5-8 paragraphs and 1 chart

After receiving a positive response from StopNShopToday, Inc. management about the recommendations for the incentives and performance appraisal projects, the HR generalist has been assigned a project that will prove to be very challenging: assessing the competitiveness of the company benefits package.

The owners of StopNShopToday, Inc. are very concerned about the escalation of health insurance costs. When they started the business in 1991, benefit costs were much less and employees were happier with what the company provided. Now, however, the owners regularly hear employee complaints about the growing health insurance premiums they pay.

In addition, the owners are tired of employees always requesting that they be allowed to take a greater number of paid personal absence days. Scheduling employee vacations and holidays is difficult because the company’s store locations are open all day and every day, except for Christmas and New Year’s day. As a result, the owners want to compare StopNShopToday, Inc.’s benefits package with other similar companies. They intend to use these facts to make better decisions and communicate their problems more accurately to employees.

As the HR generalist, you quickly realize that the corporation had never quantified the total costs of benefits. After 1 month of exhaustive review of benefits bills and payroll records, you have summarized the corporate compensation and benefits costs as seen in the following:

Percent of Total Compensation:

• Total wages and salaries: 50%
• Total benefits costs: 25%
• Paid leave: 5%
• Supplemental leave: 2%
• Insurance: 6%
• Retirement and savings: 2%
• Legally required benefits: 10%
• Other benefits: 0%

With this information, you will now attempt an external benefits comparison. To get benefits data from other companies, review the following data from the U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics. Some of the most pertinent survey results are in Appendix A.

Click here to view the U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics 2005 data.

Click here to view the U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics 1986–2001 data.

Prepare a comparison of the compensation and benefits costs that you will deliver to the company’s owners. Create at least 1 chart to visually depict the most relevant data. Address the issues of greatest concern to the owners. Provide several paragraphs to summarize your findings. Use Appendix A or additional data provided in the U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics documents.

Instructions

Select a current, professional journal article that is at least three pages in length. You must write a critical assessment of this article for this assignment. Keep in mind, the research databases found in the CSU Online Library are a great source for quick exploration of thousands of articles.

In preparation, follow the guidelines established below:

Find an article (that is less than five years old) that pertains to the important issues leaders or consultants will face when working with various types of teams, and discuss what methods are best to use for developing better teams for the future. Be sure to annotate the author’s main points and thesis statement in your own words.

The critique should be approximately three pages in length (not counting the title and reference pages). The assignment is due at the completion of Unit VIII. Plan early to avoid missing the deadline.

Part I: IntroductionStart the critique with the following information: the author’s name, the article title, and the author’s thesis statement.

Part II: SummarySummarize the author’s purpose and main points, providing examples for clarity of understanding the author’s intended implications. Share key topics that support the author’s focus for this article. Provide ample details to enlighten the reader as to what the article is implying for audiences who are seeking research data about team building and/or the different types of teams (e.g., virtual, temporary, traditional, or innovative).

Part III: Review and EvaluateTo critically review the article, ask the following questions:

• What are the credentials/areas of expertise of the author?
• Did the author use appropriate methods to gather the evidence?
• Did the author use accurate evidence?
• Does the author’s use and interpretation of this evidence lead the reader to the same conclusion? Did the author build a logical argument?
• Is there other evidence that would support a counterargument?
• Was the author successful in making his/her point?

Part IV: ConclusionState whether you agree with the author or not. Back up your decisions by stating your reasons. Give a general opinion of the work. Explain what you learned from reading the article and if you would recommend it to a friend/coworker.

Part V: ApplicationPredict some of the major challenges that teams will face in the future, and explain why the need for teamwork will remain high as it relates to the article. Identify a team-building activity that may be useful for managing teams in the future, and explain why.

Format your paper using APA style. Refer to the resources provided in the Student Portal. Use your own words and expressions to write the critique. Include citations and references as needed to avoid plagiarism. The paper should consist of three pages of body paragraphs, one title page, and one reference page (as the final page).

Week 5 Discussion 2

Due on or before Wednesday, June 21, 2017 at 9:00 p.m. CST

Understanding the responsibility and concerns of healthcare is important in creating policies that leadership can use to streamline success. If strategic leadership is not realized over time,  healthcare organizations’ political influences may face challenges and create public disinterestedness in health policies.  These issues create restrictions  on the healthcare organization’s ability to meet its financial budget, gain community’s trust and involvement, and secure  political influence(s). This negatively impacts the overall performance of the healthcare organization. The ideas of process innovation, risk taking, health building analysis, and governance greatly impacts “sense-making” for those being led. These ideas bring understanding to the role of governance in the organization. Review the case study “Australian Surgery Indicator Makes the Front Page” in Chapter 15 of your textbook and discuss the following questions in a minimum of 250 words:

• After your review, do the conclusions you draw from the case justify the headline? Why or why not?   
• Discuss the indications found in Table 15-1 and their effect on the health care organizations efficiency in elective surgery.
• Evaluate the avoidable rate of canceled surgeries and develop an implementation plan to overcome the concerns.

 Unit III Discussion Board QuestionCOLLAPSE

Unit III focuses on leadership behavior and motivation, and this discussion board serves as an opportunity to tie-in the previous unit (trait theory) with leadership behavior and motivation. Analyze the leadership behavior and motivation of a manager or leader from your current or a former employer. In your discussion, include the following:

(a) Discuss this leader’s behavior by applying one of the leadership theories discussed in Chapter 3 (e.g., University of Iowa leadership styles, University of Michigan leadership model, Ohio State University leadership model, leadership grid).

(b) What motivates this leader’s behavior? Discuss your observations of this leader’s motivation by applying one of the motivation theories discussed in Chapter 3 (e.g., hierarchy of needs theory, two-factor theory, acquired needs theory, balancing work-life needs, equity theory, expectancy theory, goal setting theory, reinforcement theory).