Global supply chain and Future Sustainable development Essay

Global supply chain and Future Sustainable development - Essay Example Supply chain management is coupled with modeling the product market and identifying the niche. This allows the producer to understand the scheduling of production and supply. The shift allowing more developing countries to produce market goods has favored China’s market growth. This is because China has low overhead cost when it comes to factors of production such as labor. Though the trend is opposed because of its implications such as child labor, environmental concerns among others this has not deterred its growth. Stakeholders demand constant and reliable supply of goods and services which developing countries are able to provide. The global supply chain taking to use developing countries to produce its goods has spurred speedy development. Large international firms have to assess the market for its goods before establishing a network of outlets. This includes data collection in order to create a framework of regions where the product is in actual demand. Also, firms have to adopt social, environmental and economic goals for the benefit of the developing country. Though, there has been a failure of some firms failing to meet their obligations. The development of sustainable global is a three-stage process. The first step is identifying the motivators. This covers the reason as to why global supply chains would work effectively. Is it the overwhelming unquenched market? Is it the availability of ready and cheap labor? The second stage covers assessing levers. This includes balancing various factors such as expenses against profit when the new strategy is implemented. Will networking increase the profits to the desired level and if so, will the current supply chain be able to accommodate market collapse. The factors are summarized into seven principles, which include, aim, policy, management, industry collaboration, partners accepting such change,

Milk Vending Machine Essay Example for Free

Milk Vending Machine Essay In March 2006, four friends and alumni of the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras connected from different parts of the globe and started talking. Ajit Narayanan worked as a storage engineer with American Megatrends Inc. In California, Aswin Chandrasekaran was an analyst managing product strategy for Capital One Financial Services Inc. in Washington DC. Adib Ibrahim was doing technology consulting at KPMG in Dubai. And Preetham Shivanna was a software engineer with Infosys Technologies, in Mysore, India. They started talking about their desire â€Å"to build a product-based company that would solve some real problems of India. † By mid 2007, the four were all in Chennai, and had set up shop as Invention Labs. They began by providing services in building electronic systems and designing embedded systems for other companies. They have since made their first foray into building a product ‘Milk Tree,’ a vending machine for milk sachets. The Producer Cooperatives and Supply Chain In India, the supply chain for milk from the dairy farm to the customer has five or six links. First, small dairy farmers, typically owners of one or two cows, deliver milk to the local collection point often located at the village itself. From here it is transported to a Bulk Milk Cooling centre, which is the first point of refrigeration. Next the milk is transported to a processing plant. Processing plants are usually located on the outskirts of towns and cities. A large metro like Chennai has two, catering to the northern and southern neighbourhoods respectively. It is also here at the processing plant that the milk is treated for homogenisation, plus other value addition, like skimming, pasteurisation and so on.. From the processing plant the milk is transported to warehouses in different localities inside the city from where it is supplied to the milk dealers of the city. The final link in this chain is made of the ‘milk boys’ who pick up the milk from the dealer, fill their trolleys full of milk sachets and deliver them on foot, to the customer’s doorstep. Dairy farmers in India are part of cooperative societies supported by the government. At the village level, the dairy farmers form part of a Village Cooperative Society. At the district level, they form a District Producer’s Union. Although the Board of this district level body is composed of farmers, they hire professional managers to run it (this is what differentiates it from the village level organisations). Finally, at the state level, they form a Federation, which is managed by Civil Service government officials. For the district of Ernakulam in the state of Kerala, the numbers are illustrative. There are three District Level Producers Unions and one state-level Federation in the state. The total population impacted by dairy farming in this state is 2400 Village Co-operatives, and about 150,000 families. What Are the Problems? There are several problems associated with this procurement and supply model. The only points in the chain where refrigeration are used are at the Bulk Milk Cooling Centres and the processing plant. This lack of a proper cold chain is the single biggest problem and causes spoilage to the tune of 1% to 3% annually to the cooperatives, directly impacting farmer incomes. To put this in context, annual milk production in India in 2007-08 was approximately 100 million tonnes; losses therefore, amounted to about 1 to 3 million tonnes. The flimsy nature of plastic sachets often results in leakage and further loss of milk by the time it reaches the customer. Under the current supply system, the customer pays an additional Rs. 0.80-1.50 as delivery cost. Also, since the milk boys have limited carrying capacity, the customer places an order at the beginning of the month, for how many sachets should be delivered every morning. He or she does not have the option of purchasing an extra sachet or two, in cases of sudden need. The cooperatives also lose out to private players who offer better margins to milk dealers at the cities. These dealers then tend to push private brands, thus further eroding profits for the cooperatives. The Solution: an Innovative Milk Vending Machine To solve these problems, the four friends at Invention Labs have built an innovative machine that vends milk sachets. This was after they conducted an extensive study of vending machine designs and their suitability to local conditions. Existing machines all operated on a coiled spring mechanism, which proved to be unsuitable for the amorphous nature and flimsiness of plastic milk sachets. Invention Labs’ vending machine uses a unique mechanism to dispense one milk sachet at a time, in a clean and predictable manner. The machine has a two-dimensional grid of columns which hold a total of 120 milk sachets (each sachet contains 500 ml). Using their experience in developing embedded systems, they have built a special encoder, which enables the individual control of all the columns, using just two actuators. As a result of this innovative design, the team has been successful in building a specialised milk vending machine that is at least half the sale price of existing vending machines in the market. Further, as Preetham mentioned, â€Å"all components are over-designed at the moment†, since they are in first stages of product launch. With further selection of appropriate material, design work, and mass production, the team is certain that they can bring down the cost further. Invention Labs has got its first order for seven vending machines from a dairy cooperative based in the state of Kerala. The business model that they plan to implement with soft funding from the Lemelson Recognition Mentoring Programme (L-RAMP) is to install such machines in apartment complexes and housing colonies. The cooperative will be provided the option of either purchasing these machines or paying rent to Invention Labs. The cooperative will be responsible for loading the machines every day with milk. All purchases by apartment dwellers will be smart card-based and cashless. Invention Labs will be responsible for installation, servicing, and maintenance. How do Different Players Benefit? Customers will have milk available at their doorstep 24 hours a day. They would no longer need to pay extra money for delivery and would be able to purchase as much or as little milk as they need. Since the milk will be stored at 6-8 degrees centigrade, these machines can ensure better hygiene than the previous supply model. The Cooperatives, by directly placing their product at the customer’s doorstep, can fight competition from private dairies, and especially target the evening market, which is currently being taken over by private players. The maintenance of milk at the optimal temperature means they will suffer reduced losses. The potential benefit for the small dairy farmer at the village level is increased earnings, due to reduction in milk loss caused by spoilage. Cooperatives share profits with farmers through dividends. Typically, the farmer gets approximately 41% of the profits, through such dividends trickling down from the federation to district, to village level. Obviously, this figure (in terms of real income to the individual) will vary a lot from one farmer to the next depending on the number of cows, yield, input costs etc. Thus, increased profits for the cooperative – remember losses run to the tune of several million tonnes each year – will eventually flow back to the primary producer. Future Challenges The fact that the demand for a specialised milk vending machine actually came from the Kerala milk cooperative is an indicator of the stark need for such vending technology. The primary question to be answered is if the economics of the milk vending model will work out and make it viable for the consumer and the cooperative investing in it. Invention Labs is already looking at innovative ideas like selling advertising space on the machines, and having FM radio channels on it, to increase sources of revenue. They might also offer other value added products like yoghurt and flavoured milk. The business model has an inherent risk in that the company will install the machines on a rental basis, thus facing default risks and unforeseen operational costs. The smart card and recharging systems have to be built and trialled. Apartment dwellers have to adopt the new system of purchasing milk from vending machines, and while they have patented the design, there is always the danger of others copying it. These and more questions will be answered over the next few months as the machines are installed and start vending milk packets. But, with such bright and committed minds working on the problem, one cannot but feel sanguine that a technological solution to India’s milk supply challenges is close at hand.

An Overview Of Tourism Management Issues Tourism Essay

An Overview Of Tourism Management Issues Tourism Essay Dark tourism has been defined as encompassing the visitation to any site associated with death, disaster and tragedy in the twentieth century for remembrance, education or entertainment. Furthermore Howie (2003) argues that visits to the sites of recent tragedies, as for example the site of the World Trade Center in New York destroyed by terrorist attacks in 2001, raise issues of both genuine compassion and morbid fascination. Urry (1991, taken from Theobald, 1994) also suggests that nostalgia, it would seem, knows no limits, to the virtual extent that the worse the experience the more appealing the attraction. The idea of dark side of tourism has also been identified by Dann and Seaton (2001) as incorporating what they call thanatourism, milking the macabre as a kind that pervades tourism in general. As suggested by McCormick (2004) dark tourism is not a new phenomenon as it can be referred back to the twelfth century when the violent death of the British Canterbury in the towns cathedral attracted many people to the site. Todays sites such as Chernobyl, The World Trade Center, Auschwitz or even sites where famous people were killed such as John F Kennedy are all experiencing an increase in visitors number (Lennon and Foley, 2004). As an article by the Guardian (2004) suggest, the explosion that in 1986, ripped the roof off Chernobyls fourth reactor, causing the buildings walls to bend and hurling tons of radioactive waste into the air, is today a popular tourist site. For foreigners, Chernobyl is easily added to a long list of tourist attractions whose fame turns on tragedy or disaster, but for those that live in the affected area, it is a different story. As the Ukrainian tourist boards executive director suggested: Chernobyl is not a historical place, it is a sleeping lion, an d when a lion is sleeping you do not open the cage. Other historical sites also include that of Auschwitz, a symbol of terror, genocide and the Holocaust. The number of registered visitors to this site are increasing and as the statistics show, the number of visitors of some countries, such as the USA, has doubled from 34404 to 62997 between 2003 and 2004 (Auschwitz, 2004), re-affirming the statement put forward by Lennon and Foley (2004) that dark tourism is on the increase. More recently a destination that has been affected by the terrorist attacks and that has seen an increase in inbound tourism, has been the World Trade Center, or better known as Ground Zero. In 2002, the ruins of the World Trade Center in New York attracted 3.6 million visitors, while the observation deck from the intact towers used to attract an average of 1.8 million tourists per year (McCormick, 2004). It must be noted that there are many more sites that have not been previously mentioned that are worth considering for future research to further understand the spread of dark tourism. Having considered some of the sites that best represent the view of dark tourism, the essay will now briefly look at the reasons behind this form of tourism and an in-depth analysis of the implications on tourism management issues will follow. Foley, Lennon and Maxwell (1997) suggest that many of the deaths and disasters that gave rise to heritage interpretation had received considerable coverage via global media, international news and film media. Young (1993, taken from Lennon and Foley, 2004) argues that there are elements of the ancient in dark tourism, in the visitation of these sites that are intended to maintain memory. People will be motivated by different things, perhaps they decide to visit these sites out of curiosity, pay their respect to those who have lost their lives or simply because they feel as if they are part of this (Di Sante, 2003). For the purpose of this task, the essay will now consider the tourism management issues as a result of the widespread of dark tourism. As with any tourist site, the conservation and safeguard of these monuments, museums or any other site, is perhaps the most relevant of all. Although the increase of dark tourism may mean that more people are now aware of what has happened for example during the Nazism and perhaps in a way it limits these atrocities to be repeated, a number of important issues have also been identified. As suggested by Lennon (2004) if there are lots of people involved in these attractions, you need regulations. It promotes extreme sensitivities and a lot depends on the motivation of visitors, is it morbid curiosity or is there personal reasons? One of the tourism management issues identified is that of the long-term damage caused by visitors. Inevitably the high number of visitors received by sites such as Auschwitz, ground Zero, Chernobyl, will have an impact in the long term. Therefore it is important to impose a visitor number management to control how many visitors are coming through the site. The protection of these are vital if damage is to be avoid and protection is also needed to restrain vandals from leaving their mark on everything they visit (Yale, 2004). As Yale (2004) also suggests weathering is also a major concern for those sites that are exposed to the elements, wind, rain, frost and sun, can be damaged unless shelter is provided or special arrangements made. Auschwitz camp is a perfect example for this. It is in the process of continual erosion; the growth of vegetation and foliage- coverage has to be managed and controlled. As Lennon and Foley (2004) further suggest, there should be management rather than restoration. This dark attraction has swelled visitor number and catalysed economic activity. A very important issue also identified is that of culture management. Tourist must be given a code of conduct and be educated to behave in a certain way when visiting particular sites as to conform and integrate with the local community to avoid conflict. Tourist themselves have, or should have, an obligation to observe codes of behaviour and be aware of cultural norms in the destination they are visiting (Howie, 2003). Some behaviour such as alcohol abuse, shouting, fighting should not be permitted as these might insult the local community and lack of respect needed in these tragedy sites. While at Auschwitz-Birkenau, groups of schoolchildren were taking photographs of each other, parents were photographing their children at the gates of Birkenau and indeed, school parties were sitting on the ruins of the crematorium eating sandwiches(Lennon and Foley, 2004). Furthermore funds required to conserve sites will also be of consideration. The two options that will be available to raise funds would probably lie with government support and a visitors entrance fee. It can be construed that the phenomenon of dark tourism is not a recent trend but its origins can be traced back to the twelfth century. Dark tourism has been defined as those visits to any site associated with death, disaster and tragedy in the twentieth century for remembrance, education or entertainment. It was noted that there are various reasons of why people decide to visit these particular sites; morbid curiosity, remembrance, the need to pay respects are just a few of these. The essay also looked at the more common cases of sites where dark tourism is more noticeable. Auschwitz, Chernobyl and the World Trade Center were taken into consideration while it was also noted that other sites such as the death site of John F Kennedys murder provoke peoples interests. It was also noted that the number of visitors, of a particular country, at certain sites such as Auschwitz had doubled between 2003 and 2004 re-affirming the statement that suggested that dark tourism is increasing. Furthermore, the essay also determined that there are a number of tourism management issues involved with dark tourism; conservation and safeguard of these sites; weathering of those sites exposed to the elements, wind, rain, frost and sun, and that can be damaged unless shelter is provided or special arrangements made. It was also noted that Auschwitz is currently in the process of erosion, the overgrowth of vegetation for example is going out of hand and it really needs a management program more than a restoration program to keep it in perfect order. Vandalism was also noted as a tourism management issue to take into consideration. Finally it was noted that culture management is also very important and tourists must be educated to behave in a certain way when visiting particular sites to avoid conflict. Site managers should seek government funds or even impose a small entrance fee to be able to continue the conservation process. Back to: Example Essays Bibliography Auschwitz (2003) Memorial and Museum: Auschwitz- Birkenau, Avaialble from: http://www.auschwitz-muzeum.oswiecim.pl/html/eng/start/ Dann, G. M.S. and Seaton, A.V. (2001) Slavery, Contested Heritage and Thanatourism, Birmingham: The Haworth Hospitality Press Di Sante, T. (2003) Why were drawn to the roots of terror, 06 Sep., The Times Foley, M., Lennon, J. and Maxwell, G. (1997) Hospitality, Tourism and Leisure Management: Issues in Strategy and Culture, London: Cassell Howie, F. (2003) Managing the Tourist Destination, London: Continuum Lennon, J. (2004) Seminar on dark tourism, 13 Aug., Issue 2627, Travel Trade Gazette in the Times, 20 Aug, p 4 Lennon, J. and Foley, M. (2004) Dark Tourism, London: Thomson McCormick, M. (2004) Ground Zero and the phenomena of dark tourism, Available from: http://www.pilotguides.com/destination_guide/north_america/new_york/ground_zero.php The Guardian (2004) Postcard from Hell, 18 Oct, p1-4 Theobald, W. (1994) Global tourism: the next decade, Oxford: Butterworth Heinemann Urry, J. (1991) The Tourist Gaze, London: Sage Yale, P. (2004) From Tourist Attractions to Heritage Tourism, 3rd ed., Elm Young, J.E. (1993) The Texture of Memory: Holocaust Memorials and Meaning, New Haven, CT: Yale University Press Boniface, P. (2001)Dynamic tourism, Channel View Publications Boniface, P. and Fowler, P.J. (1993) Heritage and Tourism in the global village, London: Routledge Herbert, D.T. (1995) Heritage, Tourism and Society, Pinter Uzzell, D. (1989) Heritage Interpretation, London: Belhaven Press Yale, P. (1991) From Tourist Attractions to Heritage Tourism, Elm Publications

Gold :: Minerals Natural Resources Essays

Gold Gold is a very common mineral that is mined and processed in the United States and all over the world. One of the most common processes used for the mining and processing of gold in the United States is heap leaching. â€Å"The extraction of gold from low grade deposits has been one of the main factors in higher output since the 1970s† using this form of mining (www.pamp.com). Half of all production, in the United States, of low grade minerals comes from heap leaching. It is a low cost, effective process which began at the Placer Development's Cortez open pit in Nevada in 1973 (www.pamp.com). Heap leaching â€Å"recovers gold from sub-grade mine waste or mill tailings.† The â€Å"native gold is taken into solution as gold cyanide and recovered by adsorption and activated carbon† (Halleck 2/19). It is very effective in removing gold from deposits filled with many other minerals as well. The ore removed from the heap leaching is discarded onto open-air leach pads. Cyanide is then sprayed over the ore and sits there for several weeks allowing the cyanide to seep into the deposit. The cyanide extracts the gold from the ore and drips off of the leach pad on which the ore deposit sits. The gold solution runs into the â€Å"pregnant pond† where it is then pumped to the recovery plant. Zinc dust is then added to the solution causing gold and silver to precipitate. This product is then sent to refineries where the gold and silver are separated from each other (www.blm.gov). The use of cyanide is a great environmental hazard. The cyanide affects the area in which it is used as well as the community surrounding the area of the mine. Some examples of cyanide causing hazardous situations are at the Zortman-Landusky Mine in Montana, the Summitville Mine in Colorado, the Kumtor Gold Mine in Kyrgyzstan, Asia, and the Aural Gold Plant in Romania. At the Zortman-Landusky mine 52,000 gallons of cyanide solution drained into the fresh water supply of a nearby town.

Literary Devices Essay

While attending my course on â€Å"War and Literature†, and listening to the conversation, I found myself struck by an intellectual question presented by another student. This student asked, â€Å"When does paradox become hypocrisy? † Immediately afterwards I wrote the response, â€Å"A good war is a war that teaches it’s mistakes without one having to live with them. † At first I didn’t know if I had truly responded to the question. I analyzed both the question and response carefully through the literary devices and found myself satisfied with the responses standing. When analyzing the response I first had to return to the question. â€Å"When does paradox become hypocrisy? † Referring to this question I had to ask if my response held a paradox. â€Å"A good war is a war that teaches it’s mistakes without one having to live with them. † Considering that a paradox is a statement that seems self- contradictory, and that â€Å"a good war† is the introduction to the response, suggested that â€Å"a good war† is a paradox. However, why is it that â€Å"a good war† is a paradox? War can best be defined as active hostility. Good can also be best defined as being well behaved. Considering these definitions and the response, â€Å"a good war† would certainly be a paradox  because active hostility is contradictory to being well behaved. However, most would assume that â€Å"a good war† was the responses paradox, and to assume otherwise would be insulting to someone’s intellect. So then one has to ask how it is so commonly understood that â€Å"a good war† is a paradox? To conclude this question, one must consider that most of everyone was raised with the developmental understanding of good and bad. Most of everyone also would commonly agree that war is not good. So why do people still go, and why do we not learn from â€Å"it’s mistakes without someone having to live with them†? From statistics taken in the year two thousand fourteen, seven percent of America’s society is a veteran, and in that year there were near three hundred eighteen million citizens. That means that over twenty two million American citizens are veterans of foreign war. So how is it that we can convince over seven percent of our citizens to go risk their livelihood? We determined that war is wrong so how do we replace the ideas of good and bad? To better answer that question, it is better to replace the employment of a soldier with a painter. In order to make someone who is  not a painter become a painter, one would have to go through a series of tasks. First, cut off access to other mediums. Do not allow that person to work with anything other then painting. If they want to write a letter home, they paint it. If they want to create something three dimensional, they paint it. If they want to tell a story, they again, will paint it. Now there is no difference between the painter with their paintbrush, and the recruit with their rifle. Second, apply influences to praise the ideals. The same recruited painter now needs to be surrounded with people who share the same ideals. The painter cannot have the influences of sculptors, graphic designers, or any other ambassador of other art form. The painter needs the overall support of peers with the subject matter. This again, is no different from the soldier and their peers. Third, discourage all other ideals. The facilitator, who is regulating the transition between non-painters to painters, needs to openly degrade the ideals of all other art forms. The facilitator needs to make sure that the recruits hear their passionate opinions about how other art forms are â€Å"wrong†. This will guide the recruits to also share the same ideals. This relationship resembles the relationship between Drill Instructors and their recruits. Fourthly, revival the title has a distinguished history of renowned individuals. For a painter, there are many distinguished individuals that made a dramatically difference within the realm of art. For some examples, there is Vincent Van Gough, Pablo Picasso, and Leonardo De Vinci. It is up to the facilitator to idolize these individuals in front of the forth-coming painters. This will give the recruited painters the expectations they need to become idolized into their new profession. This will  also make the recruited painters strive to achieve the same honor. For the recruited soldier, they hear about the selfless actions of the Medal of Honor, Prisoners of War, and Purple Heart recipients. For them, they also strive to achieve that honor. Lastly, provide the graduate with a quote that brands them with honor. For instance, EARTH, Semper Fi, or Army of One. This will give the graduate something to display as pride and unite them forever with the other individuals who also have endured the same training. Now returning back to the question, â€Å"when does a paradox become a  hypocrisy†, the response needed to be evaluated for the literary device of hypocrisy. Is â€Å"a good war is a war that teaches it’s mistakes without one having to live with them†, a response of hypocrisy. Through the development of good and bad, we have concluded that war is wrong. To suggest otherwise would propose a state of insanity. Insanity is a derangement of the mind or not conforming. Since we have conclude that the popular choice is tosay that war is wrong suggests that people who desire to go to war, miss war, or idolize war are insane. So are they insane? If the response,  Ã¢â‚¬Å"war teaches it’s mistakes without one having to live with them† is true, than yes. However, the statement is hypocrisy and hypocrisy is the pretense of having. So reverting back to the practice of transitioning from non-painter to painter, the recruit became a painter. Now what if, during the transition, the recruit never got the opportunity to paint. The entire time the recruit was given black ink to practice the techniques of painting, but never received oil or acrylic paints. The recruit sat through sessions where they viewed images of others painters and their colorful  paintings, only to never receive color to paint with. After the transitions period, after the recruit was given the title of painter and hope to finally paint with color. However, the restriction continues and they again were never given oil or acrylic paints. They had practiced the trade for years without actual execution. The outcome is apparent. They will forever long to paint. This is the situation with the soldier. The soldier practices with blank ammunition for years, views images of warfare, practices the techniques of warfare, and never gets to execute their practices in war. The outcome is apparent. They will forever long for warfare. So in regards to the response, from the soldiers perspective, they would disagree because war cannot â€Å"teach it’s mistakes without one having to live with them. † They themselves desire warfare. However, for sanities sake, they would suggest the response to be true in the company of other American citizens. This is the pretense of having and concludes the statement to be hypocrisy; at least from the soldiers perspective. So does the statement apply to other citizens of America? Again, the response  to the initial question suggests that war is wrong and a sane response is to agree with the statement. This implies that American citizens do not see the statement as hypocrisy. However, how much money is accumulated over the showing of one Hollywood movie about warfare? How much money and time is spent reading through the stories about warfare? How often do people find excitement when sharing a conversation with a veteran where they can ask personal questions about their experiences? As peaceful people who agree with the statement, American citizens curiously find something compelling about war. It is not my position to accuse the masses of being warmongers. However, to defend the integrity of my response, the response is hypocrisy. It cannot â€Å"teach it’s mistakes† if people live vicariously through the experiences of war. Without war that satisfaction is taken away and the entertainment lost, suggesting that the mistakes aren’t learned; they’re idolized. To propose other wise is the pretense of having or also known as hypocrisy. So can war teach â€Å"it’s mistakes†? Can the statement ever become true? Lets again look at the question, â€Å"when does paradox become hypocrisy? † and compare it  to the response, â€Å"a good war is a war that teaches it’s mistakes without one having to live with them. † In order to make the response true we would have to rephrase the question. This time we will ask, when does paradox become integrity? We have concluded that the response to the initial question is both a paradox and hypocrisy, but we have overlooked one literary device. Personification. Personification is the representation of an abstraction in the form of a person. In the response we suggested that â€Å"a good war† is a paradox, and if â€Å"war teaches it’s mistakes without one having to live with them† is hypocrisy. However, the response also suggests that we have personified war. So in order to make the statement, â€Å"a good war is a war that teaches it’s mistakes without one having to live with them† true, we have to remove the personification and rephrase the response to â€Å"a good person is a person that teaches their mistakes without one having to live with them†. By removing the literary device of personification we have successful removed the other literary devices of paradox and hypocrisy, and gave the response integrity. If a good person were to teach others about their life’s mistakes, maybe others could  learn from them. It is the gift from the veteran of foreign wars to express to others the mistakes of warfare. From that point forward, it is up to the recipient of the gift to learn from the veteran’s mistakes. War cannot teach it’s mistakes because war as a whole removes the personal aspect of warfare. It gives the individual a number instead of a valued story. However, the individual’s personal story, the veteran, includes the emotional toll of warfare. From that personal story, the audience can now begin to understand the dysfunction of warfare and that personal story can be identified as the gift.

Auto Pact essays

Auto Pact essays In May of 2000 the World Trade Organization (WTO) ended the Canadian made Auto Pact. The Auto Pact was an agreement constructed by Pierre Trudeau in 1965 that allowed companies to bring auto parts and vehicles from anywhere in the world into Canada without any tariff, but with two conditions. One condition was a requirement of commitment to jobs in Canada, manufacturers had to produce one car in Canada for everyone they sold. They also had to maintain a Canadian Value Added (CVA), which basically means no depreciation on Canadian made machinery and that parts in assembly were also made in Canada. Automotive trade markets are among the most open in the world. They maintain no tariff barriers. This treaty kept North America happy however; the overseas companies were left with the shorter end of the stick. This caused the fall of the Auto Pact. The Auto Pact is too important to Canada, and Canada will suffer extreme losses.(reword) (give the main points) The 1965 Auto Pact is Canadas most successful trade agreement. We should be kissing his ass, says the wise yet youthful Jon Cooper as he refers to Trudeaus ingenious scheme. It is a building block of Canada. Since signing the Auto Pact, the Canadian automotive industry has enjoyed enormous growth. Production and automotive manufacturing employment have increased 200% and automotive shipments grew from $2.2 billion in 1964 to $70.5 billion in 1995. The main two focuses of Trudeaus were exports and employment. Trudeau increased the automotive sales from a once scarce Canadian industry into its top export. His other concern, creating employment doubled. Without the Auto Pact enforcing these numbers they will fall. The Canadian Auto Workers (CAW) president Buzz Hargrove said at the Caw Joint Council meeting in December 2000 that the Auto Pact was: A trading pact that has meant so much to the growth of the...

Free Essays on Civilizations

CIVILIZATION The term â€Å"civilization† means an advanced state of intellectual, cultural and material development in human society, marked by progress in the arts and sciences, the extensive use of record-keeping, including writing and the appearance of complex political and social institutions. The following elements make up a civilization: Cities - Man becomes settled. Cities and towns are built, become larger and densely occupied dwelling areas are accessed by winding streets and irrigation systems are developed to cultivate the land and grow food. There is a general improvement in the standard of living so man stays home more. Specialization of Labor – Overpopulation encourages man to find new food sources, hence, he becomes a food producer. This gives birth to the Agricultural Revolution. Also, the domestication of animals is known as the Pastoral Revolution. Some people are farmers but a significant portion of the population could now become non-agriculturists and become specialists in other vocations. Weaving, pottery making, metal-work, trade and construction are a few examples of specializations of labor. Writing - Not only is a common language being shared, token and ball systems are replaced by flat tablets which have desired information inscribed on it by way of appropriate symbols written with sticks. This form of writing was replaced by using a durable reed stylus known as Cuneiform. However, it was hard to draw pictures with these reeds so symbols were invented for every vowel-consonant combination, known as Phonetic symbols. Without writing, it would be impossible to record history. Organized Government – Priests stood at the top of these highly theocratic societies. Organized warfare between nomadic people and settled people commences due to Nomadic people yearning to have what settled people have attained. Now development of armies and militia are required to keep order. M... Free Essays on Civilizations Free Essays on Civilizations CIVILIZATION The term â€Å"civilization† means an advanced state of intellectual, cultural and material development in human society, marked by progress in the arts and sciences, the extensive use of record-keeping, including writing and the appearance of complex political and social institutions. The following elements make up a civilization: Cities - Man becomes settled. Cities and towns are built, become larger and densely occupied dwelling areas are accessed by winding streets and irrigation systems are developed to cultivate the land and grow food. There is a general improvement in the standard of living so man stays home more. Specialization of Labor – Overpopulation encourages man to find new food sources, hence, he becomes a food producer. This gives birth to the Agricultural Revolution. Also, the domestication of animals is known as the Pastoral Revolution. Some people are farmers but a significant portion of the population could now become non-agriculturists and become specialists in other vocations. Weaving, pottery making, metal-work, trade and construction are a few examples of specializations of labor. Writing - Not only is a common language being shared, token and ball systems are replaced by flat tablets which have desired information inscribed on it by way of appropriate symbols written with sticks. This form of writing was replaced by using a durable reed stylus known as Cuneiform. However, it was hard to draw pictures with these reeds so symbols were invented for every vowel-consonant combination, known as Phonetic symbols. Without writing, it would be impossible to record history. Organized Government – Priests stood at the top of these highly theocratic societies. Organized warfare between nomadic people and settled people commences due to Nomadic people yearning to have what settled people have attained. Now development of armies and militia are required to keep order. M...

Faget Essays - Faget, Fucking, Austria, Free Essays, Term Papers

Faget Essays - Faget, Fucking, Austria, Free Essays, Term Papers Faget Im just a pretty boy, whatever you call it You wouldnt know a man if you saw it It keeps going on Day after day son, so you FAKE and we dont want none Im sick and tired of people teating me this way everyday, who gives a *censored* right now I got something to say to all the people that thing Im STRANGE, that I sould be outta here locked up in a CAGE Well you can suck my *censored* and Fucking Like it! -J. Davis

Operation information system management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Operation information system management - Essay Example The telecommunication component constitute of information technology that helps to channel information to all the departments within an organization. In addition, information technology encourages creativity and innovativeness because of dynamism experienced in business environment. The major types of information systems include; functional system and organization information systems. Functional information systems provide support to specific departments within an organization (Encyclopedia Britanic pp.1-3). An example of functional information systems include; production system, marketing systems and cross functional systems. Those systems helps in ensuring that there efficient and effective logistics operations (Encyclopedia Britanic p.3). On the other hand, organization information systems are those systems that enhance effectiveness and efficiency in organization operations. Among the organization systems include; those that provide support to the organization operations, organiz ation knowledge and managerial support. Operation support encompasses three major areas of operations namely; supply chain management, transactional systems and management of customer’s relationships (Encyclopedia Britanic pp.2-3). Knowledge support system facilitates flow of knowledge through out the organization. Among the knowledge systems include; collaboration support systems, professional knowledge support systems and knowledge management systems. A collaboration management system helps to ensure proper coordination among all departments within an organization. On the contrary, a professional knowledge management system helps to promote cohesiveness among different professionals working together in a company. Connectively, management support system entails decision support models such as executive support systems and managerial reporting systems (Encyclopedia Britanic p.3-7). Therefore, this study will provide a comprehensive report and an analysis of the role and acqui sition of information systems for TGL senior management as well as line management. Role and acquisition of IS for TGL for its senior management and line management Information system involves three major roles namely; providing support to business operations, making managerial decisions and providing support to achieve strategic competitive advantage (Bagad p.2). Business operation role involves applying information systems in recording inventories, billing of vendors and customers, management of cash flows to mention just but a few. For example, it can be scrutinized that TGL Company has an account department that takes part in executing business operation role. For example, it was reported that TGL account department makes purchase orders as well as make payment for goods and services on behalf of the entire organization. In addition, TGL marketing department conduct marketing research to determine popularity of their company products and design marketing strategies that can be e mployed to market their company products. Whereby, marketing managers provides managers with necessary information that can help them make sound decisions on the most appropriate design that can be employed. On the other hand, information system plays decision role, this involves providing information that may help TGL managers to decide whether to invest, divest or not to invest on a particular product (Bagad p.2-3). Finally, information syst

Document for Proposal review Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Document for Proposal review - Essay Example For example, Chapelle (2005) contends that technology is central to second language teaching, while Sinicrope et al 2007) note the importance of increasing inter-cultural collaboration between individuals who are culturally and linguistically different using ICT. Moreover, Alrumaih (2004) argues that ICT advances aid EFL teachers to innovate the way they teach L2 to students in the virtual and physical classrooms. This research study will seek to enrich knowledge about the use of tele-collaboration promote intercultural communication and learning among EFL teachers in Saudi Arabia. O’Dowd (2013), for example, mentions that tele-collaboration enables virtual intercultural interaction and exchange between geographically-dispersed language learners in collaborative projects and tasks. Moreover, Ware and Caà ±ado (2007) also state that tele-collaboration is essential in promoting conversational fluency and negotiation of meaning. By applying online collaboration to enable EFL teachers in Saudi Arabia to collaborate on project work and collaborative tasks, the research project should enrich theory into how EFL teachers can improve their intercultural competence as well as ICT competence. The UNESCO ICT competency framework for teachers, for example, outlines the proficiencies and skills needed for teachers to integrate ICT into teaching practice and the study will seek to enhance this framework. In addition, this study will also seek to enhance knowledge on the Salmon (2004) five stage model that seeks to help guide EFL teachers enhance learner experience and knowledge construction using ICT. Moreover, this research study will contribute significant knowledge about the role of the instructor for tele-collaborative intercultural research. Joly and Iseli-Chan (2010) identifies the need for additional research into tele-collaborative partnerships by EFL teachers. By producing co-authored instructions in teacher-teacher dialogue format,

Discuss one or two results of the appearance of the British Research Paper

Discuss one or two results of the appearance of the British Petroleum's oil spill in the gulf in the cultural consciousness - Research Paper Example As a response, many communities along the cost have organized benefits to attempt to ease stressors the catastrophe has caused. One particularly successful event included a show by Jimmy Buffett (Reeves). Daily reports obviate one stark fact however. If all of the engineers and scientists cannot fix the problem, what help can anything I do be The results of the BP oil spill are felt in our cultural consciousness at the level of our political dialogue. During the Bush administration we became so used to the fact that government and the petroleum industry were inextricably linked, we have had to make conscious effort to remind ourselves that the current administration does not have such strong ties. It is literally not Obama's oil spill (Varadarajan). This is one way in which the political dialogue has felt the impact of the BP oil spill on our cultural consciousness. The results of the BP oil spill are felt in our cultural consciousness at the level on environmental concern. Protests around the globe attest to the fervor of our renewed sense of environmental concern. Recently, it has been strikingly noted as a cultural conscious during a protest at the British Museum ("Oil slick protest at British Museum"). It seems that on some level people are making the connection between the man-made disaster and the cultural imperatives that drive us to them. The results of

Reflective paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Reflective paper - Essay Example Gained information from other authors and experts in the more casual setting on what questions which can fall under open-ended and close-ended questionnaires Day 2 (morning) Interviewed nurses on how and what questions they asked in order to gain health-related information from their patients. Gained information on the type of questions they used and how they asked such questions from patients Day 2 (afternoon) Interviewed doctors and other health professionals asking them the types of questions they should be asked by other health professionals in relation to patient care. Gained knowledge on what I can ask from doctors and other health professionals in order to gain the most data about the patient’s care. ... Day 4 (afternoon) Formulated open-ended and close-ended questions based on books and studies researched, and based on information gathered from other nurses, patients, and health professionals Organize information on paper based on knowledge gained above and establish open-ended and close-ended questions from this knowledge. Day 5 (morning) Tested such questions with 3 nurses, 3 other health professionals, and 3 patients; feedback from such questions were asked from the respondents Learned what was lacking and what needed improvement in the questionnaire Day 5 (afternoon) Questionnaire refined based on the suggestions of the respondents Integrated more improvements on questionnaire based on initial feedback Day 6 (morning) Rapport building was carried out with other colleagues, health professionals, and patients. Found out ways of getting around patient’s defenses and get them to be more open about their health issues. Day 6 (afternoon) Posed open-ended and close-ended questio ns on patients to establish their history and physical assessment details Gained accurate, timely, and appropriate information about the patients to assist in the diagnosis and treatment plan. Reflection The plan above which I followed in the application of my PDP, contains both advantages and disadvantages. This plan was very much effective in achieving my goals for this research. Basically, I believe that what I have done above will help me better communicate with patients and other health professionals. In carrying out the question and answer process, I was able to bring further support to the idea by the JCAHO (2003) which stated that open-ended questions are known to yield definite answers from the patient in relation to past and current

Now that we talked about the rise and fall of primary civilization Essay

Now that we talked about the rise and fall of primary civilization around the globe, discuss the factors or combinations of factors associated with the collapse of civilization - Essay Example Similarly, desertification which is a â€Å"serious environmental problem confronting the world† has always led to continued environmental degradation (Geist 4). The negative effects originating from desertification has been cited throughout the history to have contributed to the collapse of empires and civilization. This is owed to the fact that such conditions usually hamper communities practicing farming, agricultural production and also displaces the population thereby in the community. The other environmental factor that has caused collapse of civilization is deforestation. In most cases, deforestation occurs whenever there is cutting of trees for trees for timber, firewood and for manufacturing purposes which generally lower rainfall and cause soil infertility thereby making civilizations unstable to support itself and its people especially those that lived near the rivers. Political Factors: Historically, politics has played a significant role in the collapse of various world civilizations. For examples, through politics the barbarians managed to invert empires which in Frassetto’s view, was caused by â€Å"uncivilized people who began to pressure on† by causing war in the empire (33). Eventually, these people succeeded with their effort to invade and trespass the majestic frontiers thereby destroying the old civilization as a result of hatred. On the other hand, various political changes and reorganizations of political institutions that existed in different civilization cause a lot of stability thereby resulting to collapse of civilizations. Lack of well organized political institution to govern the society and maintain law and order meant disintegration of the societies that formed such civilizations. Social Factors: Historically, social unrest has been cited to have caused â€Å"collapse of rigid social orders† (Fagan 18). For instance, whenever

Psychedelia and Vietnam Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Psychedelia and Vietnam - Essay Example In this way one considers that the narrator in the song speaks about having to avoid mortar shells. In great part the specific musical components contribute to this song’s message. In this way the guitar is low-key and thoroughly allows the vocals to shine through. Another prominent recognition is that Paxton’s voice is subdued, yet contains a significant degree of ethos, leading the listener to empathize with his message. Another prominent song with a war message is Johnny Wright’s ‘Hello Vietnam’. This song is less explicit in its criticism of the Vietnam War. While the song alludes to the arbitrary nature of the war, it is more concerned with articulating a story about a lost love going abroad to fight in the war. This seems to be the song’s most effective part. To an extent the song can even be interpreted as embracing the war. In this way the song speaks of American’s mission abroad and the importance of stopping communism before it becomes a larger problem. Specifically, the song implements a lyrical metaphor in comparing communism to a fire that must be put out or risk a larger problem. In terms of the specific musical components, to an extent one can argue that they interfere with the song’s message. The song adopts a lackadaisical country western musical approach that seems more concerned with the love story than conveying any sort of meaningful politi cal message. Finally, Sgt. Barry Sadler’s ‘Ballad of the Green Berets’ presents another perspective on war. While the first two songs made specific comments on the Vietnam War, this song instead constitutes a firm embracement of American military values. In this way, as the title suggests, the song functions as a ballad for the Green Berets. To a large extent the Green Berets are presented as heroic and brave individuals. While the song lacks a political message, this may actually be its strongest part;

Reflective paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Reflective paper - Essay Example Gained information from other authors and experts in the more casual setting on what questions which can fall under open-ended and close-ended questionnaires Day 2 (morning) Interviewed nurses on how and what questions they asked in order to gain health-related information from their patients. Gained information on the type of questions they used and how they asked such questions from patients Day 2 (afternoon) Interviewed doctors and other health professionals asking them the types of questions they should be asked by other health professionals in relation to patient care. Gained knowledge on what I can ask from doctors and other health professionals in order to gain the most data about the patient’s care. ... Day 4 (afternoon) Formulated open-ended and close-ended questions based on books and studies researched, and based on information gathered from other nurses, patients, and health professionals Organize information on paper based on knowledge gained above and establish open-ended and close-ended questions from this knowledge. Day 5 (morning) Tested such questions with 3 nurses, 3 other health professionals, and 3 patients; feedback from such questions were asked from the respondents Learned what was lacking and what needed improvement in the questionnaire Day 5 (afternoon) Questionnaire refined based on the suggestions of the respondents Integrated more improvements on questionnaire based on initial feedback Day 6 (morning) Rapport building was carried out with other colleagues, health professionals, and patients. Found out ways of getting around patient’s defenses and get them to be more open about their health issues. Day 6 (afternoon) Posed open-ended and close-ended questio ns on patients to establish their history and physical assessment details Gained accurate, timely, and appropriate information about the patients to assist in the diagnosis and treatment plan. Reflection The plan above which I followed in the application of my PDP, contains both advantages and disadvantages. This plan was very much effective in achieving my goals for this research. Basically, I believe that what I have done above will help me better communicate with patients and other health professionals. In carrying out the question and answer process, I was able to bring further support to the idea by the JCAHO (2003) which stated that open-ended questions are known to yield definite answers from the patient in relation to past and current

Psychedelia and Vietnam Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Psychedelia and Vietnam - Essay Example In this way one considers that the narrator in the song speaks about having to avoid mortar shells. In great part the specific musical components contribute to this song’s message. In this way the guitar is low-key and thoroughly allows the vocals to shine through. Another prominent recognition is that Paxton’s voice is subdued, yet contains a significant degree of ethos, leading the listener to empathize with his message. Another prominent song with a war message is Johnny Wright’s ‘Hello Vietnam’. This song is less explicit in its criticism of the Vietnam War. While the song alludes to the arbitrary nature of the war, it is more concerned with articulating a story about a lost love going abroad to fight in the war. This seems to be the song’s most effective part. To an extent the song can even be interpreted as embracing the war. In this way the song speaks of American’s mission abroad and the importance of stopping communism before it becomes a larger problem. Specifically, the song implements a lyrical metaphor in comparing communism to a fire that must be put out or risk a larger problem. In terms of the specific musical components, to an extent one can argue that they interfere with the song’s message. The song adopts a lackadaisical country western musical approach that seems more concerned with the love story than conveying any sort of meaningful politi cal message. Finally, Sgt. Barry Sadler’s ‘Ballad of the Green Berets’ presents another perspective on war. While the first two songs made specific comments on the Vietnam War, this song instead constitutes a firm embracement of American military values. In this way, as the title suggests, the song functions as a ballad for the Green Berets. To a large extent the Green Berets are presented as heroic and brave individuals. While the song lacks a political message, this may actually be its strongest part;

Evaluation Proposal Essay Example for Free

Evaluation Proposal Essay Abstract The driving force that stimulates the founders and leaders of the program LAs BEST to aggressively seek evaluations for the program is its genuine concern to be effective and efficient in delivering the goals of the program to disadvantage children, rather than a legislative requirement. The managements initiative of professionalizing practitioners in the after school program, particularly the staffs will make a significant impact on LAs BEST, because these individuals   are the key players in the implementation and overall support system that the program provides for the disadvantaged children participating in this after school program.    As the staffs are the ones involved in giving custodial care and making the learning environment/activities more engaging for the children.   There are many evaluations that were done for after school program as discussed by Scott-Little, Hamann Jurs (2002, p. 394); usually it is the children that are evaluated. Yet for the program to be effective, there is a need to evaluate the staff. This evaluation proposal is being submitted to meet that need, a methodological research has been designed to gather information that will guide management to create staff development sessions that will affirm and promote best practices for the program. It was also designed to gather perceptions of professionalism of the staff and to articulate the core knowledge and skills required by staffs in after school programs and how these may be acquired and updated, as well. Introduction   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     In 2002, Congress passed into law the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001.   The passage of this act has significantly amended the Elementary and Secondary Education Act to expand State and local accountability and flexibility, and to stress the adoption of research-based practices. (Mahoney Zigler, 2006)   It also contained a number of new provisions that specifically affected the program of 21st Century Communities Learning Centers (21st CCLC) that was authorized under Title IV, Part B, of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). It gave the States the responsibility to focus on the 21st CCLC program with specific purposes;   (1) to provide opportunities for academic enrichment, particularly to students in high-poverty areas and those who attend low-performing schools. And to help the students meet State and local standards in core academic subjects such as reading and mathematics; (2) to offer students a broad array of additional services, programs, and recreational activities, that are designed to reinforce and complement the regular academic program of participating students; and (3) to offer families of students served by community learning centers opportunities for literacy and related educational development. At the same time, centers help working parents by providing a safe environment for students during non-school hours, or periods when the school is not in session. (The Law, 2006). Description of the Program It was in 1988 (Factsataglance.2.doc, 2007) when former Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley created a program to address the growing concern of the community regarding the alarming increase of violent crimes that are mostly attributed to street gangs; the rising numbers of school drop outs, and the proliferation of illegal drugs being used by minors. In the belief that it was the city’s fundamental moral obligation to help these individuals, Bradley created a 55-member Mayor’s Education Council, consisting of leaders coming from the business, education, child care, government, entertainment and industry sectors of the community.   These leaders were tasked to structure and implement the program which was called LAs Better Educated Students for Tomorrow or LAs BEST.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   LAs BEST is an innovative after school program that provides a safe and supervised learning environment for children ages 5- 12 years old immediately after the close of each school day until 6pm without cost to parents.   Working parents of inner-city children, particularly those belonging to the low-income family groups, are anxious about the safety of their children during the hours after school day. As explained by Riggs Greenberg (2004) these hours are considered high risk based on studies of previous researchers, especially if minors are left unsupervised.   Many parents fear their children will be exposed to and /or be influenced by people with destructive behaviors exacerbated by poverty.   And the children themselves have expressed their fears and threats on their well being in their immediate environment or neighborhoods when interviewed according to Huang, Gribbons, Kim, Lee Baker (2000, p. 20). Goals of the Program   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The LA’s BEST program has been designed to provide custodial care, and to provide activities to meet specific educational, social, and motivational goals. (Huang et al, 2000) The program’s goals can be concisely summarized as; 1) to provide a safe supervised environment for the participants during the hours after the close of each school day until 6pm, and 2) to develop the learning experience of the participants through a positive support system in place that would address the participants’ academic, social and motivational needs. Brief description of the theory behind the program The theory behind the program is that when caring, responsible adults are connecting with the children in the hours after the close of each school day, these adults make the place safe to be for the children after school, and make the learning environment and activities more engaging for the children, and are considered as a key player in making a positive impact on the children’s academic achievements, enhanced social skills and emotional maturity. And in order for a program to deliver high quality service, priority should be given on professionalizing and training the staffs involved in the program particularly to the staff that will provide custodial care and learning activities to the children. Description of the Client With this in mind, this program evaluation is being done for LAs BEST with the aim of giving management an overview of the current skill level within the after school program of LAs BEST commenting on both skills, experience and training undertaken by staffs providing custodial care and learning activities to children. Information will also be gathered on employers expectations of skills needed by the staffs employed in this program both at present and in the future. The reason that this information is being gathered is to determine if there is a gap between the current skills level and the duties required to competently manage and implement the program. The information from this evaluation will be used to identify priority areas to be addressed in a proposed Staff Development Framework that LAs BEST wishes to develop. Evaluation Methodology Evaluation/Research methodological design employed Research for this evaluation will be conducted in two parts, the first part being; 1) a literature review of information available from LAs BEST commenting on current skill levels of the staffs providing custodial care and learning activities to the children. The literature review summarizes findings of research to be conducted into training, qualifications, and skill levels of the staffs in LAs BEST, 2) Informal interview of participants while gathering the literature review and, 3) Observational research commencing on site selection and interaction with participants. The second part will be the survey proper using the structure questionnaire for the skill audit survey; 1) gathering data from managers/supervisors participants and 2) gathering data from staff participants. Implementation measures The literature review summary will supplement information drawn from the second part of the research, the skill audit survey and, combined, will give a more accurate view of the current skill level of the staffs. The second part of the research for this report will be conducted through a targeted survey of managers and supervisors in LAs BEST and their respective staffs.   A survey of eight questions concerning the skills of staff in relation to the duties they perform will be gathered from the managers and supervisors. While another survey of 14 questions will be gathered from the staffs. Outcome measures Findings from the two areas of research will be contrasted to find notable areas of commonality and discrepancy and the results of this comparison will be included in this evaluation. Issues that will be raised during the survey will also be included. Evaluation questions to be addressed through a targeted survey of managers/supervisors. How many staffs are involved in custodial care in your program? What are the learning activities that your program utilizes and how many staffs are handling each activity? Of the staffs nominated in question 1 and 2, how many have completed or undergoing training? Indicate levels of training undertaken by staff. Indicate whether staff, in the future, plan to undertake training and at what level. What duties are required of your staff? Identify areas in which staffs need to acquire skills. Do you have a workforce plan? Is professionalizing the staff identified as a training need within the plan? Evaluation questions to be addressed through a targeted survey of staffs What is your current employment type? (Please tick one that apply) __Full Time   Ã‚   __Part Time      __Casual     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   __Permanent   __Contract __ Job Share __Flexible Hours __Other (please specify) _________________ On average how many hours per week do you work? __1 to 10 hours  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   __31 to 40 hours  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   __more than 60 hours __11 to 20 hours  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   __41 to 50 hours __21 to 30 hours  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   __51 to 60 hours How long have you held your current position? __less a year  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   __3 to less than 7 years  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   __more than 10 years __1 to less than 3 years  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   __7 to 10 years What is your current job title? ____________________ Does a formal (written) description of your current position exist? __Yes   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   __Yes, but it is not up to date __Yes, I would be willing to provide a copy  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   __No What duties form part of your role on a regular basis? ___________________ What skills do you use on a regular basis? ____________________________ How does your employer support your professional development? What is the highest level of education you have completed?   How relevant has your educational background been to your current position?   How have you kept yourself informed about after school issues over the past 12 months? How many years have you worked in this industry? Do you have a question that you feel should be included in future staff surveys? Do you wish to be contacted in regard to any issues you may have raised within your response to this survey? Manager/Supervisor Participants Manager/Supervisor participant surveys are designed to articulate staff observation and assess areas to determine and address the different needs of staff.   Gathered constructive feedback will guide management to create staff development sessions that will affirm and promote best practices in the program. Staff Participants Hiring new after school staff member who are fully prepared is rare to find. The reasons are most newly hired staff just graduated from college and are completely new to the field; another reason is the hired staff is experienced in a traditional recreational program and/or in an education set-up and is immersed in a school culture that is totally different from an after school culture.   The staff participant surveys are designed to articulate the core knowledge and skills needed by the staffs in after school programs and how these may be acquired and updated, and how staffs perceive professionalism. Study Implementation Procedures Project management   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Before starting the evaluation formally, the following tasks are needed; 1) A meeting between the evaluators and LAs BEST management will have to be set-up to communicate and explicate the evaluation proposal; to reach an agreement on the scope of work to be done, timelines and deliverables; and to assimilate what other issues or concerns the management would want to include that is congruent to the evaluation, 2) the evaluation team must make themselves familiar with the program by making ocular visitation of the sites, interviewing managers/supervisors and staffs and take note of proposed modifications in the evaluation design to assimilate these individuals issues or concerns that is congruent to the evaluation.   These proposed modifications will have to be communicated and explicated to LAs BEST management and upon their approval will be incorporated to the evaluation design prior to launch. Site recruitment   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   This proposal aims to make an exhaustive evaluation of all elementary schools across the City of Los Angeles that are included in the LAs BEST program, which are 147 sites as stated in LAs BEST literature. (Overview.2.doc, n.d.) Data collection and data entry The data collection tools that will be used in this evaluation are; 1) existing data or statistics from record files of LAs BEST that would yield demographic information as well as other personal data of the participants, 2) direct observation of participants during surveys and actual on site visitation, 3) survey questionnaires, and   4) informal interview. All surveys are structured to provide information on two major areas: how the managers/supervisors view the staffs; and how the staffs view themselves with regards to, 1) the knowledge and skills needed by after school staffs; and 2) the degree of professionalism of after school staffs.   All data collected will be documented. Data analysis and reporting Collected data will be analyzed through calculating percentages and descriptive statistics.   After data has been analyzed and interpreted, an evaluation report will be prepared comprising of; 1) an executive summary, 2) an introduction which describes the program, its components, the target population, and the goals and objectives of the program, 3) a methodology which describes how the program was actually implemented as well as how the data was collected, what instruments were used to collect the data and how the data was analyzed, 4) the results section of the data analysis containing concrete data, 5) a discussion section explaining how the data was interpreted, provides answers to evaluation questions, 6) discloses any problems or issues encountered in the evaluation,   7) suggestions on   what could be done in the future to improve other similar evaluations, and 8) a recommendations section where recommendations are made based on findings. Study Timeline The overall project management timeline of the evaluation proposal is presented in the table below (see Table 1).   The appropriate timelines for each task within each evaluation phase is also specified.   Our goal is to begin the evaluation in May 2007 and conclude with the final reporting in October 2008. Table 1: Project Management Timeline   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Evaluation Period Phase Task Phase 1 (Pre-Test) Meeting between evaluators and LAs BEST Management May 2007 to July 2007 Increase familiarity with sites May 2007 to July 2007 Deliberation and approval of modifications May 2007 to July 2007 Phase 2 (Test 1) Site recruitment (147 sites) August 2007 Literature Review August 2007 to October 2007 Informal interview of participants August 2007 to October 2007 Observational research August 2007 to October 2007 Phase 3 (Test 2) Survey Questionnaire Managers/Supervisors September 2007 Survey Questionnaire Staffs October 2007 to December 2007 Phase 4 Data Collection/Data Entry/Data Analysis May 2007 to March 2008 Reporting January 2008 to   April 2008 Phase 5 Presentation of Final Report to LAs BEST Management May 2008 References Factsataglance.2.doc. (2007). LAs BEST. Retrieved April 26, 2007. From http://www.lasbest.org/resourcecenter/index.php Huang, D., Gribbons, B., Kim, K., Lee, C. Baker, E. (2000). A Decade of Results: The Impact of the LAs BEST After School Enrichment Program on Subsequent Student Achievement and Performance. UCLA Center for the Study of Evaluation. Retrieved April 26, 2007 from http://www.lasbest.org/resourcecenter/ucla.php Mahoney, J. Zigler, E. (2006). Translating science to policy under the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001: Lessons from the national evaluation of the 21st-Century Community Learning Centers. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology 27,   282–294 Overview.2.doc. (n.d.). LAs BEST. Retrieved April 26, 2007. From http://www.lasbest.org/resourcecenter/index.php Riggs, N. Greenberg, M. (2004). After-School Youth Development Programs: A Developmental-Ecological Model of Current Research. Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review, 7, (3) September 2004. Scott-Little, C., Hamann, M. Jurs, S. (2002). Evaluations of After-School Programs: A Meta-Evaluation of Methodologies and Narrative Synthesis of Findings. American Journal of Evaluation   23; 387. Retrieved April 25, 2007 from http://aje.sagepub.com The Law (2006) Office of Non-Public Education (ONPE) The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. US Department of Education. Retrieved May 3, 2007 from http://www.ed.gov/policy/elsec/leg/esea02/pg55.html

Human Resources Reputation and Effectiveness | Analysis

Human Resources Reputation and Effectiveness | Analysis â€Å"Human Resources Reputation and Effectiveness.† SUMMARY OF THIS ARTICLE This issue of Human Resource Management Review considers the past, present, and future of HRM theory and research, exploring how these issues have considerable potential to enhance organizational efficiency and effectiveness. The compilation includes suchthemes as identifying the shortfalls of the science of HRM; predicting, understanding, and influencing the behavior of individuals in organizations; and the status of research on compensation in organizations. Organizational theorists have suggested that reputation is one of the few resources that can give firms a sustainable competitive advantage, because it is viewed as a non-tradable, non-substitutable, non-imitable, resource that can be managed. HR-firm performance linkage examines the impact of an overall set of HR practices on firm performance. This perspective advanced the literature from examining the effect of a single HR practice on performance, to examining a set of practices that work together synergistically. Another perspective explains the positive findings between HRM and firm performance by emphasizing the role HR plays in implementing strategies. To effectively implement a particular strategy, HR practices must â€Å"fit† with the strategic goals of the firm. The two studies indicate that HR reputation does have an impact on the larger overarching image of the organization. It is important to have an HR reputation of fairness, and to advertise this quality to important stakeholders. It is important to examine the more intermediate linkages between HR reputation and firm reputation and performance. It would also be interesting to examine negative HR reputation signals, and their impact on the reputation of the organization. Employees are likely to recommend an organization for employment when that organization is fully committed to work-family policies. As human capital continues to gain credence as a critical resource, organizations have viewed their HR departments as holding the key to unlocking this important resource. Thus, the power of HR has increased over the past several years, and should continue to grow. In light of the foregoing review and evaluation, and the strengths and limitations of prior work on HR reputation and effectiveness the authors have proposed some directions for theory and research in this area that they believe could result in useful and productive streams of work. â€Å"Effectiveness Index† can be one of the tools to identify firms with very progressive or reputable HR functions. Also, the need to determine what might be the underlying dimensions of HR reputation, and, if multi-dimensional, are all dimensions equally important for effectiveness, or are they differentially weighted? Firms bring about this publicity by taking non-conforming actions and proactively seeking to manage impressions to facilitate their own celebrity to the degree that celebrity increases access to critical resources such as human capital, capital markets, and raw materials, celebrity status for the firm increases a firms competitive advantage. Many firms such as Johnson Johnson, Starbucks, and Hewlett-Packard, frequently hit these lists year after year and are on several lists each year. Many of these firms are known for their ability to â€Å"partner† with the HR function to facilitate strategy execution, administrative efficiency, employee commitment, and innovation. At such an early stage in the evolution of this area of scientific inquiry, it is not clear that HR reputation necessarily has only linear relationships with outcomes; such relationships could be non-linear in form. Perhaps there is an optimal level of reputation for the HR sub-unit, and that a ‘more is always better is not accurate. AUOTHERS CONTRIBUTION IN THIS ARTICLE The author has given a brief and precise history on the evolution of Human Resource Management as an important part of any organization from a record keeping employee towards a strategy building. As the number of personal policies continued to increase during the 19th century the importance of human resources management grew as well. Author have noted down that Competitive advantages, such as organizational culture, employee morale, and worker loyalty, fostered by HRM practices, are more difficult to imitate than manufacturing processes or cost management strategies. CRITICAL REVIEW What is interesting about this information? This article revolves around the evolution of Human Resource Management as the integral part of any organization to run smoothly. From the clerical job of just an employee record keeper to a strategic human asset manager this article has evaluated status of theory and research on HR reputation and effectiveness, and recommends directions for future work. The article starts of by looking at the beginning the change chain in the HR function progression. Born from the industrial relations movement, personnel management was first examined in 1920 by Tead and Metcalf. And During the industrial revolution, utilizing the scientific management of work (e.g., Taylor, 1895), companies began to quantify â€Å"†¦ the most efficient method for performing each work task, piece-rate systems of compensation to maximize employee work effort, and the selection and training of employees based on a thorough investigation of their talents and skills† Starting from the first look at HR function more seriously in 1920 it has moved from the century focusing on the years which hold importance towards the shaping of HR functions as we see them today. In 1925 Craig Charter adding to the chain proved that personnel management 1) became autonomous from the line managers and foremen, 2) turned an interest to psychology, 3)said a firm must be focused on leaders ability to â€Å"†¦effectively deal with employees and earn their loyalty and support† As in 1926 Lewisohn noted, the inherent labor problems that exist between workers and organizations were not a matter of capitalistic dialectic incompatibility, but, rather, incongruence between â€Å"†¦the organizational and administrative practices of management.† Thus, the core of a good organizational-employee relationship is recognizing and capitalizing on the mutual interests of maximum satisfaction and financial return (Filene, 1919). More work was done by Follett and Tead in 1929 and further by Kaufman in 1993 which said â€Å"To obtain cooperation, trust, loyalty, and hard work among employees, firms must attempt to simultaneously fulfill the goals of the worker and the organization† As the number of personal policies continued to increase, so did the importance of human resources management (HRM). As HRM grew, even more laws and regulations were passed in the 1950s and 1960s that promoted equal and fair treatment for all able workers (Russ, Galang, Ferris, 1998). However, it was not until the 1970s and 1980s, when U.S.-based companies realized that their technological processes were no longer a source of sustained competitive advantage (Pfeffer, 1994), that HRM was viewed as impacting on organizational performance. As explained by Barney (1991), in his resource-based view of the firm, in order to remain profitable in the long run, organizations must have a sustainable competitive advantage. As organizations placed more emphasis on the human factor, the field of human resource management was formed from a result of various scientific fields of inquiry such as industrial relations and psychology (Dulebohn et al., 1995). In the last 15 years, HRM has further justified its strategic importance, increasingly being viewed as a key resource organizations possess (Pfeffer, 1997), and an essential link in firms strategies (e.g., Arthur, 1994; Huselid, 1995). As human resources are managed appropriately by matching unique internal processes with environmental opportunities and needs, HRM has the potential to be a source of competitive advantage over other firms in the industry. In turn, HRM has been held more accountable to contributing meaningfully to firm performance. Because human resource management is now seen as an important factor in organizational performance and effectiveness, the power and, as a result, the reputation of HR also has increased. How does the author(s) support the hypothesis? Reputation of the firm in the market is based on the Human Resource as an asset to the firm. By quoting; The study of reputation in the organizational sciences largely has been focused on reputation at the corporate level. Organizational theorists have suggested that reputation is one of the few resources that can give firms a sustainable competitive advantage, because it is viewed as a non-tradable, non substitutable, non-imitable, resource that can be managed (Barney, 1991; Kothaa, Rajgopala, Rindova, 2001). Work done by Reed DeFillippi, 1990; Barney, 1991; Lado Wilson, 1994; Huselid 1995; Delaney and Huselid, 1996; Ulrich, 1997; Becker Huselid, 1998; Boxall in 2003; Lawler Mohrman in the year 2003;; Colbert 2004;; Hatch Dyer, 2004; Bowen Ostroff 2004 showed that personal reputation is a collectively agreed upon perception by others, and that reputation exists in a vacuum of imperfect information. When an audience is attempting to gather information regarding an individual (or organization), reputation is relied on to â€Å"fill in the blanks.† This is similar to corporate reputation theory in that personal reputation is based upon social norms, as opposed to market norms. Established upon the notion that reputation is related to social norms, current research suggests that to successfully acquire a reputation, an individual or organization must â€Å"stand out† from others in the field. Rindova, Pollock and Hayward (2006) reflected these beliefs in a recent piece dev oted to celebrity firms, acknowledging the relationship between reputation and celebrity. Suggesting that reputation reflects a predictive measure, they argued that both celebrity and reputation are based on others perception of some entity. Similarly the department level reputation depends on the production of the department individuals respectively and collectively different departments form the reputation of the organization as a whole. This view is supported by work done in 2005 by Roberts. Research in CEO celebrity has shown that a leaders reputation may change the reputation of the company (Hayward, Rindova, Pollock, 2004). Logically, the same process should apply to departments. If an HR department has a strong, powerful leader, the members of the department should feel an increase in power (Cialdini et al., 1976). Consistent support has been found for the HRM firm performance link in the literature, and with the continued development of theory, a richer understanding of how this relationship occurs can both advance the literature and facilitate improvement in practice. The theoretical underpinnings of the literature examining the relationship between HRM and firm performance have developed from; o Examining specific sets of HR practices. o Examining a match between HR practices and strategy o Examining the role of HRM in building and maintaining organizational resources and capabilities that contribute directly to a firms competitive advantage. The linkage between HRM and performance has be identified by the authors on the work done by Barney, 1991; Lado Wilson, 1994; Ulrich, 1997; Becker Huselid, 1998; Perry-Smith and Blum 2000; Boxall, 2003; Lawler Mohrman, 2003;, Ranft Lord, 2000, 2002; Collins Clark, 2003; Colbert, 2004; Hatch Dyer, 2004; Bowen Ostroff, 2004; Hatch and Dyer, 2004 HR reputation does have an impact on the larger overarching image of the organization. It is important to have an HR reputation of fairness, and to advertise this quality to important stakeholders. Although only one of the signals from the study affected share price, there may be other advantages of HR reputation at the firm level that are just as important, such as performance, labor costs, and employee turnover. This theory is based on the work done by Wright, Ferris, Hiller and Kroll in 1995; Hannon Milkovich in 1996 and Koys in 1997. What is the main aim of the article? The aim of the article is to provide a base line from the work done throughout the 19th century on the importance of the Human Resource Management as an integral part of the success of any firm. And to provide the readers with information from so many writers from 1920 to 2006 in the history of HR functions enabling the reader to suggest even more on the basis of research work done by them working in their environment any where in the world as human psychology is ever changing. Is the article timely? In the era of fast growing technology and change in almost every firm around the globe the need to develop and consider human resource as an integral part of any organizations success is the key as we read in so many journals and magazines such as â€Å"Times† and â€Å"Business Recorder† the stories of better human resource management success stories of successful companies, it does show that the importance of HR in any firm can not be ignored any more. This article was published in the year 2007 which is to me some what late because of the already changing trends in organization management. So I would have liked the article to be published before the beginning of this century as the boom in technology and industrial revolution has forced companies to review their HR policies and still there are many countries and firms around the world which lack the awareness of the importance of HR as an important mix in the success of their company. Is the methodology appropriate? Any weaknesses? The authors supported their perspective by using quotations and the research work done by over 20 people; from different research papers, articles, books and publications from the year 1920 to 2006. As they moved along the history starting from 1920 little indication of any work between 1930 and 1990 is given. Which I believe has left a big gap in the research work. Although some indication has been given that not much work was done between theses years to promote the importance of HR. Suggestions for future theory and research remains incomplete as many of the ideas merely seem to be repeated of what they have explained in the previous sections. For example: Just as celebrity status for a CEO or a firm has been shown to increase the breadth and volume of resources available to these actors, the popularity and celebrity of HR practices in an organization may increase the resources allocated to the HR function in those organizations. As resources increase, the power and influence of the HR function increase (Pfeffer, 1997). Research in CEO celebrity has shown that a leaders reputation may change the reputation of the company (Hayward, Rindova, Pollock, 2004). First paragraph quotation is taken from the work done by (Pfeffer, 1997) comes in the article in the first part. And the second written in the conclusion part from (Hayward, Rindova, Pollock, 2004). Both implying the same idea, supporting the conclusion by a repeating quote can affect the strength of the conc lusion itself. How does the article contribute to the field? Does it make an original contribution to the field? Human resource management has evolved into a strategic business partner linking organization goals to the internal and external customers of the company. This article contributes to the field of Human Resource Management vitally as organizations today are shifting and transforming into a global business and fostering local businesses. The importance to align the strategic goals with the HR efforts remains vital to the success. How does the article relate to the course? The course entitled management organizational policy is the study of how organizational strategies are made to run the processes and to make the firm as competitive as possible. This article throws light on Human Resource managements importance and how it thrived and evolved over the years. The most important asset in any firm today is considered to be the Human Resource and managing it properly is the key to success. Diagnosing Human Resource Management Practices: Increasingly, teamwork is seen as one of the main building blocks of successful organizations and much time, effort and resources are being invested in developing and managing cohesive teams (Katzenbach and Smith, 1994) The potential benefits of these investments are numerous and diverse. Perhaps the greatest is the achievement of organizational synergy where the output of the whole team becomes greater than the sum of the individual contributors and in so doing boosts the productivity and creativity of their units and functions. In addition, teamwork can benefit the company and its members in the following ways (Wilson, 1994): For many organizations, decentralization and delegation have been central features of their new management philosophy. Current thinking leads to the removal of as many levels as possible in an attempt to rid the organization of bureaucracy. This is expected to provide faster communication both up and down the organization with less chance of distortion. Another benefit of de layering is that individuals and groups can be more autonomous and responsive to customer needs (Wilson, 1994). Within the general policy guidelines of the organization, employees at the customer interface are empowered to make decisions that previously would have to be referred to higher levels. Finally, another application of the framework presented in this paper would be to investigate the relative influence of so-called best practices on different organizational outcomes. Many of the HRM practices identified in the recent literature seem like fads because they often are implemented without much understanding of the underlying principles of human behavior as well as a tendency to do whatever is popular at the moment, regardless of whether it makes sense in the specific setting or organization (Pfeffer, 1994). It is this trendiness that makes the task of measuring and demonstrating the effective contribution of HR policies and practices of organizations so difficult. Yet, for many line managers, it is the ability to show that HR adds value, not the rhetoric, that forms the basis of policy making and which gives HR its place on company boards. If the HR policies and practices are misaligned, or no attempt is made to provide line managers with a framework to assess practices on an ongoing basis, the credibility and influence of the HR function will suffer. The framework put forward in this article may help to avoid these mistakes. Linkage between Production and Effective HRM: The aspect of this model presenting the greatest practical difficulty is in specifying and measuring employee productivity. A couple of factors complicate this task. The one receiving the most attention in the past has been the problem of measuring productivity, and the more fundamental problem concerning the definition of productivity. At the simplest level, productivity can be defined in terms of quantity of output. Quality is also an important aspect of productivity, but it is the quantity definition of productivity that has received the most attention. The practical difficulty is that many measures of productivity (both quantity and particularly quality) are subjective measures, and thus not very amenable to simulation. Blue collar and routine clerical occupations are the ones most amenable to simulations at present, due to the relative simplicity involved in defining and measuring productivity. Due to the difficulty in determining acceptable objective performance measures, many organizations and studies rely upon subjective measures of productivity, but Bommer et al. [13] conclude that the measures are not interchangeable due to the low published correlations between objective and subjective performance measures. In practical terms, this means that the performance measures used by most organizations are useless for the purpose of simulation studies. The model just illustrated and discussed makes it clear just how complex the human resource aspects of production can be, yet complexity is not a sufficient reason to warrant inclusion in models of production systems. It is only important to include human resources in production system models if biased or deficient conclusions would result from ignoring human resources. The discussion will thus turn to some examples that will highlight the importance of considering carefully the human resource implications of policy decisions. Finally, a brief example of an informal test of the model is discussed. In the example, a post hoc evaluation of an actual example is performed, with simulation results that are consistent with the actual outcome. Leaders influence on organizational effectiveness: Most effects of human capital on firm performance are mediated by efficiency and innovative adaptation. Employees with strong skills and motivation are likely to be more productive, because they will do the work faster and smarter. Research shows that talented employees can improve efficiency and process reliability (e.g., Hatch Dyer, 2004; Ichniowski Shaw, 1999). Talented employees can also improve adaptation by helping to develop innovative products and services, by marketing them effectively, and by providing excellent customer service (Baer Frese, 2003; Pfeffer, 1998; Vermeulen, Jong, OShaughnessy, 2005). Because efficiency and adaptation mediate the effects of human resources and relations on firm performance, the importance of human resources and relations increases when talented, dedicated employees are needed to achieve optimal levels for these other two performance determinants. Human resources are more important when operations are labor intensive, the work is complex and difficult to learn, successful performance requires a high level of skill and experience, and it is difficult to recruit and train competent replacements for people who leave. Examples of organizations likely to have such conditions include hospitals, consulting firms, law firms, advertising agencies, research universities, and companies that rely on advanced manufacturing technology (Snell Dean, 1992). Human resources and relations are very important when the competitive strategy requires unique experts or celebrities to attract and retain customers (Grant, 1996; Pennings et al., 1998). If unusually talented employees are dissatisfied, they can often find jobs in competing companies or start their own company. Voluntary turnover of key employees can be important not only for the loss of unique skills, but also for the loss of their special external relationships with clients, suppliers, strategic partners, and others (Dess Shaw, 2001; Leana Van Buren, 1999; Pennings et al., 1998). Examples of organizations with high dependence on uniquely talented members include professional sports teams, advertising agencies, talent agencies, consulting companies, and investment banking firms. Human relations and resources are less important when much of the work can be done by unskilled workers, there are many people who are able and willing to do simple repetitive work for low wages and benefits, and there are few labor laws or other limitations on how employees are treated (as in many third-world countries). Likewise, human resources and relations are less important when an organization needs few employees except for the headquarters staff (e.g., a chemicals company with highly automated processes, an internet services company, or a â€Å"virtual organization† for which nearly all functions are outsourced). Leaders can improve the performance of an organization by influencing the performance determinants. One form of influence is the use of specific leadership behaviors in interactions with subordinates, peers, and outsiders. A second form of influence involves decisions about management programs and systems, and organizational structure. A third form of influence involves decisions about the competitive strategy for the organization. The three forms of influence must be used together in a consistent way for effective strategic leadership. The Changing Role of HR Managers in Europe: European HR management appears to be a field in transition; external forces such as increasing demands for quality improvement, privatization and completion of the Single European Market are important influences affecting the nature and scope of HRM across European countries. Competitive pressures have added to the challenges created by the changes in the occupational and demographic make-up of the workforce. What are the implications of these developments for the HR function across Europe? It is interesting to note that HR and non-HR managers attached a different degree of importance to the various skill and knowledge areas. In particular, HR managers rated organizational change skills, general business management, and knowledge of general Personnel HR techniques significantly higher in importance than non- HR managers. In contrast, non-HR managers attached more importance to consultation skills, improving employee motivation, and working in teams. These differences were most pronounced in the manufacturing sector. In fact, analysis of sector scores showed that respondents from manufacturing companies consistently rated the need for skills to improve employee motivation, teamwork, and cross-cultural communication higher than those employed in the service and public sectors. These growing demands put the HR manager in a difficult position. If (as the EAPM findings indicated) HR managers are often perceived as too administrative and traditional, line managers may hesitate to allow them to rotate out of the narrow confines of their function into areas where they can gain broader business experience. In addition, what remains unclear is what will happen to the potential role overload and growing expectations on someone in the role of a hardworking HR manager who cannot do all that is required. The senior HR executive in a Swiss company put it candidly: ‘It scares me to think that I might be expected to go out and run a business after twenty years in HR. Im afraid Id fail. HRM Practices in small firms: According to the RBV, human resources (as distinct from human resource activities) are viewed as a potential source of sustained competitive advantage because value, rareness, inimitability and non substitutability is derived from the inherent heterogeneity, ambiguity and complexity of these resources and the conditions under which they are deployed (Wright et al., 1994). Value derives from the unique contribution of skills, knowledge, and cognitive abilities (for example) to achieving firm goals. Research shows that training is an important HRM issue for many small firms, but formal training is less likely to be provided in these firms (Storey, 2004). Storey and Westhead (1997) provide two explanations for this. First, training is less likely to occur in small firms because of ‘ignorance of the benefit it can bring and second because the cost is too high for small firms (Storey, 2004; Storey Westhead, 1997). Importance of Corporate image and reputation: From the perspective of marketing, the impact of corporate image and reputation on consumer behavior is well recognized in spite of the lack of empirical evidence. Numerous authors assert that a good corporate image or reputation helps to increase the firms sales and its market share (Shapiro, 1982), and to establish and maintain a loyal relationship with customers (Andreassen and Lindestad, 1998; Robertson, 1993; Yoon et al., 1993). How is corporate image related to corporate reputation? A review of the past research in the field shows little empirical results except for some general statements. For example, Porter (1985) suggests that a good reputation may help a pioneer rebuilding an innovative image in the industry, while Franklin (1984) proposes that corporate reputation is a global and final outcome of the process of building a corporate image. Impact of Human Resource Management on Organizational Performance: Throughout the 1980s there were a number of variations along this theme of strategic fit (Lengnick-Hall and Lengnick-Hall, 1988). One of the clearest expositions and developments of this theme was given by Schuler and Jackson (1987). In their model, HRM is seen as a menu of strategic choices to be made by HR executives intended to promote the most effective role behaviors that are consistent with the organization strategy and are aligned with each other. The models starting points are the generic competitive strategies outlined by Porter (1980) i.e. quality enhancement, innovation and cost leadership or reduction. For example, Kravetz (1988) conducted a survey of 150 Forbes 500 companies to examine the relationship between Human Resource Progressiveness (HRP) and a variety of financial measures drawn from Standard Poors Compustat Services, such as five-year growth in sales, five-year growth in profits, and P-E ratio for the latest twelve months. HRP was measured by asking the vice presidents of human resources of each company in the survey to complete a fifty-one item questionnaire on human resource policies and practices in the areas of communication, management style, career development, performance management, working hours and employee participation. Finally, it is clear the contribution of even highly skilled and motivated employees will be limited if jobs are programmed or structured in such a way that employees do not get the opportunity to use their skills and abilities to improve their performance. Consequently, HRM practices can also create competitive advantage through provision of organizational structures, leadership and work conditions that encourage initiative and creativity among employees and allow them to find ways to improve how their jobs are performed. Delegation, cross-functional teamwork and participative management are examples of such conditions. FINAL CONCLUSION With the increasing demands of todays business environment, company executives are placing more pressure on the human resource function to perform better, smarter, faster, and cheaper, while providing more value added services. Now, in addition to supporting workforce requirements and general business initiatives, the activities of HR are increasingly focused on managing the broader human capital capabilities required to achieve and sustain a competitive advantage (e.g., succession planning, leadership development, performance management, cultural transformation).In order to accommodate this shift in focus, HR needs to rapidly align their priorities and resources to provide the wider range of expertise necessary. References: How leaders influence organizational effectiveness Gary Yukl Management Department, University at Albany, Albany, NY 12222, USA. The Leadership Quarterly 19 (2008) 708-722 Hatch, W. N., Dyer, H. J. (2004). Human capital and learning as a source of sustainable competitive advantage. Strategic Management Journal, 25, 1155−1178. Ichniowski, C., Shaw, K. (1999). The effect of human resource management systems on economic performance: an international comparison of U.S. and Japanese plants. . 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