MNC Enters India Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

MNC Enters India - Term Paper Example The company is basically involved in selling quality home furnishing products and home appliances among others through various franchises and retail outlets. The best aspect about this company is that its products are not very costly and thus are quite affordable. The company is responsible for attracting huge figure of consumers in its various retail outlets due to the deliverance of quality products to them and also complying with their requirements at large. It can be apparently viewed in this similar concern that the company was able to attract around 770 million of consumers who visited various retail outlets of IKEA in the year 2012. The company has a total of 338 stores and includes 154,000 co-workers (Inter IKEA Systems B.V., 2012). This part of the paper will entail the tracking of the exchange rate of Indian Rupee in relation to the US Dollar. It can be apparently observed in this regard that there have been a lot of fluctuations relating to India’s exchange rate. Presently, the value of Indian Rupee has fallen to a new record of 64 per dollar. The value of Rupee has been undergoing major turnarounds during the preceding two years due to the reason of weakening conduct of financial activities. It is even expected that the value of Rupee can fall to as low as 70 per dollar which can create a major turnaround in the currency exchange rate (YCharts, 2013). The following pictorial representation shows that the level up to which the value of Indian Rupees has increased. From the start of the year 2013, the value of Rupee has fallen and this trend is continuing. On the basis of the above discussion, it can be affirmed that due to much fluctuations or variations especially in the exchange rates, the financial condition of the nation i.e. of India has been adversely affected resulting in generating financial downturns by a considerable

Order Management Reengineering At Heatway

Order Management Reengineering At Heatway Heatway Systems lost a lengthy legal battle when a federal jury in Cleveland held Goodyear Tire Rubber Co. blameless for its role in manufacturing the rubber hose the radiant company marketed as Entran II. The jury reached its decision February 3 after three days of deliberation and after three weeks of testimony. Frankly, the outcome of this trial was a surprise to everyone-including Goodyear, if they were honest, Heatway president Mike Chiles said the day after the verdict. Chiles had high praise for the evidence presented by his Cleveland legal team. During three days of testimony, for example, an expert witness from the Naval Research Laboratory pointed out that Goodyear used inadequate antioxidants, inappropriate volatile plasticizers and cheap clay fillers in making the hose. A second expert witness testified that Goodyears failure to properly test the Entran II product for radiant heat purposes led to the problems. Meanwhile, mechanical contractors from Colorado and Alaska testified that they had employed exactly the same installation methods when installing Heatways other radiant brands-yet only experienced problems with Entran II hose. Goodyear argued that the failures were due to Heatways radiant system design, as well as problems with installation and maintenance by contractors. It said that field inspections showed that leaks were caused by the wrong type of hose connectors and that the hose was damaged by highly acidic fluid. In addition, Goodyear said it had been using the same 20-year-old formula to make hose for other applications, such as air and water hose, without any problems. In a statement about the jurys decision, Goodyear says it is obviously very gratified by the verdict. We always have believed that the Entran II hose was appropriate for use in radiant home heating systems when it was sold. Chiles said the numbers just didnt add up for his side. The jury looked at the fact that there had only been 658 cases of failure out of 10,000 installations, he said, and didnt think that was a high enough failure rate. After the verdict, Chiles said his lawyers interviewed the jury and many expressed the sentiment that if there had been two or three times as many cases of failure, we would have won. While Heatway lost this case, Goodyears win may be far from solid. Theyre not out of the woods at all, Chiles said. We have unearthed some ugly internal memos as a result of our discovery process. Its our firm belief that Goodyear will pay for this problem-its just going to take a couple of more years and more litigation. Chiles added that the courtroom was packed with plaintiff attorneys from across the country who are in line to sue Goodyear next. Heatway failed on its claim of a breach of implied warranty of merchantability. However, Goodyear still faces a growing number of homeowner claims and will have to fight other legal theories of liability. Heatway bought 25 million feet of the hose between 1989 and 1993. But the hose soon began to crack and leak, causing extensive damages. Entran II tubes started out orange and flexible, like garden hoses. Over time, the tube released plasticizers that hardened the tube, effectively dissolving in hot water, according to expert testimony. The first phase of the problem begins with leaks where the hose connects to the manifold, and continues until the tube spontaneously cracks and leaks elsewhere. There are about 10,000 radiant heating systems in the Unites States that contain Entran II tubes, and Heatway has spent more than $6.5 million to settle more than 100 claims since 1992. Despite the verdict against Heatway, Denver attorney William Maywhort has advised clients that the Ohio jury verdict for Goodyear does not prevent Colorado residents who have Entran II hose in their homes from suing Goodyear. In fact, suing Goodyear and Heatway directly now may be the homeowners only option for recovering for the damage caused by Entran II, said Maywhort, who represents more than a dozen Colorado homeowners who have experienced problems with the Entran II hose What is BPR? Business process re-engineering is a business management strategy, originally pioneered in the early 1990s, focusing on the analysis and design of workflows and processes within an organization. BPR aimed to help organizations fundamentally rethink how they do their work in order to dramatically improve customer service, cut operational costs, and become world-class competitors. In the mid-1990s, as many as 60% of the Fortune 500 companies claimed to either have initiated reengineering efforts, or to have plans to do so. BPR seeks to help companies radically restructure their organizations by focusing on the ground-up design of their business processes. According to Davenport (1990) a business process is a set of logically related tasks performed to achieve a defined business outcome. Re-engineering emphasized a holistic focus on business objectives and how processes related to them, encouraging full-scale recreation of processes rather than iterative optimization of subprocesses. Business process re-engineering is also known as business process redesign, business transformation, or business process change management. The role of information technology Information technology (IT) has historically played an important role in the reengineering concept. It is considered by some as a major enabler for new forms of working and collaborating within an organization and across organizational borders[citation needed]. Early BPR literature identified several so called disruptive technologies that were supposed to challenge traditional wisdom about how work should be performed. Shared databases, making information available at many places Expert systems, allowing generalists to perform specialist tasks Telecommunication networks, allowing organizations to be centralized and decentralized at the same time Decision-support tools, allowing decision-making to be a part of everybodys job Wireless data communication and portable computers, allowing field personnel to work office independent Interactive videodisk, to get in immediate contact with potential buyers Automatic identification and tracking, allowing things to tell where they are, instead of requiring to be found High performance computing, allowing on-the-fly planning and revisioning In the mid-1990s, especially workflow management systems were considered as a significant contributor to improved process efficiency. Also ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) vendors, such as SAP, JD Edwards, Oracle, PeopleSoft, positioned their solutions as vehicles for business process redesign and improvement. BPR Success Failure Factors Critique Many companies used reengineering as an pretext to downsize their companies dramatically, though this was not the intent of reengineerings proponents; consequently, reengineering earned a reputation for being synonymous with downsizing and layoffs. In many circumstances, reengineering has not always lived up to its expectations. Some prominent reasons include: Reengineering assumes that the factor that limits an organizations performance is the ineffectiveness of its processes (which may or may not be true) and offers no means of validating that assumption. Reengineering assumes the need to start the process of performance improvement with a clean slate, i.e. totally disregard the status quo. According to Eliyahu M. Goldratt (and his Theory of Constraints) reengineering does not provide an effective way to focus improvement efforts on the organizations constraint[citation needed]. Others have claimed that reengineering was a recycled buzzword for commonly-held ideas. Abrahamson (1996) argued that fashionable management terms tend to follow a lifecycle, which for Reengineering peaked between 1993 and 1996 (Ponzi and Koenig 2002). They argue that Reengineering was in fact nothing new (as e.g. when Henry Ford implemented the assembly line in 1908, he was in fact reengineering, radically changing the way of thinking in an organization). The most frequent critique against BPR concerns the strict focus on efficiency and technology and the disregard of people in the organization that is subjected to a reengineering initiative. Very often, the label BPR was used for major workforce reductions. Thomas Davenport, an early BPR proponent, stated that: When I wrote about business process redesign in 1990, I explicitly said that using it for cost reduction alone was not a sensible goal. And consultants Michael Hammer and James Champy, the two names most closely associated with reengineering, have insisted all along that layoffs shouldnt be the point. But the fact is, once out of the bottle, the reengineering genie quickly turned ugly. Introduction to Case Problem before Allan Firestone, president of Heatway Cooperationà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢s Industrial Products Division and Bob Hemphill, a VP charged with designing and implementing a new process. Design and implementation of a new process, named Proposal to payment (PTP) for selling and delivering Heatway products. Change in organizational structure as well as IT architecture, and even a new philosophy of business. Trouble between Hemphill and Firestone over the spending budget, where Hemphill demanded $35 million and Firestone was ready to spend only $15 million. Funding Considerations before Firestone: How money could be arranged for PTP without sacrificing the profit objectives? Could corporate pay for the rest of amount? Could some of the other international divisions that had expressed interest contribute? Firestone himself believed that PTP was necessary and design for the new process, organization, and technology environment were very exciting. But, the VP had doubts about the urgency to implement PTP. So, firestone resolved to take one more look at the numbers, in hope to find some source of additional savings had been overlooked. Background-Industrial Products Industrial and consumer markets in 27 countries throughout the world. Activities involved heating, ventilation, air conditioning(HVAC) products and services. business heavily dependent on New Construction. IPD sold to medium % large sized businesses. Systems configured to suit the size, location and design of the businesses. Had its own direct-sales engineering groups. Heatway engg worked with architects, contractors and tenants to configure an HVAC solution. Reengineering at heatway An early adopter of new approaches to business improvements Quality based management approaches had been accepted in Manufacturing engineering but lacking in Sales Service In late 1980à ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢s radical changes to improvement in contrast to incremental changes using IT. Sought order-of-magnitude improvements in Time Cost Quality Designing First phase Assess current state of order management Create vision of new process Work divided into two teams Team A 8 members Analyze current state of the processes Understand the costs time of doing business Recommend short term improvements Team B 10 internal managers consultants Create vision for future state of process. Both teams were jointly responsible for managing the organizational changerequired for the initiative to succeed Implications of New Process Team created a large financial model to analyze the costs, benefits, and financial risks of implementing the new PTP process. The new process was very expensive (around $150million) Cost for prototype process efforts Cost of SAP Implementation Cost of fully implementing and operating the new workstations, networks, and SAP software Cost for retaining, relocating, and removing employees Return on the PTP investment appeared very high. Prototypes and pilots was planned in the middle Atlantic states region. Changes in Information technology Mobile data network necessary SAP installation Sales force workstation Not only the designà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢s adoption has to be justified in financial terms, but also the long process of changing had to be started. Implications for Employees Adoption of the new process. Management, evaluation and compensation of their day to day work. Communicated the nature of these changes through written communication. Mixed Reaction Performers loved the new process because of more freedom and less bureaucracy. Less capable performers were worried about how they would fare Dramatic change not only in how the field personnel did their work bt also how they were managed, evaluated and implemented Reorganization at Heatway Change in the management Salada remain as chairman Kacher would leave Heatway Information systems function would be outsourced to an external firm with substantial SAP experience. Reorganization could have been problematic for PTP European groups would have less incentive to adopt the PTP design. Want of new system provider to implement SAP without concern of PTP process vision Concerns Firestone concern Difficulty in assessing how rapidly the construction and rollout of PTP capabilities should take place. Other memebers of the operations committee were neither worried nor committed to PTP. Change in the commitment by the key managers after t He reorganization. These are those managers whose functional areas would shrink with the adoption of PTP despite being offered important role at Heatway. Financing for PTP If all the resources are devoted then both revenue and profitability goals would not meet. Decisions Everyone understood that PTP implementation is a good investment. Head of international said she wanted to wait to see how PTP worked in the U.S. before transferring resources from her budget. Friestone tried unsucessfully at one one meeting to make PTP corporate initiative. Its upto firestone and other executives to decide how quickly to roll out the new process and how to fund it

Realism and Idealism for the Godfather Essay -- essays research papers

Realism and Idealism for the Godfather I will never forget what I felt when I first seen my first mobster movie, I was about 12 years old, it was real late at night and I just could not fall asleep. I was flipping the channels looking for something to watch, and that is when I encountered my first mobster movie. I was intrigued from beginning to end; it was like nothing I had ever seen before. The way they talked so confident and cool to the way they looked so sharp and sophisticated. Although they were ruthless criminals, they had certain respectability towards them that no body could deny. Even though I was young and didn’t quite understand all of the scenes I became infatuated with the movie the Godfather and went on to seeing a couple of other popular films like Goodfellaz, Casino, and Once upon a time in America. It is almost unreal how one movie can have such a big influence on your life, but I truly believe that after that day, something inside of me changed, and I began to grow an overwhelming passion for t hese types of films. It was like discovering a completely new world you never knew existed. What draws people to mobster films like the Godfather? Hollywood’s gangster stereotype does what we would not dare, and acts like no body we know. They do not care about nobody but their selves and do anything they want, or at least think they can. That is what infatuates people with gangster and mafia films, because people secretly want to experience this lifestyle without being punish like the gangsters in the movies. The gangster film is particularly popular in America. Its popularity might be because of the history and actual real life stories of the mob. However, what Hollywood does is take the underworld culture and turn it into the stereotypical story. One stereotype is all mafias having to be Italian. Some people get the impression that all Italians are in the mafia. Movies can have an impact on society and culture, after the release of the Godfather, many Italian American criminals began to sound like the characters in the film, in taped recordings of their conversati ons. The film gangster’s stereotypical mold that they are usually materialistic, street smart, immoral, tough, and self-destructive. Their main goal in life is for power and money because they have an ambitious desire for success and recognition in life, but sometimes underneath all ... ...s, bank robbers, underworld figures, or ruthless hoodlums who operate outside the law, stealing and murdering their way through life. The misunderstandings that lead to bloodbaths, the little arguments that start wars, the girlfriend who wants her man to go legit, all are given in some movies that often finds a great reason for us to want to see what happens next. What differentiates mobsters with every day criminals is the respectability they receive from society, and the associations they have with legitimate people in upper level authority. Mobsters usually have connections with mayors, senators, police officers, and any one in a higher level that they do business with to let them operate. So when you really think about it, which is worse, the mobsters or the legitimate people who secretly work with them? Mobster movies are unique unlike any other movie out there, mobster movies pull you in to them and make you feel what the person is feeling, it makes you live what the person is living and makes you see things through their eyes. That is the magic of making movies it is a way of connecting with the viewers in a special kind of way. That is what these types of films create.

The Effects of Advertising Media on Sales of Insurance Products: a Developing-Country Case

The effects of advertising media on sales of insurance products: a developing-country case S. A. Aduloju Department of Insurance and Actuarial Science, University of Lagos, Lagos, Nigeria A. O. Odugbesan Formerly of Department of Business Administration, University of Lagos, Lagos, Nigeria, and S. A. Oke Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Lagos, Lagos, Nigeria Abstract Purpose – Characterized by declining goodwill and exemplified sharp drop in gross premium, the Nigerian insurance industry, in recent times, has experienced turbulent economic challenges that necessitated re-engineering of its core activities.However, advertising and sales are core activities, which are important predictors of stability and growth in the insurance industry. Consequently, the purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of advertising on sales of insurance products. Design/methodology/approach – An empirical investigation is carried out using a survey that utilizes quest ionnaires, interviews, and field observation as major research instruments. A total of 71 insurance companies in Nigeria, which represent the total operating insurance companies in Nigeria at the time of study, were surveyed.With 100 scientifically selected subjects sampled, descriptive analysis was employed to understand the relationship and the strength of such relationships. Findings – It was found that advertising had effects on sales volume and improved public image. However, the choice of advertising medium, the message, and the format are critical ingredients of a successful advertising program in the insurance industry. Research limitations/implications – The insurance industry in Nigeria was studied from a holistic viewpoint due to the need to present reliable and detailed information for decision makers.However, limitation in achieving this relates to the reluctance of respondents to release information for the study. Practical implications – The impli cation of this research is that proper control of advertisement budget vis-a` -vis the expected sales volume could be made. Thus, organizations could spend budgets more effectively on growth enhancing projects instead of excessive wastage of funds on advertisement. Originality/value – This paper seems to be the first original work that concerns the impact of advertising on sales in the Nigerian insurance industry.As such, it bridges a gap that is opened for investigations. It may be of great value to decision making seeking for control tools. Keywords Insurance, Nigeria, Advertising media, Sales management Paper type Research paper 1. Introduction Over the years, there has been tremendous decline in the goodwill of the Nigerian insurance industry as a result of poor performance in the payment of insurance claims. The sharp drop in gross premium exemplifies this problem. Randle (2003) estimated a decline of more than 89. 4 percent in the 1999/2000 comparative periods.This decl ine may have worsened as a result of the global economic crisis. There is therefore the need to advertise insurance products in order to increase sales. Unfortunately, no reliable records exist on the impact of advertising on sales of insurance products, thus suggesting its strong need. The need to examine the impacts of advertising on sales volume is further strengthened by the significant value of the total premiums generated in Africa, which originated in South Africa (84 percent) while only an insignificant value (16 percent) is partly contributed by Nigeria.Thus, with the enormous advertising expenditures, it becomes necessary to know if such expenditures justify sales volume obtainable from the advertisement efforts. Luo and Donthu (2005) identified advertising media and spending inefficiencies in generating sales, and concluded that top 100 marketers’ advertising spending in print, broadcast, and outdoor media are not efficient and could bring in 20 percent more sales. Sadly, the case relating to insurance products was not treated. Also, there is a strong need for understanding the impacts of advertising on sales volume.Furthermore, although empirical evidence in major markets of the world shares a significant relationship between advertisement and sales volume, there is no reliable data and information on the subject in developing countries such as Nigeria. The absence of this information provides a wide gap and poor understanding on the effectiveness of advertisement on sales. The purpose of the study is to investigate the impact of advertising on the sales of insurance products. Advertising ranks among the major tools of promotion in general and awareness in particular.The study investigates if there are good advertising opportunities insurance industry can make use of, and examine the various advertising media commonly used by the insurers with particular reference to Nigeria. How would the customers know that a particular product will satisf y some needs unless such is communicated to them? As a pivot of economic development, insurance certainly has a major role to play. The issue now is that the sector performance is far below expectation. An important question is why?Is there any inherent difficulty in growing and promoting this business in developing world? Very many factors have been put forward for this performance, and it should be mentioned that it is not the intention of this study to discuss them. It is important, however, to find out the effectiveness of the choice of advertising media on the sales volume of insurance organizations. A study of this nature may prove to be of immense benefit to industry managers on how to make positive impression about their business and product given the dynamic nature of our socio economic environment.Past studies reveal a fairly strong relationship between advertising investments and sales. Twedt and Knitter (1964) observed some relationships between larger investments in pri nt media and profits. Sturgess and Young (1981) identified the direct relationship between sales and advertising expenditures as more relevant to a company’s performance variables than any other test of communication effectiveness of advertising. Perreault and McCarthy (2000) admit that one of the methods of measuring advertising effects is to evaluate sales.Schultz and Wittink (1976) revealed that although some studies have reported a positive influence of primary advertising on primary demand, no conclusive empirical evidence has been brought to bear on the major premise. It is therefore the goal of the current work to bridge this important gap. The effects of advertising media JRF 10,3 The paper is sectioned into the following: introduction, methodology, data analysis, and conclusion. The introduction provides an insight into the significance of the problem and the need to bridge the knowledge gap.Section 2 presents the methodology, which provides the framework for the pre sented study. In Section 3, data analysis is presented based on the results of the survey instruments. Section 4, the final section, provides concluding remarks. 2. Methodology The aim of this research is to carry out an empirical investigation of the extent to which advertising affects sales. This is a survey research whose objectives are to find answers to the following research questions, and test the relevant hypotheses. This section presents the methodological approach adopted to gather relevant data necessary for this study. . 1 Study population, sampling design, and research instrument The Nigerian Insurance Digest, 2006 indicates that there were 96 insurance companies operating in Nigeria as at December 31, 2006. No available records confirm that new companies have been formed since, except for the issues of mergers and acquisitions that characterized the recapitalization/consolidation exercise. A total of 71 companies have since emerged from this exercise. The study populat ion embraced all the staff engaging in marketing, public relations, and advertising in these 71 insurance companies.Most of these companies are direct insurers since they deal directly with the members of the public. Reinsurance companies, though, also engage in advertising activities, were excluded from this study because their impact or contact with the members of the public is indirect. Since it would not be feasible to contact all the staff that represents the population for the study, sampling method was used, and the study was limited to Lagos state, the commercial center of Nigeria. A sample of 100 subjects selected from some insurance companies in Lagos was used.The sampling method was used to avoid bias in the selection procedure, and to achieve maximum precision for a given outlay of resources. Essentially, two research instruments were used: questionnaire and interview. For the questionnaire, 100 copies were distributed to respondents selected from various insurance compa nies in Lagos, Nigeria. In order to ensure high response ratio, the questionnaires were administered personally. To achieve this a number of contacts have been made to the management of those companies soliciting for their cooperation.Also, diligent care was exercised to avoid ambiguity in drafting the questionnaire. Personal interview was conducted with selected executives in the insurance companies (Dillion et al. , 1994). The face-to-face contact with respondents assisted in obtaining high quality data since more information is communicated between human beings communicating directly with each other than using other means. 2. 2 Method of data analysis The research proposed to use such descriptive statistics as simple percentages to compute the data obtained.For hypothesis testing, coefficient of correlation would be employed. Lucey (2002) highlights the benefits of using correlation coefficient when trying to analyze independent and dependent variables in order to understand the relationship between them. The correlation coefficient reveals the strength of such The effects of relationships. advertising media 2. 3 Restatement of research questions The research questions are as follows: RQ1. Is a company’s failure to use advertising a result of lack of good advertising opportunities?RQ2. Do the results of other promotional tools affect the use of advertising? RQ3. Is the use of advertising dependent on the measurability of its results? RQ4. Is there any relationship between advertising expenditure and sales figure? 2. 4 Research hypotheses The hypotheses stated will be used to test the relationship between sales figures and advertising figures (Asika, 2006). The statistical procedure is to state the null hypothesis (H0), which is to be followed by the alternative hypothesis (H1).While a H0 is a statement that no change has occurred from the condition specified, the H1 is a reversal of a H0. Thus, if in hypothesis testing, a H0 is rejected, then, the H1 will be accepted: H0. There is no relationship between advertising expenditure and sales figure. H1. There is a relationship between advertising expenditure and sales figure. 2. 5 Research design The research uses explorative research design in order to gain insights into the subject studied. The research design is that of descriptive survey.It is meant to assess the importance attached to advertisement by insurance organizations. Specifically, the research design would reveal availability of good advertising opportunities for insurance firms, factors affecting a firm’s decision to use advertising, relationship between advertising and company’s performance in terms of sales volume, and justification of advertising expenditure, using profit as the bottom line. 3. Data analysis In Section 2, it was mentioned that empirical investigation would be carried out on the extent to which the choice of advertising medium affects sales.The summaries of the results of the survey q uestions, and how these answer the stated research questions are presented in this Section 3. In fact, we will like to find out whether a company’s failure to use advertising is a result of lack of advertising opportunities, whether the use of advertising is dependent on the measurability of its results, and whether there is any relationship between advertising expenditure and sales figure. These results also attempt to seek support for the hypothesis stated. 3. 1 Response rate and respondents’ characteristicsA total of 100 copies of the questionnaire were distributed to respondents. The challenges of recapitalization in the insurance industry, and subsequent rearrangements including the necessary formalities made the task of getting JRF 10,3 audience difficult. A total of 84 questionnaires were collected out of which two were found unusable for the purpose of analysis. The response rate of 48 percent was thus achieved. The results were analyzed with the use of the fol lowing statistical procedures: (1) the frequency distribution of some parameters; (2) the percentages of the parameters studied; and 3) bar charts were also used for further illustration of some of the results obtained. The first five questions of the questionnaire deal with the characteristics of the respondents, specifically their bio data. These are presented in Table I. Out of the 82 respondents analyzed, 50 are males while 32 are females. The sample members were conveniently selected at random, rather than based on quota. Since 61 percent of the respondents are males and 39 percent are females, should one conclude that 61 percent of the workforce in the insurance industry is male and 39 percent female?This is an interesting possibility due to the fact that a good number of females prefer to be self-employed in order to care for their home responsibilities. From Table II, majority of the respondents are 40 years and below, an overwhelming 89 percent (i. e. 44 percent for below 3 0 years, and 45 percent for age bracket 31-40). About 11 percent of the respondents are above the age 41, while none of the respondents is over 60 years. This analysis suggests that productive and dynamic personnel marketing and public relations functions of these insurance companies.The analysis shows 43 single and 39 married persons indicating 52 and 48 percent respondents, respectively (Table III). This is a fair distribution. From Table IV, 46 of the 82 respondents possess higher national diploma and degrees, 14 respondents possess higher degrees in form of MSc/MBA, and 16 respondents possess professional qualifications. Sex Number Percentage Table I. Male 50 61 Sex distribution Female 32 39 of respondents Total 82 100 Age Number Percentage Table II. Age distribution of respondents Below 30 years 31-40 years 41-50 years 51-60 years Total 36 37 6 3 82 44 45 7 4 100Marital status Number Percentage Table III. Marital status of respondents Single Married Total 43 39 82 52 48 100 The fact that only six respondents (a mere 8 percent) possess national diploma and below shows that marketing and public relations job in the insurance industry is taken over by professionally and academically qualified personnel. From Table V, 71 respondents (which is 87 percent) have not more than ten years working experience, while those having more than 16 years working experience constitute only 4 percent. None of the respondents however, have worked more than 25 years. 3. Descriptive statistics of the sample responses In presenting the data obtained in response to section B of the questionnaire, we will use tables of percentages as well as bar charts. A cumulative of 91 percent agree that insurance is necessary for socio-economic development while a mere 4 percent disagree (Table VI). One may conclude that majority of the respondents believe that insurance has a vital role to play in an economy. Here, again, Table VII shows that 91 percent agree that the Nigerian public is apathe tic toward insurance purchase, while a mere 5 percent could not agree. A total of 69 respondents (20 ? 9) agree that the level of insurance sales in the country is not encouraging, which is 84 percent of the respondents (Table VIII). On the other hand, 10 percent of the respondents disagree. This naturally confirms the response presented in Table VII indicating that the Nigerian public is apathetic toward insurance purchase. Academic qualification Number Percentage WAEC/NECO/GCE National diploma HND/BSc MSc/MBA Professional qualification Total 3 3 46 14 16 82 4 4 56 17 19 100 Table IV. Academic qualifications of respondents The effects of advertising media Length of service Number Percentage Below 5 years -10 years 11-15 years 16-20 years 21-25 years Total 48 23 7 2 2 82 59 28 9 2 2 100 Table V. Length of service/working experience of respondents Response Number Percentage Strongly agree Agree Undecided Strongly disagree Total 37 38 4 3 82 45 46 5 4 100 Table VI. Insurance necessary for socio-economic development JRF 10,3 About 49 percent believe that insurance performance follows the fortunes of the other sectors while 27 percent disagree (Table IX). The interesting thing is that 24 percent could not state whether or not the insurance industry performance depends on the performance of the other sectors.Here, respondents were allowed to choose more than one factor they considered as responsible for the low sales of insurance products. In order of frequency, low level of awareness, poor industry image, high level of illiteracy, and low per capital income top the list with 73, 57, 45, and 45 percent, respectively (Table X). These factors are represented on the bar chart (Figure 1). About 67 percent of the respondents agree that the principles involved in marketing tangible products apply with equal force to marketing intangible products such as Response Number Percentage Table VII. Whether public is pathetic toward insurance Strongly agree Agree Undecided Strong ly disagree Total 12 63 3 1 82 14 77 4 1 100 Response Number Percentage Table VIII. Level of insurance sales in Nigeria not encouraging Strongly agree Agree Undecided Disagree Total 20 49 5 8 82 24 60 6 10 100 Reponses Number Percentage Table IX. Performance of insurance Strongly agree Agree Undecided 7 33 20 9 40 24 industry dependent on the performance of other sectors Disagree Strongly disagree Total 17 5 82 21 6 100 Factor Number Percentage Low per capital income Low level of awareness 37 60 45 73 Table X. Factors responsible for ow sales of insurance High level of illiteracy Religious beliefs Poor industry image Availability of substitute 37 23 47 4 45 28 57 5 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 Poor image Substitute insurance while 33 percent disagree (Table XI). One may assert that while marketing principles are universal, their application to categories of products varies. All the respondents confirm that their companies have marketing or public relations department (Table XII). This shows that the issue of marketing or public relations is given adequate attention with staff assigned specific responsibilities.An overwhelming 93 percent of the respondents agree that their companies engage in one form of advertising or the other (Table XIII). It shows that companies could no longer be content with the provision of goods and services alone, they also see the need to inform the general public of their existence and the benefits they offer to the society. From Table XIII already discussed above, six respondents confirm that their companies do not engage in any form of advertising. In response question 9 on the questionnaire asking for the reasons, they pointed to the factors shown in Table XIV.Out of the six respondents, three chose â€Å"preference for other promotional tools,† four chose â€Å"high cost of advertising,† and two chose â€Å"difficulty in measuring advertising Low income Low awareness Illiteracy Religion Response Number Percentage Yes No Total 55 27 82 67 33 100 The effects of advertising media Figure 1. Chart showing factors responsible for low sales of insurance products Table XI. Can the principles involved in marketing tangible products be applied to insurance marketing? Response Number Percentage Table XII. Does your company have Yes 82 100 marketing or public Total 82 100 relations department? Response Number PercentageTable XIII. Yes 76 93 Whether respondents’ No 6 7 companies engage in Total 82 100 advertising activities JRF 10,3 effects on sales. † Interestingly, none chose â€Å"lack of good advertising opportunities† as a reason for not advertising. This means there may be good advertising opportunities, but measuring the effect of advertising on sales is a problem. In response to the question on advertising objectives, 72 percent of the respondents chose â€Å"inform the public about the company,† 55 percent chose â€Å"increase sales,† and 52 percent chose †Å"improve company’s image† among the major objectives of advertising (Table XV).From the above analysis, increase in sales is the leading advertising objective, apart from giving information about the company. Ranking in frequency, newspapers, radio, and magazines are the most favored advertising media with 79, 59, and 49 percent, respectively (Table XVI). These and other media used are presented on the bar chart (Figure 2). The analysis above indicates that 51 percent of the respondents reveal that developing advertising activities is a joint responsibility of the company’s staff and the advertising agencies (Table XVII).About 41 percent of the respondents show that it is entirely the work of advertising agencies while only 8 percent state that it is an internal responsibility. The report shows that insurance companies in developing their advertising program actively seek for the inputs of the advertising agencies. While only 5 percent of the respondents could n ot decide, a cumulative of 83 percent agree that the success of advertising activities depends on the integration of all marketing promotional tools. While no respondents strongly disagree, 12 percent disagree (Table XVIII).The 83 percent in agreement point to the fact that there is the need for integration of all marketing communications in order to achieve good result. Response Number Percentage Table XIV. Reasons why some Preference for other promotional tools 3 50 companies do no High cost of advertising 4 67 advertising Difficulty in measuring advertising effects 2 33 Response Number Percentage Table XV. Objectives of advertising Inform the public about the company Introduce new product Increase sales Improve profitability Improve company’s image 59 33 45 34 43 72 40 55 42 52 Response Number PercentageTable XVI. Advertising media used Radio Television Outdoor advertising Newspapers Magazines Journals 48 24 29 65 40 21 59 29 35 79 49 26 The effects of advertising media Fi gure 2. Bar chart showing the preferred advertising media Radio TV Outdoor Newspapers Magazine Journals 100 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 Response Number Percentage (a) Advertising staff (b) Advertising agencies (c) Both (a) and (b) above Total 7 34 41 82 8 41 51 100 Table XVII. Those responsible for developing advertising activities Response Strongly agree Agree Undecided Disagree Total Number 23 45 4 10 82 Percentage 8 55 5 12 100 Table XVIII. Whether advertising success is dependent on the integration of all marketing promotional tools From Table XIX, an overwhelming majority of the respondents agree that the choice of advertising medium is critical to the success of advertising activities. This is indicated by the sum of 20 percent for â€Å"strongly agree† and 70 percent for â€Å"agree† respondents making 90 percent. While 6 percent could not decide, a mere 4 percent disagree. Insurers therefore will have to pay attention to the medium selection if their advertising objectives are to be met.In Table XX, the respondents neither â€Å"disagree† nor â€Å"strongly disagree† with the notion that the choice of message can make a difference between success and failure of any advertising activity. While only 1 percent of the respondents could not decide, 99 percent agree with the notion that the choice of message is critical to any successful advertising program. Again, insurers need to pay attention to the message in endeavoring to reach the public. JRF 10,3 About 96 percent of the respondents support the notion that advertising has made positive impact on their company performance (Table XXI).This needs no further elaboration. Owing to the importance of this issue, question 16 in section B was reframed again as question 17 with the aim of testing the genuineness of the respondents’ answer. Interestingly, as in Table XXI (which analyzed responses to question 16), 96 percent of the respondents affirm that advertising has had posi tive effects on their company’s performance (Table XXII). Specifically, 73 percent of the respondents agree that advertising leads to increased sales, the figure which is marginally exceeded by 74 percent for â€Å"favorable public image† (Table XXIII).Also 61 percent of the respondents agree that advertising leads to increased number of prospects. This is presented in the bar chart shown in Figure 3. None of the respondents picked â€Å"no† for the answer, although it was included in the three options (Table XXIV). While 76 percent of the respondents believe that advertising expenditure is justified based on the results achieved, 24 percent could Response Number Percentage Table XIX. Strong agree Agree Undecided 16 57 5 20 70 6 The choice of advertising medium is critical to the success of advertising Disagree Strongly disagree Total 2 2 2 2 2 100 Response Number Percentage Table XX. The choice of message can make or mar advertising campaign Strongly agree Agre e Undecided Total 21 60 1 82 26 73 1 100 Table XXI. Whether advertising has impacted positively on company performance Response Yes No Total Number 79 3 82 Percentage 96 4 100 Response Number Percentage Table XXII. Description of advertising effects on company performance Positive effect No effect Negative effect Total 79 1 2 82 96 1 3 100 not decide. One may align with the fact that advertising expenditure, if properly done, is not a wasteful resource, after all.The fact that only 27 percent agree, and 37 percent could not decide in support of the notion shows that advertising agents have a long way to go in measuring up to international standard (Table XXV). About 36 percent (30 ? 6 percent) disagree that advertising professionals are performing at world standard. Response Number Percentage The effects of advertising media Increased number of calls received 10 Increased number of prospects visits 50 Increased number of orders received 21 Increased volume of sales 60 Increased quan tum of profits 31 Favorable public image 61 2 61 26 73 Table XXIII. 38 Specific effects of 74 advertising on companies Figure3. Bar chart showing effects of advertising 10 30 40 50 60 70 80 Calls Visits Orders Sales Profits Image Response Number Percentage Table XXIV. Yes 62 76 Going by the result, is Undecided 20 24 advertising expenditure Total 82 100 justified? Response Number Percentage Strongly agree 4 5 Agree 18 22 Table XXV. Undecided 30 37 Is performance of Disagree 25 30 advertising agencies in Strongly disagree 5 6 Nigeria is of international Total 82 100 standard? JRF 10,3 3. Analysis of research questions In Section 3, the research questions proposed in Section 1 were restated. These research questions, four in number, are analyzed as follows based on the information received from the respondents: RQ1. Is a company’s failure to use advertising a result of lack of good advertising opportunities? To answer this question, Table XIV (already analyzed somewhere above) is hereby represented in Table XXVI. In response to question 8 on the questionnaire, six out of the 82 respondents confirmed that their companies do no advertising at all.Question 9 asked for the reasons and four options were listed as follows: (1) company’s preference for other promotional tools; (2) high cost of advertising; (3) lack of good advertising opportunities; and (4) difficulty in measuring advertising effects. From Table XXVI, none of the respondents chose option (3), i. e. â€Å"lack of good advertising opportunities† as the reason for not advertising. One can therefore conclude that there are a number of advertising opportunities in the country for companies who care to advertise: RQ2. Do the results of other promotional tools affect the use of advertising?Again, this question would be answered using the response analysis presented in Table XIV. Out of the six respondents whose companies do no advertising, three stated that it was because their companies preferred the use of other promotional tools. When compared with the sample size, which is 82, the position of the three respondents is too insignificant to infer a generalization. One could thus conclude that the results of other promotional tools do not negatively affect the use of advertising: RQ3. Is the use of advertising dependent on the measurability of its result?Using Table XXVI, out of the six respondents who confirm that their companies do not advertise, two chose â€Å"difficulty in measuring advertising effects† as the reason. Again, this position of the two respondents is too insignificant when compared with that of the entire sample size of 82: RQ4. Is there any relationship between advertising expenditure and sales figure? In answering this question, the response to question 17 in the questionnaire will be used. The response as analyzed using Table XXIII (already analyzed somewhere above) is hereby represented in Table XXVII.Response Number Percentage Table XX VI. (Repeated) Reasons why Preference for other promotional tools 3 50 some companies do not High cost of advertising 4 67 advertise? Difficulty in measuring advertising effect 2 33 From this table, advertising has a number of positive effects on the organization. Among others, 74 percent of the respondents believe it has improved public image, 73 percent believe it has increased sales volume and 61 percent believe it has increased the number of prospect visits. All these show a positive relationship between advertising and sales. 3. 4 Test of hypothesisThe hypothesis to be tested is termed the H0 – a statement that no change has occurred from the position specified for a hypothesis. If however we reject the H0, the H1 will be accepted. An H1 is a statement, which is a reversal of a H0. 3. 4. 1 Restatement of the hypothesis. H0. There is no relationship between advertising expenditure and sales figure. H1. There is a relationship between advertising expenditure and sales figu re. In order to test for this hypothesis, data obtained from some insurance companies in respect of their sales figures (gross premium incomes) and their advertising expenditures for a five-year period was used. . 4. 2 Five-year figures of premium and advertising. These are shown in Table XXVIII. Our main objective is to test whether or not there is a relationship between advertising expenditure and sales volume. The statistical tool used here is Pearson’s product moment coefficient of correlation denoted by r. This coefficient gives an indication of the strength of the linear relationship between two variables. In our case, the two variables are: (1) Advertising expenditure, which is the independent variable represented by x. (2)Sales figures (gross premium income) which is the dependent variable denoted by y. Response Number Percentage The effects of advertising media Increased number of calls received 10 Increased number of prospects visits 50 Increased number of orders re ceived 21 Increased volume of sales 60 Increased quantum of profits 31 Favorable public image 61 12 61 26 Table XXVII. 73 (Repeated) Specific effects 38 of advertising on 74 companies Year Advert expenditure (N Premium income (N ?) ?) 2001 7,532,670 1,145,565,930 2002 8,980,422 1,456,227,292 2003 10,581,702 2,048,360,018 004 14,216,019 2,825,270,405 2005 16,186,851 3,485,046,944 Table XXVIII. JRF 10,3 For ease of computation, the figures for both advertising and sales (premium income) have been approximated as follows: XXXX X x ? 575; y ? 1; 096; x 2 ? 71; 369; y 2 ? 277; 194; and xy ? 139; 915: The formula for product moment correlation coefficient is: P PP n xy 2 x y r ? rffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi ? :99: P P2 * P P2 n x2 2 x ny2 2 y According to Lucey (2002), r can range from ? 1, i. e. perfect p ositive correlation where the variables change value in the same direction as each other, to 21, i. e. perfect negative correlation where y decreases linearly as x increases. Lucey states further that a strong correlation between two variables would produce an r value in excess of ? 0. 9 or 20. 9. If the value were less than, say 0. 5 there would only be a very weak relationship between the variables. The value of our computed coefficient of correlation (r) is 0. 99.This indicates a very strong positive correlation between the two variables, i. e. advertising expenditure and sales figure denoted by x and y, respectively. The decision is that we reject the H0, which states that there is no relationship between advertising expenditure and sales figure, and accept the H1, which states that there is a relationship between advertising expenditure and sales figure. 4. Conclusions This study investigates how advertising could be used by the insurers to disseminate information on the vital role they play. The study concludes that: .The image problem and the poor sales of insurance products are not necessarily the result of the bad economy but the failure to engage in marketing communications. . Emphasizing other roles of insurance as financial intermediation and supplement to government’s efforts in providing social security will make it more attractive. . Greater benefits accrue when advertising is fully integrated into the whole mass of marketing communications. . There are good opportunities for the insurers to advertise their products, advertising practitioners have not measured up to international standards. .For good advertising output, the message and format are the joint responsibility of the insurance staff and advertising agencies. . The major advertising media used by the insurers are the newspapers and the radio. The use of the internet in Nigeria should be given due attention. . The choice of advertising medium is a critical success factor in any a dvertising activity. . The major effects of advertising on companies were found to include sales volume and improved public image. A number of obstacles militate against attainment of growth in the insurance subsector, notably, hostile economic environment.Relentless advertising campaign can take a company to the next level of growth. The research has also shown that advertising expenditure is justified going by the positive effects such expenditure has on a company’s performance. Furthermore, the message and the format have also been found to be critical ingredients of a successful advertising program. It is recommended that: . The insurance executives should realize that their activities do not end with producing good services. Passing information to the public about their services and benefits thereof must be vigorously pursued through advertising. For sustainable competitive advantage there is a need for integration of all marketing communications, as this will reduce con flicts in organizations. . A careful blend of print and electronic media is very essential in order to properly serve each market segment. . Sales persons are the ones on ground since they are always in the field. Their inputs must always be sought while designing advertising message and format. . The lack of records regarding advertising budget and actual expenses is a problem in many insurance organizations.There is a need to keep adequate records of advertising expenditure, as this is necessary for proper evaluation. . The practitioners must promote other important roles of insurance such as savings, financial intermediation and provision of social security. . In the area of image laundry there can still be mutually beneficial cooperation in the midst of competition among the insurers. . In this regard, the insurance industry as a whole should embark on an industry’s advertising in order to promote subjects of common interest.This will also reduce the overall cost of adver tising. In this work, a convenience sampling method is used. While the size of the sample is fairly large (100), a major limitation is that the sample is taken in Lagos: one state out of 36. The fact that some major towns in the country (i. e. Abuja, Port Harcourt, Kano, and Ibadan) were left out could limit the degree of representativeness of the sample. However, the fact that Lagos is home to almost 90 percent of the headquarters of insurance companies in Nigeria makes the findings of this study representative of the population.Consequently, these findings would form a platform on which companies can base some of their marketing decisions. Future research could focus on the effects of publicity and public relations on sales, and on the better methods of separating advertising effects from the total marketing effects. References Asika, N. (2006), Glossary of Terms and Concepts in Research and Statistics, 1st ed. , Maxwell, Lagos, pp. 50-8. Dillion, W. R. , Madden, T. J. and Firtle, N. H. (1994), Marketing Research in a Marketing Environment, 3rd ed. , Irwin, Chicago, IL, pp. 124-5. Lucey, T. 2002), Quantitative Techniques, 6th ed. , MPG, Bodmin, p. 96. Luo, X. and Donthu, N. (2005), â€Å"Assessing advertising media spending inefficiencies in generating sales†, Journal of Business Research, Vol. 58 No. 1, pp. 28-36. The effects of advertising media JRF 10,3 Nigeria Insurers Digest (2005), Statistical Journal of the Nigerian Insurers Association, p. 47. Nigeria Insurance Digest (2006), Statistical Journal of the Nigerian Insurers Association, pp. 23-4, 43. Perreault, W. and McCarthy, J. Jr (2000), Basic Marketing: A Global Managerial Approach, 14th ed. , McGraw-Hill, New York, NY, pp. 51-6. Randle, J. (2003), â€Å"Mergers and acquisition: a survival strategy for the insurance industry†, The Nigerian Insurer, November, pp. 14-18. Schultz, R. L. and Wittink, D. R. (1976), â€Å"The measurement of industry advertising effects†, Journal of Ma rketing Research, Vol. 13 No. 1, pp. 71-5. Sturgess, B. and Young, R. (1981), â€Å"The sales response to advertising: a reconsideration†, Management and Decision Economics, No. 3, pp. 133-8. Twedt and Knitter (1964), â€Å"What about the relationships among sales, advertising, and earnings†, Journal of Marketing, Vol. 28 No. 4, pp. 68-9.Further reading Achumba, I. C. (1985), Sales Management Concepts, Strategies and Cases, rev. ed. , Mukugamu and Brothers Enterprise, Lagos. Achumba, I. C. (1995), Sales and Management Concepts, Strategies and Cases, 1st ed. , Mukugamu and Brothers Enterprise, Lagos, p. 2. Asika, N. (2004), Research Methodology: A Process Approach, 1st ed. , Mukugamu and Brothers Enterprise, Lagos, pp. 20-3. Bickelhaupt, D. (1967), â€Å"Trends and innovations in the marketing of insurance†, Journal of Marketing, Vol. 31 No. 3, pp. 17-22. Connor-Linton, J. (2003), Chi-square Tutorial, updated by C.Ball, Georgetown University, Washington, DC. Coon ey, B. (1999), â€Å"Reuter XL capital announces web-based initiative to help manage organizational risk†, PR Newswire USA, April 12. Davidow, D. and Uttal, B. (1990), The Total Customer Service: The Ultimate Weapon, 1st ed. , Harper Collins, New York, NY. Dayton, D. (1999), Total Market Domination, 1st ed. , Adams Media Corporation, Halbrook, MA, pp. 37-41. Denny, R. (1988), Selling To Win, 1995 ed. , Kogan Page, London. Dibb, S. , Simkin, L. and Pride, W. (1991), Marketing, European ed. , Houghton Mifflin, Boston, MA.Farmer, R. N. (1987), â€Å"Would you want your grand daughter to marry a Taiwanese marketing man? †, Journal of Marketing, Vol. 51, pp. 111-6. Keith, R. (1960), â€Å"The marketing revolution†, Journal of Marketing, January, pp. 35-8. Kotler, P. and Armstrong, G. (2006), Principles of Marketing, 11th ed. , Prentice-Hall, New York, NY, pp. 428-44. Kotler, P. and Connor, R. A. Jr (1977), â€Å"Marketing professional services†, Journal of Mar keting, Vol. 41 No. 1, pp. 71-6. Lancaster, G. and Massingham, L. (1988), â€Å"Essentials of Marketing†, McGraw-Hill, London. Le Boeuf, M. 1987), How to Win Customers and Keep Them for Life, 1st ed. , Berkley Books, New York, NY. McWhorter, S. (1958), â€Å"Advertising and public relations activities of insurance companies with special emphasis on health insurance†, Journal of Insurance, Vol. 25 No. 3, pp. 8-20. Makki, S. and Somwaru, A. (2001), â€Å"Finance’ participation in crop insurance markets: creating the right incentives†, American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Vol. 83 No. 3, pp. 662-7. Miner, R. B. (1961), â€Å"Application of the theory of marketing tangible goods to the marketing of insurance†, Journal of Insurance, Vol. 8 No. 1, pp. 41-4. Nigeria Insurers Association (2006), Where to Insure 2006, Nigeria Insurers Association, Lagos, pp. 28-43. Pappas, C. (2000), â€Å"AdNauseam†, Advertising Age, July, pp. 16-18. Polley, R . W. (1987), â€Å"On the value of reflection in the distorted mirror†, Journal of Marketing, Vol. 27 No. 6, pp. 104-9. Prisca, S. (2004), â€Å"Developing public trust in insurance. A critical appraisal†, Journal of Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria, Vol. 5 No. 13, p. 17. Rejda, G. (2002), Principles of Risk Management and Insurance, 7th ed. , Pearson Education, Delhi. Rejda, G. 2003), Principles of Risk Management and Insurance, 7th ed. , Pearson Education, Singapore, p. 20. Ryan, L. (1985), â€Å"New distribution channels for microcomputer software†, Business, October/December, pp. 21-2. Wikipedia (2006), The Free Encyclopedia, available at: http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Advertising Corresponding author S. A. Aduloju can be contacted at: [email  protected] com To purchase reprints of this article please e-mail: [email  protected] com Or visit our web site for further details: www. emeraldinsight. com/reprints The effects of advertising media

Human Resources in the Leisure and Recreation Industry Essay

Most medium sized to large businesses have a human resource department, which looks after the welfare of staff who are employed in the company. The Leisure and Recreation Industry is the biggest growing area of business in the UK with people spending of over à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½12 billion on leisure and recreation products/services. There are * people working in the Leisure and Recreation industry in the UK. Many of whom work on a temporary basis linked to tourism. External and Internal Influences on a department External Economic climate If the country were in recession this would mean that a lot of people would be unemployed and therefore not able to spend money on leisure and recreation industry because they would need to spend on their basic needs i.e. tax, bills, food etc. However in the UK employees often have a high disposable income, which means that after an employee gains income paying all tax, bills, mortgages etc, then most employees will have money to spend on the leisure and recreation industry because of their high disposable income. Minimum wage The national minimum wage will be à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½5.05 per hour in October 2005 but this often changes from time to time, so that it can meet the demands of cost of living. So if the wage was less than the cost of living people will not be able to afford to live and spend money and may need to work extra shifts/hours to gain more money. However the leisure and recreation industry may have higher wage so that it can motivate the employee because money is the biggest method of motivation. Trends in consumer demand In the fast moving pace of life of today, many consumers want leisure and recreation facilities open earlier and later. This means that human resources departments need more flexible working arrangements with staff. So they may need to recruit extra staff to do different shifts. Employment trends Many students apply to do temporary contracts in the summer months, because students have holidays and so will work for extra money. This is also a good advantage for the HR, as they will organise holidays for other employee that will want to go on Holiday especially during the summer months. So the student will apply to fill in for other employee’s to go on Holiday. Skills shortages In some industries such as carpentry and engineering there is a growing shortage of new recruits going into the trade. The leisure and recreation industry bucks the trend as more and more courses at schools; colleges and university focus on the subject/industry. There are more skills needed in the carpentry and engineering (or other) industries than the leisure and recreation industry, which is why there are more new recruits going into the trade. Location issues If the business is located in the city then it will be very good for the business especially the HR, as there will be a high rate of employment and there will be a high number of people with suitable skills. However the premises would be expensive and the cost of labour would also be high as the cost of living will be high in the city. Internal Organisational structure Organisation charts are mainly used in larger businesses to show where different jobs fit into the organisation (shows who’s doing which job). It also shows the different levels of responsibility employees have. So the higher you go up the chart the responsibility of employees increases. Responding to customer trends in terms of products or services Audit of staffing requirements from department heads Before HR can recruit any one they will need to look if vacancies are available by going around the other departments and ask heads of the departments Staff turnover, career moves Sickness rates, absenteeism and levels of motivation Legally an employer can’t employ someone else to do a job on a permanent basis if there is someone else doing the job already. Statistically employees in the UK work till late, which is why the government are trying to, decrease the number of working hours. This is because working parents seem to neglect their children and aren’t spending enough time with them. Flexible work force HR tries to make employees working time very flexible and so this is why they recruit extra staff to do some shifts permanently so that every employee has flexible working time. Sometimes the HR will recruit some to do part time i.e. Saturdays when it is very busy they will recruit part time employees or even temporarily like the summer holidays. Recruitment and Selection To recruit an employee, first a HR manager for example will have to go around to other different departments to find vacancies, so that he/she can recruit new members of staff. Then if vacancy is available HR will have to draw up a: * Job description – this shows the roles of the job of the employee * Person specification – outline of the skills and qualities required of the post holder * Then they will have to advertise it on the local newspaper or Internet. HR can also go to jobcentres, employment agencies or Head hunters to find employees with higher qualities but this method would be expensive and time consuming so it is mainly used to find employees to do jobs needing high skills. After the job has been advertised, HR will have to go through a process called selection (selecting the right employee) and so HR sort through the applications, putting aside any which are definitely not suitable and then producing a shortlist of applicants to call for selection. This saves time and so next HR will have to arrange interviews for the applicants shortlisted and so references can be followed, practical testing, psychometric testing etc, can be done to speed up the process of selection. Selection process can vary depending on the organisation. Contract of Employment Contract of employment states the terms and conditions of the job, showing a legally binding agreement between the employer and employee. So if an employee offers to work for an organisation then in return the employer must pay that person to do the work. Contract of employment mainly states: * Holidays and sick pay entitlement – legally Employee’s are entitled to at least 4 weeks holiday and so it should state how many weeks of holiday the employee is entitled to, also it should state whether employee is entitled to employer sick pay or SSP (Statutory Sick Pay) * Grievance and disciplinary procedures – it should state who the employee can refer if he or she has a grievance and should state who is responsible for disciplinary procedures. * Notice periods – If an employee decides to leave or is dismissed by the employer then it should state the notice time for that i.e. one-month notice time. * Wage/pay – it should state the amount of pay the employee should receive when job is done, also it may state how it is paid i.e. electronically. * Hours of work – it should also state the hours of work i.e. 48 hours a week, and what time he/he will start and finish * Fringe benefits – it should also state * Period of contract – whether it is permanent or temporary An employee is legally entitled to a contract of employment if he/she is working for the business for 1 month or more. Key components of staff training and development Induction Staff Appraisal Training and Development Induction training is given at the start of a new job to show how the activities of the firm are organised. Performance Reviews Self Evaluation Peer Evaluation Target Setting Measuring individual and group output/production Mentoring and coaching Apprenticeships In-house training External training Motivation Keeping staff motivated is good for the business because: * Motivated workers are more productive and higher productivity usually means higher profits. * In a service industry, workers who are well motivated will provide a better level of customer service, keeping the customers happy. * Staffs who are well motivated are more likely to stay with the company. They grow in experience and become even more valuable to their employer. * If a business successfully keeps the staff it has, the cost of recruiting and training new staff is reduced. > Management styles > Job Rotation, Job Enlargement > Team working > Financial incentives An employee can be demotivated if: * The environment is not safe, so the HR will have to make the environment safe. * The managers/employer