Human Milk Versus The Motherly Instinct And Traditional...

Scientific medicine blamed mothers for both infantile disease and mortality, yet also â€Å"devalued motherly instinct and traditional knowledge†(Apple 167) comparing motherhood to a profession, stating that they needed to learn how to raise their children through the advice of a physician. Consumerism, child-care journals and woman s magazine s were all leading proponents from the late 19th century onward convincing mothers to buy a product which was not only â€Å"good for their baby† but also â€Å"recommended† by a doctor, such as finding an alternative to human milk versus the motherly instinct of breastfeeding. Mother s were essentially guilted into scientific motherhood. Product ads had stressed â€Å"the importance of scientific advice† (Apple 171) and were compelled to change the ways in which they raised their children because of the â€Å"perfect mother† pitch that was widely used. Young girls also received instructions in practica l child-care in school curriculum, such as the Little Mother s Club or Homemaking Clubs and, in turn, these young girls would instruct their mother s about scientific motherhood. Through the age s women who did not have the ability to procreate were often looked down upon from society and would not be considered a medical condition until the 19th century. In medievel England, an infertile woman was considered a witch and therefore punished to death for it with similar viewpoints expressed in Colonial America. Colonial America â€Å"viewed

1994 Mexican Currency Crisis - 4565 Words

The purpose of this report is to analyse the reasons for, the impact of, and the measures taken in response to the Mexican currency crisis of 1994-1995. The first objective is to assess the reasons for the crisis. Why did Mexico, a once immensely desirable investment destination become the bain of the international financial community following December 1994? The second and chief objective is to assess the impact of the crisis on the foreign exchange and stock markets. The report answers why the crisis adversely affected the Latin American market indices while the US market indices continued to rise. The third objective is to analyse the measures taken in response to the crisis by the Mexican Government and other international†¦show more content†¦The Mexican Government, in protecting its managed float, lost a further US$11billion in reserves over the following month (Joseph Whitt 1996). Throughout 1994, Mexico lost significant amounts of reserves trying to stabilise the exchange rate. In 1989 the current account deficit was US$6 billion; by 1991 it had grown to US$15billion, before swelling to approximately US$20billion 1992 and 1993. However, after losing US$1.5billion in reserves over three days in early December 1994, the Government decided to depreciate the Peso by approximately 15%. Within days the Peso plummeted in value as the Government abandoned its new peg, sending the country into the 1994 Mexico financial crisis (Joseph Whitt 1996). As the Mexican’s government access to the international credit market started to diminish, so did the investors’ confidence in their ability to redeem their investments in government backed Tesobonos bonds. Tesobonos are bonds issued by the Bank of Mexico, marketed predominantly to foreign investors and to be repaid in US$. The dollar denominated bonds which were due to mature in 1995 were unlikely to be repaid in full ($10 billion worth of Tesobonos were to mature in the first quarter of 1995 followed by $19 billion worth before the end of 2005) (JR, 1996 Arner, n.d). These two factors, the devaluation of the exchange rate in conjunction with the impending default ofShow MoreRelatedEssay on The Economic Impact of the Mexican Peso Crisis1568 Words   |  7 PagesIn 1994, the world saw the decline of the Mexican Peso, leading to what is now considered as the Mexican Peso Crisis. The crisis was characterized by the drastic decline in the value of the Mexican Peso. The Mexican Peso Crisis is considered significant because of its impact on other parts of the region, including Brazil. The following is a discussion of the causes and impact of the Mexican Peso Crisis. The events/causes that led up to the devaluation of the peso The Mexican Peso Crisis can beRead MoreMexico s A Financial Currency Crisis1677 Words   |  7 PagesIn 1994, Mexico had a financial currency crisis. This event was marked as the Mexico Peso Crisis because the Mexican government had devalued the peso currency against U.S. dollar rate in December 1994. The panic of the crisis required the intervention of United States and International Monetary system to help the economic system from collapsing. Before the start of the crisis, Mexico from 1988 to 1994 enjoyed a surplus of economic achievements. Mexico during that time was going through an economicRead More The Mexican Peso Crisis Essay1602 Words   |  7 PagesThe Mexican Peso Crisis This paper argues that the Mexican peso crisis of December 20 should have been expected and foreseeable. In the year preceding the crisis, there were several indicators suggesting that the Mexican economy and peso were already under extreme pressure. The economy bubble was ballooning to burst so much so that it was simply a crisis waiting to happen. Evidences Signaling the Crisis 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Decreasing Current Account Deficit versus Increasing Capital Account Balance Read MoreU.s. Foreign Trade Agreements1394 Words   |  6 Pagesto allow foreign capital and foreign direct investment (FDI) to flow into its economy, and the external debt that had been hanging over Mexico’s head since the 1982 balance of payments (BOP) crisis was finally restructured. With the signing of the North Atlantic Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) on January 1, 1994, a trilateral trade bloc was created in North America between Mexico, the United States, and Canada. Foreign trade restrictions were eliminated and commercial agreements with other countriesRead MoreMarket Analysis : Currency Etf1234 Words   |  5 PagesETF s, investors have found it very easy and relatively inexpensive to trade currency ETF s to take advantage of fluctuations between currencies. Currency ETF s are purchased to track most international currencies including the U.S. Dollars, Canadian dolla rs, and Mexican peso. Currency ETF s aim to replicate movements in currency in the foreign exchange market by holding currencies either directly or through currency-denominated short-term debt instruments. Launched in 1996 the iShares MSCI MexicoRead MoreSwot Analysis : Latin America1265 Words   |  6 PagesETFs, investors have found it very easy and relatively inexpensive to trade currency ETFs in order to take advantage of fluctuations between currencies. Currency ETFs can be purchased to track most international currencies including the U.S. dollars, Canadian dollars, and Mexican peso. Currency ETFs aim to replicate movements in currency in the foreign exchange market by holding currencies either directly or through currency-denominated short-term debt instruments. Launched in 1996 the iShares MSCIRead MoreThe Origin Of Mexico Financial Crisis1700 Words   |  7 PagesThe origin of Mexico financial crisis In the 1980s, Mexico was undergoing a number of reforms and deregulations that would protect its economy. In 1982, the Mexican government liberalized trade and allowed the international flow of capital into the country so that Mexico can integrate with the developed countries. President Miguel de la Madrid (1982-1988) lifted import tariffs under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). He also facilitated reforms that welcomed direct foreign investmentRead MoreThe Mexican Peso ( Mxn )1066 Words   |  5 PagesThe Mexican peso (MXN) was originally based on Spain’s official currency, known as the silver dollar. The Mexican name originated from the 8-genuine coins, made from pure silver, that were issued by Spain from Mexico. It was the first currency to use a distinct border and precise weight to guard against counterfeits, which made it exceptionally well known. The peso had been at 12.5 to 1 dollar for around 22 years, from 1954 to 1976. In 1976, the Mexican peso de creased from 12.5 pesos to 1 dollarRead MoreLeaving Mexico To Fin For Its Self Even With All The Debt1373 Words   |  6 Pagesfin for its self even with all the debt it owes was not part of the United States plans. They organized a way where they not only benefited but help dragged Mexico out of the mess they made. By teaming with two of the most powerful nations in world Mexicans would be able to grab hold or its own country and form a Mexico is a middle-class. businesses. As a result, modern Mexico is a middle-class country (Steffan, 2017). The World Bank estimates that some 95 percent of Mexico s population is in the middleRead MoreNorth American Free Trade Agreement1776 Words   |  8 Pagesimplemented January 1, 1994 with the purpose to encourage economic activity among the member countries. At the time, it established the largest free trade region in the world and included the elimination of tariffs, agreements on trades in services, and a dispute settlement mechanism for trade disagreements. NAFTA was highly controversial at the time, with many Canadian and American labor leaders expressing concern that many manufacturing jobs would be relocated to Mexican factories due to the low

Community Health Critical Reflection and the Learning Organization

Question: Discuss about the Community Health for Critical Reflection and the Learning Organization. Answer: 1. Social determinants of health are conditions where people live, work, grow, born, age and includes the wider set of systems and forces that shape the daily life conditions. The systems and forces include the systems and economic policies social norms, development agendas, political systems and social policies. Experiencing the living conditions shape the health of a population rather than the lifestyle choices and medical treatments. A social determinant of health perspective is a view point that investigates and justifies the health condition of an individual or a group. Various factors are responsible for shaping the health and experiencing the living conditions that form the perspective. Decisions of the government in the public policy domains are also responsible for shaping the living conditions (Braveman Gottlieb, 2014). The income that an individual receives through social assistance, family benefits and employment determines the availability and quality of affordable hous ing, recreational opportunities and social and health services that determine the living experience. From the perspectives of high levels of psychological and physiological stress, people suffer from adverse material and social living conditions. The prime reasons for these stressful living conditions are poor quality of housing, low income, inadequate working conditions, low income and insecure employment. Stress is further increased by mistrust, social isolation and supportive relationships and leads to prolonged biological reactions straining the physical body. Implications of policies should focus on the problem source for reducing stress and improving the conditions of living experience for the people by the decision makers and the elected representatives (Suhrcke Kenkel, 2015). The perspectives of income are the most important social determinant of health and the income level shapes the overall condition of living by affecting the psychological and physiological functions. Basic prerequisites of health like housing and food security are the social determinants of health that are determined by income. Lower income population is often faced by material and social deprivation and this makes them unable to afford the basic prerequisites. This also leads to the social exclusion of the people and they fail to participate in the recreational, educational and cultural activities. Consequently, it affects the health and reduces their ability to perform (McMurray Clendon, 2011). Policy makers and government need to address this concern by increasing the wage levels and providing support to the disadvantaged individual or group. Reducing income inequalities is also another effective step for improving the overall community health. Education forms another important social determinant of health perspective and more educated the people, more healthy they tend to be. Education level is connected and correlated with the various social determinants of health like working conditions, employment security and income levels. It becomes easier to raise the socioeconomic ladder with higher education for getting access to the economic and societal resources. When the literacy rate is increased, the understanding of self-promotion of health develops (Pockett Beddoe, 2015). People develop sophisticated skills and attain the understanding regarding the beneficial and harmful factors of health. Policy makers, therefore, should focus on developing a curriculum for the school students so that consciousness for a healthy life is attained at an early age. Support should also be provided to the underprivileged children who cannot afford schooling. 2. The society is benefited by taking action on a social determinant of health perspective in improving the health and wellbeing of the community. Since the social determinants of health can be viewed from various perspectives, it can be said that from each perspective, the society is benefited by taking action on them. From the perspective of stress, it is evident that physiological and psychological stress leads to straining of the mind and body (Marmot et al., 2012). Chronic stress leads to prolonged biological reactions and chances of recovery diminish under such circumstances. Therefore, to avoid diseases of the immune system and cardiovascular system, action has to be taken to reduce the stress. This can be done by improving the living experiences of the people by practicing healthy eating habits and taking up physical leisure activities (Chambers Walker, 2012). Healthy eating habits provide the energy to cope up with the daily stress and healthy living programs enhance the qu ality of life of the individuals. Taking up of physical leisure activities promotes the de-stressing and therefore, taking up of drugs is avoided for relieving the stress symptoms. All these factors enhance the living experience and therefore, a healthy community is developed. The perspective of income is the most important social determinant of health and therefore, influences the most in determining the health of the community. Meeting the basic prerequisites of health can greatly influence the health of the community and therefore taking action on this perspective can be beneficial for the society. Income inequality has been the biggest factor for issuing the health of the people based on income and balancing the income of the people can bring about a positive change. Progressive taxation can be an effective way to bring about the income inequality and this can bring equal health in the community by promoting the living experience (Keleher, 2011). Enhancing the levels of assistance and increasing the minimum wage of the people who are disabled or unable to work can benefit their health by coming out of their disadvantage. The educational perspective of social determinant of health is not only beneficial for the society in terms of earning bigger income, but also helps them to practice better and healthy living habits. Higher education facilitates to acquire greater knowledge on self-care practices and avoids the chances of getting indulged in poor health conditions. Therefore, action has to be taken to improve the educational status of the community as higher literacy rate is directly related to better living experiences. More resources are gained and greater ability is achieved with higher education and it is of paramount importance to attain healthier lifestyles (Benach et al., 2014). Taking the action at the school level education will be beneficial as it will be helpful for the individuals from an early age. In addition, appropriate arrangements for the schooling and higher education of the children of low-income families has to be done to promote the health improvement program at all levels of th e community and building up a healthier society devoid of illness. 3. The public health approach to healthcare is a powerful and unique way to address and perceive the local and national issues of health. It deals with the entire community and is focused on the health and wellbeing of the community dwellers. It includes interventions that are population based and aims at preventing an issue or health condition by limiting disability and death. The public health approach to healthcare has a number of roles and responsibilities that involve assessment, policy development and assurance. Assessment is the statistical analysis of the health status of a community by collecting data on the health problem (Drummond et al., 2015). Policy development involves the implementation of the scientific knowledge in the process of decision making and assurance makes sure that appropriate health services are received by the community dwellers. Social work is of utmost importance in public health response and this can be justified by citing two examples of public health where social work plays a pivotal role. Two of the cases where social workers play a major role are the prevention and transmission of HIV/AIDS disease and promoting the health of the aged population. HIV/AIDS is recognized as a global pandemic that has affected the communities and its dwellers worldwide and exerts economic and social implications (Baldwin, 2016). Social workers help to tackle the epidemic and counsel the patients suffering from HIV infection. Intervention is conducted by estimating the crisis of the situation by providing case management philosophies. They serve to educate the general population and the groups that are at high risk to develop the disease for reducing the risk of the infection. Social workers support the implementation and development of the health management programs including the prevention and educational strategies for m eeting the requirements of the HIV-infected patients (Shelby, Aronstein Thompson, 2014). They are responsible for advocating the lobby for just and equitable distribution of the available resources, support structures and services and provision of the essential medications. The aged population needs care for living a healthy life and social workers help them to stay independent and mobile. This in return increases the quality of life for the individual and their family. They provide referral services, counseling and assessment for the promotion of health in various settings for healthy living experiences of the older adults. They act to increase the research alliances and information sharing. Test interventions are implemented for improving the quality of life and ensuring better health for the older adults. They advocate the maintenance and development of the infrastructures of the community for safe accommodation of the older adults. This helps them to mobilize and get socially engaged that promotes their physiological and psychological state of health. Community competence is improved by the social workers that eventually helps the older population to enhance their health literacy and supports them to practice healthy behaviors (Payne, 2014). Social workers also work towards community management for making the community a better place to live for the seniors. They work to reduce the potential barriers for the elderly existing in the neighborhood for the promotion of healthy aging like insufficient external lightings and poor condition of roads and paths. References Baldwin, M. (2016).Social work, critical reflection and the learning organization. Routledge. Benach, J., Vives, A., Amable, M., Vanroelen, C., Tarafa, G., Muntaner, C. (2014). Precarious employment: understanding an emerging social determinant of health.Public Health,35(1), 229. Braveman, P., Gottlieb, L. (2014). The social determinants of health: it's time to consider the causes of the causes.Public Health Reports,129. Chambers, A.H. Walker, R. (2012). Introduction to health promotion. In P. Liamputtong, R. Fanany G. Verrinder (Eds.). Health, illness and well-being (pp. 107-124). South Melbourne: Oxford University Press. Drummond, M. F., Sculpher, M. J., Claxton, K., Stoddart, G. L., Torrance, G. W. (2015).Methods for the economic evaluation of health care programmes. Oxford university press. Keleher, H. (2011). Public health. In H. Keleher C. MacDougall (Eds.). Understanding health (3rd ed., pp. 17-32) South Melbourne: Oxford University Press. Marmot, M., Allen, J., Bell, R., Bloomer, E., Goldblatt, P. (2012). WHO European review of social determinants of health and the health divide.The Lancet,380(9846), 1011-1029. McMurray, A. Clendon, J. (2011). Community health and wellness: A socio-ecological approach (4th ed). Marrickville, NSW: Elsevier (pp. 5-27) Payne, M. (2014).Modern social work theory. Palgrave Macmillan. Pockett, R., Beddoe, L. (2015). Social work in health care: An international perspective. International Social Work Shelby, R. D., Aronstein, D. M., Thompson, B. J. (2014).HIV and social work: A practitioner's guide. Routledge. Suhrcke, M., Kenkel, D. (2015). Social determinants of health: early childhood development and education.Promoting Health, Preventing Disease The Economic Case: The Economic Case, 237.

next time Review Essay Example

next time Review Paper Essay on next time The process of reading this book was very unusual it was revealed not as I expected from the analysis of the perception of the speech mannerisms of fashionable writer to art history subtleties described in the novel, etc. to the reading of thoughts that are close to me, and finally, to a sense of order, it OVERTIME book. It seems to be described by our time, our realities, but, if we discard all the faxes, planes, e-mails and other modern signs, the plunge is not something in the atmosphere of the 30-ies of 20 th century, not in the age of 19 (parallel to the novel line ), not during the Renaissance read lines of Florence and see its roof and dome, you hear the chirping of birds, the human hubbub, smell the hot Italian sun. London and the rain and fog, and a rare gentle sun all this subtle brushstrokes invisible eye of the viewer to the narrative canvas It is amazing.! Beyond words! Infinite book. Sad but joyful. Book of Mystery and book-opening. The quintessence of all, what I believe (permeating art .. music .. paints boundless love, which knows no barriers of time and death .. kinship reincarnation .. ..) and a source of new understanding soul can be quenched, to dwindle, but they can also move to the heights of life, carrying and protecting love The death -. it is the door to a new life. This brief farewell before the meeting. A life is inexhaustible memory of the past, giving the present in the hope of the future We will write a custom essay sample on next time Review specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on next time Review specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on next time Review specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Subtle jasmine scent penetrates the chest Dim lights autumn lifts moire canopy over the new spring .

Raymond Carver as Minimalist Essays

Raymond Carver as Minimalist Essays Raymond Carver as Minimalist Paper Raymond Carver as Minimalist Paper Raymond Carvers fingerprints Every writer has a deferent way of presenting his/her Ideas to readers, and thats what makes each of them so distinctive. A famous late 20th century American short story writer and poet, Raymond Carver, has often been described by critics as a minimalist. According to an Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary a minimalist Is a person who uses very simple Ideas In their work (Minimalist, 881 Raymond Carver wrote a lot of great short stories and poems. Most of his poems very edited by his Gordon List, and the originals where never published. Comparing Raymond Carvers original stories and stories that were edited by Gordon List, his first editor, we can notice an enormous difference in style. Carver uses a lot of details that keep reader interested when List takes out all those details and leaves us with less then a half of what was originally written. Gordon List is a minimalist; he influenced his style on Carver. When Carver became confident enough about his work, he stopped taking advice from him, and Raymond Carvers work became even more enjoyable. Despite the critics, who consider Carver a minimalist, after reading his original and edited Tories and doing some extra research, I would argue that List was a minimalist, not Carver. Lash edited out a large portion of Carvers work which made him appear Like a minimalist. By reading Carvers original stories, you will see a more developed and complex style that you will not find in the edited versions. If we compare Raymond Carvers original story Beginners and the version What We Talk About When We Walk About Love edited by Gordon List, we face two nearly different stories. We can clearly see how much information List has cut out from the original version; he roused out a lot of important details in the story and took out that unique persona of each character that Carver has created for a reason, to foreshadow the upcoming events. List made the story incredibly different; he even changed the title and names of the characters. The original story and the edited story have only about thirty percent In common. The original version was much longer and yet fascinating; It had interesting details that were In harmony with the text. Details, that Carver never liked, were very Important, and It didnt seem too heavy In the context. When Gordon List name onto the scene, he cut out nearly seventy percent of the text and left us with bare minimum. By editing out so much, he changed the plot of the story, as well as changing the title and character names. List also seems to use a lot of paragraph breaks that once again only simplify the story. When reading Carvers stories, we can differentiate the ones that were edited by List and those that werent. If we take Errand and Where I am calling from we can clearly see a lot of details that help us to create a character image in our heads. Therefore, we know that those two stories werent edited by List. Errand and Where I am calling from have strong details, such us the use of dialogue which foreshadows what Is going to happen late on. However, It doesnt make It uninteresting, Instead It makes a reader continue reading further. In letters from Carver to Gordon Lash, from 1969 to 1 983, we see the tremendous change In their relationship. At the beginning, Carver writes to Lash with much respect and love, You know, I feel closer to you than I do to my own brother. Youre my Malaysian. Man, I love you (Carver, Letters to an Editor). Carver tells Alls how much he loves him and he doesnt want to lose him in his first letters. Later on, when Carver gets the edited version of the Beginners, he writes a long letter to List telling him how he feels about his editing. Gordon, the changes are brilliant and for the better in most cases I look at What We Talk About When We Walk About Love(Beginners) and I see what it is that youve done, what youve pulled out of it, and Im awed and astonished, startled even, with your insights. Carver is complementing List on the editing, he like what he did, and he wants him to continue working on his stories. After sending List a few more stories and getting the result back, Carver tar ts realizing that he doesnt want his stories to be so minimal, he wants them to have the original beauty. Therefore, he writes List another letter, telling him that he doesnt like his editing style l want that sense of beauty and mystery they have now, but I dont want to lose track, lose touch with the little human connections I saw in the first version you sent me. It is obvious here that Carver wants to have connection with a reader; he wants to have readers interest through out the entire story. In his last letter to List, Carver still asks him to edit his stories, but leave them indicated, may e Just a little bit trimmed if needed. Carver allowed him to change the titles if List felt the need to. After those requests, List started working on Carvers 3rd collection and following his requests with minimal editing. However, after that, List never wrote back to Carver. Carver addressed him last letter asking List if he forgot about him and then telling him that he is going back to the [Paris Review] interview and take out all the good things he said about List. This was the end of their relationship as friends or List being Carvers editor. I assume that List did not like how Carver was irritating his editing and he decided to disappear. Adam Meyer wrote five books of criticism published on Carver. Meyer discusses more than 45 stories and provides their full analysis. Meyer argues with other critics over that Carver was a minimalist, saying: to remind the reader that What We Talk About When We Walk About Love, Carver at his barest, is also Carver at his least representative. (Overview, Arthur F. Bethel). Adam Meyer implies that List is the one who is representing the story, and that Carver almost has nothing to do with it. He seems to devalue minimalist stories because they are less intelligible than fuller Tories. Meyer does not value stories that are written in the minimalist style. Meyer believes in that Carvers original work is more intelligible then the edited copies by Gordon List. Raymond Carver started rejecting Lashs advices after becoming more confident about his work. In New Yorker, Rough Crossings we notice a sudden change from letters to an editor. In Rough Crossings, Carver becomes harsher on List. Severe editorial cuts two stories had been slashed by nearly seventy percent, , many descriptions and digressions were gone; endings had been truncated or rewritten. All this means a minimalist style of writing which Carver is not a big supporter of. In a review of his last book, a Journalist called him a minimalist, meaning it as a compliment, which didnt make Carver too happy. In 1986, an interview was taking with Carver. He was asked a question What makes your writing uniquely your own? (The Pillsbury Review). Carver answered: Well, certainly, the tone in the work, I suppose. Geoffrey Wolff said in a review of my first book of stories that he felt he could PICK out a story AT Milne walkout seeing my name attached to I t. I took Tanat as a implement. If you can find an authors fingerprints on the work, you can tell its his and no others. This is a big compliment for an author to be told that someone can actually recognize your story without coming across the name. Another following question was asked him: Where do those fingerprints lie? In subject? In style? Raymond said: Both. Subject and style, the two are pretty much inseparable, right? John Update once said that when he thinks of writing a story only certain areas of writing and experience are open to him. Certain areas, and lives, are completely closed. So, the story chooses him. And I feel thats true of myself. Speaking as a poet and story writer, I think that my stories and poems have chosen me. I havent had to go out looking for material. These things come. Youre called to write them. This is one of the reasons why Carver has such a great style of writing. His style is complex and developed because he enjoys writing the story, he has that extra information to put in, its not hard for him to get since all the stories come to him, unlike to minimalists. When reading Carvers stories, we can differentiate the ones that were edited by List and those that werent. If we take Errand and Where I am calling from we can clearly see a lot of details that help us to create a character image in our heads. Raymond Carver is a beautiful writer, his stories are full of interesting details that foreshadow later in the story, and make the story more interesting. Carver is definitely not a minimalist, his writing is developed and complex in order to be considered as minimalist. Raymond Carver is being called a minimalist only because his editor, Gordon List, edited most of his early stories and stripped them down to nothing.

All-purpose Corpus

All-purpose Corpus All-purpose Corpus All-purpose Corpus By Maeve Maddox Corpus is just one of thousands of everyday Latin words that have not only outlived their original speakers, but have replicated in English like amoebas. Latin corpus means â€Å"body.† It entered Old French as cors and passed from there into Middle English. From then on the spelling and pronunciation fluctuated until the various spellings and pronunciations took on meanings other than just plain â€Å"body.† Corpus and its plural corpora proliferate in medical terminology, giving such labels as corpus callosum and corpora striata, which name structures in the brain. Apart from learned uses, the word corpus has spawned several words that everyone is familiar with and a few that occur in literature. I’m going to look at seven of these words. 1. corpus [kohr-puhs] First there’s the word corpus itself. Although no longer used to refer to a living body, corpus still means â€Å"body† in a figurative sense. A corpus is a body of literature, a body of information, or an author’s body of works. In this sense, corpus means â€Å"collection.† There’s a subcategory of linguistics called corpus linguistics that gathers and studies collections of speech and text gathered from non-literary, non-academic sources. An example of the linguistic corpora studied is the Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA), an online collection of 450 million words gathered from U.S. sources, 1990-2012. 2. corpse [kohrps] Once the word for a living body, the noun corpse now means only a dead one. When it comes to choosing words for their emotional effect on the reader, corpse is probably one of the creepiest words in English. 3. corporation [kohr-puh-rey-shuhn] In 1534 a corporation was â€Å"a number of persons united, or regarded as united, in one body.† In 1611 a corporation was â€Å"a body of people legally authorized to act as a single person.† Eighteenth-century jokers called their abdomens â€Å"corporations.† I love this OED citation from Thomas Smolett (1721-1771): â€Å"Sirrah! my corporation is made up of good wholesome English fat.† In modern U.S. law, a corporation is an organization formed with state governmental approval to act as an artificial person to carry on business (or other activities), which can sue or be sued, and (unless it is non-profit) can issue shares of stock to raise funds with which to start a business or increase its capital. 4. corps [kohr] This incarnation of Latin corpus came into English a second time, again from French, this time in the expression corps d’armà ©e, literally â€Å"body of the army.† The term reflected a new way of using the army by breaking it down into smaller, more mobile tactical units. Such a unit was a corps. The word came to mean any body or company of persons associated in a common organization. In the current U.S. Army, a corps is a large unit made up of from two to five divisions. A division is made up of from 10,000 to 18,000 soldiers. Corps is also used in the name of one of the branches of the U.S. military, the Marine Corps, and government employees who serve abroad in U.S. embassies are members of the â€Å"diplomatic corps.† Corps is a popular name choice for civilian organizations that wish to suggest that their work and purpose have a military-like focus: Job Corps, Peace Corps, Mom Corps. The expression esprit de corps is used to describe the sense of enthusiasm, loyalty and devotion to a group that characterizes an organization like the Marine Corps. 5. corpulent [kohr-pyuh-luhnt] The adjective corpulent means â€Å"large, bulky, fleshy, fat.† A corpulent person has a lot of body. 6. corporeal [kohr-pohr-ee-uhl] The adjective corporeal is used to describe anything that has substance. A living person is said to be corporeal; a ghost is incorporeal. There’s a legal term, incorporeal rights, that refers to property that cannot be seen or touched, but may be owned and inherited, like copyrights, trademarks, and patents. 7. corpuscle [kohr-puh-suhl] The noun corpuscle is probably most familiar in the context of biology class. Corpuscles: Minute rounded or discoidal bodies constituting a large part of the blood.† The word comes from Latin corpusculum, â€Å"little body.† In English it can also mean â€Å"any minute body (usually of microscopic size), forming a more or less distinct part of the organism.† 8. corposant [kohr-puh-sant] This one isn’t so familiar an offspring of corpus, but it’s interesting so I’m including it. You may have heard of something called St. Elmo’s Fire. It’s a light-producing weather phenomenon. In the days of sailing vessels, sailors often saw the light playing eerily about the masts. The common name derives from the patron saint of sailors. The other name, corposant combines Latin corpus sanctum, â€Å"holy body† or â€Å"saint’s body.† Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:The Yiddish Handbook: 40 Words You Should KnowItalicizing Foreign Words10 Varieties of Syntax to Improve Your Writing

INTERNATIONAL INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY LAW Assignment Essay

INTERNATIONAL INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY LAW Assignment - Essay Example While on the other hand, the idea of human rights has emerged from the need for universal respect of human beings freedom, dignity and equality. It has evolved over the period to support for individual from oppression and provide an equal chance to develop their potential to take advantage of different opportunities (Donnelly, 1989). Human Rights and Intellectual Property rights (IPR) have gained widespread discussion during the last two decades. Various stakeholders who have vested interests have furiously argued for their rights. The goals of the proponents of both the parties are somehow inversely related. Stereotypical views have been formed both about human and intellectual property rights. The advocates of human rights assert that the only way to achieve the goals of access to food, health and education is through eliminating most of the intellectual property rights (Lutheran World Federation, 2000). While on the other hand, a mindset has been developed that promotes that by on ly expanding the intellectual property rights, we can provide incentives for innovation which will address the concerns of fundamental human rights (Weissbrodt & Schoff, 2008). The relationship between human rights and intellectual property rights can be analyzed from two aspects. ... Therefore, this relationship can only be analyzed if we have a thorough understanding of the scope of both the rights. The existing human rights do not categorically refer to the intellectual property rights; however, there are certain provisions within the human right treaties which can be considered to be relevant to intellectual property rights. Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) which was adopted in 1948 has certain provisions which are important points to be considered. The Article 27.2 states that â€Å"Everyone has the right to the protection of the moral and material interests resulting from any scientific, literary or artistic production of which he is the author† (United Nations, 2007). Similarly, the right to property is also stressed in the Article 17 of UDHR which states that everyone has the right to own property and no one shall be deprived of his property. In addition to that, the International Covenant on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights (ICSECR) established in 1966 is also one of the vital tool through which we can assess the relationship between Intellectual Property & Economic Rights. International rights although increase the scope of relationship between these two rights but there are some regional human rights which contains clauses pertaining to property rights. The Article 21.1 of American Convention on Human Rights of 1969 states that everyone is entitled to the right to use and enjoyment of his property but it further enforces that â€Å"The law may subordinate such use and enjoyment to the interest of society† (Sinjela, 2007). Similarly, the African Charter on Human Rights which was adopted in 1981 also enforces that â€Å"The right to the property shall be

STONEHENGE Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

STONEHENGE - Essay Example As Lord Byron succinctly remarked in his poem Don Juan â€Å"The Druid’s groves are gone so much the better, Stonehenge has not but what the devil is it?† (Byron, Canto 11) Although many theories exist about who built it, and the purpose for which it was built; latest archeological research points to its being built by the Britons of the Stone Age. However, given that the time frame for building the monument is so long, it was probably built in stages by different peoples, some of whom may have migrated from other areas. The builders of Stonehenge too, may have evolved from hunters and gatherers to farmers and tradesmen. It seems to be have been a highly sophisticated society, and the purpose of Stonehenge too would have evolved, from purely a burial site to include healing, using it to predict seasons, as well as for religious rites and ceremonies. A megalith which literally means large stone slabs, was a conspicuous form of expression among people of the Neolithic age. Stonehenge is a Megalithic monument, different from other such monuments due to the unique trilithons towering over the landscape and visible for miles around the area. A henge is a monument built in a circular area, of stone or wooden pillars surrounded by a ditch and ostensibly used for religious rituals. Stonehenge is situated on the Salisbury plain in Wiltshire, England. An engineering marvel of pre-historic times, Stonehenge is a tribute to the ingenuity, labor and determination of the people who built it. Stonehenge consists of layers of stone circles and horseshoe patterns. Extensive archeological research has ascertained that Stonehenge was built in three stages between 3100 and 2500 BC. â€Å"We know from modern scientific dating methods that the prehistoric people who lived in Southern Britain before 3000 BC began construction, by building a small ea rth circle called a henge, with a bank, surrounded by a ditch. Different phases of the monument were

Importance of Advance Directives Essay Example for Free

Importance of Advance Directives Essay The Importance of Advance Directives Tara J. DiDonato Axia College of University of Phoenix The Importance of Advance Directives While most people do not speak about end of life issues either because of their background or religion, it is not only for the elderly, we should all make our wishes known. According to the Pew Research Center, (January 2006), â€Å"42% of  Americans have had a friend or relative  suffer from a terminal illness or coma in the last five years and  for a majority of these people , the issue of withholding life sustaining treatment came up†. Although many people feel it is taboo, all adults over the age of 18 should think about what their healthcare wishes would be if they could not speak for themselves. These wishes should be documented in an advance directive, so that loved ones know what they are. Power of Communication According to the Mayo Clinic (2005), â€Å"The issues surrounding serious illness and death are not easy to discuss. Decisions are much easier on our loved ones if we have an advance directive in place before we are faced with a serious illness or accident†. Without communicating our wishes, we might find ourselves in a condition that we are unable to communicate the medical treatment we wish to receive, such as resuscitation or life support. Having a conversation with loved ones is important to clarify medical wishes. We should explain our wishes and explain how our values have shaped our decision. Types of Advance Directives According to the Mayo Clinic (2005), â€Å"Advance Directives are written instructions regarding your medical care preferences†. There are various types of advance directives, such as; a Living Will, Durable Power of Attorney, Healthcare Proxy and Do Not Resuscitate Order (DNR). Durable power of attorney and living wills have limitations, they do not include instructions for every situation, which means that we need to trust that the person we have named will make the decisions which are in our best interest and are what we would have wanted. A DNR order is a form that is commonly discussed with a physician. A DNR order alerts physicians and emergency medical personnel that if a patient’s heart stops beating or if the patient stops breathing, there should be no attempts to revive them. Another advance directive is a Healthcare Proxy (HCP). This document allows patients to choose an agent to act on their behalf if they are temporarily or permanently unable to make healthcare decisions on their own. According to Fell, Kukula and Taylor (2005), as with other advance directives, â€Å"it is very important to discuss, in detail, all of your wishes with your surrogate and make sure they clearly understand and are willing to make these decisions on your behalf† (p. 4). Everyone should have a voice, not just the elderly Advance directives are not just for the elderly, anyone over the age of 18 should have one. Unexpected situations can arise at any age and there might be end of life decisions that needs to be made. In the event that a person does not have an advance directive in place, according to Fell, et al. (2005), â€Å"you will receive medical care to the fullest extent appropriate for your condition†. Without an advance directive the patient might receive more treatment than he or she would have wanted. The biggest misconception about an advance directive is that people think that having one means â€Å"do not treat†, this is incorrect. Frequently used medical terms

The Relationships Behind Portrait :: Art, James Joyce

In A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce, Stephen Dedalus, reacts towards his parents the same as many typical modern-day adolescents and adolescents of the early 1900s. Stephen's attitude and feelings towards his parents change throughout the course of this book. His feelings change in a pattern similar to one of typical adolescents. Adolescent attitudes have not changed much throughout the years. Adolescents change physically and emotionally during the early years of their life. The activities the adolescents do may have changed but the intentions behind those acts have not. Stephen has a different relationship with family members other than his parents like his Uncle Charles and his Aunt Dante. Many adolescents have a different relationship with family members other than their parents. In the article, Joyce and His First Self-Portrait by James T. Farrell, Farrell states â€Å"no clear and full picture of Stephen's relationship with his mother is described.†(3) I believe this statement could be true and false. It could be true on the grounds of no definite feelings described in the book from Stephen. There is also no change of feelings throughout the course of Stephen's adolescence that are mentioned. Only three events in the book mentions a relationship between Stephen and his mother. The first instance is when Stephen is teased by Wells and the other older boys about the subject of kissing his mother. Wells asks Stephen, â€Å"do you kiss your mother before you go to bed?† This opens up the topic over whether he should kiss his mother or should he not. The other boys laugh at Stephen's confusion while he ponders this thought. (Joyce,6) During the Christmas dinner, there is no direct reference to a relationship between Stephen and his mother. During this scene, Stephen see different sides of all the adults at the dinner. Stephen's mother tries to create a peaceful Christmas dinner. She is unable to do this because Stephen's father, aunt, and uncle get into a heated political debate. Stephen witnesses his mother get irritated over the constant arguing. She tries to stop the argument but fails to do so. Stephen's feelings are not recognized in the passage. He merely just observes this scene. (Joyce, 21-22) At the end of the book, it does not mention a relationship between the two but an argument they have. Stephen tells Cranly he argued with his mother about going to church on Easter Sunday.

Red Lobster case analysis Essay

Should Lopdrup make Experientials the target segment and modify Red Lobster’s positioning accordingly. If so, how should he change its marketing mix (4P)? Red Lobster originally was founded in 1968 and gained tremendous popularity back then by offering fresh seafood for everybody. They made it easily accessible and approachable. However, over several extremely successful decades of rapid growth and many new restaurants, Red Lobster in 2004 was becoming out of date and out of touch with today’s customer. The company with more than 40-year experience in seafood restaurants, with its new leading CEO Kim Lopdrup now has invested in extensive market research. The results of the market research reveal a surprisingly exciting opportunity for the company to shift its target customer segment. The chain at the moment is taking its first steps of an elaborate 10-year rejuvenation plan under the lead of its CEO Kim Lopdrup. Back in 2004 when he took over as a CEO of Red Lobster, the company was closing down restaurants and going through a major decline in sales. Furthermore, customer satisfaction had dropped significantly as well by then. Though, in 2010, even in a period of recession, the sales results are slowly starting to improve. As a result, the whole chain itself is improving as well. A recent market research study has revealed rather unexpected results that 25% of Red Lobster’s customers are â€Å"experientials,† people looking for pleasure, good service and high-quality food. Which is very different from Red Lobster’s traditional core customer who just wanted big portion sizes of decent seafood and does not worry about nutrition or upscale atmosphere. Lopdrup is currently thinking of possible re-positioning to attract more â€Å"experientials†, thereby also changing the company’s target segment. But would this be a good step? Back in 1968, the brand gained popularity by making fresh seafood that was not very accessible back then. However, times have changed now. Customers now have an abundance of choices when it comes to fresh seafood, which makes it very hard for Red Lobster to differentiate from other brands only offering ‘approachable, fresh seafood’. Moreover, lately it has been associated with frozen and fried, unhealthy food, not fresh seafood. The recession has had a bad impact on the restaurant and there has been a major drop in customer count. Instead of focusing on winning the price war within the highly competitive casual dining category, Kim Lopdrup instead has decided to focus on rejuvenation, following a differentiation strategy. The plan is to aim for higher quality, drive a higher frequency of visits and make the brand be seen as good quality seafood, where people could get a pleasant dining experience for affordable prices. In my opinion, Red Lobster must indeed focus on experientials, start fresh and show customers it is really doing things differently now. A new look, a new menu, improved service and better communication to let people see Red Lobster in a fresh, new way. They should embrace the 21st century by using more social networking (facebook, twitter, youtube), mobile apps, yet stick to its basic principles of providing fresh seafood from good fisherman, hire skillful grill masters and friendly staff, which are all core values for ‘experientials’. Moreover, these are values and expectations not only for ‘experientials’ but for the mass market in general. This way, they could achieve the highest reach and drive traffic to their restaurants. They must get talked about and become more visible by investing in a complex marketing campaign that would go in waves. A good quality television campaign would be highly appropriate. Regarding it’s 4PS, they should adjust its current market mix by really thinking about the target group’s wants and needs. Experientials are well educated and will not tolerate bad service. They go out to restaurants to connect with friends, family, and colleagues. So the company should definitely think of ways to improve its service. Renovation of the restaurant space, hiring of friendly employees that Red Lobster would continually educate about the latest trends and menu offerings. It is very important for the brand to have a welcoming, human face. And honest, communicative employees that will give a personal experience for each customer will take the brand image further away from its current corporate image. Regarding the products, it is also very important to communicate the source of their fish, its good quality chefs, daily offerings of ‘daily fresh catch’ to let people know that Red Lobster has ‘stepped up’ their game and only offering the highest-quality fresh crab from the best farmers. Perhaps they should do an acquisition with a wine company in order to offer experientals more wines to choose from, since they like to enjoy new food and menu items. They are motivated by culinary expertise and wine and food goes hand in hand with each other. Regarding the price, they could increase the price a little bit, since experientials are not overly ‘price sensitive’. They are well educated with a high income, though they als o like to eat out often. So a mid-range price would be the most appropriate. By focusing on experientials, Red Lobster could significantly increase profitability and get more loyal customer that return for more. The positioning should stay ‘approachable, fresh seafood’, since they have so many locations everywhere. The menu should be more frequently updated. Prices could be higher for ‘specials’, and they should communicate keywords like ‘quality, freshness, seafood lovers’, have cooking demonstrations. Invest in TV promotional ads to achieve mass awareness, hirepassionate people, focus on continuous improvement.

Custom Coffee Essay

I believe Custom Coffee & Chocolate mission is to establish a small cafà © where they and their customers could indulge their love of good coffee and fine chocolates. Bonnie and Stacy, recent college roommates, wanted a location that got a lot of foot traffic from shoppers and businesses. Their desire was to target a place near the university because they knew and understood those customers well. The purpose of the cafe’ is to serve unique coffee blends and specialty chocolates, and the business plan included purchasing only fair trade coffee and chocolates made by a few local suppliers. SWOT ANALYSIS: Strengths – Having a good location where public transportation is not a issue. The owners will be selling products that are considered to be good quality, near top of the line. Customers have the options of eating in or taking out their purchases. Weakness – The shop is pretty small, and can only hold a certain amount of customers, and they will need more funding to expand. Opportunity – The opportunities are unlimited, expanding the menu to include baked chocolates, desserts, tea and other beverages. If the businesses continue to grow, Bonnie & Stacy may be able to start a small franchise. Threats – I don’t detect any threats, unless a similar business moves in the same location. Bonnie & Stacy are doing all the right things to make their cafe’ affordable, and customer friendly. It is a nice place for friends and family to meet and chat while having a cup of coffee or reading the newspaper. Comfort is always important to me, so I like the idea of them having comfortable seating. Putting up a website and blog page might be helpful to customers and potential customers, for information and feedback. I don’t believe that delivery would be a good thing right now, maybe in another six months. Great job Bonnie & Stacy, you knew what you wanted and went for it. I wish you much success.

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Hush and Just Do It

Hush and Just Do It You can’t build a reputation on what you are going to do. ~Henry Ford Recently, I had a young family member tell me that his grades were down because he hadnt adapted this special way of studying, and that next semester, hed have better grades because of this new-found method of learning. In a nice but firm way, I told him that I didnt want to hear what he was going to do. I only wanted to see what hed done once he accomplished it.   Social media abounds with promises and plans on how someone is going to create, be better, make great strides. In my experience, we lose the energy surrounding those goals Derek Sivers, in a 2010 TED Talk, suggests we keep our goals to ourselves. https://www.ted.com/talks/derek_sivers_keep_your_goals_to_yourself Tests done since 1933 show that people who talk about their intentions are less likely to make them happen. Announcing your plans to others satisfies your self-identity just enough that you’re less motivated to do the hard work needed. Theres somewhat of a myth, a common suggestion, that if you tell people what you are going to do  that it makes you more accountable. Ive never seen that proven. Sure, we have our writers groups and critique groups, but do they make you follow through? Not really. You are the only person who can make yourself follow through. And its nobody elses fault that you dont. A journalist with Forbes, Jamie Farrell, curiously wondered what would happen if she quit talking about herself and what she planned to do. For one day, I decided to stop talking and start doing.   And here’s what I found: First, I found that I was lonely.   I was so accustomed to my ego being stroked And Im not giving you permission to blame social media, either. What Id love for you to do is talk less about the doing  and just do more. On this, our last newsletter in 2017, in a year I did so much less than I have in over a decade, I am making 2018 about DOING. Not talking about doing, but following through. And I look forward to hearing from you when you have all those new announcements to make about what you DID. Happy New Year!

The Managerial Accounting Process in General Electric Inc Term Paper

The Managerial Accounting Process in General Electric Inc - Term Paper Example Planning of operations primarily involves the budgeting process. It is associated with the cost of producing a unit of product. Thereafter, the actual performance of the firm is compared along with the budgeted amounts and controlling occurs in those sectors where the difference seems to be significant (CSN, 2011). Simultaneously, along with the development of managerial accounting principles, the traditional accounting system also witnessed a rapid development. However, there are good numbers of firms which are still following the traditional accounting system. But with the increasing global competition and evolution of technologies, production oriented operations are becoming more and more complex. Firms need to do an effective evaluation of the cost that they incur for producing goods so that proper pricing of those goods can be done, which will generate sufficient revenues for the company. Precise cost information is very crucial for every aspect of the business, be it pricing po licies, product designs or performance reviews. These requirements saw the inception of activity based accounting over two decades ago and now is widely used in the US, Europe and Pacific. Similar to managerial accounting, activity-based costing not only includes the evaluation of a company from a financial perspective but also from the wholesome perspective as it includes both financial and non-financial data in its reporting (Gupta & Galloway, 2003). The following section will involve a thorough analysis of the managerial accounting process followed in General electric Inc thereby explaining the significance of Activity-based costing towards the financial performance of the company. Moreover, comments will be made as to whether the use of activity-based costing system will add to the benefits of the company or not. Thereafter, emphasis will be laid on the use of standard costing by General Electric (GE). Standard costing is basically used by companies for comparing standard cost s et by the company with the actual cost that is incurred. Hence it draws attention to the performance of the company with respect to the goal that is set by the company. The fifth part of the project enlightens the benefits of the relevant cost for the future projects of the company. It helps the management of the company to take any crucial decision regarding the acceptance of the project or take make or buy decision. Â  

Business Communication Portfolio Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Business Communication Portfolio - Assignment Example Although the idea of entertainment at Disney Land is typically attractive for children but it is presented in such a way that people from all over the world enjoy visiting it (Jackson, 2011, p.139). In Hong Kong, it has been built with incorporation of International Theme Parks Ltd, The Walt Disney Company and the Hong Kong Government (Hong Kong Disneyland, 2013). The organization is continuously increasing its attractive places while improving the overall entertainment experience. Huge business portfolio often generates great difficulties for Disneyland which subsequently affects customer satisfaction and long term relations with other businesses. For instance, on weekends or public holidays the parks become over crowded which causes immense difficulties for the visitors. This paper aims to present two business-business letters related to Hong Kong Disneyland. Skyline Event Management Company 26th Street, across Southern Avenue Hong Kong October 12, 2013 Mr. Robert James The Operati ons Manager Disneyland Resorts Hong Kong Subject: Complaint for poor resort services. Dear Sir, On October 10, 2013, the students of Foundation School grade 4 to 6 visited the Hong Kong Disneyland Resort along with the teachers and other staff members. It was a school trip primarily arranged to enhance the artistic sense of students while enabling them to understand different stories. Moreover, to help them visualize the classical characters they have been reading about since early childhood. Our aim was to entertain children through best possible means. However, the students did not find Disneyland as appealing as it has been marketed (Haberer, 2010, p.4). Most of the staff members complained about the misbehavior of employees especially those who have been on duties in the Toy Story Land. Hence I wish to complain about the poor services that the school has received from the renowned Walt Disney Company. The visit was arranged by Skyline Event Management Company. After visiting the theme parks, students were required to write a comprehensive review of the entire trip. This was done in order to gain inside knowledge about their perception and ideas related to different cartoon characters. Additionally, they were needed to compose stories with the help of their favorite cartoons. They were also asked by the event managers to fill the feedback forms regarding the entire trip. The feedback forms which we received were significant enough to let us know about the poor services of your staff members. Students were highly de-motivated and even some of the parents complained to the school management regarding the trip. Parents were too much concerned about their children’s safety. Most of them believed that the amusement parks and rides at Disneyland were not safe for young children. Here, I would like to add another important thing that since Disneyland is marketed primarily to the children then why the management has installed such equipment which is prominen tly dangerous for young ones? Moreover, the older people visiting Disney Land behave very rudely with the young children while on the other hand, the managing staff usually do not respond to the customer complains. Even today I had to wait for around two hours to meet you and in the end I was told that you are busy in some meeting and would not be available until next week. All these things have greatly disappointed us and hence I request you to train you staff members while ensuring that older

Managing Information Technology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 4

Managing Information Technology - Essay Example The decomposition process of a system comprises of sub systems that are most likely to form more sub systems. The process of breaking down system in to sub systems simplifies the complexity and thorough understanding of the processes. Moreover, subsystems are also trouble-free to generate, edit or alter. The hierarchical sub system is a procedure to split a system in to succeeding level of sub systems. Five goals are essential for hierarchical decomposition (Brown, DeHayes, Hoffer, Martin, & Perkins, 2009). The goals are (Brown, DeHayes, Hoffer, Martin, & Perkins, 2009): The complexity of the system must be understood at an in depth level. Examine or evaluate only the specific area or part of the system Each sub systems that are interrelated to a system or sub system must be designed and constructed at various times. The focus must be to express the attention of viewers All the components that are related to the system must be independent to operate. References Brown, C.V., DeHayes, D.W, Hoffer, J.A., Martin, W.E., Perkins, W.C. (2009). Managing information technology (6th ed.). Prentice Hall.

Training And Development In Oil Companies Management Essay

Training And Development In Oil Companies Management Essay The results obtained from the surveyed oil and gas companies provide a rich source of qualitative data and insights into the companies perspectives on training and development. This chapter contains recommendations of the TD systems components, determinants and successful training development approaches as they may apply to firms () in the Yemen oil industry. This chapter also presents the conclusions review and concludes with suggested recommendations for future research. Conclusion Implication: In conclusion, it appears that oil gas companies, as represented by Yemen, are found to be committed to training developing their workforces. They are more or less implementing the training development process along with modern TD theory and practice. They have sufficient budgets allocated for their training development activates and many are in the process of reassessing and systematically improving their approaches to advanced and long term skill and competency development. The great majority of companies recognizes that the skill levels of their employees are fundamental to the success of the business, and that they need to invest and develop these skills in the same way that they maintained improve their infrastructure. While most companies are aware of the training development functions and processes, they arent much familiar with many of the specific components details and structure of what constitutes a training development system. Although the companies aim to have a well-trained staff and are, in general terms, aware of the functions and process stages of training development, they dont attach great importance to systematic training and development structures and they arent aware of the specific components of the TD system framework. For example, the organizational determinants that impact training development activities, such as à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦andà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ are never considered. Although most of the TD process stages are followed two phases of the TD process are highly deficient, namely, the training needs assessment and program evaluation phases. Ad hoc needs assessments and evaluation practices may have served in the past but the new economic and social realities of Yemen, make these practices vulnerable. The researcher believes that this is partially due to the fact that the training focus has more or less linearly followed the short term planning of the the day-to-day needs and operations of the businesses, and that it served the direct needs only to ensure that the Oil Gas companies would remain sustainable in the Oil Gas industry. In fact, the training has so far been mainly reactive, where existing employees were trained as identified specific needs arise. Not having clear TD objectives, nor defining or stating specifically the required outcomes has caused some frustrations among the Human Resources or Training Specialists in the oil companies. In some cases their objectives were to only demonstrate to the Ministry of Oil that they are spending significant amounts of money in training and developing their Yemeni workforce. In spite of this, most companies claim that the currently applied TD systems are satisfactory. I believe this satisfaction is mainly due to the sufficient amounts of TD budgets they are currently spending and to the fact that they have an expatriate workforce ready to intervene whenever a Yemeni employee isnt performing as per required standards. So, the effectiveness of their TD activities isnt really a major problem till so far. Companies often consider training as a stand alone process with no ties or links to the major features of their business strategy nor to other parts of the total training development system, such as the surrounding environment of its different components, methods selection procedures (?), or the various burdens affecting employee training. Linking employee Training Development activities with other activities (e.g. career pathing, performance appraisal and reward systems and management by objectives) would put training in a perspective and give the trainee an incentive to learn and apply learned norms. While there is evidence that a considerable amount of existing employee Training Development is undertaken by the Oil Gas companies and their commitment to the continuous training development of their staff at all levels of the workplace (Sentence is not clear). The companies approach to the continuous training development of their existing workforce is unsystematic and dependent on the initiation and enthusiasm of employees and on the government requirements. Training opportunities, both formal and less formal, are open to all staff, but the company does not put pressure on employees to engage in training and development. When companies dont have TD qualified specialists as found by at least two companies, they (= higher management?) rely on the personality, and existing skills and knowledge of its workforce to address these issues. Due to the absence of awareness for restructuring their TD activities in a systematic manner, it is expected that long term development and career plans may not be possible in the Oil Gas companies.. Short-term plans (1-3 years), however that focus on the next promotion may be possible (Muna, 1987). This research has led the researcher to conclude that the Yemen Oil Gas sector is not fully aware of the importance of having a systematic training development system. However, external (Yeminization) and internal (call for promotions) pressure forces the companies to reassess the present practice and to introduce TD systems to link the modern and complex Oil Gas infrastructure with a highly qualified workforce. The potential is there. Recommendations The findings of this study shed light on the training development structures and practices in the oil gas industry in Yemen; and the issues raised in this research may be of value to practitioners in other industries and multinational companies operating in Yemen. On the basis of the result findings and conclusions of this research the following recommendations are made. General company recommendations The findings regarding the considerable amount of existing employee Training Development suggest a growing commitment to employee training in the Yemen oil industry. However, the deficient in not considering the organizational factors that impact the effectiveness of the TD activities needs to be reconsidered. Similarly, TD needs assessment and evaluation systems need to be remedied. It is important that a link is made between the application of systematic TD approaches with proper selection criteria and the required TD outcomes including effective Yemenization. Only through effectively and continuously developing and training their employees are the companies in the Oil industry able to acquire the core competencies needed to sustain their operations and to be flexible or ready to cope with changes. Training Development that is built around action rather than theory and characterized by encouraging a work habit of reflection and learning and self-development is what companies in the Oil Gas industry in Yemen in particular and in all industries in general should be looking at. It is suggested that systematic thinking should guide the planning, analysis, implementation and follow-up of employee development efforts in these companies. Perhaps the clearest messages from this study is with serious effort on their part these companies may be able to define the TD (input output) determinants that have most impacts on the outputs they value most. The cooperation between HR or training departments and all units in the company will enhance the training efficiency in planning and developing employee TD programs. HR, training and all units in the respective companies can work together to find out more about why each one approaches rules the way they do, and work out some compromises. People in various departments should understand what is really required and HR and training should also translate needs in training programmes and figure out how legitimate exceptions can be made to make things work for companys business. The research findings suggest that department managers who are not aligned with HR and training often fail to communicate or implement critical policies that help improve employee engagement. Without cooperation between HR and the various units in the company, both spend too much energy putting out fires, like recruiting new people because the good people leave the company. When HR and other departments leaders work together effectively, the results often include: Clear business roles that ensure the right people are doing the right jobs Performance management processes that relate the core competencies of each departments roles and enable ongoing development of employees Incentive plans that pay for performance and align with business strategy. Previous research (Schimel, 1979) has emphasized the importance of dual roles to be played simultaneously by management of companies and the government, namely, passivity and support. The acquiescence of Yemeni nevertheless at the managerial level and their willingness to permit experimentation and failure is a good approach for the success of Yemeni development (Comment: What do you want to say here? Is the management lenient to the support of the Government?). Moreover, the findings suggest increasing the role of the top management and government involvement in setting the training development strategies, objectives, proper budget allocation of what is spent on training which is short-term and more spending on development which ensures continuity of operations once the international oil companies leave Yemen. Company specific recommendations To enhance training and development effectiveness, it is suggested that the following feature be incorporated in the five Oil Gas companies Training Development functions: Supported by key strategies, objectives, systems, structures, policies, and practices: to ensure a true return on companies TD investments, it is suggested that Training Development in the five companies are aligned with and directly supported by key areas such as organizational structures, lines of authority, decision making, values, planning, budgeting, career development, performance management, rewards and recognition, staffing, recruiting, and succession planning. Specifically, the TD strategies in all five companies should be aimed at knowledge retention and transfer to the workplace, enabling employees to be more effective and to acquire more skills. In addition, there should be explicit alignment between programs, learning objectives, and business objectives. These direct links will help to both set boundaries and reinforce desired results. Best companies now realize that many Training and Development initiatives take years to fully achieve their goals. Consequently, the las t suggestion in this point would be that companies identify these timeframes up front, where possible, and the TD programs evaluated at those points. Companies must seek mutual benefit that is reflected, on the one hand through the employee in the development of his career and achieving personal goals, and , on the other hand, through the leader of these companies in achieving the set of business goals and a more effective management of his subordinate employees. In this way, appropriate staff will be trained and able to contribute to the success of the company. Driven through many Methods and Approaches: companies are encouraged to further investigate and utilize multiple modalities such as the classroom, workplace, blended learning, eLearning, technology support tools, however in a systematic manner to ensure that people get the right skills at the right time, in the right way, and at the right cost to succeed. Modalities are suggested to be selected to match specific learning styles, business issues, budgets, and required training development outputs. Employees are usually keen to participate in programs that add to their current and future work effectiveness and that will contribute to their companys success. Therefore, Training Development programs should be relevant to both the company and to the employees work requirements. All selected Oil Gas companies, and in particular (Companies 3 and 4), are encouraged to train their employees through real tasks and/or assignments in their international branches rather than teaching theory, so that after training employees are able to apply what they have learned in their own work. Also training in projects type of work, is suggested, however, because of the value placed on job rotation discussed in the literature review, the Yemeni government should encourage Oil and Gas companies to establish permanent training slots in major departments, ensuring ongoing exposure of Yemeni employees to new tasks and responsibilities, nevertheless at the management level.(Comment: reword sentence) Yemeni employees identified for management positions may be given the opportunity to test his or her skills in a number of different roles (positions?) such as in finance, operations, and exploration, before settling on a full-time management role within the company. Additionally, companies should encourage their employees to identify their own needs, create individual learning plans, and to seek learning opportunities. Relevant software packages that facilitate such employee interaction was only found in company 2 and therefore the other four companies are strongly recommended to use similar TD information systems. (Comments: but should also be given the opportunity to follow the programs as was mentioned in chapter 4) Participative approach in the application of their TD Processes: Training Development is best when conducted by line managers supported by the TD specialists experience and employee feedback. Line managers set performance objectives, and also perform evaluations. Even where the training is designed and delivered by (= for?) a specific function or department, TD programs should respond not only to organizational needs, but also to individual needs as identified through appraisals, counseling meetings, assessments, and career development plans. One of the most important elements of best practice training and development is that it should be easily transferred back to the workplace. The five Companies can achieve this through the timing of the training, the quality of the content, and the quality and appropriateness of the delivery method. Another crucial element to this transferability is the role of line managers (effective management of subordinate employees) in the maintenance of t he new skill or knowledge once training has been completed. All companies should remember that skills and knowledge that are not used constantly will quickly atrophy (= disappear? forgotten?). Consequently, to bring about lasting change in behaviors and habits, all Companies are encouraged to have a continuous learning process. To achieve this, the Companies should ensure that learning occurs before, during, and after scheduled TD events. The process of doing, reflecting, learning, and doing again should never cease. Another way to achieve this transferability is in the 2nd TD process phase, when designing the training materials. Companies could consider the Performance-Based Training Design method which teaches employees job performance that enables them to go back to work and do the job, not just know how to do the job. TD Input, Process and Output elements: It is no longer feasible to address the complex needs and requirements of Training and Development activities in the contemporary organization in a less than comprehensive approach. Today, the five selected Companies are operating in a surrounding organizational environment where several Input, Process Output indicators impact the quality of the organizational Training and Development function. It is suggested (= recommended?) that all of the five companies TD systems are structured based on the TD basic systems framework as used in this research; such that: TD Input consisting of: Clear TD objectives and strategies Participative environment Sufficient budget and resources Strong support from companies management: Management support is empirical to the success of training programs for resources and support, including time, money and motivation. When the companys top management does not take responsibility for TD policy rather imposed by the HR or training department, can lead to potentially spread the gap between training development and organizational requirements. Clear support from government, through establishing laws and regulations that monitor and sets minimum TD activities that are required to be implemented. TD Process: To ensure a successful Training and Development system, Oil Gas companies need to effectively go through the entire Training and Development process, such that there is: Assessment: assessing the needs for training and the area of improvement, setting training objectives, and determining the budget. In addition, keep track of available inventory of skills and competencies that will assist in proper planning of gaps. Involvement: participation of individual, departments, HR and top management should be involved in designing or selection of the training programs, including the training topics, training methods, place, and the trainers. Personalized: using real world issues and ease studies Interactive: employee training programs will involve open dialogue, role-playing and small-group sessions to increase team building and excitement. Evaluation and Control: the shallow reactive mode governing the program evaluation process should be replaced by a comprehensive evaluation system which focuses on the results of training and transference of knowledge to the workplace. This recommendation is consistent with the suggestions of Kirkpatrick (Kirkpatrick, 1979) who stated that the best evaluation system focused on the effects of the application of information and learned concepts on the organization. Establish follow up procedure that properly measures the TD effectiveness, Employee change and satisfaction, etc. TD Output: Have clear training and development outcomes that include: It isnt enough to evaluate what employees have learned rather what learning have they applied on the job: Standard measurement of productivity and profitability: Yemenization: is an important aspect that requires proper planning, measurement and regular monitoring. Correlation between training development determinants: The literature (Al-Khayyat, et al., 1997) shows that for each output indicator there is a unique set of input and process indicators that have significant effects over it. For example, the adequacy of resources allocated for Training and Development have significant effect on all output indicators such as (application of learning, performance improvement, productivity profitability). Similarly, clearly stated long-term policies of HRD have a significant effect on productivity and profitability. The logical inference of this is that companies should clearly identify and focus on the set of (input and process) indicators that are related to the output they value most, or the desired output in a given time. The view of output-related indicators is much differentiated; each has a somewhat unique path to achieve. Finally, Both the literature review for this research and the data analyzed from the surveyed companies informed ( = contributed to?) the development of a comprehensive TD Determinants model that includes: all relevant TD determinant indicators as well as the full TD process cycle. This improved model is depicted in the following figure that gives an overall picture or model that is suggested to be followed: Comprehensiveness of HRD Perspectives Resources Allocation Strategic Planning Long-term HRD Policies, HRD Objectives Senior Management Gov. Support and Involvement invlovement Employee and Customer Satisfaction Learning Application Yemenization. Productivity Profitability Productivity Work output Input Process Output Needs Assessment Implementation Method Selection Evaluation Control TD Process Change TD Environment TD Model Oil Gas Companies One of the particularly admirable features of the industry is the way that, once a person is accepted into the these surveyed companies industry, the educational sector from which the person emerged fades into insignificance as companies take care of developing their own people. Several directions for further research There are several directions for future research to consider, these include: The degree of agreement between the various oil companies needs to be investigated further. The future studies analysis should be at the organizational level (analysing the data for each organization separately) instead of doing it at the aggregate level (all subjects working in different companies together, as was done in this study). The issue of the differences between effective and less effective companies should be explored further. The analysis should be at the organizational level, that is, identify specific effective and less effective companies and then explore the differences between them with respect to input and process indicators. Identify the elements which contribute to successful training in the Oil Gas companies and factors that influence implementation of training and learning in the workplace (Ridoutt et al. 2002). And how do firms measure the success of their training practices Nonetheless, the major determinats uncovered are significant and gave an indication of the broad brush of what impacts training and skill development in the Yemen oil gas industry. It would be beneficial to test these determinants in other industries. Maybe a statement about making further study on ways the Government could speed up the Yemenization process using TD system.

the cuban mile :: essays research papers

Latin American Societies Book report The Cuban Mile   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Cuban Mile, written by Cuban native Alejandro Hernandez Diaz, is a story about two Cubans who set sea for Miami in hopes of finding more successful lives. The author writes as if he was one of the refugees, and we are reading his journal entries. The journey lasts seven days, with obviously many entries per day. The entries are categorized by how many miles these two men have traveled by that point. The narrator and his brother in law are on their way to meet Cynthia, who is the sister of one and the wife of the other. She was awarded the opportunity to study in America and believes her loved ones can enjoy greater success in a capitalist society. Each man has his own reason for leaving his country; the narrator, only 20, wants to be a painter and feels no ties to his family or country, while his brother in law, 28, is a sailor and wishes to reap the riches of America. It really is unclear as to why the narrator would risk his life to leave Cuba, the only apparent reasons are his isolation from his family and his desire to be with his sister, who has faith in him and believes he can be a great painter in the United States. Obviously, his brother in law wishes to be with his wife, while he has dreams of sailing yagts living in excess. Neither likes the other all too much, they seem to have sincere contempt for each other as they are actually quite opposite and don’t understand one another much. The sailor is the macho, right wing type, while the painter has an effeminate, artistic flair to him. Along the trip, â€Å"Commodore†, as he’s called by the narrator, attempts to pass the time with chatting, while t he narrator prefers to read the books he brought along. Occasionally they’ll interact, swaying between playful poking fun and long monologues that the other doesn’t listen to. The goal of these two refugees is to be picked up by the United States Coast Guard and be brought back to American soil. On the fifth day, the see another ship, but it’s not that of the Coast Guard. Commodore paddles ferociously, so as to not be seen by what he perceives to be a Cuban vessel. To loose weight and travel faster, he instructs his partner to toss over his bag of books.

My Christmas and New Years Vacation Essay

On my new years and Christmas vacation started off bad but towards the end it became good. I had a lot of fun spending time with my family to be honest. We ate to much like Golden Coral , Cookies and milk , and The Christmas dinner. On Christmas Eve night we had the cookies and milk once you but the cookies in your mouth they were so moist soon as they touch the tip of your tongue. On Christmas we went to golden corral and it seem like they add more food in the buffet to be honest. For some reason it was many types of smells. When we went to the mall, and soon as I walked in the mall aroma of the mall smelled like Topsy. On new years it seem like it was like a ghost of fireworks walking up and down through the streets. In the house there was a smell of a vanilla candle that really smelled. Out of all of the incredible smells that I had taken in there was a bad smell awaiting for me and that was the smell of chitlins, wooo that smell is nothing nice. Thankful my mama knows has to keep that awful smell down. When the day seems long I would lie in my comfortable bed. I was able to go over to one of my cousin’s house which was a cool thing to get away from the house. I would just lie there and pet on the dog’s soft furrier coat. Once that was over back to the home front it was good to see my little brother. I gave him a hug and a rub on his curly soft hair. While on break the sight of the snow was amazing. Just watching it comes down and hitting the ground was a pretty sight. Then to watch some of the kids out playing making snowmen was a great sight also. What wasn’t a great sight was seeing the news and watching how people were wrecking their cars. After, seeing all that pretty snow the sight is not a good look now it’s dirty looking Listening to the good music and hearing laughter filled my whole vacation. Watching my family sit down talking and playing cards was great. It was nice seeing everyone getting along was good laughter to my heart. Just having family together over my break bring all the laughter this world can give. .

Human Resource Planning Essay

Organisations such as Boots undertake human resource planning to determine a course of action, which helps them to function more efficiently by having the right labour, in the right place, at the right time and cost. Human resource planning was known as manpower planning. It has been defined as: â€Å"The activity of management which is aimed at coordinating the requirements for and the availability of different types of employees† Boots need to forecast their manpower needs, both in terms of the number of employees needed and the types of skills and qualities required. It is also important to monitor and assess the productivity of the existing and available workforce and recognise the impact of technological change on the way in which jobs are carried out. Boots human resource planning team also needs to be able to identify and analyse the factors influencing and shaping the labour markets from which the organisation recruits staff to satisfy its manpower needs. Human resource specialists have to work within these labour markets to acquire sufficient resources to meet the productive needs of Boots. Influences On Human Resource Planning Recruitment and Selection One of the most important jobs for the human resources manager in Boots is recruiting and selecting new employees. Without the right employees the business will be unable to operate efficiently or serve its customers properly or make any profits. With the proper recruitment and selection techniques, Boots can make as sure as possible that they can achieve these objectives. Boots may need to recruit for several of reasons. The growth of Boots can generate additional demand and therefore create a need for extra labour. External influences such as technological developments can change job roles within the organisation, creating a need to recruit new people with specific skills. Alternatively, vacancies can be created through resignation, retirement and dismissal. The Recruitment Process Job analysis Job description Person specification Finding suitable candidates Choosing the best person Taking references Making appointments Training and Development An important part of manpower planning is the continual review, identification and update of training and development. Factors such as the introduction of new technology or new working methods can create training needs that have to be met if Boots is to remain competitive. In recent years there has been growing employer awareness that training can play a significant role in developing a flexible and multi-skilled workforce. Boots organise training and development programmes for several of reason: * To motivate employees and increase job satisfaction, thereby reducing absenteeism and labour turnover * Reduce wastage and accident rates by creating a consistent performance across the work force * Develop the skills of existing employees to cope with labour shortages * To establish the most effective and efficient working methods in order to maximise productivity and remain competitive * Reduce employee’s resistance to change, perhaps deriving from the introduction of new equipment and the application of new technology. Performance Management Boots needs to manage the performance of its employees effectively if it is to remain competitive. This means that there must be effective management control exercised at both individual and organisational level. A range of processes and techniques need to be in place, which allow individual employees to know how well they are doing, and for managers to be able to monitor how well their subordinates are performing. Performance monitoring provides information, which is of value for identifying future training or promotion opportunities, and areas where insufficient skills or knowledge could be deemed a threat to an employee’s efficiency. Managers exercise control at an individual and organisational level through: * Planning by setting objectives and targets * Establishing performance standards * Monitoring actual performance * Comparing performance against targets * Rectifying mistakes and taking action. The Performance Management Process Labour Turnover The labour turn over ratio is used to measure the total number of employees leaving an organisation in a given period of time, usually a year. It is calculated in percentage terms using the formula Number of employees leaving over specific period x 100 Labour turnover = Average number of people employed It is important that labour turnover is continuously measured by Boots to warn of potential problems so that management can take appropriate action. Replacing employees disrupts efficiency and creates recruitment and training costs. For a business to meet the objectives of its manpower plan, it is important that it minimises labour turnover. A high labour turnover is bound to affect the quality and level of output as well as incurring manpower costs associated with the recruitment and training of labour. Labour Stability Index The labour turnover ratio is a rather general measure. A more subtle indicator is the labour stability index, which is calculated using the formula: Number employed with more than 12 months service x 100 Labour stability = Total number of staff employed one year ago This index denotes stability because it emphasises those employees that stay rather than leave. Age Structure The information on the age structure of the workforce – analysed by different categories of employees – is useful for several reasons. It will highlight a potential staff shortage problem that might be caused by a large number of employees all reaching retirement age during a relatively short period of time in the near future. It might show that a particular age group dominates certain positions within the company, frustrating the promotional aspirations of other employees A detailed analysis if the age structure of the workforce of Boots, when linked to skill audits, can also be of considerable value when deciding upon the allocation of training opportunities. For example, boots short-term objective might be to train all employees to use a new form of computer technology by the end of the year. When deciding who should receive training, Boots needs to know which employees already possess the required skills and which employees are nearing retirement age, as training people who are shortly to leave the company would not be cost effective. I am going to be covering the areas that surround Boots in Brent they are: > Alperton > Barham > Sudbury > Sudbury Court > Preston > Tokynton > Wembley Central (where Boots is based) Ward % Under 8 years % Under 15 years Working Age (16 – PA) % Pensioner age % 85 and over Alperton 14.1 20.9 67.8 11.7 1.1 Barham 18.7 19.3 64.4 15.6 1.3 Preston 11 18.1 64.1 17.8 1.6 St Raphael’s 16.6 28.6 60.5 10.9 0.6 Stonebridge 13.1 21.8 66.1 11.1 0.7 Sudbury 9 20.1 64.7 15.9 1.1 Sudbury Court 11.7 20.4 67.9 11.7 0.7 Tokyngton 12.1 20.8 65 14.2 1.1 Wembley Central 13.2 22.2 66.2 11.6 0.7 This data shows the percentage of people’s age in each ward. As you can see looking at the data Wembley central employ 66.2% of working people being the third highest ward. Therefore in this area where Boots is located there would be a lot of workers working there. The data also shows the percentage of pensioners, in Wembley central the percentage of pensioners is low. This means businesses in Wembley central do not employ old people as there isn’t many old people in this area as there are in Preston where majority of pensioners live. Boots would look at recruiting people that who are young, as they want young and active staffs. They would employ young people so they can gradually train them as they go along. By doing this Boots can offer a better service to there customers. Ward Total Unemployment Rate Estimated Rate for Black Groups Alperton 12.3 15.1 Barham 11.7 9.6 Preston 10.3 13.8 St.Raphaels 22.8 27.5 Stonebridge 23.1 27.3 Sudbury 10.7 14.7 Sudbury Court 8 10.6 Tokyngto 12.7 15.5 Wembley Central 13.8 15.2 This data shows the unemployment rates in Brent and the estimated rate for black groups. Unemployment rates for Black and Asian groups were higher than for White groups. White unemployment rates were 10.9% whereas black unemployment rates were 16.5%. While there are no up-to-date unemployment figures by ethnic group, there is no reason to suppose that the differential between white and other ethnic groups has lessened significantly. Based on this assumption, the data above, estimates black unemployment rates in January 1996 compared with the rate for the whole population. This has been estimated by calculating the differential rate in unemployment between the black and other ethnic groups and all groups, then applying the difference to the January 1996 unemployment figures. For example black and other ethnic groups unemployment rates were 22.7% higher in 1991 in Alperton ward than for the white population. This percentage difference is then applied to the current rate. The resulting figure is intended to give a broad estimate of the likely unemployment rate for the black and other ethnic groups. The data shows that the lowest unemployment rate is in Preston ward and the highest rate is in Stonebridge. In Wembley central where Boots is based it looks like an average of unemployment members. This means that in this area there aren’t many unemployed people as the area is very busy due to businesses operating in the area and competition with other businesses occurring. As a result of this businesses will need to recruit more people. For example if Boots were to employ more staff the business will be doing more work, the more work they do the more customers they get. % In Education Rank in Brent Persons (18 +) qualified Rank in Brent Alperton 60 23 12 20 Barham 71 14 15 14 Preston 71 13 18 11 St. Raphael’s 54 28 7 30 Stonebridge 54 27 9 27 Sudbury 74 9 19 9 Sudbury Court 74 8 27 1 Tokyngton 65 19 10 26 Wembley Central 71 11 13 15 These data shows the percentage of pupils in education in each ward. It also shows the percentage of people that are already qualified in Brent. As you can see that Sudbury Court have the number 1 rank in Brent whereas Wembley Central have the rankings of 15. % In Education Rank in Brent Persons (18 +) qualified Rank in Brent Alperton 60 23 12 20 Barham 71 14 15 14 Preston 71 13 18 11 St. Raphael’s 54 28 7 30 Stonebridge 54 27 9 27 Sudbury 74 9 19 9 Sudbury Court 74 8 27 1 Tokyngton 65 19 10 26 Wembley Central 71 11 13 15 Those wards which have high proportions of the population qualified to a level above GCE â€Å"A† level are those wards which have the highest proportions of people in professional and managerial occupations. This tells us that Sudbury Court has the most workers with qualification. Weekly average earnings (Full Time à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½) 1984 1986 1988 1990 1992 1994 Greater London – Males 214.7 255 312.6 383.1 434.4 467.3 Greater London – Females 142.8 169.3 208.2 258.9 308.6 336.5 Brent – Males 204.1 242.4 283.3 338 381.2 402.1 Brent – Females 120.1 159 172.5 225.8 267.9 282.7 This data shows the average weekly earnings (from 1984-1994) for male and females in Brent and Greater London. We can see from the data that from 1984 the males weekly earnings have increased as the years have gone on. The female’s earnings have also increased as the years have gone by, but not the same amount as the males. Some females argue that they are getting unfair pay, as their earnings do not match the males when they are working the same hours and the same jobs as them. If females feel neglected in the workforce they seek the equal opportunities for advice. We can see by looking at this graph that the level of males earnings in 1994 in Brent have increase, so has females earnings. However female’s earnings are not as much as males earning. Recruitment And Selection The first stage of recruitment is to conduct a detailed analysis of the job, which may involve questioning the current jobholder or observing the jobholder at work. The information gathered is carefully recorded and analysed. Further information might be obtained through discussions with the jobholder’s manager of supervisor. When the job analyst gathered all this information, it should be written down in a summary report setting out what the job entails. This report is called job description. It contains two types of information. It describes the tasks of the job and describes the behaviour necessary to actually do these tasks. This is what a job description summary looks like: Job Description Job Title: Sales Assistant Directly responsible to: Store manager Directly responsible for: No one Contact with: Managers, other sales assistants, personnel department, other stores and customers Job outline: To help meet customer’s requirements by providing them a high quality service to ensure they remain satisfied. To be able to deal with customer complaints, request and offer advice when required. Job responsibilities: you need to maintain up-date knowledge of all products ranges and developments. As a company representative a professional, polite and sensitive manner should be adopted at all times. Whenever possible the company’s own brand products should be promoted over those of its competitors. Job requirements: all customer’s orders must be processed correctly using the company system as soon as the order is received. Overall an individual target must be met. Complaints must be dealt with politely and immediately. A person specification, which is also known as a personnel profile, describes the characteristics and skills, which a person needs to be able to do the job to the required standards. There are many ways to set out this information. This is what a person specification looks like: Person Specification Physical appearance: Smart personal appearance, clear, articulate speech Achievements: Five GCSE’s at grade C or above. No previous experience required, however it would be an advantage. Specific skills: Good communication skills. Ability to listen to problems and offer practical suggestions. Willingness to learn. Competent with money. Interests: Any position of social responsibility or participation in team related activity Personality: Polite, pleasant and cheerful, ability to deal calmly with aggravated customers and to cope under pressure. Good team worker Personal circumstances: Reliable person, good time-keeper, living locally and willing to do additional overtime work during holiday periods. The next stage of the process is to attract only those people who fit Boots person specification. Therefore Boots need to advertise for a staff and it is important to advertise in the right areas. It is important to think about the type of people it is trying to attract and the publications they read. The advertisement should be done a well clearly and noticeable. The advertisement should also make it quite clear how any interested person should apply, and state whether applicants need to submit a copy of their curriculum vitae. Once Boots has attracted applicants who match the person specification, the next stage is to gather information on each applicant. The main sources of information are: 1. Application forms 2. Curriculum vitae 3. Interviews The purpose of an application form is to gather information about the candidate that will give definite clues about personal attributes, qualifications, experience, etc. Boots make decisions about which candidates to short list by comparing the information on application forms to the person specification. The completed application form is regarded as part of a candidate’s contract of employment. It is important that no false claims are made or any deliberate misinformation is included, otherwise the contract of employment could be void. A curriculum vitae (CV) is a document usually initiated and prepared by a job seeker. It serves a similar purpose to an application form. The CV includes the job seekers personal details, education, qualification, work experience, interest and ambitions. In addition, the CV should include any other information that would be likely to persuade a prospective employer to consider granting and interview. This is how a CV looks like and should be presented. (See next page) Curriculum Vitae Name: Salma Ahmed Address: 50 Tudor Court South Wembley Middlesex HA9-6SE Telephone: 0208 900 9018 Home) 07958172964 (Mobile) Date of Birth: 20/11/1985 Marital status: Single Nationality: British Occupation: Student Education: Preston Manor Sixth Form Centre Carlton Avenue East Wembley Middlesex HA9 8NA Sep 2002-2004 Qualifications: GCSE French B Maths C Art C English Literature A English Language B Science C/C History C DT C Personal Profile: I am a very hard working person. I like meeting deadlines and I am very reliable. I like working as a team as my communication skills are very well developed. I can work independently as well as in a team and work to the best of my ability. Work Experience: Business: Insight UK (Computer suppliers) Position: I.T. Assistant Address: Alperton House Bridgewater Road Wembley Middlesex HA0 1EH Start: 04/06/01 Finished: 15/06/01 Duties & Skills: During my experience at insight my duties were to deal with technical trouble and solving them. I had to do mail orders and general office duties including filing, faxing, photocopying and other duties that were required Achievements: Throughout my five years at Preston Manor, I have achieved many duties and responsibilities. I was a prefect where I had to help out the school with any events or forthcoming events. I was also a member of the school council committee. I took part in many school activities and extra-curricular activities such as basketball, football and cricket. I had entered for a poem competition and the poem was published in a book called â€Å"kaleidoscope†. Interests: In my spare time I make myself useful. I like to stay healthy and fit, l play lots of sports such as football and basketball. I also play snooker. I am sociable too as I go out with friends to different places. At home I enjoy reading books and listening to music. I take a lot of interest in computing and learn to develop my knowledge on it at home with computer books. I also use the Internet regularly everyday as I find it very interesting and take a big interest in this too. Reference: Are available upon request The structure of the selection interview depends on the nature of the vacancy and the size of the Boots. For some jobs, applicants may be interviewed just once on a one to one basis. Other jobs often interview an applicant several times before they employ them or dismiss them. This is and example of the types of questions that may be asked during an interview at Boots: 1. Why did you apply for this job? 2. Tell me more about you’re past experiences? 3. Why did you leave your last job? 4. From your CV I can see that you have developed your skills, what are your strength and weaknesses? 5. In Boots you may have to deal with annoyed customers, how would you deal with the situation? 6. Give me an example of a situation you have faced? 7. How well do you think you can contribute to the success of Boots? 8. Do you have any references? Before we finish do you have any questions? These are questions that maybe asked by the interviewee to the applicant. During this type of interview, which would be face to face, the applicant must show that they are willing to carry out this job at high standards and are able it impress the interviewee with skills and experiences that have been achieved During the interview the interviewee would usually mark the applicant(s) on a checklist, which would be created to see whether the applicant is right for the job. This is how a checklist would look like: After this process is done the Human Resource department then work out who is perfect and suitable for the job. This is the type of recruitment process that Boots would use. Often other jobs are advertised in the local newspaper and when the people see them they send off a letter of application, as they have no application forms or they never received any. A letter of application is simply a letter asking for the job and explaining why the writer is suitable for it. The letter will be structured in any way the writer thinks is appropriate, and this very fact makes it a useful selection method. If the letter is badly structured, poorly expressed and full of spelling mistakes, it could indicate that the applicant is not suitable for a clerical or administrative job, which requires neat well-structured work. On the other hand, a poorly structured letter, which is nevertheless imaginative and interesting, could indicate that the applicant may be suitable for the job. On the next page is an example of a letter of application. This job place was found in the local newspaper for a job at Chorospan Ltd. John Bates Personnel Director Chorospan Ltd Preston Manor Reginal Road Carlton Avenue East Chester Wembley CH2 7KB Middlesex HA9 8NA 10 January 2003 Dear Mr. John Bates, Post of Personnel Assistant: I am interested in applying for the job of personnel assistant advertised in the Wembley Observer on 9/01/03. I am presently studying for the Advanced Vocational level in Business at Preston Manor Sixth Form College, which I will finish at the end of June this year. My qualifications and educational details are in the curriculum vitae attached. I am very interested in personnel work and I did two weeks work experience at Action.com, (which now is known as Insight UK) in London in June of last year. I am also studying a personnel unit on my course, which has increased my interest and understanding in personnel work. I am available for an interview at any time convenient for you, apart from the dates of January 27 and January 30. Yours Sincerely Amit Patel Training And Development Programme Training is the acquisition of a body of knowledge and skills, which can be applied to a particular job. The resources devoted to training can create substantial costs. It is important that training needs are correctly identified and the desired standard of skill is established. The training programme needs to be administrated efficiently and evaluated – the results achieved by employees that received training should be compared with the standard of performance it was hoped to achieve. Nowadays most large organisations like Boots employ professional training officers to run training programmes for employees. In a large manufacturing or services company, for example, the training manager will have teams of training instructors to teach all kinds of courses to employees. Even in small businesses several types of training will still be necessary Training can be dived into two main categories: ‘on the job’ training or ‘off the job’ training. ‘On the job’ training This means that the employee acquire their training or development in the workplace itself. For many people they enjoy the direct link with their job and can see more clearly how relevant the training or development is to the performance of that job ‘Off the job’ training This means attending courses, which may be in a college or a training centre away from the workplace. This type of training is important to an employee’s career development as well as being an integral part of training a training programme. There are various types of training: Induction Training Induction is the process of introducing new employees to the organisation and its way of life and culture. Employers use induction training as a means of introducing new employees to the organisation and ensuring they have necessary information and skills to perform their tasks to the required standard. Induction training can help to minimise labour turnover among new recruits by ensuring that they are made to feel welcome and are fully aware of what the job entails. Induction training provides new employees with information about: > The organisations policies and objectives > Future career opportunities > Pay, training and fringe benefits > Health and safety > The organisational structure and layout > The requirements of the job > Colleagues and managers Good induction training programmes successfully balance the amount of information that needs to be conveyed with the length of time employees can sustain their concentration. Mentoring Mentoring schemes are used by businesses both to develop good working relationships between employees and to provide employees with the opportunity to learn new skills. Employees are allocated a mentor, usually an older or more experienced existing employee, whose role is to advise and answer their concerns. The employee benefits from advice on issues such as career development and managing change. The mentor benefits from an increase sense of responsibility and the opportunity to pass on their personal knowledge. For some professional and senior posts, it has been found that mentoring is more effective if the mentor comes from an external organisation. The mentor would be expected to have a wide range of professional skills and experience and be able to offer independent advice and support. Coaching Coaching involves regular informal meetings between a mangers and an employee, which allow discussion of the employee’s performance in relation to the achievement of any objectives or targets. These informal performance assessment sessions enable a manager to identify an employees strengths and weaknesses. Coaching provides managers with a means of both assessing an employee’s suitability for promotion and analysing the way an employee has coped with any additional responsibility or extra authority. In House Training This is where employers run courses inside their own organisation. Courses might be held in an ordinary office room or in a smart training centre owned by the organisation. In house training schemes often referred to as on the job training, because it provides training and development to employees using resources within the organisation. The main benefits of using in house courses are: > They are fairly cheap – there is usually no need to employ outside trainers and lecturer > Course content is tailor made for your organisation > Reference and examples to highlight points can be related to your own organisation > Everybody knows one another, so there is no time wasted in having to get to know people The success of in house training schemes is dependent upon the teaching skills of the instructors. Instructors need to possess good communication skills and be able to break down, explain and prioritise each section of a particular task. External Courses Sometimes it is necessary to send staff to do courses elsewhere. This may be with another employer or at a specialist-training centre or at the factory of an equipment supplier. Externally run training schemes are normally used by smaller organisations, as they usually have too few employees requiring training to justify expenditure on specialist training facilities and full-time instructors. The benefits of using external courses are: > They bring together specialist trainers who would never be available to an ‘in-house’ course chiefly because of the high cost > Course members get together from several organisations, and this enables them to learn more about each other and how their respective organisation operate > Trainers place great value on the benefits of being away from the workplace – the course members are in a comfortable and peaceful environment away from any distractions External courses are generally quite expensive because this includes fairly luxurious accommodation in lavish surrounding and the guest speakers are highly paid. This means employers have to think very seriously about the value of such courses to the organisation and they have to carefully identify which staff The National Training System Training and enterprise councils This was first established in 1990. This helps businesses to identify their training need. Sponsored by the government and led by local people, there are some 80 TECs in England and Wales. Their mission is to encourage economic growth through effective training and enterprise. Investors in people TECs are also responsible for assess firms that wish to be recognised publicly as investors in people. The idea behind the initiative is that investing in people is one of the most effective ways of improving business performance. To gain recognition as an investor in people, companies like Boots must meet exacting training standards. Individual learning accounts Individual learning accounts are designed to help individuals manage, plan and invest in their own learning and, therefore, take charge of their career and future. They are sort of a bank account into which the government, the individual and the employer all make a contribution, and the money is used to buy training and education, both now and in the future. Modern apprenticeships Modern apprenticeships provide young people with a means of obtaining a nationally recognised qualification while gaining valuable work experience. This is basically when young people are working and having education at the same time (part time college). National vocational levels NVQs are occupational qualifications based upon an employee’s ability to reach defined levels of skill or competence in carrying out various tasks connected with their particular occupation. The basis for awarding an NVQ is an assessment of an employee’s level of competence, and any necessary underpinning knowledge. Several techniques can be used to help promising employees to develop their abilities and give management a better idea of exactly where the employee’s future may lie: Job Rotation Giving people a range of jobs in rotation widens their experiences and increases their skills. Job Enlargement Giving people extra tasks to do gives management a better idea of the employee’s true capacity, ability and stamina. Job Enrichment Adding more interesting and more difficult tasks to the job. This might be done with a person of very great potential to see just how capable he or she really is. There are so many other courses of trainings that a business like Boots can look into. These are the key aspects of the training and development program. Most of the methods of trainings shown before are some of the trainings that Boots themselves take up on. The other types of trainings Boots could look into to help develop their staffs and train them to offer a better service to the their customers. Human Resource Management: The Potential For Conflict In a large organisation like Boots conflict is inevitable. Basically, the resources that can be devoted to this area are limited and everyone wants a large share of them. The main areas of conflicts are as follows: Department Rivalry Boots does not have unlimited resources to devote to its human resources activities such as training and staff development. The human resources management has the difficult task of deciding who should be given the benefits of those activities and this is also an area where there is huge potential for conflict. Departmental managers will all want to make sure that their departments do not miss out but they cannot all get bigger slice at the cake if the cake is of limited size. Appraisal This is a common feature of most organisation but it is a very difficult area and fraught with difficulties. To some long standing employees, appraisal is simply unacceptable. They hate to think that someone is â€Å"looking over their shoulders† or making decisions on how good they are. Even if all staff are fully trained and happy to accept an appraisal system, there is still some potential for conflict. Staff might have a higher opinion of their performance that their managers and this can lead to disagreements and disputes. There can be suggestions of favouritism or victimisation even in a well – organised systems such as that of Boots. Recruitment And Selection The department that controls selection and recruitment is in a strong position to reward individuals and give them better salaries or more attractive jobs. In making decisions, the department is never going to please everyone. If Boots decided to appoint externally then this could have caused conflict with all internal candidates. Trade Unions One of the functions of the trade unions or representatives of the staff or any organisation is to gain the maximum pay and the best conditions for the employees. The human resource department have to ensure that salaries and wages are the minimum to attract the best or most appropriate staff. Performance Management And Motivational Theories It is important that Boots measure the performance of their employee’s against their aims and objectives and mission statement. This way they can see whether the company are doing well. This term is known as management by objective, in which the performance of the individual and organisation is consistently being measured against objectives and targets, which have been agrees jointly by managers and employees. The monitoring process requires the measurement of performance and then linking these performance measurements against the achievement of objectives. For individual employees, the monitoring process, is usually complemented by some or all of these review systems: > Appraisal > Self evaluation > Peer evaluation > 360 degree evaluation An appraisal system is used to review the standard of work being undertaken by people within an organisation and to assess the value or contribution of individual employees. Appraisal and performance review interviews are used by employers to: > Reinforce company goals > Identify training needs and career opportunities > Recognise good performance > Review and set new targets The person who appraises is called the ‘appraisor’ and the person being appraised is the ‘appraisee’. It is important that consideration is given during the appraisal interview to the extent to which an employee has reached objectives agreed at an earlier meeting (such as the previous years appraisal). Firstly, the appraisor writes an appraisal report of the appraisee. Secondly, this is discussed with the appraisee at an interview. There are several options available: Self Evaluation Before attending the interview, individual employees might be asked to consider their own view of their performance for Boots. Self-evaluation enables an employee to decide what his or her objectives are and identify training and development needs. The main problem with self-evaluation is that it can be highly biased. Some employees overestimate their performance through a fear of admitting their weaknesses and this is what the appraisor look out for. Other employees under estimate their performance because they do not want extra responsibility or because of false modesty. Peer Evaluation To inform the performance review process, many organisations also look at peer evaluations of the individual. This is based on the idea that the best people to provide feedback on an individual’s performance are those who operate at a comparative level. Obviously this can only be carried out in complete confidentiality, so that the people making the peer evaluation do not feel that there can be any come back. 360 Degree Evaluation This is the most modern approach – it is sometimes called ‘peer appraisal’. In 360 degree evaluation the apraisee is appraised by most of the people they deal with. Therefore a ‘middle manager’ would get appraised by staff working for them, by fellow managers and by their boss. This gives an extremely thorough picture of an employee and it pinpoints strengths and weaknesses very well. However, it takes up much staff time. Nevertheless it is very popular. It is important that Boots employers carry out appraisal interviews every year or every six-month so that they can keep on track how their employees are doing and also check if they are meeting the businesses objective. They can also set new objectives and targets to the employees in this type of interview as the appraisor would have found out what the employees strength and weaknesses are. The benefits of performance appraisal: > It helps to identify training needs > It may reveal other problems > It may untap useful new skills > It improves communication between employees and managers – a few words of encouragement and praise for doing a good job are often highly motivating. Motivation Motivation describes the extent to which an individual makes an effort to do something. Boots are likely to improve performance, in terms of productivity, attendance rates, cooperation and quality, if they can find ways of increasing the willingness of their employees to make even greater efforts at work. Motivation is the force that drives people to satisfy their needs. Human needs are varied and complex, and it is only relatively recently that psychologists have started to analyse how these forces operate and interact in the workplace. During the 1950’s two American researchers, Abraham Maslow and Frederick Herzberg, evolved theories about human needs, which have since helped managers to understand how to encourage people to perform more effectively at work. Abraham Maslow and ‘The Hierarchy Of Needs’ Maslow’s ideas focus on the value of developing self – esteem and of helping people to fulfil their potential. Maslow said that all motivation comes from meeting unsatisfied needs. He stated that there was a ranking of need, which must be achieved in the correct order – from the bottom to the top of a pyramid. Basic physiological needs like food and water are at the bottom and self-actualisation is at the top. The need†¦ Which is achieved by†¦ Self-actualisation: Personal growth and self-fulfilment Esteem: Recognition Achievement Status Social needs: Affection/love Safety needs: Security Freedom from pain and threats Physiological needs: Food, water, and air Once these have been satisfied, increasingly higher level need start to come to the fore in determining what motivates us. When one level of need is satisfied, it decreases in strength and our actions are then dominated by the next level – and so on. Basic physical needs – these include things like food, shelter and warmth Security needs – these can be things like a safe place to live and security of employment. Need for social contact – people need contact with family members, friends and work colleagues. Need for self-esteem – people gain self-esteem when they feel that their achievements are recognised and rewarded. This may be anything from a few words of praise to tangible things like a new house or car Need for fulfilment – this usually involves some form of personal development, achieving goals or the successful completion of an ambitious project Maslow has contributed much to our understanding of the wide range of needs that working people have. He was one of the first researchers to realise the importance of motivational factors such as: > Enhancing people’s self-esteem > Giving them a challenge > Providing opportunities for personal growth > Giving people extra responsibility Frederick Herzberg and The Two Factor Theory In 1957 Hezberg devised the ‘motivation-hygiene’ theory, which stated that two groups of factors affect employees motivation. He studied thousands of workers to find out what satisfied and what dissatisfied them about their jobs. He discovered, naturally enough, that some things gave employees satisfaction while other things made them dissatisfied. Herzberg called the things that satisfy people job content factors and the things that dissatisfy people job context factors. He said that certain elements in a job motivate people to work harder. Job content (inside circle) normally involves aspects such as achievements, recognition, opportunities from promotion, responsibility and the nature of the work itself. Job content factors are factors within a job that can cause satisfaction. These factors are sometimes known as satisfiers or motivators. Job context (outside circle) includes aspects such as working condition, pay, company policy, organisational structure and administration. They are called job context factors because they are outside the job. Poor job context factors can cause dissatisfaction and can demotivate, but good job context factors are not enough in themselves to provide job satisfaction. Mangers must focus upon some of these factors if they want to increase job satisfaction and motivate employees. As we can see looking at both Maslow’s and Herzberg theories, that these methods will help employers and managers motivate their employee’s to get the best work out of them to keep the company alive. It is important that motivation takes part in all businesses, as motivation is a key aspect of the performance management part of the business. We can now see how businesses like Boots are influenced by these two motivational theories, however there are more theories that cover the whole concept of motivation We can see the main purposes of performance management and why it is so important to large and small businesses like Boots. Performance management plays a big successful part in a business as long as it keeps the employees happy and motivated. Planning The Workforce (Human Resource Planning) There are four main reasons for human resource planning: 1. It encourages employers to develop clear links between their business plans and their HR plans so that they can integrate the two more effectively, for all concern 2. Organisations can control staff costs and numbers employed far more effectively 3. Employers can build up a skill profile for each of their employees. This makes it easier to give them work where they are most value to the organisation 4. It creates a profile of staff which is necessary for the operation of equal opportunities policy Because of the dynamic nature of the modern global business environment, human resource planning is an ongoing process. A business like Boots needs to alter its objectives continuously to take account of: > New technology > Emerging world markets > Green and ethical issues > Workforce demands New Technology The rate of technological change is accelerating. It permeates every aspect of business activity: design, production planning, production control, automated production, warehousing, despatch, transportation, administration systems, management information systems, and so on. Robotics, automation and information technology are still in their early stages of development. As progress continues, the nature of industry and commerce will change even more dramatically. Human resource plans should consider the likely impact of technological change on the type of employees that the organisation will require in the future as well as considering the training implications for existing employees. World Markets International companies are able to exploit world markets, enjoying considerable economies of scale, particularly as transport costs continue to fall in real terms. Worldwide production facilities, automation and access to instant information anywhere in the world are changing the nature of companies. Businesses, which do not deliver quality goods and services on time, are being bypassed. Consumers demand more choice and new products. Product life cycles are shortening and product development time scales have had to speed up. Internet selling has become firmly established and organisations require highly flexible work forces to survive in such an environment. Green And Ethical Issues Businesses have to maintain a good relationship with their customers and suppliers. That relationship can be threatened by bad publicity, and companies need to be aware that they are scrutinised by many pressure groups that seek to publicise unfair or unethical practices. Green peace, for example, protests against environmentally unfriendly practices, and it sometimes targets action against individual companies as well as putting pressure on business as a whole. There have been many examples or pressure groups staging high-profile demonstrations against individual companies and organising boycotts of their products. Workforce Demands Conditions at work have improved enormously, compared to how they were a hundred years ago, but employee expectations continue to rise. Employees demand better working conditions and a better quality of working life. They want to be consulted about matters that affect them at work. They certainly have higher expectations about work than previous generations; people are not likely to be committed and loyal to employers that do not consider their needs and expectation. Human resource plans need to offer suitable training, development, motivation and rewards to satisfy employees and to ensure that those people with the highest skills and expertise are attracted to, and retained, by the organisation. These are factors that have influences on human resource planning. It is important that businesses like Boots think about these factors and how they might work from it and what kind of things the business may have to beware of. Good planning means a successful business. To successfully implement a human resource plan, a manager needs to obtain the cooperation of everybody within and outside the organisation. The human resource manager needs to motivate and enlist the cooperation of customers, suppliers, the manager’s own staff, senior managers and people in the other departments. Manpower Planning And Internal Staffing One of the most important plans the human resource manager makes is the manpower plan. This sets out the number and types of employees that will be required by an organisation in the future. Manpower Planning And The External Labour Market Factor As well as the continuous analysis of the internal staffing resources, manpower planning must also be supported by monitoring, the availability of labour from external resources. If an organisation fails to monitor the pool of potential recruits in the working population at both local and national level then it runs the risk of not being able to satisfy any additional manpower requirements from external resources. Local External Courses When assessing the extent to which future manpower requirements can be satisfied from local labour markets, manpower planning must take account of: > Demographic trends, with particular emphasis on the overall size and age structure of the local working population > Developments in the local transport system that determine the effective catchment area for labour > Unemployment rates, and the availability of workers with particular skills, qualifications and experience. National External Sources Boots must also consider the extent to which it ability to meet its manpower requirements may be influenced by national factors. National policies, demographic trends and developments can affect the ability of the organisation to recruit certain types of labour, and can have implications for salary levels and the conditions of employment. Manpower planning must therefore also take account of: > National demographic trends, particularly any implications for the growth of the working population > Economic trends which affect the demands for different types of labour – in today’s economy, for example, there is greater demand for people with practical science and technology skills and those with customer service skills required in call centres > Education and training trends, such as central government measures, which change the emphasis and structure of university courses and the provision of technical and vocational education in school and colleges > New legislation, including government policies and EU directives on wages and salary negotiations, the role of staff associations and trade unions, equal pay, sex discrimination, employment protection, working time and industrial relations Statistical Analysis There is a great deal of statistical information, from government and private sector sources, relating to the impact of local and the national factors on the labour market. This type of analysis is particularly useful to any organisation drawing up a manpower plan in support of business relocation or the setting up of a new business. Drawing Up The Manpower Plan If an organisation like Boots have identified the strengths and weaknesses of an organisation’s existing workforce and the external labour market factors impacting upon its ability to recruit and retain labour, a manpower plan can then be devised. The manpower must deal with: > Recruitment > Transfers > Redundancies > Training > Productivity > Labour turnover Recruitment A schedule must be produced that deals with the timing or the recruitment programme for the various types and levels of labour. It must set out an approach to tackling any possible labour recruitment difficulties that have been identified by earlier investigations. Transfers The manpower plan needs to cover the future redeployment of existing employees between various jobs, department, sections and locations. The plan covers not only within existing premises but also any transfers involving proposed movements of employees to different geographical locations where organisation operate. Redundancy If some jobs have become obsolete, or the organisation needs to reduce its activities in certain areas, it needs a programme for redundancies. This must cover the timetable and selection procedure for redundancies and/or early retirements, and the determination of redundancy payments and pensions. The plan must also specify how the organisation in tends to assist redundant employees in their search for alternative employment. Training This section of the manpower plan deals with the duration, structure and content of training and apprenticeship courses. It should cover induction and training of young recruits and the training and retraining courses for existing employees. Productivity Recruitment, selection, training and promotion measures are designed to ensure that the best possible people fill existing and future positions. However, they must be supported by actions so that all employees can work more productively. Productivity can also be raised by measures aimed at improving industrial and human relations within the organisation. If employees feel valued and get job satisfaction, they are likely to be better motivated and more productive. Labour Turnover A high labour turnover is bound to affect the quality and level of output as well as incurring manpower costs associated with the recruitment and training of labour. Having identified the avoidable causes of manpower wastage, the plan may suggest some remedies to reduce wastage. Having produced a manpower plan, every effort must be made to ensure that it is continually updated in the light of both internal and external developments that affect the organisations ability to meet its demand for labour. We can see how human resource planning is vital for nearly any business. Planning the workforce is good preparation for creating a tougher and successful workforce, which would then create better services. It is important that Boots also plan their external and internal developments too as it may affect the business to meet their demand for labour.