netrashetty
Netra Shetty
Amy's Kitchen is a privately held corporation which began operation in 1987, with the purpose of making healthy, organic, and easy-to-prepare frozen food. Owned and run by Andy and Rachel Berliner, Amy's Kitchen took its name from their then-newborn daughter. The company employs over 1,500 people and operates processing plants located in Santa Rosa, California and White City, Oregon. The corporate headquarters is now located in Petaluma, California.
Both proprietors had been long involved in the organic food business; Rachel's family had been growing and advocating organic vegetables and fruits since the 1950s, while Andy was formerly the president and majority shareholder of the Magic Mountain Herb Tea company. Because Amy's Kitchen is a private entity, reports of its annual earnings are not public knowledge.
Developing human resource strategy
Faced with the need to add value to the organisation, human resource need to come up with a more coherent and focused approach in sourcing practices. According to Armstrong (2006) to develop such strategy, two issues have to be addressed.
1. What type of workforce does the organisation need in order to manage and also run the organisation so has to meet the organisation strategic business goals?
2. Which type of workforce programs and schemes must be planned and implemented so as to attract, develop and retain a workforce that can compete effectively?
For these questions to be answered the human resource has to address four key areas of an organisation these are;
• The sourcing culture of the organisation; norms, beliefs and the management way of the organisation has to be structured in manner that it encourages sourcing or recruitment based on merit alone and on any other factors
• Human resource has also to address the organisation structure; this will define proper job descriptions, reporting lines in the organisation and job descriptions.
• The workforce; the human resource has to address the issue of level of skills, management abilities of individual employees and staff potential
• The human resources will have also to address its systems; the human resource should have a workforce focused mechanism that will deliver a plan of workforce selection, training, communication, career development and rewards.
If the human resource need to add value to the organisation in terms of quality and better services then, it has to retain its workforce, reward them, carry out appraisal, open communication systems and then re-examine the organisation human resource management plans. These strategies will ensure that the APS is able to get and retain a workforce which will drive the organisation to new heights. (Armstrong, 2006)
Provide a critical analysis of the tools you use for this environmental analysis to show why these are important to APS
An environmental analysis of the company
They are several tools, which a company can employ when analyzing its environment both internal and external. The most common are STEP or PESTEL analysis procedure. McGahan (2004) This analysis is worth because it determines whether the organization will be fairing well or not. For the purposes of this paper we shall use PESTEL marketing tool to analyze the APS
PESTEL analysis
PESTEL analysis is used to investigate the vital factors, which affects an industry and the influence they have on a particular company or companies operating in that particular industry. PESTEL is means political, Economic, Social, Technological and Legal factors. Political factors entail government policies, which are related to the industry, this includes tax policies, regulations and laws, tariffs and restrictions and other factors. The economic factors include the wider economic performance for example economic growth, exchange rates, interest rates and inflation. Social factors on the other hand relates to cultural issues which includes health, population growth, demographics, changes in consumer behaviors and other aspects. Technology factors include the adaptation of new available technology and new ideas such as automation, information technology and rate of technology change. Legal factors comprises of legal procedures, licensing, product legal descriptions and other legal factors. (Grant, 2005)
Political factors whereby the company have to deal with the political interferences that may be practiced by the government. According to research, political systems of nations affect the conduct of businesses, for example, some countries practice collectivism while others practice capitalism political systems. For instance in UK, the government practices capitalism in that it allows factors of production to be privately owned and the government performs only limited duties that the private sector cannot perform unlike in collectivism and communism that stresses collective goals. Therefore, APC Company has no restrictions and hence we can conclude that it enjoys good external political environment. (Grant, 2005)
Economical factors which mainly deals with financial forces in the economic environment. Such factors include foreign exchange rates, currencies and global monetary systems like the use of Euro currency, inflation, counter trade, balance of payments, monetary policies, and fiscal policies among others. After carrying out careful analysis of these factors APS Company can determine if the economic factors of the country it is operating in are favourable or not. The economic factors have a significant impact on the market segment of and share of the company. (Kotler, 1996)
Social factors are other factors that the company has to consider before formulating its marketing strategies in relation to the society aspects. Forces within the society such as religion, family, social structure and education may influence positively or negatively the way APS Company will market its products. Social factors affect our attitude, opinions and interests on the way we view products from certain companies. (Kotler, 1996)
Technological factors are another key factor to given consideration before going getting products on the market. Many companies because of the concept of globalization are now experiencing advanced technologies. Globalization has taken centre stage and now many firms have increasingly utilized the use of e-commerce or Internet marketing. The technology of production has continued to develop leading to more premium brands being produced by the company to fulfil the new demands of the customers that keep changing with time. (Hollensen, 2004)
Legal factors are other factors that must be analyzed before entering into a market. The way the company operates in terms of operating rules of law for example how APS Company will have to cope the legal rules in the a country more importantly because it avoids conflicts and will enhance the success of the organization. The company has to be ethical in its practices.
Critically evaluate the ethical requirements for managing human resources within APS and show why this particular area is of paramount importance within a counselling firm.
Ethical norms are the moral standards that help us judge good from bad or right from wrong and living morally. They involve articulating the good habits or character that we should have, the consequences of our behavior on us and others and the duties that we are supposed to follow. As company, treating employees ethically implies being fair to them in all aspects of human management. Basically, ethics and ethical conduct is about being professional and transparent. The NCDA code of ethics has been formulated as a guide to counselors. The code of ethics offers defined principles, which can be used in different situations and settings. The code serves both the careers professional counselors and those who are getting services from the counselors so that they are in a position to understand their responsibilities and rights as consumers. (Grant, 2005)
Ethical requirements stipulates that the Employee's relations which are the relationship that exists between the employee and the employer. Or processes by which employees and their companies contract of work needs to be fair to all parties.. A good working relationship is required from both parties to maintain high production in the working place. For the employer to have a good relationship with his employees, the employer has to avoid disagreements with the employees. This can be achieved through, both parties honoring their agreements and the company offering better working terms can achieve this. In conuselling company ethical practices are more important because they will ensure that employees are also in a position to be ethical with the clients of the company.
Human Resources Planning
It is a starting point of human resource management. If an employee leaves the firm due to any reason, which may be deliberate resignation to move to another firm, or any other reason such as, retirement, termination or death, a vacancy is formed at the respective department of the Descon. The department, carefully analyzed in all its respects identifies this vacancy and the job description is forwarded to the Human Resource department.
2.3.2 Job analysis
It is the procedure for determining the duties and skill requirements of a job and the kind of person who should be hired for it.
a) Job Description
It is a list of job’s duties, responsibilities, reporting relationships, working conditions and supervisory responsibilities. Descon Engineering Company makes a job description before recruiting people.
b) Job Specification
A list of job’s “human requirements” that is, the requisite education, skills, personality, and so on. They also make job specification hire the right people at the right place.
2.3.3Recruitment and Selection
Descon Engineering Co. Maintains a strict difference between external recruitment and internal recruitment. It has given different names to both these functions that are
• Resourcing refers to internal recruitment the Descon Engineering Co. That is, they try to attract candidates for vacant jobs from within the organization, and
• Recruitment only refers to external recruitment that is locating candidates from outside the firm, which may include fresh graduates or people working in other firms.
2.3.4Training and Development
The Company holds that orientation program is very necessary for the Company as well as for the new employee. The unit of Training and Development performs several important functions for the Company, like orientation training, performance appraisal and the general Training and Development. Broadly speaking, Descon Engineering Co. holds a strict distinction between training and development.
2.3.5Performance Management System
Descon Engineering Co. gives the importance to their employees as well as their performance. There are certain standards that are set by the Company to check the performance of staff. They give the incentives and bounces on the base of check performance. Descon Engineering Co. follows all the international rules when done performance management.
2.3.6Rewards and Remuneration Management
Descon Engineering Co. gives utmost importance to rewards and compensation packages because this is the most crucial factor for retaining key employees. ... The amount of bonus depends on the amount of profit Descon Engineering Co. World makes.
The amount of bonus and increments depend on the profit of Descon Engineering Co. world, then Descon Engineering Co. Pakistan, then for each department and finally for each employee. The Gross salary includes a number of allowances.
2.3.7 Industry Relation
As one of the world's most international Companies, Descon’s employees almost 35000 people, representing more than 5 nationalities. This diversity lies at the heart of their values and supports their growth because they are Pakistani company and now spread in the Asian Market. There is very cooperative environment and relation between lower and upper staff. Expenses incurred on professional medical consultation including periodic health check- ups and costs of any diagnostic tests.
Human Resource Management, also referred to as HRM, performs a variety of different functions and activities to satisfy the staffing needs of a small business or large corporation. Several different areas of staffing and employee development are considered in HRM. Each decision made is geared to the betterment of the company while still reducing operational and overhead costs. A Human Resource Management Department will be dedicated to hiring the best candidates, paying employees and providing benefits information, training employees, ensuring compliance to state and federal-mandated regulations, ensuring a safe working environment, and rewarding high performing employees. Each of these functions plays a significant role in the operation of any business no matter the size.
In Human Resource Management, getting the best employees is more than just conducting interviews. The management department will need to develop a plan by determining how many employees are needed and which positions need to be filled. They will also be responsible for specifying job titles and responsibilities and recruiting individuals with experience who may prove to be an asset to the company. Once candidates have been selected, they will also perform screening and background checks as required by the company.
Both proprietors had been long involved in the organic food business; Rachel's family had been growing and advocating organic vegetables and fruits since the 1950s, while Andy was formerly the president and majority shareholder of the Magic Mountain Herb Tea company. Because Amy's Kitchen is a private entity, reports of its annual earnings are not public knowledge.
Developing human resource strategy
Faced with the need to add value to the organisation, human resource need to come up with a more coherent and focused approach in sourcing practices. According to Armstrong (2006) to develop such strategy, two issues have to be addressed.
1. What type of workforce does the organisation need in order to manage and also run the organisation so has to meet the organisation strategic business goals?
2. Which type of workforce programs and schemes must be planned and implemented so as to attract, develop and retain a workforce that can compete effectively?
For these questions to be answered the human resource has to address four key areas of an organisation these are;
• The sourcing culture of the organisation; norms, beliefs and the management way of the organisation has to be structured in manner that it encourages sourcing or recruitment based on merit alone and on any other factors
• Human resource has also to address the organisation structure; this will define proper job descriptions, reporting lines in the organisation and job descriptions.
• The workforce; the human resource has to address the issue of level of skills, management abilities of individual employees and staff potential
• The human resources will have also to address its systems; the human resource should have a workforce focused mechanism that will deliver a plan of workforce selection, training, communication, career development and rewards.
If the human resource need to add value to the organisation in terms of quality and better services then, it has to retain its workforce, reward them, carry out appraisal, open communication systems and then re-examine the organisation human resource management plans. These strategies will ensure that the APS is able to get and retain a workforce which will drive the organisation to new heights. (Armstrong, 2006)
Provide a critical analysis of the tools you use for this environmental analysis to show why these are important to APS
An environmental analysis of the company
They are several tools, which a company can employ when analyzing its environment both internal and external. The most common are STEP or PESTEL analysis procedure. McGahan (2004) This analysis is worth because it determines whether the organization will be fairing well or not. For the purposes of this paper we shall use PESTEL marketing tool to analyze the APS
PESTEL analysis
PESTEL analysis is used to investigate the vital factors, which affects an industry and the influence they have on a particular company or companies operating in that particular industry. PESTEL is means political, Economic, Social, Technological and Legal factors. Political factors entail government policies, which are related to the industry, this includes tax policies, regulations and laws, tariffs and restrictions and other factors. The economic factors include the wider economic performance for example economic growth, exchange rates, interest rates and inflation. Social factors on the other hand relates to cultural issues which includes health, population growth, demographics, changes in consumer behaviors and other aspects. Technology factors include the adaptation of new available technology and new ideas such as automation, information technology and rate of technology change. Legal factors comprises of legal procedures, licensing, product legal descriptions and other legal factors. (Grant, 2005)
Political factors whereby the company have to deal with the political interferences that may be practiced by the government. According to research, political systems of nations affect the conduct of businesses, for example, some countries practice collectivism while others practice capitalism political systems. For instance in UK, the government practices capitalism in that it allows factors of production to be privately owned and the government performs only limited duties that the private sector cannot perform unlike in collectivism and communism that stresses collective goals. Therefore, APC Company has no restrictions and hence we can conclude that it enjoys good external political environment. (Grant, 2005)
Economical factors which mainly deals with financial forces in the economic environment. Such factors include foreign exchange rates, currencies and global monetary systems like the use of Euro currency, inflation, counter trade, balance of payments, monetary policies, and fiscal policies among others. After carrying out careful analysis of these factors APS Company can determine if the economic factors of the country it is operating in are favourable or not. The economic factors have a significant impact on the market segment of and share of the company. (Kotler, 1996)
Social factors are other factors that the company has to consider before formulating its marketing strategies in relation to the society aspects. Forces within the society such as religion, family, social structure and education may influence positively or negatively the way APS Company will market its products. Social factors affect our attitude, opinions and interests on the way we view products from certain companies. (Kotler, 1996)
Technological factors are another key factor to given consideration before going getting products on the market. Many companies because of the concept of globalization are now experiencing advanced technologies. Globalization has taken centre stage and now many firms have increasingly utilized the use of e-commerce or Internet marketing. The technology of production has continued to develop leading to more premium brands being produced by the company to fulfil the new demands of the customers that keep changing with time. (Hollensen, 2004)
Legal factors are other factors that must be analyzed before entering into a market. The way the company operates in terms of operating rules of law for example how APS Company will have to cope the legal rules in the a country more importantly because it avoids conflicts and will enhance the success of the organization. The company has to be ethical in its practices.
Critically evaluate the ethical requirements for managing human resources within APS and show why this particular area is of paramount importance within a counselling firm.
Ethical norms are the moral standards that help us judge good from bad or right from wrong and living morally. They involve articulating the good habits or character that we should have, the consequences of our behavior on us and others and the duties that we are supposed to follow. As company, treating employees ethically implies being fair to them in all aspects of human management. Basically, ethics and ethical conduct is about being professional and transparent. The NCDA code of ethics has been formulated as a guide to counselors. The code of ethics offers defined principles, which can be used in different situations and settings. The code serves both the careers professional counselors and those who are getting services from the counselors so that they are in a position to understand their responsibilities and rights as consumers. (Grant, 2005)
Ethical requirements stipulates that the Employee's relations which are the relationship that exists between the employee and the employer. Or processes by which employees and their companies contract of work needs to be fair to all parties.. A good working relationship is required from both parties to maintain high production in the working place. For the employer to have a good relationship with his employees, the employer has to avoid disagreements with the employees. This can be achieved through, both parties honoring their agreements and the company offering better working terms can achieve this. In conuselling company ethical practices are more important because they will ensure that employees are also in a position to be ethical with the clients of the company.
Human Resources Planning
It is a starting point of human resource management. If an employee leaves the firm due to any reason, which may be deliberate resignation to move to another firm, or any other reason such as, retirement, termination or death, a vacancy is formed at the respective department of the Descon. The department, carefully analyzed in all its respects identifies this vacancy and the job description is forwarded to the Human Resource department.
2.3.2 Job analysis
It is the procedure for determining the duties and skill requirements of a job and the kind of person who should be hired for it.
a) Job Description
It is a list of job’s duties, responsibilities, reporting relationships, working conditions and supervisory responsibilities. Descon Engineering Company makes a job description before recruiting people.
b) Job Specification
A list of job’s “human requirements” that is, the requisite education, skills, personality, and so on. They also make job specification hire the right people at the right place.
2.3.3Recruitment and Selection
Descon Engineering Co. Maintains a strict difference between external recruitment and internal recruitment. It has given different names to both these functions that are
• Resourcing refers to internal recruitment the Descon Engineering Co. That is, they try to attract candidates for vacant jobs from within the organization, and
• Recruitment only refers to external recruitment that is locating candidates from outside the firm, which may include fresh graduates or people working in other firms.
2.3.4Training and Development
The Company holds that orientation program is very necessary for the Company as well as for the new employee. The unit of Training and Development performs several important functions for the Company, like orientation training, performance appraisal and the general Training and Development. Broadly speaking, Descon Engineering Co. holds a strict distinction between training and development.
2.3.5Performance Management System
Descon Engineering Co. gives the importance to their employees as well as their performance. There are certain standards that are set by the Company to check the performance of staff. They give the incentives and bounces on the base of check performance. Descon Engineering Co. follows all the international rules when done performance management.
2.3.6Rewards and Remuneration Management
Descon Engineering Co. gives utmost importance to rewards and compensation packages because this is the most crucial factor for retaining key employees. ... The amount of bonus depends on the amount of profit Descon Engineering Co. World makes.
The amount of bonus and increments depend on the profit of Descon Engineering Co. world, then Descon Engineering Co. Pakistan, then for each department and finally for each employee. The Gross salary includes a number of allowances.
2.3.7 Industry Relation
As one of the world's most international Companies, Descon’s employees almost 35000 people, representing more than 5 nationalities. This diversity lies at the heart of their values and supports their growth because they are Pakistani company and now spread in the Asian Market. There is very cooperative environment and relation between lower and upper staff. Expenses incurred on professional medical consultation including periodic health check- ups and costs of any diagnostic tests.
Human Resource Management, also referred to as HRM, performs a variety of different functions and activities to satisfy the staffing needs of a small business or large corporation. Several different areas of staffing and employee development are considered in HRM. Each decision made is geared to the betterment of the company while still reducing operational and overhead costs. A Human Resource Management Department will be dedicated to hiring the best candidates, paying employees and providing benefits information, training employees, ensuring compliance to state and federal-mandated regulations, ensuring a safe working environment, and rewarding high performing employees. Each of these functions plays a significant role in the operation of any business no matter the size.
In Human Resource Management, getting the best employees is more than just conducting interviews. The management department will need to develop a plan by determining how many employees are needed and which positions need to be filled. They will also be responsible for specifying job titles and responsibilities and recruiting individuals with experience who may prove to be an asset to the company. Once candidates have been selected, they will also perform screening and background checks as required by the company.
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