Organizational ethics refers to the principles and standards upon which businesses function according to the business’s references. The principles, as well as set standards, are mostly demonstrated over the deeds of objectivity, reliability, decency, compassion and obligation. The strategy for both business venders as well as the officials is to confirm that all the workers comprehend to the set standards as well as the principles. This can be done by initially communicating the organizational ethics to the employees through the act of training the employees on the standards of the company. Based on the basis of illustrating the goals of an organizational ethics program, essentials necessary in constructing and ensuring the function of the organizational ethics program together with the ways of implementing the procedure in favor of an organization’s future will be discussed.
The Goal of the Organizational Ethics Program
Based on the different sectors that the set organizational principles and standards function, such as on uniform treatment, considerations, financial ethics as well as dealing with the social responsibility of a particular business, the connection established is used to construct a uniform organizational goal to be attained on the course of operation. To start with, the set standards and principles ensures uniform treatment amongst all employees based on the same respect regardless of their culture, race, religion or even lifestyles. The ethics program in business through this role establishes the provision of equal promotion chances to the employees whereby the issues can be addressed during sensitive training, holding seminars as well as through inviting outside experts to disclose these issues unto the employees.
Secondly, on achieving an organization’s goal, financial stability has to be met that is protected by the compliance of the organizational ethics program in the business. This is for the purpose of business owners to establish clean business operations with respect to finances, expanding as well as investing for their companies. For example, the standards and principles may be set on prohibiting and taking action to those who bribe state legislators for either tax privileges or even credits (Johnson, 2018). On the consideration basis, a company’s ethics program ensures the provision of care to the employees who are mentally challenged, with substance abuse problems including alcohol and drug dependency. The ethics of the business through the set principles as well as standards helps the employees to overcome such problems if possible, such as putting them through employee advisor programs.
Ethics are also mandated to protect the community as well as establishing and maintaining safety standards to the nearby residents. They ensure the communication of chemical dangers by the organizations steered on ethical environmental practices. Through the joint functions established by the organizational ethics program, actions, as well as company decisions, are governed on ensuring welfare amongst the employees, customers and the community at large thus establishing the organization’s ethical philosophy hence defining its reputation on efficiency and effectiveness.
Essential Elements of an Organizational Ethics Program
For corporate compliance to organizational ethics, the standards, as well as principles, should be set to align with the company’s operations as well as objective strategies. In this approach, standards and control that includes both the code of conduct, procedures as well as standards and policies are based as the foundational elements of a functional organizational ethics program (Doppelt, 2017). Another pillar is the training feature that ensures the employees are well acknowledged on the relevant company corporate policies, laws, prohibited conduct as well as the set regulations to be applied in practice. After communicating all the critical information from the management, the questions on whether the employees of the particular company are answered through an oversight approach that includes monitoring, auditing and responding to the organizational issues.
Monitoring involves both reviewing and detecting the process of ethics compliance whereas the auditing process comprises of limited review that is based on targeting particular business components, region or even a sector of the market within a specific timeframe. Both efforts, therefore, require responding from the top management for the need of adopting any change if required in compliance with the organizational standards and principles.
Organizational Ethics Dissertation
Implementing the Changes based on Future Organization of a Project Management
During the process of practicing to initialize, plan, execute, control as well as close the activities of a particular team to achieve certain goals as well as meeting a specific criterion over a specified time, implementation of organizational ethics program counts to be of great significance. I work in project management that involves the planning, initializing, executing, controlling and closing different works from various teams, and observing activity operation under undefined standards and principles is a challenging issue. This is because most project management work fails as a result of unification in carrying out specific activities (Hornstein, 2015). On the other hand, you find that the initializing process of a task is simple amongst a particular team group, and the work collapses upon reaching the planning as well as the execution process. This fails due to the lack of ethical procedures to unify different plans as well as execution processes that establish the concept of how to control and finalize the work.
However, implementing the ethical changes will increasingly create a foundation for the achievement of future organizational effectiveness as well as efficiency in its operations. Further, the implementation process should be based on strategies to educate and acknowledge new as well as the existing employees on the changes that have occurred regarding compliance of the company’s standards and principles. For example, implementing these changes on my expertise area, project management, ensures mutual initializing, planning and execution of different tasks, that is closed under a unified system of control thus increasingly constructing a good reputation based on the concept of effectiveness and efficiency.
References
Doppelt, B. (2017). Leading change toward sustainability: A change-management guide for business, government and civil society. Routledge.
Hornstein, H. A. (2015). The integration of project management and organizational change management is now a necessity. International Journal of Project Management, 33(2), 291-298.
Johnson, C. E. (2018). Organizational ethics: A practical approach. Sage Publications.
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At the heart of every Human Resource Management (HRM) practice is a deep-seated concern regarding how human capital can be managed to derive the best results for any organization. One of the most critical functions and processes in HR is recruitment and selection. The importance of Human Capital and the impact it portends for companies and business organizations cannot be understated – it is the most crucial asset in every organization. As such, it follows that the mechanisms and procedures employed by organizations in recruiting talent among its ranks are an accurate presentation of how an organization intends to implement its mission and achieve its vision.
This paper examines the importance of this process in recruitment and selection, especially in the modern work environment. It does this by evaluating the standard frameworks of recruitment and selection before it explores the common trends as practiced in the modern era. It then examines the challenges faced by HR professionals within this context and concludes by highlighting some recommendations to address these challenges.
Recruitment and Selection – Getting it Right
The importance of the recruitment process in any organization is evident – recruiters ensure that an organization succeeds in achieving its goals and objectives by availing the best candidates whose competence and skills make them the best suited for the job. In this sense, recruiters are the filters that select the most appropriate candidates for organizational success. In the modern business environment—one that is continually evolving—the need to hire individuals who are knowledgeable, loyal, adaptable, dependable and skilled has become even stronger. As such, the recruitment and selection process is one of the core responsibilities of Human Resources (HR) in most organizations. This is because it is widely regarded as a process that fundamentally affects the potential for revenue growth and hence the profit margins of any profit-driven organization in comparison to other tasks like leadership development, onboarding, retention and talent management (Bhatia, 2013).
The theoretical framework under which this topic will be discussed in this paper is based on two theories – the human capital theory and Resource-Based View theory (RBV). The human capital theory contends that humans are the most important asset of any organization and that their market skills are a form of capital which essentially makes humans a type of investment (Buta, 2015). This point of view is critical especially in developing an understanding of the incentives as well as the structure of earnings and wages. The Resource-Based View theory is premised on the notion that an organization can develop a competitive advantage by creating a human resource capital which is unique to its organizational demands and which cannot be imitated by other organizations (Rothaermel, 2012). The representation is a graphic representation of the Resource-Based View theory framework.
(Source: Rothermel, 2015)
In this paper, the task is to position the recruitment and selection process as a pivotal component of organizational success.
The Recruitment and Selection Process
Human talent is without a doubt, one of the most sought-after commodities in the 21st century workplace. Therefore, the process of searching, isolating and recruiting these talents is at the heart and soul of all organizations. Within the professional realm of Human Resources, recruitment is defined as the ‘process of searching out and attracting qualified job applicants’ (The Strategic Importance of Recruitment, 2012). Naturally, this begins with identifying the position that needs to be filled and ends when an adequate number of candidates have submitted their application forms or resumes. The strategic plan of the organization dictates the identification of job openings. In some instances, these needs can arise unexpectedly due to factors such as terminations, natural attrition, or resignations.
Once the need for hiring has been identified, the next step is to select an appropriate method that will facilitate an effective recruitment process. Some organizations prefer to recruit from within while others prefer to widen their selection pools by going outside the organization’s talent pool. Each of these methods has their advantages and disadvantages. For example, when an organization hires from within, it enhances the morale, commitment, and performance of its employees. However, when a company’s existing pool of talent does not meet the required standards, it is common for such companies to search outside. Studies show that most entry-level jobs are mostly filled by candidates sourced externally (The Strategic Importance of Recruitment, 2012). Because of the advances in technology that inform HR processes, online recruitment is increasingly becoming a popular strategy for getting external talents. Job fairs and co-operative education programs are equally powerful recruitment methods.
Once the recruitment process had ended, the next step selection involves choosing the most suitable candidate from the pool of recruiting. Methods of selection usually vary from one organization to the other depending on their demands and culture. Regardless, this process is usually complex and involves a lot of decision making. The structure of the selection process typically depends on a lot of things such as the urgency, number of potential candidates, and so on. Irrespective of the structure of the selection process, the main objectives of selection tests are: (a) prediction, (b) diagnosis, and; (c) situational behavioral assessments. (Opayemi & Oyesola, 2013).
The Selection Process
The overall selection process can be made up of several stages. This is exemplified in the diagram shown below. It is, however, instructive to understand that the steps in a selection process vary depending on many factors that will be discussed herein.
(Source: Alsabbah & Ibrahim, 2011)
According to Alsabbah and Ibrahim (2013), Kamran, Dawood, and Hilal (2015), the structure of the selection process differs from one organization to the other and mostly depends on a company’s needs. In most cases, however, the selection process comprises several stages which are:
Evaluation – the evaluation stage entails applicants submitting their applications usually in application forms. The information contained in these forms include the name of the candidate, age, education, experience, expected salary, hobbies, and references, etc. the applicants who apply are the called shortlisted candidates.
Preliminary interview – in this stage, the shortlisted candidates are invited for the interview. Their personal interests, career goals, objectives for applying, and general attitudes are evaluated. Those who meet the basic standards proceed to the next stage.
Selection tests – in this stage, the candidates are subjected to written examinations. Different types of selection tests can be used depending on the nature of the job, responsibilities, and the number of applicants. Some of the typical selection tests are intelligence, personality, attitude, interest and professional examinations. Qualification and skills are also assessed in this stage. The goal is to select candidates who meet the minimum requirements.
Selection interview – this interview usually is more comprehensive compared to the preliminary interview. In this stage of the selection process, the candidates are subjected to face-to-face interactions where critical aspects such as speech delivery, intelligence, motivation, and the capacity to understand a problem are evaluated. The candidates are interviewed on questions directly related to the job to gauge their suitability. These interviews can be structured, semi-structured or unstructured.
Reference check – this is a background information check usually done to confirm the information provided by the candidates are true.
Decision-making – this is usually the final step in which candidates who have succeeded in the above steps are presented with appointment letters. These letters contain information on job description, salary, benefits, accountability, authority, and etcetera.
Validity and Credibility of Selection Tests
The validity and credibility of the selection tests go a long way in determining the caliber of employees that will be hired. The overall goal is to hire employees who are the best fit in relation to the job and for this reason, it is imperative that the selection tests are rigorously analyzed using up-to-date credibility tests. In this regard, the reliability of selection tests can be examined using three different methods (Opayemi & Oyesola, 2013):
Over time – the outcome should be the same throughout the testing period.
Across different sample – the outcome from a group of employees ought to be the same during the testing period.
Across different rates – this test compares the results from two (or more) independent raters. A consistent rating throughout the testing period indicates that the selection test is reliable.
Similarly, validity tests simply evaluate the correctness of the selection test. The practice is that the candidates who emerge with the best results should be able to perform equally as well in real working environments. In other words, validity tests measure job relatedness. The commonly used validity tests are: (a) content validity, (b) concurrent validity, (c) predictive validity, and; (d) construct validity (Bertua, Anderson, & Salgado, 2005). The details of these validity tests are beyond the scope of this discussion and therefore will not be discussed herein.
The Importance of Recruitment and Selection
Since a comprehensive summary of the recruitment and selection process has been provided in the preceding paragraphs, this paper now focuses on the importance of the recruiting and selection process. As such, the proceeding analysis will categorize the four significant implications for the recruitment and selection process into (i) costs, (ii) retention, (iii) productivity and loyalty, and; (iv) legal issues.
Cost
A common perception among HR professionals is that a lot of money and effort goes into managing employees and this sometimes leads into a situation where organizations end up over-staffing or understaffing for its organizational needs. Logically when the number of employees in a department is higher relative to the need for which they were employed, then the company will incur higher operational costs in maintaining such as department (Ekwoaba, Ikeije, & Ufoma, 2015). In the long run, this will diminish the earnings of the company. Conversely, when an organization understaffs a department such that critical positions are left unattended, then the organization also faces the risks of incurring losses because of reduced revenue earnings.
Today the traditional concept of hiring where all job vacancies were treated equally has shifted to one that prioritizes the hiring process as one based on criticality. The objective of this style is to create a perfect balance between work that needs and employees in a manner that is sustainable for the company. Moreover, the process of recruitment and selection places more emphasis on selecting and ultimately hiring the candidates that exhibit the highest level of competency and skill (Ekwoaba et al., 2015). As such, the cost of hiring a candidate has a direct implication on the company, and as demonstrated in most cases, weak hiring mechanisms do place higher costs on the organization (Ekwoaba et al., 2015).
A weak hiring system is likely to bring in employees with high failure rates. This happens when a newly hired employee(s) voluntarily quits or is terminated within a few months irrespective of their performance. Weak hiring systems thus create a situation where a company can repeat the recruitment and selection process for the same position repeatedly – a scenario that increases the costs of damages incurred by the organization (Ekwoaba et al., 2015).
As technology continues to be more and more integrated into the management of businesses, most companies are going the extra mile into not only using job recruiters who possess business acumen, astute judgement, and an ability to foresee the crucial factors that will likely impact the growth requirements of their organizations, but also supplementing their effort with talent management and recruitment software to facilitate the efficacy of the recruitment and selection process (Bhatia, 2013). The use of tried and tested technology is thus a practical recommendation that is expected to reduce the inefficiencies of human-led recruitment and selection processes significantly.
Productivity and Loyalty
These two entities are linked – an employee who feels connected to the organization will work hard to help it achieve its objectives. On this basis, it is the recruiter’s responsibility to ensure that they get as much details from potential employees in order to sufficiently analyze their strengths and weaknesses. These pieces of information can be obtained from the candidates if the recruitment and selection process employs strategic mechanisms for achieving this goal. In general, loyal employees demonstrate a track record of competitiveness, innovation, excellence which cumulatively results in increasing the profitability of the business.
Legal Issues
The most common legal problem that arises from recruitment and selection processes is discrimination. Discriminatory practices often have dire consequences on the reputation of an organization and sometimes can also have financial implications. In the United States, for instance, the department of labor expressly prohibits discrimination based on religion, race, sex, political affiliation, and many other features that have often been used in facilitating discriminatory practices (Saez, 2018). In the end, recruiters are required to implement checks and balances to ensure that their methods are beyond reproach. For example, most organizations advertise only the basic requirements for the job. In recent years, the practice of listing language proficiencies and physical capabilities has gradually been phased out unless they are inherently vital in the position (Heneman III, Judge, & Kammeyer-Muller, 2015). Some organizations also encourage the recruitment and selection process to be run by more than one recruiter.
Practices and Trends in HR
The standard practice in many HR functions seems to be that most organizations do not concern themselves with the Return on Investment (ROI) especially when it comes to their human capital. Most organizations are guilty of perpetuating a recruitment process that does not measure the impact that its employees have on the organization. This is compounded by the trend among organizations not to document or make reports on their recruitment process. Furthermore, there is no accountability on HR regarding the opportunities missed and the costs incurred during the recruitment (Cascio, 2016). But as focus on strategic activities of HR departments continue to increase, an ever-increasing number of organizations are becoming more interested in calculating ROI on recruitments. As such, the activities and functions of HR are increasingly being assessed in a bid to quantify their outcomes and results.
Admittedly, calculating the ROI on recruitment is not an easy process because of the high numbers of variables involved. But since it portends critical implications on the activities of the whole organization, this is a task that every recruitment manager needs to perform. To achieve this, the manager should (Thoo & Kaliannan, 2013):
Define the objectives of the recruitment in terms of the results that should be achieved.
Devise mechanisms to accurately measure critical aspects of the recruitment process such as time of hire, the effectiveness of recruitment source, and the cost-of-hire.
Establish a precise estimate of the costs of the recruitment project.
Calculate the intangible and tangible benefits the organization will accrue, including payback period, from the recruitment.
Ensure that recruitment managers are well trained.
The ability to evaluate the recruitment process in terms of ROI is fundamental for organizations that desire to strengthen their HR processes. This is because it significantly improves the recruitment function and develops a strategic human capital advantage for the company (Thoo & Kaliannan, 2013). But even as employers pile the pressure on HR professionals for increased accountability, experts contend that recruiting trends are getting more and more competitive. The main trends that have dominated talent acquisition in recent years are branding, repairing the potential candidate’s experience, maximizing talent analysis, and venturing into untapped sources (Maurer, 2016). They are also aware that getting real talent is getting harder and this is forcing companies to reinvent their strategic approaches to talent acquisition. The year 2015 beckoned the beginning of thoughtful attitudes in recruitment, but this approach will only pay off for companies and organizations that focus on important success determinants.
Employers are expected to improve their branding if they are to attract highly qualified job seekers who themselves are becoming increasingly selective about companies. The onus is on employers to make themselves attractive to potential employees, and this means availing as much information as they can about the organization, its culture as well as corporate values. Some organizations have taken this a notch higher- they are using employees’ photos to showcase their culture, training opportunities, and key benefits associated with working with them (Maurer, 2016). This practice is supported by the notion that employees are the best brand ambassadors any organization and as such, their stories do much more compared to the company’s mission statement.
Another trend that is expected to continue is the use of talent analytics. Talent acquisition professionals are under increasing pressure to demonstrate ROI in the recruitment process. This has forced them to move away from traditional methods of recruitment that were primarily based on instincts and instead focus on techniques that can convert everyday data into actionable information that can guide decision-making (Maurer, 2016). With the advent of HR data scientists, data science in HR has become a fundamental aspect of the recruitment process.
Most companies are going beyond routine operational measurements like cost-per-hire, source-of-hire, and time-to-fill to mine more in-depth metrics on talent (Morgan, 2018). Some organizations have turned to data analytics to analyze competitors’ talent pools with the aim of finding the candidates with the skill-set that they want and which can be convinced to join their organizations. The use of talent data analytics essentially captures the whole-person analysis in determining whether potential employees have the experience, competencies, drivers, and traits to bring additional value to an organization.
Employers have widened the scope of their talent search by venturing into new sources. Cross-industry hiring, for instance, is believed to make persons who have worked in various fields acquire experience that could come in handy. These types of employees also carry with them a wealth of cultural diversity that is especially appealing for new companies (Maurer, 2016). Nevertheless, internal hiring is likely to be embraced going forward because of the advantages it has over external hiring. According to Bryne Mulrooney, the CEO of a company that specializes in recruitment, internal sourcing has a shorter hiring-to-productivity time and considerably lowers staffing costs, which in the long run translates into better financial performance. This system also promotes talent development – a feature that keeps employees motivated as they become more valuable to the organization as the knowledge they acquire compounds with time (Maurer, 2016). The consensus is that the hiring process has changed fundamentally and in addition to personality and aptitude, experience is increasingly being seen as one employee feature that can be adjusted.
Repairing the candidate experience is another trend that most organizations are quickly catching up on. They try to create positions that can be filled with candidates with the right combination of skills and competence. Failure to maintain contacts with employees, minimal engaged by recruitment during the recruitment process, and tedious and lengthy application process do leave candidates and employees feeling unappreciated.
Elaine Orler, the CEO of a talent acquisition consultancy firm based in San Diego, opines that every touch point starting from the application process to the interactions with the schedulers to interviewers’ preparedness to turnaround time, creates an impression in the candidate about the employer (Maurer, 2016). The well-coordinated these experience are the higher the acceptance rates of a firm considering that highly skilled candidates will most likely be juggling job offers from different companies. In short, recruiters are expected to give candidates white-glove treatment whether they succeed for the job or not for it increases the interest of the candidate to apply when another opening comes up.
Technology is slowly but gradually being integrated into the talent acquisition processes. Cross-platform expansion and technology consolidation are becoming increasingly streamlined as organizations shift from multiple vendor systems to conflating their tracking systems, management of their human capital, and video conferences into one platform (Maurer, 2016). While this process is admittedly coming along at a slow pace, its impact in HR processes stands to be significant. Nonetheless, conventional talent management suites have also been expanding and increasing their recruiting potential. But while the recruitment and selection would seem, in principle, to be a straightforward HR process, the reality is much different in practice. The following section outlines some of the common challenges faced by HR recruiters and the possible solutions that have been proven to help in alleviating some of these problems.
Common Challenges in HR Recruitment and Selection
The recruitment process is widely seen as a procurement activity designed to identify and hire the best candidates for a job. On the part of recruiters, this directs attention to their expertise, business perspective, and ability to make decisions that are beneficial to both the organization and the individual. The challenges start from the type of recruitment method to use – whether to use internal or external talent pools. The ever-evolving job market dynamics with regards to technologies, recruitment sources, competition and etcetera compounds the range of problems that HR professionals encounter. Furthermore, in a job market that is already saturated, recruiters are constantly faced with new challenges that they ultimately need to overcome in order to get the best candidates in line with the requirements of the organization. While these problems are unmistakably unique to every organization, the primary challenges faced by recruiters are:
Adapting to globalization – the HR professionals are typically required to keep pace with changes happening in the within the realm of Human Resources across the world (Thoo & Kaliannan, 2013).
Minimum motivation – the view of most HR professionals is that recruitment is a thankless job because they seldom get the appreciation and recognition they believe they deserve for getting the best candidates and top performers for the company especially when the impact of these candidates is tangible across the performance spectrum (Thoo & Kaliannan, 2013).
Process analysis – most companies demand a flexible, responsive, cost-effective and adaptive recruitment process that is timely and able to cater to the company’s requirements (Thoo & Kaliannan, 2013). Nevertheless, such companies might not be investing in attaining such systems.
Strategic prioritization – HR professionals are often required to make strategic moves when performing their recruitment and selection functions. This is to enable them to exploit the opportunities that arise from the challenges that come with new systems (Thoo & Kaliannan, 2013). As such, reviewing staffing needs and prioritizing tasks in line with markets demands has in recent years emerged as a critical challenge for these professionals.
Workforce diversity – while ideally, diversity is a good aspect of an organization’s workforce, sometimes integrating people from different cultures and backgrounds do present significant challenges for HR professionals (Kamran et al., 2015). If this aspect is not managed correctly, it does escalate conflict levels in an organization and ultimately impairs the ability of the organization to achieve its goals.
Government policies – this is an external challenge that most HR departments have to acknowledge. Government policies can limit the operations of HR and certainly has implications for organizational demands and needs (Kamran et al., 2015).
Conclusion
The recruitment and selection process varies from one organization to the other, and this variance can be as a result of many factors such as the size of the company, corporate culture, objectives, and etcetera. Be that as it may, the importance of the recruitment and selection process in helping in the attainment of organizational goals and objectives has been adequately substantiated in this paper. The fundamental role of the recruitment function is to avail the best candidates for the organization, and the benefits that are associated with an effective recruitment process are numerous ranging from cost reduction, elimination of potentially catastrophic discriminatory practices, enhanced employee productivity and retention, and compliance with legal requirements.
However, recruitment is not a simple, straightforward exercise – it is hampered by a wide array of challenges that make the role of HR professionals increasingly tedious. The current trends in HR practices as discussed in this article enumerate some of these bottlenecks and the potential ramifications they portend to any organization. Furthermore, as the job market becomes more and more saturated, talent acquisition is becoming a much harder objective to meet. HR recruiters have been forced to employ somewhat unconventional methods to keep up the ever-evolving corporate landscape. And as these challenges continue, HR professionals are facing increased calls for accountability – an aspect that has created a need to adopt more empirical-based approaches in the recruitment function as more organizations demand favorable ROIs on the investments on their human capital. With this in mind, below are some of the recommendations that could significantly address the issues in HR recruitment.
Recommendations
At the elementary level, recruitment and selection process should be well-defined in order meet its critical objective – tapping the best talent. It is also vital that the response time during the whole recruitment process is reasonable relative to the time frame provided in order to minimize the chances of losing potential employees to rival companies. The methods used in this crucial process should be versatile but effective. With the advent of social media and the World Wide Web, there are numerous sources of talent pools that can be exploited by recruiters.
The conventional stage-by-stage interview like the one discussed in this paper are time-intensive and are less cost-effective. A practical interview strategy like panel interviewing would portend better returns in the short term since it is less time-consuming. However, it might not be effective in identifying the most appropriate candidate. A well-structured recruitment process that is clear on the type of candidate the organization wants and which is within the cost and time constraints may be a better alternative. The uniqueness of organizational needs and demands means that there is no one-size-fits-all strategy with regards to recruitment and selection.
Some challenges such as lack of motivation, strategic prioritization, and process analysis boil down to organizational policy. But HR professionals should be able to demonstrate that with better corporate policies, their processes can yield better ROIs for the organization. As such, HR should play a core function in the design and implementation of these policies. The integration of technology in recruitment should shift focus to empirical-based methods rather than the traditional methods which were more instinctive.
Alsabbah, M. Y., & Ibrahim, H. I. (2013). Recruitment and Selection Process and Employee Competence Outcome: An Important Area for Future Research. Human Resource Management Research, 3(3), 82-90.
Bertua, C., Anderson, N., & Salgado, J. F. (2005). The predictive validity of cognitive ability tests: A UK meta‐analysis. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 78(3), 387-409.
Bhatia, T. (2013, June 13). Recruitment and selection – The most important HR function.
Cascio, W. F. (2016). Managing Human Resources Productivity, Quality of Work Life, Profits. New York, NY: McGraw Hill Education.
Ekwoaba, J. O., Ikeije, U. .., & Ufoma, N. (2015, March). The Impact Of Recruitment and Selection Criteria on Organizational Performance. Global Journal of Human Resource Management, 3(2), 22 – 23.
Heneman III, H. G., Judge, T. A., & Kammeyer-Muller, J. (2015). Staffing Organizations. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Kamran, A., Dawood, J., & Hilal, B. S. (2015). Analysis of the Recruitment and Selection Process. Proceedings of the Ninth International Conference on Management Science and Engineering Management (pp. 1357 – 1375). Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.
Maurer, R. (2016, February 1). 5 Recruiting Trends for 2016. Retrieved November 11, 2018, from Society for Human Resource Management.
Morgan, D. (2018, November 6). Top Skills of High Performing HR Data Scientists. Retrieved November 8, 2018, from Human Resources Today.
Opayemi, A., & Oyesola, T. (2013, August). Perception of selection interview, selection test and employee performance: An empirical analysis. Journal of Public Administration and Policy Research, 5(4), 95-101.
Saez, A. (2018). Importance of Effective Recruitment & Selection. Retrieved November 10, 2018, from azcentral.
The Strategic Importance of Recruitment. (2012, November 21). Retrieved November 10, 2018, from Human Resource Students Association.
Thoo, L., & Kaliannan, M. (2013). International HR Assignment in Recruiting and Selecting: Challenges, Failures and Best Practices. International Journal of Human Resource Studies, 3(4), 143 – 159.
Did you find any useful knowledge relating to recruitment and selection in this post? What are the key facts that grabbed your attention? Let us know in the comments. Thank you.
Normally, unemployment takes place when an individual who is actively searching for is actually unable to secure work. With this, any country globally uses the unemployment concept to determine the health of its economy. In essence, the unemployment rate is the most used measure of unemployment which is basically the actual number of unemployed individuals divided by people within the labor force. Thus, in any country, there happen to be unemployment even though the economy is at full employment because of frictional and structural unemployment (Hakim, 2015).
First and foremost, frictional unemployment takes place when people keep transitioning from their old works to new ones during a certain period. This kind of unemployment is actually considered a voluntary one since workers decide to remain unemployed in an economy instead of taking up the first job opportunity offered. Hence, this kind of unemployment is normally present because a significant number of people consistently keep on searching for new employment opportunities (Dullien & et al., 2018). Equally, structural unemployment take place when market conditions, as well as business cycles, keep on changing due to oversupply of employment opportunities and individuals are fundamentally willing to work, however they are not qualified for these employment opportunities; hence, it is absolutely impossible for unemployment to be zero in any economy (Johnson, 2017).
Lastly, individual, societal, and country costs are primal costs associated with unemployment. In essence, unemployed people are actually subjected to massive loss regarding income earnings, hence, reducing their living standards. With this, the societal is compelled to spend more in order to provide the needs of unemployed population and unemployment benefits paid by the government keep on increasing whilst the government is unable to collect enough income tax as before; hence, increasing government borrowing or reduce its other expenditures which reduce economic growth (Hakim, 2015).
Unemployment and Consumer Price Index
Produced by the Bureaus of Labor Statistics, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) is used to measure the inflation rate in America. Normally, the CPI is determined by taking price changes of every item in the predetermined product basket and then averaging them. In essence, the CPI adjusts payments to inflation in order to effectively assess the price changes associated with the cost of living. However, CPI’s accuracy has been questioned to a number of biases that actually make it to overstate the effectiveness of the inflation rate.
First and foremost, when the prices for products in the consumer basket substantially increases and consumers opt to substitute them with lower priced ones, there exist substitution biases. This is because the CPI cannot precisely predict the price increase effect on consumers’ budget given the fact that the CPI is based on a fixed-weight price index (Dullien & et al., 2018). Moreover, the CPI does not take into consideration new products when determining the index until they fundamentally become ordinary. Above all, sudden decline in product prices normally linked with new technology ones and advanced increase in life and usefulness of products are not whatsoever depicted in the index. Lastly, when consumers shift to new outlets, the CPI is unable to account for this given the fact that the product basket is predetermined. With this, the CPI is not able to precisely measure a change in the cost of living standard over time (Johnson, 2017).
Dependability of Government Tax Revenue and Spending on the Economy’s State
In any country, when the economy expands so does people’s income rises since more employment opportunities are created and people are employed. Even if the government cannot actually raise the taxation rate, it can still collect more taxes. This is because the tax revenue base keeps on becoming big as more and more people are able to secure employment and pay income taxes; hence, the government is able to increase its expenditure.
Contrary to this, when an economy is unable to create employment opportunities and citizens are unemployed, the tax revenue base is small since people have no income on which taxes can be levied from. Subsequently, the government is forced to reduce its expenditure whilst increasing borrowing in order to provide unemployment benefits. Thus, the nature and composition of an economy’s state influence government tax revenues, government expenditure and social welfare (Hakim, 2015).
Limitations of Gross Domestic Product as an Indicator of Living Standard and Unemployment
As the total monetary value of final output produce within a nation’s borders in a specified time period, the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is normally calculated either quarterly or annually. In essence, the GDP incorporates all total output of the country by adding up all private and public consumptions, government expenditure, investment, and net export to measure the economy’s overall activity as an indicator of nation’s economic health and its living standard (Dullien & et al., 2018). With this, the GDP measure a nation’s output produced and retailed in legal markets whilst omitting productive activities such as prostitution and individual fixation of water leak which have no market transactions; hence, the GDP does not perfectly measure the living standard within a certain country.
Unemployment, Inflation and Production
Moreover, the GDP does not measure the environmental quality in determining the living standard of the nation. By an economy having significant GDP does not necessarily indicate that its people have a quality life when air, water, soil or even other natural resources are actually polluted. In essence, the GDP totally fails to measure the contribution of environmental sustainability to the country’s living standard. Equally, the GDP does not take into account how leisure time actually contributes to the country’s living standard. Although a country can have higher GDP if its economy is 12 or 24 hours one, this does not imply that people are better off given the fact that leisure time is vital in living standard (Johnson, 2017).
Therefore, the prevalent alternative to GDP as an indicator of living standard is the Human Development Index (HDI). Besides considering a country’s GDP, the HDI emphasis on people more specifically on their opportunities to achieve work and live satisfaction. In essence, in addition to the GDP, the HDI uses health and education statistics to measure the living standard within a certain country. By partially using purchasing power, which measures the actual cost of the same basket of output produced with a country’s border, the HDI can adjust the GDP to better measure living standard of a country (Dullien & et al., 2018).
References
Dullien, S., Goodwin, N., Harris, J. M., Nelson, J. A., Roach, B., & Torras, M. (2018). Macroeconomics in Context. Routledge.
Hakim, T. A. (2015). Introduction to Macroeconomics.
Johnson, H. G. (2017). Macroeconomics and monetary theory. Routledge.
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Creating Competitive Advantage through the Application of Reverse Logistics in the Supply Chain Management
In every company, it is very important to attract new customers and retain the current customers on viable conditions. These actions cannot be accomplished in any single company without creating a competitive advantage. The main technique of creating a competitive advantage that a company can adopt is creating quality products or services than their competitors. They can also create products that the target customers would prefer than their alternatives. Many companies across the world have adopted reverse logistics as a strategy to increase competitive advantage. This is because this technique lowers supply cost in the supply chain.
Companies using reverse logistics can also reduce the opportunity cost of outdated products. Companies can also gain additional revenue and finally reduce the cost of operation. This is due to the fact that companies can be able to manage the flow of their products through the supply chain. Reverse logistics is also advantageous as it expands the global economy. Thus, reverse logistics can be defined as a process of controlling the flow of finished goods from their final destination back to the manufacturer for value addition so as to enable recycling or reuse or for proper disposal. Reverse logistics can be used to explain environmental externalities resulting from increased production and supply. The following essay will be on the theories that have been put in place in regard to creating competitive advantage through reverse logistics and evidence of the theories.
Theories in Reverse Logistics
The theory of reverse logistics has been gaining significant popularity for the organization across the world. This theory is essential for the cost-effective flow of the commodities that had been previously providing in the markets for the use by the consumers back to the organization. The theory of reverse logistics ensures that the organization can consider recycling and reuse of the previously supplied commodities as well as learn more about the market (Dowlatshahi, 2000: 1). This theory is used together with the theory of supply chain management. The theory of supply chain management ensures that the products flow from the point of production to the consumers is steady and maximized (Vural, 2015: 262). The theory of reverse logistics, therefore, can be used to ensure that the process of supply chain management is helpful to the organization. Supply Chain management theory helps the organization understand the methodologies that can be sued to maximize supply for the commodities through increase the demand and looking for new markets that have not be accessed before (Touboulic, and Walker, 2015: 3)
Reverse Logistics Concept in Supply Chain Management
The supply chain management deals with the flow of goods and services from the point of manufacturing to the point of consumers. The consumers are limited which make the organization selling a similar commodity to create a competitive advantage in order to outdo other fellow competitors (Mohamed and Omwenga, 2015: 45). The supply chain management requires an organization to apply various models in order to win the market. Some of the models that can embrace include the use of reverse logistics in the management of the supply chain and create a competitive advantage. The reverse logistics as defined in the introduction deals with the management of goods and services after they reach the market (Stănciulescu, 2011: 1). This idea means that the goods flow back to the organization for further management which ensures that the losses are minimized as well as optimizing the usages of the defective commodities (Menachof, et Al., 2009: 145).
In the market environment today, the consumers have a wide variety of goods and services providers. Therefore, the companies cannot sell all of their products at once. This means that the reverse logistics helps the company to manage the flow of goods from the flow of commodities from the manufactures to the consumers and managing those commodities that do not end up in the final consumers’ ownership. Reverse logistics can help the organization create a competitive advantage in that the commodities that are not sold will be managed for possible re-use (Stănciulescu, 2011: 2). On the other hand, the practices involved in the reverse logistics ensures that the organization minimizes the cost when some of the goods are recycled and reused in the organization’s activities (Vural, 2015: 265). This means that reverse logistics help the organization overcome the burden of surplus production wastage.
Moreover, management of the flow of goods and services enables the company to hire good and qualified staffs who are able to maintain the competitive advantages of the organization. Therefore, the reverse logistics practices can guide an organization to attract more consumers since the management of the flow of commodities from the manufacturer to the consumer is professional. Management of the surplus supply also requires professionalism hence the acquisition of qualified people in the supply chain management who can effectively apply reverse logistics can help an organization defeat the competitors in the markets.
Reverse logistics also refers to the process of ensuring the flow of raw materials is minimized. The low of these raw materials are from the consumers where they had maybe used the products of the organization and did not manage the waste properties. On the other hand, the management of the flow of goods from the consumers to the manufacturer can help the organization disposes of the waste properly hence helping the communities go green. Management of waste can be a good thing for the organization. This is because the environment which highly polluted with commodities and materials from a certain company, for example, the fast-food organization, can lead to discouragement from the potential consumers.
The efforts of keeping the environment clean can help the organization also minimize the cost wastage in dealing with problems associated with the dirty environments such as lack of clean water and raw materials due to global warming. In this regard, the consumers will not be happy with the company which is not managing the waste properly (Stănciulescu, 2011: 3). Therefore, the use of reverse logistics can help the organization acquire significant clean environment through recycling and reuse of the raw materials originating from the consumers.
Roles of Reverse Logistics
Through reverse logistic company can become efficient environmentally through recycling used products, reusing and minimization of the number of products used. Reduction of materials used in forwarding flow is one of the vital modes by which reverse logistics can work on. This reduces backflow of unused products and also reduces the damage of products as a result of over clumping when being transported (Mohamed, 2016:1). Recycling and reusing materials are very vital in the reduction of pollution it also allows products to move in reverse in the supply chain for the manufactures to reuse recycle and resells in subordinate markets. Many are the times when reverse logistic is confused with waste management but, there is a great difference between the two. In reverse logistic the materials that are recovered are revalued but waste management involves the collection of waste materials and treatment but these products are not assigned new roles. Reverse supply chain it entails all the activities that are involved in reusing, recycling, and final disposal of waste materials
Considering the entire word Europe has a waste management board which has directed all the firms to address their waste disposal in a manner that will cause little or no harm to the environment. The United States also has encouraged her firms to recover used products as this will minimize wastage and pollution in the country. In countries found in the Middle East which is an emerging market collection of waste products which is advised to be done by professionals sorting and transporting them is very much needed. In the third world countries which are also referred to as developing countries reverse logistic is known to add very low value to the recovered products this is as a result involvement of low reprocessing techniques. Reverse logistics if properly managed can lead to reduction of transport, disposal and procurement costs (Fleischmann et al, 2004:1). Due to increase in globalization and industrialization reverse logistic is expected to accelerate after some years especially in developing countries which in turn will lead to environment conservation and massive economic improvements.
Reverse Logistics and Competitive Advantage
We looked at the use of reverse logistics to ensure that the company management of the flow of goods is cost effective. This will help the company increase the wealth in the banks. As a result, the company will hence acquire an advantage over the struggling competitors. This is as a result of the reason that companies that do not use reverse logistics may be undergoing loses which could be easily avoided through the use of effective reverse logistics. The competition within the market and for the limited number of consumers is one of the determinants of how an organization functions within the market environment. Therefore, the use of reverse logistics ensures that the company is able to defeat the other companies in the same market and dealing with the same commodities and services. This can be achieved since the sue o reverse logistics enables an organization to acquire professional workers who will be able to manage the flow of commodities from the consumers as the origin and the company reuses the products or even disposes of them properly. On the other hand, reverse logistics ensures that the company is able to maintain a good relationship with the workers and the stakeholders.
One way that the stakeholders who include the customers are satisfied is through the application of reverse logistics to maintain a clean environment. If the company is able to maintain a clean environment where the consumers live, this will attract more consumers who will be willing to be associated with the organization (Aserkar, Kumthekar, and Aserkar, 2014: 228). This can only be effective if the company is able to apply the reverse logistics practices. This helps the organization to create a competitive advantage. This occurs since the consumers will have a good relationship with the company and do not refer to it as a polluter of the environment. The bottling companies which collect the used bottles for recycling have created confidence to the users of the products. Coca-Cola Company has created a competitive advantage through the application of reverse logistics. This company ensures that the used bottles are collected from the consumers and taken back to the company for reuse. This practice of reverse logistics helps this company in several ways (Lowe, 2017: 1).
To start with, the company reduces the cost of production. This is achieved since the bottles will be sued more than once hence the money which could have been used for the manufacture of other bottling equipment can be used elsewhere. Two, the company helps the environment to remain clean. This is an attraction to the end users who prefer a company that is promoting a green environment. Additionally, the company maintenance of the environment through the collection and recycling of bottling material helps to ensure that the raw material is always available. Coca-Cola Company uses a lot of water to manufacture the products (Lowe, 2017: 1). It is believed that the water to product value of 3:1. Therefore, reverse logistics enable the company to reduce environmental degradation (Mohamed and Omwenga, 2015: 45).
Another company that can apply the reverse logistics to have a competitive advantage is a fast-food company. This company can ensure that the leftovers are always collected and disposed of properly. The company in this industry can ensure that the tins and cans used to pack the fast foods are collected to ensure that the environment is not degraded. This can be achieved through the use of dustbins. The application of reverse logistics will ensure that the company installs dustbins in areas where the customers are likely to move when they purchase fast foods. Example, if a fast-food hotel is located near a beach or a people’s park, the dustbins can be distributed across the part or the beach.
Therefore, the consumers will not dispose of the packaging materials anyhow. However, they will put the materials in the dustbins which are labeled or branded to indicate which hotel has installed which dustbins. The collection of the debris in these dustbins can be of use to the organization in order to have a competitive advantage. To start with, the organization can screen the materials and see the waste products which can use again in the organization for the work they had been used for previously. That will ensure that there are cost management and minimization of production cost. As a result, the company or organization can be able to defeat the competitors through the accumulated funds which could otherwise be used for the production of new packaging materials.
On the other hand, the company can benefit through collecting the debris from the dustbin and disposing them properly. In many countries, there are set bodies that regulate pollution from the organization. Therefore, the collection of used materials and ensuring that they do of pollute the environment can be of help to help the organization adhere to the law and regulations concerning the management and maintenance of the environment (Aserkar, Kumthekar, and Aserkar, 2014: 228). Additionally, the members of the public who are the consumers will develop a close relationship with the organization that is managing the properties well. This will ensure that the company has less need to conduct intensive and aggressive advertisements in order to retain the consumers. On the other hand, the company will have a ready market for their products hence creating an advantage over the competitors (Vural, 2015: 265).
Reverse Logistics in Supply Chain Management
The reverse logistics also helps to maintain an agile supply chain (Elmas and Erdoğmuş, 2011: 161). This is a good way to ensure that the supply chain management id helping the organization benefit over the competitors. If the competitors are doing well in the market, an organization can be forced to either improve the services and good or exit the market. However, through the application of reverse logistics, the organization can improve its position in the market without being outplayed by the competitors. This can be achieved if the organization applies reverse logistics to acquire enough information concerning the issue of supply chain management. The return of goods initially provided or the market can be a source of useful information. The information helped the organization to understand which goods are doing well in the market. At the same time, the organization can use reverse logistics to acquire information about the commodities or services that are performing poorly in the markets (Elmas and Erdoğmuş, 2011: 164). This information is very necessary for the organization that is planning to win the competition battle among other potential competitors.
If the company realizes that certain products or service is not doing well in the market, they can either change the products and services or even abolish it can concentrate on the commodities that the company is doing extremely well. Unilever Company is one of the European based companies that was selling fast foods products. However, the application of reverse logistics helped the company identify the weakness in the market which led to massive losses due to dominance from fellow competitors such as McDonald’s. Therefore, the company stopped dealing with the consumable products and concentrated on the production and supply of dealing with product as us downy and baby products. This shows how a company can use reverse logistics to have a competitive advantage. The collection of the materials from the end users back to the company gives an overview of the market situation. The company can apply reverse logistics to ensure that the products which are not performing well in the market are removed from the manufactured commodities. This will help the company reduce the cost of operation as well as improve the performance in the market through concentrating on the good and services which are more likely to win the consumers in the limited market environment.
As a result, the company will have a competitive advantage since the cost of producing commodities that are bringing little or no returns will be eliminated. The specification is also a good way to ensure that the company’s dominance. Coca-Cola Company has dominated the beverages industry since the company has been concentrating on the sales of the soft drinks such as Coke Soda, Sprite, Fanta, among others (Coca-Cola, 2018: 1). The Coca-Cola Company had ventured into other practices such as selling fast foods and other branded commodities such as key holders, wallets, among others. Additionally, the company through the application of reverse logistics discovered that the used bottles for the coke brand are more compared to other products. Therefore, the concentration of the company developed along this line and most of the advertisements in the commercials have been focused on the major brands under this company.
However, if the company does not use reverse logistics, they cannot acquire enough information concerning the performance of the commodities in the market. This can make the organization to put more emphasis on the products that are not doing well in the market. However, acquiring enough information on the market will ensure that the company adopts supply chain management strategies that are helping to ensure that the competition is reduced and the organization has the ability to venture in the new markets through expanded revenue accumulation.
Reverse Logistics Common Practice
In order to make reverse supply management and logistics more efficient, a company has to have a deep understanding of areas of the business that is affected by recycling and returns. Measures and efforts should be employed to ensure that the component contributes to a positive stride (Govindan, and Popiuc, 2014: 3). To make the profit and ensure that the consumer attain maximum satisfaction, there are areas that the company needs to consider, and they include;
• Repairs and warranties which is a crucial area for the customer as there is need to inform them on the safety of the returned good. A company should have a number of ways to communicate with their customers such as creating a website or have a help desk as this will relieve their concern.
• Measurement of performance of goods particularly related to reverse supply chain e.g., checking on the sale of the returned goods, the percentage of returns, the growth or decline of returns year after another, the rate of asset utilization among others.
• Reason for return. The company must also find the reason for return. This will help to prevent processing of dishonest or stolen goods delivered. The company should therefore carry out analysis of the root-cause of good returned for processing. This is a key area in understanding business based on reverse logistic implication and coming up with strategies to close loop-holes for such good.
• Tractability is another key area that trace the flow of return to prevent mixing with items that are forward flowing.
• Company’s finance is another area and in order for the company to add value and profit, it should manage its finance issues to avoid causing bad relationship with customers, distributors as well as retailers. The companies should also check on taxes paid on return goods
• Optimization of logistics such as partnering with other parties that differ from them like in transporting goods makes increase logistic efficient on reverse-flow items. This makes it capable of improving its profit.
Deposition Strategies
Returned goods may be disposed of through various ways and the option or choice of deposing used should not only focus the profit but should consider other factors such as the satisfaction of the consumer and the image of the brand (Prahinski, and Kocabasoglu, 2006:6 These options include
• Remanufacturing or repair. Damaged goods or items that have not lost their identity are repaired and taken back to the market. However, there are factors that should be considered such as the cost the company uses to repair the item, the cost of transporting the repaired item as well as the market price of the refurbished commodity (Blackburn, et Al., 2004: 2). However, the company should identify remanufactured items from brand image to avoid posing risk. This is because consumers consider this item inferior. To avoid this, the company can give such item an image that appear more positive.
• Recycling. Recycling helps in recovering materials that are used to produce another new product. In this part the original identity of the item is lost. Factors such as the value to be reclaimed, the cost of transportation among others are considered. Recycling of some items e.g. electronic products brings out economic sense as such product minimizes the cost of mining and extracting metals.
• Discount sale. Companies may sometime sell returned goods on heavy discount. However care should be taken to avoid poisoning the customer perception on the brand image of the item and some may feel disappointed for paying less for same item.
• Energy regeneration. There are items that are not advisable to recycle such as food products. The company may use organic waste to generate renew energy through anaerobic digestion.
Screening of Retuned Goods
As mentioned above, one of the practices involved in the management of supply chain through the application of reverse logistics is the screening of goods. This practice ensures that the company has acquired enough information concerning the defective goods which are returned to the organization although they were previously in the markets. Screening of goods also enables the organization to improve on the goods before supplying them to the markets (Menachof, et Al., 2009: 148). A good example is a company that is dealing with selling o fast foods but the application of return logistics has enabled the collection of waste foods from the customers for proper management and disposal. These products can be screened so that the organization will understand the type of foods which are being disposed of frequently.
In a mixture of different foods which are packaged and supplied as a single commodity, the screening enables the organization to have a clear and vivid image of the market consumers and their preferences (Menachof, et Al., 2009: 146). Therefore, the company will take remedies and ensure that the supply of the commodities which are highly wasted is minimized (Billington, 1998: 24). On the other hand, the company can increase the supply of the materials which are highly consumed by the customers.
That is one of the strategies that reverse logistics can help an organization develop a competitive advantage. Understanding the customer’s needs is vital if the company is looking forward to maintaining their customers and at the same time attract more consumers. If a company does not understand what consumers need and preferences, the other companies that are dealing with the same consumer might take that advantage to provide precise services and commodities preferred by the consumers (Bowersox, 1999, 553). Many organizations have lost their market dominance after the consumers are not satisfied with the products being supplied.
Other companies have incurred losses for manufacturing surplus commodities and keeping them in the warehouse after the supply chain becomes extremely slow due to lack of ready markets (Al-Mashari, and Zairi, 2000: 31). The effects of such activities have been fatal for many companies which have dropped in the ranking or even lost the consumers’ trust altogether. Reverse logistics can, therefore, aids the company to provide the commodities that are best for the particular markets. The demand and supply which defines the nature of the supply chain in the organization can be affected by diverse situations.
The company can ensure that demand for the products is maximized through the application of reverse logistics and strengthening the noted weaknesses which influenced the return of goods previously supplied to the consumers in the markets. If the company is able to learn the market and treat the diverse situations appropriately, its competitive ability will be improved.
Conclusion
In conclusion, each and every company needs to maintain its customers and attract new customers. This is because the customers are the main source of profit in every company. A company creates a competitive advantage which helps it to outdo their competitors. While creating a competitive advantage the company must make sure that it is customers prefer their goods more than alternative goods.
Reverse logistics is one of the strategies used by most of the companies worldwide nowadays. This involves the companies are much involved in reuse and recycling of their used products. In the collection and recycling procedures, this reduces the production cost of most of the companies as fewer resources are needed to revalue products compared to production of new products. Reverse logistics have different practices which involve remanufacturing of products retuning of defective goods recycling and reuse of products.
References
Shad Dowlatshahi, (2000) Developing a Theory of Reverse Logistics. Interfaces 30(3):143-155.
Touboulic, A. and Walker, H., 2015. Theories in sustainable supply chain management: a structured literature review. International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management, 45(1/2), pp.16-42.
Vural C, 2015, Sustainable Demand Chain Management: An Alternative Perspective for Sustainability in the Supply Chain.
Liz Lowe, 2017, Sustainability and recycling: how the Coca-Cola system is fighting waste with sustainable packaging.
Coca-Cola Company, 2018, Sustainable Packaging.
Gabriela Cecilia Stănciulescu, 2011, Importance of Reverse Logistics for Retail Acts, The Bucharest Academy of Economic Studies Romani.
Güldem Elmas and Fevzi Erdoğmuş, 2011, The Importance of Reverse Logistics, International Journal of Business and Management Studies
Fleischmann, M., Bloemhof-Ruwaard, J. M., Beullens, P., & Dekker, R. (2004). Reverse logistics network design. In Reverse Logistics (pp. 65-94). Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg.
Govindan, K., & Popiuc, M. N. (2014). Reverse supply chain coordination by revenue sharing contract: A case for the personal computers industry. European Journal of Operational Research, 233(2), 3-5.
Blackburn, J. D., Guide Jr, V. D. R., Souza, G. C., & Van Wassenhove, L. N. (2004). Reverse supply chains for commercial returns. California management review, 46(2), 2.
Prahinski, C., & Kocabasoglu, C. (2006). Empirical research opportunities in reverse supply chains. Omega, 34(6), 5-7.
David A. Menachof, Brian J. Gibson, Joe B. Hanna, Anthony E. Whiteing, (2009) “An analysis of the value of supply chain management periodicals”, International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management, Vol. 39 Issue: 2, pp.145-165.
Dr. Rajiv Aserkar, Nihar Kumthekar and Shivani Aserkar, 2014, Investigating the Link between Supply Chain Performance and Brand Performance, International Journal of Humanities and Social Science.
Billington, C., Lee, H. L., & Tang, C. S. (1998). Successful strategies for product rollovers. Sloan Management Review, Sparing, 23-30.
Lee, H.L.(1996). Effective inventory and service management through product and process redesign. Operations Research 44 (1), 151-159.
Al-Mashari, M., Zairi, M. (2000). Supply chain re-engineering using enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems: an analysis of SAP R/3 implementation case. International Journal of Physical Distribution and Logistics Management 30 (3/4), 26-31.
Mohamed, K. S. & Omwenga, J. (2015). Supply chain risks mitigation strategies adopted by manufacturing firms in Kenya: A case of Coca Cola Company (K). International Academic Journal of Procurement and Supply Chain Management, 1 (4), 45-65
Did you find any useful knowledge relating to reverse logistics within SCM in this post? What are the key facts that grabbed your attention? Let us know in the comments. Thank you.
Gender stratification is the unequal distribution of power, wealth and privileges across genders. It is usually characterized by sexism, sex roles, patriarchy, feminism, the glass ceiling, and institutionalized sexism. Gender and sex are two unmistakable words that have been misjudged and abused in the community today. Gender means the social and cultural behaviors whereas sex refers to the biological characteristics of men and women. Stratification by gender is exchanged starting with one age then onto the next as these practices are acquired. This paper focuses on the social construction of gender, evidence of gender inequality and the implication of how we see gender.
Gender impacts control dispersion of power distribution and how we organize our society. Roles according to gender determine how women and men should speak, think and interact with society. These roles are adopted during the early growth of babies, they spread until adulthood and influence people in every aspect of life (Ridgeway, 2011). Home is where children are ensnared to gender values, standards and esteems. At the moment a child is born he or she is assigned sex immediately and thus shapes how they should be treated, the opportunities they should be given and how they should behave. Girls have their own colors, toys, and interests as compared to boys. For example, in the summary, we see that Harry did like pink shading as well as drew himself as a young lady and also trusted that he was a girl. This is contrary to how boys are expected to behave and hence it’s against the norms of society.
Gender Stratification Dissertation
Patriarchy is commonly practiced among many societies where men have more power in regard to other genders. Patriarchy contributes a lot to rise in gender inequality as women are seen as the minority. In some developing countries, ladies are denied the privilege to cast a vote and leadership positions. Notwithstanding when there is no boundary for the female to take the position of leaders, the community cannot vote for them as they are seen as week and inferior (Christopher , Mendelberg, & Shaker 2012). Developed governments have put in place regulations that ensure that 3% of the leaders must be women. There are also leadership positions secured for women only and men are not allowed to participate. Families which do not have a man or a boy are considered as weak and needy in the society hence showing the extent of gender inequality as a result of patriarchist.
Gender Stratification in the Workplace
Gender stratification is also evident in the work environment where there is a lot of inequality between men and women. Normally employed women end up doing a ‘second shift’ as they do housework and take care of the children after returning from work. There is a great disadvantage as women don’t have time to concentrate on their carrier a compared to men due to pregnancies and marriage. There is also a high salary gap between men and women due to several factors such as education choices, distinct job preferences, and skills required on the job (Greene, Marie & Smith, 2015). Many technical companies tend to prefer men during employment as men seem fitter than women. Currently, women have tried and re willing to take male occupations such as doctors, mechanics, and engineers. Contrary, there are very few men that are willing to take female occupations such as nursing as such jobs are vied to be light and only women can take them.
The glass ceiling is another contributor to gender stratification. This alludes as an undetectable hindrance in the general public that keeps the feeble gender from acquiring high-level positions. Despite women having achievements and qualifications higher than men, they cannot be promoted as those barriers always exist when factors such as experience, education, and ability are considered (Beeghley, 2015). The effects of glass ceiling are more evident with higher income occupations and high-powered jobs hence there are very few women holding these positions. As a result of women being denied these positions, the effects of gender inequality increase as men get more superior than women.
At last, education imbalance is a typical factor in establishments and the community. In many upcoming nations, ladies are denied the rights to education since they are considered for marriage and dealing with the youngsters (Williams & Christine, 2013). This is clear as there is a low populace of young ladies in the instruction institutions because of early pregnancies and early marriages. There are causes that require time and commitment hence it is hard for women to per sue them. A boy in a family is expected to choose a cause that is said to be that of men while a girl is expected to choose the one said to be that of women (Hacker, 2017). Currently, there is an availability of birth pills hence can avoid pregnancies and can give themselves time to chase their careers.
In conclusion, it is observed that gender stratification is an enemy to the development and should be avoided at all costs. The society should be educated on gender inequality and its effects through social protection programs and how it should be avoided. Women should fight for equality to be given the same opportunities as men. Furthermore, men should acknowledge the power of women, skills and treat them with fairness. The world cannot move forward without gender equity hence women should be empowered in society.
References
Ridgeway, C. L. (2011). Framed by gender: How gender inequality persists in the modern world. Oxford University Press.
Williams, C. L. (2013). The glass escalator, revisited: Gender inequality in neoliberal times, SWS feminist lecturer. Gender & Society, 27(5), 609-629.
Karpowitz, C. F., Mendelberg, T., & Shaker, L. (2012). Gender inequality in deliberative participation. American Political Science Review, 106(3), 533-547.
Beeghley, L. (2015). The Structure of Social Stratification in the United States, The, CourseSmart eTextbook. Routledge.
Greene, B. M., & Smith, R. A. (2015). Gender Inequality in the Workplace.
Hacker, S. (2017). Pleasure, power and technology: Some tales of gender, engineering, and the cooperative workplace. Routledge.
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