Assignment Questions - Report of 2,250 Words. The Case Study You have just been appointed to work as HR Manager for Palermo Safe Storage, an organisation which, despite its mission statement of ‘Our people are our future’, operates with a range of personnel and development policies which pay little heed to employees’ rights or needs at work. You find, for example, that wages and salaries are below the national average, that employees are required to work overtime at short notice, that several staff have been dismissed for trying to establish a trade union! Health and safety rules are frequently ignored, recruitment and selection procedures are haphazard and ad hoc, and training is non-existent. You approach the chief executive and explain that personnel and development practices are out of line with the mission statement and that something needs to be done. She shrugs her shoulders, saying that this has not caused any problems in the past. Nobody has complained to her and, anyway, she runs a successful organisation. In the end you persuade her to let you make a presentation to the board. Your Assignment: Prepare a report which you will present to the executive board of the company based upon what you would do to improve the situation with Palermo Safe Storage. You should use the tasks below as your basis for the report. Task 1. Explain the meaning of HRM and the HR function and why it is important within the organisation. In doing so, explain how HR strategies and practices fit within the overall business objectives. Task 2. Demonstrate the purpose of HR Planning and how this can be useful in finding the right skills and competencies for the business. Task 3. Explain how Training and Development contributes to improving the overall performance of the organisation. Task 4. Explain the process for managing change within the business and its global external environment. Use a HR change model to illustrate your argument. Task 5 Identify the ways in which the organisation can take account of employment legislation within its HR practices. Task 6 Suggest ways in which the organisation can take advantage of globalisation to add value to the business and sustain its future growth. Suggested Structure. Introduction. This is the introduction to the entire assignment as a whole and not a particular task. It should introduce the purpose of the report and what it intends to cover (125 words) (10 marks) Main Body. This is where all the tasks should be discussed. Please do not copy and paste the questions for each task. Below is a suggestion of possible headings for the tasks. However, feel free to use any other headings you deem appropriate: HRM and the HR function This heading should cover task 1 (350 words) (10 marks) HR Planning This heading should cover task 2 (400 words) (15 marks) Training and Development This heading should cover task 3 (350 words) (10 marks) Change Management This heading should cover task 4 (400 words) (15 marks) Employment Legislation This heading should cover task 5 (400 words) (15 marks) Globalisation This heading should cover task 6 (350 words) (10 marks) Conclusion/Recommendations. This conclusion should be a summary of your recommendations (What you will do to improve the existing situation at the organisation based on your analysis of the topics covered within the tasks). Your recommendations should contain issues, solutions, benefits and the potential acceptability, or otherwise, of your proposals (125 words) (10 marks) The remaining 5 marks will be awarded for overall presentation. End of Assignment Brief. __________________________________________________________________________ CONSTRUCTION TECHNOLOGY 5 __________________________________________________________________________ Climate Assignment Ecologically and climatically appropriate building design. Most traditional construction around the world is well-adapted to its environment and generally makes use of ecologically appropriate building materials and forms. Before mechanical space heating and cooling were available, traditional settlements developed a natural harmony with their climate and had as a consequence, a minimal carbon footprint. With global warming, we are returning to ecologically sustainable and climatically appropriate building designs. Particularly in this assignment, we will be looking at building designs, in climatically diverse locations across Australia and our near neighbours, investigating appropriate solutions for that location from elsewhere in the world that will have a minimum carbon footprint. You will be focusing on traditional solutions (say prior to 1900’s) from around the world, in similar climatic locations; to derive possible solutions for the location you will be assigned. As a group of 5 (minimum) or 7 (maximum) students, you will be allocated a location and your group is to become familiar with its peculiar climatic constraints. You are then to investigate other locations around the world in similar climates and discover the type of traditional building that developed to solve their particular needs for warmth (or cooling) and shelter. The list at the end of this handout has locations from around our region which are climatically diverse. When you have formed your groups a location will be allocated. Please form groups early in the semester. You must research the following topics to determine their influence on building design for your location: 1. The characteristics of the climate. i. Average maximum summer and minimum winter temperatures. ii. Diurnal temperature range both in summer and winter. iii. Humidity levels in summer and winter. iv. Solar characteristics (sun path and intensity of solar radiation). v. Atmospheric conditions (dust, cloudiness, precipitation e.g. mist & rain). vi. Incidence and extent of snow, if applicable. vii. Evaporation rates, rainfall intensities, flooding, fire and any other extremes of climatic conditions encountered at your location. viii. Remember to consider the use of vegetation to control the extremes of the climatic conditions, if at all possible. 2. Lighting needs of the building i. Glare problems; snow or bare ground. ii. Natural and artificial methods of lighting. iii. Lighting control throughout the day. 3. Acoustic background of the building i. External noise levels ii. Internal noise levels The locations chosen have some degree of discomfort in their climate in either summer or winter conditions. It might be the hottest day recorded or length of hot days or the highest evaporation rate. Or it could be the lowest or highest rainfall recorded with associated extremes of flooding or the highest altitude with resultant snow loads. Your group is to overcome these extremities and make your building solution an ecologically sustainable solution using ideas developed from traditional methods sourced from overseas. We are primarily focusing on characteristics of the environment and climate that impinge on building design and deriving solutions that would be acceptable to our culture in Australia. You can use modern building methods or materials to construct your building designs, but the focus is traditional solutions. You can use solar panels to generate both electrical & hot water, but again the focus is traditional solutions. The keywords are ecologically sound solutions that are climatically appropriate to the area you are assigned. Common problems • You are to discover countries that have similar climatic zones, and determine from your research the type of traditional building, that might have appropriate lessons for your allocated area. You must NOT include a general discussion of the cultural, geographic or political background of the country, unless it relates to the design of buildings. Marks will be deducted for padding. • Structural concerns, from snow, floods, earthquake & hurricanes should only be discussed if they affect the lighting, acoustic or thermal characteristics of the building. • You must include a Table of Contents, Conclusion and Reference list (Harvard method); overall it must be a professional report. See the Learning Guide for more details. Assessment (20% of final mark for the unit) Demonstrate how the environmental factors influence the design of traditional buildings in your similar region and how these principles can be applied and implemented to buildings at your location in Australia. This will be done through: 1. A 25 minute maximum verbal presentation (say 15 minute talk {i.e. app. 3 minutes each} and 5 minutes questions to the whole group). The presentation must be accompanied by PowerPoint slides (or similar). 2. A written submission; The length of the report is not critical but there should be input from all members of the group and heat, light and sound should be covered.. Diagrams and photographs are encouraged and should be referenced separately. This is a guide only. You may write a longer or shorter report if you want to do so. It is the quality of what is written that counts. 3. List of Locations: These will be allocated once you form your group Avoca TAS Marree SA Barrow Creek NT Mataranaka NT Birdsville QLD Meekatharra WA Bothwell TAS Menindee NSW Ceduna SA Miena TAS Cobar NSW Moree NSW Coober Pedy SA Peak Hill WA Cromwell NZ Pedirka SA Curie TAS Port Arthur TAS Daly Waters NT Queenstown NZ Derby WA Red Cliffs VIC Emerald QLD Renner Springs NT Halls Creek WA Robinvale VIC Hopetoun VIC Rosebery TAS Innisfail QLD Rotorua NZ Invercargill NZ Taupo NZ Karumba QLD Tumbarumba NSW Laverton WA Wangaratta VIC Mackay QLD Wilpena SA Maningrida NT Windorah QLD 4. Value of the Assignment, including PowerPoint & live presentation: 20% Submission Date: At time of presentation either week 13 or 14, as scheduled later in the semester