definition-of-performance-appraisal - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 23 Words: 6990 Downloads: 5 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Statistics Essay Did you like this example? Meaning and Definition of Performance Appraisal Performance appraisal is a formal system that evaluates the quality of a employees performance. An appraisal should not be viewed as an end in itself, but rather as an important process within a broader performance management system that links: ÃÆ' ¼ Organizational objectives Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "definition-of-performance-appraisal" essay for you Create order ÃÆ' ¼ Day-to-day performance ÃÆ' ¼ Professional development ÃÆ' ¼ Rewards and incentives In simple terms, appraisal may be understood as the assessment of an individuals performance in a systematic way, the performance being measured against such factors as job knowledge, quality, and quantity of output, initiative, leadership abilities, supervision, dependability, co-operation, judgment, versatility, health, and the like. Assessment should not be confined to past performance alone. Potentials of the employee for future performance must also be assessed. Traditional Performance Appraisal The history of performance appraisal is quite brief.Its roots in the early 20th century can be traced to Taylors pioneering Time and Motion studies. But this is not very helpful for the same may be said about almost everything in the field of modern human resources management. During the First World War, appraisals concept was adopted by US army which was in the form of merit rating. It was man-to-man rating system for evaluation of military personnel. From the army this concept entered the business field and was restricted to hourly-paid workers. During 1920s, relational wage structures for hourly paid workers were adopted in industrial units and each worker were used to be rated in comparison to other for determining wages rates. This system was known by merit rating. The process was firmly linked to material outcomes. If an employees performance was found to be less than ideal, a cut in pay would follow. On the other hand, if their performance was better than the supervisor expected, a pay rise was in order. Little consideration, if any, was given to the developmental possibilities of appraisal. If was felt that a cut in pay, or a rise, should provide the only required impetus for an employee to either improve or continue to perform well. Sometimes this basic system succeeded in getting the results that were intended; but more often than not, it failed. These observations were confirmed in empirical studies. Pay rates were important, but they were not the only element that had an impact on employee performance. It was found that other issues, such as morale and self-esteem, could also have a major influence. As a result, the traditional emphasis on reward outcomes was progressively rejected. In the 1950s in the United States, the potential usefulness of appraisal as tool for motivation and development was gradually recognized. The general model of performance appraisal, as it is known today, began from that time. Modern Appraisal Performance appraisal may be defined as a structured formal interaction between a subordinate and supervisor, which usually takes the form of a periodic interview, in which the work performance of the subordinate is examined and discussed, with a view to identifying weaknesses and strengths as well as opportunities for improvement and skills development. In many organizations but not all, appraisal results are used, either directly or indirectly, to help determine reward outcomes. That is, the appraisal results are used to identify the better performing employees who should get the majority of available merit pay increases, bonuses and promotion. By the same token, appraisal results are used to identify the poorer performers who may require some form of counseling, or in extreme cases, demotion, dismissal or decreases in pay. Whether this is an appropriate use of performance appraisal, the assignment and justification of rewards and penalties, is a very uncertain and contentious matter. Objectives of Performance Appraisal Salary Increase Performance appraisal plays a role in making decision about salary increase. Normally salary increase of an employee depends upon on how he is performing his job. There is continuous evaluation of his performance either formally or informally. This may disclose how well an employee is performing and how much he should be compensated by way of salary increase. Promotion Performance appraisal plays significant role where promotion is based on merit and seniority. Performance appraisal discloses how an employee is working in his present job and what are his strong and weak points. In the light of these, it can be decided whether he can be promoted to the next higher position. Training and Development Performance appraisal tries to identify the strengths and weakness of an employee on his present job. This information can be used for devising training and development programmers appropriate for overcoming weaknesses of employees. Feedback Performance appraisal provides feedback to employees about their performance. A person works better when he knows how he is working. This works in two ways, firstly, the person gets feedback about his performance. Secondly, when the person gets feedback about his performance, he can relate his work to the orgaisational objectives. Pressure on Employees Performance appraisal puts a sort of pressure on employees for better performance. If the employees are conscious that they are being appraised in respect of certain factors and their future largely depends on such appraisal. Others: Identifying systemic factors that are barriers to, or facilitators of, effective performance. To confirm the services of probationary employees upon their completing the probationary period satisfactorily. To improve communication. Performance appraisal provides a format for dialogue between the superior and the subordinate, and improves understanding of personal goals and concerns. This can also have the effect of increasing the trust between the rater and the rate. To determine whether HR programmers such as selection, training, and transfer have been effective or not. methods of Performance Appraisal A) Traditional methods 1) Rating Scales: The rating scale method offers a high degree of structure for appraisals. Each employee trait or characteristic is rated on a bipolar scale that usually has several points ranging from poor to excellent. The traits assessed on these scales include employee attributes such as cooperation, communications ability, initiative, punctuality and technical (work skills) competence. The nature and scope of the traits selected for inclusion is limited only by the imagination of the scales designer, or by the organizations need to know. The one major provision in selecting traits is that they should be in some way relevant to the appraisers job. 2) Check-list Method: Under this method, checklist of statement of traits of employee in the form of Yes or No based questions is prepared. Here, the rater only does the reporting or checking and HR department does the actual evaluation. The rater concerned has to tick appropriate answers relevant to the appraises. When the check-list is completed, it is sent to HR department for further processing. Various questions in the check list may have either equal weightage or more weightage may be given to those questions which are more important. The HR department then calculates the total scores which show the appraisal result of an employee. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Advantages economy, ease of administration, limited training required, standardization. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Disadvantages Raters biases, use of improper weights by HR Dept, does not allow rater to give relative ratings. 3) Force Choice Method: A series of statements arranged in the blocks of two or more are given and the rater indicates which statement is true or false. The rater is forced to make a choice. HR department does actual assessment. Advantages Absence of personal biases because of forced choice. Disadvantages Statements may not be correctly framed. 4) Force Distribution Method: One of the problems faced in large organizations is relative assessment tendencies of raters. Some are too lenient and others too severe. This method overcomes that problem. It forces everyone to do a comparative rating of all the employees on a predetermined distribution pattern of good to bad. Say 10% employees in Excellent Grade, 20% in Good Grade, 40% in Average Grade, 20% in Below Average Grade and 10% in Unsatisfied grade. The real problem of this method occurs in organizations where there is a tendency to pack certain key departments with all good employees and some other departments with discards and laggards. Relatively good employees of key departments get poor rating and relatively poor employees of laggards departments get good rating. 5) Critical Incident Method: In this method, only critical incidents and behavior associated with these incidents are taken for evaluation. This method involves three steps. A test of noteworthy on the job behavior is prepared. A group of experts then assigns scale values to them depending on the degree of desirability for the job. Finally, a checklist of incidents which define good and bad employees is prepared. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Advantages: This method is very useful for discovering potential of employees who can be useful in critical situation. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Disadvantages: a) Negative incidents are, generally, more noticeable than positive ones. b) The recording of incidents is a core to the superior and may be put off and easily forgotten. c) Overly close supervision may result. 6) Essay Method: In the essay method approach, the appraiser prepares a written statement about the employee being appraised. The statement usually concentrates on describing specific strengths and weaknesses in job performance. It also suggests courses of action to remedy the identified problem areas. The statement may be written and edited by the appraiser alone, or it be composed in collaboration with the appraisee. 7) Grading: In this method, certain categories of abilities of performance are defined well in advance and person are put in particular category depending on their traits and characteristics. Such categories may be definitional like outstanding, good, average, poor, very poor or may be in terms of letter like A, B, C, D etc with A indicating the best and D indicating the worst. This method, however, suffers from one basic limitation that the rater may rate most of the employees at higher grades. 8) Performance Tests Observations: This is based on the test of knowledge or skills. The tests may be written or an actual presentation of skills. Tests must be reliable and validated to be useful. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Advantage Tests only measure potential and not attitude. Actual performance is more a function of attitude of person than potential. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Disadvantages Sometimes costs of test development or administration are high. 9) Confidential Reports: Though popular with government departments, its application in industry is not ruled out. Here the report is given in the form of Annual Confidentiality Report (ACR). The system is highly secretive and confidential. Feedback to the assessed is given only in case of an adverse entry. Disadvantage is that it is highly prone to biases and regency effect and ratings can be manipulated because the evaluations are linked to future rewards like promotions, good postings, etc. 10) Comparative Evaluation Method (Ranking Paired Comparisons): These are collection of different methods that compare performance with that of other co-workers. The usual techniques used may be ranking methods and paired comparison method. Ranking Method: Superior ranks his worker based on merit, from best to worst. However how best and why best are not elaborated in this method. It is easy to administer. Paired Comparison Method: In this method each employee is paired with every other employee in the same cadre and then comparative rating done in pairs so formed. The number of comparisons may be calculated with the help of a formula N x (N-1) / 2. The method is too tedious for large departments and often such exact details are not available with raters. B) Morden Methods 1) MBO (Appraisal by Results): The use of management objectives was first widely advocated in the 1950s by the noted management theorist Peter Drucker. MBO (management by objectives) methods of performance appraisal are results-oriented. That is, they seek to measure employee performance by examining the extent to which predetermined work objectives have been met. Usually the objectives are established jointly by the supervisor and subordinate. Once an objective is agreed, the employee is usually expected to self-audit; that is, to identify the skills needed to achieve the objective. Typically they do not rely on others to locate and specify their strengths and weaknesses. They are expected to monitor their own development and progress. 2) Assessment Center Method This technique was first developed in USA and UK in 1943. An assessment centre is a central location where managers may come together to have their participation in job related exercises evaluated by trained observers. It is more focused on observation of behaviours across a series of select exercises or work samples. Assesses are requested to participate in in-basket exercises, work groups, computer simulations, role playing and other similar activities which require same attributes for successful performance in actual job. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Advantages Well-conducted assessment centre can achieve better forecasts of future performance and progress than other methods of appraisals. Also reliability, content validity and predictive ability are said to be high in Assessment Centres. The tests also make sure that the wrong people are not hired or promoted. Finally, it clearly defines the criteria for selection and promotion. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Disadvantages Concentrates on future performance potential. No assessment of past performance. Costs of employees travelling and lodging, psychologists. Ratings strongly influenced by assassins inter-personal skills. Solid performers may feel suffocated in simulated situations. 3) 360o Appraisal: It is a technique in which performance data/feedback/rating is collected from all sections of people employee interacts in the course of his job like immediate supervisors, team members, customers, peers, subordinates and self with different weight age to each group of raters. This technique has been found to be extremely useful and effective. It is especially useful to measure inter-personal skills, customer satisfaction and team building skills. One of the biggest advantages of this system is that assesses cannot afford to neglect any constituency and has to show all-round performance. However, on the negative side, receiving feedback from multiple sources can be intimidating, threatening, and expensive and time consuming. 4) Psychological Appraisals: These appraisals are more directed to assess employee potential for future performance rather than the past one. It is done in the form of in-depth interviews, psychological tests, and discussion with supervisors and review of other evaluations. It is more focused on employees emotional, intellectual, and motivational and other personal characteristics affecting his performance. This approach is slow and costly and may be useful for bright young members who may have considerable potential. However quality of these appraisals largely depends upon the skills of psychologists who perform the evaluation. Performance Appraisals purpose Performance appraisals are essential for the effective management and evaluation of staff. Appraisals help develop persons, progress of organizational performance, and feed into business planning. Official performance appraisals are generally conducted annually for all staff in the organization. Every staff member is appraised by their line supervisor. Directors are appraised by the CEO, who is appraised by the chairman or company owners, depending on the size and formation of the organization. Annual performance appraisals allow management and monitoring of standards, agreeing expectations and objectives, and allocation of responsibilities and tasks. Staff performance appraisals also create individual training needs and facilitate organizational training needs analysis and planning. Performance appraisal also normally feed into organization annual pay and grading reviews which commonly also coincides with the business planning for the next trading year. Performance appraisals generally review each individual`s performance against objectives and standards for the trading year, agreed at the earlier appraisal meeting. Performance appraisals are also necessary for career and succession planning for individuals, critical jobs and for the organization as an entire. Performance appraisal are important for staff motivation, attitude and behaviour development, communicating and supporting individual and organization aims and fostering positive relationship between staff and supervision. Performance appraisal affords a formal, recorded, regular review of an individuals performance and a plan for future progress. Job performance appraisal in whatever forms they take are therefore fundamental for managing the performance of people and organizations. Managers and appraises frequently dislike appraisal and try to avoid them. To these people the appraisal is daunting and time consuming. The process is seen as a difficult administrative responsibility and emotionally challenging. The annual appraisal is may be only time since last year that the two people have sat down together for a meaningful one to one discussion. No wonder then that appraisals are stressful which then beats the whole purpose. Appraisals are much easier and especially more peaceful, if the boss meets each of the team members individually and repeatedly for one to one discussion throughout the year. Meaningful regular discussion about work, career, aims, progress, development, hopes and dreams, life, the universe the tv, common interests etc., whatever, make appraisals so much appraisal so much easier because people then know and trust each other which diminish all the stress and the uncertainty. Appraisals much address whole person development not just job skills or the skills necessary for the subsequently promotion. Appraisal must not differentiate against anyone on the grounds of age, sexual orientation, race, gender, religion etc. For Example in the uk, the uk employment equality regulation 2006, which is effective from 1st oct. 06, make it particularly important to avoid any comments, judgments, suggestions, questions or decision which might be supposed by the appraisal to be based on age. This means people who are young as well as old. Age, along with other description stated above, is not a lawful basis for assessing and managing people, unless proper objective justification can be proven. See the age variety information. When crafty or planning behaviour appraisal, seek to help the whole person to grow in whatever direction they want not just to identify clearly relevant work skill training. Increasingly, the best employee distinguish that increasing the whole person promotes positive attitudes, advancement, motivation and also develops lots of new skills that can be unexpectedly significant to working productively and effectively in any nature of organization. Developing the whole person is also an important aspect of modern corporate duty and independently, whole person development is a crucial benefit in the employment market, in which all employers contend to attract the best recruits and to retain the best staff. Therefore in appraisal be creative and imaginative in discussing discovering and agreeing whole person development that people will respond to, beyond the usual job skill set and incorporate this sort of development into the appraisal process. Abrsham Maslow recognised this over fifty year ago. If you are an employee and your employer has yet to cuddle or even acknowledge these concepts, do them a favour at your own appraisal and suggest they look at these ideas or maybe mention it at your exit interview prior to joining a better employer who cares about the people not just the work. Incidentally the Multiple Intelligences test and Vak learning styles test are tremendously useful tools for appraisals before or after to help people understand their nature probable and strengths and to help managers appreciate this about their people too. There are a lot of people out there who are in jobs which dont allow them to use and develop their supreme strengths, so the more we can help folk understand their own special likely and find roles that really fit well the happier we shall all be. Essentials for a successful performance appraisal system  § Basing appraisals on accurate and current job descriptions  § Ensuring that appraisers have adequate knowledge and direct experience of the employees performance  § Providing ratings via aggregated anonymous feedback when multiple sources of information are used  § Incorporating performance appraisals into a formal goal setting system  § Offering adequate support and assistance to employees such as professional development opportunities in order to improve their performance  § Conducting appraisals on a regular basis (at least two times a year) rather than annually. If resource constraints do not permit frequent formal appraisals, consider conducting one formal appraisal annually, with a review of progress in the mid-year and ongoing review in regular supervision meetings Using performance appraisal to address workforce development challenges: Regular performance appraisals provide a useful opportunity to conduct a check up on various workforce development issues that may impact on employees effectiveness and well being. Performance appraisals can be used to: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Recognize, reward and support effective performance à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Develop and reward effective teamwork à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Identify and manage issues likely to impact on retention à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Monitor and support employees well being.  § Recognize, reward and support effective performance Ensuring employees receive adequate rewards and recognition is a key workforce development issue for the performance. Performance appraisals provide a good opportunity to formally recognize employees achievements and contributions to the organization, and to ensure a clear link is maintained between performance and rewards. The appraisal interview can also be used as a vehicle to demonstrate supervisory and organizational support for employees by discussing barriers and supports to effective performance, and strategies to address problems or difficulties.  § Develop and reward effective teamwork The appraisal interview is also a useful vehicle for recognizing and rewarding employees contributions to various teams in the organization, especially if appraisal information is gained from team members. An appraisal of the team as a whole can also be a useful strategy to recognize and reward team performance, and to identify strategies to improve team functioning.  § Identify and manage issues likely to impact on retention Open and constructive performance appraisals can be useful to identify issues that are likely to impact on employees willingness to stay with the organization in the longer-term. Key factors associated with retention include salary and remuneration, professional development opportunities, and work-related demands and stress. The appraisal interview provides a good opportunity for a check up regarding employees satisfaction with their working conditions and environment, and a discussion of strategies to address any problems or issues.  § Monitor and support employees well being Performance appraisal interviews are a good opportunity to discuss employees health and well being in the workplace, particularly in regard to factors that contribute to feelings of stress and experiences that promote satisfaction with their work. 360 Degree Assessment The concept of 360 degree feedback makes a lot of sense and, if used well, should have a great deal to offer. It seems to suit the move towards the less hierarchical, more flexibly-structured and knowledge-based organization of the future Professor Clive Fletcher Goldsmiths College, University of London Introduction In recent year the 360 degree appraisal has become much admired. It has been felt for long that one person`s assessment of another cannot be free of favoritism. In supplementary with the focus on customers and emphasis on softer dimensions of performance it has become necessary to multiple assessments for a more objective assessment. The 360 degree appraisal is multilayer assessment and feedback system. Almost Fortune 500 Company is using this in some form or other. In this method, the candidate is assessed periodically by a number of assessors including his supervisor, immediate subsidiary, colleagues, and inner and outer customers. The assessment is made on a questionnaire specially designed to measure activities measured critical for performance. The appraisal is done anonymously by others and the assessment is collected by outer agent or specially designated inner agent. The assessment is consolidated; feedback profiles are prepared and given to the participant after a workshop o r directly by his supervisor or the HRD department in a performance examination conversation sitting. Due to the incalculable variations possible in the 360 degree feedback and Appraisals and its effectiveness as a competency identification and development tool, it is important to understand the process and its dynamics. 360 degree feedback 360 degree feedback is a full circle system of acquiring informal from peers, subordinates and inner and outer customers about employee`s performance. 360 degree assessment is based on the assessment of an individual`s management styles, competencies and behavior by contemporaries horizontally and vertically by involving his supervisor, peers and direct report in organization. 360-degree feedback is an assessment of multi source, which contain; Self Supervisor Internal customers/staffs/peers External customers Why 360-degree feedback is needed in the organizations? Business is towards surplus generation. Without additional no organization can develop. Here the effort to grow the business and the surplus should come from employee part. The performance of the employees is at work here matters in business development and organizational development. The performance of the employees should then align with the strategic decisions that integrate the business goals in more and more aggressive environment. It is the duty of the Human Resource Management to assimilate the culture of the organization with all available resources to the best possible output. The 3600 Appraisal helps the HR Department to have better understanding of the competitive advantage and disadvantages of the current manpower resources and tune them towards performance quality and output. Prerequisites Top management support Confidence of employees on the appraisal methodology Objective need to be with performance requirement clearly stated A detailed plan of implementation Collaboration between superior and subordinates Some prior experimentation and positive experiences clear organization philosophy and policy objective Uses for 360 Degree Feedback contain: Performance Appraisal ÃÆ' ¼ Recognition of performance. ÃÆ' ¼ Providing feedback on individual performance. ÃÆ' ¼ Providing a basis for self evolution. Assessing employee development ÃÆ' ¼ Diagnosing training and career development needs. ÃÆ' ¼ Providing a basis for promotion, dismissal, job enrichmen, job transfer, probation etc. ÃÆ' ¼ Monetary and other rewards. Organizational Climate Study ÃÆ' ¼ Organizational environment improvement needs ÃÆ' ¼ Changes in managerial approaches, leadership etc. Customer satisfaction study ÃÆ' ¼ Employees attitudinal change ÃÆ' ¼ Customer satisfaction improvements Using of 360-degree performance appraisal we get benefits like, 360 degree feedback permit an organization to focus on developmental efforts, at the individual and grouping level, in the nearby business position where the success of the company depends on constant revolution, which is possible through organizational development. 360-degree feedback facilitates the alignment of individual capabilities and behaviors with organizational strategies. That adds value to the organization uncaring ways:- ÃÆ' ¼ 360 degree feedback afford a talented view about the employee from different source ÃÆ' ¼ 360 degree feedback provides increased the understanding about one1s role probability ÃÆ' ¼ 360 degree feedback provide a better understanding of employed development requirements ÃÆ' ¼ 360 degree feedback provide the understanding of competence and skill in various roles ÃÆ' ¼ 360 degree feedback provides a better understanding of individual presentation at work ÃÆ' ¼ 360 degree feedback reduces training costs by identifying common development want ÃÆ' ¼ 360 degree feedback extends better morale to those who perform and put in well to the organization ÃÆ' ¼ 360 degree feedback helps everyone to work for a common standard and institutionalize presentation management ÃÆ' ¼ 360 degree feedback ensure better interpersonal relationship and grouping cohesiveness ÃÆ' ¼ It promotes self directed learning and provides a road map for employee`s development planning ÃÆ' ¼ It promotes better communication within departments ÃÆ' ¼ 360 degree feedback increases the team`s ability to put in to the organization goals ÃÆ' ¼ 360 degree feedback increases the team`s ability to put in to the organizations goals develop better bottom line thought additional the capability of the organization to meet its objectives. For 360-degree feedback this steps may be taken to gauge the readiness of an organization Identification of the problem.  · Analysis of the organization context for finding a solution to the problem. Allocation of resources for the purpose in terms of time and finances. A detailed plan of implementation. Follow up Drawback of using 360-degree feedback  § A detailed plan of action which, ensure the transparent and clear implementation of appraisal with employee accountability.  § Effective follow up is the prime requirement of 360 degree feedback. Failure in follow u cause more scratch than superior.  § The 360 degree feedback is time consuming and cost consuming assessment process. Without having adequate resource to implement the process, it will end up no where and develop financial burden to organization.  § The trust and confidence on the employee who undergo this feedback assessment process is a determinant factor in its outcome. Many consider this appraisal as tool for downsizing.  § The process involves a lot of paper work.  § There are high changes of subjective from the management and employee part in the feedback assessment.  § Many times the confidentiality of the appraisal cannot ensure from the HR department.  § Since the assessment is based on qualitative data many times it cannot ensure unambiguous, clear and observable and quantifiable formats. AMUL Introduction History In the year 1946 the first milk union was established. This union was started with 250 liters of milk per day. In the year 1955 AMUL was established. In the year 1946 the union was known as KAIRA DISTRICT CO-OPERATIVE MILK PRODUCERS UNION. This union selected the brand name AMUL in 1955. The brand name AMUL means Amulya. This word derived from the Sanskrit word Amulya which means Priceless. A quality control expert in Anand had suggested the brand name Amul. Amul products have been in use in millions of homes since 1946. Amul Butter, Amul Milk Powder, Amul Ghee, Amul spray, Amul Cheese, Amul Chocolates, Amul Shrikhand, Amul Ice cream, Nutramul, Amul Milk and Amulya have made Amul a leading food brand in India. Today Amul is a symbol of many things like of the high-quality products sold at reasonable prices, of the genesis of a vast cooperative network, of the triumph of indigenous technology, of the marketing savvy of a farmers organization. And have a proven model for dairy development. In the early 40s, the main sources of earning for the farmers of Kaira district were farming and selling of milk. That time there was high demand for milk in Bombay. The main supplier of the milk was Polson dairy limited, which was a privately owned company and held monopoly over the supply of milk at Bombay from the Kaira district. This system leads to exploitation of poor and illiterates farmers by the private traders. The traders used to beside the prices of milk and the farmers were forced to accept it without uttering a single word. However, when the exploitation became intolerable, the farmers were frustrated. They collectively appealed to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, who was a leading activist in the freedom movement. Sardar Patel advised the farmers to sell the milk on their own by establishing a co-operative union, Instead of supplying milk to private traders. Sardar Patel sent the farmers to Shri Morarji Desai in order to gain his co-operation and help. Shri Desai held a meeting at Samarkha village near Anand, on 4th January 1946. He advised the farmers to form a society for collection of the milk. MANAGEMENT 360 Degree Performance Appraisal system in AMUL 360 degree appraisal means, an assessment of the proformance of the individual at the end of the year or any other performance period by the concerned individual, subordinates, colleagues, boss, and external customers, if any. In a 360 degree appraisal, the data generated is known to the organization. If it is only a 360 degree feedback, they are known only to the individual and to be used for development purpose only. Amul intends to evolve and use a 360 degree appraisal system that generates objective inputs about its employee and that could be integrated into the reward and other personnel decisions. Such a system should be carefully designed and evolved. Therefore, it has been decided to start it in an experimental basis. The system will be used intially for development purposes and as a feedback system. In about two years time, Amul intends to link it with performance linked variable pay. While the policy development route to development KRAs are common across the level, we have introduced 360 degree leadership feedback mechanism for developing leadership at senior management level and have drawn 12 Generic competencies as critical success factors for middle management. The 360 degree feedback of the senior management members has been designed to meet the following. The effectiveness with which each of them is performing various leadership and managerial roles. The styles with which he is performing some of the signifcant tasks and the impact he is making at his staff as a result of these styles. The various competencies the person is exhibiting in the process of performing various roles and tasks in the organization. Appraisal of employees serves several useful purposes Feedback to the employee. Compensation decisions. Personal development. Training and development programme. Promotion decision. Now The Questions Arise That Who Will Appraiser? The Answer Is The employees peers. Self appraisal. The employees subordinates. Higher level manager. Now the process of performance appraisal implemented in step by step Job Analysis, Job Description and Job Specification. Establishing standerds of performance. Communicating performance standards to employees. Measuring actual performance. Comparing actual performance with standrds and discuss the appraisal with employees. Initiating corrective actions. There are various methods for performance appraisal ÃÆ' ¼ Straight ranking method. ÃÆ' ¼ Paired comparison method. ÃÆ' ¼ Granding method. ÃÆ' ¼ Graphic rating method. ÃÆ' ¼ Checklist method. ÃÆ' ¼ Confidential report. ÃÆ' ¼ 360 degree appraisals. ÃÆ' ¼ Behavioral anchored rating scale method. Straight ranking method This is one of the oldest and simplest techniques of performance appraisal. In this method, the appraiser ranks the employees from the best to the poorest on the basis of their overall performance. It is quite useful for a comparative evaluation. Paired Comparison Method: In this method each employee is paired with every other employee in the same cadre and then comparative rating done in pairs so formed. The number of comparisons may be calculated with the help of a formula N x (N-1) / 2. The method is too tedious for large departments and often such exact details are not available with ratter. Grading In this method, certain categories of abilities of performance are defined well in advance and person are put in particular category depending on their traits and characteristics. Such categories may be definitional like outstanding, good, average, poor, very poor or may be in terms of letter like A, B, C, D etc with A indicating the best and D indicating the worst. This method, however, suffers from one basic limitation that the rater may rate most of the employees at higher grades. Graphic rating method Graphic rating scales are one of the most common methods of performance appraisal. Graphic rating scales require an evaluator to indicate on a scale the degree to which an employee demonstrates a particular trait, behavior or performance result. Rating forms are composed of a number of scales, each relating to a certain job or performance-related dimension, such as job knowledge, responsibility or quality of work. Each scale is a continuum of scale points, or anchors, which range from high to low, from good to poor, from most to least effective, and so forth. Scales typically have from five to seven points. Check-list Method Under this method, checklist of statement of traits of employee in the form of Yes or No based questions is prepared. Here, the rater only does the reporting or checking and HR department does the actual evaluation. The rater concerned has to tick appropriate answers relevant to the appraises. When the check-list is completed, it is sent to HR department for further processing. Various questions in the check list may have either equal weightage or more weightage may be given to those questions which are more important. The HR department then calculates the total scores which show the appraisal result of an employee. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Advantages economy, ease of administration, limited training required, standardization. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Disadvantages Raters biases, use of improper weights by HR Dept, does not allow rater to give relative ratings. Confidential Reports Though popular with government departments, its application in industry is not ruled out. Here the report is given in the form of Annual Confidentiality Report (ACR). The system is highly secretive and confidential. Feedback to the assessee is given only in case of an adverse entry. Disadvantage is that it is highly prone to biases and recency effect and ratings can be manipulated because the evaluations are linked to future rewards like promotions, good postings, etc. 360o Appraisal It is a technique in which performance data/feedback/rating is collected from all sections of people employee interacts in the course of his job like immediate supervisors, team members, customers, peers, subordinates and self with different weightage to each group of raters. This technique has been found to be extremely useful and effective. It is especially useful to measure inter-personal skills, customer satisfaction and team building skills. One of the biggest advantages of this system is that assesssees cannot afford to neglect any constituency and has to show all-round performance. However, on the negative side, receiving feedback from multiple sources can be intimidating, threatening, and expensive and time consuming. Behavioral anchored rating scale method The rating scale method offers a high degree of structure for appraisals. Each employee trait or characteristic is rated on a bipolar scale that usually has several points ranging from poor to excellent. The traits assessed on these scales include employee attributes such as cooperation, communications ability, initiative, punctuality and technical competence. The nature and scope of the traits selected for inclusion is limited only by the imagination of the scales designer, or by the organizations need to know. The one major provision in selecting traits is that they should be in some way relevant to the appraisees job. Data Analysis 1. In your opinion 360 performance appraisal is? 2. Which appraisal system in your opinion is better? 3. What does 360 degree performance appraisal actually measure? 4. 360 degree feedback is used for? 5. What types of information are produced through this method? 6. This method helps to find training need 7. Organization or departmental goal can be achieved through this method? 8. Are you satisfied with the present appraisal system? 9. You find your competencies through this method 10. Do you know about your weakness or strength through this method? 11. Do you get motivation by this method? 12. Please rate the following as per their importance? 13. Do you get the knowledge about your performance and behavior through this method? 14. Do you find the leadership quality among your subordinates through this method? 15. I am happy n satisfied with the 360 degree performance appraisal Conclusion and Recommendation Conclusion In order to understand and analyze my research objective which is to find out whether the employees as AMUL are happy and satisfied with 360 degree performance appraisal or not, I designed a questionnaire and the results showed that most of the employees were very fond of 360 degree performance appraisal system compared to others as it gave them a Holistic feedback, not limiting to just the HR or their supervisors/managers. Also they believed that the organizational goals as well as the departmental goals are simultaneously being achieved through this method. The employees prefer 360 degree appraisal as their training needs are identified which eventually gives them a chance for development and horning their skills/talent. Employees also believe that through 360 degree appraisal they benefit in terms of self development and are also motivated to perform better next time. Through 360 appraisals they get feedback from their manager, subordinates, peers which in turn informs them about their core competencies and their weak areas Also I had taken data from the hr manager, I asked what is the objective of the performance system in your organization, he were strongly agree with identify the training and development needs of the employee. There they use rating method, checklist method, 360 degree appraisal, confidential method. According to him performance appraisal is 75% correct indicator of an employee`s development/ training needs. Self appraisal is a part of their system. Also discussion or interaction between the appraisal and the appraise is a part of their appraisal system. Any sessional held to make the employee aware of the PA system are its objective and important career development. So this are the data which I get from the manager. Recommendation Apart from the ones AMUL is already using they can also use psychological appraisal system as through this system the appraisals can directly assess employee potential for -further performance. This can be done by conducting in-depth interview, psychological tests, discussions with supervisors, reviewing other evaluations. This method focuses on employees emotional, intellectual and motivational and other personal characteristics affecting his/her performance. The quality of this appraisal system largely depends upon the skills of psychologists who perform the evaluation. Amul can also use force choice method so that they have a good advantage of absence of people unfairness because of forced choice. And in organization some are too easy going and other too harsh, so this type of problem solve by using force distribution method. Whereas critical incident method is very useful for realizing potential of employees who can be useful in critical situation. And in essay method approach appraiser prepares a written statement about the employee being appraised. Where advantage of using performance test and observations, only tests measure prospective and not attitude. Actual performance is more a function of attitude of person that prospective. Now, where future oriented methods Amul can use like MBO. This method is results oriented. In this method they do not rely on the others to locate, they specify their strengths and weaknesses. They are projected to supervise their own growth and progress. Other is assessment center method, this conducted assessment centre can reach better forecasts of future performance and development than other methods of appraisal. It satisfied validity and predictive ability are said to be high. Its directly describe the critical for selection and promotion. And also they can use psychological appraisal and it is done in form of deeply interviews, psychological tests and discussion with supervisors and go over of other evaluations. It also more focused on employee motivational, intellectual and emotional and also other person characteristics touching his performance. Anywise these appraisal`s quality mostly depend on the skills of psychologists who perform the evaluation. Bibliography  § 360 Degree Feedback Performance Management System, Volume two. By- T V Rao, Gopal Mahapatra , Raju Rao, Nandini Chawla  § Performance Management System And Appraisal Systems. By- T V Rao  § 360 Degree Feedback- A Management Tool. By-Peter Ward  § www.appraisalservicesnet.info  § www.businessballs.com/performanceappraisals  § appraisals.naukrihub.com/360-degree-performance-appraisal  § wikipedia.org/wiki/360-degree_feedback  § www.amul.com  § www.amul.org.com  § www.indiamba.com  § www.humanresources.hrvinet.com  § www.performance-appraisal.com  § Aswathappa. Human Resource and Personal Management, New Delhi.  § Niehoff, B.P. Enz, C.A. and Grover.R.A.The Impact of Top Management Action of Employee Attitude and perceptions, Group and Organization studies,15.(3) P;337-352  § Macgregor, D., An Uneasy Look st Performance Appraisal Business, Harvard Review, sept./oct.,pp.133-138.  § Meyer, H.H.,Emmanuel, K. and French, R.P.J.,Split Role in Performance Appraisal Harvard Business Review, Vol.44, no. 3,May,/june,p.106.  § Richard,E. Kopelman., Obective Feed Back, In Edvin A Locke, Generalizing From laboratory To Field Setting, Lexington Books, Lexington, Mass. P:119-145.

Questions On Ethics And Ethics Essay - 770 Words

Ethic in Negotiation The dictionary definition of ethics is: a system of moral principles or values; the rules or standards governing the conduct of the members of a profession; accepted principles of right or wrong. Ethics create the means of doing what is right, fair and honest. 1 According to Mark Pastin, an ethics thought leader and ethics consultant, â€Å"You need to recognize the interests involved in an ethical situation and know how to navigate them†. He also imply, in order to create a vision of a solution that satisfies the other parties interests, finding out their interest is very critical in negotiation. Therefore, when pursuing an ethical agreement between parties it is essential to find out whose interests are involved in order to clarify the disagreements. In addition, if parties direct those interest in a positive direction, it will also allow parties to get a better view of the facts and make it possible to come to an agreement. This interest-finding excursion is part of prep aration for a negotiation. Parties require constantly working to avoid assumptions about the other parties. Instead, they need to get to the core interests. 3 There are four standards for evaluating ethics strategies and schemes in business and negotiation which each of these approaches reflects a fundamentally different approach to ethical reasoning. The first one cis called â€Å"end-result ethics†, in that the properness of an action is resolute by assessing the pros and cons of itsShow MoreRelatedQuestions On Ethics And Ethics930 Words   |  4 PagesIssue â€Å"It might be impossible for Harvard to teach ethics,† was what Chuck Colson, a former lawyer, a politician and devout Christian, noted after discovering reports on one of the school’s ethics classes. A businessman who had taken an ethics class at Harvard University, described it as â€Å"practical pointers.† However, Mr. Colson argued, in an article, that Harvard’s philosophical relativism makes it impossible for them to teach â€Å"real ethics.† Upon discovering this article, Harvard Business schoolRead MoreQuestions On Ethics And Ethics Essay1454 Words   |  6 PagesIntroduction to Ethics Paper 2 Hamza Ennouri Group 2 Mediterranean School of Business 04/29/2016 15-246-0204 â€Æ' Introduction to Ethics: Paper 2 Ethics, which is a branch of philosophy that involves systematizing, defending and recommending concepts of the right and wrong conduct, investigates the questions What is the best way for people to live and What actions are right or wrong in particular Circumstances.† There are different theories of ethics such as metha-physics, normative-ethics and appliedRead MoreThe Question Of Ethics And Ethics1394 Words   |  6 PagesWhat exactly does the term â€Å"ethics† mean? When asking this question among several different groups of people, I’m sure all of their answers would be different in many ways, but would all draw the general theme that ethics is somewhat of a study of what is right and what is wrong. This is a mostly correct conclusion, except for the fact that it encompasses not only determining what is right and wrong, but attempting to systemize and defend those ethical positions which one holds. Almost all of theRead MoreQuestions On Ethics And Ethics908 Words   |  4 PagesEthics basically deals with what is right versus what is wrong. As human beings we face the task of making ethical decisions every day. Some decisions are easier than others to make; however, it is important to make the right deci sion because every decision has consequences good or bad. The bible tells us in Proverbs 21:2-3 that, â€Å"Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the hearts. To do righteousness and justice is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice† (NIV). OurRead MoreQuestions On Ethics And Ethics Essay800 Words   |  4 Pages 1.8.1 Ethics Practices Ethics or ethical practices are pertaining to or dealing with morals or the principles of morality. 1.8.2 Unethical practices Lacking moral principles or unwilling to adhere to proper rules of conduct. 1.8.3 Forms of Unethical Practices 1.8.3.1 Bribery According Black s Law Dictionary, bribery is the offering, giving, receiving, or soliciting of any item of value to influence the actions of an official or other person in charge of a public or legal duty. 1.8.3.2 CorruptionRead MoreQuestions On Ethics And Ethics1410 Words   |  6 PagesAngela Kopec 02/26/2017 Ethics Paper In tax practice, the ethics environment in which professionals operate is complex. The Treasury Circular 230 governs federal tax practice standards. However, a multitude of standards and ethics rules also apply to a member’s tax practice including the AICPA’s Statements on Standards for Tax Services (SSTSs). The Circular 230 and the SSTSs contain similar content but are different content in some aspects. The lack of cross reference between the Circular 230 andRead MoreQuestions On Business Ethics And Ethics2226 Words   |  9 PagesIntroduction to Business Ethics What Is Ethics? To understand business ethics one must first understand that there is no general definition used to define this ethics related topic. Ethics related topics usually include terms such as morals, principles, ethics and values, which are, in most cases, used interchangeably. However, Asgary and Mitschow (2002) defines ethics as the study of appropriate policies and practices regarding possible controversial issues while offering recommendations forRead MoreEthics And The Ethics Based Questions938 Words   |  4 Pageswhile extreme, presents us with a myriad of different ethical dilemmas involving the respect for life. Although we may not face this kind of grave situation on a daily basis the lessons we can learn from this case study can be applied to the ethics based questions we do encounter in everyday life. By examining the choices and intentions of each of the involved individuals we are able to see the application of different arguments and points of view. While the parties in volved differ greatly in theirRead MoreQuestion Questions On Business Ethics1305 Words   |  6 PagesQuestion 1- Business Ethics Issue- A Company has developed a new drug which contains small side effects. They have conducted many experiments on this drug and formed a report to keep confidential. The board of directors results that they will continue to market the drug and keep the information within the company, as it will increase profits significantly. Is this ethical behaviour for the company? Rule- Common law tells us that as the directors of the company it is in their duty to act in goodRead MoreEthics, Ethics And Morals Of The User Into Question3486 Words   |  14 PagesINTRODUCTION Morals and ethics question us in everyday life. We are constantly facing new dilemmas that put us in difficult situations; and thinking of them in depth will make us question our loyalty towards a particular matter. Graphic Designers face those obligations relatively more than other people. The nature of their job is to create pieces of work, and these may be those that as an individual, they do not solely agree with but have an obligation to complete it in order to keep the client

Payless Service Blueprint Free Essays

string(58) " have an item that can improve the life of their product\." Payless Shoe Source is a discount footwear retailer with over 4,572 retail stores in 15 countries. This company does not only focus on providing different fashion possibilities for the family at a great price, but distinguishes themselves by offering an engaging, easy-to-shop experience and outstanding customer service. Our group chose this company to blueprint because it has a very elaborate customer service process. We will write a custom essay sample on Payless Service Blueprint or any similar topic only for you Order Now This company focuses heavily on providing the customer with a great shopping experience by following a series of â€Å"critical actions† that must be delivered to one hundred percent of the customers during their journey in the store. In addition, one of our group members works in this company and therefore, it would be easier to grasp an in depth understanding of the service process and be able to have easier access to all the information we needed.When shopping at the store, the customer goes through five different steps in their shopping experience. The company calls this process the â€Å"customer journey,† consisting of the following stages: Enter, Browse, Try-on, Check-out, and Walk-out. When the customer approaches the store, the customer is impacted by the store’s physical evidence for the first time. The first physical evidence the customer comes across is the store’s outer appearance. They may ask themselves does the store look in good condition and/or is it open.Once they get that established, they notice the parking lot to see if there are any available spaces to park and also if it’s clean. Once they park, the first thing they see on the store is big posters on the windows. The store always has advertisements on the windows to show customers what sales they have going on during that time. The sale posters alone can influence a customer to walk in the store and that alone can make a customer walk in the store with certain expectations, such as prices and brands. As the customer walks in the store, the Enter stage begins.The customer walks into a lobby area, which contains a little jewelry/sunglasses section slightly to the side and in front of them, there are displays of the latest or â€Å"hottest† shoes for customers to view at first. To the left or right wall of the store, there would be handbags/purses for the customer to see, many which match certain shoes. Payless Shoesource as the name says it, is mainly to shop for shoes, but all these extra items that the customers come across in their shopping experience influence a customer who initially went in for a pair of shoes to walk out with two or three extra items, or ccessories they might not even need or did not realize they needed. Once the lobby area has been viewed, the customers are offered assistance a nd are directed to their size. If they are shopping for children, an associate offers to measure the child’s feet and then directs them to the kid’s aisle. This is where the Browse stage begins. The aisles are divided by men’s, women, and children. The aisles containing the shoes should be well-organized, put in correct order by size and department, and should be color-coded. This helps the customer and employees to find things easier.In this stage of the customer journey, an associate approaches the customer and initiates interaction. The salesperson asks the customer an open ended question such as, â€Å"What type of shoes are you looking for today† to better understand the customer’s needs. The associate then suggests the customer styles for them to try on and helps them find the right size. Furthermore, in this stage the associate also ensures that the customer understands the promotion that the store has in case they were not yet given that information at the Enter stage.If a certain style is not found in the aisles, the associate checks the inventory system (support process) with a handheld computer device called a scanner. With this device the associate can check inventory, prices, and in what other payless locations the shoe is in stock. This device is very important physical evidence because it can influence a customer’s experience positively. This allows the employees to give a faster and more accurate service. After the customer begins trying on shoes, the associate goes back to check on the customer and delivers the critical actions for the try-on stage.This stage is very important because the company has determined that sixty-four percent of customers who try on shoes make a purchase. The associate begins by complementing their selection. This can change the sixty-six percent to eighty-eight after a customer receives follow-up. The associate then offers the customer a second style or a matching accessory to increase the units per transaction. Once the customer picks the products they want to buy, the associate offers to take the shoes to the registers which are at the front of the store, where the Check-out stage begins.In the beginning of the transaction a customer is asked for personal information such as name, address, and email address that is input in to the registration system in the support process. This data is stored and used for marketing purposes and comes up every time the customer shops in the store, allowing for a more personalized service. The cashier then proceeds by checking that the correct shoe mates are taken. This is done verbally to reassure that the customer is taking what they want and to avoid any returns.Underneath the registers, are shoelaces and shoe care merchandise for the customer to purchase at last minute. In the Check-out stage, these items are offered by the cashier because the company determined that one out of five attempts to sell additional items at the register is successful. The shoe care merchandiser influences the customers experience because they are strategically placed to create additional needs to consumers, making them purchase at the last minute. This helps the company, but it also satisfies the customer because they now have an item that can improve the life of their product. You read "Payless Service Blueprint" in category "Papers"Finally, the customer is thanked and invited back. The last stage of the customer journey is the Walk-Out stage. This is whenever a customer is leaving the store without making a purchase. An associate stops the customer and asks then an open-ended question, such as â€Å"Did you find everything you were looking for. † Many times an associate prevents the customer from leaving and directs them back to the aisles for further help and may actually save a sale. If not, they give the customer a reason to come back by informing them of an upcoming promotion or the day new shipment arrives.Of course, even the best process has potential fail points where problems may occur and/or bottlenecks where backups or slow delivery may occur. There are three different types we can identify. The first bottleneck is the handling of uncooperative customers. All the critical actions that the service employees need to deliver during the customer journey require cooperation from both ends; the customer and the firm’s employees. Customer participation is crucial in effectively delivering all aspects of the service delivery the company wishes to give all of its customers.However, sometimes the company comes across â€Å"difficult† customers, or often called â€Å"get out of my face† customers that can slow the delivery process or even cause a fail point. There are times that customers do not want to be offered assistance and they will either keep walking, ignoring the salesperson, or they will respond with a quick phrase like, â€Å"I am just looking. † For instance, during the Browse stage, the employee is required to interact with the customer.If they are explaining the current promotion to the customer, but a customer refuses to respond to the employees help by not listening to them, then this part of the servi ce deliver creates a fail point if the associate gives up or it makes the process slow down is the associate later attempts to explain the same information once again during a different stage, to avoid the customer arriving at the register not understanding the promotion. Another instance would be at the Enter stage, where the associate offers to measure children’s feet. It is the salesperson’s job to deliver this critical action, however how successful this is also depends on the customer’s participation. If a customer does not allow the associate to measure their child’s feet, then the whole purpose of this part of the service delivery fails because the associate will not be able to give the customer this service. The purpose of doing this is to allow the associates to interact with the children as well as the parents in order to create a pleasurable experience for the whole family.This is a service that many competitors don’t offer, so it is a competitive advantage. The only solution to this bottleneck is for the front line managers to exercise continuous training with their employees. This will help them gain ease in talking to customer in general. It will provide the associates with practice that will help them learn to enhance customer participation and to effectively deliver good service. That way if a customer shuts down an associate, the associate will be trained to not give up and instead exercise the learned ways to gain a customer’s trust.Unenthusiastic employees are another fail point we identified. Employee’s unwillingness to participate in delivering the customer service can be a potential fail point in the service delivery process. Uncooperative employees can be the result of a variety of things. The first is that the company was involved in an ineffective hiring process. Another is that the company failed to exercise proper training. The employee must be trained to switch from tasks to customer service whenever a customer walks in. Fortunately, this fail point is somewhat controllable by the company. To avoid this, the company should hire the right people from the start. A solution is for the company to develop strategies to determine who is right for this position. Another alternative is to treat their employee’s right. The company must know when to reward their employees and must provide motivation that will drive them to try their best. A third fail point identified is out of stock merchandise. Not meeting the demands of the ustomers can be a big problem that can lead to many lost sales. The solution to this is to exercise more effective communication during the support process where the manufacturer sends the merchandise to the pool point and from there it is sent to the store, and it is received and input into the inventory system. Every time an associate uses the inventory to search for a shoe and prints out a receipt for the customer to go to another location is valuable information that should be used in benefit of the company.This is additional information that should be considered when making the inventory and should be effectively and accurately communicated within the support process to successfully meet the specific demands of customers. A service blueprint not only allows for a quantitative description of critical service elements, such as time, logical sequences of actions and processes, but also specifies both actions/events that happen in the time and place of the interaction and actions/events that are out of the â€Å"line of visibility† for th e users, but are fundamental for the service.With the realization of the importance and the domination of services in the world’s economies, there is a growing emphasis in business practice on creating meaningful, memorable customer experiences. Payless Shoe Source has reinvented itself and repositioned its brand as a business that is as passionate about helping customers as they are about the products they sell. By using a detailed service blueprint, Payless can strengthen its Marketing, HR Management, and Operations areas and achieve a stronger bond with its customers.The company’s blueprint showcases key points where customers are more attracted to, spend more time at, and are more likely to focus on promotions, ads, and its products. This will especially be helpful to the stores’ â€Å"extensive media plan. † Measuring the stores traffic in customers, sales, and productivity, the company develops the plan which determines what amount of advertising impressions would be the most effective in T. V, radio, magazine, and newspapers. It was this plan that led them to be awarded the â€Å"2006 Marketer of the Year† by Footwear News among other recognitions. Another important aspect of the organization is its’ employees. Payless is proud of its associates and has a culture that encourages personal, informal feedback between all employees and includes programs in its stores and corporate offices to recognize excellence by individuals and teams. Through the blueprint Payless can evaluate associates, their relationships with customers, and manage their Development, Recognition, and Compensation Programs. For example the quarterly and annual Pinnacle Awards program recognizes top store and district performers in their three regions. Payless is also an organization looking to innovate their service to customers.Its store operations are a critical, important area in its service process. A blueprint will be helpful to create performance standards for workload scenarios, improve alignment among key business functions, and implement new technologies where needed the most. An example of how payless optimized it’s workforce was the creation of KRONOS. Kronos is a an integrated, analytical workforce management system which pulls data from various sources such as the POS, traffic counters, supply chain systems, and associate preferences to create automated, optimized work schedules.Through this assignment we learned how significant a service blueprint can be to an organization for it to be successful among its customers. The blueprint allows firms to visualize the service process, points of customer contact, and the physical evidence associated with their services from their customers’ perspective. The uniqueness of this technique is its continuous focus on the customer as the center and foundation for innovation, service improvement, and experience design. That doesn’t mean that customers are the source of innovation, but rather that value to the customer is the central purpose of innovation.The service blueprint helps firms improve and innovate their service and create a â€Å"customer-focused† design for the firm, which in turn increases customer retention, creates a competitive advantage and mainly increases brand equity. Payless Shoesource is a perfect example of how a blueprint can be successfully used to innovate, improve, and communicate the firms’ philosophy of great service to its customers. Works Cited Bharat Book Bureau. February 2009. 5 July 2010 http://g51studio. com/parsons/ServiceBlueprinting How to cite Payless Service Blueprint, Papers

Confucianisms similarities to virtue ethics free essay sample

Isaiah Fasoldt Confucinisms Similarities With Virtue Ethics Confucianism, the ancient social philosophy of China, would have had no ethical parallel in the West as little as 30 years ago. There are some small similarities that it holds with utilitarian ethics and deontology. There is very little in ethical egoism or relativism that lines up with Confucianism. I believe that virtue ethics, however, as laid out in Alasdair Maclntyres book After Virtue bears a striking resemblance to Confucianism. One important feature of Confucianism, according to John Koller, is that it is an ssentially humanist philosophy; in other words, human beings are the ultimate source of values. This is in apposition to Supernaturalism†which claims that values ultimately come from God, and naturalism†which believes that values come from nature. Thus, Confucianism, answers the question of How can goodness and harmony be achieved? by looking for exemplars and principles in humanity itself. We will write a custom essay sample on Confucianisms similarities to virtue ethics or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page This is strikingly similar to the picture that Alasdair Maclntyre paints of the world. According to Maclntyre, most of the ethical language and arguments that are thrown around between ethicists and even everyday people is fundamentally ncomprehensible or incoherent. Ethical prescriptions used to be based on a common belief in God and the ways in which He has ordered the universe. In todays world, however, we no longer share that common belief, but we have kept the structures and language of our old ethical systems without the foundation stones on which they were originally built. To remedy this ailment, Maclntyre proposes going back to a kind of virtue ethics, an essentially humanist philosophy that defines virtuous behavior as what a good man would do. Like Confucianism, virtue ethics looks to neither God nor nature, but rather humanity to find the principles by which o live. Furthermore, both Confucianism and virtue ethics focus less on the rightness of actions themselves, but rather on the development of virtuous people. Koller, notes The Confucian idea that virtue, rather than law, should be the basis of government . Similarly, virtue ethics sees ethical behavior as ultimately driven by character, not by rules (deontology) or consequences (utilitarianism). Both Confucianism and virtue ethics are interested in cultivating people skillful in doing good as the basis of a stable society. Confucianisms similarities to virtue ethics By ifasoldt