Ming And Ottoman Empires Essays - Ottoman Turks,

Ming And Ottoman Empires Timothy S. Palko World History II Dr. Skaff MWF 2:00-2:50 World power can be seen today in two very different but extremely vast empires. They are the Ming Empire and the Ottoman Empire. To contrast these empires in order to predict their futures, it is necessary that I observe and analyze key factors such as leadership, military strengths and weaknesses, and morals among the people. The two empires have different types of leadership, and from this it is possible to find the core of any disadvantage. From the leadership, it is possible to continue into the military and values that these empires embody. The Ming Empire is led by brilliant philosophical scholars, ?The man who is promoted to the higher degrees in this field prides himself on the fact that he has in truth attained to the pinnacle of Chinese happiness? (Andrea/Overfield 116). The Ottoman Empire has dedicated and knowledgeable leaders as well, but they are of a more warlike and brutish character. ?These leaders rise in service by merit alone? (Andrea/Overfield p.88). Indulging in the writings of Matteo Ricci, who observed first hand the workings of the Ming government, and the writings of Ogier Ghiselin de Busbecq, who observed the government under Suleiman I of the Ottoman Empire, the prediction of success will be able to be made knowledgably. The Ottoman Empire began around 1300 as a ?tiny state built on the strength of an army of Turkish nomad warriors and a few Christian converts to Islam in northwestern Anatolia? (Bulliet 601). It quickly proved to be a military strength and threat to the surrounding civilizations. The Turks expanded their empire through brilliant military tactics, including using Janissaries on foot, who used the new weapon called a gun in battle, and the same horseback archery that made them so successful in their previous military accomplishments. The selection of Turkish leaders has greatly influenced the success of the Ottoman Empire. ?A Turks grandeur is not defined by his birth, however; the respect to be paid to a man is measured by the position he holds in the public service? (Andrea/Overfield 88). The men who attain office are not the products of hereditary luck, but ?partly the gift of God, and partly the result of good training, great industry, and unwearied zeal? (Andrea/Overfield p.88). D e Busbecq was greatly impressed by the way that these Turks found their leadership; he made it a point to describe their feelings towards it in detail. De Busbecq also wrote extensively about the military strengths of the Ottoman. The soldiers of the Ottoman army are well trained and experienced in the arts of warfare and survival. The distances they must travel are so great, that the soldiers often have to carry a pack horse ?on which they carry many of the necessaries of life? (Andrea/Overfield 89). The weapon that was affluent and extremely effective among the soldiers is the Turkish bow. ?From the eighth, or even the seventh year of age they begin to shoot at a mark, and practice archery ten or twelve years. This constant exercise strengthens the muscles of their arms, and gives them such skill that they can hit the smallest marks with their arrows? (Andrea/Overfield p.89). The great riches and skilled military forces have served this Empire well to this day. The Turks also showed very little ignorance towards new advancements in technology originated in other parts of the world. ?There is no nation that has shown greater readin ess than the Turks to avail themselves of the useful inventions of foreigners, as is proved by their employment of cannons and mortars, and many other things invented by Christians? (Andrea/Overfield p.89). These open-minded and innovative new ways of becoming a powerful country greatly impressed De Busbecq. It is true that no empire is without flaw, and the Ottoman is no exception. The role of Sultan in the Ottoman Empire was a hereditary role, the exception to their other laws about leadership. ?The sons of a Turkish Sultans are in the most wretched position in the world, for, as soon as one of them succeeds his father, the rest are doomed to certain death? Andrea/Overfield p.90). The successor will certainly kill all the other sons

Study of Childbearing subsidiary policies and the Child Development Co-Savings Scheme The WritePass Journal

Study of Childbearing subsidiary policies and the Child Development Co-Savings Scheme Introduction Study of Childbearing subsidiary policies and the Child Development Co-Savings Scheme IntroductionProblem/Objectives:Rationale:Scope of study:Research Methods:Conclusion:References:Related Introduction In our study, we refer childbearing subsidiary policies as child-care subsidies and baby bonus (Child Development Co-Savings Scheme). Most would agree that these subsidy policies, which reduce parent’s costs to raise babies, would lead to higher Total Fertility Rate. Total Fertility Rate (TFR) is defined as the number of children an average woman would have assuming that she lives her full reproductive lifetime [1]. Subsidy is generally defined as money granted especially by government to reduce the cost of service or of producing goods [2]. A study revealed that Australian Baby Bonus exerted a small positive effect on fertility [3]. The effect seemed to be stronger for second and possibly higher-order children. In addition the result showed that bonus effect is permanent. Other study conducted in United States evidently show that child-care is positively associated with the intentions to have further children among couples [4]. It is expected that by providing subsidies, number of children an average woman would have, would increase. However, the conclusion from past study could not determine that the result would be similar in local context since the researches are conducted in different demographical area. Our report will investigate the short-term and long-term effect of the policies and aim to provide a comprehensive solution to improve the fertility rate in Singapore. Problem/Objectives: For the past 30 years, Singapore has faced a serious problem of declining TFR (total fertility rate). With TFR of 1.16 in 2010 [5], Singapore is ranked 170th [6] in the world and arguably one of the lowest TFR in the world. This issue will lead Singapore to be an ageing society. Currently Singapore has 344,069 elderly residents in 2010; this amount is estimated to increase by 20% the year 2030. The situation causes some serious problems in productivity, national defence, and will be detrimental to the economy. Nowadays the Singapore government strongly encourages the Singaporeans to get married and have at least 2 children. To support the campaign, the country has provided various subsidies to help parents in raising their children. Rationale: Though subsidies have been given to the parents, the general statistics show that the Singapore TFR declines over the years. Several revisions such as increasing baby bonuses are done to make the subsidies even more helpful, but the result is still negative. Therefore, in our project, we would like to analyze in greater depth relating to Singapore subsidiary policies, investigate its short and long term impacts and research more about the perspective of our future generation with regards to government policy. Scope of study: Our research will focus primarily on the different government policies that are implemented to increase TFR. Other factors such as the environment, psychological-thinking, social factors which may affect TFRs will not be included. To make our research clearer and an all-rounded study, we have our attention only on childcare subsidies, baby bonus, educational subsidies, housing loans, maternity and paternity leave, and hospitalisation subsidies. To prevent discrepancy in interpretation, TFR is defined as the number of children an average woman would have assuming that she lives her full reproductive lifetime and the policies that we are looking at are pertaining to those implemented by the Singapore government only. Research Methods: Our study will focus on evaluating the effectiveness of government subsidy policies. Some of these policies had been revised over the years, to ensure that our analysis will be as accurate as possible, we will divide the discussion into 3 parts: short term, long term and future estimation. Short term is defined as 3 year after policy is implemented, long term will represent the general trend of the policy since it is implemented till present. Short and long term impacts will be analysed using data compiled from administrative records. Future estimation will be done through analyses of our obtained data from the survey. In this study, a two-part survey will be conducted as well. The first part will identify the important factors that affect people’s decision to give birth. Subsequently, the second part will address the perspective of the young generation towards childbearing. The survey questionnaire will include close –ended as well as open-ended questions. The target of our survey will be NTU students. The target sample size will be 100, of which 50 will be males and 50 will be females, after which the results will be collated and be analyzed further. With the results we will propose suggestions that will mould the policy towards greater effectiveness for the new, upcoming generation of Singaporeans. The expected result for our analysis is that government-based policies are effective in the short term, after which ineffective in the long term. We will then review the suggested solutions in hope that the policy can work better. Conclusion: Much research has been done to explore the effectiveness of government’s policies in increasing the fertility rate as the Singapore government found that they had a serious problem such as ageing population.   Although many policies were conducted and revised many times, the fertility rate seemed to decline slightly recently. Therefore, our paper hopes that by investigating the various polices Singapore government has used to impact TRF, we can find out the root of the problem to Singapore’s persistent low TFR and propose reasons for it. References: Biology-Online Dictionary (2007), Online dictionary. biology-online.org/dictionary/Total_fertility_rate 2. Oxford Learner’s Pocket Dictionary (2008), Oxford University Press. 3. Drago, R., Sawyer, K., Sheffler, K., Warren, D., and Wooden, M. (2009),  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Did Australias Baby Bonus Increase the Fertility Rate?,† Melbourne Institute Working Paper No. 1/09, University of Melbourne, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research. 4. Lehrer, E. L. and Kawasaki, S. (1985), Child Care Arrangements and Fertility: An Analysis of Two-Earner Households, Demography (Vol 22; no.4), pp. 499-513. 5. Department of Statistics Singapore (2011), Online statistics. singstat.gov.sg/stats/keyind.html 6. Total Fertility Rate 2010 (2010), CIA World Factbook 2010. photius.com/rankings/population/total_fertility_rate_2010_0.html

World History Final take home exam Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

World History Final take home exam - Coursework Example Major nations that had formed up as colonizers came together and superimposed their sphere of influence upon Africa. During the year 1884, it was under the request of Bismark, a Portuguese chancellor who called all leading colonial power found in the western sphere so as to negotiate and end confusion and control over the continent of Africa. The Berlin conference, that was met by major colonies of Africa, came up with decisions most of which were represented in 1885 act. The act through their decisions allotted some spheres of influence by individual powers establishing Congo basin as a free state. In relation to Congo basin and other neighboring territories, they would enjoy free trade all powers had sovereign rights to watch and preserve tribes. All powers were to abide and abolish the slave trade. 2. Following the occurrence of World War 1, a league of nations came together under a Versailles treaty in 1919 to form an international labor organization (ILO). The major objective to the formation of ILO was to give an expression to an increasing number of concerns to reforms in social areas. ILO was founded to foster on four main missions: promoting and realization of standards relating to work rights. To realize and create possible opportunities that could allow both men and women to find employments, to able to enhancing the scope of protection to society and finally to strengthen participation through dialogue of different social groups. 3. In the event of making a declaration to participate in war, there are various chains of reactions that resulted into Europe getting involved. At this time, most of the Americans became reluctant and distanced themselves to get involved. However, powerful forces that included German submarines and their interest based on commercial agreements were key attraction into the involvement of the United States in World War 1. Three main causes were: feelings from the pro-British and 32 billion of loans given to its

Public argument Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Public argument - Essay Example As a result, there has been an increase in the size of the deserts in the world. Initially people would rely on rain-fed agriculture (Bredahl 26). However, this is not possible anymore. The seasons have become more unpredictable. In addition, some adverse weather conditions have been experienced in various parts of the world. These conditions have affected the ability of the current resources to sustain the increasing population†. †Genetically modified crops produce high yields. The crops have been genetically engineered in order to produce more produce that other crops. As a result, the crops can be used to fight the increasing levels of food insecurity in the world. The statistics indicate one person dies each day as a result of hunger. Therefore, the genetically modified foods can close this gap by ensuring that the world has adequate food to feed the current generation. As a community we need to be in the forefront in fighting hunger in the world. However, we cannot achieve this noble idea with the current production practices†. â€Å"The increased use of pesticides by farmers has created strains of pests that are resistant to the pesticides. This aspect is affecting the level of production by the farmers across the world. In addition, some pest causes some crop diseases which affect the productivity of the crops. Nevertheless, genetically modified crops have the ability to resist the pests, an aspect that plays a significant role in increasing the yields†. â€Å"According to Bredahl (31) genetically modified foods have high nutrient contents. Currently, the world is struggling with the increasing number of people suffering from heart diseases, high blood pressure, and other chronic diseases that are associated with obesity. This results from consuming foods with unbalanced nutrients value. Genetically modified foods close this gap by ensuring that the foods have the correct nutrient content.

Totalitarianism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Totalitarianism - Essay Example Totalitarianism is defined as a political organization in which the state strives to control all aspects of public and private life of its citizens. Totalitarian regimes stay in power by employing widespread use of violence, disseminating propaganda through state controlled media, political oppression, denial of freedom of speech and control over the economy. However, Hannah Arendt perceives totalitarian as a system where the state transform class into mass movements, have the national police assume the role of the military to instill terror in people and establish a foreign policy with the intention of domineering the whole world (Cohen & Fermon 575). Arendt argues that totalitarian movements established by totalitarian governments depend on the sheer force of numbers and not proportionate strength like other political parties. With this understanding, it is clear that communism, socialism, liberalism, feminism, conservatism and fascism are totalitarian ideologies. This paper is int ended to show that in the idea of Hannah Arendt, Benito Mussolini; a fascist, Vladimir Lenin; a communist, and Emma Goldman; anarchist and feminist, were all totalitarians. At the end of the First World War, Italy was found entangled in economic and political challenges. Public servants went on strike in urban centers while, in the rural areas, landless peasants grabbed the property of rich landlords. Benito Mussolini used this unrest as an opportunity to climb to power. He formed the fascist party which supported hard line nationalism, and condemned democratic system of government on the belief that competitor parties separated the state. They also reject communism and embraced personal property ownership. In the early 1920s, Mussolini and his supporters had worn the support of most Italian citizens by attacking the communists and socialists. In1922 Mussolini led Italians on a protest march on Rome supposedly to prevent a communist revolution but in a real sense to scare the government into appointing him as the prime minister of Italy. Immediately he was in office he enlarged his power by appointing Fascists to high positions, censoring the press, org anizing secret police, and outlawing condemnation of the government. He controlled the army and the schools making Italian citizens embrace the slogan â€Å"Everything in the state and nothing outside or against the state† (Cohen & Fermon 571). Mussolini’s Italy was dominated by one party; Fascist party and all opposition parties were wiped out. Mussolini also had a lot of power over this party, until people argued that the party had no part in running of the country but Mussolini himself. He later decided that he wants to run the country for himself and that the party is no longer important for anything else than doing what he wanted. Mussolini believed in making Italy great by making Italians go to war by all means. On his coming to power, he made Italians to belief that he was their savior considering hard times they were facing. He replaced the class society with the masses so that he can avoid criticism and later ruled them with the iron fist. For this, his action s constituted totalitarianism as defined by Arendt. Mussolini faulted the American democracy arguing that people do not know what they want and the best for them. He swore that someday America will know that democracy is only beautifully theoretically but a fallacy practically (Cohen & Fermon 532). Mussolini would have been right here when he said that people do not know what they want during voting in leaders. It has always been known that most of the leaders win elections because of their influence and not their ideology. The best people with good ideologies are normally left out. Vladimir Lenin believed in a

Challenges facing Human Resource managers

Challenges facing Human Resource managers Q/1 Business environment is changing everyday and bringing new challengers to the HR managers. What are the challenges faces by Hr managers at British Gas in the UK? The ultimate goal of any organisation is to gain success in the market it is operating in. In order to achieve the aim organisations need to generate an agent that operates in a variety of real world environments. It is crucial to include some mechanisms that allow it to operate in a dynamic environment, one that changes over time independent of the actions. Certainly there are environments that do not change with time and are static but these are usually small organisations that are limited in size and scope. Traditionally the environments used to be static but the trends in the market are changed, the static and well predicted market changes have been distorted to dynamic and ever changing market situations. To deal with the changes in the market and achieve their ultimate goal organisations need to consider not only the external but also the equally important internal constituencies. Among all the internal factors employees can be said as one of the most important part. The role of the employees for the endurance of any organisation is well acknowledged in todays modern dynamic and competitive business world. Therefore employees have been the centre of attention and are being invested in by the organisations by providing them training and development, competitive remuneration and other benefits. Thus in todays dynamic market environment when organisations have felt the need of taking care of their employees, they can also sense the necessity of professionals who can deal with the above mentioned problems. This is where HR managers come into the picture who deals with all the issues related to the employees. The role of the Human Resource manager has been developed with time from just administrative roles to modern role of strategic partnership. (Bratton and Gold, 2007). British gas which is renowned energy brand in United Kingdom is a part of Centrica. British gas is operating in an intense rivalry and in order to stay ahead in the race to success they have to consider all the stake holders including employees. British gas recognises that their success has been dependent upon the capabilities and dedication of their employees, and as a result they are committed to meet their people needs.S The different changes within the business environment can be summed up using PEST analysis, which includes the changes in both the internal and external environment. PEST Analysis is a simple, useful and widely-used tool that helps you understand the big picture of your Political, Economic, Socio-Cultural and Technological environment. As such, it is used by business leaders worldwide to build their vision of the future. A diagram showing different components of the Pest Analysis can be seen below. This framework helps the HR manager along with other management to deal with different changes in the environment the organisation is operating by which they can provide a good working environment. Now lets analyse the changes within the different aspects of PEST analysis and the challenges it brings to HR managers in British Gas. Political: The political factor of Pest analysis deals with the effects of government policy. Inasmuch as government policy is worked out through legislation, it encompasses all legal elements of this analysis. This includes items such as government stability, taxation policy, and government regulations. Government stability is not a major issue in Western economies but plays a vital role. (Henry, 2008). Although In Europe UK is said to be the least protective legislation but still has many laws that can influence and ensure the smooth running of the businesses. Firstly there are many laws regarding the equal opportunity within the organisation. Any organisation has to consider candidates for recruitment and selection irrespective of race, gender, age and religion (CIPD). Avoiding any of the mentioned factors means discrimination which has its negative aftermaths and can damage the organisation. British gas has taken many steps in order to avoid this discrimination which would be discussed in detail later under Recruitment and Selection. Laws for health and safety at workplace have also been imposed and organisations should comply with it in order to make a safe working environment. British gas as being in energy related industry needs to consider this aspect in depth. It is role of a HR manager in particular to deal with the related issues. British gas considers health and safety for their employees and the environment as being fundamental to their business objectives. Conventionally Health and Safety was not considered in depth but in the modern world there have been many changes with laws ensuring a safer working environment. (British gas webpage). There are many changes made to the laws with time. Other laws for HR revolve around things like pay rates, fair competition, taxation and fair dealings with employees. The laws for these factors do change with the change in government as well and British gas has always been ahead with regards to the laws. Equally important is the discussion about the privatisation of British gas in late 1980s which actually had a vital role over the HR dealings within the company, example being the job losses (from 91,599 in 1986 to 78300 in 1992) which were made because of the privatisation, this had a real impact over the HR and they dealt with it in superior manner to keep their retained employees motivated. (International labour organisation, Sectoral activities programme) Economy: Economical changes such as economic uncertainly, changes from manufacturing to service or knowledge economy, mergers and acquisitions activity and increased energy and fuel costs. In a knowledge-based economy, the most important business investments involve investing in personnel, putting HR managers at the centre of some of economic debates. Issues related to human capital and people management are now among the most important challenges in business, bringing the expertise of HR managers to the core not only of business but also of nation economic competitiveness. Understanding the broader business and societal implications of these trends will be crucial how to address their resulting challenges at the organisational level and will require HR managers to be well informed about macroeconomic developments. Social: Social factors include cultural changes within the environment and are often referred to as socio-cultural. This includes health consciousness, population growth rate, age distribution, career attitudes and emphasis on safety. (Henry, 2008). HR managers may increasingly find themselves dealing with the impact societal trends, such as 24/7 work culture, changing family pattern, and a growing emphasis on work/life balance have on time-related issues in the workplace. Benefits linked to flexible working and controls over schedules are likely to continue to be in demand. Possible changes to the bargaining power of employees and women, in particular, could make meeting this demand a higher priority to employers. Finding ways to continue to engage workers with high levels of responsibility and skills but who may not be able to work full time may become more important. This will be exacerbated by the need to find enough skilled workers which could potentially pose a challenge in the coming decades as education cost rise and skills requirements increase. Technology: Any organisation needs to be the pioneer of the new technology and to be ahead in the competitive race in the market in order to lead. This undoubtedly has a major impact on HR as they need to train their staff accordingly and make them flexible enough to adapt to the changes within the technology. For HR managers, the efficient use of technology has emerged as a key skill. Recruitment strategies can also be affected by Changes in the technology while major advancement in e-learning could influence training strategies. Q/2 Comment on how HR activities contribute to the success of British Gas. Use any 2 HRM Models to explain you answer? Employees are the most important factor needed for the survival of any organisation and HR is responsible for catering the need of the employees and establishing a relation between the organisation and its employees. In order to succeed in the modern world it is provident that there need to be effective HR activities which could help the employees feel as a part of team rather than being alienated. Only then it can have the competitive advantage over their rivals and the employees would work hard and whole-heartedly in the favour of the organisation they are working for. In British Gas employees do feel valued and as a part of team only because of the effective HR activities. We now will discuss the HR activities in British Gas in accordance with two HR models which have helped them to be in the lead in their market. David Ulrich Model The first model which we will discuss is the David Ulrich Model. The model we made by David Ulrich in the year 2000, who is said to be the HR guru. In the model he proposed that the centre of attention for all the HR activities must be on the contribution to organizational success. He further explained that the key to excel organizational performance is to ensure that human resources activities are in line with the organization and focusing on productivity, service and quality. Below is the diagram showing David Ulrich model. Productivity can be explained as the output per employee. With the increase in competitive rivalry incessant improvement in productivity has a significant role. British Gas has been considering the significant importance of the afore-mentioned aspect of the model. With the view of increasing the productivity British Gas has been investing  £24 million every year in their Engineering Academy to continue their exceptional training for engineers working there. The Academy eve achieved grade one performance in a 2007 Ofsted inspection. In the academy employee are provided with related training which helps them to be more effective and efficient with regards to productivity. Quality of the products and services delivered extensively affects organizational success in the long run. The quality of products and services can provide competitive advantage to any organization. The quality of products and services is directly interlinked with the growth and performance of the organization as a whole, therefore it requires equal attention. The stress on quality requires continuous changes aimed at improving work processes. HR management considerations should be included in order to indentify the barriers and service blockages and redesigning operational processes. The process should also involve the employees as well rather than just the managers. The above mentioned activities should be done with accordance to the organizations mission. British Gas itself explains that its the service they provide to the customers which gives them competitive advantage over their rivals and sets them apart in the marketplace. The British Gas Academy of Customer Excellence has also been set up which underpins their aim to consider their customers as one of the key stakeholders. The academy provides training to the front-line employees. Warwick Model of HRM Bratton Jeffery (2007) proposed the Warwick model in which Harvard framework has been extended with 5 elements including Inner context, outer context, business strategy content, HRM context and HRM content. The model explains the link between the changes in internal and external and both the content and context in it. The strength of the model is that it underpins the important environmental influences on HRM. Below is the diagram showing the model. Outer context Inner context Business strategy content HRM context HRM context Basically HR Manager of British Gas firstly plans their future strategy and recruits people accordingly mostly through external sources like advertisements in newspapers, magazines and through employee referrals. Firstly they screen all the applications and then select candidates based on their potential, knowledge and experience mostly through face-to-face interview. Successful candidates are put through induction and are provided with continuous training. British Gas does consider the fact that monetary rewards is only one of the many needs of the people and therefore provides them with many non-monetary social needs such as flexible working hours and a better and relaxing working atmosphere. Employees within British Gas are also appraised regularly so that they know how well they are doing. Keeping in mind the broader aspect of the business HR manager maps the link between inner and outer context followed by an approach which leads to the changes in the content as referred in Warwick Model. Along with this HR managers also connects their activities of Planning, Integration, Staffing, Developing, Motivating, Designing, Managing Relationships, Managing change and Evaluating by keeping in mind the everyday changing business environment. But apart from this I think to survive and maintain a good market position in this globalized, competitive, innovative and rapidly changing business environment British Gas must change their Mechanistic Structure to Organic Structure which is very flexible and innovative. The HRM strategies at British Gas satisfy customers to the highest but surely not at the expense of their employees needs which helps them to lead in their industry. Q 3 Describe Recruitment Selection strategies that have been taken by British Gas to enhance organisation performance? Recruitment and selection is said to be one of the main role of a HR practitioner, as they need to ensure that they choose the right staff. While going through the process they need to consider many factors including equal opportunities without the factor of discrimination. In order to ensure this, there are laws to avoid discrimination against race or ethnic origin, religion and belief, disability, sex and age. The ones who avoid this practice will indeed break the law and will have to face the consequences (Tackling Discrimination, 2009). K Aswathappa (2003) defines recruitment as a process of finding and attaching capable application for an application for employment. The process begin when new recruit are sought and end when their application are submitted. The result is the pool of applications from which new employees are selected. Derek Torrington (1987) states that Planning the right people in the right place at the right time is seen to be essential to achieving rapid growth. The emphasis is on balancing the projected demand for and supply of labour, in order to have the right number of the right employees in the right place at the right time. In terms of recruitment and selection it is important to carry out thorough job analysis to determine the level of skills/technical abilities, competencies, flexibility of the employee required etc. Since 2003, British Gas has done a lot of work in order to improve the diversity in their workforce which helps them in their customer base and is a response to changing demographics as well. With the increase in demand and the competitive rivalry British gas had to attract more employees and for that the HR managers dealt with it in a well-mannered way. Carole Willsher, Recruitment and Diversity specialist, explains We tend to use the analogy of a pond gone; if we dont recruit women, thats over half the pond gone ; if we dont recruit people from an ethnic background, thats about another 10% gone, and were left with only a very small part of the pond to fish from. The process of recruitment and selection at British gas is shown in the following diagram. Acknowledgement Initial Review Online Application Assessment Centre Second Stage Job Offer In the process candidates have to complete an application form and online test which is then acknowledged by an email upon successful submission. The submitted application is then reviewed and candidates are updated within 14 days. After the successful initial review the candidates are required to give a telephonic interview for some job roles which is then followed by the assessment centre where the candidates go through a face- to- face interview, practical tests (for some roles) and role plays. After careful consideration of the entire application process candidates are then offered the job within 14 days of the assessment centre. Recruitment and selection is done by both internal and external manners. As mentioned earlier in order to attract a vast group of applicants HR managers at British Gas use both the ways. Internal recruitment includes promoting the current staff or moving them from one department to other. It also includes the referrals made by the current employees. The advantage with internal recruitment is that it allows the organisations to know the strengths and capabilities of their existing employees which help them to allocate them accordingly. As mentioned earlier, the main objective of British gas is to increase the number of applications for the different vacancies in order to attract a wide range of talent as possible. For this they use the different types of external recruitment strategies. Some of these strategies are as follows: Tester days: British gas regularly runs women only and BME tester days, with the specific aim of attracting women and ethnic minorities into engineering and apprenticeships. Partnership working: British gas also use different partnerships with different organisations in order to focus on under-represented groups including Jobcentre Plus, Windsor Fellowship, Women and Manual trades. Targeted Advertising: They also use a range of ways and media to appeal to its target audiences. They use advertising in magazines like Bliss and Sugar. They also redesign their special webpage for recruitment regularly. Attracting a wide range of candidates is not the only purpose of the managers but also to select the right staff. For that a right recruitment process has to be applied. A diagram is shown below which illustrates the different stages of the recruitment process within British Gas. The only way to increase the performance of the organisation is to have an efficient process. Q 4 Explain how HR training and development helps British Gas to develop highly competent staff and teams. Describe use of variety of HRD methods taken at British Gas. According to Mackey (2003), in our lifetime of learning we meet many people who contribute to our knowledge, and in todays world training is seen as an essential aspect in HRM practice. Training is often seen as something that is work related on-job training, off-job training or employment training schemes. Many organizations aspire to be learning ones, but it takes dedication to achieve this. It requires commitments from everyone to allow individuals to manage their own development and to support the process through coaching, feedback and outgoing performance management. Trainers have a key role to play in the creations of a learning environment. The typical role of Training Development functions has been to respond in a reactive manner to the training and development needs to other functions throughout the organization. British gas always ensures that it provides effective training at all levels, which can help its highly competent staff and teams to develop. In order to offer continuous training for their engineers British Gas is investing  £24 million each year in their British Gas Engineering Academy. The Academy also managed to achieve grade one performance in a 2007 Ofsted inspection. They have also aligned their apprentice scheme to the Duke of Edinburghs Gold Award, which actually provides enhanced personal development and life skills to the trainees. As any other company British gas also believes that it is the customer service which helps them to lead in the competitive race. The British Gas Academy underpins their aim to put customers at the heart of everything they do. The Academy therefore also provides training to their front line employees. Building on the success of our engineering academy, the customer service academy encourages best practice and knowledge sharing. By co-ordinating activities nationally, this new structure improves the consistency of our training design and delivery. Effective training to the employees leads to improve quality of the process they are working into. One of the key skills of a trainer is the ability to design training programmes and learning experiences that are innovative, exciting and fun. Trainer should also identify individual learning styles and respond to the needs of the business. The field of training and development (TD) has undergone changes that reflect the dynamic factors in the corporate world overall. TDs objectives continue to shift from a focus on programmed instruction (and behavioural and task analysis), to performance-system analysis. Learning is now defined as a competitive strategy in the global workplace. Therefore, trainers must engage in defining strategic goals, analyzing organizational processes and providing better systematic performance within the business context. Increased need for improved performance requires more efficient ways to identify, recruit, and improve the training and education of the workforce. As traditional, hierarchical organizational structures are increasingly transforming to self-directed, cross functional, process oriented, and knowledge-based models, both organizations and individuals are increasingly faced with the new challenges to maximize the organizations competitive edge, and to meet new standards of excellence in performance. First, in order to understand what is nowadays expected from management trainers and educators, it is essential to understand how current perceptions of the managers job and responsibilities have developed. Then, it will be argued that the adoption of a simple solely task-related model of training often used to train managers from developing countries has proved to be inadequate. Therefore, a realistic management training model ought to include the task related and people-related aspects of the managers job as well as the trainees own development, in its design and content. Based on the above a more realistic approach to management training and development will be offered and some of its implications for trainers and training institutions will be discussed and certain conclusions will be reached. Evaluating Training Development: This has always been a key topic for trainers. TD that is not delivering the expected results is likely to be potentially harmful to the organization, demotivating to learners and damaging to the reputation of trainers. In todays business world evaluation has taken on even greater significance than in the past. Evaluation is undertaken with the purpose of encouraging improvement. When evaluation is planned, it is done with the intention of analysing results and implementing suitable changes in a timely manner followed by further evaluation. Such cyclical approaches agreeing standards, evaluating, improving, checking standards and so on are the basis of really useful evaluation processes for each aspect of the training and development process. The focus is on maximizing the use of resources, maximizing the likelihood of business success and maximizing the impact of staff motivation. One needs to critically evaluate each TD event in which you are involved. This is as true for a week-long course as it is for an individual coaching event. The more one evaluates, the more one learns, the more quickly the business will benefit and the more quickly individuals skills will develop. Each type of TD event will have its own type of evaluation, but each has the common aim of change and improvement. As compared to other Departments like IT and Finance, TD is also one of the important departments in the organisation as its trains people in the organisations who with their full potential calibre help the organization to achieve its set goals with high quality standards. Q5 What role Performance Management plays in achieving higher performance at British Gas? Describe use of variety of performance appraisal strategies taken at British Gas. Staff development doesnt just happen. It takes a conscious and concerted effort on the part of the manager to support and encourage their employees initiative. It requires a continuous attention of both the employees and the supervisors or the managers involved. Performance appraisals are undertaken to let an employee know his/her performance and compare it with the expectation of the organisation as a whole. The process involves clarifying the job role, job description and responsibilities and explains how the role can contribute to the wider goals of the organisation. It is important that the employees understands how their performance contributes to the overall performance of the company. This direct connection helps to encourage team play and shared responsibility within the company, although the performance objectives should be individual and agreed between the employee and the manager. In a performance appraisal employees also get the opportunity to give their feedback about the working conditions and any advices which could be helpful for the organisation to improve their productivity. In order to ensure an effective performance appraisal the manager should keep a record of the process which could be helpful for the future reference. There are many different types of performance appraisals. Following are some of them which are mostly used at British Gas: Top-down Appraisals: According to Harrison (1995) this category of performance appraisal involves the line manager undertaking the formal appraisal of the employee. Managers in this type of appraisal can be biased and may be less open, honest and can lead to the favouritism factor. In such situations another manager or HR specialist can be involved to act as a moderator in the process. This is seen as a very traditional type of performance appraisal and is rarely practiced in the modern world. It was used at British gas as well but is replaced by other new frameworks and other types of performance appraisals. Self Reviews: Harrison (1995) explains that self reviews are based on the idea that employees are most familiar with their work and their involvement is vital. They have proved to be superior to supervisory reviews in identifying individual strengths and shortcomings. The biggest problem with this approach lies in the fact that this violates the traditional mores regarding the proper relationship between the boss and the subordinate. Upward Appraisal: Harrison (1995) describes that in this technique, the views of the employees, who report to the appraise (manager) are considered and can also be an important dimension of management development. It is effective in an organisation which has an open and supportive culture and which encourages participation as a legitimate element,. Upward appraisal may be threatening for a manager and uncomfortable for the subordinate appraisers. 360 Degree Feedback: N. Bahra (1997) states that This method is an assessment technique lies at the heart of many successful organisations. This briefing aims to provide an objective method of assessing an individuals performance in a number of critical and non-critical areas. This method being used in many big organisation in the modern world and is hence used at British Gas as well. Harrison (1995) explains that this is a way of limiting the effect of the top- down appraisal scheme and building on the positive aspects of self, peer and upward appraisals. This method includes peers, subordinates, internal and external customers and the managers. Its aim is to achieve a broader view of employee performance. It can increase customer focus, support team initiatives, decrease the hierarchical approach and provide greater employee evaluation. It is an assessment technique which lies at the heart of many successful organizations. This briefing aims to provide an objective method of assessing an individuals performance in a number of critical and non-critical areas. REFRENCES Book References: Bach, S. (2005) Management Human Resource: Personnel Management in transition. Oxford: published by Blackwell publishing. Henry, A. (2008), Understanding Strategic Management. published by Oxford. Bratton, J. and Gold, J., (2007) Human Resource Management: Theory and Practice. 4th Edition, London: Publisher Palgrave Macmillan. Bernardin and Beatty (1984). Performance Appraisal : Assessing Human Behaviour at Work. Published by Kent Pub. Co. Torrington, D., Hall, L. and Taylor, S. (1987): Human Resource Management. Sixth edition, Spain: Printed by Mateu cromo artes graficas. Aswathappa, K. (2005) Human Resources and Personnel Management. 4th edition, New Delhi: Published by Tata Mcgraw-Hill. Mackey, D. (2003) everything you ever needed to know about training. London: published by Kogan Page Ltd. Taylor, P. (2003) How to Design a Training Course. London: Continuum publication. Harrison, H. S. (1995) Advanced Appraisal Methods: General Certification Supplement. Oxford: Published by H2 Co. Bahra, N. (1997) 360 Degree Appraisal. London: Published by FT Pitman. Online References: British Gas and Diversity (online) Cited on 10/11/2009. Access Via British Gas Health Safety 2009 (online) Cited on 08th Nov. 2009. Access Via British gas and political factors (online) Cited on 04th nov.2009. Access Via British Gas introduction.(online) Cited on 06th nov.2009. Access Via British gas and the importance of employee (Introduction), (online) Cited on 10th Nov. 2009 . Access Via Equal opportunities at British Gas, (online) Cited on 16th Nov. 2009. Access Via Tackling discrimination (2009), (online) Cited on 26th Nov. 2009, Access Via

Free Things They Carried Essays: M&Ms :: Things They Carried Essays

M&M's in The Things They Carried Tim O'Brien uses many interesting literary devices in his collection of short stories about his experiences in Vietnam. One of the most striking, yet understated, is his fleeting reference to M&M's. O'Brien allows them to be seen as something of a mystery, an enigma. O'Brien transforms M&M's into a symbol of America: mystical, powerful, and incredible. O'Brien also uses the simple image of a yo-yo to explain the necessity of American GI's to transform their mental attitudes to something different in order to survive the war. M&M's and yo-yo's are two very powerful symbols that O'Brien uses to explain the mentality of American soldiers in Vietnam. "As a medic, Rat Kiley carried a canvas satchel filled with morphine and plasma and malaria tablets and surgical tape and comic books and all the things a medic must carry, including M&M's for especially bad wounds, for a total weight of nearly 20 pounds." (O'Brien 5) The first mention of M&M's is cryptic. O'Brien makes use of a standard list to describe what Rat Kiley carries, until he reaches the M&M's. M&M's are separated by a phrase, they are set apart; they receive special treatment. O'Brien is making clear to the reader that M&M's are not to be included in the normal list of things carried by a medic. M&M's are above and beyond simple medical gear. M&M's are for "especially bad wounds," they treat something more than bandages and tape can. O'Brien allows the reader to understand that M&M's have significance, and are very important to the soldiers. O'Brien's brief mention of M&M's allows us to wonder if when this magical cure is used. Does Rat Kiley administer M&M's to Tim when he is shot? Could M&M's have saved Rat when he goes insane? Are M&M's something so mystical that they don't even need to be mentioned? O'Brien creates M&M's to be a symbol of everything that the soldiers leave behind. To Kiowa, M&M's embody the spirit of his grandmother and the faith of his father. To Norman Bowker, M&M's mean as much as his medals mean to his father. To O'Brien, M&M's capture the spirit of a kind old man in Minnesota. M&M's are O'Brien's alternative symbol for "Mom and Apple Pie." Another symbol that O'Brien uses is Mitchell Sanders' yo-yo, Sanders is playing with his yo-yo when Curt Lemon is killed.