Example Answer On Multinational Corporations And Complexity - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 10 Words: 3129 Downloads: 1 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Economics Essay Type Analytical essay Did you like this example? Multinational corporations (MNCs), in their effort of globalisation normally face complexity that caused by multiculturalism and geographic dispersion. There are three characteristics of complexity in globalisation. 1) Multiplicity reflects the need of MNCs to be responsive to different viewpoints, public opinion concern and government rules and regulations. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Example Answer On Multinational Corporations And Complexity" essay for you Create order 2) Interdependence will means all operation and business activities are interrelated that can not be treated alone. 3) Ambiguity means the lack of information clarity that will lead to difficulty in interpreting events and people. Complexity in the international operating environment will then lead to various global challenges. It is difficult for MNCs to achieve organizational effectiveness and sustainable competitive advantage locally as well as globally if it is operating without an efficient and systematic HRM practices that align with the business strategy. Paine Co. which is building its international presence is facing some HR issues and challenges that typically will happen in MNCs. From the case study, the following main HR issues had been identified. TABLE 1: MAIN HUMAN RESOURCE ISSUES FACED BY PAINE CO. A. Communication Do not have a clear view of the corporate mission statement and vision set within the group. Lack of communication channel between the management and the employees. Do not have get-together among staff for idea exchange and employees feedback sessions. B. Recruitment, selection and retention Decentralised recruitment policies. Do not have good image branding and company reputation. C. Performance management and reward system Do not have well designed performance review and appraisal system. D. Training and development Do not provide staff intensive training for all new employees. Do not have further on-job or off-job training for improvement of skills and knowledge. Do not have interchanging of staff between subsidiaries. Communication being one of the most important components in human life is also the key of success for HR management. Effective communication is essential throughout an organization to ensure transpire of all information and knowledge sharing can be achieved. Communication is also vital for the organizational objectives setting. Effective communication between the employer and employees can lead to a greater understanding in achieving organizations goal. Study by Lindholm, N. (2000) found that it is important to communicate the company goal and job objective clearly to the host-country employees in MNCs to increase their job satisfaction. Jack Welch, the CEO of General Electric Co. (GE) had introduced the informal culture across the company. The Informal by Jack Welc h means violating the conventional chain of command, creating communication across all layers of the organization and everyone can talk to the boss. During his tenure as GEs CEO, Jack Welch organized a lot of corporate events that provide opportunities to all the employees to get-together and at the same time the management can communicate the company values and vision effectively to the employees. Besides that, Jack Welch also made unexpected visits to plants and offices abroad as well as scheduled luncheons with his managers to achieve good leading, guidance, and influence the behaviour of complex organization. The weakness in communication within Paine Co. can be seen in a few contexts. The communication problems started from their international expansion with some of the subsidiaries running on decentralised basis. There are no common strategies and objectives been set and communicate across all subsidiaries in the overall business operation. There is also no interchange of people between subsidiaries which can help to promote knowledge sharing and team spirit. Collecting workplace feedbacks from employees can facilitate in creating two-way communication which is important in an organization. Annual staff opinion survey is one of the methods that can be introduced to collect feedbacks from employees. In Paine Co., the occasion that consultants from France made direct complaints to their MD bypassing their local manager had shown the lack in proper channel of communication within the organization. Besides that, Ferguson as the MD of Paine Co. did not emphasize on knowledge sharing and team work but only see personal results and performance as the key factors of determining the business success. Therefore, overall synergy can not be achieved for a greater sustainable competitive advantage. Human assets are important for service industry as their people are core part of the source of services that have direct visibility from a customer point of view. Stringent recruitment and selection processes must be implemented to ensure the right people are to be engaged. Employers reputation and corporate branding are other crucial factors that will affect the recruitment and selection process. Highly talented people are always looking for their employer of choice in seeking their job for better career advancement. Singapore Airlines (SIA) for example had been the employer of choice for many educated young people due to their reputation as a service leader in the airline industry. On the other hand, SIA adopts a highly rigorous and stringent selection process which the applicants are required to meet various criteria from outlook appearance, age ranges, academic qualifications as well as physical attributes. The stringent selection process is to ensure the right people bee selected for the right job and at the same time improve the service quality of the organization. In this case, Paine Co. failed to carry out the best-practice in th e recruitment and selection strategies. The company has had problems in developing a brand with a good company image in Germany, both for clients and staff. While facing the problem in recruiting good staffs, at the same time it also fails to retain the talented young employees. These have affected the efficiency and smoothness of the project and business operation and at the same time will incur higher cost for recruitment purpose. As recruitment and retention of employee is another challenging task in IHRM. Employers need to select the right people and put them to the right jobs, as well as managing their performance effectively and at the same time retain the quality employees from leaving the organizations. Only the right people will take the organization where they need to go. Hadhiphanis (2010) highlighted three issues that need to be considered by management when recruiting employees: Value of experience and skills for the proposed position; behavioural and technical competen cies based in making hiring decision; and pre-screen candidates before interview. While for retention of staff, Hadhiphanis (2010) again suggested that three strategies need to be carefully implemented in order to ensure the company provide better value to their employees as compare to their competitors. Options of remuneration, fringe benefits and rewards system to employees. Clear in communicating expectations and ability to gauge the performance against expectations. Rotational assignments, career development and planning as well as financial support (job-related and non-job related) to employees. The implementation of good staff recruitment and retaining strategies will not only build good employees capability for today but also for the future. Paine Co. should identify the needs of their employees and should not assume employees in every country having the same needs. Most of the time, the employees needs are reflected in the social-economy and culture of the count ry. Besides that, employees needs will not be the same all the time and review should be carried out periodically to ensure the HR practices are being implemented correctly to suit the current conditions. As for the performance management and reward system (PMRS) in Paine and Co. Although employees bonus and rewards are performance based, the final decision still subject to the senior management discretions without going through a proper appraisal and performance review system. Therefore their bonus system is not well-regarded. Performance management (PM) was defined as a HRM process involving constant evaluation of individual and corporate improvement progress against the predetermined objectives which are correlated to the company business strategy (Dowling et al., 1999 cited by Lindholm, N., 2000). The extrinsic and intrinsic motivations, understanding of job task and job satisfaction of the employees are mainly influenced by PM practices of a company (Lindholm, N., 2000). PM that is properly planned and implemented will also help in the objectives setting, reducing job errors as well as maximizing employees satisfaction and motivation in achieving not only individual job objectives but also align with the companys business strategy in achieving organizational goals. Evidence from research had shown that cultural differences among countries will affect the elements in implementing PM. PM practices will not be successful if MNCs implement and standardize their PM policies at both home country office and the overseas subsidiaries without consideration the cultural differences among the countries. Hofstedes cultural dimensions theory had been applied by researchers in their studies in relationship between the cultural differences and the transferability of PM as well as job satisfaction in MNCs. Lindholm, N. (2000) suggested that PM system should be modified to suit to the culture of host-country. Modular type PM system that can suit to different culture s in different countries can be developed to improve the job satisfaction and performance of host-country employees. Besides that, the design and implementation of a fair performance evaluation system by taking host-country employees feedback into consideration is crucial to create job satisfaction of employees in MNCs. IHRM issue is one of the greatest challenges for all MNCs. Even world class companies like General Electric Co. and Black Decker Corp. will face some challenges in managing HRM issues when it first going global. Mendenhall, M.E et al, (2003) had identified the following Big Five global HR challenges for MNCs. Enhancing global business strategy Aligning HR issues with business strategy Designing and leading change Building global corporate cultures Developing global leaders The implementation of good IHRM practices has become very crucial in the success of all organization regardless their sizes and industry (Ulrich, 1997, cited by Nicolaou, N. a nd Costea, E.S). The fit of this type of culture HR system shall be given more attention in order to create an effective organization. In todays highly competitive globalization business environment, human resource become the main assets of an organization and therefore the implementation of IHRM strategy is the key to the success of the organization and its continuous competiveness in the global market. ANSWER FOR QUESTION 2: Barlett and Ghoshal (2000, cited by Harzing, A.W and Ruysseveldt, J.V., 2004) highlighted the three types of strategic objectives for MNCs are: meeting the challenges of global efficiency; multinational flexibility, and worldwide learning. Porter (1990, cited by Truong, et al, 2010) pointed out that the most significant source of competitive advantage for an economy is a skilled, flexible and well-educated workforce. While Heneman et al. (2000, cited by Truong, et al, 2010) stated that HR is important for all types of organizational sustainability. Many companies had realised the importance of strategic HR practices but only a few can implement it strategically in conjunction with the business strategy to gain competitive advantage (Schuler R.S MacMillan I.C, 1984). The following table shows the core components of HR practices that had been identified and the proposed HRM strategies in order to help Paine Co. in building their corporate business strategy to gain long-term comp etitive advantage. TABLE 2: CORE HRM COMPONENTS, CURRENT STATUS AND PROPOSED STRATEGIES FOR PAINE CO. HRM Core Components Current Status Strategies Recruitment and Selection Recruitment and selection procedures not regulated or standardised Do not have clear and stringent criteria in selection To use value-based hiring method To carry out proper job analysis and description Specification of minimum criteria in selection Standardisation of recruitment and selection procedures (i.e. interview, psychometric test and social test) Compensation and Benefits Remuneration system not standardised or according to industry standard To carry out industry remuneration review To introduce profit sharing scheme Performance Management and Reward System Do not have proper appraisal review system Rewards do not reflected on the individual performance No relationship between reward policy and corporate business development strategy To carry out KPI as PMRS To create link between goal-setting and performance achievement Training and Development Do not have proper training and development progr am To have intensive training for new staff To provide continuous training throughout employment Retention of Talents Lack of support from management to staff Lack of communication between employer and employees Lack of motivation Do not have succession plan To create multiple channels for information sharing To rewards the staff with innovative ways To carry out employees satisfaction survey To develop career advancement plan for employees Schuler R.S and MacMillan I.C (1984) suggested two ways for HRM practices to help in gaining organizational competitive advantage: by helping themselves and by helping others. They also clarified that good HRM practices should be first be targeted within the company before implement to the external parties (i.e. customers, suppliers, distributors). Strategic HRM practices should be ideally integrated with the business strategy of an organization in building long-tern competitive advantage. Wirtz, J., et al, 2007 believed that The wrong people are liability. Recruitment and selection is an important process in HRM that will decide whether the right person will be doing the right job at the right place. Value-based hiring method can be utilised by Paine Co. in their recruitment and selection process. A detail job analysis and job functions description should be carried out before determining the selection criteria in their recruitment exercise. Other than qualifications and experiences, criteria like physical attributes, social and emotional competency should also be considered when selecting their consultants who are the front-line staff that serve their clients. Therefore, other than structured interviews, psychometric tests and social competency tests should also be included in the screening process to ensure high quality consultants are recruited. By having stringent selection criteria, the uncertainty of hiring the right applicants with the expected qualities will be reduced. In lo ng run, the cost for recruitment and selection process can be reduced due to the increased in efficiency of recruitment and selection process. Besides the selection and recruitment process, Paine Co. also facing problems in managing their compensation and benefits as well as PMRS. It is suggested that profit sharing scheme to be introduced to the consultant advisers and senior consultants. This will encourage employees to be part of the business partners and increase their commitment towards the company performance. While for PMRS, Paine Co. should implement the Key Performance Indicator (KPI) system to ensure fair evaluation of performance review and structured appraisal throughout the whole group. Implement of KPI system will not only guarantee fair treatment to all staff but also make the objectives setting and performance management process more effective. Training is one of the key components of success for service industry like Paine Co. For organizations that are see king competitive advantage through HR, Khandekar, A., and Shama, A. (2005) suggested that they should design their HR systems so that human resources can be utilised efficiently and enabling knowledge been used by employees to maximize their organizational competitive. In this situation, Paine Co. is suggested to plan and provide an intensive training program to all its new employees before they carry out their duties. Intensive training programs are effective HRM tools because it can help the newcomers to master their jobs which probably causing fewer anxieties among them. Besides that, company values, objectives and the expectations from the employer can also be clearly communicated across to the new staff through intensive training. Subsequent off-job and on-job trainings should be planned and provided regularly throughout the employment period to improve knowledge and skills of employees. The training and development program is part of the strategic HR management that is essent ial for Paine Co. to obtain sustainable service excellence and long-term competitive advantage in the industry. Last but not least, the talents retention is another area that needs to be strategically implemented. Tobia, P.M (1999) mentioned that lowering turnover of staff will increase profits of a company. Besides that, only employees who are motivated and satisfied with their working conditions are able to produce good services and products for better competitive advantage in the industry. Many young consultants in Paine Co. left the company by joining the competitors proofed that its employees are not satisfied with their working conditions as compare to the competitors. Paine Co. need to improve the provision of resources to the employees in carrying out their duties. Implementation of some long-term retention programs such as innovative and fair PMRS; people friendly policies and carry out employees feedback survey will definitely help in reducing staff turnover rate. Op portunity for career advancement is another determinant of retention success. Succession plan and career path planning is important to retain talented employees and increase productivity. By implementing all the above proposed HRM strategies will not guarantee the ultimate success of the company in achieving the long-term business competitive advantage if there are no continuous reviews and improvement plans on its strategies. Besides a good HRM systems, products and brand differentiation; focus orientation; global thinking; a sensitive radar system; perpetual spirit of innovations; social and environmental responsibilities are some of the other criteria for MSCs to become a real World Class Company and achieve long-term business competitive advantage. All the above mentioned criteria will need to link people with the strategic needs of the business as people is the most valuable asset of an organization. If the business needs of an organization can be clearly identified and be i ntegrated effectively with the HRM practices, long-term sustainable competitive advantage will not be far from achievable. REFLECTION Planning and formulating the HRM practices with business strategy for competitive advantage will be meaningless if the management do not understand the basic needs of their employees. Therefore, communications play an important role in the analysing and understanding the employees behaviour so that the right HRM practices can be strategized. All employers know what the company goals are, but not everyone is able to articulate their products or services with the market-place effectively to determine the types of employees needed. The needs-matching process to get the right person to do the right job is another great challenge in HRM. Another concern will be the consistency in the implementation of the best HRM practices in an organization. Only long-term consistency in the practices can bring great results and achieve sustainable competitive advantage instead of just short-term success. Commitment from the top management is an important factor that will determine the success. Tot al organizational commitment can not be achieved without starting from the top and working down. If the top management started to demonstrate good practices, concern and commitment to their job and products, the employees will also begin to follow the same practices and further synergizing their contributions to perform for sustainable competitive advantage. END ABBREVIATIONS GE General Electric Co. HRM Human Resource Management IHRM International Human Resource Management KPI Key Performance Indicator MD Managing Director MNCs Multinational Corporations PM Performance Management PMRS Performance Management and Reward System SIA Singapore Airlines

Essay on Do Video Games Cause Behavior Problem - 1448 Words

Nicholas Persaud Persaud,1 Business Communication Mr. Osso March 9, 2011 Do Video Games Cause Behavior Problems? Video games do cause aggression. The most games that cause aggression is games rating with M for mature games. About 90 percent of U.S kids from ages 8 to 17 play video games usually show more aggression after play a violent video games. Everyday odds are you are going to have more aggression while playing a violent video game with the Rating M for mature or higher. Even though video games are a big part in teens. Some parents are noticing there teens are getting and having more violent behavior problems. There was a lot of attention to video games and violence because people found out the shooting†¦show more content†¦Over the past 30 years since the breakout of video games people play video games when ever they have free time or nothing to do. And plus with a new generation of games are released the more people waste there lives playing them. Scientist studies kids who play violent video games and kids who dont and they study them to see the outcome of what happened. And they said :play violent video games did have it effect on kids who didn’t play it in there lives†. And they realized only kids who play for the first time is affected the most. Scientist asked parents to watch there kids while they are playing video games. They did this to see if kids who have been playing violent video game for a long time shows aggressive nature. Scientist found out that kids who play Call Of Duty shows more negative behavior. And kids who play PAC Man show less negative aggression. The only difference was the violence. And the parents then noticed violent behavior in there kids. Scientist found out the more a game is violent the more the game cost in stores. They increased it so the people will pay more money for it. 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McCarthyism and Its Effect on the Cold War Free Essays

The Cold War is categorized by intercontinental associations during the time of Europe’s innovations. The long lasting effects and extensive lasting supporters still hold strong for Europe. The Cold War came about by public speculations and pressures in Europe at the close of World War II and by collective control quarrels amid the Soviet Union. We will write a custom essay sample on McCarthyism and Its Effect on the Cold War or any similar topic only for you Order Now Financial parting among the Soviets and the west also amplified pressures, along with the risk of nuclear war. The Soviet Union’s main conflict was the enormous philosophical differences with the west. The Soviet’s exploited on communism and believed capitalism to be corrupt and a menace to the working class. The soviets rejected collaboration among themselves and industrialist countries ideologically. A wide-ranging amount of differences in the beliefs helped widen the gap between the West and the Soviets. The Soviets having control over Eastern Europe is also another cause of the Cold War. This alerted the United States with the growth of communism in European countries. The United States set up the Marshall Plan. Could Cold War Have Been Avoided? iframe class="wp-embedded-content" sandbox="allow-scripts" security="restricted" style="position: absolute; clip: rect(1px, 1px, 1px, 1px);" src="https://phdessay.com/could-cold-war-have-been-avoided/embed/#?secret=BTgSn3Wzbm" data-secret="BTgSn3Wzbm" width="500" height="282" title="#8220;Could Cold War Have Been Avoided?#8221; #8212; Free Essays - PhDessay.com" frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no"/iframe The Marshall Plan was a cost-effective sustenance package funded by the United States. The relief money was spread throughout the war torn democratic countries to help rebuild their economy. However, no money went to the Soviet Union or any of their allies. Then out of nowhere someone made an accusation and brought about McCarthyism. McCarthyism is the invention of the anti-communist politics that arose around the early Cold War years. The Cold War renovated American politics in a way that exposed communism as a central part of political life. McCarthyism was believed to be an absurd reaction to the rise of the secular state and the total association was resentments produced by status concern. Senator Joseph McCarthy’s action brought forth McCarthyism and the notion of Anti-Communism. This paper will deliberate the difference among McCarthyism and Anti-Communism and how the media made it public business. Further issues debated will be that of the take on American foreign policy resolutions and the impact created by anti-communism and how it altered Americans’ lives associated with the Red Scare. The Cold War was a historical affair that offered tension and stern conflicts throughout the World. The key funders in the Cold War occurred between the United States and its supporters, disputed by Russia and the countries allied with that country. The Democrats and Republicans fought among each other to validate who opposed communism the greatest which produce anti-communism during the late 1940s and early 1950s. McCarthyism originated from the actions of U. S. Senator Joseph McCarthy and lasted around 10 years. Senator McCarthy accused many Americans of being communists or communist supporters who were unfaithful to their country due to their political beliefs. His actions combined with the communist growth and the Korean War conveyed on fears that led to a new Red Scare. McCarthy played on the uncertainties of the people to obtain a higher political standing within the United States Senate. The Democrats and Republicans fought amongst each other to prove who opposed communism the most which produce anti-communism during the late 1940s and early 1950s. McCarthyism originated from the actions of U. S. Senator Joseph McCarthy and lasted around 10 years. Senator McCarthy accused many Americans of being communists or communist sympathizers who were disloyal to their country because of their political beliefs. His actions combined with the communist expansion and Korean War brought on fears that led to a new Red Scare. McCarthy played on the fears of the people to obtain a higher political standing within the United States Senate. During the early 50’s the senator made a name for himself, but one could say was it the best name. Senator McCarthy exposed all types of people; he accused government workers, playwrights, actors and Jews along with anyone else he assumed people would believe were communist. This witch hunt made life for many who were not communist almost impossible to endure. The Government and Hollywood were hunted and ran out of town first. Many actresses, actors, and playwrights moved to Europe and Mexico to elude the accusations and possible jail sentences. Some of the most popular actresses and actors of these times Humphrey Bogat, Lauren Bacall, and Danny Kaye organized a group called the Committee for the First Amendment. This group organized to protest the pointing of the finger from government at their business. Along with the publicity of many newspaper and news cast posted throughout this news created an era of chaos and uncertainness for America. When the witch hunts finally ceased it took a great deal of time to move past these accusations. But move forward they did and life eventually regained control and moves along with much success. References National Archives and Record Administration. (n. d. ). Marshall Plan. Retrieved from http://www. archives. gov/exhibits/featured_documents/marshall_plan/ New World Encyclopedia. (n. d. ). McCarthyism. Retrieved from http://National Archievs and Record Administration. (n. d. ). Marshall Plan. Retrieved from http://www. archives. gov/exhibits/featured_documents/marshall_plan How to cite McCarthyism and Its Effect on the Cold War, Papers

The Roles of a Counselor free essay sample

Mental Health counseling has become a wide area of study that is highly recommended to those who are unbalanced and in need of support. Today, clinical mental health counselors take on many responsibilities when giving services to their clients. Effective clinical mental health counselors acknowledge differences among people and seek to improve their competence with diverse populations (Gladding el at. , 2010). This is very important ,specifically for counselors who will work in America, because America is considered to be such a diverse country. With America being such a culturally diverse country, counselors must develop multicultural counseling competencies to treat effectively. According to Gladding and Newsome (2010), community and mental health counselors promote client well-being on multiple levels by providing prevention services and treatment for a wide range of clients. Counselors serve many roles, and are obligated to a great number of responsibilities, and must strive to maintain the professional ethics and moral codes they’ve ascribed to for the advocacy and well-being of their clients (American Counseling Association, 2005). A professional counselor’s first and foremost responsibility is to respect the dignity and promote the welfare of clients (American Counseling Association [ACA], 2005). Providing quality care without compromising ethical and legal concerns is a challenging but necessary goal for all counselors who work in managed care environments (Gladding, 2010). Another essential Smith 3 responsibility is building rapport with their clients. This allows the client to become comfortable with the counselor as well as helping both parties find a common ground, making conversation more natural. Although counselors have many responsibilities, they should first assure that clients are comfortable, respected, supported, and heard. Trust in these relationships is vital. It is the counselor’s responsibility to build a relationship of trust between the counselor and client from the very beginning in order for the client to feel comfortable about discussing their issues to an individual who they just met. Gathering information and getting their clients involved in the helping process will develop grounds for an effective treatment plan to be established that serves as the basis for the next phase of counseling. The counselor must be confident in assessing the client and developing a treatment plan that will be beneficial for the client. Once the rapport is well established, the therapeutic process can begin . It is also imperative that counselors follow the code of ethics established by the American Mental Health Counselors Association. The roles that mental health counselors fill are to promote mental health wellness through awareness, prevention, intervention, and treatment. Excellent counselors are trained to assess and diagnose, as well as, provide crisis intervention and work with individuals, groups, couples, and families† (Gladding Newsome, 2010). Counselors are also required to provide services beyond crisis intervention, prevention, advocacy, and evaluation. Awareness must be taken into consideration of the environment in which ounseling services are being rendered such as the comfort ability of the room which does have a major effect on how the client may respond to counseling. Color schemes, furniture, room accessories, lighting, room temperature, confidentiality are all key factor to remember when decorating office. A counselor should take Smith 4 on the responsibility to make the room feel comfortable, â€Å"home-like†, and relaxing as possible and they might seek consultation to do so. Among their other responsibilities, counselors must maintain well-kept records of the counseling activities and client’s progress. This is a key component of working effectively with clients. Accurate documentation is benefits both the counselor and their client. Keeping accurate professional records facilitates the provision of quality services to clients and provides self protection for the counselor and ensures that state and federal guidelines are being followed. According to Gladding and Newsome, some of the other roles of counselors are: outpatient counseling services, day programs, emergency services/crisis intervention, substance abuse services, case management and outreach, education and consultation, residential programs, and inpatient services. Their responsibilities, demands, and functions may then include: client assessment and diagnosis, crisis intervention and prevention, treatment design and implementation. This will also give more experience in seeing that the counselor will be working with all populations including children, adolescents, and adults in individuals, group, and family settings. The key to being an effective practitioner, especially in today’s diverse climate, includes an awareness and understanding of the client’s particular identity, influences and contributions of their unique culture, age, religion, and other related factors such as family influences and values, and even their socioeconomic status in relationship as to how the client has perceived those experiences and influences. As stated before, multicultural competency is an essential skill needed to ensure effective practice in counseling; lacking the awareness to the Smith 5 specific needs and cultural issues that clients face can ultimately lead to negative outcomes. This is why some counselors research the background of their clients and seek consultation when doing assessments or sending the client to a psychiatrist for a psychological exam. According to the ACA code of ethics, counselors have the responsibility to seek knowledge about different racial and ethnic groups, so that they are effectively able to work with these clients (ACA, 2005). Counselors have the responsibility to remain educated in the changing trends of society’s needs, including the vast diversity that is found in the United States so that the counselor truly understand the client’s background history prior to developing a plan for wellness. A competent counselor provides an effective relationship, respect for the client, empathic understanding, and the communication of empathy respect, and genuineness to the client. The counselor might consult with the client about any concerns before starting services to ensure of these things. There are several national and state policies that help regulate and pay for mental health service throughout the United States. Since January 2011, the provisions and regulations of the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act have been in effect, requiring group health insurance plans (those with more than 50 insured employees) that offer coverage for mental illness and substance use disorders to provide those benefits in no more restrictive way than all other medical and surgical procedures covered by the plan. While the act does not require group health plans to cover mental health (MH) and substance use disorder (SUD) benefits but, when plans do cover these benefits, MH and SUD benefits must be covered at levels that are no Smith 6 lower and with treatment limitations that are no more restrictive than would be the case for the other medical and surgical benefits offered by the plan (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, n. d. I currently am a resident in the state of Georgia and the public policy which governs the service delivery for mental health clients has been identified as the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities. This agency began its operating position in July of 2009 after the Governor began networking with the General Assembly to reform the overall dynamics of mental health and addictive disease services in the state of Georgia. According to the DBHDD website, the Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities operates seven regional state hospitals while providing and overseeing community based services across the state. The agency provides funds for services in the area of mobile crisis for children and adults, ACT Teams that can be described as a hospital without walls, group homes, and stabilization programs. The website (gabdhdd. policystat. com) describes community based programs is to serve people as close to home as possible in the least restrictive setting. The philosophy behind this principle is that individuals can draw from natural supports such as family, church, neighbors, schools and other community activities with the help of mental health counselors to avoid jail, hospital, and other forms of institutions. The aforementioned entity remains governed under the (2010) Georgia Code title 37-Mental Health (State Law). According to chapter 1 Article 2 (section 37-1-20) the obligations of the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities (5) Have authority to contract Smith 7 or services with community service boards, private agencies, and other public entities for the provision of services within a service area so as to provide an adequate array of services and choice of providers for consumers and to comply with the applicable federal laws and rules and regulations related to public or private hospitals; hospital authorities; medical schools and training and educational institutions; departments and agencies of this state; county or municipal governments; any person, partnership, corporation, or association, whether public or private; and the United States government or the government of any other state. Besides the aforementioned, the entire Article (2) is dedicated to the improvement of mental health services the empowerment of clients to a level of self sufficiency and self management. There are several public policies that have impacted the quality of services given when dealing with mental health. There are a number of state grants/programs that help adults with low income and no insurance get the services they need. These programs in Georgia such as Peach Care, Fee for Services, Medicaid, etc help pay for more people that are not in the middle class or high society to get help that would not be ble to afford it if these programs weren’t in place. DBHDD is a covered entity as defined in, and as governed by, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 and its regulations (HIPAA). This policy is therefore applicable to any facility or program that is a part of DBHDD, including the state office, regional offices, state operated DBHDD hospitals and any sta te operated community programs (DBHDD 2011). Georgia is very good about building programs and systems to help people with mental illnesses become more socially advanced and progressed. The state also helps them find Smith 8 housing, enroll in educational programs, and find employment. The Georgia Mental Health Consumer Network works with the state to ensure that consumers can successfully live in their communities by advocating for employment support, housing and peer support. Programs like this assist mental health counselors in their role of getting the client active and involved to complete their treatment plans successfully and maintain the kind of life they wish to. The responsibility of the counselor is to promote wellness and prevention, actively recognize diversity issues, provide comprehensive services, and provide continual care (Gladding Newsome, 2010). An effective counselor must balance all of their responsibilities in order to sufficiently fulfill the roles they play in their client’s lives and treatment. The counselors must remain professional at all times, respectful, honest, and tactful with the clients. It creates a healthy and therapeutic relationship with the client.