Compare or Contrast Public and Private Companies

In today’s highly commercial world, one of the key objectives of starting a business is to make profit. While this might be true and important to every business, â€Å"most people believe that a business should not focus solely on profitability, but on the quality of products and services it offers to its customers†.This essay will discuss the various perspectives on the topic and will to a large extent agree with the view that businesses should not just focus on profit, by looking at customer desire for high quality product and their willingness to pay, then highlighting how focus on quality can lead to lower cost of product and profitability; as well as how quality influence organisation to be socially responsible, sustainable and profitable.First, a strong reason to concentrate on improving quality of product or services of an organisation is the fact that customers desires high quality good, and are willing to pay for value added. This was corroborated by (Nagar and Rajan 2001), who found out that â€Å"poor product quality reduces customer goodwill and loyalty which in turn affects future revenues as dissatisfied customers take their business elsewhere or pay less for the firm’s product. Such a product and the firm producing it acquire a bad reputation since poor product quality leaves a lasting impression on the consumer who perceives it as a low quality brand. In order for a product to be a perceived as a premium brand, a firm must continually improve on the quality of its products or services. A satisfied customer base lead to good brand perception and will open the door to numerous repeated purchases and referrals which will in turn help the firm to grow its market share, become more competitiveness and increase its profitability.Focusing on quality significantly lowers cost of production at long run. Operations Management (Russell and Taylor, 2000) explains that, manufacturing of products to a high quality standard through implem entation of quality management system have a large impact on overall quality cost reduction, it also argues that it saves time and money by reducing the amount of defective products that could result in wastes, thereby lowering significantly the costs of production, as well as cost to re-work defective products.Without a quality management system, poor-quality and defective products may finds their way into the market, through to the customer leading to warranty claims, product returns and in extreme litigation from product liability or injury to the customer. This may have a serious financial implication to the company as the costs associated with product recall and warranties would be enormous and in extreme case the damages imposed due to litigation could make the company insolvent, leading to a total collapse.However, an opposing view on this is that profit maximization is should be the main focus of the business as long as it pays its taxes and operates within the ambit of the law (Friedman, 1962). Certainly, this view may have worked for organisations in the 1800’s; it definitely does not apply in today’s modern and globalised world. The perspective is not only very narrow in view; it also fails to take into consideration other stakeholders who are affected by its activities of, but can also affect its existence.To these types of organisations, making ethical decisions is seen only from the viewpoint costly and profit. Organisations operating for profit alone are yet to appreciate the advantages of good corporate social responsibility and capitalize on it to grow their businesses in a sustainable and socially responsible manner. This drive for profit has led many to slash of employee’s benefits and salaries benefits; pollute the environment and cause permanent damage to the ecosystem all in bid to improve their bottom-line and many have earned a very bad reputation, suffer product boycott and tarnish their corporate image.In concludi ng this essay, as much as profit is very essential to the survival of a business, I want to agree that businesses should focus more on the improving quality of its products or services. This can be clearly seen to from the fact customer expects high quality at good value always, and because improving the quality will eventually bring down cost of production for a company. As well, quality focus drives a company to take ethical decisions and operate in a socially responsible and sustainable manner.It may be tempting for a business to sacrifice quality in order maximize its profit. However, it benefits will only be in the short term. A simple focus on profit maximization could destroy the continued existence of the business, not to mention the society in which it operates. A firm aiming extreme profit might purposefully cut corners during a project, knowing it gets the perks of a better quarter for now; knowing a future management team will have to deal with the damage of spill-induce d lawsuit, fines, and a haul-up to it at the Criminal Court.

Braveheart -Movie vs. Real Life Essay

This Essay is about the differences in the movie BraveHeart vs. accual events in the life of William Wallace(AKA BraveHeart) a Scottish peasant and freedom fighter fighting for his country’s freedom from the unfair rule of the English King Edward II(Longshanks). It goes over differences such as the battle of Stirling Bridge and when and how Hollywood came into play. This essay was assigned in my history class after watching the movie BraveHeart and reading about the life of William Wallace in our text books. The idea was to learn about his fight for freedom†¦. Braveheart -Movie vs. Real Life The name Braveheart refers to a Scottish peasant named William Wallace whom which fought for Scotland’s freedom against the English King, Longshanks (Edward II). There is little true knowledge known about William Wallace, and what is known is questionable. Recently there was a movie made about the life of William Wallace, which was titled Braveheart. Overall, the movie portrayed a very clear picture of William Wallace’s life, but there were also some things that happened in the movie that were fiction. Such as there wasn’t a bridge at the battle of Stirling Bridge, the relationship between the Princess and William Wallace, and the Hollywood stuff in the movie. In this essay I will talk about these ways in which I feel that some of the movie was fictional. The first thing is the battle of Stirling Bridge. In real life, the battle took place on a bridge. In the movie, however the battle took place on a large grassy battlefield. The Scottish were quite quick to attack the English who were trying to assemble on the other side of the bridge. That was the way the Scottish won in the actual battle. However in the movie, the Scottish just got lucky and won the highly outnumbered battle. This is probably the most noticeable piece of history poorly portrayed in the movie. The second is the relationship that William Wallace had with the Princess of England. This is ridiculous for several reasons. First, a royal princess would most likely never touch a dirty, Scottish peasant; forget having a  serious relationship with him. And second the princess would have only been about 6 or 7 years old when this situation would’ve taken place. So that is another thing that was quite fictional in Braveheart. The last difference that I want to point out is that there were a lot of little things that I think didn’t happen in real life, and were used because it was a Hollywood movie. An example is that when they were in battle all of the Scottish mooned the English. It is possible because of their ancestor’s, the Kilts, fighting style, but it still seems unlikely to me. Also there is the way that William Wallace killed the Scottish Nobles. He just charged on his horse into their bedrooms in the middle of the night and slit their throats. Things like that probably didn’t happen at all. So in conclusion, Braveheart was a quite informative and entertaining movie that showed a good idea of the life of William Wallace. However there were several things such as there wasn’t a bridge at the battle of Stirling Bridge, the relationship between the Princess and William Wallace, and the Hollywood stuff in the movie, that made the movie less factual than possible. No matter what it was still a good movie, and I would recommend it to somebody wanting to learn about Scotland’s past andor the life of William Wallace.

A Political Economic Social Technology Analysis Of Malaysia Tourism Essay

A Political Economic Social Technology Analysis Of Malaysia Tourism Essay 0.0 Introduction Nowadays international business is a vital aim for every firm despite small firm or large firm and they are moving toward to international business for the sake of foreseeable future of their business. Besides, international business is known to be business dealings crossing national borders at any stage of the transaction which included trading such as import and export activities that carry out by the small and large firm from domestic to international market across the world (King, 2008; Aneff, 2010). Moreover, at present, international business can be acknowledged as global business whereby the firms have to adapt their businesses to the outside world in different markets that the firms seek and approach to and deal with many different cultures that concern in every country (Nakate, 2010; King, 2008). With the changing liberalization strategy in the whole world, a lot of firms are gaining benefits from international trade and investments. On top of that, an agre ement of GATT (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade) was introduced to get control over the rate charges of the tariff and trade barriers (Geneva, 1986). In contrast, after the formation of GATT, in year 1995 followed by the formation of the World Trade Organization (WTO). Besides, there are 2 important forces that drive a business to international business which are the technological development and the disappearance of a substantial part of the communist world (Lausanne, n.d.). Shangri-la Asia Limited is a company with the principle activity of investment holding which focusing on the business and operation of hotels as one with associated real estate properties with providing hotel management or related services (Bloomberg, 2009; Shangri-La Asia Limited, 2009). The company mainly focuses in operating hotels and leasing spaces for commercial and residential. Shangri-la was incorporated in Bermuda and its main headquarters is located in Quarry Bay, Hong Kong. Furthermore, Shangri -la Asia Limited was founded in year 1971 and until now, Shangri-la has been in operating in the industry for 39 years and operates its hotels in the company of Shangri-La, Rasa, Trader, Summer Palace, and Shang Palace. Moreover, the group managed 65 hotels at the end of 2009 with 47 hotels invested as the equity which managed by its subsidiaries. Besides, as of year 2009, Shangri-La hotel employs approximately 260,000 employees in the Asia countries (Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts, 2010). 1.0 Macro Environment 1.1 Political Environment In China, the government attaches great importance to the tertiary industry in their country and there was positive government policies advance tourism in order to build tertiary industry to be one of their pillar industries (Lew, Yu, Ap, Zhang, 2003). Besides, the hotel and tourism industry in China had rapidity raise after the entry of World Trade Organization (WTO) to the domestic market in China. As according to the announcement from China Nationa l Tourism Administration (CNTA), with the entry of WTO in China, it brings the foreign international hotel industry to invest and set up hotel in China and the government of China approved the application of setting up wholly foreign-owned travel agencies in China thus, demand for hotel industry boosted up (Xinhua, 2004). Moreover, base on the Chinese government’s policy of long term goal, the inbound tourist arrivals to China will achieve 210 million by the year of 2020 in which this would benefit the hotel and tourism industry in China to gain more profit on the tourist visit. For instance, base on the information published by the Shanghai Tourism Commission (STC) in China, the entry of foreign travel companies would help to stimulate and rise of the business of the local tourism industry in the case of SARS that happened seriously in China in 2003 (China Daily, 2004). On the other hand, the political issue would be on political tension between Taiwan and Mainland China and these threats would be considered as the unforeseen event that the hotel developer and investor will take into account (Guo, et.al., 2004).

Transportation Security Administration Research Paper

Transportation Security Administration - Research Paper Example The agency’s duties and responsibilities have necessitated the need to bring together various employees prior to the specific activity integral to all the activities that the agency undertakes. These are: Transportation Security Officers and Inspectors, National Explosives Detection Canine teams, Federal Air Marshals and VIPR teams (Balog, 2007). Airport inspector turnover is a persistent problem that the TSA has had to deal with. Year in year out, inspector turnover has affected performance and discharge of security measures in many airports of the US. There has been an observed persistent pattern of screeners’ turnover, resulting in delayed screening procedures in many US airports. This problem alongside that of selecting and training TSA inspectors can be addressed from the point of view of a criminal justice administrator. In addressing this issue in this perspective, TSA airport inspector turnover can be reduced in a number of ways, among them: Tracing the root cau se of the problem Managing the turnover experienced in the TSA is a positive move by the management in the recent past. However, in addressing this problem, it is fundamental to trace the path from which this problem emerged. The system outlays a clear form of activity coordination between and among all the departments under the TSA. Inspector turnover is not just an issue that emerged out of the blues. The activities, duty and responsibility discharge by these inspectors must have been challenged at some point, resulting in this problem. It is ascertained that the TSA inspector turnover is the highest compared to other security agencies in the US (Steve, 2010). Once the root cause of the problem has been identified, then other prospects in regard to reducing this turnover can be pursued. Policy formulation and implementation Employment and work policies that are currently in place have not fully met employee welfare. This is evidenced by the consistent efforts to improve salaries a nd work duties of TSA employees, especially the inspectors (Welch, 2010). The turnover has been accelerated by lack of employee-work functionality and operation management systems. These systems should be designed and put in place to oversee employer-employee conduct in the line of duty and responsibility. Putting these systems in place would ensure that instead of inspector turnover being persistent; the arising issues that result in the turnover are addressed, thus reducing turnover numbers through the set system. Policies that are tailored towards aiding this process should be well formulated and implemented for the benefit of all stakeholders in the public transport sector, TSA included. Monitoring of the TSA’s office Many TSA inspectors have termed the TSA office as ineffective and inefficient. They claim that at various instances the office fails to give proper information about specific duties and responsibilities of the inspectors. Once hired, the inspectors have foun d the terms, requirements, duties and responsibilities to not meet their expectations. As a result, many inspectors have quit their jobs. On the same note, terms of employment are not clear, making some employees to go long as part-timers before they are permanently employed. Even on part-time employment basis, shifts of work keep varying, making these part-timers fixed to this job with no opportunity to do

Smart Phones Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Smart Phones - Essay Example Previous phones only had basic functions of calling, messaging and the use of the calculator. However, smart phones have the ability to visit internet pages and even make video phone calls. Another advantage of smart phones is the fact that it is convenient. The contemporary world is laden with different issues and having a smart phone is one very reputable thing. With a smart phone, looking for information on the internet is very simple and one has the ability to solve various issues instantaneously (Stafford, 2009). There are very many disadvantages with regard to smart phones and one of them is regarding the price of the gadgets (Chen, 2011). The price of normal mobile phones is very low but since the integration of smart phones, the prices have changed. The fact that these phones have many applications makes their prices higher than that of normal phones. Another disadvantage of the mobile phones is with regard to their sensitivity. Smart phones have the reputation of being very sensitive as compared to other normal mobile phones and this leads to their ease in breakage. It is critical to understand that despite the widespread positive regards for the smart phones, they are also very

The assignment should be presented as a Journal opinion article and Essay

The assignment should be presented as a Journal opinion article and address an economic issue of current interest to Wall Street - Essay Example Political economy integrates anthropology, sociology, philosophy and sciences of nature. All these together create building blocks for methodology to comprehend social change along with styles of development. The enactment of one must affect the other. There is a worldwide agreement that politics matter a lot in developing countries which implies that study of â€Å"Political Economy† plays a crucial role in economic development. Political goodwill and stability are the vital prerequisites for any government to understand socio-economic and political growth along with development. Political instability brings ambiguity in the future economy policies of a country and deleteriously affects investors. Political stability and economic progress must be determined jointly and must necessarily remain bedfellows. Mark Zandi is one of the foremost economists of Moody’s Analytics where he performs economic based research. Moreover, Dr. Zandi is the co-founder of economy.com. Dr. Zandi’s research primarily involves financial market, macroeconomics and public policy reforms. Dr. Zandi has defined economic impact of various governments expenditure policies as well as tax systems and has also evaluated numerous monetary policies (Moody's Analytics, Inc. â€Å"Mark Zandi | Chief Economist, Moody's Analytics†). ... Zandi (Tracy, â€Å"‘Corrosive’ Political Conflict Is Holding Back U.S. Growth†). A brief government shutdown lasting for 2 or three days is capable enough to create a modest impact in reducing real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth by 0.2%. If it continues for two or three weeks â€Å"significant economic damage† will be the result and GDP cut would be 1.4%. Economic growth diminished noticeably during the shutdown of about three weeks in the late 1995 and in early 1996 (Newsmax Media, Inc. â€Å"Moody's Zandi: Prolonged Gov. Shutdown 'would likely bring another Recession†). In this regard, it is determined the US Congress failed to sanction legislations appropriating funds for the year 2014 which is considered to be the main reason behind the US government shutdown. Social security along with Medicare are not entirely self-funded like Federal Reserve System but partly self-funded and subjected to administrate shut-down along with failure if the g overnment becomes unsuccessful to meet the financial obligation. The 16 days long US shutdown in October 2013 was the third lengthiest government shutdown. Around 700,000 thousand federal workers had been indeterminately furloughed after arising of deadlock between Democrats and Republicans. NASA was completely closed and passport applications as well as cheques remained unprocessed (Telegraph Media Group Limited. â€Å"US Government Shuts Down As Congress Misses Deadline†). During the October 2013 shutdown Congress was trying for a temporary conciliation to raise the US borrowing limit to reopen the government. The Congress was intending to maintain the compromise till market fall sharply. The business owners should be

Managing Successful Projects Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Managing Successful Projects - Assignment Example The project management approach outlines more than 40 processes that are necessary for project management and group the processes into distinct process categories and â€Å"Knowledge areas† (Zarafani 2011, 38). The standard’s process categories are â€Å"initiating, planning, executing, monitoring and controlling, and closing† of projects while knowledge bases are â€Å"project integration, scope, time, cost, quality, human resources, communication, risk, and procurement management† (Zarafani 2011, 38). The Knowledge scope has further been extended to include â€Å"project safety, environmental, financial, and claim management† (Zarafani 2011, 38). The approach values project requirements from stakeholders’ perspectives and considers clients’ level of utility, control measures, periodic improvements, and prime management’s initiatives throughout projects. It however deals with a single project at a time (Zarafani 2011, 39). The United Kingdom’s â€Å"Project Management Body of Knowledge,† also known as PM BoK, is another standard approach to project management. The approach is almost a reflection of the United States’ version but identifies 52 subjects that are considered in seven elements of project management. ... ndards, it is distinct and offers elements such as â€Å"customer focus, management responsibility,† role of stakeholders to a project, quality, and periodic improvements during a project’s lifestyle (Zarafani 2011, 40). The â€Å"Competency Standards for Project Management† from Australia is another standard approach to managing project. It derives its basis from the American model but incorporates standards to ensure compliance with professionally approved procedures (Zarafani 2011, 40). PRINCE is another standard approach to project management. It identifies universality in project implementation efforts subject to specified conditions. It must be â€Å"successfully used everywhere,† must be â€Å"robust, internally consistent and free from evident fault,† is clear and easy to understand, and is â€Å"viable,† â€Å"scalable,† and â€Å"relevant† (Roberts 2013, p. 20). I have taken the United States based PRINCE approach. My choice is based on the approach’s constructs that guarantees success and efficiency besides its clarity, simplicity, and predetermined viability, scalability and relevance (Roberts 2013, p. 20). The process of developing an effective project management environment No standardized strategy exists for developing an effective project management environment. Processes for motivating members of a project team can however develop a motivated team and an effective environment for implementing a project. This can however be achieved through a comprehensive approach that meet team members’ needs such as ensuring â€Å"interesting and challenging work,† â€Å"professionally stimulating work environment,† ensuring strong leadership and growth among team members, developing interpersonal potentials, defining responsibility and restricting dynamism of involved

Discussion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 8

Discussion - Essay Example They develop socio-psychological problems, resulting in low confidence and low adjustment within the given paradigm and become ‘depressed’. The widespread implications of depression amongst the employees significantly impacting the economic performance, socio-psychological well being of the workforce and organizational capabilities become urgent issues that need to be addressed. Effective interventions and treatment of the mental illness needs to be taken by from the holistic point of view because holistic approach treats the disease, not as an isolated event but as part of the wider perspectives that takes into account the physical, mental and social aspect of the individuals. Harter, Schmidt and Keyes (2003) assert that ‘presence of positive emotional state and positive appraisals of the workers and his or her relationships within the workplace accentuate workers performance and quality of life’. The job satisfaction, encouraging work environment and leadership initiatives that work towards mutual respect, shared learning and understanding become major facilitating agents of improved performance. Empowered workforce and proactive management promote positive attitude and impetus for higher level of achievement. Thus mental and physical wellbeing of the workers becomes important consideration for management, consultants and employees. (279) Through the ages behavioral scientists have tried to explain human behavior for the wider welfare of human race. Human behavior under normal and excruciating circumstances differ widely and is often subject to one’s approach and understanding of the issue that broadly confines to individual’s choice and thereby his or her actions. Some scientists broadly categorize abnormal behavior in terms of 4 Ds of human behavior described as: deviation from the generally acceptable social behavior or acts considered ‘normal’ by people at large; deviation from the social

Film Michael Collins Movie Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Film Michael Collins - Movie Review Example Collins, one of those who participated as a foot soldier in the rebellion, was captured after the crushing of the Easter Rebellion. However, he was released and began carrying out and played an important role in revitalizing the armed resistance. He pioneered urban guerrilla warfare. He established a grassroots army of volunteers made up of young idealists and poor workers to fight for freedom. Others acted as an intelligence network that looked for information to expose British informers and spies, Irishmen who by working for the British were seen as traitors to the cause of national independence. This basic formula of forming an informal army, acting in small effective and closely-knit teams, consisting of poor and marginalized idealists, most of them young, who then used violence, force, and fear to intimidate an overwhelmingly powerful and organized ruling government, has been copied by later rebel leaders and Marxist revolutionary thinkers, notably Che Guevara and Carlos Marighella. Collins realized that attacking an organized force on the latter's own terms characterized by larger numbers and superior firepower would be futile. Having small forces attacking specific targets with impunity and relying on precise information would, and proved to be, more effective. What resulted were years of brutal violence. However, instead of pressuring the British to capitulate, there would be an escalating spiral of death and conflict, leading to the formation and growth in size and power of what would later become the Irish Republican Army (IRA). This background of violence, brutality, and revenge is the basis of the troubles that continue to wreck Northern Ireland and has served as the inspiration for terrorist groups that endanger the world to this day. The film showed that while Collins deep in his heart was not in favor of brutal violence to achieve the noble end of freedom for which he fought, he found it the best way to catch attention and increase the popular support for their cause. In retaliation to the Irish's guerrilla tactics, every act was met with greater impunity by the British Army, which in turn had a legitimate reason of its own for suppressing an armed rebellion of what it believed to be a part of the United Kingdom. Realizing that violence was not a long-term solution but was becoming part of a problem that was becoming bigger, Collins showed his willingness to compromise after the British agreed to allow the Irish to establish a political party that legitimately participated in the British parliament. This strategy of legitimizing rebellious groups by making them participate in the democratic mainstream has likewise been used by nations to diffuse violence and allow due process to take its course. But it was short-lived, as the newly-elected Sinn Fein party representatives changed their minds and declared independence for Ireland, organizing the IRA to counteract British efforts to suppress the rebellion. This turned out to be the cause of his downfall, because as his power within the independence movement grew, his comrades

Some questions on Shpping Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Some questions on Shpping - Essay Example This has made possible the process of 'outsourcing' reach new levels. Now many countries where the manufacturing costs are high have outsourced the manufacture to countries where the cost is relatively low and then re-imported back into the country. And with freight rates being relatively low, now companies source raw materials from one country, export it to another country where it is processed and finally sold in another country. This has caused the international trade to increase from 0.55bt in 1950 to 4.3bt in 1995 an 8-fold increase. For the transport of crude oil we would use a Crude Oil Tanker such as a ULCC with a capacity of up to 500,000t DWT since we want to transport as much crude oil in a single journey as possible due to high demands. For the transport of grains, we would use a Dry Bulk Cargo ship such as the handymax or the panamax. They are the most economical to build, and therefore the freight rates offered would be low allowing for the commodities to be traded at economical rates. For the domestic air-conditioners, we would use a container ship. ... For the transport of iron ore we can also use a Dry Bulk Cargo ship but with a much higher DWT such as those found on the Capesize. For the domestic air-conditioners, we would use a container ship. The advantage offered would be that transport costs would be low; the goods can safely stored on board the ship and can easily and quickly be loaded and discharged. 3) How is the simplicity of design of the dry bulk carrier relevant to the fact that it carries law value cargo A3) Dry Bulk carriers mostly transport cargoes of low value which would have very few specialised needs. This would mean that the design of the Dry Bulk carrier would not require many special additions as compared to other ships which carry specialised cargoes such Crude Oil Tankers or Reefers. This would translate into lower costs in terms of manufacturing, which would mean lower investments for the ship owners. This advantage would be seen in that; the freight rate of a Dry Bulk Carrier would be a lot lower as compared to a Tanker. And since most of the cargoes transported by these ships are of low values that would mean that the profits would not be as high and therefore the need to transport the goods at economical costs. 4) What are "flags of convenience" How have they changed over the last decades How have classification societies and IACS influenced their developments A4) 'Flags of convenience' is when a ship is registered in one country but is owned by a party present in another country. Under international maritime laws, the country where a ship is registered in determines the regulations to be applied upon the ship irrespective of the country of origin of the ship's owner. As many countries have become stricter and labour costs have risen, many ship owners register their ships in

Business Studies - Recruitment and Selection Essay Example for Free

Business Studies Recruitment and Selection Essay Every business or organisation has a recruitment department, which is often undertaken by recruiters. It can be undertaken by an employment agency or even a member of staff at the business organisation. Human resources run the recruitment process. Recruitment (run by the human resource department) is the process of finding the right possible candidates for the job. When the organisation knows what candidates they re looking for Advertisement is commonly used for recruiting the right employees. Recruitment process: A business or organisation must have a work plan in order to make sure that they find the right number of employees for their needs. When a business is looking to recruit new employees they need to be able to mention and define the main jobs and responsibilities that will be expected. During the recruitment process there are many stages that need to be followed In order to select the right candidate for the job. The recruitment flow chart: Job analysis: Job analysis is the first part of the recruitment process. This is when the human resources department needs to identify whether a new member of staff is needed or could the work be done by reorganizing existing staff or working over time. Or even consider whether part-time or full time appointment needed. Job analysis is essential for the recruitment process and this defines whether they need workers and is so will the business recruit internal or external employees. The human resources department will need to decide whether to recruit employees internally or externally. Recruiting internal candidates will benefit the business as this will increase their workers morale and their motivation will increase because there is a higher chance of them getting promoted than the external employees. Another advantage of recruiting an internal employee is theres a lower cost of not having to go through training, as they already know the business. However the disadvantage is having to replace their internal workers. External candidates will also help gain advantage for the organisation as they will let the business find out more about the competition, gaining more ideas. The disadvantage of recruiting an external employee is the cost of training them to learn more about the business. Job description: A job analysis can be used to create a job description. The job description will describe how a particular employee is to fit into the organisation. A job description could be used as a job indictor for applicants. Alternatively it could also be used as a guideline for an employee to his or her role and responsibilities within in the organisation. Job descriptions can be used by organisations to provide information for use in drafting a situation vacant advertisement and for briefing interviews. he function for a job description can be very simple. Its when the businesses human resources department will need to draw up a list of tasks that the job will involve and the responsibilities of the person appointed. This is good for a business to draw a list up of their specific job description as this gives not only employers but also employees an idea of what theyre looking for. So therefore the business will most likely attract workers that they appointed for. Person specification: Armed with this sort of specification, those responsible for recruiting and selecting someone to do a particular job have a much clearer idea of the ideal candidate. However at the same time those applying for the job have a much clearer idea of what is expected of them and whether they have the skills and attributes. The human resources department may set out for its own use a person specification. The meaning of person specification is identifying the personal qualities for example qualities such: * Experience: Someone with experience in carrying out a particular job who has a particular responsibilities should be able to draw on that experience n new situations. * Qualifications: Is another important part of a person specification. As they will have more knowledge then say someone who have no qualifications. Another advantage for a employee in having qualifications as this will lower the list of people wanting a job, for example if an employer has a long list of employees he/she will recruit either ones with experience or ones who have qualifications. The advantages for the person specification process in recruiting in staff, is the employers will benefit from recruiting experienced staff as they are able to do a range of tasks. This makes them more flexible workers, which in turn increases the output of the business. Customers often like to deal with experienced employees. Qualifications are also good measures of prior learning. The idea of qualification is that it prepares he employee to do a particular job or activity. Inn creating person specification, organisations will therefore need to consider the level of qualification required by a job holder. Job advert Job advertisements form an important part of the recruitment process. An organisation is able to communicate job vacancies to a selected audience by this means. Most job advertisements are written (or at least checked) By the personal department, a task involving the same skills as marketing a product. Advertisements must reach those people who have the qualities to fill the vacancy. Job advertisements take many forms, according to the requirements of the post. A good job advertisement, while providing prospect candidates with helpful information also helps to deter people who do not have the required qualifications for the job. Presentations of the advertisement is very important as it gives prospective employees a first impression of the organisation Application form: Having an application form is essential. If businesss or organisations provide an application form, it means that theyre looking for someone precise. This is good for the business, because the candidates have to right specific stuff that are required, which means the business can find the right employee. Where as some businesses ask for employees CV. In my opinion this is a disadvantage to the organisation, as the candidate can write what ever they feel, most likely something that will advantage them to getting the job. So therefore the organisation wont be able to find the right candidate to do the job. Interview: Interviews are very important in the recruitment process as this gives the employer an idea of what the employee is like and if he or her is suited for the job. Some business such as Marks and Spencers use a certain technique when interviewing new candidates. They would rather ask the interviewee open questions as this allows them to answer the question with longer sentences rather than yes or no answers. This gives the employer a bigger judgement ad a better feel on the employees personality. Business also try to focus on questions that involve; what? Why? When? And how? Generally speaking overall the interviewers should try to make the interviewee feel relaxed and comfortable so that the interviewee can show his or best side. An opening remark might be to ask the interviewee about his or her journey. Selection process: Recruitment and selection can be very costly process for a business. It takes a great deal of time to set up the process which includes drawing up a job description, advertising the position, sifting through applications, checking which application best meet criteria set down for the post, interviewing candidates and finally selecting the best candidate for the post. There is a considerable scope along the way for waste and inefficiency. For example, when a job advertisement attracts 100 applicants there will be a considerable waste of time and resources when reducing the list down to six. If you get your procedures wrong you may eliminate some of the best candidates right from the start and end up with six who are barely satisfactory. If you end up choosing an unsuitable candidate for the job, the company will suffer from having trouble within he organisation before walking out on the job and leaving the company o go through the expense of replacing him or her yet. Induction: Induction is the process of introducing new employees o their place of work, job, new surroundings and the people thy will be working with. Induction also provides information to help new employees start work and generally fit in. Once the successful applicant has been selected and offered the post, the human resources department needs to prepare a suitable induction programme for when the new induction programme which should include; * An awareness of the workings and objectives of a business. * An awareness of health and safety issues. * Requirements when absent, ill or late. * Introduction to management and workmates. * Identification of any immediate training needs. I Training needs: As part of the induction process, new employees may be introduced to new processors or software that they are unfamiliar with. The employer should explain each of these processes to new employees, question them about their experience with the processes or software and listen carefully to their answers to discover their level of experience. For example an employee may be familiar with the Microsoft office software but may not have had the experience with spreadsheets. If this is the requirement of the role, then careful questioning will determine the skill level of the employee and the training required to enable them to do their job. Training may be carried out formally through a course r more informally by a colleague or with training in a timely needs and implementing training timely manner is important to ensure the new employees are equipped with the skills to properly carry out their duties. Application form: Having an application form is essential. If businesss or organisations provide an application form, it means that theyre looking for someone precise. This is good for the business, because the candidates have to right specific stuff that are required, which means the business can find the right employee. Where as some businesses ask for employees CV. In my opinion this is a disadvantage to the organisation, as the candidate can write what ever they feel, most likely something that will advantage them to getting the job. So therefore the organisation wont be able to find the right candidate to do the job. Both Application and CV form provide same information: Motivation theories: Financial: Wages, salaries and bonuses: Wages- time rate: Under this scheme workers receive a set rate per hour. Any hours worked above a set number are paid at an overtime rate Salary: flat rate: This is a set rate of weekly or monthly pay, based on a set number of hours. It is easy to calculate and administer but does not provide an incentive to employees o work harder. Piece rate: This system is sometimes used in the textile and electronics industries, among others. Payment is made for each item produced that meets quality standards. The advantage of this is that it encourages effort motivates workers. However it is not suitable for jobs that require time and care. Also many jobs particularly in the service sector produce outputs are impossible to measure. Bonus: A bonus is paid as an added encouragement and motivation towards employees. It can be paid out f additional profits earned by the employer as a result of the employees effort and hard work or as an incentive to workers at times when they might be inclined to slacken effort for example at Christmas and summer holiday times. Commission: Commission is a payment made as a percentage of sales a salesperson has made. Output related schemes: Output related schemes are the most common methods used to reward manual workers most schemes involve an element of time rates plus bonus or other incentive. Standards are set in many ways, varying from casual assessment to a detailed work study, based on method study and work measurement. A standard allowable time is set in according to the stages. The workers pay is then determined according to the success of the third stage. Performance related pay: In recent year, the emphasis in a number of organisations has shifted towards performance related pay. Performance is assessed against working objectives and company goals scoring systems are then worked out to assess performance against objectives and these distinguish levels of attainment, e.g. high, medium or low. Managerial jobs are most affected by performance related pay. Based on performance appraisal techniques, such as schemes have been adopted in a wide range of occupations, including the police force, universities, insurance and banking. Evidence indicates that up to three quarters of all employees are now using some form of performance appraisal to set pay levels. One way of rewarding performance is to give increments as targets are met, with the employee progressing up an incremental ladder each year. Profit sharing: Profit sharing is an incentive tool which involves giving profit related pay to employees or giving them bonuses based on the profit performance of a business. Using this approach employees are able to see the that the success of the company will also lead to personal rewards for them. Another example similar to profit sharing is a theory called the attribution theory which is often compared to profit sharing and the non financial appraisal. Attribution theory: All business have a need to explain the world, both to themselves and to other people, attributing cause to the events around them. This gives us a greater sense of control. When explaining behaviour, it can affect the standing of people within a group (especially ourselves). When another person has erred, the business will often use internal attribution, saying it is due to internal personality factors. When they have erred, they will more likely use external attribution, attributing causes to situational factors rather than blaming ourselves. And vice versa. They will attribute our successes internally and the successes of our rivals to external luck. When a football team wins, supporters say we won. But when the team loses, the supporters say they lost. Business attributions are also significantly driven by our emotional and motivational drives. Blaming other people and avoiding personal recrimination are very real self-serving attributions. They will also make attributions to defend what they perceive as attacks. businesses will point to injustice in an unfair world. They will even tend to blame victims (of us and of others) for their fate as we seek to distance ourselves from thoughts of suffering the same plight. They will also tend to ascribe less variability to other people than ourselves, seeing themselves as more multifaceted and less predictable than others. This may well because they can see more of what is inside themselves (and spend more time doing this). In practice, we often tend to go through a two-step process, starting with an automatic internal attribution, followed by a slower consideration of whether an external attribution is more appropriate. As with Automatic Believing, if we are hurrying or are distracted, we may not get to this second step. This makes internal attribution more likely than external attribution. Share options: Employees may be encouraged to take up shares in a company, often as part of a reward scheme. When employees take up these share options they are then rewarded according to the performance of the business. When the business does well so too does the value of their shares and the dividends they receive as a return to shareholders. Dividends are typically paid twice a year. Non-Financial: Goal setting: Establishing goals for employees to work towards can be an important motivational factor as the achievement of these goals then creates a sense of achievement and personal fulfilment. Goals can be established for an individual, team or for the whole organisation and achievement may be related to promotion at work. In order to direct ourselves we set ourselves goals that are: * Clear (not vague) and understandable, so we know what to do and what not to do. * Challenging, so we will be stimulated and not be bored. * Achievable, so we are unlikely to fail. If other people set us goals without our involvement, then we are much less likely to be motivated to work hard at it than if we feel we have set or directed the goal ourselves. When we are working in the task, we need feedback so we can determine whether we are succeeding or whether we need to change direction. We find feedback (if it is sympathetically done) very encouraging and motivating. This includes feedback from ourselves. Negative self-talk is just as demotivating as negative comments from other people. Depending on the type of goal we have, we will go about achieving it differently. A directional goal is one where we are motivated to arrive at a particular conclusion. We will thus narrow our thinking, selecting beliefs, etc. that support the conclusion. The lack of deliberation also tends to make us more optimistic about achieving the goal. An accuracy goal is one where we are motivated to arrive at the most accurate possible conclusion. These occur when the cost of being inaccurate is high. Unsurprisingly, people invest more effort in achieving accuracy goals, as any deviation costs, and a large deviation may well more. Their deliberation also makes them realize that there is a real chance that they will not achieve their goal. When we have an accuracy goal we do not get to a good enough point and stop thinking about itwe continue to search for improvements. Both methods work by influencing our choice of beliefs and decision-making rules. Goal setting can be compared, in a financial sense with performance related pay as employees are rewarded in accordance with goals set by the company. Perks and status symbols: Perks and status symbols are useful motivational tools in a company. A perk is something extra that you get for doing a particular job. For example employees of a railway company may get free rail travel for them and their families. A cinema employee may get free cinema tickets. Status symbols are also important motivators. Obvious status symbols n is having a bigger office, or having a sign outside your door with your name on. People often respond very favourably to status symbols because these mark them out as being special therefore employees will be motivated to work harder in order for them to be the special person. Appraisals: Common stages of staff appraisals are as follows: 1. The line manager meets with the job-holder to discuss what is expected. The agreed expectations may be expressed in terms of targets, performance standards or required job behaviours- attributes, skills and attitudes. 2. The outcome of the meeting is recorded and usually signed by both parties. 3. The job-holder performs the job for a period of six months a year 4. At the end of the six months period the jobholder and line manager or team leader meet again to review and discuss progress made. They draw up action new action plans to deal with identified problems and agree targets and standards for the next period. Meeting training needs: Mentoring needs: Mentoring and coaching are seen by many organisations as essential ways of motivating employees so that they feel valued and cared for in their work. Mentoring involves a trainee being paired with a more experienced employee. The trainee carries out the job but uses the mentor to discuss problems that may occur and ho best to solve them. This approach is used in many lines of work. For example it is common practice for trainee teachers to work with a mentor who s responsible for their early training and development. The student teacher will match the mentor teacher before starting his or her own teaching. The mentor will then give ongoing guidance to the student teacher on how best to improve his or her performance. If the student teacher has any problems or difficulties he or she can talk to the mentor for advice. Coaching: Coaching involves providing individuals with personal coaches in the workplace. The person who is going to take on the coaching role will need to develop coaching skills and ill also need to have the time slots for the coaching to take place. The coach and the individual being. Acquired needs theory: Need are shaped over time by our experiences over time. Most of these fall into three general categories of needs: * Achievement (nAch) * Affiliation (nAff) * Power (nPow) Some businesses may have different preferences and will tend have one of these needs that affect the business more powerfully than others and thus affects our behaviors: * Achievers seek to excel and appreciate frequent recognition of how well they are doing. They will avoid low risk activities that have no chance of gain. They also will avoid high risks where there is a significant chance of failure. * Affiliation seekers look for harmonious relationships with other people. They will thus tend to conform and shy away from standing out. The seek approval rather than recognition. * Power seekers want power either to control other people (for their own goals) or to achieve higher goals (for the greater good). They seek neither recognition nor approval from others only agreement and compliance. Identifying preferences A common way of discovering our tendencies towards these is with a Thematic Apperception Test, which is a set of black-and-white pictures on cards, each showing an emotionally powerful situation. The person is presented with one card at a time and asked to make up a story about each situation. Using it Challenge achievers with stretching goals. Offer affiliation-seekers safety and approval. Beware of personal power-seekers trying to turn the tables on you or use other Machiavellian methods. Make sure you have sufficient power of your own, or show how you can help them achieve more power. Defending Understand your own tendencies. Curb the excesses and, especially if you seek affiliation, beware of those who would use this against you and for their own benefit alone. * Atrribution theoryprofit sharing (financial) and appraisal ( non financial) We all have a need to explain the world, both to ourselves and to other people, attributing cause to the events around us. This gives us a greater sense of control. When explaining behavior, it can affect the standing of people within a group (especially ourselves). When another person has erred, we will often use internal attribution, saying it is due to internal personality factors. When we have erred, we will more likely use external attribution, attributing causes to situational factors rather than blaming ourselves. And vice versa. We will attribute our successes internally and the successes of our rivals to external luck. When a football team wins, supporters say we won. But when the team loses, the supporters say they lost. Our attributions are also significantly driven by our emotional and motivational drives. Blaming other people and avoiding personal recrimination are very real self-serving attributions. We will also make attributions to defend what we perceive as attacks. We will point to injustice in an unfair world. We will even tend to blame victims (of us and of others) for their fate as we seek to distance ourselves from thoughts of suffering the same plight. We will also tend to ascribe less variability to other people than ourselves, seeing ourselves as more multifaceted and less predictable than others. This may well because we can see more of what is inside ourselves (and spend more time doing this). In practice, we often tend to go through a two-step process, starting with an automatic internal attribution, followed by a slower consideration of whether an external attribution is more appropriate. As with Automatic Believing, if we are hurrying or are distracted, we may not get to this second step. This makes internal attribution more likely than external attribution. Sex discrimination act 1975 Sex Discrimination Act 1975 The Sex Discrimination Act 1975 applies to men, women and gender reassignees and states that it is unlawful for an employer to discriminate or fail to prevent discrimination against a worker because of his or her gender, marital or gender reassignment status The Sex Discrimination Act 1975 states that there are two types of sex discrimination: Direct discrimination This occurs where a worker has been treated less favourably than another in similar relevant circumstances on the grounds of his or her gender, and the treatment has resulted in dismissal, denial of opportunities within or for employment or training, or any other detriment. Indirect discrimination This occurs where a provision, criterion or practice is applied equally to both male and female workers and three conditions are jointly fulfilled: * The proportion of one gender who can comply is, in practice, considerably smaller than the other; * A worker suffers a detriment as a result; * The employer cannot show the condition or requirement to be objectively justifiable. For example, indirect sexual discrimination could occur if an employer applied a redundancy policy by selecting only part-time workers. This is because such action would discriminate disproportionately against women, as over 80% of part-time workers in the United Kingdom are women. Race relation act 1976 The race relations act 1976 makes discrimination on racial grounds unlawful in employment, training education and the provision of goods, facilities and services. The act defines two main types of discrimination: direct discrimination and indirect discrimination. Direct discrimination Direct discrimination occurs when someone Is treated less favourably on racial grounds. Racial grounds do not only include grounds of race but also those of colour, nationality, citizenship and ethnic or national origin. For example a dress manufacturing company advertises in the local newspaper for a Turkish machinist, Indirect discrimination: Indirect discrimination occurs when rules, requirements, or conditions that appear to be fair because they apply equally to everyone- can be shown to put people from a particular racial group a much greater disadvantage than others and the rules cannot be objectively justified. A racial groups may be defined by race, colour, nationality and ethnic or national origin. For example an advertisement asks for ability to speak Bengali. This requirement discriminates indirectly against people who do not speak Bengali and will be unlawful unless it can be justified by the nature of the job For example it would be unjustified to ask for Bengali speaker if the job involves working with people who can communicate well only in Bengali. Another example of an indirect discrimination is an advertisement invites applicants who speak English as their mother tongue. This requirement too, discriminates indirectly against people who speak English fluently, but not as their mother tongue. This kind of requirement will rarely be justified. If an especially high standard of English is needed for a particular job it would be better to ask for just that a very high standard of written and spoken English or alternatively, fluent English Example: the race relations act does not cover discrimination indirectly on religious grounds, but advertisements inviting Muslim or Christian applicants may discriminate indirectly against some racial groups, and the requirements must be justified by the nature of the job. A religious requirement may be justified for jobs connected with a church, temple, mosque etc and possibly religious organisations.

Case Study Analysis of an employee Essay Example for Free

Case Study Analysis of an employee Essay This case study for student analysis will look at an employee of ABC, Inc., Carl Robins, the new recruiter of only six months and his struggle to hold orientation for fifteen new hires. There are various factors that play a part of why Carl struggles to meet the promised deadline that is fast approaching. This analysis will focus on time management, job performance, and company organizational issues that are key problems with how Carl is performing his job, but will also look at how ABC, Inc. management team play is playing a part in Carl’s struggle to meet his deadline. This analysis will show alternative solutions, a proposed solution, and a recommendation that will prevent future struggles for Carl and all other employees at ABC, Incorporated. Carl Robins is the new recruiter for ABC, Inc. Carl has been in his new position for six months now. In the six month timeframe, Carl has successfully hired fifteen new trainees. Now that the trainees are hired, Carl’s next objective is to hold an orientation on June 15th at one time for all fifteen new hires. The orientation date is to ensure Carl will have all the new hires ready to start working by July for the Operations Manager, Monica Carrolls. On May 15th Carl is contacted by Monica Carrolls to discuss with Carl everything needed for the new hires to begin orientation; the training schedule, manuals, policy booklets, physicals, drug test, and other things. Two weeks later, Carl decides to go over the trainee files and realizes some trainees’ paperwork are incomplete and missing. All of the new hires still need to take a mandatory drug screen test. During this time, Carl becomes aware that he does not have enough copies of the orientation manuals and on top of that, there is not one complete orientation manual to make copies. Lastly, Carl checks out the training room he book earlier in the month and finds Joe, from technology services, is setting up computer terminals for training seminars for the entire month of June. Carl will need to find a new place to hold orientation. Ca rl is panicking and does not know how to proceed at this point. (University of Phoenix, 2014) There are numerous key problems to focus on with Carl as well as with ABC, Inc. Starting with Carl, some of  the key problems Carl is having includes his apparent lack of time management. Carl is also having organizational and communication issues. Carl insufficient knowledge of how to apply these skills are playing a huge factor in Carl’s struggle to be prepared and ready for orientations on June 15th. Carl also appears to have insufficient knowledge about his position and what his responsibilities requires of him daily to meet his scheduled orientation and promised deadline to have all the new hires working by July. Looking at Carl’s timeline, he hires the new trainees in the beginning of April. Carl knows he has a little over two months before orientation is scheduled will be held for the new hires. On May 15th Carl receives a call from Monica, the Operations Manager, to go over the needs for orientation to be successful. It appears that Carl does nothing for over a month in regards to checking on the status of each new hire. What is Carl doing in this timeframe needs to be investigated. Carl waits until two weeks before the scheduled orientation to finally check on the trainees’ files. It seems there is no communication between Carl and Human Resources at all. Carl should be in contact with Human Recourses about the status of each new hires paperwork and on a consistent basis. It would appear that Carl is not doing his job efficiently. ABC, Inc. has some underlying key problems that have contribute a great deal to Carl’s struggle to meet the scheduled orientation date. ABC, Inc. has failed to support Carl in his new position. There is a lack of supervision to help guide Carl. ABC, Inc. also shows there is an apparent breakdown in communication between its employees. Human Resources must not now about the orientation date for the new hires and therefore seems to be taking their time in getting all the paperwork in for each new hire. Another communication breakdown is the situation about Joe and Carl both being able to book the training room to use on June 15th. There are many alternative solutions for Carl to successfully meet his orientation deadline of June 15th and have the new trainees ready to start work for the Operations Manager by July. Carl should contact Monica Carrolls, the Operations Manager, and find out if there is anyone in the company who would be able to help assist him with getting everything in order for orientation. If there is no one in the company available to help Carl at this time, then Carl needs to find out if he has the authority to hire an outside source, if he does not, then wh o does? Time is of the  essence to have everything competed for orientation. This person will help assist Carl in completing the following tasks; contacting each new hire to schedule a drug test, make sure all necessary documents are completed, turned in, find someone in the company who has a complete orientation manual, make copies, and find a new place to have orientation. Carl is new and this his 1st recruitment orientation, he should be held responsible to check in with the Operations Manager or whoever is Carl’s Manager and give them a daily report of what he has accomplished each day and what is left to still be accomplished to meet the orientation date. All of these solutions are a Band-Aid and will aid in Carl successfully holding orientation. However, they are not solutions for the root of the problems facing ABC, Inc. Even though the struggle focuses on Carl Robins and his inability to do his job correctly, the proposed solution is directed towards ABC, Incorporated Management Team. The Management Team should be held responsible. Carl Robins is new to the company. It is apparent that Carl’s lack of experience and work history is not matched up properly for the position of recruiter. Carl clearly does not understand what it takes for him to hold successfully orientation on June 15th. Carl is going blindly about his job responsibilities without a clear understanding of time restraints for each task he needs to perform. There should be supervision over Carl on a daily basis due to this being his 1st recruitment orientation assignment. ABC, Inc. Management Team should put into place a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for each position in the company. Clearly outlining each position and it responsibilities as well as including a flow chart showing who each position reports to. At this time, it is recommended that ABC, Inc. have each and every employee attend a several work seminars. It would be best for the company to start with a seminar that will focus on learning how to communicate well with each other inside the company, how to speak up about company problems and ask for help, and learn how to work together as a team unit. A time management seminar is highly suggested and would be of great help to the company as well. Each employee should learn time management skills, how to manage their time, their workflow, and how to prioritize their job responsibilities. Another recommendation, department mangers take a seminar about being team leaders. They need to understand what exactly their employees are doing in their daily routines. Department  managers are strongly encouraged to meet with each employee and have a one on one meeting. The meeting should target each manager finding out how the employee feels about their position, what they feel the pros and cons are for their position, and if the employee have any struggles in their position that need attention. These seminars and personal one on one attention with the employees will give tools for each employee to use in becoming successful in their positions and the company as a whole. It will also boost employee morale and would be a great gesture on the company’s behalf to show the employees that the company values them, is willing to investing time in each one of them, and you care about them. In return, the company should see significant improvement in time management and communication. References Case Study for Student Analysis, University of Phoenix, 2014

Ugandan Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP)

Ugandan Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) A social analysis of the current Ugandan poverty reduction strategy paper (PRSP), known as the poverty eradication action plan (PEAP, 2004/5-2007/8) Introduction Uganda, with the help of a number of international organisations, has created a poverty reduction plan known as the PEAP. This project began in 1995, but came intro fruition around 1997. The goal of the PEAP is to reduce poverty from 44% in 1997 to 10% in 2017 (World Bank Group, 2008). This policy was created in order for Uganda to be eligible for financial aid from the World Bank and IMF under the Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative (Gariyo, 2001, p. 2). The aim of this essay is to critically examine the recent progress of the PEAP from the relevant documents. This includes examining the PEAP itself from 2004/5-2007/8 as well as look at the poverty assessment projects that have been taking place. The three main issues in this subject are how the plan deals with the concept of poverty, how the poverty assessments are reflected in the PEAP, and the way in which the PEAP has addressed gender issues amongst the poor in Uganda. The objective is to provide a critical analysis of the current situation within Uganda with regards to PEAP, and how effective this plan has been at reducing poverty. Concept of Poverty in the PEAP The concept of poverty within the PEAP has changed since its initial introduction. The original drafts of the plan were focused upon state-led rural development. The plan was then revised and it was decided to concentrate more on social issues. The PEAP plan looks at poverty as primarily being about the issues of economic development, business competitiveness and market growth (Uganda Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development., 2005, p. 16). The main measures of poverty within the PEAP are household expenditure and income, and when this falls below a certain level a person or family is considered poor. This poverty line is quite simplistic, but also absolute, as it represents the level needed to secure basic food and other needs. The gap between incomes is also measured to look at inequality within society (Uganda Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development., 2005, p. 38). The poor in Uganda are also identified as those who have problems of regional inequality, with those in the North and rural areas being worse off than those in the Central and urban areas. The study also identified that female-head households of widowed or absent husband families are poorer. The issue is whether or not this definition of poverty is accurate or correct for the region, as this will obviously affect the success of the policies. Targeting the wrong groups of people or introducing measures that do not really address the issues of poverty in Uganda will not reduce real poverty. There are those that argue just taking into account consumption and income is not enough to determine poverty and that basic needs and rights need to be taken into account (Kingdon and Knight, 2004, pp. 1-3). However, the situation in Uganda means that the issue of consumption equates to the provision of basic needs. There is a definite cut off between consumption and being able to afford basic food and other amenities. In this case, the measure of income and consumption is adequate. However, the factor that is not taken into account as much within the PEAP seems to security. This is often more of a subjective view than something that can be identified with quantitative data. The security of people within society and their feelings about their situations are crucial to their ability to move out of poverty and improve their lives. The problem with the PEAP view of poverty is that it is perhaps too narrow with regards to the full view of poverty. Whilst it includes issues of consumptio n and income and indeed social functionality, it leaves out some of the elements of security. It could be argued that the appeal to empowerment for women and other people is to do with feelings and security, but perhaps it is not enough (Uganda Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development., 2005, p. 55). The results of the study seem to suggest as such. Whilst economic growth has improved and poverty head count has been reduced since 1997, the factors of inequality have risen since 2003. In the North the affects of the PEAP policy have been limited because of a lack of security regarding land and the ability for people to move into new industries easily. Therefore, it can be said that whilst the income and consumption indicators of poverty have improved, it is not certain whether this has actually alleviated poverty because the issues of security and the opinions of the poor seemingly have not been taken into account fully. However, more about this will be discussed in the next section – looking at how the poverty analysis is involved within the PEAP. The ana lysis PPA will be crucial as to whether or not the lack of emphasis on well-being has altered the effectiveness of the PEAP. There is some evidence however to support this less complex and subjective analysis of the status of poverty in Uganda. McGee (2004, pp. 517-521) showed that contradictions and arguments with regards to what is exactly happening to poverty in Uganda is unhelpful. Instead, a less oppositional approach is better, with a focus on the income and consumption of those in Uganda. This may not be the most accurate measure of poverty, but it is an effective and productive way to produce policies that will have a positive impact on the economy and therefore alleviate poverty. However, poverty assessments carried out as part of the World Bank strategy have shown that many of these assessments, including those of Uganda, put too much emphasis on increasing income and investment. These policies are weak in addressing the real causes of poverty such as social inequality, and ignore issues of politics and history. Therefore, it must be said that whilst Uganda is one of the more thorough nations with regards to its assessments, it still lacks a subjective view and focuses too much on income issues rather than looking at the root causes of poverty (Hammer, Pyatt and White, 1999, pp. 819-821). Despite this and the concerns that too much emphasis on investment and improved income will not result in a reduction in poverty, the results initially seem good. A study by Nkusu (2004) shows that an emphasis on investment, aid and income factors has led to a much healthier economy and structural reforms that have reduced poverty overall. However, it is still unclear as to weather these policies are taking into account the results shown in the participatory poverty analysis. The next section will examine how the PEAP uses these analyses within its policies, and how effective this usage is. Participatory poverty analysis in the PEAP It seems that whilst the original PEAP was endorsed and approved by the IMS for its effectiveness at sticking to the principles of participation, in recent years the plan has somewhat moved away from the original focus (Canagarajah and van Diesen, 2006, pp. 663-666). The World Bank and IMF understand the need to listen to the poor and their needs in order to solve problems of poverty. Without this, the root causes of poverty will not be found and despite economic growth the average poor person will not be better off as the rich will gain. The problem is not so much with the Ugandan policies but the limits put upon them by the World Bank and IMF. In order for these poor countries to receive the financial aid they need to progress, they must meet certain criteria for economic reforms set out by the IMF and World Bank. However, this essentially means the countries like Uganda have little say in the policies that need to be created in order for them to improve their economy. Therefore, the suggestion by the IMF and World Bank to listen to the poor is misleading. They have suggested this method in order to deflect attention from their conditions imposed on financial aid. This means that the participation of people in Uganda in the forming of policies is reduced, because the government must limit the information they are exposed to in order to make sure the policies are put in place to get aid and promote growth. This makes it harder for Uganda to listen to its people regarding policies that they would like to see to improve their living conditions (Rowden and Irama, 2004). The problem with these policies as outlined in the household surveys is that economic growth is not being shared amongst the people who need it, and instead poverty is increasing. The poverty rate is increasing because the economic growth in Uganda at this point favours the richer people and international community, thanks to the biased policies needed to get funding from the IMF and World Bank (Economic Policy Research Centre – Makerere University, 2003). There are some indications that the people within Uganda are being listened to when possible. Findings looking at groups of poor children in Uganda found that measures looking at just income and consumption were not enough, and so other methods were taken into consideration by asking those who were poor (UNESCO., 2005). The poverty assessment reports however show that despite the focus of the PEAP on economic growth, this is not the reason for increase poverty in Uganda. The poverty status report in 2003 shows that despite economic growth, people still remain below the poverty line. The main reasons for this are unequal economic growth, and a lack of security in areas such as Northern Uganda (Uganda Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development 2003a, pp. 147-149). Whilst these issues are identified in the PEAP, the main focus of policy is still on economic growth, because this is the only way the economy can be improved through financial aid. However, there are areas within the poverty assessment reports that are being utilised by the PEAP. One of these areas is healthcare, which in the assessment reports is identified as a key area that leads to poverty, and that the more people that are poor the more that will need to be spent to maintain people’s health (Uganda Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development 2002, pp. 101-105). The original poverty assessment report identified similar problems including issues of district divide, and the obstacles for people trying to improving their own lives (Uganda Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development 2000). The PEAP looks at some of these issues and puts policies in place to address, particularly with regards to health. The PEAP has made an effort to focus on preventive measures of health care so that the poorest members of society have greater access to services so that they can be more productive (Uganda Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development, 2005, pp. 163-165). Despite this, the conclusions of the PEAP stick mainly to issues of economic growth rather than social problems. It is true that during the 1990s high economic growth resulted in a reduction in the amount of people under the poverty line. However, as the country has improved its services, the further economic growth has been hampered by the limits of policies demanded by the IMF and World Bank in order to meet aid conditions. This means the economic growth has been a means towards an end of gaining aid to increase growth rather than simply looking at the social factors affecting the poor (Uganda Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development, 2005, pp. 211.213). Gender Analysis in the PEAP Another issue that needs to be addressed is whether or not the PEAP is addressing issues of gender effectively. Gender is clearly a big issue in a country where female-run families are worse off than male-led families due to lack of opportunities and rights for women to improve their economic status. Initial findings suggest that although the poverty participation process involves looking at those who are marginalised within society due to gender or other issues, the analyses do not effectively discuss gender issues (Wordofa, 2004, pp. 68-71). A study by Zuckerman and Garrett (2003) found that many of these poverty assessment reports in various developing countries only addressed gender issues in a superficial manner. Uganda in fact would not use gendered participation within its original report research but would then try to aggregate gender back into the policies later on. This tactic results in policies that do not accurately address the true concerns and issues associated with gender in Uganda in terms of poverty (Zuckerman, and Garrett, 2003, pp. 6, 12). Common examples of this are looking at different households in terms of age, but not reflecting differences in consumption levels according to gender. This is particularly damaging for a country like Uganda where some of the poorest members of society are women. This means despite good economic growth, the needs of many of the poorest are not being dealt with. As Whitehead and Lockwood (1999, p. 14) show, the way in which the Uganda PEAP deals with women’s issues is very superficial. There is a section regarding women, but it is not linked into the rest of the policies in general making it an isolated and superfluous section of the document. However, this study was conducted in 1999 and since then the reports have been looked at more closely, with more emphasis on gender issues. Despite this, there still remains a level of isolation between these findings and the policies as a whole. Zuckerman (2002) shows that there is some progress being made with regards to this, and those early failings have been dealt with in some ways. The reports now have women actively participating in order to form policies that will help get them out of poverty. However, it is still shown that despite this participation, the gendered participation has not filtered through to the policies in the PEAP as a whole. The problem is that these views from different genders are then generalised when added to policy, and therefore have little effect on gender differences. If this participation is to work then there needs to be a greater effort to make distinct policies to address gender differences rather than re-aggregating into a generalised whole. Conclusion The Ugandan PEAP has certainly been one of the most successful of these types of poverty reduction scheme in terms of reducing the poverty indicators of poor income and high levels of consumption to income. This has meant that overall the economy is doing better in Uganda, and people have higher incomes than before. This however is too simple a definition of poverty, and other factors such as the feelings and well-being of the poor, security issues and social structures need to be taken into account. The PEAP has improved since its inception in the 1990’s in terms of recognising these issues, but the core policies have changed very little. The main focus of the PEAP is still to improve economic growth, for two main reasons. Firstly because this was a successful policy throughout the 1990’s in helping to reduce overall poverty, and secondly because such economic policies are required by the IMF and World Bank in order to Uganda to receive the aid it needs to progress. The improvements in participation have meant that PEAP documents now address issues of gender and empowerment. However, these issues are addressed in a superficial way and the voices of marginalised are not affecting policy change. This means that despite continued economic growth, the wealth divide has increased and the percentage of people in poverty has increased in recent years. The policies are helping those who are better off to increase their wealth rather than improving the opportunities for the poorest members of society. As pointed out in reports, the country is reaching its targets with regards to alleviating poverty in economic growth terms and structural reforms (Uganda Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development, 2003b). However, these targets are not reducing overall poverty because they are allowing the participation in policy making of marginalised groups. The chronically poor who need the most help most likely to stay poor, supporting the claim that these policies of economic growth are not helping reduce poverty in Uganda (Okidi, and Mugambe, 2002, pp. 2-4). Bibliography Canagarajah, S., and van Diesen, A., 2006. The Poverty Reduction Strategy Approach Six Years On: An Examination of Principles and Practice in Uganda. Development Policy Review, 24(6), pp. 647-667. Economic Policy Research Centre – Makerere University., 2003. Reports on Socio Economics and Labour Force. Uganda Bureau of Statistics. Available at: http://www.ubos.org/onlinefiles/uploads/ubos/survey%20documentation/unhsii/survey0/outputInformation/reports.html Gariyo, Z., 2001. Civil Society and Global Finance in Africa: The PRSP Process in Uganda. In Civil Society and Global Finance edited by Jan Scholte et al, 2001. Kingdon, G.G., and Knight, J., 2004. Subjective well-being poverty versus income poverty and capabilities poverty?. Global Policy Research Group. Available at: http://www.gprg.org/pubs/workingpapers/pdfs/gprg-wps-003.pdf Nakamatte, N., et al., 2002. UPPAP – Kimwanyi Site Report. Available at: http://www.finance.go.ug/docs/Kimwanyi%20site%20report%20Final%20Draft.pdf Nkusu, M., 2004. Financing Ugandas Poverty Reduction Strategy: Is Aid Causing More Pain Than Gain?. IMF Working Papers, 04/170. Okidi, J.A., and Mugambe, G.K., 2002. An Overview of Chronic Poverty and Development Policy in Uganda. Economic Policy Research Centre, Uganda. Available at: http://www.chronicpoverty.org/pdfs/11Okidi_Mugambe.pdf Rowden, R., and Irama, J.O., 2004. Rethinking Participation: Questions for Civil Society about the Limits of Participation in PRSPs. Civil Society Observer, 1(2), April 2004. Available at: http://www.actionaidusa.org/images/rethinking_participation_april04.pdf Uganda Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development., 2000. Uganda Participatory Poverty Assessment Process. Available at: http://www.w1.co.ug/uppap/docs/National%20Report%20New%20Edition.pdf Uganda Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development., 2002. Uganda Participatory Poverty Assessment Process – Deepening the Understanding of Poverty. Available at: http://www.w1.co.ug/uppap/docs/NationalRpt.pdf Uganda Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development., 2003a. Uganda Poverty Status Report. Available at: http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/scr/2003/cr03301.pdf Uganda Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development., 2003b. Uganda’s Progress in Attaining the PEAP Targets in the Context of the Millennium Development Goals Background Paper for The Consultative Group Meeting. Available at: http://siteresources.worldbank.org/UGANDAEXTN/Resources/CG_2003_GoU_PEAP_targets.pdf Uganda Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development., 2005. Uganda: Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper Poverty Eradication Action Plan (2004/5-2007/8). International Monetary Fund, August 2005. Available at: http://www.finance.go.ug/docs/PEAP%202005%20Apr.pdf UNESCO., 2005. Children in abject poverty in Uganda: A study of criteria and status of those in and out of school in selected districts in Uganda. Available at: http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0014/001414/141482e.pdf Whitehead, A., and Lockwood, M., 1999. Gender in the World Bank’s Poverty Assessments: Six Case Studies from Sub-Saharan Africa. United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD), Discussion Paper, 99 (June 1999). Wordofa, D., 2004. Poverty-reduction policy responses to gender and social diversity in Uganda. Gender and Development, 12(1), pp. 68-74. World Bank Group., 2008. Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSP). (Online). Available at: http://go.worldbank.org/KG9Q84BQE0 (Accessed 30th June 2008). Zuckerman, E., 2002. ‘Engendering’ Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs): the issues and the challenges. Gender and Development, 10(3). Available at: http://www.genderaction.org/images/Oxfam%20GenderDevt%20Journal%20Article-EZ%20PRSPs.pdf Zuckerman, E., and Garrett, A., 2003. Do Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs) address gender? A gender audit of 2002 PRSPs The relative success of PRSPs to address gender. Southern African Regional Poverty Network, 2002. Available at: http://www.eldis.org/go/display/?id=13395type=Document

The Social Security Crisis :: essays research papers

The Social Security Crisis   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Presidential election will be coming up this November and the question that many of Americans have on their mind is what are you going to about the Social Security crisis? This question has our nation divided between generations. The elder people of our nation (ages 50 and up) fell confident that Social Security will be there for them and that it should be left alone. On the other hand the Baby Boomers (ages 31-49) and Generation X (ages 18-30) lack this confidence fearing that they will never receive Social Security, and the money they put in would be a waste. Many politicians are afraid to touch this issue because the elder still make a large number of the voting block. Speaking as a member it is our duty to vote for change in Social Security to ensure we will have something to look forward to when we retire. We can not wait any longer to defeat this crisis.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  For those who don't know the Social Security crisis is the threat that Social Security may go bankrupt. Well its more than just a threat its the reality. The common belief is that Social Security is a saving fund where the government takes a certain percentage out of our weekly pay. Then that money is put into a savings fund where it is held until you retire. When they retire money is returned to them in monthly checks plus the interest. This is where they are wrong. Social Security is a pay-as-you-go system where the current workforce pays for the present retirees, and then when they retire they will depend on the workforce and so on and so on. Which is fine when you always have more workers then retirees. This is the problem the government will face when the Baby Boomers retire in the year 2010. In 1950 there were 7.2 workers for each retiree. Today there are 3.2 workers for every retiree, an by the year 2020 there will only be 2.

the story of an hour :: essays research papers

In Kate Chopin's short story "The Story of an Hour," there is much irony. The first irony detected is in the way that Louise reacts to the news of the death of her husband, Brently Mallard. Before Louise's reaction is revealed, Chopin alludes to how the widow feels by describing the world according to her perception of it after the "horrible" news. Louise is said to "not hear the story as many women have heard the same." Rather, she accepts it and goes to her room to be alone. Now the reader starts to see the world through Louise's eyes, a world full of new and pure life. In her room, Louise sinks into a comfortable chair and looks out her window. Immediately the image of comfort seems to strike a odd note. One reading this story should question the use of this word " comfortable" and why Louise is not beating the furniture instead. Next, the newly widowed women is looking out of the window and sees spring and all the new life it brings. The descriptions used now are as far away from death as possible. "The delicios breath of rain...the notes of a distant song...countless sparrows were twittering...patches of blue sky...." All these are beautiful images of life , the reader is quite confused by this most unusual foreshadowing until Louise's reaction is explained. The widow whispers "Free, free, free!" Louise realizes that her husband had loved her, but she goes on to explain that as men and women often inhibit eachother, even if it is done with the best of intentions, they exert their own wills upon eachother. She realized that although at times she had loved him, she has regained her freedom, a state of beeing that all of G-d's creatures strive for. Although this reaction is completely unexpected, the reader quickly accepts it because of Louise's adequate explanation. She grows excited and begins to fantasize about living her life for herself. With this realization, she wishes that "life might be long," and she feels like a "goddess of Victory" as she walks down the stairs. This is an eerie forshadowing for an even more unexpected ending. The reader has just accepted Louise's reaction to her husband's death, when the most unexpected happens; her husband is actually alive and he enters the room shocking everyone, and Louise especially, as she is shocked to death.

An Act of Courage Essay -- Courage Bravery Personal Narratives Essays

An Act of Courage Faced with the task of writing a paper on a specific act of courage my initial reaction was that of total uncertainty. Later that evening, as I lay in my bed watching television I pondered what topic to do for the paper. Then the sportscaster on the news began an interview with Jim Abbott a well-known major league pitcher. I thought to myself, this is perfect! Jim Abbott is a man who shows courage when the odds are against him. He is fulfilling his lifelong dream of playing professional baseball despite the fact that he was born without a right hand. Whenever I see Jim pitch, I am reminded of something that happened when I was about 8 or 9 at summer camp. Before that summer, I had always felt pity for people who were physically challenged especially Justin Berger. Justin, a boy in my age group at Camp Wayne, who was born with some kind of illness that prevented him from controlling the movements of his left hand. I never teased him or talked badly about him to others; what I did in some ways was much worse. I labeled him "different.'; I saw him as inferior and thought that he needed some extra leeway in such activities as sports. However, Justin saw his handicap as a motivator, a reason to work harder and excel in all aspects of camp life. Camp Wayne was very competitive; the summer culminated with four days of intense sports competition called Color War. It was during Color War that my view of Justin changed. During Color War the whole camp is divided into two teams. The teams play each other in various competitions and sports for 4 days and at the end of the fourth day the points are tallied up to see who won. It was the last day of Color War, the day everything would be decided. There was not one camper whose heart wasn't rushing with intense emotions and pride. It was about 3:00, the voice over the intercom said it is now time for second period; everyone except the A & B groups (the youngest campers) go down to the main soccer field to watch the D group soccer game. I laced up my cleats and ran down to the field. Over the years our age group the D group, had earned the reputation of one of the most athletic groups in Camp Wayne history. Just about everyone was gathered in the bleachers to watch our soccer game. Soccer was my sport, by this point I was considered one of the best, the Captain of the Blue team. The coach and I set up ... ...od: Silver Burdett Press, 1990. This book was about people who were told they would never make it but they proved the skeptics wrong. The book consisted of many career facts and focused on mainly the major leagues. Macht, Norman L. Jim Abbott, Major League Pitcher. Ed. Kathy Campbell. Philadelphia: Chlesea House Publishers, 1994. The book was about living the life of a physically handicapped person. I used the book to tell about Jim's strength and as basic reference to overcoming his handicap. "Making it to the Majors.'; Narr. John Hinkins. Espn. California. 5 May 1990. This was a TV interview with Jim Abbott. I used the interview for many quotes which I added to the paper where I deemed they fit. Savage, Jeff. Sports Great: Jim Abbott. Hillside: Enslow Publishers, 1993. The author who is a sportswriter follows the life of Abbott from his childhood days to the majors. This book was very in-depth and was a good source for the little things that were hard to find in the other books. White, Ellen Emerson. Jim Abbott: Against All Odds. New York: Scholastic Inc., 1990. The book was your average basic biography. I used it for some minor details about Jim growing up over the years.

Loss of Opportunity for Higher Education

A profession that most of us choose to follow will vary in many ways. Most people would follow a path that would entail penetrating the business world, while some would focus on other undertakings that include government related duties, medical professions and legal professions.   In my case, initially pursuing a career by defending and serving the country through using service for the flag by offering labor and passion for the country were my initial steps. Many people view joining the military as a waste of time, but in my case, serving the flag above anything else was main prerogative. This is perhaps one reason that what many would call as a deprivation of gaining higher education and exploring other opportunities that can eventually help out my tenure of service towards my country. Military occupations are known to end somewhere along the line and once this happens, a secure future may not be clear when it comes to depending on pensions as the main source of living later on. The basic business knowledge, strategies and management styles are definitely something that is not present or available at this time. While I am serving my country, participating in the on-going crisis that needs my attention, the desire and need to gain the necessary business knowledge needs more time to focus on. Being said, such events prevent me from attending to the needs of my family and dependents. Education is a very important investment, a choice that I had foregone, but given the opportunity to grab a decent education at any point will surely be something that I will not allow to pass. Such has become a hindrance in allowing my wife to gain better ground as far as opportunities. Understanding my current profession is not so easy to do. While I would have avoided the matter had I been chosen to pursue a degree of relative education, then perhaps this matter of attaining the proper educational level instead of serving my country was the purpose I had undoubtedly chosen. While there are no regrets on my part for being where I am now, the opportunity lost is quite devastating as  people would consider it. Providing a better future for my family was evidently set aside, and this is something that was a gamble on my part as far as life’s decisions are concerned. Taking the initiative of placing my country in lieu of my personal security for me and my family is clearly something that will deprive me of planning and preparing for the future once I have ended my years of service. However, hope still floats and even though time is a key element in investing in education has been lost, pardon or assistance to my dependents is something that I am really praying for. Due consideration in exchange for placing practically my life for a country I love dearly in exchange for the security and future of my wife and dependents is the only recourse I see to offset the loss from the educational benefits I have given up. But once time permits, pursuing education to whichever level suitable and to my abilities will remain to be my battle cry. There is no turning back to where I am now, but only time to adjust and look forward to being given the chance to undertake new and different challenges and seek education upon the remaining educational opportunity once given and allowed.