Example Answer On Multinational Corporations And Complexity

Example Answer On Multinational Corporations And Complexity 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. 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 Welch 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 t eam 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 selecte d 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 the 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 s kills for the proposed position; behavioural and technical competencies 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 country. 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 objective s 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 cultures 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 o f 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. and 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 competitive 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 program 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 long 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 seeking 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 essential 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. Opportunity for career advancement is another determinant of retention success. Succession plan and career path plannin g 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 integrated 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. Total 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

Islam and Confucianism

During the post-classical period, the Islamic and Confucianist â€Å"world religions?were based upon the principles of spiritual and intellectual growth. Both valued intelligence and knowledge, and strongly supported education, yet each religion viewed the world and its inhabitants from different vantage points. In Islam, life was a series of tests which determined a person†s stature in the afterlife. Though not especially rigorous, these â€Å"tests?focus people†s lifestyles on ways to better their eternal futures. Islam molded people into charitable, honest, and true Muslims who worked to spread their faith. Confucianism saw the world in a more immediate sense, and felt that it needed to be controlled by properly trained men. Confucianism pushed for social gain, personal happiness, and proper â€Å"gentlemanly?composure. An Islamic education was available to any good Muslim, rich and poor alike, although the wealthy were educated more often, due to fewer time constraints. It was a rarity to see a Muslim woman educated in the same manner as men, however, since Muslim society was strongly patriarchal, and â€Å"Men are the managers of the affairs of women? (p. 105, The Koran and Family). A Confucian education, in contrast, was quite esoteric. Those in the wealthy classes, primarily the aristocracy, were educated, and although it was possible for a lower class citizen to receive an education, it was a rarity, occurring only if said citizen was very wealthy. The Confucian focus on creating a classic â€Å"Gentleman?centered the education on men, and not women. â€Å"Confucianism was primarily an ethical system†¦Confucious largely recommended obedience and respect; people should know their place? (World History, p. 46). Confucianism strove to create an educated man: a ruler, not a peasant. It taught art and literature, nature and proper handling of women, and diplomacy. It stressed composure and proper social skills, with specifics on how to dress and how to act at public gatherings being of the utmost importance. Mannerisms were not the whole of the social education, however. Training the Aristocracy, Confucianism taught ruling, government, law, crime and punishment. A Confucian Gentleman knew how to act properly and rule accordingly in any situation that might present itself. Islam†s Five Pillars, â€Å"testifying that there is no deity save Allah and that Mohammed is his apostle, on performing prayer, on paying legal alms, on the pilgrimage to Mecca, and on the fast of Ramadà ¡n.?(document 18, p. 108) strongly focused the Islamic education on religion and philanthropy. An educated Muslim had intricate knowledge of Islam, the Hadith, and the Koran. Generosity was important in Islam, and a good Muslim gave Alms. Islam did not focus on making an Aristocrat, but rather a philanthropist who would spread the religion. Islam taught the knowledge of travel, trade and bartering as well. Muslim society, was advanced in these areas, and viewed merchants as very powerful and important men. Subsequently trade and bartering were highly valued skills which need to be learned. Scientific knowledge was also important. Muslim science was based on Greek and Hellenistic technology and philosophy, thus their scientific education focused on rationalistic generalizations, theories and hypotheses. Confucian teaching frowned upon trade and bartering, as Merchants were tolerated, but not respected by the upper classes. Confucian scientific teaching was directed towards specific developments and advancements, generalities were not as important. The Confucian lack of religious teaching was diametrically opposed to the Islamic education†s strong religious focus, and Confucianism taught artistic merit more where Islam taught more trade skills. Scientific advances were important to each. Specific social customs were taught by both, although Islam leaned towards helping the lower classes through charity, and Confucianism leaned towards helping the lower classes through proper rule. Obviously, a Confucian education and an Islamic education both focused on teaching men to better themselves, but their different approaches to the same matter yielded two strikingly different educated persons.

Finding the Best Easy Topics for a Argumentative Essay

Finding the Best Easy Topics for a Argumentative Essay The Lost Secret of Easy Topics for a Argumentative Essay Easy expository essays are essays where you're anticipated to work on facts as opposed to opinions. Importantly, you ought to think about how to compose argumentative essay introduction and help it become effective. It is quite easy to come across such a topic and also write this kind of essay as long as you abide by a few standard rules. Argumentative essay topics are so important since they are debatableand it's important to at all times be critically contemplating the world around us. When it has to do with writing an argumentative essay, the most essential point to do is to select a topic and an argument that you could really get behind. An intriguing essay idea will appear at the topic from an unusual perspective. While making an argumentative essay you should explore either side of the subject and finally, you will need to prove why one of them is the most out of the two. An amazing quote might be a fantastic method to end your essay. The cost of an essay depends upon the total amount of effort the writer has to exert. Check and edit your essay to find the task finished flawlessly. Throughout your academic career, you will often be requested to compose an essay. Nowadays it's quite hard to locate a trustworthy essay writing service. A good deal of planning ought to go into your essay before you begin writing it. You are unable to ignore the significance of a superior topic. Provided that you're genuinely interested in the subject and have some fantastic comprehension of the matter, you can choose the topic for the argumentative essay. Taking into account that lots of persuasive essays concern controversial topics, before writing, you might want to sit down and think of what your opinion on the topic actually is. There aren't many points that you've got to remain in mind as a means to master every college essay. You could be given the topic straight away by your professor, or perhaps you be free to select the topic yourself. To compose a strong argumentative essay, students should start by familiarizing themselves with a number of the common, and frequently conflicting, positions on the research topic so they can write an educated paper. The outline for this kind of essay usually is made up of four major points. It's important to select debatable argumentative essay topics since you need opposing points which you can counter to your own points. By now you're probably ready to observe a superb argumentative essay outline template. Take advantage of these samples as a means to construct your own outline. As tempting as it might appear to skip past the extra info and go straight to the list of persuasive essay topics, don't do it. Indicate again why this predicament is vital and attempt to represent the problem in the broader context. The topic is just one of the most crucial deciding factors which will have an influence on the results of the grade of the essay. The multiple topics could possibly be found, for instance, in the dissertation abstracts international database. With planning, you are going to be in a position to start with whatever portion of the essay is easiest for you, without having to struggle over the debut, for instance, if you know this part is very difficult for you. In choosing your topic, it's frequently a good notion to start with a subject which you already have some familiarity with. For an argumentative essay it's a good idea to set up three claims which provides a strong reason behind your stance on the topic issue. Attempt to outline a succession of arguments here. There is an assortment of suggestions for topics when thinking about the topic matter of Frankenstein. If it's the first time you're likely to use our article writing service, you most likely have a great deal of questions. It is possible to come across such sites offering insight on the topic matter and they give advice on how to analyze your subject and break down ideas you are able to work with. Homework help sites offer you additional suggestions about how to brainstorm for writing ideas. The Hidden Secret of Easy Topics for a Argumentative Essay There is an easy pattern that one has to follow to in order create a topic that someone can right about. It is not important to us, whether you're too busy on the job concentrating on a passion undertaking, or simply tired of a seemingly infinite stream of assignments. One of the greatest strategies to manage it lies in reverse. You may want to take an excellent argumentative topic that's currently a popular issue or one that has adequate relevance in todays times.

Whats a Good Biology SAT Subject Test Score in 2019

In general, youre going to want a Biology SAT Subject Test Score in the 700s for highly selective colleges and universities. A lower score wont exclude you from serious consideration, but the majority of admitted students will have scores of 700 or higher. Discussion of Biology SAT Subject Test Scores What Biology SAT Subject Test score you are going to need, of course, will vary a bit from college to college, but this article will give a general overview of what defines a good Biology SAT Subject Test score.   The table at the bottom of the page shows the correlation between Biology SAT scores and the percentile ranking of students who took the Ecological Biology and the Molecular Biology exam. Thus, 74% of test takers scored a 700 or below on the Ecological Biology exam, and 61% scored a 700 or below on the Molecular Biology exam. SAT Subject Test scores cant be compared to general SAT scores because the subject tests are taken by a higher percentage of high-achieving students than the regular SAT. Primarily elite and highly selective schools require SAT Subject Test scores, whereas the majority of colleges and universities require SAT or ACT scores. As a result, the average scores for SAT Subject Tests are significantly higher than those for the regular SAT. For the Ecological Biology SAT Subject Test, the mean score is 618, and for the Molecular Biology exam, the mean is 650 (compared to an mean of 536 for the SAT evidence-based reading exam and 531 for the math exam). Which Biology Subject Test Should You Take? The Biology Subject Test offers two options: the Ecological Biology exam and the Molecular Biology exam. For the graduating class of 2016-18, 91,866 students took the ecology exam while 116,622 students took the molecular exam. Colleges generally dont have a preference for one exam over the other, but a high score on the ecology exam will be a little more impressive than the same score on the molecular exam. This is simply because the percentiles are different. For example, youll see from the table below that 9% of students taking the molecular exam scored a 790 or higher while only 4% of students taking the ecology exam earned a 790 or 800. What Top Colleges Say about SAT Subject Tests Most colleges do not publicize their SAT Subject Test admissions data. However, for elite colleges, you will ideally have scores in the 700s as youll see from the insights some top schools, provide to the scores theyre used to seeing from competitive applicants. If youre looking at Ivy League schools, aim high. Princeton Universitys admissions website states that the middle 50% of admitted applicants had SAT Subject Test scores between 710 and 790. Those numbers tell us that 25% of applicants received 790s or 800s on their SAT Subject Tests. AT MIT, the numbers are even higher with the middle 50% of applicants scoring between 740 and 800. Thus, over a quarter of all admitted students had Subject Tests scores of 800. At MIT, these scores tend to be in math and science fields. For top liberal arts colleges, the ranges are slightly lower, but still quite high. Middlebury Colleges admissions website notes that they are used to seeing scores in the low to middle 700s, while at Williams College, over two-thirds of admitted students score above a 700. The countrys best public universities are similarly selective. At UCLA, for example, 75% of admitted students scored between 700 and 800 on their best SAT Subject Test. Biology SAT Subject Test Scores and Percentiles Biology SAT Subject Test Score Percentile (Ecological) Percentile (Molecular) 800 97 94 790 96 91 780 95 89 770 92 86 760 91 82 750 88 79 740 86 75 730 83 72 720 80 68 710 77 64 700 74 61 680 67 53 660 60 46 640 52 39 620 44 32 600 37 27 580 31 22 560 25 18 540 21 14 520 17 12 500 13 10 480 11 8 460 9 6 440 7 5 420 6 4 400 5 3 380 3 2 360 2 2 340 1 1 Data source for the table above: the  College Board website. A Final Word About the Biology SAT Subject Test As this limited data shows, a strong application will usually have SAT Subject Test scores in the 700s. Realize, however, that all elite schools have a holistic admissions process, and significant strengths in other areas can make up for a less-than-ideal test score. Also realize that the majority of colleges do not require SAT Subject Tests, and schools such as Princeton recommend but do not require the exams. Very few colleges use the Biology SAT Subject Test to award course credit or to place students out of introductory level courses. A good score on the  AP Biology exam, however, often will earn students college credit. While no such tool exists for the Biology exam, you can use this  free calculator from Cappex  to learn your chances of being admitted to a college based on your GPA and general SAT scores.