Background

You are the Training & Development Manager of a large corporation (2000 staff). You have recently been charged with the task of completing a training & development audit. From your research, you are expected to make recommendations to the directors on future training & development requirements.

The training department currently offers programs to staff through a catalogue that it produces each year. You have been receiving feedback from staff & managers alike that the programs are not necessarily meeting today's needs for skill development and just-in-time training. Also there were complaints of favouritism towards some staff who always seem to get to go to training, consequently the perception you face is that there is an inequitable access to training. Managers also raised issues about leadership skills in the workplace.

Another challenge for you is that the directors have also indicated that there is a budget squeeze and there are no more available resources for training & development at this time.

From the needs assessment you identified four options to put forward to the directors:

1. Training & development programs to remain the same.

2. Training and development to remain essentially the same, however, a review of the accessibility to training be undertaken to ensure fairness in opportunities and accessibility.

3. To create a formal training and development plan that supports organizational goals to achieve organizational effectiveness and Human Resource effectiveness through the adoption and implementation of several strategies.

4. Eliminate training and development all together

Exercise

For this exercise marry both the exercise criteria and your own organization. Utilize your current organization's training and development policies within the context of this assignment (your organization just grew if it doesn't already have 2000 people!) Consider your organization's current training programs, entry and registration process. Use this as a basis for completing the following.

1. Utilize your own company as a basis for your response.
2. Outline the training & development activities and issues within your organization. Add in the additional issues listed in this case.
3. Outline the audit process you would undertake; include any questionnaires etc that you might utilize.
4. Discuss the merits and gaps of your training and development programs as measured against your readings in the text book and in the Lecture Notes of Week 6.
5. Pick one of the 4 options as described above, to recommend to your directors. Defend your recommendation by including in your report a description of the benefits the organization might receive as well any potential drawbacks.

The manager of an organic yogurt processing plant desires with a mean of 16 ounces +/- 0.5 ounces. The process has a mean of 15.9 ounces and a standard deviation of 1 ounce. 1) Determine the Cp and Cpk of the process. Is the process capable of meeting specifications? Now the management has redesigned the system and so the standard deviation of the process is reduced to 0.1 ounces. 2) What is the Cp and Cpk of the new process? Is the new process capable of meeting specifications? 3) What happens to Cp as the process slides to the right? (the mean of the system increases?) 4) What happens to Cpk as the process slides to the right? (the mean of the system increases?) 5) What is the maximum value of Cpk?

The following table contains the measurements of the key length dimension from a fuel injector. These samples of size five were taken at one-hour intervals. Use three-sigma control limits. Use Exhibit 10.13.

a. Calculate the mean and range for the above samples. (Do not round intermediate calculations. Round your answers to 3 decimal places.)

b. Determine X=X= and R−R− . (Do not round intermediate calculations. Round your answers to 3 decimal places.)

c. Determine the UCL and LCL for a X−X− -chart. (Do not round intermediate calculations. Round your answers to 3 decimal places.)

d. Determine the UCL and LCL for R-chart. (Leave no cells blank - be certain to enter "0" wherever required. Do not round intermediate calculations. Round your answers to 3 decimal places.)

e. What comments can you make about the process?

o The process is in statistical control.

o The process is out of statistical control.

How does shaping demand differ from anticipating demand? Who can shape demand, and how is it accomplished?

Learning objective: Improve understanding of contingency leadership theory

Process:

Suppose that you are a leader of a team in a company.

1. Team members are working together for the first time and are eager to begin, but they lack the experience and confidence needed to perform their roles. They are not familiar with individual and team goals and tasks yet.
2. The members have begun working together and, as typically happens, are finding that their work is more difficult than they had anticipated. They also want to determine task assignment and roles of members more clearly. They begin to share their views on tasks even if it is hard to reach an agreement due to conflicting views on how to proceed the team project.
3. The members realize that it is important to work together and begin to be more cooperative to each other. They understand most of team tasks and goals. They voice their views more actively. However, they still need some support from you to perform their tasks.
4. The members have good understanding of individual tasks and team tasks. They are familiar with how they can accomplish team goals successfully and collectively work together well. They also have most information and knowledge to effectively perform their job.

Q. Drawing on contingency theory of leadership and four leadership behavior (telling, selling, participating, and delegating), identify the optimal leadership behavior for each of the situational contingencies above and justify your choice.

How neuromarketing id used marketing research.

Learning objective: Improve understanding of behavioral leadership theory

Process:

      Read the following excerpt about a Facebook manager and respond to the discussion question.

Facebook (HBR, 2018). At Facebook, our best managers work with people to minimize these trade-offs by creating career opportunities that mesh with personal priorities. Here’s an example.

Shona, an agency lead, was coming back from maternity leave to a global role where time zones directly conflicted with her parenting. With her manager, Shona developed a prioritization plan for travel. For anything that was important but not essential, she worked with regional colleagues to set up meeting coverage. Shona’s manager also connected her with a mentor in a global role who guided her through her transition. In Shona’s words, “This deep level of support gave me the confidence to return to work fully present and also be there for my daughter.” Managers who give this kind of support find that their people not only deliver but also stay longer — they’re proud of where they work.

Discussion question: Drawing on behavioral theory of leadership, identify and explain leadership behavior of Shona’s manager. A strong answer will justify your answer.

Experimental research, designed to capture cause-and-effect relation- ships by eliminating competing explanations of the findings: What do we mean by case and effect?

Try to identify your most commonly used communication channel by conducting an audit of a typical day’s communications. Select a typical workday and itemize each communication channel you used (you may want to tally and then total at the end of the day). You can use the template provided below. Communication Channel Number of times used in the day Individual face-to-face Meeting Presentation Telephone calls (Including mobile) Video-conferences Reports Memos Letters Emails SMS Others

Project #1 Collaboration Description: In this assignment you are to explore what information technology tools are available for collaboration in teams. While there are many options, you will find that we can put them into categories. For each of the categories listed identify a collaboration tool and fill out the relevant table entries.

Suppose that a firm is considering moving from a batch process to an assembly-line process to better meet evolving market needs. What concerns might the following functions have about this proposed process change: Marketing, finance, human resources, accounting, and information systems?

Do you have a preferred communication channel? Is it the most effective channel for the types of messages you typically transmit? Could you use other channels to improve your communication effectively

Regarding an employer's vicarious liability for harassment, which of the following statements is true?

a.           the employer automatically has an affirmative defense to vicarious liability when a hostile environment is created by a top official

b.           the employer automatically has an affirmative defense to vicarious liability when harassment by a coworker occurs

c.           the employer is vicariously liable if a supervisor creates a hostile environment and the employer does not have a sexual harassment policy or complaint reporting procedure

d.           the employer is automatically vicariously liable when a top official takes an adverse employment action against the employee

Which of the following would be least likely to create liability for the employer if asked during an interview?

a.           Have you ever filed a workers’ compensation claim for a work-related injury or illness?

b.           Do you have a disability that requires a reasonable accommodation?

c.           How often do you go out on dates?

d.           Why do you want to work for this company?   

For purposes of determining discrimination in recruitment, the “relevant labor market” is best defined as:

a.           the protected class composition of the employer’s applicant pool

b.           the population as a whole

c.           the protected class composition of people qualified for the job, and living geographically close enough to be likely candidates

d.           the protected class composition of the geographic area

In order to avoid liability for negligent hiring, the primary question an employer must consider is:

              a.           whether the employer’s own written hiring policies are adequate

              b.           whether placing an unfit person in the particular job could be expected to result in harm

              c.           whether there is evidence of a candidate’s unfitness that could be found through a thorough personal interview with the applicant

              d.           whether the employer complied with its own written hiring policies

1) Clancy's Motors has the following demand to meet for custom manufactured fuel injector parts. The holding cost for that item is $2 per month and each setup costs $80. Lead time is 0 months. Calculate the planned order releases using: (a) the EOQ technique, and (b) the POQ technique. And What are the costs of each plan, including the holding cost of any inventory left over after month 7? What technique performance is better.

Answer (Show all mathematical work):

(a) The monthly holding cost = $2/month

Average monthly demand = ??? units

The EOQ = ??? units

Total inventory held = ??? units

Setup costs = $???

Holding cost = $????

Total cost = $????

(b) POQ Interval = ?.??, round to # month.

Total inventory held = ? units

Setup costs = $???

Holding cost = $?

Total cost = $???