Sew What Inc Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Sew What Inc - Case Study Example The Sew What? Business has won several awards and recognitions attesting to the distinct application of information technology that spurred financial success. Information technologies contributed to the business success of Sew What? Inc. through allowing customers from various locations, both locally and abroad, to view the products and services that they offer. By ensuring that their Web site is effectively designed, customers get to review all kinds of color swatches; guides them to calculate measurements for their respective projects; differentiates one kind of curtain from another; providing instructional advise on the care and use of drapery materials; among others (Case Facts, 41). Duckett came to realize that information technology is relevant in terms of enabling small business to provide products and services in a more sophisticated and highly structured fashion that enabled them to reach a wide range of clientele and create high quality products and services. The amount and value of work is thereby maximized by using only a small amount of manpower and internal resources. If I were a management consultant to Sew What? Inc., one would advise Megan Duckett to continue upgrading various applications that could be offered by developments in information technology. For instance, she is already reflecting on instituting a bar code system to track the manufacturing process at their company’s warehouse. After this, Duckett can use information technology to the management in the business’ supply chain in terms of providing a direct link with her regular suppliers of raw materials to identify the inventory levels and reorder points. By doing so, her company need not order for raw materials that are not fast moving and suppliers, on the other hand, could anticipate demand for fast moving items and schedule deliveries at the soonest possible time. Further, their database should contain prospective projects from current clients to enable

The international transaction for the sale of goods is far too complex Essay

The international transaction for the sale of goods is far too complex to attempt harmonisation of international trade - Essay Example Remarkable profession liberalization and a change from patriotic to open marketplace economies have offered the basis for the evolution of transcontinental business movement while democratic principles and institutions have been gradually strengthened. However, the UK is still facing prodigious challenges such as societal inequalities, monetary instability, meager standards of living and nonappearance of execution of human rights. It is now well documented that procedures of globalization alone will not determination such difficulties and that there is a requisite for improved global cooperation instruments and development strategies to effectively discourse those issues. Certainly, the last era of free market reforms implemented all over Latin America, Caribbean and the UK brought a definite level of development, but were not as fruitful in diminishing the breach between the rich and the unfortunate. The slow outcomes on the societal front and the new collapse of the Argentinean money market have caused countlessly to wonder about the prospect that certain republics would move toward a more patriotic economy, flowing away from the open copious policies imposed during the last decade. We take the place that while fiscal growth provides no immediate solution to inequity; further societal development does entail economic growth. Fortified decentralization and further fiscal integration have been progressively s een as essential steps en route for both economic progression and social expansion in our Hemisphere, and the constructive link between trade program and poverty assuagement has been reputable Similarly, international legal devices developed in multidimensional institutions and relevant to definite cross-border dealings have become progressively important to the expansion of a substantive multinational law. We generally use the term "global law" as denoting to "all types of principles and procedures of non-national

Critically analyse and evaluate current developments Essay Example for Free

Critically analyse and evaluate current developments Essay In the 1980s and 1990s the cruise industry saw the emergence of a new market, which was younger people with considerable income but no families. The term DINKYs was given to these couples which meant Double Income No Kids Yet These couples were excellent to target as they had plenty of disposable income and they do not have any children to worry about, being able to go on holiday, when they like and where they like, spending their quality time together and not having to worry about the price. In 1990s 15% of the passengers who cruised with PO and Princess Cruises were from the UK and researches showed that there is still an active UK market. In 1998, the UK cruise market was expanding dramatically. Companies which had operated in the traditional holiday market were adding cruising to their portfolio and greatly increased their supply of cruise holidays for the UK market. Although cruising is loved by many travellers, there is still a staggering 98% of the population who have not taken a cruise, reasons identified by Dickinson and Vladimir (1997) cited in Cartwright and Baird (1999) revealed five main reasons why people do not cruise which consist it being too expensive, the exclusivity, family commitments, claustrophobia and sea sickness. Disabled consumers The disabled consumer group have become more interested in the cruising industry, many cruise liners did not offer ships which catered to disabled people. Now with the Disability Discrimination Act 1995, where all places who offer service have to make reasonable adjustments the cruise liners had no choice but to build disability-friendly rooms for their travelling disabled passengers. Not saying that they did not have these rooms before, but some cruise liners did not offer this service for the disabled consumer group, and it was against the law. There should be no problems for disabled people finding a cruise liner suitable for them as all cruise liners now offer fully disabled facilities within the ships to cater to the disabled consumer group. Family Cruising In the 1990s a major development which was companies targeting families with children was put in place, by providing facilities not only for the adults but also for the children to enjoy, now in 2005, almost every cruise line offers family cruises. If a cruise liner does not offer a family cruise they are missing out on making lots of money. Although there are still some cruises which specifically do not allow children, reason being because these cruises are for the older / retired people who do not wish for screaming, noisy, crying children and babies when they are trying to relax. Being a kid is all about having fun. Coincidentally, so is vacation. But kids and parents rarely agree on what is fun. To parents, fancy dinners, late night shows and reading by the pool are fun. Kids have more fun playing games, doing scavenger hunts, and going down waterslides. The good news is that all of these activities occur on a cruise, making a cruise the vacation of choice for todays families. Under the supervision of the youth staff, kids can play video games, eat pizza and play in a ball pit, while parents relax and have a fabulous five course meal. It is a parents and kids dream come true! (familycruise. com [online] 2005) The quote above was taken from www. familycruise. com an internet site which specifically caters for family cruises. Helping families to plan holidays which will keep both parents and kids happy on their holiday. Parents love to go on cruises so they have to be able to find a ship which caters for the family, letting the children have a good time on the cruise and also for the parents to relax and not have to worry about looking after their kids and think about what they are doing and are able to do on-board. The cruise industry has continued to grow rapidly since the introduction of family cruises. This might be due to parents now being able to have their dream holiday, a cruise, and not have to worry about their children as they can go too and have fully trained sitters to look after their kids and keep them occupied all day long. Price Cheap prices are what the lower-end consumers are looking for. A good price with an average cruise holiday, they cannot expect more than that as they are not paying a high price for a luxury cruising holiday. Although the cruise industry is very expensive, there are still many consumers who like to go on cruises. This could be due to status, as only the wealthier people can afford to go on these high-class cruises. In 1999, it was possible to obtain a seven day cruise from the UK for i 399 per person, which then was cheap compared to the top end cruises which were around i 2000 per person. Now in 2005, cruises prices start from i 599+ per person. This is rather expensive as the average family spends around that price for a holiday a year, not per person. Cheaper cruising prices should be being introduced and this would be an excellent idea as many lower-end consumers want to experience a good cruise but unfortunately do not have the funds. If cruise liners offered cheaper cruises with good experiences not only the wealthy passengers can go but so can the lower-end customers. Incentives Cruises in America often have many deals which include, prices starting from $399, book before Jan and receive an extra nights stay, children under 16 cruise for free and many more. This is a good way to make more sales and allow people to pick their company to another one. As there are many incentives available which is what the consumers are looking for as they are paying a high price for their cruising holidays. Receive our special Early-Booking discount and free hotel stay. (cruise. gr [online] 2005) The quote above is very popular within the cruise industry, this is the type of incentive the consumer wants to see to help motivate them to purchasing the holiday. Consumers today are very greedy and like value for money, if they are buying on the internet they will always look for sites which offer them incentives towards their holidays, or when buying in travel agent they will try to get some freebies towards their holidays.

HR Practices to Enhance Employee Commitment

HR Practices to Enhance Employee Commitment Introduction Human Resource Management is a consistent and productive approach towards the management of employees who are ‘valued assets to the organization. And managing resourceful humans requires a constant balancing between meeting the human aspirations of the people and meeting the strategic and financial needs of the business. Hence linking the HRM more explicitly to the strategic goals to improve the business and foster innovation and flexibility, thus serves the overall purpose. Through best possible use and application of HR policies in the organization, commitment can be encouraged thus leading to better performance, improve staff attitude and lower labour turnover, this is the ideal aim of the human resource practices which has been argued to neglect the fact that HR specialists and line managers have a major impact on how these HR policies are implemented at the hotels and whether all the HR practices are universally applicable. Human resource management is the techniques businesses incorporate to maintain an effective workforce to meet operational requirements. It is the organizational function that deals with issues related to people such as compensation, hiring, administration, organization development, employee motivation, wellness, benefits, safety, communication, performance management, and training. Human resource practices implemented in an organisation are used for recruitment, selection; training and development, reward management, performance appraisal etc. Human Resource Management strategically manages people and work place environment and culture. Effective HRM practices enable employees to contribute effectively and productively towards the attainment of the organizations goals and objectives facilitates overall company mission. HRM practices are one of the channels of communication for an organization with its employees it consists of the actual programs, processes and techniques. It conveys as to what the organization desires as valuable and appropriate behaviors. The workers on reception of such a message build up their own distinct perceptions and through a self-assessment (evaluation) process subsequently shape their attitude and behavior. For instance, if an organization implemented a training program for their workers, it will develop workers knowledge, skills and capability, and thus cultivate better employee commitment due to contented experience with the organization; however, such correlation may at times be misleading or unpredictable i.e. even though some employees may think this training as useful and recognize the implementation of organizational HRM practices, but on the contrary, other workers may see the program as non-effective and view it as a trouble that hamper their regular work timeta ble, hence this may work in an unintended way by bringing down their satisfaction with the organization and negatively effect their commitment. This is the very reason why employees individual view plays as a vital intermediary in the association between organizational HRM practices and the real disclosure of employees outlook and behaviors. Therefore, from this point of view, one can argue that HRM practices in its dominating effect alter an employees affective commitment, by first impinging upon their perception of organizational HRM practices and consequently further alter or transform their emotional commitment towards the organization. Thats why, by the means of implementation of high-commitment HRM practices, i.e. intensive training and development, high level of compensation, promotion from within, socialization, etc. convince the employees that the organizations purpose is in conformity with their insight, and it impinges upon them to reciprocate with advanced commitment and stronger deference to devote and put in for the organization. Therefore this research will try to establish a correlation between HR practices and their effects on employee commitment. The HR practices that will be examined in the research will be Selection and Recruitment Process, Training and Development programs, Performance management, Reward management and industrial labour relations.These are some of the main HR practices followed by the hotels aiming for the more committed team. But the researcher is interested in knowing whether these HR practices really result in more committed employees. And if these HR practices really result in committed employees then is it universally applicable in all countries of the world or all types of industries. These are some of the questions that have encouraged the researcher in conducting this research. LITERATURE REVIEW Philosophy of Human Resource Management Human Resource Management is shifting its traditional stance from personnel, administration, and transactional roles, which are being increasingly outsourced. HRM is now focusing more and more towards adding quality and value to the strategic exploitation of employees and that employee development programs impact the business in tangible terms. This new approach towards revolution in HRM involves strategic direction and HRM metrics and measurements in tangible terms to gauge the effect of these practices. Some of the HRM practices studied in this project are selection, benefits, training, performance feedback, communication systems, standard operating procedures (SOPs) and employee participation. David E. Guest (1987) says â€Å"HRM is a means of achieving management objectives at least in enterprises which haverecognized, or have been compelled to recognize, the utilization of the human resource inachieving competitive edge becomes clear from an examination of four important goals ofeffective.† The primary objective of HRM is amalgamation of companys mission and goal with the HR practices acomprehensive corporate strategy is essential to continuing business success in many cases,human resource planning is not an integral part of strategic planning, but rather flows fromitDavid E. Guest (1987). This holds especially true in todays context where the accomplishment of the process of adjusting to change warrants an escalating level of individual and group participation, for the seamless integration of human resources into the strategic plans. HRM also focuses to attain employee committment, this involves classification of the type of commitment required e.g. attitudinal, behavioural. Commitment of an employee can be at different levels it could be towards the organization, to his job, for individual career advancement and numerous such like things. Commitment in an employees context can be defined as approval of enterprise mission and goals, and could be reflected in behaviour adopted by him/her that furthers these goals. David further says: The theoretical proposition is therefore that organizational commitment,  combined with job related behavioural commitment will result in high employee  satisfaction, high performance, longer tenure and willingness to accept  change. The third goal of strategic HRM is to exercise flexibility and adaptability, which basically translates into the ability to manage change and innovation and to react swiftly to transforming market demands and changes. Thus arises a need for a HRM policy which is favorable to change at all levels of the organization, an arrangement which is practical not bureaucratic, functional and adaptable, with an absence of rigid job divisions and with capable of functional flexibility i.e. flexible skills and motivation to move from one assignment to another. Promoting these is possible only according to David if employees at all levels display highorganizational commitment, high trust and high levels of intrinsic motivation. Attaining and maintaining total quality is the fourth goal of HRM. This highlights the importance of policies and practices to recruit, development and retention of skilled and flexible employees, and the formulation of established performance standards and performance procedures. This can be further subdivide into two broader goals i.e. building a integrated organizational culture and achieving and maintaining competitive advantage through the dynamic use of human resources. Guest (2002) has argued that the â€Å"Impact of HRM on performance depends upon  workers response to HRM practices, so the impact will move in direction of the  perception of HRM practices by the employee†. Wood (1999) and Guest (2002) have  stressed upon the need to build a competent, committed and highly involved work force is the one required for best implementation of business strategy. Huselid (1995) discovered that the effectiveness of employees is directly related to the impact of HRM practices on behavior of the workforce. Patterson et al (1997) while arguing about the effect of human resource management practices on business performance have said that HR practices in selection and training influence performance by providing appropriate skills. HR practices have a potent impact on performance even if it just measured in terms of overall productivity. Huselid (1995) stressed that â€Å"by adopting best practices in selection, inflow of bestquality of skill set will be inducted adding value to skills inventory of the organization.† He also highlighted the role of personnel training as a accompaniment of selection practices through which the organizational culture and employee behavior can be integrated with the organization goals to produce positive results. Cooke (2000) has included competence and effectiveness as the vital ingredients of performance apart from competitiveness and productivity. She further amplifies training as the tool to grow knowledge and skills and as way of improving individuals performance (efficiency and effectiveness). Singh (2004), whose interpretations are more pertinent in our cultural context, says that â€Å"compensation is a behavior aligningmechanism of employees with business strategy of the firm†. â€Å"Career planning is a tool that aligns strategy with future HR needs and encourag esemployee to strive for his personal development† (William et al, 1996). By encouraging employee involvement, the firm will profit from increase in efficiency of theemployee due to improved commitment of the employee. Financial participation schemes are more beneficial for the organizations than the associated cost (Summers Hyman, 2005). â€Å"Use of best HR practices shows a stronger association with firmsproductivity in high growth industry† (Datta et al, 2003). Wright et al (2003) have said that â€Å"an employee will exert discretionary effort if proper  performance management system is in place and is supported by compensation system  linked with the performance management system.† Similarly, â€Å"Job definition is combination of jobdescription and job specification. It clearly outlines duties, responsibilities, workingconditions and expected skills of an individual performing that job† (Qureshi M Tahir, 2006). Ichniowski (1995) while studying productivity of steel workers have argued that harmonizing HR practice System positively effects employees performance.Sels,2006 Collins (2005) in a study of similar character targeting small business have also argued that efficient HR practices affect employee productivity to a great extent. Meyer and Allen (1997) indicated that HRM practices have been considered to be valuable and effective tools for elevating organizational commitment, especially affective commitment. However, there are some other perspectives also on this subject; De Coninsk and Stilwell (1996) argued that what directly influences employees affective commitment is not the actual practices itself, but the employee perceptions of fairness of practices that affects organizational commitment. Ogilvie (1986) found that, even with personal and work characteristics controlled, employees perceptions of two characteristics of HRM practices, namely, the accuracy of the merit rating system and the fairness of promotions, contributed to the prediction of commitment. Gaertner and Nollen (1989) also found that employees commitment was related to the perceived HRM practices, including internal promotion, training opportunities, and employment security. Ostroff and Bowen (2000) made use of â€Å"meso† theory t o explain that the implementation of HRM practices helped to amplify workers identification with their organization through employees psychological contracts. Therefore, just as what the above mentioned scholars stated, the HRM practices itself cannot have impact on employees commitment, it is after the implementation of the HRM practices that triggered employees own perceptions and then assess whether the practice is considered fair or favorable to them and consequently influence their attitudes and behaviors. Therefore, if the HRM practices that an organization implements permit the employees to acknowledge it as highly committed, consequently, this will lead to reinforced trust and concurrently generate higher emotional attachment with his/her serviced organization. Despite several experiential studies that have established a relationship between HRM practices and organizational commitment, however, such a connection seems to be a little too straightforward (Paul Anantharaman, 2004; Ulrich, 1997; Wimalasiri, 1995). Ostroff and Bowen (2000) projected that it was the psychological bond of an individual that unified how an organizational HRM practice influenced employees mind-set and behavior. This also entails that HRM practices may conjointly manipulate employees organizational commitment obliquely, and must go through by means of individuals psychological alteration system. Guzzo and Noonan (1994) said that   â€Å"an organizations HRM practices influenced employee commitment since they are communications from the employer to the employee. How employees interpreted and made sense of their organizational HRM practices affected their psychological contract with their employer and, ultimately, their commitment to that employer.† Zucker (1983) also suppose that the organization members attitudes and behaviors are subjective and are governed by organizations official communication of ‘common understandings. Term common understandings denoting what were considered the appropriate, essential and meaningful behaviors within an organization.Basically, the official organization communication of common understandings will direct its members to alter their own personal attitudes and behaviors so that they can match organizational expectations and requirements. HR PRACTICES HRM propose that there is a universal ‘one best way to administer people. By assuming a best practice method it is argued that organizations will attain improved commitment from people leading to better organizational performance, top levels of service quality and eventually boost in efficiency and profitability, Usually couched in terms of ‘bundles, the HRM practices that are offered in support of a high commitmentand performance model are generally fairly consistent. A range of HR practices which are suggested as being important to organizational strategies aimed at securing high-quality service are:- Recruitment and Selection: One of the main and most basic HRM practice is of Recruiting and selecting staff with the correct attitudinal and behavioural characteristics. The process of choosing a candidate from a group of applicants who best meets the selection criteria for a particular position is called Selection. â€Å"In this process the right person chosen for the requisite qualifications and knowledge is placed in the appropriate job position to decrease the cost, and maximise the profits by means of their merit and talent† (Vlachos 2008). A variety of considerations in the selection process should be employed to assess the work values, interpersonal skills, personality and problem-solving capabilities of likely employees to evaluate their ‘service orientation. To maintain the high degree of competitive advantage an organisation requires capable and skillful personnel (Liao Chu 2006). Huselid (1995) has established that organisational productivity and high degree of performance is dependant upon the selection of the appropriate person, which is also a way to reduce employee turnover. Michie and Sheehan-Quinn (2001) recognized a positive link between hiring employees, and the creation of the appropriate culture for organisational growth. Cho, et al. (2006) established a positive and considerable connection between HRM practices and staffing (recruitment source, pre selection test, IQ test, structured interview, and biographical information blank of the organisation) for enhancing financial performance. Therefore, it made compulsory for the organisations to attract qualified candidates and recruit them for survival and growth. Performance Appraisal Performance appraisal has attracted a immense degree of interest. Levin (1986) identified uses of performance appraisal, like potential analysis which assesses the feedback and suggestion of employee past performance, employees training needs, financial expectations salary, employee merit appraisal, employee career development etc. Thang (2004) in his study has shown as to effect of suitable HRM related decision on how well employees are performing their jobs. Performance appraisal is a constant procedure rather than a once a year fatigue. It is the official arrangement of periodical evaluation and assessment of an individuals or teams job performance and providing feedback. Stone (2002) said that â€Å" in the competitive environment, organisations need to keep improving performance to survive†. In addition, in the fast changing surroundings, tighter finances, downsizing and demands for enhanced employee accountability result in more emphasis on performance appraisal in relation to organisational objectives. Performance related rewards target those who meet the performance requirements (Stone 2002, Cho, et al. 2006, Chand Katou 2007). Performance appraisal provides information that is dealt with employee salary, training needs, compensation, promotion as well as employee development, transfer and employee feedback by (Huber 1983). Appraisal systems have also moved away from conventional top down approaches to appraisal in more mod ern and pertinent terms such as customer evaluation, team-based performance, the appraisal of managers by subordinates and peer review. Generally, all of these performance appraisal methods should focus on the quality objectives of the organization and the behaviors of employees required for maintaining these. Performance appraisal has both administrative and individual development focus and organizations sincerity towards performance appraisal goes a long way in developing commitment and trust among people.Overall attitude towards HRM department is a significant predictor of organizational commitment. This aspect of HRM practice refers to how people see their HRM department, with respect, with disdain, with indifference and so on. It refers to the fact that the acceptance of various HRM practices depend largely on the overall image of the HR department. Hospitality industry needs to rely on the commitment of a well-trained, multi-skilled workforce in order to achieve a competitive position, especially in terms of providing high quality customer service. This suggests that hotels need to adopt HRM organisational practices that enhance the motivation of employees and improve organisational effectiveness. Reward Management Huselid (1995) asserts that the compensation system is recognised as employee merit and it is widely linked with firm outcomes. Compensation by its definition means all monetary payments and all commodities used instead of financial to recompense employees. The reward system was organised to attract and motivate so as to keep employees. More so, employee influence was tailored on controlled authority and decision making. The expectancy theory (Vroom 1964) suggests that rewards, that can be comprehended as a form of direct and indirect recompense packages, have the ability to manipulate employee work enthusiasm. Thang (2004) suggests that ‘compensation and reward can be powerful tools for getting efforts from the employees to fulfill the organisational goals. On the same lines, Wan (2008) argued that compensation should be measured depending on employees performance not on the basis of position or seniority in the organization.Pay practice is one of the tools of human resources management practices which manages wage, salary, pay and benefits etc. for the employees. Reward management has got an important role in HRM. A high level of pay and remuneration in comparision to that of rivals ensures the attraction and retention of high-quality employee, however this may impact negativly on the companys overall labor expenditures. Also by connecting pay with performance, the company can educe desired standards of performace as well as specific task orientation from employee (Noe et al., 2006). Generally, pay practice is very significant for the organizations and firms which can attract employees to apply for the job as recruitment.Attractive pay practices play a major role in attracting talent and are very helpful during the recruitment process. Similarly for the employees this means that they are required to show a continuously high level of commitment and performance in order to keep their jobs. Pay packages also have a degree of connection with the job satisfaction of an employee. Ting (1997) asserts that the significance of pay is a strong determinant of job satisfaction. He further explains two different type of effect of pay practices on job satisfaction; first is the satisfaction with pay itself and second is the satisfaction with financial prospects in the future. There is a venerable interest of these two things which are correlated with job satisfaction. Thus, it is pertinent to understand the relationship between job satisfaction and pay practices which eventually materializes in terms of higher productivity. Efficiency wage theories also suggest that paying higher wages can often result in increased efficiency. There are three main channelsthat are addressed in these theories that improve productivity, as described by Katz, 1987. Firstly it means that the harder the employees of an organization work higher will be the punishment for someone who is caught shirking a nd higher will be the probability of losing job of the employee getting caught. Thus higher wages means an increased effort on part of the employee due to the enhanced probability of losing job in a high performance environment. In other words, wage and pay practice are directly responsible for employees productivity and turnover. Secondly, a higher wage translates directly into workers loyalty towards organization thus improving employees efforts. Also it is a pertinent deduction that higher wage structure plays considerable amount of restraint on the employees to turnover their jobs. Thirdly, in more tangible terms higher wages are responsible for reducing firm employee turnover and recruitment costs. Training and Development Training and development (TD) is a very important tool of HRM (Vlachos 2008). Training refers to some activities which equip employees with needed skills to perform better in their current jobs (Li, et al. 2008). In the environment of todays business an employee is needed to cope with various pressures and are required to keep their skills and knowledge current to stay competitive. Tai (2006) asserts that more adaptability, ability , flexibility, motivation, maintenance of skills and efficiency are greatly enhanced by proper training and development of employees. There is an indirect relation betweentraining and firms performance (Vlachos 2008). In most of the manufacturing industry, unstructured on the job training programmes are prevailing. Bartel (1994) in her study found a positive and significant relation between training and labour productivity. Guidetti and Mazzanti (2007) found that high performance and training activities are positively associated. Also they have a direct impact on high performance practices, work force skill level innovative labour demand features. It is also affected by labour flexibility in various directions. Apospori, et al. (2008) in their study of southern European countries have discovered the impact of training on firms performance. Equipping of service level staff enables them towards ‘service orientation. Training is the planned effort that facilitates the acquisition of job related knowledge, updation of skill sets, and impacts the behavior of an employee. In the implementation of HRM tools training is an important factor responsible for productivity. Higher productivity observed in firms are a direct outcome of training programs. â€Å"High-Involvement practices such as autonomy, team collaboration, and training are helpful in reducing employee turnover and enhance productivity. Untrained workers tend to change job more often.An increasing in high-performance work practices converts decreasing in turnover† (Bradley, Petrescu Simmons, 2004). Training programs are particularly helpfulwhen an employer is experiencing a high degree of employee turnover more so during the times of economic uncertainity. Even during the times when the business is flourishing an organization should proactively earmark their investment for on the job training and other traing programs balancing the cost of training with the perceived benefits of productivity. On the other hand, a trained worker has got the required skills and knowledge and can be a candidate for job turnover. Therefore, job satisfaction is crucial factor to retain the employee from shifting his jobs. Bradley, Petrescu and Simmons (2004) explain that creating on-going learning as well as training in workplace has a highly significant effect on job satisfaction, in addition on their study indicates that training increases the probability of work being either completely or very satisfied that enhance employee motivation and commitment. Therefore it is argued that aqusition or know ledge or training has a positive impact on job satisfaction. Traditional and Recent HR Practices in Hospitality Industry Keep and Mayhew (1999) in their study regarding the personnel problems in the tourism and hospitality industry some of them areas follow: low pay, no fixed hours and shift. poor career growth ,seasonal employment; informal recruitment methods; lack of good HR practice; high attritation rate and retaining employees.Riley et al. (2000) to recognise the reality of traditional and poor HR practices, he said that determining factor for HR policies and practices in tourism and hospitality industry is the key economics. Riley et al. says that it carries a very important meaning in tourism and hospitality industry, as in this service sector there is every thing which is intangible. According to (ILO, 2001: 6).Employers and the organizational representatives consider employee turnover in the industry as not the major issue according to them it is the part of working they have not realized that what are its causes and reasons, retaining staff is costlier than hiring new for them. When the organizations will realize that poor HR practices like low pay benefits, lack career opportunities, work life imbalance are the main reason employee turnover. That day the organizations will be successful in real terms. The inability of the businesses and the industry to recognize the most glaring issues can be attributed to the hostility and opposition from employers associations in the industry such as British Hospitality Association (BHA), to governmental initiative such as the minimum wage and working time directive. BHA is still apprehensive of these initiatives despite support from other quarters who favour these initiatives (Lucas, 2004). It is to a great extend clear from the above researches which supports the fact that tourism and hospitality industry is a poor employing sector. Kelliher and Perrett (2001), Kelliher and Johnson (1997) have clearly said that â€Å"the dominant paradigm has tended to stress thenegative aspects of working in the hospitality sector†. It is not surprising to see a long history that supports the fact that hospitality remains a poorly employing sector. Kelliher and Perrett (2001), did an analysis of a designer restaurant. These type of ventures were supposed to be implementing sophisticated HRM approaches as they aimed at building competitive advantage. Although the restaurant had adopted a more modern and sophisticated approach towards, training and development and focused on an innovative strategy ‘there was little real evidence that humanresources were seen as a source of competitive advantage (p. 434). Instead, the HRM approaches adopted by the restaurant were much more reflective of immediate environmental constraints, such as the difficulties in recruiting and retaining staff. In short, any number of reasons for poor HR practices in the tourism and hospitality industry. Economic determinism, the predominance of SMEs, a low-skills base, employer antipathy to a more progressive approach to HRM, labour market characteristics, organizations ensuring best fit HRM practices to support a high volume, low-cost strategy; all are plausible reasons for a view of HRM which is not necessarily premised on high-skills, high-wages and a high-quality route to competitive advantage. That said, it would be equally wrong to paint a wholly pessimistic picture. Hoque(2000). On his work of good practice in the hotel sector, says that the hotels have started taking the issues seriously and have come up with good HR practices for the employee commitment. He further says that argues that arguments which give a picture of the industry as backward and unstrategic isnow outdated, hotels have started taking it seriously as there main aim is customer satisfaction which is possible only through strong employee commitment. In fact, he says that the management has become very serious regarding the polices and practices of HR .The hotels have started experimenting with innovation approaches, quality enhancement of HRM polices and practices. The hotels industry has started paying well, have revised appraisal system, proper training programs for employees skills development, schemes for proper balance between work and life, special advantages to women, job rotation, employee empowerment, performance based pay, teamwork etc. the implementation of all these polices and practices helps in gaining employee commitment and customer satisfaction. The focus of hospitality industry should be on delivering quality service, it should be able to attract and retain enthusiastic, competent staff and should consistently focus on high performance. This is exactly what Pechanga Resort and Casino did two years ago with excellent results. VP of HR and Talent Management, Tony Chartrand explains: â€Å"Since implementing Halogen eAppraisal at our organization over two years ago we have been able to include all of our staff across the resort and casino as part of our strategic approach to talent management. Subsequently, weve seen real business results with lower turnover and better alignment. Every single employee has a clear picture of what is expected of them, which helps to ensure were delivering customers with the best service in the industry†. Organizational commitment refers to a force that binds an individual to a course of action that is of relevance to a particular target. Commitment could manifest in terms of three ways i.e., affective, normative and continuance and each type of commitment ties the individual to the organization in different ways and will differently affect the manner in which the employee conducts him/herself in the workplace. The roots of affective commitment can be traced to exchange principle. An organization provides rewards or punishment at its disposal i HR Practices to Enhance Employee Commitment HR Practices to Enhance Employee Commitment Introduction Human Resource Management is a consistent and productive approach towards the management of employees who are ‘valued assets to the organization. And managing resourceful humans requires a constant balancing between meeting the human aspirations of the people and meeting the strategic and financial needs of the business. Hence linking the HRM more explicitly to the strategic goals to improve the business and foster innovation and flexibility, thus serves the overall purpose. Through best possible use and application of HR policies in the organization, commitment can be encouraged thus leading to better performance, improve staff attitude and lower labour turnover, this is the ideal aim of the human resource practices which has been argued to neglect the fact that HR specialists and line managers have a major impact on how these HR policies are implemented at the hotels and whether all the HR practices are universally applicable. Human resource management is the techniques businesses incorporate to maintain an effective workforce to meet operational requirements. It is the organizational function that deals with issues related to people such as compensation, hiring, administration, organization development, employee motivation, wellness, benefits, safety, communication, performance management, and training. Human resource practices implemented in an organisation are used for recruitment, selection; training and development, reward management, performance appraisal etc. Human Resource Management strategically manages people and work place environment and culture. Effective HRM practices enable employees to contribute effectively and productively towards the attainment of the organizations goals and objectives facilitates overall company mission. HRM practices are one of the channels of communication for an organization with its employees it consists of the actual programs, processes and techniques. It conveys as to what the organization desires as valuable and appropriate behaviors. The workers on reception of such a message build up their own distinct perceptions and through a self-assessment (evaluation) process subsequently shape their attitude and behavior. For instance, if an organization implemented a training program for their workers, it will develop workers knowledge, skills and capability, and thus cultivate better employee commitment due to contented experience with the organization; however, such correlation may at times be misleading or unpredictable i.e. even though some employees may think this training as useful and recognize the implementation of organizational HRM practices, but on the contrary, other workers may see the program as non-effective and view it as a trouble that hamper their regular work timeta ble, hence this may work in an unintended way by bringing down their satisfaction with the organization and negatively effect their commitment. This is the very reason why employees individual view plays as a vital intermediary in the association between organizational HRM practices and the real disclosure of employees outlook and behaviors. Therefore, from this point of view, one can argue that HRM practices in its dominating effect alter an employees affective commitment, by first impinging upon their perception of organizational HRM practices and consequently further alter or transform their emotional commitment towards the organization. Thats why, by the means of implementation of high-commitment HRM practices, i.e. intensive training and development, high level of compensation, promotion from within, socialization, etc. convince the employees that the organizations purpose is in conformity with their insight, and it impinges upon them to reciprocate with advanced commitment and stronger deference to devote and put in for the organization. Therefore this research will try to establish a correlation between HR practices and their effects on employee commitment. The HR practices that will be examined in the research will be Selection and Recruitment Process, Training and Development programs, Performance management, Reward management and industrial labour relations.These are some of the main HR practices followed by the hotels aiming for the more committed team. But the researcher is interested in knowing whether these HR practices really result in more committed employees. And if these HR practices really result in committed employees then is it universally applicable in all countries of the world or all types of industries. These are some of the questions that have encouraged the researcher in conducting this research. LITERATURE REVIEW Philosophy of Human Resource Management Human Resource Management is shifting its traditional stance from personnel, administration, and transactional roles, which are being increasingly outsourced. HRM is now focusing more and more towards adding quality and value to the strategic exploitation of employees and that employee development programs impact the business in tangible terms. This new approach towards revolution in HRM involves strategic direction and HRM metrics and measurements in tangible terms to gauge the effect of these practices. Some of the HRM practices studied in this project are selection, benefits, training, performance feedback, communication systems, standard operating procedures (SOPs) and employee participation. David E. Guest (1987) says â€Å"HRM is a means of achieving management objectives at least in enterprises which haverecognized, or have been compelled to recognize, the utilization of the human resource inachieving competitive edge becomes clear from an examination of four important goals ofeffective.† The primary objective of HRM is amalgamation of companys mission and goal with the HR practices acomprehensive corporate strategy is essential to continuing business success in many cases,human resource planning is not an integral part of strategic planning, but rather flows fromitDavid E. Guest (1987). This holds especially true in todays context where the accomplishment of the process of adjusting to change warrants an escalating level of individual and group participation, for the seamless integration of human resources into the strategic plans. HRM also focuses to attain employee committment, this involves classification of the type of commitment required e.g. attitudinal, behavioural. Commitment of an employee can be at different levels it could be towards the organization, to his job, for individual career advancement and numerous such like things. Commitment in an employees context can be defined as approval of enterprise mission and goals, and could be reflected in behaviour adopted by him/her that furthers these goals. David further says: The theoretical proposition is therefore that organizational commitment,  combined with job related behavioural commitment will result in high employee  satisfaction, high performance, longer tenure and willingness to accept  change. The third goal of strategic HRM is to exercise flexibility and adaptability, which basically translates into the ability to manage change and innovation and to react swiftly to transforming market demands and changes. Thus arises a need for a HRM policy which is favorable to change at all levels of the organization, an arrangement which is practical not bureaucratic, functional and adaptable, with an absence of rigid job divisions and with capable of functional flexibility i.e. flexible skills and motivation to move from one assignment to another. Promoting these is possible only according to David if employees at all levels display highorganizational commitment, high trust and high levels of intrinsic motivation. Attaining and maintaining total quality is the fourth goal of HRM. This highlights the importance of policies and practices to recruit, development and retention of skilled and flexible employees, and the formulation of established performance standards and performance procedures. This can be further subdivide into two broader goals i.e. building a integrated organizational culture and achieving and maintaining competitive advantage through the dynamic use of human resources. Guest (2002) has argued that the â€Å"Impact of HRM on performance depends upon  workers response to HRM practices, so the impact will move in direction of the  perception of HRM practices by the employee†. Wood (1999) and Guest (2002) have  stressed upon the need to build a competent, committed and highly involved work force is the one required for best implementation of business strategy. Huselid (1995) discovered that the effectiveness of employees is directly related to the impact of HRM practices on behavior of the workforce. Patterson et al (1997) while arguing about the effect of human resource management practices on business performance have said that HR practices in selection and training influence performance by providing appropriate skills. HR practices have a potent impact on performance even if it just measured in terms of overall productivity. Huselid (1995) stressed that â€Å"by adopting best practices in selection, inflow of bestquality of skill set will be inducted adding value to skills inventory of the organization.† He also highlighted the role of personnel training as a accompaniment of selection practices through which the organizational culture and employee behavior can be integrated with the organization goals to produce positive results. Cooke (2000) has included competence and effectiveness as the vital ingredients of performance apart from competitiveness and productivity. She further amplifies training as the tool to grow knowledge and skills and as way of improving individuals performance (efficiency and effectiveness). Singh (2004), whose interpretations are more pertinent in our cultural context, says that â€Å"compensation is a behavior aligningmechanism of employees with business strategy of the firm†. â€Å"Career planning is a tool that aligns strategy with future HR needs and encourag esemployee to strive for his personal development† (William et al, 1996). By encouraging employee involvement, the firm will profit from increase in efficiency of theemployee due to improved commitment of the employee. Financial participation schemes are more beneficial for the organizations than the associated cost (Summers Hyman, 2005). â€Å"Use of best HR practices shows a stronger association with firmsproductivity in high growth industry† (Datta et al, 2003). Wright et al (2003) have said that â€Å"an employee will exert discretionary effort if proper  performance management system is in place and is supported by compensation system  linked with the performance management system.† Similarly, â€Å"Job definition is combination of jobdescription and job specification. It clearly outlines duties, responsibilities, workingconditions and expected skills of an individual performing that job† (Qureshi M Tahir, 2006). Ichniowski (1995) while studying productivity of steel workers have argued that harmonizing HR practice System positively effects employees performance.Sels,2006 Collins (2005) in a study of similar character targeting small business have also argued that efficient HR practices affect employee productivity to a great extent. Meyer and Allen (1997) indicated that HRM practices have been considered to be valuable and effective tools for elevating organizational commitment, especially affective commitment. However, there are some other perspectives also on this subject; De Coninsk and Stilwell (1996) argued that what directly influences employees affective commitment is not the actual practices itself, but the employee perceptions of fairness of practices that affects organizational commitment. Ogilvie (1986) found that, even with personal and work characteristics controlled, employees perceptions of two characteristics of HRM practices, namely, the accuracy of the merit rating system and the fairness of promotions, contributed to the prediction of commitment. Gaertner and Nollen (1989) also found that employees commitment was related to the perceived HRM practices, including internal promotion, training opportunities, and employment security. Ostroff and Bowen (2000) made use of â€Å"meso† theory t o explain that the implementation of HRM practices helped to amplify workers identification with their organization through employees psychological contracts. Therefore, just as what the above mentioned scholars stated, the HRM practices itself cannot have impact on employees commitment, it is after the implementation of the HRM practices that triggered employees own perceptions and then assess whether the practice is considered fair or favorable to them and consequently influence their attitudes and behaviors. Therefore, if the HRM practices that an organization implements permit the employees to acknowledge it as highly committed, consequently, this will lead to reinforced trust and concurrently generate higher emotional attachment with his/her serviced organization. Despite several experiential studies that have established a relationship between HRM practices and organizational commitment, however, such a connection seems to be a little too straightforward (Paul Anantharaman, 2004; Ulrich, 1997; Wimalasiri, 1995). Ostroff and Bowen (2000) projected that it was the psychological bond of an individual that unified how an organizational HRM practice influenced employees mind-set and behavior. This also entails that HRM practices may conjointly manipulate employees organizational commitment obliquely, and must go through by means of individuals psychological alteration system. Guzzo and Noonan (1994) said that   â€Å"an organizations HRM practices influenced employee commitment since they are communications from the employer to the employee. How employees interpreted and made sense of their organizational HRM practices affected their psychological contract with their employer and, ultimately, their commitment to that employer.† Zucker (1983) also suppose that the organization members attitudes and behaviors are subjective and are governed by organizations official communication of ‘common understandings. Term common understandings denoting what were considered the appropriate, essential and meaningful behaviors within an organization.Basically, the official organization communication of common understandings will direct its members to alter their own personal attitudes and behaviors so that they can match organizational expectations and requirements. HR PRACTICES HRM propose that there is a universal ‘one best way to administer people. By assuming a best practice method it is argued that organizations will attain improved commitment from people leading to better organizational performance, top levels of service quality and eventually boost in efficiency and profitability, Usually couched in terms of ‘bundles, the HRM practices that are offered in support of a high commitmentand performance model are generally fairly consistent. A range of HR practices which are suggested as being important to organizational strategies aimed at securing high-quality service are:- Recruitment and Selection: One of the main and most basic HRM practice is of Recruiting and selecting staff with the correct attitudinal and behavioural characteristics. The process of choosing a candidate from a group of applicants who best meets the selection criteria for a particular position is called Selection. â€Å"In this process the right person chosen for the requisite qualifications and knowledge is placed in the appropriate job position to decrease the cost, and maximise the profits by means of their merit and talent† (Vlachos 2008). A variety of considerations in the selection process should be employed to assess the work values, interpersonal skills, personality and problem-solving capabilities of likely employees to evaluate their ‘service orientation. To maintain the high degree of competitive advantage an organisation requires capable and skillful personnel (Liao Chu 2006). Huselid (1995) has established that organisational productivity and high degree of performance is dependant upon the selection of the appropriate person, which is also a way to reduce employee turnover. Michie and Sheehan-Quinn (2001) recognized a positive link between hiring employees, and the creation of the appropriate culture for organisational growth. Cho, et al. (2006) established a positive and considerable connection between HRM practices and staffing (recruitment source, pre selection test, IQ test, structured interview, and biographical information blank of the organisation) for enhancing financial performance. Therefore, it made compulsory for the organisations to attract qualified candidates and recruit them for survival and growth. Performance Appraisal Performance appraisal has attracted a immense degree of interest. Levin (1986) identified uses of performance appraisal, like potential analysis which assesses the feedback and suggestion of employee past performance, employees training needs, financial expectations salary, employee merit appraisal, employee career development etc. Thang (2004) in his study has shown as to effect of suitable HRM related decision on how well employees are performing their jobs. Performance appraisal is a constant procedure rather than a once a year fatigue. It is the official arrangement of periodical evaluation and assessment of an individuals or teams job performance and providing feedback. Stone (2002) said that â€Å" in the competitive environment, organisations need to keep improving performance to survive†. In addition, in the fast changing surroundings, tighter finances, downsizing and demands for enhanced employee accountability result in more emphasis on performance appraisal in relation to organisational objectives. Performance related rewards target those who meet the performance requirements (Stone 2002, Cho, et al. 2006, Chand Katou 2007). Performance appraisal provides information that is dealt with employee salary, training needs, compensation, promotion as well as employee development, transfer and employee feedback by (Huber 1983). Appraisal systems have also moved away from conventional top down approaches to appraisal in more mod ern and pertinent terms such as customer evaluation, team-based performance, the appraisal of managers by subordinates and peer review. Generally, all of these performance appraisal methods should focus on the quality objectives of the organization and the behaviors of employees required for maintaining these. Performance appraisal has both administrative and individual development focus and organizations sincerity towards performance appraisal goes a long way in developing commitment and trust among people.Overall attitude towards HRM department is a significant predictor of organizational commitment. This aspect of HRM practice refers to how people see their HRM department, with respect, with disdain, with indifference and so on. It refers to the fact that the acceptance of various HRM practices depend largely on the overall image of the HR department. Hospitality industry needs to rely on the commitment of a well-trained, multi-skilled workforce in order to achieve a competitive position, especially in terms of providing high quality customer service. This suggests that hotels need to adopt HRM organisational practices that enhance the motivation of employees and improve organisational effectiveness. Reward Management Huselid (1995) asserts that the compensation system is recognised as employee merit and it is widely linked with firm outcomes. Compensation by its definition means all monetary payments and all commodities used instead of financial to recompense employees. The reward system was organised to attract and motivate so as to keep employees. More so, employee influence was tailored on controlled authority and decision making. The expectancy theory (Vroom 1964) suggests that rewards, that can be comprehended as a form of direct and indirect recompense packages, have the ability to manipulate employee work enthusiasm. Thang (2004) suggests that ‘compensation and reward can be powerful tools for getting efforts from the employees to fulfill the organisational goals. On the same lines, Wan (2008) argued that compensation should be measured depending on employees performance not on the basis of position or seniority in the organization.Pay practice is one of the tools of human resources management practices which manages wage, salary, pay and benefits etc. for the employees. Reward management has got an important role in HRM. A high level of pay and remuneration in comparision to that of rivals ensures the attraction and retention of high-quality employee, however this may impact negativly on the companys overall labor expenditures. Also by connecting pay with performance, the company can educe desired standards of performace as well as specific task orientation from employee (Noe et al., 2006). Generally, pay practice is very significant for the organizations and firms which can attract employees to apply for the job as recruitment.Attractive pay practices play a major role in attracting talent and are very helpful during the recruitment process. Similarly for the employees this means that they are required to show a continuously high level of commitment and performance in order to keep their jobs. Pay packages also have a degree of connection with the job satisfaction of an employee. Ting (1997) asserts that the significance of pay is a strong determinant of job satisfaction. He further explains two different type of effect of pay practices on job satisfaction; first is the satisfaction with pay itself and second is the satisfaction with financial prospects in the future. There is a venerable interest of these two things which are correlated with job satisfaction. Thus, it is pertinent to understand the relationship between job satisfaction and pay practices which eventually materializes in terms of higher productivity. Efficiency wage theories also suggest that paying higher wages can often result in increased efficiency. There are three main channelsthat are addressed in these theories that improve productivity, as described by Katz, 1987. Firstly it means that the harder the employees of an organization work higher will be the punishment for someone who is caught shirking a nd higher will be the probability of losing job of the employee getting caught. Thus higher wages means an increased effort on part of the employee due to the enhanced probability of losing job in a high performance environment. In other words, wage and pay practice are directly responsible for employees productivity and turnover. Secondly, a higher wage translates directly into workers loyalty towards organization thus improving employees efforts. Also it is a pertinent deduction that higher wage structure plays considerable amount of restraint on the employees to turnover their jobs. Thirdly, in more tangible terms higher wages are responsible for reducing firm employee turnover and recruitment costs. Training and Development Training and development (TD) is a very important tool of HRM (Vlachos 2008). Training refers to some activities which equip employees with needed skills to perform better in their current jobs (Li, et al. 2008). In the environment of todays business an employee is needed to cope with various pressures and are required to keep their skills and knowledge current to stay competitive. Tai (2006) asserts that more adaptability, ability , flexibility, motivation, maintenance of skills and efficiency are greatly enhanced by proper training and development of employees. There is an indirect relation betweentraining and firms performance (Vlachos 2008). In most of the manufacturing industry, unstructured on the job training programmes are prevailing. Bartel (1994) in her study found a positive and significant relation between training and labour productivity. Guidetti and Mazzanti (2007) found that high performance and training activities are positively associated. Also they have a direct impact on high performance practices, work force skill level innovative labour demand features. It is also affected by labour flexibility in various directions. Apospori, et al. (2008) in their study of southern European countries have discovered the impact of training on firms performance. Equipping of service level staff enables them towards ‘service orientation. Training is the planned effort that facilitates the acquisition of job related knowledge, updation of skill sets, and impacts the behavior of an employee. In the implementation of HRM tools training is an important factor responsible for productivity. Higher productivity observed in firms are a direct outcome of training programs. â€Å"High-Involvement practices such as autonomy, team collaboration, and training are helpful in reducing employee turnover and enhance productivity. Untrained workers tend to change job more often.An increasing in high-performance work practices converts decreasing in turnover† (Bradley, Petrescu Simmons, 2004). Training programs are particularly helpfulwhen an employer is experiencing a high degree of employee turnover more so during the times of economic uncertainity. Even during the times when the business is flourishing an organization should proactively earmark their investment for on the job training and other traing programs balancing the cost of training with the perceived benefits of productivity. On the other hand, a trained worker has got the required skills and knowledge and can be a candidate for job turnover. Therefore, job satisfaction is crucial factor to retain the employee from shifting his jobs. Bradley, Petrescu and Simmons (2004) explain that creating on-going learning as well as training in workplace has a highly significant effect on job satisfaction, in addition on their study indicates that training increases the probability of work being either completely or very satisfied that enhance employee motivation and commitment. Therefore it is argued that aqusition or know ledge or training has a positive impact on job satisfaction. Traditional and Recent HR Practices in Hospitality Industry Keep and Mayhew (1999) in their study regarding the personnel problems in the tourism and hospitality industry some of them areas follow: low pay, no fixed hours and shift. poor career growth ,seasonal employment; informal recruitment methods; lack of good HR practice; high attritation rate and retaining employees.Riley et al. (2000) to recognise the reality of traditional and poor HR practices, he said that determining factor for HR policies and practices in tourism and hospitality industry is the key economics. Riley et al. says that it carries a very important meaning in tourism and hospitality industry, as in this service sector there is every thing which is intangible. According to (ILO, 2001: 6).Employers and the organizational representatives consider employee turnover in the industry as not the major issue according to them it is the part of working they have not realized that what are its causes and reasons, retaining staff is costlier than hiring new for them. When the organizations will realize that poor HR practices like low pay benefits, lack career opportunities, work life imbalance are the main reason employee turnover. That day the organizations will be successful in real terms. The inability of the businesses and the industry to recognize the most glaring issues can be attributed to the hostility and opposition from employers associations in the industry such as British Hospitality Association (BHA), to governmental initiative such as the minimum wage and working time directive. BHA is still apprehensive of these initiatives despite support from other quarters who favour these initiatives (Lucas, 2004). It is to a great extend clear from the above researches which supports the fact that tourism and hospitality industry is a poor employing sector. Kelliher and Perrett (2001), Kelliher and Johnson (1997) have clearly said that â€Å"the dominant paradigm has tended to stress thenegative aspects of working in the hospitality sector†. It is not surprising to see a long history that supports the fact that hospitality remains a poorly employing sector. Kelliher and Perrett (2001), did an analysis of a designer restaurant. These type of ventures were supposed to be implementing sophisticated HRM approaches as they aimed at building competitive advantage. Although the restaurant had adopted a more modern and sophisticated approach towards, training and development and focused on an innovative strategy ‘there was little real evidence that humanresources were seen as a source of competitive advantage (p. 434). Instead, the HRM approaches adopted by the restaurant were much more reflective of immediate environmental constraints, such as the difficulties in recruiting and retaining staff. In short, any number of reasons for poor HR practices in the tourism and hospitality industry. Economic determinism, the predominance of SMEs, a low-skills base, employer antipathy to a more progressive approach to HRM, labour market characteristics, organizations ensuring best fit HRM practices to support a high volume, low-cost strategy; all are plausible reasons for a view of HRM which is not necessarily premised on high-skills, high-wages and a high-quality route to competitive advantage. That said, it would be equally wrong to paint a wholly pessimistic picture. Hoque(2000). On his work of good practice in the hotel sector, says that the hotels have started taking the issues seriously and have come up with good HR practices for the employee commitment. He further says that argues that arguments which give a picture of the industry as backward and unstrategic isnow outdated, hotels have started taking it seriously as there main aim is customer satisfaction which is possible only through strong employee commitment. In fact, he says that the management has become very serious regarding the polices and practices of HR .The hotels have started experimenting with innovation approaches, quality enhancement of HRM polices and practices. The hotels industry has started paying well, have revised appraisal system, proper training programs for employees skills development, schemes for proper balance between work and life, special advantages to women, job rotation, employee empowerment, performance based pay, teamwork etc. the implementation of all these polices and practices helps in gaining employee commitment and customer satisfaction. The focus of hospitality industry should be on delivering quality service, it should be able to attract and retain enthusiastic, competent staff and should consistently focus on high performance. This is exactly what Pechanga Resort and Casino did two years ago with excellent results. VP of HR and Talent Management, Tony Chartrand explains: â€Å"Since implementing Halogen eAppraisal at our organization over two years ago we have been able to include all of our staff across the resort and casino as part of our strategic approach to talent management. Subsequently, weve seen real business results with lower turnover and better alignment. Every single employee has a clear picture of what is expected of them, which helps to ensure were delivering customers with the best service in the industry†. Organizational commitment refers to a force that binds an individual to a course of action that is of relevance to a particular target. Commitment could manifest in terms of three ways i.e., affective, normative and continuance and each type of commitment ties the individual to the organization in different ways and will differently affect the manner in which the employee conducts him/herself in the workplace. The roots of affective commitment can be traced to exchange principle. An organization provides rewards or punishment at its disposal i

To Kill A Mockingbird Essays: Civil Rights and Civil Wrongs :: Free Essay Writer

Civil Rights and Civil Wrongs in To Kill a Mockingbird In Harper Lee's novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, the author uses the small town of Maycomb, Alabama as a forum for different views on civil rights. On a smaller scale, Lee uses the relationship between Scout, her aunt, her father, and her housekeeper, to show how racism affects everything. The question of civil rights plays out not only through the trial of Tom Robinson, but also through the everyday interaction between the Finch family and their housekeeper Calpurnia. In the process of growing up Scout must chose where she fits into the whole racial scheme, and her relationship with her housekeeper plays a crucial part in deciding this. Harper Lee's novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, focuses on the maturation of a brother and sister in the "tired old town(Lee 3)" of Maycomb, Alabama, in the 1930à ­s. Maycomb, a classic southern town full of gossip, tradition and burdened with a legacy of racism, seems a strange place to stage a drama which encourages equal treatment and non prejudice. However, the narratorà ­s fresh outlook on the sleepy town furnishes the reader with a multitude of viewpoints on civil rights. The traditional Southern racism of Maycomb is looked at through the eyes of our young narrator, Scout Finch. Scoutà ­s innocent perspective compels her to ask questions about why whites treat blacks the way they do. These questions are crucial in Scoutà ­s search for her own identity. Scout must come to terms with the racism of her town and how it affects the people in her life. She must find her own position and what role she will play in the whole racial game. A number of people greatly influence Scout. The t wo major role models in her life, her Aunt Alexandria and her father Atticus, pull Scout in two opposing directions. Through their dealings with Calpurnia, the Finch's black housekeeper, both the reader and Scout are able to distinguish what path each individual wants Scout to follow. Brought into the Finch household to teach and act as a female role model for young Scout, Aunt Alexandra begins by demonstrating to Scout Calpurniaà ­s inferior position. For Aunt Alexandra, Calpurnia will not do as a role model for Scout. Aunt Alexandra from the beginning shows Scout who posses the power. "Put my bag in the front bedroom, Calpurnia,' was the first thing Aunt Alexandra said(Lee 127).

Harmful Effects Of Smoking Essay -- Argumentative Persuasive Example E

Every year thousands of people die because of lung cancer or other tobacco related illnesses. Everyone in the world comes in contact with smoke from a cigarette at least once in their lifetime, whether it is at a restaurant or at work. Millions of people are addicted to smoking, and thousands more become addicted every year. Cigarettes and other tobacco products are everywhere. Most of the addicted smokers started when they were young (Roberts 18). The reason why people get addicted to any type of tobacco product is because all tobacco products have nicotine in them, which is the addictive ingredient (American Thoracic Society 22). Every time a person smokes a cigarette or chews tobacco, that person ingests nicotine. I believe that the tobacco companies should be liable for every tobacco-related death each year.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  On the other hand, some people believe that everyone has a right to make their own judgment about their life. My opponent, Rosalind Marimont argues drugs and alcohol are more dangerous to society than tobacco (26). Second hand smoking is not a danger to the health of the community (Marimont 26). There are health benefits for people that do smoke tobacco (Marimont 27). So many people quit smoking each year, it is so ridiculous to think that tobacco products are addicting argues Richard DeGrandpre (39). The facts about tobacco and tobacco products have been shaded by the government and government agencies to make smoking less acceptable and more inconvenient to smokers and tobacco users Sullum argues (55). My opponents firmly believe that there are no risks if a person starts smoking. As you will see, I will show extenuating facts that disprove my opponents views on tobacco products.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  My opponent states that smoking is not dangerous, however, I intend to prove that smoking is dangerous not just to smokers, but to everyone as well. It is a proven fact that smoking causes lung cancer and heart disease (American Thoracic Society 19). Every person that breathes the smoke of tobacco products is at risk for tobacco-related illnesses. Even though smoking is not as publicized by the media as much as illegal drugs, cigarettes are just as bad. Smoking cigarettes leads to the use of other drugs that are more harmful to the person than cigarettes (Hall 22). If smoking was not ... ...mber of teens that start smoking each year. Study after study has proven that with smoking comes major health risks. Even people that do not smoke are at risk of these heath problems. Statistics do not lie, one thousand people die everyday from tobacco or tobacco related illnesses. Statistical data can not be altered in any way nor can they be shaded by anyone. Tobacco products are not going to go away for good, however the Food and Drug Administration should be given the authority to regulate the advertising of tobacco companies. The only product the Food and Drug Administration can not regulate is the manufacture, sale, packaging, and distribution of tobacco products (Douglas 33). If the advertisements can be cut down, then many teenagers will not be influenced to try them as much as they are now. Given this compromise, the tobacco companies will still get money from the people that are already addicted, but it will greatly reduce the amount of money they make each year. Tobacco products are always going to be around, but I hope that the Food and Drug Administration will be able to regulate them for the safety of not only adults, but for all of the children as well.

JC Penney Advertising Essay

As time progresses, the world, in terms of business is rather contracting. There is growing communication, interaction and exchange between different parts of the world. Technologies that were once thought of as a far sighted notion are now being used like household commodities and communication mediums that were once considered luxuries available to few are now necessities needed to prosper. And as the world is becoming more integrated and countries are becoming more and more dependent on one another in terms of trade and business the concept of branding, advertising and promotion is becoming more prevalent and widespread. This paper will focus on the marketing of JC penny. It would elaborate on the print as well as online marketing. Moreover it would compare and contrast advertising of online and bricks and mortar companies. Discussion The demand for accountability of marketing is rising and also the pressure of having less absolute dollars to work with so there is utmost need to be sharper, more purposeful and more targeted with marketing. JC Penney is a general retail brand that specializes in clothing, accessories and home furnishing. It has been around for decades and has been catering the needs of consumers of all ages and backgrounds. JC Penney’s main target audience at the present times is women as well as youngsters. JC Penney faced criticism for being a brand that accommodated only the high-end and older generation. However, they have been changing their brand image and have been successful in implementing an image that is portraying a more young and trendy vibe. It now focuses on providing products that have the characteristics of being conservative, traditional, modern or trendy. Fundamentally JC Penney has been escalated in the last years is through the fact that it has moved from mass marketing to a more targeted approach. The few reasons for this change is that JC Penney believes that when business is difficult there is a lot greater chance of success with getting the arms around the best customers and increasing frequency share of wallet and trips with the best customers then trying to recruit new customers in tough times that may not shopping the brand. JC Penney has managed to find ways to develop formats that allowed it to get more productivity out the money that is spend. It has also become more targeted in terms of customer selection through becoming much sharper about making sure the right customers get the right format in the right piece. (Fetterman, 2006) JC Penney is one of the brands that hold the significance of being a brick and mortar store as well as an online retailer. Hence, it follows branding through all of the sources of mass media. It publishes magazines and postcards for the promotion of its products. It also advertises it products and offers through newspapers, television ads and online ads. When comparing the online and print media usage it quoted by Mike Boylson the Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer of JC Penney that In the postcard you can deliver more of a sales message, or more of a discount message these postcards may drive the customers online to see the full assortment online where as the larger brand books of JC Penny show a much richer sense of the style that they have and they portray fundamentally completely different messages. The postcard includes the offer and a link to the website to go see the expanded content where as the book itself that goes out shows the product, the customer can then either come in the store or they can go online or place their order on the phone. Direct mail is very important because through versioning and through customer segmentation the company is able to send out more targeted messages that are highly accountable and are also able to track the results in direct mail to a degree that cannot be possible in a lot of the other traditional mass media used by JC Penney. JC Penney has been focusing a great deal over its brand image and has been trying to diversify and broaden its target audience. It has recently changed to a new brand motif; ‘Every day matters’ along with the new tag line, the company has been working on enhancing its customer’s services and the opening of several temporary promotional stores. JC Penney is focusing on increasing the popularity of its brick and mortar stores as well as its online retailing through providing customers with latest offers, discounts and showcasing their product line online for ease of access. Sloan, 2007) As the world is advancing so are the technologies and the ease with which communication is possible among all parts of the world. With the advent of the internet and the upscale increase in its popularity, there has been almost nothing that is not available on the World Wide Web. The phenomenon of e-shopping emerged with the internet. The fact that customers could get what they want in the ease of their homes, increased the recognition of the internet and also of online shopping. There are numerous differences and similarities between online shopping and traditional shopping. But what holds more importance is the way the companies market their product online and how different it is from the marketing and promotion of brick and mortar companies. (Lowrey, 2008) Marketing over the internet is considered less costly, as it is holds a lower cost of distributing information on a global platform. More and more business are moving towards online retailing due to its outnumbered advantages in terms of cost, convenience and mobility of information over a great distance. One of the major focuses that companies including JC Penney is on the website. The success of online marketing is highly dependent over the outlook, design and the information provided by the website. Both the online companies as well as brick and mortar companies need to identify their target audience before they implement any marketing strategies. This lets them focus on the type of marketing tool they would benefit them. Brick and mortar companies offer a more traditional aspect of shopping and they also follow a traditional approach of marketing. This is mostly through mass media such as newspapers, television broadcast and magazines. With the passage of time, there are less and less companies that focus solely over brick and mortar business. Most companies are now available online as there is less overheads and larger audience prone to response through the internet. Conclusion In the end it is imperative to recognize the increasing importance of internet in business. Both, online retailing and brick and mortar companies hold their own set of characteristics that make them distinct. As the progress of online shopping is increasing there is still need for brick and mortar stores for traditional shoppers. Most companies, however, imply both the alternatives and hence, carry out their marketing accordingly.