Job Evaluation at Whole Foods Market Essay

Introduction The goal of any company is to attract and retain employees who share their core values. Whole Foods Core Values include selling the highest quality natural and organic products, satisfying and delighting customers, supporting their Team Members (Whole Food Employees) happiness and growth, creating wealth through profits and growth, caring about the communities and our environment, creating win-win partnerships with their suppliers and promoting the health of their stakeholders through healthy eating education. I will take these core values and apply them to the job analysis and prepared job descriptions when determining the job structure at Whole Foods. Evaluation of Jobs and Job Structure In looking at the job descriptions provided in the case study, I was able to assign job titles in the following manner: Job A- Prepared Foods Team Member Job B- Customer Service Team Member Job C- Prepared Foods Department Team Leader Job D- Prepared Foods Supervisor Job E- Dishwasher Job F-Customer Service Front End Supervisor Job G- Prepared Foods Associate Team Leader Job H- Associate Store Team Leader Job I-Grocery Retail Team Member The job structure that I came up with put the above jobs into two categories: Managerial and Store Support. In the Managerial structure I would place Job C, Job D, Job F, Job G and Job H. In the Store Support I would place Job A, Job B, Job E, and Job I. Process, Techniques and Factors The Job evaluation technique I used in my case study is the job ranking method. My reason for choosing this technique was simple. While looking at the Whole Foods website and their career paths page, the job opportunities  in each store appeared to be hierarchal in nature. While Whole Foods itself is quite a large corporation, per the information on the company website; there are less than thirty different job classifications. While this is the simplest method of job evaluation, Whole Foods themselves have placed the jobs in order, ranging from the highest, Store Team Leaders, Facility Team Leaders, Regional Presidents, and Presidents at the top and Team Members or Specialized Team Members at the lowest or entry level. The compensable factors that I used in determining these job rankings based on the job descriptions provided: job responsibility, skill, knowledge and ability. While Whole Foods does have various departments in their stores, with distinct job requirements, these types of jobs can be grouped into one classification and put into a predetermined grade. My meaning with this is that a Team Member in Bakery has the basic skills and knowledge as a Team Member in Meat. The respsonabilities may be different, bakery versus meat, but at Whole Foods the responsibilities and qualifications are the same. Excellent customer service and maintaining the departments that they are working are a few that come to mind. As Whole Foods is a team focused working environment, placing more value on one job versus another goes against their core values. Of course there will be different pay scales based on the person’s position in the hierarchy; it is not something that makes one person more important than another. Per their own company website, â€Å"Whole Foods seek individuals who believe in their mission of Whole Foods, Whole Foods, Whole People, Whole Planet-people who are enthusiastic about food and our products, and who want to join a culture of shared fate† (Whole FoodsMarket.com). Therefore, individuals who work for Whole Food realize they are valued and with the training and development programs that are offered, a person can promote to a higher level with the experience, knowledge and skills they have obtained in their positions. Evaluation of Job Descriptions The job descriptions in this case study could use more structure. I found it very difficult to decipher some of the information within the job description. Even after going to the WholeFoodsMarket.com website to compare, I had difficulty giving a job title to some of the descriptions. While the job descriptions themselves did have most of the information  needed to help a person place a job title with the description, they could have been better written. These job descriptions did not give a very general position overview which would have been helpful. For example, for Job A, the position overview could have listed some of the tasks the job has. The following is taken from the Prepared Foods Team Member position description under the position overview: â€Å"Performs in the Prepared Food Department all of the following tasks: preparation, counter service, sanitation and stocking of products. Maintains a positive company image by providing courteous, friendly, and efficient Custome r Service. Supports team leader and regional coordinator in training and maintaining regional standards†. (WholeFoodsMarket.com) Instead of listing all of the job duties under â€Å"Kind of Work†, listing them out in a responsibilities section would have made it much easier for the reader. The requirements sections were sufficient. Listing out the reporting structure for each position also would have been helpful. All the information that was listed in the job descriptions I used to compare to the actual job descriptions on the Whole Foods Market website; it was just a difficult process without a better layout. The knowledge, skills and abilities needed for each job should have been listed in its own section for a proper job description. Having had these, it would have been a much smoother process in assigning job titles. Conclusion As this is my first attempt at assigning job titles and job structure, I found it to be a difficult process. When you do not have the best job descriptions available to you, or the opportunity to job shadow a person in the position, the realization that a lot of work needs to be done on the front end. It starts by collecting and summarizing all the job information for each position at a company. By having all the possible information needed to complete a proper job description, a compensation specialist can properly determine the value of the job, assess the relative value of the job and place it in a job structure that is clear and concise to all stakeholders. (Milovic, Newman and Gearhart) This case study showed me what happens when things are not done properly in the beginning. References http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/. Whole Foods Market http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/values/corevalues.php. Whole Foods Market core values http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/careers/index.php. Whole Foods Marker careers Milkovich, Newman and Gerhart. Compensation, 10th Edition

Kirk Patrick Samuda, Kirk Samuda, Hacking and Intrusion

I read an article written by Mr.. Mathew J. Schwartz, dated March 12. 2012, for Informational via darkening. Com, and ponder the strength of the subject matter discussed, I asked myself the question when does attack prevention begin? The question does present an abstract yet requires that careful thought be exercised when approaching information security breaches, and how to prevent attacks; a technological melancholy with very expensive associations.According to Mathew, â€Å"It Is very Important for companies to consider the smartest ways to first detect, block, and subsequently investigate employees with malicious motives†; joined to a vigorous external process that outlines preventative mechanisms that are designed and Implemented around an ERP that Is based on a review of hundreds of attacks. Hence the best way to identify, then possibly prevent an internal or external attack is to start with a security audit specifically created as a countermeasure; simply an attack prev ention program.For any information security audit to be effective, with the intent to prevent or educe attacks; it is absolutely necessary to be proactive and first create an insider threat program, that reinforces the fundamental purpose of the CIA triad which highlights information confidentiality, and how protection of company assets is most vital to the preservation of authorized restrictions and how information is accessed and disclosed. Never allow any type of attack. Successful or otherwise to go undocumented or wasted. If you experience an attack, learn from it,† For example, let us analyze an information security breach case of a financial corporation that caught n employee trying to steal very private company trading algorithms. Accountability and authenticity must immediately be exercised to ensure that the employee is held accountable and that company property is not violated; and that immediate verification with transitional trust were exercised for the purpose of data integrity and security authentication purposes. Upon identifying weaknesses within the security framework. An informed security team must Immediately exercise new security measures, policies and protocols that reinforce the prior, to explicitly watch for similar types of attacks. As a result of the ROR improved steps, another employee was caught subsequently trying to copy the It was very clear from Mathew Schwartz writings, that most insider attacks occur within a short period of time, especially when an employee conspires to steal intellectual property which normally occurs within 30 days.Fraud is usually an exception, because the monetary rewards normally lead to the perpetrator wanting to continue the attack indefinitely. Hence, it is very important once again to know that malicious employees are likely to launch an information security attack within 30 days of resigning or after they leave the company. As such, keep a close eye on departing or departed employees, track th eir movements prior to departure, by carefully monitoring their computer usage history file.Attack prevention analysis transcends beyond simple security audits that typically attempt to exhaust security protocols and mechanisms. What is fundamentally necessary, is that the security mindset of everyone involved with information and information security; to become profoundly aware of what an adversary is, how to identify vulnerabilities and threats, while exercising counter intuition as a prompt form of virtual defense against attacks. Conclusively, it is paramount for businesses to have in place effective security technology and use it.Identifying both internal and external vulnerabilities and threats is the responsibility of every employee. Most important, it is the primary responsibility of executive management to ensure that qualified security engineers are employed to collaborate with I. T in creating a centralized ERP that pinpoints signs of information infiltration and data exf oliation; which is basically an attack or intelligent threat that violates the security protocols of the system, and security policies of the company.

Research Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 17

Research - Essay Example Activities such as data collection, analysis, and communication of results that are associated with a potential to shift power or structural balance, are therefore prone to communication of a researcher’s political opinion or those of other parties. As a result, an action researcher ought to be tactical in order to achieve the research’s objectives. A good tactical approach ensures that all stakeholders in the research are managed for acceptance and implementation of the research findings. The researcher should therefore be an influential leader who facilitates an understanding between himself and stakeholders to the research as well as the relationships among the stakeholders. Some of the ways of achieving the two types of relationships are understanding the involved stakeholders, avoiding controversies with them, building relationships with them and knowing the type of information to discuss with them and what to reserve. A researcher’s ‘self-awarenessâ⠂¬â„¢ and how other stakeholders view the researcher is also important in managing the relationships (Brannick and Coghlan, 2009). The scope of action research and its potential impacts on stakeholders also elicits ethical considerations for observance of â€Å"democracies, justice, freedom, and participation† (Brannick and Coghlan, 2009, p. 132). Such ethics relies on pillars of â€Å"interdependency, cogeneration of knowledge and fairer power relations† (Brannick and Coghlan, 2009, p. 133) and varies with the level of research. In action research for example, the researcher is expected to incorporate participants right from the planning stage and ethical considerations extends to the entire community in which the research is conducted. Higher levels of research demands higher scopes of ethical considerations. Action research particularly involves ethical principles such as â€Å"confidentiality and anonymity,† informed consent, and beneficence that can only be

The Effect of Cloud Computing on Network Management Essay

The Effect of Cloud Computing on Network Management - Essay Example However, their network cannot become totally non-existent but has to optimally complement the Cloud Computing architecture. So, this paper will first look at the technology behind this Cloud Computing, then as part of literature review will focus on the requirements on Network Management to support Cloud Computing and the differences from the more normal management requirements. Then the paper will critically evaluate the strength and weaknesses of Cloud Computing, comparing to normal Network Management as defined by the ISO. Cloud computing, an Internet-dependant computer network, in which the ‘outside’ or ‘virtual’ servers or in total outside network infrastructure will play the key role, without the necessity to develop and maintain in-house infrastructure. The needed information or data, software, other business applications, etc can be stored in those servers and can be accessed by the organizations or computer users from any place using a web browser-based interface. This works on the basis of ‘services on demand’ concept, as organizations or users just pay the subscription charges, without owning any physical infrastructures. â€Å"The storing and accessing of applications and computer data often through a Web browser rather than running installed software on your personal computer or office server†. (cloudcomputingdefined.com).The basic concept behind Cloud Computing got originated in the 1960s when the American computer and cognitive scientist John Mc Carthy opined that â€Å"computation may someday be organized as a public utility†. (Frangulyan). This hypothesis came true because the main characteristic of Cloud Computing is computation is happening in a public or external environment. The complete Cloud architecture for the functioning of Cloud Computing consists of multiple cloud components particularly various hardware components and software.  

American Government Assg2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

American Government Assg2 - Essay Example It has extended the right of suffrage to women and minorities and survived without a major disruption in government for nearly all of its history (with the one exception being the Civil War). Nowadays, with the growth of democratic institutions, it is important to protect people from the â€Å"tyranny of the majority.† American democracy is just as much threatened by having its government become unaccountable as it is by a ruthless voting majority suppressing or ignoring minorities and their rights. â€Å"How minority group interests are treated in democratic systems is a central concern of citizens, government officials, and scholars† (Haider-Markel 2007, 304). There is a danger that in the future the government will not so much be the voice of the people, as it will be the distributor of wealth and goods to them. A democracy that seeks to protect minority voices and promote division often finds itself using handouts and all manner of financial incentives to gain elect oral majorities. â€Å"Opinion surveys from many advanced democracies repeatedly find widespread popular support for the institutions of direct democracy† (Bowler 2007, 35). This shows that there is a potential for a â€Å"tyranny of the majority,† especially if the rights of individuals are not protected. A fundamental part of representative democracy is not just the principle of popular rule but also the need to protect inalienable rights. In order to remain effective, the American political system must be careful not to give too much say to majorities and polls. A fundamental feature of the modern nation-state since the 1848 Treaty of Westphalia has been the tendency to centralize power, usually in a physical place called the capital, over the recognized territories of the same. The Articles of Confederation, though well-intended, ultimately failed to provide for this basic centralizing authority so necessary to have a functioning state. â€Å"The Articles provided for a loose

Marijuana Legalization Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Marijuana Legalization - Research Paper Example Although, Marijuana was maximally consumed for recreational purposes, when its medicinal properties were discovered, it started to be used for therapeutic purposes as well. Certain components of Marijuana like THC, cannabinoids, etc., are proven to treat or even lessen the complications arising out of various diseases and health problems. Because of these beneficial properties, there are calls to legalize Marijuana for medicinal purposes, so the needy patients can get access to it without any hassles. Currently, it is illegal to possess and consume Marijuana (with only few states giving exceptions) and so the authorities are implementing extensive and tough measures to impede its movement. These measures are resulting in high costs for the government, and quite contrastingly, certain studies showed that controlling measures are in-turn leading to more crimes, thus validating the need for legalization. When the purpose or use of Marijuana is viewed from an opposite perspective, it pro vides a slightly negative picture. That is, consumption of Marijuana could cause even more serious health problems for the users (more that its’ therapeutic purposes), thus raising calls against legalization. ... However, as the cons against legalization can be managed, this paper after discussing both sides of the legalization argument, will favor legalization of Marijuana. Pros for Legalization Marijuana has been used, as part of medicinal practice, from early centuries and it was only around 1850's, it was embraced by the Western medical practitioners. (Millhorn et al., 2009). It was part of the United States' pharmacopoeia as one of the prescription drugs till 1941, treating both minor as well as major complications. However, with the passing of the Marijuana Tax Act in 1930s, the practitioners were impeded from prescribing it. (Gunnlaugsson & Galliher, 2010). In the present context, although there are severe restrictions in the use of Marijuana for medical purposes, various studies are going on, which proves the efficacy of it against many health complications, thus necessitating the legalization of it. The medicinal value of Marijuana particularly its components THC and cannabinoids can help in the treatment of various diseases and also the complications arising out of those diseases. â€Å"An alternative literature suggests that cannabis may have medicinal value for addressing a wide range of various medical diseases, though smoked product may be harmful, the active ingredients in cannabis, most notably THC/dronabinol may have medicinal value† (Johnson et al., 2008). Even if it is not able to fully treat the diseases, Marijuana can play an effective role in minimizing the physical pain and other complications that are associated with those diseases. Marijuana's main medical application is as a pain reliever. â€Å"The use of marijuana relieves pain, which results from side effects of

Business-Level and Corporate-Level Strategies Essay - 2

Business-Level and Corporate-Level Strategies - Essay Example The organization represents the actual market penetration of 82%. In addition, the organization sells mobility of accurate voice and data through significant wireless services. Business Level Strategies of AT&T AT&T is one of the most popular telecommunications brand in global market place. The organization followed unique business level strategy to enhance their business performances. Business level strategy includes cost leadership strategy, differentiation strategy and focus strategy. Implementation of effective business level strategy helped the organization to become one of the strongest global brands within the telecommunication industry. Business level strategy of AT&T has been described below. Cost Leadership strategy The organization focuses on the reduction of business operation cost in order to offer the products to the end customers in a reasonable price. This competitive pricing strategy helped the organization to achieve the leading spot in the US telecommunication indu stry. For example, the organization provides several effective services, such as Rollover Minutes and Family Unit Plan. The organization reduced the service processing cost to deliver the services in a low price level. Moreover, the organization has implemented several niche marketing strategies. The organization provides, TDMA, UMTS and GSM service in minimal price to their clients. Effective cost leadership strategy helped the organization to develop significant client base. Differentiation Strategy Effective product and service differentiation strategy helped AT&T to meet the market demand and customer satisfaction level. The organization collaborated with Apple Corporation. AT&T started to sell their GSM and Wireless services through the iPhones. The organization is successfully acquiring leading global clients. It is helping them to secure effective market share. Unique accord to the competitive global market place has effectively differentiated the brand from its existing glob al competitors (Brenton, 2007). Utilization of wide spectrum offers exclusive video conferring service to its target customers. Focus Strategy AT&T is the only telecommunication organization in US that committed effective customer service. The organization has implemented effective niche marketing strategy. People can get linked and connected with each other in any place through the efficient telecommunication and broadband service of AT&T. The organization effectively diversified their business operation in several emerging global markets. AT&T provides HSPDA, Voice PTT, Video Sharing and Voice-IP services to its global customers. In addition, exclusive channel exposure helped AT&T to achieve potential competitive advantages. Question 2 The successful story of AT&T portrays 130 years old history. The giant telecommunication service provider effectively served the US customers through exclusive telecommunication service. From the foundation of AT&T by Graham Bell to the modern era, the global telecommunication industry has astonishingly evidenced various key events of the organization. This part of the study will determine the corporate level strategies of AT&T. Corporate Level Strategies Telephone was introduced by Graham Bell in the year 1875. After the successful establishment, the organization has diversified their business operations in various emerging global market place. AT&T follows vertical integration structure in the organization.

Advanced Management Accounting Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

Advanced Management Accounting - Essay Example Therefore, a company should consider the various forms of costing techniques for the purposes of controlling costs and making some important managerial decisions. The generally-used forms of costing techniques include absorption costing, marginal costing, activity based costing, throughput accounting, target costing and environmental accounting. Absorption costing is a technique of product costing that usually includes an appropriate share of a company’s total overheads in the total cost of a product, which are usually taken to entail an amount of overheads that reflects the effort and time that has been used in producing the product (Garrison, Noreen & Brewer, 2003). In arriving at the costs of the product using absorption costing an organization has to go through a three step-process involving allocation, apportionment and overhead absorption. The first step is allocation that entails a process where cost unit or cost center are identified and then those costs that are associated with each cost center are charged accordingly. Overheads clearly identifiable with costs centers are allocated to these cost centers but costs which cannot which cannot be identifiable to cost centers are allocated to general overhead cost centers. For example the cost of a warehouse security guard will be charged to the warehouse cost center but the heating and lighting costs would be charged to general overhead cost center. Under overhead apportionment an organization will start by sharing out of overheads within the general overhead cost centers between other cost centers using a fair basis of apportionment. After this stage of overhead apportionment, those costs that have been allocated to service cost centers are then apportioned to production cost centers including those that are directly allocated and the apportioned costs. Finally, absorption costing ends with absorbing those overheads that have been allocated and apportioned to production centers into the product cost

Reflection Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 11

Reflection Paper - Essay Example He compares the softness of the moving ship over the water surface to a soft and beautiful skin. However, other characters such as Ahab consider the ocean as deceptive because, under the smooth waters, there lain death in waiting. Ahab acknowledges the fact that the sea in reality is a tiger under the surface. The ocean is, therefore, more dangerous than the land. According to Ahab, the sea is a mirror of God, and it represents Him as hidden and terrible, whose nature is deadly. Starbuck looks at the ocean and God as a bride at her wedding. The professor got me thinking of the reason for Christmas was a new beginning, yet inverted. For instance, Ahab thinks of the sea as a revenge because that is what he was up to during the journey for religious quest. The sea is therefore a revenge, not healing as quoted in line 536 (Melville 450). â€Å"†¦..Loveliness unfathomable, as ever lover saw in his young bride’s eye!—Tell me not of thy teeth tiered sharks, and thy kidnapping cannibal ways. Let faith oust fact; let fancy oust memory; I look deep down and do believe.†(Melville 451). Ahab asserts that the sea is too ambiguous and vicious for coherent faith, with our attraction to it infinite and unexplored. There are two things I noted out of these words, first the fact that God is inexplicable and second that religion is a faithful expression. For this case, the people at sea are trading a religious journey in which everything is a duality. Death lingers in lives of individuals, which kept me thinking about the whiteness of the whale. After a reflection on the readings, I discovered that such a question would be a distinction between good and evil according to our perception. Why were the whales both white and black? Why use the sea and not land? The answer lies in the nature of duality of religion. Sometime before birth, in the beginning, there is always the light that is the blinding light representing the