Case Study Situation Go Fast Essay Example for Free

Case Study Situation Go Fast Essay Situation Go Fast is a motorcycle manufacturer in the southern United States. Though sales have been steady, profits have declined because of increasing operational costs. The Board of Directors felt a fresh look at the operations side was needed. They developed a 5-year plan to increase operating efficiency and set out to find someone to lead the effort. Four months ago, GO FAST found what they saw as â€Å"the person† to be the new operations director and develop a new operational plan to reduce costs. Jill Jones had an outstanding reputation as operations director for a manufacturer of a closely related product. While she was located in a different state and was happy with her current job and lifestyle, she found the 5-year plan exciting. Besides, the offer was too tempting to refuse. Jill was offered the position, including a substantial increase in salary and benefits. She accepted the job, sold her home, and purchased a home near her new job. Her husband runs an in-home business and her children had adapted well to the new community and schools. She did not have a written contract, but was promised a great future with GO FAST and was given a salary of $90,000 per year. With the economic downturn, sales for this past year were the lowest in five years. The company needs to make drastic cost reductions or it could face bankruptcy. All senior managers agreed to a 25% pay cut. Several other high-paid positions will be eliminated. Among them is Jill Jones’ operations director position. Published by DECA Related Materials. Copyright  © by DECA Inc. No part of this publication may be reproduced for resale without written permission from the publisher. Printed in the United States of America. YOUR CHALLENGE The CFO has been asked by the board of directors to investigate GO FAST’S obligation to Jill Jones. You have been assigned the task of doing research. The board of directors assumes their agreement with Mrs. Jones is â€Å"terminable-at-will† based on the law in the state, and therefore GO FAST has no obligation to her. You will prepare recommendations to be presented to the chief financial officer (CFO). Since the decision is ultimately up to the CFO, your presentation should include, at a minimum: 1. How you expect Jill would react to the board’s hard-line approach. 2. Possible ways to deal with Mrs. Jones’ situation, including the positives and negatives of each. 3. Of these, you are to advise the CFO on the best course of action, and how to present it to Jill. While the financial challenges of the company are not a secret, Jill does not yet know that her position has been targeted for elimination. Your presentation to the CFO will begin in one hour. As part of your research you have pulled a copy of The Fair Debt Collections Practices Act, as well as cases related to this issue (see reference information provided). The information in THIS section is the result of research done specifically for this case situation, and has been given to you to help you prepare your recommendations within the allotted time. The judges will also receive this information, in addition to the Case Study Situation and Your Challenge as presented. BACKGROUND INFORMATION The following information provides background related to this situation. State Employment Law Under state law, employment generally is considered to be at will, terminable by either party at any time. This means that an employer may terminate an employee with or without just cause, in the absence of an agreement limiting the employee’s discharge to just cause or specifying the term of the employment. Even where an employer makes assurances seeming to mean job permanence, such assurances are generally considered mere statements of policy indicating only at-will employment. However, state courts have also held that employee personnel manual provisions, if they meet the requirements for formation of a unilateral contract, may become enforceable as part of a contract of employment. An agreement which includes a promise from one party but not from the other is called a unilateral contract. A unilateral contract is, for example, where an employer promises to pay a certain wage if an employee does a certain task for a certain period of time. The employee’s performance of that task for that time makes him or her entitled to the promised wages. The promise of employment on particular terms of unspecified duration, if presented in the form of an offer and accepted by the employee, will create a binding unilateral contract. These types of actions are referred to as â€Å"promissory estoppel† actions and they provide an exception to the employment-at-will doctrine. In order to constitute a contract, the employer’s personnel policy as set out in the personnel policy handbook must be more than a general statement of policy and must provide reasonably definite terms for a fact finder to interpret and apply in determining whether there has been a breach of the contract arising from that handbook. General statements of policy by an employer do not meet the contractual requirements of an offer. Employees frequently couple claims that certain oral representations constitute an enforceable agreement with assertions that certain actions by the employer create an implied contract to terminate only for good cause. For example, employees often contend that an employer has established a custom and practice such that employees are permitted to continue employment until retirement unless discharged for good and sufficient cause. Such an allegation does not meet the requirement of a definite offer. Similarly, an employer’s commendations and approval of the employee’s performance do not alter the employee’s at-will status. Severance pay is not required by legislation. Where it is provided by an employer or labor agreement, it must not be administrated in a discriminatory manner. Where it is provided, severance pay is considered wages in this state. The method of payment of severance pay may delay the employee’s eligibility for unemployment compensation benefits. Promissory Estoppel The state Supreme Court recognized that, despite the absence of a contract in fact, courts may imply the existence of a contract in law by utilizing the principle of promissory estoppel. The doctrine of promissory estoppel is applicable when: 1. A promise has been made; 2. The promissory reasonably expected to induce action of a definite and substantial character by the promise; 3. The promise in fact induces such action; 4. The circumstances require the enforcement of the promise in order to avoid injustice. An estoppel may arise from a promise of future performance. The doctrine of promissory estoppel is based in a promise which the promisor should reasonably expect to induce action of forbearance of a definite and substantial character on the part of the promise and which induces such action or forbearance and is binding if injustice can be avoided only by enforcement of the promise. Under the theory of promissory estoppel, liability on a contract may ensue even if the detriment incurred by one party is not bargained for where it can be shown that the promisor should reasonably have expected its promise to induce another’s detrimental action. The impairment-of-contract clause in the state’s constitution applies to an implied-in-law obligation created by promissory estoppel. The effect of promissory estoppel is to imply a contract in law where none exists in fact. When a promise is enforced pursuant to the doctrine of promissory estoppel, the remedy granted for the breach may be limited as justice requires; relief may be limited to damages measured by the promise’s reliance. RELATED CASE PRECEDENTS INFORMATION The following information is designed to provide samples of cases that may influence decisions made related to the case situation. The participants must decide what, if any, relevance these Related Case Precedents have on this Case Study Situation. Grouse v. Plan, Inc. (1981) The doctrine of promissory estoppel was applied by the court to grant damages to a pharmacist who accepted a job offer, resigned his current job and declined another job offer in reliance on this offer, but was â€Å"terminated† from his new job before he even had a chance to start it. Plan Inc knew that to accept its offer Grouse would have to resign his employment. Grouse promptly gave notice and informed Plan Inc that he had done so when specifically asked by them. Under these circumstances it would be unjust not to hold Plan Inc to its promise. Gorham v. Optical (1995) Former employee was entitled to reliance damages based on theory of promissory estoppel, where he quit his previous job and declined any renegotiations with previous employer in reliance on promise of new job, and on his first day of employment went through hostile reinterview process that led to his immediate termination. Lewis v. Assurance Society (1986) A promise of employment on particular terms of unspecified duration, if presented in form of an offer and accepted by employee, will create a binding unilateral contract. Pine River v. Mettille (1983) Generally speaking, promise of employment on particular terms of unspecified duration, if in form of an offer, and if accepted by employee, may create binding unilateral contract; offer must be definite in form and must be communicated to the offeree. Goodkind v. University (1988) Whether a proposal by employer is meant to be an offer for a unilateral contract is determined by the outward manifestations of the parties, not by their subjective intentions, and employer’s general statements of policy do not meet the contractual requirements for an offer. Gunderson v. Professionals, Inc. (2001) To overcome the presumption that employment is at will, an employee typically must establish clear and unequivocal language by the employer evidencing an intent to provide job security. General statements about job security, company policy, or an employer’s desire to retain an employee indefinitely are insufficient to overcome the presumption that employment is at will. Spanier v. Bank (1993) Terminated employee failed to show any evidence of offer for long-term employment in definite form so as to be entitled to recover for employer’s breach of implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing as result of his termination, where employee’s claims were based on subjective belief and his own inferences that employer’s commitment to commercial lending business would provide him job security and employer’s statements about developing this new area of business did not constitute long-term employment offer.

Assimilation “Housing Indigenous Australians in the 1970s” Essay

Since the 1970s the Australian Government started focusing on establishment of houses for Indigenous people in reserve, remote and very remote areas Indigenous housing programs as. Numbers of housing commission "HC" has been built under what has called the Housing for Aboriginal people â€Å"HFA† (1) Consequently, Aboriginal people started moving from overcrowded private rental homes and government houses to public housing tenants in suburban estates. For many Indigenous Australians, this experience negatively affected their obligations to family and community and their conventional pattern of life, because it was based as much on class relations and colonialism view. For this reason, white settlers was justifying the Indigenous people inadequacy participate in social life and / or to assimilate to racist terms, as demonstrating their genetic / biological unsuitability for â€Å"sophisticated life" (2). By another word, white people were represented the problem as social adva ncement rather than determinants of better social and health circumstances. In all of these forms of policies and acts, the expectations by white settlers was that Aboriginal people did not have adequate culture to be able to participate in normal social life. The standard of the education, childrearing nuclear family life, neighbourly interaction, hygiene and clean housing were the fundamental elements around these housing programs. On the other hand, Aboriginal people were needed to absorb these to be able to leave the poor conditions and to acquire citizenship rights (4). This essay will explore the cultural and social and negative impacts of New South Wales Housing Commission (HC) during 1970s, at the end of what is called as the Assimilation Era and impacts of ... ...ious Aborigines people in New South Wales found out some important connections between prevalence of those psychiatric disorders and the circumstances in the housing commission. These findings recommend that some conditions involved adaptation to the normal life circumstances within the whole society and/or accumulative new behaviour increases the vulnerability of illicit drug use and depression. (8) Furthermore, higher levels of at-risk behaviors have been noted among Aboriginal adolescents during the assimilation era. These behaviours include poor physical health, risk factor for disability, face a self-assessed health disadvantage, aggressiveness and emotional distress. However, this may bias by the disproportion of socioeconomic factors. By another word, lower socioeconomic level increase the risk of such health outcomes.

Describe the functions of managers Essay

Good management and leadership are critical for organisations to function and also for the organisations to thrive. When organisations are well managed just like Barclay, they can operate effectively and they can operate efficiently. Managers have very good and clear plans, mangers have organised structures, systems, and they also evaluate results. When organisations are well led, they adapt to changes in the environment and develop cultures that inspire commitment and innovation. Both good management and good leadership are necessary to sustain organisational performance. Mangers are responsible for getting work done usually through other people; the term manger may also refer to a number of different people within a business. Some job titles include the word manager, such as a personal manger or managing director. Other jobholders may also be mangers even through there titles do not say it. * Mangers act on behalf of the owners – in a company, senior management are accountable shareholders * Mangers set objectives for the organisation, for example, they may decide that a long-term objective is to have a greater market share than all of the company’s competitors. * Managers make sure that a business achieves its objectives, by managing others. * Managers ensure that cooperate values which means the value of the organisation are maintained in dealings with other business, customers, employees and general public. When an organisation is managed well mangers effectively perform four essential management functions Henry Fayol the French management theorist listed a number of functions or elements of management these are: * Planning * Organising * Commanding * Coordinating * Controlling Planning This involves mangers setting objectives and also the strategies, policies, programmes and procedures for achieving them. Planning might be done by line mangers who will be responsible for performance. However advice on planning may also come from staff management who might have expertise in that are even if they have no line authority. For example, a production may carry out human recourse planning in the production department, but use the skills of the personal manager in planning recruitment for vacancies that may arise. In general, planning involves defining organisational goals and proposing ways to reach them. Managers plan for 3 reasons: * To establish an overall direction for the organisations future, such as a target say for example to increase profit, expand market share,, etc, etc. * To identify and commit the organisations resources to achieving its goals. * To decide which tasks must be done to reach those goals. * Barclays mangers set up objectives * Barclays bank makes up smart plans to achieve set objectives. * Manpower planning * Production budgets * Cash budgets * Sales targets Organising Mangers set task, which need to be performed if the business is to achieve its objectives. Jobs need to be organised within sections or departments and authority and authority needs to be delegated so that jobs are carried out. For example: the goal of a manufacturing company may be to produce quality goods that will be delivered to customer on time. The tasks such as manufacturing, packaging, administration, etc. that are part of producing and distributing the goods, need to be organised to achieve this goal. For example in Barclays within Barclay’s managers, supervisors must lead the employees with the delegated job. After mangers have prepared plans, they must translate those relatively abstract ideas into practice reality. Organising is the processes of creating a structure of relationships that will enable employees to carry out management’s plans and meet organisational goals. By organising effectively. Mangers can better coordinate human, material, and information resources. An organisations success depends largely on management’s ability to utilise those resources effectively and efficiently. * Organise working procedures * Organisational structure, chain of command needs to be established. * Organising which member of staff in Barclays does what. * Distribution channels. * Quality systems Commanding This involves giving instructions to subordinates to carry out tasks. The manger has the authority to make decisions and responsibilities to see tasks carried out. For example in Barclays plc the management team must put plans into action by allocating the best use of resources to achieve the plan. To make sure the plans are achieved mangers use their delegation skills. Coordinating This is the bringing together of the activities of people with the business. Individuals and groups will have there own goals, which may be different to those of the business and each other. Management must make sure that there is a common approach, so that the company’s goals are achieved. * Mangers coordinate the work force * Mangers in Barclays bank direct employees what they are doing. * Delegating tasks * Mangers resolve conflicts of interests in the different functional areas of the business. * This helps mangers to motivate their staff. Controlling Mangers measure and correct the activities of individuals and groups to make sure that their performance fits in with plans. Control is the monitoring of evens and progress within each department. For example within Barclays the organisation a range of departments for example the finance department they will monitor there budget and performance. The process by which person group or organisation consciously monitors performance and takes corrective action this is called controlling, another example would be that Barclays finance department will be controlling and monitoring customers transactions, etc, etc and they will keep a history and they will keep a record file of that customer. Management control system sends signal to managers that things are not working out as planned and that corrective action is needed. * Barclays bank monitor and measure what is being archived in each of their department. * Barclays control, monitor there sales performance. * Barclays control and monitor their cash flow against their budget. Leading After management has made plans, created a structure of work practice, and hired the right personal, someone must lead the organisation, leading involves communicating with and motivating others to perform the tasks necessary to achieve the organisations goals. Leading is not done only after planning and organising end, it is a crucial element of these functions.

The Distance Between Degrees of Latitude and Longitude

What is the precise location of Los Angeles? It can be stated in relative terms (about 3,000 miles west of New York, for example), but for a cartographer, pilot, geologist, or geographer, a much more specific measurement is needed. In order to precisely locate any spot in the world, therefore, we use a geographic coordinate system that is measured in degrees of latitude and longitude. This system starts with an imaginary grid of lines that cover the entire planet. Locations are measured based on both X and Y coordinates within the grid. Because the Earth is round, however, the distances between lines on the grid vary. Defining Latitude and Longitude Longitude is defined as imaginary lines called meridians that run from the north to the south pole. There are a total of 360 meridians. The Prime Meridian runs through the Greenwich Observatory in England, the location agreed upon by a conference in 1884 to be 0 degrees. On the opposite side of the Earth is the international date line at approximately 180 degrees longitude, though the date line does not follow an exact straight line. (This keeps countries from being in different days.) When a person crosses the international date line traveling from west to east, they move up one day. They move back one day when traveling east to west. Latitude is defined as imaginary lines called parallels because they are parallel to the equator and to one another. The equator, which runs in a circle around the center of the Earth, divides the planet into north and south hemispheres. Lines of latitude and longitude intersect, creating a grid that allows anyone in any location to pinpoint a geographic location. There are 360 degrees of longitude (because meridians make Great Circles around the globe), and there are 180 degrees of latitude. To further specify exactly where to find anything on Earth, measurements are stated not only in degrees but also in minutes and seconds. Each degree can be broken into 60 minutes, and each minute can be divided into 60 seconds. Any given location can be described in terms of degrees, minutes, and seconds of longitude and latitude. What Is the Distance Between Degrees of Latitude? Degrees of latitude are parallel so, for the most part, the distance between each degree remains constant. However, the Earth is slightly elliptical in shape and that creates a small variation between the degrees as we work our way from the equator to the north and south poles. Each degree of latitude is approximately 69 miles (111 kilometers) apart.At the equator, the distance is 68.703 miles (110.567 kilometers).At the Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn (23.5 degrees north and south), the distance is 68.94 miles (110.948 kilometers).At each of the poles, the distance is 69.407 miles (111.699 kilometers). This is rather convenient when you want to know how far it is between each degree, no matter where you are on Earth. All you need to know is that each minute (1/60th of a degree) is approximately one mile. For example, if we were at  40 degrees north,  100 degrees west, we would be on the Nebraska-Kansas border. If we were to go  directly north to  41 degrees north,  100 degrees west, we would have traveled about 69 miles and would now be near Interstate 80. What is the Distance Between Degrees of Longitude? Unlike latitude, the distance between degrees of longitude varies greatly depending upon your location on the planet. They are farthest apart at the equator and converge at the poles. A degree of longitude is widest at the equator with a distance of 69.172 miles (111.321 kilometers).The distance gradually shrinks to zero as they meet at the poles.At 40 degrees north or south, the distance between a degree of longitude is 53 miles (85 kilometers). The line at 40 degrees north runs through the middle of the United States and China, as well as Turkey and Spain. Meanwhile, 40 degrees south is south of Africa, goes through the southern part of Chile and Argentina, and runs almost directly through the center of New Zealand. Calculate the Distance from One Point to Another What if you are given two coordinates for latitude and longitude and you need to know how far it is between the two locations?  You could use what is known as a haversine formula to calculate the distance — but unless you are a whiz at trigonometry, it is not easy. Luckily, in todays digital world, computers can do the math for us. Most interactive map applications will allow you to input GPS coordinates of latitude and longitude and tell you the distance between the two points.  There are a number of latitude/longitude distance calculators available online. The National Hurricane Center has one that is very easy to use. Keep in mind that you can also  find the precise latitude and longitude of a location using a map application. In Google Maps, for example, you can simply click on a location and a pop-up window will give latitude and longitude data to a millionth of a degree. Similarly, if you right-click on a location in MapQuest you will get the latitude and longitude data. Source Latitude/Longitude Distance Calculator. National Hurricane Center and Central Pacific Hurricane Center.