2.6 Centre and periphery Here you have considered some of the ways in which the power and authority of the emperor were communicated to the inhabitants of the empire. The full dynamics of the relationship are difficult to reconstruct especially as the view gained is mainly from Rome looking out to the provinces rather than vice versa. It was important for the emperor to appear to be a competent ruler of the empire. It was one method used by his peers and successors to evaluate an emperor's reign. But it is often diff
2.5 African mosaics: things Roman and things African? Between the second and the fifth centuries a thriving tradition of mosaic floor decoration developed in North Africa (see Figure 4). There is only limited evidence for the dating of African mosaics, but the earliest seem to be closely influenced by Italian interior design, particularly stucco wall plaster, w
2.3 Is religion a museum piece? We have used the video sequence below to highlight the emic/etic problem and we would like you to carry out a short exercise using it to consolidate your understanding of these terms. The video introduces St Mungo Museum of Religious Life and Art in Glasgow, which has been described as the first public museum of religion in the world. Do note, however, that the Museum of Religions at the University of Marburg, Germany was founded in 1927 by Rudolf Otto. It contains a considerable number
6 Summary This unit has looked at specifying the requirements of a job by drawing up a job description and a person specification. We considered how you might indicate the qualities required of individuals in relation to person-organisation fit as well as the more traditional approach of person-job fit. We then considered various methods of attracting candidates and the process of arriving at a shortlist. We have stressed the importance of preparing for the selection process, be it an interview alone o
5.5.2 Reaching a final decision Having seen all the candidates, you can now start to pull together your notes and impressions and make a final decision. It is probably worth allowing a little time to gather your thoughts and/or discuss initial observations with colleagues or the interview panel after every interview so that your memory is not confused. The person specification should again play a major role in your final decision. Your questions should have been geared to elicit the necessary information from each applicant
4.11 References References can be useful, but they do have some limitations: no one would supply the name of a referee who was likely to give a bad reference. However, it is always a good idea to request them of the candidates who have been shortlisted (but, as we have already said, bear in mind that some candidates may not want their employers approached until they have actually been offered a job). It is helpful for referees if you enclose all the information sent out to the prospective candidate and point
4.7 Attracting applicants You have now established the criteria for recruiting the kind of person you are looking for; the next step is to find someone who meets these criteria. Obviously, you must make it known to people that a vacancy exists. Before placing an expensive advertisement in a newspaper or professional journal you should consider alternatives. There are a variety of methods of publicising recruitment in addition to the traditional media advertisement (see Author(s):
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1.1 The transition from planning to action In working on a project, it is sometimes difficult to make the transition from planning to action. It usually falls to the manager, as leader of the project, to make sure that activities are started; but not before it is clear who should carry out which tasks, and when. The first step for the project manager is to ensure that the plan is communicated to those who will be working on the project. It is not always safe to assume that others will understand the plan or its implications, particula
Introduction The focus of this unit is on implementing a project. The first part considers how the activities of a project start. Although planning and action run side by side, it is often difficult to initiate action to progress the first tasks. Once things start to happen, the project enters a new stage. Management of the project changes, from stimulating the initial action to monitoring and reviewing it in order to control the project's progress. Control systems are essential in managing a project of a
References 5 Summary The aim of this Unit has been to give you an introductory overview of operations management. Operations is one of the central functions of all organisations The first learning outcome was that you should be able to ‘define “operations” and “operations management”’. I took the view in this session that operations embraces all the activities required to create and deliver an organisation's goods or services to its customers or clients. The second outcome was that you sh 3.5 Feedback A further component of the transformation model in Figure 1 is the feedback loop. Feedback information is used to control the operations system, by adjusting the inputs and transformation processes that are used to achieve desired outputs. For example, a chef relies on a flow of information from the customer, through the waiter, about the quality of the food. Adverse feedback might lead the chef to change the inputs (for example by buying better quality potatoes) or the transformation process 2.2.2 Mass production In many industries, craft manufacturing began to be replaced by mass production in the 19th century. Mass production involves producing goods in high volume with low variety – the opposite of craft manufacturing. Customers are expected to buy what is supplied, rather than goods made to their own specifications. Producers concentrated on keeping costs, and hence prices, down by minimising the variety of both components and products and setting up large production runs. They developed aggress 1 Understanding operations management Consider the ingredients of your breakfast this morning. Unless you live on a farm and produced them yourself, they passed through a number of different processing steps between the farmer and your table and were handled by several different organisations. Similarly, your morning newspaper was created and delivered to you through the interactions of a number of different organisations. Every day, you use a multitude of physical objects and a variety of services. Most of the physical obj Introduction This Unit is designed to provide you with a basic framework for understanding operations management and its organisational and managerial context. It begins with a brief history of the changing nature of operations in a manufacturing context, but emphasises that the operations function is significant in all types of organisation, whether they produce goods or provide services, and whether they are in the private, public or voluntary sectors. This Unit presents a process model of operati 2.2.2 A second diagram This first representation can be developed in the way shown in Figure 11. 3.2 Maturity The maturity of an investment is the date when the investor is contractually entitled to demand repayment of the investment and the associated return. Some investments (such as company shares, as discussed in Section 3.1) actually have no contractual maturity. Others – such as demand deposits at banks – are subject to contractual repayment 8 Drawing up the implementation plan Once the detailed planning and risk assessments have been carried out, you are ready to assemble your implementation plan. A typical implementation plan, including diagrams and charts where appropriate, will contain: a description of the background to the project; its goals and objectives in terms of intended outputs and/or outcomes; the resource implications (budget, personnel – including any training requirements Introduction This unit will help you to develop the skills required when planning a project. You will examine the various components of a project plan, and be introduced to a number of tools and techniques to aid planning. This material is from our archive and is an adapted extract from Fundamentals of Senior Management (B713) which is no longer taught by The Open University. If you want to study formally with us, you may wish to explore other courses we offer in this Author(s):
