversary. In the HP is one of the few companies in the world to successfully marry the technologies of measurement, computing and communication.

The company makes new advances in portable computing, enters the home-computing market and continues to invent new printing and imaging solutions. For most of the decade, HP enjoys growth rates of 20 percent. At the beginning of the 21st century, HP focuses on simplifying technology experiences for all of its customers, from individual consumers to the largest businesses. With a portfolio that ps printing, personal computing and IT infrastructure, HP grows to become one of the world’s largest IT companies. (http://www. hp.

com/hpinfo/abouthp/histnfacts/index. html) * Human Resources Management Problems of HP: Recently there have some problems about human resource management which are recruitment selection, employee’s development and training and reward problems. Some problems exist in the recruitment process. Recruitment includes internal and external or could also be online and involves the stages of recruitment policies, advertising, job description, job application process, interviews, assessment, decision making, legislation selection and training.

Examples of recruitment policies within HP healthcare sector and business or industrial sectors could provide insights on how recruitment policies are set and managerial objectives are defined. (http://www. slooy. com/html/slooy9/20060925/4437. html) Some employees have inadequate skills and knowledge. Training should not be regarded as a luxury to be undertaken when time and budgets allow. Law training of HP employees is one of the human resources management problems. Nor is it wise to think of training as remedial, as a matter of shoring up weak employees or fixing problems.

In a successful program, the training unit acts not like a group of physicians who minister to organizational ills, but rather as an agent of change. Senior management recognizes that the training function has valuable intelligence about employees’ core skills. The training unit, in a successful program, understands the HP organization’s strategic direction and can design and implement a creative way of moving people in that direction. (http://blog. sina. com. tw/collinsuen/article. php? pbgid=31101;entryid=572837) HP’s CEO Watson’s view is that this blinkered approach is bad for both staff and customers in equal measure.

Where training is inadequate or even non-existent,” he states. “Moreover,” continues Watson, “many HP management teams seem to be resigned to the realities of a rapid staff turnover, which engenders poor staff morale. This, in turn, results in personnel failing to take responsibility for their own actions, leading to ever worsening customer satisfaction rates and staff absenteeism. Managers need to realize that these high rates of attrition are principally caused by poor training and management techniques, allied to rapid technical change, which inevitably disorientates personnel.

(http://www. summittraining. co. uk/news-detail. ) Some problems about the HP employee reward system. They complained about unfair salary. In payment matters employees are principally concerned with purchasing power, fairness and recognition of effort and skills. HP should concerned with recruitment, retention, motivation and minimizing the wage budget. Employers are restricted in pay matters by the law and the realities of their product markets. (http://en. allexperts. com/q/Human-Resources-2866/Reward-systems.htm)

Causes Lack of specialist skills and experience are the two factors for these recruitment difficulties in the HP Company. In response, HP is increasingly employing people without all the necessary skills or experience, but who they judge have the capacity to grow into the role. This is the most popular initiative taken in response to recruitment difficulties. Inadequate training leads to employee lack of knowledge. The knowledge includes HP special working skill and soft skill.

It is important for function departments to interact with each other so that Sainsbury’s is able to function probably. If they do not interact with each other they will not meet their business aims and objectives. In addition if the business does not meet their business aims and objectives they may not be able to develop as quick, which means they may make a loss. Marketing and finance The marketing department is all about advertising for Sainsbury’s, they can advertise on T. V, newspapers, leaflets and magazines. The finance department looks after the money in Sainsbury’s e. g. recording money being received.

Marketing and finance need to interact with each other so that finance can tell marketing how much money they can spend on advertising. ICT and finance The ICT department specializes in updating things such as computer. In addition they also update and replace the software equipment at Sainsbury’s. Finance specializes in the money coming into Sainsbury. They help the accountants by making financial records. The ICT departments and the finance department need to interact with each other so that the finance can tell the ICT department how much money to spend on ICT equipment and repairs.

Human resources and administration

The human resources department specialise in the recruitment of new staff. The admin department is the support function of a business. This means that they can help other departments. They need to interact with each other because the admin department can help the human resources department’s interview new staff and other small tasks like preparing and filling documents, opening emails and sending emails and faxes. Research and development and production The research and development specialize in the design and research of foods and products.

The production department specialise in the making of the products. These two departments need to interact with each other because research and development design the product and the production department produces the product. This means that the research and development department tell the production department how the want the product to look and the production department make it according to the research and developments designs. Human resources and all the other departments The human resources department is in charge of recruiting new staff.

This means that they need to interact with other department to see if they need new staff. In addition they also need to see if the other departments want new employees to have training. Oxfam Oxfam is organized by splitting into different divisions. These divisions can help Oxfam achieve their business aims and objectives. These departments include: The marketing division specialises in advertising for Oxfam. The campaign and policy division is in charge of developing the Oxfam appeal. This means that they go to other countries and choose who they want to support and give their money to.

These two division need to communicate wit each other because campaign and policy chooses the country they want to support. They then tell marketing what to advertise. Finance and marketing The marketing division is in charge of advertising for Oxfam. The finance department is in charge of the money coming into Oxfam. They do this by making financial records. These two divisions need to interact with each other because the finance division needs to give the marketing division a budget. This will help them know how much money they can spend. Human resources and finance The human resources division is in charge of the recruiting of knew staff.

They also arrange staff training. The finance department is in charge of the money coming into Oxfam. They do this by making financial records. These two divisions need to interact with each other because the finance department needs to set a budget for human resources division. They need to do this because the finance division needs to tell the human resources division how much money they can spend on staff training. Evaluation In this part of the assignment, I will be writing about how well the functional areas help the business achieve its business aims and objectives.

Human Resources current issues involve various aspects of the HR function and activities. Let us look at some of these. There are several writers who believe that we need to do some rethinking on strategic HR. One other issue raised is the necessity to do a rethinking on “strategic recruitment. ” There is much talk about strategic Human Resource management. But surveys had shown that there is not much evidence that its implementation is widespread. It also varies from country to country.

The role of human resources is changing as the result of globalization, rapid technological development and progress, and changes in stakeholders’ expectation, among many. Skill in managing global human resources is fast becoming one of the emerging human resources current issues. Workers migration and expatriate employees pose problematic issues. These require organizations to formulate an appropriate international Human Resource management policy. Many organizations are yet to recognize the need to do this. Another issue, namely, the continued use of job description is criticized. Some argue it is no longer relevant.

Another matter that needs attention is the increased presence of Female employees. Female workers are now competing for jobs that are formerly the domain of male employees. Still another issue that calls for attention is employee behavior. It is becoming harder to terminate or dismiss even difficult and under-performing employees. What more, even the use of strategies in the implementation of human resource management has been questioned as being anti-union and manipulative. Training continues as on-going concerns of organizations. But they are not the only parties concerned with training. It has become a national issue in many countries.

The CEO Employment contract is coming under increasing scrutiny. Among the questions raised are whether the performance of CEOs merits the kind of pay they are receiving, and whether they should go if their achievement is not up to the board’s expectation. Apart from all these issues which do not fail to surface from time to time, human resource diversity is fast becoming an important human resources current issue. The Knowledge Organization Change your organization’s plans in response to changes in the business environment. Ways to managing human resources must also change in line with changes in your business plan.

To do this, you need information on what brought about the current state of things. You need ideas and knowledge on how the HR function can respond effectively to the new situation. Proponents and practitioners of human resource management usually provide ideas which can give new insights. Be alert to new books on HR management and human resources articles on Human Resources current issues. One way of ensuring you do not miss new information is to become a knowledge organization. Here, every one of your employees is encouraged to educate themselves and to widen their knowledge.

HR current issues will update your HR people information. Managing People, Performance and Risk Effective management of employees is important. Doing this motivates employees to do their respective job well. Employees become more focused and will want to continue working for your organization. Manage your employee’s performance well by aligning what they do to the achievement of your business objectives. Identify the risks related to your human resource. For example, what are the risks if your good employees leave. Or what will happen if your people are not achieving their defined objectives.

What steps can you take to reduce or minimize the risks involved? What can you do to prevent any of the risks from recurring? Risk is one of the human resources current issues that your organization must manage and control. This is especially true during economic downturn or when organizations are undergoing a difficult phase. HR Planning To meet all the challenges posed by Human Resources current issues, you need an HR plan. Such a plan needs to determine the possible trend of HR. Under such a plan, you can improve people’s readiness by way of human resource training and development plans under strategic human resource development.

In a bid to improve the whole organizational and even the strategies of the organization the human resources managers have put Into play the intermittent schedules of reinforcement which enables employees to be driver towards the achievements of the organization goal through the implementation of the intermittent schedules of reinforcement. Reinforcement Is an extremely Important principle of conditioning mainly used by top managers to move or drive their subordinates in the work place thus a process of shaping behavior by controlling its consequences.

Because according to Box et al 2007)he views human resource as the management of work and people towards a desired end. This reinforcement theory is sometimes called the operant conditioning as Its mall focus Is on the operant behavior and its associated consequences. According to Copper et al (2007) intermittent schedules of reinforcement are used when maintaining previously learned behavior. Anderson also argues that behavior at the work place is either shaped with the positive and negative reinforces.

The positive mainly on the rewarding bases of the employee for a good job well done and the universe follows that the negative reinforces involves the amoeba of something undesirable in order to alter behavior. But we can not Introduce the reinforcement theory leaving aside the important behaviorism B. F. Sullener who derived the reinforcement theory which seem to be one of the still standing oldest theory of motivation as a way to explain behavior and why we do what we do.

The theory also known as the behaviorism or operant conditioning which is still commonly taught in psychology nowadays. The theory states that “an Individual behavior Is a function of Its consequences” (Management Study gulled 2013) Furthermore what is called the reinforcement scheduling is the essential time the rewards, punishment and timing of these outcomes but deference seem to exist between mulling and frequents of the reinforces. TLS reinforces mainly used to explain work place process such as payment system, absenteeism and motivation to mention but a few.

Moreover Fester and Skinner argues that there are mainly two types of Intermittent schedules of reinforcement, firstly those that occurs at fixed number of desired response and those schedules that appear regularly or Irregularly which are called variables. Through the ideals of the two schedules the four intermittent reinforcement schedules are then formed. This shall all be explained in ‘OFF Fixed interval schedules it follows that a constant amount of time could pass before a reinforce is provided.

In other words behavior pattern almost stops after a reward until the next also offers an example of employee performance review for a raise every year and not in between. (Heifer,2001)Thus is really true in the human resources management as there treat employees like humans not assets their try by all means to satisfy their workers through a payment yester of every month or per week depending on the organization’s financial stamina.

This is also good as money is there to meet all our basic needs of people according to Moscow (1943) hierarchy of needs “a theory of human motivation”. There by in short here is been used as a driver to drive the workforce for the enabling of the organizational goal. For example in most of the farms in the peripheral area like Chainman area a farm called Charter almost all the workforce are given their money after a certain period of time but especially on the second day of each month.

However on the other side of the coin this fixed interval schedules are to some extent weak as there tend to denominated people especially when the organization has failed to pay the employees at the intended time. Variable interval schedules those are one of the schedules that the human resource management can apply the intermittent schedules for it is considered vital to the organization,this is only achieved through the application of the intermittent schedules like the variable interval schedule this defines a schedule where a response is rewarded after an unpredictable amount of time has passed.

Once the behavior have been reinforce by the human resources managers a new interval have to put in place either long or shorter this depends on the main focuses of the organizational objectives and the implementation of those objectives with the human resources managers there specify the sum total of the interval time with the average( Hut and Hummel 1997).

This is best explained in the corporate random drug screening will be conducted every three months or so, however because the screening will happen sooner or later after or before 4 months with the average interval time of equaling round 3 months, causing of this issue the scalloping effect of this schedule is therefore solved(Hut and it produces a slow,but a steady rate of response, but examples are draw from human resources managers giving their subordinates a kind of special recognition of a Job well done thus through the giving always of certificates like the best employee of the year this is done to effectively boost the employee work morale and he also gain a sense of belonging according to the Moscow hierarchy if needs.

Moreover it is characterized by resistance of extinction, and very minimal pause after reinforcement is given. This heron have got an interlink with the human resource management approach to the organization that is called management by walking around thus the MBA approach to the organization that enables managers to effectively walk around to see whether the workforce is working accordingly, this is done frequently. The fixed ratio schedules of reinforcement theory means that reinforcement should be delivered after a constant or fixed number of correct responses for example a fixed ratio of 2 means that reinforcement should be done after every 2 correct responses.

It is sometimes abbreviated as FRR with the number of the correct loser if it . This mostly done by human resource managers that employees piece jobs thus after a certain amount of time or piece of Job you will get paid for that. In Zanzibar this is realistic especially Zees there can employee anyone to read meter boxes of a certain area after the reading you are in a better position to be paid accordingly to the agreed amount of money hence this increase their speed of the worker to effectively work hard at a maximum speed. However these schedules tend to be costly as the workers are likely to make valuable mistake that will tannins the hole image of the organization.

Like there can harass clients because there know that his Jobs is going to end after the collection of the meter reading. Hence there is a probability of organization repeat to be tarnished through the employment of uneducated hooligans into the piece Job system as there tend to rub the good image of the organization hence it is good for the human resource to take these into consideration when implementing the fixed ratio schedule into play. The variable ratio schedules to his occur mainly when a responses is reinforced after an unpredictable number of responses. This schedule creates a high steady rate if responding. A clear example can be derived from the gambling or lottery game.

Slot machines: Players have no way that how many times there have to play until they win the game thus the reason why slots machines are so effective and why players are so reluctant to quit playing the game the human resource feels good when dealing with such a strategy tactic because there is always the possibility that the next game there we win the game and even take for the example of the call bonuses. One expectation is that which was given by Hulk, Wesley ,and Seymour(1972) which examine the effectiveness of pay incentives under the variable and continues reinforcement schedules, it was taken under condition which were more similar to an organizational environment. In a stimulated Job situation subjects worked for an hour/day for a period of two weeks, subjects were paid $1. 50/her for the first week.

At the beginning of the second week subjects were randomly assigned for the three incentives conditions,ICC incentive with a continuous reinforcement schedule,ICC incentive with a 50% variable ratio schedule and a ICC incentive allowed by a 50% variable schedule. It was therefore found that employees were motivated when using the variable ratio schedule than the continuous schedule. It sounds as if human resources managers could implement this schedule the employee get motivated to work hard because each successful behavior will increase the probability of the reinforcement for example salesman at a car sale. The more the cars he sales the more the more money he gets from commission. Hence here employee will be motivated to work for himself and also this increases profit ND productivity of the workforce towards the same object of organizational goal.

Fixed interval schedules this mean that reinforcement becomes available after a specific period of time have elapsed Smith (2010), moreover the schedule can also be shortened as Fl followed by the amount of time that must pass before reinforcement becomes available like OFF meaning that OFF means that reinforcement must be available after every 2 minutes . Heifer (2001) offers an clear example of an employee performance review for a raise in every year and not in between. However there me to be scalloping effect between the intervals that is been caused by the 1997)This type of reinforcement usually used well by the human resource managers when learning a new behavior in the organizations or punishment.

This is also is stated by the Michigan matching model of human resource that says appraisal selection, development and our main thrust Reward what makes the human resource management function towards the overall organizational goal. Hence this is agreed when using the intermittent schedules that monetary rewards are essential to motivate workers for the betterment of organizational goal. However to the other extend the human resources may tend to fail to meet the rewards especially when there are some economic constrain like inflation that hinders the payment of workers hence the workers will become denominated or go to strike and make demonstration that makes or tannins the overall reputation of the company.

In addition to that the installing of the reinforcement schedules such as variable interval schedules this enables employee to work effectively towards the achievement of an organizational goal, because only that the employees does not have a clear knowledge of when the performance review is going to come hence he is always on his toes to ensure that the company goal have been meet at the intended time(Remind,2010)This is mainly done to the McGregor theory “x” and Y,which says that the x-workers are those workers born with the natural dislikes of work and on the contrary the y-workers are those that are born with the likings of work rather their feel work as playing hence the application of the theory is applicable especially when we are dealing with the x-workers this enable them to work harder towards the achievement of the organizational goal. The theory of reinforcement is easily applied to the organization by the human resource managers as the theory deals with learned behaviors therefore we can be able to say it is not cumbersome to apply those reinforcements schedules into the organizations.

Upon Joining a company workers workers often deals with certain stimuli, responses, and their consequences. Because the behavior are rewarded or punished it can be easy to encourage or change workers’ responds by manipulating the stimulus (Operant Conditioning, 2006) The reinforcement theory provides with it clues to motivations unlike the Need Theory to motivation which places more emphases on the internal need rather than the external needs that the reinforcement is more focused on. Thus within the workplace the organization, workplace organizational management theorist look to the so called environment in a bid to explain and control people’s behavior.