Monday, December 30, 2019

Operations Management Report - Kuala Lumpur International Airport - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 9 Words: 2687 Downloads: 8 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Management Essay Type Research paper Did you like this example? Contents Executive summary. Introduction. Discussion. The scope of operation management. The roles of operation manager. The strategic choices of location. The use of technology. The suitability of floor layout. Commitment to safety and passengersà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ satisfaction. Conclusion. References Executive summary. This report presents an analysis of the principles of operation management deployed at Kuala Lumpur International airport (KLIA). The report will elaborate on the scope of operation management, the role of operations manager, strategic choices of location, technology use, suitability of floor layout, as well as the management authorityà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s commitment to safety and passenger satisfaction. The main purpose of air transportation is to provide safe and efficient passengerà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s transition between ground and airspace, as the ground operation being vital in the achievement of this function, it requires interaction of airport authority i.e. operation manager, pilot, air traffic control as well as ground handling and regulator. This will enable the ground movement of aircraft and vehicles needed to maintain the surface in a good condition and produce a good output. Therefore, this report will present the analysis of the principles of operation management that are deployed in international airports, the main focus is at Kuala Lumpur International airport, Malaysia. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Operations Management Report Kuala Lumpur International Airport" essay for you Create order Introduction. Kuala Lumpur airport (KLIA) began its operation in 1988. Ità ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s located in Sepang, 55 kilometers, south of Kuala Lumpur. The airport was built with the cost of RM 8.5 billion. Its primary Malaysia international airport thatà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s saves Malaysia capital city and beyond. Being one of the southeast Asian major aviation hubs, that has been built with features that allow flexibility for future expansion, it hosts 50 international and domestic carriers, with frequent connections between major Asian cities. The airport is also well connected with varieties of transport, including KLI express trains, taxis and busses. The airport is operated by Malaysian airport (MAHB) Sepang Sdn Bhd. Discussion. The scope of operation management. Infrastructure management. Infrastructure includes all facilities that are directly related to the operation of the airport, at Kuala Lumpur international airport there a number of facilities enabling the functionality of the airport, these include(s), Luggage controls facilities. KLIA has 12 baggage conveyors which are set into alphabet A to M. The conveyors, L and M are dedicated to domestic arrivals while the rest 10 are set for international arrivals. The airport Baggage handling system (BHS) that comprises baggage common check-in in all of the 216 counters incorporates by automatic bar-code sorting controls, operates daily at 24 hours, with 4 levels in-line baggage security screening and high speed conveyors belts. At the arrival gate hand luggage trolleys are provided for passengers as well as in car parks trolleys are available at specific nest on all floors, and complimentary luggage trolleys are provided within the MTB and reclaim areas. Communication facilitie s. KLIA information counters are located in MTB and satellite building A, to facilitate information floor in the terminals, the airport provides information kiosk, a touchscreen system which combines all multimedia elements. These touch screens help the passengers to know well about the airport functions, facilities and services provided, ità ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s a user friendly systems that are located though out MTB, and satellite A buildings for departures and arrivals. KLIA, provide also post office services which are located at level 5 of the MTB, operates from 8:30am to 5:00pm Monday to Saturday. Business centers are located at the same level of the MBT departure and the mezzanine level of sat A, where services including fax, internet, telecommuting facilities, postal are offered. Air traffic controls facilities. KLIA has two air traffic controls towers, main control tower and apron control tower. The main control tower, which is 130 meters tall its built at air traffic control systems and radar equipments and the apron control tower, which is 55 meters serves for air crafts and vehicles movements in north and south part of the satellite terminal building. The airport has two parallelrunways, 14L/32R and 14R/32L, both are over 4,000 meters (13,000ft) long and 75 meters (246ft) wide. Facilities for disable. The airport also has developed numerous facilities for disable passengers and people, these facilities includes ramps, elevator, wheelchair accessible toilets, and adapted telephones to facilitate smooth passage throughout the terminals. Other facilities include, Hotels, restaurants, shops and car parks which are available in all seven locations of satellite A and MTB buildings. Bank, several burial exchanges facilities for arriving passengers are all available throughout the terminals, WiFi is also available throughout the airport for free of charge. KLIA, also offers shower, spa and sauna facilities located at satellite A beside gat e C3 to give long flight passengers a feeling of relaxation. Productivity management. Achieving high productivity is one of the KLIA goals, measuring the input KLIA has 2,513 employees who work directly to the airport, basing on the input, productivity, which is the output produced can be measured based on different categories, this includes, number of passengers handled, tons of air cargo handled, and the number of aircraft movements landings as well as takeoffs handled. The figure below shows increase of productivity recorded at the airport for different years. Traffic 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 Passengers 21,058,572 23,213,926 24,129,748 26,453,379 27,529,355 29,682,093 Cargo handled (metric tonnes) 651,747 653,654 672,888 644,100 649,077 584,559 Aircraft movements 165,115 182,537 183,869 193,710 211,228 226,751 Traffic 2010 2011 2012 Passengers 34,087,636 37,704,510 39,887,866 Cargo handled (metric tonnes) 674,902 669,849 673,107 Aircraft movements 245,650 269,509 283,352 Capacity monitoring. In monitoring capacity, terminal space per passenger is measured, the component factor is based on physical characteristics data on the competitive strength of the terminal. This physical structure characteristic is calculated by the number of passengers per square meter. Kuala Lumpur international airport has the capacity of 28 passengers per terminal square meter. Level of airport charges. The cost can be measured among the airport chargers to users, as the aircraft landing fees are normally considered as the most representative indicators. Based on the research conducted among different Asian airport, the standard aircraft, B747-400 carry 352 tons was chosen and Japanese airport shows high levels of airport fees while Kuala Lumpur, Changi, and Incheon airports were relatively low. Safety and security management. All facilities at the Kuala Lumpur international airport are under a monitored by CCTV, Security personnel are well trained to ha ndle sophisticated security equipment. KLIA is the worlds second airport to be equipped with an explosive goods diffusion chamber, after Munich international airport. These diffusion explosive chambers were purchased at the cost of RM 1.6 million each. The roles of operation manager. An airport operation manager is a person responsible for assessing, coordinating and evaluating airport operations activities, KLIA operational manager roles include the following, Manage, control, plan and organize day to day operational activities of the airport in a way that raises the productivity of the stuffs, this is by ensuring the physical and human resources of the airport are achieved. He directs inspection of airport facilities, for maintenance, safety and cleanings as well as open and closes airport to aircraft operation for safety issues and coordinates rescue and post accident recovery operation at the airport. Managing resources and employees, airport operations manager play a role in inventory management, and purchasing of necessary airport equipment as well as assisting in the formulation of plans for airport and aviation development. He directs employees in preparation of daily inspection reports and log entries at the airport, and then analyze and reviews operational activity reports. Oversee the policies, procedures and schedules of the airport in internal departments as well as outside vendors to ensure federal, local, state regulation are followed. Participating in reviewing and approving construction projects and specifications as they relate to air side and land side operations. Supervise and control flight-handling activities such as flight editing, check in, transfers, boarding, in order to ensure an optimum standard of guest service, ensuring that all ground services business is delivered in accordance with the KLIA values. Also airport operation manager has a role in implementing changes concerning the daily operation of the airfield, by continuously monitor the staffs skill levels and determine changes needed in the management and maintenance of the airport surface, i.e. the provision of the infrastructure in a working condition. The strategic choices of location. The strategic location of the Kuala Lumpur international park has made it to be one of the highest hub potentials in the Asia Pasific region. The uniqueness of the airport lies in its boundaries that needed for business, entertainment and relaxation, and surrounded by four main cities, Kuala Lumpur, Shah Alam, Seremban and Melaca. It is therefore is the part and parcel of the multimedia super corridor where establishment of high technology industries are being actively pursued and ità ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s a catchment area that offers exciting opportunities for business. In evaluating of airport accessibility, based on level of transit fares, a variety of transport modes, convenience, comfort, and other elements, Kuala Lumpur international airport is connected with good links of network highways and express highways to the rest of peninsular Malaysia, from Kuala Lumpur the primary access is through North-South central link expressways. Another route is through the North-South hig hway eastern route that links the southern towns Seremban and Melacca to the airport via Nilai interchange. The airport can also be accessed by other modes of public transportation to and from KLIA are via express buses, taxis, limousines and the Express Rail Link. The Express Rail Linkprovides the latest means of transportation to KLIA from the city center. The KLIA Express and the KLIA Transit links KLIA to Kuala Lumpur (KL Sentral City Air Terminal) and vice-versa. The strategic location of the airport has also attracted visitors who are in need to experience the thrill of formula one (F1) car racing which is located at Sepang Circuit 10 kilometers from the airport. Therefore the airport location, lies in the boundaries of cities which gives it a business opportunity as well as entertainment for visitors who come to Malaysia and passing through the airport or use the airport. The use of technology. In recent years the airport has upgraded its WiFi facilities that serve tenants, visitors and passengers, the Malaysia Airport Holding Berhad which operates KLIA, has upgraded the backbone of the airport network infrastructure, and made the award winning airport network facilities to be one of the most powerful in the world. Under the project, which was implemented by Malaysia Airports through its subsidiary Malaysia Airport Technologies Sdn Bhd (MA Tech), the airport was fitted with a 10 Gigabit Ethernet (10 GE) network that utilizes Cisco Systems(R) equipment, replacing the Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) network that previously supported KLIAs Total Airport Management System. The new network is equipped with technology that will support KLIAs network for many years to come; its capacity has increased from 622 megabits per second to 10 gigabits per second (Gbps). Also coming to security infrastructure KLIA, has upgraded its technology by purchasing the explosive goods diff usion chamber that cost RM 1.6 this has made it to be the 2nd in the worldà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s airport to be equipped with diffusion of highly explosive goods after Munich. Malaysia Airlines Kargo (MASKARGO) has also introduced various artificial intelligence system to handle cargo at KLIA, these systems such as KLIA community system (KLIACS) and e-Involving and payment has facilitated the airport capabilities in handling cargo and does it more efficiently. It pioneered theDagangNET System, allowing users to conduct trade declarations and applying permits over the internet and speeding the approval process by controlling authorities. These systems will be linked the Total Airport Management System. The suitability of floor layout. Arrivals. Both domestic and international passengers will pass through the arrival course located at level 3. Domestic passengers will come from the gates at domestic concourses and walk throughout a link bridge to claim for their baggage, and after that they go through taxi or limousine at arrival level curbside. For international passengers on international flights arriving at the Satellite Building, they must board the Aerotrain to the MTB. They will arrive at the mezzanine level of the contact pier and take the escalators down to the arrival level (level 3), and then go through immigration checks and collect your baggage at the international baggage claim Departure. The Departure Level is on Level 5 of the Main Terminal Building (MTB), and caters to both domestic and international departures. There is a total of 216 check-in counters along six lanes, identified by alphabets A to M (excluding I). For tour groups, check-in counters are available at the Ground Level of MT B. All domestic and some international departures are from the MTB while Sat. A caters solely to international departures. Access to Sat. A is via the Aerotrain. Then Passengers proceed through the international departure concourse, then the escalator down to the mezzanine level a floor below and go Through immigration. If the boarding gate lounge is Gate A or gate B then passengers head towards the international gate lounges at the mezzanine level of the contact pier, and departs from the satellite building, passengers must board the Aerotrain at the mezzanine level. Kuala Lumpur International Airport Flow Plan. Upper Level. Lowel Level. Key: Commitment to safety and passengersà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ satisfaction. Safety of passengers and satisfaction are a key performance indicator for the operation of an airport. In assuring safety and customer satisfaction, KLIA has committed to giving a high quality of ground services through its terminals, at the same time struggling for continuous improvements to meet customer satisfaction. Therefore, to assure customer safety and satisfaction, KLIA does the following, Offering terminal comfort, good atmosphere for passengers, including maintaining cleanings in the terminal areas and toilets, seats facilities and as well as providing children play area and rest area facilities. Giving customer proper time to check in, immigration queuing times for arrival as well as departure, security queuing time as well as staffs being helpful and kind in serving customers. Clarity of signboards, terminal directions, including walking distance, as well as up to date flight information on the screen as well as availability of luggage trolleys. Passengers als o are offered with TV entertainment facilities, washrooms, waiting area, variety of choices of shopping. Management committed to improving communication facilities by offering passengers internet facilities, WIFI availability, telephone as well as business center facilities. At the airport the passengers are also offerer bureau exchange facilities, ATM facilities, as well as mobile operator facilities for arrival passengers that will enable them to purchase card for any mobile operator. To increase passenger satisfaction, the management puts numerous choices of bars, cafes and restaurant that the airport offered to its passengers, that offer quality services for food and drinks, also offering smoking areas for passenger safety, and as well as giving good facilities, access for disabled people, this gives them the perception of being safe and secured. Availability of baggage conveyors, which are identified alphabetically ranging from A TO M operating at the airport, this inc rease customer satisfaction as it takes a short time for arriving passengers to get their baggage on time, L and M conveyors are dedicated for domestic arrivals while the rest are placed for international arrivals. Also, the passengers are provided with facilities like information kiosk, touch screen system that combines a combination of text, audio, video and graphics capabilities that help them to navigate the terminals, by giving them variety of information concerning the airport, and its functions, existing facilities and services available, this make it easy for a customer to understand fast the area, and hence increase its satisfaction as well as guarantee its safety. Also, passengers are offered with facilities like shower, sauna spa located at the satellite building A for long journey arrival passenger, to refresh their bodies if they want, which also give passengers a good comfort. KLIAs commitment to promote environmental responsibility for all local and foreign travelers was recognized by Green Globe, making it the first and only airport in the world to receive Green Globe 21 certificate in year 2004 and onwards. Therefore, these shows that the management operation at the Kuala Lumpur international airport, has put various commitments in assuring safety and passenger satisfaction when they are inside the terminals. Conclusion. Therefore, as we have seen the principles of operation management deployed at Kuala Lumpur International airport, It is believed that by reducing costs and prices through an increase in labor and capital productivity, an airport will be able to achieve higher airport operational efficiency thereby, improving international competitiveness. References. 1

Sunday, December 22, 2019

The Importance Of Building Relationships With Carers

One of the strategies is building relationships. Carers will need good communication skills such as good listening, good eye contact and even good posture. These skills will help to break down any barriers and make the service user feel at ease. In a residential care home the carer has to show active listening when they are listening to a service user, the service provider should try their best to prevent any arguments with their service user, service providers should also avoid over talking and should avoid trying to implement their own thoughts and opinions, based on values on to the service user. (Burnards, 1992) There has got to be a lot of trust between everyone to build relationships. If there is trust within the team then that will†¦show more content†¦The carer has got to welcome and embrace diversity; this can be done by taking time to consider what the other may have to say. Everyone has got to take full responsibility of their own actions whether that is through verbally or physically. Those who are cautious do not let their own negativity impact on those around them. Another strategy is promoting rights. This is related to the Human Rights Act, it is a law that is used in the UK. A barrier could be that one of the staff members may not like one of the other members of staff. To overcome this they will have to understand and have mutual respect for each other. Staffs have to be wary of things that are going on around them. By being wary they are taking responsibility for their own actions and words. It would be a lot easier if everyone could get along and understand each other therefore communication would not be a problem. Everyone would be able to express how they feel and what their individual thoughts are without hesitating. In care settings staff should help service users to express how they are feeling and what they are thinking. (Langridge, 2007) Rights are important for care workers because carers work in a social and legal context there are many grey areas to concern the idea of rights. Individuals might feel as though they have rights in something, it is really important to take this into account. In their own practice they should be thinking about the differences it makes for an

Saturday, December 14, 2019

Week busn homework Free Essays

I had to step back and really think about what was being asked and why. The first question involves increasing U. S sports franchises popularity overseas and the cultural obstacles one must overcome. We will write a custom essay sample on Week busn homework or any similar topic only for you Order Now The next question deals with making products from these franchises appropriate for international market, and the last question brings in our government, would placing tariffs on imported products protect our industries. These three questions have multiple ways of being answered it will really depend on the beliefs of the person answering the question. When you think about U. S sports franchises trying to increase their popularity overseas, you must first understand what the people overseas are looking for and how your sport fits within the culture. For this question I will use our version of football, we see that the NFG every year has games in London in order to try and gain mom popularity with the people, the problem here Is you can’t Just have teams go and play the game the people overseas need to understand what is going on during the game. Soccer is already becoming a part of the U. S. So how did that happen, for me I think it was due to parents not wanting their kids to play football for the fear of injury do to the high impact nature of the game, It was a cultural change in the way people looked at the violence of football. Now back to my original point I watch many ports and soccer Isn’t one of them as I have no clue what Is going on and my Interest isn’t there to make me want to explore and find out, and this Is the problem the NFG has overseas people have traditions set when It comes to soccer and rivalries already exist and these are two cultural factors a U. S. Franchise must overcome, not to mention must people overseas don’t Like the fact that we decided to call our sport football as the foot Isn’t nearly the biggest aspect of the game. How to cite Week busn homework, Papers

Friday, December 6, 2019

The evolving role of HR in the contemporary business world

Question: Write an essay on "The evolving role of hr in the contemporary business world". Answer: Introduction The business world is changing, and the organizations are surviving in a dynamic market environment (Zugno et al. 2013). There is an evolving role of the human resource management in the world business scenario. The human resource management is a powerful tool in bringing in the success of the organization (Zugno et al. 2013). The business world is constantly evolving, and it is internal as well as external factors affecting the business. The human resource has an impact on the functioning of the business (Zugno et al. 2013). The report would evaluate the business issues, internal and external factors affecting business and the impact of HR on the business operations. Models of the HR function The human resource function has a bright future if it is managed and designed in a strategic manner. The objectives of the human resource management revolve around the effective utilization of the human resources, an optimum level of working relationships among the employees and the maximum individual development of the human resources (Armstrong and Taylor 2014). The major functions of the human resource department consist of the planning, job analysis, recruitment, selection, orientation, training and development, performance appraisal, compensation and career planning (Salvendy 2012). The HR function comprises of the labor relations, record keeping, employee research, and others. David Ulrich, the greatest management person of HR, had the ability to influence the dynamics of human resource, which is used even today. He delivered the world renowned Ulrich model or the 3 legged stool models. He proposed four important HR roles that are responsible for effective organization. The four crucial roles in HR are Change Agent, Administrative Expert, HR Business Partner and Employee Advocate (Cipd.co.uk. 2016). He proposed the concept of HR business partnering. It specifies that there is collaborative work between the HR managers and the business leaders, which help them to achieve the common organizational objectives. The business partners consist of the senior HR professionals (Cipd.co.uk. 2016). The Ulrich model has faced several criticisms in the past. The model is believed to have made negligible or no contribution to the strategic thinking. The model is unable to convince the senior level managers regarding the required business acumen to affect the strategic ro le. There are many critics that think about the credibility of the Ulrich model and perceive the model as an inaccurate way of people management. This model is used even today because, though, it is not a perfect model, but it provides a good reference point for the HR framework (Cipd.co.uk. 2016). This is because this model defines a clear role of the HR and creates a structure for the addition of value for the organization. This model creates a competitive advantage for the concerned organization. HR strategies A set of actions that are aimed at the integration of the organizations culture, people as well as systems so that the organization can achieve its business goals, are known as HR strategy (Momin and Mishra 2015). The HR strategy has four key dimensions such as people, organization, culture and the HR system (Lakshmi 2016). The people consist of the employees of the organizations along with their expertise, skills, and capability. The organization comprises of the job roles, structure and the hierarchy structures present in the organization (Scott and Davis 2015). The culture consists of the beliefs, norms, values and the management style of the organization. The HR systems consist of the selection of the employees, training, communications, career development, careers and others (Salvendy 2012). All these factors jointly contribute to the formulation of the HR strategy (Bamberger Biron and Meshoulam 2014). The successful HR strategy should be by the business policy, business objecti ves, budgetary requirements, engagement of staffs and the overall development of the organization. The HR strategy is considered as a vision of the organization (Salvendy 2012). The HR strategy requires the participation of the entire workforce. The HR strategies should be formulated after the assessment of the current business practices as well as the HR practices (Salvendy 2012). There should be forecasting of the HR requirements, which should be based on the goals of the organization. The gap analysis is also important that measures the difference between the current scenario of the organization and the vision of the organization. HR insights The human resource function leads the transformation process of many organizations towards a high performing, engaged, appropriate align and highly capable companies (Ulrich 2013). The HR function has gone through several transformations. The HR function has transformed from an operational role to a center service role (Ulrich 2013). The HR department is focused on the creation of integrated programs to attract and retain the premium quality manpower (Amin et al. 2014). The HR department also strives to drive a compelling brand of employment, improve the performances of the employees and to ignite the learning and development process (Cipd.co.uk. 2016). Fig: Four phases of HR Source: (Cipd.co.uk. 2016) The above diagram shows the evolution of human resource and the concerned technology. The companies' mission and purpose change as they move from one phase to the other. The organizations focus on efficiency as they progress from Phase 1 to Phase 2 (Cipd.co.uk. 2016). The setting of service centers take place at this level, and the organizations assign appropriate business partners to decrease the inefficiency of the service delivery. The organizations focus on the effectiveness of the talent initiatives when they progress from Phase 2 to Phase 3 (Cipd.co.uk. 2016). They look at parameters like time of closing the vacancies, quality of recruitment, training measures, and leadership as the measurement of success. The organizations try to experiment with something different when they finally arrive at Phase 4 (Cipd.co.uk. 2016). They try to modify their HR process so that it benefits the business functions and support the business directly. HR solutions for business The human resource functions play a crucial role in the business performances (Jiang et al. 2012). There should be structured governance and the development of a business case. The HR personnel should have a working relationship with all they key business leaders. The HR can involve the business leaders of the organization in the planning processes and the governance (Jeston and Nelis 2014). This involvement would enable the business alignment, which results in greater support for the business. The development of advanced workplaces planning and greater implementation of workforce analytics should be done (Jiang et al. 2012). This enables the high impact HR organizations to transform the organizations business data, talents, and external workforce data into suitable insights (Jeston and Nelis 2014). These business insights help the business leaders for better decision making. The implementation of the correct HR philosophies should be done so that the employees can contribute to the business success (Hsieh 2015). The effective philosophies focus on fostering collaboration and innovation. The innovative workplace makes it the best place to work and the organizational efficiency increases (Jiang et al. 2012). Business ethics The business ethics comprises of all the different aspects of business conduct, sales techniques, accounting practices, boardroom strategies and others (Ghillyer 2012). The organizations should strive for high standards of business, which is based on the ethical principles and corporate responsibility programs (Stone 2013). The codes, programs, training, support and others should nurture an ethical culture (Stone 2013). The ethics and HR functions should recognize their respective roles in the organization (Stone 2013). The good relations between the ethics team and the HR department help the organization to attain a value based culture. The HR team should emphasize on the ethical behavior of the employees. The organization should not tolerate any unethical behavior of the employees and should formulate strict rules for the unethical actions (Stone 2013). The internal customers, as well as the external customers, should be communicated well regarding the consequences of unethical act ivities (from an organizational point of view) (Stone 2013). The human resource department should focus on recruitment activities and should undergo detailed background verification to ensure that the employee they are hiring has good past records. The company should ensure that the new hire is a genuine one and should not possess any criminal records (Strohmeier 2013). HR plays a vital role in ensuring how the ethical values are embedded in the organization. Accountability The HR department is accountable for the workforce management practices. The HR should ensure that the employees meet the ultimate organizational outcomes (Marsden Caffrey and McCaffery 2013). The HR accountable practices should identify and anticipate the management issues in HR (Hr.wa.gov. 2016). The HR practices should formulate data-driven HR management strategies and solutions (Marsden Caffrey and McCaffery 2013). The HR practices need to be accountable so that the existing processes can be improved and the success of the department can be measured. Fig: Accountability of Workforce Management Source: (Hr.wa.gov. 2016) The accountability practices of the workplace management should consist of steps like planning and align, reinforcing, developing, deploying and hiring of suitable candidates (Sikora and Ferris 2014). The HR process should include the analysis of key workforce success, strategies, and the challenges. The analysis of the workforce measures and the performance of all the employees should be measured on a regular basis (Hr.wa.gov. 2016). The employees should fulfill their individual accountabilities so that there are effective human resource management practices in the organization. SWOT SWOT is an excellent technique for understanding the weakness and strengths of an organization as well as identification of the open opportunities and the potential threats (Buller and McEvoy 2012). The threats can also be eliminated by the proper analysis of the SWOT (Buller and McEvoy 2012). It is important to determine the strengths of the business.. . The possible threats would include a lot of competition, a downturn in the economy, less purchasing capacity of the people and others. The organizations should devise suitable strategies to combat the threats faced over a period. PESTLE P stands for Political factors, which means that political situation of the country should be taken into consideration and the political situation of the world should be considered before formulating any strategy. The government leadership, tax laws, customs laws, government tariffs and others should be taken into account when formulating business policies (Sadgrove 2015). E stands for Economic factors, which include determinants of an economy and its current condition (Sadgrove 2015). The different economic factors that should be considered are the inflation rates, monetary policies, fiscal policies, foreign exchange rates and others (Sadgrove 2015). The S stands for social factors, which means that mindsets and culture of the different country are different. The gender, cultural implications, social lifestyles and others should be considered while formulating organizational policies (Sadgrove 2015). T stands for technological factors, which implies the digital advancements and how the consumers respond to the same. This factor is rapidly changing, and hence, the organizations need to give special attention to this. The L stands for Legal factors that imply that the organizations need to be aware of the concerning laws, regulating the body and legal developments (Sadgrove 2015). The E stands for Environmental factors, which comprises of the geographical location of the country, climatic changes, and others (Sadgrove 2015). The organizations should take into consideration all the above factors for efficient decision making and formulation of policies. Porters 5 Forces This is a powerful tool for understanding the location of power in a business scenario. It represents the strength of the present competitive position of an organization. The five forces that influence the organization are supplier power, buyer power, and competitive rivalry, the threat of new entry, the threat of substitution and others (Hanlon 2013). The Supplier power influences the way the suppliers influence prices (Hanlon 2013). This is determined by the number of suppliers, uniqueness of each product, strengths of the products and others. The buyer power signifies the importance of each buyer to the overall business process and is determined by the number of buyers and the value each buyer brings to the business (Hanlon 2013). The competitive rivalry signifies the number and the capability of the competitors. This is the most important factor for a business entity because customers would switch on to other brands if they are not satisfied with a particular brand (Hanlon 2013). The threat of substitution is affected by the ability of the consumers to explore a different way of doing the individual job parameters (Hanlon 2013). If the substitution product is easily available and the substitution option is viable, then it would weaken the power of the business. The threat of new entry signifies the ability of other people to en ter the same market or the same industry (Hanlon 2013). In the absence of significant barriers in the market, the company may not be able to maintain their favorable position and the new competitors would take the companys position soon. Comparison of tools for analyzing business environment PEST analysis is appropriate for the companies that wish to conduct market research on the industry and the products. The Porters Five Forces is suitable for assessing competition within the market and examining its correlation with profitability. PEST analysis allows the experts to examine a wide variety of factors, which is helpful in the process of decision making. PEST analysis takes account of the various factors like economical, political, social and technological factors that influences the functioning of the organization. SWOT stands for Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats. This technique is useful in analyzing the present condition of the business and to anticipate the future concerns of the organizations. SWOT tool helps to uncover the opportunities and understand the possible weakness of the business. The SWOT tool also provides insights about the companys good characteristics and the weaknesses of the company. It is important to determine the advantages of the organization, unique selling proposition, lowest cost resources, quality of the manpower, and quality of the products to remain ahead of the competition. The strengths should be considered from the internal perspectives as well as from the customers point of view (Gentry et al. 2013). The weakness of the business should also be analyzed so that corrective actions can be taken towards the improvement of the business (Trieloff and Buys 2013). There could be various weaknesses to a business such as missed deadlines, lot of pending work, a high rental cost of office, outdated data on market research, insufficient record keeping, and infrequent cash flow systems (Buller and McEvoy 2012). The opportunities of the business comprise of the interesting trends, loyal customer base, a seasonal high demand of products, high demand for similar merchandise and others (Buller and McEvoy 2012). The company should utilize the opportunities that are open to them. The threats include the obstacles of the company along with the acts, products and strategies of the rival organizations (Buller and McEvoy 2012) The macro environment of an organization is analyzed through PESTLE analysis (Sadgrove 2015). This analysis gives an idea to the managers regarding the present situation of the organization and the future position of the organization. This analysis comprises of the components that influence the business framework and each factor denoted by the letters, represent the influencing factor of the industry (Sadgrove 2015). The results from PEST help the company to plan for its future. SWOT model is less robust than PESTLE analysis. This is because the PESTLE provides the overall analysis of the macro environment that affects the smooth functioning of the particular organization. Porters five forces is a unique model that helps the organization to perform a competitive assessment. It helps the organization to assess the viability of a particular service, product or future expansion. The SWOT analysis, on the other hand, is a general assessment of the organization. Factors that affect organizations business or HR function There are different internal as well as external factors that affect the functioning of a business and particularly the HR function (Armstrong and Taylor 2014). The different factors are discussed below- Government Regulations- There are new legislations formed at regular intervals, which affect the functioning of the HR department, such as recruitment, training, termination, compensation, HR policies and others (Armstrong and Taylor 2014). For example, the organization must comply with the rules of terminating an employee; else they would be imposed heavy fines, and it would be detrimental to the company's image. This is one of the external factors faced by the companies. Technological advancements- The technology is an external factor that is rapidly changing, and it is imposing a high degree of influence to the organizations. The organizations are in a constant pressure to adopt the latest technology (Armstrong and Taylor 2014). On the other hand, the introduction of a new technology implies that there would be the redundancy of human manpower. For example, the HR department engages in firing of the existing employees as their share of work is done by the new technology that is installed. Economic conditions- The biggest external factors that influence an organization are the economic conditions of the country and the world at large. It affects the talent pool and the hiring decisions of the organizations (Armstrong and Taylor 2014). The organizations should prepare themselves with suitable strategies in the times of economic downturn. The companies should face the bad economy with appropriate strategies. For example, in times of economic downturn, the organizations engage in lower recruitment drives, in order to cut down the costs. Workforce demographics- This is one of the most important internal factors that affects the functioning of an organization. This factor deals with the retiring workplace population and the hiring methods opted by the organizations (Armstrong and Taylor 2014). The organizations must look for different ways of recruitment that are best suited for the organization. There is a need for different types of compensation packages that need to be designed for the different sections of the employees. For example, a majority of the workforce population close to the retiring age implies that the organization needs to hunt for new employees at a faster pace. Key stages in the formulation of strategy The human resource strategy includes several steps that need to be followed. The steps describe the translation of the selected strategy into organizational action to fulfill the desired goals and objectives (Lakshmi 2016). The human resource personnel are involved in each of these stages. The steps are described below- Determining the organizations objective Evaluation of the organizational environment Setting up of the quantitative targets Coordination with the divisional plans Analysis of performance and performing gap analysis The selection of suitable strategy Development of an organizational framework for implementing the strategy successfully. Disbursement of sufficient resources to the vital activities. Creation of policies that are in line with the strategies. Employment of best programs and policies for the purpose of constant improvement. The creation of linkages between reward structure and the accomplishment of results Efficient utilization of strategic leadership. The strategic HR involves two types of integration process known as vertical and horizontal process. The vertical integration deals with the alignment of HR practices with the strategic management process of the firm (Cipd.co.uk. 2016). This is based on the contingency approach and creates a framework for the overall fitment of the management strategies. The horizontal integration consists of coordination of the various types of HR practices (Cipd.co.uk. 2016). It deals with the efficient allocation of resources. The primary idea of the organization is to create a fit organization as well as a flexible organization, which can efficiently manage the dynamic environment of the organization (Cipd.co.uk. 2016). There are several best practices of the organizations such as security of the employees, appropriate selection of employees using different criteria, decentralization, high compensation packages, rich content of training and the sharing of performance information (Cipd.co.uk. 2016 ). The strategy formulation and the implementation of the strategy are the two most important functions of the HR team. The stage of strategy formulation deals with the evaluation of the interaction between the strategic choices and the strategic factors by the senior managers. The strategy implementation deals with the various tools as well as techniques that are utilized by the managers to implement their formulated strategies. The following diagram shows the inter relation with the strategy formulation and the strategy implementation- Fig: Model of Strategic Management Source: Created by Author Strategy Formulation The key stages in the formulation of strategy are strategic choice, corporate, business and functional. The strategic choice deals with the selection of a particular alternative for the betterment of the organization. The basic role of HR is to choose between several options, which are beneficial for both the organization and the employees. The corporate level strategy comprises of the overall direction of the organization and the philosophy of the organization towards the growth of the organization as a whole. The HR takes various strategies towards this stage such as proper utilization of the corporate resources, improving performance of employees, managing the diverse workforce and others. The business level strategy deals with the actions and decisions in relation with the business units. The HR takes a key role here by the implementation of a suitable HR strategy after the selection of a suitable competitive strategy. The functional level strategy concerns with the major functio nal operations within the business unit. The HR takes a key part by maximizing the productivity of the resources in the organization. Models for strategy formulation and implementation There are two types of models that underline the formulation and implementation of HR strategies. They are Control based models and Resource based models. The first one deals with the fact that the organization constantly monitors and evaluates the performance of the employees. It is based on the degree of workplace control as well as the behavior of the managers. The resource based model is based on the employee-employer exchange and is based on the employee behaviors. These two models form the basis for the HR strategy. Evaluation of business performance The human resource employees play a pivotal role in the formulation of business strategy (Bamberger and Meshoulam 2014). The organizational leaders have laid great emphasis on the importance of flexible, well skilled and high performing employees. The HR should formulate suitable skills for imbibing new skills and device suitable recruitment strategies that would fulfill the organizational goals. The HR is also responsible for the formulation of suitable training policies and training methodology that would be appropriate for the employees (Bamberger and Meshoulam 2014). The best sources of recruitment are finalized, and the hiring decisions are formulated by the human resource department (Armstrong and Taylor 2014). The structure of performance management is formulated by the human resource department. The HR is responsible for optimum utilization of the internal and external data. HR facilitates the change management in the organization by the implementation of suitable policies, w hich applies to all employees of the organization (Bamberger and Meshoulam 2014). For example, HR is responsible for implementing 360-degree performance appraisal in the organization (Armstrong and Taylor 2014). In this process, it can be seen that HR plays a key role in business planning and the management of change. The business performance should be evaluated by the traditional and modern indicators. The traditional indicators measure the performance of the employees with reference to the organizational goals. These indicators show only the average results. The modern indicators consider each and every activity of the employees involved in various business processes. It depends on the value based management, which encompasses the strategies, system, processes, analytics and the cultural goals of the company. The example of traditional indicators includes the evaluating of ones performance with the business goals. The example of the modern indicator includes the 360 degree performance appraisal systems. Assessment of different sources of data There are various types of data, which is used by the HR managers. There are qualitative data as well as quantitative data sources. The balanced scorecard is used by the HR to align the business activities to the strategic goals of the organization, improve levels of communication and evaluate the organizational performance. This scorecard was proposed by Norton and Kaplan. This is one of the most popular performance management methods. The AMO-Black box model is also used for assessing the performance of the employees. The AMO signifies the Ability, Motivation and Opportunity. There is a need of the performance measurement of these parameters in an organization. The black box signifies the relation of the HR and the performance management in an organization. It describes the mediating mechanism by the virtue of which the HR impacts the performance of the employees. The HR managers also use the Cotters stage model for assessing the change management process in the organization. The various stages are create urgency, formation of powerful coalition, creation of a compelling vision, communicating the vision, removal of obstacles, creation of short term success, building on the change and true implementation of the modifications in the corporate culture. The HR uses a wide source of information for the purpose of planning. The HR uses the various sources of internal data for the purpose of the formulation of strategies and the decision making . The employees databases, company performance, success data of various policies, sales data, financial data, marketing data and others are used by the HR department (Amin et al. 2014). The external data is also utilized by the HR department like competitive information, government data, environmental analysis, technological advancements and others. The HR utilizes vital information sources from both internal sources as well as the trusted external sources, for the purpose of smooth functioning. Conclusion The business environment is a dynamic place where is the coexistence of the internal factors as well as external factors. The HR plays a vital role in balancing the effect of the external factors. The HR is required to coordinate with the business processes and implement suitable policies that are beneficial to the organization as a whole. This report would be beneficial for understanding the HR strategies and the organizational strategies. This report would help the managers by responding effectively to the changes of external environment. References Amin, M., Khairuzzaman Wan Ismail, W., Zaleha Abdul Rasid, S. and Daverson Andrew Selemani, R., 2014. 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