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Walt Disney s Core Competency - 2062 Words

Walt Disney The Walt Disney is a world leading company for the entertainment of all especially families; it is also a media enterprise with different business segments. The main five business segments are studio entertainment, parks and resorts, media networks, consumer products and interactive media. Walt Disney’s original main competence was only animated movies and cartoons. By combining Imagineering with engineering Disney’s company reached supreme success with the formation of the first full length animated movie. This success led to new dreams and ideas, one of them was to open a park, a different kind of park. In Disneyland Walt used new technology to bring his characters to life. He called them â€Å"Animatronics†. (Magical Kingdoms, July 2008). With inimitable storytelling and high excellence of service Walt Disney created a magical setting for his guests which none of the competitors could quite duplicate. This then became as said Walt Disney’s core compete ncy. The park has a lot of good reasons behind it’s everlasting success one of them reason being that they have such a good team working behind closed doors to name at least two there’s the human resources team and technology team. The human resources team at Walt Disney partner with different business to develop different strategies specific to each segment. They are also there providing innovative business solutions all over the world in the work environment all of this to promote nothing but success. Working withShow MoreRelatedStrategies For Competing International Markets931 Words   |  4 Pagesfast expanding world economy does offer the Walt Disney companies an opportunity and the companies in the entertainment industries have a higher competitive threat domestically as well as globally which drives them to come up with an international strategy to enter into the foreign market to expand their business. Disney like any other companies expanded into foreign mark ets to achieve an increase in profit, competitiveness and capitalize the core competencies to gain access to new customers and a lowerRead MoreWalt Disney s The Disney Company2012 Words   |  9 PagesTyler Knight The Walt Disney Company Introduction History/background. The Walt Disney Company is a very large company with a very rich history. The company began as a cartoon studio in 1923, started by Walt Disney, and it was called the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio. In 1928, the first animated film to star Mickey Mouse, Steamboat Willie, debuted in New York City. The following year, the partnership between the two Disney brothers was replaced by four renamed Disney companies. In 1932, the firstRead MoreMarketing Analysis : Walt Disney Company810 Words   |  4 PagesThe Walt Disney Company must penetrate global market with its existing products, create a collaborative culture of kids and family oriented that brings family together, satisfy shareholder with their financial need, expand new portfolio and lead in the digital and internet world. Disney needs to diversify into new products and services to keep up with its 20% projected growth and develop a market using its brand a household name for many millions of consumer througho ut the world for an expansionRead MoreStrategic Management at the Walt Disney Company4260 Words   |  18 Pagesof the change episode upon the key resources and core competencies of your organisation. This paper will analyse a recent period of strategic change at The Walt Disney Company which began in 2005 with the appointment of current CEO Robert Iger. The company began to experience halted growth during the late 1990s. The former CEO Michael Eisner had been successful himself in the late 1980s in changing the company during what is known as the Disney Renaissance. Eisner successfully concentrated theRead MoreEssay on The Walt Disney Company Case Study2812 Words   |  12 PagesBUSMRH 4490 Strategic Management Case 2 The Walt Disney Company: The Entertainment King Kaitlyn Kisiday Alex Maicks Chelsea Parker Jonathan Russ Ryan Terek 1.) Why has Disney been successful for so long? Disney has sustained prolonged success for a variety of reasons. One source of success was the way Walt and Roy Disney decided to manage the company internally when the organization was founded in 1923. Disney emphasized teamwork, communication, and cooperation in the workplaceRead MoreAssessing the Corporate Culture of Walt Disney Essay2103 Words   |  9 Pagescorporate culture of Walt Disney, addressing the background of the organization, training and teaching, stories, legends and myths associated with the company, philosophy, values, mission statement and the organizational goals of the company.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Disney Brothers Studios was founded by Walt and Roy Disney in October of 1923. As the brothers increased their reach in the entertainment market, this small studio evolved into the corporate giant known today as the Walt Disney Company which has interestsRead MoreThe Walt Disney Company: Mckinsey 7s Model the Entertainment King2443 Words   |  10 PagesThe Walt Disney Company: The Entertainment King Starting as a young boy from Missouri, farmer Walter Elias Disney set out to make a mark on society. After first joining the Red Cross in World War I, he came back determined to be an artist. After moving to Hollywood in 1923 with his older brother Roy, they founded Disney Brothers Studio. After diversifying as much as possible, Disney had a firm grasp on the global market share until the 1980’s where the company’s revenues began to slump in the filmRead MoreDisney Analysis2267 Words   |  10 PagesAnalysis of The Walt Disney Company: The Magic of Disney Fall 2003 Sean Housley Haas School of Business University of California, Berkeley MBA Candidate, Spring 2004 housley@mba.berkeley.edu Abstract Disney has led the entertainment industry for much of its storied 80-year history. What exactly is the ‘Magic of Disney’? And how has Disney sustained the magic for so long? This paper analyzes Disney’s historical competitive advantage, drawing emphasis on the remarkable synergies Disney created acrossRead MoreOrganizational behavior of HK Disneyland4893 Words   |  20 PagesTheory Y 4 Herzberg’s two-factor theory 6 Maslow s Hierarchy of Need 8 Learning 11 Organizational Learning in Disneyland 11 Current situation of learning aspects in Hong Kong Disneyland 12 Problems of Disney Learning Style 13 Suggestion 14 Conclusion 18 Introduction Hong Kong Disneyland, opened to visitors in 2005, is one of the two largest theme parks in Hong Kong. It successfully brings magical experience of Walt Disney to all the visitors just like other Disneyland aroundRead MoreCapstone Assignment 41313 Words   |  6 Pagescompany, evaluate the strategy that led to the merger or acquisition to determine whether or not this merger or acquisition was a wise choice. Justify your opinion. The merger I choose to research was the acquisition of Pixar by Disney. The merger between Disney and Pixar was a very successful one. They worked together in the past and their contract was running out after the release of Cars. This was the perfect opportunity and sensible move for these two companies to merge. The merger would

Human Resource Management Workers and Management

Question: Discuss about the Human Resource Management for Workers and Management. Answer: Introduction The report delves in application and implication of Human Resource Management through a comprehensive analysis of Constructive relation at Top Trucking Company. At the outset, it is imperative to learn that Human Resource is a process which helps the organization to collate its various resources and channelize them in a productive direction. The report would try to portray the importance of Human Resource Management in a rather hostile and challenging environment, its practices, models, and theories applied in various situations. The further segments mention different facets of behavior, labor laws regarding workers union in transport. The report critically evaluates the given case study which highlights the workplace practices as formulated by the organization aimed to augment coordination along with productivity amongst the workers and the management. The important role played by the firms management in keeping with the risk along with adaptableness to such changes in the domain. Detailed analysis Human Resource Management and its Role HRM is an approach used by various organizations wherein the most important resource, that is human capital is diligently sourced, managed and allocate din the requisite area. The HR management in the trucking organization is in a transition phase. The factual reality is Wollongong yard was famous and high performing entity in the domain with a rather unreceptive manager. The yard was receiving positive reception and the significant contributor was the firms union delegate George Psaros (Askenazy Forth, 2016). The transitional phase of the organization has been witnessed by him, and Psaros has given his support to the union staffers as well as management. The firm was a difficult place to work because of the hostile attitude of the manager. The management of the firm was disinclined to fund the firms infrastructure and hence was acquired by a transport entity. The firm as per the older scheme of management was encountering various challenges relating to the attitude and whims of the manager. The manager was reluctant to accept others point of view which reflected in the unwillingness of the transport drivers to accept the change as well. Post acquisition, the new management induced numerous changes in the given model along with work place practices within the parlance of the organization (Child, 2015). Model of Human Resource The organization in question introduced Harvard Framework within the ranks of the firm. This framework suggests that the line managers are required to agree to more duties and responsibilities in consonance of responsibilities to ensure appropriate harmonization of competitive strategies and personal policies. The theory suggests that these guidelines are meant to govern the development of personal actions and its execution and also how they could be likened to the organizational objectives. This theory stresses on the fact that resources are the primary stakeholders barring shareholders and consumers. The framework creates a basis of diverse human resources policies, namely, HR management model in selection, recruitment, and appraisal and promotion facet of the employee within the firm. On the other hand, employee influence deserves special mention which deals over delegating authority and responsibility to the employees. Furthermore, work system entails over managing and designing workflow among the resources alongside system of Reward which is maintained through encouraging the employee with recognition and rewards (Oliver, 2016). Application of the model The management implemented Harvard Framework system which states resources as their prime focus and adopted various organizational practices for the creation of a productive environment for them. However, the major challenge in this regard was their manager who upheld his autocratic behavior and refused to accept the new assessment. The following divisions discuss paradigm shift in policies and approach of the organization. Appointment of new Manager: As an essential part of the Human Resource flow, the management of the firm allotted a new manager to look after the proceedings who is well versed of the conflict and past behavior that exist between the union and earlier manager. The new entrant exerted an open-minded approach and invited and considered new ideas and standpoint of the staffers in various occasions (Pick et al., 2015). The selection of new manager was performed in keeping with his competence to deal with antagonistic trade union members as well as their delegate George who had spent substantial years in the system. The new manager preferred to initiate in a discourse with the drivers instead of blaming others. He tried to probe into issues rationally and delegated the responsibilities to the resources based on the competencies. Training and development: The staffers along with the drivers of the firm and union delegates were based on the organization for an extensive time. It was imperative for the management to foster and cultivate their talent. This would help to develop knowledge and new skills introduced in the organization. Thus the manager commenced development program and initiatives along which concerned training for drivers for customer service department and technical aspects (Klimkeit Reihlen, 2016). Infrastructure change: The new scaffold under the newly appointed manager was eager to invest in the companys infrastructure. The management was contemplating buying of new transport equipment and trucks. Here, it is important to note the difference of stance between the new manager and erstwhile manager who are rigid in his approach. Also, the management spent considerable funds on buying a uniform for all the drivers of the organization. Furthermore, it invested in a new computer system in the yard's warehouse. Now, all these changes in the ranks and system of the entity were unaccepted by the workers in the first go. They were apprehensive about the overhaul of the organization. Later they realized that the company was heading towards betterment and thus welcomed the change (Urtasun-Alonso et al., 2014). Hygiene and safety: The staffers of the firm are subjected to work under trying conditions. Hence, it is necessary that the resources were kept in good stead to perform well. The newly appointed manager kept working to bring improvement of health and safety for the workers. In keeping with the vision, the management also spent a significant amount of money to create hygienic working conditions which included cleaning of the premises, etc. for the staffs (Johnstone Wilkinson, 2016). Risk in sustaining of the changes made The function of Human Resource Management is to manage the challenging task of moving to a new organization or a separate new level within the same organization. The shift may at times, be construed as a part of career growth or financial improvement as expected by the resources of the organization. As far as this case is concerned, George and the manager was an important resource to the firm. The manager was consigned to the challenging role, and he attained that. On the other hand, George was already a veteran in the system having received no promotions in the past (Bortolotti et al., 2015). Thus losing any one of the two resources may have a detrimental effect on the different work flows inside the organization. For a better understanding, the different risks associated are enumerated below. The risk of incomplete task: There may be a hazard of the incomplete task, if the firms key resources move on as designed by George or the manager for the firms benefit. Both of them are well settled in the enterprise by now and also their movement may hurt the course of action as planned by the organization. Deficiency in confidence: In a labor union group, the representative of the union demands confidence and high respect of the workers over him. The action and movement of the union representative may create issues unsettled and not communicated to the appropriate channel on time. George being at the helm of affairs for a long time had built a good rapport with various workers in the organization. Now with him, being replaced by a blue collar worker may trigger dearth of confidence among employees of the firm as they may have issues while communicating with the new manager (Stewart, 2016). A sense of insecurity: Any new system when implemented comes with a sense of security in the entire system. The manager who was somewhat new to the system did his best to win over the employees and staffers of the organization. He is trying out various options to exert efficiency into the firm. The actions and movement may cause discontentment among the employees regarding the future growth of the organization (Delery Gupta, 2016). Unprejudiced communication ploy: The manager possessed a habit of sharing information with the drivers. This included the yards performance and other important facets. This new concept was unique and called for greater coordination with each other. The new manager was straightforward in his communications and kept that simple and unbiased which made it easier for everyone to decipher the outlook of the management (Bacon et al., 2013). Retention of employees is a vital cog in the parlance of HRM. It aims to reinstate the best talent within the organization. The rationale behind this is new entrants require more time and costs to be trained and included within the organization. It may risk the productivity to some extent. However, there may be a plethora of reasons that may be responsible why a person may introspect of moving within the organization, by and large. The reasons could be mainly, the dissatisfaction of the resources within the ranks of the organization, compensation issues, opportunities to work for a challenging project, crave for higher positions or designation, to name a few (Bingham, 2016). Adaptability of changes in workplace; Blue Collar Union The HRM literature states that workers based with transport companies are well adaptive towards various changes that occur in the workplace. This is in stark contrast to service and public sector. The blue collar union is termed as a union of workers working in the capacity of, fire fighters, drivers, and others. The Blue-Collar workers are mainly manual workers with a lower rate of education and literacy hailing from their own social and economic background. Normally, they have no authority or associate with decision-making (Clegg et al., 2015). The workers have union protection along with job security by various labor legislations, mainly, Industrial Disputes Act. The blue collar staffers can be categorized among those who are manually skilled. They are paid on an hourly basis depending on the structure of the work. Workers belonging to this group are concerned about the union rather than management and operations of the organization. These set of workers are recruited in productio n based firms where they have minimal interaction with the management. In some nations, the blue collar personnel is paid much more than white collar resources (Bailey Peetz, 2015). The employee based in service or public sector is categorized among professionals regarding their professional and academic experiences. They have a professional qualification which provides support to their compensation and job role designated in the organization. These resources have meager union support, and subsequently, their participation with the union is least. They may be deemed as white collared staffers who work for service and public sector in an organization (Hislop, 2013). In this case, the management has the authority to bring changes as they performed in top trucking company in consultation with the manager. The union may agree to it with the minimal scope of negotiation accessible. The flip side of the proposition is people working in public and service sector can exert more influence over policy making decisions. Hence, the union transport staffers adapt to the changes in the workplace in a more accommodating manner than those who are based with private or service s ectors (Cho Poister, 2013). Conclusion As per the case study investigation, on top trucking organization, the report consists of Harvard Framework which would be immaculate to refurbish the management of the organization by initiating various workplace changes within the firm. The replacement of the manager, uniforms, channels of communication, and training for all the resources is focusing mainly on the drivers. The important resources responsible for the success of trucking organization can be attributed to the introduction of the new line manager and union delegate Georges involvement in the scheme of things. Job retention deserves special mention which aims to the restoration of best resources within the firm. This motive is aimed to avoid risk. In fine, the conclusion is drawn based on blue collar worker classification concerning skill set, wage disparity and proximity to the management. Reference list Askenazy, P., Forth, J. (2016). Work Organisation and Human Resource Management: Does Context Matter?. In Comparative Workplace Employment Relations (pp. 141-177). Palgrave Macmillan UK. Bacon, N., Wright, M., Ball, R., Meuleman, M. (2013). Private equity, HRM, and employment. The Academy of Management Perspectives, 27(1), 7-21. Bailey, J., Peetz, D. (2015). Australian unions and collective bargaining in 2014. Journal of Industrial Relations, 57(3), 401-421. Bingham, C. (2016). Employment Relations: Fairness and Trust in the Workplace. Sage. Bortolotti, T., Boscari, S., Danese, P. (2015). Successful lean implementation: Organizational culture and soft lean practices. International Journal of Production Economics, 160, 182-201. Child, J. (2015). Organization: contemporary principles and practice. John Wiley Sons. Cho, Y. J., Poister, T. H. (2013). Human resource management practices and trust in public organizations. Public Management Review, 15(6), 816-838. Clegg, S. R., Kornberger, M., Pitsis, T. (2015). Managing and organizations: An introduction to theory and practice. Sage. Delery, J., Gupta, N. (2016). Human resource management practices and organizational effectiveness: internal fit matters. Journal of Organizational Effectiveness: People and Performance, 3(2), 139-163. Hislop, D. (2013). Knowledge management in organizations: A critical introduction. Oxford University Press. Johnstone, S., Wilkinson, A. (2016). Developing Positive Employment Relations: International Experiences of LabourManagement Partnership. In Developing Positive Employment Relations (pp. 3-24). Palgrave Macmillan UK. Klimkeit, D., Reihlen, M. (2016). Organizational practice transfer within a transnational professional service firm: the role of leadership and control. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 27(8), 850-875. Oliver, D. (2016). Wage determination in Australia: The impact of qualifications, awards and enterprise agreements. Journal of Industrial Relations, 58(1), 69-92. Pick, D., Teo, S. T., Tummers, L., Newton, C. (2015). Advancing knowledge on organizational change and public sector work. Journal of Organizational Change Management, 28(4). Stewart, P. (2016). The Negotiation of Change in the Evolution of the Workplace towards a New. Teamwork in the Automobile Industry: Radical Change or Passing Fashion?, 236. Urtasun-Alonso, A., Larraza-Kintana, M., Garca-Olaverri, C., Huerta-Arribas, E. (2014). Manufacturing flexibility and advanced human resource management practices. Production Planning Control, 25(4), 303-317.

saturdayjournal Essays - Exploration, Exploration Of North America

Two of the discoveries the Wilkes expedition brought about were a new species of sea turtles and weapons from the Fiji people. The expedition was known as the Wilkes expedition that charted unknown islands, and discovered Anartica. "The collections of the USXX became the foundations for the Smithsonian Museum" (0:30). It was a four year round the world expedition that mapped hundreds of islands and mapping the coastline of Anartica. Since it was an U.S funded expedition, the captian treated the expedition as a military expedition and thus they planted the American flag at there numerous checkpoints where they were going. Since the expedition was four years, it took a lot or resources to make possible. The scientist needed the right equipment and also the crew needed food and water to last for the voyage. To get the turtles, the scientist would have faced problems in getting them back safely alive to analyze. At the time of the expedition, the scientists did not realize that they sea turtles were any different. It was not until they got back to the United States did they realize that they had a new species of sea turtles. Another maritime discovery made by the Wilkes expedition was Anartica. When they were going on the trip they inadvertently discovered Anartica. Since they did not know that there was another continent, they did not know what to expect. They eventually mapped out the coastline of Anartica which was a major moment for science in the United States. The discoveries altered the plans because the United States did not realize there was more land to be discovered. The expedition found Anartica and the project of the Ocean-Space was going to be in the area where Anartica was discovered at. This not only changed the plans, but the United States stopped pursiing it. Expeditions are not only important for science, but also for countries that sponsor these expeditions. Maritime discoveries are crucial for people to want to learn more about the sea. If a co untry knows more about the sea than another country than they will have advantages. The United States expedition was also considered a military expedition as well so as the people were traveling and making discoveries, the military portion of the expedition involved the United States putting there flags down in the areas in which they had traveled to. This shows other people that the United States have been and explored the area and it shows people that the United States is powerful. This helps the identity of the United States because it shows that it does not have a limit of range in its influence. The United States is always trying to expand, since that is in the DNA of humans.

( h tt p / / ww w . i n di a s t u d y ch a nn e Essays - Culture

( h tt p : / / ww w . i n di a s t u d y ch a nn e l . co m ) R e sou r ce s ( / r e sou r ce s / ) / A r t i cl e s / K no w l e dg e S h a r i n g ( / r e sou r ce s / C a t e g o r y 5001 - A r t i cl e s - K no w l e dg e - S h a r i n g . a s p x ) / A r t i ci a l i n t e lli g e n ce , i t s a dvan t a g e s a n d di s a dv a n t a g e s P os te d D a te : 13 Ja n 2018 | U p d a te d : 13 - Ja n - 2018 | C a te g o r y : A r tic l e s /K no w l e d g e S h a r i n g ( / r e sou r c e s / C a te g o r y 5001 - A r tic l e s - K no w l e d g e - S h a r i n g . a s p x ) | A u th o r : C h i t r a ( / m e m b e r / C v i n a y . a s p x ) | M e m b e r L e v e l : D i a m on d ( / g e n e r a l /M e m b e r sh i p L e v e l s . a s p x ) | P o i n ts : 60 ( / g e n e r a l / C on te n tR a tin g . a s p x ? E n tity T y p e = 1 E n t i t y I d = 173143 ) | A r t i ci a l i n t e lli g e n ce i s a k no w n t e r m f o r a ll a n d w e u s e d i ff e r e n t f o r m s o f i t i n ou r d a il y li v e s . B u t d o w e k no w a b ou t t h e a d v a n t a g e s a n d d i s a d v a n t a g e s o f A I i n d e t a il ? T h i s a r t i c l e w ill g i v e y ou a cl e a r p i ct u r e o f i t . I n t r o d u c t i on A r t i ci a l i n t e lli g e n ce i s t h e i n t e lli g e n c e sho w n b y s y st e m s a n d m a c h i n e s . I t i s a r t i c i a ll y c r e a t e d , un li k e hu m a n i n t e lli g e n ce . N o w w e g e t t o s ee a r t i ci a l i n t e lli g e n c e i n ou r d a y t o d

The Divine Right of Kings and Humanism Essays

The Divine Right of Kings and Humanism Essays The Divine Right of Kings and Humanism Paper The Divine Right of Kings and Humanism Paper custom and precedent). In the middle of the 17th century, the English Royalist squire Sir Robert Filmer likewise held that the state was a family and that the king was a father, but he claimed, in an interpretation of Scripture, that Adam was the first king and that Charles I (reigned 1625–49) ruled England as Adams eldest heir. The antiabsolutist philosopher John Locke (1632–1704) wrote his First Treatise of Civil Government (1689) in order to refute such arguments. The doctrine of divine right can be dangerous for both church and state. For the state it suggests that secular authority is conferred, and can therefore be removed, by the church, and for the church it implies that kings have a direct relationship to God and may therefore dictate to ecclesiastical rulers. The most commonly studied form of absolutism is absolute monarchy, which originated in early modern Europe and was based on the strong individual leaders of the new nation-states that were created at the breakup of the medieval order. The power of these states was closely associated with the power of their rulers; to strengthen both, it was necessary to curtail the restraints on centralized government that had been exercised by the church, feudal lords, and medieval customary law. By claiming the absolute authority of the state against such former restraints, the monarch as head of state claimed his own absolute authority. By the 16th century monarchical absolutism prevailed in much of western Europe, and it was widespread in the 17th and 18th centuries. Besides France, whose absolutism was epitomized by Louis XIV, absolutism existed in a variety of other European countries, including Spain, Prussia, and Austria. The most common defense of monarchical absolutism, known as â€Å"the divine right of kings† theory, asserted that kings derived their authority from God. This view could justify even tyrannical rule as divinely ordained punishment, administered by rulers, for human sinfulness. In its origins, the divine-right theory may be traced to the medieval conception of Gods award of temporal power to the political ruler, while spiritual power was given to the head of the Roman Catholic Church. However, the new national monarchs asserted their authority in all matters and tended to become heads of church as well as of state, as did King Henry VIII when he became head of the newly created Church of England in the 16th century. Their power was absolute in a way that was impossible to achieve for medieval monarchs, who were confronted by a church that was essentially a rival centre of authority. The English humanists English humanism flourished in two stages: the first a basically academic movement that had its roots in the 15th century and culminated in the work of Sir Thomas More, Sir Thomas Elyot, and Roger Ascham, the second a poetic revolution led by Sir Philip Sidney and William Shakespeare. Though continental humanists had held court positions since the days of Humphrey of Gloucester, English humanism as a distinct phenomenon did not emerge until late in the 15th century. At Oxford William Grocyn (c. 446–1519) and his student Thomas Linacre (c. 1460–1524) gave impetus to a tradition of classical studies that would permanently influence English culture. Grocyn and Linacre attended Politians lectures at the Platonic Academy of Florence. Returning to Oxford, they became central figures in a group that included such younger scholars as John Colet (1466/67–1519) and William Lily (1468? –1522). The humanistic contributions of the Oxford group wer e philological and institutional rather than philosophical or literary. Grocyn ectured on Greek and theology; Linacre produced several works on Latin grammar and translated Galen into Latin. To Linacre is owed the foundation of the Royal College of Physicians; to Colet, the foundation of St. Pauls School, London. Colet collaborated with Lily (the first headmaster of St. Pauls) and Erasmus in writing the schools constitution, and together the three scholars produced a Latin grammar (known alternately as â€Å"Lilys Grammar† and the â€Å"Eton Grammar†) that would be central to English education for decades to come. In Sir Thomas More (1478–1535), Sir Thomas Elyot (c. 490–1546), and Roger Ascham (1515–68), English humanism bore fruit in major literary achievement. Educated at Oxford (where he read Greek with Linacre), More was also influenced by Erasmus, who wrote The Praise of Folly (Latin Moriae encomium) at Mores house and named the book punningly after his English friend. Mores famous Utopia, a kind of companion piece to The Praise of Folly, is similarly satirical of traditional institutions (Book I) but offers, as an imaginary alternative, a model society based on reason and nature (Book II). Reminiscent of Erasmus and Valla, Mores Utopians eschew the rigorous cultivation of virtue and enjoy moderate pleasures, believing that â€Å"Nature herself prescribes a life of joy (that is, pleasure)† and seeing no contradiction between earthly enjoyment and religious piety. Significantly indebted both to classical thought and European humanism, the Utopia is also humanistic in its implied thesis that politics begins and ends with humanity: that politics is based exclusively on human nature and aimed exclusively at human happiness. Sir Thomas Elyot chose a narrower subject but developed it in more detail. His great work, The Book Named The Governor, is a lengthy treatise on the virtues to be cultivated by statesmen. Born of the same tradition that produced The Prince and The Courtier, The Governor is typical of English humanism in its emphasis on the accommodation of both classical and Christian virtues within a single moral view. Elyots other contributions to English humanism include philosophical dialogues, moral essays, translations of ancient and contemporary writers (including Isocrates and Pico), an important Latin-English dictionary, and a highly popular health manual. He served his country as ambassador to the court of Charles V. Finally, the humanistic educational program set up at the turn of the century was vigorously supported by Sir John Cheke (1514–57) and codified by his student Roger Ascham. Aschams famous pedagogical manual, The Schoolmaster, offers not only a complete program of humanistic education but also an evocation of the ideals toward which that education was directed. Ascham had been tutor to the young princess Elizabeth, whose personal education was a model of humanistic pedagogy and whose writings and patronage bespoke great love of learning. Elizabeth Is reign (1558–1603) saw the last concerted expression of humanistic ideas. Elizabethan humanism, which added a unique element to the history of the movement, was the product not of pedagogues and philologists but of poets and playwrights. wsu. edu/~dee/GLOSSARY/DIVRIGHT. HTM http://history. wisc. edu/sommerville/351/351-172. htm historyguide. org/intellect/humanism. html wsu. edu/~dee/REN/HUMANISM. HTM

Research Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words - 5

Research Paper - Essay Example Compassion fatigue refers to a stress condition which is characterised by gradual diminishing of compassion among care providers. The problem has been commonly diagnosed among individuals working directly with trauma victims from different societies. The condition is commonly characterised by hopelessness, negative attitude, constant anxiety and stress, and insomnia. This kind of stress becomes detrimental to the individuals both personally and professionally. Compassion fatigue results in individuals becoming less productive, and developing feelings of incompetence. As individuals involved in providing care to traumatised individuals, such feelings consequently cause the individuals to become cynical; hence reluctant in providing assistance (Slocum-Gori et al. 2013). The condition has commonly being referred as secondary traumatic stress (STS), because it results from an individual becoming stressed out of factors stressing others. Burnout refers to exhaustion which results from continued performance of work related responsibilities. The characteristics of burnout become visible following an individual’s continued long term exhaustion, which slowly makes the individual beginning diminishing interest in work. Burnout shows similar characteristics and effects like compassion fatigue and has been increasingly likened with compassion fatigue (Alkema et al. 2008). Psychologists have described compassion fatigues as a form of burnout experienced among caregivers, in facilities providing assistance to traumatised individuals. This research seeks to identify the various sources of compassion fatigue and burnout among individuals working within various organisations. These elements have continuous had detrimental effects on the individuals within the professional and personal perspectives. The article will seek to explore the causes and effects of these stress factors observed among individuals working within care

Cutco Case Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Cutco Case - Essay Example We recommend the mentioned regions because Cutco Company was started in Olean, NY and most people are aware of the quality of its commodities thus attracting a large group of customers. Another advantage of distributing the brands to the mention regions is that the company will incur less shipping cost compared to distributing to all regions of U.S (25). This is because the regions are near the manufacturing centers in Olean, instead of distributing to all regions. Apart from cutting down the number of Oreck stores, it is also recommended that the corporation makes use of other home appliance and high-end kitchenware stores. The target stores should be Sur La Table, Sonoma, Crate & Barrel, and Restoration Hardware. These retail stores specialize mainly in home furniture, kitchenware, kitchen appliances, and bathroom, bedroom, and lighting appliances. Therefore, distributing the products to these stores means that the products will be well-known by customers who do shopping in these stores. These stores have customer market that already exists only that they are not aware of Cutco brands and this will increase the company’s brand awareness. This is the phase 1 of the implementation plan and phase 2 will be distributing products to larger stores, which include Dillard’s, Bloomingdale’s, and Macy’s because they are within the company’s target price. Distribution to these stores will also increase the awareness of Cutco brand and the sales

Maltese Falcon Movie Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Maltese Falcon - Movie Review Example It also had a choice of setting, which was an urban landscape. This film is not only renowned for its long-term popularity, but also its considerable contribution in either changing or inaugurating key aspects of the film industry. Like the Film Noir by Paul Schrader, Maltase Falcon also presents a darker view of life. This contributed to a change in the film industry since most of the previous films majorly concentrated on human despair, failure and depravity. Maltase Falcon and Film Noir both share some common themes like dark, tormented obsessions and sexual divergence (Shrader 57). For instance, both the films strongly advocates for gender equality, as they perceive men as weak and women as powerful. â€Å"Black widow† is preselected as a powerful woman as she seduced, exploited and killed her partners (Shrader 59). The film has a happy conclusion to the audience because Sam who has since been frustrated because of his color and personality finally becomes a hero and achieves his existential identity in spite of all the shortcomings in his

Prevalence of Inappropriate Behavior With Schizophrenia

Prevalence of Inappropriate Behavior With Schizophrenia Sexuality is basic human need. This need is present at every developmental stage and as age increases, it become more dominant. According to Freud if person fixated at one stage or its needs repressed then in later life it comes in his behavior (Townsend, 2006). According to Muslim Public Affairs Council (1996) sex and sexuality are consider taboo subjects in Pakistan. Our culture also doesn’t allow talking about these issues openly before marriage and consider legal to satisfy sexual desire only after marriage. Religion also doesn’t support to discuss these matters openly. It is important to discuss on this topic in mental health because if we don’t discuss on sexuality, the patient may start expressing his thoughts in unacceptable manner which is against our norms of society and it is called as â€Å"sexual disinhibition†. The study uncovered that 26.7% of persistent schizophrenic patients had huge obsessive enthusiastic indications, with a high prevalence in the age set underneath 35 years. Obsessive habitual side effects were more serious in patients with term of sickness more than 5 years. The obsessive impulsive indications were more common around paranoid schizophrenics (Hemrom et al, 2009). A 33 yr. old female admitted in Karwan-e-Hayat with complain of schizophrenia. On assessment I found her depressed and prepared to give teaching on coping mechanism. While giving teaching to her on coping strategies she suddenly started telling her sexual thoughts, desire and feelings to have a sexual intercourse. Even she was ready to have an intercourse with his divorced husband and wanted to get married. When she was telling this I was quiet, anxious, uncomfortable, and not confident to discuss. Once I thought that I was not able to assess her problem for which she needed help. In schizophrenia obsessive compulsive symptoms that of being contamination, sexual, and aggressive thoughts is the positive sign. In a research it has been found that 10% of schizophrenic patient had these obsession symptoms (Hemrom et al, 2009). Sexual obsession is common in schizophrenic patients and relates the DSM-IV criteria of schizophrenia and OC (Bancroft, 2008). Who encounter such a sort of unadulterated fixations (i.e., fixations that are regularly portrayed by the absence of unmistakable impulses) assess unpleasant considerations as unsafe and excessively significant and, hence, fight to control their beliefs (Dell’Osso et al, 2012). The patient was suffering from schizophrenia so having sexual obsession could be the part of her disease process as Turkcan et al. (2007) reported that 16% of patient had obsessive compulsive symptoms with schizophrenia. According to Freud (1961), psychoanalytic theory describes formation of personality through five stages of psychosexual development. Fixation of libido (sexual drive or instinct) at any stage of development certainly results in psychopathology (Townsend, 2006) and fixation at any stage will also influence the behavior of person in later life (McLeod, 2008). As in case of my patient, she was divorced due to which her sexual desires were repressed and unable to fulfill them. It results in fixation of sexual needs due to which her sexual needs are at extreme level that, she have intense feeling to have intercourse and have sexual thoughts, which may change into behavior at any time. On the other hand, literature shows that some antipsychotic drugs induce sexual disinhibition which includes risperidone and quntipien (Lam et al, 2007). Risperidone side effect is that it increases sex drive and also decreases sexual function in some cases. Some cases have been reported which shows the effect of risperidone in increasing the sexual obsession compulsive thoughts (Basil et al, 2002). So, my patient was also taking risperidone it may be one of the factor for having compulsive thought. Whereas, there is also literature support for medication that decreases sexual desires such as one of the late study evaluate that second generation antipsychotic i.e. risperidone, olanzapine, quntipien, and haloperidol is the biggest study to date to assess sexual dysfunction and reproductive side effects (Kelly Conley, 2004). Therefore, it is important to take alternative medications to treat these symptoms. Whereas various late medicine studies and narrative case reports have indicated an adjunctive particular serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) may be a convincing medications to treat OC in schizophrenia. Patients getting clozapine and other atypical antipsychotics as their support medicine ought to be thoroughly screened for new onset or compounding of prior OC indications (Hwang et al, 2006). Although my patient had intense thoughts and desires to have intercourse, so with the pharmacological management it is important to do cognitive therapy because patient only have thoughts, but her thoughts can be change into behavior. It is important to change her thoughts through cognitive therapy. There are different strategies through which inappropriate behavior of patient can be change and these are discussing below. Cognitive therapy helps dependent upon perception, and all the more particularly, the particular judgment evaluation by a single person of an occasion, and the feelings or practices that come about because of that examination. Cognitive techniques include identifying and modifying repeated thoughts (thinking errors) and schemas interior values (Townsend, 2006). The goal of cognitive therapy is to change irrelevant beliefs, faulty way of thinking, and negative self- statements that cause behavioral problems (Stuart, 2013). Cognitive therapy focuses on controlling and reducing obsessive compulsive behaviors by behavioral strategies for managing symptoms, thoughts, beliefs and feelings are perused and examine for relevance and validity. Behavior modification system is dependent upon the precise examination and requisition of fortification. Support is the procedure by which new reactions are obtained and existing ones are fortified (Jessor, 2013). Moreover, motivational interventions can be done to develop patient’s motivation to change. By asking open-ended question can help to identify patient agenda. Affirming, reinforcing positive statements, and hopeful can emphasize that change is possible and it will also increase the self esteem of patient which will help him and motivate to change (Stuart, 2013). Role modeling can be done to teach the behavior. Lifestyle change to help an individual identify high-risk situations, change cognitive distortions or faulty thinking, and cope with stressful or high-risk situations that may trigger relapse (Townsend, 2006) Furthermore, nurse role is important in recognizing these issues in mental health. As, in my patient scenario it was my lacking that I was unable to recognize patient needs correctly so as nurse it is important to asses patient needs rightly and to do interventions accordingly. For this nurse should be competent in communication skills, confident to talk on this sensitive topic. She should have complete knowledge about the topic, positive approach and effective communication style can greatly improve the interaction. An approach that rises strengthening and self-governance ought to be utilized and the suitable health-advancement messages through consultation for individual client (Gott et al, 2004). All in all, prevalence of inappropriate behavior with schizophrenia is high; therefore as nurse it is important to asses patient needs and play the role of counselor, advocator, and as a care giver in giving awareness to families about patient disease process. Family and health care support also helps patient to cope his situation. In mental health it is important to modify the behavior of client according to needs through required techniques.

History of the PC :: Essays Papers

History of the PC â€Å"If one thinks about it, it is truly remarkable how far the technology has advanced since the first digital computer was introduced in 1946. The ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator and Calculator) was designed and built at the University of Pennsylvania. It weighed 30-tons and took up 1500 square feet of floor space. The first computer developed in Europe was the EDSAC (Electronic Delay-Storage Automatic Computer). This machine was built at Cambridge University in 1949. What characterized these earliest machines is that the switching and control functions were handled by vacuum tubes. This feature typifies what is termed the first-generation of computers. EDSAC had one feature that ENIAC lacked. Within the computer was stored the instructions to control the machine and the data to be operated upon. This was the first of the stored program computers. The first commercially available digital computer was the Sperry Rand UNIVAC I. This was sold to the Bureau of the Census and put in place in 1951. In the late 1950's the bulky and hot vacuum tubes were replaced in computer designs by smaller, more reliable solid state transistors. The use of transistors as the basic component of computer design characterizes what is known as the second generation of computers. 1963 brought about the start of third-generation computers. Solid-logic technology (SLT) enabled the development of the integrated circuit (IC). ICs allowed the placement of as many as 664 transistors, diodes and other associated components on silicon chip less than one eighth of an inch square. We are now in the midst of the fourth-generation of computers. Characterized by continued miniaturization of circuitry, such developments as large-scale integration (LSI) and very large-scale integration (VLSI) have enabled the current crop of machines to have a level of power and speed that was almost unimaginable 20 years ago. Now on to the history of the microcomputer. The first commercially available personal computer was the Scelbi-8H that went on sale in March 1974. The machine was designed around the Intel 8008 microprocessor, a less powerful 8-bit design than the later 8080. A machine in kit form with 1K of memory sold for $440.00. About 200 of these machines were sold in kit form and assembled. Half were the Scelbi-8H hobby machines, the rest were Scelbi-8B business computers, which were released in April 1975, having as much as 16K of memory. The first commercially successful microcomputer was the MITS Altair 8800 designed by Ed Roberts.

Supply side factors of drop out for students

Harmonizing to the National Plan for 2003-2015 ( 2003 ) of the Royal Government of Cambodia, Education for All ( EFA ) is the first critical and inevitable measure for bettering and sharpening human resources, which are needfully needed for Cambodia ‘s economic fight in an progressively planetary and regional economic system. Driven by a figure of development be aftering enterprises by the Royal Government of Cambodia, the constitution of EFA, which was approved by the Royal Government of Cambodia in 2002, came into consequence. In add-on, the National Plan emphasizes that, to develop the state ‘s economic system, Cambodia needs to guarantee its ain countrywide basic instruction, primary and lower secondary instruction, since the Government firmly believes EFA is the first and inevitable mechanism for Cambodia to make its ain Socio Economic Development Plan II ( SEDP II ) by agencies of equalising educational entree among its both advantaged and disadvantaged kids. This E FA program is besides encouraged by the on-going Poverty Reduction Strategic Plan ( PRSP ) of 2002, which aims at poorness decrease in Cambodia since the Government found that it has been the chief trap well lending to hapless pupils ‘ dropouts in Cambodia Basic Education. A paper by United Nations Children ‘s Fun ( UNICEF ) ( 2007 ) , which outlined the cosmopolitan primary instruction by aiming making the unapproachable in Cambodia, emphasizes that, to guarantee EFA in Cambodia, it is necessarily necessary to guarantee correlativity between both supply and demand-driven factors since the two factors are inseparable, intertwined tow-side consequence. This research, conducted by agencies of literature reappraisal from several beginnings, purposes to reply the undermentioned inquiries: What are these demand-side and supply-side which may forestall hapless kids from remaining in school? What does the Kampuchean Government do to cut down the influence of these factors on drop-out? The followers are the illustrations over the above research job, which chronologically includes the present state of affairs of drop-out in basic instruction in Cambodia, both supply-side and demand-side factors which may forestall hapless kids from remaining in school, and the Kampuchean Government ‘s solution in cut downing the influence of these factors on drop-out.Present Situation of Drop-out in Cambodia Basic EducationWith necessary engagement in their household ‘s economic activities, Kampuchean pupils in basic instruction normally face late school entry and early school dropout ( ILO, UNICEF, 2006 ) . The same research by ILO and UNICEF ( 2006 ) besides explains that about 16 per centum of Kampuchean kids are already active in their household ‘s economic work at the age of six while over half of them are involved at the age of 10. Therefore, kids engagement in economic activities exceeds that in school by the age of 15. In this sense, most of them merely ana lyze entirely, so they consider dropout. A study by World Bank ( 2005 ) shows that dropout rate becomes the highest during the pupils ‘ passage from primary schools to take down secondary schools. While the pupils are making their basic instruction, some of them choose to drop out of school without even finishing it. The study, furthermore, identifies many grounds of dropout, in which poorness seems to be the most influential ( as cited World Food Programme, 2007 ) . The tabular array below is the illustration by MoEYS/UNESCO ( 2000 ) , and NPRS ( 2005 ) on different grounds why pupils in Cambodia basic instruction bead out of school:ReasonsMales ( % )Female ( % )Parents ‘ poorness 22.3 19 Needed at place 1.6 21.1 Poor instruction 0.4 0.4 Distance to school 2.9 2.9 Schooling is non utile 0.4 0.3 Family migration 3.9 3.9 Other grounds 11 8.8 No response 37.5 43.6 Beginning: MoEYS/UNESCO ( 2000 ) /NPRS ( 2005 ) ( as cited in World Food Programme, 2007, p. 5 ) Harmonizing to the tabular array above, MoEYS/UNESCO ( 2000 ) /NPRS ( 2005 ) shows that poorness is the most influential factor forestalling pupils from traveling to school and hence doing them to drop out. It besides shows a great difference in the figure of pupils who reach the last class in primary schools and the proportion of pupils who continue their survey to take down secondary schools. The study moreover explains that, despite the abolishment of primary school fees, the secondary schools ‘ fees are non free. Therefore, possibly these are the grounds why pupils decide to drop out of school during the period of their passage from primary to take down secondary school since their parents or households can non afford their go oning instruction. The same determination by MoEYS/UNESCO ( 2000 ) and NPRS ( 2005 ) illustrates that, despite increasing proportion of pupils traveling to primary schools, there are still a big figure of pupils dropping out of schools or non inscribi ng for their go oning instruction in lower secondary schools ( as cited in World Food Programme, 2007 ) .Supply-side FactorsA statement by UNICEF ( 2007 ) identifies three chief supply-side factors, which prevent hapless kids from remaining in school, viz. unequal public outgo on primary instruction, high pupil-teacher ratio, and uncomplete school substructure. The study shows that, even though 80 to 84 per centum of entire Kampuchean instruction budget has been allocated to basic instruction, turn toing the issue of unequal public outgo is still a job, which to boot involves deciding issues of distance from school, installations and substructure of school, and instructors ‘ preparation and Numberss, peculiarly for entree to primary schools in distant and rural countries. The account, furthermore, emphasizes â€Å" aˆÂ ¦though investing in instruction has helped to increase the net registration rate in Cambodia by over 20 per centum over the period 1997 to 2004, a signif icant figure of kids still denied instruction opportunitiesaˆÂ ¦ † ( UNICEF, 2007, p. 8 ) . In add-on, high pupil-teacher ratio is besides a job. â€Å" Pupil-teacher ratio in schools in the poorest 300 communes averaged every bit much as 79 students per instructor compared with 46 in schools in the richest 300 communes † ( World Bank, 2006, p.101 ) . Another statistics sing high pupil-teacher ratio in primary instruction shows: The pupil-teacher ratio in Cambodia does non compare favourably with that of other states in the regionaˆÂ ¦ Cambodia has one of the highest pupil-teacher ratios in the part, between 1.8 to 2.9 times more than other states. The high pupil-teacher ratio has a direct influence on attending and larning results, and it peculiarly affects those kids populating in underserved countries of the state ( UNICEF, 2007, p. 9 ) . UNICEF ( 2007 ) , furthermore, shows that uncomplete school substructure besides affects students ‘ survey in schools, particularly who chiefly live in distant countries and those who can non afford their day-to-day transit. The determination proves that, despite to-some-extent betterment in structural substructure in basic instruction in Cambodia, a figure of uncomplete schools remain still. Those uncomplete schools is the chief cause of primary school students ‘ drop-out since they can non travel upward as those uncomplete schools can non supply higher classs for them. Similarly, a 2004 World Bank study peculiarly points out four of import factors from supply-side: deficient school preparedness, a big figure of uncomplete primary schools, low quality of instructors, and unequal wellness attention installations, viz. H2O and latrines and such acquisition installations as library. The study posited the roots of students ‘ dropouts on poorness trap, stating that: Poverty is the first factor that predisposes kids to drop out of school. Poor households are unable to pay the cost of schooling that could be every bit high of 79 per cent of the per capita non-food outgo of the poorest 20 per cent of the population. Children ‘s deficiency of school preparedness frequently a consequence of malnutrition and deficiency of preschool experiences is another factor that particularly impacts negatively on Grade 1 repeat and drop-out ( as cited in UNICEF, 2005, p. 9 ) . Mainstreaming Inclusive Education Undertaking by Voluntary Service Oversea ( VSO ) ( 2006 ) conducted a little pilot survey of a little sample of kids ( n=32 ) on primary school dropout in Kampot state, and it provided similar account on supply-side factors. One of the grounds is excess costs for school. The research shows that students are supposed to pay more for their excess lessons, or they would neglect in their survey. The 2nd ground is that their places are distant from schools. The research show that some pupils spend at least an hr each from place to school and this is the chief ground for their school dropouts. The concluding ground in the findings is instructors ‘ behaviour. The study emphasizes that physical penalty, harmonizing to 25 % of the kids, continues to be in school and is a factor that discourages some of them non to go to school ( VSO, 2006 ) .Demand-side FactorsIn the working documents by UNICEF ( 2007 ) on Universal Primary Education: Reaching the Unrea ched, demand-side explains three factors as the grounds for pupils dropouts, viz. poorness, geographics and ethnicity. First, poorness is really likely to be the most influential facet. Without even nutrient to eat for their day-to-day endurance, kids are required to work by their household. Cambodia Child Labor Survey emphasizes that around 50 % of all kids in Cambodia, aged from 7 to 14, were much more actively involved in economic aid in 2001 if compared with other with-similar-income states ( ILO, UNICEF and World Bank, 2006 ) . â€Å" Together with the demand of significant domestic work, this economic activity delays the chance that a kid would get down primary school by the official school entry age of six † ( UNICEF, 2007, p. 10 ) . In the same statement, UNICEF ( 2007 ) found that costs of kid schooling is the issue. Since cost of basic education-both direct and indirect-is high in Cambodia, hapless pupils find it disputing to remain in school, but sing dropout might be the better pick. Poverty is besides a chief cause of hapless pupils ‘ late entry into primary school. World Bank ( 2005b ) has found that â€Å" Children in Cambodia enter school well subsequently than the official school enrolment age of six, averaging 7.6 old ages as of 2001, † ( as cited in UNICEF, 2007, p. 11 ) . Therefore, this delayed start in school seems to be a terrible disheartenment in their academic continuance and it therefore appears to be the account about why hapless pupils decide to drop out of school. Second, the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports ( 2006 ) shows geographical location earnestly affects hapless pupils ‘ survey in footings of non merely farness but besides school conditions. Students whose agencies of transit is non low-cost have to travel to school on nutrient for long distance. At the same clip, the school conditions in distant countries are normally much worse than those in the urban countries. With no longer tolerance t o this regular state of affairs, most hapless pupils choose to discontinue school ( as cited in UNICEF, 2007 ) . Third, the study by UNICEF ( 2007 ) illustrates that cultural minorities largely live in rural countries, and they therefore do non truly mean to remain in school since survey can assist them with about nil. Therefore, dropout would be their better manner. In add-on, the same pilot survey by VSO ( 2006 ) besides identifies four factors from demand-side as the grounds why pupils drop out of schools, viz. demand for kids to work, deficiency of personal resources, deficiency of assurance, and unwellness. Need for kids to work to back up their household is largely inevitable for hapless kids in Cambodia. The determination states that around 25 % are required to assist their households with any necessary plants. The study adds, â€Å" in these state of affairss, school is frequently an excess load. Children become exhausted and therefore unable to concentrate on their survey † ( VSO, 2006, p. 16 ) . Consequently, this difficult work may forestall them from traveling to school. In add-on, guaranting adequate resources for their survey is besides the issue. â€Å" Similarly, 12.5 % of the interviewed kids [ n=32 ] in Kampot state are found unable to afford books or pens, so they can non take portion in lessons. Even though this ground is non given as a chief ground for dropping out, but it is at least in concurrence with other grounds † ( VSO, 2006, p. 17 ) . VSO ( 2006 ) adds that deficiency of assurance partially affects the pupils ‘ survey. 9 % of those kids dropped out as the consequence of their ain hapless public presentation in school. With deficiency of assurance in head, pupils are more likely to discontinue school. The account adds that, of those grounds, unwellness is another since, even though it is a rare instance, pupils are more likely to discontinue school when they are earnestly sick.Government ‘s SolutionsTo cover with this dropout issue, the Royal Government of Cambodia, with Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports as executive mechanism, needs to guarantee effectual execution for the undermentioned undertakings. UNICEF ( 2005 ) emphasizes that the MoEYS foremost needs to implement and vouch that all Kampuchean kids, particularly the hapless, are given equal chance to acquire choice instruction and to accomplish just entree to instruction. Second, the MoEYS besides needs to endeavor to supply more chances for vulnerable groups to acquire mine old ages of basic instruction. To accomplish these two chief aims, the MoEYS has outlined some of import, relevant schemes in ESP/ESSP. These include abolishment of the cost barrier to basic instruction and other illegal Acts of the Apostless by agencies of first doing enrolment run effectual ; 2nd providing to the demand and scholarship for secondary instruction, chiefly for those hapless and vulnerable kids ; 3rd extinguishing uncomplete primary schools by constructing extra schoolrooms and more lower secondary schools in underserved countries ; four turn outing school operational budget ; 5th cut downing repeat and drop-out chiefly in Grade 1 to 6 ; 6th supplying more chances for kids out of school to re-entry ; 7th making plans for out-of-school young person to acquire equal instruction ; eighth spread outing l iteracy plans for grownup ; and eventually seeking to enroll instructors from remote and cultural minority country. In a more elaborate account by EFA ( 2003 ) , to cover with these issues, the Royal Government of Cambodia has introduced a figure of strategic programs, in which some are in the procedure of execution while some are the future programs. First, it was necessary for the Government to set up both â€Å" Poverty Reduction Strategic Plan ( PRSP ) and Socio Economic Development Plan ( SEDPII ) † since the Government believes that long-run EFA sustainability, particularly to help the hapless or other deprived pupils, will ne'er be ensured without these two programs ( EFA, 2003, p. 19 ) . In another broader context, about comprehensive instruction reform has to be implemented with thorough accent on following cardinal mileposts 2000/2002: â€Å" Design and execution of PAP for primary instruction, concentrating on cut downing cost load on the hapless and publicity of improved internal efficiency in early 2000. Formulation of preliminary instruction policy and strategic model, as portion of interim PRSP in mid-2000. MoEYS hosting of Government, givers and NGO seminars on international experiences of sector broad attack to education reform in mid/late 2000. Formal understanding to education partnership rules by MoEYS, givers, NGO advisory group in early 2001, alongside revival of donor instruction sector w0rking group. Joint reappraisal and assessment of ESP and ESSP, climaxing in joint ESSP assessment study and collaborative forward program and high degree instruction unit of ammunition tabular array in mid 2001. Design and execution of assorted mode instruction sector support plan and complementary capacity edifice aid plan by cardinal donor Alliess in early 2002. MoEYS and donors/NGO readying of poorness impact, sector public presentation, revised ESSP and donors/NGO study as portion of first ESSP public presentation reappraisal in late 2002. Formulation of preliminary PRSP and MTEF, pulling on the policy and strategic waies set out in the revised ESSP 2002/6 in late 2002 † ( EFA, 2003, pp. 19-20 ) .DecisionWith elaborate amplification in response to the above research inquiries, brief decision on dropout grounds in Cambodia basic instruction can been seen as an interconnected factors between both demand-side and supply-side, which need necessary solutions from the authorities. In supply-side factor, dropout is affected by five chief grounds, viz. unequal public outgo on primary instruction, high pupil-teacher ratio, uncomplete school substructure, low quality of instructors, and deficiency of school installations, which are largely the duties of the authorities. Likewise, demand-side factors are besides the instance, in which pupils necessarily face several challenges: poorness, geographics, ethnicity, demand for kids to work, deficiency of personal resources, deficiency of assurance, and unwellness. Of all the gro unds from demand-side, poorness seems to be the most seeable ground in the pupils ‘ dropout. As can be see in the above literature reappraisals, their household ‘s fiscal crisis is the most influential barrier which causes their late school entry and ignorance. With these challenges, pupils seem to hold less motive in their survey, and they therefore end up with dropping out of school. To manage this issue, the Royal Government of Cambodia should make four prioritized undertakings: equalising basic educational entree to all pupils, supplying more chances to vulnerable groups, set uping Poverty Reduction Strategic Plan ( PRSP ) , and developing Socio Economic Development Plan ( SEDPII ) . With all the undertakings successfully accomplished, drop-out rate is expected to diminish consequently.

Biography of Brian Cox, Physicist

Biography of Brian Cox, Physicist Physics has had a number of figures who have not only advanced scientists understanding of the universe but also pushed forward a greater understanding of complex scientific questions among the general population. Think of Albert Einstein, Richard Feynman, and Stephen Hawking, all of whom stood out from among the crowd of stereotypical physicists to present physics to the world in their distinctive styles and found an audience of non-scientists for whom their presentations strongly resonated. Though not yet as accomplished as these iconic physicists, British particle physicist Brian Cox certainly fits the profile of the celebrity scientist. He rose to prominence first as a member of British rock bands in the early 1990s before ultimately transitioning to work as an experimental physicist, exploring the cutting edge of particle physics. Though well-respected among physicists, it is his work as an advocate for science communication and education in which he really stands out from the crowd. He is a popular figure in British (and worldwide) media discussing matters of scientific importance, not only in the realm of physics but also more broadly on subjects of public policy and embracing secular principles of rationality. General Information Birthdate: March 3, 1968 Nationality: English Spouse: Gia Milinovich Music Career Brian Cox was a member of the rock band Dare in 1989 until the band split up in 1992. In 1993, he joined the UK rock band D:Ream, which had a number of hits, including the number one Things Can Only Get Better, which went on to be used as a political election anthem in England. D:Ream disbanded in 1997, at which point Cox (who had been studying physics all along and earned his Ph.D.) went on to practicing physics full time. Physics Work Brian Cox received his doctorate in physics from the University of Manchester, completing his thesis in 1998. In 2005, he was awarded a Royal Society University Research Fellowship. He splits his time between work at the University of Manchester and at the CERN facility in Geneva, Switzerland, home of the Large Hadron Collider. Coxs work is on both the ATLAS experiment  and the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) experiment. Popularizing Science Brian Cox has not only performed extensive research, but has also worked hard to help popularize science to lay audiences, especially through repeated appearances on the BBC programs such as The Big Bang Machine. In 2014, Brian Cox hosted a BBC Two 5-part television miniseries,  The Human Universe, which explored humanitys place in the universe by exploring the history of our growth as a species and also tackling existential questions such as Why are we here? and What is our future? He also released a book, called  The Human Universe  (co-authored with Andrew Cohen), in 2014. Two of his speeches are available as TED lectures, where he explains the physics being performed (or not being performed) at the Large Hadron Collider. He has co-authored the following books with fellow British physicist Jeff Forshaw: Why Does Emc2 (And Why Do We Care?) (2009)The Quantum Universe (And Why Anything That Can Happen, Does) (2011) He is also a co-host of the popular BBC radio program Infinite Monkey Cage, which is released worldwide as a podcast. In this program, Brian Cox joins with British actor Robin Ince and other guests of renown (and sometimes scientific expertise) to discuss subjects of scientific interest with a comedic twist. Awards and Recognition International Fellow of The Explorers Club, 2002Lord Kelvin prize from the British Association (for his work popularizing science), 2006Institute of Physics Kelvin Prize, 2010Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE), 2010Institute of Physics Presidents medal, 2012Royal Societys Michael Faraday Prize, 2012 In addition to the above awards, Brian Cox has been recognized with a variety of honorary degrees.

Political Economy of International Trade

Political Economy of International Trade Introduction Governments use various methods to intervene in markets for different reasons. Modes of government interventions in markets include the use of tariffs, subsidies, import quotas, voluntary export restraints, local content requirements, administrative policies, and antidumping policies.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Political Economy of International Trade specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Hence, the government can influence the market either directly as a competitor or indirectly through tariffs and regulations. These interventions only occur for political and economic reasons. Government interventions in markets and reasons for interventions in markets Tariffs are taxes that governments levy on imports or exports. Governments use tariffs to protect emerging local firms from fierce foreign competitions, protect old firms from competition, and reduce cases of dumping. Dumping aims to avoid ‘too lowà ¢â‚¬â„¢ prices of imports in the domestic market. Subsidies are governments’ financial supports to any sector (Office of Fair Trading 26). They may include direct grants, additional capital, exemptions from taxes, guarantees, and low interest loans among others. Subsidies influence the market competition through changes in costs and production strategies. Import quotas limit the amount of goods that a country can import within a certain period. Hence, quotas can influence production of goods in other countries. Quotas protect domestic firms, but may result in increased prices for consumers. They reduce imports to eliminate competition. Voluntary export restraints happen when a government limits the amount of goods or services that local companies can export to other countries (Hill 216). This protects local firms from a fierce competition as witnessed in the case of cheap Japanese cars imported in the US in 1980s. Both countries applied voluntary export restraints to protect the domestic automobile industry of the US. Local content requirements favour the use of locally manufactured parts, labour, services, supplies, and materials for production within the country rather than importing such resources. Hence, governments require a minimum use of local contents to promote domestic economies when foreign firms produce in a country.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Local content requirements could also happen because of political influences and the need to protect and benefit a given territory. It happens in the Nigeria Oil and Gas Industry in which the government has made it a law for all multinational oil and gas firms to incorporate local contents in their production chains (Falco, Gallo, Santillo, Troncone and Viecelli 213). Local contents can also include direct investments on the site. Administrative trade policies are regulations tha t governments formulate to make it hard for other countries to import into another country (Hill 219). These are mainly non-tariff barriers to importers. For instance, tedious and time-consuming inspection processes of imported goods at borders are instances of applying restrictive administrative trade policies to limit trade. Japan had used this method to limit foreign firms from importing into its markets as shown by FedEx Express and Netherlands’ tulip bulbs (Hill 219). Antidumping policies protect domestic market prices by ensuring that imports do not have ‘too low’ prices below the cost of production or have fair market prices. The US has used antidumping policies to protect domestic markets from cheap imports from China. Political reasons for government market intervention are numerous. They include protecting local jobs, national industries, protecting national security, retaliating against unfair market practices, protecting consumers from substandard goo ds, promoting foreign policies, and protecting human rights. Economic reasons include protecting infant industries from foreign competitions and enhancing strategic trade policies. Hence, these reasons show that government intervention in markets can encourage or limit trade. A government would engage in a market to offer either direct or indirect support to local industries. Moreover, difficult economic situations may also force governments to intervene in markets, as well as lobbying from workers in order to protect their jobs and markets.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Political Economy of International Trade specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Conclusion Governments participate in the market through seven strategies, which include the use of tariffs, subsidies, import quotas, voluntary export restraints, local content requirements, administrative policies, and antidumping policies. The major reasons are both econo mic and political reasons, but they aim to protect local jobs, unfair competition, enhance foreign policy, protect consumers from ‘dangerous’ goods and gain political favours from locals or voters. Falco, De Massimo, Mosà ¨ Gallo, Carmela Santillo, Enzo Troncone, and Pier Viecelli. Planning Large Engineering Project in high risk country areas: the Evaluation of Local Content strategies in the Oil Gas industry through a robust planning technique. International Journal of Systems Applications, Engineering Development 2.6 (2006): 213-221. Print. Hill, Charles. International Business: Competing in the Global Marketplace 9th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2013. Print. Office of Fair Trading. Government in markets. London: Crown, 2009. Print.

Education - Questions and Answers Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Education - Questions and Answers - Essay Example This definition of curriculum stems from the proposition of formal learning, which considers it as an organized and systematic discourse. As such, curriculum becomes the distinctive feature that differentiates formal learning from informal learning. Learning is a process that demands certain systems and designs in order for it to achieve its set objectives. Due to its logical nature, the learning process entails the organization of knowledge in accordance with the objectives of interests of the students (European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training, 2011). On this score, the learning process is considered as a needs-based discourse that takes place in controlled environments that are governed by specific procedures and order. In essence, curriculum development must relate to the objectives of learning as a systematic process that proceeds in sequence from a point of relatively lesser knowledge to the projected point of adequate knowledge. Curriculum provides the mechani cs that enables the learning process. It provides the kinetic force that appropriates the learning process in accordance with the needs of the students (Kern et al, 2009). Alternative explanations contend that a curriculum is basically a plan that governs the learning process of the teaching process. This kind of explanation often considers curriculum as a document. In essence, curriculum is considered as a documentation that defines the limits and scope of the learning process in any given field of study. It serves as a guide to the teacher about the methods to be adopted in the learning process. It defines the boundaries of the learning process of a given subject in terms of the aspects to be included and those to be excluded from the learning process (Kern et al, 2009). The pursuit of the details in the curriculum helps the teacher to concentrate his or her focus on the pertinent issues that attach to the field of study (Subang, 2011). These issues are usually developed in line w ith the social, economic, political, and other forms of human discourses that have to be addressed by the study. This implies that curriculums must evolve with the changing nature of realities on which it is based. For example, studies in intelligence have often changed their curriculum in line with the changing nature of global insecurities. In the particular example of the United States, the military educational curriculum has undergone a determined shift from the cold war era to the modern age. During the cold war era the intelligence courses in the United States had their curriculum focussed primarily on the tensions between the United States and the Soviet bloc. The design of the curriculum was designed to be responsive to the needs of the society as they manifested themselves at that period. However, after the disintegration of the Soviet Union and the emergence of global terrorism, the curriculum has been changed in such a manner that there is more emphasis on the phenomena o f global terrorism than on the threat posed by Russia. Legislations One of the most important legislations by the United States Congress was the Native Culture, Language, and Access for Success in Schools Act. This bill was sponsored by Senator Daniel Akaka in 2011. This act was primarily intended to level the field of education by recognizing the challenges faced by non-native American students and teachers in the learning process. Among other things, it directed states to lower the kind of

Understanding Human Behaviour Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Understanding Human Behaviour - Assignment Example y ponders over the areas on which the service users need to work on in order to avoid misdiagnoses and also focuses on the ways that should be adopted by psychiatrists in order to understand the disability and mental health of the individuals. Also it discusses the problems that are faced by the health departments in the introduction of certain programmes because of the criticism of the service users. In this research essay I would focus on the notion that the massive power of the psychiatrists in the process of the diagnosis is something that has implications on the patients and this is something that should be given more importance. For the purpose of my research I have used many literature reviews. Psychiatric diagnosis refers to the process whereby the psychiatrist (or psychologist) is responsible for the identification and the labelling of a particular disease. One of the main purposes of this diagnosis is to help people and guide them through the entire treatment procedure. Lately, it has been felt that the diagnosis has had many different implications on the individuals concerned. According to Reich (1981) psychiatric diagnosis is a very important process because it can have varied effects on the patients. While some may be happy with the results of the diagnosis, others might not feel the same way. One implication of the procedure of the diagnosis is that the people who are diagnosed may have to suffer from unintended implications. For instance, the perceptions of the others might change towards the patient if he/she is labelled with a mental disorder. People may not want to interact with such patients. Reich (1981) argues that the main reason for this behaviour is the re sult of the institutionalized attitudes of the people and the society as a whole towards people who suffer from mental disorders and learning disabilities. The above mentioned effects may occur due to the attitudes of the people and the society to the mental people. There are, however,

Strategic Management Unit 2 DB SA Fourth Week Essay

Strategic Management Unit 2 DB SA Fourth Week - Essay Example Brian Moore is an example of good strategic management that can be emulated by other industries. Although it was unethical for him to stretch the truth to get the job at Footlocker, his hard work was quite apparent. At Saucony, for instance, he resettled the strategy of performance running and classic business strategy (SGB, 2009). Even more encouraging was his belief in teamwork to accomplish organizational tasks successfully. To Moore, an individual is as good as individuals around him (SGB, 2009). Furthermore, he favors consistency and creativity for success. These are fundamental, sincere and valid beliefs that can see the management of different industries successful. Like Footlocker, Finish Line is a company dealing in shoes. The company considers shoes as very important assets in everyone’s that should be at the heart of every person. Shoes go with people to and from various places and are central to customization culture in America. Now, more than ever, consumers need custom-made shoes (Creamer, 2004). Besides, they want original and not counterfeit products which are of high quality. The company realized it was lagging behind and signed the Heavy, a co-opt New York Boutique Branding Agency in an attempt to see it improve to heights of success. This was a bold step on the part of Finish Line. Creamer, M., (2004). Footlocker Shoe Store-Sneaker Maker Takes to Tuners. Retrieved from AIU Online Library-EBSCO, Vol. 75, Issue 43, pg. (6). http://eds.a.ebscohost.com.proxy.cecybrary.com/ehost/detail?vid=6&sid=b59cb214-2192-4012-940441caac93a90f%40sessionmgr4001&hid=4205&bdata=JnNpdGU9Z Whvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=buh&AN=14881951 SGB, (2009). Footlocker Shoe Store-Brian Moore. Retrieved from AIU Online Library-EBSCO, Vol. 42, Issue 4, pg. (40).

Effective Performance Appraisal Essay Example for Free

Effective Performance Appraisal Essay In spite of this fact, however, there are some elements which are common to all effective performance appraisal systems, regardless of the actual method(s) used in the system. These elements will be discussed shortly. However, before examining these common links, a brief overview of performance appraisal as it is currently practised in American organisations is in order. Current Trends in Performance Appraisal As previously noted, controversy over the best performance appraisal system continues. The dilemma was highlighted in the 19 May 1980 issue of Business Week where the editors concluded that managers want a system that will pinpoint specific marginal behaviour that should be reinforced or discontinued, serve as a personnel development tool, provide a realistic assess ­ ment of an employees potential for advancement, and — a particularly hot issue in the 1980s — stand up in court as a valid defence in discrimination suits. Has the search for a best system affected what companies actually do in performance appraisal? A study conducted by Taylor and Zawacki[2] in 1981 set out to answer this question y sending a mail questionnaire to 200 firms located throughout the United States — these companies were selected at random from the Fortune 1000. Eighty-four (42 per cent) were returned and used in the study. The size of respondent firms ranged from less than 1,000 employees (nine), 1,000-5,000 employees (63), and more than 5,000 employees (12). Non-respondent firms did not vary significantly in terms of size. This study, which duplicated a previous one conducted in 1976, asked what kind of performance appraisal system was used for management and blue-collar employees. It also asked for the interval between ratings, productivity and employee reaction to the appraisal system, anticipated changes and respondent satisfaction to the present system. While it is not possible to go into all the detailed findings of this study, some of the most pertinent information is summarised below. ? While in 1976 43 per cent of the respondent firms had used a traditional performance appraisal system (e. g. , forced distribution) and 57 per cent had used a collaborative system (e. g. , MBO), in 1981 these figures had changed to 53 per cent and 47 per cent respectively. In other words, the proportion of companies using a traditional approach to performance appraisal had increased while the proportion of those using a collaborative approach had decreased. Several respondents provided written comments stating that they had changed to quantitative (i. e. traditional) systems in recent years in reaction to legal challenges to their previous collaborative system. In 1981, 39 of the 41 organisations using a traditional system used a graphic rating scale. Of the collaborative forms, 23 firms used MBO and 11 used a BARS system. The percentage of firms not satisfied with their current appraisal system increased from only nine per cent in 1976 to 47 per cent in 1981. In addition, those with collaborative systems were more likely to be satisfied, while the majority of firms with traditional systems expressed dissatisfaction. As far as the effect of the type of system used on employee attitudes went, 37 per cent of the ? IMDS January/February 1988 13 ? companies using a traditional approach felt that it had improved employee attitudes while 63 per cent felt it had not. Of those companies using a collaborative approach, 77 per cent felt it had improved employee attitudes and 23 per cent felt it had not. ? Of the 22 firms indicating that they anticipated changing their performance appraisal system in the near future, 12 were moving from a collaborative system to a traditional system. This is especially interesting in light of the fact that, in the 1976 study, the majority of firms indicating that they were considering a change said that the move would be from a traditional to a collaborative approach. While the 1981 study did not delve into the reasons behind this shift in attitude, Taylor and Zawacki conjectured that it was due to governmental and legal pressures for precise (i. e. , quantitative) measures which overwhelmed a desire to help people develop and grow towards becoming more effective employees. Of the firms surveyed, 49 per cent felt that their performance appraisal system had improved employee performance (roughly the same proportion found in 1976). However, the number of firms that did not believe employee performance had improved as a result of the appraisal process had gone from four per cent in 1976 to 19 per cent in 1981 — and none of these firms anticipated changing their system! (5) The appraiser should be given feedback regarding his/her effectiveness in the performance appraisal process. (6) The performance appraisal system, regardless of the methodology employed, must comply with legal requirements (notably, Equal Employment Opportunities guidelines). Since the factors listed above are consistently highlighted in the literature as essential elements of an effective performance appraisal system, each of them warrants individual attention. Performance Goals Must Be Clearly and Specifically Defined Special emphasis should be placed on this phase of performance appraisal, since the lack of specifically defined performance goals will undoubtedly undermine the effectiveness of the entire performance appraisal process. The key performance areas need to be identified, assigned priorities and stated in quantifiable terms whenever possible. The mutual goal-setting process between a manager and subordinate associated with Management by Objectives is a particularly beneficial way to foster acceptance and internal motivation on the part of the employee[3]. As is often the case, if multiple goals are established, they should be ranked so that the employee has a clear understanding of which areas may warrant more attention and resources than others. Furthermore, every attempt should be made to describe performance goals in terms of their time, quality, quantity, and monetary dimensions. This will reduce the opportunity for misinterpretation about what is to be accomplished and what limitations there are. The quantification of goals will also make it easier for the manager and the employee to measure the employees progress towards achieving the objectives. The need for quantifying objectives is succinctly summed up by George Ordione: If you cant count it, measure it, or describe it, you probably dont know what you want and can often forget it as a goal. There is still too much, do your best, or Ill let you know when its right, going around in todays organisations. If you cant define the desired type and level of performance in detail, then you have no right to expect your subordinate to achieve it. [4] ? To summarise, it would appear that while most firms wish to use a collaborative form of performance appraisal, they feel thwarted by outside forces (notably Equal Employment Opportunities requirements) in their attempts to implement such a system within their organisations. The dilemma, then, is finding a workable solution which will meet both constraints. The remainder of this article will take a look at these two seemingly conflicting areas (effectiveness vs. efensiveness) and how they can be integrated into a meaningful performance appraisal system. Elements of an Effective Performance Appraisal System While various authors use different names and modified descriptions for them, the following factors seem to be universally accepted by most authorities on the subjects as requisites for an effective performance appraisal system: (1) Performan ce goals must be specifically and clearly defined. (2) Attention must be paid to identifying, in specific and measurable terms, what constitutes the varying levels of performance. 3) To be effective, performance appraisal programmes should tie personal rewards to organisational performance. (4) The supervisor and employee should jointly identify ways to improve the employees performance, and then establish a development plan to help the employee achieve his/her goals. The Varying Levels of Performance While setting performance goals is a crucial first step in the process, managers also need to concentrate more attention on identifying what constitutes the varying levels of performance. If the organisation uses the typical poor, fair, good, very good and excellent scale of performance, the manager has a responsibility to identify at the beginning what levels of performance will produce a very good or excellent rating. However, setting specific goals for organisational performance is not enough — managers also need to relate performance to the individuals rewards. Agreeing on what is to be accomplished and what varying levels of performance represent in terms of evaluation and rewards is crucial for the performance appraisal process to be effective[5]. Since the first two steps of this process (i. e. , defining performance goals and setting performance standards) IMDS January/February 1988 14 are closely connected, an example of how these steps might be achieved is warranted. A prerequisite for setting performance goals is to establish job tasks. To measure performance realistically, objectively and productively, we must base our reviews on job content rather that job constructs. Constructs are broad, often self-evident terms which describe a general task, activity or requirement. Richards refers to them as garbage words in terms of their usefulness as performance standards). An example might be communication skills. While few would argue the need for skills in communication for many employees, the problem is how to define the term in light of the requirements of the specific job in question. Will the employee be required to: ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Write memos? Write letters? Conduct interviews? Deliver public speeches? Present pr oposals to clients? Describe features and benefits of a product? Resolve face-to-face conflicts? Handle customer complaints? Write job descriptions? Describe and define job standards? Manage meetings? Present ideas to top management? Initiative: Resourceful in taking necessary or appropriate action on own responsibility. Unsatisfactory Poor A routine Often waits unnecessarily worker; usually for direction. waits to be told what to do, requiring constant direction. Satisfactory Good Excellent Seeks and gets added tasks for self; highly selfreliant. Assumes responsibility. Does regular Resourceful; work without alert to waiting for opportunities directions. or Follows improvement directions with of work. little follow-up Volunteers suggestions. Table I. drinks per bottle, etc. In turn, these indicators should be broken down into measurable standards, as shown in Table II. As shown, when identifying what constitutes the varying levels of performance, we need to decide what we can expect in terms of outstanding performance, what is satisfactory and what is the minimum level of perfo rmance we can tolerate. One could argue that these are subjective determinations, and this is of course true. What is important, however, is that once these determinations have been made, performance can be measured objectively against the standard. It is important to keep in mind that standards should be set based on what we require or need in the performance of a job and not on our assessment of a specific individuals ability to do the job. Unless we specify the behaviour we want in the context of job content requirements, it will be near impossible objectively to measure someones performance under the generic construct of communication. We must determine the sort of communicating the job requires of the employee. Some organisations attempt to aid supervisors by providing rating scales which are anchored to descriptions of performance (i. e. , the BARS approach), such as the one shown in Table I. While this type of scale is certainly a vast improvement over those that offer no anchors (rating descriptions) at all, we could still argue over the ratings. The standards are subjective and unmeasurable, both undesirable traits in any performance appraisal system. To overcome these problems, the job should be broken down into responsibilities, with a series of performance indicators provided for each responsibility. In turn, these indicators should be accompanied by objective and measurable performance standards. An example will help illustrate the process. A bartenders job can be broken down into several responsibilities, including mixing drinks, cost control, inventory control, house keeping, safety, law enforcement, supervision, customer relations, etc. In turn, each of these responsibility areas can be broken down into several performance indicators. For example, performance indicators of the job responsibility mixing drinks might include complaints, returns, brands used, appearance, speed, number of Personal Rewards and Organisational Performance To be truly effective, performance appraisal programmes should tie personal rewards to organisational performance. Too many reward systems are based on time on the job, are divided evenly among employees, or offer too little incentive to increase motivation significantly. As noted by Harper[3], performance appraisal systems need to be designed with the three Es of motivation in mind. The first E refers to the exchange theory, which states that people tend to contribute to the organisations objectives as long as they believe they will be rewarded. The second E refers to the equity theory, which states that motivation is tied to the relative, rather than the absolute, size of the reward. For example, if person A does 25 per cent better than person B, but gets only five per cent more in a merit increase, then person A is likely to feel that management has actually punished him or her for doing noticeably better than person B. The third E is the expectancy theory of motivation, which asserts that motivation is a combination of the persons perceived probability (expectancy) of receiving a reward and the worth of the reward. Even when the reward is great, motivation may in fact be quite low if the employee does not believe that he or she has a reasonable chance of achieving the necessary level of performance to get the reward. Conversely, if the employee believes that the probability of receiving the reward is high, there will be little motivation if he or she does not need or value the reward. IMDS January/February 1988 15 Job: Bartender Job responsibilities Mix drinks, etc. Indicators Complaints Returns Measurements used (recipe) Brands used Appearance Time No. of drinks per bottle, etc. feedback to managers about the quality of their performance appraisal ratings would seem to have several advantages: ? ? It is relatively inexpensive and easy to develop and implement. The feedback is based on ratings made by each manager as part of the formal performance appraisal process. This enables the feedback to be tailored to the individual. The feedback can provide managers with a basis upon which to compare their ratings with those made by other managers. This normative type of feedback is rarely available to managers; as a result, there is very little information upon which they can evaluate how lenient or strict they are. A feedback system should help to ensure comparability of ratings among managers, which in turn may increase employee satisfaction with the appraisal process. That is, employees are more likely to perceive that their performance has been evaluated equitably since managers are using the same standards when evaluating performance. ? Job: Bartender Standards Job responsibilities Mix drinks Indicators Minimum Complaints 4/week Satisfactory 2/week Outstanding 0 ? Table II. In summary, then, for a performance appraisal programme to be successful in this area, it must: (1) Tie rewards to performance (2) Offer a high enough level of reward (3) Have the level of reward reflect the relative differences in the various levels of performance (4) Tailor the rewards to the needs and desires of individual employees. Development Plans Ideally, the performance appraisal programme should be comprised of two separate sessions between the manager and the employee. In the first session the manager and employee review the level of performance from the previous period — what went well, what did not, and why. This session also identifies the employees strengths as well as the areas that need to be improved. The manager then encourages the employee to prepare a development plan to be discussed at the second meeting. The development plan is intended to identify areas that should be improved upon during the coming period. The subordinate should be encouraged to: (1) Concentrate on those areas that will affect results (2) Select three or four particular areas for improvement rather than an unrealistic and unmanageable number (3) Set improvement goals that are specific and measurable[6]. Whatever the end result happens to be, the employee needs to be the principal author (although the manager should offer help and suggestions) since people tend to be more motivated to accept and implement a plan of their own making. IMDS January/February 1988 16 Indications of the usefulness of such a feedback system were documented in a study by Davis and Mount[7] in which managers were provided feedback vis a vis the ratings they gave to employees. In response to a questionnaire distributed one week after they had received feedback regarding the quality of their performance ratings, 79 per cent of the managers indicated they were either satisfied (seven per cent) or very satisfied (72 per cent) with the feedback; 93 per cent said they considered it when making subsequent performance evaluations; 70 per cent said it influenced their ratings either appreciably (47 per cent) or substantially (23 per cent), and 79 per cent said the feedback had utility for making managers ratings more comparable. The test results from this study indicated that the feedback also significantly reduced the presence of leniency error (the tendency to skew the rating distribution towards the higher rating categories) in the managers ratings. This is significant from an organisational perspective because of the multiple uses of performance ratings in organisations. Often, performance ratings are the criterion on which selection tests are validated and often provide the basis on which merit pay increases are determined. According to Davis and Mount, improving the psychometric quality of the ratings may enable the tests to be validated more effectively and provide a more equitable method for distributing pay increases — an important consideration, as previously discussed. Conforming to Guidelines Obviously, in addition to the other factors which have already been discussed, another practical consideration which must be taken into account is that any performance appraisal system, regardless of the methods employed, must comply with all Equal Employment Opportunity guidelines. While a complete discussion of this important area is beyond the scope Feedback Regarding Effectiveness It is surprising how infrequently organisations provide their managers with information about their performance appraisal ratings. However, providing of this article, the Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures, put together by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and several other agencies in 1978, deserve special mention. These procedures were meant to clarify the exact requirements which appraisal and other selection systems must meet, and include the following points: (1) To continue using an appraisal system that has adversely affected one or more protected groups, the company must demonstrate that the system is valid, that it is job related, and that it accurately measures significant aspects of job performance. (2) The company must establish that there is no other available method of achieving the same necessary business purpose that would be less discriminatory in its effects, and none can be developed. According to the courts, the plaintiff (employee), rather than the defendant (company) must show the availability of the alternatives. The EEOC has told employers what they cannot do, but it has not provided them with definitive guidelines for solving the performance appraisal puzzle. However, some help in this regard was provided in the Autumn, 1980 issue of EEO Today[8]. (1) Base your appraisal on a comprehensive job analysis. EEOC guidelines dictate that you measure job performance against specific, clearly defined standards of performance. The performance you appraise, says the EEOC, must represent major critical work behaviours as revealed by a careful job analysis. Without a clear, written statement of job responsibilities, you increase your risk of EEO liability. (7) Submit the appraisal to several reviewers, especially if it is negative. To prevent conscious or unconscious bias from creeping into the appraisal process, develop a multilevel review system. Have your superior review and sign the appraisal. This system of checks and balances will reduce the risk of losing a court action. Final Comment As can be seen from the foregoing discussion, an effective performance appraisal system involves much more than a mere annual or biennial evaluation of an employees past performance. Nonetheless, astute managers are becoming increasingly aware of the value of their human resources, viewing them as an investment rather than merely an expense or overhead to be minimised. Accordingly, many organisations are taking the time and effort necessary to develop an effective performance appraisal system in order to help their people achieve their personal goals, which in turn allows the organisation to meet its own objectives[9]. Unfortunately, many managers still object that they just do not have the time to make performance review and development an ongoing process. However, if management is defined as the ability to get things done through people, and if we accept the fact that an effective performance evaluation process helps in getting the most important and productive things accomplished, then what else should managers spend their time doing? References 1. Fletcher, C. , Whats New in Performance Appraisal? , Personnel Management, February 1984, pp. 20-2. 2. Taylor, R. L. and Zawacki, R. A. Trends in Performance Appraisal: Guidelines for Managers, Personnel Administrator, March 1984, pp. 71-80. (2) Know the details of your companys 3. Harper, S. C. , A Development Approach to Performance nondiscriminatory policies. You and every other Appraisal, Business Horizons, September-October 1983, pp. manager in the company should aim for the 68-74. uniform application of all appraisal guidelines. 4. Mellenhoff, H ow to Measure Work by Professionals, Management Review, November 1977, pp. 39-43. (3) Avoid subjective criteria. According to the Albemarle Paper Co. v. Moody decision, subjective 5. Richards, R. C. , How to Design an Objective PerformanceEvaluation System, Training, March 1984, pp. 38-43. supervisory appraisals of job performance are 6. Kellogg, M. S. , What to do About Performance Appraisal, inherently suspect if they produce adverse impact American Management Association, New York, 1975. against a protected group. To stand up to the 7. Davis, B. L. and Mount, M. K. , Design and Use of a scrutiny of the courts, these judgements must Performance Appraisal Feedback System, Personnel be considered fair and job-related. Administrator, March 1984, pp. 1-7. 8. Block, J. R. , Performance Appraisal on the Job: Making it (4) Document! Keep records. That is the only way Work, Prentice-Hall, Inc. , Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, 1981. you can support whatever subjective judge ­ 9. Butler, R. J. and Yorks, L. , A New Appraisal System as ments creep into the appraisal process. (They Organizational Change: GEs Task Force Approach, are inevitabl e. ) Personnel, January-February 1984, pp. 31-42. (5) Aim for a group of appraisers who have common demographic characteristics with the group being appraised. This criterion was established in Rowe v. General Motors. When only white males appraise blacks, Hispanics, women and other protected groups, the courts question the fairness of the. system. Once a system is challenged and shown to have adverse impact, the company must prove its validity. (6) Never directly or indirectly imply that race, colour, religion, sex, age, national origin, handicap, or veteran status was a factor in your appraisal decision. Making any disciminatory statement, orally or in writing, will make your organisation subject to court action. Additional Reading Kaye, B. L. and Krantz, S. , Preparing Employees: The Missing Link in Performance Appraisal Training, Personnel, May-June 1982, pp. 23-9. Performance Appraisal: Curre. Practices and Techniques, Personnel, May-June 1984, pp. 5799. Heneman, R. L. and Wexley, K. W. , The Effects of Time Delay in Rating and Amount of Information Observed on Performance Rating Accuracy, Academy of Management Journal, December 1983, pp. 677-86. The Trouble with Performance Appraisal, Training, April 1984, pp. 91-2. Gehrman, D B. , Beyond Todays Compensation and Performance Appraisal Systems, Personnel Administrator, March 1984, pp. 21-33. IMDS January/February 1988 17