Investigative Fashion Journalism

Directions:Since you will have researched the current compensation system in parts A - C, your final course project will be a plan that outlines your recommendations for each of the discussed elements (e.g. structure, benefits, etc.). For example, perhaps through your unit research you have discovered that your selected organization has some incredible variances in pay. You would include in your final project the suggested changes that you would recommend. These suggestions need to be supported with scholarly research. This is a great opportunity to evaluate the costs of compensation, compensation management, the different classifications of the workforce, etc.The final project will be completed in 2 parts. The first part will be the formal written plan to be completed in MS Word. The body of the paper will be 4-5 pages. This does not include extraneous pages like title page, reference page, appendices. APA formatting standards are required. A minimum of 10 scholarly resources need to be used. Course materials and personal experience do not count. A formal third person tone is required. Supplemental information (e.g. worksheets that are currently being used) can be presented in Appendices but do not count toward the body of the paper.The second part will be a PowerPoint presentation that you would present to the stakeholders of the program that briefly outlines your case. As is the case with the written plan, you should also properly give credit to your sources in the PowerPoint.******Please refer to the attached documents for the topic selection and part A portion of my paper, and tie everything together accordingly. Thanks.*****Rubric:Criteria: Excellent - Addresses specifics of assignment demonstrating critical thinking abilities by synthesizing research. A minimum of 5 scholarly outside sources used.APA Formatting:All aspects of APA formatting followed.Grammar, Spelling, Tone:Professional 3rd person perspective used with no spelling/grammar errors.Below is the paper just incase you cannot open the attachments. Thanks--------------------------------------------------------------------------------TOPIC SELECTION:Google's Organizational CultureGoogle is a company that makes decisions in teams. An effective organizational structure prompts a company to success. The culture in Google supports excellence in the field of innovation. However, the organizational structure of Google is not typical because of direct social links and emphasis of change. The chances of success are facilitated by a good alignment of culture and structure within an organization. The management of Google has used the technique of aligning culture and structure in aiming at the success of the company. The dominant positions in Google are synergistically positioned to the benefits of the company’s structure and culture (Subhadra). Companies use different organizational structures, but Google has a cross-functional form of organizational structure that is a matrix with considerable flatness degrees. The major features of Google’s organizational structure are:FlatnessProduct-oriented definitionFunction-based definitionGoogle’s Organizational Culture is Consistent with its Vision and Corporate Strategies.Google’s consistency in the market towards achieving its corporate strategies has been enhanced by staying focused on the set objectives. The major service provided by Google is has been a search engine for information. Apart from providing information, the company has facilitated communication through the Gmail platform. The creation of a brand name that markets the company is the key to success. Google uses the search engine in making their customers satisfied and able to get the required content. The visitors to the site have also been sellers and buyers of content. Through the content search objective, people have sold and bought a lot of content through the Google platform. It has facilitated business and created opportunities for content writers to sell their articles and research materials (Büschgens, Bausch, & Balkin). The vision statement of Google is, “to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful.” Since incorporation, Google has aimed at focusing on developing the proprietary algorithms in the maximization of the effectiveness of its products. The best product of Google is its search engine. It has been used by many scholars and researchers for doing research and finding information. Despite Google benefiting from the on-site headquarters, the intangible brings more success to the company. Google has turned to be the paragon of every other company among all industries. The company’s vision has three major variables that are “world’s information, accessibility, and one click.” The search engine fulfills the accessibility variable, and on the search engine, the databases are regularly updated to offer the latest forms of information under the click of a search button. The maintenance of its databases with updates on information has helped the company consistent in the market. Other cultures that have maintained the consistency of Google’s culture include the hiring of the best and brightest candidates in the job market, making the human resource work as a science, and creating a casual working atmosphere.References:Büschgens, T., Bausch, A., & Balkin, D. B. Organizational Culture and Innovation: A Meta‐Analytic Review. Journal of product innovation management, 30(4), 763-781. 2013.Subhadra, K. Google's organizational culture. 2004.-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Part A:An analysis on the current state of the compensation system and address the current pay structure used. Reference should be made to job-based and person-based structure. Analysis should reference sources of information for job analysis, job evaluation, pay design, and pay levels. Organizations Culture: Compensation PlanEmployees are the greatest asset an organization or any business has. For this reason, creating a strong organizational culture that favors the employees working environment and condition is a meticulous management strategy. Notably, the organization culture should be one that motivates employees to work in their various capacities not only due to salaries and financial pressure but because they feel obliged to do so and feel a sense of belonging to the company (Deanne N. Den Hartog, Robert M. Verburg,, 2004). Google.inc is one company that maintains some of the most efficient organization's cultures.However, the company’s success is not only reliant on the organization culture but also the compensation structures put in place. Being an integral part of human resource management compensation benefits are divided into equity based rewards, variable pay, benefits and salary increment. Google ensures that their employees are not only compelled to produce quality services but are also provided ways to achieve the objectives.Notably aligning a company’s culture directly with compensation plans ensures employees interests are also harmonized with those of the company hence increasing performance. For this reason, Google’s compensation philosophy is to provide for their employee's benefits and needs at an individual personalized level. With each employee having diverse needs, Google’s compensation structure is flexible such that each employee can thoroughly enjoy the company’s benefits.To start with is the Google formal pay structure. The pay structure includes assessments and grouping of similar jobs and portfolio responsibilities together in their different working levels. The structure is typical of many organizations as it allows them to determine the basic salary worth for their employees. Similarly, through their compensation committee, Google can apply equity in giving benefits such as salary increments and holiday bonuses.Notably, the compensation committee of the Google human resource manager also determines the percentages of bonuses to be allocated. Currently, Google employees and executives receive an increase of up to 10% on their salary and a cash bonus of more than $1000 during Christmas holidays. As part of holiday compensations, Google gives their employees full pay during their vacations which extend up to 15 days for new employees and 25 days for employees with more than six years (Google, 2017).Secondly is the Google retirement and savings plan.Under the savings plan, various options are offered to employees where they are given an opportunity to invest their savings into profitable ventures within Google that could even double their principle deposits. For example, employees could take up a Google 401(K) where retirement savings contribution of more than 60% could earn a Google match of 100% of total contributions. Similarly, Google has a plan administrator who helps employees make informed decisions on the most prudent investment options to make.Health and wellness, Google treasures their employee’s services, and thus their health is a priority of the company. For this reason, various health insurance plans are available for the employees some may include, vision insurance, life and disability, insurance dental insurance, medical insurance and accident insurance policies (Google, 2010).Time away compensation plan, in every strong organization employee appreciation through vacation time is essential. A real peace of mind by employees boosts concentration which is a ground for building creativity and innovation. Similarly, it allows the employees to refocus and re-energize by taking time off. Notably, Google offers maternity benefits for women which are packaged with 100 days full paid leave. Similarly, an additional 500 dollars is added to the benefits for new parents during their maternity leave (Google, 2017).Compensation through profit-sharing; Profit sharing through stock ownership in the company is also a compensation program within Google’s structure through which outstanding employees are rewarded. The program is useful as it motivates employees towards hard work to increase the organization's stock prices. By owning stock in the company, employees are more inclined to ensure their work output and productivity is raised to ensure they also realize interest for their stocks. Legal and voluntary benefits, Google has incorporated myriad legally compelled and voluntary benefits in their compensation structure. For example as aforementioned, Google provides medical and insurance covers and paid leaves that all organizations are required to abide by. Other voluntary benefits include recreational facilities including swimming pools, gyms, health care facilities and sponsorship of both indoor and outdoor sports teams. A favorable working environment for an employee is essential to ensure quality work output; Google in their voluntary compensation plan also offers additional benefits such as free food during working hours and fitness classes. Servicing and oil change of the employee's vehicles are also available. An important virtue of organizational culture is for the management to understand each employee needs both at the workplace and outside. Goggles compensation plan through their voluntary compensation plan also caters for the employee’s children education, childcare and also assists in adoption processes.Being a technology company whose technological services are dynamic to the changing advancements Google has to stay ahead of innovations while emphasizing the need for creativity from their employees. These are the factors that have led Google to incorporate the above compensation structures in their organizational culture. To start with it ensures that there is a high level of employee retention. Compensation plan such as the equity and stock allocation makes the employee a legal stakeholder of the company with a responsibility of maintaining and increasing the stock prices of the company this works as an excellent employee retention strategy (E.C. Martins, F. Terblanche, 2003).Secondly, the evaluation salary increment and provision of additional voluntary benefits also works as an attraction to skilled and sharp employees who would like to join the Google employee labor force.With new hires in the workforce, new ideas and innovation are realized which enables Google to remain a strong and powerful technology tool serving millions of users with impressive accuracy and speed.With such a competitive compensation structure, Google ranks top in comparison with similar competing companies. In a bid to build a favorable organization culture and working environment for employees, Google heavily invests on the employee’s compensations, in fact, their human resource offers the highest salaries and voluntary benefits in the market (Lombardo, 2017). Based on Google’s compensation structures and their enormous success in ensuring quality work output, it is therefore important for every organization as part of maintaining a healthy organization culture to also stress on the proper compensation of employees. Also it instills motivation, diligence and more attention of employees towards their jobs which contribute to better service delivery of the company and hence profit.ReferencesDeanne N. Den Hartog, Robert M. Verburg,. (2004). Human Resource Management Journal, 55-78.E.C. Martins, F. Terblanche. (2003). Building organisational-culture that stimulates creativity-and innovation. European Journal-of Innovation Management.Google. (2010). Annual Report. investor.Google.Google. (2017). The Engagement Formula. Case study: Google.Lombardo, J. (2017). Google's HRM: Compensation, Career Development. Business Management.Roslyn, F. (2008). Googles Organisation Culture. eHOW Money.--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Part B:A analysis on the current state of the compensation system and address pay-for-performance and benefits. Reference should be made to individual and group incentives, performance appraisals, legally mandated benefits, options benefits, and benefit determination process. (Note – do not simply copy paste the benefits offered).Compensation System and Pay StructureWhen running an organization, team leaders and managers must make decisions as a team. Using Google Company’s management structure, the employees are remunerated based on the position held, the experience requires, and the efforts applied to the company. However, laws have been enacted in every state that regulates the minimum wages for every employee working in registered organizations and companies. Google has maintained a strong and consistent compensation structure and pay structure because of its culture that has been emulated by all employees and stakeholders all through since its corporation. A compensation system is a manner that remuneration is offered to the staff and pay structure is the manner that salaries vary among employees within an organization (Rigamonti, & Carretta, 2015). For example, the system can be generating pay slips every 28th date of the month while the pay structure might vary depending on the signed contract and other benefits earned within the earning period. An employee can be assigned to more tasks that can result to altering the structure of pay by gaining additional pay through overtime and commission on work done. Job AnalysisWhen Google’s human resource management does an analysis of the job, they consider creativity and innovation abilities of the candidates. Considering the organizational structure of Google, that features flatness, product orientation, and function based has enabled the staff to enjoy well compensation with clear set structures that every employee becomes aware of the expected pay rate the end of a certain set period that is one month by default to the very company. Job EvaluationAn evaluation of a job is the determination of the worth or value of a job depending on the departments within an organization. For example, Google Company has a greater allowance to the programming and anti-hacking team than the researchers who provide the information posted on the Google database. When a job is evaluated, security issues and sensitivity of the information regarding a position in an organization is crucial. When researching on a government project or progress on given issues that are a great challenge to the public, approved and assigned information must be publicized to avoid contradicting the government and the public (LIVY, 2017). Hence, in search sensitive jobs within the Google Company, the personnel assigned are well remunerated depending on the steps taken in arriving the concluded report to be published on the internet. The government positions and ranks that a Google employee staff must go through before tabling a final report for publication is tedious but will earn the company more income. In such cases, the human resource management must evaluate the job categories to avoid underpaying or overpaying staff. Equity and justice are practiced through a good evaluation of job categories. Pay DesignPay design is a salary structure that every company makes in the determination of some wages or salary to be paid to employees depending on various factors. Some of the factors that determine the paid design include the cost of living, the legislation by the government regarding remuneration, the productivity of the employee, and the personal perception of wages by the candidates. Apart from the factors determining the pay structure of employees at Google, the demand and supply of the work done is a major factor that Google uses (Daft, 2016). For example, the communication industry has been the major part of the activities carried out by Google followed by the availability of research information about different topics. Pay LevelsThe pay levels applied to the staff at Google depends on the standard set structure of pay rates depending on profession and job group levels. For example, a started in a given field cannot earn the same salary amount as a person who has been in the industry and earned honors by recognized institutions. Every sector of the economy and the job group structure has levels that people move upwards towards gaining experience and familiarity in the job structure, for example, Google Company deals more with technology related issues and research-based. The information collected by researchers and scholars to Google must be given preference depending on the complexity of the information delivered. The pay level of a scholar that delivers information about an international research conducted by using more resources and facilities must be compensated higher than a local research that requires fewer resources (Colonnello, Curatola, & Hoang, 2014). The level o expertise held by an employee matters most in the Google Company and the availability of such information. For example, Google sells eBook that varies in price depending on the level of proficiency and experience of the authors. Job-Based StructureThe pay structure of Google is designed by the set groups, and bonuses earned to delegated tasks. When setting the structure of work at Google, the employees can earn up to 10% commission on top of the basic salary during special occasions and other activities that deem the right to earn extra credit apart from the assigned amount. When analyzing the Google Company, the staff enjoys bonuses of over $1000 at the close of the year as a gift for the Christmas holiday. Person-Based StructureGoogle has allowed employees own stocks and earn interest as they continue working. People hold different experiences and knowledge about certain job descriptions regarding the period they have served in the industry and the research they have done on specific professions.As a way to increase earnings to both the company and the employees, they are allowed to own stock shares that generate interest to them during the sharing of profit to other stakeholders. The evaluation of the job positions and departments is categorized by the health status of the employees. For example, employees with problems that cannot permit traveling much are assigned to office work to reduce cases of illness and increase productivity as they can perform better from stationed positions than moving from place to place that can lead to health complications.ConclusionThe well-structured compensation of Google makes the company be among the top performing organizations in the world with many employees across all nations in the world (Milkovich, 2014). However, the quality of Google’s work has been ranked the best due to the compensation of employees well and keeping their steady couture. Stressing on better compensation structures and keeping of employees will ensure security and prolonged productivity of the company as Google performs best in the world in the sector of communication and research. Salary increments at regular intervals and setting of goals can help organizations to keep their record of accomplishment and reputation in the industry. The management of Google has done I tremendous in maintaining work ethics and rules that supervise the employees without follow up by department leaders.ReferencesColonnello, S., Curatola, G., & Hoang, N. G. (2014). Executive compensation structure and credit spread : [Version 9 Juli 2014]. Frankfurt am Main: Univ.-Bibliothek Frankfurt am Main.Daft, R. L. (2016). Organization Theory & Design.LIVY, B. R. Y. A. N. (2017). JOB EVALUATION. Place of publication not identified: ROUTLEDGE.Milkovich, G. T. (2014). Compensation. New York, NY; London: McGraw-Hill Education - Europe. Daft, R. L. (2016). Organization theory & design.Rigamonti, A., & Carretta, P. (2015). The structure of matter: An introductory course with problems and solutions.---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Part C:An analysis on the current state of the compensation system and address pay-for-performance and benefits. Reference should be made to individual and group incentives, performance appraisals, legally mandated benefits, options benefits, and benefit determination process. (Note – do not simply copy paste the benefits offered). Pay-for-Performance and Benefits at Google Company Google is an international company that has recruited employees in almost every country that they operate. The employees enjoy a good structure of wages and other financial benefits to the staff and their dependents. Take for example the death of an employee and the children are below the age of maturity. The spouse of the deceased enjoys the pay of a 50% salary for ten years, and the children are paid the sum of $1,000 monthly until they attain the age of 19 or 23 for the full-time students. The set benefits apply to all employees regardless of the period worked at the company (Morrow, 2016). Apart from the benefits, the staff to Google enjoys unlike in other companies, the determination of the pay-for-performance and other benefits depend on the individual employees and the system used for the determination of the benefits. Individual and Group Incentives The performance of an individual working at Google is entitled to sharing of profits in the form of commissions to the work performed. The research done by scholars and other researchers is remunerated at given percentages that are remitted to the respective content owners. Innovation is the key driving force of the company and employees that come up with ideas that make the company live in the future are highly compensated. When candidates are recruited to Google, they come with the ideas and suggestions they have depending on the experience they have and the information gathered from other users of the company’s services. For the past decade, Google company has topped in the communication sector where many e-mail accounts are operated, and the interface is user-friendly, unlike other communication sites that have interfaces that do not appeal to the users. The individual performance aim at ensuring the service and the navigation of the system on the site are made simple and secure. Assignments can be delegated to the staff in the form of groups to help perform the work better or conduct research. In most cases, the group is formed when research is conducted on various topics. Performance Appraisals A performance appraisal is the review of the performance of the evaluation, career development discussions, and the documentation of the work of an employee. Staff can be motivated by the supply of facilities that can make the work easier or by rating the work of individual employees on a scale. Performance appraisals are a way of encouraging employees to work extra hard and deliver based on the assigned duties and the deadlines set to meet with the management. For example, when information needs to be published to the Google database and the requests placed by visitors to the site are much, tight, and near deadlines can be set to help monitor the client requests and maintain the confidence the people have in the company in the provision of the information. The appraisals are done in the manner of providing facilities such as transportation and meals to the field researchers who have limited time to source for such facilities in the conduct of research. The saved time can be used to analyze the data and make it ready for publication to the database. During the appraisal of performances, employees gain a competitive spirit in ensuring that their information meets the set standards and the source is original to avoid the misuse of copyrights and to copy other authors’ information from past research. Legally Mandate Benefits The Google company has established a mandate of ensuring that the labor laws are followed as required, and calculation of salaries are done under the provisions of the set standards. The deduction of tax from personal income and other benefits provide by the company are subject to the calculation of the payroll regulations. The legally mandated benefits to every employee are annual leave, overtime compensation, and the employer contributions to the retirement benefits unions. Under any government, the labor laws permit employers to contribute a percentage equal to that contributed by the staff to save on the retirement benefits authority for meeting life necessities when the employees retire from work (The United States. 2012). Such legal mandated benefits have been applied at Google, and the staff enjoys more benefits provided by the internal management besides the legal set obligations. Options Benefits Google Company offers ‘massage credits’ to its employees after performing their jobs well. Massage is normally charged per hour depending on the time taken in the parlor room. Hence, the credits are redeemed and used at the massage rooms for an hour without paying. The company when handling employees exercises the sick leave and other benefits of sick-off. The pay range within the organization determines the amount of income to be pocketed by the staff, but the benefits are equally applied to every staff member (Rao, 2013). An example is one employee who had an injury while in the United States and underwent three surgeries. The Google Company extended the sick off period until the employee fully recovered and the salary was remitted to his bank account on the set dates the entire staff was paid. Benefit Determination Process The determination of benefits is calculated on the hours spent at work and the extra assignment delegated to the staff. Under the civilized regime and system of compensating employees, companies and organizations are required to observe the benefit changes over a period. The examination of the changes is to ensure that they are updated with the evolution of labor laws that had resulted to a higher benefits payout than on the previous periods when the living standards of the people were low depending on the population size and availability of resources. Benefits determination process offers the company a strategy of developing benefits packages (Nambiar, & Poess, 2016). The growth of employee benefits at Google Company has made progress due to the inclusion of the labor unions, the wages and price controls, government impetus, employer impetus, and the analysis of the cost effectiveness of offering such benefits to the staff. Conclusion The benefits enjoyed by the staff at Google Company arise from the better performance of their work and the set compensation rules. However, the company as set an internal system that ensures the dependents of the deceased that worked with them enjoys the life they had before. The provision of half salary to the spouses of employees who die while offering their service to the company and the payment made to the children of $1,000 every month ensures of the social concern and the uplifting of the spirit of the family members (The United States. 2012). The freedom offered by the management at Google increases innovation and creativity as every employee can bring new ideas that can ensure that the company is in the lead in technology and information. References Morrow, J. R. (2016). Measurement and evaluation in human performance. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics. Nambiar, R., & Poess, M. (2016). Performance Evaluation and Benchmarking: Traditional to Big Data to Internet of Things. (Lecture Notes in Computer Science; 9508.) Cham: Springer International Publishing. Rao, P. (2013). Taking sides. New York: McGraw-Hill. United States. (2012). Pay for performance: Should Fannie and Freddie executives be receiving millions in bonuses? hearing before the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, House of Representatives, One Hundred Twelfth Congress, first session, November 16, 2011. Washington: U.S. G.P.O. United States. (2013). Pay for performance: Incentive compensation at large financial institutions: hearing before the Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Protection of the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, United States Senate, One Hundred Twelfth Congress, second session ... February 15, 2012.

Using the budget information from Unit 1 and the financial plan and operational budget from the Unit 4 Intellipath Assignment, discuss the need for the following: Increase in revenue reimbursement through inpatient length of stay and outpatient vendor relationshipsAllocation for the proposed improvements and required partnershipsPartnering with local skilled nursing facilities and home health organizationsIncrease in salariesBe sure to discuss the following areas: Funding sourcesYour methodology in revenue forecastingHow the new services will impact revenue?Fixed and variable costsProject inpatient and outpatient visits based on current trends