Essay Examples on Joan of Arc Essay Example

Essay Examples on Joan of Arc Paper 1st Essay Sample on Joan of Arc In 1412, Joan of Arc was born to Jacques Darc and his wife Isabelle de Vouthon, in the town of Domremy, France. Her childhood was spent attending her father’s herds in the fields and learning religion and housekeeping skills from her mother. At the age of twelve, she started hearing voices in her head that belonged to St. Michael, St. Catherine, and St. Margaret. Joan thought that they were bringing her messages from God. These voices told her that it was her divine mission to free her country from the English and help the dauphin, or eldest son of the king, gain the French throne. They told her to cut her hair, dress in man’s uniform and to pick up the arms. In 1429, the English had occupied Paris and all of France north of the Loire, which is Frances longest river. This capturing was due in most part to the lack of leadership within the French. It was a total sense of hopelessness among them. Joan then convinced the captain of the dauphin, and then the dauphin himself, of her calling from a higher power. After passing an examination, she was given the title of captain. At the battle of Orleans in May of 1429, Joan led the troops to a miraculous triumph over the English. We will write a custom essay sample on Essay Examples on Joan of Arc specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Essay Examples on Joan of Arc specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Essay Examples on Joan of Arc specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer She continued fighting the English in other locations along the Loire. The fear of the troops under her leadership was so formidable that when she approached Lord Talbot’s army at Patay, most of the English troops, including a commander, fled the battlefield. Even with a good portion of her troops fleeing, she still went on to win this battle, capturing the Lord and killing 1800 of his soldiers. Charles VII was then crowned king of France, and at the coronation, Joan was given a place of honor next to the king. Later, she was ennobled for her services to the country. In 1430, Joan was captured by the Burgundy forces while defending Compiegne near Paris, and then sold to the English. 2nd Essay Sample on Joan of Arc France and England had an unstable history with one another and in 1337, King Edward III of England decided to lay claim to the French throne based on a relation on his mothers side (Walker 219). This led to the Hundred Years War, which would consume the peoples lives from 1337 to 1453 (Walker 220). During this time there was a great plague sweeping Europe, the Black Death which was the cause of millions of peoples unseemly demise. Joan was a young peasant girl born in 1412, whose strong faith and belief in God led her to fight in his name for her country (Walker 221). Why English political leaders wanted Joan of Arc discredited and burned as a witch. English political leaders used the Roman Catholic Church to have Joan of Arc discredited and burned as a witch because they feared she had supernatural powers, was being used as a symbol by the French Nationalists and that she might become a martyr in the event of her death. English political leaders believed Joan of Arc possessed supernatural powers of some sort and they feared what kind of advantage this could bring to the French armies. The English political leaders didnt like that the French Nationalists, particularly King Charles VII and the Duke of Alencon, were using Joan as a symbol of French family and purity. English political leaders feared that if Joan were to die in the heat of battle, then the French people would make her a martyr. English political leaders believed Joan of Arc possessed some sort of supernatural powers and they feared what kind of advantage this could bring to the French armies (Nardo 42). Joan had admitted openly to hearing voices from saints since the age of thirteen (Gies 24). Joan said the voices told her what to do in order to fight the war for France (Moritz). Miraculously, Joan was never seriously injured in battle (Encarta 2001).

Antibiotics and Children essays

Antibiotics and Children essays A very important issue concerning the children of today is the excess prescribing of antibiotics and the dangers that are being created. Everyday, more and more children are being prescribed any easy solution to a very tough problem. There is a constant push from pharmaceutical companies, parents, and massive marketing companies to try the next antibiotic remedy, but as we look towards the future and the diseases that can be created by this quick fix, we should turn to our attention to alternatives remedies. What is so terrible about this situation is that the worst-case scenario of the effects of the mass doses of antibiotics they ingest is an untreatable bacterium that is immune to the treatments we are aware of. That may not sound so bad until you think about the number of children around the world that could die from this bacterium. It would most definitely be a catastrophic event if a portion of the earths population at that early of an age were to be erased. It would be a human-induced bubonic plague of the twenty- first century and it is really not that far from becoming a reality. In a study done in 1992, there were over sixty million different oral antibiotic prescriptions were giving to people under the age of fifteen years old (Napoli). The extensiveness of antibiotic options coupled with their widespread use in pediatric patients highlight the importance of pharmacists having a thorough familiarity with pediatric antibiotic therapy. Also, problems may arise in treating children under the age of two because of their immature immune system, lack of Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for pediatric use of many antibiotics and limited data supporting therapy courses of less than ten days (Napoli). Also, an added complication of the treatment of the patient is the willingness, ability to follow the regimen, and the understanding of the importance of completing the therapy. Before filling the presc...

Discussion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Discussion - Essay Example The person travels or goes to the job or work. People exist to serve the organization. From a human resource frame perspective, the organization exists to serve the human needs rather than the human existing to serve the organization. In the truest sense the opposite perspective of the structural frame. Inherently, the organization is at tension within itself from the moment it begins to exist. Human Frame perspective says that human needs must be met for organizational needs to be met. The people are the organization and worth investing in. The organization focuses on ensuring the right human resource strategies are in place such as human resource hiring and keeping valued employees and building on diversity. The Political Frame Perspective is a way of viewing organization as a group of assimilated like-minded individuals. Recognizing these individuals have grouped together, the political frame allocates resources according to the political structures in place rather than accepting simple hierarchical frames. Goals and decisions are made through negotiations and the level of power one holds determines results. The Symbolic Frame Perspective provides the vision and the inspiration for the people of the organization, the emotional glue to keep everyone striving for a common goal and purpose.

The brief and frightening reign of Phil Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The brief and frightening reign of Phil - Essay Example In this case, people are focused on stripping the natural resources of Inner Horner (Saunders and Saunders 15). Additionally, the political leadership of the location becomes power-hungry, which leads to grisly political murders in order to hold onto power. The demagogic Phil seizes the chance to assume power of both Outer and Inner Horner. Phil uses unethical strategies such as ruthlessness, flattery and deceit in order to assume to power. The story by Saunders points to human tendencies towards political and social ruthlessness in order to gain power. In order to highlight these tendencies, Saunders uses allegories and symbolism to express his purpose. The symbolism and allegories used in the story represent real world events. Question 1 Saunders’ main purpose in writing the novel is to highlight human tendencies. The story aims to highlight mass hysteria and series of injustices following the assumption to power of power-hungry and tyrannical Phil. Saunders uses symbolism t o describe Phil and the people of Inner Horner, and allegory to describe outer and inner Horner. For instance, Saunders states that Phil is a despot in a fabulous country in Horner. The citizens of this country are cockamamie fusions of organic substance and machine parts. The author uses symbolism by using elements, animals, places and colors in order to represent Horner and Phil. For instance, Saunders states that Carol, â€Å"an Inner Hornerite who resembled a gigantic belt-buckle with a blue dot affixed to it, as if a gigantic belt buckle had been stapled to a tuna fish† motivated Phil to device senseless and cruel systems of leaderships (Saunders and Saunders 22). The author aims to expose the nature of rulers as jealous and power hungry people. According to the author, citizens of a country deserve leaders they can trust. These leaders should act as reflections of the society. The systems used by Phil focused on depressing citizens through unsustainable tax regimes, gen ocide and harassment (Saunders and Saunders 31). This compares events in Horner to recent events in countries such as Bosnia and Iraq. Saunders used symbolism by using abstract characters. Additionally, he uses allegory to create the setting of the story. For instance, the characters in the story are not strictly humans though the story uses the term human. The characters have three arms, legs, unique mechanical parts and organic matter. They have other features such as antlers and additional brains, â€Å"one on the side of his neck and one on his hip† (Saunders and Saunders 42). Allegory is seen when the author describes inner Horner as a small place that only one Inner Hornerite could fit. This means that the other Inner Hornerite had to wait for their opportunity to live in their country. Question 1b This story connects with the ideas of genocide and harassment. Leaders use genocide and harassment to oppress citizens or people deemed as threats to their leadership. Philâ €™s ascent to leadership was motivated by jealous. He aimed to deprive the region of its natural resources in order to deprive its habitats their livelihood. Phil was jealous because Outer Horner was not blessed with the natural resources of inner Horner. As a result, he organized supporters from Outer Horner and hired giants in order march to power. He began by instituting unsustainable tax regimes and relentless mining of the natural resources (Saunders and Sa

Language and culture Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Language and culture - Essay Example The researcher states that if the relationship is a formal one for example a student talking to his professor, then there will be a strict application of the rules and structure of grammar. In cases where the relationship between the two speakers is informal such as in the two students, the conversation is not likely to follow the strict application of the rules and structure of grammar. In the conversation, it can be seen that the two students do not concentrate on explicitly expressing their thoughts. This attributes to the fact that their conversation is mostly informal and as such, they do not feel the need to avoid ambiguity. The two students have a lot of shared knowledge and therefore there is a lot of reference to the information that is shared or known to the two of them. The context in this case refers to the information that is not expressly communicated in the statements that are made but which is important and relevant to the understanding and interpretation of the disco urse or the utterances that are made. An example of this from the conversation is ‘what will we share with them?’ The ‘them’ in this case is not specified. This is because the two speakers are aware of who is referred to as ‘them’. The use of pronouns is also seen in the discourse. As is a feature of informal speech, the discourse uses a lot of personal pronouns for example ‘them, she, they’ and so on. This is as a result of the shared body of knowledge that exists between the two speakers. They are therefore able to make references to the shared knowledge by making use of the pronouns. The use of ‘who’ as seen in the conversation is also a feature of informal speech as opposed to ‘whom’ which would be used in a formal context. Grammatical ellipsis has also been used in many instances in the discourse. This is where material that has already been presented in the discourse is omitted. Another observation t hat can be made in the discourse is the use of contraction. This is usually a common feature in an informal speech. In ellipsis, the omission of words is deliberate when the words that are omitted are expected to be understood from the context. Contraction refers to the practice of shortening words by omitting some of the internal letters in the word. This practice is different from the use of acronyms where initials of the letters are used. It is also different from abbreviation. In the discourse, contractions have been used on several occasions such as in ‘E’m’ instead of them, and ‘gonna’. Lexical density refers to the ratio of content words to the grammatical words that are used in any form of discourse be it spoken or written. In analyzing the conversation between the two students, one can find that the content ratio is low. This means that there are fewer content words than those that would be found in a formal discourse. The conversation is th erefore easy to follow and understand. The level of politeness in a given discourse is often dependent on the relationship that exists between the participants of the discourse. In formal situations, it is likely that there will be a higher level of politeness than in the informal situations. In the discourse, there is no adherence to politeness in discourse because of the familiarity that exists betwe

Influence Taylor’s Scientific Management Theory

Influence Taylor’s Scientific Management Theory Introduction The modern world has been marked by specialized management that is characterized by effective planning methods in order to attain certain objectives, division of labor which has served to increase specializations and innovations in work places, and a formalized interaction between the employees and their managers in their work places. These formal manifestations can be attributed to the twentieth century from the works of Taylor who came up with the concepts of scientific management. Taylor has been accorded the legacy as the founder of scientific management principles. He was a mechanical engineer and his works served to provide efficiency in the management of industries which at the time had no formal management and were characterized by various anomalies (Taylor, 1911, p.64). The workers came up with their own decisions on how the tasks were going to be accomplished in the factories. This was however changed by Taylor through development of scientific management. He sought to impr ove the workers productivity in their areas of work. At various times he was criticized for destroying the workers morale and turning them into machines. This went to an extent of workers downing their tools at Watertown Arsenal which led to the House of Representatives Committee conducting an investigation into his works so as to establish the truth. It was concluded that his concepts of scientific management were a good tool for the management of organizations but at the same time offered the managers with increased power which had no checks and balances. This led to the ban of his concepts of scientific management by the Senate at that time. This was after a survey showing that his methods received a high level of hatred from the working population. The survey showed that scientific management did not put into consideration the workers social needs in their areas of work and it failed to appreciate the differences that existed between the working populations in any industry. In addition, the scientific management concepts viewed the workers as ignorant and therefore did not take into consideration their contributions in terms of work related suggestions and ideas (Taylor, 1911, p.65). However, after various improvements into these concepts it has come to be productive in the present day running of organizations. This essay discusses the Taylors scientific management and how it has influenced the modern day business practices. Historical origins of scientific management The 19th century factory system manifested itself in lack of formal management, unofficial relations among the workers and even with their employers and casual jobs with no formal arrangements where the leader just hired a group of men in the industries and could fire them if he deemed it fit due to their inability to work or for not following his directions. A need arose by the late decade of the 19th century as competitions between different factories went into the rise, emergence of improved technologies in the factories and formations of trade unions that pressurized the factories to improve the working conditions of workers in the factories or risk industrial actions against them. The government had also realized the efforts in the factories and wanted to reap maximum benefits (Taylor, 1911, p.12). This therefore called for improvements in the organization and management of these institutions. This was the period that Taylor established himself with his novel ideas of organizati onal management and various technical innovations. For instance, he devised a stopwatch that was used for timing the workers during the working hours so as to determine their best possible times. Taylor had a brief career in engineering after which he went into consultancy services for various industries. He vigorously advocated the application of systematic management by the factory managers (Taylor, 1911, p.17). He introduced time studies to measure the workers performance, piece-rate systems that served to instill obedience in the workers and other production systems that provided the managers with the capability of knowing what was happening on the ground. He diffused his thoughts and coined the term scientific management which was somehow metaphorical. He proposed that he had invented principles of management that could be applied universally to replace what was known as the rule of thumb methods. His book became a success and was embraced by many during those times. This period of development of scientific management became known as the progressive era in the US (1890-1920). It was a period that had many reforms which were meant to overcome the problems that had been cr eated by the just ended industrial revolution. This era also experienced its problems. Among them was; lack of formal training for the business leaders in ways of running the day to day activities of their institutions and workers performed their duties due to internal fears of imminent job losses as a result an increase in the industrial out put or due to inefficient management systems in the organizations (Taylor, 1911, p.4). This resulted to poor relationships between the workers and their employers which ultimately caused a reduction in the efficiency in the industries. The then president of the US, Roosevelt even went further to call on the factories to increase their efficiency in production so as to be at par or ahe3ad with other competing nations. This ultimately led to emergence of the scientific management movement. Taylor and scientific management movement After his works at Philadelphia, Taylor moved to Bethlehem Company which dealt with steel and continued exploring his ideas. He was not alone in proposing the scientific management but there were other players who set in to streamline the concepts. For instance, according to Shenhav (1999, p. 94), there was Brandeis who was an attorney and later became a Supreme Court justice. Later there were others like Frank and Gilbreth who were able to conduct studies on the human motion while doing work with an intention of finding ways that could add to increase workers efficiency during working hours. Taylors principles of scientific management After systematic analysis of his experimental works, Taylor came up with four principles which lay the foundation for scientific management. The first involved finding an alternative method to take over the rule of thumb practices of management. The alternative was to be scientific and would provide a chance for the managers to be in a position to analyze the problem facing management in their organizations. The use of a scientific approach was to put into use the systematic experiments. He believed the application of these experiments would come up with a solution to the problems faced in management and during the process of production. According to Locke (1982, p.50), Taylor has received acclaimed fame for his ideas that a scientific approach can be applied in the process of managerial decision making. The second principle involved scientifically selecting, offering training sessions and providing work development to each worker. This was as opposed to the former methods that invol ved disorganized management and leaving the workers to rule themselves as well as train themselves on various duties in the factories. By application of this principle, Taylor noted that the highly qualified person will occupy the top positions in the organizations and thus will lead the others in a systematic and efficient manner. By application of systematic management, a payment system was developed that considered the amount of output the worker had as well as the workers efficiency in production of quality goods and services. This principle increased efficiency in work places and improved the system of management. The third principle involved the managers developing formal working relations through establishing teamwork to ensure that the methods developed scientifically were being adhered to by the work force. To develop this principle, Taylor measured the workers performance with stop watch and motion studies in order to come up with an efficient process that would lead to accomplishments of the work tasks in good time. His experiments were crucial in determining the quantity of work that a hard working man c ould perform in a day (Taylor, 1911, p.23). This was to do away with the tendency of workers to perform their duties slowly in the factories. His experiments would indicate the standards that are to be achieved by the workers so as to increase performance. The fourth and final principle involved ensuring equal division of work between managers and their employees. By so doing, the managers would utilize the principles of scientific management in the planning of duties in their organizations while the workers on their side would actualize the duties in a timely manner. It is worth noting that these principles were put into use in various factories across the world. Their application usually had a positive effect by enhancing their productivity by three or more times. Taylor had a strong believe that scientific management would enhance the efficiency in the industries which would then lead to increased wages, production of low cost products and thus improved standards of living for the employees and their families. However, his ideas did not go well with the trade unions which were on the rise during those times to fight for the rights of the factory workers. Due to this, its influence was lowered until the end of the First World War whe n it picked up. According to Shenhav (1999, p.68), engineers in the Ford industry were able to standardize their job routines being guided by the principles of scientific management. They were able to increase their production and the Ford gained recognition all over the US for its production of quality motor vehicles. Taylors scientific management had a big influence to the development present day management theories. His ideas influenced two fields of management which are the human resource management sector and the accounting departments within an organization. He contributed to cost accounting procedures in the manufacturing industries. While working at Simonds Company he formulated a system of accounting for the company. Later on he perfected his methods coming up with a standardized costing technique for railroad systems. His ideas formed a foundation for development of techniques for budget control in any organization so as to ensure a free flow of cash for production costs and for payment of wages and salaries. This ensured an improved management in these industries. The second and third principles of the scientific management as discussed above influenced development of human resource management. Other scholars followed these principles to come up with various aspects of human resource lik e managing by objectives by Drucker which can be traced to the Taylors application of the differential piece rate systems to ensure workers efficiency (Shenhav, 1999, p.34). Taylor receives attribute even to the teaching and development of management courses. He lectured on management at Harvard, therefore shaping the minds of future business owners and managers who apply his teachings up to the present day world. Criticisms of scientific management Despite scientific management improving production even up to three times, it also had its own setbacks. It was accused to have led to monotony of worker lead to workers being bored at many times. The concepts also perceived man as a machine that achieved maximum satisfaction through monetary rewards (Locke, 1982, p.35). His rate cutting ideas could as well be utilized by cruel managers to mistreat their employees without many benefits to them. There was an up rise against scientific management by workers leading to strikes. As a result, parts of it like the use of stop watches by the managers to time their workers were banned. Scientific management and its influence on modern day business practices Taylor was of the view that employees needed to be supervised at all times to ensure that they fully performed their tasks and productivity of the factories went on the rise. His critics however disapproved the idea of taking the workers to be like machines without psychological feelings. The disapproved the idea that human ambitions are highly motivated by the rewards they receive in form of wages. To prove their point, the critics developed what is termed as organizational behavior that was meant to counter the ideas of Taylor. This took place in the 1930s after experiments were carried out to determine what really influenced the workers morale and their efficiency in production. The Hawthorne experiments proved otherwise from what Taylor had postulated. In one specific case, a study was conducted to find out what increased the productivity of workers in the Hawthorne Works factory (Locke, 1982, p.70). It was noted that an increase in lighting in the workshops was able to have an i ncrease in productivity as workers did their work in well lit areas. The negative had been hypothesized to be true but unfortunately it was not. This left questions unanswered on what really caused the increase in productivity. Left with no other options, the experimenters had to seek technical aid from Harvard University where various professionals turned up. The group consisted of sociologists, psychologists who were headed by the famous clinical psychologist Mayo Elton and anthropologists. These specialists were able to conclude that what led to the increase in production was due to the presence of supervisors throughout the period the studies were being carried out. This observation became to be known as the Hawthorne effect and it was significant to human relations in work places and led to improvement of the study of organizational behavior (Wren, 2005, p.279). Various other studies have been carried out after Hawthorne experiments to try and discover the real factor behind human motivation. In other experiments, McGregor postulated a theory commonly referred to as Theory X and Theory Y to distinguish between the factors influencing human motivation. According to Theory X, the workers got their motiva tion from rewards in terms of money that they received after the job they had done while Theory Y observed that men gets their motivations from an inward desire to attain self fulfillment in any task that they are accorded. Unlike Taylors scientific management, this theory was able to acknowledge the ability of people to have an inner drive that enhanced their capacity to do work rather than just focusing on what they received as wages and salaries. Thus the social perspectives of a person started gaining recognition in workplaces in order to enhance productivity (Wren, 2005, p.267). The managers of the factories started considering the social welfare of their workers while in work stations and eventually relations strengthened in the factories. This brought about team spirit and reliance on one another to attain a common objective. Several welfare organizations that were involved in fighting for the rights of the workers were formed and which are still there in the 21st century world. Taylor with his scientific management therefore laid a foundation around which various other studies have been conducted to improve the situation of the workers in their work places while at the same time ensuring that pr oductivity is maintained to ensure success of organizations and businesses. Organizational management has gained recognition in todays world and managers are professionals with skilled knowledge in the process of management. Major CEOs in different organizations must have attained a certain higher level of knowledge and have experience in management. Taylors scientific management formed a foundation for operations research which is present today in various organizations. Both operations research and scientific management aims at increasing efficiency in the workers operations through the application of scientific means and systematic analysis so as to come up with a valid conclusion. According to Gass (2005, p.19), the proposers of scientific management like Taylor himself, Gilbreth and Gantt were the founders of the process of operations research. In fact, some of the techniques they applied in their studies to provide efficiency are still in use even up to date. For example, Gantt in his studies used a chart that involved planning time and tasks to be performed so as to achieve maximum productivity. It came to be known as the Gantt chart and it is still in use today especially in the project management areas. Despite operations research gaining growth as a branch on its own, it incorporates Taylors principles in its application . It continues to apply scientific methods with an aim of improving efficiency which is attributed to Taylors scientific management. Taylors scientific management gained recognition in the US and around the world. His book The Principles of Scientific Management was a hit and a success and was sold the world over. His principles were put into test by many managers in their factories so as to increase efficiency. His book was translated to different languages and his influence was now felt outside the US. The Japanese led by Takuo Godo utilized some of Taylors principles to test the productivity of Japanese workers during the Osaka Efficiency Exhibition. Takuo was able to point out that the workers in Britain were 5.3 times more productive than those in Japan while the American worker was seven times more that of the Japanese worker. In their pursuit for increased efficiency, the Japanese had to apply some of Taylors principles (Wren, 2005, p.289). Taylors work went as far to influence the Toyota production system which ensured that quality products were produced while at the same time increasing the efficiency of their workers. The application of scientific management enhanced Toyotas production system leading to their success. These principles were incorporated with novel ideas as time went by to furnish them so as to reap their full benefits. The success of Toyota is seen even today due to their high exports of their automobiles to various countries all over the world. In the 21st century, most of the activities that occur in work places base their foundation to Taylors scientific management. The cars we are driving, the hospitals we get medication from and even in the food eateries that we frequently visit have in one way or another been influenced by the principles postulated by Taylor. Their functioning has been streamlined into enhanced efficiency through these principles. Scientific management brought a revolution to management systems which have them evolved with time to accommodate new ideas and other changing variables in the workplaces. Work places have become areas of specializations where only those with specific skills and experiences can perform a certain task. Given such facts, division of labor is a common feature in todays society and this has served to improve on innovative ideas and effective production (Wren, 2005, p.293). Competition has gone on the rise for the few job opportunities that are available unlike previously when the labor force was sometimes lacking. As a result workers have continued increasing their knowledge into in order to retain their positions or even be promoted to higher posts. Companies have learnt to apply scientific methods in solving any problem that they may be facing rather than by use of a rule of thumb. For instance, it has become a common venture for companies to conduct market surveys before and during a release of a new product in the market. Once a company intends to release a product to the market, it ventures into the anticipated market to find their views and opinions on the said product. The opinions are analyzed scientifically and viable conclusions are derived. The conclusions are then incorporated into their strategic objectives and planning is taken to take into considerations the conclusions. This has served to increase the efficiency of production and improving the companys profits. A failure in the management to conduct such surveys or to embrace the reflected opinions would lead to either customer dissatisfaction or production of low quality products. When this happens, customers will shy away from the products hence sales will be minimal and thus the profits. With the current competition in the market in this 21st century such a company will be edged out of the race for customers and will definitely fall out of the market and close down. This clearly illustrates that although Taylors principles were postulated over a century ago, their effects are still being felt in the running of day to day activities of various institutions. In present days industrial processes, Taylors principles also come to play an important role. Taylor had studied the appropriate scientific designs for the tasks that the workers were performing so as to ensure they never were over worked nor were they underworked to unproductive levels. In addition, Taylor proposed that the workers should be selected scientifically according to a persons skills so as to perform those tasks that the workers are in a position biologically to perform and handle well. The workers who best adopted to their positions and worked with high efficiency were rewarded with high wages in order to motivate them to repeat the same actions (Gass, 2005, p.21). Presently, this principle has continued to be used in nearly all organizations. As a result, they have established a human resource department that is tasked with the process of recruitment. The department first announces any vacant position in their institutions through the various media and invites qualified persons to tender for the positions. The recruits are then taken through a thorough recruitment process that involves vetting their skills and abilities as may be illustrated by the experiences they have. This process can be equated to the scientific selection of workers that were proposed by Taylor and his followers. Finally, the best man for the job takes it thus securing employment in the said company. Taylor in determining the payment to be given to the workers in wages and work incentives proposed a piece-rate system. This was to award any worker more wage if they increased production outputs and also produced quality products. A very similar situation is applied presently where even in civil service the amount of payment depends on the years of experience in service and also on the skills and knowledge that you process which clearly distinguishes you from the rest. Thus the higher the experience and level of education the higher the salaries will be. Secondly, in todays institutions the human resource department has established a complex reward system that compensates the workers for their improved output in production. The various reward system used today are like fully paid holidays for employees, pay rises for good performing workers , scholarships to pursue high education, paid leaves among a variety of others. This has ensured increased competition between departments in an organization to raise their production levels so as to enjoy the enticing rewards. Psychologically, human behavior can be reinforced through positive reinforcements and vice versa. The human resource managers are thus able to utilize this to positively reinforce the behavior of ensuring increase in production in their organizations through the rewards. The application of these ideas has led to improved production within the work places as the workers are motivated to perform their duties to perfection. This has led to production of quality products into t he market that reaches the thresholds of customer satisfaction. It is also important to note of the Fordism theory which bases its concepts on the scientific management. It was employed in mass production and incorporated the concepts of a moving assembly line with the ideas of Taylors of piece rate system and division of labor (Gass, 2005, p.30). This theory proposed for a distinction between the skilled processes of production and the unskilled ones. This theory was instrumental in shaping the industrial process of mass production of various commodities which require line production like motor vehicles. However, this theory also contained several anomalies as contained by the scientific management like not allowing the workers to give their views and also according more importance to the machines than the human beings who are operating them. This theory however, rewards the workers with high wages for their increased production. This theory also accords the employers with total ownership and control to the work force and therefore could be used to harass the work force. Scientific management as presented by Taylor offered a chance for scientific training and education of all the workers with an intention of increasing their on hand skills and basic understanding of their working environment. He conducted researches to ensure maximum potential of the workers were utilized in performing their tasks. In modern times, this has continued taking place in various institutions. It has become increasing necessary for continued education due to the changing patterns and trends in the production industries (Gass, 2005, p.34). There is improvement in technology like the use of computers in performing tasks that were initially performed manually. Some of the machines that were once used in the processes of production and other tasks in the organizations have become redundant thus necessitating the use of a different and more complex machine. For example, not long ago were typewriters a common feature in offices for production of written materials. Currently, it is quite hard to notice any typewriter in use in any office across the country. This is due to rise in computer usage which have rendered them redundant. If the office worker had no relevant knowledge of computer usage, he/she will be forced to take classes in order to learn how to use the same machine. The same thing is happening in big production companies where large machines are acquired that have different usage and thus necessitating the workers handling it to undergo a further training. After noticing this tendency, the human resource departments have been tasked with ensuring their workers undergo on job trainings to increase their knowledge and remain relevant in the market. Several companies offer free scholarships to their deserving employees to pursue higher education after which they are promoted in their duties to higher positions. Other types of training are conducted like inviting a consultant who will facilitate the process of learning in formal seminar s and meetings. Whichever type the human resource decides is beneficial to their company the aim is to increase the workers scientific knowledge and education. The scientific management propagates for the idea of division of labor equally among the workers and their managers. This would ensure that there is mutual cooperation between the workers and managers and each is relying on the other for accomplishment of certain duties in their organization (Taylor, 1911, p.13). This builds formal and official relations with respect which ensures that the tasks given to each worker is performed and in good time. A team spirit is cultivated within these organizations and they are able to work together as one to achieve common objectives. In modern world, this principle has been expounded and applied resulting into increased performance and enhanced efficiency in doing work. The social aspects of a human being are catered for like the need to effectively communicate ones feelings about a certain procedure in any institution. Management has changed to democratic type where various views of each individual are incorporated into the institutions planning . The institutions frequently hold meetings where each and everyone is given a chance to air their views concerning anything that may be affecting them or even to commend a certain process being used by their organization. This has served well to increase communication in the organizations. Communication is an important process to any organization. It serves to pass important messages from managers down the organizational hierarchy up to the subordinates. Communication as a process serves to hold the organization together. It builds team work across the various departments in an organization and leads to attainment of strategic objectives and hence meeting their mission and vision. It is therefore important to have improved communication for an organization ion order to reap maximum benefits from the employees. Effective communication in an organization boosts employees morale and increases their productivity (Busch, 1980, p.98). Communication which was once referred to as a soft skill in business enterprises has turned to have impacts for the business which are hard and with dire consequences. Failure to establish effective communication will lead to dissatisfaction among employees leading to high employee turnover in the organization, there is a rise in the number of employees who dont report to work as expected due to low morale, the customers will feel dissatisfied due to receiving of poor services from the dissatisfied employees and this will lead to low quality products being produced which are not up to the standards required in the market. In addition it will lead to lack of innovations in the business which is harmful to development. Conclusion In conclusion, Taylors scientific management has served to shape the behaviors witnessed in todays organizations. However, various improvements to Taylors principles have been done by various other scholars. For example, Henry Fayol was able to integrate the social aspects of workers in to the principles. For the success of any organization, effective leadership is critical. It is for this reasons that effective managers are sought for by many institutions in order to succeed and pull through the high competition that have been witnessed in the present world. How well a leader is able to influence the team that he/she is leading will either lead to the success or to the failure of the organizations. In order for a leader to be able to lead, he/she must gain and apply power in order to see that work is performed to the given standards. They work at reinforcing their own organizational positions while at the same time striving to achieve the broad and strategic objectives of their orga nizations. Modernization and formations of workers union has served to shape the scientific principles as proposed by Taylor. With this in mind it is worth to note that Taylors scientific management principles although proposed over a century ago are being felt even in the modern day practices in institutions.

Freedom, Patriarchy, and Racial Oppression Essay example -- United Sta

Freedom, Patriarchy, and Racial Oppression The French philosopher Jean-Paul Sarte is known to have established existentialism in France after the liberation of Paris in 1944. Existentialism is the philosophy that states that the values people choose influences the choices they make and how they interpret the meanings of their decisions. When existentialism was introduced in the United States, it challenged Americans to access their ethical standards from a different perspective. America is associated with being "The land of the free". However, the American society has set standards on women's roles and racial castes and until these oppressions are eliminated the entire society will never have freedom. What is freedom? Freedom, as defined by Krisnamurti, is a state of mind in which there is no fear or compulsion, no urge to be secure. In the American society there is a need for security and there is fear. People conform to society's ideas to feel secure and fear being different, fear thinking on their own to set their own standards and choose their own values. Sartre's existentialist view of freedom is that it preexists value choices. Because people do not freely choose and follow their values, society creates ideals that control their views in life. These ideals are supposed to maintain order in society by showing everyone their place, but these ideals displace what society should stand for and prevent people from freedom. Should people follow societybs norm or become existentialists and think on their own? Society has set limits on gender roles with ideals such as male privilege and patriarchy. Patriarchy is the political structure to control womenbs thoughts on their sexuality, laboring, and place in society so... ... the exact abilities that they have and that those views and values weakening society. They could choose new values that would allow equal opportunity for all people and a better society would be able to come into existence. Minorities could use an existentialist perspective to improve their standards of themselves. The American ideals on patriarchy, male privilege, and race will continue to oppress the entire society from freedom until these views can be changed as people realize what freedom really is. People must first free themselves from society's views by realizing that they have a negative affect on everyone. They must freely choose their own values. When people in society assess their ethical standards from a new perspective and become existentialist, freedom will preexist value choices and people will choose values with the equality of everyone in mind.

Anthropological Observations

Tyler Adams Anthropology 2 17th November 2012 Research Paper Outline I. Introduction A. The purpose of this paper is to observe and understand the behaviors and aspects of culture in Starbuck’s Coffee. B. To evaluate this problem I used participant observation, analyzing and observing people without bias while participating in the environment. In participant observation one must not make it known that he or she is analyzing people so as not to change their behaviors, one must also be sure to remain unbiased throughout the process. C.I argue that there are several different motives for going to Starbuck’s but it is a central meeting place for cultures to interact and enjoy. D. The following paper will provide examples and proof that I found in my research about this situation and includes facts I observed at Starbuck’s Coffee. II. One factor about the problem: A. How many people were there at different times? B. Plenty of different sizes of groups came into Starbu ck’s. C. Conviviality in Catalina III. Another factor of the problem: A. What are the different subjects people are discussing?B. Studying, tests, research, social life, sports games, politics. C. Citation for 2nd factor IV. Another factor of the problem: A. What are the functionalities of Starbuck’s besides food and drink? B. Social gathering, studying, meeting new people. C. Citation for 3rd factor V. Conclusions A. I conclude that Starbuck’s Coffee is a central cultural meeting place where many people come for several different reasons, different amounts of people and different conversational subjects were present in the coffee shop at varying times.

Free sample - Critical Analysis of the Role of United Nation. translation missing

Critical Analysis of the Role of United Nation. Critical Analysis of the Role of United NationCritical Analysis of the Role of United Nation as a Third Party in Conflict Management Introduction As stated in the Preamble of the United Nations (UN), UN is determined â€Å"to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, which twice in our lifetime has brought untold sorrow to mankind.†[1] Since its establishment in 1945, UN’s mission is to take part in conflict prevention in order to prevent or stop any forms of violence, either between states or internal conflicts. The UN has specialized programs and agencies tasked to prevent conflicts from spreading out by targeting not only the acts of violence, but the roots of these conflicts. These programs include United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR), the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR), and many others.[2] The UN successfully accomplished conflict management tasks in the late 1980s and early 1990s in Namibia, Nicaragua and El Salvador. In fact, an entire chapter of the Agenda for Peace of 1992 by the UN Secretary-General was devoted to conflict prevention. The report suggests that between the stages of conflict intensification and the policy actions which aim at ending them, a conceptual link must be created.   Conflict prevention and dispute escalation prevention are included here. Regulation of the spread of violence if it happens is also included. And it was in these policy responses’ last segment that paved the way for conflict management.[3] The Hutus’ militia and the Tutsis’ Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF): The Extremists A political conflict can occur between states, or within a state. It can be caused by various factors. A conflict can arise from political causes. It can also arise from ideological differences,[4] economic factors, ethnic or cultural causes,[5] social causes,[6] geographical issues,[7] and even psychological causes.[Burton] What happened in Rwanda was caused by an outcome of a political conflict between two groups that are attempting get monopolize the political power over the country. Conflict Management and the Rwanda Genocide Conflict management, according to Fred Tanner, Deputy Director of the Geneva Centre for Security Policy, is â€Å"an approach that established the conceptual ground for direct outside involvement to check escalating violence by using peaceful or even coercive means, if necessary.†[8] Aside from the incidents in Yugoslavia and Somalia, the Rwanda Genocide is one of the historical event which calls for the need to reassess the role of the United Nations in conflict prevention and conflict management. And this paper tries to discuss the episodes in the Rwanda Genocide that prompted even the UN to review its own concept on conflict management. The United Nations Assistance Mission of Rwanda It was the United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda (UNAMIR) that the United Nations tasked to aid the implementation of the Arusha Peace Agreement. Signed in August 4, 1993 by the government of Rwanda and the RPF, the Arusha Accords were meant to end the Rwandan Civil War. Hence, UNAMIR’s task was to aid the peace process between the Rwanda government and the rebel RPF. [9] It was established by the Security Council Resolution 872 on October 5, 1992. The purpose of the UNAMIR is to ensure Kigali’s security, monitor the ceasefire agreement between the two opposing groups, put up an expanded demilitarized zone and demobilization procedures, monitor the security situation on the final period of the transitional government’s mandate until the election, assist with mine clearance and in coordination of humanitarian assistance activities and relief operations.[10] It was Jacques-Roger Booh-Booh of Cameroon and Lieutenant-General Romà ©o Dallaire as the head of the UNAMIR. Belgian soldiers make up about 400 members of the troops. Note that Belgium has colonized Rwanda in the past. In matters of peace-keeping processes, the UN normally bans the former colonial power from taking position. The Rwanda Government and the rebels appear to follow the Arusha Peace Agreement. Both sides appear to be steadfast at creating the transitional government before the 1993 ends. However, the events that followed delayed the establishment of a transitional government. After President Habyarimana was inaugurated on January 5, 1994, major disagreements came between the opposing groups. There were warnings sent to UN alarming the assembly of the genocide that was about to happen against the Tutsi minority and anti-tribalist Hutus. The warning came three months before the mass murder. However, UN ignored these warnings.[11] (The warning about the forthcoming genocide and the perpetrators came from General Romeo Dallaire himself, cabled to the UN Secretary-General at that time, Mr. Kofi Annan. General Dallaire asked UN permission for an immediate action to intervene against the mass slaughter planned by Hutu forces. But the general’s request was declined by the UN Department of Peacekeeping.[12]) This created confusion in the UNAMIR whether or not to use power. The orders issued by UN to UNAMIR were very limited. IN short, UNAMIR was rendered useless as the thousands of people are slaughtered. The UN failed to extend the UNAMIR’s mandate to protect the people of Rwanda from the genocide. The mission’s job was limited to evacuating foreign nationals from Rwanda.[13] In fact, the peace-keeping force deployed by UN at the end of 1993, which is supposed to aid in the implementation of the cease fire between the two opposing groups, received severe criticism. There are countries that did not agree to send stronger force. One of these countries was the United States, ally of Britain.[14] The United Nation’s failed mission: â€Å"The Report on the Independent Inquiry into the Actions of the United Nations During the 1994 Genocide in Rwanda† The council members of UN later acknowledged the failure of their mission to protect the peoples of Rwanda in a time where they mostly need it.[15] The UN even accepted the result of the independent inquiry lead by former Swedish Prime Minister Ingvar Carlsson on the actions taken by the UN in Rwanda. The report states UN’s failure to ignore the warnings about the genocide despite the evidences that the mass slaughter will indeed happen. According to the report, UN failed in the 1994 Rwanda Genocide in many ‘fundamental respects.’[16]   (The surprising thing was that no one in the international community anticipated the level of atrocity that happened in Rwanda.) With the evidence that was forwarded to UN regarding the organized mass murder that is going to happen, a contingency plan should have been made, as mandated by the Geneva Convention.[17] The report enumerates the reasons why UN failed: First, UN not only lacked the resources, but it also lacked the commitment to prevent the genocide from happening. The UNAMIR was also found to be not well planned in a way that it can respond to possible extremist act by either camp. The UNAMIR is also stated as a watered down version of the original plan by UN on the level of strength that will be deployed to Rwanda. [18] The inquiry points out that UN’s Center for Human Rights and DPKO did not do adequate political investigation and analysis during the tensions. This resulted to the inadequacy of UNAMIR’s mandate.[19] This is also why UN’s peace-force in Rwanda was harshly criticized by the international community. Other failures that the inquiry notes were the ‘implementation of the mandate itself’, ‘confusion over the rules of engagement’, ‘failure to respond to the genocide’, ‘inadequate resources and logistic’, and many others. The report lead by Carlsson has deemed the UN useless during the worst moment in that particular episode in Rwanda’s history. However, there surely are factors that prevented the UN to come up with an in-depth analysis of the information on political situation in Rwanda, if the vital information are at UN’s disposal. As we can see in the discussion that will follow, the UN is caught in situations where it even finds itself inadequate at some moments during the tension in Rwanda. On why the United Nations (and other international agencies) did not take further steps to prevent the genocide from occurring In the international community, no one anticipated the kind of horror that happened. It was only the only close observers that the genocide will certainly happen. The messages (that is, the warnings) remained unclear for the international agencies including UN. In a report headed by Howard Adelman et al, the vague messages are found in four areas: â€Å"contradictions in the international system; the UN structure; attitude of senior officials towards messengers and inadequacies in the message sent; and interference.†[20] UN’s principle in neutrality when it comes to information gathering isn’t necessarily applicable it times when international peace and security is under serious threat. This prevented the UN to arm itself with the capacity to collect and analyze information, which are vital when it comes to conflict management, during the tensions in Rwanda. [21] Another factor that caused UN’s failure in conflict management in Rwanda is that it is trapped between disinterested nations, Tanzania and US. These nations, especially US, showed no intentions to share its collected and analyzed (a result of CIA’s ‘desk-analysis’) information to UN.[22] The structure of the UN gives power to the Secretary General to give permission to UNAMIR for an immediate action to intervene in the plot for genocide in order to prevent it from happening. However, this power is not maximized in the case of Rwanda. One reason is that UN lacks staff. (Rwanda is only monitored by one person.) However, the deeper reason lies in the restructuring of the Secretariat since 1990. It is here where UN lost its capacity to collect vital information that can be analyzed and used as basis for making contingency plans. The distribution of the Secretary-General of his responsibilities to other agencies and departments also left the DPA, which should play an essential part in conflict management, lacking in logistics to carry out the task.[23] Another area that prevented the UN to take further actions is the messengers. The agencies that are associated with UN are reluctant to divulge information. That is to say, they are suspicious as to how the political and military information will be used. One thing more is the propaganda that the Hutu-dominated mass media spread. This made many, including members of UN, suspicious of the circulating information. Even the UN Secretary-General realized the disadvantage of not having the mass media on UN’s side. Mass media might have been played an important source for information. As mentioned, UN did not expect the magnitude of the event that happened. First, just because genocide is rare, the UN concluded that it will not happen at that time in Rwanda. Second, it is confident in the Tsutsis, blind to the fact that these people are also miscalculating the conditions around them. (The Tsutsis also did not expect that the rest of the world will walk out from Rwanda the moment the Hutu extremists (militia, armed forces of the government and even civilians) tries to erase them from the face of their own country.[24] There are other factors that prevented UN from thinking clearly and thereby also preventing it from acting accordingly. First, the UN is completely confident of the Arusha Peace Agreement. Second, their sense of judgment was clouded by its past experience in Somalia. Before the genocide broke out, the situation in Rwanda is peripheral compared to many other global issues that the UN is paying attention to.[25] The Special Rapporteur of the Commission on Human Rights and other human rights agencies, as well as the RPF used the word genocide in the reports they made to UN. However, the ambiguity of the definition of genocide also created confusion on the messages conveyed to UN.[26] Another thing is that the UN seems to not learn from what happened in Burundi just six months before the Rwanda Genocide happened – around 50,000 to 100,000 people were killed. Rather than considered as a political conflict, the conflict between the Hutus and the Tsutsis were considered only as a continuing ancient feud.[27] Conclusion and Recommendation Clearly, the United Nations failed in conflict management in Rwanda. This is because it lacks the vital factors in order to carry out the task. The UN sent UNAMIR to ensure peace in Rwanda. UN becomes too confident that no genocide will occur. The UN had received warnings about the Hutu-planned genocide, but ignored it because of a complex web of factors. In some of the situations, UN is caught between states, which are members of UN, which has their own motives regarding the situation. If examined, UN failed in information gathering that is very important in conflict management. The UN should reassess its structure in order to make collecting information and making in-depth analysis more efficient. (Remember that UN lost most of these capacities when it restructured its Secretariat.) This is in connection to the Rwanda Report’s recommendation that the UN should improve its early warning capacity. And this can only be done through improving its coordination with various institutions. As suggested by the Report, the UN should improve its capacity â€Å"to analyze and respond to information about possible conflicts, and its operational capability for preventive action†. In this context, the report suggests that â€Å"further enhancement of the cooperation between different Secretariat departments, UNSECOORD programmes and agencies and outside actors, including regional and subregional organizations NGOs and the academic world, is essential.†

Environmental Scan of Amazon and Nike Essay Example

Environmental Scan of Amazon and Nike Essay Example Environmental Scan of Amazon and Nike Paper Environmental Scan of Amazon and Nike Paper Amazon was once very plain and unattractive but was still the primary bookseller for consumers on the Web, and Nikkei was a small growing firm that made athletic shoes imported from Japan, making its presence in the American market. Today, however with the introduction of PESTLE Analysis, managers have been able to make effective decisions for their organizations. PESTLE Analysis permits a business to conduct an, analysis of four external factors that may impact the performance of the organization. These factors are: Political, Economic, Social, and Technological (CBS Business Network, 2011) Amazon as used these factors capitalizing on their strengths to threaten their expanding market. For example, through a technological point of view, telecommunications technologies for the Internet have been increasing giving consumers the ability to shop from their home computers, laptops, and cell phones. This is relevance to Amazon because it increases the frequency of use and sources for Internet by online shoppers. Amazon has integrated cloud computing into their business strategy, providing them the adaptation with the technology and cultural transitions. Cloud Computing gives Individuals the ability to access applications at any moment, having every piece of data you need for every aspect of your life at your fingertips and ready for use (PC Magazine, 2011). Amazon has been looking to improve internally with the use of their cloud computing market to enhance their web services attracting more consumers to their website, Amazon Web Services wants to be the data center for the world (Bloomberg, 2011). The strategy of Amazon in cloud computing is to influence consumers its huge databases and internal research and development strengths offering powerful tools, When cloud computing is adopted by an organization, they will find themselves thrown into the pool with the rest of the online world in many ways (ZED Net, 2011 Nikkei another leader in its market, founded in 1 962 by Bill Borrower and Phil Knight. What started out as a distributor of Japanese athletic shoes to American consumers later became a traditional and non-traditional distributor for more than 1 00 countries targeting its primary market regions: united States, Europe, Asia Pacific, and the Americas (Seeking Alpha, 2011 Unfortunately, one major factor that Nikkei has fallen toward criticism through outside external forces is their share of problems with labor and factory notations resulting in bad publicity and declining sales. Consumers believe that Nikkei, Inc. Has a social responsibility as a company to fix situations such as labor and factory conditions. Nikkei lays numerous amounts of strategies to target their consumers, athletes, and sportsmen. Nikkei strives on brand image, its association with a unique logo and slogan Just do it helps popularize their image worldwide in all areas of sport and fashion. Nines marketing strategy consists of brand image, Nines website, customer preference, and product differentiation, which helps hem separate themselves from competitors. They target the best professional athletes and athletic teams, giving Nikkei the ability to reach a large amount of athletes. Following their technique in promoting their image, Nikkei applies its products by associating success with product. For example, when an athletic team or athlete sponsors Nines brand of athletic shoes, the brand will be paired with a success story. This form of marketing can be described as brand positioning or brand architecture. Brand positioning can be best described as a motivational reason to buy ones product over others, is guided, directed and delivered by the brands benefits/reasons to buy; and it focuses at all points of contact with the consumer (Management study guide, 201 1). Nikkei creates value and sustains competitive advantage over other competitors with this technique because image is a big factor in todays markets, a large number Of consumers are likely to develop product intimacy; those who care more about the quality rather than the price. This takes us to Nines price strategy, which they target consumers who focus more on product intimacy and care less about the price. Giving Nikkei the advantage over other competitors setting higher prices for its products; consumers who believe a product to be of high quality are prone to pay a higher price. Apart from marketing strategies Nikkei has embellished on the expanding market of technology. In efforts to collaborate with issues of climate change in business the challenges and opportunities that growing organizations seek, Nikkei has designed a tool to advert such issues. They released a version of their Environmental Apparel Design Tool back in December 201 0 in hopes that companies would use it and build from it. In efforts to stay competitive within their market and sustain leadership of sports apparels, Nikkei has given designers this tool to gather information on their designs at earlier stages of production, constantly giving them feedback and educating them on how to make better choices (Borderline, 2010). This sets Nikkei apart giving the organization a competitive advantage. CONCLUSION In this rising market, measurement guidelines are tough to come by. Organizations can calculate market share and profitability to help measure their successes, but it can a bit difficult at times to compare. Nikkei is the larger company among the two, and looking at profitability it overshadows Amazons. Although Amazon continues to move forward, and its brand recognition and customer loyalty is strong. Using profit as a measurement guideline could be effective, but companies will need to keep track of different market segments to ensure they are not accepting less than the best outcome. Both companys have their strengths and advantages within their markets, Amazon leaders Of e-commerce and Nikkei leaders of brand positioning to market its products. Whatever the future brings, it is clear that hose two strong brands will continue their traditional core businesses techniques in search of additional lines of business.

Human resource management Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Human resource management - Assignment Example It helped staff to serve customers from different cultures better, and was complemented by cultural training which focused on some of these differences in more detail. Human resource management has become a frequently used phrase, both in academic research and in organisation practice. The term is familiar world-wide, and is the subject of writing or research frequently. From 2000 to 2006 alone, the number of publications using the term â€Å"human resource management† increased by 427%. This result is substantial, given the field first began towards the end of the 1980s, and was thought that it would be short lived (Storey, 2007). Human resource management is arguably more important in modern society than it has ever been previously, as organisations experience change on a regular basis (Kaminski, 2000) and staff members no longer have strong loyalty to a given organisation, and move from one job to another more often. How a business undertakes human resource management varie s substantially between one business and another, such as the provision of cultural training, or of upskilling members of an organisation likely to remain. Within an organisation that makes use of human resource management, line managers provide an essential link between employees and management. Line managers are often responsible for the implementation of human resource approaches with employees directly, and may be involved in guiding and coaching staff members, giving performance reviews and dealing with discipline. In some cases, they may also be responsible for recruitment and the selection of employees. Section 2 Potential employees for an organisation come from a range of different backgrounds, and possess varying temperaments, driving factors, objectives and long-term goals. Without the use of human resource planning, there is a high chance of employing staff members who do not share the objectives of the organisation or who decrease efficiency rather than increasing it. Hu man resource planning involves the use of multiple stages, including acquisition, utilisation, improvement and retaining the human resources of an organisation. The resources for this task vary depending on the extent that human resource management is occurring, but can include training for staff members, auditing, advertising and forecasting. The processes used for recruiting are not constant across organisation. For example, Sony processes a large number of applications and uses an online application, followed by situational judgement testing, telephone interviews and then assessment centres (Sony, 2012). In contrast, a business firm that I worked for asked for resumes from applicants then went through a series of interviews for each position, with the top candidates from each interview going onto the next one. The interview is an important selection technique, and is present in many different industries. This gives the interviewer the chance to work out whether the potential empl oyee is suitable for the company, based on aspects such as their response to particular situations, their personality and their motivation. It is an

Mediatation and relaxation training Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Mediatation and relaxation training - Essay Example cal and psychological symptoms in diseases, an increased ability to relax during stressful situations, reductions in pain levels, and an enhanced ability to cope with chronic and recurring pain (Relax for Success, 2006). In the biobehavioral model, the body responds to the wear and tear that stress produces. When demands and pressures coming from external or internal stimuli get out of hand, the stress response becomes either extremely intense, occurs very often, or endures extensively. At this point the physical and mental symptoms makes things even worse by becoming sources of demand and pressure in and of themselves (Stress Directions, 2007). Both meditation and yoga gives us enhanced awareness and learning to relate directly to whatever is happening in your life. It gives a person a power to take charge in his life, and the ability to do things for yourself that no other else can do for you. Most people have been encountering loss of awareness to things outside our body and even within. This â€Å"mindlessness† makes us forgetful. It also urges us to feel that we are separated from ourselves—leading us to think that we are living life mechanically. By being aware of the presence and symptoms of stress, our body can respond appropriately to â€Å"mindlessness† Mindfulness is already within us, all we have to do is to reawaken this innate capacity in us to be released so that it would be used for us to learn, grow, and heal from physical, psychological and behavioral problems. b. Meditation, though has religious roots, has now been scientifically proven to effectively reduce the debilitating and dangerous effects of stress. Though science is an objective study of facts that encompasses the different religious practices and beliefs, they probe on things and knowledge on things that are beneficial and productive for our body. Through logic and experimentation, science has proven that meditation and yoga actually works. Though some religions do not have