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Explain how high-performance working and investment in human capital can impact on organisational success and performance. Does the article “Strategic HR functions and firm performance: The moderating effects of high-involvement work practices” by Hyondong Kim & Kang Sung-Choon support this?

High-performance working can be considered an important practice, as it aims at stimulating employee involvement and commitment to achieve the company’s goals. High-performance working and investment in human capital can contribute to organisational success and performance significantly. For instance, Arendse reports that when a company strives to retain and attract...

Read the article “Strategic HR functions and firm performance: The moderating effects of high-involvement work practices” by Hyondong Kim & Kang Sung-Choon. Briefly summarise the findings and evaluate its validity, reliability and persuasiveness.

The article by Kim & Sung-Choon addresses high-involvement work practices from the perspectives of employees’ participation in the decision-making processes related to HR functions. The authors use the evidence from 203 Korean firms to evaluate the effect of strategic HR function on companies’ performance and the factors that moderate this...

You are planning to produce an evidential report highlighting the HR function’s contribution to organisation success and development. Provide a brief summary of the criteria and organisational data that could be included and how it would be analysed.

Several criteria and organisational data can be included in the evidential report that highlights the HR function’s contribution to the company’s success and development. It is vital to consider the basic factors that contribute to the employees’ satisfaction with HR managers’ performance. They include providing good advice, supporting individuals in...

Briefly describe an example of change in the organisation and apply one of the change management theories, including some evaluation of the process, outcome and impact.

It is possible to analyse how a change in the company can be implemented through Lewin’s Change Management Model. For instance, a firm wants to improve customer’s satisfaction with its services by implementing a different way of training employees and an improved system of customer care. The first step would...

Provide a short description of at least two major theories of change management.

Many theories of effective change management are available today and can be the basis for the HR function. Change management can be referred to as the process of handling the transition of companies, businesses, groups, projects, or individuals between different states or positions. Such theories are highly necessary, as, for...

HR objectives can be delivered in many ways. Explain two significant methods.

Outsourcing is one of the ways in which HR objectives can be delivered. Some of the functions, such as payroll administration, employee welfare, and occupational health and safety activities, can be outsourced to other firms. The primary objectives of such an action are that it can allow HR staff to...

Provide three examples of organisational objectives that the HR function is responsible for delivering and briefly explain how these have evolved over time.

One of the most significant objectives organisations may have today is ensuring diversity in the workplace. Therefore, the HR manager’s function from this perspective is avoiding possible discrimination and hiring individuals of all cultural and ethnic backgrounds. In addition, it is crucial to establish age diversity in the workplace, too,...

Analyse how the HR function varies between organisations. Include a comparison of HR delivery in different sectors and organisations of different sizes.

The operations of human resource (HR) staff is critical for all organisations, as they make decisions about the individuals working in the company. The primary function of HR managers is to hire appropriate personnel based on the company’s values, needs, and goals. In some organisations, HR staff members are also...

Select an article that identifies and evaluates research evidence linking HR practices with positive organisational outcomes. Briefly summarise the findings and state how convincing you find these to be. Conclude by explaining how high-performance working and investment in human capital can impact on organisational practice.

While the correlation between the HR function and the positive organisational performance might seem tenuous at first, introspect into the existing research on the management of human resources has shown that collaboration and feedback cause a critical change in the organisational outcomes. According to Latorre et al., it is imperative...

Prepare a report on the contribution of the HR function to the business.

With the development of the understanding of how important the engagement and loyalty of staff members, as well as talent management, are, the recognition of reciprocal communication as the major tool for obtaining critical data has occurred. For this reason, the use of surveys and other types of data collection...

Give a short explanation of at least two major theories of change management. Select one of the theories and illustrate how it can be used and evaluated.

When pursuing performative excellence, businesses need to focus on introducing innovative decisions into their framework. The importance of incorporating change into the very system of corporate functioning is demonstrated perfectly by companies such as Apple, Google, and similar firms working in the IT setting. However, even for other industries, ensuring...

Give examples of the main organisational objectives that the HR function is responsible for delivering and briefly explain how these have evolved/are evolving in contemporary organisations. In your answer, provide a brief justification for managing HR in a professional, ethical and just manner.

The process of attaining corporate objectives requires keeping every process within a company running smoothly and upholding corporate values high, thus engaging staff members in the progress of a firm in the designated market. Since the efficacy of employees’ performance and the enthusiasm with which they follow organisational values determine...

Construct a personal development plan to raise the levels of engagement.

For an HR manager, it is critical to include in the plan the concept of employee engagement and the constituents thereof to produce a strategy that will meet the needs of every participant of the conversation. The main lesson derived from the scenario in question concerns the necessity to enhance...

Identify and evaluate the types of diagnostic tools you could use to measure employee attitudes and the level of employee engagement you have in the organization.

The redesign of the present framework for meeting employees’ needs and elevating their engagement levels should start with the assessment of the situation. Consequently, the application of a diagnostic tool that will determine issues in the organisational behaviours of employees and the workplace environment, in general, will be needed. As...

Discuss how HR strategies and practices are going to be very important in raising the levels of employee engagement in the organisation.

Employee engagement has extraordinarily high significance for organisations that function in a highly competitive setting. For companies such as Etisalat, employee engagement is vital since it allows sustaining the quality of telecommunication services high and meeting the needs of key stakeholders, which include not only customers but also employees, managers,...

Identify the principle drivers of employee engagement.

Etisalat has been using a vast range of tools for boosting employee engagement. Specifically, the organization has been deploying the principles of scientific management in order to improve job designs and ensure that employees remain loyal to the organization. For instance, evidence-based research is performed to locate the key components...

Justify the need for alignment between engagement practices and other corporate components if the full benefits of high engagement are to be realised.

In light of the fact that employee engagement and organisational commitment hinge on the presence of consistent employer engagement, the need for alignment between the practices aimed at building engagement and commitment are practically proven. As long as the employer maintains high awareness levels about the needs of their staff...

Explain how employee engagement differs, if at all, from other related concepts like organisational commitment, employer involvement and job satisfaction, so it gives clarity.

The emotional connection between a staff member and an organisation, which employee engagement represents in its essence, is often conflicted with other notions that share several characteristics with it yet, in essence, embody entirely different concepts. For example, organisational commitment is usually viewed as equivalent to employee engagement, which is...

What is the concept of materials management? How it is different from purchase management?

Rong, Yang, Li, Chen, and Dan say that materials management is a core supply function that involves the planning and execution of associated responsibilities. The concept is closely associated with the purchase management function because the latter is also associated with procurement. While materials management mostly focuses on the quantity...

How can the Human Resource Department help you in your present concern?

Generally, the issue might be handled by the Human Resource Department to resolve any conflicts between or insubordinate behavior by Cathy Johnson and Millie Norman by way of employee counseling. Whenever an employee exhibits work behaviors that are inconsistent with the work environment (i.e., gross insubordination, forgery, fighting, stealing, unexcused...

Discuss the main criteria and methods used to evaluate the contribution of the HR function. Consider the following: a. HR metrics used to evaluate HR function contribution. b. SLA’s and KPI’s. c. Staff surveys. d. Benchmarking with other organisations. e. Return on Investment (ROI). f. How a ‘balanced scorecard and/or ‘HR dashboard’ might be used to present HR metrics.

The HR function must evaluate its contribution because all features of the organization, such as sales, revenues, quality, and productivity, reflect employees’ management systems established within the company. By analyzing the performance of the HR function, the company can track the influence it has on people and their behavior, attitudes,...

Analyse how the HR function varies between organisations in different sectors and of different sizes. You should examine three of the following types of organisation. a. A public authority (Government Sector); b. A national private company; c. An SME; d. A voluntary (Third Sector) organisation.

 – SME A public authority (Government Sector) A national private company A voluntary How HR is different? In SMEs, there is a lack of resources; thus, HR systems can be underdeveloped. Moreover, an organization may lack a structure that is supported by HR. Government Sector is one of the largest...

Give a brief summary of two different ways HR objectives can be delivered in organisations.

Offshoring and shared services are two ways HR objectives can be achieved in organizations. Offshoring usually saves the financial resources of the company. An external company may have more experience in managing people, excellent policies, technologies, and economies of scale. Moreover, a company can get more skilled employees from foreign...

Explain how the main organisational objectives that the HR function is responsible for delivering have evolved/are evolving in contemporary organisations.

At Google, HR management and practices have changed substantially through time. VUCA World obliged HR managers to go from servicing the company to ensuring business strategy and HR are closely aligned. HRs nowadays need to be flexible and focused on organizational sustainability and agility. HR policies should be embedded with...

Controlling distribution performance is to set policies, processes and procedures to manage, command, direct and regulate the activities, behaviour and actions of everybody and everything in the distribution process of a firm. How would you attempt to measure the performance of an organisation’s distribution system?

A distribution system consists of a number of procedures and activities with the help of which people monitor and enhance the movement of services and products from different sources to, finally, a customer. In other words, the role of managers in the distribution department is to make the results of...

Describe and define the responsibilities and duties of the Strategic Manager.

A strategic manager has numerous duties and responsibilities, including project portfolio administration, resource control, and employee mentoring. According to Muhammad, project portfolio management demands assessing programs to guarantee that they correspond to strategic decisions. Resource management involves allocating business assets and personnel to different projects. A strategic manager is responsible...

Discuss whether and how the literature has been appropriately drawn upon in the article “Business planning as pedagogy: Language and control in a changing institutional field” by Oakes, Townley, and Cooper.

The authors manage to use literature effectively to create a background for their discussion and research. First of all, they use the idea of Pierre Bourdieu as the theoretical background for their investigation. Second, while introducing the topic, they refer to the works of other authors to show the relevance...

Provide a summary to the article “Business planning as pedagogy: Language and control in a changing institutional field” by Oakes, Townley, and Cooper.

The discussed paper delves into the investigation of business planning as a powerful mechanism of control and as a potent pedagogic practice that can alter the work of organizations and their identities. For this reason, using the work of Pierre Bourdieu as the background for their research, the authors state...

Explain the difference between stewardship and servant leadership, and give a personal example how you have acted in one of these capacities and another of how you have benefited from one of these types of leaders.

Stewardship is focused on stakeholders and the application of management techniques to achieve their goals. A servant leader would aim to maintain his or her focus on the needs of followers. Thus, the personal development and growth of staff members would be the primary concern of a servant executive. The...

Identify indicators of success for leadership and management development programmes.

There are several possible factors indicating the success of leadership and management development programs. The first one is the level of participant satisfaction, which can be measured by collecting feedback. The L&D function or human resources managers can gather the data from supervisors, outlining possible changes in behaviours and the...

Evaluate a range of approaches for developing leaders and managers.

Leadership development can be understood as a process of transition from a company’s employee to a leader. Finding appropriate leadership development is significant because such a transfer may be challenging for individuals. It is crucial to ensure that leadership development programmes allow employees to gain necessary skills and offer them...

Describe a range of meanings attached to the concepts of leadership and management.

There are various concepts of leadership and management, as the perspectives of these notions may differ significantly. For instance, Juneja defines leadership as the process through which an executive party affects, directs, and guides the work of others to achieve a specific goal. Leadership can also be understood as the...

One model of leadership being adopted by many organizations, disciplines, and vocations is servant leadership. Describe this model. Identify two reasons why these groups are adopting this model.

The changing times have led to an increase in the amount of information held by workers in organizations. In medical facilities, nurses have more details regarding issues such as payment, workplace environment, and how their superiors should handle their affairs. The new demands advanced by these employees compel leaders to...

Provide a brief summary of the advice you would provide to your organisation on good and lawful practice for managing dismissal, retirement and redundancies.

For a company to deliver the required extent of organizational performance, it is essential to keep the number of staff members to the needed one. Otherwise, the amount of workload per staff member may change, causing the target setting to experience drastic challenges. Therefore, managers need to employ lawful practices...

Briefly explain briefly why people leave or remain with organisations and provide a summary of some of the costs associated with dysfunctional employee turnover. Go on to assess the strengths and weaknesses of at least two different approaches to retaining talent.

The task of retaining staff members within a company while encouraging their professional development and increasing their loyalty, engagement, and motivation levels is typically placed at the top of an HR manager’s list of priorities. Indeed, employee retention allows investing in the professional progress of the staff, thus building a...

Explain some of the main legal requirements in relation to recruitment and selection and briefly assess the strengths and weaknesses of at least two different methods of recruitment and selection.

Legal Requirements The process of recruiting new staff members for job openings in an organization is quite simple as a concept, yet it might be seen as complicated by the array of regulations and requirements for accepting a candidate for a job. Nonetheless, the existing regulations are made to make...

Provide evidence to show your contribution to plans for downsizing an organisation.

Communicating An HR manager plays a critical role in the downsizing of an organization. Namely, an HR manager needs to communicate the essential changes to staff members and convey the necessity to transfer to a new operational framework. Thus, employees will accept the changes in their responsibilities more willingly and...

Develop and provide a basic succession and career development plan.

Determining key milestones in one’s professional development is central to the effective management of HR-related issues and creating a strong leadership strategy, as well as defining the options for increasing the efficacy of the current talent management framework. Therefore, the creation of an all-encompassing succession and career development plan is...

Why should companies be interested in helping employees plan their development? What benefits can companies gain? What are the risks?

Employee development is an essential prerequisite for any organization to be successful. It holds especially true at the present stage when the acceleration of scientific and technological progress leads to rapid changes and demands professional knowledge and skills. Nowadays, employees tend to be highly educated, strategic thinking, and goal-oriented. The...

Why should a company identify and formally acknowledge its high-potential managers? Should managers know they are considered high-potential managers? Should it be kept secret?

Human resource is an essential factor in the sustainable development of an organization. Therefore, companies need not only valuable resources but the ones that are difficult to copy to improve their performance. Competitors can replicate any product, technology, or strategy sooner or later, but not employees. High potential managers are...

Discuss how the roles of leader, manager, and follower differ in the quality management process? How can a culture of quality management be promoted?

A modern quality management system postulates the need to demonstrate leadership of the organization’s top management. Existing experience confirms leadership qualities, and the level of development of the personality of managers directly affects the “enterprise ecosystem.” Leaders should see the direction of organization development; they must coordinate and direct its...

Create a Work Breakdown Structure of Churchill’s major activities (minimum of 6) in managing the project of Britain’s defense during World War II. Identify what key aspects made this an Agile project (or feel free to argue why it is not).

The first aspect is that Churchill prioritized the problems faced by Great Britain as short and long term. In other words, he created a strategy with consideration of organizational challenges, such as the small army, undefended coastline, low fighter production, and heavy reliance on imported raw materials. The second aspect...

What is the top contributor to the success of Novo Nordisk Engineering?

The major contributor to the success of Novo Nordisk Engineering (NNE) is its Human Resource management. The latter consists of two parts, where the first one is based on the fact that employees were encouraged and motivated correctly. The second component is that NNE shifted from specification-driven to time-driven projects....

Compare and contrast any two models that help senior managers to diagnose and plan change in their organisation. Discuss their role in supporting the success of such processes.

To be successful in any business, managers and leaders must understand the nature of a change process and evaluate it. Today, senior managers have access to many approaches with the help of which they can manage change. One of the main requirements for promoting changes is to follow a specific...

What should a company do if no one having skills needed to implement a differentiation strategy is available internally and the company has a policy of promotion from within?

Competition plays a major role in business and has two main consequences. First, it motives companies to deliver quality products or services; secondly, it causes a high level of complexity, where business units need to take into consideration many aspects alongside the primary economic goals. Such a scenario suggests specific...

Consider Enron’s policy of ‘rank and yank’. What do you think its effects were on critical upward communication? What are the wider leadership implications that this raises?

Perhaps the most sophisticated and effective invention for total blind submission was the ‘rank and yank’ system developed by Enron’s leaders. It consisted of the fact that twice a year, the management gathered a Commission for assessing the organizational process, which studied the track record of all employees of the...

From Collins’s “Ten Lessons I learned from Peter Drucker,” choose two points that are particularly attractive and familiar to you and summarize these. Then, take these two items and show how either you have a good example of how this has been demonstrated with something you have observed or experienced.

There are two points that Collins refers to that are particularly attractive to me. The first one is “first, manage myself.” The author states that people cannot change others but can improve their performance instead. This principle applies to a real-life example of a leader and his team. If a...

From Collins’s “Ten Lessons I learned from Peter Drucker,” choose two points that are particularly attractive and familiar to you and summarize these. Then, take these two items and show how either you have a good example of how this has been demonstrated with something you have observed or experienced.

The first point I find particularly interesting is lesson 1, “manage thyself,” and the second is lesson 3, “work how you work best (and let others do the same).” In lesson 1, Drucker explains the significance of managing oneself and the necessity of being demanding to oneself first of all....

a. Explain the various perspectives one can have on public budgeting and how each perspective can affect the definition of public budgeting. What should this mean to you as a person putting together a government budget? b. Assuming someone defines policy as “a guide to action,” explain how budgeting is really a statement of government policy. In what way is this understandably significant to policy makers, public managers, and clientele groups of public agencies? c. Given the fact stated in question b, what should each group (policy makers, public managers, and clientele groups) do to effect the budget process? What are the implications in terms of achieving policy for the whole nation? d. What is the budget cycle? In what way is this important to someone who wishes to influence public policy? What implications does the cycle have to the use of analysis? e. How does the local budget cycle differ from the federal one? Again, how is this important to someone who wishes to shape public policy?

a. Federal budgeting that is also known as a public one plays a vital role in the life of society because it is used to support the country. Unfortunately, it is often associated with controversies and dissatisfaction since it affects governmental decisions and leads to debate. Budgeting can be considered...

Briefly discuss two or three reasons that a “spiritual and business” convergence could be very positive. If you believe it does have potential-if you do not, then state why you think it is not a good idea to mix the two.

The concept of spiritual and business convergence has become common in many organizations today since it presents several benefits. The first reason why this trend can be positive is that it promotes a religious work ethic that seeks to improve business performance. Since employees are informed about the importance of...

Discuss the possible interpersonal conflicts (and your ideas for solutions) that could happen in an organization that places emphasis on “spiritual values” rather than the traditional values in a more “classical” model organization.

Disagreements are usually common in many organizations due to various factors, including poor leadership, personal aims, existing cultures, and interests. Several interpersonal conflicts may arise in companies that place too much emphasis on spiritual values instead of traditional ones. The first one might occur when employees’ religious demands and expectations...

Do you believe your organization uses a flexible or a static budget? Why do you think so?

Considering that over the years of its work, the hospital experienced significant fluctuations in operational volumes and activities, it uses a flexible budget. As noted by Baker, Baker, and Dworkin, flexible budgets are more adjustable compared to static ones and, therefore, allow forming a more realistic financial picture. Overall, the...

Why is it important to have a change management board?

The change management board is involved in the process of change management that introduces changes and updates into the organization’s computing environment. According to the formal procedure, managers “authorize the change request” that should be approved by a change management board. A change management board is important for critical systems...

As a supervisor, if you asked or surveyed your employees about the importance of pay as a factor in making job decisions, do you think employees would over-state or understate its value to them?

If I were to survey employees about the importance of pay in making job decisions, I think most of them would understate its value. The healthcare industry is rarely associated with earning money, and most people decide to work in this sphere because they possess specific personal values. Therefore, money...

As a manager, you realize the supervisors who report to you make errors when they rate their employees (e.g., too lenient, rate everyone the same, etc.). You notice a consultant is offering a training session on how to avoid appraisal rating errors. How successfully do you think such a course would be in eliminating these errors?

If I noticed that supervisors were habitually making errors in rating employees, I would encourage them to take a course. This problem is common, and I think that a training program could help them address the root cause of their errors and guide them in the right direction.

If you were a work unit supervisor, which of the following do you think is more important to improving organizational performance? Explain. Encouraging employees to participate in work and organizational decisions; Setting clear, challenging work goals.

If I were a unit supervisor, I would rank the setting of clear and challenging work goals as more important than encouraging employees to participate in the decision-making process. Whereas each employee could benefit from clear performance goals and expectations, not every person in the team would like to participate...

If you were hiring a new employee in your work unit, how would you rank the importance of the following qualities? That is, how much weight would you assign to each in making your decision? Explain. Personal values (ex. work ethic and integrity); Individual intelligence; Conscientiousness in performing the job.

If I were hiring a new employee in the work unit, I would rank personal values as a crucial quality. Healthcare is an extremely responsible industry, and hospital settings can be challenging for any person. If the employee does not have integrity and work ethics, it will be hard for...

The three ways of getting employees to implement change are: Tell them what to do; Sell them on what must be done; Involve them in determining the substance and direction of the change. For each of the three means, describe an instance in which it is a preferred or even essential approach and an instance in which it is an inappropriate or perhaps even harmful approach.

Resistance to change is widespread in healthcare organizations, and as a manager, I should be able to choose the best approach for helping the employees embrace it. Telling them what to do would work best when there has been a legal change in healthcare. In this case, it would be...

Imagine that you are a first-line manager of a department in a relatively small hospital located in a semi-rural area. For many months there had been rumors of a possible merger with another semi-rural hospital half again the size of yours located about 12 miles away. Both administration and the board of directors had been declining to comment on the rumors, although it was apparent that some kind of negotiations were underway. In about mid-November, all managers were officially notified that the merger would take place effectively on the first of January. The two hospitals were to become a single corporate entity with two locations, and functions and services would be consolidated wherever practical. Describe in detail the possible effects of the merger and all that it entails on you and your position.

The merger is often associated with greater access to resources, lower cost, and other benefits. It is defined as “the blending of two or more corporate entities to create one new organization with one licensure and one provider number for reimbursement purposes.” However, studies on the impact of hospital mergers...

Compare consequentialist and non-consequentialist theories outlining an advantage and disadvantage of each in the context of ethics at the workplace.

The phenomenon of ethics in the workplace can be approached from several theoretical standpoints. These ethical theories are divided into two key types, which are consequentialist and non-consequentialist theories. As the name suggests, consequential theories evaluate the ethical potential of a specific decision based on the effects that it produces....

Discuss how in an organization, diffusion of responsibility and conformity can lead people to act unethically.

Maintaining ethics in organizational decisions is critical for a firm to retain its positive reputation and build a loyal customer base. However, when underestimating the significance of a strong and well-developed organizational ethic system, one is likely to experience difficulties complying with the set business ethical standards. Diffusion of responsibility...

Read Case 5.2 in “Terrorism and Disaster Management” by K. Joanne McGlown. Discuss how processes are shaped by risk, resources, environment, social climate, and organizational characteristics.

Depending on the risk, the environment, and the resources available, the strategy of addressing a particular emergency issue may be altered considerably, therefore, deviating from what the standard guidelines suggest to do in a specific situation. In the case described by Vogt and Sorensen, the emergency situation was quite drastic....

Create a SMART goal.

SMART goal: Build a team of six members and integrate their competencies to complete an organizational project in two months.

As a leader of your organization, explain how you would lead an employee who is: a. Willing and Able to perform at the job, b. Willing and Not Able to perform at the job, c. Not Willing, but Able to perform at the job, d. Not Willing and Not Able to perform at that job.

a. Willing and Able to perform at the job – Laissez-faire leadership because the employee would not require constant supervision.b. Willing and Not Able to perform at the job – Participative leadership to cooperate with the employee.c. Not Willing, but Able to perform at the job – Coercive leadership to...

Skilled leadership is an integral part of any organization that wishes to be effective at implementing policy. Discuss the role of the leader – using Follett’s theories (Power, Conflict, etc.), and Moore’s (Re-engineering, the Strategic Triangle, etc.).

A component of skilled leadership is the ability to recognize the importance of power. There are many so-called leaders who simply wanted the glamour and prestige that comes with their position. The desire for power is rooted in need to have control. The desire for power can be explained by...

Getting agencies and departments to work towards a common goal is an integral part of the implementation process. Discuss the concept of collaboration.

Collaboration is basically working together towards a common goal, but it is easier said than done. Therefore, it is important to realize the value of collaboration. Without a clear understanding of collaboration, it is easy to be frustrated and discouraged because the requirements needed to achieve true collaboration can be...

One of the goals of an organization that hopes to succeed in being adept at implementing new programs is the movement to becoming a “learning organization.” Describe the attributes of a “learning organization” and how they impact the implementation process.

A learning organization seeks to consolidate information and to encourage innovation. There is no learning without innovation because the logical consequence of learning is the creation of insights that provides a better view of the world. If there is true learning, then policymakers and implementation agents are able to see...

To break the impact of the Abilene Paradox requires a courageous member to step outside the group and question the original decision. What strategies could you recommend to assist in forestalling The Abilene Paradox in your own group? How will you recognize the need to “manage agreement?”

Strategies that can assist in forestalling The Abilene Paradox are those which can create an organizational atmosphere that promotes alternative views and encourages group members to express their concerns and reservations. In such an environment, negative fantasies and anxieties are reduced. The first and most effective strategy is to examine...