The study on Human resources in a digital age Dissertation

The study on Human resources in a digital age - Dissertation Example Primary research is conducted for the study. This is done using the questionnaire method on a sample of 100 HR professionals across different sectors. They are primarily HR executives and HR managers in organizations. The analysis is done based on the responses collected from candidates and presented in the form of graphs and pie charts. The drawbacks and loopholes in the system are identified and suitable recommends are provided to eliminate them. Table of Contents Abstract 2 Introduction 5 Background 6 Research aims and objectives 7 Problem Statement 8 Literature Review 8 Impact of Information technology in human resources in organizations, changing trends 8 Human Resource Management using information technology and competitive edge of firms 13 Strategic constraints on human resource management in the digital age 17 Technology and training for human resource professionals 20 Research Methodology 24 Primary Research Study 24 Scope of Research 25 Data Collection methods and technique s 26 Research Limitations 27 Questionnaire design 28 Research Findings and Analysis 29 Quantitative Analysis 29 Qualitative Analysis 38 Recommendations 42 Conclusion 44 Reference 46 Bibliography 49 Appendix 51 Questionnaire 51 Introduction Globalization and global competition has been imposing great pressure on managers in organizations to make better and faster business decisions. Investments in information and technology have also been creeping up along with this pressure. Investments in the area of information and technology in considered being one of the critical means of improving and fastening up of management decision making. Even then, organizations have faced the great difficulty in realising the potential of investments in the areas of information and technology in businesses. This has been particularly visible in the business area of human resource management, despite the fact that longer lead times associated with changes in human resource management systems necessarily means HR accounts for a major candidate to derive benefits from information and technology. In order to emerge successful amidst the increasingly and global competition managers are constantly faced with the pressure of controlling labour costs, motivating employees and subordinates to provide high quality services, enhancing customer oriented performances and constantly searching for better and new ways of doing the jobs successfully. Circumstances make it mandatory for organizations to meeting these objectives against all odds in the face of a shrinking workforce and the global environment in which employees hail from diverse and multicultural backgrounds located across different parts of the globe. Even the routine and conventional tasks maintaining records of employees and regulatory and legal compliance have become increasingly geometrically intensified. In other words systems and operations in organizations have become more complicated and this consequently demands more sophis ticated technology applications which go much further beyond the conventional tasks of improving the routine task activities. Managers have their own stake in exploiting information technology for furthering and bettering human resource management. However, various managers have different views regarding the effectiveness of use of IT in human resource

Time stuffs Essay Example for Free

Time stuffs Essay As a Non Commisioned Officer it is extremely important to uphold the standards of exolelnce. It is not enough to just say that you can, you have to actually do it: be it. My Sergeant Major Command Sergeant Mojor Duham told me when I first put on hard stripes, he said,† Corpral everybody is going to be watching you now.. All of your soldiers will see what you do. All of your leaders will be judging you. All eyes are on the Non Commissioned Officer,† I instantly understood what he meant by that. He pined me at the beginning of our deployment to Iraq, towards the end of that deployment I understood very intamately how true those words were. As a soldier it is inherently important to follow the simplest of rules. Be in the right place at ther right time, in the right uniform. How easy is that? To a soldier that is your entire world, and it really is just that easy. It seems like it would be just a s easy for a non comissioned officer to do the same, and by all rights it just be, especially for a veteran thats been doing this for years. Atached to every action of the non commissioned officer is that stigma of excellance. A non commissioned officer should be all means be great a t whot he/she does. There should be an upheld idiology that this person behind those stripes is above the pressure of societal norms, a person that rises above all challenges, a person not berdoned with fear, someone that will consistantly do the right thing no matter how much harder it is to do than the easy thing. The idea of a non commissioned officer should be something almost superhuman, a fucking Jedi. Thia ia thw image of tbhe non commissionaed officer that people actually have. When NCOs perform actions that are anything less than excellent it tants that image. People begin to see that these heros are just assholes that speak a good game. We absolutely need to be men and wemon of integraty , and courage. People dthat uphodlt he standards no matter what. I was late, I was late more thatn once. This councelling that I have agreed to and signed suggest that somebody actually asked my why. That didnt happen. I whould like tto argue that had I ever been talked to about tardyness the first time then there wouldnt have been a second time. There was no conversation that involved myself or any of my leadership implementing. Therer is no excuse my actions are as they were recorded; I was late. I know better, Ive known better, I dont need to have someone consistantly reminding me about soing the right thing. I know very well what the right thing is, what it looks like, and how it is to bwe implemente. Because I know right, I can fully understand why it is unexceptable to have a non commissioned officer consistantly performing bellow the standard. Just the samew it would have been nice to have had a conversation about poor or unsatisfactory performance with my leadership before jumping strait into a written councelling. Gee I hope this doesnt reflect poorly on my NCOER oh wait thats right my leasders have failed to provide my with sufficant councelling and evaluation of my perfaormeance duechbags, Time is said to be eternal. It is said that it has neither a beginning nor an end. Yet men are able to measure it as years, months, days, hours, minutes and seconds. They have also given meanings to the words – past, present and future. True, time has a meaning. It moves. What was yesterday is not today. What is today will not be tomorrow. Yesterday is gone. Today is and tomorrow is yet to come. Yet time is said to have no holiday. It exists always. The entire creation moves on according to a time pattern. There is birth, growth and death. There is time for everything. Plants flower and give fruits. Seasons come according to time. A child is born, grows into boyhood, adolescence, youth, middle age and old age according to age and time. Every movement of creation is linked with time. One cannot grow paddy in a month nor can a child become an adult in a year. Everything is fixed to a time-frame. Time is a free force. It does not wait for any one. It is commonly said that time and tide waits for no man. Time is money. A minute not usefully spent is an eternal loss. You can never get back the lost minute. One has to strike the iron when it is hot. The time flies and never returns. If you waste time it wastes you. ‘Time is the best medicine’, says Ovid. It is said that time heals all wounds and it even heals what reason cannot. All human beings are emotional. When negative emotions like fear, anger, envy and jealousy overtake them, they lose reason and act in haste leading to serious consequences. They may repent later, as emotions cool down. But the damage done is done and remains forever. Even that damage can heal with the passage of time. People involved may forget and forgive. That is the importance of time and its healing touch. Time is said to be a wise counselor. Passage of time allows an individual to grow. This growth gives experience. Experience helps decision making. Time reminds you to act and to act wisely. The wisest make use of the time fruitfully. It is said that the wisest grieve the most at the loss of time. Those who do not know the importance of time, waste it or rather they spend it doing nothing. There is a proverb which says that killing time is not a murder; it is a suicide. It means, by wasting time one is not harming others. On the other hand one is harming himself. Ordinary people merely go on thinking how to spend their time. The wise and talented make use of it fruitfully. Some people always complain that there is no time for them to do anything. That is not correct. If one wisely plans his activities, there will be time for everything happening according to time. A man who is a part of nature cannot complain against time. Time is powerful. It conquers all. Men are only to obey it. Man cannot say that he has nothing of his own. Time which is valuable is all his own. If you are not on time and miss the train, you miss it fore-ever. So also the time, once you miss it, it flies off. You can never catch it. Hence it is called fleeting time. Let us learn to use our time fruitfully. This is the key to success. Allow me to begin by stating the Dictionarys definition of Punctual: punctual adj. Acting or arriving exactly at the time appointed; prompt. Scheduling the work day is one of the most important duties any leader in the Army or the Armed Forces for that matter, tackle each and every day. Being at the right place at the right time for any member of the Armed forces is extremely essential to the defense of the entire United States of America. Its because of this that being on time is remarkably important. Dependability, accountability, consistency and discipline are all crucially related to being on time. Furthermore, promptness also shows that the individual Soldier aims high and has their priorities straight. However, being where one needs to be at the appointed time will always be one of the most important aspects of being a Soldier. This is why failure to be on time not only severely hinders mission capability and readiness, but also can without a doubt cost unnecessary loss of life. It is important to realize that it is necessary for those in the Armed Forces are held to a higher standard. While punctuality remains and always will, an extremely vital aspect of military bearing and discipline. It has direct correlation to soldierly appearance, combat readiness, mission effectiveness, and essentially every facet of Military life and responsibility. I cannot place enough emphasis on how important being on time constantly is. For instance; a soldier is late or perhaps does not report at all to a place at the time ordered. That effectively compromises and diminishes the efficiency of which the task is to be completed. In an extreme case a soldier not being on time to relieve the current guards post would cause the combat effectiveness and readiness of the unrelieved guard to be greatly reduced. This would be caused by fatigue, or lack of supplies, etc. Consequently the guard post could be compromised and the security of the area or Forward Operating Base [continues] THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING AT THE RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME First off, scheduling work is a very important duty of any leader in the Army or the Armed Forces to tackle every day. Being at the right place at the right time for any member of the army is extremely essential to the defense of the entire United States of America. Dependability, accountability, consistency and discipline are all crucially related to being on time. In addition, promptness also shows that the individual Soldier has their priorities straight. However, being where one needs to be at the appointed time will always be one of the most important aspects of being a Soldier. This is why failure to be on time not only severely hinders mission capability and readiness, but also can cost unnecessary death. It is important to see that it is necessary for those in the Army to be held to a higher standard. While being on time remains and always will be an extremely vital aspect of military bearing and discipline. I cannot say enough on how important being on time constantly is and always will be. For instance; a soldier is late or perhaps does not report at all to a place at the time ordered. That effectively compromises and diminishes the efficiency of which the task is to be completed. It is always important to be where you are supposed to be. In the Army, every leader stresses the fact on being on time or being at the right place or being in the right uniform. So if you have to ask yourself is it important to be where you are told to be? Then you should always answer yes. I think most Soldiers and Leaders will tell you that it is very important. It is my responsibility to be where I am supposed to. It is all about accountability. You have to keep track of your Soldiers. It is your responsibility and your leaders responsibility. They are responsible for your actions as well you. If you fail to take responsibility for your actions or do as you please you can and most likely will be punished [continues] Time management is very important in order to be successful in life. As a leader of soldiers time management is extremely important in order to get work to get done but also to make time for leisure activities. The most common motivational cold is the lack of interest in certain subjects. The heart of effective time management is a weekly and daily schedule. Also long term goals must be determined in order for short term goals to be established. Be proactive means taking initiative, not waiting for others to act first, and being responsible for what you do. The opposite of proactive is reactive. Reactive people tend to react to what goes on around them. Proactive people act based on principles and purpose. So think with the end in mind when establishing your schedule. Gathering necessary information is an important factor in time management. Planning ahead is another key factor in managing your time. Consult your things to do with a monthly schedule and hang it up in your room. Be sure while you are making a schedule of â€Å"things to do,† you take into consideration how long it takes you to complete certain task. Also figure out how much time you have to do certain assignments and break them up into several days if that works best for you. By dividing up your assignments it takes the stress off of you and gives you extra leisure time. When planning ahead use some type of calendar or monthly planner to keep track of your things and also to keep them Prioritizing work assignments is crucial to successful time management. Some people do not know how to prioritize and become procrastinators. Deciding which tasks are the [continues] Being late is becoming a more and more common trend among people of all walks of life, especially in the United States Army. This is completely unacceptable and it violates the Army Values, costs the military more money, and reflect very poorly on the soldier and his first line supervisor. There are many methods available to prevent being late as well as proper steps to take once you know you are going to be late and there is nothing else you can do about it. The Army Values, Leadership, Duty, Respect, Selfless Service, Honor, Integrity, and Personal Courage. When you are late to anything, whether it be a formation or appointment, it goes against nearly all of these values that are instilled in all soldiers. All soldiers are supposed to display the ability to be an effective leader at all time. This is impossible if you are late. For example, if you are a Specialist promotable and late to a few formations that is noticed by the privates around you. Once you make Sergeant they are going to remember those times you were late and question your ability as a leader. It is your duty to follow the orders of those appointed above you as long as they are lawful and moral. When you are told to be at a certain location at a certain time then you are expected to be there. If you cant preform the simple task of arriving on time to a formation or keeping an appointment, then responsibility. Respect is the key to a functioning Army all the way around. Respect must be shown from there is no way you can meet the requirements for duties that require more subordinate to leader, and vice versa from leader to subordinate. Not arriving to a formation at the appointed time is blatant disrespect toward your leaders, and if no respect is shown toward the leader it will never be returned to the subordinate. When you chose to be late it shows that you are more worried about yourself than your unit or your career. This is The importance of being on time in the military is probably one of the most stressed responsibilities in the services today. The definition of being on time or punctual is acting or arriving exactly at the time appointed; prompts. Or in military terms being where you are supposed to be when you are supposed to be there. It is the easiest thing to do when it comes to the military but yet many soldiers including myself struggle every day trying to make it to that early morning formation to conduct pt when the civilian world is not awakening for another hour or so. (102) The main reason punctuality is so important is for accountability. Aaccountability is the acknowledgment and assumption of responsibility for actions, products, decisions, and policies including the administration, governance, and implementation within the scope of the role or position and encompassing the obligation to report, explain and be answerable for resulting consequences. As a term related to governance, accountability has been difficult to define. It is frequently described as an account-giving relationship between individuals, e. g. A is accountable to B when A is obliged to inform B about A’s (past or future) actions and decisions, to justify them, and to suffer punishment in the case of eventual misconduct. Accountability cannot exist without proper accounting practices; in other words, an absence of accounting means an absence of accountability. (215) Without any form of accountability there would be no way of knowing where anyone is at any given point of time. Which in turn would lead to utter confusion all the time? No one would know what anyone was doing, who had appointments, who was on leave or tasking, and if someone just did not show up for duty that particular day. (276) In my opinion being punctual is one of the most important traits someone can have it not only shows a great deal of responsibility but it also shows What Is The Importance Of Time In Our Life? Time is extremely important in our life; it helps us structure our daily lives and activities, so that we can live more organized, productive lives. While there are always drawbacks to being too conscious of time (such as the feeling of being ruled by the clock), it is essential that we have this marker to use while we work, play, and grow older. Time may also be viewed in a more philosophical sense; time represents special milestones, including birthdays, anniversaries, and the births of children. This is one of the reasons why our own date of birth is special to us. Many people keep diaries and journals to mark the passing of time these records become rich treasure troves of vital information about every day doings and any special achievements, problems, or activities. The passing of time escapes no one; we are all subject to aging and the fear of mortality. For some, the idea of getting older is a stressful one; others will feel more amiable to changing and passing through the later decades of life. For women, loss of youth may be a concern as time passes; this is one of the reasons why the beauty industry makes billions of dollars. Women seek out special serums and creams touted to reverse the visible signs of aging; however, getting older is natural, and the physical and cosmetic changes that come about through the years cannot really be halted forever. Men may fear loss of virility or strength as they age. Often, people in their forties may experience a mid-life crisis, as they become suddenly aware that they are no longer young, and that half of their life is now over. The best defense against the worries associated with contemplating time is to use the time you have effectively. Living happily and with purpose can be simpler with proper time management. Getting the most out of each day, and enjoying life to the fullest, will help you understand the importance of every moment.

The Significance of Mother-Daughter Relationships in Amy Tan’s The Joy

The Significance of Mother-Daughter Relationships in Amy Tan’s The Joy Luck Club In her novel The Joy Luck Club, Amy Tan tells of the lives of four Chinese immigrant mothers, their hopes, their dreams and the way each of their daughters feel about their mother's lives.   Mother-daughter relationships are the basis for the entire story.   Tan shows the hardships each mother experiences as a child and young adult, and how they all want better lives for their daughters.   She shows the struggles between the mothers and the daughters;   these struggles result from many different things, from the cultural gap, to dreams and goals that may have been set too high.   Each daughter knows her mother means well, but this does not make the battles any easier.   Through careful details Amy Tan shows readers the significance of each of the four mother-daughter relationships in the novel, how each daughter is slowly but surely becoming her mother. Even though Suyuan Woo is not alive her story is told through her daughter, Jing-mei â€Å"June† Woo.   In the beginning of the novel readers witness June realizing how little she really knows about her mother and her heritage when she joins the other members of the club her mother founded called Joy Luck.   Jing-mei struggles with the division between who she is and who her mother wants her to be.   ""Only two kinds of daughters."   She shouted in Chinese.   "Those who are obedient and those who follow their own mind!"   Only one kind of daughter can live in this house.   Obedient daughter."" (153) Suyuan yells this when Jing-mei refuses to practice the piano after her embarrassing performance in the talent show.   She wants her mother to realize that she doesn't have to be a genius to be special, but Suyuan do... ...y knew that in the U.S. children would be able to choose whom they married and which career they wanted to pursue. Each mother had wanted to tell her children the events she had endured but did not feel the children would appreciate the stories for their full value.  Ã‚   For many years, the mothers did not tell their daughters their stories until they were sure that their wayward offspring would listen, and by then, it is almost too late to make them understand their heritage that their mothers left behind, long ago, when they left China.   The mothers knew their children must be old enough to understand what the meaning of their travels to the United States meant to them.   They came to this country with many hopes and dreams, not only for themselves but for the children they would soon raise. Works Cited Tan, Amy. The Joy Luck Club. New York: Random House, 1989.

Effective Leadership Essay

Effective leadership is a leader with exceptional oratorical skills who can persuade people to follow him or her to reaching their goal by asserting encouragement or fear. Throughout history we have had a number of leaders, effective and ineffective. Of the effective leaders all had a goal he or she were striving to obtain. They also shared similar characteristics such as oratorical skills, and most importantly the effective leaders were aware that people are moved by pathos, emotional appeal. So therefore by asserting either encouragement or fear they were able to persuade others. All these characteristics must come together to be an effective leader. Strong speaking skills are one of the characteristics that an effective leader must have. Strong speaking skills are characterized by a controlled and firm voice. A breathy or wavering voice can be taken as a sign of weakness, and an effective leader is not one who is believed to be weak. Strong speaking skills also mean that the speaker uses purposeful and direct body movements. Distracting and unnecessary movements take away from the effectiveness because they distract the audience from giving their full attention whoever is speaking and receiving the message they are trying to relay. Most importantly for the effectiveness of a leader they must command attention with their oratorical skills. There are a numerous amount of effective leaders in history, and one thing in common was that they all had strong oratorical skills. Take Martin Luther King of example; he was a man of confidence and empowerment. He was active during the Civil Rights period when African American’s needed someone to lead them to justice and serve as a beacon of light. It was said that when he spoke to crowds nothing except the sound of his voice could be heard for miles. He commanded attention with his voice and his words of encouragement gave African Americans hope throughout the nation. His oratorical skills were one of the reasons why he became a martyr and an effective leader. Another example of an effective leader is Adolph Hitler. He spoke to thousands of people. And despite the immorality of his actions, when he spoke to people, he possessed a firm voice with even firmer body movements. In Hitler’s leadership style the strength he showed was intended to instill fear in the people; the strength he showed also made him an effective leader. `Not only does an effective leader possess strong speaking skills but they must also have the ability to be in touch with the emotional appeal of human beings. Martin Luther King instilled encouragement in the African American in their quest to overcome racial injustice. Adolf Hitler instilled fear into the German people, so therefore they felt as though there was no other option but than to obey him. Although Hitler’s ethics and actions may have been morally wrong, his means to going about having people obey him was an example of effective leadership. Both Martin Luther King and Hitler are effective leaders in the sense that they both had strong oratorical skills and that they moved people to follow them by asserting encouragement or fear.

Cyber education Essay

Examinations are a means of measuring the students’ learning in school and their capacity for further education. In this regard, the manner of teaching and the students’ learning methods are important. A student, while in primary and secondary schools, greatly relies on the teachers for knowledge, except for a few who do personal researches to further their understanding. More often than not, a student accepts what the teachers offer in school. With this set up, a student has to be abreast and attentive with classroom discussion. He should take down notes and submit in a timely manner the projects and assignments given in school. Participation in classroom discussion and school activities must be encouraged. Interest in school must be inculcated in the mind of every student to support the knowledge and understanding obtained from the classroom. This is to enable the student to have a more enjoyable stay in school. The more enjoyable the learning process is, the more retention of knowledge there. Cyber education is not at all detestable. Students’ learning is more enhanced if the mode of teaching is something which interests him. Cyber education is one that interests me and I think, is equally true with others. Where there is not much interaction with the teachers, the concept that it is more enjoyable makes the information stick into our minds. However, the concern of many that this might lead to no interaction at all with teachers, thus prevents the control of teachers on the students disregarding their personal differences and characteristics, should not be disregarded. Their concern is equally important. Thus, it is humbly proposed that learning be not limited to the traditional type of teaching, but must be combined with cyber school on some selected subjects suitable to it. A student must be exposed to both the traditional type of teaching and cyber school. It is of utmost importance that he is able to retain the information and apply what have been learned in school.

buy custom buy custom Variance Analysis essay paper

buy custom buy custom Variance Analysis essay paper Variance Analysis Variable hospital departments are important for hospitals in a variety of ways. When addressing issues of budgets, variance reports come in as essential tools that help hospitals in the management of their budgets and funds. A budget acts as a strategic financial planning tool for an organization that helps it to organize and balance their finances and funds. A budget variance comes in when a difference arises between the plan and the outcome, for example when a hospital variance unit receives its monthly budget outcome, which states that the wages were higher and the funds were lower than planned in accordance with the budget. When thinking about a budget variance, a manager must differentiate between aspects that affect the budget, and can be controlled versus those that cannot be controlled. A budget variance can occur because of several reasons, one of which could be the fact that the budget was poorly and inadequately planned. It is an example of the factor that can be controlle d. A variance report is a good way for managers to measure the company performance by putting sets of figures against others; for instance, a planned amount versus an actual amount, and seeing the difference between them. Several factors are considered when writing a budget variance. A well-organized variance report addresses such factors as trends, overspending, and under spending. The world changes as time goes by, and health care organizations also change with respect to the factors in the environment, and expectations of the patients and people, who work in those organizations. One of the most important aspects of trends to be captured in a variance report is the changing economic times that may force an organization to overspend or under spend. Thus, a variance report must put into consideration the trends in spending. If there is a trend towards overspending or under spending, then the budget must be revised. Trends are best depicted in graphic terms, and they help to reveal to an analyst whether there is a minor or a major budget lapse (Finkler McHugh, 2008). Another factor that must be put into consideration when writing a variance report is an aspect of overspending. Overspending can cause serious problems to the project that is ongoing, or the one that is under planning, as well as to other projects, just in case the organization runs out of resources. Thus, the vice president must know whether there is an aspect of overspending, and by what margin. A variance report is important for this purpose because it should communicate such information, so that the appropriate action can be taken. Another facet that a variance report must consider, is under spending. Under spending indicates problems in issues of quality control, if the budget was planned correctly. If the budget was not planned well, then the variance report will indicate an issue of over allocation. Thus, a variance report must consider this aspect to show whether the budget was done as required, and that everything was planned adequately. The mentioned factors are very import ant when writing a variance report, and if left out, it may cause a serious problem in terms of managing the organizations funds (Berger, 2008). The abovementioned three factors cover changes in input prices, changes in input productivity, and changes in departmental volume. Trends can influence the increase or decrease in input prices, input productivity, and departmental volume that could in turn influence spending towards overspending, or towards under spending. There is an important relationship between variance reporting, interpreting variance report results, and actual results of performance. Variance reporting is done when the results are available. Every month, a variance report must be provided to the vice president, meaning that there are results that are realized every month. If a variance is reported and not interpreted, then it has no importance to the organization, and will not communicate anything to the enterprise. For example, as a manager of the variable hospital unit, I received the monthly budget results for the department, and they show that the funds were lower than budgeted, while the wages were higher. The information will be meaningless if it is not interpreted; thus, I have to compare the budget results with the budget plan, and interpret the meaning of the difference to make sense of what went wrong. When reporting to the vice president, interpretation is important because a variance report has a purpose of revealing the issues that caused the differences between the budget plan and actual results. Hence, a variance report must communicate the budget plan and the monthly budget results. It means that variance reporting has a core function of communicating actual results performance that has been realized in that month (Allen, 2011). The function of variance reporting is not just reporting the variations that occurred between the budget and budget results. Interpreting does not just serve the purpose of defining the figures contained in a variance report. Variance reporting and interpretation of the variance report results have a relationship in the sense that interpretation of variance report results cannot happen without variance reporting, and actual results of performance cannot be found without variance reporting and interpretation of the variance report results. Each of these helps the other to occur. Variance reporting leads to interpretation, which in turn leads to finding the actual performance results. Likewise, actual performance results depend on the undertaking of interpretation of the variance report results, and this depends on the availability of variance reporting. The given relationship helps in variance analysis, and aids to formulate a variance analysis model, which separates cost variations a nd factors that suggest cause, and lead to corrective actions (Berger, 2008). References Allen, J. E. (2011). Nursing Home Administration. New York, NY: Springer Publishing Company. Berger, S. (2008). Fundamentals of Health Care Financial Management: A Practical Guide to Fiscal Issues and Activities. New York, NY: John Wiley Sons. Finkler, S. A., McHugh, M. L. (2008). Budgeting Concepts for Nurse Managers. New York, NY: Elsevier Health Sciences.

Disney Video Case Transcript Essays

Disney Video Case Transcript Essays Disney Video Case Transcript Essay Disney Video Case Transcript Essay Walt Disney imagineering is the creative arm for the Walt Disney Company JOE It creates the theme parks all around the world â€Å"we dream it up, come up with the ideas and we design it and we build it† I felt there should be a place built where parents and children could have fun together In 1955, Walt Disney famed for creating timeless and memorable animated feature films as Cinderella and snow white and the 7 dwarfs opened what became to be known as the happiest place on earth. To help realize the Disneyland theme park, he created Walt Disney Imagineering a group of artists and craftspeople who design and create Disney themed venues â€Å"It all started with a daddy with 2 daughters wondering where he could take them where he could have a little fun with those two â€Å" Being the first of its kind, Disneyland, with its differently themed lands, live visits from animated characters and a host of remarkable innovations in animatronics was a smash hit The park faced its share of opening day troubles like malfunctioning water fountains n hot opening day but overall it was operating safely in California 16 years later, the one and only happiest place on earth began appearing in other places on earth. The first expansion to Walt Disney world in Florida created new opportunities for Imagineering to experiment and they created attractions like Epcot center – a taste of cultures from all over the world. The results drew fans from across the globe, but later iterations at the park in Europe and Asia are the first real experiments in bringing Disney entertainment directly and personally to a global audience right in their front yard. But how does a company like Disney preserve its fundamental message and still cater to the widely varying tastes of the different world cultures. Well it takes a good bit of Imagineering. â€Å"The Disney brand works so well because at its core the brand is about very human traits. Things that resonate across the human experience. There’s stories about families, humor, our fears and those kind of translate across all languages and cultures. Every time a child walks into a Disney resort, Europe or asia, they are participating In global trade. A company like Disney has a profound impact on a new market financially and culturally. With the us representing only 5% of the world population, there is good reason for Disney to seek to enter new markets. Jim Thomas The Walt Disney company has 3 companywide strategic priorities. Creativity and innovation, the application of technology, and global expansion. In return our guests get unique one of a kind and very memorable experiences that they will relive for the rest of their lives. But entering a new market like China for example, is not as simple as setting up a theme park and opening the gates. A company may experience barriers to trade like language and cultural differences, political challenges and the need to deal in foreign currencies. From a cultural standpoint, HongKongs Disneyland tomorrowland provided a particularly creative challenge for the imagineers. TOM MORRIS – But how are we going to do this? How are we going to present tomorrowland to the people who are living in it? It’s a city of glass and steel, beautiful lighting, moving sidewalks; air conditioned covered walkways and great public transportation system. And so we decided to really take the story of tomorrowland off planet earth and move it to a planet far away in the galaxy. The opening of a Disneyland in china is a win win situation. Disney brings family oriented entertainment to a new market and HongKong enjoys both the fresh experience and foreign appeal of Disney land as well as strong stimulation to the local economy in the form of tourism. In fact the Hongkong government played a major role in helping Hongkong Disneyland to become a reality. Obviously they are an investor in the park, but they also took the lead role in creating the landfill on which the park and resort are built, they also were responsible for all of the infrastructure to support the operation of the resort. – JIM To actually build a Disney theme park takes both imagination and engineering – Imagineering. But where do imagineers come from? Certainly, Disney has its own staff. Entering a local market, gives you both a challenge and an opportunity. TOM – While the design fundamentally takes place in Glendale, we hire additional people in Hongkong and I’m talking about architects, engineers, set designers, you don’t want to bring everyone from California, you want to use the local talent, you identify the best people you can while the project is being designed and then you keep the cream of the crop on staff and they become a part of the legacy moving forward for Imagineering based locally in that area. But building the park is only half the battle the imagineers have to be sensitive to the needs of each market and that sometimes means not assuming too much because a market’s expectations can be unexpected. TOM – While the park is coming up out on the ground, we begin to get kind of a sense of where we ought to be going with food or language. One might think that in France, we wouldn’t want to have American cuisine, that they’d want to have their own local indigenous cuisine, it is kind of the culinary capital of the world, but in fact we found out that they do want a little bit more than what we were offering, they do want the burgers and what we call â€Å"grazing food† – the food that people can have as they walk through the park. All in all every Disneyland is both a uniquely local experience and an entertainment very faithful to the Disney tradition. No matter where in the world Disney and the imagineers go, they have to achieve both goals. It’s a small world after all. JOE – Disney theme park experience is so loved because it allows our guests for at least a day to plan a world of their imagination and we create these great stages, these worlds that are filled with fantasy imagery and optimistic look at the future and you get to be a player in that world for a day When first seeking to do business in a foreign land, job one is learning the culture- you want to maintain your integrity as a company but you must also respect the sensitivities of your market. In Honkong for example, they were careful to honor the ancient Chinese practice of achieving harmony with the environment. TOM – We had a feng shui consultant who worked with us all the way through to help us with many of those key decisions, and orientations – the positioning of the hotels the positioning of the promenade, where the train comes in, where the park and the resort sits overall with respect to the south china sea and the hills in the background. JOE – Another thing in Japan, gift giving is really big part of their culture. So most of our shops are very popular and have a very high volume of guest traffic so we actually have to have more cash registers, we have to have more queuing to account for that. There are simpler traditions to honor as well. Such as the greater affinity the asian market has for taking photographs. We put so much attention into everything whether it’s a railing, a lamppost, a mailbox, a park bench, every one of those moments we create, it’s nice to know that people are caring and appreciative of what we do . Imagineering will continue to accept the challenge of bringing Disney to new places around the world, carrying the lessons that it’s learned elsewhere. But imagineers will also have to use the insight that they’ve gained to anticipate challenges that have not yet proven very difficult. JIM – Hongkong has a diverse history being a British protectoral. It has a free market economy, a great deal of western influence, and of course the predominant language was English. In other Asian markets however, there are many cultural differences that we must encounter and adapt to and probably one of the most significant difference is Language. But Imagineering is also open to ideas that it hasn’t thought of. The company collects a great deal of feedback after a park like Tokyo Disneyland opens for use in future projects or to improve current venues. And of course the internet is one way to collect such feedback. JOE- We do use the internet for feedback. Mostly listening to in Japan, our guests are giving us information about trends and things that are popular in the culture at the time. And we use that information more to adjust what we call the software which is our entertainment and our special events. But at the core of what we deliver, in our attractions, they have to be universal; events can be timely but our core attractions have to be timeless. TOM – And send a good message about what the world is about, that it is optimistic.