France bans the word hashtag - Emphasis

France bans the word hashtag France bans the word hashtag Sacrà © bleu! France has added hashtag to its list of banned English words, writes Cathy Relf. The Acadà ©mie franà §aise, the state body appointed to protect the French language, has announced that the English word is to be eschewed in favour of the French mot-dià ¨se. Mot-dià ¨se has attracted some criticism, partly because it cant actually be written as a Twitter hashtag itself, as it contains a hyphen. Its also inaccurate, say its critics, because dià ¨se is the name of the musical sharp symbol (â™ ¯), which is vertically aligned, unlike the slanted hashtag symbol (#). Nevertheless, hashtag has joined the list of 5,509-and-counting English words that the Acadà ©mie says must be avoided in official government documents, as well as by schoolteachers and the media. Other frowned-upon English terms, and their French replacements, include: breaking news informations de dernià ¨re minute early adopter acheteur pionnier email address adresse de courrier à ©lectronique spin doctor faà §onneur dimage usability/user friendliness convivialità © virtual shopping achat sur simulation à ©lectronique. French language in crisis The list of banned words is part of a drive by the French government to reverse the trend for adopting Anglo Saxon words, following a report in 2008 that found the French language was in deep crisis. The report called for an offensive to ensure that French is developed in a confident manner. It said: This is a battle in which the real stakes are measured in terms of both political influence and economic growth. But can government policies really influence the words that the public adopt and use? Only time will tell. The main challenge may be that the English words on the list are catchier and more succinct than the recommended French alternatives. Courrier à ©lectronique rather than email is that really going to catch on? Herve Bourges, one of the authors of the report, himself admits: In France, the concept of Francophonie appears retrogressive, obsolete and unheard especially among the younger generations. Wordy French alternatives to snappy English terms are unlikely to help change this. French words in English French and English have been borrowing, adopting and adapting words from each other for nearly 1,000 years, since the Norman conquest in 1066. More than a third of all English words are derived directly or indirectly from French, and its estimated that English speakers who have never studied French already know 15,000 French words. Dont believe it? Test yourself here. Some of the words and phrases that weve borrowed or adapted from French are easy to spot raison dà ªtre, bon appà ©tit and piedterre, for example while others are less immediately obvious, such as entrepreneur, sergeant and repartee. Often, the French words we use add a little je ne sais quoi, a touch of the risquà © or simply an à ©là ©gance lacking in the English equivalent. Fat liver, for example, doesnt sound anywhere near as appetising as foie gras. Touchà ©, originally a fencing term, has a succinctness that youve got me cant touch. A rendezvous sounds sexier than a meeting, a soiree more intriguing than a party. Brown-haired woman lacks the sauciness of brunette (a word rarely used in modern French). And in the case of blond(e), weve not only adopted the word, but the masculine/feminine spelling convention too. A fair exchange? English would certainly be a less interesting and expressive language if we were to somehow root out and remove the French influence. Perhaps there is a trade to be had. As we benefit from the French gift for elegance, so they can benefit from our gift for getting to the point. Or, is the Acadà ©mie right to take action? Has the exchange now become too weighted in one direction, and are measures needed to protect the French language? What do you think?

Corporate Compliance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Corporate Compliance - Essay Example Governance, risk management and compliance were the key elements that needed to be address by the company. Aero energy turned to SAP GRC Access Control and the systems risk analysis and remediation functionality to find the answer they needed (Krell, 2008).This tool has had the specific functionality that allow the company to meet its Sarbanes Oxley needs as well as enhancing the companys risk management capabilities. The solution to a certain extend worked in an automated manner, but it needed a corporate commitment from different people and departments. Three elements that were needed for it to work were: standardizing various business processes, full commitment from the companys executive staff and the participation and monitoring of the finance and IT departments (Krell, 2008). The implementation of the new system met the expectations of the company. It allowed the parent companies to perform joint internal and external audits much faster than before. The entire process was efficient and provided administrative and labor savings because the information was accessible and the raw data was organize in an easy to use manner. The realignment of the organizational structure allowed the desired collaboration to take place at Aera Energy. The move also allowed the firm to address other compliance issues such as segregation of duties. Prior to implementing this solution the company was struggling to deal as subsidiary company with the Sarbanes-Oxley obligation its parent companies request, but after implementing the new system their underlying problems were resolved. The Arkansas Foundation for Medical Care (AFMC) is an organization that has been in business for over 30 years. The company is responsible for performing peer review and quality improvements for Medicare. Ironically a company dedicated to providing advice to others had forgotten about how to improve its own

Lighting for households Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Lighting for households - Essay Example Some like the roof windows act as a means of ventilation, these are relatively cheap to buy and easy to install. Electrical fittings can also be used to provide additional light at night. Instead of using bulbs with a high watt, more bulbs should be used to give an even spread of light. It would be better if the bulbs were changed from a single pendant to fitting one with multiple arms. Table and wall lights should also be installed to provide light and illuminate dark areas. Table, wall and floor should also be installed to improve the quality of light at night. The houses should have white ceilings and light or white walls as this will make the room appear brighter due to reflection of light around the room (Trade Lighting Company, 2014). Illuminating the ceiling and the top half of the room will make the room appear brighter. The fireplace can be used at night to provide additional light as well as heat. Quality of light that gets into households can be improved by doing the simplest and most inexpensive of things, therefore, it is recommended that; curtains should be secured and tied back from the windows to prevent obstruction of the sunlight (Almeida, Bertoldi, and Ricci, 87). Secondly, curtains that blocks light should be avoided since that translates to less light in the room and thus poor lighting. Net curtains should also be avoided since they block the light instead, shades should be fitted The shades and fittings used on the windows greatly influence the amount of light that goes into the house, therefore, they ought to use shades and fitting that will allow and direct light into the house. Ultimate concern should be considered to ensure that the shades do not shield light, but they prevent glare (Almeida, Bertoldi, and Ricci, 90). In addition to this, the windowsills should be white rather than using dark colors since white reflects the light unlike other darker

Describe the main features of virture project management techniques in Essay

Describe the main features of virture project management techniques in the digital age and provide a critieal reflection on their use in managing projects - Essay Example The study has been conducted in several stages. The first stage was a review of relevant literature, followed by a discussion on specific topics. Leading textbooks on PM and publications in various journals have been referred to. The study has been laid out in several sections. Sections include principal characteristics of virtual and global projects; attributes of virtual teams and communication channels; motivating teams and PM environment; agile PM; change management for agile PM; and conclusion. Throughout the study, the focus has been on the agile aspect of PM. Ideas, human resources, products, services, and skills move freely regardless of boundaries in global economies. The flow of knowledge, products and services, and capital reflects the economic interdependence between organizations and countries. In globalized economies, resources could be obtained in one market and used for business in another. For example, it is possible to purchase manufacturing equipment from Germany, make products in Greece, and sell products all over Europe. In summary, a firm’s competitive environment is shaped by the global economy. A significant change in the practice of PM has been information management. Burke (2008) observed that the availability of powerful software has seen a shift in data processing from a separate department to the professional’s desk. Project planning software helps the project manager plan and control projects. However, it can be effective only when planning and control techniques are clearly understood. Projects are generally subdivided into different phases for ease of management. These phases are collectively termed as the project lifecycle. According to Burke (2008) techniques for PM include critical path method; work breakdown structure; earned value; resource smoothing; and configuration control. According to Cadle and Yeates (2004) characteristics of projects include finite and transitory nature; uniqueness;

Benefits of Social Media Recruitment

Benefits of Social Media Recruitment With the advent of social media, companies have more information than ever on job candidates, and the process of evaluating those candidates can be lengthy. In the past, companies tried to determine candidate fit through their rà ©sumà ©s. Today, employers perform web searches on candidates, learn more about them from social media, and examine their work samples. These processes introduce noise and are potentially risky the Protected Class issue Id mentioned before often leading to inconsistent results as well. Also, it is a challenge to derive useful information, such as passion around a particular technology or relevant professional connections. To ensure no ethical or legal boundaries are crossed, our proprietary technology removes the noise, such as Protected Class data, ensuring both the privacy of the job seeker is protected while helping the employer get a better perspective on the best candidates for the position. Companies are increasingly using  social recruiting  t o source candidates for employment, as well as to investigate applicants they are considering hiring. Its important to be aware of how companies are using social media to recruit, so you can use employers recruiting tactics to your advantage and position yourself to be discovered by companies seeking candidates. A new survey released by  Jobvite, a company that provides applicant tracking software, shows that 92% of employers are using or planning to use social networks for recruiting this year. This is up slightly from last year at 89%. The study retrieved insights from over 1,000 companies, mostly based in the U.S., in a wide variety of industries. Social networks are viewed by corporations as a means to recruit both passive and active candidates in a personal yet professional way. Companies such as  Ernst Young  Ã‚  are building employer brands on social networks to position themselves as the best place to work and to interact with potential candidates. Aside from passively marketing their companies, recruiters are messaging prospects directly, getting introduced through connections and posting jobs in groups. They are using these networks to fish where the fish are. Here are some more details regarding how recruiters are using the top three social networks, and how you can best shape your profiles and posts to increase your chances of getting hired. 1. LinkedIn.  Nearly all (93%) of recruiters are using LinkedIn to discover talent. This is up from 87% in 2011 and 78% in 2010. Furthermore, 89% of recruiters have hired through LinkedIn. LinkedIn was made for recruiting, and the site has an entire suite of recruiting solutions.  LinkedIn Recruiter  allows recruiters to reach passive candidates by expanding the reach of their personal networks, contact candidates directly and manage a pipeline of talent. The smart advice is to fully utilize LinkedIn in your job search. Its essential to have to have a flawless (and completely filled-out) profile so that recruiters take you seriously. You should also optimize your profile by adding specialty keywords into your headline (for example eCommerce and Social Media Expert), summary, and throughout the rest of your profile so that when recruiters search for candidates with certain skills, you come up. I also recommend that you join industry groups to connect with recruiters that are loo king for industry-specific candidates. 2. Facebook.  Out of the three networks, Facebook saw the biggest gain in overall usage by recruiters to find job candidates, moving from 55% in 2011 and 2010, to 66% today. One in every four recruiters has successfully found a candidate on Facebook. Companies are using Facebook to discover talent and arent hiring directly from the site. But they are creating Facebook pages and promoting them, as well as jobs, through the  Facebook Ads  platform. Recruiters are using Facebook groups, advertising and their corporate Facebook careers page in order to source candidates. For instance, Marriotts Jobs and Careers page has an application that lets you run your own Marriott Hotel kitchen, which increases their page engagement and attracts more people to like the company. As a job seeker, you have to make sure youve turned on your privacy settings, are careful what you post regardless, and youre tapping into your friend network to get referrals. You can also use the BranchOut or BeKnown applications to map job openings to your network. If nothing else, you should like a company so you can follow updates and comment. 3. Twitter.  More than half of recruiters (54%) now use Twitter as part of their talent search. This is up from 47% in 2011 and 45% in 2010. Only 15% of recruiters surveyed have actually hired a candidate through Twitter. Companies are using Twitter to post job entries through their own accounts (i.e.  CitiJobs). They are also using third party companies, such as  Tweet My Jobs  and  Twit Job Search, to promote their listings. Job seekers should follow companies they want to work for on Twitter and watch out for job listings, while also interacting via Twitter with employees who work there. Again, its important to have a strong profile and several Tweets under your belt before you start truly utilizing Twitter to help you pursue work. If Im a recruiter, Social media can be a great source for discovering passive candidates those who are employed but open to changing jobs for the right opportunity who represent nearly half of all currently employed talent. Because the desired opportunities rarely exist on job boards, and job seekers are participating in communities all over the web (sites like GitHub for engineering talent, for example), social media can become a fascinating place for employers to find talent that they may not be able to find otherwise. At Reppify, we simplify this process even further by first identifying this talent and then connecting with this talent to suggest those candidates who best match against specific job criteria. If Im a job seeker, Leveraging your network wherever possible is key. The average user on a network such as LinkedIn, for example, has around 200 connections. With hiring on the rise again, job seekers will need to use their connections to help get ahead of the competition and get through to those jobs where they are most qualified. Soon, this will also begin working in reverse as employers adopt new technology and tools, those right jobs will begin to find you. ADVANTAGES OF UTILIZING SOCIAL MEDIA IN TERMS OF RECRUITMENT: It is more efficient. Organizations can use social media to tap potential recruits much more easily by advertising vacancies and searching for recruits on LinkedIn, for example. However, LinkedIn and other social media applications can actually be used for much more than simply a job post site. Indeed, social recruiting can be used to increase effectiveness and forge new and deeper relationships between employees and employers. Rather than simply recruiting the person with the best-looking CV, social media can ensure that that person is also the best fit for the company. Technology is essentially being used to provide better quality links to potential employees, developing and maintaining a relationship over a number of years, which can be tapped in to at later date. There are a number of ways in which this can be done, for example, LinkedIn, Facebook and other social networks offer the chance to form a community based on a topic determined by the organization. However, while an organization like Goldman Sachs globally invests over 100,000 hours each year in conversations with prospective employees, it is not always practical for organizations to put this much effort into their recruitment. That said, social media does make it simple for any organization to proactively develop some kind of relationship with potential employees to the best if its ability.  Ã‚   Social media applications are also being used to rate and compare employees, determine cultural fit and extend internal initiatives, like the referral scheme, to an external audience and using social media to compliment their hiring process: 75 percent are using LinkedIn for background checks and 48 percent are using Facebook for background checks. In fact, more than two-thirds of all HR professionals now run internet searches on job applicants. According to Microsoft, one in four HR employees has rejected a candidates application based on their social networking profile, while only 37 percent of people see it as their responsibility to protect their online reputation.   Top 10 tips for social media recruitment: Rip up the old organizational chart:  The corporate social media function crosses disciplines. The customer service, public relations, marketing and sales teams, they all have a stake in how the social media function impacts daily operations. Dont give the job to the junior staffer:  British furniture retailer Habitat learned a hard lesson in 2009: dont entrust the brands Twitter feed to an impudent intern. Since the infamous hash tag incident, in which Habitat tried to spam the Twitter verse by using trending hash tags from the Tehran protests, companies have started putting a dedicated, always-staffed Dont outsource:  This is a job thats far too vital to be placed in the hands of an outside agency. The insights that come with speaking directly to customers is crucial feedback that can better inform a companys sales, PR and marketing functions, plus product development and innovation.   Give the social media team the power to report to the board:  The social media outreach team has a finger on the pulse of customers, prospective customers and critics. This is vital detail that needs to be communicated as far up the management chain as possible.   Be prepared:  A lone gripe posted to Facebook, Twitter or on a blog can quickly become a PR nightmare. Have a response strategy drafted up and be ready to use it. Find your voice:  Veteran journalists speak of the need to develop a resonant voice, one that puts the reader at ease, entertains and informs. Its no different with your social media communications strategy.   Be courteous, professional and respectful:  This is a medium that gives some companies fits because they do not know how to respond to customers venting their frustration. Take the high road.   Treat each gripe as an opportunity to learn:  In the old days you had to organize focus groups, promising them tea and biscuits, to learn what the public thought of you and your products and how you conduct business. Now, that detail is available without strings.   Monitor, monitor, monitor:  What is the public saying about you? About your competitors? You need to listen intently before you can begin to engage, and ultimately, transform your brand into a more transparent and socially adept organization. Reasons Social Recruiting Beats Traditional Recruiting Recruiting top talent has always been a challenge. But with new social recruiting tactics, many companies are turning to online communities and platforms to source candidates quicker and easier. 1. Making Human Resources Human Again, Digitally: Social recruiting has a major advantage over traditional recruiting: its more human. Compared to the post a job; wait for hundreds of resumes; let ATS filter through keywords; never get back to anyone process many use today, social recruiting is a transparent, active approach where only the best candidates are sourced. In addition, recruiters can determine first impressions and cultural fit even perform a bit of a background check before approaching the candidate. 2. Ability to Connect with Top Talent Now: Social recruiting has made it possible to interact directly with job candidates. These days, the best candidates are easily found online and recruiters can weed out job seekers who are not a match for the position in a simpler way. Use social media outlets to find recommendations from previous employers can save you time you might have spent contacting references and former employers. 3. Leads to Better Connections Faster: In the traditional hiring process, it could be several rounds of resume reviews and phone screens before applicants and employers got to really connect on a personal level. Thanks to social media and video interviews, this connection is happening more instantaneously and with less time wasted. Now employers can see if a candidate will be a good match for the company sooner, helping both job seekers and hiring managers save valuable time and resources in the search for the perfect fit. 4. Make Your Job Openings Go Viral: The prime advantage of social recruiting vs. traditional recruiting is that social recruiting allows your job openings to have viral qualities. Viral qualities can include the language of your job description, the visuals you use, engaging or funny videos, and social connect ability features. You cant use any of these tools with traditional recruiting and why wouldnt you want to? 5. Helps You Get to Know More About the Candidate Than Just Whats on Paper: While social recruiting does have its challenges (its a legal compliance nightmare if done incorrectly), it helps you learn more about a person and their demeanor. Social recruiting lets you engage with candidates and assess not just their skills but their personality and ability to fit with the culture of your organization. 6. Discovering Candidates Who Want to Be Discovered: Companies are increasingly using social recruiting to source candidates for employment, as well as to investigate applicants they are considering hiring. Its important to be aware of how to use social media to recruit to discover candidates that have positioned themselves to be discovered. Social recruiting allows you to see how the candidate represents themselves and what companies they are connected with. 7. Allows Recruiters to Connect With Talent in a More Informal, Engaging Manner: Social recruiting allows talent acquisition professionals to engage with a community of talent in a more informal, engaging manner versus Were hiring, youre great, lets talk.   Ultimately, what were trying to do is initiate a dialogue and information exchange with people and social channels are an excellent way for this to happen. 8. Relationship-Driven Connections: Social recruiting supports the development and maintenance of relationships that can reach far beyond the immediate hiring need. By connecting and interacting with candidates through social channels, recruiters are able to create real connections and build relationships with interested individuals. You never know who may turn into a great new hire in the future! 9. Availability of Relevant Candidate Data: The combination of the quantity and quality of relevant candidate data in social networks is a game changer. Social connections are now mapped out in a way that makes it possible for employers to supercharge the referral process like never before. Employees dont have to conjure up candidates social networks can present quality referrals with a single click. CONCLUSION According to the research on this topic I do think that the use of social media by employers will continue to be the trend; and while there will be instances of Facebook password requests of candidates by potential employers so they can examine their profiles for objectionable content, these will likely remain edge cases. Most employers will pursue intelligent policies that effectively leverage relevant information from social media, such as project work on an open-source engineering site, to select the top qualified candidates.

Huntingtons Disease :: Essays Papers

Huntington's Disease Huntington's Disease (HD) is a dominant genetic disorder. Each child of a person who has HD has a 50% chance of inheriting the disease, and the disease does not skip a generation. HD is caused by a larger than normal CAG repeat in the Huntington gene. This larger than normal CAG repeat produces an abnormal protein that begins to kill brain cells when the person who has the gene reaches middle age. The loss of these cells causes intense symptoms and eventually death. HD was named after Dr. George Huntington. In 1872, he was the first person to document an accurate description of the symptoms and course of the disease. At the time he called it â€Å"hereditary chorea†. The Huntington gene was discovered in 1993 by the Huntington Study Group. The CAG repeats in the Huntington gene, which is located on chromosome 4, code for the protein huntingtin. The larger than normal number of CAGs in a person with HD causes the huntingtin protein to be abnormal, which leads to symptoms. Even though every cell in the body has the gene, only the cells in the brain seem to be affected. A person has two alleles for every gene. One allele is inherited from the mother and one allele is inherited from the father. If either allele of the Huntington gene has the larger than normal CAG repeat, the person will have HD. If neither allele has the larger than normal CAG repeat, the person will not have HD and will not pass it on. When a person has children, only one allele of each gene is passed on. If a person with HD passes on the allele with the larger than normal CAG repeat, the child will have HD. If the allele with the normal CAG is passed on, the child will not have HD. Early signs of HD are mood swings, irritability, depression, memory loss, and uncontrolled movements. As the disease progresses, it becomes more difficult to walk and speak. Also, memory and intellectual functions continue to decline. A person who has a chance of inheriting HD can be tested any time after they reach the age of 21. Testing for the HD gene entails a blood sample genetic test that analyzes DNA for HD mutation by counting the number of CAG repeats in the HD gene region. A person will not get HD if their CAG repeats are lower than 30. Huntington's Disease :: Essays Papers Huntington's Disease Huntington's Disease (HD) is a dominant genetic disorder. Each child of a person who has HD has a 50% chance of inheriting the disease, and the disease does not skip a generation. HD is caused by a larger than normal CAG repeat in the Huntington gene. This larger than normal CAG repeat produces an abnormal protein that begins to kill brain cells when the person who has the gene reaches middle age. The loss of these cells causes intense symptoms and eventually death. HD was named after Dr. George Huntington. In 1872, he was the first person to document an accurate description of the symptoms and course of the disease. At the time he called it â€Å"hereditary chorea†. The Huntington gene was discovered in 1993 by the Huntington Study Group. The CAG repeats in the Huntington gene, which is located on chromosome 4, code for the protein huntingtin. The larger than normal number of CAGs in a person with HD causes the huntingtin protein to be abnormal, which leads to symptoms. Even though every cell in the body has the gene, only the cells in the brain seem to be affected. A person has two alleles for every gene. One allele is inherited from the mother and one allele is inherited from the father. If either allele of the Huntington gene has the larger than normal CAG repeat, the person will have HD. If neither allele has the larger than normal CAG repeat, the person will not have HD and will not pass it on. When a person has children, only one allele of each gene is passed on. If a person with HD passes on the allele with the larger than normal CAG repeat, the child will have HD. If the allele with the normal CAG is passed on, the child will not have HD. Early signs of HD are mood swings, irritability, depression, memory loss, and uncontrolled movements. As the disease progresses, it becomes more difficult to walk and speak. Also, memory and intellectual functions continue to decline. A person who has a chance of inheriting HD can be tested any time after they reach the age of 21. Testing for the HD gene entails a blood sample genetic test that analyzes DNA for HD mutation by counting the number of CAG repeats in the HD gene region. A person will not get HD if their CAG repeats are lower than 30.

Culinarian Cookware Case Study Essay

To some extent, it makes sense. Culinarian takes a good advantage of utilizing push promotion for their premium cookware products. Because 55% of consumers with income over $75000 would be drawn to stores with attractive displays or informed staff to shop for cookware. In addition, 20% of them would respond to a sale and only 10% would respond to multimedia advertising. At the same time, Culinarian have sales 12 visits per year while other competitors only have 6. It also offers a higher retail margin for its products which is 52% and builds an incentive program for retail clerks. According to the above analysis, the majority of the market would respond positively to the push tactics. However, Culinarian’s pull promotions are relatively ineffective. Managers of Culinarian always focus so much on advertising expense which is higher than average, that is, 4% of sales versus 3% of premium competitors. Meanwhile, some of them ignore that price promotions are beneficial to a pull s trategy. 3. Was the 2004 promotion profitable? Calculate the profitability using Brown’s and theconsultant’s logic. How would you calculate it? According to the formula: incremental contribution impact =(actual units * actual contribution – forecast units * normal contribution) We can calculate the profitability of Brown’s: $23.76 * 184,987units – $33.36 * 59,871units = $2397994.56 The consultant’s: $10.35 * 184,987units – $19.95 * 119,504units = – $469489.35 Average contribution: | Nonpromoted| 20% promotion| Brown| $33.36=($72-$38.64)| $23.76=($62.4-$38.64)| The consultant| $19.95| $10.35| So, according to Brown’s logic, the promotion of 2004 is profitable. However, using the consultant’s logic, it can conclude that it lost profit. 4. . What are some other possible promotion strategies for Culinarian? Recommend whetherCulinarian should run a 2007 price promotion. Which promotion/terms (which products topromote, how, how much, when, how frequently, and for how long) would you suggest. Other promotion strategies: A. We can use contests as a promotion strategy for Culinarian. Because people like to win prizes, if consumers take part in those contests, it has a good opportunity to promote its brand and put its logo and name in front of the public rather than make money through a hard-sell campaign. B. Another way is to encourage current customers to refer new customers to shop Culinarian’s products, which is the referral incentive program. We can use free products, big discounts and cash rewards as the incentives you can use. It is a great promotion strategy to leverage Culinarian’s customer base. Suggestions of 2007 price promotion: The company should run a price promotion in 2007. It can promote the boxed set of cookware, because considering cookware bought as gifts would help gain more market shares. And the promotion should occur from April to July, in order to capture the majority of the wedding market. Imagine that if a person buy a 5 piece set for a wedding , and then the newly married couple may need some more items and would purchase them at full retail. This Price promotion will not cheapen the prestigious image because the cookware will still be priced in the premium cookware price range. Besides, it still should be a 20% discount for consumers who purchase on all 5 piece sets or sometimes 3 or single piece items and retailers can take a 48% margin on the items.

Top Pay for Top Performance

Bates, S. (2003). Top pay for top performance. HR Magazine. Berglas, S. (2006). How to keep A players productive. Harvard Business Review. 1. Bates argues that in order to keep top performers satisfied and productive, there should be a substantial difference in the variable pay or merit-based salary increases that top performers and poor performers receive. Based on the available research (which is mentioned in the article), how big of an increase is needed to â€Å"catch anybody’s attention†? (1 point) . Assume that you were hired last year to work in HR for a large corporation. The corporation hired one of your classmates at the same time. Each of you were paid $40,000 in your first year on the job. You are one of the top performers in your company. Your classmate is an average performer. Your boss explains to you that finances are tight because of the recession, and that there is not a lot of money set aside for merit increases. However, your supervisor wants to rewa rd your hard work.Thus, he/she gives you a 4% salary increase compared to your classmate’s 2% increase. (2 points) a. In dollar amounts: i. How much of an annual gross increase did you receive? ii. How much does this amount to per week? iii. How much of an annual gross increase did your classmate receive? iv. How much does this amount to each week? v. How much more than your classmate do you get paid each week after the raises go into effect? b. How motivated are you to continue to perform at a high level? 3.What are the advantages and disadvantages of implementing a variable pay system that is linked to performance? (2 points) 4. Sometimes, the best performers are not motivated by money alone. What is it that some A players want in terms of compensation? (1 point) 5. What does Berglas recommend for keeping â€Å"A players† productive? (1 point) 6. Combine the recommendations from these two articles and create a compensation package for top performers and average perfo rmers. You may be creative, but your package should be realistic and should be motivating. (3 points)