9 Powerful Grammar Tips to Strengthen Workplace Communication

9 Powerful Grammar Tips to Strengthen Workplace Communication Language structure isn't as obsolete a foundation as you would might suspect. Because numerous individuals mightâ not hold a lot of stock in it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t focus on great language structure. It may very well have the effect between getting employed or advanced and being ignored. The manner in which you use language is a piece of your introduction. Ensure you’re establishing the correct connection by maintaining a strategic distance from these nine regular mistakes:1. â€Å"Fewer† versus â€Å"Less†You possibly utilize less when you’re discussing ideas, as opposed to countable things. â€Å"I need to be under less pressure this year,† is fine, however be cautious. â€Å"I need to take on less clients† is inaccurate. You need to take on less clients.SEE ALSO: Ban These 15 Words From Your Writing2. â€Å"It’s† and â€Å"its†The generally humiliating. Recollect it’s is a withdrawal for à ¢â‚¬Å"it is,† much like â€Å"can’t† for is a compression for â€Å"cannot.† The punctuation is holding the spot of the missing letter. Its is a possessive term. The feline ate its dinner.If you’re making some hard memories, attempt to never utilize the withdrawal variant it’s and simply make a propensity for continually illuminating â€Å"it is† instead.3. Dangling modifiersThis is a toughie. Simply attempt to recall that what comes after a comma generally describesâ the statement preceding it. â€Å"Smelling like a wet canine, I evacuated my sweater.† That’s you possessing an aroma like a wet pooch, when you intended to state the sweater smelled. Attempt rather, â€Å"I expelled my sweater, which possessed a scent like a wet dog.†4. â€Å"Who† versus â€Å"Whom†An simple principle to recall just have a go at finishing the sentence in your mind. â€Å"For whom are the flowers?† (â€Å"The bl ossoms are for him.†) â€Å"Whom did you ask to the prom?† (â€Å"I asked her to the prom.†) You wouldn’t state â€Å"I asked she to the prom,† would you? In any case, you would state, â€Å"Who did that?† (She or he did it.)5. Me, Myself IMyself is a reflexive pronoun. Use it just when you’ve as of now alluded to yourself before in the sentence. â€Å"I made myself a sandwich† is alright, yet â€Å"My mother and myself made a cake† isn't. That would be â€Å"My mother and I made a cake.† And cautious with me and I, too. â€Å"My mother and me† didn't make a cake, yet â€Å"My father is taking my mother and me to the park† works great.6. â€Å"Lie† versus â€Å"Lay†You’re not â€Å"going to lay down.† Lay consistently requires an article. You lay a book on the end table, however you rests. Cautious however, in light of the fact that layâ is likewise the past tense of untru th. So you â€Å"lay down on the love seat yesterday† however you will â€Å"lie on it† today. The past tense of lay, for reference, is â€Å"laid.†7. Sporadic verbsThese sneak in constantly. For instance, lended and upseted are not words (it’s left and upset). English is dubious that way. Particularly with phrasing in your vocation, be mindful so as to be exact and not make these mistakes. A speedy Google can for the most part sort you out if you’re in doubt.8. â€Å"Nor† versus â€Å"or†Only use nor when you’re previously communicating a negative. â€Å"Neither my supervisor nor I comprehended the memo.† Or â€Å"my manager didn’t comprehend the update nor did I.† Otherwise, use or.9. â€Å"Then† versus â€Å"than†Just accept employing supervisors will shred your resume without hesitation on the off chance that you submit this wrongdoing. Remember,â thanâ is near: â€Å"I would prefer to be a mallet than a nail.† Then reads a clock: â€Å"We did this, at that point that.†

An Analysis Of Drug Dealing Criminology Essay

Dont Lie About Your Writing

Dont Lie About Your Writing Its funny that a profession that often prides itself on telling the truth offers so many opportunities to lie. Journalists often claim to pursue the truth at all costs. Fiction writers spout off about finding the truth in their stories. Almost every kind of writer espouses some sort of devotion to the truth. Yet every year, more and more writers are caught lying. Whether its passing off someone elses work as your own (plagiarism) or faking reviews on Amazon, theres a lot of lying going on. It would seem like common sense that you shouldnt lie. Yet in the crowded, competitive, demanding world of writing, too many people take shortcuts in their efforts to get ahead of the pack. But lying in your writing can destroy a career, even if you dont rely on writing to make a living. When I was in graduate school, I knew someone who faked his entire dissertation. All of the interviews, transcripts, and statistics were fake. He couldnt find the data and people to support the ground breaking conclusion he was trying to draw so he made it all up. He got caught and tossed out of school. His future career in that field and all of the teaching and researching he hoped to do were gone because he lied. Granted, thats a pretty spectacular case of career suicide, but there are many others. Remember James Frey who made up a memoir and got taken down by Oprah? Or Jonah Leher who faked quotes attributed to Bob Dylan (among quite a few other infractions). Or Jayson Blair who fabricated almost every aspect of his stories for The New York Times? While some of these notorious liars have gone on to resurrect their careers, dont think for one minute that it would be as easy for the average Joe to return to successful work after such a debacle. So, since it doesnt seem to be obvious to some, what constitutes lying? Take a look. (And dont say that these are genius marketing techniques, or ways to set yourself apart from the crowd. Theyre lies, pure and simple.) Faking statistics and data Its not okay to say that 30% of people agree with your position if there is no hard data to support that conclusion. You dont get to make things up based on gut feelings or because you really want to write a spectacular article. Neither do you get to interview four of your friends and when three of them agree with your premise, report that as a 75% majority. Faking quotes If someone didnt say it, you dont get to put it in their mouth anyway. You also cant take quotes out of context. Just because your point is better made if you leave out the last half of the quote doesnt mean you get to use it that way. You have to report quotes accurately and keep them within the context in which they were uttered. Calling fiction non-fiction If you made it up, its fiction. If its based on your life but not a factual recounting of your life, its fiction and not a memoir. If you write about an event that never happened or things that were never said, its fiction. Never pass something you made up as something that really happened. Passing off old work as new Yes, reporters and magazine writers repurpose old work all the time. They take that parenting article about camping with the kids and re-slant it so that it works for an outdoors magazine. It means that you can reuse research and save some time when writing the article. As long the work and wording is new, this is okay. What isnt okay is repeating the earlier work word for word. Editors pay for new content. Finding out that the piece they just published has already appeared in another publication, verbatim, isnt going to make them happy. Especially if you sold it as original work. Plagiarism This is stealing other peoples work and passing it off as your own. This is never okay and its a lesson that should have been learned in elementary school. If you use someone elses work, you have to give proper credit to the original author. Writing fake reviews of your work This has become a rampant problem on sites like Amazon. Authors create fake accounts to give glowing accounts of their own work. Its an effort to push their book to the top, to make it stand out amidst all the other books. Its harder than you think, though, to craft believable voices for your reviews. They will all end up sounding the same. Worse, if your book is receiving scads of terrible reviews and then youve got these fifty five star reviews, someones going to figure out that youre shilling your own work. Also, dont pay for positive reviews. Its fine to request reviews, but no ethical reviewer will take money in exchange for their opinion. Altering reality We often wish that things had happened more dramatically than they did. Sometimes writers embellish a story to make it seem more dramatic or world-altering than it was. Really theyre just stretching the facts and thats not okay. If it was boring when it happened, then you either need to report it that way or find something more exciting to cover. Youre writing a non-fiction piece, not a screenplay. Adding in explosions, deaths and drama is lying. Pretending to be somewhere you arent You cannot pretend to be filing stories from Iraq if youre in Cleveland. If you want to report from a region, youd better be there. Doctoring photographs Okay, a little Photoshopping isnt a bad thing. Touching up colors, etc. is acceptable. Whats not acceptable is putting people into photos who werent there, or capturing action that never happened so you can report on some unbelievable event. Its not worth the risk to lie. In this day and age its incredibly easy to get caught. Everything can be cross-checked on the Internet or with a quick phone call or Twitter post. No matter what you think youre accomplishing by lying, or how good you feel that youre pulling one over on people, sooner or later it will come to an end and you will end up with no credibility and no career. So just dont do it. (Photo coourtesy of einalem)

How to Conjugate the German Verb Helfen

Accounting Homework - 995 Words

E1-5 Cougar’s Accounting Services provides low – cost tax advice and preparation to those with financial need. At the end of the current period, the company reports the following amounts: Asset – 19000; Liabilities – 15000; Revenues – 28000; Expenses = 33000 Required: 1. Calculate net loss. 2. Calculate stockholders’ equity at the end of the period. Net loss *Revenues – Expenses = (5000) Stockholders * Assets – Liabilities = 4000 E1-6 Cash 5400 Salaries expense 2200 Accounts payable 3400 Retained earnings 3900 Utilities expense 1200 Supplies 13800 Service revenue 9300 Common stock 6000 Use only the appropriate accounts to prepare an income statement Revenues Service revenue 9300 Expenses Salaries expense (2200)†¦show more content†¦Each Friday, the cash clerk records the amount of cash receive and deposit the money in the bank account. Each quarter, the controller requests information from the bank necessary to prepare bank reconciliation. Required: Discuss Douglas and son’s internal control procedures related to cash receipts, nothing both weaknesses and strengths. Answer: The Company should not place all of the money in one place The Company should deposit the money in the bank account every day E5-5 On March 12, Medical Waste Services provides services on account to Grace Hospital for 11000, terms 2/10, n/30. Grace pays for those services on March 20. Required: For Grace Hospital, record the purchase of services on account on March 12 and the payment of cash on March31. March12 Dr. Cr. Expense 11000 Account Payable 11000 March 31 Account Payable 11000 Cash 11000 E5-6 On April 25, Foreman Electric installs wiring in a new home for 3500 on account. However, on April 27, Foreman’s electrical work does not pass inspection, and Foreman grants the customer an allowance of 600 because of the problem. The customer makes full payment of the balance owed, excluding the allowance, on April 30. Required: 1. Record the credit sale on April 25. 2. Record theShow MoreRelatedHomework Week 1 Accounting984 Words   |  4 Pages1-2. Identify and describe the five environmental differences between governments and for-profit business enterprises as identified in the Governmental Accounting Standards Boards Why Governmental Accounting and Financial Reporting Is—and Should Be—Different. The five environmental differences include mission/purpose, source of revenue, potential longevity, relationship with stakeholders, and role of budget. The mission/purpose is defined by the goals of the organization. The purpose of aRead MoreHomework Accounting 2 Treasure Stock1688 Words   |  7 Pagesdisposition has not yet been decided, paragraph  505-30-45-1permits the cost of acquired stock to either be shown separately as a deduction from the total of capital stock, additional paid-in capital, and retained earnings, or be accorded the following accounting treatment appropriate for retired stock. 30-7  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The difference between the cost of the treasury shares and the stated value of a corporation s common stock repurchased and retired, or repurchased for constructive retirement, shall be reflectedRead MoreEssay about Accounting Homework 31069 Words   |  5 Pagesï » ¿The following information applies to the questions displayed below.] Dittmans Variety Store is completing the accounting process for the year just ended, December 31, 2011. The transactions during 2011 have been journalized and posted. The following data with respect to adjusting entries are available:    a. 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The value of the land was $150,000, the value of the building was $540,000, and the value of theRead MoreAcc 206 (Principles of Accounting Ii) Complete Class All Assignments , Dqs and Problems / Homework-Aid4132 Words   |  17 PagesACC 206 (Principles of Accounting II) Complete Class All Assignments ,DQs and Problems Click Following Link To get Entire Class http://homework-aid.com/ACC-206-Complete-Class-All-Assignments-DQs-and-Problems-617.htm You can get entire class as well as single Assignments and DQs ACC 206 Week 1 Assignment Chapter 1 Problems ACC 206 Week 1 Assignment Chapter 1 Problems Why are noncash transactions, such as the exchange of common stock a building, included on a statement of cash flows? HowRead MoreMy Experience At The Bachelor s Program Has Helped Me Improve My Leadership Skills880 Words   |  4 PagesBachelor’s program has helped me improve my leadership skills. I have gained more confidence in myself and I really love college. How I gained more confidence is that I started a group study session in my Accounting class this is where all of my classmates can get together and we do group projects or homework basically study to get decent grades. I don t want any of my classmates to come up short so I would give my support and help any individual who is in need. While taking an interest in the BachelorRead MoreResearch Study On Study Habits1643 Words   |  7 Pagessociety, education, is crumbling before our eyes, and the leading cause I believe is the lack of proper study habits. B. Credibility Material: In my academic career, I can say without any reservations that I always found a way to study and do my homework no matter what was going on, and I hope to share some of my experience about studying with you. Through that studying I managed to maintain a 4.0 GPA in high school and have a 3.9 GPA in college while taking courses such as calculus, organic chemistryRead MoreDEPARTMENT OF ACCOUNTING, TAXATION, AND LEGAL STUDIES IN BUSINESS chapter 3 homework758 Words   |  4 Pagesaudit every single thing. b. It does not say which accounting principles to follow. c. Sorry I don’t know the answer. d. Write down the CPA firm rather than the name of the CPA because it’s the firm to take responsible rather than any individual. e. It’s not the auditor’s duty to check out whether the financial statements are without mistake, they only perform to see if they’re fairly presented. 3-27 a. The changing of accounting method which disclosed in footnote 12, and the highly

Personal Statement My Parent Volunteer - 820 Words

As a teacher, having parent volunteers in my classroom has been very helpful. Because I teach special education, and there so many confidentiality laws, I am limited on how I utilize my parent volunteers. I have been able to have help with field trips, outdoor education, and one-on-one reading support this year. Without this additional help, some of my students would have missed out on some important experiences. The families with whom we work drive the culture of the building where we work. To best meet their needs, and to drive a positive culture, it is important that we recognize the people in our community and to do our best to foster volunteer experiences. As a future school administrator, I need to be ready to reach out†¦show more content†¦She does believe that it is important to volunteer and that having parents in the building provides stability. Her husband volunteered for the sixth grade outdoor education weekend. He felt like having parents involved in the progra m upped the level of safety for all of the students, and he believes that having smaller groups of students per adults made the experience more valuable. This family has found it more difficult to complete their hours as their children have aged. They both enjoy completing their hours in the classroom, but the hours that a teacher is willing to open to parents in the upper grades diminishes. Overall, she feels like this is an excellent school and that volunteering has provided her with the opportunity to appreciate how hard her children’s teachers work. The second parent I interviewed for this project spent many years on our SAC committee. She began volunteering in the classrooms prior to her SAC experience because she feels that it is a parent’s job to see that their children are properly educated. The time in the classroom led her to SAC because she wanted to become more involved and to learn more about the policies and procedures governing our school. At one point i n time, her combined hours in the classroom and on SAC totalled over ten hours a week. She wishes that more parents would feel this sense of responsibility because it changes the culture of the building.Show MoreRelatedDescription Of Agency, Program And Supervisor1672 Words   |  7 PagesAir Force, usually referred to as the Family Readiness Center. This agency currently does not have a mission statement, however, the purpose of this agency is to provide a one-stop location for necessary family resources. 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Italy (785 words) Essay Example For Students

Italy (785 words) Essay ItalyAnthropologists and other social scientists define human culture as learned behavior acquired by individuals as members of a social group. The concept of culture was first explicitly defined in 1871 by the British anthropologist Edward B. Tylor. He used the term to refer to â€Å" that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society.† Since then anthropologists have offered numerous refinements and variations on this definition, but all have agreed that culture is learned behavior in contrast to genetically endowed behavior. From antiquity to modern times, Italy has played a central role in world culture. Italians have contributed some of the world’s most admired sculpture, architecture, painting, literature, and music, particularly opera. Although the nation was politically unified less than 150 years ago, the Italians do not consider themselves to be a â€Å"new † people, but see themselves instead as the descendants of the Ancient Romans. Moreover, regional differences persist because of natural geographical boundaries and the disparate cultural heritage that has come down from the Greeks, Etruscans, Arabs, Normans, and Lombards. Regional differences is evident in persistent local dialects, holidays, festivals, songs, and regional cuisine. Central to all Italian life is the tradition of family as the guiding force and focus of loyalty. Many Sunday’s are spent around the table with aunts, uncles and grandparents for a special dinner. In Italy the social structure of the rural village was founded on the family, whose interests and needs determined an individual’s attitudes towards church, state, and school. Each family member was expected first of all to uphold family honor and to fulfill his or her parents particular duties and responsibilities. The father was the interpreter of all needs and interests and maintained his authority with strict discipline. The mother, although subordinate, had a voice in family decisions and meditated between the father and often numerous children. Here in the United States the Italian- Americans still have that strong sense of family, but now the women have more freedom and are looked at differently, and also the number of children one family acquires has gradually lessened to 2 to 3 children. Home cooking is something Italians are especially noted for. The main meal, usually at midday, often begins with soup which may contain rice, pasta, or greens; followed by meat(chicke n, veal , beef). A frequent constituent of the diet is pasta, or in the poorer homes of south polenta ( a sort of porridge made from maize). Although many Italians dishes later became American favorites, at the turn of the century Italians who insisted on eating macaroni and drinking wine were regarded as not yet American. Their traditional kitchen withstood Americanization, however, and the production of or import from Italy of olive oil, spaghetti, artichokes and salami provided an important part of the neighborhood economy. But in America the custom of eating for Italians is changed a bit. Here, we seem to have more abundance of food. We keep the same tradition of eating on Sundays at midday, but our diet consists of more fattening foods basically spending the whole day eating. Survivals of national costume for women are skirts, pleated or with colored flounces; the low bodice with shoulder straps, always of attractive color (red, blue, or black) with tassels and embroidered patterns; the apron made of cotton and silk, wool, velvet or leather) ornamented with brightly colored designs or with silver or gold filigree. Handkerchiefs that are worn, depending on the color tells whether the wearer is married or not. The black cap is still worn in Sicily and Sardinia by the men and a type of velvet waistcoat and trousers. In American culture our dress is quite different. Americans have a more trendy dress that includes Italian designers names such as Gucci and Versaci. .uf885d177991a54c0b7d54c8a887ccb2b , .uf885d177991a54c0b7d54c8a887ccb2b .postImageUrl , .uf885d177991a54c0b7d54c8a887ccb2b .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .uf885d177991a54c0b7d54c8a887ccb2b , .uf885d177991a54c0b7d54c8a887ccb2b:hover , .uf885d177991a54c0b7d54c8a887ccb2b:visited , .uf885d177991a54c0b7d54c8a887ccb2b:active { border:0!important; } .uf885d177991a54c0b7d54c8a887ccb2b .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .uf885d177991a54c0b7d54c8a887ccb2b { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .uf885d177991a54c0b7d54c8a887ccb2b:active , .uf885d177991a54c0b7d54c8a887ccb2b:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .uf885d177991a54c0b7d54c8a887ccb2b .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .uf885d177991a54c0b7d54c8a887ccb2b .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .uf885d177991a54c0b7d54c8a887ccb2b .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .uf885d177991a54c0b7d54c8a887ccb2b .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .uf885d177991a54c0b7d54c8a887ccb2b:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .uf885d177991a54c0b7d54c8a887ccb2b .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .uf885d177991a54c0b7d54c8a887ccb2b .uf885d177991a54c0b7d54c8a887ccb2b-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .uf885d177991a54c0b7d54c8a887ccb2b:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: A Summary Of A Christmas Carol EssayOpera, a popular art from Italy, was popular with the immigrants as well, and unlike the music halls, it generated an appeal far beyond the Italian community. From the 1880’s, when the Metropolitan Opera House opened in New York with Cleofante Capanini as it’s first conductor and director, until today, the Italians have been prominent in opera in the United States and else where in the world. The Italians are 99.6% Roman Catholic, although only about one -third of them attended mass regularly and only about one-tenth of them received the sacraments at Easter. In conclusion, the Italian’s social structure of family, c uisine, native costume and dress, music, and religion all play a part in creating a specific culture that allows them to express their learned behaviors in a society as a whole. Social Issues

6 Disappeared LinkedIn® Partner Applications and What to Do About Them †Part II Amazon Reading List

6 Disappeared LinkedIn ® Partner Applications and What to Do About Them – Part II Amazon Reading List Are you an avid reader? It used to be that you could share your passion easily on LinkedIn with the Amazon Reading List application. With the disappearance of LinkedIn partner applications came the elimination of this option. Amazon Reading List was a valuable way to let people know what type of professional development you were engaged in, as well as to round yourself out as a human being (read any good novels lately?) Many people are wondering how to include a reading list on LinkedIn now that the old method has vanished. I was fortunate to have one of my fellow LinkedIn authors, Patrick Gallagher, (LinkedIn Secrets Revealed) do some research on this topic. He wrote to Amazon and received the following email: Thank you for using Reading List by Amazon and for your patience as we’ve worked to make your book information available after LinkedIn deprecated their application program. Your Reading List information has been preserved and is available for import on Shelfari.com. Shelfari is an Amazon-owned site that helps you keep track of the books you’ve read and are reading, discover new books and interact with other readers. Go to https://www.shelfari.com/addbooks. You can sign in to Shelfari using your Amazon account (or your existing Shelfari account). If you’re already a member, click â€Å"Import Books† from the Your Shelf drop-down on the home page. Click the â€Å"Import Books† from the Your Shelf drop down or go directly to: https://www.shelfari.com/addbooks and you will be guided through importing your books and reviews to your Shelfari bookshelf. I followed these instructions and the process was pretty straightforward. I went to the link provided, www.shelfari.com/addbooks, and created an account. I then entered the same link again and was brought to this screen: When I clicked on IMPORT next to Import Your LinkedIn Reading List, all I had to do was provide my LinkedIn password and my reading list showed up in Shelfari! I then clicked on the Account Settings tab and customized my Shelfari link: Now that I have a link, I can add it to my LinkedIn Profile using the new platform. Here’s how to add a link in the new LinkedIn: In the Summary section, click on the blue box with a + sign in the corner. You will be brought to a box where you can paste a link: After you paste the link, you can provide a title and description: Unfortunately, there’s a small glitch. When I clicked on the link, the following screen appeared: I had to click on Read Original to get to the actual Shelfari list, which looks like this: In Shelfari, you can add books you have read or that you are reading, rate them and review them. I won’t give a tutorial on the website since I think you can figure it out by poking around! If this all seems too complicated, you can do as Patrick Gallagher did and add the Projects section to your profile. You can then create a â€Å"project† called â€Å"Amazon Kindle Book Reading List† or something similar, and list your books there. Here’s Patrick’s list: Another option would be to create a document with your list of books and upload it to Box.net. You can then add a link to the Box.net file on your LinkedIn profile. I will cover more about Box.net in my next entry of this series. Stay tuned, and happy reading! Want to read How to Write a KILLER LinkedIn Profile on Kindle? Curious about Patricks book? Check it out here: Category:Archived ArticlesBy Brenda BernsteinJanuary 28, 2013 2 Comments Laveda says: June 24, 2014 at 7:27 am The nerd in me was thoroughly excited to read this article because the Amazon Reading List was one of my favorite LinkedIn apps and I was a little dishearten to see it wasnt there anymore. Thank you for finding other options to provide a reading list. Ill definitely add one later this week. In all honesty, I enjoyed viewing my LinkedIn network readings on my news feed. That I will always miss. Laveda Log in to Reply The Essay Expert says: June 24, 2014 at 8:16 am Thanks for your comment Laveda. With LinkedIns new Publishing platform, you should once again have easy access to educational content from your network! Log in to Reply

History and Members of The Warsaw Pact

History and Members of The Warsaw Pact The Warsaw Pact was established in 1955 after West Germany became a part of NATO. It was formally known as the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation, and Mutual Assistance. The Warsaw Pact, made up of Central and Eastern European countries, was meant to counter the threat from the NATO countries. Each country in the Warsaw Pact pledged to defend the others against any outside military threat. While the organization stated that each nation would respect the sovereignty and political independence of the others, each country was in some way controlled by the Soviet Union. The pact dissolved at the end of the Cold War in 1991.   History of the Pact After  World War II, the Soviet Union sought to control as much of Central and Eastern Europe as it could. In the 1950s, West Germany was rearmed and allowed to join NATO. The countries that bordered West Germany were fearful that it would again become a military power, as it had been just a few years earlier. This fear caused Czechoslovakia to attempt to create a security pact with Poland and East Germany. Eventually, seven countries came together to form the Warsaw Pact: Albania (until 1968)BulgariaCzechoslovakiaEast Germany (until 1990)HungaryPolandRomaniaThe  Soviet Union The Warsaw Pact lasted for 36 years. In all of that time, there was never a direct conflict between the organization and NATO. However, there were many proxy wars, especially between the Soviet Union and the United States in places such as Korea and Vietnam. Invasion Of Czechoslovakia On Aug. 20, 1968, 250,000 Warsaw Pact  troops invaded Czechoslovakia in what was known as Operation Danube. During the operation, 108 civilians were killed and another 500 were wounded by the invading troops. Only Albania and Romania refused to participate in the invasion. East Germany did not send troops to Czechoslovakia but only because Moscow ordered its troops to stay away. Albania eventually left  the Warsaw Pact because of the invasion. The military action was an attempt by the Soviet Union to oust Czechoslovakias Communist Party leader Alexander Dubcek whose plans to reform his country did not align with the Soviet Unions wishes. Dubcek wanted to liberalize his nation and had many plans for reforms, most of which he was unable to initiate. Before Dubcek was arrested during the invasion, he urged citizens not to resist militarily because he felt that presenting a military defense would have meant exposing the Czech and Slovak peoples to a senseless bloodbath. This sparked many nonviolent protests throughout the country.   End of the Pact Between 1989 and 1991, the Communist parties in most of the countries in the Warsaw Pact were ousted. Many of the Warsaw Pacts member nations considered the organization to be essentially defunct in 1989 when none assisted Romania militarily during its violent revolution. The  Warsaw Pact  formally existed for another couple of years until 1991- just months before the USSR disbanded- when the organization was officially dissolved in Prague.

Investment Basics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Investment Basics - Essay Example Creating portfolio involved asset allocation, asset selection decision, and asset execution. In asset allocation, the investors will decide on what marketable securities will he be investing, either in equities, fixed-income securities, and real assets (physical or identifiable assets). After the allocation, investors need to select on what are his asset preferences between stocks, bonds, and many more. The selection will be followed by the execution of investment portfolio and investment strategy. The final part of the process is performance evaluation wherein investment is constantly monitored by the investors themselves or through a portfolio manager. The Four Investments for Consideration in any Investment Portfolio Bonds (Municipal & Corporate). It is a debt instrument with specific return, interest and principal, and maturity date (Brigham & Ehrhardt, 2008, p. 157). Municipal bonds are debt securities issued by the government level whose maturity date is in a long-term basis. T hese bonds are considered to be secured and these are issued in order to support government operations and projects for the common good. Municipal bonds are known to be tax-exempt but it depends upon the purpose and jurisdiction. Corporate bonds are debt securities issued by corporations or business firms to finance variety of private purposes. These bonds are subject to a much higher interest rate for it is a risky investment (Brigham & Houston, 2009, p. 196). Stocks (Common and Preferred). These are issued securities that represent ownership. Ownership through the purchased of stocks are called stockholders which these are represented by stock certificates. Usually, stock prices of companies who are financially stable are high compared to those who are poor in performance because the higher is the value of the stocks the greater is the return of investment. There are two types of stocks, the common and the preferred stocks. In terms of the declaration of dividend and bankruptcy, p referred stockholders are satisfied first before the common shareholders (Investors Business Daily, 1996, p. 36). Both stocks running after income, the only difference is the risk involved. Preferred stocks are less risky but the growth income is fairly dependable while common stocks assumed higher risk but unlimited growth in income and capital gain (Rini, 2003, p. 33). Mutual Funds. It is an investment that used money â€Å"from a group of people with common investment goals to buy securities such as stocks, bond, money market instruments, a combination of these investments, or other funds† (Mobius, 2007, p. 3). These groups of investment securities are put together in a portfolio and it is appropriately managed by a portfolio manager. More often, investors prefer to invest in mutual funds because of access to a diversified portfolio, liquidity, and expertise by professional fund managers; however, mutual funds shared almost the same risk with investment in individual stock s, and drawbacks are always present. Derivatives. It is a financial instruments based on financial measurement of other assets that usually comes in contracts (Bragg, 2002, p. 156). Some of derivative instruments are forward, future, options, and swaps. The value of derivatives is based on the prices of some underlying assets or instruments. It also involved contracts between a seller and a buyer wherein the value is based on bargaining power (Rezaee, 20001, p. 390). Risk

Unsaturated Problems Soils (Expansive or Collapsing ) Case Study

Unsaturated Problems Soils (Expansive or Collapsing ) - Case Study Example d contraction has tremendously adverse effects on landscape, namely roads and buildings, causing cracking of walls and foundations, and, thus, devaluing of the property in a remarkably short time. It also costs millions of money on repairs. Studies also show that expansive soils, when on slopes, can cause landslides. Care and treatment, therefore, has to be taken before construction of buildings on this soil. Engineers have to carry out soil tests, in order to determine the nature of the soil, before commencing construction, due to the adverse effects of expansive soil. Expansive soil can also be detected just by direct observation. If the soil is found to be expansive, various treatments could be applied so as to avoid the effects of the expansive soil: This involves compacting the subgrade at the appropriate moisture content. This will â€Å"produce a subgrade that absorbs less water, provides slightly higher strength, and will not expand or swell as much..†.( ACPA, 2008). Selective grading may be the most cost effective method of treatment, if expansive soils are not the predominant soil type along the roadway alignment. This will include blending and cross hauling. If the profile grade can be designed to keep expansive soils out of the top of the subgrade, (ACPA, 2008), selective grading may also be sufficient in controlling the shrink and swell potential. This is used when the subgrade soils consist of primarily expansive soils, and it is not economical to import non-expansive soil. This provides an effective means to control the shrink-swell potential of a soil. This method can also be economical on some projects, compared to selective

Achieving Operational Excellence with JIT (Just in Time)

Achieving Operational Excellence with JIT (Just in Time) The main method used in the race to gain Operational Excellence is JIT (Just in Time). JIT is an inventory strategy that Slack (1998) describes as producing goods and services exactly when they are needed The introduction of JIT (Just in Time) in Japan in the 1950s and early 1960s proved successful for the Toyota Motor Company and rapidly spread to further manufacturing plants. This report will explore JIT in further detail and evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of employing such techniques in a range of manufacturing plants however there will be a large focus on Nissan Manufacturing UK. There is a range of planning and control techniques that can be implemented along side JIT to enhance the approach and can be fundamental to the overall success of JIT. They all stem from similar philosophical views of JIT. The author will be conducting research into the following methods some of which fall under the umbrella term Lean Manufacturing. This will also be explored in further detail in this report: MRPI (Materials Requirement Planning) or as it is now known as MRP II (Manufacturing Resource Planning). MRP is a system that oversees planning and inventory control. It ensures materials and resources are available when needed for production. It calculates the rate of end productivity being created from the line. Through the employment of JIT delivery of materials and interlinked delivery schedules, the MRP system manages the stock level so there is the lowest amount of inventory possible. Total Quality Management (JIT/TQM) is a method that emphasises the importance of quality management in all process in the organisation. Flynn (1995) believes the use of TQM practices leads to improved JIT performance by reducing manufacturing process variance. Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) refers to the reduction of unplanned breakdowns by careful maintenance. It focuses on carefully structured maintenance procedures that reduce the possibility of down time due to malfunctioning of machinery. Cua (2001) states that TPM has†¦an indirect relationship through JIT with low cost, high levels of quality and strong delivery performance Setup Reduction (SUR) has a purpose of reducing the time, effort, and cost associated with changing a process from one activity to another Slack (1998). This involves reviewing the simple mechanical changes carried out on the line and making them more efficient using an array of methods that will be discussed in this report. Kanban is Japanese for card or signal. It is known for being pull-based planning of inventory control in comparison to the push-based planning of MRP. Slack (1998) describes Kanban in its simplest terms is a card used by a customer stage to instruct its supplier stage to send more materials This report will go into detail about the different types of Kanban and how they work along side JIT. The Authors Background Whilst working in the IT department at Nissan Sunderland during a placement year the author became very interested in the logistics and operational side of the company. Before Nissan, the author had no concept of how a company would go about implementing procedures and methods that would be operating in the factory to obtain optimum end results. The methods Nissan use to promote Operational Excellence were especially apparent during the year of 2008 which has been one of the most difficult and challenging years for all involved due to the economic climate, however it proved especially demanding for car manufacturers. The author was witness to redundancy, cut backs, and labour flexibility all of which were emergency policies in response to the economic climate to ensure the companys future. JIT was especially imperative during this time period as car sales severely declined. As Nissan had taken the JIT approach to their manufacturing it meant they did not have a large amount of stock that had been paid for but could not be utilised in the manufacturing of cars due to very few orders. Nissan utilises JIT and many of the methods mentioned in the introduction which will all be investigated to allow the author to evaluate how they enable a company to obtain operational excellence. Literature review Duggan (2007) describes Operational Excellence at operationalemployee level as being when each and every employee can see the flow of value to the customer, and fix that flow when it breaks down. However Glass (2008) describes Operational Excellence in wider context and believes it involves the company establishing a business-wide vision, measuring process performance against ideal and involving cross-sections of people in developing and implementing solutions. Accenture define Operational Excellence as sustaining operational performancethrough continuous improvement Continuous improvement can also be known as the Japanese word Kaizen which directly translated stands for Change and Good. The philosophy of Kaizen believes in continuing improvement involving everyone Kaizen Institution (2009). Companies need to take a Kaizen approach if they wish to pursue their end goal of achieving operational excellence. Smith (2002) believes that taking a Kaizen approach has helped many firms all across the globe to achieve better operational excellence and improve their productivity. Through the introduction of Kaizen in Nissan factories Nissan believe Failure is no longer viewed as a negative but as an opportunity for reflection, re-evaluation and the foundation for improvement NMUK (2009) and the improvements now highlighted in the company are the result of very small Kaizen activities rather than huge company wide activities. NMUK ( 2009) Kaizen however can also be viewed in a negative light; Corrigan (2005) believes it fails to reach the right diagnosis about the nature of the problem Nick Rich who held Toyotas Elite Scholarship in Japan and is now a Director of the innovative manufacturing research centre based at Cardiff University, also holds a negative stance on the philosophy of Kaizen stating Kaizen just pushes the problem around the plant never getting the source of the issue and upsetting most people who come to work to do a good job. Mackle (2009) believes to use Kaizen may have a part to play in the implementation of change: it is not the right tool for analysing what to change or designing what to change to. Lean Manufacturing is a common method of improving manufacturing operations. It is described as being A systematic approach to identifying and eliminating waste through continuous improvement by flowing the product at the demand of the customer. ProcessPro Software (2009) Strategos Consultancy (2009) believes Lean Manufacturing also refers to manufacturing without waste. This waste or muda as it is known in Japan can be measure by various factors: obsolete inventory, preventable processing steps, unnecessary transportation of goods or people, time delays and poor quality of good. Most companies waste 70%-90% of their available resources. Even the bestLean Manufacturers probably waste 30%. TimeCompression.com (2004) Lean production is the name given to a group of highly efficient manufacturing techniques developed (mainly by large Japanese companies) in the 1980s and early 1990s. Lean production was seen as the third step in an historical progression, which took industry from the age of the craftsman through the methods of mass production and into an era that combined the best of both. It has been described as the most fundamental change to occur since mass production was brought to full development by Henry Ford early in the 20th century. Economist.com (2009) Manufacturing companies are using the fall in sales due economic downturn as a chance to reassess their manufacturing procedures and look for opportunities to improve their Lean Manufacturing methods. Operational Excellence can be measured by a variety of KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) that are dependant on the company striving to meet all the agreed best practises. Traditional measures of lead time, on-time delivery, and quality are all good because they will support flow. To help build operational excellence, here are a few new ones: The amount of suppliers on a formal connections (as a percentage higher is better) The amount of suppliers with a formal alert system (as a percentage higher is better) The number of alerts that occur (at first, higher is better, as the problems are being made visible) The number of customer impacts from the supply chain (as a percentage lower is better) Duggan K (2006). Quality in delivery All our deliveries will be of the predefined quality and will always cover the full scope. Cost-efficiency All our assignments and undertakings will always be as cost-efficient as possible. We will proactively suggest measures to cut costs and use efficient tools and methods to deliver at the required cost. Commitment to delivery All our deliveries will be on time. Sigma Kudos (2009) THE HISTORY OF LEAN MANUFACTURING QUOTES JAMES P WOMACK JIT is the most common pull manufacturing process. The basic method is that production at one level only happens when triggered by a request at the higher level, for example components are pulled onto the production line when activated by a customer order on a website. Hutchins (1999) explains JIT as being The term used to indicate that a process is capable of instant response to demand without the need for any overstocking, either in expectation of the demand being forthcoming or as a result of inefficiencies in the process How does the implementation of JIT meet Operational Excellence? What other methods can be used alongside JIT to achieve Operational Excellence? Aim of the project This aim of this report is to research and evaluate how manufacturing plants use JIT and other lean manufacturing techniques to achieve Operational Excellence. Objectives of this Report: * To identify what Lean Manufacturing is. * To determine the methods used in Lean Manufacturing. * To evaluate and assess the methods used in Lean Manufacturing. * To identify how JIT assists manufacturing plants achieve Operational Excellence. * To identify how manufacturing plants measure Operational Excellence. Methodology The author will be conducting secondary research to explore how operational excellence is obtained by implementing lean manufacturing techniques such as JIT. The research found will be investigated to confirm they are from a reputable source and reflect current procedures. Choosing to use secondary research data over primary research data is a wildly debated topic however I feel in this report secondary research is advantageous as the research process can be completed efficiently by the author. Primary research on this topic would be very hard to obtain as it is a specialist topic and is usually overseen by the management of a company based on their private statistics such as profit margins, down time and productivity. Therefore an unobtrusive approach is need for researching this subject area. As qualitative research is an entire research conducted within the boundaries of trustworthiness, transferability, credibility, dependability and confirmability Pickard (2007), the author will be evaluating the source of information for all the aforementioned aspects. The author will be mainly using books and journals for her secondary research. It is important to evaluate the books for possible out dated information as they can sometimes take years to reach publication. It is also imperative to be wary of theoretical slants aimed at the academic market Saunders (2007) Journals may also be written with a bias slant, and not all academic journals are refereed Saunders (2007) therefore the relevance and usefulness will vary. The author will take this into account when conducting her research. This report will be compiled by carrying out qualitative research in order to determine the nature of the issue. The reasoning behind taking this approach is this method allows for multiple perspectives on the phenomena under study. Pickard (2007). It is also because companies can interpret Operational Excellence in various ways dependant on the business end product and the area of focus detailed in their individual policy for Operational Excellence. Therefore specific facts and figures are only relevant to each individual company and cannot be used in comparisons with other manufacturing plants. The aim of this report is to provide a complete, detailed description and evaluation of Operational Excellence and the methods used to achieve this. It is not looking at interpreting low level data and deriving information regarding the subject area. The advantage of using qualitative research is that it seeks to understand other peoples interpretations of the topic and the author will formulate a conclusion from further investigation. It can be a very subjective method of research due to the competitive nature of the manufacturing world and each company claiming to be the leader in the race for Operational Excellence. However through diligent cross examination of books, journals and websites the author will be able to filter out bias views and formulate an objective view. Nissan will be the main case study due to the authors previous work experience position within the company. Nissan will be supplying the author with some of their in-house documents and policies that are used to brief employees, supplier and customer. The author will use cross-case comparisons to support their secondary research findings and the Nissan documentation. In carrying out this comparison the author believes it will provide a solid foundation of knowledge to the topic by identifying similarities and differences. After the author completes careful analytical generalisations based on the cross-case findings this will then provide a broad understanding and insight into the topic.

Malcolm Barber Essay -- Religion, The Templars

The Christians were fortunate individuals in the Middle Ages; Christendom received its own religious military order to protect many Christians who undertook pilgrimages to Jerusalem after it (Jerusalem) had been overrun (5). This Western order endorsed and sanctioned by the Pope; and the papacy in general, was known as the Knights Templar. One of the Templars missions was to predominantly fight against the Moslems. The Moslems had been perceived as a polytheistic religion, that encompassed the worshipping of evil pagan Gods and a religion that encouraged illicit acts. This idea however is contrary to the true Islam; Islam is indeed a monotheistic religion that is categorized under Abrahamic religions as worshipping one God. The knights were affiliated with the crusades which remained popular within the 12th century (1). The Templars were respected within Western Christendom and; the order was given numerous economic advantages such as: land, the erection of fortifications and lucrati ve job positions such as bankers. Sadly, the Christians were expelled out of Palestine and the Templars ability to fulfill their duties to serve and protect Christians in the holy lands and elsewhere were in jeopardy. Support for the Templar Order and the crusaders caused an entity to fade. Furthermore, the respect level and the anticipation of wanting to become a crusader by individuals in Western Christendom declined drastically, disabling the order to fulfill its protective duties. Moreover, the King of France Philip IV who was deeply in debt; made it known that he was aware of the orders riches. He stated The Templars must make immense effort to relieve the acute financial problems of the reign through paying taxes, if they fail to do so I must f... ...were taking precedence or a two- century existence of the order did not merit much historical recording. Yet the wealth of information presented and the legal proceeding which climaxes this monograph are not only illuminating but articulated through print by Malcolm Barber. I would personally recommend this scholarly work to individuals who already have immense knowledge on the Templars and to individuals who are new to the whole idea of this historical event. This monograph, in my opinion, should be a course reader within post-secondary institutions that promote advanced education and Barber should be commended on tackling such a controversial subject. Because the crusades are a huge stain on how religion was advanced in the middle ages. Many ethnic groups suffered at the hands of Christendom however, this does not legate Barber’s wonderful scholarly work.

Performance Appraisal of Mahindra Finance

CONTENTS CHAPTER NO PAGE NO CHAPTER – 1 2-9 †¢Introduction †¢Need for the study †¢Objectives of study †¢Scope of study CHAPTER – 2 10-31 †¢Company Profile †¢Industry Profile CHAPTER – 3 32-66 †¢Research Methodology †¢Primary Data †¢Secondary Data †¢Review Literature Data Analysis & Interpretation CHPATER – 4 67-68 †¢Limitations Of study CHPATER – 5 69-73 †¢Findings and Suggestions †¢Conclusion CHAPTER – 6 74-77 †¢Questionner CHAPTER–7 78-79 †¢Bibliography CHAPTER- I INTRODUCTION NEED FOR THE STUDY OBJECTIVES OF STUDY SCOPR OF STUDY INTRODUCTIONPerformance Appraisal is the process of assessment systematically the performance and progress of an employee on the present job and his potential for higher level jobs in future. It consists of all formal procedures used in working organizations to evaluate personalities, contributions and potentials of employees. It is the process of analyzing, obtaining and recording information about the relative worth of an employee. According to Flippo performance appraisal is the systematic, periodic and impartial rating of an employees excellence in matters pertaining to his present job and his potential for a better job.Beach has defined performance appraisal as the systematic evaluation of individual with regard to his/her performance on the job and his potential for development, Heyel observes â€Å"It is a process of evaluating the performance and qualifications of the employees of the employer in terms of the requirements of the job for which he is employed. For the purpose of administration including placements, selections for promotions, providing financial rewards and other actions which require differential treatment among the members of a group are distinguished from action affecting all members equally.The performance appraisal is the evaluation of present performance and future capabilities of an employee or group of employees. It is regarded as a process of estimating or judging the value, excellence, qualities or status of some object, or person. Performance appraisal is the part of all the other staffing process, namely recruitment, selection and placement. Performance appraisal is essential to understand and improve employees performance through HRD. In fact performance appraisal is the basis for HRD. It is a good mechanism to control people.Employees want to promotions, salary increments, and good work conditions and they would like to be placed in prestigious positions and would like to be transferred to places of their choice and like jobs giving them maximum satisfaction and so on. Therefore, employees get what they want, they should give what their superiors want. And performance appraisal is one mechanism to make sure that people at every level do things the way their superiors want them to do. Thus the superiors at every level strive for better writing of th eir own performance by assessing the performance of their subordinates and thus controlling their behavior.The success of an organization will therefore depend on its ability to measure accurately the performance of its members and use it objectively to optimize them as a virtual resource. At the every outset, it may be pointed out that the performance appraisal is a continuous function and not merely an issue of formal reports at particular point of time. Organization needs to measure employee performance to determine whether acceptable standards of performance are being maintained.The six primary criteria on which the value of performance may be assessed are quality, timeliness, cost effectiveness, need for supervision and interpersonal impact. If appraisals indicate that employees are not performing at acceptable levels step can be taken to simplify jobs, trains and motivate workers, or dismiss them depending upon the reasons for poor performance. EVALUTION OF PERFORMANCE APPRAIS AL. Employees appraisal techniques are said to have been used for the first time. During the first world war, when, at the instant of Walter Dill Scott, the US Army adopted the ‘Man-to- Man' rating system for evaluating military personnel.During the 1920-30 period, rational wage structures for hourly paid workers were adopted in industrial units. Under this system, the policy of giving grade wages increment on the basis of merit was accepted. These early employee plans were called merit rating programs, which continued to be so called up to the mid-fifties. By then, most of these plans were of the rating scale type, where emphasis was given to factors, degree and points in the early professional & managerial personnel, Since then, as a result of experiments and a great professional and managerial personnel.Since then, as a result of experiments and a great deal of study, the philosophy of performance appraisal has undergone tremendous changes. Consequently, a change has also t aken place in the terminology used. Now, the older phrase merit rating is largely restricted to the rating of hourly paid employees, and it is used frequently in developing criteria for salary adjustment, promotions, transfer etc. the later phrase, personnel appraisal, places emphasis on the development of the individual as and widely used to evaluate technical, professional and managerial personnel.Prof. Beach has provided a useful chart, showing the changes in the terminology of employee appraisal which have taken place since 1920. Although the interest in the use of performance appraisal has increased over the last thirty years, the practice of formally evaluating employees has existed for centuries. The performance appraisal system has undergone a lot of changes over the years as shown below: 1900; Subjective appraisals. 1940:Increased psychometric sophistication. 1950:Management by objectives (MBO). 1960:BARS. 1970-90:Hybrid system & approach.The appraisal of individuals in an employment has been labeled and described by experts over the years in different ways. Common descriptions include performance appraisal, merit rating, behavioral assessment, employee evaluation, personnel review, progress report, staff assessment, service rating and fitness report. Some personnel authorities use such concept interchangeably, while interpret some of these appraisal phrases differently. However the term performance appraisal or evaluation is most widely used. NEED / IMPORTANCE OF STUDY Performance Appraisal is a formal exercise in which an organization makes an evaluation in a documented form of its employees, in terms of contributions made towards achieving organizational objectives and or their personal strengths and weakness, and in terms of attributes and behaviors demonstrated for meeting whatever objectives the organization may consider relevant. ?Appraisals are judgments, trades and performances of employees. Performance Appraisal is an effective instrument fo r helping, people grow and develop in organizational settings.It could as an effective mechanism of continuing education learning from one another. ?Provide information about the performance ranks. Decisions regarding salary fixation, confirmation, promotion, transfer and demotion are taken based on performance. ?Provide feedback information about the level of achievement & behavior of the subordinate. This information helps to review the performance of the subordinate, rectifying performance deficiencies and to set new standards of work ? Provide information which helps to counsel the subordinate. ?To prevent grievances and in disciplinary activities in organization. Provide information to diagnose deficiency in the employee regarding skill, knowledge, determine training and development needs and to prescribe the means for employee growth provides information for placement. OBJECTIVES OF STUDY: Performance appraisal aims at attaining different purposes, they are: ?To enable each em ployee to understand his role and become effective on the job. ?To intensify the development needs of each employee. ?To create and maintain a satisfactory level of performance. ?To contribute to the employee growth and development through training, self and management development programmes. To help the superiors to have a proper understanding about their subordinates. ?To guide the job changes with the help to continuous ranking. ?To facilitate fair and equitable compensation based on performance. ? To facilitate for testing and validating selection tests, interviews techniques through comparing their scores with performance appraisal ranks. ?To ensure the organizational effectiveness through correcting the employee for standard and improved performance and suggesting the change in employee change in behavior. ? To serve as mechanisms for importing communication between the superiors and subordinates. To help management in fixing employees according to their capacity, interest and aptitude and qualifications. ? To provide a valid data base for personal decisions concerning placements, pay, promotions, transfer and punishment. Main Objectives of Performance Appraisal From the organizational point of view, performance appraisal serves two sets of goals, 1. Evaluation goals. 2. Coaching and development goals. Evaluation goals ?Give feedback to subordinates so that they know where they stand. ?To develop valid data for pay an promotion decisions and to provide a means of communicating these decisions. To help the organization in making discharge and retention decisions and to provide a means of warning subordinates about satisfactory performance. SCOPE OF THE STUDY: The scope of the study encompasses managerial and non-managerial cadre employees of Mahindra & Mahindra finance ltd. To asses the performance appraisal system, to know the employees perception towards PAS. CHAPTER – 2 COMPANY PROFILE INDUSTRY PROFILE COMPANY PROFILE Mahindra Group Incorporated as Mahindra & Mahindra in 1945. the company was re-christened Mahindra &Mahindra in 1948. J. C Mahindra K.C. Mahindra Core purpose â€Å"Indians are second to none in the world. The Founders of our Nation and of our organization passionately believed this. We will prove this right by believing in ourselves and by making Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. Known worldwide for the quality, durability and reliability of its products and services. † Anand Mahindra Keshub Mahindra Auspices of JIPM Japan. † Mahindra & Mahindra Tractors was awarded the Deming prize for excellence in quality Mahindra & Mahindra becomes the first Indian tractor company to achieve sales of 1 million tractors. Mahindra Champion† becomes India's highest selling large 3 wheeler within four years of launch. 2004 Mahindra & Mahindra and Renault set up a joint venture Mahindra & Mahindra announced the launch of Mahindra Australia Mahindra & Mahindra Joint Venture with China's Jingling Tractor Company. Mahi ndra Auto motive Steel Pvt Ltd (MASPL) a newly formed subsidiary of Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. Acquired Chakan unit of Amforge Industries Ltd. 2005 Leaders in diverse business sector SectorLeaders in AutomotiveUtility Vehicle Farm EquipmentTractors Telecommunication & software Time Share Resorts & Technology ParksRural Finance Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services Limited History: Mahindra Finance was incorporated on January 01,1991 with Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. Leading Manufacturer of utility vehicles and tractors in the country and Kotak Mahindra Finance Ltd. Vision Statement: To be the number one Rural Finance Company and continue to retain leadership position for Mahindra products. Mahindra Finance will provide products and services tailored to the needs of M&M, its most favoured customer. In case of demand supply mismatch of funds, Mahindra finance Will Put all their resources to find a solution.Mahindra Finance may finance other products after catering to the need of M&M. Howev er, this would always constitute a small proportion of mahindra Finance's total business. Mahindra Finance will help M develop better products by providing first hand information received from the target market. Mahindra Finance Strengths The vision of Mahindra Finance is validated by its strength, which are ?Parentage of M Ltd. RBI classification as HP Company ?Excellent reputation for prompt repayment. ?Wide rural net work. ?Dealer shareholding and relationship of dealers with M ?ensure dealer commitment Well connected to M& M / Dealer network. Wide knowledge of rural financing Mahindra Finance Values: ?Good corporate Citizen ship ?Professionalism ?Customer First ?Quality Focus ?Dignity of the Individual. Milestone 1991Mahindra Finance Incorporated on 1st January Commenced Regular Operations Employees : 5 Disbursement: 6 Crores Disbursement: 37 Crores Employee: 15 Branches: 4 1994Disbursement: 757 Crores 1994-95Employee: 52579 Branches: 343 1999-00Significant Milestone in terms of total assets 2000-01Steep rise in business volume with total contracts of 76663. Celebrated their 10* Anniversary.Retail Financing Covered 80% of Indian Districts. Financing Non- M Vehicles. 2001-02MMFSL Network covered 180 branches (98% of total districts throughout the nation) 2004Mahindra Insurance Brokers Ltd is incorporated 2005Branches:256 Employee : 1812 Contracts : 336891 Department of Mahindra Finance: To ensure smooth & effective functioning of the organization, Mahindra Finance has been divided into various departments ? Operations ?Finance ?Marketing ?Legal ?IT ?HR ?Administrator Each department has its own norms. Let's see the Do's and Don't of each Department. ?General Do's Mark attendance on a daily basis oTake prior approval form your immediate supervisor for Leave, travel or any expenses oInform your Supervisor immediately in case you come across any case of misconduct relating to cash or assets o Trust and respect colleagues, customers, vendors and associates. Don 'ts oSalary information should not be shared or compared oDon't indulge in misappropriation of cash or assets, this will invite disciplinary action. o Do not use abusive language in public. ?Operation Do's oOnly Mahindra Finance employees should deal with customers/dealers for their payments and collections. Collect & Habituate Customers to pay â€Å"On or Before Due Date†. oDocuments must have Duly Stamped and signed agreement along with PDC's and security cheques. Don'ts oNo payment and / or collection should be carried out by any of the dealers/brokers/DSAs/ DmAs etc. ?Finance Do's oCustomer Centric (Internal as well as External): Adhere and observe compliance to Company policies. o Data Accuracy and updation. o Always meet / Best the deadlines. Don'ts oDo not Accept / relay on anything without proper documentation and authorization there by ensuring audit trail. Do not make any activity people oriented but try to make it process oriented with help of systems. oAvoid dupli cation of work. ?Marketing Do's oAlways keep your eyes open for any competitive marketing activities like new media campaigns. oKeep yourself updated with the latest happening s in the industry /function through continuous learning (like books etc). oMaintain strict confidentiality of the company's marketing plan. oAlways provide a structured and written brief to the advertising agency for all kinds of communication. Don'ts Never tamper with the corporate identity of the organization (like logos, symbols, font colors etc). o Don't execute any activity (eg: promotional campaign, product launch, etc. ) without the involvement and inputs from the local representatives of the field operation team. ?Legal Do's oBe proactive rather than reactive. oKeep the documentation immaculate. It's better to prepare than to repair. Don'ts oDon't ignore any correspondence, whether from the customer, guarantor, their lawyers, insurance company, statutory authorities or any court or forum. oRepossessed vehicles are not to be used by any officials IT Do's ?Utilize IT to the maximum of its potential and thereby reduce unnecessary paperwork. ?Save power and reduce wastage of consumables. Don'ts ?Don't use pirated software of nay nature while working with MMFSL. Mahindra Finance maintains a strict policy against Piracy. ?As a member of the IT department, you may have access to sensitive company information contained in he system database. The company trusts yo with this information. Don't violate company trust by prying through this information or disclosing the same. ?HR Do's oMaintain confidentiality of all information All employees of the organization are our internal customers. Treat them with respect & Provide necessary resources to help them perform better, o Reserve criticism for private discussions whereas rewards and recognition to be addressed in public Don'ts oDon't make biased decision – all employees should receive equal respect and opportunity o Do not make commit ments on behalf of management without prior permission. Organization structure A sound organization structure ensures a smooth progress path & achieving of milestones. Mahindra Insurance Broker Ltd (MIBL) ?MIBL is a wholly owned subsidiary of Mahindra Finance MIBL manages the Motor insurance for Mahindra Finance's retail customers ? MIBL is a direct insurance broker for Life and Non-life products, and operates in the Retail and Corporate lines of business Vision: To be come India's most admired insurance Intermediation Company Goal: To be among the top 5 direct insurance brokers of India by 2010 Work Culture & Classification Mahindra Finance's work culture is a framework of shared attitudes and beliefs. Some of the important aspects of this work culture are ?Open and transparent communication and feedback ?Internal and external customer focus Creating and upholding a learning environment ?Proactive orientation ?Creating result through synergy. INVESTMENT ADVISORY We at Mahindra Fina nce are all-encompassing of clients needs. So while we believe in making assets easily available, we also believe in catering to those who want to create wealth from these assets. Our Investment Advisory Services act as an avenue to help create and multiply wealth. Mutual Fund Distribution Recently we have received the necessary permission from Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to start the distribution of Mutual Fund products through our network.Hitherto we were only participating in the liability requirements of our customers but with a mutual fund distribution business, we can also participate in their asset allocation. When it comes to investing, everyone has unique needs based on their own objectives and risk profile. While many investment avenues such as fixed deposits, bonds etc, it is usually seen that equities typically outperform these investments, over a longer period of time. Hence we are of the opinion that, systematic investment in equity allows one to create substantial wea lth.However, investing in equity is not as simple as investing in bonds or bank deposits, because only proper allocation of portfolio gives maximum returns with moderate risk, and this requires expertise and time Our investment advisory services you invest your money in equity through different Mutual Fund Schemes. We ensure the best for our clients by identifying products best suited to individual needs continent except Antarctica. M&M one tractor manufacturing plant in China, three assembly plants in the United States and one at Brisbane, Australia.It has made strategic acquisitions across the globe including Stokes Forgings (UK), Jeco Holdig AG (Germany) and Schoneweiss & Co GmbH (Germany). Its global subsidiaries include Mahindra Europe Srl. based in Italy, Mahindra USA Inc. and Mahindra South Africa. M&M has entered into partnerships with international companies like Renault SA, France, and International Truck and Engine Corporation, USA. Forbes has ranked the Mahindra Group in its Top 200 list of the World's Most Reputable Companies and in the Top 10 list of Most Reputable Indian companies.Mahindra has recently been honored with the Bombay Chamber Good Corporate Citizen Award 2006-07. INVESTOR ZONE: At Mahindra Finance, we pride ourselves on having pioneered rural finance in India. We have grown with each passing year, met targets, exceeded expectations and in the process created wealth for our shareholders. Here we have a dedicated section of up-to-date information, from our financials to our events and presentations – easy access to information at the click of button. Much like most of our quick and simple processes at Mahindra Finance.PRODUCT PORTFOLIO: At Mahindra Finance we have a wide range of products and services, with something to suit everyone's needs. Right from finance for two wheelers, tractors. Farm equipment, cars and utility vehicles to commercial vehicles and construction equipment, we also have a group of experts providing invest ment advice, surveying available market products and choosing the most suitable to our customers' needs. GROUP STRUCTURE: We are a company with a strong foundation and a shining legacy, growing every day to create a legacy of our own.Our leading promoter Mahindra & Mahindra holds the majority of our Equity Shares and is also a leading tractor and UV manufacturer with over 60 years' experience in the Indian market. As a supplement to our business, in May 2004, we started an insurance broking business through our wholly owned subsidiary, Mahindra Insurance Brokers Limited. ABOUT MAHINDRA GROUP: The US $6 billion Mahindra Group is among the top 10 industrial houses in India. Mahindra & Mahindra is the only Indian company among the top tractor brads in the world.Mahindra's Farm Equipment Sector has recently won the Japan Quality Medal, the only tractor company worldwide to be bestowed this honor. It also holds the distinction of being the only tractor company worldwide to win the Deming Prize. Mahindra is the market leader in multi-utility in India. It made a milestone entry into the passenger car segment with the Logan. The Group has leading presence in key sectors of the Indian economy, including the financial services, trade and logistics, automotive components. Information technology, and infrastructure development.With over 62 years of manufacturing experience, the Mahindra Group has built a strong base in technology, engineering, marketing and distribution which are key to its evolution as a customer centric organization. The Group employs over 50,000 people and has several state-of- the-art facilities in India and overseas. The Mahindra Group has ambitious global aspirations and has presence on five continents. Mahindra products are today available on every. Company profile of Mahindra & Mahindra Limited, we are one of India's leading non-banking finance companies.Focused on the rural and semi urban sector, we provide finance for utility vehicles, tractors and cars and have the largest network of branches covering these areas. Our goal is to be the preferred provider of retail financing services in the rural and semi – urban areas of India, while our strategy is to provide a range of financial products and services to our customers through our nationwide distribution network. PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL SYSTEM IN MAHINDRA & MAHINDRA FINANCE SERVICE LTD. In MAHINDRA & MAHINDRA FINANCE SERVICE LTD. the performance appraisal report is annual and is co-terminus with financial year, i. e. , 1st April, to the end of March next year. There is no need to write in duplicate. No Annual Appraisal Reports are required to be written by officers under suspension and on duty for less than two months during the reporting year. Where officers are transferred before the full period should write the appraisal reports for that part period straight away after obtaining the self assessment reports from the officers concerned and send the same to competent authority through proper channel.Reporting Officers who get relieved without writing AAR's are liable for disciplinary action. In case of death or non-availability of reporting officer for any acceptable reason, the AAR's can be written by the next higher authority straight away. Counter signing of the AAR's is normally done by the officer under whom the Reported officer works. In case of sudden illness, death retirement or for any acceptable reason, the counter signing officer or the Head of the Department is not available, AAR's can be signed by the incumbent at the time of receipt of AAR's by him.A self assessment Report in the proffering designed is obtained from the reported officer on the duties performed by him during the period under report within 15 days after the expiry of the reporting year for writing the AAR. If the Self Appraisal Report is not received, for any reason, the reporting officer may write the AAR duly recording the fact of non receipt of SAR. The acceptanc e or otherwise of the SAR should be endorsed in the column provided. The reasons for non acceptance should be recordedAdverse remarks, if any with, proper substantiation should be communicated to the Reported officer by the final counter signing authority. The Adverse remarks should be supported by specific instances. The format of AAR's for P&G services contains grading A,B,C, D & E indicating Outstanding, Very Good, Good, Satisfactory and Poor performance. Grading A,B & E are to be supported by justification along with recorded proof. Without such justification, the overall writing can be reduced to ‘C' grade by the counter signing officer duly recording that the grading is allotted as no justification is forth coming from the reporting officer.If the countersigning officer wants to award different grades, full justification with specific instances should be furnished by them. The grading awarded by foreign employers in the AARs of MAHINDRA & MAHINDRA FINANCE SERVICE LTD. em ployees on deputation is to stand but the grading so awarded is not binding on the Departmental Promotion Committees. The sum total of marks against rating awarded in respect of each item will determine the over all rating as follows: ‘A’ Grade 81% and above B’ Grade 71%to80% ‘C’ Grade 61% to 70% ‘D’ Grade 50% to 60% ‘E’ Grade below 49% Another column â€Å"General Remarks† is also provided for writing the General Remarks on the Reported Officer by the Reporting Officer in a nut shell. To evolve a performance appraisal system to serve as the basis for transfer policy and incentive/dis-incentive schemes, the MAHINDRA & MAHINDRA FINANCE SERVICE LTD. approved performance appraisal system based on objective, tangible parameters.The appraisal system consists of performance indicators evolved for the staff in P & G Service on the basis of the job charts prescribed for the staff, nature of duties performed by the staff of di fferent levels, nature of decision involved vis-a-vis, the cadre of employee and the sequential tasks involved in each HRD function like recruitment, promotions terminal benefits etc. The tasks to be performed by an employee in a given cadre form the performance indicators for the employee. A time frame is set for performance of a given task keeping in view the mandatory nature of compliance under the service regulations, leave regulations etc. optimum time required for performance of the task and the periodicity of performance. The points earned on an average overall the relevant Performance Indicators in a month by an employee will be the GPA (Grade Point Average per month) and the performance of an employee is rated on the basis of CGPA (Cumulative Grade Point Average) obtained as an average of GPA earned over 12 months period. The scale adopted and weightage given in grading the performance of an employee in a given parameters is Scale GradeWeightage > 95% A4 points – Out standing 85% to 95%B3 points – Good 0% to 85% C2 points – Satisfactory < 75% Grade Point Average (GPA) = Total Grade Points (per month) No. of performance Indicators Cumulative GPA (CGPA) – Total of GPA 12 CGPA=A=4-Outstanding B = 3 to 4 -Good C = 2 to 3 -Satisfactory D = 1 to 2-Poor The Impact of AARs on Promotions in MAHINDRA & MAHINDRA FINANCE SERVICE LTD. In terms of regulation 9(B) (1) of APSEB SRs – part-Ill, the following criteria is adopted for fixing the merit in respect of Class-Ill and above Officers for promotions to higher categories. ) The total marks obtained in last five years AARs/CRs are added and divided by five to obtain the average marks. b) Where an employee has not put up five years of service in the category from which promotion is to be made and for purpose of considering his/her case for out of turn promotion if the average marks of the AARs/CRs earned by him/her in that category is 90% and above, the last AARs/CRs in the lower c ategory to make up the total pfperiod of five years shall also be taken in lo consideration. If the average marks of the five AARs/CRs earned is 90% and above, the only he/she shall be considered for out of turn promotion. ) Based on average marks so obtained, the grading is made as follows: Out of turn —- 90% & above In turn —- less than 90% Unfit —- not to be considered † provided that the â€Å"out of turn† grading shall be awarded only if two different reporting officers have written the last five years AARs and also that each of these reporting officers have awarded one out standing A – grade report†. d) Provided, further, that the candidate selected for promotion under the grading of ‘out of turn' shall not be assigned more than five ranks.These five ranks shall be assigned as indicated below. Marks 90 and above up to and inclusive of 92 -1 Rank Marks above 92 up to and inclusive of 94 -2 Ranks Marks above 94 and up to and i nclusive of 96 -3 Ranks Marks above 96 and up to and inclusive of 98 -4 Ranks Marks above 98-5 Ranks e) The grades obtained based on the above criteria shall form the basis for fixing the ranking among the candidates considered suitable for promotion. The inter-se-ranking in each group shall be their inter-se-position/seniority in the existing cadre. CHAPTER – 3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY a) PRIMARY DATA ) SECONDARY DATA REVIEW LITERATURE DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION RESEARCH METHODOLOGY Research is an academic activity and as such the term should be used in a technical sense. Meaning of Research D. Slesinger and M. Stephenson in the Encyclopedia of Social Sciences define research as â€Å"the manipulation of things, concepts or symbols for the purpose of generalizing to extend, correct or verify knowledge, whether that knowledge aids in construction of theory or in the practice of an art†. Objectives of Research 1. 2. To gain familiarity with a phenomenon or to achieve new insights into it. 3.To portray accurately the characteristics of a particular individual, situation or a group. 4. To determine the frequency with which something occurs or with which it is associated with something else. Types of Research The basic types of research are as follows: 1. Descriptive & Analytical 2. Applied & Fundamental 3. Quantitative & Qualitative Research Process The following order concerning various steps provides a useful procedural guidelines regarding the research process: 1. Formulating the research problem; 2. Extensive literature survey; 3. Developing the hypothesis; 4. Preparing the Research design; 5.Determining sample design; 6. Collecting the Data; 7. Execution of the Project; 8. Analysis of data; 9. Hypothesis testing; 10. Generalizations’ and Interpretation, and 11. Preparation of the report or presentation of the result, i. e. formal write-up of conclusions reached. Sample Design Samples can be either probability samples or non-probability samples. Probability samples are those based on simple random sampling, systematic sampling, etc. Non-probability samples are those based on convenience sampling, judgement sampling and quota sampling techniques. Sample designs are as follows: 1. Deliberate Sample . Simple random Sample 3. Systematic Sample Collection of the Data The methodology being following for the study is data collections through (primary and secondary sources), interviews, views of employees and other personnel and questionnaire etc. A)Primary Data: The main source of primary data comprises of: 1. Structured Questionnaire 2. Formal and Informal interviews 3. Feedback obtained form the employees B)Secondary Data: The sources of secondary data comprises of: 1. Manual of the Organization 2. Books published by different agencies – 3. Other relevant books, magazines, periodicals and Journals etc. REVIEW OF LITERATURE Main Components of a Performance Appraisal System. The specific objectives of an Appraisal determine the components to be used in a performance appraisal system. Basically the following components are in use in Indian Organizations. 1. Key Performance Areas (KPAs):- For role clarity and key result areas (KRA's) for accountability. While KPAs stress what main functions the appraisal as an individual is expected to perform in the performance period, KRAs emphasis the accountability or the results the appraisal is expected to achieve in the performance period.However KPAs are to be preferred over KRAs as KOAs stress on what the appraiser should do and the effort he has to put in moreover, an identification of KPA's given and understanding of the nature, quality and level of performance expected of the time in which the tasks are expected to be completed. 2. Attributes/Qualities/Trait: – Attributes as a part of performance Appraisal help in reinforcing the behavior of qualities or competencies that are required or are to be developed by the executives.Most organizatio ns, however, realizing the extent of subjectively involved in trait based appraisals and recognizing the need to promote performance orientation rather than merely trait orientation have stated using a mixture of KPAs and attributes for assessment. 3. Self Appraisal: – Development or change takes place only if the appraise is interested in development or change. Self-appraisal is an opportunity for the appraise to recapitulate and list down the accomplishments and failures during the performance period. The most important part of self-appraisal is the process of review and reflection and through Performance appraisal.Such performance analysis should be done both by the appraise and appraiser separately and exchanged during review discussions. 4. Performance Analysis: – Performance Appraisal should be based on the performance planning dimensions. The work done or the performance during the year should be broken down into various KPAs/KRAs/tasks/targets. Performance unde r each of the above should be analyzed under the following headings. How is the actual performance with respect to the planned performances what factors contributes to the achievements from the point of view of the appraise, appraiser environment etc. 5.Performance Review Discussion or counseling: – A number of objectives can be achieved through performance review discussions which aims at making the appraiser and the appraise understand each other better by communicating the performance analysis of appraiser's performance. Performance Appraisal does not serve the purpose of developing employees unless an effective system of performance counseling in practiced in the organization performance counseling can be defined as the help provided by a manager to his subordinates in analyzing their performance and other job behaviors in order to increase their job effectiveness. . Performance Ratings: – One of the useful out comes of an appraisal is the ratings assigned at the e nd of the appraisal to the appraise. This practice distorts the main purpose of appraisals. In view of this, some organizations are seriously considering dropping rating as a part of the development oriented appraisal system and keep simple, short and confidential form separately for it. 7. Identification of training/development needs: – Appraisal provides a good opportunity to identify the developmental needs of an employer.Developmental needs should flow from performance analysis. It is important to identify the ‘competency' or ‘capability' (he appraise needs to develop in order to perform a given task better. This rather than (raining program titles. It is useful to needs of all employees and work out strategies and plans to meet them. 8. Final assessment by the Appraise: – In some organizations the final ratings given by the appraiser are not shown to the appraise because the final ratings are given taking into consideration comparative performance of o ther in the department.If an organization subscribes to such philosophy, it is useful to have separate formats for ratings rather than mixing it up with development oriented appraisals. 9. Reviewing officer's Role: – In almost all organization the requiring officer given an important role. As the reviewing officer has a larger responsibility, span of control, authority and accountability, it is useful to design a significant role for him in the appraisal process. The remaining officers, to examine the rating behavior of the reporting officers, give recommendations on developmental needs. 0. Potential Appraisal: – A system of developing employees for occupying higher positions in the organizational hierarchy to undertake higher potential appraisal. A good potential appraisal system attempts to generate data about employees and their potential for occupying higher positions from a variety of sources, and helps the top management to make decisions about the suitable perso ns for given job. 11. Signature by the Appraiser: – Some organizations require the appraiser to sign the form after the review discussion is over and ratings are assigned.The intention is that the appraiser should know what is being stated about him and he should be given a chance to express his own views in case of negative marks. APPRAISERS; 360 Degree Performance Appraisal: The appraiser may be any person who has thorough knowledge about the job contents, contents to be appraised, standards of contents and who observes the employee while performing a job. The appraiser should be capable of determining what is more important and what is relatively less important.The appraiser should prepare reports and make judgments without bias. Typical appraisers are: supervisors, peers, subordinates, employees themselves, users of service and consultants. Performance appraisal by all these parties is called 360 degree performance appraisal. Supervisors: Supervisors include superiors of the employee, other superiors having knowledge about the work of the employee and department head. Peers: Peers appraisals may be reliable if the work group is stable over a reasonably long period of† time and performs tasks that require interaction.However, little research has been conducted to determine how peers establish standards for evaluating others for the over all effect of peer appraisal on the groups attitude. Subordinates: The concept of having superiors rated by subordinates is being used in most organizations. This method can be useful in organizational settings to provide the relationships between superiors and subordinates are cordial. Users of services: Employee performance in service organizations relating through behaviours, promptness, speed in doing the job and accuracy can be better judged by the customers or users of services.Consultants: Some times consultants may be engaged for appraisal when employers do not trust supervisor appraisals and management does not trust self appraisal, peer appraisals or subordinate appraisals. In this situation, consultants are trained and they observe the employee at work for a sufficiently long time for the purpose of appraisal. Process of Performance Appraisal Performance can be undertaken either on informal basis or on formal or systematic basis. Informal appraisals are conducted when ever the supervisor or personal managers feel it necessary.However, formal and systematic appraisals are conducted on a regular basis. The systematic performance appraisal process follows a set pattern and consists few Steps: Establishing Performance Standards Communicating the Standards Measuring actual performance Comparing the actual with the Standards Discussing the Appraisal Taking corrective action 1. Establishing Performance Standards The Appraisal process begins with the setting up of criteria to be used for appraising the performance of employee. The criteria is specified with the help of job analysis whic h reveals the contents of the job.The criteria should be discussed with the supervisors to ensure that all the relevant factors have be included. These standards should be indicated on the appraisal form. Appraisal form should be carefully designed and printed. Performance standards will depend upon the objectives of the appraisals. 2. Communicating the standards The standards set for performance should be communicated to all the employees. The standards set must be explained to the employees, so that they come to know what is expected of them. When the standards are made known to the employees, they will try to make their performance equal or above them. . Measuring actual performance Once the performance standards are specified and accepted, the next stage is the actual performance. This requires choosing the right technique of measurement, identifying the internal and external factors influencing performance and collecting and results achieved. Personal observations, written repo rts and face to face contacts are the means of collecting data and performance. 4. Comparing the actual with the standards Actual performance is compared with the predetermined performance standards. Such comparison will reveal the deviations. Deviations may be positive or negative.Positive deviations occur when the actual performance exceeds the standards. Negative deviations occur when the actual performance is less than the standards. 5. Discussing the appraisal The results of the appraisal are communicated to the employees and discussed with the employees. Such discussion will enable the employee to know his weakness and strengths. There fore employee will be motivated to improve themselves. 6. Taking corrective action Appraisal process will be useful only when corrective action is taken on the basis of reports. Corrective action may be in the form of advice, council or warning.It may also be in the form of additional training, refresher courses, delegation of more authority, sp ecial assignment and coaching, etc. these actions will be useful in helping employees to improve their performance in future. If the actual performance is very poor and behind the scope of improvement, it may be necessary to take steps for demotion or retrenchment or any other suitable measure. Methods and technique of Performance Appraiser The Performance Appraiser methods differ in the approach for the following reasons. ?Firstly, they differ in the resources of traits or qualified to be appraisal. Secondly, they differ because of the different kinds of worked who are being rated. ?Thirdly, the variations may be caused by the degree of precision attempted in an evaluation, ?Finally, they may differ because of the methods used to obtain weightings for various traits. A number of performance Appraisal methods are available. The idea used categorizations is that given Strauss and sakes the methods are classified into traditional and modern methods. METHODS OF PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL Tr aditional Methods Modern Methods 1. Straight ranking method 1.Assessment Center 2. Man to man comparison method 2. Appraisal by Results or 3. Grading Management by Objectives 4. Graphic Rating Scales 3. Human Asset Accounting 5. Forced choice description method Method 6. Forced distribution method 4. BARS (Behaviorally 7. Check List anchored rating scales ) 8. Freeform or essay method . Critical Incidents 10. Group Appraisal 11. Field Review Method TRADITIONAL METHODS 1. Straight Ranking Method 2. Man to Man comparison method 3. Grading 4. Graphic Rating Scale 5. Forced choice Description method 6. Forced Description method 7. Checklists 8. Free Form Essay method 9. Critical incidents 10. Group Appraisals 11. Field Review method MODERN METHODS 1. Assessment Center 2. Appraisal by Result of management by Objective (MBO) 3. Human Asset According method 4. BARS (Behaviorally Anchored Rating Scales) TRADITIONAL METHODS STRAIGHT RANKING METHOD:It is the oldest and simplest method of per formance appraisal by which persons are tested in order of merit and placed in a simple grouping. One of the disadvantages of the system is that it permits similar total scores for two or more individuals. But it is a similar method of separating the most efficient form of the least efficient. MAN TO MAN COMPARISION METHOD: By this method, certain factors are selected for the purpose of analysis (such as leadership, dependability and initiatives) and a scale is designed by the rates for each factor, and personnel are compared to the ‘key man' in respect to the factor of a given lime.But it is not of much use because the designing of scale is a complicated task. GRADING METHOD: Under third system, the rater considers certain features and marks them, according to a scale they may be: A—Outstanding; B– very good; C— good or coverage; D—-Fair; E —poor; The actual performance of an employee is then compared with these grade definitions, and he is allotted the grace which best describes his performance. GRAPHIC RATING METHOD: These methods assess the degree of certain qualified required for the job such as industriousness, reliability and dependability.The degree usually, measure on a scale that can vary from 3 points (good, coverage and poor) to several points. When rating and objectively given, they provide useful feedback. But a serious drawback is that the rating is generally subjective. FORCED CHOICE DESCRIPTION METHOD: The forced choice method from contains a series of groups of statements, and the rater checks how effectively the statements describes each individuals being evaluated The use of this method calls for minimum subjective judgment nd objective reporting, but at the each time, the results of evaluation do not prove useful for counseling and training purpose because the rater is ignorant of evaluating the individuals. FORCED DISTRBUTION METHOD: In this method the rater is forced to distribute his subordinates into performance categories such as outstanding good poor etc. Everyone cannot be given average or good rating. Hence some percentage of the subordinates is rated better then the others. This-method is useful for rating a large number of employers.CHECK LIST: Under this method, the rater does not evaluate employee's performance, he supplies report about it and the personnel department does the final rating. A series of questions are presented concerning on employee to his behavior and the rater the checks to indicate if the answer to a question about and employee is positive or negative. This method suffers from bias on the part of the rater. FREE EASSY METHOD: In this method the supervisor makes a free form, open – ended appraisal of employees in his own words.The description is always a factual and concrete as possible. An essay can provide a good deal of information. However no attempt is made to evaluate an employee in a quantitative manner. CRITICAL INCIDENT METHOD: Und er this method work performance is measured in terms of certain events or episodes shall occur in the performance of the rater job. This method provides objectives basis for conducting a discussion of individual performance. How ever, negative incidents are generally more noticeable than positive ones. GROUP APPRAISAL METHOD:Under this method, employees are rated by an appraisal group, consisting of their supervisor and there are four other supervisors who have same knowledge on this performance. The advantage of this method is thorough, very simple and is divide of any bias, of it number multiple judges. But it is very time consuming. FIELD REVIEW METHOD: Under this method, a trainer employee from the personnel department interviews line supervisor and is required to give his opinion about the progress of the subordinates. This system is useful for a large organization.The man defect is that helps two management representatives busy with the appraisal. MODERN METHODS OF APPRAISAL: These methods place more emphasis on the evaluation of work of job achievements that in personality traits. Result oriented appraisals tend to be more objective and worthwhile, especially for counseling and development purposes. APPRAISAL BY RESULTS OR MANAGEMENT BY OBJECTIVES (MBO): MBO differs significantly from the traditional approach for it shifts the emphasis from appraisal to analysis; the subordinate is no longer examined by his strength and potential.Thus he assumed the role of and ‘active agent' rather than a ‘passive agent1. But the major problems that company's face in implementing MBO is in defining objectives. In the same organization, the purpose of the worker is different from that of management. ASSESSMENT CENTER METHOD: In this method, the organization develops its own internal reoccurred for the continuous assessment of its members for the recruitment of new members the purpose of this method is to test candidates in a social situations, using a number assessors and a variety of procedures the most important features of the assessment center is job related simulations.These simulations involve characteristics that managers feel are important to the job success. Assessments are made to determine employer potential for purposes of promotion. Assessment center ratings are said to be strongly influenced by the participants inter personal skills. Judges tend to evaluate the quality of the individuals social skills rather than quality of the decisions themselves. HUMAN ASSET METHODS: This method refers to activity devoted to attaching money estimates to the value of a firm's internal human organization and its external customer goodwill.The current value of the firm's human organization can be appraisal by developed procedures, by understanding periodic measurements of â€Å"by casual† and intervening enterprise variables. The â€Å"by casual† variables include the structure of organizations management policies, business leadership, strategies, skills of behavior. The â€Å"intervening† variables reflect the internal state and health of an organization. This method is not yet popular. BEHAVIOURALLY ANCHORED RATING SCALES (BARS): This technique, which has been recently developed, provides a more equitable appraisal as compared to other techniques.In this method, persons with knowledge of the job lo be appraised are asked to describe critical incidents of effective performance behavior. A second group is asked to rate the behavior described in the incident. Subjects to incidents arc used as â€Å"behaviors anchors† for the performance dimensions. The main advantages of this method are that experts do this, and hence the results are sufficiently accurate the use of critical incidents may be useful in providing feedback to the people being appraised. PROBLEMS OF PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL.The ideal approach to performance evaluation is that in which the evaluator is free biases, pre judicious. This is objective, it minimize the potential capricious and dysfunctional behaviors of the evaluator which may be detrimental to the achievement of the organizational goals. However, a single foolproof evaluation method is not available. Inequalities in evaluation often destroy the usefulness of the performance system resulting in accurate and invalid appraisals, which are unfair too. There are many significant factors, which deter or impede objective evaluation. HALO EFFECTIt is a tendency to let the assessment of an individual one-trait influences the valuation of that person on other specific trait. There is this effect in appraisal when the appraiser assigns the same rating to all traits regardless of an employee's actual performance on these traits. The â€Å"Halo effect† refers to be tendency to rate an individual consistently high or low or average on the various traits, depending upon whether the rater's overall impression of the individual is favorable or not this me ans that the halo effect allows one characteristic, observation or occurrence to influence the rating of all performance factors.The halo effect arises when the traits are unfamiliar; it defined and involves personal relations. This often occurs when an employee tends to be more contentions and dependable, that the appraiser might become biased towards that individual to the extent that the appraiser rates him high on many desirable attributes; or when the employee is more friendly or unfriendly employee towards the appraiser. In such cases, a very high role may be given to an unfriendly employee so that he may be by passed even though he is very capable one. LENIENCY/STRICTNESS TENDENCY:Every evaluator has his own value system, which acts as a standard against which he makes his appraisals. Relative to the true or actual performance an individual exhibits, some supervisors have a Tendency to be liberal in their ratings, i. e. , they consistently assign high values to their employee s, while at other times they may have a tendency to assign consistently low ratings. The former tendency is know as â€Å"positive leniency error†, while the latter in lenient in his appraisal, an individual performance becomes overstated, i. e. , rated higher than it actually should be.Similarly, under the negative tendency, performance is understated, than what is should. Both these trends usually arise from varying standards of performance observer by supervisors and form different interpretations of what they evaluate in employee performance. The tendency can be avoided by holding meetings or training sessions for raters so that they may understand what is required of them in rating. SIMILARITY ERROR This type of error occurs when the evaluator rates other people in the same way he has perceived himself. For example the evaluator, who peruses himself s aggressive, may evaluate others by looking for aggressiveness. MICELLANEOUS BIASES Bias against employees on ground of Se x, Religion and Caste position is also a common error in rating. For example a higher rating may be assigned to a senior employee. The rater may be influenced and give higher ratings to those holding higher positions. Besides this, there may be opportunity bias, group characteristic bias and knowledge of predictor bias. Analysis And Interpration The techniques of analysis are based on the response received from the employees.The sample consists 50 employees randomly selected from various departments. The responses were analyzed and interpreted. Period Of Study: The data is collected for the period 2007-2008. 1. In your opinions what should be the frequency of writing performance appraisal reports c. Annually. a, Monthly b. Half-yearly To understand the overall employees opinion on frequency of writ in performance appraisal report, with the help of 100 responses following data observed. SI. No. Category No. of respondents Percentage of respondents 1Monthly1632% 2Half-Yearly1020% 3Yea rly2448%Analysis and Interpretation; By observing the above data, most of the employees are satisfied with the performance appraisal policies in the company, preferred annually performance appraisal. 2. In your opinion who will be right person to appraise your performance? a. Immediate boss b. countersign authority. To understand the overall employees opinion on who will be right person to appraise performance of employee, with the help of 50 responses following data is observed. SI. No. CategoryNo. of respondentsPercentage of respondent 1Immediate Boss2550% Counter Signing Authority2550% Analysis and Interpretation: By observing the above data, most of the employees of the organization preferred that immediate boss is the right person to appraise his performance. 3. Is the present appraisal system helping you to know your strengths an weakness? a) Yes b) No The employee's strengths and weaknesses will be known through the person appraisal system with the help of 50 respondents data is observed. SI. No. Category No. Of respondents Percentage respondents 1 Yes 2550% 2 No 2550% Analysis and InterpretationBy observing the given data, The performance appraisal report speaks about the strengths and Weaknesses of the employees in the Organization. 4. Arc monthly reports of performance of each employee are prepare and taker as basis for preparing performance appraisal reports? a) Yes b) No To understand the given data Monthly report of performance of each employee's are prepared and taken as basis with the help of 50 responses following data is observed. SI. No. Category No. of Respondents Percentage respondents 1 Yes 33 66% 2 No 17 34% Analysis and InterpretationBy viewing the above data, the Performance appraisal report can be prepared based on the Consolidation of monthly report of each employee in the Organization. 5. Do you feel career part and succession plan should become part of performance appraisal? a) Yes b) No To know the employee's opinion on the career part and succession plan should become part of performance appraisal, by taking 50 responses following data is observed. SI. No. Category No. of Respondents Percentage of respondents 1 Yes 33 66% 2 No 17 34% Analysis and InterpretationBy observing the given data, employees are referred for the career part and Achievement of succession plan become the part of performance appraisal. 6. Performance appraisal reports should be revealed or not? a) Yes b) No To understand the overall Employee's opinion, performance appraisal repo should be revealed or not on the basis of 50 responses following data observed. SI. No. Category No. of Respondents Percentage Of respondents 1 Yes 33 66 2 No 17 34 Analysis and Interpretation By viewing the above data, Most of the employee preferred to reveal this performance appraisal report. . Are you satisfied with the present appraisal system? a) Yes b) No To know the employee's that they are satisfied with the present appraisal system on the basis of 50 res ponses following data is observed. SI. No. Category No. of Respondents Percentage of respondents 1 Yes 35 70 2 No 15 30 Analysis and Interpretation: By viewing the data, Most of the employees are satisfied with the present performance appraisal System followed in the organization. 8. Does the performance appraisal system followed by your organization Improves the overall performance of organization? a) Yes b) NoTo understand the performance appraisal system followed in your organization' Improves the overall performance of organization, by taking 50 respondents d? is observed. SI. No. Category No. of Respondents Percentage of Respondents 1 Yes 35 70% 2 No 15 30% Analysis and Interpretation By observing the given data, the performance appraisal system followed in the MAHINDRA & MAHINDRA FINANCE SERVICE LTD. improves overall efficiency in the management and control over the staff towards the promotional policy and achievement of the goals. 9. Performance appraisal should be evaluated? ) More than once in a year b) Once in a year c) Occasionally To know the Employees opinion Performance appraisal should be evaluated for the period by taking 50 respondents data is observed, SI. No. Category No. of Respondents Percentage. Of respondents 1 More than Once in a Year 1327% 2 Once in a Year 3366% 3 Occasional 47% Analysis and Interpretation: By viewing the above data, Most of the employees preferred to evaluate the performance appraisal yearly. 10. Do you get any guidance from your superior in your day today work? a) Regularly b) Occasionallyc) Not at allTo understand the employees opinion, to get the guidance from your superior in your day today work with the help of 50 respondents following data is observed. SI. No. CategoryNo. of RespondentsPercentage of respondents 1 Regularly 27 54% 2 Occasionally 20 40% 3 Not at all 3 6% Analysis and Interpretation; By observing the given data, most of the employees wish to guide by the superior regularly in day to days and occasi onally in specific purpose. 11. Do you think the performance appraisal Performa / program covers all aspects of the job? a) Covers all aspectsb) Does not cover some aspects ) Does not cover many aspects. To know the overall employees opinion performance appraisal Performa / program covers all aspects of the job with the 50 respondents following data is observed. SI. No. Category No. of Respondents Percentage of respondents 1 Covers all aspects 20 40% 2 Does not cover some aspects 3 8% 3 Does not cover many aspects 27 52% Analysis and Interpretation: By view the above data, most of the employees have reported that the appraisal Performa that does not cover many aspects of the jobs. 12. Which of the following is a better form of appraisal? a) Self appraisal b) Confidential reportsTo know the overall employees opinion which will be the better form of appraisal system, with the help of 50 respondents the following data is observed. SI. No. Category No. of Respondents Percentage of respo ndents 1 Self Appraisal 40 80% 2 Confidential Reports 10 20% Analysis and Interpretation: By observing the above data, most of the employees wish to have their self appraisal is better than the confidential report. CHAPTER – 4 LIMITATIONS OF STUDY LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY The study is limited to the policies and practices being followed in Mahindra & Mahindra finance ltd. Time factor is the main constraint for the study as it was restricted only to eight-nine weeks. ?Sampling error is not taken into consideration. ?The information given by the