Performance Criteria Identified By Hillgren And Morse Essay

Performance Criteria Identified By Hillgren And Morse - Essay Example Hillgren and Morse (1998) established that similarities exist among high performing organizations. Their view of such organizations is based on financial accomplishments, employee motivation as well as service delivery and customer satisfaction. This paper critically compares the performance of Abercrombie and Fitch against the four performance criteria identified by Hillgren and Morse (1998). The multinational company deals with designer clothes. The paper highlights some practical examples related to the concepts, ideas and insights from their article titled â€Å"high performing organizations†. High Performing Organizations Direction is one of the basic elements identified by Hillgren and Morse (1998). Leaders need to ensure that the subordinates understand the organization’s principles. These are fundamental to its existence. The visionary leadership of Abercrombie and Fitch promotes a sense of purpose in the organization. The leaders understand the company’s vision and apply their skills to entrench creativity among the workers. Sensitization of employees regarding the achievement of the organization’s vision and core values is done regularly through staff meetings and weekly forums, which ensures that all team players in the various departments understand their roles in enhancing success. The sensitization approach corresponds to Hillgren and Morse’s assertion of â€Å"a clearly articulated and frequently communicated vision† (p 9), which is significant for high performing organizations. Behaviourization of values as proposed by Hillgren and Morse gives Abercrombie and Fitch a unique characteristic that enhances customer satisfaction. One of the core values is to ensure customer focused service delivery that is based on their needs rather than the company’s interests. Workplace diversity promotes strong interpersonal relationships among the staff, which helps in building talents and encouraging creativity. Exceptional contribution among staff is acknowledged and rewarded. The leaders act as role models of the organizational behaviour. Integrity is upheld and words correspond to the actions of staff members. The value metrics highlighted by Hillgren and Morse have been adopted by Abercrombie and Fitch. They help in establishing the level of customer satisfaction, which signifies the level of collaboration among staff. Value metrics are also significant in determining whether the organizational values have been upheld in service delivery to customers. Bhatt (2002) observed that â€Å"anything that gets measured gets done† (p 28). Abercrombie and Fitch’s value metrics are focused on the priority areas that are likely to be affected by the dynamics of the operating environment. For example, customers’ feedback offers a basis for the assessment of the level of satisfaction. After interacting with the company’s employees, the customers are given a chance to confi dentially rate and comment the quality of service offered to them. The management is able to determine the areas that require improvements as well as those that require reinforcement through assessing positive and negative feedbacks from consumers. The suggestion box also provides an opportunity to assess the organization’s leadership as well as the priority areas that need further consideration. Performance measurement is significant in assessing progress and planning for future improvements (Edwards et al. 2007). It helps in determining staff awareness regarding the direction of the organization. Abercrombie and F

Prison-Building in the UK Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Prison-Building in the UK - Essay Example How a job is going to be attained is an issue that relates mainly to procurement. There are three different main routes of procurement which one could follow. The first option is perhaps the most obvious, PFI (private finance initiative) procurement, is classic and actually quite attractive. For the purposes of this project, PFI will not be used. However it is helpful to know what it is exactly. Private finance initiatives are usually used when the public sector arranges to buy services, with very empirically-based outcomes from the private sector. This is ongoing for a long time, which includes the maintenance and/or construction of the appropriate designs so that management by the private sector is maximized by the private finance being at a high risk. Next, which is not as innately apparent, is prime contracting. In this instance, a sole contractor is in the place of being the point man for a client in the public realm to produce deliverable goods-such as a completed construction project with budgetary constraints. The next and final procurement option is design and build, wherein one contractor, also indebted to a client in the public realm, has a single outcome specified. Unlike the prime contracting model, there is no pre-agreed cost data. Basically, the fact that these prisons are not being built with private finance initiative procurement is problematic. First, the fact that the money being spent would be taken from private funding would ensure that the public was not being swindled. Secondly, if something went wrong with the project, the money being spent would not be public monies. In fact, the fact that the monies that will be spent are public monies is highly problematic. How then does the prison industry make sure that it is being faithful to its intended purpose (housing prisoners). Someone, if this is public funds being used, must be kept accountable in terms of how the public's money or tax dollars are being spent. Private finance initiative pro curement monies would be safer to use because if the money is not utilized properly, the private sector could more easily sue for damages. However, since the money is the public's money, the public does not necessarily have a representative in place to represent their interests, needs, and wants with regard to how the project is coming along. In this way, there is much more potential for abuse when it comes to the public's money being spent on the prison programme. SECTION II. III. Question II In the opinion of Ramus, et. al. (2006), "After a client has selected an appropriate procurement strategy for his building project, the next stage will be a review of how best to obtain the resources that will be necessary for him to have the work carried out. In most instances, client organizations will have limited skills and resources" (pp. 68). There are four different types of contracts which could be utilized in this situation: a contract based on bills of