Dr Jack Perry Motivation case Essay

This case revolves around Dr. Jack Perry, the protagonist, is proprietary dentist clinic. Dr. Perry is a successful dentist in a small town of Cromwell in Canada. He had purchased the practice from a retiring dentist and has been successful in his practice considerably. However, he now faces a management problem of motivating his employees who are suffering from low morale and do not seem to be working as hard as they could to help increase the revenue of the clinic. Dr. Perry, had attended a dental conference in Chicago in 2005, and recalled two approaches to profit sharing which would help in motivating the employees. He now faces the dilemma as to which one of the two pay structures would be best suited for his practice as selecting a wrong pay structure could lead to further de-motivation of his employees. BACKGROUND OF THE CASE Dr. Jack Perry has managed to run a thriving dentistry practice in Cromwell which had a population of only 3000 and served an additional 7000 people from the surrounding areas. He had little competition in the form of 3 other dentists. Dr. Perry has sound financials and is witnessing a growth rate of 15 % annually. In conformance with industry norms Dr. Perry employs three categories of employees namely, receptionists, hygienists and assistants. At present he employs two part time receptionists, two full time hygienists, one full time assistant and one part time assistant. His employees were paid their wages at competitive hourly rates prevalent in the market. In addition to their hourly wages, they were given an Annual cash bonus of $400 during Christmas which was well appreciated by his employees. Dr. Jack Perry was quite involved with his staff by regularly discussing their work and salary on an informal basis. He allowed his employees 3 weeks holidays in a year. As a result Dr. Perry had virtually no staff turnover. Despite the his easy going manner, competitive salary and a pleasant work environment, Sandi the receptionist, had concluded that the morale was low among the staff, an observation Dr. Perry had made himself. OBJECTIVES To study the benefits and drawbacks of the two pay structures , its financial impact on the employees and how they would help him resolve the issue of low morale in the organization. To suggest the best suited pay-structure for Dr. Perry’s practice which would help him increase his collections by motivating his employees. CHARACTER SKETCH OF DR.PERRY Dr. Jack Perry is a dentist who has completed his graduation from an Ontario University dental school in 2011. He was a sole practitioner dentist in Cromwell, Ontario. Becoming a dentist in Canada was a rigorous process which required a lot of hard work and which included three years of study at the undergraduate level, followed by four years at an accredited dental school. Perry was happy with his work as he was giving competition to other three dentists in Cromwell. He was doing far better than his competitors and was proud of the financial success which came along with it. His business was now growing at 15 per cent annually. Perry had created a comfortable and easy going environment at the workplace. He used to have informal meetings with the staff annually to discuss the work and salary. His staffs were given three weeks of holiday per year. Not only this, but he also allowed his staff to take further unpaid vacation time as long as they can provide him with another staff member to handle their shifts. This gave the flexibility to the staff members as this thing made easier for them to spend some time with their families. All the team plans and organize the Christmas party before Christmas holidays. He used to give cash bonus for their hard work throughout the year. He was a benevolent boss. CASE ANALYSIS 1. The main reason for the decaying employee morale was the quick growth of the business. Dr. Perry’s employees were well compensated at competitive market rates and enjoyed a pleasant working environment. The annual growth of the business (15%) meant that his employees were making relatively less money than Dr. Perry himself. The current pay structure did not have any provision for any category of employees to earn a proportion of the profits. Every employee has a fixed hourly salary. Thus, a bigger business meant that they felt like slave labourers since they were aware of the increase in the practice’s revenues and number of patients. 2. Dr. Perry’s revenues largely depended on the hygienists who generated about 40% of the revenues. Even the receptionists played a vital role in adding to the revenue by filling in cancelled appointments. His assistants too contributed by playing the role of nurses by comforting the patients which further helped in patient retention. Thus it would seem only fair that a part of the profits must be shared with the employees in the form of a variable pay structure. 3. As per the conference which Dr. Perry had attended, the first approach of remunerating the employees focused on the contribution of the hygienists only. As per this approach, the hygienists would be paid purely on a commission basis of around 40% of the total earnings. The main advantages of this system are: It recognises the direct effect of the hygienists’ efforts on the revenues of the practice and rewards them for the same. A 40% commission would be financially more beneficial to the hygienists assuming the current level of collections. Also it is forecasted that such a pay structure would result in an increase in the billings by about 13%. The major drawback of this system is that it simply does not completely recognize the contribution of the receptionists and the assistants in the revenue generation of the firm. The pay structure does not clearly define how commission would be linked to the total earning of the receptionists and the assistants. Also, by making the earnings of the hygienists completely dependent on the revenue, it may lead to dissatisfaction of the hygienists of the collections did not increase. 4. The second approach states that the employees should be given a share of the profits at a pre established percentage over and above their hourly wage rates. This method ensured that : Some parts of the profits were distributed to all the categories of employees. At the same time since the employees would receive their hourly rates in any case, it would give them a sense of security and eventually help in maintaining the pleasant work atmosphere. However, this method did not distinguish between the categories of employees who contributed more to the revenues than those who contributed comparatively less. This could lead to de-motivation of the hygienists who had a direct impact on the revenues of the companies. Solutions/Suggestions For Hygienist : 1. Perry’s Clinic should recognise best skilled hygienists. Perry should conduct special trainings for the underperformers and bring them to the same level. 2. Targets of hygienists need to be on a similar alignment as that of the firm. 3. Teamwork needs to be motivated through annual bonus. 4. Incentives can be introduced to keep the results persistent. 5. The firm should control the cost through effective pay strategy. The above decisions could have the following effect on the hygienists – their income would increase; the effort put in by an individual would benefit him/her i.e. every individual is responsible for his/her incentives. Thirdly they would get an opportunity to work with an efficient peer group thereby nurturing each other. For Assistants & Receptionists: 1. The firm should encourage wage earners to spend time on highly skilled tasks. 2. Decrease interoffice concern about peer pay. Pay should be based on training level. 3. The weekly payroll should be known. 4. Annual bonus would motivate team work and coordination. By implementing these they would have stable pay, little daily pressure to up sell services. Their pay easily calculated each week. It would allow them to take time off providing high quality of work. CONCLUSIONS In the scenario where Dr. Perry business is growing at a healthy rate it is important to continuously monitor pay structure of the firm and revise it from time to time since remuneration is directly related to the motivation level of the employees. Dr. Perry must change the pay structure to accommodate profit sharing with the employees in the form of a bonus which would be a percentage of the total profits of the practice, in the case of increased revenues for that particular year. This method is better for the business at this stage because the practice is still in a growth stage. The profits can be divided among the different categories of employees in a number of ways. A drastic change in the pay structure from fixed to completely variable is not recommended because in case of lower collections in any particular year, it may lead to lower earnings for the employees. This pay structure can be further revised in the future to increase the profit sharing element in the remuneration of the employees as the firm grows bigger. MANAGERIAL LEARNINGS 1. Monetary benefits motivate people to perform better in most cases. It is important for managers to understand the link between the pay structure and the motivation levels of employees. Merely high wage rates may not be sufficient to motivate the employees and they must given a fair share of the profits earned by the firm. 2. Performance linked Variable Pay (PLVP) is a salary component present in most of the MNCs. This keeps the employees motivated to continuously increase their productivity rather than a fixed salary which may lead to a laid back style of working thereby impacting the performance negatively. 3. It is important for mangers to know the contribution of individual employees and different categories of employees and must frame the pay structure in accordance with the same. This would ensure that employees are rewarded sufficiently for better performances. 4. Keeping the market standards in mind, pay – structures must be constantly monitored and should be revised along with the growth of the firm in terms of revenue earned and the volume of business for employees of all levels. 5. Firms disclose their revenue generated through Quarterly/Semi Annual Meets. Managers must make sure that the employees understand not only the revenue aspect of a growing firm but also the increased costs associated with them and therefore emphasise on the need for higher productivity from the employees.

Thoreau Essay

English Thoreau’s views and morals were very controversial, for he believed that being secluded from society is the best way to live. Thoreau believed in the simple life. He describes this lifestyle by how these people â€Å"will not be frittered away by detail† pg. 382. This means that others lives are based on repetition. People make their own lives busy. Thoreau believed by living a life based on simplicity, others can live in happiness away from society, for tradition, and conformity will be their ticket to success.Thoreau gives valuable advice in his writing. He states that being poor is a simple way of living. By not handling items that are valuable, the poor succeed more in life. They tend to succeed more than an average person because they do not have material things to possess their attention and focus. People are always going to do what the majority is doing. This may be the reason why Thoreau left the Walden Pond, because by living his life secluded, he thoug ht he would not be able to complete more in his life.By saying the statement, â€Å"I had several more lives to live. † He meant that staying by Walden Pond would not do him any good. He wanted his voice to be heard. Thoreau also gave ideas about tradition, and conformity. His ideas about tradition stated that older people will never change the way they do things because that is just how it has been to them. Tradition is hard to change, for it is always how something has been done and people will not stand out and change their views. They will not change their views because they do not want to stand out in society.Thoreau’s view on conformity is that people will do anything to look normal through the public’s eye. They may act completely different in public than they act at home, for they are scared to act out against others. They just want to be similar to everyone and avoid hard treatment. My view on Thoreau’s experience is he is crazy. It is unheard of a man to leave society and live in the wilderness for a long period of time. It is an odd thing to do. It is not a strange happening for one to leave for a short period of time to recollect himself, but leaving for a long time is unheard of.He seemed to think that his own personal welfare was more important than being social. He did not want to be caught up in the personal affairs of others, and leaving society was his way of staying secluded. By leaving society, living a life of simplicity is easy, for he truly was happy in his time being out in the wilderness. Thoreau’s views will be acknowledged among the greatest writers in the world. His views gave society an understanding on how to live. He learned how to deal with society and excelled in his work.

Outline Worksheet for Persuasive Speech

Specific Purpose: To inform my audience of the advantages of the online courses. Thesis Statement: Now, the online courses become more and more popular. However, why increasable students chose online courses, there are lots of homework, the limit time and the higher quality of the class. With the improvement of the online courses, the students can get same knowledge, but spend less time in the online courses. Introduction I. Attention-getter: At the beginning of my speech, I have several questions. Did you always spend a lot time between the school and home? Did you usually worry that you couldn’t catch up with the teacher? Did you ever think about the solutions for those? II. Establishment of ethos: In fact, I usually don’t get up until the class will begin in the morning, so I ever think that the classroom could move into my room someday. Now it becomes true. The online courses will bring more sleep time for me. III. Preview:Even though many students still prefer face-to-face lecture classes, I think online courses are more beneficial because the content is the same as classroom courses, the time is flexible and there is no peer pressure in online courses. With such great benefits, students should sign up for online courses considering the hectic lifestyle everyone has today. (Transition: Now, I will talk about the advantages about the online courses. ) Body I. First, the content of online courses is the same as the courses in a classroom. A. Professors can record their lectures into videos and teach live online, and professors can also assign homework for their students easily. The only difference for students is that they have to hand in their homework through the internet. However, this has nothing to do with the quality of the class. B. I found an article named â€Å"Students Can Take Class Online at Home,† which was published in the Atlanta Journal & Constitution, said that â€Å"students log on to a designated Web site where lecture notes and slide shows are posted. † Therefore, online courses already became a helpful way to teach students. II. Second, the schedule is very flexible for students. A. For some online courses, professors will just put the materials on their own website and let students take courses at their own pace. For example, a math teacher can allow students to run through a lesson on the computer or use the computer to help illustrate what is being taught personally. The online courses can also be used to give extra help to students about to fail a class. B. In addition, if it is a class that requires a lot of time, they can take breaks whenever and then continue later on. It is also an effective way to take a class, because after a break, students can concentrate on the class better and remember more things at the same time. III. Third, some students think that if they take a classroom class, they will feel peer pressure, because if another student finishes faster than he or she does, then he or she will get nervous and can’t finish the rest well. A. The problem will be solved if they take an online course because it is just the students themselves at home so they can study the questions at their own pace without the pressure of feeling nervous. They may help the students get a high grade in the exam or an assignment. B. For example, in my Chinese university, there will often be a lot of students taking an exam in the classroom at the same time. I remember that one of my classmates in my English class took the mid-term exam with me and that he took a long time during the reading part. As time progressed, more and more students finished before he did and after the time was up, I asked him how he did and he told me he couldn’t concentrate on the test because of text anxiety and the constant distraction of students leaving before he did, so he got a low grade on this exam. Conclusion I. Summarize and Review: In conclusion, students can greatly benefit from online courses. The content in lecture classes is the same as online classes. Also, the peer pressure is gone when it comes to online courses. Most importantly, students who take online courses have more flexible study time. II. Tie to the introduction: Therefore, taking online courses, we will waste no time between school and home, but get the same knowledge. III. Creative concluding thought: I think online courses will become more available to all students in the future then students can probably learn more effectively from the online courses. References: Sophia Lezin Jones, Aug 7, 2000, Atlanta Journal & Constitution, Gwinnett students can take class online at home Carter, Rochelle, Aug 1, 2002, Atlanta Journal & Constitution, BACK TO SCHOOL: Online courses expand Clayton's Class.com gaining popularity http://oedb.org/library/distance-vs-local/10-advantages-to-taking-online-classes/ http://ezinearticles.com/?What-Are-The-Advantages-And-Disadvantages-Of-OnlineCourses?;id=317526 http://www.ehow.com/facts_4797506_online-training-advantages-disadvantages.html http://seacstudentweb.org/top-benefits-of-online-education.php

Can Yahoo Still Attract Tech Workers? Essay

Introduction An American multinational Internet corporation known as Yahoo! Inc. is one of the most well known Internet sites out there. Yahoo is always expanding and seeking out and recruiting for high tech software experts to help this business grow. Any high tech job should come with competitive salary as for Yahoo! They have to work long hours to achive their goals. Yahoo! Employees work hard but, play hard as well. Review/Analysis of the Case Yahoo! Attracts over 700 million visitors a month. Now that’s a lot for a company that has been around since 1994. They may have 14,000 employees but, they work them so hard that some leave for better paying opertunities. Yahoo is part of the old Internet with Google being the new age. Their supply an demand is very low. Meaning they have more work then workers. Their workers keep leaving. Some of the best top employees have even left due to wanting to go to the new age internet. Yahoo need to strengthen it communications internaly. According to an article written by Bridgettte Redman on the Chron site she states, â€Å"Internal recruitment works only if employees have access to the information about opportunities. Multiple communication channels ensures that more employees will have access to the information.† (http://smallbusiness.chron.com/effective-hr-approach-internal-recruitment-25095.html) Developing plans and goals for each one of their employees can keep them on track and to keep them motivated in what they are doing. They can also do semi annual and annual performance reviews to establish what they need to work harder on and what their new goals/ achevments are. Recruitment is probably one of the most important for Yahoo!. If they don’t  have the right type of people then they will now be able to keep them. They first need to look at well known Technology Colleges and then look into some of the most brightest, and talented students on each campus. â€Å"Using the talent management system, Intercontinental is filling 84% of general manager positions and 26% of corporate jobs with current employees. The initiative has lowered recruiting costs, increased employee loyalty, and boosted productivity and profitability. â€Å"(Gerhart, B., Hollenbeck, J., Noe, R., & Wright, P. (2009). Lookin for the right canadit with the right skills and degree you are looking for usualy have already developed the desired commitment that the recruiter is looking for with the exception customer service skills needed. Most colleges and universities like Kaplan has placement services to help graduate to find their desired jobs. Putting the information in wi th them with help a recruiter to also scan candiates and expand Yahoo into the new age and out of the old internet world. Summary and Conclusions Yahoo had good employees that left for other companies despite their great talent and how good yahoo was because of their lack of excitement and no creativity. Hence, the other companies had better talent and much more to offer. Yahoo should most definitely recruit people from the top best engineering schools in order to expand the organization of yahoo. They should also keep all the employees on their toes and push them to go futher and stronger with compensation for their time, hard work and dedication. References Gerhart, B., Hollenbeck, J., Noe, R., & Wright, P. (2009). Fundamentals of human resource management (3rd ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill. Bridgette Redman, Deman Media. Chron. (NA) http://smallbusiness.chron.com/effective-hr-approach-internal-recruitment-25095.html

Basic skills for managerial success Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Basic skills for managerial success - Essay Example The targets focus on the number of consultants that generates revenues for the organisation. His managerial function also involves motivating his team members to perform their work at the highest possible level for the benefit of the team and the organisation. Since the company is a target-driven organisation, the manager's major functions also involve monitoring and correcting the activities of his members through weekly reports and meetings. According to Daft and Marcic (2001), the general definition of management is the achievement of desired organisational goals in a manner that is efficient and effective. In order to achieve these goals, a manager must perform different functions of planning, organising, leading and controlling organisational resources. A manager must know how to learn what is valued, what would be of more value, and what will be valued by customers and users. (Parr, 1992) Planning involves setting goals and deciding how to best achieve these goals. It helps the organisation set its future objectives and map out activities that are necessary to attain these goals. Plans are created as guide for the organisation to obtain and commit the resources needed to reach its goals. This also serves as a framework where members of the organisation carry on activities which are consistent with the chosen objectives and procedures. Plans are necessary in order to measure and monitor the progress towards the achievement of the objective. (Mintzberg, 1994) Organising is assigning responsibilities for the accomplishment of tasks. Organising also includes allocation and arranging of organisational resources so that plans can be carried out successfully. These resources may include financial, physical, informational, technical and human resources. Leading is the manner of influencing other people to work towards the achievement of goals. Influence can be used to motivate people. Controlling is the manager's role of monitoring activities and making corrections. It is also considered as regulating activities to reach the desired goals. (Daft & Marcic, 2008) In association to the general definition of management, it is observed that the middle manager interviewed for this paper has performed the different functions of management. The planning function is demonstrated through his setting of the team's targets for the month and creating work strategies focused on achieving the targets. The manager follows the principles of management by objectives. (Hindle, 2003) The organising function is exhibited through assigning team members to meet with clients and prospects on a daily basis, in order to create business transactions. The leading function of the key account manager is best displayed when the manager motivates his people to perform exceptionally and creates a happy and healthy work environment. The controlling function is shown through weekly monitoring as well as business improvement meetings and brainstorming. The manager monitors the team members through a feedback mechanism and reports. Such reports will be compared with the expected results or targets. Corrective actions are made in order to put the members back on its track of achieving the desired objectives of the month. Effective managers are concerned with accomplishments where they set standards of performance, pursue aggressive goals and work hard to

Ethical Delimma - A Real Life Situation Case Study

Ethical Delimma - A Real Life Situation - Case Study Example Ellen also undertook the occupation in the area of providing brokerage services to big industries in Omaha. Ellen started to handle some large accounts to whom she provided her services and as a result of this, Ellen started to make a name for herself among the wealthy class of people in Omaha. Joseph and Ellen had plans to get married. With the passage of time, the expenditures planned by them for meeting the expenses of their wedding were falling short of the actual estimations. Apart from this, the maintenance cost of the new home bought by Joseph was also increasing. The cost of commuting by Ellen from her apartment to the new house and to the place of her work was also increasing. However, Ellen assured Joseph that the rising costs would be met with the steadying of their income levels. According to the plan, Joseph was able to keep producing high sales volume with his team of ten salespeople. Joseph found that Carl, who was one of the prominent members of the sales team in term s of his contribution of sales volume, was involved in the process of kickback with the existing clients. Carl was also the son-in-law of the vice-president of the company. It was found by Joseph that a total of three members of his sales team including Carl were involved in the kickback with existing customers. Joseph reviewed the policies of the organization and found that the company intends to do every aspect of its business in the right sense and direction and intends of the best products at best prices to its customers. The vice-president of the company, Katherine has a track record of terminating employees who conveys the news of unethical practices and is also responsible for conducting the unethical practices. While Joseph was pondering whether to discuss the matter with his vice-president or to state openly in the meeting with the sales team that such unethical matters are against the policies of the organization, Joseph was called by his fiancee and told that she has been hired as the broker to the vice-president of his company. Thus Joseph was in a situation of ethical dilemma whether to discuss the matter with the vice-president that might affect his and his fiancee’s career aspirations or to state the right things to be done in the right way which is in line with the policies of Alcon. The key question to be addressed in this scenario is, â€Å"How would Joseph deal with the situation of ethical dilemma in balancing the personal needs and adhering to the ethical demands in the workplace?† Possible Options The possible options that could be adopted by Joseph in order to address the situation of ethical dilemma are explained as follows. The first option could be that Joseph could call for a team meeting and discuss the instances of kickback with the existing customers that have been undertaken by the three employees of his sales team including Carl who has been around in Alcon sales team for considerable time. Despite the practices of kickback in the past during bad times, the importance of adhering to the policies and ethical practices in the organization should be explained. The various consequences of kickback including its effect of fair competition, reduced quality and increased prices, effects on long term business prospects, brand image, employee accountability and action could be explained to Carl and the other team members. The

Current Issue In Accounting (Accounting Theory) Essay

Current Issue In Accounting (Accounting Theory) - Essay Example Accounting is considerably a measurement tool since it assesses the value and returns of the company in comparison to the costs. The measurement of fair values (FV) of assets is inclusive of numerous aspects, for example, market risk or credit risk. According to Schroeder, Clark & Cathey (2010) the U.S GAAP standards differ in specificity of the valuation models. Some corporations determine the fair value (FV) of their assets and liabilities as a net amount, and not them in their singularity. The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) emphasizes that is imperative for corporations to associate their measurements on their business strategy approach (Schroeder, Clark & Cathey 2010). Part A: Measurement in Accounting Theory Measurement of financial statements encompasses the inclusion of accounting principles that will establish the true worth of the corporation of item (Schroeder, Clark& Cathey 2010). Some of the regulators of financial institutions argue that measurement of all f inancial instruments can generate predicaments in assessing the true value of the commodities. As such, measurement in accounting entails a collection of theories that conform to particular items but not a general formula. According to Christian and Musvoto (2011), there is no single approach to measurement theory. They assert that measurement theory in accounting can exist in two forms, which include â€Å"Representation Theory of Measurement† and â€Å"Classical Theory of Measurement† (Christian & Musvoto 2011). Representational measurement is what accounting standards are utilizing to in valuing the progress and items of an institution. Measurement models a. Historical cost Historical Cost entails recording the financial assets in the market value that was given to acquire it during the purchase period. The value of the asset is recorded inclusive of the liabilities that were considered during the exchange at their market values. The historical cost comprises of det ermination of the present value of the item after deducting the depreciation amount of the commodity over the years in use. The original value of the asset will be depreciated using two approaches either the â€Å"straight line method† or the â€Å"reducing balance method† (Walton & Aerts 2006). These depreciation adjustments will depend on the specification of the accounting principles applied by the company. The deductions on the assets of the institutions are made to the prior valuations and not the current values of the assets (Pratt 2011). The assets and liabilities held for trading functions is recorded under the market value method but the long-term financial products, for example, loans are measured under the historical cost approach. Advantages of Historical cost The asset is valued at the initial price and not at the market value thus making it easier to ascertain the useful life of the asset. Initial costs are better at ascertaining the true value of the com modity and an individual can prudently determine the gains from it (Walton & Aerts 2006). In addition, historical cost is easily comprehensive than the alternative measurement models since it entails adjustments to the consideration value of the asset. Subsequently, it is not intricate to calculate the historical cost, unlike other models since most of the costs have been determined. Disadvantages According to Walton &