American Women and Community

Prior to Aug. 26, 1920 women in the United States could not participate in the democratic process. Following the Civil War, American women wanted to have more input into the decisions that would impact their lives. In order for women to gain suffrage groups across the nation had to gather together and create a unified effort for change. The Seneca Falls Convention of 1848, the first formal conference for woman’s suffrage, challenged America to a revolution that would endure for more than seven decades before women actually were granted the right to vote.Convened by Elizabeth Stanton and Lucretia Mott, the conventions aim was to empower women and invoke change through suffrage for women. Since the Civil War women had begun to feel the need to represent themselves and be able to participate in the decision making process which would affect their daily lives. â€Å"The catalyst for this gathering was the World Anti-Slavery Convention held in 1840 in London and attended by an Ame rican delegation which included a number of women. In attendance were Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, who were forced to sit in ther galleries as observers because they were women.This poor treatment did not rest well with these women of progressive thoughts, and it was decided that they would hold their own convention to discuss social, civil and religious rights of women, (, 2008,  ¶ 3). † The community of women who gathered in 1848 faced their first challenge in 1869 when the 15th amendment, which extended the right to vote to African-American men, was introduced and passed. â€Å"During the civil war, women’s suffrage was eclipsed by the war effort and movement for the abolition of slavery. While annual conventions were held on a regular basis, there was much discussion but little action.Activists such as slave-born Sojourner Truth, Elizabeth Stanton and Susan B Anthony lectured and petitioned the government for the emancipation of slaves with the belie f that, once the war was over, women and slaves alike would be granted the same rights as white men. At the end of the war, however, the government saw the suffrage of women and that of the Negro as two separate issues and it was decided that the Negro vote could produce the immediate political gain, particularly in the South, that the women’s vote could not, (, 2008,  ¶ 6). †Some women felt that they should support the 15th amendment as a victory which would bring women one step closer to voting. This faction of women’s suffrage supporters believed that after black men gained the right to vote there would be no barriers preventing women from gaining that right as well. Yet another faction felt that they could not endorse the amendment until they had been granted the right themselves. Two groups emerged, the National Woman Suffrage Association and Woman’s Suffrage Association. Both groups worked toward suffrage as well as securing property rights for mar ried women and other institutional changes.Following the Civil War, women’s study groups flourished. These groups gave women access to education and an intellectual forum. By the early twentieth century communication was also more effective and women across the nation had more experiences and were generally better prepared to organize themselves, (Bauer, 1999). However, this was also a quiet time for the suffrage movement. It was not until 1914 when a younger generation of women began to hold street presentations, parades and other activism stunts to gain attention. In 1915 the National Woman’s Party formed and began to campaign against the party in power, (Bauer).At this time women were being arrested for their action and in jail some were mistreated. The mistreatment of women gained much attention creating public sympathy for the suffragists. Although World War I slowed the progression of suffrage by 1919 women the 19th amendment was officially passed. By Aug. 26, 19 20 then President Woodrow Wilson ratified the amendment allowing women to enter the polls for the first time in the United States. References (2008). The History of Women’s Suffrage. History . Retrieved from www. history. com Bauer, H. (1999). The Priviledge for Which We Struggled. Minnesota: Minnesota Historical Society Press.

Migration from developing countries Essay

Migration process originated from ancient times when people move from this place to other place due to the exhaustion of nature resources. Pass thousands year of development, people have not only searched for natural resources for their demand but also they have looked for a life with high quality of living, education and social security. Nowadays, there are many people living for away from their home country. Environmental problems, poor, conflict and riot, corruption and gap between rich and poor countries are all factor cause migration. As the matter of the fact is almost migrants move from developing countries to developed countries such as the United States, Canada, France, Italy and Germany to find stabilization and freedom. According to United Nations (2013), 3.2 percent of world’s population – over 230 million people were international migrants in 2013. Moreover, migrants have significant influence in not only society but also economy of both abandoned countries and the countries they are moving to. Although, migration could lead to brain drain and income inequality but migration from developing countries to developed countries should not stopped because it provides considerable labor for the shortage of workers in developed countries as well as reducing the poverty in developing countries. Migration should not be stopped because migrants from developing countries are providing a large proportion of worker for labor shortages in developed countries. According to a report from International Business Leader (n.d), more than 40% of labor forces in the Gulf region are migrants. Additionally, the labor workforce in the United States is increasing because of growing of international migration. Foreign-born persons (in the United States) accounted for 16.4 percent of the local labor force – 23.1 million people (Singer 2012). Furthermore, over one in every four foreign workers in the United Stated are Mexican – made up approximately 4 percent of labor force (Grieco & Ray 2004). Furthermore, according to Labor Force survey of Eurostat (2013), in 2012, 8.6 million foreigners who came from outside Europe worked in 27 countries in Europe. These data figures suggest that the supplementation of migrants from developing countries into labor force in developed countries were strong evidence for the benefit of migration. However, it has been argued that migration leads to brain drain in developing countries. The International Organization of Migration (IOM) estimated that Africa has lost one-third of its human resources,  particularly skilled people (Siddiqui, 2012). Since 1990, proximately 20,000 doctors, university lectures, engineers and other professionals have gone to developed countries every year (Unesco, (n.d)). This view claims that brain drain is a worrying problem in some countries that have a small number of qualified people in workforce. For example, Ethiopia has the highest rate of losing human resources. Over 10 -15 years ago, 50% of Ethiopians did not come back their country after finishing their courses in foreign countries (African Renaissance Ambassador (n.d)). Moreover, between 1988 and 1991, 74,6% of human capital from many different organizations was lost in Ethiopia (African Renaissance Ambassador (n.d)). Additionally, 75% Jamaicans who are highly educated have been in the United States (Newland, 2003). According to Migration Policy Institute, a huge proportion of highly skilled people – 12% of population in Mexico is working in the United States and 30% of its was PhDs (Newland, 2003). Therefore, if losing highly skilled people continues, impact of brain drain from migration to developing countries is enormous. The is no denying the fact that developing countries have lost many highly skilled people due to migration but they also got benefits from its. Firstly, developing countries received a lot of remittances from migrants. In 2010, according to the Factbook’s, remittances from migrants sending back to developing countries increased from $307 billion in 2009 to $325 billion in 2010 – three times the size of official development assistances (Theguardian, 2010). Most of remittances amount are transferred to middle- income countries. Furthermore, remittances have an important role in some poorest countries that made up to 25% of countries’ GDP (Theguardian, 2010). Secondly, there is a trend for migrants to return their home countries taking new skills and knowledge back with them base on policies for attracting talent of the government in developing countries. For example, Chinese government has attached special important to seek and develop talent for Chinese living aboard in recent years through some programs such as the 2008 Thousand Talents Program; 2010 Thousand Young Talents Program; 2011 Thousand Foreign Experts Program; 2011 Special Talent Zone and the 2012 Ten Thousand Talent Plan. The purpose of those programs was to attract Chinese migrants return back and contribute their talent for the development of nation. In 2008, over 3,300 Chinese highly skilled professional returned back their home countries by The Thousand Talents  Program (United Nations Chronicle (2013)). Consequently, the problem of brain drain would not be a matter of concern of migration from developing countries to developed countries. Another issues are migration can reduce poverty in developing countries. At national level, remittances from international migrants have considerable effect on poverty. According a survey of Adams and Page (2005) which crossing 71 countries, investigated that every 10% of increasing in official international remittances per capita causes decline of 3.5% in people living poverty. Furthermore, international remittances was proved as a method for â€Å" deep and severity of poverty† in Latin America, East – West and South Africa, South Asia and other religion (Adams 1991; Adams 2006; Ajayi et al. 2009; Anyanwu and Erhijakpor 2010; Fajnzylber and Lopez 2007; Gupta et al. 2007; Lachaud 1999). In Nepal, national poverty rate decreased from 42% in 1995-1996 to 31% in 2003-2004 because of growing significantly in remittances (World Bank 2006). In addition, remittances were responsible for considerable reduction on poverty at family level. In South Africa, remittances from migrants accounted for 32% of household income in rural (Rwelamira and Kirsten 2003). In overall migrant household income in the four districts of Bangladesh, 55% of its were from international remittances (Siddiqui & Abrar 2003). According to the IOM household remittance survey of Bangladesh (2009) investigated that remittances were cause of 20% migrant household who have increased household income at least once. Dang & et all (2010) found that families have members which are migrant can earn more money and save it better than family with no migrants. In Ghana, the impact of economic shocks on household welfare had already decreased significantly due to remittances (Kwankye and Anarfi 2011). On the other hand, some studies found that international remittances are likely to increase income inequality. In 2006, base on data of household survey in Ghana, Adams investigated that Gini index is a standard measure of income inequality, increased from 0.402 to 0.413 when remittances are included in family income. Furthermore, richer family received remittances much more than poorer family in Eastern European and former Soviet Union (World Bank, 2007). Milanovic (1987) also support for this idea after using panel date from the 1973, 1978 and 1983 Yugoslavian household survey, the inequality is increased due to international remittances. According to Stahl (1982) and Lipton (1980)  migration tend to increase inequality in rural areas because only wealthy families can give facilities for searching better change for family’s members in urban or aboard. In addition, a study of Adams (1989) indicated increasing inequality has happened Egypt because of international remittances. It has argued that international remittances have no impact to increase significantly income inequality, even decrease income inequality index. In 2006, Mckenzie analyzed data of 214 cities with population less than 100,000 people and investigated that migration is a cause of increasing income inequality in the early period but as levels of migration increase, remittances tend to reduce income inequality. Additionally, a survey conducted in Philippines by Yang and Martinez (2006) with a sample group of 26,121 families, which showed that the impact of international remittances on income equality was not statistically significant. Moreover, other report also indicated that remittances have positive effect to increase income and decrease income inequality in Latin America and the Caribbean (Acosta & et al, 2007). In another recent study, Gubert, Lassourd and Mesplà ©-Somps (2009) found that poverty rates in Mali decreased from 16% to 11% and income inequality by about 5%. Similarly, remittances have been toward for improving the welfare of poorer rural households (Stark and Taylor (1989); Adams (1991)). Therefore, international remittances have impact of decreasing income equality in developing countries. Migration is not problem for one country or one area of the world. Furthermore, migration has both positive and negative effect to country of origin and destination. However, the fact is that developing countries continue to face challenges to brain drain and income inequality caused by migration. In addition international remittances from migrant sending their home countries help to reduce poverty at nation and family level. At the same time, migration from developing countries provides a huge proportion of worker for labor shortage in developed countries. Migration is benefit to the social and economy. This is to say; migration from developing countries to developed countries should not be stopped because of reducing poverty and providing employees for labor shortage. Reference: Acosta, P., Fajnzylber, P and Lopez, J. H. (2007). The Impact of Remittances on Poverty and Human Capital: Evidence from Latin American Household Surveys. World Bank Policy Research Working, paper 4247, June. Adams, R., H., Jr. 1989. Worker Remittances and Inequality in Rural Egypt. Economic Development and Cultural Change 38, No. 1: 45-71. Adams, R., H., Jr. 1991. The Effects of International Remittances on Poverty, Inequality, and Development in Rural Egypt. IFPRI Research Report 86, Washington: IFPRI Adams, R. H. Jr 2006. Remittances and poverty in Ghana. World Bank Policy Research Working Paper 3838. Washington, DC: World Bank. African Renaissance Ambassador (n.d). Brain drain in Africa.. Last viewed 26 June 2014, from http://www.aracorporation.org/files/factsandfigures.pdf Biffl, G (n.d). Labour market integration of low skilled migrants in Europe: economic impact. Last viewed 26 June 2014, from http://migrationfiles.ucdavis.edu/uploads/rs/files/2012/ciip/biffl-eu-lowskilledmigrants.pdf Clemens, M. 2007. Do Visas Kill? Health Effects of African Health Professional Emigration. CGD Working Paper, No. 114, Center for Global Development, Washington DC. Grieco, E. & Ray, B. 2004. Mexican immigrants in the United States labor force. Last viewed 26 June 2014, from http://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/mexican-immigrants-us-labor-force Gubert, F.; T. Lassourd; and S. Mesplà ©-Somps. 2009. Do remittances affect poverty and inequality?: Evidence from Mali. Last view 29 June 2014 from http://gdri.dreem.free.fr/wp-content/gubert_lassourd_mesple-somps_paper.pdf Eurostat, (2013). Labor force survey: Foreign citixens accounted for 7% of total employment in the Eu27 in 2012. Last viewed 29 June 2014, from http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/cache/ITY_PUBLIC/3-07062013-BP/EN/3-07062013-BP-EN.PDF Hall, M., Singer, A., Jong, F. F. D, and Graefe, D. R 2011. The geography of immigration skills: Educational profiles of metropolitan areas. Last viewed 26 June 2014, from http://www.brookings.edu/research/papers/2011/06/immigrants-singer International Business Leader (2010). Business and migration: from risk to opportunity. Last viewed 29 June 2014, from http://c.ymcdn.com/sites/www.gbsnonline.org/resource/collection/C6833BC0-02C0-42E2-8804-5FAB1D3B217B/BusinessAndMigration.pdf Lipton. M. (1980), â€Å"Migration from Rural Areas of Poor Countries: The Impact of Rural Productivity and Income Distribution†, World Development, Vol. 8, 1 – 24. Lucas ,R.E.B 2006. Migrations and Economic Development in Africa: A Review of Evidence. Journal of African Economies, Vol. 15, AERC Supplement 2, pp. 337-395. McKenzie, D. (2006), â€Å"Beyond Remittances: The Effects of Migration on Mexican Households†, in C. Ozden and M. Schiff (eds), International Migration, Remittances and the Brain Drain, World Bank, Washington, DC Milanovic, B. 1987.Patterns of Regional Growth in Yugoslavia, 1952-1983, Journal of Development Economics, vol. 25, pp. 1-19. Newland, K. (2003). Migrantion as a factor in development and poverty reduction. Last viewed 29 June 2014, from http://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/migration-factor-development-and-poverty-reduction Singer. E 2012. Immigration workers in the U.S labor force. Last viewed 26 June 2014, from http://www.brookings.edu/research/papers/2012/03/15-immigrant-workers-singer Siddiqui, T. (2012). Impact of migration on poverty and development. Last viewed 29 June 2014, from http://migratingoutofpoverty.dfid.gov.uk/files/file.php?name=wp2-impact-of-migration-on-poverty-and-development.pdf&site=354 Stahl, C., (1982). Labor Emigration and Economic Development, International Migration Review, Vol. 16, 868 – 99. Stark, O and Taylor J. E. (1989), â€Å"Relative Deprivation and International Migration†, Demography, vol 22, 1 – 4. Theguardian, (2010). Migrants send home three times more money than countries receive in developed aid, says World Bank. Last view 29 June 2014, from http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/poverty-matters/2010/nov/10/migrants-send-money-home-aid United Nations Chronicle (2013). China’s return migration and its impact on home development. Last viewed 26 June 2014, from http://unchronicle.un.org/article/chinas-return-migration-and-its-impact-home-development/ United Nations (2013) Number of international migrants rise above 232 million. Last viewed 30 June 2014, from http://www.un.org/en/development/desa/news/population/number-of-international-migrants-rises.html Unesco (n.d). From brain drain. Last view 29 June 2014, from http://www.unesco.org/education/education_today/brain.pdf World Bank (2007a), Migration and Remittances: Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union. World Bank, Washington DC. Yang, D., and C. Martinez (2006), â€Å"Remittances and Poverty In Migrants’ Home Areas: Evidence from the Philippines†, in C. Ozden and M. Schiff (eds), International Migration, Remittances and the Brain Drain, World Bank,

National Historic Preservation Act of 1966

The National Historic Preservation Act is a law that serves to create the â€Å"National Register of Historic Places, the list of â€Å"National Historic Landmarks and the posts of â€Å"State Historic Preservation Officers† of the United States which aims of preserving the entire national and archeological site in the said country (nps.gov, 2007). Enacted in 1966, it has already been to a lot of amendments since then, this law mandates government agencies to determine the effects of various government funded construction projects (fema.gov, 2002). In other words, this act encourages the government agencies to safeguard their preservations programs alongside with the advisory council on Historic preservation. The reason of the existence of this act is due to the fact that year after year, historical sites and other national heritage places has been experiencing degrading concern and of less priority as a government sponsored public works projects. There have been a lot of national heritage sites and historical places that needs major attention, and only the government could help them to be preserved and maintained. Currently, National Historic Preservation Act serves as the basis of most of the government policies concerning on historical preservation in America. With the aid of this act, the role of the Federal preservations was expanded which gives way for the birth of the â€Å"National Antiquities Act† which gives the president the power to restrict the use of any public land owned by the government through executive order. With this, the government authorities would now have the authority and the means of further protecting and preserving the historical site in the United States. Moreover, the federal power could now also be distributed to various states and from the state going to the localities to ensure the effectiveness of the said act. In addition to this, the Historical preservations already widened its coverage by including even the places with no significant historical value. The Effects With the implementation of this act, the definition of a â€Å"Historical value† was broadened. Before the said law was enacted in 1966, only the historical places are being valued by the government or the only one who’s having attention to most of the government officials. But after the birth of the National Historic Preservation Act, it is already being included in the lists of National Register of Historic Places the sites, buildings, objects and all the structures that has of great significance and value to American history, architecture, archeology and culture may it be of a national, state or local significance. In addition to that, the word â€Å"district† is also already being included in the scope of this act. This only means that neighborhoods can already be now included in the preservation program of the government as mandated by law. With the inclusion of the word â€Å"district† in the scope of this law would rationalize any endowment that the secretary of the interior for rehabilitation and exterior restoration in historic districts gives to individuals from various sectors which have identified any neighborhood that is of great importance to them (Murtagh). Moreover, the confusion between the grants for house rehabilitation and the current programs of the secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development can now be clarified. The said law is also the one responsible for making the Department of Interior takes the responsibility of planning and rehabilitating historic districts which was being handled by the Department of Housing and Urban Development. With this, there would be more efficient implementation of the said law since it is not the forte of the Department of Housing and Urban Development the said responsibility. Furthermore, it is through the aid of this law that most of the citizens now understands that there are still other means of ensuring the quality of housing projects in the state and local levels aside from the destruction of urban renewal. Government officials could now get funds for the replacement of the existing housing stock not only from the secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development but also to the secretary of the Department of Interiors. This means that there are already more government agencies that could serve as a source of funds to finance the rehabilitation activities of various agencies and groups. The said act also give way for the establishment of the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation made by people from the cabinet of the president and a selected number of private citizens which would serve as the group of people responsible in determining the effects of the federal tax to the cultural properties of the country as well as on the proper treatment of the cultural properties existing in the United States. Case Study Back in the 1990’s, Texans had some hard time in convincing the Texas government to make the Washington-on-the Brazos, the site where the Texas Declaration of Independence had been signed, to be considered as a historical site. What the Texan government tried to consider was the Alamo and San Jacinto battlefield. There were three reasons why the government chose the said two places as a historical site and not the Washington-on-the-Brazos. First was that Washington-on-the-Brazos has little a number of ruined houses that are far from major roads and towns whereas Alamo was situated in downtown San Antonio and San Jacinto battlefield was near from Houston. Secondly, the signing of the declaration of independence was not a concrete physical place or even related not to mention that the document was not in Washington but already placed in the State Archives at Austin. The last but not he least would be that only the local people are the one who is considering the said town site a place valuable of preservation (Trujillo, 2000). This clearly gives us the idea that there is a big discrepancy between what is to be preserved and what is important to the community. Before, as stated above, only those places that are within reach and accessible are only being granted with preservation like Alamo and San Jacinto and not considering those places that has of significant value to the locals as well as the community as a whole. REFERENCES fema.gov. (2002). National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA), 1966 As Amended (2000) [Electronic Version], 1. Retrieved 10-06-07 from http://www.fema.gov/plan/ehp/ehplaws/nhpa.shtm. Murtagh, W. Keeping Times nps.gov. (2007). National Historic Preservation Act of 1966-as amended through 1992 [Electronic Version], 65. Retrieved 10-06-07 from http://www.nps.gov/history/local-law/FHPL_HistPrsrvt.pdf. Trujillo, M. à . L. (2000). Lights and Shadows in Texas Preservation: The Case of Washington-on-the-Brazos State National Park [Electronic Version], 20. Retrieved 10-06-07.      

Multiple Sclerosis and Stress Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Multiple Sclerosis and Stress - Assignment Example It has been observed that there is a linkage between Multiple Sclerosis and stress. Multiple Sclerosis is a disease which directly affects the spinal cord and brain. It has symptoms of muscular weakness, depression, memory loss and fatigue. Stress is also the major contributor to the birth of this disease. The severe level of stress can cause depression and therefore, it may lead to the development of Multiple Sclerosis. The research aims to validate the linkage of Multiple Sclerosis and stress by National Multiple Sclerosis Society’s (NMSS). It will better allocate the present funding loans which strengthen the training and Multiple Sclerosis leadership methodologies of NMSS. This association will help to control and improve the level of stress by providing better awareness and educating people who are suffering from Multiple Sclerosis. The research portion of this paper â€Å"Three Abbreviated Research Plan† shows the soundness of house workshop and theories of Multiple Sclerosis. These theories will be investigated and examined as an initiative in order to support the platform of developing the cognitive growth of caretakers and Multiple Sclerosis patients. For instance, the availability or lack of training and development of leadership for MS population versus a virtual online training and development framework will yield better results for MS population at all levels. This research is supported and facilitated by a consultancy firm named as Quality Health Caressa (QHC). This firm is a part of the Stone Industries Group. It helps in directing the research plan and tools which will support the QUAN, QUAL, and their respective hypotheses. Moreover, a six sigma approach is also integrated to validate the success of MS population through the learning environment of online lectures.

Diversity in Contemporary Feminism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Diversity in Contemporary Feminism - Essay Example The works reflect the priorities and opinions of four feminist authors, revealing some consistent ideas of and goals for the feminist movement, yet also manifesting different perspectives on how feminist ideology can and should be defined and realized. To begin, a recurrent thread in, and indeed the prominent thrust of all four readings, is the need to challenge and undermine the heterosexual value system embedded in our society. In "Lesbian Ethics," Sarah Hoagland succinctly explains heterosexualism as a "way of living" that accepts a balance between men "dominating and de-skilling women" and women "consequently valuing an ethics of dependence" (452). As such, men are always in the role of either protector or predator, thereby creating a self-perpetuating system of men preying on women, the victims, who thus require the protection of men (Hoagland 452-53). And, the woman who bravely attempts to break this vicious pattern by refusing to play the feminine role, such as the active feminist, is perceived as having surrendered her need for protection, thereby subjecting herself to the attacks of her predators (Hoagland 453-54). Such women suffer from a "vocabulary of abuse" (Ruddick 450) and erroneous depictions that not only indict t heir judgment and character (Ruddick 450), but threaten their physical safety as well (Hoagland 453-54). From this heterosexual value system arises a "concept of 'woman'" (Hoagland 456) that these four feminists recognize as an absolute deterrent to their ideas and goals. According to Hoagland, our current perceptions lack an awareness of female power, an understanding of the violence that women as a group suffer, and a sense of female resistance to male domination (457). It is this concept, depicting women as breeding sex objects with male-defined identities and values, that Hoagland seeks to destroy (458-60). Similarly, in "Feminism and the Environment: An Overview of the Issues," Karen J. Warren discusses theories of how the conceptualization of women and nature accounts for the historical domination of both (497). Warren recognizes that certain theorists have espoused the belief that our society perceives that which is associated with emotion, women and nature as inferior to that which is associated with rationality and men (497). Moreover, the tendency to discuss nature in terms that are both female and dominating - "[n]ature is raped, mastered, conquered, controlled, mined," "[v]irgin timber is felled," "[f]ertile soil is tilled," and unproducing land is "barren" - has given rise to an "oppressive conceptual framework" that has effected and perpetuated societal domination of women and nature by men (Warren 497, 501). The relevance of this same, oppressive concept of woman and its impact on the development of feminist theory is recognized and expanded by Bell Hooks in "Black Women: Shaping Feminist Theory." For Hooks, though, the formation of feminist ideology and its definition of "woman," originally dominated and skewed by white feminists who had more access to education, funds, and an audience than did black women, does not reflect the realities of the struggles and oppressions prevalent in society today (487). Indeed, according to Hooks, white women tend to maintain and perpetuate the

Ethical Behavior Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Ethical Behavior - Essay Example This is especially so by being the origin of all the wrong doings of all the rest. By following the logic of wrong doings, the moment one puts another individual in a position that compromises his or her beliefs morally and logically, one turn into the evil person. This is as is the case with the creation story, in which the tempter was the devil asking Eve to participate in wrongdoing (John, 2010). Therefore, in tempting his friends and acquaintances for exam papers, she is the most unethical person. This is despite the comments given by the acquaintances, which appear to be measures at stopping her from cheating in the exam, especially with Biff. The real deal comes with Rex who shows complete corruption of morality by both lying and extorting money from Babbs, which still appears as a creation of Babbs. However, it appears that Rex’s source of unethical behavior is his greed and innate desire to deceive, or offer punishment to Babbs for not taking her time to do that which is required of her, attend lessons and submit her own work on ethics. On the other hand, the professor’s lack of ethics is not dependent on Babb’s behavior on the exam but is based on his own bias. In relation to this, the professor is expected to be an individual of high moral standing, where they observe honesty, fairness and pay attention to cheating students, as well as respect their position in power (Friedman et al, 2005). However, professor Wind plenty only portrays his ethics with a bias by punishing Babbs appropriately and sparing another who cheats right before his eyes. This shows his lack of ethics as the concept of right and wrong is not based on relativity, but rather on black and white truth and untruth. Therefore, the professor offers partial justice by letting the student with disability go but still punishes Babbs. This is an extreme case of lack of ethics on the professors side, as it shows how easily swayed he is by explanation or reasons he

Planning Project of PepsiCo in the United Kingdom Assignment

Planning Project of PepsiCo in the United Kingdom - Assignment Example To achieve this purpose, the chosen company is PepsiCo. Inc. which manufactures and markets diverse brands. The origin of Pepsi Cola was traced from the talent of Caleb Bradham, a New Bern, North Carolina pharmacist more than 120 years ago. Together with Coca-Cola, these two soft drinks manufacturer has revolutionized the beverage industry through their concoction of carbonated soft drinks (CDS), defined by Canadean (2010) as beverages that include sweetened, non-alcoholic drinks containing carbon dioxide (par. 1). The British Soft Drinks Association (BSDA) (2010) more comprehensively defined carbonates as â€Å"ready to drink including draught dispense; home dispense; regular including sparkling juice; low calorie and zero calorie; cola; lemon including lemonade; lemon-lime; mixers including tonic and bitter drinks; orange; shandy; others including other carbonated fruit flavours, energy drinks, sparkling flavoured water, health drinks and herbal drinks† (British Soft Drinks Association (BSDA) 2010, 9). In the UK, PepsiCo. started operations in 1953 and the Pepsi Max brand was firs t marketed in 1993 (PepsiCo UK & Ireland 2011). believe we should be known not just for the financial results we generate but also for the imprint we leave on society as a whole† (PepsiCo UK & Ireland 2011). To achieve this purpose, the organization designed and implemented strategies that focus on healthier products, protecting the environment, and providing holistic support for personal and professional growth for their people. As such, PepsiCo UK aims to transform their core business into providing products with potential health benefits and ensure that they would be catalysts of change in UK’s food and beverage industry (PepsiCo UK & Ireland 2011). Accordingly, the future thrusts of the organization are to lead in the promotion of healthy products by producing and delivering balanced amounts of fruit, vegetables, wholegrain, fiber, and other positive nutrients and food groups  (PepsiCo UK & Ireland 2011).

The Emergent Threat of Bio-Terrorism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

The Emergent Threat of Bio-Terrorism - Essay Example This paper weighs the pros and cons on whether al Qaeda or any other international terrorist group indeed has the motivation and capability to develop and use bio-weapons to carry out their missions of terror against the civilized world. If biological weapons represent the new threat to world peace and security that it is feared to be, we need to examine the desire and capability of authorities to deal with this yet to be experienced challenge to existing health and defense systems. Together with chemical and nuclear weapons, modern biological weapons are commonly classified as weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and have been used as such on many occasions in the past. Biochemical weapons may appeal to terrorists for three major reasons: 1) they are easier and cheaper to acquire than nuclear devices and cause more casualties; 2) their effects on target population are hard to detect and counter; and 3) the threat of their use causes fear, which element the terrorists love most (Danitz, 1998, p. 3). The use of bio-weapons actually goes back to the siege warfare in Medieval Ages, among which was the recorded attempt to spread disease through dead horses at northern France in 1340. In 1346, cadavers of plague victims were dumped on the defenders at Caffa in Crimea, while human and animal manure was used at Karlstein in Bohemia in 1422. The most successful was said to be the bio-attack at Caffa, where a large number of the defenders came down with the Bubonic plague (Wheelis, 2002, p. 12). On the American frontier, some of the disease outbreaks between the 18th and early 20th centuries might have been deliberately instigated (Fenn, 2000). The best documented of those early bio-attacks took place at Fort Pitt in Pennsylvania at the height of the Pontiac rebellion in 1763, when British troops gifted the Fort Pitt defenders with blankets and handkerchiefs from smallpox patients. The latter-day known incident of that nature happened between 1957 and 1965 when land speculators and corrupt agents of the Brazilian Indian Protective Service introduced smallpox, measles, flu and tuberculosis into the American Indians on the Amazonian basin. For smallpox, fomites were used and for the other diseases the culprits had the sick whites mixed with tribe members (Wheelis, 2002, p. 13). War records starting from the American Revolutionary War to the Cold War era also reveal the extensive use of bio-weapons. There was the story of how British troops attacked the Continental Army in Boston and Quebec on several occasions with smallpox by driving infected civilians into the enemy fold. In World War I, the Germans waged a covert bio-attack by having secret agents inject anthrax and glanders cultures into farm animals penned for shipment to Allied countries. Japan resorted to the same tactic during World War II mostly against the Chinese. In the 1942 Chekiang campaign, for example, retreating Japanese agents poisoned wells, sprayed the ground behind them with microbial cultures and left infected foodstuff for the

Mathematics of Finance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Mathematics of Finance - Essay Example The potential of real option analysis is like Discounted Cash Flows (DCF), and other investment analysis techniques is simply another tool. The two techniques are complementary. Management should employ both methods in the analysis of potential investments and gather information from both (Amram, 2000). Further, we must consider a real option analysis is not ordinarily a simple technique. With it comes an amount of technical comfort required on the part of the analyst in order to implement the technique correctly. Like most techniques derived from financial theory, it is easily abused. Those who will utilize the information provided by real option analysis need training in the proper interpretation of its results (Eiteman, 2007). DCF analysis, defined as the process of valuing capital budgeting projects by discounting their future expected cash flows. DCF framework, defined as the valuing of an asset by discounting its expected future cash flows at some discount rate. Real option analysis is gaining in use and popularity. Senior management prefers this option because it has two sequences of a project. It describes the cash inflows and out flows at different times. Usually this is the way that management sees projects unfold. Real option analysis values management by its very nature.

Corporate Social Responsibility Essay Example for Free

Corporate Social Responsibility Essay Definition:- [Carroll, 1979; 2008, 500]: The social responsibility of business encompasses the economic, legal, ethical and discretionary expectations that a society has of organizations at a given point in time. EU Definition of CSR: A concept whereby companies integrate social and environmental concerns in their business operations and in their interaction with their stakeholders on a voluntary basis. The World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD): Corporate Social Responsibility is the continuing commitment by business to behave ethically and contribute to economic development while improving the quality of life of the workforce and their families as well as of the local community and society at large Concept:- Corporate Social Responsibility is a management concept whereby companies integrate social and environmental concerns in their business operations and interactions with their stakeholders. CSR is generally understood as being the way through which a company achieves a balance of economic, environmental and social imperatives (â€Å"Triple-Bottom-Line- Approach†), while at the same time addressing the expectations of shareholders and stakeholders. In this sense it is important to draw a distinction between CSR, which can be a strategic business management concept, and charity, sponsorships or philanthropy. Even though the latter can also make a valuable contribution to poverty reduction, will directly enhance the reputation of a company and strengthen its brand, the concept of CSR clearly goes beyond that. The Pyramid of CSR One of the most popular concepts of CSR was developed by Archie Carroll in the early 1990s. It is known as the pyramid of CSR. The pyramid suggests that CSR is composed by 4 different kinds of social responsibility. These responsibilities are economic, legal, ethical and philanthropic. Caroll considers them to be basic economic responsibilities. The aim of economic responsibility is to provide goods and services for consumers and to gain profit out of it. (Crane, Matten, Spence, 2008, p. 62) Due to capitalism the idea of profit transformed into the extent of maximizing profits upon all other aspects. Society sanctioned businesses for their idea of maximizing profits and in this context governments legislated ground rules according to which businesses must operate. The rules indicated companies to comply with regulations and to fulfill legal obligations. Even though norms like fairness and justice are well ordered in economic and legal responsibility, ethical responsibility goes beyond the law and regulations. It embodies values, norms and expectations from stakeholders, like consumers, employees and a shareholder, for what they believe is fair and right. For a company ethical components of CSR embrace acting morally and ethically and going further than compliance with laws and regulations. (Caroll, 1991) However, ethical responsibility is intertwined with the legal conception and is pushing toward more regulations and higher expectations. The last and smallest layer of the pyramid is philanthropic responsibility. Philanthropic responsibility means for the company to be a good corporate citizen. Taking this challenge into account the company has to contribute to arts, education and the community and, therefore, endorse human welfare or goodwill. Philanthropic responsibility is sometimes put on the same level as ethical. However, the difference is that it is not seen as unethical behavior if businesses do not contribute their money to humanitarian programs.

Total Quality Management And Excellence Management Essay

Total Quality Management And Excellence Management Essay Over the last two decades organisations have witnessed great variations in markets, tremendous competition, rapid globalisation and economic turbulence. With customers becoming more demanding, satisfaction of customers has taken priority in running a successful business (Porter and Tanner, 2004). As a result, organisations have embraced a range of quality initiatives into every conceivable aspect of organisational work (Wilkinson and Willmott, 1995). In the older sense, Jurans edited work [2] on A History of Managing for Quality relates quality to meeting the requirements of a person obtaining a product or receiving a service. In a wider sense, Fisher and Nair(2006), refer toQuality as the way an enterprise goes about its business, inspired by a theory that acts as a guiding principle for behaviour and informed by the knowledge and knowhow needed to make it occur. In an attempt to survive competition and sustain a competitive advantage, many firms have witnessed the implementation of various quality management systems and standards like the ISO9000, the growth of total quality management(TQM), Business Process Re-engineering(BPR), business excellence, US Baldrige Model, European Foundation of Quality Management (EFQM), lean thinking, Six Sigma etc.,(Porter and Tanner, 2004). What is TQM? Total Quality Management (TQM) has been on the agenda for a very long time. The concept of TQM has origins in the 1920s where product quality control was dealt with the application of statistical theory. Moving forward, the concepts developed in Japan in the 40s and 50s piloted by Americans, like Deming, Juran and Feigenbaum who gave a broader picture beyond quality of products to quality across the organisation which pioneered the beginning of TQM (DTI). TQM is an approach aimed at improving quality to establish effectiveness and efficiency across the firm. It defines ways of planning and organizing every activity associating it to every member at every level of the organization. (Oakland, 2003). Thus, despite the comprehensiveness and fullness of the TQM framework, there seems to be a decline in interest. This essay aims at critically analysing and discussing two works (a book by Wilkinson, Willmott (1995) and an article from Dale et-al (2000)) and evaluating the arguments stated i n them with respect to the emergence of more recent so-called Excellence Frameworks. This leads us to another question. What is excellence? With the evolution of Quality awards, principles of continuous improvement and organisational performance improvement became top priorities. The model devised by the European Foundation of Quality Management (EFQM), supporting the European Quality Award offers a greater focus on business results and hence, Business/organisational Excellence is generally associated to EFQM(Poter and Tanner). The core themes of excellence are heavily influenced by TQM principles. These forms a management system stresses on leadership for attaining quality by formulating policies strategies for developing and managing personnel in order to implement process with a customer focus to achieve excellence in business results. The article by Dale et-al (2000) essentially discusses about the fallen star image of TQM. It highlights the tampering of TQM models to develop excellence frameworks like EFQM and MBNQA. Dale et-al (2000) dismiss the new models for building fads and bringing about futile cosmetic and peripheral changes to the excellence models. The authors also critique the emphasis on point-scoring system which is drawing focus away from the quintessence of quality management and only aim to win quality or excellence awards. The article draws similarities between the key ingredients of TQM philosophy and the principles of excellence. It challenges that excellence is essentialy only a replacement to words like quality and TQM. However, Adebanjo(2000) has a different view about the shift of focus from TQM to Excellence Models and asserts that they both complement each other. He maintains that quality never actually died. While Dale et-al (2000) attributes the failure of TQM to managers, Deming (1986) argues that poor leadership is the cause for poor performance. Adebanjo(1997) discusses this further stating that the failure is partly because managers are often hard to convince, didnt have a clear understanding, demonstrated resistance or viewed TQM as a responsibility of the quality departments . The failure rate of TQM was as high as 75% (Cao et-al, 2000). Fisher (1995) emphasises that TQM doesnt really help everyone, unless the commitment to TQM is across the organisation which is difficult to attain. The introduction of other models like TQMEX, MBNQA further support the view that excellence models are the necessary and sufficient route towards business excellence Ho(). But the overshadowing of TQM by glamorous excellence models doesnt exactly translate into quality performance (Dale et-al, 2000). In terms of the link between excellence models and performance, MBNQA was criticised for the reasons like: winning rewards involves high resource commitments and expense, failure to lead to superior quality standards and winning these certifications does not necessarily result in improved results. Its quite difficult to find companies with good bottom-line results and good quality initiatives (Zairi,Oakland1994). Despite the apparent confusion of terms- TQM, excellence, continuous improvement- all these eventually mean one thing making things better. The article by Wilkinson, Willmott (1995) also suggests that the fluid meanings assigned to quality initiatives make it elusive. In the attempt to introduce quality into manufacturing and service deliveries, quality management techniques like quality control, quality circles and (more holistically) TQM have been sought. TQM has also been critiqued for paying more attention to processes, procedures and policies of the business with little focus on people management, support and culture (Wilkinson, 1991). Rees (1993) also highlights this issue stating that there is little detail interms of how employees perceive TQM. Quality initiatives do not essentially give employees collective sense of objectives, instead it bounds them to procedures and goals defined by the managers who expect them to deliver performance based on the objectives laid down for every job role. A balance between the hard and soft approaches of TQM philosophy seems to be reconsidered and reviewed in recent times. Oakla nd (199), emphasises the importance of motivation and quality required to serve both internal and external customers. TQM strives to introduce quality into every aspect of the business. Wilson-Willmott (1995) also argue that TQM is not directly associated to work-design or employee empowerment and instead follows an iron-clad hierarchal structure. Oakland(2004) stresses on the need for effective communication and leadership for the development and accountability of all employees to implement TQM philosophies successfully. The article also draws attention on the importance of culture on to support Quality Management. Employees associated with strong organisation culture have clarity of their job roles. Thus the culture-strategy fit should hold good for any philosophy to be implemented. Irani(2004) highlights the relationship among culture, quality, and competitiveness. Sluti et al. (1995),studies indicate that corporate culture contributes to quality and performance, but there is alw ays an element of doubt about the level of organisational commitment that is required for TQM implementation. Oaklands(2003) addresses this through a modified TQM-framework for achieving high quality performance using business excellence approach, through people, planning and processes with the soft outcomes of culture, communication and commitment. Wilkinson-Wilmott(1995) also discuss the contributions of various authors. To highlight a few, Stephen Hill relates effective implementation of TQM to business productivity, reduced wastage, better decision-making and sustainable competitive advantage . To develop a rounded approval of TQM, he brings up the subject of social effects of TQM, and its adoption or non-adoption to de-staffing. Walsh challenges the implementation of TQM in service sector because of the difficulty involved in measuring quality as per monitoring levels of customer satisfaction. Webb and Munro highlight the managerial authoritarianism and challenges the effectiveness of the participative scenario during economic slump. McArdle et-al takes this further stating how power-centred participation was replaced by task-centred forms of involvement over the years. Dawson challenges the culture improves commitment aspect of TQM and its success in countries with cultural-pluralism. Kerfoot Knights discuss empowerment a nd assumptions about employee behaviour and argue that control over employees is a consequence of the inconsistency of engineering-like model of firms than that of TQM. Both articles provide strong views on the subject of quality management. In order to evaluate how different TQM actually is from the more recent models, this essay aims to compare and contrast it with the Excellence Frameworks, Lean and Six-Sigma programmes. In the 1980s, the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award started gaining popularity. This aimed at identifying US companies that have achieved quality excellence. The framework focuses on customer and market-driven excellence to achieve business results. It focuses on harnessing te talents of employees through effective leadership and management. (Oakland, 2004). The EFQM is a model developed in Europe and it recognises the need to improve processes by involving people and continuous improvement of processes. (Oakland, 2004). Ho(), also advocates a need for an integrated approach to support the process of continuous improvement through the companys commitment to managing by quality and proposed the TQMEX model that encompasses 5-S, BPR, QCC, ISO 9000 and TPM, thus forming a basis for company-wide TQM implementation. Traditional TQM approaches and excellence models are based on rational paradigms, where traditional and normative, research data, includes survey responses associated with deductive theory and testing.(McAdam et-al, 2006). To address complex socio-political events and phenomena, a strategic TQM has been developed representing the dynamic nature of business and environment. Quality initiatives date back to after World War-II and the bombings in Japan. Unable to imitate the US practice of manufacturing in masses due to limited capital, Toyota developed a Production System, minimising waste across its operations, a technique now known as Lean Manufacturing. Lean Manufacturing overlaps TQM significantly. The TQM process orientation eventually leads to almost the same results as lean manufacturing. But, TQM starts with quality which may or may not be the most critical area or the area that produces quickest results. http://www.strategosinc.com/tqm_benefits_0.htm A more recent model gaining favour in industries is Six-Sigma. Its a model developed by Motorola. Motorola was also cited as the first winner of MBNQA in 1988. Six-sigma is efficient, often statistical, techniques are used in a systematic way to reduce variation and improve processes and there is a focus on results including customer-related ones that lead to enhanced marketplace performance and hence improved bottom-line financial results. (Klefsjo ¨ et al. 2001). Mikel Harry[1], developer the Six Sigma program at Motorola, has defined Six Sigma as a disciplined method of using extremely rigorous data gathering and statistical analysis to pinpoint sources of errors and ways of eliminating them. and is all about improving customer and business results by linking the tactical with the strategic. The improvement model follows DMAIC and has 5 phases as illustrated below: C:UsersuserDesktopUntitled.jpg Six-sigma is a subset of TQM and not an alternative to TQM. It is a methodology within TQM which also considers the dynamic nature of the management system (Klefsjo ¨ et al. 2001).In contrast to TQM, six-sigma aims at delivering breakthrough tangible benefits in the short-term and doesnt focus on a step-by-step improvement(Oakland, 2004). Both excellence models and six-sigma can complement eachother where the former baselines the phase for improvement and the latter attains excellence through delivering breakthrough strategy, leadership, learning, innovation, customer-market-business-focus and continuous reinforcement. (Oakland, 2004). Demand for Lean has surpassed six sigma by almost 35%. This indicates that most companies are looking at Lean techniques to face the challenges of the economic slump. (Avery Point Group,2010) To conclude, heres a warning: TQM may not be the in-thing for most organisations anymore. But it is here to stay. As firms gear themselves up to rapid advancements interms of its operations and information management and to meet customer needs, there will always be a challenge to make products or deliver services faster through a reliable system. That kind of a system can be established only by getting the basic TQM philosophies right. The underlying objective is to make things better, both for the customers and the organization. The means of achieving this may slightly vary through quality or excellence models. However, it is all about Do the right things right the first time, every time. . http://qualitytricks.wordpress.com/2006/10/26/introduction-and-implementation-of-total-quality-management-tqm/ Ans2: IMPLEMENTING BUSINESS EXCELLENCE IN THE HOTEL INDUSTRY: This essay particularly focuses on implementing BE framework in the hotel industry which is a service industry. To attain customer satisfaction and excellence in an industry, various models ranging from EFQM, Lean, Six-Sigma, TQM could be implemented. However, among the available models, this essay proposes to use the model devised by EFQM, to analyse the quality perspective of both management and customers of the Tristar Group, a chain of 3-star hotels. Oaklands (1999) Total Organisational Excellence (TOE) framework for performance-based measurement embraces all areas like strategic planning, process analysis, self-assessment, benchmarking measurement, people, teamwork, and continuous-improvement (Oakland, 1999). While EFQM helps benchmark core processes for a limited period in time and defines current standing, TOE focuses on continuous improvement for achieving organisational excellence. Every sector exists in a highly competitive market. Succeess is largely dependent on delighting customers important (Irani,2004). In order to understand the how the quality frameworks can be implemented in Hotel Tristar, it is primarily important to understand the customers and their needs with respect to Tristar. Who are our customers? The hotel must recognise the needs of all its clients the value of the guest as a paying customer; the importance of its employees as internal customers; the expectations of the local community as an environment conscious corporate citizen and its responsibility to the owners and operators as a producer of high profit margins with an all round positive image. The key external customers are from the commercial,corporate and M.I.C.E((Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, Events) segments.. Tristar also has customers on business and leisure travel from international and domestic markets. The target market is currently divided as follows: What do our customers want? Customers desire better quality services, but it is always difficult to reaching an agreement on the conformance to specification, mainly because measuring quality in the service sector isnt easy (Wilkinson,Willmott,1995). However, to state a few basic services any hotel is expected to provide: Good value for money, reliability and efficiency High standards in terms of its facilities and pricing. Quality personal service, home-like experience and on-time delivery of services. Good IT systems to make reservations and bookings quick and easy. A luxurious, pleasing environment to relax or conduct their business. Complimentary breakfasts and free in-room wireless internet. Customers treated with basic courteousness, kept informed and not to be passed around Effective feedback and suggestion systems. Conduct responsible business, both on the social and environmental fronts. The Hotels success in the current environment will depend on corporate contract business, tourism and customer loyalty to the brand. To address this Oaklands (1999) framework for TOE helps the organisation achieve business excellence by implementing the following steps. 1. The effectiveness of an organisation depends on efficient leadership and commitment from the people to perform their roles aimed at moving towards common goals and objectives. TOE involves comprehensive planning for gaining competitiveness through people management and employee involvement. The top management must demonstrate commitment to improvement and leadership through supervision, training and process management. There must also exist a shared motive of need for change to attain excellence among the top management and the stakeholders of Tristar. 2. The next step involves developing a clear strategy for implementation. The vision describes the strategic intent of the organisations existence. Hotel Tristars vision involves commitment to creating extraordinary customer value by ensuring quality and responsiveness of customer services. The mission statement is used to communicate this vision for the organisation of where it is going. Tristars mission is dedicated to provide hospitality service through motivated human resources and inspired leadership. The goal to ensure financial strength and sustainable growth can be achieved by focusing on domestic and international markets through innovation and technology and Tristar must strive to create value for owners and shareholders and operate as an environment conscious corporate citizen. 3. The next step is identifying critical success factors (CSFs). CSFs are what must the organisation accomplished to achieve the above mission The CSFs for Hotel Tristar can be recognised as: Positioning and guest profile Site and location On-time and Quality customer service Motivated and skilled staff/ efficient management Quality suppliers and effective distribution channels Identification of potential business opportunities and markets 4. The Key Performance Indicators support the mission and CSIs to help translate the directional statements to clear targets. They help monitor progress and the KPIs for Hotel Tristar can be identified as: Yield Management and Differential pricing Job rotation and training for timely delivery of services Brand Recognition and marketing methods Optimal resource utilisation and cost effectiveness 5. The next step is understanding the core processes. The top management team identify the action plan on how the organisation must institutionalise the mission and meet its CSF. For Hotel Tristar, the core process can be identified as: Revenue Wealth Management Process for the operations Reservation process: from the time a guest makes a booking until they arrive at their room. Asset Management Process for brand extension Event management process: from the time the organizers book the banquet/conference room to the completion of the event. Selection and Recruitment process Advertising and Brand promotion process Each of these processes could have a sponsor from the management team. The process sponsorship can be owned up by the existing Managing Director, Financial Controller, HR Manager, COO and CEO of the Hotel. 6. This step involves breaking down the core process into sub-processes, tasks and activities and formulating improvement teams. To illustrate the breakdown of a CSF to individual task through an example: CSF: On-time and Quality customer service KPI: Job rotation and training for timely delivery of services Core- Process: The event management process, from the time the organizers book the banquet/conference room to the completion of the event. Sub- Process: Develop an event concept and determine the feasibility Activity: Formulate budget and monitor finance Task: Prepare a chart to track progress of the event 7. The people and processes identified must be aligned to integrate excellence into business strategy. This is through a policy deployment or goal translation process. For Tristar, the top team must study the customer preferences to understand how the goal of creating quality customer service can be achieved. Once the core processes and the sub-processes are identified, they must be successfully analysed to lay foundation for systems and procedures. A process classification framework for a generic view of the business process is documented for systematic development of mapping and flowcharting the processes. The core-processes need to be self-assessed and benchmarked. The EFQM framework is used to self-asses Tristar to figure out what the hotel is good or bad at and where there is a need for improvement. EFQM Model Implementation: The European quality model highlights the significant strengths and weaknesses and the relationship among people, processes and outcomes. The model represented in Figure 2, People and customer satisfaction and positive impact on society provide a competitive advantage. There are nine factors to evaluate the level of excellence of a company, The primary problem is related to the first element in the model, that is leadership. The management and directors showed very little interest in quality management initiatives. This absence of commitment and lack of conviction results in failure to recognise good performance, inability to efficiently guide culture changes, less interaction with customers and suppliers, little involvement in running a sustainable and responsible business. This problem also raises concerns at the strategic level in the policies strategy element of the model. The external strategic analysis explains problems in the context of the hospitality industry. The challenges relate to the changing patterns in travel tourism during recession. The decline in business travelling and the re-location of the airport in Hyderabad have hit the business hard. Internal strategic analysis highlights problems of incorporating very little total quality measures into policies strategies. Lack of audits and process plans d o not support continuous improvement. Personnel Management is another key element in hotel industry. The companies HR policies, training and retention are factors that determine successful implementation of any TQM project. Hotel Tristar has staff on temporary or contract basis. This hinders effective implementation of training activities and results in low employee commitment and motivation. Resource Management through optimization of technical, financial, infrastructural resources should generate cost and quality benefits. However, Hotel Tristar lacks effective asset management system to improve return on capital employed and reduce cash-flow volatility. Processes should be continually reviewed and redesigned for successful implementation of quality policies aimed at customer satisfaction. Effective customer feedback system does not exist, thus making it impossible to assess the existing quality of services provided to various customers (rooms, banquets, restaurants and leisure gu ests). Quality does not necessarily mean luxury. Improvement programs aimed at services that provide value for money should be top priority during the recession period. The social impact with regard to responsible trading is largely emphasised in the hospitality industry. CSR activities and eco-hospitality are gaining popularity and Hotel Tristar has a long way to go at implementing sustainable and environmental friendly practices aimed at energy conservation, waste management etc., Economic results have shown a dip in ROCE and steady decrease in productivity. Thus, this model highlights a serious problem of lack of coordination of various operations and initiatives that run independently without synergy therefore impeding continuous improvement. (1) After the identification of the potential areas of improvement, the next step involves defining improvement opportunities and prioritizing the actions needed. This requires effective use of tools and techniques by the workforce. The employee commitment and involvement is attained through effective performance management systems implemented by the management team. This involves clarifying roles, providing training, developing action plans and setting targets. Teamwork is key in hospitality industry. Besides demonstrating leadership and commitment, the pioneers of TOE must also be proactive in visualizing ideal processes and competent in the mechanics of business process re-engineering. For Tristar, this must be focussed on identifying prospective clients in the right sectors, understand their needs, and implement processes to service these needs by involving the people. Potential problems with implementation: Implementing changes in the organisation can potentially face the following problems: 1. Employee resistance to change: Change efforts usually experience human resistance. There are many reasons for employees to resist change. These could range from a desire not to lose something of value, a fear of making mistakes, risk-averse, a misinterpretation of the change and its benefits and implications, a belief that the change does not add value to the organization or a general low tolerance for change. 2. Lack of senior management interest and support: For implementing change of any magnitude, it is essential to clearly communicate strategies and objectives of change to all the stakeholders. Some managers view quality management as just another managerial fad or fashion (Wilkinson and Redman, 1994). Hotel Tristar lacks effective pioneers to responsibly lead this change process and confidently implement practices to achieve continuous improvement. 3. Emphasis on Short-term results: Implementing a change is a time consuming affair. It is a matter of concern that the stakeholders involved usually hold a short-termist attitude (Wilkinson and Redman, 1994). Hotel Tristar, which is classified in the luxury segment, is constantly facing demands for quicker results interms of increased cash-flows and profitability. 4. Inflexible and rigid organisation hierarchy: Tristar is a 27 year old family-run business with deep-rooted culture and inter-group relationships. Any decision making process resulting in disturbing the complex hierarchy and deviating from the traditional methods is bound to face strong resistance and confrontation. It is a challenging task to overcome traditions. This is true when employees do not see the relation between their traditions and an existing problem. (http://www.themanager.org/strategy/Change_Problems.htm) 5. Lack of individual development opportunities: High performance seeks appropriate skills and capabilities. This requires creating effective training and learning opportunities for the employees or recruitment of new labour. Tristar lacks appropriate training structure and also has a high attrition rate due to the fluid market conditions. 6. Unfavourable Market Conditions: Tristar has faced sudden plunge in its sales due to the re-location of the Airport. This has resulted in an urgent need to refocus on its target market segment to lay more emphasis on repeat customers and business customers. The changes in demographics and customer spending also pose as potential barriers to achieving competitive advantage. 7. Lack of resources and cost constraints: Inefficient management of financial resources and assets could pose some serious problems in implementing organisational excellence. According to Wilkinson et al., (1994), Quality management appears to suffer from resource limitations. Keeping up-to-date with the latest information and technology will be challenging for Tristar. During the recession, there is also a major emphasis on value for money. The training and implementation of quality management process is a costly affair. 8. Problems in measuring quality : Lack of complete and accurate information makes it difficult to convince the employees of long term gains of implementing best practices. In service industry, it is always difficult to measure quality. If customer satisfaction is used as a yardstick to measure quality, what level of satisfaction can be attributed to high quality? Plans for overcoming these problems Kotter and Schlesinger(2008) have highlighted methods for dealing with change. These are can be applied to Hotel Tristar as follows: Training and Communication: One of the most effective ways of dealing with resistance to change is by educating and clearly communicating the goals and strategies of the organisation to all the members. This will help people understand the need for change. Tristar could conduct group presentations, individual discussions, pass on reports and statements to the concerned employees, to facilitate the same. Employee Empowerment and involvement: It is highly effective to actively involve the employees with the quality management process and decision making. This gives the participants a sense of responsibility and commitment to achieving excellence. The MD could ask the 2nd and 3rd level managers to recommend changes in the current event management and reservation system of the hotel. Facilitating and Supporting: The managers could also support those who are resisting change by listening to their concerns and taking actions to address those concerns through appropriate training and development. So, Tristar could talk to the members about their re-focus strategy towards customer service and identify beforehand who would have difficulty in adjusting to new roles. Measure quality efforts: By investing in reliable and accurate information to identify effective information gathering and analysis techniques. TQM is based majorly on rational thinking and problem solving (Oakland, 1999), thus the probable best solution is to provide a balanced mix of information and creative ideas. Emphasis on long-term goals: Tirstar can overcome the short-termist attitude of the stakeholders involved by communicating the budget, financials involved and the pace of change generated. Thus, by encouraging transparency, the stakeholder gain the broader picture and understand the long-term gains of quality programmes. Trial Runs: To identify teething problems before releasing the change systems across the departments and to rectify these, as very often, first impressions are considered last impressions.

The Future as Portrayed in Brave New World :: Brave New World

The Future as Portrayed in Brave New World     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚      Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World opens in a technically advanced future world. In the beginning of this book, we see the Director of World Hatcheries lead the new hatchery students on a tour of a Conditioning Center in London where babies are produced in bottles and pre-sorted to determine which class level they will be born into. These class level range from Alpha-plus, the highest level, to Epsilon-minus, the lowest. There are no parents, and babies are conditioned from birth to learn certain behaviors. All diseases have been eliminated, and when people are feeling down, they just take soma, a wonder drug. Also, people are conditioned from birth not to love one person, so there is no marriage and most people have many lovers. There is no God; instead, Henry Ford is worshipped as the god Ford. Another accomplishment of this society is the elimination of aging. Bernard Marx has unorthodox viewpoints and is outcast as an eccentric. He likes being alone, but in this society being alone is discouraged. His isolation from society has made him very different from everyone else. His only friend is Helmholtz Watson, an accomplished intellect who writes government propaganda. Watson has grown war of life as it is, and his supervisors have him under close watch. Two co-workers are discussing Lenina Crowne, another worker, in a changing room. They act as if she were property, able to be bought and sold. Bernard is disgusted by this, so he decides to ask Lenina to go to a Savage Reservation in New Mexico. Bernard visits the Director for permission to go. The Director tells a story of when he went to a Savage Reservation with Linda, a pretty colleague. During their visit,Linda was lost, and the Director had to leave. So Bernard and Lenina go to the Savage Reservation, which is inhabited by Indians. They quickly find Linda among the Indians. At first they do not realize who she is, but she explains what happened. Linda is aged and obese. Also, Linda has a son named Jo hn who is the Director's child. John is educated and mature, having read Shakespeare (forbidden in civilization). Bernard takes the two back to London for study. Once back, Linda takes too much soma, so she falls into a coma. John is displayed by Bernard, who becomes a hero.

The Function of the Chorus in Henry V Essay -- Papers Shakespeare Essa

The Function of the Chorus in Henry V "O for a muse of fire," The Chorus introduces the start of Henry V with imagery of flames and war. Shakespeare uses the Chorus to initiate the play and summarise each act to the audience before the next one begins. He is merely a tool to avoid the audience getting too confused. The function for the chorus is merely a practical one, by summarising the plot at every available opportunity; there is little chance for confusion, even if the audience do have to use their imagination. But, we must ask ourselves, if this was Shakespeare's only reason for including the Chorus, why does he not use a similar device in his other plays? Surely in all of his plays the audience have to imagine the setting (the stage of the globe was set in the round, and so had no room for large props and scenery), and many of his plays have more complex plots than this one, so why do we need the Chorus? The answer is the Chorus puts across a very clear view of warfare and Henry's kingship. It is a very romantic, idealised view, which uses over-zealous language, such as "two mighty monarchies" to create a strong glorified impact on the audience. They are building up the audience's expectations of this to be a mighty, glorious play. The use of the imagery of flames and fire repeats itself throughout the Chorus's scenes. "O for a muse of fire" is the very first line, which immediately conjures up a grand image. Flames represent war, but are also a typical representation of courage and bravery. When the Chorus says, "the youth of England are on fire," it imposes upon the audience the idea of keen anticipation and excit... ...nch of salt and are not really to be trusted. Certain productions of Henry V do glorify war, for example Laurence Olivier's production in the 1940's painted a beautiful, majestic picture of war, However after analysing the role of the Chorus in the play, I do not believe this play is a glorification of warfare. Henry's leadership is romanticised in the play considerably more than the idea of warfare. Productions such as Kenneth Brannagh's creation paint a far more realistic view of war, as a bloody, filthy affair. This is more what I feel the subtext of the play is. War is not really idealised in this play, it can be taken as being glorified, but because of Shakespeare's use of the structure of the play, and the Chorus's propaganda fabrications, the character of the Chorus does not in any way add to this glorification.

State Of The Union Address Essay :: essays research papers

State of the Union Address Essay President Clinton has declared that "the enemy of our time is inaction," pledging to forge bipartisan agreements on a balanced budget and campaign finance reform within months, and to lead a "national crusade" to improve education by the turn of the century. Education, Clinton vowed, would be his "number-one priority for the next four years," and he devoted the longest portion of his address to this. He appealed for "national standards" to improve student performance and pledged to promote such standards with voluntary tests prepared by the federal government. Most of the ideas Clinton presented last night first appeared as poll- tested proposals in his reelection campaign last fall: expanding the 1993 "Family and Medical Leave Act" to include time off from work for parent-teacher conferences; school curfews; and tax credits and deductions to subsidize college education. But he presented these ideas using more encompassing and urgent language than before. "We face no imminent threat, but we do have an enemy: The enemy of our time is inaction," Clinton declared at the start of his speech. He finished, as he did in last month's address, by invoking the symbolism that the nation is about to pass into a new millennium. "We don't have a moment to waste," he said. "Tomorrow, there will be just over 1,000 days until the year 2000. . . . One thousand days to work together." The speech proved shorter than predicted and far more organized and disciplined than some of his previous appearances before Congress. The annual speeches to Congress have served as markers of Clinton's ideological migration. In 1993, he announced that government must do more and unveiled a raft of big- government proposals, including a $30 billion "stimulus package" that was vastly more expensive than any single proposal he offered last night.

Collective unconscious Essay

Carl Jung was born in Kesswyl, Thurgau, Switzerland on July 26, 1875. His father was kind but weak, while his mother was an insecure woman but with two personalities: (a) kind and loving (b) harsh and aloof. Jung was lonely at childhood making him introvert. In 1906 he published The Psychology of Dementia Praecox, a psychoanalytic treatment of schizophrenia. He first met Freud in 1907 and Freud regarded Jung as his son and they travelled and worked together that lasted until 1913. Freud and Jung had an argument that ended their friendship. Freud considered it as the â€Å"Great Loss†. Jung is the first president of International Psychoanalytic Society. Jung established his own school of psychology named â€Å"Analytical Psychology†. Jung begun the structure of personality and made the ego, personal unconscious and the collective unconscious. Dynamics of Personality Carl Jung conceived that the personality or psyche as being a partially closed energy system. Energy from the outside sources must be added into the system and the system will only be perfect and stabilized if it is completely closed. He called psychic energy as the energy by which the work of personality is performed. Psyche – refers to all psychological processes: thoughts, feelings, sensations, wishes, etc. It is also another term for personality. Principle of Equivalence – states that if a particular value weakens the sum of the energy represented by the value will not be lost from the psyche but will reappear in a new value. Principle of Entropy – states that the distribution of energy in the psyche seeks equilibrium and balance. Structure of Personality. 1. Ego – it is one’s conscious mind. It serves as the organized conscious mediator between the person and reality especially by functioning both in the perception of and adaptation to reality. 2. Personal unconscious – the material in the personal unconscious comes from the individual’s past. It consist f experiences that was once conscious but have been repressed. 3. Collective unconscious – is the part of the collective psyche that is unconscious. It is the storehouse of latent memory traces inherited from one’s ancestral past. Archetypes – it is the universal thought form or predisposition to respond to the world in a certain way. It emphasizes potentialities; it represents different potential ways in which we may express our humanities. The Self – it represents the unity of all parts of the personality. It is the central archetype. Self Ultimate unity of personality (the central archetype) Persona Mask or Social Role Shadow Animal instincts or the opposite of Persona Anima Feminine side of male psyche Animus Masculine side of the female psyche. The Persona – refers to the social role that one assumes in society. It is a mask that one wears to adjust to the demands of society. The Shadow – encompasses those unsocial thoughts, feelings and behaviours that we potentially posses and other characteristics that we do not want to accept. The Anima – feminine side of the male psyche. The Animus – masculine side of the female psyche. Word association – a test used by Jung to detect complexes. The test is composed of a list of words; as each word is presented, the patient responds with the first word that comes to his or her mind. Complexes – an organized group of thoughts, feelings and memories about a particular concept that has power to draw new ideas into it and interpret them accordingly. Basic Attitudes Extroverted attitude: a standpoint characterized by an outward flowing of personal energy — an interest in events, in people and things, a relationship with them, and a dependence on them. Introverted attitude: characterized by an inward flowing of personal energy—a withdrawal concentrating on subjective factors. The Four Functions Thinking – gives meaning and understanding; actions are a result of an intellectually considered motive; life is based on principles. Feeling – a rational function that weighs, values, and attaches a proper value to things. Truth is seen as inter-subjectivity. Sensation – emphasis on perception through the senses. It is a reality functions because it yields facts and the representations of the world. Intuition – tells of future possibilities and gives information of the atmosphere which surrounds experience. Causality vs. Teleology For Jung both past and the future standpoints are important in determining the present behaviour. Teleology explains the present in terms of the future while causality explains the present in terms of the past. Individuation – process of restoring wholeness to the psyche in adult development. Transcendence Function – is capacity to unite all of the opposing trends of the several systems to work toward the perfect wholeness. Self realization – is process of development that involves individuation and transcendence. In the process, the systems of the psyche achieve their fullest most complete differentiation and harmonious blending of all aspects of a human’s total personality. Strengths Jung’s theory as the first to discuss the process of self actualization. He was the first to emphasize the importance of the future in determining human behaviour. He stressed the attainment of selfhood as the main motive in human behaviour. Weaknesses Jung’s method was not systematic and puts too much emphasis on occultism, spiritualism and religion. His theory was said to be unscientific, unclear, inconsistent and contradictory. His self actualization is only applicable to the highly intelligent, well educated and those who have plenty of time to reach a degree of individualism. Sources: Engler, B. (2006). Personality Theories: An Introduction. USA: Houghton Mifflin Company. Hall, C. , Gardner, L. (1975). Theories of Personality. USA: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Burger, J. (2008). Personality. Belmont, California, Wadsworth Clonniger, S. (2004). Theories of Personality: Understanding Persons. USA: Pearson Prentice Hall Mitchell, G. Carl Jung & Jungian Analytical Psychology. Retrieved from http://www. trans4mind. com/mind-development/jung. htmlÃ'Ž

Abortion and Women’s Rights

I believe that abortion is a woman’s right in Africa.   The decision should be up to the individual woman without any outside influences from society. (2003, Thomas) Lynn M. Thomas explains how â€Å"Social controversies for women in Africa are looming presenting a risk of death† because of the laws in the country which ban women from having abortions, in which the issue of reproductive rights in Africa is an important aspect of women’s rights and is one of the central issues in human rights debated in various regions in Africa. The problem of reproductive rights is therefore linked to larger women’s rights issues in that sex and reproduction are often used as ways of oppressing women in various cultures.   Ã‚  Ã‚   Reproductive rights therefore refer to the issue of choice and the right for women to decide for themselves – particularly with regard to their bodies and the important aspects of pregnancy and childbirth. One study on this issue states the problem in the following way. â€Å"The Right to choose is just one aspect of a much larger issue of reproductive rights – women’s right to control their own bodies and reproductive lives,† according to Smith. ( Smith, 2004) The right to abortion should be an African woman’s choice and right .   Women‘s reproductive rights and human rights in general, is the right to have an abortion, if she chooses and it essentially is a women’s prerogative.   We will discuss the right of a women and why she must   choose for herself, as well as be legally available to get an abortion in Africa.. For too many years, women who live in Africa have been giving birth to children in which many of them could not afford.   Women were never asked if they wanted to give birth to the child and never given the choice if she wanted to remain pregnant.   It was always assumed that if she got pregnant, she would carry the child without ever considering the possibility of aborting the fetus.  A women should also have the full legal right with regard to choosing to have an abortion or not and this right should not be predetermined by society for cultural reasons, but by the woman who will be responsible for carrying the fetus. Very often the issue of abortion is treated as if it is a separate aspect and not related to the context of the more â€Å"acceptable† view of the legitimate rights of women.  Ã‚   Very few people question the right of the woman when it comes to the issue of abortion but the issue of abortion on the other hand carries with it negative associations and connotations and have become a very cultural issue.   However, abortion is an issue that should, of necessity, be viewed in the larger context of women’s rights because the woman is the primary caretaker of the child, if she chooses to give birth, she is the person who must decide if the child can be properly cared for.   In impoverished nations, such as Africa, it should be especially legal since the living conditions are so bad. Reproductive rights, as the essential rights of women over their own bodies and sexuality, are not something separate from other issues relating to gender rights where the central arguments put forward in this regard, that it is the woman that must make this choice and not a society that is dominated by a cultural view on abortion. It is the woman who offers her body as a vessel necessary for the growth of the unborn child, not a nation’s, such as Africa, who doesn’t offer assistance for the growth of the child and therefore he leaves the woman to be solely responsible for the development and care for the child.   Since women are the ones who carry babies for nine months, African officials shouldn’t have a right to deny the woman the freedom to make a conscious choice, therefore, they shouldn’t be able to judge the African woman’s decision or her views concerning abortion. It should also be noted that the issue of reproductive rights for women is a complex and convoluted area of moral and ethical discourse.   However the central fact is that the history of reproductive rights is intimately linked to the history of women’s rights and cultural issues in general, which have become prominent in society.   To speak of reproductive rights is to ask if it is safe for a woman to give birth in a nation that is sometimes incapable of aiding in the growth of the child.   Reproductive rights are sometimes compromised because of a nation‘s views on the subject. The issue is debated differently from traditional point of view since many Africans believe that it is always necessary to give birth without considering the harmful effects that the pregnancy may cause.   The African woman has to make the choice of if she will carry a child for nine months of her life or if he will be solely responsible for the child’s care, both emotionally and financially since African men have often in the past, denied that they were involved in the child’s development and they certainly have never had to make the choice of carrying a child to full term. One of the central arguments in favor of the right to abortion for women is that in many societies women are subjected to horrendous oppression and discrimination in terms of sexual role and norms. (2003, WHO) One example that is often quoted is that of Africa.   Many women in African countries have no control over their sexual and reproductive rights.   If, for example a husband contracts HIV/AIDS, in some cultures the wife cannot refuse to have intercourse with him – even though this would endanger her personal health and infringe her sexual rights.   In effect many women in the world have no say or control over their bodies and sexuality. This relates to the issue of abortion in that the right to undergo an abortion is an extension of these reproductive and human rights that should be accepted as ubiquitous in all societies. Another issue that is often quoted in defense of women’s abortion rights is that, a large number of poor and working-class women die when abortion is illegal. According to the World Health Organization, 78,000 women around the world die from unsafe abortions every year. Abortion is every woman’s right. This aspect is also highlighted by the fact that the problem of deaths due to abortions usually occur among the poor, oppressed or disenfranchised women of the world. This fact does not apply only to the less developed regions of the world according to (Rosenbaum, 2001) who says, â€Å"Women in Africa are at risk.† These cases are usually among the Black or Hispanic populations. With the high poverty rate for African women , it is not unreasonable to believe that the abortion rate would be high among these races. Abortion is every woman’s right, and should be closely looked at more closely when it comes to abortions in countries who offer little or no help to the mother. In many countries in the world abortion is forbidden and can result in prison terms for women.   It is often the case that reproductive rights are denied in countries which are usually poverty stricken and with poor human rights records. Approximately 25% of the world population lives in countries with highly restrictive abortion laws, which is quite common in Africa. These are the countries where abortion is most restricted according to the law. â€Å"In Africa, women still are not allowed to obtain an abortion,† says Stuart Rosenbaum. (2001,Rosenbaum) It therefore follows that allowing women their reproductive rights and providing for legalized abortions could save suffering and lives in these counties. This rationale also applies to the high incidence of rape in many countries where abortion is illegal.   Many women suffer both physically and economically as a result of laws that do not provide for the right to abortion as a fundament human right. While there is the ethical argument that the unborn fetus also has rights, this is an aspect that must be considered in terms of the rights of the mother as well.   It must be admitted that the issue of the rights of the unborn child presents intricate and complex problems, which involves many often confusing and convoluted definitions of what constitutes life.   A comprehensive study in this regard is The House of Atreus: Abortion as a Human Rights Issue is explained, (Bohan, 1999). The author tells us that â€Å"No society that truly believes in human rights can fail to recognize the right to life of the unborn. Human rights are, by definition, rights which inhere in one simply by virtue of being a human.† Notwithstanding these arguments, the problem of abortion rights finds its proper context in the general view of cultural regards. Therefore the question of abortion rights should be seen in the context of social oppression and other forms of societal discrimination of women.   The traditional view of women is for the African woman to get pregnant, carry the baby for nine month and then to give birth without ever questioning the option of abortion.   These cultural values do not recognize the importance of women's health and well-being, and they do not ever take into consideration that the woman may die during childbirth or that she may give birth to a child who is born into poverty conditions and may die from starvation or illness. The topic of abortion should be discussed in Africa and offered as an option to the woman who has the right to choose abortion if she sees that it is necessary. The argument for abortion rights for women should be linked to the larger issues and related to aspects in society that are all interconnected.   As one study suggests, the legalization of abortion rights is closely linked to issues such as class, race and economic discrimination, especially in Africa. â€Å"Abortion should be legal in Africa†¦ because statutory bans on abortion during the twentieth century were selectively or arbitrarily enforced in ways that intentionally discriminated against poor persons and persons of color,† according to (Graber, 1996) and those rights should be given to every woman in Africa, so she can make her individual decision of if she will be giving birth to her child or getting an abortion. Graber,Mark. (1996) Rethinking Abortion, p. 6 Rosenbaum, Stuart E. (2001) Pro-Life Verses Pro Choice, The Ethics of  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Abortion, p. 173 Thomas, Lynn M. (2003) Politics of the Womb, University of California  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Press, p. 17 World Health Organization, (2003) Technical and Policy Guidance for  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Health Systems, p.6   

Five challenges of human resource manager Essay

1.2. Finding and Retaining Talent Human resource is an important resource of a company as important as capital. It could be pivotal for a company in enhancing the company’s competitive advantage. This is because the most challenging task of human resource manager is to retain recruit and the right people for a suitable position and having such people in the time they need it. Hiring of appropriate personnel is one of the key determinations in making the company difference from others. In current environment, the talent that needed by the company is limited even the labour available is usually more than the position available in the market. This make the human resource faced with challenges as they are indirectly competing with other companies’ human resource in  order to attract and retain the talent in their company. To stay outstanding from other companies, it is depending on the ability of the human resource to continuously finding new ways to maximize the level of talent in their company especially the knowledge-centric companies. But, such task is not easy to accomplish in the current competitive market. Besides that, retaining existing talent is also one of the challenging tasks for human resource manager. Again, due to the increase in competitiveness of the market, some companies may offer better benefits for the employees that they wish to hire in order to attract those employees to quit their current job and work for the new company. Hence, the human resource manager needs to put effort and find new creative ways in order to retain talent in their companies. To solve such challenges mentioned above, the human resource manager may offer a custom-made or more liberalized system that less restricted the employees. For example, decentralized the company so that those employees are empowered and allowed to give suggestion and made decisions which in turns made them feel they are appreciated by the company; add creativity to their job design so that they feel motivated to come across different challenges; offering additional benefits such bonus or voucher that is out of their expectation; providing them better working conditions by designing a healthy entertainment area (such as gym) for employees to relax themselves; and others. 1.3. Change Management One of the functions of human resource is to improve the position of business or to assist the business to achieve certain improvement. In order to carry out the improvement activities which conducted to adapt with the changing business environment, certain changes may be made to the corporation, especially technology changes. In managing such changes, the employees may resist to change as they are afraid that their responsibilities and their positions will be replaced by the new technology that is introduced into the company where such new technology may improve the efficiency and effectiveness of work. Hence, the role of human resource manager is to deal with this resistance issue. However, it is not easy to change people mind. This issue has becoming one of the biggest challenges face by the human resource manager. To reduce or overcome this issue, before the corporation implement any new changes, the human resource manager shall communicate to  the employees to explain the reasons to change and benefits that could gain through the change as well as the constrains so that the employees may have proper mental and physical preparation before they approach to the changes in the corporation. Besides that, the human resource manager may also emphasize that the technology will only assist rather than replace the employees to eliminate employees’ anxiety in facing with the changes. And, at the same time appreciate the employees so that the employees know their worth to the corporation which helps increase their sense of security of their positions. 1.4. Investigating Employee Complaints In a working environment, some frictions may occur between the employees and supervisors, which resulting in employees’ complaints. This is because the supervisor always being over-confidence with their management style that they didn’t realize that it had affected the employees. And, certain employees also do not realize own problems but always assumed the problem is come from the supervisor. The Human Resource Department is responsible to handling such conflict and employees’ complaints. They need to investigate the reasons behind the complaint and find the best solution to the problem. However, it is not easy to solve the conflict as those significant complaints usually come when it reach a critical situation. Human resource manager tends to end up coaching both sides without giving a solution due to lacking of experience or knowledge on how to deal with conflicts. In fact, improvement comes after conflict being solved. However, handling employees in the best possible way is a big challenge for the human resource manager. To solve this challenge, the human resource manager may attend certain training regarding human resource management on how to deal with conflicts in the companies. They also need to be neutral in handling the complaints, but not only listen to one party word. They should not only comfort, but to communicate with the related party regarding the problem, so that the problem may solve rather than only curb in order to prevent it happened again. 1.5. Relationship Management Human resource department is a place for employees to voice out their  concerns. Hence, human resource manager is responsible to communicate with the employees to deal with any problems or issues raised and at the same time ensuring employees’ human right is protected. To carry out these tasks effectively, human resource manager is encouraged to maintain neutral relationship with the employees to avoid discrimination, bias or unfair treatment being given to different employees. However, this had becoming a big challenge for the human resource manager because as a human being, it is not easy to remain unswervingly when a great concern, which might affecting him or someone he care, has approach to him. A good relationship management may comfort the employees and increase employees’ trust and loyalty towards the company; while a poor relationship management may fail to solve the issues raised and demotivate the employees. To improve such relationship management skill of the human resource manager, training regarding relationship management may provide to the manager so that he place the organization benefits as the priority. The human resource manager should also listen to the employees concern first without prejudice to ensure fair treatment will be given to the employees. Besides that, communication is a main element in relationship management where effective communication builds trust while poor communication causes uncertainty. Hence, the human resource manager shall improve his communication skills in order to maintain proper relationship with the employees. 1.6. Managing Cultural Diversity Managing diversity is a significant challenge that most companies do not recognized or realized. It is actually important and need to pay attention on due to the globalization that resulting in internationalization nowadays. In today environment, the labor involving many people from different cultures and this including those that come from different countries, possessed different education background, working experiences, religious beliefs, different maturity of thinking level and perception, abilities and talent, etc. The challenges of human resource manager are to manage such cultural diversity and ensuring the people can work and cooperate together harmoniously. Human resource manager also need to revise the corporate culture to ensure that it appropriate to all individuals according to different cultural sensitivity. However, the more the employees from  different cultures being hired, the more difficult the human resource manager to reconcile everything in order to comfort everyone in the company. To resolve this challenge, the human resource manager needs to maintain a good relationship with all employees. He shall understand every culture well and always communicate with the employees so that he can solve any problem raised as soon as possible before the problem being expanded and causing un-retrievable situations. 2.0. REFERENCES Human Resource Management Challenges. Villanova University. Retrieved from: http://www.villanovau.com/human-resource-management-challenges/. Accessed date: 17/6/2014 Challenges Faced by Human Resource Managers Because of Technical Changes . Jeremy C Bradley, Demand Media. Retrieved from: http://smallbusiness.chron.com/challenges-faced-human-resource-managers-because-technical-changes-61058.html. Accessed date: 17/6/2014 Major Challenges Affecting a Human Resources Manager. Jeremy C Bradley, Demand Media. Retrieved from: http://smallbusiness.chron.com/major-challenges-affecting-human-resources-manager-57675.html. Accessed date: 17/6/2014 Facing Modern HR Challenges Head-On. N Nayab, Michele McDonough. Retrieved from: http://www.brighthub.com/office/human-resources/articles/83254.aspx. Accessed Date: 21/6/2014 Major Challenges Affecting a Human Resource Manager. Ralph Heibutzi, Demand Media. Retrieved from: http://everydaylife.globalpost.com/major-challenges-affecting-human-resource-ma nager-29113.html. Accessed Date: 21/6/2014