Problems of Management in the 21st Century

3

Authors: Editorial Board

Contents, Vol. 5, PMC, 2012

6-15

Authors: Ebenezer Ankrah, Evans Sokro

The purpose of this research is to identify specifically, how the use of Human Resource Information Systems (HRIS) contributes to the effectiveness of strategic human resources management and to examine the strategic importance of using HRIS at the workplace. Relevant review of various HRIS literature were undertaken which culminated into the development of a conceptual model and the formulation of hypotheses to test the proposal that there is relationship between independent variables- HRIS- and the dependent variables- Cost and Time Savings (CTS), Decision Making Contribution (DMC), Quality Information Effects (QIE) and Employment Development Commitment (EDC). The research uses data generated from 34 respondents from insurance companies in Ghana: SSNIT, ELAC, Vanguard, and Donewell. Data was analyzed using SPSS software. It has been found that HRIS adoption and use have a strong and positive effect on CTS and DMC. Essentially, organizations that divert concerted efforts towards HRIS adoption and use have a high likelihood of cutting down cost and saving time, and also ensure better contributions to strategic decision making. Further findings suggest that insurance organizations map up a strategic plan before implementation goes underway. Financial and resource appraisal in relation to the ability to start and sustain HRIS use are critical. HRIS enables HR professionals and supervisors to manage complex information entities and to plan HR efficiently also, organisations that intend using HRIS should thoroughly educate its employees- not only HR staff- so that internal awareness can facilitate the acceptance of the system.

31-45

Authors: Miroslav Hájek, Karel Pulkrab, Jaroslava Hyršlová

Environmental management accounting is an environmental voluntary instrument, which is aimed at environmental and economic benefits. It is possible to apply environmental management accounting in different industry sectors. In case of forestry a challenging idea is to take into account all forestry externalities. It is important to try to find a solution to comprehend all forestry outputs into a system of environmental management accounting because externalities are often excluded and result is that managers do not have correct information for their decisionmaking. That is why it is important to know whether the accounting system includes externalities and how internalize all externalities. The problem is a methodology of assessing the externalities and willingness to allow externalities particularly in private enterprises. Assessment of externalities is not an invincible problem but a problem is to know what is their impact on enterprises and on society. A possibility to make a decision including externalities is what we want to solve. A lot of monetary and nonmonetary outputs exist in forestry. That is why we selected a forestry enterprise as an example.

61-71

Authors: Nilton Cesar Lima, Antonio Sergio Torres Penedo, Marcio Mattos Borges de Oliveira, Sonia Valle Walter Borges de Oliveira, Jamerson Viegas Queiroz

As the sophistication of technology is increasing, also increased the demand for quality in education. The expectation for quality has promoted broad range of products and systems, including in education. These factors include the increased diversity in the student body, which requires greater emphasis that allows a simple and dynamic model in the provision of education. For this reason, a formalized methodology known as systems theory is often applied in the industry as a management instrument, or in other words, known as systems management. The management of educational systems would be adherent to ally in reducing failure rates and quality improvement. This is possible in complex learning systems scale. Accordingly, this article aims to discuss some implications of trying to use the systems management as modern teaching methodology.

83-98

Authors: Stephen N. M Nzuve, Tsala Halima Bakari

Local authorities in Kenya have been known for poor performance. In the recent past, the trend has changed due to the introduction of performance contracting where employees must set and meet work targets from their supervisors, hence the need to be enabled to perform. The local authorities’ service provision would be largely improved with the implementation of employee empowerment within the local authorities. This study sought to establish the extent to which the City Council of Nairobi (CCN) had put in place employee empowerment programs and also to determine the relationship between employee empowerment practice and the performance of the City Council of Nairobi. In view of the above, a case study design was deemed appropriate to fulfill the objectives of the study, since data for research was obtained from one organization. The population of interest comprised all the employees of the City Council of Nairobi which was picked owing to the fact that it is the largest local authority in Kenya and is therefore expected to engage in the best human resource practices. A sample of 60 employees, 4 from each of the 15 departments comprised the respondents who were selected randomly. The study used both primary and secondary data. The primary data was collected through a structured questionnaire administered on drop and pick basis. Data on performance as measured by return on assets (ROA) was collected from secondary sources. The analysis was done mainly using descriptive statistics such as mean scores, frequencies and percentages. Pearson product moment correlation technique was used to establish the strength and significance of the relationship between empowerment and performance.Findings of this study reveal that the employee empowerment score in the City Council of Nairobi indicate that the employees are empowered to a large extent. This is demonstrated by an average score of 3.546. The study also found that there is a very strong positive correlation between employee empowerment and performance. The study concluded that employee empowerment had a great positive influence on the performance of the City Council of Nairobi.

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Authors: Editorial Board

End page, Vol. 5, 2012, PMC