Archive for the ‘Reference’ Category
The primary goal of business
The primary goal of business is to make a profit for the owners. Businesses cannot survive for long if owners are not rewarded for their efforts. Although profit plays a key role in our business system, businesses today also place a great deal of attention on another business goal—social responsibility. Social responsibility refers to the duty of a business to contribute to the well-being of society Because a community provides a business with certain resources and rights, th business has an obligation to aid the community in which it operates.
Many groups and individuals have a stake in a business. These stakeholders
—the owners, customers, suppliers, employees, creditors, government, the public, and other groups who are affected by a firm’s action—expect a business to be responsible and responsive to their interests. Such responsibility may mean a variety of things. Examples include donating money to flood victims, sponsoring an exhibition on Hindu art at local museums, providing scholarships to colleges for needy students, training gang members in job- related skills, and setting up day-care centers for employees’ children.
Thus, social responsibility on the part of business means an acceptance of a duty to contribute to the well-being of its stakeholders. It is often believed that a business has the resources to contribute to a community’s well-being, and good deeds also translate into favorable publicity for the business, which translates into more sales and profits. A large donation, for example, to support the construction of a new public swimming pool receives much attention on radio and television as well as in the newspapers.
Improving Health and Safety
In response to concerns over health, businesses operate wellness and fitness programs. A physically unfit employee is absent more and is less productive than a fit employee. As a result, many corporations encourage physical fitness by providing financial incentives to smokers to quit, health clubs for employee to exercise, counseling services where workers can receive support for stress or emotional problems, drug tests to discourage drug abuse, and rehabilitation programs for drug addicts and alcoholics. Employers thereby reduce medical costs. Corporations report that with active physical fitness programs in place, their life and health insurance costs on employees are reduced.
Two changes directly relate to the health of workers. One change safeguard the work environment by outlawing smoking; the second warns employees who are exposed to work conditions that could affect their health. The second change has caused firms to adapt equipment to a safe and comfortable work environment.
Talk about age and performance at work
The relationship between age and job performance may be an issue to most of us with the increasing importance during the next decade. There is a widespread belief that job performance declines with increasing of age. Whether its time or not, business corporations believe it and act on it. Thus there are government offices that has limited the age retirement at 62 years old optional and 65 years old as compulsory retirement.
What effect does age have on turn over, absenteeism productivity and satisfaction? Studies show that the older you get, the less likely you are to quit your job. As workers get older, they have a few job alternative opportunities. In addition older members are less likely to resign because their longer tenure tends to provide them with higher wage rates, longer paid vacations and more attractive benefits. Older employees have lower rates of avoidable absences then do younger employees. However, they have higher rates of unavoidable absences. This could be due to poor health and longer recovery period associated with aging. It is assumed that an individual’s skills particularly speed, agility, strength, and coordination decay over time and prolonged job boredom and lack of intellectual stimulation and forgetfulness all contribution to reduced productivity.
As to age and job satisfaction among professionals, satisfaction tends to continually increase as they age, whereas it falls among non-professionals during middle ages and then rises again in the later years.