The Dolphin Free Tuna Dilemma - 1484 Words

Introduction In this paper I will focus on the dolphin-free TUNA dilemma (case from 1991 - GATT) where several countries (that imported into the US) called for a review of policies in place by the US protectionist trade policies on tuna-production and the free trade agreements under GATT. Furthermore, I will discuss what the results of the case was, what implication it has on the global economy and what role the GATT/WTO has had in this policy. I will briefly compare it to the policies that the EU have in place to prevent mad cow disease tainted meat from coming into the EU. This is a take on different policies, about the process to produce a product, why the countries would want to prevent the importation of it and subsequently what†¦show more content†¦This is important because schools (groups) of Tuna-fish swim underneath school of dolphins. The US looks to collaborate with trading partners to cooperate with this Act and help enforce it. Countries Oppose US Regulations On Process – Case #1 In 1990, Tuna from several countries, (which included Mexico, Venezuela, Panama, Ecuador, etc.) was banned from the US (in the form of imports). In other words, the US set an embargo for light-skin tuna sales from these countries. Mexico and Venezuela challenged the US action and took it to the GATT. The decision was in their favor and in 1991 and 1992 both the countries cases were resolved through an outside settlement. The decision was not binding until after the Uruguay Round and adopted by the countries then. Countries Oppose US Regulations On Labeling – Case #2 Later there was a second case that arose of third world countries (including Mexico) importing Tuna and Tuna-products from other countries that did not meet the MMPA agreement. This was also dismissed by the GATT, under the same assumptions that other countries could not dictate how other countries use their natural resources and prevented free flow of trade. This second case was led by Mexico, and a complaint about discriminatory labels on tuna-product packaging that led consumers to believe the

My Class Of Third Grade Children - 1472 Words

CHILD FACTORS Goal Perception For my class of third grade children I believe that their ability of goal perception and acceptance will vary greatly. For the eight students who are relatively free of learning disabilities and behavioral problems will be able to self-perceive and understand the goals at hand. They will not only be able to comprehend the goals, but they will most likely Bye-Into the goal resulting in him/her putting in maximum effort and energy to achieve the goal him/herself. These students will keep power demand generally low. As for the remaining twenty students who have a variety of learning and behavioral problems, understanding and accepting the goals as their own will prove to be much more difficult. These†¦show more content†¦This negative attribution bias will increase power demands for myself from day one. Sense of Autonomy and Autonomy Regulation I can predict a variety of levels in respect to a Sense of Autonomy and Autonomy Regulation for my students. For the eight children with the potential of being compliant and well-behaved in my classroom are more likely to have a healthy sense of autonomy and accept the power sharing needed to accomplish the goal. We will also have the ideal relationship for mutual regulation, with little effort. For the majority of the children, they will have a less sense of healthy autonomy. These children will connive for equal power shared between him/her and myself. Time will be wasted here and more effort will be needed to achieve a â€Å"zero-sum† game. Lastly, the group of children with behavioral issues will most likely have an unhealthy sense of autonomy and I will fail to accomplish my goals with them. I can estimate that power demands will be high for this group of children in respect to a sense of autonomy and autonomy regulation. Self-Regulation and Conscience The age of the children in my third grade classroom varies from young eight year olds to upper ten year old children. Based off of their ages I can estimate that the older ones will have a more developmentally advanced form of self-regulation. My older students will have the ability to regulate their fine and

Explain How Market Structure Determine the Pricing and Output Decisions free essay sample

The characteristics of a market, such as the quantity and comparative force of consumers and sellers and level of collusion among them, rank and forms of competition, extent of product differentiation, and ease of entry into and exit from the market is referred to as the MarketStructure: com/definition/market-structure.html>http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/market-structure.htmlMarket structure plays an vital part to conclude cost and production. Perfect Competition, Monopoly and are some of the different market structures.Perfect CompetitionA market structure that consists of diverse sellers of the same product then the firms price determination and the output decision relies upon the claim for their products. In a competitive market consumers actually determine the cost and firm take the output decisions as compared to the demand for the manufactured goods because every firm tries to initiate lower prices to their buyers to raise their market share.MonopolyIt is the market structure where it has monopoly and is the only supplier and hence, cost determination and output decision lies by the firm since in a monopolistic market the firm is the price maker and they can charge whatever value they wish for and client is bound to pay that amount since he/she would not have the option to make the purchase elsewhere or at a lower price, The firm will produce with its full capacity because the they will be bound to fulfill the demand as a whole for their products, normally multinational firms operate in such market structures. (an example of monopoly in Pakistan in WAPDA)OligopolyA market structure where there are numerous sellers of the same products and so the vendors have a little control over the pricing since large sellers usually set an ongoing rate for their products i-e they all set the same cost for their products with the consumers having a choice who to buy from. Vendors selling their products at the same decided price however, have difference in the way they advertise their products and attract customers to purchase them. In oligopolistic market the firms take decision of output in the light of the demand from their customers towards their products.https://www.ukessays.com/essays/marketing/pricing-and-output-decisions-of-businesses-marketing-essay.php

Managing Human Resource

Introduction Currently, Human Resource Management is taken to be a contemporary development that has reshaped employment relationship. This perspective has come out to replace the traditional approaches like industrial relations and personnel management in order to better the practices of employment.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Managing Human Resource specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Nonetheless, Human Resource Management remains a modern science that is constantly evolving in complex environment and organizations. However, its direct connection with strategic management has resulted to its division into two major approaches called soft and hard Human Resource Management. In the ancient and recent past, it was understood that personnel management aimed at efficiency, organizational development and justice through bringing together employees in the organization by enhancing their collective and individual cont ribution to its success. For that matter, a personnel manager was a person who was in charge of employees’ welfare at work place, loyal to the organization, abiding to internal and external cultures as well as responsible for adjusting to organizational challenges and its environment. On the other hand, Human Resource Management is considered to be a strategic approach in management of employment relations that seeks to leverage employees’ capabilities in attaining competitive advantage. For that matter, this paper covers different perspectives of human resource management. Nevertheless, it also covers several ways of developing flexibility within the workplace. It also looks at several ways of creating equal opportunities in a working environment as applied by British Sugar; a United Kingdom Company that deals with supply of sugar in the market. Moreover, several topical human resource practices and issues are also explored. Types of Flexibility in the work processes and how it can be applied in British Sugar Company Flexibility in the work processes usually requires strategy that is responsible for hiring, managing, assessing and rewarding these employees. However, for this to be effective, it is imperative that the strategy adopted must be geared towards improvement of employees’ engagement, job satisfaction, job retention and their overall well being. British Sugar appreciates flexibility in its work processes since it is believed that it helps to reduce stress and achieve job satisfaction. For that matter, British Sugar is applying several ways of achieving flexibility in its work processes. The traditional flexi time is one of the mechanisms that the company is applying. According to Luis and others (2011) affirmed that this approach allows employees in the organization to select their appropriate starting and quitting sessions. This is done within a reasonable time that surrounds their hours of operations.Advertising Looking fo r essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Moreover, the company also applies this approach through having a compressed work that enables employees to allocate themselves hours such as ten hours per day for four days in a week. Therefore, this means that employees usually have the remaining three days of the week as their off days which brings forth flexibility in the work processes. According to Stephen (2005), this is important since it helps to reduce work related stress during these elongated off periods. Nonetheless, there exist several advantages and disadvantages that are accrued from application of flexi time approach in the concept of flexibility in the work processes of British Sugar. The arrangement benefits both the employer and the employee. For instance, working parents are helped by the arrangement to balance their family and work responsibilities. Moreover, it also helps employees to avoid stres sful traffic and provision of longer leisure time. On the part of the employer, the arrangement is beneficial since it helps build motivation amongst its employees. Moreover, it is acknowledged by Stephen (2005) that flexi time helps to increase efficiency since it permits scheduling of activities to concur with the flow and ebb of the workload. For that matter, work processes in the organization are made to be flexible to both employee and the employer hence increasing productivity. Nevertheless, under flexi time arrangement, it is difficult for the managers to ensure completion of critical functions and optimum work flow. This is so since they encounter the problem of supervision. Moreover, flexi time also is a source of additional overhead costs since facilities are strained by the elongated working hours. Furthermore, British Sugar is applying induction exercise to its new recruits as one of its approach to flexibility in the work process. Induction according to Susan and Stephe n (2005) is opined to be one of the ways of achieving flexibility in the work processes. This is so since it enables new recruits to learn work processes of the company thus enabling them to accomplish given tasks with flexibility. On the other hand, Jenkins and Ambrosini (2002) provided that once an individual talent has been attracted to the organisation and recruited, it is relatively important to undergo an induction process. This process has several crucial purposes in the organization. These include; Acting as an avenue through which new recruits are able to learn expectations of the organization. Being the process through which the organization’s culture is inculcated in the new recruit. Acting as a platform through which the new recruit is able to learn both the internal and external environment of the organization Therefore, in elaboration, it acts as an avenue through which new recruits are able to learn expectations of the organisation. Through learning of the bu siness processes, they are in a better position to learn how business is conducted in order to achieve the set goals and objectives. This brings forth the desired flexibility in work processes.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Managing Human Resource specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Moreover, through the induction process, the organisation’s culture is able to be inculcated in the new recruit. New staff is able to cope with the culture of the organisation. This is important since it helps one to become part of the wider community of the organization. Thirdly, Jenkins and Ambrosini (2002) opined that an induction programme also plays an important role of helping the new recruit to learn both the internal and external environment of the British Sugar. Mostly, these recruits are people who are new in the environment both internally and externally. The induction process helps them to adapt to these new environ ment by familiarizing with it before settling down for meaningful engagement. This helps them to adapt smoothly thus being flexible in the work processes of the company. Consequently, these three purposes of induction have benefits to an individual and to the organization as a whole. To begin with, it is evident that the induction process acts as an orientation process to the new recruit. This is a benefit since it enables him or her to learn the operation of the organization and to adapt to the new environment. Moreover, it also benefits the new recruit by providing on job training before he or she is left to perform these duties on his or her own. On the other hand, it is beneficial to the organization since it advances the culture of the organisation to the new recruit. In addition, it also acts as a platform through which the organization advances its expectations to new recruit. This promotes flexibility of work processes in the company. Labor market trends and flexibility Labo r market shapes the approach that an organization takes to its human resource management. For that matter, it should be appreciated that development in social, political, economical and technological sphere of life has significantly affected labor supply in the society. Therefore, knowledge of labor market is important to appreciate trends and flexibility in organizations. Nonetheless, labor market can be divided into two broad categories; internal and external labor market. Changing trends in these two categories have effects to its supply.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Classical theorists believed that it was prudent to apply a structured approach to employee management. This means that the labor market was limited from outside the organization where by people entered organizations at very lower levels but proceeded to senior positions through internal promotions. However, this was after a successful in house training. This was beneficial to both employer and the employee in that it encouraged career advancement of these people while at the same time limiting transfer of skills to other competing organization. Contrary to the classical theorists, contemporary approaches to human resource management appreciate a liberal market where labor market appreciates transfer of skills from one organization to another. For that matter, the labor market is influenced by external forces that determine its supply and demand on the market. These forces include changes in societal attitudes to education and work. For instance, in the current labor market, there i s high appreciation of female workers as opposed in the traditional approaches. Moreover, there is desire to balance work and family life. In addition, economic factors are also part of the external forces that determines labor market trends in the contemporary times. Both national and international economic conditions such as inflation, interest and exchange rates determine the cost of living. For that matter, incase of high rates, it implies that more members of the family should work to meet rising expenses. Moreover, globalization process is another key factor that determines labor market trends in the contemporary society. Forces such as global financial performance, international migrations and production systems are some of the factors that affect labor market in the current times. For that matter, an organization needs to put these factors into consideration in management of its human resource. Therefore, flexibility in work processes such as flexi time also needs to put fac tors of globalization into consideration. Additionally, contemporary labor market has tremendously changed in such a way that a supply of a given form of labor in a given region can create demand of that particular labor in another regional market. Flexible working methods and issues related to flexibility Flexible working applies different approaches. However, according to Jenkins and Ambrosini (2002), an approach that may appear flexible to an employee may not be flexible to the employer and vice versa. For that matter, it is necessary to adopt an approach that tries to satisfy both the employer and the employee. Therefore, it is important to apply organizational and labor market flexible practices in order for all stakeholders to be comfortable. In connection to this, the organization may decide to apply the following approaches or in their combination. Labor Market Flexibility Labor market flexibility is an approach where employees and the employer respond to ever changing labor conditions in the market. Labor supply can be applied in various ways, for instance, the supply of hours of work by an employee. This kind of approach puts two major considerations in terms of labor costs. The consideration includes sacrifice of working extra time and any kind of disadvantages associated with that kind of work. In that connection, it is important that any extra hour worked should be accompanied by a higher hourly compensation due to the high disutility incurred during the working processes. Moreover, in terms of increased wage rate due to extra working hours, there are also positive effects associated with the process. For instance, it facilitates improved childcare support which in turn helps to increase conditions of other people in the labor market. Flexible Firm Flexibility In relation to this approach, it is propounded by Johnson and Scholes (2008) that that there are two major categories of workers in a flexible firm. These include the core and peripheral wor kers. In relation to core workers, they are believed to be employees who are on permanent employment in the organization. These permanent employees enable the organization to deliver functional flexibility since they are involved in accomplishing a wide variety of tasks. On the other hand, peripheral employees provide the organization with flexibility in terms of numbers since they may increase or reduce given the current labor market. For that matter, the flexible firm flexibility entails reorganization of organization’s internal labor into various categories basing on the employer’s expectations and employees’ experiences. However, in terms of human resource management policies such training and other general employee development, core workers are the only ones who are involved in the program. However, the peripheral workers are only exposed to raw policy forces. In addition, in an event of economic turmoil such as recession, the peripheral employees are the o nes who are more susceptible. Advantages of flexible working practices to both employer and the employee Advancers of flexible working practices points out several advantages that attracts organizations to move towards that direction. These include competitive advantages that are accrued from these programs. Competitiveness is however attained though achieving high rate of employee retention. Thus, high employee retention means that organizations end up spending fewer resources on training employees as compared to the instance when there is high rate of employee turnover. Moreover, it should also be noted that due to employee retention, valued employees’ skills, knowledge and experience are retained in the organization hence giving it the vigor in work processes. Moreover, according to Johnson and Scholes (2008), it is believed that flexibility working practices reduces undesirable behaviors in the work place such as absenteeism. This is so since it provides flexible options which strengthen employees’ commitment while giving ample time that result to absenteeism in other work practices. In addition, proponents of flexible working practices hold that flexibility in work processes enables organizations to increase their employee loyalty by not necessarily making major changes in their work processes. In most cases, work flexibility entails little or completely no changes in the work processes. For example, compressed weeks of work and flexi time only need similar number of hours using the same work arrangements. Importantly, it is also worthy to note that flexible work practices have positive impact on employee productivity. This is so since employees are able to meet their family needs through approaches such as flexi time hence they are likely to be contented with both work processes and their family life. Moreover, flexibility practices such as application of telecommuting helps employees to be more productive since they are freed by headaches such as office interruptions. Disadvantages of flexible working practices to both employer and the employee Despite having several advantages accrued from flexible working practices, it is imperative to acknowledge several disadvantages that are connected to this kind of arrangement. These disadvantages actually have negative consequences to organizations. To begin with, flexibility arrangement such as telecommuting can be at times disastrous since other processes such as customer services which usually needs physical attention of personnel suffers in the long run. On the other hand, it is also imperative to note that in such kind of arrangement, interpersonal relationship that employees develop through physical interaction with different stakeholders in the organization is largely affected which in the long run ruin with their personality. Moreover, it is also opined by Lynch (2006) that flexibility working arrangements have issues with supervisory tasks since employees are never a round to be answerable to their task performance especially in the event of telecommuting. In addition, in terms of employees working from their homes, it becomes a problem for them to keep balance between their office work and family activities. Forms of discrimination that take place There are several forms of description that takes place at the work place. Nonetheless, these forms of discrimination vary from one environment to another and from one organization to the next. To begin with, age in some circumstances is used to discriminate people in the organization. This kind of discrimination takes place in different forms. For instance, an organization may downsize an older employee in order to keep a young employee who can be paid less. Moreover, some organizations may set age limit in their staff development programs such as training in favor of young ones. Nevertheless, gender is another form of discrimination that occurs in work places. In most cases, gender discrimination is usually accompanied by sexual harassment. For instance, some employers discriminate women in their recruitment process since they believe that they will impact the organization negatively during their elongated maternity leave. Moreover, in some organizations, gender is closely associated with some departments. For instance, some will consider women candidates for marketing function than compared to men while in engineering department, men will be considered more than women candidates. In addition, discrimination based on religion is also a common practice that is exhibited in some organizations. Recruiting or promotion of employees in these organizations is based on ones faith. For instance, in the United States, people who professed Muslim faith started being discriminated after the terror event of 9th September, 2001. This was so since all Muslims were believed to have terror links hence being a threat to the stability of the country. Additionally, it is also imperative to note that in countries that experience racism, there is high rate of racial discrimination in work places. For instance, if the top management is of a certain race, he or she will likely to recruit people of his or her race in an environment that is multi racial. For that matter, it is prudent to acknowledge that all types of discrimination at the work place can have disastrous effects to the organization. This includes heavy fines to organization which in turn results to financial hardships. For instance, in some countries, an organization that is found guilty of practicing racism is liable for some fines which in the long run can result to the demise of the firm. Types of appraisal and feedback methods in performance management There exist several types of appraisal and performance management in human resource management. All these provide feedback on performance of employees in the organizations. The feedback informs the management on decisions such as training needs of its staff, pro motions, transfers, terminations and increase in remuneration. Some of these appraisal methods include; Management by Objectives In this approach, the management examines tangible and measurable goals after every stipulated period of time such as a year. At the onset of each year, the management usually sets objectives to be attained by employees during that period. Then, at the end of that year, the performance measurement of any employee is compared to his or her peers and in comparison to the set objectives to determine those achieved. Employees who achieve the bigger percentage of the objectives set are considered to have performed to the expectations of the organization. On the other hand, employees who tend to have achieved little in comparison to the set objectives are deemed to have performed poorly in that particular year. Therefore, the management is at the discretion to take any appropriate measures. 360 Degree This approach of employee appraisal is an all round technique that involves evaluation during the entire working processes. For instance, the employee is assessed all through by all stakeholders. For example, one is evaluated by the immediate boss, the top management, the subordinates and all other people including clients that the employee interact with during his or her working process. These stakeholders provide feedback concerning the working style of this employee which serves as a measure in determining other processes such as employee training, promotion or termination. Behavioral Observation Technique By using this method, the management is able to identify strengths and weaknesses of its employees based on their behavior at the work place. The method entails the manager observing specific conducts and actions of the employee in his or her daily activities. Therefore, the manager is in a position to review the performance of the employee. It is imperative to note that it is easier to accomplish this kind of appraisal since it only inv olves observation of behaviors displayed by the employee. However, it is also important to note that for the exercise to be successful, it is necessary for the manager to have a good knowledge of how particular behavior affects work performance. In addition, it is a must that the manager should have time to be able to observe a particular employee. Teams Evaluations Evaluation of teams within an organization is just like individual evaluation process that is intended to meet continuous improvement in organizational processes. Therefore, the standards that guide evaluation of teams must focus on customer satisfaction. For that matter, teams must be rated based on customer satisfaction and the ambitious goals of the organization. For instance, to be an outstanding team, customers must continuously provide positive feedback. Moreover, these teams must consistently be working towards improvement of processes in order to improve efficiency and effectiveness of their operations. Therefore , Lynch (2006) postulated that in order to attain an outstanding performance, the team must significantly boost effectiveness and efficiency that are paramount to clients’ satisfaction. Therefore, in evaluating teams in the organization, there is need to develop an appraisal scheme that entails organization’s standards of excellence. These standards include skills and knowledge of the job, interpersonal relationships and teamwork, reliability and dependability, flexibility and adaptability in the working environment and most importantly, work performance. For that matter, assessing team performance should therefore keep in mind these key standards. In addition, processes that are critical to the team must be evaluated to establish their performance. Moreover, Mintzberg and Quinn (2003) opined that when assessing team performance, it is relatively important to check for the role fit in the team. Ideally, every member in the team has a role. For that matter, every role o f the team member must be evaluated to gauge whether it fits their skills and knowledge and whether they are capable of performing these roles. In addition, performance reviews of the team must be regularly conducted to ensure that organizational goals and objectives are being met in the team. Moreover, in the team assessment, every member must be given an opportunity to contribute towards teamwork. This is an important aspect of group evaluation since it gives a sense of belonging to members which is a critical ingredient in promoting continuous improvement in the organization. Therefore, it should be a strategy for the company to regularly perform team evaluation exercise. However, this process should encompass a multifaceted programme that is appropriate for effectiveness and efficiency appraisal program for the organization. For that matter, the appraiser should enable the team members to personally identify the outcomes of their own work and not rely on the second or third part y for providing results of their work. Secondly, the evaluation programme must be based on performance measures of the team members. This should put into consideration what has happened, what has changed, what has advanced and what has improved in a team for a specific period of time. This approach is intended to make sure that there is a continued improvement in the team in respect to the changing needs of the organization. Thirdly, it is also important that the appraiser identifies what every individual member contributes in the team. The success of teamwork is usually dependant on the contributions of each individual member thus their individual efforts are relatively important. However, when assessing individual efforts in the group, the outcomes of all members must be accumulated to come up with teamwork results. Fourthly, regular reviews of teamwork must be undertaken after a specific period of time. These reviews must be undertaken regularly to ensure that the team’s p erformance remains on course. The review must focus on the results of the teamwork in order to identify problems and successes. This provides a benchmark for grading performance of the team. However, according to Mintzberg and Quinn (2003), there are differences that exist between evaluating team performance and individual performance. To begin with, these two processes are different in terms of parameters that are used in evaluation. For individual evaluation, job description becomes the basis of assessment. This is contrary to team evaluation since it is the goals that were set to be attained by the team that becomes the basis for assessment. Secondly, another difference in evaluation relates to the outcomes. The outcome of the team is determined by all members of the team. For instance, a competent individual in the team might be affected by non-functional team. This is common in instances where a team is comprised by incompetent members. However, an incompetent team member may b e evaluated as a good performer as a result of functional and competent team members (Stephen, 2005). Nevertheless, on individual evaluation, an individual takes full responsibility of his or her own performance. Lastly, individual assessment has a direct correlation to compensation. For instance, an individual who performs well in the performance appraisal is likely to benefit from benefits such as salary increase, bonuses and promotion. On the other hand, it is relatively impossible to provide these benefits to all team members based on team evaluation. Moreover, team members will complain whenever some of the team members are selectively rewarded as a result of teamwork evaluation. Concept of Succession Planning within an Organization Additionally, it is relatively important to develop a succession plan within an organization to facilitate performance appraisal. This process of succession planning ensures that there is competent workforce in the organization so that no vacuum is created when some of the personnel leave the organization (Lynch, 2006). For that matter, there are several reasons as to why an organization should adopt a succession plan in their operations. To begin with, one of the major reasons for adopting this plan is to forecast the future needs of the organization. Succession planning helps to identify future needs and requirements of the organization and as a result prepares for these needs. For instance, the organization can benefit from the plan when they lose an incumbent of a certain line since the replacement is automatically done. In addition, the plan ensures that the organization is better placed in terms of its human resource management since balanced scorecards are well planned for. These balanced scorecards are critical in ensuring management effectiveness in the organization which is key for continuous improvement. For that matter, the key reason for adopting succession planning is to guarantee service delivery to clients. The refore, for the succession planning to be successfully used in the company, it is relatively important to incorporate it in the company’s strategic plans. Moreover, it is also advisable to incorporate it in succession plans of the employees training programee. For that reasons a succession planning process for the company should take a strategic planning approach (Mintzberg Quinn, 2003). These succession plans should therefore be incorporated in the strategic goals of the organization. In addition, the planning process must adopt an inclusive approach such that it must incorporate all stakeholders in crafting these plans. Moreover, the top management must actively be involved in order to win their support in the entire process. Lastly, the formulated plan must be communicated effectively in the organization to bring about awareness of the programme. Human resource practices in the workplace related to occupational health, accidents at work, ill health at work, costs and abse nteeism Human resource practices in the workplace related to occupational health, accidents at work place, ill health at work and absenteeism are determined by several factors. These factors can be categorized into two major categories that relates to hereditary factors, health practices of an employee, personal resources, values and attitudes that employees posses when joining the organization. Secondly, apart from factors that relates to the employee, there are also other factors that are related to the work place in the organization. These are factors that have effects on the employee once he or she joins the organization in terms of their psychological and physical sense. For that matter, the organization has control over these factors and therefore, can help to control them in order to help combat these factors from adversely affecting productivity of employees. However, there are several human resource practices that an organization can employ in the workplace that are related to occupational health, accidents at work, ill health at work and absenteeism in order to reduce their occurrence. These practices include; Organizational Culture Organization culture consists of values, attitudes and beliefs that are practiced in the organization on a regular basis. These affect employees physical and mental well being. The psychosocial environment affects employees’ health. Therefore, it should be friendly to them in order to maintain their health. This is so since it creates two times greater injury risks, conflict at the workplace and violence, mental illness and back pain. For that matter, in order to avoid all these risks, it is important that an organization adopts a friendly organizational culture that is healthy to its employees. A good organizational culture promotes sound health conditions amongst organizational employees. Physical environment of the workplace Physical environment at the workplace should be healthy and safe. Therefore, it should b e free from hazards such as machine and electricity, musculoskeletal and chemical dangers. For that matter, these hazards should be regularly assessed in the organization to make sure that they are hazard free. In a physical environment that is characterized by prevalence of these hazards, occurrences of accidents become a common thing in the organization which in itself is counterproductive. Personal Health Practices Organizational management need to provide resources that relates to personal health of their employees. Every organization should be on the forefront to provide support to their employees in improvement of their personal health. For instance, organization should not be an inhibitor to employees in making lifestyle choices that are healthy to their well being. The employer should not in any way impose employees’ lifestyle choices. Therefore, the employer should help to eliminate these barriers to personal health by promoting flexible work practices to their workf orces. For instance, the organization can provide training on stress management, programs on smoking cessation, fitness club and flexi time working arrangement among others. All these approaches are geared towards promoting employees’ healthy being hence helping in solving of related problems such as ill health and accidents at the workplaces. Impact of globalization on human resource planning such as workplace counseling, ergonomics, alcohol and drug abuse and stress management Globalization has impacted differently on human resource management in the current times. The effects have therefore affected the way organizations undertake their human resource planning functions at the work place. In addition, it has also led to adverse effects on work place practices such as counseling, ergonomics, handling of issues such as alcohol and drug abuse and stress management. To begin with, globalization has resulted to transformation of traditional workforce composition to new arrangem ents. For instance, the traditional employment of human resource on permanent basis is quickly fading off as new forms of employment are being adopted on a widespread scale. Working arrangements such as outsourcing are becoming common practices in modern organization and globalization takes the center stage. In most organizations, their workforce is currently composed of the temporary, part time and freelance workers as opposed to the traditional permanent employment. Moreover, global outsourcing is also a practice that is currently being applied by most organization as it has even encroached into core functions of the organizations such as customer service. For that matter, it becomes practically impossible for the organization to partake practices such as workplace counseling, ergonomics, alcohol and drug abuse and stress management since most of these employees are considered to be seasonal. Therefore, it becomes difficult for the organization to adequately plan for seasonal empl oyees whose continued presence is not predicted. As a result, these human resource management practices are therefore left to be handled by other auxiliary players who may not provide the desired standards especially in the case of outsourcing. For that matter, work place counseling, ergonomics, alcohol and drug abuse and stress management are therefore mismanaged in the organization. In most cases, this impacts negatively to the well being of these employees in the organization. Practices that HR Professionals can employ to manage culturally diverse workforce through multi-culturalism Organizational performance is determined by several factors. Some of these factors include management of cultural diversity at the work place. In terms of human resource management practices, there are a wide variety of measures that human resource personnel can implement in order to promote cultural diversity in the organization. Nevertheless, multi culturalism at the work place can be promoted throu gh practices such as equal treatment of all employees irrespective of their cultural affiliations. Therefore, it means there should be no discrimination in the work place either by the management or by employees themselves. Treating of employees differently in the workplaces normally erodes morale while at the same time creating resentment. For that matter, it is important that preferential treatment of employees be discouraged. Moreover, the organization should put in place some efforts that help to break down insensitivities and stereotypes towards minority groups. Furthermore, organizations have become increasingly concerned with disparities that exist in the work places which are highly attributed to ethnicity, race and the socio-economic class that exist in our societies. Therefore, in relation to this, it is important for any organization to craft effective and efficient human resource approaches that aim to help in creating awareness amongst its employees against practices th at promote discrimination in the work place. For that matter, competent and proactive practices in a diversity awareness program need to be crafted and implemented in the organization. Moreover, various activities and roles of stakeholders around and within the organization need to take center stage in preaching against cultural discrimination (Mintzberg Quinn, 2003). Therefore, the diversity awareness system should prioritize the organizational cultural diversity in order to have culturally competent practices that address these disparities. Therefore, British Sugar which is the employer in this case should develop a blue print that seeks to address all forms of disparity in its business processes. Nevertheless, the blue print should have structures which intend to facilitate friendly working environment through allocation of friendly work schedules and equal treatment amongst its employees. Besides, the human resource management personnel must ensure that senior management is edu cated on the need of the program to ensure their full participation. This is important since their active input in the approaches can help to minimize cultural discrimination in the work place. For instance, they can help to implement recruitment using electronic means which is one of the ways disparity in recruitment can be minimized. Nonetheless, it is also imperative to involve senior management since any measures taken need financial support which they have the final word. Therefore, the activities should not be trivialized especially in relation to financial support (Tansley Newll, 2007). Conclusion Human resource management is perceived in different ways. Several literature hold that human resource work involves the technical and rational realities of management functions (planning, organizing, leading and controlling).For instance, according to Jenkins and Ambrosini (2002), the practice of management involves managing power and politics where by one has to exert power to oth ers or being subjected to it. However, it is always challenging for managers to balance power and politics since according to Johnson and Scholes (2008), the most taunting task for managers is managing how to manage. In this respect, one is said to be a manager when he or she is able to use and balance power and politics in the best manner of his or her management functions. For that matter, it is important to apply human resource management functions in providing flexibility in work processes in order create conducive working environment. For that matter, human resource management functions should be applied in the organization to bring forth management effectiveness in the human resource practices. Consequently, issues such as discrimination should be addressed using best human resource practices. In connection to this, it is imperative that organization should develop legislative framework that seeks to guard against forms of discrimination at the work place. In addition, organiz ational culture should also be reformed in order to accommodate sound human resource practices such as respect to cultural diversity. This paper has also covered performance appraisal of employees in the organization by looking at various key issues of this exercise. For instance, it has extensively covered the concept of succession planning within an organization where various related issues have been covered. Likewise, evaluation of teams within an organization has been extensively covered by looking at related elements. To wind up, it should be understood that human resource appraisal in the organization is basically applied to ensure that continuous improvement is attained. Therefore, the paper recommends that the top management of the company should incorporate this appraisal plan in the organization’s strategic plans in order to ensure that it is in line with the goals and objectives of the organization. Furthermore, flexibility in work processes should also be aligned to strategic plans in order to achieve effectiveness in business operations. References Jenkins, N. Ambrosini, V. (2002) Strategic Management: A Multi-Perspective Approach. Basingstoke, Palgrave. Johnson, G. Scholes, K. (2008) Exploring Corporate Strategy. 8th Ed. London, Prentice Hall. Luis, R., David, B. B. Robert, L. C. (2011) Managing human resources. USA: Prentice Hall. Lynch, R. (2006) Corporate Strategy. 4th Ed. London, Prentice Hall. Mintzberg, H. Quinn, J. (2003) Strategy Process and Cases. 4th Ed. London, Prentice Hall. Stephen, B. (2005) Managing human resources: Personnel management in transition. USA: Blackwell Publishing. Susan, E. J. Randall, S. S. (2000) Managing human resources: A partnership perspective. London: South-Western College Publishing. Tansley, C. Newll, S. (2007) A Knowledge based view of agenda formation in the development of human resource information systems. Management learning, 38(1), pp.95-119. This essay on Managing Human Resource was written and submitted by user Cedric Buchanan to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

The Colorful History of the St. Patricks Day Parade

The Colorful History of the St. Patrick's Day Parade The history of the St. Patricks Day parade began with modest gatherings in the streets of colonial America. And throughout the 19th century, large public celebrations to mark St. Patricks Day became potent political symbols. And while the legend of St. Patrick had ancient roots in Ireland, the modern notion of St. Patricks Day came into being in American cities in the 1800s. Over more than two centuries the tradition of the St. Patricks Day parade flourished in American cities. In the modern era the tradition continues and is essentially a permanent part of American life. Fast Facts: The St. Patrick's Day Parade The earliest St. Patricks Day parade in America was conducted by Irish soldiers serving in the British Army.In the early 1800s, the parades tended to be modest neighborhood events, with local residents marching to churches.As Irish immigration increased in America, the parades became large an raucous events, sometimes with dueling parades held on the same day.The famous New York City St. Patricks Day parade is massive yet traditional, with many thousands of marchers yet no floats or motorized vehicles. Roots of the Parade In Colonial America According to legend, the earliest celebration of the holiday in America took place in Boston in 1737, when colonists of Irish descent marked the event with a modest parade. According to a book on the history of St. Patricks Day published in 1902 by John Daniel Crimmins, a New York businessman, the Irish who gathered in Boston in 1737 formed the Charitable Irish Society. The organization comprised Irish merchants and tradesmen of Irish of the Protestant faith. The religious restriction was relaxed and Catholics began to join in the 1740s.   The Boston event is generally cited as the earliest celebration of St. Patricks Day in America. Yet historians as far back as a century ago would point out that a prominent Irish-born Roman Catholic, Thomas Dongan, had been governor of the Province of New York from 1683 to 1688. Given Dongans ties to his native Ireland, it has long been speculated that some observance of St. Patricks Day must have been held in colonial New York during that period. However, no written record of such events seems to have survived. Events from the 1700s are recorded more reliably, thanks to the introduction of newspapers in colonial America. And in the 1760s we can find substantial evidence of St. Patricks Day events in New York City. Organizations of Irish-born colonists would place notices in the citys newspapers announcing St. Patricks Day gatherings to be held at various taverns. On March 17, 1757, a celebration of St. Patricks Day was held at Fort William Henry, an outpost along the northern frontier of British North America. Many of the soldiers garrisoned at the fort were actually Irish. The French (who may have had their own Irish troops) suspected the British fort would be caught off-guard, and they staged an attack, which was repulsed, on St. Patricks Day. The British Army in New York Marked St. Patrick's Day In late March 1766, the New York Mercury reported that St. Patrick’s Day had been marked with the playing of â€Å"fifes and drums, which produced a very agreeable harmony.† Prior to the American Revolution, New York was generally garrisoned by British regiments, and it has been noted that usually one or two regiments had strong Irish contingents. Two British infantry regiments in particular, the 16th and 47th Regiments of Foot, were primarily Irish. And officers of those regiments formed an organization, the Society of the Friendly Brothers of St. Patrick, that held celebrations to mark March 17th. The observances generally consisted of both military men and civilians gathering to drink toasts, and participants would drink to the King, as well as to â€Å"the prosperity of Ireland.† Such celebrations were held at establishments including Hull’s Tavern and a tavern known as Bolton and Sigel’s. Post-Revolutionary St. Patrick's Day Celebrations During the Revolutionary War the celebrations of St. Patrick’s Day seem to have been muted. But with peace restored in a new nation, the celebrations resumed, but with a very different focus. Gone, of course, were the toasts to the health of the King. Beginning on March 17, 1784, the first St. Patrick’s Day after the British evacuated New York, the celebrations were held under the auspices of a new organization without Tory connections, the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick. The day was marked with music, no doubt again by fifes and drums, and a banquet was held at Cape’s Tavern in lower Manhattan. Huge Crowds Flocked to the St. Patrick's Day Parade Parades on St. Patrick’s Day continued throughout the early 1800s, and the early parades would often consist of processions marching from parish churches in the city to the original St. Patricks Cathedral on Mott Street. As the Irish population of New York swelled in the years of the Great Famine, the number of Irish organizations also increased. Reading old accounts of St. Patrick’s Day observances from the 1840s and early 1850s, it’s staggering to see how many organizations, all with their own civic and political orientation, were marking the day. The competition sometimes became heated, and in at least one year, 1858, there were actually two large and competing, St. Patricks Day parades in New York. In the early 1860s, the Ancient Order of Hibernians, an Irish immigrant group originally formed in the 1830s to combat nativism, began organizing one massive parade, which it still does to this day. The parades were not always without incident. In late March 1867, the New York newspapers were full of stories about violence that broke out at the parade in Manhattan, and also at a St. Patricks Day march in Brooklyn. Following that fiasco, the focus in following years was on making the parades and celebrations of St. Patricks Day a respectable reflection on the growing political influence of the Irish in New York. The St. Patrick's Day Parade Became a Mighty Political Symbol A lithograph of a St. Patricks Day parade in New York in the early 1870s shows a mass of people assembled in Union Square. Whats noteworthy is that the procession includes men costumed as gallowglasses, ancient soldiers of Ireland. They are marching before a wagon holding a bust of Daniel OConnell, the great 19th-century Irish political leader. The lithograph was published by Thomas Kelly (a competitor of Currier and Ives)  Ã¢â‚¬â€¹and was probably a popular item for sale. It indicates how the St. Patricks Day parade was becoming an annual symbol of Irish-American solidarity, complete with ​the  veneration of ancient Ireland as well as 19th century Irish nationalism. 1919 St. Patricks Day parade in New York City.   Getty Images The Modern St. Patrick's Day Parade Emerged In 1891 the Ancient Order of Hibernians adopted the familiar parade route, the march up Fifth Avenue, which it still follows today. And other practices, such as the banning of wagons and floats, also became standard. The parade as it exists today is essentially the same as it would have been in the 1890s, with many thousands of people marching, accompanied by bagpipe bands as well as brass bands. St. Patricks Day is also marked in other American cities, with large parades being staged in Boston, Chicago, Savannah, and elsewhere. And the concept of the St. Patricks Day parade has been exported back to Ireland: Dublin began its own St. Patricks Day festival in the mid-1990s, and its flashy parade, which is noted for large and colorful puppet-like characters, draws hundreds of thousands of spectators every March 17th.

Habits and Traits of Mites and Ticks

Habits and Traits of Mites and Ticks Not much love is lost on the mites and ticks of this world. Most people know little about them, other than the fact that some transmit diseases. The order name, Acari, derives from the Greek word Akari, meaning a small thing. They may be small, but mites and ticks have a big impact on our world. Characteristics Many mites and ticks are ectoparasites of other organisms, while some prey on other arthropods. Still, others feed on plants or decomposed organic matter like leaf litter. There are even gall-making mites. Take just a scoop of forest soil and examine it under a microscope, and you may find several hundred species of mites. Some are vectors of bacteria or other disease-causing organisms, making them a significant public health concern. Members of the order Acari are diverse, abundant, and sometimes economically important, though we know relatively little about them. Most mites and ticks have oval-shaped bodies, with two body regions (prosoma and opisthosoma) that may appear fused together. The Acari are indeed small, many measuring a mere millimeter long, even as adults. Ticks and mites go through four life cycle stages: egg, larva, nymph, and adult. Like all arachnids, they have 8 legs at maturity, but in the larval stage, most have just 6 legs. These tiny organisms often disperse by hitching rides on other, more mobile animals, a behavior known as phoresy. Habitat and Distribution Mites and ticks live just about everywhere on Earth, in both terrestrial and aquatic habitats. They live virtually everywhere that other animals live, including in nests and burrows, and are abundant in soil and leaf litter. Though over 48,000 species of mites and ticks have been described, the actual number of species in the order Acari may be many times that. Well over 5,000 species inhabit the U.S. and Canada alone. Groups and Suborders The order Acari is somewhat unusual, in that it is subdivided first into groups, and then again into suborders. Group Opilioacariformes - These mites look somewhat like small harvestmen in form, with long legs and leathery bodies. They live under debris or rocks and may be predaceous or omnivorous feeders. Group Parasitiformes - These are medium to large mites that lack abdominal segmentation. They breathe by virtue of paired ventrolateral spiracles. Most members of this group are parasitic. Suborders of the Parasitiformes:Suborder HolothryinaSuborder MesostigmataSuborder Ixodida - Ticks Group Acariformes - These small mites also lack abdominal segmentation. When spiracles are present, theyre located near the mouthparts. Suborders of the Acariformes:Suborder ProstigmataSuborder AstigmataSuborder Oribatida Sources Borror and DeLongs Introduction to the Study of Insects, 7th edition, by Charles A. Triplehorn and Norman F. Johnson.NWF Field Guide to Insects and Spiders of North America, by Arthur V. EvansLatin American Insects and Entomology, by Charles Leonard HogueIntroduction to the Acari, University of California Museum of Paleontology. Accessed February 26, 2013.Arachnida: Acari, class handouts from University of Minnesota Entomology Department. Accessed online February 26, 2013.Soil Arthropods, National Resources Conservation Service. Accessed February 26, 2013.

Report on the Religious Life of Planet Earth Assignment - 1

Report on the Religious Life of Planet Earth - Assignment Example Or, generally speaking, is planet earth a religious planet? The physical universe displays evidence of a mathematical precision and order. This order is based on universal laws that govern the physical phenomena in the whole universe designed by an intelligent supreme authority, the Creator of all things. He ideally designed every part of these thousands of systems that cooperate with each other to keep His living creatures alive. For countless millions of years, the gravitational force of the sun has held all the planets in stable orbits. However, considering the possibility of man’s ruining or destroying the Earth by his own folly, the universal order that governs the whole universe might as well be disturbed thereby affecting our lives from other planets. Sadly, the current Earth’s rising temperature may pose alarming threats to this universal order as it already damaged the Earth’s ozone layer, which causes climate change. Concurrent climate change has resulted in destructive extreme weather which includes droughts, heavy precipitation, heat waves and hurricanes worldwide. An article reports that â€Å"it is very possible that we could see more instances of ozone depletion in the coming year as greenhouse gases emissions continue, causing increased tropospheric heat and more stratospheric cooling† (Daniel & Byrd, 2011). According to human report, such catastrophes have taken place through excessive deforestation, uncontrolled pollution of the atmosphere and spoiling of the waterways. In fact, research of the University of East Anglia declares that â€Å"China’s groundwater irrigation system is responsible for polluting the atmosphere with more than 30 million tons of CO2 per year† (Saini, n.d.), making China the largest greenhouse gas emitter in the world. This is evidently one example of how human is ruining the Earth’s environment and ecosystem. But the big question is why do humans

Product Life Cycle and Consumer Loyalty Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Product Life Cycle and Consumer Loyalty - Essay Example There are four basic stages in a product's life cycle; introductory, growth, maturity, and decline. The Pantene Pro-V line, which has been around for many years, is in the mature stage of the product life cycle. As author Allan Reddy notes, the "underlying objective is to capture substantial market share in the introductory stage and harvest profits during maturity stage" (1994, p. 53). There are several ways that a company can develop customer loyalty while seeking to gain profits from a mature product. First, the company can enhance the features of its product so that it doesn't stay static. With Pantene Pro-V, Proctor and Gamble has developed a large number of variations targeting consumers who color their hair, or by focusing product innovation on specific segments of the market along demographic lines. A producer can also lower the price of the mature product since the initial marketing costs have been recovered and competition has likely increased. Further, the company can enha nce its distribution strategies through added incentives and intensifying its efforts in successful segments. Finally, the company can use a promotional emphasis to demonstrate their enhancements and recover market share by distinguishing these developments against the competition.

Collective empowerment Essay Example for Free

Collective empowerment Essay â€Å"To find out about my life. The truth. In the end. That’s all. † Nadine Gordimer’s 11th novel heroine, Vera Stark, takes over the hearts of literary critiques as she goes through the course of transition taking place in post-apartheid South Africa and in herself. â€Å"None to accompany me† is yet another Nadine Gordimer literary masterpiece that explores the dramatic effect of a country to an individual’s change on a personal level. The novel opens with Vera’s infidelity to her first husband; and as the story advances and she ages, she assesses her life and gains a new perspective on her relationship with her second husband, Bennett. Meanwhile, she tries to understand her daughter’s case on being a lesbian and why her husband pretends not to notice. Here, we see her struggle with her private feelings while engaged in civic issues where she had difficulty dealing with â€Å"relationships for which there was no preexisting formula of hostility or friendship, suspicion or trust. Note that the novel takes place in post-apartheid South Africa there’s been a radical change in social boundaries therefore, making it difficult to contend black interests. As Gordimer says, â€Å"When a railway line is abandoned, the tracks arent taken up. ; the railway referring to prejudiced white South Africans. Put in simpler terms, changing the law is one thing but changing the people’s attitude is another. Being a wife and a mother, a political activist and a lover, Stark’s sensible and sensual character reflects the author’s to some degree. Even her course of life takes resemblance to Gordimer’s: Vera Stark, a graduate of legal studies, becomes head of a Legal Institution established as a â€Å"reaction against the blackness of the black community, fights back the system with its own tricks. She will become the living example of how the collapse of an old regime allows us perhaps to abandon our old self. Maybe abandon an old personal life, too. Indeed, she will gradually see everything around her changing radically, and as consequences provoke other consequences, she will almost lose her life, after a murder attempt against her which will bring her face to face with the face of death, she will experience the fall of the frenzied racism monster as well as the transition towards a new regime with new supporters, ready like the others before them to be corrupted, the unjustified violence and the extreme poverty, she will revaluate her own existence, as a mother, as a companion and as a woman, she will watch her friends changing, she will be fascinated by the leader of the Black People and she will endure all these hardships with the stoicism of wisdom† (Nadine Gordimer on Vera Stark, â€Å"None to accompany me†); Likewise, Gordimer holds record for being a political activist throughout her lifetime and joined, as well as led, several organizations both legal and illegal that expressed her concerns on moral and r acial issues, especially the apartheid in South Africa. Meanwhile, the novel’s secondary characters put an intriguing twist to the story, somehow blending in whilst telling a story of their own: Veras second husband Bennet, a supposed sculptor downgraded to selling prestige luggage to provide for her; their son Ivan, a London banker, and their lesbian daughter, Annie, a South African doctor; Didymus and his wife Sibongile (Sally) Maqoma, Vera’s black friends who returned from exile after the apartheid; their lovely daughter Mpho, half-Zulu, half-Xhosa, whose been raised in London; Veras co-worker Oupa, former prisoner on Robber Island, who has big hopes and plans for South Africa; and Zeph Rapulana, one of the new black men with the skills and personal power to help makes such dreams come true. Gordimer’s portrayal of each minor character’s image was brief but delightfully vivid. Also, despite being the lead character in the novel, two lives are actually examined throughout besides Stark’s, thereâ€℠¢s Sally Maqona. After returning to South Africa from exile, she and her husband were received as heroes, for being part of the principal revolutionaries during the apartheid. However, an unexpected exchange in roles between the couple happened: Didymus, the male, was set aside the big picture for being a traditionalist whereas Sibongile, his wife, was selected to join high-profile politicians as she was regarded as one of the intellects and the most suitable to represent the new South Africa. Gordimer smoothly showed how these separate lives worked out how both women and their husbands are involved in taking down the apartheid system, and at the same time, how they handled more personal issues: a teen daughter’s pregnancy, the death of a co-worker, a son’s divorce, their own marital commitment, new employment and shifting friendships. All these are set in a growing complex political entity wherein each individual must somehow fit or adjust their identity. â€Å"Is there ever a really fair division of labour, as you call it, between couples? Vera’s daughter, Annie, asks her. Perhaps the answer to this question lies in the novel itself but then again, it’s uncertain will it be a yes or a no? Traditionally, so to speak, men take over positions dominating women. In this case however, one might find it amusing that it is the females holding the so-called ‘superior’ position instead of her husband, Sally is voted to preside over the board and even Vera has taken a seat amongst high-ranking officials. Moreover, I find it noteworthy to mention Vera’s alacritous acceptance of her daughter’s homosexuality at one part, she defends the merits of the male genitalia to her newly announced lesbian daughter. With such circumstances at hand, one wonders whether this novel was written to be intentionally inclined to feministic views or it’s just how it was meant to go. Nonetheless, this has nothing to do with Gordimer; in point of fact, she’s against sexism, racism, and the like as evident from her reactions in real life encounters. As to the novel’s setting, Gordimer’s ardent description of the South African post-apartheid is written in such a way as if meant to bring the reader inside the story itself. She highlights South Africa’s torment from racial discrimination and social division a glimpse of its ‘heterotopia’. Through Gordimer, one can not only see the narrative illustration presented but feel it, too, through the characters. It’s even more intense than reading a newspaper headliner, so to say. There’s no wonder Gordimer was able to come up with an excellent novel: she has ever since been a political activist in South Africa, expressing her thoughts through outstanding literary pieces concerning relevant issues facing the locals, and even being active in the anti-apartheid movement she joined the African National Congress during the days when it was still illegal. Her works dealt greatly with political issues, especially those of her own country, and love entwined with the lives of ordinary people. She’s won various awards through the decades including the 1991 Nobel Prize for Literature because her contribution is, in the words of Alfred Nobel, â€Å"of very great benefit to humanity†. All of her works are based from her own personal record, being one articulate witness of the contemporary world her country’s in, with a hinge of imagination reality and fiction combined. With â€Å"None to accompany me†, Nadine Gordimer certainly outdid herself this time a recollection of her previous notable works combined with a near-perfect replica of her own private life and personal beliefs on the inadequate development of her country: analphabetism and semi-alphabetism, poverty, racism, and the transition from the racist regime to the democratic state among others. Further additional concepts she used cover spatial control as a mark of repression and as an emphasis of political resistance, and a vague reference on South African urbanization. This particular flair of hers is quite remarkable, Gordimer is one of the few capable of delivering a composition where realpolitik meets the inner self it’s complex, intense, intriguing, and definitely fascinating. Regardless of recent reviews saying that her style of unfolding the narrative is more urgent compared to her earlier pieces, they commend her for keeping the ‘magic’ still. Her narrative form is unique to her she does it with sophistication and boldness; she writes what is there and she writes it with utmost comprehension and solemnity. Down to the last word, this read will leave you in awe. â€Å"It is not enough for someone to say that he is a writer. He must do what he can! †, so she says. The new South Africa that is evolving right now is coming to terms with the various repressions and discriminations it did in the past. South Africa is now freeing itself from the vestiges of apartheid and at the same time unmasking apartheid as it takes in different forms not only in society but in the hearts of its citizens. While apartheid is now officially denounced, there are still traces of it in many of its structures and apartheid still exists in the internal structures of culture and individual consciousness. One must be able to weed out apartheid inside one’s own heart even if the mind says you have already rid of it conceptually. There are practices and bad habits that are hard to break. Apartheid still exists in subliminal forms. The true affirmation and sense of self worth still needs to be developed. Collective empowerment still needs to be done on the structural level. This means poverty eradication, women empowerment, literacy programs, and economic programs that would provide labor and a genuine sense of self worth. In the area of economics, there should be access to opportunity and privilege not only for the white and the rich but also for the majority poor and the black. In the political level, the voice of the majority still needs to be heard and well represented. In the area of culture, there still needs to be a radical break from the past and a birth of a totally new culture that would define South Africa on a new level of its accomplishments and not its sins from the past.

Eaters of The Dead :: essays papers

Eaters of The Dead â€Å"Eaters of the Dead† by Michael Crichton is a fiction but with historical background. Through this piece Crichton hopes to express the way of life for the Vikings in the year 922 AD while at the same time creating an entertaining story. Using a manuscript written by Ibn-Fadlan Crichton pieced together a book filled with adventure and excitement. Michael Crichton was born in Chicago, 1942 and always knew he had a talent for writing. He attended Brown University and has since published many books such as â€Å"Jurassic Park†, â€Å"The Rising Sun†, â€Å"Disclosure†, and many more. Several of his books have been made into movies, for example, â€Å"Jurassic Park†, â€Å"The Lost World†, â€Å"Sphere†, â€Å"Congo†, and â€Å"Eaters of the Dead† is coming to theatres this summer starring Antonio Banderas. Michael Crichton is also the writer of the hit TV show â€Å"ER†. Ibn-Fadlan is a refined Arab courtier representing the powerful Caliph of Baghdad and the whole story line is based on his travels. He is a Muslim and is sent to the Bulgar land to instruct the king in the Islamic religion, acquaint the king with Islamic laws, and build a Mosque in the city. Little does Ibn-Fadlan know where his travels will lead him. Wyglif is the present chief of the Northmen (at the time) he has fallen ill and is believed to have no chance of recovery. Once he dies, shortly after becoming ill, Buliwyf is made the new leader. Buliwyf is a young noble chosen to be the Northmens new leader once Wyglif dies. He is a courageous warrior, very tall and strong, and skin, hair, and beard of pure white. Herger, one of the Northmen warriors, also became Ibn-Fadlan’s friend. He helped him to translate the words of the Northmen and also helped Ibn-Fadlan become accustomed to their way of life and how to act around the Northmen. â€Å"The Wendols† are characters in the story who, as told by Ibn-Fadlan, do not seem fully human. They ride on the back of a black horse and have the head of a bear. They are extremely fierce warriors and are quite vindictive. They give off a stench so strong it hurts to breathe because they consume human flesh and it is always on their breath. They come with the mist, a dark fog that encircles the land when the Wendols come.

Person Centred Care MDT Essay

This essay will discuss the concept of person centred care, why ser-vice users are at the centre of any decisions made. The importance of this when developing a plan of care to an individual with dementia within a community care setting with limited mobility. What the structure of the mutli disciplinary is when involved in delivering a package of care and how the different roles involved contribute to the positive outcomes Principles of care as stated by the Royal College of Nursing (2013) outlines guidelines what service users should expect from the nurs-ing profession, whether you are a nurse, health care assistant, community nurse, a service user, family member. You are given the information of what to expect when you are in contact with any of the services or who actually are providing a service. Within the community sector this is important as it gives carers a guideline on how to deliver the best possible care and how they should conduct themselves when dealing with vulnerable people. The Royal College of nursing (2013) outlines 8 principles of care they consist of; that all health care assistants, nurses treat all service users with dignity, respect, show understanding of the service users needs. To be non judgemental in the care being provided, whilst showing compassion and sensitivity. Read more:  Person Centred Care Essay All nurses and health care assistants take responsibility for their actions in the care they are providing whilst also being answerable for any action and decision that they take. To manage and assess risk to ensure the safety of the service user and others. To promote the care that is being given putting the service user at the centre of that care, whilst also involving any family members. To ensure that the service user is fully informed of any treatment, to enable them to make an informed choice. All health care assistant and nurses are in the front line for communicating any changes of the service user, recording such things, communicating with other members on the care being provided, whilst maintaining confidentiality. Have up to date knowledge and skills in order to deliver the highest possible level of care to everyone. Work closely with other profes-sionals to ensure that continuity of care is followed to have the best possible outcome for the service user and the staff team . To develop themselves, to encourage and highlight to other professionals the importance of updating knowledge and skills. Many people have different definitions on what Person centred care approaches mean to each individual profession and what their  roles involve when implementing person centred care. The Health Foun-dation 2014 suggests that more person centered care is needed, so that people are supported to make informed decisions about manag-ing their own health and care. In order for this to happen changes in behavior and mindset from patients and clinicians supported by a service that has patients at the heart of it. Policies and practice guidelines need to support patients and clinicians to take on new roles and relationships. Ford 2012 wrote an article on what the value of patient care is this was described as the 6 C’s which stand for care, compassion, com-petence, communication, courage and commitment. Brooker (2007) states that by providing a supportive environment for interaction, whilst taking into account that all human life is mainly grounded by relationships. Within the community environment People suffering from dementia requires and need a fulfilling social environment which enables them to have opportunities for growth within the environment that compensa tes for their impairments. Brooker focuses on the actual diagnosis and how best to help service user to maintain a social connection within a safe environment with the help of staff who understands their condition. Whilst the article that Ford had written expands the key points on how professionals should take into consideration and act when looking after people and communicating with them also. Tuchman’s theory (1965) suggests that in order for a positive outcome to happen then 4 stages of process would need to be worked through within a group situation. These stages are forming, storming, norming and performing. Person centred care was first used in relation to people with demen-tia by a Professor called Tim Kitwood who founded the Bradford de-mentia Group in the 1980’s. His aim was to steer away from the medical diagnosis of dementia and to help those living with the ill-ness to live and be treated as an individual. To acknowledge that these people did have a voice even though in the medical eyes they were slowly losing their own mind. He wrote about the Enriched Model (1997) which detailed opportunities to maximise the well being of a person suffering from dementia whilst enha ncing their daily living of the other elements that affect the person. For example people suffering from dementia have many challenges to deal with. They have the gradual memory loss but also lose the interaction with others, communication becomes repetitive and in the past, how to eat, drink, co ordination, coping with mood changes, general daily  living skills become more difficult to complete along with depression. Buijssen 2005 suggests that depression is a main factor with dementia due to lots of feelings of helplessness and anxiety which can cause the service user to have challenging out bursts. To enable a person to remain in their home safely and independently other people will be involved. This depends on how advanced the dementia is, otherwise the service user would be placed within a residential or nursing home. Maureen Guirdham (1995) suggests that by practising empathy when communicating with a service user, seeing things from their point of view and not just by a medical point of view can build a positive professional relationship. Some professionals at times use their position to influence a service user to see things from the professional point of view; this can cause a barrier to communication because the service user feels that they are not being treated as an individual. That the professional is using a form of blanket suggestion and solution to their problem. Having a common ground of understanding of what it is to be achieved. Initially within the early stages social workers, mental health nurses, general practitioners, speech and language therapists, mobility spe-cialists, and the NHS. Within a community setting district nurses, general practitioners, and at times the emergency services such as the mobile paramedics and ambulance crew are the main sources of the multi disciplinary team that as carers we would normally work alongside with. Jefferies & Chan 2004 describes how multi disciplinary teams work â€Å"the main mechanism to ensure truly holistic care for patients and a seamless service for patie nts throughout their disease trajectory and across the boundaries of primary, secondary and tertiary care.† Carrier & Kendall 1995 also describes how inter disciplinary teams work â€Å"implying a willingness to share and indeed give up exclusive claims to specialist knowledge and authority, if the needs of the client can be met more effectively by other professional groups.† Not all of these will be involved but people with dementia require different specialists at different times of the diagnosis. Almost everyone is registered with a general practitioner. It is the job of the general practitioners to offer high standards of care to all their patients regardless of their health needs. To establish a continuing and long term relationship, with all their patients including those who are vulnerable (Pritchard 2001). More and more General Practitioners (GP’s) are working  within an extended team of professionals who they can refer to for advice and guidance. General Practitioner’s are the first people who are approached when a family member are feared to have the onset of dementia. GP’s will refer the person to the mental health team to have an assessment to see if there are any concerns to have (Mental Health Act 2005). Once the assessment has been done and the diagnosis had been confirmed then a social worker with the relevant experi ence of mental health issues will be assigned to implement further care decisions. A social worker works with people who have been socially isolated or who are experiencing crisis mentally or physically. Their role is to provide support to enable service users to help themselves. They maintain professional relationships with service users, acting as guides, advocates. Social workers work in a variety of settings within a framework of relevant legislation and procedures, supporting individuals, families and groups within the community. Settings may include the service user’s home or schools, hospitals or the premises of other public sector and voluntary organizations. This could be introducing carers from an agency to help with daily living needs, preparing food (Roper et al 1996) Day centres can be arranged for the person to be able continue interactions with others, by still being around professionals who understands their needs and condition. Dementia tears layer away at a person at each stage of its progression, (Alzheimer’s Society 2014) The World Bank 2011 describes what empowerment means â€Å"Em-powerment is the process of increasing the capacity of individuals or groups to make choices and to transform those choices into desired outcomes. Central to this process is actions which both build individ-ual and collective assets, and improves the efficiency and fairness of the organisation and institutional context which govern the use of these assets.† Mental health nurses work with people suffering from various mental health conditions, they also work alongside their family and careers to offer help and support in dealing with their condition. There work involves helping the patient to recover from their illness or to come to terms with it in order to lead a positive and full life. The nurses may specialize in working with children or older people, or in a specific area such as eating disorders. Mental health nurses often work in multidisciplinary teams, liaising with psychiatrists, psychologists, occupational therapists, GPs, social workers and other health professionals.  As a registered mental health nurse (RMN), they may work with pa-tients in a variety of settings including their own homes, community healthcare centre’s, hospital outpatients departments or specialist units, or secure residential units. Even though each professional has a specific area or expertise communication is always a key factor to delivering the best support and care to a service user and their families. District nurses have a crucial role in the primary health care team by visiting people in their own homes. District nurses also delive r care and support for patients and their families. With the differences in roles bought together as one within meetings or communication the process of care is flawless but in the real world this does not always happen. The Health Foundation (2013) states that they â€Å"See patients as equal partners in planning, developing and assessing care, to make sure it is appropriate for their needs, putting families and patients at the heart of all decisions†. Egan’s (2010) three stage model the skilled helper explains how professionals can help service users to focus their situation. To be able to ask questions and step by step understand the process. The model helps to empower the person and help them to move toward managing their problems and living more effectively. The Egan’s model enables the user to map out what the issues are that require discussion. To explore all possible solutions and what would best benefit the service user. It enables the professionals to have respect, genuineness to the subject and empathy to the service user. If good active listening skills are re-membered then the outcome will be the best that can be given to the service user. Egan’s model however all stages do not always have to be considered they are adapted to the situation that requires re solving. Another element that is considered is the SMART aspect which stands for specific, measurable, achievable, the mutli disciplinary team this is where individual roles are separated in order to fulfil their part of the plan of care for a service user. The Department of health (2011) outlines specific guidelines when treating someone with Dementia. These guidelines just like the one that the Department of health released and updated in June 2011 are guidelines and are there to help protect vulnerable people. Working within the community I found I was working alongside more people suffering from early stages of dementia and having more insight into how dementia affects the person enabled me to have a better approach to deal with the care that  was being provided. 1000 lives plus 2012 that was written by Davies stated that â€Å"Seeing the patient’s illness as a continuum between treatment and rehabilitation leads naturally to partnership between organisations. Departments across health and social services co-operate to fulfil the patient’s needs, and the relevant providers need to be working together at all stages of care to properly anticipate the next step, particularly the return home after in-patient care† . This report emphasised that even though Esther arriving at a NHS hospital was ok and the staff where very polite and caring. The sys-tem still had failures especially when Esther had to wait five and a half hours to be seen and after being in contact with thirty six people professionals and repeatedly repeating information for someone who could not breath caused a lot of distressed. By establishing some of the professionals roles within the multi dis-ciplinary team and how government legislation and guidelines impact on how care is provided. In the community for someone who has dementia and other physical needs how efficient are the multi disciplinary team? Sometimes available equipment is based on budget from local councils, so as availability of professional bodies. A person I looked after in the community had a diagnosis of dementia. Visiting them daily sometimes four times a day assessing their needs and any changes daily was important to maintain their safety within their home. Any personal care, breakfast, dinner, tea and bed time all had to follow a strict routine. There came a time when this service user was falling a lot so with the reports given by carers to their head office it was decided the social worker should make a visit they managed to get some adaptations put in place. A wheel frame that could be used to carry things on as it had a tray at the top and at the bottom, the social worker also got a waist alarm, similar to the wrist or necklace type alarm that is linked to a call centre. So if this service user fell the belt would activate automatically because the sensor knew it had to be vertical not horizontal. Within the guidelines of the company policy and given the rights of the person to choose to stay at home, every safety measure to reduce risk was taken by all parties. The service user felt at ease with everyday tasks as before they where a problem. The simple things that we take for granted are the things that need to be taken into account for others. (Human rights Act 1998). Jeremy Hughes, Chief Executive at Alzheimer’s Society said: ‘Today’s announcement  shows that by entering your postcode you enter a lottery. Depending on where you live you may be more or less likely to get a timely diagnosis of dementia and access to the support you need. This is simply unacceptable. Wherever you live, you should be entitled to care and support when you have Alz-heimer’s disease or any form of dementia. It is a National Health Service. It is time to stop treating people with dementia as second class citizens.’ (2013) By introducing the appropriate training and having diagnosis’s being given earlier then people will this diagnosis may stop feeling that they are just being a pain to society and that they still have a function within society. The NHS Wales (2010) five year plan included guidelines to em-power the professionals on the front line for example clinical and non clinical staff to lead changes and deliver the highest possible care available. All these proposals of improving the NHS and the services attached to them is a positive sign for change but as we all know changes can only happen if the funding is available which predominantly involves the tax payers. Some changes that will happen will be making primary care trusts and strategic health authorities abolished and replacing them with one organisation such as the clinical commissioning groups. Who will over sea and involve local authorities in a bigger role to handle budgets. How effective these changes will be to improve the entire system will only be seen in a report that will be released sometime in 2015 as stated in the NHS (2010) five year plan. Main reasoning for continual reviews is to establish a better link to all professions to enable the protection of the vulnerable and to have the sufficient resources to enable action to be taken so that the negative cases that are reported do not happen again.

Hesitation of Managed Care to Use Data Mining Essay

One of the biggest hesitations would have to be cost to build an implement such a system. The technique depends on an organization having â€Å"clean† data to analyze, which requires data being scrubbed and moved to data warehouses. Many payers lack the money and manpower to build and maintain these warehouses. (Kongstvedt, P., Capagemini). In addition, internal politics and the numerous constituencies within a managed care organization can make it difficult to focus data mining efforts, says Scott Kozicki. What has changed in this industry to adopt data mining? The demand for more organizations to become more efficient, customers are demanding more and better services in shorter amounts of time. Another change would have to be HIPAA, which stands for Healthcare Information Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, it was a law that has many different facets to it one of which protects your private health information. The standards mandated by HIPAA have made the data â€Å"cleaner† and streamlines the analysis efforts. What complexities arise when data mining is used in health care organizations? One thing that makes data mining in health care organizations complex is just the same as what has helped get it going, HIPAA. Even though it has created standard rules for cleaning data, it requires that you encrypt information being transmitted over the internet, which adds costs to doing so. Some organizations only require it on certain transactions, but some want it done on every transaction. Doing this can increase the cost significantly causing it to raise the costs back up, making it not as feasible to use this practice. Assume you are an employer and that your managed care organization raises your rate based on the results of data mining and predictive modeling software. What are your opinions? What would help make up your mind in regards to adopting these rate changes? My opinion would vary depending on what type of data they were using and where they got the data from, was it from our employees or a group similar to ours. I would be okay with the rate change as long as they could prove they used data from my specific employees and they had significant data supporting their reasons for the increase in rates.

Open w1 Essay

Open w1 Essay Open w1 Essay We use cookies to make sure our websites work effectively and to improve your user experience. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with this. However, you can change your cookie settings at any time. More Info/Change Settings Continue Sign in Skills for OU Study Menu ↓ Skills Check 0 Preparing assignments Don't be daunted by the prospect of your assignment. There is no single correct way of planning how to write your assignment. However there are some common principles and if you work your way through the stages described below you'll be on the right track. Covered in this section Planning an organised approach to the writing process Deciding what to write about Keeping on track and answering the question Managing the writing process Improving further for the next time! 25 mins to complete this section Video (7) Audio (1) Activities (3) Try to plan ahead and allow plenty of time to read the assignment booklet and make sure that you understand the question. It might take longer than you expect to finish your first assignment but, like all study skills, it’ll get easier with practice. Start by think about how much effort you are able to put into writing your assignment. Not all students want to 'ace' every assignment ... sometimes just doing enough is fine. So, first, decide what you want to achieve and what is realistic for you to achieve. Organise a rough schedule for your work over the whole module and book time out for completing assignments. Identify potential contingency plans, find the assignments you could drop or do quickly if you had to. If you have a tutor, discuss together what you're hoping to achieve and what you want out of the module. Read the module assessment guide to find out "This year I was so busy at work, I just had time to do enough to pass the module." 1. what elements are involved in the assessment - for example, assignments, exam, computer-marked assignments 2. what flexibility exists - for example, some modules apply substitution or offer a choice of questions 3. what is required to pass the module - use the assessment calculator, available for most modules, to estimate your overall continuous assessment score at any stage prior to the release of module results, before substitution. If you have any queries, contact your nearest regional or national centre or the Assignment Records Office at Walton Hall. OU student, Michael, describes his initial approach to the task of assignment writing. Sign in to view this video converted by Web2PDFConvert.com OU students Lynn

Inventor Henry Blair and His Patents

Inventor Henry Blair and His Patents Henry Blair was the only inventor to be identified in the Patent Office records as a colored man. Blair was born in Montgomery County, Maryland around 1807. He received a patent on October 14, 1834, for a seed planter and a patent in 1836 for a cotton planter. Henry Blair was the second black inventor to receive a patent the first was Thomas Jennings who received a patent in 1821 for a dry cleaning process. Henry Blair signed his patents with an x because he could not write. Henry Blair died in 1860. The Research of Henry Baker What we know about early black inventors comes mostly from the work of Henry Baker. He was an assistant patent examiner at the U.S. Patent Office who was dedicated to uncovering and publicizing the contributions of Black inventors. Around 1900, the Patent Office conducted a survey to gather information about black inventors and their inventions. Letters were sent to patent attorneys, company presidents, newspaper editors, and prominent African Americans. Henry Baker recorded the replies and followed-up on leads. Baker’s research also provided the information used to select Black inventions exhibited at the Cotton Centennial in New Orleans, the World’s Fair in Chicago, and the Southern Exposition in Atlanta. By the time of his death, Henry Baker had compiled four massive volumes.