Learning Hub Asia

Understanding Culture Across the World

2011-11-22T09:56:00.001+08:00

The following HSBC videos highlight the importance of knowing other peoples culturehttp://youtu.be/JK_NinOmFWw http://youtu.be/6_WAmt3cMdk

The Five Competitive Forces That Shape Strategy - Harvard Business Review

2011-10-21T08:47:00.000+08:00

The Five Competitive Forces That Shape Strategy - Harvard Business Review

Daniel Pink on the surprising science of motivation

2011-10-10T14:47:00.002+08:00

Motivation: New Perspective on Motivation from Daniel Pink

What Motivates Employees

2011-10-10T14:41:00.001+08:00

Daniel Pink, the author of the book titled DRIVE offers a new perspective, based on research.
Watch the video:
What Motivates Employees

2011-10-10T10:10:00.001+08:00

Try the following link to read a short and focused approach to a number of topics that are critical for your career success.

http://changethis.com/manifesto/index

Arul John

What Successful People Do

2011-10-04T10:19:00.000+08:00

Nine Things Successful People Do Differently - Heidi Grant Halvorson - Harvard Business Review

2011-09-20T15:18:00.001+08:00

2011-09-19T12:37:00.001+08:00

VG's 3 Box Strategic Model

2011-04-03T17:36:00.000+08:00

MIT Open Courseware - Dynamic Leadership: using Improvisation in Business

2011-03-30T08:09:00.002+08:00

Dynamic Leadership: using Improvisation in Business

MIT World - Videos

2011-03-30T07:55:00.001+08:00

MIT Resources - Videos

HBR Videos

2011-03-30T07:42:00.002+08:00

A one stop approach to learn from the experts. A large collection of short videos on management topics. Share it with your friends.

HarvardBusiness Videos

Arul John

HBR Ideacast

2011-03-30T06:58:00.002+08:00

Practical ideas and management principles for busy managers. The Harvard Business Ideacast is the right place to learn all the critical management concepts. Try the link below.

Harvard Business Review Ideacast/

Creating Enchantment

2011-03-29T18:28:00.001+08:00

Ideas Come Everywhere

2011-03-29T18:11:00.000+08:00

Unlearn Your MBA

2011-03-29T18:08:00.001+08:00

What Great Leaders Do?

2011-03-29T18:01:00.000+08:00

Coaching in Nursing

2011-03-21T14:43:00.002+08:00

Coaching is an integral part of staff development. The document that could be accessed through the link below provides the required details.

Coaching in Nursing

My Articles

2011-02-04T15:06:00.001+08:00

Creative Thinking @Work

2011-02-03T12:28:00.002+08:00

What can we learn from Tata's Nano car? The design and manufacturing of the car challenged the traditional models of management. It is classical example of how one could use the SCAMPER model developed by by Bob Eberle. By asking what can we Substitute, Combine, Adapt, Minimise/Maximise, Put to other use, Eliminate or Reverse/Rearrange will open a whole range of new options or solutions.

12 key elements of Great Managing

2011-01-17T23:37:00.001+08:00

8TQR3ANGTUAU Technorati Listing

2011-01-10T13:51:00.004+08:00

8TQR3ANGTUAU

Technorati Listing 8TQR3ANGTUAU

How Creative Are You?

2011-01-08T08:45:00.003+08:00

We believe that we are creative. Is it possible to measure one's creativity? Despite the controversy, a number of tools are available to emasure your creativity. The follwoing site provides a FREE tool to measure your creativity.

The Centre for Creative Thinking based in Singapore offers training on creative thinking.

Try it.

http://www.creax.com/csa/

After obtaining your score, please share your thoughts in this blog. We look forward to your comments.

If you want a more comprehensive along with suggestions on how to manage more creatively then send an email to: info@creativityasia.com with your contact details. For details email info@creativityasia.com

Enjoy the assessment.

HGZPHMW8737X Listing in Technorati

2011-01-07T13:00:00.001+08:00

I just tried to get my blog listed in Technorati. Technorati assigned the claim token HGZPHMW8737X to this claim.

HGZPHMW8737X

Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh: Delivering Happiness

2010-12-12T10:32:00.002+08:00

The Zappos Family on Nightline

2010-12-12T10:27:00.001+08:00

Miscommunication - Be careful

2010-12-12T10:18:00.000+08:00

Don't Judge Too Quickly

2010-12-12T10:10:00.001+08:00

Hold Your Judgement

2010-12-12T10:06:00.001+08:00

Cement Mixer disaster
Uploaded by romane2. - Watch more comedy videos and sitcoms.

What is Success?

2010-12-12T10:01:00.000+08:00

Introduction to MBTI

2010-12-12T10:00:00.001+08:00

Build a tower, build a team -- a teambuilding activity by Tom Wujec

2010-11-16T13:14:00.000+08:00

Money Tree - Are U Ready to Seize the Opportunity?

2010-09-15T23:38:00.001+08:00

Managing Your Career & Yourself

2010-09-10T15:39:00.004+08:00

Managing your career is not an easy task. Getting along with people and remaining connected without burning the bridge requires a lot of effort and concentration. The following articles from HBR blog should help you in this area:

Six Keys to Being Excellent at Anything

For a better Career Outlook, Look Inward

Six Ways to Supercharge Your Productivity

How to Recognise (and cure) Your Own Hubris

Motivation

2010-03-04T20:03:00.001+08:00

Heath & safety Resources

2010-01-03T16:51:00.004+08:00

Heath and Safety Resources, Sngapore

Workplace Health & safety Act 2006

Workplace Health & Safety - Ministry of Manpower

Managing Safety & Health

Managing Health & safety in Your Workplace - Canada

Apollo 13

2009-10-31T13:53:00.000+08:00

Challenger Disaster Live on CNN

2009-10-31T13:50:00.001+08:00

The Challenger Disaster - What Really happened!

2009-10-31T13:48:00.000+08:00

Test Your Personality

2009-10-13T12:39:00.000+08:00

Take any of the personality tests below to find out more about yourself and those around you. All of these questionnaires have been developed by professional researchers. Results are free and provided instantly. Enjoy!

Test Your Personality

The Big Five Personality Test

MHR 2009

2009-03-21T15:14:00.001+08:00

To make it easier to access all the posting on related topics, I am including the following:

Assignments
All assignments should adopt the Harvard style referencing. Please read the document at the following link:

Harvard Referencing - Audio Presentation from USQ

Harvard Referencing

Harvard Referencing

References and Bibliography

Harvard Bibiliograpghy Reference Generator

Get your punctuation and grammar right. Try the following site:

Grammar

Grammar Exercises

Academic writing & critical thinking Learn how to write a good essay. Visit:
Writing an essay

Introduction to Management Principles
In order to do well in the Management and MHR module you should have a good understanding about the management principles and practices. You should at least read a basic textbook on management. For a quick familiarisation of Management principles and practices you may visit the following web sites:

http://www.trainingmag.com/msg/index.jsp

Principles of Scientific Management
The study of management principles and practices is not complete until you have some basic understanding of Frederick Taylor's scientific management principles. You need to first know the basic details of the principles. You should also familiarise yourself with the relevance of the principles to a modern business organisation. You should find the following web links useful.

You can read Tarylor's book by following the link below:
The Principles of Scientific Management

Frederick Taylor's The Principles of Scientific Management

The following link analyse the Taylor's principle and its relevance to employee motivation:
The Scientific Management and Frederick Taylor - an analysis

An interesting analysis of Taylor's principles. Visit:
The Evolution of Innovation

Scientific Management

Business Ethics

Business Ethics

Job Analysis
Job analysis is carried out as part of HR Planning. There are several reasons for conducting Job Analysis. Read the recommended chapter in your text book (Human Resource Management by Gary Dessler) and the articles at the following websites. At the end of the reading, you should be able to explain the following concepts:

- What is Job Analysis?
- Job description and Job specification
- Reasons for conducting job analysis.
- Methods of data collection for job analysis
- Steps you will adopt when conducting job analysis

Job analysis
Job Analysis - an overview
Employee tasks & Job analysis

Recruitment & Selection
You will be able to learn almost all aspects of recruitment and selection from the following site (maintained by The Open University):

Recruitment & selection

Once recruitment is settled it is time to move on to selection. You should familiarise yourself on the following aspects of selection:
- Selections tests
- What is job interview and its purpose
- Common errors associated with job interviews
- Steps/solutions you need to adopt to make the selction interview effective.

Read the articles at the following sites:
Selection Process
Selection Tests
Successful Hiring
Successful selection

Training & Development
Resources on Training & Development
Benefits of Training
Training - is it worth?
Training Needs Analysis
Training Evaluation
Evaluating the training

Performance Appraisal
Read the articles at the following websites to familiarise yourself about Performance Appraisal:
Introduction to performance appraisal
Common Appraisal Errors
Why performance appraisal won't work?"
Conducting Employee Appraisal

International Assignment Practices
The International assignment is an important component of HR. Read the following articles:
Am I Ready for that International Assignment?
Reducing the Failure of International assignment
The Benefits of International Assignment
Knowledge@Wharton offers a range of articles on HRM, leadership and several other management related topics. Hope you will find it useful. You may be asked to sign in with an email, but it is worth the trouble. The email is used to just update you about the latest articles.

Additional Resources on HRM
HRM articles ar Wharton

PBM II - Principles of Management SCU

2009-02-06T20:46:00.001+08:00

To make it easier to access all the posting on related topics (PBM II), I am including the following:

Assignments
All assignments should adopt the Harvard style referencing. Please read the document at the following link:

Harvard Referencing - Audio Presentation from USQ

Harvard Referencing

Harvard Referencing

References and Bibliography

Harvard Bibiliograpghy Reference Generator

Get your punctuation and grammar right. Try the following site:

Grammar

Grammar Exercises

Academic writing & critical thinking Learn how to write a good essay. Visit:
Writing an essay

Introduction to Management Principles
In order to do well in the Management and MHR module you should have a good understanding about the management principles and practices. You should at least read a basic textbook on management. For a quick familiarisation of Management principles and practices you may visit the following web sites:

http://www.trainingmag.com/msg/index.jsp

Principles of Management: PDF Book

Fayol's 14 Principles of management

Principles of Scientific Management
The study of management principles and practices is not complete until you have some basic understanding of Frederick Taylor's scientific management principles. You need to first know the basic details of the principles. You should also familiarise yourself with the relevance of the principles to a modern business organisation. You should find the following web links useful.

You can read Tarylor's book by following the link below:
The Principles of Scientific Management

Frederick Taylor's The Principles of Scientific Management

The following link analyse the Taylor's principle and its relevance to employee motivation:
The Scientific Management and Frederick Taylor - an analysis

An interesting analysis of Taylor's principles. Visit:
The Evolution of Innovation

Scientific Management

Business Ethics

Business Ethics

Plane Crash - Lesson for Managers

2009-01-18T10:21:00.000+08:00

The link between management and productivity

2009-01-06T10:46:00.002+08:00

The article from The McKinsey Quarterly is a must read if you are interested in productivity

There is a common assumption that if companies perform well, they must have good managers at all levels of the organization. It is, after all, hard to imagine a company surpassing its rivals if its managers are second rate. New research now confirms the notion that management matters to all companies, including the top performers. (MORE)
The Link between management and productivity

Upgrading talent

2009-01-06T10:43:00.001+08:00

Downturns place companies’ talent strategies at risk. As deteriorating performance forces increasingly aggressive head count reductions, it’s easy to lose valuable contributors inadvertently, damage morale or the company’s external reputation among potential employees, or drop the ball on important training and staff-development programs. But there is a better way. By emphasizing talent in cost-cutting efforts, employers can intelligently strengthen the value proposition they offer current and potential employees and position themselves strongly for growth when economic conditions improve. (MORE)
Upgrading talent -
A downturn can give smart companies a chance to upgrade their talent.

MHR: 2009 Posting

2008-11-21T08:07:00.001+08:00

The GE Mckinsey Nine Box Matrix

2008-10-29T08:05:00.002+08:00

Enduring ideas: The GE–McKinsey nine-box matrix
In one of a series of interactive presentations, McKinsey alumnus Kevin Coyne describes the GE–McKinsey nine-box matrix, a framework that offers a systematic approach for the multibusiness corporation to prioritize its investments among its business units.

The GE McKinsey nineboxmatrix

Managing Your Career

2008-10-27T18:13:00.000+08:00

Are you enjoying your work? If joy at work is something that is impossible for you, its time to learn practical strategies. To cope with your life you need to enjoy your work most of the time. Read the following articles:

How to survive an overwhelming job

What-to-do-when-you-hate-your-job

5 ways to manage a lousy boss

Battling your boss

Managing Knowledge

2008-10-26T22:28:00.004+08:00

The following articles from NASA publication provide very interesting perspective on Knowledge management.

Preserving Deep Smarts at NASA
Dorothy Leonard and Walter Swap

"By 2006, almost half of NASA's workers will be eligible for retirement, many of them in science and engineering.

Some of the knowledge likely to walk out the door is obsolete, irrelevant, or otherwise useless. But some of it is irreplaceable. Moreover, much is tacit, that is, not articulated in any form easily retrieved by others. And the most valuable of that expertise fits our definition of "deep smarts"... MORE
Knowledge management at NASA

"The Knowledge Sharing Initiative promotes excellence in project management and engineering leadership development. Its primary strategy focuses on gathering and sharing knowledge and wisdom from the best program/project and engineering leaders across the Agency. This initiative has proven to be an effective catalyst in building and supporting ongoing NASA communities of practice." MORE.. Knowledge Sharing

ASK MAGAZINE from NASA: "The Academy of Program/Project and Engineering Leadership (APPEL) and ASK Magazine help NASA managers and project teams accomplish today's missions and meet tomorrow's challenges by sponsoring knowledge-sharing events and publications, providing performance enhancement services and tools, supporting career development programs, and creating opportunities for project management and engineering collaboration with universities, professional associations, industry partners, and other government agencies... (.ASK Magazine from NASA

Managing Your Career: Creating Favorable Professional Image

2008-10-24T10:01:00.003+08:00

managing Your Career demands a number of responses. For one thing you are expected to create and sustain a positive image that is professional. It is more than just managing your dressing. You should also learn how to present your ideas. Visit the following site for additional information.

Managing Your Career

Creating an Effective Presentation

Keeping a Professional Image

Creative Thinking @ Work, 22&23 September

2008-09-15T11:12:00.004+08:00

Unfolding the Power of Creativity

Workshop on 22&23 September 2008
$495 including 2 coffee breaks & lunch, YWCA Fort Canning Lodge
Call 63370098 for registration

Do we really need to innovate? Once you recognize the fact that business organizations are under tremendous pressure to generate innovative ideas that are sought after by the market, you will no longer ask that question. Instead you’ll ask – How do we go about innovating for new ideas in our workplace? Organisations and senior managers accept the reality that the only way to remain viable and grow is to remain competitive through innovative products and services. Managers, Supervisors and Team Leaders play a critical role in the creative and innovation process in the organization.

In order to innovate for new ideas at the workplace, employees at all levels within the organization need to be trained on how to seek new ideas through creative approaches in their thinking. This requires the acceptance that creative thinking can be taught and be applied in a systematic manner. Once employees learn to ask SMART and RIGHT questions they will be able to generate useful and innovative ideas for their organization’s needs. This workshop is designed to train employees to ask SMART and RIGHT questions that will unfold great opportunities.

DHRM (PSB Academy): Training & Development

2008-09-03T18:55:00.000+08:00

Those who are in the T&D module may find the following links useful:

Assignments
All assignments should adopt the Harvard style referencing. Please read the document at the following link:

Harvard Referencing - Audio Presentation from USQ

Harvard Referencing

Harvard Referencing

References and Bibliography

Harvard Bibiliograpghy Reference Generator

Get your punctuation and grammar right. Try the following site:

Grammar

Grammar Exercises

Academic writing & critical thinking Learn how to write a good essay. Visit:
Writing an essay

T&D Related Content:

Training Design Process

Training Design

Benchmarking Basics

Benefits of Benchmarking

Benchmarking Steps

Benefits of multimedia delivery

Multimedia in training

Training Needs Analysis

making The Training Fits Your Business Needs

Training Evaluation

Adult Learning Theory

Principles of Adult Learning Theory

Understanding Adult Learning Theories

Self-Directed Learning

Learning Organisation

OJT - Singapore Experiences

OJT for the New Economy

DHRM (PSB Academy): Environment of HRM

2008-09-03T18:53:00.001+08:00

To make things easier for those who are studying the above module all the relevant background papers are listed in a single posting below:

All academic essays/assignments should adopt Hravard Referencing.Visit the following site for details:

Harvard Referencing

Harvard Referencing - Audio Presentation from USQ

Harvard Referencing

References and Bibliography

Harvard Bibiliograpghy Reference Generator
Get your punctuation and grammar right. Try the following site:

Grammar

Grammar Exercises

Academic writing & critical thinking
Learn how to write a good essay. Visit:
Writing an essay
e-Guide to The Employment Act of Singapore

Guidelines on Employment Practices

Case studies on Good Employment Practices in Singapore

Human Resource & Business Environment

What is Contract of Service?

Cost of Teacher Turnover

Cost of employee turnover

Organising Process

Organizational Evolution in a ‘Boundaryless’ Organization

From Traditional to Virtual Organisation: Implications for Work ...

Organisational Culture: Establishing what makes an Organisation Attractive

Understanding Organisation Culture and Innovation: A Case Study ...

Organisation Culture

Procedural Justice

Continuous Process Improvement

Kaizen - Continuous Improvement

Productivity

MHR: Video Clips

2008-08-09T10:42:00.002+08:00

If you wish to capture Dr Naomi Rotter's lecture in video try the following link:

HRM Videos

MHR

2008-08-09T10:42:00.000+08:00

HRM Videos

PBMII: principles of Management

2008-08-09T10:27:00.003+08:00

2008-08-08T11:32:00.002+08:00

Human Resource Management by Naomi Rotter

Lecture 01 - An Introduction to Human Resource Management

Lecture 02 - HRM Environments - Part 1

Lecture 03 - HRM Environments - Part 2

Lecture 04 - Managing Workforce Diversity

Lecture 05 - HR Planning

Lecture 06 - Human Resource Information Systems

Lecture 07 - Job Analysis

Lecture 08 - Recruitment

Lecture 09 - Staffing and Strategy Part 1

Lecture 10 - Staffing and Strategy Part 2

Lecture 11 - Training Part 1

Lecture 12 - Training Part 2

Lecture 13 - Career Development Part 1

Lecture 14 - Career Development Part 2

Lecture 15 - Performance Management and Appraisal Part 1

Lecture 16 - Performance Management and Appraisal Part 2

Lecture 17 - Compensation Stratery and Structure

Lecture 18 - Performance Based Pay

Lecture 19 - Benefits

Lecture 20 - Motivational Strategies

Lecture 21 - Union & Labor Relations

Lecture 22 - Collective Bargaining

Lecture 24 - EAP & Wellness Programs

Lecture 23 - Occupational Safety & Health

Lecture 26 - Organizational Strategy and HRM Effectiveness

Lecture 25 - International Aspects of HRM

MHR: 2008 Postings

2008-08-05T18:51:00.001+08:00

To make it easier to access all the posting on related topics, I am including the following:

Assignments
All assignments should adopt the Harvard style referencing. Please read the document at the following link:

Harvard Referencing - Audio Presentation from USQ

Harvard Referencing

Harvard Referencing

References and Bibliography

Harvard Bibiliograpghy Reference Generator

Get your punctuation and grammar right. Try the following site:

Grammar

Grammar Exercises

Academic writing & critical thinking Learn how to write a good essay. Visit:
Writing an essay

Introduction to Management Principles
In order to do well in the Management and MHR module you should have a good understanding about the management principles and practices. You should at least read a basic textbook on management. For a quick familiarisation of Management principles and practices you may visit the following web sites:

http://www.trainingmag.com/msg/index.jsp

http://ollie.dcccd.edu/mgmt1374/contents.html

Principles of Scientific Management
The study of management principles and practices is not complete until you have some basic understanding of Frederick Taylor's scientific management principles. You need to first know the basic details of the principles. You should also familiarise yourself with the relevance of the principles to a modern business organisation. You should find the following web links useful.

You can read Tarylor's book by following the link below:
The Principles of Scientific Management

Frederick Taylor's The Principles of Scientific Management

The following link analyse the Taylor's principle and its relevance to employee motivation:
The Scientific Management and Frederick Taylor - an analysis

An interesting analysis of Taylor's principles. Visit:
The Evolution of Innovation

Scientific Management

Business Ethics

Business Ethics

Job Analysis
Job analysis is carried out as part of HR Planning. There are several reasons for conducting Job Analysis. Read the recommended chapter in your text book (Human Resource Management by Gary Dessler) and the articles at the following websites. At the end of the reading, you should be able to explain the following concepts:

- What is Job Analysis?
- Job description and Job specification
- Reasons for conducting job analysis.
- Methods of data collection for job analysis
- Steps you will adopt when conducting job analysis

Job analysis
Job Analysis - an overview
Employee tasks & Job analysis

Recruitment & Selection
You will be able to learn almost all aspects of recruitment and selection from the following site (maintained by The Open University):

Recruitment & selection

Once recruitment is settled it is time to move on to selection. You should familiarise yourself on the following aspects of selection:
- Selections tests
- What is job interview and its purpose
- Common errors associated with job interviews
- Steps/solutions you need to adopt to make the selction interview effective.

Read the articles at the following sites:
Selection Process
Selection Tests
Successful Hiring
Successful selection

Training & Development
Resources on Training & Development
Benefits of Training
Training - is it worth?
Training Needs Analysis
Training Evaluation
Evaluating the training

Performance Appraisal
Read the articles at the following websites to familiarise yourself about Performance Appraisal:
Introduction to performance appraisal
Common Appraisal Errors
Why performance appraisal won't work?"
Conducting Employee Appraisal

International Assignment Practices
The International assignment is an important component of HR. Read the following articles:
Am I Ready for that International Assignment?
Reducing the Failure of International assignment
The Benefits of International Assignment
Knowledge@Wharton offers a range of articles on HRM, leadership and several other management related topics. Hope you will find it useful. You may be asked to sign in with an email, but it is worth the trouble. The email is used to just update you about the latest articles.

Additional Resources on HRM
HRM articles ar Wharton

Compensation & benefits

2008-05-20T23:15:00.002+08:00

Some sites for those researching on Staff Compensation & benefits.

Compensation,

Compensation at Intel, Singapore

DHRM: Training & Development (PSB)

2008-05-06T10:39:00.001+08:00

Wireless Transmission of Electricity

2008-03-14T11:39:00.002+08:00

n the past, people like Nikola Telsa did attempt to beam electricity around wirelessly. That attempt that started during the late 19th century came to an end when funding ran out for his research. When the world was willing to live with wired network of electricity, the reason for developing wireless network to transmit electricity took a back seat.

Recently Marin Soljačić, from MIT, was dragged out of bed by the insistent beeping of a cell phone. "This one didn't want to stop until you plugged it in for charging," says Soljačić. In his exhausted state, he wished the phone would just begin charging itself as soon as it was brought into the house.

That problem triggered the journey for wireless transmission. Watch the video

Wireless Energy

Change Management

2008-03-02T09:14:00.002+08:00

Change Management

Resources on Change Management

HRM: Recruitment

2008-03-01T11:30:00.003+08:00

The internal recruitment is one source of recruitment. There are several benefits associated with the practice. However, one should also be aware of the shortcomings of the practice. Read the materials at the following sites

Internal recruitment

Benefits of Internal Recruitment

Social Responsibility & Ethics

2008-01-25T17:03:00.001+08:00

Should a business consider social responsibility? Those who subscribe to classical view of the concept will say 'no' to the socio-economic view held by progressive business owners and managers. Business firms and organistions are beginning to recognise the usefulness of the concept as a competitive tool.

Social Responsibility

Managing Ethics

Managing Office Politics

2007-12-28T08:36:00.000+08:00

Do you know how to manage the office politics in your workplace? Sooner you master the skills to manage the office politics, better will be your work life. Read the article.

Play Office Politics Without Dirty

MHR: Resources

2007-12-23T18:05:00.001+08:00

To make it easier to access all the posting on related topics, I am including the following:

Assignments
All assignments should adopt the Harvard style referencing. Please read the document at the following link:

Harvard Referencing - Audio Presentation from USQ

Harvard Referencing

Harvard Referencing

References and Bibliography

Harvard Bibiliograpghy Reference Generator

Get your punctuation and grammar right. Try the following site:

Grammar

Grammar Exercises

Academic writing & critical thinking Learn how to write a good essay. Visit:
Writing an essay

Introduction to Management Principles
In order to do well in the Management and MHR module you should have a good understanding about the management principles and practices. You should at least read a basic textbook on management. For a quick familiarisation of Management principles and practices you may visit the following web sites:

http://www.trainingmag.com/msg/index.jsp

http://ollie.dcccd.edu/mgmt1374/contents.html

Principles of Scientific Management
The study of management principles and practices is not complete until you have some basic understanding of Frederick Taylor's scientific management principles. You need to first know the basic details of the principles. You should also familiarise yourself with the relevance of the principles to a modern business organisation. You should find the following web links useful.

You can read Tarylor's book by following the link below:
The Principles of Scientific Management

Frederick Taylor's The Principles of Scientific Management

The following link analyse the Taylor's principle and its relevance to employee motivation:
The Scientific Management and Frederick Taylor - an analysis

An interesting analysis of Taylor's principles. Visit:
The Evolution of Innovation

Scientific Management

Business Ethics

Business Ethics

Job Analysis
Job analysis is carried out as part of HR Planning. There are several reasons for conducting Job Analysis. Read the recommended chapter in your text book (Human Resource Management by Gary Dessler) and the articles at the following websites. At the end of the reading, you should be able to explain the following concepts:

- What is Job Analysis?
- Job description and Job specification
- Reasons for conducting job analysis.
- Methods of data collection for job analysis
- Steps you will adopt when conducting job analysis

Job analysis
Job Analysis - an overview
Employee tasks & Job analysis

Recruitment & Selection
You will be able to learn almost all aspects of recruitment and selection from the following site (maintained by The Open University):

Recruitment & selection

Once recruitment is settled it is time to move on to selection. You should familiarise yourself on the following aspects of selection:
- Selections tests
- What is job interview and its purpose
- Common errors associated with job interviews
- Steps/solutions you need to adopt to make the selction interview effective.

Read the articles at the following sites:
Selection Process
Selection Tests
Successful Hiring
Successful selection

Training & Development
Resources on Training & Development
Benefits of Training
Training - is it worth?
Training Needs Analysis
Training Evaluation
Evaluating the training

Performance Appraisal
Read the articles at the following websites to familiarise yourself about Performance Appraisal:
Introduction to performance appraisal
Common Appraisal Errors
Why performance appraisal won't work?"
Conducting Employee Appraisal

International Assignment Practices
The International assignment is an important component of HR. Read the following articles:
Am I Ready for that International Assignment?
Reducing the Failure of International assignment
The Benefits of International Assignment
Knowledge@Wharton offers a range of articles on HRM, leadership and several other management related topics. Hope you will find it useful. You may be asked to sign in with an email, but it is worth the trouble. The email is used to just update you about the latest articles.

Additional Resources on HRM
HRM articles ar Wharton

ADBS: OB - Resources

2007-12-20T14:35:00.001+08:00

To help you to acquire a broader understanding of the topics covered in your module, I am providing the following links for your reading.

OB Mod- Organizational Behaviour Modification

Classical Conditioning

Social Learning Theory

Communication barriers

Managing Resistance to Change

Managing Change - 8 step process

Sources of Power

The Stages of Group Development

DHRM: T&D - Outsourcing

2007-12-20T13:06:00.000+08:00

Additional resources on outsourcing in relation to training and development

Benefits of outsourcing

Outsourcing Training Function

DHRM: T&D - Understanding Benchmarking

2007-12-20T13:03:00.000+08:00

Benchmarking Basics

Benefits of Benchmarking

Benchmarking Steps

Harvard Referencing

2007-12-18T18:58:00.001+08:00

All assignments should adopt the Harvard style referencing. Please read the document at the following link:

Harvard Referencing - Audio Presentation from USQ

Harvard Referencing

Harvard Referencing

Get your punctuation and grammar right. Try the following site:

Grammar

Grammar Exercises

Academic writing & critical thinking
Learn how to write a good essay. Visit:
Writing an essay

Treating Customers Like Sheikhs

2007-12-15T10:07:00.001+08:00

What makes Emirates different? The airline had just $10 million dollars investment 22 years ago. It is an international airline that is known for its outstanding service. How it happened?

Maurice Flanagan's Emirates Airline: Flying High and Treating Customers like Sheikhs Published: December 12, 2007 in Knowledge@Wharton

Hitachi - Clean Energy

2007-11-28T23:55:00.001+08:00

Hitachi - True Stories

2007-11-28T23:47:00.000+08:00

Toyota Way

2007-11-14T22:22:00.000+08:00

Hofstede's Cultural Dimension

2007-10-13T12:50:00.000+08:00

How would you describe the Singapore managers? How they rank compared to others in the Hofstede's model? Try the following links:

Geert Hofstede™ Cultural Dimensions

Managing across culture

EXPLORING THE RELATIONSHIPS AMONG ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE,CUSTOMER SATISFACTION, AND PERFORMANCE

Leadership articles from Centre for Creative Leadership

2007-10-12T17:39:00.000+08:00

10 Trends: A Study of Senior Executives' Views on the Future. This new, groundbreaking research reveals what global business leaders believe are the 10 biggest trends in effective leadership. Among them: collaboration, innovation and talent management.(Source CCT website). Ten Trends

Leadership Development: Past, Present, and Future "This article reviews notable trends in the leadership development field. In the past two decades, such trends included the proliferation of new leadership development methods and a growing recognition of the importance of a leader's emotional resonance with others. (CCT website)
Leadership Development: Past, Present, and Future

The Everyday Leadership research study attempts to better understand non-traditional leaders -- stay-at-home moms, small business owners, students, doctors, educators -- by gaining insights into their personal lives, their thoughts and theories about the practice of leadership, and their hopes for the future. The Everyday Leadership

The State of Teams - A Research White Paper from CCL
CCL's 2006 State of Teams white paper provides a broad look at the challenges, needs, and functioning of teams in today's organizations.The State of Teams

DHRM: Env of HRM

2007-10-12T11:33:00.001+08:00

To make things easier for those who are studying the above module all the relevant background papers are listed in a single posting below:

e-Guide to The Employment Act of Singapore

Guidelines on Employment Practices

Case studies on Good Employment Practices in Singapore

Human Resource & Business Environment

Cost of Teacher Turnover

Cost of employee turnover

Organising Process

Organizational Evolution in a ‘Boundaryless’ Organization

From Traditional to Virtual Organisation: Implications for Work ...

Organisational Culture: Establishing what makes an Organisation Attractive

Understanding Organisation Culture and Innovation: A Case Study ...

Organisation Culture

Procedural Justice

All academic essays/assignments should adopt Hravard Referencing.Visit the following site for details:

Harvard Referencing

Get your punctuation and grammar right. Try the following site:

Grammar

Grammar Exercises

Academic writing & critical thinking
Learn how to write a good essay. Visit:
Writing an essay

HRM articles at Knowledge@Wharton

2007-10-05T00:03:00.000+08:00

Knowledge@Wharton offers a range of articles on HRM, leadership and several other management related topics. Hope you will find it useful. You may be asked to sign in with an email, but it is worth the trouble. The email is used to just update you about the latest articles.

HRM articles ar Wharton

Links to Magazines and Newspapers

2007-10-02T11:53:00.001+08:00

Visit the following links to keep track of latest business developments:

BusinessWeek

Time Magazine

Today

Recruitment Strategies That Work

2007-09-27T21:18:00.000+08:00

How are you going to attrcat talented employees? Is there any way you can cope with big boys in the industry? Read the article at workforce.

Recruitment Strategies

Arul
www.CreativityAsia

How HR practices are connected to Business Strategy?

2007-09-27T14:53:00.000+08:00

Read the article titled 'Manage Tomorrow Today'.

How and why should we manage the people in the organisation? What should we do when managing human capital? Read the article using the link below.

Manage Tomorrow Today

How ro Write a great assignment?

2007-09-26T08:22:00.000+08:00

All academic essays/assignments should adopt Hravard Referencing.Visit the following site for details:

Harvard Referencing

Get your punctuation and grammar right. Try the following site:

Grammar

Grammar Exercises

Academic writing & critical thinking
Learn how to write a good essay. Visit:
Writing an essay

Work-Life Programme

2007-09-08T13:44:00.000+08:00

The following site offers information about work-life programme and practices.

CSR Singapore

Work Life practices at ABN AMRO

Visit the following link and read the documents on Work-life strategies.

Work-life Strategies

Self Improvement

2007-08-25T15:41:00.000+08:00

We need to aacquire the right habits to keep growing. Without self improvement it would be impossible to grow and experience success in our life. The blogLifeskills4success offers a number of links and articles aimed at self improvement. Click here for details: Lifeskills4success

Harvard Style Referencing

2007-08-13T22:50:00.000+08:00

All assignments should adopt the Harvard style referencing. Please read the document at the following link:

Harvard Referencing - Audio Presentation from USQ

Harvard Referencing

Customer Service -Getting it Right

2007-08-11T17:51:00.000+08:00

Every business organisation knows the importance of customer service standards. Some simply stay with a practical but a powerful GST approach - Ask their employees to Greet, Smile and say Thank You. When every business start incorporating GST in their service standards, you no longer enjoys a competitive advantage. Is there a way to stand out from the rest of crowd? You have to make sure every employee at all levels are actively involved in making their service speacial and unique. Employees at all levels with differing abilities can actively participate in proving customer service. If you want your employees at all level to go for the extra mile, then ask each one to watch this video in the link provided below.

If you are keen to get a in-house customer service excellence workshop for your organisation then: Send E-Mail to Centre for Creatve Thinking. Clients from Malaysia may call: 012-3479113 as well as email for details.

Customer Service Excellence - An Inspiring Video

PBM: Total Quality Management

2007-08-10T23:27:00.000+08:00

The TQM is seen as a competitive advantage. When organisations are unable to compete on pricing, the only option is gain a competitive advantage based on quality. What is TQM and their principles? Try the following links:

TQM

Understanding TQM

Leadership Development Plan

2007-07-30T20:48:00.000+08:00

Is it possible to develop the leadership potential within you? First you must belief that you have the potential for becoming a leader. It is that belief that becomes the basis when unfolding the leadership potentrial within you.

A thorough self awareness of your strengths and weaknesses is the first step if you are keen to develop the leadership skills. Seeking feedback form your friends, colleagues and close family members is one way to assess your strengths and weaknesses. If you are not so comfortable seeking feedback from thes egroup, then stepping aside and learning to self relflect is another option. You should be able to identify a number of assessment tools you can use to identify your areas of expertise, strengths and weaknesses.

Complete the assessment tool below to gain a better understanding about yourself:

Know yourself

Understanding Leadership

Then start with the ledaership development plan referred in the following document:

Developing The Leadership Within You

Managing Organizational Culture

2007-07-30T20:29:00.000+08:00

Why should anyone be bothered about organisational culture? What is organizational culture? A common shared meaning right across the organisation is generally seen as the culture of the firm. In other words that is their way doing things in that place. There seems to be a common understanding among the employees, even though not everyone understand the reasons for doing them. The rituals and work processes are simply adopted as the norm.

Read the following articles at the three links for a better understanding of the topics:

Culture and Chrysler

Understanding Culture

Comprehensive view on Organizational Culture

Relevance of Performance Appraisal

2007-07-30T20:12:00.000+08:00

Almost all the organizations carry out employee evaluation on a regular basis. The exercise carried right across the organisation attempts to document the employees' performance using certain standard forms. Though there are some valid reasons for conducting staff performance evaluation, there are people who argues that the annual exercise simply waste valuable time. Citing the various shortcomings of the HR functions they argue that the activity be dropped completly.

Is that the right thing to do? Should we discontinue the practice of conducting staff appraisal?It would be more appropriate to identify the shortcomings of the staff performance evaluation and take corrective actions to deal with the problems, instead of simply dropping it altogether. In this way one can still take full advantage of the benefits of employee performance review. The staff performance is closely tied up to the whole range of HR activities. The overall effectivenes sof the HR functions can't be harnesses without conducting employee performance review on a regular basis.

What should be the approach? The Harvard Business Week attempts to answer the related questions about performance appraisal. Enjoy the article.

Performance Appraisal

MHR: Understanding HR Functions

2007-07-22T09:41:00.000+08:00

Read the articles using the link below for a better understanding of the various functions of HRM.

Performance Appraisal

Workforce diversity

Employee Motivation

Managing Your Job Interview

2007-07-16T08:38:00.000+08:00

How do you cope with a job interview? Are you prepared to do well in your next job interview. Look at the link provided. read the related stories. Don't forget to search the Internet for additional information on how to manage your next job interview.

Managing Your Next Job Interview Well

What to Wear?

Men's Clothing

What to do after a Job Interview?

Changing Nature of Workplace

2007-07-16T08:28:00.000+08:00

The 21st century business corporations are going through radical changes. This appears to be the only way to cope with the challenges facing the business firm. How can these companies continue to attract and retain the best talent. Hopefully the following article from Business week will throw some light.

New Work Place

Flexitime

Managing Meetings - Other Options

Managing Your Marketing Problems

2007-07-07T21:27:00.000+08:00

How do you manage your marketing problems? What is 4P's? For answers to these and other marketing related questions, visit the following link

Marketing Problem Solving

Cross Cultural Misunderstanding

2007-07-07T21:10:00.001+08:00

Misunderstanding across culture is common. In a global economy, one need to be more sensitive to the cultural differences.Be prepared at all time, so that you will not face embarassing moments.

Cross Cultural Miscommunication

Managing Conflict - Business Communication

2007-07-03T08:44:00.000+08:00

How do we handle conflicts in our workplace? Watch both the videos. You should be able to learn something.

Conflict

Intercultural Communication

Understanding Marketing

2007-07-03T08:27:00.000+08:00

It is crtical to understand the various aspects of marketing. This is useful, even if your studying non-marketing modules. Try the following link to gain a better understanding about the concept

Understanding Consumers

Introduction to Marketing

International Marketing

International Business

Channel Distribution

Disciplining and Terminating Employees

2007-07-02T10:34:00.000+08:00

One can't simply fire an employee without following certain procedures. Conducting a Disciplinary Interview is an important aspect of managing people at work. How do you conduct a disciplinary interview?

The number of steps you need to adopt can be grouped under three categories - there are number of steps you should adopt before the disciplinary interview (preparation/planning elements), a number of practices one should follow during the actual face-to-face encounter (conducting/implementation) and practices one should complete at the end of the disciplinary interview (documentation/review).

One may consider the following steps when you need to conduct a disciplinary interview:

- gather all the relevant data relating to the disciplinary interview.
- Review the personnel folder of the employee for past records.
- take note of employee's contribution
- Verify the facts, so that you will be able to defend your facts.
- Conduct the interview in a private room.
- Be prepared to face 'an angry employee'.
- Explainthe purpose of the meeting.
- Be specific about the issue/incident
- Do acknowledge employee's past achievements.
- Present the facts without sounding too harsh or unreasonable.
- Ask questions to bring out the facts
- Listen actively to ensure that employee do understand what is going on.
- Encourage employee to tell his/her side of the story.
- provide ample time to let the employee defend himself/herself.
- Accept valid reasons.
- Agree on the corrective action.
- Ensure common understanding
- Document your discussions

What about firing an employee? Cascio, in his book titled 'Managing Human Resources: Productivity, Quality of Work Life, Profits', citing reseraches carried out by others recoomend that the supervisor/manager follow the 'five rules for the termination interview'.

1. Present your decision in a clear and concise manner.

2. Don't argue or debate about the issue.

3. Treat the person with respect.

4. Practice empathy.

5. Discuss the next step designed to let the employee cope with the situation.

The following video clip from Businessweek should be useful to understand the topic.

Firing an Employee

Work-Life Programme - Are they worth the money?

2007-06-11T18:48:00.000+08:00

The present work-life programmes was originally known as the Work-family programme. Cascio in his book (Managing Human Resources: Productivity, Quality of Work Life, Profits published by McGraw-Hill) defines the work-life concept that recognizes the reality that employees do face family issues and those issues invariably affect their performance at work. The Work-life programme includes all employer sponsored benefits that assist employees to manage their work and non-work demands in a more meaningful manner.

The 21st century business firms recognise the need to manage the well-being of employees from a broader perspective. They recognise that unless the employees are well taken care of, their engagement in the work will not be a whole-hearted affair. The work-life approach and practices are seen as a win-win situation.

The Ministry of Manpower, Singapore (www.mom.gov.sg) , lists a number of benefits arising out of work-life strategies, including the following:

Increased productivity;
Improved recruitment and retention;
Lower absenteeism rates;
Improved customer experience; and
A more motivated, satisfied and equitable workforce

Cascio, citing the researches carried by others list the work-life programs into five broad categories. They are:

Child benefits
Flexible working conditions
Leave options
HR policies
Cultural issues

The author lists a number of benefits arising from employer sponsored child care services on site. The benefits of this practice include the following:

Reduced employee absenteeism
Increase in the availability of staff to get things done
Reduced tardiness

A good work-life programme should result in financial savings to the company.

The reduction of the number of days missed by parents following the implementation of onsite child care services is the major reason as to why business firms adopt the practice. When some USA business corporations started providing elder care services, their labour turnover dropped significantly. Less employees were quitting their jobs to provide elder care responsibilities for their parents. Considering the cost of labour turnover, this is a cost saving to these business organisations.

Business corporations that provide supportive policies aimed at allowing employees to manage their stress experienced a far less employee burnout and stress. The HR policies and practices make it a little easier to manage and solve their personal problems. Cascio citing the research evidences (p.61) offers the following as the ‘drivers of retention’:

Career development opportunities
Confidence in the future
Feelings of accomplishment
Amount of joy at work
Sense of job security

The MOM website documents the outcome of work-life program adopted by Changi General Hospital. The hospital offers the following services to its employees (source: www.mom.gov.sg) :

Health and wellness programmes, including annual health screening, weight loss management programmes and health talks. The families of staff members are also encouraged to participate in healthy lifestyle activities such as walkathons and to make use of CGH's in-house facilities to monitor their own health.
Convenience services such as courier pick-up services, referral services on dependent care and school holiday enrichment programmes for the children of staff members
Organised peer support programme to provide psychological support to staff who are affected by cumulative stress in the healthcare environment, helping them to cope with emotional problems at wor.
Workplace childcare center
Fitness center
Organised talks and seminars on family issues”

The site lists the following as the benefits of the above measures (source MOM website – www.mom.gov.sg) :

“An improvement in its employee satisfaction index - its biennial Employee Opinion Survey shows scores significantly better than the Singapore norm
Its health and wellness programmes have resulted in a drastic drop in the percentage of staff with conditions such as hypertension and high glucose levels, leading to a 25 percent decrease in medical expenses per staff between FY2002 and FY2003
Lowered attrition rate - fell by half from 26.64% in 1997 to 13.44% in 1998
Flexi-hour take up rate is 4.1%, higher than the national average of less than 1.5%”

Robbins and Judge in their book ‘Organizational Behavior’ (12th edition) lists a number of work-life initiatives (p.565). As part of time based strategies organizations offer flexitime, job sharing, part-time work, leave for new parents and telecommuting. Business firm, such as Lucent, Marriott, Merck and Xerox offer culture-change strategies focused work-life program with the following initiatives:

Training for managers to manage their conflicts
Compensation based on employee satisfaction

Despite the benefits of Work-life initiatives, Cascio do emphasize the need to be cautious in making the business case for work-life programs (p. 62).

Understand that no one set of facts and figures will make the case for all firms.
Don’t rely on isolated facts to make the business case.
Don’t place work-life initiatives under an unreasonable burden of proof.

Managing Diversity in the Workplace

2007-06-05T20:17:00.000+08:00

While diversity is a problem to most organizations, successful corporations learn to manage to their full advantage. By adopting new structure and work practices that are radically different from those traditional minded management, these organizations managed to acquire a competitive advantage in the global market place. The whole purpose of managing diversity is to bring out the best of employees Talent, Abilities, Skills and Knowledge for the benefits of individual employees as well as the well-being of the corporations. When workforce diversity is well managed, no employee in the organization feels disadvantaged.

Business firms are beginning to recognize the power of workforce diversity as a competitive tool. Cascio in his book 'Managing Human Resource: Productivity, Quality of Work life, Profits (published by McGraw Hill in 2006) recommends asking the following questions in order to justify that diversity is, in fact a competitive factor:

How can diversity help business corporations expand their operation into global market?
How can diversity help to build and sustain brand equity and improve consumer spending?
How does workforce diversity enhances an organization's HR strategies?
How does the diversity element build corporate image among the consumers?
Does diversity improve operational efficiency?How?

Cascio citing studies done by several researchers, answers each of the above question with examples to make a business case for diversity. In the process of discussing the business case for diversity, the author want the readers to ask an important question – 'What steps can you take as a manager to become more effective in a work environment that is more diverse than ever?”.

Workforce diversity should be seen in terms of age, gender. Race, ethnic composition, religion and nationality. Successful 21st century corporations no longer view diversity as a problematic issue. They view diversity as an opportunity that can be utilized to compete more effectively in the local and global markets.

According to Cascio (2006, p.119) managing diversity means aiming for a 'heterogeneous workforce' that is capable of achieving its potential in a non-discriminatory, fair and just work environment.

What are the reasons for diversity being considered as an important activity in managing the human resources? Cascio lists the following 5 reasons as to why diversity has become an important activity:

Shift from manufacturing to a service economy
Globalization
Innovative business strategies that demands teamwork
Mergers and Alliances
Changing labor market conditions

Unlike the jobs in the manufacturing industry, service industry (banking, financial services) job holders need to maintain close and constant contact with their customers. Service industry employees are required to understand the needs and expectations of their customers. With increased customer base that is diverse, no business firm has the luxury to ignore the customer groups. To take full advantage of the opportunity corporations need to bring employees who understand and can relate to the diverse customer base. This is to ensure in the words of Cascio “workforce should mirror their customers”. This enables a smooth operations and more cordial interactions between the business firms and their customers.

Recognizing the limited market locally, more and more corporations look at the global market for sustaining and enhancing the market share. With the Globalization of markets, business corporations should learn how to manage the workforce diversity. Successful corporations try to learn from their colleagues around the world. This will enhance corporate performance. That would not be possible without a system to manage diversity.

In their attempt to cope with the problems and challenges facing their corporations, managers realize the limitations of the traditional forms of organizational structure. The strategies that need to be put in place can no longer be managed by the traditional hierarchy based command and control system. For these strategies to work you need team effort. Teams basically means diverse labor force. Successful team management is about successfully managing workforce diversity. To emphasize the usefulness of teams, Cascio (2006, p.123)quotes the words from Ted Childs, vice president, IBM Global Workforce Diversity: “When a company's vision includes the growing mix of the talent pool and the customer base, then the real argument for diversity is the business case”.

Mergers, acquisitions and alliances are becoming more common then ever before. When two business corporations decide to pool their expertise and other resources following mergers, acquisitions and alliances know the difficulties they will face, if they do not have an effective system in place to make them work together. The cultures of merged companies differ. The strategic partner's way of doing things may be different. The values, beliefs and the norms may not be an 100 per cent match. To avoid culture shock and clash of culture, organizations should put a system in place, so that employees at all level understand and accept their differences, while working towards taking full advantage of diversity that came about following mergers, acquisitions and strategic alliance. Here the focus is on seizing the opportunities arising out of diversity and being proactive in managing the diversity related issues. To make this work, managers at the top level must be convinced of the competitive advantages of workforce diversity.

The labor market is changing rapidly. More women are entering the labor market and they continue to remain in the labor market for longer period of time. Business corporations should adopt appropriate measures to meet the unique needs of the women. Balancing work and life appears to be the main focus, when it comes to managing female workforce. Cascio's Managing Human Resources: productivity, Quality of Work Life, Profits lists the following six ways that corporations may adopt to take the interests and well being of their women employees:

Alternative career paths
Extended leave
Flexible work scheduling
Flexi-time
Job sharing
Tele-working

Organizations need to train their employees about diversity and its usefulness to the well being of the corporation. Diversity training is a critical part when managing diversity. According to Cascio (p.124) employees need to 'understand and value' the differences among them. The acceptance of differences in a positive manner is critical if the corporation is keen to enable innovation thorough creative thinking in the workplace.