How Gazda Cars and Bomino Printing approach the management of their activities Essay Example for Free

How Gazda Cars and Bomino Printing approach the management of their activities Essay Advantages * Its Organised * Their pay is related to their performance, which will motivate them perform better. * Work is carried out in controlled environment. * Its seen as social which motivates workers. * Managers convey moral elite, trustworthy, broadly motivated to organise influence others. * Employees have more control of their work (live to work). * Take interesting staff giving feeling of involvement, security job satisfaction, related to high achievement Disadvantages * Scientific approach used (work to live). * Communication between workers is bad. Not approachable, no influence. * Managers defined as rational economic, primarily motivated by just money. * Being too nice to staff makes managers look weak. Managers need that power so everything is in control. * Staff can abuse their manager if their needs are not fulfilled, e.g., they can strike. People can respond to many different types of management strategies, but there is no single strategy that will work for all everyone all the time. Therefore, Gazda Cars should refer to Fielders Contingency Approach to management. This theory supports the view of the complex man- i.e. the motives that man has which changes over time and in different situations, can be seen as personal hierarchy. It defines situational favourability, or the ease of influencing followers as the combination of situational factors: leader-member relations, task structure, and position power. Fielder argued that leadership style was innate and that the above three situational factors determined whether task or relations oriented leadership was more appropriate. The main ideas about Contingency Theory are: 1. There is no universal or one best way to manage 2. The design of an organisations and its subsystems must fit with the environment 3. Effective organisations not only have a proper fit with the environment but also between its subsystems and 4. The needs of an organisation are better satisfied when it is properly designed and the management style is appropriate both to the tasks undertaken and the nature of the work group. The contingency approach opens the door for the possibility that leadership could be different in every situation (Saal and Knight, 1988). It provides a more realistic view of leadership by allowing for complexity and situational specificity of overall effectiveness. As organisations today are faced with continuing changes in technology, environment conditions, and internal processes, this approach can offer a more sophisticated understanding of the leadership process and emphasise the idea of flexible, adaptive leadership that may contribute to the success of a company. However, the various models in contingency theory have been criticised largely for the difficulty in testing the contingency variables selected since variables may affect each other or be influenced by a leader. The complexity of situational factors and various combinations of task and subordinate characteristics makes a single comprehensive test of the model impossible (Wagner and Hollenbeck, 1992). As it is entirely possible that different leaders in the same situation may reach different conclusions about the situation, which may in turn cause them to take very different actions, the practical use of this theory in business is quite limited. Gazdas Mechanistic Structure Bominos Organic Structure Operates in a competitive fast changing environment but is not seen as exiting or fun. They are separate departments for production, sales, marketing, research and development, data processing, accounts and human resource management. Each member has their own specific role. Obedience to superiors and loyalty to the organisation are assisted upon. This structure is old fashioned. The communication usually comes in the form of instructions decisions issued by superiors and the performance feed back requests for decisions sent from subordinates. Work is carried in a controlled environment. Control authority relationships are structured in a vertical hierarchy. Operates in a highly complex environment. Tasks are highly specialised. Employees are not clear on how their tasks contribute to accomplishing organisational objectives. Distributes inkjet laser printing systems, which is a fast moving product, economically productive. Department are separated for all the main business functions. General roles are defined for each member. Authority relationships control are structured in a network rather than a hierarchy. This approach is to do with being nice to staff. Commitment to organisational goals is recommended more then loyalty or obedience. Teams are set up to work on new product development. Tasks are modified often redefined by means mutual adjustment among task holders. Workers have a variety of tasks which are broad and independent. Relation of task performance to attainment of organisational objectives is emphasised. Gazdas Role culture Bominos Task culture There are usually job descriptions, rules procedures to govern behaviour as well as procedures for all activities. Pay is related to performance. A role culture is one which emphasises conformity to expectations. As Harrisons theory states, such organizations can be said to be rational instruments for the achievements of specific goals. People work most effectively efficiently when they have relatively, simple clearly defined, circumscribed measurable tasks. However the company operates in a highly complex fast changing environment. Here management is seen as completing a succession of projects or solving problems, often as a part of a team. It is project oriented, bringing together the right people. The staff get a feeling of involvement; security general job satisfaction are closely related to high achievement. Performance is judged by results. Job satisfaction tends to be high, to the degree of individual participating group identity. Though the current tall structure and Role culture at Gazda internally complement each other, one can question whether those are the most efficient with regards to the dynamic and highly competitive external environment. Role culture and tall structure is perfectly suited in a stable external environment but cannot maintain maximum productivity in an unpredictable and rapidly changing external environment. Such structures and cultures lack the flexibility to quickly adapt to external influences; it is commonly known that if one cannot adapt to ones external environment then one is in great danger of becoming extinct. It is important to identify the need for reorganisation culture, process and structure. If reorganisation can be justified than the most feasible and effective approach should be implemented to replace its predecessor. The structure at Gazda is a much closed system where information processing and co-operation are slow. It can be said communication is the way to success, hence in order to achieve maximum efficiency champion manufactures need to increase levels of cooperation and information processing to improve the internal environment. Maybe a more organic approach, being an open system which emphasis is placed in group actions; co-operation and team work should be integrated into the present structure and culture along with lateral relationships. The pre dominant advantages of integrating these two new elements are firstly, allowing direct contact between employees and those higher up the hierarchy, hence problems are addressed quicker and time is used efficiently both the current structure and culture will successfully take the business further. In contrast to a tall organisation, a flat organisation will have relatively few layers or just one layer of management. This means that the Chain of Command from top to bottom is short and the span of control is wide. Due to the small number of management layers, flat organisations are often small organisations similar to Bomino Printing. A task culture refers to a team based approach to complete a particular task. They are popular in todays modern business society where the organisation will establish particular project teams to complete a task to date. A task culture clearly offers some benefits. Employees feel motivated because they are empowered to make decisions within their team, they will also feel valued because they may have been selected within that team and given the responsibility to bring the task to a successful end. I say they are both related because the informal structure relates to a particular task carried out by particular groups of individuals working together this is of a similar nature to a task culture. Decision making at managerial levels is more efficient as fewer people need to be informed/included in this process. Thirdly, staff motivation is increased at higher levels of co-operation means employees are not constantly being given simple direct orders by managers. This has a boosting affect on morale and motivation. Last but not least with a free flow of information present, all departments can be encouraged to succumb to change, therefore enabling the organisation to respond to influential external factors. Bomino Printing should remain loyal to the present culture and structure because this will help them build and progress further in the future. Bibliography Human resource management Ian Beardwell and Len Holden Management James A.F Stoner (Fifth edition) Organisations and behaviour Patrick Corner Principles of scientific management Fredrick W. Taylor Web sites http://www.northstar.k12.ak.us/schools/ryn/projects/inventors/taylor/taylor.html http://www.business.com/directory/management/management_theory/contingency_and_system_theory/ http://www.uniqindex.co.za/maslows.htm

Lifespan Development Early ChildhoodÂÂ

Lifespan Development Early Childhood   Lifespan development entails various elements such as change, and movement from one life stage to the other. Trying to understand early childhood development using life span approach has many positive implications to early childhood professionals since it will help them in playing an important role in helping children and their families develop sound social policies. Lifespan development results to life transitions and can be associated with various skills such as fine motor skills, overregulaization, centration and private speech among others. Some of the lifespan developments are permanent while others only last for a while. Lifespan development is used to describe growth progression through several stages. Development is used to measure the level of maturity. To illustrate this I chose a 3 year old girl. This little girl is a pupil of a daycare center. I got to know the girl because my daughter works in that institution. The girls mother works in the same institution and this was one of the reasons I considered using the girl in my case study since her mother would help me in giving answers for questions I needed in order to identify certain special skills. In order to understand early childhood development skills interviews concerning various observations and interactions both physical and social were used in order to determine which skills the child had. The main objective of conducting this project was to identify various skills and changes that are associated with three year old child. The girl I used represented a sample of three year old children. Three years in childhood development is a transition period and its during this age that a child is able to start learning about himself and the surrounding world. As a result this stage is considered a preoperational stage since the child learns a lot in this age. According to Piagets theory, its during this stage that children develop private speech and show animated thinking since they can not manipulate information mentally (Goetz Allen, 1986). Most of the developmental skills such as child rearing styles, gender identity and centration are acquired at this age. The family has been keen in helping this girl develop at this age. Usually her mother who is also the teacher for the daycare center has developed a consistent schedule since at this age its important to train the girl on rituals that are associated with this preoperational stage. By doing this project I wanted to determine the level of maturity and skills of the three year old girl. To determine the maturity level I used various action and skills that are associated with children aged 3 years. Physical development refers to changes and improvements in physical parts. Some of the attributes that are used to describe physical development include control, movement, coordination and manipulation. For a child of three years, these improvement attributes are easily scored by analysis the performance of the child. For girl used in this project showed various physical developments. The girl was able to hop on one foot one of the coordination physical development associated with three year old child. In addition, the girls walking coordination is good hence she was able to walk in a line. This girl like other children of three years was able to walk on toes. The girl also was able to wash her hands, brush teeth and retrieve own drink. The girl also enjoyed helping in household chores as well as she is able to put on shoes. These are some of the physical developments that are expected for a three year old child. These activities define the over regularization skills that are associated with three year old child development. The child at this age tries to learn almost all aspects of life. In addition other physical development skills that this girl showed was that she does not wet her bed occasionally as children of her age are expected to. The girl has also ready learned how to use toilet. When got doing something wrong, the girl feels shamed and has already learned to differentiate between similarities and differences. The girl also showed she has gender identity skills by being able to differentiate parents gender. In addition, the girl showed the following motor physical development. She was able to walk with a swift this showed that she had better walking coordination as the walking was almost adult style. The girl was also able to run around obstacles and to catch balls throw overhead thou inconsistently. Her in ability to catch the ball consistently showed that the girl centration skills were not fully developed. The girl who was interviewed and observed during this project could ride tricycle and was able to alternate feet when climbing stairs. Hence the child demonstrated fine/ gross motor skills (Esther, 2010). Fine motor skills are used to determine development requiring smaller movements and interactive capabilities such as movements that require use of hands, and legs. Demonstrating fine motor skills shows that the child is able to use both her hands and legs properly. Gross motor skills on other hand are used to show a childs ability to move various body parts as expected at that age. The girls ability to solve puzzles and manipulate clay and figure paints clearly demonstrates her development of fine motor skills. Another aspect that was used to determine the physical development of the child is through studying her language and thinking development. The girl showed to have developed some of these skills since she was able to understand some concepts such as concerning now, later and soon. In addition, the girl was able to match pictures with objects and to recognize cause and affect relationship. Developing of puzzles of 5-6 years child is an appropriate behavior for 3 years age and can be used to indicate fast development phenomenon. Cognitive development refers to ability of a child to learn and solve problems. For 3 year old kid, cognitive development enable the child to learn how to draw some images, build blocks with the intention of making specific structures such as trains, towers or buildings. In addition a three year old child enjoys showing what they already know. The child also likes seeking attention and making comments especially on stories touching family events. Another cognitive development for three year old child is that they are able to construct a sentence of three or four words and also are able to pluralize items, produce verbs and also to negate ideas by using no, and not. This cognitive development noted showed that the girl had already developed private speech skills. Private speech skills enable the child to pass information as per their understanding and require one to have the ability to negate ideas, to differentiate ideas that are in plural among others. Private speech enables individuals as they develop to correctly pass their information. The girl who was used for this project has most of the attributes associated with cognitive development for three year old child. The girl enjoys following directions and orders skills which are also associated with pre operation stage. In addition the girl speech is understandable and is able to construct 3-5 words sentence. The girl is also able to match pictures to objects. Like other children of her age are expected to the child learns by doing and through sense rather than being told concerning something in order to understand. From the project it was noted that the child is in preoperational stage and has developed her initiative Vs guilt aspect. The initiative V guilt aspect was demonstrated by the girls ability to feel guilt when found on the wrong (Esther, 1986). This can by illustrated by her cognitive development of being able to follow orders and to try to learn things by doing them. All the cognitive development behavior that was observed in this girl rhyme with those ex pected for children of her age. Social and emotional development Some of the skills that are associated with this social and emotional development of children aged 3 include gender identification, centration and sociodramatic play. Some of the skills that can be used to show centration include liking to help in household chores and being more bossy hence making demands and orders to their parents and care givers. The girl used in the project showed this skill since she at her own will enjoys helping but also her own will chooses not to obey and orders her will to be done. This shows that her social and emotional development is self centered; its her own will that determines if she can help or share or not. In addition, the girl demonstrated sociodramatic play by her skills that enables her play pretty well with other children thou it was also observed that she prefers playing alone implying that this social emotional development has not fully developed. The following social and emotional development skills were also noted about the girl, child rearing skills which are mostly employed by children when they notice other people feelings and moods. When her mother is sad or angry the child tries employing these social and motional development skills by trying to be too sweet (MamaHealth.com, 2009). The child rearing skills are developed by child to show her concern for other people just the same way she expects to be shown concern. It was also noted that the girl expresses some animistic thinking social and emotional skills since she does not like sharing especially when instructed unless on her own will. Other social and emotional skills that the girl shows which are associated with her age is the ability to realize her own limits and hence seeking help for what she can not achieve on her own. Conclusion Early child hood development entails the acquisition of various skills. Its the skills that a child acquires that can be use to determine if the childs development is regular or not. Unlike other forms of growth, development milestones can be identified at the first glance. There are several separate development areas which should be analyzed when analyzing life span development. These separate development areas were in this project analyzed and used to identify certain special skills associated with them. The development analysis not only identifies certain developments but also is used to detriment the stage and how the development ahs occurred. For instead when determining physical development of the girl, the research did not just observe if the girl is able to walk bit also tried to probe further and identify how she walks, if she has steady pace and if she is able to put one foot in front of the other. Its through analyzing these developments that one is able to determine the development skills that a child at a given age has already achieved and which ones they have not. It was noted that the girl showed gross/fine motor skills development and this was determined by the research observing the girls general ability which are associated with 3 year old development. In addition, by identifying the activities that the girl is able to do with her hands such as manipulating clay it was concluded that the girls physical development was rhyming with that of three year old child. The girls cognitive and social and emotional development also rhymes with that of three year old children. These were determined by the observation of various skills such as private speech development, identification of some child rearing styles associated with this particular age and demonstration of sociodramatic play which are also reflected in various development theories such as Piagets cognitive development theory. The family especially her mother has played an important role in fostering the girls development. The mother has developed a schedule on the activities to be done and this can be attributed to the girls ability to do things even beyond her age such as solving puzzles for 5-6 year children. In addition, the familys effort to train the girl to use potty at 1 and half years also can be attributed to the girls successful lifespan development.

Stages Of Group Development :: GCSE Business Marketing Coursework

Stages Of Group Development Group development is broken down into five stages. These stages are forming, storming, norming, performing and adjourning. The following is a description of how our group passed through each of these stages. Forming In the first stage our group was formed. Each member of our group introduced themselves. We basically made small talk in an effort to relieve some of the initial awkwardness. We discussed our expectations of the project; we then talked about when and where our meeting would be. We had to figure out when all of the group members were available and to find a convenient place to meet that was accessible by all members. Storming In the storming stage our group members began to take on specific roles. Mandy and Cory seemed equally capable of taking on the leadership role. As we each tried to establish our own identity within the group, we found out what was expected of us from other members. We didn’t have an official leader, but if one person had to be named I’m sure all of the group would agree on Mandy. Norming During this stage are we pooled our individual thoughts and expectations together. We discovered that we were all in agreement on how the project should be executed. Discussions concerning the project went smoothly after this point and more progress was made. In this stage I discovered that I had a higher degree of cohesiveness with Mandy than with other group members. This could be due to the fact that Mandy and I were the only female members in the group. It could also be due to the fact that Mandy was the group â€Å"leader† and I looked to her for information on group meetings. Performing In this stage our group shifted from discussing and establishing objectives to actually taking the actions necessary to accomplish them. We finished our surveys and began to pass them out to be completed. Each member of our group was responsible to carry out the task effectively and within the designated time limit.

Definition Essay -- essays papers

Definition Essay The origin of the word myth seems to be a myth in itself. Myths have generally originated from a Greek history that used an oral tradition to explain events that occurred before the written word. Often supernatural beings or fictitious characters were used to explain popular ideas concerning phenomena's of nature or the history of people. The myths that were carried on from generation to generation were often very imaginative in an attempt to spark the interest of young listeners. These would be told at social gatherings. The main purpose of a myth was to relay historical information among groups. Early myths often dealt with the origin of man, customs, religious rights, incidents involving the lives of gods, stories of culture heroes, adaptations of old world myths, or the retelling of biblical stories. From the Webster’s dictionary the real meaning of the word myth is, â€Å"a story or legend† that was created as oral traditions that were told from generation to generation. Often as individuals told the stories, they were changed slightly in context or meaning. One cannot be certain, however, that historically based myths are not historically correct. Exaggeration due to personal vendetta was often the cause for discrepancies of factual or not factual information included in dialect from a mythical standpoint. An instance where this fact was the case is seen in the Old Testament. Even, the Old Testament can be looked upon as being mythical. From a religious perception, the Old Testament may be viewed as the history of Judaism and believed to be completely factual and true, but from a mythical standpoint that selection may be fictitious in context. Mythology suggests that due to the fact that events w... ...ide to them. The mythical side is present because a culture or society does not want to believe the facts that are known in an attempt to give reassurance to ones inner self. A modern example of a myth is the belief that one cannot achieve a pregnancy upon the primal intercourse experience. Research has proven that this is not true, but many believe or are told that this is the case. These types of myths are used today to create reassurance for those believing them. The word myth has been defined by scientific evidence throughout history. As scientific evidence has become clearer, early myths have become less clear to the present day human being. Even though early myths are becoming obsolete, they are still being studied to teach all aspects of life and culture past and present. Also, modern myths are being studied just as well to teach the aspects of the world today.

Hinduism and Buddhisn Essay -- Religion, Karma, Krishna

Two major religious paths found in the Indian subcontinent are Hinduism and Buddhism (LR, 37). Hinduism is seen as a polytheistic and a monotheistic tradition that evolved from other Indian religious traditions. Hinduism is also known as Sanatana Dharma whose goal is to achieve moksha and live life according to the Dharma (LR, 43). Buddhism is a nontheistic religion that is based on the teachings of Shakyamuni Buddha, known as the Dharma, which offers a path to enlightenment by practicing compassion and achieving liberation from suffering (LR, 72). Hinduism today is known as Sanatana Dharma, which means eternal religion, law, cosmic order, and duty. This tradition began in the Vedic Age around the Indus Valley in India where it is said that the Vedas were created orally, but the orgins of the Vedas remains unclear. The Vedas were first written down around 1500 BCE and consist of collections of hymns containing of four parts: the Samhitas, the Brahmanas, the Aranyakas and the Upanishads (LR, 39-41). The Samhitas consist of hymns worshiping Vedic gods, the Brahmanas explain the meaning of rituals and sacrifices and provide instructions for performing these acts, the Aranyakas contain philosophical texts that are known as forest treatises, and finally the Upanishads, which is comprised of sophisticated philosophy that explains personal transformation that results from ritual participation. The Rig Veda is the oldest scripture of the Vedas which praises the four devas: Indra (the god of thunder and rain), Agni (the god of fire), S oma (a sacred drink) and Ushas (the goddess of dawn). The Upanishads were written by rishis, who were thought to be human forms of Brahman (the Supreme god), that express the principles of Sanatana Dharma.... ... five precepts (notes). Mahayana, the path of compassion and wisdom, is the second major school of Buddhism who regards the Buddha as a universal principle with three bodies. The first body has no form and encompasses the wisdom of the Buddha, the second is the body of bliss and emphasizes the Dharma, and the third is the body of transformation, in which the Buddha takes on many forms to help human beings achieve liberation from suffering (LR, 83). The Mahayanasutras are the scriptures followed that honor the Pali Canon, emphasizing the importance of religious experience (LR, 82). One form of Mahayana are bodhisattvas, future buddhas who are devoted to liberating others from suffering without having to leave society to do so. One important aspect of a bodhisattva is compassion for others, an important Buddha teaching that emphasizes on the idea on no-Self (notes).

Requirements Gathering

Requirements Gathering 101 By Duncan Haughey, PMP Requirements gathering is an essential part of any project and project management. Understanding fully what a project will deliver is critical to its success. This may sound like common sense, but surprisingly it's an area that is often given far too little attention. Many projects start with the barest headline list of requirements, only to find later the customers' needs have not been properly understood. One-way to avoid this problem is by producing a statement of requirements. This document is a guide to the main requirements of the project.It provides: A succinct requirement specification for management purposes. A statement of key objectives – a â€Å"cardinal points† specification. A description of the environment in which the system will work. Background information and references to other relevant material. Information on major design constraints. The contents of the statement of requirements should be stable or change relatively slowly. Once you have created your statement of requirements, ensure the customer and all other stakeholders sign-up to it and understand that this and only this will be delivered.Finally, ensure you have cross-referenced the requirements in the statement of requirements with those in the project definition report to ensure there is no mismatch. 10 Rules for Successful Requirements Gathering To be successful at requirements gathering and to give your project an increased likelihood of success follow these rules: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. Don't assume you know what the customer wants, ask. Involve the users from the start. Define and agree the scope of the project. Ensure requirements are specific, realistic and measurable. Gain clarity if there is any doubt.Create a clear, concise and thorough requirements document and share it with the customer. Confirm your understanding of the requirements with the customer (play them back). Avoid talking technology or sol utions until the requirements are fully understood. Get the requirements agreed with the stakeholders before the project starts. Create a prototype if necessary to confirm or refine the customers' requirements. Common Mistakes Basing a solution on complex or cutting edge technology and then discovering that it cannot easily be rolled out to the ‘real world'.Not prioritising the User Requirements, for example ‘must have', ‘should have', ‘could have' and ‘would have,' known as the MoSCoW principle. Not enough consultation with real users and practitioners. Solving the ‘problem' before you know what it is. Lacking a clear understanding and making assumptions rather than asking. Requirements gathering is about creating a clear, concise and agreed set of customer requirements that allow you to provide exactly what they are looking for.  © Project Smart 2000-2011. All rights reserved. 1

Foreign Exchange Management in Perfect Pieces Limited

Ltd is exposed to foreign exchange risk because it buys some of its production inputs from overseas and pays for them in foreign currency; has sales revenue in foreign currency and competes with other manufacturers whose costs are denominated in foreign currency. The company imports from New Zealand, Japan, and the United States. The company's foreign currency payable are in the US Lars, NZ dollars, and Japanese yen. On the other hand, the sales are mostly conducted in US dollars.Proceedings of the International Academy for Case Studies, Volume 10, Number 2 Lass Vegas, 2003 page 74 UP Lad's exposure environment consisted predominantly of the US dollars, the NZ dollar, and the Japanese yen. The foreign currency denominated sales were about 52 percent of total sales: 40 percent in US dollars, and 12 percent in New Zealand dollars. The company's estimate of US dollar denominated payable was 36 percent of total sales: 19 percent in US dollars, 12 percent in Japanese yen, and 5 percent in New Zealand dollars.In general UP Ltd gives customers an average credit period of between 3 to 6 months while the average credit period for all foreign currency denominated payable was 3 months. There was therefore a working capital gap as the collection of accounts receivable was longer than accounts payable. This situation was made worse by the fact that 40 per cent of the sales were denominated in US dollars and the US dollar was weakening against the Australian dollar. There was no cover taken out for the exposure in US dollars because the financial accountant who acted as the company's exposure manager thought the US dollar would shortly strengthen.Previously the US dollar was stronger than the Australian dollar and the company had gained from the US dollar denominated receivables. This experience had apparently, surprisingly, made the company's exposure manager consider it inappropriate to hedge the US dollar. The responsibility for identifying FEMME was in the hands of a fin ancial accountant, with the assistance of the general manager. They hedged 50 per cent of the transactions for accounts payable in Japanese yen, and accounts receivable in New Zealand dollars. The financial accountant, in consultation with the general manager, bought forward contracts to cover the exposures.Most senior members of the company were concerned with manufacturing, promoting and marketing products rather than foreign exchange exposure management. It was increasingly becoming difficult for the general manager to meet the financial accountant in order to manage FEE because the general manager had to deal with other company duties. Previously, the general manager and the financial accountant met at least once a day to assess foreign exchange market movements. The increasing inability to meet the general manager as frequently as before was making the financial accountant concerned.The financial accountant was anxious that he should be left alone to make decisions in matters a s volatile as the foreign exchange movements. The financial accountant felt that it was important to specify Job descriptions in order to attach responsibility for the monitoring and compilation of foreign exchange information. Presumably, he hoped, that would lead to increasing resources in his section. He explained: The two clerks in my section are responsible for helping me in ash management, pension management, as well as compiling foreign exchange exposure management forecasts. The finance section is very understaffed.The engineering and marketing functions were considered more important than financial management. The finance section was not only understaffed, but it also lacked properly qualified and experienced personnel. The general manager thought that taking personal interest in treasury matters would mitigate the sense of alienation that was perceived by the financial accountant. The lack of understanding about the importance of FEMME among most of the company officers wa s discernible urine the interview. Most senior managers considered the primary tasks in the company to be the operational activities, namely; manufacturing, procurement, and selling.Lass Vegas, 2003 page 75 In terms of the organizational structure for exposure management, members of the company felt that centralization should be pursued subject to other considerations. One senior member of the company said: The task of identifying and managing foreign exchange exposure is too onerous to be left in the hands of only one functional unit The financial accountant was a relatively Junior officer in the company and had robbers in trying to obtain information he needed to manage exposure.Since FEE is a result of activities that transcend one functional unit, and can be constrained by lack of resources such as trained and experienced staff, and lack of appropriate equipment, this seemed to call for a company-wide policy from the top. The dialogue with most members of the company confirmed t hat there was no company-wide policy for FEMME. The next point was to consider the extent of risk aversion. Most members of the company were keen that currency risk should be avoided as much as possible.Some of the members wondered why the company should not invoice customers in Australian dollars rather than foreign currencies. As to the general attitude to foreign exchange risk, some members said that they generally preferred average expected return with average risk to high return with high risk for any business involving foreign currency denominated receivables and/or payable. But if the company was considering projects which involved no foreign currency receivables or payable, then high expected return and high risk projects could be considered.One of the senior officers, however, pointed out that foreign exchange considerations are but one factor. He was supported by another senior officer who said that sometimes the company may have other overriding strategic considerations t o take into account, such as obtaining a share of the market even if that means at the expense of incurring foreign exchange loss. The company's foreign exchange rate forecasts were mainly obtained from banks and publications such as the Financial Review newspaper. The information on foreign exchange rates was prepared manually.The lack of computerizing was considered hindrance to better monitoring of exposure management. The influence of the satisfaction with previous foreign exchange forecasts on hedging could only be commented on by the financial accountant and the general manager who carried out hedging of FEE. They both said that satisfaction with previous foreign exchange forecasts had minimum influence on the way they hedged. They were not confident with the forecasts they used. As they said: Foreign exchange forecasts are Just forecasts, they are never the same as the actual exchange rates so we are usually less confident about them.The extent of hedging is a situational mat ter. UP Ltd was involved in foreign exchange transactions at least once a fortnight. It was evident that the intensity of involvement in foreign exchange transactions did not have any influence on the hedging behavior. In spite of the fact that the US dollar denominated receivables were left exposed, Proceedings of the International Academy for Case Studies, Volume 10, Number 2 page 76 most members felt that the extent of involvement in foreign currency denominated business should be accompanied by more hedging activity.