The Hawthrone Studies And Their Implications

The Hawthrone Studies And Their Implications According to Hucyznski and Buchanan, In the United States, during the 1920s and 1930s, the Hawthorne studies were to lead to the creation of the human relations movement and a highly influential school of academic and practical management thinking. The Hawthorne studies revolutionised the way in which the management of an organization deals with its human resources and the relationship between the different levels of the human resource chain. The Human Relations Movement originated in the United States of America and was the outcome of the Hawthrone Studies. The Movement and its basic theories were developed primarily by Elton Mayo. These experiments were conducted in the Western Electric Hawthrone Works in Chicago from the early 1920s to the 1930s. The Hawthorne Studies involved the examination and measurement of the affect of physical working conditions such as lighting, humidity, cleanliness, etc. and psychological factors such as managerial leadership, payment systems, working hours and respites between work on the output and productivity of the workers and on employee motivation. The most significant discovery from the Hawthorne experiments was that workers were not so much impacted by physical working conditions and remunerations, or by changes thereof, than they were by the very fact that they were being observed. When workers became aware that they were being supervised, they felt that they were an imperative part of the organization. They felt the need to perform better. This raised employee morale and motivation and in turn increased employee productivity. Thus, the term Hawthorne Effect was coined and used widely to denote the improvement or modification of the behaviour of a subject under study due to the fact that it was being studied. Subsequent studies that were conducted revealed that informal groups and informal social conventions within the organisation played an important role in determining the work habits and opinions of the workers along with the organisation and conduct of work. Course of the Experiments Changes in Lighting: The initial step in the experiments was the gauging of worker productivity against changes in the intensity of lighting conditions. Two groups were selected, lighting being changed for one, but kept constant for the other. However both groups were under the impression that lighting was changed. Mayo observed that output rose in both cases. Relay Assembly: This was the most crucial aspect of the experiments. These were conducted mainly on a small group of six women to test their responses to certain changes, over a period of five years. First, Mayo attempted to find a correlation between fatigue and monotony and productivity. Changes were made in the work hours, break timings, lunch timings, piece works and physical conditions to assess the workers responses to each. Next, a group was employed in assembling relays. The effect of changes was evaluated to see how these changes influenced the production and rate of relay assembly. Throughout the experiments an observer or supervisor was made to record the events and incidents, to direct the women and provide help and information where needed and to listen to their feedbacks and complaints. The most startling observation that was made during these experiments was that the output reached the maximum point when all the incentives, breaks and piece works were taken away from the workers and they were returned to working 48 hour six day weeks. This defied the notion that physical, economic and material benefits affect productivity to the highest degree. Here social factors were at play. The women worked sincerely and to the best of their abilities as a result of being free from any type of coercion. The sense of importance they were endowed with urged them to improve performance. The women under investigation were given the liberty to choose their own techniques of putting the relay parts together. It was noticed that each of them followed different patterns and introduced innovative techniques to avoid monotony. The freedom of movement accorded to the women encouraged them to work responsibly, without inhibitions and incited them to execute tasks in an enhanced manner. Interviews: Interviews were conducted with the workers to establish their attitude towards their work. It was uncovered that the relationships that existed between the workers and their supervisors and management were highly significant. Bank Wiring Observation Room: A sample of 14 workers were taken from the production line and observed for six months. No changes in working conditions were implemented. It was noticed that workers developed their own procedures and methods to protect their interests. Production was constant, even after changes in compensation. Counselling: Counselling sessions were held to discern the problems and complaints of workers towards their jobs. Inferences The results of the experiments led Mayo to draw the following conclusions: Work is a group activity. Workers should be considered a part of the group, but also as individuals. The status of the worker within the group, the recognition of his work and a sense of belonging impacts his productivity more than working conditions or pay scales. Workers are motivated by the attention and importance given to them by their supervisors. The relationship of the worker with his superiors and with the management was imperative to his performance and efficiency. Social and emotional factors play a vital part in determining productivity of workers. The workplace is a social system and the workers are influenced by internal and external social demands. Informal groups within an organisation have a strong bearing on the attitudes and behaviour of the workers. Group cooperation needs to be planned and cultivated. According to Wilson and Rosenfeld, George Elton Mayo stressed the following: Natural groups, in which social aspects take precedence over functional organizational structures. Upwards communication, by which communication is two way, from worker to chief executive, as well as vice versa. Cohesive and good leadership is needed to communicate goals and to ensure effective and coherent decision making. Thus, Elton Mayo looked at the organisation of work from a totally new perspective. He stressed on the social, rather than technical organisation of work. The inferences made by Elton Mayo led to the development of the Human Relations Movement. The implications of Mayos perspectives on modern day organisations are immense. The propositions laid down by Mayo were radical and changed the way in which organisations view their workers and their productive capacities. Mayos suggestions are the premise of human relations and their management in various organisations, even today. Importance of Human Relations Movement for Todays Organisations Mayo and his ideas have made organisations recognise the fact that apart from monetary and material rewards, social satisfaction and a sense of belonging is also important for the workers of the company. In order to guarantee that a worker will perform to the best of his ability, not only his economic but also emotional and social needs must be taken into account. Companies integrate the propositions of Elton Mayo and the Human Relations Movement perspective into their human resource management techniques by recognising the workers need for acknowledgement. As observed, workers tend to be more productive when they feel that they are an integral part of a group or the organisation and when their work is appreciated. The management of modern day organisations involves these perspectives to motivate employees and boost their morale. When an employee senses that the organisation is taking an interest in him, he will be motivated to enhance the execution of his tasks. Workers also perform better when there is internal stimulus, from within the working group rather than when there is pressure from management. Thus, the management must ensure that too much pressure or control is not placed on the worker. Instead group dynamics should be studied and control should be accorded to each group correspondingly. The propositions, laid down by Mayo have also taught organisations the importance of relationships. By maintaining healthy and positive relations with the workers and strengthening the relations at each level of the organisation, the management can further augment employee motivation, satisfaction and productivity. Mistrust or animosity should not be allowed to develop between the workers and their superiors. Communication is also an essential aspect of keeping a worker motivated. There ought to be adequate two-way communication between supervisors and workers. Instructions should be properly and unambiguously given to the employees. Further, employees feedback should be given due recognition. Their problems, complaints and suggestions should be heard and taken into consideration. Mayos suggestions also help organisations comprehend the importance of teams in the workplace. Groups and their functioning play a crucial role in the operation of the organisations. The integration of group or team goals with the goals of the company can aid the latter in ensuring greater efficiency. Freedom of movement should be conferred on the workers as it has been perceived that workers tend to do better when they have the independence to function according to their own methods and techniques. Thus, the Hawthrone Studies and the Human Relations Movement, spearheaded by Elton Mayo have made remarkable contributions to the administration and management of the human resources of an organisation. Since then, there have many developments in this field. Nonetheless, even modern day organisations choose to consider and implement Mayos notions and perspectives when dealing with the organisation of work and management of workers. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_Relations_Movement

Hacking and Countermeasures: Controls

Aim Higher College needs to ensure the safety of all its information. Recently we have seen suspicious and careless activity in the research data center. Data center technicians have reported lights left on, doors left open, successful logins to the research database, as well as login attempts in the backup business database after normal hours of operation. Because this is also the backup for our business information we need to keep this area as secure as possible.In order maintain control over who has access to what in the center we need first ensure that only those that need access to the center are granted the appropriate permissions to the areas that they need. The revolving door should only allow one person through at a time, this will help to prevent someone without access from slipping by with some one that does have access or allow a person with access giving access to some that is not authorized in the build. This will be done with a using simple radio frequency identificati on (RFID) cards for the initial access to the building’s lobby.Both entry and exit will require that the card be read so that a log of who enters and leaves the building can be kept. Entry to the staff offices will simply be with a RFID card reader. With these cards, we can select what areas they have access to according to their needs. The front double doors and access to the receiving area can only be opened from the inside of the building. By allowing one-way access we ensure that hacking of the reader is not possible. Biometric scanners should be used for all sensitive areas as a second method to prevent card cloning. Those that have access to sensitive areas or doors that can allow more than one person through such as the shipping area and front double doors will be issued a Personal Identity Verification (PIV) cards. These card work with the biometric scans. When the card is scanned it relays to  the biometric scanner the information that the scanner will need to make the identification.This means that even if the card’s RFID is cloned as soon as it is read it would be denied because the biometric information is not there. The biometric that we should use is an iris scanner. Rather than hand dimensions that can change or fingerprints. Fingerprints are easy to fool, if the finger is dry the scan may not read correctly, the maintenance if high as the sensor must be cleaned, impurities on the hand or air can give false readings, and lastly to prevent the spread of disease. Iris scanners do not require physical contact, eyeglasses, and contracts normally do not disrupt the reading.To make things easier the iris scanning is much faster. The iris can be scanned as the person is walking up and then compared to the card when the PIV is read . In addition, it is my recommendation that the datacenter be physically separated between the backup site and the research site. This will allow students and staff to gain access to the research center but no t the backup center. Only those that need to have access to the business side backup will be required to use biometrics and a PIV card. All servers will be locked in cabinets for the protection of the severs and SANs that are on site.This will deter theft of any equipment that might contain information. Security cameras will be used to monitor all access and movement within the building. Thirteen stationary static cameras will need to be in use to watch all hallways, doors, and the datacenters. Two motion detecting pan / tilt / zoom (PTZ) cameras will be paced in the center of the data centers (one in each) to follow and watch the activity of persons entering. This should be accompanied with a security system that monitors movement, doors and windows. The diagrams below show the position of the cameras and access control equipment and measures that are recommended.In the event of a power outage, it is highly recommended there is enough UPS in place for at least 15 minutes to allow f or proper shut down. Preferable would be to have a backup generator so that information can be saved and moved to another site or to maintain functionality until the power comes back on. Protection of the systems will consist of the floor being raised by at least eight inches from the ground and an automatic pump system in place to mitigate flooding. Because there are people working in these areas  we need to ensure that we have an adequate fire suppression and we need to keep in mind the equipment that is in the room.The recommendation here is to use an waterless fire suppression. While it may not be as cheap as using water, the damage of having a water system in the area will be much more expensive. Waterless systems work by lowering the oxygen in the area to a point that the fire cannot continue combustion without the harmful effects to persons like Halon or CO2. The have been proven to put out fires faster without any damage people. This will give all persons enough time to ev acuate calmly in case of fire . Water systems only help in containing the fire until fire fighters can arrive, in the meantime, we are causing damage to our own equipment They cost of the damage would be in the millions to replace servers and other equipment.The estimated time after a fire with a water system is approximately one month if data can be recovered. Not that we have the physical aspect of the data centered covered we need to look at the technical or logical side of protecting the information. Safeguarding the confidentiality, integrity, accessibility, and the non-repudiation (CIA) is vital. As stated before an IDS and IPS will be put in to place to watch the system at all times to report and mitigate if not stop unauthorized activity to the business backup and research databases. This will help with monitoring the network and see what and where unauthorized traffic and attempts are coming from. Anti-virus and anti-malware programs will be installed on all systems in both databases to protect the information and programs.Firewall implementation between the networks is necessary to keep unauthorized attempts from getting in to the business side of the database. All information will be encrypted so that if the data is or any hardware is stolen then the information be more difficult to read and will hopefully discourage the thief. To prevent a brute force attack through a console connection after 3 attempts at a password the system will lock down that port and a flag will be sent to the data center technician on duty.To ensure that the person that is attempting to gain access to the server through a console connection a token that generates a random alphanumeric code will be used. As we all know people are where we see the biggest problems in security breaches and problems on any computer or network system. People need to understand what they are allowed and not allowed to do, this is where policies, procedures, and training come in to play. By  impl ementing policies that use best practices, such as an acceptable use policy for all staff and students, we make it known what they are allowed to do, and what the consequences are should they choose to ignore the rules.Training all staff and students on security awareness is something that is necessary so that people to go or do things that can jeopardize the network. Making sure that procedures are documented help if there is a problem that can arise again, this reduces down time should the problem return. Making sure that a disaster recovery plan (DRP) is in place, practiced and trained on regularly. This is critical to make sure that down time is as minimal as possible. The separation of duties helps to break up the processes involved to complete a task prevents one individual from having total control over the whole system.Each person or team is responsible for his or her area only and if required forces collusion so that someone else is needed to meet the end goal. It acts like a checks and balance. With these policies in place we need to ensure that they stay current with or business continuity plan and the goal of our mission statement. This will be accomplished by security reviews and audits. This helps to ensure we do not get complacent as well. Performance evaluations help with ensuring that all staff is at their peak performance. Here is where performance correction for both junior and senior members comes in to play. We always need to keep even our staff up to date and fine-tuned to keep one-step ahead. Background checks from time to time are a good way of making she that all employees are acting honestly.There by safeguarding from any circumstance outside of work, that would lead one to perform maliciously with in work for a personal gain. Required vacations will help with employees with being overwrought with situations at work. As people, we need to step back, rest, and regain focus. Forcing staff to take vacations helps this happen. Finally, ro tation of duties helps to make the team come to a better understanding of the network as a whole. This allows all members to be cross platform trained, which helps when someone is sick, on required vacation, or a team is short from termination. Aim higher college has come a long way in the two months now that security is serious concern.If we work together then we can make this college one that students and faculty feel safe coming to, to learn and teach. With colleges competing with online schools and courses, our information system needs to be at its most secure and best  performance to keep pulling students in. These controls are just an insight as to the recommendations that looked at seriously and deeply considered to make sure that Aim Higher College stays at the top.

Human Resource Essay

The paper would revolve around the discussion done over the concern regarding the rising wages of labor along with the decline in the supply of labor from China, which was previously considered to be the hub of labors from where the labor was supplied to other countries at a cheaper cost. Let’s discuss this issue in detail along with the explanation regarding the measures being taken by the organizations to change their human resource strategies. Answer – 1  Competing on the basis of labor costs can generate both positive and as well as negative outcomes for a company, or country. Talking about the brighter side, companies these days strive to achieve the optimum profitability level in order to stay in the competition. Therefore, what they do is to hire employees on part-time basis where employees would be paid on the basis of work they would do along with the working hours. This usually happens when the companies start a new venture such as, product development, its launching, or promotion. It does save huge costs for the company, but the turnover rate rises drastically. Talking about the negative side of the picture, either it is the company or country; it would result in a high turnover rate that often increases the costs such as, training costs. It is because when employees are hired by the companies, they must be trained about the job description that they are held responsible of. Therefore, investments are made by either sending them abroad or arranging workshops or training sessions. Obviously, when employees don’t get enough pay, they would leave their jobs; moreover, the supply of labor within the country would get minimized because workers might leave their country and go abroad to work for MNCs. Answer – 2 There is absolutely no doubt that many organizations consider their workforce as a main asset since the utilization of resources depend on their skills and abilities. Employees often demand the companies to value them, give them some autonomy, and involve them in the key managerial decisions where they can suggest new ideas. Companies, in order to keep their employees satisfied, introduce certain compensation packages and training sessions so that the employees think of themselves as part of the organization and get motivated. When managers invest over the training sessions and involve their subordinates in the key decisions, it becomes necessary for them to retain them at any cost or else they would leave their jobs. This would result in the loss of intellectual capital and loss of investment that was made to groom them by polishing their skills. As compared to the costs that incur for training the employees, the cost of labor force is much more than that. The reason is that when employees are trained and are retained by the company, it benefits the company not only in the short-run, but also in the long-run. Whereas on the flipside, when those skillful employees leave the company the labor costs take a domino effect because the firm would lose those employees, the investment made on them, and would have to recruit others, and then train them again. Consequently, these companies must focus on retention of employees, and that can be done by offering them attractive compensation packages, further training, giving autonomy, and promotion. Answer – 3 Companies these days are really focusing on reshaping their human resource strategies and forming them in such a way that not only keeps the employees contented, but also benefit the overall organization. There are several ways adopted by the firms these days and are explained below. Organizations these days encourage and support the presence of collectivist attitude. Collectivists define themselves by their group membership, give group goals priority over their personal goals, put more emphasis on harmonious relationships and experience more socially based emotions† (Robbins & Judge, 2007) Moreover, individual rights is are also emphasized, that is to ensure the freedom of movement, physical security, and freedom of speech. Emphases are laid on the presence of health and safety and ensure the condemnation of actions or choices that are not safe for people, actions that violate law and ethical principles. Equal employment opportunities are ensured where they hire individuals based on their intellect, creativity, enthusiasm and the presence of Emotional Intelligence. In working structure, they value team relationship, team work, and team achievements; moreover, their employees value the importance of effective communication and employee involvement while making certain decisions and delegating the tasks. There ratio of discrimination seems to be getting lessened; everyone is given equal opportunities and there is no glass ceiling for females or people from different backgrounds. When it comes to improving and retaining the skills of employees, many organizations rely on the concept of Employability, i. e. – to continuously improve the employee’s working skills by the time to meet the requirements – (Daft, 1997). Answer – 4 Since the competition for workers in China is heating up where high wages are demanded by them and at the same time, companies seek to cut their redundant costs, especially from payrolls; therefore, employers would definitely shape some of the terms and conditions regarding the working conditions, job type, compensation, working hours, and job security. First of all, since the supply of well-educated and skillful workers is less in China, so firms would have to recruit those who are available even if they are demanding high wages. Of Among these workers, many of them come from abroad to find best possible job opportunity. Another change that can be made is in the working hours, where companies can decide the job type, job status, and working hours of a worker before recruiting him or her. In this case, a contract would be signed between the worker and the company in which all the responsibilities and liabilities of both of them would be outlined, along with the penalties that either party would have to pay in case of violating the contract. A very enticing strategy that can be brought on is to introduce the Performance-based compensation play, where the employees whether they are contractual or regular, would be paid on the basis of their performance and productivity level. Moreover, chances of promotion would only be for those who perform well and benefit the organization. This would result in provoking the motivation among the employees to gain more knowledge and skills, perform better, and abide by the rules and regulations. Not only this, the turnover rate that China is currently facing, would decline to a great extent and would attract the best available talent, which would be beneficial for both the employees and the business.

Tok Essay Art Is a Lie That Brings Us Nearer to the...

TOK ESSAY â€Å"Art is a lie that brings us nearer to the truth† (Pablo Picasso) There are different ways for art to portray elements of truth and lies; but what Picasso was mostly referring to with his quote was that art might be a representation of the truth however lies to the human eye in terms of perception. The word art is somehow â€Å"controversial, especially in contemporary philosophy† because it relies on different AOK’s and WOK’s. The main area of art focused to support Picasso’s quote will be theatre and what philosophical role it plays in our everyday society, do we really need it, and is theatre the true or false image of reality? It is evidently challenging to make any sense out of this quote especially when the truth can†¦show more content†¦It is commonly known that theatre is mostly connected to political or spiritual ideologies. Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, takes a historical fact and turns into a political play based on the Salem witch trials; can the truth be seen in this play? Yes, mostly becaus e of the main historical debate described in the play involving Wiccan cult versus Christianity and it is known to be based on cultural concerns. â€Å"The play can be seen as symbolic of the paranoia about communism that pervaded America in the 1950s† . Thus, Miller’s play on the witch trials in Salem originates from the true events however is projected with false pretenses. Aristotle’s Poetics have six elements for theatre and there are surnamed Plot, Characterization, Idea, Language, Music and Spectacle. These elements represent the keys to a theatre performance, however where is the psychology in that? One theatre genre that can be an absolute opposition to Stanislavsky’s perception of theatre is known as the Theatre of the Absurd. The theatre of the absurd does not follow any guidelines concerning the techniques of theatre, which is why it is a good example because absurdity does not have any true or false, it is a bit chaotic and strange at the same time. BIBLIOGRAPHY: Websites †¢ A Philosophy of Theater  « East of Mina. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Jan. 2011.