Learning Contract template Essay

We have provided this template to help you to build up and structure your learning contract. You will find an introduction to the learning contract in Activity 1.6 of the Study Guide and you will find detailed guidance in the Learning Contract Guidance. This will have been sent to you as a printed booklet and is also available on the Study Resources section of the Module web-site. For each of the five sections of this template there is a corresponding section in the Learning Contract Guidance (from page 10 onwards). You should work through and make notes on each section of the Learning Contract Guidance, to help you to develop your ideas, before you start to complete the relevant section of this template. We suggest you keep your initial notes and reflections on the activities in these sections of the Learning Contract Guidance in your Learning Journal; these will help you to develop your thinking about your learning contract and to decide what you want to write in each section. You can, of course, change the text you have written in this template document as often as you like. This is an important point because you are likely to find that your thinking changes as you work through the activities in the Learning Contract Guidance and that you will want to revise the content several times. For this reason, we suggest you to start drafting your learning contract well before week 10 when you will submit it as eTMA02. You may of course prefer not to use this template or to use it as a starting point and then to amend it – and this is fine. You are not confined to using exactly the structure we have suggested here, as long as you clearly cover each of the five elements. If you do use this template, you will find indicative word limits in each section which will help to give you a sense of how much you need to write – but you are free to alter these as long as you remain within the overall limit set out for eTma02 (1,600 words) . You will, of course, need to delete the instructions which are given in italics in each section before you submit it. This will leave you with the headings (in bold) and your own content. Template Section 1: Possible Learning Topics Read pages 10- 13 of the Learning Contract Guidance from the heading Section 1: Possible Learning Topics to the end of the section headed Pulling together your thoughts about Section 1. Make notes in your Learning Journal of your thoughts about the questions and illustrative cases in this section. When you are ready write here your thoughts about the topics you would like to study to make improvements in your performance at work. You will study these in the work-based learning inquiries which you will carry out from week 11 of this module. Remember that you are strongly advised to make one of your topics time management and to choose at least one of your topics from those covered in the Topic Guides (you will find further guidance on this in Activity 1.6 of the Study Guide). If you are a BUXS130 student one of your topics must be Customer care in the public sector. You should have two topics plus one reserve (in case either of the first two proves too difficult to study in practice). Explain briefly why you want to learn about these topics and why you want to make the changes to your working practices that you have identified. Suggested word count: approximately 200 words Section 2: You and Your Learning Context: Read pages 13-17 of the Learning Contract Guidance from the heading Section 2: You and Your Learning Context to the end of the section headed Pulling together your thoughts about Section 2. Make notes in your Learning Journal of your thoughts about the questions and illustrative cases in this section. When you are ready, use the notes you have made to write a short summary of how your learning experiences and work environment have influenced the choice of topics which you identified for your work-based learning inquiries in Section 1, and the way you will learn about each of them. Remember that your learning context includes your work environment and you will need to bear in mind how much freedom you will have to make changes to the way you carry out your work, as this will obviously influence the way you will be able to manage your learning. Suggested word count: approximately 200 words Section 3: Your Learning Objectives: Read pages 18-21 of the Learning Contract Guidance from the heading Section 3: Your Learning Objectives to the end of the section headed Pulling together your thoughts about Section 3. Make notes in your Learning Journal of your thoughts about the questions and activities in this section. When you are ready, use the notes you have made to help you to draw up one learning objective for each topic area that you identified for your work-based learning inquiries in Section 1 above. Remember to try to make each objective SMART (Specific, Measurable, Aspirational, Realistic, and Timely/Time-bound) as explained on pages 18-19 of the Learning Contract Guidance. You should also explain briefly why you have chosen each objective – this includes why you think the learning in each objective is important and how your work practice might be improved as a result. Remember to include your reserve objective (although you can comment on this more briefly than the other objectives). If you are a BUXS130 student, remember that one of your objectives must relate to Customer care in the public sector. Suggested word count: approximately 350 words Section 4: Learning Strategy and Resources: Read pages 21 -30 of the Learning Contract Guidance from the heading Section 4: Learning Strategy and Resources to the end of the section headed Pulling together your thoughts about Section 4. Make notes in your Learning Journal of your thoughts about the questions activities and illustrative cases in this section. When you are ready, use the notes you have made to help you to develop a plan for each of your learning objectives (again, you can do this more briefly for your reserve objective than for the first two). For each objective you should show: what steps you will take to carry out your work-based learning inquiry. This should include a plan of action which shows what you will be doing in each week from week 12 of this module. You may find it helpful to include some interim targets and/or a ‘table’ format to outline your strategy. an overview of the resources which are available to you and which you expect to use in carrying out your work-based learning inquiry. These might include Topic Guides, other online or printed articles and books, your mentor, your line managers and your colleagues. You should indicate your reasoning in selecting these resources and how you will choose, access, and make use of them. Where you identify people as a resource you should say what specific help will you seek from each of them, Suggested word count: approximately 500 words Section 5: Demonstrating Your Learning: Read pages 30 -40 of the Learning Contract Guidance from the heading Section 5: Demonstrating your learning to the end of the section headed Pulling together your thoughts about Section 5. Make notes of your thoughts about the questions, activities and illustrative case in this section in your Learning Journal. When you are ready, use the notes you have made to help you to explain how you will demonstrate your learning in relation to the objective you have decided on for each of your work-based learning inquiries. In each case you should explain: how you will show what you have learned about the topic which is the focus of your work-based learning inquiry (and which you identified in section 1 of your learning contract). how you will know whether you have achieved the objective you set for each work-based learning inquiry (and which you identified in section 3 of your learning contract). You should be able to identify measurable evidence or indicators for each objective. You should also be able to identify sources of evidence which will indicate that you are making progress at interim stages as well as evidence of achievement at the end of your work-based learning inquiry. As in previous section you should deal only briefly with your third objective. Suggested word count: approximately 350 words

Planning Of A Rich Media Project For Digital Portfolio

Project management as the building blocks of various types of businesses holds important roles in defining the success or failure of these businesses, whether it is used in a daily basis or in used in lighthouse events only. As the environment changes however, project management need to face new challenges and issues brought upon it by shifting trends in the society.Concerning project management, this paper discusses how the trends have shifted and what issues are presented in the face of project management science. In the end, I will describe how project managers have responded to those challenges and create new business models and new project management initiatives.I. Case Studies and FindingsII.1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Changing Environment: Current Trends and IssuesLimited ResourcesOne of the most obvious shifts in project management trends is the limited resources provided for each project. With the level of competition and professionalism expected by investors, project managers now ar e expected to do more with less. Tighter budgets, less time and fewer resources are some of the challenges faced by modern project challenges. Using those limited resources, project managers are expected to create products and provide services which are faster, cheaper and better. The basis of the competition is now rooted in two dimensions, time-based considerations and cost based considerations. The cost based dimension has been around since the beginning, but the increasing importance of time-based considerations is the new competitive edge. Companies or project managers today are demanded to control their cost using project management techniques and to deliver product or service to the market faster than anyone.Developing a consistent approachSurveyed executives and project professionals reported that developing a consistent approach to managing projects is one of the most common challenges in today’s project management. 24% respondents believed that designing the approac h toward a project management strategy is the crucial first step. Any other steps are built upon the success of this first step. It is the foundation of the whole project. If it is managed successfully, any other steps would run smoothly in aftermath.However, due to the unpredictability of situations, project managers can sometimes decide to change their approach toward the project. More often than not, this action does not deliver solutions to the problems, but rather generate confusion and baffle the people who already have their mindset tune-in to the preliminary approach (‘Research’, 2003)Managing multiple projectsAlmost 20% of the respondents believed that it is the allocation of resources that become their huge challenge in managing their projects. The difficulty level is enhanced once the project managers must manage multiple projects at once. One of the preliminary considerations project managers must made is about choosing the right projects. 17% of the executi ve and project professionals interviewed stated that one of the most common issues for companies is that they choose too many projects to manage or they choose the wrong projects.Deciding to manage projects without the right basis of considerations will generate flawed end-result and thus flawed corporate reputation. In managing multiple projects, the extent of the challenges, whether they are from the cost-based considerations or the time-based considerations is enhanced significantly (‘Research’, 2003).Limited visibility of project activitiesAnother important challenge and the one that is increasingly discussed in recent years is the limited visibility of project activities. Increasing scope of project, complexity and increasing need to be cost and time effective enhanced the necessity to have clear visibility throughout the project duration and processes. Nevertheless, such a visibility is seldom available because it requires significant amount of investment in IT in itiatives and staff training.Companies rely on project management more.About 72.4 projects within a company is lasting less than one year, which makes them eligible for implementing the project management science 51% of these projects are considered complex or highly complex. Almost 60% of companies surveyed manage projects at the enterprise level. 44% of these surveyed companies already have an established project office and a center of excellence for project managers (Research, 2003).II.2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Requirement: The New Business ModelsII.2.1.   Improving the Project ManagerIn order to deal with the changes in today’s marketplace, companies rely on project management sciences a lot more than yesterday. This is considered a logical step because managers discovered that project management science contain a significant competitive advantage to other concept of management. Companies are now supplying their project managers with tools to manage projects efficiently, like seminars and training in project management sciences, to learn about scheduling techniques like Gantt charts and PERT diagrams. Project managers are also taught to plan ahead, be proactive yet flexible and creative in anticipating problems due to changes within the environment.II.2.2.   Developing the Project TeamProject teams also received significant raining steps. These training steps are performed to give projects teams the capability to write project specifications, estimating time, developing budgets and planning procedures within the project. The training will enhance the efficiency of the project team in planning the project. The more efficient the planning process, the easier the implementation of the project becomes. Afterwards, team members are taught to develop teamwork and team pride to help ensure the project’s success. As the level of competition increases, businesses realize the increasing value of providing project managers and project teams with those type s of trainingII.2.3.   Developing the Information Technology Department  In order to fulfill the need to have project visibility across its processes, companies and project managers turn to Information Technology. IT initiatives are the choice of 77% project managers having been surveyed, Compare to 69% believing that methodology improvement and staff training are the most crucial problems (Chaakravarty, nd).II.2.4.   OutsourcingHaving limited resources and time to manage projects efficiently, companies begin considering outsourcing the project management systems. More than 50% of companies surveyed stated that they only have 1-9 project managers on the company’s staff, others are outsourced. 25% of these surveyed companies have 10-25 project managers on staff and 39% of the companies surveyed fully outsourced their project management function or considering it.

What is the Vatican II?

Vatican II is the last ecumenical council that the Roman Catholic Church had. It is the only council that the Church organized for the past century up to now. Ecumenical councils are held every time the Church feels there are things to be settled within its institution. It is attended by Bishops around the world. Not to be mislead by its name, Vatican II is not a continuation of Vatican I; rather, it is a new council dedicated to resolving new issues. Since this council is held almost half a century ago, maybe it is about time for the Church to finally hold another one, not necessarily to settle new issues, but just to check the overall status of the Christian world, especially with the advent of stem cell research and the continuing issues of birth control. Besides, things today are definitely different from what they were forty or fifty years ago. The council of Vatican II focused on issues on liturgy, the Church, scripture and divine revelation, and the role of the Bishops. The council produced documents regarding these topics, plus twelve more topics that they discussed in the council. Contrary to the previous councils which were held primarily because of the rise of false teachings, the Vatican II did not focus on persecuting heretic teachings. Thus, this council is probably the first of its kind.

Coca Cola's Supply Network Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Coca Cola's Supply Network - Essay Example Spain is a country in which over 21,000 fires happening every year and â€Å"coke recently helped to restore some of the forests around Madrid that have suffered badly from forest fires, planting indigenous species and building dams† (The Coca Cola Company: Spain, 2009). Moreover, Coke helps the countries to develop new environmental legislation and protection with its waste recovery or recycling operations. There are no other companies in the world which can claim the same popularity and wider supply chain networks than Coke. In short, the same popularity of Coca Cola products cannot be claimed by any other products, which is the reason why I chose this organization in order to analyse the supply network. The growth of Coke is phenomenal in some parts of the world and it is necessary to assist the growth prospects with the help of an updated logistics or supply chain management system. Keeping in mind that, Coca Cola is constantly updating their logistics channels, to enhance the capabilities of their distribution system. Route optimization, route planning and load building are some of the strategies adopted by Coke to improve their delivery system. Because of the developments in the infrastructure facilities, new and easy routes might be developed at different areas. Coke explores all such possibilities periodically so that they select the cheapest routes for distributing their products. Coca Cola is keen in incorporating new technologies into their logistics and supply chain operations in order to improve the services of their distribution channels. Recently, they combined their logistics and retail expertise with SAPs software-development talent to create applications to improve delivery to stores (Foley & Kontzer, 2004). The arrival of SAP software enhanced the capabilities of the account managers, delivery drivers, and

Dentify the sources of law in the United States Assignment Overview Essay

Dentify the sources of law in the United States Assignment Overview - Essay Example This was contrary to the fact that USA has always been a close ally of UK. In 1861, Abraham Lincoln issued executive orders meant to manage a constitutional crisis that was looming. Congress was out of session. On the eve of a civil war, armed militias attacked federal troupes in Maryland and Virginia. John Merryman, an active leader of one of these troupes had to be captured and locked up in Baltimore. Lawyers representing Merryman called for a habeas corpus and the president, through an executive order suspended his right to habeas corpus. This order by the president was valid because letting such a man on the go would multiply the casualties of such a militia and similar coupes. In 1969, President Richard Nixon issued an executive order that strictly prohibited discrimination on sex, color, handicap, religion and origin of a person in the competitive service. The competitive service included civilians employed by the armed forces to the contractors and other active employment arenas. This order was important as a presidential exercise because it encouraged all civilians to own the USA (Nelson 182). Matters related to discrimination had drastically divided the nation based on the stipulated differences. Therefore, it was a reasonable exercise of executive power because it marked the beginning of a free America. Free from vast

Tourisme in Dubai Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Tourisme in Dubai - Essay Example In fact, the author quotes that, â€Å"Decisions about tourism were made against a background of falling oil production and a keen sense of the urgency of economic diversity (Henderson 91).† The source relates the growth in tourism in Dubai to heavy investment and extensive marketing. Ultimately, the source discusses the factors, which promote tourism in Dubai and the challenges that might hinder future tourism in Dubai. The article is an effective source of information in studying tourism in Dubai. Indeed, the source is authoritative since it resides in an international journal, International Journal of Tourism Research. As such, the information contained therein is internationally accepted and applicable in research. Moreover, the source uses a simple, international language, which is understandable at my basic level of expertise. At the same time, the information contained in the source addresses tourism in Dubai, which is relevant to the research topic and the thesis statement. Actually, the source quotes that, â€Å"As such, Dubai merits examination and this paper explores the pattern of development there and its underlying dynamics within the context of factors that are critical to destination development and barriers obstructing such a process (Henderson 87)†. Furthermore, the source presents historical and factual data in addressing tourism in Dubai. Notably, the source details information up to 2006 (Henderson 89). Although 2006 may not reflect the current tourism situation in Dubai, the information is true and reasonable for this study. Moreover, the author, Joan C. Henderson is a well-known academician. Indeed, the author derives authority as she works for internationally known schools, Nanyang Business School and Nanyang Technological University as an Associate Professor. Moreover, the author has written other academic books. She holds a Master’s degree in Tourism and has done various researches on Tourism. As such, we can rely on her

Manifest Destiny & Road to the Civil War & Slavery Essay

Manifest Destiny & Road to the Civil War & Slavery - Essay Example More and more cotton plantations came into existence so is the labor to carry on with the plantation related works. The Southern region of America consisted of the creamy layer of the society and they all led a sophisticated life. The cotton industry grew up to become big and constituted about half of the exports made by America in 1845. Though the South had an upper hand in cotton manufacturing, it also helped the North region as the cotton looms are woven in the North. Few autocratic families headed over the dealings in the South and were popularly known as cottonocracy. A lot of mythical facts were also there at that time and only about few 1,733 families had about some 100+ slaves with them. Women in the South had a great influence on it as well though they were not politically strong like the men they took care on the domestic sphere. It is not that the North did not like slavery that they did not have much of slavery going on. It was just that they did not have a flourishing bu siness like the South and also at times they were jealous of the growth of the South to some extent. Industry in the North could not compete with South region of America because of availability of the cheap labors in North. There was a popular idea that the North liked blacks and that people in the South hated them is an absolute myth. North region American hated blacks much more than that of the South and one famous belief to support this stand is the saying that the North liked the black race but hated the individuals, on the other hand south hated the race but loved the individuals. Many of the reasons can be attributed to the growth of the slavery system and the slaves. Growing profits in cotton led to land butchery as there was always a demand for new cotton cultivation land. Smaller farm owners were not able to compete with the large plantation owners and hence they ended up selling their land to the plantation owners. The Cotton Kingdom was not without any downside as well. I t was largely dependent on the cotton for its survival and depended on the North for everything. Over importance was given to speculations and invested a lot on land and slaves thus leading to debts. Owning of slaves were considered to be a great prestige by these white masters and those who could not afford it thought it to be a life time achievement to own slaves of their own. It was not that all the whites were in a superior position. Only a few of the whites were wealthy and served as masters. A larger group of whites were poor and had to eat clay for survival. Though they were poor in status, they considered them above that of the blacks and hated the blacks to the core. Dangerous jobs were given to Irish men than slaves because of fear of losing them. Slaves are considered to be a valuable investment. There was a period in America which saw up to some 250,000 free blacks by the year 1860. Some of the reasons behind it are the outburst of American Revolution, buying of the free dom by earning enough money and black child born to the white master. Northern whites and Irish people did not get along well with the fact that there are free blacks. Irish considered blacks as a competitor as they worked for lesser wages than the Irish. Though the legality of the bringing in of slaves was stopped, there were some illegal activities carried on. Slave life is a difficult point for the blacks. They were treated very badly and are whipped for any

Constructivism in the Classroom Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Constructivism in the Classroom - Essay Example Constructivism has been defined by researchers and educators in numerous ways. With a history that can be traced to the days of Socrates, Constructivism has become an important learning technique for all students. Jacqueline Grennon Brooks in her book Concept to Classroom Interviews (1999) states that ‘as long as there were people asking each other questions, we have had constructivist classrooms. Constructivism, the study of learning, is about how we all make sense of our world, and that really hasn’t changed’. ‘The concept of constructivism has roots in classical antiquity, going back to Socrates’s dialogues with his followers, in which he asked directed questions that led his students to realize for themselves the weaknesses in their thinking. The Socratic dialogue is still an important tool in the way constructivist educators assess their students’ learning and plan new learning experiences†¦ in this century, Jean Piaget and John Dewey developed theories of childhood development and education, what we now call Progressive Education, that led to the evolution of constructivism. According to William J. Matthews, a professor in the School Psychology Program of the School of Education at the University of Massachusetts, ‘there are numerous variations and definitions of post-modernist thought of which constructivism is a subset (e.g. , radical constructivism, social constructivism, and deconstructivism). However, Piagetian constructivism is a subset of a larger historical challenge to modernist notions. of objective reality in general and the use of empirically validated methods of teaching specifically'. As Jacqueline Grennon Brooks and Martin G. Brooks state, 'Constructivism is basically a theory - based on observation and scientific study - about how people learn. It says that people construct their own understanding and knowledge of the world, through experiencing things and reflecting on those experiences. When we encounter something new, we have to reconcile it with our previous ideas and experience, maybe changing what we believe or maybe discarding the new information as irrelevant. In any case, we are active

Liberal Arts Studies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Liberal Arts Studies - Essay Example It is reasonable to see corporations and communities as benefiting from the struggle and competition that Darwin saw in the animal world and applied to humans as well. With a new job opening, for example, candidates will be determined as qualified or unqualified. The qualified applicants will get the interview for the chance to prove that they are up to the task and capable of doing what is required. Ideally, the best (or strongest) candidate based on the job description will be hired for the job. However, in the business world this is not always the case. Often the person hiring for the job will hire someone based on their personality or if they know them personally. So the most qualified or strongest applicant often does not get the job. However, ideally, a smart business person would hire the strongest and best qualified candidate. In modern society, certain jobs have been reduced or even eliminated. With the growth of technology, many professions were reduced in number while new professions were created. There are numerous examples of people who are professionals making a lot of money who are laid off and find themselves out of work and unable to get another job.

Bad Lending Leading to the East Asian Crisis In 1990s Essay

Bad Lending Leading to the East Asian Crisis In 1990s - Essay Example Bad Lending Leading to the East Asian Crisis In 1990s The East Asian economic crisis was later analysed as caused by several external and internal stimuli such as improper maintenance of financial market activities, inadequate foreign borrowing and absence of inducements towards risk management among others (Dullum & Kulkarni, 2005). Considering this aspects, this essay will describe how different activities resulted in high lending activities in East Asian economies causing a crisis situation. The objective of the essay is to analyse and describe the main economic problem that triggered the economic crisis in East Asian nations. Hence, the rationale for choosing this topic is to understand various facets which can lead to bad economic crisis with the aim to gain knowledge regarding measures which can be implemented to avoid such circumstances. Major Features of Asian Economic Crisis In the year 1997, when the financial crisis was identified, International Monetary Fund (IMF) reported that the situation was fundamentally caused due to t he inefficiency of East Asian financial markets to manage its foreign debt as well as lending policies. As soon as this crisis hit, IMF assigned that it was the responsibility of East Asian capitalism. This occurrence was further observed to have created a significant impact upon the Asian financial markets including Indonesia, Korea, Thailand, Malaysia and Philippines. In these nations, bank lending dues on private organisations had increased remarkably before and during the crisis situation. For instance, in Philippines, credit to private organisations surpassed 40% growth from 1993 to 1996. The amount of liabilities also ascended from 8.8% of GDP in 1995 to 21% of GDP in 1997 in Philippines. In Korea, the amount of foreign liabilities of banks had been observed to gain growth in almost two-folds, i.e. from 4.5% of GDP in 1993 to 9.5% of GDP in 1997. Only in Indonesia, even though the credit growth was recorded at a modest level within the national financial structure, the private organisations were engaged in borrowing openly from foreign sources. The most risky circumstance was observed in Thailand where the aggregate amount of foreign liabilities of banks had increased rapidly to almost 28% of GDP in 1995 (Radelet & et. al., 1998). This huge amount of liabilities can further be observed as the result of weak regulatory measures taken by governments and poor financial structure of different East Asian nations. This huge amount of liabilities imposed a degree of negative impact on the economic performances of these East Asian nations, as most of the foreign creditors began extracting their capital from these countries as well as the other nations in the East Asian region. Due to deep capital outflow, the currency exchange rates came under strong burden. It can be observed that in 1997, the currency exchange rates of Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines and Thailand had reduced by more than 20%. The collapse of economic conditions in these nations triggered the feeling among investors that other nations in the East Asian region will soon fall under economic crisis. The major rating organisations slowly demoted the nations in East Asian region, causing more capital extraction by the creditors. Furthermore, as exchange rate depreciated,

Contrast the three general approaches to setting prices Essay

Contrast the three general approaches to setting prices - Essay Example The demand for the product would be lesser when the price is kept high, but the revenues could be more because of the high selling price. (Bovay, 2008) There are many instances of new products following the market skimming strategy including Mercedes Benz, Sony High-definition television, Nokia N series cell phones and so on. All these products have one thing in common: they are all high quality products. Setting a high price for a new product could be disastrous for products that do not offer premium quality. As price gives a perception of quality to the consumers, setting a price too low for a high quality product just to make it more affordable, is also not a good strategy. It says to the consumers that the product is not of the premium quality they expected, and deteriorates the brand image of the company. Therefore, market skimming strategy is ideal for cases in which the product is innovative or does not have competition. Also, if the new product is of a strong brand, the company can use premium pricing because the consumers are less likely to switch to another product because of their loyalty with the brand. Apple Computers is an ideal example of such a case. Even though the company has several close competitors that offer the same products with the same specifications, it’s the perception of the brand that lets the company demand a higher price for its products. In contrast to the market skimming pricing, this strategy focuses on attracting a large number of buyers through setting a low price for the product. This pricing strategy is usually adopted when there are a number of sellers in the market and the company wants to penetrate into the market quickly. When the consumers see the low priced product that offers them the same product that other companies are offering, they are attracted towards the low priced one. In this way, the company is able to attract a large

Automotive Industries in Thailand Essay Example for Free

Automotive Industries in Thailand Essay Contribution of MNC’s in automotive industry: Most of the developing countries consider that the automotive industry will move the country toward an intensive industrialisation by creating a large set of related businesses. Thailand aims to be regarded as the Detroit of Asia. The country has engaged in the last few decades in the development of the automotive industry, with a special focus on domestic auto-assembly. Thailand is the worlds second largest pick-up truck market after the U.S., and it is ASEANs largest automotive market and assembler. Today all leading Japanese car producers as well as BMW, Mercedes Benz, General Motors, Ford, Volvo, and Peugeot, assemble cars in Thailand along with their group of subcontractors and suppliers. Thailand has become the main production base for auto exports in South East Asia. Thailand is considered as one of the most attractive countries for automotive investments mainly due to factors such as the good and growing domestic market size, the relative political stability, liberal trade and investment policy, and the lack of a national car program. The automotive industry is Thailands third largest industry, employing an estimated total workforce of about 225,000 employees, and with a total production capacity of around 1,270,100 cars and trucks per year. Japanese-make automobiles have dominated the local auto market; with nearly 90% market share but other global vehicle manufacturers’ investments are growing consistently, creating a very dynamic industry. New global parts manufacturers are in the process of relocating some of their operations to Thailand. Thailand has 16 vehicle assemblers; most of them are large-scale foreign owned or joint venture enterprises. As well, there are more than 1100 small and medium sized companies working as suppliers of original equipment (OEM),  or producing replacement equipment (REM). The automotive industry in Thailand is very concentrated with most of the factories located in the Samut Prakarn province (approximately 20 km south of Bangkok), followed by Rayong (approximately 130 km south-east of Bangkok). The largest car producer is Toyota, and in 2003 it was the first manufacturer to establish a local RD centre in Thailand. However, this type of initiative, a cooperative arrangement between MNCs and local universities, is so far not a widespread practice in Thailand. Therefore, there is a stringent need to understand the mechanisms allowing for knowledge transfer and sharing, if Thailand wants to position itself as a very competitive country, not only in the automotive industry but in other industrial sectors as well. Thailand benefits from these companies operations as almost 18% of labour and employment are generated by the automotive industry.

Relationship Between Staff Motivation and Performance

Relationship Between Staff Motivation and Performance INTRODUCTION Shortages can be a symptom of demotivation, poor management and lack of organizational support (Zurn et al., 2005). Shortages are resulting in heavy workload, which is a precursor to job stress, and burnout, which have also been linked to low job motivation. Nurses job motivation is an elusive concept, which is defined within its extrinsic and intrinsic values (Cowin, 2002). Extrinsic values encompass the tangible aspects of the job including wages, benefits and bonuses, whereas intrinsic values include status, recognition, personal and professional development opportunities, and other similar factors (Cowin, 2002). Reasons for nurse demotivation have been well documented in the nursing literature. Such reasons include lack of involvement in decision-making, poor relationship with management, low salaries and poor benefits, lack of job security, poor recognition and lack of flexibility in scheduling (Albaugh,2003). Nurse demotivation has been also linked to emotional exhaustion and b urnout, Which can affect patient outcomes (Aiken et al., 1997). Furthermore Shields Ward (2001) and Tzeng (2002) has also stated that improper motivation is a primary predictor of nurses intent to leave (Shields Ward, 2001; Tzeng, 2002). A study conducted in the United States presented evidence showing that demotivated nurses were 65% more likely to have intent to leave compared to the motivated counterparts (Shields Ward, 2001). Other predictors of intent to leave vary from other motivation factors like low salaries and fringe benefits, inflexible work schedule (Coomber Barriball, 2007; Hayes et al, 2006), career advancement prospects (Tzeng, 2002, Rambur et al., 2003), in addition to poor management and job stress (Rambur et al., 2003). Nurses turnover is linked to situational factors (Larrabee et al., 2003) such as low levels of motivation (Tzeng, 2002). It is worth noting that improper motivation has also been found to be a better predictor of intent to leave as compared to the avail ability of other employment opportunities (Shields Ward, 2001; Purani Sahadev 2007). A study by El-Jardali et al. (2007) also found a negative correlation between motivation and intention to leave in Lebanese nurses. Their studys main objective was to examine the impact of motivation as a predictor variable on intention to leave used as dependent variable in the study. The finding of the study reveals that the main cause of the dissatisfaction and hence intention to leave was negatively associated with hospitals motivation schemes such as compensation and incentives (extrinsic rewards). Purani and Sahadev (2007) used motivation with multi-faceted construct as predictor variable and examine its impact on intention to leave among the nurses in India. Assuming one of the role as interaction and communication with clients and patient of both profession is common, their study also used experience as moderating variables to examine how working experience could affect motivation and inte ntion to leave relationship. Purani and Sahadev (2007) found that employees with long stay at workplace had higher level of motivation and would not incline to quit. Their finding also suggested that motivation and intention to leave relationship framework must also have other demographic variables consideration into the model of motivation and intention to leave. Pearson and Chong (1997) also examined the impact of job content and job information on motivation among Malaysian nurses in large public sector hospital. They found that job information is stronger predictor to nurses motivation and therefore argued that intrinsic factors such as job information and organization commitment also influence nurses motivation. However, they did recommend that motivation with information cues available to nurses are crucial to determine nurses motivation which may lead to intent to leave or higher job burnout, if not available. Tzeng (2002) examined the impact of working motivational factors a s well as job satisfaction factors as independent variables on nurses intention to leave in cross-sectional study in Taiwan. He found that low levels of motivation, emotional exhaustion and burnout and to the poor social image of the nursing profession influenced nurses intention to leave in Taiwans hospitals. This study therefore, suggested that motivation is a multi-faceted construct and should have both intrinsic as well as extrinsic factors to measure job satisfaction (Tzeng, 2002). HOW MOTIVATION AFFECTS EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE The extent to which employees are motivated in their work depends on how well those employees are able to provide output in their job. Motivation is expected to have a positive effect on quality performance. Employees who are characterized by a high level of motivation show a higher work and life satisfaction. Having a high level of motivation is therefore in itself valuable for employees and a decrease in motivation might affect employees negatively. The motivation leads to high level of initiative and creativity from the employee and where monitoring is difficult, motivation is therefore extremely important for ensuring high quality performance. In Armco Health Center, the quality of employee performance is measured by three individual measures of employee performance. The first measure of the individual performance items is a self-rating measure of employee performance through a program called SAP. The performance of the employee asks to indicate eight-points scale how well the em ployee is doing the job. The second measure of the performance of the Armco Health Center is the extent to which the nurses are willing to conduct tasks that are not part of their job description. The employees are asked to report on the SAP about their willingness to perform additional tasks that are not expected from them regularly and to think constructively about how the organization they work for could be proved. Last item that measure the performance of the nurses are the number of days they were absent. EMPOWERMENT AND STAFF MOTIVATION Nursing is increasingly broad in scope and encompasses an ever widening range of work behaviors and role responsibilities. However, they work within a climate of uncertainty and disempowerment along with high organizational demands placing them under considerable stress (1,2). This condition threatens both physical and emotional wellbeing of nurses and the profession itself and may results to low nurses commitment which in turn may contribute to disengagement or withdrawal of nurses from their organizations (3,4). Consequently, threatens organizational functioning and the quality care, since low nurses commitment leads to absenteeism or poor performance (5). However, the nurses low commitment is being a problem in many countries, Aiken et al(6) have cautioned that the health care workforce faces the serious risk of losing one in five registered nurse for reasons other than retirement. Supportively, several other studies revealed that the turnover rate for hospital registered nurse is among the highest rates found for professional and technical occupational groups (7,8). In addition, in 2002 the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Health Care Organizations (JCAHO) recorded that current annual registered nurse turnover rates range from 18% to 26% (9). Moreover, Victorian Governmental Department of Human Services Research suggests that at low levels of job satisfaction and organizational commitment, retention of nursing staff is difficult and this in turn increases absenteeism (10). The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, like many other countries is also suffering from nursing low commitment which evidenced by registered nurses high turnover rate and resignation(11). However, some national studies and articles highlighted that governmental sectors in Riyadh city were suffering for many years from high turnover rate of nurses that reached to 70% in some hospitals and resulted in high nurses shortage (12,13) . Along with working condition, salary, nursing disempowerment and uncertainty being cited to explain why the nurses exhibit poor work performance or uncommitted to their organization. In a research conducted by Attree (17) that studies the relationship between nurses perception regarding their control and governance , revealed that registered nurse were dissatisfied with their governance, perceived lack of control over their everyday practice and commented on a popular perception that they had become disempowered , lacked influence and asserted that they have fairly little power. Its the managers and physicians who have the power, not nurses. Both managers and physicians decided, told and expected from the nurse to just get on with it, without discussion, or negotiation. As Salvage (18), nurses may see themselves as skilled practitioners, but the public still clings to its old image of the nurse as the doctors handmaiden. This indicates that nurses are not powerless due to lack in competence, motivation, and/or information, but because lack of awareness and enabling system and structure. Foser and Hoggett (19) termed this situation as a Do more with less culture where rhetoric is designed to empower the exhausted workers by emphasizing their commitment to organizational goals . However, disparity between the nurses desired and perceived autonomy and control over daily job activities interferes with nurses attempts to perform according to their expectations as professionals and may contribute to disengagement and withdrawal from the profession of nursing (17). Parallel to this is the national view of nursing in Saudi culture. Abu- Zinada (11,20) stated in many articles that the nurses were disempowered, and have a feeling of uncertainty. In contrast, she saw that the nurse has the right to make decisions that are separate of the physician ones. Moreover, Al-morshed (21) considered that the nurses were not assistants to the physician or that their role is limited to giving injection or helping a patient, since the nursing is a science before everything. Thus, creating conditions that foster a sense of empowerment in healthcare settings are critical to both employee wellbeing and organizational success(22) . For employee well-being, empowerment offers opportunities for learning, development, and playing a more active role in operational decisions through the personal development and involvement in decision making. As a result, employees can sense their feelings of self-worth, meaningfulness, job satisfaction and morale that result from their contributions and control or autonomy over their work. Additionally, empowerment is essential for enhancing nurses role, strengthening the professional image, and continuously improving the healthcare system. It allows the nurses to perform in a professional manner by being more autonomous, responsible and participative (23). For organizational success, many hospitals uses the concept of empowerment as a retention strategies to improve nurses commitment by fostering the desire not to leave the organization for selfish interests or marginal gains, and increase willingness to work by making personal sacrifice, performing beyond normal expectations , endure difficult times with an organization and increasing acceptance of organizations values and goals . As a consequence, nurses will be less burned-out and more engaged in their work and will contribute to organizational effectiveness (24). Although, the concept of empowerment is frequently used in health services and in nursing ,particularly in relation to the quality of care, since the mission of nursing is to provide safe and quality nursing care thereby enabling patients to achieve their maximum level of wellness(25). Also empowerment play a significant role in the management of job stress and job satisfaction as well as in nurse attraction and retention ( 26). Hence, creating healthy work conditions that empowered nurses and provide freedom to act according to their expectation as a professional, may be a fruitful strategy for nurse managers and administrators to retain nurses who currently work by promoting their commitment to the organization, especially in a critical care settings. Nowadays, many seek power but few possess it. Nurses are not exception (Marquis and Huston, 2000). In health care settings, an unequal power base exists among administrator, physicians, and nurses as a result of the competing goals of administration and the coexistence of multiple lines of authority (Sabiston and Laschinger, 1995). The rigidity of hierarchical rule-bound structures has been specifically blamed for nurses inability to sufficiently control the content of their practice (Laschinger and Havens, 1996). Kanter (1993) proposed that an individuals effectiveness on the job is influenced largely by organizational aspects of the work environment. This author identified power and access to opportunities to learn and grow, as structural determinants affecting the behavior of the individual. This power is derived from the ability to mobilize information, support, and resources necessary for getting the job done. Access to these empowering structures is influenced by the degree of formal and informal power an employee has in the organization (Kanter,1993). Formal power evolves from having a defined job that affords flexibility, visibility and centrality to organizational purpose and goals whereas informal power is determined by the extent of employees networks and alliances with sponsors, peers, and subordinates within the organization. Access to these empowering structures has a positive impact on employees, resulting in increase in their job satisfaction, level of organizational commitment and feelings of autonomy. Consequently, employees are more productive and effective in meeting organizational goals (Dutcher and Adams, 1994 ; Laschinger et. al., 1999). Nurses autonomy or control over work was seriously limited by unequal power relationships with medical staff, which enhanced physician power and restricted the nurses freedom, and consequently hindered their empowerment (McParland et al., 2000). To achieve excellence in nursing requires empowered staff nurses in order to be effective in their roles, and to be more autonomous (Marquis and Huston, 2000). Nurses who perceive them to be empowered are more likely to enhance client care through more effective work practice. Thus by providing the sources of job-related empowerment and autonomy, work methods and outcomes could be improved (Kanter, 1993; Sabiston and Laschinger, 1995). EMPOWERMENT IMPROVES MOTIVATION Empowerment. Thomas and Velthouse (1990) define empowerment as personal power that flows from professional growth, which is correlated with job satisfaction. Klakovich (1995) further states that the empowerment of nursing staff may be the critical variable in achieving positive organizational outcomes while maintaining the caring values of the nursing profession Klakovich (1996) defines three dimensions of empowerment as reciprocity, synergy, and ownership. Empowerment is a reciprocal leader-follower relationship that advances and aligns strategies, both organizational and individual (Klakovich, 1995). The Reciprocal Empowerment Scale tool reports in three subscales: reciprocity and synergy sub-scales represent the interactive leader/follower process; the ownership subscale represents the outcomes . Reciprocity involves a leadership behavior pattern of sharing power, support and information. Empowerment Research has shown correlations between nursing leadership job satisfaction and e mpowerment (Laschinger et al., 2003; Mrayyan, 2004). In recent years, the idea of empowerment has become popular in the nursing literature (Kluska et al., 2000; Laschinger Finegan, 2005). The review of the literature reveals empowerment being used in various contexts; such as, mental health, chronic care, and health promotion (Dahlgaard Dahlgaard, (2003), Paterson(2001) . In these contexts, the concept of empowerment incorporates positive and respectful relationships through constant dialog (Ellefsen Hamilton, (2000) Prybil( 2003). Morrison, Jones, and Fuller (1997) performed a non-experimental descriptive study that explored the effects of leadership style and empowerment on nursing job satisfaction. The participants included various nursing personnel, such as nurse managers, nursing assistants, nursing clinical leaders, licensed practical nurses and staff nurses. The researchers examined how staff nurses perceived empowerment The researchers results in their variance analysis i ndicated a statistically significant difference in empowerment among different job classifications within the organization Empowerment accounted for more variance with job satisfaction for licensed personnel than for unlicensed personnel, as well as, for differing by type of satisfaction. The researchers findings indicate the importance of empowerment to staff nurse job satisfaction. They also show the contribution of empowerment to job motivation and how they vary by personnel. This study gives reason for performing this research study that examined the relationship of nurse empowerment and motivation Furthermore, studies have shown that Indian nurses had a moderate empowerment level and their actual work empowerment perception was significantly lower than their expectation (Huang, Lin, Hsu, Chen, Huang, 2003). The findings also showed that nurses had the lowest score on participation in decision making. Researchers pointed out that the nursing leaders tended to use authority and might only consult several members opinions for decision making. The opportunity for nurses to participate in decision making is limited. As such, frontline nurses might think decision making is the managers responsibility, not theirs (Mok Au-Yeung, 2002). Participation can be seen as the highest level of empowerment. Nurses level of participation in decision making (PDM) can be used as an important indicator of empowerment. In western health care system, it has been found that the area where nurses prefer to be involved in decision-making is more related to the context of nursing practice, such as nursing unit operation (Blegen et al., 1993). Yet, in Indian nurses PDM is still not well studied. The extent to which nurses prefer to be or are actually involved in decision making is still not clear. Laschinger and Finegan (2005) surveyed 273 medical, surgical and critical care nurses concluding that structural empowerment had a direct effect on organizational trust and respect, job motivation and commitment. An important addition to the understanding of empowerment in nursing education was another finding that empowerment increased motivation level of the nurses (Falk-Raphael, Chinn, Anderson, Laschinger, Rubotzky, 2004) Work empowerment has been linked to many other important organizational outcomes, such as job motivation, organizational commitment, lower levels of job stress and empowering leader behaviors (Spence-Laschinger, Tuer-Hodes, 2003). Hollinger-Smith and Ortigara (2004) stated that nurses perceptions of work empowerment are related to commitment to and trust in the organization, autonomy, participation in organizational decision-making, and job motivation. Increased autonomy and work motivation have been directly linked to nurse retention and increased patient satisfaction (Hollinger-Smith Ortigara, 2004). Empowering work environments can also influence nurses ability to practice in a professional manner, ensuring excellent patient care and positive organizational outcomes. Organizational changes have a direct effect on the work environment and may contribute to higher rates of demotivation, burnout and absenteeism among staff (Kuokkanen, Savikko Doran, 2007). Factors of empowerment c an also provide a way to measure the effects of organizational changes (Kuokkanen et al., 2007). To achieve excellence in nursing requires empowered staff nurses in order to be effective in their roles, and to be more autonomous (Marquis and Huston, 2000). Nurses who perceive them to be empowered are more likely to enhance patient care through more effective work practice. Thus by providing the sources of job-related empowerment and autonomy, work methods and outcomes could be improved (Kanter, 1993; Sabistonand Laschinger, 1995). In Sochalskis (2002) survey of nurse empowerment , it was found that 1 out of 3 staff nurse participants (manager and staff level) were dissatisfied and hence demotivated in their job. Increasing job satisfaction, as it positively correlates with empowerment and organizational commitment, is a strategy to help retain employees (Laschinger, Finegan, Shamian, Casier, 2000). As patient care becomes more technologically advanced and complex, (requiring greater experience on the part of nursing staff to perform the job correctly), workplace stability and a utonomy become invaluable in a hospital setting (Laschinger et al,2000.). Many researchers have concluded that building collaborative decision making teams will empower both nursing and managerial staff; which boosts morale and work performance (Cowin, 2002 Kluska et al., 2004). Ellefsen and Hamilton (2000) concluded that nurse empowerment encourages nurses in management positions to perform their duties efficiently and with confidence and competence. Research suggests when hospital leadership encourages subordinate empowerment; there is a direct link to increased subordinate job satisfaction and motivation (Laschinger, Finegan, Shamian, Wilk, 2001). Evidence has shown that empowered nurses shift their self-perceived role from that of a subordinate to collaborator; which encourages consensus building, improves job ownership, improves trust and the followers motivation, sense of responsibility and organizational commitment( Wagner ,2006 Watson, 2002). Empowerment not only increase s job motivation, but inspirational and visionary transformational leadership encourages the highest level of staff efficiency and productivity (Keuter, Byrne, Voell, Larson, 2000; Moss Rowles, 1997). Masi (2000) concluded that empowerment provides opportunities for choice and promotes autonomy, which allows subordinates to demonstrate their competencies. The espoused benefits of empowerment The supposed benefits of empowerment can be broadly divided into two areas: benefits for the organization; and benefits for the individual. Much of the empirical research into empowerment has focused on organizational benefits assuming that these are the driving force behind attempts to engender empowered working (Cunningham et al., 1996). Certainly the motivation for managerial adoption of empowerment is typically driven to help managers manage and improve work organization and job performance, not to primarily create an environment that is beneficial for the employee (Psoinos and Smithson, 2002). Global competition and a changing business environment have prompted organizational change in response to increased pressures to improve efficiency and performance (Lawler et al., 1992). It has been argued that organizations with higher levels of empowerment have demonstrated improvements in various economic performance areas (Applebaum et al., 1999). The economic benefits of empowerment s pecifically may be difficult to assess as often it is introduced as part of a broader initiative such as BPR and TQM (Psoinos and Smithson, 2002). Despite the espoused organisational benefits Argyris (1998) argues that empowerment has still not delivered the promised benefits, remaining a myth rather than reality. While it could be argued that the primary motive for empowerment is initially driven by the need to improve the economic performance of the organisation, benefits to the individual employee have also been identified. Nykodym et al. (1994) found that employees who consider themselves empowered have reduced conflict and ambiguity in their role, as they are able to control (to a certain extent) their own environment. They suggested that this reduces emotional strain on the employee. Similarly, it has been suggested that empowered employees have a greater sense of job satisfaction, motivation and organisational loyalty (Koberg et al., 1999, Spreitzer et al., 1997). Empowerment cannot only impact attitudes but it can also impact on performance, specifically employee productivity (Koberg et al., 1999) and employee effectiveness (Spreitzer et al., 1997). Overall the literature points to many potential benefits to both organisations and employees like if the workplace empowerment is successful, then it produces a win-win situation (Lashley, 1999). However, despite the strong support for empowerment in theory, in practice empowerment may exist in rhetoric only and control is the reality for employees (Sewell and Wilkinson, 1992). Although it may be considered that employee empowerment will improve organizational performance but it is possible that empowered employees are not necessarily more motivated or have higher levels of job satisfaction (Collins, 1999). Thus the benefits of empowerment should not be assumed to automatically occur nor should the rhetoric of empowerment be confused with the reality. Measurement of the employee benefits is very difficult t o achieve. Unlike organisational benefits which can be measured using objective facts, individual benefits are much more complex. Certain objective measures, such as absence and turnover rates have been applied in this context (Psoinos and Smithson, 2002). However, it is often considered that softer measures of employees attitudes may provide informative insights omitted by other more tangible measures (Psoinos and Smithson, 2002). FACTORS IMPORTANT FOR MOTIVATING EMPLOYEES One of the most perplexing healthcare retention issues is keeping newly licensed nurses from leaving after just a year or two of employment in the clinical setting (Zucker, Goss, Williams, Bloodworth, Lynn, Denker, et al., 2006). Kovner, Brewer, and Djukic (2007) presented evidence that 13% of newly licensed 1490 RNs had changed principal jobs after one year, and 37% reported that they felt ready to change jobs. Nurses leave the profession mainly because of low pay and poor job satisfaction (DiMeglio, Padula, Piatek, 2005)Hence pay and motivation at workplace are very important factors of retaining the staff. Therefore, nurse leaders are faced with two challenges: to recruit sufficiently qualified nurses and to establish rewarding work cultures that promote retention. Recruiting a younger generation of nursing staff members and meeting retention demands of cross-generational nurses will be a challenge like no other previously seen in healthcare (Cordinez, 2002). Newly licensed nurse s recruitment and retention into the workplace are fundamental strategies for ensuring that healthcare systems have the continued capacity to deliver patient care (Berliner Ginzberg, 2002). Understanding why newly licensed registered nurses choose to remain in nursing is an essential component of recruitment and retention strategies. Despite a recent four year trend of increasing nursing school enrollment and graduation of qualified nurses (American Association of Colleges of Nursing, 2005), the latest data on the shortage of RNs in the United States is estimated to reach about 500,000 by 2025 (Buerhas, Staiger, Auerbach, 2000.This study shows that nursing shortage is going to increase and hence motivating factors like pay,proper work environment and empowerment are necessary for retaining the experienced nurse staff. Hecker (2005) predicts that more than one million new and replacement nurses will be needed by the year 2014. The problem is that many of the newly licensed nurses w ill not remain in nursing and will choose to leave the profession within four years of graduation from a nursing program (Sochalski, 2002). In a study by Bowles and Candela (2005), 30% of newly licensed RNs left their first nursing position within one year of employment, and 57% left their first nursing position within two years of employment.This study further provides evidence that adds to the case study done by Kovner, Brewer, and Djukic (2007) which also adds to data and evidence that nurses are leaving their profession due to lack of empowerment and motivation in hospitals. The nursing shortage and the high incidence of turnover among newly licensed nurses within the first year of employment need to be investigated. It is well documented that nurses are leaving the profession because they are dissatisfied with current working conditions and not because they are disenchanted with the ideal of nursing, which originally attracted them to the profession (Lynn Redman, 2005; Strachota, Normandin, OBrien, Clary, Krukow, 2003). There is limited research that addresses newly licensed registered nurses career choices post-graduation. The future of nursing rests in the ability to recruit and retain upcoming generations to the profession.Currently, however, there is limited knowledge concerning what influences the decisions of newly licensed registered nurses to remain in nursing. Thus, the objective of this study was to identify factors that influence newly licensed registered nurses decision to remain in nursing. The shortage of people entering professional nursing, nurses dissatisfaction, and high turnover of newly licensed registered nurses are issues of concern. The national shortage in the nursing workforce highlights the critical importance of encouraging nurses to remain in practice. Evidence suggests that a shortage of nurses is detrimental not only to quality of patient care, but also to staff morale, which in turn affects staff retention (Wilson, 2006). The socialization and assimilation of newly licensed nurses into the healthcare system is a pivotal event that influences the retention of nurses (Aiken, Clarke, Sloane, Sochalaski, Silber, 2002). Professional socialization and work readiness are contributing factors to the retention of newly licensed registered nurses. The transition from student to new nurse is a vital period in several ways. It is the quality of this transitional experience that is likely to influence new nurse retention (Clare van Loon, 2003; Duchsch er, 2001; Ewens, 2003). Professional socialization, a potential buffer to the effects of reality shock, includes the acquisition of knowledge, skills, identity, occupational traits, values, norms, and self-concept (Mamchur Myrick, 2003). The process of professional socialization, from career choice to transition to enculturation to the practice setting is influenced by others, especially other nurses (Beck, 2000; Hinds Harley, 2001). It is this initial professional socialization of nurses that will determine the success or failure of retaining new nurses in the healthcare workplace. The increasing complexity of health services and the acuity of patient care create an expectation by the healthcare organization that the new nurse will hit the ground running (Cowin Hengstberger-Sims, 2006, p. 61). Furthermore, Cowin and Hengstberger-Sims believe the workplace expects newly licensed nurses to quickly fulfill their potential as knowledgeable workers, but the health organization remune rates newly licensed nurses at the lowest possible pay scale. These researchers asserted that incongruencies such as high level of stress related to responsibility and high workloads paired with minimum pay compound the effects of reality shock of nurses new to the field. The healthcare workplace demands work readiness from its newest nurses and the partnership of responsibility for work readiness between nursing education and the workplace can be described as precarious. The strategies of mentorship and preceptor ship have been embraced within many healthcare organizations as a means of increasing work readiness, decreasing the effects of reality shock and lessening the possibility of new nurse attrition (Greenwood, 2000). The period that separates a novice practitioner from an advanced beginner is one which requires support, guidance and constant supervision by experienced individuals to ensure newly licensed nurses develop competently and safely, b

Toyota Production System Case Study

Toyota Production System Case Study 1.1. Introduction The Toyota Production System (TPS) which was developed by Toyota Motor Corporation in 1970s is the Toyotas unique production approach and it becomes the worldwide application of production system in many companies (Moden, 1991). The main objective of TPS is to improve their manufacturing process by cutting off overburden and unevenness and elimination of waste in the process. The purpose of this assignment aims to assess the progress of a medium-sized construction company which is working in commercial projects and sometimes on design-build projects. As a representative of youth generation of the company, the author recognises that there are many problems existing in the process of executing a project of the company. Hence, benefit and reputation of the company is seriously affected by their defects on the process. In this report, the author will investigate all problems in the company in the terms of two phases in a construction project: pre-construction and construction phase. The author afterward will indicates the theory of lean in construction to apply in the company in order to solve problems. The improvement of the company will be analysed base on the model of TPS House diagram. Finally, the implementation and further development of the whole process will be discussed. 1.2. Company overview In this assignment, the author is going to analyse a construction company as described in assignment scenario. It is a medium sized construction firm working mostly on traditional office and commercial projects (gained through bidding) and sometimes on design-build projects. As a construction firm, the company is aware of the role of planning is the vital process of any project. Harris (2006, p65) indicated two types of planning which are strategic and operational planning. The first type has been executed by the client and integrated team which involves proposal outline of the project such as scopes, procurement route, time and financing. The operational plan, in contrast, will depict the process achieved in each stage of project in detail. The operation of planning process and involved problems of the company will describe below: The company has a systematic planning and management system for construction projects, starting from a master schedule and related partial plans for plant, personnel, materials etc. ; plans for shorter term are derived from the master plan, extending to weekly plans, and the progress is monitored and feedback to management. The current issue is the usage of the plan; it seems not being attracted staffs to the master plan, as people mostly do not study this plan. Even if the master plan is used, all of the tasks in this plan are not sorted in logical way, hence the plan looks chaotically. Consequently, the project cannot go smoothly and the company always meet an anxious rush when the deadline is coming. The company could starts their construction process in just two weeks after winning the bid, even if the project has been happening for years and it has been designed for one year. So that, sometime the contractor does not have enough preparation for their work, they will start the work as soon as they can. Financial control in the company is tight, and every material and work package is procured for its lowest price. Sometime, the construction works in the site have to be delayed or even stopped due to shortage of material and labour resources in the construction site, especially in big project, those situations happen regularly. The communication on the site is not really good. It is the lack of collaboration among sub-contractors. The site personnel of company often seem to be exhausted by long hours and constant troubleshooting The company seems too difficult to adapt the design and build projects when they are the DB contractor of a project. This thing results from insufficient of design experience control of the company and the management experience of DB procurement method which is very popular in construction industry in the United Kingdom Finally, the amount of physical waste transported from site is very lager; moreover the benefits from tight financial control seem to be lost by such cost leaked. As shown in the description above, it is obviously to see that the company has many disadvantages in order to manage a project. In the later parts of the assignment, the author will try to analyse particular problems and make improvements based on the Toyota Production System theory. Chapter 2: Analysis of production process in the company 2.1. General outline of the process map Oberlender (2000, p140) concluded planning is the vital process of any project, the better planning is, the better project is achieved. In a construction project, Harris (2006, p65) indicated that there are two types of planning which are strategic and operational planning. The first type has been executed by the client and integrated team which involves proposal outline of the project such as scopes, procurement route, time and financing. The operational plan, in contrast, will depict the process achieved in each stage of project in detail. In this assignment, the whole map of operation plan in construction process which is include the planning and execution process and the service procurement process will be drawn and analysed in order to make the appropriate improvement of the company. 2.2. Current process of the company In this assignment, the author is going to use UML activity diagrams to illustrate the map of pre-construction and construction processes. Fig 1 below show processes of construction project including pre-construction and construction stage which is applied in the company. Figure 1: Pre-construction process Figure 2: Construction process 2.3. Analysis of pre-construction process (1-12) 2.3.1. Description of the map In the pre-construction stage, the company will divide construction work into many work packages and develop plans for tendering. They have to prepare all the information about project and open a tender; finally they will choose suitable sub-contractors and material suppliers. There are two main phases of this stage which are production information and tender action. Production information: normally, the DB contractor will divide the whole work into many work packages with information of work, responsibility, schedule and the cost for each package. The purpose of this phase is to help all the sub-contractors understand and prepare what they have to do with their package. However, to do this, sub-contractors need to prepare and win for the tender of those packages. Even three principles of a good project which are time, quality and cost are considered; the company always put the low price as the top of priority. Tender documentation and tender action: the company will be the client of work packages which are executed by sub-contractors. Sub-contractors are required to spend time to study product documents as they want to take part in the tender i.e. work packages. They also need to prepare the tender document and arrange for their own plan of works before they submit those documents to main contractor. Based on the quality of the tender documents and the reputation of sub-contractors, the company will select suitable contractors for each package and prepare the contracts with them. Normally, the contractors which offer the best price will be selected. 2.3.2. Existing problems in the process There is insufficient information from the company in tender action; moreover the company really focus on the cost and the lowest price contractor would be selected. Consequently, many aspects of project have been neglected i.e quality and time. 2.4. Analysis of construction Stage (13-49) 2.4.1. Description of the process This is the main stage of any project with the end product is the whole CTG. The stage starts when the company establishes contract to sub-contractors which was indicated in the previous stages. Sometimes the design changes or the design teams make some modifications. The changes in design in DB procurement will lead to many risks to client, so that before executing the works, main contractor and sub-contractors should spend time to review the detail design and make recommendation in order to avoid the risks. During the stage, the company is the main actor who arranges the site, and executes main works such as excavation, main building structure and so on; meanwhile sub-contractors should have their own plan for implementing their works at the right time. According to Angus (2003, p137), in this stage, changes may be obliged in either term design or construction even they are not expected in advance. If the changes happen, the cost of the project will change, the result may be serious in DB procurement method. Hence, in this stage, correct planning and sufficient controlling can be the most critical issue to achieve the construction of project. Whenever, the change is achievable, all of the concerned parties should take part in discussions in order to find a way to reduce the bad effects as much as possible. The current planning process can be divided by four main parts as follow: General Master Plans (made 3 monthly for the whole life time of the project; process 13-16): Planning department under the control of project manager will develop the master plan in order to make sure the project will be executed within the specified constrains with the association of health and safety problems (Mawdesly, 1997). Develop Sectional Master Plans (made monthly for the next 3 months; process 17-25): The General Master Plan will be developed by the planning department based on the general master plan and scopes which are issued by Project Manager (Mawdesly, 1997). More detail plan for personnel, labours and material will be extend to ensure that aims of general master plan will be attained. Once all the departments receive the sectional master plan, they have to review the plan and make revisions in order to make a feasible plan for the whole teams. Develop Weekly Plans (made weekly for next 3 weeks; process 26-36): Weekly plans are derived from the Sectional Master plan. All the involved parties have to develop their own plan and make the recommendation to Planning department in order to establish an appropriate plan. According to Mawdesly (1997, p10) the weekly plan have to ensure the efficiency of resources indicated from the previous plan so as to reach the project objectives. Construction process (36-48): The construction works begin with the preparation of construction site. As the main contractor, the company will execute all the main work on site, meanwhile other contractors (sub-contractors, material suppliers) need to have plan to deliver their products as indicated on their plans. Every week, all of the contractors require issuing the progress report and sending them to project manager and clients organisation in order to control the construction works. This schedule, according to Mawdesly (1997), there is little change of the plan because it will badly affect to construction progress of a project when uncertainty happens. 2.4.2. Problems happen in the process The company always implement the project very soon after they win in a tender, sometimes they could not gather adequate inputs from involved parties. As the result, less realistic and practical schedule are issued. Due to the lack of communication among parties in the project organisation, the general master and the sectional master plans are not appropriate and the conflict happens within sub-contractors. There is not enough update for weekly schedule because of deficiency of attention on planning and the shortage of management skills. Thus, uneven workloads are unavoidable and almost sub-contractors have to rush near the deadline in order to finish works. As consequent, many critical aspects of successful project such as quality and time are not guaranteed. The company put the low price tender at the top of priority results in huge amount of unused inventory in construction site. Hence, in every project, there is large number of wastes occurring. In addition, lowest price will result in bad quality of material using in projects. As indicated above, an inappropriate schedule will lead to a problem of material distribution which is sometimes there are superabundant materials on site whereas sometime lack of material. All those things have bad results in bad performance of the construction process. 2.5. Other problems in construction site 2.5.1. Team work and collaboration As mentioned in the company overview, the communication and collaboration among parties in a project is not good. This problem results in many errors on the construction site and when the argument occur the progress of construction will be affected. 2.5.2. Staffs motivation The assumption of the company indicated that their staffs are not interested in making plan scheduling for the project and they seem not to have enough motivation to contribute to the development of those plan. There are many reasons cause the low motivation of staffs. One of them may come from the lack of communication and team-work among members; staffs sometimes do not know what they should do. The poor quality of plan is also another reason for the motivation of staffs. 2.5.3. Physical waste on site. Based on the theory of Toyota production system which was presented by Liker, J., K. (2004), there are seven type of waste (Muda) in this scenario, they are: Overproduction Waiting Transportation Inappropriate processing Unnecessary inventory Unnecessary movement Defects In this assignment, those issues below are main reason for physical waste on site: Unnecessary transport or conveyance; Excess inventory and Unnecessary movement: Due to poor quality plan schedule (in both sectional and weekly plan), the plan of delivery material is not suitable, resulting in those type of wastes. Defects: The bad quality material and design will cause many defects to the project. Hence, reparation, re-construction or replacement of any structures will increase waste in project. Chapter 3: Toyota Production Lean Principles 3.1. Introduction into Lean Principles According to Liker (2004), the major idea of Lean production is to maximiseÂÂ  the value for customer while getting rid of waste added in the production process. In the other ways, lean production indicates producing more value for customers withÂÂ  fewer resources. The lean production, in other words Toyota Production System or TPS, were firstly adapted by Toyota, the biggest car manufacture in the world when they developed a new mode of production, in which they focus on the customers and endeavour to reduce all type of waste as much as possible. In their new modes, Toyota has developed such tools which is becoming popular throughout the world, they are: Just-In-Time (JIT), Kanban replenishment system and 5S theory. The idea of lean thinking was indicated in the Womack and Jones (1996) book, in which there are five principles: Specify value An accurate understanding of the precise needs of the customer is required. Hence, the Company needs to find out what the customer wants. Identify the Value Stream Value stream is the set of all necessary activities to achieve an explicit product. Womack and Jones (1996) indicated that determining whole value stream for each product is very important step in order to identify muda (waste), maintain the value-adding activities and add more customer value (which should be continuously improved). Flow McCarron (2006) concluded that in a process, all activities needs to run in a continuous flow. It means that work flow should be steadily without breaking up. Pull Womack and Jones (1996) concluded that it is better the make the customer pull the product rather than let the company push their product. So that, the company will produce what customer needs hence, eliminating waste. Perfection Last but not least, is the perfection, it can be described as the right amount of value added to clients. In the whole process, all activities, work flows have to go smoothly with minimising of waste. Moreover, the motivation of staffs needs to be considering. 3.2. Toyota 14 principles In the book The Toyota Way, Linker (2004) explained fourteen principles of the TPS, those principles will be summarised with the references of Learning Package 3: Principle 1: Base your management decisions on a long-term philosophy, even at the expense of short-term financial goals Principle 2: Create continuous process flow to bring problems to the surface: Principle 3: Use the Pull system to avoid overproduction Principle 4: Level out the workload (Heijunka) Principle 5: Build a culture of stopping to fix problems, to get quality right the first time Principle 6: Standardize tasks are the foundation for continuous improvement and employee empowerment Principle 7: Use visual control so no problems are hidden Principle 8: Use only reliable, thoroughly tested technology that serves your people and processes Principle 9: Grow leaders who thoroughly understand the work, live the philosophy, and teach it to others. Principle 10: Develop exceptional people and teams who follow your companys philosophy Principle 11: Respect your extended network of partners and suppliers by challenging them and helping them improve Principle 12: Go and see for yourself to thoroughly understand the situation (Genchi Genbutsu) Principle 13: Make decisions slowly by consensus, thoroughly consider all options; implement decisions rapidly Principle 14: Become a learning organization through relentless reflection (Hansei) and continuous improvement (Kaizen) 3.3. Lean production in construction Bjornfot (2006) stated that lean principles can be applied to construction based on five principle of Lean Thinking that was indicated by Womack and Jones (1996), they are: Value, Value Stream, Flow, Pull and Perfection. Differences between construction and manufacturing process were mentioned by Cooper (2005) in which he emphasised the lack of co-ordination and communication between parties in construction industry. In addition, it is not easy to forecast principal aspects of a construction project which are time, cost, quality and profit. Pheng and Fang (2005) indicated the term of lean construction as a component of construction best practice, moreover, lean construction is a combination of existing principles. The main significant features in which construction industry are different to other industry can be listed as the huge size of project, the stillness of structure and great complexity. In order to simplify the lean theory applied to construction project, the author decided to use the model of Toyota House to analysis the company problem and indicate improvement for the company. The figure below shows the model of Toyota House which was illustrated by Liker (2004) Figure 2: TPS House Diagram (Liker, 2004) To be explained the application of the improvement process, Liker (2004) believed that lean principles will be built as a house model. There are three critical structures: Foundation and two Pillars and they all supported to the roof which is the continuous improvement of the process. If any of three structures is missing or fragile resulting as the improvement cannot be executed. Therefore, in order to improve the construction process, all of structure in the Toyota House should be considered carefully. 3.3.1. Foundation There are four aspects have to look at in the foundation: Toyota Philosophy (Principle 1) Visual Management (Principle 7) Stable and Standardized processes (Principle 6) Levelled Production (Heijunka, Principle 4). 3.3.2. Pillars There are two pillars in the Toyota House model which are: Just-In-Time (Principle 2, 3), Jidoka (Principle 5,8). Just-in-Time according to Toyota is the manufacturing of particular what they want to make at an accurate point of time with the exact amounts. Hence, using JIT can help the company eliminate wastes, and unexpected requirements in order to improve production process. Liker (2004) indicated some principles to consider in JIT: Continuous flow: this ensure the process will finish without any waste of time and material as well. Takt time: the main part of one piece flow. Takt is the rate in which a product goes through process so as to reach the customer (Liker, 2004) Pull system: as explained as a principle of Lean production. Quick changeover: the ability of process to have quick change when required. Integrated logistics: partners of the company should apply JIT wherever process that they involve in the project. Jidoka: Following Toyota the term Jidoka is described as automation with a human touch. Womack and Jones (1996) made more clear explanation of Jidoka as the ability of system to stop the work automatically when something wrong happens; otherwise all of products have to be verified with high quality. With the purpose of applying Jidoka, those aspects below need to be considered: Automatic stops: when any part of the process cannot satisfy the requirement. Andon: is a caution indicator, it occurs when there is a mistake in the process. Person Machine separation: Following Toyota, this feature let people to warn any irregular condition of process and they can stop the operation of machinery so as to reduce the unnecessary waste. Error proofing: is essential to stop machines automatically. In-Station quality control: it means the quality control have to be ensured within a stage before it goes to another stages; hence reduce faulty product and waste (Liker, 2004) Solve root cause (5-whys): The application of 5-whys method is going to be used in this aspect. The problem will be investigate intensely with the purpose of solving problem (Linker, 2004). 3.3.3. Centre The constituent of this part includes People Teamwork (Principle 9, 10, 11, 13), Waste reduction (Principle 12, 13, 14), Continuous improvement (Principle 14) People and Teamwork: Selection: It is important to select a person can fulfil the task. Inappropriate person can result faulty, delay and more waste to process. Common goals: It is obvious that in an organisation, all members must have same goals in order to develop the organisation. Liker (2004) indicated that common goal is speared within the organisation from top to bottom by the supply chain. Ringi decision making: this aspect ensures that all the people involved to a process should take part in a decision of the improvement. Hence, all possible decisions will be considered. Cross-trained Persons: ability to be able to perform different tasks to improve quality and productivity. (Liker, 2004) Waste reduction: Genchi Genbutsu: see principle 12 in part 3.2 5-whys: is a method by asking Why in five times in order to find the original of a problem. Eyes for waste: it means the company should take time to observe and control waste. Problem solving: to find the problem at root level. Associated with 5-whys method to have the total elimination of waste. Chapter 4: Improvement of current processes 4.1. Lean measurement Using the model of Toyota House presented in the previous chapter, lean measurement of each issue happened in the process of the company will be evaluate in this part. In the table below, the sign x indicates that we can apply the aspect in with the purpose of improving a particular issue of a process. 4.2. General improvement of the company Based on the Lean Measurement table in part 4.1, the author indicates three aspects that very important for the company in general in which the indications of x are huge, they are: People and Teamwork Long-term philosophy Eyes for Waste When the company improve any stage of a project, they firstly should consider all of three aspects below. They are the principles for the development of the whole process, and they should take part in every part of process. 4.2.1. People and team work It is evident that people in the heart of any organisation, even in the high-technology era, the position of people is unchangeable in order to create and operate any kind of machine. Liker and Meier (2007) stated that in choosing an appropriate people with high skills and experiences is the key to achieve a successful process. In order to improve a process, the company needs to develop their staffs first, that is a way Toyota following. Even at that time, the company may not have a good enough staffs for all position. However, the company should have a long-term vision to train exceptional staffs for their important position of the company. Thus, they can improve their organisation. Liker and Meier (2007) suggested the first principle for a leader is the one who has capacity and desire to learn something from other (mean that he is not too self-opinionated). Moreover, Naoum (2001) indicated some more attributes which are: Long-term vision which associates to the benefit of the company. capacity to make decision Confident in his ability and his staffs as well. Liker (2004) convinced that the development of individual and the improvement of teamwork in the company should go together and have balance between them. According to Hardingham (1995), improved team-work is able to decrease cost and develop the effectiveness of production process. Additional, Thompson (2000) persuaded the collaboration of the company will be increased when they are successful in teamwork. In order to achieve effective teamwork, he stated some elements: The team should share a common goal and has enough ability to achieve the goal. Sufficiency of motivation to overcome the mission with high quality of performance. Flexible to harmonise their actions and communication. 4.2.2. Long-term philosophy Liker (2004) indicated the long-term philosophy is the foundation of the other principle, so that the short term decisions need to be associated to the long-term vision of the company. As presented in the company brief, now the company really focus on the term of cost in the project, hence the balance among three factors of a project (time, cost and quality) is not guarantee. Following Liker (2004, p114) and Imai (1991, p49), Toyota had serious thinking of making a product which give more value to customers with good quality at acceptable price. Hence, they did not put the price as the top of their company. Based from this study, the author indicates that the company should change the long-term philosophy as the way Toyota is executing i.e. Value for customer and quality of project not only the lowest price. Imai (1991) stated that the improvement cannot be finished if there is not any standard. Hence, the establishment standard is necessary for any organisation or project in order to make improvements. Moreover, he also concluded the Kaizen (continuous improvement) is called as never-ending efforts for improvement, it can be understood that when a standard achieved, the better standard will be occurred and then this become the next goal of the process. The figure below will show the PDCA cycle or in other words is a Continuation of the Deming Wheel, which indicates the cycle of continuous improvement. 4.2.3. Eyes for waste This aspect was presented in the part 3.3.3 The main principle of Lean Production is eliminating waste in process. Thus, it is clear that every people within the organisation should care about waste issue. The company requires ensuring all of their employees and partners must observe any waste in the whole process and do the best to reduce wastes as much as possible. 4.3. Analysis of improvement in Pre-construction and construction phase 4.3.1. Pre-construction Process As mentioned in part 2.3, problems existing in this stage of project include which are insufficient information from the company in tender action and the concentration of cost of the company. Hence, the quality of the sub-contractors and suppliers are not very good and sometime they could not afford the quality and time of the project. In order to improve the tender documents, the company must have standards for their tender, so that when they reach those standards the document will have good quality. Hence, sub-contractors and suppliers have to make their documents carefully before submitting. As a result, the quality of the process will improve. Moreover, using Ringi decision with the participation of all departments involved to project will help the company establish a quality tender document In the solution for choosing lowest tender, initially, the company should apply the method of Solve root cause problems to find the origin reasons. Using 5 whys technique is a good answer for this situation. Reasons may relate to the long-term vision of the company in which the cost is focused. 4.3.2. Construction Process The problems in is phase were explained in part 2.4, in order to solve problems and make improvement, the author will divided construction into many issues and analyse development of each of them. There are five issues in the process: a. Input for planning process One of the problems in this process is the lack of input from in involved parties, as stated in the pre-construction phase, using stable and standardised process and Ringi decision techniques can be solution for this issue. All the sub-contractors and suppliers should work enthusiastically until they get the standards established by the company, moreover they have to involve to any decision related to their contributions. b. Updating plan schedule One of trouble is the implementation of a project is very early so that the company do not have enough time for the preparation of construction works. In addition, weak collaboration between involved parties results to an unsuitable plan schedule (including sectional master plan and weekly master plan). The first technique can used to improve the situation is stable and standardised technique. It means that when the updating the Master schedule, the company need to attain their standard which is the foundation for any further improvement. The second method is the application of Pull system, the sectional and weekly plan should base on actual conditions on construction site, the construction department, particularly the site department. To be explained this point, the construction department is the one who control all the works on site, they will have whole understanding of what is happening on site, so they can make an appropriate plan for the project. In addition, all the involved parties such as suppliers, sub-contractors and other departments should have involvement to make a plan that suitable for them. Another issue that is important in this process is the quality of plan. In order to achieve this aim, the application of creating continuous flow, lev