Much Ado About Nothing Essay: Act 5 Scene 1- Climax of the Dénouements

Much Ado About Nothing:   Act 5 Scene 1 - Climax of the Denouements  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚      A particular section of Act 5, Scene 1, could be seen as the denouement of the play, Much Ado About Nothing.   Perhaps it is more accurate to say the climax of the denouements - at its conclusion, all that remains for the play is a happy ending. It is here that the perpetrator is displayed before all the interested male parties, and here that Leonato can be assured that his belief in Hero's innocence was justified - and perhaps more importantly, that it can be seen to be justified: armed with Borachio's confession, and Claudio and Don Pedro's half-acceptance of guilt, he tells them to 'Possess the people in Messina here How innocent she died' (l. 282-283). This continues the play's concern with appearances and reality, the nature of truth and evidence: it seems that the revelation of the deception instigated by Don John, despite being accepted by all the relevant parties, doesn't count unless it is displayed publicly - even performed, for Claudio is told to ...

Multicultural Management in the Virtual Project Setting

MULTICULTURAL MANAGEMENT IN THE VIRTUAL PROJECT SETTING Carlos Galamba, University of Liverpool Introduction The Virtual Project Setting In today’s globalisation era, effective cross-cultural management of virtual teams is an emerging subject in international business literature and practice. Virtual teaming has a number of potential benefits; not only in terms of human resources flexibility but it can also reduce the operating costs of one organisation. On the other hand, the challenges of such environment should not be undermined. Many scholars have attempted to analyse the impact of virtual work in a number of factors such as communication, leadership, trust, decision-making and productivity (Symons and Stenzel, 2007), while others were particularly concerned with the management of geographically dispersed units and therefore addressed the challenges of working with time zone differences and culturally diverse groups (Ardichvili et al. , 2006). The findings are very interesting and the business literature appears to agree that the virtual project setting is somehow different from face-to-face working and more important it brings some unique challenges. This project will review the literature under these headings and explore the critical issues regarding cross-cultural management in the virtual project setting. Based on the theoretical framework for virtual teaming I will attempt to outline solutions and establish a set of best practices for effective international management of such environments. Managing the virtual environment Critical issues The emerging number of virtual teams is a reality in the global market place. The virtual project setting allows organisations to assign the most skilled individuals to projects across the globe, with less concern for travel or elocation expenses, which improves productivity (Rorive and Xhauflair,  2004). However the challenges of managing culturally and geographically diverse teams must not be undermined. Some of the problems and critical issues arise in different areas such as: communication, technology, synergy among team members, culture and time zone differences (Grosse, 2002; Kuruppu arachchi, 2009). In the next pages I will discuss these issues and review the current literature and theoretical framework to outline possible solutions. |COMMUNICATION | |ISSUE |In the bigger picture the most critical factor with regards to communication is the language barrier. Effective | | |communication can be affected when team members speak different native languages. For instance, Bakbone Software, a US| | |company faced communication problems when Japanese workers were employed in their virtual team, due to their flawless | | |English (Alexander, 2000). | |Nevertheless, some cultures prefer a more formal communication than others, and managers must pay special attention to| | |individual needs. There are a number of communication platforms available, such as phone, email, chat and | | |video-conferencing. Selecting the most appropriate method for a virtual project setting is critical for the project’s | | |success. Ardichvili et al. (2006) found significant differen ces in the preferred methods of communication of Russian | | |and Chinese team members. The former are comfortable with email communication whilst the second would rather prefer | | |face-to-face or phone calls. These findings seem to support the distinction between high and low-context cultures | | |established by Hall (1981). | |SOLUTION |A valuable strategy to deal with communication challenges can be achieved by understanding and identifying everyone’s | | |strengths and backgrounds. By recognising different levels of expertise, skills and experience among team members, | | |virtual team leaders can distribute the workload accordingly. | |Lipnack and Stamps (1999), posit three basic steps to overcome obstacles to communication: listening skills, respect | | |and patience. | | |TECHNOLOGY | |ISSUE |The available technology is another critical factor for virtual teams. It is essential that an equal access to | | |technology can be guaranteed to all team members, otherwise productivity can be compromised (Kuruppuarachchi, 2009). | |Broadband services are not ava ilable in every location and some regions may experience slower internet speed than | | |others or may have incompatible networks | |SOLUTION |Ardichvili et al. (2006) posit that the start of the project is crucial and moreover team leaders must choose the most| | |appropriate computer-mediated technology that best suits the needs of team members. One that can be readily available | | |to all users and therefore potential problems in the use of technology must be identified before the virtual project | | |takes place. | | |CULTURE | |ISSUE |Individualism-collectivism is one of the biggest dimensions of cultural variability. The findings by Gudykunst (1997) | | |and Hofstede (1980) suggest that team members from collectivist cultures are less ready to trust others than those | | |from individualistic cultures. | | |Chow et al. (2000) established that individualistic and collectivist cultures make a sharp differentiation between | | |in-group and out-group members, with regards to knowledge sharing. For example, Chinese managers are found to be more | | |reluctant in sharing knowledge with an out-group member when compared to Americans. |SOLUTION |With regards to culture, many scholars agree that cultural awareness is the most effective solution to minimize the | | |negative effects of cross-cultural differences (Mead and Andrews, 2009). Ardichvili et al. (2006) emphasise that | | |leadership must facilitate an environment of cultural adaptation in order to create a unique competitive advantage. | | |Therefore it is essential that managers have the ability to channel culturally-determined behaviours and d ifferent | | |expectations into rich outputs. | |SYNERGY | |ISSUE |To communicate across cultures it is essential that managers can foster an environment of trust and understanding. | | |Several factors, such as repeated interactions, shared experiences and shared social norms, have been found to | | |facilitate the development of trust (Mayer et al. 1995). Many scholars also argue that face-to-face encounters are | | |irreplaceable when it comes to building trust (Ardichvili et al. , 2006). |SOLUTION |Following Ardichvili et al. (2006) findings, it appears essential that virtual team leaders make personal meetings | | |possible, because face-to-face encounters are one of the most critical factors for trust building, particularly at the| | |beginning of the team’s existence. This has been found to be essential in many cases of virtual teams, like Ericsson | | |in China (Lee-Kelley and Sankey, 2008) and the virtual project of the New South Wales police in Australia (Peters and | | |Manz, 2007). | |Nevertheless, in the virtual project setting, this synergy may be difficult to maintain and it is therefore important | | |that virtual organisations consider activities that indirectly create trust, such as group and individual feedback | | |(Walker et al. , 2002 cited in Ardichvili et al. 2006). | | |TIME ZONE DIFFERENCES | |ISSUE |The problem of working in distant geographical locations arises for example when certain activities need to be | | |synchronized or when real time communication is critical for the project. Due to time zone differences, users may not | | |be able to exchange information instantly. For example, the US company BakBone software, faced some challenges in the | | |coordination of its Israeli and US teams, because they have a 7 hour time difference between them (Alexander, 2000). | |SOLUTION |Precise coordination processes can help conquer time-related challenges and help increase production outcomes. | | |Planning of schedules and tasks appears to reduce repetition in discussion (Lee-Kelley and Sankey, 2008). This | | |planning should also be organic, particularly if disruption of planned activities takes place. Additionally, virtual | | |team leaders must ensure that all team members are aware of time-zone differences so that they can plan ahead the best| | |time for communication. | | |Microsoft for example, has overcome some of these issues by using a 24 hour service in some of their virtual teams | | |(Alexander, 2000). | Ethical implications Lee (2009) describes e-ethics as the ethical leadership that is required in the virtual project setting. The need to address ethical issues in virtual teams has increased over the years and appears to be more important in the international business environment. The literature over this subject appears to agree that there is a clear distinction between the issues raised within this new virtual design when compared to more traditional organisations (Lee, 2009). Therefore, based on the problems and solutions identified before, for the multicultural management in the virtual project setting, I will now attempt to review the ethical implications of such issues. Based on the work developed by Lee (2009) I agree that ethic leadership is ultimately the responsibility of the project manager (p. 457). It is up to the leader to ensure that an ethical environment can be followed by the users at all times, and moreover that environment must be encouraged in the organisational design of the virtual project setting. Cranford (1996) highlights that the use of computers that are in different geographic locations can affect the communicative behaviour of the users involved. For instance, the absence of face-to-face interactions can encourage a more aggressive and disrespectful behaviour. Therefore it is up to the project leader to control this environment, and monitor any unethical behaviour as it can have a negative effect on trust and synergy among team members. Moreover, Lee (2009) agrees that it is essential that a code of ethics is available to all users, so that they understand what is acceptable or not in the virtual environment. Another issue identified in the literature regards the potential for social isolation in the virtual community (Lee, 2009), which in turn can affect motivation and commitment to the project. It is up to the project leader to ensure that all users are participative enough and avoid potential morale problems due to the lack of interaction. The latter has been found to be more noticeable in the virtual environment than in traditional organisations (Lee, 2009). There are a number of other ethical issues in the virtual environment, but the ones identified above appear to be those that are directly linked with working in cross-cultural virtual teams that lack face-to-face interaction. It is essential that leaders can effectively manage the unique ethical issues that arise in the virtual setting; in turn this will increase job satisfaction, efficiency and ultimately improve the service value. Case study BankCo Inc. as a result of a fusion of many multinational companies, as an attempt to create a global brand, with similar corporate identity and global standards. The virtual team members are based in many different countries and come from well distinct cultures, for example Greece, UK, Germany and Singapore. It has been suggested that any poor performance or project delays were not related to the virtual team itself, but mo reover were a result of cultural differences and communication problems (Lee-Kelley and Sankey, 2008). For example, some groups considered the excessive number of conference calls to be unproductive and time-consuming. The critical issues Communication With regards to communication, the authors point out that the excessive number of emails, over a 100 per person per day, was seen as negative by many of the users, particularly in the Greek and UK teams problems (Lee-Kelley and Sankey, 2008). It is suggested that this could be the result of a low-trust culture, where colleagues feel they have to preserve email communication if a dispute takes place, for example. The excessive number of emails also meant that they could not be fully tracked or even read sometimes. The company used video-conference as a replacement for face-to-face interaction, however staff felt that many of these conference calls were very long and unnecessary (over 8 hours in some cases). As suggested in the literature, the business language used can be a challenge for non native speakers, however this was not the case for the team in Singapore, due to their superior command of the English language. In the case of BankCo Inc. this was actually more problematic amongst Germany, Spain and Italy when they had to communicate in English. Also, despite the business language being English, BankCo Inc. as flexible enough to allow certain groups to discuss problems in their native language when interacting with each other, for example, in Singapore, this allowed easier explanation of concepts. Technology With regards to Technology, there were a number of tools available for communication. However, there were cases reported where users were not familiar with them. For example, with th e tool â€Å"Test Director†, created to identify and raise problems, many users were duplicating work, by using emails as a secondary way of raising these problems. The article by Lee-Kelley and Sankey (2008) emphasises that the challenges of technology could be resolved if managers addressed the training needs of the users involved, in a way to improve communication. Synergy among team members In the early stages of the project, it was reported that there was lack of clarity in responsibilities and roles, and therefore people were passing on the problems to others. Also, the authors pointed out that there was no obvious global project leader, which could have been seen by the users as lack of leadership and direction. The scholars highlight that cultural and temporal issues affected the building of trust. For example the UK and Greek teams showed some frustration by the East tendency to avoid answering a question fully. They also felt they could not rely on their Eastern counterparts to complete tasks, even if they were committed to do so. Senior management acknowledged the problem, and highlighted the need for more interaction and understanding. As a consequence, some positive steps were taken, for example by implementing more face-to-face meetings. Culture The authors pointed out that there was a difference in the work ethics between the West and the East, for example despite those in the West work very hard, the colleagues in the East worked longer and socially unaccepted hours. Another issue pointed out was the way that members in the team in Singapore would accept all change requests from senior management, even though they did not have the time to complete those tasks. They justified it as being part of their culture to not reject or disappoint any requests from someone higher in the hierarchy. However, the Western counterparts perceived this as inefficient and pointed out that â€Å"these guys are lying continuously† (Lee-Kelley and Sankey, 2008, p. 60). Time zone differences With regards to this issue there were two different sides: some of the virtual team groups were working long hours, for example in Singapore to allow flexibility and problems to be picked up, even out of routine hours. On the other hand, the West assumed that they could then communicate with the East whenever they wanted to, and some problems arose when staff in Singapore was dealing with queries way past midnight. Conclusion By examining the critical issues regarding global virtual teams, this project offers significant insight to broaden our academic understanding of culturally and geographically distant virtual teams. An emergent perception that arises from this discussion is that the virtual project working has a set of unique characteristics that in turn create new challenges for international management. The findings in the case of BankCo Inc. also suggest that a variety of issues affect cross-cultural virtual teams, but on closer inspection, only cultural differences impacting on conflict and team elations, and time zones differences affecting coordination and communication, may be directly related with the temporal and geographical distance features of virtual teams. Lee-Kelley and Sankey (2008) highlight that the remaining factors, such as trust, technology, and communication are not unique to virtual teams, and can also be found in more conventional organisations. That being said, the ir presence should not be undermined, as it adds to the challenge found in the virtual project setting. For instance, communication as a traditional team issue can be magnified by cultural diversity and distance. Based on this discussion, I would consider the following as a set of best practices for the effective management of cross-cultural virtual teams: EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION ? Leaders must ensure that a functional language is adopted in the virtual project setting, one that fits the level of diversity of the virtual team. ? The organisation must provide guidelines for communication and adequate training with the relevant communication tools. ? Equal access to information must be assured for all members of one team. ? Recognise that technology is an enabler SYNERGY ? Encourage face-to-face encounters where possible, particularly at the beginning of the team existence. ? Good definition of roles. Leaders must clarify what is expected and what are the responsibilities of all team members and also ensure that members in one team are aware of each other’s responsibilities. ? Set clear, measurable and achievable goals ? Provide constructive feedback VIRTUALLY MINIMIZE TIME-ZONE DIFFERENCES ? Encourage the planning of schedules and tasks. ? Consider the possibility of 24h services. Ensure that all team members are aware of time-zone differences amongst fellow colleagues CULTURAL AWARENESS ? Understand the different backgrounds and distinct cultures of all team members. ? Leaders must be able to predict potential areas of conflict due to cultural differences and prevent them from happening. ? Foster one organisational culture that promotes listening skills, respect and patience among culturally diverse workers. ? Value diversity The fut ure This project identified key areas for cross-cultural management and it represents a step towards more research regarding global virtual teams. Also it provides a more profound understanding of the managerial implications in the virtual project setting. One can argue that the use of virtual teams contribute to a borderless world, however a new set of borders appears to emerge from this particular environment. One that is well distinct from other, more conventional multinational corporations. This project demonstrated that the durability and future of the virtual project setting relies heavily on both the organisational capabilities and the individuals, and moreover that organisations cannot depend solely on their members to attain the organisational goals. Future research is encouraged to address the unique challenges of such organisational design, and contrast the effective leadership styles when face-to-face contact is hardly present. References ? Alexander, S. (2000) Virtual Teams Going Global, InfoWorld, 22(46): 55-56. ? Ardichvili, A. , Maurer, M. , Li, W. , Wentling, T. & Stuedemann, R. (2006) ‘Cultural influences on knowledge sharing through online communities of practice’, Journal of Knowledge Management, 10 (1), pp. 94–107 ? Cranford M. (1996) ‘The social trajectory of virtual reality: substantive ethics in a world without constraints’. Technol Soc; 18(1):79–92. ? Jarvenpaa, S, & Leidner, D (1999), ‘Communication and Trust in Global Virtual Teams', Organization Science, 10, 6, pp. 791-815, ? Kuruppuarachchi, PR (2009), ‘Virtual team concepts in projects: A case study', Project Management Journal, 40, 2, pp. 19-33 ? Lee, M. R. (2009) ‘E-ethical leadership for virtual project teams’, International Journal of Project Management, 27 (5), pp. 456-463 ? Lee-Kelley, L, & Sankey, T (2008), ‘Global virtual teams for value creation and project success: A case study', International Journal Of Project Management, 26, 1, pp. 1-62 ? Mead, R. & Andrews, T. G. (2009) International management. 4th ed. Chichester, England: John Wiley & Sons. ? Peters, L. M. , & Manz, C. C. (2007). ‘Identifying antecedents of virtual team collaboration’. Team Performance Management, 13(3/4), 117–129. ? Rorive, B. et Xhauflair, V. ,  (2004),  Ã¢â‚¬Å"What binds together virtual teams? Some an swers from three case studies†, in Reddy, S. (Ed. ), Virtual teams: concepts and applications, India, ICFAI University Press, pp. 132-140. ? Symons, J. & Stenzel, C. 2007) ‘Virtually borderless: an examination of culture in virtual teaming’, Journal of General Management, 32 (3), pp. 1-17 ? Hall, E. T. (1981), Beyond Culture, NY: Anchor Press/Doubleday. ? Lipnack, J. and Stamps, J. (1999), `Virtual Teams', Executive Excellence, Vol. 16, No. 5, pp. 14-15. ? Grosse, C (2002), ‘Managing Communication within Virtual Intercultural Teams', Business Communication Quarterly, 65, 4, pp. 22-38 ? Mayer, R. C, Davis J. H. , Schoorman F. D. (1995). An integrative model of organization trust. Acad. Management Rev. 20 (3), pp. 709- 734 ? Hofstede G. 1980), Culture's Consequence: International Diâ‚ ¬erences in Work-related Values, Beverly Hills: Sage Publications. ? Gudykunst, W. B. 1997. Cultural variability in communication. Comm. Res. 24 (4) 327-348. ——à ¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€œ OPENING CASE: BANKCO INC. BankCo Inc. is a large consumer bank that is truly global, with branches in more than 100 countries (Lee-Kelley and Sankey, 2008). By being present in distinct geographic areas (Africa, Europe and Middle East), this is a great example of a virtual organisation that faced unique challenges and more important, it includes all of the critical issues identified above. Team relations and communication were affected by both time zone and more important, cultural differences. Also, I will use this case study as a reference for establishing a set of best practices for â€Å"management in the virtual project setting† for two reasons: 1. It incorporates cross-cultural management of geographically and culturally distant units. 2. The company achieved an outstanding level of success in terms of budget, time and value delivery.

Maersk Group (Maersk) Human Resource Development

Introduction My 48 hour exam project is a case study of A. P. Moller – Maersk Group (Maersk); the objective of my assignment is to elaborate on Maersk`s talent management challenge, focused on development. Furthermore I will describe the cosmos of Maersk learning and competence development and provide alternative angles of conducting in this cosmos, in accordance with my own perspective. My ontological standpoint for this exam is constructivism (Olsen & Pedersen, 2005). The reality perceived is therefore not objective but created, or constructed, by man’s interpretation.This does not signify that I will avoid handling theories that are ontological objectivistic in order to discuss and compliment the various learning and competence development challenges of Maersk; but rather discuss the objective views and theories, and its contrasts to my standpoint. Organizational Change at Maersk Maersk have developed from a very standardized, family run company with certain and spec ific ways of running things; to a worldwide organization that have had to change in order to keep up with the time and trends.The major change in Maersk way of dealing with their learning and competence development occurred in 2008; Maersk had before 2008 a very objective approach to learning which were aimed towards trainees (Case, Page 7). In 2008 the People Strategy Sessions (PSS) is created and a shift towards a more individual development process has begun. PSS is developed to identify individuals, primarily in top management positions, that have a necessity for learning and competence development. These individuals is identified via Key Performance Indicator (KPIs) Learning and Competence developmentHolt Larsen defines competence as a result of a learning process (Holt Larsen, 2010). Competence development is therefore the learning process where the Maersk employees’ know-how and skills are improved; where the employee becomes good at what is required, and not just real ly good, this is what Holt Larsen believes falls under qualifications (Holt Larsen, 2010). Competence development therefore results in the employee’s knowledge, within a specific area of expertise, growing deeper and more elaborate.This knowledge is then transferred into actions, the employees ability to use his or hers knowledge in concrete and unknown situations is therefore an indication on whether or not the employee is competent, hence; good at what is required. Holt Larsen elaborates on this by stating that an employee can be qualified to do his job, but if the attained knowledge cannot be transferred into action due to, for example; the company culture, what the employees are allowed or what the employee’s experience allow him to have the courage to do.Then the employee can be defined as incompetent, since the assignment is not completed (Holt Larsen, 2010). Holt Larsen mentions three learning barriers (company culture, rules and confidence) that affect some emp loyee’s ability to complete their assignment in tasks where their competences fall short. When an employee began his or her career in Maersk, they would possess formal competencies (Ellstrom & Kock, 2008) in the form of, for example, a high school or a college degree (Case, page 8).Maersk’s old way of providing learning and competence development to their employees can through my perspective be seen as a very universal, or objective, way of providing competence development. The standardized development programs were, in Maersk’s defence, designed for employees who did not possess competencies that exceeded the formal kind. The Maersk learning and competence development strategies that came after 2008 were also designed to include experienced individuals (Case, Page 7) who already possessed actual competencies.An example, based on the theory, of an employees’ actual competence development (Ellstrom & Kock, 2008) could be a result of; job rotation in the fo rm of assignments in various different Maersk departments. Furthermore internal evaluations, on the job training; informal learning in work and mentoring by superiors (Ellstrom & Kock, 2008) would be advisable to Maersk. The latter mentioned experiences can be seen as a way of developing the Maersk employee’s competences (Wahlgreen, 2002).Which one of the latter mentioned experiences that works best, is according to my standpoing depending on the individual employee that it is applied on; this correlates with the Maersk initiative â€Å"talent intimacy†, where the managers were encouraged to acquire the knowledge on how each of their individual employees learns best (Case, Page 10) In order to understand the terms learning and competence, one has to understand the similarities and contrasts between them. According to Hermann learning is a process were competencies is enabled. Learning is consequently he most important part of the competence development process (Hermann , 2003). In the case of talent intimacy Maersk is therefore able to archive competence development by the managers acting on behalf of Maersk, to learn about the individual employees; hence, the organization is learning. The latter correlates with Argyris & Scons theory of Organizational Learning (Argyris & Scons, 1996); the talent intimacy process encouraged the managers to act as agents (Argyris & Scons, 1996) which enabled Maersk to learn as an comprised entity, containing individuals.This can be seen as a shift away from the more objective way of evaluating and developing the employees that Maersk made use of before 2008, and is very much aligned with my standpoint. The learning is therefore facilitated vertically by means of the subjective way that Maersk observes its employees. In contrast, Maersk has developed an increased focus on KPIs when evaluating their employees. This objective way may hinder learning and the division of knowledge to spread horizontally throughout the o rganization. They KPIs of Maersk is linked to a reward system; according to Elkj? (2005) it can â€Å"hinder a productive organizational learning, if the behaviour in the organization influenced by defensive communication forms† (Elkj? r, 2005, Page 41). The managers can perceive that they have something to lose by sharing knowledge horizontally in the organization, if sharing could have a negative consequence on their own KPIs, or a positive influence on the KPIs on they co-workers/†competitors†. Elkj? r elaborates â€Å"win/loss behaviour draws attention away from finding and correcting errors. And instead moves the attention towards the individuals protection of themselves† (Elkj? r, 2005, Page 42).This problem can be worsened or alleviated by group size (Laezear & Gibbs, 2009), individual performance evaluation will have a tendency to distort the incentives of the individuals and therefore create fewer incentives for the Maersk employees to cooperate wi th their co-workers (Laezear & Gibbs, 2009). Regrettably measuring group or business unit’s performance increases the risk and decreases the controllability of the measurement. This learning process at Maersk, it seems, is either facilitated or hindered by the New HR processes; depending whether the processes subjective or objective.On the basis of this it would therefore be advisable for Maersk to use other angles, dimensions and parameters when identifying, evaluating and categorizing their employees, with the purpose of learning and competence development What should Maersk do with their high- and low performing employees? Concerning identifying, evaluating and categorizing; Since the development plans of the Maersk employees is based on evaluation and categorizing, it is relevant to look into various theory and ways of doing just that.Employees are often divided into top performers and poor performers, or A- and B employees (Naqvi, 2009). In the Case of Maersk the employe es are categorized as High Performers, Successful and Less Successful (Case, Page 6). According to Naqvi (2009) employees should not only be retained, but also nurtured for elevated responsibilities. Correspondingly, the mass of B employees should continuously be developed and trained for better performance, making optimal use if the employees competencies (Naqvi, 2009).The theory of Naqvi therefore corresponds with the process created by Maersk to analyse which leaders that underperform and therefore is in need of learning and competence development (Case, page 9 and 10). According to Stevens (2008) it is important to identify the skills that distinguish top- and poor performers from each other. By doing so it will become possible to; get an accurate job match with the right people getting the right jobs, to advance in succession planning, to provide a high level of job satisfaction and to accurately identify training- and competency development needs.The objective perspective; whe re talent is objectified as a size that can be measured, grouped and categorized, is very similar to the concept, talent management as fit tool (Schuler and Jackson, 2008).. Through this perspective talent is reduced to pieces of a puzzle, where it is up to the management to select, measure and assemble all the pieces in a manner that conform with the business strategy; subjectivity is thus ignored. I will elaborate on this concept later on.If the necessity to divide the employees of Maersk into groupings is inevitable due to; for example, the need to ease the top managements evaluations and discussions regarding the employees or to lower evaluation costs: A less simplified and general model could be utilized (appendix: 1) (Haskins and Shaffer, 2010). The 9 grid talent matrix is a more advanced, but still a straightforward way of evaluating an organizations talent pool. The horizontal axis considers the performance while the vertical axis considers the leadership potential. The 9 gr id alent matrix is an excellent method of identifying development needs amongst the employees. In addition it promotes dialog amongst the management team and consequently provide an adequate assessment, compared to if it was one person who evaluated the employee, as well as calibrating the different manager’s ratings and expectations. Both Maersk evaluation approach and the 9 grid talent matrix has the advantage that they are relatively easy to approach and rather inexpensive. The disadvantages of them is that they are very one-dimensional, in the sense that it the person being evaluated is only being evaluated by his or her superiors.A potential multidimensional evaluation approach at Maersk could be a 360 degree performance evaluation (Burton & Delong, 1998). In this approach the subject is being evaluated by both his superiors, co-workers, subordinates, costumers/suppliers and by himself. This evaluation system should consequently portray are more complex and adequate eval uation compared to the one-dimensioned evaluations. The 360 degree system essentially facilitates and creates individual development plans for the subject.Another advantage to the 360 degree evaluation is that it uncovers good performers that may not do well in the act of promoting themselves. Furthermore it uncovers individuals that might be a little too good at promoting themselves. A general disadvantage with subjective evaluations, one-dimensional as well as multidimensional, is that they suffer from grade inflation (Laezear & Gibbs, 2009); this implies that people are reluctant to give low ratings; it is therefore hard to distinguish performance and to show the best and worst performers.The disadvantage of the 360 degree evaluation is that it is time consuming and therefore the evaluations costs are higher, compared to the subjective ways of evaluating. This is arguable a fact that should be acceptable to Maersk to ignore, since the PSS evaluations only comprise of the top 120 positions in the company (Case) What seems obscure is that Maersk chooses to move away from the objective approach when it concerns competence development. But when choosing who to actually provide with learning and competence development they make use of something as objective as performance indicators.As one Maersk employee puts it; â€Å"Maersk Line is incredibly driven by objective settings and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and schemes that dictate behaviour† (Case, Page 7). Concerning the high performing employees at Maersk; Maersk emphasizes a great deal on performance when evaluating the individuals in the top positions of the company, but could other parameters be applied in conjunction with performance? And how should they act towards their high performing employees? It is an interesting actuality that almost all high-potential (HIPO) employees are high performers.But only approximately 29% of high performers have the potential to succeed in higher senior positio ns (Corporate Leadership Council, 2005). In correlation 47% of high performers is not HIPO`s due to shortcomings in aspiration (Corporate Leadership Council, 2005). These low performers have the highest, 44%, probability of succeeding at the next level. In comparison high performers with shortcomings in engagement consist of 48% of the high performers who are not HIPO`s, and they do only have 13% probability of succeeding at the next level.The high performers, who have shortcomings in ability, have a 0% probability of succeeding at the next level (Corporate Leadership Council, 2005). On the basis of this it would therefore be advisable for Maersk to explore the development opportunities and increase the ambition levels, amongst the high performers with short comings in aspiration. With the remaining high performers it would be advisable for Maersk to keep them motivated in their current positions.Concerning how Maersk should act regarding, improving the performance, through developm ent, amongst the employees where it is needed; Under Allen (Case) the idea for a more individualized employee training, that is applied due to low performance has been a process used by Maersk since 2008. It is a commonly expressed proposal and notion, that all companies will be able to enhance their operational and fiscal performance by developing and incorporating HRM practices with the aim of an increased performance (Kaufman, 2010).The Strategic HRM processes that are perceived as being able to increase the performance are described as high-performance work practices (HPWPS) (Kaufman, 2010). The HPWP entail various ways of increasing the employees performances as a result of providing better work conditions, by means of; introducing compensation incentives, by providing the employees with job training which will enable them in performing new ssignment, do better in their existing assignments and give the employees a greater sense of belonging at Maersk, additionally a higher lev el of job flexibility, amongst other things, should help increase the employees satisfaction, motivation and decreasing the employee turnover, thus retaining them, these aspect would all lead to a higher performance and productivity. By attempting to differentiate between the different theoretical aspects and their link between the HRM processes and the organizational performance, they are separated into three perspectives (Kaufman, 2010).Pfeffers Universalistic perspective has identified seven HRM practices that will succeed in increasing performance when implemented, in all situations, due to the fact that they are universal: employment security, selective hiring of new personnel, decentralized decision making and self-managed teams, pay-for-performance, extensive training, reduced status differentials and information sharing. The universalistic perspective can be perceived as a very objective view.The truth discovered in the factors effects are therefore according to ontological objectivity (Christensen, 2002) seen as a final, universal, absolute and concluding truth and knowledge, which cannot be distorted by the individuals subjective way of considering the findings. Via the Configurational perspective (Kaufman, 2010) the combination of the various practices and the impact of these is lesser simplified than with the universalistic perspective and would therefore enable the possibility to better grasp the angle that is required in order to archive performance enhancement amongst the employees at Maersk.The concept behind the configurational perspective is that some of the practices have a synergetic link with some of the other practices which will lead to an increased performance enhancement when combined. The practices will as a result perform better if they are equally aligned in a synergetic and parallel package, which will therefore fit horizontally. Correspondingly the practices will implement in a more optimal way if they complement and are aligned w ith Maersks business strategy in a vertical fit.The concept of fit is therefore relevant from my standpoint, as opposed to the universalistic perspective; it is meaningful in the case of Maersk to mention the proposition of the Best Fit (BF) model (Kaufman, 2010). The concept of the BF model is that the optimal practices and practice combinations vary in accordance with the unique and concrete in the specific situation. The concept of BF correlates with Allen`s and Maersk HR idea of individualized employee training the concept of talent intimacy; and consequently correlates with my standpoint. Maersk Talent management – perceived as a fit toolMaersk have through their newly developed People Strategy Session (PSS), attempted to create a process that ensures â€Å"getting the right people in the right jobs at the right time† (Case, Page 5). The talent management (TM) in Maersk can therefore be perceived as a Fit tool. According to Schuler and Jackson (2008) one of the ma in ways that international companies can archive and maintain a global competitive advantage is by effectively meeting the challenges in global TM, in core warranting that they have the right people, with the right competencies and motivation at the right time and in the right position (Schuler and Jackson, 2008).TM used as a fit tool can therefore help Maersk to archive; an optimal utilization of Maersks resources (their employees), a most advantageous productivity and a competitive advantage. According to Schuler and Jackson (2008) the concept of TM is about planning for, attaining, choosing, motivating, developing and maintaining the individuals with the right skill combinations and levels of motivation, both internally and externally, in coherence with the strategic course of the multinational organization in a vibrant and very competitive global environment (Schuler and Jackson, 2008).TM is spoken of as a part of the fit that transients throughout the entire corporation. TM ena bles the possibility to secure that the right talents are placed at the right locations – and this placement of talents should be coherent with Maersks overall strategy. In correlation with the latter mentioned, Maersk should therefore be seen as a puzzle or a jigsaw, where the objective is to get all the different pieces to fit perfectly together.In order to do so, Maersk should make use of HRM processes that can measure the talents competencies, output and abilities, and subsequently find out where they fit. In Maersk the individuals were reviewed and divided based on their performance (Case). When TM is used as a process that assures that the right employee is linked to the right job, TM can be seen as a fit-facilitator. The talent is simplified into performance and objectified as a component that has a certain and transparent internal, that can be measured and matched to a ertain job description. This assumption is only possible if one has a perspective that assumes that competences are measurable and therefore transparent; in the case of Maersk they are measured by performance. Maersk does therefore not take the intangibles or latent (Bramming, 2001) competencies into account. The latent competencies, of the individual Maersk employees, are extremely harder, more time consuming and therefore more costly to plot out. To elaborate, the intangibles (Laezear & Gibbs, 2009) are much harder to quantify.For example, the initial revenues and profit from a business unit may be high, but if the general customer satisfaction is low, it will damage the organization in the long run. A less objectivistic perspective could be that a perfect fit does not exist. No matter what position an employee is put in, he will always have shortcomings and will probably also have skills that exceeds what is required of him. The situation that demands competences that the employee does not possess will therefore drive the Maersk employee to learn (Chambers et al. , 1998) and th erefore develop his or hers competencies.If a perfect fit is avoided Maersk would therefore facilitate the employees learning and developing in their positions, and at the same time the positions would develop with the employees; thus the Maersk as an organization will learn and develop. Conclusion The optimal way of Maersk to act concerning learning & competence development is to provide it in a manner and at a time that the management and the individual employee perceives it as needed; Either in order for the employee to expand its role or performance; within its position, or when the possibility to rise to the next level occurs.It is not recommendable to provide competence development solely on the basis of unsatisfactory performance; the learning and development processes may be at a risk to be seen as a punishment, rather than a privilege and opportunity. Furthermore the increased focus on individuals KPIs will inevitably create internal competition, which will consequently hin der learning, throughout the organization.Regarding identifying, evaluating and categorizing in order to decide which high ranking employees that is in need of employee training, a more complex and adequate evaluation system is recommendable. Furthermore it should not only be the bad performers that is selected for development, through the 360 degree evaluation and dialogue a development plan should be created amongst all participants The high performing employees that do not have the ability or engagement to be a high potential, should be acknowledged for being a high performer, and encouraged and motivated to stay in their role.Concerning the high performers with lack in ambition, the development possibilities and professional reasons for lack of aspiration should be explored. Concerning increasing the performance though development amongst the employees were it is needed, it is advisable to continue to focus on the individuals reasons, the specific situation, what drives and moti vates the employee to learn and develop, and if nothing of the latter is successful, consider if the individual is the right person for Maersk.Regarding placing the right employees, in the right position at the right time; some competencies might be measurable, but some are definitely not. In order for Maersk to grow, positions should not be seen as fixed or static, of course an employee has to live up to certain qualifications in order to do the work demanded by the position. Beyond that, a slight mismatch between the employee and the position will probably lead to a growth and development of the position, as well as the employee; hence will Maersk learn and develop. ——————————————- [ 1 ]. Original text †forhindre produktiv organisatorisk l? ring, hvis adf? rd i organisationen er pr? get af defensive kommunikationsformer† [ 2 ]. Original text †En †vinde/tabe-adf ? rd† tr? kker opm? rksomheden v? k fra †at finde of rette fejl†. Og flytter den i stedet hen pa individers beskyttelse af sig selv† [ 3 ]. A survey of more than 11,000 employees at 59 global organizations

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