Capital Projects and Strategic Direction Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Capital Projects and Strategic Direction - Essay Example (Bender & Ward, 2002) A typical process to evaluate a project involves assessing its net present value by discounting the future cash flows of a firm with appropriate discount rate and deducting the resulting amount from the total capital outlay spent on the project. If the net present value of the project is positive it adds value to the firm and if it is negative, it could not add value to the firm. The value addition proposition of the capital projects is therefore their net present value. If the net present value is positive, it adds value to the firm and the shareholders. Positive NPV of the project therefore is considered as the key criteria for adding value to the firm. If NPV of the capital project is negative, it is assumed that it will not add value to the firm and hence could not maximize the value of the firm or the value for the shareholders. Major capital projects with positive NPV help the organization’s stock prices to increase by such projects give a signal to the investors that the firm is adding more capacity to it and expanding its markets. Expansion through new capital projects therefore also allow the firms to increase the future cash flow generation of the firm and hence increase their share prices also.

Strengths and Weaknesses of Incident Reporting in Nursing

Strengths and Weaknesses of Incident Reporting in Nursing Problem based learning. Using the nursing process as a model formulate an action plan by critically analysing the strengths and weaknesses of incident reporting in relation to nursing. Identify reasons for a low level of incident reporting and offer a solution to the problem, eg. awareness of incident reporting procedures, accountability, consequences of not reporting incidents. Include professional, ethical and legal practice as it relates to the role of the nurse: continuing professional development following registration. Introduction Problem solving in nursing is often aligned to the ‘nursing process’, which is the APIE model – assessment, planning, implementation and evaluation. Using this structure in problem solving allows the nurse to assess the problem, by gathering information about it, plan how to address the problem, and also plan how to implement change and evaluate the process. It is important to use structured approaches to problem solving which include evaluation so that the problem can be reassessed and actions changed accordingly. In this essay, the problem of low levels of incident reporting in clinical practice will be explored, through a review of the literature, and an action plan will be developed which is in line with the professional, legal and ethical imperatives which underlie nursing practice. It is important to identify the problem carefully, understand the potential reasons for the problem, and then to use this information to plan changes in practice which will allow the problem to be resolved, partially or fully. Discussion Assessment Incident reporting serves a number of purposes within clinical practice. It is part of the risk management process, for example, and is focused on improving patient safety (Wagner et al, 2004). â€Å"Incident reporting captures more contextual information about incidents, and, when actively promoted within the clinical setting, it can detect more preventable adverse events than medical record review† (Evans et al, 2006 p 40). Taylor et al (2004) show that reporting allows for the understanding of and prevention of medical and healthcare errors, and provides data on the occurrence, frequency, types and results of such events. Incident reports however can also be used for â€Å"personnel credentialing and review (Taylor et al, 2004). According to Waring (2005) â€Å"the management of errors requires an acceptance of error with consideration given to the relationship between individual human behaviour and the factors that influence this behaviour† (p 1928). This means that the organisation must be responsive to incident reporting (Waring, 2005). However, incident reporting activities remain at low rates in many clinical areas, or do not report all of the incidents or the range of incidents that occur (Nuckols et al, 2007). There are limitations to what the incident reporting systems seem to be able to achieve in practice. â€Å"The subjective nature of reports, the lack of consistency and validation of incident data classification, and underreporting constrain incident reporting from being used as a reliable epidemiological tool to measure the frequency of events and whether interventions are effective in improving patient safety† (Evans et al, 2006 p 40). What this shows is that incident reporting is a very important aspect of the ongoing surveillance and improvement of healthcare practice. This underreporting may be due to a number of reasons, including a reluctance to admit mistakes or to be seen as being ‘to blame’, because of a sense of vulnerability on the part of nurses and other professionals (Bolsin et al, 2005). Johnstone and Kanitsaki (2006) state that as disciplinary and legal cases against nursing staff show, reporting nursing-related errors carries a risk for the nurses themselves, which is something which should be addressed in relation to promoting better incident reporting. It may also, in relation to medical professionals, be because a sense of medical hegemony which leaves doctors feeling invulnerable (Bolsin et al, 2005). However, the NMC (2008) requires nurses to be accountable for their own practice, to put patient needs and safety at the centre of all their actions, and to strive for the highest possible standards of care. Therefore, incident reporting must form a part of good nursing practice. Even the sense of vulnerability that can come from working in unsupportive clinical environments should not erase the legal obligation to report incidents which have adversely affected patients. Organisational culture may limit the incident reporting of the staff involved (Waring, 2005). Also, misconceptions of what constitutes an error may limit reporting activities (Throckmorton and Etchegaray, 2007). However the literature also suggests other reasons might prevent nurses from reporting adverse clinical incidents, despite the legal, professional and moral imperative to do so. One reason might be that the process of incident reporting is seen as too onerous. â€Å"Traditional narrative methods of documenting adverse incidents are time consuming and may not yield sufficient and accurate data.† (Wagner et al, 2004 p 835). Evans et al (2006) suggest that those incidents which occur most frequently, as well as incidents which are not easy to record using the typical recording systems seen in many clinical areas. Evans et al (2006) in their research found that barriers to incident reporting for doctors included a lack of feedback from reporting incidents previously, the form used taking far too long to complete, along with a belief that the incidents not reported were too trivial to be reported. Nurses, however, although they also found a lack of feedback prevented them reporting incidents, but unlike doctors, they believed that there was no point in reporting near misses, and they quite often forgot to make a report when the ward was too busy (Evans et al, 2006). Incident reporting can be related to specific clinical risks for target populations, groups or clinical areas. For example, incident reporting on falls in elderly care settings is a high priority (Wagner et al, 2004). It is also commonly a priority in relation to medication errors (Handler et al, 2007). The solutions to this problem are potentially diverse. The literature shows that for some clinical areas, for example, changing the documentation to suit the area and the kinds of incidents being reported might improve incident reporting rates and reduce incident rates (Wagner et al, 2004). Thus, providing streamlined, focused documentation might be a solution, but this would have to be quite specific, and some clinical areas might contain too many diverse risks for this. Vogus and Sutcliffe (2007) suggest a more managerial approach to improving incident reporting rates, such as bundling safety organizing with leadership (trust in manager) and design (use of care pathways) factors into nursing practice. Their research suggests that managerial approaches which affect the everyday behaviours of nurses can improve incident reporting (Vogus and Sutcliffe, 2007). Handler et al (2007) in their research showed that organizational-level interventions rather than individual-level interventions improved medication error reporting. Nakajima et al (2005) suggest that incident reporting should form part of patient safety programmes, and suggest the use of a web-based incident reporting system, along with identified staff responsible for incident reporting and support, staff education programmes, and integrated (and varied) feedback mechanisms. They found that this mulit-layered approach helped to improve and support a safety culture, improve multidisciplinary collaboration, and an overall systemic improvement, but that this required strong managerial leadership (Nakajima et al, 2005). Evans et al (2007) also used a similar approach, with identified people at all levels of staffing who supported the process, tailored incident reporting systems, and staff education. Kingston et al (2004) focus on the use of all kinds of supportive approaches and mechanisms to basically motivate staff to report errors. â€Å" Both medical and nursing participants made comments that a more effective and efficient incident reporting system without threat or blame, providing prompt, relevant feedback and driving improvements in health administration, would possibly motivate medical staff to report† (p 38). Pierson et al (2007) state that â€Å"web-based or electronic error reporting systems are particularly effective in increasing the quantity and quality fo reporting and yielding the type of information needed for improving care† (p 297). This would suggest that the use of some kind of electronic system would be an appropriate way of improving incident reporting, although this author believes this might depend on the skills and attitudes of staff concerned. Taylor et al (2004) cite similar findings from their research, suggesting that electronic reporting systems could make it easier and quicker, and state that â€Å"a substantial educational effort, aimed at nurses and, in particular, physicians, about which types of events should be reported and how to report errors is needed† (p 734). Dollarhide et al (2007) show the efficacy of a handheld-based electronic reporting tool for clinical incident reporting, showing that this made reporting much easier and more streamlined , but these would be too costly for the NHS setting. Planning The change that would be needed is summarised below. The change would be planned to incorporate the following elements: Identification of key personnel, including managerial level leaders, and staff across each grade and within each profession, to support the patient safety programme. Development of a mission statement encompassing patient safety protocols and incident reporting processes Development of incident reporting tools for specific incident reports, and an electronic/digital/web-based or email-available general reporting form. Development and implementation of a staff education programme on the new system, and incorporation of training and updating on staff mandatory study days (attended yearly). Development of a range of feedback mechanisms to staff are aware of what happens to the cases that are reported upon. Implementation All of the above activities should be finalised before the change is implemented. The key personnel will help to disseminate the information about the change, and then implement the change, supporting staff constantly as they adjust to the new procedures for reporting. Evaluation Evaluation of the change should be formalised at six monthly intervals for the first two years, but should also be built in to the feedback and reporting mechanisms so that staff themselves are fully involved in the evaluation and can feel that they ‘own’ this aspect of their work. Involving staff at all levels is likely to improve motivation (Evans et al, 2007). Focusing on practical solutions which are effective in this environment means that the evaluation should look at suitability, effectiveness and acceptability by the staff concerned. Conclusion It would appear from this brief review of the literature that in order to improve incident reporting, it is necessary to motivate staff to report. This can be achieved through education, through better incident reporting tools, which may ideally be electronic, and through managerial level leadership which changes organisational/workplace culture as well as providing better staff  involvement, better feedback on reporting, and less threat to staff. References Bolsin, S., Patrick, A., Colson, M. et al (2005) New technology to enable personal monitoring and incident reporting can transform professional culture: the potential to favourably impact the future of health care. Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice. 11(5):499-506. Dollarhide, A.W., Rutledge, T., Weinger, M.B. and Dresselhaus, T.R. (2007) Use of a handheld computer application for voluntary medication event reporting by inpatient nurses and physicians. Journal of General and Internal Medicine 23 (4) 418-422. Evans, S.M., Berry, J.G., Smith, B.J. et al (2006) Attitudes and barriers to incident reporting: a collaborative hospital study. Quality and Safety in Health Care 15 39-43. Evans, S.M., Smith, B.J., Esterman, A. et al (2007) Evaluation of an intervention aimed at improving voluntary incident reporting in hospitals. Quality and Safety in Health Care 16 169-175. Handler, S.M., Perera, S., Olshansky, E.F. et al (2007) Identifying Modifiable Barriers to Medication Error Reporting in the Nursing Home Setting. Journal of the American Medical Directors Association 8 (9) 568-574 Johnstone, M-J. and Kanitsaki, O. (2006) The ethics and practical importance of defining, distinguishing and disclosing nursing errors: a discussion paper. International Journal of Nursing Studies 43 367-376. Kingston, M.J., Evans, S.M., Smith, B.J. and Berry, J.G. (2004) Attitudes of doctors and nurses towards incident reporting: a qualitative analysis. MJA 181 36-39. This article is not included in your organizations subscription. However, you may be able to access this article under your organizations agreement with Elsevier. Nakajima,K., Kurata, Y. and Takeda, H. (2005) A web –based incident reporting system and multidisciplinary collaborative projects for patient safety in a Japanese hospital. Quality and Safety in Health Care. 14 123-129. NMC (2008) Code of Conduct for Nurses, Midwives and Health Visitors Available from www.nmc-uk.org accessed 2-1-09. Nuckols, T.K., Douglas, Bell, D.S., Liu, H. et al (2007) Rates and types of events reported to established incident reporting systems in two US hospitals. Quality Safety in Health Care. 16(3):164-168. Pierson, S, Hansen, R., Greene, S. et al (2007) Preventing medication errors in long-term care: results and evaluation of a large scale web-based error reporting system. Quality and Safety in Health Care 16 297-302. Taylor, J.A., Brownstein, D., Christakis, D.A. et al (2004) Use of incident reporting by physicians and nurses to document medical errors in pediatric patients. Pediatrics 114 729-735. Throckmorton, T. and Etchegaray, J. (2007) Factors affecting incident reporting by registered nurses: the relationship of perceptions of the environment for reporting errors, knowledge of the nursing practice act, and demographics on intent to report errors. Journal of Perianaesthesia Nursing 22 (6) 400-412. Vogus, T.J. and Sutcliffe, K.M. (2007) The Impact of Safety Organizing, Trusted Leadership, and Care Pathways on Reported Medication Errors in Hospital Nursing Units. Medical Care. 45(10):997-1002. Wagner, L.M, Capezuti, E., Taylor, J.A. et al (2005) Impact of a Falls Menu-Driven Incident-Reporting System on Documentation and Quality Improvement in Nursing Homes The Gerontologist 45:835-842. Waring, J.J. (2005) Beyond blame: cultural barriers to medical incident reporting. Social Science and Medicine 60 1927-1935.

The Microraptor Gui: Link Between Bird and Dinosaur Essay -- Explorato

The Microraptor Gui: Link Between Bird and Dinosaur The Debate: For years paleontologists have debated intensely about the origin of birds. How did air-borne birds evolve? How did they learn to take flight? Are they linked to dinosaurs? If they are, which species of these reptiles are the birds closest related to? The Find: From 2001 and 2002, six new basal dromaeosaurid specimens from the Lower Cretaceaous Jehol Group in Chaoyang Basin in western Liaoning, China, were found. These six specimens of the Microraptor gui, previously known genus Microraptor, were discovered by Xing Xu from the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology. Microraptor gui gets its name in honor of Gu Zhiwei, a renowned paleontologist who contributed greatly to the study of Jehol biota. So far over 60 species of fossil plants, 1000 species of fossil invertebrates, and 70 species of fossil vertebrates have been found in these rocks, dating back to the Late Jurassic or Early Cretaceous periods. Recently there has been much media attention to these rocks that yield such vital information in the evolution of birds, and origins of feathers. The Microraptor gui is 77 cm in length. It is believed to have lived between 124 and 145 million years ago. The Microraptor Gui has four wings in total. Interestingly, it has a w ing on each hind-limb. The Microraptor gui is a bird: Some will argue that the Microraptor gui was a bird. Feathers cover its entire body. It has forelimbs much like the wings of modern birds, and modified for flight. The pelvis characteristics derived from basal birds. The Microraptor gui had a vane on one side of the feather’s spine that was wider than the other. â€Å"This nuance of design strongly suggests these fe... ... and theropauds has also been illustrated in popular modern movies such as Jurassic Park III. Here Steven Spielberg accurately depicts the newly found details of the raptors. Contrary to the first two editions of the movie, this time the raptors have feathers at the top of their heads. In order to allow the audience to easily recognize these fierce carnivores from the prequels of the movie the change was not drastic, but it was a positive step in accurately depicting dinosaurs in movies. To solve the whole question of linking birds and dinosaurs one would need to find a feathered dromaeosaur adapted to life in the trees as opposed to on the ground, and the Microraptor gui seems to be just this. Through the discovery of Microraptor gui it is clear that birds share a common ancestry with small carnivorous dinosaurs called dromaesaurs found in the theropod group.

Dulce et Decorum est †Anthem for Doomed Youth Essay

â€Å"Dulce et Decorum est† and â€Å"Anthem for Doomed Youth† are two poems written by Wilfred Owen during the First World War. Owen, like most soldiers, joined up after being convinced that war was fun by propagandistic posters, poems and stories, and once he had realised that the truth was quite the opposite of this, he decided that it was his responsibility to oppose and protest against poets like Jessie Pope through poetry itself. People were not prepared for the sheer scale and manner of death and the mechanised nature of trench warfare, and had false expectations of the heroic endeavour, but little awareness of the realities. However, compared to â€Å"Dulce†, the anger portrayed is dramatically understated. â€Å"Dulce† is an outrageous protest, displaying the â€Å"haunting† and â€Å"bitter† effects of war, and after describing in great detail the horrific story of a soldier â€Å"drowning† and â€Å"choking† in gas, Owen reveals his passionate hatred for the false and misleading idealisms of heroism in war using particularly emphatic imagery in â€Å"cancer† and â€Å"froth corrupted lungs†. The fact that â€Å"Anthem† is a sonnet, is ironic in that they are usually about love, and because it is actually about grief, it somewhat lulls the reader into a false sense of security, therefore making the poem more effective. Both poems seem to talk about the vile and painful conditions in war, â€Å"Dulce† using onomatopoeia in â€Å"trudge†, giving the impression that war is truly appalling, immediately going against the common belief that it is a game from poems like â€Å"Who’s for the game?†. Also, true to both poems is the idea of undignified and casual death, rather than the heroic, glorious death promised by governmental propaganda. For example, in â€Å"Dulce†, Owen talks about the way they â€Å"flung [the dead soldier] in a wagon† with such brutal nonchalance. Furthermore, â€Å"Anthem† introduces a typical Victorian funeral with singing â€Å"choirs†, and juxtaposes it with the â€Å"shrill, demented choirs of wailing shells† on the battlefield, and with the constant end-stopped lines, this conveys a sense of solemn grief rather than the vicious anger in â€Å"Dulce†, which tends to use enjambment more frequently. Also, â€Å"Anthem† discusses the lack of ceremony and dignity in which people are â€Å"honoured† after their death on the battlefield, and Owen reveals his anger for this using the powerful, hyperbolic alliteration in â€Å"rifles’ rapid rattle†. In addition, the fact that the sound of machine gun fire is reflected in the phrase â€Å"rifles’ rapid rattle† presents to the reader that the harsh realities of war are indeed more than just frightening. In addition, a sense of urgency and immediacy is portrayed in the second stanza of â€Å"Dulce†, when Owen uses direct speech and exclamations in â€Å"Gas! Gas!†, while the epizeuxis and use of the present continuous tense gives further emphasis to this desperate urgency .On the other hand, â€Å"Anthem† has a strong sense of sympathy and general tranquillity throughout the second stanza, which is juxtaposed by something quite the opposite in the first. As well as this, the light lexis used in words such as â€Å"glimmers† and â€Å"tenderness† in the second stanza, give the impression that it is a poem of mourning and respect rather than anger and hate. In general, â€Å"Dulce† uses fairly vulgar and crude language, conveying his disrespect for propagandistic poets, as well as his anger at the unawareness of the dangers of war of the British public: â€Å"He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.† Owen’s use of the words â€Å"guttering, choking [and] drowning†, has numerous implications and effects. Firstly, a â€Å"gutter†¦Ã¢â‚¬  represents the bottom of society, and therefore shows how soldiers dying is in fact not a respectable act, but rather an act that is hardly noticed by society. Also, the onomatopoeic sounds of â€Å"guttering† and â€Å"choking†, give an even more emphatic image of death on the battlefield, portraying Owen’s desire for the awareness of the harsh realities of war in youth culture as well as in everyday men. Finally, the fact that Owen uses three separate adjectives to describe the horrific scene, in addition to the tri-conic feel it gives, the phrase implies that Owen could not put what he was seeing into words, and therefore persuading the reader that war is simply a catastrophic, desperate excuse for a fight, sacrificing millions of men in the process. Unlike â€Å"Dulce†, â€Å"Anthem† brings out the mournful, respectful side of Wilfred Owen through the melancholy atmosphere he creates through the modulation of harsh imagery to a more resigned tone: â€Å"The monstrous anger of the guns†¦ †¦but in their eyes Shall shine the holy glimmers of goodbyes.† This dramatic contrast between coarse and frightening imagery in â€Å"monstrous anger of the guns† and the solemn melancholy in â€Å"the holy glimmers of goodbyes† is a very moving one. This is not only because the phrase refers to tears in young men’s eyes, which in itself is a saddening image, but also because it refers to â€Å"goodbyes†, forcing a more personal image of saying â€Å"goodbye† to close friends or relatives as they go to war upon the mind of the reader, again, creating a sombre mood. In addition, the end-stopped line following â€Å"goodbyes† is very effective in that it makes the â€Å"goodbye† seem all the more sudden, harsh, and hurtful. In conclusion, â€Å"Dulce† and â€Å"Anthem†, although they are both written in protest against the deceiving propaganda made by various people, they go about it in different ways. â€Å"Dulce† is an outright outrage at individuals, which we know from Owen’s draft that it was targeted at Jessie Pope, using coarse and harsh language to do so. â€Å"Anthem† on the other hand is a more solemn and moving poem, although it starts as if it were to be an outrage, before we learn that in fact, it is only grieving for the dead and their lack of ceremony, and it becomes literally, an anthem for doomed youth.

Maximising profits and meeting objectives Essay

J D Wetherspoon owns pubs right across the UK. It is now the UK’s fastest growing company. They serve good quality food at knockdown prices. They also clear your plates away quickly afterwards and ask if the food was to your satisfaction. Wetherspoon’s employs approximately 11,200 staff who work either part or full-time. The company believe that there is a direct link between the high performance of their staff and their approach to staff recruitment, training, development, and motivation. Each pub operates with skilled management, who are fully supported by bar and kitchen staff. Their mission statement is ‘to have by far the best CBSM (cleanliness, beer, service, maintenance) standards in the pub world; to be the best company to work for; and, by doing these things to be the most profitable.’ McDonald’s McDonald’s have over 1000 restaurants across the United Kingdom. Three quarters of these are run by managers on behalf of the company and the other quarter being run as franchises. McDonald’s is the world’s largest franchising company, with seven out ten outlets being a franchise, and being owned and run by independent entrepreneurs. McDonald’s sell burgers and chicken with a variety of different desserts and hot and cold drinks, served by friendly and helpful team members. One of McDonald’s stated aims is ‘to provide a friendly service in a relaxed, safe, and consistent restaurant environment.’ J D Wetherspoon J D Wetherspoon uses Maslow’s hierarchy of needs as the bases of their motivation techniques. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs gives the managers clear and useful insights into how best they should motivate their staff. J D Wetherspoon aims to provide each individual employee with the skills and knowledge, which will help them to gradually climb the ladder of hierarchy permanently. Maslow’s pyramid can help Wetherspoon’s with this. They believe in creating a work force, which is committed and motivated. This workforce should be made up of people who can achieve personal fulfilment via the freedom that they get through their work. Realising that they will not be able to keep all their employees for all of their working life, J D Wetherspoon wants them to grow a sense of loyalty to the company They promote their staff through the different levels of employment status in the business, from bar/kitchen associates, to pub managers, to general managers to help motivate them. They pay each of the employees more than their competitors are paying their staff, so that the all associates (employees) feel motivated and will stay with the company for as long as possible. They believe that once their employees know that they are being paid more than the minimum wage for their work, they will become more motivated. The company bases its pay on reviews of performance of each of the staff; the better the performance the better the pay. The company also provides a bonus scheme for its workers. Each member of staff receives a bonus depending upon the performance of the pub in which they work. To get each member of staff to work to their full potential, the business runs many incentive schemes. One example of this is a monthly draw for examples of excellent customer care. The winner will receive an all expenses paid holiday for two in New York. Along with this, the business offers a share option scheme to each of its employees, enabling them to buy shares in the company at an assured price. The company do this in the belief that it will make the staff have a sense of belonging in company and will want to see the company succeed. McDonald’s McDonald’s method of motivation involves using rewards, goals, and promotion prospects for their members of staff. Although the company motivates their staff via reward methods, goals and promotion prospects, they use F.W. Taylor’s Scientific Management motivation theory. McDonald’s splits their staff into teams, so that there is a team of people in each of the areas of the restaurant. There are also team members who walk round the restaurant and clear tables of empty food boxes and drinks cartons. Julie Room, a General Manager from a McDonald’s restaurant says that McDonald’s are continually hiring new members of staff, as their staff members ‘are always leaving.’ McDonald’s have high promotion prospects for their staff, with all the managers who work for the company once being crewmembers, and 80% of the top managers were once crewmembers. The president of McDonald’s Ltd, also worked as a crewmember in a restaurant. This gives the current members of staff aspirations for the future. To help each member of staff, the company trains them in the restaurant that they will work in. Each staff member is trained in all 16 areas of the business including grill, buns, dressings, filets, and pies, drive-thru, front counter, and back room. This is all on the job training. This means that the staff can experience job rotation within their work. This leads to job motivation for the staff. Therefore, the team members are more likely to stay with the company for longer. This is very similar to the motivation theory of Douglas McGregor. J D Wetherspoon J D Wetherspoon’s management is of a democratic style. The management encourages the staff to take part in decision-making through the multi-channel communication system, which the company has in place. Wetherspoon’s believe that many of the projects that they adopt stem from the ideas put forward by their ‘associates’. This is because they are on the ‘front-line’ of the company. They can see where things need to be improved and changed. These things tend to obvious to the people who are in contact with customers on a day-to-day basis but are not quite so obvious to the managers, higher up in the business who are very rarely seen by the customers. The changes and improvements that the associates would like to see are communicated to their line manager, who refers them to the pub/restaurant manager. Within a few weeks, the ‘good ideas’ are put into practice to make to the pub/restaurant appear better to the public and possibly to attract more customers. Every fortnight, they hold a ‘big meeting’ where over 100 employees attend. This includes people like the company chairperson, company directors, and pub managers and some associates from many pubs/restaurants. Here, all the employees can voice their opinions on the company’s over all performance and the ways in which they think it can be improved. Everyone who attends, gets to vote whether a certain route for a promotion of an offer the company is participating in, gets the go ahead or not. Many of the people who work for Wetherspoon’s carry a high level of commitment and many are proud to work for Wetherspoon’s. The company strongly believes that one of the key factors, which differentiates the company from its rivals, is the high quality of customer service/care that is achieved, from employing a number of committed employees. McDonald’s McDonald’s management style is more autocratic. This is because the members of staff are told which part of the restaurant they will be working in and they are told what they have to do. However, some of the approaches that McDonald’s use can be seen in McGregor’s Theory Y. This is people centred and the managers are more democratic. The managers give the teams responsibility for each of the sections, awarding them appropriately, as they meet and exceed targets. They also believe that their staff want to work and are not lazy. However, the members of staff at McDonald’s can also come under McGregor’s Theory X. This is because the teams have to be controlled and monitored. They have to be told what to do and are often watched to make sure that they are performing correctly. They are often seen to ‘slack’ and to be lazy. Thus, they need some motivation to inspire them to work. It is only the managers that get a say in what the company does. The employees, which are seen everyday, unlike the managers, do not get any input into company and the decisions it makes what so ever. Therefore, the team members feel undervalued. This can then result in the management team lacking in motivation to motivate their staff. J D Wetherspoon Wetherspoon’s business culture is one orientated around their associates at the lower levels. This is because these people see the areas that can improved. The managers rely on these people to report any problems and successes. Wetherspoon’s encourages their staff to challenge existing ideas and practices to continually improve the company. The changes that are raised are adjusted little by little rather than in one big change. Many of these changes are suggested by the employees, who base them upon their experience whilst at work. However, these sorts of things can only occur in an open culture. Nothing is disclosed within Wetherspoon’s approach and is based upon the understanding and the belief in some of the key ideas of human motivation. Their approach to the way things are done resembles Charles Handy’s Role Culture. This is because of the structure that the company takes; this is much like a pyramid with the chairperson at the top and the associates at the bottom, very rarely speaking to one another (see below). McDonald’s McDonald’s business culture is orientated around the tasks that the staff have to carry out. This is because without these people the company could not function efficiently. These people also see the day-to-day running of the business, the taking of the money, serving of the food etc. The approach that the company takes resembles Charles Handy’s Task Culture. This is because of the company structure. The Task Culture is represented by a matrix, which looks like a grid (see right). The company splits its employees into project teams. Within these teams, they have to solve problems, which may arise. In addition, everyone can cross boundaries within the business. This means that they can work in other departments as well as the one they are employed in e.g. some one working on the front counter, could work in the kitchens. This culture also uses individual talents in each area i.e. people on the front counter need to use people skills, need to have good communication skills and confidence, whereas on the other hand, the people who cook the burgers need to be good at time keeping, cooking the burgers, and keeping up with the demands. J D Wetherspoon The company is committed to providing the highest standards of training and development to all employees. They aim to encourage, motivate, and support all the employees to achieve the company’s mission statement and to fulfil the personal ambitions. There are different programmes, which the company use to train and develop. Generally, when people start working for the business they start as bar/kitchen associates. They start with the training for this job, as they progress in the business, they receive development training. This is for team leaders, shift managers, kitchen managers and pub managers. Each of the positions have their own set of training programmes. For example, for someone to train as a shift manager, they have to go through twelve types of training; induction, food hygiene, health and safety, kitchen training, customer management, personnel policies and procedures, people skills, interview skills, and stock management. They also have to do a National Licensee’s Certificate. Whereas to train as a bar/kitchen associate, they have to do food hygiene, health and safety, and kitchen training. J D Wetherspoon’s develop their staff. They do this because the staff that already work for the company know the way the business works. Also, training staff that already work for Wetherspoon’s, to higher positions in the company can mean that the costs of recruiting and training new staff will be reduced. It also helps to ensure staff loyalty and can reduce many future uncertainties in the company. This can then, in addition ensure that the company will not run out of skilled people; i.e. a bar/kitchen associate who has been promoted to a shift manager can always help out in the kitchen because they would have had the correct training to be able to work in the kitchens. Therefore, they have the skills and the company has not lost them. Training existing staff can help gain a competitive advantage. This means the company can gain more customers and more customer loyalty. In theory, and in many cases, in reality, this can help to motivate the managers, which in turn will help them to train their staff better, and can motivate them too. The company’s training and development programme is a combination of on and off the job training courses. The company’s training centres round career development. McDonald’s McDonald’s hire their staff on a three weeks probationary period. The company have the right to end employment of at any time during these three weeks. It is only after these three weeks, and if their performance has been acceptable, that the member of staff becomes part of the team. It is said that the company takes six months to train a full-timer and 11 months to train a part-timer. This is because of the sixteen areas in which everyone has to be trained on. These include the grill, buns, dressings, filets, and pies, drive-thru, front counter, and back room. They also have a buddy system. This is where a new employee to the company is paired with someone else who has been with the company for a while and have experience. This person will be one of the training squad and will look after the new team member for their probationary period. Eventually the trainer will decide whether or not the new team member is capable of carrying out the work in the area. When this has been decided the staff member would have received a gold star (this system existed in 1999, it no longer exists). The company thought that the teams found this system of rewarding good work, motivational. McDonald’s, like J D Wetherspoon’s like to develop their staff. In the article by Susan Curtis, it says that â€Å"there is a set hierarchy of jobs for crew members to work their way up: (1) Crew member (2) Five – star crew member (3) Training squad member (4) Hourly-paid floor manager (5) Salaried floor manager (second assistant manager) (6) First assistant manager (7) Store manager (8) General manager (only in larger stores).’ They develop their staff for the same reasons that J D Wetherspoon’s do. They do it to save money and to give staff more opportunities within the business. J D Wetherspoon J D Wetherspoon’s encourage their staff to work in teams. This is because team working means that there is a more efficient and effective production team. It is also believed that working as a team, can satisfy the social needs of people. Many managers delegate power among the people who work underneath them. This is in the belief that delegation meets the employees’ ego and self-actualisation needs from the motivation theory of Maslow. In addition, working as part of a team means that people can job rotate, to give them a bit of variety. This means that they can be more motivated towards their job, knowing that there is a possibility of job rotation within their teams, even if it is cooking a different part of a meal. Wetherspoon’s encourages this because they want their staff to achieve as much as possible in their work. They also want their members of staff to have a sense of belongingness to the company. Wetherspoon’s recognise that the feeling of belongingness is an employee need and therefore they set out to meet it. McDonald’s McDonald’s also encourage their staff to work in teams. This is because they, like J D Wetherspoon’s, have a more efficient and effective work force this way. McDonald’s staff are encouraged to work as teams so that all the work is covered and completed, whether it is morning at breakfast, mid-day at lunchtime or in the evening at ‘tea’ time. This also helps to satisfy the staff at McDonald’s and helps to maximise the involvement of the staff. The teams are usually functional. Also within the teams, the staff can swap jobs with someone else and change department that they work in. Team working means that the staff can become multi-skilled. This makes it easier to do someone else’s job. They can also meet shared objectives, i.e. serve each customer within a minute. J D Wetherspoon J D Wetherspoon’s is a pub/restaurant. They sell both drinks and food. This means that they need enough stock to supply their customers. The company have to ensure that each of their pubs has enough beer barrels in their cellar and enough wines and spirits to last them at least a week. The company will have at least a delivery of beer every few days or so as the beer will go off very quickly once the barrel has been opened. The company always has just enough stock to cater for all their customers, whether they be eating or drinking. They bring many different types of beers to their customers throughout the year via beer festivals. Wetherspoon’s work along side Cask Marque (a quality standard for real beer) and CAMRA (Campaign for Real Ale). This means that the company brings in new beers and rotates them throughout the year to offer their customers some variety. They also offer many spirits and wines as well. All these alcoholic beverages are kept in stock with strict quality standards, upheld inside the pub. This is to make sure that the customers can enjoy their drinks. This applies to the beers especially. The company offer fifty plus different meals per day, they therefore need to make sure that they have enough ingredients for these meals. They need to make sure that the stock they have does not go out of date to quickly either. They have many meals on their menu, which contain meat (beef, pork, chicken, and lamb) and fish. To keep this from going off they need to put the meats and fish in a chiller. They have to order enough of each ingredient for each of the meals on their menu, as if they are to sell many of the same meal. They do this for both the beverages and food so that they never run out of stock. If they were to run out of stock then there is a possibility of losing customers and future customers. The method of stock control that they use, in my opinion is ‘Just in Case’. This is because they can never be sure how much of each meal option they need to make and they never know how much of a particular beer or spirit they are going to sell, so they need enough stock just in case some one buys a meal or a drink. McDonald’s McDonald’s, on the other hand, operates in a different way. They stock up on all their burgers, salads, deserts, and fries although they use J.I.T. The restaurants are always very busy during the day. Therefore the company gets through many burgers, and fries each day. They have to rely upon their suppliers to deliver in time for ‘rush hours’ i.e. lunch time as they know they will need more stock. They estimate their level of sales for each item on the menu using previous figures, doing this they can predict how much they need to order. To use J.I.T. McDonald’s need to know exactly what they need. They need pretty good knowledge of their customers requirements. They also need to have excellent relationships with their suppliers, and need to have accurate understandings of production requirements. J D Wetherspoon J D Wetherspoon have to assure quality in both food and the drink. They ensure this by buying the highest quality ingredients for their meals from their suppliers. To guarantee this, they make sure that they build strong relationships with the suppliers. They also have a ‘food guru’, who works closely with the food team. Once a month he reviews the company’s menu and the ingredients which they use, and he gives his personal ‘seal of approval’ if he believes they are at the highest standard that people would expect from J D Wetherspoon’s. To ensure that the beer they sell is to the highest standards, they employ beer tasters. These people test the beers on four areas; appearance, aroma, taste and aftertaste. These are usually marked out of 10, so each beer can get a maximum of 40 marks. All of the beers which the company supply must meet their tasting standards, before any orders can be placed. Whilst in stock, there are strict quality standards in place which are maintained within the free house, to ensure that customers enjoy the beer at its best. This process also applies to the wines and spirits. As with the beers, the wines and spirits have to meet the company’s high standards. The wines and spirits are also tested for appearance, aroma, taste and aftertaste and again if they don’t meet Wetherspoon’s standards then they are not sold in any of the pubs/restaurants. They also train their staff to a high standard of work to ensure the quality of customer service. They do this by training their staff in customer management and in people skills. McDonald’s Serving more than 2.5 million customers each day makes quality a consistent goal. They work with leading suppliers across the UK – from potato farmers in Lincolnshire and Norfolk to dairies in the South and Midlands – to bring customers the tasty products that customers expect from McDonald’s. McDonald’s attempt to certify quality from crop to counter. Therefore they require the highest standards and specifications, not just for product ingredients; every detail of production, transport, delivery, preparation and service is carefully monitored. A focus on quality pervades every aspect of the business. Their standards top the food industry, and they continue to work with government and health officials to investigate improvements to their foods. Both companies have their different approaches to maximising profits and to meet its objectives. The way in which each company goes about it is effective to them. Both companies are, although in the same area of trade, are completely different. They operate in different ways, have different kinds of people working for them and generally have different clientele. The people who work for McDonald’s are generally those who can work in the conditions that are found in a McDonald’s restaurant. They tend to be able to deal with pressure a little easier then those working at Wetherspoon’s and vice versa. These people have a different kind of objective to aim towards, that is appropriate to the different companies. Again the approach each company uses helps to achieve these very well and can sometimes help them to exceed them. The companies approaches, however, both lead to them maximising their profits. This is because of the efficiency and effectiveness of the staff in both companies.