How Examinations Like TEAS Tests Are Beneficial For Students Nowadays

The term examination is defined by the Oxford English Dictionary, (2019) as the process of assessing an individual’s skills and knowledge through written or oral questions as well as practical tasks. Examinations in higher education are significant to assess the capacity of learning for a student. Recently, there have been many emphases on abolishing examination, especially in higher learning institutions. Most students have tension over examinations: it changes them from happy beings to nervous and frustrated. However, examinations have been a major part of schooling that students have to undergo in their course of study. The purpose of the examination is to measure a student’s know-how on a given topic.

Graded Examination Systems Ensure Competitiveness
Tests are of different forms where some are designed to test the memory and understanding of the examinee about a specific topic. Higher learning examinations like the ati teas are graded and interpreted according to the criterion, which is established mostly through statistical analysis. Some students have to read overnight if the examination is on the next day. The major argument behind exams abolishment is the negative psychological impact they have on students. Most students find examinations threatening and causing anxiety. Students accumulate negative thoughts and depreciating self-statements common during assessment which affects their performance. Such anxiety affects the student physically in terms of tensed muscles and trembling as well as behavior wise which affects their study skills.

Exam Preparations Can Be Stressful And Enjoyable At The Same Time
An experiment on the impacts of examination stress shows that students’ anticipation for the examination harms their sleep and eating habits. Test related anxiety would lead to severe impacts on test outcome. On the contrary, some form of stress in life has contributed to a positive impact on results, which would also apply to student’s examination. Stress can be part of a student’s motivation during the exam period. It becomes easier for students to retain examinations knowledge when they are faced with acute stress. In most cases, students approach examination unprepared, which leads to their anxiety, while those who are ready for the test remain calm and anxious free. Other scholars have thought that if ati teas examinations are so stressful, the students’ needs to be engaged in more coursework which is deemed to be less stressful. Although, it is important to consider that even coursework is associated with stress just like tests.

Another criticism of examinations in higher education is the misuse, unlike other assessment tasks within the course work. Exams allow students to retrieve knowledge from memory and apply it on the spot, as in most real-life professions. But, the way exams are delivered in higher learning is questionable. Examinations in higher studies are vital in assessing the role of studying for a student. Lately, there have done various accents on finishing tests, particularly in higher learning organizations. Most exam questions only test what the student can recall, but not a deeper understanding of the subject. It occurs when teachers prepare tests hurriedly or borrow exam questions from previous years or test banks.

Conceptual Framework

Conceptual Framework
According to Creswell (2014), the conceptual framework does create a logical chain of evidence through which the researcher does test and verify conclusions. The conceptual framework is usually developed so as to generate a comprehensive understanding of the applicability of employee involvement in project management. Involvement in decision-making is the independent variable while the goal achievement is the dependent variable.

Goal Setting Theory
The identified conceptual framework for this study is based on Goal Setting Theory. The goal setting theory normally assumes that a direct relationship does exist between the definition of the measurable and specific goals and the performance. The researcher, Edwin Locke primarily developed the theory when he started the goal setting research in 1960s (Locke & Latham 1979). Goal setting theory does involve the process of establishing levels of performance so as to obtain the desired outcomes. Based on the theory, it purport that the source of motivation involves the desire and the intention to reach a particular goal. According to Armstrong (2013), when managers know what they aim at achieving, they are motivated to put more effort that increases performance. The goal setting theory was advanced by Armstrong (2013), who emphasize on goal setting and encouragement of decision rights as the basis for employee performance. When the management allows the employees to get involved in decision-making on matters concerning them and the organization, it tends to increase the employee’s commitment. Employee involvement in decision-making wins the commitment of employees and when the management can win the employee’s commitment; it does increase job satisfaction and motivate employees to work hard.

Taking responsibility for the results requires that the members of the organization receive a chance to influence their results favorably and have freedom of taking action. Based on the theory, the decision rights tend to allow greater involvement of employees in deciding issues that do affect their work Armstrong (2013), He argues that employees are likely to meet their performance goals when they are empowered with authority to make decisions and also solve problems that relate to the results that they are accountable. The goals of an organization represent a shared responsibility among all its employees each of whom has a role in the success of the organization. The contribution of the employees tends to be a starting point for enumerating the results of which they are accountable. Thus, the goal setting theory is used in developing the study’s conceptual framework.

The employee can contribute significantly towards achieving the objectives and the goals of the organization. Hence, it is essential that the organization should have knowledge of the various factors that affect the behavior of their staff so as to bring out the best in these employees. Because of this, the researcher selects the goal setting theory as the conceptual framework for the study. The goal setting theory tends to be one of the most practical and influential theories of motivation. Several studies have been conducted to support the theory, and there tends to be a strong support that is setting goals related to performance improvement. The aim of the study is to examine how employee involvement in decision-making predicts goal achievement. Locke suggests that goals normally tell an employee what they need to do and how much effort should be expended (Latham, 2004). The theory does suggest that specific goals tend to increase performance and that the difficult goals when they are accepted do lead to higher performance.

From the theory, it suggests the significance of setting difficult goals as it leads to the increase in the likelihood of goal achievement. Locke postulated that through employee involvement and participation in goal setting, the employees are likely to participating in the goals and increasing performance; thus, enhancing the job satisfaction (Latham & Locke 2006). Goal setting tends to be an effective strategy of affecting performance through employee involvement, participation, and providing feedback. The involvement of the employee in setting goal tends to direct the behavior of the employee, and it contributes to higher performance than the absence of feedback and the lack of involvement. Latham, (2004) claims that difficult goals normally lead to participation through involvement employees in decision making and setting goals, enhanced employee-employer relations and also improved performance through producing high levels of planning and effort. Hence, goal setting may be an effective strategy for influence performance through enhances the initiatives of employee involvement by providing regular feedback and appropriate communication (Locke et al. 2010).

According to Latham & Locke (2006), the employee involvement in decision-making does include the process that results in some degree of transfer of then decision control and the responsibility from the superior to his subordinates. The participation in the setting of the work goals tends to fall in this definition as employee’s determination of goals is the transfer of the decision control and the responsibilities from the superior to the subordinates. Locke et al. (2010) conclude that participation in goal setting leads to increased performance. Erez et al. (1985) conducted a study to investigate the impact that participation in goal setting has on goal acceptance and the performance of the American college students. The researchers hypothesized that the level of the goal acceptance would increase as participation increased and participation influence performance through influence on acceptance. The study by Erez et al. (1985) revealed that the participative and representative goal setting increased the individual goal acceptance and the goal acceptance contributed to the performance. Locke et al. (2010) state that the involvement of employees in decision-making may contribute to the development of an effective strategy for attaining the goals that in turn increase the self-efficacy of the participant that the goal is attainable.

An examination of the goal setting theory, purport that the participation of the employee in setting the goal makes the goals to be more acceptable and it also leads to more involvement. With regards to involvement in setting the goals, the employees need to ensure that they have the necessary skills, abilities, and knowledge for reaching the goals. When the employees do not have the necessary skills, setting the outcome goals, have indicated to result in a lower level of performance (Seijts & Latham, 2005). Seijts & Latham (2005) state that people are more likely to feel helpless when they do not have the ability to reach the goals and making it difficult to achieve the goals.

BI solution of an Executive Dashboard

Sales Trends for 2015 of BMW Company

The above graph clarifies sales trends during the next following months for the year 2015. The month of March, April, may and June offers of BMW Company were observed to be very low sales they all were between $102,360 – $143,000 Noteworthy increment seen in the month of July and sales were $244,240 and at all sudden it dropped to $199,740 in a month of August. From the September and October, it had the dramatic increase in comparison to March to August. Through the assessment of the sales trend, the company will be able to make an assessment of their current sales against their desired sales. The dashboard makes it possible for the policy makers in the organization to see the trend and consequently make an assessment of their current situations (Web-based dashboard, 2009). The ability to meet their sales targets as well as the inability is evident from the dashboard. Additionally, in the event they were not able to meet their sales target, it will be possible to make an assessment of the factors that inhibited the attained as well as the possible interventions needed. In the case of BMW, the management can notice that there are some months that are recording low sales and thus the need to consider the measures that could promote their sales. These could range from adopting social media marketing strategies to the motivation of the sales team, giving them the incentive to augment their commissions via better sales. The overall objective of the business, in this case, is developing a competitive advantage that will assist them to have a superior competitive edge over the competitors and thus generate better sales (Pratt, 2014).

Revenue of Sales Person and Their Commission
Karthik was found to be active and significant in comparison to other sales person in marketing and making the business. His overall sales for the year 2015 from June to October were $278,360. And Akhil and Sachin found to be same revenue range of $160,800-165,000 but the sum of a commission of Sachin’s is 4.41% comparatively low to Akhil’s sum of commission. The graph additionally indicates that Brijesh has the lowest sum of revenue as well as a sum of commission comparative to all others in above dashboard. The assessment of the sales that employees’ are making for the business makes it possible for the business to be aware of the individuals making the greatest contribution to the business. Additionally BMW can assess whether there are skills that are necessary to improve the productivity of their sales people. Through the assessment, it is possible to ascertain the sales doing the best job via looking at their compensation and finding ways of addressing those with lower compensations (Podgórski, 2015).

Revenue by Sales Person per Month

The revenue of sales per month of Ramesh is $135,000 from June to October, where it is comparatively very high to other sales. The sales of Chandu, Akhil, Sachin, Suresh, Vamshi, and Brijesh are below then $76,000. The application of the sales cycle KPI for the sales people is instrumental to the BMW as they can examine the duration it takes one individual to generate revenue from the sales. The assessment of the sales person average cycle will assist BMW make an accurate evaluation of their employees in the sales in assessing their performance. Thus, the KPI will assist BMW to retain as well as recruit the sales people who are productive to the company. Additionally the company can make sale projection by relying on their monthly sales (Hildreth, 2012). Their expansion and marketing strategies heavily rely on the sales they make as they offer the necessary incentive in directing the organizational performance as well as the available resources for their investments. Additionally assessing the monthly revenue that the business is making will assist in making right evaluations of business growth trend and the factors that may hinder the growth.

Revenue by States
The above chart illustrates the revenue of the states that BMW made from the sale of different car models in the diverse above chart illustrates the revenue of the states that BMW made from the sale of different car models in the diverse states. The California has revenue of $258,860 this was the highest revenue generated comparatively to other states. We can also see that Atlanta has very low revenue i.e. $54,000. There are various KPIs that the business applies in promoting its revenue in these states. In this case, the objective of the company is enhancing their revenues collection in each state and one of the KPIs that can assist in assessing the revenue collected the examination of the customer retention rate. The higher the number of customer retention the better the revenue collection (Data Visualization, 2010). Thus, the assessment of the sales made in the different states will give the business a platform to assess their performance and consequently design the strategies that will improve their performance in the respective states. The ability that the company has in assessing their perform states.

The California has revenue of $258,860 this was the highest revenue generated comparatively to other states. We can also see that Atlanta has very low revenue i.e. $54,000. There are various KPIs that the business applies in promoting its revenue in these states. In this case, the objective of the company is enhancing their revenues collection in each state and one of the KPIs that can assist in assessing the revenue collected the examination of the customer retention rate. The higher the number of customer retention the better the revenue collection. Thus, the assessment of the sales made in the different states will give the business a platform to assess their performance and consequently design the strategies that will improve their performance in the respective states (Hein, 2009). The ability that the company has in assessing their performance in the different states will make it possible to outline the specific issues driving the various customers’ states in these states depending on the sales. Through the description of the sales targets for these states, it will be possible to strategies on the most effective marketing strategies that will promote the sales in these states.

Sales by Invoice Amount
This above chart illustrates the following sales by invoice amounts. By this chart, we can assume that the sales from invoice amount of 31560-41559 are the second highest sale from Invoice amount of 71560-81559 as the highest number of sales. Through assessment of the invoice amount, the business can assess the sales they have made and at the same time make the work of the auditors easy as the records of sales are available. Additionally through the assessment of the sales invoice, BMW can attract the effectives of the employees by tracking their sales via invoices as well as the amount generated (Hildreth, 2012).

Revenue by Product
The above graph illustrates the sales of products of the company BMW. It seems to BMW Z 650i has the highest sales comparative to the other products. We can also see that BMW i8 had very low sales from all other products. The application of this KPI offers the business with the advantage of examining the sales they are making depending on their car models. Through this examination, it is possible to assess the models that the customers prefer and thus increasing their availability in the market to boost the sales. Ability to see the models that have low sales makes it possible for BMW to conduct research on the reasons the models are unpopular among the customers and thus make modifications or pull them out of the market (Hein, 2009). BMW will be able to assess the circumstances around each model in the context of the reasons that are promoting the sales of a particular model such as an effective marketing campaign. On the other hand, the low sales for the other model could be because the competition is offering an identical model at a lower price. Thus through the application of this KPI, the BMW will be able to assess the issues that are revolving around the performance of a certain model and how to improve each model to attain the desired sales.