Analyzing Theories And Perspectives Of The Sanchez Family,...

This paper will attempt to thoughtfully and critically analyze theories and perspectives and apply them in assessing two members of the Sanchez family, Gloria and Emilia. Case studies adapted from www.routledgesw.com/cases. Gloria Sanchez Gloria lives nearby with her husband, Leo. Leo and Gloria have been together for so long that everyone thinks of him as part of the family. Gloria’s sister, Carmen (see below), visits Gloria often at her house. For some time, Carmen has been concerned because Leo hits Gloria, often in her presence. When this happens, Gloria will send Carmen home. When Carmen returns the next day, she often finds Gloria bruised and cut, and Leo in the house, as if nothing has happened. Since these episodes began, Gloria has come to her parents’ house less and less and has many excuses for not coming over. Carmen has spoken with Gloria about the need to get help, but Gloria believes that her relationship with Leo will get better when she stops making him mad. She has considered divorce, but believes that the Church would not allow it, and she knows that it would be hard on her parents if she defied the Church’s teachings. She is also afraid to call the police, even when Leo become s violent, because Leo is undocumented. In their community, local law enforcement often collaborate with the Department of Homeland Security, so Gloria is afraid that, if she called the police, Leo could end up in deportation proceedings. She wants the violence to stop, but she

Essay about Equal Employment Opportunity - 1004 Words

Introduction Equal employment opportunity (EEO) began when President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued Executive Order 8802 in 1941. Executive Order 8802 ensured that every American citizen was guaranteed equal employment opportunities in World War II defense contracts, regardless of race, creed, color, or national origin. Today, the EEO legislation has affected businesses. The topics discussed will be, how the organization, as well as the individual employee, has rights, the effect it has on the customers, how it can improve an organization’s public relations, how it can diversify the workforce, and the effect it has on Human Resources Management of an organization. Organization and Employee Rights A. Equal Pay Act of 1963 â€Å"To†¦show more content†¦With this act, employers are further protected from discrimination. Employees are allowed to sue employers to enforce the provisions of the act. Effects on Customers Equal employment opportunity affects the customers in various ways. If the employees working are satisfied and happy, the customer will see it when the employees help them. For example, a customer walks into Burger King to get something to eat, but the cashier is unhappy that a coworker is getting paid more than him for doing the same job and having the same time in the workforce, so the cashier takes it out on the customer. The customer will probably never return to the business again. If the employees work in a happy environment, they will provide better services. Improvement of Public Relations By applying EEO to an organization, the public relations will improve. In society, one of the main jobs is to keep good appearances. An organization wants to promote that everything in their company works perfectly and equally. By maintaining good appearances, the organization has a greater probability that other organizations will want to work with them. Also, it will attract the best workers because they will want to work for an organization that is fair.Show MoreRelatedEqual Employment Opportunity Essay1514 Words   |  7 Pages Throughout the years the United States has faced many challenges with equal employment opportunities for everyone. The United States has developed The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, also known as the EEOC, to enforce laws that help prevent everyone from being treated unfairly when it comes to employment options. The EEOC has established stipulations and overlooks all of the federal equal employment opportunity reg ulations, practices and policies (â€Å"Federal Laws Prohibiting Job DiscriminationRead MoreThe Equal Employment Opportunity Commission1454 Words   |  6 Pages THE EQUAL EMPLOYMENT 2 This paper is intended to shed light to the author on a Federal government website in lieu to its usefulness in human resource management. In this paper, the Federal government website of choice which will be critically analyzed is the The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) website. Some of the areas of interest in this report are the specific commercial, trade, legislative, regulatory or statistical information in the Equal Employment OpportunityRead MoreThe Equal Employment Opportunity Laws Essay1060 Words   |  5 PagesAs a Human Resource Manager, the understanding of the Equal Employment Opportunity laws are initially overwhelming, due to the amount of information dedicated to the subject. However, it is vitally important to comprehend and apply these laws to any organization, in order to avoid claims or litigation. Companies need to educate management to â€Å"take reasonable care to prevent and promptly correct discrimination and establish anti-discrimination policies† (SHRM, 2014). The EEOC is not out to getRead MoreThe Equal Employment Opportunity Commission1632 Words   |  7 Pages Discrimination has quickly become one of the top causes of lawsuits facing businesses today. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency responsible for enforcing anti-discrimination law, reported that individuals filed 88,778 discrimination charges in 2014 alone- 35% of th ose claiming race discrimination and 29.3% claiming gender discrimination (â€Å"Charge Statistics†). Discrimination is defined as the â€Å"treatment or consideration of, or making a distinctionRead MoreEqual Employment Opportunity And Hrm782 Words   |  4 Pagesunderstand equal employment opportunity and HRM, one can examine the reasonable accommodations employers must make in regards to religion and disability. In regards to such, some of the accommodations can be described, the agency responsible for such enforcement can be examined, and two specific private sector workplace examples of religious and disability accommodation can be noted. Through the examination of these concepts one can gain a better understanding of equal employment opportunity and HRMRead MoreThe Equal Employment Opportunities Commission2311 Words   |  10 PagesThe Equal Employment Opportunities Commission (EEOC) is in charge of implementing government laws such as Title VII of the Civil Rights A ct, 1964 and Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), which make it unlawful to oppress an occupation candidate or a worker in light of the individual s race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability or hereditary data. (US Equal Employment Opportunities Commission, 2015) The laws apply to a wide range of work circumstances, includingRead MoreEqual Employment Opportunity At The Institute1998 Words   |  8 PagesSECTION II –Diversity- Equal Employment Opportunity The Institute provides equal employment opportunities (EEO) in all our employment practices to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, gender, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, genetic information, marital status, military status, or any other category protected by federal, state, or local laws. This includes prohibiting unlawful discrimination against those associatedRead MoreEqual Employment Opportunity Commission852 Words   |  4 PagesEqual Employment Opportunity Commission 2/21/2015 Providing a place of employment has lead to numerous benefits for employers and employees. When having a diversity of people working for a company, different types of personalities intermingle with each other on a day – to – day basis. Even though having a diverse group of people coexist in the workforce can serve a huge benefit to the company, it can also lead to problems amongst coworkers. In order to make sure everyone is treated fairly, theRead MoreThe Equal Employment Opportunity Commission2153 Words   |  9 PagesThe Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is the federal agency charged with the enforcement of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964,1 the Americans with Disabilities Act,2 and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act.3 Five commissioners appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate govern the EEOC. Each commissioner serves a five-year term, and no more than three commissioners can be from the same political party.4 The President also appoints a General Counsel of the CommissionRead MoreEqual Employment Opportunity ( Eeo )1460 Words   |  6 PagesPhase 3 – Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Critical Thinking Questions: How will you ensure your company is an EEO Employer? As with our student population, we at the Northwestern Academy believe our teachers and faculty should be as talented as possible. This is the reason that qualifications are the primary consideration when considering potential applicants for our faculty. Race, religion, sex and gender will not be factors in who is hired. However, diversity not only brings advantages in

A Framework for Pursuing Diversity in the Work Place Free Essays

Case Analysis A Framework for Pursuing Diversity in the Work Place By Dr. Thomas Delong and Mr. Michael Brookshire Group Dynamics for Teams (HRDV 5560) Instructor: Dr. We will write a custom essay sample on A Framework for Pursuing Diversity in the Work Place or any similar topic only for you Order Now Innocent Nkwocha April 23, 2007 Team One Members: Alisha Carlton, Saundra Carr, Jeanna Dixon, Shereka Rhett, Sara Young Case Analysis A Framework for Pursuing Diversity in the Work Place Comprehend the Case Situation Mr. Thomas Delong and Mr. Michael Brookshire paper assesses the costs and benefits of pursuing diversity. They reviewed the primary barriers to creating diverse workplaces and propose options for companies’ interest in pursuing diversity in their organization.The fundamental reason for embracing diversity is the perspective on discrimination and diversity. Discrimination is an act or pattern of acts that affects the individual. Diversity is an attribute of an organization’s culture that has an impact on the entire organization. First of all, discrimination is easier to assess because discrimination laws seek only to determine whether an individual has been treated inequitably because of his or her demographic category. Diversity is a broader concept having to do with the overall climate of an organization and its composition of mixed constituents.It is important to note that discrimination in hiring generally precludes diversity, however, lack of diversity does not necessarily indicate discrimination. Identify the Problem/Formally State the Problem The federal law on discrimination has had legislative amendments since 1870 to the U. S. Constitution. Race was eliminated as a voting barrier (by the Fifteenth Amendment), gender in 1920 (Nineteenth Amendment), and class in 1964 with the prohibition of poll taxes (Twenty-Fourth Amendment). However the United States government did not officially outlaw discrimination in the workplace until the Civil Rights Act was passed in 1964.Since 1964, other laws were passed prohibiting overt discrimination. In 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed an executive order requiring federal contractors to use affirmative action for minority employees. Affirmative Action is defined as an active effort to improve the employment or educational opportunities of members of minority groups and women. Later moves extended affirmative action to federal and state agencies. The federal affirmative action law has had several battles in the legal arena since 1978 (Regents of the University of California v. Bakke).The most recent being the Supreme Court interpretation of the constitutionality of affirmative action in 2003 in cases on the University of Michigan undergraduate and law programs. With this ruling, the court interpreted affirmative action as a means to a positive end not only for minorities but also for the organization in question. The Supreme Court also asserts that a diverse population benefits all members of an organization in a way that a non-diverse population would not. This far reaching standard has significant implications for business leaders and for their organizations.The team agrees that conceptualizing the effects of diversity will involve a change process. With the organization realizing change as ongoing and change in any part of a system eventually will affect all of its parts. There is a need for new approaches to influence policy toward diversity with organizational structure and communication. Policy will need to be reviewed for diversity in training programs, hiring and promotion patterns, and identifying and removing obstacles which may impede the attainment of diversity goals and objectives of the organization.The three main business rationales for having a diversity program will be reviewed and presented in this case study as first steps in pursuing diversity in the workplace: a. attraction and retention of employees, b. customer and supplier relationships, and c. workgroup performance. The most prevalent issue identified and should be addressed first is attraction and retention of employees. One must keep in mind that for any diversity effort to succeed, a substantial diversity effort requires senior management support, a vested champion, and a long payback period. Generate AlternativesThe scope of this case study will be comprised of overriding themes that emerged from discussion with team members after reviewing Dr. Delong and Mr. Brookshire’s paper. The overriding themes that emerged from these discussions are attraction and retention of employees, customer and supplier relationships, and workgroup performance. Some obstacles that are associated with these overriding themes when pursuing diversity in companies’ efforts are gender, race/ethnicity, sexual orientation, age, and ability, and an accumulation of disadvantages. These obstacles have led to failure for some diversity programs.Their failures are attributed to explicit and implicit biases and barriers to change. Also, pursuing diversity can entail significant up-front implementation costs in time and effort. Commitment of senior management is needed to have a viable diversity program. Processes that produce outcomes for women and minorities are similar in some ways – and in other ways they are different. There are non-conscious hypotheses that entail expectations or stereotypes associated with members of a group that guide perceptions and behaviors that influence the judgments of group members as well as non-group members.Gender and race influences group members’ expectations about how they will be judged. There are stereotypes about different social groups that vary along two dimensions: ocompetence (e. g. , skillful, competent, confident, capable, efficient, and intelligent) owarmth (e. g. , friendly, well-intentioned, trustworthy, ware, goddgood-natured, and sincere) Research has shown that these stereotypes in social groups are widely culturally shared. Both men and women hold stereotypes about gender, both whites and people of color hold them about race, and people are often not aware of them.These stereotypes are applied more under circumstances of ambiguity (including lack of information), stress from competing tasks, time pressure, and lack of critical mass. Hidden bias can cause hidden barriers. The hidden barriers are the subtle, day-to-day, small, trivial, and/or isolated behaviors that have a cumulative effect which distorts the playing field, conferring advantage on some while disadvantaging others. These barriers can be erected by individuals, either intentionally or unintentionally.They can also result from skewed/unfair organizational practices and will undermine a system in which the talented are chosen and moved ahead on the basis of their achievement. Examples of hidden barriers: †¢Using assumptions or stereotypes to guide an organizationsorganization’s decisions and interactions. –We can’t put Cynthia on that project – what would happen if the client were to find out she’s a lesbian? †¢Hiring and firing based on comfort and familiarity rather than credentials and experience. –We’ve got to hire John; he’s perfect for the job. He went to school with my sister; she said he’s great. Evaluate Alternatives and Select One By any reasonable definition of diversity, there are twotoo few women and minorities at major organizations to achieve and maintain diversity in their workforce. The situation differs across fields and departments and the impact of diversity obstacles is greater for race and gender. Overt gender and race discrimination is now very rare, but it is still an issue. There has been considerable progress within the last 20-30 years, but it has been painfully slow, especially for women and African Americans.The playing field is still not level. Therefore, It is important to consider carefully differences between gender and race/ethnicity, and their combined effects (e. g. , for women of color). After extensive research for strategies to address pursuing diversity in the workplace several alternatives were discussed by the team. After a lengthy discussion, three alternatives were identified as critical for a successful diversity program: employee attraction and retention, ? , and ?. The first alternative formulated is employee attraction and retention.The team recommendations are to conduct a study of the experiences of individual people of color, and women within the workplace culture. There are growing numbers of women who have earned undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees. More and more of these well-qualified women have sought to pursue their calling in corporations and academic settings. It has been documented that gender and race biases influence group members’ expectations about how they are judged. These stereotypes are often widely culturally shared by both men and women, both.Both whites and people of color hold them about race, and. Most people are often not aware of them. They are applied more under circumstances of ambiguity (including lack of information), stress from competing tasks, and time pressure. These stereotypes can affect evaluations (evaluation of resumes, evaluation of job credentials, evaluation of minimum standards vs. ability, and letters of recommendation) concerning race and gender. It is important to note that gender and race problems result in biased evaluations for members of both groups.These biased evaluations have important consequences that accumulate over time. The National Academies (2006), Beyond Bias and Barriers, reported that, â€Å"Although scientists like to believe that they â€Å"choose the best† based on objective criteria, decisions are influenced by factors – including biases about race, sex, geographic location, and age – that have nothing to do with the quality of the person or work being evaluated. † In essence, these problems affect the careers of women and under-represented minorities.Companies seek excellence and diversity by retaining over 60% of the population, gain valuable contribution of the whole population, support diverse teams that produce better solutions, provide diverse experiences, and to be fair and equitable. The companies rea lize that by excluding women and male minorities, they are excluding the majority of people from their pool of applicants and employees. Diversity matters to companies because it opens up the environment for a wider range of people, skills, talents, and perspectives.More perspectives are taken into account in devising solutions to problems. When diversity is incorporated into the policies and procedures of an organization fewer things are taken for granted and more things are questioned. This strategy will address the under-representation of women and minorities with recruitment and retention. The company should begin this process with recruiting and retention strategies such as: †¢Recruit for diversity and excellence †¢Review search committee composition (Include people who are committed to diversity and excellence. †¢Job definition (Work with a single search committee for all positions, to allow opportunities for people with unusual backgrounds to emerge. ) †¢Advertisement (Consider advertising in venues that reach women and minorities (special subgroups of professional organizations, focused co nferences and workshops, etc. ) †¢Active recruiting (Ask employees who nominate candidates to identify other very strong candidates in the field, including women and minorities.Consider women and minorities who may currently be under-placed: those thriving at less well-ranked institutions. ) †¢Interviewing tips (Bring in more than one female and/or minority candidate: this disproportionately increases the likelihood that a woman and/or minority will be hired. Provide information about family-leave policies to all candidates. ) †¢Promote awareness of the issues (Encourage inclusion of women and minorities in the companies social life (lunches, conferences, etc. ) and decision-making of the departments) How to cite A Framework for Pursuing Diversity in the Work Place, Papers

Capital Position Of APN Outdoor Group †MyAssignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss about the Capital Position Of APN Outdoor Group. Answer: Introduction: Capital structure of a firm plays an important role to identify the financial position, stability and performance of the company. This report depict about the capital position of the company and the impact of the capital structure over the performance of the company in terms of profitability and debt equity ratio. For analyzing the capital structure in a better manner, it is important to analyze the capital structure of the company. Company overview: APN outdoor group is an advertising company which helps its clients to promote their products and services through various sources. This company is enhancing its business rapidly through promoting and launching new services which could attract more customers to manage the business. Capital structure of company: Capital structure of the company has been analyzed. The debt of the company is $ 133 million and the equity of the company is $ 269 million. This depict that the best and equity ratio of the company is around 1:2 which depict that the company is required to enhance the debt level to manage the performance and level of risk of the company and this could also help the company to reduce the level of cost (Morningstar, 2017). Capital Structure Price Debt 133 Equity 269 402 0.49442 WACC: WACC is weighted average cost of capital which depict about the total average cost of the company which happens when company raises the funds through various source to meet the future expectation and invest into new projects (Bello, 2005). Through the calculation over the WACC of the company, it has been analyzed that the debt cost of the company is 0.02631 and cost of equity is 0.0838. The cost of debt has been calculated to identify the total cost of the company and for calculating the equity cost of the company, CAPM model has been calculated. Calculation of WACC Price Cost Weight WACC Debt 133 0.02631579 0.330845771 0.008706468 Equity 269 0.0838 0.669154229 0.056075124 402 Kd 0.064781592 Calculation of cost of debt Outstanding debt 133 interest rate 5 Tax rate 0.3 Kd 0.0263 Calculation of CAPM RF 2.40% RM 7.00% Beta 1.3 Required rate of return 8.380% (Morningstar, 2017) Comparison of capital structure: For comparing the capital structure of the company, Amscreen group limiteds capital structure has been analyzed. The debt of the company is $ 3460 million and the equity of the company is $ 34984 million (Goetzmann Kumar, 2008). This depict that the best and equity ratio of the company is around 1:9 which depict that the company is required to enhance the debt level to manage the performance and level of risk of the company and this could also help the company to reduce the level of cost. Key financial ratio of APN: Further, various financial ratios of the company has been analyzed to identify the financial stability, performance and the position of the company, following are some of the key financial ratios of the company: Financial Data Description APN outdoor group 2016 2015 Revenue 330.00 300.00 Cost of goods sold 7.00 8.00 Gross profit 323.00 292.00 Operating profit 72.00 62.00 Net profit 48.00 41.00 Inventory 1.00 1.00 Current assets 94.00 85.00 Receivables 69.00 63.00 Current liabilities 50.00 45.00 Payables 2.00 2.00 Equity 269.00 248.00 Total liabilities 451.00 389.00 Total assets 451.00 389.00 Description Formula APN outdoor group 2016 2015 Profitability Net margin Net profit/revenues 14.55% 13.67% Return on equity Net profit/Equity 17.84% 16.53% Liquidity Current ratio Current assets/current liabilities 1.88 1.89 Quick Ratio Current assets-Inventory/current liabilities 1.86 1.87 Efficiency Receivables collection period Receivables/ Total sales*365 76.32 76.65 Payables collection period Payables/ Cost of sales*365 104.29 91.25 Asset turnover ratio Total sales/ Total assets 0.73 0.77 Solvency Debt to Equity Ratio Debt/ Equity 1.68 1.57 Debt to assets Debt/ Total assets 1.00 1.0 Changes into the capital structure: Through the capital structure ratio of the company and various key financial ratios of the company, it has been analyzed that company is required to manage the capital structure in such a manner that risk of the company could be reduced and the cost level of the company could also be reduced. Company is required to decrease the level of debt more according to the industry level so that the cost structure of the company could become more reliable. Through last 3 years data, it is suggested to the company to reduce the debt level (Magaloni, Diaz-Cayeros Estvez, 2007). Evaluation: Through the financial ratios of the company, it has been evaluated that the position of the company has became more stable from last 2 years. Currently the net profit and the dividend position of the company have been enhanced and through which the investors have attracted more to invest into this company (Guiso Jappelli, 2008). Cost of capital importance: Cost of capital is the total capital which is paid by the company to the shareholders and debt holders of the company in consideration of their amount. Company always look for reducing the level of cost and at the same time, the risk related to the funds also is reduced. This depicts that cost of capital of a firm plays an important role to identify the financial position, stability and performance of the company. Alternative capital structure: Lastly, the capital structure of the company has been analyzed and it has been found that the firm must enhance the level of equity and must reduce the level of debt to manage the performance and stability of the company. The debt equity ratio of the company must be 1:7. References: Morningstar. (2017). APN outdoor group limited. Retrieved from https://financials.morningstar.com/cash-flow/cf.html?t=APOregion=ausculture=en-US as on 28th Sept 2017. Bello, Z. Y. (2005). Socially responsible investing and portfolio diversification. Journal of Financial Research, 28(1), 41-57. Goetzmann, W. N., Kumar, A. (2008). Equity portfolio diversification. Review of Finance, 12(3), 433-463. Guiso, L., Jappelli, T. (2008). Financial literacy and portfolio diversification. Magaloni, B., Diaz-Cayeros, A., Estvez, F. (2007). Clientelism and portfolio diversification: a model of electoral investment with applications to Mexico. Patrons, clients, and policies: Patterns of democratic accountability and political competition, 182-205. Morningstar. (2017). Amscreen Group Limited. Retrieved from https://financials.morningstar.com/balance-sheet/bs.html?t=01299region=hkgculture=en-US as on 28th Sept 2017.

Cost and impact of employee absence Essay Example

Cost and impact of employee absence Essay Administrations are progressively recognizing the cost and impact of employee absence. Absence direction is besides progressively recognised as a nucleus component of a national docket to advance the wellness and good being of the UK work force. Effective absence direction is indispensable to place if an administration has a job with absence, its extent and how to undertake it. Administrations endeavoring to be an employer of pick must besides show that they value the part of employees and supply a work environment that motivates and supports staff. The purpose of this undertaking has been to reexamine advancement that has been made to better the wellness and good being of staff. Evidence has been heard from a broad scope of beginnings and Members have been encouraged by the important activity that has taken topographic point to turn to this issue and enterprises planned for the approaching twelvemonth. The Task Group feels strongly that a partnership attack is indispensable to construct on this success and that Members should go on to play an active function in heightening the wellness and health of the administration. We will write a custom essay sample on Cost and impact of employee absence specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Cost and impact of employee absence specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Cost and impact of employee absence specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer The place has 9 full-time Support Workers ( the director, 4 seniors and 4 support workers ) contracted 35hrs a hebdomad and 7 part-timers contracted 20 hour per hebdomad who are largely student giving a sum of 455 hours whereas the expected attention hours are ( 72hrs *7days ) 504 hour. The company has a pool of relief staff who can work in any place. Two seniors are on long term illness due to injury at work hence a deficit of 70hrs a hebdomad. Until late the place was allowed to utilize bureau up to a upper limit of 50 hours per hebdomad and this has been scrapped from Dec 06 ( kite Update 2006 ) and staff are encouraged to make overtime as the clients need regular staff that understand them and cognize their modus operandis. More work loads leads to stressed staff whose morale will be affected and this in bend affects their public presentation and absenteeism will increase taking to inefficient Quality of Care provided. Every displacement needs at least a staff who can give medicine, a driver and both male and female staff due to traverse -gender policy ( Care Practice Manual 2006 ) .When a cardinal staff phones sick without notice this will interrupt activities of the twenty-four hours.For one, if it was the lone female staff on responsibility a female screen must be kind and this disrupts the twenty-four hours s agenda. If it s the driver so client s out-of-door activities have either to be rearranged or a cab used depending on how of import it is and if there is adequate money. For a medicine giver this is important and staff off responsibility particularly the director has to come in or a senior from another Millbury place has to come in. In the place merely seniors are allowed to administrate medicine hence the regular staffs do nt experience sceptered and this affects morale and their committedness to the occupation. The company used to pay sick-pay but since April 2003 this was replaced by the Government Statutory Sick wage to deter people calling ill but this has non stopped people naming in ill. This shows that absenteeism may merely be a symptom of an implicit in job. The research worker will necessitate to interview staff and direction so as to happen out the root job as this affects the bringing of Quality Care. Soft System Methodology ( SSM ) : The behavior of human activity is soft since different people construe a job in rather different ways hence Absenteeism is viewed as a pluralist job. SSM Methodology is concerned with the inquiry why? Before traveling on to how? Brainstorming would be a good start where the research worker will move as adviser working within a system to seek and happen out the root job. SSM compares what happens in the real universe that is, daily human interactions A ; concern with abstracts derived from the existent universe to see how the discrepancy can be minimised. SSM uses Rich Pictures to capture information associating to the job including communicating flows, certification maintained and by utilizing sketch images one can show emotions, conflict/harmony between colleagues. It gives a holistic position of the job which will be utile in showing the job. Using the rich pictures one can develop Root definition which is reading of view-points of different people ( Pidd, 2003 ) . Lack of authorization may be the chief ground given by a support worker whereas increased work burden is the chief ground from a senior`s point of position. SSM is a good attack as it helps analyze the state of affairs and is action oriented through root definition but it represents how the researcher/consultant understands what is go oning and this may miss cogency as it may non be what the participants meant. The unfastened complete nature makes it impossible to pull off and it s non easy to state whether a SSM undertaking is a success or a failure. ( See Appendixes vi ten ) for graphical representation of seven phases of SSM. Cognitive Mapping A ; Strategic Option Development And Analysis ( SODA ) I: Cognitive Mapping is an interviewing technique that captures the person s perceptual experience about an issue and is present it in a diagrammatical method, which uses the individual s words to depict an experience ( Eden 1988, Wright 2004 ) . SODA I involves unifying of the single cognitive maps to one strategic map which is action oriented. The group aims to come up with concrete suggestions on how to bring forth committedness from persons. This is the purpose of SODA I, which seeks ways to do the squad commit to the joint actions despite any differences in perceptual experiences. Through unifying the maps the staffs are able to see others point of position which may be similar or different and the group can make up ones mind together how to travel about prioritizing issues and work outing the job. Hence function must predate treatment and determinations. A image can state more than a 1000 words ( Doumont 2002 ) hence it s easy to understand how different constructs are linked together and to set up the causal nexus. By affecting the participants when pulling the maps, quandary, feedback cringles and struggles can be distinguished.With the chaining of pointers and linkages it may assist one understand better how the ironss of statement tantrum in. Besides any misconceptions can be clarified and any missed out thoughts included. Maps let the reader to travel back and 4th between an apprehension of the whole and the analysis of parts therefore encourages holistic synthesis. The interviewees can formalize that you are describing what they really said and any misconceptions are clarified. Interviews utilizing cognitive maps help ease informations aggregation particularly in those jobs which involve messy and internal issues like hapless Management manner, personality clang between staff, hard clients or Rota system. The group would hold to hold on issues so as to develop causes of actions to undertake absenteeism as this is one of the premises of cognitive maps ( Pidd 2003 ) . Cognitive function therefore tries to work out jobs instead than seeking the right reply. This can assist the administration identify factors that can give them a competitory border. A job shared is a job half solved therefore people sharing their positions will assist them conveying out issues that possibly impacting their occupation public presentation so linguistic communication will be used as the basic currency of organizational job resolution ( Eden and Ackermann 1998 ) . Constructing A Model: Power-Interest Grid: The Power -Interest Grid categorises stakeholders in footings of power to act upon the Strategic Intent and Interest in the strategic activity of the organisation as shown below ; Power Interest Grid Support Workers Alliance ( Perceivers ) Line Manager Senior Support Workers Operationss Manager HR Manager ( Players ) Relief Staff Agency Staff ( Indifferent ) Care Standards Commission ( Mugwump ) Low POWER HIGH POWER Table 1 Players ( High power: High Interest ) : The line director harmonizing to ( Sickness Policy Manual 2004 ) has to guarantee high degree of attending of employees and has the power to exert action where an employee does non better on attending. Where a disciplinary action is needed the Operations director and HR director must be involved. The senior Support Workers are involved in determination devising on issues that affect the running of the place. Some of their functions can de delegated to back up workers hence the seniors powers can be reduced doing them Observers. Perceivers ( High Interest: Low Power ) : The support workers would hold a high involvement in guaranting that the clients get proper attention but they lack the power to alter issues that affect their on the job conditions. By authorising the staffs they can organize a alliance and move towards being participants therefore have a say in determination devising. Through cognitive mapping their single perceptual experiences will be taken into consideration. Indifferent ( Low Interest: Low Power ) : The alleviation staff and bureau staff are non employed straight by the place hence non involved in any strategic issues. Independent ( Low Interest: High Power ) The attention Standards Commission set out ordinances to steer the running of Care Homes and have the power to shut places if they fall below the criterions but have no interest in the single Homes. From the grid we see that it s the participants and the Perceivers that are of import stakeholders who can do strategic determinations to better the Home and undertake the job of Absenteeism. Cognitive Mapping A ; SODA I: The research worker will move as a facilitator and follow SODA I methodology where a group map will be derived from single maps. The facilitator interviewed the director, senior support workers and a support worker about the issue of absenteeism and how to undertake the job and how it impacted on the Quality of attention provided. Staff Individual Map ( See Appendix I ) The staff gave illness, household committednesss, conveyance, and Job dissatisfaction as the chief grounds for absenteeism and these had an consequence on the services they provided. Job dissatisfaction is a strategic issue and is caused by different factors runing from low wage, deficiency of authorization, no specific occupation functions and hapless direction pattern which seemed to be the root job. Sickness besides leads to absenteeism whether it s echt or non is non easy to set up. Proper preparation and showing how to utilize the equipments would help cut down hurt at work. Manager s Cognitive Map ( See Appendix two ) : The director said that supplying High Quality Care is the chief aim of the Company hence staff deficit due to difficulty in enlisting given the nature of the occupation is a strategic issue that needs turn toing. To pull new recruits the company needs to offer competitory wage and offer preparation and development so as to retain staff. Absenteeism was besides a strategic issue. Lack of occupation committedness from staff who are pupils, deficiency of squad work due to seniors taking advantage of others and no specified occupation function leads to moo morale and finally absenteeism. The Manager needs to maintain statistics of absenteeism and take appropriate action where necessary. Senior s Cognitive Map ( See Appendix three ) : The senior said that echt illness and sickies , hurt at work due to miss of appropriate equipment and developing contribute to Absenteeism. Deficit of seniors, deficiency of teamwork and deficiency of control on the Rota which is s altered by anybody encourages shifts cancellation. The director needs to take charge of the Rota and any alterations should be approved by him. Strategic /Group Map ( See Appendix four ) : The facilitator held a group meeting on the twenty-four hours there was a staff meeting so as to capture many of the staff and direction and they discussed the issue of absenteeism. The group agreed that the direction manner needed to be addressed as it was the bottom line of absenteeism. The senior s functions needed to be re-evaluated to give the other staff a opportunity. Team work will hike morale and promote committedness from all. Work burden will be every bit distributed hence minimise occupation emphasis. An absence monitoring system will assist director see tendencies of single staff which might assist convey out the root cause. Good attending should be rewarded on a regular basis every 6 months with hard currency or gift verifiers. To cut down hurt at work hazard appraisals should be done on all clients and processs written and accessible to all staff. Correct equipment and preparation should besides be implemented. There should be a No Lifting Policy so as to understate hurt. Restrictions Of The Model: Time Devouring it takes a batch of clip to make the maps and is labour devouring. It needs excess labor and labor is already short in organisation. Aggregating the person Maps some points were non easy to be brought out as they touched persons therefore the facilitator needs to be skilled and sensitive. How big or how elaborate the maps need to be: Diversity among maps and incompatibility within a individual map indicates complicated reading ( Lincoln 1985 cited in Huff 1990 ) Reducing all the informations collected was a job.It could hold been easier to utilize the vitamin E SODA II attack but the Home does non hold a computing machine and the package was non available. Deciding what facets of the single maps to include and which 1s to picture e.g. deficiency of conveyance was non brought out in the group treatment and may be excluded but its an of import factor. Lack of experience as a facilitator Most of employees are pupil and they do nt hold much experience. Interviewing the persons, composing their replies and pulling the maps utilizing their words was a hard undertaking and besides keeping Validity was non easy. The job composing the interviewees exact words may take to verbatim particularly where they keep reiterating themselves. As a facilitator one demand to pick this out and this requires skill and expertness. In the group treatment some staff felt uncomfortable to advert issues particularly those that mentioned the direction and seniors hence the information given is biased. In the group it s non easy to keep the hierarchical of links that were present in the single maps. If proceedingss are needed the non-linear representation makes it difficult to compose up conventionally textual proceedingss. Paper- Based Monitoring System: Co. aims to supply high criterion Quality Care to the client group in the market, Develop a high Quality Team and to advance a civilization that supports good communicating. From the group treatment certain action were recommended and the inquiry is how to guarantee they are implemented. Factors act uponing Absenteeism Change Management Practices: This is the root job where the senior staffs have been treated as superior to other staff. Most of them have been in the house for over 10 old ages therefore used to routine. They should be transferred to other houses as they will be immune to alter. This would make vacant functions which can be filled in by advancing the bing support workers who will be empowered, given duties and marks to accomplish. Monthly reappraisals should be done to look into advancement done by persons and the squad as a whole. Absence Monitoring System: The Manager should hold a monitoring system which records the Name, day of the month, twenty-four hours, ground for absence notice given for absence ( see appendix v ) as a sample. Here staff A has a inclination of call offing Saturdays though they give assorted grounds. This should be done on a monthly footing and sum-ups done to give a tendency. The director should keep informal interviews with the staff after he/she resumes work particularly those with forms like A to seek stop set up the grounds for their maybe they do nt wish working Saturdays. They could be offered other yearss or every other Saturday if it is mandatory. Frequent short term absences which include 15 on the job yearss absence in a rolled 12 month period or 4 separate periods of absence in a rolled 12 month period ( Millbury Sickness Procedure 2004 ) will take to a formal interview and finally disciplinary action if no betterment. Where the staff is on long term ill worst instance scenario is to retire them on medical evidences and seek to enroll new staff to make full in the vacancies. Injury At Work: To guarantee right equipments are used particularly the hoist a hazard appraisal should be done on how to manage the hoist and all staff should read and suspire after being showed how to utilize it. A No Lifting Policy should be adopted and anybody seen Manual Handling should be summoned.Mandatory preparation should be adopted and reviewed annually. Absenteeism And Its Consequence On Care: The clients require 24-7 attention hence its of import to hold a regular staff squad. There are Autistic clients who like modus operandi and if disrupted it makes so dying and disputing. When staffs cancels a displacement, screen might non be readily available doing the staff on responsibility work more and they will non hold adequate clip to give each client attending. This is non just on the client who might non understand why. The over worked staff will besides experience demoralized and this affects their public presentation. We can therefore conclude that Absenteeism is straight related to Quality of Care. Decision: From the findings we can reason that Absenteeism affects the Quality of attention given to the clients and is straight related to hapless direction practises. By affecting staff in determination devising this empowers them and they will be committed.

Biography of Josef Albers, Modern Artist and Influential Teacher

Biography of Josef Albers, Modern Artist and Influential Teacher Josef Albers (March 19, 1888 - March 25, 1976) was one of the most influential art educators of the 20th century in Europe and the United States. He used his own work as an artist to explore theories of color and design. His Homage to the Square series is one of the most extensive and influential ongoing projects undertaken by a prominent artist. Fast Facts: Josef Albers Occupation: Artist and EducatorBorn: March 19, 1888 in Bottrop, Westphalia, GermanyDied: March 25, 1976 in New Haven, ConnecticutSpouse: Anni (Fleischmann) AlbersSelected Works: Homage to the Square (1949-1976), Two Portals (1961), Wrestling (1977)Notable Quote: Abstraction is real, probably more real than nature. Early Life and Career Born into a German family of craftsmen, Josef Albers studied to become a schoolteacher. He taught in the Westphalian primary schools from 1908 to 1913 and then attended the Konigliche Kuntschule in Berlin from 1913 to 1915 to earn certification to teach art. From 1916 to 1919, Albers worked as a printmaker at the Kunstgewerbeschule, a vocational arts school in Essen, Germany. There, he received his first public commission to design stained-glass windows for a church in Essen. Grassimuseum Windows in Leipzig, Germany. Frank Vincentz / Wikimedia Commons / GNU Free Documentation License Bauhaus In 1920, Albers enrolled as a student at the famed Bauhaus art school, founded by Walter Gropius. He joined the teaching faculty in 1922 as a maker of stained glass. By 1925, Albers was promoted to full professor. In that year, the school moved to its most famous location in Dessau. With the move to a new location, Josef Albers began work on furniture design as well as stained glass. He taught at the school along with other prominent 20th-century artists such as Wassily Kandinsky and Paul Klee. He cooperated with Klee for many years on glass projects. Armchair designed by Josef Albers (1927). Tim Evanson / Wikimedia Commons / Creative Commons 2.0 While teaching at the Bauhaus, Albers met a student named Anni Fleischmann. They married in 1925 and remained together until Josef Albers death in 1976. Anni Albers became a prominent textile artist and printmaker in her own right. Black Mountain College In 1933, the Bauhaus closed due to pressure from the Nazi government in Germany. The artists and teachers who worked at the Bauhaus dispersed, many of them leaving the country. Josef and Anni Albers emigrated to the United States. Architect Philip Johnson, then curator at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, found a position for Josef Albers as head of the painting program at Black Mountain College, a new experimental art school opening in North Carolina. Josef Albers work at the PaceWildenstein Gallery, New York. Brad Barket / Getty Images Black Mountain College soon took on a very influential role in the development of 20th-century art in the United States. Among the students who studied with Josef Albers were Robert Rauschenberg and Cy Twombly. Albers also invited prominent working artists like Willem de Kooning to teach summer seminars. Josef Albers brought his theories and teaching methods from the Bauhaus to Black Mountain College, but he was also open to influence from the ideas of American progressive education philosopher John Dewey. In 1935 and 1936, Dewey spent extensive amounts of time at Black Mountain College as a resident and frequently appeared in Albers classes as a guest lecturer. While working at Black Mountain College, Albers continued to develop his own theories about art and education. He began what was called the Variant/Adobe series in 1947 that explored the visual effects created by subtle variations in color, shape, and position. Homage to the Square Blue Secret II (1963). Wikimedia Commons / Creative Commons 4.0 In 1949, Josef Albers left Black Mountain College to chair the Design Department at Yale University. There he began his best-known work as a painter. He started the series Homage to the Square in 1949. For more than 20 years, he explored the visual impact of nesting solid-colored squares in hundreds of paintings and prints. Albers based the entire series on a mathematical format that created the effect of overlapping squares nested within each other. It was Albers template for exploring the perception of adjacent colors and how flat shapes might appear to be advancing or receding in space. The project earned significant respect in the art world. In 1965, the Museum of Modern Art in New York City organized a traveling exhibition of Homage to the Square that visited multiple locations in South America, Mexico, and the United States. Josef Albers (American, b. Germany, 1888-1976). Scherbe ins Gitterbild (Glass Fragments in Grid Picture), ca. 1921. Glass, wire, and metal, in metal frame. Photo Tim Nighswander/Art Resource, NY. Â © 2009 The Josef and Anni Albers Foundation / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York In 1963, Josef Albers published his landmark book Interaction of Color. It was the most complete examination of color perception yet, and it had a massive impact on both art education and the work of practicing artists. It particularly influenced the development of Minimalism and Color Field Painting. Later Career Albers retired from Yale University in 1958 at age 70, but he continued to teach giving guest lectures at colleges and universities around the country. In the last 15 years of his life, Josef Albers designed and executed major architectural installations around the world. He created Two Portals in 1961 for the entry to the Time and Life building lobby in New York. Walter Gropius, Albers former colleague at the Bauhaus, commissioned him to design a mural named Manhattan that decorated the lobby of the Pan Am Building. Wrestling, a design of interlocking boxes, appeared on the facade of the Seidlers Mutual Life Center in Sydney, Australia in 1977. Wrestling (1977). Whitegost.ink / Wikimedia Commons / Creative Commons 4.0 Josef Albers continued working at his home in New Haven, Connecticut, until his death at age 88 in 1976. Legacy and Influence Josef Albers powerfully impacted the development of art in three different ways. First, he was an artist himself, and his explorations of color and shape laid the groundwork for generations of artists to come. He also presented disciplined shapes and designs to viewers with countless variations on a theme that had varying emotional and aesthetic impact. Second, Albers was one of the most gifted art educators of the 20th century. He was a key professor at the Bauhaus in Germany, one of the most influential architecture schools of all time. At Black Mountain College in the U.S., he trained a generation of modern artists and developed new techniques of teaching art putting the theories of John Dewey into practice. Third, his theories about color and the ways that it interacted in the perception of viewers influenced countless artists around the world. The art worlds appreciation for the work and theories of Josef Albers became evident when he was the subject of the first solo retrospective of a living artist at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City in 1971. Sources Darwent, Charles. Josef Albers: Life and Work. Thames and Hudson, 2018.Horowitz, Frederick A. and Brenda Danilowitz. Josef Albers: To Open Eyes: The Bauhaus, Black Mountain College, and Yale. Phaidon Press, 2006.

Supply Chain Management in Saudia Airlines Research Paper

Supply Chain Management in Saudia Airlines - Research Paper Example The low cost airlines have impacted the local sales of the leading airlines by a large margin. This is so because customers while traveling locally may prefer a low cost airline as the distance is less and they may not require any extra facilities or entertainment. However, these new entrants still lag behind in the development of an effective Supply Chain Management (SCM) system which is the source of competitive edge for the leading players of the industry. In the last few years, the organization structures of many airline companies have undergone drastic transformations to incorporate the challenges encountered during the tough economic times that have been prevailing since 2008. Since the aviation industry has become dynamic and competitive, every player in the market has to ensure that it meets the demands of its target market effectively (Bolstorff and Robert, 40). Innovation, design, quality of products and services are important areas of consideration for all organizations. In the airline industry, only those companies can survive that have a competitive edge in their SCM process and those which will ensure that they are providing premium quality services at competitive rates to their customers. Supply chain management strategies need to be effective and timely as any delays at any point of the supply chain would affect the performance and the quality level of the airlines to a large extent. Emirates Airline is among those companies that entered the market with the aim of becoming the leader in the aviation industry worldwide. It is among the top-ranked airlines available in the market which has been providing an excellent range of services to its customers ranging from leisure to business traveling packages. Emirates airlines are considered as one of the best airlines of the world and the entire management strives towards maintaining this image. Emirates Airline was the pioneer in introducing the

The Whole Truth Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Whole Truth - Essay Example The DA argued for retribution for the murder and the excessive harm and attempted murder on his client which was premeditated (Pohlman, 1999). The defense attorney Michael George was a young and seemingly inexperienced defense attorney even though he was aggressive and smart. George was brought up with serious values and he was afraid of failing. He therefore accepted the case and even though he knew the DA was going for a death penalty, he was afraid he would fail his client despite the crimes he had committed. He was afraid it would look bad on his career to fail this case and hence he decided to fight the defense not for the client but for his career. George argued about his client being provoked (Pohlman, 1999). The psychological examination carried out on the defendant indicated that Carr had a problem with lesbians because he suspected his mother was a lesbian and hence has an aversion towards the lesbians. I do not agree with this examination because it was an indication of hate towards his mother being projected towards innocent victims who has constitutional right to exercise their sexual preference. Carr had not shown any friendship with the two women from the moment he met the victim whom he killed. He had followed them from the initial place they shifted from and was carrying a rifle. This was even before he found them engaging in their sexual activity and hence the fact that they were lesbians does not hold much defense for his case. He was simply looking for a secluded place and convenient time as well as an excuse to kill them and the location of the shooting which was secluded was a clear indication of that (Pohlman, 1999). Discuss the criminal justice process as experienced by Stephen Carr and Claudia Brenner (e.g., beginning with the preliminary hearing through the trial verdict). Provide examples from the book when discussing the courtroom process.

Terror Tactics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Terror Tactics - Essay Example The Al-shaabab is a terrorist organization in Eastern Africa Region, Boko Haram in West Africa, Palestinian Islamic Jihad in Palestine, Student Islamic Movement of India in India, and United Self-Defense Forces of Columbia among others. Countries that have experienced its effect fast-hand like United States, 2001 and Kenya, 1998 have progressive efforts in combating it using a series of tactics. Most terrorist organizations have a common ideology; to destroy U.S.A’s allies, United Nations’ activities against terror groups, and structures of global order. Not even a powerful state like USA can fight terrorism alone because such groups have established networks and have easy access to money across international borders. The best tactic applied by USA in conjunction with United Nations is the use of the 4D strategy (Defeat, Deny, Diminish and Defend). Nations fighting terrorism aim at defeating terrorism through direct and indirect use of economic, diplomatic, information, intelligence, financial, and military among other tools. Research findings published in Terrorism Research Initiative (Rineheart, 2010) reveal that the 4D strategy, at times referred to as the Counterinsurgency Theory has helped counter terror activities by simultaneously applying the 4D strategy elements. The outcome has led to disorientation of terror organizations by limiting and eliminating their sources of finance, reducing their scope and capabilities from global threats to state criminal domains. Maxims of warfare (White, 2012) demand that every participant to know and mark terrorists and their sympathizers as enemies. Through combined efforts, it will be possible for their unlawful and inhuman activities to be restrained within controllable limits. Therefore, both local and international security agencies must work tirelessly to ensure terror activities, plans, and their locations are known before the worse happens. Rineheart Jason. (2010). Counterterrorism and

Advantages And Disadvantages Of Diversification In Agriculture Environmental Sciences Essay

Advantages And Disadvantages Of Diversification In Agriculture Environmental Sciences Essay Agriculture is the pre-dominant economic line of work of the rural communities in India, and plays a vital role in the socio-economic development of these communities. India acquires its major share of production revenues from the rural / agricultural sector of the economy. The agriculture sector in India is enormously significant in spite of its declining share in GDP. Sectoral shifts occurred as a result of the industrialization which had raised the Services sector shares in GDP during the 1990s, where as Agriculture, which had a major share in GDP in the 1950s, contributed only 22.5 % by the end of March 2004 (Economic Survey, GOl, 2003-04). Thus came up a pressing need for a paradigm shift in the governments agricultural policy to address the problems faced in the agricultural sector in the new domestic and global economic environment and avenues to enhance the income of the farmers. The possible solution for meliorating the agro sector is Diversification. This study traces the d efinition of diversification, area expansion problems, immediate needs, and its future prospects. Diversification can also involve a shift of resources from one crop (or livestock) to a larger mix of crops and livestock, keeping in view the varying nature of risks and expected returns from each crop/livestock activity, and adjusting in such a way that it leads to optimum portfolio of income (Joshi, et al, 2003). It is a way of a gradual movement from subsistence staple food crops towards diversified market-oriented crops which have a larger potential for land returns. DOA being a strategy would open up opportunities, to a large extent, for value addition in agriculture and will also lead to better crop planning and improve the earning opportunities in the farm community. In India, Andhra Pradesh has been proactive in taking up agricultural diversification as a strategy to accelerate the growth of agriculture. Crop Diversification Crop diversification takes into account the economic returns from different value-added crops. It also implies the effective use of environmental as well as human resources to grow a mix of crops with complementary marketing opportunities, and it entails shifting of resources from low value crops to high value crops. Due to globalization, crop diversification in agriculture is also a means to increase the total crop productivity in terms of quality, monetary and quantity value under specific, diverse agro-climatic situations all over the world. There are two approaches to crop diversification in agriculture. Horizontal diversification the primary approach to crop diversification used in production agriculture. In this approach, diversification normally takes place through crop intensification which means adding new high-value crops to existing cropping systems as a way of improving the overall productivity of a particular farm or a regions farming economy as a whole. Vertical diversification approach in which value is added to the products by farmers through various methods such as processing, regional branding, packaging, merchandising, or other efforts to enhance the product. Opportunities for crop diversification normally vary depending upon the risk, opportunity and the feasibility of proposed changes within a socio-economic and agro-economic context. Crop diversification may occur as a result of government policies. The Technology Mission on Oilseeds, Spices Development Board, and Coconut Development Board etc is some examples where the Indian government created policies to thrust changes upon farmers and the food supply chain at large as a way of promoting crop diversity. Crop diversification is the outcome of several interactive effects of many factors: Environmental factors which includes irrigation, rainfall, and temperature and soil fertility. Price-related factors which includes output and input prices with respect to national and international trade policies and other economic policies that affect the prices either directly or indirectly. Technology-related factors which includes seeds, fertilizers and water technologies, but also those related to marketing, harvest, storage, agro-processing, distribution, logistics, etc. Household-related factors which includes regional food traditions, fodder and fuel as well as the labor and investment capacity of farm people and their communities. Institutional and Infrastructure-related factors which includes farm size, location and tenancy arrangements, research, in-field technical support, marketing systems and government regulating policies, etc. All these five factors are interrelated. Area expansion problems under rice and wheat crops Scaling up production area poses several new problems of significance such as: 1. Excessive use of groundwater leading to poor water use efficiency and depletion of groundwater. 2. Deterioration of soil health or soil fertility. 3. Multiple infestations of weed flora, insect pests and diseases. 4. Indiscriminate use of energy such as chemical, electricity or disease, etc. 5. Reduction in the availability of other protective food and high value crops. 6. Pollution of agro-ecosystems. Despite the expansion problems, crop diversification has the potential to be an economic driver in agricultural regions. It may prove to become the paramount importance in meeting challenges that arise from a post-green revolution scenario. In view of shrinkage of agricultural land and operational holdings due to expansion of urban centers, changes in consumer food habits, exponential population growth rate, farmers are pressured to include or substitute additional crops in to the cropping system. Key Drivers Of Diversification The key drivers of diversification that are identified are : (1) Food Security; (2) Employment generation through creation of off-farm and non-farm investment opportunities within the capabilities of the resource-poor farmers; (3) Changes in crop patterns and farming systems; (4) More effective use of land and water resources; (5) Market access initiatives replacing risk aversion with risk acceptance; (6) Changing consumer demands irrespective of the nature of habitation and standards of living due to spread-effect of health consciousness caused by the visual media and non-discriminatory demand for quality goods, and (7) The role of urbanization in fast developing countries like India. Crop diversification can better tolerate the ups and downs in the market value of farm products and may ensure economic stability for farming families of the country. The adverse effects of aberrant weather, such as erratic and scanty rainfall and drought are very common in a vast area in agricultural production of the country. Incidence of flood in one part of the country and drought in the other part is a very frequent phenomenon in India. Under these aberrant weather situations, dependence on one or two major cereals (rice, wheat, etc.) is always risky. Hence, crop diversification through substitution of one crop or mixed cropping/inter-cropping may be a useful tool to mitigate problems associated with aberrant weather to some extent, especially in the arid and semi-arid drought-prone/dry land areas. Immediate Need In India, crop diversification in agriculture takes place vertically or horizontally, depending upon the market forces and also occasionally due to the domestic needs. With regards to use of land and water use and quality, there is an immediate need to consider the following factors (Aradhana , 2009): Farm produce processing into value added products will offer employment scope in non-farm works as in distillation of active ingredients from medicinal and aromatic plants (herbal products), scope of industrialization in agriculture for sugar, paper board manufacturing, etc. There is a need to find place-based approaches for diversifying the farming situations under various socio-economic conditions, infrastructure of market, domestic needs, supply of inputs, etc. The research and development on crop diversification is best done in a farmer-participatory mode where a multi-disciplinary team consisting of scientists will involve farmers from the project planning phase till arriving at conclusions and solutions. The concept of sustainable productivity for each land and water units through crop diversification needs to be fostered. There is critical need for promoting co-operatives in rural areas to solve micro-level and demographic problems. Strengthening food processing and other value-added industries in rural areas is a means to provide employment to rural youth. Alternate cropping systems and farm enterprise diversification are most important for environment protection. There are abundant opportunities in adopting the subsidiary occupations to the rice-wheat cropping systems present in India. They are vegetable farming, fruit cultivation, floriculture, medicinal and aromatic plants cultivation, mushroom farming, dairying, piggery, goatery, poultry and duckery, fishery or aquaculture, bee-keeping, to provide ample scope for diversification of rice-wheat cropping system in north-western and south India and north-eastern states. Farm enterprise diversification will generate more income opportunities and rural employment round the year. Conclusion Diversification in agriculture will have a tremendous impact on the agro-socio-economic areas and also in the uplifting of resource-inadequate farming communities. It will be able to generate income and employment opportunities for rural youth around the year for the utmost benefits of the Indian farmers. It shows the use of local resources in a bigger mix of diversified cropping systems and livestock, aquaculture and other non-farm sectors in the rural areas. As in the WTO era along with the globalization of markets, diversification in agriculture is an ace means to step up the total production and productivity with respect to quality, quantity and monetary benefits under diverse agro-climatic state of affairs in the country. There are still numerous opportunities for crop diversification present in both- irrigated and non-irrigated vast areas in the rural India.

Essays --

The First Crusade was a holy war that occurred in the year 1096 in Jerusalem. Jerusalem is important to three main religions: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In all of these religions, Jerusalem is considered a Holy Place. To Jews, it is the site of the original temple of God built by King Solomon. To Christians, it was where Christ was crucified and rose again. To Muslims, it was where they believe Muhammad ascended to Heaven. The Turks, which had converted is Islam, began to deny the Christians access into the holy land. Since Jerusalem was and still is special to all of these religions, it brewed trouble between the Crusaders and the Muslims. The main leader of the First Crusade, also known as, the Pauper’s Crusade, was Pope Urban II. While preventing the Christians from going to the holy land, The Turks had also begun to attack Constantinople. The Emperor of Constantinople soon asked the Roman Catholic Church to aid them in their defense against Constantinople. After this, Pope Urban II saw that the Roman Catholic Church could gain more power if they helped ...

Causes of Road Accidents

Causes Of Road Accident †¢ The first major cause of road accidents in Ghana is poor driving skills. †¢ Drivers  talking on mobile phones while driving have caused several road accidents †¢ Gross indiscipline is the cause in most cases amongst Ghanaians. †¢ Most accidents are caused by broken down vehicles on our roads. †¢ It appears in Ghana there is a leeway for drivers to drive on worn/second hand tyres. †¢ The unworthiness of some cars on our roads also invariably leads to road accidents. Over-loading of vehicles beyond their expected gross weights is a known cause of accidents. †¢ Fatigue driving is a known cause of road accidents by long-distance drivers. †¢ 10% of road accidents in Ghana are caused by drunk driving . †¢ Over-speeding constitutes about 50% of road accidents in the country. †¢ The poor nature of some of our roads has also often been cited as a cause for some vehicular accidents in the country. †¢ Disregard for traffic regulations by most drivers also leads to accidents on our roads. Non-existent road markings and signs. Road Safety Caustion Causes of Road Accident Fatality Rate in Road Accident Other News 300 road safety trainee's pass out RSMSL makes strides in road safety Road Safety Management Services train tow truck drivers Road Safety Management Services distributes new tow trucks Road Safety Management Services inaugurates board of directors Road Safety Assistants Support Police at Presidential Inauguration Road safety: A Shared ResponsibilityFriday, 29. Mar 2013 Road safety: A Shared Responsibility Road accidents mostly happen as result of recklessness, carelessness, overconfidence and illiteracy among others, exhibited by drivers, not respecting road safety regulations, jumping the red light, wrong overtaking especially on the highways, and in cities like Accra and Kumasi†¦. Read More More News  »

How to Close a Letter in American English

How to Close a Letter in American English How many times have you spent considerable thought and effort writing a letter, only to reach the closing and then wonder how you should end it? And does it really matter whether you choose sincerely or best or thanks to close out your message?While much of letter closing choices are based on personal style and attitude, there are slight differences in how different letter endings come across to the recipient of your writing. For this post, well discuss several common letter closings, more formally known as a valediction from the Latin vale dicere, which means to say farewell. We will also discuss the situations for which each are best used, the connotations each might bring, and how to choose which one fits your overall intent or is complimentary with the letter youve written.Sources weve usedKeep in mind that as with much of the advice youll read online, ours might differ from that of another source. However, since it is important in business or formal communication to follow best practices set by respected organizations, we have used two American authorities- Barrons Educational Series and American Management Association- as our primary sources.Closings for formal and business correspondenceYours truly,According to Barrons, this is a formal closing and AMACOM states that this should be used when there is no personal connection between writer and recipient. Another version of this youll see often is Very truly yours, which again denotes a lack of personal connection between the writer and recipient of the letter. Despite the seemingly intimate associations with this phrase, it is very commonly used in business communication as a formal closing, whether you know the recipient intimately or not.Respectfully yours,Barrons also lists this as a formal closing and AMACOM suggests that it should be used when the letter is sent to someone either with acknowledged authority or when great formality should be used. Again, as with Yours truly, this is a commonly used clo sing that connotes formality and can be used with formal business communication that is written to associates- whether they are typically on your contact list, or not.Sincerely (yours),Often shortened to just Sincerely, Barrons suggests that this is a less formal closing while AMACOM states that it should be used when there is both a personal and business relationship between the writer and recipient. In general, this is a commonly used closing in American business correspondence that covers both well-known associates and those who are not well known. It is also a great choice for letters such as cover letters for a job posting, introductory letters for academic admission, or complaint letters in which the sender wishes to close with a conciliatory yet polite tone.Cordially (yours),Often shortened to just Cordially, Barrons lists this as another less formal closing while AMACOM takes issue with Cordially yours, stating that it is often used but incorrect.So, in essence, consider thi s a great choice for closing business communication as long as the yours is not added. It works for both well-known acquaintances (in business) as well as recipients who are not regularly on your contact list. It is considered to be proper in both situations.Regards, Personal regards, Kindest regards,AMACOM doesnt list either of these choices in its preferred business letter closings, but Barrons lists them as potential personal closings. What this means is that if you plan to use them as business communication closings, or closings of letters written as cover letters or letters to admissions committees, they are acceptable yet slightly less formal than Sincerely or any of the versions of Sincerely (such as Sincerely yours,).This closing is an example of using your own attitude and personality to determine which closing to use in a letter.Best, Best regards,While not as formal as closings like sincerely, best is a polite, semi-formal letter ending that could work in both a business context and when writing to acquaintances or friends. It is a polite way to let your letters recipient know that you wish the best for them. Best regards makes the closing a bit more formal if you feel that Best is not quite formal enough for the situation.Thanks,While not overly formal or overly informal, Thanks is a closing that works well for business letters across the board- whether you are writing to someone not on your contact list, or to an acquaintance or peer within your organization. However, compared to how the other closings weve listed sound to the recipient, Thanks can fall a little flat or seem abrupt. To avoid this, choose Best regards or Sincerely.You should also hesitate to use Thanks if youve made a request in your letter, and rather choose Thanks for your time, since the former assumes that the request will be granted, and the task will be accepted. Again, as with all the letter closings we have mentioned in this article, choose the best considering the type of relationship you have with the recipient and how formal or informal you want the letter to be.Informal closingsYour friend,Obviously, this is not the best closing to choose for a formal business letter or cover letter. Your friend, should be reserved for letters written to friends, as the closing implies. Putting this closing at the end of a letter to someone who is not your close friend will seem overly informal and assumptive.Cheers,While Cheers, or Cheers! might be a light-hearted and casual way to end a letter in British English, for American English, make sure that you only use it for close friends or business associates that you know on a deeply personal basis. The primary reason for this is it is an expression used in relation to alcohol, or imbibing alcoholic drinks, so it can be interpreted as too informal by many American business associates unless you know them on an informal basis.With love,As with Your friend, ensure that any time you use this closing, you are only doin g so in a letter that is written to someone with whom you have an intimate and familiar relationship. Using this closing in a business letter or letter written to anyone else will be off-putting and potentially offensive to your reader. Therefore, ensure that you reserve this closing for only the most intimate recipient to avoid any confusion or misinterpretation.

Essential Element Facts in Chemistry

Essential Element Facts in Chemistry What Is an Element? A chemical element is  the simplest form of matter that cannot be broken down using any chemical means. Any substance made up of one type of atom is an example of that element. All atoms of an element contain the same number of protons. For example, helium is an element all helium atoms have 2 protons. Other examples of elements include hydrogen, oxygen, iron, and uranium. Here are some essential facts to know about elements: Essential Element Facts While every atom of an element has the same number of protons, the number of electrons and neutrons can vary. Changing the number of electrons forms ions, while changing the number of neutrons forms isotopes of an element.The same elements occur everywhere in the universe. Matter on Mars or in the Andromeda Galaxy consists of the same elements found on Earth.The elements were formed by nuclear reactions inside stars. Initially, scientists thought only 92 elements occurred in nature, but now we know many of the shorts of allotropes of carbon include diamond, graphite, buckminsterfullerene, and amorphous carbon. Although they all consists of carbon atoms, these allotropes have different properties from each other.Elements are listed in order of increasing atomic number (number of protons) on the periodic table. The periodic table arranged elements according to periodic properties or recurring trends in the characteristics of the elements. The only two liquid elements at room temperature and pressure are mercury and bromine.The periodic table lists 118 elements, but when this article was written (August 2015), the existence of only 114 of these elements had been verified. There are new elements yet to be discovered.Many elements occur naturally, but some are man-made or synthetic. The first man-made element was technetium.Over three-quarters of the known elements are metals. There are also a small number of nonmetals and elements with properties in between those of metals and nonmetals, known as metalloids or semimetals.The most common element in the universe is hydrogen. The second most abundant element is helium. Although helium is found throughout the universe, it is very rare on Earth because it does not form chemical compounds and its atoms are light enough to escape Earths gravity and bleed out into space. Your body contains more hydrogen atoms than atoms of any other element, but the most common element, by mass , is oxygen. Ancient man was exposed to several pure elements that occur in nature, including carbon, gold, and copper, but people did not recognize these substances as elements. The earliest elements were considered to be earth, air, fire, and water substances we now know consist of multiple elements.While some elements exist in pure form, most bond together with other elements to form compounds. In a chemical bond, atoms of one element share electrons with atoms of another element. If its a relatively equal sharing, the atoms have a covalent bond. If one atom basically donates electrons to an atom of another element, the atoms have an ionic bond. Organization of Elements in the Periodic Table The modern periodic table is similar to the periodic table developed by Mendeleev, but his table ordered elements by increasing atomic weight. The modern table lists the elements in order by increasing atomic number (not Mendeleevs fault, since he did not know about protons back then). Like Mendeleevs table, the modern table groups elements according to common properties. Element groups are the columns in the periodic table. They include alkali metals, alkaline earths, transition metals, basic metals, metalloids, halogens, and noble gases. The two rows of elements located below the main body of the periodic table are a special group of transition metals called the rare earth elements. The lanthanides are the elements in the top row of the rare earths. The actinides are elements in the bottom row.

Gay Marriage Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Gay Marriage - Essay Example 5). Using the example of Edith Windsor and Thea Spyer, a gay couple who had been together for over forty years, yet when Thea died, Edith was left with taxes that she would not have received had she married a man. This couple stands as the perfect example of how mistreated same-sex couples are, prompting the Supreme Court to hear their pleas for equality. The article comes to an end with a rundown of the various complications that may come as a result of the Supreme Court making a ruling on gay marriage, and the fact that the Supreme Court is limited in its power when it comes to state law. Mark Sherman and Dennis Junius’s article, â€Å"Obama Considers Weighing In on Gay Marriage Case† looks at the Obama administration’s decision to urge the Supreme Court to overturn California’s ban on gay marriage. President Obama made his stance clear since his first inauguration address that he support gay marriage and felt that gay couples should not be treated diffe rently under the law. President Obama stated that â€Å"his administration would do whatever it could to promote that principle† (Sherman & Junius par. 8). However, these beliefs were primarily personal, and Obama set little in motion for taking the issue to a legal level. Sherman and Junius also point out the many limitations that the Supreme Court has in making a ruling, as well as the other options that proponents of gay marriage have. The primary similarity between these two separate articles is that they focus on the ongoing battle to legalize gay marriage and allow same-sex couples to make use of the same rights that heterosexual couples receive upon marriage. Homosexuality has been a taboo topic up until a decade ago, and it continues to become more known, and the argument strengthened, as proponents speak up for the rights they believe that everyone deserves, regardless of who they love. In Bravin’s article, we see the steps that have been taken by the gay comm unity and those that support the gay community to get their voices heard by powers that have the abilities to overturn bans against gay marriage. In Sherman and Junius’s article, the debate has moved beyond what is expected of the Supreme Court and, instead, looks to how our current president can help the cause. The two articles both provide background and methods as to what is currently taking place in this fight for equality. Another startling similarity is how the two articles focus mainly on the proponents for gay marriage and spend very little time looking at those that are opposed to accepting same-sex couples as legally married. While bias is not necessarily present in either article, all of the authors seem more concerned with a positive fate for same-sex couples and gay marriage supporters. This concern is seen in how the authors, along with providing background into the debates, also offer up additional routes that same-sex couples can take depending on the ruling o f the Supreme Court. As a result, it becomes clear that same-sex couples have many avenues to continue their fight, though there seems to be a collective hope that the Supreme Court will find sympathy with those that desire equality with their partners. A major difference found between the two articles is that the perception on the debate of same-sex marriage shifts from a select few homosexual couples and the Supreme Court, in Bravin’s article, to a much larger public audience, including many people who

Human Resources and Performance Management via Reward Systems Essay

Human Resources and Performance Management via Reward Systems - Essay Example The paper tells that in a business environment that has become increasingly globalized with a wide array of customer services demands and fierce competition between markets, organization performance and productivity has become the central focus of many organizations. Thus the objectives of the modern business organization are inevitably to improve performance with a view to remaining and or becoming competitive. In order to remain or become competitive, organizations are persistently seeking ways to enhance performance. This report intends to demonstrate how performance management via a rewards system can enhance organizational performance. It is first necessary to establish how a performance management can be structured so as to include a rewards system. Thus three of the main components of performance management systems will be evaluated. Ideally, a performance management system begins with performance planning, and branches off into performance appraisal/reviewing followed by feed back/counseling and performance facilitation which is in turn followed by rewarding, performance improvement plans, and potential appraisal. Together these components of performance management systems signify an organization driven by high performance systems if managed effectively and efficiently. Thus activities, practices and policies of any performance management system must be comprised of each of these components. ... Three major components of performance management systems will be evaluated. This will be followed by an evaluation of the link between motivation and performance management. The final part of this report sets out a description and evaluation of a total rewards system linked to performance management. Performance Management Systems In a business environment that has become increasingly globalized with a wide array of customer services demands and fierce competition between markets, organization performance and productivity has become the central focus of many organizations (Becker & Gerhart, 1996). Thus the objectives of the modern business organization are inevitably to improve performance with a view to remaining and or becoming competitive. In order to remain or become competitive, organizations are persistently seeking ways to enhance performance (Becker & Gerhart, 1996). This report intends to demonstrate how performance management via a rewards system can enhance organizational performance. It is first necessary to establish how a performance management can be structured so as to include a rewards system. Thus three of the main components of performance management systems will be evaluated. Ideally, a performance management system begins with performance planning, and branches off into performance appraisal/reviewing followed by feedback/counseling and performance facilitation which is in turn followed by rewarding, performance improvement plans, and potential appraisal (Armstrong, 2005). Together these components of performance management systems signify an organization driven by high performance systems if managed

Puerto Rico Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Puerto Rico - Essay Example Through my research, I gained information on some places around the world which tourists categorize to be the most breathtaking amazing sites. My academic course incorporates the subject of tourism; the event enriched my understanding of Puerto Rico as a tourist location. The event is also related to my academic course in the sense that, it has served as a learning resource to me. This event, relates to the holidays we are currently having, in that, it will be a destination site during the holiday. Watching the event is more like watching Puerto Rico being advertised as a tourist destination site. This program relates to both international and global issue since people all around the world are interested with phenomenal tourist site such as Puerto Rico. Since the program acts like an advertisement tool, it influences global tourism (Dietz 87). Watching the event, made me remember, the first experience I had when I was touring the Caribbean Islands. I reminisced over the thrilling feelings I had some years back when I walked on white sandy beaches for the first time. In particular, I appreciate the fact that I got first hand and detailed information on Puerto Rico. The program, showed spectacular features on the landscape, such as different kinds of coral reefs, which I had never come through when researching on tourist sites. Through the program, I gained more knowledge on Puerto Rico’s history. The information on the landscape made me appreciate and understand some geography, because it talked of how the various physical features on the island came to be formed. (Dietz

Tess of the Duber’villes Essay Example for Free

Tess of the Duber’villes Essay Tess of the Duber’villes is a novel written by Thomas Hardy. The main contrast between the character of Angel and Alec is that in the novel the character of Angel is presented as a protagonist while the character of Alec is shown as an antagonist. Both the characters have many contrasting features and different personalities. The difference of the personalities is visible from the appearance as well. hen Thomas hardy gives an account of physical appearance of Alec he is shown as a man with swarthy complexion, full lips, curled moustaches and a look of barbarism in his contours while Angel is shown as a man who seems like a gentleman, handsome and soft spoken, fixed abstracted eyes, from his appearance he is shown as a man who has no care for material wealth. Besides the appearance Alec is a man with no morals or values which is apparent from the fact that he was impersonating, he wasn’t a d’Urbervilles by blood he had taken up Tess’s family name for the reason of nobility. In contrast to this Angel was a true gentleman he belonged to religious family his father was a parson at a church and they were respectable people. The obsessions of both the men for Tess was also very contrasting the emotions of Alec were based on lust while Angel truly loved Tess. Alec was the reason of Tess’s misery and despair he was the responsible for all her problems and sorrows while Angel was the sole reason of joy and happiness in her life, his mere presence was enough to comfort her and provide her a sense of security. Another star contrast between the two characters is Alec was the reason of Tess’s exploitation and depriving her off social status and respect while Angel married her and gave her respect and social status. Angel was a man of principles and kept his words while Alec was a man who like a rolling stone kept changing his position and his views which was evident in the novel when we see him as a convert preaching people and soon after finding Tess he gets off track and leaves all the preaching and all his religious claims. The behavior and treatment of both the men with Tess is also very contrasting Angel treats and talks to Tess with an element of love by calling her Tessy and dearest and shows concern, while Alec is often found taunting her and troubling her by flirting.

General Motors Human Resources and Management

General Motors Human Resources and Management This report presents an analysis of the mission statement of General Motors as well as its key business processes. It also illustrates how the key business processes integrate with the information systems and our suggestions and recommendations to those processes that would better suit General Motors. The report also identifies the environmental factors which affect the company in terms of political, economic, social, ecological and technological factors and the impact that these factors have had on General Motors and the strategic diversity the company has had to adopt to accommodate these changes. Finally the report explores ways on how new information systems can help General Motors create great efficiency by automating and streamlining parts of its business processes. The report concludes by incorporating our recommendations of appropriate information systems for each department within the company. Introduction General Motors is the worlds largest automaker with 386,000 employees in over 50 years. Despite this sheer size, its auto sales have declined from about 60 percent of the U.S. vehicle market in the 1970s to only 28.3 percent today. This decline is attributed to stiff competition from Ford, DaimlerChrysler and the Japanese all of whom enjoy lower production costs, have a reputation for cars with better styling and quality than General Motors. General Motors adoption of a vertically integrated corporation which at one time manufactured up to 70 percent of its parts, as a power source of competitive advantage, enabled the company to build cars at lower costs than its rivals. However, over time, these policies worked in favour of General Motors competitors who were then able to make motor vehicles at much lower costs because they could purchase their vehicle parts from outside vendors and also bargain on pricing. For the past 15 years, General Motors has struggled to overcome the above legacy, inefficient product processes and thousands of outdated information systems that could not communicate with each other. Although the company has now become much leaner and more efficient by shedding off tens of thousands of workers, closing dozens of plants and squeezing costs of motor vehicle parts by scouring the globe for the lowest prices much still needs to be done. It is our recommendation that General Motors use Internet and other leading-edge information systems technology to reconstruct its entire value chain, transforming itself into a customer-focused business that provides many different electronic services to consumers as well as motor vehicles. Mission Statement General Motors mission statement states that GM is a multinational corporation engaged in socially responsible operations, worldwide. It is dedicated to provide products and services of such quality that our customers will receive superior value while our employees and business partners will share in our success and our stock-holders will receive a sustained superior return on their investment. We analysed the above mission statement using Druckers five questions namely:- What is our business? Who is the customer? What is the value to the customer? What will our business be? What should our business be? We arrived at the conclusion that there was a need to modify General Motors mission statement since the above questions were not fully exhausted. The current mission statement does not indicate that GM is a producer of motor vehicle; neither does it take into consideration the Global Sullivan Principle. As a marketing tool, it does not mention that it is dedicated towards providing products and services to customers who are targeted in 200 different countries. Our recommended General Motors mission statement should read as follows: GM is a multinational producer of motor vehicles engaged in socially responsible operations worldwide and committed to achieve the best in every facet of our business. Under the aspects of Global Sullivan Principles, GM is dedicated to provide products and services of such quality that our customers who are targeted in 200 different countries will receive superior value while our employees and business partners will share in our success and our stock-holders will receive a sustained superior return on their investment. Key Business Processes Key business process is defined as the execution of a series of activities that work together to produce a well defined set of products and services which leads to the achievement of a measurable business result. They also represent unique ways in which organisations coordinate work, information, and knowledge, and the ways in which management chooses to coordinate work. Integration between Business Process and Information Systems Although each organisation has its own set of business processes, many other business processes are cross functional, transcending the boundaries between sales, marketing, manufacturing, research and development. These cross functional processes cut across the traditional organisation structure, grouping employees from different functional specialities to complete a piece of work. Information systems can help organisations achieve great efficiencies by automating parts of these processes or by helping organisations rethink and streamline these processes. By integrating these processes, organisations can become more focussed on efficient management of resources and customer services. Suggestions and recommendations of key business processes Functional Area Business Process Manufacturing and Production Assembling the product, checking for quality, producing bills of materials Sales and Marketing Identifying customers, making customers aware of the product, selling the product Finance and Accounting Paying creditors, creating financial statements, managing cash accounts Human Resources Hiring employees, evaluating employees job performance, enrolling employees in benefits plan External Environment There are three factors which had made General Motors in this situation. Firstly, the United States economy is not progressing cost their U.S. sales projections for 2008 have been too rosy. GM had been expecting more than 16 million vehicles, including trucks and buses, to be sold this year (Taylor III 2008). Secondly, intense competition from their global competitors such as Honda, Nissan, and Hyundai which had produce better fuel efficient engines, stylish at a much lower price compared to any GM brands. Thirdly, the worlds fuel price had increased to USD 120 per barrel in the market had made consumers not to purchase vehicle and using public transport or smaller vehicle. In the United States, consumers want to abandon their less-fuel-efficient vehicles for smaller cars, and thats illustrated by all sorts of trends, said David Tompkins, executive director of industry solutions for Edmunds.com, parent of Auto Observer (Buss 2008) (refer appendix 2). 1.0 Strategic Human Resource Management Theory 1.1 Balance Score Card Balance Score Card is a performance measurement indicator that can be used to measure the financial and non financial situation in General Motors. There are four parts; financial perspective, internal business perspective, customers perspective, learning and growth perspective. Balance Score Card is like your cars dash board where there is indicator on as you drive, you can look at the dashboard to obtain real-time information such as how fuel, speed and the distance youve traveled or even any faulty system etc. Its known to help companies and implement the changes required to meet their business goals (Pangakar Kirkwood, 2007). The balance score card enables the companies to develop a more comprehensive view of their operations and to better match all operating and investment activities to long- and short-term strategic objectives (Punniyamoorthy Murali, 2008). The loss of USD38.7 billion is a huge financial loss which in fact will affect the internal business process, the customer, and growth of GM. The huge loss was largely contributed from deferred tax charges and drop in sales. Currently, the organization financial perspective appears to the share holder is in a decline where GM shares fell nearly 5 percent, or USD1.67, to USD34.48 (Bunkley N. 2008). Thus to manage this losses, thousands of workers are laid off from duty. This will affect their internal business process and may lead to dissatisfied customers. For example, usually General Motors takes 1 week to deliver a car to a customer. When they decided to retrench workers they will lose their competitive advantage where now it takes 2 weeks to deliver a car. This will cause dissatisfaction to consumers because they have to wait an extra week to obtain their vehicle. In the end, the learning and growth perspective cant be achieved because the lack of resources will disable them to co mpete in the turbulent environment result to decline in sales. To ensure that General Motors can effectively achieve its balance score card in the future, they must handle their external environment issue concisely. They have to improve thru their internal process and learning and growth to overcome their competition issue. General Motors have to come out with new design and technology to increase the product line. Research and Development expenditure have to be spent so that they could create better vehicle then their competitors. How to create better vehicle than the competitors? This can be accomplished by purchasing the technology from their competitors or similar industry. For example Proton had acquire Lotus in the year 1996 had made them competitive at that point of time. When this happen, employees will have to be train thus it can increase the knowledge of the workers. In certain cases, workers will be sent oversea for such training to acquire technology. Workers will be more effective and consequently increase productivity in General M otors. Like a well oiled machine, every part in the organization performs best when all of them work towards a common goal. All of the four perspectives in the balances score card works hand in hand thru their substantial objectives, measures and initiatives. As mentioned above, to make sure that General Motors can make profit to cover the huge amount of losses they must increase productivity, more expenditure on research and development etc. In General Motors case, financial perspective is the key strategy for the other three perspectives. For General Motors, the learning perspective can work together with the sales department to train and coach the sales staff or even developing new efficient production, training equipment. To improve on the customer scorecard they could do research by surveys from their existing customers on how to improve customer relationships. Customer retention is important factor ignite buyers to increase sales. It ensures repeat purchase, increase positive word of mouth and reduce cost to find new customers. Balance Score Card will ensure human capital development, improving employee satisfaction and increasing employee motivation (Kaplan Norton, 1992) in General Motors. Link of each perspective in the Balance Score Card (BCS) High Performance Work System High performance work system (HPWS) is also another method to explain the situation in General Motors. Autonomous work teams, open systems and performance-based pay are known collectively as high-performance work systems (Rouse, 2000). HPWS have also come to be known as high involvement work systems, flexible work systems and high commitment work systems (Aghazadeh Seyedian, 2004) In other words, they are simply work practice that can be deliberately introduced in order to improved organizational performance The main focus of HPWS is organizing work so that the employees participate in decisions that affect the everyday operations of an organization. There are three potential factors that can affect high performance work system in General Motors; retrenchment of workers, technology used and layout design. A worker is the key success to any organization. Retrenchment will cause General Motors to lose talented workers subsequently lose competitive edge. To survive in the changing environment, a company must rely on their workers creativity, ingenuity problem solving ability and strong team work. Workers are able to make their own decision on the best way to accomplish their work. The knowledge and skill shared will create a high performance work system. For example, an engineer in General Motors is developing a fuel efficient engine. Engineer A may need assistants from Engineer B, however when GM decided to retrench workers, Engineer A will face difficulty in developing the engine. Performance of employee can be boost thru team works. A study by Thompson, Baughan and Motwani indicates that company such as General Electricity, Proctor Gamble, Xerox Corporation had huge increase productivity as high as 250 percent and double their profit (1998). The use of technology is another feature in High Performance Work System. All managers in every department of General Motors must be able to identify the technology they use in their organization. The application of Human Resource Information System that can store information on workers that can assist managers in deciding which employee is performing and which is not. The use of technology without human operating it is also meaningless. Managers in General Motor must identify whether the qualified workers are able to operate the tools or not. Layout of General Motors production plants and office be required to properly design in order for them to increase workers performance and productivity. This involves careful job designing by HR managers. According to Aghazadeh and Seyedian, layout plays a role to ensure success by using space, people and equipment effectively, increasing the flow of information and materials, boost employees morale and utterly encourage flexibility (2004). Managers in General Motors may have to come out with proposals to change the existing layout to a improved, sustainable working layout. If all of the three factors are taken into account, General Motors can recover from their huge financial losses just and can avoid retrenchment of employees. Although to implement HPWS is costly, uncertain success and time consuming but in the long run this can benefit General Motors. Recommendation for Human Resource Activities Training and development programs should be given to employee to ensure increase in productivity. Offshore training in Japan car manufacturers to learn various methods to make better cars. Mangers are required to make research and human resource planning on the best methods to do a particular task. General Motors would have to find a partner to form a strategic alliance to recover from the huge financial loss. From this alliance, both companies are potential to learn from each other on the technology and trade secrets. Develop a module which to help retrench workers to find a new job. This will avoid them from paying more money for their compensation of retrenchments Outsource to countries like China or India. Cheap labors will benefit companies to recover them from financial loss. Create a reward programme where employees are rewarded by their managers based on their ability to work in a group Create a talk to all employees at least once in 3 months to explain the companys vision, strategy and objective. This will make employees feel a sense of belonging and may be able to work extra for the company. Competitor Analysis Sheer size and market share make new entrants an unlikely to be a threat Vertical integration of GM does not encourage purchases from suppliers hence they lose out on price bargaining Ford, DaimlerChrysler and Japanese manufacturers have better styling and quality; an approach which GM should consider adopting to sustain its competitive edge Cost of GM motor vehicles is perceived as being too high Buyers are nowadays inclined to buy sport utility and pickups which are not manufactured by General Motors GM enjoys a healthy product line and segmentation in pricing and functions Information Systems Using information systems at each part of the organization creates great efficiencies by automating and streamlining parts of the business. We recommend the following information systems at each department within General Motors: Human Resource Information Systems These are systems that maintain employee records, track employee skills, job performance and support planning for employee compensation and career development. LEVEL RECOMMENDED I.S. PURPOSE Operational Employee Records Track employee training, skills and performance appraisal Knowledge Career Path Designs career paths for employees Management Compensation Analysis Monitors the range and distribution of employees wages, salaries benefits Strategic Human Resources Planning Plans the long-term labour force needs of the organization 2. Finance and Accounting Systems These are systems that keep track of the firms financial assets and fund flows. LEVEL RECOMMENDED I.S. PURPOSE Operational Accounts Receivable Track outstanding debts Knowledge Portfolio Analyses Designs portfolios investments Management Budgeting Prepares short-term budgets Strategic Profit Planning Plans long-term profits 3. Sales and Marketing Systems These are systems that help the firm identify customers for its product or services. They also assist to develop product or services that meet customer needs, promote and sell them as well as providing ongoing customer support. LEVEL RECOMMENDED I.S. PURPOSE Operational Order processing Enters, processes and tracks orders Knowledge Market Analyses Identifies customers and markets using data on demographics, markets, consumer behaviour and trends Management Pricing Analyses Determines prices for products and services Strategic Sales and Forecasting Prepares 3-5 year sales forecast 4. Manufacturing and Production Systems These are systems that deal with planning, development, production of products and services and controlling the flow of production. LEVEL RECOMMENDED I.S. PURPOSE Operational Machine Control Controls the actions of machines and equipment Knowledge Computer-Aided Design Designs new products using the computer Management Production Planning Decides when and how many products should be produced Strategic Facilities Location Prepares and decides where to locate new production facilities In addition to the information systems mentioned here above, we also recommend the following office automation systems: E-mail System: Improve GMs internal and external communication, creating an effective and efficient service Word Processing System: Office system technology that facilitates the creation of documents through computerized text editing, formatting, storing and printing Document Imaging System: System that converts documents and images into digital form so that they can be stored and accessed easily by the computer Timesheet System: Enables employees to fill in the timesheet forms online so that management can approve and track the timesheet online. Conclusion Whilst it would be make a lot of business sense for a company like Ford to close down more plants and accept a smaller portion of the U.S. market this strategy would not work in favour of GM because then the company would produce and sell fewer vehicles, meaning less income for those big pension and health-care costs. GM has to maintain its cash flow to cover these costs until a future date when it is hoped that the elderly retirees diminish in number whilst also making improvements in quality, efficiency, design and brand appeal. Although GM has cut the time to assemble a vehicle from an average of 32 hours in 1998 to 24 hours in 2003, Japanese competitors are still faster in getting new models into the market. Hondas new vehicle development cycle is only 14 months and the company is working towards compressing development time down to 12 months. GM should look at this as a challenge to embrace and strategise with a view to improve its development cycle to match its competitors if not exceed them. Whilst these recommendations provided are meant to help GM sustain its market share, they cannot be fully appreciated until they have been put to test and the results obtained critically analysed to create room for adjustments where necessary and where applicable.