management

Why do firms internationalize?

Currently, businesses are expanding their presence beyond their local platforms. This process of increasing their accessibility in many countries constitutes internationalization. There are numerous reasons why businesses internationalize, but normally they yearn for business expansion or growth.

In international platforms, companies can easily hire cheap labor as compared to that in their local nations. From this dimension, companies will be able to reduce their overall management costs, which will result in high working capital. Consequently, such companies will be able to expand their services using the available capital thus making them gain competitive advantage over their competitors in the market.

Besides, firms internationalize in order to acquire new ideas from the foreign workforce. With the high rate of globalization and development in technological applications, businesses also have to update themselves on the changes that affect their operations. Exchange of ideas in the international platform keeps the management updated on the present business management skills; this prevents instances of wide information gap.

Since workforces have different backgrounds, there are high possibilities for the business to tap new thoughts on how to improve their performances globally. Firms also internationalize in order to expand their client base. Businesses can internationalize by cooperating with other foreign companies so that they adapt easily to the new environment. Notably, when businesses increase their customer base, they are likely to get high returns on such investments.

A small home market may also dictate the need for internationalization in order to tap the high global population. A business can also go international if it faces stiff competition locally, and they are the only producers of such products worldwide. In the international front, such business will not experience stiffer competition as compared to the home country. In some foreign countries, for instance, such business may enjoy complete monotony. To that end, it is evident that businesses internationalize mainly to increase their profitability.

Why should you study international business?

Studying international business furnishes one with how to manipulate the complex parameters that have currently dominated the business world. Given the dynamic nature of markets, business managers have to understand these multicultural competencies so that the businesses remain relevant. In addition, the study of international business enables entrepreneurs and managers to learn and understand the different tastes and preferences of consumers in foreign nations.

In this aspect, they will be able to acknowledge the paradigm shift in preferences of the current world population and even learn how other nations handle issues of tax and business laws. The current globalized world also necessitates the need for studying international business due to the high rate of interactions among people of different nations. In understanding the cultural differences that exist between countries, organizations will be able to produce particular products for a specific target market.

As a result, businesses will be able to increase their profitability, as consumers will purchase most of their products. In addition, the study helps in understanding business opportunities that exist in other countries and business ownership and regulations that other nations have put in place.

Such opportunities can help businesses to develop new strategies on how to expand their presence to the international platform by considering the political and ethical systems that exist in foreign countries. Countries have different economic and political ideologies; therefore, business owners must comprehend the new environments and the interconnectedness that subsist in these countries. When a businessperson understands the concepts of international business, he/she will be able to relocate into other nations with ease.

Introduction

Constant organizational change is a prerequisite for organizations to meet shareholders’ objectives. Organizational change requires resources, which include finances and qualified human resource. Organizations need to recruit various individuals to perform roles in the organizational change process. This essay defines organizational change and shows how recruitment and selection contribute to organizational change.

Organizational Change

Change refers to transformation. Organizational change refers to the process by which organizations undergo a transformation from one level or setting to another. It is an array of activities that lead to altering of directions or processes previously followed by an organization (McNamara, 2013). Such a change can be planned or unplanned but it originates from dissatisfaction with prevailing processes in an organization. Planned changes relate to a vision of leadership entrenched in long term strategy of an organization while unplanned changes occur as a reaction to prevailing market dictates and are necessary to see an organization through a certain period (McNamara, 2013).

There are various types of organizational change depending on the type of organization and existing environmental factors. Some organizations go for minor changes while others go for major changes. Minor changes or incremental changes are easier to handle than major or radical changes. Either of the types of change follows three steps to effect. The steps include unfreezing, moving and refreezing (Senior & Fleming, 2006).

Organizational change is beneficial to an organization since it enhances competitiveness, financial performance and leads to increased staff as well as customer satisfaction. Overall, organizational change leads to sustained improvement and sustainable organizational culture (Senior & Fleming, 2006).

Organizational change requires resources. Such resources include finances, skills and willingness to change. Human resources are the most important resources required in the process of organizational change. Such individuals find their way into an organization through recruitment and selection.

Recruitment and Selection

Recruitment is the process of determining and bringing in potential candidates for employment from within or outside an organization for a future appointment. Recruitment begins with a manager’s decision to hire and proceeds through to induction and placement of new staff members (Grimshaw, 2009). Selection refers to the process of choosing suitable candidates for various roles in an organization. Selection involves intensive screening of various candidates in a pool of potential candidates with the aim of making an offer to successful candidates. Selection is largely a negative process since it involves rejecting unsuitable candidates. Recruitment and selection assist an organization in various ways geared towards organizational change.

Recruitment and selection enable an organization to maintain present levels of performance (Grimshaw, 2009). This happens when staff members who have played key roles in getting an organization to current levels of performance leave an organization for various reasons. Through recruitment and selection, an organization fills positions left vacant with staff members capable of maintaining or even producing better results.

Recruitment and selection lead to an organization’s ability to meet increased requirements in a dynamic environment (Grimshaw, 2009). The business environment keeps on changing due to demands resulting from competitors’ behaviors, customers’ preferences or technological advancements. In such situations, an organization needs to get the right people to come up with strategies to check the competition. Such strategies involve differentiation of products or services as well as execution of services using the latest and appropriate technology to customers’ satisfaction. These strategies increase customer recruitment and retention.

Recruitment and selection improve an organization competitive edge (Grimshaw, 2009). Competitive edge refers to an organizations ability to outdo its rivals in industry. Individuals are the most important resources an organization can use to maintain or improve competitive advantage. An organization must realize that such individuals are scarce and rival organizations need them too. As such, an organization offers the best terms possible to qualified individuals during recruitment and selection.

Culture change is part of organizational change. Recruitment and selection assist an organization in achieving such culture change (Grimshaw, 2009). Individuals recruited to get a mandate to initiate the process of culture change with the main aim of meeting desired goals. Some corporate cultures fail to yield envisaged organizational changes. In most cases, such cultures originate within an organization and may be hard to task an internal employee with changing such a culture. In such situations, an organization must recruit from outside.

Recruiting and selection are crucial when an organization needs to restructure or remodel (Grimshaw, 2009). Individuals who have previously engaged in a corporate restructuring or business remodeling in industry stand a good chance of receiving offers for employment in other organizations within an industry. As such, an organization that desires restructuring or remodeling must recruit and select individuals versed in such activities. In most cases, it involves recruiting such individuals from rival organizations.

Conclusion

An organization requires qualified and skilled employees to effect desired organizational changes. Recruitment and selection afford an organization such as employees who accomplish organizational change through maintenance of present standards, meeting of requirements in industry, improving competitive advantage, initiating cultural change, business restructuring and remodeling.

References

Grimshaw, E. (2009). The Perfect Fit. New York: DragonRising. Web.‎

McNamara, C. (2013). Organizational Change and Development. Web.‎

Senior, B., & Fleming, J. (2006). Orgnizational Change. New York: FT Prentice Hall. Web.‎

Introduction

This report aims at discussing the mutual impacts of human resource management and maritime issues. The report was researched by two people. It presents a thorough discussion and critical thinking on the topic, i.e., human resource management and maritime issues. We divided the topic into subtopics that were in the form of seven basic questions to make our discussion easier and less tiring. During our first meeting, we discussed the subject at length, and each one of us contributed what we knew about the matter. We also listed the reference books we would use during our research period. After we had agreed on everything, using the skills on group discussions taught to us by some of our teachers, we decided that it could to be easier if we could divide the work between us. We distributed the questions we had set for our topic between us, and we agreed on our next meeting, whereby we could discuss our findings collectively. After exploring several presentation methods, we agreed that we would present our findings as a TV show. In this presentation my colleague would be the interviewer, and I would be the guest speaker (interviewee), answering all the questions according to our findings. The subtopics we selected were:

1. Definition of Human Resource Management
2. Functions of HRM
3. Political issues affecting HRM
4. Technological impacts on HRM
5. Training Impact on HRM and Maritime Issues
6. Globalisation impact on HRM
7. Economic impact on HRM and Maritime Industries

Definition of Human Resource Management

After we had completed our research, we were then ready for the presentation of our findings. I started the presentation following our set subtopics. I started by introducing our topic and giving a general overview of what our presentation would entail. I defined human resource management as the process through which an organisation acquires and maintains its employees (Mello, 2014). I continued the introduction by saying that the management of employees includes paying their salaries, promoting them and motivating them, among many other things. I also explained the relationship between HRM and maritime issues. I explained this clearly that for a maritime organisation to develop, just like any other organisation, there must be human capital, which is covered in HRM.

Functions of HRM

The second subtopic of the discussion, according to our agreement whereby I was supposed to present the audience, was with regard to the functions of HRM and how they impact maritime issues. In our research, we had come up with four main functions, and I presented them briefly due to shortage of time. The first function I presented was the role of planning, whereby an organisation, through HRM, plans on the number of employees to employ (Mello, 2014). The skills of employees and what positions they would take in an organisation are also considered. The second function we presented was staffing, which involved the actual process of recruiting employees. When staffing an organisation, HR officials recruit and place employees in their required positions. In staffing, HRM also orients employees by briefing them of what they are expected to do within a firm. The other function I presented was training and development, whereby HRM trains new employees and develops them in their areas of speciality. Training is important since it increases the efficiency of personnel, leading to the development of business establishments. The last function I presented was that of maintaining personnel by paying them salaries, promoting them and motivating them, which is done by a company through an effective HRM. After I concluded the discussion on the functions, I tried to make my audience understand how these functions of HRM are related to maritime issues. I did this by explaining to them that maritime organisation cannot survive without human workforce, which is entirely the business of HRM.

Political issues affecting HRM

Regarding political issues, we were not sure if our audience would pay attention to us since many people do not like the topic on politics. I started by talking about politics being related to leadership. I explained that, within a firm, it is not easy for HRM being independent for the reason that some of the biggest shareholders in many organisations are politicians. Politicians tend to take over everything in an organisation, bringing about poor management. Another example we gave on the political impacts on HRM was with regard to a wider perspective, whereby due to politics, some countries fall out with other nations, and some sanctions are put in place. The sanctions would affect the involved countries, and HRM in big organisations in such countries would be negatively impacted. However, I explained to the audience that politics do always result in mismanagement, and I gave a reason for that. Politicians can sometimes use their powers to positively impact the management of a particular organisation. This would, of course, bring about better performance outcomes.

Technological impacts on HRM

We had also researched on how technology impacts HRM, specifically how it has affected HRM in relation to maritime issues. At first, I was not sure about how to present this part of our findings, but it turned out to be the most interesting and the most liked part by the audience. I started by explaining to the audience the definition of technology by giving simple examples of technology, such as mobile phones, computers and television sets. After a brief introduction, I explained some maritime technology aspects, such as computerised ships. I explained how improved technology in relation to maritime would affect HRM. I did this by demonstrating the fact that if computers do most work in ships, it simply means less people are employed, and would have an impact on HRM. Improved technology, in other words, is not creating employment and is leading to overworking of the few employees in firms. Personnel, in one way or another, will be literary working as machines. I concluded my presentation on technology by telling my audience that, although technology is good, and we all love it, its impact on HRM cannot be overlooked.

Training Impact on HRM and Maritime Issues

Training is the other important factor we were supposed to present. We were supposed to show how training in the maritime industry has affected HRM. Training in any organisation, as discussed above, is entirely the work of HRM. It is crucial because it ensures that employees working in an organisation are well qualified and possess the required skills (Stuart 2013). In maritime organisations, the cost of training is excessively high, and this has a negative impact on HRM, which, on several occasions, ends up employing people who are not trained efficiently. When employees are not qualified, their performance outcomes would be low, which would impact a company negatively. HRM officials, thus, would have to go an extra mile to ensure that the people they employ have the required training, even if it means straining over the few resources available (Stuart 2013). Training is important because firms would be sure of a good output at the end of it all. I summed up my presentation on training and its impact on HRM and maritime issues by saying that shipping companies need to get some donor funds to help it train its staff. Better training would ensure its endurance in the business domain, which is full of competition (Theotokas 2014).

Globalisation impact on HRM

The issue of globalisation seemed hard to me at first, and I had no idea how I was going to start. My friend had made notes on this, because he was the one researching it. I relaxed for about one minute, sipped some water after my presentation on training, and then started on the globalisation subtopic, feeling a little bit re-energised. I began by telling my audience what globalisation is and why we thought it was good to discuss it in our presentation. I simply described globalisation as a process through which the world becomes like a village, meaning that there is international integration arising from a number of factors, such as worldviews, products, cultures, and ideas. I related the definition to the maritime industry, and I said that the free flow of products across international boundaries is a clear indication of globalisation. After the brief explanation, I went straight to explain the relationship among globalisation, HRM and maritime firms (Hendry 2012). In the maritime sector, when there is globalisation, it means that HRM can access employees from other countries with different qualities. Globalisation is a good thing because it promotes an intercultural relationship in the industry that might improve performance outcomes. The fact that HRM can hire people from other countries means that the industry would have excellent employees, trained in different countries (Theotokas 2014).

Economic impact on HRM and the Maritime Industry

As we were discussing our topic of research, my friend and I decided that our presentation would not be complete if we could not discuss the impact of economic issues on HRM and the maritime industry. I started the presentation by defining economics, in simple terms, as the production, distribution and consumption of goods. After the brief explanation, I told the audience why we decided to incorporate that issue in our discussion. I said that before new employees are recruited in any organisation, the available resources should be considered. For example, it will not make sense to employ people who will not be paid (Price 2011). It is the work of HRM to ensure that the resources available in an organisation are utilised in the best way possible to avoid over-utilisation. The maritime industry cannot overlook economic impacts, since the economy is the backbone of any organisation (Hendry 2012).

Conclusion

Our presentation was good since we achieved our objectives, i.e., we effectively discussed the seven subtopics we had planned to examine. My friend was so proud of me and he said that that best presentation he had ever seen. The comments made me euphoric. We had a meeting after the presentation to discuss our shortcomings, and how to resolve them in the future. Personally, the process changed me a lot, because I believe that my confidence has increased. Inn fact, in my next presentation, everybody is going to congratulate on my excellent skills in discussing several ideas.

References

Hendry, C, 2012, Human Resource Management, Routledge, London, United Kingdom.

Mello, J, 2014, Strategic human resource management, Cengage Learning, Hoboken, NJ.

Price, A, 2011, Human resource management, Cengage Learning, Hoboken, NJ.

Stuart, R, 2013, Essentials of human resource training and development, Web.

Theotokas, I, 2014, Applying Flexible Global Supply Chain Strategies via effective Maritime Management, Web.

Introduction

Leadership and management are key issues that determine the performance of organizations. Investors may not be good leaders or have the required management skills; therefore, they hire professionals to run their organizations. Learning and tainting institutions offer various courses that ensure managers and leaders are equipped with the relevant skills required to sustain and improve the performance of various organizations.

Scholars have supported different theories to explain how leadership and management skills are essential in companies and how they can be improved to ensure there is maximum utilization of resources. This paper examines Henri Fayol Management Principles and Stauffacher’s Management Principles and Espoused Leadership Context and Principles respectively.

Stauffacher’s Espoused Leadership Context and Principles

This critic argues that leadership must provide purpose, direction and motivation to subordinates to achieve the objectives of an organization. He claims that leaders must show other workers the reason and benefits of respecting work policies to ensure the visions of their organizations are realized (Kraemer 43). This is achieved by focusing on the goals, standards and priorities like reduction of expenses and maximizing resources to generate profits.

He argues that leaders motivate their subordinates by being responsible and accountable. This means that if a leader reports to work late or offers excuses every time things go wrong the subordinates will follow suit and their organizations will not achieve their goals easily (Maxwell 13).

Good leaders should reward responsible workers by recommendation their salary increments and promotions and at the same time reprimand and punish those that fail to respect the policies of their organizations. This will ensure workers maintain a high level of discipline that is necessary for better performance (Kraemer 49). He discussed the following key leadership principles that should not be compromised if organizations want to achieve their goals.

First, he explains that leaders should know themselves and seek to improve their skills through experience and training. This means that being in a leadership position should not put people in comfort zones because there is the need for them to acquire additional knowledge and skills that are essential in ensuring they perform their duties properly.

In addition, he proposes that leaders should be proficient at their jobs and ensure they seek and accept responsibility at their places of work. This is an effective way of promoting transparency and accountability at work and helps other workers to maintain a high level of discipline.

Moreover, he adds that good leaders should ensure they make sound and timely decisions that will be accepted by their subordinates. A leader in the accounts department must be in the forefront in advising other leaders how to spend money wisely to ensure companies have resources for emergencies and do not misuse their abilities (Maxwell 22). He recommends that subordinates must be informed about issues that affect them or the company.

It is necessary to ensure that subordinates are informed about key decisions in a company even if they are not directly affected by them. For instance, a decision to ensure that all cars are parked at designated places is a good way of ensuring there is law and order in a company. Subordinate staffs should be informed about these decisions to ensure they direct visitors and other stakeholders to park their vehicles at specified places.

In addition, communication should be timely because some messages become useless if they are not delivered at the correct time. Communication will ensure tasks are understood and that everybody knows what is supposed to be done at all times. Sometimes employees may fail to perform their deities properly because of ambiguous instructions that confuse them.

Lack of proper guidelines that define the roles and stations of workers causes conflicts among them and expose the weaknesses of leaders in such organizations. Therefore, leaders should ensure their decrees are understood before they start holding their employees accountable for failing to perform their duties properly.

It is important for leaders to ensure they do not misuse the capabilities of their organizations (Maxwell 48). For instance, participation in corporate social responsibility is a noble course but this does not mean that leaders should be excessively philanthropic in distributing company resources to communities.

Lastly, this author argues that team building is a clear indication that a leader is in control of an organization. Workers come from different backgrounds and some of them do not even know the meaning of teamwork and its importance (Kraemer 67). Therefore, it is the responsibility of a leader to ensure all workers and departments are brought together and there is unity and coordination among them.

It is very easy for organizations to achieve their goals if their workers are united. These principles are very important because they help leaders and their subordinates to understand their roles, promote communication and work as a team to achieve the objectives of their organizations.

Fayol Management Principles

Henri Fayol outlined 14 Principles of Management he believed were necessary in guiding managers to execute their mandates properly and help their organizations to perform well. He believed that division of labor is an indispensable aspect in modern businesses because it encourages specialization and this increases the efficiency of workers and improves their effectiveness (Titman 47). He advocates for organizations to assign roles to their workers according to their skills, qualifications, experience and interest.

Secondly, he argues that a good manager should have authority and responsibility to ensure he has the right to command subordinates and exhort their obedience. This will put him in apposition that will ensure the subordinates follow command from a central location (Hill and McShane 39). Respect at the work place is an indispensable aspect because it draws lines between managers and their subordinates. Therefore, managers should not be too soft on workers lest they want them to disappoint their leadership abilities.

Organizational goals cannot be achieved if there is no discipline and it is the role of managers to ensure punishments and rewards are used appropriately to manage the behavior of subordinates. This author claims that the need to have a leader like the CEO of a company such as Apple, Google and others ensures there is coordination and smooth flow of instructions from a central position.

Organizations that have various leadership positions experience serious challenges in managing their affairs due to confusions and conflict of interests (Titman 70). Unity is important in planning because it ensures all workers follow a plan developed by the management. The performance of managers affects the overall competence and effectiveness of their organizations.

Therefore, they should learn to put the interests of their employers before theirs. It is necessary for managers to ensure that their personal perceptions and interests are kept at bay if they do not help their organizations to achieve their goals.

Moreover, workers exchange their energy and expertise for money and thus they must be properly compensated to ensure they are motivated to work harder. Managers have the responsibility of ensuring that all workers get reasonable salaries and those that deserve promotions are allowed to occupy higher offices and improve the performance of their companies.

They should know that they earn good salaries because of the hard work of their subordinates; therefore, they should reciprocate these favors by ensuring that investors offer reasonable salaries to their workers (Hill and McShane 43).

There are various systems of management and it is important to understand that none is better than the other. Some organizations perform well if they use centralized management systems while others do the opposite. Therefore, managers should ensure they make appropriate decisions regarding when, where and how to delegate duties. It is unwise for them to perform all duties and put on their shoulders the responsibility of managing their organizations and doing all chores (Titman 81).

However, delegation of duties should be based on workers’ experience, ability, training and interest to ensure people are not forced to do what they do not want or are not capable of doing. This author argues that the hierarchy of an organization must be maintained and respected to ensure there is proper execution of orders and communication flows through the designed channels to improve efficiency in performance.

Lastly, he recommends that there must be order in an organization to ensure workers, investors and the public. This is achieved through a fair application of the standards that regulate the behavior of workers (Hill and McShane 69). In addition, he concludes that employees should be motivated to work hard by ensuring that there is low staff turnover and that employees are allowed to be innovative even if they make mistakes because this is an effective way of learning.

Conclusion

Effective leadership and management cannot be achieved by wishful thinking but by working hard and ensuring the principles that guide these aspects are respected and followed. Good leaders make excellent managers because they know what they are supposed to do and how to treat their subordinates. There is no shortcut to improved performance and workers must ensure they follow the policies of their companies and do their best to improve their performance.

Works Cited

Hill, Charles and Steven McShane. Principles of Management. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2006. Print.

Kraemer, Harry. From Values to Action: The Four Principles of Values-Based Leadership. New Jersey: Jossey-Bass, 2011. Print.

Maxwell, John. Leadership Principles for Graduates: Create Success in Life One Day at a Time. Mexico: Thomas Nelson, 2007. Print.

Titman, Sheridan. Financial Management: Principles and Applications. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 2010. Print.

Introduction

Over the past years, human resource managers in many organizations were viewed as individuals who could only play the staffing role. HR was often overlooked when making crucial decisions concerning innovation, financial performance, or customer service.

Currently, organizations have realized that all strategic changes that occur within an organization have implications for the workforce of an institution. Based on this awakening, the role of HR as a lead business strategist and a strategist architect has been given attention. This paper looks at how the HR boss fits this role within an organization.

HR As a Lead Business Strategist

An organization’s human resource practices and cultures form a unique trait that defines HR managers as business strategists (Lawler & Boudreau 2009). These exceptional traits create a character that makes it superior to its competitors. Issues such as employee skills and a company’s motivation strategies define an organization’s capability to handle tasks. Thus, HR practices are essential in meeting these strategic goals (Buller & McEvoy, 2012).

An organization is defined not only by the resources it possesses but also how successful it can utilize them to attain its key agenda. Competitors differ in terms of the resources they control. This resource-based difference brings out the varieties that people witness in different companies. An organization that has rare, non-substitutable, non-imitable, and non-transferrable resources exhibits a competitive advantage.

The human capital of an organization addresses issues such as employee knowledge, skills, and abilities, all of which are steered by the organization’s HR arm. The performance of the human resource department under the HR boss determines the extent to which the organization’s goal and objectives can be attained.

According to Buller and McEvoy (2012), the HR boss puts in place the social capital that exists in the form of structures of interaction between internal employees and external stakeholders who form an environment that promotes innovation and strategies of achieving them.

HR as a Strategy Architect

Human resource managers are strategic architects in the sense that they share and shape the picture of how their companies exist in the marketplace. They give insights on how their organizations can gain superiority and win other businesses. HR people understand the existing trends in terms of the current industry structures, business ideas, and anticipated results. This appreciation enables them to foresee possible obstacles in their ideas and advice on how to encounter any threat.

As strategy architects, HR specialists create the bridge between the internal and organization and the exterior environment. They define how their organizations can influence the clients’ demands and expectations (Ulrich & Brockbank 2009). Thus, HR specialists possess the blueprint of a company’s values and resources since they are well informed to guide on new strategies.

Based on their understanding of the strategy and possible challenges, effective HR professionals in IBM have maintained the company’s excellent performance. The corporation has more than 350,000 human resources. The company’s HR managers usually look for possible future needs and skills that the business will need.

With such information, they can equip the current workforce with the company’s plans (Ulrich & Brockbank 2009). The IBM HR team acts as the main leaders of the company’s overall global transformation. The team has built more confidence in its employees. Besides, it has made them believe that their future within the company is secure. Such strategies make the company’s employees more flexible to change.

Conclusion

The role of HR in an institution clearly goes beyond staffing. For the effectiveness of employees in achieving any company’s vision and goals, HR specialists have to be involved in the business strategies that usually entail the use of workers.

References

Buller, P. & McEvoy, G. 2012, ‘Strategy, Human Resource Management, and Performance: Sharpening Line of Sight’, Human Resource Review, vol. 22 no. 1, pp. 43-56.

Lawler, E. & Boudreau, J. 2009, ‘What Makes HR a Strategic Partner?’, People and Strategy, vol. 32 no. 1, pp. 15-22.

Ulrich, D. & Brockbank, W. 2009, ‘The role of HR Architect in the Strategy HR Organisation’, People and Strategy, vol. 32 no. 1, pp. 25-31.

Companies’ performance significantly depends on the satisfaction of employees. The increased staff turnover can be discussed as a sign of the managerial problem within the company because employees are inclined to choose the other perspectives for their careers. Thus, a significant factor in reducing the general workforce performance and in causing staff turnover is a lack of upward mobility.

To avoid the negative consequences of this situation, it is necessary to focus on the career planning systems oriented to both the individuals and organizations to satisfy their needs. Career planning systems are important for both parties because employees receive the opportunity to respond to their needs and aspirations when employers can retain talented staff and increase productivity.

Today, a lot of industries are highly competitive; that is why talented human resources have many opportunities to find companies where their needs will be satisfied (Sims, 2007). As a result, to retain the talents in the firm, it is important to focus on the advantages of career planning systems.

Effective career planning systems with the focus on succession planning, job rotation strategies, and education and development assistance can be considered as strategic human resources tools designed to contribute to the talents and company’s progress.

Career planning is the complex program developed by the human resources manager to meet the interests and needs of employees about their professional growth and development and to create advantageous conditions for the talented staff. Employees have definite professional goals and plans regarding their careers. If the company cannot provide opportunities for realizing these objectives, persons choose to change the job with the focus on further career perspectives.

In this case, the task of the human resources manager is to identify talented employees, evaluate their skills and potentials, and to correlate the abilities with the taken positions to conclude about the career planning about the individual (Cartwright, 2005). However, such assessments and evaluations along with provisions of opportunities to develop the potential should be regular and workable for all the employees. From this point, the effective and balanced career planning system is necessary.

Career planning is based on such stages as the employees’ self-assessment in relation to which they receive the opportunity to focus on their objectives, values, skills, and perspectives, the development of programs and methods in order to improve employees’ skills and knowledge, the concentration on multiple tasks strategy to develop the employees’ abilities (Deb, 2006).

As a result, employees focus on their potential and receive the necessary knowledge to take a higher position with the company and satisfy their needs regarding career development.

The career planning systems can depend on such approaches as succession planning when the employees are prepared by managers to take the vacant positions because of the employees’ turnover within the company, job rotation when the positions of employees and their duties are exchanged in order to improve and expand the staff’s knowledge and abilities, the self-assessment and interviews in order to focus on the employees’ potential and goals, seminars and workshops to develop employees’ practical skills and prepare them for the higher positions (George & Jones, 2007).

Having no opportunities for the career development with references to the effective career planning, employees do not see perspectives for their professional growth because their competence is not appropriate for taking the higher position within this concrete company. Many firms focused on opportunities for career planning to avoid such problems and retain talented staff. However, the approaches to career planning can be different.

According to Noe, “in Coca-Cola USA’s career planning system, employees and managers have a separate meeting after the annual performance review to discuss the employee’s career interests, strengths, and possible development activities” (Noe, 2013). Similar approaches are utilized in many other companies globally.

Such career planning systems as succession planning and educational programs for employees are used in many companies, including General Electric, Dell, and Home Depot. The human resources managers in these companies pay much attention to evaluating the potentials of the talented workers and to developing the possible career paths for them to attract the professionals to work at their productivity and aspects of performance with references to the proposed career planning programs (Noe, 2013).

Furthermore, General Electric and Coca-Cola focus on the advantages of the automated career management systems to discuss and analyze the career paths and opportunities for all the company’s workers basing on their experience, knowledge, background, demonstrated skills and abilities as well as potentials.

Career planning is an important part of the strategic human resources management because implementing the associated programs, the company focuses on increasing productivity, identifying the employees’ needs and goals, developing the talented employees’ potential, contributing to the work quality, and providing the necessary guidance for the staff in relation to their perspectives, and advantageous career paths.

References

Cartwright, S. (2005). Human resource management. USA: Mittal Publications.

Deb, T. (2006). Strategic approach to human resource management. USA: Atlantic Publishers & Dist.

George, M. J., & Jones, R. G. (2007). Understanding and managing organizational behavior. USA: Prentice Hall/Pearson Publishing House.

Noe, R. (2013). Careers and career management. Retrieved from http://answers.mheducation.com/business/management/employee-training-and-development/careers-and-career-management

Sims, R. R. (2007). Human resource management: Contemporary issues, challenges and opportunities. USA: IAP.

The success of an organization is based on the relationship between individuals and the culture of the company. Organizational cultures are principles that determine the behavior of employees within the company. Individual’s behavior that can be pragmatic includes beliefs, values, and assumptions.

It is the liability of the managerial team to understand organizational cultures because they are responsible in directing production activities in a positive manner and avoiding the destructive influence of employees who are not devoted to the increasing the company’s output and achieving of the set goals within the organization.

According to the evaluation of the U.S. Army, it is true that the cultural context in the organization has a powerful influence on the behavior of most employees (Treviño and Nelson, 2011). The cultural context plays a key role in explaining the policies, rules, and regulations of the company making managerial work to be easy, thus facilitating achievement of the organizational goals.

Organizational cultures are described by the general rules that the corporate operates using. The regulations are formulated by shared behaviors, beliefs, and values. These cultures create the basis of individual behavior in an organizational context. The individual employee’s and the group behavior define what is expected of the organization. It also gives the sanction of abnormal cultures.

The management should think of organizational cultural practices that motivate the employees yielding to higher productivity since people enjoy doing what is rewarding even if the rewards are not explicit (Treviño and Nelson, 2011). The management should set goals that are challenging but achievable. On achievement of these goals, the employees are highly motivated and aim at getting to a higher level.

The main cultural backgrounds that are observable in an organization include the degree of procedures in, which the employees conduct themselves. The employees develop some cultural practices that help in representing their organization to external bodies (Treviño and Nelson, 2011). These issues include dressing code, the technology adopted by the organization, and the general conduct of workers when dealing with the outsiders.

An organization also holds some unobservable cultural behaviors such as values that inspire behavior. These values cannot be observed directly, but they are the ones that determine the character of the employee, for example, discipline during the operations that relate to the company. These behaviors help in giving a positive representation of the organization.

The employees should be aware of organizational cultural practices since they are the ones that define the behaviors deemed appropriate or inappropriate in a company. Different organization varies in their cultural practices with some stressing on creativity while others consider the status quo.

There are organizations that are more social oriented; others are task-oriented, while others assume teamwork to be the most important cultural practice. Some organizations value individual achievement rewarding employees as per their contribution to the organizational output (Treviño and Nelson, 2011). The management should focus on the dominant motivational culture to increase the general production of the company.

In conclusion, employees must understand and follow organizational cultures. The management has the responsibility to inform the employees of these cultures and how the organization expectation from individual worker to safeguard these practices to achieve the organizational goals. It is true to say that the cultural practices in the U.S.

Army have enabled the employees in this organization to maintain discipline and achieve the role expected of them. This applies not only in this organization because cultural contexts in any organization have a powerful influence on the behavior of the employees. Some cultural practices may be rigid, posing a negative influence through most of the cultural practices have a positive impact.

References

Treviño, L. K., & Nelson, K. A. (2011). Managing business ethics: Straight talk about how to do it right. New York: John Wiley.