Pressing Environmental Issues in Manitoba Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Pressing Environmental Issues in Manitoba - Essay Example Manitoba’s mining industry is currently worth over $2.5 billion with peat, zinc, silver, gold, copper, platinum, cobalt and nickel being the major metal products of this sector. Mining has however been a major threat to terrestrial biodiversity in Manitoba through land conversions and pollution (Wellington, 1997). A key environmental concern in mining has always centered on the rehabilitation of old, orphaned mines which consist of steep excavations, shafts and exploration trenches. Despite mining being a key revenue generator for Manitoba’s government, public safety has been compromised after abandoned mines are left unattended since such mines pose a threat to local communities living nearby. The Mine Closure Regulation which was approved in 1999 led to the establishment of The Orphaned and Abandoned Mines Program (OAMS) mandated to deal with such mines by sealing them using Otto Bayer’s Polyurethane foam (PUF) technology (Priscu et al, 2009). Many of these aba ndoned sites are situated within the Precambrian Shield which has massive gold deposits. Provincial Parks, aquatic life and areas with dense vegetation have not been spared due to discovery of more valuable metal deposits under them which eventually results in encroachment by the mining industry. Industry plays a major part in Manitoba’s development. However, hazardous waste mainly originates from Manitoba’s industries and exhibit a variety of harmful radiological, corrosive, bio hazardous, explosive and toxic properties.

Dunkin Donuts in England Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Dunkin Donuts in England - Research Paper Example Finally, this proposal includes a thoroughly researched site selection process and final implementation strategy. The hallmark of Dunkin’s business model is customer loyalty. John Costello, Dunkin’ Donuts’ Chief Global Marketing and Innovation Officer, identified the opportunities for our team; guests of Dunkin Donuts have developed a connection with the brand that is truly unique. (Restaurant Magazine, 2012) The customer relationships we foster help sustain our profitability and success within the domestic and international markets. An increase in customer loyalty of only 5% can lift lifetime profits per customer by as much as 95%. For the sixth year in a row, Dunkin’ Donuts has been ranked #1 for coffee brand loyalty by Key Brands Consulting, (Brand Keys, 2012). This recognition is a testament to the quality of the products and services offered in each establishment across the nation. While Dunkin’ enjoys domestic brand loyalty from Americanâ€⠄¢s within the U.S., the competition is gaining strong competitive advantage in England. For example, Starbucks has opened over 700 stores in the U.K., (Barnett, 2011) which has allowed them to capture brand recognition and customer loyalty in this seemingly untapped market. Dunkin’ Donuts understands how to build, execute, and maintain a better and stronger customer loyalty from offering superior products and value. For this reason, the strategic team believes that expanding Dunkin’ Donuts to the U.K. will prove to be a tremendous success. England is ready to â€Å"Run on Dunkin’.† Strategic Analysis / Operational Plan Before considering global expansion, several factors should be considered including any currency and economic concerns, the current political environment, cultural complexities and potential trade barriers. The strategic analysis will review each of these with respect to expansion into England. The included SWOT analysis (appendix A) will summarize the issues and highlight Dunkin’ Donut’s strengths and weaknesses with respect to the global situation in England. Currency Concerns The United Kingdom is unlikely to give up monetary policy independence and adopt the Euro (Anonymous, 2012). While this decision has not influenced the high level of foreign investment continued in the U.K., it may be a factor when looking at interest rate risk. However, for the type of direct store structure Dunkin’ Donuts maintains, it should not be considered a barrier to global expansion. Inflation continues to be a concern as it has exceeded the 2% target throughout the past three years. Current inflation is reflective of the increases in commodity prices, higher import prices caused by the depreciation of the sterling, and the increase in the standard rate of Value Added Tax (VAT) (Monetary Policy Roundtable, 2011). The valuation of the sterling also influences England’s trade by lowering the price of exports relative to the price of imports. This results in a decline of real purchasing power, which could influence whether residents would have discretionary funds available to support new Dunkin’ Donut’s locations. However, the increase in available jobs that the new locations would bring should have positive

Case study Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

Case study - Essay Example In 1993, Peter Solvik joined Cisco and made IT the central functionality of the company. He showed interest in starting many projects for the upgrading of IT in the company. He brought many changes and supported the company in adopting IT successfully. However, when Peter Solvik left the company and Boston joined as the new CEO, there were many problems revealed with the current IT adopted by the company (McAfee, McFarlan and Wagonfeld 4). ERP was introduced by Peter Solvik in the company and was installed for handling inventory and manufacturing functions but with the passage of time, other functions was also added to the ERP system due to which, problems were there (McAfee, McFarlan and Wagonfeld 3-4). Boston after becoming the CEO identified these problems and showed interest in three main projects, which were to upgrade the ERP, to develop enterprise reporting and business information solution and to develop a single database (McAfee, McFarlan and Wagonfeld 5). This paper will di scuss all the relevant details of the case in depth. IT Governance Styles at Different Levels Peter Solvik after joining Cisco changed the company’s consideration of IT as an overhead. He made sure that IT performed the role of central functionality of the company. According to his opinion, without using latest technology, the company was not able to progress. Under his governance, ERP system was implemented, which was to handle manufacturing and inventory tasks at the start. In his tenure, the company created its own internet and intranet, due to which not only the data transfer procedures were eased out but also many customers were added to the company’s profile due to which, the company was able to generate more revenue. Peter Solvik’s IT governance style was profitable and commendable for the company as it was due to this style that the company gained reputation and enhanced profits in the market. The organization was made an IT centralized organization (McA fee, McFarlan and Wagonfeld 3). At network/infrastructure level, internet and intranet were developed to control all network related functions such as sales, manufacturing and others. A website was developed with the name Cisco.com. At data level, intranet was used for data transferring while at application level, the ERP was developed to handle the manufacturing and inventory applications of the company. Problems with Cisco There were many problems with the company’s IT by 2001, which were discovered after Boston’s joining the company. Many customized tools were there to handle different functionalities for which, extra costs were paid. The investment for the customized tools was too much and information retrieval was problem. In addition, there was no central decision making for the IT functions as every department made its own decisions due to which, there were problems related to upgrading ERP system of the company as a whole. There was lack of centralized planning , which was again problematic for the company (McAfee, McFarlan and Wagonfeld 5). Many old custom interfaces were required to be put out of action in order to install a newer version of ERP, which will be problematic for the users of ERP. In addition, ERP was designed mainly to

The Decision Making Process How Communication Is Important Essay Example for Free

The Decision Making Process How Communication Is Important Essay Good decision making is an essential skill for career success generally, and effective leadership particularly. If you can learn to make timely and well-considered decisions, then you can often lead your team to spectacular and well deserved success. However, if you make poor decisions your organization can tumble. Regardless of the size of business you are in whether a large corporation, a small company, or even a home based business effective communication skills are essential for success especially when a decision has to be made. Decision making in management is an important skill and making the right decisions is essential. Every manager should be looking to improve their decision making skills and communication skills. The process of business decision making is of the utmost importance for effective management. Decision making process in management must be informed by expert knowledge and experience in all departments. â€Å"The decision-making role in organizations is crucial. If things are going smoothly, there is not much for management to do, but if things go wrong or new opportunities arise, somebody has to decide on hiring and firing workers, investing in new machines or scrapping old ones, marketing new products and dropping old ones, and how to raise the necessary finance. † (Fong, Kwok, 2005) The role of management is to take these decisions, communicate with all the departments in the organization that are involved, and make the right decision. The people who do the managing, this may involve a members of the organizations at different ranks, with subordinates, branch, or assistant managers exercising limited caution, and the managing director as the overall boss of an organization, laying down general outline of policy, all of the people can help to carry out the decisions. They all need to communicate and bring out their point of views before making a decision. â€Å"The six step decision making process is a balanced decision making process. It is based upon thinking about, comparing and evaluating various alternatives. † (Dollak, 2008) Each step must be completed before going to the next step. And occasionally it may be necessary to go back several steps to more fully complete them before moving forward again. The steps are: * define the situation and the desired outcome * research and identify options * compare and contrast each alternative and its consequences * choose an alternative * design and implement an action plan * evaluate results Decision making is at the heart of business operations. High quality decision making is essential for businesses to succeed and prosper, and communication is really crucial during that time. Unfortunately, the decision process is hard to pin down and understand and often receives far less attention than it deserves. The future of ones business is written in the decisions of today. Every effort to make those decisions of high quality will be rewarded. Organizational decision making involves translating inputs of information to outputs of courses of action and implies that the capacity to act depends on a shared understanding among organizational members. â€Å"Interactive communication and decision making within the organization and any group within the organization, at that time there will be varied opinions on the suitable actions to take in any scenario but these differences exist within a structure of shared values and agreed procedures. † (Kelly, 1994) Decision making and communication in organization go hand in hand, one relates to another, and they are both essential in any organization.

HRM Information Systems

HRM Information Systems ABSTRACT Information technology is expected to drive Human Resource (HR)s transition from a focus on Human Resource Management (HRM) to Strategic Human Resource Management (SHRM). This strategic role not only adds a valuable dimension to the HR function, but also changes the competencies that define HR professional and practitioner success. The study aims at investigating what role if any do Human Resource Information Systems (HRIS) play in SHRM. It attempts to examine how HR professionals and managers in different organizations see the effects of HRIS on strategic HR tasks and job roles. It also tries to find out if there is any significant difference in the usage of HRIS between Small/Medium (SME) size and large size companies. A survey questionnaire was sent to different companies. The target group of the questionnaire was HR managers, HR directors, and HR professionals in companies based in England. The scope was widened to include both large and small/medium sized organizations across all the business sectors. The results of the survey reveal that HR professionals not only consider HRIS usage as a support for strategic HR tasks but also perceive it as an enabling technology. The study also indicates that large sized firms are most likely to experience considerable HRIS usage in support of strategic HR tasks. Moreover, there was no significant difference in proportion to the size of a company regarding HRIS usage in support of commitment management and managing trade union relations with organizations. Low response rate of this study makes generalization rather difficult however, future research would benefit from higher response rates for more generalized results OVERVIEW The relationship between the HR strategies and the firms performance is an issue that has caused significant differentiations in the literature mostly because of the existence of many parameters that can influence the results produced through the examination of this problem in practice. Moreover, because within a firm, the participants and the interests are many it is difficult to identify the role and the significance of each particular organizational element particularly when there is no specific corporate plan for such an investigation. RESEARCH PROBLEM The human resources strategies followed by modern organizations present significant differentiations in accordance with the firms position in the market, its performance and its financial strength in general. In the long term, the application of specific human resources strategies has been found to be related with the performance of the organization. Moreover, where appropriate HR plans have been applied, the organizational performance has been found to be increased. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF THE RESEARCH Current research as already mentioned above will focus on the examination of the relationship between HR strategies applied within a particular organization and its performance. In order for the above task to lead to valid results, a series of other issues are going to be examined at a secondary level. These issues are indicatively: a) Which is the significance of the HR for the organizational operation, b) How the HR strategies can be more effective? c) Is there any chance for innovation in firms with specific HR plan or any relevant initiative has to be adapted to the existed framework? d) Which are the main aspects of organizational growth and e) Are there any other factors that can influence the firms performance and which would be their interaction with the HR strategies already implemented in the particular firm? LIMITATIONS OF THE RESEARCH Current research is limited by the fact that it is rather unlikely for companies to provide data related with their employees problems related with the workplace. On the other hand, any programs or support tools existed are very likely to be provided by all firms that would be engaged in the research of current project. For this reason, although the job satisfaction and the personal development of employees would be rather easily monitored, the existence of problems in the workplace would be difficult to be proved. For this reason current research as already described above focuses on the examination of the human resources strategies followed by organizations in general as these practices can be observed in most firms of modern commercial market. The existence of specific differentiations in accordance with the specific issue will have to be proved either by statistics released in general or by cases examined particularly in the legal area. INTRODUCTION According to Likert, Every aspect of firms activities is determined by the competence, motivation and general effectiveness of its human organization. Of all the tasks of management, managing the human component is the central and most important task because all depends how well it is done. This quotation sums up the importance of human components in an organisation and the need for managing it effectively. Human resource management is concerned with all aspects of managing the human resources of an organisation. More specifically, human resource management involves determining the organisations heed of human resource, recruiting and selecting the best available employees, developing, counselling and rewarding employees, acting as a liaison with union and government organisation and handling other matters regarding to the well being of employees. Each of these functions is necessary to some degree irrespective of nature and size of the organisation. That is why in most of the organis ation a separate department know as Personnel/Human resource Department is created for the effective performance of these functions. The relationship between the HR strategies and the firms performance is an issue that has caused significant differentiations in the literature mostly because of the existence of many parameters that can influence the results produced through the examination of this problem in practice. Moreover, because within a firm, the participants and the interests are many it is difficult to identify the role and the significance of each particular organizational element particularly when there is no specific corporate plan for such an investigation. Organization must have a set of unique resources for gaining competitive advantage moreover proper utilization of those resources matters a lot. Today organization employee acts as a main resource and knowledge, skills and abilities have to be deployed and used to the maximum effect if the organization is to create value. LITERATURE REVIEW Human resources should be considered as a significant organizational asset. In this context, the application of the appropriate strategies for its development, can lead to the improvement of the corporate performance both in the short and the long term. However, there are also companies where human resources are not considered as having particular importance for the firms growth. In this context, Haines (1997, 95) supported that there are firms that view their human resources as an expense rather than an asset an element that is expendable and perhaps discarded when the skills possessed becomes obsolete; however when human resources are viewed as an asset, companies enhance individual value through training and human development and ensure continued contribution to the organization. The importance of human resources for the corporate performance has in any case proved both in the literature and the empirical research conducted in all industrial sectors. In accordance with the above, in order for a firm to achieve a stable and continuous growth, it is necessary that its employees are satisfied as this term has been explained in the literature. More specifically, in accordance with Kim (2005, 669) job satisfaction is an affective or emotional response toward various facets of ones job. Job satisfaction has been a topic of great interest for researchers and practitioners in a wide range of fields, including organizational psychology, public administration, and management. On the other hand, the existence of job satisfaction has been extensively related with the level of payment of employees in the particular sectors of a specific organization. Indeed, the study of Rudman (2003) showed that paying for performance is a big issue in contemporary human resources management; organisations have long believed that production and productivity improve when pay is linked to performance, and have developed payment-by-results (PBR) systems and incentive schemes to support th is belief. In the same context, it is noticed by Blinder (1990, 117) that employees usually feel that profit sharing and gain sharing are good for personal effort, company growth and productivity, and workplace atmosphere. However, in order for the firms to achieve the maximum level of growth, it is necessary to design and apply the appropriate HR policies as indicated by each particular firms needs. The use of fit as a criterion of evaluation of the appropriate corporate strategy has been extensively used in practice. Towards this direction Wright (1998, 56) mentioned that the basic theory behind fit is that the effectiveness of any HR practice or set of practices for impacting firm performance depends upon the firms strategy (or conversely, the effectiveness of any strategy depends upon having the right HR practices). In other words, the issues that need to be considered by a firm before applying any relevant HR strategy are many. Indicatively, Katzell (1975, 5, 11-12) tried to identify the relationship between the employee satisfaction (as a result of a specific HR strategy) and the corporate performance and found that policy-makers must face up to a serious dilemma and find some way to resolve it; the dilemma is this: policy-makers would like to achieve two objectives for work organizations, on the one hand to enhance productivity and performance, and on the other to improve the quality of working life and job satisfaction for employers because under certain conditions, improving productivity will enhance worker satisfaction and improvements in job satisfaction will contribute to productivity; what it does mean is that there is no automatic and invariant relationship between the two. Under these terms, corporate performance has been found to be related with the employees performance within a particular organization. From a different point of view, Lawler et al. (2003, 15) supported that HRs greatest opportunity to add value may well be to play a role in the development and implementation of corporate strategy; HR can make a logical case for being an important part of strategy development, because of the importance of human capital in the ability of the firm to carry out its strategy. In other words, HR strategy can influence the firms growth in accordance with the measures provided for the personal and professional development of the firms employees even in the long term. The implementation of appropriate diversity strategy has to be considered in this case as absolutely necessary because in case of inequality in the workplace, no cooperation would be regarded as existed even if such cooperation exists, it will be problematic. In this context, Mathews (1998, 175 ) noticed that before diversity strategies are implemented, the organizations cultural environment, management and evaluation systems should be examined to ascertain if existing personnel/human resources processes will support or hinder diversity in the organization; then, appropriate strategies can be designed to develop and manage diversity based on these findings. From the same point of view, Ramlall (2003, 60) supported that given that several large-scale studies have proven that HRM is a critical driver in an organizations financial performance, it is imperative for HR and other leaders to understand the critical nature and utmost importance of understanding the effectiveness of all HR activities in creating value for the organization. To a more thorough examination of the problem, Christensen managed to identify the five elements that are considered as most crucial in the improvement of the employees productivity (as this improvement is expected to lead to the increase of the corporate growth). More specifically, Christensen supported that there are five elements which are extremely important for the effectiveness of employees within a particular organizational environment. These are (1958, 34): a) The technical organization of the group; b) The social structure of the group; c) The individual task motivation, i.e., the willingness to work hard that each member brings to and maintains toward his job; d) The rewards he receives from doing the job, and e) The satisfactions he obtains from being an accepted member of the group. The above elements can exist in any organization and can influence the productivity of its employees either in the short or in the long term. HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT (HRM) During and after 1970s, several changes took place in many countries which led to the term Human resource Management in place of the traditional term Personnel Management. These changes, declining importance of trade unionism, shift from industrial employment to service sector employment, growing competition, deregulation of economies, etc. As a result, three important roles of human resources have emerged as stated below. Human resource policies can be integrated with strategic business planning and used to reinforce appropriate culture. Human resources are valuable and a source of competitive advantage. Human resources can be tapped mostly effectively by mutually consistent policies which promote commitment and Foster a willingness in employees to act flexible in the interests of the adaptive organisations pursuit of excellence. The term Human resource management has been the subject of considerable debate, and its underlying philosophy and character are highly controversial. Much of this controversy stems from the absence of a precise formulation of and agreement on its significance and definition (Storey, 1989; and 1995a), as cited by Bratton and Gold (2003: 7). Obviously, definition of the subject matter is needed for analysis and understanding of HRM theory and practice. HRM DEFINITION HRM has a variety of definitions but there is general agreement that it has a closer fit with business strategy than previous models, specifically personnel management. In all the debates about the meaning, significance and practice of HRM, nothing seems more certain than the link between HRM and performance (HRM Guide October 2006). Below are some of the definitions of HRM, although it can be argued that these will only be ones of several possible definitions. De Cenzo and Robbins (1996: 8) defined HRM as the part of the organization that is concerned with the people dimension, and it is normally a staff or support function in the organization. HRM role is the provision of assistance in HRM issues to line employees, or those directly involved in producing the organizations goods and services. Acquiring peoples services, developing their skills, motivating them to high levels of performance, and ensuring their continuing maintenance and commitment to the organization are essential to achieving organizational goals. This is much the case regardless of the type of organization, government, business, education, health, recreation, or social action. The authors proposed an HRM specific approach as consisting of four functions- staffing, training and development, motivation, and maintenance. In addition, Bratton and Gold (2003: 7) define HRM as the strategic approach to managing employment relations which emphasizes that leveraging peoples capabilities is critical to achieving sustainable competitive advantage. This is achieved through a distinctive set of integrated employment policies, programs and practices. The authors presented HRM functions as planning, recruitment and selection, appraisal and performance management, reward management, development, employee relations, health and safety, and union-management relations. Moreover, to Alan Price (2004: 32) HRM aims at recruiting capable, flexible and committed people, managing and rewarding their performance and d eveloping key competencies. Contributing to the working definition of HRM is Abecker et al., (2004). They see HRM as a strategic and target oriented composition, regulation and development of all areas that affect human resources in a company. Efficient and effective management of these resources to a large extend, affects human resource behaviour, and consequently the performance of the organization as a whole. Moreover, the authors identified HRM with the field it covers. These include planning aspects- personnel requirements analysis and personnel asset analysis, and change aspects- recruitment, personnel development and labour displacement (Ibid). Next, is the diagrammatic representation of the said field. Human Resource Management Change Aspects Planning Aspects Personnel Requirement Analysis Labour Displacement Personnel Development Recruitment Personnel Asset Analysis Figure1: Fields of HRM (Source: Abecker et al., 2004) It is however, somehow strange, that, an important aspect of HRM, payroll or compensation/payment is missing from the field in figure 1 above propounded by the authors. Abecker et al., (2004) like the previous other authors, did not present a conclusive and detailed definition of HRM including the other concepts (HR processes). Lastly considered are the opinions of various management scholars who have taken a more in-depth look at the whole concept of HRM. These opinions should be given the greatest weight, since they reflect more in-depth research on the subject than is done by most textbook authors. Few such authors are Dessler et al., (1999), and Torrington et al.,(2005). According to Torrington et al., (2005: 5) HRM is fundamental to all management activity and has evolved from a number of different strands of thought. It is best described as a loose philosophy of people management rather than a focused methodology. Thus, distinction has been made between HRM as body of management activities on one hand (generically described as personnel management) and then on the other as a particular approach to execute those activities (carrying out people-oriented organizational activities than traditional personnel management). An organization gains competitive advantage by using its employees effectively, drawing on their expertise and ingenuity to meet clearly defined objectives. Torrington et al.,(2005: 5) identified the role of the human resource functions with the key objectives. These four objectives are the corner stone of all HR activities. These include Staffing, Performance, Change-management and Administration. Staffing objective focuses on finding the appropriate pool of human resources needed to ensure full and timely supply of work force (Ibid). It therefore involves designing organizational structures, identifying working conditions for different groups of employees followed by recruiting, selecting and developing the personnel required to fill the roles. Performance objective aims at ensuring workforce motivation and commitment for effective performance. Consequently, employees training and development remain important. Moreover, managing change effectively and efficiently remains one of the core objectives in almost every business. Key issues here include recruiting and/or developing people with the required leadership skills to drive the change process. Change agents are employed to encourage acceptance of change by coming out with reward systems associated with the change process. Employees involvement is also paramount here and is encouraged. The aim is to avoid resistance to change, more especially where it involves cultural changes (attitude, philosophy or long-present organizational norms). Administration objective aims at facilitating the smooth running of the organization. Hence, there is the need for accurate and comprehensive data on individual employees, records of achievement in terms of performance, attendance, training records, terms and condition of employment and personal details are (Ibid). However, for the purpose of this study, literature on the HRM concept will be based on the opinions of Dessler et al., (1999). The authors defined HRM as the management of people in organizations. It consists of the activities, policies, and practices involved in obtaining, developing, utilizing, evaluating, maintaining, and retaining the appropriate number and skill mix of employees to accomplish the organizations objectives. The goal of HRM is to maximize employees contributions in order to achieve optimal productivity and effectiveness, while simultaneously attaining individual objectives and societal objectives Dessler et al., (1999: 2). To the authors, the function of HRM include assisting the organization in attracting the quality and quantity of candidates required with respect to the organizations strategy and operational goals, staffing needs, and desired culture. Helping to maintain performance standards and increase productivity through orientation, training, development, job design, effective communication, and performance appraisal. Helping to create a climate in which employees are encouraged to develop and utilize their skills to the fullest. Helping to establish and maintain cordial working relationship with employees. Helping to create and maintain safe and healthy work environment. Development of programs to meet economic, psychological, and social needs of the employees. Helping the organization to retain productive employees and ensuring that the organization complies with provincial/territorial and federal laws affecting the work place such as human rights, employment equity, occupational health and safety (Ibid). HRM PROCESSES This sub section illustrates the processes involved in executing the HRM functions. Each of the functions: planning, recruitment, selection, orientation and training, performance appraisal etc. goes through a process. Unless otherwise stated, the rest of this section will be drawn from (Dessler et al., 1999)s literature based on pages 165 to 533. PLANNING PROCESS Human Resource Planning (HRP) process reviews human resources requirements to ensure that the organization has the required number of employees, with the necessary skills, to meet its goals, also known as employment planning. HRP is a proactive process, which both anticipates and influences an organizations future by systematically forecasting the demand for and supply of employees under changing conditions, and developing plans and activities to satisfy these needs. Key steps include forecasting demand for labour considering organizational strategic and tactical plans, economic conditions, market and competitive trends, social concerns, demographic trends, and technological changes. RECRUITMENT PROCESS Recruitment is the process of searching for and attracting an adequate number of qualified job candidate, from whom the organization may select the most appropriate to field its staff needs. The process begins when the need to fill a position is identified and it ends with the receipt of rà ©sumà ©s and completed application forms. The result is a pool of qualified job seekers from which the individual best matching the job requirements can be selected. The steps in recruitment process include identification of job openings, determination of job requirements, choosing appropriate recruiting sources and methods, and finally, generating a pool of qualified recruits. Job openings are identified through human resource planning or manager request. Next is to determine the job requirements. This involves reviewing the job description and the job specification and updating them, if necessary. Appropriate recruiting sources and methods are chosen because there is no one, best recruiting te chnique. Consequently, the most appropriate for any given position depend on a number of factors, which include organizational policies and plans, and job requirements. SELECTION PROCESS Selection is the process of choosing individuals with the relevant qualifications to fill existing or projected openings. Data and information about applicants regarding current employees, whether for a transfer or promotion, or outside candidates for the first time position with the firm are collected and evaluated. The steps in the selection process, in sending order include preliminary reception of applicants, initial applicant screening, selection testing, selection interview, background investigation and reference checking, supervisory interview, realistic job previews, making the hiring decision, candidate notification, and evaluating the selection process. However, each step in the selection process, from preliminary applicant reception and initial screening to the hiring decision, is performed under legal, organizational, and environmental constraints that protect the interests of both applicant and organization. ORIENTATION, TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT PROCESS Employee orientation is the procedure of providing new employees with basic background information about the firm and the job. Is more or less, considered as one component of the employers new-employee socialization process. Socialization process is an ongoing process of initialling in all employees the prevailing attitudes, standards, values, and patterns of behaviour that are expected by the organization. Training however is the process of teaching new or present employees the basic skills/competencies needed to perform their jobs. Whereas training focuses on skills and competencies needed to perform employees current jobs, employee and management development is the training of long-term nature. The aim is to prepare current employees for future jobs with the organization or solving an organizational problem concerning, for example, poor interdepartmental communication. Training and development processes include needs analysis, instructional design, validation, implementation, and evaluation and follow-up. CAREER PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT PROCESS It is the deliberate process through which persons become aware of personal career related attributes and the lifelong series of activities that contribute to their career fulfilment. Individuals, managers, and the organization have role to play in career development. Individuals accept responsibility of own career, assess interests, skills, and values, seek out career information and resources, establish goals and career plans, and utilize development opportunities. The career stage identification entails career cycle (the stages through which a persons career evolves). These stages include the following: growth, exploration, establishment, maintenance, and decline stages. Occupational orientation identification is the theory by John Holland. This theory enumerates six basic personal orientations that determine the sorts of careers to which people are drawn. They include realistic orientation, investigative orientation, social orientation, conventional orientation, enterprise orientation, and artistic orientation. PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL PROCESS Performance appraisal may be defined as any procedure that involves setting work standards, assessing employees actual performance relative to these standards, and providing feedback to the employee with the aim of motivating the worker to eliminate performance deficiencies or to continue to perform above par. Processes in performance appraisal contain three steps: defining performance expectations, appraising performance, and providing feedback. First, defining performance expectation means making sure that job duties and standards are clear to all. Second, appraising performance means comparing employees actual performance to the standards that has been set, which normally involves some type of rating form. Third, performance appraisal usually requires one or more feedback sessions to discuss employees performance and progress and making plans for any required development. Some of the appraisal methods include graphic rating scale, alternation ranking, paired comparison, forced dis tribution, and critical incident methods. EMPLOYEE COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS PROCESS Employee compensation involves all forms of pay or rewards accrued to employees and arising from their employment. This however consists of two main components: direct financial payments, and indirect payments. While direct financial payments are in the form of wages, salaries, incentives, commissions, and bonuses, indirect payments are in the form of financial benefits like employer-paid insurance and vacations. Moreover, legal considerations in compensation, union influences, compensation policies, and equity and its impact on pay rates are the four basic considerations influencing the formulation of any pay plan. Benefits are indirect financial payments given to employees. These may include supplementary health and life insurance, vacation, pension, education plans, and discounts on say company products. Furthermore, income and medical benefits to victims of work-related accidents or illness and/or their dependents, regardless of fault are all part of employees compensation. The processes in establishing pay rates involve the following five steps: First, conducting wages/salary survey to determine the prevailing wage rates for comparable jobs, which is central in job pricing. Second, determine the relative worth of each job (job evaluation) by comparing the job content in relation to one another in terms of their efforts, responsibility, and skills. This eventually results in wage or salary hierarchy. Third, group similar jobs into pay grades, a pay grade comprises of jobs of approximately equal value or importance as determined by job evaluation. Forth, price each pay grade using wage curves. A wage curve is graphical description of the relationship between the value of job and the average wage paid for the job. However, if jobs are not grouped into pay grades, individual pay rates have to be assigned to each job. Fifth, fine tune pay rates. This involves correcting out-of-line rates and usually developing rate ranges. OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY PROCESS Occupational health and safety process aims at protecting the health and safety of workers by minimizing work-related accidents and illnesses. Laws and legislations to ensure and observe general health and safety rules bound employers. More so, rules for specific industries, for example, mining and rules related to specific hazards, for instance, asbestos have to be adhered to. The following steps are important in this process. Checking for or removing unsafe conditions by using checklist to audit a companys adherence to safety rules that are guarded against hazards, which cannot be removed. Next, through selection, screening out of employees who might be accident prone for job in question without compromising the human right legislation. More so, establishing a safety policy, this emphasizes on the importance of practically reducing accidents and injuries. Setting specific loss control goals by analyzing the number of accidents and safety incidents and then set specific safety goals to be achieved. Enforcing safety rules through discipline and conducting health and safety inspections regularly by investigating all accidents and near misses, and by having a system in place for letting employe

Graphical User Interface For The 3 Axis Cnc Milling Machine Computer Science Essay

Graphical User Interface For The 3 Axis Cnc Milling Machine Computer Science Essay This paper details the design and development of a Graphical User Interface for the 3-Axis CNC Milling Machine, which was designed in-house for testing and research purposes at the University of the South Pacific. The 3-axis CNC Milling Machine used COM Port terminal software, TeraTerm to communicate with the electronics hardware via RS232 link. The GUI was developed using Microsoft ® Visual Basic 2008 Integrated Development Environment. The end result is an interface that is user friendly and is capable of controlling various tasks of the Milling Machine. This paper aims to explain how simple components of Microsoft ® Visual Basic 2008 has been used to design a Windows ® based user interface which is capable of complete control of CNC milling machine. Keywords: GUI, Serial Port, CNC, G Codes, STEP NC 1. INTRODUCTION Over the years a number of methods have been developed to control machine tools. The most widespread used throughout the industry is the G Code language for NC machine tools programming. It is based on the data model stipulated by ISO6983, and has been used for over 50 years [1]. G codes, however, limits the usage of todays fast evolving high-performance hardware [2]. The latest development in NC machine tools programming is ISO 14649 or STEP NC. It is a new standard for data transferring between CAD/CAM systems and CNC machines. It remedies the shortcomings of ISO 6983 by specifying the machining processes rather than machine toolmotion by means of Workingstep, as the basic entity [1] Whichever method of programming NC machine tools is used, it is always important to verify the program before doing actual testing. Verification of NC part programs using a PC is inexpensive compared to testing on model parts. Cutting simulation as a means of testing and verifying NC cutting paths has become an important part of modern machining [3]. With the latest advancements in PC technology and 3D graphics it is much easier to simulate NC cutting paths. A common CNC executes G-code programs, which are generated as a result of planning and scheduling in CAM tools [4]. However an interface is required to send or execute NC part program to the CNC. The user interface is the communication Tool between the operator and the PC-based CNC drilling machine, via the computer screen [5]. The recent advancement in software development technology using Object Oriented Programming (OOP) has made it possible to create simple user interface with a sound communication link to control NC machines. In 2002 [5], a GUI was developed at the University of the South Pacific for a PC-Based computer numeric control drilling machine. The platform for the graphical user interface (GUI) was written in Borlands new rapid application product, C++ Builder ®. Gordon and Hillery [6] developed a Windows ® based graphical user interface for their CNC cutting machine. The user interface communicated with the machine via RS232 serial link. The programming environment used was Borland C++ Builder 3, which allowed the visual development of the program interface. The user interface developed also had features for homing the three axes, editing of NC part program (G Codes) and also previewing the two dimensional cutter motion. This paper mainly focuses on the design of the Graphical User Interface (GUI) for the 3-Axis CNC milling machine. The user interface has been designed in Microsoft ® Visual Basic 2008 Integrated Development Environment (IDE). The features of the GUI are explained in detail. 2. OVERVIEW OF CNC MILLING MACHINE The CNC Milling Machine was designed in-house at the School of Engineering and Physics (SEP) at the University of the South Pacific (USP), for testing and research purposes. It uses an absolute three dimensional coordinate system to create its tool path. It sequentially passes instructions which are in the form of three dimensional coordinates to the Milling Machine for controlling the tool, similar to how G Codes are used. The operational framework of the CNC milling machine is shown in Figure 2.1. It consists of a dedicated PC running Graphical User Interface Software which is used to upload a text file containing X, Y and Z coordinates. It also has features to control the milling operations and to get a two dimensional cutter path preview. The software is linked to the electronics hardware via RS232 serial link. Figure 2.1 Operational framework of the CNC Milling Machine The current CNC Milling machine is only capable of linear interpolation (G01), in terms of G Codes, or moving linearly from one point in the three dimensional space to the next point. To mill different geometries other than straight lines the milling machine has to be given a number of coordinate points which can be used to approximate that particular geometry. For instance to mill a curve the milling machine needs to be given a set of points which lie on the curve. Similar method was used by Min-Yang Yang and Won-Pyo Hong [7] in their three dimensional linear interpolation algorithm. The CNC Milling Machine uses an absolute three dimensional coordinate system (X, Y, and Z) for its tool path generation. The three dimensional coordinates are defined in a text file. Each of the three coordinates has three characters in the text file for instance the X coordinate 0 is defined as 000 in the text file. The Basic Length Unit (BLU) is in millimeters. The electronics architecture of the CNC milling machine consisted of five PIC microcontrollers (PIC16F877) in a distributed architecture, with one master controller and several slave controllers. The master controller of the CNC Milling Machine consists of a PIC16F877 microcontroller which is responsible for coordinating and controlling the overall operations of the Machine. It is the central intelligence system of the CNC Milling Machine. It receives its commands from the user through a user interface and commands other co PIC16F877 Microcontrollers in a distributed architecture to carry out their respective tasks. The mechanical hardware consists of three stepper motors which drive the three axis of the CNC Milling Machine. It also has a 24V DC Motor which is the spindle motor. The worktable consists of clamps to clamp the workpiece firmly on the worktable. For feedback, the machine constitutes of limit switches which control the limit of the worktable. 3. USER INTERFACE Until recently, the CNC machine was using COM port terminal software, TeraTerm, to communicate with Master Controller via RS232 link. The GUI was designed to provide a user friendly interface instead of typing coordinates in TeraTerm. The GUI was designed using Microsoft ® Visual Basic 2008 and coded in BASIC (Beginners All purpose Symbolic Instruction Code). The overall design of the main form of the user interface is shown in Figure 3.1. Figure 3.1 Main form of the GUI It was decided to incorporate the following features in the GUI Opening of text file which contains the coordinates. Previewing of coordinate file (or tool path) in two dimensional X and Y axis Communication with the CNC Machine via RS232 link Milling control features such as homing, manual jog etc Displaying coordinate file 3.1 File Input The GUI contains a MenuStrip at the top of the main form on which there are three menus, File, Setup and Help. The File menu contains an Open menu which opens a file browser window as shown in Figure 3.1.1. The software utilizes an OpenFileDialog control of Visual basic 2008 to prompt the user for the files path. It allowed the user to choose which text file to open in the program. The OpenFileDialog control contains the Filter property which was used to control the type of file to be opened in the program. The only extension allowed was the *.txt. The ShowDialog() method was used to display the Open Coordinate File dialog box on the screen. The FileName property was used to get the path specified by the user. The dialog box is shown in figure 3.1.1 Figure 3.1.1 Open Coordinate File dialog box After getting the path from the user, the program used a FileOpen() function to open the file specified by the user. The end of file function, EOF() was used to iterate through the file until the no more coordinates are left. The LineInput() function was used get a line of coordinates into a string variable. This string variable was then extracted to get the X, Y and Z coordinates in a separate array. The array containing the X, Y and Z coordinate was then used later to generate two dimensional previews and to send to the CNC milling machine. Finally the FileClose() function closes the text file. 3.2 Tool Path Preview The graphical user interface that is designed also contains a two dimensional preview feature which can be used to preview the path taken by the milling tool on the workpiece. The GUI uses the system.drawing.graphics namespace to create tool path. The preview panel, as shown in figure 3.2.1, gives a two dimensional (X, Y) preview of the tool path which will be followed by the cutting tool. It is also to check and verify that the input text file does not contain errors. A Preview command button is used to generate preview. This is activated only when a valid coordinate file is loaded. The GUI utilizes system.drawing namespace which includes system.drawing.graphics class to draw the preview. The DrawLines() method was used to draw a series of lines according to the X and Y coordinates in the coordinate file. Figure 3.2.1 Tool Path Preview control The use of three-dimensional absolute coordinate system has made the previewing algorithm much easier since the preview is two dimensional (X, Y), the program utilizes these X and the Y coordinates to draw a preview of the shape in the preview panel. Once the Preview command button is clicked, the btnPreview_Click event procedure gets the array containing the X and Y coordinates which was previously read from the text file. The procedure then used these coordinates as points to draw a series of lines using the DrawLines() method. Since absolute coordinates are used, the lines connect from the end point of the first X, Y coordinate to the start point of the next X, Y coordinate. In this way the path taken by the cutter is drawn by connecting the series of points. 3.3 Milling Controls The GUI on the main form contained a group box with a number of command buttons for commanding the milling machine. The Home command button was used to command the milling machine to rapidly move to its home position. Figure 3.3.1 Milling Control panel The advantage of using a software interface to control the CNC Milling Machine is that it acts like a control panel of the CNC which resides on the PC. Several command buttons have been used on the main form to command the CNC Milling Machine to carry out various tasks. The Home command button is used to command the CNC Milling Machine to move to its home position. The milling control also contains a command button Start to run or to send the coordinates to the milling machine to start milling. The flowchart in figure 3.3.2 shows this. Figure 3.3.2 Flowchart showing the start subroutine 4. COMMUNICATIONS The user interface for controlling the milling machine resides on a dedicated PC. Therefore there should be some means of communication between the software and the electronics hardware. A standard desktop personal computer consists of several communications ports. These include parallel port (LPT1), serial port (COM), PS/2 ports and Universal Serial Bus (USB) ports. Serial port communications has been used to with the electronics hardware. The Serial port or RS232 has several port settings that need to be set. The advantage of this obsolete technology is that it best suits the application we are designing, and the amount of data that needs to be sent to and from the milling machine. Figure 4.1 shows the dialog box that appears to the user when the user chooses Serial Port from the Setup Menu. On this dialogue box the user can choose the port settings. The reason for including this control is so that the application may work on different PCs. The default port setting is shown in figure 4.1. Figure 4.1 Serial Port Configuration dialog box The communications via RS232 was made possible using the system.IO.ports namespace, and the SerialPort class of Visual Basic 2008. The SerialPort class consisted of properties/attributes, methods and events which was used in the communication algorithm. The ReadExisting() method was used to read data from the PCs serial port receive buffer (Rx). The Write() method was used to send string data to the electronics of the CNC Milling Machine. The flowchart in figure 4.2 demonstrates how the communication to the milling machine is made when the user clicks ok on the dialog box in figure 4.1. Figure 4.2 Flowchart showing the communication algorithm followed. 5. TESTING AND DEBUGGING One problem faced during the development and testing of the GUI was run time errors or exceptions. Runtime errors or exceptions occur as a result of normal operating conditions [8]. For example errors when the GUI is trying to open a COM port which is being used by another program. The problem was overcome using structured error handling or the Try†¦Catch code block in Visual Basic. The GUI used message boxes to display appropriate messages to the users when an exception occurred and allowed the program to continue. The preview part of the GUI was tested by opening a text file containing 165 X, Y, Z points. These points resembled a circle in two dimensional (X, Y) planes. The result is depicted in Figure 5.1 which shows the tool path generated on the preview panel. Figure 5.1 Tool Path preview showing the preview of a circle Furthermore, the same file was used to mill a circle on softwood with the following settings: Feedrate 75mm/min Spindle Speed 2500RPM Cutting Tool Diameter 5mm The result is shown in Figure 5.2. The result shows that the Graphical User Interface made no errors while sequentially sending coordinates to the milling machine. Figure 5.2 Output of the CNC Milling Machine 6. CONCLUSION AND FUTURE WORK Based on the result in the previous section of this paper, it can be concluded that the GUI design was successful. The GUI was able to communicate with the electronics hardware of the CNC Milling Machine using RS232 serial link. The preview algorithm of the program also worked well. Finally the GUI was able to sequentially send (X, Y, and Z) coordinates representing cutter path in three dimensional space, to the CNC Milling machine. However, a number of tasks can be carried out in the future to improve the performance of the GUI and to enhance the output of the CNC Milling Machine. One such include the implementation of the industry standard G Codes which is based on ISO6983 data model, instead of X, Y, Z coordinate file. The G Code programming is a standardized way of controlling cutter motion. The CNC milling machine is capable of moving in steps as small as 1 tenth of a millimeter. Thus it is also recommended to improve the GUI so that it can cater for coordinates with one decimal point. The output of the CNC milling machine will improve drastically by having coordinates in mm to one decimal point. Another improvement that can be implemented on the GUI is using an abort button to cancel or abort the operations of the CNC Milling Machine. This is a standard safety feature which exists on most industrial machines including CNC machines.

Euripides Medea Essay example -- Medea Euripides Essays

Euripides' Medea Medea is the tragic tale of a woman scorned. It was written in 431 B.C. by the Greek playwright, Euripides. Eruipides was the first Greek poet to suffer the fate of so many of the great modern writers: rejected by most of his contemporaries (he rarely won first prize and was the favorite target for the scurrilous humor of the comic poets), he was universally admired and revered by the Greeks of the centuries that followed his death('Norton Anthology';). Euripides showed his interest in psychology in his many understanding portraits of women ('World Book';). Euripides choice of women support characters such as the nurse and the chorus is imperative to the magnification of Medea's emotions. The very fact that the nurse and chorus are female deepens Medea's sadness, impassions her anger, and makes the crime of killing her own children all the more heinous.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Medea's state of mind in the beginning of the play is that of hopelessness and self pity. Medea is both woman and foreigner; that is to say, in terms of the audience's prejudice and practice she is a representative of the two free born groups in Athenian society that had almost no rights at all ('Norton Anthology'; 739). Euripides could not have chosen a more downtrodden role for Medea. Here is this woman who has stood by her man through thick and thin. She has turned her back on her family and killed her own brother while helping Jason capture the Golden Fleece. 'Oh my father! Oh, my country! In what dishonor I left you, killing my own brother for it.'; (Medea 164-165) Despite all of her devotion to her husband he has fallen in love with someone new, Glauke. The Nurse and the Chorus understand and sympathize with Medea as only other women could. Euripides develops the heart of Medea's character by the sympathetical approach of the Nurse. '...calling out on her father's name, And her land, and her home betrayed when she came away with A man who now is determined to dishonor her. Poor creature, she has discovered by her sufferings What it means to one not to have lost one's own country.'; (Medea 31-35) The Chorus are sympathetic to Medea's heartache also, and offer a more simple and acceptable approach to help Medea deal with her troubles.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   'Suppose your man gives honor To another woman's bed. It often happens. Don't be hurt.  Ã‚  ... ...And when I have ruined the whole of Jason's house, I shall leave the land and flee from the murder of my Dear children, and I shall have done a dreadful deed.'; (Medea 775-780) The killing of Glauke and Kreon loses significance with the Chorus who are dreadfully anticipating the harm of Medea's children. Euripides uses a female chorus to signify the atrocity of a mother killing her own children. The Chorus no longer sympathizes with Medea, yet still blames Jason for the events which have taken place. 'You too, O wretched bridegroom, making your match with kings, You do not see that you bring Destruction on your children...';(Medea 964-966)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Euripides role of female characters to sympathize with Medeas heartache in the beginning, and magnify the unscrupulous murder of her children in the end is brilliant. The reason for the female support is evident. If the Nurse or Chorus had been a male servant or a mixed crowd in society the plot of the play would have been lost. Medea is a woman suffering from a broken heart, and it seems only fair that she be given sympathy and judgment from peers who can relate. Hell hath no fury like that of a woman scorned!