Performance Management and Appraisal - Bernardin - Review Notes

Human Resource Management Revision Article Series


Performance management is a critical component of a broader set of human resource practices that are linked to business objectives, personal and organizational development, and corporate strategy.

Performance is defined as the record of outcomes produced in specified job functions or activities during a specified time period.


Performance data are used for compensation, staffing purposes, training needs analysis and research and evaluation.

Appraisals are challenged in courts and there are regulation in place to protect rights of employees.

Bernardin emphasized that the effects of appraisal and performance management systems will be more positive if and when certain prescriptions are followed that have generally not been heeded by practitioners.

The prescriptions indicated by Bernarding are:

1. Precision in the definition and measurement.
2. The content and measurement of performance should derive from internal and external customers.
3. The system needs a formal process for investigating and correcting for the effects of situational constraints on performance.

Performance on the job as a whole of a person would be equal to the sum (average) performance on the major job functions or activities. It should not be confused with traits and competencies of the person.

What are the uses for Performance Data?



Performance data are used for compensation, staffing purposes, training needs analysis and research and evaluation.

Six primary Criteria of Performance

1. Quality 2. Quantity 3. Timeliness 4. Cost-effectivenss 5. Need for supervision
6. Interpersonal impact.

Designing an Appraisal System

The system is based on the decisions in the following dimensions:

Measurement content
Measurement process
Defining the rater
Defining the ratee

Measurement content

Effective performance appraisal focuses n the record of outcomes with major emphasis on outcomes directly related to an organization's mission and objectives.

Measurement process

The process can compare ratees.
Comparison of a person's performance to anchors of his job.
Comparison among anchors.

Defining the rater

Raters can be ratees themselves (self rating), supervisors, peers, clients or customers, or higher level managers.

Defining the ratee

The ratee may be defined at the individual, work group, division or organization-wide level.

Possible rating errors

1.Leniency/severity 2. Halo/Horn's effect 3. Central tendency 4. Fundamental attribution errors (actor - observer bias) 5. Representativeness 6. Availability 7. Anchoring

Appraisal feedback

Raters have a responsibility to give feedback and improve the performance of the ratee.

Raters should provide feedback that is clear, specific, descriptive, job related, constructive, frequent and timely.


____________________________________________________________

Chapter Learning Objectives

After reading this chapter, you should be able to

Understand the value and uses of performance appraisals in organizations and the prescriptions for effective appraisal.


Present a definition of performance and apply the definition to various job functions.


Discuss the legal implications of performance appraisal.


Explain the various errors in ratings and proven methods to reduce them.


Describe the necessary steps for implementing an effective appraisal feedback system.

Source:
H. John Bernardin, Human Resource Management
________________________________________

CREATING A PERFORMANCE CULTURE
by: Joanne Reid, Victoria Hubbell, Victoria Hubbell
Ivy Business Journal
Issues: March / April 2005.
http://iveybusinessjournal.com/publication/creating-a-performance-culture/

Measuring and Managing Performance in Organizations

Robert D. Austin
Addison-Wesley, 1996 - 240 pages

Based on an award-winning doctoral thesis at Carnegie Mellon University, Measuring and Managing Performance in Organizations presents a captivating analysis of the perils of performance measurement systems.

Because people often react with unanticipated sophistication when they are being measured, measurement-based management systems can become dysfunctional, interfering with achievement of intended results. Fortunately, as the author shows, measurement dysfunction follows a pattern that can be identified and avoided.

The author’s findings are bolstered by interviews with eight recognized experts in the use of measurement to manage computer software development: David N. Card, of Software Productivity Solutions; Tom DeMarco, of the Atlantic Systems Guild; Capers Jones, of Software Productivity Research; John Musa, of AT&T Bell Laboratories; Daniel J. Paulish, of Siemens Corporate Research; Lawrence H. Putnam, of Quantitative Software Management; E. O. Tilford, Sr., of Fissure; plus the anonymous Expert X. A practical model for analyzing measurement projects solidifies the text.
https://books.google.co.in/books?id=hVMUAAAAQBAJ



Performance Review Aligns Employees To Individual Goals

Often called pay-for-performance (P4P), the concept is to build a culture of top performers by aligning goals, performance, and rewards across an entire organization: Head HR, Skillsoft
http://www.businessworld.in/article/Performance-Review-Aligns-Employees-To-Individual-Goals-/26-02-2019-167583/


Updated 27 Feb 2019,  2 October 2016,  14 December 2011

Marketing Management Blogs

http://adcontrarian.blogspot.com

http://www.themarketingsage.com

https://blog.axiom.us.com

https://brightside.me

http://b2bmarketingdirections.blogspot.com

http://makemarketinghistory.blogspot.com/

https://marketingthatworksblog.blogspot.com
Interesting post:  https://marketingthatworksblog.blogspot.com/2018/03/meaty-messaging-messaging-inventory.html

http://saasmarketingstrategy.blogspot.com/

http://themwordblog.blogspot.com/
Library marketing

http://dranil-marketingmusings.blogspot.com/

http://marketdesigner.blogspot.com

http://mymarketingpicks.blogspot.com
Int post http://mymarketingpicks.blogspot.com/2013/01/top-20-marketing-gurus.html

http://www.uofadmissionsmarketing.com/

https://medialadder.ca/

http://fmcg-marketing.blogspot.com/

https://faculty.insead.edu/pierre-chandon/
Professor of Marketing, INSEAD

http://mktg-matters.blogspot.com/
http://mktg-matters.blogspot.com/2018/05/in-age-of-digital-content-is-king.html


search Google marketing site:blogspot.com

Project Cost Management

_______________

_______________
Edureka! upload

Project Cost Management includes the processes involved in planning, estimating, budgeting, and controlling costs so that the project can be completed within the approved budget.

The three processes described in PMBOK for project cost management are

Cost Estimating

Cost Budgeting

Cost Control

Cost Estimating

Plan Cost Management
The Cost Management Plan establishes: i) level of accuracy and level of precision, ii) unit of measurement, iii) WBS procedure links (to control account (CA)), iv) control threshold, v) earned value rules of performance, reporting, funding and processes
Life cycle costing = total cost of ownership : production cost, running and maintenance cost, etc.
Estimate Costs

Similar to Estimate Activity Resources
Look for ways to reduce cost
ensure the SME to deliver the estimates (more accurate)
based on WBS

Cost Types
Variable costs – costs change with the amount of work, e.g. hourly consultants
Fixed costs – costs that are constant, e.g. equipment leases
Direct costs – directly attributed to the project
Indirect costs – shared costs like AC, lighting, etc.

Cost Estimate Tools

Analogous Estimating (Top Down Estimate) – compare to a similar project in the past (an estimating heuristic/rule of thumb)
Parametric Estimating – use a parameter and repetitive units of identical work
Bottom-up Estimating – detailed estimates of each individual activity from historical data, more accurate and time-consuming
Activity Cost Estimates may include indirect cost and contingency reserves
usually in a range of values
Basis of Estimates – detailed analysis on how the cost estimate was derived (assumptions, constraints, possible range (+/-15%), confidence level of final estimate)

Cost Budgeting

Determine Budget

Budget is more about when to spend money
Historical Relationships – analogous/parametric estimation
Reserve Analysis – addresses Management Reserve (unknown unknowns) and Contingency Reserve (known risks) [not included in calculation of earned value managment]
Funding Limit Reconciliation – addresses variance between funding limit (e.g. monthly or yearly limit) and planned expenditure, may require rescheduling of work to level of the rate of expenditure
Value Engineering – to improve quality/shorten schedule without affecting the scope
Project Budget = Cost baseline (the approved time-phased budget) + Management Reserve
when management reserve is used during project execution, the amount is added to the cost baseline
S-curve : total project expenditure over project lifecycle

Cost Control

Control Costs

Check against the Project Funding Requirements
including informing stakeholders of all approved changes and their costs
Earned Value Calculation
Index > 1: under budget/ahead of schedule
Index < 1: over budget/behind schedule
Estimate at Complete: 1) new estimate required (original flawed), 2) no BAC variance, 3) CPI will continue, 4) sub-standard cost/schedule will continue
TCPI: >1 not enough funding remain (over budget), <1 more fund available than needed (under budget)


Earned Value Accrual
Discrete Efforts – describes activities that can be planned/measured for output, including Fixed Formula (activity given a % of budget of work package at start and earn the remaining when completed, e.g. 50/50, 20/80 or 0/100), Weighted Milestone (earn value for milestones of deliverables of the work package), Percentage Complete, Physical Measurement
Apportioned Efforts – describes work that has a direct/supporting relationship to discrete work, e.g. testing, pm activities, calculated as % of the discrete work
Level of Efforts (LOE) – describes activities without deliverables, e.g. troubleshooting, assigned the earned value as scheduled, without schedule variance but may have cost variance
e.g. perform Control Cost weekly during execution where money is spent fastest
Variance Analysis – to check against the baseline for any variance
SPI at end of project must be 1
SPI is NOT telling much information to whether the project is on schedule as the Critical Path must also be investigated to get a meaningful picture.


Earned Value Management – Basics By Sathish Babu, PMP

Earned Value Management – Advanced By Sathish Babu, PMP


http://edward-designer.com/web/pmp-project-cost-management/


Updated 26 Feb 2019, 15 March 2016

Consumer Behavior

Marketing Management Revision Article Series

Buyer’s needs, characteristics and decision making process interact with the stimuli created by the environment and marketers and buying decisions are made by the buyers.



Hence marketers have to understand what happens in the buyer’s consciousness between the arrival of outside stimuli and the buyer’s purchase decision.
___________________________________________________________________

The field of consumer behavior studies how consumers (individuals and groups) select, buy, use, and dispose of goods, services, ideas to satisfy their needs.

To understand the consumers in the target market, marketing managers rely on the 7 O’s framework of consumer research.

7 Os: Occupants, Objects, Objectives, Organizations, Operations, Occasions, Outlets

Who constitutes the market?   Occupants

What does the market buy?    Objects

Why does the market buy?     Objectives

Who participates in buying?   Organizations

How does the market buy?     Operations

When does the market buy?   Occasions  

Where does the market buy?  Outlets

Buyer’s needs, characteristics and decision making process interact with the stimuli created by the environment and marketers and buying decisions are made by the buyers.

Hence marketers have to understand what happens in the buyer’s consciousness between the arrival of outside stimuli and the buyer’s purchase decision. They must answer two questions:

·        How do the buyer’s characteristics – socio-cultural (sociological), personal, and psychological influence buying behavior?

·        How does the buyer make purchasing decisions?

Socio-cultural (sociological), Personal, and

Psychological Characteristics

Various sociological factors of importance

Cultural Factors

They have  the broadest and deepest influence. 

Culture 

Culture is different for different societies. In the modern days, there are more common elements. Culture is the most fundamental determinant of a person’s wants and behavior.

Subculture 

Culture of a society is not uniform across all groups in the society. There can be subcultures with certain elements differing from other groups’ cultural elements. Many subculture elements make up important market segments. In a country like USA, that allows people from various countries to come and settle in it, subcultures arise due to the original nationality, religion, racial group apart from the geographical subcultures and age group subcultures.

Social class 

Sociology identified that social stratification is common among many societies. Social class is a type of stratification. Social classes are relatively homogeneous and enduring divisions in a society, which are hierarchically ordered and whose members share similar values, interests and behavior.

Social Factors

They include reference groups, family, and roles and statuses of a person.

Reference groups

Reference groups influence a person’s behavior directly or indirectly.

Groups having a direct influence on a person are called membership groups. People are influenced in the consumption and purchase decisions by groups in which they are members like family, friend circle, neighbors, co-workers, sports teams etc.

People are also influenced by groups to which they do not belong presently, but want to belong in course of time. Such groups are called aspirational groups.

  

Family 

Family members constitute the most influential primary reference group or membership group. Each person has a family of orientation that consists of his parents, brothers and sisters. He has a family of procreation consisting of spouse and children. 

Statuses and roles 

People choose products that communicate their status in society. Marketers have to aware of the status symbol potential of products and brands. Each status has a role or group of activities to be performed. Persons have multiples statuses in different groups to which they belong. Therefore the roles have some bearing on the consumption and purchase decisions.

Personal factors of importance

Age and stage in the life cycle

Children consume baby food. Old people may eat special diets. People diagnosed with specific ailments avoid certain food items. Hence it is easy to conclude thaat people buy different goods and services over their life time. 

Occupation

Occupation determines the types of items people buy. Certain occupations demand simple living  and certain occupations demand display of wealth and prosperity.

Economic circumstances

People’s economic circumstances consist of their disposable or spendable income, assets, debts, and attitude toward spending versus saving. Marketing of income-sensitive goods has to take into consideration the shifts in personal income and savings habits.

Life style

A person’s life style is the person’s pattern of living in the world as expressed in activities, interests, and opinions. People coming from the same subculture, social class, and occupation do lead quite different life styles. 

The life style is reflected in the consumption patterns. different agencies and authors have identified differnet life style categories. McCann Erickson London identifed among British, Avant-Gardians, Pontificators, Chamelons and Sleepwalkers. The advertising agency, D'arcy, Masius, Benton & Bowles identified five categories among Russians, Kuptsi, Cossacks, Students, Business Executives, and Russian Souls. 

Lifestyles among British people.

Avant-Gardians (interested in change)

Pontificators (traditionalists, very British)

Chamelons (follow the crowd)

Sleepwalkers (contented underachievers)

Psychological factors of importance

Personality and self concept 

Personality denotes a person’s distinguishing psychological characteristics that lead to relatively consistent and enduring responses to various stimuli.

Motivation 

Motivation to purchase and consume an item is to be understood by marketers. Need sets up drive that seeks a goal. Marketers want the goal a person desires has to be the product that they are offering. A drive is a strong internal stimulus impelling action.

Perception 

Perception is the process by which an individual selects, organizes, and interprets information inputs to create a meaningful picture of the world.

Learning

Learning involves changes in an individual’s behavior arising from experience. Most human behavior is learned.

Beliefs and attitudes

A belief is a descriptive thought a person holds about something.

An attitude is a person’s enduring favorable or unfavorable emotional feelings and action tendencies toward some object or an idea.

The Buying Process

Roles people play in buying process

In the buying decision a person can play any role in the list of roles given below.

 Initiator

He may initiate the purchase by another person by explaining to him the needs served by a product.

 Influencer

He may infuence another by suggesting which brand needs to be bought.

Decider

He is the decider to buy it.

 Buyer

He is the actual buyer who goes into the market and buys. 

User

He is the user of the product.

Example: A school teacher may suggest to a child that he needs to buy a computer. His classmates may tell him that they own a particular brand of computer and they are very happy with its features. His father could be the decider of the purchase. His mother may go to shop and buy the computer. The child is the user.

Buying behavior

Habitual buying behavior

In this buying situation, the purchaser is not involved in the product and there is not much risk and there is no appreciable difference between various brands available. He buys the brand by habit.

Variety seeking buying behavior

In this buying situation also, the purchaser is not that much involved, but likes to try various brands

Complex buying behavior

In this buying situation, the buyer is very involved and spends some time to learn about various alternatives available and buys the product/brand.

Less careful buying behavior with more chance of dissonance

In this buying situation, the differences between brands is not much and customer takes decisions quickly. But there is a possibility that he may experience some disappointment and tries to justify his purchase decision

The stages of buying decision process

Problem recognition

A potential purchaser first recognizes a need for a product

Information search

He goes around searching for information the available alternatives

Evaluation of alternatives

He evaluates the alternatives

Purchase decision

He makes the purchase decision

Post purchase behavior

Post purchase satisfaction

The buyer's satisfaction is a function of the closeness between the buyer's product expectations and the product's perceived performance.

Post purchase actions

If buyers are satisfied they may purchase again.

If they are dissatisfied, they may return the product. They will inform their friends not to buy.

Post purchase use and disposal

The marketer has to be monitor use of the product. If people bought the product but are not using it, sales will not grow. If people are using the product for additional uses not anticipated by the marketer, the information is of value in increasing sales.

 

Consumer Behaviors: Catherine Roe (Google) at TEDxUChicago 2012
___________________

___________________


Consumer Behaviour - Full Course - 40 videos
NPTEL - IIT Kharagpur

___________________

___________________

References

Philip Kotler, Marketing Management, 9^th Edition

_________________________________________________________________

Planned Revision schedule for marketing chapters is in February and March

Article on differentiating and positioning http://nraomtr.blogspot.com/2011/11/marketing-strategy-differentiating-and.html

__________________________________________________________________

Article originally posted by me in
http://knol.google.com /k/ consumer-behavior


Updated 25 February 2019, 25 Feb 2016, 3 Dec 2011

A to Z: Top Management Challenge Areas

A to Z: Top Management Challenge Areas

2017 Blogging Challenge Articles with the Theme: Top Management Challenge Areas

All the issues are relevant in the current times. So, the services offered by top consultancy organizations in these areas are specially highlighted.

1. Awareness of Environment

2. Brand Equity - The NPV of Marketing Investment
    Brain Stilling - Brain Storming for Effective Decisions

3. Culture Change Management
    Coordination

4. Deal Making and Negotiation

5. Energizing the Organization

6. Fortification of the Brand

7. Goal Alignment and Employee Involvement

8. Health of Organization

9. Innovation for Growth - Revenues, Profits, Potential Market, Knowledge Capital

10. Job Redesign for Effectiveness, Efficiency and Employee Satisfaction

11. Knowledge Management

12. Liquidity, Solvency and Profitability - The Finance Challenge

13. Manufacturing/Production Management - Production of Goods and Services

14. No Waste Philosophy - Industrial Engineering and Work Simplification

15. Organizing Resources and Acquiring Them - The Supply Chain

16. Productivity Management

17. Quality Management

18. Redesign - Design Iterations

19. Supply Chain Analytics

20. Technology Management and Innovation

21. Utility - Value to Customer

22. Values Statement of the Organization

23. Wandering to Manage - Shop Floor and Office - Observe the Action to Plan and Control

24. Xerophilous Organization - Surviving the Business Cycles

25. Youthful Organization

26. Zeal - Earnestness to Serve and Survive

My Important Project Using The Articles in This Blog

MBA Core Management Knowledge - One Year Revision Schedule

A to Z: Management -  Blog Posts by Narayana Rao (Earlier Year Challenges and Regular Blogging)

Letter "A"

1. Adoption of New Products and Processes
2. April - Management Knowledge Revision
3. Advertising

 Letter "B"

Brand Building Update 2015

Business Firm and Society - The External Environment, Social Responsibility and Ethics - Review Notes

Business Conceptualization - Management Insights from Economics, Engineering Economics, Managerial Economics, Industrial Economics
Branding

Letter "C"  -

Culture Change Management Process

Channels of Distribution
Letter "D" -

Distribution Warehouse

Discount Policy
Demand


 Letter "E"-

Efficiency Improvement - Need and Role of Industrial Engineering

Excellence
 "F" -

Finance for Non-Finance Managers

Foresight
 Letter "G" -

Goal Setting for MBO

Letter "H" -

Human Resource Training - Role of Indicated Reading Lists

Health
 Letter "I" -

Innovation Marketing

Innovation
 Letter "J" -

Job Design

Job Satisfaction


 Letter "K" -

Knowledge Management Software Packages

Knowledge Management
Letter "L" -

Location of Production Facilities

Leadership Development
Letter "M" -

Market Orientation

Make in India Campaign - Industry Sectors Information
Motivation

Letter "N" -

Needs and Wants - Marketing Concepts

New Products
Letter "O"

Organizational Sociology

Organizing

Letter "P"

Product Development

Productivity

Letter "Q"

Quantitative Thinking for Management

Quality

 Letter "R"  -

Relaxation During Work Day - Recovering from Fatigue

Research

Letter "S" -

Six Sigma - Zero Defect Movement Systematized

Salesmanship

Letter "T"  -

The Role of Theory in Practice of Engineering and Management

Training

Letter "U"  -

Understanding Marketing Productivity

Utlility

Letter "V" -

Value Engineering - Recent Developments

Vision

Letter "W" -

Work-Methods Science

Waste Elimination

Letter "X"  -

X Reminds me of Theory X

Letter "Y" -

Y Reminds me of Theory Y

Letter "Z"  -

Z Reminds me of Theory Z

A to Z - 2015 Challenge

A to Z: 2015 Blogging Challenge - Index for Management Articles by Professor Narayana Rao

To Know More About A to Z Blogging Challenge

http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com/

Recent Development - Year Update

A - Advertising

B - Branding

C - Channel Management

D - Distribution

E - Effectiveness Improvement

F - Financial Management

G - Goal Setting

H - Human Resource Management

I - Industrial Engineering

J - Job Design

K - Knowledge Management

L - Logistics Management

M - Manufacturing Management

N - New Product and Service Marketing

O - Organizational Behavior

P - Productivity Science, Engineering and Management

Q - Quantitative Techniques

R - Retail Sales

S - Supply Chain Management

T - Training and Development

U - Understanding the Business Environment Change

V - Value Engineering/Product Industrial Engineering

W - World Class Business and Manufacturing

X -

Y - Youth Participation in Production and Consumption

Z -
____________________

Reading started in year 2018

Updated 26 February 2019,  7 July 2018,  18 August 2017, 30 April 2017,  15 April, 11 April, 8 April, 6 April 2017, 3 April 2017, 1 April 2017, 27 Feb 2017,  3 December 2016



https://nraomtr.blogspot.com/2019/02/a-to-z-of-management-articles-books.html


A to Z 2018 Road Trip

http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com/2018/05/road-trip-roadtrip-atozchallenge-2018.html

Top 25 Management Blogs

http://nraomtr.blogspot.com/
(14,576 backlinks)

https://www.malik-management.com/blog/

https://www.lollydaskal.com/blog/
(1,386 backlinks)

http://gregmankiw.blogspot.com/

http://www.mitsot.com/blog/




https://www.hensonconsultinginternational.com/organizational-behavior-and-global-management-blog/

http://www.emilianosoldipmp.info/

http://michael-roberto.blogspot.com/

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/business_law/

https://blog.iese.edu/



https://www.bobsutton.net/

https://wsb.wisc.edu/faculty-research/forward-thinking-faculty-blog

http://professor-murmann.info/index.php/weblog/research

http://paris.tbs-education.fr/category/campus-life/professors-blog/

http://faculty.iima.ac.in/~jrvarma/blog/index.cgi



https://umarruhi.com/wordpress/blog/

http://www.garyhamel.com/
(5,988 backlinks)

https://ucanwest.ca/blog/business-management

http://ianangell.com/

https://blogs.uwe.ac.uk/leadership-and-change/




http://timkastelle.org/theblog/

https://www.robertsoncooper.com/blog/author/ivanrobertson/

https://bobemiliani.com/category/lean-leadership/

https://blog.strategyzer.com/

https://drjohnsullivan.com/



More Management Blogs

https://kipcurriermanagementleadership.blogspot.com

https://www.managementyogi.com/

https://vanupama.blogspot.com/p/welcome.html

http://www.johngoodpasture.com/2019/02/looking-for-stuff-on-pm.html

http://pjlehrer.blogspot.com
PJ Lehrer is an Adjunct Assistant Professor at NYU, teaching Integrated Marketing Campaigns, Consumer Behavior, Advanced Advertising Strategies, and Strategic Planning For Marketers.

http://marketingpractice.blogspot.com/

https://mgtdiary.blogspot.com


Search  site:blogspot.com management  Google

Spirituality - Concept, Explanation and Measurement

WHAT IS SPIRITUALITY?


Spirituality has been defined in the psychological literature in numerous ways ( Zinnbauer & Pargament, 2002; Zinnbauer & Pargament, 2005; Zinnbauer, Pargament, & Scott, 1999).

On the basis of the works of a number of authors dealing with spirituality and spiritual well-being, Westgate (1996) identified four components of spirituality: meaning and purpose in life (i.e., the
sense of a search for, or the finding of, meaning and purpose), transcendent beliefs and experiences (i.e., an awareness or experience of something beyond life’s rational aspects), intrinsic values (i.e., values, held by the individual with no ulterior motives, that guide his or her life), and community or relationship aspects (i.e., relationship with others and a willingness to help them). Westgate
pointed out that the first two components were included in all of the writings reviewed concerning spirituality although there was a large degree of variety concerning specific definitions and descriptions of these dimensions.

Almost all researchers appear to agree that spirituality is a multi-dimensional construct (Miller & Thoresen, 2003; Seybold & Hill, 2001; Zinnbauer & Pargament, 2005). The significance of a
multidimensional approach to spirituality is that the various components of
spirituality may be related to other variables in a differential manner. .  MacDonald and Holland (2003) used the multidimensional Expressions of Spirituality Inventory (ESI) (MacDonald,
1997, 2000) in order to investigate the relation between spirituality and psychological functioning as operationalized by MMPI-2 scales and found general support for the predicted relation between spirituality and measures of depression and psychopathy. However, these researchers uncovered a pattern of differential correlations between the five ESI dimensions and the MMPI scales. For example, the MMPI Social Introversion scale was related to the Experiential / Phenomenological Dimension but not to the Paranormal Beliefs dimension, whereas the reverse was true for the MMPI Paranoia scale.


One of the few approaches to spirituality that does not include any references to religion – direct or indirect - was put forward by Elkins, Hedstrom, Huges, Leaf, and Saunders (1988). These researchers listed four major assumptions concerning spirituality. One of these assumptions is that spirituality is not identical to religiosity and an individual who is unaffiliated with traditional religion can still be ‘‘spiritual.’’ On the basis of an extensive literature search, Elkins et al. (1988) developed a multidimensional definition of spirituality. According to this definition, spirituality is composed of the following nine components: (a) Transcendent Dimension, (b) Meaning and Purpose in Life, (c) Mission in Life, (d) Sacredness of Life, (e) Material Values, (f) Altruism, (g) Idealism, (h) Awareness of the Tragic, and (i) Fruits of Spirituality. On the basis of this definition, Elkins et al. then developed the Spiritual Orientation Inventory (SOI) whose nine subscales demonstrated acceptable levels of reliability (Elkins, 1988) and which was found to discriminate between groups who were assumed to differ on level of spirituality (Lauri & Elkins, 1988). Later factor analysis of the SOI uncovered two higher order dimensions of spirituality - an experiential dimension and a spiritual value dimension (Zainuddin, 1993).

The SOI has been used in a number of empirical studies as a measure of spirituality (e.g., Smith, 1995; Sherman, 1996; Tloczynski, Knoll, & Fitch, 1997).



EJBO Electronic Journal of Business Ethics and Organization Studies Vol. 13, No. 2 (2008)
61 http://ejbo.jyu.fi/
Spirituality and Ethical Behaviour in the
Workplace: Wishful Thinking or Authentic Reality
Peter McGhee
Patricia Grant

Carrette & King (2005)  offer a universal and useful definition of spirituality consisting of four
behavioural characteristics that evidence a specific mindset. The behavioural characteristics of spiritual individuals include:

1. Seeking to transcend their ego (i.e. their own self-interests)
2. Awareness and acceptance of their interconnectedness with others, creation and their Ultimate Concern
3. Understanding the higher significance of their actions while seeking to integrate their lives holistically
4. Believing in something beyond the material universe which ultimately gives value to all else


A brief description of each of these follows. According to Ashforth & Pratt (2003), themes of self–transcendence figure prominently in most definitions of spirituality. What is selftranscendence? It is something that calls us beyond the “self ” (i.e. the ego) to concern for, and relationships with, others and with the ultimate “other”. Torrance (1994) interprets it as “the individual in continuous interaction with a larger reality in which he or she transcends their personal existence” (p.82). Such persons transcend their egoistic self not by floating off to some mystical union or separate realm of existence but by coming to terms with its enlarging and transformative potentiality. Emmons
(1999) echoes this in noting that such a rising may not be limited to rising above our natural world to relate to a divine being but could also include achieving a heightened state of consciousness (Mayer, 2000), having peak experiences (Maslow, 1970) or entering a state of ‘flow’ (Csikszentmihalyi, 1990).

Spiritual persons seek to live an authentic life sourced in meaningful relationships. The process of self-transcendence, of affirming the spirit and transcending the ego, results in a growing awareness and acceptance of interconnectedness. This also is a general theme in the writing on spirituality (Kale, 2004; Sass, 2000). Spiritual individuals who recognise and imbue the truth of interconnectedness demonstrate the following qualities. First, they connect to the self. Spirituality is an interior journey to find the true self with which the conceited, arrogant, intellectualising, rationalising ego is so easily confused (Weil, 2002). Second, they connect to others. They no longer see themselves as an isolated “atomistic ego-subject” (Yu, 1987, p.143). For such individuals,
spirituality is a state of being, a process towards wholeness that reflects being-in-the-world (Lapierre, 1994) and understands authentic being-in-communion with others and the Ultimate
Other (Buber, 1970).


The importance of a sense of purpose is also apparent in the spirituality literature (Elkins, Hedstrom, Hughes, Leaf, & Saunders, 1988; Emmons, 2000; Wink & Dillion, 2002) Spirituality represents a higher level of understanding that enables the contextualisation of lower levels. It provides answers to the question “why?” and confers individual lives with a sense of integrated wholeness (Mitroff & Denton, 1999) The process of “meaning-making” helps us understand how spiritual individuals revise or reappraise an event or series of events in a manner that gives a higher level of meaning, that is, a spiritual meaning (Baumeister & Vohs, 2005).


Finally, spirituality is the personal expression of an ‘Ultimate Concern’. According to Tillich (1952), ultimate concerns are those ‘God values’ in our lives which have centring power; they are the things with which we are ultimately concerned. Elkins et al. (1988) survey of diverse historical literatures on spirituality supports Tillich’s view. They noted that a spiritual person has an experience-based belief in a transcendent dimension to life. The actual content of this belief may vary from a traditional theistic view of a personal God (e.g. Christianity), a non-theistic view of that infinite potential (e.g. Buddhism), or a humanistic view of the transcendent as being simply a natural extension of the
conscious self into the area of the unconscious or Greater Self. Whatever the content or models used to describe the transcendent, the spiritual person believes in something beyond the material universe (Mitroff & Denton, 1999). Furthermore, he or she believes that contact with this unseen dimension is beneficial (Dierendonck & Mohan, 2006; Emmons, Cheung, & Tehrani, 1998; WHOQOL SRPB Group, 2006).

Transcendence

All of us encounter the transcendent part of life, something that takes us beyond our current way of thinking, feeling, or acting. We master a foreign language, listen
to a new kind of music or learn to pilot a canoe. All these things are examples of
self-transcendence and they are also comprehensible; we can understand the system
of processes, abilities, and decisions behind each of these new activities. We could
refer to these situations as offering a kind of weak transcendence, something that
is beyond us but also within our reach—transcendence “of an internal and human
sort” (Nussbaum, 1990, p. 379). It is something that can be achieved or comprehended,
often without a fundamental change in our way of life or outlook.


There are  more radical forms of strong transcendence that defy comprehension, understanding, and control. This happens when we find that life cannot be put into a box or reduced to a set of propositions and rules despite our best efforts. In the words of philosopher Emmanuel Levinas (1969), we find that our world is not just a settled, controllable “totality” of a clearly understood
system but is an “infinity” that sometimes goes beyond our human control and understanding. This infinity can appear in situations that challenge our settled view of things, as when the death of a loved one makes us realize the finitude of life. The psychiatrist-philosopher Karl Jaspers (1932) referred to these as limit situations or experiences. Strong transcendence also appears in the puzzles and paradoxes of life—things that seem to be simultaneously true but not reconcilable with each
other. For instance, the world seems to have an underlying unity, but at the same
time there is great diversity. Religious people can speak of God as love and at the same time acknowledge the presence of suffering in the world.  Finally, it is evident in our human freedom to make choices, pursue goals, react in different ways, and exercise creativity (Theophan, 1995, p. 72). No matter how carefully we study and plan, our own actions and those of others—even the effects of planful modern science and technology—continue to surprise us and defy prediction. In religious traditions, many thinkers speak of spiritual life as involving some kind of ascent and contact with
this transcendence and that after returning from such an encounter we find ourselves changed in important ways.

While most human philosophies and religions embrace at least some form of
weak transcendence, views on strong transcendence vary markedly. Most forms of
humanistic philosophy reject the idea of strong transcendence.  A view such as this emphasizes our ability to control the world instead of seeing it as a gift to be received. On the other hand,
many religious systems would argue that while weak transcendence exists and is
good, a view of the world or the human person that stops there is radically incomplete.
We must also take strong transcendence into account. For the majority of religious people in the world, this transcendence is not just an abstraction, but it has a personal quality. The something that is beyond relates to us in love, and we in turn offer it our love. This is known as theism, belief in a God
who is free, transcending both us and the world, but who wishes to relate to us. As transcendent, God can become an object of devotion.  Nontheistic religions may acknowledge strong transcendence but
deny its personal quality. This is a traditional stance within Buddhism.

Strong transcendence poses problems for science in general and psychology in particular on a number of fronts. First, scientists generally prefer models that attempt to explain things without reference to transcendence.   Second, some scientists have a limited view of logic which conflicts with aspects of transcendence such as paradox. As Wolfhart Pannenberg has noted,
some scientists have a tendency to confuse rationality (something that makes
sense) with rationalism (something that conforms to a rigid understanding of
logic; Tupper, 1973, p. 261), a stance that is quite restrictive and at odds with
how most people—including scientists—actually arrive at knowledge (Watts &
Williams, 1988, p. 56; Polanyi, 1962). Third, freedom also poses problems for many scientific explanations. Like most aspects of strong transcendence, freedom is defined in a negative way as not
chance or not necessity; as such it cannot be directly observed (Macquarrie, 1982,
p. 13). In the words of Levinas it is a trace phenomenon; we can see its effects as in the free response we make to the demands of others (Treanor, 2005), but we can never see the thing itself. You can observe the fact that you are reading this
book and understand how this is different than alternatives that you might have
chosen, but you cannot measure or prove that freedom allowed you to make the
choice. Some scientists assume that since something cannot be directly observed,
it cannot exist. Scholars who accept the presence of strong transcendence argue
that problems like rationalism or freedom show us a natural limitation of science
in its quest to grasp the human being. They suggest that we cannot understand
the human person solely by looking at ourselves from a non-transcendent point
of view. We must also seek other ways of knowing, (Goldsmith, 1994, p. 95;
Howard, Youngs, & Siatczynski, 1989; Powlison, 2003, p. 205; Macquarrie, 1982,
pp. 26, 41–42; Zizioulas, 2006).

Hope for an afterlife is an important part of religion for most theists, and an understanding of this phenomenon must accept that for believers this type of transcendence is entirely real. However, many scientists—including some psychologists—would find this difficult to accept because it is not directly observable. As a science, psychology suffers under limitations and needs to avoid “psychologism,”
the tendency to assume that all of religion can be explained by psychology when it obviously excludes critical aspects of the phenomena (Vergote, 1969, pp. 5–21).


Introduction to Organizational Behavior - Online Book

May - Management Knowledge Revision - Cost and Management Accounting and Organizational Behavior

Leading - Global Management Challenges

Principles of Management Revision/Review Articles - List

Basic article on leadership
Leadership - Koontz and O'Donnell - Review Notes
http://nraomtr.blogspot.com/2011/12/leadership-koontz-and-odonnell-review.html

Leading in organizations is the process of influencing people so that they will contribute to organizational aims. Leading involves communicating what is needed to be done by various persons in the organization, providing leadership which includes understanding the needs of the followers and matching them with the needs of the organization and motivating which is concerned once with the needs of the members of the organization with the rewards and job roles.

Leading is practiced differently in different countries.

Leading Japan

In Japan, managers are seen as social integrators and are also part of work group. Managers show paternalistic leadership approach and show great concern for the welfare of their subordinates. Managers do the same work their subordinates do often to develop the environment of esprit de corps. This was mentioned by Fayol in his principles. Managers avoid face to face confrontation to maintain harmony. In Japan, employees develop close personal relationships as they interact outside the offices also more frequently.  Japanese managers emphasize face to face communication instead of memos.

Leading in the United States

In the US culture the emphasis is on individualism. Leaders are seen as decision makers heading the group. They are expected to be directive, strong, firm, and determined.  Written communication is given emphasis and managers value their private life.

Asian and American Leadership Styles: How are They Unique? 2005 article by Harvard Professor Prof D. Quinn Mills,

Updated  17 Feb 2019, 18 August, 2014,  10.2.2012, 11.12.2011

Productivity Control - Productivity Management

Principles of Management Revision/Review Articles - List

Productivity is a major concern in 1990s and will be one of the major concerns in the future also. - Koontz & O'Donnell - Principles of Management.

Productivity implies measurement and thus is connected to control in which also measurement is important.

Industrial engineering is the profession with focus on efficiency and productivity in engineering products, activities, processes and production systems. IIE's describes itself as the global association of efficiency and productivity professionals.

Productivity of knowledge workers is yet to be operationalized for measurement and improvement.

Koontz and O'Donnell and Weirich covered Operation related productivity improvement techniques in this chapter.

Operations research
Time event networks
Value engineering
Work simplification
Quality circles

In some editions of the book on Management, Koontz, O'Donnell and Weirich said, in reality, the entire book of management is about productivity.

14th Edition

In 14th Edition, Chapter 20 is titled as  Productivity, Operations Management, and Total Quality Management.

The authors, say in a real sense, this whole book is about the improvement of productivity. How it will receive special attention in this chapter.

Undoubtedly, productivity is one of the major concerns of managers in the 21st century.

Productivity is the output-input ratio within a time period with due consideration for quality. Measurement of skill work is relatively easy, but it is more difficult for knowledge work.

Good management results in improvement of productivity.

Tools and Techniques for Improving Productivity

Value Engineering

Specific Steps:

1. Divide the product into parts.
2. Identify the costs for each part.
3. Identify the relative value of each part with respect to the  lowest cost design alternative for a similar function.
4. Find a new approach for those items that appear to have a high cost and low value.

Work Simplification

This is a process of obtaining the participation of workers in simplifying their work. Training sessions are conducted to teach concepts and principles of techniques such as time and motion studies, work flow analyses, and the layout analysis methods.

Just-in-Time Inventory System

In this inventory system, safety stocks are drastically reduced. , Set up cost or ordering cost is also drastically reduced giving low batch quantities for production and ordering. There is emphasis on zero defects, and any defective part found during the subsequent operation is immediately sent back to the earliest state for repair and the reasons for the defect occurrence is investigated and corrected. For the system to work, dependable relations with suppliers are required and also well planned transport arrangement that collect parts frequently in a day from many suppliers in small quantities is required. Japanese companies have made successful implementation of JIT systems and rest of the world is now redesigning its systems to implement JIT system and improve productivity.

Lean Manufacturing

A study by MIT team on American, Japanese and European car manufacturers showed that Japanese were more productive as they use fewer workers, a shorter development time, lower inventories, few suppliers, less production space, and less investment to produce more models. Their delivery times are also small. MIT team named the Japanese systems as Lean Systems and popularised Lean manufacturing.

Lean manufacturing is creative application of industrial engineering by the Japanese IEs and managers and is now a popular productivity improvement methodology all over the world.

Managing Productivity

From Management, 11th Edition, Stephen P.. Robbins, and Mary Coulter

Improving productivity is an important and major goal in virtually every organization. For countries, 

high productivity can lead to economic growth and development. Employees can receive higher wages and company profits can increase without causing inflation. For individual organizations, increased productivity gives them a reduction in cost  and thus the ability to offer more competitive prices.

Over the past decade, U.S. businesses have made dramatic improvements to increase

their efficiency. 

Examples 

The Latex Foam International’s state-of-the-art digital facility in Shelton, Connecticut, boosted capacity by 50 percent in a smaller space but with a 30 percent efficiency gain.

Service companies and departments  are also  pursuing productivity gains. 

Pella Corporation’s purchasing office improved productivity by reducing purchase order entry times anywhere from 50 percent to 86 percent, decreasing voucher processing by 27 percent, and eliminating 14 financial systems. Its information technology department slashed e-mail traffic in half and implemented work design improvements for heavy PC users such as call center users. The human resources department cut the time to process benefit enrollment by 156.5 days. And the finance department now takes 2 days instead of 6 to do its end-of-month closeout.

For global companies also improving productivity is an important objective and route to increase competitiveness. 

McDonald’s Corporation drastically reduced the time it takes to cook its french fries—65 seconds as compared to the 210 seconds it once took, saving time and other resources.

The Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, based in Toronto, automated its purchasing function, saving several million dollars annually.

Skoda, the Czech car company,  a subsidiary of Germany’s Volkswagen AG, improved its productivity through an intensive restructuring of its manufacturing process.

Productivity is a composite of people and operations variables. To improve productivity, managers must focus on both. 

The late W. Edwards Deming, a renowned quality expert, believed that managers, not workers, were the primary source of increased productivity. Some of his suggestions for managers included planning for the long-term future, never being complacent about product quality, understanding whether problems were confined to particular parts of the production process or stemmed from the overall process itself, training workers for the job they’re being asked to perform, raising the quality of line

supervisors, requiring workers to do quality work, and so forth.

High productivity can’t come solely from good “people management.” The truly effective organization will maximize productivity by successfully integrating people into the overall operations system. 

At Simplex Nails Manufacturing in Americus, Georgia, employees were involved as an integral part of the company’s much-needed turnaround effort.  Some production workers were made part of  a plant-wide cleanup and organization effort, which freed up floor space. The company’s sales force was retrained and were involved in developing ways to sell what customers wanted rather than what was in inventory. The results were dramatic. Inventory planning was changed on the basis of more accurate and reliable information, and was reduced by more than 50 percent.  The plant now has  20 percent more floor space, orders became more consistent, and employee morale improved. The company recognized the important interplay between people and the operations system.

Updated 13 February 2019,  12 Feb 2016,  12 Feb 2014

Design for Productivity - Productivity Engineering - Product Industrial Engineering

Design for Productivity - A Productivity Engineering Task
https://nraoiekc.blogspot.com/2019/02/design-for-productivity.html

Summary - Principles - Staffing

Principles of Management Revision/Review Articles - List

Related to the Purpose of Staffing

Principle of staffing objectives

The positions provided by the organization structure must be staffed with personnel able and willing to carry out the assigned functions.

Principle of staffing

The quality of management personnel can be ensured through proper definition of the job and its appraisal in terms of human requirements, evaluation of candidates and incumbents, and appropriate training.


The process of staffing

Principle of job definition

Specifications for the job rest on organization requirements and on provision for incentives to induce effective and efficient performance of the tasks involved.

(I checked on 5 Feb 2019. Koontz and O'Donnell use the word incentives.)

Principle of managerial appraisal

Performance must be appraised against the management action required by superiors and against the standard of adherence in practice to managerial principles.

Principle of open competition in promotion

Managers should be selected from among the best available candidates for the job, whether they are inside or outside the enterprise.

Principle of management development

The objective of management development is to stengthen existing managers. The most effective means of developing managers is to have the task performed primarily by a manager's superior.

Principle of universal development

The enterprise can tolerate only those managers who are interested in their continuous development.



References


Harold Koontz and Cyril O’Donnell, Principles of Management: An Analysis of Managerial Functions, 4th Ed., McGraw-Hill, New York, 1968

Harold Koontz and Cyril O’Donnell, Principles of Management: An Analysis of Managerial Functions, 2nd Ed., McGraw-Hill, New York, 1959


Updated  5 Feb 2019
First published on  11 December 2011