Compensation and Benefits Strategies Recommendations Essay Example for Free

Compensation and Benefits Strategies Recommendations Essay As we put this paper together, let’s make sure we cover all the requirements: Conduct a market evaluation by researching what companies in the relevant market are providing to employees from a total compensation perspective. Recommend a compensation structure. Recommend the position in the market. Create a total compensation and benefits strategy. Consider the use of performance incentives and merit pay to recognize and engage employees. Identify laws related to the benefits and pay program. A. Cody – Comparable to other businesses in the Area (what should the client choose as a benefit package)? Austin, TX average salary for a driver with experience is 38k. Other services are hiring in new drivers with clean credentials for $15 an hour plus tips. Austin drivers make about 6% less then the national median. This data was collected from indeed.com B. Patricia – Depending on the location check the Market or Strategy to see if it will work there. Landslide Limousine must take a close look at all competitors before building any benefit and compensation package. Once Landslide Limousine has pin point what the other competitors are offering their employees Landslide then can have a clear view of the market and how they can possibly influence potential employees to come and work for the company. Currently there are 122 limousine services in Austin, Texas according to the yellow pages, and they all offers the best service at an affordable price. Landslide Limousine will have to offer an excellent benefits package if it desires to bring aboard experienced recruits and retain any recruits. Landslide Limousine will have to be patient in the beginning of their business and allow the business to flourish to be able to meet the expense of similar packages that would compare to competitors. Landslide Limousine business will be at the lower end of the market until the business picks up. The company will have to create a creative way to attract and retain skillful employees. Our recommendation is for Landslide to use a strategic plan that will separated themselves from the competitors by using an old fashioned marketing way. To bring the finest and positive employees to work for a small business the company will have to demonstrate that their mission is to inspire and implement great values to the company that will benefit the community. Landslide should consider marketing themselves out in the community by advertising the positions that will be available and at the same time introduce their company and what it has to offer. The marketing plan should include information on what the new recruits can attain, what expertise are required and what opportunity they can develop. What attracts employees to compensation package differ for each employee. A higher wage may appeal a younger generation that is single, however an older generation with a family may contemplate on having a job that offers flexible hours. We recommend for Landslide Limousines to include monetary and non-monetary components. The business must be competitive with the salary and benefits, such as health insurance, retirement plans and bonuses. The company may want to incorporate compensation for client satisfaction by rewarding employees with bonuses. Every business recognize that keeping client satisfied is a major part of developing a successful business. When deciding what wage to start an employee the company may want  to separate employees by experience and skill required for the position. All open position will be given compensation similar to the marketplace average rate. The salary rate according to Simply Hire starts with the minimum wage of $15.60, but not exciding$ 20.65 according to Pay Scale Human Capital. Landslide Limousine may want to consider if their budget permits it to start their wage in between the minimum and max making the start wage at $18.00 this amount will defiantly help the new company stand out from the rest of the competition. Limousine chauffeurs average $30,000 a year in Austin, Texas while limousine chauffeur averaged $18.22 an hour making $35,000 annually in Houston, Texas. By creating and attractive compensation packages will ensure a successful recruitment rate, retention rate and employee satisfaction. The process of creating a benefits package for 25 employees will feel as a sensible expense, but the bottom line will be that at the end of the day the company will not make a profit. The company must acknowledged that the benefits package will not be a reasonable expense. C. Jose – Based on the number of employees what is the best plan? And will the company add to the plan? D. Seneca – Based on the annual net revenue of the company we chose does the plan work for the employees and Company? Based on Landslides plan to have 25 employee’s and a net revenue of -50,000, the focus should be on having an incentives plan in place. Knowing that Landslide Limousines plans to operate with a negative budget, and will not be able to offer any benefit compensation packages to it workers, having a strong incentives program in place is very pivitol to retain it’s employee’s. Holding quality employees involves a tactical plan for benefits that rewards personnel for business devotion. This inspires new staff to make a pledge to build a profession with your business and prevents traditional employees from leaping to other corporations. These incentive systems should be easy for workers to understand and achievable enough at its lower levels to reassure employees to work tougher to reach their goals. A compensation system with performance levels that are too high for employees to reach early on in the process wont encourage harder work because employees will simply ignore it. Making this syestem Merit based will be the simplest way to operate and reward  individuals for there work. In order for this system to be effective, the merit pay program must certify that rewards provided to the best personnel will be noticeably better than growths given to normal or below-average worker. The theory of performance-based compensation for employees is that they should be compensated generously for out performing their co-workers, but if a worker performance is ordinary, that worker compensation should show that E. Michael – Finally each company is expecting the Revenue growth to stay the same for either the 1st or 2nd year does the plan we chose for them accommodate these percentages. Conclusion Whatever we will conclude with our paper. References http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes533041.htm http://www.simplyhired.com/salaries-k-limo-driver-jobs.html http://www.payscale.com/research/US/Job=Chauffeur/Hourly_Rate http://www.simplyhired.com/salaries-k-limousine-driver-l-austin-tx-jobs.html http://www.yellowpages.com/austin-tx/limo-service?s=relevance http://smallbusiness.chron.com/advantages-teambased-incentive-pay-plans-21693.html http://www.sibson.com/services/performance-and-rewards/pay-for-performance/incentive-plan-design/

Decision-Making Model Analysis Essay -- Decisions Psychology Decide Es

Decision-Making Model Analysis Decisions! Decisions! Decisions! How do you make decisions? Have you ever asked yourself, â€Å"How did I make that decision?† Whether big or small, important or not so important, decision making is a process. Some people way the pros and cons while others may just flip a coin. Are decisions based on feelings, outcomes or information? Often times if we just go with our gut feeling will be miss out on important information that should be included in our decision. Decision-making can be a cognitive process of selecting a course of action form various options. Some of us are logical. Some of us are risk taking. Either way such characteristics play a role in our decisions. In my experience decision-making can also be based on biases, past experiences, peer pressure, needs and even wants. Recently, I had to make a decision about a new job opportunity. My employer offered me the opportunity to move into a new job with new tasks and responsibilities. I had to consider the position, the responsibilities, the salary and all the alternatives. The opportunity offered a pay increase. It was a tough decision. Now, while I didn’t realize it I actually used a decision-making model to decide upon my best option. Rick Roberts, Director of Career Services at University of North Florida designed a 7-Step Career Decision-Making Model. Roberts believes information is power in decision-making. He states, the more information you have the easier the decision....

Media in the Arab World

Al-Jazeera is an independent news network functioning from Qatar, which has been steadily gaining attention since its inception in 1996. The network has been fairly controversial in its choice of topics and very unconventional as well which would explain why more Arabs and Westerners alike gravitate to it for information about the current state of the Middle East. It first became popular when the network acquired a videotape containing Osama bin Laden’s message regarding the 9/11 terrorist act. In the subsequent months, Al-Jazeera became the exclusive recipient of what came to be a series of bin Laden’s messages. Al-Jazeera is characterized by its bold actions of bringing to the public issues that were previously considered sensitive or even taboo to be discussed on-air. Some of these topics include politics, corruption, terrorism, issues on gender and sexuality, religion and family values. Previously, societal dictates make discussions about topics like these only possible behind closed doors, never for the public audience.   Because of the strict censorship that Arab governments have of the media, it has been pretty hard to come up with or relate an accurate and objective description of what’s happening in the Middle East but fortunately, the network Al-Jazeera changed all that. So what are its impacts to the known world? For one thing, Al-Jazeera served as one wake-up call to the Arab world. If before, the Middle East is left in the dark about things that concern them directly, it isn’t so now. Also Al-Jazeera encouraged a lot of Arabs to get involved with present issues regarding politics, security or even religion. Since Al-Jazeera began its popularity boom, its viewer’s frequency has been uncontested. People in the Middle East are as enthused now as we are when it comes to keeping up with all of the crucial happenings in the Middle East. (El-Nawawy Mohammed, 2002) Their most popular program is called â€Å"The Opposite Direction†. With this, Al-Jazeera invites proponents of both sides to discuss a particular issue. The show is very popular that a lot of political officials and experts are willing to appear on it. This lively discussion sometimes turn into hot debates between opposing parties resulting in very controversial airings where guests walk off the stage or yell at each other at the top of their voices. Scenes that have been previously non-existent in Middle East television. Because they are independent, the Qatari government imposes little, if at all, restrictions on the network. Another fact that contributes to its growing popularity no doubt. (Mohammed el-Nawawy, 2002) Aside from impacting Arabs in the Middle East, Al-Jazeera has also established quite a name in the western world. Al-Jazeera effectively challenged the monopoly of western news networks like CNN and NBC on coverage about Middle East events, a change that most Arabs welcomed because accusations about western networks portraying them (Arabs) in a bad light are numerous. Even within Middle East networks themselves as well as international ones, there is a recognition that Al-Jazeera’s always ahead especially when it comes to groundbreaking news in the Middle East. In fact, the network is so noteworthy that it helped put the Qatari government in the map. It also helped a lot of Arabs who are living in other parts of the world. For the first time, they are now shown an accurate picture of how it is like in their hometowns that further strengthens their ties to their respective, to use Benedict Anderson â€Å"imagined communities†. This helps them relate to important matters that concern them which would provide them enough opportunity to act on it. In a certain level, Al-Jazeera helped a lot in bridging geographical gaps and bringing the Arab consciousness closer and closer. Today, if one wants to know what’s happening in the Middle East, Arabs and Westerners alike turn to Al-Jazeera for news. The Al-Jazeera network certainly created a significant impact to the power of media everywhere. I’d like to think that what Al-Jazeera represents most is the epitome of what freedom of expression means. The right to express themselves, the media’s, should not be repressed whether in the Middle East or anywhere else. In this respect, Al-Jazeera serves as a beacon that proves that no matter what restrictions are imposed on speech whether culturally or socially, its freedom can still be attained. References El-Nawawy Mohammed, I. A. (2002). Al-Jazeera: How the Free Arab Networks Scooped the World and Changed the Middle East. Cambridge, MA: Westview Press. Mohammed el-Nawawy, A. I. (2002, April 15). Al-Jazeera: How the Free Arab News Network Scooped the World and Changed the Middle East . (J. J. Myers, Interviewer)      

Mutual Fund Project Essay

The fund employs a passive management investment approach. It is a low cost way to gain diversified exposure to the equity market in the United States. The fund invests in 500 of the largest companies in the United States. The companies span many different industries and the fund accounts for about 75% of the United States stock market’s value. VFINX measures the investment return of large-capitalization stocks. The most obvious risk is the volatility that comes with its full exposure to the stock market. The mutual fund portfolio’s composition is made up of 99. 45% stocks and . 55% cash. The expense ratio for this mutual fund is . 17%. This is the annual fee that shareholders are charged. It expresses the percentage of assets deducted each fiscal year for fund expenses, including 12b-1 fees, management fees, administrative fees, operating costs, and all other asset-based costs incurred by the fund. For the Year-to-Date (ytd) rankings in its category, VFINX ranked in at 24 according to Yahoo! Finance. Over the last 10 years, the fund has performed in direct correlation to the S&P 500 being that it is an index fund and there is a beta of 1, meaning that whatever the S&P 500 does, the fund will do as well. VFINX is a good choice if an investor is seeking a mutual fund that offers the stability of large, established companies and the wide exposure of a fund that holds both value and growth stocks. Fidelity Magellan Fund (FMAGX) has ridden the ups and downs over the years of the market’s roller coaster. The fund has gone through many changes over the years and one of the most important key factors to the fund’s performance has been related to the way it was managed. The fund currently has assets totaling 14. billion and its portfolio consists of growth and value stocks across the capitalization spectrum from around the world and the United States. The fund keeps about 20 percent of the holdings in foreign stocks. It is one of the world’s most known actively managed funds and has finally found some stability due to its newest manager, Harry Lange. In 2008, during the financial crisis, the management chose to stay aggressive instead of investing defensively and incurred a bad loss, which lead to the changes in management. FMAGX is classified as a large growth fund and is ranked 24 in its category according to Yahoo! Finance. The 3-year beta is 1. 7, which means that it bears more risk than investing directly in the S&P 500, however this also means that it could provide heftier returns. The mutual fund portfolio’s composition

Great Rift Valley - Crack in the Planets Crust

Great Rift Valley - Crack in the Planet's Crust The Rift Valley of eastern Africa and Asia (sometimes called the Great Rift Valley [GRV] or East African Rift system [EAR or EARS]) is an enormous geological split in the crust of the earth, thousands of kilometers long, up to 125 miles (200 kilometers) wide, and between a few hundred to thousands of meters deep. First designated as the Great Rift Valley in the late 19th century and visible from space, the valley has also been a great source of hominid fossils, most famously in Tanzanias Olduvai Gorge. Key Takeaways: Great Rift Valley The Great Rift Valley is a huge fracture in the crust of the earth in the eastern part of Africa.  Crustal rifts are found all over the world, but the one in East Africa is the largest.  The rift is a complex series of faultlines that runs from the Red Sea down into Mozambique.The Lake Turkana basin in the rift region is known as the Cradle of Mankind and has been a source of hominid fossils since the 1970s.A 2019 paper suggests that the Kenyan and Ethiopian rifts are evolving into one single oblique rift.   The Rift Valley is the result of an ancient series of faults, rifts, and volcanoes deriving from the shifting of tectonic plates at the junction between the Somalian and the African plates. Scholars recognize two branches of the GRV: the eastern half- which is that piece north of Lake Victoria that runs NE/SW and meets the Red Sea; and the western half- running nearly N/S from Victoria to the Zambezi river in Mozambique. The eastern branch rifts first occurred 30 million years ago, the western 12.6 million years ago. In terms of rift evolution, many parts of the Great Rift Valley are in different stages, from pre-rift in the Limpopo valley, to initial-rift stage at the Malawi rift; to typical-rift stage in the northern Tanganyika rift region; to advanced-rift stage in the Ethiopian rift region; and finally to oceanic-rift stage in the Afar range. That means the region is still quite tectonically active: see Chorowicz (2005) for much more detail concerning the ages of the different rift regions. Geography and Topography The East African Rift System stretches from the Red Sea to Mozambique. It is marked by the African Great Lakes and is currently the largest rift of the world. S. Brune; Kartengrundlage: Nasa-World-Wind The Eastern African Rift Valley is a long valley flanked by uplifted shoulders that step down to the central rift by more or less parallel faults. The main valley is classed as a continental rift, extending from 12 degrees north to 15 degrees south of our planets​ equator. It extends a length of 3,500 km  and intersects major portions of the modern countries of Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Malawi, and Mozambique and minor portions of others. The width of the valley varies between 30 km to 200 km (20-125 mi), with the widest section at the northern end where it links to the Red Sea in the Afar region of Ethiopia. The depth of the valley varies across eastern Africa, but for most of its length it is more than 1 km (3280 feet) deep and at its deepest, in Ethiopia, it is over 3 km (9,800 ft) deep. The topographical steepness of its shoulders and the depth of the valley have created specialized microclimates and hydrology within its walls. Most rivers are short and small within the valley, but a few follow the rifts for hundreds of kilometers, discharging into deep lake basins. The valley acts as a north-south corridor for the migration of animals and birds  and inhibits east/west movements. When glaciers dominated most of Europe and Asia during the Pleistocene, the rift lake basins were havens for animals and plant life, including early hominins. History of the Rift Valley Studies Following on the mid- to late-19th-century work of dozens of explorers including the famous David Livingstone, the concept of an East African rift fracture was established by Austrian geologist Eduard Suess, and named the Great Rift Valley of East Africa in 1896 by British geologist John Walter Gregory. In 1921, Gregory described the GRV as a system of graben basins which included the valleys of the Red and Dead Seas in western Asia, as the Afro-Arabian rift system. Gregorys interpretation of the GRV formation was that two faults had opened up and a central piece dropped down forming the valley (called a graben). Since Gregorys investigations, scholars have re-interpreted the rift as the result of multiple graben faults organized over a major fault line at the plate juncture. The faults occurred in time from the Paleozoic to Quaternary eras, a time span of some 500 million years. In many areas, there have been repeated rifting events, including at least seven phases of rifting over the past 200 million years. Paleontology in the Rift Valley In the 1970s, paleontologist Richard Leakey designated the East African Rift region as the Cradle of Mankind, and there is no doubt that the earliest hominids- members of the Homo species- arose within its boundaries. Why that happened is a matter of conjecture, but may have something to do with the steep valley walls and microclimates created within them. The interior of the rift valley was isolated from the rest of Africa during the Pleistocene ice age  and sheltered freshwater lakes located in savannahs. As with other animals, our early ancestors may have found refuge there when the ice covered much of the planet and then evolved as hominids within its tall shoulders. An interesting study on the genetics of frog species by Freilich and colleagues showed that the valleys micro-climates and topography are at least, in this case, a biogeographic barrier that resulted in the splitting of the species into two separate gene pools. It is the eastern branch (much of Kenya and Ethiopia) where much of the paleontological work has identified hominids. Beginning about 2 million years ago, barriers in the eastern branch eroded away, a time which is coeval (as much as that clock can be called co-eval) with the spread of Homo species outside of Africa. Rift Evolution Analysis of the rift reported by German geologist Sascha Brune and colleagues in March 2019 (Corti et al. 2019) suggests that although the rift began as two overlapping disconnected rifts (Ethiopian and Kenyan), the lateral offset that lies in the Turkana depression has evolved and continues to evolve into a single oblique rift.   In March of 2018, a great crack measuring 50 feet wide and miles long opened up in the Suswa area of southwestern Kenya. Scientists believe the cause was not a sudden recent shift of the tectonic plates, but rather the abrupt erosion to the surface of a long-standing subsurface crack that developed over thousands of years. Recent heavy rains caused the soil to collapse over the crack, exposing it to the surface, rather like a sinkhole.  Ã‚   Selected Sources Blinkhorn, J., and M. Grove. The Structure of the Middle Stone Age of Eastern Africa. Quaternary Science Reviews 195 (2018): 1–20. Print.Chorowicz, Jean. The East African Rift System. Journal of African Earth Sciences 43.1–3 (2005): 379–410. Print.Corti, Giacomo, et al. Aborted Propagation of the Ethiopian Rift Caused by Linkage with the Kenyan Rift. Nature Communications 10.1 (2019): 1309. Print.Deino, Alan L., et al. Chronology of the Acheulean to Middle Stone Age Transition in Eastern Africa. Science 360.6384 (2018): 95–98. Print.Freilich, Xenia, et al. Comparative Phylogeography of Ethiopian Anurans: Impact of the Great Rift Valley and Pleistocene Climate Change. BMC Evolutionary Biology 16.1 (2016): 206. Print.Frostick, L. Africa: Rift Valley. Encyclopedia of Geology. Eds. Cocks, L. Robin M. and Ian R. Plimer. Oxford: Elsevier, 2005. 26–34. Print.Sahnouni, Mohamed, et al. 1.9-Million- and 2.4-Million-Year-Old Artifacts and Stone Tool-Cutmarked Bones from Ain Boucherit, Algeria. Science 362.6420 (2018): 1297–301. Print. Simon, Brendan, et al. Deformation and Sedimentary Evolution of the Lake Albert Rift (Uganda, East African Rift System). Marine and Petroleum Geology 86 (2017): 17–37. Print.

A Tree, A Rock, A Cloud by Carson McCuller

A Tree, A Rock, A Cloud by Carson McCuller Philosophy of the modernism and postmodernism period takes twists and turns at every chance it can. As the world begins to change at a speed previously unseen, people all over the world are confused and scared of what might come next. Though today writers have taken to the internet to show the world their ideas, writers during these periods expressed the emotions human beings felt through many different genres of literature. First a man must help those around him but then the philosophy shifts to a man must help himself to gain meaning in this life. As each man struggles to find a place for himself in the world, each man is also subject to the actions of others. So each man is a master of his own destiny but yet he is also a slave to the whims of others. This knowledge scares men, women and children all over the world. Yet human beings continue to find themselves among the fear. We all find meaning for ourselves yet sometimes questions arise after we find the meaning which defines o ur life. Some questions being: Is this the meaning I wasted my time on? Is this worth all the time I spent alone? In â€Å"A Tree, A Rock, A Cloud† by Carson McCullers these questions pop out to me after reading the tramp’s so called â€Å"science of love†. The tramp in the story had his heart broken by a woman so severely he believed he could never love again. While the philosophy of love today would suggest otherwise, the tramp wandered the country in isolation, searching for his lost love and searching for love itself. He believes he has discovered the science of love, his own personal philosophy he uses to define his life in the world. He never finds the woman he held to be so dear nor does he find another woman he loves as much as her even after he develops his â€Å"science of love†. The disillusionment the tramp faces after losing his first love tears down the natural beauty of what love really is. Natural not scientific I should say. Science can t ell many things and uncover many truths but one thing science has no power over is the ability we have to love freely. This I believe the tramp fails to understand. The tramp tried to fragment love. That’s like trying to tear Mount Everest apart with a rubber mallet. It can’t be done. Nor can you apply logic to love. You cannot apply logic to something that contradicts itself as much as love does. Yet the tramp did not realize this as he tried to break down love. The tramp tells the boy he speaks to â€Å"I meditated on love and reasoned it out†. All he reasoned out was how to believe he loved something or someone. He believed love was only one love. According to his â€Å"science† you could love a rock as easily and as deeply as you loved a woman or your child. This is not the case as most would agree. I myself have never loved my iPod or my car as much as I have loved my girlfriends or my family. The tramp failed to realize many things but chief among t hem was that love comes not from what others can give you to make you happy but rather love exists when your desire to make another happy match’s your own desire to make yourself happy. An inanimate object could never return the love that men chase, so this science of love is base on false beliefs.

The Interagency Process (National Security) Essay

The Interagency Process (National Security) - Essay Example ctice, this compartmentalization is partially mitigated by overlapping membership on various interagency groups and by the oversight of the Office of Management and Budget. However, there is still no inter-agency process for developing policy options on these issues that integrates all of the relevant facets and is supported by appropriate quantitative analysis. Any such process should have, at least, a cabinet-level committee that focuses on governmental issues but covers both the domestic and foreign policy aspects of those issues; several sub cabinet-level working groups that are chaired by a senior policy official and supported by a staff located in the White House; access to all of the resources necessary to conduct and comment on quantitative analysis of policy options; and ail avenue for exchanging ideas with industry, the local community, and other outside constituencies on a continuing basis (Friedman, pg 7). Before discussing these elements in greater detail, however, it is useful to look at the emerging international issues, examine existing interagency mechanisms for addressing these issues, and explore the boundary constraints imposed on any interagency mechanism by the United States system of government, political culture, and personnel selection process. In this paper I aim to describe the inter agency process, provide an overview of the legal framework that created the process and discuss the major players. I will explain with examples the major flaws in the present system and also the key strengths. The Interagency process also known as the IAP was officially recognized in 1947. The current process for expressing national planned policy is untied for explanation by the supervisory division, which has led to fruitless proceedings in the interagency process specially I terms of national security, idleness, and at times contradictory policy.   As the state organizes for the upcoming, it is crucial that the IAP be superior codified and dignified to