Saturday, August 31, 2019

Mentor Interview Essay

Rural Education Access Program as a Financial Administrator to give me wisdom and experience to transform my success. Most of the time when a child Is released by parents to go study at a tertiary level they are given advice on how they should conduct themselves in order to be successful in their studies and also in the workplace, this is when the experience of the elders or the ones that have gone through the Journey takes place.Ocean Robbins wrote, â€Å"l want to awaken the passion and creativity of youth , combine it with the wisdom, experience and insight of elders, and transform our world. † In order to succeed or be competent In academics you need to have certain skills that you will utilize and he mentioned a few which Is to have listening skill, Group-working skill and Communication skill where these skills help during lectures and amongst fellow students. Nicholas stated, â€Å"And most of all It Is to have resilience so that what ever comes in your way you do not g ive up but keep on pushing until one achieves that goal†.One other skills that I think has mad my school life better is planning whatever task I am about to do, and to make sure that I follow it. Throughout the interview Nicholas mentions that the Job he does entails most of the above mentioned skills as he works in a finance department of an organization where he has to communicate with deferent departments regarding payments and other financial tasks to the organization like communicating with creditors and stakeholders.This also requires one to be able to work as a team. Clearly has mentioned In one of her books that â€Å"communication Is always purposeful and that the purpose in business communication is to inform, to persuade and to create goodwill† (Eileen et al. , 1999,p. 8). Without communication I do not think we as people e would be able to share knowledge amongst each other.For Nicholas, participation at school really played a bigger role In his success and as part of his memories about school, mentioning that he attended a self-development camp at EDUCE,meeting with mentors and coaches, making sure that he works hard memory he says he will never forget was graduating with 10 Pioneers as it was quite an achievement because they all have gone through some challenges. I can truly relate to this because I have seen how effective it is to take part in development programmed where I get to learn more about my strengths and weaknesses as well s leadership skills.One other aspect he still has about school is the battle of finding a way to balance work life and academics. Nicholas writes, â€Å"l had to work as no one was working at home, and also having a lot of work but limited time†. Which makes me realize that if he can do it through those battles, nothing could stop me from making my own dreams come true. According to Nicholas, the importance of time management is being able to meet due dates on assignments by so you are also reduc ing stress and pressure. He said this also reflects on the quality of work be it in the workplace or assignments at University on how well did one do.Victor Hugo wrote, â€Å"He who every morning plans the transactions of that day and follows that plan carries a thread that will guide him through the labyrinth of the most busy life†. This is true because by not being mindful of my time I realize that there's no enough time to modify or rectify my ideas and Just end up aiming to pass or get the task done and not do exceptionally well instead. He says he still applies time management even in his work life and believes that he wouldn't be able to produce quality work without managing his time well.According to L. Callisthenic (Blobs: March 12, 2012) â€Å"Life is such a wonderful, beautiful thing ND it's made out of time. That's why wasting time is essentially wasting life. I mean, time management is about so much more than organizing papers. It's about making the most of your life†. Through his talk I have come to realize that managing my time well somehow has created self-discipline for my work, because this serves as guidance to what happens tomorrow and in order to prove my discipline for that plan I have to fulfill it.He feels that time management does not go alone in the workplace, you have to be able to balance all your skills and that requires a skill also. He mentioned them eying it is team-working skills, communication skills, leadership skills, networking skills and a skill to handle work individually. He feels that the fact that you have gotten a qualification does not guarantee that you will get work, that is why these skills are important so that you can be competent amongst other employees but most of all to do your work very well.I think if I could put these skills to life in general and master them in my life, I can be able to apply them easily in the workplace. It is very easy to apply these skills in the workplace if you are deter mined and know hat you want to achieve, what is nice is that I work with different individuals who your position in an organization, says Nicholas. Leadership has been ranked as the 12th essential skill in the workplace out of 16 skills ( Employment skills for the 21st century workplace,2012).Dealing with different individuals has opened a lot of doors for me in terms of knowing myself and how to work with others even here at school. I still apply these skills at work in order to work well, and to have a better relationship with my manager and colleagues. But learn to always accept that you may not get hem all correct, but as long as you are doing what is working for your work. I think it is essential that one knows what skills they are very good a so they can enhance them, and rise at the top in terms of competency.Before this interview I thought I knew everything that one needs in order to succeed academically and also at work, which is to â€Å"study', not realizing that is not all I need. But I have found out there is still a lot to learn from mentors. This interview has served as the first step to learning from those that have knowledge. The most interesting thing I have learnt also is to have control over your future, and strive to earn more from others. Overall, I trust that all this information will assist me in transforming and making my dreams come true, both at school and at work.

Friday, August 30, 2019

Ethics & defined Essay

Ethics is commonly defined as the rules or standards governing the conduct of people. Gender is the social dimension of being male or female. Most people acquired gender identity by the age of three. War should be understood as an actual, intentional and widespread armed conflict between political communities. No nation can be expected to wage war with one hand tied behind its back, but ethical issues of most profound nature are raised anytime. Once the actuality of possibility of war becomes the context within which we live, men and women are forced into set roles. Gender serves as a medium or vector for war’s presence in our innermost social settings. This essay will discuss these ethical issues in war and their link to gender. Discrimination is one of the ethical issues in war. Women have always participated to some extent in combat, but several recent wars have seen them fighting on the front lines. While the roles of female ex-combatants vary widely the women seem to share one unfortunate characteristic, limited access to benefits when peace and demobilisation come. This is also true for girls abducted for sexual services and the families of ex-combatants in the receiving community. These groups are often neglected during mobilisation and reintegration; or at best women, girls, and boys may receive equal benefits but are treated as a homogenous group which prevents specific needs being addressed. (Goldstein, 2001 pg207-212) Sexual violence especially on women especially rape has its own brand of shame to recent wars. From conflicts in Bosnia, Peru and Rwanda women have been singled out for rape, imprisonment, torture and execution. Systematic rape is often used as a weapon of ethnic cleansing. More than 20, 000 Muslim girls and women have been raped in Bosnia since fighting began in 1992. Impregnated girls have been forced to bear the enemy’s child. (Human Rights Watch, 2000 pg12) Sexual violence of women erodes the fabric of community in a way that few weapons can. Rape’s damage can be devastating because of strong communal reaction to the violation and pain stamped on entire families. The harm inflicted in such cases in a woman by a rapist is an attack on her family and culture, as in many societies women are viewed as repositories of a community’s cultural and spiritual values. (UN, 2005 pg8) In addition to rape, girls and women are also subject to forced prostitution and trafficking during times of war sometimes with complicity of governments and military authorities. During World War II, women were abducted, imprisoned and forced to satisfy the sexual needs of occupying forces and many Asian women were also involved in prostitution during the Vietnam War. The trend continues in today’s conflicts. Nearly 80 percent of the 53 million people displaced by wars today are women and children. Refugee families frequently cite rape as the key factor influencing in their decision to seek refuge. (Alison, 2007pg78-83) The high risk of inflection with sexually transmitted diseases including HIV/AIDS, accompanies all sexual violence against women and girls. The movement of refugees and marauding military units and the breakdown of health services and public education worsen the impact of diseases and chances for treatment. The exchange of sex for protection during the civil war in Uganda in the 1980’s was a contributing factor to the country’s high rate of AIDS. (UN, 2005 pg131) Women suffer a double victimisation, in that they were compelled against their will to join the armed forces and today they are victimised by society for having played a combative role in the conflict. They are treated with hostility suspicion for ‘breaching’ both gender and sex roles. These women are largely excluded from disarmament and reintegration programmes of Sierra Leones peace process which favour men and boys. This especially occurs in Sierra Leone. (Human Rights Watch, 2000 pg7) Men and boys are also victims of gender based sexual violence during war. Women are raped as a way to humiliate the men they are related to, who are often forced to watch the assault. In societies where ethnicity is inherited through the male line, ‘enemy’ women are raped and forced to bear children. Sexual violation of children has devastating effects. The experience of captivity and sexual destroys a girl’s sense of home and security, of self worth and power of the possibility of safe interpersonal relationships, indeed of any future at all. Men tend to greatly underreport experiences of sexual violence. They may have doubts about their sexuality and fear infertility. (Carpenter, 2003 pg 661-694) A war is only just if it is fought for a good reason. A country that wishes to use military force must demonstrate that there is a just cause for doing so. Just war theory is the most influential perspective on ethics of war and peace. For a war to be just there must be a just cause, right intention, proper authority and public declaration, proper authority and public declaration, a last resort, probability of success, and proportionality. Pacifism is also an ethical issue in war. Pacifism rejects war in favour of peace. It is not violence in all its forms that the most challenging kind of pacifism objects to: rather is the specific kind and degree of violence that wars involves which the pacifists objects to. They object to killing in general and particular mass killing for political reasons, which is part and parcel of the war time experience. Most women are generally pacifists as compared to males. People are pacifists for one or some of these reasons: religious faith, non-religious belief in the sanctity of life and practical belief that war is wasteful and ineffective. Pacifism cannot be national policy as it only works when no one wants to attack your country or if the nation with whom you are in dispute is also committed to pacifism. Because most societies regard going to war as fulfilling a citizens’ ethical duty, they honour those who give their lives in war. If there is believe in war governed by ethics we should only honour those who give their lives in a just war and who followed the rules of war. It should be wrong to honour dead soldiers who killed the enemy or wounded or raped enemy women. (Harris and King, 1989 pg78) (Goldstein 2001) defines war as lethal inter group violence and feminism as an ideology opposing male domination and promoting gender equality. Cross cultural consistency of gender wars is pervasive and not universal. Women have fought in wars but are portrayed as exceptions to the gender rule that men are warriors. Gender exclusion from combat is by policy choice not by physical ability, women can and do fight. There is no support for arguments regarding predisposition to aggression and little support for the hypothesised link between testosterone and aggression. Gender is portrayed as a weapon to humiliate a military opponent or to discredit peace activism and political dissent from military policy. A recent example is, Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfield’s remark about â€Å"media mood swings† in regard to criticism of the war in Iraqi, a reference clearly intended to evoke the archetype of the â€Å"irrational† menstrual/menopausal women. Rape in war as well as military homophobia underlies exclusion of policies aimed at sexual minorities. Neither men nor women benefit from war at the expense of the other, both genders lose in war. Neither genetics per se, nor hormones (males or female) nor male bonding nor women’s innate pacifism explain gendered war roles. (Suzzane, 2002 Pg 407). The interdependence between war and gender is obscure. However it is clear that it is not soldiers who make war but societies that make war. War does not happen without women’s knowledge cooperation, and participation, however few or many actually take up arms and engage in battle. War is based on a dominatory approach to relationships in which the usual overriding aim is to get the better of or overcome the other who is framed as an opponent or competitor. Gender as we know it, which positions men as dominant and characterises them as aggressive and heroic, is fundamental to the culture of domination of which war is an expression. The human resources of moral sensibility and decency have been buried or seriously depleted. The impetus towards peace that is so necessary in ending of violence conflict is diminished by the discouragement of half the population from active participation. A gendered perspective of human security enables a more advanced understanding of the perspectives of those involved in conflict including victims’ perpetrators and decision makers.(Zeigler and Gilbert, 2006) References Alison, M. (2007) Wartime Sexual Violence: Women’s human rights and questions of masculinity, Review of International Studies Pg 75-90 Carpenter, R. C, â€Å"Women and Children First†: gender norms and humanitarian evacuation in the Balkans, International Organization 5, 7, 4, 2003, Pg 661-694 Cohn, C â€Å"Sex and Death in the Rational World of Defence Intellectuals, Signs, Vol. 12, No. 4 1987 Pg 687-78 NO1101 Harris, A and King, Y (eds) Rocking the ship of state: Towards a feminist peace politics, Bovider, C. O West view press 1989. Human Rights Watch (HRW) 2000: Rape as a weapon of Ethnic cleansing HRW, March 1. Jousha S. Goldstein (2001) War and Gender: How Gender shapes the war system and vice versa. Cambridge University Press Pg 201-213. Moser N, and Clark F (eds), victims, Perpetrators or Actors: Gender, Armed Conflict and Political Violence; London Zed Books 2001, V. 64. Nashim: A Journal of Jewish Women’s studies & Gender Issues. Rosemarie Skaing (1999) Women at War: Gender issues of Americans in combat: McFarland and Company: North Carolina and London ‘Symposium on war and Gender, (2003) (Reviews of Goldstein’s Book) Perspectives on policies, 1, 2, 330-347 The state of World’s Children 1996. UNICEF United Nations (2005): Africa Renewal â€Å"Sexual Violence, an ‘invisible war crime’ Warren, J and Cady, L (1994) Feminism and Peace: Seeing connections’ Hypatia special Issue on Feminism and peace Pg 7-14. HQ1101. World Bank (2002) Addressing Gender Issues in Demobilisation and Reintegration Programs, Africa Region Working Paper Series 33 Zeigler, S and Gilbert, G (2006) The Gendered Dimensions of Conflicts Aftermath; A

Thursday, August 29, 2019

Comparing and contrasting two characters from The Handmaids Tale

Sexual slavery and feminism are two of the main themes in Atwood’s dystopian book The Handmaid’s Tale (1986), in which she portrays a society called Gilead in which women are deprived of their civil liberties. In Atwood’s dystopian society most women have become infertile and the few ones who can still bear children are turned into handmaids, i. e. sexual servants who are brainwashed for the mere purpose of breeding healthy children for the elite. This novel is an account of Offred’s musings and her fragmented perception of reality. It is Offred who introduces two antithetical characters: rebellious Moira and submissive Janine. Although these characters employ different strategies to either escape or accommodate respectively, they end up being subdued by Gilead’s regime, metaphorically losing control over their own body. I will outline both characters’ personalities, their subjugation to Gilead and the loss of connection with their own bodies. Moira is a rebellious lesbian who is admired by the Handmaids, but as the story unfolds, she subdues to Gilead. Moira’s boisterous behavior is displayed by her actions and speech, which is highly colloquial, as when she states, â€Å"I’m borrowing five bucks off you, okay? † (Atwood, THT, p. 32) and when she refers to the Red Center[1] as a â€Å"Loony Bin† (THT, p. 61). She constantly defies the Gilead system and even tries to escape twice succeeding on her second attempt and as a result of this Moira never becomes a proper handmaid. Even when Moira has disappeared from the scene, she makes a dramatic impact on the Handmaids, who admire her: â€Å"Moira was our fantasy (†¦) she was with us in secret, a giggle† (THT p. 17). But her power over Offred seems to cease when Moira appears in scene at Jezebel’s, a place in which improper Handmaids such as Moira are forced into prostitution: â€Å"I am shocked by them (the women in Jezebel’s) I recognize them as truant. The official creed denies them, denies their very existence, yet they are here † (THT p. 213). There, Moira lets herself be used by men once and again in order to accommodate to this new reality, even minimizing the gravity of the situation: â€Å"it’s not so bad, there’s lots of women around. Butch paradise, you might call it† (THT p. 28). Thus, her once rebellious identity fades as she loses control of her body. In this way, it can be deduced that even the most rebellious personality subdues to Gilead. Unlike Moira, Janine is seen as a straight-laced, submissive character who is constantly trying to accommodate to Gilead, but in the end, she gets subdued as well. Her submissive behaviour is clearly displayed when, at the Red Center, she blames herself for having been gang-raped in the pre-Gilead society, as a strategy for accommodation: â€Å"It was my fault, she says. It was my own fault. I led them on. I deserved the pain† (THT p. 62). Soon, the aunts consider Janine an â€Å"example† (THT p. 62) for the rest of the Handmaids. But whereas Moira is admired for her courage, Janine is depicted by the handmaids in a derogatory sense, calling her a â€Å"whiny bitch† (THT p. 98), and even â€Å"sucky† (THT p. 98). Their hatred for Janine grows when she becomes a spy for the Aunts: â€Å"We (the handmaids) avoided her when we could (†¦) She was a danger to us†. Similar to Moira, Janine ends up working for Gilead, although Janine does it legally. She is able to bear a child for her Commander’s wife, but soon after the birth the baby dies: â€Å"(The baby) was a shredded after all (†¦) My God, (†¦) to go through all that, for nothing. Worse than nothing† (THT p. 192). As a result, Janine becomes insane as she cannot tolerate the loss: â€Å"she’s (Janine) let go, totally now, she’s in free fall, she’s in withdrawal† (THT p. 252). But her insanity is also due to the loss of connection with her body she gets â€Å"legally† raped, which comes as a revival of her pre-Gilead’s traumatic experience. For her, losing the relationship with her body implies losing her mind as well. In conclusion, Janine had done everything to accommodate to this society: she pleased the Aunts, she became a spy, and she even bore a child; but she never accomplished her purpose of becoming accepted and, as compared to Moira, she is subjugated to Gilead, metaphorically losing both mind and body. As I have already stated, Moira and Janine present both differences and similarities. The boldest differences between them are their personalities and their strategies to either escape or accommodate to Gilead. But even these antithetical characters have a similar destiny: their subjugation to the society and the metaphorical loss of connection with their own bodies. The implication that arises from this comparison is that were a society like this be established, women would not only be morally affected, but they would also lose their own identity. Another line of research worth pursuing further is to study the effect that a society like this could have on today’s world.

Wednesday, August 28, 2019

Evaluation 31 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Evaluation 31 - Essay Example He narrates how he got his entire crew killed and nearly got him killed because he acted like a jerk while on voyage. This essay analyses the events that unfold and justify reasons why the Mariner is ‘cursed’ using strange images and unanswered questions in this ghost story. On leaving the port, the ship escapes a bad storm but in the process gets caught in risky, misty ice field. When an albatross comes to their rescue by providing good winds and steer them through the fog, the Mariner shoots it down. He does not offer a good explanation for such an act and his crew gets so offended that they decide to hang the dead albatross round the Mariner’s neck as a yoke, to remind him of his mistake. Soon the sailors lose the wind, and it becomes very hot. The Mariner is blamed for this bad luck. The ship seemed to be haunted by an evil spirit as bizarre stuff emerges, slimy creatures that walk on the ocean can be seen. As time goes, the crew starts dying of thirst. At a d istance, the Mariner spots a ship and wishes to yell out; unfortunately his mouth is excessively dry and he cannot. He decides to suck of his own blood so as to dampen his lips. Unfortunately, that ship is a ghost ship steered by two spirits, Life-in-Death and Death, the last one people can ever want to meet in a journey. Everybody on the Mariner's ship passes on except him. Still on board with heaps of dead bodies and nasty slimy water snakes, the Mariner escapes his curse by instinctively blessing the ugly snakes, and eventually the albatross falls off his neck and into the ocean. The entire lifeless sailors rise like zombies to steer the ship from the bad storm which is at a distance, the Mariner is however fast asleep. The dead sailors don't in reality resurrect, in their place, angels fill up their remains, and another ghostlike spirit beneath the ocean look like its pushing the boat. On hearing their voices of the dead crew members talking on how he killed the albatross is sti ll has additional self-punishment to do, the Mariner collapses. These two mystifying tone of voices give details how the ship is stirring. The ship ends up back in port yet again following a quick journey. His crewmen are all surrounded with angels. Luckily for the Mariner, a rescue boat turns up to get him back to the shoreline. A man in a good mood called "the hermit" is on board the rescue boat. Hardly has the Mariner been saved from his wrecked ship than a loud noise is heard. His ship sinks. On reaching the seashore the Mariner is very anxious to share his story with the hermit. So anxious is he that he decides to stop the guests at the wedding to narrate to them his story. The Mariner finally tells the Wedding Guest that he wants to be trained how to love others and say his prayers. He leaves for his residence and gets up the following day, "a sadder and a wiser man." This poem is a lyrical ballad which joins two dissimilar genres: intense expressions of emotional and subjecti ve experience (a lyric) and narrative (a ballad). The Rime of the Ancient Mariner contains numerous characteristic that would afterwards turn out to be connected with Romanticism: formal testing, a deep sense of history, elements of the ghostlike, lots of dramatic descriptions of nature, and an interest in relaxed language. This poem is among a collection that fundamentally initiated the lobby group known as British Romanticism. Conclusion The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by English bard Samuel Taylor Coleridge, on the surface investigates infringement of nature and its ensuing mental impacts on the Mariner, who understands the destiny of his team to be a result of him shooting down an albatross. PART B

Tuesday, August 27, 2019

Challenges in Access Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Challenges in Access - Essay Example Uninsured individuals have difficulty in access to suitable health care. There are approximately 41-50 million uninsured individuals in the country. They are the low-income segment that represents the leading portion of those who lack insurance since they cannot afford to insure themselves. In addition, the numbers of underinsured middle-income persons is almost at a similar level. The leading portion of the populace that is deficient of health insurance is usually families of African Americans and Hispanics. Novel medical advancements promise improved services to all. However, the number of persons who lack health coverage is still high. For instance, uninsured individuals receive reduced health care as compared to those who are insured. As a consequence, the health of the uninsured individuals suffers significantly. Individuals who are uninsured are less probable to receive preventative, as well as screening services. In addition, these individuals have difficulties in receiving su itable care with regard to chronic ailments and vehicular accidents. This quandary of access has been aggravated by the escalating prices of health care. This has presented an urgent predicament particularly for the low-income part of the society. This increase has been due to an increasing number of individuals with health problems. As a result, the number of individuals who require medication, as well as those who are uninsured, is increasing. Varied employers also do away with their health insurance strategies since they cannot pay for the premiums (McGrath, 2012). Providing and improving coverage for this populace will rely on states embracing policies that foster elevated enrollment in Medicaid and novel insurance exchanges (Collins, 2012). This dilemma can also be resolved through the provision of Universal Health Care Structure and other federal services (Affordable Health Act, 2011). Provision of Medicaid, as well as novel insurance exchanges,

Precautions to be taken in drafting Oil & Gas Industry Contracts Essay

Precautions to be taken in drafting Oil & Gas Industry Contracts - Essay Example This essay discusses that Oil & Gas industry is a unique industry as it involves a high risk aspect of exploitation and exploration, high capital –intensive character of the industry, geographic ambit of operations and assets, environmental issues, up-date technology needs, safeguard issues, downstream brand advertising, size and range of employee base, political predispositions,etc. Oil & Gas industry engrosses the granting many contracts like project feasibility study, construction, supplies, civil and offshore contracts, mainly through subcontracts. If the turnkey contract is implemented, then the contract has the responsibility of defining in a strict, complete and definite manner the works to be covered and risk to be borne in the contract itself. In the oil and gas sector, the definitive goal of any operator is to exploit maximum revenues by efficient and rapid discovery of petroleum and gas resources with no or minimal disruption. Contractual process in Oil and Gas (O&G ) industry is a lengthy and time-consuming process , fixing the accountability and granting damages to the affected parties is normally considered to be a hectic task given the nature of the industry which is symbolised by subcontracting. To achieve their business goal, operators in O&G industry is well aware that risks in the industry can be administered and controlled when the same has been unequivocally distributed to one or more parties. It is to be noted that risks can be covered by taking appropriate insurance policies, but this involves an additional financial burden to the operators. The easy way to shift the risk in O&G industry is to employ contractors to alter common law approach as a risk management process. (4). LOGIC of UK has published a standard contract (boilerplate contract) through its 2nd Edition, October 2004 for the oil & gas industry in UK. This is a standard contract, and the contract employs English law .However, now, all references to UK needs’ have been withdrawn, and it can be employed on a global basis. For drafting contracts for oil and gas industry , the lawyers will use boilerplate contract like the one designed by Logic .It connotes to any interchangeable ,† one size fits all† provision. While drafting the contract, more significance has to be given to the areas like the notice clauses, the choice of law clauses, the force majeure clauses, the delegation and the assignment provision. These clauses are significant as it will give a road map, informing the parties concerned their relationships and how to administer the contract. (2) Some of the main advantages of the boilerplate contracts are that it contains many clauses either override or restates the common law provisions and is being in use by the relevant companies for long time. It is having drafting efficiency and to costs fewer pounds and takes less time to input the standard clauses into the contract. By incorporating the conditions available in the bo ilerplate contracts will help to avoid errors. Further, a standard clause is well known to business and legal community, thereby minimising the costs of reassessing and negotiating the provisions, as well as fostering a analogues interpretation. (2) Some critics allege that the poorly outlined boilerplate clauses may result in issues instead of finding a solution while execution of a contract. A poorly drafted contract will no doubt will result in the litigation which is not only time-consuming and also expensive. Thus, there is a need to give more careful attention to each and every boilerplate clauses, including how it is going to be interpreted in the case of future litigation. (2) For the risk allocation, common law provision is followed in O&G contracts and, where there is no specific contract and the general law pertaining to tort, contract/delict will be applicable. With the operative word being ‘negligence†, the liability stems from the fault or infringement of d uty in such cases.

Monday, August 26, 2019

A Case Study of Medical Supplies Ltd Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

A Case Study of Medical Supplies Ltd - Essay Example ares many of the same pluralistic values as Steele, however the nature by which Harry runs his operation is one with more respect for subordinates in terms of recognizing their overall value to the firm. This paper will describe the scenarios which are causing trouble within Medical Supplies Ltd and will propose a potential solution for handling the crises. The leadership hierarchy at Medical Supplies, Ltd is one that is highly mechanistic, which is categorised by decision-making that is made at the management level without considering the input of subordinate employees; in which employees are simply expected to conform to management directives (Landy & Conte, 2006). Gordon Steele recognises his absolute authority over the entire warehouse, including all of its divisional managers and he expects compliance to all corporate objectives and procedures from his subordinate management staff. Steele appears to have a considerable respect for the nature of the authoritarian hierarchy in which power is distributed from a centralised entity, in this case the corporate office. Many of Steele’s beliefs regarding politics are fundamentally pluralistic. Reynolds (1996) suggests that pluralistic leaders often believe that democratic systems, in which individuals are given the autonomy to vote and assist in decision-making, are both unworkable and undesirable. The author further implies that pluralistic leaders tend to believe that subordinates lack the tangible ability to intellectually contribute to policy-making and lack the rationale to provide assistance in all aspects of decision-making. Under this assumption, Steele can be categorised as pluralistic, sharing these values as he routinely cites the various character flaws of his subordinate manager Harry Katama to all levels of the business. When Steele is discussing the nature of employment under Katama, he consistently identifies that their associate workers will be both low-skilled and not generally intelligent. This

Sunday, August 25, 2019

Non-fiction short story The Nine Moods of a Magnificent Manager Essay

Non-fiction short story The Nine Moods of a Magnificent Manager - Essay Example The management consultant argues thus: â€Å"The subject of management is an overcrowded field. I quote Voltaire (1694-1778) who says that the magnitude of books is making us ignorant. â€Å"The major branches of management are financial management, marketing management, human resource management, strategic management, production management, operations management, service management and information technology management. The problem with the present managerial world is there are more books on management topics than the numerical strength of managers all over the world. Is it possible for a management trainee to study all of them and then become a successful manager? The relationship between success and management is like the one between wife and husband who desire to lead a harmonious life but are unable to do so but would not like to divorce either. Management is all about the ability of a Manager to rob the pocket of a gullible commoner/consumer or of another Manager in a competi ng organization! You all have made hefty payments to attend this one day’s seminar. You have done so with a hope. I congratulate you on your dynamism and your desperate desire to become magnificent managers. By the end of the session, I am sure you will become one and will have no inclination to return to this auditorium yet again. With this training, if you are unable to prove your worth as a magnificent manager, try your luck as a consultant on the topic of management. My formula for success is simple and straightforward. No textbooks and research journals are used in this seminar. No pen, pad or folder will be provided to you. No home assignments either; have a peaceful sleep after this session. Lend me your ears and mind and see how I change your thought processes to chisel an interesting personality to restore your inner cheer and inspiration. Those with whom you interact will remember you forever, for better or worse, depending on your luck. We begin with an important s ession-- Think that in place of your confused mind, a beautiful garden of roses has emerged with many hues and colors and invigorating fragrance. Think! Nothing is impossible to think! Has it emerged? I can see that in some of you from the expression on your countenance. Make an effort to smile. You are an individual of many moods. Various scriptures have defined nine moods. They are Erotic, Humorous, Pathetic, Terrible, Heroic, Fearful, Odious, Wondrous, and Peaceful. Now, think that you are a performing artist. The wise ones say that this world is a stage, and we are all dancing puppets attached to the strings in the hands of God. Each mood is associated with a particular color. Erotic: Pale Light Green, Humorous: White, Pathetic: Grey, Terrible: Red, Heroic: Pale Orange, Fearful: Black, Odious: Blue, Wondrous: Yellow, Peaceful: White. Some of the top fashion designers and connoisseurs of dress are aware of this weakness of humankind and exploit it to maximize their profits. Now w e come to the core part of the discussion. You need to spend some money to secure your future. Buy nine shirts for gentlemen and tops for ladies, of the colors specified above. Only shirts and /tops not trousers or other types of garments! Now, divide your working hours and allot one hour for each mood. Change your shirt/top after one hour and see the remarkable effect in your interactions. I do not ask you to adopt this system in one go. Hasten slowly. Let your session be restricted to some minutes to begin with. So, you will emerge as a complete individual full of delight, a conglomeration in human form of nine moods of

Saturday, August 24, 2019

Bachelor of Business - Paper on Leadership Issues Research

Bachelor of Business - on Leadership Issues - Research Paper Example However, to be an effective leader, it is important that leaders know the boundaries of their authority. Likewise, as leaders, it is important to be able to set good examples because people tend to emulate the things that are being done by the people who are over them on the corporate ladder. Hence, the ethics of leaders come into play crucially. However, there are many interpretations of what ethics is about. Some would say that ethics is about right and wrong or about religious beliefs. Interestingly, some would say that it is about being a law abiding citizen while some would say that it is doing what is generally accepted. However, confining ethics to each of the foregoing examples may be impossible such as religion which has a very high moral standard. It may also be a problem to equate it with laws or to what is generally accepted since these may likewise deviate from what is truly ethical. Basically, ethics are about having a high standard about what is right and wrong that st ates what people ought to do. Likewise, it is also the learning process as well as the development of one’s standards of being ethical (Velasquez et al 2010). Nowadays, ethical issues pervade companies especially when there are issues divulged by employees who are unable to take in things that are going badly for the company. As such, when certain anomalies are divulged by employees or former anomalies, these become cases of whistle-blowing. It is thus important to make this distinction because it is in these cases that leaders’ ethical issues come into play since these are the things that they can directly influence. All other disclosures that are not made by employees or former employees are not cases of whistle-blowing (Sollars 2001). It is very important for leaders to ensure that issues pertaining to whistle-blowing are handle with utmost professionalism as these may easily expose the ethical standards that they posses. Hence, these will be the focus of the case i n point. What recommendations for action would you make to the senior management? Basically, the case presented a company that went from bad to worse after the initial incident of whistle-blowing that exposed major anomalies resulting to unpleasant things such as investigations and even arrests. It was an unfortunate turn that instead of having an improvement in operations, the company’s output further dropped not to mention the morale of the employees. Hence, it is important for the top management to first recognize that the business environment of today has evolved to a level that has provided a more conducive environment for whistle-blowing. The major advances in technology have tremendously improved the capability of communications enabling new channels and ways of providing and getting information in ways unimagined just a decade and a half ago. Likewise, companies must be made aware that these technological improvements have brought in a new era for businesses known as the information age effectively phasing out the industrial stage. Thus, with this new age comes a new breed of manpower known as knowledge workers. In fact, many such employees are making their way deep into the corporate world (Serrat, 2008). This only means that people nowadays know better and can communicate easier which has made disclosures of anomalies easier. Thus, it is important that the senior manage

Friday, August 23, 2019

Crime Rates Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Crime Rates - Research Paper Example An in-depth analysis of counties in Texas that focus on these issues indicate that Texas’s crimes’ drop rate was due to an increase in the jail and prison populace. A rise in wealth and improved income led to the decrease of property crimes (Nachmias & Nachmias, 2004). Increased prison construction would not be cost-effective in Texas. This is due to the declining marginal returns of investing in prison construction, but direct interventions in improving the economy sectors and enhancing police operations would be more proactive. Ideally, most of the discussions in the article are based on assumptions rather than facts. The researcher gives possible reasons as to why crime rate is dropping but he does not answer how these attributes are connected to the crimes. He mentions variables such as demography, unemployment, prison expansion and the economy. It is hard to establish a relationship between the variables and the crimes due to lack of concrete proof to his suggestions. Hypothetically, unemployment is a particular clear case, but the principle can be expected to apply to several other explanations. A blend in heterogeneity of most local areas in social class, household structure, race and income among others can be causational to each other (Nachmias & Nachmias, 2004). The assurance of civil rights is grounded on inclusion; yet the massive difference imprisonment rates between Latinos, blacks and whites still stands as the ugliest reminder of nation’s history of segregation based on race. In the article, the researcher argues that the best way of understanding law and race in this twenty-first century is by understanding and appreciating the American federal system. Some of the things that need appreciation include, the system structures, political mobilization, legal authority and solutions to policy loop holes. In addition, the federal system serves as a vital and disregarded obstacle to more persistent and

Thursday, August 22, 2019

Penn Foster College Essay Example for Free

Penn Foster College Essay We are in diverse world, a world of differences and unique situations. For example, it is the mandate of the Law that children should study and that it should be financed by our parents, for most, in their primary and secondary, and for those born with golden spoons on their mouths, up until their college days or Ph. D. We have different priorities and our human values are made up of the inward and outward factors of the societies we were brought up. We also have different needs, from small things like ice cream, electronic gadgets, to houses and cars. According to the Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, a person has deficiency needs and growth needs. Before he advances to the next level of need, he should have met the previous need. That’s what is happening to us. The people around us such as our parents, relatives, and friends nurtured us. Once the fourth level of need was accomplished (achievement, recognition, or approval), we now aspire for growth. The common growth that can lead us in higher positions in society, with huge paychecks, and luxurious lives, is the growth in education. We could have not known that this growth is priceless until we have engaged in jobs or in the professional world. However, once a person is in the marketplace, he has been wrapped up with some daily concerns, from her work, and, once he gets at home, from the concerns of his family. And though there’s an opportunity of a higher education, it has been covered up with the loads that we have from the concerns above. Like most of us, I also have dreams for the future and my goals are going to be a lot difficult to reach if I have not planned it critically. I made use of the Step Decision Model as my guide. I am fond of teaching kids, yet I didn’t have enough money to pay for the tuition in a university. That is my problem. In addition, my mom is already old and I only earn through peer and personal tutorials. I have the option to stop realizing that education is an infinite learning. Yet, I insist to make a decision. I weighed down my options. The little money I earn can be used to pay my tuition fee and travel expenses or it can help me buy the needs of my family. Finally, I enrolled in a kind of college that I have recently found out to be enjoyable, educational, and very convenient—distance learning. This is an alternative from the kind of education that we get from the four corners of the classroom. Distance learning offers lots of conveniences for me—it makes me save up my money and makes me much available to aide my mother. However, before, I had difficulty in focusing to my subjects due to conflicting schedules. There were times that I prioritized the tutees that I had because it was their exam week and they needed greater time of assistance. There were also instances that I had family gatherings and reunions that I almost forgot to accomplish a certain project. It’s my decision to study so I should be responsible and make the best out of it. If I really want to earn a degree, I should be serious about it even to the littlest things. Conflicting schedules should not interfere with my studies. I now make sure that every time I study, I have a conditioned mind. Also, at first, I thought that I can’t have a quality education unlike those students in the usual college setting, but I was proven wrong. In distance learning the professors consistently interact with their students. And as a learner, I enjoy the benefits of having my mentor’s attention even if he or she is very distant. With that, I have developed the confidence to communicate with people even of higher ranks and they have properly guided me. As part of the human dimension, a balanced life needs a clear or if not a detailed set of priorities. Learning is fun but we should understand that distance learning is not different from any other learning. We should be serious with it. We should be eager to learn and to focus. Proper time management and the passion to pursue our dreams make will make us enjoy our studies while performing other responsibilities to our loved ones and to our works. References: Penn Foster College. Penn Foster Collger Student Testimonials http://www. pennfoster. edu/student_testimonials. html Huitt, W. (2004). Maslows hierarchy of needs. Educational Psychology Interactive. Valdosta, GA: Valdosta State University. Retrieved [date] from, http://chiron. valdosta. edu/whuitt/col/regsys/maslow. html

Wednesday, August 21, 2019

Economics Questions Essay Example for Free

Economics Questions Essay 1. Housing Prices 1.1 Fundamental and Non-fundamental Factors Pricing of a product depends on many factors such as demands for the product and how excessive the product exists in the market (supply). Housing price is influenced by `fundamental` and `non-fundamental` factors. The fundamental factor inn housing price is about supply and demand (Himmelberg, Christopher, and Sinai, 2005). 1.2 Market Bubbles and Fundamental Factors The question is whether market bubbles emerge from fundamental factors or what evidence that leads to a bubble in house prices. The fundamental factor inn housing price is about supply and demand (Himmelberg, Christopher, and Sinai, 2005). However, people know the theory of supply and demand are only the first steps towards understanding how setting up the market prices of a product. Furthermore, the theory also helps people to understand the way in which these prices help shape production and consumption decisions. It means that the law of supply and demand will explain any situation that might exist if the market price is too high and vice versa. At any given moment, where the market price is too high, we might expect that consumers will leave sellers since they are already have other options having the same characteristics, size, and the tastes with lower price. The supply-and-demand theory revolves around the proposition that a free, competitive market does in fact successfully generate a powerful tendency toward the market-clearing price. Without any conscious managing control, a market spontaneously generates a tendency toward the dovetailing of independently made decisions of buyers and sellers to ensure that each of their decisions fits with the decisions made by the other market participants. Were this tendency to be carried to the limit, no buyer (seller) would be misled that it wastes time attempting to buy (sell) at a price below (above) the market-clearing price (Kirzner, 2004) Since housing market attracts many investors to put their money for hope that it will raise significantly over times, the housing prices may reach a bubble period. The raise in house prices is influenced by fundamental factors, the supply and demand. This makes sense since the demand for having houses may be exploded when the bubble exist. By definition, bubble situation occurs when housing price is high because buyers/investors predict that the selling price of houses will rise dramatically in the future (Himmelberg, Christopher, and Sinai, 2005). 1.3 Current Housing Prices and the Bubble The housing prices continue to rising today. There are many underlying factor behind the uplifting housing prices. According to McCarthy and Peach (2004), one of the cause behind the rising housing price is because the existence of a speculative bubble in this asset market. This condition present potential threats as the asset market could experience a collapse that further harm the U.S. economy. Another reason of the uplifting housing prices is that the some home buyers Have the willingness and intention to buy the rising housing prices for hope that the houses will rise significantly in the future (McCarthy and Peach (2004). 2. Urban Land Theory Given the case that the town of Valley stream, Long Island is 20 miles by car from midtown Manhattan and in 2000, the median home value was $199,800. The town of Dix Hills, Long Island is 36 miles from Midtown Manhattan and the median home value in 2000 was $386,100. Explain why these facts do or do not disprove the standard `urban land theory` as formulated by economists such as Kain and Alonso. The case does not comply with the urban land theory since the price of housing does not merely relate to distance from a city center or any places of interests. Many factors or preferences have great impacts towards customers’ decision on buying housing that further influences the price as following: a) A Change in Buyers’ Incomes and Wealth According to Howard Community College, â€Å"the demand for most products will go up of buyers’ real incomes or real wealth, i.e., their purchasing power rises.† In the case of housing, if a buyers of the housing manage to earn $25,000 next year instead of $10,000 this year (and assuming there is no increase in the price level), it means that the costumer’s real income increases. This situation will affect the customer’s spending such as their preferences to buy houses that are more expensive. b) Buyers’ Tastes and Preferences Another factor that influences the demand for a product is buyers’ tastes and preferences. In case of housing, the existence of emotional benefits such as good neighborhood or areas where there are celebrities will raise the price of housing in the areas. In addition, the availability of transportation to distance location may increase the housing prices. Another theory says that fundamental factors, the supply and demand, may have influence towards the pricing of cities. Third, changes in underlying fundamentals can affect cities where in locations where housing supply is inelastic, prices tend to be higher relative to rents (McCarthy and Peach, 2004) c) The Prices of Related Products or Services In the housing case of Valley stream, Long Island and Dix Hills, Long Island, the difference of pricing may happen if in the areas there are many housing or other substitutes like apartment, condominiums, and townhouses. Therefore, it does not matter a housing is located hundreds miles away from the downtown, as long as there are value added that customers will obtain when purchasing the houses in the are, the price could be much higher than that near to a city center. The situation explains why Valley stream, Long Island that is 20 miles by car from midtown Manhattan and in 2000, the median home value was $199,800 is priced lower than town of Dix Hills, Long Island is 36 miles from Midtown Manhattan and the median home value in 2000 was $386,100. d) Buyers’ Expectation of the Product’s Future Price This factor will play a role when, for instance, Dix Hills, Long Island announces that the price of their houses will increase next month or year since there will be a shopping centers of any place of interests that located near to the housing. This situation will drive consumers to buy the houses in Dix Hills, Long Island quicker. Therefore, this kind of determinants will increase current demand for the housing in Dix Hills, Long Island and shift the demand curve to the right. 3. Feds and booms and busts in the housing market In the New York Times column of May 27, 2005 economist Paul Krugman wrote: After all, the Feds ability to manage the economy managing comes from its ability to create booms and busts in the housing market In 2004, inflation had picked up and had raised questions in the minds of some people about whether it might be on a rising trend that poses a risk to price stability. Total consumer price inflation as measured by the chain price index for personal consumption expenditures (PCE) has risen from 1.4 percent over the twelve months of last year to an annual rate of 3.0 percent over the first four months of 2004. Donald L. Kohn, a Governor of the Federal Reserve, says that price stability is Fed’s responsibility since it allow businesses and households to plan and operate without worrying about increases in the general price level over the long run is how we contribute best to fostering economic efficiency and rising standards of living (â€Å"Remarks†). Inflation has closed relationship with interest rates. In the situation where retail prices experience a significant increase, people might expect that interest rate will rise as well. The reason is that government try to control the amount of money exist in the market. According BBC News (2005), the increase of oil price and Katrina storm have caused investors in Wall Street to think of Federal Reserve that will likely to push up interest rates rapidly to control inflation. In the United States, the Treasury yield curve is the first indicator of all domestic interest rates and it influence global rates setting. Therefore, in the U.S., interest rates on all other domestic bond categories rise and fall with Treasuries yield. Below is the figure explaining the impact of inflation and interest rates on the Yield.

Tuesday, August 20, 2019

What Problems Do Mega Cities Cause Environmental Sciences Essay

What Problems Do Mega Cities Cause Environmental Sciences Essay With the open markets and the liberasation of the economy in 1991 India went on a fast track economic boom with an 8-9% GDP growth per year. Urban areas have experienced an unprecedented rate of growth over the last 30 years. India is considered to be one of the most attractive countries for industry in the world as the vast population and the low living standards ensure the cheap manpower (when a normal salary in Europe or America is 40 dollars per day the 80% of the population in India lives with less than 2 dollars among them the 34.7% with less than 1 dollar per day) and thus the viability for the industries. As a result the mitigation phenomenon to big cities from rural areas has started the last decades and cannot be controlled. Unfortunately as it is going to be explained below the infrastructure lacks and so does not usually ensure a friendly and sustainable place for the immigrant-dwellers. Creation of mega-cities During the last 50 years Indians population has more than doubled (today 1.2 billion), but the urban population has grown nearly five times (H.Taubenbock,2008). Right now more than 50% of the whole earths population live in urban areas (Clark, 2003). The graph below shows the population growth of Mumbai Graph 1. Ref (M.Barke, 1998) More than 20 huge cities (with over than 10 million inhabitants) around the world were identified; three of the cities, Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkatta, were on the Indian subcontinent. Mumbai with 3.1% and Delhi with 4.1%, the highest, population growth rates in the world. Cities and their growth should be examined carefully as they cover only 2% of the earths surface and consume 75% of all resources as well as producing 75% of all waste (Girardet, 1999; UNFPA, 2007). Â  Picture 1 table 1 (Ref. H.Taubenbock, 2009. Computers, Environment and Urban Systems) Location of Indias large urban agglomerations and population growth in the 9 largest Indian cities in million of inhabitants. Lack of infrastructure-Problems In the new mega cities with the uncontrolled urbanization a huge percent of the population is accommodated in slums without houses, hospitals, hostels, roads, no kind of city planning and finally but most importantly no sanitation, drainage system and water treatment. Below there is a photo which shows the phenomenon of the slums in the huge cities in India. Picture 2 (Ref. http://www.google.gr/images?um=1HYPERLINK http://www.google.gr/images?um=1hl=eltbs=isch:1q=slums+in+indiasa=Nstart=306ndsp=18HYPERLINK http://www.google.gr/images?um=1hl=eltbs=isch:1q=slums+in+indiasa=Nstart=306ndsp=18hl=elHYPERLINK http://www.google.gr/images?um=1hl=eltbs=isch:1q=slums+in+indiasa=Nstart=306ndsp=18HYPERLINK http://www.google.gr/images?um=1hl=eltbs=isch:1q=slums+in+indiasa=Nstart=306ndsp=18tbs=isch:1HYPERLINK http://www.google.gr/images?um=1hl=eltbs=isch:1q=slums+in+indiasa=Nstart=306ndsp=18HYPERLINK http://www.google.gr/images?um=1hl=eltbs=isch:1q=slums+in+indiasa=Nstart=306ndsp=18q=slums+in+indiaHYPERLINK http://www.google.gr/images?um=1hl=eltbs=isch:1q=slums+in+indiasa=Nstart=306ndsp=18HYPERLINK http://www.google.gr/images?um=1hl=eltbs=isch:1q=slums+in+indiasa=Nstart=306ndsp=18sa=NHYPERLINK http://www.google.gr/images?um=1hl=eltbs=isch:1q=slums+in+indiasa=Nstart=306ndsp=18HYPERLINK http://www.google.gr/images?um=1hl=eltbs=isch:1q=slums+in+indiasa=Ns tart=306ndsp=18start=306HYPERLINK http://www.google.gr/images?um=1hl=eltbs=isch:1q=slums+in+indiasa=Nstart=306ndsp=18HYPERLINK http://www.google.gr/images?um=1hl=eltbs=isch:1q=slums+in+indiasa=Nstart=306ndsp=18ndsp=18) The picture above shows the largest slum in Asia at the heart of Indias financial capital Mumbai where millions of poor in India live in such conditions. The rapid and extensive sprawl of the urban population cannot provide the urban planners with the information needed in order to provide plans with the appropriate amenities such as water, sanitation and electricity. Main arising problems include: (Ref. R.K.MUTATKAR,1995) a) Housing: As the urban population has been increased from 20% in 1971 to 38% in 1991 and is still rapidly increased urban land becomes very precious and insufficient to cover all the needs. As a result 30% of the population lives in slums and 45% live in single room tenements. Around 20% of houses are made from mud and thatch and one third of the population has no access to a lavatory. b) Water supply: Common water posts are provided as the water in cities is inequitable. In Ahmadabad for example, 25% of the population consume 90% of the water whilst the rest of the population 75% have to consume 10% of water. Approximately the 34% of the poor urban dwellers do not have a piped water supply. c) Sanitation: Despite the improvement in providing sanitation facilities, most of the towns depend on open surface drains for the waste water disposal which in terms is vulnerable to communicable diseases from flies, bacteria e.t.c. Also where underground sewerage system exist there is a danger of seepage in the corroded pipes which may cause great health hazards like hepatitis and diarrhoea epidemics. d) Pollution: Air and water are mainly polluted from transport and industries. In Calcutta for example there are 11,516 factories and 525,000 cars. Also as the 70% of the population is using coal as cooking fuel, it is subsequently one of the most polluted cities in the world. Unfortunately rivers are heavily polluted by industrial wastes. e) Health care delivery: Despite the provision of municipal dispensaries, public hospitals and private clinics and the modern imported technologies the medical system does not operate normally. As the 80% of medical practitioners cater the needs of only 20% of the urban population. The public hospitals and its stuff shows a very apathetic attitude to the patients in the public hospitals which enforce them to prefer the private clinics. f) Transportation problems: The unplanned design of slums does not usually satisfy the efficient transportation of the workers. Due to the huge population concentration, the big distances to the work places and the undeveloped unfriendly to the environment transportation modes it is estimated that the transport sector is responsible for 70% of the national CO2 emissions. g) Morbidity and related problems: In these over-populated areas (regions), communicable diseases like leprocy and venereal are in high levels. The poverty leads the men to alcoholism and few women to prostitution. Crime rates have been increased tremendously as well as death in the cities due to accidents and lack of transport and road safety education. i) Climate change/fast growing cities: Except the lack of infrastructure and the living problems which that causes to slum dwellers mega cities contribute seriously to the climate change. Are charectirized from high levels of energy consumption, burning of fossil fuels and concentrated activities in disproportionate land. Unfortunately the overpopulation of these sites and their rapid expansion to the suburban areas makes the problem even worse and impossible to be solved apace. In conclusion urbanization problems have arisen from rural poverty and unemployment which motivated the citizens to migrate to big industrial cities. There is not however the appropriate infrastructure to accomodate the new comers or proper planning of transport, water, drainage and health care delivery system. Mellenium Development goals for India (Ref.Economy, Investment Finance Reports.2006) The Millennium Declaration adopted 8 development goals for India are briefly presented below. The majority of them are relevant to urbanizations arising problems. 1) Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger: India must reduce by 2015 the proportion of people below poverty line from nearly 37.5 percent in 1990 to about 18.75 percent. National Rural Employment Act will help to reduce the poverty ratio even further. 2) Achieve universal primary education: India should increase the primary school enrolment rate to 100 percent and wipe out the drop-outs by 2015 against 41.96 percent in 1991-92. 3) Promote gender equality and empower women: The female participation at all levels should be promoted to reach a female male proportion of equal level by 2015. 4) Reduce child mortality: The target is to reduce under five mortality rate (U5MR) from 125 deaths per thousand live births in 1988-92 to 42 in 2015 5) Improve maternal health: India should reduce maternal mortality (MMR) from 437 deaths per 100,000 live births in 1991 to 109 by 2015. 6) Combat HIV/ AIDS, malaria and other diseases: As the prevalence rate has increased from 0.74 per thousand pregnant women in 2002 to 0.86 in 2003, this increasing trend needs to be reversed to achieve MDG 6. 7) Ensure environmental sustainability: The proportion of population without sustainable access to drinkable water and sanitation is to be halved by 2015 and India is on track to achieve this target. Also this step involves the protection of forests and presrvation of natural resources. 8) Develop a global partnership for development: Basically meant for the Developed Countries to provide development assistance to developing countries. These goals are intended to confront poverty, illiteracy, hunger, lack of education, gender inequality, infant and maternal mortality, disease and environmental degradation. Solutions social-environmental-economical point of view (Ref. Manoj Roy,(2009)) A number of solutions and measures should be introduced in order to contribute in the elimination or at least decrease of the pre-mentioned problems. Activities and measures will involve land use planning, climate change and city sustainability towards an overall urban sustainability which in terms will lead to a better life type now and maintenance of it for next generations. 1) Economic activities will invole: a) Decentralisation by generating new jobs, work places in suburban areas or support to those existing in the rural areas in order to motivate the dwellers to stay, that will lead to a more balanced employment distribution. b) Establishment of export zones for promoting their production and linkages between the formal and informal sectors as well as linkages between the rural and urban economy. c) Support to micro-enterprises and especially those developed by women. Non governmental organizations could also provide micro-credit. 2) Social and institutional activities will involve: a)Measures to encourage the public participation in the planning process, strengthening the participation of municipal authorities and the adoption of a strategic planning approach. b) Land use plans and effects of land use alterations, research and development in the construction methods and building materials, mechanisms for private contractors to promote low cost housing scheme and development of secondary towns with the prospect to accomodate slum dwellers. c) Enhance community participation in slum improvement project components, urban infrastructure improvement projects, measures to reduce the total population and health service programmes. 3) Environmental activities will involve: Respect and proper implementation of the environmental laws, reduction of travel time, preservation of rural areas with high agricultural and ecological importance especially when these are located in or near to urban areas. Mitigation of flood, recycling, waste water disposal and sanitation and generally measures to reduce the pollution from industry and vehicles. As climate change is of high importance nowadays few economic, social and environmental measures which could reduce the phenomenon are presented. Economic measures related to climate change would be the enhancement of financial (the one which allows productive activities to get going)and social (shared values and mutual understanding) capital by reducing the travel time and distance, congestion, emmisions, industrial pollution and the promotion of sustainable technology (environmental measures as well). Synergy between the urban and rural climate change resonses is needed as well as reduction of vulnerability of poor and women. Social/institutional measures target on public awareness, education for appropriate environmental behaviour, reduction of carbon sinks, enhancement of responsive capacity of the local authorities e.t.c. Resilience of the built environment plans and energy efficiency with protection and measures against the vulnerability of the poor. Engineering role and contribution The problems presented above should be confronted and are big challenges for the humanity as whole. In this approach which will have as targets the above pre-mentioned goals which will lead to the improvement of human lives with respect to the environment, the role of engineers is really vital. For the city planning and development series of data, plans and knowledge are needed like scientific background, geo-information technology, planning support systems, urban morphology etc. All of the above in order to be efficiently used will be analysed and used from civil engineers. Especially civil engineers which are involved with the majority of projects such as sustainable city planning, development of existing infrastructure (strengthening of existing constructions, maintenance e.t.c), transportation issues (design of roads), waste water treatment and sanitation mechanisms e.t.c will be responsible for the sustainable development and future progress of these regions.

Tri-State Water Wars: Impact on Metropolitan Atlanta’s Future Growth Es

Tri-State Water Wars: Impact on Metropolitan Atlanta’s Future Growth â€Å"Whiskey is for drinking. Water is for fighting.† - Mark Twain Metro Atlanta is on a collision course with reality – and the shock of this collision will have profound political and economic implications for future growth throughout the Southeast. The core problem is that Atlanta’s runaway growth will soon outstrip the available water supply (Corps, 1998). And if Atlanta continues to increase its water consumption until the maximum limits are reached, the effects on downstream users will become catastrophic, both economically and environmentally. Without multi-state agreements concerning changes in usage patterns, this could bring about intervention by the Federal courts that would effectively halt Atlanta’s development until the usage disputes were resolved. By comparison, some western states water lawsuits have lasted for decades, typically freezing usage patterns â€Å"as is†. (Barr, 1999) The southeast can ill afford to have Atlanta – the region’s single largest engine of economic growth – brought to a standstill because of this issue. The root cause of the entire regional problem is the combination of Atlanta’s high growth and an inadequate water supply. No US city as large as Atlanta is founded on a river as small as the Chattahoochee. (NY Times) If Atlanta were the size of Birmingham, there would be no crisis whatsoever. In addition, the lack of a usable underground aquifer system in North Georgia limits the options for expanding the available supply. (ITT) The underlying granite subsurface prevents the formation of large underground water reserves, which are often a significant water source for other large cities. Only by transfe... ...raci. â€Å"Conservation helped avert more severe water limits.† USA Today. July 16, 2002 Web Sites: â€Å"Tri-state pact essential to growth.† Congressman Bob Barr. May 24, 1999, official web site http://barr.house.gov/newsdescr.asp?RI=435 â€Å"Atlanta's Unquenchable Thirst Sparks Dixie Water War.† By Marcello Ballve, Pacific News Service, Mar 11, 2002 http://www.pacificnews.org/content/pns/2002/mar/0311water.html â€Å"Tri-State Water Wars.† Southern Environmental Law Center http://www.selcga.org/originals/water_wars/water_wars.shtml â€Å"The Alabama-Coosa-Tallapoosa Water Deal: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly.† By Brad McLane, Executive Director, Alabama Rivers Alliance http://www.alabamarivers.org/tristatewars.htm ITT Industries – Guide to Global Water issues Atlanta and the Southeast, by Charles Seabrook http://www.itt.com/waterbook/atlanta.asp

Monday, August 19, 2019

Essay --

1. Introduction The aim of this report was to discuss how the climate change and urbanisation processes affected the design and management of wastewater systems in one of the countries of choice. In this report as an example China was used to describe the influence of urbanisation and climate change on design and management of wastewater systems. Rapidly growing human population is expected to exceed nine billion people by 2050. Urban areas in developing countries are affected by rapid growth of population and poor infrastructure development. Already half of the human population live in cities where the infrastructure is not developed enough to sustain wastewater production. As the population increases so the production of waste water. In addition, climate changes affect the weather patterns, which directly influence a hydrological cycle. As a result one area suffers from rain fall shortage and others from more intense rainfalls. 2. China In recent decades, China’s population has rapidly grown which caused rapid economic growth and increased the rate of urbanisation. At present china has one of the fastest urban population growth rate in the world.(UNDP 2013) All this happened along with proceeding environmental destruction and serious water pollution. The growing population of China has a high water demand as well as a lack of sufficient wastewater infrastructure. Those factors result in poor water quality and severe water shortages. In 2002 the rate of municipal wastewater treatment in China was 39.9 percent. (U.S Department of commerce 2005) Figure 1 Urbanisation and the urban population in China (CEIC 2012) â€Å"Macroeconimic Database for emerging and development markets. (source:www.stats.gov.ch) Water resources and water c... ...ns Benefit/cost analysis Environmental Impact Legal mandates 7. Develop implementation plans, including timeframe for implementation 8. Monitor and reassess Source: ( Rosenzweig et al. 2007 ). Figure 6 Conceptual model of a sustainable water resource system (source Hecht et al.2012) 5. Conclusion High rates of urbanisation and climate change in China has created many problems related to water resources. An increase in the population and a high urbanisation rate have effected and increased wastewater production. The Chinese water market is already under a huge amount of stress. The quality and quantity of water resources have been depleted due to the inefficient use of water. In terms of wastewater management China requires a long term strategy with sustainable solutions which will take into account climate change and the rate of urbanisation.

Sunday, August 18, 2019

The Destructive Power of Pain Essay -- Expository Essays

The Destructive Power of Pain There are two types of pain that we all experience, physical and emotional (or mental). Physical pain is a signal of the nerves; therefore it is something that is tangible, something that we can prove is there and something that we can feel. Emotional pain is hurt on the inside of one's soul. It cannot be expressed; it is only a feeling in the soul. According to the Christian view, pain makes someone a better person. However, some people disagree with this because they believe that pain destroys a human being's self-worth. Physical pain is a signal given by nerves that an organism is in a potentially hurtful environment. This is the type of pain that hospital in-patients experience, and it often incites a negative reaction when it is in an extreme form. Constant pain can distort the patient's view of the world and surroundings and can make him/her self-absorbed with alleviating the pain. To others, the patient may appear selfish, impatient, quarrelsome, and greedy, but his actions are merely a result of the pain that they are suffering. Jim Jones, a hard working construction worker, was severely injured one day when a sheet of metal fell on him and severed his leg. While in the hospital, he became withdrawn and very short -tempered with the nurses, and he was angry if he was not cared for immediately. He was in so much pain that he lived from one dose of morphine to the next and if the nurses were even one minute late he became impatient. It was as if he thought that there were no more patients in the hospital besides him. When his family came for daily visits he became very quarrelsome and didn't want to accept any help from them, because he felt that he was useless and could no longer contri... ...ng, such as pain. An example of this is to try and describe the color blue to somebody. One can say it is like the color of the sky, or the ocean, but he can't really say what it is. If he could, he could describe blue to a blind person. Even though we don't know how to talk about pain, we can treat it. Medicine is able to stop the nerves from sending a message to the brain. Psychiatrists are able to find the root of a problem and alleviate it. There are some who would say that God is the only one able to take away pain (both physical and emotional). However, others would say that pain can never truly be taken away, just subsided. And still others say that pain really isn't a thing, it is an illusion that can be overcome. Anybody who has hit their thumb with a hammer would swear that this isn't true. If one were to ask them why, they would say "because it hurts."

Saturday, August 17, 2019

To what extent can an HR manager ensure that policy / policies regarding developing people for performance in an organisation are put into practice

Introduction As it is a relatively new focus for modern organizations, human resources is increasingly viewed as paramount to a company’s success, as Cascio (1991) cited â€Å"people are our most valuable asset.† Long gone is the ideology of a company being represented by its assets and wealth, rather it is the personnel side of business which faces significant challenges, as Ulrich (1998) cited numerous ways in which human resources is invaluable to today’s business notably the use of organizational knowledge and adaptability to the ever changing business environment. Due to this focus on people in organizations human resource managers now arguably have more value than the majority of individuals operating in different functions (Lengnick-Hall and Lengnick-Hall 1988.) The majority of business academics support the newly formed metaphor of a business being an organism as opposed to the out dated view of a business as a machine or process, which was shown by O’Neill (2 007) to be evidently reductionist in the way it views organisational procedures. O’Neill highlighted that whilst the biological metaphor was clearly more complex, its acknowledgement of sub systems and informal mechanisms makes it much more suitable for the modern workplace, where human resource’s importance largely outweighs the more operational aspects of a business. HR and Competitive Advantage The role of human resources and human resource managers is now so vital to companies that many academics view the area as a source of major competitive advantage to a firm (Ferris et al 1999, Wright et al 2006.) This view sees that human resources as a function is best to be integrated into all of the businesses primary functions (Arthur 1994) and Miles and Charles (1984) even went so far as to include human resources as part of an organizations strategic decisional processes. However whilst many support this increased focus on the personnel side of a business, for instance Teece et al (1997) believed the transfer of knowledge and skills in developing the workforce is the only real dynamic capability a modern company can hold, Dunford et al (2001) highlighted that the human resource function has struggled to justify its position in organizations (see Drucker 1954, Stewart 1996.) Whilst the importance of people in organizations has little opposition, many view human resource professio nals to have limited importance on the workforce and implementing various policies. Whilst Barney and Wright (1996) examined and supported the importance of a human resource partner in running businesses, it could be argued that whilst making the relevant human resource decisions is necessary, using middle / junior human resource managers to promote these policies is more difficult. Gunnigle (1977) for instance noted that whilst senior management possesses a lot of authority in making personnel decisions, a range of different approaches is suitable for implementing policies, from a â€Å"high strategic integration of human resource issues in strategic planning to more piecemeal ad hoc approaches to managing human resources.† Human resources development As human resources has become so central to organizations, policies regarding developing a company’s personnel have emerged as the focal point for many academics. Defined by Swanson and Holton (2009) as â€Å"a process of developing and unleashing expertise for the purpose of improving individual, team, work processes and organizational system performance,† human resource development is seen by Nadler (1970) to contain three key components, these being training, education and development for the workforce. Developing policies to improve a workforces skills and successfully implementing them assumes a pivotal role in shaping a business’s strategy (Torraco and Swanson 1995.) In fact what Agrawal (1994, cited by Torraco and Swanson 1995) discovered is that whilst the majority of organizations have sufficient technology and policies regarding personnel development, in reality many employees are not actually trained sufficiently to use new equipment. This therefore im plies that managers need to take a more proactive approach in ensuring development policies are put into practice. However due to the vagueness of the development concept, Swanson and Holton (2009) simply look at it in terms of being a problem defining and solving process. The question then becomes what influence a human resources manager has in a modern workplace scenario to implement policies. Whilst Guest et al (2003) found a greater use of human resource management is associated with lower labour turnover and increased employee satisfaction, the actual power a human resources manager has over making changes to workforce policies is limited as seen by Miles (1965) due to the ideological gap between the workforce and managers. Miles used the example of the gap between how managers prefer a different personnel approach to their subordinates than to their superiors. This discrepancy showed that whilst managers welcome a focus on their abilities and development when regarding more se nior managers, they would rather adopt a human relations approach to the workforce, whereby the focus is on morale. Therefore managers in this position could be reluctant to use any formal power they may have to implement new policies. Kanter’s (1989) findings also point towards this conclusion, as Kanter discovered a number of changes in the employee – manager relationship, notably the reduction of power and distance between a manager and their subordinates. Whilst Kanter’s idea that managers now have to implement ideas through more interpersonal and informal means is appealing to a workforce, the concept of â€Å"managers are integrators and facilitators, not watchdogs,† could prove to be problematic when it comes to implementing strict policies on the workforce. Employee factors In order to fully analyse how a human resources manager can successfully implement workplace policies regarding development, various employee factors come into consideration. Firstly there is the importance of the style of communication used. As mentioned previously the distance between managers and workers particularly in large organizations necessitates the effective use of communication channels. According to Soliman and Spooner (2000) using a two way free flowing communication system is the most appropriate method of dealing with development, because it would allow not only for managers to communicate policies to the workforce, it would also allow two way feedback on the said procedures. This idea of a loop of communication regarding development is supported by Bradley (2002) who argued that a â€Å"coherent evaluation and feedback system† should be integrated into every new workplace policy. This is especially vital for development due to the highly personal nature of the issue. Only through effective feedback will human resource managers have the required knowledge about the workforce to ensure that suitable development policies are implemented. A relevant suggestion on how this ideology could be used in a modern business scenario was proposed by Mehra and Brass (2001) in suggesting the use of social networks to communicate feedback to managers. Another clear factor in a human resource manager’s ability to promote development policies is the emotional intelligence of the staff. Sy et al (2006) showed that high levels of emotional intelligence clearly correlate with workplace performance and satisfaction. This suggests that a manager with a highly emotionally intelligent workforce would have an easier time ensuring policies are put in place. Cherniss (2001) even went so far as to cite â€Å"self management† as a key component of the framework of emotional intelligence, implying perhaps that if a workforce was mature and skilled enough the job of the human resource manager would be completed by the staff. However whilst this may seem appealing to managers there is also a problematic issue with emotionally intelligent workforces. The majority of modern workforces possess clear elements of emotional intelligence and often utilise informal learning in their position (Eraut 2004.) Garrick (1998) noted the danger of this informal learning style, that it is not controlled in any way by the management team. With the increased trend for workplace environments to be based around intelligent project / task teams (Hechanova-Alampay and Beehr 2001) human resource managers could often find themselves facing insurmountable odds if they wished to implement unpopular policies. Therefore in order for managers to be able to put policies in place they must ensure in addition to there being effective communication channels in place that a degree of employee commitment is drawn from the workforce. Studies by Romzek (1990) proved the use of employees holding a psychological tie to their place of work, and highlighted the managerial influence on this subject. The way in which managers can ensure employees hold this commitment is displayed by Vischer’s (2006) ranges of environmental comfort. As long as employees show a certain level of comfort human resource managers should be able to implement new development policies. Managerial Factors There has been a large amount of research completed on the new role that managers now face in organizations, namely the human resource function where research seeks to provide guidance on how to deal with specific workforces (Geroy et al 2000.) This is largely due to the new styled work of managers as they face a changing psychological contract with their workforce and so need to build commitment in their implementing of policies (Hiltrop 1999.) This therefore means that managers need to adapt traditional managerial styles if they wish to have the power to put in place new development policies. Vischer (2005) used the example of the new style of managerial offices, where employees can view the managers working to symbolise the increased need for an interpersonal approach to managerial work. Whilst managers traditionally took a scientific based approach to implementing new policies, for instance the labour process conceptualization cited by Ramsay et al (2000) the modern way of reachi ng a workforce is via a transactional leadership approach. Not only does this feedback, group based style work in terms of productivity results alone (Deluga 1988) it gives managers more authority to properly put policies into practice. Bass’ 1985 study justifies this success of transactional leadership by noting an increased employee confidence. Bass noted that a contactable manager with charisma fulfils the traditional leader role that many workforces look for when deciding whether or not to adopt a new policy. However there are other factors a manager must consider when attempting to promote new development policies, primarily there is the direct influence the manager has on the individual. This is especially vital for development policies as they are regarding individual people and so workers would resist policy changes from a manager whom they feel has no connection or influence on the person that they are. Important factors in this topic range from the face to face nece ssity for successful managers, as Dambrin (2004) demonstrated how the reduction of this direct communication in home based telephone workers significantly reduces the need for managers altogether, to the findings by Cleveland et al (2003) which noted the increased influence that managers of similar ages to their staff enjoy. Whilst this element is of little use to many managers (as they cannot help their relative age to the workforce) the concept that employees are willing to accept policy changes from people whom they consider to be similar to them is extremely useful. Therefore the practical use of these findings is in the manager’s tactics in dealing with their staff. There is much research that centres on this factor (Furst and Cable 2008, Wayne et al 2006) and recent findings suggest that managers adopt a highly individualistic based style when implementing development policies, as managerial influence is not equally perceived by workers (Barton and Deschamps 1988.) Lawl er et al (2007) highlighted that older, more highly educated employees feel they should have more say in their own development. Therefore the avocation must be for managers to manage their workforce reactively, not according to a pre-set plan of action (Niederkofler 2002.) Conclusion This report has investigated the extent to which a human resources manager can realistically implement policies regarding development in their workplace. Firstly the importance of human resources as an organizational function was explored, from Cascio’s generic quote to how human resource is now seen as essential in many modern businesses (Teece et al 1997, Barney and Wright 1996.) As personnel development is undoubtedly a vital issue in modern organizations (Torraco and Swanson 1995, Nadler 1970) the issue became how a manager can overcome the ideological gap between themselves and the workforce (Miles 1965.) The aspects that allow managers to do this and successfully implement development policies were tackled in firstly terms of employee expectations for managers, where Mehra and Brass’ communication recommendations and Eraut’s views on emotional intelligence were a focal point, and secondly the managerial influences on their staff such as the use of transform ational leadership and the individualistic style proposed by Barton and Deschamps (1988.) In this way managerial work is very much a self fulfilling prophecy where their expectations for the workforce will likely become reality (Swanson 1995,) and in this context managers should use this information about how to approach issues to their advantage, due to the power value of information as seen by Goad (2002.) References Arthur, J.B. (1994) Effects of Human Resource Systems on Manufacturing Performance and Turnover. The Academy of Management Journal, Vol 37, No 3 (June 1994) pp 670-687. Barney, J. B. & Wright, P. M. (1997). On becoming a strategic partner: The role of human resources in gaining competitive advantage (CAHRS Working Paper #97-09.) Ithaca, NY: Cornell University, School of Industrial and Labour Relations, Centre for Advanced Human Resource Studies. Barton, D.L. and Deschamps, I. (1988) Managerial Influence in the Implementation of New Technology. Management Science, Vol 34, No 10 (October 1988) pp 1252-1265. Bass, B.M. (1985) Leadership: Good, better, best. Organizational Dynamics, Vol 13, Issue 3, pp 26-40. Bradley, S.J. (2002) What’s workingBriefing and evaluating workplace performance improvement. Journal of Corporate Real Estate, Vol 4, Issue 2, pp 150-159. Cascio, W.F. (1991) Costing Human Resources: The financial impact of behaviour in organizations. (3rd ed) Boston: PWS-Kent Pub. Cherniss, C. (2001) Emotional intelligence and organizational effectiveness. Jossey-Bass publications. Drucker, P. (1994) The practice of management. New York: Harper. Cleveland, L.M. Jeanette, N. Goldberg, C.B. (2003) Work attitudes and decisions as a function of manager age and employee age. Journal of Applied Psychology, Vol 88, Issue 3 (Jun 2003) pp 529-537. Dambrin, C. (2004) How does telework influence the manager-employee relationshipInternational Journal of Human Resources Development and Management. Vol 4, No 4, pp 358-374. Deluga, R.J. (1988) Relationship of Transformational and Transactional Leadership with Employee Influencing Strategies. Group Organization Management, Vol 13, No 4, pp 456-467. Dunford, B.B. Snell, S.A. and Wright, P.M. (2001) Human resources and the human resource based view of the firm. Centre for advanced human resources studies working paper, Cornell University. Eraut, M. (2004) Informal learning in the workplace. Studies in Continuing Education Vol 26, Issue 2. Ferris, G.R. Hochwarter, W.A. Buckley, M.R. Harrell-Cook, G. and Frink, D.D. (1999) Human Resources Management: Some New Directions. Journal of Management, Vol 25, No 3 (June 1999) pp 385-415. Furst, S.A. Cable, D.M. (2008) Employee resistance to organizational change: Managerial influence tactics and leader-member exchange. Journal of Applied Psychology, Vol 93, Issue 2 (March 2008) pp 453-462. Garrick, J. (1998) Informal learning in the workplace: Unmasking human resources development. Routledge publishing. Geroy, G.D. Wright, P.C. and Jacoby, L. (2000) Toward a conceptual framework of employee volunteerism: an aid for the human resource manager. Management Decision, Vol 38, Issue 4, pp 280-287. Goad, T.W. (2002) Informational literacy and workplace performance. Quorum books, 88 Post Road West, Westport. Guest, D.E. Michie, J. Conway, N. Sheehan, M. (2003) Human Resource Management and Corporate Performance in the UK. British Journal of Industrial Relations, Vol 41, issue 2, pp 291-314. Gunnigle, P. (1977) Personnel Policy Choice: The Context for Human Resource Development. Journal of European Industrial Training, Vol 15, Issue 3. Hechanova-Alampay, R. Beehr, T.A. (2001) Empowerment, span of control, and safety performance in work teams after workforce reduction. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, Vol 6, Issue 4 (October 2001) pp 275-282. Hiltrop, J.M. (1999) The changing psychological contract: The human resource challenge of the 1990s. European Management Journal, Volume 13, Issue 3 (September 1995) pp 286-294. Kanter, R.M. (1989) The new managerial work. Harvard Business Review, Vol 67, Issue 6, pp 85-92. Lawler, E.E. Renwick, P.A. and Bullock, R.J. (2007) Employee influence on decisions: An analysis. Journal of Organizational Behaviour, Vol 2, Issue 2, pp 115-123. Lengnick-Hall, C.A. and Lengnick-Hall, M.L. (1988) Strategic Human Resources Management: A Review of the Literature and a Proposed Typology. The Academy of Management Review, Vol 13, No 3 (July 1988) pp 454-470. Mehra, A. Kilduff, M. and Brass, D.J. (2001) The Social Networks of High and Low Self-Monitors: Implications for Workplace Performance. Administrative Science Quarterly, Vol 46, No 1 (March 2001) pp 121-146. Miles, R.E. (1965) Human Relations or Human ResourcesHarvard Business Review, Volume 43, Issue 4, pp 148. Miles, R.E. Charles, C. (1984) Designing strategic human resources systems. Organizational Dynamics, Vol 13, Issue 1, pp 36-52. Nadler, L. (1970) Developing Human Resources. Gulf Publishing Company, Book Publishing Division, Box 2608, Houston, Texas 77001. Niederkofler, M. (2002) The evolution of strategic alliances: Opportunities for managerial influence. Journal of Business Venturing, Vol 6, Issue 4 (July 1991) pp 237–257. O,Neill, M.J. (2007) Measuring workplace performance. (2nd Ed) CRC Press. Ramsay, H. Scholarios, D. and Harley, B. (2000) Employees and High-Performance Work Systems: Testing inside the Black Box. British Journal of Industrial Relations, Vol 38, Issue 4, pp 501-531. Romzek, B.S. 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Friday, August 16, 2019

Managing Non-Traditional Inventories Essay

Within the service industry, companies will typically have two types of inventory, traditional inventory and non-traditional inventory. For a restaurateur it is essential that they have certain management systems in place, which assist with the management of both types of inventory. These inventory management systems for traditional and non-traditional inventories are critical for a restaurant to be successful and profitable. When dealing with a restaurants traditional inventory, managers are focused on the challenges of dealing with a highly perishable product, food. Since the raw materials for restaurants have a limited shelf life and usually expire within the first week, restaurant managers must have active control systems that assist with food costs, the largest expense for all restaurants. If restaurants are able to successfully manage their traditional inventory, they are most likely a profitable business; however, restaurants could still be passing up opportunities if they do not manage their non-traditional inventories. The non-traditional inventories for restaurants are the â€Å"products available for sale†, which are the space for customers to sit at tables. Restaurant owners should consider each table space as their main product, because without the table space full-service restaurants will not exist. In order for a restaurant to be not only profitable, but also successful, managers should monitor their tables as if their customers were temporarily renting the space for a meal. For them to manage the tables, they should scrutinize the turnover rate of tables. This refers to the number of times a table is used to serve new customers, therefore, the higher the turnover rate of the tables, the greater the cash flow for the restaurant. This is the reason the fast food industry is a multi-billion dollar industry, as they have an exceptionally high table turnover rate compared to a fine-dining restaurant. For any full-service restaurant, restaurant owners should not pressure their customers to eat faster in order to improve their table turnover rate. Instead, restaurateurs have to properly manage their staff and the service that they provide to achieve a higher turnover rate. Owners should encourage their staff to work together as a team, so that they can improve the efficiency of the restaurant by assisting each other’s customer requests. The most effective practice for improving the cohesiveness between staff members is to encourage the servers to â€Å"pool their tips together and divide it up evenly† (Restaurant Guide). Apart from generating stronger teamwork between staff members, owners must ensure that the kitchen is fully optimized for speed and efficiency. By ensuring both the quality and the speed of the kitchen, restaurants can drastically improve the perceived service as well as the turnover of tables. In addition, staff members should be able to indicate when customers are ready to order, as well as finished with their dishes, since having fewer items on the table is generally a positive aspect of a good restaurant. Lastly, owners in the start-up phase of running a restaurant should avoid purchasing large tables, as small tables can help save space as well as seating capacity. If large parties were to request for a larger table, the restaurant will still be able to accommodate the varying sizes by combining small tables together. Therefore, if restaurant owners are able to manage their food costs, as well the table’s turnover rate and has the correct combination of sizes of tables; they can decrease the wait time for customers, maximize seating capacity, and increase profits (Petersen). Works Cited â€Å"How Better Inventory Management & Weekly Food Costing Can Lower Your Food Cost.† How Better Inventory Management & Weekly Food Costing Can Lower Your Food Cost. Restaurant Owner. Web. 27 May 2012. . â€Å"Managing Table Turns.† – Restaurant Customer Service. Starting a Restaurant Guide. Web. 27 May 2012. . Petersen, Kurt. â€Å"Tables: What Size Do You Need?† Tables: What Size Do You Need? Petersen Furniture, Inc. Web. 27 May 2012. .