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Started in 2011 by John Dudovskiy, research-methodology.net is an educational portal that offers knowledge, resources and practical insights for conducting business studies. John Dudovskiy is a seasoned dissertation adviser and he has experience in assisting hundreds of students with their dissertations, reports and essays in business discipline. All materials published at research-methodology.net are designed to support and inspire professionals and students at all levels to conduct studies in the area of business. The portal offers free and premium articles, essays and reports and e-books that have been authored by qualified academics in business studies with practical business management experience. An effective combination of academic qualifications and practical experience in the industry possessed by authors writing for this portal increases the relevance and quality of our company reports. Passion for business from academic perspective is the main attribute of authors contributing to this portal. Research Methodology is developed according to the following principles: 1. Simplicity in formulation and explanation of complex business models and theoretical frameworks 2. Illustration of application of business models and theoretical frameworks using well-known multinational enterprises as case studies 3. Explanation of business models and theoretical frameworks by referring to real-life business issues and events in the industry 4. Consistently increasing the scope of content remaining true to the motto of the portal Necessary Knowledge to Conduct a Business Research Two important qualities separate Research Methodology from others in the segment: Comprehensiveness. No other source provides SWOT, PESTEL, value chain and Porter’s five forces analysis, as well as, analysis of marketing strategy and CSR practices of major multinational businesses as a single report. Research Methodology is the only portal that offers documents containing the application of the most popular strategic analytical tool using the case study of famous multinational brands within the scope of a single report. The…
It has been stated that “reward management deals with the strategies, policies and processes required to ensure that the contribution of people to the organisation is recognised by both financial and non-financial means” (Armstrong, 2007, p.3). To put it simply rewards are used in order to thank employees, for their increased performances and more importantly, to motivate and inspire them to achieve greater results in the future, therefore, effective reward management systems are crucial to the successful implementation of SHRM. The aims of reward management are listed by Wood (2009) as rewarding employees according to the value created by them, relating the reward practices to the individual employee needs and values, communicating specific messages to the stakeholders in general and to employees in particular through rewards, attracting highly qualified and competent workforce, and motivating employees for high-level performances. Important components of an effective reward management system are specified by Armstrong (2007) as reward philosophy, distributive justice, procedural justice, fairness, equity, consistency, transparency, strategic alignment, conceptual and culture fit, as well as fitting for purpose. Each of these issues needs to be addressed by management in an effective manner in order to maximise the output of reward initiatives. Rewards are usually divided into two groups: tangible and intangible. The most popular forms of tangible rewards include monetary rewards, in the forms of pay-raises and bonuses and other tangible items such as holidays, gifts, free samples of products etc. Intangible rewards, on the other hand, include verbal and written appraisals, appreciation letters, articles in the company and local press etc. The choice between tangible and intangible rewards depends on a range of factors that include cultural background of employees, their personal values, characteristics and traits etc. However, Wood (2009) informs that according to the latest studies intangible rewards in general and the…
By John Dudovskiy
Category: HRM
Effective employment relationships within companies have been recognised to be one of the crucial conditions of succeeding in the marketplace in all industries, including events industy. Therefore, all factors affecting the level of employment relationships within organisations in direct and indirect ways need to be analysed in great detail. Moreover, companies need to promote the factors positively affecting the level of employee relationships at the same time when eliminating the factors with negative effects. Personality can be defined as “the overall profile or combination of stable psychological attributes that capture the uniqueness nature of a person” (Hellriegel and Slocum, 2007, p.42). And “the personality of a person has a bearing on his performance and impression” (Bhatti, 2009, p.3). The nature of personality of an individual has specific impacts on people who interact with that person and the impact is even greater in manager-subordinate type of interactions. According to Adair (2007), the personality of people working in management positions plays significant role in employee motivation, and consequently in achieving organisational aims and objectives. The author rightly argues that managers with such personality attributes as leadership, compassion and effective communication skills are able to motivate the workforce with minimum use of tangible resources. Likewise, managers whose personalities lack important attributes such as leadership and interpersonal skills are most likely to face challenges in terms of motivating their employees and such a scenario would adversely affect the overall work environment and productivity of the organisation. The issue of the personality of managers has even greater implications in the context of event organisations in UK. This is because the successful organisation of special events depends on the level of motivation and enthusiasm of events participants in general, and event staff and volunteers in particular (Matthews, 2008). Moreover, such elements as creativity and originality play…
Business researchers and practitioners agree on the idea that “successful entrepreneurship relies heavily on access to social networks, which provide both, information and trust. Membership of a network not only provides useful contacts that can be trusted – it can also enhance an entrepreneur’s own reputation for trustworthiness” (Casson and Buckley, 2010, p.150). There are many global and local networks with a strong entrepreneurship focus such as Chambers of Commerce, Trade Unions, Freemasons, Trade Associations, Quakers, Business Incubators and others. Each of these networks has its own admission rules, structure, customs etc. and offer business, social and economic values in a unique manner. This article represents a brief analysis of Freemasons, one of the most secret organisations in the world, with the focus on the value the organisation offers in terms of entrepreneurial networking. There are more than six million Freemasons with more than quarter of million Freemasons under United Grand Lodge of England alone (FAQ, United Grand Lodge of England, 2011, online). The popularity of topics associated with Freemasons are increasing in the media for the reasons covered further in this paper. A Brief History of Freemasons There are contradictory opinions in various sources about the origins of Freemasons. It has been stated that “one of Freemasonry’s alleged origins dates back to the building of Solomon’s Temple in Jerusalem from 970 to 931 B.C.” (Karg and Young, 2009, p.13). According to Jacob (2007) Freemasonry has started by labour leaders and stonecutters in the Middle Ages. Men who were the representatives of other professions than workers in stone stated to be admitted into the organisation starting from 1640s in English, later in Scottish Lodges, and they were referred to as admitted or accepted Masons (Hodapp, 2007). Ridley (2011) informs that the first Grand Lodge, the Grand Lodge of England…
It has been established that “special events are widely recognised as being a growth sector of the tourism industry with potential to generate substantial economic benefit for the city, township or region involved” (Tonge, 2010, p.5). Therefore, it is important to explore the quality issues associated with special event management in order to maximise the economic benefits of special events in various levels. According to Tum et al (2006) the management of special events can be distinguished from many other types of businesses with increased level of influence of human factor on the success of special events, as well as, the increased probability of occurrence of unforeseen circumstances. This situation makes ensuring the high quality in special events a challenging task to accomplish and assigns extra responsibilities for special event managers. Both, special event researchers and practitioners agree about the importance of quality in the provision of special events in a successful manner. Allen (2010) links the increasing importance of quality in special events to dramatically intensifying level of competition in the marketplace. According to ‘UK Events Market Trends Survey’ conducted by industry association Eventia, 1.3 million events have been staged during the year of 2010 and the market size for the year is estimated to be 16.3 billion GBP (Quainton, 2011, online). Such intense level of competition leaves special event companies searching for competitive edge in order to survive in the marketplace and providing high level of services has been acknowledged as one of the most effective sources of competitive edge. Some of the challenges faced by service organisations in general, and special events organisers in particular directly relate to the nature of the business and are not shared by the businesses operating in manufacturing industry. Specifically, it has been stated that “the definitions that aimed to describe services…
Several decades ago there was a global social pattern where husbands were considered to be the breadwinners, whereas wives stayed at home and were mainly engaged in bringing up their children and doing household chores. However, this pattern has changed dramatically and irreversibly in global level in general and in Europe and USA in particular. As a result, today both, husbands and wives have their own career aspirations and this has caused a range of implications for their families, as well as, organisations employing them. Dual-career couple has been defined as “a married couple where both husband and wife have different careers” (HR Dictionary, 2011, online). “For dual-career couples and working women, balancing work demands with personal and family responsibilities is difficult to do” (Jackson and Mathis, 2007, p.295), and the situations becomes even more challenging where dual career couples have a child or children. Organisations have to introduce specific measures and initiatives in order to assist their dual-career couples and parent employees to achieve work-life balance, and thus to achieve their commitment and contribution to the achievement of organisational objectives in an effective manner. The Issues Associated with Dual-Career Couples and Parent Employees It is a fact nowadays that “the number of dual-career couples is increasing and the trend is worldwide. DuPont, for example, has 3,500 dual-career couples in the workforce of 100,000” (Aswathappa and Dash, 2007, p.160). Werner and DeSimone (2009) explain this dramatic increase in the numbers of dual career couples with increasing role and rights of woman in society and changing family values. From a purely economical viewpoint increasing numbers of dual career couples, as well as, parent employees is considered to be a positive tendency, because this will positively contribute to the level of tax revenues and value creation and ultimately, increasing standard of…
By John Dudovskiy
Category: HRM
There are vast differences between working life in UK and China that relate to many aspects of employment. At the same time there are still some similarities between the workplaces in above two countries as well. The main points relating to the differences can be summarised into the following three points: First, there are different perception of working hours in UK and China. In UK usually the working hours are fixed, and the cases of employees working beyond their working hours are rare, and even in these occasions they get paid for overtime. In China, on the other hand, although there are specific contracted hours for employees, nevertheless, the cases of employees staying beyond their contracted hours without additional payment are commonplace. Second, there are different management styles in UK and China. Specifically, in UK the majority of managers practice democratic and participative management styles, and assign a part of the decision making function to their subordinates, by involving them in decision making process. In an eastern country like China, on the other hand, managers have paternity and authoritative management style, and the occasions where employees are involved in decision making are not common (Wood, 2009). Third, there are differences in motivation between UK and Chinese managers. Financial rewards are considered to be one of the most effective motivational tools in UK workplaces. On the other hand, “while additional money may motivate Chinese employee, they will not generally demand rises directly. As members of collectivist society, the Chinese are more likely to see success or failure as a group effort, leading to group recognition and raises rather than individual rewards” (Silvermore, 2005, p.116). Fourth, there are vast differences in duration of employment between UK and China. In UK it is popular among employees to change companies every several years caused…
The level of effectiveness of people working in the position of Chief Executive Officer (CEO) is important not only for the well-being of employees working for the same company, but to the state of the national economy in general. Therefore, it has to be insured that only people with relevant skills, character, experience and knowledge are employed in such a responsible position. This first part of the report discusses working conditions, rewards and main tasks of CEOs, as well as briefly analyses qualifications, personal characteristics and skills CEOs must posses. Moreover, CEO person specification is also provided in the first part of the report. CEO Working Conditions, Rewards and Main Tasks CEO’s working conditions are perceived to be posh and luxurious with fashionable and highly expensive office furniture, usually grandiose design and latest technological appliances. However, Burke and McDonald (2010) warn not to be mislead with the perception of comfort associated with the role of CEO and mention such elements as increasingly long working hours, and huge amount of stress to be associated with the role. CEO’s usually receive remuneration packages that are highly attractive and include basic pay, usually in six digit figured, bonuses and a wide range of other perks, such as company cars, free insurance, and in some instances even free homes. Moreover, even when CEOs have to leave their position due to some reasons they are offered a considerable sum of payment, known as a golden parachute. According to Canals (2010) CEO’s main tasks can be summarised to the following points: a) Implementing the mission and values of company; b) Leadership development c) Allocating resources in an efficient manner d) Maximising operational efficiency e) Implementing operational design Qualifications for CEO There is no specific formal qualification requirements for individuals aspiring to the corporate executive…
According to the UK Office for National Statistics (2010), the following figures represent the extent of e-commerce in UK during the year of 2009: The total amount of e-commerce sales by non-financial businesses reached £403.8 billion (24.9% increase from 2008) The volume of sales conducted over a web-site amounted to £115.0 billion The volume of e-commerce non-website sales have assessed to reach £293.3 billion The volume of businesses sold over a website amounted to 14.9%, and 6.9% of businesses have been sold over alternative platforms than websites, such as ICTs The amount of businesses purchased over computer networks were assessed to be 51.9%, and its value £466.3 billion Totally, 76.0% of businesses were found to own a website Moreover, it has been estimated that “online shoppers in UK are expected to spend £162 billion ($336 billion) per year on product via the internet by 2020” (Conrady, 2010, p.251). The above figures indicate that the significance, size, and scope of e-commerce are increasing in UK, as well as in a global level. Therefore, there are realistic reasons to believe that the demand for competent e-commerce marketing managers will increase significantly in the future, and this makes the career choice of the author of this paper wise and effective. References Conrady, R, 2010, Trends and Issues in Global Tourism, Springer Publications E-Commerce and ICT Activity 2009, 2010, UK Office for National Statistics
By John Dudovskiy
Category: Industry Analysis