Of Personal Development, Critical Thinking and Enhanced Quality of Care Essay

In this reflection paper, I would like to relate some unforeseen events during the course as well as my experience of being assessed. The medical practitioner assigned to me was a consultant of medicine for geriatric patients. The fact that he is not a physiotherapist may be considered an unforeseen occurrence. I did not really expect him to come from a different field. The similarity in language and way of thinking of practitioners from the same field would have facilitated the process. At first, similar to my feelings in collaborating with my nurse classmates, I had the same feeling of hesitation in associating with my DMP. However, as the course progressed, I realized that he could be a very good mentor. He patiently guided me throughout all the pertinent tasks that I had to carry out. I attended the clinic with him at Saint Pancrase Hospital for the morning Clinic, which finished at twelve o’clock, then the Ward round from two o’clock at Saint Pancrase hospital for two hours. I then went to University College London Hospital for My OSCE after four o’clock at the T10 ward. For the last fifteen years I have been working in a community, this is my first time to examine a patient thoroughly in a hospital, not only to examine the patient but also to perform my Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE). Since he wanted to examine me on COPD patient with some complications, he was right that it was hard on me. Yet I did it and enjoyed the experience despite the situation under pressure. It was very long observation from my DMP, which again for long time I did not observe, was indeed a complicated but a true learning experience. I am grateful to my DMP and the way he taught me. I enjoyed his teaching, his approach, and his skills as a consultant were excellent. I will miss his teaching. My experience with him made me see the value of having a competent mentor regardless of the field that one is interested in. The presence of a coach and mentor made learning easier because it made me confident that I can rely on someone who is an expert and possesses a learning attitude, as well as one who is willing to help me out in the process. Admittedly, there were some difficulties in relating with him at the beginning because we were from different fields of study. But again, this experience is a test of flexibility in adjusting to the demands of the situation. I my best to work with him and follow the guidelines and advice which he gave me. In the course of our interaction, I have learned to become more comfortable in dealing with him. There is value in having a good working relationship with one’s superiors and colleagues; it makes the learning journey so much easier. I also feel that I should further develop a mentoring relationship with an expert in this field to be able to reach my full my potential. Empirical research from both educational and industrial settings suggests that students and employees both have increased probability of success if they have had a mentor. While mentors are effective for everyone, sometimes organisations implement mentoring programs to support particular parts of their populations, often newer employees. And while mentoring programs are always established with the best of intentions, their results are often mixed (Werner, 2004). To make the most of my clinical exposure, I hope to establish a strong mentoring relationship with a doctor or a medical allied professional who will be able to coach me on increasing competence in my clinical practice. I have realised that coaching and mentoring are very effective ways of developing my leadership potential because it does not only develop me in terms of technical expertise, but it will also allow me to actually experience how these experts undergo the coaching and mentoring exercise. I have also realised that a novice in any medical allied field acquires clinical judgment and skill over time. Knowledge is refined through actual clinical experience; this moves her from a rule-based, context-free stage to a more analytical, logical and intentional pattern of thinking (Benner, Tanner, & Chelsea, 1996). To effectively provide a conducive learning environment, these medical professionals need venues for examining and developing their problem solving and reasoning skills towards making clinical judgments (Miller, 1992). I realised that such venues transpire through numerous learning experiences. In particular, I am contemplating about being able to practice in a large hospital to permit such comprehensive clinical exposure. I have also realised that participating in varied learning experiences offers the chance to apply classroom theory in the clinical setting. This was a point that was shared with me by my DMP. Clinical experiences enable the formation of meaningful related information on the basis of what the nurse has learned in the classroom. There is an expectation that with more experience, this novice can move from the level of advanced beginner to the level of competence by program completion. Clinical judgment is defined as nursing decisions about which areas to assess, analyzing health data, prioritizing which task to do, and who should carry it out (Carnaveli & Thomas, 1993). For clinical judgment to be assessed as sound, it should be arrived at using critical thinking and logical reasoning, that will enable the deduction of valid conclusions, and the decisions that may be borne from these. I am thankful for this experience as they have given me profound insight on the areas that I could further develop to become a more competent professional in this field.

Polavaram Dam Project

Polavaram Project is a multi-purpose irrigation project which has been accorded national project status by the central government. This dam across the Godavari River is under construction. It is located in West Godavari district in Andhra Pradesh state of India. PURPOSE National River-Linking Project, which works under the aegis of the Indian Ministry of Water Resources, was designed to overcome the deficit in water in the country. As a part of this plan, surplus water from the Himalayanrivers is to be transferred to the peninsular rivers of India.This exercise, with a combined network of 30 river-links and a total length of 14,900 kilometres (9,300 mi) at an estimated cost of US$120 billion (in 1999), would be the largest ever infrastructure project in the world. In this project's case, the Godavari Riverbasin is considered as a surplus one, while theKrishna River basin is considered to be a deficit one. As of 2008, 644 tmcft of underutilised water from Godavari River flowed into th e Bay of Bengal.Based on the estimated water requirements in 2025, the Study recommended that sizeable surplus water was to be transferred from the Godavari River basin to the Krishna River basin. In July 1941, the first conceptual proposal for the project came from the erstwhile Madras Presidency. Later Diwan Bahadur L. Venkata Krishna Iyer, then chief engineer in the Presidency's irrigation department, made the first survey of the project site and made a definitive proposal for a reservoir at Polavaram.Sri Iyer not only visioned cultivation of 350,000 acres (140,000 ha) over two crop seasons through this project, but also planned for a 40 megawatt hydroelectric plant within the project. The entire project was estimated to cost about 65 million (US$990,000). The old final designs of Polavaram dam was planned at full reservoir level (FRL) 208 ft MSL with 836 tmcft gross storage capacity and 150 MW hydroelectric plant. By 1946–47, the estimated cost rose to 1. 29 billion.It wa s christened as Ramapada Sagar Project since the backwaters of the reservoir would touch the Lord Rama temple at Bhadrachalam. In the old finalised project design by Dr. K. L. Rao, the right bank canal of Polavaram project was extended to south of Krishna River to serve irrigation needs in old Guntur district by envisaging aqueduct across the Krishna River. The project presently under construction is scaled down to FRL 150 ft MSL. The project cost estimate in 2004 stood at ?86. 21 billion. In 1980, then Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh T.Anjaiah laid the foundation stone for the project. However the project stayed idle until 2004 when the Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy-led government came to power. In 2004, the Government of Andhra Pradesh sanctioned 13. 2 billion (US$200 million) for the project. Soon after, tenders were issued for the commensurate worth of services for the right canal of the project. For the left canal, another 13. 53 billion were sanctioned by the state government. The dam could not be taken up for construction during the last century on techno economical grounds.The proposed dam site at Polavaram is located where the river emerges from the last range of the Eastern Ghatsinto plains covered with deep alluvial sandy strata. At Polavaram, the river width is about 1500 m. In view of large depth of excavation which is more than 30 m deep, to reach hard rock at this dam site, the dam project was not found economical to take up. However a lucrative alternate site is feasible located in upstream of Polavaram site where the river passes through deep gorges of Papi hill range. The width of river is about 300 m only in the rocky gorge stretch.Thirty years back, this alternative was found technologically challenging task to connect the reservoir with the irrigation canals via tunnels across the ghat area. Also costly underground hydro electric station is mandated compared to river bed based hydro electric station. When the project was actually taken up in th e year 2004, the old finalised designs at Polavaram site are adopted without re-examining the latest cost of upstream alternate site in view of state of the art construction technology of tunnels and underground hydro electric station.The progress up to the year 2012 in construction of dam structures and the hydro electric station is almost nil. The alternate site located in the gorge stretch is still worth of re-examination to reduce the ever increasing cost of Polavaran dam. The spillway and non-overflow dam are founded onKhondalite bed rock in Polavaram Project. Khondalites, which are feldspar-rich, often contain soft graphite, hard garnet, etc. in addition to other minerals. Khondalites are highly weathered and hence unsuitable at dam site.As of 2004, the proposed project would hold 75. 2 tmcftthereby enabling irrigation of an additional 232,000 acre in Krishna, West Godavari, East Godavari,Visakhapatnam, Vizianagaram and Srikakulam districts of Andhra Pradesh. [7] The project w ould constitute an earth-cum-rock fill dam of 2,310 metres (7,580 ft) length, spillway of 907 metres (2,976 ft) with 44 vents to enable discharge of 3,600,000 cu ft/s (100,000 m3/s) of water. To its left, 12water turbines, each having 80 megawatt capacity, were to be installed.The right canal connecting to Krishna River in the upstream of Prakasam Barrage (173 kilometres (107 mi) long) discharges 17,500 cu ft/s (500 m3/s) at head works and left canal (182 kilometres (113 mi) long) discharges 17,500 cu ft/s (500 m3/s) of water. [7] The proposed project would displace 276 villages and 44,574 families spread across three districts of Andhra Pradesh. Tribals constitute 50% of such a displaced population. [13] Human rights activists came out against the project because of these reasons.In addition, one activist pointed out that this interlinking of the rivers will harm the interests of the Telangana and Rayalaseemaregions of the state. [14] Environmental activist Medha Patkar said that t he project not only will displace several thousands of families, it will also submerge severalarchaeological sites, coal deposits, a wildlife sanctuaryand several hectares of farm land. [15] Sixty-four years after the initial conception of the project, the Government of Andhra Pradesh secured the environmental clearance from the central agency in 2005.This clearance was obtained after the state government prepared a ?4,500 crore forest management plan and rehabilitation and resettlement proposal covering 59,756 hectares that were being lost under the project. In addition, ?40,000 was to be allotted for each dwelling to be constructed for the displaced as against ?25,000 provided by other states. [16] Despite this clearance, the project faced political roadblocks. The Communist Party of India (M) and Telangana Rashtra Samithi were troubled with the issue of submerging agricultural lands and the detriment to Telangana, respectively. [17][18]Meanwhile, work on the project began in Apri l 2006 and was expected to be completed by February 2007. [19]After 30% work of excavation work on the canals and 15% of the spillway works had been completed, the work was halted in May 2006 to seek clearance from the Ministry of Forests and Environment. [20] The neighbouring state of Orissa also expressed its concern on the submerging of its land and decided to study this together with the officials from Andhra Pradesh. [21] In response, Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh Late Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy clarified that neither Orissa nor Chattisgarh would be affected by the construction.The problem continued until 2010, when Chief Minister of Orissa Naveen Patnaik remained steadfast in his demand for compensation and rehabilitation of tribals of his state who would be displaced due to the submerging of their land. Orissa and Chattisgarh have filed a petition in the Supreme Court against the Project which submerges large areas of its state and allege that Andhra Pradesh of going ahead wi th the project without the necessary permissions from CWC and Environment Ministry. The states also allege that public hearing in the effected areas for not held.

College Isn’t for Everyone

The words â€Å"You can’t†, have been apart of my mind set since day one. I was always told that it isn’t possible for me to be as smart as my sister, or on the same level of my brother who is special needs. I was always in the in between, but the main reason I am striving for success is because I know I can and even though at times I don’t think college is for me, I know I can achieve anything I set my mind to. In less than three years I will have a whole new life started for myself, all because I made it possible for myself to receive a college degree and start the perfect life full of success, money and happiness.Throughout W. J Reeves â€Å"College Isn’t For Everyone†, he point outs many topics that I believe effects me personally but also my peers. Attendance, happens to be one of them. If you don’t give your classes the time needed, you begin to slack in every way possible. â€Å"After four years, the bad habits of not being on time and attending sporadically have become second nature. Such habits are unlikely to make for a very productive worker†.In all honesty, this is one of the main things that I have problems with, because of health issues and the thirty minute drive to class sometimes I believe it isn’t worth it. But almost 99% of the time it is worth it, for all I know missing a class could end in my failing the class cause I missed certain notes or a quiz. With that in mind, referring back to â€Å"College Isn’t For Everyone† Reeves says â€Å"It is hard to be a productive worker if one appears occasionally, yet token appearances, sometime just cameos, are tolerated in college†.I believe if I make the effort to not miss class then I’m not wasting my education or money, I’m making it possible for the life I want three years from now. Experiencing college so far at community college has been everything I expected but so much better. I take pride in tell ing others I am a college student, because it shows that I have the initiative to strive for higher education to become the woman I want to be and have the life I dream of. With having only a day or two to socialize and spend time with friends, school has been my main priority.Which includes less time on my phone texting, or any social media sites. This relates back to Margaret Soltan’s essay â€Å"Better Living Through Consciousness: Why You Should Take Your College Education Seriously†, she discusses how technology should be limited to reduce distraction of students. She wrote â€Å"Students are gazing at all manner of stuff on their laptops (and in doing so distracting those students trying to pay attention to the front of the room); professors are staring down at their PowerPoint slides and reading the words on them aloud.In some classrooms, professors report that groups of students are gathering in various corners to watch films together on someone’s scree n while the professor attempts to lecture†. Many students use technology whether it’s a laptop, cell phone or IPad almost every class period you will find at least one student on a device. College depends on the amount of time and effort you put into it, I recently examined the amount of time I spend on work, school and the free time I do have.According to my time blog, I spent 8 hours working, 12 hours studying or doing school related things, and my free time was limited to sleeping. In total I spent 20 hours out of those two days working, studying or sleeping. With that in mind, my determination to be as successful as possible shines through, even with some struggles along the way. I truly believe success comes from your desire to be successful. As long as your mind is right about the life and future you have planned out then that dream can come true with a few dozen essays, a few math tests, maybe some biology labs too.But in today’s society a high school dipl oma can get you a job as good as a waitress at a restaurant, not a Oncology Nurse at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. The reason behind me attending college is because I want to have my dream job of being a nurse at night, a stay at home mom during the day and the money and happiness to have the lifestyle I had growing up. According to Margaret Soltan’s; Better Living Through Conciousness, â€Å"All brains eventually fade, but we shouldn’t, before our time, collude in that fading.We should cultivate the highest forms of consciousness that we can, while we can (Soltan). To me, I believe that if I’m not giving something my all from the beginning then there is no point in my doing it. I believe by sitting in this classroom today, I am saying yes to my education and to my future. Also in one of W. J Reeves articles, he says, â€Å"that 70% of the workers in the coming decades will not need a four-year college degree, but, rather, an associate degree from a community college or some type of technical certificate (Reeves).I have never been more shocked by a statement in my life, with this many people won’t have to say yes to their education for four years but two which might strike people to want to further there knowledge NEED HELP ON CONCLUSION! Works Cited Reeves, W. J. â€Å" College Isn’t for Everyone. † USA Today. CBS Interactive, 01 May 2003. Web. 29, Feb 2012. Soltan, Margaret. â€Å"Better Living through Consciousness: Why You Should Take Your College Education Seriously. † Inside Higher Ed. (2008): Web. 29 Feb. 2012.

Melodrama and TV serial in Guiding Light Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Melodrama and TV serial in Guiding Light - Essay Example Jonathan and Cassie are important individuals in the development of the storyline. The multiple lead characters connect the theme of the series and give the viewer the urge to want to watch it to the end. The presence of Jonathan and Cassie brings romance in the drama series. The use of leading characters decreases the attention from the lead characters to other characters in the sequel. The multiple characters allow the use of many storylines at once to provide fluidity in the storyline. The video illustrates that the character does not get an opportunity to resolve their problems. Guiding Light qualifies to be a TV serial. For example, Jonathan is not able to get vengeance for the death of his wife immediately. It is clear that viewers have to wait for the next episode to view the next episode. Resolution is among the components of a TV serial. Guiding Light qualifies to be a TV serial because it ends with a climax. It keeps the viewer with an urge to want to watch the next episode . For example, we see Jonathan planning the revenge for the individuals involved in the death of his wife. The climax plays an important because it produces a new conflict that keeps it interesting to watch. In the end, it is clear that the Cassie does make a choice of the casket to use for her daughter’s death. In conclusion, it is clear that melodrama and TV serials focus on the relationships and family. The main reason to focus on the family relationship is that family is one of the important institutions of the society.

MEASURING pH Lab Report Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

MEASURING pH - Lab Report Example The addition of Rolaid solution was carried out in increments of 10 mL to a maximum of 30 mL of Rolaid solution in soda. pH of the resulting solution was measured at each addition of the Rolaid solution using a pH meter. For the second titration run, the diluted lemon juice solution was gradually added to the milk. The addition of lemon juice solution was carried out in increments of 10 mL to a maximum of 30 mL of lemon juice solution in milk. pH of the resulting solution was measured at each addition of the lemon juice solution using a pH meter. Q 1. As more and more antacid is added to the soda, the pH tends to increase. The relationship between antacid and soda shows an increasing trend. The increase in pH is greater at the beginning but tends to taper off to approach a plateau. Q 2. As more and more lemon juice solution is added to the milk, the pH tends to decrease. The relationship between lemon juice solution and milk shows a decreasing trend. The decrease in pH is nearly constant overall leading to the conclusion that the relationship is linear. Q 3. As more and more lemon juice solution is added to the milk, the milk tends to curdle more and more. The constant decrease in pH indicates that the lemon juice is causing curdling and a net decrease in the amount of hydrogen ions in solution. Q 6. A buffer contains both hydrogen ions and hydroxyl ions though in weak concentrations. When an acid is added, the buffer solution consumes the hydrogen ions to keep the pH constant. When an alkali is added, the buffer solution consumes the hydroxyl ions to keep the pH

Industry Analysis & Company Profiles Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Industry Analysis & Company Profiles - Essay Example Some of these top companies that explore and refine oil include; Gazprom, Saudi Aramco and the Royal Dutch Shell companies. This paper will look at the three oil companies and give a detailed discussion of the historical background and their development over the years. Gazprom Neft is an oil company that has its headquarters in Russia has achieved to be among the fastest growing company in  oil production across the industry. Gazprom Neft has attained a 10.6% annual growth against  a  production volume of  10, 85 million tones (Usa, 2010). The Priobskoye Oil field that is owned by  Gazprom Neft- is  one of  the largest oil fields that the company owns and is also one of the most promising oil field. Full development of  this field began in  2004, and since then, the field has contributed to 33% of  the Company’s total oil output by 2011. The Company has plans to  design and develop new oil fields both in  both Russia and other countries outside Russia. There are fields found in  the north of  the Yamal Peninsula that have huge potential and are be  able to  produce more 20  million tones once they developed (Usa, 2010). Another oil company is the Saudi Aramco Oil Company. The Saudi Aramco company has always focused on initiatives that are seen to bear the potential to create and invest the oil sector in Saudi Arabia as well as create more jobs for the nationals of Saudi Arabia. Apart from being a leader in creating an enterprise culture in the Kingdom, the company wants to diversify the national oil economy and attract more overseas investors into the kingdom. In order for the company to achieve these objectives, there is a close collaboration with the different business lines that exist across the company that serves to leverage Saudi Aramco’s assets as well as its liabilities. The Localization & Clusters Department has the responsibility of seeing Saudi Aramco’s process of procurement of its goods and

Christianity versus Islamism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Christianity versus Islamism - Essay Example The objective of the essay is to compare and contrast two specific characteristics that are evident in two religions, one eastern religion and one Abrahamic religion, particularly Christianity versus Islamism in terms of belief system and rituals or rites. Likewise, two interviews each from the practitioner of the identified religions from any of the following sources: face to face, over phone, email, an online source, or even from a biography, is proposed to be used to solicit personal insights on the comparative details of the characteristics abovementioned. For the essay, a biography was used for points of views of the Islam faith; while a face-to-face interview with a Catholic practitioner was used for Christian views of the characteristics identified. ...eaven (a disciple died in his place) resurrection of Jesus affirmed denied, since he did not die second coming of Jesus affirmed affirmed means of salvation correct belief, faith, good deeds, sacraments (some Protestants emphasi ze faith alone) correct belief, good deeds, Five Pillars Rituals & Practices Christianity Islam house of worship church, chapel, cathedral, basilica, meeting hall mosque day of worship Sunday Friday religious leaders priest, bishop, archbishop, patriarch, pope, pastor, minister, preacher, deacon imams major sacred rituals baptism, communion (Eucharist) Five Pillars: prayer, pilgrimage, charity, fasting, confession of faith central religious holy days Lent, Holy Week, Easter Eid-al-Fitr, Eid-al-Adha, month of Ramadan other holidays Christmas, saints days Mawlid, Ashura major symbols cross, crucifix, dove, anchor, fish, alpha and omega, chi rho, halo crescent, name of Allah in Arabic Source: Religion Facts, 2011. As seen from the comparative review, distinct differences come in terms of various key elements with similarities only on the following accounts: birth of Jesus and his second coming, salvation sourced from practicing correct beliefs and angels and demons as spiritual beings. The rest of the characteristics manifest contrasting elements. Christians, particularly focusing on the Catholic Church, believe that God is the Supreme Power and Jesus was believed to be the Son of God. In Islam, there is no other God but Allah and Jesus was believed to be the second to the last prophet. Further, Catholics believed Jesus died on the cross and both Christians and Muslims believe that Jesus was ascended alive into heaven. The main books differ for both religions: Bible for the Catholics and Quran for the Muslims.

Promoting Emotional Wellbeing in Working with Children and Young Essay

Promoting Emotional Wellbeing in Working with Children and Young People - Essay Example Hence, promoting emotional well being in children and young people is very important for the development of a healthy society and the world. However, to eradicate emotional problems of young people from its roots, it is very important to understand that it is the home environment that shapes man’s personality and not the society. Hence, the best way to promote emotional well being in young people is to ensure a positive and nurturing environment at home so that the child develops high self-esteem and confident personality which helps him in facing any challenge that society has to offer. Importance of emotional well being The development of a society is possible only when the children and young people living in the society are emotionally and psychologically healthy, as they constitute the future of the society (DCFS 2010, p.3). Emotional well being of young people is important not only for their happy and fulfilled personal lives but also for the healthy growth of the communi ty as a whole (DCFS 2010, p.3). However, there are many challenges to the emotional well being of children and young people as they face many difficulties on personal, family and social levels which make them suffer from different emotional and psychological problems. ... This proves to be dangerous not only for their personal lives but also for the society as a whole. Hence, for the peaceful and positive existence of the individual and societies, emotional health of children and young people is the most important thing (DCFS 2010, p.3). The emotional development of a child begins at home (DCFS 2010, p.3). If a child does not get nourishing and positive environment at home, then he becomes incapable of developing trust in the outside world. It has been found that the foundation of the emotional health of a child is laid in the first two years of his life (DCFS 2010, p.3). If a child is nourished properly at this stage, then he becomes an emotionally healthy being and becomes capable of facing the challenges of life (DCFS 2010, p.3). However, the lack of nourishment at this stage leads to development of many psychological and emotional problems like fear, anxiety, violent tendency, lack of direction and most importantly, low self-esteem (Bernard, Ellis and Terjesen 2006, p.26). Hence, if a child is to grow into an emotionally and psychologically healthy human being, then his childhood has to be nourishing and loving. Impact of social and emotional problems Young people suffering from emotional and social maladjustment go through a lot of frustration and anger. The suppressed feelings try to find an outlet through indulgence in sex, drugs, alcohol and violence (Titley 2004, p.33). Violence in young people not only affects the victims of the violence but also affect the personal and social lives of people who display violent behaviour. It has been noted that children and young people who resort to violence suffer from depression, drug addiction,

Change Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 2

Change Management - Essay Example Qatar Airways seeks to increase Qatar Airway’s profit through the initiation of changes and practising effective leadership. It has the most identifiable brands globally with over 80% of the present market share in the aviation industry (O’Connell, 2011). It also offers quality training to its employees globally. In analysing the Qatar Airways, the primary focus will be on McKinsey’s 7S model. The 7S are structure, strategy, style, shared values, system, skills and staff. A strategy is a plan developed to build and sustain competitive advantage. The structure of a firm determines the efficiency in communication. An organisation’s system is the daily activities that members of staff undertake (Rahul & Kainth, 2014). Shared values are the core values of a company present in the general work ethics and corporate culture. The leadership style adopted plus the employees with their general capabilities make up style and staff. Workers’ skills that a company possesses to keep it successful also forms the most crucial part of McKinsey’s 7S model analysis (Kedia & Lahiri, 2007). The model works on the basis of the theory that the seven elements must be united and mutually supporting to realise positive performance in the firm. It can also be used to assist in identifying wh at should be realigned to increase performance. As a strategy, Qatar Airways uses its achievement as the â€Å"Airline of the Year† to advertise itself to the travelers all over the world. It received this title after the voting that took place at the respected Skytrax industry audit (Kedia & Lahiri, 2007). Qatar Airways Inc. has a complex structure. The airline presently operates 110 aircraft and has over 250 aircraft on order.

The subject is in HRD Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

The subject is in HRD - Essay Example Previously, human resources have not given importance to how companies assess the effectiveness of trainings and what the employees’ attitude towards training effectiveness is (Santos and Stuart, 2003). It is necessary to ensure that every training proves to be effective because of the high level of investment involved. To make sure that training is effective, it is also important to adopt a systematic approach to training that would include various phases such as identifying training needs, planning, delivery and evaluation (Keep, 1989). As Marching and Wilkinson put it, the evaluation of training is one of the most critical stages in the training process. The results of the evaluation are important because it can help in understanding the missing links and improving the program. For the employees, training would work to be effective only if it provides a high level of motivation, increased potential to perform their role and positivity towards their work (Wexley and Latham, 1991). The attitudes towards training get influenced by various factors, such as experience of previous trainings, reputation of the trainer, the effectiveness of the session, the content of the training, the style of training and so on. All these factors, in turn influence the trainees’ perspectives about the evaluation of training (Rigg, 1989). According to Noe, ‘the attitudes, interests, values, and expectations of trainees may attenuate or enhance the effectiveness of training’ (Noe, 1986). Hence, it is often a tough task to estimate the effectiveness of training from the perspective of employee attitude. The challenge is even higher when the trainees possess very different attitudes because of either cultural differences or geographical differences. As the employees would belong to diverse groups, their approach towards training would differ considerably. This study aims to explore the attitude that the employees have with regard to training and its effectiv eness, and how it varies in India and in the United Kingdom. This would help in understanding how the cultural as well as geographical backgrounds shape up the employee attitude with regard to training, as that will help to make the training programs customized and suitable for different groups of employees. The main parameters that would be considered in this study to see the employee attitude towards training effectiveness would be reaction to the training modules, the learning environment, noticeable behaviour change in the trainees and employee perceived training outcomes. Training for improvement job ability One of the key reasons why training is necessary is that it improves an individual’s capacity to perform his or her work more efficiently. In some cases, training empowers a person to develop the ability to perform the concerned work. While the criticality of this factor is understood worldwide, there is a significant difference in attitude in the way in which employ ees in the UK and employees in India perceive this. For example, according to Whitelock (2003), the employees of UK’s largest retail chain Tesco look at training from a very open perspective and consider it important as it helps to improve and do well in the long term. For them, training is not just a session to gather skills; instead, it

Final Paper African Americans Essay Example for Free

Final Paper African Americans Essay Through out history there has been a struggle for African Americans to be accepted in our society. An African American endures many more disadvantages than most white people. The media and other sources have made blacks to look the same and has portrayed them in a certain light that may not be fitting to all blacks. There are many misconceptions that people have of blacks. Many people and organizations have had a part in bringing equality and fighting for equal rights for black people. African Americans have been at a huge disadvantage in America from the beginning. Unlike many other minority groups in America, African Americans in many cases were brought here by force and not by there own will. (000000) The first African Americans came to America in the seventeenth century and were immediately forced to work for Whites. After much turmoil and even a civil war Blacks were finally given there freedom with the Emancipation proclamation signed and ratified in 1863. Even after the proclamation some blacks were still enslaved and freed blacks had little to no opportunity. The struggle continued into the next century as blacks finally received the right to vote with the ratification in of the 15th amendment. The 20th century contained a world filled by a segregated America between whites and blacks through jim crow laws that existed that restricted blacks from interacting with whites. With a history like that it is no wonder that African Americans still have disadvantages in our modern day. America today is known as the country of opportunity. Although there are many opportunities out there it seems that there are more opportunities for some groups more than others. Many companies and corporations still use race as a indicator for hiring employees. In one study done by the National Bureau of Economic Research, people with common black names were less likely to be called back for an interview based on there application alone then black people with common white sounding names. Job applicants with white sounding names needed to send out ten applications to get one call back while applications with common black names needed to send out about fifteen to get one reply. (Francis, www. nber. org/digest.com). The research was done withe resumes of the same qualifications. It is easy to see that Black people are constantly bombarded by inequality in the work force. If there were inequalities just based on names of applicants just imagine the inequality when employers actually see the race of the applicants. Black Americans have been stereotyped for years and continue to be today. The media is one great source of portraying African Americans in certain roles. African Americans are portrayed as criminals, drug dealers and sex offenders in many instances. Many Africans are outraged at how they are portrayed in the media. Protest groups such as the Young African Americans Against Media Stereotypes have done what they can to show there stance on stereotypical media portrayal. Majority of the time you see a young African-American male in the media he is singing, rapping, scoring a touchdown, dunking a basketball or committing a crime( http://www. yaaams. com/) Many stereotypes about black people are incredibly false. Many people still think that black people are only good at certain things like music and sports. This is a very false belief and black people have contributed heavily to all different sorts of fields. Many vital inventions that we use on an everyday bases were invented by black people. The dust mop, pencil sharpener, typewriter, and elevator were all invented by black people. (http://www. black-network. com) Our society would not be what it is if it were not for Garret Morgan, the young Black man who invented the traffic light. http://www. infoplease. com/spot/bhmcensus1. html.

The Impact of Firs Reforms on Tax Collection Essay Example for Free

The Impact of Firs Reforms on Tax Collection Essay Thus, it has been stated that the importance of taxation lies primarily in its ability to raise capital for the development and growth of the economy and also in assisting the regulation of the consumption pattern, resulting in economic stabilization and effective redistribution of income (ICAN, 2009). The Nigerian tax system takes after the political structure of the country. As we have three (3) tiers of government (Federal, State and Local Government), we also have a distinct tax administration at each tier of government with the joint tax board playing an overarching supervisory role. The Joint Tax Board (JTB) is an off shoot of the Income Tax Management Act (ITMA) 1961 with the main objective of bringing uniformity in the administration of the various regional tax administrations. The Joint Tax Board was established under section 86 of the personal Income Tax Act Cap p. 8 LFN 2004. The section provides that the chairman of the JTB shall be the chairman of the Federal Board of Inland Revenue (Amawhe A. S, 2010). The administration of taxation on the profits of incorporate companies is vested in the Federal Inland Revenue service (FIRS) whose management board is known as the Federal Board of Inland Revenue (FBIR) (Section 1-3 FIRS establishment Act). The various taxes collected by the FIRS are; (1) Companies Income Tax (2) Withholding Tax on companies, resident of Federal capital territory, Abuja and non-resident individuals (3) Petroleum Profit Tax (4) Value Added Tax (5) Education Tax 6) Capital Gains Tax on residents of the Federal capital territory, Abuja, bodies corporate and non-resident individuals (7) Stamp Duties on bodies corporate and residents of the Federal capital territory, Abuja (8) Personal Income Tax in respect of:- * Members of the Armed Forces of the Federation * Members of the Nigerian Police Force * Residents of the Federal capital Territory, Abuja and * Staff of the ministry of foreign affairs and non-resident individuals. (9) National Information Technology Development Levy Value added tax as one of the taxes collected by the FIRS is an area of taxation that has high prospects of improving the internally generated revenue of the Nigerian government. The VAT system in Nigeria started with acceptance of the recommendation of a study group on indirect taxation in November 1991. The decision to accept the recommendation was made public in the 1992 budget speech of the Head of State. This resulted in setting up the modified value-added tax (MVAT) committee on 1st June, 1992 as recommended by the study group. The introduction of VAT in Nigeria through Decree 102 of 1993 marks the phasing out for the Sales Tax Decree No. 7 of 1986. The Decree took effect on 1st December, 1993 but administrative arrangement, involving for tax purpose commenced January, 1994. Value Added Tax is a tax on the supply of goods and services which is eventually born by the final consumers but collected at each stage of production and distribution chain. The introduction of VAT made government reasoned that, it will be virtually impossible to evade tax (Olatunji, O. C. , 2009). The reforms of the various taxes collectible at the Federal level in Nigeria have been a key component of the economic reforms implemented from the second half of 2986. The reforms that characterized the taxes have been undertaken as part of the overall programme of making the public sector and its activities more efficient and growth-promoting across sectors of the economy (Olopoenia et al). As nearly all the taxes at the federal level have undergone one reform r the other especially in the area of structure, there is a need to ask whether the reforms have increase the tax revenue collected by the Federal Inland Revenue Service.

Pros And Cons Of Devolving HR Roles

Pros And Cons Of Devolving HR Roles Human Resource Management (HRM) has become more global and strategic and hence of higher importance to any organisation. Although many companies have recognised it, few are practicing many things in order to make their management of human resources more effective especially working more closely with the line managers. The success of an organization depends heavily on effective Human Resource Management practices and the competency of its human resources. Excellent companies recognize that human resources are their number one asset. This is true in the dynamic organization or industry. Therefore, employees must be adequately trained and retrained to ensure that their knowledge, skill and competency remain relevant and useful. It is a fact that the primary concern of an organization is its variability and hence its efficiency. One of the most distinguished management scientist, Tom Peters mentions in his book, In Search of Excellence using Hewlett Packard (HP) as a successful organisation that has implemented good use of line managers using HRM functions to become successful. He states, Although most top managements assert that their companies care for their people, the excellent companies are distinguished by the intensity and pervasiveness of this concern. He continues to describe this by giving various examples which are interesting to consider. According to him, eighteen out of twenty HP executives that were interviewed spontaneously claimed that the success of their company depends on the companys people-oriented philosophy. It is called the HP Way. It is the tradition of treating every individual with consideration and respect and recognising personal achievements. Dave (co-founder Packard) also believes in this philosophy. The dignity and worth of the individual is a very important part. A philosophy that has been a driving force in the organisations success is, First there should be highly capable, innovative people throughout the organisation second, the organisation should have objectives and leadership which generate enthusiasm at all levels. People in important management positions should not only be enthusiastic themselves, they should be selected for their ability to stimulate enthusiasm among their associates. The introduction to the revised corporate objective statement concludes: Hewlett-Packard should not have a tight, military-type organisation, but rather give people the freedom to work toward overall objectives in ways they determine best for their own areas of responsibility. In short, the most extraordinary trait at HP is uniformity of commitment, the consistency of approach and attitude. Wherever you go in the HP empire, you find people talking product quality, feeling proud of their divisions achievements in that area. HP People at all levels show boundless energy and enthusiasm (In search of Excellence Page 242 -246) To summarise, the philosophy behind this example is that the excellent companies emphasise the philosophy that says, in effect, respect the individual, make people winners, let them stand out, treat people as adults (In search of Excellence Page 277) Many researches in the recent years have highlighted the importance of line managers within HR processes. They carry out various duties of HR functions especially recruitment and selection and undoubtedly play a significant role in guaranteeing that employees are motivated, productive, competent and parallel with the business strategy as well as making sure that the organisation complies with the relevant laws and regulations. A line manager is responsible for an employee or a work group to a higher level of management line who is generally in the lower layer of the management hierarchy and the employees who report to him/her do not themselves have any managerial responsibility. One may find that occasionally a line manager may not have formal management education because he/she is generally promoted from within. The common management duties of a line manager may include as follows: People management Measuring operational performance Organising work allocation and rotas Monitoring work processes Dealing with customer/clients Line managers can play an important role and can assist the process of the revitalisation of an organisation with enhanced customer focus and staff performance. They ensure employees are motivated, productive and competent, and aligned behind the business strategy. They are also vitally important in making sure that the organisation complies with relevant laws and regulations. The people and performance research carried out for the Chartered Institute of Personnel Development (CIPD) by a team at Bath University (Hutchinson, 2003) found that the line managers played a vital role in terms of implementing and enacting HR policies and practices. They found that where employees feel positive about their relationship with their line managers they are more likely to have higher levels of job satisfaction, commitment and loyalty which are associated with higher levels of performance or discretionary behaviour. Discretionary behaviour is defined as that which goes beyond the requirement of the job to give extra performance which can boost the bottom line. Line managers also play the strongest part in structuring peoples actual experience of doing a job. According to an online survey of 121 organisations, collectively employing almost a quarter of a million people, shows that four in five (80.2%) organisations have devolved responsibilities such as managing flexible working requests and handling grievance and disciplinary procedures to line managers over the past few years. And two in three predict the role of line managers will take on even more HR functions over the next few years. (Williams, 2008) Also, another interesting finding was that the line managers claimed to be satisfied with the HR responsibilities that have been devolved to them and are keen to take on activities that relate explicitly to the development of their team. Most line managers report working closely with their HR counterparts and see the configuration moving towards a partnership. The line managers main concern is that a lack of support from HR during the delivery of the service can detract from the overall effectiveness. They also note that junior level line managers are likely to feel less supported by HR and comment that it is merely their high level position that drives the HR-line partnership in their situations. (Susan Whittaker, 2003). The role of line managers in both public and private organisations has changed quite significantly in recent years. The line managers have been allocated more responsibilities and are accountable not only for budgeting and allocating of resources, but most importantly for people management issues as per Hoogenboorn Brewster (1992.). According to some sources such as Storey (1992: 190), he argues that line managers may well be playing a far more central role in labour management than HR personnel. Whereas another source, Hales (2005) traces the greater involvement of line managers in HR issues to two developments. He argues that the line managers have been taking on the role of a coach , conductor or a leader of a highly motivated team as a result of the spread of Human Resource Management and the adoption of more participative forms of management concerned with securing high performance through commitment rather than control. Human Resource Devolvement has led to line managers acquiring middle management functions and becoming mini-general managers accompanied by the loss of supervisory functions downwards to work teams. It is hence more appropriate for line managers to take responsibility for people development since they operate alongside the people they manage and therefore it is argued that that their reactions are more immediate and appropriate (Whittaker and Marchington, 2003). Indeed, across Europe, Larsen and Brewster (2003: 229) suggest, there is now a widespread drive to give line managers more responsibility for the management of their staff and to reduce the extent to which personnel or HR departments control or restrict line management autonomy in this area. Initial research indicates some positive support for line manager HR involvement. Hutchinson and Purcell (2003) found that line manager involvement in coaching, guidance and communication positively influences organisational performance. Likewise, a case study of line manager involvement in HR in the NHS by Currie and Proctor (2001) found that line managers are important contributors to strategic change when provided with discretion in implementing HR strategies within their own work groups. Whittaker and Marchington (2003) maintain that line managers increasingly welcome HR responsibilities and are prepared to take them on as they add variation and challenge to their work. Gibb (2003) argues that requiring line managers to be more involved in the HR issues may also lead to a transformation of managers own attitudes towards HR, organisational change and thus a transformation of human relations at work (Gibb, 2003). By increasing line manager involvement in HR, it is argued that better workplace conditions will result as line managers have better understanding than specialists of the type and range of interventions needed. In this pursuit, line managers are assisted by more effective and user-friendly human resource information systems, new technologies and Human Resource call centres, making it possible for line managers to handle some HR work without the assistance of Human Resource Department. It is seen that a speedy resolution of conflicts and lower rate of employee turnover is possible by moving Human Resources responsibilities closer to employees through line managers. Indeed, providing greater authority to line managers and encouraging greater initiative taking may address a long-standing criticism levelled at HR departments; namely a lack of appreciation of the immediacy of the line managers problems (Harris, L, Doughty, D. Kirk, S. (2002). According to Maxwell and Watson (2006), business partnerships between HR specialists and line managers have emerged as the dominant model for Human Resources operations within organisations. Similarly, Ulrich (2005) outlines the role of HR Strategic Partners as working alongside line managers to help them reach their goals by crafting strategies to maximise productivity through alignment of corporate resources to these goals. We can hence understand that devolving HR responsibilities to line managers offers a number of benefits to organisations. A greater freedom to HR specialists to engage with strategic issues is provided enabling them to forge closer relationships with line managers and a partnership model towards managing employees is developed. Similarly, line managers understand and appreciate the complex nature of dealing with the employee issues and become more encouraged and involved in everyday workplace management tasks. However, line managers have pointed various issues concerning HR involvement despite the above mentioned benefits of participating in HR activities. It will obviously increase their workload by getting involved in HR tasks. Increased workload leads to feelings of incompetence among line managers and reluctance to take responsibility for devolved HR activities. Indeed, this has led to feelings amongst some line managers of being dumped upon (Renwick 2003: 265) or pushed upon to take new HR responsibilities (Harris, L, Doughty, D. Kirk, S. (2002):) due to a climate of fear and mistrust driven by HR. The experience and ability of line managers to take responsibility for HR issues may present a major barrier to devolvement. Both Whittaker and Marchington (2003) and Hailey, V.H., Farndale, E. Truss, C. (2005) suggest that line managers skills and competence in HR practices may be limited and a lack of training in this area will undoubtedly affect a line managers overall effectiveness. I ncapability and misunderstanding of HR practices on the part of line managers will prevent the organisation from developing a strong learning culture (McCracken and Wallace, 2000) with McGovern et al. (1997) arguing that a lack of training may lead to inconsistencies in implementing organisational HR policies potentially exposing the organisation to lawsuits and employment tribunals. Their research though, indicates that management development is not a priority for the top management and reliance on the notion of trial-and-error is prevalent in organisations. Furthermore, the failure of organisations to take a long-term developmental view is exposed by a reluctance to set aside a specific budget for training and the belief that management development is the individuals responsibility. Many line managers get under pressure to meet operational targets, and often struggle to fulfil their people management duties. This is partly because they are not equipped with the tools, skills and knowledge they need to be effective. As a result, managers sometimes effectively abdicate responsibility for aspects of people management. A commonly used phrase is thats HRs job often tends to be heard a lot in many companies whether relating to employee development, managing an individuals performance or dealing with absenteeism issues. Recent research involving nearly 3,000 employers by the Work Foundation and the Institute for Employment Studies found that organisations with a comprehensive, structured approach to people management, covering areas such as recruitment, development plans and employee appraisals, perform better than those without, as indicated by higher profits per employee, higher profit margins and ultimately higher productivity. Sometimes its easy to be critical of managers, but often theyre not properly equipped to be effective. Investment in management training requires clearly set-down policies and procedures. There appears to be lack of clear guidance and easily accessible information, its not surprising that many line managers response when an issue arises is either to pick up the phone to HR or to ignore the problem and hope it would goes away or transfer responsibility to someone else. It is interesting but to be fair to line managers, sometimes part of the problem may also lie with the HR department itself. For all the talk about wanting to devolve more responsibility to the line, in practice HR professionals are sometimes reluctant to trust line managers to manage. They are unwilling to give managers the tools and information they need to do the job effectively: after all, knowledge is power, and by being the gatekeepers of all information relating to employees, policies and processes, HR may feel that it has power. This is clearly not in the long-term interests of the HR function. HR teams must realise that if they are to fulfil their potential and be true partners to the business, then they need to trust their managers with the day-today stuff. This doesnt mean being unsupportive but continued support to line managers to assist them with responsibility for the way that people are managed. It does mean defining strategies and policies and then putting in place the frameworks and the systems that enable managers to take accountability for the day-to-day execution but in a controlled, informed and effective way. Line managers must aim to be more accountable whereas HR professionals being more strategic could assist when working together. Better solutions are needed to support key people management processes and its likely that intelligent use of technology is likely to represent at least part of the answer. Technology-based services offer organisations the potential to give much greater support to their line managers, but in a highly cost-effective way. Line managers can be given tools to walk them through common processes, access to comprehensive information about their employees, guidance on how to manage effectively, and prompts when tasks or actions are due all accessed via a single web-based service. In view of the above, making line managers responsible for the delivery of HR can be complex. Line managers may not possess the required skills needed to implement HR initiatives and may feel ill-equipped or insufficiently trained to accept responsibility for day-to-day HR tasks. Devolving HR responsibilities may also represent a lack of appreciation of the workloads, time pressures and overall priorities of line managers threatening the overall standards of HR delivery across the organisation and diminishing the value of HR. It is found that getting line managers involved in HR tasks is a step towards achieving a more strategic, value-added approach to managing employees. Line managers play an important position in the organisational hierarchy and can directly affect the quality of front-line services. It will greatly increase the existing pressures of excess workload and the need to deliver on short-term priorities by devolving line managers with HR responsibilities. It will also mean the requirement of display of a higher level of HR competency by the line managers which calls for the need for high-quality training programmes for line managers to ensure that they feel confident in discharging their new HR responsibilities. Such training may help organisations avoid costly litigation and damage to their public reputation. HR professionals must engage with line managers and develop a partnership to bring about a speedier resolution to workplace conflicts by allowing line managers to seek guidance and advice whenever required thereby making line managers more responsible for HR. Table 1: Pros and Cons of Devolving HR roles to Line Managers Pros Cons Increase speed of decision -making Line management responsibility for people issues Local management accountability Potential cost savings Strategic role for central HR/IR Short lines of communication Lack of time to perform HR duties Increase in line managers workload Additional costs of training managers Increase in grievances/tribunal cases Potential for HR/IR to be marginalized People management not considered to be part of the line managers job

Biodiversity and Land Quality Essay -- Infrastructure Biodiversity Ess

Biodiversity and Land Quality Human society's progression through time has resulted in many environment-altering effects, particularly those brought about by industrialization and rapid population growth. The combination of increased numbers of humans and improved technology has created the need for better management of resources and transportation across the globe. This need has produced great leaps in infrastructure, such as roads and dams. However, the introduction of this infrastructure into the natural world has adversely affected the environment. Biodiversity is often drastically altered, resulting in changes in breeding and predation patterns which, in turn, lead to species extinction and degradation of soil and vegetation. The complex intertwining of many facets of the environment create the potential for humans to have tremendous impact upon the world in which they live, and the effects of infrastructure upon biodiversity and land quality have a far-reaching influence on the environment that calls for cr itical evaluation. As global population increases, a more economically efficient use of resources is necessary to sustain demand for fuel, food, and water. Cities, and the huge populations that they contain, "are parasitic on the surrounding landscape," requiring large amounts of resources to be imported into them (Southwick 169). Thus, more reliance is being placed upon technological innovations and industrialization in order to efficiently support the world's growing numbers, and concentrations, of humans. As a result, infrastructure, particularly dams and roads, are becoming prominent features of the modern landscape. Natural ecosystems are often adversely affected by the environmental modification infrastructure ... ...if industrial activities are not kept at bay. Works Cited: Balmford, Andrew, Georgina M. Mace, and Joshua R. Ginsberg. "The challenges to conservation in a changing world: putting processes on the map," in Conservation in a Changing World, ed. Mace, Balmford, and Ginsberg. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge Univ. Press, 1998. GLOBIO. www.globio.info. UNEP 2001. Myers, Norman. "The Rich Diversity of Biodiversity Issues," in Biodiversity II: Understanding and Protecting Our Biological Resources, ed. Reaka-Kudla, Wilson, and Wilson. Washington, DC: Joseph Henry Press, 1997. Southwick, Charles. Global Ecology in Human Perspective. Oxford Univ. Press, 1996. Steadman, David W. "Human-Caused Extinction of Birds," in Biodiversity II: Understanding and Protecting Our Biological Resources, ed. Reaka-Kudla, Wilson, and Wilson. Washington, DC: Joseph Henry Press, 1997.

Doublespeak: Nuclear Power Plants :: essays research papers

Doublespeak: Nuclear Power Plants Harrisburg, Pennsylvania is the home of a large, efficient, and threatening nuclear power plant, Three Mile Island. Nuclear power plants have the awesome ability to create large amounts of power with very little fuel, yet they carry the frightening reality of a meltdown with very little warning. Suppose you live in Harrisburg and you here that the nearby nuclear plant had a partial meltdown, how would you react? When most people here the word meltdown, they automatically think radiation, cancer, and death. Now suppose your living in Harrisburg and you here the nearby power plant experienced a "normal aberration", you would probably react differently. Even with the highly proven safety of nuclear power, there is still fear from citizens and the chance of an accident. The nuclear power industry uses misleading language, and words understood by nuclear employees only, or euphemisms and jargon, to mislead the public and make them believe that there is nothing to be afraid of and that there is no possibility of a major accident. They take the public's biggest fears, meltdowns and contaminations, and make them into "events" and "infiltrations." This use of doublespeak is misleading to the public and may make them believe that a major accident hasn't happened, or the accident was a normal event or minor incident. In 1979 a valve in the Three Mile Island stuck open, allowing coolant, an important part of the plant, to escape from the reactor. An installed emergency system did its job and supplied the reactor with necessary coolant, but the system was shot off for a few hours due to employee error. Corrective action was eventually taken, and only a partial meltdown occurred. The plant's containment building was able to hold most of the radioactive products from entering the local environment. Only a small amount of activity escaped, that activity was carried by coolant water that had overflowed into an auxiliary building and then to the environment. Though the event didn't pose any extreme harm to citizens, this one billion dollar incident wasn't an everyday event or normal occurrence, as the industry's doublespeak makes you believe. In 1986 a similar but more serious event occurred in the USSR. A nuclear power plant at Chernobyl exploded and burned. The explosion was caused by an unauthorized testing of the reactor by its operators. Radiation spread rapidly forcing 135,000 evacuations within a 1000 mile radius, and more then 30

Public Schools in America :: Argumentative Persuasive Essays Education

Public Schools in America To respond to the statement made by Kozol regarding the nature of public school in America, one must consider the question of what exactly education is for in this country; what is it's purpose. I believe that education is used to produce what Kozol refers to as "good citizens:" "defeated, unprovocative" people that will fill the necessary jobs, pay the necessary taxes, and perform all the other duties put forth by the government such as voting and jury duty. This is why the situation in America's public schools has not changed since the time Kozol wrote The Night Is Dark..., and why things will probably not change without a revolution within the public school system. For my part, I do not think that schools are the places for children to learn morals and ethics. I believe that those are things someone must learn on their own. The method of authority, described by Charles Peirce in his writings, has no place in the formation of anyone's beliefs. Beliefs are totally subjective--that is, there are no "right," or "wrong" beliefs to hold. Therefore, why should the teaching of morals and ethics, which fall into the category of beliefs, be condoned. According to Kozol, "the first act of an ethical child... might well be to start the demolition of a manifestly anti-ethical structure like a public school," and "no institution goes about the conscious task of subsidizing it's own demolition." If public schools are inherently unethical, why would we want them teaching America's children ethics? The answer, of course, is that we would not want them to. If, for arguments sake, the schools were ethical, then teaching ethics to children would not result in "it's own demolition," just a change in how it teaches. Obviously, though, to change the way the public schools teach, the people in power, who currently run the schools, must be removed. They are the ones who will not "subsidize" their own demolition. One of the problems with America's public school system, as well as democracy, is human nature. Once someone is in a position of power, they generally do not want to leave, even if their act of staying is detrimental to the organization they are involved in. The problem of the "lack of morals and ethics" in this country is a large one, however, and is continually growing. It is understandable that some, or maybe a majority of the people, look at the state of the country, and think that reform of the public schools is the answer.

Hofstede’s Model Of Organisational Culture

ABSTRACT Organizational culture has become the buzzword in popular management with many experts suggesting it as an important determinant for organizational success. Management researchers have been quick to point out the impact that organizational culture may have on the effectiveness of the organization and have called for an increase in the attention paid to organizational culture. With more emphasis being placed on organizational culture, it becomes important to understand the appeal of this concept and examine its impact on management within the organization This paper thus explores on the concept of â€Å"organizational culture† and examines its impact on behaviours and management of the organization. This will involve identifying one associated mode or theory and evaluating or determining the extent to which the chosen model plays a part in defining the style of management. A case study of Sony Ericsson will also be employed to help illustrate the application of hofstede’s model of organizational culture. The study will also identify limitations of this model and the strengths that have enabled it to be used as a basis for most research analyses. INTRODUCTION Organizational culture has become the buzzword in popular management with many experts suggesting it as an important determinant for organizational success (Schein 1999). While the association between organizational culture and organizational success is far from certain, it is obvious that each organization has its own unique social structure which drives much of the individual behavior within that organization. Management researchers have been quick to point out the impact that organizational culture may have on the effectiveness of the organization and have called for an increase in the attention paid to organizational culture (Siehl & Martin 1998). With more emphasis being placed on organizational culture, it is important to understand the appeal of this concept and examine its impact on management within the organization. This study thus explores on the concept of organizational culture and examines its impact on management style. This will involve identifying one associated mode or theory and evaluating or determining the extent to which the chosen model plays a part in defining the style of management. In this regard, Hofstede’s ideas will form the basis of our analysis of organizational culture. WHAT IS..â€Å"CULTURE†? The term culture has been given varied set of definitions by various scholars. Kroeber & Kluckholn (1952), for example, defined culture as consisting of patterns of behaviour acquired and transmitted through symbols, and which constitute distinctive achievement of human groups including their embodiment in artifacts. Hofstede (1980), on the other hand, defined culture as the collective programming of the mind which differentiates members of one human group in the society from the rest. While Symington (1983) defined it as a complex whole which include belief, knowledge, morals, art, customs, capabilities and habits acquired in the society. These definitions suggest culture to consist of a set of value systems that are shared equally by members in the society and which binds people together. With the above conceptualization of culture, we can now define what we mean by organizational culture. ORGANIZAITONAL CULTURE Organizational culture can simply be defined as a set of values, assumptions and beliefs that define the behaviours and style of management in an organization (O’Reilly et.al, 1991). There are three main sources of influence believed to interact to create organizational culture. These are the beliefs and values held by the leaders of the organization, the characteristics of the industry in which the organization is within, and the broader society in which the organization operates (O’Reilly et.al, 1991). The most influential model used by management researchers and which has formed the basis of most analyses of organizational culture is Hofstede’s model. While most noted for his groundbreaking work on dimensions of national culture, Hofstede also identified six dimensions of organizational culture which can be used in defining the style of management in an organization.Process oriented vs goal orientedThe process oriented vs result oriented dimension is concerned with the effectiveness of the organization. A key feature of a process oriented culture is the means or rather the way in which work has to be conducted. While in a result oriented culture, emphasis is placed on the goals of the organization. That is, employees are primarily out to achieve specific organizational goals even if the risks involved are substantial (Hofstede 2001).Parochial vs professionalThis dimension reflects the internal and external frame of the organization (Hofstede 2001). In a local culture the id entity of the employees is with the immediate manager. Hence employees within this culture are internally focused and directed and there is also a strong social control. The converse is true in a professional culture where the identity of the employees is largely determined by the profession and content of the job.Open system vs closed systemThe open system vs closed system dimension reflects the communication climate of the organization (Hofstede 2001). For an open system, new employees are welcomed and there is the belief that everyone fits well in the organization. While for a closed system, it is difficult to join and it is believed that only a certain kind of individuals may fit in the organization.Employee oriented vs job orientedThis dimension relates to the management philosophy in the organization. In an employee oriented organizational culture, concern is mainly on employee satisfaction. The staff members feel that their own personal problems and welfare is taken into acco unt by the organization. While for a job oriented organizational culture, work is characterized by heavy pressure to perform the specific task at the expense of the employee (Hofstede 2001).Tighter control vs loose controlThis dimension relates to structuring, control and discipline in the organization. A tight control culture is characterized by seriousness and punctuality while the features of a loose control culture are casual and improvisation (Hofstede 2001). Examples of organizations that are often found within tighter controls are banks and pharmaceutical companies while those found in loose control are research laboratories and advertising agencies (Hofstede 2001).Normative vs pragmaticThis dimension reflects on the methods employed by organizations when dealing with the environment in general and customers in particular. It describes the level of â€Å"customer oreintation†. Pragmatic cultures are flexible and more market driven while normative cultures are rigid and often emphasize on following applicable laws and rules (Hofstede 2001). Hofstede labeled organizations involved in the sale of services as pragmatic while those engaged in application of laws and rules as normative. CRITICISMS OF HOFSTEDE’S MODEL Hofstede’s ground breaking work on culture has indeed provided valuable insights into the management styles and dynamics of cross cultural relationships. However, his highly influential findings have not been without criticisms. A number of academics have discredited his work in part or whole. Critics have argued that survey was not an important instrument that could be used in accurately determining and measuring the culture of organizations (Jones 2007). A survey of a set of limited questions certainly cannot adequately and comprehensively provide an in-depth understanding of culture of an organization. In response to this criticism, Hofstede argued that survey was one method and certainly not the only method that was used. Hofstede’s model has also been criticized on the basis that the five or six dimensions did not provide sufficient information about cultural differences (Jones 2007). In this regard, Hofstede agreed that his analysis was too narrow to credibly argue for the universal validity and sufficiency of the six dimensions of organizational culture that he identified. And in fact, suggested for additional dimensions to his original work. He also noted that some of the six dimensions that he identified may be less useful when analyzing other types of organizations in other countries (Jones 2007). A third criticism is that Hofstede’s work is seen as outdated, especially with the rapid changes in the global environment (Jones 2007). This critique has further been put forward by Holden (2002) who points out that the data used by Hofstede in his dimensions of organizational culture seem to have been gathered over 30 years ago and is therefore no longer applicable to the modern day world. In response to this criticism, Hofstede (1998) pointed out that a number of recent replications had confirmed his findings. Hofstede’s model is also criticized on grounds of his one company approach. Hofstede’s analysis supposed that a single IBM organizational culture could be used to make inferences about the entire world wide organizational cultures (Jones 2007). A study fixated on one company certainly cannot be used to make inferences about the entire world wide organizational cultures. The validity of his dimensions of organizational culture has thus been questioned and his model considered to be non-comprehensive as the study was based on data collected from a single company using questionnaires that lacked academic foundation. Critics have also argued that Hofstede failed to recognize the diversity in his analysis of IBM culture (Jones 2007). He ignored extensive literature which suggested that there were multiple, dissenting and emergent cultures in an organization. If we are to ignore the assumption of a single culture in IBM and acknowledge the diversity in culture at IBM, then his analysis is likely to collapse. After years of publication of his analysis on organizational culture based on the IBM survey data, Hofstede begun to acknowledge the presence of cultural diversity within and between units in the same organization. However, despite recognizing flaws in his work, Hofstede fails to admit error or weakness in his analysis. Accepting that organizations had multiple cultures as opposed to his assumption of a single culture would seem to undermine a crucial part of his analysis. ARGUMENTS IN FAVOUR OF HOFSTEDE’S MODEL Despite these criticisms, Hofstedes work is widely acknowledged and used by many scholars and practictioners due to its mainly appealing attributes. Sondergaard (1994) noted that hofstede’s analysis on corporate culture received 1,036 citations in comparison with another highly regarded study by Miles & Snow (1978) which only received 200 citations. Moreover, a number of researchers have replicated Hofstede’s study including Trompenaars & Hampden-Turner (1997). Some of the strengths that have enabled it to be used as the basis of most research analyses include: Relevance: – Hofstede’s discoveries came at a time when there was very little known about culture and businesses were just globalizing and were in need of advice (Jones 2007). Hofstede’s framework exceeded this demand and became widely accepted by many scholars and practitioners. His work offered guidance to managers who were expanding their businesses as cultures were clashing and creating difficulties (Jones 2007). Rigour – Hofstede model is based on a rigorous research design with systematic data and is built on a coherent theory (Jones 2007). Simplicity: – Knudsen & Loloma (2007) argues that hofstede’s model has remained influential and successful due to its simplicity of appliance. His analysis of culture offered a simple way of understanding organizational culture. The six dimensions that define organizational culture put forth by Hofstede made it easier for managers and researchers to understand corporate culture without the need of ex pert knowledge. Relative accuracy: – strength of Hofstede’s model is also reflected in its level of accuracy. Majority of the replications conducted by other researchers have confirmed Hofstede’s findings. Four replications have concurred fully with Hofstede’s findings while fifteen showed partial confirmation (Jones 2007). Moreover, Hofstede’s framework has become very influential in management studies and is most widely cited in social sciences. His work remains instrumental in the implementation of various business systems in organizations including entrepreneurial behaviour, workgroup performance and dynamics, leadership styles, participative management and management control systems among many others (Jones 2007). A CASE STUDY OF SONY ERICSSON In order to explore on the extent to which hofstede model plays a part in defining management style, we will conduct a case study of Sony Ericsson, a joint venture between Sony and Ericsson. Sony Ericsson has its headquarters and all of its management based in the UK. The firm aims at becoming the most innovative and attractive mobile brand globally (Cooper & Ross 2007). ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE IN SONY ERICSSON Organizational culture has long been acknowledged as an important factor for driving behaviour, decision making and shaping management style at Sony Ericsson. With regard to the rules and procedures, Sony Ericson follows a certain procedure laid down by the firm (Cooper & Ross 2007). While it is not a requirement for employees to follow strict dress code and office timings, it is mandatory for employees at Sony Ericsson to abide by the business ethics and code of conduct (Cooper & Ross 2007). Since the firm does not follow a strict dress code and office timings, it can be concluded that the organization employs a loose control culture. With regard to employee evaluation and performance, the staffs at Sony Ericsson are not differentiated on their individual performance and are allowed to participate in decision making except at the higher level which requires the executive management team only (Cooper & Ross 2007). Sony Ericsson’s corporate culture is also more employee oriented with managers more concerned on the welfare and employee satisfaction. Sony Ericson’s organizational culture is also very professional as employees are subjected to scrutiny checks prior to their appointment to ensure that individuals hired are competent and have a certain level of experience deemed necessary for the position (Tayeb 2001). With regard to normative and pragmatic approach, the firm is seen in between, as its organizational culture is both normative and pragmatic oriented. While Sony Ericsson focuses on meeting customer and market needs, the firm also adheres to certain rules and guidelines in meeting these needs (Tayeb 2001). Clearly, Hofstede’s model plays a significant part in defining the management style and organizational behaviour at Sony Ericsson. CONCLUSION There is no doubt that Hofstede’s model is one of the most widely acknowledged and used piece of research. His ground breaking work on culture has indeed provided valuable insights into the management styles and dynamics of cross cultural relationships as evident in Sony Ericsson. A number of academics have however discredited his work in part or whole. Although Hofstede’s work on culture has been heavily criticized on grounds of his one company approach, survey methodological approach, and for fewer dimensions and his assumption of a single organizational culture; majority of his findings have had remarkable effect on practitioners and researchers and continue to guide multi-national practitioners into the â€Å"global† future. While there is a high level of controversy in his analysis of culture, there is no doubt that his study is one of the most influential in the analysis of organizational culture. REFERENCE Hofstede, G., 2001. Culture’s consequences. 2nd edition. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage publications Hofstede, G., 1998. â€Å"Attitudes, Values and Organizational Culture: Disentangling the concepts.† Organization Studies 19(3): 477. Hofstede, G., 1980. Culture’s Consequences: International differences in work-related values. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage Publications. Hofstede, G., Neuijen, B., Ohayv, D. D., and G. Sanders, 1990. â€Å"Measuring Organizational Cultures: A Qualitative and Quantitative Study across Twenty Cases†. Administrative Science Quarterly, 35(2), 286-316. Holden, N., 2002. Cross-Cultural Management – A Knowledge Management Perspective. Harlow: Prentice Hall. Jones, M.L., 2007. Hofstede – culturally questionableOxford, UK. Kroeber, A. L. and C. Kluckhohn, 1952. Culture: A critical review of concepts and definitions. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University press Knudsen & Loloma, 2007. The consequences of â€Å"culture’s consequences†. A critical approach to culture as collective programming applied to cross-cultural crews. Journal of Maritime Affairs. Vol . 8 (2), pp.105 -121 Miles, R and C. Snow, 1978. Organizational Strategy, Structure, and Process. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill. O’Reilly, C., Chatman, J., and D. Caldwell, 1991. â€Å"People and organizational culture: A profile comparison approach to assessing person-organization fit†. Academy of Management Journal, 34:487-516. Rose, R., 2008. Organizational culture as a root of performance improvement: research and recommendations. Contemporary management research. Vol.4, p. 43-46 Schein, E., 1999. The corporate culture survival guide. San Francisco: Jossey Bass. Schwartz, S.H., 1994. â€Å"Beyond individualism/collectivism†. In: Kim, U., Triandis, H.C. et al. (eds) Individualism and Collectivism: Theory, Method, and Applications: Vol. 18, Thousand Oaks, CA, Sage Siehl, C. & J. Martin, 1998. â€Å"Measuring Organizational Culture: Mixing Qualitative and Quantitative Methods†. In: Jones, M.O, et al. (eds), Inside Organizations: Understanding the Human Dimension, Newbury Park, CA, Sage Publications, pp.79-103. Sinha, 2000. Patterns of work culture. Sage publications Sondergaard, M., 1994. â€Å"Hofstede’s consequences: A study of reviews, citations and replications.† Organization Studies 15(3): 447. Symington, J. W., 1983. Learn Latin America’s Culture. New York Times. Tayeb, M. H., 2001. International Business Partnership. New York: Palgrave. Trompenaars, F. and C. Hampden-Turner, 1997. Riding the waves of culture: understanding cultural diversity in business. London, Nicholas Brearley.

History of Minority Populations in the Child Welfare System

The child welfare system was created as the need to address the basic needs and provisions of poor children was more and more evident throughout the 19th century. Through the passing decades, the need to provide supportive services for these children's families was also a concern. Among the agencies responsible for providing these services are state and county child protective services as well as adoption agencies and foster homes. The main goal of these agencies is the protection of children who have experienced abuse from those who are responsible for their care such as parents or guardians. The ultimate goal is to have abused children reunited with their biological parents -when possible- once the danger of repeated abuse has been curbed. The decision to place children up for adoption is a measure of last resort. However, it is evident that children of minority groups are the ones most represented within the national child welfare system. The Relevant History of the Minority Populations Minority populations within the United States have always been at a significant disadvantage socially and economically. The roots of these disadvantages among minorities go back to the initial colonization and subsequent expansion of this country. For example, the African American and Native American populations were once the target of systematic, institutionalized racism. The literal and cultural destruction of Native Americans and the racially biased laws passed by federal, state and local governments against the African American population have subsequently resulted in a socio-economic breakdown within these groups (Martin, 2007). These disadvantages have caused a social stagnation among subsequent generations within these groups. Undeniably, the stresses of disadvantaged families trying to reach self-sufficiency have caused many to experience behavioral and emotional issues of which the result is many times the abuse of their children or children in their care. However, there has been a response to these issues within the Human Services community especially from the child welfare practice. The U. S. Child Welfare Response The resulting awareness that there is in fact a need to concentrate efforts in helping improve the quality of life among minorities and their children has caused the Human Services community to implement more comprehensive actions towards the social assistance of these children. In recent decades the preservation of the family unit has been the ultimate goal when a child protective services agency interferes. But other preventative measures have also been implemented many of which have seen positive results. Contemporary Efforts to Intervene With Child and Family Services Respecting Cultural Diversity The necessary interference from child protective services mostly results in temporary placement of abused or allegedly abused children in foster homes. As previously mentioned, the goal is eventual reunification of the child with his or her family but not until there is clear evidence that there have been efforts made by the biological parents to make behavioral improvements within their families to prevent any future abuses of their children. Programs available to parents of abused children range from counseling, parenting classes, treatment for substance abuse, anger management, employment services and housing services (Martin, 2007). Preventative measures have also been taken by social service agencies in the form of early intervention and prevention programs. These services can include family counseling, parenting training, household budgeting, stress management, and in some cases cash assistance (Martin, 2007). There is however another area of focus among the child welfare system in regards to the methods of providing services for children of American subcultures. Methods of Cultural Competent Practice in Child and Family Service Settings Cultural competencies are the methods developed for Human Services professionals that are designed to increase cultural awareness and sensitivity. The application of the principles learned with their application allow the child welfare worker to better serve minority children and their families. As the child welfare professional applies what he or she learns regarding the culture of the child and his or her parents, the worker will achieve the ability to respect the dignity of all people regardless of race, gender, age or sexual orientation (Martin, 2007)

Network Attached Storage Devices

If you have multiple computers on your network, you're a candidate for a network-attached storage (NAS) device. Some NAS servers simply act as a shared volume for backing up and sharing files across your network, while others can do a lot more, such as sharing a printer among your networked PCs, acting as a media streamer or even a surveillance system by supporting IP cameras. You'll find NAS devices with a single drive and those with multiple drives that allow for greater data protection and higher capacities. Here are two examples of some of the best rated network-attached storage devices available: Synology Disk Station DS412+ is four-bay NAS (network-attached storage) server in a way is the follow-up to the award-winning DS410 that was released more than two years ago, and makes an excellent upgrade. It now offers an excellent drive bay design, much faster speeds, support for USB 3. 0, and a lot more. Running the Disk Station Manager (DSM) 4. 0 operating system — and upgradable to future versions, such as the upcoming DSM 4. — the new server offers a vast number of features with a stellar Web interface that operates much like a native operating system. Each of its four drive bays comes with a tray that you can easily pull out. After that, you'll need a standard screwdriver to attach or detach a standard SATA hard drive. The server supports both 2. 5-inch (laptop) and 3. 5-inch (desktop) hard drives, of any capacities. This means with all four bays occupied by 4TB hard drives — the top capacity of 3. -inch hard drives to date — the server offers up to 16TB in RAID 0 or 12TB in RAID 5. RAID 0 is optimized for top performance and capacity. RAID 5, which is the most popular RAID setup for multiple-drive-bay NAS servers, balances performance and storage space while still guarding data against a single-hard-drive failure. The bottom line: Synology DiskStation DS412+ makes an excellent NAS server for advanced home and small-office networks. The Synology DiskStation DS712+ : The new dual-bay server is now much faster and much better designed, supports up to 16 IP cameras, and can be scaled to up to seven hard drive bays, when coupled with a DX510 Disk Station Expansion Unit (not included), for a maximum 21TB of total storage space. The DS712+, however, also shares a few minor shortcomings with other Synology servers. These include the overly simplistic desktop setup utility, called Synology Assistant, and the primitive Data Replicator backup software. The server also comes with only one IP camera license, meaning you'll have to pay more if you want to use two cameras or more for a surveillance system. The DS712+ supports both desktop (3. 5-inch) and laptop (2. 5-inch) standard SATA hard drives, of any capacities. Out of the box, the dual-bay server can host only two hard drives, but it comes with an eSATA port that works with Sinology's DX510 DiskStation Expansion Unit to host another five drives. It also has three USB ports, two on the back and one on the front. These ports can be used to host more external storage devices or printers. The front USB port can also be used to quickly back up the entire contents of a USB storage device, such as a thumbdrive, via the quick-copy button right above the port. Unfortunately, none of these USB ports supports USB 3. 0 standard. While this is not an end-of-the-world shortcoming, it's rather disappointing considering that USB 3. 0 has been out for a long time, and other lower-end NAS servers, such as the Netgear ReadyNAS NV+ v2, already support it. The bottom line: The Disk Station DS712+ is one of the best dual-bay NAS servers on the market, for both home and office environments. It's also one of the few that offer storage scalability for those who want to start small and add more capacity later. In conclusion, after researching NAS, they basically come in all sizes, based on what your uses are for, from picture/music sharing with family to file backup, that can be accessed from any computer, but logging on to your drive.

The Concept Of Agency Theory Recognizes There Are Fundamental Differences Accounting Essay

IntroductionAn bureau relationship is a contract under which one or more individuals ( the principal ( s ) ) engage another individual ( the agent ) to execute some service on their behalf which involves deputing some determination doing authorization to the agent ( Jensen and Meckling, 1976 ) . If both parties to the association are public-service corporation maximizers and they may hold different purposes and aims, it is inevitable that the agent will non ever move in the best involvements of the principal. The construct of bureau theory originated from the work of Adolf Augustus Berle and Gardiner Coit Means, who were discoursing the issues of the agent and rule every bit early as 1932. Berle and Means explored the constructs of bureau and their applications toward the development of big corporations. Michael C. Jensen and William Meckling shaped the work of Berle and Means in the context of the risk-sharing research popular in the 1960s and '70s to develop bureau theory as a formal construct. Jensen and Meckling formed a school of idea reasoning that corporations are structured to minimise the costs of acquiring agents to follow the way and involvements of the principals. ( Renee O'Farrell, 2010 ) The construct of bureau theory recognizes there are cardinal differences in how stockholders, directors, and even bondholders interpret their several relationships to an organisation. While they may portion some common ends and aims, there is the possible for at least some aims to emerge that are focused more on single enrichment than on the wellbeing of the whole ( Kleiman, 2010 ) . For illustration, directors may be more focussed on constructing a repute for themselves, perchance making their ain power bases within the construction of the larger organisations. Stockholders may go more focussed on gaining dividends now and less on the hereafter of the concern. Bondholders may be concerned merely with the undertaking associated with the bond issue, and lose sight of how the overall stableness of the company can hold a negative impact on the return earned from that bond ( Kleiman, 2010 ) .Contribution of bureau theory to the development of accountingCurrent mainstream accounting resea rch is based extensively on economic theoretical accounts of bureau that represent he runing company ( house ) directors â€Å" agent † and the single investors â€Å" chief † . This chief agent theoretical account has besides been implicitly adopted in the ordinance of accounting, which focuses on the demands and public assistance of a diverse group of single investors who entrust their wealth to the control of director. ( Bricker, Chandar 1998 ) Accounting plays an of import function as a critical portion of the contracts that define a house. For illustration, imparting agreements between a house and its creditors frequently contain several accounting based compacts. Accounting-based fillip programs are often a constituent of executive compensation programs. Accounting steps are normally used in the public presentation rating of a house ‘s cost and net income centres. ( Bricker, Chandar 1998 ) The construct of Positive Accounting Theory has emerged, in recent old ages, which is based on the theory of bureau. It focuses on the relationships between the assorted persons involved in supplying resources to an organisation and how accounting is used to help in the operation of these relationships. While normative theories tend to urge what should be done. When decision-making authorization is delegated, this can take to some loss of efficiency and consequent costs. For illustration, if the proprietor ( chief ) delegates decision-making authorization to a director ( agent ) it is possible that the director may non work every bit difficult as would the proprietor, given that the director might non portion straight in the consequences of the organisation. Any possible loss of net incomes brought approximately by the director underperforming is considered to be a cost that consequences from the decision-making deputation within this bureau relationship – an bureau cost. The bureau costs that arise as a consequence of deputing decision-making authorization from the proprietor to the director are referred to in Positive Accounting Theory as bureau costs of equity. ( http: //www.download-it.org/free_files/Pages % 20from % 20Chapter % 207 % 20Positive % 20Accounting % 20Theory-d0385ad3b7925717c0b72a06b16de4f4.pdf ) Positive Accounting Theory, as developed by Watts and Zimmerman and others, is based on the cardinal economics-based premise that all persons ‘ action is driven by opportunism and that persons will ever move in an timeserving mode to the extent that the actions will increase their wealth. Impressions of trueness, morality and the similar are non incorporated in the theory ( as they typically are non incorporated in other accounting or economic theories ) . Given an premise that self-interest thrusts all single actions, Positive Accounting Theory predicts that organisations will seek to set in topographic point mechanisms that align the involvements of the directors of the house ( the agents ) with the involvements of the proprietors of the house ( the principals ) . ( http: //www.download-it.org/free_files/Pages % 20from % 20Chapter % 207 % 20Positive % 20Accounting % 20Theory-d0385ad3b7925717c0b72a06b16de4f4.pdf ) Some of these methods of alining involvements will be based on the end product of the accounting system ( such as supplying the director with a portion of the organisation ‘s net incomes ) . Where such accounting based ‘alignment mechanisms ‘ are in topographic point, there will be a demand for fiscal statements to be produced. Directors are predicted to ‘bond ‘ themselves to fix these fiscal statements. This is dearly-won in itself, and in Positive Accounting Theory would be referred to as a ‘bonding cost ‘ . If we assume that directors ( agents ) will be responsible for fixing the fiscal statements, so Positive Accounting Theory besides would foretell that there would be a demand for those statements to be audited or monitored, otherwise agents would, presuming opportunism, seek to exaggerate net incomes, thereby increasing their absolute portion of net incomes. ( http: //www.download-it.org/free_files/Pages % 20from % 20Chapter % 207 % 20P ositive % 20Accounting % 20Theory-d0385ad3b7925717c0b72a06b16de4f4.pdf )Agency Theory and Corporate GovernmentPersons are by and large taken to be preoccupied with Generally the basic unit of analysis is taken as the ‘individual ‘ who is preoccupied with maximizing or at least fulfilling their public-service corporation ; conceived typically in footings of a tradeoff between work and leisure. It is this blend of false independency and self-interested thrust that creates the jobs within bureau relationships. ( J Roberts, 2004 ) Using this construct to corporate administration, in effect of the separation of ownership and control, it is the stockholder who is taken as the ‘principal ‘ and the job is how the principal can do certain that his ‘agents ‘ – company managers – work for the fulfilment of stockholders involvements instead than their ain. The redresss to this construct of the bureau job within corporate administration involves the credence of certain ‘agency costs ‘ involved either in making incentives/sanctions that will aline executive ego involvement with the involvements of stockholders, or incurred in supervising executive behavior in order to restrain their self-interest. ( J Roberts, 2004 ) As these premises have been read onto corporate administration, and informed its reform in recent decennaries, they have resulted in what are now an about cosmopolitan set of techniques and patterns designed to command the behavior of executives both within the corporation and externally ( Walsh and Seward 1990 ) . Inside the company, boards have basically two agencies to exert control over executives ; they can fire them and they can give them incentives – portion options, long-run inducement programs. For these levers to work, nevertheless, boards must be populated with ‘independent ‘ non-executives who are willing and able to supervise executive public presentation, peculiarly where there are possible struggles of involvement. The growing and development of both the figure of non-executives on boards every bit good as the increased specification of their function and conditions of ‘independence has characterized board reform around the universe. The separa tion of the function of main executive from that of the non-executive president has been portion of this ; in the linguistic communication of Cadbury it is intended that this ensures that no 1 person has ‘unfettered ‘ powers of determination. The creative activity of audit, wage, and nominations commissions all staffed by independent non-executives, is besides common and ideally ensures both the proper usage of inducements and a high grade of monitoring of executive public presentation and decision-making. To these internal controls are added a scope of external controls. Foremost here has been the focal point on enhanced ‘disclosure ‘ , and the ‘transparency ‘ that this allows, chiefly of fiscal public presentation but late besides of societal and environmental public presentation ( Dissanike 1999, Zadek 2001 ) . The purpose is that the portion market is thereby better informed such that all relevant information is impacted into the share-price ( Fama 1980, Barker 1998 ) . There is besides a market for corporate control ( Cosh et al 1989, Robert 2004 ) that ideally allows for weak direction squads to be displaced by strong squads that will run companies to better consequence for stockholders. In recent old ages at least at a policy degree at that place has besides been concern that stockholders – in the signifier of the big institutional investors – taking on their duties as proprietors ( Myners, ISC 2002, Simpson and Charkham, Robert 2004 ) through exerting proper examination and influence both publically and through their private contacts with investors ( Roberts et al 2003, Robert 2004 ) .Covering with Agency Problems – Reward strategiesThere are two polar places for covering with shareholder-manager bureau struggles. At one extreme, the house ‘s directors are compensated wholly on the footing of stock monetary value alterations. In this instance, bureau costs will be low because directors have great inducements to maximise stockholder wealth ( Eugene and Jensen, 1985 ) . It would be highly hard, nevertheless, to engage gifted directors under these contractual footings because the house ‘s net incomes would be affected by economic events that are non under managerial control. At the other extreme, shareholders could supervise every managerial action, but this would be highly dearly-won and inefficient. The optimum solution lies between the extremes, where executive compensation is tied to public presentation, but some monitoring is besides undertaken. In add-on to monitoring, the undermentioned mechanisms encourage directors to move in stockholders ‘ involvements: performance-based inducement programs direct intercession by stockholders the menace of firing the menace of coup d'etat Most publically traded houses now employ public presentation portions, which are portions of stock given to executives on the footing of public presentations as defined by fiscal steps such as net incomes per portion, return on assets, return on equity, and stock monetary value alterations. If corporate public presentation is above the public presentation marks, the house ‘s directors earn more portions. If public presentation is below the mark, nevertheless, they receive less than 100 per centum of the portions. Incentive-based compensation programs, such as public presentation portions, are designed to fulfill two aims. First, they offer executives inducements to take actions that will heighten stockholder wealth. Second, these programs help companies pull and retain directors who have the assurance to put on the line their fiscal hereafter on their ain abilities-which should take to better public presentation wealth ( Eugene and Jensen, 1985 ) . An increasing per centum of common stock in corporate America is owned by institutional investors such as insurance companies, pension financess, and common financess ( Kleiman, 2010 ) . The institutional money directors have the clout, if they choose, to exercise considerable influence over a house ‘s operations. Institutional investors can act upon a house ‘s directors in two primary ways. First, they can run into with a house ‘s direction and offer suggestions sing the house ‘s operations. Second, institutional stockholders can patronize a proposal to be voted on at the one-year shareholders ‘ meeting, even if the proposal is opposed by direction. Although such shareholder-sponsored proposals are nonbinding and affect issues outside daily operations, the consequences of these ballots clearly influence direction sentiment. In the yesteryear, the likeliness of a big company ‘s direction being ousted by its shareholders was so distant that it posed small menace. This was true because the ownership of most houses was so widely distributed, and direction ‘s control over the vote mechanism so strong, that it was about impossible for heretical shareholders to obtain the necessary ballots required to take the directors ( Kleiman, 2010 ) . In recent old ages, nevertheless, the main executive officers at American Express Co. , General Motors Corp. , IBM, and Kmart have all resigned in the thick of institutional resistance and guess that their goings were associated with their companies ‘ hapless runing public presentation. Hostile coup d'etats, which occur when direction does non wish to sell the house, are most likely to develop when a house ‘s stock is undervalued comparative to its possible because of unequal direction ( Chen et al, 2006 ) . In a hostile coup d'etat, the senior directors of the acquired house are typically dismissed, and those who are retained lose the independency they had prior to the acquisition. The menace of a hostile coup d'etat subjects managerial behaviour and induces directors to try to maximise stockholder value ( Kleiman, 2010 ) . In the best instance scenario, bureau cost is managed in such a manner that the involvements of all parties is protected, and the organisation is able to boom as a consequence ( Tatum, 2010 ) . Even if the assorted types of costs or disbursals involved are identified, if the actions pursued to make a balanced divergency of control are non effectual, the organisation is extremely likely to endure, sometimes to the point of complete failure. When this occurs, the collective and personal ends and aims of directors, stockholders, and bondholders are all undermined to some extent, ensuing in losingss for everyone concerned ( Tatum, 2010 ) .