Human Behavior in Organization Introduction free essay sample

Human Behavior in Organization Topic:*Nature amp; Scope of Human Behavior in Organization (HBO) *Key Behavioral Science Assumptions Reporter:Khimberly L. Macapagal, RN Schedule:MSN I-B 7:30-5:00pm Importance of HBO gt; To know how people, as individuals and as groups act within the organization. Human behavior in an organization determines the quality of work, progress and success of the organization. No machine and no computer can work by itself. No product is developed and manufactured by itself. Its the workforce or rather the human resources of an organization who develop ideas, create services and then deliver them to the clients. Thus, it is important for the management of an organization to analyze the behavior of its entire work force. Every organization differs from the other with respect to its policies, work environment, recruitment process, job evaluation and culture. The organization must treat its work force with immense dignity and respect and provide sufficient compensation. The work force must be treated as an asset, not a liability, and once this is done you will notice remarkable change in the collective human behavior. Apart from the internal environment, the external personal environment plays a major role in his/her behavior and attitude. We are social animals with unique aspirations, hopes, insecurities. Only those who enjoy their work can have a healthy balance between personal and professional life. Those who dont enjoy their work will most likely not be satisfied with the work nor be content in their personal life due to the imbalance that exists. Scope of HBO Human behavior is a challenging in every aspect. It not only deals to with the changing human nature but also a different behavior with respect to time. The scope of human behavior is very huge. It has very large area of research. It can have wide impact on people and society. The nature of understanding human behavior is not an easy topic for the discussion. Anyone who is interested has to go through many research on understanding the brain functionality together with the model of modeling such behavior. Nature of HBO * Individual Difference * Perception * A Whole Person Desire for Involvement * Value of the Person * Motivated Behavior Key Behavioral Science Assumptions I. Leadership of People 1. Skeptics are my best friends. People support what they help create. 3. Assumptions amp; Thoughts -gt;  Behavior -gt;  Consequences: (ABCDE)  Desired vs. Experienced—Unintended Consequences. 4. Peer pressure works quite well—there are always natural/informal leaders. 5. Consistency and integrity are the most important leadership behaviors to employees. 6. Give credit to others—let them give it to you. 7. Praise in public, criticize in private. . The troops eat first. 9. Start tight—then you can loosen up (Leadership 101). II. Change 1. Change has predictable behaviors (The Rollercoaster of Change). 2. The Rollercoaster of Change is natural, normal, and highly predictable. 3. People are naturally more energized and motivated if they are delegated an entire (whole) job with direct customer contact—Plan, Do, Control. 4. You cannot change others, only yourself—your reactions and your own behavior towards others. 5. If you find it hard to change your behavior and habits, think how hard it is for others to change. 6. Fear does not motivate people to really change, especially long term on their own. They just move enough to respond to the perceived threat. 7. Organizations are dependency models at the lowest level of maturity. Most adults have risen above it to the independent or interdependent maturity level. 8. Dont burn bridges or treat others with anything but dignity and respect—what goes around eventually comes around back to you. 9. The main question to ask in any situation is,  Are we making progress (towards our goals)?   Are we making continuous improvement? Do we have problems and are they getting better? I. Individuals 1. People dislike surprises. (Confidentiality is a myth anyway. ) 2. I want input into decisions that effect me before the decision is final (do it  with  me, not  to  me). 3. Whats In It For Me? (WIIFM). We are all goal directed. 4. Saying Im sorry or youre right or I apologize are some of the toughest words to say in the English language—but honesty builds trust. 5. If you see or discover a mistake or wrong action, you are now part of the problem. You have only two choices: collude to be part of it or work to change it. Ignoring it is to collude to allow it to happen again. . Honoring the past allows for and frees me up to change in the future. 7. Having integrity gives you power—the power of honesty, the power of directness, and the power of trust. 8. You cannot injure or hurt my self esteem without my permission and collusion. Know where your limits and where your line of self-esteem are—protect them and dont let others cross your line . 9. By understanding and empathizing with others first, you have then earned the right to disagree with them as a  royal skeptic. I. Theorists 1. Freud was right:   Rewards and consequences and fears do drive behavior. . Skinner was right:   Positive behavioral reinforcement works better than negative. 3. Freud was right:   Most people avoid conflict and pain like the plague. 4. Maslow was right:   We have a  Hierarchy of Needs: 1. Food, clothing, and shelter, 2. Safety and security, 3. Belongingness and love, which must be met for 4. Esteem, self esteem, and then 5. Self-actualization to fully blossom! I. Learning and Simplicity 1. Our retention fades fast—we need booster shots (4 times) with reinforcement regularly to retain new learnings and behaviors. 2. Adults learn best by doing. (Struggling accelerates the learning. ) 3. Root causes are delayed in time and space—search for them. 4. We become more complex and set in our ways over time (complexity vs. simplicity). 5. Simplicity wins the Game of Change every time. 6. Feedback is a gift—the breakfast of champions—be open to it, model it for others. Central Luzon Doctors’ Hospital Educational Institution Graduate School Department Master of Science in Nursing Course Title:Human Behavior in O rganization Topic:Concepts and Principles of Human Behavior By: Francis Robert R. Lim Behavior a response of an individual or group to an action, environment, person, or stimulus. * the manner of conducting oneself. * observable activity in a human or animal. The aggregate of responses to internal and external stimuli. A stereotyped species-specific activity, as a courtship dance * the action or reaction of any material under given circumstances. * manner of behaving, whether good or bad; mode of conducting ones self; conduct; deportment; carriage; used also of inanimate objects; as, the behavior of a ship in a storm; the behavior of the magnetic needle. Human Behavior The capacity of mental, physical, emotional, and social activities experienced during the five stages of a human beings life prenatal, infancy, childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. Includes the behaviors as dictated by culture, society, values, morals, ethics, and genetics. Human Behavior in Organization * The workers activities are activities of humans and are therefore an essential part of humanity. These activities have at least five dimensions, on the main aspects that must be considered in the analysis of work, and all the employee needs to be entrepreneur and feel accomplished for production: Technical aspects involves issues relating to place of work and adjustment physiological and sociological. * Physiological aspects is the degree of adaptation man place of work Physical environment and the problem of fatigue the human being is not a machine and does not work like a machine. * Moral aspect considers the skills, the motivation, the degree of awareness, satisfaction and the intimate relationship between work activity and personality the work is an extension of personality, is how a person measures his worth and his humanity. Social aspect considers the specific issues in the working environment and external factors such as family, social class, etc.. * Economic aspect as the production of wealth the work is a way of life. Principles of Human Behavior * Human beha viour can be identified as the result of attempts to satisfy certain needs. These needs can be simple and easy to understand such as the need of food, water and shelter. However it can also be complex such as the need of respect or acceptance. Leadership and human behaviour work hand in hand. To   be   a   successful   leader,   you   must   understand   your people and work with   them   to   resolve   their   problems. By examining human behavior, we can expand the knowledge we need to better understand people. Human behaviour study helps us understand why people act and react in certain ways. Leadership and Human Behavior Preferences: * As a leader in order to accomplish your goals, you need to interact with your followers, peers, seniors, and others; whose support your needs to accomplish the goals. To gain their support, you must be able to understand and motivate them. Human nature is the common qualities of all human beings. People behave according to certain principles of human nature. Values,  beliefs, and customs differ from country to country and even within group to group, but in general, all people have a few basic needs. As a leader you must understand these needs because they can be powerful motivators. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs * Basic Needs * are physiological, such as food, water, sleep and psychological, such as affection, security, and self-esteem. * Metaneeds *   These include justice, goodness, beauty, order, unity, etc. Basic needs normally take priority over these Meta needs. A need higher in the hierarchy will become a motive of behaviour as long as the needs below it have been satisfied. Unsatisfied lower needs will dominate unsatisfied higher needs and must be satisfied before the person can climb up the hierarchy. So in order to be successful leaders of tomorrow, leaders have to fulfil the basic needs which are physiological needs, safety and belonging. Central Luzon Doctors’ Hospital Educational Institution Graduate School Department Master of Science in Nursing.

Welfare Programs Essays - Federal Assistance In The United States

Welfare Programs Welfare is a government program that provides money, medical care, food, housing, and other things that people need in order to survive. People who can receive help from these welfare programs are children, elders, disabled, and others who cannot support their families on their current income. Another name for welfare is public assistance. There are many organizations that supply this public assistance. Such as Salvation Army and other groups. Public assistance benefits help many people who live below the poverty line, an income level is established for families. If your income is below this you would be eligible to receive this help. Welfare in the United States Federal and state governments in the Unites States serve the poor people through about 60 public assistance programs. Most people receive help through one of the four major programs. These programs are Medicaid, Aid to families with dependant Children, Social Security, or Supplemental Security, or the food stamps program. I will discuss the four programs individually. Medicaid provides free medical care to the poor people. Funds vary from state to state. In some situations, people who may be able to pay daily needs, but can't afford large medical bills may also be able to receive Medicaid. Some services paid for are bills such as doctor's visits and nursing home care. Most Medicaid funding comes from the federal government. The rest is supplied by the state. Each state runs their own Medicaid program. A.F.D.C. provides cash benefits to dependent children and the parents or the guardians taking care of them. Most families that qualify for A.F.D.C. have just one parent in the home. About 80 percent of these families are headed by a woman. A.F.D.C. also pays benefits to two-parent families if both parents are unemployed. Most A.F.D.C. funding comes from the federal government. The states provide the rest of the money and administer the program. The sizes of families' payment vary from state to state. Next is Social Security Income. This provides financial Aid to people in need who are at least 65 years old, blind, or disabled. The federal government finances and administers social security income programs in most states, though some states supply the federal payment and are able to run their own programs. Finally, the Food Stamp Program helps low-income households buy more and better food than they could otherwise afford. Each participating household receives a certain number of coupons called food stamps. The stamps are issued by the federal government. The number of stamps a household receives varies with the family's size, income, and expenses. Cooperating grocery stores accept the stamps like money for food purchases only. There are other programs such as energy assistance and public housing. Energy assistance, which is federally financed but administered by the states, helps people pay fuel bills. Public housing provides low cost rental apartments in government owned buildings. State and local governments fund and administer their own general assistance programs. These programs provide financial aid for needy people who do not qualify for other types of welfare. People waiting to receive assistance from other programs also may get temporary emergency aid from general assistance. Back in the early days, welfare resembled the English system. Social governments were responsible for helping the poor. But the colonies and later the states, sometimes helped the local government provide aid. The first federal welfare program, began after the Revolutionary War, they provided pensions to war veterans. During the Civil War these pensions were expanded to cover soldiers' widows and orphans. In the early 1900's, primary responsibility for providing welfare benefits shifted from local to state governments. During these years, states enacted programs to aid dependent children and the elderly. The criticisms of welfare ranges over a number of social and economic issues. Some people criticize welfare programs for not providing high enough benefits to eliminate poverty. Spending on welfare would have to increase greatly to eliminate poverty, and many people believe the cost is already too high. Many critics of the welfare system charge that providing a steady income to needy people encourages idleness. Actually, most welfare benefits go to elderly, blind, and disabled people and mothers with young children. But welfare does discourage some recipients from working harder by reducing benefits if their income increases. Many people also criticize the welfare system for being too complex and costly to administer. Each program has its own eligibility requirements and ways of calculating benefits, and these rules vary from state to state. Public officials collect detailed information about applicants to determine their eligibility for benefits. This process is time-consuming and

What Does a Comparative Essay Sample Do?

What Does a Comparative Essay Sample Do?Having a comparative essay sample can be a life saver. Many times, you will be asked to write a chapter or the whole paper based on some chapter from a book or chapter from an essay. Although this sounds easy, it's actually the opposite - the more of your work is based on the basis of another essay or book, the more difficult it is to write.There are many different kinds of essays and depending on what type of essay is needed, the paper may need different kinds of essay samples. If the essay is about art or history, then it might be best to look for a unique essay that looks like a chapter from a book instead of just another essay. If it's about science, then it would be wise to take the essay sample and make it look like a journal article, instead of just another essay.In this article, we will discuss two types of essays: the short essay and the long essay. These two kinds of essays are very different from each other in many ways. First, the l ength is what separates them; you cannot simply do the same essay twice, especially if it is very long.Most people who need to write an essay on something in the average person's life will not be in a position to write an essay on a long-term subject for an entire semester. Therefore, they may want to find a sample essay or short essay to work from. It may also be useful to find a short sample that is about something that the average person could relate to in order to better prepare the reader for the long essay.It is also important to remember that the essay needs to have a specific theme. Since the essay will be used to teach the student about a particular topic, it is very important that the essay be created based on the topic. Because the essay will be used as an example of how students should learn something, it is a good idea to be creative in this way.A number of factors can affect the type of essay you write. The type of subject, type of essay, and what kind of essay would b e most useful to a student are all things that should be considered before you begin writing. The essay needs to be unique and should speak directly to the student, but it does not need to be difficult either.This is why it is helpful to look for a comparative essay sample when you need to write an essay on a specific topic. Of course, you may find yourself working on two or three different topics. As long as the topics are similar, there is no reason to rewrite the same essay over again. You can use the same essay sample and add or subtract words from it as needed to change the topic of the essay.Of course, no matter how you use the essay sample, you should always make sure to test it thoroughly. When you compare an essay from an unknown source to a comparison of an essay you wrote based on the same material, it is much easier to tell which one is better. If you find that one essay samples is better than the other, then you can make that information clear to the student. Remember, even the best essays are only as good as the student who wrote them.

Five Ways to Meet Deadline When Life Gets Crazy-Busy

Five Ways to Meet Deadline When Life Gets Crazy-Busy Whether penning a novel, a blogpost, or a magazine article, most writers work on deadline. But even with a due date, it’s easy to focus on life’s more pressing matters. After twenty years as a working scribe, I’ve discovered a few tricks to keep my productivity on track. 1. Schedule an appointment If we were in an actual office meeting, we would not be answering the phone, replying to e-mails, or folding laundry. We can use that same mindset to stay focused while working from home. Each day, set aside a specific time for writing. Block that time on the calendar as if it is for an important meeting, and allow no interruptions. 2. Maintain a Detailed Goal List Corporate employees are expected to write goals and report progress. We can follow that same strategy. First, we need to create a list of goals, assigning each to be completed   Ã‚     Week   Ã‚     Month   Ã‚     Quarter   Ã‚     Year Then we must don our †boss† hat and hold our â€Å"employee† accountable. It helps to keep a Daily List, too. Each night, select specific tasks to be accomplished 3. Find an Accountability Partner Teamwork! It’s very important to build a relationship with at least one trusted writing partner. Share monthly goals, set regular check-in times, and press for the best from one another. For those who don’t have such an acquaintance, consider joining organizations such as Romance Writers of America, American Christian Fiction Writers, Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, etc. Many communities offer an arts council or writers organization, and libraries may host events, too. National Novel Writing Month is another excellent source of encouragement, with perks such as local Meet-Ups, daily wordcount check-ins, and more. 4. Go High-Tech Many online tools can boost productivity. For example, a service called Focusmate allows users to share a virtual cubicle of sorts. Each user schedules a 50-minute session during which assigned partners work quietly while they can see one another onscreen. Calendar apps can save time Brainwave apps use binaural beats to increase focus, attention, and productivity. Basically, users tune in to an online station, listen to specifically formulated music, and voila! The choices are endless, so it’s best to search â€Å"brainwave app† on the selected device and find the best fit. Voice dictation apps allow us to turn speech to text. This maximizes time spent in carpool lines, and it frees us from our desks. Google and Apple each offer a free and reliable voice-to-text service, while Dragon charges a fee and requires a bit more time investment on the front-end. 5. Earn Rewards We are all wired to work for rewards, but one of the best things about being the boss is that we control the reward system. When we add a new chapter, for example, we may earn a walk outside or a chat with a friend. But a finished novel may earn us a new piece of art or a weekend getaway. The greater the accomplishment, the greater the reward. And that keeps us coming back to the page. How do you keep your writing goals on track? Share your productivity ideas and let’s keep the conversation going via Facebook or Twitter.

Balanced Scorecard

Since the Market downturn in October 2007, a challenging set of economic events has been rocking the financial services industry and AXA equitable has since experienced major changes to keep the company competitive. A well-developed balanced scorecard is what AXA Equitable needs in order to remain a worldwide leader in the financial services industry. In the past, management have believed that the factors critical to the success of a company were based solely upon financial measures; this is why the Balanced scorecard was developed. The BSC has gained increasing popularity as an effective management tool that aligns employee actions and goals with corporate strategy since first being introduced in 1992 (Davis Albright, 2004). Robert S. Kaplan and David P. Norton proposed the balanced scorecard (BSC). The Balanced scorecard is a widely recognized tool to support decision making at the strategic management level which improves the satisfaction of the strategic objectives (Kaplan Norton, 1992). The BSC provides feedback on internal business processes, performance, and market conditions in order to review the trategy and future plans and  Large U. S. companies, such as General Electric and Federal Express, and non-profit and public organizations have implemented the BSC approach (Creamer Freun, 2010). According to the module, â€Å"financial measures are inadequate, however, for guiding and evaluating the journey that information age companies must make to create future value through investment in customers, suppliers, employees, processes, technology, and innovation (Baltzan, Phillips, Haag 2010). The balanced scorecard deals with a proposed model that embraces both financial and non-financial aspects to measure performance of an organization in the financial services industry (Wu, Tzeng, Chen, 2009). The  balanced scorecard[pic](BSC) is a multi-criteria evaluation concept that highlights the importance of performance measurement, and it recognizes that performance measurement should be incorporated in both of financial and non-financial measures; it captures not only a firm’s current performance but also the drivers of its future performance (Tseng, 2010). The balanced scorecard would be a positive force for AXA Equitable as it is a vital part of an overall strategy to become and remain an industry leader. Since times can be unsettling and while no company is immune from the challenges of a volatile market, management should strive to identify the factors that are critical to the success of the company. AXA Equitable needs to implement the measures listed on the balanced scorecard to achieve the company’s critical success factors. This will strengthen the company and continually improve AXA Equitable’s ability to manage through turbulent market conditions when necessary. The Balanced scorecard has four main parts. The balanced scorecard is developed along the four well-known perspectives of Financial, Customer, Internal Business Process, and Learning and Growth Performance, which, at any point in time of measurement, characterize the current status and future potential of organizations (Craig Moores, 2010). The financial perspective includes the measure of an organizations financial performance. For instance, it measures revenue growth, shareholder’s value, assets under management, and cash flow. This perspective links the company to its shareholders with main attention to the question: â€Å"How do we look to our shareholders and those with a financial interest in the organization? † Financial goals include achieving profitability, maintaining liquidity and solvency both short term as well as long-term, growth in sales turnover and maximizing wealth of shareholders (Asosheh, Nalchigar, Jamporazmey, 2010). The customer perspective includes the measure of an organizations market share, customer satisfaction, customer retention, customer referrals and value added activities. This is the second external oriented perspective that takes a look at the organization’s customers, who are the crucial factor for financial success generating revenue by buying products and services. The question is: â€Å"How do our customers perceive us in term of products, services, relationships and value-added? † (Asosheh, Nalchigar, Jamporazmey, 2010). The internal process perspective includes the measure of an organizations productivity, research and development, customer complaints and returns, and operational speed. This Measure focuses on the internal processes that will have the greatest impact on customer satisfaction and achieving an organization’s financial objectives. Firms should decide what processes and competencies they must excel at and specify measures for each of them (Asosheh, Nalchigar, Jamporazmey, 2010). The learning and growth perspective includes the measure of an organizations turnover ratio, hiring goals, education and training of new and existing employees, and number of new and improved products or services. This perspective identifies the infrastructure that the organization must build to create long-term growth and improvement. Intense global competition requires that organizations continually improve their capabilities for delivering value to customers and shareholders. Thus the question remains: â€Å"To achieve our future vision, how will we continue to improve and create future value for our stakeholders? † (Asosheh, Nalchigar, Jamporazmey, 2010). The best way to measure AXA Equitable’s financial performance is the shareholders value. This shows the value that the shareholders perceive AXA Equitable to be worth. There is strong evidence that the balanced scorecard is an effective strategic management tool that leads to improved shareholder returns (Crabtree DeBusk, 2008). The primary objective of management should be maximizing its shareholder’s value. Since the turbulent economy, AXA Equitable shareholder value is back on the up rise again. This can be seen with the stock price. AXA Equitable stocks, just like most other companies, were not immune to the highly volatile market conditions; However with the market getting back together, the stock price is gradually rising again. The management decisions at AXA should be geared towards maximizing the wealth of AXA Equitable shareholders, which means increasing the value of shares owned by existing shareholders. A good measure of AXA Equitable’s superiority over its competition would be the ability to generate consistent and high total returns that it gives to its shareholders over time. Major company issues will exist with AXA Equitable if management interests are not aligned with those of shareholders. When managers pursue self-serving behavior rather than the maximization of shareholder wealth, several symptoms may become apparent: low stock returns, below-average operating performance, and suboptimal investment decisions. The likelihood of company problems is higher when managerial incentive systems do not coincide with shareholder wealth maximization (Manry Stangeland 2003). It is very important that AXA Equitable management put the interest of the shareholders first. Research suggests that firms with management that pursues its own interests at the expense of shareholders will perform comparatively worse than firms with management whose interests are aligned with shareholders (Manry Stangeland 2003). When a company like AXA Equitable is able to generate wealth for its shareholders year after year, it is able to differentiate itself from the competition and creates better value for its shareholders. Investors who purchase AXA Equitable shares hope that the returns they get on their investments would be higher than what they could get from putting those funds in a risk-free savings account. This shows that the investors are definitely willing to tolerate more risk of ownership in AXA Equitable because of the chance of making higher returns. Assets under management are a measure of the total market value of client assets with the company. AXA as a whole has 1. 46 trillion dollars in assets under management, making it the 13th largest company in the world. One of the biggest advantages of having assets under management as a critical success factor on the balanced scorecard is that focus on increasing the total value of assets under AXA demands continuous efforts and improvement by the management and employees of AXA. This financial measure is not only obvious to AXA management and employees but also those outside the company, i. e. the public. Ranking organization like Fortune 500, use the figures for assets under management as a financial success measure to rank companies against their competition and industries. Constantly increasing the sale of financial products or services is a very important aspect of a company especially one in the financial services industry. AXA Equitable offers a wide range of financial products and services like fixed income investments, equity investments, individual retirement accounts, education planning accounts, life disability insurance and annuities to its clients. The products or services is used to address their needs and help shape their financial futures. The sale of AXA Equitable’s financial products or services is crucial in measuring the financial success of the company. The product or services sale is exactly how the company makes money and becomes profitable. Employees of AXA Equitable earn production credits after each sale of its products or services. Production Credits are the total amount of compensation that AXA Equitable pays to its employees in form of commission for the sale of its products or services. The total amount of production credits earned by each employee is the best way AXA uses to measure employee performance. The Production credits can also serve as a measure of financial performance that AXA Equitable uses as a requirement for other benefits other than commission for its employees. Benefits such as medical plan eligibility, stock options, stocks appreciation rights, AXA Share plan and AXA Equitable Advantage. AXA Equitable should strive for consistent and positive investment results for its investment portfolios. This is very important to a company that deals with attracting new prospects and retaining existing clients. An AXA Equitable client, for example, with a portfolio with poor investment results will not remain with the company if that client can get better results with other financial companies outside of AXA Equitable. AXA Equitable financial advisors manage the managers. Portfolio managers manage the investment portfolios and financial products inside AXA Equitable. Those managers are in turn, managed by the financial advisors that make these investment portfolios available to the clients. The portfolio managers are responsible for picking the equities and bonds available in each portfolio, making changes and the investment results for the portfolios they handle. Clients can benefit from a professional allocated portfolio of AXA Equitable funds that delivers automatic diversification, risk management benefits, quarterly rebalancing, and consistent investment results. The customer perspective section of he balanced scorecard cannot be effective if customer satisfaction is not the number one focus. The first and most important rule for any company in the financial services industry is that the client is of the utmost priority. Financial advisors should learn to put the interest of their clients first before any other interests. Companies in a service industry should understand that customer satisfaction is a great measure of performance. Banks and other companies that deal with providing financial services to the public must first put more emphasis on customer satisfaction, and then on financial return. These companies must ensure that their customers remain loyal to them and develop new markets to attract new customers (Wu, Tzeng, Chen, 2009). A crucial part of maintaining client satisfaction is understanding the clients and their needs. AXA Equitable and its advisors are responsible for making financial recommendations and providing its clients with financial products and services, and financial education to address their needs and help the clients create the retirement of their dreams. AXA Equitable should take sending out client satisfaction surveys to every client on the anniversary date of purchasing a financial product or service very seriously. This Client Satisfaction Index survey is a true measure of customer satisfaction and has helped the company identify the key drivers of client satisfaction. AXA Equitable uses this survey to get client feedback on their financial products and the level of service that their advisors showed the client throughout the year. Value added activity is an important way a company can separate itself from the competition. Companies in the financial services industry primarily offer financial products or services to their clients. Why would a client want to use AXA Equitable’s products and service versus another financial company like American International Group (AIG)? What can AXA Equitable offer that client that no other company can? For example, every financial advisor is required to provide the clients with a contract after every sale of a financial product or service. This contract usually contains copies of signed forms and prospectus. It is better to hand deliver these contracts instead of mailing it to the clients. AIG, a major competition for AXA Equitable, usually sends out thank you cards and client referral forms after every new sale of the company’s financial product or service. This is very effective because it showed that AIG appreciates the client and their business. Value added activities can be as simple as remembering a customers’ favorite drink. Whatever the activity is, managers must find a way to capitalize upon it, as doing so will enable them to gain a competitive advantage. AIG uses this service-oriented strategy to get additional referrals and establish relationships with their clients. BSC is an effective performance measurement tool in performance improvement, which positively affects service quality (Ghani, Said, Laswad, 2010). Exceeding client expectations is another critical success factor on the balanced scorecard that AXA Equitable and its employees should incorporate. When this strategy is taken seriously and done correctly, the clients are satisfied; they stay with the company longer, purchase additional financial products or services and most importantly, refer others to the company. Customer satisfaction offers an immediate, meaningful and objective feedback about clients’ preferences and expectations (Mihelis, Grigoroudis, Siskos, Politis, Malandrakis, 2001). AXA Equitable has provided several tools like eRelationship ® for its financial advisors for client contact. The eRelationship ® platform is a good way for the advisors to have continuous contact and build strong relationships with their clients all year long. For example, doing the simple things like remembering and sending out birthday cards, wedding anniversary cards, seminars invitations, could go a long way in building and maintaining credibility, trust and satisfaction with the clients. When the financial advisor is compassionate and is always willing to help, the clients can now see the true value of the advisors. AXA Equitable needs to generate clients constantly to be successful in the financial service industry. To be successful in this business, the financial advisors have to constantly be in front of their clients. Activities that drive the success of AXA Equitable financial advisors include prospecting and meeting new clients, number of appointments set, running appointments and appointments closed. AXA Equitable uses to 5-3-1 weekly matrix to guide our advisor activities They will be successful every week if they can have five prospecting visits, run three client appointments and sign up one new client†. Internationale Nederlanden Groep (ING), another major competition in the financial services industry uses a performance management strategy to keep track of employee activities. The financial advisors are required to submit their performance goals, development plans, and action plans at the beginning of every quarter to their managers. At the end of the quarter, performance reviews are conducted by the managers to measure the activities and production of the financial advisor. The balanced scorecard will help enhance communication between the client and the organization to ensure favorable organization performance (Wong, Lam, Chan, 2009). The internal business process perspective measures efficiency and productivity level within the company. During the client appointments, after the recommendations have been presented to the client, how quickly and efficiently can AXA Equitable provide the financial products or services needed to the client? This can be done with a software called eDox ®. eDox ® is an online database software that the financial advisor carries with him to every appointment with clients. eDox ® contains information about every product that AXA Equitable offers to its clients as well as links to products from other companies that AXA Equitable advisors can also offer to its client. Intra-industry trade (IIT) has been central to increasing the variety of products available to consumers (Moshirian, Li, and Sim. 2005). eDox ® also serves as a tool that top management uses to send out memos, journals, sales ideas, and information on new product launches to every employee of the company. When the client agrees to go ahead with the advisors recommendation and get the financial products; all the applications and forms necessary to make the sale can also be found on eDox ®. A continual review and constant improvement of eDox ® would be very important to keep productivity levels high to become an industry leader. AXA Compliance department is faced with the task of keeping AXA Equitable and its financial advisors compliant with the governing rules made by the Security and Exchange Commission. The Security and Exchange Commission set rules, regulations and guidelines that govern all the companies in the financial services industry. The SEC draws up new regulations periodically that sometimes make business very difficult in the financial services industry, for example, the 90-24 transfer rule, which involves more documentation for transfers of funds between one financial companies. Meeting these guidelines and standards set by the Securities and Exchange Commission is important to eliminate client complaints, trading malpractice, and negative internal and external audit for AXA Equitable Growth within a company like AXA Equitable does not always have to mean more profits because it is in the financial services industry. To become a leader in this industry, the financial company would have to hire more financial advisors to acquire more clients, which in turn leads to more productivity within the company. AXA Equitable should set hiring goals for its managers each year that the company expects to be met because an increase in the number of financial advisors every year will cause an increase in the amount of business written in that year. AXA Equitable and other companies in the financial service industry are constantly rolling out new financial products or services to keep pace with market volatility and unlimited client needs. The companies equip these products with better features and benefits to make them more attractive to the clients and stand out from the competition. AXA Equitable should be committed to providing its financial advisors with the resources necessary to build a lifelong career. Companies facing intensive competition also have a greater impetus to find ways to differentiate their products and services from those provided by competitors, this frequently results in a greater number of product and service lines and differentiation sought through increased customization of products and services in order to meet specific customer desires. (Guilding and McManus, 2002). The Learning center at AXA Equitable is set up to train and support new and experienced financial advisors. For example, when a new financial advisor is hired, the advisor is required to take some necessary courses on AXA Advisors Virtual University (AAVU) to learn everything about the company, its policies and financial product or services. American International Group (AIG) is another company that has a similar new employee development strategy. AIG developed a New Branch Employee Orientation Program where new employees receive online orientation sessions that include information about AIG, as well as company policies and benefits. AXA Equitable should require additional sessions for training and development for their financial advisors. These sessions should include experiences and accomplishments of experienced licensed financial advisors to keep the all other financial advisors motivated and knowledgeable about everything going on with the company and the industry as a whole. Introducing a balanced scorecard in an organization and implementing the critical success factors identified on it will not be an easy task. When firms develop a  scorecard they often start with a strategic performance measurement system which includes a set of financial and non-financial measures. Afterwards, the cause and effect relationships between the different (sets of) measures are developed further to translate the firm strategy to operational activities (Wiersma, 2009). AXA Equitable’s Management and employees will have to cultivate a change initiative. The increasing use of balanced scorecards is changing the way top managers run their companies. When envisioning a firm’s future development, they no longer focus chiefly on monetary success indicators in the financial area, Instead balanced scorecard is designed to complement financial measures of past performance with their measures of the drivers of future performance (Asosheh, Nalchigar, Jamporazmey, 2010). Companies need to address issues to help assess competition in their industry. The Balanced Scorecard is generally implemented at the corporate, business unit, and individual level, and also becomes a powerful tool for the directors to monitor the implementation of the corporate strategy.

Care and Feeding of Exotic Pets Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Care and Feeding of Exotic Pets - Essay Example As such, this analysis will concern itself with analyzing the argument against exotic pets based on the following areas: the practice is disrespectful to animals that are not predisposed to being pets, the practice encourages harm to the natural habitat and environment from whence the exotic pet is taken, the practice encourages the illegal trade and black market sale of such animals, the practice puts many already endangered species at risk of extinction, the practice creates a perception in the mind that ownership of such creatures is both normal and moral, and lastly, the practice encourages the transfer of animals for non educational purposes to live out the remainder of their lives in captivity. The first of these reasons hinges upon the fact that animals that are not predisposed by nature to being pets are kept in such a manner. As anyone with experience with animals that for generations have been kept and handled as pets can attest, the evolutionary nature of these animals has shifted to create normalized relations between pets and humans that are the result of many hundreds (even thousands) of years. With the dog or cat, for instance, the earliest known examples of civilization refer to the fact that these animals have been living side by side with humans, enjoying a symbiotic relationship that has developed over long lengths of evolutionary history (Hessler 43). However, the same cannot be said for the recent trend towards exotic pets.  

Why states act through formal International Organizations Essay

Why states act through formal International Organizations - Essay Example The paper tells that in the earlier centuries, humans spread out to new geographical territories for various purposes. These territories with the passage of time evolved into civilizations, kingdoms and eventually into states or countries. However, this ‘evolution’ part was not a smooth affair, as certain territories wanting to annex more territories and also to dominate others, indulged in wars and other aggressive actions. These aggressive actions led to major wars including two World Wars. On the positive side, from the last few centuries, especially from the second half of the 20th century, states have become more ‘civilized’ and are acting in a more controlled manner. This happened and is happening due to various factors and one of the key factors is the formation of formal International Organizations (IO) by the states themselves. States wanted to develop omnipresent overseeing organization or organizations, which can handle a state’s ‘int eraction’ with other countries in sensitive issues, pre-empt any detrimental actions carried out by one state against others, warn and act against states and their governments, when they act against their own people and also to manage social welfare issues like health, education, refugee issues, science, etc. This formation of IOs have actualized a positive environment throughout the world, with the countries acting with self-discipline, minimizing aggressive overtures, and at the same time indulging in welfare activities. However, this is not the scenario all the time, because certain countries without following the tenets of the IOs continue to act aggressively and unilaterally. Even amidst these dishonouring of the IOs, countries tend to obey and act through IOs for certain valid reasons. Historical Background The earliest precursor or the historical prototype of the present day International Organizations is the Delian League. According to Zweifel (2006, pg.31) Delian Lea gue was started around 4th century AD as an association among the Greek city-states, dominated by Athens, with the main â€Å"purpose of facilitating military cooperation against their common enemies†. Although, other regional groupings were formed by the territories to oversee and manage the relations among themselves throughout the last few centuries, nothing materialized on a large geographical scale. One of the main reasons why that did not actualize is because of the absence of sovereign states all over the world particularly in Europe. The evolution of territories and kingdoms into states or modern-day nations did not start till 17th century, with the complete evolution taking place mainly in the second half of the 20th century. According to Archer (2007, pg.4) the key turning points for the formation of IOs were the Peace of Westphalia, 1648, which ended the Thirty Years War and the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713. Before that, the concept of European unification based on Ch ristianity dominated the political circles of various European territories. However, when that did happen, it facilitated the formation of sovereign state system in Europe, and later throughout the world. Thus evolved states also understood the need to actualize a natural law or entity that can guide and manage the relations between them, and in that direction created bilateral, trilateral and even quadrilateral agreements. However, those agreements among states and did not enlarge maximally. However in the next few centuries, nothing concrete evolved due to various historical reasons including conflicts among the various states, imperialism, etc, etc. Although, international cooperation in terms of collective action happened with the Concert of Europe (1815-1914), Geneva Convention in 1864 and even Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) in 1889, it was not until after the First World War, that the work for the development of International organizations got started. Because of the unpreced ented suffering caused by the First World W