MUSINGS

Compensation Plans Develop a program outline. Set an objective for the program. Establish target dates for implementation and completion. Determine a budget. Designate an individual to oversee designing the compensation program. Determine whether this position will be permanent or temporary. Determine who will oversee the program once it is established. Determine the cost of going outside versus looking inside. Determine the cost of a consultant's review. Develop a compensation philosophy. Form a compensation committee (presumably consisting of officers or at least including one officer of the company). Decide what, if any, differences should exist in pay structures for executives, professional employees, sales employees, and so on (e.g., hourly versus salaried rates, incentive-based versus noncontingent pay). Determine whether the company should set salaries at, above, or below market. Decide the extent to which employee benefits should replace or supplement c...

How is compensation used? Compensation is a tool used by management for a variety of purposes to further the existance of the company. Compensation may be adjusted according the the business needs, goals, and available resources. Compensation may be used to: recruit and retain qualified employees. increase or maintain morale/satisfaction. reward and encourage peak performance. achieve internal and external equity. reduce turnover and encourage company loyalty. modify (through negotiations) practices of unions. Recruitment and retention of qualified employees is a common goal shared by many employers. To some extent, the availability and cost of qualified applicants for open positions is determined by market factors beyond the control of the employer. While an employer may set compensation levels for new hires and advertize those salary ranges, it does so in the context of other employers seeking to hire from the same applicant pool.  Morale and job satisfaction are ...

Globalization is a term in business that refers to the integration of an organization's operations, processes and strategies into diverse cultures, products, services and ideas. Because of its emphasis on diversity, globalization also has a deep impact on the way companies manage their employees. Understanding the effects of globalization on human resources can help managers to better equip their organizations for the increasingly global business environment. Diversity Recruitment With the rise of globalization, companies of all sizes are now interacting with customers and stakeholders from diverse cultures, languages and social backgrounds. In response, many human resources managers seek to hire employees from equally diverse backgrounds. Companies engaging in this diversity recruitment recognize the value of having people on staff that their customers can relate to, and they know that having a team of diverse people contributes to the range of ideas and influences within ...

Human resources managers have three aspects of responsibility to the organizations that employ them. Unlike other departmental managers whose responsibilities focus on running their departments and respective teams of employees, HR managers are responsible for the HR department functions, supervising the HR staff and ensuring that the organization's entire workforce is cohesive, engaged and productive. Compliance Ever-expanding legal considerations, legislation and federal and state laws make compliance an important aspect of running an HR department and determining the extent to which certain laws apply to each workplace. One of the challenges that HR managers face includes staying abreast of the changes and ensuring that the department's strategy coincides with its legal obligations. For example, the Affordable Care Act contains health care reforms that have a serious impact on the way some employers will provide coverage for their employees. The act requires ...

Although job postings for human resources department managers vary from one organization to the next, there are some constant threads among many of the postings. The core competencies of HR managers are generally the same. Core competencies are basic qualifications that underlie the HR manager's ability to perform job functions. For HR managers, those core competencies include communication and interpersonal relationship skills, analysis and critical thought processes HR professionals need business acumen, HR expertise, leadership qualities and the ability to establish HR as an advocate. In addition, the OPM says HR professionals are change agents. In order to fulfill this role, HR managers must have four primary competencies: communication, analysis capabilities, relationship-building skills and leadership qualities. Communication An HR manager must be able to communicate with everyone in the workplace -- from line staff to executive leadership. In addition, co...

From the following question prepare a Cost Sheet Raw Material             Direct Wages        Indirect Wages    Factory Rent   Bank Charges Factory Lighting                Factory Heating           Motive Power         Haulage  Commission  on sales Director Fee (Factory)       Director Fee ( Office)   Factory cleaning       sundry office expenses Factory stationery              Office Stationery          Loose Tools written off  Delivery van expenses Office rent and rates          Water supply       Factory Insurance     Legal Expenses Direct Expenses       Warehouse Rent      M/c Depreciation    Office Bldg Depreciation Delivery van d...

Items Exluded from cost accounting and therefore not included in cost sheet despite information being provided in a question 1. ITEMS OF APPROPRIATION OF PROFIT a. Income tax paid and legal expenses re income tax b Transfer to reserves c.Dividend on shares paid d.Amount written off- goodwill, prelim expenses, underwriting commission, dividend allowed on shares e. Profit based payment to the employees 2.ITEMS OF PURE FINANCE i. Income and dividend received ii. Rent received iii. profit or loss on sale of investment iv. expenses on raising capital v. cash discount allowed or received 3. ABNORMAL ITEMS a. Cost of abnormal idle time b. cost of abnormal wastage of material c. exceptional bad debts d. abnormal savings e. penalties and fines paid for going against govt regulations and rules

Components of Cost PRIME COST SUM TOTAL OF ALL DIRECT MATERIAL COSTS, DIRECT LABOUR COSTS AND DIRECT EXPENSES. PRIME COST IS ALSO CALLED AS DIRECT COST FACTORY COST OR WORKS COST PRIME COST + WORKS OVERHEAD OR FACTORY OVERHEADS IS FACTORY COST OFFICE COST: FACTORY COST +OFFICE EXPENSES OR OFFICE OVERHEADS IS OFFICE COST. THIS IS ALSO CALLED AS COST OF PRODUCTION COST OF GOOD SOLD- OFFICE COST +SALES AND DISTRIBUTION EXPENSES. THIS IS ALSO CALLED AS TOTAL COST IN THIS WHEN THE MARGIN IS ADDED IT BECOMES THE SELLING PRICE

The Five Concepts Described              The Production Concept.  This concept is the oldest of the concepts in business.  It holds that consumers will prefer products that are widely available and inexpensive.  Managers focusing on this concept concentrate on achieving high production efficiency, low costs, and mass distribution.  They assume that consumers are primarily interested in product availability and low prices.  This orientation makes sense in developing countries, where consumers are more interested in obtaining the product than in its features.              The Product Concept.  This orientation holds that consumers will favor those products that offer the most quality, performance, or innovative features.  Managers focusing on this concept concentrate on making superior products and imp...

Leadership styles No matter what their traits or skills, leaders carry out their roles in a wide variety of styles. Some leaders are autocratic. Others are democratic. Some are participatory, and others are hands off. Often, the leadership style depends on the situation, including where the organization is in its life cycle. The following are common leadership styles: Autocratic.  The manager makes all the decisions and dominates team members. This approach generally results in passive resistance from team members and requires continual pressure and direction from the leader in order to get things done. Generally, this approach is not a good way to get the best performance from a team. However, this style may be appropriate when urgent action is necessary or when subordinates actually prefer this style. Participative.  The manager involves the subordinates in decision making by consulting team members (while still maintaining control), which encourages employee ...

Leading  is establishing direction and influencing others to follow that direction. But this definition isn't as simple as it sounds because leadership has many variations and different areas of emphasis. Common to all definitions of leadership is the notion that leaders are individuals who, by their actions, facilitate the movement of a group of people toward a common or shared goal. This definition implies that leadership is an influence process. The distinction between leader and leadership is important, but potentially confusing. The leader is an individual; leadership is the function or activity this individual performs. The word leader is often used interchangeably with the word manager to describe those individuals in an organization who have positions of formal authority, regardless of how they actually act in those jobs. But just because a manager is supposed to be a formal leader in an organization doesn't mean that he or she exercises leadership. An issue often ...

Types of Business Communication There are two types of business communication in an organization: Internal Communication External Communication Internal Communication Communication within an organization is called “ Internal Communication ”. It includes all communication within an organization. It may be informal, formal function, or department providing communication in various forms to employees. Effective internal communication is a vital mean of addressing organizational concerns. Good communication may help to increase job satisfaction, safety, productivity, and profits and decrease grievances and turnover. Under  Internal Business Communication types , there come: Upward Communication Upward communication is the flow of information from subordinates to superiors, or from employees to management. Without upward communication, management works in a vacuum, not knowing if the messages have been received properly, or if other problems exist in the organization...

Communication “Any act by which one person gives to or receives from another person, the information about that person’s needs, desires, perceptions, knowledge, or affective states.  Communication may be intentional or unintentional , it may involve conventional or unconventional signals, may take linguistic or non-linguistic forms, and may occur through spoken or other modes.” Or in simple words; Communication is the exchange of ideas, opinions and information through written or spoken words, symbols or actions. Communication is a dialogue, not a monologue . In fact, communication is more concerned with a dual listening process. For communication to be effective, the message must mean the same thing to both the sender and the receiver. Business Communication Business Communication is any communication used to promote a product, service, or organization – with the objective of making sale. In  business communication , message is conveyed through various channels of c...

COMPENSATION MANAGEMENT First and last word on compensation management is that, it is core and direct influencing factor on employee motivation and other factors succeeds. Employees, in exchange of their work, generally expect some appreciation. Money is considered as the most important motivating factor for employees, though non-financial incentives work efficiently. The goals of compensation management are to design the lowest-cost pay structure that will attract, motivate and retain competent employees. Here the term compensation and salary of employee are one and same. Compensation management is one of the most challenging human resource areas because it contains many elements and has a far-reaching effect on the organisation's goals. The purpose of providing compensation is to attract, retain and motivate employees. There are two main types of financial compensation. Direct financial compensation   - the pay that a worker receives as wages, salaries, commiss...