Australian Sickie Case Study

1.0 Introduction Sick leave is leave that employees can take when they can’t attend work because they are sick or injured. In the case study “Sick leave costing employers” it highlights the issues of employees calling in sick to work and just how much damage is done both productively and financially to a business (Schermerhorn, et al.). The rationale for investigating this issue is due to the increasing statistics of Australian employees causing large amounts of financial damage to their employers. The realisation is that a high percentage of “sickies” are not related to employees being sick but simply not being bothered to go to work. In this report, it will be argued that the issue of sick leave in the Australian work force can directly relate to a weak organisation culture displayed within an organisation.

In this paper focus is given to comparing the business culture styles of China and Germany to contrast and compare how it may affect their risk perception. China Doing business in China is highly based on the development of good personal relationships over time. They consider relationships more important than tasks. The emphasis here is that they are doing business with people rather than companies so personal contact and loyalty are important. There is a huge importance placed on sincerity above all other qualities.

1. Statement of the Problem In 1996, Arctic Timber Engineered Woods Division, a highly mature business unit, faced a market downturn and began losing millions of dollars each month. Before becoming the President of the Engineered Woods Division, Bjorn Gustavsson had already determined that the company could not sustain its commodity business and was not aligned with the new direction devised by Peter Hammarskjöld, the CEO of Arctic Timber. According to Gustavsson, in order to prosper in a more challenging market environment, developing a specialty business was the only viable approach. The goal was to shift 50% of its commodity business into undetermined specialty by 2000.

Consequently, this damaged the financial statements and did nothing to challenge the employees and improve the company. At this point, it is obvious that the Workbook Process is not working in the manner Patagonia intended. Although things can turn around at any point, it is unlikely that they will. Moving forward, we suggest that Patagonia fix the problems listen in question 1 and 2: • The Workbook Process is heavily financially oriented, which is contradicting in a corporation that places profitability as a secondary concern • Lack of participation among employees due to the lack of understanding of financials • Unnecessary costs in time and paperwork • Lack of individual rewards for motivation (group rewards prove to be unmotivating) • Results of new ideas decrease enthusiasm towards new ones • Uncertainty among departments and objectives • Process does not contain long-term

This perception may have also had a lot to due with the nature of the position that was held at the company. This company seemed to fit the criteria and meet the description of a “Fortress Culture”. This may have been the result of the fact that it business was in the highly competitive field of financial services. The management was very preoccupied with figures such as sales, growth and earnings, and they treated the staff as a commodity that could easily be replaced. As a contract employee there was little in the way of job security and essential no possibility to be rewarded for good performance.

Many individuals only seeking to promote their own well-being over any legal or ethical boundaries did this. This was not only isolated with the Enron Corporation, as Arthur Andersen the outside accounting firm and Vinson & Elkins Enron’s law firm were also participants. The key players that led to the collapse of Enron was the founder Kenneth Lay, his successor Jeffrey Skilling, Enron’s chief financial officer Andrew Fastow, and his assistant Michael Kopper. These four Enron executives failed to meet important ethical and leadership challenges. The Enron Code of Ethics and its foundational values of respect, integrity, communication, and excellence obviously did little in helping to create an ethical work environment.

„h They do not produce the key non-financial data required for effective and efficient operations, hence they are of little help to operating managers¡¦ seeking to reduce costs and improve productivity. „h The data produced reflected on external reporting requirements far more than the reality of the new manufacturing environment. „h Failure to provide accurate product costs as they were distributed by simplistic and arbitrary measures usually direct labour based. „h The short term profit pressures led to a decline in long term investment. These poorly designed or outdated systems can distort the realities of manufacturing performance.

Those that do are more likely to be successful and have the ability to minimize risk of failure. Business managers who do are far more likely to survive. For planners and non-planners there is not a single universal technique that can be applied in all situations. Use of strategic planning models can be a very important behavior trait for successful companies. Companies that do not use strategic planning models usually don’t because the model does not offer what the customer wants.

The money has strict conditions attract which demand that government debt level reduced. The focus of this report is discuss about what type of unemployment that cause the unemployment rate to hit the high record, current situation in Greece and the solution that government’s action taken. 2.0 Discussion Unemployment is defined as person which is 16 years old and above, not in an institution, including school, jail, and hospital, not working and looking for a job for more than four weeks. Unemployment rate can be calculated by the number of people unemployed divide by the labour force multiple hundred. A high unemployment rate indicates an economy in recession with less job opportunity.

Kets De Vries (1977) argues that entrepreneurs are ‘anxious individuals, who are non-conformist, poorly organised and not a stranger to self-destructive behaviour’. The attribute of non-conformist can be applied to Victoria yet the characteristics of poor organisation or self-destructive behaviour cannot be applied to Victoria as she does not portray these personalities. Although Victoria reveals she has an inner direction with self-reliance, she does not neglect interpersonal relations with her family, work colleagues and clients. Overall, the dream to establish a private kingdom, a high need for achievement, internal locus of control and non-conformist behaviour all contribute towards the personality attributes of an entrepreneur. In conclusion, entrepreneurs need to possess a high need for achievement and a high internal locus of control.