Poetry Slam Essay

On my visit to Bar13 I was instructed to watch a poetry slam. I have never experience such a vivid art of performing poetry. The only way I had experienced poetry before was by reading it from books. This has change the way I see poetry now. The poetry slam is a very competitive event in which the poets perform their work. The poets are judged by people of the audience. The host, who was pregnant, selected the judges who were instructed to give a numerical score (the score being 0 – 10). The score was based on the poets’ content and performance. I was a little hesitant when the host asked me to be a judge. Since this was the first time, I was scared that I wasn’t going to be a fair judge. The host explained to me the basic rules for the contest and how the poets are selected. The first rule one is that each poem must be the poet’s own work. The second is that each poet gets only three minutes to read or say the poem. The third is that they can’t use any musical instrument or costumes and the fourth and last one is that from the score the poets receive the high and low scores are dropped and the middle three are added together giving them a total score of 0 – 30. Before the contest started the microphone was open to other poets. In my opinion there were a couple of poets who were good. After the opening performance was done, the host presented a poet who has competed before. Her name was Gypsee. She performed for about 45 minutes, the content of her work was very good and her performance was excellent. I think she has practice a lot. I remember clearly two of her poems. One talked about crossing the Canadian bridge into the United States as an immigrant (she was born in Albania). The second one was about her childhood and soldiers with shotguns. During the slam there was different kind of poetry. It was very interesting to listen to a diverse range of work within the slam. It included love poetry, social issues, personal problems and even some were kind of comic. What I really like was the range of poets presented; they are free to do work in any style on any subject. I will recommend it to my friends and I would like to go back, it was a nice experience.

Gilgamed vs Aeneid Essay

The Evolution of the â€Å"Highway to Hell† in Classical Mythology Mythology, by denotation, is â€Å"a traditional story, especially one concerning the early history of a people or explaining some natural or social phenomenon, and typically involving supernatural beings or events.† Myths are an entity that evolve through time and through the changing of culture in order to tailor to the people telling the story; as such, we often see a series of different versions develop reflecting a relatively similar story. In this paper, the similarities and differences of the representation of the Underworld in The Epic of Gilgamesh and Virgil’s Aeneis will be analyzed and applied to the culture of the authors. We read these myths thousands of years after they were written in order to gain an understanding of the world’s past, analyze the minds of our progenitors, and ponder the mystery of human origins. In abridgment, The Epic of Gilgamesh, tells the four thousand y ear old Mesopotamian tale of Gilgamesh, the fifth King of Uruk and demigod. In this myth, the story begins with Gilgamesh and his former enemy and current best friend Enkidu. Together, they kill the Bull of Heaven, a deity sent in revenge by the goddess Ishtar to destroy their crops. When Enkidu kills the bull, he angers the gods, prompting them to kill Gilgamesh’s closest friend in retribution. After this traumatic event, Gilgamesh slips in to a state of infatuation with the meanings of life and death. Searching for the meaning of life and a path to eternal life, he sets off on a quest to find a man who lives in the Underworld and is called Utnapishtim; Gilgamesh believes him to be a mortal man who survived a great flood and was rewarded with immortality. On his quest to arrive in the Underworld, Gilgamesh encounters Siduri: the barmaid at the edge of the sea, Urshanabi: the boatman of the Underworld, and finally Utnapishtim: the immortal keeper of the Underworld. Upon meeting Utnapishtim, Gilgamesh coaxes him into revealing the secret to immortality: a flower at the bottom of the sea. This analysis will be focused on Tablet X. The second major work included in this analysis is the Roman, Virgil’s The Aeneid, Book VI. In synopsis, this myth tells t he story of Aeneas after the Trojan War and his quest to lead his people. The preluding chapters of The Aeneid describe Aeneas’s adventures after the fall of Troy and in the Underworld portion of the myth, Aeneas seeks the Underworld in order to obtain the advice of his late father. In the Underworld, not only does Aeneas meet his father but also his former lover. Virgil’s The Aeneid and The Epic of Gilgamesh both portray two heroes on an adventure mission to the Underworld to avenge the past and discover the future; however there are stark differences in these outwardly similar myths. Initially, when comparing these two stories, one must consider the context from which they come. Virgil’s epic poem is one which draws on the Roman culture and was written between 29 and 19 BC while in contrast, The Epic of Gilgamesh is one of the oldest known works of literature and is centered around the Mesopotamian culture of the significantly older 2000 BC. Noting this substantial gap in not only geography, but also the time warp is important as we continue in our analysis of these two works. The Romans depicted in The Aeneid held clear beliefs that one who led a good life would reap the benefits in the afterlife whereas the Mesopotamians’ ancient culture seems to have left their ideas starkly vacant towards the concept of death and the afterlife. When Gilgamesh arrived at the first ingress of the Underworld, he met the barmaid Siduri in her tavern at the edge of the sea. She said to him the following: â€Å"There has never been a ferry of any kind, Gilgamesh, and nobody from time immemorial has crossed the sea† (Tablet X, p. 433). In a very similar style to The Epic of Gilgamesh, the Sibyl, The Aeneid’s fortune-telling equivalent of Siduri, also meets Aeneas at the edge of the Sea of Death and tells him, â€Å"All nights, all days too, dark Dis’s portals lie open. But to recall those steps, to escape to the fresh air above you, There lies the challenge, the labor! A few have succeeded†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Aeneid, Book 6, line 128-130). After this warning, she gives Aeneas somewhat cryptic instructions on how to collect a golden branch which, if fate allows, will grant him access to the Underworld. In juxtaposing these two quotes from these scenes of the myths, we can get a sense of the archetypes and ideals behind the people who wrote them. As depicted in the quote from The Epic of Gilgamesh, it comes to light that not only does Gilgamesh not know what to expect from the Underworld and the afterlife, but also Siduri doesn’t quite have a tangible notion of what should happen to someone who passes into the underworld and is not dead. In contrast, the apparently more experienced Sibyl tells Aeneid that it will not be easy, but makes this task sound much more feasible. She has exact instructions for him and quite simply, leaves the verdict of his eligibility to fate. Through this comparison we can begin to notice some of the culture of the respective  times which permeates these myths. Gilgamesh’s tale is older and the author was writing from a decidedly more undeveloped mythological perspective; for the people of The Epic of Gilgamesh’s time, death was undefined and impalpable. However, for the people living in the time in which Virgil was writing, death, although intimidating, was something that one who did not commit sins, did not need to fear. Looking a bit more in depth, we can see that these myths give us a glimpse in to the minds of the people who lived in the time in which they were written. In The Aeneid, Aeneas goes to the Underworld to seek counsel from the deceased whereas in contrast, G ilgamesh goes as part of a quest to ultimately avoid the underworld in immortality. We can see a complete lack of fear of death written through the words of Virgil when Aeneid addresses his deceased father in line 698, â€Å"†¦Father, give me your hand! Give it, don’t pull away as I hug and embrace you! Waves of tears washed over his cheeks as he spoke in frustration: Three attempts made to encircle his father’s neck with his outstretched arms yielded three utter failures.† Through this quote, it becomes apparent to us that Aeneid feels no fear for the dead; he feels simply frustration at the fact that he can’t embrace his father. In blunt contrast, in The Epic of Gilgamesh when the Underworld and death is described, it is described as the following: â€Å"Nobody sees Death, nobody sees the face of Death, nobody hears the voice of Death, Savage Death just cuts mankind down† (pg 435). This description from the older of the two works lacks the s ense of knowing and fate that is seen as a reoccurring theme in The Aeneid; it is an undefined mystery that still has not been conquered. In this ancient text, we are reintroduced to the idea of Gilgamesh fearing the after-life, verses Aeneas facing it and accepting a fate which has been predetermined. In the end, the Underworld experiences of Aeneas and Gilgamesh each bring forth experiences which are similar, yet are each one is molded in its own way to produce something that reflects their corresponding cultures. Both plotlines tell the account of a demigod hero with a god-invoked tragic past and their path to a quasi-interchangeable Underworld as a means of catharsis. Considering that these two myths, having been from as much as a thousand years apart and two different regions of the world, have so many striking plot similarities, one must marvel at the power of the story passed through the generations. Myths have survived the test of time and changing cultures to create the myriad of  memoirs that we still enjoy in the modern age. These myths, although no longer something that we typically consider a part of modern religion, allow us a peek into the past. The history of our development through anthropologic changes and our perpetually morphing understandings of the meaning of life is preserved in the mythological collections of our earliest predecessors. The perspective offered in classic mythology offers us a sense of the concept of life and death as it was viewed by those who lived so l ong ago.

Human Resource Planning National University Of Sciences & Technology

HUMAN RESOURCE PLANNING NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCES & TECHNOLOGY, PAKISTAN ARQUM NAVEED Abstract Human Resource Planning (HRP) is a difficult topic to discuss, particularly at the time of increasingly disruptive business environments causing far more disturbance, which increase the tension between the need for planning and the difficulties of prediction. Although a difficult subject, the underlying purpose is straightforward, HRP is referring with having the right people at right place and with right skills.The intensions of this document are to check the nature of, and to what extent companies are able to manage this complexity. For this document, different firms have been used in order to identify if there are any firm-specific differences regarding HRP traditions. Results from our investigation of the studied firms shows that the degree of stability in their respective firms, in terms of employee turnover and economical fluctuations, clearly affects the way in which they appro ach HRP. Key-words Human Resource Management, Strategic Planning, Human Resource Planning. 1.Introduction Organizations are under increasing pressure to find ways to implement their strategies in a fast changing business environment, in which planning lifecycles tend to shrink to reduce the ‘time-to-market’ intervals. At the same time, organizations are putting more and more emphasis on adjusting the organization and employees in their attempt to achieve business goals . â€Å"HRP is usually seen as an essential feature of the ideal-type model of human resource management, even if it does not always appear to be given high priority in practiceâ€Å"(Rothwell, 1995).The issue of efficient planning for people was brought up before the introduction of human resource management. One possible explanation was presented by Storey (1995), who presents that as the developing business environment forces organizations to plan effectively and efficiently for the people resources, the rapid changes in the business environment also makes it difficult for organizations to plan with accuracy. In the light of this we want to investigate to what extent organizations plan for HR in today’s business environment. 2. Human Resource Planning – Concept ClarificationAs in many areas of personnel management, there is confusion about the precise meanings of the terms used to describe the human resource planning functions. According to Taylor (1998), â€Å"The main distinction is between those who see the term ‘human resource planning’ as having broadly the same meaning as the longer established terms ‘workforce planning’ and ‘manpower planning,’ and those who believe ‘human resource planning’ to represent something rather different. † According to Bramham (1994), â€Å"There is a big distinction between the two terms.He argues that ‘manpower planning’ is essentially quantitative in natu re and is concerned with forecasting the demand and supply of labour, while ‘human resource planning’ has a far wider meaning, including plans made across the whole range of personnel and development activity. These activities include soft issues such as motivation, employee attitudes and organizational culture. † The opposite opinion is that, the term ‘human resource planning’ is simply a more modern and gender-neutral term with essentially the same meaning as ‘manpower planning. Both are concerned with looking ahead and using systematic techniques to assess the extent to which an organization will be able to meet its requirements for labour in the future (Taylor, 1998). They are thus undertaken in order to assess whether an organization is likely to have ‘the right people, with the right skills, in the right places at the right time’ (Ibid). According to this definition, human resource planning is a relatively specialized sub-disc ipline within the general activity undertaken by personnel managers. There are different views of the specific meaning of HRP.We argue that it is more than a quantitative approach, as we believe that issues such as employee retention, attitudes and motivation are essential features for having the right people, with the right skills, in the right places at the right time. Thus, we agree with Bramhams’s view that HRP has a wider meaning, encompassing â€Å"soft† HR issues and it is the one that is accepted for the purpose of this text. 3. The Evolution of HRP Since the origins of the modern industrial organization, human resource planning has been a management function (Walker, 1980).Division of labour, specialization, organization of management into levels, work simplification, and application of standards for selecting employees and measuring their performance were all principles applied early in industrial management (Ibid). Planning for the staffing of work to be don e is not something that has become popular in recent years. This is something that has grown to become what it is today. The relatively sophisticated techniques available to management today are outcomes of a long period of evolution in practices, which started decades ago with simple, pragmatic, short term planning.The techniques used by management tended to fit contemporary conditions and events (Storey, 1995). During the first part of the 20th century, for example, the focus in manpower planning was upon the hourly production worker. The aim of improving efficiency through work engineering and early industrial psychology applications was consistent with the need to improve productivity and introduce greater objectivity to personnel practices (Ling, 1965; Merril, 1959; Yoder; 1952). During the Second World War and the post war years, the focus intensified on employee productivity.There was also greater concern regarding the availability of competent managerial personnel, as there was a talent shortage in combination with significant demand for goods and services. New technologies and interests in behavioral aspects of work also added complexities to the manpower planning task. In the 1960’s the demand for high talent personnel increased due to high technology programmers, rapid corporate expansion and diversification. In order to handle this increase, manpower planning practices were focused on balancing supply with demand, particularly demand for managerial, professional and technical personnel.According to textbooks written during the later part of the 1960’s, manpower planning was viewed as a system linking the organization with its environment (Patten, 1969; Vetter, 1967). Walker (1980) argues that the most common view of manpower planning at that time, which also dominated the literature until the 80s, was that â€Å"companies forecast their needs for manpower into the future, forecast their internal labour supply for meeting these needs, and identify the gaps between what will be needed and what will be available. Further, manpower planners develop plans for recruiting, selecting and placing new employees, provide for training and development and anticipate necessary promotions and transfers (Burack et al, 1972; Geisler, 1967; Henemann et al, 1968; Wikstrom, 1971). The 70s came with new legislation, court decisions and governmental regulations. Management attention then turned to affirmative action planning and other aspects of compliance. While many companies adopted the techniques that had been introduced by leading companies during the previous decades, ther experimented with new tools such as career planning, activity analysis, and reshaping of work (Walker, 1980). The majority of companies, however, were mainly concerned about the compliance with the significant new regulations governing discrimination, safety and pensions. Generally, it was an unsettled decade, during which managers had to deal with the energ y crisis, uncertain costs and profits, the slowing of business expansion and the increased concern regarding women’s liberation and reverse discrimination (Bramham, 1994).However, according to Bramham, it was during this time or decade that â€Å"manpower planning† was broadly being termed â€Å"human resource† planning and became widely established as a staff activity in major business and governmental organizations (Ibid). The term â€Å"human resource planning† implied a scope broader than just supply-demand balancing or quantitative forecasting. Human resource planning shifted focus from being a quantitative approach, although recognizing its importance, to a more comprehensive view of the process encompassing both needs forecasting and program forecasting (Ibid).During the 80s and early 90s, human resource management researchers and professionals tended to place greater emphasis on employee attitudes and on the development of personnel strategies to search for the enhancement of positive employee feelings and commitment (Zeffane and Mayo, 1994). Generally, these strategies lacked sufficient concentration on the need to control the flow of personnel within and across organizational boundaries (Walker, 1989). According to Richards-Carpenter (1989), this meant that human resource planning took a backward step in priority placing within the overall human resource management system.However, due to the increasingly uncertain socio-economic climate during the 90s, it was anticipated that the HRP function was to become the focal activity, as it was increasingly becoming an essential function across the organization (Zeffane and Mayo, 1994). Damm and Tengbland (2000) argue that in the future, the role of the HR personnel is to provide and develop an attractive organizational environment in which the individual feels inspired to grow and develop his/her competence.Furthermore, they say that individual organizations will not necessarily b e responsible for the individuals’ competence development; it is rather the individuals’ responsibility to make sure that they develop their competencies in order to attract future employment relationships. The ultimate situation is when the individual feels that the organization provides the best resources available in order for them to grow and develop their competencies.Damm and Tengblad also argue that two very important future working areas, for individually focused personnel work, will be guidance consulting and employee brooking. There will be a need for people who work with professional career service to assist the individuals with their career planning if the individual will be responsible for their own careers. In a labour market that is increasingly characterized by time limit employment rather than life long contracts, there will be a constant requirement to link competence demand with competence supply.The employee brokers can assist in the process of iden tifying the different potentials and overlapping between demands since they have a better overview than the individuals have. This could mean that it will still be necessary with employees working with personnel-related questions; however, much of the â€Å"strategic personnel work† will not be as important since individuals will be responsible for their own competence development (Damm and Tengblad, 2000). 4. The Contemporary Purpose of HRPThe effective HRP can help anticipate potential future difficulties while there is still a choice of action. Forward planning should enable the organization to develop effective personnel strategies related to such activities as recruitment and selection, training and retraining, management development and career progression, transfers and redeployment, early retirements, salary levels, anticipated redundancies, and accommodation requirements. Bramham (1987) presents a more detailed view of six basic objectives, which are quite similar to those mentioned by Mullins (1996) that is thought to onstitute the purpose of HRP. The first objective and a major purpose behind the use of HRP is to give an organization a broad, forward-looking insight into not just the number of employees, but also the type, skills, and attributes of the people that will be needed in the future. HRP provides the information on which recruiters base their activities and it reveals what gaps there are between the demand for and supply of people with particular skills (Bramham, 1987; Storey, 1995; Mullins, 1996).The second objective aims to reveal what training and development activities need to be undertaken to ensure that existing employees and new recruits possess the required skills at the right time. The longer and more specialized the training is, the more significant accurate HRP is to the organization’s effective operation (Bramham, 1987). Manpower costing is listed as the third objective and explains how HRP assists in cost reductio n by aiming to work out in advance how organizational operations can be staffed most efficiently.This is of even more importance when new ventures or projects are considered because it provides information on which to base vital decisions (Bramham, 1987). The fourth objective presented by Bramham (1987) is redundancy. HRP is an important tool in the anticipation of future redundancies and therefore allows remedial action to be taken, such as recruitment freezes, retraining, and early retirements so as to reduce the numbers involved. Another advantage associated with HRP, presented as the fifth objective, is collective bargaining.In organizations with a strong trade union presence, HRP provides important information for use in the bargaining process. It is particularly significant when long-term deals are being negotiated to improve productivity and efficiency. In such situations, the information provided by HR forecasts enables calculations to be made concerning how great an increas e in pay or how great a reduction in hours might be conceded in exchange for more productive working methods and processes (Bramham, 1987).The sixth and last objective presented as a purpose of HRP deals with the planning of accommodations, such as future need for office space, car parking, and other workplace facilities. Such considerations are of great importance, especially to organizations expecting fast expansion or contraction of key operations. As with the other five objectives described above, HRP also here aims at controlling costs over the long term by forecasting the future (Bramham, 1987). 5. External and Internal Influences on HRP 5. 1External Influences on HRPA lot of things have changed from when HRP first gained widespread popularity. The stability of the smooth sailing years, as Champ (1995) refers to the age of US corporate domination between 1948 and 1973 is gone. Today’s dynamic environment, filled with global competition and business discontinuities, defi ne the arena in which HRP must flourish. The need for analysis of changing scenarios, therefore, has to be an integral part of the HRP process (Rothwell 1995). The first step in HRP is usually the â€Å"environmental† scan.If this review has not already been carried out in some depth as part of the formulation of corporate strategy, consideration of critical trends may be a major contribution, which the HRM function can make to the organization (Institute of Personnel Management 1992). The growing internationalization of business in the face of changing patterns of world trade, the emergence of new competitors and new markets and changes in the older industrialized countries, all have some impact on the labour markets of even the smallest firm trading in national market (Taylor, 1998).Most larger and medium-sized companies are, however, likely to be trading internationally (Rothwell 1995) in some way and will need to understand the labour markets in those countries, if they a re to recruit staff abroad or if they expect to send their own staff to work there. The whole issue of international management development has major implications for strategic planning and for human resource forecasting and implementation. Evidence so far suggests that there are many inadequacies in both planning and implementation of management mobility, and that there is a widespread reliance on ad hoc use of expatriate managers (Ibid. 995). International and political issues are clearly closely linked, the move towards greater European unity, the unification of East and West Germany, the opening of Eastern Europe, The World Trade Centre bombings etc. , are just a few examples of events with implications for business planning. The political complexion of a government tends to affect the type of economic policy in place, the attitude to full employment, trade union and employee rights, as well as the level of support for private or public sector enterprises.External political fact ors, especially the broader social and regulatory legacies of industrial relations, provide a socio-political context in which managerial strategies have had to develop, and by which they have been conditioned (Lucio and Simpson 1992). At a time of economic recession in particular, the costs of worker protection policies can be very costly for companies. An awareness of population trends is critical in understanding labour markets, and national population statistics are readily available.Rothwell further states that planning to take account of demographic trends is not often done early enough. Also, a lack of advance planning tends to increase labour costs, as firms have to increase wages and salaries in order to retain staff or poach them from other firms. Public policy emphasis on training, the co-ordination of a plethora of national vocational qualifications, and the setting of national education training targets all mean that some aspects of estimating external competence supply will be improved.Data on graduate qualifications are readily available, but interpreting likely trends in supply and demand is complex (Pike et al. 1992). Demand-side factors stem mainly from business strategy, but need to take account of other skills that may be needed; for example in physical environmental awareness and the implications for products or processes and energy use; or in marketing, in concepts of relational marketing, customer education and general supply chain management. If mergers or acquisitions are expected, is new expertise needed to handle that?Or if organization structures are changing to create flatter organizations or new internationalized business market divisions, are there skills available in managing networks, managing projects or managing cross-culturally? Firms that use competence-mapping techniques may be able to provide data relevant to HRP, but where these activities are done by different people and/or at different locations, such linkage cannot be made (Rothwell, 1995). Consumer attitudes tend to be surveyed more regularly than those of employees, but shifts in employee preferences are perceptible, often on a generation basis.The generation of people born in the 70s and 80s are more individualistic, less likely to accept authority, expecting to have a say and be given a choice, and also to be putting more emphasis on quality of leisure and family life. The priority perks for those in work are those related to health and to education and training. Employees are also less likely to remain with one employer. These attitudes are found particularly among â€Å"knowledge-workers†, and may be modified over-time by experience of recession and widespread white-collar unemployment (Rothwell, 1995).If a major difference between HRP and manpower planning lies in its emphasis on motivating people (Bramham 1989), understanding the starting point and The incorporation of both individual and organizational needs is therefore the majo r challenge for HR planners and should be reflected in the application of the planning process to the ways in which people are employed (Ferner and Colling 1991) 5. 2Internal Influences on HRP Zeffane and Mayo (1994) argue that in the context of the supply-demand equation, a range of internal factors require consideration for the purpose of evaluating existing (or anticipated) supply from within the organization.The supply side issues that HRP should address include the organization’s policy on growth from within or by means of outside recruitment; the policy on pay and remuneration, and the organization’s view on employee development. In this context, the conventional human resource plans take into consideration a series of supply side statistics, such as company growth, the age distribution of employees, skill levels, turnover ratios and the overall profile/distribution of employment across job categories.Zeffane and Mayo (1994) further state that among all these, ag e and retirement are emerging as important considerations in workforce planning in the current socio-economic climate. These factors (i. e. age and retirement) are strongly related in the sense that retirement takes place on the attainment of a certain age. Catering for age is necessary and is becoming increasingly the subject of a more elaborate mathematical modeling for workforce (Mohapatra et al. 1990). The more contemporary approaches to HRP need to consider current (and anticipated/future) changes in the make-up and aspirations of the workforce.Long-term macro-level forecasts seem to suggest that people in the future will have even greater desire for self-development and discovery (Taylor, 1998). These aspirations may trigger requirements for changes in existing corporate structures and management systems. As a result, human resource professionals and their organizations may capitalize on the advantage of potential employees who may be creative and self-motivated, but they will also face the problem of developing an environment that will attract and hold such individuals (Taylor 1998). 6.Different Types of Human Resource Planning 6. 1Succession Planning One adaptation of traditional HRP that takes place mostly in larger organizations is the development of a succession planning function. Storey (1995) argues that chief executives often see this function as the major rational for any form of HRP. While in some organizations it may be focused mainly on the few top positions, the need to consider at least a five-year-period can mean that it becomes a more significant operation, and eventually drives a whole management recruitment and development programme.According to Taylor (1998), succession planners are mainly interested in ensuring that their employer has enough individuals with the right abilities, skills and experience to promote into key senior jobs, as they become vacant. According to Jackson and Schuler (1990), succession planning differs from tradit ional HRP in the sense that the succession planning process covers a narrower group of employees but does so with a higher degree of intensity. As succession plans concern relatively few employees, they can be considerably more sophisticated the time span is also longer than that of traditional HRP.Succession plans often involve forecasting and planning the progress of individuals 20 years ahead or more (Walker, 1992, Storey, 1995). Storey (1995) argues that succession planning is most often associated with hierarchical organizations in which individuals develop careers by moving upwards and sideways over a number of years as they acquire the required skills and experience. The aim of this is to ensure that enough individuals with the potential to succeed to senior positions are available when an appointment needs to be made.Rothwell (1994) states that three candidates are typically identified for each senior post: one who is ready now and could succeed immediately if necessary; one who will be ready, if needed, in two or three years’ time and one who will be ready in five years’ time. Taylor (1998) comments, in addition, succession planners have an input into decisions about the numbers of graduates that are employed on graduate training programmers’ each year. In technical terms, succession planning involves collecting and manipulating data about individuals and tracking their performance and progress as they move from job to job over a period of time. . 2Career Planning This type of HRP is by some viewed as a more fashionable term to use than succession planning and ostensibly is more individually focused (Storey, 1995). Furthermore, like succession planning, broadly interpreted, it requires an understanding of processes that can integrate an individual’s characteristics and preferences with the implications of: organizational culture, values and style, business strategy and direction, organizational structure and change, reward systems, training and development system, appraisal and promotion systems.According to Taylor (1998), career planning emphasizes much more on the individual’s responsibility for his/her own career development. ‘Mentoring’ and ‘coaching’ systems, whether formal or informal, may be introduced to assist in this. Storey (1995) argues that common problems associated with this kind of planning are related to key people leaving, or to managers’ lack of broad experience. The requirements of different types of organizations (static; fast growing; international etc. ) for detailed planning clearly vary (Ibid).Storey further states that the need for creating ‘bridges’ between different occupations and for the identification of ‘development positions’, are both significant techniques in career planning. The predominant influence of this type of planning is that of the organization’s needs, as interpreted by particular mana gers, at certain phases of its development and it is said that career planning may be interpreted very differently by those who experience it (Storey, 1995). Storey continues to say that the ‘myths’ of the organization in this sense may also be significant: â€Å"those who decode them appropriately are those who obtain advancement. 6. 3Contingency Planning Contingency planning is seldom given any attention by authors within the HR field, but according to Taylor (1998), it can be seen as an approach that is almost universally applicable. Contingency planning involves planning possible responses to a variety of potential environmental scenarios, and the result is that HRP effectively switches from being a reactive process undertaken in order to assist the organization in achieving its aims. Taylor further argues that it becomes a proactive process undertaken prior to the formulation of wider organizational objectives and strategies.The main purpose of contingency plannin g in the HR field is the provision of information on which decisions about the future directions the organization takes are made (Taylor, 1998). 6. 4Competency Planning Another adaptation of traditional HRP is skills planning and is, according to Speechly (1994), particularly appropriate in situations where there is a variety of different methods by which employee needs can be met. The basic principle of this method is to shift away from a focus on planning for people and instead concentrate mainly on skills.Taylor (1998) argues that instead of forecasting the future supply of and demand for employees, skills planning involves predicting what competencies will be needed one to five years ahead, hence, leaving open the question of the form in which these will be obtained. Further, skills-based plans incorporate the possibility that skills needs are to be met either wholly or partially through the employment of short-term employees, outside consultants, as well as by permanent members of staff (Taylor, 1998). . 5Soft Human Resource Planning There has been some disagreement in the literature over the term ‘soft human resource planning’ and its perceived meaning (Taylor, 1998). Marchington and Wilkinson (1996) give one broad definition as being ‘synonymous with the whole subject of human resource management. ’ Torrington and Hall (1995) have a narrower definition involving planning to meet ‘soft’ HR goals – particularly cultural and behavioral objectives.Torrington and Hall also use the label to give meaning to a distinct range of HR activities which are similar to hard HRP in approach, but with a focus on forecasting the likely supply and demand for particular attitudes and behaviors rather than people and skills. According to Taylor (1998) soft HRP can thus be seen as a broadening of the objectives associated with the traditional approaches of HRP. Soft HRP accepts that for organizations to succeed in the current env ironment they need more than the right people in the right place at the right time.In order to contribute to the creation of a successful organizational culture, they also need to make sure that people have an appropriate outlook and set of attitudes. Further, even more essentially argued by Taylor, by undertaking systematic soft HRP Organizations will be alert to long-term shifts in attitudes to work among the Labour force in general, allowing them to build these considerations into their general planning processes. Such issues are not taken into account by traditional HRP according to Taylor (1998). . Conclusions Regardless of the organizational size and industry the underlying motive behind HRP is to have the right people, with the right skills, in the right places, at the right time. However, the ways to realize this motive do differ from one organization to another depending on the individual prerequisites. This could be illustrated by breaking down the motive, where finding th e right people, with the right skills is the essential condition for having them at the right place, at the right time.In times of organizational growth or downsizing organizations naturally focus on hiring or retaining the right people with the right skills. However, organizations with a modest employee turnover can focus more on having the people in the right place i. e. concentrating more on making sure that the existing workforce is utilized in the optimal way. While there are different prerequisites between organizations, determining their approach to plan, we can also see a general change affecting the ability for all organizations to plan.Historically, there has been turbulence in the business environment such as technological developments and erratic economic fluctuations, however it is not these factors per se that has caused the change today, but rather the speeds in which discontinuities occur. This is made evident by the fact that companies no longer plan in the same way as they did ten to fifteen years ago when the more static conditions allowed the organizations to plan with more accuracy.Today organizations do not plan more than three years ahead and the plans are revised both annually and quarterly. This development has put the organizations in a dilemma; the greater the need for planning the more difficult it becomes to plan. In the light of this, some theorists question planning since it is virtually impossible to foresee changes with any accuracy. However, this view appears to have little, if any relevance among the organizations, where planning is viewed as a less formal process.The common understanding among the companies is that it is impossible to follow a plan rigorously but they still plan. From this we draw the conclusion that planning is more than just forecasting the future, it is rather the planning process itself that adds value to the organization. By incorporating plans made across the whole range of personnel and development ac tivity the organization becomes more alert to changes and prepares itself for future discontinuities regardless of their nature, thus admitting that change will occur is more important than foreseeing the future.Organizations that embrace this way of thinking plan to a greater extent than in the past in the way that it involves a broader definition of HRP, incorporating not only quantitative measures but also soft issues. However, the fact is that environments vary across industries, organizations and over time. Some organizations occasionally experience disruption. But at the same time others are experiencing relative stability. Thus, organizations are very much influenced by their individual prerequisites limiting their abilities to plan to the extent as described above.Two findings concerning HRP seems to distinguish themselves, firstly we can see a general change among all companies in the way they plan for HR, secondly HRP is still very much based on individual prerequisites. 8 . Analysis Human resource planning is probably one of the most critical elements in linking the work of the human resources function to the business goals of the company. It is important to recognize that certain aspects of human resource management tend to have potentially high strategic consequences.Especially in the areas of policy development and implementation it is obvious and difficult to refute advice that effective human resource policies require human resource planning, which in turn, requires effective integration with an organization’s strategic planning process. It is evident that human resources planning are becoming more and more important in business circles. Because business profits are squeezed by inflation and a weakened economy, management is also concerned with personnel costs and is seeking to achieve increased output with the same or fewer staff.During our research we have found evidence supporting the above statement, where organizations with a high em ployee turnover tend to focus on the planning for supply and demand of HR, while organizations with low employee turnover lean more towards internal issues of HRP. Logically counting heads becomes more important in times of growth or downsizing, thus the nature of the HRP shifts towards a quantitative approach. Consequently organizations experiencing more stable periods can focus on softer HRP, i. e. concentrating on the creation of an environment that stimulates personal development and motivation among the employees.Our impression during the research is that all companies have the intention to focus more on internal HRP, thus companies do not decide to be either quantitative or qualitative in their approach, and it is rather a natural selection based on the individual prerequisites. However, we can see a risk with not having a balanced view in terms of external and internal HRP. Among the companies with an explicit internal focus there is a lack of attention for external developme nts and trends, thus we can see an inherent risk of becoming â€Å"fat and happy† which in turn requires reactive actions in times of major change.References †¢ Beer, S. (1972). Brain of the Firm, New York, Herder and Herder. †¢ Beer, S. (1974). Designing Freedom. Toronto: CSC Publications. †¢ Bell, D. J. (1989). â€Å"Why Manpower Planning is Back in Vogue†. Personnel Management, (July). †¢ Bramham, J. (1987). â€Å"Manpower Planning,† In S Harper (ed. ): Personnel Management Handbook. London Gower. †¢ Bramham, J. (1988). â€Å"Practical Manpower Planning,† in Harper, S (ed): Personnel Management Handbook. London. Gower. †¢ Bramham, J. (1994). Human Resource Planning. (2nd Eds). London. IPD. †¢ Ferner, A. , & Colling, T. , (1991). Privatisation, Regulation and Industrial Relations† British Journal of Industrial Relations 29(3), September †¢ Gratton, L. , Hailey, V. H, Stiles, P. & Truss, C. (1999). Strategic Human Resource Management: Corporate Rhetoric and Human Reality. Oxford University Press Inc, New York. †¢ Gustafsson, J, Leijon, S & Targama, A. (1978). Synpunkter pa Personalplanering. Kompendiet – Lindome. †¢ Hedberg, B. L. T. , Bystrom, P. C. & Starbuck, W. H. (1976). â€Å"Camping on the Seesaws: Prescriptions for a Self-Designed Organisation. † Administrative Science Quarterly. , Vol. 21, Issue 1 (Mar) pp. 41-65 †¢ Henemann, & Selzer. 1968). Manpower Planning and Forecasting in the Firm: An Exploratory Problem? Office of Manpower Policy, Evaluation and Research, U. S. Dept. of Labor, March. †¢ Herriot, P. (1992). The Career Management Challenge: Balancing Individual and Organisational Needs. Sage Publications Ltd. London †¢ Hollinshead, G. & Leat, M. (1995). Human Resource Management: An International and Comparative Perspective. Pitman Publishing. †¢ Mintzberg, H. (1976). â€Å"Planning on the Left-side and Managing on the Right-si de. † Harvard Business Review. (July-August). †¢ Mintzberg, H. (2000). The Rise and Fall of Strategic Planning, New York. Prentice Hall. Mullins. L. J. (1996). Management and Organisational Behaviour. (4th Ed). Pitman Publishing UK. †¢ Mumford, A. (1997). Management Development Strategies for Action. (3rd ed. ). Short Rum Press Ltd. †¢ Rothwell, W. J. , (1994) Effective Succession Planning. American Management Association, New York. †¢ Rothwell, S. (1995). â€Å"Human Resource Planning. † In J Storey (ed. ): Human Resource Management – A Critical Text. London. Routledge. †¢ Schneider, L. (1962). â€Å"The Role of the Category of Ignorance in Sociological Theory: An Exploratory Statement. † American Sociological Review, 27: pp. 492-508 †¢ Speechly, N. (1994). â€Å"Uncertainty Principles. Personnel Today (May) †¢ Starbuck, W. H. (1965). â€Å" Organisational Growth and Development† In J. G. March (ed. ), Handbook o f Organisations: pp. 451-533. Chicago: Rand McNally. †¢ Starbuck, W. H. (1975). â€Å"Information Systems for Organisations of the Future. † In E. Grochla and N. Szyperski (eds. ), Information Systems and Organisational Structure: pp. 217-229. New York: de Gruyter. †¢ Taylor, S. (1998). People and Organisations, Employee Resourcing. The Cronwell Press Ltd, UK. †¢ Torrington, D. & Hall, L. (1995). Personnel Management, HRM in Action. Prentice Hall. †¢ Walker, J. W. (1989). â€Å"Human Resource Roles for the 90’s. Human Resource Planning, 12. 1 pp. 55-61 †¢ Walker, J. W. (1992), Human Resource Strategy. New York: McGrawHill. †¢ Wickesberg, A. (1961). Organisational Relationships in the Small Manufacturing Firm. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota. †¢ Wilson, B. (1987). â€Å"Manpower Planning of Future Requirements. † International Journal of Manpower Planning. †¢ Yoder, D. , (1952). Personnel Principles and Policies. Pren tice Hall,Englewood Cliffs, N. J. †¢ Zeffane, R. & Mayo, G. (1994). Planning for Human Resources in the 1990’s: Development of an Operational Model. University of New Castle, New South Wales, Australia.

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Strategies That Capitalize On An Organizations Strengths Marketing Essay A SWOT Analysis is used to develop strategies that capitalize on an organizations strengths, minimize the effects of any weaknesses, exploit available opportunities and defend against threats. Implementing these strategies leads to achieving the organizations objectives. SWOT analysis looks at your strengths and weaknesses, and the opportunities and threats your business faces. By focusing on the key factors affecting your business, now and in the future, a SWOT analysis provides a clear basis for examining your business performance and prospects. INTRODUCTION General Motors Corporation is the worlds largest automaker company founded in 1908 which Employs about 326, 999 people around the world with its headquarters in Detroit, Michigan, USA. Founded in Flint, Michigan as a holding company for Buick, then controlled by William C. Durant and acquired Oldsmobile later that year. The following year, Durant brought in Cadillac, Elmore and Oakland. In 1909, General Motors acquired the Rapid Motor Vehicle Company of Pontiac, Michigan, the predecessor of GMC Truck. A Rapid became the first truck to conquer Pikes Peak in 1909. Durant lost control of GM in 1910 to the companys bankers, because of the large amount of debt taken on in its acquisitions. GM holds the biggest share in GM Daewoo Auto Technology Co. of South Korea and has product, powertrain and purchasing collaborations with Suzuki Motor Corp. and Isuzu Motors Ltd. of Japan. The company also has advanced technology partnership with Toyota Motor Corporation of Japan, DaimlerChrysler AG and BMW AG of Germany, and vehicle manufacturing Ventures with several automakers around the world, including Toyota, Suzuki, Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation of China, AVTOVAZ of Russia and Renault SA of France. GM along with its strategic partners manufactures trucks cars in 31 countries, and the vehicles through these well-known brands: Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, FAW, GMC, Daewoo, Holden, Jiefang, Opel, Vauxhall and Wuling. China is known to be the largest national market, followed by the U.S., Brazil, Germany, U.K., Canada, Italy. General Motors Company develops, produces, and markets cars, trucks, and parts worldwide. The company offers its products under the brand names of Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC, Daewoo, Holden, Opel, Isuzu, Vauxhall, Jiefang, FAW, and Wuling. The companys cars, trucks, and parts are marketed through retail dealers in North America, and through distributors and dealers outside of North America. In addition to the products it sells to its dealers for consumer retail sales, the company also sells cars and trucks to fleet customers, including daily rental car companies, commercial fleet customers, leasing companies, and governments. As of December 31, 2009, the company had 5,619 vehicle dealers in the U.S.; 568 in Canada; and 263 in Mexico. Additionally, there were a total of 14,317 distribution outlets throughout the rest of the world. Significant Events In February 2010, the company completed the sale of Saab Automobile AB to Spyker Cars NV. In September 2009, the company decided to wind-down the Saturn brand and dealership network. On August 18, 2010, General Motors Corporation is collaborating with SAIC Motor Corporation. The collaboration is targeted at developing 1.0 litre and 1.5 litre engines for small cars. On August 26, 2010, General Motors Company has collaborated with Bright Automotive, Inc. The collaboration is targeted at offering an electric commercial fleet vehicle. In October 2010, General Motors Company had set up a used car joint venture with Shanghai Automation Instrumentation Co., Ltd. to expand into an untapped segment of the worlds biggest auto market. Mission and vision GM is one of the respected auto companies in the world. It has a variety of products that ensure that the company is faring well in the market. The companys headquarters is located in New York, United States and looks forward to establishing an outlet in every country of the world. Product analyses The planning strategy is looking on how the GM products are faring in the world auto market. The existence of the company in the market is based on an extensive research that was carried out in the European market which shows that there is still large untapped market potential in the auto industry in Europe and other parts of the world. The GM Company specializes in Designing and making of automobiles, trucks, locomotives, and related parts such as chassis, interiors, drivetrains, and electronics (Brandi, 2007). The company employees more than 205,000 people in every major region of the world and does business in some 157 countries. GM and its strategic partners manufacture cars and trucks in 31 countries of the world. The SWOT analysis of General Motors is given below. Strengths 1. Large Market Share Although GMs market share in the US has dropped it is still very much competitive at 26 percent. They also have an increasing share in the Chinese market. With the right decisions there is no reason for GM to not become the automotive leader it once was. 2. Global Experience As explained above even with GMs recent decline they still have the market share and the experience to bounce back. They have been a worldwide company for nearly a century now and have established themselves as the global leader for most of them. If you recall I mentioned above that a current opportunity for GM is to expand globally and as we can see they already have the experience to do so. It is just a matter of the correct planning and proper implementation of those plans that will decided whether or not GMs goals are achieved. 3. Variety of Brand Names GM as I mentioned has been the automotive leader for the majority of the last century. A large reason for that is the wide variety of quality brand names that appeal to all target markets. The current GM brands include: Chevrolet, GMC, Cadillac, Buick, Pontiac, Saturn, Hummer, Saab, Daewoo, Opel, and Holden. 4. GMAC Customer Financing Program Since its establishment in 1919 it has proven to be GMs most reliable source of revenue. 5. OnStar Satellite Technology Developed in 1996 OnStar currently has over 3 million subscribers and is standard on all GM vehicles. This technology allows the vehicles to be tracked in the event of an emergency or theft. It also allows the driver and or passengers the ability to communicate with OnStar personnel at the click of a button. Weaknesses 1. Behind on Alternative Energy Movement This is GMs biggest weakness. The alternative energy/hybrid trend has begun to take place in the automotive industry and GM has been one step behind the competition in terms of alternative energy vehicles. This has led to many problems including loss of market share and a decrease in company profit. In order for any automotive company to be successful from this point forward they must be Hybrid friendly and fuel efficient. 2. Poor Organizational Structure As we can see in exhibit 1 of the case GMs organizational structure seems to be too vertically integrated. This causes a lack of communication between employees from top to bottom and may have played a part in GM falling behind on the alternative energy movement. 3. Stagnant Profitability Looking at GMs profit we see that they are certainly struggling with respect to the size of their company. Their profit margin was about 1.5% and the ROE has dramatically decreased over the recent years dropping to 10% in 2004. This is a situation that shareholders will not be pleased with. 4. Overly Dependent on US market GM has become too dependent on the US market and must take advantage of the opportunity to expand globally. The competition is becoming too strong to focus on just one country. 5. Overly Dependent on General Motors Acceptance Corporation (GMAC) Financing GM has become too dependent on its financing program. Granted it is a great strength for GM, however they once again cannot rely solely on financing in order to turn profit, especially if they want to compete with Honda and Toyota who are rapidly growing. 6. Poor Credit Status GMs credit status has like everything else has been steadily declining. Their current ratio is just barely above 1 and their acid test is even lower. Although, I dont see them getting denied based on their credit at this point, the seriousness of the matter is certainly apparent. Opportunities Produce fuel-efficient, smaller, and higher-quality models that can attract the consumers. Chinese government condensed automotive taxes in order to encourage declining sales. In February 2009; citing declining manufacturing numbers, the State Bank of India decreased interest rates on automotive loans. Establish or Equip facilities to manufacture advanced technology vehicles that would meet up certain fuel economy and emissions standards. One of the big opportunities is to shift manufacturing to other amenities in order to produce in-demand vehicles. Manufacturing could be done in those countries where the labor as well as material cost is low. Diversification in other related and unrelated products or shifting to the hybrid electric engines. The purchasing power of consumers is increasing due to end of financial crisis 2007-10. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ The firm can use the knowledge that it gained from Toyota Nummi joint venture and Saturn experience. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ It should build its image and gain more share in the market with its newly build confidence regarding the customers. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ New car models and designs should be introduced keeping in mind the customer preferences, because in the automobile industry, the needs of the customer are the valid puncture points that will provide profitability if concerned with delicately. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Expansion of their business processes, but also keeping in mind the preferential influence of the customers. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ VEBA can help General Motors save up to $2.5 to $2.8 billion a year in cash if the process is implemented strictly. 8. Alternative Energy Movement It is obvious that GM was behind its competition with regards to the research and development of hybrid vehicles. However hybrid technology is still very much new giving GM the opportunity to once again become the automotive industrys leader in innovation and technology. 9. Continuing to Expand Globally. Recently GM saw an increase in the Chinese automotive market, which proves their needs to be more emphasis put on foreign markets. If GM can infiltrate these markets and successfully grow along with their continuing focus on the US market they will be headed in a positive direction. 10. Low Interest Rates With the right marketing strategy the low interest rates have the potential to generate an immediate increase in sales. 11. Develop New Vehicle Styles and Models This is an opportunity that will never be satisfied, meaning that GM should always be attempting to develop the automotive worlds most popular vehicles, and as we know, what is in today will be out tomorrow. Threats The automotive industry crisis of 2008-2010 was the big downturn. Now it is challenge for industry players to recover. The financial crisis of 2007-10 caused by a liquidity deficit in the U.S banking system resulted decrease in consumer wealth. The crisis mainly felt in the U.S and also affected Asian and European automobile manufacturers. Car companies from North America, Europe, and Asia have implemented innovative marketing strategies to attract disinclined consumers. Major producers, including the Toyota and Big Three offered significant discounts across their lineups. North American consumers shifted to more fuel-efficient and higher-quality product of European and Japanese automakers. Environmental politics and allied anxiety concerning carbon emissions have sharp sensitivity to environmental protection worldwide and gas mileage standards. U.S manufacturers are facing soaring gasoline prices, health care costs for an aging workforce, dependence on declining SUV and eroding market share. The company is facing very high labor and raw material cost as compared to Asian manufacturers. GM is also facing criticism on its culture and corporate practices. In 2007, its employees union went on the first countrywide strike due to which a transmission facility and two car assembly plants were closed down. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ The industry although has matured considerably, but there is still room for more improvements, and due to which new entrants are entering the market even though the competition is already tough. (New entrants, not likely pose much of a threat, although Domestic and Foreign competition both act as active threats for the firm that has already gone through losing its market share.) à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Regulations and legislative authorities engaging the industry more actively. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Consumer lawsuits are also present to be accounted for. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Japan being a high manufacturing ground for automobiles, is being affected by the decline in its currency Yen. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Current threat to the image of the GM is posed by the Senator Charles Grassley has accused GM for using bailout money to bailout of the loans it had taken from the U.S. and Canadian Govt. (The money used were paid, not through GMs profitability, but it was yet another loan acquired, so it is accused.) 11. Rising Fuel Prices With GM being a large producer in both trucks and SUVs, sales have drastically decreased due to the lack of fuel efficiency. The rise in fuel prices has played a significant role in creating the opportunity for development of both hybrid and more fuel efficient vehicles. As you will find with most threats, an equal opportunity will usually emerge as is the case here with GMs opportunity mentioned above. 12. Growth of Competitors GM no longer has the luxury of being the known leader in the automotive industry and faces the reality that they are in serious trouble. As I mentioned earlier Toyota took the first step in the direction of hybrid technology and has since drastically grown and become the questionable automotive frontrunner to start the 21st century. 13. Pension Payouts. Part of this threat is their own doing and the other is simply unavoidable. GM is responsible for providing generous pension benefits to its employees, which at the time seemed like a great idea, however they are now experiencing problems as more and more people begin to collect. 14. Increased Health Care Costs GM, like many large companies with quality employee health care benefits, is experiencing a large financial hit that only gets worse as time continues. 15. Rising Supply Costs, i.e. Steel Once again this threat affects the entire automotive industry and forces each company to cut manufacturing and production costs as much as possible, without taking away from the quality of the product. OVERALL POSITION The current global crisis has affected almost all aspects of the economy. It has resulted to borrowing of money by the companies from the government and General Motors (GM) and Chrysler are among these companies. GM has already borrowed 13 .4 billion from the Treasury Department but they announced that they need 30 billion in total to compensate for the declining auto market. Chrysler on the other hand needs 9 billion in total. Since the General Motors has issued to be resolved, then GM will have a hard time coping up with the crisis. Two of the major issues are (1 ) GM needs to drop their unsecured debt burden from 27 billion to 9 billion which still has to be negotiated with the bondholders and (2 ) the debt of GM to United Auto Workers (UAW ) which amounted to 20 billion . GM Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Richard Wagoners plan for the company is to pay its debt and reduce its long-term debts thus making the company economically viable. Wagoner claims that if their turnaroun d plan will work then GM will profit within 24 months. General Motors already presented their plan to the bondholders and it is up to them to scrutinize the plan and conform for a deal to be done. With the General Motor s new CEO , Mr . Frederick Fritz Henderson s determination to reorganize the company , and the US government s strong effort to support the ailing businesses , recovery would be possible for General Motors . General Motors Corporation gets into supervised bankruptcy as the new strategy upon the advise of Steven Rattner , President Obama s auto task force chief (Whoriskey . Bankruptcy is the term given once a company seeks for financial aide in form of loan from the government however , this agreement involves direct intervention and manipulation of the government in the overall operation of the company bankruptcy is another President Obama s strategy to help in the recovery of the economy of the United States . The initial impacts of this agreement between GM and US government are the firing of GM s former boss Rick Wagoner and the formulation of new business plan for submission within sixty days . The new business plan , which was submitted to the US governm ent in December last year constitutes new strategies and endeavor that will benefit in the recovery of General Motors Corporation . In the restructuring plan submitted to Senate Banking Committee and House of Representatives Financial Services Committee , new approaches are outlined with the hope to competitively dominate the market once again . CONCLUSION A SWOT analysis is a popular decision making tool in business which analyzes the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of the organization in relation to a specific objective. This decision making technique can also be used for making personal decisions and in a variety of different situations.

Sport Management Business

Sport Management Business Sport management is a young field that is built on a foundation of business and other professional fields. The discourse of sport management is the same vocabulary as other professional fields. Its history is not very extensive, and the curriculum is still very young. Although the field is young, there are great resources available to advance the curriculum. The ability to manage a staff and effectively communicate to the staff is crucial to the success of a sport administrator. And while APA is the citing resource for sport management, MLA is one of the other citing resources that are very common in professional and educational settings. Overall, sport management is an emerging field that will flourish in the future. Discourse of Sport and Recreation Management When engaged in conversation with another human being, it is important to listen and follow along with the conversation. It is also keen to speak with proper tone and the appropriate language of the topic discussed. Language of a discussion is referred to as discourse. Copley said it best when describing discourse: â€Å"Imagine someone new to sports initiating a conversation with long-time sports fans: ‘So what do you think the Raiders will wear in their next game? (Copley, 2006)† This is better than any definition that a dictionary could ever provide simply because her discourse is easily understood by the readers of the document. Sports management is one of the highest requested majors for incoming freshman in the United States (Mahoney, 2008). While the degree is one of the highest requested majors, it is also one of the most understaffed and underappreciated by universities around the nation (Mahoney, 2008). The discourse, or discourses for sports management are ver y broad and are interdisciplinary with other fields of study. These fields include law, business, physical education, communications, and psychology. Throughout the paper, these fields of study will be discussed in correlation with sports management; along with their purpose in academia. The first and most important topic of discussion in sports management is business. Business is a strong cornerstone in sports management, as the word management is quite often associated with training and facilitating in business. The business aspects of sports management consist of marketing, and management, with specific focus on individuals, teams, facilities, and organizations. To start off, there are the two main ways to market sports: First is marketing a product through a sport, and secondly marketing of a sport. Marketing through a sport tends to bring companies a higher revenue then regular advertisements (Gladden Sutton, 2005). A good example of marketing through sport is Budwesier. They like to market during the football season with beer drinkers (usually young men) playing or enjoying a football game with a fictitious background story, that subsequently features beautiful women, glamorizing drinking, to market the product (Gladden Sutton, 2005). The best example for mar keting of a sport is a television commercial for Monday night football, or Sunday night baseball on ESPN. The network is trying to get people to watch the game, so they in-turn advertise and if the viewer watches the game they have successfully marketed. Generally though, business is all about profits and losses. The numbers dont lie and they can tell whether a business is doing well or if it is not. Therefore, the unofficial language or discourse of business is accounting (Warren, Reeve Duchac, 2007). Accounting is the backbone of business because again, the numbers dont lie. If a business is failing, a balance sheet can tell you why. And from there, a business can make a decision to raise their numbers by making cuts or taking out loans and collecting interest payments from stockholders. Accounting has a language of its own, similar to economics. But a good business man and woman should have a firm, and comprehensive knowledge of accounting to understand the language and concepts of business (Warren, Reeve Duchac, 2007). The second comprehensive field in sports management is law. Law is most commonly associated with the rights and wrongs in our American government. However, it also deals with contracts, property, negligence, statutes, and upholds regulations by other companies (Cotten Wolohan, 2007). The most well known practice of sport law comes in the form of contract negotiations by agents and sports teams. Throughout most of the United States, it is required for sports agents to hold a law degree so that they have a complete grasp of how contract negotiations are supposed to work and ensures they follow all the proper channels that it must go through to become an official contract (Cotten Wolohan, 2007). It is very important in law, to understand what every sentence or article says because one word can change the complete meaning of a very closely worded law. Therefore, an extensive knowledge of the American language, and numerous legal terms is required to be involved in such practice. Extens ive knowledge of the American Constitution is needed for a career in law as well. The Constitution is the first form of precedence in the United States (Cotten Wolohan, 2007). If a law can be traced back to the constitution, it is a powerful tool and a great advantage to have over your legal opponent. The third major discourse of sports management is kinesiology, better known as physical education. It is a good thing to know how the human body works and what makes it function properly. It is also good know how it reacts under stress, and how it works at rest. Sports management and kinesiology are at first often confused for the same thing; when in fact, they two completely different fields. Practical use of kinesiologic discourse is mainly used marketing and in media relations. In marketing, a company might say â€Å"improve your vertical leap by training your fast twitch muscles.† This would be a correct statement and would directly correlate to the discourse of kinesiology as fast twitch muscle control sudden quick movements such as jumping as high as you can (Jeukendrup Gleeson, 2004). Of course, if no one knew what a fast twitch muscle was they probably would not be interested. In an instance like that, a consumer would probably be more inclined to purchase because the y recognize the scientific word used in the advertisement (Duncan, 2005). In media relations, terms of kinesiology are used less frequently and come from more of a medical standpoint for example if an athlete was injured in a game (Nichols, Moynahan, Hall, Taylor, 2002. â€Å"Brett Favre suffered a pulled hamstring yesterday in practice. Brett said ‘it was a little tender after it happened, but the doctor said it was minor enough so I could play Sunday.† Obviously, this is a general discourse statement. But, it is related to kinesiology because you need to have an understanding of where the hamstring is located on the body and what happens to the muscle when it is pulled (Jeukendrup Gleeson, 2004). Again, Kinesiology is not nearly as closely related as sports management as people believe and as shown so far, does not scratch the surface what the heart and soul of sports management really is (Mahoney, 2008). Fourth, related field of sports management is communications. Communications play an integral part in collegiate and professional athletics (Nichols et al. 2002) as most organizations have multiple staff members who market and publicize their respective university or team. These people are often referred to as Sports Information Directors. Their job duties, in most cases, are as follows: Writing press releases about or for organizational events and athletes, taking statistics of athletic events, statistical research, designing school athletic brochures, writing and publishing media guides, web publishing, and grammatical editing (Nichols et al. 2002). Sports Information Directors, like most people who work in communications for a company have certain ethical obligations like always writing positive about the university that they represent. The basic guidelines are as follows: Honesty, truthfulness, respect, compassion, fairness, accuracy, professional distance, and ethical models (Ni chols et al. 2002). At the same time, these writers need to find a way to entertain in their press releases so that fans and consumers will read their writing. Often, the directors use common slang terms that the average sport fan would understand in their writing. For example, if a press release says â€Å"Jean-Sà ©bastien Giguà ¨re played great between the pipes tonight, saving all 31 shots for the shutout,† this would easily be translated by a sports fan as â€Å"Giguà ¨re played great in front of the goal, as he stopped all of the opponents shots to win the game tonight.† The slang terms allow the reader to engage with the release; and if the reader was not at the game, they could recapture a sense of the excitement that took place during the game (Nichols et al. 2002). As most people see athletes getting in trouble off the field, naturally damage control is a current trend in professional athletics. The directors want to minimize harm to the athletes image and to the organizations reputation. When it comes time to write a press release or release a statement at a press conference about the situation, it is of the utmost importance that â€Å"hot† words or catch phrases are not included in the statement (Nichols et al. 2002). Any words that would allude to any wrong doing are never good for other reporters to hear. Like a profession in law, sports information directors need an extensive knowledge of grammar and language as their job relies heavily on writing. Finally, sports management deals in psychology. If the common nomenclature says that â€Å"playing a sport is twenty percent physical, and eighty percent mental,† then sports psychology will prove that. Life is what you perceive it to be, and the same can be applied to sport (Plotnik, 2005). If someone believes that they are performing badly, then they probably are performing badly. The discourse of the field is no different than that of a regular discussion about psychology. The main trend that seems to follow in sports psychology however, is motivation. If a person has a hard time working out, why is it that they do not want to work out? Are they self-conscious? Are they just that lazy? Or is that they are not physically able? Sports psychology applies the principals of psychology to sport, and hence psychology of sport is born (Plotnik, 2005). Sport psychology does apply its own kind twist however. As in most cases discussed in the textbook, the questions are more directed towards how you could remedy any psychological situations, as a manager or a coach would do; a standpoint towards the reader that they are always in control of their destiny. The proverbial cookie jar that is sports management is a big jar that is filled with all different varieties of â€Å"cookies† that do have a similar taste at times, but are unique in their own way. Business of course being the most popular choice or widely used discourse as all business conducted will always rely on numbers to provide the evidence. Sports law is a least popular variety that no one can escape, because someone will always need someone to talk for them to get more money or to get them out of trouble. Kinesiology is a standard choice, â€Å"the chocolate chip† of discourse as sport is in the title of sports management. However, at the end of the day, is a completely different field of study. Communications is the underground of sports management that keeps the wheels spinning and allows people that were not at the game to experience the excitement. While psychology is everything in the field: Being able to understand situations that may arise and the motiv ation to do things for the betterment of a team or individually. Instead of focusing on one specific area of discourse, it is clearly beneficial to have a broad understanding of all the discourses in sports management. It is a big broad business, and its foundations are deep. Albert Spalding to Earle Ziegler: Foundations of Sport Management Since the beginning of civilization, it has been in the nature of humans to compete with another. In ancient Greece, the citizens trained in gymnasiums or â€Å"naked places† to perfect their wrestling or boxing technique (Sweet, 1987). â€Å"Athletics were more important to the Greeks than us today† according to Sweet; like the current American society, cheating was looked down upon in ancient times. Cheating was looked at as sacrilegious; a disgrace to Zeus (Sweet, 1987). Today cheating is not looked at as a sacrilegious act to a god, but as a shameful act of cheating. Today there are entities in place that ensure all athletes have the same competitive advantage. The act of managing sport can level a playing field, negotiate a salary, relocate an athlete, advise an organization, run a facility, or teach others the topics in sport management in a college setting. The modern field of sport management is a fairly young field that is constantly adapting to the demands req uired. The curriculum of sport management also adheres to the same principles of business, but is even younger than the practice of sport management. Through history, sport and sport management has shown its progressive tendencies and ideals that were ahead of common American society at the turn of the 20th century. This leads to the five significant events and the influential minds behind the events in sport management, which will be the topic of this paper. They are certainly not all the people and events that had significant contribution, but simply the top five that are deemed worthy for this assignment. Thoroughbred Racing Since history is usually placed in chronological order, the trend continues today. Thoroughbred horse racing was a very popular sport in eighteenth century England; along with baseball, cricket, and field hockey (Masteralexis, Barr, Hums, 2005). Positions of political and social power were appointed to men with wealth; most of those positions being horse owners, track or club owners, and other various supervision roles. Each club in the given area had its own set of rules, which were created by the owner; sometimes even to work in his own favor. Complications often arose when a rider from one track would race at another as rules varied (Masteralexis, Barr, Hums, 2005). And by the 1830s with the innovation of railroads, horse owners wanted to compete nationally to increase profits, and breed with new horses to create faster horses. Naturally a new management style was needed, but this was only the first complication of two. The second was gambling. Gambling was a very popular event amongst the upper and lower classes at the track. The lower class was then able to wager bets at the track with the upper class because club/track owners did not charge admission to the event. The track was a social setting in which a diverse group of people intermingled for a common purpose; whereas a member of the upper and lower class would hardly be seen in the same place, sharing a common purpose (Masteralexis, Barr, Hums, 2005). The gambling itself took place during the race, which was a four-mile course broken up into three legs. The winner would have to win at least two out of the three races. If the fans of the race suspected the jockey of throwing a race, the jockey would often be physically abused by the fans (Masteralexis, Barr, Hums, 2005). It was not very common for unethical behavior to take place when bets were made, but they did occur and were dealt with promptly. Sometime after the 1830s, there became a standardized management sys tem in horse racing which forced club/track owners to standardized lengths of the course, forced the track to time the events, and even spawned a new style of horse racing: Thoroughbred racing with weights added to the horses (Masteralexis, Barr, Hums, 2005). In gambling, a standardized system was also adopted as club owners started handicapping the races, ran a sweepstakes race and even started to offer tip sheets to the customers at the events. These strategical changes are viewed as the first managerial changes in club sport; while also being viewed as the successful model for club sports, which ruled the eighteenth century in the forms of boxing, cricket, rugby and soccer (Masteralexis, Barr, Hums, 2005). The club sport system still exists today, although it does not thrive as it once did in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. But these clubs set a precedent that would contribute to the next innovator in the sport management profession. William Hulbert and the National League As stated in the previous section, club teams were the dominate structure for athletic teams in the nineteenth century. Baseball was no different. Most teams were around and had a small fan base, but most teams were never able to play a whole season, or keep fan interest for a whole season because of lack of funding. It was not uncommon for teams to just quit halfway through the season. The most popular team of the 1860s was the Cincinatti Red Stockings who toured the east to play teams and because of their fan base, were able to pay for travel expenses and earn a profit while playing on the road (Masteralexis, Barr, Hums, 2005). On a road trip at the end of 1870 season the Red Stocking lost the three games of the season, and because of that were no longer considered the champions of baseball. The fan base for the club fell drastically and the team disbanded before the beginning of the following season (Masteralexis, Barr, Hums, 2005). In 1871, after such hard times, remaining team s formed a union; a new league called the National Association of Professional Baseball Players. Unfortunatly, the beginning results were no different than that of their predecessors in the club system as teams would form, stop playing halfway through the season, and perhaps start operations the next season. After years of trying to gain credibility and reach stability in the league, an entrepreneur by the name of William Hulbert purchased the National League of Professional Baseball Players in 1876 and was often referred to as the National League from then on (Masteralexis, Barr, Hums, 2005). Hulbert made sure that all business aspects were in the open and not conducted behind closed doors as to ensure an honest means of doing business. He also set guidelines for the eight teams to follow: he was going to make sure that the league would not crumble because of one teams financial irresponsibility. All teams were accountable for each other, or the league would fail. Hulbert made many decisions for the league. On one occasion, Hulbert canceled the final series between Philadelphia and New York as both teams were struggling and their outcome would not have affected league standings (Crosset Hums, 2005). By doing this, he allowed the teams to shut down the operations so the team would save money for the next season and not hinder future operations. Ethics and citizenship were staple points in Hulberts National League as well, forcing teams to set curfews for the athletes and enforcing strict policies that meant banning players for life if they were gambling, for example. Hulb erts precedent still stands today, as over 100 years later, Pete Rose was banned from ever stepping foot into a baseball park because of gambling allegations. He also made sure that the fans were proper citizens as well; raising ticket prices to keep rowdier, lower-class fans out and not allowing alcohol to be sold in the ball park. However, the â€Å"revolutionary idea,† according to Crosset and Hums, was the implementation of a pennant race at the end of the season. The two top teams at the end of the season would play a series for the pennant, better known as the National League Championship. Hulbert also protected teams from losing their players, as players under contract were not allowed to negotiate or be bought out by other teams without both parties being aware of it. The â€Å"players reservation† system was a precedent in sport management, and is still a foundation in modern sport management. After some success with the league, local newspapers started to cov er the games; giving updates on injuries, interviewing players, keeping track of statistics and reporting other coaching strategies to keep the fans interested. This also opened a new element for sports as fans who could not afford to attend games and only followed by word of mouth. The media coverage allowed fans to follow keep track of the games played and re-enact the game through the written stories. The precedents set by Hulbert were truly astronomical; building foundations that still stand in baseball today. His demands for class and integrity are considered sacred to the game of baseball and were followed for years; which is why steroids have been such a paramount concern in baseball for the past couple of years. For his actions he was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1995 as a pioneer of the game. Albert Spalding While William Hulbert was a great innovator himself, accomplishing many feats, he was not alone in the formation of the new National League. Albert Spalding was a pitcher for the Boston Red Stockings, who subsequently were members of the National League of Professional Baseball Players. Spalding was a major celebrity of the game, winning 241 games, and losing only 60 between 1871 and 1876 (Lampster, 2006). An innovator himself, Spalding pitched with his own signature designed baseball. After leading the Red Stockings to the first National League Championship in 1876, he decided to create his own company named simply after himself. That same year, Spalding was the official baseball of the National League, and baseballs were sold to the general public; therefore, becoming the first sporting good company in America (Lampster, 2006). The year 1877 proved to be Spaldings last season as a professional ballplayer. He then focused solely on managing his company and the Chicago White Stocking s as their team president. After managing, he became an international promoter of baseball, spreading the game around the world in 1888. In 1887, he created and manufactured the first American football. And in 1894, he created the first basketball. Spalding was a true innovator and strived to set precedent like Hulbert. Spalding and Hulbert fed off of each others innovations and cleverly marketed each other through each others company (Lampert, 2006). Sport Management as an Academic Field Almost 100 years has passed since the wrinkle in time that was the beginning of professional baseball. The time was the 1960s, Major League Baseball was a prevalent organization, Albert Spalding had already been inducted into the baseball hall of fame, and the â€Å"sports industry was thriving† (Crosset Hums, 2005). According to Crosset and Hums, two men discussed the idea of a sport management curriculum in 1957; a physical educator from the University of Miami, James G. Mason, and owner of the then Brooklyn Dodgers, George OMalley. OMalley is most recognized as the chief legal counsel for Jacky Robinson when he broke the color barrier in 1947 and for moving the Brooklyn Dodgers to Los Angeles. Mason and OMalley decided that in order to keep up with the demand in the sports industry, a professional degree needed to be created to accommodate this need. In 1966, OMalley and Mason started the first Sport Management graduate program at Ohio University in Athens, Ohio. The idea of a sport management degree caught on soon thereafter as Biscayne College and St. Johns University founded the first undergraduate programs in the United States (Crosset Hums, 2005). The University of Massachusetts-Amherst followed in Ohios footsteps, offering the second graduate program in the U.S. in 1971. As the field grew, unions of teachers started to form; most of which were short lived. Todays dominant sport management scholarly union is the North American Society for Sport Management (NASSM). Sport Management is one of the most highly sought after degrees by incoming freshman at the University of Louisville (Mahoney, 2008). With massive growth however, teachers are in high demand and there are not enough people to teach the high volume of students and conduct new research to progress the field in a brand new direction. The next paragraph focuses on a man who changed the field of sport management forever. This dual citizen of the U.S. and Canada implemented his own curricul um; his name is Dr. Earle F. Ziegler. Dr. Z. According to the official Earle F. Ziegler website, Ziegler got his start in education at Yale University where he taught physical education and coached football and wrestling from 1943 to 1949. He began working for the University of Western Ontario in 1949 as a part-time German instructor. Shortly thereafter, he became the department head for Physical, Health, Recreation for the university. At the University of Michigan, Ziegler began his research for physical education and how to manage it effectively. He then conducted research at the University of Illinois, and then went back to the University of Western Ontario. After years of solely researching in the field of physical education, Ziegler intertwined physical education with other topics such as philosophy and administrative theory. In 1975, the year Ziegler returned to Western Ontario, he released six publications on various topics branching physical education out. An acquired copy of â€Å"Management Competency Development in Sport and Physical Education† written by Dr. Ziegler in 1983 is an interesting read. Ziegler explains throughout the opening chapter the different types and amounts of research he did to write his book. He opened the book with four chapters about management theories and the emerging field of study. He then presented a strategic plan on how to implement management into sport. It is hard to comprehend that this had never been done before. Dr. Ziegler was in the field conducting research on different topics and drawing parallels between the two. There were degree programs before this at universities around the country, but Ziegler created an entirely new school of thought with the publications that he wrote; inspiring young professionals to think proactively and engage themselves in theory. Most of the topics discussed today in sport management courses are based off of his research and those who followed in his footsteps. Ideals that a person would just take for granted now were accomplished for the first time 25 years ago by an old man from New York City. Ziegler, in fact, was the first president of NASSM, and because of his contributions to the field was honored with an award in his name in 1988. This award is given out annually to the educator in the sport management field making positive contributions in research and education sport management. Conclusion As clearly shown throughout the paper, the field of sport management shares a rich history like other fields of academia, even at its young existence. The models of conformity in club horse racing would open the door for the brand new league system created by William Hulbert. And without the newly renovated National League, Spalding would not have marketed his new product, as well with Hulbert. As the field slowly grew and innovation lay dormant for sometime, that opened the door for OMalley and Mason to create a brand new field of study to feed their vision of enhancing the field of sport management. And finally without Earle Ziegler, sport management would not be flourishing the way it is today without his teachings and theories. Again, he opened a new doorway for students to walk through. Teaching his knowledge and inspiring students then, who are the administrators of today. The interesting thing throughout the paper is the progressiveness of society through sporting events in hi story: The intermingling of upper and lower classes at horse tracks, the introduction of baseball throughout the world, and OMalley breaking down the color barrier by signing Jacky Robinson to the Brooklyn Dodgers. Although there may have been some differences between some, athletics has set a standard for breaking down sociological barriers between class and color. These are the five significant events and the influential minds behind the events in sport management; they are certainly not all the people and events that had significant contribution for todays sport management, but simply the catalysts for change and progression. Resources for Sport Management Socrates once stated â€Å"No one person knows everything, but everyone knows something.† Socrates was implying that by engaging in discussion with people from all walks of life, one can learn something new from a person. People were the main resource for Socrates in Ancient Greece as he did not have scholarly journals, or the Internet to work with. It is stated that today is an information age. Information and knowledge are only a click away on the Internet. Wikipedia is a source of information on the Internet, as it is an online encyclopedia. However, true scholars maintain that â€Å"It is not a credible source† because anyone can go online and edit the information that is written. That is why it is important to get information from professionals in the field of study in which a person is researching. Sometimes it takes a person to create their own field of study from other related fields to create a new school of thought. Earle Ziegler was the author of many books t hroughout 1970s and 1980s that created the current field of sport management, using concepts of business, physical education and other social sciences. Through Zieglers contributions, sport management has found its place in academia across the United States on college campuses. The scholarly journals in sport management feature some of the top minds in the field. A few of these journals will be discussed in this paper; along with their contributions to the field of sport management. These journals will be referred to as â€Å"fruits,† as they nourish thought and sustain a desire to learn more about sport management. In turn, the seeds are spread, and more fruit is grown creating more fruit and expanding sport management even further. Journal of Sport Management According to the Journal of Sport Management website, the journal was initiated as a biannual publication in 1987 by the North American Society for Sport Management (NASSM) and is seen as the organization that progresses the sport management field hosting annual conferences to discuss the topics of sport management, and commending the members on some of the work they did the past year. It is currently edited by Lucie Thibault of Brock University. The journal remained bi-annual until 1992 when it was then released three times a year. In 1996, the Journal of Sport Management became a quarterly journal and it continues that trend today. The journal itself features articles in many different topics: A few of which include management, economics, accounting, governance, tourism and communications. The articles also vary in sport and in level of play; covering issues in high school athletics, all the way to professional sport. Here at the University of Minnesota, Crookston when searching fo r articles on current topics related to sport management, it is very common to find most of the articles that are listed in the search results are from the Journal of Sport Management. In a personal communication with Dave Rolling, head of Sport and Recreation Management at the University of Minnesota, Crookston on March 10, 2008, â€Å"the Journal of Sport Management is the one of the best journals one could use to find topics in sport management.† Journal of Sport Economics The Journal of Sport Economics is a quarterly published journal that focuses on the economic issues that are concer